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pushing500 · 2 years ago

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Okay, so I just went through and made a list of all my active mods. Not sure where I got the number 87 this morning, I'm going to blame it on being mostly still asleep when I checked the blog.

At this recount, it's closer to 180, give or take a few. No wonder my poor 6-year-old laptop hates it when I play Rimworld. I think I might need a new one.

Anyhoo, I have no idea how to get a ~crisp~ and ~proper~ modlist uploaded in a useful way, so I've typed the list up by myself (in their current load order) with a very brief description of what I know about each one, or just rambling comments. I was mostly asleep this morning, and I am very tired this evening as I write this. I tend to get silly when I'm tired, for which I apologise profusely.

Behold, my stuff:

Harmony (a framework one I think)

Vanilla Backgrounds Expanded (this is just cool for loading screens etc.)

HugsLib (I think this is also framework one)

JecsTools (I think this is also framework one)

Vanilla Expanded Framework (I'm near-certain this is a framework one, based on the name)

A Dog Said… Animal Prosthetics (animal bionics wooo)

LBE’s A Dog Said Easy Patcher (to add bionic compatibility with all the modded animals woooo)

Better ModMismatch Window (for if I do feel the need to mess with the modlist)

RT Fuse (I don’t like the zzzzt events)

[GMT] Trading Spot (to stop stupid traders walking in my house)

[NL] Facial Animation - WIP (they make funny faces :3)

Let’s Have a Cat! (I like cats)

Humanoid Alien Races (Aliens are cool)

Tree People (Continued) (because non-human colonists are awesome)

[ATW] House Decor (for aesthetic purposes)

Little Green Men - Legacy (Aliens are cool)

Vanilla Backstories Expanded (adds new and fun backstories for colonists)

Vanilla Animals Expanded (I insist on having a huge selection of pets)

Vanilla Animals Expanded - Royal Animals (more pets heehee)

More Persona Traits (this is why Xanxalbur the persona zeushammer is so cool)

Vanilla Ideology Expanded - Dryads (more gauranlen tree stuff)

Vanilla Base Generation Expanded (makes enemy bases on caravan trips more fun)

Vanilla Achievements Expanded (sometimes it gives me a serotonin)

Vanilla Races Expanded - Custom Icons (good for xenotypes and biotech stuff)

Dubs Bad Hygiene (bathrooms cool)

Hospitality (easy to make friends with other factions if you run a hotel)

Android Tiers Reforged (heehoo robots cool)

[AP] Lovin’ Reworked (Irwin and Connie are both AWFUL in bed, if you were curious 😳)

Vanilla Races Expanded - Phytokin (magic tree people very fun)

Vanilla Races Expanded - Saurid (dinosaur people wooooo!)

Vanilla Fishing Expanded (a good way to keep Wookshys distracted)

ReGrowth: Core (I don’t remember what this does but the thumbnail is cool and I assume it’s a framework mod)

Vanilla Plants Expanded (more farm stuff hooray!)

Vanilla Textures Expanded - [NL] Facial Animation (why my colonists have such cute lil’ faces)

Vanilla Plants Expanded - More Plants (even MORE farm stuff!!)

Vanilla Persona Weapons Expanded (more skins for persona weapons- another reason Xanxalbur the persona zeushammer is so awesome)

Vanilla Nutrient Paste Expanded (mmmmm yummy goo)

More Descriptive Words and Names (adds more descriptive words and names)

Ebbbs (horrible eldritch goo creatures my beloved)

Floordrawings (adds more floordrawings for kids to draw)

Horse Breeds - Skin Variations (horses very fun!!)

Vanilla Hair Retextured (helps vanilla hair look a bit nicer)

Trait and Backstory Icons (gives traits and backstories cute lil’ icons next to ‘em)

Geological Landforms (cool new map gens)

Biome Transitions (if your map tile is next to a different biome they can mix together at the edges)

Cactacae (Continued) (because non-human colonists are awesome)

NamesGalore (adds new names for people and stuff)

NamesGaloreLatin (adds new names for people and stuff but in Latin this time)

Character Editor (I wanted to start with at least one animakin colonist)

Vanilla Animals Expanded - Caves (I have a pet cave bear now called Witch)

Strong Bridge (makes bridges strong)

Roo’s Dreadlock Hairstyles (Irwin’s hair is from this one)

[SBV] Recreational Drum Use (I like drums and so would my colonists if they had them)

River’s Tribal Shoes (don’t want to get prickles in your feet)

Romance on The Rim (they have to get their daily smooches or they’ll be sad)

Pawn Name Variety (I like them to have lots of different name options)

Vanilla Furniture Expanded - Architect (adds new building stuff)

Camera+ (for taking better screenshots)

Vanilla Cooking Expanded (expands the cooking)

Vanilla Psycasts Expanded (expands the psycasts)

Biomes! Core (the framework for more biomes mods)

Biomes! Islands (in case I wanted to reenact the movie Castaway)

Alpha Animals (even more pets!)

Vanilla Ideology Expanded - Memes and Structures (lots of cool ideology stuff)

Simple Sidearms (every colonist needs MANY WEAPONS)

Doors Expanded (adds new doors)

A Rimworld of Magic (I don’t use this heaps in the current game but it is very cool)

Anima Gear (I could make stuff out of anima grass if I felt like doing the research for it)

Sexuality Traits (every pawn has a specific sexuality, instead of defaulting to 'straight' unless explicitly stated otherwise)

Vanilla Outposts Expanded (I could go make outpost camps if I wanted)

CM Color Coded Mood Bar (helpful for spotting incoming mental breaks)

Avoid Friendly Fire (you think they would be smart enough to know not to walk in front of the guns but noooo)

Vanilla Brewing Expanded (alcohol woo)

Vanilla Brewing Expanded - Coffees and Teas (coffee and tea woo)

Vanilla Furniture Expanded - Power (adds new power sources)

Vanilla Factions Expanded - Mechanoids (scary robots)

Vanilla Weapons Expanded (can never have too many weapons)

Vanilla Factions Expanded - Medieval (more factions to make friends with)

Giddy Up! Core (framework for riding animals)

Giddy Up! Battle Mounts (ride animals into battle)

Giddy Up! Ride and Roll (ride animals around doing daily tasks)

Giddy Up! Caravans (ride animals on caravan trips)

Megafauna (biiiiiig pets!!)

Vanilla Plants Expanded - Succulents (for making the colony look pretty)

Biomes! Prehistoric (dinosaurs :3)

Vanilla Genetics Expanded (I don’t use this a lot but re-reading the description makes me think I should because it looks like a lot of fun)

Vanilla Genetics Expanded - More Lab Stuff (presumably adds “more lab stuff” to the aforementioned mod)

Vanilla Furniture Expanded - Security (more defense stuff)

[FSF] Complex Jobs (Legacy Version) (splits jobs into smaller subsections)

Snap Out! (slap pawns out of their mental breaks)

Wall Light (wall light my beloved)

Standalone Hot Spring (geothermal power boring and ugly, hot spring FAR better use of steam geysers)

Vanilla Ideology Expanded - Splits and Schisms (the one that meant Wookshys could start his stupid sub-cult)

Allow Tool (easier to forbid and unforbid items)

Minify Everything (sometimes picking up whole sections of brick wall is okay)

Replace Stuff (so I can build stone walls on top of wood walls without un-freezing the freezer, etc.)

Mod Manager (I have lots of mods to manage)

Interaction Bubbles (to see what mean stuff Irwin is saying to his friends each day)

Polyamory Beds (Vanilla Edition) (tempted to use this in all my guest rooms)

Haul to Stack (so they don’t clutter the freezer with individual piles of food instead of one big pile)

Pick Up and Haul (pawns can carry more than one thing at a time)

While You’re Up / PUAH+ (pawns will carry stuff while they’re on their way to and fro)

Giddy Up! Add On: Saddles (saddles don’t do anything they just look nice)

Roo’s Royalty Hairstyles (fancy hair)

Roo’s Accessory Hairstyles (Wendy’s hair was from this mod R.I.P.)

Rainbow’s Hair Mod (I like lots of options)

ResearchPal - Forked (I’ve always played with this mod and it’s hard to adjust without it)

Tilled Soil (it’s not cheating it’s just farming)

VGP Garden Resources (it’s a lovely day on the Rimworld and you are growing uranium in your garden)

More Faction Interaction (Continued) (I wanna be friends with EVERYONE!!)

Rim of Madness - Bones (skulls for the skull throne and all that jazz)

Anthro Race (because non-human colonists are awesome)

Alpha Mythology (adds mythological creatures to the Rimworld)

Vanilla Weapons Expanded - Laser (adds laser weapons)

Vanilla Factions Expanded - Pirates (love me some pirates)

Alpha Biomes (can never have enough biomes)

All The “Vanilla Storytellers Expanded” mods, but I have literally never used them due to my firm standing as a Randy Random purist

Vanilla Ideology Expanded - Relics and Artifacts (adds new relics and artifacts for your ideology)

Vanilla Ideology Expanded - Icons and Symbols (easier to customise your ideology)

Vanilla Weapons Expanded - Heavy (adds heavy weapons)

Vanilla Weapons Expanded - Non-Lethal (for when you REALLY wanna recruit someone)

Erin’s Cottage Collection (everything looks so cozy ❤️)

Euglena Framework (idk mate)

Euglena Expanded - Implant (idk mate)

Vanilla Factions Expanded - Empire (adds more Empire stuff)

ReGrowth: Tropical (adds new tropical plants and stuff I think)

Vanilla Furniture Expanded (the core bit)

Vanilla Textures Expanded - Variations (I don’t want everything looking so uniform! There’s like twelve different people building the chairs; they’re gonna look different)

Vanilla Fishing Expanded - Xtra Fish (more fish to distract Wookshys)

Vanilla Textures Expanded (makes stuff look sharper and crisper)

Euglena Expanded - Euglena Xenotype (tree people go brrrr)

Vanilla Furniture Expanded - Props and Decor (more props and decor)

Vanilla Weapons Expanded - Quickdraw (adds quickdraw weapons)

Vanilla Weapons Expanded - Coilguns (adds coilguns)

Vanilla Factions Expanded - Settlers (like cowboys and stuff I think)

Vanilla Weapons Expanded - Frontier (weapons for cowboys and stuff)

Vanilla Expanded - Ideology Patches (for patching things up to Ideology I guess)

Vanilla Expanded - Royalty Patches (for patching things up to Royalty I guess)

Vanilla Furniture Expanded - Spacer (cool spaceship style furniture)

Vanilla Furniture Expanded - Medical (my hospital is VERY cool)

Vanilla Weapons Expanded - Tribal (adds more tribal weapons)

Vanilla Weapons Expanded - Makeshift (adds makeshift weapons)

Vanilla Cooking Expanded - Sushi (if my colonists weren’t mostly vegetarian we could make sushi with all the fish Wookshys catches)

Vanilla Animals Expanded - Endangered (gonna start a conservation project)

Vanilla Cooking Expanded - Stews (I don’t know I had this one installed. Are vegetarian stews a thing? Probably not)

Vanilla Furniture Expanded - Art (I’m something of an artist myself)

Vanilla Furniture Expanded - Farming (for farm furniture I guess)

Vanilla Furniture Expanded - Production (makes for very nice workshops)

Vanilla Apparel Expanded - Accessories (adds fun utility items)

Vanilla Social Interactions Expanded (new social interactions for fun and interesting storytelling)

Vanilla Factions Expanded - Insectoids (bugs. ew.)

Vanilla Factions Expanded - Vikings (adds vikings)

Vanilla Weapons Expanded - Grenades (adds more grenades)

Vanilla Traits Expanded (I love hoarding traits)

Vanilla Events Expanded (more events)

Vanilla Apparell Expanded (more clothes)

Erin’s Cat Overhaul (I like cats)

Vanilla Armour Expanded (adds more armour)

Erin’s Hairstyles - Redux (There’s never enough hairstyle variety)

Rimsenal - Hair Pack (more hairstyles lmao)

Vanilla Hair Expanded (more hair)

Gradient Hair (so your colonists can have frosted tips I guess)

Vanilla Ideology Expanded - Hats and Rags (adds new ideology clothes)

Tabula Rasa (idk mate)

What’s That Mod? (tells you what mod stuff is from. VERY USEFUL)

LightsOut (pawns turn lights off when not using them)

RPG Style Inventory Revamped (better inventory layout)

RPG Traits+ (more traits haha)

Sand Castles (colonists can build sandcastles for recreation if there happens to be sand around)

Bundle of Traits (give me ALL THE TRAITS)

More Religious Origins (more ideology stuff)

Optimisation: Meats C# Edition (all meat is just “raw meat” unless it’s specifically ��human meat” or “insect meat”, so it can all be stacked together easily)

Prisoners Don’t Have Keys (they gotta bash their way out if they want to escape)

Rational Romance 2 (Continued) (more romance-y stuff)

More Ideological Words (just makes random generation a bit easier and more interesting)

Roo’s Glasses Hairstyles (Debby’s hair is from this one)

Tau Armory (my favourite WH40k faction)

hey!! if it’s not too much of a problem to ask, do you use a lot of mods for your rimworld game? i got inspired to boot it up again after seeing some of your posts and was kind of disappointed by how different my playthrough was

I have quite a few mods, yeah. I just counted them all, and there are eighty-seven (87) active mods in this playthrough. Is that a lot? I feel like some people play Rimworld with thousands of mods and would say I don't have a lot, but maybe other people would say I have too many. I don't think there's enough, frankly, but I get stressed adding new mods partway through a game, so I'll finish this colony up and rejig the modlist for the next one.

I also have all the DLC content and stuff if that affects anything.

#rimworld #gracie plays #rimworld mods #my modlist is long but I want MORE #Thinking about adding the 'toddlers' mod before baby Kaznove is born #Because while he was very cute Baby Andy was kind of boring #I have SO MANY more mods that aren't active #A lot of them I hoard for nostalgia coz they haven't been updated #and some of them I recently got but don't want to risk screwing up my current save #Every time I peruse new mods I get so many ideas for new colonies #But I am determined to stick the Animist Alliance out to the end #I want to finish this game at least once #Anyway yeah #That's my modlist #Sorry it's probably incomprehensible #I'll proofread it again tomorrow and probably see every mistake haha #Love you all and hope you have an awesome week! <3

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youn9racha · 4 years ago

Text

Don’t Test Me

Requested by: @crzy-devil

Pairing: Jinyoungxmasc!reader (with a vag tho)

Words: 3.1 k

Warning: dom!reader, sub!jinyoung, consent being explicitly discussed, implied masturbation, mentions of pornography, implied dacryphilia, weapon play (fake gun), pegging, mentions of butt plugs, jinyoung in a short skirt, dirty talk, overstimulation

Extra Notes: wheewww finally my first got7 request ʅ（◞‿◟）ʃ don’t get me wrong, i‘ve been enjoying writing skz chan and changbin smut but i’ve been meaning to write some got7 but i wouldn’t think anyone would read it :( but yay finally i got something. i pray i don’t fuck this up, and i hope this is okay everything you want 😔

photo edit is not mine

——————————————————————————

This is no way representative of the way Got7 act. They’re nothing but references of character, and in no shape or form is this how they act. And I am in no way romanticizing or glamorizing any toxic behavior exhibited, they’re just stories that is meant to be read. Readers discretion is advised.

—————————————————————————

You and Jinyoung have an interesting relationship to say the least. Jinyoung is always thought to be that dominant guy who’s always protective of the people whom he cares about, especially towards his partner. While that is true that he is protective and caring, however no one knows who the real Jinyoung Park except you, or at least who he is in your bedroom.

It was no secret that you two are very open about your sexual needs to each other, and it may come to the surprise to anyone to know that a man like Jinyoung is more submissive than anyone would think. But you however didn’t think so.

Prior to meeting him, you may follow what everyone says about Jinyoung, but five months into your relationship with your boyfriend, you were shocked, yet pleased, to see him one day in adorning nothing but a skirt, a butt plug, and a leash, innocently yet seductively telling you to touch him. And ever since then, you’ve been the one Jinyoung looked up to and waiting for to ruin him.

Every sexual encounter with him were exciting and fun, but there was one incident that took the title of the most amazing sexual roleplay you both have took in and neither of you had any sense of regret. Even if you guys would have broken up—knocking on wood—, it’ll probably not top anything but that moment.

”(y/n!)” Jinyoung exclaimed in a sing song-y way as he walked into the apartment door with something hidden behind his back. He spotted you laying onto the couch, legs lazily splayed open as you looked up to the ceiling with half eyes open. It was clear that you were tired and wanted to rest, but Jinyoung didn’t care, “I’ve got something to show you..”

You looked up at him with a furrowed eyebrows, “what is it Jiny—ah!”

You felt wide awake when you saw Jinyoung unexpectedly pulled a gun straight into your face and pretended to shoot by making certain movements and sounds.

“Jinyoung, what the fuck?!” You exclaimed with your eyes popping out your socket with fear, leaning far away from him, only for him to get closer to you. Jinyoung saw the fear in your eyes, which made him laugh at my state. “I’m being for real, put the gun down!” Your heart was rightfully pounding, fearing not only for your life but at Jinyoung’s sickening laugh.

”Oh, relax, big baby, its a fake gun,” Jinyoung said with an eye roll.

You looked at the man on top of you with a baffled expression, he flipped the gun around and shoved it to you, “see, carry it.”

You looked at the gun, then at the man, then back at the silver object with a gulp. You took the gun out of his hand, and to your relief it was indeed fake, with it being very lightweight and looking at it up close. Props to whoever made this gun look really realistic, at least at a distance.

Jinyoung laughed at your relieved expression, “did you really think I’d bring an actual gun?”

You shrugged at him, “I wouldn’t be surprised to be honest,” you jokingly replied to which Jinyoung opens his mouth agape. Now it was your turn to laugh, “I’m joking, baby,” you patted his cheeks and he pouted in response, “you’re fucked up, (y/n).” He says that as he laid on top of you.

There was a moment of silence until you began questioning why he had the toy gun. Jinyoung fidgeted with his fingers, sort of hesitating with the words he wants to say. “Baby?” Your calling for him sounded more dragging rather than a questioning call, as your hold on him got tighter. “I kinda wanted you to use it on me,” He blurted, not baring to look at you, while you looked at him with a confused expression.

He didn’t see you but he can sense your confusion, “I want you to use it on your dumb whore..” and thats where your eyes widened. You knew exactly what he wanted.

You would lie if you said you didn’t have the thought of the idea, but that does not mean that you’re feeling one hundred percent sure about all of this. You both are experimental people, and enjoy trying new things at least one, and pain on both ends goes right up your and Jinyoung’s alley. But you wouldn’t go as far as bringing weapon into this, albeit fake, but still.

You thought of how weak he would look over you though, how he tries so hard to fight back but it fails miserably and pathetically. You easily find yourself slowly warming up but then caught yourself as you uncertainty was still in habiting your consciousness.

Your ears met with his gentle voice with him saying, “baby, if you don’t want to do this, I understand,“ Jinyoung held onto your arm in comfort.

“It’s not that I don’t want to, it’s just what if I’m gonna hurt you with the gun?” You held Jinyoung, which endearingly smiled at you. He admires how no matter how hard you go on him, he still can see how you’re very loving and caring towards him. The last thing you wanted to do is to harm your baby Jinyoung.

”baby, you won’t hurt me, you’ve held the gun. It’s fake and it won’t do anything,” Jinyoung rubbed your arms, reassuringly, “besides, we have a safe word, and if you did anything uncomfortable, I’ll just say the word.” You looked back at his eyes. His eyes were entrancing to you, its a contrasting blend of assertiveness, plead and child-like. You have no idea how can one have the capability to withhold such power like this, but knowing Jinyoung, you can see how it works.

You smiled back at him with a gentle caress in the cheek, “I’ll think about it.”

You’ve given yourself sometime to think about it. Jinyoung made it absolutely clear that he won’t do anything that would make you uncomfortable. For a typical submissive person, he still values your comfort, but that is regardless whether he is submissive or dominant, verbal and emotional consent holds a great value in your relationship.

You’ve scrolled through the internet and went on certain adult website to see what got Jinyoung that excited about all this. You did see the hype, but you were still unsure about it, so you just wanted to give sometime where the ice of uncertainty is melted.

While browsing, you saw a distinctive video. The thumbnail caught your eye, as it had a pretty boy in a pink skirt laid on the bed with his leg spread and what looks to be someone pegging him. The video was of the type you’ve looked it up but it was different because it seems to be more of a point of view type of video.

Your mouse hovered over the thumbnail, almost clicking it. You turned to check if Jinyoung was still in the house. It’s not that he cared about you watching porn, he knows that no amount of videos will match up with you taking him on the spot. But you didn’t want him to see you researching, as you wanted to surprise him in case you enjoyed it.

You’ve not seen his presence and you decided to text him, to make sure if everything’s clear and that he’s not close to your proximity whatsoever.

(y/n): hey babe !!

(y/n): where are you ??

Jinyoung immediately saw your message. The bubble and dots of his began showing up until his message was sent.

Baby boy <3: heyy !!

Baby boy <3: oh i’m hanging out with Jaebeom rn i’m also gonna spend the night at his place if thats not a problem with you :)

Baby boy <3: y ??? u need anything ??

you sighed with relief to not only see him respond back, but also that he won’t come back later. Never would you have thought to say this, considering that you’re overtly obsessed with the man.

(y/n): no !! i was just checking up on u !!

(y/n): its fine by me :)) have fun and tell jaebeom i said hi

Baby boy <3: will do ^_^ see you tomorrow baby

Baby boy <3: i’ll miss you <3333

(y/n): i miss you too darling xx

Once the coast was clear, you’ve turned off your phone, turned back to your computer screen and turned on the video.

The video startes off with the boy, who eerily reminded you so much of your boyfriend with his mannerisms and body type, calling out to the presumed viewer. He only wore a skirt, a choker, and what looks to be a jeweled butt plug. To say that the scenery wasn’t a turn on would an absolute lie. You almost moaned at the scenery as you‘ve suddenly started to see, instead of the actor‘s face, Jinyoung.

His pleading eyes were captivating you as you felt yourself getting wet at the way the man is looking at you. Suddenly a pink gun was put into the face of the boy and hearing him yelp in fear did something to you. You felt your organ began twitching at the way the boy looked up to the gun. Seeing how the gun was shoved into his mouth as he began making lewd movements and noises while getting his pretty dick stroked, it did all wonders for you.

You felt your hands going down your pants as you carried on watching the video. This may have awakened something in you, and you can’t wait to showcase to Jinyoung when he gets back.

You sat back in your couch waiting for Jinyoung. It was the next day, and you didn't have much to plan, but you decided to keep the fake gun near you for the sake of your role. It was almost nighttime and the clock kept ticking as you anticpated your boyfriend's arrival.

Jinyoung didn't know about the whole ordeal, he probably thought that you were gonna be out running errands, hanging out with your friends, or even just sleep. But what he won't expect is you sitting on the couch, lust blown in your whole system and hiding the gun he brought in. He never would have thought to see you with it, up until this moment.

While you wait for him to show up, you scrolled through your phone, mindlessly liking any posts that comes in your way. You didn't care on whatever is on your screen, all you wanted was Jinyoung bending over, ready for you. You smirked at the dirty thought, until you heard keys clashing against each other then one inserted into the locked door. In comes the prettiest boy you have ever laid your eyes on, he came in with a bag in his shoulder and adorned a baggy pink sweatshirt and skinny jeans. He smiled when he saw you on the couch, waiting for him.

Normally you would feel soft and warm over his appearance, however the sinister thoughts inhabiting you was clouding every other thought. Jinyoung extended his arm up to stretch after putting down his bag, as he came in and sat down next to you, eventually attacking with kisses as a greeting. Typically, you would laugh at his typically private yet adorable affections, but you could only look at him with semi blank stare.

He noticed the stare in your face, his face shifted into a worried frown, “whats wrong? you’ve been acting weird since yesterday.” You looked at Jinyoung with your hands in his face. You couldn’t help but smile at the clueless boy in front of you, “Jinyoung, have I ever mentioned you’re gorgeous?”

Jinyoung’s confusion starts to get even bigger as his eyebrows furrowed. Not knowing what to say, he just went along with, “yeah?” It was clear evident confusion and you weren’t dumb. You knew he‘d be confused, thats the point, you want him to be clueless and confused about the whole ordeal.

“What if I told you that you’re all I think about?” You whispered, as you began caressing his face. His face was still grimacing in confusion, however he would lie if he said that the thought of you thinking about him nonstop makes him feel good and excited. “I love you so much…”

“(y/n), cut the bullshit, whats goin—” Jinyoung has had enough with your suspicious act and decided to confront you, up until he felt something on his jaw, which he ended up cutting his words with a gasp. It felt something cold against his pulse, his eyes were dragged to the source only to see something he wasn’t expected to see, yet is pleased. It was the toy gun he handed to you. His mouth was open agape, and you said, “I thought much through about it, and I decided why not,” you had a loving and evil smirk on your face, and he simply just smiled back at you, “and besides,” you leaned closer to his ear.

”The thought of you begging for mercy does things to me, you do not understand your powers you have on me, Park Jinyoung,” Jinyoung shuddered at you whispering out his full name at him. He could already feel himself getting hard at your words, and the thought of the gun digging into his skin makes the process faster. You knew that he was getting aroused without you looking down at his crouch, so you opted to use your other hand and held his member, to which he let out a closed mouth moan.

“You know what to do..” you said after pulling your face out of his ear and staring straight into his face. He looked like a puppy with his eyes innocently sparkling at you. You slapped his thigh to get up to do what he’s doing, which you took him out of his trance, nodded at you and got up.

“I’ll give you five minutes,” you said loud enough where he can still hear as he walks, more like wobbling, into your shared bedroom, while you smirked at his adorable weak state. You looked at the gun and you knew were gonna have fun with your boy toy.

~~ Five minutes have passed, and you decided to walk into the bedroom where Jinyoung is at at a painfully slow pace. You felt like a lion going after a deer, ready to devour it on the spot, with Jinyoung being the deer in this situation. You dragged the gun against the wall as you got closer to your bedroom. You can already sense Jinyoung getting weaker and weaker without even looking at him. You hear heavy breathing coming from out of your bedroom, and you felt your lust is started to mix fury with it as you knew exactly what he was doing.

However you kept your composure and still have the smirk drawn into your face. You reached the door, and you opened the door to see a sight that both angered and aroused you. Jinyoung was dressed in a pink short skirt and a crop top along side with thigh highs, his whole cock was out as he was stroking himself as he was looking at himself in the mirror. Still in his lust world, he didn’t notice your presence up until you spoke.

“Who told you you can touch yourself?” You questioned with a crossed arm and a lean into the door sill. Jinyoung gasped his eyes wide open, his hand stopped stroking as he was looking at you with pleading eyes, “I-I’m sorry,” he gulped as you got closer to him, looking at him with a scowl. Despite him being slightly taller by a few centimeters, he still looks and feels smaller than you, especially at this moment.

“I couldn’t help it, I j-j—“ You cut his pathetic talk by putting the gun into his cheek. His mouth was wide shut as he fearfully looked at the gun then back at you. You glided the gun across the face as his breath hitches, you stopped the gun at his mouth. “Open your mouth,” you growled at him, which he didn’t respond at first as he was too aroused to function. You shoved the weapon not too harsh that it could hurt him, but not too light, to wake him up to, which he just moaned.

