#then of course on the flip side if it IS a port problem... if i somehow had money for a table it would sure suck

[softgrungeprophet]

well i seem to have fixed my phone battery for the time being (just needed to be recalibrated)

now if someone wants to buy me a new graphics tablet that would be great (mostly kidding, still works... but. i think something is wrong with the cord (unless it's my laptop's usb ports which i wouldn't put past it since it's such a piece of crap but i haven't had any issues with my keyboard so...) if i jostle it even a little it starts disconnecting and reconnecting) (i reinstalled the driver and it didn't make a difference)

[thecurioustale]

Childlike Solutions to Serious Problems

When I was very young—just three or four years old—we were driving one day on Interstate 10 in the wests of Los Angeles, and we came upon road construction:

Beginning with the right-hand lane, one by one each lane was blocked off by big, bright orange cones, taking us further and further to the left, until there was only a single lane passable on the entire westbound carriageway. And, of course, it so happened that this was the left-hand lane.

Something in my young little mind was lighted and delighted.

From that day on, my adorable little neurodivergent brain became gloriously hung up on left versus right. Not political left and right, but the actual, physical left-hand side and right-hand side of things. Of course, it also turned out that I myself was left-handed. So you better believe that I knew where my loyalties lay. And, golly, did I ever have lots and lots of loyalties to spare on this particular matter—for there are few matters in the world of greater importance!

Accordingly, one of my biggest complaints as a kid about TV Star Trek (both TNG and TOS) was that we usually only get to see the USS Enterprise from its starboard side. This was a concession to the practicalities of filming ship models, and they had just so happened to pick the starboard side as the filming side of the ship in both TV shows.* But it made me so resentful!

You can imagine my glee, therefore, when, in Star Trek: The Motion Picture we almost exclusively see the ship from the port side, from the dozens of Enterprise visuals in that beautiful film. That Enterprise is way more beautiful than the '60s TV model anyway. =P

However, Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan was a dark betrayal. Even though the movie features more port side shots than starboard side ones, and the port side shots are more beautiful, the nefarious Khan exclusively targets the port side of the ship in his attacks. By the end of the movie the Enterprise's majestic and noble port side is utterly ravaged, while the starboard side is unblemished and pristine.

This made me so upset that, after years of seething, eventually my patience burst. On one occasion of rewatching the movie in my parents' bedroom (on their VCR), I took down an ENORMOUS and expensive antique wood-framed mirror hanging in another room of the house, dragged it all the way to the bedroom, and propped it up on the bed, freestanding, so that I could watch the movie flipped and see the port side get its rightful ahem LEFTful due, which is to say being spared of damage and getting to deliver the fateful torpedo blows against the nefarious Khan's nefarious ship.

But it wasn't to be: My dad got home from work and walked in before I had gotten to the end of the movie. At seeing his mother's ENORMOUS and expensive antique wood-framed mirror precariously balanced on his bed in a base of pillows, propped up by my own little arm, he grew devilishly angry and ended my entire endeavor then and there. I was not even allowed to explain myself, which at the time I thought would have been quite convincing of a rationale.

Now I laugh about it whenever I think back on the absurdity of it all. Dad was right to be upset! But, to this very day, I have never seen Star Trek II all the way through in the way it was meant to be seen.

I happen to own that mirror now, though.

