#the smallest things are just so damn scary

[youdontloveme-yet]

Just dropped my glasses and the anxiety spike was insane.

[hecksupremechips]

Teehee I got hugged today 🥰

[marveltrumpshate]

To say that we’re beyond devastated and at a loss for words barely scratches the surface of what we’re feeling in the wake of the U.S. election, and it’s been a struggle to figure out what to say and how to speak with impassioned clarity when we're muddling through fury, heartbreak, and fear. So what we did was go back to our 2018 "thank you" post to all of our creators, bidders, signal boosters, and supporters to reflect on the beginnings of MTH and where we can go from here.

When Marvel Trumps Hate was created, it was made with the hope that our name would outlast Trump. We would fight to eradicate the hate that he and his ilk have sown and continue to spread and not only survive but also thrive in spite of it. That Trump would be re-elected six years later by a bigger, more emphatic margin, with the Republicans taking the House and Senate, is a damning indication of the state of the U.S. today and a result that is of extreme concern for everyone in the U.S. and around the world.

In many ways, it’s dispiriting that not only have a lot of things not changed since MTH was founded, but they’ve also become actively worse and more dysfunctional. But the difference between 2018 and 2024 is that while our anger hasn’t gone away, our rage is now accompanied with a better, more clear-eyed understanding of what’s broken and what actions need to be taken. We know what needs fixing—and what works.

What works is community. We may not be able to put our trust in certain systems and people in power, but we can lean on and take care of one another. We have to and we will. How do we know this? Because you’ve all shown that since the beginning. We were reminded of it when reading our 2018 post and thinking about the past six years of MTH. Like we said in our closing message at the end of this year’s auction, it’s easy to feel defeated, but time and time again, we’ve learned that the most important thing is to show up even if you’re unsure of what impact you can have as just one person. Every year, that’s what you all do.

Hope doesn’t come from nowhere. We have to create it ourselves. And while there are dark days ahead of us, what we have to hold onto as we march forward, what lights our way, is the knowledge that you’re doing just that. This year’s auction is proof of it.

This year, 180 "Marvel"-ous creators came forward to offer 293 auctions. They offered 360 unique platonic and romantic relationships and character-centric options (if we include "all ships/gen"-inclusive relationships, this number is even higher) across 40 universes within the Marvel multiverse.

This spirit of inclusion goes beyond trying to encompass as much of the Marvel fandom as possible and can be seen in our auction and charity results too. Every one of 293 auctions was bid on, and every one of our 30 supported charities received donations. As ever, we’re in awe of your commitment to supporting all our creators and charities.

As for the crowning achievement, the culmination of our efforts, the grand total we raised this year is…

Wow. This is the most we’ve ever raised in a single MTH auction (other than our Spiders Georg 2021 auction), and you shattered the record for the highest amount donated to a charity AGAIN, with $9,420.62 going to Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) too. This is all the more impressive considering it was accomplished by the second-to-smallest number of creators and auctions we had. It goes to show that no matter how small you are, you can pack a punch if you team up.

You can see the effort of our teamwork and the breakdown of the donations here (to enlarge the image, click here and hover to see the donation amount per charity).

We’ve also listed the amount raised per charity on our 2024 auction results page.

Creators, we couldn't have started this auction without you. Your commitment to the event, whether you return every year, made a surprise welcome return after a break, or are new and took what we know can be a scary jump into the event, moves us. It’s hard putting yourself out there, and we applaud you for it.

Bidders, your willingness to duke it out helps us raise as much money as we do. We’ve seen some wild things though what always astonishes us the most is that most donations are small ones including a lot of those crazily high winning bids—so many of them were the result of people pooling their five dollars together! This has been consistently the case since MTH began and is a testament to the ripple effect you can have if you’re part of something bigger than yourself.

We also owe our success to our amazing signal boosters. There can’t be an auction without any participants so to every fandom community Tumblr and Discord mod and every individual who shared our posts and encouraged their fandom friends to sign up and/or bid, thank you so much. Together, we reached hundreds of fantastic creators and bidders from all corners of the Marvel fandom, many of whom we didn't know and some who were hearing about us for the first time (and some who made the leap after sitting on the fence for years which is awesome).

Thank you all. We’re so touched by the massive number of people who donated above and beyond their pledged amount, creators who took on multiple auctions and offered multiple winner slots, and bidders who accepted their second-place wins with such eagerness. We also had people make donations in the spirit of MTH even though they didn’t win an auction, which was beyond generous. This year, we saw a record number of people doing that (even someone who was no longer part of the Marvel fandom but wanted to support what we were doing), especially in the wake of the U.S. election, and it made us very emotional to see such compassion.

From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you for helping us turn our seventh Marvel Trumps Hate auction into such a fantastic experience. We cherish every single message of love and support that we received and continue to receive on our Discord server and through DMs, Tumblr messages, emails, tweets, etc., and they as well as your generosity have buoyed us since September and the past two days in particular.

If you'd like to stay updated on all of the 2024 Marvel Trumps Hate fills, follow us and/or check out the "mth 2024" tag on our Tumblr. You’ll also be able to find works posted on AO3 in our Marvel Trumps Hate 2024 collection and links to fills in our Discord server, which you can join to brainstorm prompts, chat about fills, and find out about other fandom events.

And with that, MTH 2024 has officially come to a close. Thank you once again to everyone who volunteered their services, time, money, and platforms to spread the word. We hope that these results have bolstered your belief that you can make a difference as well as your determination to stand back up after being knocked down and defiantly say, “I can do this all day.”

Because we have to. For those of us who have suffered, for those of us who are in the most danger now, for those of us who have died at the hands of the evil and cruel in power and are no longer with us. For all of us who are still here. Because we all deserve to be here, safe, cared for, and alive.

So let’s get back up. Let’s get to work.

Yours in solidarity, Your 2024 MTH mods

[cupidkenji]

Doctor, Doctor, please listen!

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Chubby!Fem!reader Cw; Tension (I tried), cursing, the smallest physical description of reader in the last portion (just mentions their stomach going over their pants), reader has scars from previous cases, rivals to lovers?, lmk if i'm missing smth Summary: 3 times you called him doctor, 3 times he wonders why. Disclaimer: Reader is always written with a chubby/bigger person in mind but I don't really ever describe their bodies that much cause it's x READER and every body has a different body <3 WC: 3,596 I am literally so obsessed with criminal minds somebody save my soul OBLIVOUS IDIOTS WHO WANT EACH OTHER MY BELOVED. Title from mad hatter by Melanie Martinez don't even @ me for that

1.

“...she will be an important part of making your team function quicker. We fought hard to get her here. I ask that you all treat her with respect and not make me intervene.” 

Strauss finished her introductory spiel with a familiar “mom-glare” towards the team, walking away once she finished her speech. Unfortunately, her departure left you standing alone in front of the most intimidating man you’ve ever seen and four of his team members. You had been practically still until now. You hated the pressure of everyone’s eyes on you, causing a general freeze response to the stress of a new team. Fawn, you thought, the newest addition to the fight or flight categories and also the lovely thing forcing you to practically disassociate in front of your new boss and co-workers. 

“Welcome, Dr. L/N. We’ve heard good things. I’m Aaron Hotchner, I supervise the team.” He was leaning on the table before he stepped forward to shake your hand as he spoke. “This is Emily Prentiss, Jenifer Jareau, Derek Morgan, and Doctor Spencer Reid.” He pointed towards the corresponding people as he spoke of them. “Agent Rossi is away right now, and you’ll meet our T.I. later…she’s been excited.” If you hadn’t been good at your job, you’re sure you would have missed the way his lips turned up slightly at the edges when mentioning the woman. He didn’t seem so scary anymore, more like a father of the team. You’d been expecting a drill sergeant - your last team leader could have given a bull a run for it’s money with how much aggression that guy had. You welcomed the rush of excitement you felt at the discovery, mentally shaking off the stiffness you were carrying. 

“I’m happy to be here, sir. I’ve heard good things about the team, too. Your boss seems to think highly of your capabilities.” You addressed the room as you spoke. Public speaking was a skill you were still trying to master, so you practiced whenever you could. 

Your statement earned a chuckle from the table. Nobody bothered to explain the reason. You figured it was too much history to sum up on the spot. Your eyes wanted to linger on Reid. He seemed so young, and you wondered if he’d been told that his entire career - lord knows you had too. A fellow doctor. You assumed he was a bit of a stickler about the title, as even his boss kept it tacked onto his name when introducing him. You’d originally hoped to find some comfort in the man, on the surface he seemed a lot like you. He was probably too smart for his own good as well. Given the way he was staring at you, though, you felt the realization sink in that the man had no intention of welcoming you. 

“Why exactly do we need another profiler?” His voice held no malice as he spoke in the direction of his boss. There was more curiosity in his voice than anything, however you did pick up on the sense of superiority that sat just beneath the surface of his words. You guessed that’s how he behaved generally - as though he was superior. Still, your head tilted slightly to the side at the question. 

Damn. Tough crowd. 

You saw the intake of breath in Hotchner as he prepared to defend your place here but you spoke before he could start. “While I am a profiler, sir, first and foremost I am a psychiatrist - a doctor. As I’m sure you heard from Strauss, the board is unhappy with your recent efficiency rates and would also like to aid your team in dealing with mental health crises. I’ve spent my entire life studying the effects and conditions of the mentally diseased brain. I’ll be able to tell you the most efficient and effective way of interacting with these individuals, along with more accurately predicting their actions and methodology. I’m an agent, I took the same oath everyone here did but I was brought here for my expertise.” You were on a bit of a tangent, you knew that, but something about the smug feel of the man forced an emergence of competitiveness. He looked at you so indifferent, and you couldn’t help the tiny sparks of anger lighting beneath your skin. You kept a friendly disposition towards the man - you were a professional, after all, not a teenager - but you sensed a rivalry sprouting it’s roots.

The others at the table suppressed their smiles or looked down to hide it. Nobody had ever challenged Spencer like that. They could all feel he was a tad bit territorial. He was the guy people went to when they needed to know something. He was the Doctor of the group. They didn’t think he would take too kindly to another one encroaching his land. They saw the way he was tense, even more so after you responded. It was a riveting sight, though. The lot of them saw Spencer as a younger brother, and him meeting his match was something they were all so excited to see.

“Play nice, pretty boy.” Derek muttered to him, Spencer was slightly slouched in his chair now, not losing sight of you. Derek followed suit, turning his attention towards you. “We’re glad to have you, Doctor. We’ve spoken about an addition like you before, I’m glad to see the higher ups finally listened. I look forward to working with you - excuse me.” He left once his phone rang. 

The others took his exit as an excuse for their own, everyone giving you a warm welcome as they left. You reciprocated happily, telling everyone they could just call you by your first name, never having been one for titles. ‘There’s one difference.’ You thought, even your internal dialogue was bitter. Aside from him, there was a warmth here that you had been desperate to find in your last team. If you had to work passive aggressively with one uptight man in exchange for a team like this - you were going to take that deal. 

He refused to leave it seemed. He just sat looking inquisitively at the table, occasionally extending his stare to look at you before returning. How did you two end up alone in this room?

“Are you gonna have a problem with me, Doctor?” You shifted slightly on your feet. A notoriously nervous sign, one he definitely picked up on.

He stared again. It was his mind that kept him rooted in his seat. You were fucking alluring. He’d never met someone so like himself in his line of work. He was being a dick and he knew it but it seemed to be instinctual - some type of precaution, maybe. He didn’t know why you were being so respectful. Doctor. God, he didn’t know if the title had ever sounded so good being directed at him. His frustration only rose as he thought on the issue more. He wasn’t welcoming, it would be so easy to drop the formality, something he knew you knew would get on his nerves. But you didn’t. It didn’t seem like a question of dignity. You didn’t seem like the type to refuse a little pettiness - he sure wasn’t the type either. A thought stirred, an unsafe one he wanted to squash immediately but one he also couldn’t help but lean into. Did you want a power imbalance?

“No.” He stood abruptly, obviously still focused on the thoughts in his head. “Welcome to the team.” He addressed you one last time and then walked out of the room.

You followed shortly after, ready to make home on your couch and be done with being the newbie for the day. Your stress would follow you home, though, as the last thing you heard before you left the building was “Oh my god they’re perfect for each other.”

2.

The first few weeks were always the hardest. This was something you knew and were prepared for but it did nothing to calm your nerves. You’d been on countless missions having worked this job for a while now, but this was an entirely new dynamic to learn. You were an outsider for the first time in four years and it was scary. This case was shaping up to be a rough one, too. A man was having delusions telling him to kill. An extremely rare manifestation of his Schizophrenia, only elevated by the newly acquired aspect of him being an insomniac. 

Spencer hadn’t ceased being headstrong in cases either. Every time you wanted to help he made it his mission to overcompensate in order to snuff you out. On the contrary, he’d warmed up to you a little. It wasn’t major, he barely held any positive feelings toward you, but barely was better than not at all, so you coped. You two had managed a couple small talk conversations outside the battle of one-upping that you were currently losing. You absolutely hated it, but you liked him. You liked him a lot, actually. You don’t know when in the past few days that anger morphed into fondness but it had shifted hard. The casual dominance he exuded drew you in like a porchlight lures a moth. You doubted the opposite proved true for him, and that stung. You came to enjoy the banter, the competition, even if you were always playing the losing hand. It was the only way to get his undivided attention and the feeling of his eyes on you started to follow you home. 

You thought a lot about how you could get the relationship to pivot into something better. You didn’t want to be the girl he bickered with at work. You didn’t know what it was you wanted but you knew that your current fate sounded horrid. He was an ass, though, and he did not make it easy to admit those feelings. Every time he undermined you, you grew more attached and also more angry at yourself for doing so. It was because he’s so much like you, you thought. You knew from the way he interacted with his team that he wasn’t a cold guy, didn’t hold malice towards people for no reason. He needs time. He needs to know you, and God how badly you wanted to know him. 

You had sustained good relations with everyone the past few weeks you’ve been here. Meeting Garcia and Rossi had been a treat - both of them being delightful company. You’d heard them whispering about you and Spencer when they thought you weren’t around. The whole team seems to think that you’re basically fated to be together. It was unnerving how comforting that thought was to you. You hoped they were right. 

Spencer hoped they were right too. He’d heard the same whispers you had, chastising the team when he got the chance as if he didn’t think about you every moment he could. His eyes seemed to naturally land on you if you were around. He watched you walk around the bureau more and more lately, enjoying the gained confidence in your step as you cemented your place in the team. The sway of your hips or the swing of your arms. You mesmerized him no matter what you did. One time he got so caught up in his thoughts of you that Prentiss had to check he wasn’t having a silent panic attack. He clung to his sense of resentment, tried so hard to remind himself of the feelings he had when he first met you - you were beautiful, of course you were - but you were on claimed land and he was anything but eager for you to make home on it. That had faded fast, seeing how kind you were, scrambling to help and earn respect from everyone. The only reason he kept up the act of  “man who wants you gone” was so that he could keep talking to you. Spencer was a genius but he didn’t know how to handle someone like you. He’d been interested in girls before, hell he’d had girlfriends before but it had never felt like this in such little time. Such intense infatuation was crippling for someone who’s brain worked in patterns - this was new ground for him. 

“Everybody suit up. We have Foster’s location and we need to move quickly. He’s going after the source of his rage and we don’t have time to spare.” Hotch came down the stairs two at a time, spurring the team into action. 

“This man is highly dangerous but also highly deluded. The cases I’ve read similar to this say it’s best to speak gently. He’s sick but he can be reasoned with.” Spencer pulls from his memory as he sets his ‘FBI’ vest into place on his chest. 

“No, not this time. This man is too severe, his mind is too far gone. If these hallucinations of his are strong enough for him to touch them it’ll be extremely easy for him to rearrange or imagine your words differently. You need to be loud, direct, and assertive. Speak as little as possible. The quieter you are, the easier it will be for him to change what you’re saying in his head.” You also spoke while putting your vest on. You didn’t carry a weapon - a personal vow of yours, as you were more than classified to - so there were no holsters to fill. The contradictions between the two doctors of the team made everyone hesitate even though they lacked the time to do so.

Spencer looked at you, slightly out of breath from working so quickly. “You’re questioning my memory?” 

“I’m not questioning your memory, Doctor. I’m questioning your sources. There’s a higher risk level if we do what you’re suggesting. Let me do my job.” You made the final adjustments to your attire as you finished speaking. You returned his eye contact for just a beat too long, letting the others rush out of the building while you stood your ground, the two of you begrudgingly following after them a moment later.

You had been assigned a different car than him for the ride over. ‘Thank God’ was the only thing you could think when you saw him heading to the other SUV. After another confrontation - another public one, at that - you weren’t sure you could handle being pressed leg to leg with him in the backseat. Your words were a looping record in his head as he rode towards Foster. They were about to attempt a hostage negotiation with a man seeing people who weren’t there but all he could think about was that fucking word you refused to drop. 

I’m not questioning your memory, Doctor

You had to be doing this on purpose, he thought. He originally believed this had started because you knew stripping him of his beloved title would cause irritation. Now he suspected you knew how badly he wanted his name in your mouth and this was your way of torturing him. ‘It’s working.’ He thought. God was it working. He agreed with his team, you were perfect for him. You had knowledge to match his, kept him on his toes. One time the start of a ramble slipped through his “I don’t like you” façade and he felt his heart speed up at the genuine interest that roused in your eyes. You wanted to know him and he was an idiot for all the shit he was doing. 

