#they are Capable of working together well

[noctiva]

oh my heavens oh my DAYS i am claiming bunny anon ( this one specifically!! 🐇 )… dewd u have to let me know ur thoughts on toby fluff and smut mixed together!! I AM A SUCKA for it….

LIKE IMAGINE???? HIM COMING HOME ONE DAY JUST SO TIRED.. baby boy just wants to lay back against the couch and just nap and just… reader gives him head.. telling him all sorts of praises and compliments.. overstimming him.. WHOWOWOOWEIHEOHWO and when he finally cums he’s just a sobbing drooling mess of whimpers OH MY LAWD

I read ‘sobbing drooling mess of whimpers’ and FLEW to my keyboard. you are a visionary and i hope you know that thank you for blessing my inbox

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A Little R & R

Toby Rogers x F!Reader [NSFW!]

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WC: 6.3k

Summary: After a particularly long day at work leaves him practically dead on his feet, Toby wants nothing more than to just sit back and relax. Lucky for him, he has a lovely girlfriend to help with that

CW: 18+ content, explicit sexual content, brief mentions of violence and death, playing with his mouth gash a lil, oral sex (male receiving), wet and messyyyy, begging and teasing, dom/sub undertones but it’s not really that deep, deepthroating, spit and drool, overstimulation, snowballing kind of, praise kink!, borderline body worship, but it’s Toby soooo.. real, tears from both parties, slight dacryphilia, pathetic men!

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NSFW under the cut! Minors do not interact!

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It had been a long day.

Though he couldn’t feel the pain and soreness, Toby could feel the fatigue in his bones. Seeping into his muscles. Weighing like an anchor on his shoulders as he dragged his feet with each shaky step.

He had been up early (well, ten AM. His version of early), and spent the greater half of the day knee deep in forest brush as he tracked down the target for that particular day. It had been cold too. Snow falling and accumulating on the ground below him, heavy boots crunching each time they hit the forest floor. He had felt the effects of it; stiffer muscles, shortness of breath, eyes watering every time the wind whipped past him.

It was supposed to be an easy mission. Tim and Brian were supposed to help him with it. Not that he needed their help, and had made that very clear when they told him they were going to be taking off to deal with something else out of town - but it would’ve been nice. Would’ve been nice to have an extra set of hands, or two, to find and subdue his two victims easier.

Would’ve been nice to have Brian’s gun, to finish them off faster and more efficiently.

Would’ve been nice to get home a few hours earlier.

But he made do, like he always did. Refusing to let himself look less than capable. It had taken him far too long for his liking, but by two PM each of his hatchets had found a new home lodged within the skulls of two very unfortunate souls. Blood against snow. So stark and bright against the previously unblemished backdrop.

It was really, quite picturesque. He however, was too annoyed and exhausted to really take in the sight. Because though the job was over, it wasn’t really over. He still had to drag these two heavy, limp bodies off to some even more secluded area of the forest. Dig a hole in this frozen, snow covered earth, then throw them in.

And he wasn’t even getting paid for it. God, this was stupid.

By three PM, he was finally walking back. Back to the little cabin he had made a home out of with you. Which, really, was one of his only motivating factors nowadays. If he just got through the day, and did what he needed to do, he’d be rewarded with the gift that was your company.

Your voice, so sweet and soft as you asked him how his day was. Your hands, so gentle as they carded through his hair - nails scratching against his scalp in soothing patterns, sending a shiver down his spine. And your smile. God, how he loved your smile. So lovely and warm, bestowed upon him. Like he wasn’t a killer, a monster of a a man.

With you, he was just… Toby. And he liked that. He liked that a lot.

The work didn’t stop when he got home though, much to his dismay, because he was very quickly reminded of his other job. Caring for you. Not that it was really a job, because he liked doing it, but fuck if he didn’t wish he was a normal member of society on days like this one. A person who could just drive to the grocery store, because it wasn’t a literal forty minute journey away.

But he didn’t have that luxury, and so, if he wanted to eat tonight - he had to go hunt for it.

Toby had popped inside for a little while, given you a kiss on the cheek and asked about your morning, but far too quickly thereafter he was trudging out the doors of his home once more and walking back out into the woods

Again, he never minded providing for you. If anything, he got gratification from it - knowing that you relied on him. It felt good to be needed, to be loved and appreciated.

But man, he was exhausted. His muscles were screaming at him by the time he had trekked back home, hauling a deer carcass with him that he would no doubt also need to skin and butcher before he handed it over to you.

Work was never over. It was never over.

When he finally walked through that cabin door for the final time that day, Toby was dead on his feet. His eyes were drooping, hands trembling from fatigue, knees weak as he forced himself to take step after step. He felt like he may just collapse any moment, but all he had to do was make it to the couch.

Maybe take a little nap while you cooked dinner, then have a meal with you before retiring to bed for a well needed night of rest.

That sounded lovely.

“Toby, hun? You alright?” He heard your voice as he dragged himself towards the couch in the living room, and glanced at you before offering you a tired smile.

You were peeking out from the kitchen, barefaced and beautiful, wearing what he recognized to be one of his hoodies as you leaned against the doorframe. Christ, you really made it all worth it. Just the sight of you alone, so sweet and pretty, like an angel that floated around his home.

