#sweet pecan summer

[shellshocklove]

brat three: i don't wanna feel feelings | joel miller

pairing/AU: joel miller x brat!female!reader – no outbreak

summary: joel’s brat summer is coming to an end.

warnings: this is an 18+ fic so mdni! age gap, enemies to lovers vibes? swearing, drinking of alcohol, smoking, reader wears a dress, heels and makeup but otherwise no other descriptions, use of pet names, some angst, smut, brat tamer!joel, dom!joel, some daddy!joel, manhandling, some light bondage, degradation (whore, slut), oral sex (f+m receiving), multiple orgasms, creampie, unprotected sex (don’t do it!!), no use of y/n

a/n: ok so here's part three to brat! there's one more part planned, and then that's it! <3 big thank you to @dustydaddyyy for reading through this, i love you!! <333 happy reading! 💚

main masterlist / series masterlist / ao3

from the river to the sea, palestine will be free 🇵🇸 this account stands with palestine. the creator of tlou is a zionist, and the second game is largly based on israel/palestine. please, everyone who interacts, educate yourself about the genocide happening right now, and support/donate.

The gravel moaned under your heels as you carefully left your uber at the foot of the driveway. The air smelled of summer; flower-y notes with a hint of anticipation. Cars lined the driveway, tightly parked with the wheels almost hanging in the air over the ditch. The sky turned purple then pink as the sun started to dip beneath the horizon, the small beams of light coming through the doors of the big barn beamed brighter and brighter the closer you got.

This wasn’t the first time you’d crashed a party, but it was your first wedding. You’d looked up the place online, Pecan Grove Ranch. It was nice, but pedestrian, not filled with the extravagance a party of this size would rank up in your father’s circles – the ones you’d been dragged too ever since you were old enough to put on a charming smile. This felt real, no fake happy smiles and secret codes, just people gathering to celebrate love.

Love.

It had always been a thing that happened to other people. To your friends, to the protagonist in a movie, to the person on the other side of your kiss. They always thought they were in love with you, but love always felt like a joke everyone was in on except for you, a story told to sell movie tickets or for a song to hit number one.

Sex was different, sex you understood. It was like acting, and you had no problem slipping into the role. It was fun, it was a release, it was a fleeting connection you couldn’t help but chase.

One you were chasing right now.

Maybe Joel was right, maybe you are desperate, but it was his fault for leaving you like that, right on edge but without the release. Honestly, it was his fault you were here, you thought as you stood outside the open barn doors.

Off to the side a few of the guests had gathered around a picnic table. Billowing white smoke clouded them as you watched their animated conversation between drags of their cigarettes and sips of their drinks. A small boy ran past you, almost crashing into you as a little girl chased after him with a giggling laugh. They chased each other on the grass, as they ran between the large trees where a million lighting bugs danced between them.

The air felt light like cotton candy, a sweetness of celebrated love coated the faces that emerged as you stepped inside. The picking guitar intro of TLC’s ‘No Scrubs’ met you at the door, followed by a large cheer, bordering on collective scream, coming from the people on the dance floor. Walking slowly, you followed the back wall of the barn. A light breeze came through the open doors and windows, and tugged at your dress as you closed in on the bar. 

Open bar… Nice, Tommy. 

Most of the guest had their assigned seats at the round tables pressed up against the wooden walls of the barn. They must’ve been moved to make room for the dancefloor, you thought as you leaned up against the side of the bar. It was rustic, made entirely of untreated wood and decorated with large white bows. The bartender was around your age, handsome, and painfully bored it seemed by the way he lit up when you approached.

“What can I getcha?” he asked, a charming lilt to his voice.

“Um…” your teeth caught on your bottom lip, as you scanned the drinks menu. They all had quirky names, most likely inside jokes or references to the wedding couple that mostly went over your head.

“One ‘Contractor Juice’, please?” you ordered, holding back from cringing at the name. At least you got this reference, and the promise of mint and citrus mixed with alcohol had never failed you before.

“Sure thing, doll,” the bartender smiled, a little too sweet for your liking, or maybe you’d developed a preference for grumpy frowns.

“So… bride or groom?” he asked, making conversation as he worked.

“Um… groom,” you told him, leaning your back against the bar as your eyes rolled over the tables, searching.

“Ain’t seen you up here yet,” he said, a question unsaid hanging in the air as he handed you your drink.

Turning around, you thanked him and slipped a five-dollar bill in the tip jar. “There,” you said, “Now you can turn off the charm.”

You watched how he tried to hide his smile, as he held up his hands in a surrender, “Who’s to say I can turn it off?”

He smiled when you rolled your eyes at him. It was cute, two dimples separated by perfect white teeth. At the start of the summer, you might’ve let him fuck you at the end of the night, but the summer was coming to a close, and you had your eyes set on someone else.

He had his back turned, but you knew it was him, you’d recognize those broad shoulders anywhere. Something bubbled under your skin then, and your hands felt clammy around your glass – you were nervous, there was a whole room between you, but he still managed to make you nervous.

Maybe this was a bad idea?

He sat with his body turned, his hand around a beer bottle, as he watched the dancefloor move. Your eyes followed his and found Tommy where he danced, his hand clasping a woman’s, a woman you’d only seen in photos.

Joel’s daughter.

She was beautiful. Clad in a dark lavender satin dress, matching the other bridesmaids. Her dark hair was slicked back and gathered at the nape of her neck, held together by a matching satin bow, perfect curls spilled across her back. Her smile was even prettier as she laughed and sang with her uncle, swinging to ‘Build Me up Buttercup’. It was the same smile you could see across Joel’s face as he watched them. 

The drink burned slightly from the acidity at the back of your throat, and you were grateful that he’d been heavy on the liquor. You needed to catch up, let the alcohol loosen you up, pull away your unexpected nerves. 

“Who’s that?” you heard behind you. A warmth coated your neck and cheeks at being caught staring, and the embarrassment mixed with anger.

“I don’t think that’s any of your fucking business,” you scoffed. 

The bartender huffed out a dry laugh, “Jesus, it’s wedding small talk, no need to bite my head off.”

“Well, I’d prefer it if you didn’t talk,” you told him, sending him an annoyed look over your shoulder.

When you turned back around, Joel’s seat was empty, the beer bottle he’d nursed left behind on the table, the only sign he’d ever been seated there in the first place. Your tongue found the straw of your drink, twirling it around while you sipped, eyes scanning the dancefloor.

Nothing.

Did he slip out? Out to catch some fresh air or go to the bathroom? Maybe you could find the restroom, hover outside the door and ‘accidently’ bump into him?

No.

You cringed. Did you even hear yourself? As you took another sip, trying and failing to come up with a plan, a familiar gruff voice heaved a heavy sigh behind you.

“You got to be fuckin’ kiddin’ me.” 

He didn’t look angry, but the way his hand rubbed over his face was worse, he was disappointed to see you. 

“What the fuck you doin’ here?”

“Celebrating Tommy, and–” you squinted your eyes, looking at the name scrawled elegantly next to Tommy’s on the bar menu, “–Maria... aren’t you?” 

You gave Joel an easy smile, and stepped closer, crossing one foot nonchalantly over the other. There was no way in hell you’d give him the satisfaction of seeing you even a bit phased he’d caught you crashing his brother’s wedding. 

A huff escaped Joel at your lie before the corners of his mouth pulled ever so slightly in a dry, sarcastic smile. 

“That’s cute,” he told you, his voice devoid of any humor in it, tone entirely disbelieving. 

“I’ve been known to be described as such,” you grinned. 

Joel didn’t seem to like your joke, his face not moving an inch. “You know this is way out of line, right?” 

“What?” you snorted, taking a sip of your drink as your eyes fanned out over the room for a second, before landing back on Joel, “Aren’t you happy to see me?” 

Joel let out an almost incredulous scoff, shaking his head as his eyes quickly scanned across the room, going to Tommy still on the dancefloor with Sarah. Something seemed to flash over his eyes, or maybe it was the lights but he leaned forward then, fingers wrapping around your forearm in a firm grip. 

“Way to make it obvious,” you said under your breath as he pulled you a bit. Not letting him have it, you planted your feet, “What the hell are you doing?” 

“Don’t be a fuckin’ brat,” he told you, his voice filled with annoyance. 

Something ignited in you then, and you knew you had him right where you wanted him. Unable to contain your smile as the words crossed his lips, you felt them settle in your core, drip down your thighs like sticky honey. 

“You’d know just what do about that, wouldn’t you?” you challenged, your eyes burning into his, and for a second, you had his attention. He held your gaze, and his eyes flickered with the same intensity you felt.

A beat passed between you, and you watched as his jaw tightened, waiting for the bomb to tick down to zero. 

Then it popped.

The guests cheered as a song faded into another, and Joel took a step closer to you. His hand released your forearm to slip around your waist as his eyes never left yours. 

“Come,” he spoke through his teeth, his voice low and quiet.

The feel of his hand so close to your skin sent your brain into a temporary reboot. You’d craved it all week, missed him so close to you, missed his scent on your skin, and you let yourself be steered away. 

Quickly, Joel led you out the barn doors, his hand firmly pressed against your lower back as he looked over his shoulder. The music faded as he guided you towards a handful of small, scattered cabins hidden away behind a grove of trees. The trail snaked its way from tree to tree, your heels digging into the gravel making it hard to keep up with Joel’s pace. He walked with haste, passing cabin after cabin until the hand on your lower back looped around your waist, turning you around to face him as he came to a stop outside the last cabin.

His eyes drilled into your own, giving you a wild look, “I want you to leave,” he said, voice stern.

Leaning into his touch, you tilted your head to the side and let your eyes roll over him. He’d combed his hair back, wavy curls held back by gel. You raised your hand to cup his cheek, letting your thumb run through his trimmed scruff, hints of salt and pepper shone under the rising moonlight. The full of his lips was pressed together in a tight line, your eyes trailing your thumb as you let it gently run over his lips. Something softened in him under your touch, his eyes brown and deep as they watched you, it made your heart pick up its beat, hammering out of your chest.

Leaning closer, your eyes flickered to his lips again, and you thought about how you didn’t know what he tasted like, didn’t know how his lips felt against your own. You were so close now; his breath came out in small puffs against your face. Slowly you tilted your head, your nose accidentally brushing up against the crook of his own.

“You owe me a fucking orgasm,” you whispered.

His hand around your waist tightened, and with a small huff he tilted his head back.

“I owe you nothin’, princess.”

God, he could be stubborn sometimes. 

It might’ve annoyed you if it didn’t turn you on as much as it did. You loved how he made you work for it, and he was worth doing the work. Something deep down inside you knew it. Joel was a good man. If you weren’t careful he’d remove the walls built up by that lonely girl you’d kept hidden inside; one emotional stone at a time. Maybe it was ironic? The man who’d devoted his life to building walls, now breaking them down?

“Why do you deny yourself something you want?”

“You...” Joel swallowed hard, dark eyes watching your face with an unreadable expression, “You're a piece of work, you know that?”

The words stung more than you’d like to admit, and when Joel’s hand slipped from your body as he stepped away, a wave of anxiety washed over you. 

Had you gone too far? 

Joel didn’t look happy, and a small knot started to tie itself in your stomach under his gaze. You watched as he unbuttoned the top button of his tuxedo jacket, making it fall open and showing you his perfectly pressed shirt underneath. His right hand dug into his inner pocket, fishing out a white key card.

His steps were heavy up the front stairs to the cabin, almost dragging, like he moved through molasses. The lock clicked as he held the key card against it, a green light blinking before he opened the door. 

Dumbfounded, you stood at the foot of the front steps. You’d riled him up, played your little game and he’d gone along with it like always. 

Was this how it was gonna end?

He stood in the opening, hand on the handle with one foot on either side –  halfway in, but also halfway out. He didn’t move, his head tipped forward, weighing his options. Then he sighed and pushed the door open, and stepped inside the darkness.

“C‘mon, get in before anyone sees you.” 

The cabin was quaint, but cozy, with only the necessities. It was more like a hut, not bigger than a hotel room. A narrow hallway opened up to the bedroom, with a door to the right leading to a bathroom. Joel had placed his overnight bag on the chair in the corner, a worn leather duffle bag with a dark t-shirt and pair of jeans thrown over it, clearly thrown in a hurry to get ready. White lace curtains hung over the windows, bright against the dark wood of the paneled walls. 

The clinking of Joel’s belt pulled you from the silence, your head twitched like a reflex turning towards him. He’d shed his tuxedo jacket, his broad shoulders fighting against his pristine white shirt. He walked towards you slowly as he removed his cufflinks; the warmth in his eyes had turned darker. Taking a step backwards the back of your thighs pressed into the chair, almost tipping you over, but he caught you, one arm tight around your wrist while the other threw the cufflinks on the pile of clothes behind you.

“You say ‘red’ ‘nd we stop,” he told you, eyes holding your gaze so intently you didn’t dare look away. An inaudible breath pressed past your lips when his other hand cupped your cheek, the touch reminding you to nod your head.

“Or I pinch you,” you said.

A pleased smile spread across his face, “Good.” He punctuated his approval with a light pat to your cheek. 

Stepping away, he nodded towards the bed, an unspoken order, while his hands found his tie around his neck where he tugged at the knot. You sat at the foot of the bed, knees pressed together, waiting for him to make the first move. The white sheets smelled strongly of detergent, nothing like the faded hints of his cologne mixed with sawdust you’d smelled on his own sheets that first night he’d fucked you. 

The tie slipped from his neck and you fell back on your arms, feigning boredom while you let out an audible sigh. It made him laugh.

“What’s so funny?” you queried, your brows pulled together in a frown. 

A smile leftover from his chuckle coated his lips as he stepped closer, your legs spreading for him to slot between as he threw the tie on the bed beside you.

“Nothin’.” 

Over you, he gently rolled up his sleeves with practiced hands before he wrapped a hand tightly around your upper arm. Then he tugged. 

“Hey!” you said, fighting against his grip as he manhandled you. He turned you roughly, his other hand fingering the zipper of your dress, while the other held you in place. “Be careful with the dress,” you whined.

“Stop actin’ like a fuckin’ child,” he muttered, helping you out of your dress.

“A child? Well… that doesn’t bode well for you with what you’re about to do.”

That stopped him in his tracks, eyes burning as he let go of you. “Jesus Christ,” he hissed, throwing your dress over his pile of clothes, “you’re fuckin’ unbelievable.”

Freed from his grip, a smirk pulled at your lips as you shuffled up the bed. Leaning back on your elbows, you seductively parted your legs for him, showing him the darkened patch of fabric scarcely covering your cunt.

“You keep saying that,” you smiled, saccharine and sticky like syrup. 

“I’ll stop when you finally start behavin’.” Joel’s hand wrapped around your ankle, tugging you towards him with a hard jerk, making a giggly squeal escape you. 

“Never– HEY!”

A ripping sound tore through the room, your skimpy panties tattered in his large hands. A smirk spread over his face. The motherfucker looked mighty pleased with himself.

“Surprised you’re even wearin’ these,” he said, thumbing at the wet patch of arousal, before he tossed them to the floor. “A slut like you should’ve gone without, shouldn't you?” 

The warmth of his touch over your knees had you twitching for him, goosebumps following his hands as they rubbed gently up and down your legs. His eyes never left your face though, watching every reaction you gave up. 

“I…” your rebuttal trailed off when he fell to his knees, slotting between your own and spreading you open for him, one hand glided down the outside of your thigh to your ass, while the other found your aching clit.

Then he spat. A thick blob of saliva ran from the top of your mound down your clit, where it combined with your arousal shining through your glistening folds.

“Joel!?” you gasped when the rough pad made contact, pressing down with just the right amount of pressure, spreading his spit around in small circles. 

You kinda hated this part; getting eaten out. No partner had gotten it right before. Not that it wasn’t enjoyable, it could be, but never seeing stars good… And you couldn’t help but think about that first time someone had gone down on you, about the boytoy you’d had wrapped around your finger freshman year. He’d given you an orgasm maybe 60% of the time he’d fucked you (which was a better successrate than your later hook-ups), but his comment as he’d gotten on his knees for you for the first time still rang loudly in your head.

It’s not supposed to look like that, is it? 

The small laugh he’d let out had only made it worse, and you’d dumped him less than twenty-four hours later. Now, you hated having a man this close to your pussy.

Your hand found Joel’s shoulder, where it pushed. “I don’t…” you interrupted yourself with a hand over your face, not wanting to look at him.

“What, baby?” 

Suddenly he was there, hovering above you, caging you in with his body, heavy hand pushing at your own over your face. 

“Ain’t in the mood for the orgasm I owe ya, is that it?” he smirked, and you stayed obstinately silent for a second.

“What is it, hm?” he asks you, “Not gonna let me taste that pretty pussy?” 

Pretty…

“Joel…” 

Your eyes searched his face, looking to find where he’d hidden his lie. His face grew sterner, eyebrows pulling together in a furrow. 

“Tell me.”

Your front tooth caught on your lip and a heat prickled up your neck. You couldn’t tell him, you just couldn’t. Joel’s palm found your cheek, heavy and safe against your skin, letting his thumb sooth you and your eyelids fluttered from his touch. A breath got caught in your throat when he leaned forward, placing a soft kiss to the column of your neck, your pulse vibrating under his lips.

“Do I have to wring it outta you?” he whispered against your skin, his hand gliding from your cheek to fit around your neck. The air between you changed and you forced yourself to snap back into your disguise. 

“I’d like to see you try.”

A deep rumbling laugh vibrated against your skin and Joel found your eyes again. His hand around your neck soothed over your skin and you found yourself pushing up into his hand, daring him to tighten his grip.

“There she is… my brat,” he smiled.

Mine.

He was gone before the possessive word could settle, hovering over your body as he rid himself of his shirt. You couldn’t help but drink him in, he was so handsome, broad and strong with speckled grey hairs trailing to the heavy bulge hidden away behind the soft fabric of his dress pants. His undone belt clicked as he moved closer, climbing onto the bed between your legs.

“Scoot up,” Joel ordered with a tap to the outer skin of your thigh. 

The huff you let out was exasperated, earning you a stern look as his large palms found the cheeks of your ass, patting your skin lightly, before he helped you move. The way he fluffed the pillows behind your back was almost tender, and your eyebrows pulled together in the slightest frown. 

“Is your definition of ‘wringin’ it outta me’–” you mocked his drawl, “–fucking like a boring old married couple in missionary? Is that what you used to do with your wife?”

The way Joel’s eyes hardened made a smile break over your face. Quickly, you regretted the smile when his hand clasped around your wrist, bending it backwards towards the bed post.

“Hey! What are you doing?” you demanded, playfully fighting against his grip, but Joel was too strong.

“Behave.”

“But I hate that,” you exclaimed with a sigh, pushing your head back into the pillow.

His silk tie tickled against the thin skin under your wrist, and you had to turn your head to watch him as he tied your hand to the bed. The way he did it exuded no nonsense; his eyebrows were tied together in concentration as practiced fingers danced over the knots, testing them with a light tug.

“I’m givin’ you what you ain’t closed to earned– so you oughta be grateful, princess, ‘nd thank me,” he told you as he moved on to your other hand.

Joel raised an eyebrow at you when he grabbed a hold of it, daring you to put up a fight again. 

“Thank you, Daddy.” 

The way you said it was sugary sweet, and you knew he didn’t believe a word you said, but a pleased smile settled over his lips either way. Then his fingers found his belt, tugging it from his waist all in one go, his muscles moved under his skin from the strain. The leather felt harsher around your skin than his tie, but Joel made sure to not tie it to tightly. When he was pleased with you, he found his spot between your legs again. 

His rough hands teased over your naked skin, eyes fixed on the way it gave way for him when he squeezed ever so slightly. You couldn’t help but watch him – there was nothing you could do now, your hands literally tied. 

“I oughta tie these too I reckon,” he mused, pushing your legs wider, “but I’m outta rope,” he chuckled, way too pleased with his own joke.

“Ha-ha-ha,” you said, voice dry with an unimpressed look on your face. 

Lowering himself, he placed playful lovebites to the soft skin of the inside of your thigh. The lower he got, the closer he got, you felt yourself brace for impact as your eyes found the ceiling. 

