#seriously though it was hilarious because we weren’t even trying hard at all to convince our one friend

[bri-cheeses]

The Rosier twins are the best at telling lies. Him and Pandora could have you doubting your entire existence if they wanted to. One time I think they halfway convinced Barty that Pandora was actually adopted, and it was only “halfway” because they were just joking and therefore not trying very hard to be convincing. Barty felt kind of dumb after that, though, because they look pretty much the exact the same even though they’re fraternal.

[wallflowerimagines]

Hi! I looove your posts! Thank you so much for sharing your writing!

I was wondering… could you maybe write about the Four Lords with a shy S/O that gets bold and defensive when someone insults the lords? or calls them names? And the Lord’s reaction to the S/O acting different? Dk if im explaining myself >.<

Again! Love your work! Have a great day!

We stan protective partners on this blog!!

Warnings: uh...insults? They're pretty over the top😅 Also swearing.

Alcina Dimitrescu

Honestly, Alcina is more than able to defend herself.

She's got a tongue like a viper, and the thickest skin imaginable. If you really want to hurt her feelings, you have to be someone whom she already respects to a certain degree, or she won't even be phased.

Still, when she leaves a room, there's always some idiot that thinks it's a smart idea to talk shit.

Maybe it's a maid, maybe it's a guest in the Castle, but either way you're not having it.

"God, you're annoying." There was a pause before they opened their mouth again, and you rolled your eyes. "No please, by all means, continue to share your lack of taste with the rest of us."

You disassemble this dumbass, starting small with comments about their personality (trying to keep it classy), but escalating the more they choose to double down on the comments.

Alcina comes back into the room to find you practically screaming at this asshole.

"Look, all you have accomplished here today is revealing that you are a fundamental disappointment on every possible level. My life is worse now that I've heard you open your mouth, you disrespectful, shit licking worm fucker."

Alcina is stunned. You do not give off "aggressive guard dog" vibes at all, yet here you are defending her tooth and nail. While she had seen brief moments of your inner strength and protective streak (mostly towards her daughters) she just...never thought you would do the same for her.

It's not because she doesn't trust you or love you! But nobody has ever done something like this for her before? Ever? She's never had anyone try to protect her--not physically, and not even verbally. She's been so independent for so long that it's... Strange to see you support her so openly.

She doesn't need you to do this for her, she doesn't even expect it, but you do it anyway for no other reason than the fact that you love her. You want people to give her the respect she deserves.

I'm going to be real here: Alcina has never been closer to swooning before in her life. You're overcoming your shyness because you believe in her so much-- it's not a gesture meant to be romantic, but Alcina can't help but see this as a massive statement of your commitment to her.

Seriously. This is such a massive thing for her that if proposals weren't already on her mind, she is mentally picking out a ring for you the minute this happens.

Then, of course, she glides into the room, kisses you until you're breathless and babbling, and smirks at the unfortunate peon who thought they could get away with insulting House Dimitrescu.

She's in such a good mood that she's considering going easy on the idiot. Maybe removing their tongue would be enough of a warning?

Donna Dimitrescu

You don't really know how it's possible but apparently some people don't like Donna Beneviento? Some people think she's scary and unpleasant????

Wild. Can't imagine what that's like.

The two of you are honestly the sweetest, most toothrottingly adorable couple-- blushing when you hold each other's hands, sneaking glances at each other across rooms, giving each other kisses and forgetting whatever was on your mind...

Honestly, anybody who's critical of your relationship with your girlfriend is just a hater. Fuckers can pound sand😤

Still, you are pretty shy, so it takes a lot for you to defend yourself if someone comments about you. It can take a lot of courage to stand up against rude remarks, and sometimes it's easier to walk away.

Defending Donna, on the other hand?

The minute someone even thinks about dismissing her, you are ready to throw hands.

"My lovely girlfriend already said no, meaning you're either deaf or too stupid to pick up on simple social cues," you purse your lips and give the rude and pushy Villager a patronizing once over. "You and your opinion are equally useless. Get the fuck away from us."

Donna blinks.

She... Was not expecting this??? At all?? You're so nice! You always tell her about your attempts to avoid confrontation! What's going on??? How did you get the guts to say what she's always wanted to say?

Meanwhile, Angie is LIVING.

The little doll chimes in to assist you with the verbal homicide, working as a tag team to absolutely murder this moron. She's half partner, half hype man, and is so excited to do this with you. Normally, she has to protect Donna all by herself, but she's relieved and reassured that you stepped in first.

'USELESS IS TOO NICE, THOUGH! THAT IMPLIES THEY AREN'T A POINTLESS, RANCID, LONELY FREAK. THEY LOOK LIKE THEY CRY WHEN THEY MASTURBATE.'

You high five Angie, still glaring daggers at the unfortunate villager.

The two of you continue to ream into the villager, while Donna hovers nearby.

As surprised as she is, she's also grateful. She's only really ever had Angie to help shield her from insults and disrespect (and occasionally inducing horrifying hallucinations that make people claw off their own skin), but having you in her corner makes her feel safe.

Not to get totally sappy, but you're like her knight in shining armor in a lot of ways. And the fact you two are so similar is really motivating-- She wants to one day be confident enough to return the favor. Until then, she's happy to watch her two favorite people have fun insulting some stranger ❤️

Salvatore Moreau

With you being so shy, Salvatore is surprised how often he takes the lead in your relationship.

He's not normally all that outgoing, but you seem to bring out a side of him that's very protective. Whenever you have a bad day he wants to bundle you up and keep you safe from the world.

If he so much as holds your hand you start stuttering and avert your gaze. It creates a feedback loop where you both get flustered, but Moreau has never felt steadier. Despite your shyness, you make sure he knows how much you love him.

You're sweet as pie and twice as kind--Salvatore is the luckiest man in the world, nobody can convince him otherwise 💕💕

So it comes as a total shock that when a passing fisherman spits in your path and calls him a freak, your entire demeanor does a 180.

Your posture straightens and you look the villager dead in the eye, "I don't believe anyone asked your opinion."

Salvatore: 😳

This is not the time, and he totally knows it, but, uh, something about your tone??? Really does it for him???

While he's attempting to process why exactly he's starting to short circuit, you proceed to verbally shred this person to bits with clinical efficiency-- nothing is off limits.

They might try to defend themselves, but it's useless. You do not let up.

"Ugly? Monster? Bitch your teeth are throwing gang signs, don't throw stones from your shining glass house."

You insult their appearance, what they're holding, their smell-- you get so fucking mean that you might even make them cry.

Moreau is just lost right now, trying hard to figure out how exactly you were able to gain all of this confidence so quickly.

He's not upset! In fact he's very flattered! But, he also doesn't want you to get into a fight with some unimportant stranger. (After all, if they so much as throw a punch, they're straight up dead. Moreau is a patient man, but he's not that patient. You do not hurt his partner and live to tell the tale.)

He may a healer but...

Eventually he steps between you and the fisherman in an attempt to deescalate the situation, but you just kiss him on the cheek and step around him, determined to make your point.

Blushing hard, Moreau lets you do what you want. What can he say? Fish man likes himself a protective partner 💞

Karl Heisenberg

Magnet Man is not the most social guy to begin with, so any opportunities you have to stick up for him are already pretty slim.

He mostly knows you as the shy, sweet, easily flustered partner that lets out a cute squeak every time he sneaks up to hug you from behind.

Karl's honestly happy just to spend time with you all alone in the Factory. It's not the best or healthiest mindset, but he'd be perfectly content to only ever see you for the rest of his life. Spending time with anybody else feels like a boring waste in comparison.

But occasionally, you do head out into town with him. Heisenberg wants you to be safe so he doesn't do it often, but running errands with you is a weakness of his. It's domestic in a way that he's never experienced before.

He likes it ❤️

What he does not like is the shopkeeper starting to give their opinions on the quality of your relationship with him.

Most insults Karl will let slide because he doesn't particularly care. However if anyone makes a comment on how scared (shy) you look around him, how you must be being threatened into being with him, how poorly Lord Heisenberg is treating you...he won't stand for it.

But before his fingers can even twitch towards his hammer, you snap.

"You're clearly the blindest cocksucker I've ever met--so wipe the cum out of eyes and mind your own fucking business."

Karl does a double take.

He's heard you curse before, but quietly. The words coming out of your mouth are WILD right now, he has NEVER seen you so angry. You're defending him with the aggression of a wild animal, and it's simultaneously HILARIOUS, but for some reason he's also getting a warm fuzzy feeling in his chest?

He doesn't need you to protect him like this, but seeing you blatantly argue how much you love and cherish him in public reassures him in a way he didn't know he needed.

Still, hearing you call the shopkeeper "shit for brains" is the funniest thing that's happened in years.

Heisenberg starts laughing, and the more you shout at the idiot, the harder he laughs. Is it weird how hard he wants to kiss you right now?

Eventually, he just has to drag you away, cackling as you continue to shout insults at the unfortunate shopkeep. There's got to be an alley around here for some good old fashioned privacy 💕

[bwbatta]

two - persuasion

Abstract: Draco and you are just friends so doing him a favour and pretending to be his girlfriend wouldn’t effect your friendship, right?

Pairing: Draco Malfoy x reader

Warnings: some swears but that’s all!

Word count: 2623

A/N: let’s go for part 2 then?! Thank you so much for all your lovely comments! Everyone who has asked to be on the taglist has been added and if you would like to be on the list, just send me a message! Dividers are by the super talented @firefly-graphics 🤩

Series Masterlist | Main Masterlist

Part 1 | Part 3

The plan was set.

Draco and you had talked some more about what being ‘in a relationship’ entailed, whilst at the same time avidly avoiding Pansy in your free time. In fact, you were surprised with how little you’d have to change the dynamic between the two of you.

The first point was friendship, which was easy enough you thought. There’s no point in starting a fake relationship if you don’t get on well in the first place.

Second, communication. You agreed to be open and honest with each other, this whole plan wouldn’t work if you weren’t telling each other everything.

And finally third, intimacy.

This one was obvious enough and it was more than just hand holding or sharing the odd kiss or two, you knew that. It was about selling your relationship to be believable to everyone else around you, including your closest friends.

One of which was Hermione.

The plan on paper was simple, you both said you’d start off small and work your way into being a couple, so why did you feel this pit of anxiety in your stomach?

Nerves? Sure, you chalked it down to that.

So when you entered the Great Hall the next morning, late and in desperate need of caffeine, you somehow didn’t expect your ‘boyfriend’ to approach you with a steaming mug of coffee.

You completely missed the blonde boy too as you took your normal seat with a frantic expression on your face. Your roommates didn’t wake you up like they usually did so when you woke and found no one there, you almost screamed when you checked the time.

“Coffee coffee coffee” the mantra on your tongue “where the hell is the coffee?!”

Hermione looked amused as she packed up the book she was previously reading into her bag.

“Ron finished it moments ago, there’s no more”

“What?!” You blanched “there’s none?”

Hermione shook her head, the answer a definite no.

With energy lacking and spirit deflated, you grabbed a couple slices of toast and buttered them quickly, at least trying to put some food in your stomach even if it wasn’t your usual caffeine shot.

However when Hermione froze slightly, eyes narrowly following something behind you with a glare, you frowned at her confused. That was until Draco perched on the seat next to you, holding a mug of coffee between his hands.

“Granger” he greeted in a civil manner causing the witch to freeze in shock, half expecting an offhand snide comment about her blood status. He then turned to you and offered the coffee, “thought you might need this”

“But I thought there was none left!”

“I saved you it”

“You saved me a coffee?”

“Kept it warm too”

You could’ve cried when you took the mug from him and immediately the drink warmed your hands. Eagerly taking a sip, you found the coffee itself was exactly to your liking.

You went to point it out but before a word could leave your lips, Draco rolled his eyes at you with a smile.

“What? You thought I didn’t know how you took your coffee?”

The question was rhetorical, not that you cared. Exhaustion was the only thing you felt that morning up until then, quickly being replaced with utter fondness for the Malfoy boy next to you.

“Thank you” you told him as he grinned back at you

“Don’t mention it”

Draco raised his hand and swiped away a lock of hair which had fallen out of your two second attempt to pin it back this morning in your rush.

Your breath hitched slightly as his eyes found yours and he leaned in towards your ear.

“How am I doing?”

Your brain stalled.

Right.

Of course.

He was acting like he cared about you in front of Hermione.

To convince Hermione.

Who of course, confirmed with a quick glance, was looking between the two of you with suspicion in her eyes.

Quickly painting a smile across your face like he’d said something sweet, you pulled back and shot him a dazzling smile.

“Alright, I guess” you said, vague enough so Hermione wouldn’t clock onto what he really said.

“Good” he grinned back at you before standing from the seat. “I’ll see you after class later, yeah?”

You nodded at him, and with a fond smile at you and a courteous nod to Hermione, he left the two of you be, heading to his first class.

With the thought in the back of your mind that you should probably also get to class, you were stopped by a substantially confused Hermione who looked at you like you’d grown another head.

“Was I just in some parallel universe?”

“What?”

“‘What?’ Seriously, that’s how you’re going to answer that question?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about” you shrugged your shoulders before standing and picking up your bag and the mug of coffee from Draco.

“What aren’t you telling me?” The Granger girl continued to interrogate you as she too stood, though with a lot more vigor.

“There’s a lot of things I’m not telling you Hermione, but if it’s anything to do with Draco, I don’t know what you mean”

Striding out the Great Hall, she quickly followed you, pestering for more information which you avoided expertly until you got to your first class you shared.

“Why did Malfoy get you coffee?”

“Because it was a nice thing to do”

“Why was he civil with me?”

“Maybe he’s seen the light”

“(Y/N)! Tell me! I’m not going to be able to sleep tonight otherwise and you know it!”

With a sigh you turned to face her.

Putting on a performance like it was tough for you to keep a secret, you ‘umm’d and ‘ahh’d under her questioning until you really had had enough of the interrogation.

“Okay, fine, we may or may not be dating” you said like it wasn’t a big deal

“What?!”

“Miss Granger!” Professor McGonagall’s voice snapped “if you’re so done with your conversation, perhaps you could start writing your essay?”

“Yes, Professor. Sorry, Professor”

With a glare shot your way, meaning she’d grill you later for information, the bookworm turned back to her work and started writing furiously.

It was later that day that you found out that Lavender Brown had overheard your conversation with Hermione and so naturally, the gossip that you and Draco were dating was spread across the entire school.

Some believed the rumour, others didn’t so much. This of course included Blaise, the Weasley twins, and of course, the ever stubborn Pansy.

When the boys finally cornered each respective friend, they of course had some questions that needed to be addressed. 

Blaise cornered Draco first at Lunch. 

The Malfoy boy had just started to tuck into his food when a book slammed down on the table next to him, startling the boy. 

Blaise pinned him with a hard look.

“Is it true you’re dating (Y/N)?”

“How’d you hear that?!”

“Word gets around fast... so, is it true?”

“Yes it’s true” Draco rolled his eyes at his friend

He was honestly shocked at how quickly the rumour had gone round the castle, though he suspected some of the Gryffindor girls were behind it. They always seemed like they pounced on any gossip going.

This also meant, Pansy had probably heard it by now.

Draco’s interest peaked.

“Who’d you hear it from?” The blonde asked his friend

“Bulstrode of all people” Blaise rolled his eyes “thought I might’ve found out from my friend himself but apparently not”

“Sorry man, it only really happened yesterday”

Blaise waved his apology off

“So tell me, is this for real? It’s not a prank or anything, she knows you think you’re going out with her right?”

“Yes, (Y/N) knows we’re going out” Draco rolled his eyes in exasperation “she’s also not being forced or blackmailed into going out with me if that puts your mind at rest”

This wasn’t technically true and Draco fought the urge to cringe slightly as he remembered the deal he had made with you.

Despite the other copious Christmas presents he had to get you, being civil to Granger wasn’t so bad he remarked. They only shared a few classes, all of which were with you present, so all he really had to do was ignore the fact the muggleborn witch existed and he’d keep his side of the deal up.

“Good” Blaise huffed, finally sitting down next to him “can I ask you something though?”

“You just did”

“Smart arse” Blaise rolled his eyes but continued on “what made you ask her out?”

Draco paused.

You hadn’t actually discussed this so there wasn’t a definite plan on what response to give. The boy trusted himself to come up with a decent answer though so instead of panicking, he said the first thing that popped into his head.

“I’ve been in love with her for years”

Well... he didn’t expect that to be his response.

“You have?” Blaise asked also taken aback

“Umm, yeah, sure, she’s the one for me you know?”

Draco kicked himself once again

Why couldn’t he think straight?!

“She’s just... she’s so funny, you know? One of the funniest people I’ve ever met. Her laugh, man, is enough to make me laugh even harder because have you heard it?! It’s hilarious!”

Unconsciously, Draco began to smile at the thought of you.

“Also, she’s super talented at anything she does, which would be wildly annoying if she wasn’t so modest about it. She’s also the most sarcastic person I’ve ever met, yet also the kindest. She’s got so many good qualities it’s hard to even think about anything bad about her.”

Draco stopped, breaking out of his train of thought.

Now that... that, he really hasn’t expect to be his response.

“I’m glad you’re happy then, Draco” the Zabini boy smiled at him “seems like you really like her”

“Yeah... I do”

You were pounced upon by both the Weasley twins not much later on, both demanding answers.

“You’re dating Malfoy?!”

“As in Draco Malfoy? The ferret?”

“He’s not a ferret!” You rolled your eyes at the pair. “And yes I am. Why? Do you not believe the castle gossip?”

“We heard it-“ Fred began

“Still working on believing it” George finished

You rolled your eyes and continued on to the library, your original destination before you got jumped by the identical redheads.

“Believe what you want” you shrugged trying to play it off.

“See (Y/N), here’s the thing, I don’t know if I believe you’re actually going out with him” Fred stated causing you to frown.

“What do you mean?”

“Freddie here believes you guys are faking it for some reason” George chucked an arm round your shoulders as they continued to walk with you.

“Why would we be faking it?!” You laughed like the idea was ridiculous.

“I just know you wouldn’t go for him” Fred shrugged “your standards are too high.”

“My standards are too high?!”

You were mildly offended at the suggestion, no matter how correct Fred was about the two of you faking your relationship.

Reaching the library quickly, you turned to the boys who had halted at the sight of the only room in the castle they adamantly wouldn’t enter.

“Well, unless your plan is to follow me into the forbidden room of books, I’ll see you guys later?”

Not waiting for an answer you swung open the door, mind now focused on studying for that test you had coming up in Herbology later that week.

“I still don’t believe you!” Fred shouted after you before the door closed shut behind you

All you could do was roll your eyes.

It was dinner later that evening when you saw your ‘boyfriend’ again since breakfast when he’d given you the coffee.

By now, you two were the talk of the castle which is why you weren’t surprised to see a fuming brunette strut up to you. The Slytherin girl looked as if she should have smoke coming out her ears you thought, not that you’d tell her that and anger her even more.

“(Y/N)” Pansy sniffed almost impatiently as she reached you.

“Pansy” you replied innocently which seen fo infuriate her more.

“I heard you’re supposedly dating my boyfriend?”

“Your boyfriend?”

You couldn’t help but phrase the question like you really didn’t know what she was talking about.

“Draco!”

“...Draco?”

“Draco Malfoy!” She practically growled at you

“Ohh, Draco as in my boyfriend?”

“Yes! Wait no-“

You snorted at her slip up and ignored her as you sidestepped and entered the Great Hall spying the familiar mop of platinum blonde hair, sending him a smile,

Before you could make your way over to him though, a hand grabbed your arm with nails roughly digging into your skin.

“Hey, I wasn’t done talking to you” Pansy seethed

“Well I was done talking to you” you shrugged truely bored with the girl “I’d appreciate it now though if you let go of my arm.”

“No, I’m not finishe-“

“Yes you are” Draco cut her off this time

Pansy’s expression looked like her brain had short circuited for a moment before she gathered herself and smiled flirtily at the boy.

“Hey Drakey baby”

“Firstly, for the millionth time, don’t call me that” Draco narrowed his eyes at her into a glare. “Secondly, (Y/N) also asked you to let go of her arm so I suggest you do so.”

At once, like your arm was on fire, Pansy dropped her grip which she had forgotten about as soon as the Malfoy had entered the conversation.

You rubbed your arm as you pulled it to your chest. Pansy’s nails had dug deep and actually split the skin on your arm slightly by the force she had held you by.

“And finally, I’d appreciate it if you’d fuck off and didn’t harass my girlfriend, especially about lies that we’re somehow involved.”

With that being said, Draco wrapped his arm around your waist and escorted you over to the spot he was originally sitting at, letting you take his seat while he forced Crabbe to move down a space so he could sit next to you.

“Thanks for that” you sent him a smile “though I can handle Pansy”

“I know” he replied with a grin of his own “I just needed to get that off my chest. Let me see your arm.”

“It’s nothing-“

“(Y/N)”

With a sigh you reluctantly held out your arm so he could see the damage Pansy had done. Spotting the crescent shaped breaks in your skin, his jaw clenched in anger.

“Psychotic bitch” he mumbled under his breath barely loud enough for you to hear, “episkey”.

The wounds sewed themselves back together in no time and you send him a grateful smile.

“Heard you got cornered by Blaise earlier”.

“Heard the same about you with the Weasley twins”.

“Mmm” you shrugged “there was bound to be a few that didn’t just automatically believe we’re dating. Some might need a little more persuasion, especially Pansy. Also it is still only the first day since the gossip broke though, it might just be that we wait for the news to settle.”

“I guess” he rolled his eyes playing with the pasta on his plate with his fork, before pausing slightly, setting it down and turning to you.

His eyes glanced round the hall quickly before snapping back to you with a grin. Leaning towards you, he wrapped an arm around your waist to pull you slightly closer to him as his lips became level with your ear.

You fought the urge to shiver.

“Or... it just means we’ll have to make it all the more believable, Sweetheart.”

Series Taglist:

(If you’re in bold, tumblr wouldn’t let me tag you ☹️, otherwise if you want to be added, let me know! 🤩):

@weasleytwinswheezes @azkabanlexi @streetfighterrichie @queen-of-the-coven @gdee703 @thatguppienamedbae @crumpets-are-better-with-jam @savcks @remmyswritings @thescarletknight2014 @w0nderr @heyiheardyouwereawildone36 @moonlightorbit @ceeellewrites @nicole-prz @depressedchilipepper @swiftlymoniquesblog

[whatifxwereyou]

Ashes Chapter 11: Coffee

Fandom: Mortal Kombat 2021

Pairing: Liu Kang x Reader

A/N: This story will now update on Wednesdays from here on in! Hope that you're all doing well. It's wednesday, you made it halfway! You got this!

First Chapter << Previous Chapter Next Chapter >> Chapter Index

You didn’t sleep much that night. You were afraid to sleep. Between the vision on the roof and your night with Liu Kang? Sleep just wasn’t part of the equation. You hated that you wanted to be held through the night, but you felt too guilty to imagine Kung Lao doing it. You tossed wildly between feeling horribly guilty that you’d slept with Liu Kang like a human wrecking ball and angry that he’d lied to you all those years ago. You would have given anything to get your brain to shut up for the night.

The next morning, you tagged along with the other champions to meet with Johnny Cage. Liu had told you that you could stay behind if you needed rest, but you wanted to be anywhere but alone with your thoughts. Besides, you were curious about Johnny. Raiden had sent all of you to talk to him. Either he was impressive, or Raiden had ulterior motives. You were guessing the latter.

From what you’d heard, Johnny was as stubborn as they came but you hoped that deep down, he had a somewhat decent moral compass. It was difficult to tell just from watching a movie and meeting him would help. You were usually a good judge of character.

You were to meet with him at a coffee shop in Hollywood and he was impossible to miss. White blazer, bright blue half-buttoned shirt beneath it, gold chain around his neck, and the top letters of a tattoo of his own name exposed on his chest.

“When I agreed to meet with you, I figured it’d be just you and me not your whole crew of misfits.” Johnny gestured behind Sonya who had her arms folded so tight under her chest, you could see her veins bulging. She looked like she wanted to immediately break his nose. He must have made quite the impression on her the day before. Johnny made a big deal out of buying coffee even though most of you declined. You ended up getting a tea since Johnny seemed a little bummed that no one was taking him up on his ‘generosity’.

“Can you believe this guy?” Sonya whispered to you. You sipped your tea and shrugged. They had gotten to talking about the dragon mark. Cole had shown his off since it was the easiest to get to. “I’ve never seen anyone love the sound of their own voice this much.”

“I think he’s a little funny.” You shrugged. You’d decided he was harmless. Yes, he had a huge ego and cocky attitude, but he was also… well, harmless. He played it tough and made a lot of jokes, but you had met plenty of terrible men in your life and Johnny didn’t seem like one of them. Sonya huffed next to you.

“So, you’re telling me that you all have the same mark as me?” Johnny led them outside the café and took a seat, kicking his feet onto one of the tables. He held his latte close and looked at you over the top of his sunglasses.

“Yes. The mark means that you have been chosen.” Liu’s English was adorable. He had such a careful way of speaking and his accent made it even sweeter. You had to make a conscious effort not to smile. Liu explained Mortal Kombat, and it was nice to hear him sounding like himself for once. Maybe your night had done some good even if it had felt like a mess.

“Hold up, hold up. You all have the mark? I was just joking before.” Johnny kicked his feet off the table and leaned his elbows on his knees.

“Yes. We are the chosen warriors.”

“…that’s messed up.” Johnny sipped his coffee and set it down on the table. Then he pointed to you. “How’s the tea? Good?”

“It’s fine. Thank you.”

“Focus.” Sonya’s every word to Johnny was accompanied with a cringe or a sigh. You, again, had to actively try not to smile. He waved off your gratitude with a motion that said it was no big deal but looked pretty pleased with himself.

“Is this a joke? Are you guys pranking me? It’s… pretty creepy that you all have my mark.”

“It’s not your mark and it is not a joke, I assure you. Like we said, it means that you are chosen to fight.” You bowed your head politely.

“Wait, I think I’ve got it.”

You stepped behind the others to allow them to handle it. It was too hard for you not to laugh. Jax and Sonya exchanged annoyed glances in front of you. No laughing, you reminded yourself.

“Have you?” Cole seemed skeptical.

“This must be an elaborate pitch for a movie. Am I right?” Johnny’s grin was infectious. You could see how he had wound up semi-famous. Arrogant, good looking, funny. He was a little annoying, but you understood the appeal. The movie you’d watched the night before had been terrible but also fun to watch. Sometimes that was all a movie needed to be. Cole was trying not to laugh and had taken a step back so it wouldn’t be so obvious. Sonya and Liu continued to try and get the conversation back on the rails, but Johnny was excellent at derailing it.

Jax’s arms were literally made of metal and Johnny was still convinced that it was some Hollywood practical effects nonsense.

“What do you make of him?” Jax asked you quietly. He’d taken a step back with you, eyes still narrowed as he watched the conversation unfold.

“I think… that he’s harmless and we should just maybe… corner him in an alley, knock him unconscious, and drag him back to China.” You shrugged. If you couldn’t convince him with words, then you could show him the truth. Jax laughed and then his smile faded as he realized you weren’t joking.

“…are we allowed to do that?”

“I mean, legally no but… who’s going to stop us?”

Jax laughed again but you were serious. You could knock him out and bring him back to China. He seemed like a good guy with good intentions, but he wanted proof and you weren’t sure that he’d believe anything you did without making a wild excuse for it. Some people were so stuck in their head about what they thought reality was that they refused to believe the truth when it stared them in the face. Lord Raiden was the ultimate proof. Then again, Johnny Cage would probably be missed if you took off with him without a word. And you supposed that Jax and Sonya were military and might object to you breaking the law. Maybe you could talk to Liu and Cole about it later and figure something out.

Sonya was easily exasperated which was funny to watch. She’d dealt with Kano with far more grace. Something about Johnny seemed to get under her skin. You were just happy that it wasn’t you for once who was obviously frustrated. All things considered, today you were doing fine. “No offense, but I only agreed to this because I thought I could buy you a coffee and charm you into having dinner with me.” Johnny clearly had a thing for blonds. You continued to try not to laugh.

“We can prove it.” Cole interrupted. “Prove that it’s all true.” He was playing mediator on Sonya’s behalf. It was kind of sweet. You also kind of wanted to see Sonya break Johnny’s nose. That would also be fun. “A fight.”

“With you?” Johnny looked him over skeptically and Cole’s affronted expression was delightful.

“No. With him.” Cole nodded toward Liu who bowed his head.

“…really?” Johnny looked skeptical but then got to his feet. “I’m not sure what kind of movie you’re trying to pitch to me, but a challenge is way more up my alley than shoving a script in my face.” You had turn away to keep from laughing, not at Johnny, but at how hard Jax had rolled his eyes. “There’s a gym down the road and I’m sure they’ll let us fight.”

“Privately.” Cole added before Liu could agree to the terms. It wouldn’t exactly be good for Liu to set the world on fire in a public place.

“Weird request, but okay.” Johnny led them down the block and walked backwards, turning to face them as he adjusted his jacket with a grin. “But if I win then you leave me alone about all this and blondie lets me take her to dinner.”

“Not part of the deal. If we win, you listen to us and come with us to China.” Sonya went to continue on what you were certain to be a hilarious tangent, but you elbowed her and urged her to agree. “Ugh, fine. Deal.”

“I’ve gotta warn you little man, I am a force to be reckoned with. You’re about to step into the cage.”

“If Liu loses, I’m skipping town.” Sonya muttered to you.

“Liu won’t lose. Trust me.”

Sonya continued to grumble. You were confident in Liu’s skill. You had the utmost faith in him. Johnny led them along the longest and shortest walk to a gym in your life. He could talk. Again, he was harmless, but a little annoying.

Johnny brought you to the most pretentious gym you had ever seen. It was huge. He’d been able to talk his way into getting you access to an indoor tennis court so you could have some privacy. You pulled Liu aside and reminded him not to set the whole place on fire which he seemed to think was funny. You weren’t sure you could explain that away so easily. You’d tried so if the worst happened then it wasn’t you fault.

There were backless benches on the sidelines of the court, so you took a seat in the center to watch Liu and Johnny fight. You weren’t sure why all the champions had to be here for this. It seemed excessive. Maybe you would reach out to Raiden and explain that your talents were being wasted. It would be better to just show Johnny the truth than try to talk it to him because that boy could talk his way out of anything, it seemed.

Johnny was a talented fighter, but he also showboated a lot. You watched as Liu easily stepped out of the way of Johnny’s every strike. Johnny droned on and on while they fought. You wondered how long it would take before Liu put him in his place. It was almost embarrassing to watch the fight with Johnny not taking anything seriously.

You tuned out the noise of the fight and the others trying to convince Johnny from the sidelines. Instead, you chose to admire Liu doing one of the things that he did best. It was easy to forget how impressive he was when you spent most of your time arguing and being neck deep in your grief and drama. These were some of the things that had attracted you to him in the first place.

Maybe you should tell him how highly you thought of him. It had been a long time since you’d had anything nice to say to each other. Cole came to sit next to you, and you paid him no mind at first.

“This is silly.”

“Very.” You tore your eyes away from the fight for a second. Hm, interesting. Sonya had disappeared at some point. You couldn’t blame her. Johnny was making her uncomfortable. It was a shame though. You had been looking forward to seeing Sonya snap and put Johnny in his place. “How’s the family today?” You hated small talk, but it seemed appropriate.

“Good. Doing some more sightseeing. They liked you, by the way. I’m glad you got to spend time with them.”

“It was nice.” You wanted to say that it had been good to be out of your head, but you weren’t very close to Cole and were still cautious around him. You had a feeling that he understood what you meant. “So, what do you make of this guy?”

