#they met everyone else but did they meet lucy

[get-back-homeward]

Any Lucille Ball fans out there?

She’s in a 1943 film of the 1939 musical DuBarry Was A Lady. It includes a Cole Porter number, Friendship, with Red Skeleton:

The song was a hit for Judy Garland with Johnny Mercer in 1940 and became a staple WW2 song:

Fast forward more than a decade later, I Love Lucy airs an episode where Lucy and Ethel agree to do a number for a women’s show. It’s fun during rehearsal:

But then they start getting egos and erupt in a fight. So they have to go on stage with these tensions, with passive aggression results:

I wasn’t sure whether 50s kids in Liverpool would have seen I Love Lucy. But it looks like ITV aired the show in 1955, and Lewisohn has the McCartneys renting a TV as early as 1953 for the coronation. So it’s possible they knew the episode.

But I think they definitely knew the song. And had made fun of it enough to riff on it. Maybe a remanent of a Hamburg or Cavern routine?

January 31, 1969, John and Paul.

If you’re ever in a jam, here I am

If you’re ever in a shit, grab my tit

That’s friendship, friendship

Another friendship to be forgot, ours will still be hot

[callsign-dexter]

Forever Yours 18+

Request: How are we feeling about Tim Bradford meeting his high school girlfriend again as he's on patrol with Lucy and gets all flustered again cause you're the one for him (like you separated ways as he went to the police and you did something else but are back now) and you just feel the same old feelings. Later Lucy won't stop making fun of him cause he's always badass and now you seem to be his weak spot. Next day you visit him at the department with his favorite food and he asks you out on a date which you gladly accept. Just some fluffy cute Tim, with maaaaaybe smut at the end of their date and he won't let her leave him ever again? 😊 

Next week is my bday, so I thought some Tim would be adorable !

Pairings: Tim Bradford x Teacher!Reader

Warnings: fluff, smut, swearing, pregnancy

Masterlist

A/N: Happy birthday or belated birthday to the anon that sent this in!

A/N 2: @talesofreading and @imagine-all-the-fandoms some steamy Tim smut for you!

Los Angeles. You never thought you would come back here but after being away for so long you were itching to come back. Most importantly you were missing your high school crush and boyfriend, Tim Bradford. You two only split when he decided to go into the military and you wanted to become a teacher. It was a mutual break up but man did it still hurt. You two had lost contact and both of you had been too busy to try and reconnect with each other but now you were back having gotten your teaching degree and took the position as a first-grade teacher. You loved kids and they seemed to be drawn to you. It was really your true calling.

Last you heard of Tim was that he had gotten out of the military and had gone to the police academy, was married but then got divorced and he was working as a TO for LAPD. You heard all of this through his sister that you were best friends with. You had wanted to get in contact with him but school and kids kept you busy so you just let it go.

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The new school year was just about to start and you were excited. A few weeks before you had gone in and set up the classroom how you wanted and then started to figure out teaching material. A week before school actually starts you would be meeting the students and their parents for the first time. Overall, you were excited and couldn’t wait.

There was one week before school and you had gotten there early to start meeting the students and parents. The time had started and the students and parents started to slowly trickle in. Everyone you met were friendly and some of the dads even tried to flirt with you but you just smiled and continued on. You had your mind on one person and that was Tim Bradford. 

It was finally the end of the day and you were exhausted but you had a lot of fun and loved seeing the kids. You made sure everything was in order and everything was cleaned then you were walking you out of the classroom and locking the door behind you. You left the school with a smile on your face. You couldn’t wait for Friday next week. 

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆

Your alarm on Friday went off early and you were getting up with a smile on your face. You turned it off and got in the shower and brushed your teeth. You walked out into your room in just a towel and started to get dressed. As you were doing so your cat, Biscuit, walked in and jumped on the bed and meowed at you, you turned and gave him some love and then you were back to getting ready. When you were done in there you walked out of the bedroom and into the kitchen where your German Shepherd, Steel, greeted you. You gave Steel his food and then fed Biscuit and now you were getting yourself coffee as it was brewing you let Steel out and then when he was done, he was at the door wanting back in. You finished getting ready to leave the house. The coffee chimed when it was done and you grabbed the travel mug and headed out to your blue Toyota Tacoma.

It was a quick drive to the school and you got there with no trouble. As you were driving you looked like Tim but you were too busy paying attention to the road. You pulled into the parking lot and into the parking lot for the teachers. You parked and turned the engine off and then you were getting out and grabbing your bag. As you were walking into the building you greeted some of the other staff who were all so friendly and that made you smile. 

You walked to your room and unlocked it and started to get everything ready for the day. About 7:50 AM students started to trickle in and you were at the door greeting everyone. Once everyone was in you closed the door and walked to the front of the classroom smiling and made sure everyone was sitting down. “Good morning, kiddos. My name is Ms. Y/L/N and I’m gonna be your teacher for this year. I’m excited to learn about each and every one of you and I can’t wait for the fun things I have planned for you all. It’s going to be a fun year. Now does anyone have questions for me or about me?” You asked and a few raised their hands. You looked over at them and smiled “Benson, what is your question?” You asked.

“Do you have any animals?” He asked with sweet innocent eyes and you smiled.

“I do, I have a dog named Steel and a cat named Biscuit.” You said

“Do you have pictures?” He asked and you smiled and pulled up a picture of your animals. 

The rest of the morning went without a hitch. When they were at lunch you smiled and sat in your room thinking about what the plan was for the second half of the day. You were scrolling through your email and noticed there was going to be a fire drill and that they were going to bring the fire trucks, ambulances, and police in. 

All the kids were back and you let them know what was going to be happening and you assured them that there was nothing to be afraid of and it was all a drill. Some still seemed scared so you said that they could come to you if they got too scared and that seemed like that helped ease them up a little bit. For now, the day went like normal and it would be happening close to the end of the day.

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“Did you hear that we have to go to the elementary school for a fire drill?” Lucy said as she and Tim were driving around making calls and making sure everything was good to go.

“Yes, I did.” Tim said, making his response short.

“How do you feel about that?” She asked

“I’m fine with it. It lets kids see the importance of what we do.” He said and she nodded seeing that he wasn’t up for any more discussing it. While they were waiting to be called to the school Tim was thinking about you and where you were. You were his high school love and he never stopped loving you even when he was married, he wanted to get back into contact with you but never seemed able to find the time but boy was he in or a surprise today. The time came and they were heading to the school along with the ambulance, firefighters, and two other shops. The point of this was to first have a fire drill and then show the importance of the first responders. Tim parked next to Talia and Nolan’s car and they headed over to the kids. Everyone was answering questions and then something, more like someone, caught Tim’s eye. He looked closer and it was you. You were bent down talking to a kid who was crying and you were trying to console them but it wasn’t working and so you picked the kid up and let them cry into your neck. He needed to see you and talk to you. “I’ll be right back.” He told Lucy and then was gone before she could say anything. 

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“Hey, shhhhhh. You’re ok.” You said consoling the little boy. You were bouncing them around trying to soothe him. You didn’t even know Tim was walking up to you. “It’s nothing to be scared about. It just means that it helps on the way and they save people.” You said and he came out from your neck and sniffled.

“Really?” He asked and you smiled and were about to answer but a familiar male voice answered before for you.

“Absolutely. It means that we are on our way to save you.” Tim said and you looked up and saw him and the little boy looked at him.

“Really?” He asked and Tim smiled.

“Yup, my fellow officer John Nolan will be happy to show you and talk to you about it.” He said and then pointed over to him “He is right over there.” Tim said and the boy sniffled and nodded and you sat him down and watched him scamper off to John. Making sure he was safe before turning to Tim smiling. “You've always been so good with kids.” He said and you chuckled.

“You have too. One of the many reasons I fell in love with you.” You said and he smiled and looked down. 

“It's been a while.” He said looking up at you and you nodded agreeing.

“Too long and that is my fault.” You said and his smile turned into a frown and he shook his head.

“No. That is not true. I'm the one that took off and didn't even try to contact.” He said and you shook your head.

“I'm to blame too.” You said and once again he was denying it. 

“We can discuss this over dinner.” He said and you looked at him.

“Like a date?” You asked 

“Exactly like that. My number is the same if you wanted to text me anytime.” He said and you smiled and nodded.

“Mine is too.” You said 

“Ms. Y/L/N! She hit me!” Your student, Amber, said pointing to another student, Emma, as they ran up to you. You looked at Tim and he smiled and nodded. You bent down to the two girls. You walked back over to Lucy and the others watching you handle the situation with a smile. All he could think about was how you would deal with your and his kids and that put a smile on his face.

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Tim walked back over to the group smiling. “Is The Tim Bradford actually smiling?” Lucy asked and everyone turned to see and he actually started to blush.

“He's blushing!” Angela said with a smile. 

“I am not.” He said and tried to stop but he just saw the love of his life again. 

“You so are! Is it because of that teacher you were flirting with?” Lucy asked and he didn't say anything and then the radio saved him and then he was quick to answer it. 

“Come on Boot. We have work to do.” Tim said and walked over to his shop and she quickly followed behind him. When they got back to the shop his phone dinged and he was quick to pull it out and smiled when he saw it was you. Lucy took notice of this and she smirked.

“Is that her?” Lucy asked and Tim was quick to drop the smile and look at her.

“It’s none of your business.” He said and she rolled her eyes but smirked when she looked away, he was smiling and was quick to send a reply back and it was back to work for the both of you.

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You and Tim had been talking all week and the same old feelings were coming back. Saturday rolled around and you found out he was working and you decided to bring him and his coworkers. You loved baking and Tim knew this. You parked in a parking spot and then walked into the police station smiling. You greeted the front desk person and they smiled. “What can I do for you?” She asked.

“I’m here to see Tim Bradford.” You said and she smiled and then she paged him and he was coming down in time.

“Y/N, what are you doing here?” He asked and you smiled and turned to him.

“Well, you mentioned you were working today and thought you and your coworkers could use some baked goods.” You said and he smiled.

“Come on.” He said and you walked with him into where everyone was. It looked like they were just in for lunch. “Guys, this is Y/N. Y/N this is Angela, Talia, Lucy, Jackson, and Nolan.” He said and everyone waved as they were introduced.

“Nice to meet you all.” You said “I figured you all could use some goodies.” You said you waved your basket.

“Her cookies are to die for. They are my favorite” Tim said as you set the basket down in the break room. Tim wasn’t looking at anyone but you, everyone was smiling and looking at how lovesick he was and they were happy for him. Everyone got a cookie and they absolutely fell in love with them and they voiced this and that made you smile. “Hey, would you follow me?” He asked you and you nodded and he took your hand and led you to the briefing room.

“What’s up?” You asked as you sat on the edge of one of the tables.

“Will you go on a date with me?” He asked and you smiled and nodded.

“I would love to go on a date with you.” You said and that made him smile.

“Great! I’ll pick you up at 7 tonight?” He asked and you once again smiled.

“That sounds perfect.” You said and then you both continued to talk until he had to leave and that was cue now you had to go home and get ready for your date.

7 PM rolled around quickly and before you knew it you were opening the door to a smiling and well-dressed Timothy Bradford. “Wow.” He said and you blushed but Steel was quick to rush the door.

“Steel, off.” You said and he backed up and moved away from the door and that made Tim fall in love with you even more. You made sure to grab your keys, locking the door behind you, and the both of you headed to his truck where he helped you in and then closed the door and walked to the other side and got in and headed to the restaurant that he had picked out that he knew you would love. “So where are we going?” You asked and he smiled.

“It's a surprise but you’re going to love it. They have sushi.” He said when he looked over and saw you were about to say something and then your smile came back. “I’ve missed you. I’m sorry that I didn’t stay in contact.” He said and you shook your head.

“Nonsense. It was my fault too.” You said

“I guess it is both of our faults.” He said and you chuckled but agreed. You both were quick to get to the restaurant and he was quick to park and then was getting out and helping you out. You both walked into the restaurant and he walked up to the receptionist and he was quick to get you seated. You two talked and caught up and just had a delightful time, it was just like old times. You both ordered and now the wait for food has started. 

“I missed you.” You said and he smiled and nodded.

“I missed you too. It was hard to go on not knowing how you were but I was too selfish to actually text you.” He said and you nodded looking at him.

“It was hard finding out through your sister about what you were doing but it helped.” You said and he nodded and just then the food came and you both started eating and finished the date and now you were back at your house inviting him. Steel greeted you and so did Biscuit and they immediately fell in love with him and you fell back in love with him, though you never truly fell out of love with him. 

You sat on the couch with a glass of wine, both of your animals had left the room so it was just the both of you, and you both leaned in and now you were kissing him and he was kissing back and neither of you were stopping each other. “Tell me to stop if you want me to stop.” He said when he pulled away and you looked him in the eye.

“I don’t want you to stop.” You said and he smiled.

“I was hoping you were going to say that.” He said and crashed his lips back into yours and he laid you down on the couch. He started to kiss your neck and then got to your sweet spot and gently bit it and that made you moan.

“Tim.” You moaned and he smirked and did it again. You clenched around nothing. You both worked on getting each other clothes off and everything was off in no time in a pile on the floor beside the couch. “I love you.” You said and he trailed down your body peppering it.

“I love you too.” He said in between kisses. He ghosted over nipples giving them equal attention but he knew where you needed him the most. This was not the first time you had sex with this man, he was your first in high school, sure you had sex with other men but nothing compared to him. He still knew how you liked it and knew all the right places to please you. He trailed down to your heated core and was quick to dive in and you moaned out throwing your head back and hands going to his head. He let up for just a second. “We can take this to the bedroom if you want.” He said and you shook your head.

“No, it's perfect here.” You said and he nodded and he was diving back into your pussy licking and sucking on your clit knowing exactly where to use his tongue to please you. “Tim.” You moaned out and bucked your hips towards him and he was quick to hold you down. Your hands left his head and they came up to clutch the couch cushions and your legs spread wider. He started swirling his tongue around your entrance and was tongue fucking you and you felt that rubber band feeling starting to tighten. “‘M close.” You moaned out but he stopped just as soon as you were about to cum. “Tim.” You moaned out in frustration but he was moving up to be face to face with you.

“What?” He asked his breath fanning you and you could smell the wine on this breath.

“I was about to cum.” You said and he smirked.

“You’ll get what you want soon.” He said and kissed you as he rubbed his cock up and down your wet folds and then let up on the kiss as he pushed into you and you both moaned. “See? I told you.” He said and all you did was moan. He stretched you in all the right places and it was like you were back in high school with him all over again. 

“Tim.” You moaned and he smirked, loving the way he made you moan and the way you were gripping him. He started to move and you both moaned out.

“You’re still as tight as ever.” He said and attacked your neck with more kisses and love bites. 

“You ruined all the other guys for me.” You moaned out and he gave a sharp thrust that hit your g-spot perfectly.

“Good.” He said 

“You’re the only one for me.” You said and he gave another sharp thrust and then he started to go faster and you didn’t even have to ask for it. You both wanted this and you both needed it. Everything was perfect. Ever since he started to go faster it was making that rubber band feeling coming back. Each thrust was like heaven and you never wanted it to end. “I’m about to cum.” You moaned out.

“Me too.” He moaned out and picked up his pace and trailed one hand, leaving the other to keep his weight off of you, down to your body to your clit and he started to rub it, flick it, and pinch it all it was doing was making you come closer to the edge. Your orgasm was just right there and so was his. 

“Tim!” You yelled out not caring who heard you. 

“Cum for me.” He said and sent a flick to your clit and leaned down to bite your nipple and then you were seeing stars. Not a few seconds later his thrusts were getting sloppy “I’m gonna cum.” He said and then his hips stilled and he painted your walls right. It was a good thing you were on birth control, you thought as you and Tim came down from your highs. Tim slowly slipped out of you and then got behind you and threw an arm around you. He grabbed the blanket from off the back of the couch and threw it over you both. “I’m never gonna let you leave again.” He said and you smiled and nodded and turned to look at him.

“I’m never going to leave. Ever.” You said and he smiled and leaned down to kiss you. 

“I love you.” He said 

“I love you too.” You replied

You wanted this. You wanted forever with him and he wanted that with you too. You both wanted to marry each other and start a family with each other. Neither of you could wait to finally be with each other forever. You both wanted this since high school and nothing is going to get in the way of you both being together forever, not again. 

☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆☆ 

2 years later………

You and Tim had been married for 2 years now and had a 2-year-old son, Dakota. Your son was conceived on the last day of your honeymoon. Now you are 6 months pregnant with your second child, this one being a girl. Your jobs were going great and Tim had just been promoted to Sergeant which meant a bigger paycheck. Now you and Dakota were walking into the precinct to meet with your husband. You had just parked the car and got out and got Dakota out. “Kota, hold my hand when crossing the street.” You said and he nodded.

“Otay momma.” He said and you smiled and ran a hand through his hair, he was the exact copy of his father. You grabbed his hand and the both of you walked across the street and into the precinct.

“Good morning, Mrs. Bradford and Dakota.” The receptionist said and you smiled. 

“Good morning, Veronica.” You said “Tim in?” You asked and she nodded.

“Yup, you know where to find him.” She said and you nodded and then you were heading to him with a hand on your sons and one on your stomach.

“Y/N! Dakota!” Lucy said and you smiled.

“Hello, Lucy.” You said and your son waved at her.

“Tim is in his office.” She said and you smiled and walked to his office. You looked into the room and saw him focusing on his work and you looked down at Dakota.

“Knock, Baby.” You said and he smiled and did so.

“Come in.” He said and you opened the door and you both stepped in.

“Daddy!” Dakota said and he looked up and smiled and walked around his desk and scooped his son up.

“Hello there, handsome. Have you been good for mommy?” He asked and he nodded.

“We went to the store, I helped!” Dakota rambled on and Tim smiled.

“You helped mommy?” He asked and looked at you and you nodded.

“Uh huh. I helped carry!” He said and he smiled.

“That’s my boy.” He said and kissed his cheek and then walked over and kissed you. “How is our little girl doing?” He asked.

“Currently being still for once but using my bladder as a soccer ball a lot.” You said and he chuckled. He put Dakota down and he walked over to the table with toys and coloring books that Tim kept for him. Tim put his hand on your stomach and immediately the baby kicked. “She must know that she has her daddy here.” You said and he chuckled and leaned down to kiss you. 

“Mommy! Daddy! Come help!” Dakota all but shouted and you two broke apart. 

“Ok, we’re coming.” Tim said and you followed him over there and he sat down on the ground and you sat in a chair which he helped you sit in. Tim got into helping Dakota so that you were able to lean back and watch with a smile on your face. This was the dream you always wanted with him and you got it finally after so long. You were married to the man of your dreams, had a son together, and have a daughter on the way. You rubbed your stomach as she kicked and that made you smile.

You were finally happy and couldn’t wait to spend the rest of your years with the man of your dreams since high school. They were your world and you wouldn’t trade anything for it. You loved your growing family and you knew Tim did and that made you happy. Tim looked over at you and smiled. “I love you.” You mouthed and he smiled.

“I love you too.” He mouthed and then Dakota was grabbing his attention again and you chuckled, yup you loved little growing family.

Tag list:

@kmc1989

@els-marvelvsp

@atarmychick007

@nyx2021

@grandstrangerphantom

@angenu01-blog

@talesofreading

[b14augrana]

Newbie

You meet Kika for the first time

Kika Nazareth x teen!reader

Part of the Scrubber universe

GIF credits: @a-lexia11

masterlist

Warnings: ✖️

A/N: i love kika so much 🥹 her good vibes are off the charts and because of that i really think she’d get on with scrubber well so here’s a blurb of those two

for the sake of my own happiness lucy is still thriving in sunny cataluña.

“Kika!”

You sat up rapidly as you heard Aitana speak, and the foam roller slipped out from beneath your leg and rolled away slowly. You looked around curiously, and everyone was spread out yet bunched together as they swarmed the three new additions to the team. You were just barely familiar with Ellie Roebuck from following each other on Instagram and you were more than familiar with Ewa Pajor through your mutual ties with her that existed through Frido and Ingrid. However, the girl that Aitana had beelined to, you hadn’t ever met her or known of her. A hand belonging to Mapi tugged you up from the ground and dragged you along to meet the new transfers, and you happily did so.

