#the thumbnail is so tiny whoops

[rcbirdy]

They're watching a movie about taxes.

[lizardlicks]

Momo surprise

“I’m a little worried about Momo,” Aang said to his friends as they gathered around the morning campfire and started preparing for their day. “He’s been acting kind of off lately.”

The lemur in question was fussily nosing around Aang's abandoned bedroll in tight circles. As the group of teens watched, he laid down in a curl, chirped unhappily then got up and resumed tugging and scratching at the bedding. “How can you tell?” Sokka asked. He was by no means a lemur behavior expert. To him all of Momo’s actions were strange. It was possible that Aang's Avatar-ness gave him some kind of spirit connection to flying lemurs. Unlikely, but still possible.

“He doesn’t have as much energy, even though he’s sleeping more.” Aang explained, frowning. “You don’t think he’s sick, do you?”

“Maybe it’s the climate?” Katara offered helpfully. She wasn’t a lemur expert either, but she and Sokka had struggled the first few weeks with adjusting to the Earth Kingdom’s warmer weather. As far as she or anybody else knew, Momo has lived his entire life in the towering, windswept peaks around the Southern Air Temple, so maybe the sudden change had affected him too, she reasoned. 

“It’s because you’ve been giving him too many treats,” Sokka told Aang matter-of-factly. Lemurs were outside of his wheelhouse, but he'd helped the older boys with conditioning the polar dogs for sled pulling every fall. Spoiled pups turned lazy and fat, a hard lesson to learn for the littler children who only wanted to express their love.

“You think so?” Aang looked contrite.

“Yup,” Sokka said as he reached to snag a piece of star berry off the board Katara was using to prepare their breakfast. He snatched his hand back with a squawk when she smacked him.

“He is looking a little pudgy, Aang,” Katara said without taking her eyes off the food. Poaching brothers were too wily to be given that kind of an opening.

“Monkey feathers. I just can’t resist him when he gives me The Eyes.”

“I know,” Katara agreed. “He’s weaponized his cuteness.” “You’re going to have to.” Sokka nimbly dodged a sister elbow, but he still didn’t quite manage to snag any tidbits from Katara’s pile of fruit. “It’s for his own good.”

Momo, apparently noticing he was being talked about, finally abandoned the bedding to perch on Katara’s knee. “No, bad lemur!” She snatched her cutting board up and held it over her head. “No more extras for you!”

Sokka whooped in victory as he snagged a slice of moon peach and popped it into his mouth before Katara could adjust her defenses. “You’re on a diet, mister,” he informed the lemur as he sucked the juice from his fingers.

Momo chittered and pinned his ears back.

“Sorry, buddy,” Aang said regretfully as he scooped Momo up and tucked him into the crook of his elbow. “I already gave you a big handful of lychee nuts when you woke me up, you’re gonna have to wait until lunch time for more food.”

Aang could never quite tell just how much human speech Momo understood, but the lemur appeared to grasp something about the situation. He curled his tail around and grasped it anxiously, cooing at Aang with all the force of The Eyes that one tiny flying mammal could muster.

Aang held strong. For all of three seconds. “Okay... well. Maybe a couple berries wouldn’t hurt?”

--------

“AAAAAANG!”

The young monk bolted upright in his bedroll at the sound of his name, startled out of a sound sleep. Sokka was loud. Loud and very upset.

“What!? What is it?” He blinked several times, then rubbed at his face, trying to get his eyes to focus on anything distinct before he realized the reason he couldn't see anything was because dawn was still hours away. The moon hung in the sky, a crescent barely thicker than a thumbnail, with no light to offer. Hedgegoosebumps broke out across his arms. Aang hugged himself as the night pressed in, suddenly no longer a sheltering veil, but full of hidden threat from enemies he couldn’t see. 

The sleeping lump to his right rustled and shifted as Katara sat up in her bed roll. “Sokka-haaah,” her voice stuttered, breaking off with a yawn. “What's wrong?”

“What's wrong? What’s wrong!?” Sokka was rapidly climbing in pitch with each repetition. “Why don’t you look at this situation and tell me, huh?”

“Uhh.” Aang squinted into the dark and tried to make sense of their camp. Appa was still peacefully snoring several yards away, completely oblivious to the sudden chaos. Katara was wiggling and shuffling her way out of her sleeping bag, growling unflattering things at Sokka under her breath, and Sokka. Sokka was standing in the middle of their sleeping circle. He looked like he was holding something, but Aang could not for the life of him see what it was.

“We can't see anything without light, Sokka,” Katara groused. She finally won her struggle with her sleeping roll and started patting around for her bag. “You couldn't have lit a fire before you started yelling loud enough to alert the Fire Lord himself?”

“Oh, gee, why didn't I think of that! Could it possibly be because I'm dealing with Aang's mess over here!?”

Aang didn't remember leaving a mess. In fact he'd been careful to pack up everything before turning in for the night just in case they had to make a quick getaway. A few too many lost supplies had trained him quickly.

“What are you talking about?” He asked while stretching, less alarmed now that he knew Sokka was just. Well, being Sokka. They weren't being attacked, there was no life or death situation he had to fight through in the pitch dark.

Katara, having retrieved some kindling from her pack, scooted over to their banked campfire and began to poke the coals awake. She had apparently given up any hope of going back to sleep until her brother was sorted out. Even Appa was starting to rumble awake with the commotion.

“You said Momo was a boy!” Sokka hissed. 

Aang. Blinked. “Yeah?” he said, uncertainty clouding his mind. He must still be dreaming, why would Sokka wake up the whole camp to debate their pet’s gender?

“Then explain this!” Sokka shoved his cupped hands out, away from the protective shield of his body, just as the fire flared with a pop and Katara's satisfied grunt.

Cradled in between his palms, fur still sodden and sticking, was the teeniest, tiniest lemur Aang had ever seen.

[btwmah]

Tony Touya Hawk Pro-Skater (Bonus Bit)

"I don't think I'm supposed to be standing this way," Izuku mused while staring at his wobbling feet. The skateboard underneath him wiggled by centimeters as he maintained his balance. Touya hummed in thought, scrolling back through the online video he'd pulled up just that morning.

The redhead let the video play without audio for a minute as Izuku bit his lip, subtly trying to adjust without letting the skateboard slip out from underneath him. Again. At least his elbows weren't scraped up too badly.

He could balance on the edges of high-rise buildings and pull graceful maneuvers on his rocket skates, but he can't stand still on a skateboard? Unfair. Perhaps he was too used to moving his body forward and not sideways?

"Try moving your left foot closer to the end," Touya advised after careful consideration.

"Alriiiiight," Izuku slowly said as he shifted. The tiny wobbles lessened.

"Okay, good!" Touya encouraged. He'd done much better on standing and moving slowly on the skateboard than Izuku, having gone first in the attempt. They were both outside the apartment complex on the smooth concrete before the sidewalk, where they wouldn't risk bumping into anyone.

"Now, brace with your front foot and push off the ground with your back. And bring it up to the position you're in now so you coast."

Izuku poked his tongue out in concentration as he followed the other's instructions. Touya made this part effortless, for how slowly he had rolled away in the end. The green-haired boy decided not to overthink it and pushed off. The skateboard moved across the concrete, Izuku keeping his knees low for his center of balance.

"Hell yeah!" Touya cheered, just as Izuku had whooped in glee when the younger boy got it first try.

Izuku tried recalling how to stop. He put his back foot down once more, trusting his leg muscles to keep him from moving.

Except the board didn't fully stop, throwing off his balance and he ended up stumbling away from the skateboard.

"Okay, not bad. We have the movement down!" Izuku said happily. He'd need to probably focus more on starting and stopping, but it wasn't scary actually moving on the board. Touya grinned in response.

"We can do turning next?"

Izuku glanced behind him at the growing crowds of people just walking through the area, stopping at the cafe, or heading to the beach. Maybe they shouldn't have done this on a weekend.

"Maybe we can do that when we have more space to actually move."

Touya walked up to Izuku, snickering, and reached down to pick up the skateboard. "True. Knowing our luck, we'll knock over someone and cause a concussion."

"You mean get a concussion or give one?"

"Probably both."

Izuku snorted. "You have a point. Okay, do you want to keep practicing getting on and off?"

"We can," Touya said, pulling out his phone again. "But there's also something I wanna try. Do you know that really popular American skateboarder decades ago?"

Izuku shook his head.

"Tenko has one of his video games, I think, I don't think we've played it much. But this Tony Hawk dude also made a whole bunch of tutorials on how to do tricks."

Izuku leaned over to peer at Touya's phone and whistled in surprise at the sheer amount of videos. Though there were plenty of thumbnails of a guy on a skateboard in midair and just...no. Baby steps. He told Touya this with a mock-frown, earning another bout of laughter in response.

"I'm not suggesting we start using ramps or something, but look, here, there are some stationary tricks. I wanna try a kickflip. Watch, see what he does?"

And yes, okay, with the instructions and the older blonde man in the video patiently explaining everything, a kickflip seemed like something Touya could do, even as a first-timer.

"Sure, go for it!" Izuku encouraged.

Touya grinned in response and dropped the skateboard down, eager.

-.-.-.-.-

Needless to say, Touya's twisted ankle didn't take long to heal but the stung pride from his friends' and soulmate's laughter hurt worse. Izuku couldn't escape the teasing either since besides the scrapes he got catching himself when falling off the board, he'd gotten knicked by the pieces of glass from the broken window they shattered near the apartment when the skateboard went flying.

They immediately called in for repairs and avoided the ensuing commotion of witnesses.

They decided to work more on the basics, perhaps on a less busy day. But they'd be skateboard pros in no time.

For now, Touya and Izuku just curled up and cracked open Tenko's old copy of Tony Hawk Pro Skater 9.

[kaylaillust2024]

Poster Layouts + Character posing

We've had a look into poster layouts/composition, some genre specific layouts, character posing and how to get good poses - take from irl(yourselves)

Legit Thumbnails can be a -struggle- for me, cranking out 18 of these when i tend to think alot when the focus is on doing proper layouts - spacing, alignment, etc AHHHHH

I also made notes and ive highlighted them in purple so i remember their there cause i can write in *tiny* when i want to whoop

[microposting]

m/m/f, cnc, rough

Carefully… loose. And slow. And pausing frequently. But make it convincing, but don’t finish yet, but fuck he had gotten himself way too excited about this. Mateo glanced at his dresser again. And stop doing that! A little patience… they were always teasing him about his youthful impatience. 

See, that was the real issue with age gaps in relationships. All the goddamn teasing.

He heard a shuffle, and just imagining Farrow’s point of view was getting him going again. Tucked away between his folded up t-shirts, watching from the darkness, Mateo jacking off like some distant impossibly powerful force to him. Fuck, he was so little! 

He held off. He managed for a bit longer, a few more minutes, before the image popped up in his mind: Farrow, fighting, kicking, screaming. Mateo couldn’t take it anymore. He had to move this along or he was gonna cum way too early and where was the fun in that.

His gaze slid back to the dresser drawer and his shoulders stiffened. The tiny eyes watched back. They widened and darted back into darkness, but not before Mateo was up and tearing the drawer out. Thunk . “Fuck!” Poor Farrow was lying on the bottom, pushing himself up with one hand and cradling his head with the other. Whoops. He seemed fine, though. Mateo had seen him weather worse falls, that was for sure. Borrowers were tough little critters.

“What the hell?” Mateo snapped. “What the fuck were you doing in there?”

Farrow looked up at him, gasped, and tried to scramble off. Mateo reached down and pinched his ankle, and his dick twitched watching Farrow try to tug away like a trapped animal. His calves were thinner than Mateo’s fingers… absolutely powerless. He swept up both legs in his fist and held him up to his face upside-down before sitting right back down on his bed. 

His expression twisted into disgust. “Oh, God,” he muttered. He gave the erection poking out from Farrow’s waistband a light flick and Farrow yelped. “I’ve got a pervert infestation.”

“It-it’s not what it looks like!” he squeaked. The blood rushing to his face was cute. 

“Sorry, do you normally run around with your hard dick out?” He rolled it between his fingers contemplatively. “Not even sure I could call it a dick. I’ve seen bigger toothpicks.” He positioned his thumbnail along his shaft and ever so slightly dug in. Farrow hyperventilated. He tried to push his fingers away, but his tiny hands just faltered and slipped off. “Admit it.”

Farrow tried to talk, but all that came out was pained squeaking.

“You were jacking off watching me, because you’re a sick fuck who gets off on humans that are young enough to be your kids. Admit it.” He let up the pressure.

“Yes! I-I am, I am!”

Mateo chuckled. With his free hand he gripped Farrow’s torso in a fist, carefully sandwiching his dick between two knuckles. He flipped him right side up and Farrow relaxed. He un-relaxed when Mateo started squeezing his fingers together. 

“Not enough justice doled out to people like you. And I’ve actually got a chance to change that.” He ground his knuckles back and forth and Farrow let out low, raspy moans. “I could castrate you. I think that would be fair.”

“Please no,” he hissed. 

“But it would be so easy.” He squeezed his cock, harder and harder, and fell Farrow stiffen in his grasp. He panted and writhed, and finally cried out: “PLEASE, HELP ME!”

The pressure stopped. Mateo grinned. “Who’s helping you?”

Dread crossed his face. “No one! I─ it’s just me, I was just─”

“You got a little family? Where are they?”

He chewed his lip. “I don’t.”

Mateo pinched his head. “I could crush you,” he stated. “Where are they?”

“Patty, I’m so sorry,” Farrow whispered. “She’s under the dresser.”

He dove down to the floor and reached blindly around. His fingers grazed skin and Patty yelped and dove away. “You little rat!” he snapped. He batted around more furiously and finally felt her little body collapse under his palm. Mateo grabbed her, felt… her chest shaking. Fuck, did he scare her too badly? He pulled her into the light and rolled his eyes. She was giggling. “Well don’t laugh!” 

She laughed harder. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry! You were just─just really putting his dick through the wringer, phew!”

Farrow grimaced. “You kind of suck at this.”

“Squeeze him again, I liked that.”

Mateo ignored her. Instead, he tugged her dress off with his teeth and held her in a similar position as Farrow, only with her chest between his fingers instead. She squirmed in confusion, just until he tightened his grip and she screamed. Her tits jutted out between his digits, taut and round, darkening with blood. Mateo flicked his tongue against her nipples and watched them jiggle back to position. She moaned and he chuckled. “You feel like shutting up now?” Patty nodded. He sucked at her, reveling in her sensitivity, adjusting his pinkie to wiggle against her vulva. 

“You’ve got a pervert husband, you know that? He thinks jacking off to humans is a better use of time than taking care of his wife.” He grinned. “Maybe he’s right. Maybe we really are that much better than dumb little borrowers.” Mateo glanced over to Farrow. He was watching them slack-jawed and his cock was dribbling down Mateo’s knuckles. Mateo smiled at him and dragged his tongue up Patty’s face. “Can you and your toothpick dick do this?”

He numbly shook his head.

“Is that why you were watching me? You wanted to see what it looks like when a real man gets off?” Farrow balked at that. “Here, I’m a nice guy. I’ll give you a few pointers.” Before he could react, Mateo shifted his hand up to free Farrow’s cock and brought his legs over Patty’s shoulders. She looked cross-eyed down at his dickhead. Mateo forced it down her throat and she gagged. “You’ve just got to be assertive. Take what you want.” He pounded Farrow’s pelvis into her face.

Farrow gripped her hair and groaned. “Oh, Patty, I’m so sorry, I’m so sorry, baby.” Snot bubbled up on her lip. It didn’t take long before Farrow relaxed with a moan and Patty, with great, effort, swallowed. 

Mateo adjusted them to smash their faces together in an awkward forced kiss. Her snot and his cum mingled and spread over their lips, and with both of their arms restrained they were forced to put up with it. There was a moment, he noticed it, where they met each other’s eyes and something sparked, and suddenly they were making out for real. Filthy, sore, desperate. He loosened his grips and they pulled their arms out to wrap them around each other. Like they were the only people on the planet.

