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aakeysmash · 9 months ago

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Tell me you love me

Pairing: f!reader x Sukuna Ryomen.

Word count: 2512.

Warnings: ANGSTTTTTT. An attempt at it at least lmao, let me know if I did a good job with it. A bit suggestive in the middle. Cursing. Mentions of cheating (mentions!!! No cheating in this house).

People often say that Sukuna would be obsessed with the reader/oc, but I think a relationship with him would be the hardest thing ever.

He doesn’t get the concept of being in love: at the start of your relationship he found out you were more tolerable than anyone else, he assumed that meant he liked being around you and went along with it. Of course he fell in love in the long run, but for him it’s embarrassing to admit it. He barely even said it when you asked him why he wanted you to move in with him.

It’s not like he isn’t obsessed with you: he’s obsessed with the way you just seem to get him, with the way you smile when he comes home from a long day at work, with the utmost kindness you treat people around you with and that he lacks completely. He’s mesmerised by you, by the curve of your hips, the brightness of your eyes, the softness of your hands on his body.

He doesn’t show it, though.

He’s used to being rough and redeems emotions as futile. Like he already said to you in a couple of your arguments, if you get him you get him, if not, he’s not explaining himself. Everything he does is thought of and automatically right, so why would he give you explanations?

But sometimes in relationships you need communication. He doesn’t see how intense it is to be next to someone who acts like he doesn’t care about what you want to share in your daily life. And again, he does care: if he could, he’d make a copy of you yapping and just listen to it on repeat while working. He loves how passionate you sound while talking about your hobbies, he finds the little tilt to your voice when you search for his approval adorable. He doesn’t see how difficult it is to be with him because he’s only been with you, and you’re so good at communicating and making him feel heard he doesn’t notice he’s not reciprocating your efforts.

And that means that he’s never the one who wants to resolve misunderstandings, because he thinks they don’t really exist. You were upset about your dish not coming out the way it was supposed to and instead of reassuring you it was still edible he straight up said it looked horrible and walked away? He’s not sorry. He spoke his mind, did he not? And why would you be sad about the truth?

You’re not weak, and you’re not shy either. Kind people are not necessarily stupid, and you’re living proof of that. He’d never be in a relationship with a weakling who doesn’t know how to raise her voice and stand her ground. You’re fierce in your own way, and you know how to manage his stubbornness 90% of the time. You don’t like being disrespected or ignored, and you made sure to talk his ear off whenever he did it. Not like he purposefully did it, anyway.

But as a person who understands emotions and feels emotions, sometimes being with him frustrates you. And it comes to a point where you debate on keeping being next to him or leaving him for good.

He’s not the only one who has hard days, but when both of you have one, the silence inside your house is deafening. You’re the one who usually starts up conversations, but your mind is occupied with other things. You’ve barely touched your food.

“What’s got your panties in a twist?” He scoffs at dinner. He doesn’t like you frowning, it wrecks his heart. It makes him want to destroy the face of whoever took the smile he lives for off your face.

You sigh. “You know how my parents said they were coming to visit us next month? Well-”

He’s silent. Fuck, when did she say this? He thinks. Probably one of those days where the thought of your thighs suffocating him all night plagued his mind last week. Fuck, he’d take a bite of them right now if you let him. Maybe he could suggest it. It could take his mind off of his own shitty day.

“Are you even listening to me?” You say sternly. He notices you kept on talking while his mind wandered, but he disregards it.

“Wanna fuck?” He asks instead.

You’re baffled. “Sukuna, what the fuck?”

“Damn, you could’ve just said no, brat,” he says rolling his eyes.

You get offended. “Don’t fucking ask me what’s wrong if you’re not going to listen to me.”

“Yeah yeah, you were probably going to talk about how worried you are and shit. I don’t care about that. If you don’t want to get my dick wet I’m going to rub one out,” he says waving his hand in front of your face and standing up from his chair.

You huff out a sarcastic laugh. “Are you serious?”

“Would you prefer me to find someone else to do it for me?” He bites, snapping his head toward you.

He sees you widening your eyes. If there’s a thing you don’t tolerate is cheating, or jokes about it. He knows it. He knows it, dammit. You’re fuming.

“You’re an asshole. Fuck you. I’m sleeping at Nobara’s,” you spit at him, grabbing the purse you left on the side of the table and rushing out the door, slamming it.

When he’s left alone in your shared living room, he keeps on looking at your front door. The silence is making his head hurt, the only thing he’s hearing is the sound of the door slamming. Did he overstep? Nah, you were probably overreacting. He shrugs and finally moves from his spot, going to put his dish in the sink. He leaves yours on the table, because maybe you’ll be hungry when you come home. You usually are after an argument. You’ll come back after a couple of hours saying you didn’t want to worry him too much, you’ll sigh saying this can’t keep on happening and that you’re tired of arguing, then he’ll hug you and everything will be alright. Just like it always is. You’ve never left like this, though.

He ruffles his hair; he’s angry at everything and everyone. You should’ve got that he’s the one overreacting, why didn’t you get him like usual? Why aren’t you still back after 3 hours? He hates feeling angry. He hates feeling tired. He hates feeling in general. Most importantly, he hates that the hands in his hair are his and not yours. He hates the way right now he’s craving your soft voice reassuring him in his ear, your sweet words covering him like a blanket; his head on your chest listening to your heartbeat while lying on your couch, reminding you that you’re there. You’ve always been there. There’s no one else for him, there’s never going to be one. He’d never cheat, you’re so stupid for getting angry about it. Why did you get so mad about it? Suddenly, he’s thinking about random stuff you said that he ingrained in his head.

I love you too, Sukuna. I’ll wait for you to tell me that without me forcing it out, mh? I’ll move in with you, sure, if you ask me so that nicely.

You picked this book because it reminded you of me? Thank you, baby. I love it. Both the book and the fact you thought of me.

Can you stop messing up my sock drawer? No, I did not hide your cigarettes there. But please stop smoking, I love when you taste like my lip gloss and not that disgusting shit you inhale. Give me a kiss so I can prove it to you. I’ll take your breath away way better than tobacco.

He smirks while on the couch, alone. You’re so cute. He wants to bottle up your laugh. Why aren’t you back still? His mind doesn’t stop, though.

You hurt me, Sukuna. Why can’t you notice?

I feel like you don’t care about me.

If I hadn't come to you, would you have come to me? Or would you just have ignored this whole argument and acted like nothing happened?

Am I just filling up a random space you leave open for a significant other or am I the significant other that’s capable of filling that void?

That night he dreams of you. The way you glared at him asking him if he was serious, almost like a warning before you lashed out. He dreams of the hurt that flashed in your eyes when he spewed nonsense. And when he wakes up, you’re still not back. Your unfinished plate is still on the kitchen table.

But he’s prideful, that’s why you’re the one that’s always trying to resolve arguments. Yes, you’ll come back. He’s sure of it. You always came back during the 3 years you've been together.

A week passes by and he's going crazy. You haven't contacted him at all, and he didn't text first. He lies to himself saying it's because he's leaving you some space, but the truth is that he's scared. What is he even supposed to say? Hey, I'm sorry, I miss you, please come home? That's pathetic. He's taking a shower when suddenly his phone rings. His heart skips a beat and he rushes out to check if it's you. Please, let it be you.

Instead it's Yuji, his brother.

Yuji: Hey, what happened with y/n? She asked me to come get some of her things for her. Is she sick?

Sukuna frowns. Then he realizes that- you're going to move out. You're going to break up with him.

He goes into panic mode. He never thought about the possibility of you leaving him. He thought you would come back, like you always do. Why would you leave him? Is it because you finally realized that you're better off with someone who knows how to express their feelings for you? Did you get tired of him? Have you already found someone else?

He finds himself knocking on Nobara's door in the next ten minutes. He ran, he's sweating and it's starting to rain. He's out of breath, and he gets his hands on his knees while he waits for you to open the door. He's not ready to let you go. He can't even fathom a life where he doesn't wake up to you trying to get warm between his arms, without you nagging him while watching a film together, without helping you bake cookies while laughing with each other. Without not being able to talk from how in love he is while looking into your eyes. And he knows that if you leave him he's never going to be able to live in his own house ever again, or walk down the street you always do together, or go grocery shopping and not thinking about you while looking at vegetables. You always said you liked vegetables and he always lied about liking them just to see you excited about cooking them together.

"Yuji, I didn't think you'd be this fas- oh," you open the door and your face falls when you see it's Sukuna. He snaps his gaze toward your face when he hears your voice. He missed it so much. You're so beautiful. He missed all of you. So much.

Neither of you move, you just keep staring at each other. This time, he knows he's going to have to talk first. For the first time, he realizes how hard it actually is to confront someone first. Do you feel like this every time?

"Come home," he says. "Please," he adds.

You look sad. "I don't think I'm going to, Sukuna. It's been more than a week and you didn't even reach out to say... I don't even know what. I know you don't say sorry. You never do."

Your words feel like knives. From where you're standing you're taller than him, and he has to look up to look at you. It's like he's in front of the pearly gates of heaven and an angel is making him confess all the wrong things he did, except in this scenario you're the angel and the things he did are just what he thinks about all of this. About you in general.

And you're right, he doesn't usually say sorry. The words get stuck in his throat and he just gapes up at you, still catching his breath. Pathetic.

You sigh, then go to close the door. You don't look at him anymore and he feels like he can't breathe, and not because of the run.

"I'll come get my things next week. Go home, you'll get wet," you say. And your voice is clear, you're not mumbling, you must have thought about this. He sees how hard you're clenching your jaw to appear resolute, your nails hurting your palms from how hard you're closing your hands. But you still manage to worry about him, worry about him possibly catching a cold from the rain. And he loves you. Fuck, he loves you so much.

"Wait," he manages to say. You look at him with longing. With sorrow.

And he feels like he's crying to the angel in his afterlife when he opens his mouth again, thorns in his throat getting tighter, suffocating him. But he doesn't cry here, in front of you, even if maybe you'd like it. You'd probably say that you appreciate him showing emotions, maybe tease him for it, but you'd like it. He'd kiss you while you're still laughing, saying you're stupid, and you'd continue laughing.

"I love you," he rasps out. The words feel so unfamiliar to his tongue, but so familiar to his ears. You always tell him you love him. "I'm sorry for being a shithead. Please don't leave me. I promise you I'll get better at this communication shit," he begs.

You still don't move, but he sees you getting softer.

"Go home, Sukuna. We'll talk about it when it's not raining," you utter.

"No, I don't fucking want to," he snaps. You're startled, and he cringes. He's really not used to all of this. He doesn't like scaring you.

"Fuck, I meant to say I want to get over it right now. I didn't want to scare you. I want you back, Y/N. Please, have me back. I'll get better for real," he says while getting progressively closer to you.

"You promise?" You ask, now shorter than him. You're a step of distance from each other.

"I promise, baby. I'll make you the happiest girl to ever exist," he tells you, looking at you intensely.

"Start by saying you love me again," you mumble, wrapping your arms around his waist and resting your head on his chest. He engulfs you in his own arms, inhaling the smell of your shampoo, then snorts.

"Sure. I'm in love with you, brat."

Being in a relationship with Sukuna is hard, but he loves you easily.

#sukuna jjk #sukuna ryomen #sukuna x reader #sukuna angst #sukuna x y/n #sukuna fic #jjk angst #jjk fluff #sukuna fluff #sukuna x you

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ghostyeyestohide · 2 months ago

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I Put A Spell On You

Pairing: Terrance (Foe) x Valerie (Plus Size Black Fem OC)

Warnings: SMUT (not too extreme), 18+ (MINORS, SCROLL AWAY), buildup (if you got the attention span of a squirrel, DONT READ), titty fondling, oral sex (f receiving, m receiving), bisexuality (from m), masturbation, slight edging, spitting, slapping, smoking, choking, striptease, some femdom, dirty talk, praise kink, creampie, cussing, aftercare, mentioning of death, a hint of voyeurism (from Junior), and Non-Canon.

Parts: Part Two • Part Three • Finale

Summary: After a day of examining Junior, Terrance returns home for a sit down dinner with his wife, Valerie, who wants to do a little more afterwards.

A/N: So, I basically restarted this app with a new account just to snoop around and read smut. I noticed that Aaron became even more popular now, and since there is already a lot of Terry fics, I thought it would be perfect for me to finally show my idea of how I think Foe should’ve went if I was in the writers room as someone who has seen the movie and read the book. I’m making this a two (or four) part series as I got the perfect bisexual hookup scene for Terrance, Junior, and OC since Ian and Garth didn’t want to give it to us in the movie, so that’s otw! And this is a one time thing as I been retired for a decade from fanfic (smut) writing, so ENJOY!

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do not copy or repost my work. I do not authorize it.

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Valerie was in the kitchen, spreading parmesan and fresh basil on top of the toasted cheesy garlic bread when she heard a car pulling up in the driveway. She walks to the window near the door, pulling the curtain back a little to see who it was.

The sounds of the door unlocking is heard, with it lifting up. Out comes Terrance, her husband and OuterMore’s hardest worker. He looked exhausted in his light brown top, black slacks, and black dress shoes, but happy. She smiles, walking towards the door to greet him.

“And there’s my beautiful girl in her pretty, ruffled dress.” Terrance states as he walked through the door, smiling as he puts his suitcase down and pulls her into an embrace.

Valerie chuckles before placing her lips over his, giving him a long but sweet kiss, to which he responds by doing the same.

“Sounds like someone had a good day today.” says Valerie, wrapping her arms around his neck and looking at him.

“Yes, I did. Love to tell you about it over dinner because my word, it smells wonderful in here.” he replies, getting a chuckle out of the both of them.

“Oh stop! It’s nothing crazy, just spaghetti with meatballs, cheesy garlic bread, some Caesar salad with the crisp parmesan, and that bottle of white wine you got from your previous assignment.” she replies sly, tracing her finger over his shirt.

“And I’m guessing you’re the dessert?” he asked in a low, seductive tone that enhances his British accent well while rubbing over her curves. Valerie laughs as she pecks his nose with a kiss.

“I mean…..I could be that, but I was looking forward to eating my homemade lemon loaf, drenched in homemade lemon buttercream, with that vanilla ice cream I also made, but we can go with your first option!” she responds with a smile.

“Dont tempt me with temptation already out there, Val.” he replies, kissing her again.

“What’s that suppose to mean?” she asks, raising an eyebrow.

Terrance stammers, looking for the correct thing to say.

“You know I’m talking about that cake, dear. But, I’ll go change so I don’t keep you waiting. I am hungry after all!” Terrance exclaimed, kissing her one more time before going up the stairs to their room.

“Hurry! I’m not one to be waited on, Terrance!” she replied jokingly as she picks up his suitcase and places it on the living room table before walking back to the kitchen.

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As the couple ate their dinner and drank their wine, Valerie started first with how she spent her day crocheting new clothes for herself to wear, reading some books, and prepared the food as Terrance talked about what him and Junior did, from him watching him do farm work to doing scans on his body for measurements, assuring he has everything that the real Junior gave them.

“And then, I had dinner with them. Of course, I didn’t eat as I told them you were cooking, just some wine and whatnot. For some odd reason, Junior started going off.” said Terrance as he bit into his slice of lemon loaf and ice cream.

“Going off?” asked Valerie, very confused since he told her he was perfectly fine all day.

“I told them the trip to the space station is coming sooner and he knew this when I told him on the farm. But now, he was mad, saying “I don’t want a robot living with my wife!” angrily and demanding that we go outside and fight.”

“With a broken arm?” she asked as she ate some of her slice. Terrance nods as he dranked some of his wine.

“You had to be there to get it. It was a bit scary, but…..it was very indecent that he was doing all of that while not looking at Hen not once.”

“Hm.” she nodded, looking down at her bowl.

“And what was Hen doing by the way?” she asked after a few minutes of silence.

“Oh. She was trying to calm him down. Saying “do the fight test with me, not him” blah blah, and then, I can’t remember the exact words, she said something and he basically called her stupid. I laughed, which I shouldn’t have and she got mad at me. So, she got up from the table, crawled across it slightly, and slapped me…..” Terrance replied, with his voice going quiet with the last few words.

Valerie sat there expressionless, taking in the words that just came out of her husband’s mouth. Hen slapped Terrance kept replaying in her mind, slowly adding to the burning sensation that was growing inside her. Finally, she got up and put her bowl in the sink.

“Val, are you oka—“

“You let that miserable bitch slap you…..you let Hen, who changes emotions like she has a permanent period, slap you?!” Valerie cuts him off, looking at him with anger all over her.

Terrance gets up, slowly walks up to her in order to not make her even more mad.

“You have to understand: I deserved that slap. He basically insulted her and I had no business laughing!” he responded with.

“I don’t give a fuck if you’re the one who insulted her, she had no right to put her hands on you! And you’re calm about it?” she said, slamming her hands on the island in front of her, startling Terrance.

Valerie shakes her head, thinking if he should continue his assignment of watching Junior and Hen or stay home permanently for her sanity.

“I can’t do anything or we’ll accidentally reveal what he truly is.” he replies, throwing his hands up. Valerie scoffs, just in shock at how calm he’s being about this.

“Why couldn’t she take it out on her walking sex toy since he the one who said it? You’re the not the one in a loveless marriage.” she states.

“……do you see yourself as that?” he asked her.

“In a loveless marriage?”

“No. What you called him.”

“…..no. I’m just…..ugh. How can you hate your actual husband, but fucking on a replica of him?. Is it love? Is it hate? Or is she just confused…..” she said, stopping in her tracks before looking away from Terrance.

Terrance looks back at her confused, trying to figure out how would his wife know that if he never told her much about Hen. Then, it hit him.

“…..you been reading my files behind my back again. After I told you not to do that”

Valerie lets out a cold laugh before looking at Terrance again, tears swelling up in her eyes.

“That’s the only way I can keep pretending to live the life the real Valerie would be as the man, who makes endless promises to not push her to the side, fawns over his growing sexual attraction to his newest assignment in Junior.” she responds with, tears now falling down her face.

Terrance exhales quietly, leans up against the counter as he faces away from her.

“You read that in the notes, huh.”

“…..is it true? Or are you just toying with him and keeping proof?”

Terrance sighs, rubbing his face as he stands near the island in front of her. Taking in what she said, he pulls out a cigarette, lights it up and smokes it, blowing the smoke away from her.

“Okay. I am attracted to him. I’ll admit it.” he replies.

Valerie wipes her tears, inhaling and exhaling quietly before clearing her throat.

“Always knew the minute you can home and told me about meeting them. The way you mention his name, what he does, how he acts, his instant rejection to being chosen to go to space…….almost similar to Valerie’s story. Which I’m assuming you have yet to mention that to them.” she said, locking eyes with him.

“They don’t need to know that.”

“Why not? Will it make things worse when you ask him to run away with you?”

He looks at her in disbelief, caught off guard with what she just said.

“If you think I’m leaving you for him, I’m not. I can’t have any type of sexual contact with any of our subjects or I get terminated. And they take you back since you’re their property. You knew this the minute you were made.” he says, blowing more smoke out.

Valerie looks down, slightly embarrassed about throwing that accusation out. She was afraid that he was going to risk everything by being with Junior, putting everyone in danger. Terrance blows out smoke one more time before tossing the cigarette and stands in front of Valerie.

“Hey.” he gently holds her chin up, looking into her eyes. “I can’t throw off this feeling I get when I’m around him. He just brings something I never seen in other subjects out of me. But, I have control. You know me too well for me to abandon you like that.”

He wraps his hand around Valerie’s face, wiping away tears as he kisses her.

“Those notes don’t mean shit to me right now. You do. You’re the only thing I have left of her, replica or not. You been with me all these years and never once have I ever did anything that seemed like I don’t value you anymore. I never forgot about the things you love, the things you do, and the things I do for you that make you happy. I always go home to you, which OuterMore hates since it violates the ‘staying at the subject’s house’ rule, but I refused to let you be here all alone out here. And this won’t change that.” he says as he begins to rub on her body.

“I know you’re being genuine, but this……this is becoming an obsession and it needs to stop.” she responds, pointing at Terrance’s suitcase on the table.

He laughs, gently rubbing his hands all over her body as Valerie tries to fight against it, but fails.

“I’m serious, Terrance.” she states, gently pushing him back.

Terrance turns Valerie around, with her back against him as he has her pressed against the sink. He begins placing soft kisses all over her back and neck, making her let out some soft moans.

“He’ll be home soon. That Junior will go back to the factory and we’ll move on from all of this. It will always be just the two of us. You. Just. Need. To. Trust. Me. Val.” he responds, with each sentence and word ending with a kiss as he slowly lowers himself to his knees, positioning himself in front of Valerie’s ass. He starts tracing over her legs, brushing closer and closer to her pulsating heat.

“Uh-uh” she responds, placing her right foot against his chest and gently pushing him back, creating some distance as she turns around.

“I can’t get a taste first?” he asked, looking into her eyes with a pathetic, begging look.

She shakes her head ‘no’. “Go sit on the couch.” she says as she gently removes her foot from his chest.

Terrance smirks before carefully getting up and walking to the couch. She grabs their wine glasses, pouring the remaining bottle in each one before bringing it over to where he’s seated at.

She places his glass on the table before walking over to their vinyl player, turning it on before placing the needle on the disc, tuning the volume as the song begins to play:

Turning around to face Terrance, who has his wine in his hand now, she begins dancing seductively while drinking, hitting her marks as she lipsync to the voice of Nina Simone.

I put a spell on you

Cause you’re mine as she points at him, earning a smile back from him, who is slowly becoming even more aroused at her movements.

As she slowly walks over to stand in his view, she notices a male stranger is standing outside of their window near the door, watching them. He looked intrigued, with his messy clothes, dark brown hair, Roman-sculpted face and piercing blue eyes staring at her. Noticing a bandaged arm wrapped against his chest, she realizes who this stranger is.

“Junior,” she said in her mind.

“Everything okay, baby?” said Terrance, very concerned for why she stopped suddenly.

She snaps back into motion, not mentioning to him that his subject is also watching her do a dance that’s only meant for his eyes. She doesn’t seem to care, only focusing on showing where the love should always be.

You know I can’t stand it

You’re running around

You know better, daddy as she gently sits in front of him on the table, placing her glass on her left. She begins to untie the knot on her strings that hold her breasts up, letting the top fall down to expose them.

He leans forward, tempted to touch her, but she slaps his hand away, belting out the next part:

I put a spell on you

Because you’re mine as she stands up and walks behind the table.

You’re mine as she removes the rest of her dress, leaving her in just her lacy underwear. She gestures him to remove his clothes, but play with himself afterwards.

Now even more aroused, he complies with her order, gently taking out his semi-hard length and begins jacking off slowly, growing with each stroke.

Sipping her wine, she locks eyes with Junior to see if he’s still watching. To her amusement, he was, gently breathing against the window while slowly stroking himself. This is exactly what she wanted to happen: two men who are avoiding each other to not violate the rules both salivating over her. Just one gets to fully experience her as the other one watches.

I love you, I love you as she sits in a chair that faces Terrance, rolling her hips as he watches with hunger in his eyes.

I love you, I love you anyhow

I don’t care if you don’t want me as she gently removes her panties.

I’m yours right now as she tosses them towards him.

Oh you hear me

I put a spell on you as she opens her legs, exposing her glistening bliss towards him, gesturing him to come to her, but slowly.

Terrance gets up, walking towards her as she gently rubs her clit, looking at his girthy, long length swinging back and forth.

Because you’re mine as he kneels in front of her, giving her a fat sloppy kiss before moving down towards her pussy, placing his mouth over her slit, making her inhale loudly at the friction of being touched.

He begins to flick his tongue in and out, burying his face deeper in between as she places her hands on his head, gently pushing it down a bit more.

“Wow, you really were hunger.” she laughs before being replaced by her moans.

He hums on it to vibrate around her, gently rubbing her folds with one hand as the other creeps up to her breasts, gently rubbing them.

“Fuck…you’re so good when you’re on your knees, pleasing me.” she whispered as she exhaled loudly when he inserts one finger inside, gently rubbing at her spot that she likes that he hits while fucking her.

As he adds another finger inside and speeds up the pace, she looks at Junior once more, see his self pleasuring has sped up too. There shouldn’t be a reason that Val is enjoying this so much, being devoured by a man who helped create her to replace the emptiness of his deceased wife as a replica of another watches them hungrily, desperately wanting to join them.

“I’m getting closer and close—oh, fuck!” she exclaims as Terrance begins sucking hard on her clit, repeatedly plunges his fingers inside her, watching her squirm with his eyes locked on her.

After her moans grow louder and louder, she finally releases, the sensation washing all over her and Terrance’s face. After a few minutes of regaining herself, he removes his face from her, which is covered in her essence.

“Come here.” he mumbled as he gently pulls her up for another sloppy kiss, mixing in her juices with her mouth. She responds by kissing him back harder, gently wrapping her hand around his length and stroking it, causing him to groan.

“Fuck, you’re perfect. You know that, right?” he says, throwing his head back as she strokes around his tip.

Valerie gives an ‘mmhm’ as she places kisses all over Terrance’s chest and abs, leaving a few marks as she trails lower and lower to his length. She lets go, tracing it with her tongue before engulfing him into her mouth, making him let out a soft moan.