“You’ve grown so much from the last time I saw you!” Ewa gushed, smiling fondly at you to which you returned the gesture. The last time you had seen Ewa was during the 2023 Champions League final, when you weren’t a main player in the team but merely a reserve. It was an experience either way and Ewa was right — you had grown, physically and as a player. Throughout your entire little conversations with Ewa and Ellie, you could only think about meeting the unfamiliar one. You slunk away from the conversations with the Englishwoman and the striker before approaching Aitana and the final transfer.

“…miss Benfica a lot, actually, because this is my first time playing away from home,” she said to Aitana, who nodded along understandingly as you spoke, until you appeared by her side and her face lit up.

“Kika, I need to introduce you to (Y/N), mi pequeñita,” Aitana exclaimed, wrapping an arm around your shoulder. You smiled at the woman across from you, who grinned back. “Hola! I’m Kika,” she introduced herself. You already liked her; just the way she spoke and smiled at you gave the impression that she’d fit right into the team, and most importantly, get along with everyone. “I’m (Y/N),” you responded, but before you could continue and say anything else, you were engulfed in a warm hug by the Portuguese woman. It was yet another reason for you to like her, so you gratefully accepted the hug.

“I’ve watched you before, and all I can say is, I’m glad we’re on the same team,” Kika laughed, making your cheeks swell up with a rosy tint. Aitana nodded and squeezed your arm affectionately, “That means you’re already Barça. We feel like that everyday, ask Caroline.” She giggled and looked at Caro standing a little to the side of her, rolling her eyes with a smile.

“I’m alright…” you mumbled, shuffling around nervously with an awkward smile. To this day, you still weren’t the best at compliment-taking — especially from people way better and experienced than you — despite the amount of compliments you received often. It was still insane to you that the likes of Mapi and Irene complimented you on your defending, when they were the ones that deserved all the lauding more than anything.

“You’re more than alright, pequeñita,” Aitana scoffed, nudging you softly, “Te lo juro, Kika, sin ella no tendríamos la tercera Liga de Campeones.”

“Aitana, do you forget that you scored a goal in that final as well?” you laughed, and she shook her head earnestly. “No, and I definitely don’t forget who assisted me,” she responded with a light elbow to your side, which made you laugh even more. Kika joined in on the giggles until it all died down, and you invited them both back to your pre-workout stretches station. There, you three sat down and continued the conversation, until Aitana got up to do a workout with Fridolina and the weighted ball, leaving just you and Kika.

“You came from Benfica, right? Unless I’ve been hearing things,” you asked her, feeling relieved when she nodded. “Yeah, I’ve been there my entire career. It’s been a bit tough, adapting to Spain when I’ve lived in Portugal my whole life, but I love it here. What about you?” she explained.

You placed the foam roller back underneath your legs as you spoke, “I’ve more or less lived in Barna my entire life. I was in France for a couple years but I hated it so I kinda block it out from my memory. It sucked.” Kika laughed at your statement, inciting a smile from you. “Can you speak any French?” she asked, and you shook your head.

“Besides bonjour, au revoir, si vous plait and je suis (Y/N), I’m hopeless. If you ever want lessons, go to Lucy,” you replied, glancing at Lucy before nodding your head in her direction. Kika smiled and looked at Lucy as well, shooting her a charming grin before gazing back at you.

You liked her, a lot. She was nice and easy to get along with, she wasn’t super serious which was a big thing for you and she didn’t baby you any more than the others which was an even bigger thing. Kika was a very smart transfer for the club to have made, and you could see her becoming part of the family very soon. Her being close with Aitana was already a good start to that pursuit, and you knew it wouldn’t be long before the others warmed up to her.

“Are you any good at Catalan?” she asked you, and you hesitated before nodding, “I think so.” She sighed a breath of relief and lunged over to grab her own foam roller, placing it beneath her calf as she spoke, “Good, because I need a teacher for that. I’m not terrible, but I’m definitely not fluent yet. I tried to get Aitana to teach me but she talks too fast, it’s hard to keep up!”

With a lighthearted giggle, you nodded, moving the foam roller from your left leg to your right one. Kika continued rolling her left calf, bracing the floor for leverage and balance as she did so.

“How old are you, (Y/N)? Aita’s told me in the past but I can’t remember at all. You’re around my age, sí? 20, maybe 21 like me,” Kika spoke, shaking her head briefly at her own forgetfulness. You shrugged it off lightly, “Don’t worry about it. I’m– um, I’m actually 16,” you said nervously, smiling at the shocked expression on the woman’s face when you revealed your age.

“16 years old? Dios mío, and you’re a defender? What do they feed the kids at this club, gosh…” she muttered. Your cheeks flushed pink and your smile widened, tugging at your cheeks as you gazed down shyly, not a word coming out but your reaction spoke for itself. “Wait, so, where do you live? Do you go to school?” she questioned, intrigue capturing her facials expressions as she looked at you eagerly.

“My family don’t live in Barna, not anymore. I live with Irene most of the time but I just bounce around between apartments, and I attend classes at the academy,” you explained. “Oh, and I don’t think you’ll fully settle into the city unless you go to one of the cafés downtown. My favourite one is 5 minutes down the road, maybe we could go there after this?”

Kika was on board before you had even finished proposing your idea. After training, you pulled your hoodie over the top of your kit and left the grounds with your new friend, saying goodbye to everyone and explaining to them that you were steering her away from ‘guiri’ accusation territory.

You two walked down the streets, admiring the shops and cafés that were full of people, and on occasion, pointing out the Barça crests and flags displayed in the windows of buildings. You didn’t have a car yet, let alone a license, so you normally caught a ride with someone else, but it was nice to stroll down the streets of the city with Kika and introduce her to the place you called home. Eventually, your adventure came to a close when you found yourselves outside your favourite café of all time, before you walked into the entrance and took a seat right by the window.

The café was furnished with two-seat tables all around and a large display of everything you could imagine, from sandwiches, quiches and savoury muffins to decadent cakes and pastries. The comforting aroma of tea and other brews wafted through the air and only added to the warm atmosphere emitted from every corner of the room. You placed your bag down beside your chair, resting your hands on your thighs as Kika did a similar thing and relaxed her hands on the table. She looked around with an admiring gleam in her eyes before meeting your watchful gaze with an appreciative smile. “This is a lovely café, I can see why it’s your favourite.”

“Wait until you try the food, it’s even better,” you responded with a cheeky grin of your own, making the pair of you laugh simultaneously. “Do you want to go up and order first? I’ll stay here and watch our stuff and then I’ll order,” you said, gesturing for her to go up to the counter. She agreed, and you waited for a couple minutes until the woman returned to your table with her food; an iced tea, chocolate muffin and an apple danish. “I was going to order something healthy but I do not feel like vegetables right now,” she grimaced, placing her food down on the table slowly.

“I’ll be quick,” you said as you stood up and made your own way to the counter, ordering your own choice of food. You settled on an almond and icing sugar dusted croissant along with a cup of tea and a platter of mini donut bites. Once you received your order, you balanced your meal on your hands and carefully walked back to the table, talking slow steps until you reached Kika and placed it all down hurriedly, sinking into your seat once again. “Oh, yum,” she remarked, eyeing up your food before teasing you, “You’re making me regret getting this.”

You didn’t respond, because you knew from the moment she sunk her teeth into the chocolate muffin, her mind would change immediately, and you were correct — her eyes widened once she got a taste of the rich chocolatey goodness she possessed, and then they closed for a good minute as she savoured the taste. “Nevermind,” she mumbled between her mouthful, “You can keep it. This is th’ best thing ever!”

You looked at her with an ‘I knew it’ expression, which made her smile as she swallowed her bite and placed the muffin down atop its paper bag. You took a sip of your tea and then threw a donut bite in your mouth, offering one to Kika as you did so, who took one and thanked you with a nod of her head.

“So, you said you go to school at the academy. How is that?” she enquired. Unlike other teenagers who probably got sick and tired of being asked about how school is going, you actually didn’t mind. School was rarely a subject of interest for people when it came to your life, so it was kinda nice to know that someone was making the effort to know you outside of football. “It’s alright. Since the Champions League they’ve been letting me off easy with homework and stuff, so that’s pretty nice,” you answered with a shrug, “Some of the classes suck, like maths, but other than that it’s not too bad.”

“Any friends?” Kika continued, to which you nodded. “Well, I wouldn’t consider them friends, because I don’t talk to them outside of class since we’re all busy with our teams, but I’m okay with most of the people I take classes with. Some of them that play for the men’s first team, I’d call them my friends, but that’s it. I just hang out with the girls in our team,” you explained, “I love them all though, they’re the only friends I need.” Kika made an ‘oh’ expression to signify her understanding, and she nodded to further stress that.

“Yeah, I went to a regular school when I was still in school, and it’s much easier to take your classes in an academy like La Masia where everyone understands that your priorities are in football,” Kika said, taking another bite of her muffin. She paused for a minute to chew, and then she spoke again once she had swallowed it, “When you have friends that are always upset over you not having time to hang out because of football, it becomes a pain in the ass.”

You took a sip of your tea, wincing slightly as you adjusted to the piping hot temperature. “Yeah, I get that. I think we’re gonna get along really well, Kika,” you smiled warmly, invoking one on her own face. She was glad to have made a significant first impression, especially with you, the baby of the team. They undoubtedly loved you, and she was already on the path to joining them, enamoured with how friendly you were to her straight away.

The conversation strayed into talks about Portugal, and what it was like for Kika when she lived there. She told you about Benfica, her favourite restaurants in her hometown of Lisbon, her family and what made her want to play for Barça. You learnt a lot about her during that short café date, and in exchange, you told her more about your personal life and what you loved most; Vidić, slide tackles, your big sisters and Barcelona (the club and city). There were also the trivial things you loved that you decided to save for another day, like your love for Hay Day that she was sure to discover sooner or later.

You two shared the rest of the donut bites after you finished your muffin and croissant. She split her apple danish with you, which you gracefully accepted and thanked her for, and the conversation continued up until the last of the donut bites was gone and you were both stuffed.

“See why it’s my favourite café?” you said to the woman, and she nodded. “I’m definitely coming back, that chocolate muffin was delicious,” she groaned, scrunching her paper bag up. You both stood and grabbed your training bags, slinging them over your shoulders, and on the way out you tossed your rubbish into the bins, thanking the café owner. The pair of you strolled to Kika’s new apartment, and you learned that she was barely 5 minutes away from Irene’s home that was situated just around the corner: “That’s great!” she exclaimed happily as you two neared her home, “That means café dates can happen more often.”

Walking Kika up to the front door of her apartment, you peered inside and got a look of the cozy area. You were surprised at how furnished it was, because you were under the impression that she had only recently arrived in the city, but it didn’t seem that way anymore. “Your apartment is so nice…” you whispered, looking around a little bit more before pulling your head out, “I’ll see you tomorrow, thanks for coming with me!”

She embraced you in another warm hug before you left, smiling widely as she spoke, “I should be thanking you! It’ll be much easier at training tomorrow, knowing two people instead of just one.”

You waved goodbye to her and she returned the gesture before she shut the door. It didn’t take long you to be standing on Irene’s doorstep, unlocking the door with your key and slipping inside. She had known about your plans to go to the café with Kika, so she wasn’t alarmed when you came home particularly late, and instead she asked you about it.

“I love her, she’s great!” you lauded, flopping down beside her on the sofa, “I think we get along really well, and I can’t wait for her to meet Clau and Patri.”

“Oh no,” Irene groaned, shaking her head. “Do not introduce her into your trio of tontos,” she exclaimed. You shrugged, leaning back on the sofa, “I won’t, but the other two will probably do it on their own.”

She let out an exasperated sigh, looking at you with an eyebrow raised.

“Please don’t ban us from seeing each other again,” you begged, looking at her with a grimace. She shook her head, dismissing the idea. “No, because the last time we tried that, you three rode those jet skis at the Barceloneta.”

“Okay, that was not my idea, and you should blame Claudia for that… but it was really fun and it would be nice if you let us go again,” you said quietly, looking at her with an indicative expression.

“…Fine. I guess it would be okay, only if the rest of us come and we make it a beach day.”

“Deal!”

[lovecla]

TEACH ME (HOW TO MAKE HIM COME) | jack hughes

nhl masterlist, nsfw, @lovecla’s kinktober collection, chapter one:

<next chapter>

➴ chapter warnings: none

➴ word count: 2.5k

💌 from me to you: are the whore hours open yet?

𖧷

“NEW TEA about Zack!”

Kiara shouts loudly, like she wants the whole campus to know about your crush on Zack Brian, the hottest guy at Anaheim University.

“Do you want everyone to know that we’re talking about him or what?” You whisper, rolling your eyes at her. Her black bangs move around her face as she sits beside you on the bench.

“No one’s here, baby, everyone left for summer break already,” she shrugs, crossing her legs. “Just because you wanted to stay for one more week before going to Newark it doesn’t mean everyone else did the same.”

“Alright, alright, I get it,” you roll your eyes again, smiling. “What’s the tea about Zack?”

Her entire face lights up and she turns her body around, facing you. “I was in line to talk to Professor Marshall, right? You know I had to ask him about that internship at his office and all of that. But then, Lucy and Albany are right in front of me, and they’re talking about Zack.”

“It’s not news to anyone that they’re as obsessed with Zack as I am,” you try not to sound jealous, failing miserably. “What’s so new about that?”

“Here’s what's new: apparently, Lucy hooked up with him last Tuesday, and she said it didn’t go well because Zack said, and I quote: ‘I’m more into experienced girls. I’m not a teacher, so don’t expect me to teach you how to ride my cock’.”

Your mouth is wide open, your face burning with shame for Lucy. Part of you is sad for her, because she’s a nice girl. But the ugly, jealous part of you is happy that she didn’t work out with Zack.

“I know that you’re probably happy because they didn’t fuck but listen, Zack’s an asshole for saying that,” Kiara bursts your bubble, making you frown.

“Yeah, it wasn’t nice of him to say that but… I mean. It’s just what he’s into, right?”

“Sarah—”

“Oh my God,” you gasp, grabbing her hands. “I just realized that my chances with him are completely ruined!”

Kiara laughs. “Baby, what chances—”

“He likes experienced girls. Kiara, the last time I fucked a guy I was in High School! And,” you lower your voice, almost whispering. “It was extremely shitty. Straight up awful. You know that!”

“Maybe this is the universe trying to tell you that he’s an asshole and you shouldn’t go after him.” She answers, face serious as she sips on the iced latte long forgotten in your hand.

“I like him too much for that,” you mumble, and it’s true.

You got into AU a year ago, and it was the happiest moment of your life. A few weeks after your first semester ended, you found out who Zack Brian was. The most handsome, perfect guy to ever exist in your eyes.

You’ve met a lot of attractive guys and you had your fill of them too, but nothing like your crush on Zack. And when he talked to you for the first time? You melted. Even though he just asked if you were Zegras’ sister and said that he was a fan of your brother.

He can be your brother-in-law if you want, you almost said, instead of just nodding and saying thank you like a normal person.

Hearing that Zack liked experienced girls sucked. You grew up protected by your brother and his friends, so it was rare for a guy to approach you without chickening out after meeting your brother for the first time.

With that, you had never dated before. In fact, the only time you got closer to that, Trevor punched the guy on the nose because he found out he had slept with another girl the night before asking you to be his girlfriend.

So, the first and only time you had sex, with a random, popular guy from your class, it had been horrible. The guy didn’t prep you enough and besides that, he came in, like, three minutes, before running out of your room like his ass was on fire. You never really saw a dick up close, or even had a guy get you off, like most girls in your class used to do. You just watched from afar, not sure of what to do.

It wasn’t like you didn’t want to it again. You just never wanted someone enough to get naked in front of them.

“What do we do?” Kiara asks, and you smile at her, noticing how she said we instead of you.

“Your problems are my problems too,” she used to say.

“I don’t even know,” you run your hands through your hair. “I’ll have to find a way to get experience during summer.”

“Is he really worth it?” She stares at you, brown eyes showing concern.

“Yeah,” you sigh, enamored. “He is.”

𖧷

YOU WATCH Trevor get out of his car with Jack, Luke, Quinn and Cole with him, as he runs to you like he hadn’t seen you for years.

“Lil’ sis,” he shouts, dragging the s letter, making you roll your eyes but smile nonetheless. You wrap your arms around his neck, hugging him briefly. You missed him a lot, but it was part of your siblings code not to hug each other for more than five seconds if it wasn’t any holiday or birthday. “How’s the ugliest sibling doing?”

“I was about to ask you the same thing,” you smile sweetly, slapping his chest. “Get out of here.”

“Get out? Baby, the party’s just starting!” He shouts again, getting inside the big lake house he bought in Newark, where you’d be staying during most part of your summer.

You roll your eyes at his cockiness, quickly changing your expression so you could say hi to the other men around you. First Quinn, Cole, Luke and for last—

“Hey, pretty,” Jack slowly wraps his arm around your waist, hugging you close as he presses his lips on your head. “How’re you?”

“Hey, Jacky,” you smile. “I’m fine. How ‘bout you? ‘Been a while.”

He lets you go, smirking. He looked beautiful, freshly shaved and tanned.

“Fine. And a while indeed. How come an entire season passed and you didn’t go to my games, not even once?”

You raise your shoulders, biting your lip, a guilty smile decorating your face.

“I actually live a normal life, and I have classes,” you laugh, grabbing your bags and walking inside with Jack beside you. “It’s not like I can just miss school and fly to New Jersey.”

“Tsc,” he clicks his tongue, shaking his head. “I’m disappointed.”

You bump his shoulder with your head, silently apologizing.

“Next time. I promise.”

Even if you were supposed to be having fun with the boys, you couldn’t stop thinking about Zack and what you were supposed to do.

How does one learn how to have sex? you ask yourself, watching the party happening in front of you.

As the tradition goes, Trevor always throws a party when they’re all off duty, calling every person he knows, which is a lot. His living room is packed with all types of people, mostly women, which makes your nose scrunch. Knowing that people wanted to have sex with your brother, and some of them even talked about it online, made you want to puke.

You sipped on your soda, looking around as a very sensual song, and not appropriate to a party at all played in the background. You could see your brother playing beer pong with a couple of boys, while Quinn talked with Leo and Luke. Jack was sitting on the couch with a blonde girl beside him, and things between them were definitely getting steamy as far as you could tell.

He has one of his hands around a can of beer and the other one around the girl’s shoulder, as she slowly caresses his thigh. After a minute or two, Jack’s eyes find yours, and he raises his eyebrow at you. Unfortunately, you were too busy looking at the girl to reply to his gesture.

The blonde moved with confidence, and even though she was being careful, she wasn’t afraid. You could tell she would get what she wanted that night, and it made you wonder how it’d feel to be just like her.

Would Zack like you if you acted like that around him?

It must be nice to be confident about how you act around guys. It’d feel so nice to walk into a room and know that all of the guys would kill for a night for you, and you would please them just fine. You’d get them hard and ready to fuck you in seconds.

You frown. Just the thought of getting another guy hard made you blush, imagine doing the act yourself.

You needed help. No way in hell you’d learn how to actually please Zack by yourself.

The girl in front of you kisses Jack, climbing on his lap right after. For some reason, you can’t take your eyes off them. It’s not like you feel something for Jack, no, not really. You met him when you were a teenager, and he had always acted respectfully and protective around you. He called you pet names, yes, but most of the guys did. Even if he was the only one who called you pretty instead of things like Zegras number two or fun size.

Jack was like a best friend, and you liked him a lot. You haven’t seen him that much lately, busy with college and classes, but looking at him now, you realize that he could be just what you needed.

He has always been known for being popular with the ladies. The rumors, the pictures, the edits— Jack is like a sex god. He likes to fuck around during summer as much as he can, since when October comes, all he can think about is hockey.

So someone like him was perfect for someone like you. Right?

Right.

𖧷

YOU KNOCKED on Jack’s door before ringing the doorbell.

Last night you hadn’t been able to talk to him, since he had been busy with… other things. So that would explain why you’re at his front door, at nine in the morning, wearing just a tank top and a jeans skirt, waiting for Jack to finally open the door.

Which he did, after two missed calls and ten minutes of pounding against his door. He was shirtless, his hair going in all directions and wearing just a NJ Devils sweatpants, that hung low in his waist.

“What— Sarah?” He blinks. “Did something happen? Are you okay?”

You smile shyly at him, getting inside the apartment without saying anything. “Sorry. I just…”

You bite your lip. How the hell were you going to ask your friend of years to teach you how to please a guy was the only question that you had in your mind.