”I didn’t even touch you, and yet you’re already fucked up,” you commented as you tugged his bottom lip with the gun making him whimper. You tapped his face and commanded again, “open.”

This time he complied and he stuck his tongue out, you lightly inserted the weapon into his mouth as he wrapped his mouth around it.

To say that the scenery was pornographic was an understatement. A man in his short skirt down on his knees sucking on a weapon as his superior is tugging on his hair, it was hot to look at, you and Jinyoung would agree. It was typical that Jinyoung is going dumb just for you, he’s willing to drop everything just to satisfy your needs. He loves you too much. And to see you enjoying his idea makes him feel really good.

~~~ ”Thats what you fucking get for being a dumb slut,” You thrusted your strap on onto your pretty boy’s hole as he grips into the sheets underneath him. His legs placed on your shoulder while your hips were moving in and out of him.

“I-I-I’m s-sorry! I’m not gonna do it again!” Jinyoung was a mess under you, he’s practically crying as he feels his hole getting stretched with pleasure. Tears rolling down his face as he feels his orgasm get closer. You can see that based on his face twist that he was getting closer so you stopped thrusting for the nth time, which caused him to whine and sob louder.

“Bad sluts like you don’t deserve to cum,” You leaned over, his leg still on your shoulder and squished his cheeks. His nose was tinted pink due to blissed out cry and the amount of times you’d edge him, and the fact you still resisted giving him what he want made him blush even more. You both love it, especially Jinyoung, who may love this more than you do. He loves getting edged and getting all this punishment. He was a walking masochist, and because he is what he is, you ended up loving it and use it for your advantage.

Despite his “apologies,” he always misbehaves just so he can get punished by his superior. He is a brat in disguise, and you love it. You love giving him the punishment that he ever so deserves, as much as you love degrading him and you absolutely love seeing him being at your mercy.

He simply looked up at you with teary eyes and says softly, “I’m a bad slut, but I’m your bad slut,” to which you smirked back at his claim.

Your Bad Slut. That’s exactly what he is.

#got7 fanfic #got7 scenarios #got7 imagines #got7 smut #got7 dark hours #got7 hard hours #jinyoung fanfic #jinyoung imagine #jinyoung scenarios #jinyoung smut #jinyoung drabble #jinyoung hard hours #got7 drabble #got7 fic #jinyoung fic

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wherethewordsare · 4 years ago

Text

Birds of a Feather

For @notsafeformurphy who was having a day of it the other day and we got to talking and.... oops this happened. This honestly started out as a nature docu au and ended up a coffee shop au? Idk man.... Anyway, Shay I hope you enjoy this!

Also tagging @herostag since it was requested. and @jaskierswolf cause I think they’re gonna start yelling at me if i keep forgetting. Going to try to get my tag list back together if anyone is interested. <3 <3 <3 Hope yall enjoy Jaskier huffed as he flopped over again, his body refusing to just relax down into his mattress and let him sleep. It had been a stressful day and to make matters worse, it had been the third night in a row where he was simply unable to sleep.

Giving up, he reached for his phone, scrolling through youtube for a moment, looking for something that he could just zone out to for a little while. Usually he would put on music or white noise but even that didn’t seem like it would be helpful. He had to find something extremely dull and maybe a bit pretty.

He scrolled past a thumbnail of three large men in park uniforms. Two of them looked like they were at least somewhat interested in being there while one tall man with near white hair simply scowled at the camera.

Wild Wednesdays with the Rivia Nature Reserve the title read.

“Okay, I’ll bite,” Jaskier huffed as he rolled onto his stomach. He pulled the kickstand of his phone case out and set it up before pressing play and curling his arms around his pillow.

“This week, we’ll be talking to Geralt Rivia, our resident raptor specialist about what goes into rehabilitation efforts when it comes to conservation,” someone said off camera, cheerily. When the camera panned to Geralt Rivia however, he did not seem to share the narrator’s same upbeat tone.

For a few minutes, the narrator off camera seemed to try to ask Geralt about himself, only getting stilted answers and that same scowl that had been in the thumbnail. Jaskier snorted with a smirk.

“You’re not having any of this, are you? You’re gorgeous though,” he chuckled. He felt his back relax as he yawned, snuggling closer into his pillow.

And then it happened. From off camera, someone handed Geralt a leather glove that he put on easily before taking a cord. He clicked a bit and the scowl he had moments ago melted into a fond smile.

“And who is this?” the narrator asked. They clearly had picked up on the shift in Geralt’s demeanor as a small falcon took up perch on his forearm.

He actually cooed at the bird for a moment before holding it up for the camera. “This is Roach. She’s one of our recent rescues.” He smiled, a barely there tilt of his lips and his honey colored eyes softened. Jaskier got the impression on anyone else, it would have been a full grin.

“Oh, I like that look,” Jaskier murmured, feeling his cheeks heat up.

“And what is Roach?” the person asked off camera.

Geralt took a step back, turning his arm slightly, causing the bird to flap agitatedly at him as she kept her balance. “Yes, I know, but I have to show off how pretty you are,” he said to the bird, fond and warm.

“Oh no,” Jaskier whispered into his pillow. “He’s soft and hot.”

“Roach here is a red-tailed hawk. They’re pretty common through North America,” he explained, pointing out the red-brown of her tail. The hawk nipped at him as he got her to open her wings for the camera and he only chuckled. “She’s about six, the same age as my daughter actually. And,” he leaned in conspiratorially, “I’ll be honest with you, I’m not sure which one is less well behaved.”

Roach must have understood a bit of that because she gave a cry before nipping at Geralt’s hair, clearly annoyed.

“Listen, if you weren’t so hornery, I wouldn’t say it,” he said to Roach, pulling another scowl but there was clearly no heat in it.

This was not the same man from the thumbnail or the same man that barely gave answers about himself at the beginning of the clip. When that bird sat on his arm, he lit up and Jaskier was weak.

Geralt answered a few other questions about hawks and about the reserves program for rehabbing hawks, his voice deep and gravely. He would have sounded gruff if not for how much he clearly loved what he did.

Geralt looked at Roach a little sadly. “Unfortunately for our little lady here, she won’t be able to return to the wild. Due to her injuries when she came to us, she won’t be able to hunt on her own,” he gave her a soft smile before he petted down her neck gently.

Jaskier’s eyes were starting to feel heavy. He had turned into the pillow, letting Geralt’s voice wash over him with simple facts about red-tail hawks as he drifted off to sleep. It hadn’t been dull at all but there was something about the way Geralt spoke that just melted him into his mattress.

When he woke, his phone was dead, probably from being set to autoplay. As it charged, he looked at the videos that had played while he was asleep, most of them from the Rivia Nature Reserve. There were a few specials with other team members but Jaskier picked out the ones that mentioned Geralt Rivia directly.

It had become a near routine and soon, Jaskier found that he just slept better after watching those nature clips. Sometimes, Geralt wasn’t even on camera, simply walking through the process of population counting for the reserve as the camera panned around to different birds up in the trees. There were other videos featuring Roach the red-tailed hawk as well and it was clear that she was a favorite, not only of Geralt’s but the viewers as well.

Within three weeks, Jaskier had made his way through nearly the whole catalog of the reserve’s videos. He knew he would move on from tall, silver and brooding and find his next sleep fix but for now he simply enjoyed it.

He should have said no, he should have mentioned that he simply did not do morning shifts, and there was a reason for that, but Essi had been persistent, almost feral about him taking her shift.

“Please, Jask. I promise, you won’t regret it!” She grinned at him and there was something in her eyes that sent up a dozen red flags.

“What are you plotting?” He asked flatly, squinting at her over his glass of wine.

“Not a thing, darling, just trust me on this,” she giggled, sipping her own wine neatly.

It hadn’t been a terrible morning, though Jaskier was barely managing to stay upright by the the coffee grinder. He was used to staying up long nights and it hadn’t changed anything when he knew he would have to open.

His phone buzzed in his pocket.

I know you mentioned he had a kid, but he’s single. You’re gonna want to put a blueberry muffin in right now.

He blinked at his phone, squinting as he tried to decode just what the fuck Essi was saying.

What?

But he put in the blueberry muffin, his phone on the counter as he watched the three little dots dance where Essi was texting back.

You still owe me a no questions.

“What the fuck is she even-” Jaskier heard the bell above the door just as he set the timer for the oven.

“-and so I tell him that if he isn’t going to at least make an attempt to clear out the back trails, we’re going to find a new contractor.” Came a voice behind him.

Jaskier froze, his hand on his phone. He nearly threw it in a panic. He recognized that voice. He’d recognize that voice in the dark, though to be fair, he usually listened to it in the dark.

He glanced over his shoulder and sure enough, Geralt Rivia was standing at his counter with two others from the nature reserve.

“Be with you in just a minute!” he tried for cheery and landed firmly in panicked. He ducked behind the large coffee machine and shot a text back to Essi.

I haven’t decided on whether or not I love you more than anything or if I’m ever going to

speak to you again!

Have fun! ;)

That bitch. It had been a setup! He adored her, the meddling little sneak. He schooled his face the best he could, knowing full well that his ears were still the color of the strawberry frap they served.

“Morning, what can I get you guys?” He asked as he wet his lips, trying not to stare right into Geralt’s gorgeous face.

“Three coffees, a blueberry muffin warmed up and a plain bagel, untoasted,” Geralt said offhandedly as he looked around. “No Essi today?”

“Uh, no. I’m filing in this morning. Jaskier, at your service.” As he dipped his head in a mock bow he internally cursed himself. One day, one normal day, that was all he asked for. “Hope the bagel isn’t for Roach. I’m not sure she’d like it. How is she? We haven’t seen her much recently?” He shot off without thinking as he started to pour the coffees. He froze again as his brain caught up with his mouth.

Behind Geralt, both of the men snorted. “Looks like you’ve got a fan, pretty boy,” the darker haired one jostled Geralt’s shoulder with a smirk.

Geralt only stood there, tilting his head slightly as though he wasn’t sure what had just happened.

“Ah, I mean…” Jaskier fumbled, nearly spilling one of the coffees down his own front.

“She’s doing fine actually,” there was a soft smile on his face, the same he wore when he got to handle the birds directly and Jaskier could feel himself melt on the spot. “Naughty as ever. Learned a new trick to take a swipe at Lambert here if he’s holding the feed bucket,” there was a low rumble of a chuckle.

The dark haired one behind Geralt stopped laughing abruptly. “She’s a menace.” He growled, picking up his own coffee from the counter.

Behind Jaskier, the oven dinged. “Oh and your muffin!” He turned, letting himself have the moment his back was to them to silently scream. He had been tricked! He had been set up! He was going to try to get this man’s number and he would never hear the end of it.

“You already had it in?” Geralt asked, that smile still in place.

“What can I say, we make sure to take care of our favorite customers.” He was almost proud of himself at how smoothly that had come out as he turned to look back at Geralt. He should have been paying attention to the muffin as it dropped, missing the bag completely and splatting on the floor.

“Fuck,” Jaskier nearly cried. “I am so sorry. Give me, just a moment, I’ll get another one in for you.”

He watched as Geralt ducked his head, smirking. “Would you like to meet her?” He gave another tilt of his head, his eyes clearly looking Jaskier up and down.

He was sure he had died. This wasn’t real. This was the good place. Or the bad place. Either way, this place was the place his soul had clearly left his body. He stood there, cold muffin in hand as he gaped at Geralt.

“Uh-”

“You don’t,” Geralt cleared his throat, “I was just wondering since you seemed… to be a… fan.” His face slipped into a scowl and no. No that wouldn’t do at all.

“I would love to, yeah. I’m off at three?”

“Oh! Jaskier! Thank you for coming in to open. I can take it from here,” Essi slipped in beside him, taking the muffin from his hand. “Morning, Dr. Rivia,” she nearly sang, her face smug.

“Dead. You’re very very dead when I see you again,” Jaskier whispered to her though he couldn’t stop grinning.

“So you were saying?” Geralt asked, leaning against the counter.

“Turns out, I’m free as a bird, you’d say.” Jaskier chuckled as he slipped his apron off and made his way around the counter.

Geralt snorted and rolled his eyes but took his coffee and muffin from Essi. “You know that phrase ‘eat like a bird’ is really not that good of a way of saying that someone doesn’t eat much?”

Behind them, Lambert scoffed. “Here we fucking go again. I said I was sorry for bringing it up!”

Later that afternoon he found himself wearing a glove similar to the one he had first seen Geralt in, a small tawny owl bobbing on his arm as he looked on in wonder. He had met Roach and she had nipped at his hair and shirt, screeching when food wasn’t produced.

“Hmm, let’s get Scorpion. He won’t tear you to shreds,” Geralt gave Roach a fond little tap on her wing with the back of his fingers.

By the end of the day he left with a few knicks in his fingers and a phone number. He had never slept better.

#geraskier #modern #ecologist geralt #cause always #roach is a hawk #meet cute #jaskier is a disaster #but we love him anyways #witcher fanfiction #this is... a mess #and i am so sorry

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illfoandillfie · 5 years ago

Text

5 Simple Rules For A Successful Fake Relationship: The Perfect Date

5 SIMPLE RULES MASTERLIST

Pairing: Ben Hardy x Reader

Summery: There's trouble in paradise for you and Ben but will the distance bring about some revelations? And what does it mean for your romantic reunion?

Warnings: The usual fairly innocent stuff, some swearing and drinking and mentions of smoking, but with the additions of PDAs out the wazoo, public make out, private make out.

Words: 8093

A/N: Things get a lil spicy in this one! Small disclaimer that I don’t drink so I have no idea what wine does to someone, or two someones who split a bottle. Also just another reminder that this was in no way inspired by rumours regarding Ben’s rl relationship with Olivia Cooke. I believe they’re legit, and I will not engage with anyone about that topic.

Taglist: @laedymoon @dtfrogertaylor @vee-ndetta @atomic-watermelon @kellypenac @labessieisallama @deakyclicks @jennyggggrrr @drowseoftaylor @hannafuckingsucks @i-cant-hangout-im-drumming @queenmylovely @supersonicfreddie @tenement-funstah

@coni-martina @johndeaconshands @hardforbenhardy @cubedtriangle @vicouscirce @arianabrashierstuff

You headed straight to the bathroom and threw up. Ben had called twice on your way home, but you’d let it go to voicemail, not ready to hear him admonish you for eavesdropping on him or to be asked if you felt the same. You supposed it was adrenaline or something that was making you feel nauseous. Of course, you’d have to talk to him eventually, at least to apologise for going so off book, but it could wait until you weren’t feeling so miserable. With teary eyes, you made your way to the kitchen, grabbed a drink to help settle your stomach, and then flopped onto the couch to flick through TV channels until you found something distracting enough. Your phone rang again but when you glanced at the screen it wasn’t Ben’s name you saw. “Mary?” If she heard any evidence of your distress in your voice she didn’t mention it, “Brilliant performance Y/N. The video was tweeted out about ten minutes after you left the restaurant and it’s already been shared more than you’d believe.” “Oh, that’s good.” “Better than good. People are eating it up. There’ll be articles tomorrow predicting your breakup and not just the ones we’ve organised. We’re going to ask that you and Ben refrain from seeing each other in public for the next two weeks or so, make it look like you’re taking some time apart. That’ll give the video plenty of time to circulate and allow us to get out a few variations of the trouble in paradise story. Of course, you’re free to visit each other and speak over the phone but be wary in case other paparazzi start following you in addition to the one’s we’ve hired. Chances are more people will be looking to scoop the official breakup story if all goes as well as these early numbers indicate it will. Then we’ll hit them with the romantic makeup dinner at Boucher. And after that it’s back to playing the happy couple. Of course there’ll be the press junket and premiere in a couple of months’ time and then we can break you up for good.” She kept talking about plans for he press tour, something about flights and hotels, but you stopped paying attention, already getting twitter open and searching for the video. It didn’t take long to find it, the caption proclaiming he who’d caught the footage had noticed you and Ben arrive and had pulled out his camera as soon as he realised things weren’t particularly happy. “Sorry, Mary, I’m gonna have to call you back.” “Everything alright?” “Yeah, just a small mishap with the washing machine. I’ll talk to you later.” As soon as she was gone you pressed play on the video. Filmed from a table to the left of yours and slightly behind your shoulder, the phone tipped at an angle so it wouldn’t be spotted. Your heart pounded as you watched. It was all there, the tension thick enough to cut with a knife as Ben tried to draw you into conversation. You heard the bite in your tone, the confusion in his. And you saw what you’d not noticed in the moment. The way his face fell when you said it was too much. The way his nails dug into his palm as he clutched his fork so tightly. The hurt on his face when you called him clingy and needy. He stood up as you walked away but he didn’t follow, just dragged his hand through his hair and then sat down heavily, worrying at his thumbnail with his teeth. The waiter came over, presumably with the bill but the video cut out before anything more was said. They’d got what they wanted. They didn’t need the aftermath.

The next day there was an unexpected knock on your door. You put down your phone where you were watching the video again and peeked out the window, worried that it was Ben come to confront you. Instead you saw Felicity raise her fist and knock again. “I saw the video,” was the first thing she said when you let her in, “are you okay?” “I wish people would stop asking me that. I’m fine.” “You had a straight up cat fight in the middle of a restaurant, and there are paparazzi practically camping in your front yard, you’re not fine.” “Okay, maybe not fine fine. But it’s whatever. How many are out there?” “Three. But what happened? Last week you told me you weren’t going to break up.” “We haven’t broken up.” “Well then what was that?” “I don’t know. It’s been building for a bit I guess. He’s just more serious about it all than I am.” “So I heard. Are you sure you aren’t just panicking?” “Panicking about what?” “Well, y’know, you’ve been in the tabloids a bit lately. That must put a strain on things. Maybe you just got a little freaked out by it and pushed Ben away rather than let yourself be vulnerable,” “What are you my shrink?” “Hey, I’m just trying to help.” “Yeah well, you’re wrong. The paps are kind of annoying but they aren’t the problem. The problem…” you took a breath as you considered what was safe to say, “the problem is that Ben has been on a different page to me for a while now. I think we both just need some space.” “Okay, if that’s what you want to go with,” she clearly didn’t believe you, “Have you talked to him about it?” “Not yet. Figured I’d call back sometime today when my head was clearer.” She nodded, “Well, I’m here for you. Whatever you need. Moral support when you call him or someone to bitch to afterwards or just somebody to get drunk with.” She pulled you into a hug, squeezing you tight and for a moment you felt like you might cry. All you could think about was Ben’s expression when you walked out, how wounded he looked.

Felicity stayed with you for the rest of the day which was good because her presence stopped you from doing nothing but watching the video over and over again. As it was you found it hard to keep yourself from looking at the comments people left on it. A lot of people took Ben’s side, calling you a bitch or worse, sometimes even direct messaging you their opinions. But there were also those lampooning Ben for smothering you, some going so far as to claim they were early signs of manipulative and controlling tendencies and that he deserved the public humiliation of it all. Those were the comments that made you feel worst. Being called a cunt you could deal with. Being told Ben deserved better you could easily deal with. But seeing such horrible suggestions of Ben being thrown about made your heart ache. He wasn’t mean or manipulative. He’d been nothing but kind to everyone on set and especially to you. Any lingering annoyance that hadn’t left you along with the little you’d eaten seemed to melt away, leaving you feeling cold at the thought of what you’d said. Yes he’d been stupid and selfish to agree to pretend to date you when he actually had a crush on you. But not once had he tried to wheedle a confession of love from you, not once had he pushed himself onto you. He’d always been respectful of your boundaries, warned you before he kissed you, asked if you wanted to share a blanket rather than just assume you did. Even your rules he’d mostly stuck to. The one exception being the cutesy nickname, but you’d never put up much of a fight with that. You only knew that he felt something for you because you’d listened in to a private conversation. And really, could you blame him for developing feelings? You’d literally been cast as lovers because you had good chemistry and then you’d spent weeks getting even closer, made all the more necessary by your fake romance. He was hardly the first person in history to have his on-screen feelings transfer to real life. And surely, if he’d decided to tell his friend everything, even after signing contractual documents about keeping it secret, then he must be serious about you, about how much he liked you. Maybe you had it wrong. Maybe there was something there you hadn’t consi-. “Stop wallowing,” Felicities voice cut through your thoughts, “Put the phone down and stop thinking about Ben for five minutes.” You shook your head to clear it, “I’m not wallowing.” “Are you on twitter right now?” “Maybe,” “You’re wallowing. C’mon, give me the phone.” She held out her hand, giving you had no choice but to hand it over. “Has anyone ever told you you’d make a good teacher,” “Once or twice. You can have this,” she brandished your phone at you and then shoved it into her bag, “back when you’re ready to call Ben. Until then we are getting out of the house.” “Out of the house where?” you asked, letting her pull you from your seat. “Just out. You need some fresh air. Go on, get your shoes.” “Alright, alright, I’m going,” you said, with the first genuine chuckle you’d had in days.

You ended up at the park a street over, sitting on a bench overlooking the duckpond. One or two of the photographers followed you, but they were easy to ignore. As soon as you stopped moving your mind was back on the previous night, but Felicity must have sensed as much for she quickly blurted out a fun fact about ducks to distract you. For the rest of the time you were there she kept your mind on other things. She gave you an extended rundown on all the gossip from her workplace. It didn’t matter that you didn’t know who Derick was, you soon heard all about his tryst with the copy boy, and when you asked if the Susie M who was mentioned was the same Susie M that made out with the boss at last year’s Christmas party you heard all about the fallout from her drunk misstep. Felicity led you on a stroll around the pond as you laughed at her stories and filled her in on what you were hoping your next role would be. “I’ve been sent a couple of interesting scripts. There’s one for a sci fi time travel thing which I’m hoping to get a call back for. And there was one for a comedy about a coven of witches causing mayhem with their potions. I’m only about halfway through the script but I’d happily play any of the three lead witches, so I think I’ll have a crack at it.” “They both sound really good. Different to your last role.” “Yeah. Different’s good though.” Eventually you wound your way towards a small coffee shop opposite the far side of the park. The slice of apple tea cake you ordered was the first food you’d eaten since the few bites at dinner and Felicity didn’t let you leave until you’d finished it, though she was subtle in her insistence. When you put your fork down with food still left on the plate she ordered a second coffee for each of you which gave you little to do but keep eating. You thanked her after but she pretended not to know what you were talking about. It wasn’t until you got home again that she returned your phone. “You should call Ben,” “Do I have to?” “Stop pouting and do it. You’re cute together and you obviously love him. Just suck it up and talk to him.” You let out a heavy sigh and then took the phone back, refraining from rolling your eyes at how wrong she was about your feelings.

You headed out onto the back patio and, with some slight trepidation, called Ben. The call rang out. With a frown you headed back inside only to be greeted by Felicity making chicken noises. “I didn’t chicken out, he just didn’t pick up. He must be busy.” “Or he’s upset. Call back. You can come in after he’s not picked up three times or you’ve had a chat.” “Okay, I’ll try again, jeez,” you went back outside and shut the door behind you. Your second attempt was as unsuccessful as your first and you were just about to hang up on the third try when he picked up. “Hello?” “Hi Ben,” “Y/N,” there was none of the joy in his voice that usually accompanied your name. “Can we talk, is now a good time?” “Yeah,” “Okay, I just, uh, I wasn’t sure since you didn’t pick up straight away.” “Well I wouldn’t want to come across as more needy than I already do.” “I shouldn’t have said that,” you leaned against the wall of the house in the same spot you’d seen Ben lean countless times after you’d told him he couldn’t smoke inside, “I’m so so sorry about everything I said.” “It’s not what you said, Y/N. I get it, we had to fight and you let loose. From an acting perspective I’m actually really fucking impressed. I, uh, I might have watched the video when I got home, just once, and it looks legit. Like, that line about pretending to love me as much as I do you.” You held your breath, waiting for him to ask how you knew. “I mean, that’s exactly what we were going for anyway, just without the details of not having met each other’s families. Everyone still heard us argue about moving at different paces and it was some really great improvisation.” “You think so?” “Yeah absolutely. I don’t think I could have come up with a line like that on the fly. Seriously, if we were allowed to tell people it was fake, that would have fit well on your audition reel.” “So you’re not upset with me?” There was a pause as Ben thought about his next words. “Not upset exactly. Like I said, I get that it was a scene. But the way you sounded when you called me clingy….it was pretty clear there were some real feelings in there too and I,” Ben sighed, “I just wish you’d talk to me about how you were feeling beforehand.” “I didn’t really know how.” “But if I’d known that I was making you uncomfortable or coming across as clingy I would have pulled back. I could have texted less or crashed at your place less often. Not insisted on buying you books on our fake dates.” You scuffed your foot against the ground, not sure whether to come clean about overhearing him. You’d expected Ben to have realised by now that you knew, not to take what you’d said as some incredible performance. “I know I got kinda caught up in it all though,” he said before you could summon the courage to admit anything, “I, um, I really like…” You could feel your heart racing, convinced he was about to confess his feelings for you, completely unsure how to react. “…being someone’s boyfriend.” “Oh,” Why was he so determined to surprise you? Why did you feel disappointed? “It suits me. I like having someone to dote on and take care of and talk to and I guess it’s been a while since I properly, seriously dated anyone. I feel like I’ve got all this boyfriend energy stored up and nowhere for it to go. It comes in handy when we’re pretending to be on a date or whatever but sometimes it slips out when we’re just hanging out as friends, without the cameras and all that. Which isn’t an excuse or anything, I’m not trying to undermine any discomfort you felt.” “No, I get it.” “You do?” “Yeah. I mean, we said it was a weird situation right back when it was first pitched to us. That hasn’t really changed, has it?” “No,” he said with a small, soft chuckle, “still weird.” “Exactly. And sometimes I think it can be kind of confusing.” “Confusing?” You had a sudden mental image of a dog with pricked up ears, “Confusing’s maybe the wrong word. Hard to keep up with is I guess what I’m trying to say. It’s different to acting in love with someone on a movie because on a movie there’s a definite time span. The director calls cut and you can stop pretending. But we don’t get that cut. Even when there’s no cameras we’re still faking it for the people we know and anyone who might see us,” you glanced inside to make sure Felicity wasn’t listening in. “Do you think that’s why you didn’t know how to talk to me? Because there’s no clear line between Y/N and Ben as friends and Y/N and Ben as a couple.” “Maybe,” you shrugged, “I don’t think it helps.” “Yeah. It’s like, obviously there are times when we have to be all coupley and I guess it gets hard to say when something is uncomfortable because then it’s like what about next time we’re out and we have to do that thing anyway. And there are things I’m happy to do with my friends that I don’t think twice about but might carry extra meaning in our situation.” “Exactly. I don’t want to say I don’t like something and make you feel bad when we then have to do it because people are watching.” “So what are you suggesting then?” “Well, we aren’t allowed to see each other in public for a couple of weeks now, right? So maybe this could be a chance for us to take a break. Not in a completely cut off way, I still wanna talk to you and stuff. But if we give ourselves some space, y’know. Try and shake….excess feelings a-and work out our boundaries better.” “Sure, yeah, I can see how that would help.” “It’s just a couple of weeks and like we can still text or call or whatever we just wouldn’t hang out together and it wouldn’t be every day.” “Y/N, I get it. It’s a good idea.” You took a deep breath, “Okay. Cool. Um, so we’re good?” “Of course we are. I-” Ben seemed to stop himself from saying something, instead sighing, “We’re good,” “Good.” There was nothing else to stay but you didn’t want to hang up. Neither did Ben, it seemed, both of you just standing in silence. You could hear faint music playing on his end, like it was coming from another room. Maybe he was in his kitchen, leaning against the bench, the radio on in the next room over. Or maybe he was sitting on his couch, the TV down low so the repetitive game music wouldn’t disturb your conversation. You could see him so clearly, sitting in his usual seat, controller abandoned beside him. You wondered if he could tell where you were. “I guess I should go then,” He said softly, “I’ll talk to you soon.” “Bye Ben,” “Bye cud- Y/N.”

