#she appeared for five minutes and im still thinking about her

[sleepypdng]

hi nüwa!! ☁️

[sapphic-gardn]

Dancing With The Devil

dbf!joel miller x f!reader

Summary: Your dad’s best friend, Joel Miller runs into you at a bar on the night of Halloween. He’s a gentleman and takes you home.

Warnings (18+ mdni): age gap (not specified), drinking/alcohol, intoxication, swearing, pet names (darlin’, sweetheart, angel, baby, babygirl, etc.), f!masturbation, oral f!receiving, fingering, oral m!receiving, unprotected p in v (pls dont do this irl), creampie, dirty talk, joel calls reader a slut literally just once, if im forgetting anything pls let me know!!

Word count: 4.9k

a/n: Hi!!! I’ve been working on this one shot for awhile—I really hope it is everything and more for you guys! I am posting this in place of Willow pt. 3 due to a bit of writer’s block but trust it will be posted soon!! As always, please let me know what you think. I love you so much.

Also thank you to @gracieheartspedro for helping and encouraging me on this one. I can’t even begin to thank you enough, my love.

—

Halloween is your favorite holiday. For one night out of the year, you get to be anything you want, unashamedly. It’s an escape from reality, a dip into another life. And confidence comes easily when you’re pretending. You scan over your costume in the reflection of the floor length mirror in front of you—a too-tight red dress adorns your curves, black fishnets hug your thighs, and bright red stilettos accentuate your figure.

“C’mon! We gotta get to the club before the line gets too long,” your best friend appears behind you and places the headband with devil horns in your hair, “There. Perfectly slutty.” She rests her head on your shoulder and admires your costume in the mirror. She is dressed as your opposite, an angel.

“Stop panicking! The uber is still five minutes away, Pheebs.” Phoebe’s a worrier, and is never ever late anywhere, so the fact that you two are leaving fifteen minutes later than you originally planned, has her buzzing with anticipation.

While Phoebe paces back and forth at the foot of your bed, you dig through your makeup bag for your favorite red lipstick. You slightly over line your cupids bow and blend the color with your finger. You lean back and study yourself for a minute, you look hot. Phoebe interrupts your thoughts when she starts yelling about the Uber driver’s arrival. With a tug of your arm, both of you are trampling out of your apartment door in your six-inch heels on wobbly legs.

The club is suffocating. In your drunken state, the strobing lights and the bodies grinding up against you make it so much worse. Phoebe is dancing with some guy dressed as a vampire, she looks extremely unimpressed so you decide to take it as your chance to leave. You pull Phoebe away from the handsy man and shoot him an apologetic smile—you’re not sorry at all.

You feel like you’ve been resuscitated when you step out into the cool autumn air outside.

“Thank god you rescued me from Dracula. Guy was about to get his fake blood all over my white dress.” You and Phoebe share a laugh and lean against the brick wall behind you. The alcohol seems to hit you harder once removed from the chaos inside of the club. You scan the buildings lining the street in front of you and a bar name captures your attention. It’s the bar where your dad frequents with his buddies after work, one of his buddies being a painfully gorgeous dilf, Joel Miller. You know for a fact your dad won’t be there because your mom dragged him to some Halloween work party she wouldn’t stop talking about over the phone yesterday.

An idea pops into your brain and you can’t shake it, so you point to the bar across the street and tug at Phoebe’s hand, “Let’s go there! It’s probably less crowded and I’m not ready to call it a night,” you give your friend your best puppy dog eyes, and she begrudgingly gives in with a roll of her eyes and an okay, fine.

The dive bar smells of stale smoke and spilled beer. Random sports games are televised on multiple screens against the far wall and a jukebox sits in the corner playing a classic rock song from the 80s. It has character, you think to yourself. It’s a breath of fresh air compared to the marble top bars and sparkling chandeliers that decorated the club you just left. You and Phoebe definitely stand out from the crowd of middle-aged men loitering around the place. It feels a bit intimidating getting checked out by pervy old men as you strut to the bar, but it’s too late to turn back now. Plus, you are looking for a certain someone.

You scan the hefty crowd and search for the man with familiar brown curls and a scruffy beard. You double check every table and bar top with no luck, he is definitely not here. With a disappointed sigh, you chug your vodka cran and tell Phoebe you’re ready to head out.

Just before you get up to leave, you hear your name being called by a husky voice behind you. You would know that voice anywhere. You turn around, and there he is in all his glory. A tight, navy blue t-shirt hugs his chest and his biceps are about to tear the seams. He greets you with a half smile.

“Mr. Miller! What’re you doing here?” You act surprised, at least you try your best to act surprised with the alcohol running through your veins.

“Sarah’s out trick or treatin’ with some friends, got tired ‘a givin out candy, decided on gettin’ a beer to pass the time.” He scratches the back of his neck and looks at you sheepishly, “uh, I think I should be askin’ you what you’re doin’ here. You tend to hang at a bar with a buncha old farts?”

You giggle, “Not necessarily, no. Pheebs and I were just having a nightcap after clubbing. Oh! How rude of me. Phoebe, this is Joel. Joel, this is Phoebe, my best friend.” You gesture between the two of them and give Phoebe’s shoulder a light squeeze while her and Joel share a quick handshake.

“Nice to meet you, Phoebe. Well, I should let you girls go on your way. I’ll see ya around, then.” As you bid your farewells to Joel and start to walk forward, you nearly fall flat on your face. Maybe you were more drunk than you thought. “Woah there, easy, darlin’.” Joel grabs you by the hips to steady you before you trip over your own two feet.

“‘M sorry, Mr. Miller. I think I drank a little too much. I’ll be okay, we’re gonna order an Uber anyway.” Your hand lays flat against his chest and you bashfully look at him through your eyelashes. You’re so close to him, you can smell his cologne. Pine? Maybe a hint of sandalwood. You can see the specks of gray hidden in his beard and the crease between his eyebrows. He is so beautiful, you just keep repeating that to yourself over and over as you study his face. He is also too old for you and your dad’s best friend, you remind yourself.

“Nonsense. I’ll give you girls a ride home, your old man would kill me if I let ya walk outta here barely able to stand up on your own.” Joel keeps a hand firmly planted on your upper back as Phoebe leads the way to the exit.

Joel’s truck is an old Chevy with a single bench. You’re sandwiched between Joel and Phoebe. Phoebe’s head is resting against the window as she drifts in and out of sleep, but you are wide awake and laser focused on your thigh brushing Joel’s. Electricity shoots through you with each bump in the road, pushing you and Joel closer together. The music on the radio plays at a low volume, so low you can hear the way Joel breathes. The way his breath hitches in the slightest every time you two touch unintentionally.

You’re giving Joel the directions to Phoebe’s place, which is difficult considering you’re drunk and everything is mush in your brain. But by some miracle, Joel finds Phoebe’s apartment building, and you walk her to the front door, hugging her goodbye.

When you get back in the truck, you return to the spot on the bench right next to Joel.

“Y’could move over now, if that’s more comfortable for ya, darlin’,” you hum in acknowledgment at Joel’s suggestion.

“Mmm. Don’ wanna. ‘S comfy, you’re so warm,” you’re definitely playing up your drunkenness but it doesn’t hurt if it means you get to be a little closer to Joel. You nuzzle your head against his muscular shoulder and sigh in contentment as you feel yourself getting sleepy.

Joel chuckles, a deep laugh that vibrates through his chest straight to your temple, “Alright, sweetheart, whatever makes ya happy,” he then lifts him arm and stretches it across the back of the seat, letting you cradle into his side. You soak in the moment, relishing in the way the lights whir past you along with the houses lining either side of you. The way Joel’s breathing is steady but his heart rate is just as fast as yours. You can smell his detergent on his shirt and you can feel the way his muscles tense and relax with each turn he makes with the wheel. You could probably do this for hours, just driving down random streets, the radio quietly playing being the only sound in the confines of the car. But, all good things must come to an end, such as pulling into your apartment complex’s parking lot and untangling yourself from Joel’s warm body.

No words are exchanged on the way to the lobby, or the elevator, or even walking down your hallway, just a silent reassurance by Joel’s hand on the small of your back—a message—I want to make sure you’re okay. When you get to your door, you purposely fumble with the keys and wobble on your heels. Your plan works out perfectly.

“Here, lemme get the door. I’ll walk ya to bed and get you a cup of water once we’re inside.” Bingo.

Joel swings the door open and you stumble past the threshold, immediately kicking off your stilettos. His hand finds its way to the small of your back again, gently leading you to your kitchen. You plop down on a chair and watch Joel search the cabinets for a glass. You are more than capable of telling him where they are, but you like watching the way his biceps stretch the fabric of his shirt every time he reaches to pull open a cabinet door. Once he finds a glass, he fills it with the tap and saunters over to you.

“Here ya go, angel. Gotta get you hydrated.” Joel holds the glass out to you, and you guzzle it in a few gulps, “Thirsty girl, ain’t ya? Feelin’ any better?”

“Mhm. Much better. You make it better,” a close lipped, content smile paints your features as you set the glass down on the table and get up from your seat. Now chest to chest with Joel, you place a hand on his chest and look up at him. With the heels now discarded, he towers over you. You note how his pupils dilate a bit when your eyes meet.

“Let’s get you to bed, sweetheart,” Joel feels his chest tightening with each second your hand lingers on his sternum. He wants nothing more than to close the distance between you two and lose himself in the feeling of your lips intermingling. But he knows you’re off limits, you’re his best friend’s daughter and too many years his junior. So he locks those thoughts somewhere in the depths of his brain and grabs your hand to lead you to your bedroom—just so he can make sure you’re okay, at least that’s what he tells himself.

Joel enters your bedroom first, absorbing the intimate space you call your own. Old vinyl records line your shelves and plants sit on your windowsill, overgrown and cascading to the oak flooring, a book sits on your nightstand with a pair of glasses sitting atop the cover. He scans your walls and notes the art you’ve chosen to decorate with, modern paintings of silhouetted bodies intertwined. Your desk is littered with pencils and journals, one is open to a sketch of a tree. It smells like you, vanilla and jasmine, he feels himself getting intoxicated each time he inhales. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees you moving around, you’re fumbling with your dresser, digging through the drawer trying to find something.

“Jus’ sit down, darlin’, what’re you lookin’ for?” Joel gently moves you aside and guides you to sit on the edge of the bed.

“I’m just looking for one of my big sleep shirts. It’s an old Texas Longhorns shirt. You can’t miss it, it’s probably at the bottom of the drawer somewhere.”

“Alright, angel. I’ll find it for ya.” Joel has his back turned to you as he rummages through the balled up shirts in your drawer. You take this moment as your cue to make a move. You slowly start sliding your thin straps down your shoulders, careful to not expose your chest just yet. “Found it!” Joel seems elated that he found the shirt you so desperately wanted, it’s endearing. When he returns his attention to you, the piece of clothing falls from his hands to the floor beneath him. You are leisurely pulling your dress down over the curve of your breasts, maintaining eye contact as you do so.

“Can you help me get this dress off, Joel? Please?” You feign innocence and gaze at him with doe eyes. Joel is looking anywhere but you, clearly fighting his inner voice telling him what’s happening is wrong.

“I think you can do that yourself, honey. I don’ want your daddy t’kill me,” Joel stares at the ceiling, cursing whatever higher power there is for putting him in this situation. He feels you step closer to him, the tension palpable in the air shared between the two of you.

With your dress pulled just below your breasts, you take both hands and gently pull Joel’s head down to look at you, “Joel, I know you want this just as bad as I do. We’re both adults. I won’t kiss and tell, c’mon.” Your hands trail from his jaw to his neck, to his collarbones. Joel sighs, his face contorted into a look of contemplation.

“I-I can’t, darlin’. I want to, trust me, I really want to,” Joel engulfs both of your hands in his own and presses them to his heart. He is searching your eyes, for some sign of reluctance, but all he can find is pure lust.

Your hands travel south, skimming his clothed abdomen, over his soft belly, until your fingers hitch on his waistband, his words contradicting the growing bulge in his jeans. You run your nails side to side under the band of his boxers, making him visibly shudder. Then you lean in while standing on your tiptoes, and you gently place an open-mouthed kiss on his neck.

Joel grunts at that. All reason leaving him the moment your plush lips touch his bare skin, “Fuck it,” Joel grabs you by the jaw and kisses you hard. It’s electric, the kiss knocking you into stone-cold sobriety. With his other hand, he grabs you by the waist and starts leading you backwards to the edge of the bed.

When the back of your knees hit the mattress, you pull Joel down with you onto the white duvet. Joel breaks the kiss to admire your exposed chest, “Fuuuuck, baby, you’re so beautiful.” Joel takes one of your tits in his mouth, swirling his tongue around the sensitive nub, while his hand pinches and plays with your other nipple. He removes his mouth from your tit with a loud pop, moving to the other one with the same treatment.

“F-fuck, Joel, need more, please,” you’re whining and writhing beneath him. It feels so good but you need his hands in your lower region now or you might explode. Joel peels off the rest of your dress, leaving you in small spandex shorts over your fishnet stockings. With one swift motion, Joel discards the tight shorts onto the floor.

Joel can barely form a thought as he looks at the sight before him, “No panties, baby?” Your pussy is bare beneath your stockings, making Joel salivate at the obscene vision.

“Please, Joel, please. Need you so bad. Wanted this for s-so long, I touch myself thinking about you,” you are on the verge of tears, aching to be touched where you need it most, but Joel is just gawking, taking pride in how he makes you squirm. Joel stands from the bed, leaving you confused and visibly more upset, “W-what are you doing?”

“Show me, baby.” Joel has a smug smirk on his face as he watches you grasp what he’s implying.

“Wha-what?” You are baffled, you are mostly naked, sprawled out on your bed for Joel to take you however he pleases and he’s asking to watch you touch yourself?

“Show me how I make you feel good, angel. Wanna see your pretty little fingers fuck that tight pussy.” The brashness of Joel’s words make you audibly moan. Instead of taking the black fishnets off, you start to rub yourself through the holes over your clit. You never break eye contact with Joel, gathering the slick between your folds and pushing a single finger in, using the heel of your hand to stimulate your clit.

Your eyes rake over Joel’s chest, his shirt taut against his burly stature. With just a few thrusts of your fingers, you’re close, it’s the fastest you’ve ever approached an orgasm, but Joel palming himself through his jeans while he watches you get off is unbelievably hot.

The coil in your lower belly snaps and your eyes roll back, you’re chanting Joel’s name like a prayer as you fuck yourself through your climax.

Joel groans and quickly approaches you on the bed, capturing you in a deep, passionate kiss before pulling back, “That was so hot, baby, nearly had me cummin’ in my damn jeans. I gotta taste you.” Joel trails kisses down your sternum, to your abdomen, to your mound, and stops just before your most sensitive area. He looks at you for approval, you furiously nod your head, eager for whatever he has in store for you. Next thing you know, he is ripping the fabric of your stockings that covers your pussy with no effort at all.

“Look at that pretty pussy, all for me. It’s mine,” the hunger in Joel’s eyes is unlike anything you’ve ever seen before, all-consuming and animalistic.

“All yours, Joel. Fuck! All y-yours,” you tug at his hair, grounding yourself with the soft feel of his brown curls just to confirm that you aren’t dreaming.

He starts with a long stripe along your folds, gently prodding his tongue into your entrance. You’re still so sensitive, your thighs are shaking as he holds them down over his broad shoulders. He’s sucking and slurping you, twirling his tongue over your sensitive nub every so often. He’s taking his time, learning what pleasures you most, experimenting with different techniques. He is memorizing the way your pussy feels throbbing against his tongue, how you subtly grind your hips onto his nose to chase your high. You taste so sweet, like nectar dripping from a ripe peach, he could lick and suck and fuck you with his tongue all night.

Joel is relentless, eating you in earnest, he removes his hand from the grasp on your thigh and brings two thick fingers to your mouth. You obey his command, taking both fingers in your mouth, hollowing your cheeks and using your tongue to lubricate them, the taste of Joel blanketing your taste buds. Joel removes his fingers from your mouth and places them at your entrance, sliding in one digit with ease and fucking you slowly before adding a second. He is knuckles deep in your pussy and his fingers are much bigger than yours, stretching you with a delicious burn.

“Baby, you’re so fuckin’ tight, fuuuck,” Joel comes up for air, never letting up the pace of his fingers entering and leaving you.

The rough callouses on his fingers provide a whole new sensation. It’s overwhelming in the best way possible. Every ridge a foreign sensation that has you reeling. He suddenly crooks his fingers to hit the spongey spot in your pussy, sending you to cloud nine. He knows just the right places to focus his fingers that have you bucking your hips up. When he returns to sucking your clit, you feel yourself teetering on the edge of your second orgasm.

“You’re so close, baby, I can feel it. Let go f’me,” your body obeys Joel’s words and you unravel before him, letting your whimpers and moans roar through the four-walls surrounding you. Joel slurps up every drop of your nectar like a man starving. You push his head away at the full-body feeling of overstimulation.

“Oh my god, Joel. Holy fuck. I need to suck your cock, please,” Joel gets up from the bed and you sit at the edge, immediately reaching out to undo his belt. He helps you undress him, tossing his shirt, jeans and boxers aside with the pile of your clothes laying on the floor. His cock springs to attention, his tip weeping and red. He’s big, much bigger than anyone you’ve been with before.

The shock must be present on your face when Joel takes your chin between his thumb and forefinger and tilts your head up to meet his eyes, “Don’ worry baby, we’ll make it fit,” he glides his thumb over your plump lower lip then leans in for a gentle kiss, a silent gesture of reassurance.

Your nimble fingers find his shaft, the skin feels silky beneath your touch, your fingers barely touching as they wrap around the girth of him. You gather the precum leaking from his tip and spread it along the length of him. You pool your saliva and hold eye contact with Joel as you let a thick string of spit dribble from your lips to the tip of his cock. You spread it slowly up and down the length of his dick.

He throws his head back and hisses, “Shiiiit, that’s it, good girl. Get my cock nice and wet for that pretty little mouth of yours. Open up,” at Joel’s request, you part your lips and flick your tongue over his slit before wrapping your lips around the fat tip.

Joel grabs a fistful of your hair at the nape of your neck and gently guides his dick further into your mouth until he hits the back of your throat. You release your hand from the rest of his shaft and brace yourself on his muscular thighs as he slowly starts to fuck your throat. You are breathing through your nose, trying to swallow him further with each thrust.

You peer up at Joel through wet eyelashes, admiring the look of sheer bliss on his face. His other hand is lightly pressing the base of your throat, feeling his cock go in and out.

With one swift thrust of his hips, he holds his cock in place down your throat. You are gagging, tears streaming down your face from the pressure and your red lipstick is smeared everywhere but your lips. You can’t help but touch yourself listening to Joel’s grunts and heavy breathing.

“This turn you on, babygirl? You like your throat getting stuffed with this big cock? Hm?” Joel releases you from his grip to let you answer. A string of spit and precum connect your lips to the tip of Joel’s cock. You are gasping for air, holding yourself upright with one hand on Joel’s thigh, and still rubbing your clit with the other.

You can barely form a coherent sentence, “Y-yes, I l-love it, J-Joel, s-so h-hot,” Joel chuckles, pulling you up by the armpits and meeting you halfway in a sloppy kiss, all teeth and tongue. He guides you to lay back on the bed, hovering over you, holding himself up on his forearms.

“Baby, you got a condom somewhere ‘round here?” Joel starts to reach for your bedside table, you grab his wrist to stop him.

“No, Joel, wanna feel you,” you guide his hand to your breast and place a kiss on his jawline.

“You’re gonna be the death of me, darlin’.”

Joel fists his cock and brings it to your clit, lightly tapping the bundle of nerves, making you moan. He drags the tip through your folds, gathering your slick before slowly inserting the head of his cock into your entrance. Your face contorts with pleasure and pain, he’s barely in and you feel the stretch.

“You okay, baby?” Joel cradles your face with his large calloused hand and searches your eyes, a look of concern washed over his features.

“Yes, yes. Keep going, please,” you plead with Joel. Joel nods his head and places a soft kiss to the tip of your nose. He goes slow, you can feel every ridge and vein of his dick as he sinks into you further. The massive stretch of his girth burns so good.

When he bottoms out, you can feel him in your guts. You’re so full of him, so consumed by him in every way. He stills, letting you adjust to the size of him. The burning you feel quickly fades and you’re left craving more.

“Move, baby. Please, Joel…move,” Joel starts with shallow thrusts, examining your expression with each movement. He loves the way you catch your bottom lip between your teeth to contain your moans. He basks in the way your sweat mingles with his, a way of marking you as his own. His primal instinct takes over and he pulls out completely before plunging into you hard. Your pussy is squeezing his cock with each deep thrust.

The mixture of sex and Joel’s musk fills the air, you’re so close to him, you can see a drop of sweat forming at his hairline. His curls stick to his forehead and his lips are red and puffy. His mouth hangs open as he watches where your bodies meet, his shoulder muscles are flexing each time he fucks into you. Just the picture of him before you can send you into oblivion.

Joel brings his thumb to your clit and starts rubbing it in small circles. Your eyes roll back, you feel the white hot fire burning in your lower belly.

“Nuh uh, babygirl. Look at me when you cum. Wanna see those pretty eyes,” Joel’s words shoot straight to your core, and when you meet his gaze, you completely lose it. Your climax hits you like a truck, it completely consumes you, sending you to another dimension.

You can’t contain the noises that emerge from you, it’s a string of incoherent curses and Joel, Joel, Joel, Joel. As you come down from your high, everything is blurry, except for Joel. He looks so fucked out, watching you expose yourself to him in the most vulnerable of ways.

Joel suddenly pulls out, scoops you up and tosses you down onto your belly, “Get on your hands and knees f’me, baby,” you scramble onto all fours and arch your back, looking over your shoulder at Joel. “Jus’ like that, fuuuck, fuckin’ perfect little slut for me, ain’t ya?” Joel calling you a slut makes your pussy clench around nothing. With no energy left to spare, you just moan in response.

He thrusts into you with no warning, making you yelp. At this angle, he feels impossibly deeper, the tip kissing your cervix each time he shoves you full of his cock. Joel’s grip is bruising on your hips, sure to leave marks that will fade to purple by the morning. His pace is frantic, sending your body into overdrive. Every one of your nerve endings feels like they’ve been lit on fire, the overstimulation sending you into a fucked out daze.