For a moment, you made the fatigue riddling his body seem not that bad. The guiding light in the gruesome, abhorrent string of events that was his life.

“J-Just tired.” He murmured back to you softly, as he reached a hand up to tug down the hood that had been covering the shaggy mess of hair atop his head. His signature orange goggles rested snugly in the strands, lenses scratched and stained with what you knew was blood. Human, or animal? You weren’t sure. Probably both. “Long d-day, you know?”

You hummed softly in response, watching with a keen eye as he slowly made his way over to the couch - then promptly flopping onto it. Sprawling his limbs, sinking into the cushions, eyes fluttering shut on contact.

He looked drained. Completely, utterly, rinsed clean of any energy he had when he first left the house this morning. His eyes were closed, long lashes resting against his cheeks, body near limp as it sunk into the sofa. You watched as his chest rose and fell with every breath, soft and slow, his lips parted.

He looked… Pretty, you thought to yourself. So pretty as he lounged against the couch, his body tired and worn.

So tired, because he had been caring for you. Keeping you safe, bringing you meals, making sure you were happy.

He lived and breathed for you, it seemed. A fact that was never lost on you. Toby put all of his time and effort into making sure life was nothing but a breeze for you, and you had to wonder… Did you deserve it? Did you provide for him, just as he provided for you?

You tried to. Washing him clean of blood and grime, stitching his wounds shut when he came home beaten and bruised. Patching up his clothes and trimming his hair. Was it enough though? Would it ever be enough?

Did he know, just how much you meant to him?

You’re moving before you even realize it, the meat you had been planning to prepare left sitting in the refrigerator. You couldn’t help it, you felt as if he needed you, right now. Needed to be appreciated, loved, needed to know just how much you valued every little thing he did.

You reach the couch in record time, and then you’re sinking down to your knees. You rest your head on his chest, your hand coming up to rest on his stomach - feeling the warmth of him through his stained hoodie. You feel as his jolts at the touch, eyes snapping open, immediately honing in on the sight of you so close. “W-What’s up?” He asked hoarsely, gaze directing down to your hand, and the way it had begun rubbing soothing circles against his abdomen. The touch gentle and soft, just as you always were.

“Missed you.” You murmur back to him, looking up at him as you press your cheek to his chest. He’s staring down at you with half-lidded, tired eyes, confusion evident in his irises. “You know I love you, right? And all the things you do for me?”

“I-I don’t do muh-much.” Toby mutters back to you with a sheepish little smile, bringing a hand up to rest upon your head as you nuzzle into him. His arm felt like it was made of lead as he raised it, fatigue seemingly flowing through his veins. But he would endure it for you, to touch you. To hold you close. “Just d-doin’ what I’m supposed t-to.”

“No…” You answer back to him, before raising your head up. From there, you bring your whole body up - crawling onto him so fluidly it barely makes the couch rustle. Almost like you were supposed to be there. You watch as his eyes widen minutely, fingers twitching in the air where they had once been resting against you, and you smile sweetly down at him. “You do so much for me, baby. You know that, don’t you?”

You sit up, thighs straddling his hips, your body pressed so undeniably close to his now. You know he can feel it, if the way his cheeks had begun to flush was anything to go by. He looked so cute like this, all wide eyed and pink all over. Eyes still drooping from exhaustion, but fighting to stay open just so that they could fixate on you.

You hum softly before lifting your hand, bringing it up to cup his cheek. The marred side. Sensitive, you knew it was, and so you grazed your thumb against his exposed gums on purpose - just to see what his reaction would be.

His reaction, proved to be absolutely lovely.

He whined softly, brows pinching together as your fingers grazed the sensitive flesh. A surge of tingles wracked his body, stemming from the source that was your touch. So soft, so light, and yet it was everything. You set his body on fire. You always did. Your touch a force that sent him reeling every single time, and he wasn’t sure if it was because he was so tired, but it felt like the intensity had increased tenfold as you passed your fingers over his skin. “So good to me, Toby. I don’t know what I’d do without you.”

“Y-You’d be fine.” Toby mutters, though his words do come out shaky. He can’t help it when he leans into your touch, and you feel it when a small amount of saliva seeps out of the gash and wets your palm.

Already drooling? God, he’s cute.

“Nuh uh.” You giggle back to him, your eyes somehow both sickeningly sweet and suffocatingly heady as you look down at him. From your perspective, gazing down at him as he looks up at you with a mounting desire in his gaze, Toby looks like a dream. “You’re everything to me. My sweet, sweet boy. Always making sure I’m safe.”

Your palm leaves his face, dragging down his jawline and brushing against the stubble there - and you watch as his neck flexes under the gentle touch. “Always working so hard. Getting up early, staying up late.” Down his neck, your fingers trail. Feeling how his Adam’s Apple bobs when he swallows thickly, his pulse fluttering under your touch. Your palm comes to rest on his chest, and then you can really feel his heartbeat. Racing. Near frantic from your tender hands. “I don’t think you give yourself enough credit.”

“SS-Stop it, baby.” He chuckles sheepishly, the pink flush on his cheeks spreading up to his ears and down to his neck. All pink and pretty beneath you, that’s what he was right now. Trying to fight it but doing so in vain. If it wasn’t the colour of his face that was giving it away, it was the look in his eyes.