Sometimes he felt like a master, and sometimes he felt like a toy.

Well, no use stewing. Mateo tugged Farrow’s clothes off with his mouth, barely interrupting their little sesh. He worked up some saliva and shot it right between their chests. They invited it, taking advantage of the lubrication to rub against each other. Mateo held them sideways in one hand and pressed his cockhead between their legs. Patty straddled it and grinded against him. He smiled. “Not exactly what I had in mind.”

He gave them exactly enough time to figure it out.

Mateo pounded into his two-part fleshlight. Their skin slipped against him, body parts making way for his shaft, but still desperately clinging onto each other on the opposite ends of his cock. One of them clawed into his skin─ god, what delicate pain, it was perfect. Right as he got close, he stopped to appreciate the view. The couple, panting, hands clasped, both of their heads pressed against his, soaked head to toe in how many fluids now. They met his eyes. Slowly, Farrow smiled and planted a tender kiss on his glans. 

He blew his load into the carpet.

Farrow laughed. “You cheeky fucker,” he grumbled, and stood up to dump them in the conveniently placed little fish tank on his dresser. “ That ,” he said, “is what you bugs are good for. Got it?”

They had given up the act much quicker than him, apparently. Farrow was grinning and resting his head on Patty’s shoulder, and she accidentally bumped him off when she robotically stiffened to salute. They cackled and collapsed into each other. Mateo rolled his eyes and marched off. He came back with two hand towels. One cleaned up the carpet, the other got dumped in the cage.

Mateo laid on his bed and tried to relax while they cleaned each other up. Man, he’d really done a number on her chest. They were chatting about something, and they knew they were too small for him to hear at this distance. They did that a lot, actually. Sometimes even when he was holding them. 

“Mateo!” Patty called out.

He perked up. “Hm?”

“You seemed angry.”

He snorted. “Uh, yeah, I hope so. Kind of the point of the whole thing.”

Farrow chimed in. “No, like actually. What’s up?” He didn’t get a response. “Mateo. Hey, get us out of here.”

As much as he’d like to ignore them some more, he had promised that he’d never keep them trapped. So Mateo reached in and helped them into his cupped hands. Patty beckoned him in, close enough for them to kiss the bridge of his nose. One side each. “You’ve got to talk to us,” Patty chastised.

“Right, like you two are the world champions of communication.”

They snickered.

“I promise it’s not a big deal.” He shrugged. “Just─ I am the odd one out, so obviously I’m gonna feel like it sometimes.”

Their faces fell. “Like when?” Patty asked.

“Like when you were making out. I don’t know. You were just so engrossed in each other.”

Farrow’s eyebrows furrowed. “I felt like you were included!”

Patty jabbed his side and he hissed. “What he meant is we didn’t know you felt that way and we’re very sorry.”

“No! It─I mean, that too but that isn’t what I mean.” He struggled for a moment, looking down at Mateo’s palm. “Well, I am sorry but we really don’t feel that way. But I think I get it. When you hold us, for you, you’re just holding us. But from our perspective─I hadn’t even considered that you felt excluded, because you’re completely overwhelming. No question, I felt as intimate with you as I did with Patty.”

He softened. “Me holding you really feels the same as making out with each other?”

“It does,” Patty agreed. “But if you don’t feel like you’re a part of this, that’s still a problem.”

Farrow grinned. “You’d like a little eye contact, wouldn’t you?”

“...Maybe a little.”

“You want me to go,” he tackled Patty and licked up her neck while staring Mateo straight on. “ Oh, fuck, Mateo .”

“No!”

They giggled. “Do you feel included when we sleep together?” Patty asked.

When they cuddled up on him, on his chest or his belly, or very occasionally, when the mood struck, his groin. When he woke up to find that during the night, one of his fingers had joined in on the spooning. That was nice. He nodded. 

“Then I think I’d like that.” 

m/m, macro/micro nsft, nonconsensual voyeurism and fearplay but otherwise consensual

Mateo had his phone in one hand and his dick in the other, tugging it lazily to one of his tried-and-true videos. Oral sex, tender shit, lots of hair-petting and vulnerable looks up. The kinda shit he just couldn’t seem to get from the nightclub hook-ups, as much as he tried. And this time around, the video wasn’t even getting him there. He sighed and pushed himself up to get to his dresser. Maybe one of his toys would help.

In the tiny open crack of one of the lower drawers, he caught a flash of movement. “Are you fucking kidding me,” he hissed. He wrenched it open violently and heard a thud and a squeak. No, no, not the pests again, he just had to do a whole move to avoid fucking pests. It must’ve been trying to escape through the hole in the back of the drawer─ that was what he got for buying all of his furniture secondhand─ and then fell into the drawer below when he pulled it back. Mateo closed the upper drawer and opened the lower, just in time to catch a tiny shoe disappearing into the mess of underwear. He lit up. A borrower. A little voyeur. 

Mateo sat down on the carpet and hooked his fingers over the edge of the drawer. “You’re trapped, aren’t you?” he teased. “Hiding in my underwear drawer. Not really helping your case, you think?” He reached in. The little lump dodged around and he heard gasping and swearing. Oh, god, just adorable. His fingers closed in on something a bit harder than its surroundings and he wrapped his digits around it. Trembling little form. No attempts to bite or scratch or stab. The poor dear must’ve been scared to piss him off.

The borrower was a skinny thing, tussled hair ruddy but fading, clothed in all natural tones, obviously handmade. He was a man, Mateo was pretty sure. It was hard to tell when he was so wrapped up in the fetal position. Maybe he wasn’t voyeuring, then─or he was a gay borrower. Well, why couldn’t borrowers be gay? Just about every other animal could be.

Mateo stroked along his arms, trying to gently, gently tug them away from his head, and the borrower fought against him. “Can I just see your face?” No response. “You know, I only panicked because I thought you were a mouse. I don’t mind so much, if you’re not a mouse.”

Slowly, the borrower relented, looking up at him with wide eyes, guarded. He was cute. Adorable, yes, but cute in the way he’d call a human cute too. Round eyes, round lips, eyes and cheeks dark, the start of crow’s feet. Early 40s, maybe. Mateo stroked the side of his head and marveled at him, how soft his hair was, how his flinch away from Mateo’s touch was so barely noticeable. “What’s your name?” he whispered.

The borrower’s breath picked up, and abruptly he heard little squeaks and sobs from the reburied face.

“Oh!” he gasped. “Oh, no, no, hey, you’re okay.” He couldn’t explain it at all, but even if he couldn’t imagine hurting him, something about the poor little guy’s abject terror was exhilarating. Mateo held him in to his chest and stroked his back. When he felt tiny fingers gripping the fabric of his shirt, he had to keep himself from crying too, he was so overwhelmed by intoxicating emotion. Was this why people abused them? For this absolute rush? Where was it even coming from, how was he making Mateo feel like this?

The borrower’s breaths became slow and labored. Somehow, his smothering attempt at comfort had actually worked. Mateo brought him back out and unwrapped his hands. The man looked up at him again, lower half of his face hidden behind his arm. Did he even realize what he was doing to him?

“I’m so sorry,” the borrower choked out. 

“Yeah? What are you sorry for?”

He blushed. So tiny, it seemed to take over his entire body. “For-for watching you.” He curled further in. “Please don’t hurt me.”

“Hey, I’m just teasing.” Mateo snaked his fingertip down his chin to push his face back up. “You’re a cute mouse.” The borrower squeaked and he giggled. “What’s your name?”

“Farrow.”

“Farrow.” He tasted the name on his tongue. Farrow squirmed. “Little king. Do you watch me a lot?”

Averting his eyes, he nodded. 

His heart swelled, working up the courage for his next sentence. “Not very fair, is it? If I never get to watch you.”

Farrow’s head shot up. He shook again, his chest thrumming under Mateo’s fingers, but was it fear or desire? Could he even make the distinction? “You-you want me─“ He cut himself off with a yelp as Mateo’s thumb snuck along his torso.

“What do you do? When you’re watching.”

Farrow stared him head-on for a moment, like he was trying to figure out if this was some cruel joke. Without breaking eye contact (and God that made it all the sexier) he reached down and undid the frantic knot of his drawstring waistband. He slipped his hand underneath and began tugging cautiously at his dick. 

“Hey.” Mateo pinched his waistband. “I get to see, don’t I?”

Farrow pulled his hand out of his pants and shoved away his fingertips. “I don’t get it!” he snapped. “I’m sorry! I-I’ll stop, I promise, just-just whatever you’re trying to do, I don’t get it, please just let me go.” His voice threatened to break into sobs again.

“Why don’t you believe me?” 

“Because why!?” He gestured to himself broadly, the implications too obvious to even state. Tiny. Aging. Perv. 

“Farrow…” Mateo’s thumb came back into his personal space and nudged up his shirt. The muscles underneath spasmed and shook with breath. Mateo gasped. “Just looking at you is driving me crazy,” he muttered. “I’ve never met a borrower. You-you’re so tiny, like I can do anything to you, and─” Farrow’s eyes flashed with genuine terror. Mateo stiffened. “Not like that,” he insisted. “Like feeling you, in my hands… your little shaking body. So responsive to everything I do. It’s getting me so, so horny.” Farrow looked down and rubbed his hands together. Dammit. “I’ll let you leave,” he conceded. 

“No,” Farrow blurted out. “If-if you mean it. I mean, I don’t─” he gulped. “Please be gentle.”

Mateo slowly smiled, a little breathless. If the reaction didn’t seem so genuine, he would’ve assumed that Farrow was acting that bashful to turn him on even more. Mateo inched down his pants and growled a little, watching his tiny eager cock slip out, while Farrow looked pointedly away. “Show me your eyes,” Mateo commanded. To his delight, the poor little thing obeyed. His expression was disbelieving, vulnerable, like he still expected Mateo to turn cold and cruel at any second, mock him for daring to think a human would ever lust after a little creature like him. Mateo fought the urge to squeeze him.

He pinched Farrow’s wrist and guided it down to his legs, like he was posing a doll. Farrow’s first strokes were hesitant and robotic. The massive thumb sliding up under his shirt and making delicate circles around a nipple sent him over the edge. “Oh, fuck,” he whimpered, squeezing his eyes shut. Borrower swearing. Adorable. 

“Look at me,” Mateo snapped. 

Opening his eyes seemed to be agony. 

Mateo took his spare hand to his own cock and beamed as he saw Farrow sneaking glances. “You’re just so cute. Will you do whatever I say? Squeak for me, mouse.”

He obeyed. Sparks went flying in Mateo’s chest. Was this humiliating for him? Was he living out a fantasy he’d had ever since Mateo first moved in?

“Tell me to do something,” Mateo ordered.

“Fuck, fuck,” he hissed. “Please let me see your cock.”

He was disappointed, almost. He hoped for a moment of real boldness, for him to tell Mateo to suck him off or humiliate himself instead or praise him, worship his little body, but Mateo believed him, this was definitely what Farrow wanted more than anything. He would, though, he realized. He would happily bark like a dog or kiss the soles of those delicate feet, if it made the man tucked within his fingers shudder.

He brought his hand down near the floor so that his shaft loomed above Farrow, hiding him from view. Whimpers emanated from below. After a moment, he felt something almost like pinpricks. Tiny fingertips, on the very edge of sensation, trailed down his shaft, exploring his veins. The little hands pushed his skin around, creating a very gentle sort of pleasure, and they were finally joined by a spot of wetness and a quiet little pop. 

His heart fluttered. “Was that a kiss?”

“Is-is that okay?”

He brought his other hand down and felt for Farrow’s head to pet his hair. “Of course it is. Of course.”

Evidently, this was encouraging, because he felt licks a moment later. Farrow gripped around his glans to tug him down. Lips closed around his frenulum and he felt light sucking. Mateo hummed in pleasant surprise. Maybe this guy was more confident than he thought. Or at least very horny. 

“Sweet thing…” Mateo whispered. “That feels wonderful.” A shaky breath from underneath. Mateo took his spare hand to the base of his shaft and rubbed himself slow. He only really let the borrower at his cock to indulge him. He hadn’t expected it to be this good. Mateo’s pleasure mounted in steady, even waves, and he moaned low and quiet as it bubbled over. The tiny sucks and licks at his ridge felt incredible as he came. God, what delicacy. Farrow kept going after the fact, dragging his tongue wide along his head, moving to his slit and dancing his tongue around the entrance. Mateo gasped sharply and tried to control his hips. With this size difference, if he just thrusted a little too fast, he could easily injure him.

A bit of post-nut clarity, maybe, but Farrow’s movements at his tip triggered a flash of recognition. The little circles of his tongue, the fingers sliding in along the bottom, the sucking on the top of his hole… those were cunnilingus techniques. The tiny man was eating out his urethra, instinctively honing in on a nonexistent clit. Not that it mattered much, but was he… bisexual?

Whatever, it felt way too good to be asking questions. He sat on his carpet, eyes closed, silent but for the occasional shaky moan and the wet squelches and smacks of Farrow’s mouth against his cum-wet passage. “Okay,” he finally blurted out. “O-okay, yeah, that’s good. I’m good.”

The stimulation retreated. Mateo cupped Farrow in both hands and held him at chest level. He gasped. A tiny splatter of cum dotted Farrow’s belly and his head was soaked completely. His hair was matted, his face covered, he’d evidently wiped away the gunk from his eyes and mouth best he could. His shirt had been abandoned to the floor, and Mateo’s seed rolled down onto his naked shoulders as well. Farrow met Mateo’s eyes, and then dodged his head away. Mateo choked down a laugh. He tried to wipe off Farrow’s hair. “Oh my God, I am so sorry, you poor thing.”

“It’s─it’s okay,” he muttered. 

“I’m cleaning you up. Let’s go.” He tucked his dick back in and walked to his bathroom, letting the sink water warm to a nice temperature at a light trickle. When he went to tug off those little shoes and pants, Farrow was so cooperative. Much more trusting than he had any logical reason to be. Especially with how badly Mateo wanted to just… keep him. If he slipped him into his coat pocket and drove straight to the pet store, would Farrow put up a fight? Would he look up at him through the glass walls of a cage with that same terror from when Mateo first grabbed him? The mental image drove him crazy.

He took his time running his thumbs over Farrow’s skin. Farrow slumped back against his fingers. What a privilege it was to see someone so vulnerable this relaxed. 

He muttered something. Mateo smiled. “Speak up a little?”

“I don’t wanna wake up,” he repeated.

He laughed. “Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere.”

Slowly, Farrow’s face fell. “Oh no,” he muttered. He suddenly sounded a lot less like some delicate ethereal creature and a lot more like a grown man. “I gotta go home. I gotta─ I gotta go.” He sat up, and when Mateo held him back down he panicked and fought against him, almost on instinct.

“Woah, woah, settle down. Your hair’s not even clean yet.”

Farrow gulped. “You… you’ll let me leave, right?”

God, he wanted to say no. “Of course I will.” He leaned down to the sink’s level, holding Farrow out in front of him. “Please don’t let this be the last time I see you. If I let you go, can you promise me that?”

The little man searched his eyes through the curtain of water trickling down his face. Still, he didn’t seem to trust what he was hearing, and Mateo was getting desperate to know what could get through to him. I want you desperately, little thing, and I still haven’t figured out why. Please at least give me a chance to figure out why. Was that too forward?

Farrow bit his fingernail and looked away. “Okay.”

[optimistpax]

[ID: an ink drawing of Ratchet from transformers holding up a container with a bubbly green-blue gradient liquid. End ID]

Mechtober day 1: your favourite

I can’t choose just one favourite, but Ratchet is most consistently a favourite across all continuities! You really can’t go wrong with “grumpy doctor with a heart of gold”

[gossip-girl-of-middleearth]

Wrong End of the Ithilien Stick (Legolas x Reader)

Requested by: @elvish-sky

could i request a legolas x reader with angst- like she misheard something he said and they have a falling out- but with a happy ending?

