#the bad news is this is the kind of shit my brain cooks up to torment me with while i’m sleeping

[thatswhatsushesaid]

just woke up from a weird quasi-nightmare where all my fandom pals were suddenly jgy haters who assumed that i, too, was a jgy hater 😬 ohno.jpeg

legit felt like i’d transmigrated into a bizarro alternate universe where AU me was a wwx stan and i had to ~pretend~ lest the system dock me -1000 badass points, thus consigning me to the fandom equivalent of the burial mounds.

[roosterforme]

Sloppy Math Homework | Bradley Bradshaw x Reader

Summary: Bradley is the first one to admit that he always has been and always will be a sucker for how smart you are. There's something so hot about you in teacher mode, and he loves it when you take charge. But he's in for a surprise when you dole out a new kind of punishment for turning in sloppy work that leaves him fully at your mercy.

Warnings: Swears, fluff, smut, teacher/18+ student roleplay, spanking, paddling, consensual roleplay punishment

Length: 2400 words

Pairing: Beer Boy and Sugar! Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw x Female Reader (former fuckboy college student Bradley)

This is a one-shot to accompany my fics Old Habits Die Hard and Right Girl, Wrong Time! Banner by @mak-32 Check out my masterlist

Bradley's heart was pounding when he walked through the front door to find you still dressed in your work clothes even though you got home around lunchtime on Fridays. He had been prepared to start cooking dinner, but the sight of you in your loafers and snug tweed skirt was enough to make his cock twitch.

"Are you ready for class, Mr. Bradshaw?" you asked, hands on your hips and one eyebrow raised. 

He took a deep breath and nodded slowly before he said, "I am so ready for calculus class, Dr. Sugar." Your smirk had his brain working overtime, wondering what exactly you had in mind for him. A blowjob if he aced his exam? Sex on your desk if he could solve the equation tattooed at the top of your ribcage? A handjob that lasted as long as he could accurately recite the decimals in pi?

It didn't matter what it was, he wanted it. He was aching for it. Bradley was a mess for his wife. And when you shook your pretty head at him standing there in his uniform and said, "You're not dressed for class," he could feel his cock pressing the inside of his zipper through his underwear. 

He glanced down at his khaki shirt and pants. "What should I be wearing, Professor?" he asked in a low, deep voice that had you getting a little flustered. He could tell. He knew all of your cues, and right now you were squeezing your thighs together.

You cocked your head slightly to the side and eyed him up and down. "I just don't think that's what a college student would be wearing to his weekly math lecture, Beer Boy."

Ah, okay. So you wanted college Beer Boy right now. Bradley could absolutely deliver on that for you. "Sorry, Professor," he mumbled, looking at the floor and his boots. "You're right. I'm not dressed appropriately for your class."

You nodded and said, "Meet me in my office when you're ready to learn something new." And with that, you spun and disappeared down the hallway leaving Bradley to watch the sway of your ass in all that tight tweed fabric. 

You were sexy academia personified for him, and he loved it so much when you wanted to be in charge. But truly, Bradley felt a little bad for the twenty something year old guys who had to sit through your classes. You just looked that good. You looked good when you were at The University of Virginia as a math major, and somehow you looked even hotter now as a math professor. 

He smirked. He'd enjoyed your body at both of those points in time. And he was the only one who knew exactly where and how much you'd filled out from your twenties to your thirties. "Shit," he grunted, realizing he was wasting time thinking about your tits when he could probably be looking at them. 

Bradley tore into the bedroom, unbuttoning his shirt as he went. He was already hard enough that it was challenging to get his uniform pants off, but he managed to leave a pile of khaki clothing on the floor as he rummaged around for his favorite Grateful Dead shirt. It was neatly folded in the dresser with your clothing since you wore it way more frequently than he did. But he pulled it on and found the University of Chicago hat you'd given him and tossed it on backwards. You always liked to run your fingers through his curls that stuck out from beneath his hats, and Bradley was practically panting just thinking about it.

He palmed himself through his boxer shorts as he pushed your office door open a little wider, grinning where you'd written SUGAR LOVES BEER BOY across it. And then he spotted you, sitting on the edge of the desk with your legs crossed. A few more of the buttons on your blouse were open now, and you were gesturing to your desk chair. 

"Have a seat, Mr. Bradshaw." Your voice was soft and sultry, nothing like the tone you used when you gave a lecture to your students. How did he get this fucking lucky? 

"Yes, Dr. Sugar," he replied, and you smirked. He stepped closer to the soft glow coming from his navy desk lamp which lived in this room, and he slipped down into your chair. Bradley desperately wanted to run his hands up your legs and tuck them inside your skirt, but he knew he wouldn't be allowed. So instead, he took the pencil and calculator you handed to him and looked up at your pretty face.

"I want you to work on your math homework sheet," you whispered, flipping over the single sheet of paper in front of him on the desk. Then you leaned down and kissed his temple, brushing your lips along the hair sticking out from under his cap. "Get started."

Bradley groaned softly, unsure how exactly he was going to be able to do this when his cock was aching so much. Plus, you were making no secret of the fact that you were looking at his tented boxers like you wanted to climb in his lap. 

"You're really proud of yourself, aren't you?" he asked, punching some numbers into the calculator to try to solve the first problem. "You got me so hard, I can barely concentrate, and all you did was talk to me and kiss my fucking hair."

You stroked your fingers along the strands of his hair you had kissed and said, "No cursing in my classroom. And no talking at all while you're working."

Bradley grunted as he scribbled down an answer for the first problem that he was actually pretty sure was correct. Visiting your evening lectures had really started to pay off. He'd always been pretty good at math, but now he was proficient in calculus and linear algebra. The only problem was, when most people thought about school, it turned them off. But simply looking at math problems made him harder. There was probably something wrong with him. 

You hummed as he answered the second equation, but when he looked up at your face, you said, "Eyes on your paper, Mr. Bradshaw."

"Yes, Professor," he whispered, and he was rewarded with the sight of you licking your lips. He was aching for a blowjob right now. He might get one if all of his answers were correct. So as quickly as he could, Bradley finished the remaining questions and slid the paper closer to you. "How did I do?"

You sank your teeth into your lip as you looked at him. Then you took the paper in your hands and murmured, "Let's see..."

Every little twitch of your brow and the way your eyes narrowed after a moment were telling enough, but when you met his gaze over the paper, he knew he had missed one. 

"If you just give me another minute, Dr. Sugar-"

"I gave you plenty of time already, Mr. Bradshaw," you said, stroking along his scarred cheek with your nails as you set the paper aside. You wrapped your fingers down along his chin and tipped his face up to meet yours. When you leaned in and kissed his lips sweetly, he was immediately reaching for your body. But then you jerked his chin up another inch and said, "But you missed number five, and I don't accept sloppy math homework."

Bradley groaned as your nails raked down his neck, because this was doing nothing to alleviate his erection. And now he was a little nervous about that problem he missed. "Does this mean you're going to make me take care of this myself?" he whispered, gesturing to his tented boxer shorts. 

The devilish smirk on your face actually thrilled him as you said, "Not exactly." Then you stood and took both of his hands gently in yours and pulled him to his feet. Bradley groaned as his erection trailed up your body until his length was resting against your belly. You pressed one more kiss to his lips and adjusted his backward cap as he throbbed against you. Then you stepped to the side and guided him to place both of his palms on your desk. 

Bradley looked at you and asked, "What's happening here?" Then you walked behind him and pushed the chair toward the center of the room, and Bradley felt your hands reach inside the elastic of his boxer shorts and start to guide them down until they dropped down to his feet. 

"What's happening is your punishment for your sloppy homework. Keep your palms on the desk, Mr. Bradshaw." You ran your hands softly along Bradley's ass, and he didn't move an inch. His cock was painfully hard now and leaping in the air, begging to be touched. 

He turned to his left where you were kissing along his neck now as you squeezed his ass. He moaned, "Baby, I might cum. I'm not even kidding."

You gasped and slapped his ass, and Bradley's jaw dropped open. "Baby? I'm your teacher! Show me some respect."

"P-Professor Sugar," he managed as his skin stung where you hit him. Then to Bradley's surprise, you opened the top drawer of your desk, and sitting right next to your post it notes was his Beta Gamma fraternity paddle. It was made of solid oak and painted in a psychedelic tie dye pattern that he always thought looked really cool. But the last time he saw the thing, it was on top of the bedroom closet. And as you wrapped your fingers around the handle, it dawned on Bradley why it was here and why he was standing like this.

His eyes snapped up to meet yours, and the look of mischief was gone as you squeezed his bicep and kissed the edge of his mustache. "I thought it might be fun to spank you, Beer Boy. But if you say no, then I'll put it away, and we can find something else fun to do."

Bradley eyed the paddle, and his mind was flooded with memories of his fraternity days. Not all of them were good, but he'd met you at his frat house. And you were the best thing in his life. And for some reason, the idea of that tie dye paddle hitting his bare skin was actually appealing to him. This was not something he had ever thought about before, but in the hands of his wife, he wanted it.

"Yes," he replied, kissing your lips as you started to smile. "I want you to, Professor Sugar."

You nodded and whispered, "If you don't like it, just tell me." Then you squared your shoulders and said in a louder voice, "I can't go easy on you, because you'll keep pulling this stunt over and over with me."

"I understand," he replied, letting you bend him a little more at the waist as you strolled around to stand behind him. And then he yelped as the paddle made solid contact with his right ass cheek. "Oh, fuck." But no sooner had he muttered those words than the paddle hit him in the same spot again. The stinging was intense as you apparently wound up to send the paddle to the same place a third time. "Baby," he whined, because if anything, he was more turned on than before.

Your only response was to switch to his other side and bring the paddle to an untouched patch of skin. Over and over until it was burning so much that Bradley was recoiling from the sound and feel of it. But his hips were thrusting forward now, and he was practically begging for relief from your mouth or your pussy. But he kept his palms planted on the top of the desk. And the pleasure and stinging pain mingled in his mind so much that he found himself whining your name. 

A moment later, you set the paddle on the desk next to his left hand, and Bradley looked up into your lust filled eyes. "Sugar?" he gasped, and you were prying his hands from the desk and pulling him close. Your lips came crashing into his as you grabbed at his shirt. He was rutting into you now, afraid he'd cum on your tweed but unwilling to try to hold himself back. 

"Bradley, that was so fucking hot," you moaned, turning him around and pushing him down to sit on the desk. It felt delightfully cold on his raw skin, but he winced at the same time. It was almost too much to handle. But then you were yanking your skirt up to reveal you were bare underneath, and you scrambled up onto his lap. 

"Easy," he groaned, squeezing his eyes shut. But then your perfectly tight warmth came sinking down around his cock, and he knew he was going to last about ten seconds in this state. He shook his head and whispered, "I'm gonna cum."

You held his face gently in both hands and kissed his forehead as you told him, "You earned it." And all the while you bounced up and down on him, bottoming out and whining softly.

So Bradley took your perfect ass in both of his palms and guided you just how he wanted you, and then he filled you up with his cum. You were peppering his cheeks with kisses as he sat there with his lips parted, trying to catch his breath. 

"You just spanked me with my Beta Gamma paddle. For my sloppy math homework," he marveled out loud, still nestled inside you. "When I'm not even your student."

You let your cheek come to rest on his shoulder and said, "You're my best student." Then your fingers were teasing at his curls sticking out from under his hat. "And if you enjoyed it, we can do it again."

Bradley groaned and said, "My ass needs a couple days off after that." Then he smirked as he reached for the paddle and rubbed it gently across your bare bottom. Your eyes went wide as your head came off his shoulder. "Yours on the other hand..."