He wasn’t surprised when your strategy worked and Ben Foster was taken into custody. You were the one to talk him down, and if you hadn’t already been accepted to the team, he knew then and there that they needed you. You were flawless. He knew you’d been doing this as long as he had and it showed. He pleaded with himself to stay focused, zeroed in on the weight of the gun in his hand to save face. His mind never left you, though, much like his eyes. This was the expertise you spoke of - no wonder they fought hard to get you here. 

“You were excellent in there.” It was just the two of you now. Even in the dull, flashing police lights, you were breathtaking. “Good job.” He said. Then he walked away because he was on the brink of kissing you and didn’t feel like breaking about 18 workplace rules while at the scene of a crime. You wouldn’t have been complaining if he did.

3.

Every time something like this happened it was difficult to remind yourself that not carrying a weapon was a choice you made willingly. You were currently sitting in the back of an open ambulance, about to be hoisted onto a stretcher and driven to the ER for stitches. You’ve been with the BAU for almost 3 months now and have miraculously managed to avoid injury in that time. This had been one of the easier cases. No chases or clues to follow, just a sick man who left a fairly obvious paper trail. You were the speaker on almost all cases. You were in charge of de-escalating a situation, making sure the bomb didn’t blow. You’ve never carried a weapon, always preferring to take the wounds of a job over using a gun to back up your words. You were a psychiatrist, you wanted to make people better, not vilify them. It worked, usually. People did tend to trust you more when you were unarmed. This time, though, it got you stabbed.

It wasn’t a bad injury, the blood had already stopped and was mildly dry by the time Spencer was joining you. Just one more scar to your collection. It was to the side of your quad, missing any artery by miles and just serving as a pain source at this point. A little numbing and some stitches and you’d be right as rain is what the doctor in the ambulance had said. 

“What happened?” He spoke softly to you. There wasn’t a rivalry between you two, not really. The banter hadn’t stopped, but it changed. It was playful and actually fun now. The both of you weren’t obsessed with outdoing the other anymore. Some casual boastfulness and a budding friendship is where you were at with him currently. 

“I got stabbed.”

“Jesus Christ, Y/N.”

He exhaled like he couldn’t comprehend the stupidity of your answer. You laughed at that. One enjoyable pastime you’d picked up in the past month was trying to bewilder him. The EMT said he needed to check the rest of your body for injury despite your protest of such a procedure. It was typical and you knew that, but you held onto the fear of your own body that middle school gave you. There was a man you liked here, and the thought of him seeing the bit of stomach that hung outside the waistline of your pants scared you more than you thought it would. You forced yourself to be rational in spite of this. It was Spencer, you wanted to be seen by him. 

“Holy shit.”

You chuckled at that. You forgot that maybe a warning was in order for the amount of scars that littered your stomach.

“Probably should have told you about those.” There were dozens. You amassed a countless amount of scars over the course of your job. Stab wounds, bullet grazes, burn marks. Unsubs, as much as you tried to empathize, were often violent at the end of the day and usually lashed out before they could be helped. 

He was staring - well, gazing more like. Not like someone stares at a car accident on the freeway but instead how someone stares at the moon - awe. He was in awe of you. Your strength, your courage, the fact that you went through all these individual events and still chose not to arm yourself. Some of these were in places that could have been fatal, and he thanked whatever entity may be listening that you persevered, begged them to continue that streak. He crashed hard into the desire to touch you, to run his hands over what little of your past he could see. He wondered if you would let him. If you’d fit into his palms the way he thought you would - if that was something you even wanted. The EMT was gone by now, having moved to the passenger seat for the ride to the hospital. 

“Could I - " He hesitated for a moment, this was definitely the wrong question to ask. “Can I touch you?”

Your eyes glazed over slightly. Jesus. You felt your lips part a little.

“You want to?” Genuine surprise. You didn’t think you looked particularly desirable in your current state. He wanted to touch your fucking scars. Who does he think he is?

“Please.” He was looking at you in a way you hadn’t seen before. His eyes were glazed over too. You held his eyes as you nodded. The heat was so stifling that you laughed just a little at the tension.

“Fucking hell, Spence.”

Blood shot to his ears when you said his name. It had been well worth the wait to hear you say it like that - breathy and confused and so fucking pretty that he wondered how he ever lived before you said it. 

“Will you tell me about them?” He was breathy too, but he wouldn’t have you here, not like this. He just needed to feel you. 

“I’ll tell you anything you want, Doc.”

His hands were warm. It wouldn’t be the last time you felt them.

[empresskylo]

I’m begging for you to write about virgin!Ghost and virgin!reader,lots of love 🩷x

virgin!simon 'ghost' riley x virgin!afab!reader

a/n: this truly spoke to me, so thank you for this. i wanted to write a pathetic, nervous ghost, but decided to write him how i actually think he'd act if he was a virgin.

warnings: mentions of SA (reference to ghost's past as mentioned in his comics where he is SA'd); smut

cod masterlist

Who would ever think Simon Riley was a virgin?! 

I mean look at the man!! Rough and assertive. A lieutenant who everyone is afraid of. Easily in his mid-to-late thirties. Crude with his jokes. A damn war criminal. Why would anyone in their right mind assume he was a virgin? 

Except that wasn’t the whole picture. Simon stood witness to how his dad treated women when he was younger. Saw the way he mistreated sex workers. And Simon didn’t want to become like his father, so he ended up distancing himself from girls his age, afraid it might be in his genetics to be shitty. And he watched his “friend” almost assault a woman once—Simon was disturbed, desperate to not emulate that. And not to mention he was big and scary, he was worried he’d frighten women, so he just avoided them for the most part. And when he was sexually assaulted, he thought maybe sex just wasn’t for him. 

And now he was older. Too old to be a virgin, he thought. He wasn’t a self-conscious man, but he didn’t want to disappoint anyone in bed either, so the more he put it off, the more he didn’t want to do it all together. He also found it hard to form relationships in his line of work, and he refused to pay for sex. 

So, by his mid-thirties, he was still a virgin.

Then he met you and it felt so easy being with you. He felt himself wanting to grind against you the first time you kissed—that's when he realized how depraved he had been for so long, he didn’t realize how much he was truly missing.

And one night, after you and him had been a thing for a little while, you finally got the nerves to kiss him and straddle his lap. His hands naturally found your waist and he ran them up and down your sides, gently squeezing your flesh above your clothes. 

Then you pulled back, looking down a bit shyly. 

“What’s a’matta?” he asked you, his hands still firmly gripped on your hips.

“I, uhm,” you stuttered. “I’ve never done this before.” There, you finally said it. You were so worried Simon would become awkward when you told him, what if he didn’t want to be with someone so inexperienced? And you didn’t know if he was going to be uncomfortable with the idea of being your first time—that maybe he didn’t want that responsibility.

His hand slid up and nudged your chin to look at him. Simon was already planning to go as far as you’d let him, and he had decided he wasn’t going to tell you he had never done this before. If you said he was bad in bed, he’d apologize and lie, saying it had just been a long time since he’d been laid. But then you admitted you were in the same boat as him (aside from the fact that you were much younger than him.)

“Me neither,” he admitted.

Your eyes met his and you cracked the smallest of grins. “Don’t make fun of me!” 

He tucked a strand of your hair behind your ear. “M’not.”

You blinked at him. “R-Really?”

He chuckled. “Never really had the opportunity, I’suppose.” That was the short version.

“Oh.”

You squirmed on top of him and he groaned. “That, uhm. Makes me a little less embarrassed.” Your eyes averted his.

Before you could ramble more about it, Simon jerked your head down to kiss him. “Happy to help.”

You smiled against his lips and Simon gripped your hips tightly in his hands, pulling you down against him. You would have thought he’d be a little more reserved, awkward even, having never had done this before. But Simon Riley was a confident man. He was self-assured. Bold. Fearless. And he wasn’t going to let his lack of experience hinder the potential between the two of you.

You gasped, feeling how hard he was in his pants as he yanked you against him. He hummed against your lips, the softness of them making him imagine what they might feel like wrapped around his cock. 

When you whimpered in the back of your throat, Simon was quick to twist you around and lay you flat on your back on the couch. He bullied himself between your legs and refused to let you catch your breath before his lips were back on yours. 

“Please,” he begged pathetically, pawing at the hem of your shirt. 

You gave him room and he stripped you quickly, clearly enthusiastic about having you naked beneath him. You clawed at his shirt and he was more than happy to oblige, tearing it over his chest and unbuckling his pants. 

Your knees had come together as you watched him strip and he smirked. His hands slid along your calf before pulling your legs apart and weaseling his way back to where he was. He kissed you again, both of you anticipating what was to come, but nervous at the same time. 

You bucked your hips up as his hands traced your bare side. He broke the kiss. “Want me t’touch you, love?”

You nodded your head, your face warming. His hand snaked its way between your bodies, tracing the apex of your thighs and rubbing against you. “L-Lower,” you gasped. His fingers shifted and you couldn’t constrain the moan. 

“There?” He asked you, tilting his head as he admired your wanton expression. 

Your breathing hitched when his fingers found your entrance. “Jus’ tell me if you want me t’stop,” he whispered against your lips. 

When you said nothing in response, he pushed one finger inside you. You squeezed around him tightly, your body trying to push him back out. You arched your back off the couch as he shoved his finger all the way inside of you. He began to pump his fingers, you were already soaking for him.

He watched you intently, the obscene noises from his fingers shifting inside you making him harder than he thought possible. It was also making him blush and causing his heart to race. His fingers might have trembled slightly if they weren’t buried inside you, busy at work. Your eyes locked with his, your brows furrowing, feeling him slide another finger in along the first. He was a bit clumsy as he worked you, but it felt good just the same.

“My god,” you gasped. 

Simon groaned when you clenched tightly around his two fingers, imagining how that would feel around his cock instead. 

“Sound so pretty,” he cooed.

Your arms grasped at his biceps, your hips rising to meet each pump of his fingers. “Want you inside me,” you whimpered.

Simon clicked his tongue. “Already inside you, love,” he teased, curing his fingers upwards as if to say, see.

You pouted, your body jolting with electricity from the deep baritone of his voice. His fingers stretched you out plenty, you weren’t sure how he was supposed to fit inside you… but you wanted to find out. You wanted to feel the pressure of his throbbing cock. You wanted to watch him grunt and groan with pleasure above you. You almost wished he would come prematurely, too drunk from fucking you to keep himself together. You were the first person he was going to fuck and a strange swell of satisfaction filled your already racing chest.

“Si-Simon,” you whined.

He smirked before slipping his fingers out of you. You watched through half-lidded eyes as he sucked the wetness from his fingers, his eyes darkening and never breaking contact from yours.

“Want me t’fuck you, sweet girl?” he asked, gripping his cock in his fist and giving it a few pumps.

You watched and swallowed before letting out a pathetic, “Yes.”

He fell back on top of you, his hands on either side of your head, his knees bent on the couch as he settled himself between you. You shifted your hips to give him a better angle as he lined himself up with you. You both watched as he moved himself between your bodies. “Tell me if I’m hurtin’ ya.”

Before you had a chance to respond, Simon was pushing the head of his cock inside of you. He was a bit rough when he entered you—a bit jittery and weak with anticipation—though he tried desperately not to be. You squeezed your eyes shut, your nails digging into his biceps. Simon groaned, edging himself in a little at a time. “You okay, baby?” He asked you.

Your eyes fluttered open and you gave a hesitant nod. “Yes. Keep going.”

His thumb stroked your cheek then brushed over your bottom lip. Your fingers slid up his back, dancing over the corded muscle and scars under your fingertips. Simon edged himself in, then out, and repeated that until he could finally seat himself fully inside you. Your thighs clamped around his waist, wanting to stop the intrusion on instinct. 

“M’ all in,” he told you, his breath airy like he had just run a mile.

“Oh, thank god,” you said exasperated.

Simon chuckled, the deepness of his voice vibrating through his chest and across yours. 

“Can I move?” He asked you.

You swallowed, the stinging between your thighs subduing. You nodded. Simon leaned down to kiss you, his dog tag dragging across your chest, the cool metal warming. Your lips parted, his own moving against yours. Simon devoured the gasp you slid into the kiss when he pulled out halfway. He pushed himself back in and you groaned, a small whimper forming in the back of your throat. He grabbed your thigh, hiking it up slightly so he could get a better angle. 

He continued to thrust inside you, only pulling out halfway each time, before struggling to push himself back in. He kept at a slightly awkward rhythm, grunts slipping past his lips and ghosting across yours. His head slid into the crook of your neck, your nails digging into his back, but Simon could barely feel that. All he was focusing on was how heavenly you found surrounding him. 

“Shit,” he moaned, surprised at how fast he was approaching the end. Simon knew that plenty of men struggled to get off the first time from sheer nerves. Others lasted barely any time at all. But he also knew women seemed to struggle the first time, not even expecting to orgasm until much later down the line. 

Simon wasn’t going to let that happen. He slowed his pace, only doing small little thrusts, his hips rolling against yours, pushing you back into the mattress. His hand snaked between your bodies, finding your clit, and rubbing circles. You arched your hips up to get him to touch you at a better spot and you mewled. 

“Close?” he beckoned. 

Surprisingly, you were. You hadn’t thought you’d actually get this close to orgasming your first time. You thought you’d be a ball of self-conscious nerves. But with Simon, you felt comfortable. Relaxed. Excited. Beautiful. And the way his fingers were putting pressure between your legs was making you see stars.

He continued his small pumps, wanting to focus on you more than himself, but he couldn’t help but growl in the back of his throat, your warmth tightening around him. 

His movements grew more rapid and you cried out his name. He cursed, feeling you spasm around him as he led you into your climax, his final ruts sending you over the edge. You finally clenched down so hard, Simon had to pull out, rubbing himself against your clit and coming onto your stomach. 

He groaned, “Fuckin’ hell.”

You were panting, your chest rising and falling in rapid beats. It took you both a moment to collect yourselves. He stared down between your bodies, taking in the sight. Now that you weren’t in the heat of the moment, you suddenly felt self-conscious, all too aware of the way your entire body was laid bare to him. 

Your hand shifted to cover your chest and he clicked his tongue. “You’re so fuckin’ gorgeous, love.”

Your chest swooned from his admiration. He quickly leaned over to grab his t-shirt to clean you off. You felt your face warm before he scooped you up into his arms, ready to carry you to the bathroom. 

“Good?” He asked.

A simple question. But one he needed to hear the answer to.

“Perfect.”

Simon grinned, trying to suppress his teeth from showing, but he couldn’t help it. He tucked you closer into his chest as he marched you both to the bathroom. 

[holywizardheart]

Astrology observations

Don't copyright my work

The pictures aren't mine

Enjoy the reading

Mars/Neptune aspects & often fantasizing about sex

Mars/Mercury aspects have some of the best comebacks in arguments. Also, they can seem insensitive and unsympathetic because there is no filter in their mouth :)

Mars/Jupiter aspects I noticed that they have a high libido and are very action-oriented

Mercury in the 6th house how are you dealing with overthinking guys? :0

I guess it's hard when thoughts constantly haunt you :<

Pluto in the 6th house can mean that people are obsessed with your daily life

You know Pluto represents obsession ;)

Pluto in the 5th house you can meet obsessive romantic partners or you can be obsessive as well if you have this aspect in your natal chart

Moon in the 9th house & running away 🏃 from your emotions. Well, I have this one and it's a habit for me. I don't wanna face my scary emotions anyway

3rd house how you drive your car and what type of transport do you like

Honestly, I associate 3rd house with transport :)

Earth marses are some of the most chill people in my environment

I just really like them

Especially Taurus mars

Capricorn Mars, they have really good stamina. I think people who have it are some of the toughest and strongest ones.

I think one of the good liars are Libra and Pisces placements

And people pleasers of course ;)

Libra Marses what's wrong with making a decision guys? Why does it take a whole decade to do it? I noticed that even picking food is damn difficult for you. Like please do something with your indecisiveness

Moon/Mars negative aspects I swear that it's super easy to make them mad but making them calm down is impossible. You guys are so aggressive for no reason even the smallest thing will make you angry.

Pluto in the 9th house your beliefs and religion can encounter transformation throughout your life.

Saggitarius Venuses and Marses I noticed they're attracted to hips and thighs

Cancer Venuses and Marses are attracted to boobs

What is your Venus sign and what do you like in a partner?

Please write a comment. I want to hear your thoughts here.

[m-jelly]

The bunny's keeper - Chapter 1

@ladycheesington <3

Levi x fem! reader.

Modern AU, fluff, romance, falling in love, Levi has tattoos and piercings, bad boy Levi, protective Levi.

The story: After a chance meeting, you and Levi fall helplessly for each other. With not much money between the two of you, you get creative with your lives and find happiness and joy in the smallest of things. While you're trying to make it in the writing world, Levi is repairing vehicles at his workshop and also doing some other jobs on the side. Erwin is starting a group that most would call a gang, but the aim is to help others and hurt the bad. Levi is a member and Erwin's righthand man. Your relationship with Levi goes through some scary and hard times, from Levi getting hurt, running out of money, stalkers and rival gangs. The two of you stick together and work things out as a strong couple. When the money starts pouring in, you both stay humble, but Levi tries to spoil you as much as possible.