A/N: Here you are!! Hope you enjoy :) bon appetit ☀️

They were hopeless – completely, and utterly hopeless. Most who wished to court did so at the first few stolen glances, but not Y/n and Legolas.

Apparently, a year’s worth of peril on the road did nothing to invoke revelations. The Fellowship journey may have introduced them to one another, but it did nothing to bring them together. No, that was entirely up to them – the worst two to be left in charge of their own romantic fates.

Although, that’s not to say they entirely went their separate ways in the aftermath. Y/n had stayed behind with Legolas, in Ithilien, where they sought to restore the trees.

The whole process was full of cleared throats, deep blushes and shy smiles. Gimli, on the occasions he would visit, rolled his eyes, and groaned aloud.

“Ye still on yer dove dancing, are ye?” he taunted one day.

However, all the pair could do, was look away from one another. Y/n simply felt herself too inferior to his royal status, as to make the first move. Legolas, on the other hand, felt himself too high maintenance to even begin asking her if she minded his princely upbringing.

It was a vicious cycle, but one the four Hobbits sought to destroy, following their next visit.

“So, we are all aware of our roles?” Frodo asked, as the four friends strolled across a wooden bridge, and into the Ithilien forest.

Frodo had enjoyed the distraction, and appreciated the time away from his cooped-up desk greatly. Any chance to rid himself of the journey’s memories, was a chance he’d take.

“Aye!” Pippin confirmed. “Merry and I are tackling Y/n, and you and Sam will handle Legolas.”

“By nightfall, those two will be married!” Merry agreed, nodding resolutely.

However, stifling the Hobbits’ laughter, Y/n and Legolas appeared from nowhere – greeting them by the creek’s bank.

“Who’s getting married by nightfall?” Y/n sweetly asked, squinting under the bright morning sun.

“I don’t mind a wedding,” Legolas added on, smiling down at Y/n. “If it’s someone we know, perhaps we ought to go. Could borrow some cake?”

“I don’t think they’ll be wanting it back, somehow,” Y/n laughed, sharing the Elf’s smile.

Watching as they grinned brightly, and laughed together, the four Hobbits nervously looked at one another.

Oh, how desperately they needed their plan to work. Y/n would shrivel from mortality, before they even had a chance to marry themselves!

“Alas, we’re being rude,” Y/n dismissed, immediately moving forwards to hug all her friends. “It’s been so long since our last visit to the Shire! We’ve missed you all so much!”

“Likewise,” Sam warmly replied, hugging her tight. “We quite enjoyed the trek on over here too.”

“Oh, really?” Y/n excitedly asked, pulling back. “Legolas and I have been working on the trail leading in all year! We finally managed to grow the petunias you sent over as well.”

“That’s wonderful news,” Frodo smiled, now walking in tow with the girl and Elf, as they led them away. “So…speaking of news, has anything as of late occurred in Ithilien? Any news of courtship, perhaps?”

“From whom?” Legolas tightly asked, not at all liking Frodo’s sly connotation.

“Oh, no one in particular,” he lied, sharing a smile with the other Hobbits.

“Of course…” Legolas dismissed, nonetheless answering, as he walked through the botanical gardens. “Well, not to our knowledge, no…oh, but a wonderful pair of deer mated recently! We are expecting fawns any season now.”

“So are we,” Merry grumbled, rolling his eyes.

Having heard, with his Elven hearing, what the Hobbit said, Legolas confusedly glanced over his shoulder. Nonetheless, he merely only creased his features, before stealing a glance at Y/n. He then looked back up front, as they pressed on walking.

“Well, there is much ground to cover,” Legolas changed the topic, glancing up at the glittering trees. “We ought to start here first, so that we can make it back in time to-“

“Actually, Legolas,” Frodo interjected, coming to a halt, and causing the others to do the same, “we were thinking, on the way over here, that we ought to maybe split the group in half, so that we might finish earlier this time?”

Blinking down at the Hobbit, Y/n and Legolas knitted their brows. They then unsteadily looked between one another, before Y/n herself piped up again.

“Uh, sure…we can do that,” she said. “Any reason why, though?”

“Well, we do want to see your restoration project, and permaculture,” Merry began answering, chewing on the end of his pipe, “but, we’d prefer to spend some time with just you two as well. You know, at dinner and such. Don’t forget, we need supper as well.”

Looking between one another once more, and silently communicating, the two taller friends discreetly shrugged.

“Very well,” Legolas sighed, returning his attention to the Hobbits. “Frodo and Sam, you two can come with me. Merry and Pippin, you join Y/n. Oh, and Merry? Discard the pipe – there’s no smoking in Ithilien.”

Upholding both palms in surrender, Merry tucked the pipe away. As he and Pippin began following after Y/n, they both shared a sneaky grin with Frodo and Sam. They each all resolutely nodded at one another, before turning around to face back up front.

~

“Oh! Oh! Look!” Y/n excitedly pointed out.

Looking upwards, both Merry and Pippin observed a courting pair of bluebirds. They flew around one another, and landed in a little brown nest, high up in a tree.

Grinning brightly, Y/n breathed in the soft spring air.

“Oh, don’t you just love this time of year?” she wistfully sighed. “The courting animals, the romantic lighting, the little boats on the lake-“

“THAT’S IT! I CAN’T TAKE IT ANYMORE!” Merry exclaimed. He clamped his ears tight, with both hands, and squeezed his eyes shut.

“Merry?” Y/n asked in concern, swiftly turning around to observe him. “Are you alright? What’s wrong?”

“What’s wrong? What’s WRONG?” Merry seethed, finally re-meeting her eyes. “YOU ARE, Y/N, THAT’S WHAT!”

“I beg your pardon?” Y/n bit back, looking him up and down with narrowed eyes. “What did I do?”

“It’s more like what you haven’t done,” Pippin elaborated, ever-so-casually. “Actually, both you and Legolas, to be perfectly candid.”

Feeling heat rise to her cheeks, Y/n stammered over her words.

“I-I don’t understand-“ she tried to say.

“Yes, you do,” Merry interjected, using a series of hand gestures to further his point. “You like him. He likes you. It’s been like this since Rivendell – BEFORE we all set out for Mordor, mind you! Somehow, destroying that little ring was easier than getting you two to admit your feelings!”

Y/n was at a loss for words. Had it all really been that obvious?

“Yes, it really has been that obvious,” Merry piped up again, apparently having read her mind.

Slumping her shoulders, Y/n ran a hand along her face, and complained.

“This is really humiliating…” she said. “Do you think Legolas knows too?”

“Y/n, not to alarm you, but I’m pretty sure all of Arda knows,” Pippin winced.

Finding a park bench, Y/n sat herself down in a flush, and groaned.

“Well, whatever am I to do?” she asked, as her two friends each took a seat beside her. “I ought to tell him, I know that much, but I just simply cannot muster the courage.”

“Y/n, I’ve seen you slowly decapitate an orc’s head with a picnic knife,” Merry deadpanned, placing a hand on her shoulder. “I think you can handle telling your one true love how you really feel.”

Rolling her eyes at his choice of cheesy words, Y/n soon reeled them into her lap, where she picked at her thumbnail.

“Aye, that is true, but…” she pressed on, “well, look at me, guys. I’m a commoner, and no amount of true love is going to change that. He’s a prince, at the end of the day…what would everyone think?”

“What does it matter what everyone thinks?” Pippin encouraged, holding her other shoulder. “We, the Fellowship survivors, know above all else just how short life is. You can’t spend it worrying about what others will make of your happiness.”

Seeing the cogs turn in her mind, Merry squeezed her shoulder harder, and urged her to look at him.

“You love him, Y/n…you can’t delay any longer,” he said.

Chewing on the inside of her cheek, Y/n creased her brows. It was true, she loved him, more than anything else. Why should she deny herself that, based purely on what others would think?

“You know something? You’re right!” she resolutely declared. She stood upwards quickly, and squared her shoulders. “I love him, and I shouldn’t care what anyone thinks of my status! I’m going to tell him – today!”

Whooping and hollering, Merry and Pippin also both jumped to their feet. They pushed her along, as she began jogging away, to where she knew Legolas would be.

“That’s the spirit, friend!” Pippin cheered. “Go and tell him! And please make the cake red velvet at the wedding!”

Waving over her shoulder with a grin, Y/n pushed her legs faster, as to find Legolas, and finally reveal her heart to him.

~ In the botanical greenhouse, Legolas, Sam and Frodo all stood around – inspecting the many different pot plants.

“And this one is a young fern,” Legolas explained, holding a tiny plant up high. “I grew it myself from a seedling. I’m hoping it’ll soon have sprouts of its own, and raise a family, and-“

“Oh my goodness…” Sam sighed, folding his arms, and shaking his head. “You really are hopeless, you know that, right?”

“Pardon?” Legolas confusedly asked, lifting his eyes from the fern. “My apologies…if you do not like ferns, I could show you the-“

“Legolas…I think you ought to sit down for a moment,” Frodo interjected, gesturing to a wooden chair in the middle of the greenhouse.

Furrowing his brows, Legolas warily glanced between the two Hobbits. They stood in front of the chair, and folded their arms – very serious, indeed.

Slowly, Legolas made his way on over towards the chair, and sat down.

Instantly, the two Hobbits closed the greenhouse curtains all around, save for one. The only window left open served one ray of sun, which purely basked Legolas, and Legolas only, as if he were under an interrogation spotlight.

Squinting his eyes, and craning his head to move out of the light, Legolas spoke.

“Is the chair really necessary-“ he tried to say.

“Right, let’s cut to the chase,” Sam interjected, standing in front of Legolas with Frodo. “Y/n. You like her. She likes you. Now, why haven’t you courted her, and made beautiful children yet?”

Staring wide-eyed for a moment, Legolas parted his lips. However, swift in his archer’s mind, he soon sighed. Next, slumping his shoulders, Legolas responded.

“I suppose I haven’t been as discreet in my fondness as previously thought…” he mused.

“Not in the slightest,” Sam and Frodo said at once.

Twitching his lips to one side, Frodo softly stared down at his friend, and pressed on.

“Legolas…why haven’t you told her of how you feel yet?” he asked.

Lifting his eyes, and wincing them, Legolas considered his thoughts. He knew how much Y/n enjoyed her freedom, and he knew how restricting a royal life could be. He loved Y/n enough to not impose such a confining lifestyle on her – that was why he held back.

Exhaling again, Legolas knew he could no longer hide his feelings from his friends, and responded.

At the same time, just outside of the greenhouse, Y/n ran up to the door. Stumped for a moment, as to why the curtains were all drawn back, she nonetheless moved closer. However, upon hearing muffled voices on the other side, speaking of her in particular, she halted, and listened in.

“Are you jesting, Frodo? She’s a commoner,” Legolas said in frustration, shocking the girl outside. “Y/n and formalities simply do not mix. How could anyone ever love someone so different from themselves? Nay…I wouldn’t brew that situation.”

Having stumbled backwards in hurt, Y/n felt tears prick at her eyes. She raised both hands, and held them over her chest.

Before she could freely cry, she turned on her heel, and ran away. However, as she did so, she failed to hear the end of Legolas’ sentence, which defined the entire context.

“That’s why I can’t marry Y/n…she deserves better than what I could give her,” he said. “I wouldn’t wish for someone so free to be tied down to someone like me...I’m far too different from her.”

“Does Y/n not also get a say in the matter?” Frodo sincerely asked, studying his friend apologetically. “Y/n loves you, Legolas…you ought to at least give your courtship a chance, regardless of formalities.”

“Aye, Frodo is right,” Sam added on, nodding at his raven-haired friend. “You ought to at least speak to her. It can’t hurt…well, it can, but you’ll never know until you try.”

Sucking on his lower lip, Legolas knitted his brows. He considered his friends’ words, and mulled them over. It was true, he loved Y/n, and he was almost certain she him. Perhaps Frodo and Sam were right – simply talking couldn’t do much harm, could it?

Nodding his head, Legolas met the Hobbits’ eyes again.

“Aye,” he agreed at last. “You’re right, I ought to at least ask her!”

Swiftly standing, Legolas moved out from the chair, and headed towards the greenhouse door.

“We’re proud of you!” Sam cheered, giving a mighty few claps of his hands.

“Good luck,” Frodo smiled, nodding at his friend.

Nodding back once, Legolas beamed bright, and headed outside.

~

Having run away far enough, Y/n now trekked angrily through the forest. Her jaw was set, and her eyes burning. How could he be so nice to her face, only to say such horrible things behind her back? She cared not, for she would maintain the entire other side of Ithilien, from now on.

She, a commoner, would not dare stay with someone who cares so little for her. However, she soon heard a bright voice calling from behind. Turning around, she spotted Legolas swiftly jogging towards her.

“Y/n!” he called, wearing an excited smile.

The moment he jogged up to her, Y/n grew cold in her stance. She revered him with distrust, and anger.

This did not go unnoticed by Legolas, whose features dropped, and his mind wiped. He now sought to ensure she herself was okay.

“Are you alright?” he sincerely asked, brimming with concern.

Laughable, Y/n thought. How dare he pretend to care – right to her face as well!

“Never been better,” Y/n seethed, turning on her heel.

Stammering over his words for a minute, Legolas shook the odd mood in the air away. He followed after her, and shyly spoke – though, his words were hasty.

“There’s something I have to tell you,” he began. However, Y/n wanted none of it.

“You don’t have to tell me anything, your highness!” Y/n snapped, turning around once more, and angrily pointing at him. “I heard enough earlier.”

“You heard what I said?” Legolas repeated in horror, suddenly feeling his palms grow clammy – for more than one reason.

“Every last word,” Y/n replied, glaring across at the Elf.

Shocked by her attitude, Legolas was simply at a loss. He shook his head at the ground in confusion, and spoke.

“I-I thought you would have understood?” he said, lifting his puzzled eyes once more.

“Oh, I understand!” Y/n sarcastically started, rolling her eyes. “Just like you said yourself; how could anyone love someone so different?”

Truly hurt by her words, Legolas parted his lips. His eyes brimmed in anguish, as all his hopes were suddenly stomped on, and buried beneath the dirt.

“But…I thought that wouldn’t matter to you?” he said in a small voice.

“Yeah, well…I guess you thought wrong,” Y/n replied, scrunching her nose in disdain.

Turning on her heels, Y/n stalked away. Where she was heading? She didn’t know – all she knew, is that she could find some better and more loyal company, with just herself.

Left alone, Legolas stood in silence. What had just happened? She truly did not wish to court him, purely because of his royal status? Very well, then – he could do just as fine by himself.

Matching her anger, Legolas too stalked away, but in the opposite direction.

~

Sat down in the grass, and enjoying a picnic by the lake, Frodo and Sam basked in each other’s company. Merry and Pippin were off who knows where, and doing God knows what. However, all tranquillity soon came to an end, the moment a furious Y/n stomped past.

Staring between one another, and blinking in confusion, the two Hobbits quickly dropped their sandwiches. They rose swiftly, and chased after her.

“Hey! Hey, Y/n!” Frodo called, jogging to meet with her. “Have you found Legolas yet? There’s something you need to know. We spoke earlier, and-“

“Yes, I know you all talked earlier,” Y/n snapped, now recalling exactly whom Legolas spoke with before. She halted, and glared down at the two friends. “You’re all very good comrades, aren’t you? Well, if you are all such good brothers in arms, how about you go find him instead, and leave me alone?”

Noticing that she made a move to stalk away again, along the edge of the glistening lake, both Frodo and Sam confusedly looked between one another once more.

“I beg your pardon, Y/n,” Sam tentatively spoke up, watching her leave, “but I think you may have the wrong end of the stick here?”

“Oh, no, I think I have the exact right idea,” Y/n seethed, rolling her eyes. “I hope you all had a lovely time, speaking about me behind my back – and just a commoner? Really? We can’t all be from Bag End, Frodo.”