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

Oh look, a new kink unlocked for Beer Boy and Sugar. Thanks @mak-32 and @beyondthesefourwalls

@hotch-meeeeeuppppp

@chassy21

@solacestyles

@avoirlecoupdefoudre

@daisyhollyxox

@throwinsauce

@awesomebooklover17

@wintercap89

@whosyourgnomie4

@rosesinmars

@blog-name6996

@bcon24

@wishfulwithwine

@backinwonderl4nd

@tetragonia

@gingerbreadandpaper

@emptyloverofmine

@chaoticassidy

@missmirandafe

@changlingkhat

@sugarcoated-lame

@avada-kedavra-bitch-187

@katiebby04

@marantha

@averyhotchner

@abaker74

@heli991113

@k-k0129

@noz4a2

@tallyovie

@shanimallina87

@teddyluvs2sing

@little-wiseone

@ccbb2222

@lilyevanswhore

@o-the-o-grim-o-reaper-o

@xoxabs88xox

@thedroneranger

@bradshawsbitch

@cherrycola27

@fanboyswhore9

@xomrsalliej4787xo

@desert-fern

@sylviebell

@wkndwlff

@horseslovers2016

[teddybeartoji]

mickeyyyyy *smiles too wide* i would love to hear ur thoughts about snow leopard hybrid!gojo if ur up for it,,,the words themselves just itched something in my brain

MOSS<333333333 i love ur smile btw I AM KINDA NEW TO HYBRIDS OKAY BUT THIS ONE IS JUST SOOOOOOO MMMMMMM also wait here is the twt art that made me lose it (everybody say thank u logan we love u logan for showing it to me) AAAAAAAAAAA IT'S SOOO FUCKING GOOOOOD HE LOOKS SOSO PERFCECT it suits him so well my brain is all mushy already

geto locking him out bc he purred too loudly fuuuuuuuuckkkkkkk he's so cute i want him. like he'd be sooooo clingy right?????? always trying to settle down in your lap always trying to get you to pet him to scratch his ears and he ALWAYSSS PURRS SOOOO LOUDLYY although i would never lock him out sugu is weak for that smh... i think he'd kind of like it when you played with his tail too?? usually felines don't like that too much but since it's you - he loves that shit. he likes to twirl it around your arm and his eyes go so big whenever that makes you laugh GOOD GODDDDDDDD look this is a full on ramble i hope something makes sense too i'm sorry for that i just🥴🥴🥴

oh my god he probably waits for you by the door when you come home, biting down on his tail just like in the picture?????? i'm kinda torn between whether he'd be good while you're gone or would he act up bc i mean it's satoru. the ultimate brat. so maybe he does scratch the couch a little or something? to show how upset he is over you leaving him at home:(((( you can't stay mad either bc c'mon look at him:((((((((((((((((((((((( god i wanna pet him sm

he probably likes to take care of you in his own way too right? like groom you? is that the word? he'd want to lick you, clean you, make sure you're all relaxed and feeling good after a long day. he's such a good boy:(((( he loves you:((((((((

oh and obviously he's super fucking clingy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i mean that's canon for him anyway but now even more. he always wants to drape himself in your lap, his tail curling around you like i said before too. please scratch his ears please please please:((( when you're trying to cook he's glued to your side, nuzzling into your skin - whether it's into your neck or just your back, he just wants to be close to you:(((

he also likes to nip at your skin!!!! there have been a few times where he bites down just a tad bit too hard and it drew blood but it was an accident!!!! he never wants to hurt you he felt so bad after that:(( went at sat in the corner with his tail between his legs:(((((( but you of course forgive him and coax him back to you with some belly rubs

after that he learned how to be more gentle, though. so now he often just fakes biting you just to hear you laugh or playfully scold him. when he does sink his teeth in - maybe your arm or your thigh; he always keeps eye-contact.

when you're just lazing around - reading a book, playing a video game - he's always next to you. always. maybe every once in a while he decides to take a nap, belly up, paws kind of folded and oh, he looks adorable like that. he's just a big kitty okay. btw he's always touching you. clingyclingyclingy. even when he's sleeping, he has to be touching you in some way.

SUGGESTIVE! gets upset when you come home and you have other smells on you. especially other mens' smells. maybe your co-worker hugged you goodbye or something and now his cologne sticks to your skin and satoru can't have that. he's just immediately pawing at you - begging for your attention and when you grant him that, he's jumping on you, pushing you down and licking over whereever the stench is. after he deems you clean, he just rubs himself against you - his way of marking you. you don't know that though... you just think he really missed you...... mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

can hybrids go into heat............................? LOOK I'M NEW HERE OKAY I NEED TO LEARN. if they do.............. if he does............ oh boy... you need to get something to surpress those bc he will lose it. he's humping your bed, he's humping your pillow, he's sniffing your clothes. your underwear. sometimes he's pawing at your dresser, looking for more clothes but mostly his target is the dirty laundry basket....................................... everything goes when you're out....... he's gonna make a big big mess..............................................🥴🥴🥴🥴🥴🥴🥴🥴 ok i think i need to stop myself here otherwise i'll really lose it........................

moss i need to hear your thoughts on this. NEEEED TO HEAR THEM. DESPERATELY NEED TO. if u know about hybrids u can teach me. i'm..... in it now......................... heheheheheh this was so fun i'm sorry it took a min love but yeah i can't wait to hear your ideas aaaaaaaaaa I LOVE YOIUUUU I HOPE YOU HAD A GOOD DAY MY BELOVED<3333

[writeroutoftime]

Can I request a carmy x reader where they’re dating and carmy blows up at her and he immediately feels bad and tries to apologize and she brushes him off and keeps cooking but gives him the hand signal from s2 and after service he’s a big apologizing mess

pairing: carmen berzatto x reader

words: 0.7k

a/n: anon, thank you for this request! had a little trouble with this one, so I'm sorry if anything feels weird or ooc, but I hope you enjoy! (and if we're saying when this takes place - probably few weeks after the bear has been open, so after the end of season 2 but no spoilers)

oOoOo

It started with little annoyances throughout the day that kept building and building. A late delivery of ingredients, last minute cancellation of a large party, and a call-in sick from one of the new hires. Each new development sent Carmen spiraling further and further, all culminating during The Bear's dinner service.

"Where the fuck are my entrees for table 33?" Carmen shouted, his voice ringing out in the kitchen.

"Coming right up, chef." you called back, plating the dishes as fast as you possibly could.

Order after order came through, all night, and being one chef down meant those left in the kitchen had to pick up the extra slack. But the synergy was off and the moment you stepped back to pour the sauce, someone slammed into you from behind, and the sauce went everywhere but the dish - including all down the front of your apron.

"Chef, entrees for 33, now!" Carm's voice rang out with a notable edge to his tone.

Huffing, you quickly salvaged what was left of the sauce. "Hold on." you grounded out finally placing the dishes next to Carmen, waiting for a server to deliver them to customers.

"What is this shit?" he demanded before you could skitter back to your station. "This is looks completely fucked."

"Carmen, calm down. It's fine." you placated, rushing back to work on the next set of orders, but Carm wasn't done just yet as he let the rest of his day finally boil over onto you.

"No, it's not fine. We need to be better than this." he yelled, stalking towards you. " Don't pull this kind of shit again. You need to be better than this!" he yelled, then scoffed as he headed back to expo. "God, don't know why I hired you." he muttered, pulling out the next ticket.

Though his words were hushed, he might as well have yelled them because the entire kitchen went silent, all eyes turning to stare at Carmen. Yes, it wasn't unusual for his outburst, but he had been doing better at managing his stress and frustration. Not to mention he never spoke to you that way before.

It took Carmen a moment, but he finally registered his words once his brain processed the silence and the narrowed glances his way. As though he had been shocked, Carm jumped back from his station and hurried over to yours, wiping sweaty palms on his apron.

"Hey, y/n, I-I shouldn't have shouted at you like that." he started, trying his best to look you in the eyes.

The only response Carmen received was a harsh chop of your knife as you diced the vegetables in front of you for the next set of orders you needed to finish up. Your own rage boiled inside, but this wasn't the time or the place to deal with it, so you channeled everything into your cooking.

"Seriously, that was uncalled for. I didn't mean what I said." Carmen continued, his voice growing a little more desperate at your lack of response. But before he could speak again, he caught your hand gesture through the corner of his eye.

Taking a moment, you placed your knife down and rubbed a closed fist against your chest. Of course, Carmen wasn't off the hook, but you knew dinner service had to be finished before you could address the line of your relationship that had been crossed. With a half-defeated sigh, Carmen nodded his head, copying the gesture, and continued to call out tickets - this time noticeably calmer.

oOoOo

A few hours later and the kitchen was just about empty. Most of the other chefs had rushed to clean their stations and leave the moment the last order went out. No one wanted to stew in the tension any longer. Though, Tina did offer you a half smile and a comforting touch on her way out.

When it was just you and Carmen left, you kept your head down, scrubbing away at your already cleaned surface. You could hear his footsteps echo until he stood only a few feet away, but you knew he needed to be the one to initiate this conversation.

"Look, y/n, I shouldn't have done that tonight."

"Done what?" you pushed, but Carmy only shook his head, confused and grasping for a response. "You shouldn't have said those words to me, or you shouldn't have shouted at me like that when the rest of the kitchen was also a fucking mess?"

"Oh, um, both." he stuttered out, clearing his throat. Then after a few moments. "I'm sorry, I really am. I just get so caught up in it all, and I know that's not an excuse. I'm going to do better." he promised, fighting back to tears that began to mist over his eyes.

His words washed over you, and you let out a huge sigh. This wasn't the first blowout you'd had with Carmen, and you knew how difficult it could be for him to allow himself to be vulnerable.

"Look, what you said, really hurt, Carmy, but I know you didn't mean them." you began, and Carmen had his own moment of relief when you used his nickname and held out your arms for him to step into. "The Bear is going to be a success, okay? All of us are going to get it there. But, in the meantime, let's find some ways to help us cool down. We're a team right?"

"Yeah, yeah we are." he mumbled against your skin, thankful to be so close to you once more, and willing to do what it took to keep it that way.

[jess-the-reckless]

Hype time. I have an e-book free at the moment to get people in the mood for the one I’m currently working on, which is a sequel to this peculiar little baby of mine. Well, I say little, but it’s a 100k+ chonker, which is hefty for me. I usually aim for about 80k to get the thing done, but I was having so much fun with Ghosted that it ran long. It gave me the opportunity to tell some ghost stories, and I love, love, love telling ghost stories.

Writing Good Omens made me thirsty for more supernatural silliness, so I cooked this up to satisfy that need. It was also a reaction to a really, really bad book that will remain nameless, because while I loved its premise (romance about paranormal investigators hooking up) it sucked so lamentably that I felt the need to take the premise and do it my way. I think there’s still a line in Ghosted that references one of my objections, which is that the paranormal investigators all went to bed at 11pm. You don’t need to be an expert in the paranormal to know that this is not remotely how ghosts work.  They work nights. They keep long, unsociable hours that leave investigators sitting up – usually bored out of their brains while waiting for something spooky to happen. Plenty of time on those tedious ghost vigils to have deep, probing conversations, and maybe contemplate sucking each other’s dicks.

The book starts out in the ghost-factory of a city that is New Orleans, but swiftly gets roadtrippy due to my desire to include the things about Supernatural that I liked. I make no apologies for my workaday exorcist Jason Kent being extremely Dean Winchester coded. He’s got the shitty father, the trunk full of esoteric weapons, the haunted sibling, and all of the attendant angst that goes along with that. I really loved the whole all-in-a-day’s work vibe of Supernatural, where you rattle from one crappy motel to another doing paranormal grunt work, although (full-disclosure) I dropped out somewhere in S6 because everything after the apocalypse felt like an anti-climax to me. The only episode I really remember from S6 was Weekend at Bobby’s, which was a masterpiece on a par with the one with the haunted lucky rabbit’s foot.

I did enjoy the angel, though, which is why he gets a shoutout in the name of the other lead – Ange. His name is French for angel, and short for Desanges – of the angels. It seemed an appropriately no-we’re-totally-Catholic-honest handle for a Haitian-American baby boy born on the second of October, the official Catholic feast day of the Guardian Angels. Although it doesn’t come up that much in Ghosted it did give me the opportunity to fold in some of that delicious voudou research I did for Code Noir, and close readers might spot a connecting thread there between Ange and Gabrielle from the latter book. I’m way too fascinated by syncretic religions, and the second book will dip into Ange’s palo inheritance on his Puerto Rican mother’s side.

But that’s to come. The big deal with Ange in Ghosted is that he’s my favourite kind of character to write – a fast-talking grifter whose head is permanently a-swivel for the next big opportunity. He’s Oda Mae Browning it up in an influencer’s haunted mansion in New Orleans when he meets Jason, who is there to exorcise a kitchen-centric ghost who is really shitting on the owner’s dreams of launching a cookbook. It’s lust at first sight on Ange’s part, but because Jason is a lonely weirdo who prefers anonymous sex at truck stops he ghosts Ange afterwards.

And that’s when Ange finds out he’s been ghosted in more ways than one. That exorcism in New Orleans? Yeah. It didn’t take. The ghost just…relocated, and now Ange really needs the services of an exorcist. I had an absurd amount of fun with this book. It’s stupid, spooky, and full of lots and lots of creepy little things that got my blood pumping as a storyteller, like the twin aunts who turned into Collyer Brothers-level hoarders in their New Orleans mansion, or the nuclear scientist obsessed with Glenn Miller. And then there’s Melissa, the most Californian ghost of all time, who started out as a plot point and a pair of rainbow sneakers, and then morphed into a character so fun that she’s absolutely coming back for the sequel. Same with cat-lady researcher Celine, who I plan to bring back for book three. And oh yes, there’s going to be a book three. No need to stop when you’re enjoying yourself, right?  

[brbsoulnomming]

Tell Me Sweet Little Lies Part 17

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | AO3

-----

Eddie wakes up with his face smooshed against Steve's bicep, which, honestly, is not a bad place to be. He lifts his head up a little, blinking bleary eyes, and sees they've both migrated towards the center of the bed. Steve's rolled over onto his stomach, face buried in his pillow. Eddie's still on his back, but he'd shifted a little, leaned in towards Steve, and they're pressed together all along their sides.

Steve moves, which Eddie is guessing what woke him up in the first place, and turns his head to look at him.

"Morning," Steve mumbles, all rough with sleep.

It's not the first time Eddie's heard him like that, yeah, but it is the first time that Eddie's been this close, that he's been touching this much of him, and it makes his brain shut off.

"Doesn't it hurt sleeping like that?" he says, like an insane person.

Steve huffs out a little laugh. "My back's all torn up too, man, it kind of hurts sleeping like anything."

Shit, right, Steve'd gotten dragged over the lake bed in the Upside Down. Eddie has a vague memory of red streaks like road rash all up his back before he'd put on his vest.

Eddie makes a noise, quietly distressed, mostly because he doesn't know what to say to that, and he gets to watch the way Steve's eyes go all soft up close.

"I've had worse," Steve says.

It makes Eddie snort. "You keep saying that, but it's not as reassuring as you seem to think it is. Will you at least let me take a look at it later?"