“How’d it go?” Felicity asked when you came back inside. “Alright. We’re gonna take a break from seeing each other so much and sort out how we feel and stuff.” “That sounds good,” “Yeah,” you felt relieved at having had the conversation but it was mixed with a weird sadness you couldn’t put your finger on, making you feel vaguely like you wanted to be sick again. “Why don’t you go lie down for a bit. I’ll hang out and then tonight we can order pizza and watch cat videos or vine compilations or something dumb like that.” “You don’t have to stay, I’m fine.” “Hun, I’m staying. Maybe I’ll take a run to the shop, pick up some ice cream and booze and face masks. Sound fun?” “Definitely,” “Alrighty then, it’s a plan.” You felt slightly cheered by the thought as you made your way to your room and fell onto the bed, not bothering to change or move the covers, but it didn’t stop room from blurring with tears as soon as you were alone.

Keeping the distance between you and Ben was a mixed bag. On one hand not seeing each other meant there was no lingering pressure of another date or photo opportunity weighing on you. But on the other it also meant a queue of TV shows you felt unable to watch since you’d started them together. You didn’t have to worry that Ben would suddenly call you or rock up on your doorstep, unable to keep his affections to himself any longer. But you also missed out on random messages asking if you could remember that song (“you know the one it was from the early 2000s. Went something like…,”) or the way he’d chuck popcorn at you from the other side of the couch until you managed to catch some in your mouth. It gave you a chance to relax without worrying you were leading him on, or that you’d say the wrong thing, or that the rules you’d come up with would be broken. But that was because you barely spoke to him. Your communication was kept to text messages whenever something big happened and not much more. Ben sent you a message when he got a call back for one of the movies he’d auditioned for. You texted him when your neighbour’s dog had puppies, partly because they’d asked if you knew anyone who could adopt one when it was a little bigger, but partly because the second you saw the babies you thought of how much he’d love them. And yes, you were sleeping better without so much pressure and anxiety, but it hadn’t stopped Ben from appearing in your dreams and even daydreams, explicitly so more often than you were willing to admit. Then of course there was the bombardment of emails from family and friends checking in on you after they’d seen the video. It got so out of hand you’d had to make a rare post on your private Facebook account letting them know things were fine, just to get them to stop harassing you. But you couldn’t stop the harassment you were getting from strangers on all your other social media pages. You got into the bad habit of checking all the big gossip mag websites for stories about you, following them with as much fervour as any fan might. Ben must have had some paparazzi taking up residence on his street too because you saw countless pictures of Ben going about his day – out with friends, walking to Tesco, smoking outside a pub. And every time there was some story attached either about how heartbroken he was or about how he was sneaking off to meet you in private. You coped the same treatment, though sometimes with the added twist of announcing you were pregnant. All it did was make you wish you could have a hug from Ben and talk about it with him. You came very close to buying a pack of cigarettes one day, just so you could burn one and have its scent linger around your house like Ben had brought it in with him. Felicity was brilliant. She found amusement in the unfamiliar photographers, especially when an article appeared with photos of you and her hugging on your doorstep, speculating you’d moved on from Ben already. It wasn’t so surprising that she’d snuck her way into the magazines she so loved to read considering she checked in on you a lot in the first few days. But, as much as you loved her, and as much as she made you laugh, she had her own job and partner to think about and she couldn’t quite grasp what was happening the same way Ben could have. You missed him more than you thought you would, even with all the baggage from his unrequited crush. So much so that the realisation your makeup date was approaching had you grinning as you made your morning coffee, humming the song from his mug.

It was a surprise, though not an unpleasant one, to hear your phone ringing at close to nine the night before the date. You were sitting in bed playing solitaire on your laptop when your ringtone interrupted. Ben was apologetic as he greeted you, repeatedly saying sorry for calling at all. “It’s okay Ben, I really don’t mind.” You said, putting the laptop aside and relaxing back against the pillows. “Are you sure? I should have just emailed you.” “Ben, stop. I’m glad you called. I’ve missed hearing your voice.” “You have?” “Of course I have. I spent two and a bit months doing nothing but listen to you blab, you really think I’d just forget you?” You could hear his smile when he continued, “I’ve missed talking to you too. I figured this would be a good excuse.” “This being?” “Tomorrow night. Peter said he’d send you the info.” “Of course, yeah I got his email. Tomorrow night, meeting at Boucher at seven.” “Yup, that’s the info.” “I was told to dress up and be prepared to smooch.” “Did he say smooch?” “No,” you laughed, “His phrasing sounded a lot stuffier and careful not to create a lawsuit, but I figured that’s what he meant.” “Yeah, um, you’re okay with that?” “Absolutely. It’s a makeup dinner and we’re going to be together for another couple of months so we should play up the romance and the um, physicality and all that.” You tried to ignore the sudden warmth in your cheeks and the memory of your last dream. “Okay, good because I was specifically told about what happens when we leave the restaurant.” “Hmmm I think I remember something about that but again, stuffy non-lawsuit language. Kinda hard to follow at times.” “Basically they want us to make out while we wait for an Uber. Like, proper make out.” “Oh,” “I told them neither of us are public make out people but they’re insisting they need it. Something about it being an obvious indication of getting back together or whatever. And technically we agreed to it when we signed up for this whole thing.” “Thanks for the heads up.” “No worries. Glad I called now, wouldn’t have wanted to just spring that on you. But um, that’s it really, I’ll let you get back to your last night of peace.” “Wait,” you blurted without having anything else to say. “Yeah?” “Ummm, oh! Did you hear anything more about that movie?” “Not yet but Peter said they’re still in talks. Hopefully soon.” “What’s it about?” “It’s an actiony thriller thing. This guy, the role I auditioned for, witnesses a murder and then gets dragged into this revenge mission. I’d get to shoot some big guns and drive a cool car and y’know save the girl, all that stuff.” “Sounds fun,” “Yeah, what about you, any auditions?” “One or two but nothing’s come of them. I sent my reel in for this supernatural comedy about a coven of witches. Too soon to know anything though.” “Well I hope you get it,” “Yeah, likewise.” “Thanks.” You were forcefully reminded of your last conversation when you both lapsed into silence again, neither of you making any move to hang up. You wanted to keep talking but part of you was worried that if you used up all your conversation topics now, you’d have nothing to talk about over dinner tomorrow, and if that happened you were bound to blurt out something you shouldn’t. Instead you just savoured the sound of Ben’s breaths and the odd rustle of clothing as he shifted around. Once again he was the one to break the silence. “Well, as lovely as it has been to chat, I should go. Gotta get a good night sleep so I’m ready to woo you tomorrow.” “You’re not going to bed yet are you? It’s so early,” “I was gonna read or something for a bit actually.” “Have you finished that show we started?” “Which one?” “Any of them? “No. Figured they could wait.” “You wanna watch one now?” “What, over the phone?” “Yeah, we can try to time it so it plays at the same time.” “Uh, sure, why not,” You quickly grabbed your laptop and, after some discussion of which show you were more in the mood for, found the right episode. There was laughter on both ends of the line as you attempted to hit play at the same time, counting down from three between giggles. It took you a few tries but you eventually got them to sync up, more or less. It felt nice to hear Ben’s laughter again, his voice when he sang along with the soundtrack, his comments about the nitty gritty of the production side – odd line deliveries and angles of shots. He was easy to talk to. Though with everything that had happened, everything you knew, just the act of talking to him set off butterflies in your stomach.

It took you well over an hour to get ready for the date. You’d been told to go all out so that’s exactly what you did. With a little help from Felicity so you could get away with a calming pre dinner drink. She gave you a hand choosing an outfit – a dress, short but not too short, classy but eye catching. It had started life as a dress for a movie premiere but after a few years the top didn’t fit quite right so you’d had it altered, the skirt was taken up, cut off and attached to a new top that more suited your current style, leaving you with a slightly shorter and much more you outfit. Glass of Prosecco close to hand, Felicity worked on your hair and offered advice on your makeup. When you were finished and could reveal the full look to her, she squealed. “You’re absolutely going to get laid.” “Shut up. I look alright though? Lipstick’s not too dark?” “Honey, you look gorgeous. I swear, you’re gonna get dicked down in the bathroom of that fancy as fuck restaurant because he’s not gonna be able to keep his hands off you.” You burst out laughing, “Good to know. Not exactly the plan for the evening but at least I’m prepared now.” “What is your plan?” “I don’t really have one, which is not helping me stay calm. I guess just find out if he’s still interested in me. And then work out where we go from there. We talked last night and that was good but I just need to know if he’s, you know, still into me.” “He’s head over heels for you, that won’t have changed. The question is, do you love him?” You wanted to say no but obviously couldn’t so you settled for a soft, “I’ve have missed him.” She hummed with an annoyingly knowing look. “I should be going, the Uber’ll be here soon.” Felicity pulled you into a hug, “Knock him dead, Y/N,” and then, as an afterthought added, “don’t do anything I wouldn’t do.” “You first hooked up with your girlfriend because some drunk guy told you he’d buy you both drinks if you made out. There’s nothing you wouldn’t do.” Felicity laughed, “That was just a free drink, imagine what I’d do if there was a fancy French dinner involved.”

You arrived before Ben did. A quick glance up and down the street told you he wasn’t approaching just yet, so you opened your clutch to give yourself something to think about other than the sound of snapping cameras. Phone, lipstick, tissues, compact mirror, three condoms. You laughed to yourself when you saw them and made a mental note to lie about how useful they were when you next saw Felicity. Quick footsteps caught your attention and you looked up in time to see Ben running towards you. “Sorry, I’m late,” he said between breaths, pressing a kiss to your cheek as soon as he was within reach, “My Uber got caught in traffic and I had to make a stop,” He held out a small bouquet of flowers in a variety of pinks, purples and yellows. “For me?” “No for the other girl I’m seeing, of course for you. You like them?” “They’re beautiful,” you took the bouquet and breathed in its sweet scent. “I saw it in the shop and, um yeah, I don’t know, they seemed nice, a-and I know you, um, like nice things, so,” he stopped babbling with a pained expression on his face, for once more visibly nervous than you. “It’s very sweet of you, thank you,” “I’m glad you think so because right now it feels kinda cliché and cheesy. Now you have to carry them around all night, what was I thinking? And god can I just shut up. Sorry.” You couldn’t help but laugh as he scrunched his nose up and ran his hand through his hair, unintentionally endearing, “Calm down, Ben, we’ve done this before.” “I know,” “Let’s just go inside, further away from these cameras, and have a drink, sound good? “God yes,” he nodded and let you lead him through the door up to the hostess stand, managing to pull himself together enough to give her the name of the booking. As expected, she told you to wait in the bar until a table was ready.

Ben downed his first drink in one hit. It made you wonder how hard he was finding it to be around you. Had the space helped him quiet his feeling for you? Or had it just made him want you more? Was that why he seemed so out of sorts, stumbling over his words in a way that was so unlike him. You desperately wanted to find out where he stood but it was impossible without giving yourself away. What you needed was for him to make another phone call you could overhear but the likelihood of that happening was slim. You’d just have to put it from your mind for now. “Better?” You asked Ben as he caught the barman’s attention and ordered a second drink. “Getting there,” He took the new glass and drank, just a sip this time, “You look stunning by the way. I should have said it earlier,” “Thank you, you look very handsome,” He glanced down at the suit he was wearing, “Thanks.” A somewhat awkward silence followed. “So,” you said, louder than necessary, desperate to get him talking like he normally did lest you start to freak out too, “You been here before?” “No. Never even heard of it before Mary and Peter mentioned it. You?” “Same.” You looked around the room, searching for something else to talk about, “Nice though.” “Yeah, yeah, really swanky.” “Bit different from the painting thing,” “Yeah, very. Look I need to tell you someth-” “Mr Hardy? Your table is ready,” You smiled at the hostess, as he thanked her, and followed her towards a table for two, setting your bouquet down to the side. Ben smiled at you from across the table. “You were saying?” you asked, apprehensive and curious. “Oh, um, nothing, doesn’t matter. We’ve got a date to focus on.” “Wouldn’t want all these prying eyes to miss anything,” “Exactly. Cuddle bunny,” You smiled at the nickname despite its ridiculousness and leaned forward in your seat slightly, letting your fingers gently rest against the back of his hand. If he wanted to focus on the date and putting on a good show for the public then that was something you could do, “Babe.” The flush you’d seen creep onto Ben’s face before appeared again and he reached for his glass once more. “So, how have you been?” you asked, pulling your hand back towards you. He looked at its retreat and then back at your eyes, “Good. Got to hang out with the boys a few times last week which was really good.” “Beat them at any more video games?” “They won’t let me anywhere near FIFA at the moment,” “Discrimination,” “That’s what I tried to tell them!” he laughed, seeming to relax a little more, “bunch of babies.” “What about that trip thing you were organising, have you sorted that out?” “Not entirely. It’s with my friend Joe who lives in the States. He was going to come out here but we decided it wasn’t worth it since I’ll be over there soon anyway.” “You will?” “Well both of us will be. Part of the press stuff for The Perfect Match.” “Oh, right, of course,” you giggled and tucked your hair behind your ear. “He’s looking forward to meeting you though.” “I bet he is,” you said automatically. Of course he’d be keen to meet the woman his friend was infatuated with, you would be too. Ben gave you a questioning look but you covered well enough, “I mean, he’d obviously know about us dating so I assume he’d be curious to meet your girlfriend. Especially if we’re having public spats and stuff.” “Right, yeah, definitely. What about you? What’s been happening?”

From there you fell into your usual style of conversation, both of you relaxing more as the night wore on and the bottle of wine you ordered grew emptier. The only difference from normal was the romance of it all, played up as much as possible. Brushing hands as you both reached for the salt, soft smiles and laughs. You even went so far as to twirl a strand of hair around your finger like some love struck teenybopper in a soap opera. When your food arrived you let Ben feed you a bite off his fork. You offered a taste of your meal in return and he held your wrist as he leaned in. A gesture that left you breathless, blinking at him as he slowly withdrew his hand. The wine’s fault probably. You’d polished off the bottle by the time dessert arrived, on top of the drinks you’d had before you sat down. It made you feel looser and you assumed the same of Ben, judging by how different his demeanour was to the nervous, stuttering one he’d had when he showed up. Perhaps that was why, with a spoonful of chocolate mousse halfway to his mouth and no regard for the conversation you were having, he suddenly said, “Can I ask about these last couple of weeks?” “Uh, yeah, what d’you want to know?” “Was it good? The space, did you get what you wanted from it?” You thought for a moment, putting down your own spoon, “Yes. I’m not going to lie and say it wasn’t helpful because it really was. Just, having that break from everything. I think I really needed it. But I really really missed you too.” He smiled at that, looking down at his dessert like he was trying to hide it, “I’m glad. It was hard not seeing you but yeah, helped me figure some stuff out too. Confirmed some other stuff.” “Like what? If you don’t mind me asking.” “Like…um, the thing I said on the phone about enjoying playing the boyfriend. I like having someone special to share things with,” He sighed, “But that’s…not relevant right now. Do you want to get out of here?” You were a little taken aback by the suddenness of the suggestion but agreed, reapplying your lipstick for the cameras while the waiter collected your bill.

Ben wrapped his arm around your waist once you were outside, pulling you close. With the pretext on planting a kiss on your temple he quietly asked if you were ready for the next part. “Lay it on me,” you giggled, feeling warm and light. A second later his hand was sliding down your side towards your bum which set off another wave of giggles. He kept you close as you walked down the street, oblivious to the flash of cameras. Ben kept his arm around you, using the other to open the app and order a car. You stopped when you reached a quiet bus stop, Ben letting you go to sit down, tapping the spot beside him. But his hand wasn’t gone for long, instead moving to cup your cheek as he pulled you into a kiss. “I missed doing that,” he muttered but you were more focused on making it happen again, shifting yourself closer, laying your hand against him, fingers curling into the fabric of his shirt. His heart was pounding under your palm, but it matched the beat against your own chest. You’d forgotten how good he was at kissing but it came flooding back as you opened your lips for him, felt his tongue against yours. His hand was firm on your back, pulling you in but still not close enough. You whined, let him pull you onto his lap, pressed yourself against him, one hand in his hair so he wouldn’t stop kissing you. His hands were everywhere, on your arms and back and squeezing your arse, holding you in place as you arched your back slightly and kissed him harder. A car horn right beside you made you pull away, startled. “Ben?” The older man asked, looking down at their phone, “I’m here to pick you up.” “Shit,” Ben said softly, and then to the driver, “Sorry, yes, that’s us.” You let your head fall forward onto his shoulder for a second, smothering your laughter. “C’mon cuddle bunny,” he said softly, “they’ve had enough of a show.” Your legs felt unsteady as you stood and smoothed your skirt down. Ben opened the back door for you and followed you inside. “So sorry about that,” he said again to the driver. He just laughed, “It’s alright. I remember being your age and completely smitten. You’re that couple I’ve seen online, right?” “Uh, yes, that’d be us, I think” “Well if you wanna keep making out I won’t stop you. Might have to tweet about it though.” Ben laughed, “Thanks but I think we can hold off for a bit.” You looked over at Ben and had to cover your mouth to keep from laughing too loud when you saw the lipstick smudged over Ben’s face. “What is it?” Still laughing you handed ben your compact mirror and the pack of tissues from your clutch. “Christ,” he said softly, “The internet’s going to fucking love this.”

The Uber driver left you at the end of Ben’s driveway with a wink and a have fun. There were paparazzi waiting for you so you grabbed Ben’s hand and pressed a kiss to his shoulder. He led you inside, refusing to let go of your hand even while trying to dig his keys from the opposite pocket. Once you were inside, you placed your slightly bruised bouquet on the hall stand, leaned against the closed door and began taking your shoes off. Normally, after being out together and winding up at Ben’s place, you’d head straight to the bathroom to take off your makeup. He’d go and fetch two glasses of water if you’d been drinking or maybe something warm if the night was cool. You’d change into the pyjamas you kept at his place and then join him in the lounge room, sometimes tucking yourselves under the same blanket, to watch TV until you were yawning and struggling to stay awake. And then you’d wish each other good night and head to your separate rooms. But this time something felt different. You kicked your shoes to the side of the hallway and stayed against the door, watching as Ben pulled his wallet from his pocket, dropping it and his keys next to your flowers. He slowly turned towards you, taking a step closer. And you knew you should move, should dodge around him, make a joke about not needing to take off your makeup since he’d already done it for you but you found yourself stepping towards him too. There was a beat as you both realised how close you were. You heard Ben swallow, watched his eyes move to your lips unashamedly. Later, when you were lying in the dark wondering what the fuck had happened, you’d tell yourself it was the wine. A brief impairment of judgement exacerbated by months of celibacy and an easily suggestable brain. Whether you believed it was another question.

You closed the gap but he was only a second behind, hand back on your waist as his other found your jaw. You wrapped your arms around his neck, let him slowly walk you through the house towards the living room you where you’d spent so many nights joking around. He didn’t stop kissing you while you stumbled through the house, not unless he had to and even then he never went far, his breath hot against your lips. You pushed him down onto the couch and straddled his lap, continuing what had been interrupted, his hands falling back to your arse, pushing up your skirt, squeezing, as you tugged on his hair, making him groan. A single rational thought was trapped in the back of your mind, trying to breakthrough but it was hard to think when Ben was holding you like that, kissing you like that, especially after so long without being touched at all. He broke away to mouth at your throat and it was only then that you had enough time to think clearly. “Wait,” you said softly and then again more insistently. “What is it?” “What are we doing? We can’t,” “Why not?” You shook your head, and pushed yourself off of him, taking a couple of steps back, “It’s rule one Ben,” “We wouldn’t even have to break rule one though, we can just stay here on the couch. No harm in making out if we’ve already done it.” A whine caught in your throat and you took an extra half step back to keep from rushing into his arms again, more rational thoughts pushing through the broken wall and joining the first. You shouldn’t, not if there was any chance Ben still had a crush on you. It wouldn’t be fair. “I’d be good to you Y/N, you know I would,” You shook your head, “You know this isn’t real, right Ben?” “Of course I know that,” “Really? Because sometimes I think you forget I’m not actually in love with you.” What’s that supposed to mean?” You bit your lip to try and stop yourself from saying what you were about to say but it was no use, the words were already half out, “I heard you talking to Joe the night you left your keys at the bar. I know you have a crush on me.” “You heard that?” His eyes were wide, horrified. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to overhear I just needed a drink an-.” “Oh my god,” He sat up straighter and ran a hand through his hair again and you wished it was your fingers mussing it up, “Maybe you should go.” “Wait, Ben, let’s just talk about it.” “Is that why you were upset before the argument? Is that why you didn’t want to see me for the last two weeks?” “I thought some space might help you stop feeling that way.” He laughed at that, “I’m – I’ve been trying to stop feeling like this for months now, since we were filming together, but I can’t, I can’t shake you. I love you. And it won’t go away.” “You love me?” Ben nodded, looking up at you from the couch but you couldn’t meet his eye. “You don’t have to say you don’t feel the same, I know.” You didn’t know what to say, just stood there, frozen in place. “That’s what I thought,” He stood up, chewing on his lip and when he spoke he had to clear his voice to make it loud enough for you to hear, “I, um, I know I just said you should leave but you can’t go yet. There are still paparazzi out there and we’re meant to look like we’ve made up. I’m going to go to bed though and you can stay until they leave or, if you can still stand to look at me, then you’re welcome to stay the night and I’ll drop you home in the morning. I’m really sorry.” You watched him walk towards the hallway, still frozen in place.

#my writing #my fics #ben hardy x reader #ben hardy imagine #i'm fully ready to cop some shit for this one lmao

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arrow-guy · 5 years ago

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Struck By Night (5/??)

Summary: Fate has a funny way of pulling people together. Whether or not that’s a good thing, only time will tell.

A/N: Hi, it’s been over a year since this fic was last updated, but we’re bringing this bitch back because I still love vampires and Tony Stark. Hope you guys have fun with the Drama lmao

Pairing: AvengersxReader

Word Count: 2.3k

Warnings:

Part 4

I sit on the couch in the common area, a mug of scalding hot tea clutched in my hands. I stare into the fire blazing in the hearth and sink into the cushions as best I can.

“I thought you didn't like human food.”

Startled, my body jerks when I tear my eyes away from the fire and tea sloshes over the side of the mug, onto my bare hands. I hiss in pain and jump up from the couch, shaking the tea from my hands. Tony stands behind the couch, his eyes wide.

“I don't usually. Tea helps me warm up, though. Especially in the middle of winter.” Tony reaches out for the mug and I hand it to him. “Tea isn't much of a food though is it?”

He sets the mug on the counter and grabs a dishtowel from the fridge handle. “I guess not,” he says. “Sorry I snuck up. Didn't mean to startle you.”

I take the towel from him and wipe my hands off before moving on to dab at the spots on my pant leg.

“It's fine, I should have been paying better attention.” I dab at the wet spot on my knee a little before giving up. “What’s up?”

“Bruce told me about your idea to create a blood substitute that would be viable both for human use and a food source for you.” Tony shakes his head. “You think we could do it?”

I shrug and plop down on the couch again. “Do you? Because Dr. Banner seems interested in at least trying.”

Tony takes a seat at the opposite end and folds one leg under himself so that he can face me.

“It's not that I don't think it can be done, we're literal geniuses. The time in which we have to do so is what worries me. You only have so much Hydra blood. It won't last forever. What are your options when it runs out if we don't finish in time?”

“I'm no stranger to rationing food, Tony. I've already started planning out meals so that there won't be any hunger issues along the way. If I get a little light-headed I'll stay in my room.” I scratch my cheek. “Even if it doesn't work for me, as long as it's a viable option for humans, it has to be worth it, right?”

He nods slowly. “You are so much different than I thought you’d be.”

My lips quirk up into a smile. “So you’ve said.”

“I’m serious. I can’t seem to figure you out. Just as soon as I think I’ve got all the information, Barnes or Rogers throw out some new shit or you come out of left field with something like sucking dick to stay fed.”

I burst out laughing. “I never said that I actually did that, just that it happened. But, I aim to surprise, Tony. And if I can surprise you, maybe my work here is done.”

“Oh, don’t go! We’re just getting to know each other.”

“Mmm, there’s nowhere else in the world I’d rather be.” I shiver and wrap my arms around myself.

“What’s wrong?”

I shake my head. “I’m just cold, is all. It happens.”

“Is there anything I can do?”

“Unless you want to cuddle, probably not.” I sigh and push myself up from the couch. “It may be best for me to just go curl up in bed.”

“Alright.” His eyes follow me as I pour my tea down the drain and head for the hallway. “Tell F.R.I.D.A.Y. to turn up the thermostat when you get there.”

I shoot him a smile and pull my hoodie tighter around me. “Thanks, Tony. Really. For everything.”

He smiles but waves me off. “Nothing to thank me for, (Y/N), I just want you to be comfortable.”

I shake my head and turn down the hallway with a smile playing at my lips. For as much as Tony has done for his team, and even for me, he doesn’t quite seem to know when or how to give himself credit.

I shuffle into the lab around 2 pm and find Bruce and Tony hunched over a single tablet. I plop down onto a stool across from them. Neither look up.

“Morning,” Tony greets.

“It’s not morning,” I mumble. I lean on the table with my chin in my hand.

“Did you ever get warmed up last night?”

I nod. “I did, thanks. The vent is right over my bed. It was really nice.”

“I’m glad.”

“Mmm,” I hum. “What have you two been up to today?”

“We’ve been looking into your blood substitute,” Bruce answers.

“Oh?”

“We know that no one has been able to successfully do anything like this, so if it works, it could completely change the world.”

“But?”

“But there’s no way to know whether or not it would be a viable source of food for you.”

I shake my head. “Fine. If you can figure out a way to make something that can help other people, you should do that. You could change the lives of people with chronic anemia, sickle cell, dialysis patients, and millions of others. It’s worth it just for that.”

“I almost forgot you were a nurse for a moment,” Tony says.

“I’d thank you to remember that I’m more than just a vampire, Mr. Stark,” I say. I smirk when his eyes widen. "Anyway, where were you thinking of starting? I'm assuming that you're looking at artificial hemoglobin, at the very least."

Tony laughs. "Yes, actually. That's exactly what we were thinking."