Joel grabs you by the hair and yanks you up into a vertical position, his hand snakes around your throat while his other arm is secured at your waist. You can feel his coarse stubble on the shell of your ear, his lips whispering filthy words that make your pussy pulse around him. The room is spinning, your only hold on reality is the feeling of Joel surrounding you in his strong embrace.

Joel’s fingers find your overstimulated clit, he’s pinching and rubbing, making you wriggle in his tight grip.

“One more for me, you can do it, baby. Can you be my good girl?”

“I-I c-can’t,” your pleas fall on deaf ears, Joel doesn’t let up in the slightest.

“Yes, you can, baby. You’re alright, I gotcha. One more, that’s all I need,” you just nod in response, letting yourself feel every sensation lighting you on fire.

Joel’s lips find your pulse point, he begins sucking and biting, then licking and soothing each mark. You feel him everywhere and it’s too much. Your whole body tenses as your fourth orgasm of the night takes over your body. Joel has to hold you upright as your body convulses and your vision goes white.

As you feel your climax nearing an end, Joel’s thrusts become sloppier and start to falter.

“I’m gonna cum, baby. Where d’ya want me?”

“Inside, please, Joel. ‘M on the pill. Want you to fill me up,” at the sound of those words falling from your lips like sweet honey, Joel stills inside of you, whimpering and moaning in your ear. You feel the thick ropes of cum coat your walls and drip down the inside of your thigh.

Joel pulls out with a hiss, the action leaving you feeling incredibly empty. He falls onto his side on the bed, taking you with him. You turn in his arms to face him, admiring how peaceful he looks.

You relish in this moment, noting the way your bodies are intertwined. The sound of Joel’s heartbeat rings in your ears and settles in your memory. You mindlessly draw hearts on Joel’s chest with your pointer finger. He stares at you through hooded eyes, on the verge of sleep.

“What are you thinkin’ about, beautiful girl?” Joel kisses your forehead, you feel him smile against your skin.

You giggle, giddiness consumes you, “Jus’ thinkin’ about how you just ruined every other guy for me,” it’s a true statement, but you aren’t disappointed in the slightest. This is all you want, now and forever.

“I ain’t lettin’ any other guy come near you again. You’re mine now, sweet girl.” Joel pulls you closer against his chest and kisses the top of your head, inhaling your scent, basking in it.

A toothy smile creeps onto your face, “I’m yours, Joel.”

—

a/n: if you made it this far—hi! thank you!!! this is my first time ever writing smut so please be kind :,) sending you so many hugs and kisses <3

taglist (i just used my taglist for willow im sorry if you didn’t want to be tagged):

@ramblers-lets-get-ramblin @alejaa-a @cool-iguana @littleshadow17 @planet-marz1 @alyhull @joeldjarin @lizzyervs @joeldjarin @casa-boiardi @loveisacowboyyy @thegrlwholivedd @ashleymsnodgrass @ilovepedro @dilfspitdrinker @bastardmandennis @breakfastatjoels @gracieheartspedro @chaotic-mystery

[badasmuse]

“Homewrecker”

Bada Lee x Reader

Warnings: 18+ (MDNI), lowercase intended, language, cheater!bada, bottom!bada, bada is married to h*wl, bada has a daughter, top!reader, lonely bada, she also cries, appearance from itzy’s yuna

Summary: bada is lonely, you fix that.

Part 2 Here

you absolutely loved children. ever since you were fifteen when you started babysitting for your neighbor that’s when you knew. you actually wanted to start your own daycare but you wanted a degree so you decided to take a few online classes in early childhood education. but, going to college meant you need money for books and such so you never stopped babysitting. but your usual child’s father came back into her life making you jobless once again, so when you received a text from an unknown number stating she got your number from her friend you jumped with joy. and that’s how you started working for bada lee and her husband.

on your first day, you pull up to the extremely big house, you’re nervous. you keep thinking, what if i lose this kid in this big ass house.

there’s a tall woman and a slightly shorter male standing in the doorway holding a little girl. she looks about seven. you step out of the uber and approach the little family. “hi i’m y/n. i’m looking for ms. lee?”

“that’s me.” she steps out shaking your hand. “you can call me bada. this is my husband howl, not his real name but as a dancer it’s just what he goes by, and our daughter chaeyoung. come in.”

you follow the woman in and dude when i tell you this house is huge. you could probably fit three semi trailers stacked on top of each other in here. with the wheels still on and everything. you’re too busy admiring the house to hear what bada is saying.

“got that y/n?” is all you hear.

“huh? oh i’m… im sorry i was admiring your house i didn’t hear a thing. could you… repeat that?” you say shyly.

“oh no problem. this is a list of people you can call if you can’t get in touch with either of us. always try lusher first she’s my best friend she’ll always be able to get ahold of me. i’ll be out at the studio a lot this month because i’m choreographing a few comebacks and howl is getting ready to go to japan to teach some classes. i will be back around nine tonight. here’s chae’s bedtime routine. she’ll try to stay up past eight thirty, if she fights let her because she’ll fall asleep in the next five minutes. you can just lay a blanket over her on the couch and i’ll carry her to the room when i come back. is that too much at one time?” bada asks after literally vomiting a shit ton of information.

“no no i think i got it all. also, if you’re gonna be dancing, i don’t mind carrying her to her room. you’ll be tired and probably want to shower, i can handle it.” you say smiling.

“if you can i’d appreciate it. oh we have to go. chae you be good for y/n okay? i mean it.” bada says crouching in front of the girl who just nods in response before hugging her mother tight and hugging her father’s leg.

soon, it’s just you and her. boy did she give you a run for your money. you did lose her in the house while playing hide n seek. she made you play dress up with her. she took your phone and hid it, spilled apple juice everywhere, and even went into her parent’s room and took one of her mom’s lipsticks.

by now it’s eight thirty and she surprisingly went to bed without an issue, which you were grateful for because now you have to clean the mess in the kitchen and living room.

“hi i’m home.. y/n?” you hear bada say.

“kitchen!” you respond.

“what.. happened?”

“oh she spilled apple juice. this- here. she took this from your room. um, do you mind calling my phone?” you mumble.

bada sighs and goes into a room before coming out with your phone in hand. “i’m sorry she did this to the last babysitter, and the one before. if you don’t want to continue just let me know okay?” she says helping you clean the apple juice.

you look up at her and see the sweat dripping down her face, the tired look in her eyes. she’s obviously struggling. “what time should i be here tomorrow?”

her eyes light up and she smiles brightly. “um, same time okay? it’ll just be me and her, my husband will be gone early.”

“i’ll be here. go shower. i’ll finish up and make my way out of here.” you pick up the used paper towel, throwing it in the garbage.

thirty minutes later she emerges from the bathroom dressed in a new pair of sweats and a tank with her wet hair flowing down her back.

“i’ll get your uber home. can you put your address in here?”

*

now it’s been four months and man, the feelings you feel towards this woman are crazy.

“she’s just so.. fine, yuna.” you say to your best friend. “when she comes home from the studio and she’s dripping with sweat. you know how hard it is to not jump on her?”

yuna laughs, “isn’t she married?”

“yes but… come on. her husband is never really there. she’s always tired and probably sexually frustrated. i could fix that for her for real.” you say taking the drink from her.

“that’s mine.” she sighs, “well are you gonna go for it?”

“i don’t know, should i? what if i get fired?” you say.

“then you get fired. come on i’ll drop you off. it’s almost time.”

once you arrive at the house, you knock and wait, watching yuna pull off. bada opens the door and looks at you surprised. “y/n? what are you doing here?”

you blink, “it’s.. saturday?”

“oh! oh i’m so sorry. first come in.” she steps to the side, “i’m sorry, chaeyoung is with her grandmother for today. i thought i told you. probably forgot i was doing so much this morning. i feel so bad you probably ubered here, let me pay you for that and i’ll get you one back.”

“my friend dropped me off. i can ask her to come get me.” you say sending a quick text to yuna.

“well have you eaten? let me get you something.” she says.

“i’m okay i’m not hungry.” at least, not for food.

“well.. here’s a water bottle. i’m so sorry.”

“it’s okay bada. my schedule is open.” you look at the reply from yuna and sigh. “actually could you get the uber? my friend is busy, she won’t be able to come get me for at least an hour or so.. unless you don’t mind me waiting?”

“i don’t mind. i actually wanted to talk to you about chaeyoung.” she says sitting next to you.

“what is it?”

“i’m not too sure what you’re doing but.. she used to be terrible in school, behavior wise, and ever since you came along it’s changed. what are you doing with her? what can i do to make sure she doesn’t act that way once you get your degree and stop working for me?” bada sighs, leaning back on the couch.

“bada,” you turn your body to face her, “the issue with chae is you don’t give her enough attention. i know both you and howl work a lot. it happens. but she tells me all the time how she wishes at least you were here more often. she’s lonely. it’s only her and you stick her with a bunch of strangers. she told me she feels happy when i’m here because even tho i’m leaving, i still make her happy because i’m giving her the attention she craves.”

bada wipes a tear from her cheek, “i try. it’s just hard. i want to be here. then howl took that stupid job traveling to different countries like he doesn’t have a wife and child at home. i feel like i’ve been snapping at her which is why i sent her with her grandmother. i wanted to.. be with my husband and he’s not even here he went to america. i wanted to talk to him about this.”

you pull bada in for a hug and rub her back as she cries into your shoulder. “you’re doing the best you can, bada. you can’t be too hard on yourself. howl should’ve thought about that before he left. he needs to understand you need help.” you say softly.

bada pulls back and looks at you, “you really think i’m doing my best?”

“i do.”

there’s a tension filled silence as you look at each other. you don’t know what fueled you but you lean in and kiss her on her lips before pulling back quickly. “oh shit i’m sorry you’re married-“

she cuts you off with another kiss gripping your shirt. this one is a lot more desperate. “please…” she mumbles against your lips. “i need this please.. please don’t go.” she whines.

“your room.” you say and she stands up pulling you into the bedroom she shared with howl.

she pushes you on the bed and climbs on top of you finding your lips again as your hands trail under her shirt. you pull it off her and she whines.

“relax baby, i’ll make you feel good, just be patient.” you turn her on her back kissing her neck and down to her chest. lifting up her bra you attach to her nipple, sucking gently and she moans. you pinch the other one with your fingers and her hips buck up against you, looking for friction.

“keep your hips down.” you whisper, kissing down her stomach. you leave marks on her hip bones and she moans your name.

“y/n please… please i want you so bad!” she writhes on the bed.

you pull her shorts off and she’s not wearing anything under them. “made this easy for me huh? oh you’re so wet for me bada.” you run a finger over her clit and her leg jerks. you put her leg on your shoulder and make eye contact with her. “can i?”

“please y/n please do- OH!” she moans out when your tongue makes contact with her clit. her hands clutch the sheets as you suck on her clit, sticking two fingers in her.

her breath hitches and she lets out loud moans, “oh my god s-so good! please more!”

you insert another finger curling them up into her spot. she lets out a squeal. “why are you so good at this?” she moans, hands going to your hair as she fucks herself onto your fingers. “i’m cumming!”

you speed up your fingers, flicking your tongue skillfully and she cums with a scream, your name falling off her lips.

you pull your hand out giving her a minute to breathe. “you okay?” you run her lower stomach gently.

“i need… more. please? i have.. have toys in my sock drawer.” she pants.

you walk over to where she points and find a different array of toys. “oh you’re kinky.”

“please use whatever you want. make me your slut. please.” she whines.

you bite your lip, grabbing the dildo, a vibrator, and some handcuffs. “you mind?”

“oh please!” she moves her hands to the headboard, letting you cuff her to it. “i-i can eat you out while you fuck me. you can sit on my face.”

you shiver at the thought before stripping and doing what she wants. her tongue skillfully explores you and you question how she let a man trap her with a tongue like that? you lean forward and put the dildo in her, immediately thrusting it in and out of her while putting the vibrator on her swollen clit. she moans into you and pulls at the cuffs. you’re worried she might be uncomfortable so you lift up but she whines loudly. “i’m not finished!”

you sit back down, thrusting the toy faster and turning up the speed on the vibrator. you let out a moan trying not to grind on her face. you move when she starts to mumble something.

“what did you say baby?”

“use me. use me to get yourself off. make me your personal tuck toy.” she moans out.

you moan as you move back onto her face doing as she asks all while you fuck into her tight count with the dildo. you’re close and you know she’s close from the way her moans get higher. she latches onto your clit sucking roughly as you pound the dildo into her gspot and you’re both cumming with loud moans. you remove the toys and she squirts all over her bed. you get off her and rub her clit, helping her ride out her high.

“okay! okay i’m done i can't…i’m done please!” she moans pulling the cuffs.

“give me one more. let me make sure you’re 100% satisfied. you might not get it this good for a while.” you whisper.

she whimpers and cums one last time, her juices flow out of her and you caress her thigh gently.

“so good for me bada. did such a good job.” you uncuff her and she pulls you in for a kiss. you can taste yourself on her tongue.

“thank you.” she whispers. “i needed that. god i needed that.. tell your friend nevermind. stay with me.”

“what about your husband? and chae?” you ask.

“he’s gone for a week, chae will be back tomorrow night. after i take a nap i want to go again.” she groans, turning on her side.

grabbing your phone, you tell yuna to just bring your backpack that has your strap instead and you lay down next to bada. she immediately moves her head onto your chest and sighs, falling asleep.

that was a lot easier than you thought it would be.

[wlntrsldler]

i feel may would get whiplash the first time he sees luke interacting with five stars because as much as she knows he is a cutie who loves with his entire heart she's never seen him in love (specially because she is used to see him with women drunk in the news)

“i dont wanna go yet.”

luke’s entire body weight was currently resting on top of your body. the sounds of the movers the poisoned mercury team hired were making a ruckus outside of your room, hauling and tossing the random items the boys accumulated over the summer. the boys’ bags were packed, outside the cabin’s door, waiting to be thrown into the back of their tour bus.

you chuckled, running your fingers through his mess of curls, which proved to be the wrong move as it made luke bury his head even deeper into your neck. you placed a soft kiss on his head, “c’mon, pretty boy. you gotta get up.”

“can i just hide in here? maybe they won’t notice im not in the bus and i can stay here a little longer.”

you snorted, feeling a sense of longing erupt in your chest. you were feeling the same way as luke. you didn’t want him to go. you didn’t want to go. “i think they’ll notice the lead isn’t in the bus, luke.”

"luke? where are you?"

luke's head perked up at the sound of his mom's voice echoing through the cabin. he groaned, placing a quick kiss on your lips before he got up. he knew that his time was up and he would have to get on the tour bus soon. he'd see you soon, hopefully. he didn't know the band's schedule yet and you still haven't gotten word on whether or not you were playing this season, so the next time the two of you would see each other was still up in the air.

you froze as you heard may's voice. you'd been so caught up in wanting to treasure the last few moments you had with luke that you completely forgot that you'd have to see may and explain what this was. you'd met her before, sure, but it was a brief introduction and it was before you became luke's girlfriend. it seemed like she liked you enough, but now that the circumstances have changed, you weren't so sure.

"babe?" luke asked, tilting his head in question as he placed his hand on the doorknob of your door to open it. "you coming?"

"does your mom know about us?"

he blushed, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand, "yeah, i kinda told her. are you mad?"

you quickly shook your head, "no, no. i'm just--uh, nervous, i guess?"

luke walked back to your bed, grabbing your head in his hands as he peppered kisses all over your face, "nervous? for what?"

"what if she doesn't like me?"

luke let out a loud laugh, a goofy grin appearing on his lips, "you're funny. come on, five star. i only got a few more minutes with you and you're not leaving my side 'til then."

reluctantly, you got up from your bed and accepted luke's outstretched hand. he laced your fingers together, giving your hand a light squeeze as he opened the door to greet his mom. luke smiled widely when he saw his mom poking her head into luke's bedroom, trying to look for him. "mama!"

may turned around, smiling at the sound of her son's voice, then her eyes immediately darted down to your intertwined hands and the sheepish look on your face. her eyebrows shot up in surprise and walked over to the two of you, "there you are, been looking everywhere for you. the boys are already in the bus."

luke let go of your hand for a moment to give his mom a hug, then quickly returned to your side to wrap an arm around your waist. he looked down at you, eyes twinkling with fondness, "mama, you know y/n."

you rubbed the sweat off your palm on the fabric of your jeans, "nice to see you again, mrs. castellan."

"oh, don't do that," she rolled her eyes, pulling you in for a hug, "mama c is fine, or may, whatever you prefer."

"oh, uh, okay," you chuckled, awkwardly, feeling strangely welcomed by her simple act of kindness. may castellan's hugs felt like home. no wonder the boys adored her so much. "nice to see you again, mama c."

"so i reckon this is why we've been waiting for you for ten minutes?" she turned to luke, an eyebrow raised. she had a teasing smile on her face and it was a familiar look. luke got his smile from his mother.

"yeah," luke flushed, "sorry, don't wanna leave yet."

"mhm," may hummed. she turned to you, smiling at you in a way that made your heart hammer in your chest. there was no judgment in her eyes but she was still your boyfriend's mom and your mind was thinking of all the things she could point out about you that would have you spiraling. "he treating you right?"

you blinked, not expecting those words from her. you looked at luke for some guidance on what is the appropriate response, but he was unhelpful. he just looked at you with a dopey smile, a small part of him enjoying watching you all flustered around his mom. luke pressed a kiss to your temple.

"come on, mom. you know i do. you raised me well."

may laughed, "damn straight."

"five star here, was nervous to see you again," luke said, making your eyes widen and involuntarily hit him lightly on his bicep. you received a fake 'ow' in return.

"no need to be nervous, y/n," may replied, casting away any doubts you had in your head with a hand on your shoulder. "this one doesn't shut up about you and it's all good things."

you turned to luke, scrunching your face up in glee, "you talk about me?"

he rolled his eyes playfully, "mom, you're embarrassing me."

"that's my job, kid," may shrugged, turning to you again. "he just goes on and on about you sometimes."

"okay, that's enough," he groaned. the band's publicist was calling him over so he muttered a quick "be right back" in your ear before he left you with his mom. luke turned around as he was walking away, "mom, please don't say anything else while i'm gone."

"no promises!" she called back, chuckling as luke shook his head, accepting defeat. may motioned for you to sit on the couch with her for a second while luke chatted with their publicist about their upcoming schedule. she sat across from you, "he's real happy, you know."

you blushed, playing with the throw pillow on the couch, "yeah, camp had a good effect on him."

"not camp," she shook her head, "you did."

when you looked back at her face, you were almost overwhelmed by the sincerity in her eyes. she continued, "i haven't seen him like this since well, ever. it looks good on him, don't you think?"

you agreed, "it does."

"i hope i'm not overstepping here when i tell you this, but when he first told me about you, it felt different," she explained, pausing for a moment as she tried to conjure up the right words to say next, "as a parent, you can feel it when something shifts with your kid. i felt it when his dad left. i felt it when he got the call about the record deal. i felt it when they played their first sold-out show. i felt it when the fame started getting to him. and i felt it when he called me to tell me about this girl who gave him such a hard time at camp."

"yeah, sorry about that," you cringed.

may laughed, placing a hand on yours again, "no, y/n. don't ever apologize for that. something clicked in my head when he first told me about you and it's a feeling i didn't think i'd ever feel when it came to luke. he's the sweetest kid, but he hasn't made the best decisions when it comes to dating."

"having this much freedom and access to the world at his age will do that to someone, i suppose. but when he started talking about you, i don't know. i knew it was different."

"for what it's worth, i feel the same way about him," you said, eyes finding luke's. he gave you a small smile.

"good," she squeezed your hand and got up, "it was nice to see you again. i hope i get to see you at a few shows soon."

"i hope so too."

may gave you one last hug before she made her way out of the cabin, "tell my kid he gets ten more minutes then he has to haul his ass to the tour bus, okay?"

you chuckled, "got it. bye, mama c."

[coolprettyleo]

it's me, hi! I'm the problem it's me! - connor bedard ☆

wc: 1.5k

tw: angst. rooting for the anti-hero. villain arc? self-destructing

ryan leonard x ex! hughes sister oc

connor bedard x hughes sister oc

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

frankie found that the older she got, she never got wiser.

everything happened so fast. she was in the midst of getting ready for her very first appearance with connor in tears. she hadn't spoken to him since this morning when she walked out of the room with her tail between her legs, and she honestly couldn't believe he agreed to do this. she couldn't belive she agreed to do this. I mean, what was she doing? she didn't know if she was dodging a bullet or losing the love of her life.

"can I come in?" she heard her mother knock on the door before opening the door.

"yeah. is this cute?" she asked with swollen eyes as her mother looked at her with sad eyes.

"of course. you sure you want to go through with this?" ellen asked, studying her daughter. she knew she couldn't possibly be okay. she had jumped head-first into ryan, and her daughter normally never did that.

"I don't even know," she said before sitting on the bed and putting her head in her hands as she cried, wondering when the hell her life began to lose all its meaning. before her mother came next to her to wrap her in a much-needed hug.

"you don't have to go through with this if you don't want too. I'll stand behind any decision you make, beautiful," her mom said as she wiped her tears.

"It's just- ryan. mom, I can't believe it's over. I haven't even had time to mourn him; everything's just been so crazy, and it's all feeling really real," frankie said, sniffling as her mother continued to hold her.

"I think you need to communicate this to connor so he doesn't get confused. i also think you need to speak to ryan before the photos drop tonight" her mother told her.

"i know. i just haven't talked to him since we broke up, and I don't even know if he'd answer"

"he loved you a lot. i think he would" ellen told her as she nodded trying to pull herself together.

___

frankie was waiting for the car to come pick her up from the hotel with connor in it. with shaky hands she dialed ryans number and felt her heart in her ass.

“frankie?” Ryan said confusingly over loud music. he was at a party.

“hi ryan” she answered with a deep breath

“what’s going on? are you okay?” he asked worriedly. even though he ended things he knew he’d always still care for the girl.

“yeah im fine” lie. she was anything but fine ever since that night.