Perhaps one day...

~~~

* With regard to the original 1960s Enterprise model, it has become something of a quest for the Holy Grail to find photographs of the original port side decoration and livery before that side was ruined in order to streamline the filming process. There's a YouTube video about the search to find these photos.

[the-witchs-archives]

[MINI ARC 2 - The Holiday Cheer]

[SCENE 2]

The waves gently crashed against the wooden dock on a clouded night, the fog settled over the area like a blanket that never touched the ground. Upon this dock was a small shack, completely blocked of light inside as something.. no, someone, sat inside.

Through the dense cloudcover, a brig pierced the fog like a sword, cutting through as it began to steer towards the port of the republic. The medium-sized ship, hailed for the single strange crewmate, was soon to dock, two glowing orange eyes peering through the mist as it drew closer and closer.

'BAM!', A figure landed on the wooden structure, rope in hand as they tied it to the dockline's studs, a hefty sigh coming out as they finished up with a difficult knot. Once completed, they climbed back up to retrieve an item, the silence causing their heavy boots to sound like distance drumming.

Items in hand, they climbed down once more, and approached the shaded dwelling of a cookie.

The shaded cookie was watching them before backing away, they were not the type to be social, but this was a different occasion, their glowing eyes scanning the cookie before disappearing for a moment, a slow blink to show that they trusted them.

"You're back so soon."

The glowing eyes has a raspy voice, one a cookie usually wouldn't have unless they were monstrous or even undead, it wasn't the case for this cookie.

"I'm surprisssed to see you without that witch pulling you aside, what did you bring home this time?"

"Thought you'd like something fresher than whatever ends washed up around here. Plenty of fish for the time being."

The figure stood proudly with their catch, one hand with the fish and the other on their hip, eventually crouching down to place it down. Their mustached face, though dry, reflected the orange glow of the eyes.

"Best thing I caught from out there was something I'd usually find other ships avoiding for how tough they are; Got it caught real easy though, so it should be a good meal. How was the dock while I was away?"

They asked, grabbing out a crude knife that was purposely dinged up to act as a scale remover. The catch had already been knocked out and subsequently terminated, prepared for any sort of cooking.

"The dock has been free of Pearl Legion soldiers, though it feels like they're all clones with no real soul."

The cookie stepped closer, revealing that they're a skinny, monstrous cookie, with discoloration in their dough and scales, their eyes were still very intimidating as they looked like a predatory animal's who out to hunt, they brushed their messy hair away from the rest of their face, even their hair was weird, a mix of dark turquoise, green, with an accent of orange and lavender.

"Did you make sure the fish wasn't poisonoussss? Oh wait, we're resistant to such toxinsss."

"Of course I made sure it wasn't, not like it matters.. just gives it a better taste when it's not poisonous."

The mustached seaborn looked up, scraping off the scales of the fish freely without looking. Eventually, he'd flip it over and do the same thing to the other side, ready to get it cooking.

"Any other problems outside the dock? Any buggers from that high n' mighty place?"

They asked, a bitter tone to their voice in the end.. Of course they were salty about it, though it had been years since. They wouldn't get over it anytime soon, especially with a threat on both sides. There was a sigh in the end, shoulders lowering.

"None of the soldiers dare to wander down herrreee... but outside of the dock? I've heard that the witch wants to pass a new law that has that creature investigate ships that enter and leave port... preventing the escape of many of usssss.."

The cookie was saddened at the idea of such a thing, knowing that thing can sense the oddities in nearly anything, knowing that their brothers, sisters, and siblings of slime scales are stuck between a power hungry ruler or the filth of the lower city.

"I wish to run away at sssome point, away from her."

"Maybe, once our home is safe enough.. we can run away. Hell, it wouldn't be that bad to get a breath of fresh air from his place. Though I may love it, this 'home' isn't much more than a prison, and a grave reminder of exile.."

He soon went to look for any source of heat, in order to cook the catch he had just primed.

"But once we're out of here, we'll be more free than flying fish. It'd be fantastic with you and me on the open seas, doing what we do best and stopping wherever's open to our ship. I think that's the best part of the wait, knowing it'll be worth it when your kind is safe.."

And once found, the fish was set to grill, the seaborn sitting beside and looking at the one with a disfigured appearance. He saw nothing bad to it, and patted the 'seat' nearby if they wished to lean on him.

The disfigured seaborn took the opportunity to sit beside himself, after all, they were close friends with the captain anyways.

"Hey Caviar... do you think there's something for us once we get out of this witch's disease cauldron?"

The seaborn removed their mask, revealing something that borders uncanny monstrosity and normal cookie appearance.

"Even though I lost the crew of Moonlight's Arrow, I still have you... and whatever's left of fhe Salty Shark.."

"Yeah, I believe there's a bright future away from this republic, this dock... this part of the sea. The unknown calls to us, Blight.."

They looked at the other, not minding such a horrid face.

"All we have to do is sail to meet it."

[optimusphillip]

OptimusPhillip Reviews – Transformers: Power of the Primes Sludge

We've made it into wave 2 of the Power of the Primes Dinobots, we're finally in the home stretch! And these last two Dinobots are quite interesting to talk about, though not necessarily for the best of reasons, as we'll see when we get into today's review subject, Sludge.

Dinosaur Mode

Like in G1, Sludge transforms into a robot Brontosaurus (yes, I'm calling it Brontosaurus. That name has made a comeback.) He's actually a heavy retool of Slug, but you may not realize it at a glance. In this mode, the only visible parts they share are the shoulders, biceps, and rump. Everything else is completely new tooling, based on his original toy. Once again, we have a lot of molded detail going on, but unlike the previous figures we've looked at, not all of it is G1 referential. Of course, all the parts he shares with Slug are going to be inaccurate, but even on the new parts, there's a bunch of new detailing not present on the original toy. The torso comes fairly close, with the same sort of sticker-based striping as Slug, the round things on the bottom, and the interlocking trapezoid detailing on top flowing into a pair of triangles. But it's interrupted by random gaps and 5mm ports., and there are extra bits of detail that just weren't there at all on the original.

The neck is probably the most egregious, since the G1 toy was almost completely smooth aside from some collar detail. Here, you get a ton of intricate line work that looks really nice, but does make him look a bit different from the original toy. I like it, but I can't guarantee that you will. The tail is also completely different, though I will give it props for including the back fins that were omitted due to the shared Slug parts. Also, this is a little random, but I like how his teeth are rounded, referencing how Brontosaurus was a herbivore.

He has more of that clear plastic painted on the inside, recreating the layered chrome effect of the original Dinobots. You can see it in the head, as you would expect, and there is a lot of on-topic molding, but it can also be found in his hind legs and tail. The tail looks nice, gaining a lot of sharp lines that do blend in with the rest of his molded detail. The hind legs, however, are a bit of a problem. Unlike Slug, where both the outside and the inside are painted to give the impression of a clear insert, Sludge only paints the inside. There's extra molding in there, so this was clearly intentional, but I really don't like the way it looks. It makes him look like he's got glass legs, and that if he stomps too hard they're going to shatter into a million pieces. Also, there's sculpting on the outside of the legs instead of just the inside, meaning that the layered effect actually causes some detail to get lost, including the split between his toes!

Most of the articulation in this mode is carried over from Slug. The front legs are on ball joints, with swivels above the knee and 90 degrees of bend in the knee, and the rear legs simply swivel at the hip. That said, you lose a bit of poseability because of the shape of all the parts. There are a couple transformation hinges on his underbelly, which clash with his front legs if you try to rotate them flat against the body. There are even notches in the lower legs to accommodate them in a standard pose. It's not a severe hindrance, but it does limit his poseability just a little.

For accessory integration, Sludge is surprisingly well-equipped, with eight 5mm mounting points for his gun and Prime Armor. Two are on his hips, two are on his sides, one is on the bottom of his throat, and there's one on the back of his neck specifically for his Prime Armor. You need to flip the peg out on an angle, and then push it straight down into the port on his neck. It looks... weird, like the armor is just kind of floating there. Plus, on my copy, the peg hole has some stress marks just from trying to peg the Prime Armor in. I don't know if I've just been too rough with it, or if this just isn't a durable connection, but the fact that the peg hole is made of clear plastic makes me question its structural integrity.

Conversion

Once again, Sludge pulls heavily from his G1 toy to create his transformation scheme. Of course, sharing parts with Slug leads to some compromises, but nothing egregious. If anything, this leg transformation feels more at home on Sludge than on Slug, since Sludge's tail has always formed part of the legs. And the hands folding out from the dino feet actually makes him more screen-accurate than the G1 toy, who had dedicated robot forearms that were excised from his character model. Sludge also has the one thing Slug didn't have: dino shell wings! I would advise caution when folding Sludge's dino head back. There's a panel that opens up to expose his robot head, but it's difficult to open manually, and just leaving it shut can cause it to scratch off some paint from Sludge's robot head. Also, there's an added swivel to the Brontosaurus neck that allows the head to rotate around and rest in a divot on his back. As far as I can tell, this serves absolutely no purpose, but it is a thing.

Robot Mode

In robot mode, the similarities to Slug become very apparent. Pretty much the only difference between the two is the torso and head. Everything else is almost entirely unchanged. This means that he inherits all of Slug's proportional weaknesses, which is a shame considering that he should be the beefiest Dinobot.

Like in dinosaur mode, Sludge is very well-detailed, but he also takes a lot of creative liberty compared to the G1 design. Looking at his torso, the only details it has in common with the original toy are the ridges next to where the Diaclone cockpit would be, and the two dots on either of his sides. Even the Diaclone cockpit section is replaced with something more cartoon-referential, though it does have a tampograph of one of his toy's stickers. And the rest of his chest detailing is entirely original, with triangles of exposed circuitry instead of hoses on his pecs, and what looks like armor plating over his abs. And with most of his limbs being derivative of Slug, you only get so much Sludge-oriented detail there. The best I can find is some horizontal lines on his forearms, and some wide tampographs on his ankles to recreate the wraparound stickers from the G1 toy. It's really nice detailing, and he's very fun to look at, but if G1 accuracy is a concern for you, this might turn you off.

Like Slug, Sludge's head sculpt is very much inspired by his animation model, rather than his toy. The bullet-shaped helmet with the outward-facing horns is a far cry from the more classically Diaclone-shaped helmet of the toy. It's done in the colors of the toy, but unlike Slug, all that means is that the eyes are yellow, and that's it.

Being a retool of Slug, he retains most of the same articulation. The neck is on a swivel, but now with much more range, owing to the lack of Triceratops skull behind it. He has the same ball-jointed shoulders and mushroom-pegged biceps, as well as the same soft-ratcheted elbow joints. The legs are exactly the same, so he has the same soft-locking waist swivel, ball-jointed hips, thigh swivels, and the same limited range of knee bend.

For accessories, Sludge comes with... the exact same accessories as Slug. Literally, nothing is changed about them, not even the color. And the gun looks even less similar to Sludge's G1 gun than Slug's. So while it does fit securely in his hand, it does serve to make the two feel a little bit more samey. Which is kind of a shame, I really wish they would've just given them both their proper guns. There's a hole in his chest for the Prime Armor, or you can store it on the back using the same port from dinosaur mode. But between the jankiness of that port and the fact that I don't like the look of the Prime Armor on his chest, I usually just leave it off to the side somewhere.

Combination

Sludge's leg mode is easiest to get to from Brontosaurus mode. The hind legs rotate into robot mode position, and the front legs bend backward and peg into his sides. The Brontosaurus head disconnects from the torso and hinges down to lie against the back of the dino. Also, rotate the head up into the robot mode position. It doesn't accomplish much, but the instructions tell you to do so, and it does look nicer that way.

In leg mode... Sludge is basically the same as Slug. The only meaningful difference is that he has a Brontosaurus head on his knee instead of a Triceratops head knee spike. Aside from that, it's essentially the same leg, which means he's a very sturdy-looking leg compared to other Prime Wars combiner legs. The added bulk of the dinosaur mode does him a lot of favors, giving him a thickness other figures just don't have.

Like Slug, the arm mode is essentially just the leg mode, but with the robot mode legs folded out to form the forearm. And as I'm sure you're expecting at this point, the arm mode is very similar to Slug's. The same nice, bulky shoulder, and the same hollow-looking bicep. For some reason, however, Sludge seems to wear his bicep a lot better. I think the silver tail blends in a lot better with the dull metallic gray, making it look more cohesive than having a gold tail stuck inside. Or it could just be my eyesight going, who knows?

Final Thoughts

I know it sounds like I've been harsh on Sludge here, but I really do like him. I'm not a fan of how the Prime Armor stores, he's a little thin for my liking, and I wish he got a different weapon from Slug. But he's also decently posable, very well-detailed, and the new engineering is very faithful to the original toy. But I have to be honest, he feels pretty derivative of Slug, and for as nice as the sculpting is, it bears only the most tenuous connection to his original toy. That doesn't bother me, but I know it's going to be a problem for a lot of people. If you were hoping this toy would be just as toy-accurate as the other Dinobots, you're going to be disappointed. But if you like the look of this toy just on its own, or if you're primarily in this for the combiner functionality, I would definitely recommend him. He's a good toy, just a little further from perfect than his brethren.

[aetherspoon]

I don't know why, but I decided to do this for Mlezi (they/them), my Golem Paladin TeamMom. Who is firmly medieval in technology, but eh, they've lived through everything that has ever happened anyway.

Describe their phone case.

It is an emerald green case, probably leather from some mythical creature that was used for food. Totally a flip case though, and instead of credit cards or cash it just has a bunch of photos of their more recent kids.

What’s on their lock screen?

Slideshow of pictures of their kids. The problem being that the slideshow never ends.

Do they use nicknames for their contacts or do they list contacts by full name?

Both, actually. They have all of their contacts down by their full name and append nicknames and every name they've ever had in their contact, just in case they forget about which name they're currently using.

Who do they text most frequently?

Rayne, their last kid, for sure. She doesn't often respond.

What’s their texting style? (EX: abbreviations or perfect grammar? One-word texts or paragraphs?)

One would think it would be perfect grammar, listening to them talk, but it is actually a bunch of lowercase tapping with typos throughout. This is always a shock to people the first time they talk.

Write out a text exchange between them and another OC.

(Mlezi): "hi. i heaqrd u hjave some kittehs?" (Xelandri): "Who are you, how did you get this number, and have you ever heard of autocorrect?"

Who was the last person they called?

Oh, they don't use their phone for calling people. Other people call them.

What app do they use most frequently? (Name an app or describe a hypothetical one)

Deeseni. It is an app that you can type in your location and deity preference and it gives you a list of deities that match what you're thinking of. Mlezi uses it because they never remember the name of any deity beyond their creator.

It is called Dees Nuts by their children, of course.

What are their most frequently used emojis?

They strictly use very old style non-automatically-converted emoji. So :-) instead of :) and the like. They're actively trying to use emoji, but it all comes across as the type of emoji your grandfather might use.

Describe a photo they have saved on their phone.

They posed a whole lot of kittens of various breeds (several not considered domesticated) on top of one of their children, to teach them to be more aware of their surroundings when in a resting situation.

They just thought the photo was adorable.

Are they the kind of person who takes selfies?

There are zero selfies on their phone.

Open the notes/note-taking app on their phone. What’s there?

It is various meals people mention on their travels, so they can look up how to make them later.

What do they use as an avatar or profile photo on social media sites?

Picture of a cat. No idea what that's like. >_>

You’ve just stumbled across their tumblr blog! Describe it.

Art blog, 100%. They also have a side / hidden blog that is cooking-based.

Describe their computer. Is it a sticker covered laptop? A high-tech gaming computer?

It is a tablet PC, actually, with an absolutely gargantuan screen. The back has a bunch of crayon drawings copied over to a vinyl sticker covering up brands and such. It isn't particularly powerful, but it has a really long lasting battery and more USB ports than you'd expect.

Let’s look at their search history. What are the last 5 things they searched?

Four recipes and the fifth being a word for a spice in another language/region.

What’s the last thing they searched in an incognito tab 👀 (doesn’t need to be NSFW!)

Biological information about one of their kids, probably regarding reproduction so they can give a better birds/bees talk.

How many tabs do they have open?

Two pinned tabs, one active. I have no idea how they function, to be honest.

What are their most frequently visited websites?

Art supply store, they're constantly buying more art.

What’s in their email inbox?

Completely full of random mailing lists they signed up for decades ago. They just don't use their email address at all anymore.

💻 Your OC and Tech: Ask Game

If you're answering for OCs who live in an SFF or historical setting, imagine their answers in a modern AU!

1. Describe their phone case.

2. What’s on their lock screen?

3. Do they use nicknames for their contacts or do they list contacts by full name?

4. Who do they text most frequently?

5. What’s their texting style? (EX: abbreviations or perfect grammar? One-word texts or paragraphs?)

6. Write out a text exchange between them and another OC.

7. Who was the last person they called?

8. What app do they use most frequently? (Name an app or describe a hypothetical one)

9. What are their most frequently used emojis?

10. Describe a photo they have saved on their phone.

11. Are they the kind of person who takes selfies?

12. Open the notes/note-taking app on their phone. What’s there?

13. What do they use as an avatar or profile photo on social media sites?

14. You’ve just stumbled across their tumblr blog! Describe it.

15. Describe their computer. Is it a sticker covered laptop? A high-tech gaming computer?

16. Let’s look at their search history. What are the last 5 things they searched?

17. What’s the last thing they searched in an incognito tab 👀 (doesn’t need to be NSFW!)

18. How many tabs do they have open?

19. What are their most frequently visited websites?

20. What’s in their email inbox?

[thxnews]

Combatting Food Insecurity: Global Challenges and Solutions

  The following is an announcement by Secretary Antony J. Blinken. U.S. DEPARTMENT of STATE

The transcript is unedited. Last week, as the United States took over the presidency of the United Nations Security Council for the month of August, I traveled to New York City to lead the Open Debate on Famine and Conflict-Induced Global Food Insecurity. The Security Council is charged with maintaining international peace and security, and we cannot do that without strengthening food security. Each of us has a responsibility to act so no one goes hungry. Here’s what I said after the meeting: We’re here today and using our presidency of the Security Council this month to focus in on the rising challenge of global food insecurity. We’ve seen an almost perfect storm emerge in recent years – a combination of climate change, of COVID, and now particularly of conflict – that is driving this food insecurity. There are now about 260 million people around the world who are acutely food insecure. And in turn, this food insecurity itself drives conflict. It drives forced migration. It stunts growth, both physical growth and economic growth. It holds countries back. It holds people back. The flip side of the coin is we’re also increasingly seeing food being used as a weapon of war – for leverage and for political purposes, in conflict after conflict. So, we wanted to put the focus on both of these challenges: rising food insecurity and the use of food as a weapon of war. We’ve just had 91 countries commit in a joint communique to ending the use of food as a tool of war. That, in and of itself, is a powerful statement, and we urge others to join. Of course, the place where we’re seeing this most immediately and most acutely is in Ukraine, where, as part of Russia’s aggression, it initially blockaded Ukraine’s ports – in effect blocking the export of grains to the world that Ukraine had been a key country for providing. Then, thanks to the good work of the United Nations Secretary-General and Türkiye, an agreement was put in place that allowed grain to flow through the Black Sea: the Black Sea Grain Initiative. While that agreement was in force, more than 30 million tons of grain were able to get out of Ukraine and to markets around the world – well over half of that to developing countries and, in fact, two-thirds of the wheat to developing countries. It was the equivalent of 18 billion loaves of bread. A few weeks ago, Russia tore up that agreement. The result has been rising prices for countries around the world. The result has been a diminution in the access to these food products, particularly for developing countries. Russia has also intentionally targeted food silos in Ukraine – literally destroying food as well as the means to produce it – while holding ports and sea lanes at risk to prevent countries from shipping these products out of Ukraine and to the people who need it. We’ve heard from around the world a chorus of condemnation for this action and the strong desire on the part of many, many countries that the Black Sea Grain Initiative be put back in place. It’s very simple. It’s on Russia to decide whether to do so. Of course, it could end the war that it started tomorrow, and that would solve the problem definitively. But short of that, at the very least, the world is insisting that it restore the Black Sea Grain Initiative. The urgent assistance that we’re providing to countries around the world – not just in the context of Ukraine, but of other serious risks of famine – has been significant. Over the last year and a half, the United States has provided an additional $14.5 billion in food assistance to countries around the world. We are the largest contributor by far to the World Food Programme – 50 percent of its budget every single year. And today, I was able to announce another $360 million in assistance to combat food insecurity in Haiti and 11 African countries. But for all the emergency assistance that we’re providing, and others are providing, it’s not enough. The United Nations and the World Food Programme has determined that, right now, to address the food insecurity for well over 100 million people around the world, we need $25 billion. To date, only $4.5 billion of that has been pledged by various countries. We have to do better. We have to do more. We have to do it now. Finally, as important as these urgent appeals and the work that we’re doing to address immediate needs are, we also have to take a long-term perspective. By 2050, it is estimated that the population of this planet could be as many as 10 billion people. Demand for food is likely to increase by 50 percent over what it is today. And yet yields – what’s actually being produced – are going down, not up. We have to – and we are – addressing this challenge. I spoke today at the Security Council about one of the initiatives the United States is advancing, which is the Vision for Adapted Crops and Soils. We know that we have the ability to produce seeds for planting that are resilient – certainly more resilient to climate change – and are much more nutritious than some of the things being planted today. We also know that the quality of soil makes all the difference in the world. We now have the ability to map pretty much any terrain anywhere in the world to determine the quality of its soil – where it’s good, where it’s bad, where we can improve it, and how we can improve it. You put those two things together – seeds and soil – and you can powerfully address the challenge of producing sustainable agricultural production capacity with better yields and more nutritious crops. We are putting $100 million to that effort. Other countries are joining in, and we expect to see significantly more come forward in the weeks and months ahead. This is a powerful new way to really make a difference over the long term in making sure that we have strong agricultural capacity and production around the world, and notably in Africa. Sources: THX News & US Department of State. Read the full article

[ao3komorii]

Tangling with the Lifeguard (Pool Party Sett/Reader)

The Pool Party Sett story is done! I’ve gone with a beach!AU sort of setting where league races exist in a modern-day beach sort of place. Also sorry to any MF or Syndra mains, they don’t really come out the best in this xD Hope you enjoy, and as always, there is a smut warning for the end!

---

The sun was shining high in the sky, crystalline waters lapping against the shore as beachgoers took advantage of the perfect summer day. Taking in the scene from your place in the shade of a tree on the border between the beach and parking lot, you let a smile grace your lips as you mused on just how much this place seemed to not change, even after so many years.

The last time you had set foot on this beach, you had been twelve years old, full of excitement and unaware of the harsh realities of the adult world. Your parents had brought you here for that summer, now thirteen years ago, the beautiful beach an unforgettable experience. You had left after that summer with treasured memories, and a new friend, that same friend the very reason why you had returned to Port Navori beach after so long.

Taliyah had been the same age as you, with fairly lax parents who let her roam the beach by herself, even as the small twelve-year-old she had been. You had bonded instantly, spending almost every day together, and keeping in touch through letters, and later emails and text messages.

You had long said that you had wanted to come back and visit the lively beach town, but the timing hadn’t been right, not until this year.

You were done all your schooling, and had quit your high-stress, low-pay job, and as Taliyah had said on your last phone call, you had no reason not to visit. Her parents had been travelling the world since they retired, so you would have her house all to yourselves.

In your absence, Taliyah had become a fairly accomplished surfer in the local scene, working at an ice cream shop on the beach to support her expensive pursuits. She had been so insistent that you couldn’t find yourself able to refuse her offer; work in the ice cream shop with her in the day, and then spend the rest of your time catching up with each other. You had missed your friend dearly, and had accepted the offer without a second thought.

And now here you were, waiting at the beach’s edge for Taliyah to show up. She had told you to dress for the beach, sounding casual as was her usual, so you had worn a swimsuit with a short, flowy shoulderless dress on overtop. Unwilling to look like a lobster by day’s end, you had carefully layered yourself with sunscreen, and now all you needed was for your friend to get here already. Just when you were about to get out your phone to text her, an excited call of your name had you re-stowing the phone in your bag and looking back to see your friend bounding across the parking lot towards you.

Taliyah, dressed in a two-piece water suit and carrying a tropical-flower-print surfboard, came to a stop before you, leaning her surfboard against a tree to free her arms to tackle you in a hug.

“You’re finally here!” she grinned, surprising you with the strength of her hug. “We’re gonna have so much fun!”

“So what’s first?” you asked as you pulled back from the hug.

Taliyah hummed. “I guess I’ll show you the shop.”

You followed her onto the beach, recognizing the small bright blue building from the pictures she had sent you before. Taliyah took you around the back, fishing a key out of her pocket before unlocking the door and leading you into the small room.

There were large tubs of ice cream in the middle of the room, the walls lined with containers of various toppings and machines. On the back wall from you were two windows, glossy menus pasted to the doors that would display out when they were opened. Upon walking closer to the menu signs, you noticed something.

“Hey, it says we open at nine, but it’s ten-thirty…”

“It’s fine,” Taliyah replied with a shrug. “The owners are pretty chill. If anyone complains, I’ll just tell them I had to train the new employee.”

You playfully rolled your eyes. Sometimes you really envied Taliyah’s ability to be so carefree. Her calm energy was a big help for you, having got advice from her on numerous occasions over the years.

Taliyah came over to where you were, eyes flitting boredly to the menu boards before turning her attention back to you. “So I’m thinking we get you taking orders while I make them.”

“Works for me,” you agreed. It certainly sounded easier than figuring out what a poro float was supposed to be. You never knew ice cream stands had such fancy options now, used to the simple menus of ice cream cones and bars back at the shops in your hometown.

You were about to open the order windows when you were stopped by a rustling noise from the back of the store. You turned to see Taliyah digging in a cardboard box in the back corner, pulling out some folded-up fabric that was the same sky blue as the stand.

“Didn’t think you’d get away without an embarrassing uniform, did you?” Taliyah teased, tossing some of her fabric pile your way.

You caught the bundle, unfolding it to find an apron with Poro Palace Frozen Treats in pink bubble letters, little white fuzzy animals dotting the apron. There was an accompanying blue visor hat that looked like something out of a kid’s store. You reluctantly slipped both items of clothing on, looking back to find that Taliyah had done the same.

“Stylish, huh?” she smirked, striking a modelesque pose.

“We look like we work at an amusement park, Tali,” you laughed.

“Feels like it sometimes with all the annoying kids that come by,” she replied. “Okay, you can open it up now.”

Taliyah settled herself down in a chair in front of the section of ice cream tubs, and you reluctantly turned to unlatch and open the windows, unsure of exactly what you were getting yourself into.

The small room lit up with the outside sunlight streaming in from your window to outside, the immediate glare of the sun making you wish you had worn sunglasses.

Almost immediately, the masses were upon you. You noticed a woman with several children in tow who perked up as she laid eyes on you, striding over to you with her children right behind her, pushing each other as they scrambled to be the first one to get over to you.

You heard Taliyah groan behind you. “Get the pen ready. They always have the most annoying orders.”

You rose an eyebrow, but picked up the pen and notepad that sat beside the cash register as the woman came to a stop before you.

“You know, I’ve been waiting for an hour already. You young girls don’t know how hard it is for mothers,” the woman complained, not letting you get a word in edgewise. “Alright, tell her what you want.”

“I want a brownie sundae!” a small boy with blue hair who clearly intended to make full use of his outdoor voice shouted. “But with cotton candy ice cream and pop rocks and I want only blue candies!”

“Uh…” The kid was talking too fast for you to write, but luckily Taliyah had your back, a got it ringing out from behind you.

You weren’t sure how you had managed to get their orders out before they melted, messing up their total several times before Taliyah had to come and help you out. With a last snide look and a fistful of blue napkins, the mother and her little terrors left the stand at last.

“She’s the worst,” Taliyah said, bringing your weary gaze her way as she cleaned off an ice cream scoop. “I accidentally put one red candy in that kid’s sundae once and he screamed until I remade the whole thing!”

You winced. “Feels like we got off easy today.”

“Yeah,” Taliyah agreed. “Helps that they order the same thing every time, so I’ve got some practice.”

“Are they all this bad?” you asked, turning away from the window after seeing no potential customers nearby.

“Not all of them,” she replied with a strained smile. “I swear the heat just brings the jerk out in some of the people here.”

Speaking of jerks… your conversation was interrupted by an impatient-sounding throat clearing noise from behind you. You whirled around to see a redheaded woman with heart-shaped sunglasses and a revealing swimsuit leaning against your counter. She was staring at you like you were gum she had stepped in, flipping some hair over her shoulder when she knew she had your attention.

“Five cherry snowballs,” she said, dropping a few coins on your counter, some of which bounced and hit the floor. “To the red umbrella, thanks ice cream girl.”

Without any further interaction, she turned on her heel and strutted away, hips swinging as she went, leaving you wondering what had just happened.

You slowly turned back to face Taliyah again. “Um, do we usually deliver?”

“Nope,” she answered. “Not to people like that anyways.”

“But…” you protested weakly. You knew Taliyah got away with a lot here, but you didn’t want her to lose her job because some rude girl complained to her bosses. “I’ll just take them over and next time I’ll just say we don’t deliver.”

“Still tempted to put rocks in their snowballs,” Taliyah joked as she set about piling the scoops of red ice.

Soon you had a tray with five cherry syrup-coated piles of shaved ice in little plastic bowls with accompanying little plastic spoons stuck in the side of the dishes.

“I’ll be right back,” you said, heading past Taliyah to the back door, opening it to find yourself back out in the mid-morning heat.

The sand still felt uncomfortably hot underfoot, even with your flip flops on. With how hot it was out, these would have to be delivered as soon as possible to not be a puddle by the time they were eaten. Your only problem was that you had no idea where to go.

