#there was supposed to be a 3rd gif to this set but FUCK IT

[dilemmaontwolegs]

Life Lessons || CL16

Summary: After an embarrassing secret is shared Charles accepts some help to learn a few things about female pleasure.

Warnings: 18+ only, nsfw, fem rec oral, sex ed

WC: 2.9k

Charles - The Lazy Lover - Leclerc. That was what the wag gossip pages all shared in their stories and Charles’ cheeks grew red with embarrassment as he read the latest caption. The supposed ‘inside source’ had recounted the disappointment his past girlfriends had found in Charles’ bedroom activities. They cited him as ‘vanilla’ and ‘a missionary man’, but none of those hurt more than the sentence that described his oral capabilities as ‘nonexistent’.

He didn’t think he was bad in bed, and he wouldn’t have called himself selfish, but he couldn’t help asking some of his exes for the truth. Each of them denied sharing the information to the gossip pages, but they all replied with the same consensus.

Charles chased his own pleasure and they didn’t feel comfortable telling him what they needed to reach their own high too. He felt guilty, wondering how many of the relationships would have ended differently or not ended at all if he had paid more attention - to their sex life as well as the rest. He certainly hadn’t been the most attentive in any aspect of his last relationship with Alexandra.

“Don’t laugh,” Pierre started the conversation seriously, something that immediately caused concern for Charles. “I know someone who knows someone that can help you. She’s a private tutor, of sorts.”

“Do you know how fucked I would be if news broke I went to a hooker?”

“She’s not a hooker,” Pierre assured him as he wrote an address down on a napkin and slid it across the table. “It's already taken care of, 8pm tomorrow.”

Charles looked at the address and sighed. “This is in Paris.”

“Of course, City of Love, my friend.” Pierre finished his coffee and rose from the table, pushing a pair of sunglasses over his eyes. “You’re welcome.”

“Yeah, thanks,” Charles mumbled, still uncertain about the whole idea of having a stranger teach him how to be a better lover. “I guess.”

Later that afternoon, Charles received an email with a rather detailed questionnaire about his experiences in the bedroom as well as a small dining and drinks menu to select from. He figured he couldn’t be any more embarrassed than he already was and took his time to honestly answer the questions.

—

Charles debated turning around at least three times as he climbed the stairs in a modern apartment building. He had caught a glimpse of the Eiffel Tower from the stairwell window and paused as the lights danced along the metal, wondering if he was in the right place. He was still in half a mind that Pierre had sent him to a brothel, but this didn’t fit the stereotype he had in his head of a Parisian whorehouse. He definitely imagined more Moulin Rouge lighting and seedy alleys.

He reached the 3rd floor and found only one door on the landing, his finger barely able to aim for the doorbell with its shaking. He didn’t know what to expect when the handle started to turn, but it certainly wasn’t a bright welcoming smile and the delicious smell of fresh baking.

“Hi, you must be Charles,” you greeted your newest client. “Come in, please.”

You could tell he was nervous as he hesitantly stepped inside and his eyes scanned your home, taking in the artwork on the walls and the candlelit table with two place settings. You tried to ease his mind with a quick introduction about who you were while you poured him a glass of wine.

“Help yourself,” you said as you took a seat and waved a hand to the fresh bread and cheeses he had selected from the menu. He took a breath and sat down opposite you, the candlelight catching the sharp jawline and angular features of his handsome face. “So, Charles, what is your goal? What do you want to get out of this?”

“I, uh, to be able to please a woman?”

“You don’t sound sure,” you teased as you watched him spread an olive tapenade over the fresh toasted bread.

“No, no, I am,” he said a little more forcefully before sighing. “I didn’t realise I was…bad…in bed, until recently.”

“Well, rest assured, we will change that. But first, tell me a bit more about yourself, there’s only so much I can learn from the questionnaire.”

—

Charles began to relax the more he shared. He knew he was protected by the NDA you had sent with the rest of the paperwork and the anonymity that came with baring his ugly truths to a stranger helped to ease the discomfort of what he was doing. He still wasn’t exactly sure what he was doing but your encouraging smile kept his words flowing, like he was finally doing something right.

He hadn’t realised how quickly time had passed until the grandfather clock in the entrance chimed the hour and he saw he had eaten his fill of the meal he chose.

His overnight bag still waited on the hall table, the list of what to bring had been ticked off and double checked. His calendar had been cleared for the weekend and his phone turned off. Everything he needed to remember could be jotted down in the small journal that sat beside his used cutlery.

“So, um, what happens next?” he asked as his eyes darted to the bedroom door.

“Whatever you feel comfortable with, Charles. Come,” you rose from the table and grabbed his bag, taking it to your bedroom as he trailed behind. His feet rushed before slowing down as he caught his own eagerness and frowned to himself. It was common. There was a blurred line between of uncertainty on whether they were here to get laid or here to learn.

You placed his bag beside the large desk that covered one wall of your room and pointed to the computer chair where he took a seat. “Every woman is different and there isn’t a universal button to make us come. But, by understanding the physiological functions and anatomy, I will teach you the tools to find the right spots to make her fall apart.”

“A-anatomy?” he stammered.

You took a step back and unzipped your dress, letting it fall to the floor and bare your nakedness. His eyes widened and he swallowed deeply as he drank in your body. A soft breath fell from his parted lips when you climbed onto the desk and spread your legs either side of him. “I could show you a textbook, but I find this much more effective.”

His throat bobbed as he tried to keep eye contact and the act brought a little laugh from your chest, forcing him to look at your breasts bouncing with it. “You can look, in fact that is exactly what this first lesson is about. Look, Charles.”

His eyes closed but when they opened he was staring at your core, his chest inflating with his deep breath. “Do I just start?” he asked hesitantly, wetting his lips with his tongue.

“Just look for now,” you said with a smile as you reached down your body. “Everyone has erogenous zones, places that feel good when stimulated, and these can be found all over your body, men and women. Thumbs, wrists, behind the knees, inner thighs, neck. Simply kissing and sucking these spots can feel just as good as foreplay.”

“Really?” he eyes widened in surprise and his eyes scanned all the places you had mentioned.

“Really, and I want you to find mine.” You bared your throat and relaxed back on your elbows. “You’ll watch for the physical reactions to confirm it. Deep breathing, moans, eyes closing, jaw slack, forehead pinched - they are some of the outward signs of pleasure.”

“Are you okay with this?” he asked as he found your bent knee the closest point to his lips and his tentative touch warmed your skin.

“I am, and I am pleased that you asked for consent.”

He smiled proudly at the praise before he lifted your leg and kissed the back of your knee, his eyes watching your face as he dragged his tongue along the tendon and crease. Your head fell back and he grinned. “There.”

“One,” you confirmed with a nod before he moved up to your thigh, trying the same thing with a kiss and a lap of his tongue. A giggle bubbled up and you squirmed away. “That’s just ticklish.”

“So not that one?” he double checked, and you shook your head. “Okay…”

The man was thorough and he made sure to find which ones were good for you and which ones weren’t. He paid attention to the signs and more than once he paused to jot down a note in the journal you had provided.

“You’re a good student,” you praised.

“I have a good teacher.”

You smiled at the compliment. “Would you like to explore lesson two tonight or rest? We have all weekend.”

His eyes gave away his answer before his lips did and you climbed off the desk. “Let’s start with the basics then. The first thing you want to do is make yourself comfortable. Craning your neck from where you lie between her legs isn’t comfortable and won’t encourage you to stay there if things take a little longer,” you explained as you moved into the bed and tossed him a pillow. “So, pop one of these under the small of her back.”

He looked at the pillow and shuffled forward. “Now?”

“Mhmm,” you hummed, lifting your hips up so he could lay it in place. “Two things happen here, one, it lifts her hips higher for better access which your neck will be thankful for, and two, it tilts her pelvis down and makes it much easier to work her g spot.”

“I thought that was a myth.”

“Why don’t you find out?” you dared. “Did you clip your nails before you came?”

He looked at the short nails and wiggled his fingers with a nod. He had followed every instruction in the email.

“Good, the last thing you want is to accidentally cut a partner with a sharp nail. Now the technique most people find effective is palm up, one or two fingers, gently work your way inside - it’s all about timing, take it slow and build to begin. Once your fingers are inside, curl your fingers up and you’ll feel the tissue is softer, almost spongy. Massaging pressure over that stimulated the g-spot, and if you are good at multitasking you can then add pressure from the outside too. Just place a hand low on her abdomen, slightly above the pelvic bone - don’t press too hard though as it will push on her bladder. First though, you’d probably want to start with warming her up with some cunilingus, eating pussy.”

Charles hopped off the bed and grabbed the journal, quickly jotting down the instructions with quiet eagerness.

“You can practice if you feel comfortable,” you invited when he put the pen and page down.

“Uh, yeah, please,” he stammered as he knelt on the bed and shuffled closer.

You reached into the bedside drawer and grabbed a bottle of lube. “I don’t need this,” you said and he smirked as he saw the other outward sign you had explained - arousal - it already lubricated your slit with the thought of what Charles was going to do to you. “But you should always keep a bottle at home. All women are different, some are drier than others no matter how aroused they get. Or, it’s handy for other areas of play like anal, or even a sensual massage.”

You put the bottle back and settled among the pillows. “Use me, explore, feel the different textures and I’ll guide you if you need it. Remember to look and listen to the signs of pleasure.”

Charles nodded and settled between your legs, getting up close and personal with your pussy. His indecision held him frozen as he wondered where to begin so you offered some guidance. “Finding the clit is a good starting point and then exploring around it to find the sensitive spots. Lick, suck, kiss, try it all.”

Encouraged, he laid a tentative kiss on your slit, his eyes rolled up to watch for your reactions. Seeing nothing, he took aim and tried again, his lip brushing over your clit and a soft sigh reached his ears. More confident, his tongue flicked out and caught your clit making you jolt.

“Was that good or bad?” he asked with a frown.

“Both, that spot is very sensitive - think of the slit at the tip of your cock. When it’s primed and ready that feels amazing but straight off the bat it is a little shocking to the system. You’re in the right area though, so keep exploring.”

This time he circled his tongue around and your moan was louder. You could practically feel his smile on your skin.

“That feels good,” you hummed as warmth spread through your body and he reached up on his own initiative, massaging your breasts. “Oh, you’re a natural now.”

Inspired, he explored further, his tongue lashing along your slit, dipping into your cunt. Your back arched off the bed with a gasp so he delved deeper, fucking you with his tongue as a familiar tightening grew in your core.

“Now would be the perfect time to try to find the g-spot,” you murmured as you fought the urge to succumb to the pleasure, but the lesson wasn’t over.

His rhythm faltered with a fresh wave of nervousness and he pulled back with shiny swollen lips to drag his fingertips through the mess he had made. The slick digits started gently, dipping inside your cunt a little deeper each time until it met the resistance of his palm.

“Feel around for the different textures and then curl your fingers a little.”

He did as instructed and his lips parted in surprise as he felt the spot. “Oh, wow, I’ve never noticed that…”

Your laugh made your pussy clench and he chuckled as your walls tightened around his fingers. “I like that feeling,” he commented with a flirty smirk.

“I thought you would,” you said with a wink. “I also do lessons on male stimulation if you’re ever interested.”

“Like…gay?” he asked quietly, a frown starting to form on his brows yet it wasn’t a look of distaste.

You were intimately aware that he still had two fingers curled in your cunt but it was good that he felt comfortable enough to hold a conversation at the same time. “It’s about learning the male anatomy, like what we did here. Whether that knowledge is used for self pleasure or with a partner, male or female, that is up to them.”

He contemplated the idea for a moment before he remembered what he was doing and began to work his wrist, curling his fingers in sync so they dragged over that delicious spot. He watched your sordid reaction with fascination before he grew bolder, his tongue finding your puffy clit.

“Oh fuck, yes,” you moaned loudly as your pussy tightened in anticipation. He had read your body perfectly and flicked the tip of his tongue over your clit but this time you were primed and ready. Your orgasm began with a tingle through your hair, leading to a fine tremor that danced down your spine, it raced down your legs and curled your toes. “Oh, Charles!”

He moaned against your clit as his wrist snapped forwards and back, the wet sounds of your body filling the room as his fingers fucked you through the explosion. Your cunt clenched and spasmed around the digits and stars spotted your vision. Your head fell back into the pillows with a cry and liquid gushed over his fingers with the release.

Disoriented and overstimulated, you reached between your legs and placed your hand over his. “Please, too much,” you whispered with a hoarse voice and rough aftershocks snapping at your thighs. “That was so fucking good, Charles. I, I just need a minute.”

You threw an arm over your head, your chest rising and falling rapidly as you waited for your heart rate to calm again. A small laugh bounced from your chest as you came down from the high and you finally had the strength to prop yourself back up on your elbows.

“That was perfect, Charles, you are a very quick learner.”

He was busy staring at his hand, your release coating his palm and running down his wrist. “So that’s what an orgasm feels like?” His brows pinched as he realised he had never felt that before.

“It’s what this one felt like. They can be different based on what areas are stimulated, the intensity, intimacy, lots of factors.” You could see he was still disappointed in himself for his previous ignorance and you sat up slowly, crossing your legs as you faced him. “Just because a woman doesn’t orgasm it doesn’t mean she didn’t enjoy the experience. Does a blow job feel good before you cum?”

He shrugged, still a little unconvinced. “Yeah.”

“See, forgive yourself and move on, now you know what to do for next time.” You carefully climbed off the bed on unsteady legs and offered your hand. “Last lesson of the night, aftercare.”

He stood up and froze, looking down at his pants. “Sorry, I kind of, uh, um…”

“Why are you sorry?” you laughed, drawing his attention away from the damp patch on his trousers. “You are meant to enjoy pleasuring your partner. Never apologise for that, Charles.”

[ohraicodoll]

DESPERATELY NEED FERAL READER WITH EP 8 WITH AN INJURED JOEL AND KIDNAPPED ELLIE…….. I KNOW OUR CRAZY QUEEN WOULD KILL EVERYONE ♥️♥️♥️♥️

Yall asked for it lol

Violent Delights Joel Miller x f!Reader The Last of Us 6.7k Words/ 3rd POV Feral Reader Masterlist Summary: They took her kid and she was getting her back. Warning: Graphic depictions of violence and torture

She woke up with a start, having drifted off unknowingly after trying to keep watch, a sense of disorientation as she tried to figure out where she was and what was happening. The basement. They were still in the basement, the cold leeching any warmth from the walls and floors, the haggard breathing of her companion her only company. It’d been over 48 hours since she last slept, since Joel was hurt and they’d had to drag him into the house and patch him up. He wasn’t in good shape. Joel was so close to death’s door, it terrified her. They were so close to losing him and she had never felt more helpless.

She could still hear his pained groans, the glazed and blank look in his eyes, as she put pressure on the bleeding hole in his stomach just a couple days before. “Don’t you dare die, Joel. You still have to make shit up to me and you can’t do that dead. You can’t leave us again.” He’d tried to tell them to leave him. To go back to Tommy’s and leave him behind, the stubborn asshole. But Ellie managed to find the first aid kit and they’d sewn up the hole, wrapping it best they could with the little supplies they had. She knew it wasn’t enough. There could be shards left from the baseball bat, they weren’t the cleanest, nothing was sterile. She didn’t even know if something internal had been damaged. But it was all they could do. They’d been so focused on getting to Colorado they’d been using their food storage rather than hunting over the past week. Now it was biting them in the ass, their supplies dwindled. She’d managed to briefly go out and hunt down a rabbit, but game seemed scarce and leaving meant leaving Ellie and Joel alone. Without Joel, it was hard to sleep, look after Ellie, look after him and keep him stable, look after the fucking horses, and hunt. She was overwhelmed. So sleep went out the window. She took watch when Ellie was asleep, went and tried to hunt and scavenge the nearby houses when she was awake, and kept an eye on Joel in between taking care of the two horses in the garage. But at some point she’d fallen asleep finally, fallen deep and hard enough that she hadn’t noticed Ellie slipping the rifle from her hands and leaving the two adults alone.  A small scribbled note was placed on her lap on a piece of what looked like newspaper, “Be back soon -E.” She scrambled to her feet, looking around and cursed herself. Joel was still breathing steadily but his brow was covered with sweat from the infection he was staving off. Both their packs were against the wall but Ellie’s was gone and the panic that took hold was like a lightning bolt. It stole the breath from her lungs. Ellie was gone, Ellie was gone, Ellie was gone- it was a racing thought that circulated over and over again. Her main purpose, main job, and she’d fucking fallen asleep.

Her heart jumped further at hearing footsteps above her head, the slight creak and shift in the old wood, a door slamming…then it all came out in deep relief as she recognized the light shuffling.

Ellie raced down the steps, cheeks pink from cold and wind, and breath huffing out in a rush as she entered the basement.

She grabbed the girl immediately, shaking her by the shoulders with the vestiges of panic still in her blood, “Where did you go, Ellie? You weren’t supposed to leave!”

The teenager paused, eyes frantic and a little wild, but a tough set to her lips as she shook her head, “I went hunting and you needed sleep! I had to, but look! I got Joel medicine!” Ellie took the bottles out of their wrap, quickly moving away from her and kneeling down to Joel, beginning to lift up his shirt before she could even get a good look at what she had. The wound was ugly and discolored and she could hear him groan at the small touches. Her mind was still caught up in the panic of discovering the girl was gone and she quickly snatched the bottles away before the syringe was inserted. “Where did you get this?” she asked, turning it over in her hands. Penicillin. Two whole bottles of penicillin, practically liquid gold in their world, and Ellie had managed to get it while she slept. The teen looked nervous and tried to snatch it back, but she was quick even if she was exhausted and pulled her hand away, “Please, can we give it to him first and then I’ll explain?” Her eyes were so big for her face, cheeks pink. Her desperation to help Joel was evident. Ellie knew how bad he was doing and believed she held the cure to it all in her hands. She could only sigh and hand it back over, instructing her to give just a fourth of the bottle and to tap the syringe. Joel would probably have a heart attack if he knew she was letting the kid give it to him, but she knew Ellie had to do this herself. It was her win and she had to feel like she was the one saving him so she let her. But then they both stared, her knowledge only getting them that far. “Where the fuck am I suppose to put this?” Ellie cursed, looking at the wound and Joel’s arm, eyes switching between hers and his closed ones, “Fuck, how are we supposed to do this?” She cursed herself. Her medical knowledge was mediocre. Stitching, cleaning wounds, pulling out bullets, the basics they needed. Infections and medicine she had no clue about, “Just give it to him in his stomach. As long as it enters his blood stream, it should be fine.” At least, that’s what she thought. Ellie winced and inserted the needle, Joel giving out pained groans as it sunk into the sensitive area. They both watched the plunger empty the contents and then she pulled it out, trying to clean the needle the best she could. They only had one syringe and would have to reuse it. “And now we wait,” the teen commented and looked at his face as if at any second he would be magically better. He would wake up and smile and tell her good job. But he didn’t, staying silent on the small makeshift bed. “No, now you tell me where you went and how you got that,” she bit out, sitting on the other side of Joel to face her. Ellie winced and looked down at the small glass bottles in her hand, “You needed to sleep and we needed food. I know you think you can take care of all of us, but you can’t and I wanted to help by trying to hunt.” “That’s not your responsibility-” “It doesn’t matter. I wanted to help,” Ellie cut her off but then sighed, “And I did manage to actually get a deer…but I ran into these guys...” Instantly, she was on high alert, eyes searching everything that was visible and checking her for any wounds, “You ran into people and you’re barely telling me!” “I know!” the young girl argued back, hand resting on top of Joel’s, “They found my deer before me and said they were from a group with starving women and children. They offered to trade for half the deer and said they had medicine. I did everything I was supposed to! Got them to drop their guns, unloaded their rifles, and had them back away. One went to get the medicine and I kept the gun on the other.”

“So you gave them half the deer and they gave you the medicine then just let you go?” she asked and clenched and unclenched her fists. Ellie wouldn’t look so nervous if  that was the whole story and she wasn’t nearly tired enough to have been dragging half a deer carcass back. Shrugging, Ellie grimaced and refused to meet her eyes, “That was the deal…but they knew who we were. The people that attacked us at the university belonged to their group and this guy started talking about how one of theirs had been killed by a crazy man with two girls. He knows that was Joel. I don’t know why he let me go, but I think they’re looking for us.” With a curse, she quickly stood, hands on her hips and pacing in a tight circle, “Fuck. Fuck. And they didn’t come after you?”

“No, I think they let me go because I was a kid.” She doubted that. People rarely were that charitable, even to children in this world. Especially a child with a gun and an attitude like Ellie’s. The unspoken words were there though. That didn’t mean they wouldn’t come for her and Joel though. Ellie may be deemed innocent but the two of them were problems and only one of them was in commission currently. But what could they do? They couldn’t move Joel in his state. They couldn’t leave him behind either. They were stuck. “Okay. Maybe if they let you go they don’t plan on coming. Maybe they think both of us are injured if you were out on your own and won’t come,” she lied comfortingly and tried to speak the words into existence, knowing the kid was probably feeling guilty and needed some hope. They needed rest, needed to breathe for a second, and panicking now wouldn’t help.  It took a while to relax enough to let the adrenaline fade away.

Ellie laid down, exhausted, tucking into Joel’s side as she had the past couple nights and resting her head on his shoulder. He subconsciously leaned into her, still alive for now. Her heart ached at the sight, the way they held each other in their own ways. She didn’t have the strength to get after the girl more or uproot them out of precaution. They were all exhausted and Ellie had somehow managed to bring hope even if there was a cost.

She sat down by the stairs, flipped her knife between her fingers to keep her awake and focused, and watched the two sleep with her heart in her throat.

The men would come. Now that they knew they were in the area, they would come and they were stuck in this spot until Joel was better. There was no way they could get him on a horse and move him now without undoing all the healing he’d done. A thousand scenarios went through her head, sleep now a distant memory in the face of the panic and anxiety plaguing her. How was she supposed to fight off a group and keep them both safe?

She couldn’t. That was the reality of the situation.

The thought hit her over and over again like a blow to the chest, the knife turning between her fingers. _________________________________________ Morning came and she could see Ellie’s disappointment that the medicine hadn’t instantly woken Joel up and made him all better. To ease her mind, they gave him another dose, trying to make the bottles last before shoving the remainder in their bags. They were out of food, the rabbit she had caught two days ago long gone without a way to store it. Joel still wasn’t eating or drinking and she worried that even if they got the infection under control, his body wouldn’t be strong enough to get better. Things were bad. The possibility of Joel dying was a constant chime in her head. It felt like a mockery that he had left and came back only to be almost taken from them permanently. She was angry. He wasn’t supposed to be the one that took the hit. It had been meant for her but he’d pushed her out the way as the bat swung, breaking on the tree, and then tackled the guy. If it had been her, Joel would know what to do. He could take care of them both or at least would have the strength to leave her behind if necessary. She wasn’t sure she could. She was failing him. Failing them both. The basement was suffocating, pressing in on her, and she took the opportunity to go tend to the horses, leaving the girl and her unconscious companion to the pressing weight of disappointment. Her body was beginning to ache from the lack of sleep and food, joints protesting her movement, but she reached down and scooped snow into the small metal bucket for them to get some water. Soon the horses would starve too or be too weak to carry them. Death was creeping up on them. Looking over the neighborhood they were held up in, she sighed at the obvious foot steps leading up through the streets before beginning to methodically cover what she could. Ellie knew better than to leave a trail but she guessed in her hurry to get the medicine back to Joel and get away from the men she had forgotten. And as birds took off in a rush further down the road towards the wooded outskirts, she froze and her heart thundered in her ears. 

She felt fear run through her as her thoughts from the night resurfaced and became reality, a living nightmare. They were coming. They had waited for daylight to search them out and were coming now. She knew it, could feel it, and they were out of time. Quickly covering what she could and making false tracks from the other houses, she ran back inside and flew down the stairs to the basement taking two at a time. No time, there was no time.  Ellie startled at her rushed appearance and the way she flew across the room to the rifle and her own pack, “What’s happening?”

“Those men you saw are coming,” she huffed out, grabbing the rifle and checking it was loaded before looking around the room as if she could find the answer there.

Turning to Joel, Ellie began to shake his shoulders as if he were merely sleeping and not borderline in a coma, “Fuck. Joel! You have to wake up, Joel. Joel, wake up! Wake the fuck up, Joel!” But he only gasped, pained whimpers leaving his lips, eyelids fluttering.

She bent down and grabbed Ellie by the shoulders, forcing her to look into her eyes, “Ellie, I need you to listen to me. I need you to take the horse and run.”

“What? No, what about-”

“You run and I’ll follow behind and try to pick them off,” she interrupted, voice adamant, “They’re going to search every house and they will find us eventually. I can’t hold them off like this. I need to know you’re good first and if we’re away from here then it will take the focus off Joel.”

“You want me to go without you?” Ellie’s eyes were wide with fear and her heart ached at the sight, but there was no time.

“I’ll find you,” she promised and dug her fingers tightly into her shoulders as if she could sink the words into her skin, “I will. But you have to go now. We’ll block the entrance to down here, give Joel some time.”

Ellie pressed her lips together and nodded, running to grab her backpack and last minute grabbed one of the larger knives they had. Running back over to Joel, the teen knelt down and placed it on his chest, forcing his hand to grab it. She let her while grabbing the rest of her stuff and placed Joel’s pack into a small cubby under the steps to make it less noticeable.

“Okay, look at me,” Ellie whispered to him while he only groaned in reply, “There are men coming, okay? I’m gonna lead them away from you, Red is going to help get rid of them. But if anybody makes it down here, you fucking kill them. You got it?”

“Ellie, hurry,” she bit out, peeking out the small window along the top of the wall. “Joel, do not fall asleep,” the teenager pleaded desperately, squeezing his hand around the knife. She could see his eyes partially open, see his lips trying to move and his fingers twitching trying to grasp the knife. But Ellie finally got up quickly and rushed up the stairs. She went to follow after her and paused, staring back at the unconscious man on the floor. A part of her whispered that this could be the last time she saw him alive. One or both of them could be dead if this didn’t go right. Heart in her throat, she ran back to him and kneeled, kissing his forehead and grasping his hand. “Stay alive for us, please, Joel,” she whispered, squeezing the hand around the knife, but getting back up and running up the stairs. She tried not to look back. Both of them moved the tall kitchen cabinet over the door entryway to the basement, trying to shuffle things around to not make the spot obvious before heading to the garage. They got both horses out, grabbing what she needed from hers and sending silent apologies to Tommy before forcing it to gallop away in the opposite direction with a sharp smack. The other she saved for Ellie to ride, closing the garage door behind them. They’d figure out transportation later when they were out of this mess, but they needed the guys off their trail and two different horse tracks would help. With quick hands, she helped Ellie climb up onto its back. 

Shakily, she bit out, “You ride hard and fast and loud. They’re going to come after you but if you go fast they won’t catch you and I’ll hit them from behind. They only know for sure about you right now. Do not look back, Ellie. I’ll find you once it’s safe, I promise.” Ellie was shaking but tried to put on a brave face, nodding and holding onto the reins. She wanted to hug the girl, tell her it was going to be okay, but she wouldn’t lie to her. Not now. The men were close, she knew that. She patted the rear of the horse and nodded a final goodbye, beckoning her to go forward. Her heart screamed to not let her go, that it was safer with her than alone, but they were backed into a corner and she had no choice. They wouldn’t win in a shootout and losing meant Ellie would die. So she watched as the girl rode away down the street away from her, turning until she was completely out of sight, and tried not to flinch at the gunshots that came soon after and the yells of men. She tried to shut off the part of her that wanted to panic, to react and worry. That wasn’t the part she needed to listen to at the moment. Running as far as she could, crossing over fences and staying against the walls of the house, she followed the sound of loud hoof beats and chased after them as they chased after Ellie. Her ears caught on one of them screaming that she was to be left alive, but that didn’t ease the worry in her. Being captured alive wasn’t always a good thing. One of the slower men chasing Ellie fell the furthest behind, wheezing in the cold and trying to clamber in the dense snow. Her own knife in hand, she ran and jumped onto his back, using both their weight to send them forward onto his front behind the cover of some of the shrubs. 

He hadn’t been expecting to be attacked from behind and it took him a moment to try and struggle, to lift his face out of the snow to breathe, and she took advantage of that by stabbing deep into the back of his neck. He groaned, the sound muffled, and she pulled the blade out and sunk it in again and again with a growl. The snow was staining red around them. He stopped moving. One down. She stood and took off, the cold biting into her lungs and stealing her breath. The terrain was hard and the one kill had put her farther behind the group, forcing her to cut across more backyards to catch up, but she could only hope Ellie had done what she asked and was out of range. She could catch the rest of them once they scattered. But then a gunshot rang out close by. The sound of a horse’s cry ripped through her, tore her soul to shreds, and she knew if she lived beyond the day she would hear that sound forever in her nightmares.