In this chapter: You and Levi meet for the first time and sparks instantly fly. Levi takes you on a cute romantic date.

Part 2

Massive thank you to @ladycheesington for helping me flesh this story out and helping with the side plot of Erwin and how the gang started <3

University was coming to an end and you couldn’t wait for it. After everything you’d been through, you’d had enough. The friends you made in your first year turned out to be terrible people by the end of it all, they were just two-faced and used your kindness. The man who chased you romantically and became your boyfriend was a liar, it turned out you were the mistress and he had a long-distance girlfriend. You felt exhausted by it all, the only good things were you had one really good friend not from the university and you did great with your degree.

Even though you knew you were walking out with a great degree, you didn’t have many jobs lined up. You wanted to write and the only job you could get was editing a pretty crap reporting website online, but the pay was okay and your soon-to-be boss seemed nice. So, it wasn’t too bad, but it meant another couple of years of struggling with money until you worked your way up the ranks or wrote a book.

Today you wanted a break from the noise of it all, which meant a nice lunch with your close friend Erwin was needed. You made your way across campus to Erwin’s business. You weren’t really sure what Erwin did, only that it was odd jobs for people and you didn’t question it because he was a wonderful sweet man. Erwin helped you through so much and was an incredible friend to you.

The closer you got to Erwin’s place of work the more your heart raced, not because you were seeing Erwin but because of a man sitting on his motorbike in front of the building talking to your friend. The bike was an old-school beautiful piece that was black with the melt polished so wonderfully. This man cared deeply for his bike.

He was of average height, but the rest was far from average. His slightly messy raven hair looked so soft just like his black eyelashes. He had a piercing on his lip, eyebrow and ears and you were sure there was one on his tongue, but it wasn't easy to see. He had tattoos on his neck and you were sure he had more, but he wore a leather jacket and gloves which covered him up. His trousers were tight on his thick muscular legs and the biker boots were the tip of the iceberg of sexy on him.

You gripped the strap on your side bag tightly as you felt a surge of arousal inside you. Erwin shouting your name made your heart skip a beat because the biker’s eyes landed on you. His eyes were so beautifully intense as they captured you. You smiled as best as you could, but you were sure you looked stupid. You didn’t know the biker’s heart was racing as fast as yours. A blush was consuming his cheeks as he admired you and how damn beautiful and cute you were.

You smiled at Erwin when you reached him. “Hey, I came because I was wondering if you wanted lunch.”

Erwin placed his hand on your shoulder. “Would love to have lunch. Can my friend come too?”

You stared at the biker to see his eyes had been on you since the moment Erwin brought his attention to you. “Sure thing.”

“This is Levi, he’s a good friend. Levi, this is my lovely friend from university.” He introduced you with a kind smile. “Be nice Levi.”

Levi put his helmet down and offered his gloved hand. “Tch, hi.”

You shook your hand. “Hello. I love your bike, it’s beautiful. I can tell you look after it.”

He blushed hard. “Th-thanks. It’s important to me. I uh…fixed it together myself, it was in scraps when I first bought it.”

You circled the bike. “This looks brand new. You have a talent.” You locked eyes with Levi and felt that fire again between the two of you. “Mm.”

He tilted his head a little. “I’m good with my hands.”

You squeaked a little and looked away from him. “A-Ah, lunch.”

Levi held back a smirk. “Cute.”

Erwin chuckled. “We can walk to our favourite place.”

You stood at Erwin’s side and nodded. “Sounds great.”

Erwin led the way and kept you at his side, but on your other side was Levi. Being in the middle of two handsome men was fantastic. Erwin was this big guy in a nice suit but had few tattoos. Erwin was a tamed-looking bad boy. Levi was this out-in-the-open bad boy, but it seemed there was a softness to him. It was hard not to stare at Levi because he was so dreamy and you felt this pull towards him. Your cheeks burned when you saw he was looking at you. A tiny smile from him made you gasp and look away.

Levi reached over towards you before quickly yanking you against his body as a person on a bicycle flew past. He growled sending a rumble through you. The wonderful scent rolling off him was intoxicating, he smelt so wonderful. He huffed in annoyance. “Fucking idiot.”

Erwin glared at the cyclist. “I hope he skids and slams into a wall.” He glanced down at you. “Are you okay? It’s a good job Levi is quick.”

You turned your head away from Levi’s chest and nodded. “Mm, I’m okay.”

Levi didn’t want to let you go because you felt so good against him, your scent was sweet, your body warm and your curves were sexy. He clenched up a little before releasing you. “Good.”

Erwin smiled when he saw the looks you and Levi were exchanging. “We’re close to our lunch spot.”

You felt your cheeks burning as you walked with the two men. Once the lunch spot came into view, you hurried ahead and went inside. You needed just a little bit of space from the men because you didn’t think your heart could take much more. You picked a spot and released a long sigh, but your relaxation didn’t last long because Levi sat right next to you and Erwin sat opposite.

Levi picked up the menu and looked it over. “Everything is cute-themed.” He looked over at you. “This something you like?”

You giggled. “Ask Erwin.”

Erwin put the menu down. “What can I say? I like pretty things.”

Levi glanced over at you. “I suppose that explains why you keep this one around.”

You flinched at his words. “Huh?”

Levi blushed and avoided your gaze. “I know what I want.”

Erwin smirked. “That’s good. Do you also know what you want to order?”

Levi groaned before ruffling his hair. “Tch, I don’t think you’re here for the food. You’re here for the owner of this café.”

“What if I like both?”

You giggled at their cute exchange. “You’re good friends.”

Erwin smiled. “We are.”

You and Erwin perked up when the pretty owner came over, she was very curvy with cute tattoos. The dress she wore was adorable and the thigh-high socks squeezed her thighs. You always liked her, and she was probably your only other friend. You waved to her as you grinned. “Hi, Kay.”

She waved at you. “Hi.” She gazed at Levi. “Who is this? Is he your boyfriend? When were you going to tell me you had a good-looking boyfriend? He looks badass. You two make such an adorable couple. You’re soulmates, I can sense it.” She saw Levi was bright red and then he was hiding his face. “Oh…I have made things awkward or maybe I have started something.”

Erwin chuckled. “I think you’ve started something.” He said all the orders and smiled at Kay. “I also have one last thing and it is the most important.”

Kay leaned over. “Really? What is it?”

He smiled a bit. “Your number.”

Kay blushed hard. “Do you mean it?”

He nodded. “I’ve been dying for your number for a while now and to take you on a date.”

She flicked a page in her notepad, scribbled down on it and ripped the page. “Here. I look forward to our date.” She noticed you and Levi were staring. “I’ll get your food and drink.”

You hummed a laugh as she hurried away. “Treat her well, Erwin.”

Erwin tapped Kay’s number on his phone. “Like a Queen.”

The two men chatted for a while and you just listened to them talk. Kay returned with the food and stayed for a while to talk to Erwin. As you ate your lunch, Levi kept looking over at you with a blush. You smiled a little at him and decided to talk to him because it seemed like he was desperate to say something, he just didn’t know what or how.

You turned to Levi with your milkshake in your hands. “So, have you and Erwin been friends a while?”

“Yeah. How about you?”

You nodded. “Yeah, I met him about a year ago. I was having a bad time at uni and I kind of ran into him. He’s a great friend.”

“He is.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Any romantic feelings?”

You shook your head. “No, it is pure friendship.”

He fiddled with his glass as he thought over what he wanted to say next. “Are you seeing anyone?”

You felt your cheeks burn and a tingle go through you. “No.”

He locked eyes with you. “Do you want to?”

“What…what do you mean?” You were hoping he meant him, but it wasn’t obvious.

He gulped a little. “I meant…uh…you know…I’m single and you’re single.” He groaned a bit. “Sorry, this fucking sucks. I’m so shit.” He let out a long sigh. “I think you’re incredibly pretty. You’re cool, kind and sweet. I just…I want to keep you…”

“Keep me?”

“Around! I uh…shit…”

You nibbled your lip. “I’m happy for you to keep me.”

He gazed at you with a strong blush. “Really?”

“Yes. Can I give you my number?”

He fumbled with his phone and opened the contacts. “Y-Yes.” He blushed. “S-sorry my phone isn’t expensive. I just…I buy what I can afford…I umm…I’m sorry I’m poor.”

“Money doesn’t matter to me.” You smiled sweetly. “I’m a university student. I don’t have any money and I don’t mind if you don’t. All that matters to me is you like me and I like you, also we treat each other well. No, using each other or cheating.” You got nervous. “I’m the only one you’re dating.”

Levi frowned. “Did someone date you while they were with someone else?”

You nodded. “My ex. He dated me and was with someone else at the same time. I never knew.”

“Tch, what a piece of shit. He should have his dick and balls cut off. That is no man.”

You giggled. “You’re cute.”

“Th-thanks.” He looked up at Erwin. “You heading out?”

Erwin smiled a bit. “Yeah, Kay and I are going out on a date. It means you two can get cosy.”

You stood up and smiled a bit. “I probably should go home as I have a few essays to finish.”

Levi stood with you. “I can drive you back. I have two helmets.”

You smiled. “Thank you. I’d love that.” You waved to Erwin. “Have fun.”

Levi escorted you out of the café and down the road. He wanted to hold your hand but wasn’t sure if he should and felt so nervous. He talked with you the whole walk back to his bike, everything you said fascinated him. Even though he looked like a punk rocker bad boy and you a sweet little bunny of a woman, you both shared so much in common with each other. You managed to make each other laugh so hard.

He opened his side bag on his bike and pulled out the spare helmet. “This okay?”

You nodded. “It’s cool.”

He blushed hard. “I’ll make you a cute one if we stay as a couple. I…I want to. This sounds odd saying this, but I just feel so drawn to you.”

You placed your hands on Levi’s. “Me too. I like you a lot. You’re so damn handsome. I bet the tongue piercing feels nice.”

Levi’s eyes widened. “What?”

You yanked the helmet out of his hands and put it on your head. “N-nothing. I’m ready to go.”

He sat on his bike and put his helmet on. “Sit behind me and hold on tightly. Okay?”

You sat down and wrapped your arms around Levi. “Yes.”

Levi smiled when you squealed in delight at him racing off. He weaved around traffic and listened to your instructions for your address. Going fast was fun, but at the same time, he wanted to slow down so you could spend as much time as possible together. When you mentioned where to pull up, his heart sank in his chest because it meant his time with you was over.

You slipped off the back of Levi’s bike and pulled the helmet off. You grinned at Levi. “That was so much fun. Can we do that again sometime?”

He nodded at you and took his helmet off so he could gaze at you. “I would love that.”

You put the helmet in the bag. “You know, I don’t want to leave.”

Levi gazed at you. “I don’t want you to leave either.” He reached over and took your hand. “These feelings in me are confusing and exciting.” He lifted your hand and kissed. “You’re so sweet, kind and funny.” He pulled you closer and looked up at you. “I’ll organise the best date ever, I swear.”

You giggled. “I’m so excited. I just want to be with you and spend time with you.”

He leaned up and kissed you taking you both by surprise. He pulled back as a blush spread on his cheeks. “Uh.”

You giggled. “Did you just?”

He shoved his helmet on and grabbed the handles of his motorbike. “Mm.”

You reached over and pulled his helmet off. “I liked it.” You leaned closer and kissed his cheek. “I like you. I’ll see you soon.”

He gazed at you with adoration in his eyes. “Yeah.”

You placed his helmet back on before stepping back. You wave to him with a sweet smile. “Bye.”

Levi waved at you as he felt like he was in a daze. “Bye.”

You put on an outfit you love but also something to fluster and grab Levi’s attention. You knew that you were going on the back of Levi’s bike, so you made sure that you wore something cute but something you could ride in. Since parting with Levi, you had texted and called each other nonstop. A strong and passionate romance was blossoming between you and Levi. Those around the two of you would comment on how it seemed like you were soulmates.

The two of you thought about the one single kiss all the time, you both wanted more but you didn’t get a chance to meet up. So, today was the first official day of seeing him again and having a date. As you finished getting ready, a tingle of pleasure shot through you when you heard the wonderful deep rough sound of Levi’s bike. He was early.

You grabbed your bag, hopped around as you yanked on your boots and then raced out of your apartment to go see him. With a quick bye to your roommate, you made your way down the stairs, flew out the front door and landed in Levi’s arms. You squealed in delight at finally being with the man you knew deep in your very bones was going to be your forever.

Levi dropped you on your feet and blushed at how pretty you were. He longed to see you and the texting and calls were not enough. If Levi had a tail, it would be wagging hard at seeing you again. He was just so happy to have you in his arms. “You look so pretty.”

“Thank you.” You nibbled your lip. “You look so handsome.”

“I uh…I look okay, thank you though…” He flinched. “Oh, I got you something.” He opened his side bag and pulled out a helmet with chibi rabbits on. “This is for you.”

You gasped in delight and admired the cute helmet. “I love it.” You hugged it against you. “Thank you so much.” You moved closer to him. “Can I kiss you?”

“R-Really!?” He cleared his throat as he felt embarrassed that he’d gotten a bit loud. “I would love…like a kiss.”

You placed the helmet on his bike seat before walking right up to Levi. You linked your arms around Levi’s neck and smiled at him. You tilted your head and pressed your lips against Levi’s. You hummed in happiness when Levi wrapped his arms around your waist and pulled you against him. The two of you slotted together so perfectly. Your heart raced when you felt his hot tongue on your lip. You parted your lips and moaned as his tongue slipped into your mouth. A shiver went through you when you felt his hot tongue with a piercing move against yours.

You pulled back and hummed. “Your piercing feels nice.”

“I’m glad you like it. If you don’t, I can take it out.”

You shook your head and lightly touched the piercing on his lip. “I adore all your piercings.”

He hummed. “Well, you haven’t seen all of them.”

You blushed. “Huh?”

He went bright red. “N-nothing! Shall we go?”

You pulled your helmet on. “Yes. I’m excited.”

“Me too.”

You waited for Levi to sit on his bike correctly before you sat behind him and hugged him tightly. A little squeal escaped you as he drove off and started weaving through traffic. You had no clue where you were going, but it was exciting. As he drove you started to recognise the place around you, it seemed like you were close to Erwin’s office as well as the workshop where Levi repairs cars and bikes.

Levi drove past where he worked and kept going further until he reached an apartment block. He pulled up and parked the bike. “We’re here.”

You slipped off the back. “Where is here?”

He pulled his helmet off and sighed. “Um, it’s my place but we’re not going into my apartment.” He climbed off and sorted out the helmets before grabbing a bag. “We’re going to the roof.”

You grinned. “Sounds exciting.”

“I’m glad you’re happy.” He escorted you to the fire escape and then lifted you to the beginning part. He jumped up after you and began climbing up the stairs with you. “Are you okay with heights?”

You hummed. “I’m okay.”

“I’m glad.” He got to the last part and looked up. “I will go first and then I’ll help you up after.”

“Thank you.”

He climbed up the ladder before turning and offering his hand. “Come on.”

You giggled and started climbing up after him. “This is such a fun mystery.”

Levi pulled you up and onto the roof. “I set up a nice little area.”

As soon as Levi turned you saw the amazing setup. A little fort had been set up by him. A gazebo-like structure was the structure of it and then a waterproof cover covered the top. Fairy lights were hooked up to create a pretty lighting so you could see when it got dark. There was a stove to cook things, but it wasn’t lit yet. It seemed he had used this place before to be alone, but now it was a place for him and you.

Levi stumbled closer to it. “It’s not the best, but I tried to assemble something. I don’t have much money, so the quality of food probably sucks…”

You leaned up and kissed his cheek. “Levi, I’ve been a university student for three years. I lived on cheap food all that time. I love that kind of food. Besides, it teaches you to be creative and it is fun!”

He smiled at you. “Yeah, yeah it does.”

“Besides…” you walked to the front of the little fort to see blankets, cushions and pillows “this looks super fucking cosy. I get to cuddle up with you in here for hours. I think that is the best date ever!”

He moved over to the front and slipped his shoes off. “I even got us entertainment.”

You took your shoes off and climbed in. “Oh yeah?”

He pointed to the buildings across. “Apartments and business buildings. We can people watch.”

You gasped. “Oh, I love that!”

“I love.” Levi gasped and stopped himself from finishing off his sentence. “Ah, do you want uh…a drink?”

You grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around you. “Love one.”

He opened a cooler and pulled out two diet cokes. “Here.”

“Thank you.” You gazed at the can. “I’m surprised that it’s not booze.”

He played with his can. “I didn’t want you to think I was just getting you drunk, you know? You’re important to me. I want us to be sober on our first date and enjoy each other’s company.”

“It’s a nice change.” You shuffled closer and leaned against Levi. “This is perfect.”

Levi’s heart fluttered in his chest. “I’m glad. Shall I put some music on?”

You nodded and pulled the blanket off you a little and put one side around Levi. “Please.”

Levi put some music on and then snuggled with you under the blanket. “Let me know when you want to eat. I’ll cook something up.”

“You’re the best.”