Dark, pupils just widening more with each word you spoke. “I’m j-just doin’ my job.”

“You don’t have to do any of this.” You murmur back to him, pressing your palm against his chest before it starts to trail down lower. Over his ribs, down the slope of his abdomen. Feeling how his muscles tense under your touch, even through the layers of clothing. “But you do. Because you’re amazing.”

Slowly, your fingers reach the hem of his jeans and curl underneath it - feeling the fuzz of his happy trail graze against the back of your hand. His hips, ever so impatient, jump at the contact, and suddenly he looks more awake than ever.

“W-What are you doin’?” He asks, like a deer in the headlights as he lifts his head a little. If you thought his pupils were wide before, they were damn near swallowing his irises now - especially when your fingers drift down a little bit lower to play with the buckle of his belt.

Your eyes lift to meet his, a playfulness in your gaze that makes his heart stutter (and his cock come to life).

“Just… Showing my appreciation.” You hum softly as you lazily play with his belt. Not undoing it yet, just toying with it. Making your presence known. Your nails clink against the metal of the buckle, and his heart rate kicks up a notch. “Don’t you think you deserve it?”

You didn’t think it was possible for Toby to go even pinker, and yet he manages it. You hear it as his breathing trembles on exhale, his whole body going taut the more you teased him.

“N-No. I mean… I-I don’t-“ He’s fumbling for words, stumbling over them and stuttering more than he usually does. He’s looking at you like he’s never been touched by a woman before, all flushed and shaky. As if you hadn’t gone down on him more times than you could count. As if you didn’t have the taste of his cum ingrained on your taste buds. It’s… Adorable. Really sweet, actually. “I just… I mean- You d-don’t have to.”

“I know I don’t have to.” You giggle softly, raising an eyebrow at him. “I want to. Do you not want me to?”

You want to. You want to make him feel good. His body had been growing increasingly hot since you had first settled onto his lap, but he felt like he was burning up now. His skin was on fire, his clothes feeling more and more suffocating with each touch you laid upon him.

“Of c-course I do!” Toby rebuts immediately, so eager it makes a grin spread onto your lips. “I just d-don’t want you to feel like… I’m expecting it. B-Because I do things for you.”

You could swoon right then and there. Could you fall even more in love? You didn’t think it was possible, but he was really proving you wrong right then and there. You could just eat him up. All twitchy and tense beneath you, a visible bulge growing in his jeans throughout the course of the conversation. He was so reactive to you. Always had been. Getting hard if you did so much as place a soft kiss against his neck.

It was one of your favourite aspects about him, really. His desperation.

“Don’t be dumb.” You chastise lightly, a sweet smile on your face that told that your words weren’t to be taken completely seriously. “Have you ever considered that maybe I like doing it?”

And just like that, all of the blood in Toby’s body rushes south.

“Y-You do?” He chokes out, his chest feeling tight and his pants feeling tighter. He watches in a daze as you start slowly pulling his belt undone - pretty polished nails and soft fingers, working to get him bared for you.

“Uh huh.” You speak back to him in a low murmur, your own heart jumping as you pull his belt free. You don’t stop there, languidly tugging it from the loops, wanting any restriction completely removed. “Is it really so surprising? I love all of you.”

You drop his belt to the ground, a movement that his eyes flick over to for just a second, before they’re fixating on you once more. This absolute goddess on his lap, turning him to mush without even placing a single finger on him yet. “I love… Your eyes.” You hum as you pop the button of his jeans. “I love your voice.” You start to tug his zipper down. “Love your laugh, and the way your eyes crinkle up when you do.”

Once his zipper is down fully, your fingers grasp his waistband again - shimmying it down low on his hips until he got the hint. He got it rather quickly, shifting on the couch to let you pull the material off of him completely.

Left just in his boxers, you can really see the effect you have on him. Cock straining against the thin material, a visible tent with a wet patch at the tip. You lick your lips, before taking in a shaky breath. “I love how sweet you are to me. I love your hair. Love your nose.” You slide your body back a little bit, making it easier for yourself as you lean down low - bringing your face closer to his confined length. “And I love your cock.”

Was he melting? Toby was sure he was. His joints felt gooey and his entire body scalding hot. Not to mention, he was tingling all over - your soft whispered praises making him squirm beneath you. He wasn’t quite sure how to handle all of this, really. Being the focal point of your unwavering desire.

Normally, when something like this happened, you were at least bared as well. Just as vulnerable, just as shaky when he touched you just right. But this time, it was only him. Him, exposed and desperate. Him, on the receiving end of all your sinful words. No distractions, no other motive, just him.

He thinks he might just combust if you keep this up.

Little did he know, that was the plan.

You dip your head down low, nuzzling against his clothed length with a soft moan. Feeling how achingly hard he was, the pressure of it against your cheek when you rubbed up to him. His hips jolt at the contact, a strangled noise leaving his lips.

Your eyes flick upwards, and you see him watching you - his gaze equal parts aroused and in disbelief as you part your lips. “I’m gonna take care of you, don’t worry.” You murmur as your hands drift down his body to splay against his hipbones, holding him in place even as he tried to rut up towards you impatiently. “Just gotta be patient. Sit back and relax, okay?”