She ran. She left all care of stealth behind and ran fast and hard, dodging trees and fallen branches and then ran faster when another gun shot rang out. The chest felt like it was being cleaved open by the panic, fear gripping her tightly. They wouldn’t have shot her. They wouldn’t have killed her. She was a kid, they wouldn’t-

And then she watched from the trees as the group surrounded Ellie who was on the ground, her horse unmoving not far away, and a tall skinny man picked her up and began to walk away with her. She raised the rifle, looking down the scope, and cursed as the men separated and began to head back into the neighborhood. No doubt to continue their search for Joel and her.

She could see Ellie’s face through the scope, the loll of her head, but she was gripped too closely to the man’s body. He was walking further and further away. Two sides of her screamed. Leaving to go after them meant abandoning Joel, but staying behind meant leaving Ellie. She wanted to press the trigger, shoot, but knew it was too risky with Ellie in the man’s arms. She could so easily accidentally kill the girl if she was one inch off and her hands were too shaky from exhaustion to be precise. Only some of the group was going back, the others looking like they were continuing to scout the area.

She knew what she had to do, what Joel would tell her to do, but the reality of it felt impossible. If they found Joel, he’d die for sure. But she wasn’t sure she could live with leaving Ellie.

The men with the girl were getting farther away and a choice had to be made.

So she swallowed the sob in her throat and let the rage she felt consume her completely, push her forward, and followed behind the group to where they would take her kid.  __________________________ It was getting harder and harder to follow along as the wind began to kick up a notch. She needed to see where they were taking Ellie, but she was tired and the cold was sinking in, her body struggling to keep going. And as they entered the town, it was getting difficult to avoid being seen. Too many buildings, too many open areas, and she didn’t know who could be watching. She knew they had entered one of the nearby buildings, but wasn’t sure which. The clock was ticking in her mind, Ellie’s life on one hand and Joel’s on the other. What good was she if she couldn’t save her people? Blood crusted on her fingers as she entered the first of the buildings quietly, finding a back entrance. It was dark but she could hear voices nearby as she found herself in some kind of storage room, the cold still reaching her through the walls. She wasn’t used to carrying the rifle. It had always been Joel’s weapon thanks to its weight, her preferring knives or a small pistol or even a bow when she could find one. So when she crouched down to ease her way over to the swinging door leading further inside, she winced when it thudded and scraped against the floor, the sound so loud in her ears. The voices paused and she froze, eyes wide and watching the door. There was shuffling and she quickly backed away into a darkened corner, pulling her knife out. Steps came closer and she held her breath, trying to calm her racing heart. The door swung open and she could see a man enter, beard a little rough and looking a little ragged, cheeks red from the cold. He frowned, looking around, gaze shifting over what he could. He turned to look at the back door, back facing her, and only then did she realize she had tracked snow inside and it hadn’t quite melted. Lunging, she stuck the blade deep into his lower back with all her might and threw her arm around his neck, choking him hard. A cry of pain tried to leave his lips, breath cut off, and he struggled wildly. She twisted the knife, feeling blood coat her hand. “Where is the girl?” she hissed, jerking the blade deeper. He sobbed and made pathetic mewling sounds of pain, voice wispy from lack of air, “Please, I don’t know-” She twisted, hearing the squelch of flesh tearing, “The teenage girl your buddy grabbed, where is she?” The distinct smell of piss lingered in the air and he sobbed out, “I don’t know! Oh god.” Steps were coming close again and she growled, keeping her grip on the knife buried in his body and shifting her arm away from his neck to hold the back of his collar. He wheezed in air, blood starting to bubble from his lips. The door burst open and the distinct sound of a gun rising echoed in the tiny room, only to pause as she held the man in front of her like a shield, mostly hidden by his body. “Howard-” A woman’s voice. All the people who had attacked them had been men. 

She wouldn’t have the information she needed. With a growl of frustration, she shoved the body at her, letting his dead weight hit her and trap the woman against the wall. She let out a startled cry and the delay gave her just enough time to unholster her pistol and shoot her in the head. The numbness that was a twin to her rage had sunk into her skin, blanketing her all over. She’d search the buildings, one by one, and kill whoever she had to to find her kid. She didn’t care. Stepping over the bodies, she moved into the area they had been in before she drew their attention and paused, icy horror filling her. A leg was in the process of being cut apart, small chunks set aside and being wrapped up as if to store for later. It was a kitchen, most likely used to prepare food for stage, large makeshift smokers and pits along the back unused. The ticking clock in her mind sped up as the reality of what she’d uncovered hit her. Cannibals. These people that had taken Ellie were cannibals. A strong hit to her back sent her stumbling forward and clattering to her knees. She grunted and scrambled forward as a stomp missed her, hitting the ground instead. There’d been someone still in the room and she’d been too distracted to notice. 

Rolling onto her back, gun still in her hand, she aimed and managed to shoot the knee out of her assailant as he raised a butcher knife. He crumpled to the ground with a cry and she got to her feet slowly, gun raised and trained on him. 

The guy was younger, but thin and haggard looking. His bravado hadn’t fully left him though as he stared her down, anger in his eyes, “You fucking bitch. You blew out my fucking knee.” He tried to get up but she aimed at his head, making him freeze. “I’ll shoot the other one too if you don’t shut up and tell me where the girl you kidnapped is,” she snarled, adrenaline helping to keep the firearm steady on him. His nose wrinkled and he spit at her, brow furrowed.

Stubborn. Younger guys were so stubborn.

She pulled the trigger and watched his other knee explode as the bullet met his target. The man screamed and she quickly knelt down, shoving her hand over his mouth and placing the still warm barrel against his forehead. Tears leaked out his eyes, making little dirt tracks through the grime on his skin.

“Where the fuck is she?” she screamed into his face and the sound was almost inhuman, gravel and fury warping it almost into a howl.

But he only shook his head, eyes defiant. Frustrated, she stood, looking at the meat cleaver in his hand and the human leg on the table. She didn’t have time for this. Ellie was out there and the situation was worse than she thought. Not even meeting his eyes, she raised the gun and shot him in the head. He wasn’t going to give her any information.

She raced back outside through the back door she had entered, heart in her throat and a panicked scream wanting to leave her lips.

The storm was picking up as an idea hit her. If she searched each building, there was no guarantee she’d find someone with information in time. She had to draw their attention. Maybe lure them out. They had wanted Ellie alive for the moment. If she could distract them, it may buy her time.

Chewing her lip, she kneeled behind the building and swung her pack around to dig through it. Her hand wrapped around a small glass bottle that had been carefully secured in the middle of her clothes and yanked it out along with one of her old shirts. They’d been saving it for emergencies, using it to sterilize what they could, but she needed it for something else now. Her face stung from the cold wind and her hands shook, but she managed to tear cloth and shove it into the liquor bottle, saturating the fabric, before she put her pack back on and stood.

Time to make a big fucking distraction.

Blocking the wind with her hands, she lit a match and watched as the tip of the cloth burned bright with flames.

With a snarl, she tossed the molotov through the window of the next building, ducking down and watching as the flames exploded inside. Screams and shouts followed, telling her there had been people inside, and she waited for more voices to join them. Someone would investigate or come outside.

Like clockwork, a man rushed out into the cold and she gripped her bloody knife at the familiar face. One of the men that had come back with Ellie. He cursed and ran through the snow, yelling that he was going to grab the fire extinguisher next door while the others scrambled to put the flames out. She followed, quiet, lava flowing through her and teeth bared. She couldn’t even feel the cold anymore. 

The wind blocked any sound she made as she rushed after him into the alley and lunged, shoving him into the cold brick wall with a loud crack. She growled and grabbed his hair, gripping it tightly and smashing it into the bricks once then twice. He tried to push away and turn, but she kneed him hard in the spine, driving him to his knees. “Where is the girl?” she snarled into his ear, knife to his throat. Blood poured down an open wound on his forehead, one eye blinded by red, as he finally took in who had grabbed him, “fuck you,” “Wrong answer,” she yanked his hair and slammed it into the wall again. When he went to raise his hand to fight her, she stabbed the blade through his hand and into the ground. His screams were carried away by the wind and snow, the shouts of his group telling her they were still distracted by the fire. “The girl your group grabbed,” the words were all razors and broken glass, almost the sound of an animal snarl, “Where did you take her?” He sneered at her, trying to put on a strong front through the pain, “That bitch is probably soup by now.” She stepped on the knife, the blade so far in his hand the hilt was pressing against the back, “I can make this last a fucking lifetime. Your choice. Where-” “Please, don’t-” Frustrated, she ripped the knife out and placed the tip just inside his mouth, “Last chance. Where is she?” The tip clinked against his teeth and he hung his mouth open to avoid being cut, his beard a mess of blood and spit and green eyes wide with fear finally. She tried not to feel satisfaction as seeing that, understanding setting in for him. He lifted his bloody hand and tried to point across the street, stuttering out, “Steakhouse. The fucking steakhouse. David has her in there.” She looked at him, eye swollen, and blood coating the front of his face, clearly terrified.

Slowly, she took the blade away, watching his lips wobble with sobs and slight relief. Then she slit his throat, continuing to move behind the buildings even as his blood sprayed out and soaked her clothes and his pleas gurgled and quieted.

The steakhouse was a few more buildings down across the street, “Todd’s Steakhouse” still written on the sign out front. The storm was a blizzard now, sharp stinging snow hitting her skin and turning the blood on her into patches of ice. There were yells, panicked screams, and she wondered if they had found the bodies. If they had found the blood and chaos she had left in her wake.

But with a destination in sight, she had let her guard down and she cursed herself later on for it. Arms wrapped around her torso, crushing the rifle into her back, and she kicked at the air as she was dragged back against a brick wall.

“You fucking bitch!” Screamed into her ear and she was tossed to the ground, teeth clattering from the impact.

A kick landed in her stomach and she grunted, the air leaving her lungs, but she had enough sense to grab onto the leg and cling to it. The move caught the man off balance and he tripped, falling to the ground next to her. Her blade was somewhere in the snow and she struggled to dig around for it, sharp steel nicking her fingers as she found it only to be thrown onto her back.

The man climbed on top of her, straddling her waist, his weight so heavy and her pack on her back making the move crushing. She grit her teeth and bucked, thrashing to try and get him off of her. But he only grinned, pulling back and decking her in the face. Stars lit up behind her eyes, a high pitch ringing all she could hear as pain exploded through her head.

He pulled back to punch again and her fingers found the cold metal in the snow. She wrapped her hand around it, feeling the sharp steel cut into her palm as she grabbed it by the blade instead of the hilt, and stabbed it into his lower throat. She didn’t stop, only switching to pull it out by its handle this time, and stabbed again and again, blood reigning down onto her.

With a howl, she shoved him off of her and sent a final stab into his face, snow soaking into her and pain a radiating heat. Everything hurt and it was an effort to get up and roll onto her side, staring at the decimated body next to her. 

She spit blood on him and stood. There was smoke coming from all around her, the fire having caught from the molotov and moving on building to building. Across the way, smoke could be seen from the steakhouse and she swallowed her pain, letting adrenaline carry her to the front doors. Her hands shook as she tried the handles, pulling again and again but they stayed locked and shut. Growling, she threw her shoulder into it. She was so close. She had found the place and was so close and a locked fucking door was all that was keeping her away. Her breathing was quick and frantic as she looked over the front and tried to reason that there had to be a back door or an employee entrance. Her hands skimmed the wall to try and keep upright, knowing soon the exhaustion and pain would take over, but she tried to push it back. Ellie had to be close. She needed to keep going a little bit further and then she’d get her kid and they’d go get Joel. 

Her steps stumbled and she pushed off the wall, screaming at herself to stay steady. There, she could see the back door. Plain and wooden, easy enough to shoot the lock off and get inside. With shaky fingers, she unhooked the rifle from her shoulder, the weight of it almost unbearable, and took two shots to get the lock blown off. Her legs were shaky as she climbed the few steps and opened the door, smoke pouring out. She coughed and tried to wave it away, stepping inside and feeling the heat. She had taken only a few steps into the building and stopped, hearing a familiar voice. “Red?” Relief flooded her, eyes instantly filling with tears, as Ellie emerged from the smoke not too far in front of her. Ellie was there, hair a mess and half tumbling out of her ponytail, blood splattered and smeared all over her face and clothes. It took her a while to realize she was standing there, actually standing there, watching as the girl stumbled forward and wrapped her arms tightly around her waist. 

Smoke and fire was all around them, but she couldn’t care because she had Ellie and they were both alive and safe now. With shaky hands, she managed to direct them back out of the building and into the cold, fresh air. Her promise rang in her ears and she whispered them out loud as she clung to the girl, “I found you. I found you. I’ll always find you.” And she had, but not quick enough. She knew that something awful had happened, that Ellie was now one step closer to being what her and Joel were. The tough exterior had crumbled away and all that was left was a shocked girl who’d had a piece of her soul cleaved away. Her nose was busted and she knew that look in her eyes, the horror and pain at doing something ugly but necessary. Ellie’s lips were shaking as she looked her over and she was so focused on the girl she almost didn’t see Joel coming around the corner. Joel, standing and whole and alive, coming towards them like Ellie was a gravity well pulling both of them towards her. His eyes met hers and the relief was bright, even if she was dripping in blood. But Ellie hadn’t noticed the shift in attention, hadn’t heard his steps, and when he went to grab her she bucked and thrashed in his arms in sheer desperation. So much like her, a wild animal fighting not to be caged. Her heart tore apart, shredded to pieces, at the painful screams then broken sobs as she realized who was holding on to her. 

Joel only kept whispering, “It’s me, it’s me, I’m here.” “He- I-” she stuttered, eyes glazed and searching both of theirs. Joel held on with all his might, trying to ease her, gentle words soothing. And the girl crumbled, falling into his arms and clinging to him tightly as much as he was clinging to her. His eyes met hers and she let the exhaustion hit her and carry her towards them, falling to her knees and wrapping her arms around them both. All three of them, blood soaked, finally home with each other.

______________ Feral Reader Taglist: @alouise20 @faceache111

[bunnyboyjuice]

Freak in Disguise

Hiromi is an undercover freak. He can’t keep his hands to hisself always touching you. He always groping some part of you staring at your thighs and breast when guys go out together. Especially when your wearing such a pretty dress the exposed all your curves to him how is he supposed to keep his hands to himself he can’t stop himself from pulling you in his lap rubbing your ass giving it light spanks . His dick already getting hard from just imagining what’d he do to you when y’all got home, and when y’all get back home he can barely contain himself.

“Fuck doll look at you not wantin’ to let go you pussy’s so needy.” He says from inbetween your pillowy thighs. His fingers pumping in and out of you warm gooey walls and his greedy mouth already lapping at the juices spilling out. A messy make out session between him and your pussy that has you seeing stars. Him sucking on your clit and his fingers pumping in and out of you send you over the edge with in minutes but Hiromi isn’t done yet.

What he was dreaming about was fucking you too. He wanted to have his cock in its favorite place in the world.

“Just one more doll ok?” He coos at you thrusting into you god does he love being connected like this. His dick slipping in and out of your wet folds and the squelching of you cunt grows louder by the second and so does the sound of his pelvis smacking against your plump plush ass.

“Hiro..please I-I…can’t.” You hiccup as you feel yourself trembling underneath the weight of the man caging you under him. What was it your 3rd maybe..4th orgasm but Hiromi just wanted one more. He could be here all night filling you up to the brink with his seed and watching you pussy swallow him up again and again. “You can’t want baby you’re already taking me so well.” His heavy lidded eyes stare at the mess between your thighs noticing the mixture of slick and juices mixing together making a perfect harmony as he rolls his hips making his cock hit deeper.

His cock twitched eagerly as he felt your pussy clenching and squeezing around him his fingers gripping at your hips. His mind going hazy with lust his hips setting a sloppy pace as his grunts and groans grow louder with your moans and whines. “Hi..Hiro..m’cumming!” You hiccup before crying out a gush of squirt coating his cock and the bed beneath both of you as Hiro follows filling you up with his seed. His hips thrusting lazily as pulls out and flips you over pressing wet kisses all over your neck and kissing you on you drool coated lips. Seeing your face all fucked out and hazy made his cock harden instantly, you wouldn’t mind if you went for a round 5 or 6 would you?

A/N: teehee here’s another Hiromi Drabble before I writing something full for him I just think he’s a freak but he controls himself very well to hide his freak behavior.

[the-oblivious-writer]

Comfort Crowd

Core Four and Fem!Reader | Sam Carpenter x Fem!Reader

One-Shot: Social Media Au, No GF Au

Summary: Just you, the core four, and a few other scream characters being chaotic

Warning(s): Swearing, "kys" being thrown around (once & jokingly ofc), no gf au, best friend's older sister & age gap (sam is 25/26 & r is 19)

Notes: First time doing a social media au thing for a fic soo if you have any feedback lemme know. Hope you enjoy, this was honestly fun to make

3/7 for Seven Days Of Christmas

mindythegreat

liked by chadtheman_meeks, ambers_notafreeman, and 8,563 others

mindythegreat: can’t take these bitches anywhere @y/n @justalilguy

view all 8,432 comments…

chadtheman_meeks: I just know your asses are freezing 💀

>justalilguy: SHE THREW ME ASS FIRST

>y/n: THREEWW?? YOU JUMPED ON MY BACK THEN SLIPPED

>justalilguy: LIESS

>y/n: YOU CAN SEE IT SO CLEARLY IN THE FIRST PHOTO

>justalilguy: GASLIGHTER

>y/n: LITERALLY STFUP

chadtheman_meeks: now they're at it in the replies 😭

>ambers_notafreeman: LMAO

—

y/n

liked by justalilguy, chadtheman_meeks, and 4,127 others

y/n: we studying tf outa this exam 😤

view all 2,598 comments...

chadtheman_meeks: you spent the first 20 mins deciding on what playlist to use and then another 10 flirting with the librarian

>y/n: and you spent the first half hour giggling with liv on face time 🤨

mindythegreat: chad knows how to read??

>chadtheman_meeks: fuck you.

justalilguy: I see you've started without me 😒

>y/n: WE WERE SUPPOSED TO MEET LIKE TWO HOURS AGO??

>justalilguy: IT'S NOT MY FAULT MY ALARM DIDN'T GO OFF

>y/n: WE WERE MEETING AT 4 HOW MUCH SLEEP DO YOU NEED???

samcarpenter1997: @justalilguy This is the study session you slept through?

>justalilguy: sam?? since when did you have insta?

>samcarpenter1997: Mindy helped me set up an account

y/n: @justalilguy why have you never told me that your older sister is so breath taking? that's breaking girl code 😔

>justalilguy: no. just no. stay away from her.

>y/n: I was just making an observation? btw can I come over?

>justalilguy: NO.

>y/n: so in 30 mins work? great! tell sammy I won't be long

>justalilguy: YOU DID NOT JUST-

chadtheman_meeks: @justalilguy it's a canon event.

>not_ethanlandry: she hit on my sister too

>justwes: and mine

>livvy: mine too

>ambers_notafreeman: same.

>justalilguy: @y/n you have a fucking problem

—

y/n

liked by ambers_notafreeman, mindythegreat, and 8,752 others

y/n: bro's too stubborn to admit she needs help reaching the top shelf

view all 4,673 comments...

ambers_notafreeman: lmao she's so short not even tip-toeing would help her reach

>mindythegreat: rip amber

>livvy: was nice knowing you ames

>justalilguy: oh? well if I'm so short then ig I can't kiss you

>ambers_notafreeman: I didn't mean it in a bad way bby 😢

>justalilguy: there's a good way? please. enlighten me.

ambers_notafreeman: @y/n wat do I do.

>y/n: hm? oh, sry, I was too busy laughing at your ass being in the doghouse for the 3rd time this week 💀

>ambers_notafreeman: kys.

—

samcarpenter1997

liked by y/n, mindythegreat, and 6,732 others

samcarpenter1997: (sam? putting a caption? funny.)

view all 4,873 comments...

y/n: KSHFSKH I mean- Gorgeous as always 💕

>samcarpenter1997: Thank you! 🙂

>justalilguy: GTFO OF HER COMMENTS as for you @samcarpenter1997 wtf was that???

>samcarpenter1997: Your friend gave me a compliment. I literally just said thank you.

>justalilguy: since when do you actually reply to comments?? second of all, THE EXCLAMATION MARK AND EMOJI??? Sam. for you, that's basically jamming your tongue down her throat

>samcarpenter1997: I was just being polite, you're really overthinking this

>y/n: yeah, @justalilguy just listen to the drop dead gorgeous woman

>samcarpenter1997: @y/n Talking about yourself?

>y/n: oh!! 🤭

>justalilguy: I've died and this is hell.

—

y/n

liked by samcarpenter1997, justwes, and 9,892 others

y/n: me and my fav drummer boy @juswes are back at it again

view all 8,992 comments...

justwes: anything for my favorite guitarist 😊

>y/n: ❤️

chadtheman_meeks: I better be the first to hear it!

>y/n: was there any doubt??

samcarpenter1997: That guitar looks good on you

>y/n: bet you'd suit me better

>samcarpenter1997: We could test that theory

>y/n: oh, how I'd love to

>justalilguy: what. the. actual. fuck.

—

mindythegreat

liked by ambers_notafreeman, chadtheman_meeks, and 8,968 others

mindythegreat: LMAOO guess what she just walked in on

view all 8,572 comments...

chadtheman_meeks: I KNEW IT I KNEW IT

ambers_notafreeman: @justalilguy I just got your text, I'm so sorry babe 😭

>justalilguy: IN THE FUCKING LIVING ROOM

not_ethanlandry: I don't get it?

>justwest: same

>chadtheman_meeks: y/n and sam were making out and Tara saw them...

>justwes: OH...y/n's gonna be annoying asf now right?

>chadtheman_meeks: 100%

—

y/n

liked by samcarpenter1997, nik, and 6,432 others

y/n: LOST IN THE LABYRINTH OF MY MIND

view all 5,897 comments...

justalilguy: this is my new waking nightmare.

>chadtheman_meeks: I tried to warn you

>ambers_notafreeman: you should see the look on her face rn

nik: aww, you guys are so cute together 🥰

>y/n: thank you anika<33

not_ethanlandry: you said you weren't looking for a relationship?

>y/n: with you. I wasn't looking for a relationship with you

>not_ethanlandry: noted

mindythegreat: @ambers_notafreeman pay up

>ambers_notafreeman: @y/n you couldn't have waited another week before posting how down bad you are??

>y/n: the heart wants what the heart wants

samcarpenter1997: 🖤

>y/n: 🤍

>samcarpenter1997: Are you coming over later?

>y/n: ofc I am 😉

>samcarpenter1997: Then I'll see you later, beautiful

>y/n: skhfkhfksh see you 🥰

mindythegreat: @justalilguy weren't you just telling me you think they look good together?

>justalilguy: MINDY

—

chadtheman_meeks

liked by justalilguy, ambers_notafreeman, and 8,997 others

chadtheman_meeks: @y/n was supposed to put them in for 10 minutes...she put them in for 30 😐

view all 8,542 comments...

justalilguy: @y/n how tf do you mess that up

>y/n: I don't appreciate being attacked rn

>justalilguy: hm?

>y/n: ...I wanted them a extra crispy

>justalilguy: you're such a dumbass sometimes 💀

>y/n: actually I'm just a girl

ambers_notafreeman: @y/n aren't you always saying how you'd be a housewife for the right woman and shit

>y/n: that still stands!!

>ambers_notafreeman: how do you expect to do that when you can't even bake cookies??

>y/n: wow. I wasn't expecting such sexism from you- chad maybe but you? it's the betrayal for me 😦

>ambers_notafreeman: idk how I tolerate you

>chadtheman_meeks: um hello???

—

y/n

liked by justalilguy, samcarpenter1997, and 9,896 others

y/n: Merry christler🎄❄️

view all 9,047 comments...

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A/N: Tara and R in a nutshell (poor chad getting caught in the middle)

[jenna0rtega27]

Heyyy!

Could i request one for g!p Jenna x reader? Reader is Jenna’s fiancée and when Jenna isn’t filming they have sex, a few months later reader finds out she is pregnant and is scared of Jenna’s reaction?

Thank youuu

Pregnant

Thank you for asking

Jenna Ortega x F!Reader

Warning: Jenna g!p, reader is pregnant

(This is just pure fiction)

(I didn't know if you wanted smut. So this one doesn't have smut but if you want I can make another one with smut)

Note: This is my first one shot so please bear with me. Also I don't speak English so I'm sorry for the spelling mistakes.

Number of words: 1575

Masterlist

3rd person

Y/n and Jenna are lying on the bed and kissing passionately. Jenna is lying on her back and Y/n is lying on top of Jenna. The couple met while filming season 1 of Wednesday. Since then, they have been inseparable. They became a couple 3 months after the start of filming and Jenna proposed to Y/n two months ago. They were very in love. For both women, gender was very important. Every chance they got, they made love.

Jenna and Y/n have also had a lot of sexual experiences, for example, they already had a threesome with Emma Myers.

As it happens, the couple is about to have another of their many sexual encounters.

Without stopping the very languorous and sloppy kiss, Jenna reaches out and opens the drawer of the nightstand next to the bed in search of a condom.

“Fuck we’re out of condoms. » Jenna said, stopping the kiss and looking at Y/n. Jenna would still hope that Y/n would still want to make love even if the risk of getting her pregnant is great.

" Nevermind. You just have to walk away. » Y/n said before resuming the languorous kiss. Jenna smiled into the kiss.

10 days later

It's now been 10 days since sex without a condom and Y/n has never felt so bad. She vomits every morning and is tired all the time. But the young fiancée was not worried. She figured it was just a bad week.

Currently, Jenna is filming the movie Miller's Girl and Y/n is at home with her friend Emma Myers and watching Netflix.

“My stomach hurts so much I started my period yesterday. » Emma said, rubbing her stomach. Emma and Y/n never had a hard time talking about periods. They even say on the day they start their period, that way the other can take care of the other when their boyfriend or fiancée is not there. “But weren’t you supposed to start your period like 9 days ago? » Questions Emma.

“Yeah, I don’t know, I’m late. » Y/n says but suddenly a light turns on in her head. “I vomit every morning, I'm tired all the time, and I'm 9 days late. And that's been the case since I made love to Jenna a week and two days ago. » Y/n thinks silently.

" What are you thinking about? » Asks Emma. Y/n looks at Emma with big worried and panicked eyes. " Hold on ! You are pregnant ?! » Y/n just shakes her shoulders.

“I don’t know Emma. The last time me and Jenna made love, we ran out of condoms so we did it without a condom. But Jenna pulled out so I don't understand. »

“Omg you are so stupid!” » Emma said, slapping her forehead.

“No need to tell me, I already know.” » Y/n mutters, looking at the ground.

Emma sighs and hugs her friend. " I'm sorry. Look, I'm going to go get several pregnancy tests. » Emma says and gets up and leaves the house.

“I can’t be pregnant. Jenna will definitely break up if I'm pregnant. She doesn't want children, that's for sure. » Y/n said to herself.

After about ten minutes, Emma comes back and gives the pregnancy tests to Y/n. Y/n sighs and gets up and goes to the bathroom. She peed on 5 pregnancy tests and now has to wait 3 minutes. Two tests are with (+) and (–) and the other three are much more precise. They specify approximately how many weeks or days the woman is pregnant.

Y/n washes her hands and leaves the bathroom. And finds Emma at the kitchen table. The young bride set a three-timer.

“I have to wait three minutes to know the results. » Y/n said trembling in fear.

Emma gets up and takes Y/n in her arms who is crying slightly. Emma strokes his back.

“It’s going to be okay. If you ever get pregnant and decide to keep the baby, you and Jenna will make the best parents. »

“You don’t understand Emma I can’t be pregnant. » Y/n said, removing herself from Emma's arms. »

" Why, then? »

“Because Jenna will never want to stay with me. She already said in a live broadcast that she didn't want children. »

“Yeah, but how old is it?” »

“We didn’t know each other for maybe 4 years yet. » Y/n mutters. “But maybe it’s always like that.” » Y/n corrects herself, speaking quickly. “Okay calm down. Jenna loves you ok. She loves you like crazy so don't think like that. »

The phone rings and Y/n’s fear grows even more.

“Please go and see. » Y/n complains to her friend. Emma nods and goes into the bathroom. Y/n bites her nails with so much anxiety.

A few seconds later, Emma returns. Y/n looks at Emma in fear.

“Okay so the first two tests are positive and the other 3 too. You are about 5 days pregnant. I’m sorry Y/n. »

Y/n couldn’t believe it. She was pregnant. The young woman was sure that she did not want to have an abortion. She dreams of starting a family with Jenna but she's not sure if Jenna has the same dream.

5 months later

Jenna finally came back from filming and is home with Y/n. Jenna is sitting on the couch with Y/n laying her head on Jenna's thighs and the brunette is playing in Y/n's beautiful hair and watching a series on Netflix.

Y/n hasn’t told Jenna yet that she’s pregnant. She didn't want to tell him by text especially since Jenna was filming. So Y/n waited for her fiancée to return and waited for the right moment. But she notes that there is never a good time to say that she is now 6 months pregnant. Fortunately, her belly isn't showing yet.