A blush spread over his cheeks. “Oh, I don’t know about that…but thank you.”

You pressed yourself against him and settled nicely against him. “You’re so lovely and warm.”

“You too.” He hummed. “Can I put my arm around you?”

“Yes.”

He wrapped his arm around you as soon as you permitted him. He gave you a little squeeze and looked out at the building across from you. “Those suits can’t be comfortable.”

You hummed a laugh. “I always wondered about that with men. I mean, a man in a nice suit is sexy but wearing it all day must be a pain.” You looked up at Levi. “What do you wear for work? You’re a mechanic right?”

He blushed. “Jeans normally. A Jumpsuit is useful, but I tie it around my waist. I also do jobs on the side with Erwin. I like the work I do with Erwin. For that job, I wear long-sleeved black shirts and jeans.”

Your eyes sparkled. “Tight long sleeves?”

“Yes?”

You hugged Levi. “I bet you look so sexy.”

Levi shivered. “I ah…maybe.”

You looked up at him. “I think you’re so handsome and sexy.”

“I think you’re incredible. You’re so pretty, cute and sexy.” He leaned down and kissed you. “I adore you.”

“I adore you.” You reached towards him and lightly touched the earrings on his ear. “So nice.”

“Thanks. I’m sorry, but I just want to keep kissing you.”

You giggled. “I’d be happy with that. I want it too.”

Levi smiled before crashing his lips against yours. He nipped your lip before pushing his tongue into your mouth. The two of you moaned in delight as you felt the tingle and the heat between the two of you. The fire that Levi and you shared was addictive and hypnotic. You couldn’t get enough of each other and always wanted to be together. You didn’t want to rush things, but the two of you were so perfect for each other and had such a bond that there was no use fighting what you had.

You flopped back onto the covers and giggled as you looked up at Levi. “Cute.”

Levi leaned over you. “I’m cute?”

“Very.”

He hummed. “Well, if it’s a good thing then I am cute.” He leaned down and kissed you. “I can’t believe you want to be with me.”

You cupped his face. “How can I not?” You went to pull him down for a kiss but shouting caught your attention. You looked over at the building across to see two women shouting at a well-dressed man. “What in the world?”

Levi shifted off you, lay on his side next to you and placed a hand on your tummy. “Looks like a fight of lovers. He’s been having an affair maybe?”

You hummed. “I think you’re right.” You gasped as an idea struck you. “Or, she saved a precious cookie and one of them ate it. She doesn’t mind they’re shagging, but the cookie is everything.” You gasped and put on a voice for the woman. “Jason you know very well how much those cookies mean to me! They are my life-givers.”

Levi chuckled and played along. “Thing is my darling, cookies seem to disappear around me! The closer I get to one the more it slowly disappears.”

“Well, I say that makes no sense! The cookie was my cure.”

Levi squeezed you. “It’s the government! They did this to me?”

“They made you a cookie destroyer?”

“Yes!”

“How awful. I’m sorry, but I can’t be with someone who destroys cookies. I love them too much.”

Levi gasped. “Oh, the horror of it all! The government takes away my cookie love and wants to destroy me!”

You laughed hard. “This was fun.”

Levi smiled down at you. “It is.” He thought about the gang and criminal work he did for Erwin. “What would you do if the government was after me?”

You hummed in thought. “I would hide you and protect you.”

“Really? You’d do that for me?”

You nodded. “Of course.” You reached up and lightly touched his cheek. “I’d look after you.”

Levi felt his heart race and his cheeks burn. He leaned down and hid his face in the crook of your neck. “That makes me happy.”

You reached up and played with his hair. You rolled a little to face him and wrapped your other arm around him. “I want you to be happy.”

Levi hugged you for a moment before pulling back and seeing your eyes were closed. He thought it was adorable how you felt so relaxed and comfy with him that you had fallen asleep. He snuggled against you again and drifted off into a light sleep as well. As time went on, Levi was awoken by a rumble. Once he opened his eyes, he saw rain was coming and it was due to a storm. The shelter he had built was perfectly safe for you both.

He leaned up and watched the rain while he made sure he held you close. When you started waking up he knew that he had to move you inside. “Sweet bunny lady?”

You opened your eyes and hummed. “Levi?”

He smiled down at you. “The rain is pretty bad. We should head inside. We don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

You sat up and ruffled your hair. “I’d love to go into your place. We can have dinner there, right?”

“Yeah.”

You smiled. “Allow me to cook.”

“Sure!” He packed up everything to make sure it stayed dry. He turned the lights off and then grabbed your bag for you. “We’ll go through the door instead of the fire escape.”

“Lead the way.”

He grabbed your hand and ran across the roof with you as you both giggled in delight. He fumbled with his keys, unlocked the roof access door and yanked you inside. He panted a bit on the stairs before looking down at you to see you were wet, water was trickling down your pretty face and breasts. He felt a hunger inside him and gulped hard.

You shivered a little. “Cold.”

Levi flinched. “Ah, sorry.” He pulled you down the stairs until he got to his floor. He unlocked his front door and paused. “Just to warn you…”

You caressed his cheek. “Don’t be sorry. You shouldn’t be sorry for your financial situation. You are perfect. I fell for you because of how fun and wonderful you are. I don’t give a shit about money. Today’s date has been the best I’ve ever been on. Who the fuck needs those stupid fancy restaurants. I’m a girl who loves a fat burger, or a massive pizza, or a huge serving of ramen.”

Levi smiled. “I love all those.” He pushed the door open. “Come on in.”

You slipped into his small apartment and fell in love. It was simple with a cute clean kitchen. He didn’t have a sofa, but he did have lots of soft cushions and a blanket in front of a small coffee table that he must have used as a dining table. The tv was small but you didn’t need anything big. You had one that was bigger and a gaming system, which would fit perfectly here. In the far corner with a room divider hiding it a bit was a nicely made bed, but there was no bed frame. His bed was just a double mattress with the softest-looking duvet and pillows. The only door you saw must have gone to his bathroom.

You loved how he had a fair few windows, one was to the fire escape that looked like Levi often used to leave his apartment. “This is so cute.” You slipped your shoes off and jacket. “Could I borrow some clothes? I’m a bit wet.”

He nodded and made his way to a wardrobe. He grabbed a shirt of his and jogging bottoms. “Will these be okay?”

You gasped in delight. “Gimmie! Yes!” You took them from him and bounced on the spot. “Thank you so much.”

“You’re welcome. I’ll get some drinks for us.”

You hurried to his bathroom and changed into the new clothes. You adored how they smelt of Levi, but parts of them were tight. The bottoms were a tad snug on your thighs and bum, but loose elsewhere. The top was tight over your breasts, but big on the rest of you. You still loved his clothes on you and thought you looked nice.

As soon as you hurried out of the bathroom Levi was in awe of you. Levi couldn’t believe how adorable you looked. He moved closer to you and cupped your face. “You look so adorable.” He kissed you and hummed. “So sweet.”

You whined a bit. “I wanna hug you, but you’re soaking wet.”

Levi kissed the end of your nose. “I want cuddles. So, I will change.”

“You okay with me cooking?”

“Sure. Help yourself to what I have.”

You checked what he had and it was just perfect for you. You were going to make some tasty ramen. You put together some noodles in water. As everything bubbled away you boiled two eggs and cut up some veg to add to it. You hummed a song to yourself and felt comfortable like you were meant to be here with Levi.

Levi gathered up the clothes and hung everything up to dry. He glanced over at you and felt his heart swell, you looked so good in his apartment in his things. He walked up behind you and hugged you tightly. “Mm.”

You placed a hand on Levi’s. “You okay handsome?”

He nuzzled the crook of your neck and inhaled deeply. “Mm.”

You giggled. “Am I going to get more from you than mm?”

“Mm.” He sighed your name.

You turned in his arms and kissed him. “Mm.”

He blushed. “That’s my line.”

“Not anymore.” You cupped his face. “What were you thinking about?”

“Just how good you look in my apartment. How I always want to see this.”

You smiled at him. “Well, I like being here.”

He blushed before lowering his head a bit. “Um…dinner smells really good.”

“Thank you.”

He spoke with just a whisper. “I like you so much.”

You leaned up and kissed him. “I like you too.”

He released you. “I’ll set the table.”

“Thank you, handsome.”

Levi shivered a bit. “That a pet name?”

You giggled as you filled the bowls with ramen. “Maybe. “

He sat at the coffee table. “I love them.”

You placed the food on the table and sat with him.  “Enjoy!”

Levi leaned over and kissed your cheek. “Thank you for dinner.”

The two of you ate together as you chatted. Once the food was gone, Levi cleaned up before setting up the sitting area with blankets and cushions. The two of you browsed a streaming service and put a movie on as you snuggled closely. As the night went on you both started to get tired. The first to fall asleep was you and Levi took it as a compliment again. He gently lays you down before making his bed for the two of you to share.

He gently woke you up. “Hey, cute little bunny it is bedtime. I can’t image you want to sleep here.”

“I don’t want to go home.”

He hushed you as you got upset. “I meant the floor. I want to help you to bed.”

You sniffed. “Oh, I thought you meant…thank you for letting me stay.”

He helped you to your feet. “I’ll be honest, I don’t want to let you go.”

You hummed a laugh. “Good.” You stumbled to his bed and shifted a little with your bra before whipping it out from under the shirt and plopping it on the floor. “Better.” You sat on the mattress and looked up at Levi. “You don’t mind me sharing the bed, do you?”

“Not at all.” He pulled his shirt off and blushed. “Sorry, I don’t like sleeping with a shirt on.”

You pulled the jogging bottoms off. “I don’t like bottoms, so I guess we make a whole outfit.”

Levi stared at your bare legs. “Mm…”

You slipped under the cover and relaxed. “Comfy.”

“Can I cuddle up to you?”

You nodded. “Please.”

He shifted closer and wrapped his arms around you. “Goodnight.” He softly said your name before kissing your forehead.

You closed your eyes and relaxed. “Mm, goodnight Levi.

[lovelynim]

Intruder countermeasures

Honkai: Star Rail - Sampo & Svarog (feat. Clara)

A/N: First out of two commissions for no other than the @otomiyaa herself! Thank you so much for the trust and support, Ginny, it means a lot to me to write a commission for you!

Summary: Someone triggered the alarm system inside the Robot Settlement. Now, who could it be and how are they going to deal with them?

Word count: 1913 words

Just how hard could it possibly be?

Get into the Robot Settlement. Check.

Find the pieces and gears the client requested. Check.

Steal Borrow them for an indefinite amount of time. Check.

Get out. ….

Well, it seems like the good, old Sampo Koski found a nice challenge for himself this time, huh.  

Against what he expected from a bunch of old machines running around, the security in the Robot Settlement - especially around that big, scary manor where the little girl in red lived - was… hard to crack, to say the least. It took him a couple hours studying the best route to get in - for which he was definitely going to charge extra.

Now, if Sampo could figure out how to get in, then what’s the problem? Well, get out. Who could imagine that tinhead would have alarms against invaders all around the house? All the sorts of robots were patrolling the place, from the silliest, smallest ones to the big, threatening ones. 

Sampo, hiding behind a conveniently placed wall, peeked at the grounds in front of the manor and watched the robots walking left and right, left and right… Damn, Svarog was really prepared for anything, huh? No opening in sight, maybe it was time for Sampo to wander a little more. Maybe he would even bump into something valuable interesting enough.

Walking a little deeper into the site, Sampo carefully followed a nearby why to the zone behind the manor. Luck seemed to be on his side as no robot was spotted patrolling that part of the settlement so far. 

“My my… what do we have here..?” Sampo muttered quietly, peeking again as he reached another safe spot. Svarog, the so-called and feared tinhead, and the little girl in red, Clara. Maybe this was some sort of playground for the girl, Sampo thought, still not sure what kind of thing she did with all those gears and screws scattered around, but who understands kids these days anyway?

The most logical thing to assume was that Svarog drove her here while the machinery did the patrol on the other side of the manor. Such a good guardian, huh?

Sampo leaned against the nearby wall, pressing the back of his hand against his forehead. If he could make it past those two, he would be out of the manor’s ground - but why did it have to be those two?

He sighed, feeling defeated by Svarog’s security system. A loud, long sigh that slowly dragged itself out of his throat. Also, a mistake.

As soon as the air left his mouth, Sampo could hear a faint metallic sound coming from where he last saw Svarog and Clara standing. However, when he turned his eyes back to said spot, they were nowhere to be seen.

Uh oh.

“Target located,” Svarog’s heavy, deep robotic voice announced seconds before his hand crashed into the wall. Sampo widened his eyes as the hit missed his face by barely a couple inches - he didn’t even want to think about what that would’ve felt like if it did land. Well, he didn’t have time either.

Thanks to Gepard’s endless chasings, Sampo managed to develop quite the agility when it came to avoiding blows - still, this was not the best scenario to put them into test. “W-woah, careful that, you could hurt someo-wOAH!”

Sampo gasped as Svarog almost hit him again. “Target ‘Threat Index’ undetermined. Stay back, Clara,” the robot commanded, his free hand in front of the girl.

“I-I’m not a threat!” Sampo wheezed, desperately waving his hands in front of his chest, hoping it would appease the angry robot dad. “I’m just your good ol’ pal, S-Sampo Koski!” He spoke in a hurry, his words barely understandable under the fear in his voice.

Svarog didn’t seem to be convinced, though. Before Sampo could even have another chance to speak, he swayed his hand at him again and, this time, managed to push him against the nearby wall. Svarog’s palm was large enough to pin Sampo’s body against the surface behind him, making the mercenary gasp - half in pain and half in shock at how fast Svarog could be despite how big he was.

“Commence annihilation.”

…What?

Sampo widened his eyes as he saw Svarog lift his other hand and spread his fingers. The cannon within his palm charged at an alarming rate and, no matter how much he kicked or squirmed, he could free himself.

Was this the end of the good ol’ Sampo Koski?!

As Sampo prepared himself for the worst and closed his eyes shut, all he could hear besides the machinery in Svarog’s body running was a panicked, yet firm command.

“Svarog, s-stop it!” Clara pleaded, tugging at Svarog’s leg. And so he did.

“Clara, stand back. I couldn’t confirm the intruder’s intentions. It can be dangerous,” Svarog explained calmly, turning his attention to the girl, but making sure to not ease his grip in the slightest.

As stubborn as her robot dad, Clara shook her head. Her cheeks were a little flushed, as if she was just about to cry. “N-no! I don’t want to see you hurting someone!”

Sampo nearly cried along with the girl as he heard those words. Yay, he was saved!

“The intruder could harm you, Clara. I can not let them go,” Svarog insisted, his head turning back to Sampo with that threatening, but faint red light coming from his ‘eye’. “They need to be ‘taught a lesson’, so they won’t come back.”

“C-can’t we teach him some other way?” Clara muttered, still clinging at Svarog’s leg with teary eyes. “Without hurting him?”

Svarog didn’t answer and, if his face could express emotions like humans, he would probably look half confused, half concerned. Sampo pawed at the large, metallic hand keeping him place, but Svarog didn’t lower his guard yet. “In what way should we deal with the intruder? What do you propose, Clara?”

“Hmm, m-maybe…” Clara hummed, looking at Sampo and then back at Svarog. Something that would leave the message, but wouldn’t hurt? “T-tickle him!” She beamed, remembering the times when the kids in Boulder Town would decide their the one to lead the Moles’ squad through a tickle fight. Surely adults could solve their problems like that, without needing violence, right?

Sampo, on the other hand, didn’t look at the suggestion as brightly as Clara did. Svarog wouldn’t consider something like that, right?

Wrong.

Carefully wrapping his fingers around his body, Svarog picked Sampo up and brought him down to the ground. With his massive strength, pinning both his arms above his head with a single hand wasn’t a big deal.

“E-eh? Wait a second, C-Clara, darling, can you tell your d-”

“Understood,” Svarog sadly coldly, his attention turning back to the man he had pinned underneath him. Sampo gulped.

Getting tickled certainly sounded better than getting blasted into pieces, but Sampo wasn’t sure if he should be thankful yet. Did Svarog even know how to tickle someone? Or would he have his bones crushed one by one by the giant robot dad?

The answers for those questions soon came into his mind. Clara watched attentively as Svarog moved his free hand and began to knead Sampo’s side and stomach. A crooked smile took place in Sampo’s face while he started to squirm and kick his legs. Yes, it tickled. And tickled a lot.

“B-be careful, mr. Svarog. Just tickle, don’t hurt him,” Clara instructed and Sampo nearly told her to shut up, but the last bits of sense he had told him to keep quiet.

“Understood,” was Svarog’s simple answer as his cold, metallic fingers continued to prod and wiggle against Sampo’s body, testing out his reactions and studying where it would work the best. “Target’s heartbeat frequency increased. Suspicion: embarrassment.”

“H-hehey! That’s- agh, c-cohohome on!” Sampo grunted, his cheeks quickly turning red as he fought the urge to laugh with all the bits of strength he had. His eyes widened as Svarog moved his hand down to his hips. “W-waitwaitwahaHAHA, NOHOHOHOH!!”

Clara nearly jumped from her spot as Sampo bursted in loud, uncontrolled laughter. Well, that was the sign that Svarog was, indeed, listening to her, right? “I-I think you got him, mr. Svarog!”