Easier said than done. Especially when you stick your tongue out and drag it against the length of his clothed cock. “So hard for me already.” You coo softly against the fabric, lips brushing against him in the most tantalizing way. “You look so good like this, you know? So hot.”

Toby thinks he genuinely might fucking pass out. The sight of you, mouthing against the tent in his boxers, face flushed and eyes dark, makes him feel woozy. Not to mention, you just keep talking. Just one layer away from his throbbing desire, showering him with compliments in that sweet, sweet voice of yours.

If you’re not careful, he might just cum before you even get him fully bare.

(You’re aware that’s a possibility, but would that really be so bad?)

“Y-You-“ Toby’s voice chokes off when you bring a hand downwards, leaving his hip to cup his length instead. Curling around it through the fabric of his underwear, squeezing with just enough pressure to make his vision go blurry against the edges. “J-Jesus fuck, you’re one t-to talk.” He manages out, voice trembling and wracked with stutters.

You hum softly with a sly smile on your lips, before pressing a kiss to the head of his cock.

“Maybe…” You murmur softly. “But this isn’t about me.” You lift your head up, hand still pressed against him but your lips wander. Tracing the his happy trail with a line of sloppy kisses, smearing spit against his scalding skin with each one. “This is about you.” His muscles tense up under your lips, abs flexing beneath you each time you make contact with his skin.

Slowly, you start to move your hand. Stroking him lazily as you drag your tongue against him, revelling in all the little whimpers and moans you can hear him trying to hold back. “This is about how much I love you,” You nip at his hipbone lightly, and you would swear his entire body jolted. “About how good you are to me.” You rub your thumb against the head of his cock through the fabric, and he’s hissing through his teeth. “How you deserve all this, and more.”

You can feel him throbbing under your palm, twitching every so often and so incredibly hard. If this were any other night, he’d probably be balls deep in your leaking cunt by now, but this wasn’t any other night.

As you had told him so explicitly, this was completely and utterly about him, and him alone.

“B-Baby-“ Toby’s gasping out when you squeeze him softly, right as your mouth starts to suck a red mark just above the waistband of his underwear. “Y-You gotta- I can’t-“ His words are strained and hoarse, like he’s forcing them out - and when your gaze lifts to look at him you can see why.

His head is tilted back now, jaw tense and muscles taught as his chest heaves with every shaking breath. He’s flushed all over, right down to his collarbones, and his hands are gripping the couch so tight his knuckles are going white. There’s a glint of light, and that’s when you notice the line of drool running down his neck. “I need- need to feel you. Puh-Please. D-Du wirst mich b-brechen.”

When he slips into his mother tongue, that’s how you know you’ve really gotten him good. Usually, that only really happens when he’s already deep down your throat, so to hear it before even properly touching him makes your heart jump in your chest.

He’s such a mess already. Such a beautiful, trembling mess.

His eyes, which had previously been squeezed shut, flutter open when he feels your actions still momentarily, and- Holy fuck, is he about to cry?

You can see it, the glassy sheen, making his eyes glitter when the low lights of the living room hit them. His eyelashes are damp and clumping together, and his bottom lip trembles when he releases it from where he had been gnawing it between his teeth. “S-Sei nicht gemein.” His voice quivers, and you think for a moment that you might just be a little bit of a sadist - because you don’t think he’s ever looked more lovely.

But you won’t push him. Not tonight.

“Am I being mean?” You ask softly, eyes locked on his when you shimmy down his body again. His breath catches in his throat when your lips hover over him once more - breathing out a hot puff of air against the dampened material. “I’m sorry, baby. Wasn’t trying to be. Just wanted to see if you tasted as good as you look.”

You finally, finally start to tug on his boxers. “You do, by the way.” Lower and lower you pull them, until his cock springs free just inches from your face - hitting the tensed muscles of his stomach with a slap. The moment you catch sight of him, you quickly understand why he’s so bent out of shape.

He looks painfully hard, his length flushed red and leaking at the tip as it throbs against his skin. You don’t know if you’ve ever seen him more worked up than he was now. And you’re a lot of things, but you’re not cruel.

You said you were going to take care of him, and so that’s exactly what you’d do.

You wrap a hand around the base of him, fingers curling into a gentle grip, and Toby has to fight to not just cum from that alone. Your hands, so soft and tender, felt like an angel’s touch. His chest heaves, a gasping breath leaving him when you start to slowly pump his cock. Gathering up all the sticky mess at the tip to slide it back down, grip with just the right amount of pressure, thumb dipping into his slit on each upstroke.

“H-Hah-“ Toby sinks into the cushions, mouth dropping open as soft little pants leave his lips. “Y-You.. Fuck, I l-love you.”

“Love you more, baby.” You murmur back to him, then you’re finally dipping your head down to where it needs to be. Your lips part, and you stick your tongue out before dragging it flat up the length of him - eyes on him the entire time.

Toby’s becoming increasingly convinced you’re trying to send him into cardiac arrest.

The sight of you, looking so lovely and sweet as you peer up at him through your eyelashes. Your hand languidly moving against him as you give a few kitten licks to the tip of his cock. Lapping up his precum greedily. It’s like, the perfect combination of cute and provocative, and so he really can’t help it when his hips buck up towards you eagerly. Especially not when you circle your lips around him.