Y/n huffs “Baby I need to tell you something.” » Y/n said and sat down. Jenna starts to get stressed and starts thinking about lots of things.

“You want to break up? » Jenna asks with a small voice. " What? No never my love. » Y/n immediately reassures by giving Jenna a kiss. " Do you love me? »

Jenna is completely upset by her fiancée's question. “But totally baby. I love you so much you can't imagine how much I love you my love. » Jenna said, placing her left hand on Y/n's cheek.

Y/n smiles and removes Jenna's hand to hold it. “So do you remember the last time we made love? » Jenna nods and waits for Y/n to continue. Y/n takes another deep breath and sighs. “As you know, there were no more condoms. But you withdrew so as not to ejaculate in me. After you left the next day for your shoot, I kept throwing up every morning. At first I hadn't thought about it. I thought I ate something and got sick so I didn't worry. 10 days after you left, Emma came for 2 days and that's when I noticed I was late. Jenna I haven't had my period since we made love without a condom. » Y/n tries to find a reaction on Jenna's face but she doesn't say or do anything so she continues. “Emma went to get 5 pregnancy tests. Those were the worst minutes of my life. Jenna all 5 were positive. » Y/n finishes.

Jenna looks at Y/n but still doesn't say anything. “Please say something.” » Y/n said after 1 minute of silence and tears falling from her eyes.

“So you’re pregnant?” » Y/n nods. “Six months,” she adds.

Y/n can start to see that Jenna’s eyes are shining and they are filling with tears.

“We're going to have a baby. » Jenna mumbles. Y/n didn't say anything out of fear that Jenna would get angry with her. But the reaction that followed was not what Y/n expected.

“Baby we’re having a baby!” » Jenna says as she grabs Y/n's face and pulls her into a kiss.

“Wait, you’re not angry? »

“Baby why would I be angry?” » Responds with concern.

Y/n looks at the ground in shame for thinking that Jenna might break up because of the baby.

“I thought you didn’t want kids so I thought you were going to break up.” »

Jenna's heart breaks. Seeing his future wife sad like that. Jenna takes Y/n's face in her hands and wipes away her girlfriend's tears with her thumbs.

“Y/n listen to me carefully, when I asked you to marry me, it’s because I want to make a life with you. I want to own a house with you, a dog with you, and children with you. I knew you were going to be the future mother of my children. » Jenna said with such a loving look for Y/n.

“But you said in a live performance that you didn’t want children? »

“That was before I met you. » Jenna whispers, caressing Y/n’s red cheeks “You will be the sexiest mother. » Y/n laughs with Jenna. "I love you. » Jenna said as she gave Y/n a kiss on the lips. “And I already love you so much too. » Jenna leans down and kisses Y/n's stomach.

Y/n is so happy. She is going to marry the most extraordinary woman and she will have a child with her wife. What more could you ask for?

[judasgot-it]

Happy Birthday

I'm throwing almonds at him in my mind <3 Also, idgaf if it's not August 3rd, it's August 3rd somewhere in the world....

Also, this was going to be part of an arranged marriage au but I've kinda scrapped it. so this is just kinda there now lol.

It's been twenty-seven years since Kaldo was born. Today, you were planning on making him a cake he would actually enjoy, and not one he would shovel into his face in front of his family and guests as he pretended to enjoy it.

The man was born powerful and wealthy. He had everything.

What he didn't have, was the free choice over his own birthday cake.

He was almost thirty, and he never even had a choice in it. He didn't even have a choice in being engaged to you, or his job - honestly, the only thing he seemed to have a choice over might have been his strange love of honey.

Maybe you were born lucky with your low status. You had chosen to climb to the top, and got to marry a wealthy man mostly by choice.

Now you got to spoil him with a birthday cake - by your own choice.

He had once mentioned once to you before, offhandedly, that he had really loved gelatinous fish cake - of course, topped with honey. One of the stranger combinations he had made, and one cake that he had always wanted to try again, but was banned from bringing into his family home.

For good reason, you supposed. It seemed a little...gross. Honestly, it was one of the first times you had ever disliked one of his strange food tastes.

But it was a cake. And it was his birthday.

He would get to eat that damn cake. Social rules be damned.

It wasn't really easy finding a place that even made the cake. The man must have visited hell itself in order to try the delicacy, because you had only found one cook in the local area who even knew what it was.

It frankly looked disgusting when you laid eyes on it, and it looked horrible as it sat on your breakfast table. But it wasn't for you - it was for the man sitting in front of you, staring at you as if you were as strange as the cake itself.

And really, is it even a cake? There's no frosting, and it's fucking fish for god's sake. In gelatin. Who would even think of such a thing?

"Is this for me?"

Kaldo's voice was weak, his usual airy tone nearly lost in the shock that was slapped across his face. His crimson eyes were boring holes at you, and it was frankly a little disturbing.

"...Yes. You said you had liked it before, and I thought it would be nice to get it for you. I know you don't like regular cake that much."

He was a freak, really. The man would rather put his sweet honey on anything that didn't go with it. Cake would be a reasonable match, but instead, coffee and raw fish were his preferred mixups.

How strange.

"I did. I did mention that, didn't I." The man took the fork set out just for him, taking a bite of the cake as if it were a delicacy. His face was practically spread open in a wide grin, ear to ear as he slowly chewed on it.

This was the most you had ever seen him enjoy a cake. The one at his last birthday party had him in near tears from how much he had hated the flavor - chocolate, without any honey to subside the pain of putting it in his mouth.

But Kaldo was practically drooling as he dug into his sad little cake. He had taken to pouring a rich honey on it, as if it would make a difference in the texture of fish and gelatin.

"Do you," It was stupid to ask, given that he was nearly done destroying the disgusting dish. His face was smeared with honey and pieces of fish, and you only smiled back as a stupid grin spread across his face. "Do you like it? Sorry if it's not the gift you expected."

You made him walk all the way to your home for it. On his birthday as well.

Frankly, you were a rather horrible wife-to-be.

"If I were to be honest..." Kaldo put down his fork, looking down at the remaining pieces of his cake. It was more like a soup now, as his took the prongs of his tool and played with the pieces that remained.

"...I think this is the best birthday gift I've ever received."

"Is it really?"

The lily-haired man nodded, his bangs somehow spared from the mess that was spread across his face. He looked like a bear that had found a beehive, and with the smile he wore, it was obvious that he felt like a winner.

"You know? We need this at our wedding. It's a really good cake."

"What?"

This was the first time Kaldo had ever mentioned something like that. The man was rather silent about those things - as far as you knew, he had only agreed to marry you because it was a good tax write-off for the both of you.

"If you want it, sure. We'll have two cakes." You wanted to be a good wife, really.

"...Really?"

"Why not? It's your wedding too."

It was subtle, a barely noticeable detail in the character he portrayed to you. But his shoulders relaxed, his spine deflating from the stiff posture he kept at all times. His arms leaned against the table, and his neck rolled around to lean to the side.

It looked as if he truly relaxed for once in his life.

"...Yeah. Why not indeed."

I'm lowkey just writing whatever the fuck I want rn, Kaldo is just my muse rn.

[layce2015]

The Boys (Soldier Boy x Female!Supe!Reader)

Chapter 8: The Intense White-Hot Wild

First Chapter / Previous Chapter

*3rd Person POV*

Hughie sat in the living room of Legend’s cabin, cleaning his ear with a rag as he stares at a plate of pizza rolls. He removes the rag and sees black ooze on it, which had been coming out of his ears after taking Temp V same goes for Butcher. Hughie sighs as he sets the rag down while Butcher walks in.

“Where's Soldier Boy and Mystic Shade?” He asked Hughie. “You mean, ever since Soldier Boy told us he was supposed to kill his own son? He locked himself and Mystic in the bedroom with a bottle of Old Granddad.” Hughie said as he cleans his ears again. “Well, Homelander ain't really his son, and he knows it.” Butcher said, firmly, just as Soldier Boy and Mystic Shade come in the room.

Soldier Boy had a glass of milk in one hand and in the other hand he had a can of Coke-Cola. Butcher turns to them as Soldier Boy pours the can of soda into the milk. “All right, let's be off then, eh? We'll swing by the office and grab some more V. And then Hughie will jump us to where the cսոts are.” Butcher said as he puts on his jacket and Soldier Boy takes a drink of his concoction while Mystic Shade stood by the doorway, leaning against the frame.

”We do Noir and Homelander. And we're finished. Right?” Butcher asked the two Supes. Soldier Boy looked between the two men with a look of confliction before he walks and turns away, walking out of the room. Mystic looks over at him then to Butcher and Hughie. 

“So, once this is all done, you’ll leave us alone?” Mystic Shade asked Butcher. “Of course, love. Once those two are out of the way, you and Soldier Boy can go on your merry way.” Butcher said and Mystic smirks alittle. “Good…” she said as she walks up to them and gives them a serious look, Hughie jerks back alittle at this. “Because if either of you do any funny business, it will be the last fuck up you two will ever do. Am I clear?” She asked, her voice stern and serious.

“As a bell.” Butcher said, in a steady voice, while Hughie looked a scared beyond belief. “Good.” Mystic Shade said before she turns away from them and leaves.

Later, they stopped at a gas station to get some fuel. Mystic Shade was sitting up in the backseat of Butcher’s car, her head leaning against the window as she was resting. Ben was lying down in the backseat, his head on her lap. The two of them were still kinda dealing with a hangover as last night all they did was drink, talk and reminisce….and maybe gone a couple rounds of drunk sex.

Meanwhile, Hughie and Butcher were inside the gas station. Hughie was in the bathroom while Butcher stood outside, making a decision. Starlight called him last night and told him that she found out that after taking over five doses of Temp V, it will kill them. Her words had circled his head and he decided he didn’t want Hughie a part of this anymore. Hughie was too good for this, he doesn’t deserve to have his life thrown away over something that wasn’t really his fight.

This was Butcher’s fight and his alone.

The toilet flushes and the sound of the sink sounds out as Butcher looks around himself, making sure nobody is watching. A second later, Hughie opens the door and stops when he sees Butcher in front of him. “Hey, uh...” Hughie said and he holds up the bathroom keys, which was attached to a car rim. 

“You really are the spitting image of my little brother.” Butcher said to Hughie, who furrows his brow in confusion. “What?” he asked and Butcher punches him across the face, knocking him out. Hughie falls back then Butcher pushes him back into the bathroom and shuts the door before leaving him behind.

Minutes later, Soldier Boy and Mystic Shade wake up to see that the car was moving, Butcher driving along. Soldier Boy sits up, groaning, as Mystic rubs the sleep out of her eyes. “Oh, there they are.” Butcher said and the Supes noticed Hughie was gone. “Where's the cսm guzzler?” Soldier Boy asked and Mystic elbows his side. “Ben.” She mutters, exasperated.

”You were spot-on about him. There I was, filling up the motor, I turn around, the little git had done a runner.” Butcher said. “We needed him to get near Noir.” Soldier Boy said. “Ah, don't you worry about that, guv. I got it all worked out.” Butcher assures them as he looks at them through the rear view mirror. Soldier Boy and Mystic Shade share a look before Soldier Boy shrugs.

”Wake me when we get to New York.” He said and he lays back down and places his head on Mystic’s lap again. She looks down at him and runs her fingers through his hair, soothingly, as Butcher keeps on driving down the highway.

*(y/n)’s POV*

That night, we made it to Butcher’s office and he was digging around his desk for maps and I guess more of that Temp V. Ben had found a bottle of alcohol and opens it then the scent of the drink hit him. “Whoa...that brings me back. Used to sneak my dad's Manhattans when I was a kid.” Ben said as he pours a couple of glasses. “I didn't have to nick nothin' from my old man. He used to get me and me little brother lagered just for the hell of it.” Butcher said as he continued to dig in his desk.

”Well, I got to admit, that does sound funny.” Ben chuckles and I shoot a glare at him then he looks away before handing me a glass. “The old man still around?” I asked Butcher as I take the glass and sip on it. “Arse cancer. Shitting his guts out as we speak, one hopes.” Butcher said as his phone buzzes and he looks at it then rejects whoever was calling him.

”You ever see The Soldier Boy Story?” Ben asked him. “Must've missed it.” Butcher said as he takes his phone apart. “It's a classic. We lost Best Picture to An American in Paris that year. At least I got to ass-fuck Jane Wyman in the coat check.” Ben said and I rolled my eyes. “About a poor kid from the streets of South Philly. Discovers he's got incredible powers to match his...heart of gold. It's all bullshit.” Ben said as Butcher grabs himself a glass.

”Blimey, you don't say?” He said, sarcastically, and I did chuckle a bit at this. “Actually my father owned half the steel mills in the state. I went to boarding school. Got kicked out of boarding school. Because I was a fuck-up. But he made sure I knew it.” Ben explains as he sits down in a chair across from Butcher’s desk. “Use the belt, did he?” Butcher asked. “Never laid a hand on me. He couldn't be bothered. Said I was a disappointment. Not good enough to carry his name.” Ben said and he smirks, sarcastically, alittle before he scoffs, softly.

”So I went to his golf buddies in the War Department, and they get me into Dr. Vought's Compound V trials. I became a superhero. Strongest man alive. Fսcking ticker tape parades when I came home.” Ben said. “And what did the old man say then?” Butcher asked him as he takes a drink from his glass. “Ah.” Ben said as he smiles and points at him. “He said I took a shortcut. That a real man wouldn't have cheated.” Ben said as his smile disappears then he looks down.

I remember when he told me what his father said, I felt sorry for Ben. His father sounded like a cruel man. I never met him, Ben basically cut ties with his father at the same time I cut ties with Adam.

”What about you, love? Got a true story to tell us?” Butcher asked me as I look up at him. “Honestly, I think between the three of us, I’m the most normal when it comes to issues with fathers or mothers. My father and mother had normal jobs, my father a banker and my mother a nurse.” I explained and I take a sip of my drink again. “But then things went wrong when I turned seventeen. My father was gunned down by some robbers and my mother died from a broken heart sometime after that. I was left alone.” I said and I bite my lips as the image of my mother’s frail body appeared in my mind.

”And then it seemed my life turned around when I met Adam. He showered me with love and affection, told me everything I wanted to hear at that time. We got married after about a year. Then a few years later, he tricked me.” I said and Butcher gives me a curious look. “Tricked you?” He asked and I nodded. “Basically, he set up a fake doctor’s appointment for me when really it was to stick Compound V into me. To get rich and famous.” I said. “And why didn’t he take it himself?” Butcher asked and I shrugged. “I guess since they had Philly boy here….” I said as I walk behind Ben and pat his shoulder. “They wanted a female counterpart. Vought, I guess, saw potential in me and wanted me to fill that role. We didn’t know about Liberty, or Stormfront as you knew her as.”

”And what happened to Adam? Clearly you’re not with him anymore.” Butcher said and Ben looks up at me with a smirk. “Few months after I got powers, he divorced me. He thought I was cheating on him with Ben. I don’t know if you’ve seen the picture of us getting off the plane after the war was over.” I said and Butcher thinks for a moment then nods. “Well, when that picture of me and Ben kissing got to the papers, Adam was none too happy. And for the record, I wasn’t cheating on Adam. Ben initiated the kiss first.” I said. “Hey, you complained about him and I hated seeing you look miserable, you needed out of that. Plus, you didn't reject me.” Ben said and I roll my eyes at this but I smiled.

”But yeah, that’s my story.” I said as I take a huge gulp of the drink, quenching my thirst. “Whatever happened to him?” Butcher asked me. “Last I heard, he remarried sometime after we divorced, had kids and then um….I believe he died in the sixties.” I said and I bite my lips and shake my head.

“What about you, you got kids?” Ben asked Butcher. “It's complicated.” Butcher replied. “I always assumed I had a few out there. Somewhere. I always wanted 'em. 'Cause I thought I could do it better than my father did.” Ben said then he looks over at me. “Homelander ain't yours. Not really.” Butcher tells him. “He's the only blood I've got left.” Ben pointed out.

”It don't matter. You didn't name him, didn't raise him. Vought grew him in a fսcking test tube to take your place. He's the fսcking reason they left you to rot with the Ivans.” Butcher said as Ben looks down. “Look, mate. We had a deal.” Butcher said, in a firm tone, and Ben takes a the last gulp of his drink then clucks tongue. “I'm gonna get some air.” He said as he stands up. He walks over to a table, sets his glass down and walks out of the room.

After a few moments, I sigh and walk out of the room to look for Ben, then I found him in an empty room, looking out the window. I cautiously walk into the room before going up to him. “Ben?” I said, softly, as he continues to look out the window. “Hey, talk to me. What are you thinking about?” I asked him, trying to sound comforting. He continues to glare out the window, into the many lite buildings below us and the many headlights rushing by on the streets.

”He’s asking me to kill my son. I know I didn’t raise him but…” Ben stops then sighs as he shakes his head. “What do you think?” Ben asked me and I raise an eyebrow at this. “What do you mean?” I asked him. “You know more about him than I do…what’s he like?” He asked me and I sigh at this.

”He’s an egotistical asshole, that much I could tell by watching him on the TV.” I said then I bite my lips. “But Maeve, who’s in the Seven with him, she’s told me a lot of shit he’s done. And from what I can tell, he’s the worst of all.” I said. Ben looks way, contemplating what I said before I speak again. “I know this is hard. But no one is safe as long as Homelander is still alive. If we don’t take him down tonight, then more innocent people are gonna die.” I tell him and Ben sighs.

He stands there and looks out the window, I raise a hand and place it on his shoulder. Ben looks down at me and was about to speak until we heard shouting down the hall. We make our way and follow the noise to hear people talking then someone shouts at someone, I then realized the noise was coming from Butcher’s office.

“Butcher's right. Homelander needs to die. That's it. Whatever it takes.” I hear Maeve’s voice says and this gave me pause. Butcher said told me she was dead, I guess whatever happened, she got out. “I really thought that deep down you were a hero.” A young female voice said. “Well, you were wrong. There's no such thing.” Maeve said as we get closer to the door. “This is not gonna happen.” The female voice said, angrily, and the lights start to flicker. “Annie, I don't want to hurt you.” Maeve said, in a warning tone.

“But we will.” Ben said as we get to the doorway of the office and see Hughie, Maeve, Starlight and Butcher’s friends he told us about all standing in the room. They all look at us, surprised, before Butcher speaks. “All right, you lot. In the safe.” He commands and Hughie looks at him.

”Whoa, whoa, whoa, hey.” He said, worried. “In the safe.” Butcher commands again and everyone looks at him then to me and Ben, who starts to reach for his knife. Then Starlight looks around at the others. “Let's go.” She mutters and Hughie scoffs as the large black man, M.M. I believe Hughie told me was his name, glares at me and Ben. “Hey, not now. Not like this.” Starlight tells him and he and the others go into the safe and Maeve shuts the door on them.

“All right, well...Tinkerbell needs power for her powers.” Butcher said as he goes to the power switch after we got ready. Then he flips the down and the power goes off.

*3rd Person POV*

“The prisoners you liberated here, most of them were nearly dead. They owe you their lives.” The interviewer said as Soldier Boy and Mystic Shade appear on the screen. Homelander was watching an old interview of theirs on a laptop as he waits in the TV station section of Vought Tower.

”We’re not here to take credit. These boys here, they're the real heroes.” Soldier Boy said as he gestures to the men behind him. “What the Jerries did here is unforgivable. But we promise you, we’re gonna serve them up some good old-fashioned American justice.” Mystic Shade said and Homelander smiles at the footage. He always looked up to Soldier Boy and, truth be told, he was envious of the relationship Soldier Boy and Mystic Shade had.

He thought he had that when he and Maeve were together but that didn’t last long. And then with Stormfront…well…that ended in shit as well.

At that moment, Homelander heard footsteps but he didn’t turn as he knew who it was. “Scorched earth, eh, William?” He asked as Butcher, Maeve, Soldier Boy and Mystic Shade enter the room. “Scorched earth.” Butcher confirmed.

”Where's Noir?” Soldier Boy asked. “He's dead. I killed him.” Homelander replied as he turns to them. “Why?” Ben asked him. “Because he didn't tell me about you. I'm alone. I just want to talk.” Homelander said as he spreads his arms out. “I know what it's like to have your team betray you. But with you and I together...they wouldn't stand a chance. Nobody would.” He said and Ben thinks on this and shrugs.

”Unless we kill each other first.” Soldier Boy said as he takes a couple of steps forward. “That's true. But why? What, because he says so? He's nothing. He's human.” Homelander chuckles. “Don't you listen to this fսcking twɑt. He ain't your kid.” Butcher said as he, Maeve and Mystic take a couple of steps forward. “Yes, I am. I am your son. I am your blood. That's all that matters.” Homelander growls. “Maybe.” Soldier Boy mutters and Homelander goes over a door while Mystic takes Soldier Boy’s hand in hers.

Homelander opens the door and Ryan comes out, Butcher looking at him in shock. “Ryan.” Butcher whispers as Homelander brings Ryan up to Soldier Boy. “This is my son. Ryan. Your grandson.” Homelander said to him and Soldier Boy has different emotions flowing through mind as he looks at the young boy.

”Hi, Grandpa.” Ryan greets, softly, and Soldier Boy looks away and towards Mystic Shade, who was just as shocked as him. “You see? You have a family. You have him. And you have me.” Homelander said and Soldier Boy chuckles softly. “It's a shame that I've missed...so much. I wish I could've raised you...and taught you, father to son.” Soldier Boy said as he takes his hand out of Mystic’s and walks up to Homelander. Mystic and Maeve share a worried look.

”Me too. That's okay. We're not alone anymore. We have each other.” Homelander whispers, his voice shaking with tears then Soldier Boy places a hand on his shoulder. “Maybe if I'd raised you...I could've made you better. And not some weak, sniveling pussy, starved for attention. But there's no fixing that now.” Soldier Boy said as Butcher and Maeve smile.

“Weak? I'm you.” Homelander said to him, confused. “I know. You're a fսcking disappointment.” Soldier Boy whispers, shakily, and he grabs Homelander’s neck. “Leave him alone!” Ryan shouts as Butcher and Maeve go to Homelander and grab his arms. “Get out of here, Ryan!” Butcher tells him. “Please, stop!” Ryan pleads as he tries to shove Butcher away. “Get out of the building! Now!” Butcher tells him. “Butcher, stop! Please!” Ryan said and Mystic Shade goes over to Ryan.

”C’mon, kid. Let’s go!” She said as she starts to drag him away but he struggles and fights as Soldier Boy’s chest begins to glow. “You can't do this. Don't do this. Don't do this. Don't.” Homelander pleads to Soldier Boy. “Kid, come on!” Mystic said as she drags Ryan away but Ryan was able to get out of her grasp and his eyes glow red.

Before Mystic could react, Ryan uses his laser eyes on her, making her fly back and crash into a wall. The light diminishes from Soldier Boy’s chest as he looks over and sees Mystic crashing into the wall, his heart dropped at this then he glares at Ryan.

“Ryan, get back upstairs. Right now.” Homelander exclaims as Soldier Boy lets go of him then turns and slams his shield into Ryan, making him fly back and hit a bookshelf. “Ryan!” Homelander exclaimed as he runs to his son, checking on him as he sees a cut on the kid’s forehead. “You little shit.” Soldier Boy growls and his chest begins to glow while Butcher looks over at Soldier Boy then to Maeve, who had a look that said Don’t think about it.

“Ryan. Hey.” Homelander pleads as Ryan was knocked out cold. Butcher then made his decision and used his laser eyes on Soldier Boy, who reacted quickly and brings up his shield to protect himself from the laser. Homelander then turns around and uses his laser eyes and both he and Butcher knock Soldier Boy into the news station. 

The two men share a look before Homelander turns to Ryan and Butcher goes to Soldier Boy. “What the fսck are you doing?” Soldier Boy asked Butcher as he stands up. “Not the kid.” Butcher said. “Oh, I thought you said blood didn't matter. Thought that was the whole fսcking point.” Soldier Boy exclaimed. “He's my wife's son.” Butcher admits and Soldier Boy gets a confused look.

”Wait, Homelander fսckеd your wife? And you want to save the brat? The hell's wrong with you?” Soldier Boy asked him, confused.  “I made a promise.” Butcher said. “So this is it. Everything you wanted...He's right fսcking there...And now you blink?” Soldier Boy asked, angrily. “Stand down.” Butcher commanded. “Fuck you.” Soldier Boy yells as he glares at Butcher. “You're weaker than he is.” He said and the two men begin to fight.

They punch and kick at each other while Maeve and Homelander start fighting in the other room. Butcher punches Soldier Boy in the leg, the chest and then uppercuts him before he grabs his neck and lasers him in the face. 

Suddenly, a rope wraps around Butcher’s neck and pulls him back. Then it flings him over to where he lands on the desk. Soldier Boy looks over to see Mystic Shade standing nearby, her eyes glowing electric blue. Soldier Boy looks over at her and gives her a Are You Okay? look, she nods, assuredly, and he returns the nod as he grabs his shield then walks over to Butcher.

Still a bit dazed, Butcher opens his eyes and looks up to see Soldier Boy looming over him, raising his shield up high and aimed towards his head. “Ben…” Mystic called out and Soldier Boy stops. “Let’s just get out of here, go home.” She said as Soldier Boy looks down at Butcher, who was staring at the shield in fear. “He made his bed, now he can lay in it.” Mystic said as she gestures to Butcher.

Soldier Boy considers what she was saying until there was a couple of loud gunshots sound out. One hits Soldier Boy and the other hits Mystic Shade, didn’t cause any harm just stunned them. They turn around and see M.M. and Starlight had come in and M.M. was firing with a gun while Starlight uses her light powers at the two Supes.

Mystic Shade and Soldier Boy get into a stance as he holds up his shield and Mystic uses her shield powers as Butcher gets up. Starlight was firing balls of light at Mystic and Soldier Boy but Mystic’s shield was able to hold those lights back. Mystic tries to use her telekinetic powers to throw debris at Starlight but she dodges or uses her power to blast the debris while Soldier Boy fights off Butcher.

Starlight was able to get behind Mystic and was about to use her power but Soldier comes up and swings his shield at her, knocking her up into a wall then falls on the ground.

Butcher uses his laser eyes and Soldier Boy uses his shield to block the laser. Butcher walks closer as he keeps using the laser eyes until he got close and punches the shield, causing it to break in pieces. “Yeah! Fuck your shield, bitch.” M.M. exclaims, excitedly. Soldier Boy gives a hard, angry glare at Butcher and tosses the piece of shield he held onto aside then he and Butcher fight. Meanwhile, Mystic waves her hands and M.M. was grabbed by some ropes around his middle and thrown against the wall.

Soldier Boy ended up getting the upper hand as he punches Butcher several times in the face then he grabs him and throws him across the room, knocking him out. Kimiko comes in, carrying a container. It was the gas Frenchie was able to whip up quickly that was gonna knock Soldier Boy out since Maeve threw out the one Frenchie had worked on for awhile.

Kimiko tries to run at Soldier Boy but then a cable wrapped around her neck and it throws her aside, Soldier Boy looks over at Mystic and nods in appreciation. Then Starlight stands up as Soldier Boy and Mystic Shade turn to her. Her eyes glow gold as she gets ready to fight them.

Suddenly, the lights began to glow brighter thanks to Hughie, who was in the control room and cranking the lights up to the highest level they could go. Starlight’s eyes and hands glow as she slowly starts to rise up as the lights were making her more powerful. 

Soldier Boy and Mystic Shade look at each other, as if having a silent conversation, before he nods to Mystic. Starlight then raises her hands and goes to blast at the two but Mystic raises her own hands and shielded them from her blast. But it seemed the light blast was a lot stronger than Mystic anticipated as it stayed blocked for a few seconds before it breaks through the barrier of her force field and knocks Mystic and Soldier Boy back.

Starlight falls down on her side as Soldier Boy starts to sit up. But it seemed the blast took an effect on Mystic as she is knocked out. Soldier Boy stands up and looks down at her then starts to worry about her. But before he could do anything, M.M. jumps on his back as Kimiko and Starlight grab his arms. Then M.M. places the gas mask over Soldier Boy’s mouth and nose and that’s when the Supe starts to panic as he screams, grunts and growls.

“You ain't no hero. You're just another racist piece of shit we can't seem to get rid of. This is for my family.” M.M. sneers as Soldier Boy groans then his chest starts to glow just as Mystic starts to wake up. “I'm not going back in that fսcking box!” Soldier Boy growls, it seemed the gas wasn’t working.

“What the fuck are you guys doing?!” Mystic exclaims as she starts to come to and sits up. Butcher stands up and sees this then sees Ryan walking out. “You'll kill everyone.” Starlight said to Soldier Boy as he begins to power up. Butcher runs over to Ryan and goes to shield him while Mystic waves both of her hands and multiple cables and ropes grab on to Starlight, Kimiko and M.M. and yank them off of Soldier Boy as the light in his chest grows brighter.