“Target’s reaction: positive,” Svarog announced, his analysis bringing new results into this system and allowing him to tell which method worked - or, better saying, tickled - the best.

There barely was any room for Sampo to complain about the coldness of Svarog’s hand or about how rough a touch or two were. As expected of a machine, his tickling was meticulous and every move felt like it was calculated. From the way he kneaded into his sides, to the repetitive pokes all around his stomach and, of course, to the squeezing and pinching over his exposed waist and hips.

It was not like Sampo could see it clearly, but Clara had a relaxed look on her face. Svarog managed to find a way to deal with the intruder without harming him. How amazing! Still, all Sampo could feel and see was an ominous figure that was surely going to tickle him into his very death. 

Choking between a laugh and the other, Sampo planted his heels into the ground. With teary eyes and flushed cheeks, he shook his head left and right, thrashing as much as Svarog’s pinning allowed him to. “PLEHEHEHEASE!!” He wheezed, the air barely making it into his lungs before he laughed again. “I’M SOHOHORRY!! I SWEHEHEAR!!”

Svarog didn’t even consider those words, as if they were unknown to his system. He looked to the side, gazing at Clara. “Unable to determine if the target is lying or not. Heart rate too unstable to consider. Your assistance is required, Clara,” Svarog pointed out, almost casually, while his hand continued to wreak havoc.

“M-me?” She chirped, clenching her little hands in front of her chest. “You want me… to help you t-”

“No,” Svarog promptly interrupted, not giving her a chance to even consider it, “it can be dangerous, don’t approach the target,” his eye then turned back to Sampo, that now terrifying, but dim red light pointing straight into his laughing face. “Do you believe the target tells the truth?”

“I D-DO! AHAhaha, plehehease!! I’m truhuhully sohoHOHORRY!!” Sampo cackled, having to almost squeeze his words out of his throat to make sure they would be heard through all the laughter.

“A-ahm, I… I think he did learn his lesson,” Clara smiled, a sense of getting the job done filling her heart. “You can stop now, mr. Svarog. Thank you,” she said, nodding shyly.

Again, listening to Clara and Clara only, Svarog stepped back. Sampo’s body went limp on the cold floor, his head spinning as he still had to come down from his high. “T-tha- ahh… t-thank you… I t-though… haaah, I was d-done fohohor…”

“Warning: further attempts of trespassing will be punished accordingly. Leave at this moment, intruder,” Svarog ordered, coldly, taking his place in front of Clara and holding his hand out in front of her.

“I-I will! I swear!” Sampo cried, prostrating himself in front of Svarog and Clara, hoping to convince them he was going to ‘behave’ this time. When the two didn’t oppose his plea, Sampo understood it was the time to flee as fast as he could.

The components his client wanted? Screw those, he would try to look for a phony to deliver instead.

Stealing from the Robot Settlement? Never again!

[grayishgiggles]

Tickletober Day 2 — Chase

Lee!Grayson, Ler!Miguel

Prompt list by @tickletober / @/august-anon

“I don’t get it,” Grayson deadpanned, practically shadowed by his mentor’s figure. He played with one of his hoodie strings as he walked through one of the many cavernous hallways in HQ. And, of course, it wouldn’t be HQ without the fifty or so spider-men they had to weave through. In a way, Grayson looked like a duckling following his mother. His nearly seven foot tall scary looking mother. With claws. “Where are we going?”

“We’re gonna train.” Miguel glanced up from his watch down next to him, suddenly halting his gait. He nearly jumped out of his skin when he felt a body bump against his back, turning sharply with a confused glare. 

“Sorry,” said Grayson, scrambling to walk parallel with him now. “Wait, is this cause of my last patrol?! I just had an off day, man, I-I didn’t think he’d be able to keep up with me.”

“Gray, chill out,” Miguel held a hand up, the smallest tinge of amusement in his voice. “You’re not in trouble. I just haven’t got my workout in today…”

“Oh, okay.”

Their footsteps filled the silence for a moment. Miguel shrugged, the glow of his suit catching Grayson’s eye. ”…and, I dunno, you make things less boring.” 

“Awww!” Grayson broke into a goofy smile, giving the bigger man an affectionate shove to the shoulder. Miguel rolled his eyes and swatted at his hand sheepishly.

 “We are gonna work on your agility, though.”

“Aw come on!”

“I don’t wanna hear your whining. I’ll make it fun, ok?” Miguel tilted his head harmlessly, eyes meeting his apprentice’s mismatched ones. 

How the hell did he get a purple eye anyway? He thought, Genetics-wise he’d have to have some sorta albinism… wait, what the hell are you talking about, O’Hara? You have red eyes. You got claws. Spider DNA does weird shit to you, too.

“What’re we gonna do then?” Grayson’s voice brought Miguel out of his head. He didn’t think that far, admittedly. He just said the “fun” thing to get the guy to stop complaining. His walking slowed with a hum, hand under chin in thought. There was the obstacle courses, robot drones, the laser field, hell, they could just patrol and practice on site.

”Bro, you’re not the thinker—“ Grayson prodded.

”Shut up.” 

Grayson let out a chuckle. Jeez, practically anything he did made the guy laugh. Really wasn’t helping his train of thought. That damn laugh… that… 

Oh.

OH!

He felt the corners of his mouth tug upwards. 

”How do you feel about a chase?” Miguel proposed, interrupting Grayson’s last chortle. “Oooh, sure! Like with one of those anomaly simulations?” 

There was a different air in his motion, suave, unalluring. Miguel stepped  in front of Grayson, effectively halting his pace. “With me.”

“Huh?!” Grayson blurted. “But that’s so unfair! I couldn’t catch you.”

“I’ll be chasing you.” Miguel corrected with a point.

A little wave of adrenaline ran through Grayson’s veins. “Uh, yeah, my point still stands.” 

“Hey, you never know till you try.” Miguel had tried  to come off as encouraging, leaning down to meet his level. “I’ll even add motivation, ok? Just don’t get caught for two minutes or else.”

The hooded spider’s face furrowed. “Or else what?” 

He could’ve just told him, honestly. Miguel could’ve, but he didn’t, because all he had to do was give him that look. A smirk, a mischievous twinkle in his eye. The classic formula. 

And as always, it worked. Grayson’s eyes expanded to the size of saucers. Little wave turned into big wave, his spider sense verifying it all. He knew the stakes. 

“You got a five second head start.” Miguel couldn’t hold back his smirk now.

“WHAT?”

“Four…”

That’s all Grayson needed to hear. The boots of his suit squeaked against the floor when he spun around, hauling it past a few concerned spider-men. Miguel watched the brown cowlick of his hair wave around like a flag, getting smaller. 

“Three… two… one…” he muttered to himself, then immediately broke into a sprint. 

“Shitshitshitshitshit!!” Grayson’s echoed expletives followed him down the hall and into the vast atrium of triangular walkways. His head spun left and right. Where now?! Does he hide out? No, that’s stupid! He can’t hide, this is for agility! 

“I see you!!”

Miguel’s voice boomed in the distance behind a crowd of spiders. No time for decision making. Grayson shot a web at a platform above, feet lifting off the ground as he swung upwards. His nimble yet steady frame wove past passerby swingers, apologizing when he nearly ran into 60’s spider-man. A futuristic THWIP caught his attention, followed by a dim red glow in the corner of his eye.

“Did you even give me five seconds?!” Grayson’s voice cracked. He yelped at the sudden thud of Miguel landing, and the thunder of his footsteps. “Oh SHIT SHIT SHIT-!”

“I gave you all five, so maybe you’re just too SLOW-!” Miguel yelled as he lunged to tackle him. Grayson ducked and rolled in time, scurrying past Miguel as he clawed the ground to change direction. He was too late, though. Grayson wasn’t on the platform anymore. 

”Dammit!”

“You ok, boss?” 

Miguel turned to see Ben Reilly, for once concerned about someone else and not his own angst. No, maybe he was just confused. Miguel didn’t care. His eyes flashed a sinister glare.

“Where did he go?”

Grayson’s gait became unsynchronized, panting all he could do. Once rounding the corner and checking behind him, he stumbled to a stop, hands on his knees. He should’ve spent more time at the gym on campus. Agility, yes, endurance, no. All the college kid could hear was his own panting. Hell, it echoed through the hall… wait, that’s weird. Where was everyone? When did a Spider Society hallway ever get quiet? 

Head turned up towards the rest of the hallway, not a single spider except him crawled through. He swallowed, taking in the ambient sound of late stage technology humming within the walls, that soft red glow accenting the trim. All he could think of was one of those hallways in Alien. 

Gingerly, he carried on with a jog. Despite no spider sense warning him, he had a bad feeling. This felt intentional. Miguel might’ve rigged this place as a trap. Who the hell knows what he could do just with the watches! The… watches. 

Grayson skidded to a stop, opening his portal watch frantically. He swiped to a hologram reading “LOCATION: ON.”

”Fuck,” he whispered, turning the feature off with a tap. His jog turned to a run. 

Careening past a few testing rooms and miscellaneous areas for hangouts, Grayson let out a chuckle of relief seeing the elevator door ahead. His light in the tunnel. Thank god!

Grayson’s gloved finger pressed the down button a few anxious times. He fidgeted in place, the humming descent of the platform growing louder by the second. He had to be passing two minutes by now. All he had to do was stay out of sight for a little longer. Easy win. 

The arrow above the door flashed with a modern ding. The platform settled to a halt, hissing out softly. The triangular doors slid open, and without question, Grayson dashed into the elevator.

Right into Miguel’s arms. 

Squeezed in a bear hug, Miguel lifted Grayson off the ground. “Gotcha!” 

“Wh-AHH! NO! No let me goho! It was two minutes! NO!”

“One minute and fifty seven seconds,” his captor corrected, the smile audible in his voice. Miguel moved with Grayson’s sudden squirming, but never budged but grabbed one of his wrists. “I don’t round up.”

“Y-You don’t gotta do this! W-We cohohould bet with food- AhAAAH!”

Grayson curled in on himself, failing to listen to his spider sense. Now there was a large hand gently pinching up and down his side. “NOHohoo!!”

“Should’ve been faster, mijo,” Miguel tutted. 

“IHIhihi DUHUhunno what that means!” He cried out with a snort, sinking in his arms. Miguel followed him, kneeling beside his victim and pinning his wrist above his head. He straddled one of his legs to keep Grayson down. 

Miguel curiously poked around his exposed side, delighted by the eruption of small giggles. He pushed his cropped hoodie up to show more of his suit. “Now, if I remember correctly… these ribs were a good spot.” He proved his claim a moment later, coaxing a laugh out of the spider-man with a light scribble to the side of his ribs. ”NOHOAhaha! Mihihiguel!!” Grayson snorted, his free arm weakly pushing against Miguel at an odd angle. “Gehet off! YohOHOu win!”

“Not yet, no,” he retorted, “you gotta get your fill of tickles, kay? It’s good for your immune system.” Grayson hated that he was right, a small blush on his cheeks followed by a stream of giggles. Miguel’s calloused fingers walked their way up to his armpit, the crop top hoodie’s sleeve doing nothing to protect him there. “EEhee!!”

“And there’s those squeaks,” Miguel recalled, like it was an old memory. His hand skipped over Grayson’s underarm, spidering right above on his bicep, eliciting a stream of bubbly giggles. “Oh, this is priceless.”

Grayson tugged at his trapped wrist with another snort. “IHIhIHi hahate you!!”

“Well that can’t be true.” Miguel sneered, clawing into his armpit. He chuckled upon Grayson’s burst of cackles. 

“NOhOHO not there! Ack!” Grayson’s legs flailed uselessly under Miguel. His cacophony paired with the elevator’s humming in descent made a delightful symphony in the leader’s head. “STAHAhaawp!!”

“Okay, okay, whatever,” Miguel replied, his fingers slowing to a few pokes. He relented his grip, kneeling over his apprentice to look at his smile. “You okay?”

“Jehesus…” Grayson chuckled as he fought to catch his breath. He took a deep breath in, letting out an extra giggle. “Y-Yeheheah…”

Miguel returned the smile, reaching a hand towards him. Grayson flinched with a funny noise. “Pfft, the shock was that?” He chuckled. The man’s hand finally reached Gray’s head of hair, ruffling it gently. 

Grayson scrunched his face and tried to fix the curl on his forehead. “You didn’t count to fihive…” he groaned. 

“I was gonna get you either way,” replied Miguel, “It was a matter of how long you wanted to delay the inevitable.”

Grayson shared a confused look. “Stop using big words.”

“Aren’t you an English major?” The sigh from Grayson made him blurt out a laugh. “I’m sorry, I’m a jerk.” He relented, standing up. He held a hand out to pull his apprentice up. Gray took the help and stood with a groan. The shift of gravity as the elevator slowed down caught their attention. 

“You did good, though.” Miguel said. “You outran me for a second.”

“I dunno how,” Grayson muttered with a shrug. A large hand lightly punched his shoulder. “Hey, no bad self-talk. We got anomaly files to organize back at the lab.” 

“Training’s over?”

“What, you wanna be tickled again?”

“N-No!”

[10underoot2]

There's one storyline that's really had me invested from the start: Seung Hyo and his childhood neglect.

I have a lot of feelings about it. Asian parents who provided a child with everything on paper but couldn't give him anything emotionally - damn it's a miracle Seunghyo turned out well. Also, in most cases these parents almost always expect an award for giving their child 'every thing they could ever asked for' and the child is considered ungrateful if they do end up expressing the big gap of love they persistently felt in their lives.

I enjoyed how they dealt with it. I just wish Seung Hyo was crying when he confronted his parents at the temple (such a missed opportunity imo). Anywho, I picked up on something in episode 15 that I wish was addressed. I wanted to put it out there to get everyone's thoughts on this.

I believe during Misuk and Hyesuk's conversation at the roof top, it's the first time Seunghyo realises or learns that Misuk was paid by his parents to care for him. Now, it's completely logical and he may be more emotionally mature than I am - but you tell me the next door neighbour who I adore more than my own mother because she took care of me, fed, met my needs as a child - needs my mother fell short of- got PAID to love me...... Ooooffff that's gotta hurt a lil. I'm thinking more also with the knowledge that this is a child who's heard his mother wish she didn't have him. Wouldn't it hurt him to know? 'Ah now it all makes sense this is why she took care of me all this time. She was paid. Who would love me because I exist? I knew I was never lovable.'

I half prayed for Seung Hyo not to be listening in on the conversation. I wanted him to remain blissfully unaware of this. Cause I need him to know he deserves to be loved. So imagine my shock when we cut to SeungHyo and Seok Ryu and she's the one who's crying (no offense to her of course). If I was Seung Hyo, I'd have needed a moment to myself after learning this. Emotional trauma is scary. It affects you at the scariest of times and can be triggered by the smallest of things. Emotional trauma also, is not healed by a single hug and confrontational conversation in the woods. I know he's mature and 34 but learning this must've hurt. It must've reaffirmed some of the many thoughts he had while growing up. I know he'd later realize yes she deserved the extra incentive cause it is a lot of 'priceless' work. He would realize that it is just that: extra incentive, cause his mom felt bad, that Misuk truly does adore him but these realizations must come later.

I know he'll be okay with it cause he'll be thinking there's no point being upset over it now but didn't he at least once thing 'Wow, my mom could pay her cause that was convenient but couldn't bother to be next to me? She really must not have wanted me.'

[thewritersaddictions]

Request: The Witcher: Geralt Of Rivia- Brutal Life

Pairing: Geralt of Rivia x Fem!Wolf!Reader

Pov: Geralt

Warnings: Kissing, injured reader, fake monster sighting, camping, jaskier being his normal self, lone wolf, romance, fluff, dreaming.

Summary: A hurt wolf is marked as a monster so Jaskier and Geralt go to investigate. Geralt knows something is off though so he tries to be helpful.

WC- 2.0k

A/n- Firefly-graphics for dividers; Remember that Geralt of Rivia here on my page will continue to be written as if Henry Cavill is playing his character.

The Witcher Master List // Requests Master List

There was commotion going on just outside of the small town that we were staying in. Damn people and there need to intreput my dinner time. Jaskier was already apart of the drama happening outside. He came running back into the bar. “Jaskier what is it now?” A roll of my eyes gave tell to that small fact that I didn’t care or want to go outside to deal with commotion going on. 

“Geralt you just have to help these people. You’re the witcher for fucks sake.” Jaskier wasn’t kidding. He was dragging me or at least trying to drag me towards the door of the bar. “Jaskier would you stop it already.” I mumbled out. “I’m coming alright, are you happy now.” Just outside the door the dark and loud rumbles of a growl could be heard. My interest was peaked to say the least as people ‘ohh’ and ‘awwd’ at whatever monster they had decided stupidly to surround. 

By the time we got outside there was more then a gaggle of people surrounded it. Forcing it down into a tiny closed circle. “Oh the great Geralt Of Rivia here to save the day as always.’ A cocky old gente. I ignored him as I did with truly everybody in my life. “What seems to be the problem here?” I asked loudly into the crowd of people that was steadily growing. 