You felt his hot breath first, gentle huffs against your spit-soaked clit. How soft his kiss was, you didn’t expect– didn’t expect the fluttering touch of his lips down your pussy, so gentle against the core of you. A stuttering breath caught in your throat, and quickly you melted against the pillows. 

“Hey,” Joel caught your attention. He had that look in his eyes, something dark and filled with lust as he let the scratch of his rough beard rub against the thin skin of your inner thigh. “Look at me, only me, you hear?” 

He underlined his order with a soothing kiss to the sensitive skin, pulling a nod from you. Pleased, his lips skated downwards, teeth nipping playfully at the skin, leaving small bursts of electricity in the wake of his touch. 

“Such a pretty pussy, baby– all wet ‘nd messy f’me.” Joel spoke with a deep bass, as two fingers found your seam, swiping them through your folds. “Listen,” he told you, as the slick sound of your arousal filled the cabin. 

The beat in your chest seemed louder and louder in your ears the more he taunted you. You didn’t want to do this with Joel – fake it – feel that stone of disappointment sink into the depths of yourself as the orgasm you so desperately wanted fizzled away into nothing. Couldn’t he just rub your clit a little? Finger you instead? 

With his fingers Joel spread you apart and a heat travelled up your neck. You felt so exposed, and you had to fight not to look away from him when he leaned forward with the flat of his tongue, tasting you. A breath caught in your throat like a reflex, and a low hum rumbled out of Joel’s chest, almost in… contentment. Your eyebrows met in a furrow then.

He couldn’t seriously like this? 

He continued to lap at your folds, taking his time, and it felt… good, really good. When he licked a stripe from your hole to your clit, you couldn’t fight back your moan. 

“C’mon, let me hear you, princess,” he said, his tone of voice way too cocky.

He latched on to your clit, sucking and flicking his tongue in a way no man had ever done before. It was intense, sloppy, almost primal. Small, breathy sighs built in your chest, and you wished you could touch him, hold on to him.

Joel licked down through your folds again; his tongue teasing at your hole. “Is–” you cut yourself off with a surprised gasp, reeling from the way his tongue pushed into you. “Is t-this what you call e-eating pussy?” you tried again to taunt, far from convincing. 

Joel didn’t bother with a reply. Instead, he switched his tongue with his fingers. The wet mix of your arousal and saliva made the slide easy. A breathy whimper escaped your lips when he curled them, hitting the spongy spot inside you and hurling you quickly towards your release.

“Fuck,” you sighed, bucking your hips against his lips closing around your clit again.

You couldn’t stay still, your hips moving erratically to meet the swipes and zigzags of his tongue. Never had it felt like this, this good, this perfect. His fingers moved easily in and out, in and out, with a slick squelch. Squeezing your eyes shut, Joel coaxed you closer and closer to your orgasm. The pads of his fingers hit you just right, massaging with every thrust. An increasing pressure swiweled in your stomach around the laps of his tongue around your clit. Your back moved on it’s own, arching off the bed as his makeshift restraints tightened with your movement. A hand found your ass then, holding you flush to his face and you felt yourself starting to wither.

“There she goes… my good girl,” he hummed against you, “Come all over my tongue, princess.”

You let the wave of pleasure wash over you with a broken scream. You didn’t have to fake a thing as your whole body shook with your orgasm. His fingers continued their pace, pushing through your spasming walls and prolonging your ecstasy. Every sigh and whimpering moan was real, and you lost yourself in the buzzing feeling of Joel taking you apart and putting you back together again. 

When the aftershocks fizzled out Joel pulled his fingers, slicked up and soaked from your cunt. A cocky grin coated his face as he brought his fingers to his mouth, licking your cum off his fingers. When your eyes found his, something in them had you slipping under, a want so strong to drown in them. 

He climbed off the bed, your blissed out gaze rolling over him as he removed his dress pants and underwear. You could feel yourself go doe eyed when he took his hard cock in hand, giving it a few practiced tugs as he studied you at his mercy, spread apart and dripping with a mix of your pearly arousal, his spit and your cum. 

He was perfect; his broad chest, tanned under the Texan sun with speckled hairs trailing down his torso where it ended in a dark wiry patch at the base of his impressive cock. Your mouth dropped open in the smallest of o’s – you wanted to taste him again, feel your spit mixed with his precum on your tongue, the thick head of his cock knock at the back of your throat. 

“Daddy…” you pleaded, putting on your best puppy dog eyes.

“What, princess?” he taunted, voice laced with fake pity as he climbed on the bed again. Letting go of his thick cock, he wrapped his hands under your armpits and hiked you upright against the pillows. Under him you couldn’t help but soften at the edges.

“What d’you want, huh? What does my slut want?” he continued, straddling your body, two strong thighs on either side of your torso. He was so close like this, veiny cock inches from your waiting mouth. Reluctantly, you tore your gaze away to find his eyes, focusing hard on finding your words as you could see him start to stroke himself again in your peripheral. The large head of his cock grazed your lips with every stroke, pearling a salty taste of precum for you to taste.

“Why do you ask, when you already know?” you said, your voice lacking your infamous bite. A smile tore at Joel’s face, and a rumbling laugh escaped him as he moved closer. 

“Maybe my cock pluggin’ up that throat will make you behave f’me?” he mused, like he was speaking his inner thoughts out loud and you weren’t even there. “At least  you’d be quiet for once.”

His other hand found your chin, then, robbing you of your answer as he squeezed at the flesh, forcing your mouth to pop open. “Kiss it for Daddy, princess,” he ordered, slapping his cock on your waiting tongue. 

When he let go of your face, you wrapped your plush lips around his thick head, suckling wet kisses to the tip. A lewd moan escaped you at the familiar taste of him, his musk filling your nostrils. It was addicting, Joel was addicting, and you needed more.

The desperate whine you let out, earned you a reprimanding slap to your cheek. “Don’t get greedy now, ‘m gonna give ya what you want,” he told you and pulled back, while the sting prickled away. You couldn’t help the pout forming, and Joel was quick to sooth it away with his thumb tracing over your lips. 

“Listen, baby,” he found your eyes, “You kick me, alright? You kick me ‘f you wanna stop.”

“Okay,” you sighed.

“Okay, what?” he demanded with a slap of his cock against your cheek, smearing glistening precum over your skin.

“Okay, Daddy,” you smiled and dropped your mouth open so he could feed you his cock – all the way this time.

“That’s it, my good girl.”

Eagerly, your plush lips wrapped around his cock, his heavy cock plugged up your throat as he made room for himself. You didn’t gag right away like last time, you had practice now. As he pushed himself deeper, his hand braced himself against the headboard, while the other cradled your head – his rough thumb skated gently over your skin as he gently rocked his hips.

“Fuck,” he moaned above you, “That’s it, slut, let me feel your throat open f’me.”

Closing your eyes, you tried to calm yourself, holding back your gag reflex as tears started to prickle at your eyes. Even with practice, Joel wasn’t easy to take. Your lips stretched wide around the girth of him, swollen and used as spit slicked up his pubes. With each rock of his hips you felt the bulbous head knock at the back of your throat, bruising your flesh.

The sight of you must’ve been pornographic; your throat bulging with every rock of his hips as your spit dripped down your chest, pooling at his thighs stretched over your chest.

A vicious gag choked you, and Joel pulled back quickly, his cock wet with your spit bopping heavily in front of you face. You spluttered between gasps of air, spit bubbling at the corners of your mouth as tears ran in a steady stream, smudging your make-up. His hand cradling your head tightened slightly, tilting you to catch his eyes as something close to worry flashed over his face.

“Don’t close your eyes, you hear me?” his voice was strict, “‘nd I need ya to kick me!”

“Keep going!” 

Your voice was hoarse and wet, but it didn’t seem to convince Joel. His face gave nothing away, stern and hard, teeth biting down a scowl – but his hands were tender, stroking at your skin.

“Ain’t ever been with a woman who’s as much of a slut as you I reckon,” he mused, his hand leaving your face to grip himself, tapping the length of himself against your skin.

“Embarrassing way to admit you haven’t been with a lot of women, Joel,” you told him, hiding your smile behind a soft kiss to the wet head of his cock. 

“Jesus Christ.” A laugh escaped him, surprisingly light for someone out to punish you. 

Moving your head, you started to press light kisses down his shaft, waiting for Joel to take control again, to punish you – like you ‘deserved,’ but all he did was a whole lot of nothing. When your tongue finally reached the base of him, your cheek pressed into the crease between his thigh and hip as your lips brushed gently against the soft skin of his balls – so heavy and full. Wrapping his hand around himself, he stroked in languid motions, like he savored it, wanted to memorize every calculated jerk.

“‘s that what you want, huh?” he asked, voice low and dark, almost tainting, and you couldn’t hold back the mewl escaping you. “Go on then, princess, suck on my balls like a good whore.”

With his other hand he guided one of his balls to your mouth. When you wrapped your lips around him, suckling gently at the sensitive skin, a deep groan fell from Joel’s lips.

“That’s good, princess, that’s so fuckin’ good.”

Being so close, breathing in the masculine musk of him, you almost squirmed under his weight, your cunt desperate and dripping with arousal. You felt so dirty, sucking on the balls of a man more than twice your age as he had his way with you. It would never feel like this again with anyone else – you knew it, you didn’t know how, but you did. 

“C’mon, give the other one some sugar too.”

Humming out in an agreement, you let go with a pop as he guided the other ball into your waiting mouth for you to suckle around. The rhythm of his strokes picked up when you flattened your tongue, licking at the seam.

“God,” he groaned, “such a fuckin’ slut f’me– so fuckin’ desperate for my balls in your mouth–” 

Joel cut himself off with a deep groan, as he backed up, making you chase after him as he held himself at the base, squeezing. Your restraints dug into your wrists, and you whined in defeat. 

This bondage act was starting to get old.

“Gonna come already, old man?” 

Joel didn’t seem to like your attitude, his joints cracking as he climbed back onto the bed, the welcomed weight of him now gone. 

“That’s rich,” he spat, “coming from the one showin’ up here all desperate for me to fuck her.”

“Well, I’m waiting,” you told him with a roll of your eyes, voice bored. 

That seemed to finally inspire some action in him. With stern eyes, and a stern grip, Joel parted your legs to slot between. The way his hands dug into your skin hurt, angry finger-shaped welts as he manuveroured you, had you wishing for the dizzying pain of a bruise tomorrow to remind you of this, of Joel.

Your hips bucked when you felt the blunt head of his cock against your clit, making him throw a hand over your waist to keep you still. A heat coated your cheeks when you heard it, the slick sound of your wet cunt as he dragged himself up and down your folds, coating himself in your desperation. 

“Missionary?” you bit, fighting hard to hold back your moans as he teased at your dripping opening, “You’re so old fashioned.”

“I like to watch brats break when they finally get a cock in them,” he bit back, “Now beg f’mine.”

“No,” you hiccuped, with a weak shake of your head. 

Joel played dirty – his thumb came up to graze over your clit, as he continued to tease his cock at your opening, pressing in slightly and then pulling out again just as quickly. He had you squirming for him in seconds, desperate to feel him make a home for himself inside you.

“Beg, brat.”

His thumb on your clit pressed down harder in tight, practiced figure eights, and you had no choice but to break. You needed him, needed Joel inside. 

“Please,” you gasped, “Please, fuck me.”

But Joel continued circling his thumb, drawing you closer to the edge again. It got harder and harder to stay still as he pushed at your boundaries. Everything inside you screamed for him, like you were a piece of metal and he was the magnet. You couldn’t stay away, you’d always end up pressed against him. 

“Whose cunt is this?” he demanded, suddenly hovering above you, dark eyes staring into yours. A large palm held your head in place, anchoring you to him, his face, this moment.

“Yours,” you whispered, “Yours, Joel.”

His name left your lips as a sight, the syllables stolen out of the air when he pushed at your opening, heavy cock splitting you in two and seating himself in your heat. He had your legs shaking, head lulling into his palm at the pleasurable pressure poking at the depths of you, where no one but Joel could reach.

“It’s okay, baby– you come on that cock if ya need to,” he hummed, a hint of condescension in his low voice as he continued to rub your clit.

Everything was coming to a head. Pleasure beamed through your body, like a supernova, as you exploded for Joel, shaking under his body as your eyes rolled back in your head. Whimpering moans stole your breaths, and you almost didn’t register Joel’s deep voice rumbling against the collum of your throat.

“C’mon… that’s it… good girl, that’s my good girl– y’feel so good, baby.”

His warm breath felt sticky against your skin, and you found yourself hoping he’d never leave; that you could somehow tattoo how he felt against you on your skin, let him mark you as his. 

When your legs stopped shaking, Joel’s thumb stopped bullying your clit. He let you catch your breath, heaving chest slowing to steady rhythm again. His eyes found yours again, and for a moment they were almost tender, as something real started to weigh between you. You wanted to say something, anything, but Joel pulled away, hooking his arms under your knees before he finally started to pound into you, chasing his own high.

“Fuck,” you gasped, your walls already sensitive from the multiple orgasms he’d already given you. The way he split you open around the girth of him, it was always too much, you couldn’t see how you’d ever get used to the feeling of him. 

Joel's breath got heavier as he picked up his pace, balls slapping wetly against your ass, as deep groans vibrated through his chest.

“That’s it, princess, you take it,” he rambled, “Good girl– go dumb on that cock f’me.”

His hands dug into your skin, his mind so caught up in you, in the way you felt squeezing around him.

Slap, slap, slap.

He was so deep, he must’ve fucked his way into your stomach. You felt yourself go limp in his arms, letting him take what he needed, letting him use you for his own pleasure. 

“God, y’were made f’takin’ my big cock, baby.”

“Gonna fill up this pretty cunt– watch it leak outta ya.”

“Please,” you begged between harsh thrusts, your tits bouncing with every sway of his hips, “Please, come inside me, Daddy.”

With a particularly sharp thrust, his balls pulled tight against your ass, and Joel came. Deep groans of satisfaction filled your ears, the sweetest sound, as he pumped you full. He rutted into you until there was nothing left, your cunt overflowing with his sticky seed. A content sigh left your lips at the feeling, your body finally sated. 

Thoughts traveled to the next moments, how you wanted him to pull you into his chest, strong arms pulled tight around your body as you both calmed down. To be held close in his embrace, a comforting hand at the back of your neck. You wanted him to kiss you, longed to feel his lips brush over yours. You searched for Joel’s eyes, searched for a small inkling of reciprocation.

Maybe you’d say something stupid – finally let go of all the feelings you can’t control anymore.

But Joel’s eyes didn’t want to catch yours, and he pulled away too quickly, sliding his softening cock from your ruined cunt. You were gonna make a mess of his sheets, you probably already had judging from the slick feeling on the inside of your thighs as you closed them. 

Something in the air felt loaded suddenly, and you wanted to reach for him, touch his rough skin and ground yourself away from your nagging insecurities– But you couldn’t, your hands were bound. His strong back muscles moved under his skin as he fished his shirt from the floor, now crinkled, ruined. 

“Wanna go again?” you tried, pushing at his back, barely out of reach, with your foot. 

He let you push at him, but the sigh he let out as he stood to his feet to get dressed had your stomach tie itself in a knot. 

“This ain’t happenin’ again,” he sighed, getting dressed. 

“Sure,” you nodded in a scoff, unconvinced as a mischievous smile tugged at the corner of your mouth. Between your legs you felt yourself start to leak, his thick spend running down your folds to your ass, and onto the sheets.

When he finally turned around, large fingers fiddling with the small buttons of his shirt, his eyes finally caught yours. Biting down on your lip, you spread your legs coquettishly, showing him where he’d claimed you. 

His eyes, however, never wandered, the familiar warmth that you had seen barely a few minutes ago now gone, his expression stoic and unreadable. You felt the knot in your stomach from earlier tighten.

“I’m serious,” he told you, and almost on instinct you felt your legs close as he leaned over you, untying one of your hands, “You ever pull something like this again, and it’ll be the last time you ever see me.” 

You felt your face drop despite yourself as he untied the other hand, the corners of your mouth straightening out as a small frown appeared between your brows. You were silent for a moment as Joel walked to the other end of the room, plucking his jacket up off of the chair. Your eyes tracked his movements apprehensively. 

“I thought you liked it when I behaved this way,” you said eventually, and you hated the way your tone sounded. You had meant for it to be a challenge, a call-out of his hypocrisy, but instead you sounded like a child; disappointed and petulant. 

“Listen,” he started, voice calm but with a seriousness that made a nervousness tug at the back of your neck. “You’ve had your fun, and I can tolerate a lotta shit, but–... you gotta learn some fuckin’ boundaries.” Your frown only deepened at his words. 

“Comin’ here–” his voice stalled as he shook his head, shrugging on the jacket “This is my family, my brother’s wedding– my fuckin’ daughter is here… You can’t just show up in my life like some kind of trainwreck every time you need me to fuck you.” 

“How else am I supposed to do it? You don’t exactly text,” you bit back, “And don’t pretend like you don’t like it,” you fumbled for a retort. 

“That’s just a shitty excuse for unacceptable behaviour, and you know it,” Joel said, and you felt yourself get angry at how calm he was. 

It was embarrassing; your cheeks burned bright like a flame, and it fueled a deep pit of annoyance inside of you, one you didn’t even know existed as your jaw bit down in a clench. Lifting your chin in a defiant scoff, you’re not proud of the next words out of your mouth.

“You’re full of shit,” you said with a shake of your head, “You’ll barely last a week and you know it... you love it, love putting me in my place like this.”

“Sure I do,” Joel said with a nonchalant shrug, “But I sure as shit didn't sign up to deal with your antics... that’s a job for your real Daddy, sweetheart.”   

That last comment felt like a slap in the face. A job for your real Daddy. In your chest you felt something cave in, as a paralyzing shock swept over your body. You went cold, so cold as your eyes drifted past Joel, and swiveled into the wood walls. He was right, Joel was right, but you never imagined he’d slap you in the face like this with the truth. 

“So, listen up now, this is what you’re gonna do,” Joel said as he stepped towards you, looking you straight in the eye, ”You're gonna take your shit, ‘nd your shitty attitude, ‘nd you're gonna quietly slip outta here ‘nd pretend like you were never even fuckin’ here in the first place. ‘s that clear?” 

You were barely able to nod before he stepped back and turned his back on you. When his hand found the doorknob, he threw you one last look. 

“You better not be here when I get back.”

part four -> here!

hopefully this was okay? please let me know what you thought of the new part! a comment telling me your favorite part is always welcome, and my ask box is always open to chat <3 and thank you for reading!!

© shellshocklove, 2024 i do not give any permission to repost, translate, feed to AI or redistribute any of my writing, with or without credit!

[lokis-army-77]

Sweet Treat

older!Eddie Munson x fem reader

Word Count: 3.4k

It's hot out and you see your older neighbor mowing his lawn. Lucky for you he invites you inside for a sweet treat.

Warning: 18+ I will block you if you are under 18 or have no age in your blog. oral (f receiving), p in v, fingering, like the slightest amount of food play, 40s eddie, 20s reader, fem reader, just a bit of cum eating

Thank you to my beta readers @munson-blurbs, @lofaewrites, @emma-munson and @littlexdeaths

Masterlist

It was sweltering outside, like hell was no longer a fictional place made up by religion but real, and its flames had reached Hawkins. The sun beat down on you so intensely that you thought your skin was melting. 

You berate yourself for thinking that taking a walk outside in the middle of summer would be anything but awful and yet you're here.

Sweat dripped from your forehead as you finally made it back to your home, but instead of going straight inside something stopped you in your tracks.

Your neighbor, or your hot older neighbor, had started mowing. The sound of the motor roaring to life caught your attention, and the sight of the 45-year-old without his shirt on kept it. 

The sun shining onto his sweat-soaked skin made him look ethereal, like a god on earth. It made your mouth water and your nerves vibrate. 

He caught your eye a moment later and waved, you waved back and then made yourself look busy by checking your mailbox, nothing was there. You didn't want him to know you were gawking at him. 

It must not have worked because as soon as the mower had turned on, it turned off and you heard your name being called in that deep timber.

You walk down your driveway, closer to where he sat on his machine.

"Hi, Mr. Munson," you greeted with a smile.

He sighs, "Thought I told you to call me Eddie."

