#technically would be my second time drawing him? but it looks much better this time than last time when it came to improvement haha

[dadbots]

(6/29/24) an attempted Leon Kennedy sketch... W.I.P

[darqx]

If you didnt come to party [get the hell out of this club]

In which there's some links to old art - I've been getting a number of asks that are already technically answered so that's just what I'm gonna be doing if i can even remember what RAD they originally came from lol.

❗️For commonly asked qs please see my BTD FAQ

UNFORGIVEN.

Yes he can speak at least two demon languages (commons and a more specialised one).

Not really cos the ichor will eventually disappear if it's not in contact with Rire for a while lol. You ever wonder how someone could mysteriously drown whilst not being around anything they could have drowned in? Yeah.

I have drawn several such instances a long time ago. But it's not really Rire flirting with Ren it's more him being like...subtly condescending to Ren since Ren's submissive level is not very interesting to him |D

I...think you may have possibly mistaken me saying Rire might cry if he was in severe pain to mean that's the only time he could cry XD; To answer your q, yes Rire can cry from emotions - the point is he would choose not to (esp in public) as that would be a weakness.

🤔 You could probably get away with the same dress design but in black, tbh (if it was Lady Rire). Since the outfit design is 1930s/1940s based Rire's equivalent would be like...a 3 piece suit with a long overcoat/trench coat.

Got you covered bro [from a suit meme I did before]

Rire has a very long life span, but he's not immortal XD;

Tbh I don't really have thoughts about any of other peoples headcanons. Like I'm generally quite neutral towards headcanons because I primarily deal with the canon; the extent of my thoughts would be like "hm i wonder how they came up with that" lol.

This is actually in my FAQ :d but good of you to check for permission! If it's your own artwork then yes it is ok to make fanmerch of Rire. Similarly Gato allows fanmerch of her BTD and TPOF characs as long as it's your own art you are selling (and not like, our art/someone else's fanart that they didn't give permission to turn into merch).

It would be in Cain's best interest not to.

Cain is literally saying Olé Olé because i happened to be listening to this song at the time.

I can barely keep up with my ask box as myself let alone do it while pretending to be a charac lol, so no 😅 You can find a bunch of the most common qs in the FAQ pages though.

No and not really - though he is a bit more sensitive to light compared to a human as he has much better night vision than a human. He may also be able to see more colours than humans 🤔

There is technically no "stereotypical" demon in my 'verse, there's a bunch of different species each with their own looks/powers, so if he was another species then he'd have their physical characteristics. Rire's species is considered "plain" because outwardly they can pass more easily as a human than say; Izm's species (who have a really noticeable Glasgow smile-esque mouth as one of their physical features).

Yes he was born a demon...to his demon parents...|D;

He's the king of his sector and his sector is pretty well-to-do, I think you can draw your own conclusions from that lol.

Maybe, depends on what the human in question does with that.

Your second q has two answers depending on what context I answer them in, so I'll reply in the BTD context keeping in mind a charac like EP's Cain :d Basically yes Rire would be able to sense them like he does other demons. It's not a specific sense of "THIS CHARAC IS AN ANGEL" but more like "this charac is not human" and depending on what else he gets from it a "in your best interests to not engage".

Something big with long black fur and yellow eyes, maybe like a Norwegian Forest Cat or a Maine Coon.

[jinistd]

𝐊𝐈𝐓𝐓𝐘

p. hyunjin × fem!reader

g. smut & fluff

w. 4K

content warning: smut, explicit sexual content, unestablished relationship, smoking, hyunjin gets high, consensual, hyunjin is a service top, use of pet names (hyunjin calls reader kitten/kitty)

masterlist

“-y/n?” she hears Felix call from beside her. The younger had been yapping all period about the party tonight, and y/n didn’t mean to be rude, she really didn’t, but she couldn’t help her mind drifting off onto more important things! Said things being a certain someone that has been making appearance after appearance in her daily daydreaming. Now she's not exactly complaining per se, but she is a little confused as to why her friend has been plaguing her mind more frequently than usual. It could be anything really, from his soothing voice to his dark brown eyes that always held an emotion Y/N couldn’t quite decipher, to his big, veiny hands that always had Y/N's mind drifting to other things. Things like how they would look in hers, how they would look around her waist, or between her thighs-

“Y/N!” You are again pulled from your thoughts as Felix gently kicks your leg under the table, whisper-yelling so as to not draw too much attention to you. You look at him sheepishly, brows drawn together with a small, apologetic smile on your face. “I’m sorry Lixie, what were you saying?” The boy’s frown only deepens, inching closer to you.

Felix squints his eyes as if he’s trying to find something. “Are you ok? You’ve been zoning out lately. Like, more than usual.” He diagnoses, again leaning further into your space, and at this point, it probably looks very odd from an outside perspective.

Blinking, you wonder if you should tell Felix what you've been thinking about recently. Telling Felix would mean also telling Han indirectly, but that’s technically not a bad thing because Han has much better advice than Felix anyway. You decide that it wouldn’t hurt to tell your best friend.

You purse your lips, looking at the professor at the front of the classroom. “Felix, may I ask you something?” You start hesitantly, cheeks tingeing lightly as you keep your eyes away from the boy next to you. Felix raises a brow with a ghost of a smirk creeping its way onto his face, pulling away from you to lean back in his chair.

“Of course, Y/N! What’s got the puppy blushing?” The nickname only stirs your insides a little bit, nowhere near the sensation when Hyunjin calls you by the name. You gather yourself momentarily, piecing together your thoughts and looking around just to make sure no one is paying attention to you, which is unlikely for how far away you guys are from the rest of the class, and the amount of people. “How do you know if you like someone?” you finally let out, rushed, searching your friend's eyes for any minute reaction. It’s not like you doesn’t know you like Hyunjin, you're sure you do, but it seemed like the safest question to ask.

Felix's face shifts from surprise, brows raised, and mouth parted slightly, to smug almost instantaneously. “Oh? Does Y/N have a crush?” He asks, voice saccharinely sweet and teasing.

Leaning forward to shove his friend's shoulder half-heartedly, you whine, “Don’t tease! Just answer the question.” You sit back in your chair, watching as Felix feigns hurt for all of five seconds before he’s back to smiling at you. This time it’s downright maniacal, reminding you of the Cheshire cat, and you're just a bit terrified as the boy opens his mouth to say something. “It’s Hyunjin, isn’t it?”

The blush that was slowly fading has come back in full force, bright reds painting your cheeks as you freeze. Felix gasps, eyes wide and mouth agape. “Oh my god, It’s totally Hyunjin!” He concludes, giggling like a kid at Christmas as he stares at your panic-stricken face. “Lixie it’s not funny!” Huffing, he turns away from his friend and to his notebook, which is barren of the notes they should’ve been taking. Felix seems to catch onto the fact that you are genuinely worried about whatever is going on and decides to save the teasing for later.

“Y/N, I don't know exactly how you feel, but Hyunjin definitely wouldn’t turn you down if you asked him out.” He assures because really, the elder would probably leap at the chance to go on a date with you. I mean who wouldn’t? You may not know, but most of their friends had developed a crush on him at some point, all having gotten over it, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t happen.

You seem confused by his statement as he tilts his head to the side, eyes asking Felix a question. “What do you mean?” you say softly, almost as if your scared to know the answer. And to this, Felix just kind of stares at you for a moment, trying to figure out if you are making a joke. But your face doesn’t change one bit, staying in a state of confusion. He looks to the side as if there's a camera before turning back to the still-confused Y/N.

“Y/N, do you really not know?” Felix asks slowly, letting the words settle in the air around you. Dark hair shifting as you shake your head, you let out a small ‘no’.

At this, Felix laughs lightly, disbelieving at just how oblivious you are. “Hyung looks at you like you’re the only person in the world. He has these heart eyes, you know? And have you seen him around other people? Bro could not care less about anyone but you, he doesn’t even try to hide it! He’s also really rude to people who try to flirt with him, like, he looks at them like he’s disgusted by their presence. Disgusted Y/N! Have you really never noticed? He’s so obvious about it too…” He trails off, realizing that you had gone silent as he ranted about their older friend's behavior.

When Felix looks over at you, your face is blank with surprise, eyes widened and your bottom lip falling. “He doesn’t do that…” Your voice is nowhere near convincing.

“Sure, he doesn’t.” Is all Felix says before changing the subject again, but you are hardly paying attention.

You are two seconds away from running out the front door of the house. You rarely go to parties, and every time you do, you're reminded as to why. It’s loud, so loud, there's people grinding on each other everywhere, and you lost Felix in the crowd, so you're all alone at a party where you don’t know anyone. Yay!

You're looking around the living room for anyone you may know, or just to not look like an idiot, but either works, and you're almost successful! You think you see Hyunjin sitting on the couch rolling a blunt on the table in front of him, but as soon as you're about to walk over, something—no someone— is blocking your view.

“Hey.” The stranger smirks down at you, the warped smile looking all types of wrong on his face. It makes him look creepy and gross, causing you to cringe at their closeness.

“Can I help you?” You force yourself to be polite, manners still thoroughly intact even in the undesirable circumstances. The boy only increases the disgustingness of his smirk, raking his eyes up and down your body.

You shift in your spot as you look away, uncomfortably folding your arms over your chest and trying your best to glance over the stranger’s shoulder in search of Hyunjin. But the older isn’t on the couch anymore. You deflate, only to suck in a breath at the feeling of an arm being wrapped around his shoulder.

“Hi Baby.” Hyunjin’s voice is a whisper in his ear, lips brushing against the skin. You flush as a shudder runs through your body, you turn to look up at Hyunjin in surprise, his eyes already burning into yours. “Jinnie?” You question softly. Your faces are so close together, you wonder if the taller can hear your heart racing at the proximity.

Hyunjin’s hand comes up to your face, caressing your jaw. “I was looking for you,” He giggles, leaning in closer to your face, inches away. And he makes it sound so real, as if he really was looking for you amidst the crowd, which after the information Felix had shared with you earlier today, has a good chance of being true. Suddenly, Hyunjin looks away from you, eyes set on the stranger who is still standing there, his gaze murderous.

“Can I help you?” The taller spits, standing to his full height and dropping his hand down to your waist to pull you into his body. The boy practically squeaks before scurrying off with his tail between his legs, leaving you two alone.

Your body immediately deflates, leaning yourself into Hyunjin’s comforting hold easily. “Hi Jinnie.” You mumble, turning your head back to look at the older.

Hyunjin softens at the sound of your voice, your eyes finally meeting again. “Hi Y/N-ah.” You preen at the name, your name always sounding different when Hyunjin says it, but to be fair everything sounds different when Hyunjin says it. Better in every way.

He leads the younger to the couch, right where he had been sitting before saving you. Hyunjin picks up the rolled blunt from the table and reaches for the lighter in his pocket.

“y/nnie.” He calls simply, letting the name permeate in the air. You tilt your head to the elder, looking up at him. You aren't sitting far apart at all, thighs touching as Hyunjin lays back against the couch with the new blunt resting in his mouth. His left-hand falls to your thigh, rubbing small and comforting circles into the rough material of your jeans.

It wasn’t comforting at all though, you immediately flush at the feeling of the elder's large hand on your thigh. It was a regular occurrence for Hyunjin to put his hands on you, but each time it set your body alight with nerves.

“Kitty,” God. This boy must want to kill you.

You choke, sputtering as you continue to stare at Hyunjin’s side profile. The elder takes a long drag, holding it for a few seconds and then exhaling. He turns to you. “You should try this.”

And you probably shouldn't, but when Hyunjin’s looking at you as if he's the only person in the room while asking you to do something that seems so mundane, how could you possibly say no? You're a weak woman.

So, you take the offered blunt and presses it to your lips, not really knowing what to do next. Hyunjin seems to understand your dilemma and takes mercy on you because you next hear instructions on how to smoke properly.

“Suck it like a straw, inhale, hold, exhale. Do it gently, or you’re gonna cough.” He smiles at you, teasing as you give him a quizzical expression and nods your head hesitantly.

You still cough. Violently. Your lungs burn as you hand the offensive object back to its original owner, who is now laughing. “Stop laughing!” You whine when you finally catch your breath, throat still burning. Hyunjin’s hand squeezes your thigh tighter as he laughs, head tilted back towards the ceiling. A shiver runs down your spine, Hyunjin is so hot.

“C’mere, kitty.” He grabs the back of your head and tilts your head manually. Stilling, you lay pliant in the others' grasp.

Hyunjin takes a long drag before leaning in, meeting eyes with you wide-eyed and confused. Your lips are parted slightly, just enough so that Hyunjin can lightly press his own against yours to let the smoke travel into your mouth.

The touch is gone as quick as it came.

Hyunjin's own eyes are lidded as he watches. “Suck, inhale, hold, exhale,” he murmurs quietly to you who follows his directions as best as you can, sucking it in like a straw, inhaling, holding, and exhaling.

This time it's much smoother, but the smoke travels from your mouth to Hyunjin’s in a puff, the older boy sucking up the last remnants of it in with confidence.

They're close, so close. You're practically on the other’s lap with how much you had compensated when Hyunjin pulled you in. The air between you is thick as Hyunjin brings the blunt back to his mouth, this time connecting your lips in a real kiss, letting the smoke cloud up around your mouths.

Your eyes flutter shut as they meet, Hyunjin's hand on the back of your head like a brand, heavy and hot. The one that moves to your thigh is no better, tugging on you just enough for you to get the hint that he wants you to sit in his lap. Again, you're a weak woman for Hyunjin, so you go without question.

You feel small like this, sitting in the lap of your friend. You moan against Hyunjin’s mouth as the older grips your waist, it’s not the strongest because the blunt is still between his fingers, but it's more than enough to leave you with the feeling of molten hot desire pooling in your gut.

“Jinnie…” He mumbles into Hyunjin's mouth, curling a fist into his jacket. When he opens his eyes, he sees the gaze the older has fixed on him, lust and want swirling in his dark, hooded eyes.

“Yes, Kitten?” The elder asks teasingly, leaning forward to nip at your plump lower lip. He’s reminded of the blunt in his hands though, pulling it away from your body and taking another hit.

Before he could exhale though, you connect your lips once again, holding onto the side of Hyunjin's face with one of his hands. The kiss is messy, saliva pooling in your mouth and spilling over the corners as Hyunjin kisses you back just as desperately.

But as you continue to share the blunt, your kisses and touches become languid and sweet, delving down into something less rushed. It's still filled with lust however, you're still minutely grinding up or down into each other in the middle of a party on a stranger's couch, but somehow it feels different.

You smile and giggle as you pull away, the weed hasn't hit either of you yet, but you feel light and airy as he stares at Hyunjin.

“Y/N-ah, you're so adorable.” Hyunjin coos, squeezing the side of your waist with no real force. You blush and giggle again, leaning back down to press a peck to the elder's lips. “Jinnie, do you maybe wanna…find a room?” You ask cautiously, making sure to hide yourself in Hyunjin’s neck as you do, hoping that it would serve as a covering.

The content smile on his face grows to a large grin as he cradles the back of your head. “Why don't we go back to my place? It’s only a few minutes from here.” He offers, placing a kiss to your head.

You don't know how the atmosphere changed so quickly. Just a minute ago you were practically cuddling on the couch with a side of kisses and grinding, but now the frottage has gotten out of hand and you're shaking against the elder.

“J-Jinnie! Please, please, please. I’ll be good! I’ll be so good, I swear…” You beg desperately, eyes watering with unshed tears as you stare up at Hyunjin through his lashes.

The older had been teasing you for so long. You just want him to do something to alleviate the ache of your cunt. Hyunjin has his thigh between your legs, pushing down harshly at times, or just simply letting you grind up against him.

He grins down at you. “Yeah? Does my kitty want more?” Hyunjin chides affectionately, his hand holding the side of your face as you relax into the touch.

“Yes.” The way you look is downright seductive. Your clothes aren't even off and your already drooling, hair messy as it lays over your head like a halo, and you're looking up at Hyunjin with these sinfully gorgeous eyes, wide and wanting, pooling with lust. He's sure he doesn't look any better though, just as effected as you in this whole endeavor.

Hyunjin finally lets up, taking his hands back and pulling himself away to take his shirt off. You whine at the loss, but it's soon quieted as you gasp upon seeing Hyunjin without a shirt.

“Jinnie you never told me you worked out…” And for some reason, you sound sad, as if you really were upset that Hyunjin never told you. He pulls off his pants too, letting both articles of clothing fall somewhere on his floor as he moves back to you.

“Baby, are you sure you're ready?” He asks, pausing with his hands on your waist. You thrash, “Jinnie if you don't fuck me right now.” He huffs, trying to sound intimidating but it just comes out as weak and breathless.

Hyunjin's eyes darken, hands working quickly as they rip off your pant and underwear down in one motion, tossing them on the floor and exposing his glistening cunt. “Or what? Hmm Y/N? What are you gonna do if I don't fuck you?” His grip tightens on your hips, blunt nails digging into the soft skin.

There's no bravado in your voice as he speaks, it's lost the longer Hyunjin stares at you with a gaze so hungry and primitive. “I’ll go find someone else.” It's said as a whisper, because it's the furthest thing from the truth—you don't want anyone else other than your Hyunjin to fuck you.

Hyunjin seems to think it's funny, for he tosses his head back in laughter, hands absentmindedly reaching for the fabric that's left on your body.

“We both know you wouldn't even dream of that. ‘Cause you're such a loyal kitten, yeah?” Hyunjin mutters the last part directly into your ear, hot breath hitting the shell and sending a shiver down your spine.

You squeak, Hyunjin's hands finding purchase under your shirt where your chest meets your torso. You nod your head fervently, eyes closing.

Hyunjin only chuckles, crowding into your space. “Yeah, that's right. You're my good girl, aren't you?” It's rhetorical, but you can't help the small, shaky ‘yes’s you let out as Hyunjin kisses down your neck. He pokes his tongue out, letting it taste the subtle saltiness of your skin. Hyunjin sucks harshly at your collarbone, you whimper at the feeling.

“Jinnie. please. Do something…” Your just so desperate. You've been kissing and touching for what feels like hours: Hyunjin has been teasing you for too long and now you're brimming with desire.

When the first tear spills down your cheek, Hyunjin finally takes mercy on you.

“Shh, baby let Jinnie take care of you.” Hyunjin mutters into the furnace that is your skin, pecking the side of your mouth before moving down your body and settling between your legs.

You feel your cunt throb with a fresh spurt of slick as Hyunjin breathes hotly against your folds, just looking. His hands are supporting the underside of your thighs, pushing them up and apart to get a better view.

“Fuck kitty, you're dripping.” And the worst part is that Hyunjin is right. You can feel your arousal as it runs down your legs, it's the dirtiest you've ever felt but you're much too turned on to care.

You're just about to whine for attention again when you feel something warm and hot licking over your clit.

Hyunjin doesn't waste time, sparing you no warning before he abruptly licks a thick stripe up your slit, lapping at the juices that coat your pussy. He groans at the taste, always knowing you would be sweet.

Unable to resist the urge to voice his opinions, Hyunjin speaks his mind. “You taste so good, Y/N.” He hums into you, your pussy clenching around nothing at the praise.

“Jinnie…” You whisper, broken and weak. When Hyunjin looks up at you, your eyes are closed, and your face is drawn up tightly.

Hyunjin sucks harshly at your clit, thighs twitching in his hold. “Ah!” You gasp, your hands instantly moving from their grip on the duvet to lightly grabbing at Hyunjin's hair.

Hyunjin can barely hold back the sounds he’s making, small groans and hums leaving his mouth and vibrating against your entrance as he moves to focus more on it.

Swirling his tongue around the soft hole, he lets your legs rest on his shoulders. You sound so heavenly like this, moaning and whimpering, so fucked out just after a few touches.

His hands massage the skin between your thighs and ass, going back to sucking your clit like candy. Above him, your hands tighten their grip, only serving to spur Hyunjin on.

He flicks his tongue over the swollen bud, pink and puffy with need over and over, making your stomach heave.

“Hyunjin! Ah—Jinnie, so s’good.” You babble, lips shiny and wet with saliva. Hyunjin moans at the sight of drool escaping your mouth and slowly dripping down your chin, feeling his dick throb in his boxers.

He licks into you as if he's been starved his entire life, tongue lapping hungrily over your clit as his nails dig into the soft flesh of your ass. Your legs shake on his shoulders as Hyunjin lets out a long hum, a gasp leaving your mouth at the vibrations. “Hyunjin!” You wail.

In response, Hyunjin presses a wide lick from your entrance to your clit, hooking his tongue around the bud and swirling it around in firm circles. You jolt, the feeling like no other as you moan helplessly.

“Such a good girl, your cunt’s so sweet.” He chuckles, voice gruff as he repeats the action. You are flushed a bright red, cheeks splotchy as tears run down them beautifully.

When your eyes meet, it's heavy, filled with emotion. Your voice is strained as you call for Hyunjin. “Jinnie.” You manage, letting one hand go from Hyunjin's hair in search of one of his own hands.

Hyunjin obliges immediately, slotting your hands together lovingly above your stomach. It's a stark contrast to the way he plunges his tongue back into your sopping entrance, licking up the slick that's now covering his mouth and chin.

He can feel you begin to spasm around him, plush thighs squeezing his head and neck. It’s so hot how you're so desperate, chasing your orgasm as Hyunjin continuously brings you further and further along.

“C’mon baby, be good and cum for Jinnie.” He can feel as you start to crumble, breath becoming much heavier as your eyes start to flutter, moans higher in pitch as you arch your back to push yourself further into Hyunjin's mouth. But it's the next line that really pushes him over the edge.