“You just…?” Jack stares at you, his blue eyes reaching deep places inside you. “Sarah?”

“Yeah, I—” you take a deep breath, placing your phone and purse on his coffee table, standing in front of him. “I need to talk with you about something.”

He chuckles, stretching his body, his pants hanging lower than before, making your eyes fall directly on his crotch.

“And you couldn’t wait until a little bit later?” His voice brings you back to the conversation, the realization that you had spent at least ten seconds staring at the outline of his dick making you blush.

“I mean, yeah, but—”

“I’m just messing with you,” he smiles, walking towards his kitchen, probably to make something to eat. “What do you need?”

You inhale deeply, remembering the TED talk you had with yourself during the car ride to Jack’s apartment.

Think of Zack. Think about kissing Zack.

“So,” you start, following him to the kitchen and leaning against his island, as he prepares what must be his morning coffee. “I need a favor.”

“I figured that much,” he laughs. “What is it?”

“I need you to… teach me. How to… well. How to have… this is going a lot worse than I thought it would go.” You try to joke, realizing that it wasn’t funny.

Jack stares at you as he mixes the steaming liquid in his mug, raising one brow.

“Come on, pretty. Spit it out.”

“I need you to teach me how to have sex.” You let out quickly, the words barely understandable. “G-good sex.”

Maybe you shouldn’t have said it with these exact words, but that was exactly what you wanted. You wanted to learn how to please a guy sexually, and for that, you’d have to learn how to have sex.

Jack stares at you like he has just witnessed you kill several little kids with your own two hands.

“I’m sorry,” he frowns. “What.”

“Don’t make me repeat myself…” you mumble, resting your hands on the counter behind you.

“Sarah,” Jack sighs, shaking his head. “Why do you want me to teach you how to fuck?”

Your face would melt at any time. Why was he so crude anyway?

“I need to learn how to please a guy so I can finally have a chance with the guy I like,” you whisper, looking everywhere but at Jack. “He likes girls who know what they’re doing and I’m definitely not one of those. So, can you help me?”

“You want to learn how to have sex so you can please a man?” He sounds amazed. “That’s fucked up, pretty. Do you even know how to get yourself off?”

You wanted to throw yourself off a cliff and drown in the nearest lake. You were sure that if you got any redder, you’d turn into Clifford, The Big Red Dog.

“Jack!”

He smirks. “What? I’m being serious.”

“No, you’re not,” you cover your face with your hands before staring at him again. “I really need your help. Please?”

“Sorry, baby. I can’t do that,” he shrugs and resumes drinking his coffee, like this was just another Tuesday for him. “Your brother would kill me in seconds if he found out. And even though I’m not afraid of him on the ice, I can’t really tell how hard he’ll beat me outside of it.”

“He doesn’t need to know,” you plead, letting go of the counter and stepping closer to him. “I won’t say a word. Please, Jack.”

“This is dangerous,” he licks his lips, that stupid smirk making its way back to his lips. “I don’t know, pretty. I don’t really like the idea of you getting ready for a douchebag who only likes experienced girls. What the hell is he? A company?”

“I guess it’s just his type,” you shrug. “And I wanna be his type.”

“Sarah, you’re everyone’s type.” He drinks the rest of his coffee in one go, placing it inside his sink. “Maybe you should just go for another guy?”

“I want him,” you whisper, afraid that Kiara would pop out of somewhere and call you stupid for fixating on a guy that hasn’t even spoken to you twice. “Can you help me? I’ll do anything you ask me. Your laundry, your meals, wash your car—”

“You don’t need to,” he exhales, standing in front of you again, the height difference more accentuated since he was very close. Very shirtless and very close. “I’ll help you out. But Trevor can’t know, okay?”

You smile, ignoring the fact that he was half naked and hugging him tightly. “Thank you! And I won’t say a thing, promise!”

Phase one of getting Zack to like you: complete.

[luminique]

Imagine Lighter proposing to his s/o. He wants to be with his beloved for all eternity but he’s so afraid of ruining the proposal that he had to ask the girls, Big Daddy and Billy for help with the proposal.

Cue the most anxiety ridden and beautiful moment of Lighter’s life as he tries to propose to you (probably at Cheesetopia) while his team/family are helping him behind the scenes with everyone having earpieces. Everything was going smoothly until he can’t find the box. He’s shaking and losing his composure as he tries to find the box containing the engagement ring, he finds it but drops the box a few times with Billy having to distract his s/o from noticing that he dropped the box, and then he finally gets down on his knees to propose because Caesar and Lucy were screaming in his ear to just get down on his knees and tell his s/o that he wants to marry them.

Cue you looking at Lighter and seeing him propose to you. You’re seeing that ring, a beautiful ring with yours and his birthstones shaped into an infinity symbol, and the flashbacks of the first day you met him to the day you knew you were always going to be his are running through your mind. You knew the answer right away. You and Lighter were forever ride and die. Literally.

Now, cue the tears of joy down his face when you screamed “Yes!” and him twirling you around in pure joy as the Sons of Calydon are celebrating their Champion getting married. All that’s left is figuring out how to have a wedding.

THIS IS YUMMY ??!! I AM EATING IT UP !!

i fear i have a lot of difficulty writing prompts like these but this is so good on its own, i feel like i have nothing to add and will just share this to all the lighter enjoyers !!

hes so loveable boyfailure. i think that initially, he was just planning for a simple and quiet proposal but the SoC girls protested. a simple proposal FOR YOU ?? no. it HAS to be perfect. even the days leading up to it, he’s an absolute wreck that he could barely get a wink of sleep the nights before. what if you reject him? what if you’re not ready? what if it all goes wrong?

while he’s worrying about everything, you’re literally going about your day. i think the whole of blazewood would be in on the plan and you’re the only one who doesn’t know.

lighter had told you to meet up with him at cheesetopia, there was a new dish on the menu he wanted to try (he made up this excuse). so you get there and the exterior is decorated beautifully but no lighter in sight. he’s busy fumbling with the ring box while billy is just making some small talk. once billy gets the cue to leave, you’re still walking around a little, looking for lighter.

a tap on your shoulder, the sound of pebbles crunching under his shoes. you turn around and see lighter on one knee, he’s taking off his shades and pulling out the small box from his pocket. you could see the clear blush on his face and a little sweat glistening on his forehead from the anxiety of it all.

you knew the words that would come out of his mouth before he could even say it. the response came out faster than he anticipated, making a sigh of relief escape his lips. it takes him a moment to actually register your reply but once it did, it took no time for him to get up and give you the tightest hug before twirling you around in his arms.

everyone else were practically celebrating along with lighter. billy was already crying even before you said yes, burnice’s flamethrowers were acting up like fireworks, caesar and lucy were exhausted but looked proud, and piper was clapping to show her sleepy excitement. it was a momentous occasion for the SoC, and especially for you and lighter.

[captainuranium543]

Fairy tail headcannon a nobody wanted at all😊

- most of the dragon slayers+erza eat bugs regularly and it's gross AF to everyone

-Natsu because he grew up in the woods and they were like the number one abundant source of food, same for Wendy but she stopped for a while because Carla told her it was nasty (as soon as she joined the fairy tail guild she reverted so incredibly fast)

-gajeel pretends to thinks it's gross but secretly he really likes the taste he just doesn't wanna have that in common with natsu

- erza and Erik because in the evil slave tower where everyone was starving if you found a bug you ate it before anyone else could grab it from you.

- sting did not do that growing up but started when natsu told him it was good, he does not agree but does it anyway so natsu thinks he's cool

- rogue only tried it a couple times because frosch wanted to try it to be more like a frog and rogue is nothing if not supportive

- laxus grew up normal and thinks all of them are disgusting

- Lucy has the WORST financial skills. Legit they are awful. Everyone thinks she's always broke cuz of the tpd (team property damage) constantly making them lose their reward to repair bills but (while that is a factor) when Lucy sees smth cute that would look great in her apartment she just cannot help herself. Lucy will be so careful trying to save her money then she'll see a new set of stationary and goes "haha rent what rent"

- the hand me down game at fairy tail was fucking insane when they where kids. For levy and lisanna basically everything they owned had been passed down like 6 times already

- that red shirt natsu wore in the flashbacks? Before him it was erza's, and before her it was canas, and before her it was laxus.

- gray wears almost exclusively white jackets because jackets are expensive and if he loses them he would rather they be easy to spot so he can find them again rather then have to buy a new one

- sometimes people will invite erza places for the scary dog privilege when they dont want to be bothered by strangers. Erza has no idea thats the reason she just thought people really liked walking with her through rough parts of town in the middle of the night.

- Carla and lilly have insane beef, for no damn reason. Like both of them are fairly polite so neither will say it openly but every conversation between the two is the most passive aggressive petty insult battle you could imagine

- freed, levy, Lucy and later jellal have a book club where they all meet up and talk about whatever they're reading and play Scrabble and talk a lot of shit about their annoying ass friends.

- happy sometimes comes but he is under no circumstances allowed to bring natsu(he knows what he did)

- when erza met seigrain/jellal in the magic counsel she first tried to attack him, when that proved to be a bad idea she later started specifically destroying stuff under his jurisdiction to make sure he had to deal with as much paperwork as possible

- for her modelling, Mira used to use a very light spray of holy water to remove body hair because it burns it off💀

- wendy romeo and chelia are actually best friends like they are constantly hanging out together just to go do stuff

- erza and Erik hate each other for no reason at all. Like over that year that she worked with crime sorciere they where ALWAYS BEEFING. Every time they were near each other erza was thinking insults she knew he could hear and Erik was fighting for his life not to strangle her to death.

When erza became sclass she used to sit on the 5th step of the stairs because Mira wasn't allowed on those stairs yet and it really pissed her off. She was like, just barely out of reach, so Mira would stand at the bottom the stairs yelling death threats at her and erza would be like "whattt I'm not doing anything I don't even know what your talking about in literally just sitting what are you so mad about"

- when Warren invented cellphones, despite all of them looking like modern smartphones, freed somehow managed to get one that looked exactly like a Blackberry and refuses to get a different one

- Mira used to cut her siblings hair and because she didn't know any good haircuts yet her 2 options where 1- bald or 2- bowl cut. Hence lisannas horrifying cut as a child

[samanthaa-leanne]

From the moment you laid eyes on Gray Fullbuster you knew it was game over. All the nights you spent reading romance novels and seeing how all it took was one look before most of the heroines fell in love with a man. You thought it was bogus. There was no way you could fall in love with a man with just one look. That was until you saw him. 

Gray Fullbuster was a well-known wizard throughout Fiore. You had heard about him well before you joined the Fairy Tail guild. You just didn’t expect him to look like that. When your friend and roommate Lucy introduced you to her group, the group she also wanted you to join. She introduced you to Erza first and you couldn’t help but think she was the sweetest person you had ever met. You didn’t know why Lucy was so afraid of her. That was until Natsu knocked over her strawberry shortcake and all hell broke loose. 

Natsu was something else. He tried being intimidating but quickly changed his attitude once he learned you could fight. Then all he wanted to do was challenge you. Lucy tried to scold him, but you agreed, and soon kicked his ass. Everyone in the guild was impressed with your skills. Even Natsu when he regained consciousness.  

“Wow Natsu, I can’t believe you got your ass kicked by a girl.” A voice said from behind you. 

You turned around to defend yourself when suddenly the most handsome man you had ever seen was standing in front of you. Your heart did a flip and you lost all sense of what you were going to say. 

“Gray I was wondering where you were.” Lucy said, trying to change the subject before another fight broke out. “This is my friend YN. She just joined the guild.” 

All of a sudden his eyes were on yours as he looked you up and down. Your cheeks turned a bright red as his eyes finally met yours. 

“Nice to meet you YN. You seem like a real badass from the ass whooping you gave dragon breath over there.” He said, motioning to a fired up Natsu who was about to hop the table to get his hands on Gray. 

“It’s nice to meet you too.” You said as calmly as you could. Your heart was still racing from his mere presence. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A few months had passed since you first met and joined Team Natsu. The missions you went on grew even more dangerous and there were some you didn’t know if you would complete in one piece, but without fail your team beat the odds. 

Your trust in one another grew everyday and soon you guys could predict each other's moves. Sometimes you even knew what the other would do before they did it. You gave a new definition to the word close. 

Your bond with your teammates was something you never wanted to lose. However your feelings for a particular teammate grew even more as each day passed. There were times you thought he felt the same, but then he would treat you like he did with all your other teammates. 

It seemed like everyone knew about your feelings for Gray besides him. He was oblivious. Not even Natsu and Happy’s not so subtle jokes clicked in that handsome head of his. You were okay with it though. You figured he was just pretending not to know about your feelings for him so it didn’t ruin your friendship. Which you didn’t want to ruin anyways so you shoved your feelings down and focused on your friendship instead. 

What you didn’t expect was to overhear a private conversation between Natsu and Gray about a month later at the guild hall. 

“So what do you think about YN?” Natsu asked as nonchalantly as he could. 

“She’s a pretty awesome fighter and a great friend.” Gray responded quickly, giving Natsu a weird look. 

“Just a friend huh?” Natsu asked, trying to hint at something he shouldn’t. 

“What is that supposed to mean?” Gray shot back. 

“Are you sure you aren’t an idiot?” Natsu asked, his voice calm for once. 

“What are you going on about this time?” Gray replied with confusion written all over his face. 

“You really don’t know that…” he was cut off by Erza showing up and punching him in the stomach as Happy flew him a few feet away. 

“Ignore him.” Erza said as she joined the table they were at. You quickly walked away before anyone noticed you.

Gray nodded and went back to what he was doing. The questions Natsu asked had him thinking if he really did just see you as a friend. 

He couldn’t lie to himself and say he didn’t find you attractive, because he did. From the moment he first saw you he thought you were the most beautiful girl he’d ever laid eyes on. And then you beat the crap out of Natsu which just impressed him even more. But Gray didn’t believe in love at first sight. He believed in getting to know someone through and through and falling in love with the person they were. 

And that’s when it clicked. It was slow and he didn’t realize it until he really sat down and thought about it, but he was in love with you. He had been for a while now. He loved everything about you. The way you smiled when you saw something that made you happy. The way you always had your friend’s back no matter what the situation was. The way you tucked your hair behind your ear when you were nervous. You were everything he never knew he needed and at that moment all he wanted to do was find you and tell you he loved you. So that’s exactly what he did. 

You were on your way back to your apartment when you heard someone shouting your name. You turn around to find Gray running after you at full speed. 

“Gray? What’s wrong? Is everything…” You were cut off as his arms wrapped around you and he pulled you into him, hugging you tightly.

“I love you.” He said softly as he rubbed his arms up and down your back. 

“Wait what?” You asked, pulling back a little from his embrace. The look he was giving you was something you had always wanted to see. 

“I love you.” He repeated as if he couldn’t say the words enough. 

“Is this some kind of joke? Did Natsu put you up to this?” You asked as you scanned the surrounding area trying to catch the pink haired menace. 

“What?! No! Of course not.” Gray answered, baffled that this was your reaction. His mind was racing. Did he not think this through? Did you not feel the same way? 

“Natsu and I were talking and he asked me what I thought about you and at first I said you were just a great friend but then I got to thinking and I realized I’m in love with you.” He started, stopping to look into your eyes as he said, “I love everything about you. Your smile, your laugh, your ability to put everyone in the guild in their place. I just realized that you are everything I never knew I wanted or needed and I just had to come tell you.”

You didn’t realize you were crying until his fingers were wiping away the tears. You never thought he would reciprocate the feeling you had. 

“Aww don’t cry, pretty girl. I didn’t mean to make you cry.” He said softly, pulling you back into his chest. 

“I love you too.” You whispered. “Ever since I first laid eyes on you. I never believed in love at first sight until I saw you.” You said truthfully, your tears calming down. 

He stepped back and lifted your chin so your eyes met. The smile he was giving you was so infectious you couldn’t help but smile back up at him. 

“Say it again.” He whispered, closing his eyes. 

“I love you, Gray Fullbuster.” You said, your smile growing with each word. 

He opened his eyes, leaned down, and pressed a soft kiss to your lips. “I love you too baby girl.”

[thevoidstaredback]

Red Hood was furious. Beyond that, actually, and he could tell that Nightwing shared his sentiment. Danny was technically the new worker in the alley and had basically been adopted by all the working girls and boys, which is why he had yet to meet him. Apparently, he would scare him off?

Anyway, Red Hood would be out for blood as soon as he got Danny dropped off at The Club. The poor kid was still in shock, cowering in on himself, letting the jacket hide him as much as it could. He could tell the kid was anxious to have Nightwing following behind him, but he was glad he was bearing with it. He needed the insurance that someone wouldn’t try to take Danny while he didn’t have eyes on him.

When they did get to The Club, he and Nightwing watched as Danny walked inside with his jacket still wrapped around him. The kid was bombarded by several of the people still there, though they all backed off when he flinched, gently guiding him to a chair. Lucy was the one to come out and greet them.

“Thanks for bringing him back,” they said, their voice soft.

“It was no problem, Lu,” Red Hood shook his head slightly, his posture relaxed.

Lucy shook their head in denial. “No, I mean it. We were all so worried when he didn’t come back! The others had lost sight of him and came in panicking.”

“If you don’t mind me asking,” Nightwing stepped up next to Red Hood, “what happened?”

Lucy worried at their bottom lip, glancing at Red Hood, who nodded, before answering. “We always make sure to keep within sight of each other, just in case someone steps outta line. It’s for our safety. That, and keeping in lit areas. I wasn’t out tonight, but there were seven others on the street with him. There must’ve been a few seconds when they didn’t have eyes on Danny and he was nabbed because none of the others said that they saw anyone else out around the time he disappeared.” They met both vigilanties' eyes behind their masks. “Who was it, Hood?”

Nightwing was hesitant to tell, obviously having an idea of what would happen to the BJ. Red Hood had no such reservations. He knew the names and faces of everyone in Crime Alley, including the addresses of those who have them. They all know his rules and the punishments for not following them. “Go back for the night, Nightwing.”

“Hood-”

“No. Plausible deniability and all that.” he waved off, following Lucy as they led him into The Club. “Tell Batman I sent ya early because Alley business came up.”

“It’s no place for a Bat,” Nightwing sulked, “I know. Good night, you two!”

“Goodnight, Nightwing!” Lucy waved as the man grappled away. They turned back to Red Hood before opening the door. “Who was it?”

“Mr. Jameson in apartment 25 of the Katt Building near the middle of the Alley.”

They hummed and opened the door. “I’ll pass it on to everyone.”

The group of fifteen were comforting Danny, helping him clean up and offering an ear to listen to. Danny, throughout it all, was staring mostly blankly at the coffee table in the middle of the commons area. He only really reacted when someone gave him a dog plush. Though, that was only small, hesitant movements to take the plush and pull it close to his chest, Red Hood’s jacket still hiding him as though he were a child hiding from a lightning storm. And that’s what he was, a child hiding from the outside world because it hurt him.

Red Hood had to admit, though, that the guy’s cute. He was really hoping to meet him under better circumstances. Regardless, he took off his helmet, the domino underneath keeping his identity mostly safe from getting out, though he trusted everyone here to keep the secret if they ever found out. He knelt on the floor in front of Danny, keeping his movements slow and telegraphed as he made sure to stay in Danny’s line of sight. “Hey there, hun.”

Danny didn’t respond. He didn’t even move. His breathing had slowed back down to a normal pattern, though, and it seemed to be slowing even more.

Red Hood made sure not to touch him or get too close. “Hey, can you hear me?” he asked, “Blink if you can.”

For a long moment, nothing happened. Then, very slowly, Danny blinked. Red Hood smiled at him.

“Good. I’m not gonna ask ya what happened, okay? None of us are. We’re gonna take care of the guy, though. He won’t ever bother you again, ‘kay?”

Again, his blink was slow, but tears slowly fell from his eyes as he did so. Relief seemed to wash over his expression as he relaxed into the couch, the jacket and plush being held slightly looser.

“Do you want to stay here, or do you want to go somewhere else?”

The response was quiet, barely a whisper that Red Hood almost missed, “Somewhere else.”

Not too surprising. “Where do ya wanna go?”

“Home.”

“Where’s home?”

Danny didn’t answer as he pulled the jacket around the plush in his arms. Not a good sign, but it was an unfortunately common one for Crime Alley residence.