You respond with a giggle, "I know, I just do it to aggravate you."

"Ah, so you think you're funny?"

"Oh, I know I am."

Eddie just chuckles at that, shaking his head. 

Reaching a hand up, you wipe the sweat from your brow. 

"Sure is hot." 

"It is. You wanna come inside, I've got some cold water and a bit of butter pecan ice cream if you want any." He offers.

You wrinkle your nose, "Butter pecan? That's such an old man flavor." 

"No, it isn't." 

"Yes, it is. The only people who eat and enjoy butter pecan are over the age of 40." You enjoy the banter that usually flows between the two of you. It makes your stomach flutter and your knees weak. 

He just rolls his eyes. "Well then, Sweetheart, I think I have just a bit of chocolate in the freezer with your name on it."

You finally walk up next to him as he stands from the mower. "Don't I just feel special."

Eddie looks at you smugly. “Ladies first.” He gestures for you to walk in front of him and you oblige. 

There’s a swing to your hips that you hope catches his attention, especially with how much skin is exposed from the workout shorts you were wearing. You hear him cough, clearing his throat and you know it worked. 

“Door’s unlocked,” he calls as you bound up the stairs. 

Upon entering the house you’re hit with a blast of cold air. The AC was definitely turned down as far as it could go, it felt almost like a freezer.

Eddie enters only a moment after you, letting the door slam closed. He glides past you, a hand barely grazing our hip as he does. You follow him closely. 

It's bright enough in the kitchen that he doesn't bother flipping the light on. He heads straight for the fridge. 

Your eyes rake over him, taking in the flex of muscles as he bends to open the sliding freezer door. The way his arms bulge when he rummages through the depths had your mouth watering. 

Giving a long sigh, Eddie stands up straight and turns to you with a pint of ice cream in hand. 

“Looks like it's just old people ice cream if the princess is alright with that.”

“Oh, it's princess now?” You ask, taking a seat on the barstool next to the kitchen island. 

Eddie shrugs, “Fits better since you're apparently too good for the best ice cream known to man.”

“I am not.” 

He scrunches his face, you think it's cute. “I beg to differ.”

“I'm not, I'll eat your ice cream, no problem.”

“So you aren't going to complain that it's for old people?” He asks, settling at the counter next to you.

“Just open the carton.” You give his arm a slight shove. 

He does as you say and pushes it closer to you before offering a spoon. 

You take it and thank him before scooping a tiny bit of the sweet treat out. It's cold on your tongue and you hate to admit it but it was good. 

“S'good isn't it?”

“Eh, it's okay.” You say, not wanting to give him the satisfaction of being right. 

Taking another scoop, this time you bring the spoon slowly into your mouth, lapping up the ice cream in a more sensual manner as you make eye contact with the other man. Just barely, you can see his pupils dilate taking you in.

“You’ve got a little-” Eddie makes a vague gesture to the corner of his mouth.

Giggling a bit, you fein ignorance of the ice cream you let collect at the corner of your mouth. “Here?” you ask as you wipe at the opposite side. 

And just as you thought he would, Eddie reaches over and smoothes his thumb over your lip, collecting what was there. Your breath hitches when he brings his thumb to his mouth and licks it clean. The sight of his tongue wetting the digit and the glisten of saliva in the light had your legs clenching. 

You want him to do it again. 

So, with another bite of ice cream, you make what you’re doing more obvious, letting the spoon paint the white treat over your lips. You know what it must look like, salacious and borderline inappropriate if your mind was in the gutter, which is where you know Eddie’s is at that moment.

He takes a deep, shaky breath, “Fuck-” He’s surging toward you before you can even comprehend it. Soft, plump lips connect with yours. You freeze in shock for just a moment, then you kiss him back. 

The spoon in your hand drops to the counter, rattling loudly. You reach your arms around his neck and pull him into you. Eddie slips his tongue between your lips and lets out a groan. He tastes like butter pecan and something you can’t quite place, something you can only describe as Eddie. 

You can’t get enough and just when you start to wrestle your tongue against his, he pulls away and creates a space between the two of you. 

A hand rubs over his face and he sight. “We can’t be doing this.” His tone is reluctant.  

Furrowing your brows, you ask, “Why not?” 

Eddie looks at you and flits his eyes from your kiss-swollen lips to the dismayed expression in your eyes. “Are you serious? I’m too old for you.”

“Last I checked, 45 wasn’t that old.”

“Sweetheart, I have tattoos older than you.” He shakes his head.

“Eddie, I’m a grown adult who knows what she wants and to put it frankly, you have been at the top of that list for quite some time.” You pause to examine his expression. His brow is cross and he’s gnawing on the inside of his cheek. “Is it my consent that you need? Because you have it.”

“God, this is probably a bad idea,” he whispers to himself and then he's on you once more. His large hands squeeze at your waist until they find their way under the fabric of your tee. Your own hands cling to his shoulders, keeping yourself balanced so you don’t fall off the bar stool.

Eddie bites your lip, tugging it lightly when he pulls away. “You have no idea how long I’ve wanted to kiss you. How long I’ve wanted to have my hands on you, to feel you.” He says, breathless. 

He kisses down your neck, sending a shiver down your spine and a tingle wherever his lips meet your skin. 

“Eddie-” You moan. 

“Hum?” 

“I want you to do more than kiss me.”

That stops him in his tracks. He pulls away for a second time and you can’t help the whimper it brings out of you. 

“You’re sure?” 

As much as you were grateful for his concern, it was really getting in the way of you trying to have him fuck the daylights out of you. 

“Yes, I’m sure.” You pull him in for a deep kiss before whispering against his lips, “So, are you going to fuck me or am I going to have to take matters into my own hands?”

The smirk he gives you is cocky. “C’mere, Sweetheart.” He grabs at you, pulls you from the stool, and moves you to the island countertop. He wastes no time in ridding you of your shirt and bra. 

His tongue licks a long, wet line from the side of your neck down to the elastic waistband of your shorts. 

Slowly but surely, he begins to pull the fabric down Your legs. He stops in surprise when He sees you aren't wearing anything underneath. 

A deep chuckle vibrates in his chest. “Did you know this would happen, Sweetheart?” He left an open-mouthed kiss on the inside of your thigh. “Hum? Plan to seduce me with those short fucking shorts only to not have any panties on?”

Shaking your head you mumble out “No.”

“It sure does look like it, princess.” Eddie teases you with his fingers, using them to spread you open gently. His eyes glaze over with lust. “Fuck, baby… so pretty and wet for me.”

The sudden rush of arousal washes over you, leaving your skin flushed and your cunt fluttering around nothing.

He leaves wet kisses all over the sensitive skin, moving from your apex to your thigh, right where the artery was. Taking the plush meat there into his mouth, he sucked, soothing his tongue over where his teeth bit down gently. There was no doubt a mark would be there when he pulled away. 

You watch him, elbows planted on the counter to prop yourself up. Just looking at him makes your heart beat faster. 

“Eddie,” you moan as you widen your legs. 

He hums against you as he sucks his way back to your center. With lidded eyes, he looks up at you just as his mouth attaches to your clit. 

Choking out a gasp, you let your head fall back between your shoulders. 

Eddie’s hands wrap around the back of your legs, gripping them firmly and guiding them over his shoulders. The noises coming from where he was connected to you had butterflies fluttering in your stomach. He'd only just started but it felt like with every even suck and precise lick of his tongue, You were melting into a puddle around him. 

Soon your arms became weak and you had to lay flat. Your hands had a mind of their own as your body writhes under Eddie's expert mouth. His hair quickly fell from the loose knot that kept it out of his face when you ran your hands through it. 

You could tell Eddie liked it too much, hips bucking into nothing When you tugged on the salt and pepper strands. His moans sent vibrations through you. 

“Eddie, fuck, Eddie- you feel so good,” you can't help but babble when you feel two thick fingers begin to penetrate your entrance. 

There's an audible pop when he releases you from his mouth. “Yeah? Imagine how good my cock's gonna feel, Sweetheart.” He removes your legs from his shoulders as he begins to stand.

Tilting your head, you gaze at him. Following down his nose, over his wet lips, down along the tattoo of a sneak that started at his shoulder and curled down his bicep. With him closer now, you could see more of those tattoos littering his skin and the trail of hair that led from his navel down. 

You clench around his fingers at the thought of whatever was hiding behind those basketball shorts. You wanted it, needed it, inside of you. 

Eddie's fingers massaged into you, the calloused pads pushing into your soft insides. “Right there!” You pant when he pushes into a particularly sensitive spot. “Right there! Don't stop!”

He doesn't, he keeps a strong steady pace with his fingers hitting the mark every single time. It had your toes curling and your head swirling with pleasure. 

Unknowingly, you clamped your hand over your mouth as you began to moan.

Eddie pushes your hand away. “Don't cover those pretty moans, wanna hear how good I make you feel.”

Nodding, you keep your hands away. Occupying one by gripping your breast and the other, slipping it down to massage over your clit. 

The added stimulation makes your legs snap shut and your body goes ridged. You were hurled over the edge so fast that your vision was almost white. 

Eddie kept his fingers pumping into you despite the added obstacle. You could hear the wet sound growing louder as your body shook with release and your lungs cried out. 

“That's it, princess, give it all to me.”

“Eddie-” you cry out to him. “Feels- ah fuck, I feel so good.”

He hums in approval.

“You make me feel so good.”

Eddie pulls his fingers from your dripping cunt and licks them clean. “God, you're delicious. Put that ice cream to shame.” 

He pulls you by your hips down the counter, closer to him, and places a firm kiss on your lips. You'd never liked the taste of yourself before but that salty tangy mixed with the sweetness of Eddie's tongue had you melting and wanting for more.

You want to feel him inside of you. No, it's not a want, it's a need. A need so strong you think you might cry if you don't have I'm in the next five seconds. 

Pulling away, you give Eddie a look. One so filled with lust and longing, you know he won't be able to resist.

“What is it, princess?” He asks, moving back in to kiss marks on your neck. 

Your fingers tug on his hair and you sigh. “I need-”

“What do you need?”

“I need you to fuck me.” The buck of your hips punctuated every word.

“S'that right, Sweetheart? Need me to use this pretty cunt?”

You groaned, nodding excitedly when he started backing up. As he did so, he knocked over what was left of the ice cream. It was melted now and its contents flowed onto the counter.  

Eddie smirked as he took the carton and instead of sitting it back up, he poured it onto your skin. The splashes of the now liquid dessert were cold on your hot skin. He gives you a salacious wink before lapping up what he had tipped onto you.

“Eddie!” You gasp, surprised by his actions. 

He paced you no mind, cleaning the stickiness from your skin, and pulled back. Acting as though nothing had happened, he began tugging at the drawstring of his shorts. 

The outline of his cock was impressive, you had always imagined it would be the biggest you'd ever had. And as his shorts and boxers fell from his hips down his toned legs, you were proven right. 

Saliva pooled in your mouth at the sick of him. Long and thick and stood at attention. Your eyes flicked from the flushed tip of his cock to his eyes and then back down again a few times before he chucked. Asking “See something you like?” 

“Yeah…” you were breathless just looking at it. 

Anticipation begins to build, your heart beating faster as he lined himself up. Your legs spread wider, letting Eddie nestle in. He gives the sensitive skin a tap with his cock before sliding it through your slick folds. 

“Ready, baby?” 

“Yes, please.”

As he enters, there's a slight pain. He's thicker than anything you've ever taken and the new stretch has you burning.  He isn't even halfway inside before you start shaking and mewling in ecstasy.

Eddie's fingers have your hips in an iron grip. He looks out a long moan once he bottoms out. There is the sensation of being filled to your absolute max.

Your walls are contracting around him, trying To pull him in deeper. 

“Fuck. That's it, baby, taking me so well. So proud of you.” 

You keen into his praise. Hips bucking and back arching. 

“Need more,” you plead and he obliges, rocking his hips into you, starting slow before going into an almost inhuman speed. pleasure is all that you feel, all that you know in this moment.

With every thrust, you saw Eddie lose just a little more self-control until he was feral, pounding into you. 

“Fuck, fuck, fuck. Feel so fucking good baby. Yeah, that's right, this pussy was made for me, wasn't it? God dammit.” He'd lost his filter, saying anything and everything that came to his mind. 

You were loving it. No man had ever been so vocal with you before and it was such a turn-on to hear every grunt, moan, and whimper.

There's a flutter in your stomach that you know all too well. You're balancing on the edge and are so close to toppling over. 

“Eddie. Eddie. Eddie!” You've run out of words, all you can manage to say is his name. It's like a prayer on your lips. 

“I know, Sweetheart.” He tuts, voice out of breath. “Can feel you squeezing me. God, you’re so fucking tight.” His fingers grip your hips harder. “Need you to cum for my baby, can you do that?”

You nod frantically. “Yes, yes, yes,” you say as his thrusts continue, finally giving you that last little nudge you need to fall. 

With eyes rolling back in your head and a ringing in your ears, you cum. Harder than you ever had before. You're so lost in the feeling that you can't hear yourself screaming rapture. Every feeling is intense like hitting a raw nerve but it's so enjoyable.

Eddie's thrusts slow to a stop before he reluctantly pulls from your warmth and tugs himself to completion.  You can feel the warm ropes quickly cooling on your stomach and breasts when you finally come back to reality.  

“God dammit.” Eddie rasps. 

You can't help but laugh, “My thoughts exactly.”

Fixing your eyes on your stomach. You take a finger and collect Eddie's cum onto it. He watches you with wide eyes as you bring the finger to your mouth. It's not your favorite taste but you moan nonetheless.

“Thanks for the sweet treat, Mr. Munson.” Your face heats up over what you've said.

Eddie chuckles and shakes his head at you before giving you a fond look. Even though you were spread out on his kitchen counter covered in drying cum, you'd never felt more comfortable. You can see when Eddie hesitates ever-so-slightly before he asks, “Can I kiss you?”

It was sweet, you thought. You nod giving him the go-ahead. 

He pulls you up by the hand you give him and his mouth is on you in a tender kiss. Much too tender for what you had both finished doing. 

His hands massage into the sides of your face and neck and your own slide into his hair, tugging the fallen strands at the nape of his neck. 

When he pulls away, you follow him hot wanting his lips to leave yours. He gives you a quick peck before stepping back. 

You pout but he soothes you. “I'll be back. Gonna get a cloth to clean you up.” 

It only takes him a moment to return to you, warm rag in hand. It feels nice to have all the sweat and other fluids wiped from your skin, it feels even nicer with Eddie the one doing it. 

A yawn escapes you when he’s finally done and helps you off the counter. 

“Tired?” He asks. 

“Yea-” You were cut off by another big yawn, it brings involuntary tears to your eyes. Rubbing your eyes, you sigh, “I guess I better get home.” Bending down, you reach for your clothes that had made a home on the floor. 

“Or,” Eddie stops you, “You could stay here.” 

 The statement was more of a question with his hopeful look and light tone. 

You can’t help the blush that makes its way onto your cheeks. “I think I’d like that.” 

“Good. Now leave those there, I have something more comfortable you can wear.” 

[olomaya]

Sludge Be Gone! Toddler Food and Snacks

2-Sep Update: Thank you @jeebeehey for the French translation. Please redownload if you'd like them.

25 July update:

Fixed an issue where the Trail Mix was resetting Sims. One of its components got lost when I was merging all the objects together so it kept giving an error when trying to pull it up. It should now not happen for either the high chair or the activity table. Redownload both the MAIN and the merged Objects file

24 July update: Thanks to @simdreams and @zanynka for the Brazilian Portuguese and Czech translations! You can redownload at the links below.

(Update: I forgot to include one of the files in the Objects file. It's just a little piece of food that toddlers pick up when eating snacks. If you downloaded both files already, you don't need to redownload anything, just download the file and add to your game.) (Just download the updated Objects file)

They literally call the baby food "sludge" in the game files. EA really did TS3 toddlers dirty.

This was actually originally part of my Quickie Food and Snacks mod and I abandoned it (this seems to be a theme with me). But then I came back to it after TS4 Growing Together came out. I still haven't played that game but I know there's a preference/taste system in the game for baby food, which is really cool!

So this mod adds two interactions to the high chair to feed toddlers meals or snacks. There are 11 meals and 5 snacks. Similar to Growing Together, toddlers will love, like or hate certain foods. This preference is based on their favorite food (see more after the cut).

The foods work somewhat similar to recipes in that they require ingredients to be available. However, you only need to have at least 1 ingredient. Whatever ingredients you have will be used for the meal/snack. The icon images will tell you which 3 ingredients are required.

Teens+ can serve toddlers and they will stay and watch to make sure the toddler eats like a good little girl/boy.

There was a second complementary mod to close out this little series that would allow toddlers to eat their foods and snacks on their own on little tables but I probably won't have the time to finish testing it before I go on my summer holidays so I'll release it sometime end of next month when I'm back.

Credit/thanks: The food tray and bowl is from @aroundthesims. All other assets are from EA (TS3 and TS4). Icons are from Freepik.

Download HERE / Alternative: SFS

Enjoy! I'll be totally offline starting 1 July for about 2 weeks so do let me know before then if you run into any issues!

More info and details on features after the cut

Meal/Snack recipes: Each meal or snack requires 1-3 ingredients (either in your fridge or personal inventory) to be available. Again, you only NEED 1 of 3. Some of the ingredients are from the Store or cc (Icemunmun's Baker's Basket or Hot Chili) but if you don't have it, the game will just ignore it. If you have none, it won't be available.

Food categories/preferences: Preferences are based on the toddler's favorite food and along 4 categories: Sweet, Savory, Veggie and Cheese. So based on what their favorite food is, you can tell what their food preference category is. If you change the toddler's favorite food after playing with the mod, it will adjust to their new tastes BUT will keep whatever food they liked or hated before.

Category Preferences:

Sweet hates Veggie

Veggie hates Sweet AND Savory

Savory hates Sweet

Cheese is chill and can give or take anything

Here is the detailed breakdown below (if you want to be surprised and figure it out for yourself in the game, you can stop reading here):

SW - Sweet, SV - Savory, VG - Veggie, CH - Cheese Store - TS3 Store BB - Icemunmun’s Baker’s Basket HC - Icemunmun’s Hot Chili

Snacks: Trail Mix (SW) - Banana, Walnut (BB), Pecan (Store) Cheese Crackers (CH) - Cheese Apple Slices w. Almond Butter (SW, CH) - Apple, Cheese, Almond (BB) Cucumber Tuna Bites (SV) - Cucumber (Store), Tuna, Tomato Pita Chips w. Carrot Hummus (VG) - Chickpea (HC), Carrot, Lemon

Meals: Chickpea Salad (VG) - Chickpea (HC), Carrot, Watermelon PBJ Sandwich (SW) - Strawberry (Store), Almond (BB)  Pancakes and Sausage (SW) - Any fruit, Sausage links Chicken Nuggets (SV) - Chicken, Carrot, Blueberry (Store) Fishsticks (SV) - Any fish, Potato, Carrot  Meatballs w. Yogurt Sauce (SV) - Patty, Cucumber (Store), Tomato Mushroom Omelet (VG) - Egg, White Cap mushroom, Onion Fried Plantains (SW) - Banana (I considered making a custom plantain ingredient but too lazy), Tomato, Onion Falafel w. Yogurt Sauce (VG) - Chickpea (HC), Cucumber (Store), Tomato Cheese Ravioli (CH) - Cheese, Tomato, Strawberry (Store) Mac and Cheese (CH) - Cheese

So for example, the toddler in the photos, Duncan. His favorite food is Fried Peanut Butter Banana Sandwich (oh, America) which is in the Sweet category. So I know he will eat any of the sweet category foods. He tossed the mushroom omelet when I served it to him but he likes mac and cheese.

@kpccfinds @pis3update @s3cc-finds

[kitchenwitchtingss]

RECIPES I KEEP IN MY ONLINE KITCHEN WITCH JOURNAL #2

I love making these oh my gosh.

Why?