Confused, but only for a moment, the context suddenly clicked in Frodo’s mind. Racing forwards, he held Y/n’s hand, and kept her in place.

“Wait! You DEFINITELY have the wrong idea!” he exclaimed. “I know what you’re angry about, but you have to listen! He wasn’t talking about you in that regard – he was referencing his distress over taking you from your farming life, and placing you in royal formalities!”

“What are you talking about-“ Y/n had gone to say, with a yank of her hand out of his. However, Frodo’s words quickly met her mind, and ceased her tongue.

Oh.

Oh.

Well, now that made more sense.

Feeling a wave of shame wash over her, Y/n bared her teeth in cringe, and winced her features.

“Oh my…” was all she could say.

~

A little further off, but still heading towards the lake, and Legolas could be found in the same situation – however, only a few steps behind.

“You all come into our home, and plant ideas in our heads,” Legolas seethed, striding away from Merry and Pippin, “only to leave poisonous weeds instead! I don’t know what you’ve all done behind the scenes, but you’ve certainly made nothing better since your arrival!”

“Please, Legolas! Just tell us what happened!” Merry begged, struggling to keep up.

“Well, that’s just the thing, isn’t it? I don’t know!” Legolas exclaimed, rolling his eyes. “One minute, the last time I was with Y/n, mind you, and we were happy! But the second I see her again, after she spent her morning with you two, and she turns like the tide on a wintery day!”

“That just doesn’t make any sense…” Pippin whispered, creasing his brows. “When she left us, she was on her way to tell you all about how much she wished to court you, and-“

Halting in his tracks, Legolas paused. Snapping his head over his shoulder, the Elf questioned the Hobbit, who quickly clamped his mouth shut.

“What?” he pressed. “What do you mean she was coming to tell me of courting?”

Looking between one another, Merry and Pippin sheepishly bared their teeth. Figuring the cat was already out of the bag, Merry turned back first, and revealed their agenda.

“Well, we somewhat…nudged…Y/n, to tell you of her love for you,” he said. “Last time we saw her, like I said, she went to find you in the greenhouse.”

Knitting his brows, and mulling the new bouts of information over, Legolas responded through a confused shake of his head.

“But that just doesn’t make any sense,” Legolas continued. “What could have soured her perception, from her journey between you, and the greenhouse-“

The greenhouse.

Oh.

Oh.

Having caught his own words, Legolas immediately knew what went wrong. She had thought him to be insulting her status, and he thought her to be rejecting his.

Running a hand over his face, Legolas growled in frustration. Why must love be so hard? Surely, beyond courting, marriage and children, things would be easier, would they not? Well, Legolas wasn’t so certain he’d find out now – not unless he tracked down Y/n in time, before their rift planted roots too deep.

“I need to find her,” Legolas frantically began, looking all around himself. “I have no idea where she’d be – she could be on the other side of the forest, for all I know!”

“Uh, I don’t think so,” Merry interjected, staring behind Legolas with Pippin.

“How would you know?” Legolas confusedly asked, though, his frustration edged his tone.

“Just a hunch,” Merry said again, pointing behind the prince.

Looking over his shoulder, Legolas’ formerly hardened features softened. Y/n stood in the near distance behind him, and anxiously stared in his direction – like a deer caught in the headlights. She chewed on her lower lip nervously, and waited by the lapping water’s edge.

Catching both Frodo and Sam’s eye, Merry and Pippin each awkwardly began stepping away, as did the other two Hobbits.

“Okay, we’re just, uh…gonna go now, yeah…good luck,” Merry said, dragging his younger cousin away.

Swallowing his nerves, Legolas suddenly felt his knees buckle, and his palms grow clammy. Nonetheless, if he was old enough to court, then he was old enough to resolve relationship issues.

Breathing in a shaky breath, and releasing it through pursed lips, Legolas forced his feet across the grass, to where Y/n stood.

Feeling her own heart hammer, and sweat cling to her temples, Y/n shifted on her feet. She frequently looked between an approaching Legolas, and the lake beside her. Was love meant to be this scary? Would it always be like this? Or was this the end?

She figured she would soon find out, for the prince now stood before her.

Both said nothing. Instead, they merely stole glances, like so many times before, and looked at the rippling lake.

The sun basked them in a warm glow, and the wind blowing through the leaves nearby met their ears. Soon, however, a chilly afternoon breeze rolled through, and darkened the sky overhead.

With a shiver, Y/n wrapped her arms around her form. She rubbed up and down, as to bring the warmth back. She hadn’t been wearing a cloak that day, for she figured she needed none. This was, of course, against Legolas’ advisement earlier that morning.

Sensing her cold, Legolas finally studied her again. With a sigh past his nose, he shed his own cloak. Next, stepping forwards, and accelerating both her heartrate and his, he wrapped the green material around her shoulders.

Immediately, the cold of the world was blocked out. It even appeared as though the sun above had made a comeback – breaking through the otherwise grey clouds.

He held her shoulders, as he adjusted the cloak, and secured it over her form. Y/n watched his features, as they creased in both concentration, and consideration.

“Why would you do that?” Y/n asked, after a moment of quiet study – breaking the silence finally. “Won’t you now be cold?”

Although he did not feel the cold the same way she did, Legolas used the moment as an advantage – a hoist to deliver his most inner thoughts, in a way.

“Perhaps, but…I’d prefer you to be warm,” he said, having initially jolted at her sudden words.

“Why?” Y/n tightly asked. She knew why, but she wanted to hear him say it.

Swallowing down his nerves, Legolas slowly met her eyes. They brimmed with nerves, but also adoration – a combination of which Y/n shared. However, hers also bore eagerness, and anticipation.

“Because…” he began in a small voice, swallowing once more. “I…I, uh-“

“Yes?” Y/n whispered, leaning in closer.

Sighing, Legolas buried his nerves away, and did the most un-Elven thing possible. He swept Y/n into a tight embrace, and hugged her warmly.

Shocked for a minute, Y/n widened her eyes. However, she soon melted into his touch, and hugged him back.

“Because, I believe a partner should ensure theirs is okay,” Legolas finally revealed.

“Partner?” Y/n repeated, in a very small voice. “And by partner…you mean?”

“Someone I love dearly, and care about most ardently,” he softly replied, kissing the top of her head.

Stunned by his small gesture for a moment, butterflies fluttered in Y/n’s stomach. She then hid said nerves with humour.

“Well…that is definitely hard to misinterpret,” Y/n attempted to joke. However, her joy overwhelmed her, and she squeezed the prince harder. “If it’s any consolation, I love you too…and I’m sorry for my brash behaviour earlier.”

“Aye, I am as well,” Legolas grinned, swaying her in the sun. “So…this may perhaps be an ambitious request, but…will you court me? Royal status and all?”

“Of course,” Y/n grinned back. “But, will you court me, commoner status and all?”

Smiling brighter, and closing his eyes contently, Legolas continued on hugging the girl by the shore. He then softly answered, whilst the sun basked them both in a placid glow – perhaps a tell-tale of the many good days to come.

“Without question,” he said at last.

[unitchiefs-blackbirdphoenix]

Truth and Awakenings Ch. 5

Summary: A Jemily rewrite of certain scenes in 14x15-15x03, with a few additional scenes :)

Chapter summary: JJ wakes up and tells Emily she’s in love with her.

Read on AO3

Tagging: @binariesarebullshit @bridget19 @jemilyisms

Emily’s eyes focused on one tiny spot on the white tiled floor. She was crouching forward a little, as she chewed on her thumbnail and impatiently tapped her foot. She felt a little tired after staying at the hospital for almost more than half of the day, but she wanted to stay awake for her friend.

“Emily,” Will called out in the hallway, making her head snap towards his direction. “She’s awake. She wants to see you.”

Emily stood up, wiping her somewhat sweaty palms on her slacks. “Is she ok?”

Will smiled, “Why don’t you go see for yourself? I gotta go pick up the boys.” He saw Emily staring off into space and placed a hand on her arm. “I really think you should go see her, Emily. You’re one of the most important people in her life.”

The woman was taken aback by that statement coming from Will. JJ’s husband. That means nothing, right? Emily is one of JJ’s best friends, of course, he would say that. She hesitantly nodded and Will patted her on the shoulder before leaving.

Emily took a deep breath and shook her head to drive her nerves away. She slowly made her way towards JJ’s hospital room and her eyes searched for the blonde.

JJ saw her and gave a smile. “Hey, you.”

Emily softly smiled back, “Hey.” It faded shortly once she examined JJ’s body resting on the bed. Her eyes were filled with concern, “How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine.”

“JJ…” her boss warned, knowing that she was lying. That response always meant, 'I don't want to talk about right now. I can handle myself.' Emily was very familiar with that phrase.

“Emily, I’m fine. Really,” JJ told her. Emily raised an eyebrow at her, clearly not buying it. “Ok,” the blonde finally said. “I will admit it kinda hurts when I move a little.”

Emily awkwardly pointed at the door. “I should go and let you get some rest.”

“No. No, not yet.” JJ sighed happily, staring up at her with love in her eyes. “I’m glad you’re here. I missed you.”

“I missed you, too.” The grey-haired woman slightly smiled and her eyes scanned the room as she bit her lip in worry. She lifted a hand before JJ stopped her, knowing she was going to bite her fingernails, and felt the blonde’s hand easily slip into hers.

“I should’ve found you sooner. I shouldn't have made us split up…” Emily started apologizing.

JJ shook her head, “Hey, it’s fine. I just happened to have found Lynch and his daughter when we did. I’m not blaming you for any of this and neither should you.” She knew Emily always put herself down for risking other people’s lives, and would rather put her own life on the line just save them. JJ needed to make Emily understand that she knew the other woman didn’t intend to put her in danger.

Emily blinked and shook her head. She almost didn’t believe her best friend would ever forgive her. “But this is my responsibility and- and you got hurt.”

“Emily-”

“You flatlined for a few seconds. I was there when they-”

“Emily,” JJ cut her off, her face softening afterwards. “Look at me.”

Emily finally put her attention back to the blonde and began to relax her shoulders, brushing her thumb over JJ’s hand. “You could’ve died, if I didn’t make it on time.”

“But you did make it on time.” A smile slowly made its way to JJ’s face, “You saved my life, Emily. You always did.”

Emily shrugged, “I don’t know what I’d do, if I didn’t.”

JJ simply nodded. Even the blonde wouldn’t know what to do with herself, if Emily was hurt on the job, either. JJ understood what Emily meant because she would’ve done the same and risk her own life for her.

Then, she remembered why she told Will she wanted to see Emily alone. “There’s something I need to tell you.”

Emily froze for a second, as questions began to run through her head. She’s not quitting, is she? I understand if she does, I mean, she nearly died and-

She felt a gentle tug at her hand and glanced down. JJ had seen Emily lost somewhere in her thoughts again, so she decided to bring her back down to earth, rubbing the older woman’s thumb. Emily brought her comfort earlier, so it was her turn to offer it to her, feeling Emily’s hand squeeze hers.

JJ’s tongue darted out at the corner of her mouth before taking a shaky breath. “Will and I divorced two years ago.”

Emily’s eyes widened in shock. “Oh my god. JJ, I don’t- I’m so sorry. Did something happen?” she stuttered. Part of her hoped that was a sign that she could finally be with JJ, but the other part of her was confused as to why. She had no involvement in destroying their marriage and they didn’t even look like they were having any issues (to her and everyone else, at least), so why was she still freaking out?

“Kind of,” JJ sighed and Emily brought her focus back to her. “I realized that I’ve been in love with you. For a really long time.”

Emily’s body froze again. She’s in love with me? JJ… is in love with me? I don’t understand. Why?

The blonde’s eyes widened in panic. She must’ve misheard her earlier, then. “I’m sorry, Emily. I just thought that-”

“No, no, no, no!” Emily exclaimed too quickly before clearing her throat, cheeks flushing a light pink. “I mean, uh…”

JJ shook her head, suddenly feeling embarrassed. “Look, I know you’re with Andrew but-”

“I’m not with him anymore,” she said. “We broke up. It’s over.”

Upon hearing this news, JJ smiled in relief.

“Now, what made you realize you had feelings for me?” Emily grinned, as she dragged a chair nearby to sit next to her, choosing not to leave the room. She rested her chin in her palm and looked at the younger agent with adoration.

JJ let out a genuine laugh, feeling glad that her secret was out. “Well, at first I thought it was this little crush because you were… so strong and amazingly stunning, and confident.” She shrugged with a little head shake, “And because of that, you seemed way out of my league, so, you know, I tried ignoring it for a while.”

Emily was surprised that JJ found her almost hard to get, especially when she was thinking the same about the blonde. “Was I really that intimidating?” she asked with a chuckle.

“Maybe, yeah,” JJ giggled, finding that ridiculous now. “Well, I thought it was kinda hot, so…”

Emily just smiled and let her continue, ignoring the small blush appearing on her cheeks at the compliment.

JJ looked down and interlocked their fingers together. “I guess, after a while, I saw how you tried making me feel like I was important. That I was valid. No one’s ever made me feel that way before. You never forced me to change. You always made it comfortable for me to be myself and never judged me.”

“Then, there was that time I was tortured, and I thought of you coming to my rescue." She shook her head and sighed for a second, "I realized my mind always went to you and nobody else. I should’ve known that sooner, but it took me a while to know about these feelings I had for you.”

It was true. JJ didn’t know she had all these signs right in front of her. All those years, she had dismissed those as little ‘coincidences’ or merely someone just helping a friend out. It was way deeper than that. Emily cared for her in a way no one else in her life had, and was willing to lay down her life to save JJ’s.

JJ glanced back up to meet Emily’s eyes and gave a warm smile. “You’re the first person I’ve ever truly loved. I loved Will, too, but it was never as much as I loved you. I, uh- that’s why we decided to divorce. It gave me time to explore my feelings about you and now, I feel sure that I’m in love with you, Emily.”

“Really?”

JJ nodded, tears forming in her own eyes, “Yes. God, I love you so much, Emily.”

“I love you, too, JJ,” Emily whispered with watery eyes.

The two women smiled at each other, finally feeling the weight lift off their shoulders from professing their love for one another. After almost 14 years of yearning, they were now able to be together.

Emily sighed and pressed a kiss against JJ’s forehead. The blonde frowned, making Emily laugh.

“Why didn’t you kiss me?” JJ pouted even more and tilted her head to the side. Emily thought it was adorable.

“Because I don’t wanna give the medical staff a hard time, if the monitor goes off,” she winked, earning a playful slap on the arm.

JJ rolled her eyes and shook her head at her remark. “What a charmer.”

“Hey, you said you were attracted to my confidence, so you’re gonna have to deal with it,” the grey-haired woman smirked.

“Shut up,” JJ blushed and licked her lips. “Um, Emily. I forgot to tell you, but Will and Spencer actually knew about the whole…” she awkwardly gestured with her hands, “me being in love with you thing.”

Emily needed a moment to register those words. That explains why Will didn’t seem mad at her or anything like that, but wait. “Spence knew about this?”

“Long story,” the blonde answered, placing a hand on Emily’s arm. “I’ll tell you sometime after I get out.”

“Well, Dave knew about me having a thing for you, so…” Emily quietly confessed.

“So, do you think they were waiting for us to get together?” JJ asked, a little amused and surprised.

Emily shrugged, “Probably. For a couple of profilers, we really are blind.”

JJ laughed, and her body was filled with warmth and giddiness when the older woman kissed her hand. Emily frowned at the small object on JJ’s finger. Speaking of profiling… “What about your wedding ring?”

“Oh,” JJ gave a sheepish smile. “I totally forgot about it. Whoops.”

She toyed with the ring, shyly looking at it before waving her hand. “I, um, kept it on because I didn’t want the team throwing me questions about my divorce. I already had enough thrown at me when I was a liaison.” Then, she leaned in closer. “Also because I didn’t want some unsub or detective thinking they have a chance and try to hit on me,” she winked.