“oh, well what’s going on” he asked hoping she wasn’t calling to beg him. he knew he’d give in and saw how amazing she had been doing without him. she was better off.

“i need to tell you something can you talk?” she asked still hearing the music.

“uhm— now’s not really a good time” he said. he was currently at a party with a busty blonde on his lap trying to oh so desperately forget about frankie.

ryan had done the opposite of frankie after the breakup. while she worked till she quite literally dropped, ryan also worked but still found time for hookups. he had actually gone back out that night she left in DC and made out with a girl that couldn’t be more different than the youngest hughes. he knew frankie would lose her shit if she ever found out.

“I really need to tell you this right now ryan” she said desperately as she saw connors text about him being five minutes away.

“why? it can’t wait till tomorrow?” he snapped a bit.

he had been holding a lot of resentment for the girl ever since the breakup believing she was the reason he had to end things. why hadn’t he been enough for her?

“no, because I need you to remember I’m a human being after what you’re going to see tomorrow,” she said with tears stinging her eyes.

he didn’t know what to expect so he pushed to blonde off of him and went to a quieter corner.

“okay. what is it?” he asked not wanting to know the answer.

“I’ve been seeing connor bedard and we’re set to make our first appearance tonight. It’ll be in the tabloids by the morning” she said in one breath waiting for ryan to say something but he hadn’t known what to possibly say to that.

“ryan? please say something” she said in a small voice.

“I don’t— i don’t know what you want me to say. good for you,” he said, feeling like crying, but he wasn’t going to do that.

“i’m sorry. I love you ryan, i do. I think I always will, but I just thought it’d be better to hear it from me.” she said, feeling her tears drop down her cheeks.

“how long have you been seeing him?” he asked.

the question she was hoping he wouldn’t ask. the NDA she and the connors team had come up with said that they’d been seeing each other for the past two months, meaning ryan would think it overlapped with their relationship. she couldn’t tell him that it was fake, so the end really was near.

“we’ve been speaking for two months. but ryan-“

“wait—were you cheating on me?” he asked as she took a deep breath.

“no. but-“

“I can’t believe this. there are no 'buts,' frankie! while I was fighting for our relationship, you had already checked out with another guy? are you serious?” he asked, pissed.

“don’t say you fought for anything ryan. because you didn’t,” she said, beginning to get pissed off.

“yeah, whatever. have a nice life, frankie,” he said with a sarcastic laugh before hanging up.

leaving frankie to stand there shocked. it seemed like Ryan had finally gotten tired of all her scheming. She knew he'd be mad, but she really thought she could some way get through to him. she just felt so stupid because the only reason she agreed to do this whole thing was because she was trying not to lose him for good, but she managed to do just that. even worse.

but poor frankie would always be the girl she's always been. she'd rather stare directly at the sun but never into the mirror, afraid of what she'd see in the reflection. making it exhausting to anyone who cared for her.

"the car's here. you ready?" jack asked, peeking his head into the room to see his sister in tears.

"yeah," she said, wiping her tears as jack looked at her with sad eyes. the exact same ones her mother had given her about two hours before.

"franks, you don't have to do this," he said cautiously.

"I want to," she said, looking at her reflection in the mirror, fluffing up her hair before walking past him. she was done feeling like shit over a guy. It was her time to shine, and her little heart knew it.

___

connor sat next to her nervously, playing with his watch as he tried not to make eye contact with the three hughes that sat across him and were giving him a death stare as they drove to the club.

"relax," frankie said, grabbing his hand and lacing their fingers as she settled it on her lap with a smile.

he turned to look at her as her blue eyes looked into his. it all felt right to him, and he knew this was fake, but something was telling him it could turn into more, and he'd be stupid to not jump on that bandwagon.

"get a room," luke gagged from across them, breaking their little moment.

"shut up. I can still tell the bouncer you're not with me," she threatened as he glared at her.

"still can't believe my baby sister can do that," jack said, chuckling as they laughed.

they soon pulled up in front of the place as her brothers got out.

"you ready?" she asked connor with a smile.

"not really," he answered honestly.

"if you don't want to do this, we don't have to," she said, wanting to make sure he was comfortable. She never wanted to drag him into her little games, and she was afraid this was going to be her biggest one yet.

"no i want to," he said standing up and stepping out of the car as the flashes began to go off. she smiled before accepting his hand and stepped out with the help of connor with a picture-perfect smile.

if the cameras had already been going off, it times that by one hundred. the photographer's fingers never left the capture button, afraid they were going to miss a moment of the newest 'it couple'.

their fingers laced as connor pulled her into the club, not before looking back at her with a smile as she looked up at him capturing the perfect tabloid picture.

[wonik1ss]

౨ৎ mrs. star girl ! — park minju

pairing — non idol!minju x reader song rec : magnetic - illit & favorite girl - vcha & I hate u - moon tang ( 1.0k ish idk ) ! none ᯤ ^ ㅇ ^ happy reading ! ⸝⸝・ᘏᘏ

prompt : one day while star gazing at your fathers lab you see a shooting star.. getting closer.. and closer.. and suddenly you have an alien friend park minju

[day 1018, observation 52]

“click it seems that as the eclipse gets closer star 382 cough other wise known as.. minju is getting brighter”

“anytime I try to zoom in to get a closer look my lenses just break.. 337 to be exact.. from my observations I assume in about five.. days? the star will..” another voice and be heard

“go boom!”

“yes y/n it will combu-“

“oh shit.. the brownies are done I’ll be back dad”. your father nodded and watched as you scurries up the stairs from the basement. you hurriedly grabbed the glove and opened the oven. you blew at the stove and coughed a bit. as you pulled the tray you were pleasantly surprised.

as you placed the tray on the counter something caught your eye. you opened the sliding door to your backyard and smiled. minju.. a few years ago your dad’s observations became actually interesting. with star 382 or minju to make it easier appeared. as the days went on she got brighter. your dad found it silly you gave the Star a gender and name but, let it happened since it meant you actually cared about his discovery’s.

ever since the big fight of 2008 you and your dad hadn’t been in good terms. after the big fight between your mom and dad at four you joined your moms side casting away your dad to the dark shadows of his basement. you and your mom moved away and you hadn’t had contact with your dad in nineteen years. but suddenly your mom cared for you to have a connection with your dad.

this just resulted in you like you are doing right now star gazing while your dad wasted the summer in his basement ‘observing things’. staring at the stars now you wish you could one yourself. maybe then your dad would actually pay attention to you.

you blinked twice.. a shooting star. as you payed down flat on your back your crossed your legs ever so slightly and intertwined your hands together to wish. ‘please get me out of this shit shack.. or atleast give me something interesting to do..’ as you finally opened your eyes they widened.

the star was shooting down.. straight at you ! your mouth ajar, you stunned you just shut our eyes and hoped for the best.

“oof!”

poke poke

you slowly opened your eyes and tries to jump up. to no avail.. you rubbed your eyes. you straightened up and the girl was still on your lap. she examined your face and then poked it again.

poke

poke poke

po-

“would you stop that ! “. the girl blinked twice and stared at your lips.

“w.. what.. what stop?”

“poking me ! “. as you pointed to your self the girl giggled. pinching your cheek.

“language you speak is very funny ! “

“what.. who..”. the girl bit her lip and smiled. she looked back from you and the sky and then took a deep breath.

“im an alien ! my name is.. is minju ! you gave it to me ! I think it’s really pretty !”. as the girl stopped her first sentence she smiled realizing you understood her. she got better as she rambled on. from what you could get she was a.. star girl? her planet went.. boom.. and she was sent out as a star.. she was sleeping for two years before a signal your father sent woke her up and now she finally came down.

“ok.. but why are you.. not like..”

“I wanted to blend in..”. minju smiled. she was wearing a dark denim skirt, a long sleeves white shirt and two twin pigtails.

“looks like you forgot shoes”. you pointed to the girls feet and she sighed.

“I had like five minutes.. then seconds to plan this”. five days.. was five minutes..

“what was that?”

“oh nothing we should..”

“y/n ! “. you and minju’s eyes dashed to your distraught father. now your sitting on your couch with minju cuddled up beside you. your dad sat on the floor scratching his head. your eyes turned to minju. she was would be suffocating your right arm if it could breath.

“let’s.. let’s just get you two to bed..”. your dad ushered you and minju to your room, but as you approached your room you stopped.

“please get some sleep dad..”. your dad nodded, but sighed and smiled as your saw your worried expression.

“yes yes.. just go to bed dear”. you nodded and got your bed ready. click

“I don’t like that human”. you chuckled.

“you and me both..”. as you got settled in your bed you felt a dip in your bed. looking on the floor to the make shift bed you made you sighed and smiled at minju.

“so how.. do you sleep?”. you laughed and then quickly ran through the basics of being a human. minju just nodded along and followed your lead as you both went to sleep.

[day 1019, observation 53]

yawn you rubbed your eyes, maybe it was just a dre-

“good morning love !”. not a dream then.

“love?”

“that’s what she calls her friend in this book of yours!”. you hurriedly got up and grabbed the romance book.

“that’s not..”

“what’s wrong love? I quite like it.. since I don’t know your name is pretty good for a fill in”

“it’s y/n”. minju nodded.

“loves it much better”. you cracked a smile and grabbed both of the girls hands.

“my dad should be up”. you saw minju’s chest rise faster.

“he’s not bad I promise.. you don’t even have to talk to him just sit down and he will.. just help you ok”. minju nodded and then gave you a kiss on the cheek and then left your room. and hour later you left your room ready for the day.

“your still wearing the same thing?”

“oh I took a shower! it only took three milliseconds!”. minju patted the seat next to her and then one finger each side of her temples.

a bowl flew from your cupboard, a spoon from a draw and a ceral box opened. the girl poured some milk and the ceral and smiled as the spoon dropped in the bowl. you jumped. your father jumped from behind the counter smiling.

“she’s our own little matilda!”

“you were right love, father is very nice!”

your has quirked his head and your shakes yours. he nodded and placed some money in the middle of you two.

“I’m going to be busy updating my notes.. you two go out and.. have fun.. but also test minju y/n! “. before your could opens your mouth your dad had ran to his basement.

“arcade”

“what?”

“arcade!”. minju pointed to the space arcade on the ceral box and now you were somehow in one waiting in line.

“you know we could have just stay-“

“two badges please!”. the tired teen age boy handed the badges to you and minju, and minju dragged you to a claw machine.

“is that what you think I look like?”. minju clipped the badge to you skirt pocket and to her’s, and then pointed to the alien girl toy in the machine.

“ya..”

“well we don’t call look like that.. anyways win me it please!”. in the span of two hours you spent all of the coins your dad gave you and your legs felt like jelly.

“you hungry?”

“no I actually make my-“

“well I am”. you grabbed minju’s hand and walked over to the arcades small restaurant. as you were seated minju ran to sit in the booth. you ordered to slices of pizza and a drink and minju looked around star struck.

“father was right this world is very weird”

“I know right”. minju’s eyes darted to yours.

“but your very pretty”. your eyes darted to the table.

“you sure your pretty isn’t different from o-“

“no you very much look like the beauty standard”. minju put her face in your field of view. the food had arrived.

“so what next?”

[day 1020, observation 53]

“ahh ! that.. snort tickles !”. you giggled as bubbles of glitter left minju’s mouth.

[day 1025, observation 58]

“I am not sick !”

“minju your green ! just eat the medicine father made !”

“NO !”

[day 1032, observation 65]

“how is it glowing like that father?”

“well there is a thing called a projecter and it-“

“dad just watch the movie !”

“but it was getting interesting !”

[day 1068, observation 80]

“I like this style thought !”

“you look like a marchine”

“I do not !”

[day 1072, observation 99]

as the days.. turned into weeks.. into months you and minju got closer. physically because she had discovered was ‘cuddling’ was and she loved it, and emotionally through seasons of sad shows and popcorn. minju was reading one of your books and learned what prom was and needed to have one. so here you were applying lipstick for what felt like the 50th time.

“don’t like it if this time”

“but it taste like cherry’s love..”. as minju pouted you messily tried to fix your hair.

“let me help!”. minju jolted up and helped you. as you went to turn around when she was done you were pushed to look forward.

“what-“. you felt a cold sensation on your neck.

“it’s pretty right..”. as you turned around your eyes darted to minju’s neck. a big silver heart with big silver sphere’s supporting it we’re on the girl’s neck. with out a second to waste minju moved you to your mirror.

“it’s pretty right..?”

“defiantly”. as you stated at the necklace you felt a kiss on your cheek.

“pretty girls get pretty gifts”. minju winked at you as nudged her back. you eventually told minju her use of the word love and cheek kisses weren’t normal but she didn’t care. she actually just got bolder with them. from kisses on the cheek to the neck.. from incorrect usage of love to the tilting of your chin upwards to ‘what’s wrong love?”.

you had gotten really close to the star girl..

“girls it’s ready!”. you felt your hand pulled out your room to the backyard.

“wow mr. d this looks so cool !”. during a sad episode of on of your beloved series, minju went to the basement and the next day started calling your dad ‘mr.d’.

there were star shaped lights all over, balloons, glitter and a phone blasting some jaz song.

“now I’ll leave you two teens to your prom!”. your dad winked but you didn’t catch it.

“would you give me this dance..?”. you giggled as minju bowed lending her hand to you.

“ofcourse”. you giggled as you both swayed to the music. minju’s eyes darted from your’s to the floor.

“so this is why you wouldn’t let me into the basement..”. minju nodded and pulled you closer.

“love..”

“yes?”

“why do you think I started calling mr. d, mr. d instead of father?”. you shrugged.

“I never wanted to be your sister after he explained what me calling him that meant”. you but your lip. you didn’t like where this was going.

“why do you think I cling to you?”. you shrugged.

“I’m the only human you know.. other than my dad?”

“No..”. minju stopped dancing.

“why do I sleep in the same bed as you..? get so scared when you get hurt..? hate when you leave me alone..?”

“I-“

“I like you.. like a lot.. not cause your the only other human I know.. but because I actually like you.. I have read a lot of books since I’ve landed.. so I know I’m sure”. your hands dropped from minju’s neck and so did her’s from your waist.

“I.. I… like you too.. I just didn’t want to say it and then the next day you would be beamed home”. minju laughed.

“I would never leave you”. you felt her hands snake around your waist. yours went to her neck.

“love”. with that your heard fireworks. the stars for brighter and you both got closer. as minju kissed you, you shouldn’t help but smile. your little star girl was all yours.

[day 1073, observation 100]

[kousanosgf]

men, minors dni

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾　☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

rogue amendiares x f!reader

after a busy week, rogue finally finds some time to spend with you, though it doesn't go as planned.

tags: sex toys, edging, car sex, outside sex (can't really call it public)

a/n: if you notice any mistakes please remember im stupid and blind when it comes to typos. i also know nothing about english punctuation rules

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾　☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

you can't call yourself a clingy person but there're days when you just need rogue. maybe you woke up from a sexy dream, maybe your ovulation started or maybe the stars aligned and rogue looked particularly stunning that day. and the worst thing that could happen is her ignoring you completely. like today.

you couldn't really blame her, rogue's days have been pact with paperwork, meetings and setting up gigs lately. as much as you tried to stay level headed and don't distract her for almost a week, you couldn't help letting yourself send her couple of whiny messages about how you missed her. so she took a pity on you, promised to spend the weekend together.

which apparently was a fucking lie. "give me thirty minutes and we're good to go", rogue said, when you came find her in the afterlife, and left for her vip booth to join some "business partners". half an hour past but rogue was nowhere is sight and you were becoming more and more irritated. as your patience ran thin, you started bombarding her with texts, voice messages and even got into her office to make couple of steamy pics. you knew no matter how busy rogue is she always reads your messages, even if she couldn't answer them right away. but all that also didn't seem to work.

"if you're not getting your ass in the office in five minutes, i'll go and find someone else to spend the night with", you text eventually. of course you wouldn't do that, and rogue probably knew so too, but you didn't know what else to do cause you were getting frustrated more and more by a minute.

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾　☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

a door to the office slides open, rogue appears in a doorway. as she sees you on the sofa in the corner, she crosses the room in two big steps. you don't have time to react when she grabs your chin, tilting your head up and captures your lips in a passionate kiss, her frame towering over you.

"fucking... is everyone on my ass tonight?", rogue huffs out as she breaks the kiss, still holding your chin. oh, she's mad. her "negotiations", as she called it earlier, probably went to shit, combined with the whole week of stress, you now seem to be in charge of soothing her rage and frustration. but before that you gotta push her a bit more.

"did you get scared someone else would happily take me tonight?", you smile, eagerly waiting for her reaction. and react she does. her eyes light up with dangerous flame. rogue kisses you again, biting your lips, you feel her placing her leg at your knees, pushing them open and dragging it further to place it firmly between your thighs. "dont. try. me", a kiss between every word. "someone's gotta". you think rogue sees red. she turns you on the sofa, belly down, ass up, so the skirt of your dress rides up, revealing a pair of laced panties.

rogue squeezes your ass cheeks, admiring how the fabric moves on your skin. "stay here", she blurts out and leaves you completely. you turn your head to see that she's moved to her working desk, rummaging through drawers. as she notices you staring, she sighs annoyed. "don't move."

you nuzzle into the cushion, smiling in anticipation. you don't know what rogue's prepared for you but the way she bosses you around makes you giddy, ready for everything she decides to give.

finally you feel the seat dip under rogue's weight. she touches you more gently know, a small break seems to soothe her. your breath falters as rogue pulls the band of your underwear and release suddenly, it hitting your skin.

"rogue", you whine, wiggling in her arms impatient. rogue shushes you and you know there's a shit eating grin on her face. she pushes the panties away revealing you wet folds. "always so ready. is it just for me or anyone who's willing?"

"for you", you breath out. you keep your eyes shut, so worked up that everything feels just too much. "really? then what was that text about?" her fingers are cold, her touch sends goosebumps up your spine. you can't focus already, it's impossible when you haven't seen her for a week, left only to pleasure yourself. since rogue appeared in your life she's been spoiling you endlessly and you were very quick to get used to a princess treatment.

a light slap lands on your inner tight. "im waiting". oh right. she's actually waiting for an answer. "i lied, wanted you to come".

another slap. you gasp.

"that's not very nice", rogue sighs like she's disappointed. you don't like it, you want to make her feel pleased with you. "and good girls are nice. are you one?"

"yes. yes. i am." she laughs low at how needy you sound. "mmm. i don't think so, sweatheart." you hear a click, a bottle cap opening. couple seconds later something slides inside of you. rogue pushes your panties back in the place and presses down on the small of your back, "there we go. come on." she lets you turn on your back and fixes your dress while you look at her, confused.

"i don't... what?" rogue grabs you chin again, despite her acting calm earlier, your behavior seems to bring the frustration back. "you've been nothing but a nuisances since you came here. now you gonna take everything i give you and maybe I'll accept it as an apology." she takes out her holo and slides her finger on the screen, a buzz spreads in your hole, light vibrations stimulating you from thr inside. you moan loudly.

rogue moves away, standing up and offering you a hand to help, holo still in the other. you take it, pushing yourself up.

‧͙⁺˚*･༓☾　☽༓･*˚⁺‧͙

you're in rogue's car now, barely holding from touching yourself. you've tried already and got a warning from her. the buzz getting stronger and lighter as she plays with you. your underwear is soaked, the seat under you too, you sure. you can't tell how long it's been, rogue just driving, her eyes fixed on the road, expression unreadable. it's unbearably hot inside, your hair sticks to your sweaty forhead. the car window is cold and acts as a temporary relief but it's just not enough.

you try to call out for rogue but she just shushes you with a mean laugh. "gotta learn patients, baby. im a busy woman, can't always be at your service." you want to say that yes, she actually can, but you bite your tongue cause rogue just increases the strength of the vibrations, holding it, till you're about to cum, and turns off the toy completely.

"almost there, sweatheart." you hear and notice, through your heated haze, that you're beyond city line, entering the badlands. rogue turns the car, leaving the cemented road. if you thought that your day was hard before now you're just in agony, wanting nothing more than for something on your clit to release the tension. the vibrator may be off but it's still inside of you and, oh you see, riding through badlands terrain is just another torture rogue chose for you. you feel every bumb as the car jumps slightly, hitting rocks and bushes on your way.

the car finally stops, the humming of the wheels and motor goes quite. seems like your heavy breathing's the loudest sound you can hear for miles.

a driver's car door clicks, rogue gets out of the car. "out", she orders. and you just can't. you actually try but all you can do is move slightly in your seat, immediately feeling a friction between your legs. a door opens at your side. cool night air of badlands caresses your face.

"i'm sorry", you whine on the verge of tears, the overstimulations turns your brain into goo. rogue's palm on your cheek feels heavenly, you nuzzle into it, shaking from the inside. "oh, baby. look at the mess you've made", her voice sounds soft, gentle. you guess, she decides to drop an act and takes pity on you.

rogue unbuckles your seatbelt and pushes you out of the car. she basically carries you to the front of it, helping you seat on the hood. "did i went too far, babe?", she asks as you feel a hand slip under your underwear to carefully pull out the vibrator. you hold onto her neck, you face in her hair.

"no", you're quick to reasure her. how can rogue even think about being to much when you can't ever get enough of her. especially now that you've been denied for days, she gives you everything you need. "just... really wanna cum".

rogue humms in agreement and kisses your sweaty temple. her fingers move again, finally entering you and you cry out into the night. ideally, you'd ask her to fuck you with a strap, hard, still pretending to be angry at you, but it lies somewhere in the car and you can't imagine letting go off her.

her fingers are firm and gentle, sliping in and out, occasionally leaving your cunt completely empty, playing with your clit. you try to move your hips to her rhythm but she's too messy with it and you're too out of your mind to put much effort.

it doesn't take long for you to finish, the orgasm washes over you, surprising you both. rogue wispers dirty praises into your ear as she helps you ride out your climax.

"that's a good girl", rogue coos as she finally withdraws her fingers completely. "missed you, sweatheart", she kisses you and hops on the hood besind you. her hands tug you into her embrace, you look up at the sky, rogue brought you far enough from the city that the stars a visible. and you just sit there enjoying the moment.