Meanwhile, Maeve and Homelander have been duking it out during all of this even to the point where Homelander shoved his thumb into Maeve’s right eye, blinding her. But she was able to grab a steel cylinder and shove it in Homelander’s ear, dazing him, just as she looks over to see Soldier Boy turning to Starlight, M.M. and Kimiko, smoke starts to come out of him and the light gets even brighter.

”Ben!” Mystic shouts as Maeve looks at Starlight then sighs. “Shit.” She grumbles then she punches Homelander in the chest then runs over to Soldier Boy, grabs him and the both of them fly out of the building. Then a few seconds later, there was a loud explosion and then silence before they hear some car horns in the distance.

Starlight and M.M. walk towards the window that they flew out of and look below to see nothing. Then Hughie runs in and embraces Starlight just as Frenchie comes in and Kimiko and M.M. pat his shoulder. Mystic Shade looks down, in sorrow, at the ground as she contemplates what just happened.

Butcher looks down at Ryan, who starts to stand up. “Are you hurt? Ryan, look at me.” Butcher asked him but Ryan wasn’t looking at him as he was looking over his shoulder. Butcher turns to look as does everyone to see Homelander walking towards Butcher, not looking pleased.

“Dad...I want to go.” Ryan said to Homelander as he walks up to him. “Let's leave. Please. I want to leave.” Ryan pleads to his father, who continues to glare at Butcher, but then looks down at his son. “Ryan. Please.” Butcher pleads but Ryan takes Homelander’s hand and the two of them walk out of the station.

Butcher looks down in defeat and the gang all look worried at this until they heard a small humorless laugh then a slow clapping sounds. Everyone looks over to see that it was Mystic Shade as she shakes her head with a fake smile. “Well congratulations on being the world’s biggest fuck ups.” She said and everyone glares at her while Butcher looks defeated and Hughie has a worried look on his face.

”Thanks to you dumbasses, Homelander seems to have gotten what he wants and you’ve lost that kid forever. Now that is gonna make him more dangerous than he ever was before.” Mystic Shade said before she starts to get angry. “I mean, seriously?! Stopping Ben was a higher priority than Homelander? Way to go with the brilliant ideas, you fuckers.”

”He had to be stopped, he was a murderer. He’s killed countless people.” Starlight argued and Mystic Shade scoffs. “And your boss hasn’t?” Mystic asked and Starlight narrows her eyes. “I mean, if I recall, didn’t he let a plane full of people go down?” She asked and Starlight seemed alittle surprised she knows that. “Maeve told me about that little thing you two kept dangling over his head.” Mystic said. “And tell me this, cause I know this is bullshit, but that friend of yours, SonicWave….did Homelander kill him?”

Starlight’s jaw sets and she looks away then Mystic smirks and scoffs again before looking at Butcher. “And you, Butcher, this was all your idea. To take Homelander down cause you believed he needed to be taken down…oh, and apparently, he fucked your wife and had that kid with her. Which now said kid, you were trying to protect is now driven into the arms of your enemy.” Mystic said and Butcher looks up at her before he turns his head away.

”Pathetic. All of you.” She growls and Starlight’s eyes start glowing gold again. “Oh, don’t fucking start, Sparky.” Mystic groans then Hughie grabs Starlight's arm. “Mystic, I like you but you gotta admit…your boyfriend is really fucking crazy in his own right.” Hughie said and Mystic gives a small, sarcastic smile. “On the surface, yes he is. But don’t pretend like you know who Soldier Boy is when all you have to go off of is rumors and stories.” She said.

Mystic looks down then sighs before she looks back at everyone. “You think all Supes and Vought are bad, you people are no different from them.” Mystic sneers at them and they all look at her, shocked. She then starts to walk out. But once she gets to Butcher, she stops and turns her head to him. “I hope the kid was worth it, Butcher.” She mutters to him then she heads to the door.

But once she gets to the door, she stops then turns to the others as she had one more thing to say. “You all had your chance to stop Homelander and you threw it away. From this day forth, anyone that Homelander kills…it’s on you fuckers.” She proclaims then leaves as everyone looks around at everybody, considering what she said. Butcher felt lightheaded and raised his hand up to his nose to see some black ooze was coming out of his nose and then he passes out and falls to the floor.

Soldier Boy groans as he slowly opens his eyes, his vision blurry and his head was swimming. He moves his head around, slowly, and try to take in his surroundings, which looked like he was in an alleyway. He was then able to see a couple of figures coming towards him. “He’s here. We got him.” He hears a voice say. His vision clears up a little and he sees that the two figures were men in armor. 

He tries to get up but then the men were slammed up against the wall a few times before they pass out. Soldier Boy sits up slowly as another figure walks up to him, but this one being female. “Ben!” A familiar voice calls out and he realized that it was Mystic Shade. “(Y/n)?” He said, hoarsely, as she comes up to him and kneels down next to him.

The first thing he saw of her was her beautiful (e/c) eyes then her smile. “It’s okay, Ben. I got you.” She said, softly, and she helps him up to his feet and his vision finally clears up and noticed that the men were wearing CIA gear. “Are…was that…?” He stammered to ask and Mystic nods. “We need to get out of here, fast.” She said as she takes his hand and they walk down the alleyway.

”You..saved me?” Soldier Boy asked her and she turns her head to him and smiles. “Of course I did. What kind of wife would I be to not save her husband?” She asked, teasingly, and he smiles before they stop and he leans in and gives her a kiss. “I love you.” He whispers once he breaks the kiss. “I love you too.” She said then they look around before they head out.

The next day, Bethany was watching TV, the news about Maeve’s death and how she stopped Soldier Boy. The news calling him a radicalized Russian but she didn’t believe it, she knew that was some shit as Ben acted like his normal self. But she was also worried about (y/n), she hadn’t heard from her best friend in a few days and that wasn't like her.

She sighs, sadly, then runs her hands over her eyes when the front door opens. She looks over and sees Steven walking in, holding an envelope and a look of concern on his face. “What’s wrong, honey?” She asked him. “It’s a letter…from (y/n).” He said and Bethany furrows her brow.

”What?” She said as Steven walks over to her and sits down next to her. “She hasn’t sent letters since cellphones were created.” Bethany said as Steven hands the letter to her. Bethany takes the letter, opens it and begins to read it aloud.

Bethany and Steven,

I know this is old fashion to send a letter but with everything going on, I couldn’t risk sending a text which I actually destroyed my phone. What I can tell you is don’t believe any bullshit that Vought puts out about Ben. He’s also not dead and neither is Queen Maeve. Those men you saw me and Ben with well, they betrayed us. We were supposed to take out Homelander but for some reason those men and their friends turned on me and Ben.

I’ll send another letter later to give a more detail story on that but for now just know Ben and I are safe. We are staying at a different house I had purchased years ago. It’s isolated in a small town that seems to not know who we are or were, should I say.

I’m not sure if we’ll ever reunite again, if not then this letter and the next will be my goodbye. I’ll always hold the time we had very dear to my heart. I love you two and Amelia so much and appreciate everything you guys did for me when Ben was gone. 

I do hope we see each other again but if not then I give my goodbyes to you and good luck to the rest of your life.

Love,

(y/n)

Bethany’s eyes tear up as she reads it then sniffles when she was done. Steven goes to hug her and Bethany cries in his shoulder. She understood why her friend had to do this but it still didn’t help the hurt as she really cared for (y/n) and would miss her dearly. But she will always treasure those memories forever.

Few Days Later

*(y/n)’s POV*

I walk out on the porch of the large cabin to see Ben sitting in the chair, looking out at the lake. I bought this cabin years ago to have a place whenever I wanted to get away from the hustle and bustle of the town and city. It had two rooms, a kitchen, living room and a bathroom. There was a small town a few miles away but you wouldn’t have thought that as all you could see were trees, mountains and a nice lake.

Ben turns his head to look up at me as I hand him a beer bottle. He takes it then turns his head, like he heard something. “You hear that?” He asked me and I listen for a moment and start to worry about him. It had been a few days since he had any weed or coke, so I was worried he was suffering some sort’ve withdrawn side effects. 

“Hear what?” I asked him as I take the seat next to him. “Exactly. I think this might be the first time in my life where I’ve heard complete silence.” He said, smiling with content, and I listen again, feeling calm by the silence. All I could hear was the leaves rustling in with the breeze and the sounds of rushing water from the river. “Yeah, it’s nice.” I said, smiling as well.

”I know it’s not as glamorous as the city…” I started to say but Ben shakes his head. “Nah, this is great. You picked a perfect place, sweetheart.” He said and I smiled. “Although, I gotta say, I’m still pissed at Butcher and those other motherfuckers.” Ben growls and I give a sympathetic look. “I’m just…confused and pissed off and…” he stops then sighs with an angry heavy sigh and I place a hand over his that was on his thigh.

“Hey, I’m pissed at them too but…let’s not dwell on that right now. They fucked up and whatever happens afterwards, that’s on them especially Butcher.” I assured him as he looks at me, he still had a bit of that anger in his eyes but he sighs and nods. “I’m just glad I was able to get to you before they took you away from me again.” I said and Ben gives a small smile.

”I’m glad you did too. There’s no way I’m going back in the box. Too many bad memories.” He said then he turns his gaze from me and looks down. I frown then set my beer down on the little table next to my chair and I walk over to him and sit on his lap. I wrap my arms around his shoulder and he leans his head against my chest, sets his beer down then wraps his arms around me and pulls me closer to him as if he was afraid that I’d disappear if he didn’t hold me close to him.

”It’s okay, Ben. I won’t let that happen.” I whispered, comfortingly, then I kiss the top of his head, softly, before I run my fingers through his hair while he buries his face into my chest. “I’m never letting you go. Never again.” I whispered to him. Ben was never really this vulnerable but whatever happened in Russia must’ve really shook him to his core. Yes, he did put up this whole macho man facade to hide it all, it’s how men were raised back then, but I knew something was wrong.

I just can’t imagine what he went through these last forty years at that place and I wasn’t there to save him. But now I was able to save him and I have him here safe and sound and I’m gonna do my best to help him through all of this.

”Good…because I don’t want to be anywhere else but here.” Ben said as he pulls his head back to look at me and I smile then I lean in and kiss him, lovingly.

*3rd Person POV*

Unbeknownst to the couple, out in the distance was Grace Mallory. She had her binoculars up as she looks at the cabin, towards the couple. She had seen the body cam of her two officers that were knocked in the alleyway when they were gonna grab Soldier Boy. In the cam, she was able to see Mystic Shade walking down the alleyway and help carry Soldier Boy out of the alley.

It took her a few days because the home that was under Mystic’s real name was empty and she didn’t know where Mystic went. Eventually, she was able to track down this little cabin which Mystic put it under another name which was her using her old married name from way back in the 40’s.

Mallory lowers her binoculars as she contemplates on what to do next. A strong part of her wanted to head over to them and talk to them and take Soldier Boy into custody as he is a danger. But another part of her wanted to leave them alone, Soldier Boy seemed in a calm state since he is with his girlfriend. Mystic seems to keep him calm and happy. 

Plus Mallory remembered how Mystic Shade saved her life back in Nicaragua. So she feels that her leaving Mystic and Soldier Boy is in a way to return the favor.

Mallory sighs then heads into her car as she decided to leave them alone…for now at least. With how Butcher is and the whole thing with Vought and no telling what’s gonna happen with Homelander now, she keeps this information to herself as she might call upon these two one day.

@winchestergirl1720 @deans-spinster-witch @mimaria420 @wirdbeimaufhebengebunden @kitsun369 @jesllianaquilesrolonsworld @deangirl96 @demodemo909 @cassiecasluciluce @mostlymarvelgirl @onlyangel-444 @mayafatimakhan

[k8lan06]

Haven't played the game, won't play the game, fuck the game.

The air is heavy and suffocating, feels wrong, like the walls are slowly closing in until they can't.

Ghost, Gaz and Prize sit in silence. The humming of the plane filling in the void, ghost has been staring at the seat where soap was sitting before the mission.

Price, lighting his 3rd ciggar, looking out the window trying to process what happened just hours prior.

And gaz, the closest to soap, it hasn't hit him yet he doesn't even know why he's crying, he's mad at himself but he doesn't know why.

One thing in common they're all dreading to think about.

You

Flash back

You're 4 months pregnant with soaps second child, you had found out a week before that it was girl but you were waiting to tell him in person. 'Too risky to call for your own safety lass.'

He told you on your third date after he opened up about being in the army, he thought you'd leave him but no, you insisted you stay by his side and he knew right then and there that you were the one.

When the team had gonna to the bar after finding Valeria and the missiles, he had one too many drinks when he let it slip

'Ay, got a missus at home, a wee lad too.' He slurred, drunk as hell.

Gaz a couple of days later asked again about soaps lover and especially about the kid.

'Aye Y/N and Oscar, sassy lil lad gets it from his mother, she reckons he's got my eyes.' He says rubbing the back of his neck.

End of flash back

Now here they are, the sun's setting, few people on the afternoon walk, couple of dogs barking in the distance while its sprinkling rain.

his dog tags neatly sitting in a small box. They can hear the little kid running a muck,

They all look at each other before price nods, taking off his hat and ringing the door bell before stepping back.

Oscar who's only 4 manages to open the door a little bit before you can answer, Oscar looks up at the 3 men, before smiling with a missing tooth.

"Hello." He waves at all of them, price smiles back and ask if there's anyone home. Oscar shakes his head yes before closing the door.

He calls out to his mother, you, as you're coming down the stairs

Scolding him for opening the door to strangers, you open the door and notice them standing there before bending down and whispering to Oscar to go to his room.

Ghost who's the first to notice the small bump on your stomach, followed after price then gaz,"Hello, may I help you?" You ask with a small smile, shifting your feet.

Price is the first to speak respectfully as he hands you the box with soaps dog tags and other trinkets, " 'm sorry, love"

You slowly start to connect the pieces before tears swelling up your eyes as you hold the box.

Gaz had been silently crying this whole time takes off his hat before walking up and down the drive way.

You slowly slide down against the door, tears flowing quickly down your face, you shake your head before a muffled sob escapes.

"Please no no, nonono oh god please." You scream, clutching the dog tags as you hyperventilate. This wasn't suppose to be like this, this wasn't suppose to happen.

Price feels the corner of his eyes start to tighten, he takes a deep breath before comforting you "im so sorry ma'am"

[onepiece-polls]

Best Man-Tits of One Piece - Battle for 3rd place!

Submitters' motivations under the cut.

Motivations for submitting Kid:

oh captain my captain~ huge honkers. bad attitude. love of my life.

They are so fun king massive, they need more recognition

He could crush me and I’d say thank you 🙏

Okay but like he’s such a manwhore! Dude got them fine pecs on display 25/8! He knows how delicious his looks! Wanna squeeze ‘em! And the scars he gets after the time skip are just *chef’s kiss*

I’m at Sabody and i want you to know. Thoughts obliterated when he came on screen

He has the manliest and biggest hunky titties a man could ever dream of!!

Motivations for submitting Zoro:

110cm. Do I need to say anything more?

This man’s tits are super natural. He has big thick tits!!! Even bigger then Robbins tits. You can recognize him from his tits alone.

His massive honkers are one of his most talked about features

Hhhhhhh tibbiez 110cm am looking with sooooo much respect i swear 😳😳🥵🥵

His tits are so perfect, even Toei couldn’t help but dedicate a scene to them. Wano has been especially kind to his boobs, giving them all the love and plumpness they deserve.

I dont think Oda realized how fucking massive 110 cm tits are. I don’t think he realized what he said on that fateful sbs. Not that it isn’t 110% accurate to the way he draws Zoro, but 110 is an insane measurement. Those are the second biggest set of naturals on the Grand Line. 110. How am I supposed to fit them in my mouth.

Second biggest canon tits. 110cm people, 110cm!

Booba….

I wanna bury my face in them. They look so big I wonder if I can just melt into them.

Look at his tits!!!!! holy shit they look so amazing, i just wanna bury my face in them and squeeze. sahkdhaksj everytime i see him come on screen, i want to squeeze like a stress ball. plus oda said his tits is 110cm 😋 so squishyyyy

THEY TWITCHED

Because Oda said so. Don’t fight God

They even made them dance in the anime

[walkingintheheartbreaksatellite]

Heaven- Flicker Chapter 5

Warning. This chapter contains smut. Use of toys, teasing, fingering. Probably a bunch more. Language. Proceed with caution. Minors DNI

Friday, February 3rd. 8:30am

I wake up with the sun glaring in my eyes. I move to sit up when I feel something pulling me back down. I'm turned around only to face a sleepy Niall, who is squinting with a smile on his face.

He leans in and pecks my lips, sighing into the kiss.

"G'mornin' Em."

I smile and snuggle up to him.

"Good-"

Before I can finish, my bedroom door slams open and in stomps a fiery Jenny.

"Em, I can't fucking take them anymore! I swear to god I'm going to actually kill them!"

My mouth gapes open as I turn my head to her and she finally calms down enough to look at me clearly. It then seems to sync in with her that I am not alone.

"Oh... Well this is very awkward. Okay.. Um just letting you know, I'm gonna be burying some bodies. Cool okay so you guys have fun and um use protection!"

She rushes through her words and quickly leaves, though her embarrassment is clear on her face as she closes the door.

Niall and I burst out laughing and he hugs me tight.

"Should we go see what that was about?"

I giggle, running my fingers through his hair as I nod.

"I suppose we should before I find blood on my hardwood floors. But I think I need coffee now."

He smiles and nods, squeezing me one more time before he lets me go. I sit up, getting out of bed as I run my fingers through my hair, too lazy to grab a brush. I walk over to my dresser, pulling out Niall's sweatpants he gave me and a pair of basketball shorts.

"Babe."

He looks up at me from across the room as he rummages through his bag, just soon enough to catch him the sweatpants I tossed to him.

"Ah! Thank ya, Petal! Perfect! Maybe a shirt too? All I've got is polos."

I smile and nod, slipping on my shorts and throwing my hair in a ponytail before walking over to my closet. I pull out an old Fall Out shirt and hand it to him. He chuckles when he sees the shirt and shakes his head.

"What? Would you rather I give you a shirt with your face on it?"

I pull out my Midnight Memories shirt slightly and he throws his head back in a laugh.

"I'm fine, Babe. This is perfect."

I smirk and let the shirt go before closing my closet. He takes the shirt from me and quickly gets dressed, taking my hand when he's finished. I open my bedroom door and we walk down the hallway and down the stairs, reaching the living room.

Jenny is standing at the kitchen island, voice raised at she yells at Aleks and Zach. We walk past them into the kitchen and I start preparing my coffee when Jenny snags my attention.

"Em! Will you please remind these idiots about our rules for takeout containers?"

I sigh, setting down my mug as I lean on Niall. I turn around, all eyes on me and nod my head.

"If you didn't buy it, don't touch it. If you really want it, text the group chat and ask. If you're told no then it's no. Now can we chill out? It's way too early for this shit and I haven't even had coffee."

Jenny huffs and the boys, excluding Niall, groan. I pour creamer into my steaming coffee and stir it as I continue to talk.

"Zachary, you're replacing Jenny's sushi."

"How did you-"

With my coffee ready, I pull down a mug for Niall and step aside a little, giving him room to make his own before turning around.

"I'm not stupid? You ate my leftover Kura last week too but I didn't care and was in no mood to complain. You've been doing it a lot. Aleks ate my leftover Firehouse too. You guys just gotta get better about asking."

I begin to sip my coffee but stop mid sip as Zach lets out a snarky reply.

"Maybe you should be asking if you can have people over."

I drink the remainder of my coffee, setting my mug down on the counter behind me before grabbing the collar of Zach's shirt.

"Listen up, buttercup. Last time I checked, you're not paying rent on the house. I do, so I have a say in who comes into my home. And another thing! We never made a rule about bringing anyone home! You've brought all your girlfriends home! Check your bull shit at the door or don't bother coming home. I'm getting kind of sick of your attitude lately."

I let go of him and walk back over to Niall, leaning on him for comfort.He wraps his arms around my waist and holds me close, rocking me back and forth.

"I'm sorry... You guys were... Just a bit loud last night. We're all a little tired."

My face heats up and I bury my head into Niall's chest as his hold on me tightens.

"Um... 'M sorry about that. Not really used t' havin' others in the house. We'll try and keep it down next time."

Jenny snorts, Zach rolls his eyes and Aleks begins to make gagging sounds. I lift my head up and glare at them as Niall chuckles.

"You're children. All of you. I hate you."

Everyone laughs and Niall starts to rub my back when I hear a phone begin to ring.

I can feel it vibrating and that's when I realize that it's Niall's phone.

Welcome to the Hotel California Such a lovely place (such a lovely place) Such a lovely face Plenty of room at-

Niall sighs and reaches into the pocket of his sweatpants and pulls out his phone before hitting the green button and raising it to his ear.

"Yeah, what's up- What?! Yer fuckin' kidding me... Alright... Yeah yeah I'll be there soon. Okay... bye."

He hangs up and tucks his phone back into his pocket before wrapping his arms back around me and I look up at him and he stares into my eyes.

"M sorry Petal, but I have t' go. Somethin' went wrong at the studio and I gotta go fix it."

I nod, trying to hide my sadness. He lets me go and we head upstairs so he can get dressed. He quickly gets dressed and gets his things together, so we head downstairs. He waves to everyone, but only Jenny and Aleks wave back to him.

"It was nice seein' you all! See ya Sunday!"

I nod to them and open the door, walking Niall out to his car. He loads his bag in and opens the driver door before turning back to me, holding his arms wide open.

Tears threaten to spill as I walk into his arms and he squeezes me tight as I start to let out little sniffles. He kisses the top of my head and begins to rub my back with one hand and caress my head with the other.

"Shh I know. It'll be okay though, Em."

I pout and bury my head in his chest.

"Just... I'm gonna miss you a lot."

He pushes me away and before I can argue, he lifts me up and presses his lips against mine. I wrap my arms around his neck, pulling him in closer as my lips move against his.

He squeezes me tight before pulling away, setting me back down on the ground. He kisses my forehead and lets go of me, a small smile on his face.

"I promise, it'll go by fast. It's only 2 days. Think you can do that for me?"

I pout but nod my head.

He's right... It is just two day but the thought of him leaving... It hurts thinking about it, let alone seeing him leave...

With one last kiss, he lets me go and gets into his car, waving as he pulls out of the driveway. I sigh and head back inside, praying for the days to go by fast.

Sunday, February 5th 2:15pm

It's the day of the party and we've been running around the house all morning. Cleaning up messes the boys forgot to clean up and putting away all the miscellaneous shit that shouldn't have been out in the first place.

Jenny and Aleks went to go pick up the food and Zach is doing a last minute recording session, leaving me home to decorate and wait for people to get here. I finish hanging up some extra decorations Aleks had picked up when there's a knock at the door.

I look down at my watch and furrow my brows.

It's not even 3. Who could possibly be here?

I pin up the decorations in my hands and step off the stool before walking over to the front door and opening it. As soon as I see who it is, a wide smile makes its way on to my face.

Before I can say anything, arms are pulling me through the door, lifting me off the ground as I'm pulled into a tight hug.

"Niall!"

I look down at him and his comforting smile gives me butterflies. He holds me close to him and I take in his comforting scent.

"I missed ya, Em. Y've no idea how much."

I giggle and shake my head as he pecks my lips before putting me down.

"I don't know... I probably missed you a lot more."

He keeps an arm around my waist as we walk inside, Niall letting out a small laugh as I close the door behind us.

"That's one hell of a shirt, Em. Ya tryin' t' spread the luck?"

I look at him, raising a brow in confusion before it hits me.

Oh yeah. That.

"Hey! I got it for Christmas! It just felt fitting and I don't have a Lizzo shirt."

He laughs once more as I guide him over to the long couch and he takes a seat at the end, pulling me down into his lap.

" 'M just teasin' ya, baby. It's cute. Maybe you'll get one of me if I ever win one."

I look up at him to correct him.

"You mean when you win one. And you will. I know you will. But I will never be any less proud of you. I love your music and I will always be supportive of you."

He smiles and leans down, pecking my lips.

"Thought I's supposed to be the cheesy one in this relationship."

I giggle and cuddle up to him, shaking my head.

"No, sorry. I coined the cheese. You got your pretty looks and sexy voice without it. I got jack shit."

He lets out a loud laugh as he squeezes me tight. He than leans down to my ear and whispers something to me, causing shivers to run through my body.

"Now that's not true. Yer funny, kind and y've got no idea how sexy yer voice is t' me. 'Specially when yer moanin' fer me or sayin' my name."

"Ni-"

He begins to trace kisses up and down my neck before he settles on my collarbone and sucks on it.

"Missed my girl... So much. I think ya missed me just as much, didn't ya?"

I nod my head as continues to suck, letting out little moans as my toes curl.

"Ni- More. Please? L-like you did the other day?"

He pulls away from my neck and I pout as he turns me around in his lap so I'm facing him. He pulls me back in close and whispers to me.

"Ya liked that, honey? Ya liked when I ate ya out?"

I blush, nodding as he smiles and pecks my lips.

"Me too, Petal. Y've no idea how good you tasted on my tongue. Can I taste you, baby?"

Instead of answering, I grab his shirt, fisting it in my hands, and pull him into me, slamming my lips on his in a kiss. I feel him smile against my lips as he wraps his arms around my back, pulling me even closer to the point where there is no distance between us.

Our lips move in sync and all that can be heard is quiet moans and panting coming from our lips. Niall taps on my back and I hesitantly pull away from him, leaving both of us a panting mess.

"Hold on, Em. Let's... Let's go upstairs, yeah? Wrap yer legs around me."

I nod and do as he says. He holds onto me tight and stands up. Just as he turns to head to the stairs, the front door opens and I groan. In walks a horrified Rico and a very confused Aaron.

Niall puts me down and I get flustered, turning to yell at the two men in frustration.

"You idiots! You don't live here! Why didn't you knock?!"

Aaron covers his mouth to hold back a laugh and Rico shouts back at me, totally out of character.

"Nuh uh, missy! You're still a little girl! No sex for you! Stay little forever!"

He pulls me away from Niall and holds me in a protective but possessive embrace, one arm around me and the other on top of my head.

"Aaron... Be my voice of reason, please! This is embarrassing..."

Aaron laughs and I look at Niall with a pleading look on my face. He simply smiles and nods. I manage to get out of Rico's monster hold and leap to Niall, who catches me in his arms. Our attention then turns to the other two men, Aaron with a hand now on Rico's back.

"Listen, buddy. She's not a baby anymore. She can take care of herself! Trust me, especially because it's me. I'm her older brother. Let's give him a chance."

Rico sighs and slumps where he stands, nodding his head before he straightens himself. Niall lets me going and I walk over to the other two, pulling them into hugs.

"I love you both, you know that. But Niall is important to me, and I want you to like him and get to know him."

I pull away from them and they nod and I make my way back to Niall, who happily takes me back into his arms, my back resting against his chest and his arms around my waist.

Aaron and Rico walk up to us and shake hands with Niall, introducing themselves.

"It's nice to meet ya. But I do have a question. I thought ya only had sisters, Em. Aaron is your brother?"

We all laugh and I shake my head, turning in his arms and patting his chest.

"I've known Aaron the longest out of anyone. My whole career. We were both itty bitty fetuses when we started and he was the closest to my age and wasn't trying to parent me. So he kind of took me under his wing and we pretty much just became siblings."

Aaron smirks and nods.

"That's true. In fact, I've got a shit ton of embarrassing videos and pics from the years and I've got time."

Niall and Rico laugh and I just scoff.

"Don't forget, I know where you sleep Aaron Mitchell and I have your mother's number. Try it, I dare you. "

I glare at him, only causing him to laugh more. Before I can say anything else, the front door opens and in walks Jenny, Aleks, Zach and the rest of the people that were invited.

We get the food set up and then everyone settles in the living room as Aleks sets up the projector. I cuddle up close to Niall as he wraps an arm around my waist, pulling me closer to him. With a bowl of popcorn in my lap and snacks shared through the room, all eyes shift to the screen to see the awards starting.

"Hey, Niall, did you ever go to the Grammys? Seems like something you would've done over the years, right?"

Aleks looks away from the screen to look at Niall, waiting for an answer. Niall gives him a small smile and shakes his head.

"No, never. One Direction was never nominated and I've never been nominated as a solo artist."

I smile and kiss his cheek.

"Yet. You will be, though. You're gonna kick ass too."

Niall laughs and pecks my lips and it's quiet for a minute until Rico says something.

"Wait... You were in a band?! And you're a musician?! I thought you were just a normal dude!"

We all laugh and I can't help but snort.

"Rico, I swear to god. I used to talk about him all the time before I met him, do you not listen to me?"

He shrugs and shoves a handful of popcorn into his mouth, returning his attention to the screen. We spend the rest of the night cheering and dancing as awards are presented. When Harry wins album of the year, Niall gives me a bear hug, a huge smile on his face.

"He really deserves that. That album was something else!"