The redhead had said that she would be at the red umbrella, but of course nothing at this ice cream stand would be that easy. Standing just outside the hut, you were treated to a veritable rainbow of colored beach umbrellas. You counted at least ten red ones scattered across the beach, none particularly standing out to you. You didn’t have many options, and were forced to go with the most tedious one; checking every red umbrella until you found the girl and her group.

The first umbrella had been a bust, as had the next five. The sixth had led to a sweaty old man who told you that you were just in time to help him sunscreen his back. By the time you had hurriedly fled from that creep, it had been about five minutes of searching, the snowballs on your tray looking considerably droopier than they had been when you had left the shop.

You stared down at the tray of melting treats, unsure of what to do now. Should you go back and have Taliyah remake the snowballs? Try a few more umbrellas and hope you got lucky? You really hadn’t been anticipating this much stress when you had agreed to work here with Taliyah for the summer.

You frowned at the now-more-water-than-ice treats, your decision made. You couldn’t serve these, not as melted as they were. You would go back and help remake them and see if Taliyah had any insight as to which red umbrella was the right one. You turned around to head back to the stand, only to trip on your overheating flip flops and fall forward with a cry.

You had closed your eyes with a flinch as you fell, but opened them with a start as you heard a grunt from right in front of you. Looking up from your position in the burning sand, you felt like your heart was going to stop in your chest.

Standing before you was the most attractive guy you had ever laid eyes on, with fire red hair and a pair of black animal ears that looked soft to the touch. He was dressed in a tight pair of swim shorts, a lightweight red jacket tied around his waist. He had a flower lei around his neck, but that was the only thing that he wore on his top half, his insanely-well-built torso on full display, a torso you realized with horror was currently splattered with red syrup and shaved ice.

You looked from the hot guy to the ground, the sand around you speckled with plastic cups, spoons and napkins, your tray turned upside down in the sand. You slowly risked a gaze back up, only to see the guy staring down at you from behind his pink-tinted sunglasses as a clump of ice fell from his stomach to the sand just in front of your hands.

Embarrassment forced you to spring up, grabbing some stray napkins from the ground and dabbing them against the mess of syrup and ice on the man’s abdomen.

“I’m so sorry, I–” You looked up from your apologizing to see the man silently staring at you, your hand freezing in place as you realized that you were basically feeling this guy up through the napkins, the realization making your cheeks burn with shame and embarrassment.

“I’m really sorry!” you cried out, pulling your hands back. He still hadn’t said anything, and you realized that you couldn’t just stand here like an idiot, your flight instinct kicking in as you reached down to grab your tray before moving around the man and fleeing in the direction of the ice cream stand.

“Hey, wait!”

The man tried to grab your arm as you passed, but you were faster in your embarrassment-fueled retreat, and soon the hot stranger was far behind you. You didn’t stop running until you were back at the shop, the empty sand-logged tray clutched tightly to your chest, your heartbeat pounding in your ears as you shut the door, making eye contact with a confused Taliyah.

“Hey, are you okay?” she asked, getting up to approach you when you didn’t respond. “Talk to me. What happened? If that snob said anything to you–”

“No, no, she didn’t,” you replied weakly, sinking to the floor with your back against the door. “I didn’t even get to her.”

“Then what happened?” she pressed, bringing you a glass of water and prying the tray from your hands at last.

She ushered you to your feet and down into her chair, taking a seat on one of the counters. You took a deep breath, taking a sip of the water before recounting the events of the past ten minutes to Taliyah, who listened silently.

“…I didn’t know what to do, so I just ran,” you finished, setting your water down to bury your face in your hands.

“It’s no big deal,” Taliyah replied gently. “Everyone has embarrassed themselves in front of someone. Remember that time I tripped over my board in front of that group of tourists?”

“I covered him in cherry syrup, Tali,” you groaned. “I don’t think I’m cut out for this.”

“It’s your first day,” she stressed. “You’re bound to mess some things up.”

She stood up, returning to the shaved ice machine. “Now how about we remake those snowballs and then I’ll–”

Taliyah had frozen in place, a plastic cup in her hand as she stared straight ahead.

“Tali?” you questioned, standing up. “Are you–”

“That guy you dumped the snowballs on,” she quickly interrupted. “Did he have majorly cut abs and animal ears?”

“Uh, why?” You felt a jolt of fear shoot up your spine as you followed her gaze to see the man from earlier currently approaching the shop, well-defined abdomen now minus the sticky mess you had spilt all over him. “Oh god, it’s him!”

You and Taliyah exchange wide-eyed glances before you dove down out of sight, hiding behind the tubs of ice cream like they were a fortress.

“Please get rid of him!” you begged. “I’ll do whatever you want, I just can’t face him!”

You heard Taliyah sigh. “Fine, but this means you’re coming stone hunting with me tonight.”

You agreed immediately, even if the prospect wasn’t overwhelmingly appealing. Taliyah was always eager to add to her collection of shiny stones, but was so picky that it often took hours to find just one stone that met her standards. But right now you were so desperate that you would have promised her anything just to make the angry hot guy go away.

From your position behind the ice cream tubs, you could only hear Taliyah’s voice clearly, the general noise of the beach preventing you from hearing what the furry-eared man was saying. You wanted to peek out from your hiding spot, but found yourself chickening out. You really didn’t need him catching sight of you and making Taliyah’s job even harder.

You had gotten so in your own head with panic that you had completely tuned out of your surroundings until a hand waved in front of your face and you realized Taliyah was crouching in front of you, calling your name.

“You okay?” she asked worriedly.

“Is he gone?” you replied quietly.

“Yeah, he’s gone,” she confirmed, standing up and grabbing your forearms to pull you up with her. “Now help me remake those snowballs and then I’ll fill you in.”

You bit your lip as you scooped shaved ice into a row of plastic cups as Taliyah readied the cherry syrup. Soon you had five pristine-looking snowballs on your slightly-sandy tray, the sight of them bringing you back to your moment of collision with the cute guy.

The tray was snatched from your field of vision by Taliyah, who headed over to the rear door. “Be back in a few. Try not to freak out too much while I’m gone.”

And then the door was closed and you were left alone. Looking over at the order window, you decided that you were probably safer to just resume your position behind the ice cream tubs, unwilling to risk being out in the open in case the guy decided to come back.

While she was gone, you couldn’t help but fret over exactly what had been said between your best friend and the mysterious hot guy. She didn’t seem to be upset, so clearly their conversation hadn’t been that intense. Or maybe it had; Taliyah was a fairly relaxed person, so it would be difficult for a random angry customer to really get to her. But that didn’t quite make sense either; if he had yelled at her, you would have heard it over the noise of the beachgoers. All you were doing was overthinking yourself to death, exactly what Taliyah had told you not to do.

And it was there you remained until Taliyah returned, closing the door behind her and placing the serving tray in the sink before she turned her attention to you at last.

“Calm down, it’s fine… I think,” she said.

“You think?”

“Well he didn’t seem mad,” she explained. “He asked if a girl that looked like you worked here and I said you went home sick. Said he’d come back another time.”

“Another–” Oh god. Was he really so angry that he was willing to come back just for the chance to yell at you?

“I can see you freaking out,” Taliyah scolded. “Don’t. You’re fine. Musclehead or not, he’s not going to kill you just because you spilled shaved ice on him.”

She was probably right; hot shirtless guys on the beach likely had more important things to do than yelling at clumsy ice cream shop workers. By tomorrow, he would probably forget you ever existed, and you could go back to enjoying your time working alongside your best friend.

 The rock collecting that night had been long and boring, at least for you. Taliyah hadn’t found any rocks she liked enough to take home, only ending the search after she had found some sea glass that she had deemed acceptable to add to her collection. You could only hope that you wouldn’t owe her any more favors any time soon, unsure if you could survive another late night rock hunt.

The next morning, you entered the shop alongside Taliyah, who put her bag down and began to set up the day’s supplies. Considering it was ten minutes past opening time and Taliyah had insisted that she didn’t need help setting up, you decided that you might as well just open the order window for the day, hoping that mom and her group of demon kids wouldn’t be waiting out there, only to unlatch the widows and see something arguably worse.

The window had only been open a peek, but it was enough for you to see the large figure of the man from yesterday standing ten feet or so from your shop, his back facing you as he stared out at the beach. In your brief glimpse, you also noticed that the jacket wrapped around his waist had a white plus sign in a circle as well as the word lifeguard in white blocky letters above it. Oh god, of course you had gone and pissed off a lifeguard on your first day here.

You shut the barely-open windows with a too-loud slam that made you wince before you quickly locked them again and rushed over to Taliyah.

“Tali, he’s here again!” you hissed.

“Huh?” she replied, pausing her task of refilling a container of sprinkles. “Muscle guy?”

You nodded frantically and Taliyah frowned, putting the sprinkles down and approaching the order window herself. You watched as she opened the window ever so slightly, peering out for a few seconds before closing it back up.

“Well… can’t say I was expecting him to actually come back,” she said evenly.

“What do I even do?” you asked, staring at the order windows like they would burst open at any second and reveal you to the clearly-determined lifeguard. “He’s a lifeguard, Tali! What if he bans me from the beach?”

She rolled her eyes in response. “He can’t just ban you from the beach. Lifeguards don’t have that much power. If they did, I would’ve been banned a long time ago for all the times I’ve surfed after hours.”

“Then what does he want with me?” you asked, looking away from the window.

Taliyah shrugged. “You’d have to ask him that.”

“But what if I… don’t?” you replied weakly. “He’ll give up eventually, right?”

“I mean, maybe?” she said. “But it might be easier to deal with him now and get it over with.”

You saw her point, but it wasn’t her that was being pursued by a tall, muscly lifeguard with a vengeance!

Taliyah clearly caught the reluctance on your face and sighed. “Fine, I’ll switch with you for today. Now let’s go over how to make the basic stuff before we open.”

True to her word, Taliyah had allowed you to hide in the back making orders, telling the lifeguard guy that you were off today. You watched him walk away from behind the shaved ice machine, hoping that your ordeal was finally over, but your hopes were quickly dashed the next day as you went to open the store again, only to see the same broad back facing you from just outside the shop.

Taliyah had reluctantly agreed to switch again that day, and the day after. But by day four, even the promise of helping her scavenge for rocks again wouldn’t get her to agree to switch.

You closed the window again, turning to Taliyah with pleading eyes, but she was having none of it.

“It’s been four days,” she said, arms crossed. “Clearly he’s not giving up. You should just see what he wants.”

“But…” The thought still terrified you. You knew you deserved to be yelled at for what you had done, but it was made that much worse by the fact that the subject of your plight was just about the hottest guy you had ever seen.

Taliyah shook her head at you. “Okay, but I’m not doing orders again today, so if you want to keep hiding from him, we’ll have to move onto plan B.”

Plan B, as it turned out, was a mascot suit of sorts; three fluffy poros stacked on top of each other like a snowman. A poro each made up your upper and lower body, the last poro being the head of the costume. You looked incredibly awkward, the arms and legs of the costume hairy and tipped with little brown claws. You were momentarily stunned by the sheer lengths you were going to just to avoid this guy, but you were already in the costume, so you reasoned that you might as well follow through with it now.

Taliyah put the costume’s head on you and your world was plunged largely into darkness, minus the mesh one-way view out of the top poro’s eyes. You were helped to the back door, some fliers for the store shoved into your hands.

Taliyah helped you walk out front, and you were pretty quickly swarmed by kids. You couldn’t see the lifeguard guy, but the relief that coursed through you was short-lived, swallowed by the immediate explosion of business brought on by your costume.

One thing you hadn’t considered in your haste was the heat. You weren’t sure if it was the costume or if today was hotter than usual, but very quickly you found yourself becoming a sweaty mess under the weight of the dense, furry costume.

The longer you were in the costume, the worse you felt, but you were determined to stick this out. So you handed out fliers and posed for photos with children while Taliyah ran the stand.

You wished that you could wipe the sweat from your face, but you weren’t sure if you could even reach up to remove the costume’s head yourself due to the awkward shape of the costume. So you endured the ever-increasing heat, only feeling wearier as the time ticked by.

You waved goodbye to a group of kids as they left with their ice cream cones, the sweltering heat really bearing down on you. As you went to turn and head back to the stand to ask Taliyah to help get the head off, a wave of dizziness crashed over you. You took one step towards the stand, and then another, and then it all went dark as you felt yourself falling forward, too weak to stop your descent to the ground.

 You woke up with a heavy head, feeling foggy with confusion. The last thing you remembered, you had been heading back to the stand…

Immediately, you realized that you weren’t at the ice cream stand, and you weren’t wearing the poro suit, or even your beach dress. Sitting up in the cot you laid in, you found that you were wearing only your swimsuit.

As you sat up, a blue ice pack that you hadn’t realized was there fell from your forehead and into your lap. Picking it up, the pack only feeling slightly cold, you turned to look around the room, still unsure what exactly was going on.

You were in a room of some sort, guessing it was afternoon by the minute amount of light filtering into the room, even through the closed curtains. There was a fan gently whirring above your head, but otherwise the room was silent.

There was another cot beside yours, and a table nearby with a few red first aid kits stacked on it, some bandages messily spilling out of one of them. There was a sign pulled over the door, the side facing you reading come on in, we’re open.

You got up from the bed, shuddering with disgust when you noticed just how sweaty your whole body was. The bed squeaked as you got up from it, your knees hitting a bedside table between the cots that you hadn’t noticed had been there. On the small table was a glass of water, as well as a white fan that was emblazoned with what looked to be a group of cats waterskiing.

You picked up the fan, letting out a small laugh at the silly-looking cartoon cats on the fan. It looked like something you could win at a carnival booth.

“If you can laugh, then I guess you’re feelin’ alright.”

A deep voice from behind you made you jump, fingers fumbling the fan, which fell onto the floor with a clatter that was only made louder in the quiet room. You turned to look behind you, only to fall off the cot in shock when you saw the very lifeguard you had been trying so hard to avoid standing in the doorway of a small office you hadn’t noticed was there.

“Hey, careful!” He quickly crossed the room to squat down in front of you, taking your elbow and helping you back up onto the cot. You were too stunned to resist and found yourself falling into his chest as a wave of dizziness hit you.

“You okay?” he asked, and you tried to nod, but your head was spinning too much to focus. “Hey, hold still.”

He placed his hands on your shoulders, keeping you steady against him until you were able to regain your focus. When he was satisfied with your condition, he pulled back, releasing your shoulders and instead reaching out for the glass of water on the table next to you.

“Drink,” he instructed, handing you the cup before standing up. “I’ll be right back.”

He stared at you for a moment before finally turning back and heading into the office at the back of the room.

You watched him go, feeling on edge, but complied, bringing the glass up to your lips and taking a long drink. The last thing you wanted to do was give this guy more reason to be upset with you. You were surprised at just how refreshing the water felt, and you had soon downed the entire glass, placing it back on the table when you were done.

“Alright, lay back down,” the lifeguard instructed as he returned.

“What?” you replied. What was he going to do to you? How had you even got here? Where was Taliyah?

He stopped before you, furrowing his eyebrows as he looked down at your shaky, terrified form. “Are you–”

“I’m sorry!” you exclaimed, bowing your head. “I didn’t mean to spill the snowballs on you! If you need to yell at me, go ahead. I’m sorry I didn’t just come out sooner and–”

It had occurred to you mid-ramble that he had yet to say anything, and you cut off your babbling, slowly looking up to find him staring at you with what you could only describe as a bewildered look on his face.

He blinked. “Is that why–”

“I’m so sorry!” you interrupted, bowing your head again. “If you want to ban me from the beach, I get it!”

“Ban ya from the beach?” he replied with a bark of laughter. “The only thing I wanted to do was get your number.”

“My… what?” You had to be hallucinating. There was no way he had just said that.

“Lay down first,” he spoke sternly, and you complied, still feeling stunned by his words.

Once you were laid down, he picked something up from the bed, which you recognized as another ice pack. He placed it on your forehead, the cool pack immediately flooding you with a feeling of relief. Closing your eyes, you let out a tired sigh, suddenly feeling fatigued.

“Get some rest, princess. We’ll talk when you’re up again.”

You took his advice, the cooling from the ice pack lulling you back to sleep, your eyelids too heavy to keep open.

When you woke up again, you felt infinitely better, your head clearer and body feeling less overheated. The ice pack on your forehead was room temperature, and it was now dark outside. There was a light illuminating your left side as you sat up in bed, turning to see the office in the back with its light on.

The cot squeaked under you, which was responded to by the squeak of a chair from inside the office, the red-haired lifeguard emerging from the office and approaching your bedside.

“Feelin’ any better?” he asked, and you nodded, biting your lip nervously. “Got you some more water.”

You looked over to the bedside table to see the water cup refilled and took hold of it, grateful to have something to focus on other than the intimidatingly muscular man before you.

You drank the entire glass before you forced yourself to finally address the situation before you. “Um… why am I here?”

“You passed out,” he replied bluntly, taking a seat on the cot next to yours. “Overheated yourself in that rat costume.”

“They’re not rats, they’re poros,” you replied, unsure of what to say.

He let out a huff of laughter. “Poros that important to you that you’re willin’ to fry yourself for ‘em?”

“No, that was…” you trailed off. Well, you might as well just admit it. If he had gone out of his way to care for you after you had passed out like an idiot, then he deserved the truth. “I was avoiding you. I was scared you were going to yell at me. My friend didn’t want to keep covering for me at the window so I decided to wear that stupid poro costume.”

“So that’s what that was about,” he replied. “And here I thought you were avoidin’ me ‘cuz you weren’t interested. Gave up on gettin’ your number and then got news that someone passed out from heat stroke.”

You were still having a hard time comprehending the asking for your number part, so you instead chose to focus on the other half. “Heat stroke?”

“Not sure what you expected, wearin’ that costume in this heat,” he said. “Can’t say nobody’s ever been afraid of me before, but giving themself heat stroke just to avoid me is a new one.”

He sounded somewhat self-deprecating, and you immediately felt bad. You had clearly misjudged him, and realized that he hadn’t even mentioned the snowball incident himself.

You forced yourself to meet his eyes, even with as awkward as you were currently felt. “I’m sorry for giving you so much trouble, and for spilling snowballs all over you. I’m just really sorry.”

He laughed. “Ain’t nothin’ for you to apologize for. I’ve had worse get on me since I started workin’ here, and usually it ain’t from a cute girl.”

You tensed in your seat, tearing your gaze from his to look down at your feet, your cheeks feeling warm.

“Hey, don’t go overheatin’ yourself again,” he scolded, standing up from the bed. “If you’re not interested, that’s fine, but I think it’s best if I take ya home. Don’t need your friend yellin’ at me again if you pass out on the way back.”

As much as you wanted to deny his assertion of you being not interested, you couldn’t muster up the courage, so you instead quietly accepted his offer of help. You would have to ask Taliyah what he had meant when you got back.

It was surprisingly cold on the beach at night, the icy breeze sending shivers along your skin. You stared out at the dark ocean waves, entranced by the water crashing against the sand, when your focus was broken by some soft fabric being laid over your shoulders.

You turned to look over your shoulder to see Sett just behind you on the steps of the lifeguard office, the jacket that was usually around his waist now laying on your shoulders.

He caught your curious look and raised an eyebrow. “You nearly cooked yourself to death today, I ain’t about to let you freeze yourself to death now.”

“Thanks,” you replied quietly, reaching a hand up to keep the jacket around your shoulders.

Your feet met the soft sand as you followed Sett towards the parking lot. The beach was totally empty, an odd contrast to how things were in the daytime. It felt weird to actually see the shape of the landscape unobscured by giant beach umbrellas and a sea of bodies. You only looked away from the empty scene when you realized that you had left the sand, and Sett was staring expectantly at you.

“…what?” you asked, getting the feeling that he had said something that you had missed.

“Which way?” he repeated with a quick glance at the street ahead of you.

“Oh right,” you replied. “My friend lives on Sandstone Way.”

Sett’s ears perked up. “By that tacky souvenir shop?”

“Yeah,” you laughed. “Right by there.”

You giggled at Sett’s assessment; you had noticed the eye-hurtingly brightly painted store when Taliyah had walked you to her house from the train station. She had rolled her eyes at the store as you surveyed the display of t-shirts with embarrassing designs on them, stating that sometimes they got some good rocks in, but it wasn’t worth the amount of tourists always asking for directions when she was walking around the neighborhood.

Looking over at Sett out of the corner of your eye, you were struggling to think of anything to say. He was dressed in just his sandals and shorts, his sunglasses forgone and giving you a clear look at his golden eyes that seemed to glow in the dark.

“So this your first summer here?” Sett asked, breaking the brief silence as you walked side by side. “I know I’d remember you if I’d seen ya before.”

“I was here for a summer when I was a kid,” you answered. “But everything looks so different now. Maybe I just saw this place differently when I was a kid.”

“Nah,” he dismissed. “It never used to be this busy here. Tourists bring money to this place, but it means it’s always loud around here.”

The conversation was slowly helping you feel more comfortable with the intimidatingly handsome lifeguard. You felt dumb for putting so much energy into avoiding him.

“So have you always lived here?” you asked.

“Born and raised,” he answered with a grin that you couldn’t help but feel looked a little sad. “Ma used to work at the boating shop… and the laundromat… and the candy store.”

“All at the same time?” you asked incredulously.

Sett shrugged. “Didn’t have much of a choice. Pa ran off on us when I was a kid, and it wasn’t like anyone would hire a fatherless runt to work for them.”

“Sounds like it was hard,” you replied. “Did you ever find out where he went?”

“For his sake, I’d better not,” Sett sneered. “I heard ma cry missin’ that scumbag more times than I can count. There ain’t a family here for that bastard to come back to.”

“How is your mom doing?” you asked as you turned onto Sandstone Way, passing by the tacky tourist shop, the flashy paint on the walls too bright even at night.

“She’s doin’ good,” he answered, finally looking happy with a satisfied smile. “Got her to quit her jobs when I started workin’ enough to pay the bills.”

“You’re a good son,” you complimented him. “She’s lucky to have you.”

You smiled at him, coming to a stop before Taliyah’s house. “Well, this is me. Thanks for walking me back.”

“Take care of yourself,” he said. “I don’t wanna see you passin’ out again.”

“I’ll try not to,” you replied. “No more poro costumes for me.”

“On that topic,” he purred, leaning closer to you. “You never gave me an answer.”

“An answer?” you squeaked, flustered by his sudden closeness.

“I’ve been tryin’ to get your number for days now,” he replied, and you did your best to supress a shiver from running up your spine. Was this real life?

You wet your lips with your tongue nervously, unable to miss how Sett’s sharp eyes watched the movement.

“I, um, I don’t have my phone on me,” you said, immediately realizing how dumb you sounded. You didn’t need your phone on you to tell him your number! You hastily made to amend your statement. “…but if you come by the stand tomorrow, I’ll give it to you!”

“Oh?” Sett’s grin was wide, gold eyes flashing dangerously. “I s’pose I could find some time to stop by. See you then, sweetheart.”

Sett turned to walk away, but you stopped him with a call of his name. “Wait, your jacket–”

“Keep it for the night,” Sett replied. “I’ll get it from you tomorrow.”

You reluctantly agreed, stunned silent by his bold flirting, his jacket sitting warm on your shoulders as you watched him walk away. You stared at his broad back until he was out of sight, only then turning to head inside, knowing Taliyah would be waiting.

 The next morning she was still on you as you spent some extra time getting ready.

“I still can’t believe he gave you his jacket,” she teased with a grin. “I mean, I figured he was probably into you, but–”

“You what?” you replied as you paused styling your hair.

“I kept telling you to talk to him,” she replied. “No guy like that is going to wait outside your work for days in a row just to yell at you for spilling ice on him. But I didn’t think you’d believe me if I told you.”

“I just feel so stupid giving myself heat stroke just go avoid him,” you lamented.

“Yeah,” Taliyah frowned. “If I had realized it was that hot out, I never would’ve let you go out in that thing.”

“It’s my own fault for being so dumb,” you insisted.

“But hey, it all worked out, didn’t it?” Taliyah grinned as she slipped on her water shoes. “You’ve got a hot lifeguard coming to visit you at work today.”

“Don’t remind me. I’m still super nervous,” you said, adjusting your beach dress over your most flattering swimsuit.

“You’ll be fine,” Taliyah replied. “He’s clearly super into you. You should’ve seen him when you passed out yesterday.”

“What?” You had been so tired last night that you had only told her the basics before crashing for the night, completely forgetting to ask her what had happened yesterday.

“Someone got him when you collapsed,” she told you. “You should’ve seen his face when he pulled off the poro head and saw it was you inside the costume! I tried to come with, but he told me he’d handle it. I maaay have threatened his life if anything happened to you, but just a little.”

You laughed. So that’s what Sett had been referring to.

Taliyah came up from behind you as you stared at your appearance in the mirror, resting her chin on your shoulder and meeting your eyes in the mirror. “Relax, you look great. Fuzzy ear boy isn’t gonna know what hit him!”

“Fuzzy ear–” you sputtered, laughing at Taliyah’s choice of words. “I guess his ears do look pretty fuzzy.”

“Well if he lets you pet them, tell me how soft they are!” she teased, pulling back from you to grab her bag. “Now let’s go. You’ve got a boy to meet!”

You somehow felt even more nervous today than you had the few days you had spent avoiding Sett. You were still having a hard time wrapping your head around the fact that a guy that looked like he had walked straight out of a fireman’s calendar was coming to your little beachfront ice cream stand for the sole purpose of getting your phone number. And his jacket, which was folded neatly on the countertop beside you.

You weren’t exactly sure when he was going to come. Usually, he would be there waiting outside in the morning before you opened, but all you had opened up to today was a sparsely-populated beachfront, no handsome lifeguards to be seen. By two in the afternoon, your anxiety had begun to get the better of you.

“Stop pacing,” Taliyah scolded you. “He’ll be here.”

“But what if he decided not to?” you said, taking a deep breath to try and calm yourself down. “What if this was just a joke?”

“Then I’ll go kick his butt,” she responded plainly. “He’ll come. Relax.”

You were about to reply, when a ding of the service bell at the order window had you spinning around, ready to take an order, only for the words to die on your lips when you laid eyes on the well-muscled lifeguard with the fuzzy black ears just outside the order window, sending a grin your way.

“Here to pick up my order,” he said, leaning an arm against the window.

“Your… order?” you replied, too entranced by his appearance to properly make use of your brain.

“A pretty girl promised me her number if I came by,” he replied, looking down at you through his sunglasses.

“I… right… I…” You turned back quickly to see Taliyah staring expectantly at you, mouthing the word number at you. Right.

With slightly shaky hands, you reached for the small notepad at the front counter, taking that and a pen in hand and trying not to focus on the fact that Sett was watching you as you began to write.

Double-checking that the number was right, you handed the paper to him, your fingers touching as he took it from you. Remembering about your other promise, you reached over to grab the lifeguard jacket from the counter beside you. You went to hand him his jacket, surprised when he didn’t take it from you.

“What time do you get off?” he asked, and you answered a quiet six. “Give it back to me then.”

With a short wave and a grin, Sett made a show of stowing the phone number in his pocket before sauntering off and leaving you standing there slack-jawed.

“See? Was that so hard?” Taliyah called from her seat at the ice machine. “Now you just have to keep it together for your date.”

“I don’t know if I can,” you said, leaning back against the counter.

“You did last night, didn’t you?” she countered. “He’s just a guy. A really hot guy, but still. Don’t freak yourself out. You deserve a nice guy. It’s just a bonus that he has more abs than spiders have legs!”

You let out an amused huff. Taliyah was right, as she always was. You needed to get over yourself and let yourself have a good time tonight.”

But for now, you had customers to deal with. You and Taliyah let out a shared groan as you saw the nightmare mom and her army of brats heading towards you. You both returned to your posts, hoping their overly-complicated orders would be right on the first try this time.

 Taliyah let out a yawn, stretching her arms high above her head before beginning the process of cleaning up for the day. After the last customer left, you hastily closed the order window, not wanting to give anyone the chance to come and beg about how it was only five minutes past closing and they’ve been wanting a banana split all day. You had learned your lesson from that mistake on day two.

Once the order windows were closed and locked, you joined Taliyah at the side counter, helping to return all the different containers of toppings to their rightful places. You found your hands moving slower, your nerves slowing you down in order to prolong the inevitable.

Taliyah eventually got tired of your pitiful attempt at stalling for time and gently removed the container of blue sprinkles from your grasp. “Just go, I’ll finish up here.”

“Are you sure?” you asked, and Taliyah sent you an unimpressed look. “Okay, fine, I’m going, I’m going.”

“I hope you know I expect all the details later!” she grinned as you made your way to the door, hesitating with your hand on the door handle for only a moment before opening the door.

It was mercifully less warm outside today than it had been yesterday, not to mention that you were also minus a heavy mascot costume. Yesterday hadn’t ended too badly for you, but you would still prefer to not end today in a hospital if you exacerbated your current heat-sensitive state.

You weren’t sure if you preferred if Sett was already there, or if you got there first to wait for him; neither option seemed to abate your nerves. But of course, the lifeguard was prompt as always, leaning against one of the beams that held up the awning above the order window.

You didn’t think you had been making much noise walking along the sand, but he seemed to hear you, turning to face you with a grin as you approached.

“Ready?” he asked as you came to a stop before him, tucking some of your hair behind your ear in an effort to keep your cool.

“Yeah,” you answered, impressed that your voice hadn’t come out squeaky with how nervous you were.

“Good,” he replied, before his grin turned teasing. “Was half expectin’ ya to come on our date in that rat costume.”

“Poro!” you corrected again, trying not to get flustered by his mention of this being a date. You weren’t sure what else it would be, but you couldn’t help the butterflies that fluttered in your stomach when he had acknowledged the obvious.

He surprised you by taking your hand, pulling you along with him as you tried desperately not to stumble and fall into the sand.

The beach crowd was beginning to thin out, people heading home or to one of the many beachfront restaurants nearby. Watching as a kid packed up his sand toys, you wondered if one of those restaurants was where you were headed as well. Sett hadn’t told you anything about what the plan was, and you found yourself curious when he led you to the bright white lifeguard office.

At first, you had thought that maybe he had forgotten something, at least until you followed him into the small building to see what looked to be the table that had previously held all the first aid kits, now decked out in a soft-looking purple picnic blanket. On top of the makeshift picnic table was a spread of various tasty-looking finger foods, the scene completed by two chairs pulled up to the table, cushions with a starfish pattern placed on the seats.

You were perhaps too dumbfounded by the sight, as you snapped out of it to Sett calling your name, looking over at him to see him looking surprisingly tense. You should probably say something, you realized.

“It looks great,” you said, meaning every word as you looked over the table. “Are those cabbage rolls?”

“Ma helped me make ‘em,” Sett explained, looking bashful for the first time since you had met him as he raised an arm to scratch at the back of his neck. “Helped me with all of this, actually. Never done anythin’ like this before.”

“You mean a picnic?” you asked curiously.

Sett chuckled. “Picnics. Dates. Not a lotta women ‘round here who wanted anythin’ to do with a fatherless half-breed.”