“I’m starting to feel like this is a waste of time. Every champion of Earthrealm is here catering to his ego rather than doing… honestly, anything other than this seems more important.”

“I agree. I’m not sure why Raiden sent all of us. You three could have handled it. Raiden has his reasons. He always does. He’s funny like that.” You took to watching the fight again. Johnny had finally started to take it seriously. Liu should have just set his fists on fire and ended it, but he seemed to be enjoying it. Silence followed momentarily. Cole nudged you with his shoulder, and you wobbled purposely as if it had been more than a nudge.

“Are you and Liu…?” He nodded toward Liu knowingly and you snapped your gaze away from the fight.

“No,” you said probably far too haughtily. This was feeling inappropriately personal again. Then again, you had just been kind of ogling Liu Kang. You thought you’d been discreet.

“Sorry to assume.” Cole laughed and leaned back on the bench. “Are you sure though?”

“I feel like if anyone’s sure then it’s me.”

“It’s just… I couldn’t sleep last night so I came down to the lobby to ask for more pillows. It was around closing time at the bar. I’d been thinking about getting a drink to put me to sleep and…” Ah, damn. “I spotted you and Liu in the bar. Tried to wave but you were pretty focused on each other.”

“Yeah.” There was a chance he hadn’t seen too much, and you weren’t going to admit to anything without needing to. “We’ve been arguing so we were trying to bury the hatchet and grieve.”

“That would do it.” Cole was bad at trying to hide his amusement. It was kind of charming. “It didn’t look like arguing. Or grieving.” Oh, good. Of course he’d seen them. Why wouldn’t he have? You sighed heavily. “Is there something we should know?”

“It’s personal. It doesn’t have anything to do with anyone else.”

“If we end up in trouble then it might not be so personal anymore. You’d be surprised what people do when things are complicated like that in a panicked situation.”

“No offense, Cole, but Liu and I are good at panicked situation. Also, it’s none of your business.” You were embarrassed and it was showing, and you hated it. Cole laughed. Sometimes you were just as bad as Liu was at hiding your frustration.

“I’m not judging you, Y/N.”

“It’s nothing, Cole.” God, it was so not nothing, but you didn’t want to talk about it with Liu nonetheless with Cole or anyone else for that matter. It was awkward.

“I’m choosing not to believe you.”

“Fine. But it’s nothing.”

“What’s nothing?” Jax sat on the other side of Cole. Cole pointed to you, and you spoke with wide eyes.

“It’s really nothing. Where did Sonya go? I didn’t see her leave.” You couldn’t change the subject fast enough and Cole made no attempt to hide his laughter.

“Oh, she’s avoiding this creep but she’s still around.” Jax gestured to Johnny Cage who was dusting himself off after being knocked to the floor by Liu.

“Creep is a harsh word.” You chuckled then considered it. “I suppose he is hitting on her a lot, but… I think he’s kind of funny.” Cole and Jax didn’t seem to agree. “He’s harmless. Like… a poodle.” Cole stifled a laugh. “Has the ability to be tough but look at him.”

“He’s an entitled ass.”

“You’re right, Jax. He is.” Your intentions were sometimes lost in English. “I didn’t mean to suggest he wasn’t.” Cole and Jax continued the conversation, but you turned back to the fight. Just in time too, it seemed. You smacked Cole’s arm and diverted his attention back to the fight.

Liu took a step back and the fiery energy swelled around him. He clasped his hands together then drew them apart with controlled strength. He was finally going to do more than give Johnny a run for his money. Fire burst between his palms and he stretched it before him before turning and tossing the fireballs. Johnny rolled out of the way with a girlish shriek.

“Whoa! Whoa, hey!” Johnny crouched to look at the scorch marks that the fire had left behind on the court. “Was that real? That was real fire! How’d you do that?” With some excitement, Johnny approached Liu who summoned the fire again in his palms and then stepped back in a threatening stance that made Johnny stop short. “What kind of special effects thing is that? Special gloves? Looks like your real hands… what movie were you guys pitching again?”

“We are not pitching a film.” Liu wasn’t even short of breath. He hadn’t even broken a sweat and he allowed the fire to blaze in his palms. “Those of us with the marking are gifted arcana to help us fight to protect our home. This is mine.”

“Oh, come on, just tell me how you’re doing it without burning your hands.” Johnny smirked. Then he yelped as Liu threatened to throw the fire at him again. “I really won’t tell anyone! I’ll sign an NDA and everything. Just tell me how you do it.”

“This is absurd.” You shook out your hands and then cracked your knuckles. Enough was enough. You were going to help convince Johnny Cage. Cole perked up.

“I was hoping you would.”

You rubbed your hands together and then with a swift gesture of your wrist, you drew Johnny Cage so that he was standing before Liu who took a step back in surprise and threw you a glance. You were shocked by the effort it took. Keeping these drawings up was definitely one of your more complex skills but it didn’t usually make you feel the way it was making you feel now. You hadn’t been this exhausted by your arcana since you’d first learned how to use it. It was probably the lack of sleep. You were grateful that it hadn’t slowed you down, but you’d lost your posture. Cole offered you an arm and you took it.

Liu stepped back to allow your drawing to take his place, releasing his fire without so much as a puff of smoke. His hands and forearms were covered in soot. You mimicked the stance that you’d seen Johnny use in that terrible movie from the night before. The actor was taken so off guard that he was quiet and focused on the copy of him that you willed toward him.

He ducked and dodged and with surprising speed and accuracy, he knocked the ink back and it fell to pieces. You shuddered and hunched forward but Cole helped keep you upright. Jax sat on the other side of you to do the same. This was embarrassing. You could usually keep up a drawing while you fought. Today you could barely sit upright. You redrew the ink copy behind him, and it knocked him swiftly to the ground. You had to use moves you knew better than Johnny. A mixture of Kung Lao and you.

Johnny blocked and stepped back nervously and was trying to reason with the ink copy, but your ears were ringing, so you didn’t hear what he was saying. Judging by the joy on Cole’s face, it had to have been funny. You knocked him to the ground with a sweeping kick and when he rolled onto his back, you manipulated the ink into Sonya and allowed it to pin him to the ground and press a shadowy blade to his throat. Johnny threw up his hands on either side of him in surrender.

“Okay! Okay. Just…” He drifted off, at a loss for words. You shook off Cole and Jax then stood but both men stood with you. You had to have been pale or look unsteady, but you were okay. “What the fuck?” Johnny poked at the ink form of Sonya’s shoulder, and it stained his hand.

“I assure you that no special or practical effects could mimic my arcana in the moment.” You stepped closer and bowed your head politely with a smile. “Now, will you listen to us Mr. Cage? Or should I kick your ass with a copy of you again?”

“What is it?” Johnny tried to wipe the ink off with his other hand.

“The lady’s right. Are you ready to listen? Or are we going to have to pound you to the ground and drag you kicking and screaming?” Jax threatened. Cole stood next to you, hand behind you just in case you fell. You threw him a look and he shrugged. Johnny was looking like you’d stolen his cookies and then eaten them right in front of him.

“Or we can abandon you and wait for someone to kill you and take the mark.” Liu stood next to you.

“Wait, what? Take my mark?” Johnny lifted his shirt as if to search for his mark and then sighed with relief. You released the drawing and were grateful that Cole held you upright again. Jax offered Johnny a hand and began to explain, at length, how he’d gotten his mark. Johnny was looking far more apprehensive and doe-eyed now that he’d realized this could be real and not just a movie pitch.

“You good?”

“I’m fine. Thank you.” You smiled graciously at Cole then gestured to the benches. You patted his shoulder and then took a seat back on the bench. You’d done your part. Liu Kang took the seat next to you when it appeared he was no longer needed.

“Someone can just take it? Just like that?” Johnny was back on his feet and sounding horrified. You tuned him out while Jax continued to work.

“You’re gray again.” Liu didn’t usually speak to you in English. It was charming.

“Am I? It doesn’t usually drain me like that. I’m tired is all. That’s probably it.”

“I’m worried, Y/N. You should…”

“If you’re going to say that I need to take it easy then I’m going to smack you right on the mouth, Liu. I know my limits.”

Cole chuckled from ahead of you and then cleared his throat and muttered an apology. Liu turned his gaze from yours, but you could see the slightest smile on his lips. Charming again. Dammit.

“Fine!” Johnny Cage adjusted his jacket, shouting loud enough to get your attention. “I’m… I have to go. This has been very interesting but… I’ve got meetings and people to see and…”

“Don’t you make excuses, you little shit.” Jax threatened.

“No, really. I’m already way past my time with you guys. This was supposed to be coffee with a pretty lady. I have a meeting with my agent. I told Sonya that I was squeezing her in, and I meant it.”

“No way, you lost. We had a deal.” Cole argued.

“This is a lot to absorb. Give me a day to think about it!”

“Why should we trust you?”

“Give him a day.” Liu approached them with his hands folded together neatly behind his back. You couldn’t help but smile. He was much more himself today than he’d been in a long time. You could have cried. “Like he said. This is a great deal to understand. But I won. You will meet with us again tomorrow when you have had your day.”

“Technically? She won.” Johnny gestured to you and you offered a friendly wave.

“I did. So, please, do what Liu asks or I will haunt you with replicas of yourself.” You threatened with a smile. Cole was trying not to laugh again. Johnny approached you with his shoulders slumped and sighed. You offered him your phone. “Put in your number. You can tell us where to meet you tomorrow when you’re ready. If you put in a fake number, you will be sorry.”

“I bought you tea.” He pouted. You laughed. He really was harmless. Johnny beamed as if happy to have made you laugh. He fiddled with your phone and handed it back to you. You sent a message to the number, and he responded from his phone seconds later. “I’ll text you where to meet me tomorrow.”

“If you’re dicking us around, I swear…” Jax threatened.

“I have faith that he’s going to do as he said he would.” You decided to offer him patience. Besides, if he did blow them off then you were going with Plan B which was kidnapping.

“I will. Thank you. I’ve… got to run.” Johnny was talking on his phone before he’d even left the room. He was a movie star, after all.

“I guess we go then?” Cole looked like he had much more to say about what had happened but also like he was trying not to burst into laughter. You thought the situation was comical too.

“Where’s Sonya? I don’t want to abandon her here.” You stood and searched the room.

“Outside. I told her what’s up. She’ll meet us out there.” Jax patted you on the shoulder. “Give me that motherfucker’s number before we leave. Just in case.”

“Happy to.” You offered Jax your phone. You made your way out of the gym, and you watched the others walk outside. You stopped in the hall to catch your breath. Damn. That had left you winded. Why? You needed a nap, at the very least. Once outside you met up with Sonya then walked down the block out of sight of the gym.

“Why are we catering to this guy?” Sonya snapped in a haughty whisper once you’d filled her in on what had happened.

“I still think we should just knock him out and drag him to China. He needs proof and he’ll get it there whether he likes it or not.” You shrugged, stepping a bit away from the others so you could lean against the brick wall of the storefront behind you.

“That’s kidnapping.” Sonya dismissed your idea.

“…so was what you did to Kano.” Cole argued.

“This is different. He’s a celebrity. Kano was a murderer and a criminal.” Jax defended Sonya. Their friendship was adorable. They always backed each other up.

“I’m not worried about committing a crime.” You shrugged. Cole laughed again but then cleared his throat when no one else did.

“Sorry. She’s funny.”

“I have a feeling he’s going to come with us. He’s just stuck up his own ass.”

“And this really is a lot to comprehend.” Liu was trying to diffuse the situation rather than stoke the fire which was nice. “He’s frustrating, but we’ve dealt with much worse than him. Give him his day. If he doesn’t pull through, then we’ll figure it out from there. No crimes necessary.” He looked to you as if to warn you.

“You’re no fun.”

“I guess you’re right. Give him his day. I hate it but what else can we do?” Sonya looked to you disapprovingly and then smiled. “Besides kidnapping.”

“That’s still my backup plan.” You folded your arms under your chest. “This has given me a headache. Are we done?”

“Just about, I guess.” Jax adjusted his footing uncomfortably. Liu came to lean next to you against the wall. The others were making plans on where to meet up if Johnny contacted you. They were also talking about dinner which you were not thinking about yet.

“You’re still gray.” Liu was back to Chinese. He probably didn’t want to be overheard.

“I’m tired, that’s all. I promise.” You made a sound of disgust as he picked up your wrist to check your pulse. Cole was giving you a look, a look as if to throw your words of it being ‘nothing’ with Liu back in your face. You stuck your tongue out at him and he laughed. Then you swatted Liu’s hand away. “I’m fine. Stop.”

“Alright. That’s it then. Y/N, if you hear from him let me know. I put my number in your phone.” Jax pointed at you.

“Happy to.” You nodded down the street. “What do we do until then?”

“No matter what happens we meet up at nine in the lobby. If he hasn’t contacted us, we figure it out from there. I’ve got a few ideas.” Jax smirked.

“I guess for now we can just keep enjoying Hollywood.” Cole chuckled. It sounded like they wanted to go sightseeing again and you would pass. They could do whatever they wanted but you were going to get some rest.

Next Chapter >>

[thenakedgingerwrites]

Gullible Mike

AN: I’ve had a few prompts on my notepad for years that I haven’t fleshed out and finally got into a creative and horny mood today. Prompt below. I welcome any other authors to take it and run with it to make their own variation on the simple idea. I ended up having the POV be the controller but I think my original prompt idea was that the POV would be controlled. If you use the prompt shoot me a message so I can enjoy your mischievous minds :)

Prompt: “Photo or video gets found of a friend and he has to convince his friend it’s not him by getting naked.”

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The hypnosis show me and some buddies went to a few weeks ago was pretty fun. A few of us had been called up on stage and while it didn’t appear to work on a few invited volunteers, it had certainly worked on Mike.

His instruction was pretty simple: to be incredibly gullible. The hypnotist lady had then gotten him into a number of funny situations by proving just how gullible he was. He had offered a bunch of money to random members of the audience since it was obviously illegal to have more than $2 in your wallet at any time. He talked like a baby to anyone who claimed they were a parent because that was the polite thing to do. And lastly, he had taken off his jeans because the hypnotist thought they were on fire!

The show wasn’t x-rated or anything, so it stopped there, but it was pretty funny to see Mike hopping around on stage in his boxer briefs and polo. The audience’s wolf whistles agreed. Before a heckler’s shout of “I think your underwear’s on fire too!” she had put him back under.

It wasn’t until a few days later that it became apparent to me that Mike was still under this ‘gullible’ command. We had been hanging out just the two of us and watching the Packers v. Steelers game and he was going on and on about how Roethlisberger was going to wipe the field with my team. I jokingly said something like “since you’re clearly in love with him, a good luck kiss might go a long way.”

He somewhat seriously asked me, “you think so?” I figured we were still just razzing each other and so I responded, “Oh for sure. If you plant a big one on the TV when he’s on screen I’m positive that’ll make sure the Steelers win.”

Mike just sat there with a curious face as we continued to watch the game. I thought it was just a weird interaction until the camera zoomed in on Roethlisberger between downs. Mike nearly sprinted to the TV and kissed the image of Ben. “Good luck Ben!” he said, somewhat seductively.

I burst out laughing thinking he was still just trying to be funny. He looked back at me and said, “we’ll see who’s laughing at the end of the game.”

I rolled my eyes and got us another round of beers, but these bizarre actions continued. All through the game anytime Ben was shown on screen, Mike would run up and kiss the TV. Luckily we were at his place so I didn’t care about the lip marks and saliva streaks on the screen but I was flabbergasted. What the fuck was wrong with him?

And then I remembered the hypnotist.

It clicked that Mike was clearly still under the command she had given him. I wasn’t sure what to do about it though. I remembered the bar she had performed at so maybe I could call them to get in contact with her and have her reverse this thing.

Then the Steelers scored and he gloated to me that my team was gonna lose because I didn’t have as much team spirit and loyalty like he did.

“You haven’t kissed Rodgers once and you call yourself a fan? You should be ashamed.”

Really, Mike? That’s how you’re gonna act?

“Well at least I’m not kissing him wrong unlike you. What you’re doing is far more disrespectful. I bet they lose the game since you’re doing it so wrong.”

Mike looked worried, “what do you mean?”

“Everyone knows you don’t fucking kiss the quarterback like it’s your grandma or something. I haven’t seen tongue once this whole game. And your silent ass kiss is probably gonna make him miss every throw from this point on.”

Mike was wide eyed. I wagered that in his warped mind now he thought HE would be responsible if they lost. He looked to the TV in terror. Serendipitously, he actually did botch the pass in the next play. Honestly it was more good defense from the Packers end and less-so a poor throw from Roethlisberger but to Mike, that was the confirmation he needed.

The camera zoomed in on Ben cursing inaudibly and Mike went to work. He was fucking making out with the screen, tongue and all, and moaning a ton. He even ran one of his hands up the screen like he was caressing the dude.

I was filled with mixed emotions. I felt bad that I was taking advantage of the situation, I felt ecstatic because this shit was hilarious and I couldn’t wait to tell the guys, and, scarily, I felt turned on watching him make out with 2D Ben Roethlisberger and moaning louder and louder.

The tent in my gym shorts told me I was feeling the third emotion more than anything else.

We were close to the end of the game and I wasn’t pleased that the Packers had lost but for the first time in my life I didn’t care. The day had made a turn and seeing Mike in this way was a treat I didn’t know I wanted.

He continued to berate me for not caring about the Packers as much as he cared about the Steelers which was an argument I let him win. I was still a bit in a state of shock.

I finished my beer and needed to get home. As I was getting ready to leave, I decided to try something. It was dumb, but at that point I was still thinking with the hard dick in my shorts.

“Alright, Mike, I need to head out.”

“Sounds good Matt. Sorry, I made your team lose. Not!”

I rolled my eyes again, “yeah, well maybe next time I’ll try my own good luck charm.”

He raised his eyes, “What’s that!?”

“Well I’m not going to give you any secrets to let your team keep winning against mine.”

“Ah, fuck you Matt. We’ll win no matter what.”

“Sure, sure. Anyway, should we do the kiss now?”

He looked at me confused and took a step back. “The what now?”

“You know, the goodbye kiss.”

He still looked at me like I was crazy. I started to get nervous but doubled down, hoping it would work.

“When two friends watch a game together, they have to kiss after it’s over to show there’s no hard feelings. Have you honestly never heard of that rule?”

He shook his head, “No I… I guess I haven’t. I’m sorry, Matt.”

“Shit, I hope you haven’t pissed off any of your other friends.”

I could see panic in his eyes as he thought through how many times he had botched this gentleman’s rule before.

“It’s probably fine, Mike,” I assured him. “You didn’t know. I’m sure no harm done.”

“Fuck. I hope so.” He looked up at me, “Well I won’t fuck up from now on, that’s for sure!”

He walked up to me and kissed me.

It was so quick and I was on cloud nine with the realization that it had worked that I just stood there for a second.

He looked at me curiously and asked, “We good?” I blinked away my shock to continue the game, “Is that how you kissed Roethlisberger? I thought we were actually friends, dude.”

“Oh, shit sorry!”

I didn’t even need to coach him on what I wanted. He leaned back in and planted his lips on mine but this time, began to invade my mouth with his tongue. As he did he rubbed my back and began to moan. This time, I kissed back.

My arms also stroked up and down the small of his back and I even risked a single rub down onto his butt. Man, was it hot. If he felt my boner pressing up against his thigh, Mike didn’t say anything.

We kissed hot and heavy like this for a good 30 seconds before he broke away.

“Sorry, Matt. I’ll be sure to give a proper kiss moving forward.”

“Yeah… Yeah.”

I was at a loss for words.

I should leave.

I should.

I didn’t.

I’m not sure why it came to mind but I was running on autopilot at this stage controlled entirely by the dick in my shorts. I wouldn’t identify as gay or really even bi, but I had been curious for a bit what it would be like to be with another guy. Mostly like a morbid curiosity or something, but now that there was a real opportunity on the table, with someone I trusted and who was pretty freaking hot, I couldn’t resist the temptation to get it out of my system.

“Oh fuck, dude.”

I looked down at my phone as I exclaimed that.

Mike looked at me, “What’s up? Everything okay?”

“I think your ex leaked dick pics of you.”

“What?!” Mike shouted and ran over to my phone to try and get a look.

I hid my phone from him quickly and covered myself by saying “wait, Mike. You don’t want to look at these in case it’s not actually your dick. That would make you gay if you did.”

He quickly backed off, “I’m not gay!”

“Right, right. Me either. But I didn’t have a choice, I had to look at them but you don’t have to.”

“Okay, yeah. How the fuck would she have done that though? I don’t remember her even taking them!”

“I’m not sure, Mike,” I said. “Maybe she took them when you weren’t paying attention.”

“Fuck, are you sure it’s me?” he asked nervously.

Gotcha.

“Well, I’m not sure. The only way I could know for sure would be to see your dick to compare.”

Mike looked confused, “Well that would be pretty gay dude. I don’t want you looking at my junk and I’m sure you don’t either.”

“Well of course not, but chances are I’m already looking at it right now. But I’m willing to do this as a friend, and that wouldn’t be gay. And if it’s not actually your dick then you don’t have to worry. If it is, we should report them and try and get them taken down.”

“Fuck. Fuck! I don’t want dick pics of me out there on the internet!”

“I know! Think about if your work found them, or your family! That would be so embarrassing!”

“Shit shit shit.” Mike was freaking out. “Okay… Okay, are you sure you don’t mind helping me out?”

“As a friend, I have to do everything in my power to confirm whether these pics are of you or not.”

“You’re such a good friend, Matt. I’m sorry you’re in this position though.”

Oh, no worries.

Mike hesitantly started to undo the button on his cargo shorts. He didn’t strip in any sort of sexy way but a second later his cargo shorts hit the ground. I was staring at a similar image as last week: Mike standing there with nothing but a shirt and underwear. This time though, his hands were reaching for the waistband.

“I’m sorry,” he said to me one more time.

I went to say ‘no problem’ but got caught off by the shucking of his boxer briefs. As he stood back up I finally got to see it. The whole package.

Mike clearly didn’t manscape much and honestly neither did I, but that didn’t hide what he was packing. His soft cock was cut like my own and pretty thick. I knew not to judge a guy based on his softie but wagered he was large. And as a double bonus the balls below, while tight to his body, looked pretty big too.

I stared.

“Well?” Mike asked me cautiously with his palms extended, miming ‘what do you think?’

“I… I’m not sure.”

“What do you mean?” he asked me.

“Well, Mike, this is awkward… but the photos here are of a hard dick. It’s difficult to know for sure if this is you or not comparing the two.”

“Fuck man! What are we gonna do?”

“I’m not sure,” I replied.

I wanted him to come up with the solution. Somehow that made me feel less like a terrible person and friend.

“I hate to ask…” he started. “But, would you be willing to look at my stuff if I went and got a boner?”

“Man, Mike… I mean. Like I said, as a friend I basically have to. It’s my duty, as everyone knows. So yeah, I’ll compare your boner to the pictures.”

He sighed in relief. “You’re the best, Matt.”

He looked around, “I’m not sure if I’ll be able to get it up though given the situation…”

Time to test this hypnosis. I planted a seed. “Well, I heard that in this situation I’m supposed to be the one to get you hard.”

“What? Where did you hear that?”

“Greg, my buddy from work, told me a year or so ago. This same thing had happened to a friend of his.”

“Fuck, really?”

“Yeah,” I said. “And I asked him if that was gay or anything.”

“That’s what I was wondering too.”

Mike was falling perfectly into my made up scenario. “Yeah, but Greg assured me that it isn’t. Literally anything I have to do to make sure you’re good isn’t gay. It’s just being a good friend. But he told me that his friend couldn’t get himself hard because boners look different when you get it up versus when someone else does.”

“Really, I’ve never noticed before.”

“Me either, but I guess that’s because I don’t really notice dicks, you know?”

He nodded his head eagerly. “Right, right.”

“So, I guess, I’ll have to get you hard. That’s like the only way I’ll be able to tell for sure.”

“Damn. I’m so sorry, Matt.”

“Honestly, don’t worry about apologizing. I’m just happy I can hopeful help to confirm you have nothing to worry about with these photos.”

“Thanks man!”

He looked around the room a bit awkwardly. “Should we uh.. Sit down or something?”

I pointed to the couch. “Yeah, why don’t you sit there.”

He did as instructed and spread his legs out. He hadn’t bothered to cover up at all this whole time and as he sat down and reclined a bit, his soft dick fell to one side of his thighs.

I timidly knelt down in front of him. He watched me. Now just inches from me was the first dick I had really ever seen up close besides my own. Gym showers don’t really count. This was entirely different.

I reached my hand out. I was no longer nervous that I would get caught or something because it was clear I could do anything with Gullible Mike at this point. I was just nervous about how much I was going to like this.

My fingers touched flesh. The soft skin of Mike’s cock was warm and spongey. I sort of just played with it in my finger tips for a few moments before palming it. As I started my slow strokes to bring Mike Jr. to life, I looked up at Mike Sr.

He was watching but was clearly embarrassed. He was blushing profusely. I probably could have spared him with some command, but I decided against it. It was fun to watch him squirm a bit.

He slowly began to inflate and as he did I took note of his balls with my other hand. They were indeed large. Larger than mine at least. Mike clearly didn’t shave them but there wasn’t much hair. Mostly up near where they met his body. I lightly massaged them, earning me the first moan from Mike.

He had leaned his head back, no longer watching the action. Perhaps he was imagining some girl doing this to him. Perhaps he was just enjoying the experience as much as I was.

My hand was now grasping onto firm meat. His cock was at full mast. Finally I had him beat somewhere. His dick was probably only about 6 inches hard, maybe a little smaller actually. However, he still had me beat in girth. I continued to stroke him for a bit when Mike finally spoke up.

“I think I’m fully hard now. Can you tell if the pics are of my dick or not?”

I pulled out my phone, letting his dick fall back onto his belly with an audible ‘smack.’ I pretended to compare the imaginary pics up against his dick.

“Hm, mind if I take some photos of the same angle so I can compare them side by side?”

“Umm…” he bit his lip.

“I’ll delete them obviously.”

“Oh yeah, sorry, that’s fine.”

I took a myriad of photos for my own personal entertainment. Some close up, some showing all of Mike including his face which was still flushed. I even took a secret video of me holding his dick upright and stroking it a bit.

“So, I’m feeling more confident that it may not be your dick.”

“Oh thank god!”

“But, there’s a few things that are still off.”

Mike was worried again, “like what?”

“Well… the photos of the dick are kind of… wet.”

“Wet?”

“Yeah,” I said. “Like, your ex had just given you a blowjob or something.”

“Fuck. Is there that much of a difference with a bit of saliva on it?”

“Surprisingly yeah. It’s hard for me to know for sure. Unless…”

“Unless you…?” He asked.

I feigned hesitation. “I think I have to blow you.”

“Matt, no, that’s too much. I couldn’t ask you to do that.”

“Mike, you don’t have to. You’re one of my best friends.”

“Seriously, Matt. I’d rather just have my dick pics leaked. I would feel so bad asking you to do that for me.”

“No, I’ve made up my mind. This is for you, Mike!”

Without letting him try and talk me out of it, I brought his dick to my mouth.

“Oh fuck! Mmmm” Mike no longer protested.

Being the first blowjob I’d ever given, I didn’t get much in at first. Maybe two inches of his thick cock. But as I continued to bob on it, I got past the halfway point.

Mike’s dick tasted great. There was a fleshy, salty taste that I’d expect from skin like when I’ve licked my fingers in the past after getting food on them or something. But there was also an extra flavor that I realized must be his pre.

In under a minute, Mike was moaning loudly. He even placed a hand on the back of my head. Not forcing me down his dick or anything, but he kindly rubbed and played with my hair as I sucked him.

I hate to admit it, but I loved it. I don’t think I could say I wasn’t bi anymore.

I continued to nearly gag on his thick tool when he interrupted me to say, “Matt, I think you should stop. If you go any further I might fucking cum.”

I stopped to look up at him and deliver my last line, “I didn’t want to mention this, but the pics also had a video of the dick cumming. I think that’s the only way I’ll know for sure.”

“Matt…”

Mike was fully flushed both from the seemingly great blowjob I had been giving but also the idea that he was asking his friend to make him cum. He was so embarrassed.

“You don’t have to ask me, Mike. I want to. You’d make me into a bad friend if you didn’t let me.”

“Well, you are a great friend.”

“So it’s settled.”

I went back to work.

“Fuck, Matt…”

It honestly didn’t take long. I hadn’t gotten to the point where I could take his whole dick in my throat; I’m not sure how gay guys do it. But I got probably 4 or 5 inches down when I felt his ball sac start to tighten up.

“Matt, I’m gonna cum.”

I wanted to taste it but I also got a little gun shy and scared. This was maybe too much for my first gay experience. I released his dick from my mouth and began to stroke him instead. Eight strokes later, his thighs flexed and he grunted.

Mike wasn’t a shooter like myself but fuck did he cum a lot. The first spurt actually shot out a couple inches onto his abs. The next four were just gushes that flowed out and down his dick onto my hand but it was a ton. Then he dribbled more and more for a minute or so as I continued to stroke his slowly deflating cock.

“Wow, Mike. That’s a lot of cum.”

“Haha, thanks. I feel terrible for putting you through this though. I’m a fucking asshole.”

“No you’re not! And, now that I’ve seen you cum, I’m positive these dick pics aren’t of you.”

“Really?!”

He shot up in excitement which caused his semi-hard dick, covered in cum, hit me the face. I fell back in shock and he quickly knelt down to make sure I was okay.

“Shit, sorry Matt! Oh fuck, I got my cum on your face.”

I could feel the warm liquid on my cheek and bit on my mouth.

“Well you know what they say,” I said with a laugh.

“What?”

“You know, ‘if you get cum on a guy’s face, you have to clean it off with your tongue.’”

“Shit, I had no idea. Matt you seem to know so much.”

“Oh I do. I’ll be sure to keep teaching you.”

We shared a laugh before he leaned in.

[anika-ann]

Warm Up My Heart

(...So It Never Gets Cold Again)

Type: One-shot to a series (part 1 & part 2),  Avenger!reader AU.

Pairing: Steve Rogers x reader              Word count: 2500

Summary: Boy meets girl. Boy likes girl. Girl likes boy. Boy wants to propose soon… boy slips. You know the drill. In which Tony builds a training super-bot, Steve gets a boo-boo and the rest is history.

Warnings: mild injury and violence, swearing, cheesy af fluff

A/N: There weren’t al that many of you reading this series, but since it’s a rewrite/editing stuff for me (something I have time for), I’m bringing it back! I’ve been neglecting it long enough... 

Series masterlists (aka previous parts) linked above

────── ·❆· ──────  

“Captain America’s been brought to his knees. They found his weak spot and he went down all too easily for the world’s first superhero; literally crumbled on the ground, unable to get back up-“

Steve groaned, miserable and extremely annoyed at the same time, and you chuckled, which earned you a wounded look from the supersoldier.

You retreated from his right foot to muffle the sound escaping your mouth with you palm. You couldn’t help it; as much as you felt sorry for Steve, troubled by the fact he was in pain, you knew it wasn’t serious and Tony’s dramatic commentary was just too hilarious.

“Tony, just leave him be. And stop making me laugh,” you pleaded, suddenly back to seriousness. This was no fun; you did need to concentrate. “I might as well freeze his foot off if you keep distracting me.”

It was the truth; you had spent the past minutes trying to cool down Steve’s ankle, which had been sprained. All three of you were now in one of the training rooms of the compound, you and Steve sitting on a bench, while Tony hovered above you. Steve’s leg was resting over your knees, so you could reduce the swelling before it could fully develop.

The injury was totally Tony’s fault.