I smile and nod, kissing his cheek as he holds me close. We all hang out for a bit until Rico and Aaron decide to head home, due to it being almost midnight. Aleks gets up from the couch, stretching as he begins to make his way to his room with Jenny and Zach following him to their own rooms, leaving Niall and I alone.

I cuddle up to him and he squeezes me tight, planting a kiss on the top of my head.

"It's late, do you wanna stay the night? I think I've got some of your clothes in my dresser."

I pull away and he nods with a smile, before taking me back into his arms and picking me up, carrying me to my bedroom as my laughs echo through the hallway. When we get inside my room, he puts me down and heads over to my dresser to pull out his clothes while I throw the extra pillows off my bed.

"Em."

I turn my attention away from the pillows and when I look at Niall, seeing what is in his hand, my face burns up.

That's... That's the vibrator that Jenny gave me... She had accidentally bought an extra and couldn't return it and forced it on me...

"Um-."

"Ya don't have to hide from me, babe."

I turn my attention back to my bed, now embarrassed as I continue to prep my bed for sleep.

"Forget it, Niall. I haven't opened it. Just pretend like you didn't see it and put it back."

"Did ya... Do ya want me to use it on ya?"

I drop the covers as I turn back to him, my cheeks bright red and my mouth gaped. He steps closer to me and I start to get a little nervous.

"I-I've never used it.. Used any... How would-."

"Do ya want me to, Petal? We don't have to, but if you and to try, I would love to help ya..."

I bite my lip and advert my eyes to the floor as I nod. Niall pulls me into his arms, both hands on my waist as I look up at him and he looks down with a smile.

"Can we try something else, Petal? I wanna see ya. All of ya. Can we... Are you comfortable enough to do that now?"

I bite my lip once more before pausing.

"Could you... do it first? T-take yours off... J-just not your underwear."

He smiles and nods, quickly removing his shirt and his shorts, leaving him in his boxers. He turns his attention back to me and I slowly remove my shirt before unbuttoning my jeans and stepping out of them, leaving me in my bra and panties.

"Can those come off too, Baby? I want to see you. All of you. I want to see my girl."

I give him a nervous nod and I reach around my back and attempt to unclasp my bra with shaking hands. Niall puts his hand on mine and gives me a smile, somehow giving me the push I needed to relax and give in.

He unclasps my bra and pushed the straps off my shoulders, causing it to fall to the ground. I pull down my panties, leaving me completely naked in front of him. He pecks my lips a few times before he guides me over to my bed and we sit down. He pulls me into his lap, my back to his chest and my cheeks start to burn up again.

He pulls the toy out of the packaging as he starts to rub my back in a comforting manner.

"Hey, Petal. Ya got any batteries? I need two AAA."

I nod and lean forward, reaching into the nightstand closest to me. I pull out the batteries and hand them back to him. He puts them in and I hear a faint buzz before he turns it off again.

"Okay, pretty girl. I gotta make sure yer doin' okay, first. You want me to touch ya a bit before we start?"

"P-Please. I'm a little nervous..."

He leaves a couple kisses and I feel a finger start to rub on my clit, causing me to gasp and lean more into Niall.

"Dirty girl. Did ya get this wet jus' thinkin about me touching you with your little toy? God baby, you're practically dripping."

I let out a quiet, breathy moan as he continues to torment my clit with his finger, only pushing his finger an inch in before pulling back out.

"N-Niall, please. I-I've wanted you all day. Please... I need more, I'm ready. Please touch me..."

He sucks on my neck as he turns the vibrator back on, slowly bringing it to my clit.

"Alright, baby. Im gonna start ya on the lowest setting and we'll work our way up to more. But ya gotta keep quiet, remember?"

I bite my lip as he places the vibrator on my clit. My breath hitches as he begins to rub it up and down, the unfamiliar feeling threatening to send me over the edge already. He turns up the setting more and I have to swallow a moan as I throw my head back onto Niall's shoulder.

"Okay pretty girl, I'm gonna throw ya a bit of a curve ball. Think ya can handle it?"

I nod and I squirm in his hold. He smiles and pushes the vibrator onto my clit a little more.

"That's my good girl. Ya see that mirror right in front of us? I want ya to watch what I'm doing to ya. Keep yer eyes open and on us. Every time ya look away, I stop. Think ya can handle that?"

I nod my head as I curl my toes, my eyes opening and looking into the mirror.

"Words, baby. I need to hear you."

"Y-Yes, I think I can do that."

I see him smile in the mirror as I feel him turn the settings up. I throw my head back, letting out a quiet moan until I feel the buzz between my legs stop.

"Niall!"

"Eyes on us, Em. Eyes on us."

I look back into the mirror and as he rubs the vibrator on my clit, I start to find it hard to breathe.

"Niall-."

He hushes me and turns the vibrator onto the highest setting, causing me to squeal and once again, throw my head back into his shoulder as my toes curl at the unbearable pleasure. Until he stops. Again.

"I'm not gonna tell ya again, pretty girl. Look at what I'm doin' to ya. Yer probably close, right? Yer gonna be a good girl. Since ya can't seem to look in the mirror, yer gonna turn around. Yer gonna look me in the eyes and stroke my cock while I fuck you with this little toy of yours. And yer not gonna come until I say. Understood?"

I nod my head but instantly whine as he turns the vibrator off again.

"Y-Yes."

"Yes who? I can't hear ya much, Petal."

"Y-Yes sir, I understand."

I feel his cock harden against me before he quickly flips me around and kicks his boxers off before I can even blink. He turns the vibrator back on and I spit in my hand before placing it on his cock. We give each other a knowing look before starting.

I stare into his ocean eyes as I start to stroke his hardened cock, already dripping with arousal as he starts the vibrator again, pushing it back against my clit as he starts to rub it up and down. It only takes a few minutes but I feel as if I'm about to burst, and I think he is too.

"Fuck, baby! Doin' such a good job fer me. I think I'm gonna come, are ya ready baby? Where do ya want me, Petal?"

"God, Niall! Fuck! P-please! On me! I'm close too!"

His other hand finds my clit as he continues to pleasure me with the small toy.

"Come for me, baby. Come with me."

With one last pump of his cock, Niall comes all over my chest and it drips down my breasts, onto my stomach. I let go of his cock and grab onto his shoulders, riding out my own high as I come all over the vibrator.

"F-Fuck! Niall! I-I! I feel so!"

He hushes me as I come undone, whispering words of comfort.

"I know baby, I know. You did so good. Just let go fer me."

He tosses the vibrator off to the side and we both look down to see one another coated in the others come.

"F-fuck Petal, ya squirted on me! Fuck that's hot."

I let out a small, breathy laugh before falling back into my bed, my arms spread out. Niall gets up from my bed and grabs a towel from my closet. He wipes himself off before he comes back over to the bed and gently wipes me clean.

"Ya did good, Em. So good. I'm proud of ya."

I give him a small smile and he walks over to my dresser, starting to pull out clothes, but I stop him.

"Hey... Ni? Can we... sleep like this? I want to be close to you..."

He smiles and nods, shutting my dresser before walking back over to the bed and he gets under the covers. He pulls me under the covers and pulls me close, laying my head on his chest and he begins to rub his hand up and down my back, causing me to drift to sleep.

————————————————————————

February 11th, 2023 Animate Columbus Columbus, Ohio

I'm currently at another convention, this time for Galaxy Con in Ohio. It's late though and everything is starting to settle down, especially for a Saturday, so I send Penny, my assistant, to fetch us some dinner while I check my phone.

Upon seeing my most recent text notification, a smile appears on my face. Niall.

I open his text and begin to text him.

You're kidding me... Right? There's no way he's actually torn up about this.

I sigh as I text him back and settle on FaceTiming him. My phone barely rings for a second before he answers and I see his face appear on the screen, his eyes lighting up the second he sees me.

"There's my girl!"

I giggle and shake my head at him as I hold my phone in my hands.

"Hi Ni. You miss me that much?"

He throws his head back in a laugh before shaking his head.

"No! More! Oh, forgot t' ask ya. Valentine's Day, can ya take it off?"

I open my mouth to say something and I suddenly remember.

Shit! My mom's birthday! I'll be home! Crap.

"Actually... about that. I totally forgot but I don't need you to pick me up Sunday. I have another flight to catch. It's my mom's birthday on the 13th and I promised her I'd be there to meet her new boyfriend. And I won't be back until the 15th..."

He frowns and nods in understanding. My heart drops seeing him so sad when I suddenly think of something.

"Hey! Why don't you come home with me! My mom already knows you but now you can meet her as my boyfriend! And you can meet my sisters and my nephews! That way we can spend Valentines Day together too! That is... If you don't have anything planned."

His eyes light up once more and he flashes me his gorgeous smile, never ceasing to make my heart melt.

"I'd love to! If yer willin' to have me, then fuck yes! Maybe you can show me around-."

I notice a little girl and her brother I assume, start to come up to me, cosplaying as one of my characters. I cut him off for a quick second so I could talk to them.

"Hey Niall hold that thought a quick sec, just a quick sec, baby."

He nods and I lay my phone on the table so he can still see me but I turn my attention to the little girl in front of me.

"Hello, Gorgeous! What's your name?"

The little girl smiled shyly and I can barely see her, so I get up, coming around the table to kneel to her height.

"L-Lily! Y-You're Nezuko, right?"

I giggle and nod as I start to talk to the little girl and her brother.

"Alright Miss Lily. Here you go! Can I take your picture with your big brother really quick? Is that okay? I'd love to show Tanjiro!"

I look to her brother and he nods with a smile. He picks her up and I take a quick picture of them before waving goodbye.

I sit back down and pick my phone back up, my attention back on Niall, who has a huge smile on his face.

"What's got you so happy, mister?"

He shrugs, his smile only growing as his chin rests in his hand, propping himself up with his elbow.

"Nothing. Yer just cute. 'Specially around kids."

I blush and let out a small laugh.

"Well, I have to keep up with being the best auntie ever so I have to be good with kids! Besides, they're cute! I love kids!"

He smiles and nods and we continue to talk for a bit until I decide to head to bed. I pack up with Niall still on the phone, bidding Penny a goodnight as I head back to my hotel room above the convention. I continue to talk to Niall as I change and he whistles as I take off my shirt.

"Oh hush, you horn dog! You'll get this tomorrow. Oh wait, no you won't!"

He pouts and rolls his eyes.

"That's yer fault. Ya can't stay quiet so we can't do it when we're at yer mom's. Since ya insisted we haaaaad t' stay in yer old room and not in a hotel."

I laugh as I slip on his shirt that I stole, kicking my shorts off before burying myself under the cold covers. I hold my phone up so he can see me, though the room is dark.

"I think you'll survive. I'll make it up to you when we're back in LA, okay? Now I gotta go to bed, you dork. So I can see you tomorrow, remember? We'll meet at baggage claim?"

He nods and blows me a kiss.

"I'll be there. Now get some rest. I'll see ya tomorrow, Petal. Sweet dreams!"

I blow him a kiss back and wave goodbye before hanging up.

————————————————————————

Sunday,February 12th 6:30pm

When I wake up the next morning, my day goes by fast and suddenly I'm landing back home, headed to baggage claim to meet Niall. I look down at my phone for a second to text him and before I can, I'm tackled in a hug and lifted off the ground. Panic quickly fills me until I see who it is.

"Niall James! You scared the absolute shit out of me! Meanie! No kisses for you!"

He lets out a laugh as I lightly smack his chest before he puts me down and leans in, giving me a passionate kiss.

"You wouldn't do that, Em. Ya missed me too much."

I roll my eyes and peck his lips once more before taking his hand. We grab our bags pretty quickly and head outside. I start to search through the lines of cars outside the terminal when I spot hers. Niall and I walk over to her car and as soon as she spots us, she parks and gets out of the car.

She holds her arms out to me and I give her a hug, letting her squeeze me tight as I take in the familiar scent of home. She finally lets me go, but not without leaving a kiss to my forehead.

"Ugh my baby! I missed you! I'm so glad you're home! And Niall! It's so good to see you! I'm really happy to see you both together!"

Niall smiles and gives her a small hug. They let go after a minute and we put our things in the car before we get in: Niall is in the front with myself in the backseat. We all talk as we make our way to my moms house and when we pull into the driveway, my sister is out front with my nephews.

As soon as my mom puts the car into park, I quickly unbuckle and get out. James, or Jamie as we usually call him, runs to me squealing with the biggest smile on his face. I tear up as I pick him up, holding him close as I press kisses to cheeks.

"My monkey! I missed you so much!"

Katie laughs and shakes her head as she walks over to me with Oliver in her arms, who reaches out to me. We laugh and I adjust Jamie on one side because taking Ollie in my other arm, so I'm now carrying both boys, loading them with kisses as they giggle. My mom and Niall grab our bags from the car and when Niall sees me, he flashes me a smile.

Katie raises her brow at me and we all walk into the house. I put down the boys, my back hurting as I lean into Niall.

"Okay sorry, I needed my catch up on baby cuddles. I will be needing more, but my back can't take it right now. Katie, this is my boyfriend, Niall. Niall, this is my sister Katie and my nephews: Oliver and James."

Niall laughs and shakes Katie's hand and gives Jamie a little fist bump, making him giggle. We then carry our bags to my room and when Niall sees it, he laughs.

"Seems like you were just here, Em. I can definitely see this being you."

I blush and shrug. We push our suitcases under the bed and then down, the mattress causing us to bounce just a little. I sigh at the comfy feeling as I lean against Niall, who wraps his arm around me and kisses the top of my head.

Hey holds me for a minute as we sit in a comfortable silence until my mom calls us for dinner. I sigh and we stand up, though Niall takes my hand with a soft smile and leads me to the kitchen where our mouths. Fucking. Drop.

My mom sees me and she walks over with a smile.

"Oh! Emmers! This is-."

"Joel fucking Miller. Ho-ly shit, Ma."

Pedro lets out a laugh and my mom looks confused.

"Now I know for a fact that you lied when you said you watch every stream of mine. I freaking played The Last Of Us last week, Ma. I talked about how I've been watching it?"

She gives me another confused expression and I let out a small sigh and turn my attention back to Pedro, who gives me a smiles as he holds his hand out to shake my hand.

"It's so nice to finally meet you, Emily! Your mom has told me so much about you!"

I shake his hand with a small smile.

"I wish I could say the same! All she told me was she was seeing some super nice guy and that she liked him! Shame shame, madre."

She flips me off and we laugh, and Niall steps closer to me so he's now at my side. He shakes Pedro' hand and introduces himself with a smile.

"Niall Horan. It's really great to meet you!"

"You too! I feel like your name is really familiar but I can't really put my finger on it. What do you do for a living?"

I pat Niall's back lightly and plant a kiss before going into the kitchen to help my mom.As they talk, I help my mom unpack dinner and set the table before she calls everyone to the table. Jamie runs over to me giggling so I pick him up, planting a raspberry on his cheek before setting him in his chair.

Niall pulls out my chair for me and I kiss his cheek before sitting down, scooting myself in as he sits down next to me. Just as I'm about to dig into my food, my mom clears her throat to get my attention and I look up at her.

"We're saying grace, missy."

I scoff and shake my head.

"You know, as someone who has never been a dedicated Christian and even raised her own daughter as a jew, I'm calling bull. Since when are you this religious?"

She sighs and shakes her head. I start to take a drink of my water as I wait for her response.

"About the passed year. I got more involved a little after Pedro and I started dating."

I choke on my drink and start to cough as I hear the words leave her mouth. Niall pats my back and looks at me with concern but I shake my head.

"So what you're telling me is you don't want to talk to me anymore? You told me you were dating someone 2 months ago. Never gave me his name, never really told me anything else other than that he was good to you. You don't even talk to me anymore. Is it all just about Katie and Claire now?"

My mom huffs and snaps back.

"It wouldn't be this way if you hadn't have left! You couldn't wait to leave! I knew I never should've let you do voice acting! You could've been so much better and I failed you! So yes, I don't talk to you! Sometimes it hurts to even think about you! Raising you was the hardest thing I ever had to do and you always made it harder! I couldn't have a life because you couldn't be alone! So yeah, forgive me for wanting to keep this from you so I could actually be myself for once and not have to be your mom!"

Tears threaten to spill from my eyes as she finishes. I can't even bring myself to say anything. I simply stand up from my chair, pushing it back in and walk to the door. Niall stands up to follow me, taking my hand but I wiggle out of his grasp, shaking my head.

"Niall, please, not now. Just...Not now."

Niall's POV

"Niall, please, not now. Just...Not now."

She grabs her keys and heads out the door, my heart splitting as I watch her leave. The rest of the house is silent for a good minute before I can't take it anymore and I decide to say something. I stare straight at her mother, and I just let everything go.

"Ya know, she tries hard to please ya. All the time. She wants ya to be proud of her but she feels like ya don't care. She just wants ya to be interested in what she does! She's amazing at it! And she loves to do it! I love seeing her so passionate about what she does and that's all she wants from you! I know she hasn't told me everything but she does try for ya. She misses the relationship she used to have with ya, and she was really trying. I hope for yer sake, she's willing to forgive ya."

I can see tears in her eyes but I turn away and head out the door myself to look for Emily. I'm not even a foot from the house when I hear someone calling my name. It's Katie, Emily's sister.

"Niall, wait-."

"Look, if yer gonna try and convince me to apologize, I'm sorry but I can't."

She shakes her head and folds her arms.

"No, she deserved that. She asked Claire and I to not say anything to her about Pedro. Since Em moved... It's been hard for my mom. She was angry even though she agreed to let her leave. She was mad that she wanted to. She'll never admit this to Emily but at first... She regretting getting pregnant with her. Emily's dad... He's serving a live sentence. He killed a lot of people and my mom didn't know that when she met him. But she felt bad and allowed his family to see Em when she was younger. That sparked a lot of problems. She's very insecure now and I just... I don't know what to do to help her... And I hate seeing them at odds like this."

She wipes the tears that have fallen down her cheeks before she continues.

"I came out to give you a few places to check for her. She'll most likely be at the park though. There's a giant Willow tree there and she used to hang out there all the time when she got upset. I'll stay here and talk to my mom."

I nod at her, giving her a small smile as thanks before running off to go find my girl. After about a 15 minute walk, I reach the park and I let out a sigh of relief.

Just as Katie has said, she's under the Willow tree, her knees to her chest with her head down. I sit down next to her and hearing her quiet cries breaks my heart. I pull her into my lap and she starts to panic, but I hush her calmly. I begin to rock her back and forth and I start to softly sing to her.

"When you feel your love's been taken, When you know there's something missing, In the dark, we're barely hanging on. And you rest your head upon my chest, And you feel like there ain't nothing left-."

Her cries only get louder and I pull her to my chest, holding her tight as I continue to sing to her.

"I'm afraid that what we had is gone... Then I think of the start, And it echoes a spark. And I remember the magic electricity. Then I look in my heart, There's a light in the dark."

She begins to settle down, only faint sniffles coming from her as she adjusts herself in my arms so she sees my face.

"C-can you keep going?"

I give her a smile and I nod, adjusting her in my arms before continuing once again.

"Still a flicker of hope that you first gave to me. That I wanna keep-."

I look into her eyes and I hear her quietly whisper, her voice full of sadness as she holds back her tears.

"Please don't leave..."

I lean down and peck her lips before whispering to her.

"Never. I'm always here for ya, Em. No matter what."

She sniffles, laying her head on my chest as we sit in silence for a few minutes until she speaks up.

"I'm sorry- I'm sorry you had to see that... I just.. I wish I was good enough for her. Like I don't care that she's dating Pedro Pascal but she never told me anything! I just-."

She begins to tear up again and I rub her back as I continue to rock her. After a few minutes, her phone starts to ring and she reluctantly answers, she talks for a minute before looking back up at me.

"Katie asked if we could come back... My mom wants to apologize and talk to me..."

I kiss the top of her head as I squeeze her tight.

"Whatever you want to do, Petal. I'm here every step."

She cuddles up to me and she's quiet for a second before she pats my chest.

"Could you- could you carry me back? I think my legs are still a bit shaky..."

I chuckle and adjust my hold on her before standing up and making the trek back to her mom's house. As soon as we arrive at the house, I see her sister standing outside waiting for us. As soon as she sees us, she lets out a sigh of relief.

We head inside to see her mom on the couch and Pedro in the recliner in the corner of the room. I set her down on the couch and before anyone can say anything, my phone starts to ring. I pull it out to see it's Paul.

Emily squeezes my hand and gives me a small smile.

"Go, it's important. I'll be okay."

I give her a look filled with worry and she just puckers her lips. I roll my eyes playfully and peck her lips a few times before going outside to answer the phone.

Emily's POV

After a long, tear-filled conversation with my mom, I'm feeling a lot better. After hugging it out, she decides to head to bed early but Pedro stays up.

"Hey Emily, I was wondering. Would you want to maybe go out and get some ice cream? I've gotten to know your sisters pretty well in the past year and I was hoping you and I would be able to do that."

I nod with a smile and he smiles, grabbing his car keys before we head out the door. When we walk out, I see Niall still on the phone, leaning against the garage. I lean up to him and plant a kiss to his cheek. He lowers his phone down and I whisper into his ear.

"We're gonna go get some ice cream. I'll be back in a little bit."

He nods and pecks my lips before opening his mouth to ask what I already know he's going to ask.

"Wi-."

"Yes, I will bring you back a couple scoops of Cookie Dough. Don't stay out here too much longer or the mountain lions are gonna eat you."

He rolls his eyes before raising his phone back to his ear and I walk to Pedro's car, giggling like a child. We get in and we chat as he drives. He pulls up to the shop and my mouth drops.

Icicles? How the hell-.

"Did you-."

He only smiles at me as he parks the car.

"I heard you mention how much you missed it to your mom once on the phone so I thought this would be a good choice."

I smile and we both get out with Pedro locking the car before we head inside. We get our ice cream and find an empty table to sit at.

"Hey... I'm sorry about dinner. I don't usually like to confront things but I guess-."

He smiles and shakes his head.

"You have nothing to apologize for. I love your mom, I do. But she definitely had it coming. For the record, she is proud of you, but she feels like she failed you. She thinks you're capable of so much more and she said that she regrets letting you leave.."

My heart drops and I try to fight the tears threatening to spill.

"Is that why she won't talk to me anymore? Because I do try... I try to talk to her and I just can't reach her anymore. I found out you guys were dating like 2 months ago and I didn't even know you were... Well... You."

He sighs and nods as he leans back into his chair.

"Your mom and I talked about that after you left. She wants to try better. She wants to be there for you."

I take a bite of my ice cream before speaking again, trying to push down all my feelings in the small bowl in front of me.

"And you? What do you think?"

He raises his brows for a second, shock evident in his expressions before he smiles.

"What do I think? Well... I think you killed it in Assassination Classroom. That second to last episode was brutal."

My mouth gapes and he laughs.

"Y-You've... You've seen my work?"

He nods with a smile and I can't help but smile as well.

"I have. I've got nieces and nephews that watch anime and they like a lot of different ones. Attack On Titan was a bit brutal for me but I thought you did great. Have you done any non-violent ones though? I don't think my heart can take much more."

I laugh and we continue to talk and eat our ice cream.

"Hey, so I wanted to talk to you about something serious."

I give him my undivided attention, a brow raised as her sighs and looks into my eyes.

"I want to propose to your mom tomorrow. Your sisters have already given me their blessing but I wanted yours as well."

My mouth drops a little and I start to choke. I cough into my arm a few times before regaining my composure.

"Wow... Okay. Sure? I mean you seem great and she seems to really like you... I'm just a little surprised you asked me. I am the child that she didn't mention."

He shakes his head with a frown.

"You're important to your mom, so you're important to me. I care about your sisters as if they were my own. Of course they don't need me to be their dad or anything-."

"She told you about him... Didn't she?"

He gives me a somber expression as he nods, causing me to let out a sigh.

"Yeah well that's what happens when you open your legs for the next guy you see. She was freshly divorced and itching for another kid. Big mistake that was."

"But you wanted one... right?"

I let out another sigh but I can't bare to look at him.

"When I was a kid, yeah. But it was a stupid dream...What are you trying to say?"

He sighs and hesitantly puts a hand on top of mine.

"Only that you don't have to worry about it anymore. I'm gonna be here for you. Maybe we can go from there?"

I snort and shake my head.

"Pedro, are you trying to steal someone else's kids so you can have your own? Is that why you're with my mom?"

He blushes, his eyes widening as he fumbles his words and I start to laugh.

"Well I-."

"I'm just fucking with you! She does the same thing! And that's really sweet of you to offer and I'll definitely think about it..."

He smiles and we talk for a bit longer before we decide to call it a night. I quickly order Niall's ice cream and we head back to my mom's house. Pedro playfully ruffles my hair and says goodnight before he heads into my mom's room.

I laugh as I open my bedroom door and I see Niall sitting on the bed.

"What's so funny?"

I blush when I see him, shaking my head as I walk in, closing the door behind me. I walk over to the bed and hold the ice cream out to him.

"Nothing. Here's your ice cream."

He takes it from me with a smile and I move to my bag and pull out clothes. I quickly change and go back to the bed where Niall is still eating his ice cream. I climb on the bed and over Niall, sitting down in the open spot.

Niall holds out his spoonful of ice cream to me and before I can take a bite, it starts to drip on my chest, causing me to gasp.

"Niall!"

He laughs and puts his cup down on the nightstand before turning back to me. He pulls me into his lap and slips the straps of my dress down my shoulders. He lowers his mouth down and begins to lick up the ice cream that spilt. I let out a small squeak as his licks turn into sucking and he pins me down on the bed.

"I thought you said I couldn't keep quiet."

I smirk and he smiles, hovering over me.

"Yeah, I did. But I had a thought. And I need my girl real bad. Wanna try somethin' new?"

I bite my lip and nod, already feeling myself start to heat up. He smiles and before I can blink, he flips us over so I now sit on top of him. He then leans in a little bit and starts to whisper to me, his sultry voice making me wetter.

"Alright, baby. I'm gonna move ya, okay? We're not takin' our clothes off but it's still gonna feel good."

I nod, biting my lip as he positions me over his crotch. I can already tell what he's planning, so without further instruction, I lower myself onto his hard on and I start to move back and forth on him. He groans quietly and I hold back a moan.

He grips my hips and starts to help me move on him, dipping my hips a little. He holds me close as I continue to grind on him, and he smashes his lips against mine in a hot kiss.

He starts grinding into me and I moan into the kiss, my toes curling at the intense feeling. He pulls away from my lips, panting and whining a little.

"F-Fuck, Petal. I'm gonna-."

I nod and pull him back into a kiss, grinding harder on him. I moan into his mouth and he groans, squeezing me tight as we reach our highs. We pull away, panting as I flop on my spot of the bed. Niall gets up and pulls some towels out of my closet before pulling out a new pair of underwear for each of us.

He comes over to me and gently slips off my soiled underwear before gently cleaning me up and slipping on the fresh pair. He then cleans himself up, throws everything into the hamper and then crawls into bed next to me. He pulls me into his arms and lets out a content sigh.

"That felt really good, Ni. I-I was a little surprised but... Wow."

He nuzzles his head into my shoulder, pressing a kiss to it before he lets out a small chuckle.

"Me too, Petal. I missed ya... So much."

Before I can respond, I hear the sound of his soft snores, signaling he fell asleep. I cuddle up close to him and close my eyes, falling asleep in his arms.

—————————————————————————

February 14th, 2023 5pm.

The day had mostly gone by fast. We had a small family get together to celebrate my mom's engagement and then everyone else parted ways, leaving Niall and I alone in the house.

He walks up to me, in casual clothes, and plops down next me on the couch.

He leans over and presses a kiss to the side of my head as he pulls me into his arms.

"Take out is ordered, should be here in about 20. Are ya pickin' the movie?"

I curl up in his embrace and nod against his chest.

"Yeah, I figured we could watch a few comedies. Oh shoot! I forgot your present!"

He chuckles as he watches me shoot up from the couch. I race to my room, grabbing his present as I hear a knock on the door. When I re-enter the living room, Niall is unpacking our take out and setting in on the coffee table.

I hold his present behind my back as I walk up to him and he turns to face me with a smile. 

"Whatcha got there, Em?"

I unveil his gift and he smiles. I hand it to him and he opens it, tearing up immediately. I made a scrapbook of us, with little cute notes and plenty of empty pages to be filled.

"Do you... Do you like it? I know it's not really anything elaborate or expensive but I-."

Before I can finish, his lips push against mine as he engulfs me in his arms. He pecks my lips a few more times before he pulls away, still holding me in his arms.

"Are ya fuckin' kidding me, Emily? I love it! This has t' be one of the best gifts I've ever gotten. And I can't wait to put more pictures in it."

He kisses me one more time before pulling away.

"Lemme go get yers, really quick."

I nod as he walks off and I sit down on the couch. He comes back as I start to dig through the bags of food and I look up to see him holding a small bundle of items: a blanket, a small teddy bear and my favorite chocolates. I take them from him, tears threatening to spill.

"I know it's small, but I promise it's not everything! Just what I could do since we're not home. I promise when we get back-."