"Perfect. I haven't been able to run tests myself, so I can only guess, but I believe that that is the one thing that my body metabolizes when I take in blood. On a base level, it holds the most nutritional value."

"It's a protein, so that would make sense," Bruce says. "Outside of baseline volume replacement, it's the one thing that's been hardest to reproduce for any kind of artificial blood supplement.”

I nod. “That would make sense.”

“I think we need to have a backup plan,” Tony says. “Just in case this doesn’t work out, where will you be getting blood?”

“I don’t know. Somehow I doubt it’d be as easy as crashing a bunch of Hydra parties and draining them for fun afterward.” I run my fingers over my lips as I think. “I guess I’d have to go out into the city and see if I can pull anything.”

Tony pulls a face. “If you have to.”

“Well it’s not like you guys want to be my blood bags, now do you? Mass anemia isn’t exactly ideal, especially in a team of Superheroes.” I bite my thumbnail, brows pulling together. “I’m not sure how enhanced blood would even affect me. I’m not sure it’s really something I want to experiment with.”

“Sounds like college,” Tony says.

“I know you’re trying to make a joke,” I say. “But do you have any idea what happens when you mix something like me with the biological material of someone like Doctor Banner? Hell, even Steve could be a risk.”

“She’s right, Tony,” Bruce admits. “You remember my cousin Jennifer?”

“Yeah, health problems a while back, right?”

“Yeah. I was the only one who could give her blood. Now she’s the greenest lawyer in all of New York.”

“Shit.”

“Now do you understand?” I ask. “There are too many variables, and I’m already enough of a danger as is.”

“I think you’re putting a little too much pressure on yourself there, (Y/N),” Tony says. “If you were a danger to us, you would’ve bit one of us already. Your self-control, from what I’m guessing, is off the charts. When you start sneaking around and nibbling on our necks, then I’ll consider you a danger.”

“I think you’re letting inexperience cloud your judgment.”

Tony stares at me. “What’s your hangup with this?”

“What I am, at the core, is dangerous. If there’s one misstep, I could seriously hurt someone, potentially myself if it comes down to isolation.” I shake my head. “It’s not a hangup, Tony. It’s being self-aware. I’ve seen too many good people hurt when they trust a monster.”

“You’re not a monster.”

“Hah! Cute. That’s really cute. But I’m not going to debate the definition with you, because I suspect we have very different experiences with it.”

“(Y/N),” Bruce says. “I’m sure he didn’t mean-”

“Bruce, don’t. Please. Just don’t.” I look between the two of them. “Look, if it doesn’t work for me, keep going with the project. It’ll help a lot of people.”

Bruce nods and I give a tight-lipped smile before excusing myself from the lab.

I run into Steve on the way down the hall and I just barely manage to sidestep him before crashing into him.

“What’s the rush, (Y/N)?” he asks.

“Sorry,” I shake my head. “I need to go back to my room. Clear my head.”

He follows after me and places his hand on my shoulder. I turn to face him and he stoops to look me in the eye. “You okay?”

I sigh. “I’ll be very honest, Steve, I’m tired.”

He nods and wraps his arm around my shoulders. “I’ll walk you back.”

I roll my eyes. “You don’t have to do that.”

“I don’t, but I’m gonna because I want to.”

“You gonna tell me why you were in such a hurry to get away from the lab?”

I crawl onto the bed and sit with my back against the wall. “It’s overwhelming.”

“The lab?” Steve sits in the reading chair in the corner. “It can be. I figured you’d be used to that kind of stuff, though.”

I shake my head. “Not the lab. Working with Tony.”

“Ah.”

“He’s just… a lot, y’know? And we butt heads like you wouldn’t believe. Sometimes it feels like we were made to contradict each other.”

“And other times?”

“Other times it’s like someone else takes over and it’s so easy to talk to him. Like there’s something there.” I wring my hands. “Scares the shit out of me.”

“Why?”

“Because I’m practically immortal. I’m not… I don’t like attachments.”

“You’re attached to Buck ‘n’ I.”

“Neither of you have aged in the past eighty years. I’ve got more in common with you two than I do him.”

Steve shrugs. “Nothing’s happened yet.”

“Very true.” I frown. “Do I even want something to happen? And there’s no saying that he feels the same connection.”

“That’s right.”

“Who’s to say he’d want it anyway?” I laugh. “There I go, worrying about things that haven’t even happened yet. Not to mention things that would probably never happen to begin with.”

“It sounds like you’re talking yourself into and out of something,” Steve says.

“Better to do it now than later, right?” I let my head fall back against the wall and laugh. “Oh man, I’m fucked.”

Steve laughs. “In all the years I’ve known you, you’ve never talked like this.”

“What, the cursing?”

“No, like you have a crush on someone.”

“Well, Steven, when we were last around each other we were also around a bunch of grimy, rank, disgusting soldiers and SSR officers who were either skirt chasers, or women who weren’t exactly my type. Not to mention we were in the middle of a literal war. There wasn’t time for this… this-” I gesture wildly. “Mess.”

“Not even after the war?”

“No, I was pretty focussed on staying alive and off the government's radar, not to even mention S.H.I.E.L.D.’s. It was hard enough getting away from the SSR after the war, after Peggy took over, it got harder.”

“So you’ve been on the run for the better part of seventy years.”

“Pretty much, yeah.” I sigh. “Pretty sure this is the most time I’ve had to relax since you went into the ice, and I’m certain that should be a joke because being here is anything but relaxing.”

Steve snorts. “All things considered, it’s been relatively quiet since we dragged you in.”

“I’ve noticed.” A knock sounds at the door and I sit forward to see who’s there. “Yeah?”

The door opens and Tony appears in the entryway.

“Hey,” he says.

“What’s up?” I ask.

Tony glances at Steve. “Could I talk to you alone?”

“Oh, uh, sure.” Steve grins at me and I flip him off.

Steve laughs. “I’ll be going.”

Tony watches him go and turns back to me. “What was that about?”

“We were just talking.” I lean forward and pat the bed. “Have a seat, Stark.”

He plops down on the bed and braces himself with one arm. “So.”

“So…” I fold my arms. “You wanted to talk?”

“Right.” He sighs. “I want to apologize for what I said in the lab. It was insensitive and I wasn’t thinking.”

I blink slowly, surprised. “What?”

“I’m apologizing.”

I wave off his apology. “No, I heard that part, I just don’t get why. I was abrupt and ran away. If anything, I should be the one apologizing.”

“I brushed off your concern, (Y/N). And they were valid concerns.” He pauses for a moment. “I want to know more about what you are. I want to understand how we can help you, even if this little project doesn’t work out.”

“I… really?”

“What, you think I can’t recognize when I need to step back and learn something?”

“N-no, it’s just a lot of shocking content for one day is all. It’s a lot to process.”

“I get it,” he says. “If you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine. We can sort something out.”

“No, it’s fine.” I bite my thumbnail before looking Tony in the eye. “Where do you want to start?”

Thank you guys so much for reading! If you liked this installment, please leave a response or shoot me an ask! Feedback would be greatly appreciated!

Tag List:

@ghostlyhamlet, @baguettegirl, @claws-of-vibranium, @creaturefeatures101, @buckysendoftheline, @imagine-assembling-the-avengersm, @ptprocrastination, @1950schick, @amayasymone23, @liladeldiamandis, @arfrona-and-marvel, @ek823, @fanaticfangirl001, @ilovebeingjoyful, @furrywerewolfcollector, @kissofvenom922, @not-that-type-of-person, @dawn-phantomhive, @fangirlwithasweettooth, @silas-aeiou, @thedoctorlivesthroughbooks, @mairhof1, @starryeyesbadguys, @leahhavoc, @future-ll-evans, @howdoesoneadult, @pcdmesamidala, @thefandomplace, @sian22redux, @skeletoresinthebasement, @lady-thor-foster, @jazzcutie, @gaytonystark, @geeksareunique, @buckybcrnes, @nyxveracity, @idalinette, @tomorraw, @breezy1415, @feelmyroarrrr, @darling-loki, @lemonadeorange73, @thisismysecrethappyplace, @princess-unicorn124, @hermionie-is-my-queen, @tofeartheunknown, @queenoftheunderdark

This fic:

@ayatimascd, @sonoflac, @tomhardy41, @hawkxyes, @purplekitten30, @unknownuserhasjoined��

#tony starxreader #readerxtony stark #tony stark x reader #reader x tony stark #tony stark #iron man #the sad boi #reader insert marvel fic

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sanderssidesfanfiction · 5 years ago

Text

Papa to the Rescue

A/N: Guess who’s back~ Back again! This blog is back~ Tell a friend!

Warnings: age regression(??? does that need a warning?), allusions to a bad childhood

Remy wasn't entirely sure when this had started. Ever since he could remember, he had wanted to be loved in a way he felt he never was. Loved in the way a parent loves their child. He knew his parents were nice. They made sure he had food and a roof over his head. But emotionally? Sometimes it felt like they weren't there. Sometimes. He snorted. Try most of the time, unless he initiated the contact.

As he grew up, he learned to push that need aside. It was something childish, and he didn't have time for childish things. He needed to be mature, he needed to be able to stand up for himself. And that's how he found himself a world of trouble in the form of Emile Picani.

Emile was an excellent boyfriend. Caring, kind, the sort of guy anybody would be lucky to have. It also seemed like he could tear away all the carefully placed covers Remy put on to make it seem like he was a mature adult. Usually it wasn't anything bad. Emile might pass him a sports bottle full of water, reminding him to drink something while he worked (that wasn't coffee). Or he might snuggle Remy longer than strictly necessary, murmuring sweet nothings into Remy's hair. Remy loved it, and that terrified him. When Emile did stuff like that, Remy finally felt cared for in the way he craved. And when that happened, Remy's mind went fuzzy around the edges, in a way that scared him the second it was gone. It was hard for him to remember specifics of what happened during that time, and he needed to know that he wasn't doing or saying anything embarrassing. To not know that...well...he didn't like it.

When one fateful day that Emile was gone, Remy was working at home until all the words he was trying to read were blurring together in a big, jumbled mess of a wall of text. He tried to focus, to the point that he was reading out loud and squinting at the screen, but the words just wouldn't sink in. The only thing sinking was his stomach, because he realized that his head was going fuzzy out of nowhere. And he had no one around to make sure that he didn't do anything stupid. He pulled out his phone with shaking hands and checked the time. Four-thirty. Emile would be wrapping things up with his final client of the day. He tried to put together the words he needed to tell Emile to hurry home, but the letters on the screen seemed like nonsense to him. The words he knew how to spell wouldn't help, and he knew this wasn't normal, he knew he should be able to type out a simple text, but he couldn't. Instead, he pulled up the emojis. He selected the warning sign, a man running, and a house. He sent it and prayed that would get his message across.

He started to cry in relief when Emile texted back. On my way, baby. Hold tight.

Holding tight was about all he could do. He pulled his feet up onto the chair he was sitting on, wrapping one arm around his legs and chewing on the other hand's thumbnail. He knew it was a bad habit, but it was this or sucking his thumb, which he knew was very much Not Allowed.

The front door opened, closed. There were rushed footsteps heading to the office, and all Remy could do was cry when he saw Emile standing in the doorway. "Remy? What's wrong?" Emile asked, walking over slowly.

Remy wrapped his arms tight around his boyfriend and sobbed into his shoulder. "Head," Remy mumbled. "Head's fuzzy."

"Oh," Emile said simply. "How long has it been fuzzy?"

Remy pulled away and shrugged. He pointed at the computer. "Words are wrong. Too much."

Emile tutted. "Did that scare you?" he asked.

Remy rubbed at his eyes and nodded. He knew it shouldn't have been scary, but it was. One minute he could read, and the next he could barely focus.

"Hey, Rem? I've been meaning to have a talk with you about your head going fuzzy before today. I shouldn't have waited, that was my bad, but I might be able to talk to you now, if you're up for it?" Emile asked, voice going soft as he put a hand on Remy's shoulder.

Remy shrugged. He really didn't know if he was up for it or not, he was tired and scared and stressed and his head was still impossibly fuzzy.

"Okay, well, we need to have this talk before I do anything else," Emile said with a wince. "So I'll try to make it simple, okay? Do you want to move to the living room?"

Remy nodded. Emile offered him his hand, and Remy hesitantly took it, and didn't let go. He trailed behind Emile, still biting his nails, a little teary-eyed. Emile sat down on the couch, and Remy followed suit. "Remy, I don't want to shock you too much, but you deserve an explanation for what's going on. You regress."

Remy tilted his head to the silent in a silent query for more information.

"Basically, your brain can't handle being an adult all the time, so sometimes it makes you act like a kid. This means that you might bite your nails, or not be able to read as well, or type. Make sense so far?"

Remy hummed his agreement.

"Now, everyone who I know who has done this does it a little differently. Sometimes, they can do it on purpose. With you, I think it happens on accident. Which is okay, there's nothing wrong with that. But during this time, it helps to have someone look after you, if possible. And if you want, I could help take care of you until you feel like an adult again," Emile offered.

"When's that?" Remy asked.

Emile winced. "I honestly don't know, Rem. You pushed this down so far that it was hard to find, and that sort of repression can hurt you, or make you regress for longer. Now it's all bubbling up to the surface, and I don't know how long it'll take for you to 'age up' again. Might be several hours, might be twenty minutes. But however long it takes, I'm willing to help you. If you want."

Remy squirmed where he sat. He had a burning question he needed answered, but words were almost impossibly hard. "...Kinda like...like a parent?"

"If you want," Emile said, placing a hand over Remy's free one.

"So...like..." Remy blinked, and blushed. "Like...you could be my papa?"

"If you want me to be, I would be honored," Emile said, placing a hand over his heart. "Do you want that?"

Remy hummed his agreement. "Never had a papa before," he mumbled. "Always wanted one, though."

Emile gave Remy's hand a squeeze, and Remy looked up at Emile. "Do you want to go to the bedroom? I have a few things in the closet which might make you feel better."

Remy made an interested noise and followed Emile to the bedroom. Emile sat him on the bed and opened up the closet. "First things first," Emile said, pulling out a sparkly gold pacifier. "We need to make sure you don't ruin your teeth or your nails."

When Emile came over with the pacifier, Remy pulled his hand away from his mouth and let Emile put the pacifier in. He gave it a little experimental suck. It felt weird, but it didn't feel wrong. It was also pretty soothing.

"All right, Rem, before I do anything else I have to ask you a kinda-sorta-maybe embarrassing question," Emile said.

"Wha'sit?" Remy asked, words slurring around the pacifier.

"Do you remember how to use the bathroom?" Emile asked, turning slightly pink.

Remy turned cherry red as he realized the implications of that question. He turned redder when he realized that the answer was no. He shook his head subtly.

"It's okay, I got stuff for that just in case," Emile said softly. "Are you okay if I change you?"

Somewhat reluctantly, Remy nodded. If they didn't know how long this went on, and he didn't know how to use the po--the bathroom, it made sense to wear some form of protection.

Emile went back to the closet, pulling out a diaper and laying Remy back on the bed. Remy buried his face in his hands as Emile got to work, pulling down his pants, and his boxers, and moved the diaper underneath him. When Emile had gently placed all four tapes in place, Remy peeked out from behind his hands. Emile smiled. "It's been a little while since I've had to do that, but I've still got it!" he said triumphantly. "Hi, baby."

Remy waved back. Emile laughed. "Do you want your pants back on?" he asked. "If you do, you should know that I'll be doing regular diaper checks."

On one hand, Remy didn't want to be running around the house in only a T-shirt and a diaper, but on the other...he really didn't want Emile to be checking his diaper regularly. "No pants," he decided.

"Okay," Emile said. "Now we can talk about fun things. Like what you want to do while you're regressed."

Remy sucked on the pacifier and just tilted his head to the side again.

"Well, I have a coloring book or two here," Emile said, pointing to the closet. "Or we could find something around the house to play with. And then, of course, we could always watch cartoons..."

Remy's eyes lit up and Emile grinned. "You know, I didn't have you pegged for that but I'm really happy you want to watch a cartoon or two with me! We can figure out which one you might want to see as soon as we figure out where...Oh! Wait! I almost forgot!" He went back to the closet and pulled out a white stuffed dog with brown ears and spots all over. Remy squealed in delight and made grabby-hands for it. Emile passed it over with a laugh. "I thought you might like that. You know what you might name him?"

That was a very good, very important question. He thought long and hard, frowning in concentration. "Coffee!" he declared, pulling out his pacifier. "'Cause the spots are brown like coffee."

Emile laughed again. "I shouldn't be surprised," he lightly teased. "Want to watch cartoons in here or on the TV?"

"Here," Remy said. He really didn't feel like getting up again.

Emile nodded and held up a finger. He left the room and quickly returned with his laptop, booting it up and pulling up all the cartoons he had saved on it. "Anything you wanna watch?"

"Um um um...I wanna see the one with the um...the gems! Yeah!" Remy nodded. "I wanna see the gems one."

Emile gave him a blank look for a second before he said, "Oh! Do you mean Steven Universe?"

Remy nodded. "Yeah! The gems one!"

Emile laughed. "You're adorable like this. Okay, we'll watch Steven Universe."

When the first notes of the theme song came on, Remy squealed again and did happy kicks. He liked the show a lot, even if he didn't see it often. Watching it with Emile made it special. He snuggled into Emile's side, and Emile happily wrapped his arms around Remy, letting the two of them cuddle. When the first episode ended, Emile just pulled up another, and Remy snuggled further into Emile, hugging Coffee close to his chest. Soon enough, he was drifting to sleep in Emile's arms.

It was a good two hours before Remy woke up again, stretching his legs. He blearily opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling of their bedroom. When had he gotten here? He sat up, even more confused than before. Emile's laptop was at the foot of the bed, there was a stuffed dog to Remy's right, and to his left there was a pacifier covered in gold glitter. "What...?" he whispered. "What happened here?"

"Remy? You awake?" Emile asked, lightly knocking on the open door.

"Uh, yeah. What...what happened here?" Remy asked.

"What do you remember?" Emile asked.

"Not much. I was working...and then my head felt fuzzy...and...we watched cartoons? And I fell asleep." Remy shook his head. "What happened?"

"Uh, long story short, you age regress, you texted me near the end of the day, and I took it to mean that you needed help, came over here, gave you a simple explanation of what you were going through, got you settled into bed and we watched cartoons until you passed out," Emile said in one breath. "Um. You might...you might want to go to the bathroom."

"What? Why?" Remy asked, shifting on the bed before feeling a squish between his legs. "...Oh."

"Yeah," Emile said, clearly embarrassed. "It's one thing for me to handle that when someone's regressed. It's entirely different when they're an adult, for some reason."

"Uh...yeah," Remy said, getting off the bed, relieved to see that at least the bed had stayed dry. "Um. Is this going to happen again?"

"That probably depends on whether or not you continue to suppress this need," Emile said candidly. "Although I'm perfectly happy being your caregiver whenever you need it."

"Thanks..." Remy mumbled. "I'm gonna...gonna change now."

"Yeah," Emile said, letting Remy scurry into the ensuite with a pair of boxers and his jeans.

Remy locked the door behind him, leaning his head back. He really didn't need this as a complication in his life. It just looked like it was going to end badly for everyone involved. And yet...while he couldn't remember everything that had happened while he had apparently regressed, he knew that he had felt safe, and more relaxed than he had in a while. It was nice.

He changed, wiping himself clean with a grimace. He wasn't sure he enjoyed that particular...issue, though. No matter how relaxing "regressing" might be. Walking back into the bedroom, he found Emile cleaning up a little. As Emile picked up the stuffed dog, Remy felt a small string of panic enter his system. "Could we...uh...keep the dog out? Like, instead of keeping him cooped up in the closet?"

Emile blinked at him a moment, before nodding. "Of course. You like Coffee?"

Remy dimly remembered naming the dog that, and he nodded, blushing. "I just...think it would be nice to have him around..."

"So, do you think you'd be willing to try this again sometime?" Emile asked.

Remy considered, a little surprised at his answer. "Sure. What's the harm?"

Emile gave him a relieved grin. "Cool. And if you ever need me, like you did today, just text me, all right? I'll come home as soon as I can."

Remy nodded. "What are we having for dinner?"

"Pasta sound good to you?" Emile asked.

"Sounds perfect," Remy said. The two of them left the bedroom, heading to the kitchen. Remy quickly returned, setting Coffee against the pillows, before rushing back out to Emile. Emile gave him a knowing smile and Remy just blushed. "Shut up," he grumbled.

"I didn't say anything," Emile said with a grin.

"I know you thought it," Remy groused.

Emile ruffled Remy's hair and Remy stuck his tongue out at Emile. Emile just laughed and started to cook. Inwardly, Remy sighed with relief. Things were still relatively normal. Emile still loved him.

And Remy felt more loved than he ever had before.

Tag List: @loganpatton @lilbeanblr @kittyboof8 @irish-newzealand-idian-dutch @sanders-trash-4ever @hamilspntrash @swords-and-kittens @phantomfander @narniasfinestavengingsociopath @rjmeta @ambersky0319 @anni-cat-flower @idosanderssidespromptssometimes @nafsbluebery

#ts agere #remile #sanders sides fanfiction #remy sanders #emile picani #cartoon therapy

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dvp95 · 5 years ago

Text

good for you, good for you

pairing: dan howell/phil lester rating: explicit tags: pwp, smut, d/s, praise kink, power dynamics, blowjobs, established relationship word count: 4.2k summary: It starts like that: Dan's buzzing anxieties and Phil's sincere words helping to keep him grounded. Barely even a relinquishing of any power at all, really.

you can all blame @intoapuddle for this one!

read on ao3 or here!

Dan is a bit of a control freak. He's particular about the way he likes things to be and he's not above manipulating a situation to go his way. Letting other people do work for him, work that represents him, is nearly impossible. He has to have his hands in everything to do with his career, no matter how small a detail may seem.

There had been a part of Dan, years ago, that had thought Phil might be put off by the way he'd ask for advice and then ignore it to do things the way he wanted to anyway, but he never needed to worry: Phil is more than a bit of a control freak, and he's fucking stubborn to boot. If anyone on this planet is going to understand Dan's need to puppeteer his own life, it's going to be the man who puts a mask in place to simply head down to the shops. Creative differences and personal differences can either get settled with a debate that lasts for hours or a game of rock/paper/scissors. There is no in-between for them, no easy compromise.

Giving up control doesn't come easily to either of them in any facet of their lives, but that doesn't mean it isn't a fun game sometimes.

Like when Dan will tell Phil to get off his ass and kiss him and Phil will lean back and smirk like Dan is so adorable for even trying before he'll say, "Make me."

Or when Phil will tell Dan to pick up the pace, over and over, and Dan will slow his hips to a roll and yawn like his own body isn't on fire with all the nerve endings that spark from being inside his boyfriend until Phil relents, body slumping forward to the mattress in a defeat of sorts.

It's always a challenge for one of them to gain the upper hand, whether they're fooling around or not, and normally Dan likes it that way.

Today, though. Today, Dan has been staring at his white ceiling for far too long, waiting for the motivation to get out of bed and start the day. He can hear Phil singing in the shower and feels a pull to join him, but it isn't strong enough to break through the haze. It's not the usual fog, the kind that puts Dan under for a few days and makes him come out the other side of it gasping and aching - it's something newer, that low thrum of anxiety that makes his brain keep catching on every What If that passes idly through it.

The shower stops, the singing turning to a soft hum that makes Dan feel some peacefulness even with his loud, loud brain. Phil's lips drop to Dan's forehead, his short hair still dripping a little bit, and Dan manages a smile.

"You getting up, baby?" Phil asks, and Dan appreciates that he doesn't sound worried, not yet. It took a long time for Phil to stop hovering every single time that Dan stared blankly at the ceiling like this. He's glad for it because, frankly, sometimes Dan is just lazy.

Not today. Today, Dan's brain is running circles around itself and twisting things up and making it feel like a Herculean task to stand, so.

"Dunno. Do you want me to?"

There's a beat of quiet. Dan blinks up at the ceiling, chasing the spots out of his vision. He's not sure why he asked, but he feels like, maybe, he could get out of bed if Phil needed him to.

"I want you to," Phil says, slow, like he's waiting for the punchline.

That tiny little push, just knowing that he could be making Phil happier if he faced the day, is all it takes for Dan to sit up and stretch his arms out. His brain doesn't settle down, not really, but he's able to blink back some of the hazy listlessness that comes whenever he's got too many things to think about and focus on doing what Phil wants him to do.

It starts like that: Dan's buzzing anxieties and Phil's sincere words helping to keep him grounded. Barely even a relinquishing of any power at all, really.

Dan is sitting on the downstairs sofa, worrying about his future like he always seems to be these days. He's watching Phil, who is actually hard at work, headphones on and mouth moving silently along to things Dan can't hear. He's got his own deadlines, his own projects, overworking himself to make his visions a reality, and Dan has started to feel like dead weight.

This break is starting to feel less and less like a chance to catch his breath. Dan has things he's doing, sure, but nothing's got the type of looming deadline that he's always relied on to keep him on track. It's way too easy to just send off two emails and then play Skyrim for the rest of the day.

Phil always seems to know what he wants and how to get there efficiently, cutting out the months of turmoil that Dan gets anytime he needs to make a big decision about his life, and that's as alien to Dan as it is fascinating. Maybe they're both control freaks, but Phil is, at least, capable of making both big and small decisions without freaking out.

Before he has to sit in this feeling any longer, Dan reaches out to prod Phil's thigh with his toes.

"Yeah?" Phil hums, tugging at his headphones so he can hear Dan but not looking away from the screen. Dan pokes at him again and again until Phil rolls his eyes and gives Dan his full attention. "Oi, what?"

"What should I be doing right now?" Dan asks.

"I don't think you're forgetting to do anything," says Phil. He shrugs. "As far as I know, anyway."

"No, that's not it," says Dan. He worries at the jagged edge of his thumbnail, wondering how he's supposed to explain something he doesn't understand himself. "I don't think I need to be doing something specific, I just… need to do something. I don't want to sit around today."

Phil nods. His fingers twitch on his keyboard like he's anxious to get back to work. "Okay, then don't."

"But what should I be doing instead?" Dan asks. He pauses, then fixes the phrasing to what he's actually asking. "What do you want me to be doing?"

Phil's lips quirk up and he jostles Dan's ankle playfully. "Laundry needs done, y'know," he says. It's a joke, really, but Dan is surprised by how willing he actually is to do the chore - if it'll make Phil happy.

"You want me to do laundry?" Dan checks.

He's already standing. Phil is looking up at him quizzically, head tilted, still smiling a bit, and then he shakes his head.

"Sure, hon, I want you to do laundry," Phil laughs.

It's not for another few hours that Phil comes to find him, seemingly done work for the day, and he stops in their doorway with an expression of unfiltered surprise.

"What?" Dan asks, pausing in the process of folding a pair of Phil's jeans. He's sat cross-legged in the middle of their bed, a couple loads' worth of clean clothes surrounding him, and it hits him that Phil probably thought he fucked off for a nap or something.

"You did the laundry," Phil says, bewildered enough for Dan to be a little offended.

"Yeah," says Dan. "You said you wanted me to."

"Since when does that make a difference?"

Dan shrugs and looks back down at his hands. He folds more precisely than Phil has in his entire life, moving on to a faded t-shirt.

"Dunno," he says, because it's more or less true. Phil makes a skeptical sort of noise. "Okay, fine, like. Today, I guess. I just kind of… wanted someone else to make my decisions for me." That's not quite right either. "Wanted you to make my decisions for me."

"Why?" Phil asks, all curiosity and no judgement. The bed dips where his weight settles onto it, and he's close enough that Dan could easily lean into him.

Dan wants to say that he doesn't know again, but he thinks that Phil might pinch him if he does.

"You've got anxiety," Dan says. Phil huffs a laugh against his shoulder.

"Er, yeah," says Phil. "And?"

"Don't you ever just… I don't know, like, get overwhelmed by everything and want someone else to take care of it for you?"

"Yeah," Phil agrees so easily that something inside Dan clicks into place, makes him feel less like his brain is broken. Phil presses a light kiss to the back of Dan's neck, and Dan can feel the curve of his smile when Dan shivers in response to it.

"That's how I'm feeling today," Dan sighs, leaning back into Phil's body warmth. "Just, like, not up for making any kind of decision, big or small, y'know? Easier to just do what you want me to."

A hum against Dan's skin, and then Phil's mouth is moving towards the side of Dan's neck, inching to his more sensitive spots. Dan tilts his head to the side automatically, his fingers pausing where they lay on another shirt.