The ‘monster’ was ovibouly not that scary, or dangerous as the crowd drew louder and crazier with every passing second. The rambles of talking and screaming, and everything else that humans are so great at doing. The smallest of whimper I heard in the crowd of people. “Can angbody get their heads out of their asses and tell me what the fuck is going on.” I asked loudly, my voice moving through the crowd. 

A little girl is the one that answered me. Her voice was squeaky, and high pitched but she came forward. “Witcher it’s just a pour lonesome wolf, her leg is injured a little. She’s a whimpering mess over here.” The little girl said. I was impressed, but then the immediate stress of the world came crashing down on me. If that was so not a true monster then I wasn’t needed here, but the whimpers were so damn hard to ignore. 

“Alright gents and gals it’s time to get your noses into something else that isn’t this clear none monster.” My voice boomed loudly across the field. Their were sighs, and disappointing words flying in through the sky. The growling started as soon as the crowd cleared the field and I got closer. The closer I got the more protective the wolf seemed to get. Jaskier as always was whining behind me. “Geralt let’s just go if you say it’s just some wolf then theres no need to sit around and wait for it to bite on of us.” Jaskier blabbled out. There were many times I wished that I had told Jaskier to shut up, but going to do a task was better for me right now. 

“Why don’t you go gather our things from the bar, and Roach. I’m staying here to help this little one out.” I looked over my shoulder at Jaskier. There was an odd look on his face, then a shrug of his shoulders before he left the two of us in the field. The growled hadn’t stopped not even when I was talking to Jaskier.

 I turned my attention back to the wolf on the ground a growling and whimpering mess. I reached one of my hands out, “Y/n is that you?” The words pouring softly. Even strange to my ears. Her eyes were so damn familiar, and I hadn’t seen her in years… more then years. It felt like decades had passed. The last time I had seen her was when we were young children. Playing and before the world had separated us. The hand that I had reached out was getting closer and closer to being bite. 

“How about we try something different huh?” I suggested, she growled lowly, and kept her eyes on me the entire time. “How about if you want help you just have to follow us.” I wasn’t one for having tag alongs but Jaskier had broken that record, and the wolf well if she was Y/n then there was nothing I would do to help her. Jaskier returned everything in his hands. A small huff of frustration falling from his lips. ‘Are you fucking insane Geralt, I can’t go around having people think I’m just your servant.” With that Jaskier dropped every single one of the bag interlocked in his arms and fingers. I rolled my eyes and walked away from the wolf towards Roach. 

Petting her muzzle and then her mane. I turned and gave Y/n a knowing wink before walking towards the bleak basically dead treeline. Winter was on its way and the further we got away from the cold the happier that Jaskier would be. I kept an eye behind us as we travelled. Jaskier walking beside Roach, I kepther on the right track. “Who’s following us?” Jaskier prayed. I looked down at Jaskier. I wondered for how long had he been standing behind me, while I was talking to Y/n. “Nobody.” I clarified, as I got Roach back on the right path. 

By the time that night fell on the sky, and treeline disappeared behind the dark sky I knew it was time that we stop. The last tiem I had seen Y/n walking behind us was before the sun set, and I was purposely walking Roach slower then normal for Y/n to keep up with us. Yet another thing that Jaskier commented on. “Why are you walking Roach so slow? Is she sick? You aren’t going to put her down if she’s sick are you? I’ll kill you if you do.” Jaskier rambled on, and with that the first question was forgotten behind Jaskiers concern for the well being of the horse.

The moon was high in the sky when we finally managed to settle in the small camp that we had… that I had made for the two of us. I could Y/n far in the distance, close enough to the heat. Far enough away from being caught, or taunted by either on of us. A fire burning that crackled with each burn of leaf and stick. The most scariest thing for Jaskier was the wolf, she had come to camp. A limp in her walk and still forever staying far away. A full moon had just passed and so from what little knowledge I had on wolves I assumed she would be changing form tonight in the darkest of night. 

The wolf had decided that when of course she was comfortable she would join the camp. Jaskier being the scared little puppy he always was about everything wasn’t having it, and retreated to his sleeper. I tired my hardest not to laugh as Jaskier hurried away underneath the sheets of his cot. “If you feel comfortable, my lap is open for you to sit.” I muttered towards Y/n. Her ears peaked up, as she gave me a weary look. The truest of black eyes staring me down as I wondered what might happen. The growls had stopped, and the whimpers had began as Y/n walked on her paw. Small winces could be seen down her snout and with the curve of her brows underneath the prettiest fur I’d ever seen. 

I waited for what seemed like a few moments. Time passed and the fire crackled against the dark sky, I waited until I felt the softest of nudge on my hand. When I did look down it was Y/n, her paw was placed gently on my hand almost bracing herself on me. Her eyes watched me with intent, keeping everything in a close enough gaze. “Y/n just lay down I promise I wont hurt you.” She took only a few seconds before making the quick choice and snuggling into my lap. 

Warmth from her fur exploded into my clothing and skin. I wasn’t about tp pet her, but the closeness was enough for me. It had been so long that I hadn’t even thought of Y/n, but seeing her like this stuck in this form and hurt. My mind raced as I thought of what a cruel human being could have done this. The question popped into my head. Looking down at the curled up wolf in my lap her head rest on my thigh. “Who did this to you Y/n? You must tell me.” Gently the words flowed out soft around the edges and waiting for a response. 

She just looked up and then nuzzled her nose into my thigh. A wet imprint from her nose stained my trousers, and I wondered if she’s ever tell. If she’d ever get the chance to the mutter the name of the horrible, vile, straight up disgusting human had hurt her this way. I moved ever so slightly and took Y/n with me as I lowered myself into the cot. “For now we will sleep and tomorrow you will tell me who hurt you. We have much to discuss Y/n.” I whispered into the cold winters air. 

I dreamt that night for the first time in a long time. A small boy chasing a beautiful young girl. Her hair flowing in the wind before her mother had told her to cut it all off, or rather before the girl had taken a pair of shears to her hair and chopped it off at all sorts of angles uneven with each other. 

I watched as she grew into a beautiful women. With piercing eyes, and a beautiful smile that made me melt in the knees. The only women to ever bring me to my knees was Y/n, the girl that hadn’t thought about in such a long time. Even has I slept the smell of Y/n whafted into my nose. Dirty, blood, but a hint of rose, and lavendar. Calm was everything that Y/n was, she was peace next to me. 

In my dreams I saw a her standing there waiting for me, open arms and the widest smile on her face. Kind eyes that made you fell safe, I ran and ran as fast as my feet would let me. I wanted to feel the warmth of her body, the warmth of her heart pressed up against mine. When I reached her the batted breathe I let out felt like thousands of pounds being lifted off my shoulders. 

She was the one to kiss me. Y/n lips felt so soft, not chapped and cut like mine due to the work I did. Her hand coming to rest comfortalbing in my hair as she tug and pulled me close. No fighting for dominance within the kiss or teeth scrapping against each other. We weren’t haste for time, so we took it for what it was. A peaceful, calm, deep, and loving kiss. The first of many and the best for a first. I wished that I didn’t need air, and Y/n was all that I needed in order ot survive. Y/n was my life line. In her arms I feared nothing and wanted nothing more then to be there in that moment forever with her. 

A brutal life was one of waking up with her gone. Nothing was left behind as a guide of hope, just as she was here she had gone. As luck would have it for me I hope, Y/n might just come back into my life. “She went into the woods. If you move your ass you can catch up to her.” Jaskier yawned. “By the way she stole your coat. I think she might have shifted last night.” Jaskier mentioned, as I wiped the sleep from my eyes and hopped up. In search for maybe just the right person for me.

Completed on: 03/07/23

Posted on: 03/17/23

The Hero's-

[bramble-mouse]

A-Tisket, A-Tasket 

Fandom: Mafia: The Definitive Edition Characters: Borrower OC (Penelope “Spirit” Maymore), Paulie Lombardo, Sam Trapani Content Warning: Injury, violence, alcohol, strong lamguage Word count: 3320 A/N: A commission piece for @64-jungle-planks ! Title is a reference to an Ella Fitzgerald song I like and listened to while I was writing this. I forgot how much I enjoy writing this era in history, since I mostly write high medieval fantasy, regency, Victorian or anything 1980s onwards.

Penelope didn’t mess up. That wasn’t in the cards, not now and not ever. Borrowers that screwed up vanished without a trace- and became the scary bedtime story parents told their kids while tucking them into bed so they would take the extra precautions that’d seen generations of borrowers through many a hard, dangerous life. 

And so the moment Penelope’s grappling hook snagged and she felt that sickening, searing pop in her shoulder, every story her folks told her about cats gobbling up clumsy borrowers or their a thousand worse fates replayed all at once in her head.

Penelope could hear it now, her mum’s scolding voice reaming her out for so severe a fuck up:

That’s what you get for living in a crime family’s walls.

Had Penelope chosen a more typical home instead of Salieri’s, she might’ve been found by a sweet old granny that would patch her up and make her a cup of tea, or a gentle child just happy to have a secret friend they could confide in once they got her out of this predicament. Or perhaps, the ideal scenario for her mother, she’d have not gone out borrowing alone, and had a beau to help her hobble back home.

Nope. Instead, Penelope’s option for help was a whirlwind of a bean named Paulie. Just the other day, Paulie had gone off on some haughty, young buck that’d just joined up, nearly killed a valuable asset and had gotten caught making unwanted advances on a well known contact’s daughter, nearly costing the relationship. Penelope’s home in the walls shook with the contact of that particular ignoramus getting taught a proper lesson via a not-so-gentle collision with it. 

“You best take a walk, kid, and think real careful on what you do next. Cos’ it won’t be my balls you’ll be bustin’, kid. It’ll be the dons. And I hope you’ve got enough of a brain to figure out what that’ll mean for ya.”

She’d have laughed at the muffled squeak the kid made to affirm he’d heard Paulie’s warning if the two bumbling beans hadn’t knocked all her damn pictures off the walls.

That same bean was sitting reclined at one of the tables, his suit jacket draped over the back and his shirt collar loosened, sleeves rolled up past his elbows to reveal dark curls of arm hair while he sipped brazenly on a glass of whiskey. 

Just as surprised as Penelope was, hanging there like a fly caught in a spider’s web with her throbbing shoulder, Paulie’s expression was a priceless thing when at last he caught sight of her mid-sip. Paulie nearly spat out his drink.

 Those dark eyes, wide as saucers, didn't seem inclined on moving from the dangling borrower’s mishap any time soon. In fact, Paulie only managed to blink once and set his drink down before he kept on gawking.

Penelope wanted to shout at him, tell him to quit staring like an idiot. The pain in her shoulder radiated up her arm, across her chest like a spreading wildfire. She dared not even look- Penelope knew the joint was dislocated and she had to figure out how the hell to get untangled and hide quick before Paulie realized he wasn’t drunk and crazy.

Penelope muttered a jumbled string of profanities, faded auburn waves falling into her face. By some miracle, her glasses, though askew, hadn’t fallen off; losing them would be catastrophic since there weren’t exactly a ton of borrower eye doctors around the joint to make her a new pair. Her right wrist burned with a familiar, deep pain, a cumbersome accompaniment to the dislocated opposing shoulder.

“Either you’re the smallest dame I ever saw,”

Paulie spoke up finally and Penelope’s body tensed. Out of instinct, the borrower sat still, grinding her teeth as she watched the dark haired fellow rise from his chair, abandoning his whiskey on the table next to a salt and pepper shaker to saunter over.

“Or there’s somethin’ funny in my drink.”

Penelope mostly got to know beans by their voices and their shoes. Paulie wore good italian leather, scuffed in spots but always kept in the best shape he could. A few pants were hemmed at the cuffs by a patient, skilled hand, the odd tear mended with careful stitching. Someone loved this big lug more than life. But faces? Penelope hardly ever saw a human face, save for far away if she was up on one of the shelves swiping something.

Paulie’s was a soft one, hardly conventionally handsome but endearing and almost boyish. Five O'clock shadow dappled olive toned skin along his jaw, his wide mouth partially agape. And boy, was this fucker huge up close, the way he bent closer to where she hung from the shelf that held rows of rocks glasses behind the bar the most jarring thing the borrower had ever experienced. Those brown eyes hung onto her form and went from a soldato’s cunning to a young boy’s awe as they beheld an impossible sight.

“Shit.”

He laughed.

“You are real, ain’tcha? My ma told me stories about tiny folks livin’ in the walls.”

Penelope’s jaw clenched, her nostrils flaring. She wanted to tell him ‘no shit I’m real, you bonehead’ but the cardinal rule of a borrower’s survival instinct kicked in- never said a damn thing to a bean, no matter what. Go to the grave silent. Let them think you weren’t real. Let them believe you couldn’t say anything. Don’t be memorable. 

“Howdya manage this? Christ.”

Paulie’s brows furrowed when he caught sight of the grappling hook that held the injured borrower aloft. He noticed the odd angle of her shoulder, the way the opposing arm was starting to shake as it tried damn hard to hold on. 

Many thought Paulie heartless for being cold enough to shoot a man point blank without thinking about it. But that was not the same man hovering a calloused palm beneath Penelope’s form as he carefully unhooked her from the shelf.

Penelope landed shoulder down on Paulie’s palm and every lesson on discretion flew out the window when pain drove her reason away.

“Fuck!”

Penelope cried out, her voice strained and nearly growling as she curled inwards in Paulie’s hand, clutching her throbbing shoulder.

“Shit. She speaks.”

Paulie chuckled and lifted the borrower up higher so he could look at her properly.

Penelope shot him a positively venomous expression. Was she pissed him for talking to her so casually when she was hurting this bad or at herself for messing up? It was impossible to tell, but a hot anger flooded her expression.

“Yeah, and as a matter of fact I do, asshole!”

She sniped

“I bite too. Hard.”

Paulie paused, let out a low whistle.

“Relax, honey. I was just bustin’ ya chops.”

Penelope felt another comment rise but Paulie’s thick fingers interrupted her.

“Ya got hurt bad. Take a deep breath, this is gonna hurt like hell.”

He said, his tone shifted. It was almost gentler, even if the thought of a tough guy talking that way felt like the ultimate tall tale.

“Dealt with way worse, pal.”

Penelope countered, took in a deep breath until her lungs filled out her ribcage. This bean intended on setting her shoulder, so who was she to argue with that when she’d already fucked up this badly? Penelope squeezed her right hand until the knuckles turned white, focusing on the stinging pain in her wrist. She closed her eyes and she felt Paulie’s fingers shift her shoulder. It popped back into place; Penelope let out an agonized growl through gritted teeth, focusing on the pain in her wrist instead. Sweat beaded across her forehead, nausea swirling in her gut. Soon enough, the pain subsided enough to think, to chance a look at the world again.

Was that…concern again, on a fuckin’ soldato’s face? Paulie seemed the type to wear his heart on his sleeve when he was allowed to. Now seemed like one such time, when the eyes of other dangerous men weren’t on him, fixing to find weakness to exploit.

“You’re one brave broad, I’ll give ya that.”

Paulie laughed. He swept her up and away back towards his table where he lifted up his whiskey glass and seemed to consider something. He held the glass beside his palm, tilting it enough for the amber liquid to be accessible to Penelope.

“Grab a sip. For the pain.”

Paulie instructed.

Penelope didn’t hesitate, caution be damned. Without a word, the borrower shuffled towards the glass, grabbed some in a cupped palm and sucked it back quick as a shot. She grabbed another mouthful, then another and another until a pleasant laugh rumbled through her bones.

“Damn! Slow down, honey, you’ll get sick.”

Paulie teased with a playfully crooked grin.

Penelope turned to look up at him and snorted

“I could outdrink you if I really tried, Paulie, so shut yer yap.”

The man paused, muttered something Penelope strongly suspected was something rude in Italian and shook his head in disbelief

“You know my name? What, you some Morello mole livin’ in the walls or somethin’?”

She arched a brow

“Well, all-you-gotta-do to learn a bozo’s name in this joint is not to wear ear plugs and wait for one a ya to get mad enough to start shoutin’. Think I learned all my Italian that way, too.”

A smirk accompanied. The searing comfort of the whiskey warmed her belly, her face and best of all, dulled the pain in her shoulder and her wrist.

Paulie let out a loud laugh.

“You ain’t answered my question, though, doll.”

He rested his palm on the tabletop and waited for Penelope to roll off on her own. 

“You a Morello mole?”

She held onto her injured shoulder and managed to stand stubbornly, unwilling to keel over in front of the first bean she’d ever spoken to in her life. 

“Shit, I ain’t got time to work for a different damn crime family when I’m already too busy just keepin’ myself fed living with this one. Now would ya back up a little, buddy? Seein’ just a fella’s chin ain’t exactly the most appealing angle.”

Paulie snorted.

“You callin’ me ugly, little lady?”

Penelope smirked

“I am, unless ya prove me wrong.”

Paulie shook his head

“Anyone ever tell ya about that mouth a yours?”

“Only when I’m singin’.”

Penelope retorted

“Or when I’m kissin’.”

Paulie shifted his arm around behind her and rested his chin on the table top. Those cinnamon eyes fixed on her.

“Alright, smart-ass. How’s this angle? I lookin’ handsome to ya yet?”

The borrower made a show of humming and hawing. The ache still lingered in her injuries but this was easy, familiar- banter. Hiding pain was simpler with a role to play.