I put my gifts aside and pull him into a kiss, shutting him up. He sighs and wraps his arms around my waist, pulling me closer. Our lips move in sync until we're rudely interrupted by my mom's cat clawing at my leg. I pull away from Niall, groaning in pain.

"Lucas! You little shit! Naughty kitty!"

I pull away from Niall and deal with the cat before dealing with my bloody leg. When I come back into the living room, Niall has everything ready and it makes me tear up. I cuddle up to him on the couch and he hands me a bowl.

We curl up and eat as we watch movies and as soon as I finish eating, I set my bowl on the coffee table.

"Hey.. Niall? I have a question for you."

He puts his bowl down on the coffee table before he turns to look at me expectantly.

"I have an event... On Saturday. It's a premiere... For one of the animes I'm in. I was wondering... If you maybe wanted to go with me? I know it's like a public event but I just wanted to ask..."

He smiles and pulls me into his arms, pecking my lips softly.

"I'd love to. Don't think I have anything that day. Lemme know what yer wearin' so I can match with ya."

I smile and nod, hugging him before laying my head on his chest. We silently watch the movie until he pops a question.

"Hey... Em? I've got Late Late on Thursday night into early Friday morning... Ya know.. Heaven and all... Come with me. Please?"

I lift my head and look at him in shock.

"Late Late? Niall... That's a really big deal... Are you sure you want me there?"

He smiles and places a kiss on my forehead.

"Yer the only one I want there."

I smile and nod. He hugs me closer and I lay my head back on his chest. We continue to watch movies until about 11pm, when he taps me on the back. I look up and he stares into my eyes.

"Ya know... Pedro said he and yer mom were stayin' in a hotel tonight... So we're alone. And I got ya somethin'. Thought we could try it out."

I raise my eyebrow but I nod. He smiles and picks up the remote, turning off the tv before throwing it back onto the coffee table. He then adjusts his hold on me and stands up, carrying me to my bedroom as I laugh. He sets me on my bed and I lay back as he pulls something out of his suitcase.

He pulls out a small box and walks over to me, a small smirk on his face.

"I want ya to take yer shirt and skirt off fer me. Can ya do that, Petal?"

I nod with a blush, quickly removing them before throwing them in a random corner of my room. Niall whistles at my appearance.

About a week ago, Jenny and I went lingerie shopping and I bought a few sets since I didn't have any. I wore a white set today.

"Ho-Ly shit, Em. Is that new? God.. Ya look... Fuck..."

I blush as he walks closer and sits on the bed. He holds out the box to me and I hesitantly take it. It's a small-ish 'u' shaped vibrator.

"Y-You got me a vibrator?"

He smiles and shakes his head.

"I got us a vibrator. This one specifically can be controlled from m' phone. So when I'm gone... 'Specially on tour... I can still make ya feel good. But this one... It's a little extra special. Remember how I made ya feel good with m' fingers in ya?"

I blush and nod, biting my lip at the thought.

"Well... This one goes inside ya a little bit. Just like my fingers did, only a little deeper. Ya wanna try it?"

I nod quickly and Niall smiles. He opens the toy and sets it up, quickly installing the app on his phone and syncs it. He tests it out a few times, changing the settings. I only grow more wet from the sounds. He then sets it down and lays down, his head close to my clit.

"Fuck... I haven't even touched ya yet and yer soaking through yer panties, babe."

He runs his finger up and down the wet spot of my panties, teasing me before he pulls my panties down and throws them somewhere in the room.

"Alright, baby. I gotta stretch ya out a little bit, okay? Just like I did last time. If it hurts, don't be afraid to tell me."

I nod and he looks at me, nodding when I give him another nod of approval. He begins to tease my clit now, running two fingers up and down before he pushes them in all the way. I gasp a little but he continues, moving them around.

He makes a 'come hither motion and I let out a little squeak. He moves his fingers in and out until he slowly adds in a third. I throw my head back, moaning quietly.

"F-Fuck.. Niall.."

He smiles and shushes me before adding a fourth finger. I grasp the covers underneath me, trying not to wiggle at the pleasure.

"Fuck! N-Niall! I think I'm!"

He pulls his fingers out and I let out a cry of frustration. He smirks, grabbing the vibrator and quickly slips it inside me, though he keeps a hold on the other end. I gasp, throwing my head further into the bed.

I feel... So full... And it's not even that deep...

"Be a good girl. Ya gotta make it to the highest setting. Don't come until I say, okay?"

I nod and bite my lip. He smiles and grabs his phone, turning the vibrator on to the lowest setting. He teases me with it for a few minutes, pulling the vibrator in and out just a little as it vibrators against all the my sensitive bits.

"Yer doing so good. Hold on just a bit longer, okay?"

I nod and he turns it on to the highest setting. Pleasure shoots up through my entire body and I begin to shake a little.

"F-FUCK! NIALL!"

He starts to push the vibrator in further and I move my hips to meet his movements. I moan loudly, letting out curse after curse.

"Fuck! Haa! Baby! Please! I-I can't! Shit, Niall!"

"Fuck, yer so sexy. Come for me, baby girl. Ya deserve it."

The second the words leave his mouth, I let go, my toes curling as I writhe in pleasure. I slowly calm down, a little overwhelmed with that being the hardest I've ever come.

"Shit... God Em. Ya fuckin' squirted, baby. Ya know how hot that is? God I love it when ya do that.F-Fuck..."

He pulls the vibrator out of me and I whimper at the loss before quickly adjusting again. I slowly sit up and grab Niall.

"Let me help you, Ni. I wanna make you feel good too."

He smiles and shakes his head.

"I'm fine, Petal. I don't need ya to. Today was about you. Lemme get ya cleaned up. We gotta be up early to leave in the morning."

I pout but nod. Niall cleans me up with a towel before sliding my panties back on. He wipes off the vibrator and puts it back into his suitcase before changing himself, since he was now covered in my release.

He finishes packing up and then gets into bed with me, pulling me into his arms. With a kiss to my forehead, he turns out the light and we fall asleep to the sound of each other's breathing.

Thursday,February 16th. 4:40pm

I finish putting on my makeup, checking myself out in the mirror before deeming myself ready. Just as I grab my person, my phone dings.

I smile when I see it's from Niall, quickly texting him back before I leave my room. I walk down the stairs and grab my keys before turning to Zach.

"Hey, Zachy? Would you please pick up my dress when you go pick up your shirt? I'll Venmo you some gas money."

He gives me a thumbs up from the couch but then turns with a questioning look.

"Where are you going? I mean I don't mind but why can't you get it?"

I sigh as I slip on my heels.

"It wasn't ready before and I'm not gonna be home until late tomorrow.I'm not gonna have any more time. Please?"

He groans but nods. I rush over to the couch and reach over from the back, giving him a small hug. I then let him go, quickly leaving the house. I walk down the driveway and see a Black SUV. The back door opens and out comes Niall, looking hot as ever.

He smiles when he sees me and holds his arms out to me. I walking into his comforting arms and he quickly wraps me up tight. He kisses me, lifting me up a little before pulling away.

"Wow Emily... You look... You look breathtaking."

I giggle and peck his cheek.

"You don't look too bad yourself, slugger."

He chuckles and squeezes me before helping me inside the vehicle. He introduces me to his manager who is sitting in the passenger seat and we all talk until we arrive at the studio.

Friday,February 17th 2am

The night goes by pretty fast and quick into the morning when we finally leave. Paul drops us off at Niall's house and the second we step into his bedroom, we collapse on the bed, still in our clothes.

I groan as I roll onto my back, reluctantly getting up. I kick off my heels and strip out of my dress before tossing it to the side and raiding Niall's closet. I slip on one of his t shirts before coming back out to see him in just his boxers sitting up tiredly against the headboard.

I smile as I climb onto the bed and curl up next to him. He wraps an arms around my waist and just as we're about to lay down, I remember something, my body instantly shooting back up.

"Shit! Heaven is out now!"

Niall groans and tries to pull me back down but I push him away and grab my phone.

"Em, please. It's so late-."

"Nope, I'm listening to it right now."

He sighs and I pull open my music and sure enough, it's the first song sitting in my recently added. I press play and shivers run through my spine as it starts.

Strange light revolves around you You float across the room Your touch is made of something Heaven can't hold a candle too You're made of somethin' new

I lay there quietly as it plays, nodding my head to the beat. Once it's over, I plug my phone back and and I hug Niall right, finally laying back down with him.

"What'd ya think, baby?"

I peck his lips with a small smile before laying my head on his chest.

"Perfect. Just as I expected."

He squeezes me lightly in his arms until he slowly lets go, the only movement coming from him is his breathing as he sleeps. I smile to myself and lay my head over his heart, falling asleep to my favorite melody.

Saturday, February 18th. 2pm THE ORPHEUM THEATRE Los Angeles, California

Niall and I step out of the SUV and onto the red carpet. This isn't my first movie premiere for an anime I've been in, but it is my first time bringing someone with me that wasn't already in the cast.

Niall gives me a comforting smile as we walk down, taking pictures, both together and with the cast, and I do a few small interviews.

I get to the last interview, a young woman named Natalie, who has interviewed me at almost every premiere I've had. She gives me a soft smile and I return it.

"Emily! It's always so good to see you! And you look incredible, as you always do!"

"Thank you Natalie! So do you!"

She smiles and nods.

"So, this is big for you! Demon Slayer has absolutely blown up! As one of the producers of the anime,as well as the darling, fierce Nezuko, did you ever think you would get this far?"

I giggle and shake my head before answering her question.

"Not really. I have loved it from the very beginning, but I don't think anyone expected it to blow up as much as it has."

She asks me a few more questions before getting to the one I've been waiting for.

"I see you've brought someone with you tonight!"

I nod with a small smile. I look at Niall for reassurance and he nods with a smile, so I turn back to Natalie.

"Yeah, this is my boyfriend, Niall."

Natalie nods with a small smile.

"Have you seen the series, Niall? What do you think about your girlfriend's role in it?"

He smiles and squeezes me tight as he answers.

"I think she's doin' an amazing job. I love the show, for sure, and I can't wait to see what's next."

Natalie smiles and jots down a few notes before looking up and gesturing to her photographer.

"Would you mind if we took a photo of you both?"

We smile and shakes our heads, cuddling up close for the picture. We then wave goodbye to Natalie and head inside the theater. We take our seats with Niall on one side of me and Bryce on the other.

When it's finally over, we all head back to my house for the after party. I change out of my dress into something more comfortable and when I come back down, Niall is chatting with Bryce and his wife. He smiles when he sees me and pulls me into his side, a drink in his other hand.

"There she is! We were just talkin' about ya."

I giggle and shake my head. We start to chat and Zach walks by, a glare present on his face. He grumbles something but I manage to catch it.

"Yeah, that's all you do. Use her to stay relevant."

I growl and grit my teeth, scolding him.

"Zachary, shut it before I throw my shoe."

He rolls his eyes and shrugs as he grabs something from the fridge.

"You're just mad that I'm right. Get over it."

Before I can yell at him again, he walks away and joins a group, starting to chat with them. Niall lets me go and refills his drink, filling it all the way before he chugs it.

Throughout the night, I fight back the urge to smack Zach as he continues his attitude towards Niall, and Niall continues to drink. I hadn't kept a good enough eye on him and now he's so sloshed, he can't stand straight. I hold him up, deciding it's time to take him home.

"Ya know... I don't understand why ya keep him around, Em. He's an asshole. And ya let him get away with it..."

I sigh, trying to shrug off his words as I get him into my car, buckling him before getting into the drivers seat. He continues to drunkenly ramble until we reach his house and he lets out a groan.

"I know Niall, hold on. Let's get you inside."

I get out and help him out before walking us to the front door, unlocking it with his keys I snagged from his pocket. I struggle, but I manage to get him upstairs and into bed. 

I get him a glass of water from the kitchen as well as some Advil, leaving it on his bedside table. I sit down on the edge of his bed for a minute, running the day through my head when he interrupts me.

"Ya know, maybe he's right. Ya let him talk like that to me, about us... Maybe yer the one using me...Maybe ya are too young... Maybe-."

I wipe the tears from my cheeks and stand up, not even responding to him as I storm out of his house. The second I'm in my car, I breakdown completely. I reach for my phone and call the one person I can think of. My mom.

Too shaky to hold the phone up to my ear, I place it on speaker as it rings, and eventually it's answered. I try my best to calm my breathing, but I let a shaky cry.

"M-Mama-."

"Emily? Are you okay?"

That's not my mom... That's not even female.. Is that-

"P-Pedro?"

"I'm sorry, Emily. Your mom left her phone at home. She won't be back for a while. Are you okay? You sound like you're crying..."

I sniffle and let out a whimper, and I feel like I can't breathe.

"Mija, listen to me. Take some deep breaths okay? In for 4, hold for 4, out for 4. Can you do that for me?"

I let out another whimper but I nod, doing as he says. After a couple breaths, I'm able to calm down enough and I pull out of Niall's neighborhood, Pedro still on speaker.

"T-Thank you.."

I hear him sigh through the phone and I sniffle as I drive.

"Of course, mija. ¿Qué pasa? Why are you crying?"

I sniffle wait I start to explain to him the events of the night and I hear him let out another sigh.

"I'm so sorry he said that, Emily. I'm sure he didn't mean it, but it doesn't make it easier to hear."

I stay silent as I drive, only letting out little sniffles.

"Are you going to go home? If I were you, I would want to cool off, not be around your roommate for a bit."

"I think... I think I'm gonna go stay with someone else... I really don't want to go home... I'm just so hurt... I'm angry and I'm frustrated... I feel betrayed..."

"Well, whatever you decide to do, you know your mom and I will support you. I head back to LA in about a week. We'll get lunch okay? Talk some more. I'll next you my number from your mom's phone. If you need anything, anything at all, you call me, okay?"

I sniffle as I pull into the parking lot of my friend Christina's apartment complex. I park my car and sit there for a minute before I answer him.

"I will, I promise. I just got to my friend's place. I think I'm gonna try to get some sleep. I'll keep you and my mom updated and I guess I'll see you next week?"

We say goodnight and hang up before I get out of my car, locking it and heading up to Christina's door. I knock softly and it quickly opens to reveal the tall, dark haired woman.

Before I can say anything, she pulls me inside and wraps me in a tight hug. It's only then that I start to fall to pieces, and I know I won't be okay.

WC 12,912

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Tag List!

@harrysmimi @violetsandfluff @be-with-me-so-happily @swiftmendeshoran @strwbrrydaydreams @kaminokatiee @buffysimonriley @freedomfireflies @babyiamperfectforyou @fruitmans @fruitmansrecs

[fizziepopangel]

A Serbian Film (2010, horror/crime/mystery)

I spent 1 hour and 44 minutes of my life watching this film… While I am deeply disturbed and probably will be for quite some time, I must say that A Serbian Film is an extremely well done piece of work. It took a bit of time before I was able to find somewhere to watch the film with english subtitles, but once I did, boi…  

Ok, so getting right into it, I was slightly annoyed that there’s no translated version of this film but I’m not gonna pretend I don’t get why that is. One version of this movie is most definitely enough, so while I was a bit frustrated that I had to read subtitles the entirety of the movie, I was actually pretty impressed with what I watched despite how deeply it got under my skin. Labeled as a crime/mystery horror film, A Serbian Film was shockingly well shot and the acting was actually really impressive given the content being shot. With the content being centered around the loss of innocence and corruption and featuring children in some very heavy and upsetting ways, I have to applaud the acting done here.  

With its story centered around a serbian porn star and the weird, creepy new “artistic” movie he’s supposed to make in order to set him and his little family up for life… But dude doesn’t know anything about this movie outside of the fact that its very much within his wheelhouse and that a friend and former co star of his trusts the secretive, smooth talking director, and while we as an audience are never given a number, he’s to be paid handsomely for his role in this “movie”. I mean, they never even give him a script or let him see where he’ll be shooting or with who he’ll be acting with until it's happening, they just put an earpiece in his ear and talk him through it. As you can probably guess, this results in some surprises for him when he’s just thrust into situations he is uncomfortable with doesn’t want to be a part of, essentially telling the director that he draws the line at what would be torture porn. Now, fast forward to when dude (Milos) tries to quit and they get real weird with him. Like…. They really roofied dude on the 18th and had him running around town on the 21st  trying to figure out why he was covered in blood, couldn’t find his family, and couldn’t remember the last three days. As the movie begins to show flashes of his memories and he slowly begins piecing things together, it becomes clear that his missing time is rather…. upsetting to say the least. And when I say that finding out what happened within his blackout period was fucked…. It was fucked. 

Although I didn’t tap out during the course of this movie, this was definitely a movie I could’ve used trigger warnings and breaks to get through. The plot and the way it all kept me on the edge of my seat, constantly thinking “oof… ok, but the worst has to be over now, things can’t get worse…” is something I haven’t had a movie do since I watched the 3rd installment of The Human Centipede trilogy (although that was far less well done on many, many levels). While I can praise the acting and say that I loved the twists of the plot that I hadn’t seen coming, seeing this film has really reinforced my belief that a movie being impressive on any level doesn’t mean it warrants more than one viewing of the film, and trust me, if you watch this, its definitely a movie that only needs to be watched once.

[commanderquinn]

Good Space Chapter 2: Man On The Moon

! i dont! keep these posts! updated! like i do! ao3!

that means you're going to find typos and shit (and possibly minor detail changes) that don't match the ao3 version! that's because im not going to bother fixing the tumblr posts until i finish good space as a whole. im only uploading them here as a backup tbh

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master list / ao3 chapter link

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warnings: lotta swearing and usual heavy pstd bucky stuff. also!! im giving sam's story a little bit of author bias/culture venting. this wont read like canon FATWS sam, though i am trying to honor their show where i dont hate it. i love sam's journey to cap, even if ken doll was nauseating (whats funny is i didnt know his actor's name is wyatt until halfway through THIS chapter when i googled something. oh well lmao im sure he's a perfectly nice dude. the wyatt in this fic is My Baby) plus the trump era commentary was completely toothless imo. and the fact that james buchanan barnes acknowledged in episODE T H R E E of the series that he'd take the shield before letting it fall???? even through all his self-hatred?????? get the fuck out of here that desTROYED ME i hate this fictional man with a passion

song: this one's by kid cudi!! 🥰

its time for the l o n g i n g to start ❤️ grab tissues!! first biggie angst so i had to put it behind our resident teddy bear's pov 🥺 you KNOOOOW i had to finish up this update in time for stevie’s birthday 🥰

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October 3rd, 2015

Samuel Wilson was not disillusioned when he walked into his first recruitment office. There were no patriotic stars in his eyes, no lotto number clutched painfully between nervous fingers to drive his feet up to that kiosk. He wasn’t foaming at the mouth to earn career-establishing stripes in a timely fashion. All he had to his name was a high school diploma and twenty-three bucks in his pocket. He didn’t have any big dreams for the desert rocks to tear a hole through. 

Sam was a kid back then. One who wanted to build a life, and the GI Bill offered to make that happen. A solid, steady income with the vision of a college education somewhere on the horizon. Not a lot of other options for someone like him, no matter which familiar corner of the country he looked at.

It took a long time and the right partner for the Air Force to talk him out of his combat objections once the ANG got wind of him. He turned the experimental program down flat twice; Pararescue was his focus for a reason. They had to bribe him with cutting-edge tech and the authority to refuse an assignment just to get him to agree to a first flight. The words never found their way onto an official record, at least none he knows of, but Sam had relentlessly insisted that he wouldn’t be volunteering as the next Indianapolis. Getting pushback on that assertion was when the anger first set in. The first crack in the armor of his career.

There were a lot of better angels within the service; it took most of them to get him home, tape-free, after Riley’s death. By the end of it all, it felt like every last one of them was outnumbered fifty to one. Nothing felt right anymore, including the idea of leaving the family he found in the sand to fend for themselves. The only thing that felt survivable after the world finally stopped tilting was dedicating himself to the VA.

Living for the memory of the ones he lost helped him find other reasons to want to be a person again. From there, it was mostly helping other people find reasons of their own that drove him forward.

It’s why he’s willing to delve into some shithole facility in the middle of nowhere Russia for a guy like Steve Rogers. And, on some levels, he supposes, if he absolutely has to, for a guy like Bucky Barnes. Even if he is the grouchiest motherfucker on the face of the Earth.

The lumbering moron hasn’t said a word all morning, no matter what small talk Steve tries to open with. And he’s tried everything, ever since they landed. Sam’s responded to a few of the openings himself just to try to fill the silence. He hopes it’s helping. It’s been hard to get a detailed read on the other push-pop’s triggers so far. Steve hasn’t signaled for him to stop, so.

“Cryo is through here,” Bucky rumbles under his breath. They’re the first words he’s spoken since the Quinjet.

“How many should we be expecting?” Steve asks almost as quietly.

“How many people am I asking you to put a bullet through, you mean.”

Steve stops halfway through the door Bucky’s directed them to. “We haven’t decided if that’s what we’re going to—”

“Maybe you haven’t decided. I’ll do it if you won’t.” The former sergeant doesn’t turn around. He keeps walking, getting closer to the stocky metal pods.

Sam already hates this. He already hates this a whole fucking lot. Captain America coming to him with a request to take the headcase to Russia was always going to get weird; he knew that. But he’s been very clear on what he’s down for, and now they’re in murder and war crime weird. He’d like to start slowing down the crazy train—

Steve holds up his hand. “Bucky, listen, it doesn’t have to—”

“Fuck off. You have no idea what it’s like to sit in this hell. You two can wait outside if you’re so uncomfortable. I’ve got it from here.”

Mmm. That’s the voice of a guilt-ridden survivor. Sam recognizes it well. At least it’s giving him a bead on where today’s drive is coming from. “You mean the hell we pulled you from?”

Steve’s head whips around, with righteous, territorial anger in his eyes. “You’re right, Buck; we don’t. But—”

“But you don’t know what they want,” Sam forcefully finishes, staring back at Steve. He banks on the fact that, technically, they’re not really disagreeing. Steve’s trying to back him down, too, in his own way. “Taking away their chance at the same new life you’re getting isn’t—”

Bucky’s cybernetic fist comes crashing down on one of the corroded desks, making the rusted metal whine in protest, deforming to the shape of his fingers. “You two don’t fucking get it.” He turns, angrily tugging his hand back to his side. The assassin doesn’t advance, but his posture is more than ready for it as he glares at them with pure contempt. “You think you’re going to find people in those tanks—humans, with hearts and minds and hopes and dreams. There might as well be skeletons getting freezer-burned in those goddamn caskets because that’s the only salvageable thing you’ll find. You fucking—”

He laughs, the sound empty, and turns back around to send his fist into the side of the table, knocking it across the room. He doesn’t face them again. “You fuckers! You take a fucking look at me. Take a good, long look. I am half alive. I had a radiation-free knockoff keeping me upright through their bullshit. You wanna know what they had? Something that might as well have been piss mixed in some fucking snow. Worthless trash those Nazi bastards bottled up and stuck in a needle.”

“Bucky—” Steve tries to calm his best friend as the man’s voice breaks. Sam could tell him from first-hand experience how well that’s going to go over.

There was a lot of screaming in that desert. A lot of grief disguised as anger. A lot of old ideals leaving newly-shattered men one seething tear at a time.

“They were zombies by the time HYDRA was done injecting them. Do you get that? Are you two grasping the concept? They were rabid dogs I trained to respond to whistles. Rotting corpses that I taught how to aim. And that was before their brains shorted out on them. I looked into every single one of their eyes. I saw what looked back. Fuck species—what was in there was not fucking alive. Fuck you—fuck you so fucking much for even fucking suggesting I should leave them like that—like animated fucking cadavers—hooked up to some fucking machine just to breathe—”

“James.”

Bucky’s flood of words finally cuts off, and Sam isn’t sure if it’s because of the use of his first name or the way he swallows as if he’s choking. His flesh hand comes down on the back of the chair that started out tucked under the table. It keeps the guy upright while he pulls in a few breaths that look painful, even through the curtain of dark brown hair.

“Let’s see what’s what first,” Sam suggests as diplomatically as he can manage. He doesn’t take a step forward, mostly because he doesn’t see Steve take one. “Then we go from there.”

“You’re going to hate what you see.” Bucky scoffs bitterly. “You think you know, but you don’t. You’re going to hate me for bringing you here. For the rest of your lives.”

Steve moves forward, finally, but he stays a few feet to Bucky’s seven o’clock. “I’m not dumb enough to make you any promises about not hating what I see here. I haven’t even looked in one, and I already know you’re right on the money when it comes to that. But I can promise that you’ll always be wrong about me hating you for any of this.”

“So can I,” Sam assures. There’s not a doubt in his mind now that he understands where they’re at.

—

Bucky’s up at 0500. 

He hasn’t slept a minute later than that since the first night his body adjusted to New York’s timezone, no matter what hour he falls asleep. He doesn’t attempt more than upright power naps on away missions. They’re the only thing that gets him any rest outside of his room in the tower. 

It’s the same every morning. First, he works on his back, popping away the stiffness one awkward bend of his limbs at a time. From there, the extra thick comforter gets picked up off the floor, then the blanket and the lopsided pillow. They always get tossed on top of the bed he’s never used. Except on Saturdays, when he does his laundry. That’s when they get put in a basket to be taken to Natasha’s room. She won’t let him have his own washing machine until he starts using the bed.

So, every Saturday, he shows up with his little pile at 0800 because Natasha won’t unlock the door until then. A pillowcase. A blanket and matching comforter. Two shirts, usually henleys, five black tanks, and two different tactical pants. One pair of gloves. His singular monkey suit gets taken to the cleaners whenever he’s forced to wear it, which thankfully isn’t often.

His dress uniform hasn’t come out of the box Steve dropped it off in after getting it pulled from the goddamn Smithsonian. Bucky hasn’t laid eyes on it since 1943.

While he’s working his hair up into a serviceable bun, he thinks about Natasha’s recommendation to start braiding it before he sleeps. He doesn’t like the idea of something that tight sitting against his head, especially at night. Maybe if he lets his hair grow out a little more. He wants to keep the shoulder length it’s at now, though. It looks good on him. He wants to know what asking someone to pull on it feels like. Eventually. 

Online dating has been… overwhelming, to say the least.

He’s reaching for the medkit in the drawer under his bathroom sink when the mental image of Ava creeps in. He isn’t trying to blow off the hippie’s orders. Honestly, the thought of their deal hadn’t crossed his mind until he got to this part of his day. Resisting the urge yesterday had been difficult. He knew ahead of time that today was going to be much worse. It means pushing through a repeated break in his pattern.

That voice, the one that insists he should tell Steve to fuck off much more, rears its head. His flesh hand twitches with the reflex to finish his usual routine. To show up late to her office with some blase excuse about doing it out of habit. He could sell the lie without even trying. Entire countries have fallen thanks to his expertise with it. She wouldn’t have a shot in hell at knowing the difference.

He could work his way out of this with ease. Steve already feels guilty about making him pull a hard stop during his first visit, even if he won’t say the words. It’s the perfect opening to establish a line and push it away to give himself some room, one step at a time.

With a decisive flick of his wrist, Bucky shuts the drawer holding his medkit. For the second time since he was allowed to travel without a handler, he walks away from his morning routine without treating the cybernetics on the back of his neck.

It makes his skin feel wrong—off, unsettled—as he gets his standard gear on. He’s still grounded, thanks to Steve, so it’s the version he’s got closest to fatigues. He hopes the doctor doesn’t mind rolling down a polyester turtleneck to get at his brain port. He almost skips going to the gym for his workout, but that would worsen the off feeling. And he’d have to sit around with nothing to do for hours waiting for their first scheduled maintenance. 

He slides his phone into his back pocket, intent on heading to his standard morning haunt. A few hours of going through his paces in the gym will help his nerves. When his mind offers up the suggestion that a workout before seeing the cute doctor could be—advantageous, he tries not to linger in it. 

The idea certainly doesn’t make him feel bad. It’s even sort of... motivating in its own way. It... contributes to his reasons for doing a few extra sets on the bench. And adding a quick rock wall climb. There are others, of course. Being chained to the tower like a toddler in timeout because his best friend is an asshole is certainly one of them. He tacks on more time at the reinforced, Super-Soldier-proof punching bag to ease that particular frustration.

Even with the additions to his cardio, he’s still got an hour to kill before their appointment. He fills it by heading for the roof of the tower. It’s not even 0900, so no one but a few graveyard stragglers are out in the open space. SHIELD agents like him that are married to the job, catching a glimpse of the sun and a few puffs of nicotine before going to crash. Bucky stops to help one of them struggling with her lighter, offering up his spare Bic. The other agent smiles at him in tired appreciation before hovering the end of her cigarette over the flame. He counts it as contributing to his social life. He’ll figure out how to phrase it to get his therapist off his ass later. 

The brain trust’s space is, unsurprisingly, effortless to find. Ava wasn’t kidding; it’s actually tucked away in one corner of the roof, hidden along the wall that extends up to the tower’s executive launch bay. Bucky had expected them to claim a spot overlooking the Avenger’s balcony. Then again, he’s heard she’s pretty close friends with Tony, so maybe he shouldn’t have. She probably knows better by now. 