Red Hood thought for a second, mostly for show, before saying, “I’ve got a safe house you could stay in to recover. No one but me will know where you are if you don’t want them to. You’ll be able to stay as long as you want and you can leave at any time. Sound good?”

“Can Lu or May or Jakey know where it is?”

Not ideal, but anything to make him feel safer. “Of course they can know.”

“Okay.”

“Do you want me to tell them?”

“Maybe tomorrow.”

“We’ll touch base then,” He slowly stood back up. “Let me or one of the others know when you’re ready to go and I’ll take ya to the safe house. No rush. We’ll go at your pace.”

Stepping away for a second, he put his helmet back on and turned on his comms. He listened to the conversation he’d tuned into, knowing that Oracle would make him known if the others didn’t stop talking in a moment.

Sure enough, after about thirty seconds, she muted them all and said, “Red Hood, nice of you to join us.”

“I wouldn’t say that,” he muttered, ‘Nothing particularly nice about this situation.”

“Oh?” Oracle asked, “What’s going on?”

“Ask Nightwing for details.” he said, “I’m not gonna answer calls for the next few days. Everyone stays out of Crime Alley until I say.” “So normal rules then?” He hummed in response. “Alright. Goodnight, Red Hood.”

Red Hood turned his com off completely, turning to face the kid on the couch and lean against the wall. Danny’s was gonna be okay. He was going to make sure that he’ll be okay.

Part 2 Part 4

[cloversnstrawberries]

hi! I’m the anon that requested the Vox relationship Headcannons lol (and good job they were amazing!!! Vox is such a bad person but I love him anyways <3) Could I request Lucifer (romantic) relationship Headcannons if you aren’t too busy? <3

yandere!lucifer x gn!reader general headcanons ! !

masterlist !

warnings; possessiveness, overprotectiveness, Lucifer being a very questionable person (he's very much not human and i tried to play that up that he doesn't really understand human morals or anything), murder, violence, religious references (enough that i felt the need to tag it), manipulation, guilt tripping, marking (scarring), and probably more that I didn't tag :[ i'm very bad at remembering things. once the words are written down they're out of my brain, so please tell me if i missed anything really big!!

additional notes; these are mostly about you two meeting/first getting together, i hope i did well on your request :]] and thank you so much!! i had a lot of fun writing the vox headcanons and playing around with how terrible he is!! :D i'm glad i did it justice :]

w/c; 1.8k

You and Lucifer probably met at the hotel, in this case Reader was one of the first residents (besides Angel and Pentious) to join the hotel.

When you two first met, you honestly didn't know he was Lucifer. You'd died after he started hiding from the public eye, and never looked into him much. Maybe you've seen pictures of him before, but you never put two and two together.

He was sitting on the sofa in the foyer when you first saw him, and he looked friendly enough. He was wearing duck pajama's after all, and that didn't strike you as very terrifying.

You thought he was a plain old resident, and you walked over to introduce yourself to him; and from there, it went rather smoothly.

You asked if you could sit next to him, and he readily agreed-- he looked a little shocked at first, but over the moon that someone was talking to him. When you started talking, he was quick to catch on that you didn't recognize him. You really thought he was another sinner,

He was very quick to get attached to you, primarily because you didn't have any fear as you talked to him. So, he lied-- just a little lie of omission, though! When you asked for his name, he'd thought for a moment, before deciding on "Lucy."

You smiled, soft and radiant and Lucifer felt like he'd finally seen the sun again after being holed up in his palace for so long. The real sun, the one he helped hang in the sky with careful, caring hands. You didn't have any reason to not believe him on his name, so you were none the wiser.

Your conversation lasted for a few hours-- you two had been up insanely early, around 3AM. Both of you were unable to sleep, and Lucifer had come down to watch some TV. It was muted, and the subtitles were on. You two quietly chatted about this and that, sometimes about the random shows you were watching.

By the time everyone else woke up, Vaggie being the first one down with Charlie a close second, you and Lucifer were already getting along like a house on fire.

When Charlie came down, she immediately beelined it to the two of you, Vaggie had sat down on one of the armchairs, wearily watching as you Lucifer talked.

"Oh my gosh!" Charlie exclaimed, and when you looked at her, she had that wide-eyed, excited look on her face-- one you'd only really seen in children before, still oblivious to the hardships of the world.

'Lucy' looked startled-- he was so engrossed in your conversation that he hadn't even realized the time. When Lucifer looked at Charlie, he couldn't even wish her a good morning before she launched into one of her rambles.

"When you came here, I didn't think you'd make any friends-- It's nothing against you, dad! people are just usually so scared of you-- well, because you're the devil, but i hoped you'd find a friend and you did--!"

Lucifer got extremely nervous as she kept going on and on-- he looked over to you, and you looked at him a little... differently. You'd definitely caught on to who he was, but he couldn't help but to try and do damage control. He was too attached by now, he'd be devastated if you shied away from him because of his (entirely deserved, but that's besides the point) reputation.

He felt horrible cutting his daughter off, but she didn't take it too bad. She looked sheepish, saying a quick "Sorry... I just get so excited! I'm just really happy you found someone to talk to besides me and Vaggie."

"He doesn't talk to me that much, Babe." Vaggie called from the armchair, and Charlie looked over and gave a non-committal shrug aimed toward her girlfriend. Still better than how much to talks to anyone else, you were sure Charlie would've said next if given the chance.

The damage was already done, he'd thought. He recognized that it was absolutely ridiculous how fast he'd fallen (hah!) for you, how quickly he'd sunk his claws into the idea of you and never wanted to let go,

But you... didn't care. You'd gotten to know him enough that you didn't see him as much of a threat. Sure, you felt pretty silly for thinking he was just a regular sinner like you, and not knowing that he was the literal devil, but otherwise you didn't see him very differently. If he'd raised someone as sweet as Charlie, then you decided that he couldn't be that bad, right?

Lucifer was touched by your sentiment, and completely unbeknownst to you, you'd just sealed your fate-- for better (or more likely) for worse.

You two's relationship moved... really fast, a little too fast for your liking, even. Not even a month after you'd properly met the man, he was already asking you on a date. At first, you'd had half the mind to decline him--

But something deep, deep in the back of your brain-- some primal sort of prey drive left over from your time alive, begged you to just go along with it. You didn't know why dread was curling in your stomach at the mere thought of politely declining his request-- to just say "I'm sorry... I'd like to get to know as a friend a little longer before considering being anything else."

You'd accepted, against your better wishes, sure-- but you'd still agreed to a dinner date regardless. It was a funny sight, seeing Lucifer bounce up and down on his heels as he turned and basically began to skip away, calling over his shoulder that'd he'd 'pick you up' by 7 tomorrow.

One date turned to two, then three-- and each time you'd wanted to put to a stop to it. It's not like you dislike Lucifer-- not at all, it's not even that you don't view him as a possible partner. You just felt like it was going way, way too fast for your personal preference.

And before you knew it, he was touting you around as his new partner. Charlie was ecstatic-- hell, she was even calling you her new parent. You didn't know if it was a fallen angel/hell born thing, or just something with Lucifer and Charlie--

It felt strange. You didn't know how to feel about it, so you tried to shove it from your mind.

When you got involved with the Devil-- when you found out the man you'd been chatting to over a crappy reality show was Lucifer himself, you knew he wouldn't abide by human measures.

Because he wasn't human, he never had been-- not like you had. He'd always observed humans from afar, both before his fall and afterward, though he only interacted with the worst of the worst down here.

His definition of things would be twisted, you understood that. It still freaked you out how... quick to violence he was. At first, you thought that maybe everything said about him was wrong, you know it was stupid to assume that-- all stories had their basis, after all;

But maybe he'd gotten past that, you thought. Maybe he'd gotten softer over the millennia's he's been around for?

When you got into a romantic relationship (halfway against your will, halfway not), you soon realized that nope! he definitely deserved his title as the devil, tormentor of souls!

Because-- holy shit, Did Lucifer have a mean streak when it came to anyone he perceived as a threat to you or your relationship. You'd considered confronting him about once or twice, how cruel he could be. He always brushed you off about it, and you never had the guts to push the issue.

I'm talking sinners eviscerated within a millisecond if they look at you "too long" (Lucifer never seemed to have a set definition of "looking too long", sometimes he let people get away with staring for a minute or two, and sometimes they barely glanced your way before he lashed out), entire restaurants-- hell, entire blocks cleared of any living being if someone dares you flirt with you and think they can get away with it (again, Lucifer's definition of 'flirting' is very... loose).

Lucifer doesn't wait, he doesn't let anyone try to stop him. Doesn't listen to you either, and if you're upset after his outburst, then he'll apologize. He never apologizes for the outbursts themselves, he apologizes for upsetting you with them, or that you had to see them.

Despite knowing that he's the devil, knowing that you should've expected this-- you still don't like it.

Because deep down, you couldn't shake the nagging feeling that if he thought you were flirting with someone, that you were being unfaithful, he'd turn right around and do the same damn thing to you.

In reality, he'd delude himself into thinking that you were forced into doing that. You didn't mean to upset him, that you were manipulated into it! It was never his darlings fault, he'd picked his lover well! They wouldn't betray him, that'd be silly.

He doesn't see anything wrong with his behavior, the only time he feels even a little bit guilty is when you start distancing yourself from him because of it. You don't want to go out with him anymore, you're avoiding him--

So, although with massive difficulty, Lucifer tones it down. He wants you to feel safe around him-- at the core of it, his possessiveness stemmed from what was once protectiveness. One of his original duties was to protect and monitor the humans in the Garden, first Lillith and Adam, then Eve and Adam. His very purpose was to protect in those days!

He confronted you about it, about you avoiding him. He tried to ignore how you shook like a leaf-- but he couldn't but feel relief when the trembling slowly came to halt as you two talked it out. How he really doesn't mean to do this, to scare you.

It came off more like a string of excuses than an apology, but you had to take what you could get with him.

Eventually, you got on better terms. Started going out on dates again, and he actually did stay true to his word, believe it or not. He didn't maul people for looking at you-- even though he desperately wanted to,

However... you had been permanently scarred around your waist, where he always held you to keep you close. He'd dig his claws in so far that he could feel your ribs head-on before he realized and stopped, healing you quickly while apologizing like no tomorrow.

He could heal you completely, make sure there were scars or evidence of his claws ever being embedded in your flesh,

...Predictably, he never does heal it all the way. He never explains why he does it, but you've got a pretty good guess.

He views it as a claim of sorts. You can do nothing against it.

Lucifer is definitely the type to guilt trip you into staying-- if he so much as thinks you're considering leaving him, or distancing yourself again, he won't talk to you directly about it or anything.

He will, however, pull you aside and cry into your arms about how hard it is for him, using his depression, Lillith leaving him, his Father turning His back on him, his strained relationship with Charlie-- anything and everything he can think of that would make you feel bad to leave him alone.

It works every time, even though 9 times out of 10 you weren't even thinking about you two's relationship at the time he pulled you aside.

[honeyjars-sims]

Part 2 1.03 The Other Paul

10 Years Ago

When we arrived at Roy G. Biv's, we met up with Paul and Danica's friends, Wesley and Nasir.

Wesley was their friend from high school and they'd roomed with him at Foxbury. That's where he met Nasir, who he'd been dating since their freshman year. 

On the outside, they seemed to be sort of a mismatched couple–Wesley was baby-faced with ruddy cheeks while Nasir was scruffy and mysterious–but their bubbly personalities were a perfect match.

“So what do the two of you do for a living?” I asked after we got settled in a seating area away from the dance floor.

“Wesley writes food reviews for a popular website, and I teach yoga,” Nasir explained.

“That’s cool,” I replied. “Paul’s kinda gotten me into yoga. I’m enjoying it so far.”  

“Oh, did you, Paul?” Danica asked, in a tone I had trouble deciphering. Paul shot her a look but didn’t answer, confusing me more.

“Uh, yeah, Hopewell has classes sometimes and Paul asked me to join him a few times. My balance was pretty bad at first, but I’ve gotten a lot better.”

I wasn’t sure why Danica would have a problem with Paul doing yoga with me, but before I had time to think about it any further, Deshawn and Other Paul approached us.

“Hey everyone,” Deshawn greeted the group. “This is my boyfriend, Paul Novak.”

Other Paul waved to everyone. “It’s nice to meet you.” Everyone exchanged greetings and I realized no one had introduced me to the newcomers.

“Nice to meet you both,” I said. Deshawn looked me up and down.

“Likewise,” he replied coolly. “And you are?”

“Oh, I'm sorry,” Paul apologizes. “This is my roommate, Johnny.”

“Of course! It’s nice to meet you, Johnny. You and Paul knew each other before you became roommates, correct?”

“Yeah, I work with his sister.”

“At Rainy Day? How nice for you! Are you a producer as well?”

“Uh, not quite. Just a PA. But maybe one day!”

“From what Lucy’s told us about you, she’s really happy with your work,” Wesley interjected. “I bet you’ll be promoted in no time.”

“Thanks, that’s great to hear,” I told him.

On the inside, however, I was feeling very off about the whole outing. Deshawn seemed more interested in making me feel inferior than in introducing his new boyfriend to his friends, plus there was the whole weird exchange between Danica and Paul earlier.

Oh, and Paul forgetting to introduce me, and then calling me Johnny at that. He usually called me John, and I didn't like how it felt when he referred to me the same way that everyone else did. 

Just what was going on here?

The awkwardness faded a bit as the conversation carried on. When Deshawn pulled Other Paul in for a kiss, I saw the look on Paul’s face and started to piece things together a bit.

It seemed like he might have some feelings for Deshawn, but I still wasn’t sure how I fit into all of this. That realization would come much later.

Previous | Beginning of story | Beginning of chapter | Next

[e-spexially]

cowboy like me

pairing: billy the kid x lucy gray baird

summary: "sure would have been nice to meet you under different circumstances."

ib: these two edits by @lg.baird and @beatrixsfx on tiktok

note: this is purely self-indulgent, I saw these and felt SO angsty and inspired :(

The saloon was nicer than most that Billy had entered in the past. Smoke danced in the air and the room was dimly lit by the oil lamps placed on each table, giving the entire room a dreamy haze.

They even had live music. Not the kind where drunk men played the piano or gave some warbled rendition of an old folk tune, either. No, up on stage was a band. Two young women and two young men, playing instruments that appeared well cared for. The one singing looked to be the youngest of the bunch, blonde and fresh with her vocals.

It was a fast-paced melody and the already tipsy men and women of the saloon were on their feet in the small clearing between the tables that served as a dancefloor.

Billy walked up to the bar and bought himself a drink, trying to blend into the crowd. The music was a breath of fresh air from the constant drone of the outdoors he had been spending his time in lately. Being on the run was tiring and it was nice to finally sit in a real chair, surrounded by other people.

As he hunched over his drink, considering a game of poker, the song ended with a wave of applause, and the blonde girl spoke out to the crowd.

"Alright, y'all! For this next number, help me give a big, warm welcome to my cousin, Lucy Gray Baird!"

The blonde's energy was infectious and her request drew more applause from the crowd, even Billy. He supposed the group must have been well known, but he was out of the loop these days.

Then something unexpected happened. Onstage, walked one of the prettiest girls Billy had ever laid eyes on. Lucy Gray Baird was a dark-haired beauty, with a sweet smile and an air of confidence. His attention was hers without the girl even having to try. But then again, so was everyone else's. More applause rang out as she shot the crowd a smile, delicately cradling her shining, black guitar.

"Evenin', everyone!" She said to them in a melodic voice. "I hope y'all are enjoyin' the night so far. For this song, I'm gonna slow things down a bit and give everyone the chance to hold that special someone a little bit closer."

Billy felt the need to sit up straighter, to show that he was giving her performance the respect it deserved. And it truly did.

Everyone's born as clean as a whistle

As fresh as a daisy and not a bit crazy

Staying that way's a hard row for hoeing

As rough as a briar,

Like walking through fire

As Lucy Gray sang, he realized his father had been wrong before. The stars weren't a reflection of his own light, but hers. He'd spent countless hours staring at the night sky and he'd never met anyone that made him feel the way that view did. Not until tonight.

People were dancing, just as she had hoped. They held each other and swayed to the simple tune. She watched them proudly with a bright smile, as though her intention was merely to create the noise that seemed to move them, not be their sole focus. But he just couldn't help focusing on her, he couldn't look away. Her dark eyes scanned the crowd and Billy felt his heart skip a beat.

This world, it's dark

This world, it's scary

I've taken some hits, so no wonder I'm wary

It's why I need you

You're as pure as the driven snow

That's when they locked gazes with each other and the haze of the room matched the one he was feeling. Lucy Gray smiled a little wider when this happened and something inside him wondered if she knew what he was feeling. Did she? Or, better yet, did she feel it too?

The song continued and then ended, too quickly. She sang two more, their eyes meeting again and again. His drink was gone, the poker game long forgotten as well. Once her set reached its close, she immersed herself in the crowd with another young woman, the others onstage keeping the atmosphere going. Billy watched Lucy Gray being praised by many for her songs and smiled to himself.

She really deserved it. His leg bounced anxiously and the air felt electric, like something was fixing to happen. He knew what Jesse would say if he was here.

"Better make your move now, kid. 'Fore someone beats you to it."

Billy inhaled sharply, trying to give himself a boost of confidence. He suddenly felt thankful that he decided to wash before leaving the rooming house that night. Giving the bar a quick tap, he rose to his feet and made his way through the crowd to her.

She was in the middle of speaking to the women about her dress when he walked up, excusing himself and hoping she didn't find him rude for interrupting.

"Good evening." He held his hat against his chest. Lucy Gray stared up at him with a curious glimmer in her eye, catching sight of the pistol around his waist momentarily. "I'm sorry to interrupt, but I was hoping I could buy you a drink?"

She looked pleasantly sheepish. Exchanging a quick word with the other women, she nodded.

"I don't see why not."

He breathed a sigh of relief and gestured for her to go first, setting his hat back atop his head. He didn't have much money left, but spending it on her felt like the right choice.

Purchasing two whiskeys, he handed her one and watched as she perched on the stool.

"I'm sorry, I didn't get your name," she spoke, taking a sip.

"Right," said the man, wiping his hand on his pants before extending it, as if he were afraid to get her dirty. "I'm Billy."

Lucy Gray smiled and shook his hand. It sent a jolt right through him and he averted his eyes for a moment. She stared at him thoughtfully, resting the whiskey glass against her shoulder.

"Are you enjoyin' the show, Billy?"

"Oh yeah," he replied, hoping he didn't sound too eager. "I liked that first song of yours, the one about the snow."

She looked pleased by this and he could tell she liked speaking about her music.

"Really? I'm glad to hear it!" Sipping her whiskey, she had an excited, almost nostalgic look in her eye. "I wrote that one a few months back when we were still up north. It snowed all the time up there and it just got me to feelin' inspired."

Billy leaned against the bar, taking in the smokiness of her voice. He could listen to her talk forever.

"Up north? You travel a lot?"

Lucy Gray nodded.

"Us Covey travel wherever the fancy takes us," she said. "We spent a good while doin' shows to keep ourselves fed and moved around until we needed more money. Then this fella named Jones picked us up somewhere in Sacramento and said he'd help us get our very own tour through the lower United States."

Moving from state to state by choice was a luxury he couldn't fathom. Ever since he was a boy, moving had been about survival. Billy thought he'd like to live a life like Lucy Gray's, to see the world of his own accord and not because he was running from something. He finished off his whiskey.

"That sounds nice, just bein' free," he mused, mainly to himself. This earned a head tilt from her and her mouth turned up in a small smile.

"I figured cowboys were as free as they come." That made him laugh and he set the glass down.

"I'm no cowboy."

"Well, you sure look the part," joked Lucy Gray. She looked around the saloon at the crowd and then her eyes found the dancefloor. "Hey, how 'bout a dance?"

Billy looked over his shoulder at the patrons slow dancing, feeling a bit more bold on account of the drinks he'd had. He glanced back at her and held out his hand.

"I don't see why not."

She drank the last of her whiskey before letting him lead her out onto the floor. He pulled her a bit closer, his hand finding her waist and hers his shoulder. Something about her demanded to be seen, to be admired. He might not have been the smartest when it came to women, but he knew from the start that she had all the control. What's more, he wasn't even sure it was intentional, but he knew he liked it.

As they danced, she studied his face a bit more.

"You're that outlaw, aren't you?" Billy felt his face flush and looked around for a moment before she laughed. "Don't worry, I wouldn't say anythin'. Not before I heard your story, anyways."