"You know what I want you to do right now?" Phil asks, almost conversational.

"No," Dan says, even though he's got some idea from the way Phil grazes his teeth over Dan's pulse point. "Tell me."

Phil is quiet for long enough that Dan frowns and glances over his shoulder. He meets Phil's eyes, and Phil gives him a sheepish little grin. "Sorry," he murmurs. "There's always so much I want to do to you. I'm weighing my options over here."

"Don't weigh for too long, bub. I'll fuck off and make you fold the rest of this."

It's an empty threat for several reasons, not least of which is Phil's inability to fold things nicely, but it makes Phil laugh and press closer to Dan and that's really the whole point.

"Alright, alright." Phil nips at Dan's shoulder, right where the wide neck of his jumper starts to show off bare skin. He rubs little circles into Dan's upper thigh, and Dan can almost feel the warmth of his fingers through the soft jogger material. "First of all, I want your clothes off. Wanna look at you."

Dan huffs a laugh and uncrosses his legs to stretch them out, knowing full well that Phil is watching the movement. "Should I be getting myself naked, then, or did you want to do the honours?"

"I want you to stand up and strip for me," Phil hums. "Can you do that for me, baby?"

"Fuck yeah."

Neither of them are very graceful people, so there's a bit of laughter and a misplaced elbow or two as Dan crawls out of his fort of clothes to stand at the side of their bed. He's grinning and so is Phil, that giddy anticipation never quite fading in the decade since they started doing this.

Dan doesn't make a show of it the way he used to, when he was younger and less sure of himself. It's nice to have Phil's eyes on him, but what comes next is even nicer, so Dan doesn't bother being sexy about tugging his jumper and sweats off. Phil is still smiling, softer now, as he swings his legs out of bed and gets comfortably sat on the side of it.

"Of course you're not wearing pants," Phil says, fond. "You're so lazy."

"Maybe I'm just a slut," Dan argues pointlessly.

"You're obviously both," says Phil. His eyes are twinkling and intent behind his glasses as he looks Dan over, appreciative. Dan strikes a silly pose and Phil giggles, holding out his hands. "C'mere, now."

Normally, the direct order would make Dan dig his heels in and arch a brow, waiting for Phil to either ask nicely or pull him closer with his own impatient grip. Dan still doesn't know why, exactly, but he doesn't need to know right now - he can overanalyze it later, when he isn't swaying into the space between Phil's spread legs and smiling down at him, waiting for Phil to tell him what to do next instead.

If Phil notices the difference, he doesn't draw attention to it. He runs his palms over the curves of Dan's hips and leans forward to press his smile to Dan's soft tummy. "Pretty," he comments, idly enough that Dan wouldn't be able to argue the fact even if he wanted to.

"Mm," Dan says, noncommittal. The suddenness of Phil's teeth on his stomach makes him jump a little bit. "Fucking ow."

"As if that hurt," says Phil. He's dismissive about it, but he kisses the spot like he's making it better all the same. "I gave you a compliment, you rat, you should say thank you."

Another joke. Dan could roll his eyes and clamber into Phil's lap and end this whole thing right here, but he doesn't want to. Instead he takes a slow breath, playing with the ends of Phil's hair to try and calm some of the nervous, excited fluttering in his chest.

"Thank you," Dan murmurs, "for calling me pretty."

Phil pulls back a bit and looks up at Dan, his smile faltering and his eyes searching. Dan wonders what he sees - this isn't exactly the most flattering angle to look at Dan from, but Phil has seen all his angles at this point - but whatever it is, it has Phil nosing down Dan's soft happy trail after a moment.

"You're very welcome," says Phil, his breath ghosting over Dan's half-hard cock and making it twitch. "What do you want me to do?"

The question feels like a trap, somehow. Dan furrows his brow, tries to figure it out for a moment before giving up. "Whatever you want," he says honestly.

Phil hums. "Good boy."

Dan doesn't expect the zing of arousal that sparks through him at the simple praise, but he's certainly not complaining about it. That's what he's doing here, isn't it? He's trying to be good for Phil.

"Thank you," Dan says after a beat. That's how Phil wants him to respond to a compliment, so - at least for today, for this - that's what he's going to do.

"You like that," says Phil. He takes Dan's cock in hand and lets it harden further against his cheek as he nuzzles at it. Dan pulls off Phil's glasses for both of their sakes and sets them on one of the folded piles nearest them.

Phil blinks a couple of times, adjusting to the difference in his vision, and then he smiles at Dan and runs his fingers lightly over the side of Dan's sensitive dick.

God, Phil is barely even touching him and he's not even a little naked yet, but Dan still gets hard for him as easily as he did ten years ago.

"Do you like being good for me?" Phil asks, shifting so the words ghost over Dan's cock and briefly making him forget the question. Dan doesn't respond, but Phil doesn't let that deter him. "You're already being so good, baby, never seen you so patient."

Dan opens his mouth to say thank you again, but all that comes out is a strangled sort of noise when Phil presses an open-mouthed kiss to the underside of his cock, licking slowly up it without breaking eye contact.

"Fuck," Dan breathes, running his fingers through Phil's hair with a bit more purpose. "That's really good. You wanna blow me, babe?"

"Yeah," Phil says easily. He leans into Dan's touch. "That okay with you?"

"Obviously that's okay with me." Dan rolls his eyes. Underneath all the shaky fluttering that comes with trying new things is a deep-seated affection and desire for the man in front of him, and Dan is so overwhelmed for a moment by the warring feelings inside him that he has to cover it with a joke before Phil notices. "Can't believe you can tell me to do whatever you want right now and you just want a dick in your mouth."

"Your dick," Phil corrects him, like it really matters. Like there was any doubt left in Dan's mind.

"Whatever. Still stupid of you."

Phil huffs, more amused than annoyed, and pulls back to squint up at Dan. "You're not allowed to make fun of me if you put me in charge," he says, grinning.

Is that what Dan's done? Put Phil 'in charge'? Handed over control without so much as a cursory protest? He supposes that's exactly what they're doing. Dan is more okay with that than he would have expected to be.

"Still," Dan starts, and Phil pinches the bit of chub at his hip.

"Shut up," Phil says, mild, still smiling. "I'm going to suck you off, because that's what I want to do right now, and you're going to keep your pretty mouth shut."

His tone is light enough that Dan could still take it as a joke or a challenge if he really wanted to.

He doesn't want to. He wants to be good, today.

Dan bites his lip and nods, shifting his weight to stand more comfortably since he's not going to be moving for a while.

"That's so good," Phil tells him, taking Dan's cock properly in his soft hand. He takes it in his mouth for a few seconds, just long enough to press the head of it against the inside of his cheek and blink up at Dan with his lips obscenely stretched. Dan swallows a curse and Phil pulls off him with a grin. "Yeah, you got it. Such a good boy."

This time, Dan expects the rush of heat at the words. It makes him want to squirm away from the feeling, but he knows that these things are always better if he lets them play out.

He's spent so long denying himself things he wants, things that feel good, and he's not about to start that nonsense again now.

Keeping quiet is difficult for him but not impossible. It's not the first time he's done it and it certainly won't be the last, it's just usually because of a dare or a challenge and not because Phil has simply told him to. Dan digs his teeth into his chapped lower lip and keeps a hand settled in Phil's hair. He's not pushing or pulling, not today, he just wants to hold onto Phil to stay grounded.

Phil is good at this. Phil has always been good at this, and he's fucking smug about it as well. Dan has to focus on physical sensations, like how soft Phil's hair is between his fingers, how the breath in his own chest keeps catching, how incredible Phil's tongue feels under the head of his cock, or he's going to start rambling nonsense as per usual.

There are a lot of times that Phil sucks him off to get him hard or just to endlessly tease, but this is goal-oriented. Phil's mouth is hot and tight and he's coordinated with his hands in a way that he never is outside of sex. He's rolling the weight of Dan's balls in one palm and using the other to jerk Dan off with tight, quick strokes, and Dan doesn't stand a fucking chance.

Soft noises keep escaping from Dan's lips, but Phil doesn't seem to mind. Maybe he just doesn't want Dan to use words, or maybe he's already forgotten the directive altogether, but either way the sounds make Phil groan around Dan's cock and close his eyes, losing himself in it.

"Close," is the only word Dan allows, because he's getting there fast and he wants to know that it's okay, that he's still doing good, that Phil wants him to come. He wants permission.

Phil pulls off him to breathe and to look up, smirking a bit at whatever he sees on Dan's face. He flattens his tongue under the head of Dan's cock and shivers when it visibly twitches. "Yeah," he breathes all over Dan's sensitive dick, speeding up his hand. "So good for me, want you to come in my mouth, baby."

His mouth is sliding back onto Dan as soon as he finishes the sentence, barely giving Dan a chance to process the order before he's following it, cupping the back of Phil's head and coming down his throat with a loud groan. How many times he’s gotten off with Phil doesn’t seem to matter in the slightest - it still hits him so hard, every single time, makes him feel hazy and sated in the way a solo orgasm rarely manages to. It’s the same this time, except for the key difference: it wasn’t up to him, and that’s really, really hot.

They both have to catch their breath once Dan is over that crest and onto nap mode, but Phil looks so unbelievably smug and fond and Dan could wait, sure, but he doesn't want to.

Dan sinks to his knees between Phil's spread legs and tugs impatiently at the ties of his sweats. Phil laughs and gets with the program, raising his hips enough that Dan can pull them and his pants off, pressing dozens of open-mouthed kisses to Phil's pale legs as he does.

"That's right," Phil says, pleased with himself and low with arousal. Dan whines a bit and noses at Phil's inner thigh before attaching his mouth to it and sucking hard enough to make Phil curse. "Shit, yeah, alright, fucking - come here."

Phil's fingers curl in Dan's hair, but they don't just idly pet him - he tugs, hard enough to dislodge Dan from his thigh. He pauses for a moment, giving Dan time to object if he wants to, but Dan only widens his eyes and lets his mouth fall open, tongue lolling. It's always a rush to see Phil's smug aura drop and turn to something needy and primal and beautiful.

With a soft groan, Phil uses the grip of both his hands in Dan's hair to pull him as far onto his cock as he'll smoothly go. He holds Dan down until his eyes start to water and then he tugs Dan back off to let him breathe. They don't always do it this way, but Dan has to admit that today it's making him feel the weirdest sense of contentment to be used like this - to be useful to Phil.

"So fucking pretty," Phil is murmuring, and Dan’s eyes close as he lets the squirmy feeling the praise gives him make a home in his fluttering stomach. "So good, baby, mouth made for my cock."

At some point, Dan's eyes close and Phil keeps rattling off nonsense about how pretty and good and lovely he is, all of which just makes that content feeling sink deep into Dan's bones. He hums his appreciation, mouth full of Phil's cock, and Phil swears loudly.

"Fuck, I'm," he says, and then he pulls Dan off him so suddenly that Dan's head spins.

Dan blinks his watery eyes open and watches Phil bring himself off, teeth digging into his lip and a hand holding Dan in place by his hair. It's such a hot image that it takes all of Dan's self control to close his eyes so he doesn't get jizz in them - again - and tilt his face for Phil. It doesn't take long for Phil's own orgasm to hit with a grunt that Dan has become all too familiar with over the years. It sucks not to watch it happen, but… this is good, too.

After a few moments, where the room is quiet but for the sound of Phil's heavy breathing, Dan feels soft fabric press against his cheek. He makes a pleased sort of noise and leans into the touch as Phil cleans him off. Once he's sure he can safely open his eyes, Dan grins up at Phil and shakes his head.

"Oi," he says, a little scratchy from the rough treatment. "I just washed that shirt."

Phil shrugs and tosses the t-shirt to the floor to join the small pile. "So you'll wash it again."

"Fuck you."

There's quiet again, for a minute. Dan's mind isn't racing from thought to thought, flitting between ideas too fast to land, and it's kind of nice to just be on his knees in front of Phil and bask in the afterglow.

"That was so good." Phil tugs lightly at the curls wound in his fingers. Dan hums an agreement, resting his forehead on Phil's thigh and waiting for - something. He doesn't know what he's waiting for until he gets it. "You're so good, Dan," Phil says, and the contentment that Dan feels from the words now makes his whole body buzz.

"Thanks, babe," says Dan, pressing a wet kiss to the skin under his mouth and laughing when Phil's thigh muscles twitch. "I needed that."

"Seems like more fun than the usual method of ignoring your stress 'til you snap," Phil teases. "Maybe I should try it."

"Totally." Dan yawns and blinks his eyes open. "There's all these clothes to put away, y'know."

Phil laughs, loud and uninhibited and lovely, and Dan feels a smile curve his own lips without permission. "I think the fuck not," says Phil. "You finish what you started, you actual goblin."

"Eh, worth a shot." Dan leans up to press their smiles together, marvelling at the peace and quiet in his own mind.

#phanfic #phanfiction #dnp fic #words words words

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flowersandskeletons526 · 5 years ago

Text

“Aftermath” - Glitra Fanfic Part 4

So this one is once again longer than the last chapter but that’s because it’s a big one. Thank you to everyone who has been liking this fic!

(Trigger warning for brief violence, only this chapter)

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

****

Catra clasps her hands in her lap, sitting beside Glimmer on the bench in her window before Micah, Adora, and Bow. Her shoulders curl in as her arm brushes Glimmer’s. Micah straightens in his chair.

“Start at the beginning,” he coaxes after a long minute of silence.

Glimmer and Catra share a look. Catra nods. Glimmer takes a deep breath.

----

“Is this what you wanted?” Glimmer demanded as Catra sat against the wall of the cell. “You finally got the entire Horde army to come and save your ass.”

“I didn’t want this,” Catra protested. “I could manage Hordak but this guy is a psychopath.”

“Hordak was a psychopath.”

“Hordak was pathetic. He hasn’t been running things for a long time. He was too obsessed with getting back on big brother’s good side.”

Glimmer huffed and raked her hands through her hair, sitting on the edge of the single bunk. She tapped her foot as she bit her thumbnail. Catra’s ears twitched with each beat. Flattening her ears against her head, she growled and lashed out, swiping her claws at the queen. Glimmer yelped and jumped back.

“Would you stop that?!” she snapped. “How can you possibly be even more annoying than you already were?”

“You say that like you’re not,” Glimmer shot back.

Catra stood, towering over Glimmer. “I’m no worse than you, Sparkles. I mean really, do you even hear how bratty you sound? Ergh, and your constant whining! I know royals are spoiled but this is just ridiculous.”

“At least I’m not an arrogant, preening murderer like you!” Glimmer shoved Catra as she rose from her seat. The metal wall rang when Catra’s back hit it. “And stay out of my face!”

“Don’t touch me!” Catra snapped. Her claws left holes in Glimmer’s collar as she shoved her back.

Glimmer shrieked and tackled Catra.

They fought for days, coming to blows when one so much as glanced at the other the wrong way. Once, sitting across the cell from each other, Glimmer tried her powers again only to produce a few pink sparks. Catra laughed harshly. Glimmer almost broke her nose for it and came out of the fight with scratches all the way up her hands and arms.

Without the sun rising and falling, they could only guess how long Horde Prime kept them prisoner. Catra guessed it was about three weeks by the time she had Glimmer pinned to the wall, claws threatening at her throat as Glimmer shoved her face up with a palm under her chin. Swatting at her hand, Catra twisted her arm to the side and tried to keep the snarl on her face. Beyond the hate in her expression, Glimmer’s eyes were tired and dull. Growling, Catra retracted her claws and dropped the queen, slinking back to her corner of the cell.

“What, can’t finish what you started?” Glimmer taunted, breathing hard.

Catra snapped her teeth. “Shut up. You know you don’t want to keep doing this any more than I do.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I’m tired and sick of kicking the shit out of each other. What good is it doing us?”

Glimmer pursed her lips and slid to the floor. “I don’t know,” she admitted. “There’s nothing else to do besides talk or hit each other.”

“Well, I’m not talking to you.”

“I’m not talking to you either.”

The fight drained from Catra each day. She mustered a steady gaze and proud posture in front of Horde Prime, but in their cell, she sat slumped over and curled in on herself. Glimmer held her scowl a little longer until Prime crushed her arm in his grip until she smiled. Catra convinced the queen to let her look at it. It was the first time they made physical contact since they stopped beating each other, and both hated the way they jolted from the presence of another person.

Catra grunted and leaned back against the wall. “It’s not broken. You’re fine.”

Glimmer mumbled a thank you and cradled her wounded arm in her lap, half hidden by her cape. Horde Prime gave them different clothes soon after they arrived. “To represent your allegiance to Horde Prime,” he claimed with a grin.

Catra’s new uniform was the same style, but everything was black and that hideous fluorescent green. She didn’t like the way he changed her headpiece, painting it black and adding more spines around her face. Her collar came up higher than it used to, topped with a green ring that was just a little too tight around her throat.

She was glad that she didn’t look like Glimmer, with her collar decorated in frills and a sickly green jewel resting in the hollow of her throat. He let her keep her crown, but all her earrings were replaced with green diamonds and polished silver. Against her violet eyes and sparkly pink hair, the white, gray, and green looked unnatural and wrong. She reminded Catra of a bruised doll.

“You shouldn’t piss him off like that,” Catra said.

“I thought we agreed on not talking,” Glimmer grumbled.

“I’m serious. It’s not helping you at all. All you’ve managed to do is get beat up. People like him don’t think defiance is charming and they don’t view it as strength. They think it’s irritating and disrespectful and they don’t tolerate it.” Catra huffed and lifted a hand to her head. “Royalty are all the same.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“You don’t know how to swallow your pride. You’re not a queen here, Sparkles. You’re dirt!”

Glimmer lunged and snagged Catra’s collar. Catra replied in kind, slamming the queen against the wall as her ears flattened against her head. Glimmer thrashed, but she didn’t have the strength to fight. They slid to the floor together, Catra’s grip loosening on her shoulders as Glimmer held onto the force captain’s arms.

“You’re like me now,” Catra hissed. “I know you hate that and you’re never going to admit it, but you are. If you want to get out of here alive, you need to listen to what I say.”

“I thought you wanted all the princesses dead so you could win,” Glimmer said.

“I don’t win here. I don’t get to make any of the decisions and I’m not respected. There’s no fun in any of this.” Catra returned to her spot across the room, her claws dragging reluctantly over Glimmer’s arms as she let go.

Glimmer studied her and pulled her knees to her chest. “Tell me how to act.”

Catra’s ears perked up. The sound that escaped her mouth was quiet and broken and defeated, but it was the first time she laughed in weeks.

They slept on the bunk that night, back to back. Although Glimmer ended up on the floor in the morning, they fell into the routine to ward off the cold of the sterile ship and, though neither would admit it, it was nice to feel another person.

Horde Prime called on them for strategy meetings, advice on the obstacles of the planet, or simply to taunt them while they ate a meal. Catra hated when he touched them, stroking their hair or leading them along with a hand on the back of their necks. He kept Glimmer at his side as he brought Catra forward to look at a screen. His fingers drummed against her jugular.

“This kingdom here,” he said, pointing. “What do they call it?”

“Salineas,” Catra answered.

“And you conquered it?”

“Yes.”

It used to fill her with pride, but the way Glimmer looked at her now left a sour taste in her mouth.

“Well done,” Horde Prime purred. “What else have you done under my little brother’s command?”

She showed him Dryl and the conquered villages, the Fright Zone, the strongholds scattered around the world. Glimmer crossed her arms and turned aside as Catra talked. Prime noticed, pausing Catra as he turned his attention to the queen.

“Your majesty, you always look so troubled,” he cooed. He grabbed Glimmer’s face and yanked her head up to face him, but that stupid easy smile stayed on his face. “Couldn’t I trouble you for a smile?”

Catra met Glimmer’s stare around his arm. She narrowed her eyes in warning. Glimmer swallowed her fear and smiled sweetly at Horde Prime, hiding her shaking hands behind her back.

“Of course, Emperor,” Glimmer said.

Prime grinned and cupped her cheek tenderly. “There it is.” His fingers left red marks on her face when he let go.

Catra sat beside Glimmer instead of across from her when they returned to their cell. The red marks turned to bruises on her jaw. Catra touched her shoulder, and she flinched. Sighing, she withdrew her hand.

“Good job listening to me today,” she said. Glimmer glanced up, eyes wide, startled by the lack of venom in her voice. “I mean it.”

“I’m sick of getting hit,” Glimmer mumbled.

“It’s going to stop eventually. Now that he thinks he can control you, he’ll stop trying so hard to break your resolve and it’ll only get bad when you make him angry. If you play along with their games, eventually they get sloppy. None of them watch their backs forever.”

Glimmer frowned, studying Catra with a stare a little too intense for her liking. “What happened to you in the Horde?”

“What do you think?”

The floodgates broke. Catra talked about Shadow Weaver and growing up as Adora’s pet, how she needed to be a hundred times better than the other cadets just so she could get a day’s break from the abuse. She told Glimmer how their relationship was crumbling long before Adora left. She told her that it wasn’t Adora leaving that hurt, but why. Why did Adora leave to save strangers when she had tolerated Catra’s abuse since they were kids?

“Do you love her?” Catra asked. “Really, I wanna know.”

“I… I think I did, but I also loved Bow. I guess I have problems distinguishing friendship from love. It doesn’t matter now, anyway.” She paused. “Did you love her?”

“I used to. But, even before she left… how do you love someone that lets that happen to you?”

Glimmer nodded. “Sometimes I wish she would stop trying to protect me so much. I know my mother told her to, but I can’t stand her treating me like a child.”

“Or a pet,” Catra added. “She always thought she protected me, but she never did. Not in any way that would be bad for her. It only got worse with Shadow Weaver after she left, and then I thought Hordak would be better because he respected me, but…”

Glimmer covered her mouth when Catra told her about Hordak’s machine that stole the air from her lungs. They didn’t look at each other, but Catra took her hand and squeezed.

“Why didn’t you just leave?” Glimmer asked. Her voice shook with anger and sadness and sympathy and it made Catra’s chest ache.

“Where could I go?” Catra said. “I spent my entire life working to be the best and all it ever landed me was in Adora’s shadow. Once she was gone…” She shrugged. “I wouldn’t fit in anywhere else. After so much happens to you, you can’t go back on it.” She closed her eyes and leaned her head back. “Sometimes trouble doesn’t make you stronger, Sparkles. It just makes you worse.”

Glimmer turned away. “I know.”

Catra watched Glimmer as she talked about her father’s death. It shocked her that someone with such a sickly sweet exterior could hold so much hate, but she understood. She understood how it made Glimmer ready to do anything to win, even ignoring the warnings of her friends, taking advice from Shadow Weaver, using Adora as bait.

“I was ready to kill,” she admitted, her voice barely a whisper. “I’m no better than you.”

“You don’t mean that. You were fighting to take back your planet. I was fighting to win. That’s it.”

“Do you remember when I went to your base where you had the pulse bots?”

“Yeah.”

“When you told me to pick you or the bot, I went after you.”

Catra lifts her head. “Really?”

“I was ready to let that thing kill all of us, just so I could get back at you for all the things you did. I… I wanted to hurt you so badly. I wanted you to pay for everything the Horde ever did. For attacking Brightmoon, for all the conquered villages, for my parents…” Her voice broke.

Catra touched Glimmer’s shoulder, and she covered Catra’s hand with her own. “We’re not that different, are we?”

Glimmer laughed, sniffling as she smiled at Catra with watery eyes. “I guess not.”

And though Catra was wrong, though Horde Prime’s treatment only got worse from there and they weren’t friends by any means, the sanctuary in their cell made it tolerable.

When Horde Prime slapped Glimmer and separated them the first time, Catra learned that maybe she wasn’t simply tolerating Glimmer anymore.

She paced the cell, ears flat and face held in a savage snarl until they tossed Glimmer back in with her. The queen groaned as Catra bolted to her, lifting a hand to her head. Catra gathered her in her arms and looked over her.

“Are you okay?” she asked. Desperation leaked into her voice.

“I’m fine,” Glimmer answered. “Are you?”

“Yeah. It didn’t hurt.” Catra pulled her sleeve up around the ball of her hand and wiped the blood off Glimmer’s face. The queen hissed. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine, thank you.”

Catra pursed her lips. Glimmer hung her head as Catra pulled her into her lap, wrapping the sparkly black cape around her and resting her chin atop her head. “Why would you do that?” she ground out. “I told you not to talk to him like that. What were you thinking?”

“You stepped in,” Glimmer whispered. “He went after you, too.”

Catra bit her lip and looked to the side. “You can’t keep defending the rebellion from up here,” she spat. “It’s been months.”

“He says that they’re still there.”

“We’ve been here for months now. They aren’t coming, Glimmer.”

She looked up at the use of her name. Her eyes were cold with a quiet, crumbling determination. Catra always prided herself on seeing the cracks in people’s facades, and now was no different, but that dying fight is fight, nonetheless.

“I know they’re going to come. They’re going to get us out of here. We can’t give up hope now.”

Catra pulled back and cupped Glimmer’s cheek. Her eyes pleaded with the force captain, and Catra felt it tug at her heart. “Okay,” she whispered. “Come on.”

They slept facing each other that night, with Catra’s arm tossed around Glimmer as the queen curled up against her chest.

A few days later, they woke up to the smell of smoke and the door to the cell gone.

Fire ravaged the collapsing spaceship, massive pieces of metal peeling away from the ceiling and walls. Clones scurried like rats for the closest exit and left behind the mangled bodies of their fallen brothers. The girls watched from the doorway of their cell in awe as the world came crashing down.

Shaking her head, Glimmer set her face in stone and grabbed Catra’s hand. “Let’s go.”

They ran through the destroyed ship, dodging debris and throwing clones into the fray when they came across them. Catra got her hands on a weapon from one of the dead clones.

“Are your powers back yet?” she asked.

Glimmer snapped her fingers. “Not yet.”

“Okay. Keep going. We have to find a way out of here before the entire place comes crashing down.”

On cue, a metal beam came crashing down between them. The walkway collapsed. Glimmer leapt to the other side that was still attached to the wall. Catra yelped as she went tumbling down through the ship.

“Catra!”

The world went dark for a moment. Catra groaned as she came around, bleeding from little cuts and scrapes when she tumbled across the debris. Her vision swam, ears ringing, but she made her way to her feet. Stumbling over the chunks of metal and concrete, she searched for a splash of pink.

“Sparkles,” she called. “Sparkles!”

“Catra!” Glimmer jumped over a piece of rebar-studded concrete and threw her arms around Catra. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, fine. Come on, we have to-”

The rubble shifted. Horde Prime dragged himself out from under the concrete and steel. His face was twisted with rage, one of his extra eyes missing from its socket and green ooze dripping from his cuts. He bared his fluorescent teeth and roared.

“You!” he screamed. “I should have killed you when I had the chance!”

He grabbed Glimmer’s arm. Catra tackled the dictator, knocking him to the ground and punching him until her fist bled. He barely flinched. Tangling a fist in her hair, he flung her across the rubble, and she landed in a twisted heap. Glimmer retaliated with smashing a rock against the side of Prime’s face. He shrieked in pain and batted her aside. Holding his bloodied face, he grabbed Glimmer by the throat and lifted her into the air.

“You insolent little insect!” he screamed. “How dare you defy me! I should have destroyed you and your planet when I first came upon you.” He narrowed his eyes as his hands tightened around Glimmer’s neck. “It may be too late to destroy your planet, but not to destroy you, your majesty.”

“No!” Catra jumped onto his back and tore her claws through his back. Horde Prime screamed as green blood soaked his robes, and he reached back to grab Catra and slammed her into the ground. Scrambling back, she staggered to her feet between Prime and Glimmer.

Before she could react, Prime lunged. Catra lifted an arm. His claws tore through her forearm before they reached her face.

“Catra!” Glimmer shrieked.

Prime stood over Catra as she collapsed, blinded by her own blood. He grabbed a fistful of her hair and lifted her torso off the ground.

“You are nothing to me.”

His claws dug into her side. She screamed.

A sharp spike of metal stabbed through Horde Prime’s chest.

----

Glimmer’s voice breaks. She leans into Catra, hiding her face against her shoulder. She closes her eyes as tears trickle down her face. Catra lets the queen hold onto her arm and cradles her head with the other hand as her hair falls over her face. She screws her eyes shut for a moment before lifting her head, and the trio sitting before them meet her stare with heartbroken eyes.