You had a hard time believing that; you had noticed several mothers checking him out as they packed their family’s stuff to leave the beach. But the hint of something sad in his eyes made you reconsider. You had no memory of seeing someone like him that summer you had spent here, but it wasn’t like that was a surprise to you. You and Taliyah had been in your own little world at that time, only ever spending time with each other.

“Well I’m excited to try your cooking,” you said, figuring a change of subject was for the best.

Sett grinned as he sat down. “Should be decent. Haven’t poisoned anyone since high school.”

Your eyes widened, hand freezing on its path to grab a cabbage roll, startled eyes darting to his.

Sett let out a bark of laughter at your alarmed face. “Relax. Wouldn’t poison ya. Maybe those kids that keep swimmin’ into the boating zone, but not you.”

“Thanks… I think?” you replied, biting your lip as you stared down at the cabbage rolls, weighing your options.

“Wasn’t real poison anyways,” he scoffed, taking some rolls from himself. “Not my fault sugar and salt look the same.”

You laughed, grabbing some food for yourself at last. “I suppose they kinda do.”

“Ma didn’t wanna hurt my feelings, but I knew when I tried some myself,” he explained.

“It was nice of her to try,” you offered.

“Too nice,” he said. “Ma is always too nice. Never said anythin’ bad about my old man, even after what he did. Had to work three jobs for years because of that bastard, but not a word.”

“Well I’m sure she’s glad she has you,” you commented. “Even if you give her food poisoning sometimes.”

“Once,” he corrected, taking a bite. “Learned my lesson the first time.”

You followed his lead, finding the food to be entirely poison-free, and actually the best home-cooked meal you had eaten in a long time. The conversation moved to swapping work stories, and you were unsurprised to find out that the mother and her the demon children had been a thorn in Sett’s side as well.

“They really buried sleeping sunbathers in sand?”

“Five times in a day one time,” Sett grouchily confirmed. “Last time Braum went to handle it. Said I would bury those little assholes under the sand if I had to go yell at them one more time.”

You sympathized with his pain. You felt lucky that you had only experienced the tip of the annoyingness iceberg with that group of little terrors.

“Braum?” you inquired as you both left the lifeguard office, the beach now fully dark.

“Fellow lifeguard,” he answered, nonchalantly taking your hand in his as you made your way off the beach. “Bald, giant moustache, even bigger than me. Better at the whole gentle-but-firm thing than I am.”

“Oh, I think I’ve seen him before. He comes by for poro pops sometimes,” you said, mind drawing a picture of the surprisingly friendly man in the small purple swim bottoms with a weakness for poro-shaped ice pops. “So are you the head lifeguard then?”

Sett considered your question. “Guess I am the boss of ‘em. All of the other lifeguards are always comin’ at me with problems to solve. The extra pay doesn’t hurt either if I wanna keep momma from feelin’ like she has to work.”

“Say thank you to her from me for the dinner. It was really good,” you said as you passed by the familiar tacky souvenir shop.

“She’ll be happy to hear it,” he replied with a soft smile that made your heart thump in your chest. “I know she wishes she had more to cook for than just me.”

You both came to a stop before Taliyah’s house, and you sneakily glanced over just to make sure Taliyah wasn’t peeking out from a window, which she wasn’t. You turned your focus back to Sett, only to find him closer than he had just been. How was he so good at sneaking up on you?

A large hand came up to cup your jaw, thumb brushing against your cheek, and your face was tilted up towards Sett’s. You were glad it was dark out, because otherwise you knew your reddening cheeks would be obvious.

“Still afraid of me?” he asked, voice low, lips so close to yours that you could make out a small scar that crossed over his bottom lip.

“No,” you answered, making no move to pull away as you stared up into his eyes. “Not unless I was about to taste your high school cooking.”

“Smart,” he replied with a smirk. “But I’m talkin’ about right now, because if you don’t turn and run into that house, I’m gonna kiss you.”

Your bag almost tumbled from your grasp, but you held fast as you stared at Sett, whose own had already become half-lidded. You had no words to describe how much you didn’t want to run right now, so you didn’t use any, instead angling your face further upwards, trying to make your willingness abundantly clear.

With a grin, he leaned down and kissed you.

Pulling back slightly, he dove back in, his other hand coming to your waist to pull you against him. You happily leant into him, your hands on his firm chest.

When he pulled back again, you opened your eyes at last, feeling almost as dizzy as right before you had passed out from heat stroke.

Sett looked content, and you were only hoping you looked half as composed as he did right now. He leaned back in to give you one more peck before pulling back from you entirely, the cold from the air outside immediately apparent as soon as you were minus his warm hands against your skin.

“Think I’ll stop by tomorrow,” he said. “Been cravin’ a cherry snowball for some reason lately.”

 Sett was a man of his word, you learned, though you were less happy to see him the next day when he asked if he could order a cherry snowball served like last time, and then laughed as you had proceeded to sputter like a broken machine.

His visits became daily, sometimes bringing Braum with him, who continued to surprise you with the sheer amount of poro pops he was able to consume in one sitting. Quite a few nights a week, you had found yourself all around Port Navori with the half-Vastayan lifeguard. You were surprised at how supportive Taliyah was being, considering you had originally come here to spend time with her.

“Gives me more time to surf,” she answered with a shrug when you had asked her. “And maybe that boyfriend of yours can convince you to stay here after the summer is over.”

“Boyfriend?” you yelped, and Taliyah raised an eyebrow.

“You aren’t? I thought he would have made it official by now. It’s been over two weeks… have you guys even done it?”

“Taliyah!” you scolded her, switching back to professional mode as a group of people approached the stand.

As you helped prepare their orders, you couldn’t help but think about what she had said. You and Sett had kissed quite a lot actually, but he had yet to do more than that. But it was far too embarrassing a subject for you to have the confidence to broach, so you had resolved yourself to just be content with things as they were.

It was just your luck that right then was when Sett had decided to make his daily visit to the stand, approaching the counter as the other group left.

Taliyah apparently wasn’t done pestering you for the day as she sped to meet him at the counter before you could get there yourself.

“Hey!” she greeted Sett with a sly smile as you stood frozen behind her, nervous about her motivations. “You’re on your break, right?”

Sett raised an eyebrow. “What about it?”

“Well,” she said, in the voice you knew meant that she wanted something. “There’s a surfing contest I entered, and it’s almost my turn and it won’t even take that long and–”

“Tali!” you interrupted, rushing over to the counter.

“All I need is an hour,” Taliyah insisted, before pulling you beside her at the counter. “And she needs some help while I’m gone since lunchtime is when most of the people come by.”

“I’m fine, I–”

“I’m in,” Sett cut in, eyeing you with almost palpable smugness.

“Awesome!” Taliyah replied, immediately shucking her apron and hat onto the floor in her haste to get out the door. “Have fun, see you after I win!”

“Taliyah!”

Your call of her name fell on deaf ears as she already had her board and was out the door, leaving you standing at the counter with Sett still leaning against the counter.

Sett reached up to pull his sunglasses off, tucking them into his packet, his golden eyes fully uncovered and sparkling with mischief, the sight alone making you feel weary.

“Well? You gonna invite me in?” he asked. “Not sure I’d fit through the window.”

You scrambled to meet him at the back door, not wanting him to try and get into the shop through the order window that was less wide than he was. It was a strange feeling to open the back door of the shop to a guy that was almost too tall for the doorway, and another thing entirely to try and corral him into behaving as you tried to keep the ice cream stand functioning while Taliyah was gone.

“Aren’t lifeguards supposed to set a good example for others?” you huffed, wiping ice from your apron. At least he hadn’t made things truly equal and put cherry syrup on the ball of shaved ice he had pressed against your neck.

“Not when I’m off the clock,” he answered. “Besides, it’s my once in a lifetime chance to see what workin’ one of these is like.”

It would definitely be only one time if you had anything to say about it. If the almost-hour with him here had taught you anything, it was that Sett was not cut out to work in an ice cream shop.

The scoops of ice cream he doled out were easily twice the size of the ones Taliyah did, which made for happy customers, but a less happy bottom line if he was here for more than an hour. He was also lacking Taliyah’s patience, and you were forced to sideline him when an especially picky middle-aged woman came by who insisted you remake her smoothie four times until it had an acceptable pH level. The woman’s complaints had miraculously stopped the moment Sett had approached the window himself, becoming so invested in flirting with the handsome lifeguard that she had snatched her next smoothie attempt from you without complaint, not even glancing your way as she batted her eyes at him, only leaving when he excused himself with an excuse of needing to make more orders.

You approached Sett to check on him and found yourself pulled down into his lap as he leaned back in the chair.

Huffing, he pulled you against him, nuzzling against your neck. “Don’t know how you deal with that. Couldn’t pay me to make her damn smoothie one more time.”

“You get used to it,” you replied. “Don’t you deal with worse as a lifeguard?”

“Yeah,” he grunted. “But nothin’ sayin’ I gotta be nice when I deal with ‘em.”

“That’s true,” you laughed.

“If anyone complains, they can go somewhere else. Ain’t another beach within a hundred miles as well-run as this one,” he bragged, kissing at your neck.

As much as you were enjoying his sudden affection, you knew time was running low until Taliyah would return. You made to pull back to tell Sett that, but were instead pulled into a kiss that took you a few breathless moments to find the strength to escape.

“This Friday,” he murmured, face inches from yours. “There’s a party at the pool. You should come with me.”

You had heard about the exclusive pool parties on this beach from Taliyah, but hadn’t expected to ever get an invite. The pool, which was at the far end of the beach from the ice cream stand, was as exclusive as it got. Gated with walls so high that you couldn’t see in, it was the membership-only place to be for all of the elite in the beach town of Port Navori.

“Is that… okay?” you asked hesitantly.

“Why wouldn’t it be?” he countered, and you didn’t really have an answer. “It’ll be fine. Come. Have some people I wanna introduce ya to.”

The door burst open at the same time as you nodded your agreement, revealing Taliyah clutching both her dripping board as well as a shiny blue ribbon.

“You won?” you asked, trying to disentangle yourself from Sett, who reluctantly let you up.

“Easily!” Taliyah gloated. “Nobody else stood a chance. So how were things here?”

“The money ain’t worth the drama of this place,” Sett griped.

Taliyah laughed. “Smoothie lady come back with a vengeance?”

“I’ll take kids buryin’ sunbathers up to their ears over this any day,” he replied with a grimace, standing up and stretching.

At his mention of ears, Taliyah had brought both hands up to her own head about where Sett’s were on his head, and you quickly waved at her to cut it out before he saw. Thankfully she did, but you could tell that you were going to get asked if you had pet his ears yet as soon as his fuzzy ears were out of earshot.

“I’ll text ya the time when I know it,” Sett said, giving you a quick kiss on the head and a two-fingered salute to Taliyah before heading out the back door.

“So?” Taliyah asked, pulling the chair up to the ice cream station after she had stashed her prize ribbon in her bag. “Are they as soft as they look?”

“I didn’t pet them,” you answered.

“It’s been over two weeks!” she complained. “Has he at least asked you to be his girlfriend yet?”

You shook your head. “He did invite me to a pool party with him on Friday at that fancy pool.”

“Really?” Taliyah responded, eyes wide. “You have to tell me what it’s like! I mean, I’ve seen satellite photos, but it’s not the same…”

“I’ll probably be too nervous to remember any of it,” you grumbled.

“This is your chance!” Taliyah encouraged. “By Friday it’ll be three weeks. You need to ask him if he sees you as his girlfriend or not.”

You reeled back, waves of anticipatory anxiety rolling over you. “I don’t want to scare him off. What if this is just casual to him and I’m too dumb to see it?”

“Then you’ll know,” she replied. “I know you. It’ll eat you up if you put this much energy into a guy without knowing how he feels about you. So ask. If he says no, then at least you’ll have an entire store’s worth of ice cream to drown yourself in after!”

Taliyah was right. She was always right. You knew that you couldn’t keep whatever this was up without knowing where you stood with him. The more time you spent with Sett, the more you wanted, and if he intended to keep things casual, you would rather know sooner so you could make an informed decision.

So that would be the plan then. Go to the party, have a good time (and get some photos of the pool for Taliyah) and then ask Sett about the state of your relationship. Sounded easy in theory. You could only hope you could muster up the courage to go through with the plan when the time came.

 After hearing that the party was to start at four, Taliyah had gone all out, closing the stand at two so she could help you get ready to impress the snobs. You hadn’t put up too much of a fight, happy to have her help and her company, as your nerves only climbed higher the closer it got to four o’clock.

“You’ll be fine,” Taliyah said as she styled your hair. “You’ll only feel worse if you don’t get an answer from him. And with how good you’ll look at the party, he won’t be able to say no!”

“Thanks, Tali,” you replied gratefully. “I promise I’ll get you a bunch of photos of the pool. And whatever else you want.”

“What I want is for you to stay here for good,” she said. “So really I’m just doing myself a favor by helping you. This place has been a hundred times more bearable since you’ve been here, and I want it to stay that way.”

“Still,” you persisted. “I feel bad that you’re going to so much trouble. If you want anything, just let me know.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Taliyah dismissed with a wave of her hand. “You should get going, don’t wanna be late to the fancy pool party.”

She practically shoved you out the door, and then you were alone, walking down the mostly-empty sidewalk. As you walked along the street, you couldn’t help but dwell on the possibilities. What would happen at the party? What would Sett say?

If he told you that he wasn’t looking for anything serious, what would you do? It was hard to have an answer for until you were in the moment, since a lot of it would depend on what Sett’s answer would be.

You walked through the parking lot, and then onto the beach, passing by kids building sandcastles and games of beach volleyball as you walked towards the end of the beach where the pool was. As you made your way to the fancier end of the beach, you began to notice the differences that marked the split between here and the side of the beach that you were usually on.

The shops on this side of the beach were much fancier, the sand littered with designer beach chairs and umbrellas. It was crazy just how different two ends of one beach could be.

The pool was noticeable from a great distance, or at least the wall white walls that surrounded it were. At least you weren’t going to get lost and miss the party entirely.

You approached the pristine white stairs that led from the beach up to the pool entrance, equal parts excited and apprehensive. The entrance was an open doorway, covered by a deep blue curtain and guarded by a muscled bouncer in white. The sight alone was intimidating; why hadn’t you just asked Sett to meet you beforehand?

You plastered a reluctant smile on your face before approaching the man. “Hi, I–”

“Name,” he interrupted, not looking up from his clipboard, sunglasses too dark for you to see his eyes.

Well it wasn’t like you hadn’t expected some level of standoffishness from the elite side of the beach. Keeping your smile up, you told him your name, waiting the prerequisite few moments for him to leaf through the list.

He seemed to have found what he was looking for, as his hand with the clipboard went to his side and he moved over to the curtain, pulling it to one side to allow you to enter. He had said nothing further, but seemed to be staring in your direction, so you took that as your cue and walked towards the now-open entryway and into the pool.

The entryway led into a hallway with pristine white walls, soft lighting hanging overhead. You could begin to hear chatter as you got closer to the end of the hallway, exiting into an explosion of sight and sound.

The pool was huge, and there seemed to be an intricate gold pattern on the tiles at the bottom. The pool was surrounded by lounge chairs and umbrellas, tropical foliage bordering the inner walls around the pool.

There were people all over, in and out of the pool. There was also a bar in the center which seemed to be very popular, as many people were carrying around intricate-looking cocktails.

More than the scenery or the people, your eyes were scanning the area for Sett. You checked your phone again to make sure, finding that it was the time he had told you to be here for. Maybe he was just running late or…

Your rising concern was broken up by the tap of designer wedges on the granite heading your way. You looked up from your phone to see two girls heading towards you, one of which you realized you had seen before.

The stuck-up redhead that had been the reason you had been out on the beach to spill the snowball on Sett in the first place was striding towards you, not a hair out of place underneath her likely-expensive sun hat. At her side was a lilac-haired woman in a swimsuit with a plunging neckline that was color blocked with various shades of purple. Together they made quite a striking pair, but your previous encounter with the redhead had you wishing that Sett would get here soon to save you from the impending conversation.

“Look, Sarah,” the purple-haired one sneered as they came to a stop before you. “So eager to pretend she’s one of us that she rushed right over.”

You took a step back, but that only seemed to embolden them.

Sarah lowered her sunglasses, staring at you like you were in her way. “Sad when they don’t know their place, Syndra.”

“Sett invited me here,” you replied defensively.

The women exchanged a pointed look before Sarah raised an eyebrow at you, a hand on her hip. “You ever think about why that was?”

“What?” you replied, unsure of what she was getting at.

“She doesn’t get it,” Syndra said with a cruel undertone in her voice that unnerved you.

“Look around,” Sarah said sharply. “Really look. Do half the people here look like they belong?”

You looked around, not sure what you were supposed to be seeing. A man with a hook-nose sat at the pool bar, flanked by women in skimpy bikinis. A humanoid form that seemed to be made of water conversed poolside with a large purple man in a ratty straw hat who was holding a ukulele. What were you supposed to be noticing?

“Sett is too nice to break it to you, so the job falls to me,” Sarah said with a smirk. “This is our annual loser fest. Charity case race. Bring-a-freak-to-work-day.”

“Pig party,” Syndra supplied.

“Yeah, pig party,” Sarah repeated, noticing your confused look. “Don’t know what that is? Poor thing.”

“I don’t–”

“It’s pretty simple,” Sarah interrupted. “We take half the summer to find the biggest freak we can, and then we bring them all together and crown a winner, and by the looks of you, Sett is really going for the top prize.”

You gasped, eyes wide, suddenly feeling like you were going to be sick.

“Aw, you really thought he liked you, huh?” Syndra mocked with fake sweetness.

“He didn’t… he never…” you stammered, clutching your bag to your chest.

“Well duh,” Sarah replied haughtily. “He wanted to win. Do you tell a pig when it’s about to become bacon?”

“What is meaning of this?” Braum accused, storming up to your group. “I have not heard of such a thing!”

“Need-to-know, Braum,” Syndra dismissed.

“And you didn’t need to know,” Sarah added.

You felt numb. This whole time… is that why Sett wouldn’t ask you to be his girlfriend? Why he never did more than kiss you? All this time, he had just seen you as a prize pig for an ugly date contest? It all made sense now, why he had been so desperate to get your number. He had never liked you… it had all been one sick joke. You should’ve known; nobody as attractive as Sett would ever see you as anything but a freak. And was too cowardly to come and tell you the truth to your face.

“Look, she’s crying,” Syndra taunted. “Don’t cry! Soon you’ll be queen pig!”

You couldn’t do this. You couldn’t stay here with all these people who saw you as less than human as your heart was breaking into pieces. You were so, so stupid, now wanting nothing more than to cry in peace. So you did, turning and running as fast as your legs would take you out of this awful place.

“Bye, piggy! We’ll ship you the ribbon!”

You heard Braum shout your name, as well as the cruel laughter of the women, but you didn’t stop running. Not when you got to the beach, nor the parking lot or the tacky souvenir shop, the sayings on the gaudy shirts too blurry to read through your tears. Your feet didn’t stop until you were at the doorstep to Taliyah’s home, out of breath, tears running down your cheeks.

The door opened, Taliyah’s face appearing in the doorway. “Hey, did you forget– wait, what happened?”

 “Settrigh, stay still!”

Sett frowned, but did as his momma requested, allowing her to tie the ends of his hair after she had finished arranging it. He loved his ma dearly, but he really didn’t have time for her to redo his hair ten times right now.

It was getting way too close to the start time he had given you, and with how nervous of a person you were, he had intended to be on time, but that was before his mother had discovered the reason why he was cutting their visit short today.

Ma was aware that he had been seeing someone, had been ever since Sett had needed help making food for their first date.

“You do intend to let me meet her, Settrigh?” she asked, stepping back once she had fixed his hair to her satisfaction.

“Yes, ma,” he answered, standing up from the chair.

He wasn’t exactly surprised by his momma’s eagerness, considering this was the first girl he had ever dated, let alone considered introducing to her. This world was shallow; he had learned that early in life, which may be why he found himself so drawn to a girl who had put her all into having nothing to do with him. You broke up the monotony in this busy beach town and gave him something to look forward to other than seeing his ma for the first time in a long time.

Sett knew he was working on a time limit. You had mentioned that you had planned on only visiting Port Navori for the summer, and the summer was half over already, which meant his chances to convince you to stay were also halved, which is where tonight came in.

He had been taking things slow, not wanting to come on too strong and scare you off like he had watched happen to many a beachfront pick-up artist. He had been unwilling to rush things and lose you, but the slip of the calendar into August had forced his hand.

He would be lying if he said he wasn’t a bit apprehensive as to how today would end. How would you take him asking you to be girlfriend? He could only hope that he hadn’t misread you entirely.

He didn’t go to the pool parties often, but it seemed like a good way for him to introduce you to his friends, as they didn’t often all gather outside of those parties. He knew you would likely feel out of place, but Braum would be there, and he intended to stick by your side the entire time. And then after the party, if things went well, then maybe he would end the night with you as his girlfriend, but the party would be the first step.

As he left his ma’s house, he found his mind turning to the party. If you were wearing that red swimsuit you had worn last week, then it was going to be a difficult night for his self-control. His desire to take things slow had really taken a hit then, his only saving grace being ma’s lecture on being a gentleman pounding in his head as he tried not to look at how your chest was half-busting out of your top as you leaned over to pick a thread off of his glove. You were really too hot for your own good, which made him all the more eager to see you.

He knew he was running late, the party having started at least ten minutes earlier. It wasn’t his style to be late, but he was also pretty helpless to defy his ma. He only hoped that you hadn’t given up on him and left.

He took the shortest route possible, which included a short trek through some bushes that left him more leafy than he would’ve liked, but it was all forgotten when he spotted the stairs that led up to the pool entrance.

He was able to bypass the doorman who was only half as big as he was and seemed to be wary of interacting with him, stepping out of the way as Sett approached. He pushed past the curtain, hurried steps heading down the hallway. You hadn’t been waiting outside, so clearly you had been able to get in. He tried to fight back the excited grin that wanted to take over his face, but it was a losing battle as he entered the pool area, eyes immediately scanning the area for you.

“Your cruelty is unimaginable!” Braum’s booming voice carried easily through the air. “That girl has done nothing to be deserving of such treatment!”

What had Braum so worked up? Generally he was an easy guy to get along with, easily Sett’s most tolerable co-lifeguard. Not much phased him, which was a little concerning. But Sett had other priorities, the most important being locating you.

You weren’t in the pool, and didn’t seem to be sitting in any of the chairs. Maybe you had gone to the bathroom and would be right back–

“Well how else was she supposed to know Sett is too good for her? She clearly wasn’t going to see reality without a little help.”

Sett’s ears perked up, his attention snagged by the mention of his name, but especially by the latter half of the sentence. He turned around to see Sarah Fortune with Syndra at her side, who had her arms crossed and looked bored. In front of them was Braum, looking more irate than Sett had ever seen him.

“What’s this about?” Sett asked in a warning tone as he approached, the fur of his ears standing on end, leaving him feeling like he wasn’t going to like where this was headed.

“Nothing you need to worry about,” Sarah dismissed, flipping her hair behind her shoulder with a flick of her head. “We just showed a daydreaming little clout chaser the way out.”

Sett’s eyebrow rose. “A what?”

“Your ice cream girl,” Braum cut in. “These two have told her that this is a party for pigs. They have told her that you intend to bring her here to win ugly contest, and then she had run off.”

“What?” Sett growled dangerously, but the two women remained nonplussed.

“We did you a favor,” Syndra stressed. “If we get a reputation of letting just anyone in, then we’ll lose all status as members of the ruling class of the food chain. So we decided to throw this little pig party to make you come back to your senses.”

“You’re one of us, Sett,” Sarah added. “This pool doesn’t have room for little nobodies who don’t know their place.”

“Rather be a nobody than whatever the hell this is,” Sett snarled angrily, the full knowledge of the truth turning his bad feeling to a mix of simmering fury at the two women, and worry for you. He hated himself for being late and allowing this to happen to you. “Save your concern and don’t talk to me again.”

“But we were–” Syndra started, but Sett wasn’t in the mood.

“If you even look at her again, you’ll have me to deal with. And unlike that girl you just bullied outta here, I ain’t so nice.”

With that, Sett turned on his heel and stormed towards the exit to go do his best to fix this mess.

Braum quickly followed behind him. “My friend, I am sorry I could not stop them in time.”

“Ain’t your fault,” Sett replied. “Wish I’d have known. Gotta go see if she’ll even talk to me at this point.”

“I wish you luck,” Braum said as exited the hallway and emerged out into the sunny late afternoon.

Sett parted from Braum, taking the stairs two at a time as he surveyed the area, trying to see if he could catch sight of you. He quickly crossed the sand, making a beeline for the ice cream stand, even if it seemed like a longshot. He passed by a group of kids throwing sand on an older man sleeping on a towel, but ignored it and kept going. If anything was on fire, Braum could put it out. Sett’s sole focus right now was finding you and hoping you’d let him explain himself.

His chest felt heavy with anger and regret. How could he have let this happen? He hadn’t realized how cruel those women could be, and it had led to them making you believe he thought you were some freak he was using for convenience, which could not be farther from the truth.

Seeing those two talk about you like you were a pariah had brought him right back to when he was younger, to what he had endured at the hands of people just like Syndra and Sarah. People who had ostracized him, did their best to make him feel like he didn’t have a place here. Sett-the-beast-boy-bastard; the words had haunted him for a long time.

He had grown tough in response to the years of bullying, but you hadn’t. This was your first exposure to how awful this place could be. He and ma had dealt with it for years after pa ran off; he had nearly gotten expelled from school after a particularly bad fight with a kid that had made one too many nasty comments about his ma to his face.

Sett stopped, letting out a frustrated sigh as he saw the large closed sign on the front windows of the ice cream shop. So that was a bust. Without giving the store a second look, he continued on towards the rocks and then up to the parking lot.

There was only one other place to try. Chest tight, Sett followed the same path he had the night of your first date, the same path he took every time he walked you home. The walk there was one long blur, his feet unable to stop moving until the familiar house was in sight. Without a moment’s hesitation, Sett approached the front door, rapping his knuckles against the wood. When no answer came, he tried again, and after a few moments, the door opened to reveal Taliyah, who glared once she caught sight of him.

“What do you want?” she asked, narrowing her eyes at him.

“Is she here? I need to talk to her,” Sett said, urgency bleeding into his voice.

Taliyah sighed, stepping outside and closing the door behind her. “You’re lucky I’m even talking to you after this. You don’t deserve to talk to her if that’s how you let your friends treat her.”

“They ain’t my friends,” Sett argued. “If I’d have known they were gonna pull that shit–”

A sly smile lifted the corner of Taliyah’s lips. “Good answer. If you had said anything else, then I’d be slamming the door in your face right about now.”

“Then can I–”

“Talk to her?” Taliyah interrupted. “Nope. Not a good idea.”

Sett’s face must have taken on a darker quality, because Taliyah retreated back a step, raising her hands in the air in mock surrender. “Relax, tough guy. I didn’t mean it like that. But she’s a little too upset to talk to you right now.”

The information only made Sett feel worse. He wanted so badly to talk to you, to do what he had wanted to do before this mess had happened and make you his girlfriend. You had never felt farther away than you did right now.

“Give me some time to calm her down. I can get her to be at the pier at seven, then the rest is up to you,” she said, levelling him with a stern look. “I know this wasn’t your fault. That’s the only reason I’m giving you a chance. She really likes you, so try not to make her feel any worse than she already does. Bye.”

And then Taliyah was gone, retreating back into the house and leaving Sett standing on the doorstep.

 “Brought you some water,” Taliyah announced as she entered the room, glass in hand.

“Who was at the door?” you asked.

She shrugged. “Someone looking for my dad. Told them he’s not here.”

You nodded. It was probably too much to hope that it would be Sett. You winced as you thought his name. You hated how much you wanted to see him, someone who had used you to win some popular kid ugly date contest.

So it had all been a lie then? All the things he had told you about his life, his family? Every time he had kissed you, was he picturing kissing one of those girls instead? Is this really what popular people did for fun? You felt stupid for falling for it, for falling for him. You were so stupid.

With some prompting from Taliyah, you took a sip of the water. After she had made sure you had drank the whole glass, she sat down next to you, taking the glass from you and setting it down on the bedside table.

“I should have known,” you croaked.

“Known that popular girls are bitchy? Maybe,” she responded.

“That it was too good to be true,” you corrected.

“You’re acting like you’re eighty,” she scolded. “There are other guys out there. Ones who don’t have shitty friends.”

“Yeah, I know,” you replied. “But I really liked him. And I didn’t even get to pet his stupid fuzzy ears.”

“Well if you’re joking, then you must be doing okay,” she said. “How about we go do something to take your mind off of things?”

You frowned, and she rolled her eyes. “Not right this second. I’ll give you until six-thirty to get yourself ready to go.”

Taliyah got up off the bed and headed towards the door. “I’m not gonna let your night be ruined because of a couple of snobs.”

She closed the door, leaving you alone with your thoughts again. You laid back on the bed, intent on taking some time before you got ready to just veg out. As much as the notion of going out didn’t excite you right now, it was probably better than being a mopey mess all night. There would be other guys; it was just a shame that you had liked this one so much.

Two hours later, you were walking down the street with Taliyah. Your getting ready to go had consisted of washing your face of all the smeared makeup from your crying, brushing your hair into a semi-decent state and then watching dumb cat videos on your phone until you felt like you didn’t want to crawl in a hole and die.

Taliyah had assured you that you didn’t look bad, which you might have believed if you hadn’t seen yourself in the mirror as you were leaving, but at this point you were beyond caring about how you looked right now.

Taliyah had refused to tell you where she was taking you, and so you were forced to follow her down the familiar path towards the beach, unsure of where it was you were being led. Part of you was worried that you might run into Sett, but then the more rational side of you took over; he was likely back at that pool, partying it up with those girls and lamenting that you had run off before he could win his ugly date prize. It was crazy to realize just how flawed your judgment had been.

You had expected to be walking onto the beach, as it was where you two usually spent most of your time, but Taliyah didn’t go to the parking lot, instead heading towards the rockier section of the beach. You hadn’t been over here before, only vaguely aware of the area as a prime fishing location, bait shops and the like lining the street across from this part of the beachfront.

She took you past the fishing spots, down to near the end of the beach, where there was a small pier that went about thirty feet out into the sea. Like most of the beach at this time on a weekday, the pier was empty, most of the fishermen also having headed out with their day’s catches.

Taliyah led you down the pier to the small bench at the end of it, pushing you to sit down. When she didn’t do the same, you looked up at her, confused.

“I’ll be right back,” she said. “I’m gonna go grab something to help cheer you up. You just enjoy the view for a bit.”

You decided to follow her advice, staring out at the water. There wasn’t much to see other than some boats in the far distance and some buoys bobbing in the water that marked the swimming section from the boating section.

It was kind of nice in a way, the calm waters helping you to relax as you watched the waves roll in and out. You stayed like that for a while as you allowed yourself to zone out until you began to wonder how much time had passed. Pulling out your phone, you saw that it had been almost twenty minutes, and yet there was no sign of Taliyah as you looked around.