Steve smiles. "I look after you, you look after me?"

"Something like that." Eddie ducks his head. "Come on, I'm starving."

They take turns in the bathroom. Eddie borrows more of Steve's clothes - another pair of boxers, the same track pants and a dark gray sweatshirt this time. Steve abandons the attempt he'd done at jeans yesterday, opts for navy sweats and a green sweater.

This time, Eddie lets Steve help him downstairs, even gets set up in a chair at the kitchen table so he can watch him cook breakfast.

They're halfway through eating a massive stack of pancakes when the walkie flares to life, and a time is agreed on for everyone to come over.

Turns out Steve hadn't been kidding about an invasion.

There's everyone in their little Vecna fighting mission, of course, Robin and Dustin and Erica arriving in Nancy's station wagon with her. But a Surfer Boy pizza van comes up alongside of it, Max and Lucas and Mike Wheeler spilling out of it along with Jonathon Byers, a pair of kids that Eddie's going to guess are El and Will Byers, and a dude that Eddie's pretty sure he's never seen before.

He's Argyle, apparently, owner of the van and the guy who pointed out that Eddie was not a girl, Jonathan's best friend from California.

Also brand new to all of this, which makes Eddie toast him with his second mug of coffee, from where he's pretending he needs to lean against Steve for support to stand up but he's also mostly using him as a shield because both Dustin and Mike look like they're ready to tackle him any minute.

Someone must have updated the California crew on what went down in Hawkins, because no one asks Eddie why he's standing in Steve Harrington's kitchen wearing Steve Harrington's clothes.

Steve stops working as a deterrent for Dustin about two minutes after the introductions are done, and really, Eddie's kind of surprised it took him that long to come over and hug them both. He's reasonably gentle about it, at least, so Eddie guesses he can't complain much.

"Hey, buddy," Steve says, ruffling his hair. "We're still okay."

"Still alive and kicking," Eddie chimes in, slinging one arm around Dustin and giving into the hug.

Mike looks - sullen and uncertain, like he's not really sure of his place here and he's unhappy about it. For a moment, Eddie considers ignoring it until he absolutely has to do something about it, but, well. He's kind of ignoring a lot of things right now, and he really doesn't want them all to come back up at once.

So he stays in the kitchen as everyone else trickles out into the living room, plops down at the table and makes significant eye contact with Mike, raising one eyebrow. Sure enough, it works, and Mike stays behind.

He doesn't say anything, just drops down to sit at the kitchen table with him and looks mulish.

It reminds Eddie of himself, actually, and he wonders if this is how Uncle Wayne felt sitting across from him when he was fifteen. Shit, he owes that man so much. Eddie's still got some coffee left, though, and he can wait this out, taking slow, lingering sips.

"You weren't supposed to get involved with all of this," Mike says finally.

Eddie raises an eyebrow at him. "Yeah, well, Vecna disagreed with you."

Mike scowls. "You were supposed to be safe. Everything was supposed to be done, or I never would have-"

He cuts off, but Eddie knows exactly what he was going to say.

"Or you never would have left," he finishes for him.

"I wouldn't have!" Mike insists, looking up at him with a fire in his eyes. "Joyce left, and she took Will and El and Jonathan, and Nancy said she wouldn't have left us alone like that if the gate wasn't closed and we weren't safe. Once November passed and nothing happened, we thought we were good."

Eddie sets his cup on the table, the hand that isn't all splinted up running absently over his knee. "That's a lot to unpack right there, Wheeler."

Mike groans. "Whatever. The point is, people who get involved with this because of us die. And it wasn't supposed to be you."

"Aw. Almost sounds like you care," Eddie says, batting his eyelashes at Mike, who scowls harder at him. "Mike, none of this is your fault. I didn't get involved in this because of you, I got involved in this because Hawkins is a shithole and Vecna is a jackass who targeted a girl I knew. Being friends with you guys is the only thing that got me out of this, okay?"

Mike scoffs. "You mean Dustin and Lucas got you out of it."

Eddie raises his eyebrows at Mike, because really, is there jealousy happening here? "If we're going to be technical, Nancy was the one who figured out the Creel connection, and Robin was the one who figured out that music was the key, and Steve got to Max in time and-"

"Okay, okay," Mike grumbles. "I still should have been here."

Ah. Not jealousy - or at least not entirely jealousy. It's the paladin thing, being upset with himself for not being there when his friends needed him. "Mike," he says, pitching his voice a little gentler. "You can't be everywhere at once, you know that. When the party splits, you have to pick which group to go with, and from what it sounded like, you were right where you needed to be. El and Will needed their paladin, didn't they? And we had Steve."

The cloud over Mike's face had been lifting, and he even got a smile when Eddie said that El and Will needed him, but it drops back into a scowl when he mentions Steve.

"Steve's not a paladin," Mike retorts. "If anything, he's a barbarian."

That's not the point, Eddie knows it isn't, but he can't help but consider that, thinking about Steve bare chested with blood and grime all over him for probably a moment or two too long. "All right, yeah, I can see that," he admits. "But what gives, I thought you guys all thought Steve was a badass?"

Mike whips his head around, looking out the kitchen door, then slouches down in his chair. "That was before you knew him! I just didn't want you to like, pick a fight with him when he picked us up, because he's already had too many concussions."

Eddie raises an eyebrow. "Uh-huh. And how many of those concussions did he get saving you little assholes?"

Mike pulls a face that Eddie is going to assume means all of them. "That's not the point. I just - are you and he -"

Oh, shit. Somehow, Eddie had completely forgotten their shenanigans over the walkie yesterday morning. He fights the urge to fidget, and instead gives his best stoic, you'll never get it out of me face. "And what if we were?"

Mike slumps down even further. "You don't have to yell at me. Jonathan already got there, I'm not going to say it's gross. It's just - I was gone for like a week! You kept insisting that he was an asshole, and wouldn't believe Dustin and Lucas, and now you're staying with him?"

All right, well, when he puts it like that - Eddie scrubs a hand over his face. "Kind of hard to hate someone when you watch him rip up demobats and then he carries you out of the Upside Down."

Mike rolls his eyes, but he looks a little less like his world has been completely shaken. "Oh. Yeah, Steve does that. So you're not-"

"No," Eddie says, because he can't keep talking around it, and saying anything else would be a lie. There's a pit in his stomach that says no is technically a lie, too, because Eddie's pretty convinced that Steve is his soulmate, but he can't let that trip him up. "I mean, we're definitely friends now, but he's letting me stay here because I've got nowhere else to go."

"They told us," Mike says, his scowl back. "We'll figure something out. Nancy and Jonathan got Hawkins Lab to release a story about Barb, and all of Starcourt got covered up. We'll get your name cleared."

It's a great sentiment, but Eddie's not sure he can believe it at the moment. He clears his throat, nodding towards the living room. "You better get back out there."

Mike stands, though he pauses to look at him quizzically. "You're not coming?"

Eddie holds up his cup. "Just finishing my coffee, I'll be right out there."

Fuck, he knows as soon as he says it that it's a lie. He'll just have to hope that Steve is too busy with the gremlins to check what just got written on him.

Mike apparently doesn't believe him, either, because it's only a few minutes after he leaves that Robin comes into the kitchen.

"Your turn to check on the new guy?" he asks her.

She scoffs. "Awfully self absorbed of you, Eddie. Maybe I just came for leftover pancakes and coffee."

He raises an eyebrow at her.

"Okay, I mostly came for coffee," she relents, pouring herself a cup. "But also to check on you. Hey, though, bonus, you're not the newest guy anymore."

"Thank you, Argyle," Eddie mutters as Robin comes to sit next to him.

"So," Robin says, taking a long drink from her cup. "Are you going to give me something that's a reasonable approximation of the truth so I can not lie when I give a condensed report back to concerned parties, or are we just going to sit here for a while and make this awkward?"

He huffs out a little laugh. "I don't know, Buckley, I'm pretty awkward and you're definitely awkward, I don't think we have much of a shot of this not being awkward."

She smiles at him, wide and amused, but that doesn't stop her from taking another pointed sip of her coffee as she looks at him over the brim of her mug.

"How come I have to be the one who's always getting checked in on?" Eddie bitches. "I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one not doing okay."

"Because you are the new guy," Robin says, though not unkindly. "Everyone else has been through this enough that we kind of know how they're going to react, and what to look for that means things are getting worse. They did it with me, too, after Starcourt."

Eddie hadn't actually been upset, just a little ruffled by the fact that so many people are this concerned over his well being, but if he had been, that would have soothed it. "Steve told me a little about the aftermath of that, about the song you taught him."

Robin laughs a little. "There you go. I had Steve singing that for me just about every night for a while. That's mine - my brain gets itself all worked up with hypotheticals and possibilities, and things that could have happened but didn't will just start spilling out until I have a hard time sorting them all out from what actually did happen. Some of the others have gotten pretty good about knowing when to let me talk myself through it and when to cut me off and distract me."

It's shockingly vulnerable, especially for sitting in Steve Harrington's kitchen with a huge group of people just on the other side of an open doorway, and Eddie appreciates it more than he can say.

"I hyperventilate," he blurts out. "I get trapped in my head and I can't get words out. It gets worse at night and when I wake up, but Steve and Dustin have kind of figured out how to talk me down. I'm sure some new terrible way of not coping will probably come up, but that's me right now."

Robin nods, looking thoughtful. "Has Steve had a nightmare yet?"

"No," Eddie says. "I don't think so. He said he does better with one of us there, so we've been sleeping in the same room."

He isn't expecting it, but that makes Robin light up, looking at him - almost like Steve does, when Eddie did something for one of the kids, and Steve smiles so warm and open at him.

"Thank you," Robin says, toying with the handle on her mug. "My parents wouldn't let me stay over until they knew for sure I was okay, and I just - yeah, that's him. He goes into protect mode when he wakes up from a nightmare, and he needs someone there to tell him that we're all safe."

Eddie gives a little smile, trying not to give into the way his stomach does a stupid, lovesick little flutter at that. "Protective mode fits him so much better than that you're all so beneath my notice thing he did in high school."

Robin barks out a little laugh. "Right? I couldn't believe it when I actually met the real Steve and found out how dorky and sweet he was."

He lifts his mug to her in a toast, draining the rest of his coffee in one gulp. "I'll keep an eye on him for you until your parents relent," he promises, even though it feels a little disingenuous because he was planning on doing it anyway.

She shoots him a grateful smile. "It was a lot easier after Starcourt, probably because it was so new and my parents figured I'd just sneak out and be over here anyway. This time they said they'd come find me, so, you know."

So she didn't sneak out, because Eddie was here and no one can know that, and he feels a stabbing of guilt.

Robin continues before he can decide if he should say anything, though. "We came to a deal, I'm home for a week and then I can come over and stay with you guys until they start school back up again."

Fuck, okay, then. Well, no, mostly not fuck - he's kind of excited about it, actually, the idea of staying with both Steve and Robin for a while is stupidly appealing - but it means he's only got a few more days to suck it up and tell Steve he thinks they're soulmates, unless he wants to do it with Robin there. Which, actually, wouldn't be the worst thing -

"Wait, start school back up?" he asks, his mind skipping and catching on that.

She grimaces. "Yeah, with the earthquake and the school still being used as a shelter, the school year's on hold. They made sure to inform us we'll have to make the time up during summer, but, eh. Gives us more time to make sure you're graduating."

He must look a little blank, because she rolls her eyes at him.

"You're one of us now. If you think Nancy and I aren't going to make sure you're right there with us on graduation day, then, well, you've got a little more time to get your head out of your ass before the mandatory study sessions start."

Oh.

He shouldn't have finished the last of his coffee, because there's suddenly a lump in his throat that he can't quite swallow past.

There's a little bit of a commotion outside the kitchen, though, saving him from having to say anything.

"Robin!" Dustin shouts from the living room. "Is Steve lying?"

"Nice try, dingbat, you know I need more than that before giving up any of the goods!" she shouts back without hesitation.

"He says there's nothing the hospital could've done for him if he stayed and let us look after Eddie!"

Robin pauses, like she's doing a mental catalog of something, and Eddie clocks onto what it is at the same time as she calls, "Not lying! Not enough to count, anyway."

His stomach drops, and he feels like the floor goes with it.

"You and Steve are soulmates." Eddie's not sure why he says it. It's obvious, and he doesn't really want to hear it confirmed, but - he's an idiot, apparently.

"Yeah, we figured that out during Starcourt."

Eddie - needs to say something, he knows he does, because Robin's looking at him in that searching way again, like she's seeing too much of him. But what the fuck is he supposed to say? Robin's his friend, how is he supposed to tell her that he'd wanted her soulmate to be his so bad that he'd almost tested it a few times, that he still wants Steve to be his, that he's angry at her and Steve and himself and the goddamn world, even though he knows he's the only one to blame for thinking he could have this? He can't even bring himself to look at her, gaze dropping down.

"Wait, you didn't know? I thought the gremlins told you."

There's a moment of silence before he hears a sharp intake of breath, and he can't stop himself from wincing.

"Steve and I have two!" she blurts out in a whisper-shout.

His gaze snaps back up to her face, and she's staring at him wide-eyed and frantic.

"What?" he asks, feeling a little wide-eyed himself.

"Soulmates. Steve has two soulmates, and so do I."

Oh.

Oh.

"Oh," he breathes out, his eyes darting to look back at the doorway, where he can just see the back of Steve's head.