Bow covers his mouth, holding back tears. Micah’s face is still, but his cheeks are wet and his eyes are red. Adora watches them with nothing but sadness in her eyes.

“Do you want me to keep talking?” she asks. Glimmer nods. “Okay.”

----

Prime dropped Catra as he fell to his knees. Glimmer stood behind him, and she jumped aside as Prime fell back, driving the spike all the way through his chest. He let go of a final breath and died without a word.

----

Glimmer holds her arm tighter. Catra knows what she’s thinking about, but she doesn’t tell the rest of them how it ended.

----

Glimmer bolted to Catra’s side and pulled her up onto a level piece of concrete. “Catra, Catra talk to me, please,” she begged.

Catra grimaced, one eye stuck shut with blood and her teeth stained red. “Ow.”

Glimmer grinned in relief, tears welling in her eyes as she slung Catra’s arm over her shoulders. “Come on, we have to get out of here before the ship collapses.”

Catra groaned in pain as Glimmer helped her to her feet, but she soldiered on as the queen led her out of the wreckage. They staggered through fire and over rubble, marching through the massive labyrinth. Catra covered the punctures in her side with one hand, trying to staunch the bleeding. Glimmer mumbled assurances through heavy breaths as she led Catra along and ignored the blood staining her own clothes.

Natural light trickled through a hole in the wall of the ship. Catra laughed as they broke out into a crater, sunlight filtering through the black smoke and clean air cutting through the acrid smell of burning chemicals. They staggered out of the crater, hauling themselves over the lip onto the grass.

Glimmer cradled Catra against her chest, smoothing her hair away from her face and holding her tight. Catra laughed even though it hurt, laughed at the sun and the clouds and the destroyed ship and the dead ruler and the grass between her fingers.

“We’re out,” she laughed as her vision darkened around the edges. “We’re out.”

“Catra, you have to stay with me,” Glimmer said as she cupped her face. “Please stay with me.”

“Glimmer.” Catra clung to Glimmer’s shirt. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“For showing me that I’m worth something.”

Glimmer held her tight as tears dripped down her face. “Please, hold on,” she begged as Catra’s grip went slack. “Hold on.”

----

“That’s horrible,” Bow finally says.

“We had no idea,” Adora whispers.

Glimmer lifts her head and wipes away her tears, sucking in a ragged breath. “We’re fine now. We got out of it in one piece.”

Micah stands. Catra moves aside as the sorcerer embraces his daughter, holding her close as tears run down his face. “My sweet girl,” he chokes out. “I’m sorry.”

Glimmer fights tears as she hugs him back. “I love you, Dad.”

“I love you, too.”

Bow sobs and jumps onto the pair, followed by Adora. Micah wraps his arms around the trio, and suddenly Catra feels like her presence is an intrusion. She doesn’t belong in this moment, not after everything she did. She stands.

Adora grabs her shoulder. She turns to see Adora’s face calm and steady, even though her eyes well with tears. Micah reaches out to her.

“Catra, come here. You’re a part of this,” he says.

“I…” Her voice dies in her throat.

Glimmer pulls her into the embrace. She bristles for a split second, hair standing on end, before she relaxes into their arms. Glimmer leans her head on Catra’s chest. “We’re okay,” she whispers in her ear.

Catra nods and holds her tighter.

They stay there for what feels like forever before Adora and Bow break off, leading Glimmer off to play some game they set up. Glimmer beckons to Catra, but Micah lays a heavy hand on her shoulder.

“I’ll catch up,” Catra says. Glimmer nods and follows after her friends.

Micah turns Catra to face him and gently grabs her shoulders. “Catra, I just wanted to say thank you.”

Catra’s face twists as she steps out of his reach. “Please don’t thank me.” She struggles to speak around the lump in her throat. “After everything I did… I don’t… I don’t deserve it.”

“I know about everything you’ve done,” Micah says. “I am… working on forgiving that. To be honest, I don’t think I ever fully will, but it can’t be changed. I’m thanking you for looking after my daughter.”

With tears in her eyes, Catra jumps into Micah’s arms. He holds her tight until she pulls away, scrubbing at her eyes with the back of her hand.

“Thank you,” she chokes out. Micah smiles and nods towards the door. Catra returns the smile and runs down the hall after the trio. “Glimmer! Wait up!”

#glitra #glimmer #catra #bow #adora #king micah #horde prime #the horde #spop #she ra reboot #She Ra #she ra netflix #angst #brief violence

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somekindoftuber · 6 years ago

Text

vld youtuber AU

youtuber AUs are really fun so here is my take (with klance):

Shiro runs a channel where he restores/repairs motorcycles. It’s really popular because he has a great on-camera presence and soothing voice, not to mention he’s very good looking. He has the facial scar and white hair and has mentioned that he’s a veteran, hence his prosthetic right arm. Keith works with him, and Shiro always introduces him in the intros of his videos, saying, “And my brother Keith is here to be my right hand.” They have a fairly large following, posting weekly videos. Keith mostly stays quiet, except to answer Shiro.

Lance runs a music channel that’s half comedy and half serious, playing guitar and ukulele. He does acoustic covers of songs that should be impossible to do acoustic versions of, and sometimes does comedy lyrics of popular songs. He also posts blooper videos where his cats interrupt him or knock over the camera. He posts one or two times a week, his videos are usually short. He also streams games on Twitch, usually playing music and making people laugh over the mic.

Shiro sometimes does Q&A videos to answer fan questions. Keith usually doesn’t participate, except in the video about their pets. Shiro introduces their two cats, and Keith’s dog Kosmo (who’s a Blue Bay Shepherd mix and is absolutely massive).

Shiro’s channel pops up on Lance’s recommendations one day, and it’s the pet video. Shiro’s cats are in the thumbnail, a giant black shorthair and a long haired red tabby, so he clicks. He instantly likes this guy, his cats are cute, and the quiet, scowling brother in the background with the giant bear-dog is fun to watch. So he subscribes. He finds out that he really likes their videos, despite knowing absolutely nothing about motorcycles. Shiro makes it easy to follow, and he even learns a thing or two.

Lance hears a song he recognizes in one of Shiro’s videos and gets an idea. He gets his guitar and does a comedy cover of the song, making it about repairing motorcycles. He’s proud of the silly lyrics, not able to keep from snickering a few times, and posts the video. He shoots the link over to Shiro, and crosses his fingers.

Two days later he gets a response. Shiro comments on the video saying that he loves it and it made him laugh. Lance is over the moon, and keeps watching Shiro’s videos and commenting on them. Shiro sometimes comments on his and it’s great. As the months go by, Shiro becomes something of a hero to Lance. He’s cool and confident and everything Lance wishes he could be.

Not to mention that his broody little brother is really, really easy on the eyes. Keith is gaining a fanbase, his wiki page full of what few scraps viewers can find about him - including a blurry screenshot of a moment when his shirt rode up to reveal an nondescript tattoo on his hip. There was a good deal of speculation as to what it was of. Not that Lance read that particular reddit thread. Or commented on it. (“I bet it’s a wolf,” he most certainly did not write. Several people agreed.) Who can blame him? Lance likes puzzles and mysteries. What’s more mysterious than a youtuber who never talks and has all of his social media on lockdown?

Lance gushes about Shiro’s channel one night to Pidge, who’s finishing undergrad. Casually as ever, she says, “Yeah, I know Shiro, he’s an old friend of Matt’s.” and Lance loses it. Demands to know more, demands that Pidge set up a meeting. Pidge rolls her eyes, and says maybe, maybe during spring break.

Lance decides to do a charity stream, like he does often. He asks some of his youtuber friends to help promote, including his best friend Hunk who runs his own casual cooking channel (Hunk never shows his face but his videos are still really fun). He tweets about it, feeling pretty good. His last stream went really well and they hit their donation goal. When Lance checks twitter the next day, he’s absolutely beside himself to see that Shiro has retweeted his stream link, saying “My buddy @LanceyLance is doing a charity stream! Check it out!” He may have bounced in his chair and flapped his hands a little when he read that.

The stream goes super well. They surpass their donation goal by hundreds, and he gets a lot of chat messages from people saying they found it via Shiro. Once it’s over, Lance composes an email to Shiro to thank him. He considers mentioning what Pidge says for several minutes before deciding to just go for it. He finishes his email with “PS - I think we have a friend in common?? My buddy Pidge - Katie Holt - says she knows you. Or are you a different Shiro?”

He sends the email before he can second guess himself.

Two days later, he gets a reply, and Shiro confirms that he knows Pidge since he went to high school with her older brother, commenting that it’s a small world. Lance plays it cool, but doubles his efforts to get Pidge to introduce him to Shiro.

“Spring break,” she repeats, then yells at Lance to let her finish her paper.

It’s almost two months until then, so Lance occupies himself with making videos, streaming, and watching Shiro’s channel. Keeping an eye on where Keith pops up in the videos, silent and intense. When late March finally arrives, Lance packs a bag and piles in the car with Pidge for the five hour drive to her hometown, which is apparently also Shiro’s hometown. Pidge’s parents welcome him, and it takes an entire day of nagging Pidge to get her to call Shiro. He’s free the next day.

They head across town to Shiro’s garage and Lance is stoked. So stoked. And as Shiro comes out to meet them, he’s struck by one thing: Shiro is far taller in person than he looks on camera. He shakes Lance’s left hand and shows him around, the bike they’re working on, the cameras, the editing software he still uses, even though it’s a little outdated.

Lance is halfway to asking Shiro if he can meet his cats when the door opens. “Shiro?” a voice calls. “They’re roping off the west side of the street for something. Do you want me to move your --”

He stops when he spots Lance, and Lance sort of feels his breath stop in his chest at the sight. Running gear, hair pulled back, skin glistening with sweat, and a sleeveless shirt with a pair of earbuds hanging out of the collar.

It’s Keith. And Lance has to remember to breathe, because like his brother, he’s taller in person, but he’s also hot. Like crazy hot, goddamn. Even drenched in sweat with his hair sticking to his face and neck and flushed from a run, he’s stupidly gorgeous. The videos absolutely do not do his eyes justice, not even a little, all sharp and intense and deep blue.

He’s just sort of standing there stuck, but thankfully Pidge rescues him with a loud clearing of her throat. Then Shiro swoops in and introduces Lance to Keith. He’s quiet, like in the videos, and slips away as soon as Lance’s attention is elsewhere.

Once Keith is gone, Shiro asks Lance if he’d like to be in a video on his channel, and holy shit. He agrees before he even knows the details, and Shiro laughs. They agree to have Lance come back in three days to film. Right when they’re leaving, Keith re-emerges, showered and changed. Lance waves goodbye to him and hopes Keith doesn’t notice the way Lance’s eyes sweep up and down his body.

Lance spends the next three nights pouring over his guitar.

When he goes over to Shiro’s to film, he’s almost bouncing with excitement. Shiro goes over what they’ll be doing before they start. Lance is downright giddy as Shiro does his intro and calls Lance a “special guest” before they get started. Lance is mostly holding parts in place or passing Shiro tools as he works on the old bike they’ve been hired to restore, but it’s still fun, even if he’s sweating within the first half hour. Keith hovers in the corner, off camera, playing with his phone and looking bored. By the time they finish, he’s covered in grease and exhausted, but happy. Shiro stops filming and they take a break, cracking open a few beers.

Before it’s time to leave, he gets the okay from Shiro and sets up his own camera, bringing out his guitar. He wasn’t sure if he’d have the guts to do this, but Shiro smiles at him, and it all feels okay. Lance turns on his camera, does an intro, and begins to play. It’s an original song, one he wrote just for the occasion over the last few sleepless nights. It’s about new friends and fresh starts and connecting with others and maybe it’s a little cheesy, but it’s heartfelt, and the acoustics of the garage somehow bring it all together. And when he finishes and shuts off his camera, the awed look on Shiro’s face is absolutely worth it. Even Keith looks a little surprised, his eyebrows disappearing into his hair.

He says goodnight to them both and goes back to the Holt family home, showers and changes, and goes to sleep feeling like it’s Christmas and his birthday and the first day of summer vacation all at once.

Pidge has to go back to school to resume classes eventually, and Lance is her transportation, so he has to go too. They stop by Shiro’s garage one last time to deliver a tupperware container of fresh baked cookies, courtesy of Mrs. Holt, and Shiro shakes his hand again. When Lance says goodbye to Keith and shakes his hand, he swears he sees the tiniest hint of a smile on his face. Something he’s never seen.

He spends the entire five hour drive back with excitement buzzing in his veins. He can’t wait to edit and post that video.

CONTINUED IN PART TWO HERE

#AUs #youtuber AU #text post

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finelytaylored · 5 years ago

Text

Walking With A Ghost

Summary:

Rey leaned forward to hit the record button on her webcam before scooting back to her previous spot and positioning herself slightly off center.

"Hi guys! Rey here with another video. I'm going to be doing something a bit different today. So many of you have requested that I post a reaction to this video, and I have absolutely no idea what I'm in for here. So it's going to be quite an adventure for all of us." Rey said with a laugh. "I'm trusting you guys on this one... I'm slightly terrified. But I'm also extremely curious, so let's just jump into this and see what happens."

Rey paused briefly before leaning over until she could reach her laptop. She opened the browser window where she had queued up the video. Her eyes scanned the title and she bit her lip, already trying to keep from laughing. "I'VE NEVER SEEN MY BEST FRIEND'S FACE?!". That, paired with the thumbnail- she knew she was in for an interesting 7 minutes at the very least.

She hit 'play' and quickly got herself situated as the opening sequence for the channel "WhatTheHux" played and then faded out. Two men appeared on screen- well, one was definitely a man. He had very vibrant, natural red hair and a very pale skin tone. Sitting next to him was someone - with broad shoulders and a mask covering their entire face- their entire head. She couldn't even see a single strand of hair peaking out from beneath it. She was already intrigued.

(read on AO3) (or continue reading below)

Rey stared at the equipment sitting in the corner of the room and let out a long drawn-out sigh. She could've sworn it was mocking her. She knew she absolutely needed to record that day. She hadn't posted anything in almost a week, and even though she only had a few hundred subscribers she needed to stay dedicated. If she ever had any hope of her channel actually growing into something, she couldn't allow herself to get lazy. The moment she started giving herself an inch, a month would pass without her uploading. It hadn't happened- yet. She was trying to keep it that way.

Rey shook her head at how ridiculous she was being. She started doing this because she enjoyed it. It gave her a consistent hobby. It also kept her productive, which helped keep some of her anxiety and depression from completely swallowing her whole.

She didn't really have the space to record the way she wanted to. She shared a bedroom with her roommate Rose, and the only other open space was the living room. It was a cozy little place they shared and she loved it; it just meant she had to get creative with her set up.

Normally, if Rose wasn't using the living room or the attached kitchen, Rey would use their shelf of movies as her backdrop and the coffee table as her desktop. It wasn't much, but she made it work for her. Sitting on the floor wasn't always the most comfortable thing, but she didn't have much of a choice.

She crawled over to the coffee table and pulled up the tabs she needed on her laptop just as she heard the lock jiggling in the front door. She smirked to herself as Rose walked through it a few seconds later. "Just in time. I almost thought I'd have to start without you."

"Hello to you too", Rose replied, as she shut the door behind her and leaned down to untie her boots. "Do you just put off recording until you think I'm going to be home?"

Rey laughed and shook her head. "Me? Procrastinate? I'm a bit insulted you'd even suggest that." She replied as she finished adjusted her camera. "But now that you're here, I don't see why..."

"I knew it!" Rose laughed, cutting her sentence short. "You just didn't want to record by yourself."

"Viewers really enjoy it when we record together! You've seen the comments, Rose" Rey replied, turning to look at her roommate as she walked into their bedroom.

Rey knew that being on camera wasn't really Roses' thing. It certainly wasn't for everybody. But they did have great chemistry and it actually gave Rey someone to interact with. It created an energy on screen that she had to work so much harder to achieve when she recorded by herself. She had only started the channel by herself because she had to. She didn't have any friends with channels in their little part of the world, and didn't know anyone who would have started one with her.

So she had to resort to trying to drag her roommate into it as often as she could.

"What are you reacting to today?" Rose asked from the other room.

"I'm actually doing something new tonight." Rey replied. "There's this video- no idea what it is- but I've gotten loads of comments asking me to post a reaction."

"Yeah?" She could tell Rose as at least curious. She counted it as a small victory. Rose walked back into the shared living space. "I don't know if you should be excited or terrified... people on the internet are into some weird shit sometimes."

Rey couldn't disagree with her there. "I've done a bit of checking into it, without watching the actual video, because I'd like to avoid being completely scarred for life if at all possible." She said in reassurance.

"Good. I've taught you well." Rose replied with a smile as she flung herself onto one of the couches.

Rey scoffed and looked at Rose, giving her the look. "Which one of us still uses a flip phone that doesn't even have internet capabilities on purpose?"

"My phone does everything I need it to, thank you very much." Rose replied, raising her eyebrows.

"It's like I don't even know who you are sometimes."

"You don't know what you'd do without me." Rose replied, sticking her tongue out.

"You're bloody right about that. Who would I be perpetually single with if you weren't around?" Rey admitted.

"Exactly. Although, I'm still willing to put money on you getting married before I do. If I ever do." Rose replied.

Rey giggled as she responded. "You're so ridiculous. The more you say that, the more I'm convinced the universe is going to make sure you eat your words. You'll be married before all of us."

"And you say that every time it gets brought up. Stop giving the universe ideas." Rose threatened playfully, throwing one of the couch pillows at her.

Rey caught it and threw it back at her. "Rude." Rose just laughed.

"Are you going to record this with me or are you going to be a creep like you usually are and just watch me do it?"

"Hey! I am not creepy. Your subscribers love when I give my offscreen commentary. Makes it feel more authentic." Rose replied.

"Fair enough." Rey conceded with a sigh. "Let's get this over with then."

Rey leaned forward to hit the record button on her webcam before scooting back to her previous spot and positioning herself slightly off center.

"That mask is insane. There's no way this is a one off. They spent some serious time, or money, or both on that thing..."

"...most of you probably know, my name is Hux and you may have noticed I have a guest joining me today."

Hux spoke with an accent much like Rey's. There were a handful of highly successful YouTubers who were English, most of who she kept up with. But she couldn't say she'd seen his videos before.

"If you spend most of your free time getting sucked into the YouTube void, you should recognize my guest as Kylo Ren. That's right- THE Kylo Ren. Kylo doesn't normally agree to do collaborations, but after years and years of nagging, and despite constant threats of renouncing our friendship completely, he has agreed to do "The Best Friend tag" with me."

"I immediately regret all of my life choices that lead to this moment." Kylo said, speaking for the first time since the video started.

She noticed right away that the voice coming from the mask was... a bit odd. It was clearly going through a filter- a voice changer of some sort. She couldn't help but wonder what this guy did on his own channel. So much went into connecting to and finding an audience, and she had always believed that - whether you were putting on a persona for your channel or not- eye contact with the camera meant everything.

Clearly this Kylo Ren had found a way around that; if he was as popular as Hux made him out to be.

"You don't mean that, Ren" Hux replied rolling his eyes. "That means you regret the last ten years we've known each other and our entire friendship."

"I can already tell admitting to the internet that we know each other and that I willingly spend time with you was a mistake. Why did I agree to this again?" Kylo replied with a sigh.

Rey was completely sucked in. Hux and Kylo had a dynamic that was fun to watch. It was easy to tell that they were actually friends, as painful as that seemed to be for Kylo in that moment.

"Because despite what you want everyone to believe, you do actually enjoy my company. Also, your life would be a mess without me." Hux replied with a smirk.

Kylo didn't reply, and he didn't have to. His silence was almost funnier than anything he could've said. He just had a presence that telegraphed his disdain.

"They haven't even gotten to any of the questions yet and this is brilliant. Big thanks to everyone who requested this because I can already tell I'm going to love this." Rey said to the camera, a big smile on her face.

"Your silence is supremely encouraging, thank you." Hux continued. "So, we have a list of ten questions to answer for each other, and whoever gets the most right wins- because it means they actually pay attendant and know their best friend very well."

"I hope you're prepared to be supremely disappointed." Kylo said.

The tone of his voice didn't really change- but there had to at least be a smirk under that mask. Or the most exasperated facial expression in the entire world. As the video continued and Hux tried his best to get Kylo to participate in this little game he'd somehow convinced him to be part of in this first place, Rey found herself caught up in trying to imagine what the mystery man's facial expressions looked like. The one liners he would throw out were complete gold. Whether it was on purpose or not, his comedic timing was brilliant.

"First question- Describe each other in one word." Hux read out from the piece of paper in his hands. "There are plenty of words I could choose here.. but I think that 'mysterious' is probably best. All encompassing. Might be a bit too obvious though..."

"Delightful" Kylo suddenly says, clearly catching Hux off guard.

"I think that's the nicest thing you've ever said about me" Hux replied, genuine shock on his face.

"No, me. The word I think you should be using for me is delightful. You're more of an.... insufferable. Clingy."

"Clingy?! How am I clingy?!" Hux replied.

"There mere fact that I'm in this video right now proves that."

Hux was clearly not in control of the situation, and Rey had a feeling that wasn't unusual. Kylo knew how to get under Hux's skin.

"I've changed my mind. 'Insufferable' is now the word I'm using for you." Hux replied. "Okay, next question. How would you describe our friendship?"

"A ten hanging out with a five." Kylo replied without missing a beat.

Rey burst out into surprised laughter. This Kylo Ren was relentless. "This 'Kylo Ren' is either a comedic genius or a complete asshole. Maybe a little bit of both."

It didn't take long for Rose to pop in and join her- it was comedic gold and even she didn't want to miss out on it. It was funny if you listened to it, but watching it made it even better. Kylo Ren was so calm and composed- even in his body language. It contrasted well with how animated Hux was when he spoke.

"I can't believe this is the first time these two have collaborated. They've been depriving the internet of years of comedy gold." Rey said between laughs, trying to catch her breath. Rose was nearly in tears next to her as they continued to watch the video. By the time they reached the end of it, both of them were a mess.

"Oh my god Rose. What did we even just watch." Rey said, wiping tears from her face.

"You're right. It really is a travesty that this is the only collaboration video they've done... it's probably also a good thing though because otherwise I'd just sit around watching them and never get anything done." Rose replied.

"You and me both. Well, thank you again to everyone out there who requested this, because you just made our night. If you liked what you saw, don't gorget to subscribe and keep sending in requests. You guys are the best, we'll see you next time!" Rey said, closing out the video.

X x X x X x X

"I told you it was a brilliant idea." Hux said for what felt like the millionth time since he posted the video.

Be rolled his eyes, keeping his back turned and focusing on the task at hand. It didn't take that much concentration to cook dinner, but he knew it would annoy Hux.

"Are you just going to keep saying that every day, a thousand times a day until we die? It's been two months" Ben replied.

Hux scoffed. "Only until you admit I was right. Which I obviously was."

He couldn't exactly argue with him. Their video had reached a couple million views in just a few hours, and his subscriber count had definitely increased.

"You do realize I never said it was a bad idea in terms of content." Ben replied. "Kylo has never done a collaboration- that in itself was going to attract viewers."

"Exactly. I know you knew it was mutually beneficial. Which is why I still don't get why it took literally years of me begging for you to finally agree to it." Hux replied.

"Because you clearly still don't understand what it actually takes to keep my channel operating successfully. All it takes is one little hint- the smallest piece of identifiable information- and someone out there will figure it out. And then it'll be all over the internet and the 6 years of work I've put into my channel will mean nothing." Ben explained, finally turning around to look at him. "It's also why there was no way in hell I was letting you edit that thing without supervision." His lips twitched up into a smirk as Hux attempted to glare a hole through him.

"... I hate you."

Ben turned his attention back to the stove and smiled to himself. It was rare for Hux to not have a clever comeback. It usually only happened when he knew Ben had a point and didn't want to admit it. Normally, he'd give him shit for it, but he was feeling generous today. "So, what's on your long and exciting list of plans for the weekend?"

"Oh y'know, the usual." Hux sighed, sinking down onto the couch. "Hit the circuit. Take advantage of the free alcohol. Stop by at an unacceptable hour of the morning completely pissed and steal your leftovers."

"So, the usual then?" Ben asked, raising an eyebrow as he turned to walk over to the couch. He took a bite of the food he had just finished preparing and sat down. Hux's weekend antics had been the same since they were in their early 20's. It stopped phasing him a long time ago.

Hux shot him a knowing look. "Don't be bitter, Solo. You know you're more than welcome to join me instead of being a shut in all weekend. But only if you're not going to stand in the corner and sulk."

Ben protested. "Excuse me, I don't stand in the corner and sulk. I find a comfortable spot and observe. Despite my better judgement, I even let you convince me to get drunk enough to dance occasionally."

Hux snorted. "If only I still had videos from some of those nights. I don't know why you don't let loose more often."

Ben shook his head, taking another bite of his food. "It's part of the genius behind my branding decisions. I can decide when I want to go out and when I don't, and I rarely have to make appearances in general. Anyone can throw on a mask for a few minutes, shake some hands and leave."

"I don't think I've ever met someone who is as smart as you are, while also being an absolute moron." Hux replied. "You found a brand that has given you attention other YouTubers would kill for, while still maintaining anonymity and you're not even taking advantage of it."

"How many times have you given me this lecture now?" Ben asked, clearly amused by the situation.

"Clearly not enough. Because you still refuse to learn anything from my extremely valuable wisdom." Hux replied.

"I don't think 'wisdom' is really the word I'd use for it."

"You really are insufferable." Hux said, standing and grabbing his keys from the kitchen counter. "I'm going to get ready and at 7:00 I'm coming back here and you better be dressed and ready for a night you won't remember tomorrow." He was out the door, shutting it behind himself before Ben could respond.

He had a little under 3 hours to decide if he was going to indulge Hux or not. He could just leave. Find somewhere to hang out and be gone by the time Hux came looking for him. Ben sighed as he took the last couple bites of his food. "I'm really, really going to regret this." he mumbled to himself.

Eventually he talked himself into getting up and putting his dish in the sink. He spent a few minutes just staring down the hall at his bedroom door.

In his 20's, Ben had been part of Hux's antics more than his best friend likes to give him credit for. He's never used 'Kylo Ren' the way Hux would've if their roles were reversed. He'd even fired his long time manager not long ago because of it. When he first started his channel, he had almost been swayed to go in that direction with it. But he could only take the persona so far. It took him some time to realize it, but he still wanted to have parts of Ben Solo left when he turned the camera off. The bleed through was hard to maintain, and he'd made some mistakes he was still learning to live with. Some he'd probably spend the rest of his life trying to mend, if he ever had the courage to actually try and deal with any of it.

That was the thing Hux - or anyone else for that matter - would never understand. Not really. Hux had been one of the only people to actually witness him struggle through that time in his life. He'd encouraged Ben to fall into it; to do what his manager wanted. He still didn't know how their friendship survived that.

Ben snapped himself out of his thoughts, knowing that was not a spiral he wanted to go down today. "Damn it."