You had assumed that she went to get you two some food, which likely was still the case. Some of the places here tended to have rather large dinnertime crowds, so a twenty minute plus wait wasn’t exactly unusual. You had no idea where she had gone, so all you could do was wait. If she wasn’t back by seven, you would just text her and ask what was up.

You let yourself be taken in again by the rolling waves as you continued to wait, trying to recall what kinds of restaurants there were on the beachfront. It couldn’t be that fish and chips place; Taliyah had spent a full half hour last week complaining about how stale their food was. Or the taco place, since it had been closed for renovations for the past week. You had been trying to think of a third option when your concentration was broken by someone taking a seat next to you on the bench.

You looked over, expecting to see Taliyah back with some food, but instead nearly jolted off of the bench when next to you was the very man you were out here trying to forget.

Just seeing him when you were feeling so pathetic sent a jolt of you weren’t sure what up your spine, your flight instincts screaming at you as you made to stand up, only to be stopped by a firm grip on your wrist.

“I know you don’t wanna see my face right now,” Sett said. “But I can explain.”

“Explain what?” you replied meekly. “Those girls explained enough.”

“I haven’t,” he insisted. “Just listen for a minute. Then you can leave, or punch me, whatever you want.”

You took a look around, still not seeing Taliyah anywhere. You weren’t sure what he could have to say that would make much of a difference, but you sat back down, and he let go of your wrist.

You turned reluctantly to face Sett, waiting for him to talk first.

“Never told ‘em to do somethin’ like that,” he said gruffly. “Didn’t even know about it ‘til I got there and you weren’t there.”

“But they said…” you started, taking a breath to keep yourself calm as you prepared to recount the hurtful words. “They said you were only spending time with me so you could win their whole ugly date contest.”

Sett’s eyes narrowed, the skin of his knuckles tightening on his curling fists. “First I’ve heard of it. Ain’t no way you’d ever place in an ugly contest anyways.”

His words threw you. “Wait, so you don’t think I’m ugly?”

He snorted, a grin playing at his lips. “Well I was plannin’ on askin’ you to be my girlfriend after the party, so nah, I don’t think you’re ugly.”

“You–” you gasped, pulse skyrocketing. This was not how you expected this conversation to go. You were half convinced you were experiencing auditory hallucinations until Sett reached over, pulling you into his side.

“This is my fault,” he spoke lowly. “If I hadn’t been late, I’d have been there to stop that from happening.”

“What happened when you got there?” you asked quietly.

“Braum told me what happened, then those two tried tellin’ me they did it for my sake,” he growled. “I thought I was used to seein’ through bullies from how I grew up. Doesn’t matter now, they won’t be botherin’ you anymore unless they wanna find out why momma says I got her temper.”

“Why were you late anyways?” you asked.

He groaned, leaning his head back against the bench. Even with the sun mostly set, you could clearly see a pink tone to his cheeks.

“What is it?” you pressed, curious about why the intimidating lifeguard was suddenly being so shy.

He let out a long sigh, finally meeting your eyes. “Ma was doin’ my hair.”

You looked him over, realizing that his hair did seem to be tied differently today. The only thing that looked the same was his ears, just as fluffy as they always looked. You could almost hear Taliyah’s voice screaming in your head to pet them. Speaking of Taliyah…

“Taliyah!” you gasped, trying to extract yourself from Sett’s grip, but failing. If Taliyah was to come and see you here with the guy she had taken you out to forget about… “My friend, she’ll be back any second and–”

Sett laughed, and you were immediately left with the feeling that you were missing something.

“She ain’t comin’ back,” he said amusedly. “I’ve got you all to myself for the night… if that’s what you want.”

“Taliyah set me up?” you breathed, not having suspected a thing.

“I asked her to,” Sett explained. “Wasn’t about to let you go ‘cuz of some shallow assholes.”

Taliyah was much sneakier than you had given her credit for, you realized, but you couldn’t bring yourself to mind right now. Though that didn’t mean you weren’t hungry, your previous stress melting away and removing the only distraction from your empty stomach.

“So,” you hummed. “Are you still going to ask me to be your girlfriend?”

You still had no idea what would happen by the end of the summer, but you really wanted this. You wanted him.

“Yeah, was plannin’ on it.”

 You had thought about it all the way back to Sett’s house. Was it really for the best to go back to your city when the summer was over? Back to your parents’ house to find an equally demanding and unfulfilling job?

The more you thought about it, the more you wanted to stay. Taliyah was here, Sett was here, and other than your brief nasty encounter at the pool earlier, this summer had been the best one you’d had in a long time.

Sett seemed intent on giving you more reasons to stay as he was on you pretty much as soon as you entered his house. You had been standing in the entryway, looking at a picture of what must have been Sett and his mother when he caught you off guard, picking you up from behind.

You yelped, turning your head back to face him just in time for him to dart forward to snatch a kiss.

“You’ll have time to look around later,” he said as he walked down the hall, nudging a door open with his shoulder and then taking you into what looked to be his bedroom.

Once again, you were scarcely granted a look around before Sett had overtaken your attention yet again. You were swiftly carried over and deposited on the bed, Sett eagerly caging your body down against the sheets with his own.

“I wanted to go slow,” he said against your ear. “Didn’t wanna mess things up. But that’s not what you want, is it?”

“No,” you gasped as he snaked a hand under your dress, and then under your swimsuit bottoms. “I… I want…”

“This?” he inquired, thumb brushing against your clit, causing you to jolt against him with a breathy moan. “Waited a long time to hear that.”

Seeking more room to work, Sett pulled back to reach down and pull down your swimsuit bottoms, tossing them to the side. You watched with reddening cheeks as he returned his attention to you, head disappearing under your dress next.

His first lick against your pussy felt back-archingly good, but you didn’t have a lot of room to move with Sett’s hands holding your lower half in place. His tongue felt slightly rough, bringing pricks of pleasure-pain along its path.

Closing your eyes tight, you tried not to squirm, but it was difficult as Sett’s tongue prodded inside you before moving back to sucking at your clit. It felt good, almost too good, but you found yourself wanting more than his mouth against you.

“Sett,” you moaned. “Please…”

You weren’t sure if he got the message until you reached down to grasp at one of his hands. He pulled back from you, wiping one forearm against the wet lower half of his face as he sat back. His position on his knees on the bed allowed you a good look at the decently-sized bulge in the front of his tight swim shorts.

Sett caught your eyes, reaching one hand down to cup his cock through his shorts. “All you, sweetheart. Still think I think you’re ugly?”

You somehow managed to shake your head, speechless from his ardent display of his body. Sett seemed to bask in just how speechless he had made you, a sexy grin overtaking his face as he stared down at you.

“Couldn’t ask for more than this,” he said. “But if you want more…”

He was such a tease. With a burning face, you relented.

“Could you just put it in me please?” you asked, too shy to make eye contact.

“Can do,” he replied, and you could easily hear the smug satisfaction in his voice.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Sett stood up from the bed to pull his shorts off, wincing slightly when he pulled the tight fabric over his painfully-hard cock. Tossing the shorts to the floor, his attention quickly returned to you.

Giving his cock a few slow strokes, he watched you sit up on the bed. Feeling a burst in confidence from his display, you reached down to the hem of your dress’ skirt before pulling it up and off your body, Sett’s hungry gold eyes unable to look away from you as you moved onto your swimsuit top.

Once your top was off, Sett struck, pulling you towards him. Sitting at the edge of the bed, he pulled you onto his lap, reaching around to your front to cup your breasts as his mouth went straight to your neck. His hands were warm against the sensitive skin of your breasts, rolling your nipples under his thumbs as his teeth scraped against a sensitive spot on your neck.

You felt his hard cock under you and shifted yourself against it, Sett letting out a deep groan in response. You could feel how wet you were, but this wasn’t enough. You needed to fuck him, needed this building tension to come to a satisfying end for you both.

You turned in his lap, looping your arms around his neck and leaning down to kiss him. Sett was happy to meet tongues with you, one hand resting on your ass until you pulled back from the kiss.

You met eyes with Sett, who began to help you lift yourself up, lining up his cock with his other hand. When he brought you back down onto him, you both sighed as you were fully seated on his cock at last.

“Nothin’ else would feel as good as you,” Sett groaned as he began to help you move and up and then back down onto him. “Never wanted any girl as bad as I want you.”

You were much less coherent, moaning out his name as your hands grasped against his chest. With a further burst of confidence, you reached a hand up to his ear, running your fingers along the fur and enjoying the resulting groan, the next upward thrust of his hips hitting even better into you. Maybe you would leave this out at Taliyah’s interrogation later.

“There,” you moaned as he shifted you in his lap, his cock hitting even deeper inside you. “Right there, Sett.”

“You’re so tight,” he groaned, pulling you down into a rough kiss as he held you close, thrusting up into you as you eagerly moved along with him, needing to make this gorgeous man under you cum.

Sett came first, stilling for a moment before pulling you slightly back to put a finger to your clit, letting you cling to him as you followed him over the edge.

Once you had both come back down from the clouds, you were set back gently on the bed so Sett could run off to grab a cloth to clean you up with. You watched him leave the room, still having a hard time comprehending just how you had ended up this situation.

You definitely had some phone calls to make tomorrow. Your parents would be surprised, but you would probably focus on the Taliyah part rather than the new boyfriend part of your reasoning. Taliyah would be overjoyed for sure; you’d have to thank her for her meddling when you saw her.

As Sett returned, you realized something.

“Wait, is your mom home?” you asked in horror. You hadn’t made any effort to be quiet during sex, forgetting about his mother until he re-entered the room.

Sett laughed at your mortified face. “I don’t live with ma, so no.”

“Oh god,” you breathed in relief. “I was worried I was too…”

“She ain’t here,” he replied as he joined you on the bed, handing you the cloth he had grabbed. “You can be as loud as you want.”

You dropped the cloth, burying your head in your hands, Sett’s amused laughter ringing in your ears as you tried to content with just what you had signed yourself up for.

[brandyllyn]

The Scoundrel’s Reward

Summary: You have been captured by a terrible monster! Is your rescuer the dashing pilot he claims to be - or is he a scoundrel in disguise? Alternatively: Poe Dameron and you goof around and have some fun one night in his quarters.

Part of the "Goofballs in Love" Series of One-Shots: The Scoundrel’s Reward, Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, Flexibility (noun), Give me my sin again, Writing on the Wall

My Masterlist

Words: 3K (Read it on AO3.) [complete] Rated: Explicit Warnings: established relationship. roleplay. consensual dubious consent. bondage. mild violence against droids. oral (f receiving). PiV sex. two people being dorks in bed.

-Privacy Locks Engaged-

Poe tilted his head as he looked at the small screen outside his quarters, trying to think of a reason the locks might be enabled. He had the codes, of course. They were his quarters after all. Had he done it before he left? He was pretty sure he hadn’t.

Had something happened inside there? Someone might have set the privacy locks in order to keep people out. A leak maybe? Or a repair? But that didn’t make sense, if that had happened someone would have contacted him. And he was pretty sure there was a special code for that sort of thing anyway. The privacy locks were for situations when you didn’t want people walking in on you. Hell, if you didn’t have the door code you just got an error message. But if you had the door code…

-Privacy Locks Engaged.-

He rarely used them. Once or twice when he’d come back after a mission and needed double digit hours of uninterrupted sleep. Once when he’d been deep into studying some new X-Wing configurations and didn’t want distractions. But usually he used them when he had you over.

You.

The only other person who had access to the room’s security system was you. He raised an eyebrow. Did this mean you wanted privacy? But if that was true, you had your own quarters you could be in - rather than his. He mulled the problem over more.

Generally he used the privacy locks when you and he wanted alone time. When he didn’t want to risk some friendly pilot or whoever beeping in to halt whatever fun things the two of you were doing in bed together. He considered the possibility. Maybe you were in his room doing something fun in bed. You had intended to see each other that night - maybe you had gotten a head start waiting for him.

-Privacy Locks Disengaged.-

When the doors slid open he stepped inside quickly, reengaging the lock behind him. The room was dark, shadows dancing along the wall from a single lamp with a sheer yellow scarf tossed across it. His eyes were drawn immediately to the bed, and the form lying across it.

You were wearing a sheer white robe, one he’d never seen before. Even in the low light he thought he could make out the darker shade of your nipples peeking through. Somehow more interestingly, you were tied up. Hands bound above your head. When he entered the room your eyes met his and then you winked before your face dropped into over-the-top fear.

"Oh thank the gods, someone is here to rescue me," you called out in a comically desperate voice. He felt his lips twitch. "Please, handsome stranger, save me from this foul beast."

"Oh?" Poe asked, leaning against the door with a smirk. "And who has captured you fair maiden?"

He heard a whirring noise and saw BB-8 roll to place itself between its owner and you, one port opening and the droid’s taser snapping in the still air. The droid beeped questioningly and he heard you whisper, "Yes now."

A series of low angry whistles came from the droid. Threats of violence as BB-8 rolled toward him, taser crackling menacingly. Poe took a step back, putting a chair between himself and the 'beast'. "Ah, I see," he nodded, "a most fearsome foe indeed."

BB-8 gave a pleased little spin at that and he heard you urging the droid back into character. Taking advantage of the distraction Poe turned to the wall, finding a discarded broom and brandishing it.

"Unhand her foul beast!"

BB-8 rolled backwards in alarm and Poe tapped the droid gently with the broom. "Take that!" Another gentle tap. "And that!"

BB-8 spun in place in confusion before rolling towards Poe. Thinking fast, he jumped on top of the nearby table, crouching low and continuing to tap at the droid as it circled around him. Poe threw his boots at the droid one by one, taunting it for being unable to reach him on the table. BB-8 called out increasingly silly threats until Poe finally leapt down and pinned it with a downward thrust of the broom. He squatted quickly whispering "Thanks buddy, go back to your dock now."

BB-8 trilled happily, returning to its charging station and powering down. Poe tossed his 'sword' aside and made his way to the bed, strutting and puffing his chest out in victory.

"Oh brave man, thank you for saving me," you called out, lips parted and eyes wide in adoration.

"It was nothing," he shrugged one shoulder, brushing the arms of his flight suit off. "All in a day’s work for a Resistance pilot."

A small gasp. "A hero of the Resistance? To save me? I am so fortunate." Okay, maybe you were being a little over the top now.

He sat on the edge of the bed, leaning forward and slipping his arms under you to help you sit upright. His fingers toyed with your bound wrists as they fell between the two of you. "It is I who am fortunate," his voice lowered an octave, "to have the chance to meet such a beautiful… princess?" He raised an eyebrow in question and saw you nod before committing to the line. "A princess far beyond the reach of a scoundrel like myself."

He heard you snort and thought for a second you rolled your eyes before he saw them widen into doe-eyed innocence. "Does this scoundrel have a name?"

"You can call me Commander," he said with a smirk. Oh you definitely rolled your eyes at that.

"What can I possibly do to reward you?" you ask, lips parted and eyelashes fluttering. Your bound hands shifted, resting high on his thigh.

"Oh I’m sure we can think of something," he tilted your chin up with one hand, thumb stroking along your lip. His hand trailed down, feeling the heat of your skin through the flimsy robe until he ran one finger around your taut nipple.

"You would take advantage of me?" Your breathy question makes his lips twitch. "Please sir I am at your mercy."

"Mmm," he hummed contentedly to himself, "I see that." He rolled your nipple between his thumb and forefinger, listening to the soft inhale of air and feeling the clench of your fingers on his thighs.

"Oh I have escaped from one monster only to fall into the clutches of another!"

Poe buried his face in your neck to stop the laughter from spilling out of him, reaching down and clasping the bindings around your wrists with one hand. Using them to pull you forward until you fell into his chest. "In my clutches," he grinned to himself, "I like that."

Your head is tilted to the side, offering your neck to his mouth and he took the opportunity without further prompting. His tongue seeking the places that he knew made you groan and squirm. "Please," the breathy moan from you made blood rush down to his cock. "Please don’t…"

"Don’t?" He whispered against your skin. "Don’t what? Do this?" Teeth sank into your shoulder and he heard you whine, felt your body arch into him. He pressed one hand behind you to delve into your hair, pulling slightly and exposing more of you to him. "What is it princess? Don’t what?"

You moaned again, the sound settling into his body. "You say you don’t want this," he murmured, tongue sliding along your jaw, "but I think if I slipped my fingers between those pretty thighs of yours I’d find a different story. Should I find out?" He glided one hand down to your thigh, flipping the flimsy robe to the side to expose you. "Hmm? Are you wet for me princess?"

He didn’t wait for your response, fingers forcing between your clenched thighs and just barely tickling into the slick heat he found. "Oh yes," his teeth nipped your ear, "that’s what I thought. You want this scoundrel to touch you."

"No," your breathy denial stirred the air between the two of you and he felt himself get harder. "I don’t want this. Not with you."

"Your body says otherwise," he countered, tongue tracing your ear. Quickly, he shifted his weight, laying you back down across the bed and stretching your bound hands high over your head. You struggled, body writhing beneath his. He grunted and straddled your waist, using both hands to secure your wrists to the head of the bed. From his vantage above you he gave you a considering look, biting his lower lip.

"Please," you pleaded, eyes wide on his. He leaned forward and pressed two fingers to your lips. Your mouth parted immediately, sucking them into the wet warmth. He groaned when he felt you lick softly at the pads of his fingers.

"You must be the Force’s gift to me for being the best pilot in the galaxy," he grinned and heard you snort. Giving you a disappointed look for breaking character, he used his free hand to flick your side and felt you squirm. He bit his bottom lip when you glared at him in return, nipping at his fingers. "Maybe I’ll use this sweet mouth of yours," he mused and the teasing look in your eyes was replaced by something more feral. More hungry.

He had said it as a joke, as a threat in the spirit of the rogue he was playing. But seeing the change on your face, the way you sucked on his fingers… He groaned, leaning forward to thrust his tongue into your mouth, using his fingers to hold your jaw open.

When he pulled away he saw your eyes were hazy, your tongue lazily circling his fingers. He smirked down at you, "Mmm princess, seems like maybe you do want this."

Your eyes snap up to his, jerking your face away from his hand. "Never."

"Oh really," he raised an eyebrow, shifting his body until he was straddling your thighs, running his hands lightly down your neck. With deliberate slowness he parted the robe, exposing your body to the air and his eyes. He swallowed, the sight of you never failed to cause his heart to skip a beat, his blood to pump faster. He ran a finger under your breast, hiding a smile when you arched slightly up to him.

His fingers tweaked your nipple, "Princess, I could have you begging for me."

"I would never beg for ahh," your protestations were cut off when he leaned forward, wrapping his lips around the sensitive nub and sucking it hard into his mouth.

"What was that?" He asked conversationally, laving it with his tongue before gently setting his teeth to it. "That almost sounded like begging."

He glanced up when you didn’t respond, saw your eyes squeezed shut, your mouth open in a silent gasp. He nibbled at your nipple, heard the keening noise you made and turning his attention to the other. Giving it the same ministrations, flicking the one not in his mouth with his thumb. His body shifted, his knee forcing your legs apart and he reached down to glide his fingers through the heart of you.

"Oh, at least one part of you is honest," he whispered into your skin. Slick heat coated his fingertips and he muffled a groan, moving so both his legs were between yours, holding you wide open to the exploration of his fingers. When they glided across your clit you moaned and he echoed it. "Mmm, that was closer, but not quite."

He shifted down your body, pressing kisses to your skin until he settled between your legs, situating your thighs over his shoulders. His hands clasped at your hips as he pulled you slightly, into his waiting mouth. The breathy little sigh you made was music - just the touch of his lips enough to pull that pleased little noise from you. He nuzzled you for a moment, his nose slipping between your wet folds and over your clit. Another noise, sharper this time.

Looking up he could see you spread out before him, the arms pinned above your head pulling your breasts up high. Your stomach was quivering and he ran a soothing hand over it at the same moment he gently licked against you.

"Poe!" you shouted and he nipped you.

"Nuh uh, tonight I’m just Commander." He thought for a moment, "Or 'Sir' if you want."

Your toes pushed against his hips and he had a feeling that 'Sir' was off the table. Ah well, it was worth a shot. Instead, he dipped his tongue into you, thrusting slowly into your tight channel.

"Oh… Commander," you panted and Poe rewarded you with a long lick up to your clit, flicking against the bundle of nerves and then moving down again. Taking his time, ignoring your breathy moans and the clench of your thighs around his head. Occasionally he turned his mouth to your inner thigh, running his tongue along the soft skin and gently biting. But he always returned to your heat, your soaking core.

"Sir…"

He closed his lips on your clit, massaging it with his lips before letting it go. "Oh that sounds lovely. Beg for me princess. Tell me how much you want me."

"I want…" you started but he was tonguing your clit again and all thought seemed to fly from your head. One of his fingers slowly slid inside of you, filling an aching need. "Please," you finally gasp and he thrust his hand up hard into you, flicking your clit with his tongue.

He gentled immediately, listening to your breathy whine. "Much better," he muttered against your clit. "If I give you what you want - what will you give me?"

"Anything," you promised recklessly.

"Oh I like the sound of that," he hummed in pleasure. "Will you let me put my cock right here?" He stroked inside of you for emphasis and you nod.

"Yes, yes, please."

"Alright then, since you ask so nicely." He didn’t tease anymore, just buried his face against you and drove you relentlessly into your peak. Holding you steady with one hand while he fucked you with the other. He relished your cries, the way your body rocked beneath his hand, even the curl of your toes into his shirt. He would never get tired of making you come. Never.

As you slowly drifted along the highs of your pleasure he sat up, pulling his shirt over his head and quickly shoving his pants off. By the time you were somewhat coherent his body was laying over yours, his mouth seeking yours out.

"Taste how much you want me," he murmured, urging your tongue to tangle with his. You moaned, arms straining against the bindings, wanting to wrap him in your embrace.

"Poe," you gasped and he nips your lower lip. "Commander," you correct quickly, "please, I want you inside me."

"All you had to do was ask princess," he whispered back, lifting one of your knees with his hand and sliding inside of you in one smooth stroke. You groaned together and he pulled away from you just as slowly, starting a smooth steady rhythm.

"Commander," you breathed and fuck but that shouldn’t be as sexy as it was. He was going to have a hard time ever concentrating during shift again with the memory of your sweet voice moaning his rank into his ear.

"Commander please, I need more."

"More?" He shifted slightly and fucked in to you hard. "Like this?"

"Yes," your reply was instant, your mouth gaping open and he quickly took advantage. Capturing your lips in a desperate kiss. His forearms were under your shoulders, hands cupping each side of your head. Holding you still while his tongue ravished you, hips snapping into yours. He relished the hot pant of your breath into his mouth, the moans he could capture. When your legs rose to wrap around his waist he lowered one of his hands to cup beneath your ass, urging you to meet his heavy thrusts.

"Are you going to come for me again princess?" He whispered the words directly against your tongue, shifting his weight so he could slip his hand between your bodies. When his fingers gently circled your clit you cried out - thighs clenching against his waist.

"That’s it baby," he pulled his head away so he could watch your face. "That’s it, come for me."

He could see your fists clenching, your arms stretched above your head, your back arching. Every movement was taut, beautiful, straining for release. He moved his fingers faster, picking the pace of his hips up.

You screamed when you came, a wordless cry that shot straight into his heart. He moved his hand away quickly, back to holding your head as he ground his hips down into yours. "Oh fuck princess," he moaned, your muscles tightening and releasing as your orgasm washed over you. "Just like that. Fuck you feel-"

Whatever he was going to say was cut off by your lips. Neck arching up to capture his mouth and he followed you back down. Lips pressed to yours as he lost his rhythm. Lost his senses. Lost his mind in the pleasure of your body.

When his brain began to function again he could feel your legs still wrapped around his waist, the hot puffs of your breath stirring his hair. He grunted when he pushed himself up, nuzzling your nose with his before placing a light kiss on your lips.

"I think that was a suitable reward for slaying a dragon," he said with a grin and saw your nose crinkle when you giggled.

"Wicked man," you sighed and he kissed you again, pulling slightly on your hair. You arched your neck into the touch, gasping softly.

"Very wicked," he assured you and trailed kisses down your neck. He felt himself slip out of you, heard the small noise you made when he did. He lightly ghosted his lips across your collarbone. "Now," he said, slowly sitting up and spreading his knees wide, your thighs thrown over his. "What inducement might you have for me to set you free?"

Your lips pursed for a moment, hiding a smile, and then you licked your lips. "You’ve already ravished me scoundrel. What more could I possibly give you?"

He raised an eyebrow and you winked at him. "Oh my dear princess," he cooed, running his hands up your thighs until his thumbs pressed to your center. "I can think of a few more things."

[amongussexgif]

I posted that as a rrminder to rant about it when I woke up. I just woke up, lets fuckin GO

The magic mouse has NUMBER key flaws.

1. The charging port is on the BOTTOM. This means that nit only is it unusable while charging, but it also sits so awkwardly while charging that you have to either prop it up or let the cable get bent.

2. The skates. Mouse skates are the little bits on the bottom that allow it to glide across a table or mousepad. Apple's mouse skates are the shittiest, most "iT's FuNcTiOnAl" thing I have ever seen. It's two toothpick-y lines along the bottom of the mouse. They don't cross, there isn't any other pieces, that's it. This means that moving it to the side too quickly flips the mouse, especially if you have medium-large hands like me. They're also made of an odd material. I'm not sure what it is, but it feels like sliding a bowl along concrete, and the sound is UNBEARABLE unless you have a thick enough mousepad.

3. That motherfucker is just too thin. I cant hold the thing without my fingers digging into the glass on the sides, and because of my afformentioned big-ish hands, that leads to me acidentally clicking things because:

4. THERE ISN'T ANY FUCKING BUTTONS. you have three "actions" with this mouse. Single finger click (left click), double finger click (right click), and sliding your fingers along the surface triggers scroll. This means that you can sroll in all directions, which is kind of neat, but there's a reason mice never have a horizontal scroll wheel. The button-less design also means you can't rest your fingers on top, because it'll almost definitely register scrolling at all times.

5. Absolutely dogshit DPI. DPI stands for Dots Per Inch. To be breif, the higher the DPI, the less you have to move the mouse physically. That isn't a perfect explanation, but for this, it's good enough. The biggest problem the magic mouse has is that there isn't a DPI Switch button. This means you're locked into the default, which is terribly slow. And yeah, if you up the mouse sensitivity in settings, the mouse goes faster, sure, but because the DPI is small, it becomes jumpy and unresponsive.

6. The glass top piece is a real piece of shit. On top of feeling like garbage to rest your fingers on, when you click, it oftens misreads single clicks as doubles, and moreso vice versa. The way it's set also means that you can't hold it from the sides. At a first thought, you may think "why do you need to hold a mpuse from the sides". This is a stupid thought. You need to puck up the mouse to move it, and this motherfucker digs into your hands and hurts. On top of that, you need to hild it from the sides because because it isn't usable like a normal mouse.

7. Ugly. I don't need to explain. I'm right. It dorsn't look good in ads or displays, but then it also looks WORSE in use because dirt gets in the little gap ynder the glass piece. And of course, the Apple logo is obnoxious and shitty. As always.

8. It stops working after a few years. Some things do that, but with Apple, you can tell it's designed to. This piece of garbage short kills itself after a couple hundred charge cycles because Apple wants you to buy another mouse. How much are these again?

9. Oh. Right. It is eighty dollars. Some mice are worth eighty dollars, like Logitech's G Pro Superlight, or Razer's Barracuda 3. They cost like a hundred, which is a different problem, but the point is that those are mice that would justify a high price tag. This thing is the opposite.

The most infuriating thing is that I KNOW they can do better. I onow they can do better because EVERYONE ELSE IS. The big names in the mouse selling game are Logitech, my favorite, Razer (I'm not a fan because of the asthetics, but their performance is very high quality), and Corsair, who make all kinds of high quality computer gear.

If you want an alternative to the Magic Mouse, these are my favorites:

1. Logitech G305 Superlight. It's reasonably priced at around $45, and has the perfect amount of buttons. Two clicks, scroll wheel, DPI switch, and two thumb buttons for convenience. Logitech's Hero sensor is amazing, and is this was is the best price to perofrmance mpuse they make.

2. Logitech G Pro Superlight. It's expensive as fuck, but that premium price is felt in it's premium quality. It's not something I'd recommend ti the average person because of the price, but if you've got money to waste, this is a pretty good hole to throw it into.

2.5 Logitech MX Master. The G Pro Superlight's odd brother, this guy is ver similar, but shaped to be a bit more comfortabke for the hand. The MX Master 2 also exists, but it's so much more expensive that it can fuck off.

3. Logitech Pebble. It's a goofy lil motherfucker, but it's kinda cute, fairly high quality, low profile, and cheap. The epitome of "haha lil baby man." The only thing I genuinely dislike is the lack of thumb buttons, but hey, maybe that's a plus for you. Whatever works.

4. G502 Hero. It isn't wireless, but this bitch is popular for damn good reasons. Remember the Hero sensor I mention earlier? This was the first mouse to use that. It's also well shaped, has good buttons, looks nice. It's getting ild now, which is good because the price will be lower. Logitech doesn't build killswitches into their products (cough cough apple and google), so this thing will still kick ass for years, despite beijg old-ish.

5. HyperX Pulsefire. The name makes kt spunds like gamrr-y bullshit, because it kinda is. It's actually really nice, though. The hex-pattern holes lower the wright, making it really nice and easy to use, on top of having a texture I really like. Sensor is no Hero, but it's pretty good. Same Ideal button pattern as the above.

6. Racecar mouse.

RACECAR MOUSE. no thumb buttons or DPI switch, but it's only ten dollars and looks like a racecar. vroom vroom, bitch.

The apple magic mouse is the worst designed mouse I have ever seen

[xjoonchildx]

guarded | jhs x reader | chapter six: no one but you

summary: you’ve tried to separate yourself from your infamous crime family, but a new case has your carefully-constructed world crashing down around you.  now you have to figure out how to heal old wounds and handle the new man who enters your orbit.

pairing: hoseok x reader

genre: mafia AU, E2L, slow burn, tsundere, smut

rating: 18+

word count: 5.6K

A/N: i sincerely hope you guys like the way this ends, it’s always so nerve-wracking to end a story! the epilogue to this story is posted as well and linked.  thank you to every single person who sent sweet messages of support it means the world to me.  SMUT WARNINGS APPLY IN THIS CHAPTER: oral (m/f), unprotected sex (only in fiction y’all) and hoseok thirst.

of course, i cannot post this story without shouting out some of the most supportive, killer people on this site.  you guys truly mean the world to me @ladyartemesia​ @ppersonna​ @taetaewonderland​ @hobi-gif​

Chapter 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | EPILOGUE

*********************

There are perks to being the boss.

For Namjoon, it means calling the shots on the streets from his office in the sky.  Rarely does he leave the climate-controlled comfort of his pristine headquarters to get his hands dirty in the day-to-day business of the organization he runs.

Tonight, he’s making an exception.

Yoongi drives. Like a bat out of hell, as always.

It’s a thirty-minute ride from downtown Seoul to Incheon Port without traffic but Yoongi is on pace to finish it in just twenty.  Hoseok watches the lights on the expressway speed by from the backseat.  He tries hard to focus on the information Namjoon shares, the details he’ll need in order to ensure he doesn’t put himself or anyone else in danger tonight.  

But fuck, it’s so hard to concentrate with the taste of you still on his lips.  