It's really fun

It's been a while since my last one

I get an excuse to try yummy recipes

You all are way too good at what you do

It's fun x2

Teas, Drinks, And Syrups

🍊 Orange Peel Tea 🍊

Violet Lemonade

Coconut Summer Drink

Dandelion Honey

The Best Hot Spiced Cider recipe you’ll ever try

Apple Cider is basically a homesteading spell

Rose Lemonade Syrup

100-Year Garlic (Garlic Honey)

Fire Cider Spell for Winter Protection

Blackberry & Apple Jam

Witchy Recipes - Blackberry Lemonade

Baked Goods + Sweets

Prosperity Bread

Lavender Earl Grey Cookies

Easy Rosemary Focaccia Loaf for Love and Protection

Heavenly Lavender Scones

Honey Vanilla Peach Butter 🍑

Pumpkin Pie Dip 🎃

Vanilla-Pumpkin Cupcakes

Soups, Stews, And Dinners

Super simple secret potato soup

Forest Porridge

Heartwarming potato soup

Perfect Homemade Garlic Bread

Creamy vegetable soup

Springtime Soup

Stuffed Maple dijon glazed roasted butternut squash

Summertime stir fry

Sabbat Stuff

Litha Orange Honey Cake

Litha Thyme Chicken

Stuffed Apples for Mabon

Mabon Mug

Imbolc Pretzel wreath

Oatmeal Bread for Lughnasadh

Samhain Mulled Cider

Samhain Irish Apple Cake

Angel's Best

(my favorite recipe posts I've made over the years, plus backstories that sound like your grandmother's reminiscing over the past.)

LATE WINTER BUTTER ROLLS

My first post I ever made. I was pretty new to the tumblr community at the time. I loved kitchen witchcraft, and I'm the type of person who will ramble on about how much I love cooking and baking. This blog gave me an outlet to express my love of cooking, baking, paganism, and witcraft. And these rolls are very tasty, I make them to this day!

WITCHY TOMATO BASIL SOUP

Tasty, simple, and a crowd-pleaser. It's perfect for a beginner kitchen witch! It was also the second recipe I ever posted.

SWEET CREAM BUNS

It was a recipe given to me by one of my good friends at the time. Every time I make it, it gets devoured in less than 10 minutes. It was also my first recipe to get over 50 notes. I was shocked but ecstatic that so many people would even give it the time of day lol.

WITCHY THUMBPRINT COOKIES

These ones were just fun to make and delicious lol.

A WITCH’S COZY BUTTERNUT WINTER SOUP

A quick soup that feeds a lot of people during the fall season. Fall is my favorite season, so of course I'm very biased lol.

SAMHAIN PUMPKIN BREAD

I love pumpkin bread and apple cider... So why not combine the two? This one was definitely one of my favorites of all time. Moist pumpkin bread and chocolate chips have to be one of my favorite things on this planet. It also makes for the perfect gift for friends and family. Yummy!

ANGEL’S AWARD-WINNING LEMON POPPY SEED BREAD

I love dessert loaves of any kind, so naturally, this would be on the list lol.

MAPLE BUTTER COOKIES

Super simple comfort food! I love any time of cookie with brown sugar.

BRING ME POSITIVITY PECAN FRENCH TOAST BAKE

I love French toast, and I love positivity~

SAMHAIN SOUL CAKES RECIPE

These are really good! And traditional. If you celebrate Samhain, I recommend you make some soul cakes and have friends and family help decorate. I give the littles a bag of orange frosting and let them go crazy lol.

FEEL BETTER CHICKEN SOUP

One of my most recent is my witchy twist on chicken noodle soup!

[katzkinder]

Servamp headcanons, ice cream edition! Because my grandma got an ice cream maker and we’re all super eager to try it out but then she broke her back (she’s fine, don’t worry)

Mahiru: plain old vanilla. Misono introduced him to vanilla BEAN ice cream though and he’s feeling a little guilty about wanting to splurge a bit for the more expensive, creamier stuff… Kuro is an enabler and his encouragement is the only reason he’s still managing to resist. Just do it Mahi!

Kuro: Cookies and Cream is his favorite, but he’s also partial to cookie dough, or crumbled chocolate mint cookies as topping. He likes both the taste and the texture

Misono: chocolate lol. He’s predictable. His absolute favorite though are those ultra decadent brownie batter type of chocolate ice creams. Yknow the ones. Chocolate pieces, brownie bits, hot fudge swirl… He gets sick off the stuff easily though, so even though he loves it, self control is everything

Lily: vanilla bean with strawberry topping and cheese cake bites! He loves fresh strawberries in his desserts, and often he and Misono will trade bites if they’re getting flavor fatigue. Also very rich but the strawberry helps cuts through the sweetness

Tetsu: a Basic Boi who loves GariGariKun the most. Prefers popsicles over dairy treats. Yeah technically this isn’t ice cream but like. It’s the taste of summer and after bath refreshments. I’m not taking that from him

Hugh: vanilla with hot fudge sauce (and/or blood). He still prefers his chocolate parfaits, or better yet for this scenario, a milkshake

Licht: yknow those ultra sweet cotton candy flavors? If it’s ice cream by itself, he loves that. But if it’s a float, it’s gotta be vanilla in melon soda. If you take him to marble slab or similar place that lets you mix in a bunch of toppings, he will make a beeline for the gummy bears. Gets disappointed every time that they turn hard and unpleasant to eat, even though he already knows the outcome

Lawless: he has two favorites. Coffee bean (distinct from just plain coffee flavor) and moose tracks. I’m not sure what that’s called in other places? Basically it’s vanilla with peanut butter cups and fudge. Only goes for this when he’s depressed, if I’m honest. Otherwise it’s too sweet.

Mikuni: haagen daz amaretto almond crunch and their hojicha latte flavor. Forever sad that the former was limited edition and doesn’t make seasonal returns. It was absolutely perfect for his and jeje’s terrible Netflix movie nights (with the occasional appearance by johannes so they could make fun of the bad science together)

Jeje: since Mikuni only buys haagen daz (spoiled pretentious shit) he’s grateful they a rich pumpkin flavor that becomes available during autumn. He also really likes horchata milkshakes for the comforting taste of cinnamon.

Iduna: Tried butter pecan once and was hooked. The crunchiness of the pecans is her favorite part. It’s her go to for when Haagen Daz Creamy Vanilla Pudding flavor isn’t in season. Back home, though, it’s got to be the rather… Unique. Salty licorice flavor. She gave some to shuuhei one time just to watch him gag. She knows what she’s doing to that poor boy.

Freya: the simple freshness of strawberry ice cream is her guilty pleasure. She been thinking of making her own with an old hand churner. It would be fun, right? And it’s not like it would be difficult to get the ingredients she needs.

Nicco: Pistachio gelato, though he also enjoys the tartness and slight bitter aftertaste of limoncello flavor. He likes taking Ildio with him whenever there’s a new flavor he wants to try but isn’t sure he’ll like. Even if he doesn’t care for it, his servamp probably will. Does that make him mean?

Ildio: No preference as of yet. He’s still figuring this whole… Tasting your food thing out

Tsubaki: as expected, he loves matcha and red bean flavors. REALLY excited some of the Hagen daz hanamochi series is becoming a permanent flavor

Sakuya: rocky road. Sweet, crunchy, and a little bitter on the back end from the chocolate. Refuses to admit it but he also enjoys the hanamochi series. He’s stubborn. Whenever he wins a free popsicle he gives the stick to Mahiru, so inevitably when they hang out, that’s what he buys if they stop at the konbini, just for the chance to maybe earn some good boy points with his best friend and crush. And he thinks he’s subtle—

Reblog with your own headcanons! I love seeing what people add to my posts :3

[curtsycream]

Farmer’s Market Crush

Aaron Hotchner x Reader

warning: self indulgent fluff, can he please be my farmers market crush???, the reader has curly hair and is southern, the hair detail can be skipped over its not that important, his smile so pretty <33

She stood at her booth when she spotted him, in front of her was a variety of jams. From blackberry to peach all fresh and homemade. They were in adorable little glass jars that looked professional almost. “Can I help you with anything?”

Hotch hadn’t noticed her until she spoke his eyes focusing on her. He was a bit startled as he seemed to be gathering his thoughts.

She stood with a smile on her face as she looked at Hotch. “I’m sorry did I startle you? I apologize if I did…you just looked as if your mind was somewhere else!” She said sweetly.

Hotch had to stop himself from smiling at the question she just asked, he was most definitely zoned out at that point. That was until he heard that voice, so adorable and sweet sounding, with just the right amount of twang in it, it took all of his concentration to stay focused.

When she had asked if she startled him, Hotch simply shook his head, “No…no you’re fine… I apologize. It was….”

What should he say? He didn’t wanna tell her he had zoned out when he noticed her behind her booth.

She laughed softly as she shook her head, “don’t worry we all zone out sometimes..” she said in a understanding manner.

She was still smiling at him as if it was permanently etched onto her face. She found him handsome and truth be told she was staring at him for a bit before she finally spoke up.

Hotch cleared his throat not sure what else to say, he then saw her looking at him. Her sweet smile making her look sweeter than she did at first. Yet something about her…something about her was familiar. He knew what she looked like but it was also a certain way she carried herself…and that accent…that southern belle twang that made him almost melt in her presence.

Hotch finally remembered where he had seen her before. But she beat him to the punch when she spoke again.

“You look familiar,” she said tilting her head causing her curls to drape over her shoulder. She leans forward a little over her booth, “you’re with the BAU right? I think I spoke with you before at that little coffee house on Main Street..” she finally said.

That was it, he remembered her from that coffee shop. And in the back of his mind he had thought it was because she was involved in a recent case. He couldn’t explain just how happy that fact made him. And her accent only made his smile grow.

He looked over at her and nodded, “Yes…yes I am.”

Her accent making even the simplest sentences feel like love songs in his ears. “Your name is Y/N right?” His voice was soft and calm like a cool breeze on a summer’s night.

“Yeah Y/N!” She said with enthusiasm as she nodded her head at him. She knew he looked familiar as she had remembered hearing that voice before. Along with that face that seemed to hold just the right amount of endearment and warmth.

He nodded his head before he looked over at her booth, now noticing the sign that read “fresh jams, homemade. By: Y/N” and adorable little jars of jam. “You make these?”

“Yeah it’s a hobby, I make other things too! I make my own breads and even pecan pralines I like to think I make ‘em the best.” She boosted slightly. “I have all kinds of jams today…I hadn’t had the time to make breads in about a week.”

He listened intently as he examined her booth, seeing her homemade jams and baked goods was truly astonishing to him.

“You make bread?” Hotch’s voice was soft still as he thought back to one moment in his past.

“What type of bread?”

“I make French loafs, sweet breads, multigrain, whole wheat bread, honey wheat bread, sourdough, rye! I started making brioche that’s my favorite one!” She tells him with a smile.

His heart raced when he heard this. French loaf, sweet breads, honey wheat bread and homemade brioche…was this some sort of gift from above?

As he watched the gentle breeze blow her curls around her face he spoke up again. “You know, you make the same bread as my mother did when I was growing up.”

“Really? Does she still make bread?” She asked with interest. She found the idea of someone older making bread amazing. In her small neighborhood not many did or showed interest to continue.

He looked over at her. His eyes looked as if they had a glimmer of sadness to them. “Unfortunately she…has passed away.”

“I’m sorry for your loss,” she said with a compassionate smile on her face. She had genuine sympathy in her E/C eyes as she spoke.

Hotch looked away for a moment, he didn’t want this woman to feel bad for him, he had come here to see the market. “What do you recommend?” He asked softly, looking over at her.

She took the hint as she looked back at him, “from any booth?” She asked. She knew each booth pretty well so recommendations came easy to her.

He truly appreciated how kind she was, just like his mother used to be. He then nodded his head once more “yeah, any booth. Since you work here you’d probably know the best recommendation, right?” he smiled again.

She points around, “if you’re into fresh produce Mr. Cook’s booth is perfect he spends his time with the vegetables he grows. He also sells them for dirt cheap because he just enjoys doing it! Oh and Mable the little old lady over there makes the best macarons! She has this hazelnut praline one that’s so good! But if you lack a sweet tooth and like savory…Henry the tall fella over there he has the best homemade chips. He mixes them with different things, I’ve never had honey chips before until I tried his.” She rambled with a smile.

Hotch was amazed at how sweet and adorable she sounded. Her voice was comforting in a way. When she was finished talking Hotch nodded in response, “okay. I think I’ll have to try out a sample of your home made jams. I also think I’ll go try out the honey chips too.”

His voice was calm, and his smile was warm. It was as if he was looking at the girl of his dreams. But maybe he was just being a bit overly dramatic.

She grins, “tell me what’s your favorite jam?” She said as she looked at him. There was subtle kindness in her eyes as she spoke to him.

He looked back at her, “blackberry is my favorite.” He wasn’t so sure why he was so flustered, “what’s your favorite jam, Y/N?”

His name sounded lovely whenever said with the southern accent and his heart raced even more with the look in her eyes. It was a genuine look, not of judgment or pretend, there was only sweetness and playfulness. Something about her made him nervous yet excited.

Y/N looks through her jams before picking up the blackberry one. She thinks for a moment, “mine would be apple jam…on a piece of toast it tastes like apple pie. It’s so good especially if you use honey crisp or cosmic apples..” she says.

She holds out the blackberry jam, “this one is on the house…call it a getting to know you gift.” She tells him.

He watches as she picks up the blackberry jam, his eyes gazing at her for what feels like forever for him “you sure? I can pay for it of course, you work very hard for this I can’t imagine you’d be giving this up for free.”

Hotch was almost too mesmerized by her beauty to speak at this point he was still flustered and nervous. The feeling of her kindness and charm was making him feel as if he was floating and in a dream.

Y/N waved her hand dismissively, “don’t worry about it…usually Mable comes through here and pretty much buys me out for the holiday seasons.” She reassured him.

Hotch was still worried but at least he knew she wouldn’t be losing money if he took that blackberry jam. “If you say so…thank you Y/N.”

Hotch then looked around the market. He hadn’t yet noticed Derek and Penelope standing watching the scene unfold.

“You’re always welcome Aaron..” she said in a soft tone. She noticed the onlookers before letting out a small laugh. “Hey…I think we should get to know each other better..” she started. “If you want to that is..”

Hotch felt the world go still and quiet. Her words felt like honey dripping from her sweet lips. Her accent made his stomach grow with butterflies and warmth and her sweet tone was like the lullaby he had been needing to hear.

“I…I would like that.” He spoke firmly. But his voice had more confidence now as he couldn’t stop gazing at her.

Derek then taps Hotch on the shoulder, “come on Hotch, let’s not hog this lovely ladies time.”

She watched as Hotch was lead away by his friend as she waved goodbye. As Hotch was walking away while being pestered by Penelope and Derek for answers he turned the jar in his hand. His eyes widening for a second as he noticed the number on the back of the jam label.

***-***-****, we should get to know each other more <3

[lonelywretchjervistetch]

The State Birds Initiative: Georgia (#4)

Welcome to the fourth official poll of the State Birds Initiative! Before the poll, though, one thing real quick. My suggestion is that you read the post below before voting in the poll below. That's especially important if you're lacking any context about the birds being presented as the new (or old) State Bird of the Peach State, Georgia. This is to be fully informed as to why these are being presented, and to make your choices appropriately. Lastly, some of these birds, you will notice, may go against some of the rules listed in the introduction post. All is explained after the jump where the explanations are, I promise you that. But with that...OK! Here's the poll!

With that...time to put Georgia on our minds!

Georgia! State of peaches, Coca-Cola, pecans, and civil rights! Home of Ray Charles, Jimmy Carter, Jackie Robinson, and the great Martin Luther King, Jr.! Location of the only whale shark in captivity in the country, the historic Forsyth Park of Savannah, the majestic Stone Mountain, and the first Chick-fil-A! And for our purposes here in the State Bird Initiative, it's also the first state we're looking at with a tropical climate! Well, a humid subtropical climate, actually, but it counts! If you've ever been to Georgia (which I haven't as of yet, but I'm working on that), you probably know that Georgia is a bit sweaty and temperate most of the year, with long humid summers and high water levels.

In terms of the ecology of the state, we're looking at swamps, cedar-dominated, as well as having a decent proportion of pine trees. Actually, to be specific, we're looking at forests of Longleaf Pine (Pinus palustris), an large endangered pine tree species endemic to the southeastern United States. Now, to be clear, this species isn't specific to Georgia, and it's actually the state tree of Alabama. However, now that we've hit the southern USA, we have to address it, as the tree is a symbol of the region. The actual state tree of Georgia is another iconic tree to the southeastern USA, the Southern Live Oak (Quercus virginiana), another big tree evolved to be resistant to forest fires, saltwater, and hurricane-force winds common in the area. Famously, the Southern Live Oak trees of St. Simons Island, Georgia was harvested for the density of their wood, which made them particularly strong against cannonballs. Said wood was used to construct the famous U.S.S. Constitution, AKA "Old Ironsides", which was said to have cannonballs actually bounce off of it throughout the War of 1812. Said ship is still in Boston Harbor to this day, making the 227-year old ship the oldest still floating naval warship in the world! And that's all thanks to the natural environment of Georgia.

What about Georgia's culture? Historically, of course, Georgia is complicated as hell. A former seat of the Civil War and the Confederacy, the state has seen heavy reconstruction in the last century and a half, eventually becoming associated with many civil rights heroes, and currently having a few prominent bastions of the Democratic Party, such as Atlanta. On a contemporary level, the state is famous for its music, its accents, and its food! The state has at least four foods as state symbols - peaches, peanuts, grits, and the Vidalia onion, and has other iconic food and drink like sweet tea, cornbread, peach cobbler, and fried catfish.

As for its people, they're a highly religious bunch on average, known for their hospitality and, according to some accounts online, "polite sarcasm". Y'know, "bless your heart" and all that. Conservative historically with an increasing population of Black Democrats in metropolitan centers, it's a growing state in terms of diversity, and changing rapidly. So...a culturally diverse bird that lives in oak trees? Yeah, that's a target we're gonna hit for sure. I mean, the oak or pine tree part is pretty easy, but the other thing? Well..a songbird would make some sense. I mean, the state is famous for its musicians, ranging from OutKast to Gladys Knight to 2 Chainz to Luke Bryan, and more. So, something that sings is a solid choice. There are a couple of other qualities we can go for, but that's enough for now, I think.

With that, let's move onto the choices. Got some interesting ones this time, but I have...a hunch about this one. We'll see how this goes, but I have a feeling it's gonna go the way of New Jersey's poll, which has been...decisive. But OK, with that...birds after the jump!!!

Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum)

Not gonna lie - this one could be hard to beat, surprisingly. Which is too bad for a number of reasons, but the Brown Thrasher (Toxostoma rufum) isn't really a horrible choice for Georgia's State Bird. It breeds in the state, even though it's found all over the eastern and central USA. It's an iconic bird in sight and sound, which is pretty important for a state that's produced a lot of human singers. I even mentioned up above that a songbird wouldn't be a bad choice, and what better songbird than one who can memorize, mimic, and remix multiple sounds for its own use? Plus, it was chosen by school kids, meaning it was elected by the public. Of course, to be fair, it was also chosen by governor at the time, Eugene Talmadge, a famous white supremacist who enforced segregation in Georgia schools and universities, openly supported Adolf Hitler, and was a genuinely extremely racist PIECE OF SHIT...but I digress? Although, it is extremely ironic that Talmadge ratified the Brown Thrasher as the State Bird of Georgia, so there's that.

OK, Talmadge doesn't really have anything to do with this, I just needed to get some anti-racist anger out for a second there, sorry; dude was a bastard in a lot of ways. But in terms of the Brown Thrasher, it's honestly not a bad choice for Georgia. Thing is...I'm not entirely sure I can say it's the best choice, or even a really good choice, frankly. It's...a choice. It does eat peaches, though, so maybe throw that into the pros pile for the species. Oh, and one more thing: it's defeated an attempt to depose it before. The frankly kinda ridiculous attempt to change the State Bird of Georgia to the Cornish Chicken in 2010 was not received well for the chicken. Georgians liked their Thrasher too much! Also, one of the arguments against the Brown Thrasher that the Flip the Bird movement put forth was that it "has no contribution to the state of Georgia economy". Of all the stupid goddamn arguments...