He knew he needed to get his mind off of it. He already hated the smug look Hux was going to have on his face when he showed up and Ben was actually dressed to go out.

When he reached his bedroom, he walked over to the closet and pulled out a black v-neck and a pair of black jeans. He knew it would only take him about 10 minutes to shower and get changed. It would still leave him with the better part of two hours to do some editing before Hux came looking for him.

It wasn't unusual for him to completely lose track of time when he was editing. He'd gone days without eating or sleeping before, and despite how much he hated to admit it, it was probably a good thing he had Hux around to bother him every couple of days to make sure he was still alive. At the moment, he had 3 videos recorded waiting to be edited and compressed. He tried to keep a pretty consistent upload schedule, considering it was where most of his income came from; well, the income he felt comfortable using.

Before he realized it, Hux was barging into his apartment. "Solo, I swear if I walk into that bedroom and you aren't-"

He didn't even have time to finish his sentence before he burst into the room. Ben swiveled around in his office chair to face him. It took all of Ben's restraint not to burst out laughing at the look on Hux's face. He looked so genuinely shocked, like he assumed he was going to have to drag Ben out of his apartment to get him to go out.

"Am I dead? I must have died on my way over to your flat because you're actually dressed and ready to go out like I told you to be." Hux said. "You have your good blazer on and everything!"

Ben smirked, enjoying the reaction he was getting out of him. "Don't make me regret this decision before we even leave my apartment."

"No. No way. Come on, let's go. You're not getting out of this now." Hux replied, reaching over and pulling Ben to stand up and practically dragging him out of the apartment.

"This is going to be a loongggg night." Ben mumbled to himself as he shut and locked the door behind them.

#reylo #rey x kylo ren #ben solo #fan fic #fanfic #star wars #rey x ben

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sending-the-message · 7 years ago

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There's three sides to Youtube: The normal side, the weird side and then whatever I found. by Cazzettez

I’ve always been told that I have a keen eye and I’ve always loved solving puzzles and mysteries, so I always considered it a blessing that I could spot clues and pieces easier than most people… That’s until the Youtube incident I got into recently… Allow me to give you some context:

As you know, everyone has divided Youtube into 2 different categories. There’s the normal side where you find the regular videos, the let’s plays, the vlogs, the skits and so on, and then there’s the weird side where you find just lots of weird, dark and sometimes creepy videos that most people don’t see, although some weird videos manage to sneak through and become viral anyways. But I have found a third side of Youtube… A side that no one was supposed to find. A side that Youtube tried so hard to hide, but I found it… Somehow it sneaked through and I found it… Here’s what happened.

So a few days ago I was browsing Youtube. Nothing special I was just clicking around on different videos. A few gaming videos here and a few music tutorials there. And soon I found myself on the verge of heading into the weird part of Youtube when I realized I had started watching Cyriak… You know, the creator of weird animations such as “Cows & Cows & Cows” and “Baaa”. I was watching the cow video and I was having a mighty fun time watching an old classic animation like that. Halfway through the video I started looking through the videos to the right when I saw another upload called “Cows & Cows %&/ Cows” (yes those symbols are supposed to be there) by some other Youtuber. It had the same thumbnail so I figured it was just a repost but I was still interested, so I clicked.

It was pretty much the exact same video with the exception of a few frames. I watched through the video, hoping something would happen so as soon as I saw the frames flash up, I knew I had to rewind and pause the video to see what it was. About halfway through the video there was an image that popped in instead of the regular video. It was an image of a room, and there was some text on the top of the image that said “Find the tribal mask to continue”. In the room there were tons of items and surrounding each of the items where those transparent boxes that youtubers use when they say “Click here to do this, and click here to do that��. So I started looking for a tribal mask, just for fun. What would happen if I found it? I had no idea, but I wanted to find out!

I clicked fullscreen and started scanning my screen with my keen eyes. I found all kinds of weird items in the room, but I didn’t think too much about it, since I was on the weird side of youtube. Items such as a bloody machete, a voodoo doll, a Ouija board, half a teddy bear and more. It took me about 12 minutes to find the tribal mask, and once I did I clicked it without hesitation.

The click had led me to another video titled “Hum’aNs & hU{mA£NS & h(m#an)S”. It was very similar to the “Cows & Cows & Cows” video, except it was using humans instead. About halfway through the video I decided to copy the link and send it to one of my friends, just for fun. He loved weird videos, so I was sure he would appreciate it.

He clicked the link immediately and replied with a disappointed “Really? This old video? You think I haven’t seen it? It went viral like several years ago, come on dude!”. So I went back to the video to check the views and I was very confused to see that it had 2 views total, and I hadn’t seen it before so I was pretty sure this was the original. I asked him when he’d seen it, and he answered “Come on, Cows & Cows & Cows? I’ve seen it so many times I can’t even count!”. I was confused and had to double check, so I clicked the link and it lead me to the Cow video. So I went back into my browser and made sure I copied the right link this time and sent it again. However, the same thing happened again.

At this point I was very confused, to say the least. Apparently I couldn’t send the link to him, so I decided to take a picture of it and send it to him on Snapchat instead so he could type in the URL himself. He was very skeptical but agreed to do it anyways, only to send a very angered reply that it was still the Cow video and told me to stop fucking around with him.

The video had me hooked. I had stumbled onto a video that no one else could find, and it just so happened to be an extremely weird video at that. I restarted the video from the beginning and watched every frame with much care. About 1:50 into the video I saw it… Just for a split second I saw my own face in the video… I started freaking the fuck out. I was shaking as I rewound the video a few seconds. It couldn’t have been. It was impossible that my face had been in the video, right?

Wrong… Almost as soon as the video hit 1:50 it appeared on one of the Humans for just a split second, but I managed to pause the video when my face was there. I hovered my mouse over my own face and there was another box to click there. I was scared but curious, so I started hovering my mouse over the other faces just to see if there were boxes there as well, but none of them had any boxes at all. So I went back to my face and braced myself, before I clicked the box.

It lead me to another video that no one had seen before me. The title of the video was “le§t tHE ga/mes BEGin”. It said that the creator of the video was me, and the description said “theRe’$s n0o tUrni1Ng .b[aCk nOW, yo+u’re in t%oo de#e?p”.

#reddit #nosleep #scary #story

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braxarchives · 4 years ago

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The Four Loko Incident ― CANON. (current verse)

Max hasn’t been entirely honest with Brady about his feelings towards him. In order to gain the courage to tell him, he concocts a plan. NSFW.

It took Max all of a day after texting his twin about his self-pitying unrequited bullshit to put together a game plan in his head. When he woke up yesterday morning, he didn’t really plan on being in his feelings. But then Brady had to walk by him in one of Max’s t-shirts and smiled at him with his stupid bed-head and Max’s brain malfunctioned. Honestly, though. Maybe it was a long time coming. When Emmie had suggested he just talk to him… the thought was scary. But the alternative was scarier: letting this eat at him for even longer and ruining whatever chill he had left. And once Max had an idea in his head, he had to do it. Sleeping on things for too long wasn’t his strong suit. If he gave himself time to think things through, he’d chicken out. And that just wasn’t him. So naturally he’d thought about it. What was the least painful way to get everything out in the open and not feel the embarrassment of rejection later? And then it came to him: alcohol. “Hey, dude.” He said casually as he closed the door behind him to their apartment, cradling a bagged bottle in his hands. “You have plans tonight? ‘Cause I thought maybe we could hang out. I brought presents. Like — six different kinds of Four Loko.” He grinned and lifted the bag up some as though he could see through it. “Was thinking we could come up with our own drinking game or something.”

Brady looked up from the TV, where he was currently sprawled out on the couch watching Parks & Rec for probably the 10th time, when he heard Max come in. “Hey,” he replied, just beginning to curiously eye the bag in Max’s hands when he explained it. Brady grinned, pushing himself to sit up. “Four Loko,” he repeated. “You’re ridiculous.” But he couldn’t even act like he wasn’t excited. The idea of a drinking game definitely piqued his interest. “Yeah. Yeah, we can figure somethin’ out.” Brady paused the episode he was currently on so he could adequately focus on the conversation. “You wanna make it a video? We’ll just…try to cut it off before you get too hammered. Don’t want your fans seeing you get too sloppy,” he teased.

Max laughed and walked over to him to set the bag down near the couch, his gaze momentarily drifting to the TV before Brady paused it. Honestly, it was good he did pause. They’d end up getting distracted before doing anything at all. “If that’s not good enough we’ve got some Jack somewhere around here. But I don’t wanna kill us, we might lose at our own game.” He matched Brady’s tone right back and moved to sit next to him, shuffling the bag on the ground as he did so. “Oh yeah, wouldn’t want to be too on brand. Good thing I have you to protect our squeaky clean image, huh?” For once, he hadn’t even thought of doing a video. He guessed he shouldn’t stop now. Besides, as Brady said, they could cut it off when he got too messy. Nodding with a small hum, he rummaged through the bag to pull out a couple different flavors and set the cans in front of them. “Yeah! You’re a genius, man. ‘Cause I was thinking we could watch some of our old stuff. But make it fun, you know? That way you can take a shot every time I do something dumb, like I know you want to.” He teased. “And I can whenever you roll your eyes and quit. Perfect, right?” Except for the fact that it wouldn’t be actual shots, but whatever. They made their own rules. “How much time do you need to get ready?”

“Yeah. Save that for another time.” Whatever Max had on him now was likely more than enough. “Which is why this probably won’t be edited for a good two days, to make sure I got a totally clear head to start with.” Brady could only imagine going into it and missing important bits and pieces, ending up with something super messy up on Max’s channel for the world to see. And Brady certainly wasn’t down with that. “Hm, we might have to narrow that down a lil’ bit. Taking a drink every time you do something dumb might kill me in a little under an hour,” he teased as he turned the TV off. “Go get your laptop. Gimme like five minutes.” He headed into his room so he could change his shirt. He usually didn’t exactly care what he looked like in Max’s videos, since he was partial to being entirely authentic or whatever, but he was in an old sleep shirt that really didn’t do much for him. He changed into the first clean henley shirt he found, grabbed his camera and tripod, and returned to the living room to set up. “Let’s say you take a drink every time I make a comment from behind the camera, ‘cause there’s plenty of that. Down the rest of your drink every time I threaten to quit.” Brady set the camera on the tripod and started to set up the frame. “And I take a shot every time you lose your train of thought. Down it whenever you manage to injure yourself.”

“You’re so funny, save it for the video.” Max grinned to himself and stood, waving his roommate away as he did so. “Alright, go make yourself presentable, wouldn’t want to disappoint the Brady fangirls.” He teased, before wandering off to go grab his laptop from his room. He walked by Ratthew’s cage, wiggling his fingers in his direction before grabbing the laptop and power cord from his bed. By the time he came back to the living-room, powered up and pulled up YouTube, Brady was already joining him. He briefly glanced at him, taking note of the outfit change and willing himself not to be that guy who looked a little too long. Yikes, as though this wasn’t already going to be embarrassing enough. Turning back to the screen, he found himself huffing a small laugh as he opened a few different fan-made compilations, pausing each one before they had a chance to play. “Why don’t I just down my drink now and get it over with?” He joked lightly, but wasn’t really joking, as Brady set up the camera. “Sounds good, but we’re gonna end up going through all these cans in like five minutes. I pulled up our greatest hits.” He took two cans of Four Loko, one for him and one for Brady, and popped the top. “’Kay, dude, get your ass over here so we can do our intro. We’ll save the thumbnail for after.”

Brady obviously knew Max was joking about downing his drink right away, but he still replied, “’Cause that’d ruin all the fun.” He finished setting up the camera and pressed record. “Alright, then guess we’re gonna have to break out the jack eventually,” he said simply, going over to join Max where he sat. “I dunno if we’ll manage to pull ourselves together afterward.” He had to take the realistic approach, because he had a feeling a drunken thumbnail would be a hot mess and they’d end up redoing one when they were sober anyway. “But whatever, your channel.” Brady cleared his throat and put on his best ‘on camera’ look, which was far from perfected because he still wasn’t quite used to it. “Sup guys. Uh, welcome back to my channel. My name’s Max,” he placed a hand over his chest, then gestured toward Max, “and this is my super hot cameraman Brady who’s so kindly doing a video with me.” Brady grinned at him briefly before turning away, and then wondered for a moment if the joke about himself being hot would properly land. Not that Brady hadn’t publicly stated before that he and his best bro were equally attractive, but recently it felt just a little bit different to say out loud. And he also knew from experience that Max’s fans liked to take the tiniest little thing and turn it into something much bigger. But Brady wanted all of that to be on his own terms, not up to some randos on the internet. “What’re we doin’ today, real Max?” he asked as he opened the can Max had handed him.

Max sighed, more than a little dramatically, and shrugged his shoulders. “I mean I guess. And hey maybe not, but if we can get a steady pic it’ll be good enough.” The important thing was that Brady would be in it. He was a fan favorite, even if Brady didn’t seem to like the attention like Max did. He never fully understood why. But sometimes he just wished Brady would let people see who he was more. As Brady joined him, he couldn’t help but laugh. “Wow. Spot on impression. I think I’d introduce you as my super hot but rude as hell camera-man Brady, but you’re honestly close enough.” He leaned back into the couch and gave the camera a little wave. “Hey everybody it’s fake Brady slash real Max. Bringing you more quality content ‘cause we’ve got nothing better to do on a Friday night. So here we’ve got some Four Loko, and on my laptop here I’ve got several fan submitted compilations. And spoiler alert, we might actually end up dying today. ‘Cause we’re going to be playing a drinking game.” He looked away from the camera and grinned over at Brady. “Rules are simple. He takes one sip whenever I lose my train of thought.” He shoots him an annoyed look, although it’s mostly playful. “Which is obviously not that often. And then he’s gonna down it whenever I injure myself. Which might be a little often.” He admitted with a small shrug. “And I’ma sip whenever he comments behind camera. Then full on downing my drink when he threatens to quit on me. Oh, and it totally counts now, too, but if you abuse it I’m disqualifying you. So don’t quit three times in a row. Or I’m gonna get up and pretend to fall like fifteen times.” He tapped him on the arm, careful not to make him slosh, and reached out to grab his own can and pull the first tab on his laptop up. “And on that note. I’m gonna start. “Max & Brady’s worst moments - part 1.” He arched an eyebrow at Brady before he started it. “How many parts do you think there are?”

“Quality content is a loose term.” They both had to admit this was going to get real stupid, real fast. But that was them for you. Brady simply nodded along with Max’s explanation, because there was really nothing to add and maybe he was still a little camera shy. But whatever. All he really had to do was sit there and look pretty and Brady was good at that. “Alright, alright. I won’t quit unless it’s warranted,” he promised. Brady watched curiously as the video started and shrugged. “I dunno, man. Probably too many.” It started with Max’s older videos, clips stitched together with far too much yelling and general idiocy. And, predictably, Brady’s comments in response. He smirked as he looked over at Max after a particularly prominent ‘this might be your dumbest idea yet’ from behind the camera. “Drink up, bro.”

He couldn’t help the genuine smile from crossing his face at their old videos. The camera was way too shaky and their content was just a bunch of yelling and doing the first thing they could think of. But they were kind of his favorites. That was one of the most fun times of his life. “Aw, look at us. We were like 12.” It was more like three years ago, but close enough. At the comment that Max had honestly been expecting, he shook his head and grinned. “Ah – wait for it, though.” He held his hand up in the air, and shortly after he spoke, the on-screen Max tumbled to the ground and completely ate it. He lifted his own can up, and pointed at Brady with his other hand. “You better drink for that bruise I had on my face for like a month. It hurt to smile.” And with that, he lifted his drink to take a small sip. “Chug it, bro, I’m freaking waiting.”

It went like that, as predicted, and four cans between the two of them were gone way too quickly. And so was Brady. “The fuck even is this shit bro?” He studied the can, as it suddenly occurred to him he’d never actually had this shit before and didn’t realize it would hit him this hard. “That was too freakin’ fast to go through two of these at once. That’s like… that’s eight whole Lokos, dude.” Brady couldn’t help the laugh that erupted as soon as he said it, his hand coming up to grab Stevie’s shoulder for support. Once he caught his breath, Brady waved said hand in the air and placed the empty can down on the table. “Okay, okay. I think it’s time we wrap this up.”

Max wasn’t expecting it to go that fast, but maybe he should have stopped to think about it. Or come up with different rules. But it was too late… and he was definitely more tipsy than he’d intended to be. He just wanted to be a little gone, not like… this much. “Uhh it tastes like an alcoholic energy drink. Or somethin’. Like freakin’… party Monster.” He snorted at his own joke, setting his empty can on the table in front of them and slinking back into the couch just as Brady spoke. He and broke out into a laugh so big he could feel it vibrate through his chest. “Shut up, you’re dumb.” Yet he grinned at him and began to sit up, his hand dropping down to Brady’s leg to use the leverage to straighten himself. And even his almost-drunk mind was well aware of their proximity, and he wasn’t really sure if it was the alcohol or a laughing Brady that wasn’t making him think clearly. “Okay…okay. Yeah.” He gave a short laugh and lifted his hand from Brady’s leg, running it over his face as he shook his head. His heart leapt in his chest, because he knew why he was even here to begin with. But they’d been having fun. And now they were drunk and he didn’t know what to do. “Okay guys I think it’s safe to say we’re both losers here. That’s all the sign-off you get. I’m…kinda drunk. A little.” He looked to Brady. “But uh. Not that drunk.” He swallowed, not nearly as humorous as before, but not trying to alarm him by a sudden change in tone. “Hey dude? Can I be honest with you for a second?”

Max was a mess. That was all Brady could think as he watched him give a half-assed outro, just slightly slower than usual. But Brady himself was just as bad, ducking his head and damn near giggling through it. He did manage to look back up at the camera when Max said he was drunk to add, “Same.” And then Max looked at him and of course Brady’s focus shifted. It was a little weird, the sudden (but subtle) shift in the mood of the conversation, but not the kind of weird that made Brady want to run away before things got too serious. Although… maybe that had something to do with the crazy amount of alcoholic energy drink in his system, because he almost knew where this was going before it got there. And that was dumb, since he’d spent all this time pretending not to notice the way Max looked at him sometimes and also acting like it didn’t make a difference to him. He didn’t know when he realized he was attracted to him, but it was long enough ago that Brady had gotten really, really good at pretending. Max was too close to him, one of the most secure constants in his life, and Brady wasn’t gonna let his dumbass fuck that up. But Max was crossing the line so Brady didn’t have to. “Yeah,” was all Brady managed to say through the fog clouding his brain. He wanted to say as long as it’s not stupid, a last-ditch effort to run away from the inevitable. Instead, he swayed a bit in his seat and said, “Anything.”

Max wasn’t sure how Brady would respond to the change in subject, but when he didn’t seem phased, part of him was almost surprised. He didn’t think he’d want to listen right now. But then he agreed and gave him that look again; the one that made him feel like he wasn’t crazy after all. He didn’t always get it from him, but when he did, Stevie couldn’t help how it made him feel. Fucking Brady messing with his head like this when he was already mush-brained. The all-too familiar sensation of longing settled into his gut, and it was then that he gained his resolve. Now or never. He seemed so much closer now, and he had to fight to not lean over to him and go too far. “I didn’t — do this for the freaking video, Brady.” He struggled to make sense, and he ended up leaning in some regardless, tone lowering as though he were telling a secret. Because that’s what this felt like. Max’s shoulders slouched a little from the alcohol, and he shook his head so he could try to think clearly. “I wanna know. I want to know.” His words were spoken slowly as he corrected himself. He wanted to reach out and touch him, and he lifted his hand to do so, before choosing to settle it between them. Even in his state of mind right now he knew this was one hell of a delicate situation. “If I kissed you…” The words were so foreign to say around him, even if he’d thought about it before. But now he couldn’t take them back. His head swam with anxiousness, but he also felt a sense of pride at having done it. So he repeated it, making sure Brady heard him. “If I actually… really kissed you. Would you never talk to me again?”

Brady swallowed, noticing how unbelievably dry his throat was. “I don’t…” He didn’t what? Didn’t want to ruin their friendship by admitting he wanted to sleep with him? Didn’t want to fuck up something to good in his life? Didn’t want to make things awkward between them forever? He recognized that saying any of that was the surest and quickest way to make it happen, because the damage had been done. Max had said his part, had put himself out there and opened up the flood gates and now it was Brady’s turn to decide what to do with it. He was dizzy, mostly because he was drunk but also partly because he was moving, leaning forward with an arm over the back of the couch to steady himself so he could kiss him. He was all too aware of how drunk they both were, especially considering how clumsily his hands found Max’s face, and just… what the fuck. Brady didn’t know what to think, except that he technically hadn’t answered Max’s question. But he was hoping he got the picture.

Max hadn’t exactly expected the night to go like this. He expected Brady to pull away from him; to make up any and every excuse to not be around him. But he wasn’t doing any of that, and suddenly he was hyper-aware of everything. Feeling Brady’s arm slide around the back of the couch urged Max to lean in to close what distance was left between them. The moment his friend finally kissed him was surreal, and he couldn’t really think of much of anything other than how freaking soft his lips were and how nice his hands felt on his face even if they kind of bumped against him. Max’s hands didn’t feel so steady themselves, but he still used one to grab the fabric of that ridiculous Henley of his and tug him in closer. The other raised to cup Brady’s own jaw as he reciprocated the kiss; all caution gone now. He broke apart briefly, eyes shut, and he laughed quietly as he licked his bottom lip. His eyes opened only for his gaze to drop down to Brady’s mouth. “Really like that answer.” He said quietly, but sure as hell wasn’t going to say any more and ruin this. He brought himself closer, knee bumping against Brady’s as he pressed another kiss to his lips, hand cupping his jaw now sliding to the back of his neck to steady him.

Max closed the already very little distance between them even further and Brady suddenly felt a sense of urgency. Like he was reminded that this really was an okay thing to be doing, and fuck if he didn’t really, really want it. He pulled away and dragged his hands down to Max’s shoulders to urge him backwards, simultaneously trying to move on top of him, but he very quickly lost his balance and tumbled right into Max, pushing him much harder than intended onto his back on the couch. “Oops.” Brady couldn’t help but laugh just before pressing another kiss to his lips. Then he planted his hands to push himself back up slightly. He hesitated for a moment, feeling all sorts of dizzy as he looked down at Max, but he bit his lip and touched Max’s shirt, pulling the fabric just a little. “You…” He swallowed. “Tell me to stop if it’s—if you don’t want me to,” he said slowly, the slur in his words surprising even himself for a moment. Even when he could barely see straight, he knew better than to just assume where this was going simply because it was what he wanted. Brady bunched up the fabric in his hands to start to pull it off, knowing Max had an out if he wanted it, no questions asked.

Max was fully ready to lose all control and climb on top of Brady when his shoulders were being pushed backwards. Caught off guard, he hit the couch harder than perhaps he needed to. His head slamming on the cushion and back bouncing from the impact. Unable to help it, Max let out a large laugh, something that was quickly silenced by Brady’s lips on his. He smiled into the kiss, and almost deepened it when his friend broke apart. And the words honest to God made him pause for a second. If he wanted…him to stop. Wow. Really. “You’re. So.” Unbelievable. He let out a laugh of disbelief, although the comment was sweet. Max had wanted this for way too long. “More like if you wanna stop we can.” He murmured, and took a second to slide his hand up Brady’s back. He wasn’t sure what was going on. Max never thought that they’d actually get drunk, or do anything like this. He just wanted to tell him so Brady could once and for all reject him. But now that he wasn’t — he was going to fully embrace that and not question things for once. But if Brady wanted to stop, he’d stop.

Now though? Max was eagerly lifting himself up so they could both pull his shirt over his head. “Don’t wanna stop.” He reached out grab Brady’s shirt and bunched the bottom of the material in his hands, palms sliding up the skin of his torso as he tried to remove the material completely. And then Max was sitting up, despite kind of loving Brady being right on top of him. But he had more pressing business. Maybe a little sloppily, he met Brady’s lips once more and wrapped his arms around his waist, before slowly flipping their positions. Not thinking clearly, he barely processed the fact that they were both sliding off the couch and to the ground, the Four Loko cans scattered around them. But Max barely even paid attention. Now on top of Brady, he lifted himself up with his hands so he could look down at him. Holy crap Brady was really here doing this with him. Something at that moment clicked in him, and he grinned slowly. “Fuck you Brady. I hate your stupid clothes.” Max dipped his head for another slow kiss before dropping his head lower, finally allowing himself to trail kisses from his jawline to his neck as his hands trailed down to his waistline, thumbs stroking against his skin as he took his time. This was really happening.

Brady wanted to make some sort of comment, but not only could his brain not currently form one, he was a little preoccupied at the same time. He tossed Max’s shirt…fuckin’ somewhere, it didn’t matter, and only had a second to take it in before reacting to Max’s hand sliding up under his own. Brady yanked it over his head and it joined Max’s somewhere on the floor. Then Max quite literally dragged him onto the floor and Brady couldn’t even think to remind Max that he was, in fact, dumb. He did manage to roll his eyes, though, but grinned in spite of it and mumbled, “Then get rid of ‘em.” He shivered when Max’s hands paused right above the waistband of his sweats, his lips on his neck and sending Brady’s drunk ass into sensory overload. He groaned before his brain caught up to allow him to swallow the sound, but then… he didn’t give a fuck.

Brady’s hands came down to join Max’s, only to push them out of his way so he could hold onto Max’s hips instead. He gave him a generous tug to pull Max flush against him, pressing his fingers into his skin. If he was gonna be a smartass about not wanting to stop, then Brady wasn’t gonna let him be a tease. Only he wasn’t crazy about lying here on the floor, wedged between the couch and the table. He let out a shaky breath before managing to speak. “C’mon.” He started wiggling out from under Max, pushing him off so he could sit up. “Not on the floor.” He held onto the couch for leverage as he pulled himself to stand, laughing as he struggled to get his balance. God, they really were both a goddamn mess. As if Brady cared. He knew what he was doing. Max’s room was closest, so obviously it was where Brady went. He shut the door behind them even though literally no one was gonna be coming in, then turned and pulled Max by the hand until he could feel his bare skin against his own, bringing their lips together as he led them in the general direction of Max’s bed.