He scrubs a hand down his face and takes a deep breath.  He forces himself to push the memory of your body in his hands and your skin in his mouth and your voice in his ear to the corner of his mind.  

Then he goes over the information again.

Namjoon wants to be in place at least ten minutes before the scheduled meet so he can figure out what’s going on before the Ssijog knows he’s there with his men.  

He wants guns to stay holstered unless he gives the signal.

He wants --

“You must have really scared the shit out of that guy, Jung,” Namjoon murmurs from the front seat.  Hoseok snaps back into focus to search for his boss’s reflection in the side mirror and finds Namjoon already looking at him. “He’s been blowing up his contact since last night, begging for personal protection.”

“He’s lucky I didn’t do worse,” Hoseok shrugs.  “I certainly could have.”

“Oh, of that I have no doubt,” Namjoon agrees.  “Someday you’ll have to tell me the story of how you managed to be outside of his apartment when his handler picked him up.  Here I was, under the impression you had the night off.”

Hoseok swallows thickly.

“Just doing my job.”

There’s a twist to Namjoon’s mouth that Hoseok can’t read and it puts him on edge.  

“Well, I must thank you for your dedication to your job,” Namjoon continues. “You’ve really gone above and beyond the call of duty for this assignment.”

Hoseok looks away from the mirror.  “Yeah, sure,” he says quietly.  

The car falls into an uncomfortable silence.

Yoongi clears his throat.  

“So anyway --” he announces loudly, “-- Jimin and Tae were able to track Kang’s texts through some internet bullshit they mess around with. Apparently dude flipped out after you left his place and wouldn’t let up until his handlers agreed to meet him tonight.”

“At Incheon Port?” Hoseok asks, glad for the redirect.  “That’s a hell of a drive for a chat.”

“My thoughts exactly,” Namjoon says under his breath.  

The car falls silent once again.

**********************

Mun Kiwoo has a reputation for being messy.

The man at the top sets the tone for the organization, and Mun is no exception.  His men are known for their brutality, his deals often go south, and by most accounts his syndicate is hanging on by a thread.

But it’s still hanging on.

Namjoon, Hoseok, and Yoongi watch quietly from their vantage point behind a shipping container as Mun waits in the dark, cigarette in hand. He looks like an unmade bed -- shirt rumpled and half-tucked into his wrinkled dress pants.  He lights one cigarette off of another as he answers a series of calls on his cell.  

His agitation seems to rise each time it rings again.

Hoseok takes stock of the two guards Mun has at his side tonight.  They’re bulky men with huge arms and round bodies -- the kind of guys who look dangerous due to sheer size, but would be slow to respond in a physical fight.  Namjoon holds up two fingers to confirm they’re the only men with Mun and Hoseok nods.

Headlights bounce off the pavement after a few more minutes of waiting.

A black car pulls up close to the water’s edge and Mun Kiwoo ends his call just as he lights another cigarette.  

Kang Donghyuk is the first out of the car, followed closely by his Ssijog handler.  Kang is dragging his ass and even from a distance, Hoseok can make out the bandage over the side of his face.

Hope it hurts, motherfucker.

“Mr. Kang,” Mun Kiwoo’s voice is clear now, loud enough for all three men to hear.  “You have been rather insistent about this meeting. I’m a busy guy.  What do you want?”

All three men strain to listen to Donghyuk’s response, but it’s too muffled to catch.  Yoongi brings his hands to his throat to make a choking gesture.  Can’t hear shit, he mouths.  You choked him too hard.

Hoseok rolls his eyes.

“That sounds like your problem,” Mun laughs in response to whatever Kang has said.  “Not mine.”

Donghyuk gestures wildly as he tries to make his case, likely pleading for the protection of the Ssijog.   Mun Kiwoo looks unmoved.

“I’m not interested in causing any more trouble with the Gajog, Mr. Kang.  This entire situation has been a means to an end.  Stirring more shit with Kim Namjoon is not in my best interest.”

Namjoon signals to Yoongi and Hoseok that it’s time to move.  All three men step out from their cover behind the shipping container, hands in front of their bodies to demonstrate none are holding their weapons.

“Fucking hell,” Mun Kiwoo groans when he spots them.  “I don’t have time for this shit.”

His guards bow up at his side, both men reaching for their guns.  Mun has the good sense to raise a hand and stop them from pulling their firearms -- which keeps Yoongi and Hoseok from doing the same.  All of the men face off in silence for a moment, each side waiting to see if the other will do something to break the fragile peace.

Kang Donghyuk whines under his breath and Hoseok shoots a warning glare at him.  He drops his gaze to the ground and shuts his mouth.

“You say you don’t want trouble with me, Mun and yet --” Namjoon snarls, “-- you have this piece of shit working my sister. Explain.”

“You know how these rich boys are, Kim,” Mun chuckles.  “They develop a bad habit -- or in this idiot’s case, two -- and daddy’s money isn’t enough anymore.  They’re easy to buy.”

Donghyuk looks from Namjoon to Mun, panic in his wide eyes.

“They’re trying to kill me,” he rasps.

“So what?” Mun laughs.  He smiles wide to reveal a mouth like an abandoned graveyard, teeth broken and scattered.  “This guy thinks we’re friends,” he jeers, jerking a thumb in Donghyuk’s direction.  “He’s too stupid to figure out that he served a purpose and now he doesn’t anymore.  Simple as that.”  

Namjoon sucks in a breath with obvious irritation.

“I’m still waiting to hear what any of this shit has to do with my sister.”

“Ah, yes,” Mun says, stubbing out his cigarette and getting back to the task at hand. “Listen, I don’t have anything against your sister personally, okay? Lim Joowon is my son and I want him back.  He can’t spend the next 15 years behind bars. You understand that, right? Doing whatever it takes for your family?”

Namjoon utters a curse under his breath.

“I’ll give your sister some credit, though -- she’s tenacious.  I thought she’d give up after we took her digital files,” Mun admits.  “Instead she’s cost me a hell of a lot more money.  I’ve had to start cutting a lot more checks to ensure this shit goes away.”

“She’s not the type to roll over and play dead, Mun,” Namjoon growls through gritted teeth.  

“The pigheaded gene runs in the family, huh?” Mun grins. “Look, let me level with you Kim, man to man.  I don’t even need your sister at this point. I’ve paid enough people to fuck this case from the inside out.  But I won’t lie, she is my insurance.  If any of the higher-ups start asking questions about why this case fell apart -- who better to point the finger at than the sweet young prosecutor with the dirty family connections, hmm?”

Namjoon tenses, hand reaching for the gun at his side.  Yoongi stops him with a muttered warning.

“None of us give a fuck about what happens to your son, Mun,” Namjoon says. “What I have a problem with is you sending that piece of shit --” he points at the trembling Kang Donghyuk, “ -- into her fucking home. Invading her space.  You crossed a line.”

“You’re right,” Mun agrees lightly.  “It was rude. Uncalled for.  I’m gonna apologize for it right now.”

He pulls his pistol from his side and the sound of clinking metal bounces off the shipping containers as everyone pulls their guns.  Hoseok trains his pistol directly at the shaking Kang Donghyuk and silently prays for the chance to pull the trigger. Mun Kiwoo’s gun is pointed at Namjoon and Namjoon’s is pointed right back.

Then Mun’s face lights up with a bizarre smile. He swings the point of his pistol in the direction of Donghyuk and pulls the trigger twice.

Donghyuk sputters as he falls to the floor.

Hoseok and Yoongi exchange looks.  

Namjoon stares at Mun incredulously.

“What?” Mun’s nonchalance is comical.  “You wanted to do that too, right?  Besides, that guy owes everyone in the city money. I promise you, his own mother won’t even miss him.”

“Jesus,” Yoongi mutters under his breath. “This guy is fucking nuts.”

Mun puts his pistol away and his men follow suit.  Namjoon signals for Yoongi and Hoseok to do the same.  

“Consider that a goodwill gesture,” Mun says breezily.  “An official apology from me, to you.  And please pass along my consideration to your sister.  Please assure her that none of this is personal.  But I will make sure my son stays out of prison.  And like it or not, she’s going to play some kind of role in that.”

Namjoon stares off into the water.

“I can’t control my sister, Mun.  She makes her own choices,” he says after a moment.  “But let me be clear, this is the first and last polite discourse we’re going to have about this situation.  I don’t want you, your goons or any --” he glances at the bleeding pile of Kang Donghyuk on the floor, “-- paid help going near her.  Not in her office, not in her home. Nowhere. Are we clear?”

Mun Kiwoo lights another cigarette and smiles wide, the space in his teeth prominent against the gleaming ember hanging from his mouth.  

“Crystal.”

On the way back to the car, Hoseok hears the heavy splash of Kang Donghyuk’s body hitting the water down below.

He shuts his eyes against the rush of pleasure he feels as he climbs into the backseat.

************************

YOU

Something isn’t right.

You stare at the empty seat across the conference table -- the one where Hyejin normally sits -- and something twists in your gut.  She’s out sick today.  You can’t even remember the last time she took a sick day.

All morning, you’ve tried to convince yourself that it’s no big deal.  That you’re working yourself up for nothing.

But Donghyuk is out today, too.  

Vaguely, you register the sound of your boss’s voice at the front of the room. Any minute now, you’ll be asked to brief the team on the status of your case, but you can’t think straight.  You can’t focus on anything but the feeling in the pit of your stomach that something is wrong.  

Your thoughts race back to last night, back to your brother taking his men away for business in the middle of the night.

Back to Hoseok.

You try not to think about what it felt like to have his warm body pressed against yours. The way he smelled like fresh laundry and spice. The way you unraveled the moment he touched you.  

Your phone pulses with an incoming text.

namjoon: i’ve asked jungkook to bring you to the office tonight after work [ 1:25 PM ]

namjoon: a lot to discuss [ 1:26 PM ]

Your brain grinds to a halt as you stare at the messages.

It’s like everything is wrong and everything is right, all at the same time.

“Miss. Kim?”

You look up to see your boss staring at you, one expectant eyebrow raised.  You take a deep breath, line up your papers and stand to take your place at the front of the room.

****************************

The sense of déjà vu that hits you as you make the long walk across your brother’s office is nearly overwhelming.  This is exactly how this entire mess began weeks ago -- with you summoned to see Namjoon after hours, with Yoongi and Hoseok flanking him on either side.

But there is one thing different about tonight.

When you briefly lock gazes with Hoseok as you make your way to Namjoon’s plush chair, there is a warmth behind his dark eyes you can see from a distance. It’s a complete contrast to the first time you ever saw him, when you thought you could freeze to death from the ice in his glare.

You look away before anyone can catch the flush working its way up your neck.

“Thank you for coming tonight,” you brother begins evenly.  “I finally have some answers for you about what’s going on.”

“Well, I’m ready to hear them,” you exhale, taking a seat.  Your eyes drift over the papers strewn scattered across his desk.  

“We’ve learned that the reason the Ssijog want your case against Lim Joowon to fold is because Lim is Mun Kiwoo’s son.”

You raise a brow.

“That’s news to me.  I didn’t even know Mun Kiwoo had a son.”

“Neither did we,” Namjoon admits.  “Apparently this is his only son and the man he intends to pass control of the Ssijog down to.  So it makes sense that he’s so hell-bent on seeing this case fall apart.”

He picks one of the papers off his desk.

“This is the more problematic piece of the puzzle,” Namjoon says quietly.  Your chest tightens in response to the expression on his face. “Jimin and Taehyung tracked a Ssijog account making payouts.  Payouts to people in your office.”

He holds the piece of paper out to you.

“There are six names on that list.”

You take a deep breath before taking the sheet from his hands.  

Your eyes scan down the document, taking in the blows, one by one.  Two receptionists.  One paralegal.  

Lee Hyejin.  

Kang Donghyuk.  

Park Soo.

You say nothing as you stare at the list, taking in the names again.

Someone you called a friend.  Someone you’d allowed into your bed.  The boss you’d bent over backwards trying to impress.  You stare at the black-and-white evidence of betrayal in your hands, reading the words over and over -- expecting to feel sadness or rage or humiliation or something.  

Nothing comes.

“Give us a moment, would you please?”

Yoongi and Hoseok file out of the room quietly at Namjoon’s command.  The second the heavy door to the office clicks shut, he clears his throat.  “There is something else we need to discuss, Amsaja,” your brother continues quietly.  “Kang Donghyuk is dead.”

“Good.”

Namjoon’s eyes go wide at the quick, calm delivery of your response.

You stand to walk to his sideboard to pour a drink.  You have no idea what’s inside the decanter, only that whatever it is promises a burn you want to feel right now. You pour a glass and take a sip, leaning against the heavy wooden piece.

“Did you kill him?”

“No. The Ssijog beat us to it,” Namjoon admits.  “But Hoseok paid Donghyuk a personal visit at home to convey our -- displeasure -- at his involvement in this mess. He damned near choked that man to death hours before Mun Kiwoo put two bullets in him.”

“I’m sorry anyone has ever tried you because I promise you they are going to pay.”

The words Hoseok spoke in your kitchen surface in your mind.  

They’d sent a bolt of pleasure through you at the time -- triggering a kind of primitive response you’d be embarrassed to admit out loud.

And somehow that response pales in comparison to what you’re feeling right now.

A normal woman wouldn’t find satisfaction in the idea of Donghyuk cowering in fear inside his apartment.  A normal woman wouldn’t feel warmth spread through her entire body at the mental image of Hoseok wrapping his hands around Donghyuk’s throat.  You slip a finger under the collar of your blouse and search for your scar -- closing your eyes at the familiar feel of the raised skin.  

You remind yourself that you are not a normal woman.

“Hoseok uncovered Kang’s involvement with the Ssijog even before we found the payouts.”  Your brother pauses, a wry twist to his mouth as he continues.  “He can be a very determined man when something is important to him.”

Namjoon holds your gaze for just a beat too long after delivering that statement.  You look away and walk to his office window.

“Tell me what you’re thinking right now, Amsaja,” you brother says.  You can hear the sound of him pouring his own drink behind you.  “Your silence has me concerned.”

You’re thinking about every time Hyejin feigned concern for you and tried to get you to open up. The days Donghyuk insisted he take you to lunch or to dinner when you insisted you were too swamped.  The bullshit little speech Park Soo gave you the night of the charity dinner about keeping Seoul from falling into the hands of criminals.

You’re thinking about what a joke they all are -- dressing up and looking down their noses at the criminal element they claim to despise.  Wearing their fake piety like a badge of honor and paying for their fine things with dirty money.  

You’re thinking that you’d rather choose a hundred street thugs over any one of their kind.  At least your brother has the balls to wear his sins on his sleeve.  

Namjoon joins you at the window, glass in hand.  

“What I’m thinking, Jaegyueo,” you say calmly, “Is that a lot of things are starting to make sense for me.  I haven’t felt this clear in a very long time.  So, thank you.”

A smile tugs at the corner of your brother’s mouth and you return it.

You clink your glasses together in a toast.

***********************

You are two whiskeys deep when you leave Namjoon’s office.  

Hoseok is waiting in a chair in the hallway.  He stands to his feet when you appear from behind the heavy wooden door.  

You suck in a breath as you take him in -- the sharp beauty of his face and the soft curve of his mouth and the way his suit hugs the lines of his lean body.  You realize, with more than a little embarrassment, that you are staring.

“I’ve got the car warming downstairs,” Hoseok says carefully.  “If you’re ready to go, that is.”

“Yes. Hoseok, I --” you swallow thickly,  “-- I never apologized for what I said to you.  I didn’t mean those things. I’m so sorry.”

Hoseok steps close and reaches one hand out to tuck your hair behind your ear.  You shut your eyes, leaning into his touch and inhaling his scent.

“You’ve had a hell of a night,” he murmurs.  “We can talk about that some other time.  Let’s get you home, yeah?”

You open your eyes to look up at him just as Yoongi rounds the corner and stops dead in his tracks.

“Glad this isn’t awkward,” he mutters, before turning to walk back the same way he came.

**********************

The air in Hoseok’s car is thick with tension on the ride home.

You’ve stopped pretending to not stare, eyes fixed on Hoseok while his eyes stay glued to the road.  He guides the car through a sharp turn and you catch the way he winces as his hand grips the steering wheel.  

A throb of guilt hits you square in the chest.

“You’re hurt.”

“Nah,” Hoseok deflects quickly.  “Just a little sore.”

He won’t look at you.  Why won’t he look at you?

“Namjoon told me you nearly choked Donghyuk to death,” you say quietly, studying his face for any reaction. He slows the car to a stop at a red light and rubs his fingers across his mouth, stares out of his window.

“I wanted to kill him,” he admits.  He takes his aching hand off the steering wheel and flexes his fingers as if reliving the memory of that night. “I almost did.”

That embarrassing reaction flares inside of you again.  This time it slides down your back and pools low between your legs and you have to squeeze your thighs together in response.  You shiver as you remember the promises he made while pressing his body to yours.

“Tell me what you want. I swear to God, I’ll give it to you.”

You’ve never wanted anything as badly as you do Jung Hoseok right now.

*************************

You force yourself to wait for the elevator doors to shut.

The second they do, you crush your body and your mouth to Hoseok’s.  If you catch him off-guard, there’s no way to tell -- not with the way he immediately backs you into the elevator wall, slotting one knee between your thighs.

“No one gets to hurt you anymore,” he groans the words into the shell of your ear, teeth scraping against the sensitive skin of your neck.  “Just like no one gets to touch you anymore.  No one but me.”

The strangled sigh that escapes you is the closest thing Hoseok is going to get to a thank you right now.  You whimper in agreement, gasping when his fingers grip your ass to pull you flush against him.  The swollen outline of his cock brushes against your stomach and you shudder.

The elevator ride is too long and too short, all at the same time.  Hoseok backs you through the doors as soon as they open, fumbling in his pocket for the keys while you suck bruises into his throat.  By some miracle, he gets the door open and both of you through it in one piece.

“Fuck,” Hoseok swears as you wrap your arms around his neck, grinding against his insistent cock.  He has to drag you both into the bedroom as you press against him like a dead weight, teeth nipping at his bottom lip as you both stumble into the bedroom.  You drop out of his grasp when the bed hits the back of your knees.

Hoseok stands back, chest heaving with exertion.

“I need you to hear you say it,” he pants.  “Please.”

You sit up straight on the edge of the bed and unbutton your blouse, slipping it off without hesitation.  “No one gets to touch me,” you breathe, reaching to unclasp your bra.  You toss it away.

“No one but you.”  

Hoseok’s eyes darken to near black.

He shrugs off his suit jacket and slowly pulls off his holster and gun, placing both carefully on top of your dresser.  Then he turns back, body looming over yours.  He cups your cheek with one large hand, looking down at you with such heat that your breath hitches in your chest.

You lean into his touch, fingertips grazing the contour of his cock beneath his suit pants.  

“You promised to give me anything I want,” you whisper, looking up at him from beneath your lashes. He nods slowly, the rasp in his voice betraying the calm on his face.

“Anything.  Name it.”

“I want to take care of you,” you say, pulling the hem of his shirt out of his pants.  Your fingers work the buttons open, one by one.  “Let me.”

Hoseok exhales a heavy breath as you open his shirt and stroke your hands down his chest. You give yourself a moment to admire the lean strength of his body, fingers stroking over the metal tags that hang just above one dark, flat nipple.

His stomach tightens and his cock twitches in his pants when you tilt forward to press a soft kiss to the golden skin just above his belt.  You work it open with unsteady hands and his pants follow just a moment later.

“I want to make you feel good,” you whisper, nuzzling the outline of his length with your cheek.  You push his boxers down his slim hips just enough to expose the head of his cock.  “I don’t want you to think about anything but this.”

Hoseok groans when you flick your tongue against him.  

His cock throbs under your fingertips through the fabric of his underwear when you dip down to tease the head with your mouth.  You lap at the salty moisture gathered at the swollen tip and his head drops back.

“Sweetheart, please --” he grits out, hands reaching for your hair.  He winds his fingers through the strands and jerks when you rake your teeth across the wet ridge under the head of his cock. “-- don’t tease me.”

Some other time you might play the delayed gratification game with him.  You might take hours to torture him and keep him dangling at the precipice of pleasure.  Tonight, though -- the only thing you want to do is make him come so hard he can’t see straight.

“I won’t,” you promise sweetly, pulling the rest of his thick length free from his boxers to wrap your warm fingers around him.  You flick your gaze up to appreciate the way his head is tipped back in pleasure, lips parted.

“Look at me,” you murmur, pumping him with languid strokes.

His eyes are glassy with arousal when he opens them to gaze down at you.  You make sure he’s watching as you take him deep, hollowing your cheeks as you draw your mouth across his length.  He gathers your hair in his hands so he can appreciate the unobstructed view of your private show.

“No one gets to touch you anymore,” you whisper.  You take him down as far as you can again, tongue dragging against the thick vein that runs the length of his cock.  You are panting when you pull off him, tongue running the seam of your lower lip as you catch your breath.

“No one but me.”

Hoseok’s dick jerks in your hand in response, hand tightening in your hair as you lick a long stripe up his shaft.  He chokes out a moan as you lick at the sensitive spot just under the head of his cock, eyes fixed on his.

“No more,” he croaks.  

You pull your mouth away reluctantly, tongue swiping at the taste of him on your lips and the sight seems to set him off.  He grabs your face with both hands, groaning into your mouth as he claims it.

He pulls away, panting.

“Lie back,” he demands between breaths.  You comply without question.

Hoseok leans over you, arms braced on either side of your body as he drops his head down to take one nipple between his teeth.  Your hips jerk at the stimulation and you squirm underneath him, thighs slippery with your own excitement.  He laves at both nipples slowly, thoroughly, until they are aching and wet.  Then he trails a soft line of kisses back up to your ear.

“I want to taste what’s mine,” he whispers, and a pang of arousal hits you so hard you forget to breathe.  You lift your hips to help him pull your skirt away along with your soaked panties and he sinks to his knees on the floor in front of you. Every muscle in your body locks in anticipation.

Hoseok nudges your legs apart with his hands, placing gentle kisses along your inner thighs.  His dark eyes are half-hooded with pleasure by the time he drapes your legs over his shoulders.

“Fuck, you look so good like this,” he groans when you are fully spread open for him.  He drops a kiss on your mound and your body jolts at the sensation, every nerve ending standing at attention.  He moves lower, long fingers tracing the outline of your swollen cunt and you suck in a breath.  

“Beautiful,” he murmurs, dipping one finger into your damp heat.  “Is this all for me?”

“Yes,” you choke out, hands gripping the sheets as his finger flexes inside of you.

“Only for you.”

Hoseok makes a sound of satisfaction deep in his chest before sealing his lips over your aching clit.  You shudder against his mouth when he pulls back to soothe you with the flat of his tongue.  “You don’t know how many times I’ve imagined how you would taste,” Hoseok groans, licking deeply into your wetness.  “It doesn’t even come close.  Nothing comes close to this.”

“Hoseok --”  your hands come off of the sheets to grip into his hair, “-- Hoseok, please don’t stop.”

Your senses are so heightened that just the pressure of the heel of his hand against your cunt is making you crazy.  His finger crooks deep inside you, stroking against your swollen walls while his lips and teeth toy with your clit.  You whine at the stimulation, at the wet drag of his tongue that has you writhing beneath him.

“You’re close sweetheart, I can hear it,” Hoseok’s voice is ragged with arousal. “Let me hear you.  Come for me.”

You clutch his hair between your fingers, moaning brokenly as the heat between your legs simmers to a boil.

“Hoseok --”

“That’s it,” he praises you with dirty words spoken in the sweetest way. “Let me taste you. Let me hear you.”

Hoseok is prepared the moment you come apart.

He grasps your hips firmly in those large, warm hands of his -- tongue and lips persistent as the live wire inside you tightens and snaps. The force of your orgasm shakes your entire body and leaves you begging and breathless. Hoseok savors every drop of your release until your hips sink back into the mattress and you protest weakly against the threat of overstimulation.

The mattress dips under you as Hoseok joins you on the bed, lips swollen with use and mouth marked with your taste.  His head dips into the hollow of your neck, nipping gently at the skin, while his fingers skate over the soft skin of your stomach and thighs.  

You shiver in his hold, closing your eyes for a moment to savor the feeling of his body on yours.

“I want to watch you come like that every day,” Hoseok whispers into your ear.  “Only for me.”

“Only for you,” you agree in a whisper, finding your voice after what seems like ages.  

You slip one hand between you, fingers wrapping firmly around the rigid cock pressed against your stomach.  Hoseok groans when you tighten your hand around him.

“Hoseok,” you breathe, feeling a pulse between your legs that seems to beat in time with the throb of his cock in your palm, “Fuck me please, I’m losing my mind.”

His hoarse chuckle sends a shiver up your spine as he moves to cover you completely with his body.  He lines up the head of his cock at your entrance and you tilt your hips up into his.  

“Please,” you plead again, lifting your head to brush your lips against his.  “Now.”

He sinks his cock into you slowly, inch by inch, groaning at the tight fit of your cunt around him.  The stretch inside of you is nearly too much -- you whimper when he bottoms out and he drops his forehead to yours.

“You okay? Am I hurting you?”

His entire body feels like a rubber band ready to snap -- coiled energy waiting to be released.  But he holds back the instinct to move until you nod your agreement.

“You feel so good,” you murmur, nudging his hips to move with your own.  You stroke your hands down the slick skin of his back.  “I’m so full right now.”

Hoseok swears under his breath as he tentatively rocks his hips against yours, letting you adjust to the feeling of him inside of you.  You wrap your legs around him as the discomfort subsides and the only sensation that’s left is the pleasant pressure of his cock against your walls.

Hoseok’s hips move harder as your whimpers melt into moans.

“Dammit,” he swears, head dropping low between his shoulder blades.  “So tight and wet for me.  So perfect for me.”

You look up to take in the sight of his perfect face slack with pleasure, mouth parted and face flushed with exertion.  His dog tags hang from his neck, swaying as his hips begin to piston in earnest.  You pull on them to force his mouth close to yours.

“Only for you,” you whisper, “No one else.”

Hoseok’s steady rhythm stutters when you whisper those words into his mouth and press your lips to his.  His hips jerk wildly as his release races up his shaft.  He laces his fingers into yours, fucking you deep into the mattress in those final seconds as he loses all control to chasing his end.

He comes with your name on his lips.

************************

Hoseok breathes deeply into your hair as you stroke your fingers across the lean lines of his chest, fingers tracing the metal outline of his dog tags.  You lie together like that for a while, skin to skin.

Your thoughts are loud in the quiet.  

You’re used to the bitter sting of betrayal by now.  

Long before Lee Hyejin or Kang Donghyuk or Park Soo ever sold you out for a check, your own father betrayed you for the bottle.  You of all people know too well that most people aren’t to be trusted.

But then Hoseok’s fingers drag lightly across your back and they bring you back to the here and now -- back to the promise he made to you tonight.

“No one gets to hurt you anymore.”

And you decide to trust just one more time.

************************

@saintjeonofbusan @lemonjoonah @illnevertrustmyselfagain @sunkissed725 @taetaewonderland @shadowhale @sugaminyoonjiji @jinhitwhore @trust-me-im-joly @daydreambrliever @jjeonjoon @ultraanonymousey @yoon-bug @multistantrash17 @poohsaidhi @alyboo-jpeg @sahmfanficbts @yoongissugarmommy @ppersonna @p-polaroid @vi-hoshi @stressedinmedschool247 @jgissle12 @ctvrty @btsnatalena @strawbewymiwk @stephleee @jalexa83 @livanthi @fantasybangtan @trviahope​ @mono-kookie@hauntedlilies @sugasaidbultaoreune @yeojaa @secret-alphabets @hodginss@parkjimin-persona​

[mxvladdy]

Mistletoe prt.2

*yeets and runs* Sorry for the break in between.

Leviathan

-gasp! It's just like in his animes -and just like his animes it has to be perfect -boi is playing 5 D chess up in here -Mostly has to hype himself up

It started like any other game session with Levi. Greasy pizza plates and ramen bowls stacked precariously around you on the rim of his large tub. The two of you lounging inside of it.  The hours ticked by surrounded by the sounds hardcore gaming.

He had invited you over to help him grind on a new phone game he bought. It was easier to go through the dungeons in a party then solo. Solid logic, and you never minded playing with him. Except for- well Levi himself. “Not on your A-game today?” You ask peaking over your phone to the demon stretched out across from you. He grunts noncommittally, eyes not even on his screen. They flick back to the screen once he noticed you staring.

“N-no. Sorry.” He muttered, sinking into himself. Hmm-Probably nothing. Happens to the best of them.

Six failed quests later though you had had enough.

“Bro!” You toss your device at him coming to crawl into his lap. You plop down on his blanketed form ignoring his protests and grab his own phone away. “What is up with you tonight? You sick?” Levi squawks flailing his gangly arms trying to push you off. His face and shoulders lighting up bright red with embarrassment.

“G-Get off!” He struggles.

“No!” You swat his hands away to grab  at his face. Hmmm. Flushed but not feverish. “What is up with you today? Omg are you dying!” You straddle him poking and prodding at him. “If you die can I have your stuff? Promise I’ll feed Henry.” At this point you were just teasing him. He wrestles back stuttering and chirping.

“You’re on top of me! That’s the problem!” He frees himself from his blanket cocoon to flip your positions. His claws point into your flesh warningly.

You snort up into your demon’s beet red face. “Noo~You were acting weird before that too. This is your normal awkwardness.” You poke his nose for effect.

“Hmmph.” He pulls off of you and rubs at his face. Levi retreats back to his corner. “You didn’t notice. Of course you wouldn’t.” Notice what? You do a quick inventory of you and his room. Nope. All 10 fingers and toes, his room was its regular tidy chaos.

“Gimme a hint?” You feel stupid. Levi isn’t exactly subtle yet you were stumped. Still hiding behind his face in his pillows he points to his back. His tail to be exact. It wasn’t unusual for him to have his tail out when you came to chill. He used it a lot to grab stuff to drag it into his nest. You follow the line of his tail over the lip of the tub and then up-and up. The tip of which dangled over you a bright red ribbon tied to it… “Mistletoe? Oh-OH.” It was your turn to turn beet red. “How was I supposed to notice!” You shout flustered.

“How was I supposed to know you wouldn’t!” He yells back. You stare at each other for a moment before you both burst out laughing at your shared stupidity.

“I’m sorry Levi,” You snort. Wiping at the tears of mirth brimming at the corner of your eyes you scoot closer. “Let me make it up to you? I believe you’ve deserve more than a kiss or two.”

Satan

-Smoother than a 100 year old bottle of port this one -He knew about this tradition before but will feign ignorance -Suave bastard has you guessing. Does he know about it or not???

You meet Satan’s gaze trying very very hard to figure out his angle. He doesn’t make a move. Instead he just rests on a large stack of books. An inhumanly large stack of books. More stacks and piles stood ominously behind him. “You owe me.” He purs tapping a finger to his lips. Ugh- you did owe him. Technically, it hadn’t been your fault. You were just in the wrong place and the worst possible time to walk in on Belphegor and Mammon somehow flood the library. Those two had supernatural speed and agility on their side when they heard the undeniable footsteps of wraith. You, on the other hand, did not.

At least he hadn’t killed you.

“Can’t you do this with magic?” You sigh hours later. Your fingers were pruning and the amount of paper cuts you had were staggering.

“Some of these books are very fragile. Magic would react negatively with them. By hand is best for these.” His back is to you, his full attention locked on the soggy book he was plotting with a towel. You grouch flipping back on your blow dryer. When you find those two Satan will be the least of their worries. Maybe you could get Lucifer on their asses as well.

Three stacks down and Devil knows how many left Satan finally calls for a break. Weary you drop to his chaise to rub at your sore feet. “Here,” He places a paper cup in your hand. “A little reward. It’s the perfect season for it, no?” Popping the lid you inhale the sweet smell of chocolate and cayenne.

“Thanks.” You take a sip and scoot over to let him sit as well. You drink in a pleasant silence. The chocolate warms you up and boosts your mood greatly. “Ready to get back to it? I bet we can get half of these done by dinner. Maybe then our next break could be hunting down those two clowns?” He laughs. You sound so hopeful for a little revenge.

“I won’t say no. But let’s see how far we get.” He helps you back up and hands you a small pile of leather bound books. “Unfortunately you can’t use heat on these, it will shrink the leather. Just put some of these towels and tissues between each page. And no, the puppy dog eyes won’t work on me.” Damn.

At least these books were beautiful. Gold and silver foil inlaid everywhere, the pages were soft and flexible under your fingertips from use. You could see why Satan wanted you to be extra careful with these.

You get into a groove with these books. Flip a page and insert a tissue. Rinse and repeat. It gave you a chance to zone out and enjoy the artwork on each page. Until the last book. Your flow was interrupted by something bulky nestled within the pages. You flip to the middle of the book to retrieve whatever it was (please don’t let it be another mummified demon rat please!).

It wasn't much to your relief. Instead you extract a dried bundle of green and white. You squint at it, turning it around in the light of your desk lamp. You feel Satan standing behind you. “My, would you look at that.” He snatches the herb from your fingers and spins your chair around to face him. “Mistletoe.” He dangles it up above the two of you.