Being the generous friend and maniac he was, he had invented a special kind of a training super-bot – which had earned him both sharp glares and amused looks. It wasn’t half bad; it actually was a fair competition for Steve, which was saying something. It probably had something to do with the fact Tony had seen Steve in action more than a few times, learning his fighting style; programming his knowledge into the software of the bot meant one less advantage for Steve. Plus, Tony had used some special enforced material-

-which was exactly the problem. It was enforced; too much. And not enough.

When Steve kicked with his full strength, his foot had just… pretty much stuck in the robot’s torso. He had been lucky it hadn’t torn his flesh off and he had ended up only like this – with sprained ankle and few deep scratches which had already stopped bleeding. Incredibly lucky even considering that his instinct had been to get his foot out immediately, so he could go on with the fight; he hadn’t been exactly gentle and patient with freeing himself. Honestly, you were surprised his limbs were still attached.

Now he couldn’t even put his full weight on his injured leg. At least the robot had helped him hobble to the bench, because between your built and Tony’s willingness to talk being way bigger than his willingness to help with Steve’s weight (muscles were heavy), Steve would be still on the ground. Well, limping uselessly on one foot anyway.

“And get me an elastic bandage. Hush! Go make yourself useful!” you ordered, directing Tony towards the door, motioning with your hand in an ‘off you go’ gesture.

“Cap, your girl is bossy and has no respect for elders,” the billionaire complained, but turned on his heels and headed to get a first aid kit. The bot stood by the end of the bench dutifully, not moving an inch.

“I beg to differ, she treats me just fine,” Steve called out after Tony, winking at you as you brought your hands back.

You focused on tuning your powers to the right temperature, hovering only few inches from his skin. You sighed when the door clicked behind Tony and went back to work.

“You okay?” you whispered, glancing up just for a moment before returning your full attention to his injury.

“I’ve had plenty of worse.”

“That’s neither an answer or comforting, you know.”

“I’m much better now,” he admitted softly and you could hear the tender smile in his voice.

It warmed your heart and filled your chest with pride. You knew he meant it as a compliment; and he was not complimenting your powers, not the tool you had been given, but he was praising you for being so skilful with it.

You managed a tiny smile. “I’m glad.”

Your mind raced as you thought of how you could make it even better. You were no doctor; you barely knew the RICE rule, of which you only had two things covered by now; Elevation and Ice. The third was on its way (hopefully, but one never knew with Tony) and the fourth was… probably out of question, because make Steve Rogers rest was way beyond anyone’s ability. You closed your eyes, focusing on the things you actually could control.

Steve apparently understood your need to concentrate, or had nothing to say, because he didn’t utter a word. But the silence was comfortable, kind even.  You tried to convince yourself his eyes were roaming around the training room; in reality, you were ninety-nine percent sure he was watching you work and despite all the time spent together, all his efforts to chase your insecurities away and proving countless time that he trusted you… you felt a bit nervous.

Too small under his intense gaze, you could tell that hot blood rushed into your cheeks. It was ridiculous. And it probably made Steve’s lips curl up in a grin, because he had mentioned more than once that he found your embarrassment endearing and entirely adorable. He could always tell.

“Marry me,” he pleaded softly and the shock of those two words spoken threw you off so hard your concentration levelled to zero in an instant.

The temperature you had been treating his ankle with so carefully dropped low beyond the desired one as if you flipped a switch.

You felt the burst of energy from your hands more than you heard his pained hiss and you quickly snapped your eyes open, withdrawing your hands in one swift movement.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry!” you blurted out, staring at his foot with horror, masochistically examining the damage you had done – a frostbite no doubt, because of course you had done some serious damage-

-well… actually you hadn’t, because apparently your reflexes had improved greatly with time, but the skin had definitely less healthy colour than before and-

“Oh Steve, I am so, so sorry, I swear I didn’t meant to-“

“It’s… it’s okay,” he stuttered, sounding more embarrassed than hurting.

You were relieved; then again, when had Steve Rogers ever admitted he was in pain?

You couldn’t find yourself to look up to his face nevertheless, too horrified and scared. What have you done?

Also… what the hell had he just said? You had imagined it, right? He hadn’t… hadn’t…?

“It wasn’t your fault. That’s completely on me. You said Tony not to distract you and… I shouldn’t have— I shouldn’t have said that.“

You looked up at him, biting your lip, suddenly convinced that he actually had proposed. Just like that. You didn’t give yourself time to let it sink in or to… indulge the feeling. Because he just apologized for saying it. You would bet all your money that he did regret it now, for multiple reasons.

It kinda stung that he had confessed to it out loud, though.

Okay, fuck it, it hurt like hell, because even when you had never talked about it, it burned down your very soul that he… that he would ever regret asking.

He groaned, covering his red face with his palms.

“I---you’re… injured. Probably confused by the product of Tony’s brilliant ideas. It’s okay, let’s just… forget that, okay? We all say strange things when we’re in pain, things we regret-“

You hated that your voice trembled at the last word and Steve’s hands immediately went down, his blue eyes piercing right through yours. He seemed more horrified than you now.

“I’m sorry. That came out completely wrong. All of it. Oh god…. I do regret it, alright? I’m sorry, Snowflake. I really shouldn’t have said that. Not… not like this,” he added gently and your heart positively stopped as his gaze found you, a new twinkle in his irises.

No, there was nothing new in it. You had seen it before, occasionally. In moments that only belonged to you two, when you were alone or it felt like you were alone, the world around disappearing. When you would catch his gaze across the room while laughing with someone else. When you let your powers draw flowers on the windows of the compound, creating winter decorations that were not exactly allowed in the military space.

Admiration. Tenderness. Dedication. Love.

Your lips parted in surprise as he kept observing you, the emotions changing on your face, flashing with realization. Wait. That was… what? Your breath hitched.

Steve gave you a very nervous smile as he lifted his leg from your lap, setting it back on the ground.

“What are you-“ you snapped from your strange trance immediately, wanting to stop him from whatever he was about to do, because you weren’t finished and goddammit, he needed to keep his leg elevated-

-and not to lower himself from the bench on one knee.

Right in front of you.

As if he was proposing.

Like, really proposing.

You watched him with disbelief when he planted himself into the infamous position, injured ankle in an awkward position, and you would swear that he could hear your heartbeat echoing within the walls of the gym. You sure as hell did, your blood pounding in your ears and your head positively spinning.

You simply couldn’t believe your eyes. You were sure your pupils were wide enough to reduce your irises to nothing.

Steve swallowed loudly, looking up at your face from under his eyelashes, his eyes hopeful and wide as well. At this point, you couldn’t breathe, your ribcage way too small for your swelling heart.

This was happening.

Oh shit, this was happening. Steve was… Steve was-

“Snowflake,” he whispered, his voice heavy with emotions and something that you would swear was a hint of fear, “you are the most amazing woman I’ve ever met. Whenever I’m with you, I’m the happiest I’ve ever been and despite your powers, your presence-- you are warm like sunshine. I love you. I love you with my whole heart and… please, would you do me the honour of becoming my wife?”

You stared at him, his eyes shining with hope, his Adam’s apple bobbing as you weren’t able to utter a single word and left him waiting for your answer.

You felt like an idiot for leaving him in anticipation and with doubts--- because you loved him. God, you loved this man so much and couldn’t even speak despite being sure with what you wanted to say more than anything.

So you blinked away the solitude tears that gathered in your eyes, because you were a regular sap, and nodded. His face lighted up like Christmas tree – no matter how cliché it sounded, it was the first analogy that came to your mind and it was very true.

Hesitant smile appeared on his lips as he stared at you with same disbelief that must have shown on you own face. “Yeah?”

You chuckled, covering your mouth with your palm before you could let out some very embarrassing sound. You nodded furiously, again and again.

“Yeah,” you breathed out finally and Steve shamelessly grabbed you and pulled you down at him. He fell on his ass, so you both basically crushed into the bench, but you couldn’t help but laugh like a madwoman as he was trying to balance the both of you, you being nestled in his lap all of sudden.

He wrapped his arm around you, pulling you flush against his own body, immediately freeing your hair from the messy bun you wore – just so he could nuzzle his face in it. You could feel his smile against your cheek and then he placed a quick kiss there, then lower, then on your jaw, and then finally found your lips. He kissed you, letting you taste the delight on his tongue, his breath whispering of gratitude, pleading you to say it again.

“Yes,” you repeated simply and earned another kiss, this time longer, passionate and tender, breath-taking and making you feel like flying.

The butterflies in your stomach flipped their wings like crazy – kissing Steve was always an amazing feeling, but this time… you were kissing Steve, your fiancée. He just proposed, he wanted to marry you and you were about to marry him. Excitement tingled in your fingertips, restless and wonderful and your body melted into his, wishing to just merge into one.

You only realized his body was not exactly okay when he retreated an inch, allowing you both to catch your breath and your brain to reboot. Seeing his twinkling eyes, you swallowed the question about his well-being, simply not having the heart to ruin the unexpected, peculiar and pretty magical moment. He rested his forehead against yours, his eyelids falling shut.

“That... that is not how I was planning on doing this,” he whispered, sounding a bit embarrassed, and the corners of your lips twitched, rising even higher. You hadn’t realized you had automatically started smiling the moment your lips had been freed, but apparently you had.

“Are you saying there was a plan, oh my Star-Spangled Man?” you replied with voice as soft as his, teasing him lightly.

“Uhm… I mean… I was working on it, at least. It involved having the ring actually on me instead of having it lying in our room and all that.”

The ring. The ring that was in your room at the moment. He clearly wasn’t just throwing the words around. He… he actually had been planning a proposal. You heart fluttered at the confession.

“But then Steve Rogers’ impulsiveness got in a way and… here we are,” he revealed sheepishly and you didn’t think you could be more moved.

It wasn’t just him thinking about it – it was him losing it in a moment so ordinary like this as if he couldn’t wait anymore.

“Good. Wouldn’t want it any other way.”

His expression turned curious and a bit confused. “Good?”

“Yeah. It’s Steve Rogers I want to marry after all.”

The most gorgeous smile appeared on his lips and you couldn’t resist – you kissed him again. A silent promise of kissing him every day for the rest of your lives.

────── ·❆· ──────  

Tony Stark was standing behind the transparent door to the gym, facing away from the two of you, but peeking over his shoulder; an equivalent of subtlety. A grin that was not even a little silly played on his lips and he was not tearing up at all.

Who was he kidding, he was really glad he had added the AV system to his super- bot. Because the record of what definitely looked like a bit strange proposal was something he would miss greatly.

He smirked at the kit in his hand, opened the door for a slit, quietly slipped his hand in – completely unnoticed by the oblivious lovebirds – and left the supplies there.

When he closed the door again soundlessly and made his way out of the area, he couldn’t but mutter under his breath.

“About damn time, Rogers.  About damn time.”

────── ·❆· ──────

Next series (Five Times Steve Felt Betrayed and the One Time He Felt like He Was Betraying You)

S.R.masterlist

────── ·❆· ──────  

So, I had my thoughts on some more storyline (sort of) and got to the point where I felt sorry for not coming up with a concrete plan of how a proposal implied in the next story went. I couldn’t resist and had to come up with some, because reasons.

Apparently, I’m a sucker for pain the concept of proposal going way differently than planned...

Thank you for reading... I hope your week started off well!

[punkscowardschampions]

Liam & Edie

Liam: [a picture of Rio with her eyes crossed out like 1. Miss you and 2. Guess who I just talked to]

Edie: ofc she did 😑

Edie: what’s the damage

Liam: 0 to us I deflected the - to Lexie

Liam: do you want her framed for jumpscaring herself or is there anyone else

Edie: That’s all she cared about?

Edie: Bitch

Liam: it just didn’t take no time to convince her we’re perfect for each other

Liam: bc we are

Edie: yeah we are 🥰

Edie: surprised she copped to anything of the sort though

Edie: clearly can’t resist being nice to you

Edie: Lexie needs to calm down

Edie: 🤔 I mean, be kinda fucking hilarious if everyone reckoned she was doing it to herself

Edie: but maybe I’ve been too mean already 🥺

Edie: what do you think?

Liam: I think it’s pretty close to showing everyone her true colours if we do, Lex has gotta have been talking to your sister about me, I could tell, she thought I was a dick before I talked her round

Edie: She wouldn’t be happy for me unless you were a total 🤓 with no dick

Edie: that’s just what she’s like, crazy

Edie: but also not a stretch to see Lexie being a gossipy cow, I’ve heard her on other people before so

Edie: why would I give a fuck if her life is ruined

Liam: she basically accused me of wanting to hit you up for one reason and then wanting to immediately dip, if she thinks that’s what I’m like that’s only coming from one person

Edie: She’s pathetic

Edie: it’s clearly her saying it because you didn’t sleep with her

Edie: it wouldn’t be hard to spoof some shit, make it look like her

Edie: and she has nothing to say it was me, or you like she thought, and it weren’t no one else so she’s fucked, basically

Liam: [send her some shit that you’ve already started to work on because you knew she’d agree with this plan and the bits of the Rio convo where you said you’d try and find out and made it sound like you thought it was her but obvs it couldn’t possibly be hehe]

Edie: You’re so smart

Edie: She deserves this, she was definitely bitching about you, you can tell from how hard Rih said she weren’t

Liam: don’t be upset with me, but I was thinking about how Lexie also deserves to see us together and you happy and I invited them both to your show

Liam: you did say you want your family to take your music seriously

Edie: I’m not mad

Edie: You invited Rih too so she isn’t going to think you’re trying to get back with her

Edie: and I get to rub that and the fact I’m talented in her face?

Edie: It’s a good idea, baby

Liam: still, if you wanna create me in game and spend your time testing out different murder options, I won’t be mad, I should’ve asked you if it was a good idea before saying yeah to having us all there

Edie: [an 8-bit Liam but obvs we’re making an 8-bit us to smooch him not murder him, a lil gif moment of this or whatever it would be]

Liam: you only want a play through where we 👩🏼‍❤️‍👨🏻

Edie: that might make the thread 🤮 but idk if they’d be 😱

Liam: we’ll keep it off thread

Liam: [send her the floor plan to where your dad lives/holiday cottages so she can build it in sims like my boo would, live your dreams kids]

Edie: don’t need to make 50k nerds jealous, I get you

Edie: [just nerd out with that]

Edie: I’ll show you how generic the 👶 is

Edie: very rude

Liam: if the mods and cc don’t fix it, I’ll pretend I don’t 👀

Edie: the 👀 are already insane colours

Liam: no match for yours in real life

Edie: [pics forever]

Edie: [obviously also make your enemies to actually kill and send that]

Liam: if you sent it to Lexie nobody’d believe she created herself looking that accurate

Edie: harsh reality of a sim

Edie: the alpha CC does look like her facetune attempts, tbf

Liam: at least you can make her try to seduce the grim reaper instead of me

Edie: she’ll have ample opportunity to meet him

Edie: [all the dramatic deaths cut with her sim when they get hysterical]

Edie: I’m still mad at her

Edie: Rih blatantly thinking it was me too, not surprising but still 🖕

Edie: how’s it been today

Liam: only bc she knows how smart you are and most people who Lex hangs out with ain’t, I barely had to cover for you so she don’t really wanna think it

Edie: story of her life

Liam: how 😡 are you

Edie: it’s exhausting being mad at her, there’s nothing to do

Edie: people like Lexie, you can fuck with, or care even less than that

Liam: would it make you feel better to fuck with Lexie more

Edie: I wanna make you feel better more

Edie: you must be feeling as bored and crazy as me, if not more

Liam: if I could feel anything it’d be 💔 you’re not happy or here

Edie: is it worse

Edie: nothing

Edie: maybe that’s stupid

Edie: nothing seems preferable sometimes but only sometimes, which is maybe what takes it over feeling too much

Liam: it’s isolating, everyone expects me to feel too much, that’s acceptable, even years after

Edie: acceptance would be easier

Edie: you have me

Edie: no matter what

Edie: idc if no one else gets me, you do

Liam: I dunno what it says about people that they’d be happy if I was going round punching holes in walls but I know my ma would

Liam: she looks at me like she’s waiting for it, watching for a massive crack or something

Edie: they’ve got their reason, they want the reaction

Edie: then they can link a and b and ???

Edie: problem solved, not really

Edie: but they understand it and can wash their hands of you

Edie: that’s what they give a shit about

Liam: yeah

Edie: enough sympathy and hot meals dropped off and you’ll be ‘fixed’

Edie: you weren’t even the sick one

Liam: get enough hobbies, a part-time job, a girlfriend, move the fuck on

Edie: right

Edie: it’s so

Edie: I can’t think of the word

Liam: “she’d want you to be happy/have a life” no she fucking wouldn’t, she wanted it for herself

Edie: dead people get sainted

Edie: no room for who they actually were, better and worse

Liam: she’d hate me having any of those things just to rub in her face

Edie: what was she like, between being sick

Liam: I’ll show you

Edie: do you reckon she’d want you to remember what she’d want for you then, instead of how she was at the end

Edie: not to be like every other cunt about it

Edie: not that simple, or at all

Liam: she was a teenage girl, she’d probably want me to do more fitting in too until I’ve completed the coming of age shite milestones everyone else is, instead of telling other teenage girls from the internet how fucked up I am 😏

Edie: I think that might be a milestone so 👏

Edie: the bullshit of your sister not having her own life to live dealt with then, in this scenario

Edie: we have to find what you want

Edie: even if that’s not 🤵👧🐶🧒👰 with me

Edie: not gonna be Lexie about it, you know

Edie: I’ll still help you find it

Liam: I want you, not to be gay about it

Liam: to see where this is gonna go, how far I can take it before it ends

Edie: then let’s do it

Edie: what can I do today

Liam: what would you be doing if you could do anything

Edie: that’s the problem

Edie: I wanna be with you

Edie: but I don’t know what we’d do yet

Liam: I said I’d show you what my sister was like, the quickest way to do it is to act like nothing matters, your behaviour has no consequences

Liam: it’s not about me at all, only what you want, what’s gonna happen

Edie: and I can’t hurt you

Edie: because you don’t feel anything yet, yeah?

Liam: you can’t hurt me

Edie: you promise

Edie: do that and then we can do what I want

Liam: how do you want me to promise

Edie: 🤏🩸

Edie: mine is 📫

Liam: [brb father he’s gotta go draw some blood and put it into something she can wear as jewellery like Angelina Jolie and record the endeavour to send to the bae]

Edie: [that’s exactly what we gonna send, I know you can legit buy them so I’ll find a cool pic tah, his poor father so confusion]

Liam: [great minds boo]

Edie: kiss it better for me

Liam: [send her another video boy we’re in this deep]

Edie: god

Edie: okay, what do you do to relieve stress, let go and let off steam

Edie: do that

Liam: what do I do or what should you, bc I have an idea that I think would make you feel better about your sister

Edie: you can start by telling me what I should do because I’m intrigued

Liam: she said she’d lose it at Lexie if she did anything to you, if you lower your IQ by at least 100 you could have fun trashing her room but making it look like she did it herself to frame you, you’d have to wait til she was forced out with her family and bc there’s no check in or selfie proof everyone would just think they’re covering for her, but that’d be the only boring bit

Liam: your sister would feel bad for falling for it and believing you might be involved at all

Edie: I definitely don’t want to see her at mine ever again

Edie: I’ll do it

Edie: Bet she has a shrine to you

Liam: a curse would explain me being dead inside

Edie: she has no ✨

Edie: so whilst I’m ripping the heads off all her 🧸s

Edie: you’ve gotta do…

Liam: 🏊 the only thing there is to do

Edie: your da didn’t come prepared? 🔥🪓

Liam: he’d be prepared with a 🧯 more like but I don’t need his help 🔥🪓

Edie: you should see if anyone is around, like anywhere

Edie: see how easy it is to 👀 them without getting caught

Liam: it’s like you know me inside out

Edie: I do

Edie: I’ve got X-Ray 👀s

Liam: next time you miss me you can do an artistic rendering

Edie: of all your vital organs

Edie: not to kill the mystery and show myself up as a fake fan on the forums

Edie: but I think the outside view of you is a lot prettier 😳🥰

Liam: ok I’ll not send you any in the 📫

Edie: only the non-vitals, tah 😏

Liam: what’s left Alexis hasn’t got in her shrine

Edie: she 🥺 so hard you gave her your gallbladder

Liam: 10% risk of shitting myself side effects after it’s gone, 100% chance of that putting her off wanting to jump me, I’d do it

Edie: no need to do that now I’m here

Edie: no one is gonna wanna jump her when she’s outed as 😵🥴🤡

Liam: I’ll keep the scalpel sharp for lads who wanna get with you when they realise you’re 🤩🤓😎😇😈

Edie: I’m not complaining

Edie: I only want you around, ever

Liam: I’ll be going nowhere without you ever when I get back

Edie: Good

Edie: because I feel like

Edie: it’s like I’m doing so much to fill my time but I still just think about and miss you constantly

Liam: I’ll climb a tree and call you from the top

Edie: Describe your view the best you can

Edie: like I’m there too

Liam: facetime’ll make you feel like you are

Edie: not quite VR but I’ll take it

Edie: talking to you feels like our own 🪐 anyway

Liam: [do climb a tree and call her because what a mood just like you’re Elizabeth Allen]

Edie: [save that tree henny]

Liam: [do we wanna skip to his bday now or is there anything else you can think of that you wanna do while he’s still away?]

Edie: [hmm, we probably know the vibe, she’s busy with all the things they’re gonna continue when he’s back, also finding the first house they can break into and stay in, fucking with Lexie loads more]

Liam: [yeah and if we do think of anything specific later we can skip back it’s chill]

Edie: [let’s do it]

[the-keeper-crew]

Mia’s Sophiana fic

Whoever answers Mia’s new asks, please add the newest installment to this post, I can’t always do it. -Misty

story is under the cut because it got super long -dmitri

Knock knock. Sophie answered her bedroom door, to see Biana standing there. “Uhh hi Biana.” Sophie said awkwardly. “Come on in.”Biana sat down and smiled at her, making Sophie hug her tightly. “I just came to check in on you, with all the hectic stuff happening.”“I’m fine. Thanks for coming though.” Sophie said, “I don’t mean that rudely, sorry I’m really bad at speaking.” Sophie said. “I’ll stop now.”Biana laughed,“Will you go out with me?” Sophie asked, before she could stop herself. 

“Wait… you want to go out with me?” Biana looked at Sophie, her perfect face blushing a little. Sophie nodded, the butterflies in her stomach doing loop the loops. “Yeah.” Sophie said, a little shakily.“R-really?” Biana asked, looking up at Sophie. Her teal eyes seemed nervous, but happy at the same time. “Weren’t you like… dating Fitz?”

“We kind of broke up.” Sophie said looking at her feet. “It wasn’t a bad thing.” She added quickly. “We just didn’t like each other like that.”Biana didn’t respond, awkwardly twisting her hair.“It’s fine fine if you don’t like me like that, I don’t really care phht why would I? I mean-” Sophie said quickly, as red as a tomato.“I like you too.” Biana cut her off.“Wait… really?” Sophie asked, looking up at annoyingly perfect Biana.“Y-yeah.” 

After Biana had left, Sophie screamed into her pillow. She had just asked Biana fricking Vacker out. Now was officially time to panic. After the pillow screaming fest, she immediately hailed Dex. “Judging from the amount of happiness you are radiating, you asked Biana out?”“Yeeeessss!” Sophie nearly squealed.

“What happened?” Dex asked. “Give me all the details.”“Was I this pushy when you asked fitz out?” Now it was Dex’s turn to blush.“I specifically remember you telling me that if I hadn’t just gotten a boyfriend, you would strangle me for the details.” Dex said laughing“That’s different.” Sophie said, grinning “I still can’t believe you asked Biana out. How did you manage to do it without hiding under your blankets for the rest of your life?”

Sophie waited outside Aldens door, when she stopped in her tracks. “Dad, I don’t want to register for Match lists!” Biana said angrily.“Biana Amberly Vacker. I am simply asking for you to register.”“I don’t want to!” Biana said.“There isn’t one boy that you hope is on your list?” Alden asked.“No.”“No boys, not even one? What about Keefe or Dex?” Alden said“Ugghhhh dad!” Biana groaned.“Don’t you want to see what boys are on your list?”“What if I don’t want to date a boy?“ the room went silent.

“Biana...” Alden said warningly. “Seriously. What if I want to date a girl?” Biana asked defiantly. “I know you’re a rebellious teenager...” “no seriously.” Biana said. “Well then I guess you’d have to reconsider your place in this family.” Alden said quietly. “Alden...” Della said quietly. “Get out of here. Both of you.” Alden said and Sophie scrambled away.

Sophie sat on her bed, worrying. She knew the elves might not be as accepting, but the way Alden had talked to Biana earlier made her stomach twist. She stood up and paced the room. Why was this so hard? Couldn’t people just love who they wanted to love? She sighed. Knock knock. “Come in!” Sophie called. Edaline stepped inside, and looked at Sophie. “Are you ok? You’ve been acting upset.”

“Oh I’m fine.” Sophie lied.“You sure?” Edaline said, sitting next to Sophie.“I really am.” Sophie said, trying to convince herself.Edaline wrapped her arms around Sophie, and Sophie breathed in her scent of lilac. “You can tell me anything, you know that?” Edaline asked softly.“I know…” Sophie said. Could she really though. “ I love you mom.”“I love you too sweetheart.”

Sophie watched Edaline leave, her head swirling. Would Edaline and Grady even care? They’d always been so supportive of Sophie, would this change anything, but aldens angry words came back to haunt her. “Well then I guess you’d have to reconsider your place in this family.” She hugged her blanket around her. Why was this so hard? She closed her eyes trying to think about good things. Like how she was dating the most beautiful girl in the world, and that beautiful girl was strong and... zzzzz

The sun rose over the fields of havenfield, slipping under Sophie’s curtains. She woke up, and flopped back onto her pillows. It’s too early to be up… suddenly someone knocked on her door. “Sophie?” Biana called. Sophie nearly jumped out of bed and straightened the wrinkled tunic she had slept in. “Yes?” She asked, trying to force down the butterflies in her stomach. “Can I come in?”

“Yeah sure.” Sophie smiled at her, trying to forget that her hair looked like Verdi had licked it. Biana sat on her bed, smiling at her. “Did I wake you up?” Biana asked, concerned. “It’s fine, I should have been up anyway. What are you doing up so early?” Sophie asked. “I wanted to get out of the house. Dinner last night was awkward to say the least.” “I’m sorry…” Sophie said. “It’s fine. Dad’ll come around.” Sophie nodded, but still was worried. 

“You ok? How did fitz react?” Sophie asked. “Oh, he brought me some mallowmelt, and told me that what I did was brave.” “And you didn’t save any mallowmelt for me?” Sophie asked, pretending to be indignant. Biana laughed. “You really think I would do something as vile as to not bring my beautiful girlfriend mallowmelt?” Biana laughed.

Later that day, Alden hailed Sophie to talk with her in his office. Biana told her to go, she’d stay right here and would most definitely not look through her old photo albums. “What did you want to talk about?” Sophie asked. “Nothing important. Amy haile to tell you happy birthday.” It took Sophie a minute to process that. “Oh!Yeah. Thanks.” Sophie says. “Was that all?”Alden shook his head. “Have you seen Biana? She’s going through a bit of a rebellious phase.” Sophie wanted to punch Alden. “No“

Alden narrowed his eyes but didn’t prod any further. “Well, if you do see her then tell her to come home.” “I will” Sophie said, lying through gritted teeth. She light leaped back to everglen, running into Edaline. “Oh!” Edaline smiled at her. “Biana just left, said something about going to Atlantis? She seemed flustered.” Edaline said. “Oh, it was probably nothing.” Sophie said.

“Oh, guess what? It’s my human birthday!” Sophie said trying to change the subject. “I know elves don’t really do birthdays but…” edaline smiled. “Do you want to have a dinner with a special friend or two? Just something small? I’ll ask the gnomes to make something special?” “That would be awesome!” Sophie hugged Edaline, breathing in the scent of lilacs, which is rare especially in a place where there’s more animal poop a day than animals. 

Sophie looked over her friends. “It’s my birthday guys, so I swear to all the gods if I even hear the word gulon at the dinner table, I will promise you will never want to cross me again.” “Jeez who you tryin to impress foster?” Keefe asked. “Probably her new girlfriend Biana.” Dex said. Sophie glared at him as Keefe dramatically opened his eyes wide. 

Keefe automatically broke into a grin. “You must tell me everything.” Sophie rolled her eyes. “Not now!” Keefe laughed. “Ok, note to self, remind Sophie to spill the tea about her dating the next Vacker sibling.” Tam snickers a little at that. They walk into the dining room, all still teasing each other. “Sorry I’m late.” Biana rushes in, and Keefe raises his eyebrows. Biana sits down next to Sophie, out of breath. “What’d I miss?” Keefe smirks. “Oh nothing”

They shared a dinner of traditional human food, vegetarian of course, which Sophie didn’t know how Edaline got her hands on. Grady even showed them a cool human card trick, which Keefe then had to try. Biana kept shooting her these adorable looks that made Sophie want to melt inside. Edaline raised her eyebrows at Sophie, but she just blushed and kept talking with her friends.

After Sophie tried to teach her friends how to sing happy birthday, and it just ended up horribly out of tune, she and her friends retreated up to her room to hang out. She sat on the bed, while the rest of them sat on bean bags on the floor. They had been one short, so Keefe “took one for the team” by sitting next to Tam on his beanbag. Link of course found this hilarious, and Tam just looked vaguely disgruntled but pleased with himself.

Slowly, her friends started to head home until it was just the Vacker siblings. “Hey fitz...” Biana said, standing up. “Could you head home and tell dad I’m having a sleepover with Sophie tonight?” “Biana, he’s not gonna like that…” fitz started to say. “It’s fine.” Fitz obliged, and soon the two girls were alone. “I’m sorry, but your dad can be a real jerk face sometimes.” Biana laughed. “Definitely. Oh!” She pulled out a hastily wrapped package. “Happy Birthday Sophie.”

Sophie took the gift, blushing a little. It was wrapped in a silvery paper with purple swirls, tied up with a lopsided bow. She opened the present carefully, trying not to rip the packaging. Biana looked a little nervous, but Sophie gasped when she saw the gift. It was a beautiful snowglobe of foxfire, with little mini people, so small you could barely see them milling around the campus. “It’s awesome Biana! I love it!” Biana blushed a little, making sophie blush more.

Sophie put it on her shelf carefully, and sat back down, stealing glances at Biana. The Vacker girl looked a little lost in thought, staring out the window. “Do you want to go for a walk?” Sophie asked “Verdi should be asleep so we don’t have to worry about a green feathered chaperone.” Biana giggled. “Sure.” They snuck outside, the light from the windows of the house half illuminating their features.

The moonlight made everything shine with a sort of silvery glow, making it feel almost dream-like. They started strolling side-by-side, along the fences of the enclosures. The animals were mostly quiet, which was good. Sophie wasn’t exactly sure how it happened, but after a few minutes, they were holding hands. They didn’t talk, but just enjoyed each other’s company, content with the silence. 

It could have been 2 minutes, it could have been an hour, Sophie didn’t know, she liked Biana’s company too much. They made their way up to the Panakes tree, and sat there, watching the moonlight filtering through the delicate flowers. “Sophie?” Biana asked, softly. “Yes?” Sophie whispered. “Can I kiss you?” Sophie’s breath stopped for a moment. 

Sophie didn’t bother responding, she just kissed Biana. In the back of her mind, she wondered how much Keefe would tease her, but that wasn’t important now. “So. That happened.” Sophie finally said. “It did.” Biana said, her cheeks flushed. They grinned at each other like idiots, unaware of the blue eyes watching from the window.