"Yup. A platonic," she says, emphasizing the word way more than is really necessary for Eddie to pick up on what she's implying. Steve hasn't found his platonic soulmate yet - it could be Eddie. "And a romantic. So, you know. If you wanted to do anything with that information. It's there."

Eddie swallows, finally looking back at her to see the way her eyes are brimming with nervous excitement. "And you're… you'd be okay with that?"

She rolls her eyes at him. "If anything, I'd be relieved. It'll be a hell of a lot easier to navigate if it's someone who's been through the Upside Down stuff. I like you, Eddie, don't go getting a big head or anything, but you're pretty great."

And that's soft and sincere enough that it actually does make his head feel a little bigger - or at least his cynical heart, anyway, because he likes her, too. He's never been jealous of her before - watching her and Steve together has always felt good, made him all gooey and fond even when he refuses to acknowledge it - and he doesn't want to be jealous of her now.

He can do this, he decides. Steve might already have a romantic soulmate, but Eddie'd already resigned himself to having a platonic soulmate more than once. He can do it, if it means having Steve.

"Cool," he says, and resists the urge to make a face at himself. "That's, uh, yeah. I'll keep that in mind."

She raises one eyebrow at him, and he groans, leaning over to plant his face on the kitchen table.

"Just leave me here," he implores her, his voice all muffled.

Robin laughs at him, though not meanly, and pats him on the head. "No," she says cheerfully. "Suck it up and take your next dose of meds and let's go into the living room."

He groans louder, but he does get up and shuffle over to down his meds, not looking at her as he sets the bottle back down. "You're pretty great, too," he admits.

She doesn't say anything in response to that, until he finally looks up to find her grinning at him.

"I know," she replies smugly. "Now come on, potential soulmate-in-law, your solitary brooding time is up."

Taglist (always happy to add more!): @vampireinthesun @koibug @estrellami-1 @mentalcyborg @allbimyself26 @questionablequeeries @the-s-is-silent @whimsicalwitchm @a-gae-af-racoon @tinyplanet95 @n0-1-important @velocitytimes2 @swimmingbirdrunningrock @newtstabber @jcmadgirl @roblingoblin285 @lexyvey @paperbackribs @goodolefashionedloverboi @evix-syne666 @raisedbylibrarians @stxrcrossed186 @nightmareglitter @greekgeek24 @starman-jpg @crazyhatlady86 @imfinereallyy @manda-panda-monium @deleataecount @prideandsensibility @chaoticvictorianspirit @maydillydally @disrespectedgoatman @scarlet-malfoy @i-less-than-three-you @hbyrde36 @hallucinatedjosten @dragonsandgayships @arepaconchocolate @g4ys0n @novelnovella @bisexualdisastersworld @ghostofyourvampiregf @scarletyeager @pettrichore @nerd-and-nervous @hiimlevi @queenie-ofthe-void @cinnamon-mushroomabomination

-----

Part 18

[unforth]

i don't know if you are still into 2ha? but what would you say if someone asked you what makes 2ha stand out? It's full of tropes that have been done before and there is nothing new. it's full of cliches according to some people. So, what makes it stand out?

I am still into 2ha, I'd consider it one of my top fandoms right now.

I'll own I find this whole ask rather odd? It implies that novelty is a. possible and b. what I'm looking for in a book.

For a... Name me a book that isn't full or tropes, name me a book that isn't full of "nothing new," name me a book that isn't full of cliches. Enjoyable books aren't ~original~, and imo original is a myth. It's about how the ideas are strung together, not about them being fresh and different and new.

For b... look. I'm almost 42 years old. I've been reading a ton since I was 8. I've read a l.o.t. over the years. And I've come to learn the things I love in characters and books.

Give me a main character (or, in 2ha, BOTH main characters) who thinks they're worthless and will give everything they have to save an innocent stranger. Give me archetypes of self-sacrifice and martyrdom and low self-esteem and adoration and obsession cooked so deep into their bones that it extends over multiple life times. Give me that adoration reciprocated but the pining, oh, it is mutual for these idiots who should be and will be lovers. I'll eat that up every time. Give me someone who thinks they're unlovable but loves the world anyway, and give me someone who loves them so much they'll tolerate the claws.

Give me epic length I can sink my teeth into. Make the plot sprawling, the side characters lush, the world developed. It's okay if some parts drag a little, it's hard to keep momentum over an epic, and one person's "that dragged" is another's "that rocked." Anyway, the slow bits makes the more exciting parts that much more thrilling.

Give me whump, and hurt/comfort, and pain that burns the soul. Make the characters deep and compelling and then confront them with nothing but bad choices, force them to pick... and then see them pick each other, everytime, even in the midst of the darkest night imaginable. Give me unreliable narrators and angst and characters with nobility that shines like the sun even when they're covered in shit.

I adored this kind of story when I was 12 and I started the Wheel of Time and fell in love with Rand al'Thor, and I adore this kind of story now, in Tian Guan Ci Fu and The Husky and His White Cat Shizun and Modu. The patterns in the kinds of books I enjoy most, the ones that make me feral and obsessed, are very consistent, and being Old means I know what those patterns are and I can seek out books that have them, and recognize them when I find them again. It's happening with the book I'm reading now, in fact, and I can feel the feral obsession growling in delight in my brain, lmao.

Ya know how some people go into fanfiction because they love a character and want to see iterations of them over and over a little to the left? Well, that's why I started fanfic, and through fic I found a genre of original fiction that does that for me. I want similar character archetypes in endless iterations of stories, and danmei gives that to me, and that's why I'm up to my nose in danmei fandoms, and why the specific ones I like best are my favorites.

What stands out about 2ha, for me, is that it fits my taste in character archetypes and plot type. If someone out there shares that taste, they'll probably also love it. If they don't share that taste, they may not, but they may, because it's a complex enough book to cater to more than just one specific type of taste. Someone who likes OP control fantasies will also probably like it, for example. I wouldn't recommend it to everyone, and that's not a bad thing. Stories that appeal to everyone tend to be shallow and not attract deep obsession, having sacrificed the depth to draw a wider audience.

Anyway, anon...you phrased this like an anti. 80% of your ask is trashing the book on false premises about tropes and cliches. I genuinely can't tell if this is meant as a troll or if it's sincere, but I've answered as if it's sincere. But regardless, you'll be a lot happier as a reader if you forget originality. Books aren't original. Find an author, genre, series, whatever, that fits your taste, and frolic there. That's the route to happy reading.

I've found mine. I hope you find yours.

[deadpool15]

Roommate Pt2

"Shit, my fucking head is pounding." I woke up, thankfully in my bed for the first time in a while. Looking to the side of me, I noticed the girl from last night that I couldn't remember almost felt bad. But for the first time, I kinda felt something for her, or maybe I didn't feel anything. My feelings have been a bit out of the order, to be honest. I have a habit of confusing feelings with lust. Now, the issue with kicking out a one-night stand is that I can't distinguish feelings and whatever the fuck I'm feeling. Especially with Bada and Howl, they are like older, annoying siblings who won't get off my case. I mean, I love them but it seems like they are fucking up my vibes. Like last time, they literally hastled me as I was walking out the door. I'm trying to meet the new guy.

This isn't the first time it has happened, but I guess it didn't occur to me that they were on the bitter side about my dates, but I thought that was just Badas' impression of my weirdly interest in stupid fucking people, because I mean the smaller the brain the better the sex. Then Howl came along, and it was fine for a while until he started acting like Bada as well. It was weird. "Why the fuck is Bada's man on my case like my older brother." I get out of bed realizing in the hour long I've taken to figure out my thoughts, the girl had left. "She was cute. I'll give her that. Hey, maybe I do like her." I statt walking towards my bathroom to take a shower. More time to think to myself yay. But maybe I was just overthinking everything, I mean, they must see me as a little sister. Yea, that would make sense, with me being younger than them in a foreign country, might I add.

"Yea, I know they are simply trying to protect me and probably think I should slow down with all the blind dates and stuff, but I'm not a little girl. They need to chill." As I finish washing myself, I step out the shower, wondering what Bada is cooking. I can smell food, just can't tell what it is exactly.

Meanwhile

"We have to tell her tonight, we can set up a dinner at a nice fancy restaurant and talk to her. Like slowly get it out, I mean, it shouldn't be hard, I heard America is pretty cool or just open about that stuff." Badas says as she finished making the American style breakfast that Mika loved. "I mean yea, America is more open about these kinds of situations, but we can't just tell her out like that, Bada." Howl states kind of arguing with Bada to make it be known that there was no going back after this. "Baby, look at me, I know, ok. I know this is a difficult situation but we have to do this together. This is something we have to do together, we have to get our girl baby this is our only chance." Howl smiles at Bada, pulling her close before whispering the words i love you in her eyes. They stand there in silence falling between the two, agreeing on their plan of getting their third piece of their heart.

Hours had passed since that close kept moment between the two. They arrived at the restaurant, and at first, they thought to keep the meeting causal until they realized maybe the beautiful atmosphere of a happy place with amazing food would soften the fact that the two people she has been basically living with were in love with her. "Reservation for Ms. Lee", they stopped checking their appearance for the 17th time of what it feels like tonight. They smile at the waiter while following him towards the table. "See, everything is going just fine. It's gonna be perfect. She will show up soon and we'll finally have our girlfriend. Game time, baby."

After about 10 minutes of sitting there and the waiter constantly coming over, pestering them about having to order something, they start to lose hope. "This was a bad idea," Howl says in despair. Though Bada still has a strong belief that you're going to come, she pulls herself together and tries to get Howl to believe as well. "Baby, I love you, ok. So I say this with all the love I have for you. MAN UP." In that very moment, Bada sees a glimpse of your pink and black hair coming through the door in a rush. Thanking the heavens for giving them another chance.

"I'm so sorry, guys. I got held up with Heaven." Mika states as she drops her coat on the chair and sits down on the opposite side of Bada and Howl. As soon as they both hear the name, leave your beautiful lips, their mouths fill with a hint of distaste. Praying to heaven completely forgetting that happened to be the name of your date or new fling. Bada and Howl had one thing and mind, and that was making sure you forgot that girls name entirely by the end of the night. "I'm here now though, I know it doesn't make up for the fact that I was so late, but I'm really sorry." Bada smiles as Howl seems to be wanting to just get it out already. Seeing this, she grabs his hand firmly, letting him know it will happen. "It's fine. We were just worried, but you're ok. So how about we just order now." You all look at each other, agreeing. Howl helps you with the menu, knowing of course you need no help he just likes to be close to you. Though they both know you'll need help ordering, your social anxiety playing a huge factor in that. Looking at the menu, you finally decided on a simple shrimp pasta. You could never go wrong with a classic. Howl orders a steak with mash and vegetables, and Bada follows along ordering lasagna, one of your favorites just in case.

"So, what did you guys need to talk about so urgently. Hopefully, this isn't about trying to get me to join the academy again. I don't care how much potential you think you see isn't a dancer in me, I promise." Mika says, deciding to start the conversation off with a slight joke to ease the situation. Truth be told, she didn't have the slightest idea why they both wanted to talk with her. No matter how hard she tried to ponder over the thought, it didn't make sense why they were here together. "No, I know you all camera shy and stuff, but you are a good dancer flower." Hearing Bada say that name brought her a sense of comfort, it was a name she had given her when they first met. She claims Mika sparked in the sun like a flower. Smiling at that thought, it does ease the tension, "Good, because all those people in one big room is just like a no for me." Howl sits up making eye contact with bada before deciding they should go to the restroom, getting the message they excuse themselves for a minute. Stepping inside Bada immediately breaks down her strong facade. Howl grabs her in his arms, trying to calm her down. "This is stupid she can never love me. It's so hard, baby. I'm trying to be strong for us, but she doesn't want me, I can tell. I see her with all these tall girls, and I think im like them, so why is it never me." Howl shuts up her crues with a simple kiss, breaking her away from the moment. "Your wrong baby, she will love you just like I love you, ok? You shouldn't be doing this alone. You're right. I need to man up and be their for both of you. Don't ever think for a second you're not enough ok, let's go out there and get our girl."

As they are left in the bathroom taking a moment for themselves, only terrible thoughts are crossing Mika's mind. What had she done that was so difficult to tell. She felt worse for not being able to remember it. She immediately thinks she might have crossed the line. Maybe Bada felt like she was coming onto Howl sneakily. Sure, she thought Howl was hot and mean fuck they both were and would it make her a bad person if she admits she has fantasized about them both a some point. But Bada was her best friend, and she refused to lose a meaningful friendship because she couldn't keep it in her pants. Throughout this meltdown, she is having she doesn't notice Bada and Howl come back from the restroom, nor does she notice she has started crying. Finally catching sight of them, she immediately breaks down. "I'm sorry for whatever I did, I promise I didn't mean to. Bada, you're my best friend, and I tried to hard not to make you feel any way. I even changed habits that I grew up with, like walking around with less clothes and other shit that may piss you off. Howl, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. Please don't kick me out." Hearing this, they both move towards the other side of the table, grabbing her with Howl, setting her on his lap, this of course catches her off guard, but Bada keeps her in place.