“Just like that.” he says as he gently grabs a fistful of her curls before she slaps his hand away.

“I mentioned you have to work for it. That means no touching me and following my orders.” she said as she looks up at him, stroking his length in her hands.

“You let me eat you out. And push me down into it.”

“That’s your job. Being on your knees for me and me only.”

Terrance chuckles quietly, nodding his head as Valerie continues sucking him, gently massaging his balls as she strokes the rest of what she can’t fit into her mouth.

She looks out the corner of her eyes to see if Junior was still watching, but noticed his disappearance. I guess he couldn’t bare to see more of something he can’t touch physically. She looks up at Terrance and begins bobbing her head & hands faster, going off the adrenaline that sudden decided to pop inside her.

“You’re gonna make me bust fast, doing that.” he groaned, tensing up at his growing climax inside him.

Valerie laughed, speeding up the pace. Terrance began letting out some expletive, hinting that he’s near. Just as it was about to release, she stopped just in time, with him inhaling and exhaling hard.

“Told you you’re working for it.” she says, winking at him before letting it go and laying back in the chair. He laughs slyly, licking his lips as he examined her body. Her curves fit in the right places, her skin glowed like she was a diamond, and her busty elements enhanced her beauty. She was the perfect woman for him and he wouldn’t give that up for anything. Not even him.

“Where do you want me to be?” he asked, gently stroking himself.

Valerie repositions herself, put each leg on the post of chair, exposing her heat like she did previously before he ate her out. She gently taps her pussy, gesturing him to insert there first. She was eager to feel him inside her, waiting enough to get what she wanted.

He nodded, lining himself up to her entrance. Before he inserted, he let out a long trail of his spit out of his mouth, using his tip to rub it all over her clit and lips. He then inserted himself inside, both lovers letting out a loud gasp as she instantly clenched around him. He gripped her legs, gently moving his hips to get her adjusted.

“No matter how many times we make love, mm,….it still feels like you’re getting bigger and bigger each time.” she whispered, gently scratching over his abs.

“Oh yeah?” he asked before pushing all of him inside her, lifting her legs towards her chest. Valerie gasps, taken aback by the sudden move. He laughs before gently kissing her face, swaying his hips around a bit.

“What do you want me to do now? Since you’re in charge.” he mumbles against her cheek.

“You know how I like it. Don’t overexceed it.” she replies before moving his right hand around her neck, keeping both her hands wrapped around it.

He starts with a quick thrust, causing her to let out a low moan. Then, he picks up the pace a bit, continuously slamming his pelvis into her thighs. He squeezes her throat a bit as his thrusts become even more aggressive, making her let out a bunch of lewd sounds she never thought she could make mixing in with the sounds of her wetness being poked fills the living room.

“Fuck, you’re gonna break me, Terra-mmhm! Fuck, fuck, fuck!” she yelled as he hit her sweet spot over and over, moaning louder.

Terrance puts his left hand on top of the chair, holding it in place as he continued fucking her, slowly building up both of their releases as Valerie becomes a pleasure mess under him.

“Come on and let me release, Val. I already got your release coming and I’m not too far behind you.” he states as he looks down at her, giving her deep thrusts.

She lets out a hoarse chuckle before being cut off by how sloppy his thrusts were becoming, feeling herself on the edge of release. Just as it was about to occur, she pulls his length out, feeling it beating hard in her hand.

Terrance, puffing very hard, looked at her in disbelief, once again being denied release. He scoffs sarcastically, gently rubbing her breasts.

“You’re making me work hard for mines, you’re denying your own.” he said.

“Makes this even more fun. And worth the wait. Now lay across the table.” she replied, gently pushing him off her.

He bits his lip as he walks towards the table, grabbing a few pillows and placing them on it before laying onto, carefully positioning himself.

“Hands above head.” she says as she gets up.

He obliges, placing his hands above, anticipating what she’s gonna tell him to do next. The cool air in the air, settles on his skin, creating goosebumps as his heated length slightly moves up and down, yearning to be touched again.

As she walks over slowly, something in the window between the kitchen and the living room (by the fireplace) catches her eye. She notice its Junior instantly, admiring her and him. Had he been standing there the whole time or does he moves to get a better a view of the show?

Becoming even more aroused, she kneels down in front of Terrance, beginning to place a trail of kisses, from his thighs to his length to his chest to his neck and lastly, his mouth, positioning herself on top of him. She sits up, looking down at the man, who’s looking at her with a dark glare in his eyes.

“Are you gonna be a good boy for me? she asks, slightly moving her hips to grind on his length, making his hands and mouth twitch.

“Mmhm.” is all he could get out, fighting real hard to not touch her.

Suddenly, she slaps him across his face. It wasn’t hard, but with the way she gasped, that wasn’t her intention at all. Trying to play it off, she wraps her left hand around his throat, squeezing it. He lets out a stifled groan, breathing hard as the stinging brewed on his cheek.

“When I ask you a question, I expect an answer, not a sound. So let me ask you again: are you going to be a good boy for me?” she asks, tilting down towards him.

“Yes. Yes. I am going to be a good bo—“ he’s cut off by her lowering herself onto his length, causing him to buck his hips upwards.

“Fix yourself right now. Or you don’t get a release.”

He relaxes, letting his hips lie down as she begins moving her hips back and forth, creating a aphrodisiac motion that makes her moan his name a few times and praising how good he’s making her feel right now.

“Touch me up here and look at your art, please.” she cries out as she pulls his hands towards her breasts, letting go of his throat. She looks at him quickly, who is mesmerized at what she’s doing, before look back at him, slamming herself down on him again.

Terrance gently massages them, breathing hard as he was in awe at how much she’s enjoying doing this. Every bounce, every speed, every curve, every moan, he was happy that this was pleasing her as much as it’s pleasing him. He can feel her release building up again as she begins to slow down her pace.

“Mm. Can you…can you finish……” she asks as she collapses onto his chest, breathing hard. He chuckled, amused that she lasted almost close to her release.

“Do I have permission to receive my release?” he asks, gently massaging her back.

“Yes. You deserve it, finally.” she replies in an exhausting manner.

He kisses her forehead before hooking his arms under her legs, picking her up as he stands up, not fully removing her from his length. He gently lays them on the couch, positioning a pillow under her before he started to pound her, causing her to let out some screams.

“Not so dominant after slapping the shit of me, huh?” he asked, aligning himself face-to-face with her as he wrapped his hands around her neck, still having her legs hooked in his arms.

Valerie lets out a stifled ‘no’, moaning loud as she watches his length go in and out of her, feeling like she’s losing oxygen at the sensation.

“Play with yourself for me. I wanna see this beautiful pussy cumming all over me, this masterpiece of a body shake, making its mark as I fill you up. Can you do that for me, Val?” he whispered as he deepens his thrusts, sweat dripping down his face and body on her, who is in a daze with her body’s reaction.

“Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. Fuck. Fuck. FUCK!” she yells as finally, while rubbing her clit, her release washes over her, causing her to shake unbearably and squirt all over him and the couch.

Terrance moans “that’s my girl” as he thrusts a few more times before releasing inside her, letting out grunts as his load pumps into her womb, laying on top of her until he was finished.

The couple laid in silence, calmly rubbing each other, for a few minutes before Terrance removes himself from her, both groaning at the separation. He gets up and goes to a different room, disappearing for a few minutes.

As she waits for him to return, she looks again to see if he was still watching. He was gone this time, taking what he saw with him back home. She smiled, knowing this about to be so awkward when they finally meet.

A wiping between her legs snaps her out of her thoughts. She looks up and see Terrance, wearing a robe now, wiping off any juices or sweat with a wet cloth. He sits her up, lays a robe near, as he walked to the dirty laundry basket, tosses the cloth in there before walking to the kitchen. He grabs the both of them a bottle of water and sits next to her, taking out a cigarette to smoke.

“Drink.” he whispered, handing her a bottle.

Valerie nods, taking it and sipping some of it. She grabs the robe and puts it on as he lit his cigarette.

“Anything feel loose? Feeling low on your fluid? I can go grab your case so you can change your tab.” he said.

She shakes her ‘no’, tying the robe string around her waist to close it. She leans over to give him a few kisses, placing some over his face.

“…I’m sorry for slapping you.” she says, giving him puppy eyes.

“You’re good. You were just in your element, that’s all.” he replied, puffing out smoke.

“You sure? Cause I can see my hand mark slowly forming on your face.” she said, leaning over as she traced it with her fingers.

“At least you marked your territory.” he responded with, making both of them laugh.

Valerie laid on Terrance’s shoulder, slowly closing her eyes as she is exhausted from the partaking she did. He gently traces over her thighs, looking down at her.

“Did you see something out there while we were making love?” he asked.

“Hm?”

“You kept looking at something towards the window for a few moments. Was there something there?”

“….no. I think I was….getting myself caught in my own spell. And I kinda like it.”

“Glad you do. It makes you even more hotter.”

She feels him smile against her head before he placed a kiss on it, continuing his smoke as she fell asleep on him, tiredness finally taken over her. He looks at his suitcase again, thinking about what the next few weeks here is gonna look like.

🜲 🜲 🜲 🜲 🜲 🜲 🜲 🜲 🜲 🜲 🜲 🜲 🜲 🜲 🜲 🜲 🜲 🜲 🜲 🜲 🜲 🜲 🜲 🜲

A/N II: Started this at 8 PM on Saturday and I finished it this morning. This is how you know I’m a writer with experience (writing fanfics, essays, screenplays, reviews of film and tv) because I cannot believe I wrote all this in two days.

Part 2 is currently in progress and it is now a four part, but two of them will be like a little emotional so I can show a little more of my writing in screenplays style.

If you want to be tagged in it when I publish it, let me know so I can make a list. Have a good day/night, everyone! 🫶🏽🫶🏽🫶🏽

#i put a spell on you #aaron pierre #foe #Terrance #rebel ridge #aaron pierre x black reader #aaron pierre smut #black plus size reader #terrance x reader #aaron pierre x plus size reader #terrance X black reader #black oc #black plus size oc #foe fanfic #black fem reader #black plus size fem reader #black smut #black oc x reader

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radioisntdead · 9 months ago

Note

I have an idea.

Mom susan and daughter are reader

How about the reader tries to introduce her husband to her mother??

Good evening my dear! I wanted to see a Susan and Alastor in-law showdown and I wrote a drabble and then some headcanons, so I hope you don't mind, but if you do just let me know and I can replace Alastor with another requested character or an oc or something,

The mother in-law

Susan & daughter reader, Alastor x female reader

Warnings!!

Cannibalism, violent elderly, implied Violence AGAINST the elderly in the headcanons mostly, Susan invading boundaries, Alastor gets insulted by Susan, Reader needs a drink, poorly drawn Cat Alastor in a suit, OOC characters, not proofread, does anyone know a replacement for Grammerly??

Alastor made the most of falling to eternal damnation, seeing it as a new opportunity,

He become an overlord, a cannibal, the feared Radio demon,

It was shocking enough to him that he had met you, and while it did take awhile and a long long friendship he did end up realizing he had feelings for you, a sweetheart of a cannibal, who worked with his dear friend Rosie and asked to court you in the gentlemenly way, with a bouquet of seven roses and a kiss on your hand, He was the happiest lil' deer in all of hell.

He'd take you dancing, you'd do something like reading or taking a nap as he did his radio broadcast, the two of you would go on walks,

It was bliss

Unfortunately or fortunately depending how you look at it, Alastor disappeared for seven years taking you with him, much to the distain of your mother.

During the time away you were wed, it was a small ceremony, only the two of you and the fucked up cat thing that looked strikingly like Alastor you adopted as your witness.

Anyways with the sudden seven year disappearance and marriage, he never got to formally meet his mother in law that you've told him so much about,

So once everything was settled and you got to visit your dear mama a couple of times, you decided to finally introduce them,

Unfortunately they already knew each other.

Oh no.

Alastor wore his best suit, he even put that evil radio cat into a suit, you wore a lovely dress that matched the aesthetics of cannibal town [Or an exact copy of Alastor's regular suit if you wanna give Susan a heart attack]

He walked arm in arm with you to the cannibal town home your mother lived in, and from the moment the door was opened there was only one thought on his mind.

Oh shit it was Susan, you were the daughter of the Ornery old bitch,

How was someone like YOU related to SUSAN??

Were you adopted? You had to be, he refused to believe that old lady had spawned you in any type of way, maybe she picked you up off the street?

Susan grabbed your hand pulling you in and looking over you, not bothering to greet the radio demon beside you,

"Where have you been I thought you died, Why are you with the guy with the shitty haircut that looks like someone went at him with a fucking hedge trimmer"

"Mama I visited you last week,"

Susan questioned immediately as you laughed nervously, barely two seconds in and she had already insulted Alastor,

you look over to Alastor who stood awkwardly in the door way, waiting to be invited in, the cursed cat in a suit standing by him also waiting to be invited in.

"And apparently you already know my Alasto-"

you were cut off swiftly by Susan squinting at Alastor

"You married the fucking embodiment of red-40?"

Alastor blinked, "Excuse me?"

"You're excused." Susan moved to shut the door in Alastor's face but was stopped by you stopping her

"Ma, please, Alastor come on in"

You said gesturing for your husband and the thing to enter, Susan scoffed mumbling about something as she turned around and sped into the kitchen.

Alastor leaned into you, hooking his arm with yours as the messed up cat clone moved around immediately crawling upon Susan's rocking chair.

"My dear it's not too late to leave and dine elsewhere''

"Alastor please, It's just one dinner with my Ma''

"Who's an ornery old-"

"ALASTOR."

It's a very very awkward dinner, Alastor tried to compliment Susan's meatloaf? He got bullied, you did step in to shut that behavior down but that didn't do much, Alastor tried to help wash the dishes after supper? Susan stood over him watching as he washed every plate and each piece of cutlery, judging him.

Susan did not fear the overlord, and you were concerned.

After dinner was finished and dessert was eaten Susan stared both you and Alastor down as you sat on her couch.

"How long have you been married?"

"Six years."

"Where are my grandchildren then?!"

You hold up the mini Alastor, it's tail wagged slowly as Susan looked upon it with a look of disapproval,

"That's a shitty looking rat, is your husband dysfunctional?"

"Ma, can you not- NO, Alastor put away the tentacles she will RIP THEM OFF-''

AND HEADCANON TIME BECAUSE I am not the best at writing action.

You poor soul.

They can't kill each other because you exist,

It's like stopping two toddlers from fighting except one's well over a century old and your married to the other one,

You're an unpaid babysitter I'm so sorry

Alastor was raised to respect woman and the elderly but he is very close to attacking Susan

He can't do much because he doesn't want to get into trouble with Rosie because attacking one of her cannibals no matter who it is, was a whole can of worms he rather not open, and also she was unfortunately your mother,

He's questioning that, like after this dinner expect him to sit you down and just start throwing questions, like how?

He liked Susan's meatloaf well enough, he could live without it though,

Susan runs into him randomly on the street? She asks if she has a grandchild yet, no? He's getting attacked with the cane and asked if he cannot perform properly Violence on the ace deer

She tries to convince you to leave him and tried introducing you to a random cannibal she pulled off the street, but she stopped after you got upset at her.

Assuming you live at the Hazbin hotel with Alastor Susan visits, she somehow got a key to the room you and Alastor shared so you could be sleeping and Susan pops in swinging her cane, dropping lore

Alastor lives in mild fear, he's changed the locks, he's put Niffty outside the door as security,

Susan always GETS IN.

You have boundaries with her but she breaks them and your working on getting her to stop,

It becomes a hotel wide situation of getting Susan to not break in

She oddly enough likes Angel dust and you use him as a distraction whenever she appears without warning,

You owe Angel several favors.

You are in debt.

Susan eventually grows a fondness for the freak grandchild, she gets clothes, dresses him up and calls him sonny,

Alastor's not the most pleased but it's better then getting asked if he suffers from certain conditions

They sometimes fight over your time, like he's taking you out on a date and Susan pops in and drags whisks you away for tea or something,

They can't do much aside from verbal Insults and glares, but they did get into a physical fight, Alastor got hit with a chair, Susan almost got eaten, Alastor sent Niffty on her and she almost got stabbed

You threatened to tell Rosie and they both stopped, thankfully

Susan keeps divorce papers on hand just in case you ever change your mind, she's not afraid to attack an overlord, this woman is down below for a reason and she is FERAL.

If she catches Alastor chompin' down on your arm he's getting whooped with a cane and the both of you are getting a full lecture on if he's doing anything he's not supposed too, and if he is, he needs to go.

Alastor is very adamant that he would never intentionally harm you apparently the BITING DOESN'T COUNT AS HARM???

Dude has a fear of becoming like his father.

They have issues but they agree on things like this,

There's eventually a group meeting about Susan breaking into the hotel and while she's welcome she needs to stop popping in at late hours of the night or at the crack of dawn,

There's a Susan security system set up now.

Susan's never going to fully approve because you'll always be that small child she found on the side of the streets long ago to her and no man, woman or whatever is going to be good enough for her little girl, but she'll put up with it, she knows that while Alastor isn't the best person it could be worse.

She eventually respects your boundaries, yay!

Good evening folks! Thank you for tuning in! I hope you liked whatever this was, I'm slowly working though requests! Now it's 3 am and I'm tired, goodnight! Have a cursed cat Alastor in a suit that I drew with my fingers

He looks like a tatortot

#hazbin hotel x reader #hazbin hotel x you #susan & reader #alastor x reader #alastor x you

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lemoncrushh · 7 months ago

Text

Rain Rain

Summary: Lexie is on her way to visit her sister, and she's taking Harry on the road trip with her, planning to drop him off at his friend's house for a wedding. But the weather has other plans.

Warnings: Not much - this is pretty much fluff with just a little petting and making out.

Word Count: 11k+

A/N: This is your basic "friends with one bed" trope. Harry x Bi!OC, AU, written in third person. Originally written and posted in 2019. This was based on a request I had gotten back then (which I still had copied into my docs): no worries if you’re not down to write about this, but it would be amazing if you wrote about someone who is mostly into women but just has this love for harry like no other. (maybe smutty idk) Thank you to that original anon wherever they are now! This ended up being three short parts, but I've combined them into one.

The rain was pouring so hard and so fast, the pavement was nothing but a blur as Lexie gazed out the window at the parking lot. She was grateful she’d remembered her raincoat, but cursed herself for not bringing along her boots. Her sneakers were bound to be a saturated, wet mess even after the short jog from the car. She could feel her bare toes curling against the rubber soles, and with a bitter scowl she shoved her hands into the pockets of her coat.

“Lex?”

“Hmm?” she turned her head in slow motion to see Harry looking at her with a raised brow.

“You sure you’re okay with this?”

Lexie nodded, giving a hesitant grin. “‘s fine. No worries.”

With a short nod to the man behind the counter, Harry took the room key and covered his head with the hood of his jacket. Pushing the door open, he grunted at the volume of the rain, both the noise and the amount, allowing Lexie to exit the lobby first.

“I can’t believe they only had one room,” he grumbled as she passed.

“Harry, don’t worry about it,” Lexie assured him. “We save money this way anyhow.”

Harry lifted his head to check that she was smiling, her nearly ever-present grin lighting her face, even on a full shit day such as this. He grinned back, making his way down the sidewalk to the last room on the left. Rain seemed to pelt against them sideways despite the awning above their heads.

“Jesus, it’s cold though,” Harry heard Lexie mutter as she bounced on the balls of her feet, waiting for Harry to unlock the door.

Sliding the key into the slot, the light flickered green and Harry pushed the door open. Rushing inside, Lexie pushed her hood off her face and took a gander around the room.

“Not too bad,” she appraised, sitting on the bed and kicking off her wet shoes.

“I’ll go get the bags,” offered Harry.

“Oh shit, I forgot!” exclaimed Lexie. “Let me put my sneakers back on.”

“No, no, you’re fine,” Harry waved his hand. “Sit, relax, get warm. I’ll just be a second.”

Lexie made a face, but reluctantly took off her raincoat and sat back on the bed, watching Harry make a run for it. She could see him out the window, opening the trunk of her car to retrieve their luggage, laughing to herself as she recalled how he’d called it a boot when they’d packed it.

The trip was supposed to have been a short one. So far it was twice as long as it should have been, nothing but a string of disaster after disaster. They were way behind schedule. But if Lex was being honest, she didn’t mind. Harry had proven to be a great travel companion, entertaining her jokes and chipping in some doozies of his own. When they’d gotten a flat tire, she’d helped him change it and then bought him breakfast. When Shelby had called her cell unexpectedly, and she’d panicked, Harry had covered for her, saying she was driving and couldn’t stop to talk.

“Safety first,” he’d said, even though she had bluetooth in her car.

Rising from the bed, Lexie held the door open for Harry as he ran back inside, a bag on each shoulder. Dropping them down beside the television with a huff, he finally got his own look at the room.

“Sorry about the one bed,” he sighed, unsure how Lexie felt about having to share it. “I’ll take the floor.”

“Don’t be silly, Harry, it’s a King! And should you really be offering that with your terrible back? I won’t have you complain for the rest of the trip.”

With a chuckle, Harry unzipped his hoodie and shrugged out of it, tossing it on the nearby chair. Fingers ran through his damp curls as he stepped out of his shoes and placed them next to the door. Unzipping his duffle bag, he pulled out some dry clothes.

“Mind if I shower?” he asked, pointing to the bathroom. “Unless you were…”

“No, it’s fine,” replied Lexie, grabbing the remote. “You go. I’ll watch some TV and see how this storm’s doing.”

“No calling Shelby, right?” Harry raised a brow.

Lexie scoffed. “No! We talked about this.”

“Alright. Just making sure. I mean, I can’t tell you what to do, but if it were me…”

“Harry!” exclaimed Lexie. “Go! I’m fine, I swear. I’m not calling her.”

“Or texting.”

“Or texting!”

With a smirk, Harry turned for the bathroom and shut the door. Lexie turned on the television, finding the local weather. No surprise there was a big storm in their area, possible hurricane and flood warnings.

“No shit,” she muttered under her breath.

She was bummed she wouldn’t be at her sister’s tomorrow afternoon, but she wasn’t really in a huge hurry either. It was Harry she was more concerned about. He was supposed to be at his friend’s on Saturday for a wedding and Lexie was dropping him off on the way. If this storm kept up and they got stranded, they might not make it in time.

Getting bored with the newscasters, Lexie reached for her phone. She stared at it for a few minutes, reading the last text from her ex-girlfriend. Her fingertip ghosted over her name as she contemplated texting her back. The sound of thunder made her jump, however, and with a grumble she took it as a warning, just like she knew Harry would have done.

Setting her phone next to her, she scooted back on the bed and leaned against the headboard. She heard the squeaky turn of a faucet and the shower stopped. Moments later, Harry emerged, his hair sticking out in pieces around his head from towel drying it. Lexie couldn’t help staring at him, though she didn’t realize she was until Harry caught her in the mirror and wiggled his eyebrows. She swiftly turned her attention back to the TV where the news was on some story about a robbery at a local convenience store. She could hear Harry brush his teeth and spit in the sink before he turned for the bed.

“So how’s it looking?” he asked as he climbed onto the bed next to her.

“Huh?” Lexie half-gasped.

Harry chuckled. “The weather. How’s it look for us the rest of the night?”

“Oh. Um...possible flooding they said. Hurricane conditions.”

“Bugger,” Harry muttered as he settled himself against the pillow. “Hopefully we’ll be able to get back on the road in the morning.”

“Fingers crossed,” said Lexie, crossing her hands over her stomach.

The news broke for commercial, but Lexie remained focused on the television. Her hand itched to reach for her phone, but she resisted. Her nose had suddenly made her hyper aware of her sense of smell as she inhaled the scent of soap, shampoo and something else she couldn’t quite pinpoint. Harry smelled so good lying beside her, it made her mouth water. Her stomach did some weird flip, her face was warm to the touch, and she tried to put her focus on the 1-800 numbers flashing on the screen as she wondered from where on earth this feeling had emerged.

The truth was, Lexie had been attracted to Harry since the day they’d met. They’d had a few mutual friends, one of which had introduced them at a party for another. And while Lexie considered herself bisexual, she had almost exclusively been dating women for the last few years. In fact, she had just begun a serious relationship with Shelby when she’d met Harry at that party. They’d become fast friends which she was fine with, but she couldn’t deny there was some sort of spark there, at least from her point of view.

The sound of a hearty laugh made her turn her head abruptly, but she realized Harry was giggling at the trailer for a new comedy. Lexie watched his face for a moment, the way his eyes squinted when he laughed, the deep dimple in his left cheek. These were just a couple of things that she liked about him, though she could probably make a long list.

Seemingly aware of her stare, Harry mimicked her gaze, his eyes twinkling. Lexie smiled at him, trying to come off as casual and not like a staring buffoon.

“Are you gonna go?” Harry inquired.

“Huh?”

“The shower, love,” he explained. “Thought you were gonna go next.”

“Oh,” Lexie blushed. “Of course.”

Rising from the bed, she grabbed her phone before it slid off. Harry, however, was quick too and reached for it.