[velvetjune]

Alan Wake 2 Lake House DLC spoilers/review (also spoilers for Control):

Had a lot of fun with this DLC! It’s short (unfortunately expected this), but sweet, although I wish I didn’t watch the trailer for it. It would’ve been amazing experiencing this with no knowledge. As a massive Control fan, I was practically thriving off of all the reading and FBC style. I have some sympathy for fans of Alan Wake who might hate Control, but these games are far more than a crossover by now and moving forward. I can see how this wouldn’t work for people who dislike that.

Personally, Remedy has done well at connecting their stories without it clashing! The AWE dlc for Control was a mixed bag for me, mostly because the story wasn’t really there and the darkness mechanics were bland. This could be because I’m very biased towards Control, but this was a great example of how to merge the settings and traits of both games in an interesting way.

The marital and mad scientist drama was terrible in the best way. I was dying every time one of the Marmonts was “hmmm Wake says we’re going to die horrifically and become monsters, but im personally better than that.”

DR DARLING… <3 He should’ve had more appearances </3

After all the deserved hate directed at AI and producing content rather than art, it was heartwarming to see promotion for Poe. I don’t know the details, but she’s barely been able to release music over the last 20 years (some songs here and there), so having an entire area dedicated to her with links to a (fingers crossed) site about an upcoming Poe project was lovely. Lots of love put towards artists in this.

Ed being there was and thinking he was in an immersive experience was incredibly funny. I’d have to look it up, but was the manuscript page in his room detailing when he was taken HERE and not him dying to taken? Was this DLC happening during the start of aw2 or right before?

I’m in love with Kiran Estevez. She can be judgmental and tries to maintain a level of calm over the situation, but her disgust, fear, humor all shine through in funny ways. Hope that she, along with at least Saga, get to be in Control 2.

Only found this out after checking Reddit (which imo is too harsh over both Night Springs and this DLC), but apparently the Dylan part is skippable. It was SUCH a highlight of this DLC. The shifting environments, the Not-Oldest House, Dylan in the “panopticon” post-Control, etc. was surreal and captivating. Usually with set ups teasers, I don’t particularly care (e.g. the AWE dlc ending was alright!), but man. The way to get it was perfectly strange. Poor Dylan. Just like Control’s “hidden” ending cutscene, this really seems to put Control 2 in the wider NYC.

Having a “person who’s only seen Boss Baby” moment: thought of tma (the podcast) with the tapes, archives, panopticon, all the weird shit. It didn’t influence this game, but I was getting flashbacks to when I listened to it (stopped caring for it, but the first few seasons were fun in a creepypasta way)

I liked the calendar puzzles. I’m not a huge fan of puzzles in games, but these were easy enough to follow without dragging on. however I did spend five minutes confused just because I got Friday and Saturday mixed up :(

The boss fight was easy in story mode lol

Diana brutally killing the taken Jules was one of the only “gross” moments of Remedy’s games and it was great! It’s not much gore, but I’ll take it.

I accidentally pressed the option to instantly destroy (?) the painting :( So im so sorry to Rudolph and I’ll be replaying this dlc soon to see what the other option is.

For my problems, I was sad that the paint monsters were mainly annoying to run from (also they’re cute). I don’t know if it was an issue on my end or a bug, but even once I went to story mode, I still wasn’t finding healing objects until the last fight. The reason I switched to story was only because my low-ish health kept instant killing me by the Painted 😭 Maybe it’s because I haven’t replayed Alan Wake in a while, but this DLC was wildly difficult. If Remedy didn’t add a whole list of assists, I’d be more frustrated, but thankfully it’s there. The map also would keep question marks and loot up even when I interacted.

I prefer the Night Springs DLC, but this was a great look into Estevez, Control, and what art is. Now, Alan Wake 2 is officially done!

[cxvii666]

TENNN I’m doing ur thingy congrats!! <3!!

Name: Haley

Age: 21

Pronouns: she/her

Sexual orientation: bisexual

Guilty pleasure fanfic trope: ngl.. slow burn friends to lovers or like FWB catching feelings

Preferred fandom: bnha (but I just started JJK so lowkey Wtv u want)

Favorite first date idea: art museums and/ or some type of live music

Favorite album: hard ass question but I gotta say Szas SOS

Screen time: 9hrs (yikes)

Live life status: 😔

“your perfect match is...”

... HITOSHI SHINSOU

“moments stolen taste better”

wc: 510

"oh will you hurry up, i swear to god, if we miss the first set-"

"you're the one who spent like 15 minutes reapplying that lip stuff thats gonna fucking wipe off once you eat or drink literally anything-"

you and hitoshi were, i wouldn't say running, maybe speed walking, through the city. for some reason there were loads of people out tonight, probably not going to the same venue as you, but still in the same direction. it was still early. not early in the day, it was maybe around 8pm, but early in the sense that the night was still young. there were overpriced drinks to down, songs to scream, places to go, people to see.

you guys had just left the station after he'd shown up to your place about an hour ago now, tired of waiting for you to call when you were ready 'just gimme another five minutes i swear'. you don't know why he's complaining now when he'd been sitting on your bed controlling the music on your speakers with your phone in one hand, and playing some stupid mobile game on his phone with the other hand. denki had put him on and it had taken up all his attention and he had seemed perfectly content to let you spend an extra 20 minutes or so fixing your appearance.

you lead the way elbows out determined not to miss the start of the show. hitoshi however, seemed to think it'd be super fucking funny to decide that today was the day he wasn't gonna speed off ahead of you with his long ass legs and instead tag behind walking at the literal slowest pace possible.

and yeah maybe you'd spent a little extra time getting ready, but you wanted to look good and that gave him no excuse to be pissy, not when you were the one who had paid for the tickets and invited him out , re spent 20 minutes on the phone that day begging him to leave the comfort of his room and come out with you tonight as your friend had cancelled last minute. he had complained, he had to, a small "no im tired" and a "ugh why are you even asking me, you don't have other friends or what?" but hitoshi was sweet on you so of course, he said yes.

and right now, he was doing his best to rile you up, maybe he had a thing for angry girls idk, and it was working.

"please, dont piss me off rn," you say as he slows down at the crossing for the third time. "there's not even any cars on the road."

"what you don't care about pedestrian safety not very-"

you actually can't take his snarky little attitude anymore, and you grab his bicep and drag him along behind you. he's in shock for a moment like he was surprised you snapped so early on into the night, before snickering and giving into the weight of your arm pulling him through the crowded streets.

HIIIIII!!! i hope you liked this one!!! @twoplayergaymers i think ur really cool and GUYS SHE WRITES REALL GOOD TOO so i hope you like ur pairing 😝

if you wanna be matched next my inbox is OPENNNNN

[v1nsmoke]

𝑷𝑨𝑹𝑻𝒀 𝑲𝑰𝑳𝑳𝑬𝑹 // 𝑺𝑳𝑨𝑺𝑯𝑬𝑹!𝒁𝑶𝑹𝑶 𝑿 𝑹𝑬𝑨𝑫𝑬𝑹

spooktober week 3 - modern au with slasher zoro!

tw: murder, d3ath, g0re, alcohol, can this be taken as yandere?, fire

summary: attending a house party won't be a bad choice, at least that's what you think until something changes the course of the night, and everything turns into chaos.

a/n: phew, my longest oneshot so far! i mean it took almost a week so i was hoping. i just want to say that im trash at writing endings so idk how that turned out, i feel like i fucked it up. also COP SHANKS CAMEO??!?!??! and firefighter Ace too!! LISTEN TO HOUSE OF BALLOONS WHILE READING, IT FITS THE VIBE!!!

first half until the garage scene supervised by lena!

tags: @stargirldelight cause cop shanks appearance at the end ♡ (sorry that i keep tagging u in shanks stuff)

wc: 5.6k

The cafeteria was bustling with people, just the average, daily experience. You munch on the horrid food they serve, the food you always tried to trade with the people who were smart enough to bring their own. You were lucky to have Sanji in your friend group, he always brought a bit of his own, delicious cooking, which Luffy would often steal.

"Here dear, I brought you some of your favourite!" Sanji exclaims, handing you a small portion of your favourite food with a smile on his face.

"Thanks, you're the best!" You take it and immediately dive in, hoping that you won't feel the taste of the cafeteria's food you finished a minute ago. While talking with Sanji, you could feel someone staring, but every time you looked around to check, there was nobody looking at you.

"Okay guys, last night I was thinking." Nami speaks up, now the whole group's attention focused on her as she stands up on the table. "Robin, you already know, I'm talking about what we discussed over the phone." She smiles.

"Just spit it out." Zoro says, losing his patience with the orange haired girl.

"Since it's our last year here together, I was thinking about hosting a big halloween party! And everyone is invited! And I mean EVERYONE. If you know somebody outside this highschool, feel free to invite them! The party is going to be held on October 31st! That's a week for you to prepare your costumes and get ready for the best night of your lives!" She excitedly says.

The whole group and the people present at the cafeteria cheer for her, everyone in on the idea. You haven't attended a good halloween party in years, and when it comes to parties, you know it's in good hands with Nami.

~○~

You walk trough the girl's locker room's door, the fencing helmet held in your hand since it won't fit in your bag.

"Thanks for waiting." You high five Zoro, standing at the entrance since he changed clothes faster. Maybe because he didn't spend a good twenty minutes with gossiping, or more like overhearing converastions going on about some random girl's personal life.

"So, what did they say?" You ask.

"What?" He looks at you bluntly.

"What do you mean 'what'? Oh. So you didn't ask them about the party." You sigh as realisation hits you.

"I didn't ask them about the party." He repeats, almost sounding proud of himself.

"Nami is counting on us!"

"The whole cafeteria heard her, isn't that enough people? Is her house even that big?"

"Even if it isn't, she'll find a way to get all these people together. She's smart, you gotta give her that."

Just then, a guy trying to leave the fencing hall bumps into you by accident. He rapidly looks up, making you notice his strange shaped nose.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to!" He apologises.

"No, don't worry, it's nothing. I was the one standing in the doorway, it's not your fault." You apologise back, picking up his bag that fell from his hands after the impact. He's about to leave, but you call out for him.

"Hey, uh, I was wondering if you could come to my friend's halloween party. October 31st. You in?" You shout, hoping he still hears you. The guy turns around, and shouts back a "sure" in response. "I'll send you the address, I think I have you on Instagram. Bye!"

The guy puts his thumb up and leaves. You turn back, and you're met with Zoro's eyes piercing trough you.

"What?" You ask, seeing he was clearly bothered by something.

"Nothing. Let's go." He sighs and heads towards his car, landing in the driver's seat.

"If you say so." You shrug and follow, getting in next to Zoro. You open your phone, and type in your address into Google Maps so that you won't have to guide him and his poor navigation skills. Sometimes you wonder how he got his driving license.

He stops at your house. You gather your fencing equipment, and step out of the car.

"Are you coming to Nami's party?" You hold the door open so you can speak with him.

"You sure sound very excited about it. I thought you hated parties, the people, drinks and all." He replies.

"I still do. But Nami and the others will be there, at least I won't feel alone. I want to see how it turns out. You still didn't answer me."

"I guess it's worth a try. She will probably buy the expensive drinks, someone's gotta try those out."

"You're saying that because you are an alcoholic, Zoro."

"I know. Bye." He grabs your door's handle and closes it, starts the engine and drives off.

"Yeah... Bye." You say to yourself.

You plop down on your bed, letting your body sink into the soft mattress. Maybe Zoro was right. Maybe you shouldn't go. Parties? You never attended them, the overwhelming amount of people and the disgusting smell of alcohol that would stay on your shirt keeping you away from these events.

But for God's sake, it will be hosted by Nami this time. She was your best friend ever since you started highschool, and she was also your number one supporter from the moment you two met. And now she was going to organise a huge halloween party with everyone invited, there's just no way you wouldn't attend it! Besides, all your other friends would be there, too! Robin or Sanji would definitely let you stick to their sides, you'd be safe there. You've got a whole week to get ready, both your costume and mentally.

~○~

Nami throws another ingredient in the cart, adding to the weight of it, making it even harder for you to push it forward.

"Did you even look at the price of it? Or are you just throwing in everything you see?" You ask your friend.

"We need all these, and I have the money for it. I just can't wait for tonight! This will be the party of the year, and I bet everyone will be talking about it tomorrow!" She exclaims, throwing another bag of potato chips your way. You catch it and place it on top of the heap of other food already in the cart.

"What will be your costume, Y/N?" Nami looks at you as the two of you join the line at the cash register.

"I couldn't come up with anything, I'll probaly go dressed as myself. Not very original, I know." You say as place the groceries on the conveyor belt one by one.

"Hm, I was looking forward to see you in some costume for once, but whatever." She sounds dissapointed, but at least she respects your decision.

After paying the crazy amount of money Nami decided to spend on snacks, you get into her car, heading straight towards her house. A few days ago you agreed to help her set up the party, but didn't expect it to be such a big thing. Sure, Nami was the host, so it's natural that she would plan something huge.

Her keys dingle in the front door's keyhole, and she opens it. Both your hands full with the bags, only being freed after you manage to drop them on her kitchen counter with a sigh.

"What should I help with?" You inquire, leaning on the white marble kitchen island.

"I was only thinking of helping with the groceries and now that's done, but if you're already here, could you put these into bowls? You know where to find them." She motions at the snacks in the grocery bags.

Of course you knew, Nami invited you over more than a million times, you could swear you knew the whereabout of every small item in her house. You open a cupboard, grabbing a bunch of bowls from it.

"I've got some things to tend to, Usopp should be here in about twenty minutes." She waves before going upstairs to take care of whatever she needed to.

"Ayyy! I didn't expect you here! Only here to set things up, or staying for the party too?" Usopp hugs you upon entering.

"Weird to see me here, huh? I'll stay for the party too, though I will probably stay by somebody's side, likely Robin or Sanji, maybe you, we'll see." You hug him back.

"Only an hour before the others arrive, I'm so excited! It's gonna be fun, I promise, and if ya ever feel lonely, find me!" Usopp pulls away and the two of you share your own handshake that took days to perfect.

~○~

The loud music with the same, repetative beat keeps playing from the speakers installed by Usopp earlier today, maybe an hour ago. You didn't expect everybody from the cafeteria to actually pull up, but it seems like you weren't the only one who thought it would be nice to attend a party just this one time. Everybody was there, event those smart students whose daily routine was entirely made up of studying and the quiet kids nobody knew anything about, and they all seemed to have fun. Except you.

You stood alone in the corner of the living room, awkwardly holding the red plastic cup filled with alcohol that you won't drink anyway. Maybe coming here was a bad idea after all.

"Uh, hey." You hear voice behind you, though it was faint since the music was being blasted. You turn around to see the guy from your fencing classes, the same guy that you invited here because Zoro wouldn't do it.

"Hi." You say, your fingers fiddling with the cup as you force a smile onto your face.

"I see you're alone. Zoro didn't come with you? I was sure he would." He starts.

"Uhhh I haven't seen him yet, but the party only started not so long ago, he said some days ago that he'll show up. He's bad with directions and navigation, maybe he just got lost." You explain.

"Oh, alright, if you say so. My name's Kaku. Nice to meet you, I've been watching you during fencing classes."

Zoro's face expressed disgust. Was it worth coming here? He stands still near the doorway of the living room, silently observing the scene currently unfolding on the other side of the room. When he entered, you were the first thing he saw amidst the crowd, but his happiness quickly dissapeared after a guy approaches you. Zoro could recognise him as Kaku from fencing classes, the guy who would always be paired with Zoro (and inevitably lose to him).

He couldn't hear what your conversation was about, the other guests and the music overpowering his hearing. Oh how he hated Kaku. He annoyed Zoro so much, his voice, gestures, everything. And now this man he hated was talking to you. It was supposed to be him. Maybe if he didn't take twenty-two wrong turns, get stuck in a traffic jam AND park his car in front of the wrong house, it could be him. But that wasn't the case right now, because instead of enjoying your company, he stood still on the other side of the room.

It bothered him how you had to force a smile, he could see it across the crowded room, but Kaku standing next to you couldn't. He just kept talking and talking, not noticing the way you were looking in all directions but at Kaku, who didn't seem to care.

"Heyyy, you wanna join me on the dance floor?" An unknown girl comes up to Zoro, pointing at the middle of the living room.

"No." He coldly turned her down, not even bothering to look at this girl. He couldn't take his eyes off you and Kaku, and knew that if the guy tries to do anything, whether it be a romantic or hurtful action towards you, he's going to be there between the two of you in the blink of an eye.

Just then, he notices as Kaku takes your hand into his, the movement making you seemingly uncomfortable. Seeing this, Zoro takes rapid steps trough the living room, squishing himself trough the crowd, his katanas colliding into each other. As he gets closer, he starts to hear you voice.

"No, uh, thanks, I-" you stutter, politely turning him down, trying to pull yourself back to the corner you were standing in.

"Come on, you're supposed to have fun, right? Zoro's not coming anyway, that asshole doesn't care." Kaku chuckles. Zoro deeply inhales. It took his all not to launch at the guy and gut him right then and there.

"No, sorry. I'm not going anywhere with you." You insist, pulling back your hand in hopes of freeing it from his grasp. Your heart was beating faster, and it was definitely not because Kaku's charms. You've already considered all possible outcomes of this. Lucky for you there was a small cupboard with a vase on it next to you just in case of an emergency.

"No way, I'm a nice guy, you know me! I-"

"She said no."

"Zoro!" You smile upon hearing your friend's deep voice, one that you could recognise anywhere. Kaku seems to lose some of his self confidence after Zoro's voice hits his ears, but he still didn't let go of your hand.

"Hey, buddy!" He gives the green haired man a fake smile. This was off to a bad start. Zoro could swear that if this guy called him 'buddy' again, he'll lose it.

"Let her go." He says back, not even greeting Kaku. Instead, he stared into his soul, and if looks could kill, Kaku would be gone by now.

"Alright, fine!" Kaku gets defensive, letting go of you and raising both his hands up like he was being arrested. It looked like he was waiting for a 'thank you', but you sure weren't going to thank him for the bare minimum. Feeling the tension, the guy tries to lighten the mood before Zoro accidentally stares too strongly at him.

"Zoro, buddy, can I invite you for a drink?" He asks.

Zoro nods, knowing that Kaku had no idea of what he just got himself into.

"I'll be back soon." Zoro smiles your way, which is not a rare phenomenon with you, then leaves wirh Kaku following closely behind him, leaving you alone yet again.

~○~

Zoro pours another drink into the cup, Kaku letting out a sigh of satisfaction as he downs it again. Both of them sat at the kitchen counter, drinking up everything they could find. They both consumed the same amount of alcohol, but one of them was definitely drunker than the other. Zoro was an expert at alcohol drinks, and could still stay sober even after an insane amount of drinks. Unlike Kaku. He was deeply drunk by now, just as Zoro expected it.

"Zoro, hi! You're actually here, cool! Though I would be happier if you left your katanas at home." Nami appears, greeting her friend.

"I always take them with me everywhere."

"Yeah, that's exactly why you are banned from so many places."

"Zoro, pour me and yourself another!" Kaku chuckles, his shaky hands holding the cup towards the green haired. Zoro agrees, but when he tries to grab another drink, he notices that it's all gone.

"Strange. I thought you were prepared, Nami." He says.

"I WAS! But you two idiots drank it all!" She shouts at the two, mad that they didn't leave any for the rest of the guests.

"So no more drinks?" Zoro looks over to Nami, earning a sigh from her.

"There is. Go to the garage, I have a few crates of it stored there. Bring those up, but leave some for the others."

"Why do I have to get them? You're the host, do it yourself." Kaku whines, clearly drunk.

"MAYBE BECAUSE I WASN'T THE ONE WHO DRANK IT ALL. NOW GO." she pushes Kaku out of the room, Zoro walking behind them.

He would be lying if he said this wasn't what he was planning all along. The crates in the garage? He knew about it. And he also knew that nobody will be there, all the guests in the living room or one of the guest rooms. He felt a bit bad for leaving you alone, but there were things that had to be done. And it was for your own good.

"Man, I'm telling ya, I would be long gone with that girl if you didn't interfere. Damn bro, I even had some aphrodisiac with me, I-"

Zoro didn't need to hear the rest. His steps slowed down, mind going in multiple directions. Did he just mean you when saying 'that girl'? Did he really want to give you that shit? Kaku may be drunk, but drunk words are sober thoughts, and Zoro knew that. He hated Kaku, but now he snapped. This guy was going too far, and Zoro didn't like the way this crazy dude talked and thought about you.

He opens the garage's door, holding it open for Kaku to enter, and he does so, skipping his way down the few stairs. Unbeknownst to him, he just walked into a trap, one that Zoro has been planning ever since Kaku started making flirty comments towards you during fencing classes, not noticing how you were internally cringing and creeped out by him, but neither of you ever said a word about this. And tonight really did it for Zoro. He didn't invite Kaku for a drink because he wanted to get closer to him. He did it to get him into this drunken state, and made him drink up every drink until there was none left. He didn't need Nami to ask them to get more, he would've done it anyways.

Kaku looks trough the shelves, searching for even more drinks.

"Zoro, you helping me or nah?" He inquires, still looking at the metal shelf.

"Sure. I think I already found one of the crates." He says, carrying a crate filled with whiskey over to Kaku. He tries to hand it to him, but drops it in the process. The glasses break, the alcohol spilling on the floor and Kaku, who is now soaked from head to toe, given that he was crouching when this happened.

"Sorry." There was no remorse in Zoro's tone, but the guy believed him anyways, the drinks doing their thing.

"It's okay buddy, mistakes happen." He smiles, going back to searching the shelf again in case he missed something.

He doesn't notice as Zoro quietly locks the garage's door, trapping the two alone together. He starts searching in his pocket, until he finally gets his hands on the keys to Nami's car, the keys that he stole from the hanger in the hallway. Zoro opens the car's door, sitting down on the leather seat of it, then inserts the key and the engine comes to life with a buzzing sound.

"Ey man, be careful or you'll hit me!" Kaku shouts, still crouching just a few meters away from the car.

"Don't worry. Stay there, and you'll be safe. I just want to test something." He lies, and steps on the gas pedal. The tires of the car squealed on the concrete floor of the garage, which had just enough space for the green haired to roll the car back a bit.