“Cum for me kitty.” Your mouth is frozen open in a silent scream, air caught in your lungs as your cumming on Hyunjin's face unabashedly. Your body shakes through the process, pussy clenching and unclenching around the elder's tongue in spasmed rhythms.

Hyunjin coaxes you through it all, letting you ride out your high by swallowing every last drop of your release. He doesn't stop until you push his head away with a trembling hand.

When Hyunjin comes up from his spot between your legs, he's met with your glassy eyes looking up at him with a sad look. “‘n/n what's wrong? Did I go too far? Was it too much?” He worries, words slipping from his mouth at a fast pace as his hands come up to cup your warm cheeks.

You shake your head. “Jin, you haven't come yet.” You mumble, pointing down to the very obvious boner he’s sporting. Hyunjin only laughs, thankful that he hadn't overstepped.

“It's okay pretty, I just wanted you to feel good.” Hyunjin assures, kissing your swollen lips sweetly. But it seems like it was the wrong thing to say because now your whining into his mouth.

Pulling away with wide eyes, Hyunjin gives you a curious look. “I want you to…” You look away, blushing furiously, and Hyunjin decides he will be having none of that, turning your head his way again.

“Want me to what?” He pushes, eyes now teasing and expectant. You wriggle in his grip, squirming under the heated gaze.

“‘Wan you to cum on me…” It's barely even a whisper, but Hyunjin still hears, breaking out into a large grin as you look away yet again.

Hyunjin lets go of your face, settling himself between the younger’s legs again. “Yeah? Is that what the kitty wants?” He drawls lowly, reaching into his boxers and releasing his cock from its restraints. He won’t last long at all, his cock is a violet red and it stands up tall, slapping against his stomach.

Gasping when you see the length, you can't help but imagine what it would look like to fit that inside you, what would it feel like. You always knew Hyunjin would be big, but this reaches new lengths.

Hyunjin sees the inner turmoil inside your mind. “Don't worry. Next time, I’ll open you up real nice for me.” He hums, wrapping his hand around the girth and sliding it against the wet surface of your still swollen pussy. Flinching at the sensation, you wince as the head of his cock rubs on his clit so deliciously.

Just as he had thought, it barely takes Hyunjin anything to come, the image of you biting his plump lips and looking up at him while your legs are spread so prettily is more than enough for him to be spilling over his hand with white, hot ropes squirting onto your folds with a loud groan.

He lays himself on top of you after that, careful of his weight but still cuddling into you. You were just so warm and soft. You can't blame him.

“I love you.” Hyunjin blurts into the hot skin of your neck, wrapping his arms around your waist and holding you tight. You giggle in his arms, placing a shy kiss on Hyunjin's temple.

“I love you too.”

[steddieas-shegoes]

falling is easy, catching is hard

rated m | also on ao3 cw: recreational drug use, implied sexual content tags: friends with benefits, secret relationship, shotgunning, mutual pining, getting together, love confessions

HAPPY BIRTHDAY @sidekick-hero!!! Sandy, you deserve the world, but this 3000 word thing will have to do for now 💖

💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗💗

December 19, 1985

Steve Harrington needed sleep.

Eddie Munson had the only thing that would put him to sleep.

But Eddie Munson also held a grudge, a reasonable one, but an annoying one.

“You want me to sell you the last of my good shit? For half price?” Eddie snorted. “You’re out of your damn mind, Harrington.”

“Munson, please. I wouldn’t ask if it wasn’t important,” Steve begged.

“Why would I do you any favors? You never did me any.”

Eddie crossed his arms over his chest, waiting somewhat impatiently for a response from Steve.

Steve didn’t have one.

Eddie was right; He didn’t really deserve a favor from someone who had let his friends make his first senior year absolutely miserable.

But Robin’s voice looped in his head: “Be vulnerable sometimes, Steve. People may surprise you.”

“Listen man, I just really need to sleep, alright? I’ve tried everything else.” Steve sighed. “This is pretty much my last hope.”

Which was a truth and a lie. He’d already tried smoking some weed, knew that it worked.

Eddie’s forehead creased in the middle.

That’s kinda cute, Steve thought to himself before shaking his head. Now wasn’t the time to get distracted by big, brown eyes and shiny lips.

“You been to a doctor?” Eddie asked.

“The sleeping pills make them worse.”

“Make what worse?” Eddie pushed.

“The nightmares.”

Eddie nodded once, understanding flitting across his face as he relaxed his arms by his sides.

“How long you been havin’ them?” Eddie asked as he walked around to the bench at the picnic table, opening his lunchbox.

“I guess…technically years. They’ve been worse since July though.” Steve knew he had to be careful about what he said, couldn’t give away more than what the public knew about what happened at the mall, but Eddie seemed trustworthy enough to handle this part. “Doctors said it’s normal for trauma or whatever.”

Eddie nodded, whispered something under his breath, and shuffled through his box.

“Forgot you worked at the mall over the summer. Kinda crazy what happened,” he said as he pulled a small discolored plastic bag from the box. “I’ll make you a one-time only deal, Stevie.”

Steve ignored the butterflies in his stomach at the nickname, kicked at the dirt under his feet, and gestured for Eddie to continue.

“I’m not giving my product away for half price. I’m a businessman and that’s not a smart financial decision for my business.” Eddie held up a hand when Steve looked like he was going to argue. “But! I will share a joint with you right here, right now, for free.”

“Um. What?”

“I was gonna smoke this one tonight as a celebration for passing all my first semester finals by the skin of my teeth. I don’t mind sharing if you don’t.” Eddie’s smirk made the butterflies even worse.

Steve was going to regret this.

God, he was so stupid.

“Yeah, okay.”

Smoking with Eddie the first time was nice, but the second, and third, and fourth times were even better.

— — — — — — —

January 16, 1986

“You’re late, Stevie. I was starting to worry you’d gotten frostbite.” Eddie’s smile warmed Steve from the inside out, the shiver wracking his body more to do with the growing fondness he had for the curly-haired man in front of him.

Eddie was bundled up like they were in Antarctica, and to be fair, it was below freezing outside right now.

Steve offered to meet somewhere else, but Eddie insisted they come to his usual spot.

And then Steve saw it: Eddie had built them a fire. It was small, he probably didn’t want to draw any attention from the road, but it was throwing heat that Steve craved.

“Come warm up before we get into it,” Eddie waved him over, his gloved hands looking out of place.

Steve was used to seeing shiny rings on his fingers, blisters on his fingertips from playing too much guitar.

Steve stood next to him in front of the fire, holding his own gloved hands out to try to warm his body as much as possible.

“Any reason I couldn’t just come to your house or something?” Steve asked, not quite getting rid of the attitude in his tone.

“My Uncle has tonight off. He’s a pretty chill guy, but I think actively watching me sell drugs to someone would maybe cause a heart attack.” Eddie sighed. “I told him I had a date tonight so I couldn’t really have you show up after that.”

“A date?” Steve grinned, nudging Eddie’s arm. “I didn’t even bring flowers.”

Eddie rolled his eyes, but looked away to cover a blush. “Yeah, well, don’t expect me to put out until there’s a dozen roses in my hand.”

He meant it as a joke surely, but something in Steve’s chest clenched at the thought of spoiling Eddie like that. Maybe not roses, that didn’t quite seem his style.

“I’ll try to remember them next time,” Steve managed to say, nearly choking on his own words.

What was he even doing? Flirting? Eddie didn’t even consider him a real friend, why would he want him to bring him flowers?

“Got a new strain tonight. It’s supposed to be a little stronger, but fades faster, so you should be good to drive back home in a couple hours.” Eddie pulled the baggie out of his pocket, lunchbox long gone after meeting twice a week for the last month.

Steve wasn’t really a customer anymore, no matter how they tried to keep up appearances that he was.

He still tipped Eddie, or tried to, but usually Eddie ignored it and just said it was a favor to help him sleep.

“How strong?” Steve finally asked as Eddie pulled the lighter from his pocket.

“Might make you a little floatier than usual. Not hallucinogenic, though.” Eddie knew he couldn’t handle that kind of trip. That’s why he stayed away from his other offerings. “I tested it out myself earlier this week.”

Steve wasn’t reading into that.

“Okay.” He fought off a shiver, this time from actually being cold. “Guess it’s worth a try.”

“I’ll drive you home if it’s too much.” Eddie’s offer was kind, going above and beyond what a dealer would do for a customer, but Steve wasn’t reading into it. “Or you can nap it off in the van for an hour or so before heading home. Whatever.”

Eddie lit the joint, breathing in long and slow, holding the smoke until Steve was sure he would pass out before slowly letting it out.

He handed the roll to Steve, who didn’t think about what Eddie meant by stronger, and took his normal pull, choking halfway through.

Eddie’s eyes widened as he took the joint from him, his hand grabbing onto Steve’s arm as he coughed.

“Jesus Christ, man, you good?” Eddie asked him.

“Yeah,” he coughed. “Sorry. It is a lot stronger.”

Eddie searched his face, relaxing as Steve’s breathing went back to normal. “Good?”

“Yeah.”

“Maybe take it slower?” Eddie teased. “Or- no never mind.”

“Or what?” Steve asked, already feeling the heaviness that came with smoking.

“Ever shotgunned before?”

Steve’s heart stopped. He’d venture to say he was even stone cold sober again after that question.

“Um. No.” He hadn’t. He’d wanted to with Nancy, figured it would be the only way she would be interested in trying weed, but it never worked out. “Would it be easier?”

“Yeah,” Eddie nodded. “Usually. We can give it a try if you want.”

Steve nodded before he really processed what he was being offered.

Eddie’s mouth would be very, very close to his. Possibly even on his.

And he’d be sharing breath with him, probably more than one if it worked.

Eddie pulled the picnic table closer to the fire and sat on the bench. He patted the seat next to him.

“Might as well get comfy, then,” Eddie said.

Steve sat next to him, close enough to feel the warmth coming from his side, close enough to hear Eddie’s hitched breath when they made contact.

Close enough to want to be closer.

“Alright, so I’ll start with a small one, and you just have to breathe in when I breathe out.”

“Is it-” Steve played with a loose thread on his gloves. “Your lips are gonna touch mine?”

Eddie suddenly looked nervous, like he regretted offering this at all, and Steve couldn’t allow that.

“I don’t mind! I mean, I want you to!” Steve panicked. “Like, it’s fine! I know we have to for the whole thing to work.”

“Yeah. Um, it’s not like, weird or anything. It’s just me helping you get high.”

It wasn’t weird, but it definitely was hot.

Eddie took a drag, leaned into Steve’s space, and cupped his jaw, tilting his head back for easier access.

Steve couldn’t breathe.

But he had to, that was the whole fucking point of doing this.

His lips parted and Eddie’s warmth coated him, covered him better than the fire.

He breathed in as Eddie breathed out, his hand seeking contact with anything solid to keep him on this earth.

He found it in Eddie’s hip, his fingers gripping tight as Eddie lingered beyond the point of the smoke clearing from his mouth to Steve’s.

Their lips brushed lightly, an agonizingly soft touch that Steve tried his best not to chase as it drifted away.

He bit back a whine at the loss, opening his eyes to see Eddie still surprisingly close, pupils huge.

It’s just the weed, Steve thought to himself.

It definitely wasn’t their almost-kiss.

Steve breathed out, swallowing once the smoke was gone from his mouth.

“Good?” Eddie asked.

Steve should answer him, should nod and thank him for doing this, maybe ask him for another hit so he could try to blame his fidgeting on being high.

But Steve wanted to kiss him.

Not shotgun, not barely brush lips, not act like this wasn’t something more than what it started as.

Robin told him he deserved nice things, and he deserved to be happy, and he did.

So Steve let himself try to have a nice thing.

“Again?” Steve asked, leaning in before Eddie had a chance to take a drag.

“Woah, big boy.” Eddie’s hands grabbed his shoulders, not pushing him away, but holding him back from making contact that he so desperately wanted. “Think that first hit might have gotten to you already. Let’s take a minute.”

“No, I-”

“Steve. You’re high.”

His tone was final, and something about the way his eyes darted away made Steve think that maybe this wasn’t the first time someone tried to make a move on him because he was giving them something.

He didn’t know Steve was into men, either.

Steve could just tell him, though. Let him know it’s not just the drugs, that he’d already had feelings for him before.

But the high was kicking in and Steve’s tongue felt like an iron weight.

“How about I get you some water?” Eddie asked, pulling away and walking swiftly to his van.

Steve didn’t protest. He did need some water.

Eddie sat on the other side of the table when he came back, handed over a bottle of water with a small smile, and watched as Steve gulped most of it down.

“This is good shit,” Steve admitted, slurring his words a little from the effort of moving his mouth. “Better than usual.”

“Yeah, it’s a nice treat once in a while.”

They sat in silence for another 30 minutes or so, though the time didn’t even feel like it was passing to Steve until Eddie stood up and guided him to the passenger seat of his van.

“Wha-?”

“I’m gonna drop you off at home. You got someone who can help you get your car tomorrow?” Eddie buckled his seatbelt, Steve tried not to be too endeared. “Maybe Buckley? Or Wheeler?”

Steve’s brows furrowed.

Nancy had barely talked to him in months, not since she gave him one awkward hug after Starcourt. Robin couldn’t drive, or at least said she couldn’t. That’s why he drove her to school and all of her work shifts.

“Maybe you could?” Steve suggested.

Eddie sighed. “I’ll see what I can do.”

— — — — — — —

February 14, 1986

Steve got him flowers.

He hadn’t seen him since the night he drove Steve home.

By the time Steve woke up the next morning, his car was parked in the driveway with a note on his keys that said ‘Promise there’s not a dent on her.’

And then Eddie had ignored his calls. He’d conveniently never been at his spot anytime Steve had ever met up with him before.

He couldn’t even pass a message through Dustin because Dustin was too curious for his own good and would probably figure out that Steve wanted to kiss him.

Which is all Steve thought about for the last month while he figured out what to do next.

Robin was no help at all, said he should just corner him after Hellfire one night and make a move if he wanted him so bad.

As if that could ever be an option.

This was his last chance, though.

He’d confirmed with one of his bandmates – Garrett, maybe? – that he didn’t have plans tonight and refused to sell on Valentine’s Day.

Steve stood in front of Eddie’s trailer, a bouquet of white and pink daisies in his hand, feeling particularly stupid.

The van was here, so Eddie was here, but Steve couldn’t bring himself to walk up the steps and knock on the door. This was maybe the most idiotic thing he’d ever done and he probably should leave before he was seen by someone.

“Steve?” Eddie opened the front door, confusion clear even from a distance. “The hell are you doing here?”

“I said I’d bring you flowers.”

He felt so dumb, standing here holding a bouquet of flowers for a guy who didn’t even want to sell drugs to him anymore. He considered dropping the flowers and making a run for it, but Eddie leaned against the door frame and scrunched his nose up.

Like he was trying not to smile.

Like maybe Steve did something right.

“Better bring them in so they can get water, then,” Eddie said with a hesitant smile.

Steve would take any type of smile, as long as it meant he wasn’t being sent away with his tail between his legs.

He rushed inside, didn’t think about the smell of Irish Spring coming off of Eddie, or the way his arm brushed against his side as he passed him.

Steve stood in Eddie’s trailer, taking in what Eddie called home, holding the flowers in front of him with hope.

Eddie closed the front door and walked over to him, holding his hand out.

“You didn’t have to get me flowers just for me to sell you drugs again, ya know.” Eddie smiled sadly. “I would have let you buy if you really needed it.”

“You won’t return my calls so how would you know if I needed it?” Steve countered.

“Ouch.” Eddie sucked a breath in through his teeth. “You’re right. I, uh, was giving you some space.”

“What made you think I wanted any?” Steve took the flowers back from Eddie’s hand, setting them on the coffee table behind him. “If I wanted space, I wouldn’t have bothered calling at all.”

“That’s what Wayne said, but-”

“Well, maybe you should’ve listened to Wayne.” Steve sighed. “I’m sorry I fucked things up by wanting to kiss you. I’m sorry if the flowers are too much. I’m sorry if I’m too much.”

Steve couldn’t look at Eddie after his confession, or his attempt at one. It may have been more of an apology, but he figured his intentions were clear enough.

“Steve. Stevie. Look at me.” Eddie cupped his cheeks, that familiar warmth covering Steve in safety. “You’re not too much. Don’t ever, ever let anyone tell you that you’re too much. You were so high, I didn’t wanna take advantage. I thought if I just left you to think about it long enough, you’d realize what happened was just from the weed.”

Steve shook his head, reaching his hands up to circle Eddie’s wrists. “It wasn’t just the weed. You’d know that if you let me talk to you before now.”

Eddie rubbed his thumb along his cheekbone, eyes dancing across the freckles that covered Steve’s surprisingly sun-kissed skin. “I’m sorry I didn’t let you explain.”

“You’re forgiven if you listen now,” Steve took a breath, letting his hands run down Eddie’s arms and settle on his hips. “I like you. A lot. Definitely more than a customer should, more than a friend should, maybe more than a regular boyfriend should. It’s okay if that’s too much, but it’s what I have to give.”

“You’re really something, Stevie.” Eddie leaned in, pressing his lips to the corner of Steve’s mouth. “I think I’ll take what you’re giving if that’s alright with you.”

“Please,” Steve breathed out as Eddie’s lips crushed against his fully.

Steve always felt so much, always gave so much, hardly ever had anyone who would take what he had to give.

But Eddie was taking it, forcing it from Steve to his own body, his own heart, like it was the only thing he wanted or needed.

“If you wanna buy tonight, you’re gonna be real disappointed,” Eddie gasped out against his lips when they came up for air minutes, maybe hours, later. “I don’t sell on major holidays.”

“Is Valentine’s Day a major holiday?” Steve asked, brows furrowing.

“It is when I get to have you in my bed.”

Steve’s eyes widened. “Oh.”

“That sound okay to you, big boy?” Eddie was smooth. Who could have possibly guessed?

Steve barely got out a ‘yes’ before Eddie was pulling him down the short hallway to his bedroom and rattling off things he wanted to do to him.

Steve Harrington probably wasn’t getting any sleep tonight.

But Eddie Munson would make it worth his while.

[thecapricunt1616]

Very First Time (c.b. one-shot)

𝓢𝓷𝓲𝓹𝓹𝓮𝓽 (𝓶𝓸𝓻𝓮 𝓑𝓣𝓒): “It’s you who wants to kiss me. I told you I’m a better kisser then you, so, if you don’t believe me why don’t you come find out.” He mused and went right back to reading. You sat there for a few moments, dumbfounded. You had a crush on Carmy, but it was only founded when you weren’t together - well, that was a lie, you still thought about kissing him while you were with him but would scold yourself for it that it was weird because he’s your best friend and it’s wrong to think of him that way. 

♡ Chapter Inspo: So High School - Taylor Swift ; "You know what you wanted & boy you got her" ♡ Summary: Based on ✩This✩ big brained ask from @carmenberzattosgf ♡ W/C: 9.4K ♡ Posted Date: 06/11/2024 ♡ A/N: Omg I had so much fucking fun writing this you have no idea!!! I hope this satisfies your virgin carmy tooth my dirty olive martini! Also, New look for this one shot how are we feeling yall? ♡ Warnings for BTC: SMUT SMUT SMUT, Characters are 18+, High school relationship, childhood best friend trope, virgin!carmy, Fem!/AFAB!Reader, R has long hair, No use of Y/N (r goes by childhood nickname 'squish'

♡ 𝐌𝐲 𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐬 ♡ ➵ 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐜𝐤 𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐦𝐲 𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐭 ♡ ➵ 𝐂𝐚𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐞-𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐭 𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐩𝐚𝐠𝐞 ♡ ➵ 𝘊𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 / 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘵 ♡ ➵ 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐭 𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐬 ♡

2010

You had thought about this year at least monthly since … well - kindergarten. This was your year. 

Graduation year. 

4 decent years of high school were coming to a close. You were freshly 18 as of last week, and felt exactly the same. You actually felt worse now that your birthday had passed you by. Why? Oh. Virginity. Still having one, that thing. 

As far as you knew, all of your friends had lost theirs by now, well - you weren’t so sure. You’d think asking your longest time friend if they were also holding onto their precious dire to get rid of virginity cards as well would be easy, right? 

Wrong. Very wrong. 

This was because your bestest longest term friend? You’d been concealing a massive crush on him since sophomore year. Well, actually - technically 7th grade, when he saved your volcano from prematurely erupting by pouring borax in the hole from his project about borax crystallization after the nastiest girl in the grade dumped the cup of vinegar in it while you weren’t looking so it would explode prematurely while the teacher wasn’t watching and you’d get zero credit. 

But, you told yourself that he was just a really nice person like his sister who had babysat you a few times, so he’d probably heard about you from her and was simply being friendly. Nevertheless, the interaction made you fast friends. 

What sealed the deal to you being so close, though, was when a few days later one of the mean boys in the grade tried to make Carmy his newest victim by continually throwing pencils at the back of his head. He did this every class to someone new, and always while the teacher wasn’t looking. 

You had waited just until half a second before the pencil flew and  “Mrs.Harrison!” urgently left your lips, she quickly looked up, just in time to see the moron let the pencil go, it hit the back of Carmys head, and for Carmy send him a silent glare. 

“Jared! That’s a week of detention. It has been you with those pencils. I’m calling home too- this disruptive behavior is unacceptable!” She was so focused on writing out detention slips that she didn’t even remember you had grabbed her attention. Carmy gave you one of his shy close-mouthed smiles that made his adorable dimples show before going back to drawing some pair of cargo jean looking things on the inside of his notebook cover. 

This sealed your friendship because you had shown him your loyalty. You have my back, I have yours was always the mentality between you two. By the time you got to high school, you and Carmy were attached at the hip. In middle school, specifically in eighth grade, people would tease you two that you were dating. 