Emily chuckled in amusement. “Wow.”

“I’m telling you, the ring works every time.”

Emily playfully shook her head and stared at the ring on JJ’s finger. While she wasn't the one married to the younger woman, she smiled at the thought of sharing her life with JJ. But that seemed too soon to think about.

“What’s with the smile?” JJ asked, forming one of her own.

“Nothing,” Emily played off with a wave of a hand.

JJ tucked a piece of hair behind Emily’s ear and kissed her knuckles. “Emily,” she quietly said. “I know I’m in a tough situation right now, but… how about I take you out on a date after this?”

Blushing at the small gesture, Emily answered with a smile. “I would love that.”

JJ felt a sense of relief when she accepted the invitation. “Does this make us a couple now?” she wondered where their relationship stood at this point.

Emily opened her mouth, blinking as she carefully chose her words. Sure, they had just confessed their love right now, but she decided she wanted to take things slow with JJ. “Well, we’ll see how things go before we think about putting labels on whatever this is,” she offered as a compromise.

“Ok,” JJ nodded in agreement and beamed at her. “I love you, you know that?”

“I love you, too.”

After a few seconds, JJ nudged Emily’s arm, “Hey. Once I get discharged, do you think-”

“Nope! No, absolutely not. You are not working under those conditions,” Emily warned, shaking her head.

“But Emily…” JJ stressed each syllable of her name, pouting. She hoped this and her irresistible baby blues would work on the grey-haired woman.

“That’s a no, Agent Jareau,” she said with a serious look in her eyes, though, she had to mentally restrain herself from giving in.

JJ playfully whined even more, “Emily, I thought you loved me!”

“That gives you no excuse to be out in the field right now," Emily shook her head. God, JJ was even more stubborn about her well-being than she thought.

"Fine,” JJ crossed her arms over her chest and pretended to sulk, like a child not getting their favorite candy.

“You’re so cute,” Emily smiled and kissed her nose.

JJ took this as an opportunity to snake a hand behind Emily’s neck, bringing her head closer. The softness JJ felt against her lips made her melt instantly and she wanted to continue kissing her longer. She felt herself nearly getting dizzy from it and thought she was going to faint soon, but she didn’t care. JJ had been waiting years to do this. She just didn’t expect Emily to be that good of a kisser.

They both heard a rapid beeping and Emily nearly jumped out of her chair. Dr. Hsu came rushing in and laughed after she got the EKG monitor back to normal.

“Oh, I knew you two were a couple,” she said, seeing the flustered women, before leaving the room. “Make sure you take it easy. You almost had us worried for a second.”

“I told you,” Emily smirked at JJ, now noticing the effect she had on the blonde.

JJ lifted a shoulder and innocently smiled. “I couldn’t help myself.”

[hurricanery]

handmade

A/N: Hi! I felt like writing something slightly cute and wanted to get some requests done. This is inspired by this prompt, this prompt, & this prompt and a few others basically requesting Amelink/Scout first night home from the hospital/Amelia being super hormonal. This ended up being still a lil angsty whoops but thank you for sending prompts! And pt. 6 of If You Went Away will most likely be posted next <3

_______

hold me tight and I’ll sink in

i’m absorbed in your thinking

_______

“....I’m sorry, huh?” Amelia’s voice comes out in a stunned question. She glances up at Carina DeLuca from where she’s settled in her increasingly uncomfortable bed on the maternity floor.

“I said you can go home, Dr. Shepherd,” Carina repeats the words she’d spoken just prior, smiling optimistically. “You guys can go home today.”

Link smiles wide from where he stands near Amelia’s bedside. He rubs Amelia’s shoulder encouragingly, looking down at her with an expression of pure excitement. Amelia’s face does not reflect an equal sentiment.

“You’re sure….?” She turns her attention back to Carina, eyebrows pulling together as she tries to process this information.

“Yes, Amelia,” Carina laughs, implementing the first name basis in an attempt to comfort the new mother in front of her. “You’re healthy. The baby is healthy….” She smiles down at Scout, who sleeps soundly in the bassinet in the corner of the room. “It’s time to bring him home.”

Amelia’s frown deepens as she watches Carina leave the room. It had been two full days since Scout came into the world. Two full days of being surrounded by the people she loves. Two full days of constant support and visitors. And now it was back to reality. Her new reality.

She knows. In the back of her mind. That there’s no point in staying here in this hospital room. She’s a doctor. She’s prepared. Or she should be. And there’s nothing else left to do.

She bites the corner of her thumbnail anxiously as she re-visits her mental checklist. She pretty much has a handle on the feeding process. Link has basically mastered swaddling. And they were finally able to settle on a name. Which, as it turns out, was the toughest part. But they got there. And now there was nothing else left to do. The checklist is complete. Scout Derek Shepherd Lincoln is ready to go home.

Link clears his throat, raising his eyebrows at Amelia, who drops her nervous nail-biting to return his gaze. She smiles, despite herself, allowing Link’s calm demeanor to anchor her.

_______

Link is prepared, he thinks. For most things in life. Part of that he credits to not being an over-thinker. His preparedness is never a result of heavy planning, but more so an outlook that allows him to go with the flow. To take things as they come.

He’d only stressed momentarily before Amelia went into labor.

Will Amelia have an easy delivery?

Will we make it to the hospital on time?

Will the baby be scared of me?

That was the extent of his worry. So, what he’d failed to consider, was the aftermath. What to expect in the days and weeks after the birth.

“Ugh, god, stop,” Amelia whines. “Really, I got it.”

Link chuckles, bewildered, as he watches Amelia climb the staircase in Meredith’s house. He drops his hands from where he’d attempted resting them on her shoulders, in an effort to guide her up the stairs.

“You’re sore, Amelia. I was just trying to help.”

Link shrugs to himself defensively before following shortly after her.

“I don’t need help.” She mutters as they cross the threshold back into her bedroom.

They both peek into Scout’s bassinet next to the bed, and momentary relief floods them both at the sight of their newborn still sound asleep.

Link’s gaze remains glued to Scout adoringly, until he hears Amelia’s exasperated sigh from somewhere behind him.

He turns around in time to watch her lower herself onto the bed. She sits halfway up, leaning against the headboard and closes her eyes tightly. The grimace that twists across her face makes Link feel helpless.

“You okay?” He tries, slowly approaching the bed to sit down on the edge, near her feet.

“Ugh,” she groans her response, not even opening her eyes when she feels Link’s weight on the bed.

Link rests a hand on her shin comfortingly. And Amelia groans again, a crease forming between her brows.

“What can I do?”

“Nothing,” she breathes out impatiently.

And Link sighs.

“I can’t believe I forgot this part….” She continues, opening her eyes to look at Link. “There’s not really a handbook for what to expect after, ya know?” She laughs a little bit, apologetically. And Link nods understandingly. “I mean the last time…” Her voice cracks a bit on the sentence. “The last time….I couldn’t really separate the pregnancy from….from what else was going on with me….health-wise….” She trails off again as reluctant tears spring to her eyes. “I just kinda forgot about all this.” She laughs bitterly as she gestures to her own body between them.

“Well, let me help you-”

“What can you do, Link?! My uterus is quite literally shrinking back to its normal size. It’s just cramps.” She cuts him off angrily and Link recoils from her mood swing. She folds her arms across her chest and then immediately gasps at the tenderness there. “And, dammit, my chest is sore. That part….I didn’t have to deal with the last time.”

Link nods slowly. Breastfeeding was a new experience this time around.

“Sorry….” She mumbles, much quieter than before, glancing at the newborn that sleeps just a couple of feet away. “For lashing out. It’s not me, it’s the hormones.”

“Eh,” Link shrugs. “I’m used to it at this point.”

Amelia scowls. But it quickly softens into a slight smile as she leans back again and closes her eyes.

“You’ve known me as hormonal and pregnant more than you’ve known me as….not hormonal and not pregnant. I promise you, I’m not crazy.” She whispers.

“Sure, Amelia.” Link chuckles.

Her eyes shoot open. “Hey!” She mutters playfully. “I would try to be on my good side right now.”

“You’re right, you’re right.” He shakes his head amusedly, pulling her feet into his lap. He massages her feet and ankles and watches her relax into the sensation, while he thinks of his next plan. “How about a bath? That might feel good….?”

She blinks, thinking about it. She purses her lips, not wanting to admit to Link that he’s come up with something useful.

Link laughs at her expression.

“I’m going to start a bath, then.”

And Amelia pouts at the loss of contact when he shifts her feet away from him, moving towards the bathroom.

_______

“You want me to join you, or just stay in here, or-”

“No,” Amelia says sternly as she relaxes back into the tub, resting her eyes. She’s taken aback by the impatient tone of her own voice, though, and she opens her tired eyes apologetically. “I mean, no thank you. I’m okay.” She smiles. “And thank you for this.”

Link isn’t hurt by her dismissal. He smiles back at her. “That’s okay….I’m just going to go watch Scout sleep.”

Amelia huffs out a laugh at this.

“Okay,” she murmurs. “You do that.”

Link watches as Amelia unwinds completely. She sighs in bliss as she leans her head back and it makes Link’s heart swell. It makes him feel less useless to her. He’s still smiling to himself as he turns on his heels, walking back to the room to do exactly what he’d mentioned. Watch his newborn sleep.

_______

“Hey,” Amelia breathes as she rounds the corner back into the bedroom, wrapped up in a fluffy white towel. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to stay in there so long.”

“That’s okay,” Link responds, shifting his gaze away from the bassinet and turning around to meet Amelia’s eyes. “You earned it.”

Amelia smiles gratefully, moving forward to sit next to Link on the edge of the bed. She looks down warmly at the sleeping newborn in front of them. “You were serious when you said you were just gonna watch him sleep, huh?” She mutters quietly.

“Mhm,” Link’s eyes are glued back to Scout. “He hasn’t even stirred.”

“Don’t say that,” Amelia warns. “Let’s not jinx it. Can you imagine us actually sleeping through the night?” She grins up at Link. And Link shakes his head amusedly.

“But we should probably sleep, while he sleeps….” Link offers.

“Right….” Amelia mumbles. “But, wow. It is really hard to look away from him, isn’t it?”

Link laughs. And suddenly stands. He reaches a hand out for Amelia to take.

“Come on, bedtime.” Link pulls Amelia into a standing position, and they both take one last look at Scout.

“Can you believe we….made him?” Amelia’s voice is full of wonder. “We made that tiny little human.”

“Well, you did most of the work,” Link grins. Then turns to her with a more serious expression. “You still….do most of the work.”

Amelia’s heart swells. And she smiles, biting her lip, trying to shrug off the sentiment of Link’s words.

“And you should sleep in tomorrow,” Link adds, guiding them around to the other side of the bed. “Do you want to pump at all tonight….? So that you can sleep in a little bit when he wakes up hungry?”

Amelia groans, rolling her eyes. “That’s not a bad idea.”

“Here,” Link approaches the dresser, grabbing her sleep shorts and one of his oversized t-shirts. “Put on something comfy first.”

“Mhm,” Amelia nods in agreement, taking the clothes from him. But then she gasps suddenly, a sharp cramp twisting through her pelvis.

“What’s wrong?!”

“Just cramps,” she breathes, eyes shut tight.

“Okay, here. Sooner you get changed, sooner you can get back into bed.” Link takes the t-shirt back from her, encouraging her to drop the towel and lift her arms. And when she does so, Link guides the shirt over her body. He then crouches down, tapping Amelia on each foot in a way that signifies for her to step into her shorts. Link slowly rises as he pulls them up her legs, and the second the forgiving waistband is resting at her hips, Amelia collapses back down into the bed.

Link sighs. Not wanting to disturb her. “I’m….going to go get the breast pump.”

Amelia groans.

“Sorry,” Link whispers apologetically as he leaves the room.

_______

Amelia yawns desperately as she finishes pumping. She lays back against the headboard again, her head rolling to the side to look at Link, smiling lazily.

“This must be so attractive to you, sorry,” she mumbles sarcastically. “But I think I’m done,” she adds as she sits up.

Link frowns as Amelia settles herself from the task.

“Amelia….” He watches as she starts putting everything away. “Don’t say that.”

She just laughs dismissively in response.

“You’re literally providing nutrients to our kid, I mean….” He trails off, shaking his head in disbelief, trying to gather his next words. “I’ve never found you more attractive.”

Amelia rolls her eyes. Suddenly sick of the overly sentimental direction this conversation was heading.

“I was joking,” she replies shortly, her tone impatient once again. “Let’s just go to bed.”

“Alright,” Link agrees as Amelia quickly gets under the covers. He glances across, to the freshly pumped breast milk on her bedside table. He gets up and crosses the room. “I’m going to go put this in the fridge, I’ll be back.”

Her lack of response still doesn’t quite phase him.

When Link returns, a few minutes later, Amelia is seemingly sound asleep. He settles under the covers on his side of the bed and lays flat on his back.

He turns his head toward Amelia, who sleeps on her side, with her back to him. She makes no indication that she’s aware of his presence. Link sighs, turning over to face the opposite way. He shuts his eyes tightly, desperate to get some sleep before the inevitable. Before Scout wakes up and wreaks havoc on their sleep schedules.

Link begins to drift off quickly, only barely interrupted when he feels Amelia shift around in the bed. He successfully ignores the movement, falling easily back into the verge of slumber.

Until 10 minutes later. When he feels movement again.

Amelia shifts around in the bed, and Link can hear her sigh heavily. Her breath sounds closer to him than before. But again, he tries not to let it pull him from sleep. He grasps onto his exhaustion, willing himself to fall asleep.

But then 5 minutes later, he’s shaken from sleep again. Because he can feel the dip in the mattress as Amelia adjusts herself once more. Now impossibly close to him. Her breath against the back of his neck is the biggest indication of the lack of space between them.

Before he can even think about resisting, or think about grappling back towards sleep, he feels cold feet rest against his bare shins under the covers.

He gasps fully awake at the abrupt sensation. And turns over in bed.

“Amelia….” he groans sleepily, blinking as his eyes adjust. He can just make out her face in the dimly lit room. He’s immediately shocked by just how close she is to him.

Her eyes stare back at him widely.

“If you want to cuddle,” he smirks knowingly, “all you have to do is say so.”

“I don’t,” she deflects, brushing off the accusation.

Link’s smirk grows. Like he’s won some battle. And resent reflects all over Amelia’s face.

“Okay, then,” he announces matter-of-factly, beginning to turn away from her again.

But then her face falls. And Link pauses, scanning her eyes. And then he decides.

“Okay,” he mutters again. “Well I’m going to cuddle you anyway. Because it’s what I want.” He reaches for her, wrapping his arms around her until she adjusts so that her back aligns with his front.

Amelia sighs at the contact, relaxing into his embrace completely. Link’s hands move to rest over her lower abdomen and instead of retreating, the comfort actually brings tears to Amelia’s eyes. Link presses gently, applying soothing pressure, and Amelia gasps gratefully.

“Does that feel okay?” He murmurs.

Amelia quickly nods, letting out a quiet “Mhm,” instead of revealing the emotion that would likely be evident in her voice if she went the more verbal route.

But then she sighs again. Because even she can hear the level of desperation in her ‘Mhm.’

“It’s just the hormones,” she defends herself out loud, a revealing tightness to her voice.

“Sure, Amelia.” He chuckles, reaching forward to place a quick kiss to the top of her head. He relaxes back into their now shared position, finally drifting off to sleep.

//

[nerdypanda3126]

Countdown to Midnight

This was written for the @lovebugs-and-snakecharmers Sprint Fic Challenge. 

The rules are three 15-minute sprints with 24 hours for light editing, which includes new writing to smooth transitions or make it feel complete. (I only added like 600 words this time! Yay!)