"Buddy, Zoro, no, no, let me just go back, you can try the car when I'm not here." Kaku stands up, ready to leave in this instant.

"Stay put. I'm here to crush your skull, not the car." And with that, Zoro pushes the car's gear, feet forcefully pressing the gas pedal.

A loud thud echoes in the garage as Zoro crashes into the wall, the breaking of bones and coughs ringing with it. Kaku tries to take deep breaths, but now that he was squished between the wall and the car, it seemed impossible. His head was spinning, eyesight hazy, the only thing he tried to focus his eyes on was the man in the driver's seat, staring at him with an emotionless gaze.

Zoro backs up a bit with the car, Kaku falling to the floor with broken ribs. He coughs, clawing at the floor in hopes of being able to crawl away. Zoro opens the car's door, slowly stepping out. Kaku was almost at the few steps leading to the door, when he looks back over his shoulders at the sound of footsteps, the green haired man approaching him.

"No, please, I-" he crawls a bit faster, but Zoro grabs him by the collar of his shirt, pulling him back with force, then dragging him along the cold concrete floor, back towards the car.

Zoro lifts him up, then places him in the drivers seat while he stands at the car's door.

"You're gonna be in big trouble when I tell the others about this." He manages to whisper between coughs, his own blood filling his mouth.

"They won't." And with that, Zoro steps on the gas pedal, quickly pulling his leg back after doing so. A deafening scream pierces trough the air, the car running into the wall yet again, the metal shelf between the two objects breaking right trough the windshield, the end of it sliding trough Kaku's head.

The car sparks at the impact, the alcohol spilled there by Zoro previously catching fire. Was the crate drop a few minutes ago intentional? Yes. Yes, it was. Now the car was in flames, the already dead Kaku stiff in the drivers seat.

Zoro calmly grabs a crate filled with beer from the other side of the room, and makes his way towards the door like nothing happened. He doesn't look back, letting the car burn with Kaku inside it. The whole garage was made up of concrete walls, which cannot catch or spread fire, meaning that Nami's house won't burn down if he leaves the fire to be.

He leaves the room, striding back to the kitchen. Just as he was about to leave the hallway and enter the living room, Nami comes rushing to him.

"Zoro! What took you so long?! We heard loud noises, I was getting worried that something happened to you!" She scolds him.

"I didn't know you could do that." He coldly replies, earning an eyeroll from the ginger girl, who noticed something.

"Wait, where's the guy who went with you?" She asks.

"Oh, Kaku? He told me to feel free to come back, said he wanted to try something. He should be here soon." He lies straight to Nami's face.

Nami shrugs, about to go back to the middle of the party, when she suddenly stops in her tracks. Her nose picks up an unkonwn scent, or more like smell.

"Zoro, can you smell it too?" She asks worriedly, turning back to the swordsman. "Smoke." Realisation dawns on her, eyes going wide. She rushes out the room, a curious Usopp and you behind her. "You're coming too!" She shouts back, clearly meaning Zoro. So, he follows them.

The grey smoke filled the hallway as they got closer to the garage, Nami already suspecting what happened. Usopp bursts trough the garage's door, letting out a few coughs along with Nami and you. The room was filled with smoke, the orange haired girl's car still in flames, it was only a matter of time before it gets worse and the car explodes.

"SOMEBODY HELP! WE NEED WATER! CALL THE POLICE AND FIREFIGHTERS!" Usopp screams. Nami and you nod, running back to warn the others and call for help.

Now Zoro was left alone with Usopp, who was panicking, taking fast and deep breaths to calm himself down.

"You, Zoro? D-don't you feel l-like doing something about this?" He shakily asks, eyes on the green haired man.

"I already did." He answers. Usopp slightly scrunches his eyebrows, not quite understanding what he meant.

"What are y-you trying to say? You're creeping me out a bit, you know." He takes a tiny step back, Zoro looking at him with a colder, more menacing stare than usual.

Usopp swallows hard, feeling uneasy after Zoro doesn't give him an answer.

"Zoro, you... you didn't, right?" He nervously chuckles, but Zoro still doesn't move or say anything. Usopp realises that he's in grave danger here, and it's time for him to run. But just as he turns around, ready to sprint back to the living room, he hears as Zoro unsheats one of his katanas. Usopp grabs a vase, throwing it right towards Zoro, who simply cuts trough it.

"This can't be real, this can't be real, this can't be real!" Usopp murmurs to himself, shutting his eyes for a few seconds. But when he opens them again, Zoro's gone. Or at least that's what he thought, standing up, letting out a deep sigh at the fact that he won't die.

"Sorry. No witnesses." He hears the deep voice from behind, the blade making contact with his upper body. Usopp looks down, and is met with the sight of Zoro's katana going trough right his heart. He sees as Zoro pulls out the blade from his flesh, a hole left in its place. He coughs, blood spilling from his mouth before landing on the flooring beneath him with a thud.

Zoro's hands were now stained with his friend's blood, the crimson liquid staining Nami's floor and his katana's shiny blade. He had to get rid of the body quickly, before you, Nami and all the others return with the cops. So, he grabs Usopp's dead body by the legs, dragging him to the burning car in the garage a few steps away.

You panic, dialing 911 as fast as possible while Nami ushered everybody out the house before something else catches on fire too, or the flames reach the wrong spot of the car and it explodes. But Usopp was down there, trying to put it out with the buckets from the storage room. Or at least that's what you thought was happening.

"911, what's your emergency?" A female voice chimes in from the other side of the line, one that you could recognise.

"Uta, hi! Nami's car got caught on fire in her garage, and she said somebody was there too, it can explode any minute, Usopp is trying to put it out but I'm worried for him, I-" you dump all the information on her, but she calmly cuts you off.

"Alright. I'll ask my dad to go, he'll bring some of his colleagues too, so him and some firefighters will be there in a few minutes."

"Thank you. Bye." You shake, worried for Usopp and Zoro at the garage. Uta puts down the phone, and you do the same as you rush back to the garage to get the two out of the house.

You cough as you get closer, Usopp and Zoro nowhere to be seen.

"ZORO! USOPP! COME ON, WE NEED TO GET OUT!" You shout, hoping they will hear you. You slow in your track when you notice the splatters of blood on the floor and wall a few meters away from the entrance of the garage. Did something happen to them? You think for a second. Maybe the fire wasn't caused by accident. Maybe somebody set it on fire intentionally, killing the person Nami said was there. And now he maybe got one of your friends too.

"USOPP! ZOR-" you call out their names, when suddenly the green haired man appears in the garage's doorway.

"Oh god, you're alright! Look, we need to get out of here, the police, firefighters and ambulance are already on their way, there's nothing we can do about the fire now. And I might sound stupid right now, but there might be even a killer, and-"

"There is. Now come with me and get out of here." He cuts you off and grabs your hand, heading to where you just came from.

"But Usopp-" you try to stop yourself, but Zoro keeps dragging you behind him.

"He'll be fine." He replies, not even looking at you.

"You know what he's like, we can't just leave him here!" You argue back, slightly raising your voice.

"There's no time for him, we need to leave, now."

"No!" You tear your hand away from his. "He will panic that he's alone, or worse, he can die too! Don't you think about that?!"

"I do, but I don't care. I don't care if that fool dies, but if I don't get you out of here and you die because of me, I'll never forgive myself." He lifts you, throwing you over his shoulder, firm hands keeping you in place. You squirm, trying to get out of his touch, but it seems impossible.

He bursts trough the door, then places you down at the front yard. The other guests were either gone the moment they heard there was a fire, or watched in horror as the smoke flowed out the house. Just as you step on the sidewalk in front of the house, the sound of cop cars hit your ears, that same deafening sound as all the other times. Firefighters and ambulance arrive at the scene too, jumping out of the vehicles in an instant. You rush towards one firefighter, the black haired, freckled guy you were friends with.

"Ace! Ace, one of my friends is still inside, please, try to find him and get him out." You beg, tears forming in the corner of your eyes.

"That's my job, sweetheart. Don't worry!" He reassuringly winks, running toward's Nami's house.

You knew Ace since childhood, you both went to the same school and your moms were good friends, so you got to hang out with him a lot. He loved going on adventures, and was a good company. He always dreamt of being a firefighter, and it was like a dream come true for him when he got the job. You knew that he will be great at this job, and you trusted him. When he told you not to worry, you believed him, there was something about your friend saying this that calmed you down a bit.

"Hey, you alright?" Another familiar voice sounds from behind you, his hands placed on your shoulders. You turn around and see the red haired man with scars over one of his eyes, worry displaying in his eyes. You couldn't hold your tears anymore, this was it. You wrap your arms around him, face buried into his chest, sobs escaping your lips.

"It's okay, it's okay. You'll be fine." He hugs back, bringing a sense of comfort to you. Shanks was the usual friendly cop, the one who would always be there when an old lady called the police because her cat got stuck on a tree, the man who would knock into your home just because he was bored and wanted company. You knew him, his little secrets, and he knew yours.

~○~

The rest of the night you sat in Shanks' cop car, a blanket over you after a doctor checked up on you and it was all okay. You were devastated. Ace and the doctors did everything they could to save Usopp, who was found dead in the garage, stabbed. The other victim was Kaku, who died under mysterious circumstances. There was definitely a killer, but nobody knew who it was. Though you did have your suspect. And you could only wish you were wrong.

The last time you and Nami saw Kaku was when he was with Zoro, but Nami said that the two went to fetch drinks and Kaku stayed behind, so maybe that wasn't Zoro's fault. But it was also him who stayed with Usopp, he was last seen with him. And the fact that Zoro carries his katanas everywhere, including this party, and Usopp getting killed by a blade just fit together. Why would he kill Usopp? You had no idea.

Everyone got questioned one by one, and sadly all clues lead to Zoro according to Benn, who was Shanks' colleague. You didn't know him like you knew Shanks, but you would meet him often. He was smart, and knew what he was doing. And that's why you were so worried. Because he is likely right this time too, and that means Zoro, your best friend is a murderer.

You see as Shanks approaches his car where you were sitting, a serious look on his face.

"Is something wrong?" You quietly ask, worried that something happened, something wrong.

"I'm sorry. I really am." He says as he sits down in the back next to you, looking in a direction. You follow where his eyes are focused, and see what you didn't want to. Zoro in handcuffs, escorted to a police car. A tear escapes you, it hurts to think that your friend is a killer. You didn't know his motives, why he did what he did, but he probably had a good reason.

~○~

Life went smoothly. The image of that night was still vivid in your mind, but you forgot about it so often that it was almost like it's gone. You would still sometimes dream about it, but other than that, you were fine. Shanks was worried that you will be targeted after this, so he offered to take care of you and live with him if you want. You have been living alone ever since you were 15, and you knew Shanks well, so, you moved in with him. He has been acting as your father figure ever since, and you totally don't mind it.

You would sometimes still wonder: why did you do it, Zoro?

one piece and all related characters belong to eiichiro oda, i do not own any of those characters.

© v1nsmokes 2023. Do not modify, translate or rewrite.

[beetheyapper]

40 Instances of Chaotic Academia in My First Semester of College (YAY!)

I've had this cooking for months now, so I hope it's somewhat enjoyable. If you don't think these things are chaotic academia, I would like to firstly make it clear that I am a student at a university pursuing a degree in English, so everything I do at school is kind of inherently academic. Some of these, though, I admittedly am just sharing because I find them funny or ironic. Yay for entertainment!

This list spans my entire first semester of college, so it is quite extensive and I've hidden it with the cut. If you decide to look through, I hope you can get a giggle out of my agony. Thank you for your time <3

Chatting eagerly with my creative writing professor as she moved to the next class she had to teach—she was probably slightly annoyed by my presence, but willing to humor me as we climbed down flights of stairs—about my desire to be a writer and professor like she is. I want her job. I want it badly.

Hanging out and studying on the Quad (a plaza of sorts in front of the campus's main library) and getting acorns THROWN AT ME by a squirrel

Writing an entire essay as I was attacked by the aforementioned squirrel. The style of essay was inspired by Ross Gay's novel, The Book of Delights, which I read for my creative writing class, and yes, the squirrel was discussed.

Reading a passage from my American Literature homework aloud to my roommate to see if maybe she could grasp what the fuck it was saying. I gave up on this reading after pouring over it for about twenty minutes with only the slightest comprehension. (I hate the puritans)

Entertaining myself after my roommate has gone to sleep by watching video essays

On that topic, finding a video essay that I wholeheartedly disagreed with, and was moderately peeved by, and still watching it until the end.

Cutting up an old Van Gogh-themed calendar and using the images as wall decor.

Hanging a poster print of The Kiss by Klimt on one wall in our living room, and across from it is an awful drawing I made of "Micarus."*

This one is kind of just chaotic and sacralige, but the magnet hanging on our fridge of what appears to be an ai-generated (I know, I know. It was in Five Below, okay?) image of Jesus dunking a basketball. On it are the words: "He Is Rizzen"

My inability to refrain from writing the most attrocious run-on sentences

Having about 15 tabs open at all times on my laptop. It's astonishing that it hasn't crashed on me yet (someone knock on wood for me please—none of the wood in my dorm is real)

Joining the only student-run publishing press in the country in prose & poetry editing and acquisitions. IM HAVING SO MUCH FUN.

Having friends over for my 19th birthday and making them play Clue because it’s my favorite board game. Then, after everyone went home, going to the club with my older sister just to dance

Spending all of my dining dollars on coffees and teas to sip on and get me through study sessions/morning classes

Writing an essay at a football game because I’ll be damned if I miss it but I’ll be even more damned if I fail a class

Going to the library to study only to get absolutely nothing done because I accidentally spent the entire time rambling

Cranking out a wonderfully-written, two-page essay in an hour the day it's due only to FAIL because I accidentally submitted it as a .docx instead of a .pdf and my professor took FIFTY PERCENT OFF for that.

Going out to coffee with my American Literature professor because not only is it an extra credit opportunity in the class I bombed the essay for, but also just because I want to talk about literature

Watching an entire video essay breaking down "Nature" by Emerson as I do my makeup before class

Acting like a victorian child dying of the plague because I got an upper respiratory infection that lasted like two and a half weeks.

Using one of the shelves in my closet to hold my books because I unfortunately do not have an actual bookshelf

Having four seperate items related to Edgar Allen Poe. I love that sad freaky man

Having Daisy Jones and the Six in between The Picture of Dorian Gray and Pride and Prejudice on the aforementioned “shelf”

Getting myself a journal from a local bookstore that looks like a fancy hardcover edition of The Great Gatsby

Stressing over my American Lit midterm and studying with two friends for it at a local coffee shop for like six hours.

Having to make a dramatic video inspired by a verse of “Song of Myself” by Walt Whitman. I made it the day it was due 🙂‍↕️

Going the ENTIRE semester without my glasses because I couldn’t find them, then finding them my first day home for winter break.

Going out to the gay bar with my friend, sleeping over at her dorm, and then binge-watching the entire Hobbit trilogy the next day as we analyzed all of the differences between the films and book

Attending a “gala” on a whim, not realizing it was being hosted by the local ballroom dancing group. i showed up tipsy and overdressed

Constantly complaining about the architecture of the buildings on campus because there’s one that looks really cool and has a lot of intricate architectural elements, and then the rest are mediocre

repeatedly visiting the oldest building on campus (which has been turned into a museum) not only for the history and aesthetics of it, but also partially just to hold the sword

changing my autocorrect settings so that my acronyms turn into (roughly) shakespearean english. (example: “omg” becomes “O, by mine own holy grace!”) i did this for no reason other than I Thought It Would Be Funny. my actions plague me to this day.

repeatedly pondering changing my minors (so far I have gone world lit -> creative writng -> creative writing + latin -> creative writing + world lit)

making tomb stone decorations for halloween of famous gothic/horror authors

a continuation of the previous one, accidentally writing "Bram Stroker" instead of Bram Stoker. who stroking they bram rn

sitting in a coffee shop and writing fanfiction that I will never publish on ao3 purely for my own enjoyment. i should have been studying

talking to random french people** about literature and poetry even though i was supposed to be talking about something else

trying various new coffee shops around town because i'm a freshman and i'm trying to find the spot

telling myself i was going to set aside an hour every day to read (in an attempt to finish the many books on my tbr) and failing after like two days

quoting (from memory) "The Raven" by Edgar Allan Poe verbatim to my boyfriend in the middle of the night because we were holding a flashlight under our faces like kids telling ghost stories

*Micarus was born from a discussion about Icarus between me and my roommate. She accidentally said "Micarus," and after a shared chuckle at the thought, followed it up with "Mickey Mouse when he flies too close to the sun."

**for my french 102 class I had to do a few "TalkAbroad" sessions which is essentially just a zoom call with a french speaker of your choosing

[pettal00beaine]

Detention - Snape x inocent!reader smut

reader is described as a female, and is in hufflepuff

a/n- idk what possesed me to write this but this is so dirtly yall, im thinking abb turning this into a series but idk. Also its my second post thats an actual fanfic, so hope yall enjoy

MINORS DNI

(Y/n)  (L/n) was discribed as a inocent, kind and soft girl. She had (h/c) hair that ran along her pretty face, (e/c) piercing eyes and a curved, bouncy and round body every boy wanted to touch. Even though she doesn't even know that boys have genitals.

She wasn't given the talk when she was younger and for certain she was discribed as a sparkly ray of sunshine at all Hogwarts. She was a Hufflepuff and was excellent in many classes, greatest being Herbology. 

She was often praised a lot from proffesors. She was the one who earned Hufflepuff many points through the years. But there was one class she wasn't a fan of.

Potions. Lead by non other than Proffesor Severus Snape. He never spoke about the girl, but was strict to her at times when she got a few measurements wrong in her potion. One time instead of healing a frog she turned it into a pigeon. Nobody was really surprised though, her patronum was a pigeon after all.

 But aside from some little incident there weren't tragic mistakes she had made. Until today at class. They were supposed to be making Amortentia, a very powerful potion. But with one slight bump of her classmate she managed to add half a bottle of peppermint oil into the mix resulting in her desk being flooded by the messy jelly like substance. And with one glare from Snape she knew what was going to go down . 

"Five points from Hufflepuff. Miss Glitheard you have detention here later today., at the end of all your classes. Everyone stop experimenting, Miss (L/n) clean this mess up." And with a sigh that left her mouth she begun cleaning the mess. With her head down for the rest of the day she completed all her classes and went to change her robe before going to her second detention at Hogwarts. 

The first one was in Astronomy when she broke a crystal ball. But she just had to clean the whole class of dust and that was it. Plus Ms. Sinistra added five points to Hufflepuff for her hard work. But she didnt know what Snape was like. With one final deep breath she opened the large door of the potions classroom. 

There sat Snape right in the front of the classroom writing onto some papers. He looks up and says: " Oh Miss (L/n) you finally appeared go on and sit down , and dont make a peep." She sat in the way back and put her bag onto the table. After about five minutes she felt bored and started to get pretty tired so she laid her head onto the desk letting herself dream into her sweet dreams of candy. 

(Snape's point of view)

I finished signing all of my paper on grading the fifth year students. And looked up to spot Miss Glitcheard quietly sleeping on the desk. I started to get mad at her actions and took my wand with me and started walking to her desk. I stood there before slamming my wand against the end of the desk letting little sparks fly out of the end. She got startled and fell to her knees right in front of me and looked me straight into the eyes.

I couldn't help but feel excited. "Oh my Merlin im so so sorry Professor Snape!" She quickly tried to get back onto the chair but i pushed her down with my right hand. " W-what ar-are you doing P-proffesore?" she asked as she looked at me inocently and blushed a deep red color. She wasn't lying she really didnt know what was about to happen.

 " Do not move a muscle." At that she sat still as i walked to the door, i pointed my wand at the doorknob and in a deep voice said: "Colloportus." 

With that i turned around to look at her looking at me. I slowly walked over to her as she turned her hair to look at the floor. I moved my wand across her jawli and moved her head up to look at me. "Proffesor my knees hurt, can i please sit on the chair?" 

"No. You are to remain here until i say so and until im satisfied." I said as i tapped my wand against her small but plump lips." Do you know what mens genitals are called Miss (Y/n)? Hmm?"

 "N-no sir i dont i swear. My mama said thats not good. So i dont know." 

She's telling the truth. This is going to be fun, a smirk is already forming onto my face as i look at her eyes. " You can sit down now." She obeyed as she sat down, i quickly made my way over and sat beside her. I started stroking her thigh and rubbing her robe.

"Its a little hot in here isn't it Miss?" 

" A bit." She said. 

I started taking of my robe revealing the pants and pullover that i had underneath. "Why dont you get comfortable yourself Miss?" She looked at me shily before removing her robe reveilng the sweater, tie and dress shirt. Her skirt was relatively short, i could see her chubby thighs. On the were the cutest pair of thigh highs i had ever seen. They were thick considering it was chilly outside and had adorable little pumpkins on them. I could just take them off one by one. But ill be patient. "Tell me Miss do you know what an erection is?" She shakes her head no.

 "Well, an erection is a hardened male genital or so called penis. Its caused by a male getting aroused by sexual tention." She lisened carefully as i suggested: " Would you like to try giving me an erection Miss.?" She looked shoked, she started getting teary eyed and shed a few tears. I cupped her cheeks and wiped away the tears.

" Oh Miss im sorry, whats wrong? " She looks at me with a quivering lip, "Momma said thats for bad people i dont wanna be a bad person mama will be sad." " Oh no deary its only bad if its forced but you want this, dont you Miss Glitcheard?" she looks patheticaly at the ground as i sense her thinking, maybe some old giving in will do the trick. 

I lean in close to her ear as i wispered:" Not even if i give some pathetic points to hufflepuff? Hmm? Wouldn't you like that little Miss?" And at that she looks at me and with a frown quickly nods her head." Alright then,lets get started. Get down on your knees infront of me." 

She obeys my orders as i move the chair to the side. She sits right in front of my legs. I started to move down the zipper on my pants revealing my white boxers. I slowly reach my hand into them as i take my huge cock out. She looks at it with wonder her eyes growing larger .

 "Its already half erect and leaking precum. Go on and put it into your hands Miss." She then slowly took it into her soft hands and squeezed it a little bit."Oh my Merlin that feels soo good. You see those ball like testicles under? You need to squeeze them gently." As she reaches down i cant help but feel excited, than i saw that my cock had twitched now fully hard.