"You didn't make anyone uncomfortable flower, I promise. We aren't gonna kick you out, or I'm not." Bada says, rubbing her big cheeks to calm her down while wiping the tears. "We wanted to tell you the truth. We've been in love with you for years now, baby. At first, we thought something was wrong until we both talked it out and realized we both had feelings for you. Then, Bada told me that you had said something about poly relationships at one point, and we realized their was nothing wrong with it." Howl states, turning her around to straddle his lap, rubbing her waist as comfort. "W-wait, what? You love me. The both of you, I thought I was imposing with the constant amount of third wheeling, that's why I've been going on more dates." Mika speaks up confused. How could two of the most beautiful people inside and out love her. "Baby, we love spending time with you. If anything, we were trying to build up the courage to tell you. And now you have us." Bada says, hooking her fingers with yours and Howl. "No more dates, we are all you need." Mika smiles, looking off happy. I Thinking she was getting kicked out or just wrong for liking two people, and it worked out. Bada starts to usher both of her partners out of the restaurant to go home, says they could order in, simple wanting to spend time with each other. They faithfully agree and pile into the car, making their way home.

Stepping out of the car, going into the building, Mika notices that neither one of their new partners can keep their hands to themselves. Though Mika all of a sudden feels shy with all the affection. Howl reaches out for her hand in the elevator and pulls her to him, leaving open-mouthed kisses down her neck. While Bada turns around staring at her with a smile that could only be described as pure lust and desire. "You know, I'm starting to believe that our little flower here, knew we were listening to her fuck other people. Torturing us, weren't you?" She listens to what Bada says completely, forgetting she used to invite people over to her place after her dates. But before she could answer, the elevator stops, opening up indicating they have reached their floor. Bada walks out, going to the front door tapping the code in while Howl grabs Mika, throwing her over his shoulder. Yea, she was truly in for it tonight. Opening the door, they immediately walk into their room, Howl throws her down on the bed. Leaving them both standing in front of her. She had never realized how much taller they were than her. Towering over her, making her feel so small, and yet she doesn't feel afraid if anything, she is excited.

"Bada, right baby. You do like torturing us, don't you? Almost every single night, hearing your sweet, beautiful moans for some random shitty guy and girl you could find. You wanted our attention, didn't you, baby?" Mika nods her head as Howl pushes her down on the bed, working on kissing up her legs, reaching straight for her pussy. Staring at it like it's a prize he had finally won. "Giving this pussy up all the time, that shit ends tonight you her me little girl." It wasn't a question, no it was a demand. That he knew she would follow without a second thought. Peeling her panties down, he catches sight of the little bow on the front, motioning it to Bada how she gets on the bed smiling. "I told you she is our little flower." Bada comes behind your gathering you in her arms as Howl finally takes off your underwear. Pushing your legs up yo have you spread out more for him, with Bada holding you still. You hadn't even realized she had taken off her pants, leaving her just in her Calvin Klein thong and the blouse she chose to wear. You whine at the thought, catching both of their attention. "N-naked, please?" Hearing this, they need no further instructions. With Bada pulling off her shirt and bra, you feel her pulling down your dress, sliding it off, leaving you in nothing. Feeling her bare breasts pressed against your back leaves you moaning. Though Howl takes his time, slowly pulling down his pants and shirt, almost giving a strip tease. "Come on, we can't leave our flower waiting. We had to show her what she was missing." Bada moves her lips down to leaving love bites on you neck while playing with you breast.

Howl forgets about his underwear at the moment, leaving you to gawk at his abs. He watches you stare before diving straight in. Sucking and licking your cunt like it's his last meal. "You taste so good, baby." You push his head further in with your thighs, "f-fuck yes." Bada bites your ear while moaning. You trun your head, realizing she was fingering herself. She looks so fucking hot you can stand it. Howl pushes a finger in why his nose is positioned right on your clit, casuing you to scream out. You start to tap Bada motioning her towards you, "P-please sit on my face," and who is she to deny such a request. Positioning herself to hover over your face, she contemplates if this is the best idea, but she stops thinking when Mika pulls her thighs down, closing them around her head. Sucking on her clit her she moves Badas hips to ride her face, while Howl is jerking himself off still eating Mika out. With Mika's nose mumbling against Bada's clit everytime she moves she is so close to her high. "Fuck... baby I'm gonna cum." Bada yells out loud grabbing the headboard, as Howl feels Mika cuming in his mouth. Bada squirts all over Mika's face never had she felt such a high. Howl and Bada make eye contact, now realizing why all those girls that came into Mika's room screaming.

Howl grabs Bada kissing her while she leans in sucking on his lips, wanting a taste of everything Mika has to offer. Mika dares at them with pure love, wanting more. Bada pushes him down, getting on top of him while pushing him inside. While she is used to the stretch, she knows Mika isn't, and they will have to work her into it. So, Howl starts fingering Mika again, pushing in two fingers at a time overstimulating her. "S-shit....wait." but they pay her pleads no mind, and he grabs her thighs, pushing in another finger moving faster than before. Bada, seeing this, starts moving herself up and down. Dancing we coming into affect when they fuck. All you can hear from the room is skin against skin. "Yes...right there....fuck give it me." Bada says while slamming herself down onto Howl shaft over and over again. She feels the band in her stomach slowly start to snap, knowing she had just come before leaving her sensitivity. Howl notices this and moves his feet to stand on the bed and further slam his hips against her own, causing Bada to clench around him, holding onto his chest. "That's fuck baby. Fuck come all over me." That pushes her over the edge. Leaving her crying and coming on command.

Bada and Howl take a moment to themselves while he is still fingering Mika, even though she had come 2 more times. Howl stops while Bada gets off of him until they hear a phone ring. They ignored it for a moment until it hangs up and rings again. Howl reaches over realizing its Mikas phone, about to put it on, do not disturb. Until he sees the caller ID, "So you haven't cut ties with that heaven girl baby," Mika looks up and him wide-eyed, realizing he told her she would meet up later. Before she can speak, Howl flips her over positioning her on all fours. She feels the heavy weight of his shaft pulsing against her throbbing abused clit. He passes her the phone, and she looks at it. He wouldn't want her to answer it at a time like this, would he? But Bada grabs the phone, answering it while placing it against Mika's ear. She hears Heaven speak up, asking about where she is, wanting to answer quickly so she can end the call until Howl starts to push in. "W-wait...fuck...pleasee. Too..big." Howl stares at her perfectly arched for him. "You can take it, baby. I know you can. Good girls take it nice and well. You're my good girl right". Each word is punctured by an inch until he is fully inside.

"So full." Is all Mika can manage out, causing both Bada and Howl to smile at their precious baby. Heaven after a while goes silent on the phone, yet doesn't hang up. Bada quickly speaks up, while putting pressure on Mika's clit. "Our baby is a bit.. occupied at the moment if you couldn't tell. I would say she could call you back later, but she won't. Don't call this phone again." In the process, Howl starts hammering his hips into Mika's, holding her up feeling on the imprint in her stomach. "Would you look at that baby, I'm all the way up here. Can you feel me in your stomach, can't you? Claimed I wouldn't fit, but look at you. It's like your pussy was made to take me. Made just for us." Howls says while pressing down on your stomach. Bada moves to kiss you sucking on your tongue, leaving you just overwhelmed, never experienced anything like this. Completely cock drunk. "Gonna take good care of you flower, always."

[watarfallar]

Imagine if Jimmy wins the life series... Huh, what a thought. Anyway have some more incorrect quotes!

Pearl: Cleo, you're my best friend. Cleo: Best friend? BEST friend?! Bitch, I'm your only friend. Cleo: I'M THE ONLY ONE CAPABLE OF TOLERATING YOUR DUMB ASS!

Impulse: Your smile? It makes my day. Tango: Your happiness? I live for that. Joel: A room? Get one. BigB: Hotel? Trivago.

BigB: What's the most efficient way to burn calories? Martyn: Exercise more! Joel: Set yourself on fire. Tango: There are two kinds of people.

Impulse, to Jimmy: ...And I need you and Tango to help, and by "help" I mean "do everything."

Joel: Yes, I'm adopting Grian and you cowards can't tell me no!

Scott: Martyn said its my turn with the brain cell. Cleo: Square up.

Joel: You know what your problem is? Scar: I only have one?

Mumbo: That was the worst throw ever. Of all time. Gem: Not my fault. Somebody put a wall in the way.

Jimmy: I have a bad feeling about this, guys. Skizz: Oh don’t worry, you’ll be fine. Joel: Yeah, what’s the worst that could happen? Jimmy, being bailed out of jail the next morning: I hate you all.

Pearl: sSSSHIT- I BURNT MY LIP- Tango: ...Why the fuck would you even drink coffee with a METAL STRAW in the FIRST PLACE?? Pearl: BECAUSE WE WERE OUT OF THE PLASTIC ONES!

Lizzie: What if the person who named Walkie Talkies named everything? Lizzie: Pregnancy tests are Maybe Babies. Joel: Socks are Feetie Heaties. Scott: Defibrillators are Heartie Starties. Impulse: Nightmares are Dreamy Screamies. Pearl: Stamps are Lickie Stickies. Gem: I hate you guys so much.

*The Squad is at Home Depot* Impulse: *Fell in the cacti display while wandering around the garden section* Grian: *Shitting in the display toilets* Lizzie: *Tokyo Drifting one of those flatbed carts down the aisles* BigB: *Stealing paint chips for aesthetic purposes* Mumbo: *Just wanted some goddamn lightbulbs and everyone ruined it* Pearl: *In the car sleeping*

Ren: Would you take a bullet for me? Lizzie: ...yes? *Jimmy angrily burst into the room* Ren: *running away* Great, thanks!

Martyn: I love cooking breakfast. It makes the whole house smell like bacon. Jimmy: That’s true, but it also smells like fire and panic. Martyn: You and the smoke detector need to get off my case.

Ren: You three, explain right now! Bdubs: It was Etho. BigB: It was Etho. Scott: It was Etho. Etho: Etho: …fuck.

Skizz: I did it! I memorized everything in the book! I'm gonna ace this test! Ren: Ok, Skizz, I'll give you one more question before you go. What ended in 1918? Skizz: 1917. Ren: ...You're ready.

Skizz: Just be yourself. Say something nice. Bdubs: Which one? I can't do both.

Pearl: I need to dye my hair. Bdubs: ... Pearl: Or get another tattoo. Bdubs: ... Pearl: Or a new piercing. Bdubs: Why? Pearl: To, you know, appease the mental breakdown gods.

Gem: I’ve been described as a ‘heartless villain’ and a 'little shit’, but I prefer… 'has alternative ways of having fun’.

Joel: You don’t deserve me. Jimmy: At your worst or your best? Joel: I don’t have a worst. Jimmy: Because you’re already at your worst?

Martyn: BigB! This soup is flaccid! BigB: LITERALLY WHAT THE FUCK DOES THIS MEAN?!

Gem: Tell me, what you are mad at? Cleo: I paid twenty dollars for bottomless drinks. Impulse, in the background: They got to the bottom. Cleo: What is that? The bottom of the damn glass!

Grian: I wonder who’s ruining my life. Grian: *looks in the mirror* Grian: So we meet again.

[allwormdiet]

Interlude 7

Hi Miss Militia, sorry your superpower is just being a living weapon

No dancing around on this one, huh, just straight into the meat of it

Is Kovan our first dead kid/teen in this story? I feel like the child violence is steadily increasing over time. Vista, the ABB conscripts, Dinah, now this.

Also this shit is brutal

Fuck.

Sometimes you just have that sudden, instinctual understanding that something bad is nearby. Not usually something so devastating as a pit trap or landmine, but just that moment of the hindbrain screaming at you that something's not right.

Hey fucker, you sure showed up early, huh

So. Fucked up geometric crystalline entity that exists in multiple overlapping states or realities at once. Piece of it comes off and impacts her, bada bing bada boom she has powers and, conveniently, no recollection of the vision.

Ladies, gentlemen, and those of you who know better, cosmic horror has entered the chat, and it's giving out free goodies to unsuspecting participants

Crystal Superpower Cthulhu legitimately looked at this child and was like "oh I know how to turn the circumstances of your trauma into a superpower! I'm just going to give you Gun."

This feels a lot more on the nose than it's been for everyone else so far, but what do I know

Yeah here we go

"Good news, you never have to sleep again. Bad news, your brain will be on at all times and when you try to shut it off you will remember the worst day of your life in fucking IMAX quality"

Also feels very appropriately sinister that nobody can remember Crystal Superpower Cthulhu except in dreams of their trigger event, if you can even call it a dream.

Wow! Even more reason to doubt the Wards program, huh? They just dropped this kid into that life without her say-so and that cooked her for however long it took to graduate, at which point she obviously became a lifelong member.

Miss Militia is fully in it, huh? That's the kind of indoctrination you straight up can't pry yourself out of unless you have a damn good reason to suspect that's what's up, and it sounds like she never got that reason.

Yeah of course she's a dutiful little daughter and student and soldier. What else has she got? Not even the other kids from her hometown. Fuck me. Isolate and steep in the propaganda.

Oh no. Oh no she believes the American Dream exists. Oh Hana I'm so sorry, they just made that up to sell houses in the suburbs.

...Fuck, that's just it, isn't it. Hana was a victim of the grinding machinery of empire, and that was the pressure cooker situation that made her trigger. And now she's a component of a different, larger empire, grinding more of its targets into the same fuel that she almost became, but she doesn't even see it.

She didn't have a chance.

Speaking of chances. Hana, do you want to live in a world where God favors Kaiser as much as he favors you? Like that's just the problem of evil times a hundred.