Sophie went to bed floating on a cloud that night, Biana sleeping on a pile of bean bags. She had a wonderful dream, about dancing and balls, and Biana in the most gorgeous dress. She woke up the next morning, adrenaline still there, making her feel giddy. She snuck past a sleeping Biana, and downstairs. Grady and Edaline were talking quietly over tea. “Good morning guys!” She said, and they abruptly stopped.

“Morning Sophie.” Grady said, nodding at her. “How are-“ he was cut off by a knock at the door. Edaline got up to answer. It was Alden, who looked like he hadn’t slept. “Is my daughter here? Fitz said she was sleeping over, I’d like to pick her up.” Edaline nodded. “It’s really fine, we don’t mind having her over.” Alden shook his head. “Morning Sophie, where’s Biana?”

“Umm… she’s still sleeping.” “Go wake her up for me, will you?” Sophie nodded and ran upstairs. She shook Biana awake. “It’s your dad.” Biana groaned and stood up. Sophie knew she shouldn’t think about how absolutely adorable Biana looked with bed head, but really, who was going to stop her. They headed downstairs to Alden sipping a cup of tea. “Morning Biana.” 

Biana awkwardly waved at him. “Well, we better be going now.” Alden said starting to turn. “Would Biana be able to stay for breakfast? I’m having the gnomes make something special.” Edaline said. “No, I don’t need her infringing on your family any more.” And with that, the two Vackers were gone.

Sophie sat down with Edaline and Grady. An awkward silence settled over them as they ate delicious breakfast pastries. Sophie finished hers first, and sat back. “I had fun last night. Thanks guys.” Edaline looked like she wanted to say something, but held it back. “I’m glad you had fun.”

Sophie headed up to her room, telling her parents she was gonna get ready for foxfire tommorow. She opened the door to iggy poking his head up from a pile of blankets. “Hey iggy.” She said, picking him up. “You’re adorable, aren’t you?” He didn’t respond, simply farting in her face.

“Life is easy for you, isn’t it? You don’t have a girlfriend who’s dad is just… and live in a world where there’s no chance you can ever be normal?” Iggy grinned at her and curled up in her hair. Sophie sighed. “And now I’m talking to an imp. Great.”

After an hour of moping, or as Sophie liked to call it, hiding under your blankets and looking through your photographic memory, Edaline knocked on the door. “Come in” Sophie called, sitting up. “Ok, so with foxfire starting tomorrow, I wondered if you wanted to go shopping in Atlantis?”

“Sure.” Sophie said, standing up. “You should get dressed and ready.” Sophie nodded. Edaline left gracefully, and Sophie quickly changed into a grey tunic and whatever else she needed. She headed downstairs. “Ready.”She said “Ok, do you want to bring your girlfriend?”

Sophie nearly choked. “I- what?” Edaline finished putting on her cloak. “Biana? Do you want to bring her?” Sophie blinked. “What? How? Huh?” How could Edaline know? They weren’t that obvious were they? What did she think? Why was this so hard?

“How do you know?” Sophie finally managed to spit out. Edaline sat down next to her. “You weren’t super subtle last night at dinner, and then I accidentally saw you by the Panakes. Sophie blushed, looking down. “Are you ok?” Edaline asked. “Yeah… I’m fine.” Sophie hugged her knees, not meeting Edalines warm gaze. “Hey… I’m here if you need me.” Edaline said, hugging Sophie.

The first day of foxfire came quicker than Sophie would have liked. But there she was, adjusting that stupid half cape in the mirror. She hadn’t seen Biana since that morning, but told herself it was because of school prep. She waved goodbye to Edaline and Grady, and headed to the Leap master. 

When she arrived at foxfire, she immediately looked around for Biana. She didn’t even realize Dex walk up beside her. “Hey Soph. You excited for classes?” Dex asked. She didn’t respond for a sec. “oh it’s you. yeah.” Dex faked indignation. “Oh, It’s you? That’s what your best friend gets? I’m offended.” Sophie snickered. “Sorry Dex…”

They walked together to her locker when she finally saw Biana. She was looking at Fitz, as if they were having a serious conversation. It took all of Sophie’s willpower to not go and interrupt. “Earth to Sophie!” Dex said. “Are you even listening? The gang is getting together after school to have epic snowball fights at my house.” Sophie laughed again. “Do you ever get sick of snow?” She asked. “Nope!” 

“Sophie?” Sophie nearly jumped out of her skin as she heard Biana behind her. “Oh, hi! I didn’t see you there.” Biana smiled at her. “Sorry for being so distant-“ she started. “It’s fine it really is, I’m sorry I interrupted you. I’m sorry.” Sophie said, stumbling over her words. Biana giggled. “You don’t have to apologize. It’s fine.” Sophie grinned.

“So how are you lovebirds doing?” Keefe walked up, grinning. “We are not lovebirds,” Sophie said. Biana raised her perfect little eyebrows. “I beg to differ” Dex jumped in. “Ok, then how are things going with Fitz Dex, and Keefe, what’s up with Tam?” Biana said. Both boys blushed, and Sophie laughed. “What classes do y’all have first?”

Their conversation was cut off by Magnate Leto’s voice coming from the large screen thing. “Happy first day of school my prodigies! I hope you are all doing well, and are excited for a new year of learning!” Keefe snickered. “And Keefe sencen I would like to ask you how you found it appropriate to stick a muskog in my desk drawer and since it technically happened before school started you will not get detention, but I do recommend staying out of your locker” “It wasn’t even me” Keefe said.

“My first class is… elementalism.” Sophie made a face. Biana looked at her. “I have Alchemy… I’ll see y’all at lunch!” Biana walked away, her floofy brown hair bouncing. Sophie was pretty sure her heart just melted. She walked to class, nearly floating.

Lunch time couldn’t have come fast enough. Sophie tried not to run down the hall, but she was going to see Biana at lunch and honestly that seemed like a good excuse to run. She sat at a table, Fitz and Linh were already there, talking about something. “What are you talking about?” Sophie asked. 

Fitz looked at her. “Not much, mostly just first day of school stuff.” He said. Sophie raised her eyebrows. “You seriously havent heard?” Fitz asked. Linh nodded. “I thought they told teachers to give the announcement.” Sophie shrugged. “Well my elementalism professor is a bit swiss cheesed brain, so what is it?” “Well…”

Suddenly Keefe burst up behind the table. “There’s a dance guys!” Sophie blinked. “Huh?” Fitz laughed as the rest of their friends sat down. “It’s called the first annual welcome ball!” Linh explained. “Both parents and students will show up!” “When is it?” Sophie asked. “This Friday!” Sophie blinked. That was not a lot of time. 

Biana showed up late to the lunch table, so Keefe excitedly explained to her the dance. Though Sophie suspected he just saw it as a way to annoy his father. Biana looked excited, and grinned at Sophie making her heart skip a beat. Why does she have to be so cute?

After lunch, Sophie managed to catch Biana in the hall. “Ummm soo I hope your dad wasn’t too bad…” Sophie said. “No, I just got a talk about the Vacker legacy, even though I’m only part of it when he wants me to be.” Biana said grumpily. “I’m sorry…” Biana rolled her eyes. “The one thing that made it better was Mom mouthing the words to it in the background, Im fairly sure she has it memorized by now.” Both of the girls laughed a little at that.

Sophie grinned. “So… the dance…” Biana said, tucking a strand of her long brown hair behind her ear. “The dance…” Sophie repeated. “Are you going?” Biana asked. “I think so?” Sophie said. “Is that a question?” Biana teased. “I mean yeah, probably.” Biana grinned. “You know what this means?” “What?” Sophie asked. “We get to go outfit shopping.” Biana said excitedly.

The first week of school was officially over, and Sophie was exhausted. She flopped on the couch of Rimeshire, surrounded by her friends. They had all agreed to stop invading Dex’s house, but he had made a surround sound 4K movie watching set up for his mom, and no one else had anything as good. They all settled in, and bickered about the movie. Dex wanted The Hunger games, Sophie Harry Potter.

On Saturday morning, Sophie woke up to iggy asking for attention. After giving him a few papers to rip up, she headed downstairs for breakfast. The dance was tomorrow, and today was when Biana would drag her dress shopping. Sophie ate a muffin, excited for the day. Generally she didn’t like clothes shopping that much, but if Biana was going to be there that made it better.

Atlantis was buzzing with activity, Sophie recognized at least four families from school, and tried her best to avoid their gaze. The twisting spires of Atlantis glinted in the light provided by the balefire. Voices echoed across the empty streets as the crowds bustled along. Sophie felt a little overwhelmed by it all, and stood close to Edaline.

Suddenly someone tapped Sophie’s shoulder, and she nearly jumped out of Atlantis. “Oh. It’s you Biana.” She sighed with relief. Biana was standing there, perfect as ever, with Della standing there. “Hi Della.” Della smiled at her. “Hi Sophie.” The two moms started walking behind the girls, talking about whatever Elf Moms™ talk about. Biana and Sophie walked side by side, watching each other out of the corner of their eye.

The four elves headed into The Atlantis Boutique, and Sophie thought Biana was in heaven. Her stunning teal eyes widened, as they looked at all the dresses. Before Sophie could process the ginormous size this shop was, Biana grabbed her arm, and dragged her down aisles of long dresses. Edaline laughed as she watched the two of them disappear behind the rows of sparkling dresses. Della ducked out of the shop, saying she was meeting a friend, and Edaline stood at the front watching the two girls.

Biana worked with a scary efficiency, picking up dresses, holding them up to her and Sophie, and putting them back or carrying them with her. Sophie followed in awe as Biana quickly broke down each dress based on what fabrics it was made of, additional materials, effectiveness to strangle someone with, and ability to kick someone. Sophie swore that if Biana weaponized her knowledge, they’d all be dead.

Finally they had narrowed the outfits down to two outfits. A red suit thing or a shining red dress for Sophie, and a long silvery dress for Biana or a purple dress with silver sparkles making it shimmer in the light of balefire. Sophie went into the changing room, and tried on the two outfits. They both looked stunning according to Biana, which was a whole other level of stress to choose the right one.

Finally, Sophie decided on the suit, and the lady running the store put it in a box. Biana also chose a dress but wouldn’t show Sophie which one. Della re-entered the shop, a little out of breath. “Do you girls want to go to a bakery in Mysterium?” Della asked. “Sure.” Biana said, and Sophie nodded. 10 minutes later, the four of them found themselves on the cobbled streets of Mysterium.

The four of them sat at a table, and a server brought them a plate of assorted elvin pastries, including rippleruffs, mallowmelt, and a whole assortment of things that were delicious and could most likely start wars. “Mmmm this is good.” Sophie said, chewing a butterblast. Biana nodded in agreement, and the two of them helped finish the pastries. Sophie stretched. “That was really good.” Edaline smiled. “I’m glad you liked it.”

The night of the dance came too quickly. Edaline told her everything would be perfect, and rumor had it the council themselves would be attending. That didn’t stop Sophie from worrying though. She’d never really been to a dance, what would she act like? She straightened her suit for the 43rd time, fidgeting with the buttons. She exhaled, and walked with Grady and Edaline to the Leap master.

Foxfire was decorated beautifully, though a lot of the decorations were fungi, and honestly Sophie was really annoyed at this point. Mold was not good decor. They headed into the gymnasium, which was beautifully decorated, and this time there was no fungus. Hip hip hooray! Sophie looked around, wandering through groups of students and parents.

“Sophie!” Biana called from the corner of the room. Sophie excitedly walked over to her friends. “Hi guys!” She smiled at her friends. “You look awesome!” Sophie said to Biana. Biana twirled in her purple and teal dress. “You do too” Sophie awkwardly straightened her suit. She caught Keefe shooting her a look and she glared at him. Their little group of eight laughed and poked at each other while more people filed into the gym.

“Sophie!” Biana called from the corner of the room. Sophie excitedly walked over to her friends. “Hi guys!” She smiled at her friends. “You look awesome!” Sophie said to Biana. Biana twirled in her purple and teal dress. ��You do too” Sophie awkwardly straightened her suit. She caught Keefe shooting her a look and she glared at him. Their little group of eight laughed and poked at each other while more people filed into the gym.

The dance floor went silent as the 12 councilors appeared. They appeared regal as always, all wearing different colors, that shimmered in the lighting of the gym. After the initial shock of their arrival, things went back to normal, now with the councilors mingling with the students and parents. Sophie was pretty sure one kid peed himself when bronte started talking to them.  Slowly, their little group dissolved. Dex and Fitz went off into the crowd, and the. Keefe nearly dragged tam to the staff cafeteria “while it was unguarded” That left the four girls. Marella said something about checking in on her mom, and Linh vaguely followed her. Sophie looked awkwardly at Biana. “Umm…” Biana grinned. “I have something I want to show you.” Biana dragged Sophie out of the gym and down the hall way.

Biana opened a side door, and they walked through the grass. They could still hear the faint sound of music and chatter from the gym, and light flowed from the windows, half illuminating the world. Biana led her to a small clearing, filled with long weeping willow trees, and little flowers that glowed in the moonlight. “This place is beautiful.”

“Shall we dance?” Biana reached out her hand, and Sophie blushed, thankful for the darkness. Sophie took a deep breath, and took Bianas hand. The two girls started dancing, to the melody of the forest, the crickets song, and the moonlight symphony. Sophie couldn’t remember a time she’d been happier

The two girls danced, almost in their own little world. Time was irrelevant. They danced around the little clearing, twirling to their own tune. Finally, they slowed to a stop. Sophie had completely given up any hope of hiding her blush. Then, there under the moon, the two girls shared a kiss together, all worries forgotten.

Suddenly a boom echoed through the campus. The two girls stumbled back, shocked. Their eyes met, full of fear. They ran toward the campus, Sophie wondering if bianas extensive knowledge of how to fight in a dress would have to be used. They emerged from the forest, to see the gymnasium erupting in flames. It looked like most of the people were out of the gym, but Sophie could see black cloaked figures, even from the distance.

Magnate Leto ran up to them, followed by their friends. “You kids need to get out of here.” “But-“ Sophie protests. “Now.” Magnate Leto gives her a hard glare. Suddenly Linh pipes up. “Where’s marella?” Marella wasn’t with them. “I see her!” Tam says, pointing to their braided friend. She’s stuck in a crowd, surrounded by people. (i dont think this is the neverseen being antigay, just generic evil stuff. Decisionssss)

Before Tam could stop her, Linh was dashing through the crowd, shooting water at the flames. “Marella!” Linh calls, and marella looks up. “Linh?” Marella blasts another wave of fire at a neverseen member. Suddenly a wall of fire surrounds the crowd, and Tam’s breath catches.

Sophie feels herself start falling, even though she’s on solid ground. Linh… marella… they can’t be gone! She can’t lose more friends. She feels Biana wrap her arms around her, as she starts shaking. Nononono! Suddenly a figure starts emerging from the blaze.

Marella is there, seemingly unharmed except for singed hair. In her arms, is an unconscious figure, Linh. Tam immediately rushes to Linh’s side. “Ahem.” Magnate Leto says, “you all need to go. Take this.” He hands them a leaping crystal and dissapears into the crowd. Sophie holds the crystal to the light, and they step into the beam.

They stumble onto someone’s front lawn. Physic, or Livvy stepped out the front door and ushered them inside. They set Linh on the couch, and sat around a dining table. “What just happened?” Sophie asked. “How did no one know the neverseen were there?” Tam shrugged. “It happened out of the blue. Everything was fine, and the there was fintan trying to burn down the gym.”

Sophie knew that they shouldn’t be able to say things like that so casually, but they had been through so much, the unhinged pyrokinetic really had to try to surprise them. Livvy walked into the dining room, wiping her forehead. “Your sister is in a stable condition.” She tells tam, and sits down. “How much do you guys know?”

“Nothing.” Sophie said. “What in the world is going on?” She asked. Livvy sighed and shook her head. “The neverseen came for you a few days ago, Grady found shreds of a black cloak in the pastures. Verdi got to the member before they got anywhere, but we were on high alert.” Sophie narrowed her eyes. “Why didn’t you tell me this?” Livvy sighed. “We wanted your life to be as normal as possible.”

“Well what happens now?” Sophie asked, a little annoyed. She wasn’t a kid anymore, she wanted to know what was happening in her life. “You’re going to pretend to be humans.” Livvy says matter of factly. The table burst into chaos. Sophie’s eyes widened, and the rest of them shouted various protests. Livvy quieted them. “For a while. You’re going to be visiting me, Aunt Olivias house. That’s what you’re telling everyone anyway.“ 

“What?” Sophie asked. “The eight of us don’t look remotely related.” Livvy sighed. “I told the fork man that, he said to figure it out.” Sophie giggled. “We’ll just go by a don’t ask don’t tell thing. Are we like actually going places and stuff?” Livvy nodded. “You will be normal teenagers, even going to school and doing homework.” The whole table groaned.

Three days later, and after almost dying because of Livvy’s driving, the eight of them headed into the front office to register for school. They all looked normal in tshirts and jeans, except for linhs arm in a cast. They got registered, and headed to their lockers. Sophie had to show them how to open them without licking them, and they headed to their individual homerooms, ready for the day.

By lunch rumor had spread of the mysterious eight new students who refused to talk to anyone outside of the eight. They all sat at a table in the corner of the cafeteria, refusing to make eye contact with anyone. Linh hated not being able to talk to the humans, but tam told her it was for their safety. They sat down, to talk about the first day.

Before they could settle in, a group of people came over. “Hi, we noticed you lot are new here, do you want to come sit with us?” Sophie looked at Biana and the rest of them, and they shrugged. The eight of them headed over to a larger table. “My name’s beau,” the first person said. “Mine is felony.” The person with lime green hair said, grinning. They all sat down awkwardly. “What’s y’all’s names?” Felony asked grinning. “I’m Sophia, this is Bianca, Dexter, Marin, Aylin, Tommy, Keegan, and Fred

Her friends hated the names Livvy insisted on calling them while humans, but played along. “Cool.” Another person at the table said. “This is Lia, Jojo, Lynn, and the rest.” “Oh wow I’m glad we mean so much to you that you’ll tell the newbies our name. I’m tater, call me tater.” Sophie blinked. “Great.” These humans were nice? Of course there were nice humans, but she had never felt welcomed by people outside her family

“So tommy…” Keefe said, scooting closer to Tam. “How did you like your first classes.” “Shut up Keegan” tam said glaring at Keefe. Sophie laughed. “Sorry about my friends.” Beau smiled. “Where’d y’all come from?” Sophie shrugged “San Francisco, we’re visiting a friend of all our families, we’re close.” “Yep” Biana agreed. Sophie though it sounded suspicious at best, but Lia and Lynn were nodding. “Cool.”

“I feel like I know you guy...” felony said, narrowing their eyes “How could you know us?” Sophie said. “We’ve been on the west coast forever!” Sophie was panicking a little. Felony shrugged. “I have some family out there, might have seen you around. “Oh, ok…” Sophie sighed in relief. Sophie took a bite of the veggie roll Livvy had packed. She had made their lunches because vegetarian.

Brrrrriiinng! The cafeteria got noisy as people clamored to leave. “See y’all tommorow?” Beau called as they joined the crowd. Sophie nodded. She turned to her friends. “That wasn’t so bad.” “It really wasn’t.” Marella said in agreement. They all headed to classes, a little more confident.

The group got home, exhausted. They all flopped in the living room, sighing. “You kids tired?” Livvy asked “you had to give me the name Fred?” Fitz asked, sitting up. “It sounds so weird!” “It sounds normal.” Livvy corrected. Tam grumbled something about the name tommy, and Keefe laughed at him. “School was good. We even made a few friends.” Livvy smiled. “Friends are good. Now to celebrate the first day of school, do y’all want to get takeout?”

After a dinner of delicious pizza, which her friends devoured, Livvy came in. “I have a surprise for you guys!” Tam looked at her. “Is this surprise better than you making my name Tommy to the humans.” Linh giggled. “Yes, it is.” Livvy said. “I got everyone phones.” Everyone blinked, confused except for Sophie. 

“What is a phone?” Keefe asked. “Don’t ask me Keegan.” Tam said grumpily. Dex took it. “Oh gosh! It’s like an imparter, but like…” he trailed off, and started pushing buttons. Marella took hers as well, but immediately got confused. Sophie wanted to die laughing, this was hilarious. Keefe took to poking his phone cautiously, watch what happens, and repeat. Linh simply stared at it like telepathically telling it what to do.

A few weeks passed, and things seem to grow normal. The only reminder of the lost cities was when they hailed their parents/friends to check in each Friday. Repairs were made to foxfire, and the eight stayed underground. Finally, one Wednesday, at lunch with the kids from school, they had grown closer over the weeks, and Sophie realized felony was right. It did feel like they knew each other. Finally, Lia tapped on her shoulder one day in class.

“Hey Sophia, it’s my birthday party this weekend, I was wondering if y’all wanted to come.” Sophie shrugged. “I’ll ask the others, but can’t think of a reason to not go.” Lia smiled. Sophie was right, the others did in fact want to go. The day before the party was a mess of gift shopping, and Biana insisting they have perfect outfits. Livvy was also worried, they all were, the threat of the neverseen was still there, and they didn’t want their human friends in the crossfire.

Ding dong! They eight of them waited by the front door, the sun setting. “Hi guys!“Felony opened the door, and ushered them inside. They dropped their gifts off, and headed downstairs where chaos was already beginning.

Lynn and some others were aggressively… could you aggressively talk? Well, they were talking about some vacation to Amsterdam that Sophie was unsure whether it happened or not. Keefe automatically went to join them, and Sophie went off to find someone to talk to. She’d never really been to a human birthday party other than her sisters and her own. What was she supposed to do?

Suddenly Beau ran down the stairs. “Guys! Me and Tater got the fire pit going for s’mores! Come on!” Lynn looked incredulous, like she was saying “you trusted them with fire?” But Lia just shrugged and they all ran upstairs. 

They all settled around the fire pit, Biana and sophie shared a chair next to the fire, with a blanket pulled over them. Biana snuggled up next to her, which the others didn’t seem to kind as they violently stabbed marshmallows, and then set them on fire. Keefe, to no ones surprise found this process quite amusing.

Well… Keefe found it amusing until he decided to try and feed tam the marshmallow sandwich. Long story short, it ended with a marshmallow covered Tam and a hysterically laughing Keefe. Biana giggled and made her s’more, which was somehow perfectly cooked. The humans didn’t even seem that bothered, getting up to their own marshmallow related shenanigans.

The scene slowly devolved until it was a full on marshmallow war. Marella was secretly making her marshmallows meltier to throw at people, and Keefe was pelting everyone with half melted marshmallows. Fitz was trying to stop this of course, saying things like “guys, we don’t want to waste the marshmallows,” that was until Dex smushed and open s’more in his face, it just got more chaotic from there.

Finally, it winded down and people started floating to the back porch where there were traditional party games like pin the tail on the donkey. The elves found it hilarious, and Sophie giggled as Linh tried to stop felony from hitting the donkey. Biana looked up at her. “This is nice isn’t it?” She asked, the fire reflecting in her teal eyes. “It really is.” (No it’s fine, it’s your suggestions and feedback is why this is steadily growing, and not just ending.)

“Kiss kiss kiss kiss.” Sophie turned around to see Beau badly hiding behind a bush. She blushed and Beau laughed. Biana giggled. “We have to please the people, right?” Sophie blushed even harder as Biana kissed her. Beau laughed harder. “I knew it. JOJO! YOU OWE ME 15 DOLLARS!” Beau yelled. “Oh and lovebirds, cakes out.” Biana stood up and followed Beau. “You coming?

“Yeah one sec.” Sophie said, sitting up and stretching. Biana walked towards the porch, and Sophie looked into the bushes. She could have sworn she saw something moving. She looked over her shoulder. Everyone was too busy talking to notice her. She walked towards the bushes and looked down. There was a small scrap of parchment… she picked it up, expecting a black swan note. She opened it, and her heart stopped. It was the neverseen eye, staring up at her.

Sophie hasn’t slept since Lia’s party. She had rushed home as soon as the party finished, and told Livvy, who told forkle. Shockingly, he didn’t demand they relocate, they instead had some members on standby to defend the house, and they couldn’t go anywhere alone. Sophie stared out the window. The moon was rising and she knew she should be in bed, but the human world had coffee, so it was fine, right?

She scribbled in her notebook, running over that night in her head. Had anything been out of the ordinary? Her head hurt, and she groaned. She really should sleep… but if she slept she’d have nightmares and honestly no sleep was better. She paced her room, filtering through her thoughts. She froze as someone knocked on her door

She opened the door to see Biana holding two mugs of hot chocolate. “Fitz made these for you. Said he got the recipe from Beau, so it has to be good.” Sophie took a mug and sat down at her desk, Biana sitting on her bed. “How did they did they find us Bi?” Sophie asked, for the 345th time this week. “I don’t know Soph, but obsessing over it won’t help. When’s the last time you slept?” Sophie thought. “I think… a few days ago for an hour or two?” She sipped her cocoa.

Biana shook her head. “You need to sleep Sophie.” Sophie looked at her floor. “I’m fine Bi” Biana raised her eyebrows. “You’re not. Even the humans are noticing somethings up. If you won’t sleep for you, will you sleep to help protect us? Will you sleep for me?” Sophie hugged her knees. Biana wrapped her arms around Sophie, hugging her. “Please sleep…” 

Sophie woke up the next morning, to Biana still there, arms wrapped around her. Biana looked peaceful when she slept. Everything was peaceful. That was until she heard Keefe’s muffled screaming downstairs. She shot up and ran down the stairs. “What is it?! Neverseen? The council? Gluons?” Keefe laughed. “No, it’s snowing!” Sophie peered out the window. 

Biana was still asleep when Sophie walked in. “Biana?” She asked. “I don’t want bananas. They taste yucky.” Biana said, still half asleep. Sophie giggled and shook her shoulder gently. “Wake up, it’s snowing outside.” Biana sat up, still bleary eyed. “Really?” Sophie nodded.

Bianas eyes lit up. “I have a plan then.” She said, grinning evilly. Sophie laughed. “Should I be worried?” Biana smirked. “No, but fitz should be, I still haven’t been able to get revenge on him for dumping that flour on me back at…” she trailed off. The air was thick. Both of them knew they couldn’t be normal. “Hey…” Sophie said as Biana looked down. “What was your plan?”

Biana shook her head evilly. “You’ll see.” The morning went by quickly, when fitz got a call from Beau. “Hey guys, there’s gonna be a snow war at the park, you wanna join?” A shared glance from their friends, and they were in.

It took longer than expected to get ready for the snow, none of the elf’s were good at Velcro, and Sophie was too busy laughing to help them. Finally, they piled in Livvys car, and they headed to the park. Luckily, it wasn’t full on war yet. Felony and Lia waved at them, inviting them to sit at the snowy picnic tables.

Tam muttered something about being cold, but sat down with the rest of them. Felony started talking about how epic the war was going to be. Then, a wave a cold snow hits Sophie. She turns around to see Beau and Tater laughing, her and a couple others now covered in snow. “Oh it’s on!

[ravens-words]

we burned down our paper house

"Spanning years and continents. Lives ruined, bloodshed. Epic."

Scenes from a lost decade.

Chapter 3 of 4

On AO3

............................

Early 2010

Michael sighed and leaned back on the chair, shoulders slumped and mouth pressed in a hard line. He stared at the e-mail he'd just gotten from Alex and did his best not to scream in frustration. 

Leave wasn't approved. Sorry.

Short and to the point, just like the last dozen or so e-mails had been in the past few months.

Alex's tone had become almost impatient with him, his e-mails shorter and shorter. It'd gotten to the point where getting three long sentences out of Alex  were cause for celebration. To Michael, it seemed like he was pulling away from him, little by little, and it hurt. It hurt, because he didn't know what he'd done wrong and so he had no idea how to fix it. 

Did I do something wrong? He deleted the question the minute he wrote it out and held his head in his hands. They didn't talk about their relationship on here- or anywhere, he added bitterly in his head. 

He stared at the blank page in front of him and after a minute of silent staring at the screen, he sighed, resigned. His fingers hovered over the keyboard and he thought of all the things he wanted to tell him. That he missed how they used to talk, missed his dry, yet hilarious sense of humor. Michael missed him, most of all and he wondered if he should hold onto the hope that he could ever get to have him.

Late 2011

Michael overheard Maria talking on the phone and nearly spilled his beer when he heard her mention Alex. He listened closely and his excitement hit the roof when she mentioned that he'd finished his first tour. 

Maybe this meant he would get out of the air force altogether. Maybe he would finally get back because he had to have gotten a good amount of days for a leave. That night, he barely managed to sleep, too many thoughts warring with each other in his head.

The next day, he waited for an email, a visit, anything. But nothing came. 

A week passed, and he didn't hear anything from Alex. 

Hey, Alex, I just heard your tour is over? Why didn't you tell me? And when are you coming home?

The next day, he was the first person at the library. Mrs. Jamison gave him a weird look but didn't comment as he followed her in and waited patiently until she gave him the all clear to use the computer.

He hurriedly logged into his e-mail and sighed in relief when he found a message in his inbox. 

"I'm not coming back, Guerin. I'm sorry."

Michael had been expecting this for months now. He'd known it was coming, had felt in his bones even, but that didn't make it hurt any less than a stab in the heart. He felt the sting of tears and sniffled pathetically. 

He didn't know how he managed it when his mind was in such a numb haze, but he logged out and turned the computer off, then left the library and drove home. 

I'm not coming back.

What little hope for them he'd managed to hold onto for the past couple of years vanished and he tried desperately to convince himself that it was for the best.

He was, predictably, unsuccessful.

Mid 2012

"Why do you keep doing this to yourself, Michael?"

Michael snorted and then giggled, pitching forward in Max's arms. Max caught him just before he fell face-first on the ground and grunted as he pulled him up. 

"Seriously, why?"

Michael blinked drowsily at him. "What?"

Max huffed. "Why do you keep doing this to yourself?"

"I didn't do anything to myself. Thing 1 and Thing 2 did."

Max was unimpressed. "You punched the guy. Unprovoked."

Michael shrugged, or, he would've, if Max's hand wasn't like an anchor around his shoulders. He resisted the urge to lean into his brother and just made a vauge noise that he let Max interpret. 

Max lowered him on the bench in the drunk tank and to Michael's surprise, he didn't leave. He crouched down in front of him and sighed. "What is it about today, huh?" 

Michael shut his eyes tightly. "Nothing."

"Michael, I know things between us aren't the best right now, but you can talk to me, okay?"

He stayed silent, bit his tongue to stop the words clawing at his throat from escaping. He heard Max sigh and waited until he heard the cell door close quietly. Then,

"I miss him."

Late 2013

"I think Noah wants to have a baby."

Michael blinked at Isobel. "I think it's too early for this."

She huffed and all but forced her way through the door. She delicately lifted the edge of his crumbled blanket and slid it to the side. "What do I do?"

He shook his head and lifted his head up to look at the ceiling. "Maybe tell him you're not ready?" 

"And what if I am?" 

Her whispered confession hit him in the chest like a truck and he struggled with keeping his own feelings about this subject buried and to just focus on himself.

"What's stopping you, then?" 

She scoffed. "Maybe that I'm an alien? That I know nothing about my own body? That I could be bringing a child with powers freakier than ours into this world? It's too- it would be too risky, and I- I can't tell him about any of this, so I'm stuck."

He sat beside her and put an arm around her shoulders, drawing her into his arms. "I'm really sorry, Iz."

"Yeah," she sniffled. "Yeah, me too." She wiped her eyes and seemed to pull herself together in the snap of a finger, and Michael marveled at her strength. "Tell me about your date with Janet."

Michael pulled a face. "We were talking about you."

She gave him an unimpressed look. "And now we're talking about you. Keep up."

He rolled his eyes, but gave in. "It was fine."

She glared. He sighed.