“Nope. Not bringing that with you.”

“Fine,” Lexie rolled her eyes. “Wasn’t gonna look at it anyway.”

Harry smirked as Lexie rummaged through her suitcase for something to sleep in, then stuck out her tongue before closing the bathroom door, making Harry giggle again.

Lexie let the hot water soothe her muscles as she stood under the stream. She hadn’t realized she’d been so tense, but she blamed it on the weather and Shelby’s texts. Her ex wanted to get back together, it was obvious, though she hadn’t said it directly. But Lexie knew it was over. It had been over long before they’d actually broken up. Still, she couldn’t deny that she missed her.

Lexie thought about the phone call in the car when Harry had answered her cell. Afterwards he and Lex had a deep, albeit short conversation about relationships and how sometimes things quit working because you’ve run out of road.

“You’ve just reached a dead end,” he’d said. “And that’s when you know it’s time to say goodbye, let it go and travel down a new path.”

Though she knew he was right, Lexie was hesitant about taking that detour.

As she shut off the water and grabbed a towel, she could hear singing. She grinned when she realized it was Harry in the other room singing along to a commercial. She giggled to herself as she got dressed, finding herself humming the tune as well. Harry was a joy to be around. He made every situation bearable, no matter the circumstances. Perhaps, she considered, her attraction to him was merely his light that shone from within, and not anything sexual. When she emerged from the bathroom, however, and found him sprawled out on the bed in a simple t-shirt and sweats, one arm behind his head as the glow from the television defined the lines and curves of his face, she dismissed that notion.

“Damn,” she muttered under her breath before crossing the room to her suitcase.

“What’s wrong?” Harry inquired, his eyes following her. He watched her pull out a small pouch from her bag and return to the vanity.

“Nothing,” she lied, taking out her toothbrush. “That thunder just...doesn’t sound good.”

“Yeah, I think it’s getting closer than further away,” Harry commented, shifting onto his side to face Lexie while she brushed her teeth. Resting his head in his hand, his gaze roamed down her body as he noticed her sleeping attire.

“Those are cute,” he said, not meaning to. It just slipped.

“Wha’?” she sounded, her mouth full of toothpaste. Spitting into the sink, she eyed him in the mirror. “What’d you say?”

“Sorry,” Harry mumbled. “I just...I like those pajamas. They’re cute.”

“Oh,” Lexie blushed. “They’re old. But thanks.”

She couldn’t think of any other reply. He liked her old, worn out flannel pajamas? She’d had them since before Shel-

Clearing her throat, she ran a brush through her hair before making her way back to the bed. She could feel Harry’s eyes on her as she climbed in beside him again, pulling her knees up to her chest.

“Wanna watch a movie or something?” she asked, her gaze on the TV.

“Yeah, I was gonna ask you that,” Harry replied. “Unless you’re too tired.”

“I’m not really ready for sleep yet. What is there to watch?”

“Actually, not much. Most anything I found worthwhile is halfway over and has commercials. And I don’t reckon we wanna pay for something, especially if we end up losing power.”

Just as he said the last sentence, another crack of thunder sounded and made Lexie jump.

“Um…” she muttered with a grimace, “maybe we should just pick whatever’s on and hope for the best.”

With an easy grin, Harry rose from the bed.

“While you decide, I’m gonna go get some ice and a few things from the machines, if there is any. What would you like?”

“I'd like you to stay here with me,” she blurted without thinking.

Harry’s smile grew wider as he slipped back into his jacket. Lexie bit her lip as she felt herself blush for the second time.

“I won’t be gone long,” Harry offered.

“But I just brushed my teeth.”

Harry chuckled. “Then brush ‘em again. You know you want snacks, I can see the look in your eyes.”

“Yeah,” muttered Lexie. “I guess I do.”

“Plus if we end up stranded, you’re not eating my leg.”

Lexie burst out laughing. “Good thinking. I’ll take some potato chips and any kind of cookies they’ve got.”

“Soda?”

“Juice if they have it. If not, something without caffeine. Do you need money?”

“Nah, I got it,” Harry said, grabbing the ice bucket. “Be back in a second.”

Lexie sat back on the bed and flipped through the channels before landing on a Spiderman movie. She’d forgotten if she’d seen that one before or not, but it didn’t really matter. It was more for a distraction anyway, from both the booming thunder outside and the thumping of her heart inside her chest.

Harry rushed back into the room in record time, his hands full. Dropping several items onto the bed, he left again only to return seconds later with the ice bucket. Lexie watched as the door shut behind him and he pushed his hood back, revealing his damp curls.

“Were the vending machines not covered?” Lexie asked, grabbing one of the Sprite bottles Harry had brought.

“They were, but the water was dripping between the slats right above them, so I got a bit wet. No worries, though.”

“Harry, why is nothing a big worry to you?” Lexie eyed him as she took a sip of soda.

Harry shrugged as he returned his jacket to the chair and kicked off his shoes.

“Pick my battles,” he explained. “We got food, drinks and ice. Mission accomplished. A little rain didn’t stop me.”

“A little rain?” Lexie scoffed. “Sometimes you’re just a little too Mary Sunshine.”

Harry looked at her as he sat next to her on the bed. “Would it make you feel better if I told you I stepped in a puddle and nearly hit my head on a metal beam when I heard the thunder?”

Lexie smiled. “Yeah. Kinda.”

Reaching for a bag of Lay’s, she could feel his eyes on her. Finally when she bit into a chip, he spoke, his voice barely above a whisper.

“You’re one to talk.”

“What?” Lexie raised a brow.

“Mary Sunshine.”

“Excuse me, I am not Mary Sunshine.”

“Yeah, you are,” said Harry. “You were totally cool with taking me along on this trip. You were fine with us sharing a room here, even just the one bed. Right now, you seem perfectly fine with that soda instead of the juice you’d really wanted. Honestly, you’ve barely even said one negative thing the entire time. Except maybe regarding Shelby, and even that you seem to be taking in stride.”

Lexie considered his words for a moment before giving a shrug. “Maybe I pick my battles, too.”

“Fair enough.”

Taking another swig from her Sprite bottle, she looked down at her lap. “It might have something to do with present company, too,” she said softly.

Harry turned his head and looked at her, his eyes seeming to study her face, hoping she’d expand on her admission.

“You’re easy to be with,” she added. “You don’t judge me and you’re considerate and nice and...I dunno, I just like that about you. Rubs off on me, I suppose.”

Harry continued to look at her as she ate her potato chips, her eyes on the television.

“Oh,” he finally managed to voice. “That’s...really lovely, Lex. Thank you.”

Lexie gave him a soft, short smile before biting into another chip. The two of them ate and watched the movie in silence for a while, until the next commercial break. When Lexie rose from the bed to shake off the crumbs and throw away her trash, she heard Harry speak again.

“I like that about you, too, you know?”

“What?” she raised a brow.

“I like that you’re easy to be with. Fun, actually. You don’t complain a lot, and you almost always have a smile on your face.”

Lexie tried to hide her current smile but failed.

“I’m not sure that last part is true,” she commented.

“Oh, it definitely is,” said Harry. “I just noticed it earlier. I know you’re...still getting over...um...someone...but you still seem happy.”

“That’s a facade,” Lexie confessed. “Inside I’m a mess.”

“Really? Could’ve fooled me.”

Lexie eyed Harry with a smirk. “I guess I just did.”

Softening his expression, Harry nodded. “‘m sorry. You wanna talk about it?”

“Not really.”

Harry studied Lexie’s face for a moment, wondering if she would change her mind. But when she didn’t, he knew not to push her. “Okay.”

Lying back on his pillow, he folded an arm behind his head. Something about his relaxed state made her want to cuddle with him and tell him all her problems. Shaking away the thought, Lexie lied back too, her eyes on the TV.

“I think we just grew apart,” she finally muttered.

“What?” Harry turned his head to look at her.

“Shelby and me,” she explained. “We just...got too comfortable, I guess? If that makes sense. It became boring. And when I get bored, I start to get restless.”

“I think that makes sense,” Harry commented. “You can only spread yourself so far.”

“Exactly!” Lexie nodded. She rolled onto her side, facing Harry. He blinked at her nearness, her wide-eyed expression.

“Like I’m willing to give myself to somebody, everything I have. When I love someone, they’re my world. But after a while it felt kind of one-sided.”

“I’m sorry,” Harry said again. “How did Shelby feel about it?”

Lexie shrugged. “We would just end up arguing when I brought it up. She said she wasn’t like me, that she needs her space and time separate from me. I told her I understood that, but I still needed her to meet me in the middle once in a while.”

“And maybe more?” Harry asked.

“What do you mean?”

This time, Harry turned onto his side, so he was face to face with Lexie. “Maybe sometimes you needed her to make the full effort like you were doing, so you didn’t have to meet her in the middle at all.”

Harry watched Lexie’s eyelashes flutter rapidly until a tiny drop fell down her cheek. Without thinking, he lifted his hand to brush it away with his thumb.

“I didn’t mean to make you cry,” he whispered.

Lexie shook her head, then reached her hand up and grasped Harry’s wrist. “No. You’re absolutely right. How did you know?”

Harry shrugged. “‘s not hard to figure out, Lex. You’ve worn yourself thin.”

“Doesn’t mean I didn’t try,” she choked.

“I know.”

“I loved her.”

“Course you did. Maybe you still do?” Harry lowered his hand, releasing it from her grip.

Lexie pursed her lips. “I dunno. I guess I’ll always love her in some way. But I think the real love was gone a long time ago.”

“You think she feels the same?” Harry asked.

“Well...she was angry when we broke up. But now she says she wants to get back together.”

“What do you want?”

Lexie sighed, running a hand through her hair as her eyes darted around the room. “I guess...I dunno I just don’t think she can change. She’s just...she’s probably gonna keep calling me…”

Harry stopped her by taking her hand, making her look at him again. “That’s not what I asked, Lex. What do you want?”

Lexie opened her mouth to speak but shut it quickly. Then biting her lip, she really considered Harry’s question.

“I just want to move on, to be honest,” she finally admitted.

“Then move on.”

A loud boom of thunder sounded then, once again timely as though it punctuated Harry’s words. Neither of them, however even made a move. They lay facing each other in silence, the movie credits scrolling up the ignored television screen.

Butterflies danced in Lexie’s stomach as she stared at Harry, his green eyes seeming to say unspoken words. Though she wasn’t quite sure what those words were, she had an idea. Swallowing hard, she loosened her hand from his grip only to thread her fingers with his. Harry dropped his gaze to their joined hands before his eyes darted back up to her face, landing on her mouth. Instinctively, Lexie licked her lips and in one split second, she felt Harry’s lips pressed against them.

They were so soft. That was the first thought that crossed her mind. The second was that she hoped he didn’t stop any time soon.

Thunder cracked once again as Harry released Lexie’s hand to cup her cheek. She sighed against his mouth, and that was enough for him to know it was okay to deepen the kiss. Lexie opened her mouth to him, allowing his tongue to meet hers. She felt something then - something more than just arousal.

Rain continued to pelt against the roof and the window, the sound so loud, one would think the glass might break and water would rush in. But at that moment, Lexie heard nothing but the beating of her own heart in her chest.

Harry shifted slightly then, resting his leg between hers as he laid on top of her. Their kisses became intense, an apparent hunger as though they couldn’t get enough. Lexie’s hands found the back of Harry’s jeans, her fingers looping into his belt at his waistband. She held on for a few moments as his hips began to buck against hers, causing a friction that drove her mad. When his lips finally left hers and dragged across her jaw, she gasped for air.

“Ha-harry…” she sounded. Swallowing hard, she blinked to get her bearings. “Harry.”

Lifting his head, he looked at her face, her eyes reading uncertainty.

“Sorry,” he breathed. “Jesus, Lex, I’m sorry. I didn’t-”

“No,” Lexie interrupted. “Don’t. Don’t be sorry.” She shook her head. “About anything.”

“Really? Then why…”

“It’s just…” she licked her lips. “I’ve never...been with a guy...before…”

Harry’s eyes widened as he tried to sit up, but Lexie pulled him back.

“I mean...not like this. I’ve dated men. Well...boys really,” she chuckled nervously. “But it’s been a while.”

“But have you…”

Lexie shut her eyes and shook her head. She heard Harry sigh and felt his body relax against hers. She felt a flutter in her chest at the idea that he hadn’t moved off of her. She liked the feeling of his body against hers. When she opened her eyes, she saw him eyeing her, his expression sweet and calm.

“I don’t wanna make you do something you’ll regret, Lex,” he said. “But you should know, I didn’t tell you to move on in hopes that you’ll sleep with me.”

Lexie giggled. “But I am sleeping with you.”

Harry rolled his eyes and smirked. “You know what I mean.”

“I do,” Lexie said softly. “I also know I like you.”

Harry’s smile grew as he brushed a strand of hair from her cheek. “You do?”

“Mhmm,” Lexie nodded. “The truth?”

Harry raised a brow as Lex grazed her fingertips across his back. “You’re the first guy I’ve ever had these kinds of feelings about.”

“What kind of feelings?” he whispered.

“You know…” Lexie hesitated. “Feelings like...I think you’re incredible and sweet. And I want to touch you. And I want you to touch me.”

Lexie felt Harry shift again, his thigh nearly pressing exactly where she wanted it to.

“Yeah?” he asked, his eyes studying her face intently.

With the flutter of her eyelids, she nodded again. “Please.”

“Lexie…”

Before she could say more, before she barely had time to process how sexy and deep his voice sounded when he said her name, his lips were on hers again.

Lexie shoved her pajamas into her overnight bag as she watched the light yet steady rain continue to fall outside. The weather wasn’t as bad as it had been during the night. The thunder and lightning had stopped, and the parking lot wasn’t flooded like Harry had predicted.

Harry.

She could hear his footsteps coming up the sidewalk. Taking her eyes from the window, Lexie turned toward the sink to grab her toothbrush and other toiletries. She heard the door open behind her and the sound of feet stomping to rid of their dirt or water.

“We’re all checked out,” he announced. “So...whenever you’re ready…”

“Okay,” Lexie called over her shoulder before turning around and dropping her toiletry bag inside her suitcase. Then she zipped it up and gave a tight smile. “All set.”

“Here, I’ll take that,” Harry declared with a nod as he reached for Lexie’s bag.

Sucking in her lips, Lexie decided not to argue, accepting Harry’s chivalry as she slid her arms into her raincoat. Then she followed him out to her car where she unlocked it and popped open the trunk. Lexie sat in the driver’s seat, the engine running while she heard Harry slam the trunk and rush to his side.

“Rain’s not so bad now,” he commented, rubbing his hands together, “but the temperature’s dropped.”

“Yeah, it’s cold,” Lex agreed, immediately regretting it.

The entire morning had been nothing but short, redundant replies to his comments or questions, punctuated with tight-lipped smiles and nods. Awkward didn’t begin to describe the thick air between them.

“Breakfast?” Lexie managed to ask when she shifted the car into reverse.

“Yeah, sure,” Harry said as he buckled his seatbelt. “Don’t reckon those potato chips and sodas lasted long after…”

Though his words trailed off, Lexie looked at him with wide eyes. When his gaze lifted from the click of his seatbelt and he gave a smirk, however, she felt herself blush. A small, nervous giggle escaped her throat as she shifted back into drive and turned out of the parking lot.

Still catching a flicker of a grin on Harry’s face out of the corner of her eye, Lexie quickly found a radio station that was to her liking, and she quietly hummed along. Truth was, she was nervous as hell, though she wasn’t quite sure why. She didn’t like it that Harry suddenly made her nervous either, because he never had before. He was her friend. But now he was…

Harry.

Her mind wandered to the night before, his soft kisses, his hands on her hips as his own pressed against her. He hadn’t tried to rush her. In fact, he had been completely gentle and respectful, knowing she was hesitant. Her own brain had been spinning like a whirlwind, unsure of how far to go. She knew she liked him and was attracted to him, that was a given. And the feeling of his lips on hers only confirmed that. But it had only been a short time that she’d been broken up from Shelby, her long-term girlfriend and the only person who’d even seen her naked in two years.

She’d let him touch her. When his hand had slipped inside her pajama bottoms, she hadn’t stopped him, though his eyes questioned her. She’d bit her lip and opened her legs, a sigh quickly releasing from her lungs when she felt his fingers on her. His gaze had been focused on her face the entire time while his hands had done the magic, making her throw her head back and moan as her legs shook. She thought she might have breathed his name, though she wasn’t sure. It was a possibility it had gotten lost behind the sound of the thunder. She did remember, however, the tender kiss he’d given her when she’d come down, his hands cradling her face as though she was a china doll.

“Lex?”

“Huh?” Lexie blinked. She blushed again, realizing her focus was not on the road.

“Looks like there’s a diner up there,” Harry pointed. “Unless you just wanted to find a McDonald’s.”

“Oh! No...yeah...that sounds great, actually.”

“I know I could go for some pancakes,” Harry commented, patting his belly.

Lexie smiled at him. “Yeah. Me too.”

Pulling into a spot next to a pickup truck, Lexie put the car in park and killed the engine. Pushing her door open, she felt something brush her hand. But just as she turned to look at Harry, she saw him quickly peel his eyes away and open his own door, shutting it with a thud.

The overly chipper waitress seated them at a table by the window. After ordering coffee and juice, Lexie pulled out her phone, prepared to text her sister when she suddenly frowned. Harry caught it, his breath stalling in his throat as he waited for Lexie to say something.

He watched her silently as she typed hastily on her phone. He wanted to snatch it from her hands and throw it out the window, but instead he waited. Despite what happened between them the night before, it was none of his business whom she was texting. But he really hoped to God it wasn’t Shelby.

The waitress returned with their beverages then, and Lexie laid down her phone with a smile. They both ordered a big breakfast with pancakes, but suddenly Harry wasn’t very hungry.

“Um…” he hesitated, reaching for his silverware. “Everything okay?”

“What? Oh…” Lexie shook her head and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, it’s fine. I had a text from Shelby, but I ignored it. I was texting my sister to let her know I made it through the storm, and that I’ll text her again once I’ve dropped you off.”

Harry sucked in his lips and nodded, though he felt his insides release the tension they’d been holding.

“I’m sorry I had to tag along,” he muttered.

“Don’t be silly, Harry,” Lexie waved him off before dropping a straw into her orange juice and taking a sip.

“Well, if you didn’t have to take me to Brian’s, you could get to your sister’s sooner. You have to go out of the way.”

“Harry, it’s not out of the way. In fact, it’s exactly on the way. It’s fine.”

Harry watched Lexie’s eyes as she took another drink. He liked the way her eyelashes fluttered slowly, laying delicately against her cheeks. He thought of kissing her eyelids, her cheeks, her lips. He’d never been this awkward around anyone before, the morning after. But this wasn’t just anyone.

“Besides,” Lexie added, sitting back in her seat, “it was you that needed the ride. It just so happened that I could visit my sister at the same time.”

The waitress returned with their food, and for several minutes they ate in awkward silence. Or perhaps it was only Harry who felt awkward. He wanted to mention the night before, but he reckoned in a diner while eating pancakes was not the best place to bring it up.

“So, are you excited about the wedding?” Lexie asked, breaking the silence.

Harry shrugged. “I like weddings. But I’m not sure excited would be the right word.”

Lex giggled, making Harry look up from his breakfast. He’d come to notice that he really liked her laugh.

“Why not?”

“Well…” he began, swallowing the bite in his mouth, “Brian’s an old friend of mine. And I’m happy for him. His family’s always been great to me. Looks like he’s found a great girl. It’s just…”

Lexie looked at him, tilting her head. “Just what? You’re not jealous, are you Harry?”

“No,” he shook his head. “Not jealous. I just...he’s got a big family, lots of cousins and friends. I’ll be the only person there alone.”

“Oh,” Lexie mouthed. She wasn’t sure what else to say.

“Last time I visited them,” he added, surprising Lex, “I was seeing someone.”

“Oh,” she whispered again.

With another shrug, Harry dismissed his own thoughts, diving back into his pancakes. “Doesn’t matter, I know. It’s my mate’s wedding. It’s not about me.”

“That’s true,” Lexie nodded. “You’re just there to show support.”

“Exactly,” Harry said with his mouth full.

With an odd feeling in her stomach, Lexie managed to eat the rest of her breakfast. She mentally kicked herself for even bringing up the subject and vowed to stay quiet about it until they’d reached their destination.

Back on the road, Lexie gave Harry control of the music, letting him choose a playlist from her phone. Except for a comment here or there on the songs, the conversation was sparse. They were on a long stretch of highway with nothing much on either side but pasture and the occasional farm or herd of cows.

“So, um…” Harry hesitated a moment before deciding to just admit what he was thinking. “I enjoyed last night.”

“What?” Lexie turned her head quickly before returning her eyes to the road. She heard Harry let out a soft, deep laugh, making her weak in the knees.

“I was wondering how long it would take either of us to mention it, but it’s been hours now and...well, I reckoned I’d have to be the one to address the elephant in the room...or, um...car.”

Sucking in her lips, Lexie felt herself blush as she gripped the steering wheel.

“Sorry,” she finally muttered, stealing a glance at Harry. “Guess I’m not very good at this.”

“Nothing to be sorry for,” said Harry. He paused before adding his question. “Did you enjoy it?”

Lexie felt her lips curl up as she kept her eyes on the road. Then tapping her thumbs on the wheel, she nodded. “Yes. Very much.”

“Good.” Harry sat back in his seat then, trying his best not to seem cocky. But she’d said she’d liked it. And that made him happy.

“I um...just want you to know…” he added, “it doesn’t have to be...weird between us now.”

“Oh, yeah, I know,” Lexie agreed hastily.

“It’s just...um...I’d really like to do it again, but if you feel-”

“If I feel what?” Lexie eyed him, her cheeks still pink.

Harry grinned, looked down at his knees and licked his lips. He was kind of enjoying the obvious effect he had on her, but he didn’t want to push it.

“Just...if you don’t want to, I’ll understand.”

“Harry, I um…” Lexie shifted in her seat, gripping the wheel. “Something else you should know about me. I’m not a one and done type of girl. I don’t...sleep around.”

Harry’s lips widened, his dimples deeper. “I know that, Lex.”

“But by the same token,” she continued, “I don’t rush into things either. I mean, I just broke up with-”

She stopped when she felt Harry’s hand on her elbow.

“Say no more,” he murmured. “I understand.”

Slowly releasing her grip on the steering wheel, Lexie lowered her arm to the seat, laying her hand next to her, palm up. Taking it as the gesture it was, Harry gracefully slipped his fingers through hers. Their hands remained like that through the next three songs as they both hummed softly along until stopping at the next exit to fill up on gas.

Harry had gone inside the food market to get a few snacks for the road while Lexie pumped the gas. Paying the cashier, he pushed the door open to see Lexie with her back to him, leaning against the driver’s side. It wasn’t until he got closer that he realized she was talking on her cell.

“I just can’t do it anymore, Shel,” he heard her say. “I just...I think it’s time we both moved on.”

Afraid he was intruding, Harry started to turn back to the market, pretending he’d forgotten something.

“Harry!”

Stopping in his tracks, he turned around again. Lexie beamed at him as she pushed a strand of hair from her face. He never thought she looked so pretty. Except maybe last night…

“What’d you get me?” she asked, jogging around the back of the car. Peeking into the paper bag, she raised her brows. Then she giggled, recognizing the potato chips, cookies and juice. “All my favorites.”

“Well, you didn’t get your juice last night so-”

Lexie planted a haste kiss on his cheek. “You’re sweet. I’m going to the ladies’. Be right back.”

“Hey, would you like me to drive for a while?” Harry inquired.

“If you like,” she smiled, handing him the keys.

Harry watched her practically prance into the market. He didn’t want to jinx it, but it certainly seemed like she’d gotten the closure she needed with Shelby. He was happy to see her with a little pep in her step.

Setting the groceries in the backseat, Harry put the key in the ignition. Then reaching back, he grabbed the two juices and placed them in the cup holders between the front seats. Just as Lexie returned to the car, Harry noticed it was sprinkling.

“Good timing, I guess,” remarked Lex as she climbed into the passenger seat. “I saw the dark clouds forming a few miles back.”

Switching on the windshield wipers, Harry pulled out of the gas station. As soon as they were back on the highway, he heard Lexie open the bottles then hand him one.

“Cheers,” she said with a sly grin.

Harry mimicked her, tapping his bottle against hers. “Thanks.”

“So, tell me more about this Brian guy,” said Lex as she pulled out the bag of potato chips and opened them.

Harry looked at her and then back at the road. “You sure are in a good mood.”

“Am I not supposed to be?”

“I dunno. I just thought…”

“That I’d be sad or still hung up on Shelby?” she asked.

Harry shrugged. “I couldn’t help overhearing.”

Lexie was quiet for a moment as she stared at the chip in her hand.

“It’s over,” she admitted softly. Then turning, she captured Harry’s gaze. “I ended it. Officially.”

Swallowing, Harry set his juice in the cup holder and nodded. “How do you feel about that?”

With a grin slowly spreading across her face, Lexie popped the chip into her mouth.

“I feel good about it,” she announced. “Great, actually. Is that awful?”