Oh hey you two

Colin you have got to be careful what you wish for, man, you live in a world where superpowers are built off of fucking monkey's paw logic

Pity.

Haha uh oh

This is the first time we've heard Case 53 used, yeah? Same as Newter and Gregor? Hmm.

Now this is kind of an interesting conversation, having to figure out what the hell to do about what junior members you can or else have to give away

Okay so they know Shadow Stalker is trouble

...How much do they know beyond that, and how have they been dealing with her? Because I don't think it's working, and at least one person is just straight up not doing their job

I'd love to feel sorry for Armsmaster in this moment, but my dude is in desperate need of some fucking humility, and honestly I'm not sure he was ever meant to be in a leadership position. He just doesn't have the temperament for it.

So, first off, insane that the Endbringers are keyed in enough to human civilization to know what hurts most for them to target

Second off: Coil you stupid fucker your gun jumping on the Empire accelerated the entire city into apocalypse! Arrogant bastard wants to run Brockton Bay so bad that he just tripped and dropped his little city diorama all into a trash can full of rotting fish. Fucking jackass.

The Endbringers can bring media response into consideration for their attacks?? What the fuck kind of operation are these kaiju running?

Oh god fucking dammit.

Armsmaster is going to try and get his glory by killing an Endbringer.

Current Thoughts

Somebody needs to tell these people the genre of story that they're in for real. This isn't gritty sci-fi, this isn't something about the power of faith, this is about an alien intelligence using Earth and humanity for purposes that are, at best, utterly ambivalent to the ongoing existence of either of those things.

Also I feel a lot worse for Miss Militia but it seems like she hasn't reflected on like, any of her baggage beyond the most surface level stuff of "boy I'm sure fucking glad I'm not in that village anymore"

[smoooothoperator]

Beautiful Stranger

03: The Name Of The Game

Driver! Lando Norris x OC (Lily Barton)

Summer love, strangers to friends to lovers, Greece and Greek mythology references

Words: 3.6k

warnings: fluff, too much fluff. flashbackks are on italics

Masterlist

Official playlist

previous part | next part

a/n: hello beautiful people! here we have this duo again. This are getting a little messy, right? don't worry, the best is about to come soon ;)

Every way of feedbask is very welcomed

🖌️

Don't think about him. Don't make a suspicious noise that would make him come. Don't. Don't. Don't. But those god damn blue eyes were staring back at me, so alive and so real.

"Uhg, no" I groaned, closing the sketchbook.

When I woke up I went as fast as I could to my art room, thinking that what I drew last night was some type of dream. That I was dreaming that I was drawing his eyes.

But no, they were real and captured on those thick papers, draws of his eyes from every angle I saw them. 

"You are so stupid, Lily" I groaned, face palming myself.

I wanted to tear off the pages. But… those eyes were so beautiful, and they were looking at me.

"God, you are acting like a teenage" I groaned, closing the sketchbook and leaving it on the table. "So annoying"

I sighed, opening the window and looking at the sea. So close but so far at the same time. It's like the sea is calling me to go but I know that it won't be possible.

I grabbed my phone, playing soft music on the speaker, and focused on the empty canvas that was in front of me. I want to paint, but I don't know what. I want to do something since I can walk around the village or go to work, keeping my mind busy.

"What should I do with you?" I sighed, grabbing a pencil and taking a deep breath.

I sigh and let my hand work, moving all over the canvas. 

Since I was little I always wanted to paint. My school notebooks were full of drawings. I secretly bought all the material I needed and hid it under the bed. I watched tutorials on the internet in the privacy of my bedroom.

I always did this alone.

"What the fuck?" I frowned when I saw what I was drawing. "No way, come on!"

It's as if my brain was letting my heart have the reins of my hands.

I groaned and grabbed an eraser, undoing everything that gave any type of hint about the crush of my brain. 

"How can I be so ridiculous?" I sighed.

Baking is good, I don't have to draw someone, not even the guy next door with beautiful eyes… Stop!

"Oh dear Zeus, help me" I groan, tying my hair in a ponytail. "Not you, Aphrodite"

I always felt that every type of handmade thing was my specialty. I can draw, I can make jewelry, I can bake and cook. I would be a perfect housewife, just how my mother wanted. 

Too bad I'm not that type of woman.

One of the things that really made me fall in love with Greece was the food. Those Mediterranean flavors were something addictive for me, and the pastry was something I needed to learn how to make.

"Shit…" I groaned, feeling the pain in my foot. 

I shouldn't be standing up, if Logan knew he would come and push me to the couch immediately.

Logan, Logan, Logan… why the hell I can't stop thinking about him? Maybe it is the fact that he came running to check on me, worrying about me. Maybe my heart is saying that it’s a signal of some kind of fate.

“Oh, don’t be ridiculous” I scoffed at myself. “Fate with him? Don’t make me laugh”

The angel in my shoulder was saying sweet things through my ear to my brain, trying to convince it that this was something new. I could hear how the devil in my other shoulder was getting in the argument too.

“I need air” I groan, going to the balcony and looking at the sea with some kind of sadness.

I wish I could be there, I wish I didn’t meet my neighbor, I wish none of this happened.

I wish…

“I wish you were never born!” she exclaimed, slapping my cheek, making the skin burn like if someone lightened a bonfire on ot. “You bring dishonor to this family!”

“But…” I mumbled, feeling the tears blurring my eyes. “Mom I don’t want to…”

“You have to” she stated, mad. I could see her eyes getting red with anger, how the vein of her neck was getting more visible as she tensed her jaw. “It will be in a week. You better not embarrass us more that you already did”

I gasped blinking quickly the tears, surprised by my own memory. I sniffled quickly, brushing the furtive tears that escaped my eyes and ran down my cheeks, making me sigh and hug myself.

No. Don’t get back there, Lily. You are better than this.

“You okay?” I heard him from the other side of the wall that separated the balconies.

I sigh and roll my eyes, closing them. It’s really impossible to not think about him.

“Are you crying? Are you in pain?” he kept asking, making me bite my lip.

“I’m okay, Logan” I said, more sharply than I wanted. “I’m just hating the fact that I can’t go to the beach because of this stupid bandage in my feet”

“I get it” he sighed. 

I sigh and walk back inside the apartment, going around with the clutches. When I smelled that sweet scent coming from the oven I smiled, opening it and getting everything out of it. 

I smiled proudly, looking at the perfectly made baklava and how the scent of it made my stomach growl in hunger. If you want to make a woman happy, give her her favorite meal.

I looked at the clock of the wall, biting my lip. I should make lunch, it's time for it. Morning went by pretty quick, thinking about a certain someone and trying to distract myself. It was good, refreshing. Something I really needed.

Peaky Blinders was playing in front of me, but I stopped it when I heard the front door opening.

"Hello?" I frown, looking at the front door, getting surprised to see Logan there. "Logan? What are you doing?"

"Do you have scissors?" he asked, walking inside the kitchen and placing the bag he brought on the table in front of me. "Oh, it smells nice, what is it?" he smiled pointing to the freshly made pastry.

"Baklava" I frown, following his movements with my eyes. "What are you doing?"

"I'm searching for the scissors" he said, opening the drawers. "I swear I saw some yesterday… here!"

I frown, looking at him turning around with the scissors on his hand and walking towards me, sitting in front of me.

"Put your foot here" he said, patting his thigh.

"What the fuck are you doing?" I frown looking at him, confused. 

"You want to go to the water, right?" he asked me, sighing. "After you told me you were bad because you couldn't go to the beach I went back to the medical centre to talk with the doctor"

"You did what?" I mumbled surprised. He really did that?

"I talked with him" he said. "With the help of Google Translate, of course, and I had him on the phone with a friend that is physiotherapist"

I looked at him and swallowed thickly. Why is a stranger doing such things for me? I'm sure he feels guilty, because it was his fault I am like this. 

"The doctor said that it wasn't too swollen, he put the bandage to immobilise the ankle And my friend said that with injuries like that he likes to use elastic bandages that can be taken off" he explained with a smile, making me look at him. "So… that's why I'll cut the bandage and put this"

"You… you did this… for me?" I was surprised.

No one did this for me. No one cared for me like this. 

"Yeah" he nodded, opening and closing the scissors with a smile. "So, before I cut this bandage… Can I eat?"

"What?" I frown, suppressing a laugh.

"Yeah, I didn't have lunch" he said. "And that… thing looks and smells delicious"

"It's a musaka" I said looking at my plate. "I have more on the fridge"

"Okay" he smiled and got up, going to the fridge and opening it. 

He walked around my apartment like he was in his own house. If someone else walked inside my house and grabbed everything like that I would be annoyed, but he wasn't annoying me. There was something in my brain that didn't turn on the alarms. 

"God, you really are an amazing chef" he said after warming the plate and grabbing a fork, sitting next to me. "See, another thing I know about you"

There was something about him that didn't annoy me. Maybe it was his smile, how it reached his eyes. He looked friendly, shameless, open-minded. 

"Why are you doing this?" I frown, leaving the fork on my plate. 

"Doing what?" he frowned, talking with his mouth full and then swallowing it. "Eating?"

"No. This" I frown, moving my hands between us and them to the scissors and the bag. "Why?"

"You said you wanted to go to the beach" he repeated. "And I want to take you to the beach. That's it"

"Yesterday you said that I shouldn't go" I frown. "God, you are confusing me, Logan!"

"I felt bad when I heard you cry" he sighed. "I don't like knowing people feel bad, or are angry because of me. For once I want to make someone happy, even if that means doing a simple thing as going to the beach"

I look at him and sigh, eating again in silence.

No one did something like that for me. No one wanted to  gesture like that for me.

"Come on, Liliane" my mother said, standing at the door. 

"I don't want to!" I cried softly.

"Ah… don't act like a baby" she groaned, rolling her eyes. "Things like that happen. Dogs die and you'll keep living"

"He was my best friend!" I cried, hugging the small plushie he loved. 

"Stop being a crybaby and get dressed!" she exclaimed. "Your father is waiting for us! This is important, Liliane!"

"I said no!" I cried harder, hiding under the blankets.

No one tried to make me smile after crying. My father used to buy me things to make me shut up. My mother used to look at me disappointed.

"Thank you" I whisper, swallowing the lump  that memory left in my throat. "For doing this"

"It's okay" he smiled. "I'm bored, anyway. Some adventure and fun wouldn't be bad, you know?"

I smile weakly and nod.

Right, he's bored and now I'm his way of getting rid of boredom.

🎮

I always hated to hear girls cry. It really made me sad. 

When my sisters cried when we were kids I always felt like a punch in my chest and I always tried to do something to make them smile again. When my friends cried because a man broke their heart I was always there for them.

And hearing Lily sniffling made my chest hurt. I don't know what it is, I don't know what attracts me to her, but I feel like an invisible force pushing me to her.

It's not a crush.

Or maybe it is? 

After all this time, being famous and having a lot of girls following me hoping that I would choose them, meeting a girl that doesn't know who I am and tries to avoid me, is something that makes me interested.

Hearing her music in the morning is something I would like to get used to. Or smelling the scent of the things she baked. 

Okay, yeah. Maybe I do have a crush on the girl next door that I barely know about.

"You shouldn't keep your foot down" I said pointing at her ankle. "Come on, put it here"

"But…" she frowned, looking at my thigh.

"No buts" I interrupted her, patting my thigh. 

She sighed and placed her leg on my thigh with the help of her hands, letting out a sigh of relief afterwards. I smiled looking at her, watching how her shoulders relaxed and how she ate in silence.

"See? It's fine, I don't bite" I said smiling.

Then I saw her smile, while rolling her eyes. But it was a smile. And I swear it was the most beautiful smile I have ever seen in my entire life.

"Okay, so this is the plan" I said after I finished eating. "I cut this thing, we put that thing and then we'll go to the beach"

"And you know how to put that thing?" she asked, pointing at the bag. "What's that, by the way?"

"Oh, it's an elastic bandage" I said, grabbing the box and showing it to her. "I bought it before coming here"

"You didn't have to…" she mumbled, and I could see the blush in her cheeks. 

"You wanted to go to the beach, then we'll go to the beach" I said, smiling. "I'll take you there"

"On the scooter?" she frowned.

"Yeah" I nod.

"Oh god, no. I think I changed my mind, I like to stay here and do nothing" she nodded.

"Very funny" I laughed. "I'm serious, Lily. I'll take you to the beach and you'll get in the water"

"You promise?" she asked, blushing and trying to not look at me.

"I promise" I nodded.

She giggled softly, finishing her meal and then looking at the kitchen counter. I looked at where she was looking and I got up slowly, leaving her foot on the chair where I was sitting, and grabbed our plates to wash them on the sink, washing them.

"You want to try the baklava?" she asked me.

"Oh definitely" I laughed. "What is it made of?”

“Basically pistachio and syrup” she explained. “It’s nice”

“Okay, then I want some” I smiled, grabbing two small plates and putting the portions on it.

There was something about her that made me want to be here, taking care of her and giving her my attention. It was like she put a spell on me, making my mind clouded. I can’t even know when it happened, when my heart and brain decided that I wanted to help her and take care of her.

“Oh fuck, it’s delicious” I gasped with my mouth full of this delicacy. 

“Thanks” she smiled.

When we finished the pastry I washed the dishes again, and then I sat in front of her, with her foot on my thigh. I washed my hands and then looked at her.

"Wait, you know how to put that bandage?" she asked me, stopping me before cutting the bandage.