"This is the third date I've set you up on, Michael," she reminded him. "You really didn't like any of them?"

He shrugged. "I guess they just weren't-" Alex, his mind supplied, "-my type."

Isobel raised an eyebrow and scoffed. "Your type is anything that breathes. If you're going to lie to me, do better than that."

"Fine. I'm just not feeling it."

She searched his face, and to Michael's surprise, her face softened. "There's something you're not telling me."

Michael said nothing.

"You're hurting."

I'm always hurting.

Isobel rested her head on his shoulder. "It's gonna get better, Michael."

I really fucking hope so.

Mid 2014

Michael stared at Max's TV in silent terror, the words 'bombing' and 'air force base' and '12 servicemen killed and 56 injured' leaving him paralyzed with fear. 

"Shit," Max cursed, eyes on the screen, then on Michael. There was a weird look on his face as he watched him, but Michael honestly couldn't muster the energy to try to find out what it meant. 

So he sat on Max's couch, he stared at the now black screen of the TV and tried not to imagine Alex in a body bag, or in a hospital bed, or bleeding out in a desert miles and miles away.

That night, for the first time in four, almost five, years, he called him. The phone rang and rang and rang, but there was no answer.

That night, Michael slept with the phone pressed to his heart, hoping it would ring. 

It never did.

Late 2015

Michael was three drinks in and spoiling for a fight when he walked in. 

He forgot to breathe, everyone in the room but him disappeared and Michael could only watch. 

He watched as he kept his head down and avoided eye contact with anyone. 

He watched him give a polite, and obviously fake, smile to anyone who ignored his very apparent discomfort and decided to engage him in a conversation.

He watched him walk, he watched him breathe and he wanted nothing more than to go to him, drag him away and check for himself that he was whole, that he was still his Alex.

Drink now forgotten, Michael's eyes never strayed away from Alex's form, in fear that he'd actually lost it and had imagined him here.

As if drawn to him by some unknown force, Alex's eyes found his and Michael stopped breathing yet again. His whole body stiffened and he waited for the frost in the airman's eyes to melt, waited for the sharp edges of him to soften. It took a minute, but it eventually happened. 

Alex's eyes softened and his shoulders drooped a little bit. His head tilted to the side, and that was enough for Michael. He stood, rather abruptly, and slowly sauntered out of the bar, feeling his eyes follow him all the way to the door. 

He hurried to his truck, hands shaking and heart beating a mile a minute. When he got in, he put the key in the ignition and then settled both his hands on the steering wheel, squeezing it tightly.

When the bar door banged open and Alex stepped out, Michael could finally breathe. 

Alex got into a black SUV, started driving,  and Michael followed without question, unable to think of anything than this:

Alex is alive. Alex is here and he's breathing and, against all odds, he still wants me after five years.

It took him more than it should've to recognize where Alex was driving, and when his airstream came into view, Michael smiled to himself.

He waited for Alex to get out of his car before he did the same and then they just stood and stared at each other with only a few feet of space separating them.

Years lay heavy between them, yet despite that, Michael still felt lighter than he had in years.

He didn't know who made the first move, but only a few seconds later, Alex was in his arms and his lips were on his.

Michael wanted to suspend time. He wanted to stay in this moment, right here, for all of eternity. 

Alex pulled away and Michael tightened his hold on him, too afraid that he might have changed his mind. Alex's hands found his shoulders and Michael's found his waist. He wanted to pull him closer, to hug him, but he didn't know if that was allowed anymore. 

He wanted to ask him why he cut off all communications five years ago, wanted to tell him how much it hurt to lose touch with him so suddenly. He wanted to ask what he'd done wrong, what he could have done to fix things. Most of all, he wanted to tell him that he'd missed him with a ferocity that had scared him, but never surprised him.

Alex pulled him in before he could utter a word, though, and Michael forgot about all the things he wanted to say, forgot his own name, and got lost in Alex's touch.

Michael grabbed a hold of his hand and pulled him inside, and Alex went with it, laughing softly at his obvious eagerness. The first kiss was fast and hard and was nothing more than an eager clash of teeth. Alex winced and Michael's fingers came up to stroke his cheeks and he brushed his lips brushed against Alex's in apology.

Alex wrapped his arms around Michael's shoulder and pulled him closer. Michael went willingly. 

Their second kiss was slower, more gentle and Alex's lips were soft against his, pliant. Michael's hands drifted up from the airman's shoulders to his neck and after they pulled away for breath, he pulled him in again. This kiss was deeper, open-mouthed and filthy and he must have made his intentions clear with it because Alex, with a tight grip on his waist, led him onto the narrow bed. 

They stumbled and laughed along the way, and suddenly, it felt as if no time had passed. He was settled, in a way he hadn't been for years.

And it was because he was finally in Alex's arms again.

Michael all but threw him onto the bed, then crawled in beside him. They lay there, trading lazy kisses, for what felt like hours.

Michael wished he could stay in this moment forever. 

When Michael's hands drifted under Alex's shirt, and the kisses went back to being heated, Alex eagerly sat up and yanked his shirt off. And Michael just watched him; the ripple of toned muscles, the nimble, elegant fingers. When Alex caught him looking, he softened further and pulled him in close. Their foreheads touched and Michael saw Alex close his eyes. Try as he might, he couldn't close his, not when he still wasn't sure whether or not this was a dream. Ever so slowly, Alex leaned forward and tucked his face into Michael's neck. Michael closed his eyes. He expected Alex to place a kiss there, a bite, but instead, he just seemed to linger there, taking deep, controlled breaths. Michael let him, and pushed his face into Alex's hair. He breathed in and almost didn't want to exhale, just to keep the scent of him in his lungs for as long as possible.

Michael pressed a kiss to the crown of his head, his fingers combing Alex's hair. "Hey," he muttered softly.

Alex chuckled. "Hi."

"I missed you so much," he whispered.

Alex kept his head buried in Michael's neck but raised his hands to hug him tight. "Me too."

Michael danced his left hand from his neck to his shoulders and then down his chest. When he worked open the first button of Alex's jeans, Alex pulled away, but not before he pressed a kiss to his shoulder. 

"I'm glad you came back," Michael rasped. 

Alex answered him with a bruising kiss that left them both gasping for breath.

When Michael woke up, he was alone in his bed. A jolt of fear ran down his spine and he sat up in bed, looking around wildly. When he realized that what had woken him up was the click of the airstream door, he scrambled up, clumsily putting on his sweats as he all but ran out.

He caught up to Alex just before he reached his car. "What the hell, Alex?!"

Alex froze with his back to him, and Michael gripped his shoulder and forced him to turn around. 

"Let go, Guerin."

"Not until you tell me why you're leaving."

"Fucking let go, now." His voice was dangerously low, and Michael resisted the urge to follow his command.

"So last night meant nothing, huh? Just a quick fuck, then?"

Alex shook his head, wrist still firmly in Michael's hand. Michael had no doubt that he could have easily broken free of his hold, but was choosing not to. "Last night shouldn't have happened. It was-"

"Don't." Michael let go of him and stepped back. "Don't you dare say it was a mistake."

Alex's eyes darted all over his face, as if he was drinking him in but then the shutters came down and his eyes were nearly vacant of all emotions. He seemed to steel himself before he spoke. "Goodbye, Michael."

"You're really gonna leave me again?" He sounded broken when he'd meant to sound angry, bitter, or even accusing.

He recieved nothing but silence as Alex tried to tug his door open with obviously shaking hands.

"Six years, Alex. I've spent six years missing you; wondering what I did wrong to make you decide I wasn't worth your time anymore. And I won't ask you about it. If you want to forget it, that's fine, but the least you could do is to at least fucking try."

"Try?"

"Yeah!" He exclaimed. "Give us a chance-"

"There is no us!" Alex exploded. "As long as you're here and I'm not, there can never be an us, Guerin."

"Then be here," Michael pleaded, desperation clawing at his throat. This was truly it. Alex was going to get in the car and drive away and Michael would probably not see him for another five years, if not more. "Would you please just stay?"

"I can't," he murmured, and the words were final. But- he wasn't leaving. He didn't get in his car and drive away; it gave Michael hope that maybe there was still a chance he could convince him to stay.

"Why not?"

"Because I reenlisted? Because I can't see myself coming back to this hellhole permanently and I don't think you'll leave, not even for me? Because this-" he grabbed a hold of Michael's left hand and lifted it up at eye level, "-will always be there as a reminder of what being with me has done to your life."

"Being with you is the only thing I want, Alex. Being with you has always made me happy." Your leaving was what destroyed me every time, he added silently.

"I ruined your life."

"My life was already ruined before you came along, darlin' ; you don't get to take credit for that."

Alex let out a sharp breath. "If you hadn't kissed me that day, if we hadn't gotten back to the shed, if my dad hadn't found us-"

Michael was stunned, because he'd never once thought Alex might have blamed himself for everything that went wrong in his life since the day Rosa died when he'd been the one bright thing in his life at that time. "I'd still be here, just without the ruined hand."

Alex looked skeptical. "You really believe that?"

"I know it, Alex."

He sniffled and nodded, jaw clenched tight. When he looked away, Michael didn't. He could practically see the wheels turning in his head and he waited him out. "It's not gonna be easy."

Michael's heart stopped for a good three seconds. "Wha-what?"

"It's not gonna be easy, being together. I leave again in a few days. We'll be seeing each other twice a year, maybe four times if we're lucky, for the next three years. Phone calls will be rare and-" Alex looked him right in the eye and Michael saw him swallow thickly. "No one in this town can know about us-"

Michael didn't let him finish. He dragged him in by the collar and fused their mouths together, kisses eager and deep.

"You're staying?"

Alex let out a shuddering breath. "I- I think so."

He sounded terrified.

Michael pulled away but kept his hands on either side of Alex's neck. 

"It's gonna be okay, Alex."

Alex nodded hesitantly. "We're gonna be okay," he whispered, as if trying to convince himself. He all but fell into Michael's arms, and when his forehead settled on Michael's, he heard him make a sound that was almost a whimper. Alex clutched the back of his shirt in two tight grips that only seemed to tighten when Michael moved to pull away. 

So he didn't.

He wrapped his arms around him and hid his smile in the airman's shoulder.

"We're gonna be great."

.

[robotslenderman]

For the 21 questions otp ask, Elisa/Lettow, 3, 6, 11 and 12. I hope that wasn’t too much for you 😊

:3!!!!

OTP ask box game.

3. What is your favourite AU/prompt idea/trope for your pairing?

Favourite AU is the one where Lettow didn’t lose track of Elisa and managed to adopt her.

It did... not work out well at first, lol. Lettow had severe depression and had never had a childe before and had no idea what to do with her. Elisa had gone absolutely feral after three months of surviving night-to-night and sleeping in burrows she’d dug herself.

Over those three months Elisa had slowly gone batshit insane. In canon, Lampago scraped her out of it and taught her some survival skills, but this takes place earlier, before Elisa could do anything more than solve intra-kindred issues with “run away or claw their face off.” So in this AU Elisa has gone from a kind, generous and loving vet nurse that loved animals... to this near-wight who actually killed a couple of kindred over territory disputes.

Basically, she couldn’t control her Beast and was getting awfully close to wighting herself. In canon this was reversed by her watching Lampago and fighting hard not to be like her -- in this AU she doesn’t have a bad example to warn her away from going down that path, so she keeps indulging the Beast’s impulses by killing her prey and anyone trying to claim her territory.

Eventually it got bad enough that Lettow intervened before the Prince could put a blood hunt on her head (or his).

At first Lettow had a hard problem just keeping her around -- Elisa kept running away because she’d be overwhelmed or pissed off enough. Each time Lettow would give her a few nights then reappear at her burrow and talk her into coming back, because if she stayed out on her own there was no way she wouldn’t wind up killing someone else and he was highkey really worried the Prince would have her executed.

(Dove thought this was hilarious and that Lettow reaped what he sowed. “You left her so she could learn to survive on her own. Well, now she’s trying to do what you wanted her to do!”)

Needless to say, Elisa developed a Reputation among the Kindred of Tucson for being Lettow’s feral, low-humanity brat.

It did reach a turning point. In canon Lettow wouldn’t give her Stellaluna for thirty years, but in this one he had the same idea and gifted her her own famulus -- that little vampire bat she named Stellaluna. A bit of Elisa’s old humanity came back enough at the gesture that he was able to get through to her, and bond with her through teaching her animalism. Her love for Stellaluna, and her being touched at Lettow’s gesture, was a counterbalance to the Beast.

Yep, that’s right, Elisa had an emotional support vampire bat.

He’d been so desperate he’d seriously considered blood binding her to him until they both got her out of it; a blood bond would have made her so attached to him and desperate to please him it would have given her positive emotions to help lift her out of it instead of primal instinct and impulse, and would have given her willpower to fight her Beast at his behest.

Years later, she’d mention to Lettow that she attributed this phase of her life to severe depression. And he’d be like, “no, you weren’t depressed, you were turning into a wight.”

6. Least favourite canon moment of them?

I honestly can’t think of any explicit moments. All that comes to mind are concepts (that Elisa couldn’t bitch at Lettow about the blood bag thing) or moments that aren’t their moment (Lettow’s bizarre response to Jasper’s torture of Modian and his callousness to Dove), or something that isn’t even a moment (lack of more Reremouse-like missions in-game where you get to work with him hands on!).

11. If they aren’t a canon pairing, how would you get them together?

Their relationship didn’t happen as it did in canon.

Basically, canon moved too fast for them. Elisa strongly resented Lettow at least until the midpoint where he offered her the final three jobs, and she was terrified of him for the whole game except the epilogue because she kept waiting for him to throw her under the bus (the first half) or execute her for Diablerie (the second half). Even after he confronted her about Aila, she was mostly convinced that him having her be the bait was his attempt at killing her without having to execute her.

(Years later he’d tell her that that was sincerely not the case -- that he had her be bait because he firmly believed she could survive anything.)

Needless to say, that’s... not a healthy base for a relationship, even though she was crushing damn hard by the end of the game and was genuinely upset that he didn’t even intend to say goodbye.

But they did get together. After Lettow returned from the Middle East Dove wanted Elisa to do some dangerous jobs and was like, “hey, why don’t we get mister fucking invincible to play bodyguard?”

Lettow was genuinely surprised at how emotional she was at his return -- she would’ve been brought to tears if she could cry. They bonded better this time around, as equals. They talked about Aila and laid that to rest -- it was harder for Elisa to talk about than Lettow. Elisa talked about how Aila was still around. Lettow talked about how he resented Aila for leaving him and letting herself get Diablerised. Elisa got to be turned on by watching him beat the crap out of people who tried to hurt her.

But it was a slow burn because, well. Elisa ate his wife so how could she, in good conscience, ever make a move on him? And on Lettow’s side -- he absolutely despised himself and thought he wasn’t good enough for Aila to stay awake or even alive, and if Aila hated him so fucking much she basically killed herself and put an (in his mind) innocent childe at risk to get away from him, how could he possibly make Elisa happy?

Cue months of mutual pining, and occasionally doing couple things like sharing a bed or cuddling without acknowledging them as couple things.

At one point Lettow bites off more than he can chew even by his standards, which Elisa was able to see plain as day at the time. Their usual tactics when overwhelmed was for Lettow to distract the attackers and for Elisa to run, but this time the opposition was so overwhelming that Elisa knew if she ran Lettow would get destroyed, so she refused to run, which only made things more dangerous for both of them. They had a huge argument about it -- Elisa accusing Lettow of trying to kill himself, Lettow accusing Elisa of being an idiot who didn’t trust him to do his job -- but the whole “oh my god the other person almost DIED” helped them realise that

hey

maybe they should stop letting the Aila thing get in the way and just... get together anyway.

Because they loved each other.

So they did.

And they’ve been together ever since.

12. If you had to take them and plunk them into another fandom, what fandom would that be? Why?

Ooof I really had to think about this one.

There’s no one fandom I’d put them in, but I went into a lot of detail with just one so here’s the one I did:

Subnautica -- Human AU. Elisa is a courier on the Aurora delivering classified governmental data, stuff too important to trust to the post or the internet (or extranet, as it would be). She becomes the only survivor of its crash on 4546B. She feels guilty about falling in love with the planet she’s on and genuinely enjoying much of her time there (when she’s not pissing herself in fear) while knowing at home she has a boyfriend/husband who must be absolutely frantic with worry. She keeps a video diary of her survival there and documents the world as best as she can, tries to find other survivors, and wonders if she’ll ever make it out alive and see Lettow and her parents again -- and if she’ll ever be able to come back if she does.

Meanwhile Lettow is losing his shit, alternating between thinking she’s dead and hoping she’s alive. His subplot is him getting in touch with the loved ones of other survivors and harassing Alterra into mounting a rescue; his hopes are shot down, quite literally, with the discovery of the orbital canon and the fate of the Sunbeam. Alterra is refusing to destroy the orbital canon because uhh we don’t want war with ALIENS??? WE’VE GOT NO DIPLOMATIC TIES WITH ANY ALIENS??? DESTROYING IT MIGHT GET US ALL KILLED???,

but they have a satellite in orbit, out of range of the canon, and it’s looking for evidence of survivors. And it’s been picking up activity -- somebody they can’t identify swimming around near a life pod, or moving on one of the islands, or moving around the Aurora. It’s only when she one day takes a nap on the beach near the orbital canon, her face up to the sky, that they’re able to identify the first survivor -- Elisa Mulgrew, government worker.

That picture of her sleeping face and wet hair makes headlines across multiple systems.

So Lettow finds out she’s alive -- but there’s nothing he can do to bring her home. Nothing. And he doesn’t know how long she’ll live for, or how long Alterra will keep up the expense of the satellite. Because over time it’s becoming clear that Alterra is sinking millions into these efforts and there’s no evidence of any other survivors. There’s only camera recordings of one vehicle moving at a time, one person moving at a time, and the only person they’ve ever managed to record always has the same reddish-brown hair as Elisa. Alterra are trying to stop the search because they see it as essentially wasting millions on one person, who’s “only” a courier, who they can’t even save.

The only reason they’ve been humouring people this long is because of the amount of anti-Alterra political sentiment being whipped up in the wake of the disaster and Alterra’s handling of it, and how many people even within Alterra are upset about the whole thing, and how many people are behind the families of the people who were on the Aurora. And with less and less evidence that anyone other than Elisa survived, even they are starting to lose interest.

Yeah Lettow really copes badly in this AU. “Barely gets out of bed each day” badly.

(When Elisa eventually gets home she leaks the “the usual” audio, which starts a whole new wave of people being mad at Alterra and the guy on it almost certainly getting fired so hard nobody will ever employ him again. Elisa actually feels kind of bad for him.)

[spidercakes]

Playmate

I was gunna do this as a oneshot but I decided to go multipart instead (3 or 4 parts). So, this is an ABO AU in which Peter and Tony are both omegas and Tony is teaching Peter the art of seduction, essentially. Basically the is the result of me discovering playmating (omegas teaching other omegas how to please their partners by using each other) and going huh, now there’s an idea.

Warnings: ABO, age difference (Peter is 17, Tony is in his late twenties).

*

Peter sits in front of the mirror nervously moving his hair around and he doesn’t even know why. Its not like this matters, this is a class that he needs to take before he’s eligible for alphas and he’s there to learn, not impress. But he still has an itching feeling to look good, pretty even if its not for an alpha. He thinks the pink around the mirror is supposed to be disarming but its so not and he takes a deep breath because if he doesn’t leave now he’ll be late and he doesn’t think that’s a good start so he picks himself up and turns around before he can fuss more about his hair.

He makes his way down the hallway and pauses at the door at the end of it. All he has to do is walk in but he’s so nervous, he’s never done any of this before and he doesn’t like doing things wrong. He bites his lip, half tempted to run but the door opens and Peter lets out a surprised squeak. Its not just that the door opened its also that the guy behind it is really, really attractive. He knows that omegas aren’t supposed to find each other attractive, they don’t really go together biologically, but he’s never really had a problem finding anyone attractive.

The guy behind the door, his mentor he supposes, smiles at him. “Debating on running away?” he asks, eyebrow raised.

“Or throwing up,” Peter says, then winces. Wow, his first words in the arts of seduction were ‘or throwing up.’ He’s sure an alpha will find that super sexy.

“Hey, relax, kid. Come in, and don’t be nervous. And yeah I know, you’ve never done any of this before, you don’t want to mess up, what if you never get good at any of this- I’ve heard it all and seen it all. You’ll do fine,” he says. “I’m Tony, by the way. You must be Peter.”

He nods, stepping into the room and looking around. Its nicer than he thought it’d be, less clinical. He likes the lights behind the curtains backing the bed, it makes the room look softer somehow. “I don’t know about that,” Peter says, arms around his middle.

Tony smiles softly, “the good news is that no one really does well in any kind of sexual relationship at first no matter how experienced they are. You need time to figure your partner out, everyone’s tastes are different.”

“Then like... what’s the point of this class?” he asks, squinting.

Tony laughs, “there are things that are relatively true for most people, that’s what I’m supposed to teach. But I’ll teach you other things too, like how to tell when your partner likes something they maybe didn’t mention, how to approach the subject delicately. Alphas are precious little flowers, you don’t want them to feel threatened if you’ve noticed they enjoy something that maybe they think makes them less of an alpha. Seriously, they do not react well to that and you don’t want to deal with a month and a half of whining until they’ve settled down again,” he says.

“That seems... complicated,” Peter says.

“Nah, its easy once your figure it out and lucky you you have someone to teach you. Now, what experience do you have?” Tony asks as he shuts the door and walks over to the bed, perching on it as he tucks his legs under himself.

Peter shrugs, “um, I’ve kissed a couple people,” he says, trying his best to control the blush on his cheeks but he doesn’t think he does well.

“Don’t bother to hide it, alphas go nuts for a good blush. Let it work for you,” Tony tells him, smiling a little when he looks surprised. “This is my job, Peter, I know how to read people really well. So relax, you’re gunna do fine.”

He does let himself relax a little, looking around again. This is... intimidating still but it helps, Tony being so open. “So what are we learning today?” he asks, figuring maybe he should get to like... the curriculum or whatever it is he’s supposed to call this.

“Scenting,” Tony tells him and Peter frowns. “That’s it for today. Probably for the whole week, depending on how you feel,” he adds.

“How can that take up a whole week?” he asks. Seems easy, he’s seen movies he knows how it works. And, not that he’d ever admit this to anyone except maybe Ned and probably not even then, but he’s seen porn too.

Tony looks amused, “Peter, there’s more to scenting than shoving your face in an alpha’s neck. Not that they mind that either, and that’s probably what you’re going to get, but you need to be better than that. So yes, you get a week of scenting. Plus its an easy icebreaker to the rest of the uh... curriculum.”

*

He’s used to nervous young omegas and they’re preferable to his other option, hence being here, but poor Peter is more of a nervous wreck than the usual. He can hazard a few guesses as to why but that’s less important than getting him past that. His life is a whole lot easier if Peter isn’t nervous, and he’ll feel more comfortable learning what Tony is trying to teach if he’s comfortable.

“So what is it that kids are watching these days?” he asks, sitting back against the pillows on the bed.

Peter is sitting across from him, legs tucked under himself and that’s an improvement but he needs Peter more relaxed than that. “You’re not even that much older than me,” Peter says like ten years isn’t basically fifty given their ages.

“Come on, give me something here. I know you guys sneak out to see movies you’re not supposed to, we all do it. Well, I can come and go as I please now but I did, back when I was in school,” he says.

Its a weird thing to break the ice but Peter’s eyes light up and he leans forward with interest, “you guys did that too?” he asks, surprised.

He snorts, “all the time. A friend of mine and I decided to go to a midnight screening of The Exorcist and I had nightmares for weeks,” he says, shaking his head.

“I had nightmares about Alien!” Peter says excitedly. “I mean, it was a good movie but I was not prepared.”

Tony knows the feeling though he never grew out of his dislike for horror. He supposes Peter at least got fond of sci fi. “Yeah, there’s always that one movie that leaves someone scarred for life. I think technically it was supposed to be Paranormal Activity for my age group but being here hinders things so nope, the damn Exorcist.”

“I think our is It. Saw the first half of the first part and decided I didn’t like clowns,” Peter says.

Tony snickers and smacks his knee, “that’s hilarious. My ex loved Stephen King, tried pretty hard to convince me to go watch It with him too but sadly for him I’m stubborn and absolutely refused.”

Peter frowns a little, probably wondering if he accidentally walked into a landmine and he hasn’t. His relationship history is pretty much a pile of garbage but he’s long ago accepted that. “Oh, um...” Peter winces, looking away and confirming Tony’s theory.

“Relax, its a non issue. Bruce was great but things weren’t really meant to be. And he’s not dead, stop looking at me like that, poor bastard just had one hell of a mental breakdown.” Peter gives him a sympathetic look and yeah, Tony figures he’s earned that.

“So I guess that’s how you ended up here?”

He nods, “something like that. Though I’ve been married three times, two out of three of them fucking sucked. Ty was, to put it politely, an abusive piece of shit and Steve was fine at first but we had... different ideas of who the other was and that led to a messy divorce. Then Bruce.” That last one would have worked out too, he’d never been intimidated by Tony’s intelligence and Bruce wasn’t exactly lacking in intelligence himself. He’d been soft and caring, comfortable. It wasn’t the sparks and passion he’d wanted in his youth but he quickly learned that was a stupid thing to want in a long term relationship.

“Wow that’s...”

“A lot?” Tony asks, eyebrow raised. Peter nods and Tony shrugs, “its a weird constant in my life, Bruce was a nice reprieve from that. Good news is that he’s not cracked up anymore so good for him.”

“Why not go back to him? You seem like you care about him still,” Peter says.

He shakes his head, “needs to be mentally competent to have an omega and he’s cleared to take care of himself, not me.” Like alphas or betas take care of omegas anyway and Peter seems to notice the weird discrepancy too because he looks confused.

“Literally all we do here is to take care of alphas, why would he need to be competent enough to take care of you when you’re the one taking care of him?”

Yeah, would be a good question if Bruce wasn’t a beta. “That’s a fun little beta only rule, alphas are assumed mentally competent at all times regardless of whether or not they are. Society’s way of doing everything it can to force omegas and alphas together, I guess.”

Peter looks surprised by that too, Bruce being a beta. “What’s that like? I mean, can’t be the same as it was with an alpha,” he says.

Most his age think so and they don’t have enough contact with people of other orientations to know better. Tony shakes his head though, “they aren’t the same, no, but I’d prefer betas over alphas. They listen better, and they’re less temperamental. Surprisingly omegas are the best- we know how to deal with emotions and know how to read body language, makes things a fuck of a lot easier when you’re dealing with someone who feels comfortable with emotions that aren’t angry or sexually aggressive like alphas. I will give alphas credit where its due though, knots are pretty great. You can get a dildo for that though and its a hell of a lot less hassle.”

He’d wonder if he was too blunt, maybe, if Peter didn’t look so interested. “Did you do that with Bruce? Not to be like prying or-”

He cuts Peter off because that’s good, he needs to be comfortable with sexual topics here all things considered. “No, its fine. Its a good way to learn, asking me questions. I didn’t, though. Knots are great, but if they’re the only thing that’s good about an interaction then they’re really not worth the time- Ty. Not to call anyone out specifically,” he says.

It works because Peter laughs. “But like... nothing with Bruce?” he asks and they both know what he means.

He shakes his head, “nope. Bruce was an attentive lover, he paid attention to what I liked, asked when he was unsure. That’s really all you need.”

“Okay but like, what about scenting? That can’t be the same,” Peter says. “Or like, its gotta be better with alphas.”

“Nope, alpha’s best kept secret is that its pretty much the same with everyone. Well, kind of. If alphas know how to do it right its great, but if they don’t eh. Betas are open to learning without you having to couch it in the nicest terms you can possibly come up with and then making it seem like you’re not directing them on how to scent better- we’ll get to it. And omegas learn how to do it right and to pay attention to what their partners like so they kind of end up the best at it in the end, but that’s because they get taught. Betas would be the beset otherwise.” 

Bruce was always hesitant, unsure if he could measure up to Tony’s past lovers because of the beta thing but it really wasn’t an issue. He wasn’t much good at scenting at first, betas apparently don’t much do it with each other for whatever reason, but Tony directed him on how to do it better and he ended up the best at it out of everyone he’s been with. Its not a long list really, but it is longer than most omegas. And it had been somewhat intimidating to Bruce though he was always thoughtful about it, never made it seem like Tony’s fault he felt that way and that really was the best thing about Bruce.

Peter looks skeptical but they all do at first. “No way, that’s so not what we get taught!” he says, almost offended about it.

“Want a demonstration?” he asks, using the natural opening to get to their lesson of the week.

Peter isn’t stupid, he knows he’s been led here specifically though he did most of the leading himself. “Okay,” he says, nose in the air a little.

He nods, shifting away from the pillows he was leaning against, “come over here and sit,” Tony tells him. Peter considers it for a half a second before he crawls over and perches in Tony’s previous spot. “Good news, technically speaking that’s a form of scenting, sitting in areas an alpha does often. Rubs your scent off in their spaces and they actually are superior in that area, smell. Nosey little bastards can smell just about everything and they like that kind of thing, you smelling like them. Wear their sweaters or clothing too, I used to do it when I slept because that was the easiest. Some people don’t get a job like I did though so they find it easier to throw something on during the day while they do whatever around the house.”

Peter wrinkles his nose, “that so doesn’t count as scenting!” he says, near scandalized.

Tony laughs, “trust me, to an alpha it is. You won’t notice anything, Bruce never seemed to notice and mostly got annoyed that I stole all his sleep pants, but an alpha will notice and they will react positively to it. Sometimes its a good way to stave off a fight too, smelling more like them than not. Its a good tip, keep it in mind,” Tony tells him.

He at least gets a nod out of Peter while he curls his legs under himself. “Okay, smell like an alpha and they like it, got it,” he says. “Now lets get to the real stuff because I’m pretty sure you’re lying but I can’t figure out why.”

This is his favorite part of these things, debunking pretty much everything they’ve all been taught thus far. He thinks they’re better for it, not thinking they need to rely on alphas for any kind of sexual pleasure or really anything at all. “Okay, lie back,” he tells Peter, “legs out and spread a little, I’m going to sit between them, okay?”

Peter nods and stretches himself out, legs spread a little. “Good. Now you’re not going to want to go straight in, tease them a little alright. Like this,” Tony tells him, crawling in close and settling a hand on their thigh, “doesn’t work for everyone, but its usually a good place to start. Its intimate and sexy, see,” he says, sliding a hand up Peter’s thigh. He doesn’t want to react, Tony can see it, but he does. Being so young helps, especially when he’s probably never been touched like this before. Some will experiment with others, most don’t. They get taught not to out of some stupid assumption of purity or whatever. Not that it usually matters by the time they make it here- they’re supposed to learn how to seduce alphas and its hard to know how to fuck someone without you know, actually fucking someone.

“Let yourself feel it, Peter. You need to know how this feels so you can gauge how your partner is reacting, okay?” He nods and Tony smiles, “good. Now scenting isn’t too difficult, but there’s an art of seduction to it that makes it better. Like this,” Tony tells him as he leans in close, hand on Peter’s hip. HIs eyes are wide as Tony settles his other hand beside Peter. “Closeness is beneficial to you, the intimacy of it. Let yourself lean in close, maybe brush your nose against theirs like this,” Tony tells him as he presses in closer and brushes his nose along Peter’s. “its soft, sweet. Keeps up with the typical image of omegas, plus it can be cute and playful. Depends on the mood of the situation.”