Harry shook his head. “Not at all. I’m glad you got the closure you needed.”

“Me too,” Lex agreed. Then like before, she laid her hand palm up across the console. Harry took it as an invitation and with a tiny flicker of a spark, he threaded his fingers through hers.

“Thank you.”

Harry wasn’t exactly sure what he’d done, but the look on her face and the touch of her skin was enough reason.

“You’re welcome,” he said. “Now hand me some of those cookies.”

“Hurry before you catch pneumonia!” Lexie heard the woman at the door call out.

The rain had been coming down nonstop for the last couple hours. Though Lexie had been grateful to Harry for taking over behind the wheel, she felt guilty for making him drive through that grueling weather. They’d finally made it to his friend Brian’s house, or rather, his mother’s, but the rain was determined to be difficult, the wind only adding to the arduous driving conditions.

Closing the trunk of the car, Lexie followed Harry as he carried both bags up the steps of the large farmhouse, stomping his feet on the massive wrap-around porch. Lex had given Harry a short questioning glance when he’d grabbed her bag, but with the woman shouting and the rain pouring down, she decided not to argue.

“Virginia!” he shouted. “Nice to see you.”

“Harry Styles, get in this house this instant!”

Practically shooing him over the threshold, the woman wasn’t slow to notice the girl following behind.

“Hello, dear!” she greeted. “Welcome.”

Lexie barely got a thank you out before Virginia addressed Harry again. “Who did you bring, handsome?”

“This is Lexie, Virginia,” Harry answered as he dropped the bags in the foyer. “We drove here in her car.”

“Oh, I see,” Virginia beamed. “Lovely to meet you...Lexie, you said?”

“Well, it’s Alexis actually, but…”

“Oh, come here, give me a hug,” the older woman insisted. “I’m so happy for you.”

Lexie wasn’t sure if she was more embarrassed because she was wet from the rain, or because the woman obviously thought she and Harry were a legit couple. Catching only a slight twitch of nervousness in Harry’s reflection in the mirror on the opposite wall, she opted to once again leave it be. Virginia was certainly used to playing hostess, and from the aroma in the house, Lexie could already tell she was good at it.

“Styles, you made it!”

Lexie looked up to see a man around Harry’s height and build saunter down the stairs. Meeting Harry, he caught him in a tight embrace, murmuring thank yous and missed yous.

“Lex, meet one of my oldest, dearest mates, Brian Ramsey.”

“Nice to meet you,” Lexie nodded, extending her hand.

“Pleasure’s all mine.”

“And you already met his mother, Mrs. Ramsey, AKA Virginia, AKA the best cook aside from my mum.”

“AKA the one you never come to see anymore,” Mrs. Ramsey swatted at Harry with her dishcloth.

“I’m sorry love, I’ve been busy,” Harry smirked.

“Mhmm, I see,” she nodded, eyeing Lexie and then giving a wink.

“Well, c’mon, Harry, let’s go have a drink,” Brian gestured down the hall to where Lexie only assumed was the kitchen. “Pretty sure Pops, Jenny and Serena are back here.”

Eager to join him, Harry looked back at Lexie with a smile.

“Oh,” she mouthed. “Actually, I should probably get going.”

“What?” Virginia asked incredulously.

“Yeah, um...I was actually just dropping Harry off. I have to get to my sister’s.”

“Oh, honey, you can’t go out in this weather!” Virginia insisted. “It’s supposed to be raining all night, possible flooding. Maybe even a tornado.”

“Oh.”

“And the roads around here usually flood pretty quickly, so they close them off. You probably won’t be able to get out until tomorrow morning, at the earliest.”

“Oh,” she whispered again.

“Don’t worry about it, Lex,” Harry offered. “I’m sure Mrs. Ramsey won’t mind you staying over.”

“Of course not, dear!” she exclaimed. “Trust me, you’re not going anywhere in this.”

“I don’t want to put you out,” Lex started to argue.

“Nonsense! I have enough rooms, blankets, towels and food for an army!”

“Ugh, the army line again,” scoffed Brian.

“Hush, you!” Virginia said, daring him with his own swat from the dishcloth.

Reluctantly, Lexie followed the two boys through the hall and into a large open area with the kitchen to the left, and a family room to the right.

“I thought a heard a raucous out there!” announced the man sitting in the leather recliner. Rising from it, he quickly held his hand out. “Harry, good to see you, son.”

“Hey, Pops,” said Harry, giving him a big hug. “How’s life treating you?”

“Can’t complain.”

With a grin, Harry stepped back and placed his hand on the small of Lexie’s back. “Pops, this is Lexie.”

“Hello, Lexie,” the older man greeted with a handshake. Then placing his other hand on top, he leaned in and whispered in her ear. “Just so you know, he’s one of the good ones.”

“What are you telling her, Pops?” asked a young woman who’d just walked into the room.

“None of your business.”

“Lies.”

Lex eyed Harry who let out a burst of giggles.

“Hi, I’m Jenny,” said the woman. “Brian’s older but wiser sister.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“And that one over there,” she pointed to the brunette in the kitchen, “is Brian’s fiancée, Serena.”

“Not for much longer,” Serena sang, taking a cookie sheet from the oven and placing it on top of the stove. Then wiping her hands on her apron, she walked around the counter, holding out her hand. “Hi, so nice to meet you, Lexie.”

Lexie suddenly felt as if she was in a movie, one of those wholesome Christmas films that were shown on television every year. Everyone was so nice and hospitable, it seemed...unreal.

Brian emerged from the kitchen then with two glasses of wine, offering them to Harry and Lex. Lifting his glass, Harry proposed a toast to the happy couple, wishing them all the best.

After several games of cards, and a couple rounds of charades, in which Harry won both, plus far too many of Serena’s cookies, the evening had finally wound down. The wedding pair retired to their room upstairs and Mrs. Ramsey set both Harry and Lexie up with their own rooms, across the hall from each other. Lexie had already called her sister to tell her the situation, and that she would be arriving later than scheduled.

After brushing her teeth, Lexie opened the bathroom door to find Harry standing in the hallway. A smile slowly spread across his face as he took her in. His gaze suddenly made Lexie self-conscious, and she looked down at her ensemble.

“Different pajamas,” she remarked.

“I can see that,” Harry smirked. “I like those, too.”

Blushing, she bit her lip, then ran a hand through her hair. “Um, did you need the restroom?”

“Oh...yeah.”

As Lexie turned down her bed, a beautiful blue and white rose quilt, she found herself humming one of the songs she and Harry had listened to earlier that day in the car. A smile twitched at the corners of her mouth as she recalled the way he’d told her he’d enjoyed the night before.

Suddenly, a knock sounded behind her, and she looked up to see Harry standing in the doorway.

“Hey. Can I come in?”

“Of course,” Lexie gestured.

Harry stepped into the room, gazing up at the photos and paintings on the walls, then walked over to the dresser and inspected everything on it.

“The Ramseys are really nice,” Lexie remarked, taking a seat on the bed as she watched Harry.

“Yeah,” Harry nodded. “They’re like...my second family.”

“I can tell. They’re definitely fond of you.”

“Yes.”

“And it was very kind of them to let me stay. Even though it was mostly Virginia’s idea,” Lexie laughed. “I don’t think she was about to let me set foot outside again.”

Harry chuckled nervously in agreement. “She’s a tough one, that Virginia. What she says goes.”

Placing an old, framed photo back onto the dresser, he let out a sigh. Finally, turning around, he sucked in his lips. Shoving his hands into his pockets, Harry looked at the floor.

“Um...hey I know it’s kind of last minute, and you need to get to your sister’s and all…” he paused, biting his bottom lip before finally lifting his eyes to Lexie, “but I was wondering...and you totally don’t have to...if you’d like to stay...a little longer tomorrow...and be my date. For the wedding.”

Lexie’s eyes widened. She hadn’t expected him to ask her that.

“Oh!” she breathed. “Oh, well...I…”

Harry shook his head. “It’s alright. It was a dumb thing to ask.”

“No!” Lexie exclaimed. “I mean...no, it wasn’t a dumb thing to ask. I mean...actually…”

The corners of Harry’s mouth quivered slightly before his lips spread into a smile and his dimples appeared. He let out a tiny chuckle, causing Lexie to glare at him.

“What?” she asked.

“You’re as nervous as I am,” he replied.

Lexie blushed as she realized he was absolutely right. With a smile that nearly blinded Harry, Lexie stepped forward and took his hand.

“I’d love to be your date,” she beamed.

Lexie stared at her reflection in the full-length mirror. While she wouldn’t call the dress exactly her style, she was grateful that Jenny let her borrow it for the special occasion. She liked the dainty blue flowers and flowing sleeves.

“I think it’s perfect,” declared Brian’s sister. “You look so pretty.”

“I do?” asked Lexie bashfully, her cheeks blushing a light pink.

“Definitely. Looks better on you than it ever did on me. Lucky we’re the same size.”

Biting her lip, Lexie ran her hands across her waist. She silently wondered what Harry would think.

“What about your hair?” asked Jenny. “Were you planning on wearing it up or down?”

Lex grinned nervously. “I actually hadn’t thought about it. This whole thing wasn’t planned at all.”

“Of course,” Jenny smiled.

“I usually wear my hair down though,” Lexie added, winding a strand around her finger. “What do you think?”

Jenny’s smile widened. “I have a great idea.”

Turning to her dresser, she opened the top drawer and pulled out a headband, bringing it to Lexie.

“What do you think of this?” she asked. The headband was simple, adorned with dainty flowers and leaves in gold metal.

“I love it!” exclaimed Lex.

With gentle ease, Jenny placed the headband on the center of Lexie’s head, allowing her soft, delicate hair to fall around it.

“Yes,” beamed Jenny. “Absolutely perfect.”

A knock sounded on the door then, and Jenny walked across the room to open it.

“Harry, you can’t see us yet,” Lex heard Jenny say. “It’s bad luck.”

“I thought that was just the bride and groom,” Harry chuckled from the doorway.

“Even so,” Jenny whispered. “I wasn’t quite finished.”

“With what?”

It was then that Harry spotted Lexie across the room, her reflection in the mirror as she looked down at her hands.

“Oh!” he sounded, his eyes wide.

With a sigh, Jenny stepped back and allowed Harry to enter the room.

“Wow, Lex, you look amazing!” he announced.

“Thanks,” she muttered, turning around to face him. Grabbing the sides of the dress, she felt herself blush again. “Jenny let me borrow it.”

“It’s lovely on you.”

Lexie and Harry seemed to stare at each other for a few moments until the silence was broken by Jenny’s voice.

“Shoes!” she squealed, nearly making Lexie jump. “What size shoes do you wear?”

“Um…” Lexie swallowed, “eight.”

“Aw crap,” Jenny scowled, snapping her hands on her waist. “I’m a nine. They’d be too big.”

“It’s okay.”

“I bet Serena’s your size,” she added. “I’m not sure if she brought any other shoes with her, but I could ask.”

“Really, it’s okay,” Lex chuckled. “You’ve done enough for me. Besides after the weather last night, I might be glad I’m in my sneakers.”

“Oh, that reminds me why I came up,” said Harry. “Your mum needs you downstairs. Something about a broken table and angry caterers.”

“Ugh,” Jenny rolled her eyes.

“Oh no, I hope everything’s okay,” said Lexie. “Maybe I should help.”

“No need,” Jenny held up a hand as she headed for the door. “When Virginia Ramsey’s involved, there is a way.”

“Send out an S.O.S. if you need us,” called Harry.

“Will do!”

Harry’s shoulders shook with laughter as his best friend’s sister left the room, leaving him alone with Lexie.

“Look at you,” said Lex, making Harry turn and raise a brow. “You clean up nice, Styles.”

Harry looked down at his suit, his hands on the jacket lapels.

“Wha’ this ol’ thing?” he smirked, causing Lexie to giggle.

Stepping closer to him, she reached for the cross around his neck, displayed in the center of his chest.

“I take it you’re not a tie kind of guy,” she remarked.

“Not particularly,” Harry grinned at her. “Why, do you think I should wear one?”

Lexie shook her head. “I didn’t say that.”

She felt his hand on her waist before he pulled her closer, his chest colliding with hers. His green eyes seemed to dance as his other hand slid under her ear.

“You look really pretty, Lex,” he said softly.

“Thanks. So do you.”

The corners of Harry’s mouth twitched before he leaned forward, his lips so close to hers she could feel his breath on them.

“Is it okay if I kiss you now?” he asked.

“I was beginning to wonder why you hadn’t already.”

Lexie gasped when Harry opened the back door, and she followed him out onto the large porch. It was trimmed with dangling lights and floral garlands that cascaded down the banisters to the large canopy in the backyard.

“Kinda magical, innit?” asked Harry, catching Lexie’s eye. She smiled and nodded.

“C’mere you two!” someone called from the yard and Lexie turned to see Mrs. Ramsey beckoning them. “I could use your help.”

Taking her hand, Harry lead Lexie down the steps and between the rows of white chairs to where Virginia stood.

“At your service,” offered Harry with a grin. “What do you need us to do?”

“Oh honey, don’t you look lovely!” exclaimed Virginia when she finally got a good look at Harry’s date up close.

“Thank you,” Lexie said shyly, looking down at her sneakered feet.

Her hand went to her forehead to brush a strand of hair from her face when she remembered the headband. Gently, she adjusted it, careful not to make a mess of it before the wedding as she caught the gleam in Virginia’s eyes when she smiled at Harry.

“If you wouldn’t mind, my dears,” said Mrs. Ramsey, “could you kindly stand outside the gate to greet the guests as they come in? Brian’s cousins are ushers, but I’d just like to have someone out there to make sure they’re entering on the right side, and no one steps in a mud puddle or anything.”

“No problem,” Harry and Lexie replied in unison.

Squeezing her hand that he was still holding, Harry gave Lexie a wink before guiding her around the corner to the large fence that surrounded the Ramsey’s backyard. Then unlocking the gate, he released her hand only to push it open.

“So, we just stand out here?” inquired Lexie.

“Yep. Guests should be arriving soon.”

Twirling around, Lexie inspected the view of the backyard through the gate, getting an idea of what guests might see when they walk through.

“This is really a great place for a wedding,” she commented.

“It is,” agreed Harry with a nod.

“And convenient, too. They probably saved a ton of money.”

“You better believe it,” Harry chuckled. “And not just because it’s the Ramsey’s house. Virginia will find the best deal anywhere. She’s kind of famous for it.”

“Really?” Lexie smiled, intrigued.

“Yeah, if she can do it herself, or get Pops to do it, she will. If not, she knows everyone within the next three towns, and she won’t let them take advantage of her. She always gets her way.”

Lexie laughed. “She’s a pretty cool lady.”

The corners of Harry’s mouth twitched as he stepped closer.

“You’re a pretty cool lady, too,” he declared.

“Stop,” Lexie playfully swatted at him as he tried to put his arms around her.

“Too cheesy?”

“Hmm, maybe a little…” she bit her lip.

“Sorry,” said Harry as he managed to pull her closer. “I’ll cut back on the cheese.”

“No, it’s...it’s cute.”

“I really like you, Lex. And I’m glad you’re here.”

A big smile spread across her face as she slid her hands up his arms. “Me too.”

Harry was just about to ask which statement she was agreeing with when an older couple approached them from the front yard.

“Don’t tell me the wedding’s started already,” the man chided.

“No, sir,” Lexie began before she noticed the twinkle in his eye.

“Harry,” he added, holding out his hand. “Good to see you, young man.”

“Mr. McRay, a pleasure,” Harry greeted.

“How’s that beautiful mother of yours?”

“She’s just fine, sir, thanks for asking.” Harry reached for Lexie then, placing his hand on her back. “Lex, this is Mr. and Mrs. McRay, the Ramsey’s neighbors.”

“How do you do,” Lexie smiled.

“I do wonderful, pretty lady,” Mr. McRay said, giving her a wink and earning himself a poke from his wife.

“Charles is a big flirt,” she scoffed. “Don’t mind him.”

Lexie felt herself blush as Harry’s fingertips dug into her waist as he gently pulled her closer to his side.

“You two look lovely,” Mrs. McRay added. “I trust Virginia’s inside, running herself ragged?”

“Just a wee bit,” said Harry, making Lexie giggle.

“I better see if she needs my help. Hope to see you two later.”

“Enjoy the wedding,” smiled Lexie.

By the time the McRays made it inside the gate, a short line of cars had formed along the curb, some on the driveway. Lexie took a deep breath as she watched guests exit their cars and begin the walk up to the gate.

After greeting at least half a dozen couples and clusters of families, Lexie noticed something. Harry’s hand had remained on her back the entire time. Perhaps it was a silent reassurance that even though she wasn’t a member of the wedding party or even an originally invited guest, she was still very much a part of the day’s activities because she was Harry’s date.

His date. Lexie let the word roll around her brain for a moment while she watched him chat with someone else he’d known nearly all his life. She liked the word. It was simple, not too formal or labeling. He’d introduced her as his date a couple of times already, a big, dimpled smile on his face as he’d said it.

“This is my date, Lexie,” he’d beamed, his hand giving her another light squeeze.

She liked that he hadn’t said “friend”. Although she certainly was his friend, she always thought that word held little romantic value. Even Shelby would sometimes introduce her as her friend, after they’d been dating for months, and it would rub her wrong to put it mildly. It wasn’t that she thought she and Harry had crossed the line into more than just friends after just one night together, but…

“Lex?” Harry asked, making her blink.

“Yeah, sorry,” she swallowed. “What did you say?”

“I was just telling Jackson about our little adventure on the road to get here.”

“Oh!” Lexie’s eyes widened.

Harry let out a gleeful chuckle and leaned into her. “Not the motel part, love.”

Lexie couldn’t help but laugh in spite of herself, and when she found she couldn’t stop, she rolled her head into Harry’s chest.

“Seems she’s gotten a fit of the giggles,” Harry explained to Jackson who’d joined in on the humor of an obvious inside joke.

“I’m so sorry!” Lexie shouted, muffled from Harry’s shirt.

“I’ll meet you inside,” laughed Jackson. “Good to meet you, Lexie.”

“You too!”

Harry’s chest continued to shake with laughter as he gently rubbed Lexie’s back. Once Jackson was out of earshot, she slowly lifted her head.

“I’m so embarrassed,” she whined.

“Why?” Harry asked, an enormous grin on his face.

“It’s not that I thought you’d told him...it’s just...it’s the first thing that came to mind, and...oh, God.”

Grabbing the lapels of his jacket and burying her face in his neck, Lexie got a good whiff of Harry’s cologne and suddenly felt her legs go weak.

“You are so fucking cute, Lex,” she heard him say.

“I am?” she asked, breathing him in. His skin was so close to her lips, she wanted to touch it.

“Yeah. I kind of always thought of you as very confident and self-assured.” Harry’s free hand found the back of her head and began to lightly brush his fingers through her hair. “And you are, I find it very sexy. But this…”

“Hmm?” Lexie sounded when he paused.

“This is a different side of you,” Harry explained. “I dunno if it’s because of me, but...it’s like you have your guard down a little bit. And I think it’s very sexy, too.”

Her legs now jelly, Lexie shifted slightly until her lips met the warm skin on his neck. She pressed three soft kisses there until she felt him hum against her mouth.

“Lex…” he whispered.

Lifting her head, she saw a deep green in his eyes she’d never seen before. He brushed a tiny strand of hair from her face before cupping her chin. Just as he was about the lean forward, however, a voice behind him interrupted.

“Harry, son, they’re getting the wedding party ready,” announced Mr. Ramsey.

“Oh yes, of course,” Harry cleared his throat. “Be right there.”

Lexie gave another look of embarrassment that only earned her a grin from Harry. Then taking her hand, he kissed the back of it.

“C’mon, I’ll take you to your seat.”

“You know, I knew you were the Best Man, but I guess I wasn’t thinking about the fact that you wouldn’t be sitting with me. Makes me kinda sad.”

“‘m sorry, love,” Harry frowned.

“It’s okay. I’m being dramatic,” Lexie teased. “At least I get to watch you.”

Harry chuckled low as they reached the end of a row of chairs where Lexie took a seat.

“Who says I won’t be watching you?”

“Please, it’s a wedding, Harry. Nobody’s even looking at anything but the bride and groom.”

“Hmm...that’s what you think.”

With another giggle in her chest, Lexie watched Harry turn down the aisle and walk up the porch steps. Soon enough, the music started and Brian escorted Mr. and Mrs. Ramsey to their seats on the front row. Serena’s mother was escorted next, followed by Harry and Jenny, serving as the Best Man and Maid of Honor.

Finally, the wedding march began, and Serena emerged from the porch and down the steps, her arm looped with her father’s. Lexie immediately felt the heaviness in her chest as Serena walked down the aisle, her face all aglow as her eyes met Brian’s. Then turning in her seat, Lexie caught the look on Brian’s face and just about lost it. No matter how strong and self-assured she sometimes seemed, Lex was no stranger to crying at weddings. Perhaps she was a true romantic at heart.

Just when the ceremony began, Lexie heard a familiar sound and realized it was raining again. However, with the party safe under the large canopy, it was almost tranquil.

As the couple said their vows, Lexie’s eyes veered toward her date who stood behind the groom. Her insides nearly melted when she realized he was looking at her too. And when the rings were exchanged and a tear made its way down her cheek, Lexie caught Harry’s lips curl up until they widened into a smile.

When the happy couple was pronounced husband and wife, the guests clapped and watched them make their way up the aisle. As Harry followed, he discreetly held out his hand to allow it to graze across Lexie’s shoulder. As if the looks he’d given her during the ceremony weren’t enough, her entire skin was now on fire.

Moments later, as the reception began, Lexie had just finished chatting with a friend of Serena’s that she’d met earlier when she felt the familiar hand on her waist.

“Did you enjoy that?” he whispered in her ear.

“Did you enjoy mocking me?” she teased.

“Mocking you?”

“Yeah, what was with the huge grin while I was clearly in tears over the vows?”

“That was not mocking,” argued Harry. “I was happy.”

“Happy I was crying?”

“Well...kinda, yeah,” Harry shrugged.

“Meanie!”

“No,” he chuckled, shaking his head. “I mean I was happy that it moved you that much.”

“Oh.”

“I told you I was gonna watch you,” Harry added.

“Glad to be your entertainment.” Lexie folded her arms and looked down at her sneakers.

“Heyyy,” he said, lifting her chin with his finger. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, it was...it was a beautiful wedding.”

“It was. But it’s not over yet. We have a party.” Harry spread his arms out.

“Yeah...I can’t stay that long though.”

“Oh,” Harry dropped his arms and frowned. “Why not?”

“I just...I have to get to my sister’s.”

“I thought you had that all worked out.”

“Yeah, but I feel bad. I was supposed to be there a long time ago, and now I’ll only get like a day and a half with her as it is.”

“I’m sorry,” Harry muttered.

“Not your fault,” Lexie waved her hand. “I should...I should probably go ahead and get changed. Pack my stuff. Looks like the rain stopped, so I should get out before it starts again.”

As she turned toward the back porch, Harry grabbed her hand.

“But wait…” he pleaded. “We...we haven’t had our dance yet.”

“Dance?”

As if on cue, a slow love song began to play, and a few couples took to the dance floor.

“Please?” Harry held out his hand.

With a sigh, Lexie took it and followed him. They began to sway in each other’s arms, the music leading them.

“Thanks for coming with me, Lex,” Harry said low. “And for being my date.”

“You’re welcome.”

“I wish we...had more time.”

Lexie stared at Harry’s lips for a long while before shifting her gaze to his eyes which seemed to burn into hers.

“Me too,” she finally admitted.

“Yeah?”

Shutting her eyes, Lexie leaned forward.

“Harry…” she whispered. “I don’t wanna go.”

“What?”

“I mean...I still wanna see my sister, but...I don’t wanna leave you.”

“Lexie…” Harry breathed, lifting his hand to her cheek.

“Is that awful?” she asked when she opened her eyes.

“No.”

Harry’s face looked so serene and beautiful, Lexie couldn’t help but feel a sudden calmness, even though her heart was beating a mile a minute.

“I’ve had the best time with you,” she confessed. “I’m not ready to say goodbye yet.”

“Me neither.”

“Would it be...completely awkward or inappropriate if I asked you to come with me?”

“To your sister’s?” Harry asked.

“Yeah…” Lexie’s expression faltered. “Never mind, forget it. It’s ridiculous.”

“No, it’s not,” murmured Harry as he blinked slowly, pulled her closer and pressed his lips to hers.

Rain began to pelt against the canopy once again just as the fire she’d felt before returned full force and Lexie fell into the kiss. Their bodies continued to sway as their lips and tongues collided, until the song finally came to an end. Then leaning his forehead against hers, Harry gave her another of his dazzling smiles.

“I’d love to,” he said.

Hope you enjoyed!

Please like, comment, reblog or send me a msg!

MASTERLIST | KO-FI | FEEDBACK

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twice-inamillion · 1 year ago

Text

Love At First Sight

Fluff (falling in love, first date)

2,192 Words

(Minji’s partner cancels on her last minute. OC steps in for the person and falls for Minji.)