"My story?"

"Sure, everyone's got one." He pondered this for a moment, giving her a shrug.

"S'not exactly the kind people like to hear," he admitted. "It's got lots of sad bits."

"Well, those kinds of stories make the best songs." Lucy Gray looked up at him through her eyelashes. He wondered what his life would sound like through her pen, if she'd be able to take something dark like that and make it beautiful.

Maybe he'd tell her another time. He hoped there would be another time.

"I'll tell it to you someday." It felt like a promise, mainly to himself, that he'd see her again.

"I hope you will." She seemed content to let it rest at that for now. "Those posters don't do you justice, y'know? You're much more handsome up close."

A soft blush appeared on his face and he laughed it off.

"I'm sorry you had to see those, they're not exactly a likeness."

"You're right," she said gently. "I expected someone much scarier, the way people talk about you."

Billy's heart sank a bit at that. He hoped she hadn't heard anything too bad and if it was the truth being passed around, he only hoped she wouldn't judge him for it.

"I hope you'll give me a chance to prove that m'not so scary."

"Don't worry, gorgeous, I don't scare easily." He chuckled and she leaned in a bit. "This is the part where you spin me."

"Yes ma'am," the man drawled, obliging by holding onto her fingertips and twirling her around. Lucy Gray moved gracefully and she gave off the scent of fresh linen with a hint of wildflowers. He imagined her traveling through a field of them somewhere, carrying her guitar in one hand and a suitcase of all her belongings in the other.

What did she take with her? Were there pictures, family heirlooms she held dear enough to carry on her travels? Billy thought back to his mother's gold ring that rested in his pack back in the room he was renting. Did Lucy Gray have anything that precious to her?

She giggled as she spun back into him, bringing that field of flowers right with her. He maneuvered her around into a smooth circle around him before wrapping an arm around her torso.

"You're not bad on the dancefloor for an outlaw!" She said.

"All that time on the run, you get good on your feet," he joked. He savored the laughter that left her chest. It felt genuine and warm, just like her.

The song ended and she went to hold his hands in her own, smiling up at him as the crowd began thinning, the blonde on stage announced that the band would be heading out for the night.

"Thank you for this, Billy," beamed Lucy Gray. "It's just been wonderful."

He nodded earnestly, hoping he had made an impression.

"No, thank you. I can't remember the last time I had a drink and a dance with a nice girl, especially one as pretty as you." Her eyes sparkled at that, almost like she didn't want it to end. He knew he didn't. "Could I walk you out?"

She agreed and they returned to the stage to retrieve Lucy Gray's guitar, along with the bottles of whiskey given by the owner for their work. Then they headed out behind the saloon with the rest of the band, the others buzzing in excitement about the energy of the audience.

"These Texans sure do like their dancing. And their bars!"

"I'll say, you see that man spinnin' his wife around? I thought they were both liable to topple over the way he was drinking!

They were walking in the direction of a small cabin that resided some yards away from the building, a lamp left on the dirt by the front step. It looked cozier than the rooming house for sure.

Billy stopped just as the band piled into the cabin, leaving the door open for Lucy Gray. He could hear the chatter continue from inside.

"Will I see you again? I'd sure like to hear another one of your songs."

"You might see me around. If you're on the run like you say you are, we'll cross paths again."

He hoped so. God, did he hope so.

"You have a lovely voice, my mother would have liked to hear you sing." Lucy Gray sensed the twinge of sadness in the tone and pressed her lips into a thin line.

"They're never far, the ones we love." She studied him for a moment before plucking the striped feather from her dark curls and holding it out to him. "Here, take this. Add some life into that hat of yours."

He huffed in amusement at the feather but took it and tucked it into the band of his old hat.

"How do I look?"

"Like a cowboy." Lucy Gray nodded approvingly. "I hope you could return it to me someday soon?"

"Oh, you bet."

"Good," she said. "You still owe me that story, William H. Bonney."

McCarty, Billy wanted to tell her. His name was McCarty.

"And then you still owe me a song," he replied lightly, deciding against it. Lucy Gray nodded, looking wistful.

"You got yourself a deal." She held her hand out to him and they stayed there for a moment, hands joined. Could he say goodbye? Did he even have a choice? Lucy Gray was free and he wasn't. Sure, he could have joined her on her travels, but no good came with moving alongside an outlaw.

No, none of that. For tonight, he'd let her go and pray that fate would bring them together again.

"Good night, Lucy Gray." He spoke first. She smiled up at him and gave his hand a single shake.

"Good night, Billy."

After that, he watched her walk into the cabin and shut the door, but not before giving him a final wink. Once she was out of sight, he let out a deep sigh. It felt like he'd just woken up from a dream, the good kind that you hope you have again.

Feeling his boldness leaving him and the night's activities taking their toll, he turned on his heel and started for the rooming house, humming Lucy Gray's song all the while.

[meazalykov]

redirection VI

esmee brugts x reader

last chapter: redirection V

next chapter: redirection VII

after the day at the beach, we had the day off from any football related activity. i woke up late at 9am, took my kittens to the vet, went grocery shopping, jogged for a while in the nice weather, then watched a few of my favorite shows that i wasn’t able to keep up with due to my schedule.

the next day before practice– i woke up late. everyone was already on the pitch, waiting for jona to arrive, as I walked outside of the hallway doors. 

as I stepped onto the field, i smiled at some of the girls who waved at me to come over to them. it was good to be back at practice with my team after a day off. breaks are needed though, which is why i feel better this morning. 

“welcome, y/n! welcome! sit down.” lucy pats a spot on the grass next to her. i smiled as i moved to sit next to her, with mapi on my right. my eyebrows showed the confusion i tried to hide on my face, why is lucy so excited for me to sit? 

“soooooo— how was your date!!!?” mapi smiled as she wrapped her tatted arms around my shoulders. my jaw dropped as i displayed a look of shock. 

ever since esmee and i had gone to the beach together, i figured that most of the girls wouldn’t know about it. oh boy– i was wrong. 

“salma!” i say as the spanish girl hides her face behind vicky’s back. she was the only one i told about the beach day with esmee. 

ingrid, mapi, bruna, salma, vicky, ona, and lucy wasted no time in playfully ribbing me about my "date" with esmee, and i couldn't help but blush.

“it wasn’t a date, we both just wanted to go to the beach!” i put my hands up in defense after ona made a suspicious joke. 

“mentirosa!” (liar) salma laughs. 

"salma, seriously?" I muttered under my breath, wondering how she managed to spread the news so quickly.

“cheer up and don’t worry y/n, you aren’t the only ones whos getting teased about it!” vicky smirks as she points over to a group twenty feet away. i saw esmee cover her face in her hands as aitana, jana, lucia, aria, keira, frido, and cata laugh about something. 

“we find it very cute. you both look more radiant today.” ingrid pats her hands on my leg as i smile at her compliment. she was right. ever since that moment between esmee and i in my car– i couldn’t help but feel optimistic about a potential future with her. 

“as you do everyday.” i say back in ingrid.

“true!” mapi agrees with me. 

“this is what– the twentieth couple at barcelona?” vicky jokes. 

“says you! we all know about that crush you have on your classmate from the academy!” salma nudges vicky, who blushes at the thought of her crush. 

“aweee” i say, crossing my legs and observing vicky’s actions. 

“aweee you! we aren’t forgetting about you and esmee. what did you guys do?” vicky asks. i look up at the blue sky for a second before spilling– some– of the details. 

“we went to the beach for a couple of hours. we tanned then went to eat. before that she came to my apartment and met my new kittens and–” 

“SHE WENT TO YOUR APARTMENT?” ona says as she stands up in shock, ignoring everything else i said. 

lucy laughs and tells her to sit back down as i put my head in my hands. 

“not like that you dirty mind! i needed to grab my beach stuff since we went to the beach after the recovery training!!” i defended myself. 

mapi laughs and squeezes my shoulders, since her arms were still around me this entire time. 

“you got new kittens? we wanna meet them!” mapi says— nodding her head at ingrid too– i can tell that this is her attempt at relieving some of the teasing that i am receiving. 

“you guys can come over anytime as long as i am home! i adopted two kittens.” 

“you should name one culer and the other barca” bruna speaks up. 

“i already named them berry and macadamia, after some of my favorite treats!” 

“aweee” 

i smiled at bruna before i seen aitana walk up to our group. 

“come on, coach is here!” she says. she looks around the group before seeing me, smirking immediately as she patted on my back to walk with her to the middle of the pitch. 

during practice, i found myself gravitating towards esmee– even though we didn’t speak on the pitch this morning. we texted each other our usual goodmorning texts which made me content. 

when we needed partners for our next drills, esmee jogged up to me and held my arm gently– signaling that i am her partner. 

we decided to pair up for drills, and as we worked together, i couldn't stop smiling. being close to her and the rest of the team gave me the joy that i haven’t felt in a long time beforehand. 

the barcelona media team happened to capture a moment where esmee & i were hugging after winning a small 2v2 scrimmage against caroline and lucy. the picture showed genuine happiness on both our faces. her arms wrapped around my waist as my head was leaning on hers. 

they posted it to instagram– but i wouldn’t see it until later. 

hours later, I finished preparing the wet kitten food for my kittens. berry tried to climb on my leg, while maca waited patiently, before I put their food bowls down and they ran to devour their food.

the same second I placed the bowls down, I heard my phone ring on the kitchen counter.

"(sister)"

my phone displayed my sister's name and contact picture. I clicked the green button immediately since she hasn't called me in a while.

"hello?" I say.

"heyyy y/n, how are you?" my sister asks, I walk over to sit on my living room couch as I wanted to focus on the conversation with my sister.

"I'm doing good, how about you!?"

"I'm good! I just wanted to call because I miss you!" my sister says. I can hear the sad undertone in her voice as I looked over at my kittens, who are still eating their dinner.

"I miss you too! you know you can come here whenever you want, I have an extra room here."

'I know, but spain is so far away from texas." my sister says.

my sister currently goes to college in texas, where she plays basketball. she's a d1 player who hopes to get into the wnba draft soon.

"that's true, and I'm positive you can't take time out of your schedule to see me." I frown.

"I'm sorry."

"don't apologize, we know how our careers work." I say.

I hear my sister sigh, and a few seconds go by before she changed the topic.

"I see that you're doing great in barcelona though, I am happy for you my goat!"

"hahah shut up!"

"no seriously, two goals so far in your first game with one of the best clubs in the world? you're crazy!" my sister rants.

sometimes I can't believe it too. months ago I was sobbing over not feeling good enough, and now I have the opportunities to prove myself wrong.

"I just wanted to impress my coach and the team."

"and you did that well--- on instagram it looks like you're fitting right in with them." my sister says.

my eyebrows knit together in confusion, I've just posted myself with the team a few times. not enough for my sister to say something like that without a detailed meaning.

"what do you mean?"

"I started to follow the femeni page a week ago, and they posted a picture of you and a girl earlier. esmee I think her name is? you looked so happy and I'm glad you're making friends." my sister says.

my heart flutters at her statement. I haven't checked instagram all evening so I'm not sure what "photo" she is talking about.

"yeah-- you're right--her name is esmee." my voice spoke softly, a shift from the excited tone earlier.

"y/n?" my sister says.

"yes?" I respond.

"what's wrong?" my sister noticed the shift in my voice.

"nothing!" I say as i look outside the windows to my balcony, making a mental note to water my plants after the phone call.

"is esmee your friend?" my sister asks.

"yes, of course!" I say.

"I feel like you're lying."

"because I am.." I confess.

"huh?"

"esmee is a girl I've-- I've um.." I swallow, not knowing how to describe esmee to my sister.

"ESMEE IS YOUR GIRLFRIEND???" my sister yells excitedly.

"oh no no no! but what if I wanted her to be?" I ask.

my sister currently has been in a relationship with her girlfriend for about five years, so I trust her with relationship advice.

"then she is your crush." my sister says.

we are on a regular call, but I can tell she's smirking.

not long after that, my sister had to end the call because her basketball coach called her. my heart beat in my chest as she is the first person I've fully confessed my crush on esmee to.

she teased me for the first few minutes but stopped when she heard the discomfort in my voice. luckily, she has hope for me.

surprisingly, I have hope for myself too.

(imagine you're ingrid engen below. imagine that this is a picture from the training session mentioned above, and not from a game, lol)

fcbfemeni

liked by y/n.l/n, esmeebrugts, and 48,518 others

fcbfemeni What a duo 🔥

comments

fcbfann89 I love to see the newbies get along

wosonews oh! 👀

y/nbiggestfan this linkup on the pitch, training or not, should be illegal

random5738 🙌🙌

~view all 3,916 comments~

next chapter: redirection VII

<3

[thekatebridgerton]

More humorous takes about the Bridgerton brothers that make me laugh is that I cannot stress enough, how much I love their 'unhinged for wife' energy. Because it's just so funny

Anthony, like, you can see it, he's not even trying to hide it, he can and will be a meanie to his nemesis Kate who he also happens to love more than life itself, and to everyone if they don't fall in line. that's his whole mojo. People meet him and know at first glance that Anthony Bridgerton will not hesitate to use a gun if the occasion calls for it, because he outright intimidates people into submission. So good luck trying to mess with him or with his wife. He will end you. Have you seen him play against his wife in Pall Mall. He loves her, but he will not lose to this woman! She will one day respect him!. He's the boss of the house dammit (he's not, it's Kate, but she lets him think he is)

Colin is my favorite. because he looks nice and he looks friendly, and he would totally sink to the deepest of the low to have Penelope the moment he kissed her. This man is absolutely as unhinged as Anthony possibly more so, and he hides it so well, that everyone thinks he's the most charming brother. In fact the only person who knows how crazy Colin really is, has to be Penelope. Colin can talk his way out of anything (even a murder sentence. Do you ever wonder why nobody has ever sued Penelope for defamation? Because I sure don't), he's a people person. It's maddening, I want to convince people that Colin is the worst of the worst, and people are still like 'but he looks like such a harmless guy, just look at him eat that eclair' yeah! I know! that's how he got to Penelope! he was all cute, pretending to be nice and by the time she discovered he was the devil in disguise, he already had blackmail material on her!!. Men like Colin scare me, because I know he's bats*t but I just can't prove it.

Benedict and Gregory are just the same version of unhinged, just in a different font. Because they actually believed themselves to be the sane ones and then they met their true loves and you see that sanity? it went out the window.

Benedict used to think he was such a gentleman, who respected ladies and would never dishonor one, and guess what kind of obsessive idiot he turned into the moment Sophie said 'no' to his seduction tactics, be my mistress this, be my mistress that, Sophie ( and I) just knows Benedict's thought process alone should be landing him in jail instead of her, but he gets away with it, because apparently annoying her to death doesn't actually count as a crime. And the thing is, that she's the only one who triggers the crazy in Benedict, he's perfectly sane with everyone else, but it's her and only her who has him going all naked swimming in the lake, and obsessive paintings of her face plastered on all his sketchbooks (and his home, actually I'm pretty sure Benedict has a secret Lady in Silver shrine somewhere in My Cottage, that he took down before Sophie could find out about it) , not to mention his whole 'F society if I can't f Sophie' love at first sight excuse that somehow everyone swallows without questioning how crazy Benedict actually is.

And then he had to go teach that to Gregory! And Gregory was such a sweetheart, I actually thought he was going to make it to half of his book without going unhinged and then Lucy tells him the name of her fiancee and he goes ' wait, I know the guy, he's super gay, I can't let you marry him... ' my brother in the force what is your problem! Leave the girl alone. She's your friend, stop stalking her, she's got her own problems to deal with!! Lucy did nothing to deserve how Gregory randomly went from nice guy she was super supportive of in the courtship of her best friend, to kinda obsessive dude who won't leave her alone and wants to ruin her arranged marriage (let's ignore that said arranged marriage needed to be ruined and it might as well be by him). Guy was a green flag for Hermione but the moment he began fixating on Lucy, homegirl kinda saw the light and was like ' he's crazy, yup, totally mad.. about me sure, but this guy... He's never been told no in his life and it shows, it shows for miles'

And I just laugh so hard because people look at Anthony's fed up face and somehow think that he's the worst to fear in in the Bridgerton family. But nobody knows just how crazy his brothers are, except their wives. At this point Anthony's resting B face has to be some sort of defense mechanism because he had to grow up with Benedict and Colin while trying to raise Gregory. He may look intimidating but he's actually a reasonable man if you think about it. But his brothers, those three are just hiding their unhinged for wife energy a lot better. And you just don't want to know what kinda chaotic crazy thing they're capable of doing if they think it would impress Penelope, Sophie and Lucy

And that's the tea.

[bloodyknucklesforme]

One For The Road | Price x Reader

I posted this almost 2 years ago but while working on my masterpost I couldn't find it so enjoy a repost.

Fresh out of a breakup she meets a handsome friend of a friend at a party and decides to let him take her home

Tags: spit kink, oral sex, Price taking reader home, 3rd person reader

“You meet anyone yet?” Lucy asked, sliding up next to her as she made her second drink of the night. It was Lucy and her boyfriend Adam’s party. Average university affair. There were a couple new faces though. 

“No, and I don’t plan on it.” She sighed, popping a cherry in her mouth before dropping another into her drink

“Oh come on. He invited his friend Kyle from secondary and he brought two friends. They’re all hot, even the old one.” Lucy nudged her elbow till she looked over at the four men. She’d met Kyle before, very briefly right when Lucy had started dating Adam. He was still cute. There was a man next to him, also hot but the Mohawk ruined it. Then there was ‘the old one’.

He wasn’t old, just older than everyone else. He was late 30s or early 40s at most. Handsome with a thick beard. A navy blue sweater showed off his arms nicely. He was tall but not in a break-your-neck way. He had a glass with some amber liquor in it. He noticed her staring and gave a sly smile, raising his glass to her. 

She looked away quickly, blushing. 

“Oh, you dirty girl,” Lucy laughed, watching the whole interaction. “You always were weak in the knees for an older guy.”

“Oh shut it. He’s handsome.”

“He’s military. They all are.”

“Is that so?” 

“Yeah. Kyle is SAS.”

“Seriously?”

“Yes, seriously.” Kyle laughed as both girls jumped. He stepped in between them to grab more dip for his plate. “Noticed the two of you staring.”

“You’re all so handsome, how could we not?” Lucy was always smoother than her. “Who’s the one with the beard?”

“Lucy!” She hit her friend in the arm. She wasn’t looking for a hookup that night that’s what she always told herself. Lucy was a persistent one. ‘You just need to get laid once and you’ll be back to the normal you.’

“That’s John Price,” Kyle snaked an arm around her waist and whispered in her ear. “He sent me over here to fetch the two of you.”

“You’re fucking around.” She said, unamused. 

“Swear I’m not. Come on.” He wrapped his other arm around Lucy’s shoulder and escorted the two women over to the rest of the group. Introductions went around. Mohawk was Scottish and also named John. 

“Must be confusing.”

“Not really. I’m his superior so I’m the only one giving orders.” His eyes lingered over the edge of her skirt before moving up to her face. 

“I’m also cuter than ‘em.” The Scot interjected. Everyone chuckled. Adam had his arm around Lucy, leaving her to the greedy eyes of the three men. Kyle kept hip bumping her closer to the Captain. Scottish John kept trying to flirt but she wasn’t interested. Not her type, exactly.

Older John kept whispering quick comments and jokes in her ear.  The conversation slowly died as Scottish John left to go flirt with a more interested participant. Kyle, Adam, and Lucy eventually broke away as well. Leaving just the two of them. 

“What’re you drinking?” He asked, having to tilt his head down to reach her ear. She could smell a mix of tobacco and the ashes of a bonfire. He smelled like a good time. 

“Vodka sour without the foam.”

“So Vodka with lemon juice?” He teased.

“There’s bitters and a cherry.” She held up her glass so he could see. He shook his head.

“Try this.” He held up his glass to her. She took it and smelled it.

“This is just scotch.”

“You don’t need anything else.” He took her drink from her. “Try it. It’s the good stuff.”

She did. A quick sip. It filled her throat like smoke and went down with a sweet burn. She was a mixed-drink person. 

“Tastes like scotch.” She handed him his drink back and reclaimed hers. 