The both of you were late bloomers and hadn’t even thought about Carmy or anyone in that way yet, but by sophomore year of high school the teasing really hit home because you did have a crush on him but thought you were absolutely sure he could never like you back, that he saw you as a sister. 

Until one fateful June afternoon. 

You were laid on your full sized bed together in your childhood bedroom, flicking through a J-14 magazine to get all the latest gossip on the celebrities you follow when you settle on the Ask Sabrina page, a forum where a girl answers dating and love questions. 

Dear Sabrina, 

I was wondering - what age should you have your first kiss, French kiss, lose your virginity etc? I’m already 16 and I haven’t had sex yet, I had my first kiss at 14 and my first French kiss this year. But I feel like such a loser cause all my friends are having sex, and say it’s so much fun!! Is it really worth the hype? 

Jane from California

You roll your eyes. 16 and already had her first French kiss. She was 2 years ahead of you in that sense. You hadn’t had sex yet, either. You hadn’t really kissed a boy for real either. The only kiss you’d had to date was -

Ew! 

You had to rectify this situation immediately. The only kiss you’d had to date was Billy Guerrero? In fifth grade?! You couldn’t believe yourself. You’d let time slip away, you’d let your real first kiss prime time slip away. What guy is gonna want a girl at college who was gonna want to date a girl who can’t even kiss properly! You’d bet Carmy had kissed girls, hell he’d probably had sex already. With who you weren’t sure because the only person Carmy opened his mouth to give more then a muttered yes or no were you, and his direct family. 

Maybe it was with Claire down the street, she always seemed to you to be sweet on him. He would probably be better for him, anyway. If Mikey wasn’t teasing him about her being his girlfriend, he was teasing about you being his girlfriend. Each time he brought it up Carmy would go red as a tomato and tell him to shut up, and if Richie was around it would get even worse. 

You wondered if he liked it, why he didn’t tell you about it - wait - why hadn’t the two of you talked about sex? It wasn’t until this moment you’d realized you’d never breached the topic. You laid your magazine on your chest, flicking the cover of Carmys Spider-Man comic with your nail to get his attention from your position sprawled out over his thighs as your pillow. 

“Mm” he hums in response, blue eyes continuing to move across the page. That was something you always loved about Carmy, those large round blue eyes. You loved to tease him that he looked like Flik from bugs life. You’d done very intense studying of those eyes from your many intense staring contests over the summer breaks you two spent together, he would cheat to win, of course - but you liked having an excuse to look at his eyes, so you didn’t mind. 

“What was your first kiss like?” You test the waters. Without even realizing what you had done, he mirrored you and laid his open comic on his chest to hold his page so he could give you his full attention. 

“First kiss?” He repeats. You couldn’t believe how much better his stutter had gotten over last summer. He had told you he wanted it gone or at least as gone as he could get it by the time you went off to college, so the two of you checked out all the speech pathology books the library had to offer and got to work every day. It was hard work, but after about a month he got the hang of it. 

“Very first kiss, well - real kiss” you clarify and by nature he brushed away your bangs that had fallen in front of your eyes from the woosh of air that came from putting his comic down. 

“Uh- w-wh-“ he stops himself, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath, focusing really hard on what he was trying to say and a few seconds later he tries again “what’s a real kiss? Like a kiss that’s not just the back of my hand?” He joked and you snorted a chuckle, rolling your eyes playfully. 

“Yes dummy like- like a real kiss on a date or something or like…I dunno have you ever had a girlfriend? Well, before you met me? Would a 6th grade girlfriend count?” You thought out loud. You hadn’t ever had a boyfriend before, and Carmy hadn’t said he was dating anyone and spent all of his time with you that wasn’t spent at home or at school, so you could safely assume he hadn’t, but just wanted to be sure. 

“n-no- no girlfriend uh- why do you ask?” He cleared his throat that way Richie did after he asked a question he knew was stupid and you shrugged a bit 

“So who have you kissed? Claire?” You ask and those big blue eyes go wide as saucers as he shakes his head no like a bobble head 

“What - what?! W-why why would you think I kissed Claire? Claire- Claire Dunlap? from down the street?” He clarified, his cheeks heating up

“Woah! Do you have a crush on her?” You sat up and he groaned, rubbing over his face dramatically. 

“Squiiish. Not you too” he groaned dramatically. “No! I don’t like Claire! Actually to be f-fucking honest everyone always trying to cram her down my throat makes me hate her!” He huffed 

“Well then who have you kissed! A real kiss!?” You question with a laugh, unsure why he was being so secretive over something so small. The two of you could vote in the next election for Christ sake, a kiss shouldn’t be this big of a deal. 

“No one!” He blurts, the heat from his cheeks bleeding up to the tips of his ears and down his neck and collarbones. “There. Ok! No one and I sure as fuck didn’t kiss Claire Dunlap.” He crossed his arms, averting your gaze. You were sat there, just staring. You were frankly trying to absorb that, it was surprising to you with such a stud of an older brother - he hadn’t gotten around. 

“Me either” you said after a few beats of silence and his eyes quickly found yours again, mouth dropping slightly and he blinked a few times, the way that told you he was trying to digest what you were saying. 

“Y-you haven’t kissed Claire-“

“Anyone” you interrupted. His jaw dropped like a trout as he stared at you in shock and you grabbed your magazine, rolling it up and bonking him on the head with it.  “Don’t look at me like that! You haven’t kissed anyone either! I technically have you beat because I kissed Billy G. at recess in fifth grade once even though it was just like… a mom kiss you know like a- like” you demonstrate a little puckery peck of your lips. 

His eyes narrowed with jealousy and you smiled proudly “Squish, one - Bear? Zero” that was one thing about you two, you were always in a competition of some kind. Who could run farther, who could read a book faster, who could get their homework done first, you never realized it translated into other things too, and that neither of you were in the lead. 

“I bet I’m better then you at kissing even though I haven’t done it I’ve practiced more so I’m good when it’s time for me to show my skill” he smirked, picking up his comic again. You scoffed 

“Practice? On what, your bathroom mirror? It doesn’t count if it’s not a person, dummy.” You said and he shrugged 

“Find out” he said casually, eyes not tearing up from the page. Now it was your cheeks that felt like they were on fire. Find out?! Find out what, does he even realize what he’s offering you right now?! 

“Find out? What- you want to kiss me?” You said and he smirked a bit, dimples showing and his eyes flick back to yours. 

“It’s you who wants to kiss me. I told you I’m a better kisser then you, so, if you don’t believe me why don’t you come find out.” He mused and went right back to reading. You sat there for a few moments, dumbfounded. You had a crush on Carmy, but it was only founded when you weren’t together - well, that was a lie, you still thought about kissing him while you were with him but would scold yourself for it that it was weird because he’s your best friend and it’s wrong to think of him that way. 

But now he was just offering like it was his apple he didn’t want at lunch.  

“French or regular?” You ask, trying to play it cool and the astonished look on his face led you to cackle, shoving his shoulder “what?! Stop looking at me like that weirdo!” You said and he smiled, shaking his head and doing one of those slow Carmy blinks as he sighs, a little smirk on his lips. He always reminded you of Natalie when he did that, he must have gotten it from her. 

“You want me to stick my tongue in your mouth?” He mused and you nod

“I actually think it goes both ways- and with 0 practice I’d win. Sure of it.” You said cockily and shrugged a bit. He snorts a chuckle

“And how do we determine a winner?” He asked, shutting his comic and resting it on the nightstand next to your bed like he was genuinely weighing the offer in his mind. 

You were quiet for a few moments, looking at him carefully - and it seemed like he was serious as you were, so you said “It’s supposed to feel good, right? So…whoever like..moans first?” 

“Uh o-okay- okay sure um.” He swallowed thickly, wiping his hands on his jeans that you assumed were clammy now how they got when he was nervous. “So- how- how do you wanna like- sit,” he asked. Fuck. You were just now realizing you weren’t actually sure. Your heart was thumping so hard in your chest, blood was roaring in your ears. This was all going so fast - you were going to do it. You were going to kiss your crush. 

“Uh-“ you said stupidly, tucking your hair behind your ears and digging your chapstick out of your pocket, cause guys like soft cherry flavored lips, right? If he was kissing you for a stupid competition you may as well make it good. “Yeah um. I think, maybe criss cross? Right? Like how we would play sailer by the sea” you crossed your legs and sat in front of him 

“We should play later I’ve been practicing with nat - I’m totally gonna beat you” he crossed his legs, and you moved in closer so your knees were touching but your faces were still about 2 feet apart, too big a distance for a kiss. “Also- we’re gonna need to be closer” he said plainly. You snorted a laugh,

“Yes - we can play. How am I supposed to get closer?” You asked, and in one fluid motion he stuck his hands under your calves, and uncrossed your legs before dragging you forward quickly and wrapping your legs around his waist. You could feel his breath. 

“There” he looks at you, eyes fanning from your eyes to your lips and back again. “That’s ok, right?” The low softness of his voice, mixed with the action of him just taking control how he did - it sent this feeling down to your core that felt so good. Like a pleasureful pulsing heartbeat, the only time you got that feeling was when you were alone in bed at night squeezing your thighs together thinking about Carmy. 

“Mmhmm” you hummed, unsure what to do with your hands so you settled for placing them on your thighs. “So- uh- ok. I guess um..let’s get started?” Your voice was small, nervous. A definite switch of roles for the two of you. You weren’t sure if this was normal, but you assumed it was for Carmy. 

He was being so normal about it, the same normal he was when you got your period at his house - he just went to Natalie’s bathroom, and came back to the guest bathroom with a few pads and tampons for you, as well as feminine wipes - normal. Not weird, like this happens every day for him. Like - periods (or in this case) sex isn’t the most embarrassing thing to teen life. His chill demeanor told you that he strictly saw it as a platonic friendly competition, so why do your panties feel sticky all the sudden?

“It’s ok- we don’t have to-“ he’s interrupted by your lips on his, 

Now or never, right? 

It was warm, a little messy at first, you found out quickly you should close your eyes since he closed his and once you did it was much easier to just focus on the sensation. His lips were soft, he tasted like the bowl of trix cereal he must have had before he came over. The way his lips moved with yours was… gentle, sweet, unhurried- you found yourself chasing them when he pulled away slightly and that caused you to open your eyes 

“You-“ he huffs a small chuckle “you have t’kiss back, Squish. S’like i’m kissing a wall here” he said. You took a shaky breath, not even realizing you were just sat there like a dead fish, unmoving, in awe that his lips were really on yours. If you hadn’t just finished your period a week ago you’d be scrambling to the bathroom to see what was going on because you were gushing. 

“Uh- sorry- sorry. I was just warming up” you clear your throat awkwardly, fingers tapping on your thighs nervously “lets try again” you said, leaning in and additionally mashing your nose with his “ow- oh- gosh, sorry” you giggle and he followed suit 

“S’not your fault my beak is getting in the way” he joked, gently tilting your face and bringing his lips back to yours. You got the message this time, moving your lips with his and wow. It felt…good. That heartbeat right above your cunt had never pulsed so hard before, it nearly hurt and you weren’t sure what to do about it with him right there. 

You’d usually use the firm corner of one of your throw pillows you kept on your bed when this uncomfortable sensation happened, thinking of exactly this - kissing Carmy - and hump it, and hump it, and hump it, until you were frustrated to tears because you still felt like you weren’t finished. That the feeling would never go away unless you stopped thinking about Carmy like that - but it was addictive, and you couldn’t help but think you were chasing something. 

It all elevated when you felt his tongue on your bottom lip, it was almost like the sensation in your core was beginning to travel throughout your entire body and that had never happened before. It went from just that strong pulsing in your cunt, travelling to a tightness that was winding up in your stomach, your breasts felt good - as strange as that thought was, the only time you remembered they were there was when they were sore because your period was coming, so the warm gushy feeling in your chest and the pangs of pleasure that were coursing through you from the simple swipe of his tongue was something to be revered.

From there, it was like you were following a script you hadn’t even known you’d memorized. Your hands found his shoulders, before travelling to the back of his neck and rubbing over the little curls at the base. You swipe your tongue over his, fingers sprawling over the back of his head to pull him in closer. You didn’t know what came over you, but you deepened the kiss, and he accepted. His hands found the back of your waist, squeezing gently and trailing up your sides, stopping hard below your breasts.

You pulled away, looking at him. If it was any other day, he’d have thought you were initiating a staring contest, but the blown-out look in your eyes and small pants leaving your lips reminded him of when their family cat had a little too much catnip and started climbing the screen doors, wild. His eyes nearly fell out of his head when the next question left your lips 

“Have you had sex before?” your voice was breathy, if you had known better you’d have called it for what it was - horny. The only thing on your mind was Carmy, not how your mom would be home any minute and you forgot to take out the chicken for dinner, not how it probably isn’t a normal thing for best friends or any friends really, to kiss. But you and Carmy hadn’t really ever been ‘normal’ friends. 

“Uhhh” he tried to find his words. He looked so pretty. His cheeks were the pretty flush pink you loved on him so much, it suited him. His lips were swollen and kiss bitten and red. You realized that the glossiness on them was a mixture of your salivas and that brought a burst of that delicious warmth to your chest. “N-no, haven’t have you- I mean- can you have sex without kissing?” he wondered out loud.

“I don’t want to leave high school a virgin” you blurt out. It was half true, you did feel a bit like a loser, even though you could always lie and tell people you had done it even if you hadn’t. It also felt like the one opportunity was presenting itself for you to have sex with your childhood crush and if he agreed, then a win is a win in your book.

“Alright and- and uh” he sits back on the headboard, huffing a chuckle and rubbing over his mouth as he thought, staring up at the ceiling to try and get a gauge on what he was about to say. It was one of the habits he’d picked up during all of your speech practice together, it was cute, almost like he was stopping the words from falling out of his mouth before he was ready to say them so it didn’t come out all jumbly and stuttered. “And you wan’t help with this- i’m assuming you see it as a problem? Thats why you brought it up, right? You want help with that…issue” he mused. 

Suddenly, you felt really, really shy. Shy, stupid, flustered, any synonym for embarrassed and feeling like a complete and utter moron. “I shouldn’t have said anything - i’m sorry, uh- you win” You got up, going over to your dresser and digging out your after-school clothes to change since you were in jeans still. Why the hell would you say that? What, was he gonna just offer to have sex with y-

“I-I mean- I don’t want to, either. I just uh- haven’t… y’know - met anyone who I trusted enough to do it with. But- it- it felt good… the kiss? So, if you wanted we could um..cause- cause I trust you, I trust you more then like…anyone- so, yeah- I-I mean it’s like- like a favor right? You uh…scratch my back- er whatever the saying is- if- if you want to” you looked back at him to see him rambling with his gaze locked on the floor, clearly feeling as stupid and embarrassed as you feel. 

Holy shit, this may actually happen. 

“Yeah- yeah” you agree, mulling it over in your mind. He’s right, this shouldn’t change your friendship, because from what you’d heard - losing said virginity wasnt fun, it was weird, uncomfortable, and a little gross sometimes, so it was almost like you two could get the awkward first time part out of the way together so you could both hit the ground running in terms of dating and hooking up when it came to college, cause that's what college was supposed to be all about, right? Finding the love of your life?

“Sure- Uh-” you swallow thickly and toss him one of the many pairs of sweatpants he kept in your dresser for when he slept over as well as a fresh t-shirt and grab yourself a clean pair of panties from your top drawer since although the awkwardness had taken away that dull needy ache, you were still uncomfortably wet and had to get yourself cleaned up and changed. “How about Friday? My parents have their date night so- you could come over after school and we can um…do it?” you ask and he nodded quickly, grabbing the sweatpants and sweatshirt.

“Yeah- perfect, that’s - mmhmm” he swallowed hard, cheeks bright red. You would totally be making fun of him right now if you weren’t absolutely sure you looked just as flustered, the two of you sharing at eachother in silence like a pair of deer in headlights. 

“I’m gonna go change” you said and left the room, closing the bathroom door behind you and sighing deeply to yourself, leaning against the door. 

And so it was set. 

Carmy had exactly 3 days to study up on this topic other than sophomore health class he knew absolutely nothing about. Well- he had found one of Michaels Playboy magazines before when he was 14, it was the first time he popped a boner and it freaked him out so bad since his father wasn’t very present and Mike hadn’t given him the talk yet. It was a solid 2 months of worrying that he had some weird dick cancer because he got hard every time he peeked through said porn-mag before he asked Mike about it, and he still hasn’t lived down the teasing. Thank god Mike kept his word on not telling Richie.

The moment he left your house that day it was straight to the Chicago public library. 3 books, 3 days. He was going to do his homework on this, because he was going to win the game he knew was inevitably pun intended coming his way. It was going to become a competition, and he knew the name of the game in sex was an orgasm, he knew that much at least, thank god. 

The 3 titles he’d settled on, 

Sex For Dummies ; He’d figured that should speak for itself, it sounded to him like the beginners guide to fucking. He wondered why every teen didn’t get a copy of this book, he’d heard guys talking about how sometimes girls are really bad in bed - so if everyone got one, like the dictionaries they all got in elementary school - he thought their lives would probably be made easier in that department.

She Comes First; and boy, was that a read. He stayed up so late Wednesday night reading it that you had to wake him in homeroom when the bell rang to go to first period. He didn’t know there were so many things to know about a vagina, but he was confident now he probably knew more then any guy in the school about pussys and what gets them going at least on paper once he read all 350 pages in one day.

He comes next; It made alot of sense. This was the breaziest read for him, he sat on the L after school reading it on the ride home. Of course, the front was covered in a brown paper bag he’d taped to it so no one could tell what he was reading, he wasn't a pervert! He was glad he read she comes first, first, because he’d learned that girls can cum more then once, and that when they do - it gets better each time. He also learned that the clit is the best part to touch, and that it actually has like- a tail? Or something? Inside that you can mess with too, and it feels super good for the girl. He wasn’t sure how he was supposed to find something like that with his dick, but he guessed he’d figure it out.

The day was finally here. You had been thinking about it all week long. The prep you were doing was very different then the prep he was. You were making sure your entire body was smooth, plucking your eyebrows, waxing your upper lip, whitening your teeth, shaving your big toe. Literally, anything and everything grooming. You had put on a lacy pink thong that you’d gotten at the mall a year or so ago in preparation for the night you finally did this, but after observing yourself in the mirror you felt insecure about it. It was just Carmy, he wasn’t into you, it would be weird if you tried to be sexy, right? Like you were trying to seduce him or something? So you settled on some plain grey panties, instead, and a black bra. 

You heard a knock at the door right at 7. Exactly on time, per usual. Your parents had left for their date 20 minutes ago, so it was perfect timing. When you opened the door, you heart may as well have melted and poured out of your ass to see Carmy standing there with a bundle of red roses. “Hey- uh- so - got you these” he thrust them in your direction. They were already cut, and thornless, ready to be plopped in a vase. You could see a little bandage on the pinky finger of his non-dominant hand that wasn’t there at school today, he must have pricked himself while he was trimming them up. 

“Y’get a girl flowers, you trim em’ up, n’for the roses gotta take the thorns off, eh’? Don’t wan’t t’hurt ylady do you? And you trim ‘em cause girls like it, makes em’ all even n’shit. N’it Makes em’ live longer too. Y’givin a gift not a chore heard? Flowers need to be able to be dropped in a vase and that's it, otherwise y’re a prick f’givin’ y’r lady a job t’do” Mikey explained as he snipped the thorns off of the roses he’d gotten for his date. The conversation stuck with Carmy all these years, he promised himself one day he’d put the advice to use.

“Oh- wow - Bear, these are like -” you leaned in, smelling them deeply, the sweet floral sense filling your nose “Wow- this is so sweet of you, you didn’t have to” you stepped back and opened the door wider. He followed you in, shutting the door behind him like usual.

“Mikey says it’s what y’do I guess, so - expect flowers from guys you do this with” he nudged you with his shoulder playfully. The action made your heart flutter but also stomach sink , heavy with nerves. Right. He’s here to just get something over with, like he was probably expecting you to be and the flowers were just a result of him wanting to do things right and not because he had any real, tangible feelings for you other than platonic.

“Mmm, will do. Thanks- I’m gonna go get these in some water, you can get settled” you told him and headed into the kitchen to find a vase. When you came back to the room his hoodie was neatly folded and sitting on your desk, his shoes tucked away beneath it and there was a… towel? On your bed? 

“Uh-” you set the vase of flowers on your dresser 

“Right- uh- so the towel, they say in the books for your first time, sometimes girls will bleed a little? Or- or if I do it right things can get really wet, so…just trying to be proactive I didn’t wanna make a huge mess y’know?” he explained while staring at the towel and rubbing the back of his neck nervously how he did, heat creeping across the bridge of his nose and onto his cheeks.

“You…studied?” you smile a bit at the idea. You wondered how he did so, did he just watch porn?! You had heard from girls with boyfriends that watch porn - the sex was usually bad, and that they went way to hard and fast. You hoped it wasn’t that.

“Yeah I read some stuff.. How else will I know what the fuck m’doin?” he watched you as you sat down on top of the towel, assuming that was the spot he meant for you. 

“Uh- yea…yeah. Ok, well thanks- I guess I should have studied, too. Didn’t even think about it- my legs are soft, though. And I shaved my - um- yeah.” you said, voice getting meeker and smaller by the end. The two of you were never like this, it was usually constant banter and comfortable silence. Awkwardness wasnt something the two of you experienced together up until now.

“Thank you- you didn’t have to it’s…it’s just hair. But um…go pee, before we get started- you should pee.” he sat down on the bed in front of you. You looked at him confused, brows furrowing together but before you could ask he added “In the books, they said for girls - it can feel like…like you need to pee, right before the good part if I do it right. So, if I do do it right- I want you to be able to finish instead of worrying if you’ll pee on me, so I figured if you go pee now then-” you held your hand up, shaking your head as you stood.