"Eh…" I frown looking at the box. "No"

I looked at the instructions, but they were in Greek. She sighed and grabbed the box, her fingers touching mine, making me blush softly.

"Okay… Yeah, I get it" she nodded. "Cut the bandage, then I'll explain you how to put it"

"Okay" I nodded.

I started to cut the bandage slowly, placing my hand on her skin. It's soft, so soft. I heard her sighing relieved when the bandage started to leave her skin, leaving marks on it.

"God, so good" she groaned after her foot was free of bandage. "You have no idea how good it feels"

"I can tell" I nodded, watching her ankle. It's a little swollen, and purple because of the blood. "God… I'm sorry I made this to you"

"It's okay" she sighed. 

I smile weakly at her and sigh, grabbing the box and opening it. I did everything she told me to do, wrapping it on her foot and making sure she couldn't move it.

"Now go get changed" I said. "I'll get changed too, okay?"

"Okay" she sighed, looking at the bandage in her ankle. "Wear comfortable shoes to drive"

"I won't drive" I frown. "We'll go on scooter"

"Yeah, how innocent you are if you think that I'll go on a scooter with you again" she laughed, making me roll my eyes. "I have a car, we'll go on it. Plus, I still have to use the crutches, it will be easy to wear them"

"Okay…" I sighed.

I walked out of her apartment to get changed. Thank god I searched on the Internet where I was coming and packed beach things. 

I took a deep breath and started to get changed. But then I started to think…

What if someone sees me? What if they find me? We'll go to a beach with more people on it, right? If one of them knows who I am, I'm really fucked up. No, I can't go to the beach. I can't, I can't.

Why the hell do you do things without thinking first, knowing that you'll regret doing them, Lando?

"Hello?" I heard her knocking on my door. "Logan? Are you ready?”

“Eh…” I frown, being taken out of my thoughts. “Y-yeah”

I sighed, grabbing my backpack and hanging it on my shoulder. I opened the front door and I swear I nearly died. Lily was standing in front of me, wearing a baby blue summer dress and her hair tied on a braid that falls on her right shoulder.

God, please help me to control myself.

“Are you ready?” she asked me with a smile.

How can I say no to her? 

“Yeah” I smiled weakly, getting out of the apartment. “Do you need help?”

“No…” she frowned, looking at the stairs, then she sighed and smiled weakly. “Please?”

I chuckled and nodded, going some stairs down and she grabbed my backpack and put it on her back. I felt her hands on my shoulder and how she took a step closer to my back. I’ll have to hold her thighs, her body close to mine.

God help me please.

“My car is there” she said, pointing to a white car that was near us.

Of course it was a car that screamed Greece vibes. She’s the representation of what every girl wants to have after watching those Mamma Mia movies.

“Cool car” I nodded, walking towards it with her still in my back. 

“Very sarcastic” she said, patting my shoulder.

“No, I’m serious!” I laughed, placing her on the ground. “It’s a cool car for a place like this that have rocky roads near”

She chuckled and nod, walking to the backseats and leaving our bags there. 

Why do I have that feeling of being comfortable seeing her do something as simple as that? God, I hate those feelings.

“Let’s go” she smiled, sitting in the passenger seat. 

“Ehm… there’s a chance… to go to some type of small beach? Like… with not a lot of people in it?” I asked before starting the car.

“What?” she frowned, looking at me surprised. “Woah, woah… stop there you creep!”

“No! What? No! I’m not saying that” I exclaimed, understanding what she was thinking about. “It’s… well… I have agoraphobia”

Three lies already. Hoe can I be so fucking stupid?

“Oh… Oh!” she gasped. “And a beach full of people won’t help… I get it, yeah”

“Yeah” I smiled weakly. 

“Oh, I know one” she smiled, grabbing her phone and putting the GPS on it.

I took a deep breath and started driving where the GPS said, parking where she told me. At this point I’m praying that she doesn’t discover that I have been lying to her since the start. 

“Here we are” she smiled once we were in the sand. 

Only a few people were there. And all of them were old people, women talking between them. I should be content with this.

I followed her, she was walking slowly to not hurt her foot, and then she placed her bag on the sand, taking her towel and laying it there. She took off her sundress, letting me see the white bikini she is wearing, and taking off the bandage.

How can she be so beautiful? 

“Can you help me go to the water?” she asked me, looking back at me. “I promise I won’t swim, I’ll go until the water reaches my chest”

“I’ll go with you” I said, putting the towel down on the sand and taking off my shirt and shoes.

I felt her eyes on me, and it made me blush. Do I have a boner? No, maybe not yet. 

“Come on” I said, holding her hands and helping her get up, trying to not look at her when she stood in front of me.

She walked slowly, groaning everytime she had to take a step with her bad foot. I just sighed and stood next to her, wrapping her arm around my shoulders and then my arm around her waist, helping her walk.

“Better?” I asked, hearing her sigh.

“Yeah” she nodded.

The moment her feet touched the cold water she sighed louder, making me smile. We walked slowly into the water, she was holding my shoulders and I was holding her waist.

"Good?" I asked her.

She nodded and took a deep breath, then I saw her close her eyes and get underwater, making me gasp.

"Lily!" I exclaimed, holding her close to me. "What the fuck was that!"

"I wanted to have the rest of my body wet" she frowned, holding my shoulders since I was hugging her waist.

We didn't say anything else. She was floating and I held her close to my body. We were silent, any word exchanged between us.

She licks her lips, making me look at them. They look… kissable-

No. Stop it.

"Hi" she whispered, her hands on my shoulders.

"Hi" I whisper back, looking into her eyes.

God, give me strength to not kiss her right now. Give me strength to not do something as stupid as kissing a stranger.

God, give me strength to not fall for her as hard as I'm already falling. 

taglist

@lestappenloverr @racinggirl @roni-midnights @livster8 @kakorrhaphiphobia @starkeyellow @celestialpierre @ophcelia @msliz @lorarri @ironmaiden1313 @imsorare @mycenterfold @im-an-overthinker @soosheee @karmabyfernando @landoyesrizz

[drdemonprince]

Re: an anon from November 15th: do you have advice on how become more comfortable with negativity? Because the White Woman Socialization Brain is strong with this one and I've had a couple of friends say it gives me a tone-policing problem

I'm going to depart from my usual gradual tolerance-building exercise approach here (though all that stuff still applies) and give you a more targeted recommendation:

I think you need to find a friend who can be a bit of a shitty little outrageous bitch in how they speak and emote, but who is at their core a wonderful, reliable, and morally stand-up person, and make a special place for them in your life.

The type of person who is not afraid to be disagreeable, who says "terrible!" and launches into a whole long rant about why when you ask them how their day is going and who will show up to your house with groceries when you are sick and start cooking and cleaning all around even when you've (lyingly) said you do not need the help. The type of person who will teach your nervous system that negativity is not bad, that ruining the vibe is sometimes needed, and that we can be good people even while not worrying about making other people feel good.

You can often locate such people in hard-core activist spaces, as the people steadily Doing the Work for years on end are unlikely to be motivated by soft, tender feelings, because those emotions sure don't keep in that line of work. You can also find them in places like AA programs (or SMART Recovery meetings, etc), support groups, queer discussion groups, book clubs, marxist reading groups, church groups, food kitchens, and any other gathering of people that is motivated by a strong ideological commitment or interest in intellectual pursuits but which can be rather dry or unpleasant in its execution of their ideals. you can also just like, throw a stone in places like New York or Boston or Philly and hit three to five people like these. Even as far out as Pittsburgh or Cleveland there is a lot of them.

Now, if you have chronic white woman everybody must be happy all the time syndrome (which really just means i will *make* everybody pretend to be happy or else im going to lose my shit), it can be tempting to fall in with someone who *seems* like a person like this, but who in actuality is a manipulative undermining abuser taking advantage of your tendency to excuse and downplay their many slights and offenses.

You do not want that. You want someone who can accept criticism just as readily as they dish it out. The kind of person who will fire off at the mouth but then go "oh dammit, youre right, i hate it but youre right" the moment you point out a valid flaw in their logic. Someone brash, but with a heart. Someone who can teach you that conflict is inevitable, and needed, and that saying something weird or off-putting is not the end of the world, and that arguing and complaining can actually bring you closer to someone when it is done authentically and from a place of good faith.

to find this person, keep putting yourself in places that align with the type of person you'd like to be, filled with people who are doing things with their lives that you admire. notice your initial reactions to people. who is off putting? is that a fair judgement? who are you afraid of upsetting? who expresses themselves in a way you'd never, ever dare to? most kind of unpleasant people wont be the special Prickly Friend for You, they'll just be kind of annoying people you dont want to be around. but at some point you will notice, hey actually, this person is a little off and irascible, but i notice they always come through for people. they might not be the most elegant in how they express their views, but when i think about it, i think they tend to be right. over time a person like that will prove themselves through their behavior and track record, and as you get more acclimated to their way of communicating, you'll find your voice of disagreement too.

good luck!

[ghostmemesource]

👻୧‿︵‿︵ ash vs. evil dead sentence starters

these are quotes taken from the starz series ash vs. evil dead. send in one of the prompts below for my muse’s response. please change pronouns/names where you see fit.

First thing I got to do is see a guy about a book. Must be some spell I can say to undo all this.

The other first thing I got to do is some cardio, ’cause my heart is jackhammering like a quarterback on prom night.

One false move, and I will Second Amendment your brains all over this truck.

We’re not leaving a trail of blood and guts behind us, we’re keeping Michigan moist.

There’s one thing I learned from [name]. Shoot first, ask questions never.

Last time I was here with a girl, I was hopin’ to get laid.

If I’ve learned anything from you, [name], it’s that if something seems too good to be true, it probably is.

Hey, I’m looking for a friend. He’s, uh, tall, dumb, smells like… bread.

You fought this thing before. Maybe you just got to finish what you started.

Yes, I’m upset. Yes, I’m behind the wheel. Yes, I’m drunk. And maybe my license isn’t the fancy kind from the DMV. But at least I’m drunk!

Without good, there is no evil.

With all due respect, your tiny brain is a lot safer without my problems inside it.

Trust me, once you get jacked in the face, it’ll all click. I can’t even get my nut up to rumble unless I’ve had a good shot to the chin.

Once again I saved the world. Now it's time to get the girl.

Most people go through life thinkin’ they’re totally safe. People like us, we know the truth. Life is hard and dangerous, and sometimes you just gotta chop off somebody’s head to survive.

I kill demons, not people. Unless those people are demons, who look like people. And then I kill people, but they’re not really people, they’re demons. You understand?

Never get between a papa bear and his cub.

What’s out there knows that you’re alive, and it wants you to be… un-alive.

Well, good news I found a piece of pie with no blood on it. Anybody want a bite?

To save those two, I would submit to a prostate exam.

This town is only big enough for one asshole, and that asshole is me.

Sometimes what you think you saw, it’s exactly what you saw.

Someone needs to wash your mouth out, kid. And that someone is me.

Now I’m gonna kill you, just like I killed your father! I didn’t really kill your father, that just kinda sounded cool.

I gotta warn you, you’re gonna want to leave your husband for me, and I can’t let that happen. Family values.

I’m not drunk enough to know if this is good-weird or bad-weird. But I’ll get there though.

I’m going to be like a ninja losing his virginity, quick and discreet.

I told you. A good shot to the face always gets the juices flowin’.

Thanks for the opinion, appreciate it. Now you can take it, turn it sideways, shove it right up the old poop chute.

When you get back to Hell, work on your aim.

Do you know what evil is, [name]? It’s power without fear, without guilt, and without pain.

Hey, good looking. You here to break me out or break me in?

I'm gonna get you pregnant later.

I'd know that caboose from anywhere.

Even if this goes perfectly, there's a good chance you'll die.

Well, [name], it's been fun catching up. Sorry I got to kill you.

Don't you get it? Everybody dies here. It's just a rule.

If once you start down that path, forever, it will dominate your destiny.

Did you just Yoda quote me?

Alright, look, we get this done quick enough, we might have time to stop for churros.

Yeah, well, your cooking was shit.

Yeah, I remember when I was like you. Young, dumb, full of… conflicting emotions.

Sweet musical Jesus, that's your friend? Oh, she's filthy and fine!

She haunts my dreams. Just kidding. She does, though.

Do me a favor will ya, thank your mother for me?  She passed her genes down to you in all the right places.

Damn, [name]. Badass.

Why are you covered in blood?

So look, uh, I'm not a grief counselor, but if it's any consolation, I have had to kill and bury loved ones before. A bunch of times, actually.

Oh sure. I'll just sit here with the police officer we tied up and rethink my recent life choices.

Get ahold of yourself, woman!

I'm gonna say a lot of dumb things.

[onbearfeet]

Like a hole in my head: An antidote to panic

So I've been thinking about everyone's reactions to Trump getting shot at, and especially the doomer "Oh, it's so joever" shit. And I think the most useful observation I can make is that the problem we're facing isn't the certainty of a bad future--it's the lack of any certainty at all. We don't know what's going to happen. None of us CAN know.

And we are not coping well.

Humans HATE uncertainty. We have all kinds of cognitive shortcuts and biases to protect us from having to sit with uncertainty, so when it's genuinely unavoidable, we kind of lose our little monkey minds.

But lucky for you, I am an expert on uncertainty. I've had to be, because I have a hole in my head.