Northern Bobwhite (Colnius virginianus)

Well, if we're talking about the incumbent State Bird, we should bring up the incumbent State Game Bird as well! Yeah, this'll be a regular thing going forward. Any ornithological state symbols are up for bid and re-election, although this is a slightly different process. If a State Game Bird is elected as State Bird, it will ascend to that post, and a new State Game Bird will be proposed, possibly with a new poll. However, if it is not the chosen State Bird, it'll remain as the State Game Bird. So, really, the Northern Bobwhite gets to stay where it is...for now. This may change as we get overlapping game birds across the USA. And we will, believe me. With that said, let's talk about the Northern Bobwhite (Colinus virginianus).

A member of the New World quails (Odontophoridae) the bobwhite is named after its iconic whistling call, and not a random dude named Robert White. The Northern Bobwhite isn't the only species of bobwhite quail by any means, but it's the only major native representative in the USA. It's a grassland and open forest-loving quail whose range extends from Texas to Massachusetts...kind of. Here's the problem with the bobwhite: its population is rapidly decreasing. In the past 60 years or so, the population's decreased by at least 85% in its native range, which is...A LOT. It's partially for that reason that the species is on my priorities for my Life List, because I've never seen them, and they're rapidly vanishing.

That, alongside the normal ecological concerns and links, and its relatively new status as a threatened species due to land use and forest fires, makes it a good candidate for recognition on its own. But is it a good bird for Georgia? Well, only 4% of its breeding population is found in the state year-round, making the state a poor reservoir for the species. There's also a point that the bobwhite is, surprisingly, an invasive species in some countries, specifically New Zealand and Italy. They're also a common bird in captivity, even though any aviary should have them be the only ground-dwelling bird, since they can be aggressive to competitors. That said, they're not a completely doomed species.

More importantly, though, the fact that Georgia doesn't have a lot of these guys immediately makes them a less-than-ideal candidate for State Bird. State Game Bird, though? That might actually be worse. Remember, this is an endangered species, meaning it may not be a bird we should glorify as a food source. In fact, the Georgia Department of Natural Resources has conservation measures in place to protect bobwhite and their habitat, also seeking to restore it and add new potential habitats for the species. And they aren't eliminating hunting of the species, but are strictly managing and monitoring populations. And there is merit to managed hunting, for the record, but that's a separate conversation to be had. So, not a horrible choice to remain as Game Bird. But who knows? Maybe I'll make a separate poll to ask this question after all. If that's something that interests you, let me know! For now, let's move on.

Bachman's Sparrow (Peuacea aestivalis)

On to the eBird suggestion! And this one is...ooooooooh...yikes. OK, yeah, you may remember my issue with the Saltmarsh Sparrow (Ammospiza caudacutus) as a potential State Bird for New Jersey, mostly revolving around the idea that it wouldn't be easily recognizable by the public, unaffiliated with sparrows and their subtle or major differences. This? This is worse. Once again, don't get me wrong, Bachman's Sparrow (Peuacea aestivalis) would be a dream for me as a birder, as a southern exclusive species and a lifer for me personally. But for the average layman? This is a bird difficult to identify for birders! Not sure the average non-bird person has a chance, to be honest.

But just to be completely comprehensive, why the Bachman's Sparrow? Well, the eBird article quotes the species as having a large breeding population in Georgia. However, to be completely fair, the species mostly breeds in Florida, not Georgia (48% vs. 30%, by recent calculations). That said, the number of Bachman's Sparrows breeding in Georgia isn't a number to sneeze at. As for its ecology, it specializes in pine forests, including those composed of longleaf and loblolly pine, which have Georgia as a major habitat. Oh, and on a historical note (not that this matters too much), John Bachman was an opponent of segregation and racist eugenics beliefs, so a lot better than other historical figures with birds named after them. Granted, that bar is buried seven feet beneath the Earth, but still, it's cleared in this case. So, not the worst set of reasons for Bachman's Sparrow to make the cut.

Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis) Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana)

Whoa whoa whoa, hold on, hold on. Two more sparrows? What is this, karma? Well, yeah, maybe. Of course, these two are chosen based on their names, as both specimens used in the descriptions for the species were collected in Georgia. But does this truly matter in this case? Neither the Savannah Sparrow (Passerculus sandwichensis), nor the Swamp Sparrow (Melospiza georgiana), breed in Georgia, although both are still found in the state. If I had to argue one over the other personally, it'd be the Swamp Sparrow, both to represent a dominant habitat in the state, and because they're possibly more recognizable...even though they're pretty close to the Song Sparrow (Melospiza melodia) to the untrained eye, I suppose.

Brown-headed Nuthatch (Silla pusilla)

See, here's the real question about the eBird choices. Why choose the Bachman's Sparrow, when the adorably charismatic Brown-headed Nuthatch (Silla pusilla) was right there? The largest breeding population of this bird's global range is in Georgia, with a full 26% of the species depending on Georgia for its propagation. Yeah. This is definitely a Georgia breeder, but since the Bachman's Sparrow is a bit more endangered, has different living conditions, and is a bit more dependent on its Georgia population than the nuthatch here, that's likely why it was given the crown.

And yet...AND YET...in my opinion, this is the better state-dependent representative for Georgia. Sure, less of its breeding population is found in Georgia, but one-quarter of its global population isn't exactly something to sneeze at. And, importantly, this is where the majority of its population is housed, making Georgia more important for the Brown-headed Nuthatch than it is for the Bachman's Sparrow. But is it a better representative outside of that point? Well, it's recognizable, it's not terribly difficult to find, and it's certainly charismatic. I mean, look at that thing, it's cute as hell! Not that the sparrows aren't cute in their way, but the nuthatch? I wanna squeeze that thing, and apparently, they actually sound like rubber duckies. And no, charisma doesn't always mater, and it can be damaging for noncharismatic species conservation. But it can help.

Anything else? Well, using the same logic I have with other birds, it's an important representative of its habitat. The pine forests of the Southeastern USA are, unsurprisingly, in trouble. In fact, longleaf pine forests are kind of a massive deal from a conservation standpoint, and they're in a massive amount of trouble due to development and climate change. Some figures calculate a 95% loss of these forests by 2080, which is...bad, it's real bad, obviously. That kind of potential danger to their habitat, combined with their role within it, makes the nuthatch a good option. And apparently, Birds Georgia agrees with me.

Birds Georgia, for the record, is formerly known as the Georgia chapter of the National Audubon Society. And, while they still have affiliation to the organization, they've separated themselves from the legacy of its namesake. Credit where credit's due! Anyway, why bring them up? Birds Georgia has a number of species they highlight for conservation focus, with the Brown-headed Nuthatch being a major example. Their nestbox program focuses on building more nestboxes for a declining species across the state, and it's very much worked! 450 nest boxes have been installed across the state since 2015, and hopefully that doesn't stop! So, cute potential representative! But that's not the only conservation focus from Birds Georgia.

Chimney Swift (Chaetura pelagica)

From 2019 to 2020, Birds Georgia named the Chimney Swift their Conservation Focus for the year, and began an initiative to have nestboxes put out for the species across the state. Multiple towers were erected throughout the state by multiple conservation initiatives working with Birds Georgia, giving the birds more habitats outside of direct human settlements to breed and thrive in. But, why the Chimney Swift? They're sort of all over the place.

If you're from the eastern USA and walked outside in the morning or late afternoon, you've probably heard random chittering high above you, especially if you're in a city or town with chimneys on their buildings. If you look up, you've probably seen silhouettes of these guys flying at high speeds in the sky, mouths open to gather flying insects in the dawn and dusk. These are common birds all over the eastern US, as well as recognizable and easy to find and hear. So, why suggest them for Georgia? Because Georgia is tied with three other states for having the largest proportion of the breeding population for the species, at 6% of the species. Not a high number, but a significant proportion nonetheless. That makes it an intriguing choice for Georgia...and a few other places. So, this is probably not the last time we see this species on the polls.

Red-headed Woodpecker (Melanerpes erythrocephalus)

But hey, if we're going for birds elevated by Birds Georgia, then we should probably highlight their actual mascot: the Red-headed Woodpecker (Melanerpe erythrocephalus). We've already talked about the importance of woodpeckers as keystone species in forested environments, and the Red-headed Woodpecker is definitely an example of that ecological role. In truth, the Pielated Woodpecker (Dryocopus pileatus), which was up for the Pennsylvania poll, actually widens holes made by the Red-headed Woodpecker for its own nest-cavities, meaning a keystone depends on a keystone.

Now, in terms of Georgia's population, the breeding population in the state is definitely not the bulwark for the species (that trophy belongs to Kansas with 11%), but the live oak forests the state is seeking to protect definitely houses the species in significant numbers state-wide. The reason Birds Georgia uses it in their logo is because, in 2014, the species was considered high-risk and on the decline in its range. As of 2022, the species is also suffering its highest region-wide decline in Georgia, tied with a few other states on that front well. Combine these facts with an iconic appearance, and the Red-headed Woodpecker is also a decent choice for State Bird from a conservation standpoint.

OK...one more. And this one's...a stretch.

Red-Shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus)

OK, it's not actually a stretch; I just wanted to say that because it's a tall image, and I thought it'd be funny. So, OK! The Red-shouldered Hawk (Buteo lineatus). Now, this is yet another species you can find in various places in the eastern USA, but its second largest breeding population in the country can be found in the Peach State, which is beat out by Florida. Trust me, though, Florida is one of the big three states in the South in terms of breeding bird populations. I try to get a raptor for each state, you'll notice, but why this raptor for Georgia, outside of the breeding population thing?

Well, firstly, there's the association of the species with swamps and woodlands, both of which are prominent Georgia habitats. They've got an extremely varied diet, going for most small prey items in their ranges, even weird ones like roadkill deer, crayfish, and screech owls. And while they're most common in Georgia, they're also most certainly seen in Georgia fairly commonly, especially after their recovery from DDT. But even then...why? Why have a hawk for the state of Georgia at...OK, some of you probably figured it out, I might as well just say it now.

Yup, Georgia's basketball team is the Atlanta Hawks. And yes, OBviously I could've gone for the Atlanta Falcons, but falcons make far less sense to highlight for the state, ironically. There are only three commonly seen species in the state, and none of them have Georgia as a major highlight of their breeding ranges. So, with that in mind, the Hawks seem like the team to highlight, and the best hawk for the state of Georgia is the Red-shouldered Hawk. With that said, is this really the best choice for Georgia's state bird? I mean...that's up to Georgians (and Tumblrites) to decide in the end.

So! An odd post, this one was. Some interesting choices in the end, but is this the most solid roster? Not sure. I have my guess as to the winner for this one, and honestly...it's not a bad choice if I'm right. But with that, it's time to leave it to you - the people! And the next time we have one of these posts, we'll be heading to a region and a state near and dear to me, personally. Time for the Nutmeg State, and the first state with a frequent flyer for a state bird!

See you next time, and happy birding!

[battyaboutbooksreviews]

💖 Sapphic Books Coming Out June 2024

🩷 There's something especially sweet about a sapphic romance. Here are only a few of the amazing sapphic books hitting shelves in June 2024. Which ones are you adding to your ever-growing TBR?

💖 Which ones are you adding to your TBR?

Contemporary 💖 But How Are You, Really - Ella Dawson 💖 Hot Summer - Elle Everhart 💖 Pony Dakota - Nat Burns 💖 Wish You Weren't Here - Erin Baldwin 💖 Something to be Proud Of - Anna Zoe Quirke 💖 London on My Mind - Clara Alves, Nina Perrotta (translator) 💖 Please Stop Trying to Leave Me - Alana Saab 💖 Looking for a Sign - Susie Dumond 💖 Triple Sec - T.J. Alexander 💖 Pages from the Book of Broken Dreams - Kat Jackson 💖 Director's Cut - Carlyn Greenwald 💖 Furious - Jamie Pacton, Rebecca Podos 💖 Cicada Summer - Erica McKeen 💖 Tehrangeles - Porochista Khakpour 💖 Women - Chloe Caldwell 💖 Experienced - Kate Young 💖 Liddy-Jean Marketing Queen and the Matchmaking Scheme - Mari SanGiovanni

Paranormal/Horror 💖 The Pecan Children - Quinn Connor 💖 Private Rites - Julia Armfield 💖 The Deep Dark - Molly Knox Ostertag 💖 The Science of Ghosts - Lilah Sturges, El Garing (ill.), Alitha Martinez (contrib.) 💖 Wolfpitch - Balazs Lorinczi

Fantasy 💖 Mirrored Heavens - Rebecca Roanhorse 💖 The Fire Within Them - Matthew Ward 💖 Digging for Destiny - Jenna Jarvis 💖 Saints of Storm and Sorrow - Gabriella Buba 💖 Markless - C.G. Malburi 💖 Sleep Like Death - Kalynn Bayron 💖 The Afterlife of Mal Caldera - Nadi Reed Perez 💖 The Pale Queen - Ethan M. Aldridge 💖 The Unrelenting Earth - Kritika H. Rao 💖 Ballad for Jasmine Town - Molly Ringle 💖 Six of Sorrow - Amanda Linsmeier

Historical 💖 A Bluestocking's Guide to Decadence - Jess Everlee 💖 A Divine Fury - D.V. Bishop 💖 The Ballad of Jacquotte Delahaye - Briony Cameron 💖 Hall of Mirrors - John Copenhaver

Mystery/Thriller 💖 One Killer Problem - Justine Pucella Winans 💖 The Last Note of Warning - Katharine Schellman 💖 Shanghai Murder - Jessie Chandler 💖 And Then There Was One - Michele Castleman

Sci-Fi 💖 Lady Eve's Last Con - Rebecca Fraimow 💖 The Stars Too Fondly - Emily Hamilton 💖 Moonstorm - Yoon Ha Lee 💖 You're Safe Here - Leslie Stephens

[lanaevyssmoved]

OC + Random Associations

tagged by @cetra , @sleepsvessel & @bootheminiaturegiantspacehamster thank you ^_^

Animal

Afhiri sea slugs, isopods (dairy cow and zebra), geckos and other various reptiles, cats, small birds, musteloids (particularly raccoons and red pandas), viverrids, japanese raccoon dogs, opossums Candor lions, various eagles (wedge-tailed, golden, crowned), hawks, swans and geese, bighorn rams, crocodillians, sea turtles, elephants, animals that use sun compass orientation Cirok corvids (raven, crow), dogs (rottweiler, doberman, pinscher, greyhound), venomous black snakes, scorpions, spiders (particularly trapdoor spiders and sicarius), bats, black caiman, sharks

Colors

Afhiri pastels! pink, yellow, orange, green, blue, white, black Candor changes depending on form but in general purple, blue, red, yellow, orange, gold, brown, white, black Cirok black, grey, white - absolutely no Colour (thanks to booboo i now think of like toxic waste green when i think of cirok too)

Month

Afhiri September Candor August Cirok November

Songs

Afhiri tapi tapi - tempura kidz fear. moe shop and fun - sir sly. sir sly's vibe is way off for afhiri but the lyrics were written for her Candor a sun coloured shaker - yndi halda and (spring) this was your place - sunlight ascending Cirok jouska - evenS (probably favourite song of all time btw) and i come with knives - IAMX

Number

Afhiri two/2 Candor three/3 Cirok four/4

Plants

Afhiri celandine, sunflower, pink tulip, daisy Candor bay tree, gladiolus, heliotrope, rose Cirok chives, anemone, begonia, deadly nightshade

Scents

Afhiri fresh morning, grass, dirt, cotton candy, bubblegum Candor cedar, musk, sandalwood, the ocean, burning  Cirok decay, death, rot, overwhelmingly of resin

Gemstone

Afhiri tugtupite Candor meliphanite Cirok magnetite

Time of day

Afhiri sunrise Candor midday Cirok night

Season

Afhiri summer Candor summer Cirok winter

Places

Afhiri taverns, meadows, by rivers and lakes Candor monasteries, temples, places of worship Cirok the dank, cold and forgotten, the forbidden

Food

Afhiri sweet things, nothing good for you Candor warm meals Cirok raw meat

Drinks

Afhiri sugary sweet drinks, energy drinks Candor various teas (green, oolong, herbal, black) Cirok piping hot black coffee

Element

Afhiri air Candor fire Cirok water

Seasonings

Afhiri garlic, ginger, cinnamon Candor paprika, turmeric, bay leaves Cirok dried chives, cloves, saffron

Sky

Afhiri the most beautiful sunny cloudless summer sky Candor a colourful golden orange, red, and purple with light cloud cover Cirok stratus clouds, grey, calm and quiet

Weather

Afhiri warm day with lots of sun and a gentle breeze Candor blazing hot summers day with minimal to no wind Cirok cold winters day with fog and light snow

Magical power

Afhiri manipulative magic that makes someone act against their own will, anything that makes them laugh or dance. also the magical power of Insults Candor holy smites, blinding lights and divine energy Cirok phasing into the realm of the dead to walk partly as a ghost

Weapons

Afhiri shortsword and dagger combo, dual hand crossbows Candor mace and shield, longbow, floating/flying greatsword Cirok dual daggers, throwing knives, poisons and venoms

Candy/Sweets

Afhiri cotton candy, bubblegum, and i designed her with fruit salad in mind! Candor spicy roasted pecans, maple roasted sweet potatoes, sea salt dark chocolate Cirok liquorice, black jack, toxic waste

Method of long distance travel

Afhiri roadtrip in a classic volkswagen camper van Candor flying Cirok underground trains

Artstyle

Afhiri impressionism, abstract expressionism, street art, dadaism, CoBrA and fauvism Candor baroque and classicism Cirok optical art and minimalism

Fear

Afhiri of the self, of emotional pain, of returning home Candor of imperfection, of failure, of not being worthy Cirok of being seen, of death, of vulnerability

Mythological creature

Afhiri azeban, mujina, nymph Candor chalkydri, phoenix, psychopomp Cirok tsuchigumo, black dog, gargoyle

Piece of stationery

Afhiri a childs box of crayons, dairy Candor fountain pen, ruler Cirok ink, letter opener

Three Emojis

Afhiri 🤡🍀🪈 Candor ☄️🎇🪽 Cirok 🕷️♟️🔪

Celestial body

Afhiri the moon Candor the sun Cirok black dwarf

THIS TOOK ME FOREVER GUYS... TWO DAYS. I WORKED ON IT FOR HOURS. i hope........ its worth it <3

tagging @cetra @dekariosgale @courierseis @euryalex @hibernationsuit @jerichoes @vanoefucks @captaintiny @gwynbleidd @arduath @rcpunzel @avallachs @fuckitwebhaal @hexdruid @sovereign-spaw @galesgrandad @thefathersbride @dandeyrain @doggybone @swanfey @voerman @full---ofstarlight @chaos-storm @covenscribe @raphaelsboudoir @simtalics @kymal @graynstairs @neonbutchery @hungryblackbird @moxley @thlix @isayashai @darlinghowl @astarionsfordf150 @moon-jun @lovaboy @ratscrap @picklepals @crazy-lazy-elder-sims @rigaudon @neosunbrella @sternenstaub28 @centipisde @kirkwall @lusus--naturae

[gravedigginbbydoll]

Sweeter Than Sweet Tea

Eddie x Southern! Fem! Reader Blurb

AN: Hey y'all! So this came up while I was rewatching Steel Magnolias (one of my favorites)! I myself am Southern if you can't tell (lol). I def amped up the reader's southern belle persona, but it's a cute little bit of fluff to keep ya goin! But now I'm craving southern homecooking (namely fried okra and fried green tomatoes) and weirdly ambrosia salad and green salad (it's not really salad, its like fruit and whipped cream and nuts lol). But anyways enjoy and please reblog and like as per usual!

Warnings: Bullying, Southern Slang, Slight VIolence, Enemies to Lovers sorta, Fluff

When Eddie first met you, it was the equivalent of an old schoolyard crush. For some odd reason, he loved to get on your nerves. He’d tug on the closest part of you, make some inappropriate comment, and grin ear to ear as you tore into him. You never quite understood why. Until that fateful summer evening. 

Indiana got hot, sure, but nowhere near as blazin’ hot as your home back down south. You figured that was why some folks in Hawkins sometimes were so snooty, the summer sun wasn’t enough to melt their frigid hearts. Then again, you didn’t much miss the sweltering summers or the way the older women with hair higher than the heavens in your hometown would glare and mumble about you headin’ straight to the devil’s whorehouse for simply being comfortable. 