There’s another collection of gargantuan chairs, this time made out of wicker and upholstery that feels soft when he runs his fingers over it. A tapestry rivaling the paint swatches at Steve’s supply store is mounted to the wall behind them. Two poles hold it at the opposite corners, keeping it blowing slightly in the wind as it hangs over the collected seating. The coffee table in the middle has a lockbox sitting on it, with SHEILDs insignia embossed on the lid. 

He’s got level seven clearance these days. He could still easily get through that lock, even if he didn’t. It’s going to drive him batshit, not knowing what’s in it before she takes him up here herself. 

Bucky turns around and gets halfway back to the door to the stairwell before the buzzing in his neck builds too much for comfort. He grinds his teeth through the sensation. He even manages to force himself another few steps forward. But, ultimately, the buzzing wins out, and he spins again with a vicious curse. 

The confirmation chime of his clearance override feels too loud, even out here in the open. The top of the lockbox rolls back, revealing a set of playing cards, a jumbled collection of stress toys, a SHEILD standard medkit, and some candles. He almost leaves without checking the medkit. He’s so close to being able to stomach the idea. 

Almost. 

There’s nothing sinister to be found in it once it’s open. It’s stock issue. Not one of the item counts is off, but the lot numbers don’t match, meaning she maintains it regularly. Knowing that information feels invasive, despite being convinced she wouldn’t mind how he got it.

This. Isn’t. Siberia. Ava Ryder is not going to put a gun in his hand. She is not a risk to him. 

Bucky leaves the roof, headed for her lab. He’s going to tell her he went snooping. He can do that, at least—a bare minimum level of respect to offer her. 

She’s not in her office when he gets through the painted door at 0857. Only one of the doctors is behind the glass today. It’s the other woman—the American-born German. Hannah. Her head is down, focused on a tablet under her hands, with wireless earbuds peaking out from her dirty blonde hair. A hologram of a brain Bucky doesn’t recognize is running next to her. It’s not his; there’s no spider webbing. One of their other patients then. 

He takes a seat in the same chair he used during his last visit. “JARVIS?”

“Good morning, Sergeant Barnes,” the AI responds with nothing but tranquility. “Something you need?”

“Can you tell the doc I’m ready when she is?”

“Of course. Dr. Ryder has not yet entered the building. I’ll let her know you’ve arrived.”

Bucky frowns. “Ah—cancel that. Is she—“ Don’t ask him to track her, you dumbfuck. That’s weird. “Never mind. I’ll wait.”

This is New York. He’s not even sure what part of the city she lives in. For all he knows, she could be stuck in a cab uptown. He can pull the stick out of his ass long enough to give her room to be human. 

He sits there in silence, sunken into pillows with his leg bouncing rapidly, and talks himself up in his head. He’s not uncomfortable. He’s not going to bullshit his way out of this. This is good; it’s going to help him. Bucky is happy about that. It’s a relief to be facing this after a lifetime of running. 

By 0901, he wants to leave. The urge is nearly overwhelming. He makes it to 0904 before he stands up. It takes until 0906 to convince himself to sit back down. 

“I have an incoming message from Dr. Ryder if you wish to hear it, Sergeant Barnes,” JARVIS tells him eleven minutes after the appointment was supposed to start. 

Thank god. “Play it.”

“Morning, JAR!” Her voice is muffled in the recording. She’s got something in her mouth. She’s also in the most broken-down piece of shit in the city by the sounds of it, so not a cab. The subway, maybe? It should be a lot louder than that. “Tell Bucky I’m about fifteen minutes behind and that I’m very sorry. Oh—and tell him to pick the candle!”

His eyebrows lift in confused surprise. “I’m picking a candle?”

“Choosing a candle to burn is part of the daily routine of lab 5923. Dr. Ryder and I usually decide on one, but the option is left open for patients. You will find a box behind her desk; there is a wide array to select from.”

“You pick it together?” Bucky prods, the corner of his lips twitching as he gets back up to check for said box. 

“She enjoys having someone to banter with about them. Dr. Schuster doesn’t usually have anything to contribute to the topic. Dr. Combs only has so many opinions on the matter. He is not overly particular about the olfactory state of the lab.”

“Is Ava?” It’s getting easier to refer to her by her first name alone. It helps that it’s made her smile the handful of times he’s done it. 

“Not especially. I would call her enthusiastic. She finds the options comforting, and there are very few that she doesn’t enjoy.”

“No kidding,” Bucky mutters as he pulls open the top of a very large box. He smelled the thing long before he picked it up, and looking at what’s inside confirms everything the AI’s telling him. There are dozens of them in here, and most of them are unburned. Various shapes and gimmicky scent names stare back at him. Not a lot of Bath & Bodyworks, he’s noticing. 

The hippie is a small business aficionado. How utterly shocking. 

He pushes around the amassed jars for a few minutes. His mind files away a few options he wants to try for later if they don’t get used up on the days he won’t be here. Definitely before he finishes talking her out of demanding these appointments. He picks up one that claims to smell like cranberries and peppermint for a test sniff. 

Thanks to the combination, the barest hint of the ghost of a memory comes over him. One that whispers the name of his mother. This happens sometimes. A fragment that’s still hanging on by a thread will float by. They never have much context, not anything he can typically extrapolate on, infuriatingly enough. Just his mind taunting him that something should be there, but it isn’t. 

He picks that candle, and it doesn’t make him sad as he lights it. None of his pieced-together memories of the life he never got to finish do anymore. He takes them in stride and tries to enjoy what he can. 

That’s what Ma would have wanted.

—

Ava hip-checks the door to her office somewhere around 9:30. 

This is already shaping up to be a terrible second impression. All that grief she gave Bucky about leaving things in her capable hands, and now here she is, showing up late and half-showered to the appointment that’s supposed to finish acclimating him. 

“I am so sorry,” she rushes out, dumping her bag on the closest available surface. It ends up being one of the novelty end tables tucked between the consultation chairs. At least she finally took the one shaped like a leg home. “I completely overslept, and then I wanted to grab you something from my favorite bagel place—do you want one, by the way?” She waves a finger at her bag, then at Bucky, who watches her as she walks and talks her way to her desk. “They’re in that side pouch, the ones that have cream cheese are wrapped up separately. I didn’t know if you were a plain butter kind of New Yorker. Anyways, there was this mouth-breathing dickhead who—” 

She stops and takes a deep breath in when her over-taxed mind finally registers the smell around her. 

“Good morning,” he says from the chairs, amusement coloring his tone. 

She spins on her heel, her glasses jostling with the motion, chuckling softly. “Good morning, Sergeant. Sorry. This is what happens when you talk to me before the coffee finishes evening out in my bloodstream. Fantastic choice, by the way. What is that? It’s peppermint—something.”

“Peppermint and cranberries.” His lips pull up into a half-smile that absolutely sells her on the idea of him being a serial heartstopper in the 30s. “Advertised in what looked like a mushroom cloud.”

Ava’s chuckling turns into an outright bark of laughter as she pulls her work tablet from behind her keyboard. “Yeah. That sounds about right. One of the candle makers I buy from is an anarchist working out of a garage. Great stuff, even if you do have to listen to the most ass backwards view of free trade to get the guy to send you his stock. Good morning to you, too, JARVIS, now that I’m not babbling around a mouthful of food.”

“No need to worry; I’ve become very fluent in your language of scarfing,” JARVIS assures. 

“My mother would keel over if she heard you say that.” Ava waddles over to her latest patient, tablet in one hand and medkit in the other. She puts the kit down on the arm of his chair, in the same spot she put the scanner case last time. He looks much less nervous now, and she gives him a warm smile to encourage that. “I know you don’t want me talking your ear off, and the breakfast offer can wait until we’re done, so let’s get down to this.”

Bucky’s mouth opens. There’s a moment of hesitation before he says anything. She doesn’t try to rush him through it. “What’s the plan, doc?”

“Paige won’t be back from the field until later today at the earliest, so I don’t have anything new for you to test. I passed along your request for the field kit dimensions. She says making something that portable shouldn’t be a problem.” Ava taps on the black sleeve of his shirt. “How comfortable are you with the idea of using nanotech?”

“As in the tiny robots Tony’s always testing?”

“Mhmm.”

“For what? My neck?” He raises his hand to the general area of the port, and she hears him scratching at the fabric over it. “I don’t think it’s—I thought this kind of opening couldn’t be—”

“I don’t mean for closing it off,” she corrects quickly, wanting to avoid a misunderstanding that might get his hopes up. “I want to program a batch specifically for daily care of your implants. The port and your shoulder. Something you can keep in safe housing for use in the field. Now—I want to make sure you understand something upfront. This won’t change my professional opinion; you need to have a specialist looking at this on an extremely frequent basis. However, I would prefer it if you had the nanotech as a safety net. The more of this that we can automate for you, the better.”

“I can agree to that. I’m guessing the bug bots don’t come with a manual.”

Ava moves behind him, mostly to hide how the grumpy old man routine is making her grin from ear to ear. “They usually don’t need one. I’ll be making you a checklist to go over if that makes you feel better.”

“You don’t—that’s—” He hesitates again, making her stop before she can make contact with his neck. “You don’t have to keep... doing stuff. Like that. I’m alright with trusting the bug bots.”

Another piece of Ava Ryder’s heart breaks for Bucky Barnes. “That's great to hear. But, just so you know, I’m going to hand you a checklist anyways.”

“Alright.” His head barely nods; she’s guessing because he can feel her fingers hovering. The evaluations of his senses were so off the charts it set a new testing standard for SHIELD. “That’s—appreciated.”

“You don’t have to worry so much about the manners.” Pressing down with a disinfectant, she circles her thumb around the port, wanting to get it done before moving to his shoulder. That’s going to need a shirt removal. She leans down and shifts to a conspiratorial whisper. “I’m not reporting them back to Steve.”

“Don’t worry; my work wife will come to weasel it out of you or JARVIS all on his own.”

Ava giggles quietly, her eyes honed in on clearing the excess buildup. “You’re not having fun being married to Captain America?”

“Oodles,” he deadpans, making her giggles worsen.

She gives him a break from the small talk while she finishes working on his neck. At some point, she’ll need to put together a specialized blend for loosening up the scar tissue; the skin around it is dried to hell and back from years of sterile wipes. She doubts comfort has been much of a concern, and she’s not about to recommend putting generic lotion over it, but this is ridiculous. There’s no reason for him to live with pain like that.

“I don’t suppose a man from the 30s is going to appreciate being given a moisturizing routine.”

“Nat’s going to be thrilled.”

“She’s your work husband, I’m guessing?”

“She likes to act like it.” Bucky turns his head to glance back for a split second just as she leans forward to swap out for an ointment. The way his head jerks back into place lets her know he got an eyeful of cleavage on the journey. It perfectly mirrors how his eyes snapped up from her chest when he first walked in. She’s not exactly embarrassed about it, but she does feel bad watching him shift around nervously. “But I’m not dumb enough to argue. About that. With her.”

The awkward charm is starting to make her cheeks hurt. “Sounds like a reasonable choice. I hear arguing with Russian women isn’t a smart idea in general.”

“Not if you want to keep your limbs attached.”

“Is it too early for me to start asking for state secrets? Like, say, if the Winter Soldier happened to get his ass handed to him by a former commie?”

“I’m pretty sure she was still a commie the first time.”

“The first time?” Ava asks with excited delight, her hand pausing on his shoulder.

“There were a few run-ins. She’ll remember more of them.” Bucky grimaces with annoyance. “Worse, she’ll be willing to tell them to you.”

“Would you be willing to let me hear them?” she goads.

His shoulders lift with a strained sigh. “Sure, let’s call it willing.”

“You’ll have to remind me if I’m lucky enough to meet her.” She drums her finger on his mechanical shoulder. “Gonna need you to take this shirt off, superstar.”

“Off? Wait, what did you just—” Bucky shakes his head with a quiet huff of laughter. “I’ve got the arm covered.”

“I know, that’s the problem.”

“Alright, smartass. You know damn well what I meant. I took care of it before I came here; it wasn’t part of our deal.”

“Does gross puss leak out of it?”

She can see his eyes roll, even with his head only partially turned. “You know it does.”

“And is it attached to your brain?”

“Ava—really, I’ve got this.” His head turns all the way, and the smile comes back, in full force this time, and oh. Oh, she can absolutely believe that he broke half the hearts in Brooklyn during his reign of terror.

She leans down into his space, letting her arms rest on the back of his chair. “You know what I’ve got?”

His lips purse in resigned amusement. “Multiple medical degrees?”

“You betcha. They were stupid hard to earn, too, so I’d appreciate it if you could start taking that into account.”

“I’m not trying to dismiss them—”

“Just the expertise that they gave me.” When his smile turns guilty, she shifts her weight as naturally as she can to push her chest against her arms in compensation. She doesn’t miss the way he blinks a split second later. Such a gentleman. It almost makes her feel bad. “I don’t mind you arguing the point of your independence. I’m glad for it, Bucky. It tells me that you really want this to work. I hope you can start trusting that when I suggest against it, I’m doing it with your health in mind. Nothing more. You can tell me what you’re comfortable with from there.”

He stares at her like he’s in pain. For an almost uncomfortably long time. “I broke into your lockbox.”

Ava blinks at the sudden shift. “Okay. Wait—my what? Are you talking about the candle box? That doesn’t even have a lock—”

“Your stuff on the roof. You keep a SHEILD issue safe up there. On the table. I used my override.”

It takes a moment to piece together what he’s getting at. She’s been running late since she woke up on Paige’s couch at 7:50 something. The only thing in her bloodstream right now is caffeine; there was no time for a wake-and-bake. “Oh. Oh, oh, that’s just... it’s not locked locked; we don’t really care if anyone uses the stuff in it. We just needed something to put it in that the weather can’t get to.” She smiles at him as his shoulders relax. “You went to see our little corner?”

Bucky shrugs. “I was around.”

“Mhmm, I’m sure. And bouncing off the walls with Steve’s lockdown, no doubt. The faster you get that shirt off, the faster you and I can iron out a plan to get you back in the field. Work with me here, Barnes.”

Bucky stands up with a sigh, and his hands move to his shirt. He pauses while they cling to the bottom of it, his arms crossed. Once again, she doesn’t push him through his hesitation. “I don’t mind if you talk about things. Steve only said that shit about being direct to keep me from stalling my way out of this.”

Ava’s eyebrows pull in while she thinks over the words. “Is that the only thing he’s lied about? I don’t care if you two keep secrets, but you can’t bullshit about your mental health with me. I need to know what makes you uncomfortable; otherwise, I can’t do my job.”

“That’s all I can think of,” he assures her, and she believes him despite the wording. 

“In that case, you’re kind of stupid, full offense.”

It’s Bucky’s turn with the blinking. “Excuse me?”

“You signed yourself up for morning appointments, and you just gave me permission to talk your ear off. You’re an absolute moron; now take off that shirt so I can make sure your brain doesn’t melt.”

—

She has a pet cat named Oreo, of all fucking things. 

It’s hairless. And dumb as a box of rocks, according to her. The name comes from the huge black spots in its—pattern. He can’t exactly use the word fur. She was highly offended when he called the cat a ballsack while she was showing him her lock screen. He got smacked on the arm for the comment.

It’s not her first pet. She got it partly to mourn the snake she adopted in college, a rosy boa called Sayer that finally died at 32. She used the reptile as companionship and motivation to push through her first PhD. The one letting her work on his brain now. It was named after the lead character from her favorite medical movie, Awakenings. When Bucky mentioned that he’s never seen it, she made him swear up and down that he’ll text her his honest reactions if he ever dares to rip his own heart out with questionable ethics.

So now he’s got her number saved in his phone. It’s the 11th one he’s added. Two of them are therapists. None of the others are people outside of SHIELD. He’s pretty sure one of the therapists is a plant from Natasha, so maybe he should start counting them toward the SHIELD column.

There were only nine others over the course of his online dating attempts. None of them stayed on his phone for more than a month before getting deleted. He wasn’t about to let his therapist catch their names on his contact list.

Bucky switches the grape-flavored lollipop in his mouth over to his right cheek. Ava gave it to him. Bopped him right on the nose with one and then let him pick from an array of five like the blatant bribery it is. The good doctor smiled at him while she did it, too.

May it bring you back in good spirits and better health.

It’s the nicest way he’s ever been told to fuck off for being a grouch. It made him smile. Him. James Buchanan Barnes, in the year of 2018.

She’s.… Christ, calling the woman a handful in this day and age feels insulting. He’s not put off by it. Overwhelmed a little, maybe, but he gets the feeling she’s alright with him taking time to warm up to it. Hell, he gets the feeling that not much bothers her at all. It makes him envious. 

He likes the way she speaks. Not just the crazy and the swearing, though that’s its own comfort. There’s a—it sounds so stupid, but there’s a kind of music to it. She always talks in the same calm rhythm, despite the chaos usually found in her words. He didn’t notice the way it makes his foot stop bouncing until halfway through the appointment.

Bucky scowls. “Davis. Why am I looking at a lost signal?”

The level four analyst Steve’s been telling him to ease up on lately freezes in his swivel chair. His head turns, nervously searching the wall of security feeds. Bucky doesn’t offer up any help. “Sorry, sir, I can’t seem to spot which—”

“Third row from the top, eighth from the left. The one I’m supposed to be monitoring for an illegal exchange of nuclear materials, so if you wouldn’t mind—”

“Yes, sorry, restoring connection now. Apologies, Sergeant, I’ll—keep a closer eye on it.” The agent starts mumbling the rest of his intended sentence, mostly about how many he’s keeping track of, when he cuts himself off. His shoulders pull in a bit, almost chastised. It always takes people a minute to remember the super hearing.

He could let it hang. The feed is fixed; he can go back to staring at an empty lot without interruption.

“You’re doing fine.” Bucky feels bad because he’s having an unordinarily good day. That’s all it is. Nothing more. “Restructure your feed priorities. You can hand most of these off to JARVIS; that’s what he’s patched in for. Focus on the ones your gut doesn’t like.”

“Thank you, sir. I’ll start on that now.” The words don’t even sound spiteful.

Bucky sits back against the executive bench of the Datacrux. The stiff leather creaks with the motion, the rigid frame under it keeping him grounded. He tilts his head from side to side, letting it crack and readjust incrementally. His neck doesn’t feel as tight as it should. When he touched it in Ava’s lab, the skin felt even softer than it did after her first round on him. He’s trying not to touch it now. He doesn’t want to irritate it. This is the best it’s felt in—

He doesn’t have a year, he realizes. He can’t remember the one he woke up to cybernetics in. He has no idea when his first taste of cyborg life was. There’s a vague lead, a number written out on paper to fill in the blanks of what’s been destroyed. An estimation anchored around the last day of his former life. But he doesn’t know.

At least you’re still breathing, the better angel in his mind coaxes.

Switching which leg is balanced on which knee, Bucky settles back into his work. It’s been six months since the last lead on his responsibility. There’s been no chatter from the known HYDRA cells, no underground protection contracts with suspiciously good track records hitting Natasha’s web, no suspicious Black Market transfers that scream safe house establishment, nothing. Wherever the Soldats are, they’re being kept under wraps. 

His hounds wouldn’t be able to be contained for anywhere near this long. They’re dead or sedated, no matter where they were smuggled. Otherwise, they’d have surfaced already.

Bucky tries not to think about what a life of not knowing will feel like. He doesn’t know if that’s worse than the idea of burying them. They’re certainly not staring down the barrel of a happy ending at this point. How do you mourn—a situation like that? He can’t even figure out how the hell he’s supposed to be fixing it.

Somewhere out there are the last ravaged pieces of a serum that never should have been made. It’s floating, cobbled together and left to rot, in the veins of men and women who didn’t know what they were signing up for. He remembers having to hold their shoulders down whenever the survival instinct kicked in during the first few injections. He remembers watching their faces as they screamed for a mercy no one in that facility was ever going to grant them. He remembers carrying the bodies of the ones that died in the night, over and over for months, all the way to the incinerator.

Bucky tosses the tablet in his lap off to a spot next to his leg out of disgust. His eyes shut, and his hands come up to rub them hard enough to hurt. He needs sleep. Good, honest to god, medication-induced sleep. He hates relying on those damn pills—it’s not as if they help the other half of his problem, anyhow. Falling asleep is only the start of it. The real kicker is staying unconscious, and nothing he can find, even behind the counter, is going to work on his system for that long.

He needs it, though. It’s been weeks since he got more than a handful of hours at a time. Months since he slept for longer than eight. Steve always talks about crashing for ten at a time after an extended mission, and it makes him want to punch his best friend’s lights out. He’ll never say that out loud, of course, but god. If fucking only.

None of his anger toward Steve ever feels fair. The guy had the world’s worst life before the serum, and he’ll bare his teeth at anyone who tries guilting the captain out of the notion. None of them understand what kind of fresh hell it was being Steve Rogers, and all his undying spirit, while trapped in a body with ten billion health issues. If ever there was someone who earned the responsibility of that serum, it’s him, and Bucky’s damn proud of him for it. He spends his days trying to live up to it himself.

He looks over at the back of the analyst with a guilty expression. People used to dismiss Steve the same way he dismisses people now, whenever the anger simmers. 

“Davis, pull up your priority flags.”

The level four glances back nervously, then clears his throat and refocuses on his terminal. “It’s alright, sir, I’m working on sorting them now—”

“I know. That’s what we’ll be going over.”

“I—” Davis hesitates for a long moment. Bucky stares at the back of his head. “Sergeant Barnes, I’m very sorry about the—”

“This isn’t a reprimand.” Bucky clears his own throat, trying to knock the aggression out of his tone. It’s. A lot more difficult than he was expecting. “You’re new here, so I’m gonna give you the crash course. I’m in here a lot, at all hours. You won’t get a heads-up about it; I’m just going to show up. When I do, there are certain hotspots I’m going to need you to keep focused on. They’re not going to be tied to any active case. You’re not going to be able to tell which ones I need. I’m going to tell you what’s already on my radar, and you can establish your own categories from there. I’ll tell you what else I need you to add as it comes up.”

“Oh.” A little hope is entering the analyst’s tone. “Yeah, that—you know, that sounds like what I do for Romanoff already.”

Bucky frowns. The hell it does. She has exactly three people on the face of this Earth that she trusts to handle something like this for her. He’s willing to do it for convenience, and because he doesn’t give a shit what SHEILD sees him prioritize. He worked very hard to not give a shit about it, too. But Natasha doesn’t work like that; she’s very particular about her web of information—

His face goes completely slack as the connection finally happens in his mind. He’s going to kill her. No—actually. He’s never going to bring it up, ever, and they’re both going to die before a word ever gets said about it.

That’s just how their brand of family works.

“Yeah. Exactly like how Romanoff has you do it. Pull up her file structure; let’s go over what I’ll need you to change for my end.”

—

“Bitch! It feels like I haven’t hugged you in a year!”

It’s the only warning Ava gets before she’s tackled from behind. She braces her hands on the engineering bench in front of her, barely catching herself from crashing into it. “Two weeks and three days, but who’s counting? How was the flight home, whore?”

Paige leaves a loud, sloppy smooch on her left temple before backing away to let her up from the attack. “That part was fine—it was the team I got paired with, ugh. You’d have hated the guy runnin’ it.”

“How bad are we talking?”

“Eh, your typical good’ ol boy. Mister my way or the highway, with an ego the size’a the fuckin’ Potomac to match. You know the type. Spent the whole mission criticizin’ my tech.”

She looks over at her in surprised confusion. Paige taking shit from other agents is nothing new; that comes with the territory of her personality and most people’s assumptions. Her work is usually the one thing they leave alone. “How critical are we talking?”

“That was the thing—it was the dumb kind. The kind that could’a been avoided if he’d maybe RTFM.”

“And he made it your problem?”

“Over and over. Every ten minutes, it was—” Paige shimmies her upper body dramatically, her voice going low and gravelly. “Why can’t my AIO do this? How do I make it do that? Rogers’ team gets the reliable gear; why are we always stuck with the second rate?”

“He said that to your face?” Ava’s about ready to march through the tower to find the prick herself.

“Not that last one. That was to his buddy when the dipstick thought his comm was off. I got a half-baked publicist apology over it, and I’m pretty sure he only did it to save face in front of the team for leavin’ the mic open.”

“Report his ass.”

Paige waves a hand dismissively, then dumps her go-bag unceremoniously on the workbench. “I ain’t gon’ waste my time. I’ll let him hang his own noose; I’m sure he’ll get around to it with that attitude. Oh! I’ve got a mock-up for your pretty boy.”

Ava smiles, tossing one of her best friend’s rolls of duct tape between her hands. “I didn’t say he was pretty.”

“Puh-lease. You texted about his hair.”

“With the amount of shit man-buns have taken, it was surprising to see on a guy from a less than accepting decade.”

“You only notice stuff like that when you’re lookin’.” Paige tips her head forward, letting her heart-shaped sunglasses fall to the end of her nose. Her eyebrows waggle enthusiastically. “Is he as big as Rogers? I can never tell in the press photos with him always loomin’ like a gargoyle.”

The smile turns deviously smug. “He’s a little smaller than your not-so-secret admirer. You gotta figure that’s expected without the Vita Radiation.”

Paige reaches out to shove at her shoulder. “I don’t think Rogers has really nailed down what modern flirtin’ is yet. Ain’t fair to pin that on the guy. He’s so sweet! And I give him art projects! And anyhow, he rushes outta here like his ass is on fire most of the time—”

“It’s so weird how that happens whenever your dad shows up to hang out.”

She gets a very unimpressed look in response. “You’re readin’ int’a things.”

Leaning in close, Ava squints and whispers, “You’re being oblivious.” She backs up, her smugness returning. “So, I take it our friendship never comes up while you’re giving the captain art projects.”

“I... hmm. Not that I can remember. Why?” Paige looks over suddenly, then back at the bag she’s unloading with more than her usual level of interest. “Did he bring me up durin’ the visit?”

The glitter-sniffing demon not being allowed to communicate with her has been utter hell for two weeks and three days. But it comes with the upside of getting to drop this bomb on her all at once. “No, but I brought you up during Bucky’s first visit. That’s when Rogers realized he’d read your best friend the riot act the week before.”

Paige’s eyes go saucer wide. “You’re kiddin’. You got chewed out by America’s Sweetheart?”

“Funny enough, I called him the same thing while he was huffing and puffing in my office.”

“What the hell happened while I was gone? Did—” Her head swivels around, checking who’s around them. “Did? Y’know?”

Ava shakes her head, then hikes herself up to sit on the workbench next to the bag. “Nothing like that. Turns out he was going for a trial run, trying to see how well I hold up against a bad episode. Stormed into my office, playing up the asshole captain routine just to see what I’d do. Apparently, Tony set him up for it by not telling him about my VA work. He let out the hot air the second I called him on it. He’s pretty cute when he’s blushing, by the way.”

“Oh, tell me about it,” Paige mumbles happily, proving the accusation of obliviousness entirely right.

“The blush or the huffing?”

“I already know about the blushin’, even if I am ready to hear it again. But over dinner tonight. What’re we thinkin’?”

“You’re the one who’s been living off MREs for two weeks. What are you in the mood for?”

“Fuck, that’s a great question. Indian, definitely. No—wait! Sc-ratch that! I want Vietnamese. Actually, I want both.”

“Take-out picnic, got it.”

“And Italian donuts.”

“Okay, but I’m bringing half the order to work tomorrow. They’ll get stale if you pull an all-nighter to catch up.”

“Fiiine. Take my victory donuts to the masses, y’dirty Marxist. Lemme show ya what I worked on for Barnes before I forget.”

The field case she’s designed is cylindrical and shorter than the phones SHEILD issues most of their agents. Definitely something he’s going to be able to carry around with ease. The applicators that hook to the interior are simplistic and utilitarian. They’re entirely mechanical, with no chance of an EMP being able to disable them—a request from the Sergeant himself. 

“Tony says I can requisition some nannies whenever—I just gotta get your signature on the form since they’re medical grade.”

Ava tosses an olive from the jar she keeps stashed in Paige’s mini-fridge into the air. She catches it in her mouth on the first try for once. “You have one filled out already? I can sign it now; I know you like putzing around with them for a few days ahead of time.”

“Eh, it’s a standard cleaner tag; I’m not gon’ sweat it. I know you’re all worried about his brainstem and whatnot—”

“That’s usually part of my job description, yeah.”

“—but I feel like sterile’s sterile. Ain’t no way I can make the man cleaner than clean, y’know? Now, if you wanna talk settin’ ’em up for emergency maintenance, that’s a different story—”

“Your not-crush just walked into engineering,” Ava interrupts lowly, wanting to avoid the enhanced hearing even from way the hell over here.

In the most conspicuous way imaginable, Paige whips her head around to stare directly at the bay’s front entrance. In a rival amount of obviousness, Captain Rogers slowly works his way through the amassed benches, his gaze landing everywhere but Paige’s station. 