“Better. ‘Specially those eyes, ladykiller. And that smile.”

Penelope let out a snort of laughter.

The pair of them shared a few laughs and when the pain crept back up on Penelope again, Paulie went quiet, let her drink from a glass he’d not touched again since he’d discovered her presence.

The night hours passed, quiet on the street outside, Lost Heaven lit dimly by street lamps. Sometimes folks would pass by the window, heads tucked down and minding their own business like they were meant to. Those moments, Paulie was alert and his hand became a wall to hide Penelope in case anyone got the bright idea to peak into Salieri’s at this ungodly hour.

Paulie left Penelope only briefly enough to grab a new jazz record and let it crackle to life on a gramophone. He returned and found her humming along, the familiar words of the chorus springing to her lips as she wiggled along.

“I feel like a dope. I never caught your name.”

Paulie rubbed the back of his neck as he checked the clock on the wall and sank back down his chair, hunched forward to see the borrower better.

“Seems mighty unfair, you knowin’ mine and all.”

Penelope felt her mother’s phantom gaze on her, even if the woman was across town, living safely in the walls of an old florist’s shop. And yet, the syllables produced themselves as if on their own, in tune with muffled brass and drums, Ella Fitzgerald’s voice singing ‘A-Tisket, A-Tasket’.

“Penelope.”

Paulie nodded slowly, tapping his shoe on the floor in time with the beat.

“Don’t know why, thought you’d have…I dunno, a more whimsical name or somethin’.”

He said. Did he want to curse the hands of the clock because they ticked ever closer to him no longer being alone in the restaurant or bless them because he could go home, go to bed and dream of one dynamite dame, even if she was small enough to fit in the palm of his hand?

“If it’s any consolation, my friends call me Spirit.”

She supplied.

“One look at a funny booze bottle label we took and the name stuck. Still got it up in my bedroom.”

Paulie snickered

“See, Spirit suits ya more than Penelope. On account of you havin’ spirit in spades.”

The soldato paused, chewed on a few words and let those earnest, boyish eyes do the talking for him again. His voice was quiet, like he was telling a secret.

“Ain’t met a girl, never mind any fella in my line o’ work that could be so brave. Danglin’ from heights like that, shruggin’ off a dislocated shoulder, hell, talkin’ to a mug as big as I am to you. Now that’s spirit.”

Penelope paused because what could she say to something like that? Humour and teasing were easy with a guy like Paulie, because he played the game like she did- a perfect mask to hide vulnerability, to be strong and confident and assured. She felt her face warm again and the borrower had a hunch it wasn’t just the booze. She shrugged her good shoulder.

Paulie checked the clock again and looked out the window.

“Listen, Spirit, you wanna…”

He rubbed the back of his neck again, tugged on his collar and as he tried to stay smooth.

“I don’t think it’d be really gentlemanly to leave a girl injured in a dive like this. Whaddya say I bring you ‘round my place? Just for a rest, you understand, though I wouldn’t object to a pretty girl askin’ for more.”

Penelope hummed with Ella Fitzgerald, sang each ‘no, no, no’ just for the look of shock and disappointment on Paulie’s face before she burst out laughing.

“I’m messin’ with ya, Paulie. Sure.”

She grinned mischievously.

Paulie’s ears went red and he smoothed his fingers through dark, slicked back hair that was starting to break free from its generous slathering of pomade.

“Like I said before- you got one hell of a mouth on ya.”

Paulie fluttered his lips before resting his chin on the edge of the table, just a smidge too close.

“Might get ya in trouble.”

Penelope felt his words rumble through her body, smelled the whiskey and the smoke on his breath. For a moment, with Paulie’s lips so close, she could hardly think. She managed a snort and that was about all she could do in response.

When that smiling mouth dipped downwards, Penelope went to ask what was wrong, but a whispered curse and a pair of hands quickly gathering her off the table top gave their answer.

“My relief is here. Sit tight and uh… We’ll be outta here soon.”

He murmured as he tucked her in the breast pocket on his shirt carefully. He grabbed his glass of whiskey and drained it quickly, shouldered on his suit jacket and fixed up his shirt collar and tie. He went behind the bar with the glass and deposited it on the shelf where the other dirty ones went when the bell on the door jangled.

“Paulie!”

A familiar voice. Sam, Penelope noted, gritting her teeth against the flare up of pain in her shoulder.

“And there he is, on the dot!”

He greeted. Penelope swayed side to side as Paulie walked. She heard him clap his colleague on the shoulder.

“Aww, you know I always show up on time for ya, Paulie. I know you gotta middle-aisle it with your bed back home after takin’ a night shift.”

Sam grinned. 

“Anything to report?”

Penelope peered up through the narrow opening in Paulie’s shirt pocket and watched him put his hat on, caught sight of the smug smirk on his lips.

“Other than a dead light bulb in the shitter, not a lick. You have fun with that girl you been seein’ last night? You’re lucky I like ya enough to take your watch when you wanna go fool around.”

Sam laughed nervously.

The pair of them chatted a few minutes, light-hearted small-talk and a few tidbits of business. But soon enough, the droning of Paulie’s voice through his chest had Penelope’s eyes drooping without a hope of fighting encroaching sleep.

The next time she awoke, there was a pair of fingers parting the opening of the pocket she laid in.

“Sonovabitch!”

Penelope barked, voice hoarse from sleep and the fingers halted. The whole pocket shook with Paulie’s laugh.

“Well, well! Rise n’ shine, sleepin’ beauty!”

He chuckled. Paulie found purchase on the borrower’s small body and produced her from his pocket.

Paulie’s apartment was ordinary, as far as Penelope could gather- even if, from the limited vantage point, she could annoyingly mark that he was a typical messy bachelor. His coffee table was covered in old newspapers, an overflowing ashtray and at least three dirty coffee cups stained brown on the inside. There was chipped paint in places on the ceiling, simple beige and brown patterned wallpaper and a window that let in slits of light through the blinds. Paulie was seated on the couch, suit jacket off again piled beside him and topped by his hat as he cupped his hands underneath Penelope’s tiny frame.

A moment of silence blanketed the pair as they observed each other somewhere new. The radiator creaked in the corner as it slowly came to life. Above, the sound of footsteps heralded early risers getting reading for the day. There were cars on the street now as opposed to the near silence of the dead night, a road bereft of traffic.

“I still can’t believe you’re real, Spirit.”

Paulie said, his voice hushed as if revealing the secret might make her vanish.

“A real girl, pretty as a peach and fits in the palm of hand. All to myself at that.”

He chuckled.

Penelope managed a smile, still coming-to from a surprisingly deep sleep.

“Don’t get ahead of yourself there, pal. I don’t belong to nobody but myself.”

She paused, reached her good arm out and rested her hand on his thumb, smoothing her fingers over the whorl. Paulie smiled at that small touch like it was the greatest gift he’d ever received. A mobster, of all folks, was treating her like gold. A bean, a human- all of those horror stories of them felt like they’d failed to take into account a big lug like Paulie, who despite his rough exterior, held her like a baby mouse, so careful never to touch too hard or squeeze too tight. Penelope wondered where Paulie learned such gentleness and pictured him holding a baby bird, gently lifting it back to its nest when his fellow Salieri brothers weren’t looking. His hands were so warm, she couldn’t help but lean into that radiating heat. Somehow, Penelope’s shoulder pain didn’t seem so bad when she had the relief of an entire apartment to relax in without worry of being caught- Or this big fella to dote on her, if Paulie seemed inclined.

“...But I ain’t above sharin’ a little, if the right person comes along.”

[chatsurie]

Big scary biker

It was a scary feeling. So now, twenty years after her mother had first given her the advice she did what she had once told her.

The young woman had first acknowledged that she actually was being followed after she had taken the third nonsensical turn and was now to add on to everything happening lost as well. The only thing helping her even the smallest amount that she knew what district she was in.

Kabukicho.

And even that didn't really help her predicament knowing exactly what went bump in the night here. Now it being ten at night this last thing really just added on to her already horrendous day. And even worse, her follower was slowly getting more and more cosy. Starting to holler at her and progressively reducing the distance between the two.

So yes. In Kabukicho at night without a damn way to defend herself because she had figured she could do the way to and from her university without her pepper spray, she remembered the advice her mother had given her as a five year old.

'Go and find the meanest looking biker around.'

Shouldn't be that difficult here, right? Sure she wasn't a child anymore so the strict ' we don't harm children' policy didn't apply to her anymore, but you couldn't fault a girl for trying. If worst came to worst maybe they would end up fighting over who would get to have her and she could make a quick get away then.

Nearly in a jog now, she quickened her steps. Maybe she would even find a street that wasn't seemingly abandoned and she would be able to just loose him in the bustle of the night?

Please?

This couldn't happen to her.

So deep in her thoughts and still most concerned with the man behind her still gaining on her, she nearly missed the opening door of a bar just a few meters ahead of her.

A man had stepped out. There was something about his posture leaning against the railing while taking a drag from his cigarette that was frighteningly familiar.

That couldn't be, right? But then again, she didn't think she would ever forget the way he held himself.

“Wakasa?” she whispered. Wakasa Imaushi had once been one of her greatest fear having lived in the same neighbourhood as him and therefore in the same neighbourhood he had ran his Gang in. Her twin brother had lost some money to him from time to time. Sometimes coming home late and beaten up by some of Wakasa's cronies. Whenever she had seen him outside she had crossed the street and kept her head down. The thought of avenging her brother for all the pain he had had to tolerate never even crossing her mind after the first time she had looked into his frighteningly bored eyes.

Now, that same Wakasa seemed like a saving grace.

If it were any other situation she might have considered that the way life liked to play her at the moment could be considered funny. Now however, she simply sped up again.

However before she could completely reach him, she felt a hand clamp around her wrist.

“I think you've played hard to get for enough time now. Come on Babe, come home with me. I can show you a good time.”

The grip he had on her itched on her skin.

“I don't want to,” She told the man clearly, “just leave me the fuck alone!”

The stranger rolled his eyes starting to pull her into him, while she struggled. “Come on. I know you want it too.”

“No, I fucking don't fucking creep! I'll scream if you don't let go of me right now!” The young woman spat at him as sharp as her terrified state let her.

“And what? Think that guy over there would save you? Baby. He's what five foot something? I'd body him in a second. Don't tell me you wanna be responsible for someone ending up in the hospital?”

God he was fucking gross. And hurting Wakasa? She had never seen anyone come even close. Trying to kick him in his balls to get just the tiniest bit closer to the white Leopard failed horrendously as he simply blocked her. She hadn't been fast enough.

She really needed some fucking training. What if she ended up in a similar situation again?

“That was a dirty move, Darling.” The man snapped, starting to twist her wrist.

That was enough.

“Wakasa!” The scream was accompanied with an excruciating crack of her wrist.

She wasn't able to turn around to see if the man had heard her. She was much too occupied trying to get out of the man's grip that hurt even more now. Tears slowly building in her eyes.

Please. Please he had to have heard her!

She didn't have to wander much longer as a well known drawl was heard behind her.

“What 'cha doing with the lady, man?” He had always sounded uninterested in everything but when you knew him you were able to detect a certain coldness. One she had had to hear often enough during her childhood, while hiding behind her brother terrified.

Now that she thought about it, at least he had never broken a fucking bone.

“None of your business, pal. Move along and just forget what you saw. Nothings going on here. My girlfriends just drunk.”

“Girlfriend, huh?” The experienced fighter whispered nearly to himself, “is that what they call this shit these days? Man I'm getting old. Ya know,” he went on a bit louder, while putting a hand on the strangers wrist in turn, “I know this one quite well. And I know for a fact woman's smart enough to not be with someone like you. So I'll be real nice here and give you one last chance to let go of someone who's under my fucking protection.”

The man who was still holding her wrist in a hurtful way spat on the ground next to Wakasa's feet. “What you got a crush on her? We can share ya know?”

That seemed to be the last straw the man had needed. She had only heard a whooshing sound as Wakasa's foot made contact with the man's stomach, finally freeing her hand as he stumbled backwards.

“Get into the fucking bar,” Wakasa told her an angry glimmer in his eyes, “Shin and Benkei are there too.” She had never seen him that angry.

Nodding at him she whispered a small thanks before basically sprinting to the bar still a little distance away.

She remembered Shinichiro clearly. Wakasa had mellowed down just the tiniest bit, after he had joined the charismatic man. Shin had always been nice to her brother and her.

And now, looking at him, seemingly unsuccessfully trying to chat up the waitress, it seemed like he had never changed.

Cradling her wrist against her chest she slowly made her way up to the two men as Benkei laughed at Shinichiro's despair after the waitress had left.

“He-” clearing her throat she tried again just the tiniest bit louder, “Hey guys.”

Both men turned around, a surprised look in their eyes.

“Who are-” Benkei started a pensive look in his eyes probably trying to figure out why she seemed so familiar, before Shin made the connection.

“Yo (Name), how are ya. I haven't seen you in some time. How's your brother? What are you even doing here. Isn't it a bit late? Kabukicho is dangerous ya know?”

Pulling out a chair with her unhurt wrist she plopped down on a chair.

“Whoa, whoa whoa. Pull back a lil'. That's (Name)? Damn you grew up fast. Still remember you as a little runt.”

A blush slowly creeping up, she rubbed her neck. “Well, I obviously grew up,” she told him defensively.

“Wait, you came in here, despite seeing Wakasa? He did go out to smoke. I thought you were still terrified of him? I told him he should apologise to you and your brother.” Shin chimed in as well.

Scratching the skin of her arm in discomfort she nodded, “yeah, I actually uh, spoke to him. He uh, told me you guys were in here.”

“You alright?” Benkei asked her, after throwing an inquisitive look down her, “what the fuck happened with your wrist?”

Gulping she took a sip out of Shinichiro's glass of water that stood next to her. Her hands still shaking.

“There uh, there was this guy that followed me? I kinda accidentaly ended up in Kabukicho trying to shake him and um, well, we kind of got into this ruffle just a short distance away from the bar and anyways, Waka- Wakasa is currently dealing with him.”

“The fuck?!” Shinichiro called.

“I'm taking her to the hospital now,” a bored voice came from right behind her chair, nearly sending her into a heart attack. God did he always have to be this fucking silent? “Maybe deal with the piece of shit lying outside though? I don't exactly want a murder charge on me. Annoying as hell.

Benkei and Shinichiro nodded as she got up with the two of them, following the three men outside, after they had paid.

Avoiding to even throw a glance towards the direction everything happened, the woman busied herself with trying to get to terms with the fact that she would need to get on a bike. God, she hated bikes. Her brother sometimes took her and he drove like a fucking lunatic. It was a wonder he was still alive.

“Come on. We need to get this looked at.” Wakasa called out to her, holding out a helmet, before realising she would have trouble putting it on.

As he stepped closer and put the helmet on her surprisingly gentle she felt her heart speeding up again. This time out of a different reason. Why did he have to smell so good?

A shiver went down her spine as his bruised knuckles came into contact with the skin on her neck, as he fastened the helmet with a click.

“Now. Lets get you to the hospital. You sure you can do the ride without panicking? You've been weirdly calm the whole time. If you need anything just pull my shirt.”

I think the adrenaline is still doing a good job. My wrist doesn't even hurt yet.”

Wakasa looked away. For a short second she could have sworn to see something like guilt swarm in his eyes.

“Sorry. I didn't realize until you screamed.”

She shook her head as she got on behind him. “No, it's fine. It's not something you expect to happen I guess.”

Throwing her one last glance, he carefully pulled her arms from the bike around his small, warm but most importantly solid waist. It was weird. She always knew he was strong. But now feeling his muscles under his shirt just made everything more real.

This had really happened.

She had nearly been raped.

Wakasa had saved her.

“Thank you.” She whispered against his back, as the bike came to life and just before he started driving she simply felt him tapping her hand in a calming manner.

At the hospital she had gotten a pain killer and something to calm her down, after the first panic attack had washed over her.

This was real.

And she had just been really really fucking lucky. If she hadn't taken the turns she had taken, if he hadn't went out for a smoke? If she hadn't called out to him, if he hadn't-.

Her thoughts were interrupted, by Wakasa stretching next to her, before slightly flicking her forehead. “I can nearly hear you thinking yourself into another panic attack. Your save. Everything's fine. I won't let anyone hurt you. I promise. And he sure as hell will never fucking touch you again. So no need to panic. I'm here okay? You're safe now.”

[writing-whump]

it's not my fault i'm in love with him. 😄🎉🎢🤢🤮 for Matt? my baby boy

From this ask game. Thanks for the ask, Soup!💕

The trio has a bonding moment experience with Vienna roller coasters. Matthew eats too much before a ride. Warning for motion sickness and emeto.

Unexpected turns

"Everyone celebrates the end of a semester, not the start of it," Matthew said, pouting his way to Prater. It was the biggest and most famous roller coaster side of Vienna - he had quite a view of it from the economy uni campus - but he hadn't been there for years. It was for little kids, damn it.

"No can do," Seline said cheerfully, determined to keep up a good mood. "We should celebrate all new beginnings and endings. And beginning semester isn't something to mourn, thank you."

"Speak for yourself. Only you can be happy about school staring," Matthew grumbled.

"What can I do? I hold the seminars now," she said smugly.