When Brady groaned, practically right in his ear, that did him in. “Want me to?” He drawled out in response and grinned against Brady’s neck, giving a playful nip to the skin before soothing it with his tongue. Max’s fingers dipped under the waistband of Brady’s sweats just slightly, only teasing, when Brady pushed his arms out of the way and pulled his hips forward. A groan broke from the back of Max’s own throat as they were pressed together. He was already half-hard from that stint on the couch, but now there was no hiding it. At that moment, his eyes met Brady’s, and he rolled his hips forward against his without skipping a beat. He wasn’t going to be shy; not when Brady finally wanted this too. Before he had time to do it again, Brady was urging him to stand up. And they both may have stumbled, but Max honestly had a one track mind right now. They made their way to his room, and out of instinct Max pulled the cover loosely over Ratthew’s cage as they walked by. Pretty quickly, Brady had the door shut behind them and was pulling him in by his hand. And then they were pressed together - finally. Max’s hands found either side of Brady’s face, lips urgently moving against his as they made their way over to his bed. He broke apart only to grin at him, sliding his hands down to his chest only to gently push him backwards. This time he didn’t waste any time before he was climbing up on his bed and straddling him, hips pressing down on his as he leaned in for another kiss, letting it linger before trailing open-mouthed kisses down his chest and to his stomach. Max stopped there, letting his nose graze against the spot his lips just brushed over, and glanced up again. “Bein’ in my room isn’t so bad, is it?” He teased, tone rough and still slightly slurred. Still, being careful to watch his reactions, he slid a hand down Brady’s hip and over the front of his sweats, just brushing over him to test the waters. And damn if he didn’t hear his own heart thundering in his ears as he did so.

-------Brady had no idea what time it was when he first woke up the following morning. It was bright as fuck, that was for sure, and he very quickly realized it was because the curtain was wide open. Why hadn’t he closed it like always? He rubbed his eyes as reality slowly started to come back to him. He hadn’t closed it because he had been drunk off his ass, and also because it wasn’t exactly ‘like always’ since this was Max’s room, and he was waking up in Max’s bed next to Max because they’d slept together last night. So, right. There was that. Brady blinked as he stared down at his friend, still fast asleep, lying on his stomach and hugging the pillow under his head. Even through Brady’s hazy memory and one hell of a headache, of course it all came flooding back to him. The way it felt when Max touched him, the feeling of his mouth on him, the hottest fucking look on Max’s face when Brady returned the favor. God. All of it. It was fucking good. He also vaguely remembered a snide remark about the whole ordeal having taken them long enough just before he passed out. But whatever.

He couldn’t wipe the smug smirk off his face as he forced himself to finally look away from Max and drag himself out of the bed, careful not to wake him. He found his pants on the floor and tugged them on before heading out to the living room. He shook his head at the discarded cans (which he’d worry about later, ‘cause whatever, not like anybody was coming over) and then caught sight of his camera. Right, he’d forgotten about the freaking video for Max’s channel. The battery was just about dead since Brady had been a dumbass and left it on all night. He sighed and picked it up to make sure the video was at least still there, and he was met with one over an hour long. Which was definitely unusual for them — they didn’t typically talk for that long. Brady furrowed his brow as he quickly skimmed through the video, and his heart dropped as he discovered that…everything had been recorded. Well, everything right up until going to Max’s room, after which it must have automatically stopped after surpassing the video time limit. “Jesus Christ,” he muttered as onscreen-Brady pushed Max down onto the couch. He weirdly felt like kind of a perv just standing there watching their accidental kind of sex tape, so he turned off the camera and took out the battery to start charging it before heading to the kitchen. He didn’t have the slightest clue how today would pan out, but he did know he just wanted some Lucky Charms at the moment.

Max was hardly coherent when he finally began to stir. It took a moment upon first waking up to truly get his bearings. And as the light harassed his vision, his memories began to come back to him. And his eyes opened, followed by his arm reaching back to the spot beside him. Empty. Oh no. With some difficulty, he sat up and looked at the now empty spot next to him, and dread immediately gathered in the pit of his stomach as he called the previous nights events. Brady kissing him… Him kissing Brady. Then them doing a lot more than that to each other. And he knew Brady wasn’t the type to wanna spoon him or hold his hand or whatever but his mind immediately went to the worst. Groaning as fully sat up and the sunlight hit his eyes, Max stood up and stretched his arms over his head, trying to soothe his stiff muscles before grabbing himself some sweatpants to tug on.

Walking over to the door, he uncovered Ratthew’s cage, smiling softly to himself as he looked up at him and squinted due to the sudden light entering his cage. “Moment of truth, buddy.” Max tapped his fingers to the side of the cage, then ran his other hand through his hair and walked out. He wasn’t sure if he was expecting to see Brady packing his stuff, or what. But he didn’t expect him to be…. eating cereal. And it was the same thing he saw every morning, but the sight still kind of made him smile anyway. “Uh. Morning.” He said cautiously as he walked in and approached the table as casually as he could. Nothing weird so far. It wasn’t until he got there that he noticed the box in front of Brady, and he squinted, fear forgotten momentarily as he reached out to lift up the plastic bag. Just as he expected. Empty. “Are you really eating the last of my Lucky Charms right now, dude?”

Brady looked up when Max entered the kitchen. He thought that when they saw each other, he might feel weird, or awkward, or a multitude of other emotions that would fuck things up between them, but instead Brady just felt… normal. It was the same sight he was used to seeing every day. Same roommate. Same general morning routine. The only thing different was that nothing was hidden anymore, and he’d probably argue that was going to make things easier. “Sup,” he said through a mouthful of cereal. He watched Max as he walked, and it occurred to Brady that literally all he was thinking of now was whatever was going through Max’s head. They’d probably have to really sit down and talk about this sometime soon. Right now was just not that time, especially not when Max wanted to pick a fight about the Lucky Charms. “Dude, they’re not your Lucky Charms,” he shot back. “What did you want me to do, make a new box magically appear? I’ll go get some more today.” If anything could be considered totally normal between them, it was this, without a doubt. Brady finished off the last of the cereal in his bowl and hesitated for a moment, wondering what he should say or if he should say anything at all, and here was that awkwardness he’d been expecting. Or maybe it wasn’t awkward so much as it was…tense. “So. Realized this morning I left my camera on all night.” The worst thing he could say? Perhaps. But he was feeling confident that this could maybe cut some of that tension. Maybe. He didn’t fucking know. “It recorded…for a while.” He leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest, peering at Max curiously to see if he’d figure it out on his own.

Maybe he was deflecting, just a little, by pointing out the empty cereal box. But at the same time, he couldn’t resist messing with Brady a little. It was instinct by now to tease him until he rolled his eyes at him, even if he told himself to stop doing that before he got punched one of these days. He still did it anyway though. “Fine. Our lucky charms.” Max shrugged, Brady’s tone not phasing him ‘cause he was honestly used to it. If this were a normal day, he’d grab the spoon when Brady wasn’t looking to take a bite for himself. But it felt kind of out of place after last nights events. Oddly enough, considering he’d just had way more important things of Brady’s in his mouth. He sighed. “It’d be nice if you could. Got any magic powers I should know about?” He couldn’t help his normal grin from taking place at that moment, until Brady went and mentioned the camera. The camera. Of freaking course….God, Max was an idiot. Max took a long, silent moment, as the words really and fully sunk in. And the first question that popped in his head was did Brady watch it? The second coherent thought was the fact that Brady was actually referencing what happened without any trace of panic. And at that realization, Max relaxed. Good sign. He wracked his brain trying to come up with a normal response. But his stupidity bravery was at an all time high. “Hot. You wanna save it just for us or post it up on PornHub?” Max leaned his hands on the counter, honestly bracing himself and shaking his head. “Sorry, sorry. I’m… wow.” He couldn’t help but start laughing a bit. “I never thought you’d want to make a sex tape with me.” He let it hang in the air, and he met Brady’s gaze, not really sure how to respond. He was torn between humor and regret. Maybe he was still drunk from all the Four Loko. “How do you… feel about that?” It was a loaded question, one that wasn’t necessarily about the camera or video.

Brady waited while the gears turned in Max’s head. He could practically see him putting the pieces together about what Brady had just said. And Max had been surprising him quite a bit within the past 24 hours, but his response? Not surprising. It was Max, after all. But Brady still rolled his eyes, because he was Brady. “You’re such an idiot.” Then he shrugged. “It wouldn’t even do well, for the record. S’not all that exciting.” From what he had seen before feeling creepy and also managed to remember. But it was fun to mess with Max. Brady went to the sink to clean up after himself when Max asked him how he felt, and he knew he wasn’t talking about a fucking sex tape or whatever. Except Brady didn’t really know what to say in response. He thought he made it pretty clear how he felt about what was going on last night. He also knew Max, though, and knew that he had a big heart and genuinely wanted to know, and deserved real answers. And while Brady might not have been able to tell him exactly what he wanted to hear (mostly because he still wasn’t entirely sure what that was), he could suck it up and be as honest as possible — and give him a little bit of shit in the process. “I feel like I wanna know why you were holdin’ out on me,” he finally settled on, because again, both honest and amusing. Brady turned and brushed his hands on his pants. “Gonna go get dressed and go to Starbucks. Text me what you want.” He started to head out of the kitchen toward his bedroom, but paused to turn and look at Max again. “Oh — and the battery’s gotta charge a little, but…camera’s on the coffee table, in case you wanna make sure your vid turned out okay.” And then he finally did go. They could truly deal with this later. Right now, they both needed coffee.

Max was honest to God, for the first time in a long time, speechless. Did that asshole just flirt back? He was about to say something when Brady added the bit about the camera. Max honestly wasn’t even thinking about the video right now. His hands laid flat on the counter as he leaned forward further, eyes flickering towards the living-room and the table where the camera sat. Damn. He was really going to have to go through it now and get rid of the embarrassing bits. Max wasn’t sure if Brady was just trying to mess with him or genuinely didn’t want to edit it out himself. “Hey, wait a minu—” But it was fallen on deaf ears as the door was slammed behind him. It took him a second after Brady leaving for a surprised smile filtered over his face. Well. Okay, then. Not exactly all the answers to the universe, but at least Brady was talking to him, and that was enough for him for now. He sighed and looked back in the direction of where they’d filmed last night. He’d mess with the whole camera thing later. But he really was gonna need that coffee Brady was talking about. And maybe a shower and a life. Max ran a hand through his hair and made his way back to his room to grab his phone. Pulling up Brady’s name, he shook his head to himself before sending his text.

“Surprise me, Bradley.”

#CANON #the four loko incident #current verse #002

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cutshawsnidowoa · 5 years ago

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8 Questions About Calico Cats — Answered

The post 8 Questions About Calico Cats — Answered by catedit appeared first on Catster. Copying over entire articles infringes on copyright laws. You may not be aware of it, but all of these articles were assigned, contracted and paid for, so they aren't considered public domain. However, we appreciate that you like the article and would love it if you continued sharing just the first paragraph of an article, then linking out to the rest of the piece on Catster.com.

Ah, calico cats! Those multi-colored coats that can be arranged into never-ending combinations of patterns make for tons of questions. Do male calico cats exist? Are the rumors about calico cat personalities true? What in the world is a calibby? We’re here with answers to a few commonly asked questions about those mysterious calico cats.

1. Is a calico a type of breed?

Nope. Calico refers to a color or pattern of a cat’s fur, not a cat breed.

2. Where does the name calico come from?

Actually, the term “calico cat” is a description you’ll mostly hear in the U.S. Why? Calico is actually a type of fabric, but when it came to the United States in the 1780s, Americans used the term calico to refer to printed design.

Calico cats are also called brindle, tricolor, tobi mi-ke (Japanese for ‘triple fur’) and lapjeskat (Dutch for ‘patches cat’). Diluted calico cats with lighter coloration are sometimes called calimanco or clouded tiger. Calicos may also be referred to as piebald, which can mean any animal with a white base and pigmented spots.

A dilute calico has colors that are a bit more muted than a standard calico. Photography ©adogslifephoto | iStock / Getty Images Plus.

3. What about a calibby? Are there different types of calico cats?

A standard calico usually has a white coat with large spots of orange and black.

A dilute calico, as mentioned above, has lighter colorations that result in white coats with large spots of smoky gray and an almost strawberry-blonde color.

A calibby is a mix of a calico and a tabby cat, where the calico patches of orange and black have the tabby striped or spotted markings.

Compare a tortie’s coloring with some of the calico photos. See the differences? Photography ©piranka | iStock / Getty Images Plus.

4. What is the difference between a tortoiseshell cat and a calico cat?

“Tortoiseshells (or torties) have similar coloring to calicos in that they are also contain black and orange in their coat, but the major difference is instead of a mainly white base, tortoiseshells have a black-based coat,” Dr. Gibbons of Just Cats Veterinary Hospital in Stamford, Connecticut, explains. “In addition, instead of distinct spots of orange and white, tortoiseshells are more of an even blend of the black and orange with sometimes white mixed in.”

Do male calicos exist? They’re rare, and they’re probably sterile! Photography by Mahlebashieva/Thinkstock.

5. Are all calico cats female?

Most calico cats are females — but not all. Male calicos are rare. “The traditional characteristics for a calico cat are carried on the chromosomes that make cats female, so the majority of calico cats are female,” Dr. Gibbons says. “The possibility of a male calico exists, but they are incredibly rare, and I have yet to see one in 15 years in the veterinary field.”

Approximately one in 3,000 calico cats is male. Also, if you have a male calico, odds are that he’s sterile. Only one in 10,000 of male calico cats is fertile.

A munchkin calico cat. Photography by Linn Currie / Shutterstock.

6. What cat breeds can be calicos?

According to Dr. Gibbons the following breeds may have calico colorations:

Domestic Shorthair

Domestic Longhair

American Shorthair

Maine Coon

Persian

Exotic Shorthair

British Shorthair

American Curl

Japanese Bobtail

Norwegian Forest Cat

Turkish Van

Turkish Angora

Munchkin

Maneki Neko, aka Lucky Cats or Fortune Cats, are often calico cats. Photography by Danny Smythe / Shutterstock.

7. Are calico cats good luck?

Yes! The aforementioned male calicos are considered especially lucky since they’re so rare.

The Japanese lucky cat, maneki neko, is often calico. Japanese sailors used to travel with calico cats on their oceanic expeditions. Calicos were said to protect the sailors from storms and any angry spirits on board!

Calico cats are also the official state cat of Maryland, due to a similarity in coloring with the state’s bird, the Baltimore oriole, and the state’s insect, the Baltimore checkerspot butterfly.

And, according to Irish folklore, calico cats will cure your warts. Simply rub a calico cat’s tail on your warts in the month of May!

Merritt does not love when we pay attention to other living souls or objects other than her. She prefers to be the center of attention — always. This is her as a tiny kitten, so she’s always been this way! Photography by Cait Rohan Kelly.

8. Why do calico cats get a bad rap for their attitudes?

As the proud mama to a calico cat, Merritt, I am very familiar with the calico attitude that these cats are said to possess in spades (there’s a reason her nickname is Mimi —the same nickname for known diva Mariah Carey). Like the infamous “I don’t know her” feud between Ms. Carey and a certain Jennifer Lopez, my Mimi would prefer not to acknowledge her competitors (in a cat’s case, other cats). This isn’t usually a problem since my other cat Gabby is large, lazy and likes attention selectively. But when we’re petting, kissing or snuggling with Gabby? How dare we! Mimi will meow away, wedge herself into the cuddle or come up and play-smack Gabby.

Merritt also likes to make packing impossible. And check out the tabby markings on her head — I think she’s a calibby! Photography by Cait Rohan Kelly.

Yes, my calico loves to be kissed, cuddled, held, paid attention to and — when the mood suits her — even carried around the house like some sort of ancient queen even though she is not a kitten anymore. Mimi is also very talkative and loves to trill away, another attention-grabbing behavior. She is a total diva.

But is this behavior backed by scientific fact? “Calico cats have a reputation for being fiercely independent, and sometimes feisty,” Dr. Gibbons says. “This is not always the case but many live up to their reputation. A recent study by the Journal of Applied Animal Welfare Science says that many owners report more aggression toward owners, when being handled and at veterinary visits in calicos, torbies and tortoiseshells. However, according to the author, analysis ‘of aggression due to handling, as well as aggression displayed during veterinarian visits, showed little difference among coat colors in these settings.’”

So … the answer is still sort of. But I’ve never met a calico who wasn’t sassy. (Let us know in the comments if you have!)

Tell us about your calico cats!

Do you have calico cats? And do your calico cats have a real cattitude? Has anyone ever come across a male calico cat?

This piece was originally published in 2018.

Read more about cat colors on Catster.com:

5 Intriguing Points About Seal Point Cats

The Orange Tabby Cat — 8 Fun Facts

What Exactly Is a Mackerel Tabby Cat?

from Catster https://www.catster.com/lifestyle/questions-about-calico-cats-answered via IFTTT

#Catster

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riffrelevant · 7 years ago

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(By Brendan Burns of Wasted Theory, Guest Columnist, RiffRelevant.com)

For as long as I can remember, it’s always been about the guitar player or the lead singer. That lethal concoction of singers and axe-swingers like Page and Plant. Mick and Keith, Tyler and Perry, Daltry and Townsend, the list goes on and on…

But what about the drummer? You know, that blurry guy that you sorta see in the photos behind the singer or bass player… yea, that guy. Well, as a longtime drummer, I decided I wanted to start shedding some more light on some of the drummers in the “Stoner Rock Realm” that I look up to, or just flat-out love watching perform.

My name is Brendan Burns, and for those of you that I have not met yet, I am the drummer of the stoner rock band Wasted Theory, and I would like to present to you my segment here on Riff Relevant…

“FOUR ON THE FLOOR – THE DRUMMER’S SPOTLIGHT” #4: JON BARRYSMITH

Jon Barrysmith is quite the force to be reckoned with.

In the two short years since the inception of Year of the Cobra, the two-piece Seattle band have covered a substantial amount of ground. Several US tours and even a visit overseas.

Jon exemplifies what I absolutely love about the drums… sometimes you literally just need to beat the shit out of them. Anyone that knows me, knows that I have a sweet spot for hard-hitting drummers.

Sometimes it’s not about the technicality or the finesse of how a drummer plays, but just the sheer force of the playing itself. I had the opportunity to sit down with Jon and pick his brain on Year of the Cobra stuff, as well as talking some shop with him about gear.

Here is installment number four of my Riff Relevant “Four on the Floor” Drummer Spotlight, with Jon Barrysmith of Year of the Cobra! —Brendan

BRENDAN: First things first, please give us a quick rundown of your current live gear set-up.

JON: My live gear set-up has been very consistent for quite a few years now:

Pork Pie Percussion: 24” kick drum 13” rack tom 16” floor

7”x14” Yamaha brass snare (main) 6.5”x15 Pearl Steve Ferrone brass snare (back-up)

Zildjian cymbals: 15” A Custom Mastersound hi-hats 20” A Custom Medium ride (as a crash) 21” Sweet Ride (as a crash) 23” Sweet Ride (as a ride/crash)

Drum heads: Aquarian Hi-Energy for my snares Aquarian Super-Kick II for my kick drum Evans G2 batter heads for toms.

BRENDAN: When was the exact the moment you realized you wanted to play the drums? Who was your primary influence at that moment? What life lessons did you take away from those influences?

JON: I grew up in Santa Cruz, CA, which was this crazy hybrid of a surfer, skater, punk rock, hippie, college town. I obviously gravitated and latched onto the surf / skate / punk rock side of things when I was super young.

There was this incredible punk rock / hardcore scene we all immersed ourselves into. I vividly remember the first punk rock show I went to, I stood there, wide-eyed, and said “That’s what I want to fucking do!” It was all local musicians and drummers that were my early influences – people I got to meet, become friends with and eventually play shows with.

Main life lessons I learned from that time was the punk rock ethos. Which is still a huge part of me and YOTC – Do it yourself, pave your own path, and bring other people you love and respect with you.

BRENDAN: Which Year of the Cobra songs best exemplifies you as a drummer?

JON: Man… I guess I would say “Persephone” from “…In the Shadows Below” or “Cold” off our brand new EP, “Burn Your Dead”. ‘Persephone‘ has that punk rock / metal growl that’s just embedded in me and the “Cold” song has this cool vibe and a lot of dynamics I’m really proud of.

BRENDAN: Is there specific gear you prefer to use in the studio that would be different from your live set up?

JON: Not really. My live gear is also my studio gear. I have a few different snare drums, but we always end up using the snare I use on a daily basis as the main snare for recording.

BRENDAN: Any type of pre-show warm up rituals?

JON: My practice pad, usually a cold beer, and tape for my fingers – constantly busting my hands up! I always like finding a quiet place about hour before a show to do this.

BRENDAN: Do you find that being in a two-piece band makes it more challenging to musically fill out the songs percussively? Or just the opposite, does it allow you more creative freedom?

JON: I’d say both. Amy and I have the same vision when writing songs and we let that dictate what needs to happen – there’s parts that need to be filled up, and then there’s parts where we feel it needs to be simple and laid back.

That being said, I do think about things a lot differently in this band, since there’s a lot of space to fill. It does get tricky at times to balance how that gets filled – do I use pure volume and power, or do I get more technical to fill it out? That’s the fun part… messing around with both. Then we’ll usually demo some ideas and choose what feels right.

BRENDAN: How do you keep things interesting every night while playing the same set night after night on tour?

JON: Depends on where we are, haha! Touring Europe is rad because typically, you have longer sets, so you can really mix it up every night and take people on a journey. The U.S is different, because you usually have 30-45 minutes most nights on tour. When that’s the case, you focus in on trying to perfect that set, and maybe throw in a new song here or there to change it up and to keep you on your toes.

BRENDAN: What do you think gives your playing its signature sound?

JON: I’m not reinventing the wheel by any means, but I think I play drums from a songwriter’s approach – know when to push, know when to pull, know when to be flashy, know when to lay it back.

I also think I play with a lot of power – you feel it in your chest. One of my favorite compliments was from Matt (drummer for Elder) at Psycho Las Vegas, he said that “every one of my fills sounded like cannons going off”. I thought that was pretty rad…

(Editor’s Note: The photos/gallery included this article were all taken during that same Year Of The Cobra live set at Psycho Las Vegas in August 2017.)

BRENDAN: Any brand loyalty? Are you partial to one drum company over another? Any current sponsorships or your own signature gear?

JON: I feel very honored to be endorsed by Pork Pie Percussion. They make the best sounding drums I have ever played and they have been so supportive.

Other than that, I religiously play Vic Firth Metal Wood Tip Sticks, Zildjian Cymbals, Aquarian and Evans drum heads (specifics listed above).

BRENDAN: What’s the most important piece of equipment currently in your live set up?

JON: The snare drum, for me, is always the cornerstone of a drummer’s sound. That, and big cymbals. 🙂

BRENDAN: What’s that one song that you just refuse to take out of your live set?

JON: That evolves as we write and put out records, but “White Wizard” has definitely been a staple since our first show in 2015. It was actually the first song we ever wrote together – I came up with the main riff for the song, showed it to Amy, and we bashed it out in like an hour. That’s when we knew the band was born.

BRENDAN: What do you basically love about the drums? Is it just the simplicity of the sound, or do you find that it’s more than just a percussive instrument for you? Is it the only instrument you play?

JON: Playing drums keeps me sane. I love the power you can create playing drums, I love the feel it invokes and how the drums can really dictate where the songs goes and how it feels.

It’s a very therapeutic instrument – it’s a great stress reliever and an awesome work out… when played appropriately. 🙂

I also play guitar and write lyrics – riffs and lyrics have been used in every Year Of The Cobra release.

BRENDAN: What do you enjoy doing outside of music, that you feel ultimately contributes to your musicality? For example, a hobby that you turn to in order to stimulate your creativity.

JON: Snowboarding, hiking in the woods, and hanging with my family – they motivate me to work as hard as I can on anything I do.

BRENDAN: Are there any newly emerging artists that are currently influencing you?

JON: We tour quite a bit, so we are always motivated by killer bands we see and/or play with. Do they influence our sound? Not really. They definitely make us want to work harder and be a better band… so I guess that can be considered being an influence.

BRENDAN: If you could give one piece of advice to an up and coming drummer what would it be?

JON: Play everyday and be nice. No one likes an asshole.

Oh, and never break down or assemble your drum kit on stage… EVER.

BRENDAN: What’s the most fun you’ve had out on the road with YOTC?

JON: Oh man. Every tour has been a blast. Our first European tour early this year was probably a highlight, for sure. The shows blew us away and all the promoters and people who came out were so awesome and treated us so well.

We also drove the van ourselves, just Amy and I, so that was pretty crazy and super rad at the same time. It was a great way to experience Europe.

BRENDAN: In your opinion, what band created the blueprint for the sound YOTC most closely models its sound after?

JON: Black Flag, Black Sabbath

BRENDAN: Is “Burn Your Dead” the best YOTC record, in your opinion? Do you notice any major transitions in your sound, or does it simply just compliment your existing catalog?

JON: It’s our best “to date” for sure, and we are really proud of it. Since it was an EP, we definitely took few more chances and tried to expand a bit and I think we opened a few more doors for the next full length, in terms of direction. We’ll always be heavy, but it’s fun to mix things up.

BRENDAN: I’m sure there are tons of others like myself who are very curious to know, what’s it like writing, recording, and performing music in a band with your spouse? (Bassist/vocalist – Amy Tung Barrysmith)

JON: Honestly, it’s the best. This has been the easiest band I ever have been in, and by far the most fun… and I have been in a lot of bands in the past. We are able to write music together at home, show each other lyrics and talk about touring plans – all in real time, we don’t have to send emails or make phone calls. Decisions get made very quickly in the YOTC camp. And she’s a fucking badass 🙂

That being said, early on, we had to learn how to be productive at band practice – if one of us had a bad day at work or whatever, we’d drag that into our practice space and it would cast a dark cloud. Naturally, you’d want to talk about it, or not check it at the door since it’s your spouse. That never happens when you’re in bands with you friends – it’s an escape and instantly fun. Once we applied the rule of checking the outside world at the door, like every other band, we were off and running.

BRENDAN: Anything on the horizon for the band that you can tell us?

JON: We have two songs on Magnetic Eye’s Pink Floyd Redux of “The Wall” coming out early next year – Melvins, ASG, Mark Lanegan, Pallbearer, Mos Generator, plus many other rad bands have also contributed a song.

We’ll hit the road again in February / March for an extended West Coast and Southwest tour, and then we are going back to Europe in May / June for some festivals that will be announced soon. We also have some exciting stuff lining up for later in 2018, that we’ll announce when we can.

BRENDAN: One last question… Bonham or Moon?

JON: John Fucking Bonham.

Thanks a bunch, Brendan!

YEAR OF THE COBRA at Psycho Las Vegas 2017 –

Photos by Leanne Ridgeway (click any photo to open gallery)

Here’s Year Of The Cobra’s official video for ‘Burn Your Dead’:

Stay sharp… more Drummers are throwing Four On The Floor with Brendan soon…

Want to learn more about Brendan Burns and Wasted Theory? Check our previous Riff Relevant articles about them to read up!

Brendan Burns of Wasted Theory

FOUR ON THE FLOOR #4: JON BARRYSMITH of YEAR OF THE COBRA – Brendan Burns’ Drummer Spotlight; Live Photos From Psycho Las Vegas (By Brendan Burns of Wasted Theory, Guest Columnist, RiffRelevant.com) For as long as I can remember, it’s always been about the guitar player or the lead singer.

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