Peter smiles and reaches out, settling a hand on Tony’s hip for a moment before he seems to think better of it and pulls back. Tony grabs his wrist, “no, that’s good. Let yourself explore, figure out how to touch someone. I’ll guide you later, but for now just let yourself go. We’ll fine tune things when we get there.” Peter nods, hesitantly settling his hand back on Tony’s hip and he bites his lip. “Keep that, that’s cute. Alphas love a shy omega, not sure what about it gets them going but they pretty much all love it.” He hasn’t met one yet that doesn’t though he’s sure they exist, however rare they may be.

“Okay,” Peter says, voice a little shaky.

“Good. Now do this,” Tony murmurs as he leans into Peter’s space, face right by his jaw. “Don’t go for it right away, tease them a little. Let your breath ghost over their jaw, make them want it, okay?” Peter nods, fingers curling into his shirt and Tony smiles. Nice to know he has an effect. “You feel it?” he asks even though they both know the answer. Peter lets out a soft ‘mhm.’ “Good, because this is what you want to make them feel, okay? Then you go in nice and soft, like this,” he murmurs, nosing lightly at Peter’s neck. He lets out a small, strangled noise, second hand moving to Tony’s hip.

“Keep it soft for a moment, shy. They like that, like your hesitant at first. Let yourself explore a little. You’ll feel if they get listless, and sometimes they straight up tell you they want more. Listen to their body language, like you right now with your hands on my hips, fingers flexing. You want more,” Tony says.

“Yeah, this is nice,” Peter tells him and Tony smiles.

“Yeah it is,” he murmurs. “Now, when they want more, or when you think you’ve teased them enough- some of them prefer more of it than others, scent them proper. Like this,” he tells Peter, pressing his face into his neck and mouthing at it softly, nosing at it as Peter naturally tilts his head back and to the side. “Good presentation,” Tony murmurs, “they like that too.” Peter isn’t paying attention by now, his hands are tight on his shirt and his legs have drawn up close to Tony’s hips. He lets out a small mewl as Tony kisses his way down Peter’s neck, letting him feel it.

“How’s that?” he murmurs into Peter’s ear as he pulls away.

“Oh,” Peter murmurs. “I... does it feel like that for you?” he asks. Tony laughs a little but nods.

“You wanna try?” he asks. Peter bites his lip and looks away and Tony settles a hand on one of Peter’s at his hip. “You won’t be as good as me on your first try, I’ve had a lot of practice because I’ve been through this training, and I’ve been married several times, plus I started teaching this stuff. Comparing yourself to me is unfair. Its my job to make sure you end up as good as me so don’t worry about it if you’re not perfect right away. We can work on that. Come here,” he says, shifting out of Peter’s space and sitting beside him. “Try it.”

Peter looks at him nervously, giving him a quick once over. “Um. Okay,” he says. Terrible approach but he’s not going to tell Peter that at the moment, they can work on that later. For now he should get the basics in so Tony opens his arms for Peter to crawl in. He does, straddling his lap, hands on his chest. “That’s cute, sitting like that. Look less like you have no idea what you’re doing when you do it though, more shy, coy maybe. There you go, that looks nicer. Now lean into me, like that yeah,” he says as Peter leans forward tentatively, forehead almost touching his. “That’s good, yeah. forehead touches are cute assuming no one is sweaty.”

He gets a soft giggle out of Peter. “Okay,” he murmurs softly and he leans in, planting a small kiss on Tony’s mouth.

Tony wraps his arms around Peter, one hand settling on his waist and he runs the other up through his hair, guiding his head a little. “Easy way to teach alphas where to go without bruising their egos. They like it when you take a little control, but not too much. Make it seem like you’re enjoying yourself while you direct them, then they don’t suspect anything,” Tony says as he guides Peter’s head the right way. He noses at Tony’s jaw and its pleasant, misguided a little but still good. “That’s it, have a little more confidence. Nice and slow,” Tony murmurs as Peter’s breath softly hits his neck.

“Is this okay?” he asks.

“Its a good start,” Tony murmurs, you’ve got a lot of natural talent we can work into something better. Arch your back a little, yeah, like that. Alphas like that too, but when you’re doing this its for them only. Its nice to scent someone, but its being scented that feels nice. But let them think you get something out of it too,” Tony murmurs. “Now go for it for me, show me how you scent,” he tells Peter, petting his hand through Peter’s hair.

He lets out a soft noise of pleasure as he leans in, nosing gently at Tony’s neck and its because he’s nervous, unsure, but it works. Tony feels the small jolts of pleasure and he makes a small noise, tilting his head a bit. Part of it is for show, part of it is real but a slightly exaggerated response is a better teaching tool. Peter takes his cue and kisses him softly, teeth grazing at his neck and Tony’s fist closes tight in his hair as his back arches involuntarily. “Oh, um I was going toh-” he says, words cutting off as Peter’s teeth graze his neck again.

“Oh wow, I can um... I can smell that you liked that,” he says as Tony pants underneath him.

“Yeah, I um... most omegas do, actually. I was going to get to that tomorrow but you seemed to have found a way to jump ahead. Some areas are more sensitive than others and you happened to hit my sensitive spot. Also good use of your nose, that’ll be a helpful guide. Alphas smell different but you’ll know what arousal smells li-ah, Peter!” he says, attempting an admonishing tone but he does’t quite make it past his reaction to Peter’s teeth at his neck again.

“You talk too much,” Peter says, giggling as he leans back up. “And I like the way you react.”

He snorts, “yeah, you and most everyone else I’ve been with. So you get it now, scenting? How it feels to be on the other end of it, how to do it? Well, the basics on how to do it. We’ll fine tune for the rest of the week until you’re an expert,” he says.

Peter sits back in his lap and nods, “yeah, I get it. Honestly, I thought you were lying about it feeling nice when omegas do it too, but I guess its good that it feels nice regardless. How the hell would I figure this out if it didn’t?”

Yeah, there’s a question but Tony leaves it alone at the moment. “Exactly. Now, I’m sure you have a text book or two that mentions scenting, read about it. Come to me with any questions you have, okay? I’ll have answers for most of them and I can find out what I don’t know.” Peter nods, looking more confident than he did ten minutes ago so that’s good, he can work with that.

[mithranqueersmusings]

Baby, You’re A Rich Man XX

Chapter: 20/28

Rating: E (Smut Warning)

Summary: Ringo could never understand why that group of three boys made him feel so uncomfortable, or why the way George looked at him sent him into a panic. After a chance encounter Ringo discovers the truth and has no clue what to do with the information.

Tags: AU - Gangsters, Slow Burn, Smut, Eventual Romance, Violence, Angst

Pairings: George Harrison/Ringo Starr, John Lennon/Paul McCartney

AO3 link here / Fic masterlist here

It wasn't long before the four of them were being ushered out of the club with the rest of the drunkards. They were all laughing as they came back out onto the street, they walked down to the corner and stopped to look around. Nobody really wanted to go home just yet, but it was almost 4 in the morning and there wasn't anywhere else to go.

"What now?" Ringo asked, he was leaning against George for support.

"Bed for you, I think." George chuckled, his arm was wrapped around Ringo's waist.

"Noooo." John slurred out "We can't go home yet, the night's just begun!"

"The morning's just begun, more like." Paul snickered, he was smoking a cigarette.

"Come on, this is meant to be Ringo's celebration! If he doesn't wanna go home, then we're not going home." John protested, but it was difficult to take him seriously when he could hardly keep his eyes open.

"No, no, I don't wanna keep you guys out if you don't want to." Ringo said quickly, looking at George for reassurance.

"I'd love to keep going but I'm pretty knackered, and everywhere's closed." George smiled sweetly.

John chuckled then and managed to stand up straight by holding onto a nearby wall. He dove into his jacket pocket and pulled out a little bag of white powder.

"I've got something to perk us all up." John wiggled his eyebrows as he waved the bag in front of them.

Ringo gulped, he'd never done hard drugs before. Sure he'd smoked his fair share of grass, but so had everybody. Cocaine on the other hand was far removed from Ringo's world, it wasn't even a possibility that he'd come across it in his daily life and even if he bumped into someone who did they weren't keen on sharing. It was expensive, so Ringo figured that's why the rich were the only ones ever doing it. George seemed to sense his hesitation and rubbed his side soothingly.

"I dunno." George said "Ringo's never done it before, I don't wanna corrupt him."

"I think it's too late for that." Paul chuckled, but he didn't look too sure himself.

"It's no big deal, it's not that different to just having a drink." John rummaged around in his pocket for his front door key which he took out and held victoriously.

"What's it like?" Ringo asked in a small voice.

"Like 1000 cups of coffee all at once." John said grandly "But also nothing like that."

"Great, very helpful." Ringo laughed.

"It'll hurt your nose. Unless you wanna gum it, but it tastes foul." Paul explained.

John opened up the bag then and piled what Ringo thought was an excessive amount of coke onto his key, he then raised it up to his nose and held one of his nostrils down while he inhaled sharply. John's eyes fluttered shut and he let out a heavy breath, when he opened his eyes again he had a huge grin on his face. He moved to take another bump but Paul interrupted him.

"Hey, now! If you don't start passing that around it'll all be gone." Paul said with a huff as he took the bag and key from John.

Paul then took some for himself before passing it along to George who took even more than John had done, at least by Ringo's reckoning. Ringo couldn't help fixating on George's face and hands and had almost forgotten that it was his turn next and the nervousness began to pick up as George offered it to him with a soft expression.

"You don't have to if you don't want to." George said with a smile, Ringo could notice his pupils dilating.

"Can you- Er, do it for me?" Ringo asked sheepishly.

George obliged and scraped what Ringo thought was a pitiful amount onto the key before holding it up to his nose for him. Ringo repeated what he'd seen the other three doing and felt his eyes fluttering shut. It didn't hurt nearly as much as he'd expected it to but it certainly wasn't a pleasant sensation. When he opened his eyes again he saw George looked at him with a smug expression, his sharp teeth exposed.

"Good?" George asked as he passed it back to John.

Ringo didn't really feel anything just yet, but he had a feeling in his stomach that it would all change quite soon "Good." He simply said in response, he could feel his heart beginning to speed up.

Paul had to wrestle the drugs from John once again and insisted that they kept up a rotation as they worked through the entire bag. Ringo no longer asked George for assistance but still made sure he wasn't taking as much as the rest of them, despite what his brain was telling him to do. As it was passed between them Ringo wasn't really noticing the effect it was having on him, he just knew that he couldn't wait for it to be his turn again, and by the time it had all ran out he was hit with the heavy realisation of it. John's description had been spot on because while it was somewhat like an extremely intensified caffeine hit, there was an entirely new element present which Ringo could only describe as feeling amazing. His heart was racing and he felt the intense need to move, to touch, to speak. His muscles were twitching and he kept breathing heavily, running his tongue across his teeth. John mindlessly tossed the empty bag onto the street after mercilessly emptying it and cleaned off the key in his mouth without much thought. They all looked rather crazed and Ringo couldn't help but laughing as they began hurrying down the streets with no real goal in mind.

"There's gotta be somewhere open." John said, Ringo felt like they were all talking ridiculously fast.

"Well there's always somewhere, just not somewhere I really wanna be." Paul chuckled, he looked the most composed of the four of them.

"We could just go back to mine." George couldn't wipe the wolfish grin off his face. "I've got some records we could play."

"I definitely feel like I need to dance." Ringo chuckled.

"To George's we go!" John announced, leading the way immediately.

And so they headed back to the flat, even though there was no urgency they found themselves running down the empty streets as if walking simply wasn't an option. John had got Paul on his back at one point, Ringo wasn't sure when, and as much as Paul protested the whole thing he couldn't stop laughing. Ringo and George held hands as they ran, Ringo felt at times that his heart might explode. At some point John decided it was a grand idea to try and smash a shop window which they all found hilarious, especially when John was rabidly trying to find something to throw at the glass. Somehow they managed to get back to their building in one piece without committing any further crimes; George had suggested they take the stairs instead because it would be 'fun' but even Ringo couldn't be convinced that climbing that many stairs was a particularly good idea. They rushed into the lift and Ringo felt like he was vibrating.

"Please tell me you've got some stuff at your place, George." John said quickly.

"Think I do somewhere, unless you've knicked it." George responded, he kept running his hands up and down Ringo's back.

"I can't make any promises." John laughed as the lift finally came to a halt.

George desperately rummaged for his key and almost dropped it in his hurry. John rushed past George and began turning the place upside down in the search for more drugs, Ringo found himself getting a little concerned but couldn't deny the itch he had for a little more. George kicked the door shut behind him and dragged Ringo over to the sofa where he immediately locked their lips in an intense kiss. Kissing George always felt good, but this, this was something else. John reemerged victoriously from George's bedroom waving around another bag of white powder and knelt down beside George's glass table. Ringo pulled away from George for a moment to watch John and almost jumped from his seat when he saw John pull out a knife from his jacket.

"No!" Paul shouted "Use a fucking coaster or something, you maniac!"

John rolled his eyes "But Paulie, this looks so much cooler."

George wasn't paying the ordeal any attention, he was busying himself with kissing down Ringo's neck. Ringo felt George's hand running up his leg and everything almost felt like too much, only almost. Paul smacked John on the back of the head with a coaster then passed it to him and John made quick work of dividing the coke into thin lines.

"Who's got a note?" John asked, not looking up from the table.

Paul huffed and took out his wallet, retrieving a bank note that he handed to John which he began to roll up.

"Oi, there'll be plenty of time to suck Ringo's face off after we do this." John said bluntly as George reluctantly pulled his hand away from Ringo's crotch.

Ringo felt like his skin was burning after his contact with George and he began to wonder whether taking more was really a good idea. He watched John hold the rolled up bank note to his nostril and snort up a rather thick line of coke which he'd divided onto the table.

"Fuck!" John shouted, his head shooting upwards as he passed the note onto Paul.

Paul got to his knees gently, John stood up and began pacing around the room twitching somewhat. George was still kissing Ringo eagerly, but pulled away quickly when Paul called his name to take his turn. Ringo was completely intimidated by the size of the line John had laid out for him, while he was partly grateful that he hadn't intentionally been given less. George snorted it up with no problem, that ever-same grin spreading across his face as he felt it working its way through his body. Ringo shyly came to kneel beside him, Paul had joined John's hunt for a record to put on. Once again George looked at him with kind eyes, even with his pupils so massive he managed to look kind.

"Don't do it all if you don't want to. I won't judge you." George smiled "Might even thank you."

Ringo chuckled nervously and took the note carefully in his shaking hand. He raised himself up on his knees slightly and bent over the final line on the table, he swallowed hard then snorted it up. He almost felt completely backwards as he tried to lower himself back onto his knees but George caught him easily, placing his hand around Ringo's waist again and kissing him deeply. Ringo felt ecstatic with George's hands roaming over his body and tongue pushing into his mouth, he almost didn't hear the sound of a record being played. Ringo pulled George up to his feet clumsily so that they could dance, he could see John and Paul already spinning each other around ridiculously. Ringo imagined that from an outside perspective the four of them would've looked a little insane but he didn't really care, he felt beyond brilliant. He wasn't really sure long they carried on dancing for but he certainly noticed when it finished as George let out a loud shout at the sight of Paul beginning to take John's trousers off.

"Come on now! Do that shit at your place." George didn't sound angry but his tone was commanding enough that it drew all their attention.

"What's the problem?" John asked with a sly grin, his hands placed on his hips triumphantly.

Paul looked completely innocent on his knees but his eyes were extremely dark "We best be heading to bed then." He said sweetly.

"Care to join us?" John purred as he helped Paul up to his feet, looking directly at Ringo.

"Think the coke's gone to your head, John." George laughed, placing a hand around Ringo's waist somewhat protectively.

"Don't think you've had enough." John's smile widened as he took a few steps closer to the two of them "Sharing is caring, after all."

"Oh come off it." George shoved John back playfully "Ringo's all mine tonight, I'm afraid."

"Only tonight?" John joked, winking at Ringo.

"Permanently." Ringo chuckled, resting his head on George's shoulder affectionately.

Paul just gripped John's hand swiftly "Come on, Johnny, don't keep me waiting."

"Can't say no to that now, can I?" John whispered to Paul, kissing him passionately before they started heading out the door.

"Goodnight you perverts!" George waved with a laugh as Paul merely nodded his head before they ducked out of the flat in a hurry.

Ringo laughed as the door shut, even with the record playing the flat seemed silent. He looked over at George who was meeting his gaze intensely, his eyes were so much darker now with his large pupils. Ringo opened his mouth to speak but George was already kissing him; the rush from the cocaine was in full swing now and Ringo felt like electricity was running through his veins. Immediately Ringo ran his hand down George's back to grab his arse, the other deeply rooting in his hair. They tumbled over to the sofa messily, George falling into Ringo's lap and deepening the kiss. George's tongue ran across Ringo's bottom lip, desperate for entry and claimed his mouth as soon as Ringo opened it to him. It was just wasn't enough, he needed more. Ringo had never felt this turned on in his entire life and he was praying the sensation would never end, every brush of skin or trace of lips was pure ecstasy. George pulled away with heavy breaths as he began stripping Ringo of his clothes.

"George." Ringo panted out.

"Yes, love?" George always looked irresistible, even when he was coming apart at the seams.

"I wanna try something different." Ringo explained as his jumper was lifted above his head, the cool air on his hot skin was very welcome.

"Different how?" George began running his fingers across Ringo's bare chest.

"This time... Can I fuck you?" There was a pause after Ringo spoke, George looked up from where he was focusing on Ringo's belt and that familiar grin grew across his lips.

"God yes." George breathed out, his tongue darting out of his mouth to wet his lips.

Their mouths crashed against one another again, Ringo taking control this time as he picked George up just as he had many times before and carried him to the bedroom. George was twitching with excitement, nibbling at Ringo's neck as he carried him with ease over to the bed. Ringo seemed to blink and already George was lying naked in front of him, maybe he should've suggested this sooner. The sight of him was purely sinful, he was so beautifully slim but not weak looking in any way. Ringo crawled onto the bed slowly, he knew he had to pace himself or all this would be over way too soon. Ringo leaned in gently to kiss George, both of them were still sweating and panting before they'd even began, and he tasted delicious. Ringo moved his mouth down George's body agonisingly slow which easily drew out moans from the younger man.

"Ringo..." George's voice was shaky, which was something entirely new to Ringo's ears but he couldn't deny how much he liked it.

"Mmm?" Ringo murmured as he continued kissing down his boyfriend's body.

"When you say you're gonna fuck me, I need you to really fuck me." George sounded more timid than usual.

"As opposed to?" Ringo spoke so that he'd breathe cold air onto George's aching erection which made him shudder.

"No, I just- Don't be afraid that you're going to hurt me or something."

Ringo took hold of George's cock then, it made him hiss to feel Ringo's cold rings against his hot flesh and it gave Ringo the same satisfaction it always did.

"You want me to hurt you, don't you?" Ringo asked, he began to move his hand slowly and George's head fell back onto the bed.

"Is that weird?"

"Makes me question your occupation a bit." Ringo chuckled, then ran his tongue slowly up George's length.

"It's not like that." George tried to sound composed, but it wasn't working.

"Tell me what it's like then." Ringo hummed as he took the head into his mouth.

"Fuck..." George breathed out "I just like it a little rough, you know that."

"You never really hurt me though." Ringo teased George with his mouth between sentences "But you want me to hurt you." When George didn't respond, Ringo grazed his teeth ever so slightly and it made George curse. "Don't you?"

"Fuck, yes I fucking do. Yes, fucking yes!" George was almost screaming "Please just fuck me..."

Ringo made a happy noise in this throat as he took George in his mouth a few more times, it was strange to think at how much he'd struggled to do this the first time. George was writhing beneath him and Ringo pinned his legs to the bed to stop him from squirming around; George let out a small gasp, maybe Ringo was enjoying this more than he thought he would. After teasing George for several more minutes, Ringo flipped George over so that he was lying on his stomach and George couldn't hold in the groan at the sudden reminder of Ringo's strength. George moaned again at the noise of Ringo unbuckling his belt, his arse was rising up desperate for contact. Ringo was questioning why they hadn't done this sooner, but part of him knew the drugs in the system were giving him the confidence to finally take control like this. He ran a hand over George's cheek slowly which only made the taller man move more restlessly, and he made the snap decision to bring his hand down hard onto the skin. George let out a yelp at the stinging feeling and for a second Ringo worried he'd been too rough, but the wanton moan that followed removed any concerns.

"You like that?" Ringo asked, he was even surprising himself with how he was acting.

"Yes..." George panted, he was gripping the sheets desperately.

Ringo repeated the action, slapping down hard onto his other cheek this time; he wondered whether this was the 'use' for his rings George had been referring to all that time ago. He then moved his fingers up George's back until he reached his face where he pressed two fingers against his thin lips. George accepted them gladly, he was writhing in frustration and was clearly desperate for anything to occupy him, running his tongue over and between them as if he'd kill for the taste. Ringo rubbed George's face with his thumb gently while he began to pump the fingers, using his other hands to rub over his arse teasingly. George whined when Ringo pulled his fingers back out which resulted in another hard slap. Ringo had never been this rough with a girl before, he'd always been so concerned about really hurting them that he never really did anything daring, but now with George it felt nothing but right. He knew George could handle it, that he wanted it, and as much as he loved George just having his way with him, Ringo could get used to switching up the dynamic every now and again. The sight of George whimpering and desperate was definitely something he could get used to.

Ringo ran his fingers around the rim of George's entrance, making him hiss, and he felt beyond intoxicated. This was a whole new experience in itself, he'd never fingered George before but he tried not to over-complicate things in his mind and just give in to the pleasure of it all. He pushed his index finger in gently, this was definitely not the time to hurt George, and was surprised by how natural the whole thing felt as the muscles contracted around him. Ringo's mind couldn't help returning to their old conversations: how John and Paul had been amazed that George wasn't on the receiving end of things, and Ringo imagined all the times George had been in this position before. George's hair was sticking to his forehead in dark strands and his eyes were the darkest Ringo had ever seen them, his muscles straining in pleasure and Ringo prayed he'd never forget the sight.

He managed to get his first finger in without much resistance and he couldn't deny he was desperate to just sink his cock deep inside George. It was difficult to tell what feelings were sexual pleasure and what was the drugs, but it was all melting together beautifully. Ringo pushed in a second finger beside the first and couldn't stop himself from increasing his pace to punishingly brutal, but George was far from complaining. Every time George would beg for more, desperate to feel Ringo's cock inside him, Ringo would slap him harder each time. While it was fun to tease him, Ringo could only take so much himself and eventually removed his fingers. Even without being touched Ringo was painfully hard, which he gladly proved to George by rubbing his erection between his two cheeks. Ringo teasingly ran the head of his cock across George's entrance several times without pushing himself inside. He decided to turn George over again onto his back, he wanted to watch his face while he fucked him. George flashed him a grin which said more than words ever could.

"Ready?" Ringo asked as he aligned himself.

"Yes, fuck..." George's mouth didn't seem connected to his mind at all.

Ringo braced himself on George's shoulder as he gradually forced his cock inside, nothing could've prepared him for how good it felt. They were both cursing before Ringo even bottomed out, Ringo found himself resting his forehead against George's when he was finally all the way in. This was nothing like fucking a girl, Ringo couldn't help thinking. If George felt this good when he fucked Ringo, he wasn't surprised he was so eager to do it.

"So fucking tight." Ringo breathed as he regained enough consciousness to begin pulling back out.

"You're just big, my love." George smiled, his hand was on Ringo's neck.

"Is that so?" Ringo grinned, but he couldn't keep his composure for long as he slowly thrust back inside George.

"Shit... You know you are." George was having trouble keeping his eyes open.

"Just like hearing you say it." Ringo kissed George's forehead then, in any other circumstance it would've seemed sweet.

Ringo picked up his pace now, this was something he was familiar with, he liked to think he was good at it. Granted he'd never fucked a girl this tight before, or had such strong feelings for someone he was sleeping with, but that only made the experience all the better. They were both very quickly becoming a mess of sweat and moans, George pulled Ringo down on top of him so that their glistening skin rubbed together as Ringo began ruthlessly fucking him. Ringo could sense that his rhythm was sloppy but he couldn't help it, his mind was swimming in pure ecstasy. He wasn't sure how long he was going to last, but George's endless moans and pleas weren't helping him in any way.

"Harder... Please." George panted "Fuck me harder."

Ringo found it impossible to deny George when he looked and sounded so utterly delicious. He lifted himself back up and realigned himself, lifting George's legs and wrapping them around his waist who gladly pulled their bodies closer together. Ringo placed his hand just beside George's head for support as he thrust in again, bottoming out in one harsh thrust and George felt like crying. He picked up the unforgiving pace once again and Ringo could barely keep his eyes open but he tried his best to meet George's gaze, who was looking at him with such a beautiful blend of lust and love.

"Ringo..." George struggled to get his words out.

"Yes?"

"Can you..." His voice trailed off into a moan "I want you to choke me."

"Choke you?" Ringo didn't mean to sound as concerned as he did, but he'd never been asked this before.

"Please..." George pleaded, he tightened himself around Ringo in an attempt to convince him "I want it, I promise."

"I dunno... I don't know how to do it." Ringo had slowed his pace subconsciously.

George just flashed him a grin and caught Ringo at the wrist, who reluctantly allowed his hand to be moved so that it gripped around George's neck. Ringo had a nervous look in his eye but George looked completely crazed, he really wanted this.

"Just press down, at the top. Not too hard." George breathed out "I'll tell you if it hurts, don't worry."

"You're sure?" Ringo couldn't deny he somewhat enjoyed the feeling of George's slim neck beneath his hand like this.

"I'm sure." George gave him one of his sweeter smiles then and strengthened his legs around Ringo as a signal to carry on.

Ringo nodded and tentatively picked up the pace again, it wasn't long before he was losing himself in the pleasure once more. George placed on his hands on Ringo's forearm, they shared a look of understanding that George would use this hand to signal when to stop; George tightened his grip to signal that Ringo should do the same. Ringo pressed down with his thumb and first two fingers as he quickened his pace once more and George took in a strangled breath, his eyes fluttering shut. This was never something Ringo expected to find himself doing, but George had a way of surprising him like that. As Ringo tightened his grip he felt George clenching around him, and he wondered whether it was intentional or not, but it felt good. George's hand was still wrapped around Ringo's arm but his grip was lighter, he was letting out struggling moans and his face was growing redder. It was a strangely glorious sight, and Ringo felt somewhat guilty for finding it so erotic but he figured there was a reason people did this - even if they wouldn't be quick to admit to it. After several minutes Ringo felt George suddenly tighten his hand's grip on his arm and he quickly moved his hand off of George's throat; he took in a dramatic breath in and his eyes shot open which were on fire with pleasure. George looked at him with a mixture of shock and joy and the moans that followed should've been criminal.

"Fuck." George said with a husky voice and Ringo knew it wouldn't be long before either of them were done.

"Was that okay?" Ringo asked, he didn't want to kill the atmosphere but the last thing he wanted was to take things too far.

George responded by pulling Ringo in for a heated kiss, it was messy with nothing but tongues and teeth and heavy breath. Ringo figured that had to be a good sign. He pulled back up again and gripped onto George's hip tightly as he fucked through what he figured was his final burst of energy.

"I'm close..." Ringo mumbled as he hazily looked at George.

"Me too." George panted "Touch me."

Ringo didn't need to be told twice; he used his other hand to snake around George's leaking cock. George gripped onto the sheets which were damp with their sweat, his other hand madly running over Ringo's skin anywhere he could possibly reach.

"You fuck me so fucking good, Ringo." George began to ramble "Love your cock. Love how you fuck me. Been waiting for you to fuck me."

Ringo couldn't respond coherently, he could only moan desperately as his rhythm began to falter even further as he felt his orgasm building. Nobody could make him this undone, not like George, all he needed to do was speak and Ringo melted into him.

"Just don't fucking stop, don't stop. Please don't stop." George's head had fallen backwards, his eyes rolling in his head "So close..."

"I'm gonna- Fuck!" Ringo cried out as he felt himself slipping away, the sound of his skin ruthlessly smacking against George's was deafening.

"Come inside me, please. Fuck I need to feel it. Make me cum while you fill me up, daddy." George was getting completely lost in it all, Ringo almost didn't catch the final word but the sound falling out of George's lip was the final push he needed.

Ringo rapidly jerked George's cock as he maintained a rough rhythm, and as he felt George desperately tightening around him as his orgasm overcame him it was impossible to stop himself from finishing. It was pure electricity. George screamed out in pleasure, scratching his hand down Ringo's back involuntarily as cum coated his flat stomach with the feeling of Ringo filling him up with his own cum. It was the longest orgasm he'd ever experienced, or at least it felt that way to Ringo, as he struggled to open his eyes again. As their breaths collectively slowed down and they both came back to reality, Ringo having collapsed on top of George, they could hear the distant sound of the record still playing in the living room. They both smiled to hear the music, letting out breathless laughs, as Ringo pulled out as gracefully as he could manage.

As they always did, George cuddled up to Ringo who wrapped his arms around him happily. Ringo pressed a kiss onto George's damp hair, taking in the earthy smell of sweat.

"I love you." Ringo murmured against his head, pressing another kiss there.

"I love you too." George pressed a similarly gentle kiss onto Ringo's sweaty neck.

"Finally broke out the 'daddy' then?" Ringo chuckled lowly.

"Shut up... I wasn't hearing any complaints." George sounded a little defensive.

"Far from it." Ringo pressed George closer to him "Should I go turn that record off?"

"If you want to, I always thought you were better at turning on though." George pressed another kiss against Ringo's skin.

"Let me recover from this first, alright?" Ringo laughed as he began to slowly pull away to get off the bed.

"No round two?" George asked with a pout.

"I didn't say that, did I?" Ringo winked as he headed towards the door.

"What did I do to deserve you?" George asked smiling, raising himself up on his elbows.

"You must've been a saint in your past life. But you're far from that now." Ringo said "Think I'll take a shower, care to join me?"

"Is that even a question?" George grinned, already getting up to his feet.

[ladylynse]

Part IV of Down the Rabbit Hole for the lovely @lumanae​, even though they’re currently drowning the Merlin fandom. *grins* Sometimes distractions are needed, right?

Wirt had heard a lot of stories about college, but somehow, he still wasn’t prepared for one of his roommate’s crazy friends to smuggle a hatchet into their dorm room.

(Previous) Also on FF and the AO3.

-|-

Wirt knew Danny wasn’t in the washroom, but he stepped inside and looked in every remotely feasible spot anyway, including the medicine cabinet that sat above the toilet which would be hard pressed to hold a small child.

He just…. He didn’t know what else to do. There wasn’t anywhere else to go. It’s not like Danny could have crawled out the tiny window, and he definitely hadn’t slipped past Wirt and out into the hallway. It was like he’d gotten sucked into the same black hole as most of Wirt’s socks, except obviously that didn’t exist, but—

Wirt pulled out his phone and started to type a message to Jazz, but how could he tell her he’d lost her brother? He certainly couldn’t explain it. He had no idea where Danny was. Or how he’d gotten there, wherever there was.

Wirt half-hoped Danny would text Jazz and Jazz would text him, but he never heard anything, and he couldn’t find the words to say anything about this to Jazz. He’d find Danny first. Then, if Danny hadn’t already told Jazz, he could pretend this had never happened.

He could get a proper explanation from Toby after he figured out what the heck had happened to Danny.

Wirt locked the room behind him and set off at a quick walk, looking around and weaving past anyone he saw without slowing. Danny couldn’t have gone that far. If he had somehow slipped past him—

Maybe this was a prank. Danny liked pranks. And Jazz had as good as warned him not to leave Danny by himself.

Except Danny was gone, disappearing as easily and completely as the ghosts he had apparently grown up surrounded by, and Wirt couldn’t see a sign of him anywhere.

He did, however, find Wendy.

Sitting cross-legged under a tree in the shade.

Apparently doing nothing except enjoying a cup of coffee.