“You set me up.” You grin leaning close to him. Your hands making their way to his shoulders to link around the back of his neck.

“Perhaps.” He hums. With a wave of his hand you feel his magic encapsulate the books around you, drying them instantly.  He tosses the mistletoe away and reaches for your waist. “Are you mad?” You shake your head.

“No. But you better make it up to me.”  

[maryniss]

The Match Is Still Going

Fandom: Bungou Stray Dogs

Summary:  2 times Chuuya dyed Dazai's hair and one time he didn't.

Relationships: Dazai Osamu/Chuuya Nakahara

Characters: Dazai Osamu, Chuuya Nakahara

Tags: Fluff; Kinda?; idk - Freeform; 5 Times; its actually three times; 2 times + one bonus cause i had no idea; Hair Dyeing

Notes:  this. i wanted to finish this for so long. but now the fic is here and im not really proud of it. but it s ok cause yeah. idk. enjoy anyway byebye i.

 i.

Chuuya decided to dye Dazai the second that insufferable man dared to make fun of Chuuya’s hair color. That meaning Chuuya decided to dye Dazai thirty minutes after meeting him.

Knowing him now, he was surprised that he didn’t say anything earlier. But, as fifteen year-old Chuuya was sneaking into his new partner’s apartment -soundlessly, not that it mattered, ‘cause Dazai was sleeping like he was dead (some people’ wishes just can’t come true)

Chuuya snickered under his breath as he tip-toed into Dazai’s bedroom. The brown-haired man (not for long, though) was snoring loudly and the only thing Chuuya could think about was that ad he had seen on TV, about how to stop your husband from snoring excessively, or something like that. It was probably an ad for nose spray.

           Verixil! And all the problems are gone! Sleep tight!

Chuuya shook his head and he looked at the objects in his hands. A tube of red hair dye, a brush and a towel. Did he know what to do with those?

No.

Did that stop him?

Also no.

Chuuya opened the lid of the tube and he poured some substance into his gloved hands (plastic hands, of course, he would never ruin his gloves only for that) and as he squeezed hard, the tube made a sound like a fart and Chuuya stopped. Dazai didn’t even react, but the redhead was tense and his didn’t breathe, waiting for something to happen.

Nothing did, so he just poured some more and then he took a wavy strand of Dazai’s hair and scrubbed the dye onto it until it was slick. He did two more strands and then he got bored and just put the whole thing onto Dazai’s scalp, not caring what the dyes was going to stain.

He then left and closed the door behind him, going to bed in his own apartment.

He slept well and he woke up even better. Dazai was screaming and he was trying to wash his hair, to make the ugly, neon orange color go away. Chuuya rolled on the floor with laughter and his sides started to hurt. The dye was spread uneven and parts of Dazai’s hair had now the color of poop.

He won this time.

1-0  for Chuuya.

***

Actually, let’s make that 1-1 because Dazai also dyed Chuuya’s hair purple the very next night and there were no words to describe how ugly it looked. Even if there were none, Dazai still found some and Chuuya also found words to describe how ugly Dazai looked.

Koyo took a photo, even neither of them wanted to.

They still keep the phot in their drawer. None of them admits it.

***

ii.                                  

Chuuya was walking down the street and he was in a bad mood. No particular reason. He just felt down and he didn’t have any plans to even try to make himself look happy. What was the point? There was no one who cared anyways. It had been like that since he was little. And then there was a period when there really was someone who asked if he was ok; if he said he was not, then that someone would just nod and walk away. But, it was something…

Chuuya stopped and he looked at the barber on the other side of the road. A slim and tall silhouette disappeared inside right before Chuuya could actually tell that it was Dazai. The redhead rolled his eyes (out of habit) and he tucked his hands in his pockets and continued to walk. He wanted that coffee right now or he felt he would die. A common feeling that Chuuya was sick of. The coffee was going to solve everything…

His feet did not take him to the closest café, instead he entered the barber shop. The bell rang, but Dazai didn’t even bat an eye.

“So only a quick cut, right?” asked the barber, a small man wearing thick glasses, their lenses yellow. He was smiling and the air around him was cheer-full.

“Yeah, only a quick cut, and if you could show me how to make a hole through my skull painlessly while you are there, it would be great.

A French melody started playing and Chuuya rolled his eyes and smiled. The room was quiet but Dazai was practically radiating and the barber looked at him with an uncertain look.

“Uhm, I guess I could? But not painlessly, though.” Dazai sighed and closed his eyes.

“No, it’s ok. I’ll try elsewhere.” Both of them seemed to forget that Chuuya was there. But, suddenly, the hairdresser looked up and he was probably on his way to say “Can I help you?”, but Chuuya quickly put a finger to his lips and the man shut his mouth.

The people that just entered were dangerous; he could feel it. So, he just did what everyone would do: “I am going to bring my scissors and we can start.” Dazai didn’t say anything.

The man run to another room and closed the door. Chuuya lifted himself up a little bit and floated where Dazai was, looking in the mirror in front of him

He could now recognize the melody that was playing? How could he not? It was `La vie en rose` by Edith Piaf. Koyo was obsessed with this one some time ago when she was dumped by a cute barista from the coffee shop across the Port Mafia’s office.

Dazai’s eyes were closed and he seemed to be sleeping. Chuuya looked around and then he saw it: a botte full of a light-green hair dye, looking very much like wasabi. He didn’t hesitate and he took a spoonful of it.

Dazai snored. Chuuya put the substance gently onto Dazai’s scalp and spread it with his fingers. The brown-haired man (whose hair color was once red and also poop-like) opened his eyes and looked up at Chuuya.

They both stared into each other’s eyes for twenty-three seconds. Chuuya had counted it. He then smiled and left, Dazai looking dumfounded. He then looked into the mirror and saw the mess on his hair or that his hair was. He sat up quickly and went after Chuuya.

But the redhead was gone. And “La vie en rose” was pouring on the street and in the hot summer day and it seemed somewhat romantic.

Dazai would kill Chuuya the next time he would see him. There was no other chance now for the small man; he was obliged to commit a double suicide with Dazai.

2-1 for Chuuya.

 iii.

Because Chuuya knew Dazai. That’s why he didn’t respond all of his messages that begged him to come over. Because he knew that Dazai was probably drunk.

What he didn’t expect was for Dazai to actually come to his apartment, knocking insistently at his door and shouting some nonsense. Chuuya tried to ignore him, but he forgot one crucial detail: he did give Dazai a copy of his keys, so, when Dazai entered in the bathroom where Chuuya was soaking in the tub, drinking some wine, the only thing the small man could do was to curse at his foolishness.

He shouted and cursed and almost spilled the wine, but Dazai didn’t move: he only sat there with a big smile plastered onto his doll face, and Chuuya was creeped out of his mind. He could only ignore him and that’s what he did.

It had been a hard day in the Port Mafia, ok? That’s why he fell asleep in the bath tub, with Dazai watching him intently.

He let his guard down and when he woke up, the apartment was empty. But his hair was a wonderful, delicate, simply beautiful, what more could we say, tone of blue, only strands of it still being that red Chuuya was so proud of.

***

Only later did he find the photo of them when they were smaller, glued to his bathroom mirror. He smiled and he when he flipped it over, he saw only saw a ‘2-2’.

If you look at it from another point, it could mean something else; Chuuya knew and his heart let itself sink in that sensation for a bit.            

2-2 and match is still going.

They are still chasing after each other, trying to always be the best. Both of them know that they are unstoppable when they are together. They knew and they didn’t care because in their world, that is smaller than it seems, the arbiter hadn’t blown in the whistle yet.

  Notes:  Cause they love each other duh please stop being so dumb

[shenanigans-and-imagines]

Zena Lorell Spark Sheet

These are just a series of notes/dialogue about Zena. I thought it might be fun for y'all to see the writer's equivalent of a sketchbook. I'm still admittedly working her out, so let me know what you think works!

Random Scenes/Dialogue

At some point Din leaves Zena to look after the kid while he scout out a small town. Zena gets bored and decides to play some games with Grogu to pass the time. The first game is hide and go seek. It takes a while for Grogu to get the point of the game, but soon enough he catches on. Unfortunately for Zena, Grogu is a little too good and the second she starts to look for him, the little womp rat is no where to be found. She basically tears the ship apart and then starts to look outside, now starting to get worried Din might kill her if she doesn’t fine him. Then she hears a soft cooing from the trees.

Somehow, the kid managed to get himself all the way up the tree and is smiling his little face off.

Zena knows she has to get him down, but seeing as trees had never been a thing she had to deal with growing up, climbing to get him proves to be a challenge. And what’s worse, once she’s up there, she very quickly discovers she’s got a little think about heights.

It’s in this state Din finds him. Grogu smile in a tree with Zena clinging onto the branch for dear life.

—————————————

Early on they have to work out living arrangements since Din does need to sleep and has to take off his armor at least to shower. For a while that means Zena is sleeping in the cockpit, but her back can’t take it for long. Eventually, she comes up with a solution. She buys a huge thick blanket from a local market and brings it back to the ship. She then gets some rope and divides the space in half. She even gets some beads to put on the bottom so Din can hear if the curtain is being moved.

With the new sleeping arrangements, late night conversations start to become a thing.

—————————————

“It just feels weird that I don’t even know your name. Or is that another thing I’m not allowed to know?”

“Din. My name is Din.”

“Do you want me to call you that?”

“Whatever you want.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

—————————————

Grogu goes over to Zena’s side of the ship to sleep with her at night sometimes.

—————————————

“You sound different.”

There was a small shuffle of sheets on the other side, and decidedly no answer.

“Are…are you not wearing your helmet?”

An awkward pause followed.

Zena felt her blood go straight to her cheeks. Of course, she knew he had to take the helmet off at some point, but knowing it logically to be the case and for it actually to be confirmed were two different things.

“I can’t see you,” she assured, a little too quickly.

Again, silence. She held her breath, her ears straining for even the small hint of movement. After what felt like years, he finally spoke.

“I know.”

She let out a small breath of relief. Still, the awkwardness hadn’t left the air. She needed to say something.

“I like your voice.”

He didn’t say anything. It was getting ridiculous. She wished she could at least see the outline of his body. Then she could at least read his shoulders. If her cheeks didn’t set fire to the fabric, it was going to be a miracle.

“Thank you. I…like your voice too.”

Something about his tone made her stomach flip. She imagined downcast eyes and an awkward smile. Was he blushing? Could he blush?

“Goodnight, Zena.”

“Goodnight, Din.”

—————————————

Zena is not a fighter and needs lessons in shooting and basic self-defense.

The first time she and Din meet Cara, Zena goes outside and points her blaster at Cara to keep her from attacking Din.

“Stop right there!” Zena snapped.

The woman whipped around, her eyes making quick assessment of the threat.

“Safety’s on,” she smirked.

Zena looked down at the blaster; first mistake. In a second the woman had knocked the blaster out of her hand and sent Zena flying with one solid kick.

Options of where to place her introduction episode:

Before “Sanctuary”:

Pros:

Motivation for Din coming to Mir is to lay low; he comes to Zena looking for accommodations, money she receives is for lodging

Bounty Hunters are the one to scope out Zena’s place, she lies and that’s why her place gets robbed and eventually burned down

Her lying for him adds to Din’s guilt

Chance for Zena to get to know Grogu a bit before joining Din

She is there during the events of “Sanctuary”

Nice ending where Din says there is no reason why she can’t stay. “It’s green,” he offered. “And a lot safer.” “And you still owe me 10,282 credits,” she countered, though not as harshly as before.

Cons:

Din is still in a place mentally where he’s willing to leave Grogu behind if it means it’s safe

The lesson that they need to stay on the move might come too early: solution, have Din forced to land on Mir post escape and have Zena fix the Razor Crest as form of payment (Din knows Mir is too much of a hot spot to stay permanently)

Zena not likely to go along with the idea of lying low on a nowhere planet, when she just left a nowhere planet and Din still owes her money; solution, Din insist they’re still too hot after Mir and need some time to cool off, and there has to be some small time stuff he can do in the meantime

Not much for her to do since she’s not much of a fighter (on the other hand, good excuse to establish how less skilled she is compared to Din and Cara)

After “Sanctuary”:

Pros:

Din is now securely in the “keep on the move and make money where we can” mindset

Motivation for coming to Mir is to pick up some non-guild work better suited to such a far off out-post

For my own personal reasons, all the exposition about how long Din has been wearing the armor and the rules involved have been told and so doesn’t feel like a rehash

Zena more likely to not fight Din tooth and nail about landing on Tatooine

Zena’s first/second outing with Din involves getting shot at; ability to test her resolve earlier on

Cons:

Not much for her to do, probably spends most of the time either working on or commenting on repairs: Din volunteers her to work on the ship instead of the droids?

She and Din are more antagonistic, him leaving her behind with the ship is a struggle

Just not as fun of an episode to explore her and Din’s dynamic

Final decision; Introduce Zena in between “The Sin” and “Sanctuary”.

Din has to make a pit stop on Mir due to trouble with the Razor Crest. He knows Bounty Hunters are still hot on his tail, but it’ll give him a minute to think about where to go next with the kid. He goes to Zena for repairs.

Damage to the ship will take a few days, so for some extra money Din offers to pay for he and the kid to stay in Zena’s spare room.

Local gangsters try to rough up Zena a bit for protection money. (They know she’s got money saved, they’re just no sure where it is) Din steps in, which gets them to back off for the moment. Some exposition of Zena’s situation; she’s on her own, gangsters have always been a problem, but post Endor they’ve been even more of a nuisance since the New Republic isn’t stable enough to get anyone all the way out to Mir, and she doesn’t need help.

“You’re going to leave Mandalorian,” she said, bitterly. “And the second you do, they’ll be back and pissed. So, do us both a favor and pretend you’re not even here.”

Her father was in debt to the gangsters? It took her a long while to pay off the debt and she’s just now getting herself enough money to buy a ship. Gangsters don’t want her to buy a ship since she’s basically the only mechanic they have they can squeeze for repairs.

Din later apologizes for butting into her business, and she apologizes too, recognizing he was just trying to help

Need at least one nice little bonding moment between Zena and Grogu; Grogu actually seems to like her cooking, she has him hold some of her tools and play with the less dangerous ones, etc.

Bounty Hunter arrives looking for Din and the kid

Zena lies to cover for them

Bounty Hunter then meets up with the gangsters and figures out Zena was lying; Bounty Hunter and the gangsters then decide to form an alliance to capture Din and keep Zena on Mir

Fight breaks out; Din, Zena, and Grogu are able to escape, but all of Zena’ saving are left behind and her place to all but burned to the ground

“I can drop you wherever you’d like,” he offered. “There are plenty of space ports looking for a good mechanic. You could even join a crew, if that’s what you want.”

There was a long pause, the distant, harden looks never leaving her face.

“Do you have someone you can stay with,” he tried. “Friends? Family?”

“No.”

“Then where—”

“No!” She rose to her feet, anger fueling her. “You’re not just going to dump me on some back water stink hole! It’s your fault Cane and his crew decided to escalate things. It’s your fault that bounty hunter showed up. And it’s your fault everything I own save for the clothes on my back are burned to a crisp. Your fault. You pay for it.”

[bumblesimagines]

Vlad and Axsel

Request: Yes or No

~

"Thanks again, Ms. Franks!" (Y/N) called over his shoulder, leaving the store. He sipped on his slushie, heading over to his jeep. He heard shouting, turning his head and seeing John B flying over a chain.

"Oh, fuck." (Y/N) jogged over, laughing. "Hey, are you okay?" He asked, trying to hold back his snickers. John B grunted, looking at his side. (Y/N) followed his gaze, seeing the blood.

"Oh, shit. Come on, let's get you fixed up." (Y/N) said, helping him up and taking him to his car. John B made the seat move back.

"Is there a woman and a man who look like No Neck Ed and Rose from that one show?" John B asked.

"You mean 90 day fiancé?" (Y/N) furrowed his brows, looking at the spot they had previously been at.

"Yep. There's Walmart budget Rose and the taller version of No Neck Ed." (Y/N) looked at him, nodding.

"Fucking drive." John B ushered. (Y/N) put his slushie and bag of cheetos down, getting his seatbelt on and driving away.

"What's up with you? Why are you running from the cops?" (Y/N) asked. John B moved the seat back to normal.

"It's, uh, long story." John B replied, reaching for a cheeto. (Y/N) smacked his hand.

"Ask first and say please." (Y/N) huffed. "No manners."

"Can I please have a cheeto?" John B asked. (Y/N) gave a nod. "Yes, you can, John B."

"You know my name?" John B asked, brows raising. He didn't expect it. Then again, he didn't expect Topper's fraternal twin to help him either. (Y/N) nodded.

"Your friend put a gun to my brothers head." He shrugged. John B blinked, watching him. (Y/N) noticed.

"Oh, don't get me wrong, I was scared for his life but he was a douchebag. He needed a nice slice of humble pie." (Y/N) shrugged. "Even though he threw it back up." He shook his head.

"Huh.." John B blinked. He never expected (Y/N) Thornton, the fraternal twin of the entitled Topper Thornton, to help him and not blame his friends for the fiasco from the days prior.

"Make a turn here."

"Sure thing, boss." (Y/N) turned a corner, stopping and watching John B get out of the car, running off and picking something off the ground. John B returned, getting in. (Y/N) drove to Figure Eight, driving to his place.

"Woah, if Topper or your mom see me-"

"Mom is out and Topper is hanging out with Sarah's bitchy brother." (Y/N) said, getting out the car with him and heading inside. (Y/N) led him to an empty room, getting a first aid kit and started to clean his injury. John B hissed, pouting and huffing.

"Big baby." (Y/N) mumbled, grinning. John B met his gaze, taking in his features. (Y/N) was obviously the hotter twin, personality and appearance wise. At least, in John B's mind he was. He and (Y/N) never really spoke, occasionally bumping into each other back when John B worked for Ward. (Y/N) and Sarah were close, practically attached at the hip. John B was surprised when Topper was the one who ended up with Sarah.

"Quick question."

"Hm?"

"Why aren't you and Sarah a thing?" John B asked, eyes raking over (Y/N)'s features. (Y/N) snorted, putting everything away.

"I don't know.. Maybe cause she's dating my brother and I don't like girls?" (Y/N) stared at him. John B blinked, sitting up.

"Y-you like guys? L-Like, you're-"

"Gay." (Y/N) nodded. "Is there a problem with that?"

"N-No! Of course not! I-I'm bisexual." John B quickly cleared up. (Y/N) hummed and nodded.

"Okay.. Need me to drop you off anywhere? A friends house?" (Y/N) tilted his head. John B licked his lips.

"The Wreck." He replied. (Y/N) hummed and nodded, getting up. As they walked down a hallway, John B paused, looking at a painting. (Y/N) noticed and turned, looking at him.

"What's up?" He asked. "Interested in Denmark Tanny?"

"Who?"

"He's the founder of Tannyhill." (Y/N) shrugged, slowly approaching him and looking at the painting.

"How did a slave found a cotton plantation?" John B asked, looking at him. He didn't know why but he just couldn't shake the feeling that the painting was connected to him.

"Cause he was a free man. He showed up out of nowhere and paid for all the land in gold." (Y/N) told him. "There's your history lesson of the day."

"In gold?" John B looked at the painting. He took off his backpack, checking inside and taking out a piece of paper. "Why do I recognise that name?" John B flipped the paper over.

"He.. He was on the Royal Merchant." John B mumbled. (Y/N) furrowed his brows.

"The ship that disappeared and left no survivors?" (Y/N) questioned. John B nodded.

"What else do you know about him?" John B asked. (Y/N) shrugged.

"Sarah mentioned that when she and her family moved in they found a shitload of his stuff and they donated it to the state archives at Chapel Hill." (Y/N) replied, staring at him.

"Change of plans, I need to go to Chapel Hill." John B said, passing by him. (Y/N) blinked, turning and following him.

"Why?" he asked, getting in the jeep with him.

"Can't say. I need to get into the archives. How can I get in?"

"Sarah gave me a trustee pass cause she said she wouldn't be interested in that type of stuff." (Y/N) shrugged, looking at him.

"Can I borrow the pass?" John B asked.

"Like you borrowed the scuba gear from Ward?" (Y/N) tilted his head. John B licked his lips, sighing.

"Sarah got mad at you and ranted to me about it. She didn't snitch on you to Ward.. It was Topper." (Y/N) told him. "Topper's the only snitch in the family."

"Okay, the less you know the better. I need you to trust me." John B said, a bit desperately.

"No can do, macho man. I can, however, go with you to Chapel Hill."

"No-"

"It's settled, baby boy. I'm going with you." (Y/N) grinned, turning the jeep on and driving away. John B ignored the fluttery feeling in his stomach. hey got to the port and got out, (Y/N) grabbing the backpack he had in the backseat. They headed to where the ferry tickets were sold but saw that they were sold out. John B jogged over, asking if they were sold out but was brushed off.

"Goddamn it." John B mumbled. (Y/N) turned his head, looking at a tugboat. John B grabbed his hand, pulling him along.

"Ever been in a tugboat?" John B asked. (Y/N) furrowed his brows.

"No?"

"Okay, we're gonna talk our way onto this barge. I got this. These are my people." John B said. (Y/N) hummed, nodding.

"Alright, boss." (Y/N) watched him walk away. He watched them talk from a distance, giving an amused grin when John B was shot down. John B returned.

"Your people, huh? They must really love you." (Y/N) chuckled. John B rolled his eyes.

"Got anything better?"

"Of course, baby boy. I'm the brains and Topper is... Topper." (Y/N) scanned the barge and hummed, grabbing his wrist and tugging him along. He grabbed some raincoats, picking up an empty tank and nodding to John B. John B went along with it, following him past the guy he had been talking to. They put the tanks down, heading down some steps and into the engine room. John B pulled him towards another room, closing the door. The boat started moving. They took a seat, feeling the room start to heat up. They took the coats and backpacks off, sitting down.

"Shit." (Y/N) mumbled, fancing himself. John B chuckled. (Y/N) took off his shirt, hoping it would help with the heat. John B eyed him before doing the same.

"Well.. Wanna play a game? 20 questions?" (Y/N) asked. John B shrugged.

"You go first." (Y/N) wiped some sweat off his forehead.

"Why did you kill Dimitri?" John B asked in an accent. (Y/N) grinned, looking at him.

"He knew too much." He replied in a Russian accent. "He was a, eh, liability." (Y/N) shrugged.

"Yes, you know, we all know too much, eventually." John B grinned. (Y/N) chuckled.

"Alright.. What are you looking for? Like, why the archives?" (Y/N) looked at him. John B looked away.

"Those are two questions." He mumbled. (Y/N) rolled his eyes.

"But.. I can't tell you."

"Why?"

"Safety reason." John B glanced at him. "I don't want you to get hurt."

"Does it have to do with your dad?" (Y/N) asked. John B stayed silent. (Y/N) frowned.

"I'm sorry that.. He just disappeared. I can't even imagine how I would feel. You know.. I'm always around if you want to rant or sit in silence. We aren't the best of friends but I can promise you, I won't go around spilling secrets." (Y/N) said. John B looked at him, sighing softly.

"Thank you.. I'll.. I'll keep it in mind." He nodded.

"And.. I'm sorry about Topper too. He's.. He's obsessed with having the perfect girlfriend and saw you as a threat. He's not a bad person. Yes, he makes stupid mistakes but.. He cares about his friends and family. He was different before he became friends with Rafe. Rafe is just such a bad fucking influence. Topper knew I was gay before my parents knew. He helped me keep it a secret until I couldn't hold it in anymore. He was devastated cause he thought I would get kicked out and he would be alone but.. I was accepted.. I guess. They just kind of ignore me until they can't." (Y/N) shrugged, looking at him. John B hummed.

"My dad knew before I did." John B smiled. "He said I stared at a lot of his shirtless friends."

"I did that too. I used to have a crush on JJ, actually." (Y/N) chuckled softly. "I don't anymore." He assured. John B ignored the jealously that spiked through him.

"Don't worry. You weren't the only one." John B sat up. He looked at (Y/N).

"I think my dad is alive.. Or at least.. Calling out to me through this weird way. Kind of like whales. You know how they communicate through these soundwaves, right? It's like that." John B told him. (Y/N) hummed.

"I.. I cannot let feelings interfere with the mission." John B said, using the accent again.

"Very true, comrade." (Y/N) nodded. John B sighed, laying back and closing his eyes. (Y/N) turned his head, looking at him. He had always found John B attractive. From his hair to his freckles to his loyalty. (Y/N) licked his lips, looking away. He never thought badly about The Pogues. Kooks were usually the ones who started the fights. (Y/N) sighed softly, laying back as well and waiting. The boat eventually started slowing down so (Y/N) nudged John B. The two put their shirts and coats back on as the boat stopped. They put their backpacks on.

"On a count of three. One... Two... Three!" John B grabbed (Y/N)'s hand, opening the door. The two made a run for it, running from a man yelling in chinese. They dodged people, laughing all the way. They slowed down and began walking, giggling.

"Jesus.. We look like shit." (Y/N) said, panting. "We're gonna have to shop for clothes." he said.

"Why?"

"They won't let us in if we look like swamp monsters." (Y/N) replied. John B hummed. They headed into the city, taking off the coats and letting the breezes and light rain refresh them.

"This place looks fancy." (Y/N) mumbled, pulling John B toward it.

"Absolutely not-"

"Absolutely yes." (Y/N) grinned, stepping inside.

"This is like an organ with the wrong blood type. It doesn't work." John B said. (Y/N) rolled his eyes.

"Relax, baby boy. I'm here to help you find your style." (Y/N) chuckled. He looked over some stuff until a man approached them.

"May I help you?"

"Yes, you may, Mr..?" (Y/N) flashed a charming smile.

"Mr. Ike." He gave a nod.

"(Y/N). My... My boyfriend, Jonathan, needs all the help he can get." (Y/N) said. Mr. Ike looked John B up and down.

"I can see that." Mr. Ike mumbled. (Y/N) chuckled. They were led to the changing room where Mr. Ike got some things for John B. John B stepped into the changing room. (Y/N) sat down after grabbing some sunglasses and putting them on, glancing around until the door opened.

"Wow, middle school dance who?" (Y/N) chuckled, looking over the tucked in button up shirt with red bowtie.

"I look like I got kicked out of the barbershop quartet." John B said, looking at him.

"How about a seersucker, Mr. Ike?" (Y/N) looked at Mr. Ike.

"What the hell is that?"

"Excellent choice." Mr. Ike nodded.

"And maybe a pink button-down, some bucks?" (Y/N) grinned.

"You're speaking gibberish. What the hell is a buck?" John B asked.

"I'll get a pair." Mr. Ike nodded, walking away. John B looked at (Y/N).

"I'm your daddy for the day." (Y/N) chuckled. John B rolled his eyes, entering the changing room. Mr. Ike returned with the clothes, giving them to John B. He excused himself to help other costumers. (Y/N) noticed that John B was staying a while and stood, knocking.

"Did you go to Narnia or something?" (Y/N) asked, opening the door and seeing John B in only his underwear. John B pulled the pants up and huffed as (Y/N) laughed.

"Were you seriously checking yourself out, John B. Routledge? Never took you as the type." (Y/N) leaned against the doorway.

"Don't blame you. I'd check myself out if I were you too." (Y/N) said, stepping back and closing the door. John B blinked, looking at himself in the mirror. (Y/N) had basically called him hot. John B got dressed and stepped out.

"Zipper." (Y/N) called. John B looked down and pulled his zipper up. (Y/N) hummed and nodded.

"You look.. Decent." (Y/N) stood and approached him. "As decent as a clown can get." (Y/N) grinned.

"Ooh, ouch. Nice one." John B chuckled. Mr. Ike returned and John B told him what he would like to see. (Y/N) got dressed and stepped out. John B snorted, looking at the black pants, suspenders, gray shirt, bowtie, and fedora.

"So, who's your daddy now?"

"A man of culture, I see." (Y/N) hummed. John B shrugged.

"I knew a kid who dressed like this every day during middle school." (Y/N) said, looking at himself in the mirror.

"I'm pretty sure we all did." John B chuckled. (Y/N) went back into the changing room, changing into a couple outfits until he chose one he liked. He stepped out, smiling. He wore a dark blue shirt that had about three or four buttons undone. The shirt was tucked into black pants. John B swallowed, looking him over.

"Uhm.. Y-You look great." John B said. (Y/N) hummed.

"Since we're on a secret mission.. We should assume another identity." (Y/N) said, crossing his arms.

"We need aliases. What are you thinkin'?" John B asked. (Y/N) tapped his chin, pretending to think.

"Vlad.. From... Vienna." (Y/N) said, shrugging.

"What about me?" (Y/N) tilted his head. John B mimicked his previous position.

"Axsel from Berlin." John B replied. (Y/N) raised his brows.

"Axsel fra Berlin?" (Y/N) grinned. John B nodded.

"Ja." He stuck his hands in his pockets. "Du snakker norsk?"

"Ja. Hvor mye vet du?" (Y/N) tilted his head. John B licked his lips.

"That's all I know." John B chuckled. (Y/N) smiled, patting his chest.

"You're better good." (Y/N) turned, picking up his backpack and leaving. John B followed him. (Y/N) paid for their clothes, walking out of the store and heading down the sidewalk.

"Come on, they aren't open all night." (Y/N) said. John B hummed, walking beside him.

"So, are Vlad and Axsel dating?" John B asked. (Y/N) cocked a brow, glancing at him.

"Feelings can't interfere with the mission." (Y/N) reminded him. John B nodded, looking forward. The sky began to darken, turning to night. They got an uber, not wanting to walk all the way there. (Y/N) paid and they got out.

"The library is on the other side of the student center. Ever been here?" (Y/N) looked at him. John B shook his head.

"Uh, no. Never been to a college." He replied.

"Hm, you didn't fulfill your training, huh? Liking it so far?" (Y/N) asked. John B nodded.

"Well, my parents went here and so did their parents and their parents as well." (Y/N) told him. "Sarah's dad came here too."

"Damn."

"Yeah.. My mom would kill me and Topper if we didn't go here." (Y/N) sighed.

"And you?"

"I've never really thought about going to college." John B replied as (Y/N) took out his ringing phone. 'Topper' was the contact.

"Uh-oh." (Y/N) showed him the contact, grinning.

"What would he think if he knew you were here with me?" John B grinned as (Y/N) chuckled.

"I'd have a public execution. My crime? Treason." (Y/N) replied. John B gasped softly.

"For being a Pogue sympathizer?"

"Mhm."

"Oh, oh my goodness." John B made the phone motion with his hand. (Y/N) did the same.

"You've gotta be careful fraternizing with the enemy, Axsel." John B said.

"Wait a minute. Did he kidnap you? Or drug you?" John B asked. (Y/N) let a smile slip.

"Nei, I came on my own recognizance." (Y/N) giggled.

"Oh. Do we know this enemy?"

"Ja. You snitched on him to the Big Boss."

"Oh, no, no. It's not that dirty Pogue, is it?"

"He is not what you think." (Y/N) shook his head lightly.

"Goodness gracious, he's working some good psyops on you, Ax." John B scratched his forehead. "He's a smooth operator."

"He really isn't." (Y/N) laughed as John B pretended to hang up the phone.

"He's really clumsy, randomly does finger guns.. And.. He seems to be too shy to make a move." (Y/N) smiled. John B lightly flushed, teeth catching his bottom lip.

"Come on." (Y/N) smiled. "Better be careful, Axsel. Once a Pogue, always a Pogue." They entered Chapel Hill, going up some steps.

"20 questions-"

"Again?"

"-Why are we here?" (Y/N) looked at him.

"The price of the ticket is intel. Tell me." (Y/N) stopped and faced him. John B sighed.

"Alright.. On pain of death?"

"Mhm."

"I'm on a treasure hunt." John B told him. (Y/N) blinked, staring at him.

"Like.. X marks the spot?" (Y/N) asked.

"More or less. I have reason to believe that Denmark Tanny was the sole survivor of the Royal Merchant wreck." John B said. (Y/N) blinked, brows furrowing.

"Which is why he had all that gold? Cause he ran, or probably swam, away with it?" John B nodded. (Y/N)'s lips parted.

"So.. The 'map' to that treasure is one of his belongings." (Y/N) mumbled. John B nodded.

"I'll go talk to the librarian." (Y/N) walked away. John B let out a sigh of relief, glad (Y/N) believed him. The librarian led them to another room, showing them up the stairs and getting all of the belongings.

"Ready?" (Y/N) asked, looking at him.

"Ready." John B smiled. They put on gloves and started looking through everything, trying to find clues or hints.

"He bought slaves and freed them. He was accused of inciting revolt.. This was before the Civil War." (Y/N) told him, looking away from the news article he had been reading.

"It's why they hanged him." John B picked up a Bible, opening it and reading the names and birthdays.

"His three sons." (Y/N) mumbled. John B picked up another paper.

"A picture of gold." (Y/N) hummed.

"British gold.. The type that was on the Merchant." John B glanced at (Y/N), smiling. They continued to look.

"This is his last correspondence." (Y/N) said, showing him the letter.

"That's.. That's in Gullah, the lost Creole language." John B pointed out. (Y/N) glanced at him.

"Know anyone that can read it?" (Y/N) asked. John B nodded, taking a picture. (Y/N) looked it over.

"He wrote this to Robert, his son, on the day he died.. In a language only they could understand." (Y/N) leaned back in his seat.

"That has to mean something." John B mumbled. (Y/N) nodded.

"I have fifteen missed calls from Topper.. Three from mom." (Y/N) told him, chuckling softly. "Good thing we completed the mission. Make my funeral lit, will ya?"

"Yeah, of course. Drinks for everybody." They shared a laugh. John B cleared his throat.

"Speaking of the mission.. You're way better than I expected." John B said, a bit shyly. (Y/N) smiled.

"You're not what I expected either." (Y/N) chuckled. John B faked being shocked.

"Totally ADD. I thought you were this surfer bro who liked to party, smoke weed, and fight."

"You just described JJ."

"Yeah, I realized it as I said it." (Y/N) chuckled, smiling.

"But.. You're actually super funny, bit of a weirdo... Pretty charming." (Y/N) looked at him. John B licked his lips, giving a small nod.

"So.. When we get back.. What's it gonna be like?" John B asked, anxiously waiting for an answer. (Y/N) licked his lips.

"Uhm.. Like always?" (Y/N) said, shrugging as John B nodded.