You were in town having a day for yourself, dressed as pretty as a magnolia in May. You wore your favorite sundress with some wedge sandals, your toes painted a pretty pale blue. You were looking around in the old antique shop, smiling down softly at a set of delicate plates. You were pondering buying it (after all, 5 dollars was a steal), when you felt a tug on your dress. You turned around, clouds setting on your sunny disposition at the sight of the ever rebellious Munson boy. He was dressed in a dark pair of jeans and a loose band t-shirt, his leather jacket hanging off of his shoulders. A cigarette hung from his mouth loosely as he grinned. 

“You headed to church, Darlin’?,” Eddie teased, exaggerating the drawl to mock your own. 

You frowned, pouting up at him. “No. I like to dress nice for myself. Now leave me be…” You scanned him up and down, frowning disapprovingly at his cigarette despite it being unlit. “And take that thing out of your mouth, for cryin’ out loud. You’ll give Mr. Millan a heart attack if you set off the fire alarm.” 

Eddie smirked while removing the unlit cigarette and tucking it into his jacket pocket, clearly not taking the hint. You tried walking away but he followed on your tail like a lost puppy. “C’mon sweetheart. It’s hard not to tease you when you look like you’re about to be awarded the best lil pupil in Sunday School.” 

You glared at him, out of the corner of your eye, your annoyance growing. “Well, now, Eddie Munson, I didn’t think you’d know what a church was if it landed on your backside. Can’t you ever learn to leave me alone?” 

Eddie’s eyes twinkled with mischief, his face full of boyish charm. If he wouldn’t be such a damn nuisance, you might have found his teasing charming…hell, adorable, even. He leaned against a shelf full of knick knacks and dusty books, looking comically large next to the tiny items. “Sorry, kid. You’re fun to mess with.” 

You huffed, turning to look at the collection of odd salt and pepper shakers and cookbooks. “You know I am not a child and I know you have about as much maturity as one.” You thumbed through a cookbook to keep yourself busy, scrunching up your nose at the recipes. You sure did miss pecans, frito pie, sweet cornbread and fried okra. Hell, you even missed those potlucks your mama used to host full of old gossipers trying to catch the latest town news. At least those old coots knew what an ambrosia salad or fried green tomatoes were. You placed the book back down. 

Eddie tugged on your dress again, grinning so wide you thought his mouth would split open as you spun around in a huff and yanked the pretty fabric out of his rough hands. “Now will you quit it! I’ve ‘bout had it with your dumbass!,” You exclaimed as quietly as you could in the practically empty store. You felt your accent come out thickener as your face heated up. “I'm leavin’ now. Good day, Eddie Munson.” And with a huff and a swish of your skirt, you were out the doors and back into the warm embrace of the sun, headed to Patty’s Ice Cream Parlor. You weren’t going to let that damned fool ruin your day out. 

You were sitting at a booth, enjoying your solo sundae of butter pecan ice cream and hot fudge. You sat there, stewing over Eddie’s consistent annoying quips and his obsession with bothering you. You stabbed your ice cream with the spoon, huffing softly. Where did he get off on bothering you anyway? You usually were polite and kept to yourself in town. You hadn’t made many friends outside of Nancy Wheeler who worked with you part time at the local dress shop when she was home from college. Maybe he found your mannerism funny, kinda like Jason Carver and his wife Chrissy Cunningham.

Chrissy and Jason often showed up to your job. The two were known as the town high school sweethearts who stuck around, Jason inheriting his fathers business while Chrissy stayed home. The two had it out for you since day one in town. You had shown up, dressed casually with your favorite pair of cowboy boots on and a cowboy hat to block out the sun. Chrissy and Jason had just happened to be at the diner you had stopped in, happy to welcome a pot of coffee and some pancakes. You sat at a booth, laying your hat down the right way, looking around. Hawkins had that old school charm. However, within the first few minutes, you’d received some backhanded compliments from the Hawkins’ Sweethearts themselves. Jason and Chrissy couldn’t help ever since then to laugh at your funny drawl, the foods you cooked, or even the clothes you wore. It was a pain. 

As if the two were summoned by your thoughts, you saw them waltz through the door, arm in arm, giggling away. You sunk in your seat, staring down into your sundae and hoping to disappear. You heard a jingle of a chain and a flash of black as Eddie came into the seat in front of you, making you sit up and forget about Chrissy and Jason. 

“Hey, Darlin’, I couldn’t help but-” 

“Edward Munson, leave me alone. I’ve had it with you-” You stood up to walk away, only to be met with a cone of chocolate ice cream smeared across the front of your favorite dress. You gasped, looking up into the eyes of Chrissy who stood there with an evil smile. “Oops.  Sorry, hun,” She drawled out, face twisted into a sneer as Jason laughed. You felt your eyes sting with tears as you sniffled and the room blurred. With a muttered, “Pardon,” you ran off to the bathroom. 

You stood in the bathroom, wiping at the gown with fury, wet paper towels piling up on the counter. You sniffled, trying to keep from crying. Why did you even try? Everyone in town laughed at you and called you a “Hillbilly Belle”, makin’ fun of you for your upbringing. You charmed the socks off of the older folk but got yelled at for calling people ma’am and sir, all of them assuming you were calling them old. You sniffled and wiped at your eyes, splashing water on your face with determination. You’d go out there, smiling and bright as ever, head home, and put on some Dolly Parton and some comfy clothes, snack on some Moon Pies and maybe even make a nice cold pitcher of sweet tea. 

You were headed out of the bathroom and down the hallway when you heard some arguing in the main area of the shop, the teen employees all terrified and huddled in the corner. You peeked around the corner, surprised to see the impressively angry Eddie have a fistful of Jason’s shirt and growling out some threats. 

“You keep your filthy grubby hands and your wife’s gross self away from that girl, you hear? She is too good for this town and I’m not letting two assholes like you run her off because you have nothing better to do with your life. Now leave a fuckin’ 50 on the table to pay for that pretty dress you ruined and get the hell out of here before I kick your ass.” 

Jason scoffed, eyebrows furrowed and expression in a snarl. “Whatever, freak. You would defend that hick. It’s not like she knows anything but how to farm and suck-” 

A sickening crack echoed through the ice cream shop and in a blur of arms and legs, you saw Jason laying across the tile flooring, holding his nose while groaning. Eddie stood over him, fists clenched at his side and shaking as your heart soared. “Now leave, jackass. Otherwise I’ll do a lot more than just break your nose.” Eddie’s tone took on a fearful growl, your skin raising in goosebumps and your face heating up as your breath was caught. Something about the boy who was usually chipper and overly flirtatious with you turning into a ticking time bomb at the first instance of you feeling unhappy made your heart skip a beat and your legs squeeze together. Jason scrambled to get up, dropping a 50 dollar bill on your table, rushing with Chrissy out the door. You shyly rounded the corner, watching as Eddie glared after them, hands still clenched. 

“Eddie?,” You softly called, the middle of the ice cream shop empty except for the two of the and the few teen employees who were probably waiting for you and Eddie to leave in fear of the protective metalhead. 

Eddie spun around, face softening as he walked up to you, careful to not touch you as he searched your face and person. “You alright? I’m sorry those two were being such jerks-” 

You felt your heart thump in your chest as you looked up at him, biting your lip. “Why did you do that?” 

Eddie looked shocked, his face going ashen. “You saw that?” 

You nodded. 

Eddie ran a hand down his face, sighing and looking about 5 years older. He bit his lip for a bit before looking at you and sincerity came across his face. “Look, I know it seems silly but…I like you a lot. Your silly little twang, the way you dress. I love how every time I go to Benny’s I know if you’re there based on if Dolly Parton is played on the old jukebox. I love how cute you are when you’re annoyed and how you’re the most polite person I know unless it’s with me. I like ya, Darling. And I don’t really like people messing with my things or friends,” He trailed off, playing with the rings on his bloodied knuckles, gaze drifting away in shyness. 

Your heart jumped to your threat, your mind racing. Now all the pieces of the puzzle made sense to you. Why Eddie hummed Dolly around you, why he left honeysuckles in your mailbox back home, or why he would stop by the dress shop at least once every few weeks claiming to be looking for something for his ‘cousin’ only to leave empty handed. You felt your insides turn syrupy sweet as you melted and kicked yourself for not realizing sooner. 

“Now we don’t-” 

You cut him off with a hand, looking up and smiling. “Tomorrow. Pick me up at 6 P.M. Dinner.” You poked him with a manicured nail softly in the chest, giving him a stern look. “And dress nicely please. It’s a date, not a football game.” 

Eddie perked up, grinning ear to ear as he blushed dark red. “Y-yeah, okay.” 

You walked off as he stood there in shock, completely forgetting about the big stain on your dress and waving bye, butterflies erupting in your stomach. You couldn’t wait for tomorrow.

[snowleopardcrk]

Modern Humans AU - CR:K

OKAY SO, me and a friend have been working (on and off) on a Cookie Run: Modern Humans AU ever since summer of last year.'

While the AU takes place in an alternate reality of ours (America, France, etc etc) do exist, but other fictional countries like Estuilor do! This is where the AU mainly takes place in, particularly in Holmur County that is located in the largest region (Jouhun) of Estuilor.

The country itself has French as a second language while its main language is Estuilsur. This is the entire list of Cookies we have included so far, including OCs!

White Lily Pure Vanilla Wildberry Crunchy Chip Sea Bunny (OC) Snow Leopard (OC) Moonflower (OC) Dark Cacao Dark Choco Royalberry Moonlight Stardust Sea Fairy Sorbet Shark Herb Sparkling Mojito (OC) Herbling (OC) Basil (OC) Golden Cheese Rich Cheese Sweet Dream (OC) Cloudy Pyrite (OC) Oat Milk (OC) Ristretto (OC) Latte Cashew (OC) Rose Champagne (OC) Pecan (OC) Marzipan (OC) Blanc de Noirs (OC) Blueberry Pie Blueberry Eclair Eclair Grand Madeleine Teacake (OC?) Sea Salt Madeleine Glazed Madeleine Honey Madeleine Financier Madeleine Espresso Macchiato (OC) Chouquette (OC) Strawberry Crepe Affogato Roguefort Black Pearl Captain Caviar Squid Ink Larimar (OC) Coral (OC) Pastry Red Velvet

Pure Vanilla is currently a retired ER Nurse and is now a Botanist, White Lily works in pathology, Espresso is a former Math Teacher now Chemist (he subs in sometimes), Madeleine is a military general of the army, Dark Cacao is a former military general, Wildberry and Crunchy Chip run a massive sheep farm (with Snow Leopard as their recon / barn cat), Golden Cheese & Black Pearl run their respective jewel stores and are rivals... This is the simple list of everyone's jobs, not everyone currently has one but will soon! I don't believe we won't add anyone more to the cast until we have finished filling in all of the current info of our cast.

Once I and my wonderful friend have completed all of the basics, I may open a ask blog for this au (it is quite vast!), and do not worry, the google docs detailing the world and these au variants of our beloved characters will be released soon-ish!

Sorry for all of the tags and i can't every single character ^^'

[daisyful-gvf]

sweet as berries (part 3)

18+

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pairings: josh x reader

word count: 6.7k

notes: so obviously halloween has passed 🤭 but this is the vision i had for this chapter, so we’re gonna keep with it

playlist

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-🍓-

“C’mon, for me?” he grinned.

You rolled your eyes affectionately and extended an open hand. He plopped the red and black flannel shirt into it.

You tugged it over your t-shirt and he beamed.

“Told you it would look better on you,” he quipped.

“Do you have another one you can wear?” You pouted. You loved him in flannel.

“I do,” he grinned, going to pull it from his closet, “That one is my cozy one, though,” he pointed at the shirt he’d just given you, “Wanted you to have that one.”

You smiled at him as he pulled on his; it was brown, orange, and cream. He looked stunning in it.

He held his arms out to show you, and you nodded in approval.

“Let’s go then, Berry. The gourds await us!”

“The what? The pumpkins?” You giggled, standing up to grab his hand.

“Yes, the fuckin—the pumpkins, Berry, c’mon now,” he grinned and rolled his eyes as if you were so incredibly silly for not opting to call them gourds.

He led you down to the Jeep and opened the passenger seat for you.

I know we’re both feminists but quit being stubborn and let me be nice, he had said the first time you reached for the door handle and he had swatted it away. It made you blush.

You queued up directions to the pumpkin patch and he put on the music. Bob Dylan, of course, as Josh said.

He reached for your hand with his right as he drove with his left. You held it, obviously, because there was no sweeter feeling than his palm on yours. His hands were always a little cold, as were yours, so together you warmed them.

Things were getting comfortable recently. You tried not to think too much about it, because it was still undefined.

You thought maybe Josh liked it that way—he never liked labels, he ‘didn’t feel like the universe called for them’, or at least that’s what he said when you two had gotten drunk and stumbled upon the conversation of sexuality a couple years ago.

Or maybe he didn’t want to say anything to scare you off, though you didn’t think that was possible. So you tried to let things be, hoping he felt the same.

After that night just over a week ago, you’d agreed to talk about it later. It kind of happened; there was a conversation. But you’d essentially said you liked him being with you, and he said he was so glad this all had finally happened, and then you made out and didn’t bring it up again.

So here you were, headed to a pumpkin patch, something that seemed very much like a date.

“Sing with me,” he shouted over the music, pulling you from your thoughts.

You smiled and did as he asked, singing along to all the words you knew.

“You should have my job,” he shouted.

You looked over at him and felt the breath catch in your throat.

His teeth were flashed in a wide grin, eyes somehow bright and warm at the same time, apples of his cheeks doting just a few freckles from the summer sun. His curls were wild from the wind coursing through the Jeep.

Maybe you were in love.

Maybe that was a crazy thing to think so soon.

It wasn’t really that soon, though. You’d known him for so long, he felt like home already.

“Berry? Whatcha think? Wanna be the frontman?”

He focused back on the road but reached his free hand up to touch your chin. You grabbed it and pressed a kiss to his fingertip.

“Only if you can be my groupie,” you smiled.

“Ah, sounds like a dream,” he giggled. He looked over to you as you pressed another kiss to his finger. His eyes focused on it momentarily, and his smile softened, before he had to watch the road again.

Shortly, you arrived at the pumpkin patch. The gaudy decorations, strung up handmade signs, and the smell of cinnamon roasted pecans made you smile as you got out of the car.

“How’s this for fall, huh?” He beamed, roping you into a tight hug.

“Perfect,” you smiled back, giving him a firm kiss on the cheek. You could hardly believe you could just do that now—just kiss him on the cheek, grab his hand, whenever you wanted.

“Let’s go, Berry. I want some apple cider,” He rubbed his hands together before taking yours again, and you followed him to the entry gate.

He found the apple cider stand in a shocking amount of time.

“I could smell it, how could you not?” he had said when you questioned him.

He bought two large cups, and for a moment, you simply sipped the warm drinks and smiled softly. The tip of his nose was red and it made you want to kiss him.

So you did, gently pushing the cup from his mouth and initiating a slow kiss. He hummed into it, and tasted of apples and cinnamon.

His smile was wide when you separated.

“That was nice,” he took another sip, “Got more of those for me later?”

You nodded and curled your hands around the cup to warm them. The Michigan air was crisp, but not unbearable.

“What do you wanna do first?” He smiled, “Wanna go pick out some god awful things from the gift shop?”

“When you put it like that, how could I say no?”

“Perfect!” he laughed, “Let’s go get my Berry something overpriced and ridiculous,”

There it was: my Berry. You weren’t sure how much more of that you could take without knowing where his mind was.

Dismissing the thought, you followed him to the little shop, full of different fudges, apples, candied nuts, and of course, the dumbest, most charming little trinkets one could find.

After tugging you through the store like a child, pointing out things left and right, he settled on a bracelet rack.

“M’looking for one that says Berry, but they don’t seem to have it,” he giggled to himself, spinning the shelf slowly. You laughed, unable to help it.

“Damn,” you sighed, “Maybe this one?” You held up one that said ‘Daddy’s Girl,’

He choked on a sip of his cider.

“Ah, yes, perfect,” he giggled and shook his head, “Jesus. Are you into that?”

It was your turn to be shocked, and as your mouth fell open and your cheeks flushed.

“Oh, what? Now you’re too shy?” he grinned.

You shook your head with a smile and put it back, finding one instead that said “Joshua”.

“Might get this one, actually,” you smiled as you held it up.

“Yeah?” He grinned and spun the rack until he found your name, “I’ll get this one, then,” he tucked his bottom lip under his teeth—his nervous habit—and showed you the beaded bracelet.

Your heart ached all at once, but not all in a sweet way. You wished you understood what was going on here; why he was buying a bracelet with your name on it, taking you on a date, and yet still hadn’t made any sort of indication that you both were, to put it childishly, a thing.

You couldn’t pass all the blame to him; you hadn’t brought it up again, either. Regardless, it left you slightly hurt and confused.

“You okay?” Josh asked softly, hand reaching for your wrist.

You took a breath and nodded, offering a gentle smile. He didn’t look convinced, but he led you slowly through the store. You told yourself again to try and enjoy the day—there was no need to work this all out right now.

Josh bought both of the bracelets, some kettle corn, and a bag of cinnamon candies, then led you both back out into the crisp air.

“Gimme your wrist, Berry,” he said softly, fumbling with the gift store bag to retrieve the bracelet.

He took the “Joshua” one and fastened it around your wrist. Each bump of his fingertips made your cheeks warm, as if it was the first time he touched you.

“Do mine for me?” He grinned, handing it to you. Taking it, you pushed back his flannel sleeve and tightened it around his wrist.

“That’s cute,” he beamed at them. “I think—“

He patted his pockets and murmured “Shit, did I bring it?”

Finally, in his left flannel pocket, he pulled out a disposable camera.

“Ah!” he smiled, winding it up. He held your hand mid-air and snapped a picture of the bracelets.

You could not deny, it melted you. You looked at him with a chest full of warmth.

He looked up, catching your glance, and smiled at you. Quickly, somehow having already wound it, he pointed the camera at you and it clicked. You blushed.

“Thought it would be worth bringing this along,” he waved the camera momentarily before stuffing it back in his pocket.

He took a deep breath, and the exhale was just barely visible from the cold.

“Can I kiss you?” he asked shyly.

You nodded, leaning into it. You kissed a few seconds longer than you should have, perhaps, in a crowd of people with their children. But fuck ‘em, he was yours to kiss.

He pulled away only barely, and smiled crazily at you,

“Let’s go get the gourds,” he said.

“Oh my god,” you groaned at the phrasing, “You and your gourds,”

“Thought you liked my gourds?” He grinned, turning to walk you both towards the tractor.

You cringed hard at the joke, giving a pained laugh. He joined.

“Yeah, I’m sorry for that,” he giggled, “Not my best work. Let’s go get some pumpkins, sweetheart. I have to show you up when we carve them later,”

“Aw,” you pouted, “You’re so right, cause I planned to go easy on you,”

“Ah, of course you did,” he grinned.

You made it to the tractor to take you out to the pumpkin patch and waited your turn before finally getting on. Josh helped you with a strong hand up into the trailer, where he patted the hay bale next to him for you to sit.

On the short ride, he pointed to the brightest colored trees, and to the deer he saw far off in the field. You watched him, eyes lit up like a child’s, his cheeks and nose pink in the wind. His hands were warm as they cupped around yours. He made your heart ache, he looked so sweet.

in love

You suddenly felt that you could nearly cry at the thought. You wanted him to know, even if it was too soon, even if it was crazy. You bit your bottom lip and took a deep breath, focusing on the red-leafed tree he just pointed to.

The tractor halted with a jolt, and everyone filed off, dispersing into the field of pumpkins.

You held Josh’s hand and pulled him along down a row that hadn’t been picked through yet. Your eyes danced between all of the pumpkins, white and cream and orange, beginning to look for the perfect one.

Josh stopped, causing you to come to a halt as well.

You turned to him to look for the reason he stopped, and as you did, the disposable camera was raised into the air. You could tell that him holding your hand was in frame—intentionally—and it made a smile naturally appear on your face.

Click.