“No further info needed” you said as you padded off to the bathroom. Even though the shower you had taken not even an hour prior to him coming over was so thorough made you fresh as the day you were born you still wiped up with babywipes before coming back to see 2 granola bars and 2 bottles of water on the nightstand. “Are you planning on making me pass out or something?” you joked, sitting back on the towel like before. 

He chuckled a bit “Well if i’m that good my first time it’ll be a record or something I bet” he rubbed his forearm nervously “So um..should we kiss? Like last time?” he asked, averting your gaze. You didn’t know this, but he thought he was genuinely about to have a heart attack, and the only reason he was continuing instead of asking you to call an ambulance was because if he was to die in your bed while making out because of the sheer excitement that came with the potential of you touching his dick, he would have died happy. 

The question being asked in that soft, sweet tone of his- syrupy and honest, made your stomach flip- and there was a pang of warmth to your heat that made your heart jump to your throat with anticipation. You couldn’t answer, instead, you just nodded, not breaking his gaze. Jesus fucking Christ those eyes. You had only seen the ocean once, in Hawaii on a vacation. His eyes made you think of the waters in Maui, that was how blue. You could get lost in them like they were the ocean, they often rendered you speechless, like he could peer into your soul. “Okay” he said gently.

This time, the kisses started small. He gently pecked the corner of your lips, before you remembered that yes you had a job to do here as well, and you put your hand gently on the side of his cheek, barely touching him. He could feel you shaking, so he put his hand over yours, gently squeezing your four fingers as his lips captured yours in a tender, affectionate kiss. The feeling was so…different then last time. This time felt much more purposeful, and not in the get it over with way, in the i’ve been meaning to do this, way.

Honestly, the feeling made you dizzy. Not dizzy in the kind of way that immediately made you want to throw up, -

 (Carmy learned you got very motion sick very quick at your 15th birthday party when he, Mike, Natalie, and Richie were teaching you how to play dead-man on the trampoline and within 10 seconds of being bounced with your eyes closed by the 4 of them you were scrambling to throw up a mix of cake and pasta) 

- but dizzy in the way that you weren't forming any kind of memory of the encounter, and you also weren’t sure what you were doing - but you came to with your shirt off, dry humping your best friend as he laid sprawled over your floral duvet panting into each others mouths as your childhood teddybear watched the two of you manhandle eachother, he honestly looked like he was judging, but you mentally told him to fuck off.

“Yeah-” he breathed, his cheeks were a pretty pink, his pupils “I-I think that was um…better then last time. Do you feel hot? I feel hot” he admitted, swallowing hard as you both caught your breath. You looked down and oh, yeah - he's still fully dressed. You were still mostly dressed, too. Well, your shirt - you hadn’t a clue where it went, but your fluffy pajama pants were still suffocating your thighs and holy shit..

He is hard as a rock against your clothed pussy right now. 

You look back up at him, and nod in agreement. “Feels like - wow- yeah. Uh- m’hot” you got up and saw the evidence of his arousal straining against his jeans. “Uh- so…” you trail off 

“I think i’m supposed to do that part” he sat up, taking his shirt off in that silly boyish way with one fluid motion pulling it up over the back of his head, his sandy blonde hair becoming ruffled by the action. You look over his chest, not even bothering to not stare. That was the point of this whole thing right, to experience? In turn, he crossed his arms shyly, to be expected. Carmy had been open about his upset that he got more of his moms genes then his dads. He was short, softer-jawed, smaller-lipped, and bigger-eyed, the only thing he got was the big Italian Berzatto nose. 

His brother was tall, much broader, was able to grow a full face of stubble by 17. Carmy was still patchy, but he was proud of his little patch of curly brown hair in the middle of his chest. Mike kept telling him he would ‘grow like a weed’ as soon as he turned 20, he didn’t believe it, though. 

“Oh- yea? Thats what they said in your sex books” you teased and stepped forward, between his spread thighs, likely to give his dick breathing room. His hands found your hips as he snorted a chuckle 

“Shut up” he smiled and carefully pulled down the waistband of your pajama bottoms. “I did read…” he helped you step out of them, hands trailing up the backs of your now bare thighs. The action made goosebumps appear on your flesh, nearly made you shiver. “That you are supposed to cum first, it’s like…a warm up.” he explained, looking up at you as he made his way to hold your hips again. You realized quickly, that his hands were also trembling, and he kept stroking and petting you hoping you wouldn’t notice as much. 

Your panties had a dark spot on them that he became fixated on momentarily, his tongue darting out to lick his lips. You felt that twitching at his words, your hole clenching around absolutely nothing. You weren’t sure you could remember what color the sky was if someone asked at that moment, you were so focused on Carmy, it was like you two and this bedroom were the only things in the universe. “I haven’t been able to do it, I don’t think you’ll be able to - but you can try. How do you want to do this should I just lay down and I dunno… you stick it in? I got 3 boxes of condoms, different kinds just in case” you went to open your nightstand and he stopped you, grabbing your hand. 

He chuckled a bit, you took it as a you don’t know what you’re doing, let me explain kind of laugh, but really he was just wondering how the following words came out of his mouth “I’m supposed to eat your pussy, could I try?” 

You swore your knees went weak. Carmen, Carmen Berzatto wanted to go down on you. Thank god you made sure that department was taken care of so well in preparation. “Uhhh- alright” you sat down on the towel, twiddling your fingers nervously “So- wow uh” you giggle nervously, covering your mouth with your hand. 

“Your um..you look pretty, by the way” he said while looking at the duvet. He sounded as nervous as he was when he said that. He had thought you looked pretty from the moment he walked through the door, but was too nervous until you were both literally almost naked to say it. You could hardly believe it, because you did your best to not put in a ton of effort. Sure, you were very well groomed, but you didnt like - dress up or put makeup on or do your hair how you would have wanted, you were in regular bra and panties, and pajamas when he walked in. You were also pretty sure that you had a zit growing on your chin and really hoped he hadn’t noticed.

But, that was exactly why he thought you looked so pretty. He loved that you let him have you like this, well - in both senses. He felt so lucky to be able to see you comfortable, in your element. “Thanks, dork, so do you get the honors of taking my panties too?” you teased. That was the difference between you, when you got nervous you cracked jokes and made fun of him to ease the tension in your own mind  - when he got nervous he often got lost in the tension of his own mind causing him to go quiet. 

“I do actually, says the book- so lay down” he shoots back in the same teasing tone, a small smile gracing his lips once again. You, and his brother were the only 2 that could pull him out of his head so fast, and so easily. You shook your head, laying back on the pillows he’d set up and spreading your legs, laying your feet flat on the bed. He sat in front of you, running a hand up your leg and feeling over the soft, smooth skin. “You are really soft” he muttered, almost to himself, feeling up your thigh “Do you mind if I kiss you, here?” he asked gently, running a palm over the inner of your thigh. No one had ever touched you there, so the action made you shiver since the area was surprisingly sensitive.

“Sure” you said quietly, watching his every move with wide, curious eyes. You were sure the wet spot on your panties had grown tremendously due to the way you felt dripping down the curve of your ass, thank god for that towel when they come off or my sheets would probably soak through by the end of this. He started at your ankle, leaving gentle pecks and putting your manicured foot on his shoulder as he continued his journey of kissing up your shin, over your knee, not leaving a single part unkissed. If this is what sex was about, you totally got why all your friends were raving about it, because you were being driven absolutely wild and it hadn’t even really started yet. 

He kissed up to your thigh, laying down in between your legs. His forearms were wrapped around the plush of your thighs, hugging them as he left kisses over the waistband of your panties. The action made your stomach muscles clench at how good he was making you feel. You needed something to touch you, though. That was the only thing on your mind, but before you could ask - he beat you to it. “Would you be ok with me kissing your middle here?” his voice was husky, breathy. He was gripping your thighs so his hands wouldn't shake, he was fucking panting like he just ran the mile in P.E. and he wasn’t sure why. 

His mouth was watering at the smell of you, he had to fucking swallow a mouthful of spit before he could say something. He felt like a fucking starved animal, but he was gathering every polite, gentlemanly fiber of his being to remain kind, gentle. “Please do” you said and without hesitation, he was essentially making out with your cunt through your panties. The sight was filthy, but so sexy it was making your head spin. 

Whines and moans were leaving your throat you weren’t even aware of as you watch him, slack jawed and sucking at the fabric of your panties, grunting and moaning at the flavor. “T-take em off…please-” you weren’t sure where the bedroom voice that came out of you came from, but he seemed to like it at the way his eyes rolled and fluttered shut at the way you were begging for him to eat you out. 

He sat up just enough to get your panties pulled off, shoving them in the back pocket of his jeans before laying back down and resuming his position. “Taste so, so good, squish, better than I imagined” he said before kissing your mound. The wet clicking sound of your pussy clenching at his words made heat rush your cheeks in embarrassment, but it made his dick twitch against his jeans. “Can I kiss your clit?” he asked, the casualness of his tone made your head fall back on the pillow, covering your face with embarrassed hands at the vulgarity of it all.

“Go ahead, Bear” you said, smile lacing your voice. 

“I liked it when you were lookin’ at me, just so you know” he said, spreading you out with his fingers and looking for just a moment, he found it easily as it had grown nearly twice it’s size, peeking out of its hood. He attached his lips to it, just like the book he’d read said to do, and lightly sucked, before flicking his tongue lightly over it. Your hand clamps over your mouth to stifle the cry that left your throat, hips jerking and you grab his hair with your other hand, not even meaning to but tugging. 

This caused a moan to leave his throat, which in turn caused his lips to vibrate, and you looked down at him, vision hazy like a dream at the sensation. “God- oh god- feels so good Bear - wow- you’re so good at this” you said, breath heavy and jaw slack “uh-huh” you whine when he pads his tongue over your clit in wide, wet drags. The sounds his mouth was making as he sucked and kissed and lapped at your juices were absolute sin, the hottest shit you’d ever heard. 

“D’you like it more when I kiss your clit like I was doin’ or when I run my tongue on it like that?” he asked, sucking at your folds and nose nudging your clit as he waited for an answer. 

“Both - Both- everything feels good - you feel so good” you praised, pushing his bangs from his face. He smiled into you proudly, continuing to lick, and suck, and swirl his tongue. It had been a knot building for a while, and it had been about 30 minutes of him doing this, when you felt it. But, all the activities you’d been engaged in the conversation you had before you started slipped your mind. “Fuck- fuck - sorry- I gotta pee” you told him and tried to tug him off

“Y’dont, trust me, just trust me” he said determined, he had told himself before going into this that if he could make you cum, that it would be his prize because per the books he’d read one of the main complaints with women was that their male partners didn’t bother to be sure they finished, so if you never wanted to do this again - he’d pride himself internally forever on be the very first man to ever make you cum. 

You whined, back arching to the ceiling and hips dipping back into the bed. You didn’t want him to stop, so you weren’t sure why you were subconsciously trying to wiggle away. Your eyes had been closed for a few moments, and you felt a hand on your stomach, dancing fingers following it. You opened them to see him looking up at you, and his eyes flicker to his hand that was laying palm up on your belly before meeting your gaze again, in a silent ask for you to hold his hand. 

Without thinking, you did so, needing to be grounded in that moment. His thumb rubbed soothing strokes on the back of your hand as he built up the speed of his tongue, running it back and forth and up and down, flicking it, sucking on the sensitive nub until your brain turned to mush, and stars filled your vision. 

“Carmy Carmy- Oh shit- Yes” 

The grand finale only lasted about a minute or two, but by the end your thighs were shaking and you were gasping for breath. “Y’need to breathe, did you forget humans need oxygen to live?” he teased. You’d usually give him a light punch on the shoulder for that, but your whole body felt like warm jelly. 

“Shut up” you pant, looking down when you feel your clit twitching every few moments “I think you broke it its like.. Having a seizure or something” you said and you both burst into giggles. After a few moments of comfortable quiet you nudge him with your foot “Hey” he looks up at you “Its your turn now” you said and his brows raised

“Y-you don’t have t’do that, that was sex, so - congratulations we are both not virgins” he wiped his chin on the inside of his arm and sat up. You furrowed your brow

“No- I want to, I can make you cum, too ” you said, in your mind, it was a challenge - and when it came out of your mouth you realized how it sounded.

“Are you… asking me for permission to suck my dick?” he looked at you carefully. Shyly, you just nod. For whatever reason the nature of the room and this particular situation had the two of you acting out of traditional character roles, and he was the one being bold. “I want you to say it, then you can suck my dick” he said and stood up, unbuttoning his jeans and looking at you, brows raised expectantly as he waited for you to do as he asked.

Your throat suddenly felt dry, and you were starting to drip on that damn towel again. “Bear, I wanna suck your cock, Can I please?” you asked, tone innocent yet laced with a confident determination. His breath got caught in his throat, you swore his eyes could have fallen out. He didn’t know the word cock was apart of your very colorful vocabulary, he could have creamed his boxers with the way that the word rolled off of your tongue. 

“Sure” he said all too casual and tugged off his jeans, kicking them to the side. He laid down with you, like how he was while you were making out and you got on your knees tugging the waistband of his boxers until his cock came out and kissed his navel, the tip glistening with pre. 

“So-” you look at it, mouth watering at the sight. You had never done this, but you were sure that you knew one thing for sure, Carmy had a really pretty cock. You didn’t even realize you were staring until he said 

“S’not gonna suck itself, squish.” 

Oh, right, that was what you were doing. You grab it and he hissed “Fuckin’ hell- y’tryna rip it off? A little nicer, please” he chuckled a bit and you felt your cheeks heat, loosening your grip. 

“Sorry…” you said sheepishly, bending over and licking the tip of it, one slow drag from the back of your tongue to the tip of it, flicking your tongue over the slit your nose scrunching slightly at the new flavor. The action though, had Carm seeing stars and his toes curling.

“Hhhhnnn- oh my fucking god” he rasped. You figured that was a good thing, so you did it again “Squish I-” and again, “yes- fuck” and again, “Squish i-i’m gonna mmmmmffff” he whined, his cock twitching in your hand and leaking pre in a near continuous drip. You had no expirience, so you had no idea what this meant, or that he was trying to warn you. With 3 more slow sensual ball to tip licks, he was shooting cum all over your nose, upper lip, tongue, and chin. You squeak in surprise, sitting up and licking your lips. “Oh- hmmmmfuck- gimme a sec” he groaned, taking over for you and stroking himself, the remainder of his load shooting over his stomach. 

You watched in awe as he got himself off, back lightly arched and head fallen back, eyes closed as sexy pants and moans left his lips, along with soft “fuck - thank you, thank you” It was literally the hottest thing you had ever seen. He stopped after a moment, finding his breath and looking up at you, when he saw your milky white chin it both made his softening dick twitch and drew a chuckle from him. “When I keep saying im gonna do something and my dick is leaking like a broken sink it means open up er get out of the splash zone” he joked and grabbed his shirt, wiping your chin and neck. 

You laughed, laying back down and sighing contently. “Noted for next time” you said and he fixed his boxers, sitting up and stroking your calf. 

“There can be a next time? I mean…. I was hoping so that was really fun, felt really good” he said and you nod, smiling a bit 

“Sure, I mean, yeah… but it doesn’t mean we stop like- doing friend stuff, right?” you questioned. As much fun as you had, you could never give up something as treasured as your friendship for something as trivial as sex. 

“Oh, absolutely, who else is gonna wait w’me to get the new spiderman comics? And whos gonna feed you when your parents are out of town?” he teased and you rolled you eyes playfully, smiling and shaking your head. 

“Love you, dork” you bit your lip as he brought your other ankle to his lips. 

“Love y’too, Squish. Can I?” he looked down at your glistening core, before back at you. You bit your lip lightly, you weren’t sure if all men were this enthusiastic about eating pussy - but you were thankful that he was because your mind was still swimming from the last time and you had to experience it again. 

“Mmhmm” you spread your legs wider for him and he took your hand, lacing his fingers with yours as he got to work. You had found quickly that when you tell him something feels good or he’s doing a good job that it really got him going. It was cute, truly, how he loved being praised, so you made sure to do it whenever you could get something out that wasn't a babbled, coherent mess since the pleasure he was providing was causing your brain to short circuit.

An hour and a half and 3 orgasms later, after about 10 minutes of trying to catch your breath and cool down since you were boiling from the blood coursing your system like an F1 racetrack, you sit up. “M’gonna go get cleaned up” you said, going to get up on wobbly legs.

“No! No, I got it lay down don’worry” he said and made his way to the bathroom. He came back with babywipes and a wet wash cloth, as well as a dry clean towel to wipe off with after. He helped you wipe up and knowing your bedroom by heart, he went over to your dresser and got you a fresh set of panties and a tshirt, as well as a pair of his sweatpants so you could both be comfortable. After you had both gotten dressed, he laid in your bed after bringing the towel downstairs to the wash for you both as well as your dirty clothes, and you cuddled into his chest as you turned on your little tv, playing the next episode of Glee and he hands you a granola bar after being sure you had a few sips of water to replenish.

“To no longer being virgins, hm?” he smiled a bit, holding his bar up in a silly idea of a toast. You tap yours to his with a grin

“To no longer being virgins”

Part 2 here

[pleaselmhau]

I’ll Come Home to You

Ghost is making his way back to the missus while having memories of how their relationship developed

18+, implied and explicit sexual content, oral (male receiving), v sex, angst, depicted gun violence/wounds, death

——————————————————————————

Honestly, this last deployment seemed to pass in a blur. It was like one minute he was running through gunfire, boots kicking up mud and the next bright driveway lights illuminated his path like beacons calling him home. He chalked it up to just being homesick, of missing the missus. The smooth pavement under his boots, redone a few years ago, leads to his secluded cabin. He always liked the idea of owning a house where he could disappear. Somewhere he could be himself, somewhere he can call home. Home. It's such a strange concept he never gave much thought to. Of course, he had this house before her. He resided there, slept there, and ate there, so technically it was his home. But in his head, he didn’t have a home before he had someone to come back to. As he nears his cabin he thinks back to the first time he brought her home.

“You’re not like gonna kill me or something?” She had said, masking her slight panic behind humor. The look he gave her told her to simmer down. “I just haven’t gotten to paving the driveway yet, old owners let it go to shite.” His explanation seemed to placate her some, but one look at his shabby little cabin in the middle of nowhere had her second-guessing again. He didn’t give her a reason to fear him, but it was only their third date and he was bringing her here and well, he looked like the type of man who could snap her like a twig if desired. He had reached over the center console and a large, calloused hand wrapped around her head, drawing her mouth to his. The kiss was chaste but sweet. “I can see the gears shifting in that pretty little head, want to hold my gun? Even the playing field.” He breathed against her lips. Accidentally getting shot in his own house with his own gun by a civilian was a risk he’d been willing to take that day if she’d just stop being so jumpy. Besides he trusted that he was sure of what her answer would be before he even said the words. Her lips parted in indignation, or maybe just surprise. Either way, she quickly spat out in one breath, “No, I do not want to hold your gun.” His chuckle filled the air before he turned off his truck and climbed out of the driver's seat, shutting the door behind him. In a few long strides, he made his way around the car to her side. With a quick tug, he opened her car door. Resting his forearms on the top rim of the car he leaned in, watching her collect her few things from the cup holders. He was about to tell her to relax when he watched her eyes meet his and then drift down his chest, to where his shirt raised to reveal a sliver of midriff, of the little trail of blonde hair descending from his bellybutton to under his waistband. Her gaze was heated, soaking in the sight before she jerked forward. Then her mouth slotted over his, quick kisses followed by her thighs shifting out of the car to wrap around his waist. His hands slid off the car to her thighs, palming the soft doughy flesh he’d eventually come to memorize before tugging her out of the car and up into his arms. He broke the kiss to peer over her shoulder as he kicked the car door shut and headed for the front of the house. “You better not hurt me,” she had reaffirmed, earning a gruff chuckle. “I won’t.”

With a deep inhale, he breathes in the familiar scent, letting his senses flood with home. How such a simple thing brought him so much peace was beyond him. He passes the light switch, remembering how bright the big fixative she picked out is he decides to leave it off to surprise his lass with his arrival. He can already imagine the happy smile that will light up her face and how she’ll fling herself into his arms. Last time he was sure she was trying to smother him in kisses so he could never leave again. With a small grin of his own, he walks toward the living room. Under the soothing smell of vanilla and something he can’t quite place, he can smell the scent of blood and mud clinging to him. He wants to shower before seeing her so he can be properly welcomed home. It’s a ritual he had picked up from his previous deployments, not wanting to bring the field, the missions, and the death into their home, near her. As he passes the couch his eyes drift down to the coffee table, narrowly avoiding walking into it in the dimlight. He notices the small notch carved into the coffee table, a familiar sight that makes him grin a little wider.