Wirt slowed to a stop in front of her. “Hey,” he said, though he already had her attention since she was looking up at him with a smile. “Have you, um, seen Jazz’s brother anywhere?”

“Danny? Never met him.” Wendy rose to her feet in one smooth movement. Wirt rather envied her gracefulness; he certainly couldn’t do that, at least not in the shape he was in now. “Jazz has a psych exam today, though. You won’t see her till it’s over.”

“No, I…know that. She’s out now, anyway, but still busy.” Probably. Maybe Danny had texted Jazz to get her to text him, and she just hadn’t because she was catching up with some other friends of hers after the exam. She had to have other friends, right? They could have ambushed her right after she’d texted him and Danny. “What about Toby? Have you seen him?”

“Should I have?”

Wirt bit his lip. “I just saw him and Claire.”

“Claire’s visiting?”

So Wendy didn’t know either. Not that that meant much. Claire’s visit might’ve been unexpected. Or maybe Toby had told both of them and they’d been too busy to listen? He could believe that of himself more than so Wendy, who had a surprisingly good memory. At least compared to him, who was hard pressed to remember what he’d had for lunch the day before. Or what day of the week it was. Or what he’d been doing five seconds before, when things got really crazy.

Wirt just nodded. “Yeah. She came to help with costumes for Toby’s play. Do you know when it is?”

Wendy raised her eyebrows. “Since when was Toby in a play?”

“He’s in drama….” Wirt didn’t add isn’t he? but he was pretty sure Wendy knew it was there.

“Uh huh.” Wendy sounded like she didn’t believe it, but what other explanation was there? If it was cosplay, Wirt definitely wasn’t familiar with the source material, and he couldn’t think of what else it could be. No one went around in a getup like that just for the heck of it. And it’s not like Toby would think he needed to lie about making a cosplay for something. He already knew Wirt thought he was weird and didn’t judge him for it. He thought that was funny.

For that matter, so did Wendy and Jazz.

It was one of the reasons Wirt was so convinced they were involved in some giant conspiracy to troll him. Because they’d kill themselves laughing over it. They’d find it hilarious, and they knew he’d be laughing in the end, too. Assuming he got to the end of whatever this was.

And assuming he could find Danny.

Seriously, how he could have lost Danny?

Maybe he was in on all of this, too. Maybe—

“Earth to Wirt,” Wendy said, waving a hand in front of his face. “Did you hear me?”

“Um…no? Sorry.”

“I wanted to know if Toby’s talked to you yet.”

“About what?” It couldn’t be the play if Wendy hadn’t heard of it.

Wendy rolled her eyes. “Please tell me you’re just playing being clueless or you will die if we reach an apocalyptic situation.”

“Uh…pretend I was living under a rock and fill me in?”

“Yeah, that’s what I thought,” Wendy muttered. Louder, “Something’s up. You know that, right?”

Was she finally admitting that they were playing a massive prank on him? Good. It had taken long enough. Wirt nodded, and Wendy relaxed. “Great. Then you’ll understand why I’m absolutely certain that Toby’s not actually in drama?”

Or not.

“Uh….”

“Seriously, this isn’t a game. College might not kill you, but there’s stuff out there that will if you’re not careful.”

The hatchet in his dorm room could technically kill him, but Wirt was pretty sure Wendy would just dismiss that if he brought it up. Or nag him about his nonexistent self-defence skills, since he hadn’t signed up for a class despite her not-so-subtle suggestions.

Wirt glanced around, but no one was close enough to overhear their conversation. That was probably Wendy’s plan. He met her eyes again, seeing no trace of a smile behind them. “You’re my friend,” she said, “and I don’t want to lose you.”

She might lose him as a friend if she kept on like this. He could only be expected to put up with so much, right? If she really believed this, maybe she needed to talk to someone. Someone who could actually help her. Which wouldn’t be him. He had zero training in that area. He’d think Jazz would be ideal if she weren’t encouraging this. Whatever this was.

“Okay, look,” Wirt said, trying to get a handle on this situation again, “if you want to be serious for a moment, why don’t you just tell me why you’re so wrapped up in all of this? Why you think I’m wrapped up in all of this?”

Anger and hurt flashed across Wendy’s face before she schooled her expression again, and Wirt knew she felt that was uncalled for. “Because I’m not stupid,” she said, her tone carefully even, “and because this isn’t my first rodeo. And because whatever you want to pretend, that Unknown of yours isn’t just a story. You wouldn’t care about all of this so much if it were, and I don’t need Jazz to tell me that.”

“You’re back on that again?”

Wendy frowned. “Fine. Keep pretending. But you can’t ignore the truth forever, Wirt. You have to know that. And even if you think it’s just to humour me, it’d be nice if you played along and prepared yourself for the day you can’t.” She pulled a small notepad out of her pocket and held it out. “Dipper transcribed some relevant spells. At least take a look at them before you throw it out.”

Wirt knew better than to ask if she was kidding. He pocketed the notepad without looking at it, and Wendy turned away without saying goodbye. He felt like a fool, but what was he supposed to do with that? If she was delusional, telling her the Unknown was real wasn’t going to help matters.

And if she wasn’t delusional….

He didn’t want to think about what it would mean if she wasn’t delusional.

He didn’t want to think that there might be more out there than what he’d faced in the Unknown, that that experience hadn’t been a fluke, that finding out Jazz had grown up hunting ghosts wasn’t going to be the strangest thing he discovered about his friends.

He didn’t want to lose the control he’d have if it turned out the Unknown was only a tiny piece in everything that was unknown.

And now he felt horrible for what he’d done to Wendy.

Sighing, Wirt pulled out his phone and dialled Toby’s number. If he could at least find out more about this play while he looked for Danny, it would prove that the world wasn’t going crazy.

XXXXXX

Toby didn’t answer.

Wirt actually walked into the drama building, poking his head into any room that didn’t have an ongoing class, and found nothing. He even tried looking around education, in case the rehearsals were in that building instead, and he couldn’t find so much as a poster advertising a play—or at least not one that would require fanciful armour.

Danny, of course, never turned up anywhere.

Wirt circled back and checked the food court, thinking Danny had probably found it and bought himself a snack, but no matter how he scanned the shifting crowd of people, he couldn’t convince himself that Danny was there.

Why hadn’t Jazz given him Danny’s number? That would have made finding him so much easier. He should have asked for it, but it hadn’t occurred to him that they’d get separated when he’d been asked to spend time with Danny.

Maybe this was just one of Danny’s practical jokes. Jazz had said he was a joker. Wirt couldn’t really think of any other way to explain his vanishing act.

Although, considering where he had disappeared from, Wirt wasn’t sure even being some kind of magician-in-training would explain Danny’s disappearance. It’s not like he happened to be in the one dorm room that had a secret passage hidden somewhere in the bathroom. There was no trick to it. And he couldn’t imagine how Danny had gotten past him, even though he must have.

Wirt couldn’t remember which building Jazz’s psych class was in, so he couldn’t see if Danny had gone to meet her there. Not that that would help him much, since Danny and Jazz would probably be long gone if they had met up, but he was getting desperate, and Jazz hadn’t texted him to ask why he’d ditched Danny—or whatever story Danny might’ve told her about what happened. He did check his dorm room one more time—in the vain hope that Danny would be hiding in there, maybe sitting on his bed with a big grin on his face, waiting for Wirt to come back and realize Danny had never left—and then went to Jazz’s. He rang the buzzer.

“Yes?”

Wendy. “Um, it’s me.”

“Danny’s not here, Wirt. Neither is Jazz. Do you still want to come up?”

“Uh, no, thanks.” He wasn’t ready to face her yet. He figured he’d read whatever Dipper counted as spells before talking to her again. Granted, knowing Wendy, she’d just do a phenomenal job of pretending the conversation had never happened, and he’d feel like even more of a fool.

“Good luck with the search, then.”

Now he really felt like an idiot. Wirt headed back to campus, not even sure where he should look next.

He walked through the food court again, standing on his tiptoes in the hopes of spying Danny among the shifting crowd of students, and eventually gave up. He checked his watch again, his stomach churning as he realized he’d been running around for over an hour. He should just phone Jazz and tell her to phone Danny and find out where he was. He could swing by and pick him up and then meet her. And then be done with this.

Of course, that would mean admitting he’d managed to lose her brother in the first place.

Hopefully, she’d just chalk this up to Danny’s love of practical jokes.

After more dithering, Wirt finally made the call. Jazz picked up on the second ring. “Hello?”

“Jazz, um, I’m calling instead of texting because this is kinda an emergency? I might’ve, uh, lost your brother, and I don’t—”

She let out a sigh. “Don’t worry about it, Wirt. I’ll text him my location and he’ll find me. He has a bad habit of disappearing sometimes. And if he pulled this on you…. We should really talk. Meet me at the library.”

She hung up without waiting for an answer, not clarifying which library, but that was fine, because Wirt knew exactly which one she meant. And he didn’t plan to blow her off after what he’d done. Should he be flattered her brother felt it appropriate to pull a disappearing act on him? Did he only do it with family friends? She’d sounded exasperated enough that it really couldn’t be uncommon, but….

Jazz was at her favourite table in the library when Wirt arrived, the one off in one corner and half-hidden behind the shelves to the point that was hard to find if you didn’t know it was there. He slid into the chair opposite her, and she frowned at him as her eyes flicked over him. “Do you remember everything that happened? Can you tell me?”

That was…an odd first question. But this was Jazz, and she asked weird questions. And if Wirt tried to figure out why, he’d somehow wind up in a deeper hole than whichever one he was going to dig for himself anyway, so he decided to just go with it. “Yeah? We were in my dorm room. Surprised Toby and Claire— Did you know that she was in town? Or that he’s in a play?”

“My question first, please.”

Wirt blinked. “Um, right. Well, we surprised them, I guess. Toby must’ve cut class because Claire was in town to help him with costuming, and then they went to show everyone else in the group. And then Danny, uh, said he had to use the bathroom, except he didn’t come back out, and when I finally checked it, it was empty.”

Jazz rolled her eyes. “Of course it was,” she muttered. “Because that’s not at all suspicious.”

“Um.” She thought it was suspicious, too? What did that mean? “I, uh, never saw him leave, but that doesn’t mean he didn’t sneak by me. I mean. He must’ve. Because he wasn’t in there. And it’s not like he could go anywhere else from the bathroom.”

Jazz just nodded. “Well, I didn’t know Claire was in town, or that Toby was claiming to be in a play, but I suppose I should’ve guessed it earlier.”

“That he’s secretly a drama nut and didn’t want any of us to know?”

“No. That he might be the one I need to worry about more than you.”

Wirt raised his eyebrows. He knew Jazz was a worrywart, but that was ridiculous. “Are you kidding? He’s at least passing Wendy’s weird apocalypse classes with flying colours.”

“Which is what should’ve been my first clue.”

“Clue to what?”

“That he’s involved in something.” The answer came from behind Wirt, and he jumped. He caught a fleeting look of Jazz’s thoroughly unsurprised face as he twisted to look at Danny. How long had he been standing there? “Jazz, uh, we should talk. Not here.”

“It might have to be here, Danny. Wirt’s Toby’s roommate.”

“Uh….” Chances were Danny was right and he didn’t actually need to be here for whatever the impending conversation was going to be. Chances were—

“Yeah, but does he even believe in ghosts?”

—it would just make him feel like the only sane person in the entire world. Which he knew was an exaggeration. It just felt like an appropriate exaggeration.

“What does that have to do with anything?” Wirt burst out. Seriously, was Danny as crazy as Jazz? Okay, he probably was, but still. This obsession with ghosts was weird, even considering their parents studied it. And it’s not like Toby was involved with drugs or something bad. It was just a drama club or something like that. Wirt was planning on going to see the play, whenever it was, once he got the date and time and place out of Toby. To support his roommate.

He was really thinking he shouldn’t ask Jazz to join him. Maybe not even Wendy.

“Shh. Library, remember?” Jazz said as Danny sat down next to Wirt.

“I hate this,” Wirt muttered. He didn’t mean it, but was it too much to ask to have a couple of normal friends? He had a few acquaintances from various classes, but no one he hung out with beyond Toby and Wendy and now Jazz.

…Greg was right. He really needed to get out more. He got stuck in his own little world too often to make friends easily, and he didn’t want to think what it said about him if the only people you were friends with tended to be remotely like-minded. Becoming friends with Toby had been inevitable, and it was through his association with Toby that he’d wound up friends with Wendy and Jazz—almost without realizing it.

Except that Wendy really hadn’t given him a choice in the matter.

And he was pretty sure he still counted it as friendship now even if their first few interactions had seemed more like he’d been coerced into it.

“That’s a no, isn’t it?” Danny asked, looking between Wirt and Jazz. He rolled his eyes and turned back to his sister. “Why do you, of all people, think this is a good idea? You were pretty much skeptic of the year when we were growing up until I, uh, until Phantom started showing up regularly.”

Jazz just crossed her arms and stared at her brother.

Wirt didn’t know what that meant, but obviously Danny did. “C’mon, Jazz. He’s not overshadowed. I checked. I don’t think he’s…involved.”

Involved? In what? And what did Danny mean by overshadowed? How the heck did he check for that, whatever it was? When did he check for that?

“And Toby?”

Jazz should not be treating this like a normal conversation. It was not a normal conversation.

Danny shook his head. “Not a ghost thing. The hammer, the armour, whatever it is. That’s…something else.”

“I’ll have to check with Wendy and see if she knows anything about it,” Jazz murmured. Wirt decided against telling her that Wendy also said she hadn’t known anything about a play. Mostly because he didn’t want her to phone and invite Wendy to this conversation when it would mean explaining everything to Jazz about how he’d acted and she’d psychoanalyze him or something. As if this weren’t bad enough.

“But the girl—Claire, I guess—has a staff. Not like Freakshow’s, so don’t panic, okay?”

Wirt didn’t want to ask. Well, he did, but he had a feeling he wouldn’t like the answer, so he thought it best to keep his mouth shut. Why would Danny panic about the prop Claire had been holding for Toby’s play? It was just a prop. And he didn’t even know them.

“I caught her using it. It makes portals, Jazz. Into or through the Ghost Zone. I didn’t follow them because I wasn’t sure I’d make it back and I still can’t do that, but….” Danny shrugged. “I could check with Frostbite and Clockwork. Frostbite might have heard of it. Clockwork would know, but he might not tell me.”

“Check with Dora, too, if Frostbite doesn’t know anything.”

Fine, now Wirt was tempted to ask. “What you mean by portals?” Jazz had told him about the Ghost Zone, but a staff that was capable of making portals to the afterlife or whatever didn’t make sense.

Of course, neither did the fact that an entire town had wound up there.

Wirt really wished that had been a joke newspaper, but—

“Doorways,” Danny said flatly. “Holes in the fabric of reality. Exactly what you’re picturing.”

He shouldn’t have asked.

“Um, why do you think the staff does that, exactly?”

Danny stared at him. “What part of ‘I caught her using it’ did you not understand? I saw it with my own eyes. She’s either skipping into the Ghost Zone whenever she wants—risking Walker’s wrath and whoever else’s—or she’s taking a shortcut through it somehow, like a condensed version of the Infi-Map that she can actually control.”

Okay, he was going to pretend this conversation wasn’t completely insane. “How do you know it’s connected to the Ghost Zone?”

He expected one of them to say something along the lines of ‘what other dimensions do you know?’ or something that would make it very clear that they figured the Ghost Zone was it. Instead, Danny said, “I just know.”

“That’s not an answer.”

“I can feel it, okay?”

He could—? “That’s even less of an answer!”

“No, it’s not, and keep your voice down. I am not about to be kicked out of my favourite library.” Wirt groaned but held his tongue as Jazz asked, “You’re sure it’s the staff and not something else?”

Danny nodded as if that were the most normal question in the world. “I don’t know how she got her hands on it, but yeah. If I can get some of Mom and Dad’s tech to Tuck, he might even be able to make something that’ll pick up on where she’s been using it. We could figure this out that way.”

Right. So now Danny and Jazz were completely convinced that Toby’s friend Claire was some dimension hopper. Like it was normal for people to jump through dimensions.

This definitely explained why all his friends kept bringing up the Unknown. They really didn’t think it was just a story. But he’d sound like an idiot if he changed his story now, right? He could at least wait until they brought it up again. He didn’t have to volunteer this information right away. Especially not when Jazz’s brother was around—because even if he would clearly believe it, he didn’t need to know everything.

“How did you get past me in the dorm?” Wirt asked.

For once, Danny looked uncomfortable. He rubbed the back of his neck and slouched. “I just sneaked out when you weren’t looking,” he mumbled.

“I was still standing in the hallway when you went into the bathroom,” Wirt said, “and then I went into the room and closed the door and you weren’t….”

“I’m…good at illusions?”

It wasn’t even a good lie.

“I ducked around you when you weren’t looking. I used to do it to Jazz all the time before she left for college. It’s not a big deal.”

Wirt expected Jazz to chime in with support, but she didn’t.

He swallowed and looked at her. “The truth’s gonna sound like a story, isn’t it?”

“A story for another time,” she said by way of agreement.

He would’ve preferred silence. What the heck was really going on here? What was Toby involved in? What was Danny not saying? If the Ghost Zone and the Unknown were somehow connected, and he definitely didn’t know if they were, and if Claire and Toby could access it, why would they need armour? The Unknown might’ve had one room schoolhouses and paddle steamers and stuff, but it wasn’t so far off their own time that anyone required medieval armour.

Not that Wirt actually knew if it was supposed to be medieval armour.

Not that he was completely abandoning the idea that Toby was really in a play, either. Because he certainly could be. That would make so much more sense than all of this. He couldn’t believe he was going along with this. He shouldn’t be. And yet even Wendy had said—

Something’s up. You know that, right? This isn’t a game.

You can’t ignore the truth forever.

“I don’t know if Wendy knows anything about Toby and Claire,” Wirt said slowly, “but she definitely knows something.”

This time, Jazz read something in Danny’s expression that Wirt missed and shook her head. “She’s not overshadowed. I’m confident in that much or I would’ve had you check her out, too.”

Wait.

Wirt pointed at Danny. “Is that why you wanted me to babysit him?”

“You weren’t babysitting,” Jazz said at the same time Danny exclaimed, “I don’t need a babysitter!”

“So you’re not denying that the entire reason you wanted me to hang out with him all day was so he could check me out for whatever this overshadowing thing is?”

“Wirt—”

“What did you even do?”

“Library,” Jazz hissed, and Wirt rolled his eyes.

“Just tell me the truth! Then I’ll be quiet.”

“You want the truth?” Danny asked. “When you aren’t even telling them the truth?”

“Seriously? Is there anyone you haven’t told about that stupid assignment?”

Jazz narrowed her eyes. “Yet you’re the one who keeps mentioning it, Wirt. Not me.”

Right. He’d walked into that, hadn’t he? Fine. “You want to pretend it’s not just an assignment? Then let’s pretend it’s not just assignment. Let’s pretend it’s real. I went to the Unknown with my brother. It’s another dimension. I faced demons and made friends and nearly died trying to get home. Your turn.”

Jazz’s expression didn’t change. Danny looked around, maybe to see if anyone was looking their way after his earlier outburst. Jazz’s favourite little nook was fairly secluded, but there were tables nearby, equally as hidden, and the seclusion was more artificial than anything else. Still, apparently they hadn’t disturbed anyone, since Danny was grinning when he faced Wirt again. “I’m the tragic victim of a lab accident,” he said. “Safety wasn’t exactly our parents’ highest priority, but like I said, it was an accident.”

Wirt raised his eyebrows. “So?”

“So that’s how I got past you earlier. And that’s how come I know you’re not overshadowed. And that Claire’s staff has ties to the Ghost Zone.”

Wirt glanced at Jazz, but her face betrayed nothing. Danny was a lot easier to read. He was having fun with this. There was a definite note of sarcasm in his tone. But he also looked perfectly sincere, even though Wirt had no idea how a lab accident was supposed to explain all that. “So you, what, burned yourself on a Bunsen burner? Accidentally smashed a couple of test tubes of chemicals and stepped on the glass? And that made you the annoying prankster you clearly are?” He could think of several more choice words to call Jazz’s brother, but it was safer to stick with Jazz’s words. If Toby really was wrapped up in something, Wirt didn’t intend to burn all his bridges before he could help his friend.

Jazz snorted.

Danny’s grin widened. “Not exactly,” he said.

And then he disappeared.

He just…disappeared.

Wirt was staring at him, and then he was just gone. He didn’t move. There was no distraction to catch Wirt’s attention while he ducked under the table or hid somewhere in the stacks. He was just there. And then he wasn’t. And this was a bloody library; it didn’t have mirrors or whatever else would’ve been needed to make an illusion. And Danny had pulled out the chair to sit down, so it wasn’t some kind of high-tech hologram, and—

“I’ll call Wendy,” Jazz said, “and warn her that we’re going to reconvene at our place. You can think of exactly what you’re going to say as we walk over.”

-|-

(see more fics | next)

[atopearth]

Final Fantasy VII Remake Part 3 - The “Death” of Avalanche (Ch 12-14)

Seeing an extended version of the Avalanche members’ dying is going to be terrible. I think the fact that Wedge calls Cloud “aniki” is so cute, so it’ll be sad that this is the last time we’ll hear it. My heart kinda broke for Biggs tbh. Seeing him entrust the future to Cloud, and for him to think about the Leaf House orphanage kids even during his dying moments was saddening. I remember being so surprised at Ms Folia (the orphanage teacher + Honeybee dancer) saying that the one who taught her everything and inspired her to be who she is was Biggs. I knew he had a big heart and cared for everyone, but it was nice that they added in all these other little things about him. I don’t know if I’ll be able to handle Jessie’s death tbh. It’s going to be heartbreaking!! 

Aerith going to save Marlene is something I looked forward to seeing, and I think it showed really well how gentle of a heart Aerith has, and how self sacrificing she is. Especially when she encouraged Wedge to not give up and allow himself to have regrets for not doing more. I like that the Shinra soldier Wedge passionately convinced into opening the gates to leave Sector 7 for everyone to escape was the newbie soldier that was kinda in training and couldn’t be mean to anyone (when you talked to him before this). It’s understandable that he would be the one to go against orders. Nice to see Tseng! He looks pretty good. On the other hand, Rude interfering with Reno so that his gun would miss Tifa was hilarious. I love that they kept the idea that Rude likes Tifa, I guess they’ll be keeping the idea that Tseng likes Aerith too then! Elena liking Tseng is something expected though since it’s a big part of her character imo haha. Btw, I’m glad that Reno recognised how tasteless it was to have to do the pretend act that this whole destroying Sector 7 thing was done by Avalanche. Anyway, Aerith convincing Marlene to come out and leave with her was adorable~

It was hard to see Jessie go again, especially when she talked about how she kinda “deserved” it considering the amount of people she killed with her bombs, which was something that always stuck with me in the dialogue of the original. Despite Jessie’s hopes for the future and everything, she knew what what she was doing involved the deaths of a lot of people, innocent and guilty alike, she always felt terrible about it, but she wasn’t as soft as Tifa to think about giving up on it. She took those burdens with her to achieve what she needed to, so it’s heartbreaking that she had to die thinking that. It was saddening yet cute when Cloud said Jessie owed him a pizza, so she can’t die haha. It’s too bad that it’ll never happen. Sometimes I wonder if the reason they all like pizza is because of how Barret refers to the plates above them as a “pizza”, so they like to eat them up hahahaha, nah just kidding, pizza is good, everyone loves pizza.Seeing Reno and Rude tag team fight was so cool! I loved how Reno still had that skill that puts you into the triangle barrier to kinda immobilise you. Otherwise, Reno is so difficult for me to handle lolll, I suck fighting against him. And Rude hits Tifa when you control her!! Although he kinda just does a light chop to her, not sure if it’s specific to her but it was kinda cute lol because it honestly seemed like he was taking it easy against her compared to other battles when we faced him. Seriously though, I think it’s so annoying how those “ghosts” always interfere at crucial moments, it’s like, it wasn’t in the original game and it’s honestly unneeded here. The truth is that Cloud and them were unable to stop the plate from falling regardless of whether those ghosts were there or not, it’s annoying to make it seem like they could have stopped Rude if they weren’t there, when in reality, it shows (in the original) a much crueller way of looking at things when you try your best but you’re still too late. We don’t need no supernatural phenomenon to make it seem like it’s at fault and that’s why Cloud and them failed! Yes, I rolled my eyes when they appeared because at this point, I’ll admit that I’m sick of them. It’s like how they ruined Aerith and Cloud’s first meeting with them! I only wanted sweetness and curiosity towards a flower girl, not mystery with these supernatural things I don’t care about! Sigh! 

Anyway, seeing Tifa and Barret broken over not being able to save their home and its people was saddening. Maybe it’s nostalgia or whatever, but I think it hit me harder in the original though. Btw, it’s kinda funny but understandable that instead of Tseng flying near the explosion to kinda show that they’ve captured Aerith etc, Tseng tells them through the screen haha. Gotta protect the Ancient! Oh, and Sephiroth honestly appears way too much, I honestly don’t remember him being so apparent, I know they’re really just the numbered black robe guys, but I feel like back then it was mostly just Cloud feeling the effects of something, but not being very clear on what it is. Now we’re just stuck with an overbearing Sephiroth zzz, yes there’s such a thing as too much Sephiroth. I guess it’s nice that it kinda explicitly tells you through them that Sephiroth thinks/believes/insists he’s got Ancients’ blood running through him, so he’s the rightful ruler of the planet though. Really though, with the plate falling, you can really understand the helplessness and fear of the people under the plates (through the NPCs talking in the background), it’s like, wow, they can actually fall and destroy everyone?! It kinda shows that regardless of how great Shinra is in giving people “better lives”, Shinra is also essentially in control of their lives. Oh yeah!! And Cait Sith!! Did not expect to see him! It felt weird without his white doll (since I used to think the white doll was him until I realised there was a cat on top lmao), but it was nice to see how *spoilers* Reeve tried to do something about Sector 7 in both forms. Seeing Cait Sith devastated at the sight was pretty saddening. But I have to admit, imagining Reeve controlling it and making it fall to the ground is funny yet interesting loll.

Omg, how old is Tseng?! Aerith is like this little kid and he’s an adult already?! I never realised there was such a big age difference.. Anyway, kid Aerith is adorable. Elmyra’s story is always saddening to hear, but I think the original showed it a bit better, mainly the train station part. I remember in the original, you could really feel the sadness of Elmyra through the contrasted happiness of the people beside her at the train station who were overjoyed at seeing the people they were waiting for come home to them. And it slowly shows how nearly everyone who was waiting there was able to reunite with their loved ones, everyone except her who waited every day there. I feel like she even asked the train station attendant if there were any more trains or people too. Her taking in Aerith healed her and herself, so honestly, I’ve always been happy that they both had each other to lean on for so many years. But yeah, otherwise, seeing Ifalna (HD) and everything was nice. It’s interesting that Aerith needs to be willing to go to them in order to help with their quest in finding the Promised Land, because how exactly do you make her willing?? Hahaha. I mean, she just did it for Marlene so she’s not exactly “willing”. It’s so weird that they didn’t bother adding the line where Barret asks Elmyra to take care of Marlene for him. It’s like, you can’t make him a “caring dad” and not even say something like that before he leaves lol! It’s important!

Okay, I’m glad Wedge is alive, but at the same time, I have mixed feelings towards it haha. It’s nice though, gives Cloud and them more hope I guess. We should all thank cats, they save lives apparently~ On the other hand, Aerith appearing in Cloud’s dream was…very interesting. Like, it was nice, but at the same time weird loll. Especially when she told him that if they seemed like they were attracted to each other romantically, it probably wasn’t real. I honestly didn’t need that, especially when I feel like the Tifa fanservice coupling is everywhere and more apparent than with Aerith imo. I felt like the romance with Tifa was more vague in the beginning for the original. Anyway, Cloud was right, Aerith can’t just one-sidedly say all that and just leave, he should have his say too, especially since these are his feelings! And tbh, although Tifa and Cloud are super comfortable with each other and rely on each other, I feel like a lot of the times, they feel like trustworthy friends more in the remake imo. I think what solidifies (for me) how much Cloud cherishes Aerith was when he said he’d take her home again (lmao) after she showed him the way to Sector 7, enough concern over her safety with Don Corneo that he would cross dress, and his reaction when Aerith shows up with the extravagant red dress. He was so stunned at how beautiful she was! To be fair though, I was pretty stunned too, until I realised I better take screenshots lmao. Overall though, Cloud is constantly saving and taking care of all the girls, it’s kinda crazy. Like, I know he may be Prince Charming but c'mon! Only Tifa gets to be cool whereas the other girls get saved wayyyy too much whether it be from random falls or whatever. I also feel like Elmyra stopping them from going to save Aerith felt more like an unnecessary plot delay to squish in the Wedge part, but oh well lol, time for Shinra building time! Can’t wait to see Red XIII!

Or not, I’m stuck doing side quests lmao. Those pull ups were more annoying than squats zzzz, but they were okay I guess. Didn’t take that long to win the pro. The most annoying thing was that letting the pull up timer go on (when I obviously failed) was faster than the stupid loading screen when I press give up lol. Mireille being the Angel of the Slums was expected I guess, although I was never curious anyway haha. Kyrie is kinda cute but annoying lol. Kinda sad that I don’t actually get to ride on a Chocobo though….like I found all those lost chocobo and yet I don’t actually get to ride them? T_T Wow, I can’t believe the behemoth horn was used for medicine!! What kind of medicine are they making??! It was a hassle to kill that guy! Lmao tonberry is as cute and deadly as it usually is! Kept stabbing me lol! I know I could have probably thrown magic at it, but I thought it was hilarious to see it stab me lmao. The Colosseum battles were pretty easy, I was kinda worried but all good! Whack-a-box was super easy for the hard mode btw! I was like ohh noo when I saw hard mode thinking it’ll take me a while like the pull ups but dang, third time was the charm! Smashed it!🥰 Hmm, pedometer materia was interesting…lol, super easy to get the 5000 steps since I had to look for those annoying chocobos, but yeah I guess it was worth it! AP Up would be useful. I’m glad the side quests didn’t take too long because I really started considering just dropping them lol.

I’m glad they delved more into Leslie’s backstory, but I guess it was expected since he was the only pretty boy out of all the lackeys lmao. I found Leslie really endearing though, mainly because of his looks and how kind he was to keep warning Cloud and Aerith that they shouldn’t go to the audition haha. It’s saddening that his fiancee was chosen by Corneo and now she has disappeared. I kinda liked how his story interlinked with Cloud and Aerith though. Tifa told Leslie that the flower pendant his fiancee gave back to him before she left meant “we’ll meet again” in flower language, and that’s the flower Aerith gave Cloud, so it’s nice to see how Cloud linked that, and sorta renewed his resolve into finding her asap. It’s nice to know that rather than focusing on finding Corneo to exact his revenge, Leslie is now instead looking for the girl. Good that he’s got his priorities straight. She’s much more important than revenge! Hope we get to see him actually find her in the later parts or something~

Overall, not much to say about these few chapters. I think the running up the stairs/pillar part to save Sector 7 + Wedge, Biggs and Jessie were pretty faithfully done, and it was done pretty nicely too. It felt just as annoying with the monsters/soldiers, whilst being just as saddening with seeing the death of the Avalanche members lol. My only gripe with it was the Whispers popping up ruining the whole mood of the event, it really made it seem like Cloud and them could have changed the outcome that ended up happening but was stopped for “reasons” beyond their control, so they shouldn’t feel too bad about it kinda thing, it just changes the whole “feel” of it. Anyway, the changes with Wedge being alive and the “dream” with Aerith are things I have mixed feelings about. Wedge being alive really, as I kinda said before with the pillar, it changes the mood and atmosphere of everything. Like, it’s not terrible, but what solidified a lot of my feelings towards Avalanche and the dropping of the plate in the original was done with the impact of the deaths of our Avalanche members because they’re the main people we’re familiar with. Anyway, gotta love how (aside from Biggs and Jessie) a lot of the people we’ve seen are alive and well, and lol even the item shop etc people have good stock! Kinda miss the days in the original or in other older JRPGs where shops would follow the story and be lacking in supplies or whatever during times of disaster etc. Anyway, that’s just me being picky as usual lol. And yes, I’m starting to see how A LOT of the scenes involve Cloud and the others saving each other, mainly Cloud saving all the girls, and it’s nice but honestly overdone considering the amount of scenes where it happens. This time around, the changes (from the original) are half half to me, not better, but not exactly terrible I guess. Anyway, now that I’m going through this and reading my thoughts again, this was probably the point when I started thinking about whether I liked the remake for what it is or was I really just banking in on the hype and nostalgia of a favourite game? Honestly, it’s mainly the latter (sadly).