“Beautiful,” he breathed, smiling. You grinned and attempted to turn to keep walking, but he held you still,

“Berry,”

He sounded…nervous?

You looked back to him. Yes. Nervous. His bottom lip was tucked under his teeth.

“Josh?” you answered back, moving to cup his cheek.

“Um…” he swallowed, eyes scanning over your face. He reached a hand up to cradle your jaw, “God, you’re pretty,” he smiled.

“You okay?” you murmured.

He nodded, “I’m much better than okay,” he said cryptically, a wavering smile on his face, “I, uh, was going to wait til later…til we carved the pumpkins, but,”

You looked at him expectantly and he continued to look more and more uneasy.

“But I don’t think that seems right anymore. I feel like you might be…” he took a breath, “I just think now is better.”

You nodded, a hope growing slowly inside you that he may be about to say what you have been wanting him to say. You tried to stifle it in case you were wrong.

“My Berry,” he smiled, and his voice trembled, “I want you to be my girl. I want you all to myself, if you’d have me,”

Your heartbeat doubled in time, and you were sure that you were grinning like an idiot.

“Please say something,” he breathed, his thumb gliding over your cheek.

“Yes, Josh,” you sighed, “Yeah, of course I will,”

“Yeah?” He was smiling as big as he could, “Wanna be mine?”

You nodded, leaning in to kiss him hard. The cold air stung your cheeks, but the warmth of his lips melted you.

You kissed him over and over, until you could hardly breathe.

“As long as you’re all mine,” you murmured into him between kisses.

“God, yeah, I’d love that,” he kissed your cheek. “Been wanting to ask you pretty much since the first night, I just…” he pulled away, “I wanted to be sure you felt the same. And I wanted to do it right, I didn’t wanna ask, like, after we drunkenly made out for the first time.”

You giggled, feeling giddy, “This was good,” you nodded, “M’glad you did it like this,”

“Yeah?” He held his palm to your cheek and let you muzzle into it, “Seemed like you were waiting for this all day, I won’t lie. Didn’t seem right to wait any longer,”

“Honestly,” you nibbled at your lip, “Yeah. I was,” a laugh bubbled out of you, “Not in an…impatient way. I was just…I was ready. M’glad you asked.”

He nodded and leaned in for a final kiss.

“Let’s pick out our pumpkins, sweetheart. I don’t want the tractor leaving us here,”

You nodded and smiled, squeezing his hand tight.

Not long after, you found a perfectly round pumpkin with a pink tint, and after a short inspection, you hoisted it up to carry it.

“S’a good gourd you found there, Berry,” he winked and you groaned again.

“Josh, please stop saying gourd,”

“I won’t!” he chirped, the next row over, lifting up a dark orange pumpkin, “And I just found my gourd, so we’re all gourd to go,”

“Oh my god, I’m leaving you here,” you laughed, “I can’t have a boyfriend that makes this many gourd jokes,”

You turned to look at him when he didn’t laugh.

“I’m kidding—“

He was looking at you with a stunned smile.

“What?” you asked.

“Feels nice to hear,” he grinned, “boyfriend”.

“Oh,” you could feel yourself blush. “Yeah,” you bit your lip, “it is nice.”

He nodded, looking like he was in a gentle daze, as he climbed over the tangle of vines back to you.

You walked back to the tractor and took a seat on the bales next to each other, feeling like you were in your own, love-filled bubble. No one else could understand the magnetism.

When you made your way back, and after forcing Josh to carry your pumpkin as well, you went through the checkout and made your way back to the Jeep.

The ride home was dreamy, as the landscape shone with autumn leaves, the music was wonderfully acoustic, and you felt at home with him.

•••

You both went back to your apartment, as this little night of festivity was intended to be Jake-free, and that was practically impossible at the Kiszka’s.

Immediately after setting the pumpkins down, Josh was making spiced hot chocolates.

“Regular hot chocolate is just not as good, or as autumnal,” he ranted, “trust me.”

“Okay,” you giggled, setting out knives and a bowl for the pumpkin innards, “I trust you, Kiszka,”

“Hey, now,” he chided, “There are too many Kiszkas for you to be calling me that,”

“Alright,” you sighed, coming up behind him as he dolloped Cool Whip on the drinks, “I trust you, lover,” you pronounced the word as saccharine as you could.

“Oh,” he whistled, “I liked that a little too much, Maybe don’t call me that,”

You giggled and pressed a kiss to the side of his neck, “Or what?”

He spun around and drew you into a kiss.

“Or we’re not gonna carve any pumpkins because I’m going to kiss you until your lips fall off, and you’ll be all sad about it,”

“Mmm,” you hummed into another kiss, “Fine, I do want to carve pumpkins,”

“I know you do, sweet girl,” he guided you gently out of the kitchen, “Go put on a movie for us, doll. I’ll get some snacks together.”

“Please include the kettle corn,” you shouted over your shoulder, headed to turn on the TV.

“Of course I will include the kettle corn. I’m not insane, Berry,” he shouted back.

You giggled. Once again, you were left feeling stunned that he was yours. You put the movie on and made your way back to the table.

Josh walked over with the hot chocolates and a smile as you took a seat.

“For my Berry,” he sat the warm drink in front of you.

He had sprinkled cinnamon on top, and used your mug shaped like a ghost. You beamed at him. He sat his drink on the table. As he turned to head back to the kitchen, you grabbed his flannel.

“Oh?” He spun around to you.

You tugged on it, pulling him in.

He was inches from your face, then, lips teasing yours. The scent of him and cinnamon clouded your senses. He grinned wildly.

“What’s this?” He murmured.

You just kissed him, sweet and slow. He exhaled against you, lips parting at the second kiss, his tongue teasing your bottom lip.

“Berry…” he sighed, “Hey,” he pulled away and swiped a thumb over your cheek, “Thought you wanted to carve pumpkins?”

“I do,” you bit your lip, “You’re just so sweet,”

You pulled him by the collar back into you and he hummed, almost pained, as he began to lick at your mouth.

After a moment, he pulled away abruptly.

“Later,” he said, then kissed your cheek, “Later, I’ll kiss you all you want, I promise. Let’s enjoy the festivities for now.”

You sighed, relenting, “Okay.”

“Try your cocoa while it’s warm,” he said with a grin as he slipped back into the kitchen.

You took a sip of it, and not at all to your surprise, it was delicious. Cozy, like him.

He came back with a platter of kettle corn, pretzels, and halloween candy.

“Made this myself,” he sat it on the table.

“Very gourmet,” you laughed.

He kissed you on the forehead before sitting down beside you. He took a sip of his own cocoa and hummed.

“It’s really good,” you smiled, taking another sip.

“Mm,” he nodded as he set his mug down, “Thank you, doll.”

His head turned quickly toward the TV, then back to you. He was beaming.

“The Shining!”

“Yes,” you giggled, “for you,”

“Ah, I knew you’d be good to keep around,” he kissed your cheek. “Now, what will you be carving into your gourd this evening?”

You rolled your eyes, not bothering to scold him for his choice of words, “I dunno, actually. Was hoping the inspiration would come to me as I cleaned it out.”

“Spoken like a true artist,” he nodded, spinning his pumpkin on the table, “I might just do the classic jack-o-lantern, y’know? I feel like you can’t go wrong with that.”

“Yeah,” you nodded encouragingly, “Do it, babe. It’ll be good,”

He nodded again, grabbing the knife and beginning to cut the lid of the pumpkin.

“Be careful with that, please,” you murmured, watching him closely, “You’re not usually very cautious,”

A laugh bubbled out of him. He focused on guiding the knife through each cut, “You don’t think so?”

“No, Joshua,” you grabbed your own knife and began to work, “I’ve seen you do so many dumb things,”

“Joshua?” He giggled more

“Yes,” you found yourself giggling with him, “I happen to like your full name,”

“Okay then, Berry,” he murmured, “You can call me whatever you want, as long as I’m yours, I don’t care,”

You paused to smile at him. He glanced over at you, shooting you a soft smile.

“And when have I ever done a single dumb thing?” he pried the lid off the pumpkin and grabbed a spoon, beginning to scrape the insides.

“Oh, do not get me started,” you reached over to ruffle his hair. He giggled and grabbed a piece of kettle corn, popping it into his mouth.

You felt awash with something emotional and sweet; being with him was so effortless.

“Fair,” he nibbled his bottom lip as he cleaned out the pumpkin. You grabbed your spoon and began doing the same, and quickly, you were both covered up to the elbow in pumpkin innards.

“This feels so…,” he laughed, scooping more of the insides out, “…wet.”

“Babe,” you laughed at him, “Please stop while you’re ahead.

“What?” he giggled again, “I wasn’t gonna say anything else.”

“Sure you weren’t,” you rolled your eyes.

“Dirty minded, you are,” he grinned at you, tossing the last of the seeds into the bowl you had set out.

“Can’t help it when I’m around you,” you joked.

“Oh, I know,” he kissed your cheek as he headed into the kitchen to wash his hands.

“Leave the water on, I’m right behind ya,” you said.

You cleaned your pumpkin out the rest of the way and walked into the kitchen.

He was patting his hands off on a towel as you approached the sink.

“Choose your design yet?” He asked, handing you the towel.

“I’m thinking of doing the moon phases,”

“Ooh, I like it,” he stepped close to you, backing you into the kitchen counter.

“What’re you doing?” you grinned up at him.

“Just want a kiss,” he kissed your cheek softly, then trailed kisses to your mouth.

You pushed eagerly back into it; you wanted him, there was no way around it.

He groaned, surprised, and quickly he was licking into your mouth.

You sighed, letting your body push up into him, sucking his bottom lip into your mouth.

“Berry,” he breathed between kisses, “The pumpkins,”

“Just,” you kissed him hard, “Just fucking kiss me for a minute, please,”

“Yeah,” he nodded, large hands coming up to cup your face. He was such a good kisser, always attentive to what you were doing, following along and working with you like a dance. His lips were soft and tasted of cocoa, and his tongue was heavenly.

After a moment, he was lifting you, sitting you on the counter without missing a beat, pushing himself between your legs. You groaned and threw your arms around his neck, pulling him close.

“Fuck,” he sighed into the kiss, growing more fervent.

You hummed and nodded slightly, hardly able to breathe but not daring to pull away.

The wet sounds of the kisses echoed in the kitchen, only joined by the soft sound of the movie in the living room.

“Berry,” he kissed your cheek, “Let’s, uh,” he trailed a kiss down to your jawline, “Mm, the pumpkins,”

“I know,” you took a breath, trying to calm yourself, “Okay, well don’t do that or I’m taking you to my room,” you hooked a finger under his chin and pulled him off of your neck gently.

“That sounds like a threat,” he giggled. His face was flushed, lips swollen. You had to force yourself to focus on his eyes.

“You really do not fight fair, babe,” you grinned, “How do you expect me to calm down?”

He soothed a hand over your hair, “If I can do it, you can do it,” he lifted you from the counter and set you gently on the ground, “Let’s get to carving, I promised you we’ll do that after. I meant it,”

You nodded, letting him lead you back to the table.

Settling back into your seat, you took another sip of the cocoa, and then began to draw the moons on your pumpkin.

Josh went straight for the knife, beginning to carve the eyes of the jack-o-lantern.

“Just going straight for it?” You smiled.

“Of course, Berry,” he smiled, focused, “You said it yourself, I’m a little reckless.”

You laughed and took another sip of the cocoa.

There was a comfortable silence as you both worked, sipped the cocoa, and grazed on the snacks. You began carving as he was finishing the last few teeth on his pumpkin.

“Tell me why you like this movie so much,” you nodded to the TV, “I know you do, but you’ve never told me why.”

“That’s a can of worms, Berry. You sure?”

“Mmhm,”

“Well,” he began to poke the carved pieces of his pumpkin out, “Kubrick is my favorite director, so I guess that sums it up more generally, but. I love the use of color…it’s so stark, jolting almost, which really fits with the goal of the movie—to unsettle, y’know? I think that’s what a lot of good art does, but this especially. I mean, it’s a horror film, so,”

You carved away, listening to him.

“And the writing is just so perfect, it’s not overdone, it’s not lacking. The actors help, of course, I mean you can’t tell me someone else could have done what Nicholson did, or Shelly Duval, for that matter,”

You grinned, listening to him. He must have noticed.

“Am I—” he took a breath, “Is this boring?”

You turned to him with a soft expression, “No, no,” you encouraged, “I’m enjoying it, keep going.”

He nodded, “I think it accomplished exactly what it wanted to. And I never get tired of it because I always notice something new. That’s just the start of it, really, but if you wanted to hear more I’d have to, y’know, put the movie on and talk all the way through it,” he chuckled.

“I like listening to you talk about film,” you smiled, beginning to poke out the pieces of the moons you had carved, “I always have. You light up when you do.”

You could feel him grinning at you as you worked.

“How about you? You like this movie?” he asked.

“I do,” you grinned, “One of my favorites to watch around Halloween.”

“Ah, well I’ll wear it out for you, don’t worry.”

You nodded, smiling, cleaning out the last of the carved pieces.

After wiping off the stray bits of pumpkin here and there, you sat back and admired your work. You turned it to Josh, then.

“Berry!” He grinned, reaching out to trace a finger over one of the moons, “I love it. That’s perfect,”

“Yeah?” you smiled, “Let me see yours,”

He spun his to reveal the jack-o-lantern face, its smile curling up dramatically, a mix of cute and spooky.

“You did great, babe,” you leaned in to kiss him quickly, “Let me get the candles.”

He nodded and stood up, grabbing the lighter from his back pocket and waiting as you retrieved the tea lights from your cabinet.

When you came back, he was taking a picture of the pumpkins on the disposable camera, which made you smile.

You set a candle in each of the pumpkins, letting him light them carefully before placing the lids on top.

“Let’s go set ‘em outside,” you said, hoisting yours up into your hands.

He followed you to the balcony with his, where you set them on the ground amongst a few barely-alive plants, and a few thrifted decorations.

“Perfect,” he beamed, leaning back against the rail. He extended his arm to you, inviting you to lean against him. You did, resting your head on his shoulder as you both gazed at the pumpkins.

“They look cute together,” he said, and you could tell he was smiling without looking at him.

“They do,” you agreed.

“I had a lot of fun,” he said softly. You turned to him, letting him take you into his arms. “Had a really good day,”

“Me too,” you murmured, “I’m really glad you um…that you asked me. I really…” you bit your lip in a smile, suddenly nervous, “I care about you a lot”

“Me too, Berry,” he pressed a kiss to your cheek, “And I know that I know you so well already, but,” he kissed near your ear, “As cheesy as it may be, I’m excited to get to know you like this,”

He intertwined his fingers with yours at your side, holding your hand. He pulled back to look at you, “You…intrigue me, and mesmerize me. And you make me feel so…”

“At home,” you finished, biting your lip.

“Mm,” he nodded, “Exactly.”

His eyes traced over your face. “Gonna kiss you,” he whispered as he leaned in.

You nodded as you met him in the kiss.

It was warm and passionate, so much so that it made you dizzy.

The kiss devolved quickly into something needy. Soon into it, a soft whimper escaped him. You sighed at the sound.

“I want you,” he said against your lips.

“Please,” you breathed, “Yeah,”

He nodded, splitting from the kiss with a smile to let you guide him back inside.

You tugged him to your bedroom, not bothering to even turn the light on, pulling him up on the bed with you.

“I wanna see you, though,” he pouted in the dark.

“I have a candle on my nightstand,”

“Ooh, romantic,” he giggled.

“Shut up,” you laughed.

He lit the candle with his lighter, and the room glowed orange.

“Jesus, you’re so gorgeous,” he sighed, crawling back over to you. You met him in a needy kiss.

He was leaning over you, laying on his side as you laid on your back. His hand rested on your stomach, his other cupped under your ear, holding your head.

You licked into his mouth, sucked on his lip, traced your tongue over his teeth; anything to feel closer to him.

“Your tongue,” he whimpered, “Fuck,”

You giggled, pleased with yourself, “Yeah?”

“Mm,” he hummed.

“Where else do you want it?”

“Oh,” you could feel him shiver, “Jesus, I—do you…do you wanna—“

“Yeah,” you breathed, “Yeah, come here,”

“Fuck, okay,” he laid down, beginning to work at his buckle.

“Let me,” you murmured, sitting up to undo it. He nodded, exhaling shakily.

You got his belt loose and undid the button on his pants, and with a bit of work, you were able to pull them down and off.

Moving back up to kiss him, you palmed him through his boxers for a moment before hooking your fingers in the band.

He was responding to every touch with a noise or a twitch of his body. You were greedy for each and every movement he gave you.

The two of you had only done this a handful of times. There’s been more foreplay than anything; everything was still brand new.

After pulling his boxers off, you settled between his legs, and looked up at him as you began to touch him. You grinned at him still having both shirts on.

As you began to suck on the head of him, he threaded his fingers through your hair. He sucked a breath in through his teeth.

You looked up at him as you licked several stripes over him, watched as his lips parted at their own will.

“Good girl…” he breathed out, so soft you could barely hear it. Your stomach flashed hot and you groaned, pulling your mouth off of him and letting your head fall against his thigh.

“Oh, god,” you breathed.

“What? What did I do? Are you—are you okay?” he sounded concerned.

You looked up at him, eyes heavy with lust, “You…” your cheeks were hot, embarrassed to repeat it back to him, “I liked that.”

He blinked, trying to sort out what you were saying. It dawned upon him, and he grinned, “You did?”

You nodded, licking at him again.

“Okay,” he said softly with a smile, “Good to know.”

Instead of addressing it any further, you clamped your thighs together and took him all the way down, bobbing around him.

“Fuck,” he gritted, “Yeah, mm,”

You let yourself go, letting all the built up tension flow out of you, spit dripping around him as you sucked and licked.

After a few minutes, he nudged your cheek with a gentle hand.

“Baby,” he whined, “Lay down, lemme take your clothes off,”

You did as he asked, laying beside him.

He was on top of you, then, working to remove your shirts and your pants, stripping you as quickly as he could, leaving a kiss here and there as he uncovered skin.

When he was done, he laid back down flat on the bed.

“Come here,” he motioned up by his head as he stripped his shirts off. You cocked your head at him, getting up on your knees beside him. He reached for your thighs and repeated himself, and you groaned.

“Josh,” you breathed, “You mean—“

He nodded, “Yeah, sweetheart, come here, sit on my face,”

“Fuck,” you whimpered, so turned on you couldn’t think, “Are you—“

“Don’t you dare ask me if I’m sure,” he grinned, still reaching for your thighs, “Hell yes, please, I want it,”

“Oh my god,” you groaned again, doing as he asked, putting a thigh on either side of his head.

“Holy fuck,” he was whimpering, looking up at you hovering over his face, “Baby…” he hooked his arms around your thighs and drew you down.

As vulnerable as you felt, the moment his tongue slipped against you, nothing else mattered. Matching groans fell from you.

You could hear a muffled, ‘fuck’ escape him as he licked at you.

His tongue had proven to be lovely over and over again, but this—this was so intimate, and so close and raw. You pressed down into his face, effectively riding his tongue, and he was taking it so graciously.

You skimmed your hands over your breasts, taking a deep breath as he licked at you, before looking down at him.

He peeked up at you, eyes half-lidded, so glossy and lust-blown, and the sight weakened you. You threaded your hands through his hair and whimpered, trying desperately to keep your body from buckling out from under you at the way he was undoing you.

Somehow, despite him being near smothered, he was making a good bit of noise.

So were you, when you could afford a breath.

“Fucking—babe, that feels so fucking good, please,”

“Oh god, I think I’m gonna cum, don’t stop,”

He nodded just so, and with his velvet tongue and determination, you were shaking on top of him, gripping your headboard as you came, nearly doubling over.

You could feel and hear him whimper as you did, and then he was pulling you up just barely to speak, “Fuck, I’m so hard, please get on top of me,”

You nodded, moving yourself down his body and lining yourself up with him, letting him push up into you.

“Oh,” he groaned, eyes rolling.

You leaned forward, kissing his cheek, beginning to ride him.

“That was so hot,” he was whimpering, his hands skimming over your ass, feeling you bounce against him, “We’re doing that more. We’re doing that like, like every day,”

You laughed, kissing him softly. You pulled back to look at him.