“A-Ah, Scheiße-“ He hisses out, eyebrows screwing together when you start to sink your mouth down onto him - your hand still working every inch you hadn’t swallowed up yet. You’re so warm and wet, cheeks hollowing around him as you take more and more of him in. Lower and lower your head sinks, and by the time he’s bumping against the tense muscles of your throat - Toby’s thighs are already trembling beneath you.

His whole body, is trembling actually. Ragged huffs of breath spilling from his lips, along with a flurry of gasps and moans then send a bolt of heat straight down to your gut. His voice has become increasingly raspy, a fact that has you shifting your thighs together as you work to take him all. Even more so when he lets out a soft whimper before whispering; “Y-You feel so good.” The words come out as more of a whine than anything else, so desperate and overwhelmed. “D-Du fühlst dich wie H-Himmel.”

You let out a little hum in response around him, and the vibrations it lets out makes his toes curl. It’s when you take in a deep breath through your nose and sink down even lower, that his eyes are rolling back.

Your nose bumps against his pelvis, nuzzling into the soft fuzz there as his dick slides all the way into your throat - muscles wrapping around him like a glove. A soft gag from you just makes them tighten around him further, and he’s choking out a strangled cry.

You feel it when a shaking hand comes to rest on top of your head, desperate in the way his fingers immediately curl into your hair. Tugging a little too hard, maybe, but you really can’t blame him. Besides, the sting it produces isn’t even an annoyance either - it feels nice. Feels like he’s clinging onto you for dear life. Like he’d crumble apart if he ever were to let go.

Your tongue darts out, and then you’re licking up the small pool of spit that had already begun to accumulate around the base. When you start to pull your head up, an absolutely filthy slurping sound accompanies the action.

It rings in Toby’s ears, only further spiking the temperature of the heat he was completely consumed in. With laboured breathing his head is spinning, legs twitching and trembling beneath you - fingers wrapped in the strands of your soft hair. He wants to keep watching you - how your lips stretch around him, the sight of his length disappearing into your throat with each bob of your head - but it’s really a struggle.

He can barely keep his eyes open, and even when they are his vision is fogged up and unfocused. He is able to still make out how lovely you look though, flushed pink with a paralyzingly potent look of desire in your eyes. Tears cling to your lashes before they start running down your cheeks, and yet you just keep pushing. Taking his whole length every time you bring your head down, eyebrows furrowing together at the feeling of him filling your throat.

And he just can’t help himself.

The hand on your head gives an experimental bit of pressure, just seeing how you’d react. You nuzzle into his palm as your drag your tongue back up his cock, meeting his eyes with a gaze that left no questions. ‘Go ahead’. It said. ‘Do whatever you want’.

His fingers twitch. You had really meant it when you said this was all about him.

Almost hesitantly, Toby uses his grip on your hair to tug you w upwards, revelling in the way your tongue dragged against him along the way. When you’re left with just the tip enclosed in your lips, he lets out a shuddering breath. “S-So fuckin’ pretty.” He murmurs, absolutely entranced by the display in front of him. “Womit ha-habe ich dich verdient?”

Your eyes sparkle with unshed tears, and he’s completely captivated. Slowly, he pulls you back down - lips suctioning to the taut skin as you suck him back in.

He just can’t take it anymore. His head lols back against the couch’s armrest, eyes squeezing shut as wave after wave of white hot ecstasy washes over his entire body. He feels like he’s drowning in it, his head stuffed with cotton as he gasps for air. With his jaw hung open, he can absently feel the slickness as drool pools in his mouth before rolling down his chin - but he’s too far gone to even care about it.

It runs down the slope of his neck, dirtying the collar of his sweater and leaving his skin glistening. It’s just too good. You’re too good. Taking everything he was giving you so eagerly, letting him bob your head up and down on him without so much as a little whimper of complaint.

You were just eating him up. Slurping up the mess you were both creating happily, flicking your tongue against the tip every time he pulled you up. You can tell he’s incredibly close. Hell, he’d probably been holding it back for awhile now. Throbbing and twitching against your tongue, so hot and hard it felt like he might just burst any moment.

“SS-So good- So- hah- Fuck, you’re amazing.” His words are barely more than mindless babble, slurred and shaky as they pour out between moans. It’s like you’ve melted him, reducing him to a puddle of mush that you were lapping up eagerly.

Any issues from before had been wiped away completely. The fatigue, lingering frustration and annoyance from how the day had played out - it’s all gone. You’re the only thing that existed right then. You, and that glorious mouth of yours. “I’m- I’m so close, b-baby. I can’t. F-Fühlt sich zu g-gut an.”

If your mouth wasn’t stuffed full you would’ve cracked a grin.

He’s a pitiful sight right now, really. Skin smeared with drool and sweat, eyes screwed shut with tears clinging to his lashes. He’s a trembling, twitching mess - filling the air with strained whimpers and gravelly moans.

You can’t help but feel a little proud of yourself, for reducing him to such a state.

Your hands, which had been resting on his thighs, drift upwards. Over his hipbones, under the hoodie that he still donned - pushing it up to his chest. His muscles are so tense, abs more prominent than ever as they contract and relax with each nod of your head. You splay your palms wide against the skin, and Toby’s so sensitive now that he quite literally jolts at the touch.