“Hi, Minji. Sorry to message you late, but I got sick and can’t attend practice. I’m really sorry. I asked someone I know if they would step in for me, and they said they could. Sorry again 👏🏼.”

Minji reads the message, turns off the phone, and heads to sleep.

———-

You wake up early in the morning and get ready for a dance session at a local studio. Your friend messaged you early yesterday and begged you to fill in for her since she’s got sick with the flu. You tried to decline, but she said that she’d owe you a huge favor whenever you’d want and hesitantly agreed.

Minji is at the dance studio and nervously awaits her substitute dance partner's arrival. She looked towards the door every time it opened.

“Alright, everyone, gather up. Most of you are here early and have a few minutes before we start. If you could all pair up and sit somewhere together,” says the dance instructor.

You walk towards the door and open it in a rush, causing everyone to turn towards your direction. “Sorry, I’m late. I’m the one that messaged earlier.”

The instructor walks towards you and looks at your phone. “Come on, you’ll meet your partner for today.” You follow the instructor toward the end of the room and see her talking to a girl in training pants and a white t-shirt.

“This is the partner you’re going to have for today,” she points at you. “And this is Kim Minji, the girl you’ll dance with today. ”

You approach her and introduce yourself, “I’ll be your partner today. I really hope we get along.”

Minji shakes your hand and says shyly, “Nice to… to meet you. Please take care of me.” You find her English quite cute and smile at her.

“Alright, everyone, quiet down. Since everyone is here, we will do some stretches before we start. After that, I will show you what we will do for today.”

The class stretches for about five minutes before moving to the main event. “Good job everyone. Now that we are warmed up, I will show you the dance we will practice today. She calls her partner, “Today we’ll dance to some Latin music, Salsa.” Everyone looks around, surprised, but the instructor mentions the importance of learning dances outside someone's comfort.

Minji watches as the instructor and her partner get in position and dance. She can’t help but notice the amount of touching there is and gets a bit shy with having someone she just met have their hand around her waist.

She looks at you and gives you a nervous smile, to which you return. You can’t help but find her a bit cute of her nervousness, but you obviously can’t tell her that.

After the dance, the instructor asked the whole room to stand up before their partners. “Alright, pick amongst yourselves who is going to be the leader in the group since you’ll be in charge of your partner.”

You stand in front of Minji, and she says, “I’ve never danced to this type of music before; I’m kind of nervous.”

“I’ve danced it once when I was younger but don’t remember how exactly it went. My friends and I were just messing around. If you want you, I can take the lead.”

“I’d like that,” says Minji with a relieved expression.

The instructor slowly demonstrates the moves the “leader” would need to do. You see the instructor grab the person’s hand and place the other hand on their waist. You do the same and grab Minji’s hand, which startles her, “eh.”

“Sorry, I was just copying what she was doing.”

“Ohh… okay, I was just a bit surprised.”

“Haha. Is it okay if…” Minji cuts you short and nods before you finish your sentence.

“Yeah, I don’t mind.”

She watches you as you interlock your hands with hers and place your hands on her hip. She can’t help but feel her heart begin to race. It’s her first time holding hands with someone of the opposite gender. She feels your firm but caring grip on her, making her a bit more nervous.

The instructor shows the class the moves and asks for everyone to copy them. You slowly move around the studio, leading Minji around. You can’t help but stare at her cute but shy expression. Minji catches your eye and turns red. She accidentally takes a wrong step and loses her balance, which makes her slip.

Unfortunately, you catch her by getting a firmer grip on her waist. “Are you okay?”

She freezes up and turns completely red, “you okay, Minji?” Her heart beats faster and faster as she is confused by your embrace. You help her get back up and try to catch up to the instructor.

“Alright, good job everyone. Let’s start over.” The two of you start the dance all over again.

After dancing for what feels like an hour, the instructor ends the class. “Good job, people! You all did better than I thought, especially the unexpected couple,” she said as she looked at Minji and you.

You see Minji blush when the instructor calls the two of you a couple. “You look cute when you blush.”

“Ehh,” says Minji as she turns even more red. Her mind is all over the place, trying to come up with a response, “I… thank you.”

“Actually… you seem pretty chill. Would you like to hang out sometime?”

Her mind immediately thinks of the word, date. A date with a boy. “Does… does right now work?”

“Yeah, I’m free right now.”

“Okay, can you wait for me outside? I’ll be out in a bit; I just need to do something.”

“Okay, I’ll meet you outside then.” You turn around to leave. She grabs your hand midway, “Wait, let me get your number first.”

“Sure,” she says, and she takes out her phone. You put in your number, “say cheese,” as you catch her off guard, take an unexpected selfie with her, and put it as her contact picture. You then text yourself and save her number on yours, put “Minji <3” and show it to her.

Minji chokes up as she walks towards the back of the studio. You gather your belongings and wait for her outside.

You pull out your phone and text her, “I’m outside,” and take a picture of the studio with a random dog in the background. You only need to wait a couple of minutes for Minji to come out of the studio.

“Thanks for waiting for me. Where do you want to go?”

“I’m down for some ice cream. It’s been a while since I had some.”

“Omg… I love ice cream. Let’s go.”

The two of you begin to walk toward a popular cream shop. Minji asks, “Okay, choose between the two, mint or no mint?”

“I love me some mint chocolate.” She stops and says, “Really?”

“Haha, no, I'm just kidding.”

“Haha, you really had me there. I actually thought you liked mint.”

“You don’t like it?”

“No, it tastes like toothpaste. It’s not my thing. My choices are between chocolate for ice cream and mango for gelato.”

“Omg, I love chocolate, and you’re right, mint tastes like toothpaste. We should definitely get chocolate.”

The two of you continue to walk to the ice cream place and talk over the practice. When you arrive, you open the door for Minji and walk towards the counter. “Good afternoon; how may I help you.”

“Hmm, we could like one chocolate and own mint for her,” as you point at Minji. “Wait… I…” Minji doesn’t finish her comment when you say, “Just kidding, two chocolates, please.”

“Haha, your boyfriend is funny,” says the attendant.

Minji gets embarrassed and says, “he’s not my boyfriend.”

“Not yet,” you reply. The attendant laughs and gives you a thumbs-up. He serves your order and takes it to the outside seating area.

“Here’s your mint chocolate,” you say as you hand Minji her ice cream.

“Haha, stop.”

“Just kidding, it's just regular chocolate.”

“Okay, don’t be a meany,” she pouts.

“Cute.”

“What?”

“Oh… nothing.”

“Anyways, thank you for being my partner today.”

“No problem. I think I owe your ex-partner a thanks.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m going to thank them for introducing me to you.”

Minji can’t help but blush again and says, “You’re really something else, huh.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, if you flirt with all the girls like that.”

“Oh, no, just the ones I like.”

She chokes on her ice cream as she sees your genuine smile. “Oh really?”

“Yeah.”

“But we just met.”

“Don’t think that matters.”

“But I don’t know anything about you.”

“Ask away; I’ll answer any of your questions.”

Minji hesitates at first as she tries to think of a question. “Are you from around here?”

“You mean, if I live around the area?”

“Yeah.”

“I live within a fifteen-minute walk from here.”

“Do you go to school?”

“Yeah, I go to uni here.”

“Uni? You’re older?”

“No, just skipped a few grades a few years back.”

“What are you studying?”

“Hmm… I like games, so I decided on game systems and engineering.”

“Ohh, what do your parents think?”

“They said that as long as I like it then they are fine with it.”

“Oh, your parents seen pretty lenient.”

“You could say that.”

“Do you live with them?”

“Oh no, they are back in the States.”

“Then you live alone?”

“Yes, I have an apartment.”

“You must bring a lot of friends over,” says Minji as she tries to insinuate something.

“Just to play video games. Anyway, what about you?

“What do you want to know?”

“Why are you learning how to dance salsa?”

“Haha, it's not like I wanted to. It was just the instructor that chose it for this month’s dance. We do a lot of different genres of dancing.”

“Oh, so are you a dancer?”

“Hmm, sort of. I dance, sing, and perform.”

“Thank seems like fun.”

“At times, my teammates and I are preparing for a stage in a few months. So we need to practice really well.”

“That sounds cool. Hopefully, it goes great.”

“Thanks, I hope it goes well too.”

“What’s the name of the group?”

“Umm, New Jeans. The name is kind of weird, isn’t it.”

“No, I like it, sounds catchy.”

“You think so?”

“Yeah, for sure, you’ll get a lot of attention.”

The two of you continue to enjoy our ice cream and engage in small talk. You both realize you have things in common, which surprises you both.

After finishing your ice cream, she asks you, “Are you planning on coming back for another class?”

“Hmm… I don’t know. Maybe,” as you try to tease her.

“You should, you’re a good dancer.”

“If you ask me personally, I’ll be willing to go.”

“Haha, I was just saying. You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

“You’re right. But I might want to go since I met someone I might like.”

Her ears perk up, “Oh really?”

“Yeah, they caught my attention at first sight. I really want to get to know them better.”

“Then you should come, and you can talk to them.”

“Hmm, but I don’t just want to see them there. I want to go on a date with them,” as you look at her.

“Why are you looking at me for?”

“Because you’re pretty.”

“Ehh?”

“I said you’re pretty.”

“Eh?” In a cute voice.

“I like you.”

“You… you like me?”

“How about going on a date?”

Minji instinctively pulls out her phone and says, “I’m running late; I need to meet up with my group mates for practice.”

“Can I walk you there?”

“Yeah…”

The two of you walk alongside each other. Minji's heart is racing a thousand miles a minute with the idea of a boy walking with her to practice. She looks at you and tries to hide her smile. You walk closer to her, where your fingers rub against each other.

Minji’s small finger wraps around your own, making you skip a beat as well. You take a leap and interlock your hands with hers. She doesn’t reject your actions and instead seems comfortable with you.

You continue to walk on the sidewalk until she stops, “We’re here.” You look up and see a huge building, “it’s huge.”

She lets go of your hand and races with the steps to return and say, “Thank you,” and gives you a kiss on the cheek.

You hold your hand against your cheek and see her enter the building and turn around once more to wave goodbye.

You walk back towards your apartment and feel a sudden vibration in your pocket. You pull out your phone and see a message from Miji.

“Thank you for the ice cream. It was delicious.

Also, I would love to go on a date with you. 🐻

#newjeans fluff #newjeans #kpop male reader #kpop x reader #kpop fluff #TM smut #minji fluff #newjeans minji #minji #kim minji #minji x reader

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urdreamydoodles · 3 months ago

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HIII I'm a fan of yours and I love your writing style!! May I request a Quicksilver (X-Men evolution or X-Men Apocalypse one) X reader! Where reader has the ability to copy mutant power (she's base on my OC) and has a love-hate relationship with Peter and reader Gets sick and is in the her room resting! Thanks!!

Peter Maximoff (X-Men: Apocalypse) x Sick!Reader

You are sick and Peter comes to see you in your room (Love/Hate relationship)

Sick and resting in your room, you're unexpectedly visited by Peter Maximoff, with whom you shares a love-hate relationship. Despite your usual banter and tension, Peter stays by your side, revealing a softer, more caring side as he looks after you.

Chatacter: Peter Maximoff (X-Men: Apocalypse)

I'm so happy every time I hear I have a new fan! I hope you like it ♡ — Love, Marie, your friendly marvel fangirl

- You’d never admit it out loud, but being sick sucks. Even for someone like you, who can copy the powers of any mutant you come into contact with. Usually, that ability would come in handy, but not today. Your head pounds, your body aches, and you’re sprawled across your bed, buried under a heap of blankets that should make you feel warm but somehow aren’t enough. It doesn’t help that Peter Maximoff, aka Quicksilver, decided today of all days to show up at your door, acting like his usual cocky self.

- Peter’s been lounging around your room for hours now, leaning against your dresser with that infuriating smirk on his face. He’s tossing one of your pillows up and down, occasionally speeding around the room to catch it just before it hits the ground. You glare at him from your bed, your voice hoarse as you say, “Don’t you have somewhere better to be?” He just grins, his silver hair falling into his eyes as he shrugs. “Nah, this is way more fun.” You roll your eyes, even though, deep down, you don’t really mind his company. It’s annoying, sure, but there’s something about Peter that keeps pulling you back. Maybe it’s the way he looks at you when he thinks you’re not paying attention.

- “You’re sick,” he says, matter-of-factly, like he’s just figured it out. You narrow your eyes at him, your voice dripping with sarcasm. “Wow, Peter, I had no idea. Thanks for the heads-up.” He speeds over to the side of your bed in a blink, resting his hand on your forehead. “Yep, you’re burning up,” he says, his voice a mix of concern and teasing. You swat his hand away, but your heart skips a beat. He’s too close, and even though you feel like crap, the tension between you two is still there, crackling in the air like static.

- The thing with Peter is that for every snarky comment, there’s a quiet moment that follows. He sits at the edge of your bed now, fidgeting with the edge of the blanket. “You know, if you wanted attention, you didn’t have to get sick,” he jokes, but there’s a softness in his voice. You don’t reply, feeling a little too exposed under his gaze. It’s rare for the two of you to be like this—alone, with no distractions, no witty comebacks. Just you and him. The silence stretches on, and for once, it’s not awkward.

- You shift slightly, wincing as the soreness in your muscles flares up again. Peter notices immediately, his brow furrowing. Before you can protest, he’s gone in a blur, only to reappear seconds later with a glass of water and some painkillers. “Here,” he says, almost shyly, handing them to you. You take them without a word, surprised at how thoughtful he’s being. This wasn’t like him. You’ve always known Peter as the guy who runs away from responsibility, who never sticks around long enough to care. But right now, he’s here, and he’s staying.

- “You don’t have to stay, you know,” you murmur, though part of you hopes he doesn’t listen. He shrugs, looking away, but you catch the hint of a smile on his lips. “I know. But I’m fast, remember? I’ve got time.” He leans back against the headboard, his shoulder brushing against yours. The contact sends a shiver through you, and you’re not sure if it’s from the fever or something else entirely. You turn your head slightly, watching him out of the corner of your eye. He’s pretending to be engrossed in something on the ceiling, but you can tell he’s aware of your every move.

- The love-hate dynamic between the two of you is exhausting at times. It’s a constant push and pull—one minute, you can’t stand each other, and the next, you’re sharing moments like this. It’s confusing, frustrating, but undeniably exciting. You wonder if Peter feels it too, this unspoken tension that’s been building for who knows how long. Maybe that’s why he’s here now, sticking around even though you’re at your worst. Maybe he’s finally starting to realize what’s been right in front of him all along.

- You feel yourself drifting off, the exhaustion finally catching up to you. As your eyes flutter closed, you feel Peter shift beside you. His hand brushes against yours for just a second, hesitant but deliberate. “Get some rest, okay?” he whispers, his voice softer than you’ve ever heard it. You don’t respond, too tired to form words, but you feel the corner of your lips tug upward into a small smile. Maybe, just maybe, Peter Maximoff isn’t as impossible as you thought.

#peter maximoff #peter maximoff x reader #x men apocalypse #x men #apocalypse #x men x reader #x men headcanons #x men imagines #marvel #marvel headcanons #marvel imagines #imagines #headcanons #x reader

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ask-the-koopa-family · 1 month ago

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Heres a little story of the koopa family that happens in the future!

Hope you like it, art/Oc are mine dont copy/repost!

#koopalings

#supermario

#supermariofanart

#supermariobros

#cleokoopa

#koopaoc

#iggykoopa

#ludwigvonkoopa

#wendykoopa

#mortonjrkoopa

#lemmykoopa

#larrykoopa

#roykoopa

#bowserjr

A quiet evening at Bowser’s castle. The kids, now teenagers and young adults, have gathered in the living room. Laughter echoes through the room as they chat about everything and nothing, lounging on cushions, surrounded by snacks and drinks. The atmosphere is relaxed, but as usual, Iggy is already preparing his teasing.

Iggy, with a mischievous grin: — So, do you all think we’ll end up married or stay old singles in this castle?

Wendy, rolling her eyes: — Speak for yourself, Iggy. I’ve got my options open. You’re the ones who are stuck!

Bowser Jr., laughing: — Yeah, no shortage of suitors for you, Wendy… even though you scare off half of them!

Cléo, laughing: — Oh, Melody, your childhood best friend… Are you ever going to make a move, or are you going to keep playing the shy little prince?

Bowser Jr., embarrassed: — It’s… it’s just complicated, okay?

Iggy, rubbing his hands together, sensing his moment: — Oh, but wait. We’re always talking about Bowser Jr., but what about Ludwig? The great and mysterious Ludwig, so secretive… But I remember a time when he had a massive crush on… Rosalina!

The others burst into laughter.

Larry, amused: — Oh yeah, everyone knows that! It was hilarious! Ludwig, in love with the princess of the stars!

Ludwig, crossing his arms, remains stoic: — That’s in the past. It was just a youthful fascination.

Iggy, with a sly smile, adds: — Oh yeah? And what about Cadence Koopa, then?

A silence falls over the room. All eyes turn to Ludwig, surprised.

Wendy, stunned: — What? Cadence Koopa? Seriously, Ludwig? Who is she?

Cléo, shocked, looks at Ludwig with a mischievous smile: — How did you keep that from us for so long?

Lemmy, always cheerful, rubs his hands together: — Oh, this is good! Ludwig, in love, who would’ve thought?

Roy, gruff and frowning, growls: — Seriously, Ludwig? Why didn’t you say anything? We wouldn’t have judged… too much.

Morton, big and imposing, leans on his elbow, intrigued: — Ludwig… in love. Weird, but pretty funny.

Larry, curious: — But who is this Cadence? And how did you meet her?

Ludwig, clearly annoyed, replies: — Forget it. It’s not important.

Iggy, persistent: — Not important? Are you kidding? We all want details, bro!

Wendy, with a sly smile: — Ludwig, it’s not like you can hide it forever. Spill!

Ludwig, seeing the conversation spiraling out of control, takes a deep breath, then shows a mischievous smile: — Fine. You want to play this game? Let’s talk about YOU.

Iggy, laughing: — Oh, I sense this is going to be good!

Ludwig, starting with Iggy: — Iggy, you always make fun of others, but you never mention how you tried to ask out Hariet, only to be completely ignored because she didn’t care about you!

Iggy, shocked but laughing: — What?! Did you really have to bring that up?!

The others erupt in laughter.

Ludwig, turning to Wendy: — Wendy, you’re always talking about keeping your options open… should we talk about your huge crush on Boom Boom? And how you dropped him as soon as you found out he was already dating someone?

Wendy, blushing: — How do you… Wait, were you spying on my conversations or something?

Bowser Jr., laughing loudly: — Oh wow, Wendy! Not so untouchable now, huh?

Ludwig, turning his gaze to Bowser Jr.: — And you, Junior… You can laugh, but you spend so much time with Melody that we’re all wondering if you’re just playing her bodyguard to avoid telling her how you really feel.

Bowser Jr., blushing: — Hey! That’s not true, I… I’m going to tell her, one day.

Cleo, amused, teases too: — Yeah, we’re all still waiting for that “one day.”

Ludwig, finally turning to Cleo: — And you, Cléo… The perfect little sister who plays the innocent card. I have nothing on you—yet. But I’m watching you...

Cleo, smiling: — Haha, good luck with that!

Everyone bursts into laughter, the general surprise replacing the initial teasing.

Ludwig, with an even wider smile: — Oh, but wait, I’m not done yet. Lemmy!

Lemmy, who had so far avoided the conversation, freezes: — Oh no…

Ludwig, with a piercing gaze: — No one ever talks about your little escapade with that circus magician… what was her name again? Teddy! She taught you her tricks, huh? But you never told anyone how you tried to impress her with your own act and ended up in a disaster.

Lemmy, blushing: — Hey! It wasn’t that bad, it was… just a bit too much juggling… and, okay, a collapsed stage.

Roy, laughing loudly: — Lemmy, the master of disasters!

Morton, still serious, watches, but Ludwig turns to him with a sly grin: — Ah, Morton… You seem so strong and calm. You never mention that you’re afraid of ghosts, right? The great Morton, terrified of a simple light in the dark.

Morton, wide-eyed: — Morton… not scared!

Iggy, laughing hysterically: — Oh, yes, you are, bro! We all saw you jump when you were little, thinking you saw a ghost in your room!

Roy, crossing his arms, trying to avoid the conversation: — Okay, fine, everyone’s had their embarrassing moment.

Ludwig, not letting him escape: — Not so fast, Roy. You wanted to avoid the rumors, but you never tell us why you suddenly stopped talking to Pom Pom, that girl you thought was cool… until she beat you in a fighting competition.

Roy, grumbling but smiling despite himself: — She got lucky that day, that’s all.

Larry, laughing: — Yeah, we all believe you, Roy!

Ludwig, with a satisfied smile, interrupts Larry: — Oh, and you, Larry. You think you're a strategist? Let’s not forget that time you completely messed up the plan to trap Mario… by forgetting to set the traps.

Larry, surprised and blushing: — Hey, it happens to everyone! And besides, it was… a long time ago!

Roy, laughing loudly: — Larry, the legendary strategist, who forgets half the plan! Seriously, bro, you need to work on that.

Lemmy, teasing: — Oh, I’d almost forgotten that story! Mario walked through the whole castle without hitting a single trap. We looked like total amateurs!

Larry, trying to defend himself: — Okay, okay, I messed up that time, but it was stress! You should’ve seen Dad’s face when he found out what happened…

Iggy, mimicking Larry: — “Uh… the traps? I thought you were supposed to set them!”

Wendy, laughing: — Come on, Larry, we still love you. We know you’ll be a great strategist… maybe someday.

Larry, sighing but smiling: — Yeah, yeah. One day, I’ll prove to you all that I’m the best strategist in the family. You’ll see.

Ludwig, satisfied with the chaos he’s caused, stands up calmly and declares: — There. Now that everyone’s little secrets are out, I think we can stop talking about my private life.

Roy, trying to regain composure: — Okay, Ludwig. Well played, well played. But I wasn’t expecting that…

Lemmy, laughing: — Who would’ve thought you’d be so good at dishing out the dirt?!

Morton, still surprised: — Many secrets here. Ludwig smart.

Iggy, wiping away a tear from laughing: — You really managed to shut us all up. Respect, bro.

Wendy, smiling: — Alright, you got us all. But it was funny.

Cleo, still laughing: — We should’ve known better. Ludwig, you hide it well!

Bowser Jr., with a forced smile: — Yeah, you scored a point, Ludwig. But I promise, we’ll get our revenge.

Ludwig, standing with an air of triumph: — You can try. But for now, I’m at peace. Good luck beating me at my own game.

---

The atmosphere relaxes again after Ludwig’s final “reveal.” They all laugh together, fully aware that despite the teasing and the secrets exposed, they remain a close-knit family.

The others exchange knowing looks, some still shocked, others amused.

THE END

#bowser #drawing #tablet #bowser jr #koopa oc #cleo koopa #koopalings #super mario #future

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androdragynous · 1 month ago

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EFIT THANK YOU ANON ITS AREA 50.5 BY AKRIL15!!!

hi help me find a game for my friend . ANY information about it would be great, we're pretty sure it doesn't exist online any more but I am a miracle worker. anyways

The Game As Remembered By Fusgia:

point and click 2d DeviantArt game of someone's OC / original character, played as a puma / cougar / mountain lion lab experiment with human hands. Goal was to escape / get out of the lab. Plot is barely remembered but there was a globe you can click on and spin and the puma points at a spot to say they could go there / visit. When you get out of the lab you are in a house with a bed overlooking a window

this reddit thread appears to be describing the same game (copied below the break for search indexing), but hasn't had a successful find yet

If you know ANYTHING about this game or the creator, or (miracle upon miracle) you're the creator, please get in touch!! Shares are very welcome!! Kiss

[Browser][2010s] DeviantArt flash game where a big cat must escape an underground lab that has a minor twist ending

EDIT: Realized that my initial estimate of the early to mid 2010s was a few years too late to be correct. My only excuse is that I'm stupid.

Platform(s): Browser

Genre: Point and click. It could possibly be categorized further as an escape the room game.

Estimated year of release: Considering that I played it during or a bit after DeviantArt's heyday, I think it's safe to say that it was at some point in the late 2000s to early 2010s.

Graphics/art style: It was 2d and, if I'm recalling it correctly, had a "yeah I saw Disney movies growing up and now I draw animals in a similar way" style to it.

Notable characters: The main character. They were a puma/cougar/mountain lion, or at the very least a big cat with the same sort of coloration. The big thing about the character was that they had human hands. No, I'm not talking about an anthro character that just happened to have extremely human-looking hands. I mean like a full on quadruped but the front paws were just hands.

Notable gameplay mechanics: I don't think it was super unique mechanically for an escape/point-and-click game. The only weird thing about it came from the fact that the main character could use their hands to interact with the environment rather than the gameplay itself.

Other details:

-The main character is a genetic experiment who, after waiting for the scientist who was either responsible for them or bonded with them to return for a long time, finally decides to escape the underground lab they are being kept in.

-Not sure how right this is, but I want to say that the puma and main scientist were both female. There was also at least one other scientist mentioned that was male.

-The underground lab was basically one big room.