“Would hope so.” He was close to her now, his hand just lightly brushing against her thigh, just beneath her skirt hem. Flirting was fine. She could flirt. She was at a party, it was expected. She took another sip from her drink and pulled the cherry out. He stared at her mouth as she popped it in her mouth. Maybe it was the liquor and the dim lights and bonfire smell. She tied the stem in a knot and slowly opened her mouth to show him. 

It wasn’t a growl, it was a rumbling that started deep in his chest. It was what she wanted to hear. A confirmation that he wanted her. 

“Neat trick.” His lips brushed against her ear. “What else can that mouth do?” 

She placed a hand on the back of his neck, leaning up to whisper back to him. 

“Smoke.” She smirked, letting go of him. She moved away quickly. She could feel his eyes burning into the back of her head. She had to head down and out, grabbing her jacket on the way. 

Cigarettes in the left pocket, lighter in the right pocket. Wait… no lighter in the right pocket. Fuck, she’d given it to Lucy earlier to light candles. She sighed, cigarette already in her mouth. 

“Need a light?” He was standing by the door to the building, lighter in hand. It wasn’t the cheap petrol station kind but a nice metal one. The kind you keep, a borderline heirloom. 

“Just this once.” He chuckled and met her on the sidewalk. He cupped a hand near her face as he lit it for her. She offered him a cigarette from her pack and he shook his head.

“You don’t smoke?”

“Cigars, only.” He’d put on a coat of his own, an older Barbour waxed jacket. It was a dark greyish blue, not zipped. 

“Oh, you are old,” She laughed.

“Don’t get cheeky,” He warned. He already thought he was in charge, she’d have to knock him down a bit.

“You going to do something if I do?”

“You’ll see when I take you home.” Forward. Maybe a bit too much.

“You’re taking me home?” She raised an eyebrow, blowing smoke up at him. 

“We can go to yours if you prefer or my car is just around the corner.” 

“Don’t think my roommates would appreciate it.”

“And I can’t get a ticket for public nudity. So my place it is.” He smiled, satisfied with himself.

“You’re very confident about this.” She was going to make him fight for it. 

“Have to be, love.” His hand was resting on her hip, his thumb moving back and forth. “Have to be able to read people.”

“And you’re reading that I want to sleep with you?” 

“Do you not?”

“Didn’t say that. I just wasn’t planning on going home with someone tonight.”

“Plans can change.” His other hand mirrored the first and he pulled her in close. “I can promise you won’t be disappointed.” 

Maybe he’d earned it. He wasn’t creepy or overbearing. Very charming and if it was weird she’d never have to see him again. She was only at the party for Lucy and Lucy had only invited her to get her laid. Three months without getting laid seemed much longer now that his hands were on her hips. 

“Well, if you promise,” she tried to act like she was still weighing her options. 

“I do promise.” His teeth grazed her earlobe, just below her earring. “You weren’t having fun in there anyway. I saw you before you saw me.”

A shiver ran up her spine. He’d been watching her. She didn’t even notice, too busy hiding in the kitchen. 

“I need to grab my things,” She let out one last drag and slipped away from him. “I’ll be right back.” 

She stamped out her cigarette and took the butt inside. Scottish John was in the stairwell, mouth attached to one of Lucy’s other friends. They were both too preoccupied to notice her as she continued up the stairs. 

“I was just looking for you,” Lucy said, pulling her aside. “You missed your chance. I think John left. The older one.”

The door opened again and he walked back in. Lucy looked at her and back to him and then back at her, a huge grin forming on her face.

“Oh, you slag.” She giggled. “You going home with him?”

“I am if you let go of my arm.” She pulled away from her friend’s grasp.

“Text me tomorrow, okay? Let me know how he is.” Lucy was grinning like the devil, having completed her mission. She rolled her eyes and walked away.

“I just need to get my purse,” She said to him quickly.

“I’m just getting a drink for the road.” She raised her eyebrow at him. 

“Think you’d know better than that.”

“It’s not for me, love.” He quickly drew his finger down her jaw and over her lips. He was getting lustful, she could see in the dark of his eyes. He definitely wouldn’t disappoint.

She met him again by the door. He wordlessly opened it and led her outside the flat. As soon as the door clicked, he pressed her against the wall. He held one hand on the back of her neck, tilting her head backward. With his other, he pressed his thumb against her lower lip opening her mouth. He leaned in quickly and spit a shot’s worth of scotch into her mouth. His hand covered her mouth, holding her tight between his palms.

“Swallow, cheeky girl.” He smirked as she did. He removed his hands and gave her a quick kiss before taking her hand and leading her down the stairs.

The lovebirds were still there, hands were under shirts now. They would be naked soon if they didn’t stop. 

“Be a gentleman, MacTavish.” John warned as they passed. The couple broke. Red lipstick was smeared against the scot’s face. He raised an eyebrow at her, a silent ‘you too?’.

“Yes, Sir.” He said before turning back to whisper to his one-night lover. 

He was wordless and determined as he led her to his car. It was just around the corner and he opened the door for her. Black interior with matching leather seats. It still smelled new. 

His hand was on her thigh as he pulled out onto the street. It moved up and down her bare skin, just skimming the edge of her skirt. She inched forward in the seat so his fingers went just under the fabric.

He was chuckling under his breath. He went in for the kill. His fingers dived in between her thighs to rub against her panties. The scotch in the mouth had made her wet and he was about to find out how much.

He hummed in approval as he pressed against the fabric, teasing her entrance. 

“I’m going to fucking ruin you tonight.”

“So confident,” She was trying not to moan. She didn’t want to inflate his ego too early.

“When was your last time?”

“Nosy, aren’t you?”

“Just curious as to what I’m up against.” His thumb brushed over her clit and she sighed. 

“Three months..ish.”

“Ish?” He started to rub a circle around her clit, barely touching it. She ground herself against his knuckles and he tutted, giving a small slap against her. She yelped. “What’s ish?”

“It was before we broke up but I don’t remember exactly when.” Her voice got higher as he pressed a finger against her entrance. 

“Don’t worry, I’ll still give you my best.” She looked over and saw his growing hard on through his pants. She reached for him and was met with a quick slap to the wrist.

“I’m driving, love. Be a shame if you died in a strange man’s car.” He was teasing again. A gentle reminder that despite the later night’s activities they were just two people who’d only met a couple hours prior. 

His hand moved back to her thigh, pinching at the skin and slapping gently anytime she made too much noise. The ride was quick thankfully. 

He opened the door for her again, wrapping an arm around her waist as he took her inside. His hand drifted to her ass, grabbing a handful as the lift took them upstairs. 

“Sit on the couch,” He ordered as he shut the flat door behind them. He took her coat and purse and went to hang them in the closet. She did as she was told. He disappeared. She started rubbing her thighs together, grinding against the couch. He did a good job winding her up. 

The smell of cigar smoke came over her back in a wave. A firm calloused hand rested against her neck. 

“You’re gorgeous.” She could see his reflection in the tv, cigar in one hand. “Do you have any hard limits?”

“You’re going to be that rough already?” She didn’t mind a certain amount of roughness but as he reminded her earlier, they didn’t know each other.

“I can be gentle if you’d like. You just struck me as someone who likes more.” His hand moved up to cup her cheek. He took a drag from his cigar, the smoke drifted down around her like a halo. 

“I like a good in-between, at least at first.”

“At first? Do you already want to see me again?”

“Let’s see if you disappoint me or not,” She said.  He chuckled, coming around the couch.

“Hold this for me, love.” He handed her the cigar and got on his knees in front of her. His hands went up her skirt to grip the edge of her panties. “Did these cost much?”

“Not really.”

“I’ll buy you new ones.” He ripped them in half in a quick motion. She gasped, almost dropping the cigar. 

“If you drop that, I’ll have to punish you.” He slapped her thigh and got a moan in response. “Maybe you’d like that though.”

He pushed her thighs apart and hiked her skirt up to her stomach. She was bare in front of him, exposed on his couch. 

He looked up at her and smirked before moving in. His beard rubbed against her thighs, and his teeth nipped and tugged as he made his way to her center. His hands slide under her ass and pulled her further down the couch. She held onto the cigar desperately. 

“You ever smoke one?” He breathed against her

“No,” she whined. 

“Don’t inhale, just keep it in your mouth. If you do it right and don’t waste, I’ll reward ya.” He rested his head against her thigh, looking up at her. She took a deep breath and held the cigar to her lips. She held the smoke in her mouth, letting the aroma around her, filling her with the same heat that he was breathing against her core. 

“Good girl,” He praised, as she puffed out the smoke. She was rewarded with his tongue gliding up her center, ending just below her clit. A soft moan escaped her lips from around the cigar. He reached up and took it from her. He took a puff and blew the smoke back up at her before setting it down on an ashtray on the coffee table. 

He wrapped an arm around her waist and laid a leg over his shoulder. He was an expert. His tongue explored every crevice and fold. He let her writhe against him. He pushed a finger inside of her, wasting no time before slowly fucking her with it. His beard tickled her thighs and he held her tighter any time she tried to move away from his mouth. He sucked on her clit as he added a second finger. Her hands gripped his hair, nails grazing his scalp. 

He used the hand around her waist to pull her almost entirely off the couch. He was relentless. His fingers curled till he found her sweet spot and his tongue circled her clit till her thighs shook. 

“Jh...John... I’m gonna.” She moaned. He pulled his head back and gave her a firm slap against her clit. She whimpered, looking at him with begging eyes. He was going to make this difficult, repayment for her earlier antics. 

“You’re not doing anything until I say you can, love.” He picked her up as he stood, wrapping her legs around his waist. He refused a kiss as he carried her to the bedroom. His beard was wet, lips shiny.  

He sat on the edge of the bed, letting her legs hang loose to straddle his lap. He pulled her shirt up and over her head. He buried his face in her chest, nipping hard at her skin. She whined, pushing away as he left hickeys over her breasts. He unclipped her bra in a swift motion and looped a finger around the center band pulling it down until it slipped completely from her shoulders.

He gave her a quick approving look before taking one into his mouth, his tongue swirling around her nipple. She hated how wet his look made her. She didn’t need approval of her body. She could have taken anyone from that party. She chose him, he should be thankful. He should be on his knees for her. 

Yet her back arched into his touch, begging for him to finish as he started. She could feel his cock through his pants, pressed against her bare cunt. He would grip her hip as a warning anytime she ground against him. She had no need for approval but god she wanted his. She wanted to hear him call her a good girl again. Wanted him to tell her how good she felt, she wanted to win. Win him over. Fuck him so good that he was the one trying to find her Instagram or hounding Gaz for her number. ‘I want to see you again’ she wanted to hear those words.

She placed her hands on his shoulders and pushed him back onto the bed. She licked his lips before he could stop her. Grinding against his cock. He groaned deep in his throat. His fingers dug into her hips, more markings for the next morning. He slapped her ass, firm and stinging. She yelped into his mouth. 

He flipped them. Pinning her underneath him, keeping her legs between his knees. He started taking off his sweater, throwing it aside with her bra. She ran a hand up his chest. He was built like a grizzly bear. Strong muscle under a layer of hair and fat. 

“Do you think you’re ready for me, girlie?” He pressed his hips against hers. He was big, even trapped under layers of fabric. His words sucked the air from her lungs and filled them with smoke. Intoxicating, lustful. She wanted him. She wanted him inside of her. She was still in knots from his edging. 

“Fuck me, John.” She was going to win. She wasn’t going to beg. She was going to order. 

He kissed her quickly, tugging at her bottom lip with his teeth.

“Remember what I said earlier?”

“Don’t get cheeky?” She asked, tilting her head. He chuckled and slapped her ass before pressing his lips against her ear.

“I’m going to fucking ruin you.” He growled. The sound of his belt coming undone made her squirm. He pulled in a swift movement and for a brief moment, she thought about how it would feel around her wrists. It hit the floor with a thud. “Look at me, girlie.”

He sat up, towering over her. She watched his hands as he undid his zipper and button, pulling his trousers down to his thighs. She gulped seeing the outline of his cock through his pants. 

“I asked you if you were ready.” He took her wrist and placed her palm against him, using her to get himself off. He bucked into her hand. “Do you still want to be cheeky?”

He would deny her, deny them both if he meant he stayed in control. She could see in his eyes. He wanted to fuck her just as much as she wanted to fuck him but he could also walk out and fuck his fist instead. He would do it just to punish her. 

She hooked a finger on the edge of his pants and pulled it down, freeing his cock. He raised an eyebrow at her as she took in the size of him. He cupped her face and turned her head up to look at him.

“Last chance, love. Do you want to be cheeky or do you want to be a good girl?” 

He was winning. She wanted him, really wanted him. He was right in saying he wouldn’t disappoint her. Seeing him above her with a calloused hand on her cheek made her submissive. Precum was dripping from his tip and all she could think about was the taste. It wouldn’t be a humiliating defeat, it would be done with grace and the sound of skin slapping skin. 

She rubbed her thumb over the tip of his cock, wiping precum onto the pad. She looked up at him as she licked it off. She would be a good girl, just for tonight, just for him. 

He chuckled before climbing over her to grab a condom out of the bedside table’s drawer. She found herself clenching around nothing as she watched him put it on. He knew how to put on a show that’s for sure. 

His hands glided down her sides to her legs and hooked under her knees. He pressed her legs forward into her chest. He placed his full weight against her. 

“If this is too much, tell me.” He said, kissing her forehead. He rubbed the tip of his cock against her folds and teased her entrance. He looked at her, waiting for permission. 

She kissed him, wrapping a hand around his neck. 

He went slow as he pushed into her. He couldn’t help grinning as a guttural groan from her escaped into his mouth. He rocked slowly, allowing her to stretch around him.  Her nails ran up and down his neck. 

He was using her. Thrusting deep and hard, letting her jolt underneath him. It wasn’t uncaring though. He held her down, kept his eyes on her, grunting in response to her moans and cries. 

“You take me so well, cheeky girl.” It was mocking almost, ignoring the watery eyes caused by the sweet stretch of muscle that allowed him to bottom out inside her. “Glad you went home with me, eh? The old man fucking you right?”

Any words she wanted to say bubbled up as whimpers. Every breath pushed from her lungs every time the head of his cock brushed against the end of her. Her legs were shaking hard already, muscles twitching and straining. 

“Too much for ya, eh?” He say up and pulled his cock out. Her legs fell flat around him. He rubbed a knuckle over her burning cheek. “I’m gonna flip you over now.”

He held her hips and gently turned her over on her stomach. Strong hands rubbed down her back. She felt empty and pushed her hips back against him. He gave a firm slap to her ass and tskd her.

“You have no patience.” He grabbed a pillow and folded it over before sliding it underneath her hips, elevating them. 

His chest was pressed against her back, beard ticking her face. Her thighs were being spread, ropes of slick stringing them together. She was going to ruin the pillowcase.

He thrust into her, using his weight to pin her down. His teeth grazed her throat. The edge of the fitted sheet slipped from the corner with a snap. He had nice sheets, soft, recently cleaned. The fabric was hard to hold onto for long. 

Her eyes started fluttering as heat pooled in her cunt. She clenched around him, legs squirming helplessly.

“I want you to cum for me. I want to hear my name come out of your mouth when you do.” He nipped at her neck. “I know you can do it, cheeky girl.”

“Joh…John.” She let out a stuttered groan as she came. She could feel the pillow get wet underneath her. He fucked her hard through it. 

“I’m close.” He said, a wet kiss pressed against her hear. “Hold on just a bit longer.”

It felt like thunder when he tensed above her. She was afraid the condom would break with how hard he gripped her hips as he finished with hard deep thrusts. 

He rolled off of her and stroked her cheek.

“Did I disappoint?”

She shook her head. Her panting left a pool of drool by her mouth. He got up and disappeared from her view. Her cunt still throbbed, begging to be filled again. She could take him again, if she wanted. And god, she fucking wanted to. 

He came back with a warm washcloth and glass of water. He turned her onto her back and began cleaning her inner thighs. 

“You’re welcome to stay the night or I can drive you home.”

“I don’t think my legs work anymore.” She could still feel the weight of him against her, making her part of his mattress. He gave her thigh a light slap, she didn’t flinch. He chuckled as he looked over her. 

“I’ll take you home in the morning.” He got her a new pillow for under her head and tucked her in. He kissed her forehead. “Goodnight, cheeky girl.”

She fell asleep quickly. 

At some point she felt the mattress sink down next to her. She woke up alone though with the smell of coffee and cigars drifting in from the open bedroom door. 

[mischievouslittlecreature]

Part 26: Do You Love Me

Summary: As Lucy continues to pull further away, Tommy tries to bridge the growing schism between them.

Word Count: 6,398

Warnings: Angst, insecurity, suicidal thoughts, chronic pain, sexual harassment, and references to infidelity and sexual content.

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Chapter 11: Kiss Me Where I Break

Tommy was beginning to worry that he might have broken her.

She said next to nothing the entire train ride from Birmingham to London, all his attempts at initiating conversation met with one word answers or just quiet hums in acknowledgement while she stared out the window. Eventually, he just gave up and decided to leave her alone.  

The past few days had been utterly hellish. He kept forgetting that Lucy wasn’t at the house anymore. He’d be in the throes of work, and call out for her, only to realize a second later that no one was coming. She wasn’t a simple holler away anymore.

He missed her almost more than he could bear. He had gotten so used to her always being there. Right by his side. To help him, to talk to him. To just…be there when he needed her. It was like someone had amputated one of his limbs.

But being around her during the workday did little to soothe the ache of her absence. Both because of the guilt that chewed away at him at every glance into her sad eyes, but also because something had undeniably changed between them. There was a schism between them now, ever since he had told her about Lizzie’s deal. Lucy was more distant, more subdued. Like the bright spark that she always carried with her had been suddenly snuffed out. He missed her, even when she was standing right in front of him. 

He wanted his Lucy back. 

For a while, he had thought that perhaps she was immune to him and the darkness that he carried. And yet in the end he had sapped out her light; broken her like he did everyone else close to him. 

He rolled his unlit cigarette between his fingers as he strode down the hallways of Westminster. Frustration crackled beneath his skin. His meeting earlier that day with Aberama had gone well. Aberama had agreed to postpone his planned killing of McCavern. And he was planning to propose to Polly. But despite the recent string of accomplishments, Tommy felt no joy or relief. If anything, he felt even worse.    

He couldn’t help the prickle of jealousy he felt towards Polly and Aberama. How fucking lucky they were, to actually be marrying someone that they truly loved. 

He eyed the golden band on his left hand disdainfully. It felt more like a shackle than a wedding ring.

Pushing open the door to his office, he chanced a glance at where Lucy was sitting, bent over a few documents with her fists pressed to her temples, elbows on the desk in front of her. Her lips were tilted downwards. Next to her, the fresh bouquet of sunflowers he’d sent was perched on the edge of her desk. He opened his mouth, considering asking her if she wanted to go out to dinner, then closed it. Why bother? He already knew that she was going to say no. 

Still, worry festered at the edges of his already frayed mind, longing to fix what he had so stupidly broken. He needed her. Everything was ten times harder without her there to lighten the load. He hadn’t even fully realized just how much he’d come to rely on her emotional support until it had been ripped away.  

He didn’t know what to do to make any of this better. They had never had problems before. Sure, they’d had their squabbles and arguments from time to time, but they never lasted long. When it came to Lucy, this was entirely new territory for him.     

Wandering into his own office, he tossed the folder of papers he was holding down, reaching for the decanter usually filled with whiskey only to find it empty. Scowling, suddenly deeply irritable, he opened a drawer and snatched the large bottle inside, taking a slow swig. A soft sigh left his lips, eyes briefly slipping closed as the cool liquid slid down his throat.

With the meetings with McCavern, Chang, and Aberama, he had barely had time to stop to catch his breath.

Without even so much as a knock, the door to his office opened, and, of all people, Mosley came slithering in. Tommy quickly stashed the bottle back into the drawer and wiped at his mouth, turning to face him. Those dark eyes of Mosley’s narrowed, voice doing little more than to set Tommy’s teeth on edge as he discussed the invitation Tommy had extended to him to the ballet performance at Arrow House for Lizzie’s birthday. As the conversation continued, Tommy moved to sit in his chair behind his desk, suddenly eager to have some sort of barrier between them. 

Mosley eyed him up like an animal waiting to pounce when he started speaking of his past acquaintance with Lizzie. No doubt hoping for some sort of reaction from his words. Tommy kept his hands laced tightly in his lap, hoping that the other man didn’t see the way his fingers tightened against each other.  