He felt like his nerves had gone into overdrive, the simplest touch from you sending sparks of pleasure through his entire body. Your hands against him left what felt like two burning handprints against his abdomen, tingling wherever your skin met his. You feel his cock throb when he reaches your throat once more, and you know just how to push him over.

Curling your fingers, you slide your hands down his stomach - dragging your nails against the sensitive flesh as you do so. You feel his muscles convulse beneath your palms, and Toby’s letting out a sound closer to a sob than anything else as his hips kick up towards you. “A-Ah, fuck- D-Du bringst mich um.” His grip on your hair is definitely painful now, tugging at your hands so harshly that the sting is undeniable. His bucking hips start to stutter, choked off whimpers spilling from his lips before he’s gasping; “I can’t- I c-can’t, baby-“

You hum around him in encouragement, rubbing your thumbs over his hipbones in slow soothing circles. That little gentle touch, is what seemed to be the final straw.

Toby lets out a broken cry as his hips buck into your mouth, and then his shoulders are drawing back as his release hits him like a ton of bricks. It’s a pitiful sound really, a long drawn out whine followed up by a few cracked sobs of pleasure as stars dance behind his eyes.

He spills into your mouth, coating your tongue white with rope after rope of sticky warmth. You take it all like you had been starving for it - suckling at the tip to draw it all out as he squirmed and gasped on the couch beneath you. Was it too much? Maybe, but he just tasted so good - and the sounds he was making were even more delicious. It’s really hard to find the will to stop.

You don’t let up until he has to beg you to. “B-Baby- ‘S too muh-much-“ He’s whimpering out, cheeks moist with tears as his eyes flutter open to gaze down at you. He’s sniffling and shaking when you finally release him with a soft ‘pop’, and you press a kiss to the tip before you let go of him completely.

Another kiss meets the skin just below his belly button as you reach down to gently tuck him back into his boxers. His skin is still so hot to the touch, and his thighs tremble when your fingers lightly graze them.

Slowly your eyes lift as you bring your head up, and you meet gazes with Toby’s hazy ones. He looks so sated and satisfied, limbs practically limp as they sprawl against the couch cushions. Still though, he finds the energy to lift his arms and grab at you. “C’mere.” He mumbles softly, already tugging you close before you can even agree (not that you’d ever protest).

You sink into his arms easily, your body pressed to his - exchanging heat, sweat, and everything in between. Your hand lifts, and then you’re cupping his face once more, gently wiping away some of the drool on his cheek with the sleeve of your sweater.

“So sweet.” You whisper softly, tracing the curve of his jaw with your thumb. Toby’s staring up at you like you’ve hung the stars in the sky, lovestruck eyes half hidden behind drooping lids. “I love you.”

His lips stretch into a lazy smile, forming those little creases in his cheeks that you adore so much. He leans into your touch, a soft little sound of contentment leaving his lips. Then, he reaches up with a shaky hand. It finds a home back in your hair again, cupping the back of your head tenderly before he’s pulling you in closer.

“L-Love you more.” He answers back in a soft breath, one that washes over your lips before he closes the gap between you.

His lips are slick and the kiss is sloppy, but you melt into it regardless - moaning softly into his mouth when he nips at your bottom lip.

He can taste himself on your tongue when he licks into your mouth, a fact that makes a shiver go down his spine. He can still picture you, every time he closes his eyes - nestled between his thighs. So beautiful, and so determined to make him feel good.

Quite clearly, you had succeeded.

Toby’s reluctant to pull away, content with just lazily sliding his tongue against yours as you let out the sweetest noises that he just swallows right up. But, he does anyway, and a thin line of saliva connects the two of you for a moment as he pulls his head back.

Somehow, he looks even more smitten than before. “I think…” His fingers move, lightly scratching soothing patterns against your scalp. “I th-think we should have a later d-dinner. I don’t really want t-to let you move any time ss-soon.”

You let out a soft giggle and nod, easily conceding as you snuggle into him further. Your head comes to rest on his chest once more, and you breathe out a soft little sigh. His hand slides upwards, gently petting the top of your head.

“Sounds good to me.” You murmur.

Toby lets out a tired little hum, letting you lounge against him as his head tilts back once more - resting against the cushions. He can feel your heartbeat thumping against his skin, the weight of your body against his a comforting pressure.

His eyes flutter shut, and he lets out a tired breath.

He’s asleep mere moments later.

—————————————————————————☆

HOOOOOWEEEE I had a BLAST writing this! loved this concept so much I banged this whole thing out in a couple hours no breaks

something about a man crying and whimpering will do it to me every time

if any of you reading are waiting for me to post part two of my one toby fic it is being edited as we speak! just wanted to get a few asks done first - thank you for being patient <3

and as always thank you for reading!

[lemonlover1110]

𝐌𝐚𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐨𝐧𝐲

Toji Fushiguro

[Chapter 2] Lunch

← Previous Chapter - Story Masterlist

Pairing: Toji Fushiguro x f!Reader

Story Warnings: Arranged Marriage, Enemies to Lovers, Heavy Angst, Attempted Murder, Murder, Smut, Eventual Fluff and Romance

*I completely forgot that i was cross posting, forgive me!! For all of those that asked, there's no edits! It's the same as AO3!