A grunt had escaped his lips when he felt a weight settle on his hips. He was sprawled out on his back on the plush sofa they just bought that day, just a week into living together after her insistence the one he had was far too worn out. He had to admit, this new one was rather comfy, as soon as he laid back on it and closed his eyes he could feel himself shifting into a relaxed state, not quite asleep yet but close. Behind his eyelids, he saw a flash of red and heard a click. His brows had furrowed before he opened his eyes to be face to face with a Polaroid camera and his grinning beauty. “cheeky, real cheeky,” he grumbled as his hand snapped up, reaching for the camera that she pulled just out of reach in time. A squeal escaped her lips as she moved to shift off him, his hands were quicker but he couldn't stop the momentum. Both of them tumble to the ground, in the space between the coffee table and the couch. A loud thunk rang out into the air as the camera hit the side, leaving behind a chink in the wood. His knees pressed into the carpet, ensuring all his weight didn’t crush his lass as she laughed, happy bubbling laughs that filled the space around them. “Is it okay? Is the camera okay?” she asked trying to sound concerned but her bright smile and melodies betrayed her happiness. With a fluid motion, he pulled the camera up to his face, directed it down at her, and pressed the button. A few moments later a small Polaroid started to print out that he stuffed into his pocket. A reminder of her will be nice when he’s away on missions and right he was. “I think you should be more concerned about that pretty little arse of yours,” He drawled as he set the camera down on the coffee table, “where’s the picture you took?” his hands pressed to her sides, patting her pockets before searching their way up her sides. “No, you can't have it,” she squealed between giggles, squirming until she got her hands and knees under her to try and crawl to her escape. He was faster again though, or maybe she wanted to be caught. He had pressed his body over hers, one arm wrapping her waist to keep her back flush to his chest. “Oh? You gonna make me find it, darling?” He purred into her ear, he hadn’t recognized his own voice in that moment but that tone was one he grew to recognize as part of him the more she drew it out. “Did you hide it here?” his hands slipped under her shirt, cupping over her breasts. They just filled his large hands and he remembers being pleased to find she wasn’t wearing a bra. His thumbs brushed over her nipples earning him a breathy moan. “nope, not there,” he hummed, giving her breasts one more squeeze before feeling his way down to her pants, with one hand he unbuttoned them giving his hand enough room to slip under the fabric. “Hmm, is it here?” Came his next tease, cupping his hand over her warm mound. He paused until she gave a response that time which ended up being a shake of her head and some more breathy sighs as she ground her hips back against his still hand. “I don't know,” he said as he pressed a soft kiss to the side of her neck, “Think I might have to check more thoroughly.”

He never did find where she hid it, but he couldn’t be bothered the moment he felt her tight pussy wrapped around his cock. The memory brings a shiver down his spine but he presses on. He’ll have plenty of time to remember his lover’s body once he gets to them. But first, he needs to get this smell out of his skin and clothes. His feet move with memory, bringing him to the bathroom. He steps inside walking to the shower, hopefully, she doesn’t hear the sound of it running from across the house. His fingers curl around the handle though the expecting rain of water never comes. He feels his forehead wrinkle with confusion as he tries a few more times yet the handle doesn’t even budge. Bloody hell, guess he knows what he’s doing tomorrow.

He laid on his back on the cold bathroom floor, his head inside the sink cabinet as he tightened and worked the wrench over and over in a twisting motion. Of course, the old cabin had piping problems he had thought. Truthfully he didn't mind though, he rather enjoyed keeping his hands busy when he was back home. He felt warm hands suddenly pressing to his stomach, smoothing over his abdomen in a firm caress, he didn’t have to look to know who it was. “Almost done, just a little longer,” He said. Though the firm rubs to his waist and lower stomach didn’t cease, “You look so good,” soft lips brushed over his chilled skin, pausing to press a soft kiss to a scar tracing his hip. “It’s so hot how you take care of the house, of me.” he felt her words just as much as he heard them, heated breaths fanning across his skin. He couldn’t stop the soft groan when a warm palm pressed over the bulge that had been forming in his sweatpants. His eyes stayed fixed on the piping even as his body reacted to her soft caresses. “Yeah, why don’t ya show me how much?” His voice was low, a seductive grumble as he spread his thighs some more for her to comfortably settle between them. Her response was firmer kisses to his skin right above his waistband as her hands tug down his sweat until his cock sprung free, hard, and thick. He felt a hand wrap around his shaft as soft lips pressed to the tip. He tried to focus on finishing up fixing the sink, but the feeling of her warm wet mouth suckling on half his length while she stroked the remaining had his mind going blank. “Fuck, that’s it darling, just like that.” one of his hands reached down, tangling through her hair as his hips bucked up. He felt her mouth swallow around him and it had his head falling back against the wood and a groan escaping his lips. With a final twist, he tightened the last piece before sitting up straight again. His hand in her hair brought her mouth up to his own. His lips devoured hers, heavy and passionate tasting himself on her. He tugged her into his lap with firm hands. “Atta girl,” he growled into her ear and pressed his hips against hers.

Cutting his losses with the shower his feet carry him out of the bathroom, continuing down the hall. He’ll just have to use the shower in the master bedroom’s bathroom. Taking a shower with the missus doesn’t sound too bad actually. As he continues around the corner he pauses at the kitchen. Where she had said those three little words the first time.

He had been making breakfast for the two of them wearing an apron she got for him, it was supposed to be a joke but it was rather practical and worked well so he kept it. The white fabric stood stark against his dark sweatpants, red kiss marks covering it in a tacky pattern and the words ‘kiss the chef’ embroidered on the front. The apron, the lack of clothing underneath beside his sweatpants hanging low on his hips, his missing mask, and how he was making breakfast all painted him in a domestic light he wasn’t sure he was ready for then. Yet, the way hands slipped under the front of his apron, feeling up his chest from behind dulled any thoughts of stopping what was in motion. “You’re supposed to be asleep,” he had grumbled, grumpy that his in-bed breakfast was ruined. “Aw, are you making me breakfast?” She teased, a warm smile encompassing her lips. He felt her head peer around him to see what he was making and let his eyes drift down to her. She looked so pretty, so full of life. With one hand on her hip, he had directed her body to stand in front of his. His arms caged her in on either side as he continued to push around the scrambled eggs in the pan. “No,” he lied, though the small twitch at the corner of his lips betrayed him. “You were!” She gasps with an airy laugh. Her arms wrap around his midsection, her soft body pressing into his. He pretended to not feel her eyes drinking in every detail of him, by staying focused on cooking. “I love you, Simon” she blurted out suddenly in a soft whisper, drawing his gaze quickly down to her. She had the widest smile he’d ever seen, looking up at him like he could be the man who deserved her. “You um… don’t have to say it back. That’s okay if you need time. I’m sorry, it just slipped out,” she had started to nervously ramble. She wasn’t wrong, he wasn’t ready to say it back, but that didn’t mean his heart didn’t flutter hearing her say it so he did all he could think of at that moment. He bent at the waist and brought his lips to hers to hush her silly apologies for giving him exactly what he needed. He turned off the stove before his hands slid over her hips lifting her onto the countertop. He couldn’t get enough of her, he filled his senses with her in every way he could. Smelling in her soothing scent, feeling her plush curves, tasting her sweet arousal between her thighs, hearing those soft gasps of his name. When he had wrapped her thighs around his hips and pushed his cock deep inside her tight heat he had grunted into her warm skin, letting out heavy exhales as he demanded, “Say it again.” She had paused, having to take a moment to process what his request meant, but was interrupted by his hips drawing back and snapping into her. “Say that you love me again,” he clarifies as his hips work up into a steady rhythm slapping into hers. “I love you, Simon, I love you, I love you,” she chanted eagerly as his commands for more melted into pleas. “That’s it, gonna come undone for the man you love?” He had growled, hand drifting down to rub at her sensitive clit until she was throbbing around him. She let out hiccuped moans as she nodded her head quickly. When she did, melting completely into him he was starstruck. Watching her pretty face flush, her mantras of declarations of love, her hands grip at him as if willing this moment to never end. To be honest, he never wanted it to end either.

His gaze drifts from the stove over to the door by the little cabinet where two dog bowls sit, one for water and one for food. Pieces of dog food surround the bowl, no doubt scattered about from Riley.

He had just gotten back from the store when he stepped into the kitchen to come face to face with a dog he definitely didn’t remember getting. The dog looked like a mutt, some mix between a Lab and a German Shepherd maybe, he wasn’t sure. The dog had sat there, staring back at him with a slight tilt in his head. He felt like he was in a stand-off in his own home. Until his missus came in the room, her brows lifting as she took in the two staring at each other. “Isn’t he cute?” She chirped happily. He felt his eyes narrow before snapping over to her and losing the staring contest. “Absolutely not,” his words were firm, knowing exactly where this was going. “Oh please, please, I found him on my way home. I couldn’t just leave him!” She whined, immediately putting on the full works as she dramatically pressed her hands together in prayer. “So you stole someone’s runaway dog.” He responded, still unconvinced. “No, I checked. No tags, no collar, and no missing dog posters, checked all the local social media groups for missing pets. He’s a true stray.” His eyes narrowed further trying to come up with another excuse. He needed something fast as those sweet pleading eyes and pouting lips were swaying him more than he cared to admit. “Plus… it’ll be nice to not be alone while you’re overseas.” She said softer, a hint of the loneliness that she felt while he was away seeped through her words. His face softened, there was no arguing with that. She grinned in her victory as she crouched down to scratch behind the dog's ears. “You’re one of us now, a Riley,” she hummed.

Honestly, Riley turned out to be a good dog. The pup grew on him. He continues out of the kitchen into the hallway, spotting his favorite commodity in the house, the thermostat. He knows it may be a little wrong how he used it to manipulate, but he will never regret keeping his missus by his side.

He remembers the first big argument they had. He had to stop by a military base near home to drop off some paperwork and got distracted helping out a newer drill sergeant getting the newbies under control. This was a rare occurrence as he didn’t have much business on military bases stationed near home, plus he wasn’t on deployment, but up until that point, he didn’t realize how much she struggled at home when he was gone. His being late for their date night just was the straw that broke the camel's back. She stood there tapping her foot with tear-filled eyes as soon as he got back. He had tried to explain but realized it was no use. She wasn’t mad he was late, she was upset at how even in the small amount of time she did get him home he still was late. He got defensive, snapping back, “That’s my job, lass, you knew you were getting with a soldier from the start.” His words, dismissive of her emotions caused her tears to finally spill over before she stomped off. Fuck he felt miserable, he could see her side he just wasn’t used to having to consider someone else in his decisions. Even then simmering in his guilt he had no clue how to approach her first. It was at that moment he spotted the thermostat and got an idea. Sure enough, as the house started dropping to chillier numbers over the next hour, not outright cold but definitely chilly, she had come stumbling out of the bedroom wrapped up in her blanket like a cocoon. “I can’t sleep,” she had said so softly he felt guilty, really he did. But not enough to stop when she’d always come to him, trying to soak up his body heat. Then he’d atone every time, pulling her into his lap and pressing soft kisses to her chilled face and chilled hands while apologizing for earlier. And that night of their first blow-up he had finally said the words he had been mulling over for weeks, “I love you,” he whispered so quietly into her hair he wasn’t sure she heard or not until her pretty eyes lifted to his.

He continues to pass the thermostat through the hallway leading to their bedroom and steps past the reading nook he built for her. A comfy little bay window bench across from a stuffed bookshelf. The bedroom door lies just ahead.

“You gonna sleep here or something?” He asks with a hint of amusement. She hasn’t left the nook since he finished early this morning and Riley stayed faithfully by her side at her feet. Her eyes are lifted toward the sky through the window glass. Ignoring his question she gives a gentle tug to his hand, pulling him down onto the bench with her. He relents, settling into the limited space by pulling her legs over his lap. His hand gently trails calloused fingers back and forth over her calves. “The stars are beautiful.” He tilts his head taking a gander at her view. “Same as every night,” he responds. His head settles straight again, eyes fixing on her. The moonlight bathed her in an ethereal glow that made his pulse flutter. “Do you ever wonder what exists beyond us?” She asks, her face relaxed but contemplative. He gives merely a moment before responding, “Not really.” He doesn’t mean it dismissively and it’s clear she doesn’t take it as such, her gaze flickering to him as she tilts her head a little. “Never thought about what heaven would be like if it’s real?” He gives a longer moment of silence this time, though he knows his answer right away. How could he not when it was staring right back at him so sweetly? “Heaven and hell are just words to me. You are the closest thing I’ll ever get to anything divine.” Her cheeks flush as heat rises, her lips twitching up into a smile she can’t stop even as she tries to force a playful pout. “You’re supposed to say, ‘Yes baby, we’ll live happily ever after in heaven together.’” She teases, goading more of his rare sweet words. His brows raise, but he doesn’t disappoint. “My Heaven is wherever you are.”

Finally reaching their bedroom his heart swells with excitement, he can almost feel her warm embrace now. Just knowing she's around the corner makes his heart flutter in his chest and his legs work a little faster. But a sound, so faint and broken, has his feet pausing in the doorway. “You said you wouldn't hurt me, you said-” fills the room in a drowning mantra. Croaks of agony tear through the air like blades slicing. His throat clenches and his body paralyzes as he spots the love of his life, crouched over clutching something to her chest. Riley lays beside her, furry eyebrows lifting with every nervous glance he gives her. His body lays into her, but their furry companion provides little comfort against her inferno. Big glossy tears streak her cheeks before pelting wherever they flee. Her hands tremble, twisting and clutching something she holds close to her chest. She rocks back and forth, trying to self-soothe but the sobs continue to wrack through her with an intensity that is only paused when a sharp bark fills the air. Riley stares him down in the doorway with piercing eyes, letting out a few more barks, but loyally does not leave her side. Her eyes, swollen and wet, lift to where he stands, where Riley is staring, but she looks through him as if he merely didn't exist. “There's nothing there, Riley,” she croaks, voice broken. It is only when her hands leave her chest to give Riley some soothing strokes does he sees what she was clutching. A silver glint catches his eye, smooth metal in an oval shape with the name Simon ‘Ghost’ Riley engraved in. His hand lifts to his chest where his dog tags should be hanging only to find the spot empty and one last memory floods his head.

Bullets whizz past in a frenzy as his boots kick up mud. With a thud he falls back behind the totaled car, taking shelter for some much-needed respite. He feels his lungs collapse, sealed shut for a few long terrifying moments before they open again for him to greedily suck air in. His arm jerks reminding him of the pain he should feel. But he doesn't, he just feels a rush of warmth, so much warmth spilling out of him. His eyes focus in and out before finally settling on his hand. Blood webs and drips between his fingers, soaking into his glove. With resolve, he presses it back to his side, just above his hips. As if he just needed to know what was happening before feeling it a throbbing burn spread from his waist up his spine. With a splutter, he coughed and felt the spray of crimson that followed. With a hitched breath his head thuds back against the cold metal, his eyes focusing up on the sky. The stars are just as beautiful as ever. His free hand drags it up to his vest. His arm feels impossibly heavy like someone poured concrete into his veins. His fingers stiffen brushing against his dog tags dangling around his neck, barely cooperating as he pushes open his favorite pocket. Gloved fingers pinch around smooth paper before falling down to his thigh. His eyes follow as another cough escapes his lips. His thumb brushes over the polaroid, eyelids growing heavy as he takes in the captured moment one last time. The warm smile that is waiting for him to come back home. “I’m coming, love, I’ll come home to you.”

[dont-offend-the-bees]

We Glimpse Each Other Out of Phase

Hello lovelies; rough weekend, huh? I've had this one roughly drafted for a couple of weeks and was planning to keep it in my back pocket as a Deadboyween prompt fill. However, given the cancellation news, I think maybe we could all use a little gentle melancholy comfort right now. So I cleaned it up a bit, and I hope you will take this little snippet as the warm hug it is intended as 💛 So this technically follows on from/is set in the same universe as my Painland Week fic Something I Can Turn To. A fic which I basically intended to leave as a one shot, but I got quite invested in the universe and have been absolutely blown away by the response to it. So it became a collection which now features, as well as my own fic, two wonderful fics by williamvapespeare and one by Ingi, and I would heartily recommend you check them out if you enjoy this story or my original one! That being said, you probably CAN read this without having read the first story, I just wouldn't personally recommend it, you'll be missing a lot of context and backstory! 3.7k, rated T, also available on Ao3 (registered users only!) Part One (Something I Can Turn To) on tumblr

Charles may have had a bit of a rough go of it growing up, but there'd been quiet moments, too. Most of 'em in a rickety old attic, with the only lad in the entire world he could trust with just about anything.

But there were peaceful times at home, too. Safe ones. Mostly at night. Long as he was quiet, didn't cry too loud or stomp about, he could get through eight-ish hours unbothered. Sure, sometimes he had to pace around the room a bit, silent on sock feet just to shake out the excess energy that wouldn't let him sleep but honestly? He bloody loved sleeping. Couldn't get enough of it. Long as he didn't make a fuss, didn't draw attention, he could sink into his bed in the cellar room and just sort of... bob out of his life for a bit. Like a smoke break, but better for his health. If he was dead lucky, he'd even stumble into Edwin's arms in his dreams; pass the time there 'til morning, when it all kicked off again.

So it wasn't easy, getting used to night shifts. It was a fair trade-off for all the other freedom in his life lately but bloody hell, did it sting a bit, losing that time. That dark, quiet nothing where he could be nothing, too, just for a bit. There was almost something sacred about it. Something he hadn’t known was important to him ‘til it was gone.

At least the night shift was pretty quiet, usually. Most of the people who needed to use a gym at two in the morning weren't exactly there to socialise. Charles' job pretty much amounted to half-dozing at reception and handing someone a towel now and then. He'd not had many nutjobs to deal with or fires to put out.

Then again, maybe a good disaster was what he needed just to stay awake. Christ, he was shattered. Took him a good few tries to get the key in the lock when he finally staggered home.

Charles was sad — but not surprised — to find the kitchen light on when he fell through the door.

He rolled his eyes. "Honey," he called, jokingly, the endearment all funny and wrong on his tongue. He'd call Edwin a lot of things — mate, love, best friend, fucking soulmate — but honey? Mingin'. "I'm home."

Edwin's reply was half a second too slow — textbook Edwin guilt response. Like when your cat didn't jump off the counter fast enough to pretend it hadn't been there in the first place. "Good evening, Charles."

"Good morning, more like," said Charles, drawing the bolts — all three of them — across and dropping his bag in a sloppy heap by the door. His coat came next, then each shoe, leaving a trail behind him as he stumbled towards the voice. The hallway felt too short and dark to be called a hallway, really. Looked more like a cupboard where someone had shoved a load of loose doors they had lying around. There was one to the kitchen, one to the bathroom, one to the bedroom that was basically also their living room. Plus a bunch of other weird little cupboard doors and hatches and grates and things, none of which led to anything you’d logically expect them to. It was a shambles, really. A 'paint it magnolia and fob it off on the students' sort of ruin. But it was home. Even bone-tired, he still found the energy to lock gaze with the weird eye-motif lamp Edwin had picked up somewhere and put on one of the non-shelves, and give it his customary wink. Felt wrong not to. Unlucky, somehow.

A fanlike halo of yellow light spread across the hallway carpet as he pushed open the kitchen door. He found more or less what he'd expected to find behind it. Edwin: sat prim and proper at the scuffed-up little table, surrounded by books and doing a bang-up impression of someone with no bloody idea what time it was. His chin, tucked elegantly behind his curled knuckles in that little thoughtful pose of his, lifted at the sound of the door. His eyes found Charles and narrowed, just a little, sketching a pleased little crinkle or two at the corners.

"Charles," he greeted once again, voice softer this time. "How was your shift?"

Edwin hadn't had those laugh lines when Charles had met him. Seeing as he was twelve, and not exactly full of reasons to smile. Charles wasn't gonna take full credit for them, or anything, but... well, not many other people putting in the legwork, were there?

He dragged in a breath and let it out again, sharply, puffing it out in a raspberry. "Same old."

Charles crossed the kitchen in about three steps (it wasn't a big kitchen), clocking Edwin's book of choice on the way. Some textbook with a long-winded title that basically translated to lawyer gubbins. He put a hand on Edwin's shoulder — and Edwin tilted his head easily, offering his cheek for a kiss. Charles grinned and pressed one to the tail end of one of those little lines.

"Burning the midnight oil?" asked Charles, nicking one of Edwin's favourite expressions. He always seemed to pick up the ones that made him sound about a hundred years old.

Edwin hummed, carefully noncommittal. "I must have lost track of time."

"Could've counted these, for a start," said Charles, tapping the little saucer on the table. It was piled high with used teabags, like some damp and deranged game of Jenga. "Might've given you a clue."

"I've been rather busy," Edwin sniffed, turning the page in his book. "Lots of swotting to be done before my lecture on Monday."

"Right, that's what this is, is it?"

"What else would it be?"

Charles reached out, pinched the book Edwin was reading at the centre, and slid it out of the bigger, decoy book he was holding with its cover facing out. "Oldest trick in the book, mate. Literally," he grinned. He lifted Edwin's secret reading into his arms, having a flip through. "Y'know, most people only pull that move when they've got dirty mags to hide.”

Edwin cleared his throat. Even in the dim light of the table lamp, Charles clocked the embarrassed flush on his cheeks. "Well," he said, setting the law textbook he absolutely wasn't reading on the table. "It does get rather draining, this intensive focus on one subject. I felt the need for a brief diversion."

Charles closed the secret book, glancing at the cover. "Anthropology, again. Like that one, don't you?"

"Hm. There's much to explore; it encompasses a rather broad area of study." Edwin took it back and slid it, sheepishly, behind the pile of other law volumes stacked at his elbow. "It's a fascinating subject."

"Should've applied for it," said Charles, gentle. He rubbed Edwin's shoulder absently — getting a little more intent when he felt Edwin melt a bit, his knotted muscles loosening under Charles' digging thumb. "Or any of the other five million bloody things you're interested in. Y'know, 'stead of the one thing you're not."

"I am interested in it!" Edwin blustered.

Charles raised an eyebrow at him.

Edwin sighed. "I am," he said, bit quieter. "It's just not all I'd like to be doing. But it was the right choice, of that I'm quite certain."

Charles sighed and stepped around him, coming to lean on the table, arms crossed. Their eyes met across the short distance. "Look. If you say it's alright, it's alright. I'll believe you, mate, honest I will."