The details aren't terribly important, but the short version is: due to a hilarious fuckup in an otherwise lifesaving experimental surgery I received as a tiny premature infant, I have a skull that is about 85% bone, 13% plastic, and 2% fuckall. The hole has skin and hair over it, so it's not visible, but anyone running their fingers over that part of my scalp will find their fingertips dipping into a dent that's about the right size for me to have been whacked in the head with a golf ball. The hole itself is either dime-sized or quarter-sized, depending on the X-ray you prefer.

The technical term for my condition is "stable", which means it's not changing. Stable is not healthy or safe, merely consistent. And my point of stability is that I'm basically fine ... right up until something bonks me on the head just right. Like, say, a cupboard door. Or an elbow. Or a book falling off a shelf. In that case, I might die before I hit the floor, on account of the whole "no brain armor in that spot" situation.

I'm 40 years old, so you might wonder why this hasn't been fixed, but the answer is the look on doctors' faces when the phrase "elective neurosurgery" is uttered.

Anyway.

I've lived my entire life knowing there was a pretty good chance that I'd get out of bed some morning and not make it back to my pillow that night. And at first, that uncertainty was paralyzing. It's hard to see the point of starting college, for example, if you might not live to graduate. Then again, if you think too hard about that, you won't do anything at all, and that's not great either. And this situation is stable, and therefore unlikely to improve! Certainty isn't coming, at least not for me. Not certainty of long life, not certainty of imminent death.

So let me introduce you to the question that enables me to function, the question I ask myself when contemplating any new endeavor more ambitious than cooking something new for dinner.

"Is this worth dying in the middle of?"

It's a hell of a perspective check, and the answer will vary from one person and situation to the next, but it's profoundly useful. I got two college degrees on the belief that education was a noble pursuit in itself, and even a half-finished one would look better in my obituary than the lack. I write books because even an unfinished novel can be good art. I decided a couple of years ago to pursue finding a partner because I think love is worth dying in the middle of. And who knows? I might not die. Imagine that. I might even finish.

When I start, I tell myself: Maybe I'll finish something great. Maybe I'll die in the middle of it. But even if I do, what a thing to have died in the middle of! All I have to do is keep going, and if I don't die first, the thing will be accomplished. And I have a lot of practice at keeping going.

So let me ask you: what can you start (or continue) doing that's worth dying in the middle of? Are you organizing? That's worth dying in the middle of--any amount of organizing is better than none. Working to get out the vote? Win or lose, that work will be a foundation for whatever comes next. Running mutual aid? People need that all the time, no matter who's president.

So you get up in the morning, and you do the work, and you go to bed one day closer to finishing, one more day of not being dead. As the poet says, thus do we refute entropy.

There's a funny thing about life with a hole in my head: it's made me realize that, metaphorically speaking, everyone has one. Oh, maybe your skull is a more standard model than mine, but you're not guaranteed a live bedtime either. You could get hit by a bus today, or a blood vessel in your brain could explode, or you could suddenly discover a new and violent allergy with no epipen in sight.

You live in uncertainty too. You always have. You just don't get a reminder every time you run your fingers through your hair.

So take it from someone who can't forget her constant existential dread even if she wants to: you can do a lot one day at a time, especially if it's worth dying in the middle.

[the-s1lly-corner]

Hiii, excited to see you doing creepypasta reqs again! Could you possibly write hcs for Slenderman's s/o get very festive for Christmas and want to decorate a tree with him, make cookies, ugly sweaters, the whole shabang! I kinda got inspired to ask this bc of something similar you did for Halloween that I absolutely loved!

Doing Christmas with Slenderman!

still sick but im feeling bad for not writing anything these past few days so im probably going to tackle this request and write something for myself !! im feeling better compared to last night; was scared to fall asleep after literally waking up choking on my own phlegm but good news is that it didnt happen again when i feel asleep (admin is testing god) anyways uuuuuuuuh hope you enjoy! happy holidays to everyone and to those who dont celebrate, have an amazing rest of the year!

i like to think that instead of bringing a tree into the mansion, you guys just decorate a tree out in the woods! now is it a christmas tree? well... now technically it is... but is it your standard evergreen? ...no, i mean unless the woods slenderman resides in have those! but its the thought that counts!

though i think if it really does matter to you he might get (steal) a tree for you along with some shiny new ornaments, just dont ask where it all came from!

knows of the holidays but similar to most human things and traditions, he doesnt really know much else so youre going to have to guide him!

retreats to his office when wrapping your gifts, and completely leaves the mansion/your place if youre wrapping his gifts

you guys have to get an extra long scarf to share since hes so tall he kind of unintentionally hogs it (does it count as hogging if most of the scarf is stretched between you two?)

youre going to have to beg if you want to see him in an ugly sweater, though, the scarf hes fine with but a sweater? an ugly one? come on reader, have mercy... he needs to be intimidating...!

only wears the sweater when you guys are in the mansion or in your home

i notice i keep bouncing between slenderman being a good cook and a shit one, but i think it would make more sense for him to kind of suck. at least in the beginning since he has no need to cook for himself + youre the first human hes had to provide for... so

baking christmas cookies together is going to be interesting!

they dont taste,,, horrible...

definitely better at decorating than actually baking; though you must admit hes very careful and meticulous with his ingredients, there was hardly a mess left behind

mistletoe

evil laughs

brain blast he ties a mistletoe to his tentacle and hangs it over the two of you. only really does this when hes craving affection more than usual

[fanficshiddles]

The Call Of Fate, Chapter 3

The day after Jade first met Arthur, Loki was outside in the sun reading a book on the lawn. He was so engrossed in his book, that it took him a moment to notice someone coming to join him on the deck chair next to him.

Looking up, he smiled as it was Jade. He was glad he was wearing sunglasses so she couldn’t see his eyes flickering down her body to check her out. It was an unusually hot spring day, so she was wearing a vest top and shorts.

‘Fed up of the company inside?’ Loki asked, pretending to focus back on his book. Though he was looking at her at the side of said book.

‘I just thought I’d come out and bug you for a while. Didn’t take you as someone that enjoys the sun, considering how pasty white you are.’ Jade said as she got comfortable to sunbathe.

Loki chuckled low. ‘Same for you, I thought goths melted in the sun?’

‘Nah that’s just vampires.’ Jade smirked. ‘Do you really think I’m a goth?’

Loki laughed. ‘In comparison to the rest of us here, yes. But overall, not too much. If anything, you’re more like a cupcake goth.’

‘A cupcake goth?’ Jade turned her head to him and lowered her sunglasses.

‘Yeah. Slightly goth, but in a sweeter, not too gothly kind of way. Plus, your hair is like icing on a cupcake.’ He smirked and lowered his sunglasses too, winking at her.

Jade shook her head and laughed. ‘Cupcake goth, that’s a new one.’

The two settled back to enjoy the sun. Jade was going to listen to music, just in his presence, but she noticed that he hadn’t actually turned the page of his book in a few minutes.

‘If you’d rather have peace, just let me know.’ Jade said.

‘Not at all. You’re not quite as tedious as the rest, so I’ll allow you to remain in my company.’ Loki said cockily.

Jade rolled her eyes. ‘Was it just me, or was Natasha’s curry last night a bit… uhm…’

‘Disgusting?’ Loki asked.

‘Yeah… Though no one else said anything so I thought it was just me. But I struggled to eat it.’

‘Trust me, everyone else struggled too. But no one wants to tell her how bad she is at cooking after the first time Thor commented on it, she almost choked him to death with her thighs. She doesn’t take too well to bad comments about her cooking. So we just keep quiet.’

‘Noted… What about you, are you good at cooking?’

‘I am.’ Loki nodded.

‘Why does that not surprise me? I’m guessing Gods are good at pretty much everything.’ Jade grinned.

‘More or less.’ Loki shrugged. ‘Although Thor didn’t get the memo… How about you, can you cook?’

‘Not really, but I know it and don’t choke people for telling me it’s shit. The only thing I am good at cooking is Bolognese. That’s it. Anything else I try, is a disaster.’

‘Remind me to never let you loose in the kitchen then.’ Loki chuckled.

‘Unless it’s Bolognese!’ Jade corrected.

‘Hmm, I’m not sure about even that.’

Jade threw her bottle of sun cream at him, but he swiftly caught it before it hit him. ‘You’ll need to try harder than that, cupcake.’ He smirked.

Jade and Loki spent most of the afternoon together, chatting away and enjoying the sun. When they headed inside for dinner, they found a few of the team glaring at them at the table.

‘What’s going on?’ Jade asked as she sat down, confused.

Before anyone could answer, Natasha walked in with Bruce, carrying the last few plates of dinner. ‘Oh you two missed out on the curry leftovers from last night. So you’ll have to cope with Bruce’s noodles, sorry.’ Natasha said as she gave them their plates.

Loki and Jade looked at one another and sniggered, trying not to laugh. Steve, Tony, Vision and Wanda had been first to the table and the lucky ones to get Natasha’s leftovers.

‘What are you two sniggering about?’ Thor asked loudly across the table, making everyone look at them.

‘Just something that your brain would not be able to comprehend, brother.’ Loki said, making Jade laugh a bit more.

‘Oh god. They’ve been bonding.’ Steve groaned and face-palmed.

Loki and Jade just grinned as they began eating.

-

A few days later, it was finally time for the meeting with the lawyer that Natasha had set up. Jade was feeling super nervous about it, this would either make or break her.

She met with the lawyer in Fury’s office, with Fury and Natasha present.

‘You must be Jade, I’m Richard.’ He shook Jade’s hand then everyone sat down at the table.

‘Natasha filled me in with all the information… This is going be rather short and brief, I’m afraid.’

Jade’s stomach sank and she felt her heart breaking already.

‘Unfortunately, due to this being a family matter within such a wealthy and royal family, it’s something that can’t be won. We could try and go to court over the matter, but it would be a waste of not only money, but time as well. I have spoken to all of my colleagues and other lawyers I know from other firms, but none of us have been able to come up with an angle to attack from where we’d have even a small chance of winning. I’m really sorry, as I know this isn’t the news you’d be hoping for.’  

Jade didn’t respond, she sat frozen on the spot. This had been her last hope, that there would be a way out of this forced marriage. So she could get back home, to her friends and family she’d grown up with.

Fury and Natasha conversed with Richard for a few minutes, but Jade couldn’t hear what they said, she had zoned out completely. Just panicking about her fate.

‘Jade?’ Natasha’s hand on her shoulder snapped her out of it. ‘I’m really sorry, Jade…’

Jade swallowed and slowly stood up. ‘Thanks for trying…’ She then made her way out of the room without saying anything else.

Loki had been waiting down the corridor, but when he saw the lawyer leaving rather quickly, he got worried. That worry grew when Jade stepped out of the room and didn’t even make it a step further before she broke down crying.

‘Jade.’ Loki rushed over to her as she began to crumble. He caught her before she fell to the floor, she cried into him and he pulled her into a hug.

Loki teleported them both to her room, he figured she would want some privacy. But he stood and held her tightly while she cried until there was no more tears left.

‘I’m sorry…’ She whispered as she pulled back from him.

‘No need to apologise, cupcake.’ Loki said softly.

Jade smiled a bit at that, but it quickly faded.

‘It didn’t go well with the lawyer?’ He asked.

Jade shook her head and sat down on the edge of her bed. Loki joined her.

‘I… I can’t marry him, Loki. I can’t. He was awful, really awful. Said I looked ridiculous, that I’d have to grow out the blue in my hair, cut it and get my tattoos removed. He wants to completely change me. I can’t do this, I can’t cope.’ She began panicking again.

Loki rubbed her back soothingly. ‘It’s going to be alright, Jade. I don’t know what we can do, but there will be a way out of this. And you do NOT change yourself for anyone. If you want to keep your hair blue, then you keep it blue. No matter if it’s royalty trying to change you or not. Same with your tattoos, it’s your body. He does not get a say in what you do with it.’ Loki said firmly, trying not to get too angry at the thought of this man.

‘What if he forces me to change?’

‘He can’t do that. If he dares try to, then he will have me and the Avengers to deal with.’ Loki growled.

Jade smiled a genuine smile and she felt a warmth inside her. She knew that Loki was mischievous and could be a bit egotistical sometimes, but she had known deep down all along that he had a soft side and was kind.

‘Thank you, Loki.’ Jade fell into him and pressed her head against his chest.

Loki put his arm around her and just let her be for a while. For reasons he didn’t know, he wanted to kiss the top of her head, but he resisted from doing so.

‘I’ll make you a deal?’ Jade said after a while when she sat up straight.

‘What kind of deal?’ Loki raised an eyebrow.

‘If you don’t tell anyone about my meltdown, I won’t tell anyone about you being so soft and comforting.’

Loki chuckled. ‘Deal. It’s good you know I have a reputation to keep up.’ He winked at her.

‘I know, I know.’ Jade smiled and patted his shoulder.

‘We better go join the rest for dinner.’ Loki suggested.

‘Yeah… save me some food. I just need five minutes to myself, if you don’t mind.’

‘Of course.’ Loki smiled at her again and gave her shoulder a squeeze before heading out.

Jade took some time to compose herself. She had no idea what she would do now, but she knew one thing for sure… She wasn’t going to be alone going through this. She had just under a year to come up with a plan, but she had a God on her side.

‘Why couldn’t he be the prince I have to marry? At least he wouldn’t be trying to change me, and he’s pretty hot… God, what am I saying?’ She muttered to herself as she re-applied her make-up before going to join them.