The interview goes well– at least you think it goes well, and then you wait for the reporter and photographer to go back home. There isn’t much to talk about since your father isn’t exactly the happiest about the man you’re engaged to, and he doesn’t want to let Naobito have a piece of his mind. You say your awkward farewells before leaving the house.

Your father doesn’t shut up once he gets into the car, he rants the whole way home and you tune him out. You just can’t wait to see your daughter. Every now and then you catch a bit of what he’s saying.

“That motherfucker really fucking screwed me over. We had agreed on that other nephew of his not on that piece of shit, good-for-nothing man.” It is around the fifth time your father says those similar words, and your stepmother is annoyed.

“What the fuck did you expect? Your daughter literally has a creature that most men don’t want to deal with! Suck it up!” She raises her voice.

“Who doesn’t want to deal with Misaki? She’s an angel brought from heaven!” Your father claims, the soft spot his heart has for your daughter is very visible. But he will still choose his wife over his granddaughter, the same way he chose his wife over his daughter.

“Angel brought from heaven.” Your stepmother scoffs. She’s grateful that the Zenins will soon take you off her hands. “Naobito informed me that the wedding is set to be in a month or so. The wedding planning has begun.”

“In a month? Did he not think to inform me, considering I am the bride.” You speak up, causing a laugh to come from her. You don’t find the humor in it.

“Inform you? He told me which is more than enough. I told you the news, so it isn’t coming up to you as unexpected.” She replies. You open your mouth to speak but she interrupts you, “This isn’t a marriage that’s made of love. If you fall in love with him, then good for you but at the moment it’s not about that. It’s to clean their image and to get you and your daughter off our hands. The wedding is not going to be to your liking but to theirs.”

“You don’t have to say it like that.” Your father tells her, but you can agree with her on something.

“She’s right. That’s the only reason you’re doing it, or else why are you marrying me off to a complete stranger?” You say.

“Because it’s what’s best for you and Misaki. You saw what happened with Misaki’s father, didn’t you? He left even though you have a daughter together. He claimed he loved you, didn’t he? But you still came back to my door with your daughter because you couldn’t pay the bills.” He begins and you want to interrupt him, but you let him ramble on as you roll your eyes at his every word. “My point is, I think marrying for love is pointless unless you both have money. I’m setting up your daughter to have a successful life, even if it costs your happiness. Love didn’t bring you anything good anyways.”

“I-” You try to think of a way to defend yourself, but it’s not worth it in the end. You mutter it though, “I was just unlucky.”

“As I was saying…” Your stepmother continues talking, “The wedding will be as they envision it. The only thing that will be adjusted to you will be your gown size, which will be in fact next week.”

“How big is this wedding supposed to be? A month isn’t a lot of time to organize a big wedding.” You ask, wondering how many eyes will be on you in a month.

“Really big. Every person imaginable will be there.” She answers. “As to wedding preparations, you don’t have to worry because you’re not doing it. The Zenins have hired people that are more than capable and work fast.”

You just stay quiet and close your eyes. Maybe this is all a dream– More like a nightmare. Maybe when you open your eyes back up you’ll go back to when you were five, when life was good. When you could go running back to your mother and give her a hug and she’d fill your face with kisses until you begged her to stop.

But you open your eyes back up, and the only thing you see is your father’s house, which looks as horrid as ever with the lack of color. You remember once upon a time that the outside was filled with a mix of beautiful colors, now it's colorless. The flowers that your mom once planted are gone; they have been for a long time.

You’re the first to get out of the car, and walk to the front door. You knock since you have no keys. Soon enough the door opens and you see the babysitter that your father hired. She lives in the neighborhood and is roughly sixteen years old.

“Hello, Utahime.” You greet her and she greets you back. “Did she behave?”

“She was a sweetheart.” She answers. You walk into the home, and as the little girl notices she drops her doll and runs to your side.

“Mommy!” She yells as she runs to your side. You kneel down to receive the hug that she so warmly welcomes you with. You kiss her cheek. She’s quick to ask, “How was lunch?”

“It was- good!” You tell her. She’s too young to know or even understand what’s going on. She made a fuss before you left and you assured her that you’d be back soon, that you were only having lunch with friends. “Nothing too interesting, how about you, baby? How did you like your time with Utahime?”

“It was good!” She replies. Your father and stepmother walk through the door and your daughter rushes to greet your father. She receives the same treatment you do from your stepmother, so she rightfully doesn’t like the woman. You get off the ground, and go upstairs to get Utahime’s money.

You quickly go back downstairs with the money and give it to Utahime. She thanks you and gets her stuff. She says her goodbyes before walking out the door.

Once the door closes, your stepmother opens her mouth. She looks down at Misaki. “You’ll be having a dad soon.”

“What?” Your daughter asks, blinking at the very much older woman, very confused. “What does that mean?”

You glare at the woman. Maybe you’re looking more forward to this wedding day than you first thought. You’ll even prepare a speech of all the things you want to tell her.

“Is daddy coming back?” Your daughter questions, hope in her voice which makes you want to break down crying. It hurts to crush her illusion.