He nudged Edwin's toe with his own, sock to holey sock. "But, y'know. Not for nothing, but at school you was always going on about all that stuff you wanted to do. Bloody... archaeology in Peru, and whatever else. Just don't see how a law degree gets you there, is all."

Edwin leaned back in his chair a bit, steepling his fingers. "Well, no. No, it doesn't get me to Peru; or Pompeii, or Patagonia —"

"Or anywhere beginning with a 'p'," Charles teased.

Edwin's lips twitched up in a little smile. "But it will get us somewhere. A great many somewheres, I imagine. As degrees go, it opens rather a lot of doors."

Charles cocked his head, squinting fondly. "'Us'?"

"Obviously, Charles," said Edwin, with a dismissive wave of his hand. Like a reality where he didn't bring Charles wherever he went wasn't worth considering.

Charles grinned, ducking his head.

"I'm sure you'll chastise me for my cynicism," Edwin continued, oblivious to Charles and his soppy moment. "But... Well, given the somewhat rocky beginnings you and I have encountered in life, I thought it best to..."

"What? Play it safe?"

"Yes," said Edwin. Firm, unapologetic. "Exactly. Because I would very much like for both of us to be safe in life, Charles."

"We are! Well," Charles shrugged, scratching at his nose with a wince. Still ached a bit sometimes, all told, even though the break was years ago. "We are now."

"And I would like for it to stay that way."

"It will!" Charles half-perched on the table, and nudged Edwin's leg with his big toe. "I'll look after us, won't I?"

Edwin looked up at him, and his eyes softened. Fuck, but he had the kindest bloody eyes — least when he turned them on Charles he did. His hand landed on Charles' knee, gentle as you like; rubbing small circles with his thumb like Charles had done on his shoulders.

"You've done more than enough already, Charles," he said, looking him dead in the eye; not letting him hide for anything. "It's only fair I look after you, too, now and again. Especially when it's within my power to do so."

Charles laughed, a thin, hitching sort of thing. His eyes felt all prickly. Fuck, he couldn't go crying on him, now — his eyeliner'd smudge everywhere, it'd be so obvious.

"Look after me," he mimicked, catching Edwin's hand in his, stealing it all for himself. "You gimme a bloody reason to wake up in the morning, mate. What else d'you need?"

Edwin opened his mouth, brows going all scrunched up like they did at the start of a concerned lecture. Charles ducked in and shushed him quicksharp with a kiss.

"Not saying I'm about to, like, off myself if you chuck me, or anything," he laughed against his lips, fondness glowing in the grate of his ribs like smouldering coals. He chased the kiss with a smaller one, to the corner of Edwin's mouth; the scratchy dusting of his five o'clock shadow. "I'd just wallow about being proper depressed, so. Don't chuck me, please?"

Maybe he was clinging a little too hard for his tone of voice. Maybe he was giving it all away in the hands — always such desperate, grasping fucking things. Always his problem, the hands. How they grabbed things, hit things, did things before his brain always had the chance to catch up. How long 'til Edwin got sick of Charles hanging onto him like a life raft, dragging him down with his dead weight? How long 'til the bones in Edwin's hands started to creak from being clutched too tight?

But Edwin just scoffed, quietly — completely failing to hide that little spark of humour in his eyes. "I hardly think that's a possibility, Charles," he said, lifting his other hand to pat the back of Charles'. His soft fingertips kissed feather-light against Charles' grazed, calloused knuckles. "Honestly,” he sighed, dramatically. “Here I sit, talking about the devastatingly boring career I'm attempting to get off the ground in order to keep you in the manner to which you've become accustomed, and you think I'm about to chuck you."

He shook his head, crow’s feet crinkling and bloody hell. Charles loved him so much it felt overwhelming, sometimes. Like he needed a whole extra heart in his chest just to store it all.

Charles kissed Edwin's hand and flopped, happily, onto his lap, grinning at the mild ‘oof’ it shoved out of him. Grinning even wider when Edwin's other arm wrapped around Charles’ waist without a second thought. Edwin was a bit picky about personal space, for good reason — not with Charles, though. Charles had a standing invitation and he put it to bloody good use.

"Bet you could make a weird job work for you too, y'know," said Charles, dropping his next peck to Edwin's forehead as he sank into his lap. His head felt heavier already; only thing keeping him going was the effort of holding himself upright. Draped over Edwin like a blanket, he could've just dozed off right then and there. But the kitchen chair was creaking threateningly, so. Probably a bad idea. "I know the weird stuff's usually more competitive and that, but you're that smart. You'd run rings round the others, mate, get ahead of the game."

He flung his arms round Edwin's shoulders, scratched at the back of his head, the hair at his nape. It was a little longer than Edwin liked it. He needed a trim. So did Charles, really; his racing stripes had grown out and he kept having to blow stray curls out of his eyes. But they were saving their pennies any way they could. "You could go do something interesting, something a bit barmy," said Charles. "Something with a bit of adventure, yeah? Or at least where you get to have your nose in interesting books all day. You'd love that."

Edwin sighed, resting his cheek against Charles' shoulder as his eyes drifted shut. "That does sound compelling. But I've rather made my bed, Charles; I’ve no money coming in at all if I don’t study for it. And it is interesting, in moderation. Besides, it..."

"What?"

"It seems... like a decent thing to do." The warm weight of Edwin's arm squeezed Charles' waist. "Something I could do a modicum of good with."

Charles heard a rustle, and glanced over his shoulder. Edwin's other hand was flicking through the law book on the table, clever fingers finding the module he wanted without even checking the contents. Charles had to squint at it a moment, his exhausted eyes skittering off the page. He thought he saw 'human' and 'rights' in that word soup of a title.

He softened. "Eds..."

"I merely thought..." Edwin made a little noise of frustration in his throat, angling his face further into Charles. Speaking so soft it almost got lost in his skin, words lodging small and timid in his bones. "So many years, Charles. Trapped at the mercy of other people, no one caring if we lived or died, I... I could do something about it. Learn the right words to say, the right arguments, the right resources. So no one else need..."

Sometimes it fucking killed Charles, that there were people out there who thought Edwin was some... some selfish, spoiled rich toff with no feelings. As if he wasn't the kindest bloody person in the world; as if he hadn't had to carve that kindness out himself with his bare, bleeding hands.

Edwin sniffed. “It was just an idea,” he mumbled. “A silly idea.”

Charles shook his head, stroked Edwin's hair. "S'not a silly idea, love. Not silly at all."

Edwin never struggled to find his words like this — and he definitely didn’t mumble them. Words were his weapons, and he could go toe-to-toe with the best of 'em, talk bloody circles 'round his opponents.

Charles looked from him to the stack of books, the tower of teabags. The plastic clock on the wall, its hands marching on into the morning.

"Aw, mate," he said, rubbing the back of Edwin's neck — and dropping a kiss to the top of his head. "You're dead on your feet, in’t you?"

"I'm perfectly fine," Edwin grumbled. "And I've tests to study for —"

"Tests in subjects you're not bloody taking? Yeah, right." Charles bit his lip, cuddling Edwin's head against his chest. "Can't sleep, can you?"

Edwin was quiet a moment, breathing nice and steady into Charles' throat.

"It's still... difficult," he said.

Three door bolts and four hundred miles was a start, but bad memories had a way of following you about. Charles closed his eyes and breathed in, nice and slow; hoping Edwin could feel it in his chest, find a nice rhythm in his rising ribs.

"Edwin," he said, nuzzling into his hair. "On my life, mate — one of these days, you and me are gonna be so bloody set you'll be able to do whatever you want. Go back to uni fifty times, hundred times, don't care. Study for the rest of your life, if you want.” He tapped Edwin’s temple. “Cram everything that's ever interested you in that big brain of yours. Promise you."

It shouldn't've felt like taking a bloody knight's oath, whispered words at the kitchen table at stupid o'clock in the morning. But Christ, he'd fought off enough dragons to get ‘em here, hadn’t he?

He felt Edwin's smile against his skin, followed by the little dry brush of his kiss. "You could, too. If you liked," he said. "Get your A-levels, apply for university..."

Charles laughed, shaking his head. "Not sure I could keep up."

"Charles," Edwin admonished, in that stern teacher voice that was cuter (and fitter) than it had any right to be. "You're exceptionally bright."

"Ah, come on, mate," Charles mumbled, squirming. Edwin's arm round his waist locked as if it could sense an escape attempt incoming.

"You are. I remember your grades, before... well. Everything that occurred." He smoothed down the collar of Charles' fuck-ugly work shirt. "It's hardly your fault your final years went awry as they did. You could go back, take some courses at the local college. Try again."

"Right, sure."

Edwin huffed, frustrated. "I'm being quite serious, in the event that wasn't obvious."

"When aren't you?" Charles chuckled. He stared at the wall, at the stupid fucking boyband calendar their kooky upstairs neighbour gave Edwin for Christmas. Most of the writing on it was Edwin's, neat and tiny, scheduling tests and lectures and study blocks. Most of Charles' additions were just the word 'WORK', scribbled in on scattered days — more so Edwin knew when he was coming and going, rather than for his own benefit. Always different days, different times. Shift work; no chance to form a routine. He was never great at that, anyway.

"Not even sure what I'd do," he mumbled.

Edwin's palm on Charles' waist rubbed, soothing, grounding. "You never had something you wanted to study?" he asked. "Something you wanted to go into?"

"I..." His brow furrowed. It was so hard to think, sometimes. About times before now. Like all those bloody miserable years just blended into this mush of dread and misery. "I dunno what I wanted," he admitted. "Couldn't... couldn't think that far ahead, could I? I just wanted my mum to be alright. Wanted my dad to think I was worth something. Wanted not to hurt anymore."

He sniffed, and laughed, a watery sort of sound. His arm around Edwin's shoulders squeezed.

"Only thing I ever wanted and got back then was you," he said, flippant, like it didn't really matter. 'Cause it didn't really, did it? Wasn't some big confession or anything. Some deep, dark secret. Edwin knew. They both knew.

But Edwin breathed in sharply, a little ragged round the edges, so maybe he needed reminding now and again. "Charles..."

"Fuck," Charles chuckled, releasing Edwin so he could lean back and rub his eyes — so Edwin wouldn’t have his ear to Charles’ heart when it started beating too fast. "I'm shattered, mate. Dunno what I'm even saying anymore, do I?"

Maybe one of these days, he’d stop being too scared of the fucking size of his own feelings to sit with them a moment.

Maybe they both would.

Edwin sighed, pulling his hand from Charles' waist to pinch at the bridge of his own nose. "I suppose it has gotten rather late." He glanced at the clock, and winced. "Early. You should go and sleep. I'm sure you've had a long day."

Charles hummed, leaving his nice warm spot in Edwin's lap — but his hands didn't leave his shoulders. "C'mon, then," he mumbled, giving them a squeeze. "Bed."

"Better to go without me. I shan't sleep tonight."

"Didn't say anything about sleeping, now, did I?"

Edwin raised his eyebrow.

Charles' brain caught up to his mouth, and he laughed. "Ah — love to, darlin', but. Yeah, seriously, I'm fucking knackered. I meant, like — let's just have a bit of a cuddle, yeah?" He tugged at Edwin's collar where it poked out of his nice green jumper. It was a little crooked — Edwin must've really got into a study groove and unfastened a button or two. Fit as. "I proper fancy a cuddle."

"I'll be restless," said Edwin, all apologetic. "I'll only keep you awake."

Charles hummed, picking up the anthropology textbook and holding it out.

"Keep on reading, then," he said, giving Edwin the big, hopeful eyes he bloody knew he could never say no to. "Just... come read to me instead, yeah?"

Edwin had another dramatic sigh, like it was all such a big ask. He ought to tell that to his fucking smile lines. He took the book — and Charles' hand. "Well. I suppose I can manage that."

~

Charles didn't know how long Edwin stayed awake, in the end. Could've been hours for all he knew, he'd have had no idea — Charles had been asleep in bloody seconds. Head pillowed on Edwin's shoulder, that gorgeous voice rattling off dry old text blocks and making them sound like spoken-word lullabies... how could he resist?

All he knew was when he woke up, it was eleven in the morning, the sun was slanting through the crooked blinds; and Edwin was snoring softly underneath him. His hair a mess, his textbook open on his chest. His arm a slack, warm weight around Charles' shoulders.

Charles smiled, rubbed his dry eyes — forgot to scrub off his eyeliner before he konked out, again. Classic — and settled back in, nestling safe and sound into the the crook of Edwin's arm. Fuck it. It was Saturday. He'd asked Crystal to pick up his shift today, anyway, so him and Edwin could get a little quality time in.

If all they did with that time was sleep, well. Time well spent, innit? It wasn't like a smoke break from life when he did it with Edwin, anyway.

More like... stepping back to enjoy the view.

~~

Thanks for reading my loves, I hope it soothed the ache somewhat 💛 This has been a strange little one because I've essentially had to take something I very much wrote as a one-shot, and build onto what I established. When I wrote that first one-shot I didn't even have a clear idea in my mind for what Edwin was studying or anything! So things will likely change and grow and develop and who knows where we'll end up, but it's nice to see the lads figuring it out alongside me ^_^ Thanks for reading guys! It's been a bit of a long silence from me since Painland Week ended but I promise I'm working on stuff, including the next chapter of Lonely Bones! Regardless of what has happened to the show or whether it gets picked up or not, my plan is to keep writing and creating for it for as long as it sparks joy to do so - and seeing as I've made some amazing friends in this fandom, I think I'm gonna be here a while! I sure hope you guys are, too 💛 (p.s. if you are over 18, trustworthy with semi-secret identities, and like weird rarepair smut, feel free to DM me for my side Ao3 that I'm sure will be getting some action over the next few months xD)

[storm-angel989]

If you have time, I'd love to see how you write Val finding his teenaged daughter in hell, who succumbed to depression before his death? Iykwim ❤️

Hi friend,

Yes, absolutely! And I know very well what you mean. Please know that you’re never alone, and my inbox (or messaging) is always open to chat. Even in your darkest hour, I promise you, life gets better. And even if you feel like you have no one, you have me! And I’m nothing more than a quick message away. <3 

<3 Mandy

Valentino’s stomach sank as he watched the images on Vox’s multitude of screens. He knew his daughter struggled on Earth, knew she missed him, his presence, even though she only knew him for a short time in life. He knew what she could never- that depression, self hatred and medicating with substances, both legal and illegal, ran deep in their bloodline. 

“When did she fall?” He demanded. “And how long has she been here?”

“Well. Oz called. Says he owns her soul, just like he does yours,” Vox replied. “So, that’s a relief. Better than one of the other sins getting their hands on her. Looks like she’s just about ready to get out of holding, if you want me to send the limo? She’s your kid, technically, so…”

“So my responsibility. I know my contract well,” Valentino snapped as he turned around. “Tell housekeeping to set up the spare room. I’ll pick her up myself.” 

With that, one of the most powerful overlords in hell swept off to pick up his daughter. As he stepped out into the same holding area he himself had been in not too far into the distant past, he grimaced. It was an uncomfortable place, and even more so for a teenage girl. He scanned the area and suddenly, his eyes fell to her. 

Reader. 

“Over here, bebita,” he said out loud. “Reader, over here.”

“Daddy?” she asked as her eyes met his. Relief flooded her features. “Daddy! You look…you look different.”

He watched as her eyes started to water and he stepped forward as he opened his arms. To his relief, she rushed forward and wrapped her arms around his neck. As much as Valentino had missed the feeling of her in his arms, the fact that she was here broke his heart. 

“Daddy, you’re…they said you were dead! How…” she began.

“I know baby. It’s a lot to take in,” he said gently as he laid an arm around your shoulder. “Let’s take you to your new home. We can talk about it on the way there.” 

He kept his arm around her in the limo, and tried not to let his heart break as she cried onto his shoulder. He listened as she swore she never meant to do it, never meant to take it that far. Desperate for the relief of the mental anguish that infected every waking moment of her life on Earth, she had taken it a step too far. It pained him to hear her speak, the guilt in her voice overwhelming. He knew what she would ask before she did, and he swallowed as he tried to draw up words, anything that would offer comfort to her. 

“I want to go back home, Daddy,” she begged. “Mom, my friends, I…”

“I’m sorry honey, this is your home now,” he told her gently. “You’ll have a good home, I promise. I…I can’t take you back. I’m sorry.” 

“Daddy, the pain didn’t stop,” she sobbed into him. “I still, I…”

“The pain doesn’t stop just because your life on Earth did,” he replied quietly. “We can get you help, there are resources, and Daddy will take care of you. But sweetheart, you don’t get a second chance at life up there.” 

He knew it would take awhile for her to accept it as fact. And he knew she would need help- more than he alone could provide. With one arm around her shoulder, he sent a quick message to Vox directing him to set up appointments beginning the following day. Until then, he would do everything in his power to protect her- even if it meant he had to protect her from herself. 

The closer they got to home, the guilt that he knew consumed her slowly wrapped its way around his own heart. It took every single fiber of self control to bite back the should haves, the what ifs. Flashes of his own death, buried in the throes of depression and addiction. He held her tighter and kissed the top of her head as he gently cradled her against him. 

“It will be okay princessa,” he said quietly. “Daddy is here.”

[knight-a3]

Hazbin Hotel Sketchbook Tour Part 10

Masterpost

I need to preface this one by saying that Vox(while not my favorite character) is my favorite redesign. I've made him look so wonderfully stupid, and it makes me laugh every time I look at it.

But first, Angel Dust.

Design notes will be under the cut.

Design notes under the cut

Angel Dust: So Angel makes me uncomfortable. The innuendos and raunchy jokes are not my cup of tea. It's part of why I struggled with his redesign so much. But I think I've finally managed to balance it while also alluding to his mobster roots.

I remember reading somewhere(not sure how canonicallt viable this is but I'm running with it) that Angel doesn't dress super provocatively outside of work. He's more inclined to dress comfy. So I gave him some lounge attire.

But I'm sure he would still want to dress up when out and about in town. So I gave him an outfit vaguely reminiscent of a mobster with the pinstripes and pseudo suit jacket, but also diverts away from it by leaning more into the fashion. He may keep up with modern fashions decently, but he's still a product of his time and upbringing. He's still got some mobster in him. I also preferred the look of his shorter gloves from the pilot, at least on his main set of arms. The second set has long ones like in the series, which would help the animators differentiate them. Tbh, I'd scrap the second set of gloves entirely if only it didn't feel in character.

Overall, I like this outfit for him. I think it balances his femininity and masculinity.

Idk if anyone noticed, but I don't like drawing characters with only 4 fingers. Something about it bothers me. So I've been doing everyone with 5. But I make an exception for extra limbs. Angels' second set of arms has 4 fingers, and the third has 3. Also, the extra sets are black and more bug-like than the main set. I do this to others, like Valentino, as well.

I've also noticed a lot of redesigns give him prominent spider fangs, and I just never liked how any of them looked on him. Instead, I gave him normal teeth fangs

Vox: To begin, Vox needed more bulk so his body could concievably support the old TV models. Twink size wasn't cutting it. The change also had the side effect of making him shorter, which just works better proportionately.

I liked the idea that Vox could never get rid of his original bulky 50s TV, but also wanted him to be able to upgrade. So I decided his true body is the 50s TV, and he adds an upgraded monitor as a head as technology improves. He's hates that he's stuck as an old fashioned TV, so he hides that under his suit. Since the monitor is just an addition, it can be swapped out easily. It can be damaged and he's technically unharmed. But he has to reveal his true body in order to see without the monitor. Unless he wants to use surrounding cameras and move via third person view.

Next, I don't like that everyone seems to have sharp teeth. I want more variety. (Similar to the whole bowtie deal) So I gave Vox "regular" teeth, which help him look more trustworthy. It fits the corrupt businessman vibe. Because his head is a screen, his face can change appearance based on both what he wants and what mood he's in. When he's angry, his face may glitch out, become too big for the monitor, and/or his teeth can become sharp. He might have to reboot after a Blue Screen of Death if he gets too worked up. When he's bored or tired a Voxtech logo will bounce around like the DVD logo, or display a screensaver. When hes feeling sheepish his face will get smaller on the screen(not that he'd ever feel ashame about anything, of course), etc. So many possibilities. I really want an excuse to give him a troll face at some point. It may be an old meme, but it feels appropriate.

Anyway, I love how stupid not having a head makes him look. He looks like SpongeBob and it's hilarious.

[obsessedwrhys]

MAGNETIC LOVE

ᶻ 𝗓 𐰁 .ᐟ Raiden develops a crush on the waitress who works at Madam Bo's (fluff, Raiden being hopelessly in love, Kung Lao is the wingman??, I know this trope has been used a lot but this is my take on it, reader is fem!!)

ᯓ★

Being Earthrealm's champion can be exhausting sometimes, so he figured, what's better than to take a break at one of the places that reminds him when times were simpler.

However, the problem was that he didn't expect to end up spending half of his time at the restaurant staring at the waitress Madam Bo had hired just recently. He was staring so much that he lost track of time.

In defense, how could he not?

Your smile was intoxicating and your eyes were mesmerising.

The way you worked fast yet elegantly.

And how he would catch a whiff of your perfume when you walked past his table.

Everything about you was drawing him in and he hasn't even asked for your name yet nor did you even know anything about him.

Just as he spends another of his free days at the restaurant, technically just there to watch you work, he suddenly felt a hand pat him on the shoulder. He looked over his shoulder to see it was Kung Lao.

"So this is where you go to when you're not busy" He said as he took the chair beside him.

"How'd you know I was here?"

"It's not hard to track you down when you know so little places" He said, relaxing in his chair until he notises the plate of food on the table.

It was untouched and already growing cold. This peaked interest in him since he never does this. To be honest, who could say no to Madam Bo's food?

"Do you just come here everyday to waste food? What a customer you are" Kung Lao jokes and Raiden struggles to find the right words to say, but the second you stepped in frame, his eyes darted towards you which Kung Lao easily followed suit.