Prompt: New Year's party with a New Year's kiss

Read on Ao3

—1 Hour to Midnight—

Marinette bit at her thumbnail and checked her phone yet again as she waited for the increasingly late Métro. A minute hadn’t even passed since she’d checked it last. But every minute counted tonight. She only had an hour to get to the party, find Luka, confess everything to him, and somehow ask him to be her New Year’s kiss. More and more this plan was starting to seem too complicated. How had she let Rose talk her into this? Oh, that’s right, Rose had sighed about how romantic it would be and Marinette couldn’t possibly have argued with that logic.

M: waiting on metro. might not make it

She sent the text to Juleka, then resumed biting her nails.

J: I’ll wait a bit to tell him 😢

Marinette wanted to throw her phone. This was her chance! And because of a stupid late train she was going to miss it.

—30 Minutes to Midnight—

Someone tapped Luka’s shoulder and he turned to find Juleka frowning at him.

“She’s not going to make it.” Juleka was actually raising her voice to be heard over the music, which was a first. She waved her phone at him to indicate the text she’d gotten.

His heart dropped to his shoes, but he shrugged as if it didn’t matter. “I didn’t think she would.”

Juleka gave him that look. She knew he was lying, but wasn’t going to call him out on it. Still. A strange sense of relief washed over him, mixed with a dose of worry. If she wasn’t here, then where was she? But if she wasn’t here, then he wouldn’t have to wonder if he could ask to kiss her at midnight or if she would maybe kiss him or—

He shook his head clear and smiled at Juleka before he tapped his fingers against his empty cup and used it to gesture downstairs. Juleka nodded and as he turned away he let his smile drop. He definitely needed another drink.

—20 Minutes to Midnight—

As Marinette stepped onto the deck of the Liberty, the party was in full swing. How was she even supposed to find Luka in the middle of all of this?

She found a spot along the wall where she could watch the other partygoers. All of them were swaying to the music pouring out of the Liberty’s speakers, all of them had red cups in their hands, and all of them had already paired up for their midnight kiss. Maybe Luka was out there with someone else? Not that—it was okay if he was because she hadn’t—okay, so maybe she needed to tell him she wanted to kiss him before she got jealous that he might kiss someone else for the first time of the new year. But first she had to find him.

—15 Minutes to Midnight—

Luka sighed as he tucked himself into the cockpit. It was the one space that wasn’t crowded by bodies, and the music was fainter here, although the thudding bassline still rattled the glass. It had taken him all of fifteen minutes to struggle down the stairs, get himself another drink from the fridge, and swim back upstream until he ended up here. If he could take a minute and hear himself think, maybe he could convince himself he was actually okay that Marinette was somewhere else. Probably with someone else.

When Juleka had told him Marinette would be coming and the way she had refused to tell him any more about it had made him think—but it’d been stupid to get his hopes up anyways. He sighed again and tapped his fingers on his cup along to the booming bass from the deck as he slid to the floor and stretched his legs out. Just a minute here and he’d rejoin the crowd. He closed his eyes to recenter himself. Just for a minute.

—10 Minutes to Midnight—

"Have you seen Luka?" Marinette shouted to Juleka over the music. Juleka tapped at her red cup. He'd gone to get a drink? When? And if he wasn't there could she get downstairs and back up before—?

She tapped at her wrist and Juleka frowned in sympathy before she shrugged. Marinette huffed and pushed her way towards the stairs.

—5 Minutes to Midnight—

Luka's eyes snapped open when his phone chimed in his pocket. He'd drifted off for a minute or two there. He rubbed his eyes before he checked his phone. Five minutes to go, then. The text was from Juleka. As he read the preview on his screen, his heart started thudding in his ears.

J: Marinette’s looking for you 😘

Juleka didn’t send kiss emojis to him. Which meant she was implying that—

He started to his feet and tore out of the cockpit. He had to find Marinette. He checked his phone again. Four minutes to go.

—2 Minutes to Midnight—

Marinette was frantic. No Luka downstairs. No Luka on deck. No Luka anywhere to be found and with two minutes to go. She thought she'd have enough time. She thought she'd be able to make it.

She shoved her way back upstairs, hoping that maybe she'd just missed him in the crowd.

And as she reached the top of the stairs, there he was. Although he was facing the other way, his phone clutched in his hand, and he seemed to be searching for someone.

He ran a hand through his hair and pulled up his phone, typed up a text, and he looked up again when he sent it. Marinette clutched her own phone. When it buzzed not a second later she almost dropped it. But a quick glance at her screen showed her it was from Luka and a smile stretched across her face. Luka was looking for her, too.

—1 Minute to Midnight—

Luka spun in place. He’d texted Marinette to try to figure out where on this houseboat she was, but he wasn’t expecting an answer in the next sixty seconds. So what? He tried to reason with himself. Marinette wanted to kiss him. Wasn’t that enough? Why did there have to be a deadline on it?

But then his eyes caught on hers. She’d been downstairs, maybe retracing his steps from earlier. She was holding her phone up, smiling, and she waved as a perfect pink blush bloomed across her cheeks. He was drawn to her as if pulled by a magnet—irreversibly and inevitably. She pulled herself up the last few steps and stood in front of him.

“Hi,” she mouthed.

“Hi.” He knew he was grinning, although he couldn’t seem to stop.

“30 seconds!” Someone said over the microphone. “Better find someone to lock lips with because it’s almost time for the count!” The crowd whooped collectively, but Luka’s eyes hadn’t left Marinette’s.

He raised his eyebrows in a simple, silent question. Her blush darkened as she nodded to answer him and took a step closer.

As the countdown from ten began, his hands fell to her waist and her breath hitched as he pulled her a step closer to him.

5 — Marinette pushed up on her toes to wrap her arms around his neck.

4 — He leaned his forehead against hers, and she wasn’t sure if it was the music pounding in her ears or her heartbeat. He was so close.

3 — Her warm breath fanned across his lips and his eyes fluttered closed.

2 — She slid a hand into his hair at the nape of his neck to ground herself in this moment, here, with him.

1 — One of them moved, impossible to tell which of them, and their lips brushed against each other, featherlight, before they fell together.

Happy New Year!

There were little pops all around and Marinette could feel confetti raining down on them from the tiny champagne bottle fireworks she’d seen everywhere tonight. Luka lifted her against him, supporting her with an arm around her back and even though she knew the cheers around her were for the New Year, she felt like cheering, too. She smiled into their kiss and dug her fingers into his hair, committing every second to memory.

He lowered her back down, still refusing to let go of her lips until her toes touched the planks of the Liberty.

“Happy New Year, Marinette,” he said in her ear before he pulled away.

When she opened her eyes again, she giggled and brushed some of the confetti out of his hair. “Happy New Year, Luka. I think it’ll be a good one.”

[skidd-and-pumpy]

I've been working on this on and off for a while, and I'm really proud of it! I don't plan to release it since I used a lot of assets from many, many, many other mods that I haven't been keeping close enough track of (I tried to find as many as I could for this post, but there are still quite a few I'm missing), but at the same time, I wanted to show someone because I'm really happy with how it's turning out so far!

This whole thing was made using FNF Modding Plus, it's such a life saver for people like me who only know a teeny tiny bit of coding and just want something easy to edit and implement.

Welcome to my Friday Night Funkin' Spooky Month mod showcase!

I redid the main menu screen using a saturated background from Sr. Pelo's Twitter acc (which was the original thumbnail for The Stars!) and for the song select screen, I used the end credits background, flipped, with minor edits (like getting Pump's tooth on the right side, or mirroring Eyes so the left star was bigger)

Also in my game is a Lila mod I found on Gamebanana (for her songs, I pitched up the voice tracks to fit her better), another background from Sr. Pelo's Twitter, and I edited Pump-as-GF myself! I used this video (and as I was messing with the gif to get the timing right, I figured what the heck, and uploaded this gif a few days ago so you, too, can enjoy a happy lil family enjoying TV!)

While the regular Songlist includes the songs from both @phantom-fear's Corruption mod and Blantados' Un-Corruption Mod (link1 link2 link3 link4), they look normal in the Freeplay versions. However, Story Mode is where they become less and less corrupt as the "story" progresses. I hate to admit it, but I basically copied Blantados. I just really wanted to save my boys, and they hadn't released a mod for it! So I made it myself. I drew/edited/colored all of Pump's semi-corrupt sprites myself (using Blantados' YouTube videos as a guide, but my version is still very shaky, whoops-), and redrew their death icons as well. The arrows and backgrounds came from the original Corruption mod.

There are so many other little treasures hidden in here that I haven't implemented yet, so I can't show everything. Things like Real Skid n' Pump, the boys Without Their Masks, another Remake so they look like they do in the show, and a few others. I also have a bunch of songs! Like Eerie, Eeeaaaooo, B-Side Chiller (which @paint-bottle mapped), and I copied the map for Relief myself.

This has been my baby for a few weeks now, and I love how far it's come! I've mastered this mod so much, I can add a new song/character/background within seconds, it's so satisfying.

Thanks for taking a look! If you haven't tried modding your FNF game yet, I highly, highly recommend it!

[dumbthinmint]

Lol how I ended up in the communities is actually quite funny. I randomly came across one of Jacks videos (didn’t know who either of them were at the time) and watched a bit of his video, then became intrigued by one of the thumbnails to marks videos. I eventually subscribed to mark and then I think maybe a year later I found one of jacks videos and realized that I had seen it before and subscribed lol Found Mark through Jack, but didn’t subscribe to Jack till a year after Mark 😂😂😂 whoops -SS

Hello Secret Santa!

Oh my gosh honestly that's hilarious. Honestly I love stuff like that. It's a fun little reminder of all the teeny tiny things that happened in our lives to bring us to where we are today. It's crazy to think about sometimes. And comforting too, because it means it's not all meaningless. Sorry now I'm getting all philosophical lol. I do that a lot, just ask @viostormcaller. Bless her and the patience she has to listen to so much of my optimistically existential rambling.

What's your preference when watching mark and jack; just the content at face value or the ego theorizing (or both)? I know not everyone in the community doesn't go all ham into the theories but heaven knows I got dragged in deep over a year and a half ago and haven't come up since XD

[didilysims]

Part 2 is here, much later than anticipated! Just a quick preamble to say that I love getting comments and always appreciate them. It’s not always easy to keep on top of replying to all of them, though, so I’m going to try to be less fussy about responding to every single one. I personally don’t expect a reply for the comments I leave, so I hope most of you have the same opinion... Do know that I read them all and get warm fuzzy feelings even if I don’t respond! 

Anyway, this batch is for @eulaliasims @nekosayuri @taylors-simblr @penig @immerso-sims @littleblondesim @barbiepinklady @scibirg @simgigglegirl @holleyberry @simlishnoir @clericalrodent and @tamtam-go92. 

eulaliasims replied to your photoset “Bright and early the next morning, the Lees finally get their bedroom...”

Well, it took them time, but it turned out great. :) I've been meaning to say, I'm digging Bernie's whole look with the graying hair and glasses and that vest. The hair especially!

Thanks! Greying hair is my new weakness. I justify hoarding it all by keeping non-greying recolours in there too... Somehow that convinces me I don’t need to cull it yet. >.> 

nekosayuri replied to your photoset “Bright and early the next morning, the Lees finally get their bedroom...”

As in, she slept through the entire thing and he did everything? XD

Heh heh, pretty much! 

nekosayuri replied to your photoset “The Sweet Beginnings tag @deedee-sims tagged me for this a long time...”

SO. MANY. TREES

Ha ha, you noticed too! I guess that was my workaround for filling the bare background before I discovered the mergeflora cheat...and had a computer tough enough to handle that cheat + all the other ‘hood prettiness. 

taylors-simblr replied to your photoset “The Sweet Beginnings tag @deedee-sims tagged me for this a long time...”

Also that garden is amazing! I don’t even put that much effort in now, and best landscaping I ever used to do was sticking a tree or bush outside

I remember quite clearly setting out to make a garden that looked pretty for once in my life. It was so satisfying, though it probably took a really long time! Believe it or not, I was inspired quite a bit by Maxis landscaping--mostly because they actually used the plants, while I was too lazy to make my Sims garden, so before that it was usually trees only because they required no pruning nor watering! 

taylors-simblr replied to your photoset “The Sweet Beginnings tag @deedee-sims tagged me for this a long time...”

I really like that wedding picture, it almost looks like a maxis story picture. I also really like your university party band, it looks like a Beatles cover band. I was going to say about that grass texture o_O ouch, just looking at it brings back memories of sims with no fingers.

Ha ha, I was getting Maxis story vibes from some of these too! Probably a big part of it is the smaller picture sizes with that vintage blur. And no fingers, wow, I will never forget the blobby hands of yesteryear. o_o Pretty impressed these Sims *do* have fingers, considering the relic of a computer I played on. 

penig replied to your post “Piggybacking of that Sweet Beginnings post, here are some excerpts...”

As a fan of Diana Wynne Jones, the image of Gwendolen Chant getting her first kiss from a wombat fills me with joy. Even if you met womrat, it's pretty satisfying.

Oh it is supposed to be womrat--I completely missed that on the first read, ha ha! And that I misspelled Gwendolen, shame. Apparently that entire family was named after DWJ characters, which I totally forgot about. Gwendolyn Chant had a sister named Helen and their brother was Erskine. I don’t know why I was so unkind to the eldest to name her after that character...must just be my fondness for the name rather than the personality. (Chant wasn’t even the surname, poor thing.) 

immerso-sims replied to your photoset “Whoops! With all the kerfuffle over Emily today, Marzipan’s birthday...”

She's very cute :)

Her profile is a little unusual in some angles, but overall I like it. Looking forward to seeing how this unique face grows up! 

littleblondesim replied to your photoset “Whoops! With all the kerfuffle over Emily today, Marzipan’s birthday...”

I hope Charlie and her can become buds.

I wouldn’t hold my breath, honestly. Charlie doesn’t like this new kid on principle and she’s a stubborn one. But Marzi is super cute and another child with way too many nice points, so maybe she can win her over?

barbiepinklady replied to your post “Just wondering if anyone knows if the Elexis Lola Pumps have been...”

Julie J had some with legging, maybe she can do one without legging https://juliejsimsstuff.wordpress.com/category/sims-2-female-clothing/page/27/

Thanks so much for tracking that down! You may have already seen the version without leggings that executables so kindly made but I have a weakness for leggings too... Eek, my poor Downloads folder. :o 

scibirg replied to your photoset “The day is still young, so it’s another trip to the park to get...”

Interesting

simgigglegirl replied to your photoset “The day is still young, so it’s another trip to the park to get...”

Thank you for this!

If my knowledge/experience in a very niche area of a rather niche community can be helpful, then great! Glad to help. :) 

holleyberry replied to your photoset “As it turns out, Emily already had an interview booked the next...”

This hood used to see the sims dropping like flies, for sure. It would have been interesting to see how Charlie would have reacted. Shed push her mom to reconcile even more.

To be fair, as much as I wailed about all my Sims dying left and right, only 2 of them actually stayed dead in the beginning. The others were all pleaded for or resurrected. But yes, it certainly could help keep things interesting to let death have its way for once. And be good for population control too! I can remember a day when it didn’t take me 6 months to get through a single rotation! :P 

simlishnoir replied to your photoset “The day is still young, so it’s another trip to the park to get...”

The bringing home friends that aren't working in the same career came with Freetime when they added hobbies as a factor to it. Unsure if it has been fixed by mods.

I think there’s a mod to fix that issue--pretty sure I remember reading about it once, though my memory isn’t the greatest. This wasn’t actually someone coming home from work, though. It was a pop-up through networking, which is not supposed to happen. I think it was some glitch or conflict with the networking mod I had making the correct pop-up (get a job) be overridden by the bring a coworker home pop-up. It could be a conflict of the bring coworker home pop-up mod, actually, because I’ve only just remembered that that is a mod. Had it in my game for so long I totally forgot, ha ha! 

clericalrodent replied to your photo “Nothing like a post-near-death-experience sponge bath to get you...”