She looked at it in surprise before slowly squeezing my heavy balls. It felt like i was in heaven. But i knew what would make it even better. " Do you see that mushroom shape? I want you to put it in your mouth." 

She looked at me so innocently as she opened her mouth, slowly taking in my tip. As she started to suck on it like a lollipop, it felt as if i was in heaven. I then pushed her head further as i heard her gag and choke, i looked right into her eyes as i saw tears flowing onto her cheeks. 

I tried to reach out to wipe them away as she started to gurgle and tap my thighs violently. I let her go to breath air as she started caughing. After a few seconds i took her back onto my cock, this time i felt i was close so i started to pound into her mouth. 

My balls slapped away on her jaw as she choked. "It'll be over soon i promise, just a few seconds more." I saw her eyes roll back into her head. She looked so fucking hot like that. I soon aproched my goal and for the last time i held her head down to my pubes. 

Her hands violently hit my thighs and her eyes had closed, knowing she was going to pass out i pulled out. I closed her mouth with my hand as i said: "I want you to swallow it all, or else you get punished." She shook her head no and moved back, as soon as my hand left her face she spitted out my jizz leading to a few coughs. 

She looked at me sadly as i just looked at her with slight anger for spitting my load out. " Im sorry i couldn't do it, it was too yucky and salty." "You think that its disgusting huh?" She shook her head yes. "You really are spoiled rotten. You think you can just spit it out like that huh? It takes time for me to make it happen you know. Do you understand that?"

She looked at me with eyes blowing with tears.

" Y-yes i do. Please dont punish me i wanna be a good girl, not a bad one. Am i a good girl sir, am i?" Her lip wobbled as she said that. " Right now your a really bad girl. You wasted what i gave you. And you will get punished. Now bend over the desk." She shook as she got onto her legs and took a few steps, she laid onto her stomach on the table. 

I put my cock back into my pants and walked behind her. I put my hand onto her hips as she shook a bit, trying to look over her shoulder. I then put a hand under her skirt and took it off with one swift motion along with her underwear.

 I kept her thigh highs on though, she looked so hot in them. I then took my wand into my hands and said ill give 10 spanks to your pussy, you will count each one, if you miss one i will start again. Understood?" 

"Yes i undertand sir." She said cutely.

I then so sudenly bought the wand down to her right cheek, making her jump in suprise.

"One!" She yelped. I made sure the second smack was a little more near her cunt.

"Two!" She yelped yet again. I had a smirk on my face as i continued the abuse on her cheeks. 

On the last slap she was crying so beautifuly, while i was rubbing her wery sore cheeks so it would hopefuly relieve some of the pain.

"You were good my sweet little dove, you deserve a reward dont you now? How about 30 points to hufflepuff? Hmm, would you like that?"

"Yes thank you Proffesor!" She said with a cute smile, as always.

"How about i bring us some tea darling, would it make you feel any better?"

"Yes Proffesore, with honey please!"

"Of course sweetheart." Oh how i love her.

[vilevenom]

This was longer than I meant it to be, lol. I present, the next fic for the "Hello My Old Heart" series! It is pretty much a direct continuation from the previous fic, and that is completely unintentional. The brothers get to meet their new nephew! Enjoy! ❤️

Of all the trolls to find out about Sky's hatching first, neither John Dory nor Hickory had expected it to be Viva.

They were descending the hill after having packed up the remains of their picnic, and collecting what they could of Sky's shattered shell (John didn't know exactly what he was going to do with it, but he knew he wanted to keep it. It was a memento, after all). John had tucked Sky into his hair, only for the trolling to decide it was a much better idea to try to stand on the edge of his fathers goggles to try and catch the glow bugs that were floating around the area. This, inevitably, ending up with John's goggles sliding down his face and the trolling to tip forwards into open air. John yelped, Hickory dropped their basket, and Viva suddenly appeared to catch Sky before he could fall more than a couple of inches.

"And who is this?" Viva cooed at the trolling, who blinked owlishly at her, before clapping enthusiastically with a laugh of glee.

John shoved his goggles back into his hair, letting out a breath of relief, while Hickory flopped bodily onto the ground while clutching at the front of his vest.

"This is Sky," John said, watching as Viva moved the baby into the crook of her arm to tickle at his belly. Sky burst into a peel of laughter, kicking his feet and swatting at Viva's hand to no avail.

"He's barely five minutes old, an' already tryin' t' kill his parents," Hickory groaned from his spot of the ground.

Viva paused in her tickling to gape in surprise at John Dory, who smiled sheepishly, before she looked back to the baby in her arms who waved at her happily. "OH MY GOSH!" she squealed, bringing the baby up to her face to nuzzle his nose with her own. Sky screeched happily, patting at Viva's cheeks. "Hello! Welcome to pop village! I'm your aunty Viva!"

"He literally hatched, like, five minutes ago," John admitted, moving to help Hickory back to his feet.

Viva lowered the baby from her face, Sky letting out a whine of protest. "Wait, really? Does that mean I'm the first to meet him?"

"And hold him," John said with a nod, holding his hands out to take his son back, wiggling his fingers in the air.

"An' save 'im from getting hurt," Hickory added with a snort, scooping his hat up from the ground before picking up their picnic basket and blankets. "What're ya doin' out here, anyhow?"

"Oh!" Viva said with a light laugh, handing Sky back to John, the baby whining and making grabby hands in the air at her at the switch. She cooed at Sky, but shook her head at him before turning her gaze back to his parents. "Branch and Poppy are on a date, so I told Branch I'd do his patrol for him tonight. I guess he goes around the edge of the village every night to make sure all of his traps are in working order. Poppy said I didn't need to, but, y'know. Just cause it's safer here, doesn't mean I don't still think precautions are good to have."

"You sound like Clay and Branch," John snorted, turning Sky in his arms and holding him up to blow a raspberry onto his belly. The baby squealed loudly, batting at his father and nearly kicking John in the face for his trouble. John grinned as he peppered kisses to Sky's face, the trolling smacking at John's cheeks and giggling wildly at the attention.

"Well, I mean, they're right," Viva scoffed with a grin, "So I'll take that as a compliment."

"As you should," Hickory agreed with a small nod. He shifted the items he was holding so he could reach over and run his fingers through Sky's hair as John settled him in his arms, the baby yawning widely. "But, I reckon this was a lot a' excitement for him, already. We should get 'im home."

"Aw, yeah, the little guy looks sleepy. Was getting out of your shell tough? I bet it was," Viva cooed at Sky, wiggling her fingers at him. He babbled at her, reaching out for her, only to let out another yawn and snuggle into John's chest.

John chuckled, nuzzling his nose into Sky's curly hair. "We'll start introducing him to everyone tomorrow, probably. I don't think we can keep him to ourselves for very long."

"Oh, yeah, no," Viva laughed, shaking her head. "If you don't start telling people, I will. Poppy is going to freak out and want, like, a million pictures. You should see the scrapbooks she somehow already has with all of Bruce's kids. SO many."

"I bet," John said with a lopsided smile. "Thanks again for catching him, Viva. I think hair rides are gonna be off the table for a while."

"That's probably for the best," Viva said with a grin, waving as she turned on her heel. "Congrats, you two! I'll see you tomorrow!"

"Wait," Hickory stepped forward, a look of concern on his face, "What time? Viva?!" He grunted as Viva disappeared into the woods, looking unimpressed. "We better get some sleep tonight. Someone's gonna be bangin' on our door at the first sign of sun."

"Yup," John said, popping the 'p'.

~

Hickory had been correct when he'd predicted getting woken early in the morning, as there was rapid knocking on their door nearly as soon as the sun was above the horizon.

John sat up with a grunt, Sky whining from his bassinet at the side of the bed, little arms and legs flailing in the air at the disruption to his slumber. "Hey, hey," John cooed, blurrily getting up from bed to scoop the baby into his arms to try and settle him. Meanwhile, Hickory rolled over and buried his head under a pillow, letting out a string of what John could only assume were German curses at whoever was at the door.

"I guess I'll get it then," John said with a snort, shuffling to the door and opening it to squint into the light that poured into the pod. Sky let out a sound of distress, his hands quickly covering his eyes as he tried to hide in his fathers arms.

"OH MY GLITTER!"

John grunted again as Sky was scooped out of his arms by a bright pink blur that he assumed was Poppy. His eyes were still fuzzy from sleep, and the bright light of the sun wasn't helping. He rubbed at his eyes once his hands were free, frowning lightly at the Queen of Pop currently holding his kid, and his youngest brother who looked mildly uncomfortable behind her.

"Good morning," John grumbled sardonically, arching an eyebrow at the two on his doorstep.

"Hey. Uh, sorry," Branch muttered with a slight wince, "Viva told Poppy about the baby last night, and she didn't listen to me when I told her we should probably wait until we were at least invited over."

John shrugged, unabashedly yawning in the Queens face and stretching, before gesturing for the two to come inside. "It's fine. Hickory and I figured this would happen."

Poppy bounced into the pod happily, Sky looking less than thrilled in his aunts arms as he rubbed at his eyes and whined, a tiny little frown on his face. Branch followed shortly after, shutting the door behind him to help block the sun back out of the pod. Hickory poked his head out from the blankets to glare at them from across the pod, muttering something in German under his breath.

"Don't mind him. He's really not a morning troll," John said with a snarky grin, blowing a kiss at Hickory as the country trolls glare was directed at him. John yawned again as he began brewing coffee, largely ignoring the queen and his brother. If they were going to visit at the ass crack of dawn, they were not going to get a very hospitable John Dory, he'd decided. They could deal with his half awake awareness.

"He's so cute, JD!" Poppy cooed, giggling as the baby frowned at her, obviously still only half awake himself. It would seem he took after Hickory and his aversion to mornings.

"He'll probably be cuter once I feed him some breakfast," John said with a light laugh, holding a mug up towards Branch and arching a brow.

"I'd love some coffee, thanks," Branch said with a short nod, moving to sit at the kitchen table as Poppy set Sky into a high chair that had been set up in anticipation a couple of weeks ago. The baby smacked at the little tray table in front of him, letting out a loud whine of disapproval as Poppy stepped away from him.

"Awww. Who's a grumpy little goose? It's Sky," Poppy sing-songed to the baby, poking him gently in the nose. This caused Sky to pause, confusion on his face at being poked. He opened his mouth to, presumably, let out another disgruntled whine, only to squeak as a spoon of baby food was shoved into his mouth. He blinked in surprise as John pulled the spoon free, a confused burble leaving him as he swished the baby food around in his mouth.

"See? Already an improvement," John said with a grin, handing Poppy the jar of food and spoon. "Since you woke him up, you can feed him."

"That's fair," Poppy chirped, pulling a chair out from the table so she could sit in front of Sky.

John chuckled as he watched Poppy make swooshing noises with each spoonful of food, pretending it was a flyer bug as she fed Sky his breakfast. He quickly got over his initial grumpiness as he was fed, excitedly slapping at the tray and babbling at Poppy as she fed him.

John figured she didn't need supervision after the first couple of bites, turning back to the coffee. "How do you want it?" he asked Branch, pouring his own cup first, laden with a heaping spoonful of sugar.

"Just black is fine," Branch stated, giving his brother a short nod of thanks as a mug was passed over.

John let the sounds of Sky and Poppy fill the room for a minute, quietly sipping at his coffee, before he sat himself in the chair next to Branch and gave him a pointed look. Branch looked startled, sitting up straighter in his seat at his brothers attention. "Well?"

"Well…what?" Branch asked, confusion plain on his face.

"Your nephew," John gestured towards the baby, who was wearing a significantly larger portion of his breakfast than he had been a moment previous.

"Uh…he's cute?" Branch offered, still looking confused.

John stared at him blankly for a moment before sighing heavily. "You're not good with kids, are you?"

Branch looked offended for a moment, before hunching his shoulders slightly and looking embarrassed. "I mean…I taught Keith how to ride a flyer bug, and I took some scouts out camping a couple of times. That all went well."

"But no experience with babies?"

Branch sighed, rolling his shoulders. "I mean, not really, no. No one exactly trusted me with their kids until relatively recently. I was a pretty steadfast recluse, after all."

John nodded a little, then rose back up from his seat. Branch watched him with curiosity as he grabbed a cloth from the counter, before sweeping over to wipe Sky clean of the baby food that had been smeared across his face. Sky swatted at John as his face was cleaned, whining loudly as his breakfast was interrupted. John cooed at him, tickling him briefly once he was clean, earning a bright laugh from Sky. "There we go," John hummed, freeing Sky from his high chair. Now both Poppy and Branch were watching him curiously as he moved back around the kitchen table. He nodded at Branch, who slowly set his coffee mug down, now looking more confused than anything. He made a high pitched sound of distress as John deposited Sky into his arms without a word.

Sky stared up at Branch with wide eyes, absently sucking on the fingers of his right hand as he observed his uncle.

"Uhm…hello?" Branch offered, stiff in his seat as he held Sky awkwardly in his lap. John simply chuckled at him as Branch shot him a panicked look.

"Just relax, Branch. He's not gonna bite you. And even if he did, he doesn't have any teeth yet."

Branch simply swallowed thickly as he turned his gaze back to the baby in his lap. Sky continued to stare at him for another moment, before a grin broke out on his face. He pulled his fingers free of his mouth and began to babble at Branch happily, waving his hands about excitedly. Branch looked alarmed as the baby flailed in his arms, glancing up at Poppy, only to find her holding a camera and happily taking photos. "Poppy! Help," he pleaded quietly, only for Poppy to shake her head at him with a grin.

"No way, Branch. You need to bond with your nephew! Plus, pictures," she waved the camera at him, giggling and snapping another photo as Sky finally wriggled enough in Branch's hold to be able to reach out and smack his drool covered hand to Branch's cheek.

Branch jerked, but was mindful enough of Sky to not drop the poor kid. He slowly turned his face to look down at the baby, who laughed at his expression, his clean hand reaching up to pat at Branch's other cheek. Sky squished Branch's cheeks gently between his hands, babbling happily at his uncle as Poppy snapped photos.

"I'm gonna need copies of all of those," John hummed from beside her.

"Oh, of course. Wallet size, even."

Branch made another sound of distress as Sky smeared his drool covered hand across his face, twitching to try and duck his head away from the baby. Sky let out a sad sound of disappointment as Branch pulled his face away, making grabby hands in the air as his uncle maneuvered him so his back was to Branch, not allowing for the baby to reach for his face easily again.

"Aww, c'mon, Bitty B. He was having fun," John said with an easy laugh, moving to sit again, now that the show was over.

"Again, it's Branch. And if anyone is Bitty now, it's Sky," Branch grumped, watching with intent as John picked the jar of baby food and spoon back up. "What're you doing?"

"Feeding my kid?" John stated like it was obvious. He offered a spoonful of the food to Sky, who clapped, before eagerly taking it into his mouth.

"Hey! Shouldn't he go back in his chair?" Branch asked, tugging Sky back so the baby was leaned against his chest as John fed him.

"Why? He seems comfortable in your lap. You're not gonna drop him if he gets berries on your legs, are you?" John asked, glancing up at his brother briefly, before feeding Sky another spoonful.

"Obviously not. Isn't it just safer for him to be in his chair for this, though?"

John snorted quietly, pulling the spoon away as Sky tried to grab at it. "We used to feed you while you sat in one of our laps all the time, B. Your favorite was usually Clay, because he'd bounce you around after you were done eating. Which usually resulted in you throwing up on him about half the time…But you loved it."

"Wait…really?" Branch genuinely looked surprised, which hurt John Dory to see. His brother shouldn't be in his twenties, only just learning about things he did as a baby.

"I mean, yeah. I had to do extra laundry because of it, but you were having fun, and we usually fed you extra when you sat with Clay, so it wasn't too big a deal."

"Oh," Branch breathed, glancing down at his nephew, who managed to grab John's hand and tug the spoon towards his mouth. He caused a fair bit to fall onto his fur, but cooed happily as he ate the spoonful and released John's hand. He must have noticed Branch's stillness, as he tipped his head back to look at his uncle upside down curiously. He made a sad little noise, reaching up to pat at Branch's chin.

"Awww. He thinks you're sad," Poppy cooed, snapping another picture.

Branch offered the baby a small smile, bouncing him gently in his lap. "Thanks, bud," he chuckled, earning a bright smile from the baby.

"See? He's not so scary," John said with a grin, laughing as Branch shot him a glare.

The rest of breakfast went on without much fanfare, outside of Poppy acting as Sky's own personal paparazzo. Eventually, Hickory dragged himself out of bed to join the others, half hiding behind his coffee mug until the caffeine hit his system and he stopped muttering half coherent German phrases under his breath.

John sighed, leaning back in his chair to watch his youngest brother gently bouncing his baby in his lap. It was a little surreal if he was being honest with himself. He'd never imagined he'd have his brothers back in his life, let alone ever have a kid of his own. But, here was was, witnessing Branch forming a bond with his baby. He cleared his throat before he could let his mind wander too far, sitting up and earning the attention of everyone in the room (aside from Sky, who grumbled in irritation as Branch stopped bouncing him). "So! Does anyone know where Clay and Floyd are this morning?"

"I think Floyd has a doctors appointment? To check on the health of his hair. The white is mostly gone now," Branch said, jiggling his knee to bounce Sky again at the baby's insistent low whine.

"And Clay is with Viva! They're working on building a golf course at the edge of the village. He's definitely already going to know about Sky," Poppy said with a bright smile, finally tucking her camera back into her hair.

"Of course he is," John chuckled lightly, getting up to take his and Branch's mugs to the sink, "And he's going to be too polite to come knocking down our door at sunrise." At that Branch looked embarrassed, while Poppy simply continued to smile brightly at him. John snorted at Poppy's unabashed reaction, shaking his head fondly. "Right, well, I'm gonna get dressed. You good holding Sky for a few more minutes, Branch?"

Branch looked alarmed as John began to walk across the pod, only to visibly relax as Hickory scooped his son up from Branch's lap. "It's alright, Branch," Hickory grinned, popping Sky onto his hip, much to the baby's delight, "I got 'im. Can ya'll go see if you can wrangle Floyd into goin' to the golf course to meet us? I don't right fancy draggin' Sky all over hells half acre on his first day on this green earth."

Branch almost looked relieved as he stood from his chair. "Yeah, we can definitely do that."

"Awwww, but baby," Poppy moaned, getting up from her own seat. Her frown didn't last long as she skipped over to Hickory, tickling Sky to garner some shrill baby laughter. "Whose a cutie? It's you," she cooed at him, laughing as Sky flailed in Hickory's arms.

"Okay, Poppy," Branch said with a light laugh, reaching out to tug his girlfriend away, "Let's go get Floyd. I'm sure he'll be excited to meet the baby, too."

"Yeah, okay," Poppy begrudgingly sighed, wiggling her fingers at Sky one last time, before bouncing after Branch to the door. "We'll see you guys later!"

Hickory shifted Sky on his hip so he could take the baby's hand and wave it at Branch and Poppy, much to Sky's confusion. Poppy stopped and clutched at the front of her chest with a elongated "aww", forcing Branch to practically manhandle her out the door. Hickory chuckled as Sky burbled at him, bouncing the baby slightly on his hip.

"I think his cuteness may be weaponizable," John hummed as he came up behind Hickory and Sky, wrapping his arms around them both.

"Very well likely," Hickory agreed, turning his head to press a kiss to John's cheek.

~

Getting Sky to the construction site of the golf course was a minor ordeal.

The kid did not want to wear clothes. Which, although technically not a real problem, John was not keen on the idea of Sky going without at least a diaper. He was not a glitter troll, after all, and he didn't much fancy having to deal with a potential accident while they were out. Somehow, between himself and Hickory, they managed to wrestle Sky into a diaper, and a pair of overalls.

And then there was the trip over, itself. Since hair rides were out of the question, John carried Sky on his hip. Because of that, he was on full display to the entire village as they walked through. And, not that Sky didn't seem to love the attention, but it felt to John like they were being stopped every five seconds by a new troll to congratulate them and greet Sky.

Finally, though, they made it to the edge of the village where the construction site was. John muttered a quiet, "Thank all that is trolly," as they walked up to the site and weren't bothered by any of the fuzzlings that were milling about or working.

"That was definitely a bit much," Hickory agreed, "I don't think I will ever truly get used to how chatty pop trolls are."

"You being a man of such few words, yourself," John teased, hip chucking Hickory gently with the side he wasn't holding Sky on.

"Hush, you," Hickory chuckled as he stumbled to the side, catching sight of Viva as he did and giving her a wave. "Prepare yerself."

"Oh, I am prepared," John snorted, though he still winced as Viva jumped over the little barrier around the construction site and hollered at Clay to come to the front entrance.

"Hello again!" Viva chirped happily as she jogged up to the new family, waving both of her hands enthusiastically in the air. She then ducked to be on the same level as Sky, wiggling her fingers at him as he waved an arm happily back at her. "And especially a BIG hello to you, sweetheart!"

"Yeah. Thanks for sending that wake up call over this morning. Appreciate it," John stated sarcastically, earning a bashful grin from Viva.

"Sorry. I was excited! And so was Poppy. At least I managed to convince her not to bother you until the morning! She wanted to go over last night," Viva said as she stood up straight, Clay jogging up behind her.

"Hey! I expected you guys sooner," Clay greeted as he stopped next to Viva, earning an eye roll from John Dory.

"Yeah, well, it's slow going when everyone in the village wants to stop and chat," John said with a shrug.

"Don't you thrive on attention, John? The walk over here should've been a dream for you," Clay snarked, before his eyes landed on Sky. He visibly lit up, holding his hands out and wiggling his fingers. "Lemme hold him."

If John Dory rolled his eyes much more around Clay he thought they may just fall out of his head, but he smiled all the same and handed Sky to Clay. "This is your uncle, Clay! He used to be fun, but now he's a boring old man," John said with a grin, chuckling as Clay stuck his tongue out at him.

"I'm not boring. I'm serious!" Clay sniffed, only to coo happily at the baby as he propped Sky on his hip. He then immediately began pulling faces to make Sky laugh.