-The game ends with the main character escaping the lab and being found by the side of the road. We then cut to a news report on the character and see that rather than humans, the world is populated by anthropomorphic animals. The main character wasn't an experiment in splicing human and animal genes, but in splicing together anthro and regular animals.

#patch me through to palaven command #tipofmyjoystick #furry #flash games #lost media #assist me my fellow nerds #thank you

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jojo-schmo · 4 months ago

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hi jojo! im just wondering but ive been wanting to make a comic for a little while but im not too sure where to start 😅. i really love your style of art and your forgotten land roleswap, and i was wondering if you had any tips for beginners?

Hello, hello! Thank you for enjoying my Forgotten Land Roleswap comic, it means a lot! <3

I'm very honored that people have been asking me for tips and advice. All of this is coming from a hobbyist who draws these comics purely for fun outside of my regular day job. Some of my methods would probably deal psychic damage to a professional, LOL. But I'm more than happy to share some things I've personally learned! :)

First of all, the book, "Understanding Comics" by Scott McCloud ROCKS. It literally gave me a new dimension to understand the medium of comics and how it presents ideas and emotions to readers! And I haven't even had the chance to finish it all the way! I'm very happy I own a copy and I recommend having one of your own if you can, but it's archived here if you want to read it :D

I also like analyzing other comics and thinking about how they get information across to me as a reader. It's helped me learn more effective ways to visually tell a story, like what to include in a frame, how zooming in or out affects the feeling from the panel, maybe building a scene by focusing on other stuff if someone is talking a lot... etc.

ANYWAYS-! Some other tips I've learned through my personal experience-

I had to overcome a lot of negative self-talk in order to tackle a huge comic project like this and stay committed. I was a pretty severe self-deprecator for most of my life so far, and getting help has allowed me to catch myself when I'm slipping back into those habits, look in the mirror, and go, "NO, JOJO! You pour your heart into what you make and that is a wonderful thing! You are appreciated and loved and you deserve to have fun making something you are passionate about!!" Some examples of the negative self-talk I catch myself in....

"I'm a noob at writing and making a story interesting... What's the point of even trying?"

When it comes to starting a project, whether it's 2 pages or 2000 pages, is to just jump in and start! It's okay to be a little insecure or nervous about your technical art skills, writing skills, etc... But writing a "bad" scene is better than no scene- because you can always edit a "bad" scene down the line, but what can you do with nothing? Nothing!! I also put "bad" in quotation marks because I am trying to use that term less, and instead call them "early drafts." or "works in progress."

The first Roleswap scene I fleshed-out was the first Bandee boss fight, in May 2022. I made this drawing on an impulse, getting my ideas down on the page without thinking about the technical stuff like comic panel borders. I consider it like a "pilot episode" almost, haha. The final project is going to be very different from how things play out here. But it got me interested in the concept and excited to see where I could take it, and I made the decision to commit to an entire game plot's worth of AU comics!!

Also, what's the point in trying you ask? The point is to have fun! Making a fan comic in my free time means I don't have restrictions like deadlines, nobody's telling me what I can and can't write, and I can make the story as long or as short as I want! I have full control, which means the world I'm writing is all mine to create! Yes, with a fan comic there is a pre-established world with existing characters. But a universe like Kirby has enough open-ended concepts for people to take basic concepts in the world and take them to whole new levels! I think that's why there are so many amazing fan interpretations of Kirby characters and OCs. The rules are so vague, you can just make up your own a lot of the time!! And it's a wonderful exercise to learn skills for someday building an original world with all original characters from scratch! Magical!!!

"I'm not good enough to make a comic. I don't understand perspective or color and other stuff. Anything I make will look bad.

I once read a two panel comic on here. I can't find it anymore but I remember most of it. First panel showed the artist looking at what they're drawing on their tablet, looking defeated and sad. "Man, I don't even know how to draw this....."The next panel was like them smiling and shrugging, I think rainbows and sparkles were coming out of their tablet, ".....I GUESS I'LL JUST HAVE TO DRAW IT SHITTY!! :D "

IF ANYONE KNOWS THIS COMIC I'M REFERENCING, PLEASE TELL ME AND I'LL LINK IT!!! Because it permanently and positively changed my brain chemistry.

No kidding, making the decision to just do my best even if it's not perfect, helped me a LOT. I was always waiting to "reach a certain level" to tackle a huge project because I felt like I'd never do it justice at my current state. Except I had been telling myself that kind of stuff for years and I still didn't start any projects!!

So the day I said, "Oh well! If I draw backgrounds shitty, then it is what it is! I'll learn from it and draw the next background a little better," Was the day I could commit fully to the project. I'll keep studying how to draw them better for my own benefit, but I won't let my skill issues stop me from even trying!

And for my limited confidence in full-color art, I solved that by making the comic in black and white with no-to-minimal shading lolol. Because I can only address one skill issue at a time before it takes me 25 years to finish this HAHAHA.

It saves a BUNCH of time to work with skill issues rather than against them! Because at least experience is gained in other ways, and who knows, maybe that new knowledge will help address the skill issues someday! So identifying your personal skill issues and deciding which one to try to grow stronger, and which one to work around, could help with big projects!

"Nobody will read this. I'm going to put months or years of my life into a dumb little thing nobody will even care about."

Learning how to draw for my own enjoyment instead of somebody else's was one of the biggest breakthroughs I ever made. Enjoying the feeling of being challenged artistically and just doing my best, even if it's not technically perfect, is the reason why I was even able to start this!

And just because someone doesn't directly like, comment or whatever on a post doesn't mean nobody saw it! I used to get really down on myself for the lack of engagement on my art on other websites.

I was a lurker for pretty much my entire teenage years and never posted my own stuff or commented much. But that didn't take away the fact that I really enjoyed the things I saw online. Those positive feelings were real to me, even when I didn't know how to articulate it in words. Granted, I grew up into a Words of Affirmation main, and I use words to tell people the positive things I think about them as much as I can! But I know not everyone prefers words to express themselves. So I think about the people that I don't know enjoy my work- that just because I don't see it doesn't mean I didn't make a positive impact on someone by sharing my stories.

THIS IS GETTING LONG-- UHHH, STORY TIPS!!

If you work best on technology, start building the story in a Notes app, or a Google Doc! If you work best with pen and paper, start a notebook and rearrange stuff as you need to!

Or if you're chaotic like me, a mix of tech and paper!! I bought a notebook with ring binding so I can remove and rearrange pages of drafts as much as I wanted to! Like here's two very rough concept pages of one Chapter 1 scene made months apart.

I'd say planning out the biggest basic plot points and then filling in between as I went was most helpful! I also have separate notes for character motivations, important story-changing events, etc... So I can have my own reference when I'm writing new scenes!

Okay this was a lot, sorry about the yapping! Hopefully it helps even a tiny bit. If you have any specific questions I'm happy to talk about my experience in the creation process! Or elaborate on anything I said above.

And finally, because I'm not a professional there are probably plenty of other tactics that could work better for some people. My ADHD probably doesn't help with the chaos of my process either, HAHA. But thank you for reading this far and enjoying the peek into the rainbow glitter and soap bubbles that inhabit the right side of my brain, heehee.

#ref #roleswap scraps #roleswap asks #forgotten land roleswap #ask #king dedede #meta knight #elfilis #bandana waddle dee #comics

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buriedpair · 8 months ago

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AHH SORRY COULDN'T RESIST ASKING FOR MORE!! I just love this whole idea of a casino setting frfr

What if MC wanted to try what OCs do? Following OCs around like a puppy lmao🧎

Amias: they pester him trying to get him to teach them the da way of winning (and pool game. Pool games are hot, you can get quite handsy with someone while teaching lmao)

Edge: they follow him and clumsily try to shuffle the cards and do tricks. Ain't it adorable? Look, Edge, it's a new focus!!

DD: MC wearing clothes to match him and begging to get their hands on DD's scythe to try to scare away problematic players like a bouncer (they don't. The one scaring folks is behind MC l can sense it 😭)

Jackpot: dancing. Pole. Pole dancing 😳 shy MC wanna try it, but oh my would you look at that, such snuggly fitted outfit may reveal too much (and everyone can see it? Scandalous!)

Gambit: MC follows them with a masterfully crafted pout, trying to copy them and their stoic posture. Someone giving trouble to Gambit? MC is here to save the day! (apparently, the poor naivety doesn't realise Gambit can scare everyone in this room by only a stare)

- stargazer who is set on knowing the lore!! 😭

Well well well, stargazer. Ask and ye shall receive!

Yandere!OCs x GN Reader

Teaching MC to be like them!

Amias

You're right. Pool games are hot. Amias is definitely enjoying his chest pressed against your back as he leans over you to teach you how to hold the pool cue. You seem thrilled when you so much as hit a ball. It's cute.

You wanna learn to gamble like a pro? Sure, just sit on his lap and he'll teach you the ways of the cards. He'll tell you all the values of every hand, he'll teach you to spot a liar, and he'll teach you how to get past Edge's tricky dealing.

Edge

Did you know you only have to shuffle a 52 card deck seven times in order for it to be as shuffled as it can be? Well you will. Edge will literally lecture you on cards and dealing and drunk customers. Hell, Gambit will practically hire you after he's done.

He's happy to teach you all he knows, especially if it means you're giving him your undivided attention. EXTRA especially if it means he can punish you when you get something wrong. Nothing too bad, dear. It's a beginners mistake. You still need to learn somehow, though.

Double Down

'Oh my god couples outfits' is probably his first thought. God, you look so cute. He's not even sure where you got clothes that match his, but he's living for it. As for his scythe... Sure, use it. He doesn't care if you wreak havoc on those around you, it just means you're a quick learner. Even the adorable you is more threatening with a giant human-sized weapon.

He still thinks you're cute though. Of course you can't stomach his job, that's why he has to do it. It's okay though, you can pretend like you're scaring off drunkards with your silly scowl and he'll threaten to throw them into the fountain if they try to tell you you're not scary.

Jackpot

No. Never. Not in a thousand years. You're too divine to be seen in that outfit, please change. He's a hypocrite in this situation, but does he care? Absolutely not. He'll steal Gambit's jacket to cover you up and sneak you off to probably go cry.

He'll sob into your confused, barely covered arms in the back room, whining all the while about how unfair it is. You're for his eyes only! Don't you even care? Why are you laughing?!

Gambit

Gambit doesn't understand why you want to be like him. He'll teach you how to handle finances if you want, but he doesn't think you'll like it. It is enjoyable to watch you glare at disrespectful customers like you're his own personal bodyguard, and it's nice to have you hang around, too.

If anyone gives you trouble, though, they're banned for life. You're the new co-owner, and he will not tolerate any disrespect toward you. Besides, you'll have to get used to it anyways when you eventually become his sweet little spouse.

#yandere oc #yandere #yandere x you #yandere boy #yandere x darling #yandere x reader #yandere boyfriend #bpamias #bpedge #bpdoubledown #bpjackpot #bpgambit

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ghostyeyestohide · 18 days ago

Text

Between Us

Pairing: Macrinus (Gladiator II) x Cassia (Plus Size Black Fem OC)

Warnings: SMUT, 18+ (MINORS, SCROLL AWAY), buildup (if you got the attention span of a squirrel, DONT READ), oral sex (f receiving, m receiving), titty sucking/fondling, worshipping, some bisexuality (kissing and handjob from m), choking, some masdom, some edging, dirty talk, praise kink, creampie, age gap, slight voyeurism, cussing, aftercare, drinking, some angst, pregnancy, mentions of violence, slavery, and death, and Non-Canon/Canon (Spoilers if you haven’t seen it).

Summary: After watching the intense fight between Hanno and General Acacius, Cassia is assigned as a reward to Macrinus, in which he takes her away to spend some private time with her.

A/N: Wanted to write because I saw this and Denzel was not only evil as hell, but fine doing it. That’s a generational talent right there. Also, I do apologize if some of this is historically inaccurate or the language is nowhere close to it. I love social studies, but I know my knowledge of Roman History is quite rusty.

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do not copy or repost my work. I do not authorize it.

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Citizens in the Colosseum are going crazy, watching Hanno and General Acacius fight after the latter and his wife, Lucilla, attempted to overthrow emperors Greta and Caracalla to restore an oligarchy republic.

The crowd gets rowdy as the guards, arms with bow and arrows, are making sure they don’t riot during this.

Watching the fight from crowd is Cassia, an arm scarred, tall, voluptuous woman, sitting with her fellow sisters as their owner, Dominus, stands behind them with a stoneface expression.

“Kill him!” said Aelia, one of the girls, with the audience joining in on the cheering.

“All that yelling, yet you can’t seem to bring me more clients.” mumbled Dominus, making her look at him.

“Tell them to be gentle then. Especially to the newbie because they seem to like attempting murder on her.” she said, pointing at Cassia.

“She’s just disobedient. She’ll get there one day.” he said, gently touching her shoulder, making her shudder.

“That will be a cold day in hell.” said Cassia.

“I didn’t waste all that money on you just so you can refuse to do what you got paid to do.”

“It’s not like I had a choice.”

“And guess what? You’re my biggest attraction since I bought you, so you need to give in!”

“Nobody wants to please a bunch of rough, two minute silencers every night!” she replied, going back to watching the fight.

Suddenly, she feels her hair being yanked back, forcing her to look at Dominus’ face, a dark glare expressed over his face.

“You’re lucky we’re in public, but after we leave, you’re on punishment for the night. You get no dinner, just straight to be—“

Suddenly, a metal object strikes him across the face, making him let her hair go. As he looks to see who threw that, two guards stand next to him, holding their spears at him, close enough to stab him.

“What the hell..”

“He said to quit messing with his reward or else.” said the tall one.

“Or what?” he replied, preparing to strike.

“Wanna find out right now?”

Dominus doesn’t say nothing, just puffs out really hard. The guards puts their spears down and walks away, not saying another word to him.

“What do they mean reward?” she asks, looking at him.

“If Hanno wins, you’re someone’s reward for the night. If not…..you’re on punishment.” he replied, getting in her ear.

He goes back to his position, watching the fight with Cassia doing the same, with a bit of fear in her eyes. Who’s the stranger? I’m now a reward? I hope he isn’t like the clients I’ve dealt were racing in her mind as Hanno slices Acacius, making everyone gasp.

“COME ON, ACACIUS! FIGHT BACK!” yelled Aelia, stopping her feet to give him adrenaline.

Cassia giggled, impressed that Aelia finds this very entertaining as she doesn’t get it herself. Sure, the idea of being free sounds understandable, but you have to kill other gladiators? That’s the questionable part.

“Seen that gentleman looking at you over there?” asked Diana, another girl, as she pointed at him.

Following her direction, she looks into the boxes and sees an older, bearded black gentleman covered in gold jewelry, a white dress, and a gold tunic looking at her, intrigued by her beauty. He sends a wink at her, making her blush and look away as the sounds of swords clanging gets louder.

“You know him?”

“Kind of. I know he’s close with Hanno since he trains him and the other gladiators.”

“Ahh. So he’s their owner.”

“Yeah. Very brutal too.”

“Not surprising. They make him money, they better give the crowd a good show.”

“Mmhm. But really…..”

She pulls her close, making sure no one else is listening to their conversation before leaning towards her ear.

“They’re saying he wants to be the next emperor of Rome. He wants Geta and Caracalla out and will do anything to make it happen.” she whispered, surprising Cassia.

“Him? To run Rome? That sounds like a dream anyone wants.”

“And he’s determine to make it happen. And if he succeeds by being selected for the senate, he wants a wife that can grant him a heir so the tradition can live on.”

“How did you find all of this out?”

“Two clients me and Meena were pleasuring at once were discussing it openly. I guess they weren’t expecting whores to understand what they were talking about, but I would be cautious if I was them. He’ll get mad if someone leaks his plans.”

Cassia nodded, turning to resume watching the fight. After a few more swings, Hanno wins, making everyone cheer and boo. However, he tosses his sword and kneels in from of him, refusing to kill him.

“He’s not gonna kill him?” asked Cassia, looking at both men on the ground.

“I guess he’s standing in solidarity with the people.” said Diana, shrugging her shoulders.

Greta and Carcalla, irritated with what Hanno did, orders the guards to execute Acacius by shooting him with their arrows, which they complied, instantly killing him.

Members of the crowd begins to attack some of the guards, staring a deadly riot. To avoid being harmed, the women and Dominus depart from their seats, heading downstairs quickly as the emperors do the same, with Macrinus looking at Cassia one more time before she walks outs.

As they reach the bottom of the Colosseum, Dominus turns towards the women, irritation plastered across his face at the chaos going on in the streets.

“I want all of you to head home safely. Diana and Aelia are in charge of you. Don’t try nothing funny because I won’t hesitate to find you if you’re out here, protesting and rioting.” he uttered, giving each one a stern look.

The woman began to line up as a group, but he stops Cassia from joining them.

“Except you, Cassia. Your winner is waiting for us over here.” he said before walking towards where the gladiators were stationed at.

Cassia bids farewell to her sisters before following him, getting right in front as he directs which way to go.

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Dominus walks behind her as they past a lot of gladiators eating in the dining room.

Each are taken aback by her beauty and figure, with some whistling, some flirting, and some attempts of touching were made, but Dominus’ hollow stare scares them away.

“….do you just love to wait to inform us when you put us as rewards or this is just business for you?”

“Business.” he replied, making her roll her eyes.

As they got to where Hanno was, Macrinus, whose talking to him, turns around, dismissing him. Seeing the both of them, he greets them with a gleeful smile, walking up to them.

“Dominus! Good to see you, my boy! I see you got my reward already intact.” he says, shaking Dominus’ hand.

“Yeah. When she’s behaving right.” he replied, looking at her.

“Fuck you.” she mumbled.

“Excuse you?”

“You heard me. You got those big ass ears for a reason.”

“And who is this beauty?”

“Macrinus, this is Cassia. She’s your reward from today’s victory.” he said, shoving her to the ground.

Macrinus looks at her, very shocked that Dominus tossed her like she wasn’t valuable before sending him a menacing look.

“She’ll accompany you to the celebration and will do anything you request. Just you might have to push her.” he continued.

“And why is that?”

“She’s a disobedient girl. Scaring off clients, cheating me out of money.”

“That’s not true!” she said, irritation in her voice.

Dominus gets in her space, giving her a stern look, which makes her bow her head down.

“Who are you talking to?” he asks, grabbing her face to force her to look at him. “Hm? Who are you raising your voice at?”

“That’s enough, Dominus.” said Macrinus, getting between them. “I don’t need you showing your ass in front of guests now.”

“She was being disrespectful. Someone needs to put her in her place—“

“I don’t give a damn what she did. I won the bet, she’s my reward, and she’ll be with me all night while they’re destroying shit. So, what else can I help you with?” he asks, helping her up.

“I’m just putting her—“

“WHAT else can I help you with? I’m not gonna ask you again and you know how I get if I don’t get an answer.”

Dominus looks at her one more time, before clearing his throat and handing him his bag of jewelry. Macrinus takes it, still keeping his eyes on him.

“I’ll be back at prima noctis hora for her. Make sure she doesn’t harm you, my lord. Ave.” he replied, nodding his head and leaving.

Macrinus watches him leave before turning to Cassia, hopefulness blooming in her eyes. He looks her up and down, taking in a better view of a goddess.

“Cassia, huh?” he asked, taking her hand.

“Yes, sir. I mean, my lord.” she nodded, anxiety growing within her.

“Oh, call me Macrinus. You don’t have to say the title shit while you’re with me.” he says, placing a kiss on her hands.

She blushes, feeling the heat building inside her as she feels the coolness of his rings rub against her hand.

“You sure you don’t mind another name?”

“Only if I want you to call me that.” he smiles, hooking his arm around hers as they began walking.

They headed towards the cells to see Hanno before they depart. As they walk through, he notices the attraction she’s getting, which makes him pulls her closer to him.

“You have a beautiful name, you know?” he asks.

“Now what’s beautiful about having a name meaning metal helmet?”

He chuckles, gently rubbing her arm as they turn into a tunnel.

“While it does mean that here, its means cinnamon in other places. It’s a spice, but also symbolizes warmth, harmony, and abundance. You were meant to be here.”

“So eventually, I could become the wife of a future general or Emperor.” she says happily.

“……I think the last one would suit you really well.” he says, giving her a smirk.

She smiles back as they arrive to Hanno’s cell, where Macrinus tells her to wait here as he talks to him. He enters, with the gate closing behind him.

As she waits, she overhears his plans of taking over Rome, saying their dynasty is no longer needed to run it, revealing that Hanno is the missing son of Lucilla, Lucius.

“And does your new whore agree with what you’re planning to do?” Hanno asks him, making her look through the gate.

“….she probably won’t mind because not only will she be better than Lucilla, she’s bare a heir that will run this place better than your people did.” Macrinus replied, getting up to leave.

“You won’t make it far.”

“Oh trust me. I will prevail with ending your dynasty.” he said confidently, walking out of the cell.

Macrinus looks at Cassia, who stands in front of him very bothered by what Lucius said about her. He brushes her hair out of her face before making out with her passionately, gripping her ass. She moans at the touch, kissing him back. He breaks the kiss, smiling as they both look at Lucius.

“Come on, Cassia. We have a celebration to attend.” he said, walking away and pull her with him.

She looks at Lucius one more time, who meets her eyes from his cell, before turning forward.

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As they walk through the crowd of people, Macrinus and Cassia converse closely, looking at the celebration of Hanno’s win around them and the rioting of General Acacius’s death, clashing with the guards.

Drinking, eating, dancing, loud conversations, music, sales of imported goods, clothes, gold, fire pits, fighting, yelling, and more are seen in the busy streets of Rome.

“Besides being the trainer of the gladiators and dressing well, what else do you do?” asked Cassia, looking at him.

“I provide them food and oil to them and the arm. Something the emperors should be doing instead of replicating everything wrong Commodus did.” he replied, smiling at her.

“Sounds like you want them out as soon as possible.”

“….depends on who you’re asking.”

“Whether it’s true or not….I’m behind it.” she said, whispering the last part in his ear.

“Hm.” he replied, looking at her eyes as he rubbed her hand.

The two continued walking into a secluded area, where they come across a table filled with many varieties of food. from fruits to cheese to meats and different types of bread.

Macrinus sends a nod at a guard before grabbing two plates and pilling his with grapes, meats, some cheese, and bread before looking at Cassio, who waiting patiently.

“You’re not hungry?” he asked.

“Oh no.” she shakes her head. “I don’t really eat or drink. Well, I don’t get fed.”

“Why not?” he asked, grabbing a white wine bottle and pouring it into two glasses.

“Um…” she swallows. “It’s punishment for not satisfying a customer. While Dominus and the girls who completed their tasks get full meals, the girls who didn’t get either the crumbs or nothing. Which is usually me.” she replied, slightly embarrassed with revealing that.

Macrinus laughs, shaking his head as he plates her food with everything, even adding extras.

“Well, around here, you’re not gonna starve. And I’ll make sure to remind him of that since you’re doing all the work that fills his pockets. Got it?”

She nods, smiling a bit as he grabbed the plates, gesturing her to grabs the drinks & bottle as he walked towards a table, with her obliging. Just as she was about to sit, he helps her by pulling out her seat, gently pushing her in before sitting across from her.

“Anything on your plate you wanna try first?” he asked her, watching her scan the plate.

“….what’s your recommendation?”

He smiled, picking up a piece of bread and putting prosciutto and smearing some brie on it. He adds a bit of cranberry on it before handing it to her.

“Tastes pretty good together.” he replied, watching her retrieve it.

She examines the bread before taking a bite, chewing for a few seconds. She takes a few more bites before eating the whole thing, earning a chuckle from Macrinus.

“Was I lying?” he asked playfully.

“No, sir.” she shakes her head. “The sweetness from the cranberry, the flakiness of the bread, and the creamy, nutty flavor of the Brie combines very well together. How does one acquire that taste?” she asks, beginning to eat a little more of the bread.

“That’s my side job when I’m not pushing these men to be the best version of themselves. You give me what I want, I’ll give you what you want, but better.” he replied, sipping some of his wine.

“Were you selected to take the job? Or did you have to fight like one of them to get that and freedom?”

“The first one. I worked very hard to get where I am at today than where I was in my slave days. And it’s not an easy journey.”

“You were a slave?”

“Yeah. When Aurelius was ruling, but this was way before Lucilla, Maximus, and Commodus were born. I can remember the harsh treatments…..the way him and guards demean us…..his greed before his change of heart shit took over him. Almost like he was repenting.” he said harshly, growing angry thinking of it.

“And that’s why you wanna kill Greta and Caracalla.” she said quietly, taking a sip of her wine.

He leans forward, looking at her for a few more moments before pulling him robe back, revealing a branded scar that represents the symbol Aurelius has on his statute.

“Those two are just in the way. And the senate knows it. Hell, so did the general and Lucilla. But my vision of Rome is not similar to theirs. Mines is vengeance for what they did to me and my people.” he replied through gritted teeth.

Cassia traces the scar, softening Macrinus’ demeanor a bit. She looks at him, getting closer to place a kiss on his cheek, making him smile a bit.