“Really,” he grinned, “Jesus Christ,”

“I could say the same,” you breathed, rolling your hips down into him.

“Yeah, fuck, sweetheart, kiss me,”

You clashed your lips together as you rode him, enjoying the way he sounded, the way his hands held you, how he filled you.

Then, he was pulling away with a gasp.

“Wanna be on top, Berry. Wanna fuck you,”

You nodded, laying against him and letting him flip you over.

Wasting no time, he was grabbing your hands, pinning them gently above your head as he held them, and leaning down to kiss your neck.

He rolled his hips into you at a steady pace, and you kept your knees bent, letting him lean all the way against you.

He kissed your cheek.

“You feel so good, sweet girl”

“Fuck, babe,” you groaned.

“I know,” he kissed you, “I’m—I’m close already, I—,”

“Me too,” you nodded, “Please,”

“Fuck,” he kissed your temple, fucking into you quicker, “That’s it, sweetheart, be good and cum with me,”

“Oh, fuck—” you whimpered, squeezing your eyes tight as it hit you.

He slammed into you, groaning, his chest falling against yours as he slowed, fucking you gently through it.

“Jesus Christ, Berry,” he breathed against your cheek, pulling out slowly and lying beside you. You curled into him immediately, resting your head on his chest.

You laughed, weightless, “Yeah.”

“Yeah,” he giggled. He took a deep breath, “So…good girl, huh?”

“Josh,” you blushed, “Please don’t make fun of me, or—“

“No, no,” he turned and cupped your cheek, “Not at all, not at all. It’s—it’s hot, I’m sorry if it felt like I was teasing, I’m just…” he took a breath, “I’m glad you said something.”

You bit your lip and scanned his face, willing the embarrassment away, “Yeah?”

“Yeah,” he said softly, “You can always tell me. Anything.”

You smirked, “You really liked me sitting on your face, huh?”

“Yeah,” he groaned, rubbing a hand over his face, “Yeah, don’t talk about it or I’ll get hard again,”

“Okay,” you giggled, “I liked it too.”

He looked at you, eyes soft, “Good, sweetheart,” he said softly. He leaned over to kiss you.

Slowly, you parted.

“This is gonna be fun, you know,” he smiled, tracing a thumb over your cheek, “Figuring all this out, what we like…what we really like.”

You knew you blushed, but were pretty sure he couldn’t see in the low light. He was right, though.

“Mm, yeah,” you nodded, “We probably should get to work on that pretty quickly,”

“Mm, agreed. In the morning?” he grinned.

You nodded, kissing him again.

“Let me get something to clean us up, sweetheart,” he said, sitting up to find a shirt.

“Ahh!” Josh yelped towards the door.

You sat up, heart pounding, scanning the room, “What?”

He sighed, “You still have her?” he pointed to the corner.

Oh.

“Oh, Pepper? Yeah,” you smiled as your cat meowed and jumped up on the bed.

Josh nodded, “Jesus, sorry. I just saw a shadow and it scared the shit out of me,”

You laughed, petting Pepper’s head.

“Thought you left her at your parent’s house,” he reached out and let Pepper sniff his hand. After she head butted it, he grinned and scratched her chin.

“Only for a bit, then she moved over here.”

“Mm,” he smiled wider at her, “Sorry, Pep, I’ll pet you more when I’m clothed,”

You laughed. He slid off the bed and found his shirt on the floor, wiping you off with it, then himself.

“Want a drink? Some water?” he offered.

“Yeah, that would be nice, thanks, babe.”

He nodded and slipped through the doorway. You pet Pepper and grabbed the TV remote from your nightstand, turning Coraline on.

Josh came back in with two waters.

“I locked the door and turned the lights off,” he smiled, joining you in bed after shutting the door.

“Thank you,” you smiled, taking the water, “You’re quite sweet, you know.”

He shot you a cheesy grin, “I try, Berry, for you,”

Pepper settled at the end of the bed, curled up in a ball. You took a large sip of the water and then cuddled up to Josh, his skin warm against yours.

“Coraline, huh?” he grinned, sipping his water, “Good choice.”

You hummed, feeling sleepy.

“My Berry,” he leaned down to kiss your head, “Get some rest, sweet girl.”

You nodded, smelling a hint of cinnamon on his skin, drifting easily off into sleep.

-🍓-

taglist

@starshine-wagner @dannywagners-middlefinger @writingcold @kels-gvf @aconfusedhippie @jordierama @fearless-wanderer @finelinejpm @thehourbeforesunrise @madz-0217 @gretavanbitches

[paxtonrp]

THEY SAY SMALL TOWNS ARE BORING...

PAXTON, AZ may just be a blip on the map, but there's plenty to do if you pay attention to your surroundings. Below are some of the events the town has to offer for the month of October.

OR SO THE STORY GOES

. . . . . . OCTOBER EVENTS - From Oct. 1st - 31st.

DANNY BANDITS - Tuesday Trivia Nights (Every Tuesday; 6-10p)

Listen...even bandits need to know some random tidbits of knowledge. Take a crack at random trivia games hosted every two hours (6-8; 8-10) and try to win yourself a free meal (drinks included). Trivia is western-themed -- we had to stay a little on brand. Cheaters not tolerated.

PAXTON FRONTIER ARENA - Drive-in movie (Fri. October 4 & 18th)

The arena isn't just for rodeos. Specifically, the parking field occasionally sets up shop to show a few movies during the slow months. Tickets start at $8 dollars per adult, and $5 dollars per child. Refreshments and concession stands will be available and are not included in adult ticket pricing. All children get a free bag of popcorn and a bottle of water. As always, bring your own vehicle and blankets.

October 4 @ 7:00p - Howl's Moving Castle (Genre: Animation; Rated PG) October 4 @ 10:00p - The Shining (Genre: Horror/Thriller; Rated R) October 18 @ 8:00p - Never Let Go (Genre: Horror/Suspense; Rated R) October 18 @ 11:00p - Speak No Evil (Genre: Horror; Rated R)

PRAIRIE PIES - Pick n' Play Games (Every Wednesday & Sunday; all day)

If you can pick up the board game or the pack of cards then you can play all day with a pie on the side. One game per table. At the counter there are card game competitions. Competitors are able to pick from a variety of prizes (i.e. a free dessert, a specialty soda, or a Prairie Pies t-shirt).

PRICKLY PERK - Late-Night Flights (Available every day from 8:00p - closing)

Perk is trying something a little different this October -- extended hours. So for all you coffee connoisseurs, stop by and enjoy a late-night flight (exclusive fall flavors described below). Flights are only sold between 8:00pm and this month's new closing time (midnight). Caffeine-free and frozen versions are available upon request. All flights include five 8 ounce drinks of your choice.

* All lattes can be made with ice - Apple Butter Americano An indulgent blend of sugar-free apple syrup, sugar-free caramel, honey, cinnamon, and espresso. A perfect treat for those who want their sweets without all the calories. - Apple Cider Cappuccino Silky light espresso, apple syrup, cinnamon syrup made with your choice of milk (skin, almond, oat, or half and half). It's a little like a warm hug. - Caramel Pecan (available as a latte or macchiato) Available with low-sugar and sugar-free syrups. A simple, but well-loved creamy blend of caramel and pecan syrup. Add a dollop of whip cream and sprinkles of pecans for some extra crunch! - Peach Cobbler Latte Who says peach cobbler is only for summer? Well, not around here. Peach and vanilla syrup come together with a rich espresso to make a sweet and bold drink. - Pumpkin Perk Spice (available as a latte or cold brew) The belle of the fall ball. You know her and you love her. Rich espresso combined with velvety steamed milk, and infused with our signature pumpkin spice mix. - Saguaro Sunset Small but mighty, this espresso shot has a sweet, dark chocolate flavor with a hint of smokiness. - S'mores Cold Brew Who doesn't love a fall bonfire? We'll bring the bonfire to your table as a smooth cold brew coffee. This cold brew features marshmallow fluff and mocha syrup. Optional toppings include whipped cream or cold foam, and graham cracker crumbs. - Spiced Pear & Honey Latte A combination of (you guessed it) espresso and ripe pear with a touch of honey and cinnamon syrup. It's a fresh and fragrant flavor meant to warm the body and soul. - Spicy Mocha Latte It's coffee with a kick, and we think it sums up these parts pretty well. Espresso, chocolate, and a hint of chili spice, and your choice of milk. You'll thank us later.

RUNAWAY BAY - Fall Falls (Every Thursday-Saturday; 9pm-midnight)

Prickly Perk isn't the only Paxton business extending their hours -- come by to Runaway Bay and bring your suit to enjoy the Fall Falls. Runaway's Fall Falls feature a late night drift through the lazy river, which features dark waters, gothic scenery, and frightful sights. Don't worry, though -- the only chills you'll feel will be from the thrills and not the weather. Runaway is fully-indoors and heated all year round.

TRAILBLAZER THREADS - Clearance Clear-Out (All Spring and Summer items)

Summer's over, but the sales are not! Stock up now on your favorite styles from spring and summer and get a head start for next year! All clearance items are an additional 30% off.

. . . . . . ROLLING EVENTS — Will occur every month from here on out.

BACKYARD BUS - Backyard Games (every third Saturday of the month)

It's like the Olympic Games but the only medals are a free 55 ounce margarita for you (and your friends if you like to share). The Backyard Bus hosts the Backyard Games every third Saturday of the month. The Games include corn hole, life-size Jenga, UNO, and Mexican Train. The winner of 3/4 games earns their prize.

DESERT BLOOM WINERY - Winery Tours (Last weekend of the month; weekdays by appointment only)

When a town has a winery there are tours naturally. Desert Bloom Winery tours operate by appointment only Monday-Friday. However, if having a schedule isn't your thing, you can always stop by on the third Saturday of the month to join one of the open tours. As a note, these tours are first come, first serve. Desert Bloom has four tours of up to 10 on any given day. Wine tasting is included of course.

THE GLASS CACTUS - Genre Bend (First Friday of the month)

Small towns may have a reputation for being close-minded, but that's not the case when it comes to the Glass Cactus. On the first Friday of every month, the Cactus introduces the public to a new music genre -- it's ultimately the DJ's draw, but you're guaranteed to find some new tunes.

MAIN STREET MARKET - Artisan Alley (First and third Saturday & Sunday of the month)

Paxton's Main Street Market features a rotating group of local artisans on the first and third weekends of the month. Tent locations are random and fully based on availability when a vendor registers. It's a ten dollar flat rate for registration.

PRICKLY PERK - Open Mic Night (Monday, Thursday, & Saturdays)

Prickly Perk hosts local bands, poets, and singers every Monday, Thursday, and Saturday evening. New acts always get assigned to Monday, but can work up to Thursday and Saturday night performances based off how well the community turns out for their shows.

THE SILVER SADDLE - Wednesday Woes & Saturday Specials (Every Wednesday & Saturday)

The Silver Saddle offers drink deals two nights a week. Wednesday Woes is a buy one get one free deal and, well, it's mainly to drown in the woes of it only being Wednesday. Saturday Specials includes discounted prices on whatever drink the bartenders' choose. Sometimes the bartenders pick margaritas, other times they pick shots of whiskey -- it's one big surprise.

. . . . . .

COMMUNITY EVENTS at PAXTONRP are more or less ideas for how the writers can utilize locations in their threads/to get an idea of some activities available in town. They are not mandatory for writers to use in threads/have their muses participate in. You also do not have to wait until the day the event starts to make a thread (i.e. if you want your muse to view a movie showing on October 18, you can post your thread at any point in October). As a note, the admins do not center events around holidays since we know not everyone celebrates holidays/the same holidays. However, writers are more than welcome to have holiday-centered threads and HCs for their muses and the locations their muses are visiting.

[foodstoriesindia]

Exploring the Flavors of American Cuisine: A Recipe Collection

American cuisine is a melting pot of diverse flavors and ingredients from different cultures, creating an array of delightful dishes. Whether you’re craving something sweet or savory, these handpicked recipes from Foodstories will guide you through some of the most beloved American classics and inventive modern twists.

American Cuisine: A Recipe Collection

1. Pecan Pie Bars

A bite-sized version of the iconic Southern pecan pie, these Pecan Pie Bars are rich, gooey, and filled with the nutty sweetness of pecans, making them the perfect dessert for any occasion.

2. Gluten-Free Chai-Spiced Banana Bread

Warm spices meet the natural sweetness of bananas in this gluten-free twist on a classic. Try our Chai-Spiced Banana Bread for a comforting and flavorful treat that’s perfect for breakfast or dessert.

3. Brown Butter Peach Cobbler

Capture the essence of summer with this Brown Butter Peach Cobbler. The nutty richness of brown butter adds a gourmet twist to the juicy peaches and crumbly topping.

4. Blueberry Dutch Baby Pancake

This Blueberry Dutch Baby Pancake is a fluffy, oven-baked pancake filled with juicy blueberries. It’s a perfect weekend brunch option that’s simple yet elegant.

5. Cinnamon Pecan Pralines

These Southern-style Cinnamon Pecan Pralines offer a buttery, crunchy sweetness with a hint of cinnamon, making them an irresistible snack or dessert.

6. Cinnamon Sugar Bread Twists

A delicious blend of soft bread and sweet cinnamon sugar, these Cinnamon Sugar Bread Twists are the perfect snack for any time of day and a hit at gatherings.

7. Snickerdoodle Cookies

These Snickerdoodle Cookies are a timeless American classic. Soft and chewy with a cinnamon-sugar coating, they offer the perfect balance of sweetness and spice.

8. Medjool Date Snicker Bars

For a healthier take on candy bars, try our Medjool Date Snicker Bars. With the natural sweetness of dates and the richness of peanut butter, they’re a guilt-free indulgence.

9. Frozen Yogurt Barks

Light and refreshing, these Frozen Yogurt Barks are a customizable, healthy snack loaded with fruit and nuts. Perfect for warm days or a quick, guilt-free dessert.

10. Whipped Avocado Toast

This Whipped Avocado Toast takes the classic avocado toast to a new level with creamy whipped avocado on top of crispy bread. It’s a trendy and nutritious breakfast option.

11. Avocado Oil Mayonnaise

Elevate your sandwiches and salads with this homemade Avocado Oil Mayonnaise. Made with heart-healthy avocado oil, it’s a fresher and tastier alternative to store-bought options.

12. Truffle Mac and Cheese

Indulge in the creamy, cheesy goodness of Truffle Mac and Cheese. The luxurious addition of truffle oil elevates this classic comfort food into a gourmet masterpiece.

13. Avocado Smoothie

For a healthy and delicious drink, try our Avocado Smoothie. It’s creamy, nutrient-packed, and perfect for a quick breakfast or post-workout snack.

14. Raspberry Rose Chia Jam

This Raspberry Rose Chia Jam is a fresh and fruity spread with a subtle floral note. Perfect on toast, pancakes, or as a topping for yogurt, it adds a gourmet touch to your everyday meals.

15. Flavored Butter Board

Create a stunning and flavorful spread with this Flavored Butter Board. A fun twist on traditional butter, it’s perfect for entertaining or adding something extra to your daily bread.

Conclusion

American cuisine offers an incredible variety of flavors and textures, from sweet and indulgent desserts to savory, comforting meals. These recipes will take you on a culinary journey through some of the best that American cooking has to offer, whether you’re looking for a classic dish or a creative new twist. Try them out and bring the taste of America to your kitchen!

[kitchenwitchtingss]

RECIPE INDEX

(This is a continuously updated quick-access list of all my uploaded recipes.)

BAKED GOODS AND SWEETS:

WITCHY SAGE BUTTER ROLLS

BAKED APPLE HAND PIES

STOP BEING SO HARD ON YOURSELF FUDGE BROWNIES 

WITCHES PUMPKIN PIE 🥧

ANGEL’S AWARD-WINNING LEMON POPPY SEED BREAD

ANGEL’S SWEET HOTCAKES

RED VELVET CAKE FOR SELF-CONFIDENCE

“LOVE YA LIKE A LOVE SONG” FUDGE

WITCHES FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE CAKE

BAKLAVA

MAGICK CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES

WITCHY THUMBPRINT COOKIES

SWEET CREAM BUNS

LATE WINTER BUTTER ROLLS

BRING ME POSITIVITY PECAN FRENCH TOAST BAKE

MAPLE BUTTER COOKIES

WITCH STYLE VEGAN CHAI LATTE COOKIES

PUERTO RICAN STYLE AVENA OATMEAL WITH A WITCHY TWIST

SAVORY THINGS AND DINNERS:

LUCKY LENTIL SOUP

WITCHY MUSHROOM LINGUINE

WITCHY BREADED COCONUT CHICKEN TENDERS

FEEL BETTER CHICKEN SOUP

WITCHY SAGE SKEWERS

A WITCH’S COZY BUTTERNUT WINTER SOUP

MAGICK BUTTER CHICKEN FOR GAINING BALANCE AND CONTROL

WITCHY KOREAN STYLE PORK CUTLET

HERMES HONEY BEER BATTER FISH

COTTAGE CORE MEAT PIE

NO FAKE FRIENDS WITCHES RAMEN

SWEET AND SOUR CAULIFLOWER FOR PROTECTION

WITCHES STEAK DINNER 

WITCHY TOMATO BASIL SOUP

SNACKING:

ANGEL’S SUMMER SALAD FOR HAVING A DAMN GOOD TIME

HONEY ALMOND CEREAL BARS FOR HAPPINESS

HOT COCOA TO WARM A ICY HEART POTION

EDIBLE VEGAN COOKIE DOUGH RECIPE

SABBATS:

LUGHNASADH SWEET CORNBREAD

PAN-FRIED LUGHNASADH CHICKEN

LUGHNASADH BLACKBERRY DANISHES

LUGHNASADH HARVEST SALAD

SAMHAIN SOUL CAKES

EARLY SAMHAIN PUMPKIN BREAD!

BELTANE STRAWBERRY LEMON PASSION BARS

{Updated 08/10/23}

[hetalia-club]

More coffee shop stories please? I was also wondering if you had a coffee shop AU.

So the town I work in has this big steel factory and because of that we get guys from Germany who work here part of the year and then they go home, idk what the deal is with that. I think because they either make something for Germany or use steel from Germany. No idea But Germany is involved in some way, this much I know for certain.

I tell you that to tell you this. Throughout the year we get German people on rotation like some come in the summer and then the others come in the winter but it's the same ones every year. There's this one German guy who just started coming this winter, idk if he's new or if he's just never come in before. I never really liked him because I didn't know how to read him. Like the first day he came in HE ordered a Mocha with maple and Butter pecan and I made it for him and sat it down and he looks me dead in the face and said. "Um, you know this isn't coffee right?" And I said. "Oh yeah then what is it?" and he was like. "Hot Chocolate" and I was like "Ight, that's cool...6.19...." And ever since then he's come in every day and got a new overly sweet drink. We have non sweet drinks, and just like regular ass espresso. I can make you whatever you want...Like you need only ask. But for some reason he feels the need to order a sweet drink and patronize me for it as if I had anything to do with his decision making.

A couple weeks ago he came in and he was like "I'm going back to Germany for Christmas..." And I was caught by surprise because he normally doesn't talk and is just a little shitty about ordering the coffee he wants every day and being like "It's not coffee though..." It's like "THEN DON'T ORDER IT! Also go away and leave me alone, I'm busy, like always." So I was like. "Oh cool, that'll be nice." And he was quiet and he was like. "I didn't like you at first..." And I was super irritated by that because like... rude? And also who asked, you don't have to like me I make your coffee that I think you hate and that's the extent of our relationship we don't even know each others names. So verbalizing you didn't like me seemed unnecessary. So I was caught off guard because he never talks to me and then when he decides to that's the bull shit he decides to say. and I was like. "Yeah.... I still don't like you." Which isn't exactly true because I don't know him enough to form an actual opinion on him and i also just felt like being a bitch because you know two can play that game. Idk if he was trying to get me to drop my American customer service attitude with him but once I did that he talked to me every day like about work and stuff, I wasn't listening ever but he seemed to like that I pretended to. Anyway...I think he's in love with me now <3 (he told me his name was Markus btw. I didn't even ask....)

You can write a story about that if you want lol. But no I don't have a coffee shop AU.