"Oh, yes. So serious," John snorted, shaking his head, before looking around. "Hey, we told Branch and Poppy to send Floyd over here to meet us. Have you seen him yet?"

Viva began to shake her head, only to perk up and point over John's shoulder. "Oh! There he is!"

John and Hickory turned to find Floyd walking towards them without his cane and waving enthusiastically. "Hey, guys!"

"You don't have your cane!" John cheered, waving back with a wide grin.

"Congratulations! You look like yer doin' a heck of a lot better," Hickory added with a grin as Floyd made it to them.

"Yeah, I am! The doctor said she's been really impressed by my progress. Anyway, Poppy said you guys had a surprise and I needed to get over here as soon as I could?" Floyd asked, only to gasp as he caught sight of the trolling on Clay's hip. "Oh my goodness, is that-?"

"His name's Sky," Hickory offered, while John gestured for Floyd to go to Clay.

"He's so little," Floyd crooned, hurrying over to Clay and taking the baby as he was offered. "Awww! I remember when Branch was this little. Such a sweetie."

"He reminds me a lot of how Branch was as a baby. He's been taking really well to all of the attention, and being passed around like a hot potato," John joked, "Nothing like you or Clay. You only ever wanted to be carried around by Bruce, and Clay just hated being picked up at all."

"That's good. I can only imagine that when he gets to finally meet all of his cousins that they're going to want to carry him around," Floyd hummed absently, letting Sky play with his fingers.

"Yeah, I think we'll be keeping Bruce's kids from carrying him around until he's older. Not that I don't think they'd try to be careful, but I very much witnessed a couple of them playing tug-of-war with Bruce as the rope, so I'm not too sure," John said with a nervous laugh, Hickory chuckled next to him and gave his shoulder a comforting pat.

"We decided, before Sky hatched, that we were gonna stay put in Pop Village for a while. Give the kid some stability. So, we won't be visitin' Vacay Island anytime soon. We're gonna send Bruce an' Brandy some photos, and a letter, though" Hickory said, reaching into John's hair to pull out a camera. "You lot up for a little photo shoot?"

~

Bruce had been expecting the letter. He'd expected it about a week prior, however., but it was better late than never. And to say he was excited to open it was an understatement.

"Brandy, my love," Bruce called, jogging across the bar top and waving the envelope over his head, "We got a letter from John and Hickory!"

"Oh!" Brandy set aside the plate she'd been holding and leaned down on her arms to meet at Bruce's level, giving the purple troll a quick kiss on the cheek as he reached her. "Is it about the egg?"

"I think so," Bruce said, practically vibrating with anticipation as he tore open the envelope. He unfolded the letter quickly, nearly dropping a handful of photos that were tucked neatly inside, but managed to catch them before they could fall. He tucked them behind the letter as he read, a grin forming on his face. "The have a boy! He hatched a week late, but he's health and happy. His name is Sky," Bruce relayed to Brandy, as the letter was just a bit small for her to read herself.

"That's such good news," she offered with a soft smile, "You'll have to go visit sometime soon."

"Gosh, yeah," Bruce hummed, moving the photos to the forefront of the papers in his hand so he could look them over. The photo on the top of the stack was of the new family, John Dory and Hickory waving at the camera, while Sky was in John's arms trying to catch a flutter bug and not paying a lick of attention, which made Bruce laugh before flipping to the next picture. The rest of the stack were various pictures of his brothers with the baby, either smiling happily, or making goofy faces at the camera. Right up until the last photo, which was a candid shot in what Bruce believed was John and Hickory's kitchen. It was of Branch, with Sky in his lap, the softest smile on his face as the baby had his head tipped back with his hand on Branch's cheek. Bruce couldn't help the sudden tears that welled in his eyes, turning a watery gaze to his wife.

"Oh, no," Brandy said, standing to her full height and shaking a finger at Bruce. "I know that look all too well, mister. Thirteen is more than enough."

"But, babies are so cute," Bruce whined, waving the photos at Brandy, "Just look at him!"

"Nope. I am immune," Brandy said with a shake of her head.

"But, my love-"

"Don't you 'my love' me. I don't care," she started, only to pause as she caught sight of the photo of Branch and Sky. She leaned in and sighed quietly. "Okay, that is pretty cute."

"See?! So…" Bruce wiggled his eyebrows at his wife, earning an eye roll.

"…We'll see."

[anniesocsandgeneralstore]

here to stay | rhett abbott x oc

Summary: Tessa and Riley go to the rodeo. Rhett invites them to go to the bonfire after. (wc: 7062)

Warnings: possible rodeo inaccuracies (im trying my best), royal abbott makes an appearance, rhett being flirty, flashbacks, alcohol mention, background ocs

✎……PREVIOUS CHAPTER || MASTERLIST || NEXT CHAPTER

The Amelia County Fairgrounds were always busy the night of a rodeo. With not much else to do, residents of Wabang paid five bucks a ticket to come watch cowboys from all over compete for the grand prize in their category — and the chance to move on to the next stage in the season.

As one of the main draws for the town, the rodeo coordinators made sure the place looked nice. Bulb lights strung up around the concessions area and outdoor riding pit. Turned on long before the sun went down and kept that way long after it set. Concessions were always well stocked with the usual fair commodities; deep fried anything and nachos mostly. Any kind of souvenir you could think of was available at what was most likely a jacked-up price. Sweatshirts and stetsons, big belt buckles and necklaces on twine for a bit of Western flair. And of course, they made sure every event was easy for those out-of-towners to find. Pole bending and barrel racing in the barn pavilions on the east side — bull riding and calf roping in the main arena. 

The fairgrounds were teeming with life by the time Tessa paid for her ticket and walked inside. A sea of cowboy hats and trucker caps weaving amongst themselves. Getting their popcorn and trying to decide what events to watch. Tessa smiled, taking it all in for a moment. The loud chatter and country music, smells of deep-fried Oreos and leather. It had been so long since she was able to go to a rodeo. Her work schedule was so busy and on her days off she usually had personal chores that needed taking care of. 

Not tonight, though. Tonight, she was at the rodeo without a worry in her mind. And it felt relaxing in some way, despite the noise and the energy of the place. A smile overcame her as she weaved her way through the people, toward the funnel cake stand.

She knew without a doubt that she would beat Riley there. No matter what her friend did, she was always late. Didn’t matter the pre-planning or promises to be on time or even early. But she always showed up — even if it was fifteen to twenty minutes late every time. Maybe Tessa would get a funnel cake to occupy her time.

But as she walked, hands shoved in her Carhartt pockets, she bumped into someone. Her shoulder knocked into their arm, throwing off her balance. A hand shot out to steady her. 

“Oh, m’sorry!” she apologized immediately, looking up into their face. 

It was Royal Abbott. All hard lines and furrowed brows. His goatee beard greyed and hiding a frown. Hat pulled low over his brown eyes that looked down at her now with an expression she couldn’t quite read. She could see Rhett in him clearly, even more so now than when they were in high school. They held that same kind of quiet, that same kind of hardness. For a moment, as she looked up at him wide-eyed, all she could think about was Linda’s story — but then it quickly faded from her mind. Because that’s all it was. A story. 

Royal let go of her elbow with a grunt.

“No problem. How’s your dad doin’?” he asked courteously, voice a rough gravel low in his throat.

Tessa was taken aback. She didn’t think he would remember her, much like his son. She also didn’t think he would remember her father’s surgery a few years ago. But then again, the ranchers of cattle and horses alike in Wabang were a tight-knit group. Chatting at feed stores and bars, sitting down over cups of coffee at Odessa’s with hats on the table and dirt under their fingernails. Hard-working men, each and every one. 

“He’s like a new man since the knee replacement,” she replied with a small grin.

“Glad t’hear it.” Royal glanced around the rodeo grounds. “You still doin’ any racin’?”

“Nah, I quit after high school.”

“Shame, y’were good.”

Tessa didn’t know how to respond to that. And never did. Everyone in Wabang always said that. That she was good, that she shouldn’t have given it up. But just because she was talented didn’t mean she wanted to do it forever. She had other goals she wanted to achieve. And riding in rodeos every weekend, traveling all the time, would have prevented her from doing the things she really wanted to do. There were more important things than blue ribbons and curving barrels. She didn’t want that to be her life.

“Well, good t’see ya, kid. Tell y’r mom and dad I said hi.” Royal patted her on the shoulder with a closed-lip smile. “Have’a good night.” 

“Thanks, you too,” she said. 

Then he walked away, towards the trailers where the bull riders liked to hang out before their appointed time slots. Tessa’s heart seemed to skip a beat as she watched him for a moment. Right. Rhett would be here tonight. He might see her this time, give her a wave or even a smile. She wanted to slap herself. 

Now that they what? Talked once? Jesus Christ. It was like she was suddenly fourteen again and going weak in the knees at the mere sight of him. She was better than that. Had grown past that. They were adults now. It didn’t matter that he was still cute and it didn’t matter that her stomach was no filled with the flapping of wings. She wouldn’t fall for it again. It hurt too much all those years ago to let it.

Tessa shook her head and got in line for funnel cake.

After tearing through nearly a fourth of the deep-fried fair food, fingers sticky, and lips covered in powdered sugar, Riley finally arrived. Bumping into her friend’s shoulder from behind with a grin. Riley looked as beautiful as ever. No need for makeup that she never wanted to put on anyway. Hair dark and curly, laying on her shoulders softly. She stood nearly a head taller than Tessa, confident with shoulders back and a smirk on her face. They laughed and embraced, Tessa trying not to get funnel cake everywhere as they swayed from side to side and spouted their I missed yous. It really had been too long since they were able to see each other.

“I jus’don’t see why ya recommended this whole book series t’me for her t’not end up with Dara,” Riley said as they headed east towards the barn pavilions.

Tessa held up the funnel cake between them so they could share. “Because it’s good. I like her’n Ali together.” 

“It is good — but…Dara could’ve at least stayed!”

“Did ya cry?” Tessa questioned with a small smile.

Riley looked straight ahead, eyes narrowed. “Maybe a little.”

“I was ballin’ m’eyes out after I finished the last one.”

“‘Course you were.” Riley smiled as they passed by the trailers used for hauling bulls. “At three AM?”

“You know it,” Tessa laughed.

And she was about to go on, tell the story of how she sat and stared at the wall for a good ten minutes before she could go on with the book’s epilogue, when she ran directly into a solid chest. Her face smashed into their torso, now empty funnel cake plate clattering to the ground. The liquid heat of embarrassment licked at her cheeks as she stumbled back a bit.

How many people was she going to run into today?

“Sorry! I — sorry, I — I thought y’saw me,” a quiet, low voice rumbled out as a hand grabbed her elbow to steady her. 

Tessa knew that voice. Had heard it only a few days before on the front porch of the Boy’s Home. That sting and that thrill ran through her like a dam was just broken — the river rushing down her spine as she looked up into his face. Rhett Abbott’s face. Eyes big and blue, darkened by the fading light. A small smile quirked the corner of his mouth. He wore green plaid and his riding vest, chaps slung low around his hips, and stetson perched on his head. He somehow looked even better like this. In his element. Rough and ready — the dirt kicked up from the pit already clinging to his sweaty face.

How many Abbotts was she going to run into today?

“I-I didn’t. Sorry,” she finally managed to answer, clearing her throat as she looked down at his boots.

Rhett ran his thumb over her bicep before letting go of her arm. “S’alright. How ya doin’?”

Tessa glanced over at Riley. Who stood off to the side looking between the two of them with raised, intrigued brows. She had yet to mention that she talked to Rhett a few days before. That she suddenly remembered her crush and her heartache and just how handsome he still was. That he smiled when he said her name and it made her heart race just like when she was fourteen.

That she felt her heart beating wildly at that very moment as she looked back up at Rhett. No. She wouldn’t act like she did back then. In school when it felt like if anyone even so much as looked at her she wanted to die. Retreating in on herself as self-preservation, taking no risks, staying invisible. Tessa knew intimately the kind of regret that could grow from that seed. They would talk for a few minutes and then move on with their lives. It was just like talking with anyone else. 

“Good.” Lifting her head, she smiled — and he blinked at her, his own grin only growing. “Had the day off n’Riley invited me. Should be fun.”

“Good, good…” he trailed off, fingers fidgeting with the frays of his chaps.

“You? How you been?” she asked, remembering her manners.

“Fine, jus’workin’.” Rhett wiped at his mouth, as he shifted his weight. “Um, I’ride in about an hour…If ya wanna watch.”

“‘Course! Wouldn’t wanna miss local boy Rhett Abbott ride,” she laughed and he looked down at his feet. “Just gonna catch a bit’a the barrel racin’. Used to do that in — “

“I know,” Rhett said, something sincere and open in his face. “I — I remember.”

No matter how much she didn’t want to feel it, she couldn’t stop the sweet burn of being remembered in some way from piercing her heart.

“Well, uh — see ya in an hour, I guess.” Tessa grinned, inching away towards Riley so they could start walking away from him and away from the building heat in her chest. 

“There’s gonna be a bonfire. After. Out in the east pasture. You — “ He glanced at Riley and blinked hard as if suddenly remembering she was even there. “You guys should come.” 

The fire crackled and burned, flames licking at the inky black sky. Smoke rose in ringlets and danced up, up, up to the stars. Ashes landed on her lap — the final resting place of the logs used to fuel the flame. In the darkness just beyond the fire’s light, young people mingled and danced to the portable radio someone had brought. Drinks were passed around. Stories and laughter were shared. And Tessa stared into the flames, unable to look away even though her face felt like it was burning hot.

Really, she just didn’t want to see Rhett Abbott or the girl he had walked off into the woods with.

She knew, deep down somewhere, that there was never any chance. That he would never notice her. Who was she kidding, getting her hopes up? Why would he take any interest in the quiet girl who preferred horses to people and sat alone at bonfires — too afraid her drunk friends would get out of hand for her to even drink? But no matter how much she tried to think logically. About him being none-the-wiser and how she could barely speak two words to him anyway. Her heart still ached. Tears still built in her eyes, smearing the roaring flame into blurred shapes of orange and yellow.

What she wasn’t willing to admit to herself, however, was that she didn’t care that it was Rhett. That it was Olivia Barlow who had taken his hand with a soft giggle and a bit lip smile. That they were probably off in the woods swapping spit or more. It didn’t matter that it was Rhett and it didn’t matter that it was Olivia. It just wasn’t her.

Because really, in her heart of hearts, Tessa just wanted to be wanted. 

And that was all. 

“We’ll think about it,” Riley answered for them with a closed-mouth smile. “Come on, we’re gonna miss the racin’.”

Then she took Tessa’s elbow and pulled her away. Scooping up the dropped plate as she went. Tessa looked back at Rhett one more time, who had turned to watch them leave — expression unreadable. So much like his father. But his blue eyes shone like gems in the dying light of day.

“The hell was that?” Riley questioned in a harsh whisper, tossing the paper plate into the nearest trash bin. 

“I don’know.” Tessa shrugged, funnel cake suddenly wanting to make a reappearance. 

“Y’r face is givin’ you away. Y’re all red.” 

With a groan, Tessa told her friend the whole story. About the clothing donation and Rhett not remembering her and their small conversation on the porch. How it was nice and she didn’t think much of it besides how pleased her inner fourteen-year-old self felt. And by the time her tale was finished, Tessa going over their parting words, they had entered the barn pavilion where their high school graduation was held. Only now it was filled to the brim with a captive audience, barrels set up on the show floor, and a young girl on a black mare curving around them at high speeds.

“That’s it — so, I’don’know, I’guess we’re friends now?” Tessa felt like she was shouting, struggling to be heard over the crowd as they cheered on the racer. “S’just one conversation.” 

Riley took the lead in going up into the stands. They sat down at the end of a row with a good view of the show floor. The black mare and her rider had just finished, the girl waving to the crowd as she trotted off back into the stables. Her smile was small and tight. Tessa looked at the scoreboard, and it made sense. She only ever smiled like that when she didn’t do as well as she wanted, too. 

“Up next, Addie Zoglmann from Deadwood, South Dakota!” the announcer spoke over the crackling speaker. 

“Well, he clearly doesn’t wanna be jus’friends with ya,” Riley said, eyes focused on the barrels getting reset for the next rider. 

“What?” Tessa blinked owlishly at her. 

“Oh, com’on, Tess, seriously? Could literally see the hearts’n his eyes.” 

“We talked once!”

“Yeah, n’ he finally realized y’re beautiful n’ kind n’ smart an’ve been here the whole time.”

Heat pooled in Tessa’s cheeks at the compliments, barely believing them. “Shut up. Y’ve been readin’ too many romance books.”

“At the very least he wants in y’r pants,” she muttered. 

“Riley, oh, my God! He does not!”

“He does too. Could see it clear as day. ‘Cause, ya know, I had’a front row seat t’that — “ She gestured in front of herself. “Whole interaction.”

The heat only grew, spilling down her neck as she hid her face in her hands. The announcer called the next rider’s number and she blasted out of the chute, hunched low over her horse’s neck and spurring her on even faster. Rounding the first barrel with ease.

“Was it really that bad?” Tessa finally mumbled quietly through her fingers. 

“S’like a fuckin’ train wreck. Couldn’t stop watchin’.”

“Oh, God.”

“And Jesus Christ, too,” Riley added. 

They both laughed, Tessa drawing her hands away from her face. She didn’t know if she fully believed what Riley said. That Rhett looked…Interested in her. To her, it just felt like a slightly awkward conversation between acquaintances. Not even friends.

Did she want him to be interested? Did she want him to look at her with hearts in his eyes and like he wanted to get in her pants? If anything, it was most likely the latter. She knew about his reputation. Mostly from the rumors that Laney liked to gossip about. The buckle bunnies and the drinking. But Tessa knew to take any story that Laney brought up with a grain of salt. Or a lot of salt really. The grapevine in Wabang did wonders or criminal offenses to a person’s reputation. And sure, maybe he did sleep around and maybe he did drink a little too much, but she could see good in him. Something quiet but earnest. So different from the boy she was infatuated with in high school. Now he was a man she barely knew and had spoken with twice. How could she possibly know if she would want his attention? 

But the attention he had given her so far felt nice. Felt like she was special. An anomaly he couldn’t quite figure out but was determined to do so. It felt something like being wanted.

What she still so desperately craved. Even after all these years, even after so much growth. She still looked at her sister’s relationship with a pang of envy. She still looked at her coworker, alone and bitter, and feared it was her fate.

She still yearned to be wanted — and to want in return.

A few more riders shot across the show floor. An impressive display of power and speed as they turned sharply around the barrels, trying to do it faster than everyone before them. The energy of the pavilion, the crowd, the event on the floor — it was electric. Everyone cheered loudest for the local girls. All of whom Tessa knew, some even from her days on the rodeo team. Screaming their names and stamping their feet on the metal stands.

But Tessa and Riley couldn’t stay to watch first place get her ribbon. Addie Zoglmann from South Dakota. They had to start making their way over to the main, outdoor arena in order to catch Rhett Abbott’s ride. She said she wasn’t going to miss it. And Tessa liked to keep her word.

“You think we should go t’the bonfire?” Tessa questioned as they walked, paying extra-close attention so she wouldn’t run into anyone else.

“I don’know. Wadda you wanna do?” Riley asked back as she popped a piece of gum in her mouth. 

“Not make a decision right now.” Her answer was honest, delivered with a sighing laugh that made her friend affectionately roll her dark eyes. 

“Yeah, alright.” Riley added another piece of gum to her mouth. “We’ll go f’r a minute, check it out, at least. Please y’r lil’ lover boy.” 

Tessa made a face. “Ugh, don’call him my lover boy.”

“Jus’ callin’ it as I see it,” she laughed.

“Yeah, well, he’s not so…” Tessa trailed off, looking south to the riding pit and the rodeo clowns herding the bull back into the pen. 

It was just a joke. Tessa knew that. But it didn’t stop something from aching deep in her chest.

“But he could be,” Riley pointed out gently, “If ya’d jus’loosen up and stop thinkin’ so negative about y’rself.”

That was another thing about Riley Lopez. She always told the people she cared about the truth. Even if they didn’t want to hear it. Tessa glared up at her, though there was no real bite behind it, as they ascended the stairs up into the stands. Riley only grinned down at her before taking the lead to find them a seat.

“Alright folks, here’s number three-one-six — Rhett Abbott — on Bones!” the announcer called. 

Tessa and Riley stood up as they cheered, along with a few others in the crowd. Including Rhett’s family. His mom and dad, his older brother Perry and his wife, Tessa couldn’t remember her name, and their daughter. A little blonde girl Tessa saw getting picked up from school from time to time when she was there to get one of the boys. They cheered for Rhett loudly with thunderous claps. That little girl screaming loudest of all for her uncle. It made Tessa smile. 

The gate burst open as the timer buzzed its starting and the bull jumped into the riding pit. Dust went flying into the air as the great hooves stomped into the earth. The Abbott family continued to cheer and encourage. Tessa waited on bated breath. She always hated watching the bull riding. During one high school rodeo, some poor Nebraska boy got his chest stomped in. She could still hear the collective gasp, the crunching of bone, the parents’ screams. The boy lived, with a metal plate in his chest and a hobble for the rest of his life, but the memory wasn’t something that Tessa could shake herself of easily. Saw it flash before her eyes even then as the bull groaned furiously and did everything it could to shake Rhett off. But he was glued to the bull’s back with his hand raised high above his head. Rocking with each movement, with each spin. His face turned down, focused on the bull's neck.

But it wasn’t enough. With only five seconds on the clock, Rhett was thrown from the bull. Tumbling off the back and landing on his spine with a great cloud of dust.

“Yikes, bet that hurt,” Riley muttered.

Tessa didn’t reply. Too focused on Rhett still laying in the dirt. His hat had been thrown off. Laid several feet away from him as he stared up at the sky. No doubt the wind had been knocked out of him. His lungs struggling from the shock. Bones had already stamped away and was now being herded back into the chute for Rhett’s second ride. Then he slammed his fist into the ground — frustrated — and he sat up. The crowd cheered quietly at the fact he was alright. He rose to his feet and nodded at the crowd with a closed-mouth smile, something similar to the one Tessa would give when she knew she didn’t do well, then picked up his hat.