Nice positioning of the apples ;p

That was a happy coincidence. :P I had to do a few double-takes at the tiny thumbnail for that photo, thinking I was so sure I had censored it... Yep, just some nice round apples, ha ha! 

tamtam-go92 replied to your photoset “As it turns out, Emily already had an interview booked the next...”

Oh my I love how the paper delivery Boy has a beard! Hoooow?

The magic of mods of course! It’s by Mirablu at MATY. It only works on newly generated townies/NPCs, just to be clear. Be warned that it does make a *lot* of those Sims have glasses and/or facial hair, with sometimes interesting results. I personally love the comedy of certain combinations, but not everyone does. :) 

barbiepinklady replied to your photoset “Bernie: Out “networking” and “job-hunting” all day, is she?! Well do I...”

They were happier at Casa Moonbean. ��

They were. :( But I wasn’t--too many adults to look after, and with the new babies coming, it would have been chaos! So my happiness trumped theirs. :D 

[floralreddie]

Skittles and Soulmates (Reddie)

I got a request on my other blog that was supposed to go here, but I accidently posted a Reddie request advertisement on there yesterday, Whoops. Anyway, here’s the oneshot.

Request: Hi! I was wondering if you could do a Reddie soulmate AU! One where you are unable to lie to your soulmate, but that doesn't start until you know who your soulmate is. So like maybe they also get matching tattoos that don't appear until the two soulmates share a significant experience (like facing pennywise). Then when the tattoos appear that is when they are unable to lie to each other? Idk if that males since and you can tweak it if you need to. Thank you!!

Pairing: Reddie

Warnings: Swearing

Firstly, their dress sense was entirely different. Even in their first year as Freshman High Schoolers, Eddie refused to ditch those fucking tiny shorts that were always paired with some pastel coloured jumper or shirt. Richie, on the other hand, would usually sport some horrible knitted thing with holes in, a brightly patterned button up, or torn up jeans with a hefty pair of boots.

Secondly, their sense of humours, whilst often very similar, could be so different. Eddie enjoyed Bill’s quick quips, or Ben’s light sense of humour that reminded Eddie of something a dad might say, if he had one. Richie preferred Stan and Bev’s dry and crude humour that, in Eddie’s opinion, Richie had to a new fucking degree.

Thirdly…well, shit, they were just two very different individuals. Eddie liked reading fictional books and listening to old disco music, and Richie liked going to the arcade and listening to rock or grunge. Eddie liked exploring the fields by Mike’s farm, and Richie liked driving at seventy down some back roads with Nirvana blaring out of his pickup trucks speakers. Often, though, he would have either Eddie or Bev with him. Or both.

Richie didn’t like Bev like that, though. He just liked to hang out with her, because she liked cool music, smoked and was a pretty tight fixture as the only girl in the Losers Club. Plus, she had already found her soulmate. Ben turned sixteen two months before Bev, and the moment the girl turned sixteen, every time she tried to lie to Ben’s face, only the truth would come out. That meant they were soulmates, and that was that. Richie had practically picked Ben off the floor he had hugged him so hard because, shit, the poor kid had been pining after Bev since they were twelve.

Richie, having turned sixteen just one month prior, was still to find his. As were the rest of the Losers.

He didn’t really mind, though. He would find them eventually, and he knew they would be cool as fuck. Until then, he was perfectly content with getting through High School and then the fuck out of Derry.

‘Earth to Trashmouth’. Richie snaps to attention and turns to Bev, who is waving a crudely painted fingernail in front of his face. There were little stars drawn across her wrist. He’d seen her doing them in Chem. ‘Space out, four-eyes?’ she grins, and Richie elbows her in the side.

They’re sitting in Bill’s basement, spread across a ratty couch and the floor, and it’s Eddie’s sixteenth. It had been a small surprise gathering, but Richie knows from the politely surprised smile on Eddie’s face when Bill had led him down the stairs into the basement that he wasn’t surprised at all. Still, if anything, Eddie was a polite little fucker to anyone who deserved it.

‘Piss off, Bev,’ he laughs, leaning back against the sofa with her, with his arm thrown around the back of it. Eddie’s sitting cross legged on the floor with Bill, Stan and Mike, as Ben sits idly beside Bev with their fingers interlocked. Richie watches as Eddie unwraps Bill’s present and smiles when Eddie’s face lights up.

‘Shit, Bill!’ Eddie proclaims, and yanks the yellow shirt from the wrapping paper and nudging Bill’s leg with his stark white trainer. He’s wearing those fucking knee-high socks that, for some reason, drive Richie mad. ‘The Beatles? That’s so cool, man, thank you!’

Bill shrugs and smiles and Richie nearly rolls his eyes because, shit, ain’t Bill just the nicest fucking person around?

Stan gets him a daily planner, with a little bit for pills at the front. Ben gets him a Weezer poster. Mike gets him a new bell for his bike. Bev gets him some strawberry scented hand sanitizer, a framed picture from when they were all twelve, and a soft looking flower crown made from paper and wire and cardboard.

Richie’s eyes fucking boggle when Eddie slips it on at Bev’s insistence, and Stan rolls his eyes and says that Eddie can act like even more of a Princess now.

Richie hardly says anything because, holy shit, Eddie looked prettier than usual (and Eddie is pretty, everyone fucking knows that) and he might be having a heart attack as Eddie sits there, in his fucking pastel blue jumper, and grins. ‘How do I look, huh?’ he asks, and Richie doesn’t know if Eddie is talking to him or not, but the little twerp catches his gaze so Richie just has to fucking answer, doesn’t he?

‘Beautiful,’ he says, legs spread out and thumbs sticking through the holds in the sleeve of his AC/DC jumper. He stalls when the words come out, and Eddie looks at him with wide brown eyes and glowing cheeks and Bev is staring at the side of Richie’s face with a shit-eating grin.

‘You do look pretty cute, Eddie,’ Mike laughs, after staring at Richie for a solid few moments.

The moment is over and the laughing continues, but Eddie can’t help but eye the flabbergasted looking Richie who is staring hard at Bev with wide eyes as the others talk and shift and giggle.

‘My turn,’ Richie says, blowing the moment away and reaches into the pocket of his jeans. He shifts to access the present, causing Bev and Ben to huff and move to make room for him. ‘It’s not as good as Bill’s present, mind. Fucking over achiever’.

‘S-suck my dick, R-Richie,’ Bill shoots back.

‘Take me out to dinner first, Denbrough,’ Richie grins back, smiling easily as the others laugh. Finally, he leans down and hands Eddie a small, brown wrapped box. Eddie knows what Richie’s presents are like – they can go from sweets to cards to a bottle of beer. Never very thoughtful, but something Eddie will enjoy all the same.

He’s never been one to care for material things, anyway.

He rips past the packaging and gets to the box, and Richie watches with an odd kind of anxiousness as Eddie pulls out of the jar of assorted Skittles, Eddie’s favourite. Each colour was put together nicely, from orange to yellow to red. Eddie looks up and Richie shrugs, cheeks warm. ‘They’re your favourite,’ he points out lightly, chewing at his thumbnail.

‘I don’t think I’ve seen you put that much effort into anything,’ Stan pipes up. Richie idly flips him in the bird.

Eddie thanks him and chews his lip, before reaching into the box and retrieving a tape. He scans the songs quickly before grinning. ‘This is good, Richie! You didn’t just put your shit on there – I actually like half this stuff!’

Richie huffs. ‘My music taste isn’t shit’. Bev hums in question next to him. ‘Oh, fuck off. Happy, Eds?’

Eddie looks around at the lot of them and nods, smiling. ‘I am. Thanks, guys. And don’t call me Ed’s, douche,’ he shoots back at Richie, who merely kicks Eddie lightly with the point of his boot and grins.

‘C’mon, Ed’s. You know you love it, right?’

Eddie rolls his eyes and sighs, but the words that come out of his mouth don’t seem to match his expression at all. ‘Yeah, but whatever’. Eddie, with that fucking flower crown on his head and his cheeks as hot as the sun, stares in utter horror at the slowly grinning Richie Tozier.

‘I fucking knew it!’ the dark, curly haired boy whoops. ‘You all heard that, right?’ The others, though, are nodding and sharing looks, secret smiles twitching onto their faces. Bill looks about ready to wet himself. Eddie and Richie hardly notice, as one looks in horror at the grinning other. ‘Ha! I’m never letting this one go. ED’S’.

‘Shut up, Richie!’ Eddie wails, the confused look falling away as he glares at the older boy.

‘C’mon…Ed’s’.

It’s Bev who tells them both to shut the fuck up, as Mike moves to switch the radio up and silence the two. Once Eddie and Richie get going with a fight, they could never be fucking stopped.

The night ends at 8, because it’s a school night, and Bev and Ben leave first, holding hands and thanking Bill. Next goes Mike, then Stan, and then Richie is sighing and thanking Bill as the boy cleans up the wrapping paper. Eddie gathers his presents up into a plastic bag and nods, before grinning at Bill and telling him he’ll wear the shirt to school tomorrow.

‘I’ll walk you home, Ed’s,’ Richie says, shrugging on his baggy denim jacket over his jumper and pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. It’s dark and cold and he never really let’s Eddie walk home alone. Eddie says he just does it to annoy Sonia, his mom.

Eddie looks like he might say something, but he just shrugs instead and bids Bill farewell as they ascend the stairs, saying goodbye to Mr and Mrs Denbrough and Bill’s little brother, Georgie, who was tucked up beside his mother on the sofa.

‘I can walk home alone, you know. You don’t always have to do this when we hang out,’ Eddie says, bag swinging at his side. Richie glances down to look at the now sixteen year old and shrugs, hand buried in the pockets of his jacket.

‘I know. I like walking you home’. He stalls, not knowing why the fuck those words just fell out of his mouth, but shrugs it off. He always says things without thinking, anyway.

‘O-oh…’ Eddie stutters, staring in bemusement up at Richie. ‘Cool?’

‘Cool,’ Richie repeats. ‘Did you notice I put It’s Raining Men on the tape?’ Eddie nods and grins, because they both remember the time they got drunk in Richie’s room and blared the song out whilst his mom slept downstairs. ‘Did you also notice you’ve got that flower crown on still?’ Richie snorts and nods to the crown sitting prettily atop Eddie’s curly haired head.

Eddie stalls and snatches it off, looking around them to see if any Derry citizens were walking about. ‘Shit – why didn’t you say sooner, dick?’

‘I told you – because it looks nice’. Richie actually stops stock still that time, back rigid and mouth pushed into a harsh line. Eddie stops only a few steps ahead, looking equally bewildered.

‘…I thought you said beautiful, before,’ Eddie murmurs lightly, shocked, shoving the crown into the bag slowly.

Richie clears his throat. ‘I guess I did, yeah’.

‘You’re being weird today,’ Eddie pipes up.

Richie grimaces. ‘Yeah, I know’. They stare at each other for a few more moments as Richie worries his bottom lip, eyebrows drawn together tightly. ‘Eddie…can you try and lie to me?’

And Eddie stares at him, eyes wide and pupils blown and cheeks suddenly feeling flushed and hot. ‘W-what?’

Richie shakes his head. ‘Fuck it, I’ll do it’. He pulls his hands form his pockets and clears his throat, stare so serious that Eddie might have laughed at any other moment. ‘Eddie, I-’ And then he chokes, swallows, and looks at Eddie like he’s a fucking alien. ‘Oh, what the fuck. I can't’.

‘No way,’ Eddie laughs. ‘Oh, shit’. Eddie peers at Richie then, a little smirk making its way onto his face. ‘Do you really think I look like a dork when I wear my shorts?’ he asks, and the silence of the street is pressing.

‘No,’ Richie shrugs. ‘It just pisses me off that Danny Dean in our English class always fucking stares at your legs’. Richie blinks. ‘What the fuck,’ he repeats, lips twitching as a surprised smile makes its way onto his face. ‘Eddie,’ he breathes, taking a single step forward. ‘Do you realise…I mean…what the fuck?’

‘Stop ruining the fucking moment,’ Eddie snaps, trainers pressing against gravel as he takes an equal step forward.

Richie Tozer and Eddie Kaspbrak may be very different people. Richie might like Nirvana and Eddie might like The Weather Girls, but one very fundamental part of their friendship was that they were most definitely soulmates, and they were most definitely in love with each other.

When they kiss, in that empty street at 8:16 PM on a Tuesday night, their tilted world rightens. When Eddie clutches Richie’s jacket and forgets about mouth-germs and Richie’s poor dental care and presses his mouth hungrily to the Trashmouth’s, his world rightens. When Richie presses his forehead to Eddie’s and asks, ‘Do you really hate it when I call you Ed’s?’

Eddie lets out an annoyed breath and grumbles out, ‘…No’.

Richie’s world rightens.

[emulateharry]

story of my life

Chapter 7

A/N: I know that certain events that I have taking place at the Indy OTRA show actually happened at different ones.  But this is fiction.  Big thanks to my dear friend Alex, @niallandharrymakemestrong, for her ideas and help on this one.

Kacey called every ticket outlet to try and get tickets to the sold out One Direction concert in Indianapolis.  Nothing.  She called her agent to see if she could pull some strings. Nothing.  As a last resort, she turned to e-bay.  Unbelievably, she found two pit tickets and meet and greet passes up for auction.  The notes explained that the seller’s teenaged daughter had been getting in all kinds of trouble; getting caught shoplifting and sneaking out of the house at night.  The last straw was catching the girl smoking weed with her boyfriend.  Mom and dad, going for the ultimate punishment, grounded her and put the prized tickets that they had held for a year up for sale.  When Kacey found the auction, there was only a half hour left to bid.  The highest bid was up to $3000 for the pair.  Determined to get the tickets, Kacey signed in and placed a maximum bid of $4000.  Within seconds she was outbid by someone willing to go higher.  With ten minutes left, Kacey placed another bid, this one outrageously high.  She watched nervously as the bid climbed steadily.  Chewing her thumbnail, she saw the total hit $9000 with two minutes to go.  Oh please, please don’t let someone snipe her at the last second.  She had typed in an even higher bid and was ready to hit the enter key as the last seconds ticked off.  Time was up! She had won the auction.  She was trying to imagine the surprise on Harry’s face when she showed up at the meet and greet.  All for a mere $10,000.  Her accountant was going to have kittens but it would be worth it.

She messaged the seller to inquire whether she could pick up the tickets rather than wait for mail.  Fortunately, they were located only about 40 miles away in southern Indiana and Kacey made arrangements to meet them the next morning.  Whooping for joy, she ran down the hall yelling for Laura. 

“I got some! We’re going to see Harry!” she shouted over and over again.  Laura indulged her by jumping up and down and shrieking with her but silently wondering how she was going to keep her best friend calm for the next week and a half.

*

It had taken all her restraint and some considerable acting ability to keep the surprise from Harry on their Facetime sessions.  Kacey could hardly contain her excitement and talked about it non-stop, much to Laura’s chagrin.  She had barely been able to write anything since returning from LA and was sure that her editor was going to complain but she just did not care; she couldn’t wait to see Harry.  She spent two days deciding what to wear; it had to be perfect.  She dragged Laura to every store in town to find just the right outfit.  She wanted to be somewhat sexy but also able to dance without falling out of her clothes.  She finally settled on a chambray romper with a broomstick lace cover up and converse.  Cute, sexy with enough buttons undone, practical:  perfect. 

Concert day arrived and she awoke to a surprise: One Direction had dropped a new single while she slept.  She couldn’t hit the Spotify button fast enough on her phone.  She listened to it and actually squealed out loud when she got to Harry’s solo at the end.  Kacey put Drag Me Down on a loop and snagged her headphones from the desk so it wouldn’t drive Laura mad.  She was dying to call Harry but knew he was tied up in promo all day.  Instead, she sent him a text gushing about how much she loved the new single and how awesome it sounded and how she hoped to talk to him tonight after his show.   She hoped that her surprise was still intact and he had no idea.  The meet and greet started at 4 and it was two hours to Indianapolis so they planned to leave at 1.  She wasn’t sure she could make it until then.  He was so close, so close. 