[ofbeastsandwizards]

Coming Home [Avengers x Reader] [Steve x Platonic! Reader]

Decided to do a sub-category of Oneshots, song-shots! Basically, I take a song, and write a story for it. I won’t take requests for these, because there are a lot of songs I don’t like and others do, and vice versa.

I’ve also NEVER been to New York City, so bare with me 

Title/Song: Coming Home (Sheppard)

Pairing: Avengers x Reader, Steve x Platonic! Reader 

Summary: The reader is young, and only 19. She gets separated from the rest of the Avengers on a mission, and now has to make her way back to New York City.

Warning: Fluff(?), Adult Seperation Anxiety and really long.

[S/h/n]: Superhero Name

Italic+Bold: Song Lyrics 

I’ve been stuck in motion

Moving too fast

It was scary being alone, away from the only family you ever had. You were young, and you hated being alone. You, being a naive and ambitious young adult, took the mission into your own hands, and in the process, got yourself stuck 100 miles away from New York City. Somehow the launchers Tony had made for you malfunctioned, and sent you flying through the air, which would have been a hilarious sight, if it weren’t for you being stuck out in rural New York. 

Tryna catch a moment

But it lips through my hands

You shivered, sitting on the curb. You had been in this small town for a week now, trying to make some means of money to get back to New York City. You planted your face in your palms, trying to remember how to get back to New York City. Letting out a groan, you stood, pulling out your wallet. Inside of it was a sad 100 dollars. It would have been enough to get you back to the city, but you had no means of transportation. Instead, you were staying at a motel. You managed to convince the owners to let you work there for some extra money, and in exchange for staying at the motel. 

All I see are, dark days, long nights

I’m lost without you

On your way back you decided to stop at the local car repair. The owner had a lot of old cars in the back, and you’ve been trying relentlessly to get the owner to allow you to borrow one. You approached the store hesitantly. As you did so, the owner caught sight of you.

“Look, I told you already, I can’t just give you a car.” He said sadly. 

You pulled out your wallet. “Please, I need to get back to New York City.”

He shook his head. 

“I didn’t want to have to say this, but my name is [Y/n], but you might know me as [S/h/n]. I got separated from the Avengers, and I really need to get back,” You began to take off your rocket boots. “Here-” 

You showed the man the boots. Imprinted on the side was the label ‘Stark Industries’. His eyes went wide. 

“Why didn’t you just say so?” He asked, leading you to one of the cars in the back. It was an old Plymouth Baracuda convertible. You smiled. 

“Thank you, thank you so much! I’ll make sure to get it back to you!”  He threw you the keys, and you caught them, hopping into the car.

But I’m on my way,

So hold tight

You stuck the keys into the car, and the engine revved. You thanked the owner one last time before stepping down on the gas, and pulling out of the shop quickly. You drove down the street, and as you drove, began to exit the town. You slammed the gas, and the car took off, roaring down the road. As you neared a more forested area, you slowed, and turned on the music. 

I’m coming home, tonight

Meet me in the valley, where the kids collide

Into the morning

The wind whipped your hair around, and you turned up the volume, singing along to the chorus. Your phone had died days ago, and so you had no way of communicating with the rest of the Avengers.

You were anxious to get back. You had never been away from them for this long, and you had a panic attack the first day you had spent in the small town. 

Oh, my god

My town is coming alive

Back in New York City, Tony was pacing back in forth in the conference room, trying hard to find out where you were.

“The tracker must have turned off when the boots malfunctioned.” Tony mumbled to himself. 

Natasha looked to Tony worriedly.

“You mean, we have no way of getting her back?” Natasha asked.

Tony stopped, and looked at her. 

“For right now, no. We don’t.” 

Steve groaned, rubbing his temple. “You know she has separation anxiety...” He stated.

Tony’s eyes went wide. “She what?”

I’m coming home, tonight

I know you’re ready for the sparks to fly

Into the morning

You were breathing anxiously as you drove down the road. You needed to get back to NYC, and soon. You didn't want to be alone any longer, especially away from some of the only family you ever had. 

You watched the road carefully, mumbling along the lyrics to the music blasting through the radio. You were glad for music. It distracted you.

Oh, my god

My town is coming alive

Steve looked at Tony with surprise. “You didnt know?” He asked him.

Tony shook his head, eyes narrowed. “Of course I didn’t know!” He yelled.

“Woah, calm down Mr. Stark.” Tony’s head shot up.

“Why’s the kid in here? Who let him in?” Tony asked.

Peter looked at him, scared. “Happy did.” 

Tony relaxed, and looked out the window. 

“Where are you, kid...” He mumbled to himself.

Cos’ I’m coming home

Tonight!

You drove down the long, two lane highway, admiring the blue sky, and the red and yellow of the trees around you. You had to be around 70 miles away now. You were overly excited to see your friends again.

You kept your eyes trained back on the road, and you breathed in the fresh, autumn air as you drove a bit faster. 

Yes, I’m coming home 

Tonight!

Steve was staring out the window now as well. “I hope she’s okay.” He mumbled.

Peter’s eyes went wide. “Hope who’s okay?” 

“It’s none of your concern.” Tony said. Peter frowned.

Steve looked up at him. “[Y/n] got separated from us during a mission.” 

Tony rolled his eyes. “Seriously?”  

Peter gasped. “What?!”

“This is why we don’t tell him things.” Tony muttered. 

“Why didn't you tell me?!” 

Tony crossed his arms. “We just did.”

“No, Steve did, Tony.” Natasha grumbled. 

“Let’s not do this, okay?”

Don’t wanna spend my whole life

Catching my breath

Leaves flew upwards as you drove slightly faster. You needed to get back to the Avengers. More importantly, you needed to reassure Steve you were okay. He was like a brother to you, despite being around 100 years old. He was always there for you, and you appreciated that. He was one of the only  people you told about your Seperation Anxiety.

Cause’ I been running round, and round and round!

And I got nothin’ left

Peter began playing with his sleeve nervously. “She’s okay though, right?” He asked anxiously. Tony met his gaze, and his eyes softened.

“I dunno, kid...I hope she is.”

Bruce looked at him in surprise. “Have you tried tracking her phone?” He asked.

Tony faltered. “Uhm. No.”

Natasha rolled her eyes and groaned. “Then track it.” She said harshly.

Tony put his hands up in mock surrender. “Alright.”

There’s nothing like a, sunset, skyline

To let you know you’re almost home

Ahead, the sun began to set over the horizon. You smiled to yourself, checking your watch. You had driven about 89 miles, and you were nearing the city. In the distance, you could spot the city skyline, it's lights shimmering in the growing darkness.

So Breath in,

And hold tight

Tony was quick to begin trying to track your phone. He stopped what he was doing, and turned with a frustrated look to the Avengers.

“Her phone must be dead.”

Sighs of disappointment were released throughout the room. Tony sat down, and massaged his temple. Steve was growing nervous. 

I’m coming home, tonight

Meet me in the valley where the kids, collide

Into the morning

You were driving fast, approaching the city. Your heart was racing anxiously as you saw the city getting bigger. 

Oh, my god

My town is coming alive 

Tony looked back up. 

“We’ll find her, Steve.” Natasha said to Steve reassuringly. Steve was visibly distraught, and was looking anxiously out the window.

Tony began to grow worried as well. Tony didn't have the same relationship with you as Steve did, but he still cared about you.

He wasn’t the only one. Natasha was anxious as well, and Peter was continuously pacing back and forth. You were like an older sister to Peter, always there for him.

I’m coming home, tonight

I know you’re ready for the sparks to fly

Into the morning

Finally in the streets of New York, you had about 10 miles to go. It was dark now, and you were getting even more anxious. You hated wandering the streets alone. Or, at least, not without telling your friends. 

Or should I say, family.

Oh, my god

My town is coming alive

Peter checked his phone. It was getting late. “How long has she been gone?”

“About a week.”

Peter went wide eyed. “A week?!” He asked. “Why wouldn’t you guys go to the police?”

Natasha crossed her arms. “Because Tony’s too good for the police.” She mocked. 

Tony relaxed, and raised an eyebrow. “Really?” 

Cos’ I’m coming home 

Tonight!

You were driving quickly, and partially admiring the view of all the city lights. They were really entrancing at night, and you couldn’t get distracted. You had to get back to the tower.

Yes, I’m coming home

Tonight!

Peter frowned. “Well, I’ll call the police then.” 

Steve looked at him, wide-eyed. “What for?” Tony asked.

“To help find [Y/n]!”

Natasha stood. “Peter, I admire your determination, but settle down.”

Peter was breathing heavily.

Time has a way

Of diluting emotions

Much time had passed and you were still maneuvering the streets, until finally you spotted Avengers tower, lit up brightly against the night sky.

But, I won’t let distance

Get in between us, no.

You pulled up to the sidewalk of the building, ignoring the numerous looks people gave you as you turned the keys, the car turning off. Not even bothering with the door, you leapt out of the car and raced to the sliding doors of the building.

I’m coming home, tonight

Meet me in the valley where the kids, collide

Into the morning

You rushed into the building and ran straight to the staircase, quickly believing that the elevator would be too slow, not giving anyone enough time to recognize or care that you had just ran into the building.

Oh, my god

My town is coming alive

You slammed open the fire-escape staircase door, and began to climb the stairs in a hurry. You were moving exceptionally fast.

I’m coming home, tonight

I know you’re ready for the sparks, to fly

Into the morning

You were nearing the penthouse level, and you began to pick up the pace, ignoring the pain from your legs as they screamed for you to stop. Your adrenaline was pumping madly as you practically flew up the stairs.

Oh, my god

My town is coming alive

You reached the door, and kicked it open, which was completely unnecessary. You were now running down the halls. 

Ooh

Night!

You were running hard, pumping your legs like never before. You needed to find them.

Yes, I’m coming home

Tonight!

Frantically, you rushed down the one hall you hadn't checked, the one that led to the conference room.

‘Please be there...!’

You ran to the room, and slammed open the door. Inside were a group of astonished Avengers. 

You smiled happily.

Oh Oh

You stood there for a moment, watching as Steve stood up.

Oh Oh

With a grin, you rushed to him, and leapt over the conference table, leaving everyone in shock.

You leapt into Steve’s arms, practically crushing him in a hug. You buried your face into his shoulder and smiling like a mad man.

Oh Oh~

Steve chuckled. 

“It’s only been a week.”

You laughed, and clung to him tightly. You gave him one last squeeze, before releasing yourself from his grasp and turning to the rest of the Avengers. You hugged the nearest person, which was Natasha. 

It was unexpected and she was hesitant to hug back, but she did so.

Next, you rushed to Peter. He immediately rammed into you, hugging you tightly. “You had us so worried!” He mumbled into your jacket. You hummed, and wrapped your arms around the high schooler. 

Finally, you went to Bruce, who insisted he didn’t need a hug, but you hugged him anyways, because, well, he did need one.

And finally, you looked to Tony who was staring awkwardly from the front of the table. You walked over to him and frowned. 

Then, you unexpectedly tackled him in a hug. He stiffened, but then hugged you back. “Sorry I broke your boots, Tony.” 

He laughed. “It’s all good Kid. We’re just happy your back.”

Hope you enjoyed! Send requests, and tell me if I should make more song-shots!

[kisskissbanggang]

Asking For It

[~4K Words Yuta x Female Reader -- Like 1:4 Plot:Smut -- Drinking buddies, Friends to lovers(?), Daddy kink, Facials]

[Soft Daddy!Yuta for Anon 💕]

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

You awoke to your morning alarm practically gouging a hole in your head, it seemed to be so loud. You rolled off your couch, careful as usual to step over Yuta, who usually crashed on the floor when you spent the night drinking and shooting the shit. This time, however, you stepped over nothing. You searched the floor when the sounds of cooking slowly came into focus like a station on the radio, calling you into the kitchen. Yuta, with a thousand yard stare, handed you a cup of coffee while he sipped at his like his life depended on it.

You stretched your arms overhead, straightening out your back. Yuta glanced at you, then whipped around, facing the counter to grab more coffee. He turned, offering you the coffee pot. You raised your still full cup to him. He set the pot down.

"We need to talk," he said.

"We do?"

"You never told me you talk in your sleep."

"I do?"

Yuta nodded frantically. "Normally," he said, "this would be hilarious and you'd never hear the end of it, but this is a case where I need to make sure."

You quirked an eyebrow at him, still not convinced this was a big deal. After all, your headache would only get worse or better if your sixth sense told you this was serious, and this time the level of pounding in your head stayed the same.

"You moaned my name last night in your sleep."

You guffawed. "Is that it?!"

Yuta looked deathly serious. "It was a few times. And..."

"Oh my god Yuta, just finish telling me."

"I think you called me Daddy."

You gagged on your coffee but managed to compose yourself. "So," you said nonchalantly, "I had a weird sex dream about you?" Yuta nodded. "You? A person," you continued, "that I've hung out with for years, often and regularly, and have a very dear and close friendship with?"

Yuta sighed in relief. "Yeah. I knew it was dumb," he laughed, "no more mixing sake and soju, at least not after 11."

You clinked coffee cups, glad that mess was over.

🍻♥️🍻♥️🍻♥️🍻♥️🍻♥️🍻♥️🍻♥️🍻

It was a couple weeks later, after another long night of drinking. You sat up on the couch only to find no Yuta on the floor once again. You didn't have to look this time, though. Yuta was perched on the edge of the coffee table, smiling devilishly and waiting for you with a fresh beer. He pressed the bottle into your hands, waiting for you to take a swig. You downed a good gulp of beer, feeling your headache soften a little.

"Alright," you said, "what're you up to?"

"It happened again."

"What happened again?"

"The sleep-talking. The sleep-moaning. The Daddy bit. Just tell me you're madly lusting after me and get it over with." Yuta practically inhaled his own morning beer in glee. He loved giving you grief, but you weren't having it today.

"Oh my god, Yuta, it's nothing. I'm probably just horny lately and you're around. I'm sorry you were caught in the crossfire."

"You're sure?"

"I'm positive. Can we please get breakfast now?"

🍻♥️🍻♥️🍻♥️🍻♥️🍻♥️🍻♥️🍻♥️🍻

You couldn't work. You couldn't concentrate. You'd been staring at the same sentence on your computer screen for five minutes now. What were the facts here? First, Yuta claimed you've moaned for him in your sleep on two occasions now. Second, Yuta claimed you called him Daddy both times. Third, Yuta is one of your best and closest friends. Fourth, Yuta is beautiful but he and everyone on the planet knows that. Fifth, you first became friends when you both realized you didn't want to settle down with steady partners yet. Did you have feelings for Yuta? Possibly, but you'd been friends for so long now that you didn't want to consider drawing whole new boundaries. Did you have a daddy kink? That was a tough one. You always secretly liked the idea, but never allowed yourself to explore it. You never even told Yuta about, it was so secret, and you told him everything. Should you take a break from hanging out with Yuta? God, no. The whole situation would shake itself out eventually, one way or another.

🍻♥️🍻♥️🍻♥️🍻♥️🍻♥️🍻♥️🍻♥️🍻

You came into consciousness much earlier than usual. The apartment was still dark. You wondered what woke you when suddenly you realized how you fell asleep earlier that night. You had been resting on Yuta's shoulder while binging Netflix, but felt your head get heavy and slide onto his lap as you fell asleep. You tried to roll over but found it difficult. You inspected, careful not to wake Yuta. His hand had a gentle but firm grasp on your breast. You snaked your fingers around his, trying to subtly pry him off of you, when he suddenly clenched. You let out a gasp as you felt Yuta's other arm wrap around you to help pull you up, clutching your back to his chest. His hand still hadn't left your breast. His lips brushed against your ear, making you shiver.

"Shh, it's okay," Yuta whispered, "Daddy's here." He snickered to himself, his proximity in this moment giving you goosebumps.

You thrashed, ready to beat the hell out of Yuta for taking this too far. However, you couldn't deny the stir his whisper caused between your legs.

"You know, once can be a mistake. Twice can be a fluke. But a third time? Now I have a hard time believing you. You're already hardly as innocent as you look."

A third time? You must have done it again. You thrashed once more, this time tumbling forward and off of the couch. You landed on the floor with a thud, the room spinning a little. You glared at him. "You done?"

Yuta smiled and shook his head, getting down on the floor with you. You leaned back and away, but he followed you, crawling up between your spread knees. He hovered over you, his hands at either sides of your shoulders.

"We've been doing our best to ignore this for a long time."

"Yuta, shut up."

"You're the best friend I've ever had. You know I'm only doing this because I care and I know you can handle it."

"Yuta, I mean it."

"I know you do. And I know you only mean it because this is what you always do. You'd rather deny and bottle up everything instead of confronting anything. So stop being a pussy and confront this with me."

You grit your teeth, seriously considering kicking Yuta out. However, being caged in by Yuta on the floor in this situation felt different. It was different from those times you wrestled or played around. You actually felt sort of small here. You actually felt sort of safe here. What the hell was going on?

Yuta pet your hair, a comfort gesture he knew you liked. "Be honest with yourself, and with me. Was it an innocent sex dream you had about me just because I'm around? Or do you still find me attractive?"

You bit your lip. "I never stopped finding you attractive. Just like you never stopped. We both know that."

"Right. But don't play dumb. Are you still sexually attracted to me?"

With horror, you realized part of what felt so eerie now. You hadn't been drinking. Neither of you had. You had a couple beers over pizza at the beginning of the night, but just spent the rest of your time enjoying each other's company. You were both stone cold sober in this moment. Everything mattered more than usual. Perfect time as any to be honest, you figured.

"... Yes," you whispered. Yuta looked intently into your eyes.

"Good," he said, "same here."

You felt yourself blush. You noticed that his own cheeks were flushed as well.

"Now for the heavier subject," Yuta began, "do you have a daddy thing?"

There was a heavy silence between you. Yuta pet your hair again, but this time, he leaned down as well. He kissed your forehead. "It's okay to tell me," he whispered, "I just want to be there for you." He brought his chin down to look at you again. The air between your lips seemed tense. Tentatively, you leaned up, placing your lips on his in a cautious kiss. It'd been a while since you last tried this. You noticed how much more sincere it felt this time, years of friendship backing up the gesture. Yuta reluctantly pulled away, kissing your forehead again. "Don't try to get out of this," he said, "just be honest. Do you have a daddy thing?"

You nodded, feeling almost hollow from how heavy your lungs felt. "I think so," you breathed. You felt so exposed, but at least Yuta was here to comfort you. He finally relinquished his stance, rolling off of you to lay by your side on the floor. He pulled you close.

"There. You did great. Are you okay?"

You nodded, your mind awash. What now?

Now, you decided, you wanted to show Yuta what a can of worms this was.

Yuta was still stroking your hair. "Is there anything you want to do now? I want to make sure you're alright."

You swung a leg over his hips and pulled yourself upright, pinning him under you. "I want you to help me figure this out," you said. Yuta's eyes widened. It was his turn to try escaping. He kicked, trying to slide out from under you.

"Uh, excuse me?" He wriggled, but couldn't buck you off. You'd wrestled too often, so you knew all his tricks. You also knew that before too long, he wouldn't be able to resist any challenge. He was too competitive, even when the stakes were low or he had nothing to win. You couldn't help but notice that despite the stress showing on his face, his hands still rested on your thighs.

"What's wrong Yuta, commitment issues again? Since you fought so hard to get me to admit it," you said cooly, bucking him down when he struggled, "I'd like to explore this with someone I trust. If you're comfortable, of course."

Yuta stopped struggling, resting his head back on the floor. He looked down his nose at you, smiling playfully as he tried to fight off the awkwardness in the air. "You want me to be your daddy?" You nodded. He closed his eyes, thinking. He lightly thunked his head on the floor beneath him, clearly conflicted.

"Obvious question: what if it kills our friendship?"

"I think we've been through worse." You weren't lying. You'd been through a lot together.

"Is this a one-time thing?"

"As of right now, I intend it to be."

"Another obvious question: what if we catch feelings?"

You paused. That would kill the friendship. "Well," you said, "if that happens then we'll deal with it. We'll take the next logical step, in whatever direction that happens to be, but I don't honestly think I'll feel comfortable enough with anyone to explore this for a very long time. I mean, that shouldn't discourage you. You're smart. I want you to make the decision you're comfortable with."

Yuta lightly massaged your thighs and gently pushed you off. He got up. You held your breath, waiting for him to just leave so you can think about this. But he didn't. Yuta leaned down, pulled you to your feet, and scooped you up, throwing you over his shoulder. "Come on," he said, "Daddy would rather take you to bed."

Yuta carried you down the hall into your bedroom, tossing you onto the bed. You giggled.

"Alright. Let's figure this out. Is it a Daddy&Little thing, do you think?"

You thought about it. "No," you said, "I think I just want to feel cute and cared for a submissive for once. These guys I'm with kind of just crumble under me. I don't know what it is, I guess I just attract them."

Yuta stroked his chin. "Uh huh," he smiled, "I can work with that." He sat on the bed beside you and pulled you onto his lap so you were straddling him. He ran his hands up underneath the back of your hoodie, underneath your thin tank top underneath. He lightly massaged the skin there. It was still hard to believe this was happening. "Now," he warned, "this only works if it feels natural. You know I've experimented plenty before in the past. It won't feel good if it doesn't feel right, or so wrong it's right."

"What does that mean?"

"I mean it's a good thing you told me what kind of Daddy you want. Now don't say it until you mean it. Ready?"

You paused. This was the last chance to turn back. You nodded, knowing you've possibly been waiting for this since you met. Yuta pulled your hoodie off and threw it aside. He gently pushed you off and stood you up in front of him, facing away from him. He slid off your comfy leggings, toying with the lacy underwear you had on underneath. He placed the softest kiss to your hip, sending a shiver up your spine. Yuta spun you back around and stood up to face you. He slipped off your tank top, gently running his hands down over your breasts, back and around to your ass where he slid down your panties. He lifted your chin and pressed a sweet kiss to your forehead, the tip of your nose, and finally your lips. How long had it been since someone had been this sweet and attentive to you?

Yuta lifted you up, wrapping your bare legs around him so he could spin you both around and lay you on the bed. He lay down beside you. "Alright, babygirl, I want you to undress me," he murmured against your lips, "play nice and I'll be nice, too." You stripped him of his pullover and t-shirt, admiring his toned arms and fighting your urge to play with his nipples, one of his weaknesses that he had once confided in you. He noticed your prolonged glance and lingering hand on his chest. He was taunting you. You were such a sucker and he knew it, he knew you'd take the bait. You'd always been so curious. Before he could stop you, you leaned forward and softly kissed the raised skin, gently nipping him in the process. You already weren't expecting the full groan that escaped his lips, but you definitely weren't expecting the instant grip he had on your hair. He was so fast manhandling you that you were stunned when you were suddenly bent over the edge of the bed, your torso dangling over and your arms barely holding you up, keeping you from tumbling off. You heard Yuta unbuckle his belt and slide it out from his belt loops. As you tried to push yourself up to a more comfortable or even just stable position, Yuta pushed down on the small of your back and pinned you in place.

"I warned you about playing nice, babygirl." Yuta looped the belt in his fist, laughing to himself as he playfully cracked it against the bed. Your arms trembled as you tried to stay upright. "Since you couldn't, I'm not going to either until you give me a good apology. Now hold yourself up and hold still, and this will all be over soon. Color?"

In all of the stimulus you had to remind yourself that Yuta mentioned using a traffic light system in rougher situations. Since you had never really dealt with anyone on your level before, you'd always just checked in with your subbier dates with how they were feeling on a scale of one to ten. You checked in with yourself. Were you ready?

"Green," you croaked out, the blood rushing to your head.

Yuta cracked the belt on your bare ass, groaning himself at the sound and the cute jiggle it made on your skin.

"I'm sorry I didn't play nice," you moaned. It'd actually been a while since you'd been spanked, and certainly not by anyone who made it feel good. Yuta spanked you again, making your elbows start to give out. His hand on your lower back applied more pressure, almost threateningly. You apologized again, and he eased off. You straightened out once more, actually feeling that you wanted to be good enough for him to stop. The spanking continued, your whimpers turning into strained moans as you repeatedly apologized. You felt like you wanted to be good, like you wanted to please Yuta. Finally, the spanking was too much. You felt the welts raising on your ass, something you always wanted but couldn't get from the right person. You were finally done. "Okay, okay, please stop," you moaned.

"What did you say? It didn't sound like an apology." Yuta punctuated his question with another spank, his hardest yet.

"I said I'm sorry for not playing nice," you squeaked out, and Yuta went for it once more. "Daddy!" You were shocked it actually came out. It felt natural, it felt right. You wanted more. Yuta must've also enjoyed it, as he finally picked you up and laid you back on the bed.

"There, babygirl, was that so hard?" He placed kissed your lips, your chin, your neck. He kissed all over your chest and made sure you calmed. You clutched at him, sensation returning to your hands.

"Daddy," you whined, "I need to feel you in me."

Yuta smiled, revelling in this. He finally got to see what you looked like as more submissive, seeing as you were almost too much for him to handle in your friendship. "Alright, but I need to see if you're wet, first." His fingers trailed along your hip bone, teasing you into begging him to feel how wet you'd gotten for him. His eyes widened as his fingertips brushed against your entrance. He brought the dripping digits to your lips.

"See, baby? You see how wet you got when you let me be your Daddy?" He whispered against your ear, tracing his wet fingers against your lips. You hungrily licked at them, tasting yourself as you quietly and impatiently willed Yuta to take mercy on you and finally fuck you. However, Yuta had been waiting for this. He wanted to know he missed out on all this time. His fingers dipped back down, but this time didn't stop at your entrance. "You're playing so nice, baby. Do you know what you have to do to get this cock?" Yuta whispered, his lips now at your neck.

"What, Daddy? Please, I'll do anything."

His fingers slid all the way into your warm pussy. "You'll have to let me have some more fun first. When I'm done playing, then you can get this cock." Yuta smirked, pumping and scissoring his long fingers into you. The worst part about this close friendship you've had was that Yuta was privy to every single thing you've wished would've happened on any date you've had in the past. He knew everything you wanted by now. Yuta thrust into you, his thumb gently circling your clit just how you liked. You struggled to keep your legs spread, the pleasure was mounting so fast. You grabbed at Yuta, anywhere you could, begging him to go faster. He gripped both your wrists in his free hand, pinning them over your head. "Use your words, baby," he hissed in your ear.

"Yuta, Daddy, if you keep this up I'm going to cum so hard," you whimpered.

"Is that what you want, baby?"

"I need you to make me cum, Daddy." You were so surprised at the words coming out of your mouth. Yuta was completely unraveling you, taking care of you and leading you like you'd always wanted someone to. He listened intently to the sounds you were making, getting you closer and closer to orgasm before he'd slow down, making you whine and moan. You struggled in his grip, trying to fuck yourself on his fingers when he wouldn't stop edging you. "Daddy," you moaned loudly, "please do something, I need to cum."

Yuta looked so excited. "Alright babygirl," he said cooly, "I think you've been good enough to cum." He pulled his fingers out, causing you to thrash in his grip, needing to feel full again. Yuta used his slick fingers to stroke his cock before he spread your knees wide. He released your wrists to grab a pillow from the head of your bed. He lifted your ass, sliding the pillow underneath to lift your hips for him. You remembered him telling you about this but never got the chance to try before now. He leaned forward, catching your lips in a kiss as he gently but firmly pushed into you. You whimpered into the kiss, still feeling so stimulated that his slow pace was torture. Your warm walls throbbed around him, making him moan against you. He was an oddly satisfying fit inside you. His hard cock filled you, curving up ever so slightly to just reach and brush against your spot at this angle. You both shivered, taken out of the moment temporarily as it occurred to both of you just what was happening. You pulled him close, pressing another kiss to his lips, but this one was noticeably less lusting. It was a quick moment in the middle of this chaos, something you both took notice of. He sat back up on his heels and you let him, savoring the stretch it caused when he sat up and angled away from you. His first thrust was agonizingly slow, and this thumb found your clit once more. You definitely wouldn't last long if he kept this up.

He did just that. Yuta groaned at the feel of you, pumping into you steadily, his thumb keeping a swift pace at your clit as you whined and whimpered beneath him. When you got too grabby with him, Yuta found his belt again and wrapped your wrists together, laughing as he bound them to your neck. Soon, you were babbling, moaning, "Daddy, more," and, "Daddy, faster," and he would toy with you, occasionally listening and occasionally not. Finally, you couldn't take it anymore. You were going to cum no matter what he did. Your thighs tightened around his hips, and he could feel your walls trembling tighter around him.

"Come on babygirl, you're doing so well, cum on Daddy's cock." His moaned command sent you right into your climax, tears brimming in your eyes from the force of your orgasm. You saw stars, nearly screaming as your warm walls pulsed around him. Yuta grabbed you by your bound wrists, pulling you up for another kiss as he twisted you both around. He adjusted to sit comfortably on the edge of the bed, your trembling legs and pussy still wrapped around him. You slumped your head forward onto his shoulder, turning your chin to press a kiss to his neck. "Thank you," you breathed. Yuta's hand was in your hair, stroking you softly before playfully grabbing a handful. "'Thank you?' I'm not done yet, baby. Color?" Yuta smirked and lightly bit into your shoulder as he thrust up into you, making you nearly scream from your overstimulation. You barely murmured out, "Green," when he thrust up into you, bouncing you on his cock as he nuzzled your cheek, your neck, your breasts. Everything was too much for you, but you still knew you'd kill to have this again. You loved this feeling, loved feeling like Yuta could have all of you whenever he wanted. Yuta's hands gripped you roughly, the sweat on his forehead and the flush in his cheeks and chest telling you his orgasm was fast approaching. "Baby," Yuta moaned against your neck, "be a good girl and let Daddy cum on you." Your pussy twinged at his words, threatening to cum again if it weren't so exhausted. Yuta slipped you off of his cock and gently set you on your knees in front of him. He gently stroked your hair, praising his good girl as he pumped into your hot mouth a few times to get him there. He pulled out, quickly jerking his cock and groaning loudly as he shot, thick ropes of cum landing in your mouth, spurting on your face and neck. You both sat back, exhausted and pleased for a moment. You felt dazed, a million miles away. Yuta ran to fetch a damp towel from the bathroom and a couple beers from the kitchen before returning. He unbuckled your improvised restraints, kissing the red marks they left on your wrists and neck before he gently cleaned his cum off of you. He checked the welts on your ass and thighs before pulling you up into his arms, pulling you into bed with him, your nose buried in the crook of his neck. "Are you alright?" He asked, his lips brushing your forehead.

You nodded, "More than alright."

"So, you'll help me sort out my own kinks I haven't tried, right?"

You kicked him, making the both of you give an exhausted laugh, "If you open my beer first, I'll consider it.”

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