“Well, if you recognize her, maybe you can talk about old times, eh?”

“Maybe, if we have met before, your wife and I could even renew our acquaintance. I am invited to stay the night, yes?”

It was becoming increasingly hard for him to remember why he continued to tolerate Mosley’s presence. With each passing moment the temptation was growing stronger to grab the gun in his drawer or use the blades in his cap to slice the man to pieces. Or to perhaps call Lucy in and have her deal with the fascist piece of shit. That could be fun.

Speaking of Lucy, perhaps now would be a good time to let Mosley know about the research he’d asked her to do on the MP.

“I too have done some research, Sir Oswald,” he allowed his eyes to narrow a fraction. “Yeah. I researched your wife. And your wife’s younger sister. And your wife’s stepmother, Lady Curzon. All of whom you are fucking. If such things were to take place on a narrowboat, the church would get involved.”

“But…” Mosley’s voice was but a whisper, “it’s not happening on a narrowboat.”

“No. It’s taking place in your apartment, in your country house, sometimes even in your office here in the House of Commons.” He clicked his tongue disapprovingly. “So no secrets. And yes. Yes, you are invited to stay the night with whichever member of your family finds favor. Now, if you don’t mind, I was about to leave. I need to lock up my office.”

Mosley looked at him for a long moment, smoking casually. “Funny,” he said finally, “how disapprovingly you speak of my liaisons. Considering that lovely redhead that you always keep so close to you. Pretty thing. A bit plain, for my taste, to tell you the truth, but still. Lovely.” Tommy’s stomach churned. “Tragic past too, poor thing. She’s been working for you for many years now, hasn’t she?” Mosley cocked his head. “And I hear that she has quite the array of talents. Tell me, was it her that you had do your research on me?” He didn't wait for a response. “Wonderous job, if it was. Very few people know about my particular relationship with the Lady Curzon. Perhaps I should borrow her, at some point. I’m sure that she could be of the utmost use to me.” 

Tommy felt like he was going to throw up. Mosley took another long, slow drag from his cigarette, eyes not once leaving Tommy’s.

“Actually, I will come alone,” he said, finally, in response to Tommy’s invitation. “In society, you are judged by your hospitality. I will expect adventure.” He leaned across Tommy’s desk to put his cigarette out in the ashtray. Tommy was certain that if he had to hear that man lecture him one more time about the ‘rules of society,’ he was going to scream. Mosley straightened. “Such rogues we are, aren’t we? Sing like songbirds in the House. And then afterwards, relieve ourselves in the bodies of whomever we choose. Two men for whom forbidding is forbidden,” he raised the little paper that was his invitation, “should be quite the party.”

Tommy managed a smile that was more of a grimace, and Mosley finally, finally slunk his way out of the office. He pressed a hand to his face once the door closed, mind whirling. The idea of letting Mosley near Lucy or Lizzie made his skin crawl and stomach heave. And yet he was going to do it. To let the man waltz right into his home on an invitation. His hand trembled. Neither of them deserved him. Lucy’s sad eyes and Lizzie’s resentful gaze danced in his mind. He should have left them both alone. They would be better off now, if he had. Rather than latching onto them and dragging them down with him into the depths of hell. He’d only wanted to help them, and yet all he had accomplished was ruining their lives. And that wasn’t even counting this current mess he had made. A mess that he had no idea how to fix without hurting at least one of them.              

His eyes flickered down to the topmost right drawer of his desk, hand pulling it open almost of its own accord. The gun sat atop the papers stacked inside. Tommy let his hand fall from the handle, eyes still fixed on the gun. He leaned forward with an exhale against his desk, head bowed and eyes squeezed shut. There was a breath echoing in his mind. Slow and steady with its inhales and exhales. He rested both hands on the back of his head, rubbing at the skin in an attempt to quell the swirl of self hatred that he was drowning in. The room was suddenly very dark and cold.

“You have to listen to the voices that you hear.”

His head snapped upwards, eyes wide open. No.

“Do what they tell you to do.”

The breaths were continuing. Her breaths. Her last breath as she died in his arms. Yet another one of the women in his life that he failed despite the amount in which he cared for her.

“You don’t even have to rub the lamp anymore to summon the genie,” Grace continued to speak from where she was standing in the corner. A shiver ran down Tommy’s spine. Grace raised a hand, and dangling from her fingers on a chain was the massive blue sapphire, the one he had locked around her throat. His greed having sealed her fate. “It wasn’t the blue stone, Tommy. It was you,” she pressed the necklace to her chest. He could hear her heartbeats now, a rapid thumping in his head. The drip of blood running from her chest to the floor. Tommy’s hand tightened into a fist. He couldn’t look at her. At those accusatory eyes. “It was you.”

There was a soft knock on the door. “Tommy?” Lucy’s voice called.

The breaths and heartbeats faded away. Grace vanished from sight. Tommy leaned backwards, squeezing his eyes shut tight and exhaling. “Just a minute, Luce,” he choked out. He forced deep breaths to pass through his lips, pushing the panic attack down with each one. Eyes finally opening, he pushed the open drawer with the gun in it closed, sitting up and straightening himself out. “Yeah?”

The door cracked open and Lucy poked her head in, a folder tucked under her arm. She stepped into the room, walking to his desk and holding the folder out to him. “I need you to sign these.”

He took the folder from her, scribbling his signature on the dotted line of the documents inside. Lucy passed a hand over her hair. 

“I sent Adam home. What did Mosley want?”

“To talk about ballet.”

She snorted. “He’s really coming then?”

“Yep,” he handed her back the folder.

“Goody for us,” her voice dripped with sarcasm. Tommy grunted in response. Lucy tucked the folder back under her arm. Her brown eyes swept over him, carefully. “Are you alright?”

Tommy rubbed a hand over his face. “Yeah. Just been a long day.”

She didn’t look like she believed him, but nodded, heading back towards the door. “I’ll go get these filed.”

He watched her disappear out the door. “Thank you.” 

He remained reclined back in his chair for a few more minutes, until his breathing had fully evened out and he felt a little less like if someone touched him he might collapse. He glanced back towards the door that led to Lucy and Adam’s office area. When this business was done and the mess between them straightened out, he needed to do something nice for her. He tried to think back to the last time they had done something, just the two of them, that didn’t have anything to do with work in the past several weeks. His brow furrowed at the conclusion that he couldn’t think of anything outside of stolen kisses and touches in dark corners or in her room at Arrow House. Tommy frowned, lips pursing together, another wave of guilt slicing through his being at the way he had been unintentionally neglecting his lover. He realized, with a shuddering of utter horror, that he could not remember the last time he had even simply held her.     

Shaking his head, Tommy reached into his pocket to check the time on his watch. It was getting late. He stood from his chair, locking up the drawers in his desk that housed sensitive documents, stuffing a few files into his briefcase, and heading out the door, locking that too behind him. Lucy was sitting at her desk, riffling through some papers. He gently touched her shoulder.           

“It’s getting late,” he said softly. “We should lock up.”

She looked up at him, nodding wordlessly and beginning to stack the papers she had been working on, slipping them into a folder and locking them away in the filing cabinet kept in the corner. Tommy watched her cautiously. He reached out a hand to wrap around her wrist, brow furrowing at how cold her skin felt. 

“We could go to the apartment tonight,” he offered. He knew it wasn’t much. Certainly not enough considering what he was putting her through. But it was the best he could think to offer at the moment. 

Lucy looked down at the floor for a moment, and when she looked up at him those dark brown eyes were shiny. 

“Lizzie’s bringing Charlie and Ruby up to visit the office tomorrow,” she reminded him gently. Tommy blinked. He had forgotten. He’d promised to show them around Westminster and then take them all out to lunch.

“So?” he asked, fingers remaining wrapped around her wrist. Lucy gave him a look.

“I’m assuming that you’d like to be able to hold your daughter’s hand while you show her around?” 

Alright, he definitely deserved that one. 

“And you have an appointment this evening with Dr. Brooke.”

“I remember,” he sighed, letting go of her wrist and shoving his hands deep into his pockets, eyes glancing out the window while he frowned. “It’ll be too late after I'm done to go back to Birmingham.”

“I was thinking that while you’re at your appointment I’d follow up on some research on Mosley’s associates,” Lucy added. “And I need to pick up Lizzie’s birthday presents.”  

“And what did I get her this year?”

“A diamond necklace she’s been eyeing in the magazines. Part of the same collection as those earrings you got her in Paris that she likes so much.” 

He touched her face lightly. “Whatever would I do without you?”  

Her lips twitched upwards into a small smile, though her eyes still looked sad. Tommy let his thumb stroke over her bottom lip. He just wanted to see her smile again. A real smile. The kind that she would often shoot at him from across the room at family meetings or during the workday. Mischievous and bright and warm enough to thaw even his ice cold heart.

“Alright, I’ll go to my appointment and run some errands in town. You go pick up the gifts, do your work. We’ll meet back at the apartment.” At her raised eyebrow he held up his hands. “We just won’t fuck. I promise that I won’t try to maul you.”

That earned him a small, amused snort. “You think Lizzie will believe that?”

He sighed deeply. “Let me worry about Lizzie.”

Lucy nodded. “Okay,” she went to grab her coat from its hook. Tommy wetted his lips as he watched her, reaching out again to touch her arm lightly.

“Maybe…maybe after Lizzie and the kids have gone back home…”

“A day on either side, remember?”

“Yes, but we could still plan on the day after…”

“Why does it matter so much?” she asked, voice suddenly sharpening. “It’s not like you’re not still getting any.”

Tommy had to suppress a flinch. “It’s not the same…” he tried to argue softly. Lucy sighed and looked away, fiddling with her rings. He cocked his head, taking a cautious step towards her. “And what about you, eh?”

Her breath came out in a shaky exhale. “I’m fine.”

“You’re clearly not…”

“Can we talk about this later, please?” she looked around the office, shifting uncomfortably. “Not here.”

Tommy wanted to argue, because not speaking of it was driving him mad. But he held his tongue. He was worried that if he pushed her too hard on it, she’d just retreat even further away inside herself. Besides, it would give him the opportunity to keep working on Lizzie and coming up with his own solutions to the problem. Any conversation that they had about it was surely to go better if he came to her with a potential fix already in hand. 

“Okay.”

She gave him a grateful look, shoulders relaxing at the reprieve. Tucking his hands into his pockets, he cocked his head. 

“What time do you think you’ll be back?” 

“Late. Probably around midnight. Maybe one.” That wasn’t uncommon when she was doing her spy work for him. 

“Be careful.”

She smiled another smile that still did not quite meet her eyes. “Always.”

He watched her leave with his hands shoved deep into his pockets, worried frown set like stone onto his face.

∗ ∗ ∗

Lizzie sighed, flopping down onto the couch in one of the large sitting rooms in Arrow House, the children playing in front of her on the rug near the fireplace. She smiled softly as she watched them, appreciating the way Charlie played so gently with his half-sister. Such a sweet kid. She wondered, sometimes, if that was what Tommy was like. Before the war.

Long fingers adjusting on her cigarette, Lizzie’s eyes caught on the chessboard sitting on the table, the little pieces all arranged into their starting positions. A memory of Lucy sitting down unceremoniously in front of her one evening, chessboard clutched in her hands, played within her mind.

“Play with me, Lizzie?” she had asked, widening those big brown eyes at her. Lizzie had shifted uncomfortably, suddenly embarrassed.

“I don’t know how to play,” she admitted. Lucy shrugged.

“That’s alright. I’ll teach you,” she spoke without missing a beat. At Lizzie’s apprehensive look she groaned dramatically. “C’mon Lizzie, please? I’m bored. Tommy’s busy. No one else will play with me,” she had flashed her that teasing, mischievous smile. “I’ll be your best friend.” 

It had been hard not to relent, when Lucy was looking at her so hopefully, eyes dancing and playful. One game turned into several, and soon it had become a sort of tradition between the two of them.

Lizzie frowned at the sharp ache of missing the little redhead that throbbed in her chest. 

Her absence felt like a gaping hole had been ripped open in the middle of the house. Everyone’s moods–even the staffs’--had taken a turn towards melancholy. The children weren’t as joyful when they played. Cyril was depressed and barely eating. Trouble paced the halls while crying, but hissed and scratched at anyone who so much as tried to come near her. The horses in the stables were gloomy.

A chill seemed to have swept over the entire house. Even the fires lit in the hearths at night didn’t seem as warm. Tommy spent most of his time holed up in his office, his mood somehow even darker than it had been before. He yelled at everyone more often. And one evening, when she couldn’t sleep and had wandered down to the library for a book, she was pretty sure that she heard him weeping. 

What the fuck have I done?

Head falling back against the couch, Lizzie breathed out an exhale of smoke tiredly. Her glazed over eyes watched Ruby play with one of her dolls, raising her cigarette to her lips for another drag. 

Ever since Lucy had moved out, she had been considering what she wanted to do. 

When she had put the phone down after calling the solicitor in London, she had made the decision to stay. But not for Tommy. Not really. It had been for the children. For the house. For the luxury and money and status that Tommy had gifted her when he signed their marriage license. All he’d asked for in exchange was that she care for his home and children, and allow him to be with his lover. 

She had made a promise, when she married Tommy. She had swore to him that his relationship with Lucy would be allowed to stand. That she wouldn’t interfere, or make things difficult for them to be together. She had promised the same thing to Lucy.

Poor Lucy, who had only ever tried to be her friend.

Christ, she hadn’t even realized how big of a presence Lucy had in the house, in all their lives–in her life–until she was gone. 

She fucking missed her. Missed the way she always seemed to sense when Lizzie needed a break from the kids and was happy to take them off her hands for a few hours. Missed the way she’d always make her an extra cup of tea whenever she fixed one for herself. And how she would help her during her horse riding lessons when she was able. Or when she would fold over the pages in the catalogs that they got of the things that she thought Lizzie might like. 

She missed how she’d cover her over with a blanket every time that she fell asleep on the couch because she worried about her getting cold. And the way that she urged for Tommy to do things with her on their own every once in a while, be it just them or with the kids, even though Lizzie knew that it hurt her to see them all together like that. 

Yes, they had clashed a lot. Even more so than usual, as of late. But they did have some good times mixed in there. 

She passed a hand over her eyes, swallowing down tears. Tommy had said that he probably wouldn’t be home tonight. She hadn’t been able to muster any disappointment at the news. Only deep relief. He had become unbearable to be around. But in a different way than he had been before. Prior, they had always been fighting. But now, he just seemed so…sad. With Lucy around he was still Tommy, with his closed off expressions and gruff words, but his eyes were a bit softer. And he smiled more, even if they were just subtle little quirking upwards of his lips. 

“Mommy?” Ruby asked, glancing up at Lizzie from where she was seated on the floor. Lizzie looked down at her.

“Yes, my darling?”

“Where’s Lucy?”

Her throat went dry. The children had asked her several times where Lucy was, and she had never been able to give them a straight answer, unable to bring herself to tell them that she likely was never coming back.

“She’s away at work, sweetheart, remember?”

“Is she coming back?”

Lizzie hesitated. “I don’t know, honey.”

Ruby returned her gaze to her doll. “I hope she comes back.”

Lizzie cocked her head. “Why’s that?”

When Ruby looked up at her, her wide dark eyes were filled with wisdom far beyond her age.

“Because Daddy’s happy when she’s here.”

∗ ∗ ∗

“Hey, do me a favor?” he asked Ada. “When that kid of yours arrives, keep it away from me,” he turned before he could really see Ada’s reaction from her place seated on the steps, heading for the door.

“Tommy,” Ada called out. He turned back. She was worrying at her bottom lip nervously, eyes darting about a moment before focusing back up at him. “I heard that Lucy left you.”

“She didn’t…leave me,” Tommy said, hoping that he was successfully able to hide his wince at the word. “She’s just not living at Arrow House anymore.” He narrowed his eyes. “Who told you?”

“Arthur mentioned it.”

He shook his head. Looked down at his feet. Arthur and his big fucking mouth. “You can say it.”

“Say what?”

“Say that you’re surprised that it took me this long to fuck things up with her.”

“That wasn't what I was thinking.”

“Yeah, well, then you’d be the only one,” it came out bitter, the taste unpleasant on his tongue.

“Tommy…” his sister started and then just sighed, shoulders slumping. “I’m sorry.”

“Mm. Good-night, Ada.” 

He walked back to the apartment miserably, opening the door to be greeted with a dark entryway and an equally dimmed sitting room. He pulled off his cap and stuffed it into his pocket, taking off his coat and hanging it up on the hook next to Lucy’s. 

He found her curled up on her side in bed, already asleep. He changed out of his clothes in a daze, sliding into the open space beside her. For a moment he just stared at her. Taking in the soft material of her silk maroon negligee, red hair spread out on the white pillow. 

He wanted very badly to wrap his arms around her. To hold her against his chest like he had almost every other night they had shared a bed. But he didn’t know if she wanted that. Any attempt he had made over the last few days to bridge the growing gap between them had only seemed to succeed in her pushing him even further away. He didn’t know what to do.

He wasn’t sure what it was Lucy really wanted anymore. It had been her idea to leave. Perhaps she had finally realized what he was: a monster that corrupted and ruined everything he’d ever touched. 

∗ ∗ ∗ 

When he woke up, it was to find that Lucy was no longer beside him. 

He reached out, half asleep, only to find her side of the bed cool to the touch. Frowning, he raised his head, blinking open his heavy eyelids and squinting in the dark of the room. No light was sneaking in through the curtains. It was still night outside.  

“Luce?” he mumbled. The ensuite washroom door was open, the light off. No Lucy there. 

Pushing himself up, he felt a frown twist his lips downwards. Did she so badly want to get away from him that she’d gone and slept in the other room?

His eyes finally landed on the sliver of golden light sneaking in through the crack under the door. Head cocking, he climbed out of bed, snatching up one of his white henley’s and pulling it on over his naked torso. The fuck was she doing out in the sitting room in the middle of the night?

He found her sitting on the couch, the lamp on the end table flicked on. For a moment, he didn’t entirely understand what she was doing. Her back was curved forward, both arms bent so that her hands were reaching backwards towards her shoulder blades. As he watched, her hands flexed, scratching and pressing at her skin, as if trying to massage it. A little whimper emitted from her throat. 

Then he understood. 

He should have guessed that this would happen. It had been raining pretty hard when he visited Ada’s, and the cold and wet always seemed to make Lucy’s shoulders act up. Plus he had to figure that the mattress she was sleeping on at Charlie’s wasn’t all that good for her back, either.

He wished she would let him at least get her a suite at the Midland to stay at. Even if just for herself. 

Hurrying around the couch, he sat down beside her, hands reaching for her shoulders to try to help. 

But at the first brush of his palms across her back, she jumped and jerked away. 

“N-no…” Her face whipped around to stare at him, and he was met with distraught, teary dark eyes. The very sight was enough to hurt him to his core. 

“I can help,” he said, half begging. 

She sniffled and wiped at her nose with the back of her hand. “I can handle it–”

“I know you can,” he told her gently. “But you don’t have to.” He saw something waver across her face, his hands reaching tentatively out for her again. “Please, let me help you.” Don’t make me sit by and watch you suffer through this on your own too.

Her bottom lip trembled a little, eyes searching his, and then her shoulders slumped, face angling towards the ground while she nodded in consent. Moving slowly, half afraid she would spook again, Tommy rested both hands on her back. He started up rubbing at her skin slowly, searching out the spots that he knew always gave her the most trouble. 

Lucy let out a deep breath, and he felt her relax a little under his hands. 

At least I can do this for her.

“There you go,” he said quietly. “It’s alright. I’ve got you.”

She let out another little hiccupping sob. He wasn’t sure if it was in relief over the pain being lessened, or from his words. Either way, he shifted a little closer to her. 

“Did you take your pain killers?” The doctor had given her a prescription to use in the event that the pains ever got especially bad. 

She nodded. “Haven’t kicked in yet.”

He sat there rubbing her shoulders for a good thirty minutes, until her spasmed muscles had relaxed and the pain medications started to do their job.

“Let’s go back to bed, eh?”

Lucy wiped at her eyes. “Okay.” 

She let him shepherd her back into the bedroom, curling up on top of the mattress, watching him flick off the lights and get in next to her, pulling the blanket up to tuck around her. 

“Sorry,” she whispered, after they’d both been still for a moment. Tommy stared at the outline of her next to him in the dark. Tentatively, he reached out, stroking his hand through her hair.