It didn't take long for him to understood what was happening.

"Oooohhh... I get it now. You have a crush on the waitress working here, huh?" He nudges him with a teasing smirk.

"Is it that obvious?" Raiden asks.

"Uh... yeah. Judging by how you looked at her just now, I'm pretty sure everybody knows" Kung Lao pointed out how his face seemed to light up the moment he looked at you.

Hearing him say that, Raiden couldn't help but steal a glimpse of you wiping a nearby table clean after disposing all the dirty plates into the sink. The way the strands of your hair fell from behind your ear and you quickly tucking it back in place made him swoon even more.

"You're doing it again...! Have you not said a thing to her? Not even a hello?" Kung Lao grabbed him by the shoulders to force him to focus on him.

Raiden simply shakes his head at his question.

"I've thought about it but I'm not sure if I want to disrupt her working hours"

"Well she doesn't work ALL the time. You can just wait for her to finish her shift. Wow, are you that in love that your brain stopped working?" Kung Lao said, poking him by the shoulder playfully.

"It's not as easy as it seems"

"That's just you" Just then, Kung Lao got up from the chair causing it to screech a bit against the wooden floor.

"Welp, I better get going. Unlike you, I managed to score myself a date with someone. Good luck" He said with a strong pat on the shoulder before leaving.

He had to admit, he could feel his heart beating loudly in his chest just considering the suggestion. As far as he knows, he's good at starting up a conversation with anyone, it's just he'll be doing it to you and the thought alone makes him nervous.

What if this wasn't the first time a customer tried to get with you? Considering how attractive he found you to be, you must have dealt with this situation a lot. So that means you've rejected a lot of people or...

Maybe you were already dating someone??

He gulps at the thought and tried to brush off the feeling by drinking his tea. Well he doesn't see a ring so you can't be married. No matching jewelleries or anything. So you can't be taken yet right?

All this overthinking was doing anything but help him. Maybe he'll just ask you... riggght after he's done boosting himself up.

By the time the sun was setting and that the sky has gone pinkish orange, you grabbed your bags from the locker after changing back into your casual clothes.

It was already an exhausting day, it's a relief you didn't have to deal with any rude customers.

Just as you left the restaurant, you were suddenly approached by a man. A customer actually. You recognised him easily since he always ordered the same thing.

"Hi" He greeted you with a smile and you couldn't help but smile back.

"Hello"

For an awkward moment, you two were just smiling at each other until he finally realised he was supposed to say something next.

"I'm Raiden"

"(Y/N)"

Another awkward silence drops upon you. You're starting to feel like he's not good at starting conversations.

"Did you want to talk to me about something?" You asked and he had to blink a couple of times to snap out of his head.

"Well uh... I just wanted to get to know you..."

"Oh?" You were surprised at his answer and he couldn't help but wonder if it was a good surprise or a bad surprise.

"I hope I don't come off as a creep"

"Ehh... well... to be fair you've been staring at me as I worked these days" You said as you awkwardly avoided his gaze and he swore he almost choked when he heard you.

So you knew all this time and you never did anything about it? Now it just makes him feel even more of a creep.

"But I asked and Madam Bo told me a lot about you, she says you're a good person and that you're very kind" You smiled at him and it eased his nerves a bit.

"What else did she say?"

"She also told me to make you stop coming to the restaurant because of how she's fed up with you not eating your food when it's hot but only when it's cold. She says its a disgrace to her cooking" You said and it made him chuckle softly.

"She said that?"

You nodded.

"Will I be blacklisted?" He asks and you pretended to reconsider the consequences but it also seemed like you were playing around with him.

"I guess you won't be... if you ask me out for dinner" You said and he felt his heart flutter for a second.

"Well then... do you happen to be free now?" He asks which had you grinning.

"Mm... I don't have plans tonight but it depends on where you're taking me"

"I know a good restaurant around the block. It'll be my treat, what do you say?" He said, his behaviour seeming to appear more layback and confident.

"How can I say no to free food?" You chuckled and it just made the smile on his face grew wider.

Days later, you would find yourself frequently taken on dates after your shift. Sometimes they were fun and sometimes they were romantic. Either way, it was perfect. You didn't think you'd fallen for the guy but you did. He was really everything Madam Bo said, except for the fact that he short circuits whenever he's flustered, which you easily found adorable.

All this effort and you two haven't even made it official yet.

On another working day, you stood by the desk as you accept the customers payment. Once you were done, you saw a couple more customers enter but one of them caught your eye immediately. You grabbed your pen and notebook to take their orders. As you approached their table, his eyes were focused on you straight away.

"Welcome to Madam Bo's, what would you like to eat?" You asked, trying to stay professional.

"I have to admit Raiden, this place is great!" His friend with the glasses spoke.

"You're just saying that because he promised you money if you agreed to come" The man with a blindfold (?) said .

"We'll just have the usual" Raiden said to you as the two went on bickering. You nodded and shoot him a playful smirk before delivering his order to the kitchen.

By the time their food was done and after you served it to them. You just went on doing your work but you couldn't help and turn your head every now and then to see him eating or chatting with his friends. Honestly you found it ironic how the tables have been turned. Now you were the creep watching him do his thing.

The second the sun setted, you grabbed your stuff and left the restaurant once you were finished with helping Madam Bo close it. However as you waited at the door for Raiden to pick you up for one of your dates, you didn't see him anywhere. Was he too busy with his friends that he forgot?

Feeling a bit disappointed but trying not to let it ruin your mood, you decided to head home. Though it took you only a few steps until you heard someone call out to you. With a knowing smile on your face, you turned to the other way to see Raiden running towards you, a hand hidden behind him as he was obviously holding a bouquet.

"Is that for me?" You nodded at the flowers and he seemed embarrassed that his surprise was already blown.

"Yeah... I had to run to the other side of town because the shop I usually buy from was out of stock" He handed it to you and you could see a clear view of the variety of flowers.

"Romantic" You smiled as you took it from him.

"I'm glad you like them... but I need to ask you something..." He said, his body language shifting from tired to serious. You look up at him with intrigue.

"I hope these past few days have been great for you but all these moments we've shared. I can't help but wonder if you feel like there's more to it" He said, his eyes never cutting contact with yours. You blush.

"Are you asking me if we're exclusive?" You said and your forwardness made his heart beat faster.

"Yes"

"Do you want it to be?"

"More than anything" His answer delivered without hesitation.

You stare at him... your lips soon forming a genuine smile.

"Then there's no point in denying it... we're official" You said. For a second he seemed to be frozen in time but you noticed how his eyes also sparkled with joy.

"Oh um... well... that was easier than I thought... does that mean you're still up for dinner?" He asks, trying to calm himself from how happy he was, he could feel his cheeks starting to hurt from smiling so much.

"Yes, but this time, I'll pay for us. My treat" You pat him on the chest before walking off and he could only chuckle as he quickly catches up to you.

You were definitely something...

[drdonogood]

Yes hello I'm hear to listen to your yaps about J&H plz

OMG, HELL YAAAHHHH ok swag. So. Drawing randomly from a hat, some various ideas of mine- My AU/ideas are mish-mashed from some of my favorite Jekyll and Hyde adaptations. And some of my own ideas stitched in. (I'm also putting it out there that this AU has no name yet, and I would love suggestions from anyone) also of there are any typos i'm sorry. This is half word vomit and there are only so many times I can re-read it.

> Other monsters and gothlit bullshit probably exsist in my universe. I just haven't thought enough about it.

> Jekyll is right-handed, Hyde is left-handed. They both have a mole in the same spot under their left eye (his left your right). Hyde's veins look green through his skin- Aaand Hyde vaugly looks like a more feral, compact, and fucked up version of younger Jekyll. These are the absolute basis/my fav JnH ideas I've seen around.

> In that recent Hyde Shitpost, you may notice that he is covered in blood. This is because the pressure of condensing into a smaller body shoots blood out of his face. (There's a lot less blood when turning into Jekyll. A super bad nose bleed- At worse some ear bleeding?) It's kinda like the fun glowing mysterious green goo you see in a lot of adaptations. And I almost went with the green goo too. But decided on blood with freind input 😭 This also means that they have low iron and Jekyll is prone to fainting. (Jekyll has always been a bit of a stress fainter though...Hyde is a bit too energized to faint easily but he might)

> I think I've mentioned it here a little- But my Hyde has a tendency to....eat things that are inedible. Raw fish and rocks and paper and dirt and wood. His stomach acid is strong enough to digest small rocks (because this freak's biology is FUCKED)- anything heftier would be a problem. But it still makes Jekyll... a little ill in the morning. I had the thought that maybe this was because Jekyll had suppressed Pica and it presented itself hevily in Hyde? But I haven't developed that idea too much.

> Hyde has thicker, denser bones. Which helps with his "Amateur Parkour Hobby" (aka: His compulsion to jump and climb on everything like a little freak) He also has beans little callous spots on his hands that help him grip things better! .....beans. sorry.

> Hyde's eyes look like they are void black- but if you shine a light on them, they are iridescent green! Bright lights also seem to bother him quite a lot, and he doesn't like being out on sunny days.

> Jekyll's body was slightly changed/modified after drinking HJ-7, so he has a few toned down physical aspects of Hyde's. Like sharp canines and sharp nails (that he frantically cuts down every time he wakes up) and fucked up eyes and even some of the weird biology stuff (Like the digestive thing, faster heart rate, lower body temperature, slight aversion to light ect. Just not AS much as Hyde has it)

> Jekyll and Hyde don't technically age. Their bodies turn back to the day they took the potion. If one of them was stuck being physical for an extended period of time- they WOULD start to age. But it would be reverted the second they transformed. BUT physical injuries only get slightly healed. So they can't just ITV heal injuries by transforming. It helps! But not entirely.

> Hyde HAS to be let out. It causes major problems if he isn't. He gets VERY stir crazy and it effects the both of them negatively. Physically and mentally. It would eventually trigger an involuntary transformation. And Hyde would be a bit fucked up. Likewise, Hyde uses up too much energy just by existing to stay out for days on end. He has to get back in eventually or else. Yk. Involuntary transformation.

> Also Hyde is biologically both sexes. Something something representing the aforementioned Jekyll closeted Tfem stuff that probably won't ever be addressed. He wouldn't care what pronouns you called them but. Obv victorian era everyone uses He when they see him 🤷🏻‍♂️.

> Depending on how long he gets to live (no set plot so him Jekilling himself could or could not happen) Hyde does infact develop a consciousness. Or...His consciousness develops....Or something. Idk how to describe it in such few words. He's definitely starts off distinct and split enough. But Hyde doesn't think about the nature of his existence or Jekyll all that much. He's clearly far too caught up in the joy and rush on being alive and experiencing things. If he exists for long enough, he will eventually have a pretty bad existential crisis. Bro realises that he thinks, therefore, he is. He'll get better, though. And probably be better off.

> Jekyll and Hyde don't find out until way later that they can see each other and communicate and all that regular fanon stuff. (And even still it takes a long and stubborn while for Jekyll to realise just how conscious Hyde is). They CAN make each other KINDA feel a weird sort of Phantom touch. They can see eachothers apparitions. And maybe the non-physical one can see things in a room even when the physical one isn't looking at it. But that's the extent of their interaction with the real world if they aren't physical.

> I'm not a big fan of Hyde being a serial killer type malicious evil guy? He dosen't represent evil obv. Im much more into that TGS style Hyde characterization. But then again, I don't have a set plot, and the idea is fun sometimes. Like he still has the capacity for murrder.... Maybe as a side AU for my AU. I think reasonably he wouldn't be- and at most kills Carew randomly during an emotional outburst. I do think that Hyde likes to start bar fights and beat the shit out of people, though. He loves the rush of being punched but isn't very happy on the very off chance that he doesn't win. Maybe he isn't evil, but that guy is a freakish asshole. And a bit of a man whore.

> This is my friend @ilovebeesandallthat 's fault. But Jekyll is one of those old people who go CRAZY for the holidays. Like he tries soooo hard to be normal about Christmas. He is not. Jekyll isn't the type to throw big parties (attend them? Maaaybe. Host dinners for his friends and colleagues? Definitely. But throwing a big party? Eeehhh-) And yet every year, high society gets excited for Jekylls' yearly Christmas party. Unfortunately, Jekyll's insane Christmas spirit has pierced the soul of our poor London's night Incarnate- and dragged him down to the hellish depths of Holly Jolly Christmas insanity. I fear both Jekyll AND Hyde turn into the most disgusting Holliday feinds the second it turns midnight on November 1st....

> Oh yeah, also because I'm an unoriginal TGS AND TMA fan- Hyde will sometimes refer to himself as "London's Night Incarnate." Beacuse, I thought it sounded like just the sort of thing he would think was cool.

> Lanyon and Jekyll's families were very close. They both were born and grew up in Scotland (Scottish Jekyll truthhhh sorry). They moved to England for university, and for the first chunk, it was them against everyone else. But then Jekyll started hanging around this 'Utterson' guy and started speaking in an English accent and started being uber charismatic with everyone- and it very much bothered Lanyon. He still stuck with Jekyll- but this is what started the strain on their relationship. Lanyon did end up being close to Utterson. But now his relationship with Utterson is better than his relationship with Jekyll....

> Despie all that- Sorry folks, Lanyon is the token straight (I HAVE joked abour him being a Henriel fudanshi though lolll. He loves the drama). He has a wife named Lindsey (she's a nurse!), and they love each other very very much (even though Lanyon is a grumpy ass stubborn old fart). They have 2 adult kids who have moved out and live elsewhere but visit as much as they can. They had a Scottish wedding, and Jekyll was the best man (even though Lanyon considered making it Utterson out of spite...he had to keep the family peace). Utterson also got to be there.

> Lucy and Emma exist in this world, too! Beacuse I like them too much to leave them out despite my beef with the musical and my more book based ideas. Emma is a...bit less developed. She's a wee inspired by some stuff I have seen about Hyde and Seek (the MazM spin off that I haven't played yet). She is Jekyll's ex-fiancé. She left because- despite how much she cared about him- his work was clearly too much. And honestly, she was a wee bit scared of it and how...weird he would get about it. She just couldn't take it anymore and knew she deserved better. Even despite not getting married, they act like a divorced couple on the off chance they cross paths. BUUUUt they still care about each other. Just...not in a romantic way anymore. And they kinda have their own lives going on. She has a husband now and some grown kids! She hasn't been in London so...she actually doesn't know what's going on with Jekyll. Maybe she finds out later, ooooo.

> I probably won't delve TOO much into Lucy's character as much as I could rn. I have...a LOT I could say about her. I'll save that for another post since I'm tryyying to not prolong this and also keep it at least a little on the topic of JnH spesifically. I always thought that if I *did* have an adaptation of my AU- she'd be either the main or a frequent POV. She isn't a love interest or a victim of Hyde. In fact her and Hyde are kinda besties??? She's like a middle ground between ITV/TGS Lucy and musical (which I haven't yet watched ITV but have been infodumped about it) She meets Jekyll...somewhere idk- and has an interesting philosophical conversation with him. Which is a cover for her pickpocketing him. He is...well aware that she is doing so- but doesn't say anything about it. Much like in the musical, he gives her his card and tells her to keep in touch if she ever needs anything. Later down the line, she gets approached by a weirdo in a bar who yaps her ear off about the most ridiculous things. She keeps expecting this guy to ask for her services and get this over with- but he never does. And she keeps seeing this guy day after day- until one of his yap sessions goes on so long that he's just following her home and yapping (you can probably take the hint that yes, this is Hyde). And now she's starting to realise this guy isn't threatening- he's just weird. And probably not human....and maybe even a tad bit endearing? Mostly weird, though. And now he Kimmy Gibbler-ing his way around her apartment in the middle of the night. Crawling through her window when he feels like it to hang out and show her gift her all the cool new trinkets he has stolen and raid her fridge and bring her dead things. And she starts to appreciate it beacuse it starts to break up her monotonous and depressing daily cycle. They take care of each other and it's nice (once again- can get more into it in another post)

> Hyde is a disgusting little slime ball who is somehow always covered in filth and grime. Lucy fucking hates this.

>Hyde has an accidental common theme of being a Devil-On-The-Shoulder to more than JUST Jekyll. He tends to bring out the most weird and hidden sides of people- which is....fitting considering what he is. It's something that happend accidently as I was thinking of character interactions- but something that I think is really really fun....

ANYWAY THAT'S ALL FOR NOW- MORE LATER.....MAYBE 🫡🫡🫡

[thebucketpail]

When You Accidentally Kill a Clown pt 8

Pt.1 pt.7 Ao3

By the time the dark knight slipped through Danny's window, they had just finished some late night Ramen (hey if they were going to face off against the Batman then they'd need something more than coffee cake from three hours ago in their stomach). It was clear that the Bat in question was doing his best at being sneaky, and to be honest, if Danny hadn't been expecting him: they would have been caught off guard in the least. However, as it were, Batman slipped silently into a well lit dorm and was met with a completely unimpressed college student.

Danny didn't even offer the man a second glance. It wasn't until the Bat cleared his throat to garner the boy's attention, that they finally pulled their gaze away from the Webb telescope livestream they had been watching.

"One second, this part's really cool," They said, turning the screen so the Bat could watch as a new image was displayed. Danny smirked a little at the man's quizzical grunt before they returned their full attention back the the livestream's host.

Danny paused the video just before the segment break and turned to Batman who had seemingly taken a much more relaxed stance as he watched the video with rapt attention.

"Told you it was cool," Danny smirked as they shut the laptop, shifting their position to face the Bat more directly whole maintaining their laid back -non threatening- demeanor. "Now what did you want to see me about? I assume it's about that clown I killed?"

"Hn," came the reply, "So it is true then? You killed the Joker?"

Danny narrowed their eyes. They had to play this right, the Batman was known to be quick to anger, afterall. And it wasn't like Danny hadn't anticipated and thought through this whole conversation on multiple occasions, it was just that they weren't best known for their planning, or tact, or thinking in general. -and maybe the bat was bit more intimidating in person-

"Yes," They found themself saying, drawing out the sounds to make more of a question than a statement. Then more surely, "Yes, I did cause the event that led to the clown's death."

___________

Bruce looked down at the kid I'm front of him, entirely aware of his status as a potential threat, yet also rather intrigued.

He was what his children tended to refer to as "adoption bait" The jet black hair, blue eyes, and ability to stare down Batman without even blinking, all set off Bruce's father instincts. Hell, instead of panicking that the Batman was in his dorm room, the boy had instead turned his laptop to continue watching a NASA livestream. All this coupled with the trauma from killing a person practically had the boy one leg into the robin costume already.

But first, Bruce had to assess the kid's threat level. It was clear from the footage he had managed to bribe out of Barbara, that the boy was a metahuman, a rather strong one at that if simply having been caught off guard managed to kill one of the city's most notorious killers. Of course, that was all the more reason to take him on as a ward. Better watched, better protected, -better controlled-.

Bruce was pulled from these thoughts as the boy closed the laptop, the video most likely having ended, and said something.

"Hn," Bruce responded, and began his questioning.

The boy admitted to killing the Joker, technically. But Bruce also took stock of the way he had worded his response, dancing around the subject as if to not outright say it.

"My sources say that you are a metahuman. What are your abilities?"

The boy scoffed, clearly building a facade of indifference to hide his anxiety. "Oh you know, plasma beams, density shifting, the works."

"Hn." The boy was hiding something. His power roster likely lengthier than he let on. The question was: whether Bruce should push or not. "Anything else?"

The boy made a show of thinking, exaggerating his movements as he rubbed at his chin. "Uuuuuuhhhhhhhh, not really no. I mean, I glow in the dark but that's not really something I like to advertise y'know? Like 'come see the human glowstick' amiright?"

That almost illicited a chuckle from the Drak Knight. *Almost*.

Last question, he thought before saying, "Are you a threat to this city?" Here Bruce wasn't really paying attention to the verbal answer as anyone one their right mind would answer to the the negative, but rather he was watching the boy's body language for a hint of darker intentions.

At the question the boy's facade dropped for a moment as if he had not been expecting that question, but it returned almost instantly with a grin akin to Jason's when he was younger. The thought made Bruce's stomach twist.

"No sir mister Batman sir!" The boy responded with a mock salute. "I promise that was a one-off thing and you won't have to worry about me any longer. Scouts honor."

Bruce raised an eyebrow, "You were a Scout?" That hadn't come up In the files.

"Nope," the boy said, emphasizing the p sound as he leaned against the wall. His face grew darker though, more serious, likely due to the frown on Bruce's own face.

"Genuine though, I promise I'm not here to cause trouble. I know you're still gonna keep tabs on me, or have Hood keep stalking me or whatever," Bruce narrowed his eyes, *Hood was stalking the boy?* "and I know you probably want me to join your furry brigade, but I'm really not interested in the vigilante stuff. Honestly I just want to get my degree and I'll keep my head down until then, promise."

Bruce didn't know how to respond to that, so he simply grunted to show he understood before heading back toward the window and slipping out.

He really hoped he wasn't making a mistake by trusting this kid.

--------------------------

Danny sighed as they flopped back down on their bed. *Ancients that was probably more stressful than it needed to be*. They laid there a moment longer, letting their nerves settle before they finally reopened their laptop. With any luck they could finish the vod before the adrenaline wore out and they crashed.

---------------

Wop wop

Danny and Jason's Date is next! I wonder if all will go as planned. We will see! Stay tuned

I love reading ya'll's thoughts so don't forget to comment/reblog

Joyous evening for all

Pt.9

[bruh--wtf]

Comfort Zone

Remus Lupin x Reader

Main Masterlist

Summary: Remus likes the quiet girl in his class and helps her out of her comfort zone.