They decided to take Laura’s car to Indy.  She had a fully restored 1965 Mustang with a killer sound system and a massive engine that she tested as often as possible.  Today Kacey wanted speed over her fun antique VW fastback.  They piled in the car and pulled out the drive, Laura being a good neighbor by waiting until they were on the ramp to the interstate before cranking the stereo up.  Singing loudly to classic rock songs heavy on the Led Zepellin and Rolling Stones, the trip seemed to take no time.  Before she knew it, they were exiting to downtown Indianapolis and heading to the stadium. It was just after three when they parked the car and walked to the meet and greet venue.  Showing their passes, they got in line chatting to the other fans waiting. 

Kacey made sure that she and Laura were the last ones in the queue, letting any newcomers go ahead of them.  She did not want to be rushed out by other fans waiting in line when she saw him.  Her nerves began ramping up as they moved closer to the head of the line and she started to second guess her plan.  What if he wasn’t happy to see her?  What if he was annoyed?  Oh my god, what if he had another girl here with him?? Laura thought she might have to slap Kacey to keep her from hysterics but, fortunately, holding her hands and talking her down worked instead. 

The line crept forward and at last they were standing at the doorway to the room where the boys were.  Kacey hid behind Laura and peered in.  Harry had his back to them and was hugging the fan who had been right in from of them.  The security personnel signaled for them to move in and Kacey stepped through the doorway.  Niall was looking at the door, his attention fully on Laura, smile bright.  He was hoping that she was there for him when he glanced to her right and saw Kacey.  He did a classic double take, his face broke into a huge grin and he looked over at Harry who still had his back to them.  Liam and Louis were curious as to what Niall was excited about, looking at the girls, when he motioned for them to watch.  Kacey could barely make her feet move, her heart was pounding and her hands sweating, she was walking toward him as if in a trance.  There was a lump in her throat that made swallowing difficult.  Harry was turning around and his eye alit on Laura who was in the front.  She moved over toward Niall and that enabled Harry to see Kacey behind her. 

A look of confusion passed over his face and he blinked several times as if to clear his vision.  “Kassidy?” he whispered, incredulous.  She nodded, smile growing on her lips. Once he realized that it was really her and not his imagination, he took three long strides and dipped down to wrap her in a hug lifting her off her feet.  He was holding her against him, inhaling her scent, and stroking her hair.  His heart was thumping as he drew back to look at her.  Liam and Louis were staring at him as if he had lost his mind, Niall was smiling beatifically, and Laura was watching to make sure that Kacey was okay.  Putting her down, Harry took Kacey’s hand and pulled her behind a partition, out of sight of any stray fan and their camera.  Watching the two of them scurry away, the boys all turned to Laura. 

Realizing that three very good looking men had their attention focused on her made her a tiny bit nervous.  She cleared her throat and declared “Laura O’Hara, best friend of the brazen hussy.”  She reached out her hand to the boys, but instead they smiled and moved in.  Surrounding her in a group hug, Niall was hugging just a bit tighter than the others.  

Behind the banners, Harry caressed Kacey’s cheek looking at her like she was a dream.  He bent and kissed her as if it had been years since he had tasted her.  He was holding her close, touching as much of her body as he could with his own, memorizing the feel of her.  They broke apart and he kissed her forehead and then her eyelids before touching the tip of her nose with his and saying “Hi, beautiful.”

Kacey smiled and replied “Hello, handsome.”  Harry grinned at her then moved to hold her face gently and kissed her again, his thumbs stroking her temples.  They were startled out of their kiss by a loud “Oi” and looked over at Louis who was standing with arms crossed, apparently waiting for an explanation with Liam beside him looking puzzled.  

Harry gave them a huge smile and said “This is Kassidy Day.  Kassidy, Liam and Louis.” 

“So, you’re the one he’s been hiding from us,” Louis exclaimed as he moved to greet her properly.  Liam followed and they were both giving her hugs when Niall came around the screen with Laura in tow.  Kacey greeted Niall and then introduced Laura to Harry.  Laura was looking a tiny bit dazed which Kacey attributed to a certain blond Irishman. 

Kacey looked up at Harry and asked hopefully “Were you surprised?”

“I still am! How did you get tickets?  This one has been sold out since last year,” Harry inquired of Kacey.

“E-bay.  You really can buy anything on there.  I swear I saw a kidney for sale last week,” she replied jokingly.  Harry laughed but the other three just looked bewildered.

“Don’t worry, you get used to it. Eventually,” Laura assured them wryly. 

“I was ‘highly motivated’ to win the auction,” Kacey said silkily to Harry.  His gaze was intense as he raised one eyebrow at her. 

The tour manager came up to the group ready to usher the girls out and the boys to their dressing rooms.  Harry interceded and explained that they would be needing some credentials because the girls were coming with.  Clearly unhappy about this unplanned course of action she tried to object but Harry just looked placidly at her, blinking slowly but otherwise not moving, until she radioed for badges.

Kacey leaned in and whispered “I don’t want to cause any trouble!  We have tickets and…” Harry interrupted her with a kiss. 

“It will be no trouble, love.  People come to visit us all the time.  I’m really glad that it’s you this time,” his voice as soft as his smile.

 Louis and Liam had walked on ahead to the dressing rooms when Laura, watching Kacey and Harry, turned to Niall and asked “Are they always this gooey together?”

Niall snorted out a laugh and replied “I would bet on it.  Only seen them together once.  Seems worse now.”

Kacey retorted “I am not gooey!”

Harry smirked and said quietly “Not yet…”

“I heard that!  Watching you Styles!” Laura’s voice came from behind them.  The corridor echoed with Harry’s laugh.

*

Backstage before the show there was little time for them to be alone.  Kacey and Laura were fascinated by the hum of activity that constituted show prep; the million little details to attend to.  Niall and Laura seemed to be hitting it off well and he offered to give her a quick tour.  As soon as they walked off Harry grabbed Kacey and headed for his dressing room.  They managed five minutes in his room, with the door barred by a chair, during which they tried desperately to consume one another.  Harry was kissing along her jaw while unbuttoning Kacey’s romper, delighted to find no bra underneath.  Pulling it open, he snagged a nipple with his lips and licked, sucked and nipped gently with his teeth until Kacey wanted to scream.  Moving to the other breast he repeated the process until he had Kacey moaning and tugging on his hair, trying to push his head lower. He had just raised his face to hers and captured her mouth, her hands trying desperately to get inside the waistband of his jeans, when there was a pounding on the door alerting him to get ready for stage.  Cursing under his breath, he heard her whimper in frustration.  Pulling her into a fierce embrace, they held each other until they could breathe normally and the passion eased enough for them to let go.

“After the show,” Harry said thickly, “The hotel is close.”

“Um, that could work.  Or, you could come home with me for a few days…” she trailed off, afraid to look at his face to see the ‘no’ there.

Harry was quiet for a moment, thinking furiously.  Was there anything that he couldn’t get out of during this break? No. He had planned to fly to LA but there was nothing pressing. 

“That sounds like a plan,” he said with a grin, tilting her face up to his.

Her eyes lit up and she squealed before scattering kisses enthusiastically all over his cheeks and lips.  Laughing he pulled away and buttoned her romper again then moved to unblock the door.

“We’d better get you to your seats,” his tone reluctant.  One more kiss and he opened the door to find Laura and Niall standing there, arms crossed, with knowing looks. “What?” he asked guiltily. 

“Missed a button there, Kace,” said Laura pointedly while Niall sniggered at them and Harry just looked very pleased with himself.

Kacey blushed and hastily redid her buttons then reached to kiss Harry on the cheek.  She had noticed the chemistry between her best friend and Niall and the way that he was looking at Laura.  She managed to get Laura’s attention and inquire, via subtle facial expressions, if she wanted to invite Niall to come home with them too.  Getting an affirmative, Kacey mentioned to Niall that she had plenty of room in her house if he wanted to join them for a few days.  His face lit up as he accepted the invite.  The boys hustled to the bus to grab the bags that they had packed before arriving at the venue and returned them to the dressing rooms.  Asking Laura for her keys, Harry had one of the staff retrieve her car from the lot to have it near the exit so they could get out of the stadium before anyone in the crowd realized they were not in the buses.  Harry had arranged for a security guard to escort the girls to VIP seats and to bring them back after the show.  Kacey and Laura walked out into the stadium while the boys made their last-minute preparations.  Not ten minutes later the intro video began and the crowd came alive.

*

Harry was having some difficulty keeping his mind on his job.  He had been swaggering and gesturing more than usual, showing off for Kacey in the audience.  He had almost missed his cues a couple of times already and Louis was getting annoyed with him while Liam just shook his head.  He took a spectacular fall while dragging a microphone stand behind him as he strutted across the stage, his attention on Kacey instead of where he was walking.  To be fair, the stand caught on a flap of stage floor that was loose and the mishap was not entirely due to Harry’s inattention.  The wipeout was embarrassing, and a little painful, nonetheless.  Fans laughed as he lay there for a few seconds before getting up and brushing himself off.  He gave them a deep bow and sheepish grin, knowing that it would be all over the internet before the concert was even over.  He looked over at Kacey and saw her scowling.  For a moment, he thought the expression was aimed at him and his heart sank, then he noticed Laura’s hand on Kacey’s arm.  She was talking animatedly in Kacey’s ear while Kacey glared at the fans around them, her hands flexing and clenching repeatedly.  He couldn’t see anything wrong but made a mental note to find out about it after. 

Kacey and Laura were having a great time dancing and singing along.  Niall and Harry seemed to spend quite a lot of time in their section of the stage.  Niall was playing directly to them on ‘Alive’ and they responded with some headbanging and hair flipping that would have made any metal head proud.   Harry was oozing sex all night, his hips demonstrating just how well he could move.  His signature crotch grab was aimed directly at Kacey and he finished it off with a slow lick of his lips.  The antics were whipping the girls around them into a fever of adolescent sexual agitation.  Her emotions were running just as high as Harry’s and each of his moves spoke directly to her nether regions. 

When he fell, Kacey saw his grimace of pain and watched, concerned.  When the fans around them started laughing and calling him clumsy, it was all Laura could do to restrain her. 

“Kacey!  You cannot go slap the shit out of teenaged girls. You’ll get arrested. KACEY! You won’t get to see Harry after the show if you’re in jail!”

The last entreaty cut through her anger and made it to Kacey’s brain.  Reluctantly she let Laura draw her back into the show.  Occasionally throwing a vicious glance at the girls behind them, she resolved to let them live.

 The show was almost over when the bass line for Drag Me Down started.  The crowd went crazy.  Kacey was enthralled and when Harry belted out his solo at the end she was screaming along with everyone else in the stadium.  The air was thick with electricity and sex and, when he looked at her after the last note faded, it took almost every ounce of her self-control to not fling herself at him.  Her already intense longing for him was exacerbated by the nature of the situation.   A close look revealed that his jeans were somewhat more snug than they had been.  As much as she had enjoyed it, she was glad that they concert was almost over.  The boys were making their last speeches when the security guard from earlier arrived to escort them back stage.  As they moved out of sight of the crowd the intro for ‘Best Song Ever’ began. 

They only had a few minutes to wait in Harry’s dressing room before the man himself arrived with Niall right behind.  Trying to hurry, they decided to hold off on showers and settled for just changing clothes.  Grabbing their bags, they headed for Laura’s car and had a quick discussion about seating arrangements.  It was decided that Niall would sit up front with Laura while Harry and Kacey sat in the rear but Laura had one stipulation.

“Okay, you can sit back there but NO SEX IN MY CAR!” Laura said sternly pointing at them.

Kacey answered with an indignant tone “Laura O’Hara!  That you would even suggest such a thing!” as Harry said, in a loud whisper, “Does she read minds?”

“No, I do not read minds, I just know a certain Kassidy Day very well.  You can wait until we get home, Missy,” in her best mom voice.

“Yes ma’am,” Kacey replied, somewhat abashed.  Niall and Harry laughed.

Everyone settled into their places, Niall and Harry covering their heads and faces just in case someone looked into the car.  Laura turned the key, whipped the Mustang into drive and headed out of the parking lot ahead of the throngs of people streaming to their cars.  It took only minutes to hit the entrance ramp of the interstate and they relaxed a bit. 

As Kacey and Harry snuggled in the back seat, she and Laura entertained the boys with stories about their college years. 

“So, Laura, your family’s Irish, is it?” Niall asked curiously.

“Oh yeah, we’re just three generations removed from the Emerald Isle” she responded in a thick brogue.

Niall smiled at her attempt while Kacey said “Wow, Laur, you can do an Irish accent too? I thought you only did French.”

Laura laughed and Niall turned to Kacey for explanation.

“We were in this bar one night and Laura pretended to be a French exchange student. ‘I am studying American Law at ze university.’” Kacey imitated a bad French accent.  “These poor, dumb guys believed her.  For two hours!  They were just charmed and giggling at every little thing she said.  It was quite the performance.” 

“That was funny, but exhausting!” Laura laughed and the boys joined in. 

“Have you ever been to France?” Harry asked.

“No.  I just took a couple of years of it in high school.  Kacey took French too.  And Spanish.  And Hebrew,” Laura informed proudly.

“I heard about that, actually.  My friend Jeff told me about you talking to his dad at one of the parties after your premiere,” Harry said to Kacey. 

“Oh!  That’s right! Jeff Azoff, Irving’s son, right?  Yes, that was fun.  I only speak a little though,” Kacey replied.  “I can say important things like ‘Hayom anee holechet el ha mo-adoan.’  That means ‘Today I am going to the community center.’”

“That could be very useful one day,” Niall laughed. “Harry has this one phrase in French that he uses in every interview.”

“What, Niall? It has served me well,” Harry defended, grinning. “Je suis alle au cinema avec mes copain et ma famille.”

“You’re going to the movies with your friends and your family?  Who does that?” Laura asked, laughing. 

“It could happen,” Harry retorted.

Kacey just smiled at his faux indignation and kissed his cheek.

They kept up easy conversation the rest of the short trip.  It was nearing 1 AM when they pulled into the drive at Kacey’s.  The landscape lighting provided enough illumination that they could see the house.  Niall let out a whistle at the sight.  Harry was impressed not only at the size of the place but also that it looked very inviting.  It was a fitting home for Kacey. 

Laura parked by the front porch and they climbed out into the warm night air.  Grabbing their bags, they walked up the few stairs and Laura unlocked the door with the keypad and fingerprint scanner.  Seeing the guys’ expressions, she shrugged and explained “Kacey likes gadgets.”

Harry loved the airy foyer, the double-sided stairs and the formal living room beyond.  Niall, looking around, called out “Nice place you’ve got here…here…here!” in his best echo impersonation.

“Property is much cheaper here than in England.  This was actually less than my flat in Belsize Park and came with 5 acres,” she explained.

Looking at Harry, Niall said “Remind me to look for a house here.”

“Okay, I know you guys have to be tired.  Come on Niall, I’ll show you the bedrooms and you can pick one,” Laura invited.

They all headed up the stairs.  On the second floor, Laura guided Niall to the left while Kacey and Harry went to the right toward the master.  Calling their goodnights, they walked into her room.  Closing the door behind him, Harry pulled Kacey into his arms and kissed her thoroughly.  “Been waiting to do that all night,” he murmured.  “I really want to make love to you, Kassidy, but I definitely need a shower first.”

Suddenly warm, Kacey took his hand and led him to the bathroom.  Demonstrating the controls for the jets, she turned to leave when he pulled her back.  “Join me?” he whispered. 

“I thought you’d never ask,” she smiled. 

“You have one of those instant heat water heaters in this house too?” Harry asked hopefully.

“Oh yeah,” she grinned at him.

“Best news I’ve had all day, baby” he muttered, bending to kiss her.  Unbuttoning her romper, he brushed it from her shoulders and let it slide to the floor.