“Nothin’ he’s not used to, I’guess,” Tessa sighed, feeling like her heart was trying to beat right out of her chest.

They sat back down as the next rider was announced. Rhett wouldn’t go again until the other ten riders before him had gone. Out of the corner of her eye, Tessa saw Royal Abbott heading down from the stands and towards the pen where the bull riders were held in waiting.

So far, Rhett wasn’t even on the leaderboard. And Tessa remembered all too well that, despite his father’s encouragement and applause, his boy was never doing enough. 

She walked proudly through the rodeo grounds with that first-place ribbon pinned to her shirt. It was big and blue and glossy, shining underneath the lights. She was just glad her whole family could make it to this one. Even Rachel got to see her ride, though she seemed a little less than impressed and could really only comment on how dirty her pants had gotten.

The grounds were quiet, the animals all rounded up and put in their trailers for the drive home, and only a few other contestants milled around. But she forgot her bag in the stables again, and she didn’t want to leave everyone waiting. Shiloh had a baby on her hip after all, one that was downright exhausted and whiney. 

Passing by the riding pit on her way, she saw Rhett Abbott standing at the metal fence with his head down — hands shoved into his jean pockets like he was trying to hide as much of himself as possible. And from the way his father was looming over him, she could understand why. Royal had his hat in his hand, gesturing out into the riding pit and talking in a low quiet voice. Worse than getting yelled at. Getting talked to. 

Rhett glanced at her as she walked past. A red ribbon stood out in stark contrast to his black riding vest. She only caught a fragment of what Royal was saying.

“Are ya even takin’ this seriously? By the time I was y’r age I was placin’ first every time…”

Disappointment disguised as encouragement. Harsh words spoken by a well-intended father. 

Tessa kept on walking.

Bones was back in the chute and Rhett was slowly lowering himself onto his wide back. The bull screamed and jerked within the metal bars. Rhett slipped his gloved hand around the handle, wrapped the rope tight around his knuckles and pounded his hand into a fist around it all. A tight grip, sealing him to the bull completely. Tessa and Riley got back to their feet.

“Rhett Abbott, number three-one-six, with his second ride of the evening.” 

The timer buzzed and the gate flung open just as the bull leaped into the air. Bones spun in circles, kicking his back legs, tilting himself nearly vertically to try and get Rhett off. And for a moment, hand clutching at Riley’s jacket sleeve, she thought it was enough. That he was going to stay on just long enough and get onto the leaderboard. 

At seven seconds, however, Rhett fell. Caught himself on his right wrist as Bones stamped dangerously close to his head. Tessa gasped. That was so close. Billy from Nebraska all over again only ten times worse.

“That sucks. Wh’t’s that mean, Tess?” Riley questioned as she sat back down. 

But Tessa waited until Rhett got back to his feet. Until he was being herded away by the rodeo guys, shaking out his wrist. He didn’t smile at the crowd. Kept his head down and the brim of his stetson covering his face.

Only then did she sit back down on the cold metal stands. “Means his season’s over. He’s not advancin’.”

“Oh, that really sucks.”

“Yeah. I’does.”

Rhett hiked his leg over the metal fence and swung over to the other side. He didn’t walk back to the holding pen. Instead, he headed straight for the medical tent. Not giving anyone a second glance.

The pasture east just beyond the Amelia County Fairgrounds was a dark sea of freshly cut forage. Cast in shades of blue by the moon hung waxing high in the sky. The stars bright and bountiful, like an audience gathered to watch the show going ever on and on upon the earth so far below.

All was quiet now that the rodeo was over. The hanging bulb lights had been turned off and the animals were all asleep in their pens, waiting to be transported home. Only a few vehicles remained in the lot. Scattered about the edges. The show was winding down. 

Until a bright orange light sparked to life in the east pasture. Warm and intriguing. Just beyond the windrows and back by the edge of the forest. A whoop and a holler echoed through the empty blue as the light expanded. Illuminating all the cars and trucks that had driven through the field to get close.

Soon enough, music kicked up with a round of applause. Luke Bryan and Kenny Chesney — stuff good for dancing close and singing along to while drinking too much. 

A classic Dirty Bang Bonfire was starting up. The stars settled in for the show — shown just that bit brighter in the infinite Wyoming sky. This was going to be fun.

Tessa couldn’t help but have dissimilar thoughts as she got out of her car and approached the already roaring flames. Stuck close to Riley’s side, who seemed calm and self-assured, Tessa wished she felt the same. Instead, her insides rolled with nerves and her palms accumulated a layer of sweat she kept having to wipe off. Parties like this were never her style. 

“Maybe we shouldn’t’ve come,” she spoke quietly as they hovered on the edge of the gathering. 

She knew every face cast in orange light. All of them people they went to high school with and had stuck around their little town. Talking in their little groups with drinks in hand. Groups that didn’t intermingle with theirs in high school. It just seemed like everyone had their place. Everyone knew where they fit — except for Tessa and Riley.

Except Tessa in truth. Riley was good in a crowd. Always had been. While Tessa stayed glued to the background. Set decoration. Preferring to observe rather than participate out of fear. Fear of what she wasn’t quite sure of anymore. Did she really care all that much about what these people thought of her anymore? She supposed she didn’t. But old habits died hard it seemed as her heart pounded in her chest at the thought of just mere mingling. 

“Just a few minutes,” Riley said with a shrug, hands shoved in her jacket pockets. “We’ll grab’a drink from one’a the coolers layin’ around. Talk some shit. Then we’ll leave. Easy.” 

“Easy,” Tessa hummed in reply as she looked around. 

The Tillersons were there. All grouped up by the fire with a girl under each of their arms. They were all laughing about some story that Billy was telling. Everyone except the girl with Trevor, who just looked uncomfortable. And Tessa couldn’t blame her. A shiver, sharp as ice, went down her spine at the thought of being under that arm. Of remembering what that felt like. Being so important but so worthless at the same time. 

Shania Lovegrove was there. She was pregnant again, sipping what Tessa really hoped was a juice. Her fourth at twenty-three with her third baby daddy. Tessa understood why her parents spoke so sadly about her now. She hoped that those kids were okay.

Walker Browning was sitting on the tailgate of his truck, beer in hand. Laney nowhere in sight. Right. They broke up again recently. Some squabble about when they were finally going to get married. Laney wanted it now. Walker wanted it in a few years. But Tessa and really everyone else in town knew that it was inevitable they would get back together. Again. It was a never-ending cycle with those two.

Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Riley’s lips stretch into a smile, her dark eyes focused on something over Tessa’s shoulder. Tessa opened her mouth to question such a wicked grin, but then Riley took hold of her shoulder and turned her to face the other direction. 

Rhett Abbott was approaching them. He was no longer wearing his riding vest or chaps, but a brace now adorned his right wrist. A big silver buckle shown in the firelight at the top of his jeans. His smile was small and shy as he walked up to her, face still ruddy and dirty from his ride.

“You see me this time?” he joked quietly as he came to a stop in front of her. 

She laughed, genuine, with her hands in her pockets. “Yeah, I do. Promise I’won’t slam inta’ya this time, either.”

“Okay,” he chuckled lightly, then he gestured in the direction he came from. “Wanna drink?”

“Yeah, we — “ 

Tessa looked behind her to loop Riley in, only Riley was nowhere to be found. Her heart dropped into her stomach. Of course. Time alone with her lover boy. With the hearts in his eyes, just now noticing her. Tessa really had been hoping, if they were to run into each other at the bonfire, that Riley could act as a buffer. An escape plan. But there she was. Alone with Rhett Abbott of all people. Who only a few days ago didn’t even know she was still in town. Who forgot her first name. That still left a sting, something sharp and bitter on her tongue. Something clarifying.

She turned back to Rhett with a closed mouth smile. Her cheeks burning and praying he wouldn’t notice. 

“A drink sounds nice.”

They both turned and started walking together at the very edge of the bonfire’s light. 

“How was uh — how’s the barrel racin’?” he asked.

“I’s’fun! Haven’t gotten’ta watch any racin’ in a long time, so…” she trailed off and smiled up at him. 

Rhett smirked back for a second then looked away, down at the ground. “Ya miss it?”

“Sometimes,” she replied, “But anytime I get a hankerin’ I jus’run a demo at my parent’s ranch.”

“Get all those tourists gawkin’ at ya,” he chuckled. 

“I mean, little girls starin’ at me like m’Wonder Woman or somethin’ is pretty good f’r my ego,” she said with a joking lilt and they both laughed.

His hand brushed against her arm and she tried not to notice.

In the back of some dirty blue GMC was a case of Heinekens. Rhett took one out of the case and opened it on the tailgate, handing it to her with foam still running down the side. He took out another and opened it for himself. Taking a long pull of it as she licked the neck of her bottle clean. Beer was never her drink of choice, but there were no other options. The alcohol may just give her enough confidence to stay with Rhett. Not sprint back to her safe space at Riley’s side — or in her car headed home.

She could do this. They were just…friends.

Right?

“Glad ya got t’see somethin’ good,” Rhett spoke around the lip of his beer before taking another sip, he was nearly halfway done already. “Before seein’ me ride like shit.”

“Hey, don’t talk like that. Bones hasn’t been good ridin’ n’years. Y’got screwed over.” Tessa hid her grin by taking a drink of her beer as he narrowed his eyes unbelievingly at her, smile ticking up the corner of his mouth. “I don’know — that’s just what the old guy behind me’s sayin’.”

He laughed with a shake of his head — and a foreign sense of pride filled up her chest, like a balloon with air, at getting him to do so. His laugh was soft, quiet. Like most of it got lost in him on its way out. He tried to hide that accompanying smile that showed all his teeth by ducking his head. But she saw it. And it was beautiful on him. Lit up his whole face from something unreadable and stoic to sincerity and joy.

Tessa liked it on him better than anything she’d seen. 

“But seriously,” she went on, taking another sip of her beer and leaning her side against the tailgate of the blue truck. “You were good’n high school and y’r standin’s the last few years’ve always been great. Y’re better than that.” 

There was a certain glint in his eye as he gazed down at her. “You kept up with m’standin’s?” 

“Sometimes,” she mumbled, a heat in her cheeks at him catching on to a part of herself she didn’t mean to reveal. 

He was the local boy, a legacy —  son of a Wabang bull rider. Sometimes, it was her father or Slick sitting around the kitchen table asking about him and how he had been riding recently. Other times, it was of her own volition. Sitting in the dim light of her room at the Boy’s Home, just wondering. Just curious. She didn’t care much for bull riding. But maybe somewhere deep down, even after all these years, she still cared a little too much about Rhett Abbott. 

A great gust of wind blew through the pasture, carrying the windrows in its ghostly hands. It sent a chill through Tessa, the cold beer in her grip only making it worse. Rhett perked up from where he had been leaning against the tailgate. 

“Shit, c’m’on — “ He reached out for her and she took a step closer. “Le’s get ya over t’the fire.”

She switched her beer to the other hand. “Yeah, that sounds nice.”

His left hand ghosted over her spine as she fell into step beside him. Fingers long and spread wide on her lower back, they walked closer to the bonfire. She was sure she imagined it, but his skin felt warm, even through her clothes. As if he would leave a handprint through the layers. His touch, light as it was and heavy as it felt, kindled something hot deep in her belly. Like the first sparks forged by flint to dry leaves. It urged her to walk closer to his side — and he let her in willingly. 

“How — How’s the wrist?” she asked, needing something to fill the spaces between, as she nodded her head towards his braced hand.

He lifted his beer with that hand, almost like he forgot it was hurt at all. “S’fine. ‘Ve’had worse.”

“Like what?” 

There were more people around the bonfire. Some were even dancing to music playing from somebody’s truck. But it was certainly warmer closer to the golden flames. Rhett dropped his hand, shoved it in his jeans pocket, once they were near enough. But she still felt his fingers burning at her skin. 

“Uh, got bucked off inta the fence couple years’go — Montana,” he said, “Took’a post right t’the face.” 

Tessa hissed through her teeth. “Ouch.” 

“Y’can still feel where m’cheek got broken,” he chuckled, took a sip of his beer — nearly empty. 

“Really?” she questioned, cocking her head to one side with a smile. 

“Yeah, here — “ 

Rhett took her hand and brought it up to his face. That warm pit in her belly only grew, the leaves finally catching flame. His skin was warm. The flesh of his palm calloused and rough. His hand engulfed her own, eclipsed it like the sun to the moon. Tessa knew she was short, always had been, but never before had she felt so small as she did then. With her fingers pressed into Rhett’s cheek, his thumb to her palm, and his eyes trained on the ground as he blindly searched for something. 

Then her fingers caught on it, a slight dip in his left cheek where the bone healed back together — up by his eye socket. His blue eyes slid up to look into her face expectantly. 

“Feel that?” he asked. 

“Uh-huh,” she replied, running her finger over the dent again. “Ya must’ve been a sight.” 

“Eye swelled shut for a week,” he chuckled. 

He pulled her fingers away from his face, but didn’t let go. Did she want him to? Using that hand, that feather-light hold on her she could so easily slip out of, he tugged her closer. The corner of his mouth was ticked up in a smirk, his cheeks slightly flushed. She couldn’t tell if that was from the alcohol, the adrenaline, or her. Did she want it to be her? When they were nearly chest to chest, he released her. Lifted his long, thick fingers to her chest. 

Her heart was pounding. Beating like a drum in her ears as her breathing picked up. Rhett reached for her necklace, an antique locket passed down by her grandmother, and adjusted the way the pendant lay on her crewneck. She swallowed something thick as his fingertips traced up the chain. 

She could feel his breath against her ear as he leaned in and muttered, “D’you wanna go f’r’a walk?” 

Leaning back, fingers still lazily drifting around her necklace, thumbing at the pendant again, he flicked his eyes over to the woods just beyond the light of the bonfire.

She knew what that meant.

Alone. Secluded. Pushing her up against a tree somewhere in the dark. His lips on hers and hands touching everywhere. Just like Olivia Barlow. It was everything she wanted when she was fifteen. He wanted her. Looked down at her now with blue eyes so soft and wondering, mouth ticked up in some smirk only slightly cocky. He pulled in closer to her, towered over her, made it feel like he was the only other person there. The music was drowned out by the rushing sound in her ears. The pit in her stomach burst into flames, roaring and all-consuming as she felt the heat coming off of Rhett’s body. So close. So wanting. 

He wanted her. She wanted him back. With his laugh so soft and busted cheekbone and open sincerity. And wasn’t that everything she desired? To want and be wanted in return?

But there was this fear. Creeping in with freezing winds to snuff out the flames.

Because what if he just wanted to use her to get off — a convenient body he hadn’t used before? What if he didn’t want anything more once they were done and he was satisfied? She didn’t want to be just another notch in Rhett Abbott’s bedpost. She didn’t want a one-time thing. She wanted to be wanted completely. Every day. 

And right now, with Rhett, it didn’t feel complete. It felt fleeting, in the moment. That he would forget come morning and never talk to her again.

Tessa couldn’t risk her own heart — knowing that sorrow was inevitable. 

So she took a step back. 

Rhett’s eyes widened, his smile fading, as he withdrew his hand. Then his brow furrowed low, confusion evident. 

“M’sorry, but, I — I gotta head on home,” she spoke quietly.

“Why?” he asked, arms now limp at his sides, shoulders hunched. 

She bit her lip, fighting every urge to just turn around and walk away. “Early day tomorrow — back at work, so…”

“D’you…Wan’me t’walk ya t’y’re car?” 

“No,” she responded quickly, then sighed, wringing the still half-full bottle of beer in her hands. “No, m’fine. Thanks.”

“‘Kay.” He gulped down the last of his Heineken. 

“See ya around, Rhett.”

“Yeah, see ya.”

Her eyes stung with unshed tears as she turned and walked away from him. Away from the warm glow of the bonfire and towards her car. The warmth in her belly had been put out. Replaced with some nauseating weight.

Once at her car, she texted Riley she was leaving and poured out the rest of the beer she was still holding. Tossing the bottle into her front seat. 

Turns out, she may just end up alone and bitter forever. She couldn’t just loosen up and stop thinking so negatively — about everything. Including Rhett, including herself. A tragedy, creator of her own downfall.

i no longer have a taglist, please follow @anniesocsandlibrary and turn on notifications for updates

[classificationhell]

I know you'd have to do a fair amount of speculating since we don't know all of the Sins very well (or at all), but what designations do you think the rest of the Princes would have?

Queen Bee of Gluttony (Beelzebub)- Ladies giving off Alpha, Master vibes, loud, proud, and in charge but cares about everyone else while doing it (even if only for her own gain but im not about to poke the proverbial beehive with any theories weve seen the Queen for maybe five minutes not including her song) and Tex is giving off Beta Caregiver ones, not afraid to put others in their place for his job but alright with being subservient as well, and he at least appears to like taking care of people in a way inherentlydifferent than Bee.

Belphegor- All we know is that Bee used the pronouns she/her and they're apparently close enough Bee often raids her stash of drugs and she had to lock them away and called her a jackass for trying in the first place. She is also the sin of Sloth, and her ring seems fairly peaceful if a bit incompetent with time management and undereducated if the fact that the receptionist at a clinic couldn't spell or read both likely stemming from an inherent laziness the demons in the Ring possess. Still, from what we understand she has the hospitals and the Ring looks pretty safe and clean otherwise, so I'm going with Beta Neutral. She likely wouldn't want to put forth the effort needed to care for someone, and while she probably would like to be doted on, even that is too much work if that makes sense? The laziest thing here is nothing at all.

Satan- We've seen Wrath and it's kinda country/ old western-y, but all we know about him is Bee referred to him as like a brother to her and she thought he was hot without his shirt on. This gives me two theories. 1. He's a gym bro who doesn't really care about his ring so the imps and demons have to make their own society and rules via western justice and such (This one would be an Alpha, Master) or 2. He's one of those horny yeehaw adult novel country boys, and iykyk >.> I'm talking ripped field hand and/or cowboy type who's down to earth, has a southern drawl, and sun-kissed skin atop rippling muscles from a hard day's work. My personal headcanon until otherwise, and this one is an Alpha, Neutral. (I am not really a big Twitter user so if we know anything else about him or Leviathan I don't)

Leviathan- Trickiest one here as all I know, or think I know, is that the vast majority of it is underwater. The native demons are shark-like, and that's about it. Oh, and his sin is Envy, obviously. Given how many shark demons become associated either with loaning money or the mafia, I would say that the inhabitants at least also exhibit aspects of Greed quite easily as the two sins could go hand in hand as with Envy enough is never enough and they will always be coveting the next big thing. So I'm going with Alpha, Master for now.

Mammon- He's a controlling, manipulative, douchebag who can't even come up with a decent original idea. His whole M.O. is raking in as much money with the least amount of effort possible. Any idea that someone else has that has even a modicum of success he will snatched up, theme parks, robots, rock stars, talent shows, becoming an agent, cereal, the list is honestly endless, the fucking money has his face on it for heaven's sake! Given how badly he reacted to having his authority questioned by someone perceived as lower than him he is an Alpha, Master of the absolute worst kind.

I hope this is good and entertaining!^^

[nottoofondofgaypeople]

hi hello figured i should send mcd asks to your mcd blog

anyway what’s something in canon that your changing? can be important or not im just curious about your rewrite

Thank you so much for the ask! I literally don't get anything done with this rewrite if people don't ask me about it.

Editors note: I think I missed posting on Tumblr because this post got away from me in the span of five minutes of writing...

I've been having a lot of thoughts about changing canon recently, some that I'm not super solid on. I know I want to change Aaron's death, but I'm not sure how. And I know for a fact I want to change Tu'la pretty drastically, but it's hard to do so with the current cast because so few of them would ever be really connected to it. Those are ideas I'm work shopping right now.

The one thing in canon I know I want to change is Garroth's betrayal. Because Lilian is an illusionist. So like... She could have knocked out Laurance and stole the amulet while disguised as Garroth. And then used the mask she had already used on him to mind control him away from the battlefield and to Zane while she did this.

This means that Laurance thinks Garroth betrayed them just in time for the mind control to properly set in and Garroth can actually betray them. And Lilian plotted all of this out. That's another thing, I'm fleshing out Lilian A LOT because even if she's a barely present character, I find her incredibly fascinating. She's 100% a girl boss and absolutely Zane's favorite that isn't Janus.

I like the idea of Lilian and Zane working together on more things than any other member of the Jury though. She's his most trusted confidant. Because I did something evil. I always thought that Lily, Aaron's dead wife, and Lilian looked similar and had similar names. Suspiciously similar.

Let's be honest, Zane is a petty malicious bastard, he absolutely would have a member of his jury willing to give up their identity to him take on the appearance of one of his victims. Just to taunt another. Man what was I on about with Gene as Arthis, Zane is clearly Arthis Menathil, but his Sylvannas is a man?? Unless Lilian is Sylvannas?? Or wait would it be Kiki?! I should stop going down this path, thinking about WoW only causes trouble.

Hey random aside, Lilian is totally trans, and she's used magic to transition fully. Zane helped her with all of this when she first joined the Jury and confessed to being born in the wrong body. That's all!

Anyways what I was trying to say is that Zane basically asked Lilian to take on the appearance of Lily when she pledged her loyalty to him. She had a different name. It's never clear if she remembers who she was or not, because her life seemingly started when she joined the Jury. Even if Janus is stronger and therefore better at enacting Zane's violence for him, Lilian is the most loyal member of the Jury. Zane knows that he can always rely on her.

And y'know what?? I'm gonna say it. Maybe they were a little in love. There. I said it. Fuck it, I'm gonna make Zane break from canon by expressing a genuine moment of vulnerability when he sees Lilian die because he cared about her. That sort of loyalty may be a tool he uses, but he also just cares about Lilian. How can he not when she's so devoted to him and so genuinely kind? She actually loves Zane, sort of, in a bad way, and he actually loves her, sort of, in a bad way.

Did I just imply that the inner most rankings of the Jury of Nine are actually just Zane's Polycule?? Y'know I can't even be surprised a post that was supposed to be about Garroth somehow turned into a new villain polycule, but I'm still a little amazed I managed to do that...

TLDR: Garroth gets mind controlled, Laurance gets played like a fiddle, and Lilian is a slaytastic girl boss that will surely be missed.