"I'll go back to being Topper's gay twin brother who breaks up fights and has no friends other than Sarah Cameron." (Y/N) shrugged. "I had loads of fun." (Y/N) assured, patting his thigh. John B offered a small smile.

"I did too." He looked forward. It started to rain as the ferry got back. They got off, walking in the rain.

"Guess we'll have to say goodbye to Vlad and Axsel. So, if we see each other on the street-"

"Yes, of course. I am a true professional." John B grinned, using the accent again. (Y/N) smiled and nodded.

"Been a pleasure working with you, comrade." (Y/N) stuck his hand out. John B took it, slowly shaking it. John B didn't let go when (Y/N) went to pull his hand back.

"I have something to confess." John B said.

"You didn't kill someone, did you?" (Y/N) asked. John B snorted and shook his head.

"I.. I've been in love with you since the day I started working for Ward. You were always kind to me, even when Topper got annoyed at you for it. You never insulted me or any Pogue. You were considerate and always greeted us with only kind words. I love that you don't care about rich or poor and you just see people for who they are. If you don't want anything to do with me from now on, I'll be fine with it. I had the greatest day of my life and I spent it with my longtime crush. I-" John B was cut off by (Y/N) leaning forward and kissing him, arms wrapping around him. John B stumbled back a bit but kissed him back, tension and anxiety leaving his body. (Y/N) gently cupped his face.

"I want this too.."

[theauthorlives]

Headcanon Dump: Funfox

I hope you’re prepared. This consists of writings from FORTY-FIVE screenshots from my phone so I wouldn’t be constantly stopping and searching to check things. I have a lot, so I’m going to try my best to stick them under categories.

It’s also just over 1.8k words, so it’s immediately going under a read-more. Good luck! :D

-

THE VOICE. (Warning for a mention of self-harm. It is mild)

I should remind you all to read this post about their voice and how it is used in a writing manner. If there’s a group larger than four, their voice involuntarily clicks into ‘performance mode’ - a booming volume that can be heard over the hubbub (bold). In a group smaller than four, they keep to a stage whisper by choice (they can shout if needed) (italics).

If they force themself to speak in a normal speaking voice while stuck in ‘performance mode’ (no formatting), they can strain their voice to the point of it temporarily running out (like how you can hurt your voice if you whisper or shout for too long).

They intend to use a plush to muffle the speaker, but haven’t obtained one yet. Instead, they’ll press their hands to their chest.

(On the flip side, they will use their volume to their advantage if needed. U.CN is the perfect example of this)

Their role was to be a lure. They can listen to voices and repeat them, even going as far as being able to create new sentences if they’ve heard a lot. But it goes beyond voices. They can replay music they’ve heard, with the added effect of it sounding like it’s playing through a gramophone.

Their voice mimicking also made for an entertaining gag of ‘ventriloquism’ since they don’t need to move their mouth to speak.

(A running joke was taking Bonbon or Bonnet as their ‘ventriloquist dummy’ and just letting them talk normally)

There’s a panel on the inside of their left wrist. It can be popped open to reveal an AUX port and a mic preamplifier. Their speaker can be used to play music from another device, or connect a microphone for someone to make an announcement. Talk about being the life of a party!

Self harm warning: Their loud voice causes more harm than good when others don’t know he can’t control it, or if someone is in a position to punish them. They have tried twice to remove their speaker by force by clawing their chest and trying to find a gap. There are tiny, faint scratch marks around the speaker. Luckily, they can’t be seen by the naked eye. After being caught the second time, they have vowed not to stoop that low again.

(Despite this, they LOVE how their voice sounds. If it wasn’t bugged, it would be perfect, which only adds to their frustration about their situation)

Even if they could remove their speaker and get it replaced, the problem would still persist. It’s a programming issue, not a hardware fault. They’d need someone to mess with their internal coding, but they don’t know that.

S.ister Location took place shortly after they got into a lot of trouble and took an oath of silence. 

In a manner similar to B.umblebee and S.pamton, they can also take snippets of recordings to fill in the gaps. This is also helpful when their own voice is temporarily frayed, whether due to being shocked or strain. However, it’s not something they’d want to rely on for a normal speaking voice.

They do, of course, have access to royalty free sound effects. They have audience recordings on standby to bolster other animatronics into performing, for instance.

They’ve mimicked Hand Unit a lot. This likely got them in more trouble when Underground. And yes, in the S.ecurity B.reach verse they absolutely freak out when they first realise its voice is EVERYWHERE. It takes at least a week for them to realise it’s not the same Unit, though they will jump if they aren’t expecting it. (On the bright side, they’ve resumed their impersonations of the voice to give silly orders, like sort all the ball lakes in the golf area by colour)

TIME IN THE CIRCUS / UNDERGROUND (warnings for mentions of being punished/electrocution)

As mentioned in the bio, Funfox was originally just the acrobat. Becoming the ringleader was a later addition to their programming. This also allowed the freedom to realise they wanted to be addressed as ‘he/they’.

This was accepted without much hassle. Hand Unit was infamously the only one who used the former ‘she/her’ pronouns among others.

While their form was still clunky and not as graceful as Ballora, their endoskeleton has nods to her mechanisms. The limbs, for instance, have extra support for jumping, grabbing things, and landing. The feet have a shock-absorber to lessen the impact of falling. Fully dexterous hands make it better to climb.

They can draw! To help lessen their nerves, they began planning performances and running orders. Since they can’t write words, they instead drew the faces of their faces in order, from top to bottom. Over time, they found they enjoyed doodling in their free time until they were locked away. In the modern day, they take this hobby back up. They also like colouring.

Punishment warning: Funfox became the human team’s scapegoat for things not going to plan. If they were able to be a ‘proper robot’ and have the programming work naturally, they could have opened sooner. If they had been better, the accident wouldn’t have happened, etc. But for the full extent, see below:

(you can see the problem here.)

This also meant that they developed a fear of electricity, but only in items such as tasers and Fazer Blasters. If they see one and it’s aimed at them, they freeze up.

How Funfox didn’t clam up completely or turn more timid isn’t as baffling as you think. They had the genuine love and support of the other F.untimes to keep them going... And they also never revealed the full extent of the ‘controlled shocks’.

They don’t fully remember William, but they know he’s to blame for their faulty voice, and never worked to impress him. Instead, Funfox was trying to prove themself to prove they could do it. And, in later years, they do just that.

They didn’t personally hold a grudge against Michael and later regret their actions in the events. They had a quiet ‘fuck that guy’ mentality because of him working with H.and Unit. But they had no idea what Baby was really up to. They had thought it would be a case of holding Michael hostage until he agreed to help them find a way out. Not ideal, but not as violent as what actually happened. (they want to apologise for that)

They were the last of the animatronics to be Scooped (since I believe the theory that Baby had done so before Michael ever arrived). The last thing Funfox saw were the broken and scattered shells of their friends.

Their time as E.nnard is something they don’t remember. Still reeling from the trauma of their Scooping and being lied to, as well as an introvert having far too many voices in the collective mind, they retreat into the back of the mind. However, they learn Baby’s skill of pretend. This comes in handy to help mask troubles later, as well as enhance their ability to lie.

HABITS AND MANNERISMS

In general, think of A.lastor from H.azbin H.otel. Funfox is quite akin to an old-timey radio host. Bright, charming, energetic; but also observant, prone to quiet spells, cautious. They are the introvert and the extrovert. They are a walking contradiction:

(I didn’t add the link at the time but it’s a quote from one of the fandom w.ikipedias)

They like to help and try to make friends, but cause trouble and make mischief. They like to encourage others to share and will do so, but are known for stealing items and hoarding.

Above all, they’re determined to show the F.untimes are more than the killing reputation. The circus troupe were entertainers like the other generations of F.azbears. After all, the F.untimes are here for a ‘fun time’.

They also loathe this reputation because every other generation prior to them has had killers amongst them, and none of them are held to the same scathing standard. (In the serverse, they got so bitter that someone was praised for killing someone else).

Despite everything that has happened, they are surprisingly closed off when it comes to negative emotions. They’re so used to shouldering stresses alone that they take it and they mask it. If they get caught in a low mood for whatever reason, they make sure that individual never catches them a second time. They were sloppy. That’s all.

The only exception to the above is if someone witnesses them being electrocuted or being threatened with something of that sort. They won’t be able to hide the fear, but they will do their best to move on from it as fast as possible once they’ve recovered from the scare.

Their acrobatics mean that they can climb and explore more of the Plex than others. They love navigating the vents.

They chew when stressed. The tip of their tail has tiny prick marks on it (invisible to the eye, but can be felt), but often they’ll try to use something else. It’s why they often steal balls from the ball pits, as they can be easily replaced and it doesn’t matter if they get destroyed. If they every get that plush, it’ll be chewed on. (They need a chew toy)

If one can call other Foxys wild foxes, Funfox is the domesticated fox of the group or like a trained animal for circus performances har har. They have gotten briefly confused by their own reflection, distracted when someone threw something, played fetch at one point, and gets a little wary around larger animatronics and dogs at first.

They hold a slight worry that if they ever make new F.untimes, they’ll be scrapped and replaced.

There’s one S.T.A.F.F. bot that they’ve taken an interest in pestering. He has no idea it doesn’t have a conscious of its own and instead thinks it’s VERY good at keeping a straight face, so to speak. They try (and fail) to come up with ways to have this bot break its composure, which including dressing it up, and reciting an entire S.hakespearian solioquoy. The human day staff think this is far too entertaining and egg them on.

For the events of S.ecurity B.reach, I’m linking in to the verse set up originally by f.unbonded and having them in the Funhouse. It was an area on lockdown and F.unfox had no idea what was going on (they weren’t hacked either). If they were around, they would have been a useful ally for G.regory as they could use their voice mimicking skills to lure the other animatronics away.

[mycatshuman]

My Jolly Sailor Bold

Happy Birthday Virgil!!!! Sorry this might not be that good, I tried but toward the end I got bleh. Anyway, thank you for being my comfort character for these past few years!

Warnings: fighting, angst, death, both Virgil and Roman will still be alive at the end so don't let the death warning discourage you!😇

🌊🧜🏾‍♂️🌊🧜🏾‍♂️🌊🧜🏾‍♂️🌊🧜🏾‍♂️🌊🧜🏾‍♂️🌊🧜🏾‍♂️🌊🧜🏾‍♂️🌊🧜🏾‍♂️🌊🧜🏾‍♂️

Upon one summer's morning...

Early morning fog crept along the cold waters of the North sea like a cat stalking its prey. The waves lapped along the port of a small town in Great Britain as they continued to bring in the ominous fog that had yet to disappear. The sun had yet to rise, most of the sky still dark. Only the horizon slowly brightened as the sunrise inched closer. Most people were still in bed this early in the morning. Still, there was a single soul pacing rhythmically back and forth along the deck of a ship docked in the small port, waiting for the rest of the ship's crew to return from their night on the town. 

The man, who went by the name Virgil, was anxiously swabbing the deck, well aware his fellow crewmates wouldn't be back until well past the sun's rise, and took advantage of the lack of foot traffic to clean the deck. Of course, his captain could rouse them early but those days were rare and few between. 

Virgil was a unique one. First off, he was a pirate. Second, he rarely indulged in the drinks and ladies like some other pirates, simply preferring to stay on the ship than to go into town. He would like to say he was more of a sensible pirate, which had to have been the reason he was made the first mate. 

Virgil had, of course, already gotten himself ready for the day. He had messily smudged black kohl underneath his eyes to help keep the light out of his eyes once the sun rose and he even cleaned his shirt for the day. He was a bit of an early riser when they weren't at sea. The fact that anyone could just walk on board made him uneasy. Although, when they came to this town, he slept a little easier. It was a bit of a remote town and most pirates tended to go to more lively places. 

Before long, the sailor was finished mopping and put away the mop and bucket before moving over to the railing along the side of the ship facing the open sea. He leaned against the side of a barrel with a sigh. Virgil took out his dagger and a small log of wood and began to whittle to keep himself occupied until the crew returned. 

I carefully did stray

Out in the sea, far from the ship, a head popped up above the water. The head had a pair of eyes and the eyes narrowed in on the lone sailor aboard the magnificent ship. The head quickly rose until the top half of a broad chest rose above the water, but no further than that. This, obviously, was not a human. If it had been a human, it would have drowned, but it wasn't and so it didn't. Most humans would probably call this being a mermaid, although that wasn't quite right either. 

This being, whose species was not quite common knowledge to humankind, was named Roman. And upon catching sight of him, a spark twinkled in his eye and he swam closer, unbeknownst to the sailor who had caught his eye. Roman didn't concern himself with humans too often. Only ones he found particularly interesting. And this sailor was a particularly interesting one. 

Of course, Roman couldn't let this sailor see him coming so he called upon his power to create more fog and make it near impossible for most to see five feet in front of them. And as he swam closer, the fog followed until it caught the notice of the sailor aboard. 

Down by the Walls of Wapping

When Virgil noticed the thickening fog, he frowned. The fog didn't usually get thicker as the sun rose so this was an anomaly that was a bit alarming. He set down his work and put away his dagger as he stood and moved to the railing. He looked over and tried to peer through the fog, he had a sneaking suspicion as to what might be causing this. He kept his hand on his dagger as he looked. After all, he was one of the most superstitious and anxious sailors alive. And he was very nervous at that moment. 

Slowly, he withdrew his dagger from the worn leather holder that was hanging from his belt. He flipped the dagger around in his hand, posed at the ready. Virgil wasn't going to let anything surprise him. Not if he wanted to stay alive. And he very much wanted to stay alive. 

Where I met a sailor gay

As Virgil cautiously peered over the ship's railing and into the fog, he jumped as he noticed a pair of glowing eyes staring at him from the water. "Who there?!" He shouted in a thick Irish accent. He couldn't let the creature know he was scared, after all. Slowly, the eyes grew larger as the face moved closer. A smiling figure emerged from the fog as whoever was staring at him climbed up the side of the ship. Virgil yelped and flung himself back, away from the railing and the creature coming closer as they pulled themselves on deck. "Stay back!" Virgil yelled as he swung the knife out in front of him. 

The being smiled, it made Virgil's stomach feel weird. "I've never met a sailor as handsome as you before." His voice was smooth and velvety to Virgil's ears. Alluring and enchanting. "I'm Roman, and you are?" 

Virgil narrowed his eyes at the being in front of him. "Not telling you my name." Of course, the creature wasn't a fae if the large glittering tail was anything to go by. But Virgil was still an anxious fellow. 

Roman chuckled and even his laughter sounded like music. "Aren't you gonna ask what I am?" He gestured to his long red tail as he lifted his fin and waved at the sailor. 

Virgil scoffed. "Oh I already know what you are." 

Roman smirked. "Oh really," he purred and crossed his arms and leaned on an overturned barrel. He liked the snark he was receiving from this one. "Do tell."

Virgil suppressed a shiver at the other's voice. "A siren."

Roman's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Ah, so you're a smart human." The siren grinned. "That's hot." 

Virgil blinked and dropped his fighting stance. "What?" Was this siren trying to flatter him? 

Roman opened his mouth to respond only for the sound of crewmates clambering up the ramp to reach them. Virgil turned to glance behind him, surprised. He wasn't expecting them until later. By the time he turned back to Roman, the siren was already over on the other side of the railing. He grinned. "I guess I'll talk to you later, sailor boy." And with that, he let go of the railing and dropped back into the sea. 

Virgil rushed forward just in time to see the last of Roman's tail as he swam away, the fog retreating with him.  He shook his head in disbelief as he watched the siren go. "Well, that was an experience." 

Conversing with a young lass

Since their first meeting, the sailor and the siren met up as often as possible. Sometimes they talked, sometimes they just sat together and watched the stars. They mostly only talked when the crew was off the ship, so no one could see Roman or hear them talking. But that only happened when they were docked. The rest of the time, they just stared at the stars while Virgil was on watch. Of course, they still talked when they were out at sea too, just not as freely as they did when in port. 

To keep Roman from being seen by other crewmates, Virgil had to signal to the siren that it was safe for him to climb aboard. So, he would sing a small song for him. Roman still couldn't get over it. Of course his voice was beautiful, but it had to be in order for him to use it to lure sailors to their deaths, but Virgil's, his voice was like a warm hug. And the siren was absolutely addicted to it. 

Honestly, Roman was so glad that he could turn off the enchantment on his voice and back on at will. It was nice to have a friend that he could talk to like Virgil. Something that would be a lot more difficult if he couldn't talk to him. When he talked to Virgil, he didn't feel so lonely anymore. Even just spending time with Virgil made him feel warm and happy. It was a strange feeling, yet he craved more. 

Who seem'd to be in pain

Once, when Roman was following Virgil's ship because he knew they were going to dock soon, he waited until he saw the crew leave and then climbed aboard. But when he climbed over the railing, he found the sailor slumped against a barrel, a bottle of something that smelled strongly of alcohol, something he knew the other preferred not to drink, in his hands. The siren frowned and reached forward to grab the bottle from Virgil's hand. "Are you okay?" 

Virgil shook his head as tears began to spill over onto his cheeks but stayed silent. "You don't want to say anything about it?" A quick nod. Roman hummed lighty. "Alright, that's okay." He was silent a few moments more before he began to talk about his day, his voice soft as he tried to comfort his friend. And Virgil cried quietly as Roman spoke. 

Before long, after Virgil had stopped crying, he cleared this throat and Roman went silent without being asked. "I-I don't know what to do. The captain died and now I'm the fookin' captain but I'm not ready for this! I'm not ready to be a leader!"

Roman hummed thoughtfully for a few moments before he replied. "Not that it helps, but I think you'll be a great captain." 

Virgil turned his gaze to Roman as his tears began anew. "But how can you be sure? I'm probably going to end up getting us killed!" 

Not like I'm gonna let that happen, Roman thought. "You are the most cautious and careful person I know, you can do this." Roman laughed. "You drew a knife on me when we first met! You even knew that I was a siren. If anyone is good enough to be a captain, it's you." 

Virgil went silent. It wasn't until his tears dried that he spoke again. "Thank you, for everything." 

Roman smiled. "No problem." 

Saying, William, when you go

"Where are you going this time?" Roman asked, his heart beating rapidly in his chest. 

Virgil sighed. "We're going to try and take down the one trading spot in the Caribbean." He scraped his arm. "I just have to hope I don't run into any ships from the Royal Navy." 

Roman bit his lip. He knew what Virgil meant. If he was captured by the navy, he would be hung for his piracy. In truth, he was scared. He had a bad feeling in his gut, one that sent shivers down his spine and plagued his mind. "How long?" 

Virgil shrugged. "We should be able to take it down in one day so long as there are no hiccups." 

Roman hummed. "And you won't be able to talk for a few days after that?"

"Right. We can't risk running into any royal ships so we'll be going as fast as we can and it'll be nearly all hands on deck until we're far enough away. And we gotta lie low for a bit too." 

"When will you leave?" 

"The day after tomorrow."

I fear you'll ne'er return again

"Virgil, I don't think you should go on this mission." It was the next night. Last night they would be able to meet up for a while. Roman could hardly sleep that night, he kept being awoken by frightening nightmares that ripped through his heart without mercy. 

Virgil's head whipped over to look at Roman. "What?" 

Roman bit his lip. "I don't think you should go." 

Virgil frowned. "Why not?" 

"I have a bad feeling. I-" Roman paused anxiously. "I fear you'll never return." 

Virgil bit his lip and turned away from the siren. "Well, that's-" he sighed. "I'll make sure to be careful." Virgil then turned back to the sky, the conversation was over.

For some reason, Roman felt like he was on the verge of tears. He wasn't sure why, but there was something in him warning him that something bad was going to happen and he could feel fear mocking him. You won't be able to save him. The siren steeled his nerves. Well, he was just going to have to see about that. 

My heart is pierced by Cupid

Virgil was well aware of his feelings towards a certain siren. He wasn't that oblivious. And if he ever shared anything with anyone, it would be clear to them who the siren was considering he only had ever met one. So yes, Virgil was very much in love with Roman. 

Maybe it was a foolish thing to hope that the other shared his feelings. They were two totally different creatures. Him, a human and Roman, a siren. But Virgil often had unrealistic dreams. And he was content enough to keep dreaming. After all, there was no harm in it. Was there? 

I disdain all glittering gold

He was quite a peculiar pirate, Virgil was. He was not as greedy as some others, he just liked to piss off the royal navy. It was his favorite pastime. Of course, this was quite a dangerous hobby. The royal navy often hung pirates they caught, so if Virgil were to ever get caught, it was time to say goodbye to the sea forever unless he went down with his ship. 

So, yes, Virgil did not like gold, it wasn't his motivation for piracy. However, after he met Roman, he found he quite liked the idea of stealing a gold ring or a gold necklace, anything gold to give to the stunning siren who had captured his heart. With this thought in mind, with the idea of giving his love a gift, Virgil decided that he would steal something gold for Roman on this new mission. And if he made it, he would give it to Roman, and maybe he would reveal his feelings. Maybe gold wasn't so bad.

There is nothing that can console me

Roman was scared. He was petrified.  He had been sitting on a rock. Not quite knowing what to do with his day considering he normally just followed Virgil's ship so they could meet up every night. But he wasn't going to be meeting up with him tonight. So he was at a loss of what to do. 

But then he saw a ship sail by, on its way to what he could assume was the very island Virgil was planning to attack. It was a Royal Navy ship. Roman was sure his heart had never beat so fast in his life. As fast as he could, he leaped from his rock and plunged into the ocean, and began to swim the fastest he has ever swum in his life. He couldn't let Virgil get hurt. 

But my jolly sailor bold

He barely arrived in time. By the time Roman arrived, the two ships were in a grand battle, cannons firing left and right. They smashed through wood and debris scattered the sea between them. The siren paid them little mind. His attention only focused on finding Virgil. 

"Fire!" 

There! Virgil was standing at the helm amidst the chaos aboard the pirate ship. He was drop-dead gorgeous in his element. But Roman didn't have time to appreciate Virgil's beauty. Not now. Not with Virgil's life in danger. He'd rather never be able to appreciate the beauty of Virgil ever again than to never be able to talk to him ever again. 

His hair it hangs in ringlets

Roman swam as fast as he could towards Virgil's ship. But it was hard. Debris littered the sea between the two ships and he still had to avoid getting seen. But Roman had never really been a careful person, he was more reckless than an ambitious youngster. 

The siren was hardly noticed as he zipped to Virgil's ship faster than either ship could sail.  He was at the side of the ship in record time and paused. What was he going to do now? He let out a huff and peered over at the opposing ship. He could very well bring down the ship all his own. He had brought down many ships over his time and this one would be no different. 

His eyes as black as coal

Roman couldn't do it. If he were to use his voice to enchant the other ship's crew,  it would bring Virgil's crew down as well. He couldn't risk the other's life like that. And so, the siren found himself stuck at a stalemate. Unsure of what he could do, he bobbed in the rocking waters beside Virgil's ship. 

He didn't know what to do. What would Virgil want him to do? He frowned. Virgil would want him to stay away and out of danger. He couldn't agree. Virgil was in danger and he didn't want to be stuck on the sidelines. If Virgil got hurt…. 

My happiness attend him

Roman had felt many emotions over his time alive. Joy, sorrow, anger, jealousy, but he had never quite felt love. Sure he had experienced attraction to different sailors over his time but never love. He supposed he would never feel love. He was a siren and most people didn't even believe in sirens let alone fall in love with them. Of course, there were other sirens but none of them really liked him too much. He was too interested in humans. The other sirens preferred each other's company over humans. 

Which Roman understood, after all, they didn't have much in common. And sirens often preyed on humans, luring them to their deaths with their voice alone. But, it wasn't as if they were doing it for the fun of it, it was just to protect themselves. After all, humans tended to be brutal with precious things. Roman may have agreed, but he still was fascinated with the human world. He could have never imagined getting into the situation he was in now. 

Wherever he may go

He understood now. He understood it all. How had he found himself so enchanted by this human that he would follow him anywhere? Why was he so terrified that this battle would go wrong? The old Roman wouldn't understand. He would ask what was so important that would drive him to this extreme for some human. 

Love. The one thing he never thought he would experience. Love. It could be enough to move mountains, enough to inspire, enough to create. And it was Roman's love for the sailor, his sailor, that would create a storm of fury to protect him. He would happily follow this man anywhere. He would do anything for him. 

From Tower Hill to Blackwall

Roman finally decided what he was going to do. He quickly swam over to the royal navy's ship and began looking for any weakness in her hull. If he was going to do anything he could at least try and weaken the enemy's ship. 

The siren dived below the surface and swam underneath the ship. He curled his hand into a fist before reeling back and punching the hull. His first bounced off and he snarled at the ship. He threw another useless punch at the hull before resurfacing as a loud cannon blast sounded. 

Roman flinched and watched as a cannonball flew from the ship beside him and smashed into the deck of Virgil's. His heart leaped in his throat but Virgil was okay. The ship was still standing and the siren could still see his love aboard the ship, shouting commands to his crew. 

He let out a sigh of relief and turned back to the ship behind him. Roman suspected the vessel before him with sharp eyes. There had to be something he could do. Soon, an idea hit him. The siren turned to the ocean surface in between the two vessels and quickly zipped through the debris field until he found a sharp shard of a wood plank. He quickly swam back to the ship and rammed the sharp end into the ship's hull. 

"YES!" Roman exclaimed. The wood plank had pierced the hull. He ripped the plank out of the hole and watched as water began to pour into the ship. He had done it! He was helping Virgil! 

KABOOM!!

It appeared Roman's was short-lived. 

I'll wander, weep and moan

The Royal Navy had blown another hole through Virgil's ship. It was the final blow. The ship was sinking, and quickly. "NO!" Roman's scream pierced the air. The siren shot over to the other ship. "Virgil!" He watched as the ship quickly began to disappear below the surface. "No no no no no no!" 

The siren came across other pirates as they quickly latched onto anything that would keep them afloat. Roman only felt a little bad as he bypassed them. But his mind was on Virgil. His moments with Virgil flashed through his mind. He couldn't lose him. He just couldn't.  Not when he just accepted his feelings. 

Then he slammed into a hard stop. He breathed out one heartbroken word. "No…" Roman moved forward and slowly moved the planks of wood off of the sailor. Virgil was laying on a column and must have become trapped between the two pieces of the ship and drowned. His sailor was dead. 

All for my jolly sailor

Roman gathered Virgil into his arms and held him as he cried. His sobs echoed loudly through the air, catching the attention of the remaining ship. 

"Woah! What's that?!" 

Roman looked up at the opposing ship, tears spilling over onto his cheeks. They dripped down onto his sailors' face. A face that would never smile at him again. At that moment, all his anguish, all his rage, spilled over into his throat and he unleashed his voice onto the royal navy. 

Until he sails home

The royal navy ship had run aground. Most of her crew haven jumped from the deck and into the churning waves. the rest went down with the ship. A storm had quickly moved in with the force of Roman's voice. The wind was harsh, the rain no gentler, and in the middle of it, all was Roman and his love. His cold, dead love. 

Until he wasn't. 

My heart is pierced by Cupid

To be clear, Roman was not aware of all the magical properties that he possessed. And to be quite fair, most sirens were not aware of this ability they possessed either. After all, they hardly ever had a need for tears, such was their life that they hardly experienced such sorrow. That and they spent most of their time underwater where the current carried away their tears. 

The situation that needed to arise for a siren to discover the magical power their tears held had never arisen for Roman before. Perhaps if he had known, he wouldn't have become so overwhelmed with sorrow. Although, even if he had known, one could assume that it would still hurt just as much. After all, nothing could really lessen the pain of losing a loved one. 

I disdain all glittering gold

Roman's sobs had quieted down, and with it, the storm calmed until it was just a memory.  His tears still flowed freely from his eyes as he looked down at Virgil in his arms and let out a broken sob. "I'm so sorry." The siren bit his lip as he sniffled and reached a hand forward to push some of Virgil's hair out of his face. He caressed his cheek and drew in a ragged breath. 

"I tried. I really tried, Virgil." Roman sniffed. "I just wasn't fast enough." He adjusted a necklace on Virgil's neck. It wasn't something he had seen him wear before. It must have been something he just got. He let out a loud cry. "Maybe you would have told me how you got this...if I had been just a little faster-" he broke off with a hiccup and pressed his forehead to Virgil's and continued to cry. 

There is nothing can console me

Virgil was very confused. The last thing he remembered was foggy and incomplete. He could only remember how he felt. Cold and scared. But now, he felt warm and safe. He shifted and felt arms around him, holding him. He slowly blinked his eyes open only for his vision to be filled with Roman. 

Oh, no wonder he felt safe. His face flushed as he realized the siren was holding him. Gay Panic™️ would have set in if he hadn't noticed the grief on Roman's face. He frowned and tried to move his hand only to realize it was trapped in Roman's hold. He opened his mouth to speak only to realize his tongue felt like lead. But he pushed through it. 

"Roman?" He had to comfort his siren. 

Roman's eyes flew open in alarm as he jerked back. His jaw dropped as Virgil fought to pull out his arm, it felt heavy, but he had more important things to worry about. "What's wrong?" 

"I-" tears sprang anew and Roman's mouth clamped shut. Virgil frowned and glanced around only to find debris floating all around them. The two of them were on a rock a little bit away from the shore of an island behind them. And it all came rushing back. 

The mission, the royal navy ship, the battle, the final blow, being crushed underneath parts of his ship, and finally the burning of his lungs as he drowned. He could only guess what happened next. "Ro, what happened after….?" 

Roman sniffled. "I- I did what sirens always do." 

Virgil hummed. "Do you think we can move to the shore?" 

Roman nodded and held Virgil tight before he shot over to the shore. The two dragged themselves ashore and Virgil sighed. He took off the necklace and handed it to Roman. "Here, I uh, I grabbed this for you." 

Roman's head shot up and he looked over to Virgil and the necklace he held in his stretched out hand. Gingerly, he took the necklace and tied it around his neck. It didn't stop his tears though. "Thank you." 

Virgil smiled at the siren. "You're welcome.” He knew they still had a lot to talk about. But right now, Roman just needed someone to comfort him. Specifically, he needed Virgil. So Virgil scouted closer to the siren and wrapped his arm around him and leaned against him as Roman cried. 

But my jolly sailor bold 

The sea had been merciful. Virgil was given the power to transform his legs into a tail at will. He was the first-ever merman. At least that was the name Roman had come up for him. And Virgil loved Roman so of course he fondly accepted the name. 

Together, the two of them lived in a small island with a cave that led to the water and allowed them a cool place to relax when it got too hot. They had their happily ever after. 

Currently, the two were cuddled on the beach as the sunset and they watched the stars as they revealed themselves. "I'm so glad I met you," Roman murmured. He pressed a kiss to Virgil's head and gave him a light squeeze. 

Virgil smiled warmly. "And I'm glad I met you, I love you." He turned his head to press a quick kiss to the siren's lips before returning to his previous position. 

Roman grinned. "I love you too. " 

Neither Roman or Virgil would give this up for the world.

🧜🏾‍♂️🌊🧜🏾‍♂️🌊🧜🏾‍♂️🌊🧜🏾‍♂️🌊🧜🏾‍♂️🌊🧜🏾‍♂️🌊🧜🏾‍♂️🌊🧜🏾‍♂️🌊🧜🏾‍♂️🌊

Taglist: @misery-killed-me @superwholocked-for-life @mirror2thespirit @aroundofapplesauce @lyditist @little-euro-girl @unicornofdarknessstuff @alias290 @odette-ssbu @ray-does-stuff

Let me know what you think?