“Do what you have to do. They’re making us suffer anyway if they continue to rule.” she said before resuming eating her plate.

He looks at her, scanning all over her body while she eats. The way her mouth moves, her looking around the area they’re in, taking a few sips of wine, and moving onto the next thing.

His eyes fixates on two long-straight scars that starts from the top of her shoulder and ends before it gets to her hands.

“What happened to your arms?” he asks, gently tracing over them.

Her smile drops slightly as she moves them around, the painful memories swirling in her head.

“This is from when I was fighting off a client the first night I was sold to Dominus.” she replied in a hesitant tone.

“Tried to force himself on you?”

“Yeah. Got mad that I wouldn’t give it up easily, so he took a small knife and tried to cut my dress off. Fought back hard and got sliced in the process.”

“And what did he do?”

“Gave him a warning.” she said, shrugging. “The client never came back.��

“So…he got away with harming you….” he said in an irritated tone.

She nodded, looking down. Macrinus’ jaw twitches, hiding his growing flame that is begging to come out and tell him to hunt Dominus down for letting that slide. He relaxes, not wanting to waste their time together.

“Are you pure?” he asks, breaking the silence.

“Oh, no sir.” she looked, laughing a bit. “My husband was my first. And only.”

“…….where’s he’s at?”

“Probably rotting on the battlefield. He died while fighting in it.”

“And they just took you?” he asked with a puzzled look.

“Well. Greta and Caracalla ordered our family to be killed. Accusing them of attempted a coup against them when that wasn’t even true. We didn’t even know he died a few months back until that day…”

“Oh wow.” Macrinus replied, surprised about that information.

“They sent standby to kill everyone, including me. Our parents, his siblings, and his nephew. I managed to escape and hid for a few days until I was caught trying to sneak into a ship to Numidia.” she said as she sipped more of her wine.

“I was chained to a pole with other women in some town and sold to Dominus the next day. Been here ever since and….I guess this is how I’m gonna spend the rest of my life.” she said in a somber tone.

“….how old are you, if you don’t mind me asking?” he asked.

“28. I may be the recent one he acquired, but I’m also the oldest of the girls he has.”

Macrinus nodded, rubbing his hands against hers. He pulls them to his lips, placing kisses all over them while keeping eye contact with her.

“Cassia….it would be a pleasure to heal your pain with taking both of them out and Dominus. And then, I want you as my wife.”

“Damn, I got you whipped already?” she asked, chuckling a bit.

“A woman like you should be living established and relaxed. Especially a woman who can provide me something I want.” he said, kissing over her scar, making her wince a little.

“And what is that?” she asked, her breathing growing a bit loud as he goes a bit higher.

“A heir. A boy or a girl that can continue my beliefs when my time comes to an end.” he whispered, tugging her to come in his lap.

She obliged, carefully sitting where she is across him, wrapping her arm around him neck, gently pushing her breasts into his face. He grins, gently kissing them.

“I can see it.” Peck. “You sitting on the throne.” Peck. “Ass getting thicker.” Peck. “Glowing and our baby growing.” Peck.

He smells her chest, letting out a moan before gently taking one out and massaging it, making her whimper and grip his chest a bit. The coolness of his rings rubbing against her skin arouses her even more.

“These here? Growing bigger, spilling out your top, perfect pillows to lay on? Oh, you’re perfect for me.” he whispered, tracing her nipple with his tongue before sucking on the breast, making her moan.

Cassia begins grinding in his lap, feeling his length growing a bit as he kept sucking, looking at her with hunger in his eyes. He pulls her closer, burying the rest of his in her chest as she throws her head back, mumbling Fuck at the sensation.

A loud thud is heard, making the both of them snap to where it was making the noise. Behind the gates, a group of rioters and guards are clashing, with the guards getting the upper hand.

“Goddamn those rioters!” he mumbled before resuming making out with Cassia’s beats.

Two black men, a young adult and middle aged, walk into the room, heading towards them. Macrinus gently pulls her top up and ushers her off his lap as he gets up, fixing himself.

“Well, well, well. Isn’t it my two favorite boys?” he said enthusiastically, opening his arms up.

The men each hug him, with the young one giving him a passionate kiss. Cassia quietly sits in her seat, continuing to eat and not engage with what she witnessed.

“Alright, alright. Not in front of my future spouse now.” Macrinus said, gently grabbing his ass before pushing him back.

“Oh, we didn’t know we were interrupting something.” the middle aged one said, looking at Cassia.

“She is a beauty, not going to lie.” said the young one, walking over to look at her a little close.

“Don’t scare her, Felix.” said Macrinus, sitting back down in his seat.

“I’m not! I’m just…..taken aback that you pulled her in comparison to you.” he said, with Cassia looking at him.

Macrinus slaps his ass, making him yelp and the middle age one laugh as he sat next to him and Cassia smile a bit.

“Oh, where are my manners? Cassia, this is Felix. And Zeno.” he said, pointing at each one.

“Your boytoys?” she asked, eyeing the both of them.

“On some occasions. Zeno helps me with moving the gladiators from arena to arena as Felix….well, relieves my tension if need to.” he replied, rubbing Zeno’s chest.

“He’s a little stiff.” said Felix, sitting next to her.

“And you making stiffer with your arches.” said Zeno, earning a scoff from him.

“It helps me build myself up. A lot of us have an itch that needs some more attention. You would know, right, Cassia?” he asked, looking her up and down.

“What I’m getting is you get tossed between them a lot.” she replied, earning a smile from all three of them.

“I wanted that arrangement. Thought it would work best to feed both of their needs instead of me and Zeno trading.”

“Would that mess it up with me in the equation now?” she asked slyly.

“Depends on how long you make him last.” said Zeno.

“That won’t be hard. I last a good time!” said Macrinus.

“I don’t know…” said Felix, getting up to walk behind her. “She might be tough to last against.”

He traces her arms before wrapping his hand around the back of her neck, pushing her forward, making her lay across the table. She tries to get up, but he keeps his hold on her.

“Watch it, Felix.” Macrinus said with a stone face glare.

“Don’t worry, baby. I’m just looking.” he replied, rubbing his hands over her curves.

He pulls her back up, examining her features before sitting back down in his seat. He picks up a grape from her plate and brings it to her mouth, waiting for her to eat it. She looks at Macrinus, who’s watching with a vex in his eyes as Zeno’s hand is moving perpendicularly in his lap.

Is he getting hard from watching this?, she said in her mind as she goes back to Felix, who is still waiting for her.

She engulfs the grape into her mouth, slightly sucking his fingers while keeping her eyes on him, making him grunt a bit. She makes a Pop! sound before locking eyes with Macrinus again, who gently removes Zeno’s hand.

“What do you two want? You’re taking up too much of my time with her.” he said, adjusting himself in his seat.

“Lucilla wants to speak to you before her execution goes forward.” said Zeno.

“And the senate wants to know how are the traitors being sentenced as soon as possible.” said Felix.

“They’ll have their answer, and my presence, by nighttime tomorrow. I’ll figure out what I’m gonna do with Lucius later on. Might keep him alive until my heir arrives.” said Macrinus, eying Cassia.

“And Rome will prevail from there.” said Felix, kissing her hand before getting up to leave.

Zeno nods at both before getting and leaving, with Felix following behind. Macrinus gets up, exposing his twitching semi-hard length at her, which makes her gasp.

“What’s wrong….” he asked before looking down and seeing it. “Oh. We’re not there yet.” he chuckled before tucking it away.

“There’s more?” she asked, sending him a smirk.

“Yeah. I tend to work with it a lot.” he replied.

“We’ll see about that.”

“….don’t tempt me.”

A group of moans are heard, making the both of them look around to see where it’s coming from. In the corner of the area, two citizens, a man and a woman, are having sex.

The woman, with her breast exposed and skirt pushed up, is pressed against the gate as the man plunges behind her, constantly slamming into her as their moans and body smacking fills the room in mixture of the chaos outside the gates.

“Guess they wanted an audience in midst of the fighting.” she said, watching the pleasure grow between them.

Macrinus replied with ‘mhm’ before moving closer, kissing her neck before kissing her, rubbing her sides. She kisses back, fighting for more while gently stroking him through his dress, hearing his breathing become erratic.

He breaks the kiss, catching his breath as he rubbed his head against her, who is patiently waiting for his next order.

“Let’s go somewhere private, shall we?” he said, standing back and holding his hand out.

She nods as she takes his hand and getting up. Grabbing the wine bottle as well, he pulls her into a secret hallway and up the stairs.

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He opens the door, letting her walk in. He orders the guards to stand in front of the door, telling them to knock if Dominus or someone else comes looking for him before walking in, closing the door.

Cassia looks around the room, taking in the gorgeous marble floor, black pillars, chairs, and windows with gold accent accessories accompany it.

Walking towards the center, where the pit of fire stands, she looks at the two throne of chairs front and center, admiring its details.

“Wanna sit up there?” he asked, pouring wine into their glasses.

“How often you ask that?” she replied, looking at him.

He chuckles, walking towards her and handing her the glass, in which she takes.

“You’re a very funny woman, you know. But you are the first one to be in here after hours.” he said, wrapping his hand around hers and pulling her towards the chairs.

“Felix and Zeno won’t be jealous?”

“They’ll be fine.”

Cassia and Macrinus get to the ledge before he places her in the center. He backs up, taking in her beauty as she poses, making him smile before taking a sip of his wine.

“You fit perfectly on the throne, my love. The moonlight enhances your diamond essence into this city. Which is why I chose you to be mine.” he said, placing the wine bottle near the chair.

“And do I get anything in return? Besides bringing in a future and marriage?” she asked, drinking some of her wine.

“Your girls can come live here instead of suffering in the streets when I take my position as emperor. Finest access to jewelry they wouldn’t let you touch, fresh food, water, new items, your own housekeepers, and of course….”

He walks up, with her eyes following him, standing in front as he traces her chin, licking his lips.

“Me. Only me.” he added, tracing over her neck.

He feels her breathing stagger a bit as he goes down further and further until he feels a necklace, pulling it up to examine.

“What’s this?” he asked, looking at the garnet pendant.

“It’s a way for him to spot which girls belong to him whenever we go out in public. We each have different stones that represents us.” she replied.

He nodded, tracing his thumb over the pendant. Suddenly, he rips the necklace off, making her gasp. He throws it in the pit, watching it burn quickly.

“Cheap metal and a fake stone. Guess that’s how he sees you girls.” he said, sitting in one of the chairs.

“He’s not gonna like that.” she mumbled.

“I don’t give a fuck what he likes or doesn’t like. You’re not his property anymore. You belong here now. To me.” he said authoritatively.

“What if he refuses to allow that?”

“He’ll back off. Or else, I’ll make him. Permanently.”

“…..you swear?” she asks, looking at him.

“…..on my soul. I’ll take care of him. But right now.” he said, leaning forward.

He grabs her top and pulls it down, exposing her breasts before pulling her into his lap to straddle him, both locking eyes with each other.

“We were in the middle of something.” he mumbled before kissing her passionately, caressing her back.

Cassia moaned at the coldness and scratchiness of his beard rubbing against her face and chest while kissing as her mound gently rubs against his clothed length, feeling him move her hips to apply more friction.

Macrinus breaks the kiss, tracing his tongue over each breast before engulfing one into his mouth like earlier and sucking whine squeezing the other one and rubbing the nipple between his ring wearing fingers, making her wince loudly.

“Fuck, that feels good.” she whispers in an intoxicated tone, earning a grunt from him.

He released her breast from his mouth, rubbing his face against it before trading places: other one is now being sucked on as he rubs the previous one.

“You’re so good at that, you know?” she whispered, feeling him grab her ass before letting go.

He lets out a Pop! sound as he lets go, rubbing his face between both saliva coated jugglers as he looks up in awe, in a daze with her face..

“I can feel you getting wet and I’m only just making out with these beautiful jewels. They never made this far, huh?” he asked, gently rubbing her hips.

“Never. They don’t like building it up, just immediately going after the gold.” she replied, which he nods.

“You have a lot to experience then. Go sit in that chair and remove the rest of your dress for me.” he said, removing her from his lap.

Cassia pulls the rest of her dress down, leaving her in a gold waist chain that is connected to her underwear. She sits in the chair, waiting for his next move as he watches, taking in her curves and plumpness from her thighs, hips, and shoulders.

He gets up, removing his dress and tunic, leaving him with nothing but his jewelry gleaming against his skin as his now full grown and girthy length moves up and down.

He was lying about his size at all, she said in her mind as he got closer and kneeled down, rubbing her face before kissing her, tracing her thighs in process.

She smiled before kissing him back, wrapping her arms around his neck and tracing over his back. She breaks it, catching her breath as he watches her, lust fully consuming him.

“What do you want to do first?” he asked.

“Shouldn’t you be calling the shots?” she replied, tracing over his chin.

“Usually I do. Since I’m the second man crossing over this beauty of land….” as he traces his fingers over her waist chain.

“I think I want to make you comfortable on our first night. What do you say?” he replied.

She nods, earning a peck on her nose as she leans back and opens her legs. He smirked, beginning to place a trail of kisses on her inner thighs, moving closer and closer to her heat before pausing.

“You might have to help me remove these cause I don’t know how, what the hell…” he mumbled, tugging at the underwear, which makes her giggle.

“Here.” she said, bring his hand to one of the clasps and pressing it together, unclamping the underwear.

He nodded, continuing to remove the rest before pulling her underwear off, revealing her glistening essence to him. He stares with hunger, gently placing one leg on his shoulder as he quickly removes his rings.

“Wait.” she said, making him stop in process.

“Something wrong, Cassia?” he asked, a worrying expression on his face.

“No, no, everything is fine. Can you just….leave your pointer & thumb rings on? I like the coolness they give when you touching all over me.” she said, licking her lips at him.

He smirks, removing everything but those four. He leans forward, taking in her luscious core before tracing her slit with his pointer, making her moan a bit.

“All this for me? Oh, you were dying for me to touch you.” he whispers, placing a few kisses around it.

Pulling her a little more to the edge, he pushes her other leg towards her as he licks her slit, making her flinch. He smirks before repeating the motion in a form of making out, making her whimper.

“God, you got a perfect sets of lips.” he mumbled, circling her lips as the mixture of her wetness and his salvia coat his finger.

“Haven’t tasted you for a few moments and you’re getting wetter. You want me to continue, huh?” he asks, looking up at her, who eyes are closed and head is thrown back.

“Please….I miss the feeling of someone making me feel good.” she replied, rubbing her lips on his finger gently.

He didn’t reply, just went back to eating her out, but this time, slurping on her opening as his thumb rubs her clit, making her moan loud. She places her hands on his head, pushing his face further in, feeling his grip on her other leg tightening.

“Sorry. I tend to get a little carried away.” she said, feeling him laugh before a gasp from her comes out.

Macrinus, feeling even more driven, inserts a finger inside, feeling her tightness engulfing him. He curves it, watching her move erratically and whimper loudly.

“Oh, you’re just collapsing under my control.” he said, licking her clit.

“Yes…yes.” is all she could get out as he enters a second finger and begins to plunge them in and out, making her moan even louder.

“That’s right….open a little more for me so he can fit…” he whispers, watching his fingers go in and out as her essence spills down his arm and the chair.

“Fuck….please put your mouth back on her. I feel myself getting close!” she exclaims, tightening around his fingers.

“Whatever you want, baby.” he replied before placing his mouth on her clit, flicking it back and forth as he sped up the pace.

Sounds of her pussy being slapped, her grunts, and his flicking fills the room as the riots continue down below them.

He removes his mouth, looking at her opening as he finger fucks very harshly until her release washes over her. Her moans turning into screams, her body twitching all over, and her essence making a huge mess by squirting all over, making him stare in amazement at his work.

“Fuck, you look good like this.” he mumbled, kissing all over her stomach to her chest to her lips, as she laughs weakly.

“My turn now.” she replied, sitting up straight as Macrinus stands up, stroking himself.

“You don’t have to do this if you don’t want to, you know?” he said, looking at her.

“You think I wanna jump into our session without tasting this first?” she said, wrapping her hand around his length and stroking it.

He holds his hands up in defeat, giving her a wink as she looks at it, mesmerized by its size and girth. All that shit commanding shit he does matches him well.

She traces the tip with her tongue before engulfing all of it into her mouth, hearing him let out an exhale as his fingers run through her hair. She removes herself, catching her breath while stroking the length, giggling to herself.

“You were not lying about you being a lot.” she said, locking eyes with him.

“You handling it like a god..” he replied before reinserting it back into her mouth.

She continues sucking, gently massaging his balls, hearing him wince. He starts picking up his pace, gently hitting the back of her throat. Looking up at him, she bops her head faster, feeling his tip hitting it much rougher.

“Them assholes missed out on this skillful work of yours.” he says, letting out moans.

Then, he grabs her head and begins going at a brisk place, constantly burying her face into his groin as he lets out a few expletives that she couldn’t make out with the fuzzy noise in her ears.

“You like that shit? Old man like me using your throat like you owe me something?!” he asks in a gritty tone, not letting up.

She moans around his length, feeling her chin and chest being coated in the excessive salvia that’s spilling out from his movement, her eyes stinging a bit.

Suddenly, he pulls out of her mouth, making her lean back against the chair. She breathes harshly, recovering from that euphoric moment that happened. He smiles at her dazed posture, looking from her face to her pussy, which is now even more wet.

“Come here..” he whispers, helping her up before sitting in his chair, pulling her along.

He taps her to get on top, in which she obliges. She rub her opening on his tip before lowering herself carefully, wincing as she feels herself being stretched more and more with each inch.

“Macrinus, I don’t think I can take more of you….” she whines.

“Relax. You just have to let the pain pass before I start moving. You’ll feel good real soon.” he replied, moving her hips with his hands.

She moans quietly, wrapping her arms around him tightly as the sensation passes through. He kisses her breasts, sucking on one as he begins bouncing her up and down, plunging into her with each stroke.

“Oh my god….” she whispers in a pathetic tone, feeling his tip poke at a sweet spot.

He smiles, releasing himself from her breast as he speeds up his pace, making her moans come out very pitchy.

“That’s it…..take all of me like that.” he mumbled, slapping her ass few times as she begins riding him, removing his hands and letting her do the rest of the work.

Cassia lets out a few sexual sounds, feeling herself becoming attached to him every time she grinds against the friction and poking he’s giving her. He picks up the bottle of white wine and pours all over her breasts, licking and sucking up the liquid as she moves harder and faster, making him let out a few grunts.

“You’re gonna make me cum again!” she yelps, tightening around him.

Just as she was close to release, he lifts her up, feeling his length thumping very hard as she catches her breath, looking down at her walls clenching. He laughs hoarsely before giving her some sloppy kisses over all, sitting her back in his lap.

“You almost brought me with you and I don’t want that to happen because our night will end super fast.” he mumbled, wiping her sweaty face.

She smiles weakly, nodding her head as she grinds his aching length, earning a few more slaps on her ass.

“I’m not playing, girl.” he said in a dark tone, wrapping his hand around her neck and squeezing it, making her slightly gasp.

“Sorry, sir.” she replied in a pitchy tone, seeing him smile in an evil way.

“It’s okay. Just don’t do that again.” as he pecks on her nose.

“Now go bend that ass over in that chair.” he said, letting her go.

Cassia hurriedly crawls over to the chair, putting her chest on the seat and arching her back so her ass in air, patiently waiting for him to re-enter.

Macrinus examines her body, all sweaty from her movement

“When Rome falls and rises, you’ll be the one standing while everyone is kneeling….” he mumbled, tracing over her cheeks.

“That would be nice, huh? You, me, and our heir being worshipped by these people? Hm?“ he asked, slapping her ass, hearing her whine desperately.

“Yes.” she mumbled, but that earns her another slap.

“I can’t hear you!” he said, smoothing out the stinging.

“Yes, Macrinus!” she yells, slightly moving her hips around.

He gives her a few more slaps, hearing her let out a few cries. He leans forward, pushing her hair out of her face as he gets closer to her ear.

“Please…..” she begged, about to touch herself before he stopped her, locking her arms behind her back.

“Call me by the correct title and I’ll give you what you want.” he whispers into her ear before backing away.

“….yes, Emperor. Please pleasure me again…” she said, breathing harshly.

She waits for his next move, anticipating another slap. Then, he re-inserts himself from behind and begins pounding her, making her moan loudly. His low grunts as he slams aggressively into her fills the room, with him pulling her hair while holding her arms.

“Look at you….” he chuckles seductively. “Taking old man dick from me and enjoying it. That dead husband of yours wasn’t doing you like this, was he?”

“No….no, he wasn’t.” she confessed, feeling him let go of her hair and pull out, just to slam back in her.

Macrinus watches her twitch and make sounds that are so incoherent, it made him pushed deeper into her. He lays on her back, adding his weight on top as he wraps his hand around the front of her neck and pulls her up to his chest a bit, kissing her ear.

“Alright. That’s what I wanted to hear. But now? I want you to cum. Releasing everything all over me and don’t hold back. Got it?” he mumbled, rolling his hips.

“Yes…..yes….yes!” she responded as her release washes over, making her yell and squirt all over him as he continued to fuck her through it, pulling out and watching her collapse to the side, convulsing.

He sits nearby, gently turning her onto her back. He leans over, kissing her chest as she moans quietly, rubbing his face. He gets between her legs and rubs his length between her folds, watching her grab her legs and hold them back, making him chuckle.

“Already know what to do without me telling you. I like that.” he said before inserting inside, hearing her curse.

He wraps his hands around her neck and begins fucking her, going a pace where he is continuously hitting that sweet spot inside her. It doesn’t help that his pressure from squeezing adds onto the copulating tension in the air.

“You ready to be my bride and raise my heir?” he asked, speeding up a bit.

“Me breeding you like this and pushing my babies out? Having them running around Rome and shit?” he continued, not letting up.

“Yes, Emperor…..I’m yours and this body is yours.” she replied, feeling another release building up.

He kisses her sloppily, locking his arms around her as he continue his brutal pace, making her whine and scream as her essence splashes all around. He looks down, watching her grip around him.

“I’m cumming…ugh….fuck!” he yells as he finally releases inside, his load pumping out hasty.

Cassia’s release follows behind, wrapping her legs around him as she twitches underneath, feeling her body release every tense motion in this position.

After a few minutes of recovering, Macrinus gently pulls out, watching her suck the remaining seed in before he got and knocked on the door, asking one of the guard to bring him a bowl of water and some towels.

A quick opening and closing of the door and he’s next to her, squeezing the excessive water out before he rubbing the cooling towel all over her body, cleaning up anything fluids that were there.

“…..do I have to go back?” she asked, breaking the silence.

“When I said I’m silencing him permanently, I meant that.” he replied, helping her sit up.

“Well…..he should be here to pick me up soon.” she said, getting up to put on her dress.

Macrinus nodded, not replying as he put his dress and tunic back on, waiting for a knock from the guards. A few minutes later, loud knocking comes, signaling Dominus has arrived.

“Dominus! Nice to see you again.” said Macrinus as he opens the door and sees the stoneface figure standing.

“Did she comply?” asked Dominus, looking over at Cassia, who’s fixing her hair.

“Yeah. Worn my old ass out if anything!” he chuckles. “But I wanted to renegotiate our deal.”

“Renegotiate?”

“Yes! You see, I asked for her hand in marriage and she is possibly carrying my child, so I don’t think it’s necessary for her to return to you. So, she’s staying with me now and you can go on home..” said Macrinus as he gently pushes Dominus back, but the latter shoves him.

“I’m afraid that’s not possible. We agreed that she was your reward and you was going to break into her. She’s my property and I’m here to take her home so the next clients can get a turn.” he replied coldly, making Cassia stand up.

Macrinus looks at him with an ominous glare, stepping back into his spot while keeping eye contact. Then, he takes out his knife and stabs him quickly, making Dominus gasp and look down.

“And that’s the problem. You sees them as property, not women you should be taking care of if you want business to continue.” he said, pushing the blade deeper which makes Dominus wince.

“She told me how she got those scars on her arm and how your lack of discipline towards the client is why she wasn’t giving in. And giving them cheap necklaces with fake pendants to easily find them? Oh, your niggard ass won’t be missed.” he replied, pulling it out and watching him topple over.

Blood spilling out of Dominus’ mouth as he gasps for air, making Cassia turn away, not wanting to see the rest. Macrinus kneels down and slices his neck open, killing him. He tosses the knife next to him and back ups, turning to the doors.

“Chop him up and send it back to his neighborhood. That’ll send a message that she’s not going back, the women are free, and Rome is going to fall.” he told the guards, walking over to Cassia.

The guards rush in and take Dominus’ body as Macrinus wraps his arms around her and they begin walking, leaving the room.

“You okay?” he asks, making sure she is perfectly fine.

Cassia nods, smiling tiredly as she lays her head on his shoulder.

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Its been three months since Cassia slept with Macrinus, but the promised life of being a wife to the Emperor and raising his children never succeeded.

Following the Senate & Caracalla swearing him in and ordering the execution of Lucilla and some senators to be done by Lucius and the gladiators, which turn into chaos that ended with the citizens, Lucius, and the gladiators turning against them, he successfully executed Caracalla and Lucilla before escaping to stop the army Lucius order to invade and wipe out his own.