Remus Lupin Masterlist

You sat next to Remus as silently as you could, praying Mcgonagal wouldn’t notice you slipping into the back row.

You’d accidentally slept in, which you never do, but today you did. And none of your dorm mates are particularly nice. Or friends of yours. So none of them bothered to wake you.

You saw two of them a few rows ahead of you and one, Jess, looked back at you before notifying the other, Donna, of your presence. You saw them giggling behind their hands before you decided maybe coming to class late was somehow worse. You just avoided looking at anyone.

“Ignore them,” you hear whispered next to you. You jump a little at the sound of Remus Lupin’s voice. He rarely spoke to you. He was Remus Lupin, he didn’t have to. He was smart, witty, attractive, popular, and had practically every girl, and some boys too, at Hogwarts at his feet.

“What?” You whisper after a second of processing. He glances at your roommates and nods in their direction. He rolls his eyes and gives you a pointed look.

“They’re ridiculous. Ignore them,” he says. You press your lips together and look at Mcgonagal again.

“That’s pretty difficult when you live with them,” you mumble. He watches you for a second then he shakes his head.

“They’re just jealous,” he says. You almost laugh outright, and cover your mouth with your hand, thankfully not drawing any attention to yourself. You look at Remus who raises an eyebrow at you, clearly confused.

Why would Jess and Donna be jealous of you? They were gorgeous girls with plenty of friends. You… were not that.

“They have nothing to be jealous of, trust me,” you say quietly. Remus scoffs and you stare at him for a second, extremely confused.

“I know for a fact those girls woke up well over an hour before breakfast to get ready for school just to get attention. Jess hasn’t gotten new robes since third year because she thinks the smaller ones make her look better,” he rolls his eyes. “There are those girls and then there are girls that don’t care what others think and wake up for themselves. You strolled into class late, and I’m guessing you slept in, right?” He asks. You hesitate before nodding a little. He smiles a little and nods at you, glancing over you quickly.

That look that he just gave you has made multiple people blush in the past and you heard a rumor he once made someone faint. You think that rumor might be right.

“They’re jealous because you don’t even try and you look ten times better than them,” he says. You stare at him for a moment, and you can feel the heat on your cheeks. He smiles a little at you before refocusing on Mcgonagal.

When class was over you stood up, but Remus stopped you. “Uh, Y/N,” he says. You look at him as you sling your bag over your shoulder. He stands up and you hate how short you feel. “My friends are having a bit of a get together tonight. Do you want to go?” He asks. Your eyes widen a fraction.

“Me?” You ask. He smiles a little wider and nods.

“You,” he says.

“Um…”

“Please? Dorcas and Marlene backed out last minute and Lily would rather die than let the guys outnumber the girls,” he says. You smile a little. You were friendly with the girls from that dorm, you’ve just never really talked much.

“Um… sure,” you finally say. He smiles and nods.

“Great. Meet us in the common room after dinner, alright?” He says. You nod and walk out of the classroom.

That night, you walked into the common room and Mary ran up to you. “Yes! Thank God you’re here. Lily’s about to completely blow,” she says, grabbing your hand and pulling you up the stairs towards the boy’s dormitories.

“Um, are we allowed up here?” You ask. Mary laughs a little and shrugs.

“Not technically, but we come up here all the time. The boys come to ours sometimes too. Minnie doesn’t really care,” she says. She pulls you into a dorm without knocking. Inside you see Lily, Alice Fortescue, and the marauders.

“You’re so arrogant, it’s ridiculous!” Lily exclaims, looking at Sirius.

“Why am I arrogant this time?” He asks. Then notices that Mary had dragged you in here and throws his arms out. “Hallelujah!” He says. Everyone else notices the two of you now and Mary pulls you over to sit next to her, so she was also next to Lily. You noticed that you ended up next to where Remus was sitting on what you assumed was his bed. His legs dangled off the side next to you. He smiles at you when you look at him quickly. You smile back quickly and then look away.

“Sirius was just explaining why he should pick the movie for the third time in a row,” Lily says, pointedly. Sirius sighs and puts his hands on his hips looking at Lily.

“Because, Evans, I have the best taste here, clearly,” he says. Mary gasps next to you and puts her hand over her heart. Sirius puts one hand up and gestures to her. “Okay, Mary and I are tied for fabulousness,” he says. You smile a little at whatever this could be called.

“I’ll accept that for now,” Mary says.

“But, fine. If someone else wants to pick, someone else pick. But no sappy depressing chick-flick, I swear to God!”

This starts a whole new argument over what movie to watch. Eventually Remus moved off the bed and sat on the floor next to you.

“Sorry about them,” he says quietly. You turn to look at him, a small smile on your face.

“Don’t be. This is much better than watching Jess and Donna debate over who their next victims should be,” you say. Remus laughs a little and you smile a little more. You did that. You made Remus Lupin laugh. It’s hard not to feel at least a little proud.

“That’s fair,” he says. You smile at him and he nods at the group. “Anything you want to watch?” He asks. You shake your head and shrug.

“I’ve never watched much TV,” you admit. He raises an eyebrow. “I prefer to read about different worlds and picture them myself than have an image thrown at me,” you say. He smiles a little and nods at your words.

“I definitely understand that,” he says. You smile and finally you notice James turning on the TV and was turning on a movie. You shifted a little and got more comfortable, leaning back against Remus’ bed.

A few times throughout the movie random conversations would break out and it was mostly Mary and Sirius trying to get you involved in them.

By the end of the night you were more comfortable with the group and speaking but not entirely.

You noticed how Alice and Lily had fallen asleep on each others shoulders. It was well past lights out, but for once you didn’t mind all that much.

You felt yourself dozing off by the time the movie ended and decided to force yourself to go back to your dorm. Mary looked over at you and raised an eyebrow. “You’re leaving?”

“Um, yeah. I’m tired so I’m gonna head back to the dorm,” you say. Mary nods and moves to stand up.

“I’ll go with you. Traveling alone is spooky,” she says. You smile a little and nod. She shakes awake the other two girls who get up a minute later. Sirius and James had already collapsed on their beds and Peter had fallen asleep on the floor. You were following Mary out when Remus stopped you again.

“Y/N,” he says. You turn back to him and smile. He hands you your cardigan that you must’ve left on the ground.

“Thanks,” you say. He smiles at you and glances out in the hall.

“Uh, do you wanna do this again some time?” He asks. You smile and nod.

“Sure, I’d like that,” you say. He scratches his neck and smiles at you.

“You think maybe we could? Just you and me? Maybe Hogsmeade on Saturday?” He asks. You blink at him.

“Um… like…” he nods, making you finish the question.

“A date,” he says. “It doesn’t have to be if you don’t want it to be, though,” he adds. You press your lips together, a smile spreading on your face quickly.

“I’d like that, actually,” you say. Remus raises an eyebrow, smiling at you.

“Great. So… Saturday?” He asks and you nod, smiling.

“Saturday. Goodnight, Remus,” you say and give him one last smile before you join the grinning girl in the hall. After the door’s closed and you’re down a bit of the stairs the girls erupt into giggles and squeals and you find yourself doing the same.

[elysianhades]

Hi! I would like to request mammon x mc fluff. Maybe something like a painting date where you pass the canvases back and forth? Up to you, but just some mammon please!!!

Here you go! Thank you so much for requesting! I hope this is acceptable!

I haven't ever written Mammon before so hopefull he isn't too ooc

Somplace Only We Know

Mammon x Mc

Downy Fluff ahead!

“What’s the point in this again?” Mammon asks, watching you pull out the pencils and sketchbooks out of the bag you brought with you.

It was a smart decision on your part, for you both to ‘sneak’ to the human realm. If any of the other brothers knew about this little date the two of you had planned, you knew they would try to sabotage it, but seriously, you put too much effort in this outing for it to be spoiled by pouting demon lords. You both were sitting on a beach, a bluff actually, if you wanted to get technical. It was nice, being in weather that wasn’t actively trying to kill you. The Devildom is nice, but being able to wander around and not be sweating a concerning amount or literally bundled up is something you will never take for granted again.

“My older brother and I used to play a game like this when we were younger, granted I was 5 and he was terrible at drawing, but I also used to do this before I went to the Devildom, it helps warm up skills. Besides, I wanted to spend time with you and what better way than by doing this? It’s fun I swear!” You laugh, nudging the demon next to you with your knee.

“I trust ya, precious. It’s not everyday the Great Mammon has time off ya know? Imma very busy demon, I’m sure whatever ya planned is gonna be entertain’.” He boasts, chuckling and puffing his chest out.

You roll your eyes lovingly, a small smile on your lips as you flip one of the sketchbooks to an open page. For all the comments he was making on the way here, he did seem like he was looking forward to this and he did look like he was enjoying himself.

“Here you go, oh Great Mammon.” You tease, watching Mammon’s ears flush a rosy red when he meets your eyes and sees your smiling face. You swear you see his eyes dart between your eyes and lips once or twice before he carefully takes the offered book out of your hands. He taps his fingers on the cover as he looks around at the mini picnic you had set up. He swallows and looks at the open sketchbook on his lap, quickly flipping through the other pages, not looking at the art there but seeing how much of the book is filled.

“Ya know, one day ya should show me all the sketchbooks ya have. I’d… I’d like ta see what else you’ve made.” He quickly says, looking at you out of the side of his eye. His cheeks now are a little more colorful than they were a second ago.

“If you want to see my older art you can, be warned though, I wasn’t always as adept as I am now,” You snort at his attempt to sound nonchalant, when he is practically vibrating with the want to peek through the book in his hands, “also be warned that there are sketches of you in there.” You add on almost as an afterthought, looking at him head on to catch his reaction.

It takes a couple seconds for your statement to actually register, but you can tell when it did. His eyes widened a tiny bit and his jaw unclenched before the red covered his face and he was choking on nothing. His head whipped over to you as he tried to catch his breath and at this point you were struggling to breathe as well because you were trying not to laugh at him. It was a funny concept to you though, how he could get pictures taken of himself all the time in different positions and not bat an eye but the thought of a few messy drawings are enough to derail any thoughts in his head.

“Well- ah- I mean, of course ya have sketches of me in here, I’m pretty great aren’t I.” He coughs, clearing his throat and looking away from you to try and regain his composure, “seriously though treasure, ya have ta warn me before ya say sappy things like that. Oi! Wait! I better be the only one who you’ve drawn! My brothers better not be in here as well! Just me! I’m yer first after all!”

You chuckle and shake your head as you pull another (almost full) sketchbook out of your bag. This one probably has two or three more pages in it until it’s full, you figured now would be the best time to finish it. You hum as you turn your shoulder so the flustered demon next to you can see the contents of the book. There are a lot of drawings of sceneries around RAD, the castle, even the House of Lamentation, but if the few drawings of people that could be seen, they were all different poses and styles of Mammon doing different things.

Mammon counting grimm, Mammon talking to one of the crows that always follow him around, him grabbing the popcorn bowl from a movie night, him mid-stretch, and so many workshops of his hands in different positions and holding different things. What can you say? He has some attractive hands. You hear a strange dying noise from right beside you. A noise you know is his ‘I don’t know whether to feel giddy or be embarrassed’ he’s made it enough times for you to know what it means.

“Come on, let’s start! I’m going to set a timer on my phone for 15 minutes! During those 15 minutes I want you to draw what you see, could be the beach, could be the water, could be the sky, it doesn't matter. After the timer is up, we are gonna switch books and I’ll continue what you are drawing and you’ll continue mine! I think we should do this two or three times just to be safe. You can use any of the pencils here, anything I’ve brought is free range! Have at it. Do you need some time to think of something to draw or should I start the timer now?” You explain, bouncing lightly, excited to start.

It takes a minute for Mammon to find his words again, but eventually he is able to form a coherent sentence. He looks at the jar full of different colored pencils you have sitting on the blanket, at the pens that are being held together by a rubber band, and finally at the scene around him.

“Yeah, I think I got somethin. Jus no peekin til the time’s up!”

“Ok then! I’m starting the timer!” You cheer, pressing the ‘start’ button on your phone and get to drawing.

The thought to draw Mammon does cross your mind, for multiple reasons, but as soon as those thoughts appear you brush them away, you think he would combust if he saw that right out of the gate. The place that you decided to sit for this date is a bit of a walk away from the trail you had to take to get here. The way to get to this particular bluff was a tiny bit of a walk but it was worth it. Normally, you would park on the side of the road and then walk through the trail to the beach, but since magic was a thing, you were able to teleport right to where the trail through the forest meets the ocean. The beach looks like it's separated into two parts, there's a sandy side where driftwood is littered all over the sand, some pieces so big that people who have visited before have made little forts out of them, broken seashells are scattered throughout the beach as well, sandbars, old sand dollars, huge clumps of seaweed and crab shells are in sight as well.

The other side of the beach is where you both haven’t gotten to look at yet, but it has rocks covered in barnacles everywhere. The rocks are practically on top of eachother, and you can’t even see the sand without having to move rocks. You also know however, that if you lift up the little rocks, that you’ll see tiny crabs. If you guys are lucky, you might even be able to see a sea snail. You hum, since it is the first round, you decide to draw something easy. You start sketching the part of the beach that meets the forest, with all the driftwood and the trees.

As you start getting into your drawing, you hear Mammon start muttering to himself, he is talking too quietly for you to hear what he is saying. Angling your body towards him, you can see he is hunched over to ensure you couldn’t see what he is drawing. His tongue is poking out of his lips in concentration, and every now and then he’ll look at what he has on the paper hum, then nod before getting back to drawing. Smiling, you go back to your own piece, relieved that he is enjoying himself. Before you know it, your phone is going off, signaling that it’s time to switch books.

“Now remember human, no judgin’!” Mammon all but shouts, hiding the book to his chest and mock-glaring at you.

“Yeah, how about we make a deal then? I won’t judge yours and you won’t judge mine? We’re doing this for fun anyway, it’s not like I’m gonna grade you on it.” You smile, making grabby hands at his book. He grumbles before slowly handing the sketch and the pencil over to you. You are much more enthusiastic about trading with him.

Both you and Mammon are still as you look over each other’s work. You can’t imagine why he thinks you would judge him for what he has done so far, it looks so good. He chose to draw the scene in front of both of you, with the water, the islands in the back, and the sun in the middle of the sky. The lines are good and you can clearly see what he was drawing. He also whistles when he is done looking at yours.

“Wow, baby, ya sure are talented. Like actually, this is damn good.” Mammon praises, smiling as he looks over it one more time. He held up the book so he could see the comparison side-to-side. You feel heat rush up to your face and ears and try to hide your face by grabbing your phone to start the timer over and clearing your throat to swallow the giddy embarrassment you feel. “You’re telling me that? Honey, you should have told me you could draw, we would’ve done this sooner.” You say, determined to fluster him as well and make him know he is talented. God knows he isn’t told enough.

Your compliment works, he chokes again and whips his head over to you. His eyes are searching yours, you can tell he is trying to see if you are teasing him or making fun of him. You tilt your head and look at him, giving him a smile. When he finds no trace of a lie in your words, you can see a sheepish smile break across his face. He slowly reaches over to grab your hand, giving you time to move yours away if you didn’t want him to hold it.

“Yer the best thing to happen to me treasure,” he starts, pausing and looking back over to the beach and the picnic you set up when you first got here. “I know I don’t say it as much as I should, but ya really mean everything to me.”

“You might not be able to say it as often as you want, but you show me everyday how much I mean to you and that’s more than enough. I love you, Mammon.” You smile, squeeze his hand as you talk. You sigh and look down at the sketchbook in your lap. “We have a tiny problem, honey.”

“Yeah? What?” He looks around to see if he can see what you are referring to. He doesn’t notice anything that could have dampened your mood, and you don’t look unhappy. You tsk and lightheartedly shake his hand still in yours.

“I don’t want to draw anymore, I just want to focus on you.” You don’t mind how warm your face feels being this vulnerable, you know you’re safe with Mammon here.

He snorts at your confession, shaking his head and squeezing your hand. He grabs both books and closes them before putting them back in your bag with the pencils. He carefully pulls you into his chest and shifts so you can lean on him comfortably. He promptly ignores his own blush as he holds you.

“Well, we are here for the whole day, I’m sure we can get back to drawin’ after ya get yer cuddling fix out of the way. An I love ya too by the way, more than anythin’.”

[self-indulgent-paw-patrol]

Zuma Appreciation Week - Day 5 (Skipping day 4 because it'll be posted later some other day), Favorite Outfit

Okay, THIS ONE I won't make art for it because I need to focus my still very limited time of using my laptop for other urgent commissions (got another tattoo to draw for and a whole wedding card to design!). Too bad I couldn't buy my second laptop earlier, it won't be here until the 18th and that's just the ETA, it might be delivered later (or sooner, hopefully).

I also don't have a favorite Zuma outfit. I swear I went through the entire list like seven times since when I first came up with the prompts ideas and I still can't pick...

So I'll make a top 5. No specific order.

Ready Race Rescue racing suit is of course one of my favorites. I always loved racing sports, I'm not an expert but I enjoy it and have fun watching. I still need to get the chance that Brazilian Paramount FINALLY put this special up in their list, to finally watch it in the Brazilian Portuguese dub - and have my dad watch it too, I got my love for racing sports from him XD

The First Movie outfit is really cool in my eyes too. It doesn't go too far from the classic one, but still has that cool factor, y'know? Plus I love glowy/neon lines, it totally won me over instantly.

With that mentioned, I can't go about glowy lines without including the Mighty Movie powered up suit! FOR ME, THIS IS LIKE GIVING ME A WHOLE SEASONED SALAD BOWL, I'll eat it up like it's the most delicious thing in the world-- This glowy suit feeds my glowy-lover soul, excellent feast 😂👌🏽

And they managed to work ORANGE glow, it's so easy to go a tiny bit overboard and it suddenly becomes red or yellow... Trust me, it's hard to get a good orange glow on things!

Can't leave the Aqua Pups diving suit out of this top 5 ever either, for the same reason!! It has the absolute glow-in-the-dark vibe I love so much, I really wish we'd get to see more of Aqua Pups. It felt like a step further from Sea Patrol, now going fully underwater deep ocean, AND GLOWY SUITS LIKE THEY'RE SOME KIND OF BIOLUMINESCENT CREATURES, I LOVE IT--

And finally, Big Truck Pups! I love their trucker uniforms SO MUCH. They're simple, yet with a nice cool factor, the jackets look awesome, all their colors going really well with the black shirts and gloves, plus the trucker caps! When I get to work on my Zuma looks, one of them will totally be inspired on his trucker outfit and I'll make sure to get a cap and customize it like his trucker one (I want the Sea Patrol cap too). Nickelodeon is totally missing on offering these caps as official products, I'd make sure to buy originals no matter HOW if they would just do that.

AND LAST AS AN HONORABLE MENTION: First movie re-imagined classic outfit!

Not gonna lie, I like it better than the show's classic one XD It's technically the same, but a little bit more worked/detailed, which I like it a lot. I like getting to see details on things!

[leffee]

Thoughts on Vinnie’s tail? The lps pets tails?

Hear me out, how about I bring back some of my handy dandy screenshots and do a ranking like with their hair? Yes, I think that's a good idea, I really wanna do those so if you have anything else like that I could rank please feel free to send em my way, I love talking about such details. Without further ado, lps pets' tails ranked from worst to best:

7. Russell

0/10, no tail :/. Damn, no hair, no tail, bro really doesn't got nothing. Everything else is 10/10 though :)

6. Penny Ling

My conlusion? That I don't have enought screenshots of her where her tail is visible. My judgement is hmmm 2/10. She has a tail so better than Russell given that it's a tail judging competition, but it's really small, most of the time you can't even see it, especially when she's wearing clothes (hence that last picture to show my point). It's still a good tail, I just prefer longer stuff as you will definitely see as we go.

5. Minka

4/10. I know what you're thinking "You just said you like long tails so wtf", well, yes, but while her tail is great at that, it's also sooo thin, what's the lenght if there's no volume? I really like it, but I would like it more if it were thicker and/or fluffier. Bonus points for making a heart with her tail

(real life footage of me looking at Vinnie)

but minus points for making it so small. Girl, look how long your tail is, that heart could be so much bigger. Who do I even blame for that? Minka whose tail it is or Russell who imagined this story? Either way it could have been better

4. Zoe

5/10 and yet another pet I don't have good screenshots for, I shall resolve that later. So there's really nothing wrong with her tail, and it's so fluffy too, good, good. She's only here because as I said I like longer tails more, but overall a really nice tail.

3. My boy

6/10, good-ass tail and while it is rather short, because he usually walks on two legs it looks just a bit shorter than it is plus he has that like... um curve (?) at the end, it makes it look a bit more interesting. Why is he higher than Zoe then? Because first - Vinnie, second - contrary to her his tail can do this

and I like it when their tails streighten out like that, they're so expressive ^^

also heart tail bonus cause it's cute

(me when I look at Vinnie again)

and I don't have a screenshot for that but sometimes that little curve at the end of his tail unstraightens a bit which makes his whole tail look a bit different which is cool. Another one of my points is that I mentioned it before as far as I understand lizards' tails should be as long as the rest of their body, so technically it's too short and I count that to his benefit.

Worry not however because I did my best at trying to draw him with a longer tail (also slight redesign)

2. Sunil

8/10 now that's a great tail, it's like Vinnie's but longer which as you know is something I like. Not much else to say here, it's just really good and long and also he wags it sometimes and it's adorable

Pepper

10/10 now this is a perfect tail - long I mean it's pretty much a half of her body; fluffy, plus it's the only tail that is two-colored and I love it. Great tail, love it, everyone's tail should be like that.

Bonus shot of Vinnie's (and I suppose Minka's) tail just because