Ava’s eyes roll so hard it’s physically painful. It’s been one thing hearing Paige talk about getting drop-in visits from the super soldier who just so happens to enjoy the blueprints framed over her workbench. It’s another to see it play out in person. 

“He’s prob’ly here to check on the kit for Barnes,” Paige whispers back, tugging off her novelty shades.

“Yeah, that’s definitely why he won’t look at you right now—”

“He’s takin’ in the work goin’ on. He’s a curious guy, you know that—”

“And why he’s walking slow enough to trip over his own feet.”

“He’s admirin’ the—”

“He’s working up the nerve—”

“If you don’t fuck off with that, you lunatic—”

“Alright, now you’re being hopeless on purpose—”

“Good afternoon, Ms. Findley. I hope the trip was—oh.” Steve stops dead in his tracks, three feet from Paige’s farthest desk, his eyes finally landing on Ava. He smiles sheepishly. “Hi there, Dr. Ryder.”

Her grin feels positively carnivorous. “Hello, Steve. Come to welcome home our resident space cadet?”

“Hiya, Rogers,” Paige responds, turning with a smile almost as bashful as the captains. She spins back around, busying herself with the mess of wiring she’s pulled from her bag. “Don’t pay her any mind; she’s in a mood.”

“Something happen with the appointment today?” The concern that immediately surfaces knocks some of the teasing out of Ava. 

Some.

“No, Bucky played nice, I promise. I even brought him bagels to make up for being a half-hour late. Come to think of it, that’s probably what made me a half-hour late.”

Steve’s eyes go a bit wider, his smile softening. “You two had breakfast together?”

“I ate mine in the car. He took his with him. But I like to think we did so in spirit.” Her head tilts to the side innocently, refusing to let him off the hook. “So. What brings you to engineering?”

His hand comes up to the back of his neck, his expression getting… close to nonchalant. “I had some time on my hands—don’t wanna run off on a mission with Buck being a grump about medical orders; he might sneak out. Take your time with that, by the way. It’s impossible to convince the guy to take a day off. You’d be doing him a favor if you dragged your feet a little more.”

Using a best friend for deflection is a social skill Ava mastered years ago. He’s going to have to try a lot harder. “Who wouldn’t want to kill time in engineering? The wrench monkeys get to have all the fun. Maybe you should bring Bucky next time—”

“Oh, that’s—you know, I don’t think that’d be a real—he’s very particular about where he—I think maybe—”

“I think the sergeant would love to meet you,” Ava tells Paige, who’s biting back a grin with her head pointed firmly down at her workbench. “I was telling him some stories about you this morning. I think he might share a few of his own with some time.”

“I wouldn’t mind that,” Paige offers, still not looking up.

Steve lets out a nervous chuckle. “That’s—yeah, it’d—it could help out with his attempts to be social, and—you know. Hey, how was the mission, by the way? I forgot to finish asking.”

“It went just fine.” Paige shrugs, and that’s when it clicks for Ava why she was willing to jump topics so fast. Agent Dickhead really did hurt her feelings.

“Towanda,” Ava says plainly, calmly.

Her best friend’s eyes lift to hers. They stare at each other for a long moment. Paige goes through a silent argument that it’s not worth it; Ava silently insists that it very much is. It all happens through shifting eyebrows.

After a moment, Paige’s shoulders deflate, and she looks back at her work with a sigh. “You do it.”

Looking back up at a confused Steve, Ava crosses her arms over her chest. “You’ve got a real cunt running one of your away teams.”

“Oh, sweet lord,” Paige groans, her head falling into her hands with her elbows braced on the workbench. 

The captain’s eyebrows go for his hairline. “I’m sorry—I have a—I’m going to need a few more details.” He shifts his attention to Paige’s back, and his expression gets worried. “Did something happen? Who was your lead? JARVIS, can you grab me the associated reports on Ms. Findley’s latest away mission—”

“You don’t have’ta do that—“she tries to assure, her head coming up with blazing red cheeks. She hates confrontation. Absolutely despises it. 

Ava used to avoid it. She doesn’t bother much these days. “Actually, your name got thrown into the mix, Captain.” 

“Heeere we go.” Paige takes a deep breath in.

“Thrown into the mix of what?” Steve’s tone is shifting into the sub-zero range. 

“I’m not sure what Agent Fuckwad’s name is, but apparently, the guy thinks it’s not his job to understand his equipment. He also thinks it’s super cool to talk shit about the engineer that designed what he can’t wrap his head around. On an open comm. With her on the other end.”

“I have the mission data ready for transfer to your private feed, Captain Rogers,” JARVIS reports in. Ava doesn’t miss the smugness sitting in his tone, making her smile. She’s betting the AI has been fuming over this in his own way. He’s been protective of Paige ever since her first all-nighters in engineering.

There’s a boiling rage sitting in Steve’s eyes, one that’s rising by the second. When he steps up to tap the side of Paige’s arm with the back of his hand, it’s entirely held back from his voice. “Are you alright with me handling this?”

It’s Ava’s turn to raise her eyebrows in surprise. Extremely pleasant surprise.

“I—oh, fuck me runnin’.” Paige lifts her hand to scrub at her face. “Look, Rogers, I’m not tryin’ to get anyone in trouble here—”

“There are ways to go about this without leaving you holding the bag from a reputation standpoint. If the guy’s a—a... I tried, I’m sorry, I can’t get the word out—the point is, I can handle this in a way that doesn’t blow back on you.”

“Let him do it for the other people the dickwad is going to end up being a cunt to,” Ava suggests helpfully. 

“Exactly,” Steve agrees easily. 

Paige groans, shifting her weight back and forth. Finally, she nods with an uneasy sigh. “Alright. But—maybe just have it be somethin’ found from the logs? I really don’t wanna write up a—”

“Your name won’t come up. I’ll take care of it.”

Ava smiles, tossing another olive to catch in her mouth.

—

September 20th, 2015

Sam balances the plate of sliced sough dough and fresh fruit on top of a can of grape Fanta. He keeps his eyes locked on the way it wobbles back and forth as he makes his way down the hallway of the rented house. Propping the bundle of still-warm linens on his hip, he shimmies his hand off them enough to grab at the handle to Sergeant Miserable’s room.

The sack of personified despair is exactly where they last left him, hunched in on himself in the corner of the room. The pile of blankets under him used to be on the perfectly nice bed sitting in front of the window. The one with an unbelievable view of Finland’s countryside hidden behind tightly drawn curtains.

Their resident vampire, un-fucking-surprisingly, fled from it as fast as he could. Steve’s been grumbling about stealing the curtains while he’s asleep just to force the guy to look out the window on the way to the john.

Sam’s decided to start handling the food deliveries alone. It’s time to start pushing, even if Steve’s not entirely ready for it.

Bucky watches him move through the room, never saying a word. Not even when the plate of food gets put on the nightstand next to the bed, where they always leave it. He leaves them empty outside the door at night, so they know he’s actually eating. Poor bastard never looks angry, more just anguished. 

Sam sits on the side of the bed slowly, as gently as he can. He keeps his posture relaxed, his expression passive, and looks up at the newly freed prisoner of war. “You and I gotta come to an understanding on somethin’.”

Bucky’s eyes start out mostly hidden, thanks to the angle of his head. The shadows consume them entirely as his eyebrows come down. “What.”

One-word answer. That’s good. It’s a verbal day. “We gotta figure out where we’re at. Steve is too close. You’re gonna need someone pushing you on things he can’t. Things you need help with.” 

It’s not a subject he’s brought up with Steve. Being blunt feels like the better option here. He’s guessing the captain’s appeasement is starting to grate on nerves going through this much culture shock. Plus, there’s no pep-talk like a military pep-talk. 

“Do I strike you as an invalid?”

“You might not wanna—we’ll work on that. Point is, you need to start gettin’ comfortable with the new reality. Suck it up, Buttercup, the sky didn’t actually fall. The world’s still spinnin’. None of the big baddies who still know about you have the juice to catch you—”

“No, they don’t,” he confirms aggressively.

Sam rolls his eyes. “Yeah, whatever, you’re huge and scary. You’re also an idiot sitting around wasting a full pardon. No one’s expecting you to start doing a press circuit. If you wanna walk off into the sunset and go find a picket fence to park your Transylvania routine behind, we’ll help you pack and send you postcards. If you wanna do what Steve did and pick up a life in SHEILD, let’s get you fitted in some Kevlar and find you a therapist. But let’s get you outta this fuckin’ room.”

Bucky’s eyebrows stay firmly set, keeping his eyes shrouded. “Why.”

“Oh my god, could you be more dramatic? Like, shit, if you really tried?” He stands up from the bed, headed for the door, his eyes rolling again. “You wanna know why? Because that’s what people do, Bucky. They hit the ground, they figure out if they’re still breathing, and then they get back up to fix what broke. You keep going for the ones who didn’t survive the landing; because they’d hate your guts if you laid down and died over them. Your friend Steve can tell you all about that if you ever feel like giving the man the time of day. No one’s asking you to do this alone.” 

Sam stops at the door, raising one finger and pointing it back accusingly. “You know what— I’m asking you to go outside long enough for a beer in three days. Besides that, it’s up to you how slow you wanna take this.”

“What’s in three days?” The comment is thrown out on a grumble, right when Sam’s nearly got the door closed.

“My birthday, asshole. I’d like to spend it somewhere outside of this house. And, believe it or not, I’d like you to be there.”

—author end notes—

idk abt other ppls trauma foods, but man when im Goin Through Shit all i can ever stomach is bread and bubbles so, for sure inflicted that on bucko. plums i feel like are His to pick up, y'know?

im putting the idiots in my own couples counseling since im robbing bucky of his best FATWS moment so far (yes it is the wrong about me line ty for asking). i also want it on record that grammarly tried to get me to change "the 30s" to "his 30s" and i had to be like no actually i just jacked our leading man from the restricted section of the smithsonian, thanks tho babe

and now you've met paige!! the storm in a bottle herself!! she gonna smooch the shit outta stevie. gonna try to do our babe peggy proud and have her knock that dweeb off his toes at every turn (not hard). still no clue if ill do a spin-off series for them since they're just background here, but i do know im doing some kinktober stuff for them. they get 10 of the days so far (yeah. yeah, its gonna be 4some territory in the last few days, but have no fear, the main fic((s? series maybe? look man im makin a plan as we go. all i know right now is good space and kinktober)) will stay monogamy focused). so, fans of super mega dirty steve, might wanna Check Back Later for those posts 🥰

[colesterstrudel]

See the problem... a problem... my main problem is with Tokyo Drift. It's the 3rd movie, came out in 06 and features this guy:

That's Han. Han dies. So Tokyo Drift wasn't really connected to the other Fast and Furious movies. Except everyone really liked Han. So they basically went we'll put him in a scene that's set before he died in the next one cause he's neat. Then they brought him back again and gave him a girlfriend. He didn't have a gf in tokyo drift so we gotta resolve that before we send him to his doom. So we're in the 6th movie, the gf dies and he can send this poor sad boy on his way. Except, naturally, the character in tokyo drift doesn't act like a mourning the love of his life cause they didn't know at the time but fine I can roll with it.

Fast forward three movies and we're at F9. At some point between 7 and 9 fans were like we want Han back. And the director was probably like shit so do I cause the actor and director are like buds or something. So they had to come up with a way to zombify my boy. They decided he faked his dead and adopted an 11 year old macguffin. So he's a dad now. Yay!

EXCEPT! That means at some point before or during tokyo drift he obtained and was parenting an 11 year old girl.

The fuck???? We're really just gonna gloss over that???

I haven't explained tokyo drift yet. Basically tokyo drift is about an southern teenager who got sent to his father in tokyo to avoid going to juvie for street racing (yeah). He quickly finds the local racing scene and gets into it with a baby yakuza over a girl. The baby yakuza is like whatever Imma go race and southern idiot goes I'll race you but I don't have a car. So Han

lets the idiot drive his car. Idiot is expecting a drag race and not a drift race. He wrecks the car. Han's like cool I own you now. Southern Idiot is like teach me how to drift. Han's like this kid's got spunk.

So Han is doing business with but mostly scamming Baby Yakuza. And Idiot is getting closer with Baby Yakuza's gf. Eventually idiot moves out of his dad's place and into Han's garage (like a mechanic's garage it's huge and has bunks and stuff.)

Baby Yakuza's big bad Uncle Yakuza discovers the scamming that Han's been doing and blames Baby. So in a fit of rationality Baby Yakuza goes to Han's garage to kill him and Idiot for good measure (note the gf has broken up with BY at this point). A car chase ensues and Han "dies" in a crash. There's more movie after that be we don't really care.

SO! All that means while Han is running around with a bunch of teenagers (there are more teenagers living in his garage than I mentioned. Bow Wow is in this movie.) While he's scamming the Yakuza, while he's making out with models and "grieving" his dead girlfriend. During all of that or at least part of it, Han is going home to his 11 year old daughter who just lost her parents. And I'm just supposed to accept that without question.

And this is why I am suffering.

(I'm not gonna get into the timeline shennanigans cause this is long enough.)

WHAT????? That’s wild dkskdkskdkd I understand your suffering

[memesterotwpod]

"If you can make your own destiny, so can we."

Power Rangers Time Force was the 9th season of Power Rangers produced by Saban and ran from February 3rd to November 17th, 2001. 

I mention this because I think it’s important to remember that the War On Terror was just getting its boots on the ground when the finale of a children’s action show ended in peace and regret rather than a big robot spectacle. 

Normally a lot of the drawing points for a PR series is the Zords, the costumes, and the cool gear they get along the way, and sure, Time Force has a ton of that. It’s all decent bait designed to make kids buy toys, but this season didn’t impress me a lot. (With exception to the Quantum Ranger and the Q-Rex, that fucks.)

No, the best thing about Time Force is that this season has so much heart and isn’t afraid to have a few laughs as well. 

The Movie-Director mutant doing a bit about producers ruining things after the main villain pushes for his daughter to be in the movie. 

The same main villain being protective and sweet to the Blue Ranger when they mistakenly think he has a crush on his daughter. 

There's more than a few times the series embraces it’s goofy premise and it elevates the episodes. 

The other side of the coin there is how serious the content and subplots of the show can be. From the jump it’s a story about how a minority group (mutants)  weren’t being taken care of in their world, which pushed them into desperation, crime, and hate. Then that hate compounds itself with the addition of robots and the origin of the secondary villain of the series. 

The cycle continues over and over in the show, with multiple episodes convincing characters to set aside some bias, until in the finale of the show, after injuring and nearly killing his daughter and a human baby, Ransik sees the error of his ways, and turns himself in. No bloody conclusion, no screen filling explosion, just penance. 

The Time Force Rangers aren’t immune to life lessons either. 

Jen, The Pink Ranger, is the de facto leader of the group at first, and is driven on this mission to capture Ransik after the supposed death of her fiancé, the first Red Ranger Alex. 

Wes is Alex’s ancestor, is some rich kid who’s dissatisfied with his father’s plan for him, and so when Jen and Wes meet, Jen is so full of grief that she hates him. Over the course of the series we see Jen loosen up a bit and learn to love Wes for who he is, and realize that Alex is too married to the rules for her. (Alex is alive btw  don’t worry about it). 

Wes struggles with earning  his father’s love, but forges ahead on his path to do the right thing, regardless of the financial cost. We see him struggle with pre-determination, and fight to choose his own destiny rather than follow the easy road laid out before him. 

His father, Mr. Collins, goes from a greedy slimeball millionaire CEO to a proud, loving father, who is willing to search all night in a disaster to find his son, and learns the value of helping people along the way. We meet Eric, a foil to Wes who struggled to get to where he was and resents him for growing up in privilege, and the best part is that they never really just let him suddenly be cool with everyone. He’s the antihero for most of the series, and even in the finale states outright why he’s had a problem with Wes the whole time. We see him soften and work towards having peace with the others, but he’s never fully just part of the team like Tommy or the Titanium Ranger before him. 

The rest of the rangers are fairly flat characters who might learn a small lesson here or there, but are mostly around to help people. 

A big exception to this is Trip, the Green Ranger, an alien who in the series deals with self doubt and being treated differently because of his race, and defends a mutant who doesn’t want to fight from the Quantum Ranger. 

Most of these characters have some level of depth and motivation, and although we got a bit less from the villains in the season, how we see the characters grow makes up for that. 

Time Force is copaganda for sure, but it exists in a fictional world where billionaires can change into loving fathers, private military forces can become public and used to help people, and the good guys always catch the bad guys. Sometimes it’s nice to visit that world. 

[ambiguousdisorderken]

You can’t save everyone, my friend. Though you try.

He saved me.

[thefuseoftemptation]

IT’S YOUR TURN ||

PT.2 “IT’S YOUR TURN AGAIN” HERE

EDDIE MUNSON X FEM!READER

SUMMARY: Before Harrington, you were the one that tended to the group of children. The both of you co-parenting the lot, but when he can’t be there guess who’s turn it is to look after them? Though what you weren’t expecting was to get pulled into their game when waiting for them after school, therefore meeting the well known leader of the club.

A/N: M’sorry to any errors made on DnD—I know nothing, nada. So if there are references I make that are not proper, well now you know why. So,,,,yeah—

WARNING(S): cussing, nothing much but some fuckin pinning.

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The door shut from behind you as you just got back from the store, hell, was that all there was to it? Graduated and not having a single fuckin clue where you were heading. Well, it was supposed to be you getting out of this hole of a town but things change. Setting the bags on the counter, you toss the keys to the side and grab a beer from the fridge.

The telephone rung from its spot on the wall, picking it up, you leaned against it.

“Hello?”

“Y/N, it’s Steve.” The all too common voice of your friend spoke.

“Oh, Harrington. What has it been? Weeks, months, or was it years? Last time I remember—”

“The hell are going on about? We talked just the other day, went to go see that film together, you know the one?” He queried

“Yeah I know, but it seems the only time you really call is because you need something, now what is it?”

“Alright you got me. I have a something to go to so I can’t be there to pick up the children.”

“Why is that my concern?” You pressed

“Uh, as I remember they are yours too.”

“Hey! No they aren’t. I just got stuck with them years back and haven’t been able to get rid of them since.”

“Well, I have been stuck with them these last few times! Or more like years feels like. I swear I’m constantly the babysitter!”

“So? Keep it that way.”

“Nuh uh, it’s your turn Y/L/N.”

“Oh, I forgot mommy needs their time to get fucked.”

“Mommy needs his time from the little devils! Could you seriously just for once, help me out here?” He begged

“Hmm, tempting but I think I’ll decline. Thanks though.”

“Y/N.”

“Alright alright, you owe me though. Where are you going that’s so important?”

“I don’t owe you, it’s your turn. And I have a date.”

“You’re making me pick them up because you have a date?”

You roll your eyes which you probably know for sure Harrington could tell.

“Just don’t be late to get them. They get off at 4 but you know, the whole club thing they got going doesn’t end till hours later so you’ll get them then.”

“Oh yeah, forgot ‘bout their little game.”

“Yeah, Henderson called me earlier looking for somebody to sub in, like I want to spend my time with Eddie ‘the freak’ Munson.”

He’s still there?

“Why must you insist on calling him that? You conforming like all the other fuckin people of the town?”

“Y/N, the guy is a little, you know—” he whistles through the speaker of the phone, as if trying to say Munson was a loony. You knew your friend well enough to know exactly what he meant.

"Jesus Christ, thought he’d given the bird to Higgins years back.” You say but it’s more to yourself.

“Yeah no, he’s there repeating senior year for—what, the 3rd time?” Steve retorts

“At least Munson has intentions to run the hell out of here.” You state

“Sure, when he graduates whenever that may be. I mean come on, the guy spends his time playing some game with children. Majority of his friends are children. You know how lame that is?”

The line suddenly went quiet, your brows creased and your head cocks to the side as you wait for him to get it. 

“Steve.”

“I heard it....” he sighs

“Can’t judge him though, so he struggled a little and maybe still is. We shouldn’t be ones to talk, I mean look at us? We’re co-parenting a group of children that aren’t even ours and will be spending our lives not knowing what’s next. Not only that but when we aren’t working or running through town, we’re off defending the said town from these things so they won’t cross over to the other side and kill us, ending all as we know it.”

That was dark.

“Huh? We are so lame. Well, I should get going, got work then a date after so I’ll talk to you later. Don’t forget the children and don’t be late!”

“Yes, Dear.” You say teasingly before you hung up.

. . .

You were parked out at the front of the school, with nothing in general or nowhere to typically be so you chose to just wait there. The thought seemed well and thoroughly thought out initially, but as the digits on your watch went by ever so slowly, you began to question it all. It didn’t help that the Indiana temperatures were increasing.

How much longer?

Looking at the watch again, you see the numbers— 3:37. The bell hadn’t even rung to dismiss school for the day, honestly what the hell. There was nobody to put at fault except you. Sighing you unbuckle the seat belt and reach in the back for the talkie that the group of, now freshman, given you when you first looked after them which was in 83.’

Turning the button through the statics you listen for the clear—indicating the proper channel you guys use. 

“Does anybody copy?” You wait and wait, seconds passing before you try again.

“Hello, guys?...” 

“Seriously, the one time I use this fuckin thing and you don’t fuckin answer, what a cheap and low move. I know you little fuckers can hear me so pick up, now.”

For the next few minutes that’s all you did. Annoy them till they answered.

“Jesus Christ, Y/N. We hear you but we’re in class, what is it?” Dustin responds

“What time do you guys get out? And I don’t mean by the bell, I mean from your club.” 

“Um, depends on when we finish. It could be hours. Why?” 

Hours?? 

“I fuckin hate Harrington.”

“Why? What did Steve do?” The boy queries

“Nothing, the bastard just fucked me over and I bought it. I’m here to pick you children up but am now noticing that it was a mistake to come by so soon.”

“Wait, you’re here?!” Mike channels in

“Yeah, out front in the car.”

“Get out. You’re joining us for DnD.” And with that both of them leave.

“Uh, excuse me?! Hello? You fuckin—” The bell rung signaling the end of school for the day. You bite your fist and put the antenna down, grumbling as you get out of the vehicle and make your way in. You swear on Van Halen, you were going to wring their necks in your hands. Beginning with Harrington.

. . .

The student body crowded the halls, trying to get out the doors as quickly as they could. Ugh you don’t miss that. You took to the side, waiting for it to clear. You weren’t sure why you came in when you did but you guess it was better than sitting in the heat.

You kept checking your watch. Were you supposed to meet them here or in the room where the game was hosted? You weren’t sure. You paced back and forth, finding interest in the ceiling.

“Y/N!” You heard the boys call, as they were running to you, not even giving you a chance to utter a word before they pulled you down the corridor, suddenly stopping in front of a door. Probably the theater room from what you could remember.

“Jesus, warn me next time. What is it? Why did you have me come in?” 

Out of breath and in sweat from the nerves they were feeling, they let out

“We need you to sub in for DnD.” Mike said

Oh hell no.

You chuckle, clearly amused and thinking they’re joking. “That’s hilarious but no.”

“What?! Y/N, you swore whenever we need you, that you would be there by our sides to help us.” Dustin pointed

“When did I say that? Was I high?”

“That’s not the point. Please, Y/N. Eddie will lose it if we don’t have a sub for Lucas, we told him we would get somebody.”

“So you lied to him? Now, why would you do that?” You say putting your hands on your hips. Ugh you sound and probably look like Steve.

“Because! He would kill us!” Mike exclaimed

“And we technically didn’t lie, we have a sub here.” Dustin said gesturing to you

“Yeah, but it’s last minute. Not only that, but you went all day without a lead and are now using me. That’s luck buddy. What would’ve happened if I hadn’t showed or called you little fuckers, huh?” You said with a glint in your eyes

“Well, we don’t have to know since it’s figured out. So, everybody wins—” 

“I don’t.”

“Shut up, not counting you.” Dustin butted

They both ushered you to the door, opening it and heading in. 

It was dimmed in there, the only lighting coming from the little fixtures spread throughout the room. There was a table resting at the center, covered with the what you assume to be the game. Dice lying, ready to be rolled. You could make out a few of the members, seeing as they were students in grades under to your graduating class. It had gotten quiet when you entered, the guys of the group staring as you passed, with their mouths parted and eyes wide.

“We’re here Eddie and we got a sub.”

There at the end of the table in a throne like chair, was no other than Eddie Munson. Known also as the freak of the school and the town in general. He had been sorting through his book and preparing for the night when he looked up, grin suddenly faltering at the sight of you.

Why were you here?? Y/N Y/L/N?? Of all people, Henderson and Wheeler had to get the one person, Eddie had been pinning after for years. Crush would be an understatement, he was utterly and heavily weak for you. 

He fumbled with what was in hand and cleared his throat. Trying to keep it together in your presence. Subtle.

“Well, well, well, who do we have here? Do my eyes deceive me or is it, Y/L/N?” He said coming over to greet you

“Hey, Munson. How have you been? High school treating you well still?” You say, visibly wincing at your choice of words. Remembering just how much he got picked on, you could only see it as worse now.

“Sorry, didn’t mean it like that. It’s real good to see that you’re still yourself.” You said offering a partial side hug which Eddie was quick to reciprocate.

He was feeling hot suddenly, hoping you couldn’t feel the sweat that was beginning to form on his back and behind his neck. Maybe his hands too? You smelt so good. Jesus H Christ, Munson...

“It’s a pleasure to see you here Y/L/N. Heard you’ll be subbing in for Sinclair?” He asked pulling back much to his dismay, and grabbing a few strands of his untamed curls.

“Uh yeah, seems like it. Listen, I’m not even sure how the game goes, alright? So, just giving you a warning because you guys will probably spend majority of it teaching me. I only know of it because I used to watch over these two when they were young.” You say nodding to the two freshman beside you. You thought back to all those times of the basement and how they’d be down there for hours at a time. Getting into the roles and overall just being themselves with Will Byers there too, of course.

Eddie rocked back and forth in understanding. He honestly would prolong explaining it to you if it meant he got to be close and spend that time with you near by.

Clapping his hands together, Eddie spoke “No worries, we all begin somewhere,” He said staring fondly at you with those eyes of his.

The group of guys could only watch the interaction from the sides. The older members giving each other knowing looks, like Gareth and Jeff. On the other hand, Dustin and Mike were trying to comprehend what was going on and why their club leader seemed so, what’s the word, less intimidating to you. They questioned why he hadn’t given you the usual approach of seeing if you were worthy to participate. 

“So, can Y/N play or not?” Dustin asked interrupting

Henderson.

Eddie clenched his fist and turned his head, not pleased that the little butt interrupted “Sure thing.” Eddie said gesturing forth for you and then guiding you to a seat by him. "M’lady.” He said and pulled the chair out. You chuckled and took the seat, thanking him as he settled in his.

“Alright so, here we have the handbook—which basically tells you the rules and essentials. Here, you also put together your character.” Eddie presented gently, making sure you understood what it was you were supposed to do. Once you were through with that and giving it a name, Eddie spoke,

“Let it commence…”

. . .

You were packing up, it was well into the night as you had been there for hours. Everybody had left, only leaving you guys. The two boys were seated at the table and getting through on assignments as you helped Eddie clean up. Telling them that you’ll be leaving shortly to get something to eat before you dropped them off.

It had been hours of rolling the dice and crossing fingers as you tried to get high numbers. At the results, you managed to make a successful hit which earned the table to erupt in shouts.

“Thanks for having me, Munson.” You expressed

“You’re welcome anytime, Y/L/N. Who knew you were skilled at DnD,” he teased

You chuckle, “beginners luck I guess.” You finished cleaning and grabbed your things, calling out to the two boys to get ready.

All of you left out the door and down the hall to the exit of the school. It was quiet and empty, something you weren’t used to. Getting out to the parking lot, you tossed the keys to Dustin.

“Turn it on will you.” He nodded

“Bye, Eddie.” They waved

“Bye, my little sheep—until next time.”

You looked to the club leader who was already staring back at you “Thanks again, Munson.” He smiled and bowed. “Why of course, Y/L/N.”

Giving him a quick hug and glancing once more at him before you turned heel and left. Eddie was contemplating if he should do it. If he should just ask you. Part of him though was not really looking or feeling to be rejected especially by you of all people. Though he doubts you would do it to hurt him.

So as you reached for the handle, he yelled out. “Hey, Y/L/N!” Running up, and earning a concerned look from you.

“What is it?”

“I uh, well y’know—like I said, you’re welcomed any time.” He said, not really saying what was intended. You nodded, deep within disappointment filled. Not because of the offer but because you were kind of expecting and maybe thinking of something more.

“Well, that was a waste…” Mike commented under his breath from the back seat.

“Oh uh, thank you. Night, Munson.” You said getting in the drivers side and reversing.

Eddie watched the car, noticing Henderson from the passenger window, mouthing something. He couldn’t tell what it was but Eddie could only assume he had that tone to his voice. He sighed and went to his van that was parked cross the lot, getting in a turning on the music. Maybe it’ll help him forget his regret of not asking. Reversing, he drove out of there.

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A/N: feedback and reblogs are appreciated.