“It’s alright.”

∗ ∗ ∗ 

“Lucy!” 

She turned, smiling and scrunching her nose at the two little figures running towards her. She stooped, bending down to press a kiss to Charlie and Ruby’s foreheads.

“Hey kiddos,” she squatted down to their level. “How’ve you been? Have you been good?”

Ruby nodded her head as her voice chirped out a sweet little, “yes.” 

At the same time, Charlie cast her a mischievous look. “No.”

“No!? What do you mean, no!?” Lucy cried playfully, reaching around to tickle the boy's sides while he squealed. He looked so much like Tommy when he laughed, it was almost frightening. She pulled the two children in for a hug. “I gotta get back to work, okay? But you two have fun with your mum and dad, alright?”

The children whined but relented, Ruby shuffling back to grab onto Tommy’s hand while he smiled softly down at her. Lizzie ruffled Charlie’s hair affectionately, expression loving as she looked at her step-son. Lucy smiled at her awkwardly.

“Good to see you.”

Lizzie nodded, eyes not quite meeting hers. “You too.”

“Right,” she looked at Tommy. “I gotta go help Adam with paperwork.”

He nodded, expression difficult to read, though she thought that she could see a regretful glimmer enter his eyes when he looked at her. “Alright.”

She nodded in return, waving and flashing a smile at Charlie and Ruby before ducking away. Watching from her desk, she looked on as Tommy ushered his children and Lizzie out of the office. He and Lizzie were both sporting wide smiles. Lucy huffed out a breath, nodding to herself. Good. That was good. They were happier now. Finally at peace with their little family.

Now if only her heart would stop hurting. 

∗ ∗ ∗   

They met with McCavern that evening along with Uncle Charlie to confirm the plan for distribution of the opium.

“Now who’s this fine lady?” McCavern asked when he spotted her, eyes shining in the lights of the lanterns as he looked her over. 

Lucy smiled thinly, taking his hand and shaking it when Tommy introduced them. What the fuck was it with these fascists and their constant leering?

She took a seat next to Charlie, listening to Tommy deal with McCavern. He was bad, that much was obvious to her, even without taking into account what he’d done to Bonnie. But he didn’t make her skin crawl as much as Mosley did. So that was something. Unlike Mosley he was just loud and obnoxious.

Tommy and McCavern shook on their deal, and Tommy poured them all a drink.

“In the firelight, your hair looks like the color of blood, love,” McCavern whispered in her ear, breath tickling her neck as he leaned down to pick up his cup. Lucy tensed, fingers tightening around her own mug. McCavern chuckled and pulled away. From across the table, Tommy’s jaw tightened, clearly having taken notice of the encounter.

But he said nothing. 

She understood why. McCavern was volatile; their peace pact fragile. He couldn’t be risking upending that all just over a half flirtatious remark.  

But still, it stung. 

Maybe he didn’t really see her as someone worth expending the effort to protect anymore. 

“You’ll use the cheque guarantee from Mosley to officially connect him to McCavern,” she guessed after McCavern and his men had left. 

“Yeah.”

She nodded, raising her drink to her lips.

“I’m going inside,” Charlie announced, standing. He gave Lucy a pat on the shoulder as he passed her and they said their goodnights. And then it was just her and Tommy again. 

Tommy cleared his throat. “Are you still coming to the ballet tomorrow evening?”

She swiped a hand across her face. It was Lizzie’s birthday tomorrow, and in celebration, he was having a private ballet company come to his house to put on a production of Swan Lake. A ballet about love, apparently.

A particularly paranoid part of her brain wondered if they’d chosen a romantic ballet specifically to rub her nose in it. 

Jealousy pulsed through her. Lizzie always got the big, grand public displays of love and affection. She got to go to fancy theater productions with him, and expensive restaurants. When he won awards and made speeches, she often got mentioned by name in his thanks towards those who had helped him get where he had in life. And at every lavish function, she got to be on his arm.

Even before she’d moved out, Lucy had always been relegated to the shadows. Their relationship could never be known publicly. Their dinner dates were at home, where no one could see them. Or maybe the rare picnic out in the wilderness. Assuming they had the time for dates at all. He’d never be able to throw an extravagant party in her honor.

Looking down at her hands, she frowned. “Wasn’t sure if I was still invited.”

Tommy looked at her sharply. “Of course you're invited.”

“I’d hate to ruin Lizzie’s birthday with my presence.”

“You won’t. She knows you’re invited.” His brows pinched. “She made sure that an invitation got sent to you herself.”

The furrow in Lucy’s brow only deepened. Why the fuck would she do that? Maybe she was trying to remind her of her place. To make sure that she saw the massive effort that Tommy had gone to for her.  

“I don’t want you to feel like you have to come if you really don’t want to, but…” Tommy wetted his lips, looking uncomfortable. 

“Mosley’s coming,” she finished for him. 

“Yes.”

“And you want me to come babysit him.”

“Not…babysit. But I might need you for any business we may conduct while he’s there.”

Of course. He didn’t want her there to enjoy herself. He wanted her there to work. Silly her. 

God, when did you get so bitter? she asked herself, cringing at her thoughts.

“I’ll be there. Don’t worry.”

Tommy exhaled. “Thank you.”

“Mhm.”

“I might not be able to come pick you up with all the preparations that need to happen, but I’ll send a driver.”

“Don’t bother. I’ll ask Polly if she can drive me.”

His brows shot up nearly to his hairline. “You want to ride to Warwickshire with Polly?”

“Want is a strong word. But it’ll free up one of your drivers to go pick up some of the other guests. Besides, she’s been a little nicer to me lately. I think Aberama’s been putting in a good word for me.”

He examined her for a long time. “If that’s what you're comfortable with.”

She nodded. 

They stayed there for a while, both looking out towards the darkness of the canal. 

“I need to be getting back,” Tommy sighed. His hands had slipped into his pockets at some point. 

“Okay.” 

He made a move as if to approach her, then stopped. The soft glow of the lanterns cast sharp shadows across his face. She could just barely make out the reflection in his eyes. 

“Good night, then.”

Before she could reply, he started to walk away, the darkness that surrounded them seeming to swallow him up once he passed the touch of the lanterns. 

She stared out into the dark. 

No kiss. No I love you. No touch.

“Good night,” she whispered. Even though he was already gone.

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[everydayyoulovemeless]

HC on a modern fallout. Like same characters just in now times.

Like Obvs Nick would still be a PI but what of the others? Would factions be a thing still or would they all have normal jobs?

What of the synths?

Modern Fo4 Headcanons

➼ Word Count » 3.3k ➼ Warnings » Spoilers for many character arcs ➼ Genre » Modern AU ➼ A/N » This took me WAY too long, but I had so many things I wanted to write down and expand on.

COMPANIONS [ these are how I imagine them before meeting Nate and Nora, a random couple who just happens to enter into everyone's lives ]

MacCready grew up as an orphan in Virginia where the older kids raised him. He never got adopted and, while he was thankful for the teens who raised him, there was always a sense of abandonment and negativity that he'd always attach with the state. So, when he turned 18, he hitchhiked to Boston, hoping to find a happier and more fulfilling life. It didn't happen as soon as he'd wanted, however, and he bounced from place to place looking for a stable job. His rugged exterior and immature attitude forced him out of a lot of areas, but there was a group that didn't mind any of that. MacCready was ecstatic when the Gunners first picked him up. They gave him jobs, sure, but they had also given him a group he could identify with in the same way he did with the kids back at the Orphanage. After a year of working with them, MacCready met Lucy. He'd originally planned on robbing her, but her name reminded her too much of the Lucy he'd grown up with, and offered to walk he home instead. When they had gotten to her door she asked him about why he was wearing army pants. He jokingly told her that he was in the military who was currently on leave, which she ended up believing. It surprised MacCready since his Gunners tattoo was visible on his arm, but he found her gullibility to be endearing. After that, the two spent a lot of time together, but right after Duncan was born, she pieced together his association with the gang, left him, and quickly moved into an apartment located in a safer area. Heartbroken and consumed with guilt, he quit the gang for good and worked to better himself and clean up his act so that he could be a part of his son's life, and maybe try his relationship with Lucy once more. He does a few odd jobs here and there but, so far, none of them have stuck.

Once Nick's testing was over, the students at CIT didn't know what to do with him other than to let him roam the campus, so he stuck with what he knew - police work. He'd wander the college as an officer, looking for any job or event that could require his help. At first, he was treated more as a Protectron than an actual member of the force, but that never really bothered him, as long as he was actively making people safer, then he was content. What did bother him, however, was the amount of jury trials he had to be present at for being the product of unethical testing. It always made him feel guilty that he was an unconsented clone of the real Nick Valentine's mind, and if he could, he would've chosen not to be created at all. Knowing the amount of pain his existence had caused an actual person made him feel awful, but he'd rather put that energy into his community over hating himself for something that was out of his control. He never really got over the confusion and sadness he had when he thought about who he was but, over time, many of the students began to treat him as if he were a real person. They'd greet him in the mornings, buy him ties on special occasions, and every once in a while someone would bring him coffee, forgetting that he couldn't drink it. His life slowly changed from him not understanding what his purpose was, to becoming a well-respected member in his field. Even the real Nick grew to appreciate him after he helped to hunt down Eddie when no one else wanted to. His memories of DiMA were still there (as it had only been a 2 or 3 decades compared to 2 centuries), but his brother didn't stay with the school, instead opting to discover himself elsewhere. As soon as he was allowed, he left for Maine and made a name for himself as the first robotic philosopher and occasionally sending letters to Nick.

Cait ran away from home at 15 in an attempt to escape the abuse she received from her parents. Scared, alone, and incredibly fragile, she was an easy target for many others on the streets and was taken advantage of both emotionally and sexually by almost anyone who saw her. As the years went by, the more hardened and angry she had become. Finally able to adapt to her surroundings, she stole, fought, and threatened anyone she could. This led her to be put in many juvenile detention centers and child reformat camps, both of which never helped change her view on the world. Still living on the streets at 18, she went and bought her first gun. She thought of going to visit her parents for a while, wondering if it would make some of the pain she felt go away. On the day she decided she was finally ready to go kill them, she ran into Tommy, a sleazy businessman who was desperate to strike it big in the corporate world. Seeing the potential and opportunity that a young, angry, mistreated girl could present to him, he offered her a deal. If she focused her rage into wrestling and let him be her manager, he'd help her get off the streets and really make a name for herself. She agreed and very quickly became one of the best and most well-known wrestlers in Boston, although, most of the press that covers her is about her attitude and allegation regarding her addictions. She still holds onto that shotgun she bought. It reminds her of what could've been and helps her feel a sense of security. She knows no one will take advantage of her again because she now has the means to ensure of it. She's still waiting for the day her parents beg her to take them back so she can tell them off, but they never did. It hurts her more to know that, even now that she's found success for herself, her parents still don't want her. So, until it kills her, she'll drink and inject herself with whatever she can get her hands on, desperate to numb as many of her thoughts as she can until she passes.

Danse was also made at CIT, although he's much more advanced than Nick is. Almost immediately after being created, he left to go to DC where he met Cutler. Cutler was on the verge of homelessness and pitched his idea of starting a small business to Danse who agreed quickly (he had no other plans). They sold odd things they either built or found for a few years before they were approached by a general in the US Army. He was only browsing, but Danse felt compelled by his stories from when he was in combat. There was something about serving his country and defending the common man that he found to be incredible, and so he and Cutler quit their gig and signed up for the army. There've been robots who've joined the military before, but none who made the decision on their own volition. All the others are Assaultrons and Mr. Gutsy, so having one who willingly wanted to be a part of the cause was astounding to many. Cutler eventually got mortally wounded and Danse, who was clearly devasted, was then assigned to work with Haylen and Rhys out of fear that he'd go haywire or malfunction due to the impact of his friends death, and that's where he's been ever since. The memories he'd been given were vague and slightly foggy, but the army gave him something to identify with and a cause to work for. He was prideful in the work he did and, although there were others, he served to be one of the first instances of a robot showing a willingness to fight for his country.

Ever since he was young, Preston had looked up to those who did right by people. At first, he joined a police academy to be an officer, but after a bystander got caught up in one of the scenes he'd been sent to, he quit, deciding that this wasn't something he was cut out to do. The guilt of not being able to successfully protect an innocent civilian eats away at him, so, in an attempt to make it up to himself, he went into hospice care. At least here he knows the deaths aren't his fault and that all the people he cares for have lived long, fulfilling lives. Currently, he's caring for the long-time addict, Mama Murphy (who still manages to sneak a few pills into the room every now and again). Preston adores her, but every once in a while she'll tell him about a dream she's had where the world had ended and he played a part in rebuilding it. He can't let her describe it for long, though, otherwise she'll start to panic and he'll have to grab her medication to help calm her down, and he hates having to give her drugs. Luckily he knows that she's just and elderly woman suffering from schizophrenia and none of what she says about a war torn world holds any truth. As much trouble as she causes him, Preston isn't sure what he's going to do when she's gone. He only hopes that it doesn't shatter him as much as the bystander incident did.

Codsworth still operates under Sole's roof in taking care of Shaun and the home. Nothing changes with him, however, when he went to drop Shaun off at college for the first time, he met Nick, and the two got along quite well! Whenever he goes to visit Shaun with the family he always makes sure to stop by to chat with the detective.

Piper runs a very controversial newsstand right in the heart of Boston. There are so many authorities and higher-ups whose reputations have been ruined due to her articles, and even with a mob of protestors against her, she still does whatever she wants. She grew up in a smaller town on the outskirts of Massachusetts before she managed to work up enough cash to get herself and Nat to the city, where she could finally begin to look for work to support them both. However, she quickly found that the 'big city' had many issues on its own and, since then, she was dead set on bringing people's attention to them. She doesn't care about the death threats or riots that sometimes occur outside her home. The police know her well enough by now to keep an eye out in her neighborhood. Especially Nick, who met her once while she set up a debate booth on campus and interviewed students for an article she planned on publishing. She's not rich by any means, but she loves her job. And, to her, there's no better feeling than that. She's just praying Nat isn't as prone to controversy as she is.

Curie was placed in a research facility where she helped to test and study different diseases with a group of other doctors before being places in a hospital. She mainly cares for sick children but is reveled to be one of the best doctors as she doesn't need to sleep or take any breaks. She adores her job and never stops working on cures and medicine for her patients. When she heard about the synths being created at CIT, she asked her supervisors if she could swap bodies so she could better fit in with the rest of her coworkers, as well as be able to hold vials and syringes better. They agreed and got her a custom made body for her to subvert her subconscious into. Eventually, when he's older, Shaun will come into her clinic in hopes of having his cancer fully treated, but that'll be years from now when he's in his 70s.

Even though Strong isn't affected by the FEV in this timeline, he still holds that same barbaric and thuggish aura. He's not affiliated with any gangs, but he's no stranger to violence and lives in the part of town where shootings happen the most often. Despite his intimidating stature and hostile disposition, he still frequents the local libraries. More often than he'd care to admit. He loves old literature and has a bit of a soft spot for anyone who likes it too. He claims she's overexaggerating, but Daisy will usually sit and listen to him ramble for hours about the beauty and symbolism littered throughout Shakespeare's plays or Lovecraft's short stories.

Hancock is a well-known politician who is loved as much as he is hated. Ever since Piper outed him for his drug addiction and put into question his validity and dedication to his cause, he's been somewhat of a controversial figure in the political world. Despite it all, he has no ill feelings toward Piper or Publick Occurrences and is constantly hyping it up as a reliable news source. Although he owns quite a bit of cash, he's constantly pouring it into the slums of Boston. Some think this is just a publicity stunt to make up for his occasional violent outbursts (the drugs do a number on him since he's not a ghoul), he does it because he genuinely believes it's right for him to do. Besides, the people are friendlier there. Now his biggest concern is building up his reputation again so he can beat his brother when they run for mayor against one another. Him and his secretary, Fahrenheit, have a lot planned for the city and they'd like to see those ideas become reality as quickly as they can manage.

No one's really sure who Deacon is, and some are cautious of him for it. One thing that is certain about him is that he's a massive history buff, and is almost always in a museum of some kind. His favorite past time is striking up conversation with strangers who probably just want to be left alone while they browse the artifacts displayed, but he doesn't really care. Eventually, he happens to start a conversation with Nate and Nora in the Museum of Freedom and he quickly integrates himself into the couple lives. Him and Barbara like to show up spontaneously on their doorstep with a pack of beers in their hands and grins on their faces, but surely they don't mind.. even if they still have no idea what he does for a living.

X6-88 is another one who doesn't change much. He works as security for CIT along with Nick, and few other courser's, although none of them are as approachable as the detective seems to be. He's very strict about his job and carries it out very well, however, when Shaun eventually begins to attend the college, they sorta hit it off? Not really because either of them are particularly kind to one another, but more so because they like it when people are straight forward, intelligent, and blunt and they both just so happen to be that.

Dogmeat’s a stray that everyone seems to know. Officially, he’s Mama Murphy’s, but most everyone claims him. He appears whenever someone's in distress or wherever his owner's vision take him. He's a mysterious dog with strange motives.

Old Longfellow lives as a fisherman up in Maine. Nothing particularly changes with him, he's still got the same closed off personality that he'd always had. His wife got sick and died and few years back, but his daughter went and became and engineer in a similar area to DiMA. Longfellow thinks DiMA's a kook but his daughter thinks he's a scientific masterpiece and will often ask him questions about his creation or how his mind was built.

Gage grew up around gang violence and quickly learned to steal, lie, and hurt to get the things he wanted. He never really lived in a stable home and mostly just squatted or camped wherever he could. Despite living in poverty, whenever he and his friends managed to scrap together enough money together, they'd hitch a ride to Nuka World and spend the day there. He grew to have a soft spot for the amusement park as he got older, and took up a maintenance job for them (they don't do background checks.. or any skill checks for that matter, but Gage is a quick learner.)

MAJOR FACTIONS + SYNTHS

The synths operate in society along with the other robots of the fallout universe. But, unlike the Protectrons, they can actually hold conversations. Because of that, they normally take on your regular lower-class to lower-middle-class jobs. They don't tend to be rich at all in their lifetimes due to the stigma around treating them exactly like humans. A lot of those opportunities have been stripped away from them for those exact reason. Some of them still manage to find ways around it, but it's a lot harder than how it'd be if they were a regular human. For instance, synths can't start businesses on their own. Many argue that it's because they're just not meant to do anything on their own and that they were created to help humans, but no one can give an argument on how them doing their own thing would harm them either.

The Railroad is the main group that's actively against the stereotypes and discrimination faced by the synths. Although, they've received a lot of backlash for naming themselves after a former anti-slavery group (many don't think it's fair to compare 1800s racism to whether or not bots can work higher-paying jobs), they've still become a huge relief to many synths who are desperate to be treated the same as any other person would.

The Institute is just a college in the modern age. Despite them receiving some backlash from the public about whether or not the practice of creating human-like bots, arguing that it's too 'Frankenstein-like', the students and professors still continue to build and work to make more and more realistic, artificial creatures and beings. Mr. House helps to fund their research as he finds it useful and because he also went their for school.

The Minutemen don't exist. There's no need when you have the police force, the fire department, and properly operating Protectrons active in the community. Most of hose who were a part of this faction have taken up community-centered jobs like farming or social work.

The Brotherhood of Steel continue to exist as the US Military. They're more focused on defending the country than they are preserving technology and the only places you’ll see one is in military bases or along the coast.

MINOR FACTIONS

The Atom Cats (along with Sturges) are a group of young adults who work at the local Harley Davidson. Tuesdays and Thursdays they host poetry night and generally just open the place up as a garage for anyone interested in mechanics or just hanging out with a bunch of strangers.

Raiders and Gunners are just the Bloods and Crips of the modern world. They stick with their own groups and despise anyone from the opposite side of the tracks. Shoot outs and common between them and it's best to not be associated at all if you can help it.

The Children of Atom are a strange and niche group of zealots that migrated from somewhere in Virginia to spread their gospel. No one’s sure who they are or what they want, but they’re attracted to the pollution cities bring and generally advocate for the betterment of the earth.

Ever since DiMA's arrival, Acadia's national park has turned into a debate ground for different thoughts and philosophies. People from all over the world come to visit to talk and discover other points of views. There's even a Atomite Pastor that frequents the area and promotes the newly found religion with those who are willing to listen. A strange place for stranger people.