She doesn’t know the remaining details of what happened, but all she knows is after Lucius sliced Macrinus’ hand off, he killed him and reunited everyone, swearing on his grandfather’s dream of making Rome united and peaceful to other countries they captured.

The news of his death spread fast and she fell out, crying in the streets, with her sisters consoling her. She stayed in the house, missing meals, and not waiting to talk until she began feeling nauseous, crying a little more, and eating more than usual.

That’s when she knew that she was pregnant with their child. She tried to hide it, but gave up around 8 weeks when her belly started to show and it didn’t help that she was already a plus size girl.

Cassia was sitting in a chair inside her room, planning the nursery when she hears a knock on the door.

“Come in.” she said, looking up.

The door opens and Aelia pops her head in, sending her a smile.

“Hey. I hope I’m not interrupting anything.” she said, creeping in.

“No, just figuring out things for my child. What’s going on?” Cassia asks.

“I know this is sudden….but the emperor is here. And he wants to speak with you.” she said quickly.

Rage instantly lights up inside Cassia, who tries to get up but Aelia stops her, trying to calm her down.

“I know this is not what you want to hear..”

“You let my husband’s murderer into this house without asking me?!” yelled Cassia as she pushed Aelia, who is not giving up.

“It was unexpected! He just…showed up and walked in, asking for you!”

“Well you tell him to get the hell out and never return or else!” Cassia said, shoving Aelia back hard that she bumps into the cabinet.

“Or else what?” a familiar male voice said.

Turning to the voice, Lucius stands in the doorway, watching everything she did. Cassia stares back at him with a glare, wanting to harm him but knows she can’t do much since anything that can be used as a weapon is far from her.

“Aelia, you can leave us.” he said, walking closer.

“She’s not going anywhere and you don’t bark orders around here.” said Cassia.

“Cassia….just talk to him.” said Aelia.

Aelia bows in front of him before leaving, closing the door behind her.

Tension fills the silence as Lucius walks around, taking in her room before looking towards the curtained window, which has sunlight peeping through.

“….What do you want?” asked Cassia.

“I remember you, you know.” he replied, looking at her.

“So? I have a familiar face around here.”

He laughed quietly, walking towards her.

“I meant I remember you from the day General Acacius was executed. After that. You were accompanying Macrinus and sat outside the cell when we were talking.”

“Oh right. The day you couldn’t bring yourself to killing your stepfather who got your wife killed during the capturing of your land.” she said coldly.

“He apologized.” as he sits in front of her, with her covering her baby bump.

“He didn’t know I was my mother’s missing son. I spared his life for her.”

“And look what it got you? A dead mother.” she scoffed.

“Nothing you say hurts me, Cassia.”

“Who said it’s about hurting you?”

“Well, I know you’re only reacting like this is because of Macrinus.” he said, staring at her.

She laughed evilly, moving a bit in her seat as she leans forward.

“You clearly know nothing about me. You lost your mother and wife? I lost everything because of you and your dynasty. So whatever you’re here looking for, you’re not gonna find it. So, emperor, please leave.” she said, leaning back into her seat.

“I know. Kidnapped after your husband died fighting for Rome, your family accused of trying to steal the throne and being executed, being forced in selling your body so the man who bought can eat, and losing a man who promises a new Rome after you two made a baby out of love…” he said, trying to touch her stomach.

Cassia slaps him very hard, anger inflicted all over her face. Lucius smiles, feeling the stinging grow as he looks at her, slightly turned on by her deviance.

“I can never get my wife back. Nor my parents. But what I can do is help someone out. And someone who is perfect to sit next to me as I lead Rome into a new era. That someone is you, Cassia.”

“Oh, go to hell, Lucius. This city is not gonna take kind to you not only having a big black curvy woman for a wife, but the widow of the man you killed and their son? Not gonna happen.” she replied.

“You think I care? This city made up lies that I was a product of incest between my mother and her brother. You weren’t his wife yet and this is a child out of wedlock. Which is a very common thing around here.”

“I’m not taking your offer. So please go.”

Lucius nods, getting up to walk out. However, he picks her up to her feet, making her step back in fear of what he’ll do. Instead, he drops to his knees and rubs her belly before placing his ear to it.

“If you’re expecting some motion, I’m not that far along.” she said.

“They’re planning to charge you.” he confessed.

“……what?” she said, a puzzled expression on her face.

“I’m aware that Dominus wasn’t very kind to you because most clients couldn’t make it past kissing. But I don’t know what happened to him the night he gave you to Macrinus as his body was….in pieces when they found him.” he replied before getting back up.

“I didn’t kill him! He did. And he told the guards to chop him up! I swear I didn’t touch him.”

“Do you have proof?”

Cassia stares at him, wanting to say no but she knows she didn’t do it. She begins hyperventilating, making Lucius help her sit down and coach her through breathing exercises until she was back to normal.

“…..I didn’t do it!” she exclaims, busting out in tears.

Lucius confronts her, letting her cry it out against his chest. She sniffles, feeling her become numb from her constant crying.

“They can’t take my baby away from me for something I didn’t even do!” she said, looking at him.

“That’s why I’m asking you to join me. I can protect you from execution and being charged, you just have to go along with it. Your girls can come and this will all be forgotten.” he said, leaning forward.

“At least do something that he promised he would give you.” he whispers, rubbing her face.

Lucius kisses her face before walking out, closing the door behind him. She looks around the room as the option lingers in her mind.

Stay here and go to prison with possible execution or go live in the house with your love’s killer and raise your child keep playing as she rubbed her belly. Every fear, tear, anger, and thought riled inside her up until the last moment of her final decision.

Cassia opens the door and walks to the living room where Lucius and her sisters were chattering and eating. She stands in the doorway as his eyes looked at her, silencing the room.

“Everything okay?” asked Diana.

Cassia walks to Lucius, who turns to her in his seat. She stands in front of him and kneels, hearing everyone gasp around the table.

“Emperor Lucius……I take your offering to be your wife and build Rome back up. Like your grandfather wanted.” she said, tears streaming down her face.

Her sisters cheered as Lucius watched, a smile creeping along his face.

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A/N II: I am unfortunately no longer doing the Exotic Travelers series as I’m going into smut retirement again. But I had fun coming back for a bit.

Taglist: @delusioniste @onehalfshrimp

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xxavengingangelxx · 6 months ago

Note

I am very curious about your version of Graves, I want to hear a detailed run down from you on how he’d be like in a romantic situation, would he commit? would he get married? would he “fall in love”, would he want a trophy wife to show off? I am just very curious and would love to hear you speak about this. I want to know what he’d be like if he actually did commit to a long term relationship or marriage, and what kind of woman would make him commit if so? I personally feel like he’d get married to a woman who works alongside him in shadow company, it just makes sense for him to get with somebody who is on the same level of psychopathy as him and understands his actions and behaviour, more so, he’d love being around a woman like that in my opinion. somebody who is as intelligent and knows how PMC’s work and can help him manage it too.

This is a good question! Sorry it took a while work has been absolutely insane. Like 60+ work weeks and now I have Hurricane Beryl headed my way! I use she/her pronouns just because that’s what I wrote my fic about but I think it certainly applies the other way around, too! 😉 I also found out after copy-pasting I've exceeding the character limit so this is part 1! Triggers for mentions of domestic violence and dubcon.

ALSO: This is my version of Graves based on what I know and based on the limited information we have. Another anon post said I had Graves wrong, a different opinion. Totally okay! We all have our own versions of him.

Graves in a romantic situation. This is a difficult one. I think it would be very difficult for Graves to differentiate between romance/love and possessiveness. In a fic I wrote, Graves decides OC is his immediately upon meeting her. I think he would be similarly inclined in the civilian world. I’m not sure if he could a civilian could handle Graves, to be honest ☹But he would be similarly possessive. When this type of man (narcissistic with a touch of psychopathy/sociopathy, and if I’m honest, just a little sadism) is deeply interested in a woman, he gets her one way or another.

My version of Graves likely wouldn’t give his chosen partner a choice. In the military, he’d use his clearances (and his Shadows!) to keep track of her. He’d treat a civilian the same way. He’d follow her and then act like: “Hey! Weird running into you here!” when in his head he’s thinking, “I better not see you talking with any other men.”

I think he would commit/not cheat but not for the reasons normal people would. He would commit because he’s obsessed. He would commit because stalking someone and making sure they don’t escape you once you have a hold of them is like two full-time jobs even with his Shadows. And if we’re talking about a female I can see Graves being worried about said female trying to seduce a Shadow to let her go. If she’s on the smaller side, there’s the risk of her slipping out somewhere. His mobile job would help in the sense that his wife would be clueless as to where she was most of the time. She would never go anywhere alone. He’s got a PMC to run. And when he has down time, he’s tired.

He would love showing off his wife. In a fic I wrote he does just that. He would marry to legally tie his wife to him. And in COD, to make it a legal barrier for her to testify against him. She wouldn’t have a choice. I can totally see him pregnancy trapping his wife to further trap her with him. He’d say there was no way she’d leave and take his children and she’s not going to leave her children behind so she stays. I can’t say him mentioning his kids too much as he realizes they would be a bigger target for his enemies. Even Graves has a bit of a heart when it comes to kids.

I see Graves having more of a traditionalist especially since he’s a conservative type from Texas. I'm a Texan living in Texas y'all: Graves is typical down here (but most of them aren't as good looking!) I wouldn’t be surprised if he’s the type to think: the man works, the wife stays home, raises kids, and spends all her time with her husband when he’s home. However, I can also see him wanting to keep said wife busy so her mind isn’t on escape. After kiddos start entering scene, I see him putting her on intel or something like that. Work from home, ma'am.

Graves would absolutely be attracted to intelligence because Graves is smart. Generally, if there is a big mismatch between intelligence (IQ) between parties, they struggle with not only communication but common interests. I think he would want any children he has to inherit that intelligence and continue his company.

An upside (I guess?): Graves is rich as fuck. His wife would have everything and anything she wants (except freedom, ha).

-OC wants an SUV to transport the kids on base? "Sure, darlin’ I already ordered a top-model Audi/Porche." (By the way, when traveling off base, she and the kids are in a military, armored vehicle with no windows. Graves knows his enemies will try to target them.)

-OC wants to be in a home-like environment on base to give the kids somewhat of a normal life? "Of course, sweetheart. Custom built. Whaddaya want?" (No way they would ever live in a normal neighborhood, too risky.)

-OC asks about schooling since they’re constantly moving around. “Don’t worry about it, love. Paid private school, one-on-one attention online and one-on-one in-person attention in the US. I’m not putting them in the shitty public school system. I want them in military universities.” (Plus, they’d start their military education young.)

I think that Graves, like most full-blood psychopaths/sociopaths as well as those who have a touch of it like Graves, he would equate giving his wife whatever she wanted (except freedom!), any material thing she wanted as well as his kids the best of everything with love. He’d equate sex, even dubcon sex, as love.

Now, more about kids. He’d want the best for his kids but there’s no damn way the kids would get whatever they wanted. He’s got some psychopath in him (see Graves Defragged posts as to why, based on the info we have, he does not score high enough on the psychopathy scale) so he’d literally shape his kids’ (and his wife’s tbh) behavior with positive reinforcement because that is what he responds to. Being a narcissist, he believes everyone thinks like him and that everyone responds to positive reinforcement (but in reality there are other ways of shaping behavior like negative reinforcement, negative punishment, and positive punishment). He literally cannot empathize or put himself in someone else’s shoes (again, see Graves Defragged posts). It’s not that he feels guilt/empathize and chooses to ignore it. This man’s brain is physically wired differently and cannot, cannot, CANNOT feel it. So of course he’d think positive reinforcement is the only way to shape behavior.

Now, Graves’s version of discipline. Yikes. Do I see Graves hitting his partner? Absolutely. Graves is in general not impulsive, especially when it comes to important, long-term decisions. For my Criminal Minds fans, he'd be an organized serial killer, not a disorganized one if that helps. His brain structure is different so his limbic system (the more animalistic part of our brains) can be overwhelming to him and I can see this overtaking his prefrontal lobes (PFC) when emotions are involved. What happens? He will lash out with violence, like, with little warning. (I can write another post as to how most homicides are actually crimes of passion, between people who know each other and not planned out/between strangers like the media/TV shows make it out to be.) He will hit his wife, hard, if she gets (what he deems to be) “out of line.” I can’t really see him doing it all the time. But I can definitely see that if his partner pisses him off enough, that partner can easily spend a few nights in a hospital. Yes, Graves sees his wife as somewhat below him: someone needing guidance, direction, and discipline.

For the kids: He’s the disciplinarian, no doubt and the kids go to mom for comfort. Mom gets in the way? He’ll shove her at the least. I can’t really see him seriously hurting his kids. His kids are half him and he’s narcissistic, remember?

There’s emotion involved and based on what I’ve been trained in, men like Graves can only feel two emotions strongly: joy…and rage. We’ve all gotten angry and done/said something we regretted. Imagine that tenfold with an overactive limbic system and some glitches in the frontal lobes.

Now: In one of my darker fics, Graves writes (and then burns) a letter to OC where he starts to feel some kind of guilt. But, xxavengingangelxx, you said he couldn’t feel that! I know 😉 But we all love somewhat happy endings, right? We all love seeing Graves with somewhat of a human side. That’s why I added that little tidbit even though in real life, he wouldn’t be able to feel that. In my fic he’d continue to blame OC for what she went through because “she should’ve talked when we first got her.”

Wow, ok. Two pages of this. I need to shut up. I went to school for this, I trained in this, I see this every day, and I read on average a book a week on this topic. I’m obsessed fascinated!

Anon, I hope I answered both your questions 😊 Any other questions, let me know!

#phillip graves #cod mw2 #phillip graves x reader #graves x reader #cod mwii #cod mw3 #mw2 141 #criminology #forensic psychology

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resowrites · 7 months ago

Text

Special Brew - oneshot.

Summary: Henry’s interview gets gatecrashed…

Pairings: AU!Henry Cavill x Reader/Wife!OC, Interviewer

Warnings: fluff, banter/British humour, fake interview, language, dialogue heavy, nondescript reader/OC body type/appearance, hastily written/lightly proofread.

WC: 2221

A/N: Hi folks I know it’s been a while, work’s nuts these days. This is very rushed and was meant to be longer (I wanted to base it on something I’d written previously) but for the sake of just getting something uploaded I decided to post as is. Sorry I can’t post regularly anymore but I hope you enjoy all the same - R x

Remember, this is pure fiction (as in completely made up), and not in any way meant to reflect reality. My work must not be copied, reposted, or translated elsewhere. Gifs/pics not my own. Thanks for visiting!

Special Brew - oneshot.

The following is an excerpt from an article that can be read in full here.

— It's at about the halfway mark in my interview with the 41-year-old Hollywood actor, Henry Cavill, when I notice his attention is caught by something offscreen.

"Where did you get that?" I think I hear 'the fridge, you dickhead,' in reply. He grins. But instead of resuming our discussion about his upcoming role in the rebooted 80's classic, Highlander, he starts gesturing for someone to join him. It fails. So seconds later his partner is pulled onto his lap despite some very loud protestations. He tells her it's her fault for taking his last tin of lager. She tells him she needs it more. What then follows is an almost a four-and-a-half minute squabble - yes I actually timed it - which ends with Henry relinquishing the can on the proviso that if he has to be interviewed, she does as well. I don't take offense but soon wondered if that was premature:

"Who's interviewing you? The Telegraph?"

"No, The Guardian--"

"Wouldn't the Telegraph be more interested?" He gestures in my direction.

"Well, I assume Mark is all the same!"

"And how long have you been keeping this poor bastard?"

"We've not even been chatting half an hour!"

"Oh… have you got a second question for him?" I smile. The 35-year-old financier first met the actor in 2015 and they were rumoured to have married in 2022. Not that either of them, his publicist, or even various social media accounts provide much in the way of confirmation. This seems to stem more from a desire for privacy where possible than anything else. Though it must be said, at first glance they make for an incongruous pair. She catches me peering at her still towel-wrapped hair, Celtic jersey, and joggers combo and wastes no time striking first:

"That's a nice shirt--"

"Don't be cheeky, just 'cos you could have made more of an effort--"

"It's my day off! At least I don't look like an undercover policeman." Is she referring to Henry or myself?

"I don't know, stand up," I laugh but he just rolls his eyes. "Has he apologised for Aryglle yet? To be fair that was actually my fault, I wanted a new kitchen." This lays the ground for what is arguably one of the most chaotic interviews I've experienced in a while.

"Do you see what I mean, Mark? It's not that she wouldn't be media trained, it's that she couldn't." Now she rolls her eyes.

"See, he thinks he's being slick by making me look bad--"

"I'm the one who does that?!"

"So he looks better by comparison--"

"Is that right? And what was wrong with Aryglle?!"

"Nothing! It's the best thing you've ever done. Even if you didn't mean for it to be." She coughs to try and cover a laugh. I ask for her thoughts on his most recent box office offering (Guy Ritchie's spy action comedy, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare) but for a split second, the title escapes me.

"You mean The Manly Ministry of Something?" Henry tuts and grabs back the can. I dare to question if she has a low opinion of the profession in general. "No, it's more to do with the actors themselves." How so? "Well, considering they're usually the biggest gobshites you'd think it'd be great craic hanging out with them--" he quickly interjects.

"Who are you calling a gobshite?!"

'What do you mean?"

"You know fine well what I mean!" Henry turns back towards me and continues. "Even her own mother took me aside a couple of weeks after we started dating to try and warn me--"

"She never! What did she say?"

"Do you really want to discuss that right now?!" It can't be that bad then, I respond. He shakes his head, despairingly. "Oh no, just that she once walked on stage at a school assembly and instead of graciously accepting an award, pretended to trip so she could drag every single trophy off the display table!"

"… Can you tell he went to a private school?" I almost spit my drink out.

"What do you mean?"

"Do you not realise how tame that sounds?!"

"But that was just the first month you were there!"

"Then I deserved an award--"

"Hang on, she also told me that when you had an after-school detention on your birthday, you climbed out the window of the room you were being supervised in--"

"Normally I'd just get on the bus and go home so that time they gave me a personal escort--"

"And then refused to come down from the roof unless they gave her a birthday cake!" Laughter rings out between our two screens. "In the end, they had to call the fire brigade and she became the reason why their school couldn't properly open their windows any more--"

"I also got a ride home in a fire engine so, hands down one of my best birthdays." Henry sighs. I wonder aloud how this contrasts with his own experiences of school.

"Er, I mean I was a bit of a goody-two-shoes, so I felt a bit intimidated by that sort of thing."

"He still is." He now chokes on his drink. Does this mean they wouldn't have crossed paths as kids?

"Nah, she'd have bullied me then as well." They both laugh. So she hasn't mellowed at all in the intervening years?

"I would say I have, yeah… you do as you get older." Henry's eyebrows hit the ceiling.

"Oh right, so I just hallucinated that night at the Bafta’s then?" She clears her throat and takes a large swig from the can. Is this why she doesn't typically attend red carpets with him?

"Ugh, I'd rather shit in my hands and clap--"

"That and the fact you're a fucking liability!" She shrugs as he explains. "A few years ago, I made the mistake of dragging her along to the after-party--"

"Well, that explains why I didn't fucking remember. Why did I have to come? You didn't win anything you were just presenting--"

"Oh fuck off! I even promised to take her on holiday for a couple of weeks if she at least tried to behave herself--"

"'Cos that's a good incentive--"

"And Jesus Christ, never again. If I wasn't blackballed in this industry before, I was that fucking night--"

"No, it's 'cos you won't take acting lessons." Henry smirks and tries to cover her mouth this time.

"At least I didn't go up to a circle containing Judi Dench, Helen Mirren--"

"Look at him dropping names! And it's Dame Judi…"

"And last but not least, the Meryl Streep--"

"You know, of Mama Mia…" A laugh escapes me before I can stop it.

“Only to ask them where their cauldron was!"

"But that's the great thing about being a nobody, you can say whatever want--"

"You're not a nobody--"

"No, I'm your plus one…" They howl with laughter. "The best thing is to underdress slightly as well so they think you're staff, the reactions are even better." And what was the response? "None of them heard me." He snorts.

"Judi just burst out laughing--"

"Judi! Like they're friends! Yeah, well she saw us arrive together so I think she was onto me."

"Luckily she's got a robust sense of humour…"

"Not like that other one. Oh, what's his name? You know… the one that says he'd rather be making shoes?" Sir Daniel Day-Lewis?

"Yeah, she asked him if he wanted her to go look for his top hat." I can feel my own jaw drop.

"That's how he reacted! Oh God, I'd give my left tit to relive it…" I ask where Henry is when these interactions go down. "Usually trying to find the nearest exit--"

"Is it any wonder!"

"But we were only there twenty minutes--"

"And he wasn't even the first Daniel you managed to piss off!" And who was that?

"Dan Snow." The broadcaster? Henry glances heavenward, exasperated.

"No, Jon Snow - and she means Kit Harrington. She got talking to him and somehow things managed to go south even quicker than usual." I can see how referring to him instead as the 50-year-old historian might have that effect. "No, it wasn't that, it was when he asked whether she was enjoying Game of Thrones--"

"Which is presumptuous isn't it?" For once even I'm at a loss for words.

"And so she asked him if that's the show with dragons and when he said 'yes,'" he starts cracking up, "she went 'then, no.'" I don't think I've ever seen a man look so crestfallen - not even when you accosted Sam." Mr. Rockwell? I'm assuming that took place while Henry was still on the Argylle press tour?

"Oh yeah that was a gas, I waited until we were a bit better acquainted--"

"So the poor sod had his guard down--"

"And on the last day, I asked if he'd sign a picture for me. I think he assumed it was for a friend or something so he wasn't expecting me to thank him for gifting Henry his picture to put above the toilet--"

"What's worse is that it was that still from The Green Mile, you know? Literally, the first one that pops up on Google!" This anecdote puts me in mind of a similar story I heard on the grapevine during the first season of Netflix's The Witcher. Against my better judgment, I ask him if knows what I'm talking about and immediately his eyes flash in recognition.

"Yeah, and it pains me to say that's also true."

"What is?"

"Your stunt at the Witcher premiere…" For a moment she looks genuinely confused. "Don't pretend you can't remember!"

"Remember what? I wasn't even there!"

"And even that didn't spare me!"

"Oh I can't fucking win Mark, all I did was try and bring a smile to his face 'cos I knew he was sad about me having to work that night--"

"So naturally you had an 8x10 still printed of me with Orlando Bloom's head (as Legolas), photoshopped on top? Which, by the way, you could have just messaged me. But what did you do instead? You made dozens of copies and had my bodyguard hand them out to fans for me to sign." She waits for a beat.

"But how long did it take for you to notice?" Gentle reader, when I tell you this is one of only a handful of occasions I've ever laughed so hard in an interview, it's because I want you to know how rare that's actually been over a 35-year career in entertainment journalism. Still, I imagine that if she was brazen enough to taunt some of Hollywood's most influential stars, far worse shots have since been fired.

"Oh yeah, why don't you tell Mark how you recently mouthed off to Aaron Taylor Johnson?" Even she begins to look sheepish.

"Yeah, but I was only trying to make conversation." Henry's head falls into his hand. She snickers. What on earth happened? "Honestly, nothing. I just said I hoped he really was being considered for Bond ‘cos he looks great in a suit." I hardly know how to respond. "Now that I think about it, he probably just thought I got you two mixed up--"

"Stop it right now!"

"What? You bought me in on this interview!" This of course is true and seems to serve a more serious purpose the longer our conversation continues. That he adores her is plain - his eyes never leave her. But it's the fact she can keep making him laugh, even under the scrutiny of being interviewed, that seems to make all the difference. Is that the key to the success of their relationship? "Well, that and the fact he's gone for six months out of any twelve--"

"So all the messages saying you miss me is just lip service?"

"Oh alright, it's cos he's got a huge… heart. Almost as big as his bank balance." Henry's legs are suddenly thrown in the air. At first, it seems he lost his balance, but judging from how quickly he then chases her from the room, I assume it was she who pulled the lever on his office chair that sent him hurtling to the floor.

A couple of days later, I received a brief email from her which apologised for them both having 'christened more than a couple of ships' that day and explained how she was grateful that even though she 'had a lot of baggage' before they met, Henry refused to give up on her. She signed off with the following; 'His biggest problem is his limited self-belief. But seriously, he's admired because, in a professional and personal life full of arseholes, he's still, as Virginia Woolf said of her husband right before she died by suicide, 'entirely patient and incredibly good'. I'll never be drunk enough to say that to his face so I've cc'd him in.' I double-checked and saw that she had indeed emailed him as well. It's an oddly moving, albeit characteristically funny postscript and one that underlines her devotion to him no matter what. We should all be so lucky.

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is on Amazon Prime Video.

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@fanfictionaddiction99 @luclittlepond @caffeinatedfestivalsheep @summersong69 @ushijimbo @livesinfantasyland @jackjanira @thearcana-moonlight

#henry cavill #henry cavill fandom #henry cavill fanfiction #henry cavill imagine #henry cavill x reader

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