"Look at you, not losing any humility over it," Isaiah said with a snicker. He had a long black coat and by all means looked like a parent escorting them to the roller coasters. How did he make himself so much older and more serious just by looking and acting elegant? It was annoying.

"That's rich coming from 'my research project is financed directly by the government for my incredibly important goal of city planning development for mental welfare'," Seline said, turning to stick out her tounge at him.

She was so impressed and proud of Isaiah getting the position like it was her doing or something. Matthew could just roll his eyes.

When Isaiah was smooth enough not to bring it up, she always had to.

"So, what do you guys want to do first?" Isaiah asked.

Seline looked pointedly to the giant ferris wheel.

Matthew groaned. "Oh come on. At least choose something for adults."

"That's exactly for adults. You can have lunch up there, did you know? There is an awesome view with a map and it's slow enough to-"

"Exactly my point. It's slow. Let's go to something real."

"Something scary to get sick over? No way," Seline protested. "Though I wouldn't mind a big boat. The way the high swings make your stomach jump is amazing."

"And you don't wanna get sick, eh?" Matthew shook his head.

"I never get sick on boats. I love the feeling. I just don't want to scream my head off on those fast ones with crazy angled turns."

Matthew rolled his eyes. "Then our ways will be parting, I'm afraid."

Seline huffed, but she followed him to the rides nonetheless, waiting at the bench in front of it.

There was lots of fire in that sweet blond disposition of hers, and she wasn't one to back down in the smallest of things. As if sticking to her decisions was a moral mission of hers. But she still went with them, determined to make this a bonding experience.

Once you got behind the rage at how wolves treated witches and the push for affiliation with packs, Seline was actually quite lonely. It was something he was realizing only now that they were living together. Introvert alright, but even they needed contact.

On the other hand Isaiah couldn't say no to either of them. Too gracious to leave Seline alone, but when she sat down at the bank it didn't take that much convincing to get him to join him.

Matthew was excited. It was with big disappointment that he realized that not even the most brutal of roller coasters provoked any interesting reaction from Isaiah. The raven was as stoic and smooth as ever. The maximum he got was an amused smile here and there.

Maybe not everyone had to be so vocal about their emotions. Isaiah was more of a holding it all in kind of guy.

Matthew wasn't going to let that ruin the rides though. After he found the hammer, he rediscovered his childhood passion for the crazy turns and speed and couldn't get enough of them.

He could laugh and scream however he wanted, thank you.

And watching Seline's reaction was a joy. They varied between disbelieving, horrified and actually worried. Matthew got a record on the Mamba and Hammer while she shook even watching them get on and off.

When they opted for lunch at one of the cafes, Matthew had his voice almost screamed off, but he felt so happy with the adrenaline waves he had to admit it.

This was a great idea.

Seline still watched him in disbelief, like he grew a second head, but she was smiling and playing with her rings self-consciously in a way he learned to recognize. Nervous and hopeful and overthinking this. She was really trying.

The realization prompted a wave of affection swell up in his chest and he followed the impulse to throw an arm around her waist. She squealed, but didn't protest.

Matthew didn't stop there and grabbed Isaiah as well. The guy was way too polite about personal space to be spontaneous.

Matthew happily secured both of them, with himself in the middle. Seline was giggling like a little girl and Isaiah was pointedly looking away, trying to not let them see the insistent smile.

Matthew was getting more and more convinced that if those two ever acted on their attraction to each other, he of all people, would have to be the one initiating it. It was incredibly tiring just watching them skate around the issue for eternity.

Seline treated dating like job interviews - here are the 100 questions about our political and philosophical alignment plus the 5 tests on unexpected reactions and loyalty. Brrr.

Isaiah had his closeness issues of being nice to everyone and not particular to anyone. And there were the secrets and mysteries and closed doors Matthew had the feeling would have to force his way through to find out anything. Somebody would have to take them all down.

The living together helped in the sense that wolves were very territorial. Sharing close space meant they treated each other like a pack on instinct, no mind the formalities. And just like Isaiah planned, other packs saw them similarly and were much more reluctant to pick fights with them.

In no time the three of them became touchy about the shared apartment and there was the unspoken reluctance to bring visitors lightly. Thank god neither of them was into casual dating or one night stands, or that could have been a problem.

If there was a spectrum between "roomates" and a "pack" they wouldn't be quite there yet, but they would be moving up on it.

The realization, the thrill of the ride, the effort they were all obviously taking to make this work formed an new kind of untrained happiness around them as they ordered food.

Matthew felt genuinely happy. Something about having steady friends, roomates to come back to, have someone take time for him and indulge his ideas was creating incredibly strong feeling of peace and steadiness against his normally easily irrated personality. Maybe being angry and a troublemaker wasn't all he could be. Not by a long shot.

They ordered three giant meals that they shared around to get good taste. Isaiah came with the idea for proper Aperol Spritz and Seline insisted on trying out the cakes and coffee.

Matthew didn't even notice through all their grant ideas about what else to order that Seline focused too much on her Sachertorte to finish her gaint salad and that Isaiah let him eat most of his Schnitzel.

At the end, Matthew was panting with the extertion of fitting all of that food in, while the two had the audacity to watch him with taunting smiles.

"How can you fit all of that in?" Seline asked, sipping on her coffee. She always had coffee after food.

"Cause I'm no lightweight like you. Couldn't you have just taken the cake? It's the only thing you finished."

"It's a celebration!" Seline protested with a grin.

Matthew muffled a burp against his hand. His stomach was bulged out, pressing against his pants. He was satisfyingly full.

Seline scrunched her eyebrows at him playfully.

"What? My heroic effort is saving the food here, so I don't want to hear any complains," Matthew said with a shrug.

"Alright, Mr Hero. I'll ask for the check and we can go home," Isaiah said, nodding to the waiter.

"Home? Already? We still got time till it gets dark." Matthew didn't want this moment to end. Or this day. It was way too enjoyable, like a new era was starting for him.

"You can't actually want to ride anything after eating all that," Seline said, pointing at the series of empty plates on the table.

"Oh, you wanna bet?" Matthew leaned forward eagerly.

"Please, don't challenge him," Isaiah groaned.

"No, I'm serious," Matthew interrupted. "I didn't expect this to be so fun," he grinned at Seline, indirectly giving her the credit.

Seline shook her head in exasperation, blushing slightly. "I don't mind staying longer if you guys want to," she said, eyes wandering to the floor.

Matthew loved seeing this shyer side of her. It came out only when she wasn't unsure about something - which wasn't a lot - but social interactions belonged to it.

"Not too long. Just one last ride at the hammer," he promised.

Selime opted for waving them from a nearby seat at the fountains as they went to buy the coupons. Matthew had been on the hammer 3 times today already and he couldn't get enough of it. The feeling of somersaults in the air and the fast up and down movement with the spinning head left him crazy thrilled.

Isaiah watched him with an raised eyebrow as he got them both the entrance coupons and climbed up in their seats. Matthew just snickered at his concern, so the other man dutifully got his seat beat on as well.

It was middle of the second week of the semester, so Prater was empty, except for some schools kids coming in early after class. There was no better opportunity to enjoy his favourite brand of a roller coaster.

The steel of the pole keeping him in the seat felt tighter than the previous times, but Matthew didn't pay it any mind. He spend the slow ride up to the top with anticipatory grin and an occasional wave towards Seline's fountain.

And then the somersaults started.

Matthew's stomach twisted on the inside with the sudden movement. His head was spinning in a way that wasn't enjoyable in the slightest. He lost any sense of direction and orientation as if his head detached itself and simply rotated in the air, while his stomach stayed somewhere at the top of the roller coaster, not keeping up.

The wagon came to a sudden stop before speeding up again to start all over. Matthew braced against his seat, iron grip on the pole in front of him. The nausea hit him like a bus. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't tell right from left. Everything was spinning and he was very aware of his lunch twisting inside him. Like someone dropped stones into him and then started shaking them.

And then the whole ride started all over.

It was plain torture. Matthew kept all his effort on gripping the pole, closing his eyes in the process, hoping it might help with the nausea. But he felt the last bits of Schnitzel and cake mixing together at the back of his tounge. He just wanted the thing to stop.

Matthew didn't realize the hammer stopped until he felt someone's hand on his shoulder. "Matthew? Come on, it's over."

Matthew opened his eyes to slits to see Isaiah leaning over him. It wasn't enough to discern his expression though and the mere attempt had his head spinning anew.

Isaiah seemed to understand something was wrong, because he reached around him to open his seat belt and gently coaxed his hands from the pole. He was hoisting Matthew up by the elbow soon after.

Matthew followed Isaiah's effort and direction, not trying to decide anything for himself.

His stomach finally caught up with the somersaults, flipping itself up and down, right to left. Without Isaiah's strength his legs would have given up several times, except the raven always steadied him and kept them moving.

They stumbled around the back of the roller coaster to a green area, barely covered by a few bushes.

"There is a bathroom around the cor-"

Matthew interrupted him with a loud retch, stumblig forward. The pain in his stomach was coming in waves, contracting in and out.

Isaiah braced an arm against this chest and Matthew grabbed on to it with both hands as he heaved. A torrent of chunky vomit flew out of his mouth. He shook with the force, tipping forward. Isaiah braced against him to keep him up.

Just in time for round two. Matthew's body doubled over in half, projectile vomiting over Isaiah's arm.

"Okay, you are okay. Just get it up," Isaiah said, rubbing Matthew's back with the hand that wasn't currently serving as Matthew's guardrail.

Matthew could taste the whole menu coming back up, the chunky meat, the mushy cake and the soup and cola in a disgusting mix. He heaved over the grossest itself, surprised his body could still jump with so much energy.

The last wave was mostly liquid and finally allowed him a break.

Matthew panted heavily. His shirt was sticking to him, he completely sweated through it as if he jumped in a pool. He was shaking with the effort of the heaves, bracing against Isaiah and blinking dazedly.

"Better?" Isaiah asked with a sarcastic half-smile.

His stomach felt like a warezone, still flipping and twisting. He spat on the ground, which made him dry heave, but nothing else came up.

"That hurt," he croaked, one hand still holding Isaiah's arm, the going to massage the offended organ.

"I told you that wasn't a good idea right after eating," Isaiah said nonchalantly. He stayed rooted to the place, letting Matthew breathe and slowly lift himself up.

Matthew wanted to glare, but all he managed was squint at the sun. His head was still swimming and his stomach hurt like crazy. The vomiting helped with the nausea at least, though he still felt full and achy.

"You did. And yet you came with me anyway," the red haired man grumbled. It wasn't fair Isaiah got to be right and not sick at the same time.

"I didn't eat half as much as you," Isaiah said, steering Matthew away from the mess pooling at their feet. Matthew was grateful for it, cause the smell was suffocating. "And someone had to keep an eye on you."

Matthew swallowed the saliva overflowing his mouth experimentally. He was too sick to care at the time, but the emberessment was catching up to him.

"Don't tell Seline?" Matthew tried.

"I think she noticed. Asked the guy at the controls to stop it earlier."

"Ugh. What cued her in?"

"You weren't laughing on the zoomed in pictures," Isaiah said.

She was taking pictures of them on the rides? Oh my.

"I'm sorry. I didn't want to ruin-"

"Oh, shush. You didn't ruin anything," Isaiah said, carefully pushing Matthew's arm around his neck. "Don't know why you wanted to make yourself sick though."

"Thought I could take it," Matthew said tiredly, feeling stupid himself. He leaned against Isaiah, not minding how pathetic that must have looked as they maneuvered back into the street between the attractions and stands.

Matthew rested his weight on Isaiah gratefully as he watched Seline buying a set of water bottles from the nearby stand. Somehow she always managed to be very practical, when it came to a crisis situation. The picture of calm. Just like Isaiah.

He coughed and smiled to himself. Not just fair weather friends he got himself, eh?

[glass-coffin-will-graham]

firstly, when you get this, you have to answer with 5 things you like about yourself, publicly then, send this ask to 10 of your favorite followers (non-negotiable, positivity is cool) <3

Hey brother! I got two of these so I'm just gonna answer this one, but shout out to @skybluesocks for sending one too :)

Things I like about myself:

1. I've got a pretty damn great aesthetic sense, which means I've also got a pretty damn great sense of style

2. I'm very creative, and a good writer/storyteller

3. Legend says I'm a pretty funny guy

4. I'm braver than I give myself credit for the vast majority of the time. My particular issues make a lot of things extremely intense and scary, and I still buckle down and do them. Being scared of more doesn't make you a coward, it means you spend much more time facing up to your fear, and that's pretty damn brave.

5. I'm always working hard to get better at treating people well and doing the right thing according to my principles.

I don't have enough followers to actually send this to anybody, so instead I'll give each of you something I like about you:

Ms. Optimistic: I really admire how deeply and intensely you think about things. Your insights are always blowing me away and encouraging me to stretch to think more like you, and it's always so awesome to see the Discord essays you can write about the smallest details.

DM Bluesocks: you're SO charming when you get hyped up. I love how you express your enthusiasm so uniquely, intensely, and genuinely; it always gives me Bro Emotions to see you get Possessed by Creatures and make your trademark Stances and Expressions.

[gloryhrs]

⟡ 𝐒𝐋𝐄𝐄𝐏𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑! ━━ 「 Uryu Ishida. 」

male reader. ʚɞ short (｡o_o｡)""

˚୨୧⋆｡˚ "HEY Uryu! Are we still on for our sleepover date?" You pulled your chair up to sit in front of the black-haired male whose face was stuffed into the book he was reading. "Of course, you’ve been planning this for a while right? I would be an idiot to miss out." He looked away from the book with a small smile graced upon his lips, he watched as your smile brightened and your ears perk up slightly. He knew you’d been excited about this small date you planned for a whole week, he could tell from your rapid speaking and energetic movements that you couldn’t wait to spend time with him again.

"Yes! I can’t wait to make forts, tell scary stories, and eat sweets with you!" You laughed whilst eating your lunch with the same bright smile on your face. As you continued to eat Uryu couldn’t help but admire you, everything about you was so bright till the point where he would have to cover his eyes because of your sunshine-like persona. You were quite sensitive as well, which explained why he treats you like fragile glass and distant himself away from you when he’s upset. He hated seeing you sad, especially if he’s the reason why you’re so down.

"Hmm? Where’s your lunch? If you don’t have any then you can have some of mine!" You spoke after swallowing another piece of your dumpling which made him snap out of his thoughts, Uryu watched as you picked the piece of meat up with your chopsticks and held it towards his mouth. Instead of denying your offer he slowly opened his mouth to taste the delicious-smelling food you cooked, as soon as the food reached his tastebuds Uryu felt a random burst of energy run through his body.

"Was it good?" You removed the chopsticks from between your boyfriend’s lips with a smile, "It was amazing, thank you." He chuckled at your hopeful reaction, you loved cooking for him. Seeing his reactions after he eats your food never fails to make you die from laughter.

"I’m glad you like it! Now here’s some more!"

˚୨୧⋆｡˚ THE sound of your laughter was the only one that could be heard from the Ishida household, the beautiful sound coming from Uryu’s room as the two males sat in the large fort they made. It was almost three in the morning when the couple decided to paint each other's faces, after staying up all night doing random shenanigans. "Stay still baby, I’m almost done!" You mumbled loud enough for him to hear as you sat on his lower abdomen with your lips often grazing against his. The male beneath you hummed softly with his hands positioning themselves on your waist, "Take your time, meine liebe." He closed his eyes just in time to miss your flustered state from the german pet name he gave you.

"Okay, you can sit up now!" You moved off his lap to reach for the mirror to show your boyfriend the multi-colored marking you created on his face, after getting a good look at his face the male couldn’t help but snicker at the countless cats you drew on his face. "It's adorable, I loved the way you drew whiskers." He yawned before kissing your cheek to show his appreciation for you. You loved the way he praised you for the smallest of things, it made you feel like the luckiest guy in the world. The Quincy yawned once more and shifted his position so his head was now laying in your lap.

"You’re so sweet Uryu, I’m so lucky to have you as my boyfriend." You ran your hands through his hair as he drowsily smiled whilst you removed his glasses so you could place a kiss on his closed eyelid and another one on his lips, which he immediately returned. "Goodnight, darling." You shifted yourself into a more relaxed position so your lover could now rest his head on your chest. "Goodnight, liebste." He kissed your lips one final time before drifting off into a deep sleep, with his lover holding him in his arms.

extended ending.

˚୨୧⋆｡˚ "THOSE damn kids." Ryūken grumbled to himself as he made his way to his son’s room, the only reason why he didn’t go up to his son’s room and lecture him was that he had his boyfriend over. Now that the night is finally over he can finally talk to Uryu about his behavior, after meeting his destination the man opened the door and his eyes widened at the sight of the fort that took up all the space in his son’s room. "What the hell?" He questioned himself whilst stepping over the multiple candy wrappers, paintbrushes, and books. The man tsk’d under his breath before taking a peak in the fort, "Uryu you—" Ryūken closed his mouth immediately at the sight of the sleeping teens cuddled up with paint on their faces before him. Deciding to have a change of heart he closed the covers back and made his way out of his son’s room.

" Maybe I’ll just talk with him some other time."

©️ gloryhrs, 031223. — notes and reblogs are appreciated! (≧∇≦)/