“No, Misaki, you’re getting a new daddy.” Your stepmother responds. Your daughter’s hopes are not the same, but she’s not crushed. She doesn’t remember her father that much so she’s not scared of someone replacing him.

“Misaki, do you want to watch a movie with me?” You ask, switching the topic. She nods and walks to your side.

“Wake up, you two.” You hear a not so nice voice that slowly causes you to open your eyes. You look at the woman you despise more than anything in this world, and your day is already ruined. You know it’s not going to be a good day.

You caress your daughter’s cheek since she’s always hard to wake up in the morning. She groans but she eventually opens her eyes. The woman still stands in your room. It’s a rare sight to have her wake you up.

“What?” You ask, wondering what she wants. She never needs anything from you which is why you never spoke. She has people to cook or clean for her since your father is more than blessed to have the money for. Otherwise, you would be the one to be doing those chores. She wouldn’t be with him in the first place if he had no money.

You’re not the same little girl that she could torment so there’s no point in being in your room, more or less speaking with you.

“You have lunch with Toji today. Misaki is coming with, and there’s a couple of hidden paparazzi’s so make sure to look decent.” She informs you. You sigh as you get up from bed. “Be ready in two hours.”

You get up from bed and let the child rest for a couple more minutes while you begin the process of getting yourself ready. You first take a shower, and when you come back out you see your daughter still sleeping.

You wake her up again, and she gets up looking around confused. You want to smile. She’s your literal clone, she just has a couple miniscule features that are like her dad’s.

“We’re going out to lunch, baby.” You inform her. You walk back to the bathroom to fill the bathtub up with water for your daughter. You walk back to the room, and she’s still really tired. She wants to lay back down but you try to get her excited to go out. “We can get ice cream after lunch.”

“Really?” She asks, practically sold. She’s now fully awake and she gets out of the bed. She walks out of the room and into the bathroom. You walk in as well, while she does her business you shut off the faucet that is ruining water.

“Are we going to meet my new daddy?” She asks, which catches you off guard. You’re not sure how to respond.

“I-” You begin, but can’t find the right words. “He’s not your new daddy, honey, but we will be seeing him a lot more, soon.”

“Okay!” She responds as she gets up to wash her hands. You want to chuckle, thinking about how easy that was.

You get to the restaurant, and your father and stepmother decide to sit a couple of tables over. You sigh watching them be led by the hostess to their seat. You don’t get too much time to stare at them, soon enough you’re being led to the table your future husband is sitting at. 

You notice the infant that is sitting in a high chair, right next to his dad. There’s a genuine smile on Toji’s face as he feeds the baby some of the baby food. The baby isn’t too pleased with the food, you notice as his nose scrunches up, and half the food is practically down his chin.

The smile on Toji’s face disappears as he sees you and the little girl that is holding on to your hand. You make your daughter sit down before sitting down next to her. You and Toji exchange looks, his being nastier than yours. But he remembers there’s supposedly people around that are watching.

“This is my daughter, Misaki.” You introduce the little girl who is shy when meeting new people. She warms up easily, but Toji just has an intimidating look.

“Hi!” She surprisingly says, waving at the man. He’s not the kindest, but he has some manners. He reminds himself that your daughter is not you.

“Hi, I’m Toji.” He waves back. Toji then goes back to paying attention to Megumi. He tries to give the baby more food but he just flat out refuses to open his mouth. Toji sighs and puts the food back into the food. He looks back at you two, looking more at your daughter so his dislike towards you doesn’t seem as evident. “This is my son, Megumi.”

“Megumi’s a cute name. One of my baby dolls is named Megumi.” She is quick to inform him. She warmed up fast. He raises his eyebrow and continues the conversation with the child.

"Really? That's nice." Toji says. The waitress comes up to the table and you order your drinks. You watch the baby and can’t help but help but smile at the baby's adorable face.

“He’s so cute.” You comment and Toji hums in agreement. 

Toji taps his fingers on the table, everything a bit too awkward. He just doesn’t understand why he feels this way. Annoyed. You haven’t really done anything, and you seem like a decent enough human being but he feels frustrated and mad when he just so happens to look at you.

He just needed you to refuse that proposal, and make the Zenins clean up Toji’s image some other way. But getting married again so quickly– It is an easy plan, he admits, but he prefers a harder one because he learned that matrimony is a sacred thing.

He doesn’t want to get married again. More or less, with someone he’s not in love with. Since he’s not getting what he wants because of you, the negative feelings take over.

“How old are you?” His eyes are on your daughter. She puts five fingers up, a smile on her face as she tells him verbally.

“Five!” She tells him.

“Are you in school?” He continues questioning, wanting to know more about his future stepdaughter because the wedding is going to happen whether he likes it or not. Unless something happens.

He fights back a smirk as an idea comes to mind. The Zenins can’t throw him in the streets if something were to just happen to you.

“Mommy put me in preschool. I’ll be starting kindergarten soon!” She excitedly responds.

The waitress comes back with your drinks. Misaki and Toji continue to chat while you watch baby Megumi, who took a liking to the spoon. He wasn’t slapping it on the high chair, something your daughter would’ve done at his age, but he inspects it. He puts his little chubby fingers on it.

And as you hear your daughter speak with Toji, and watch as the adorable baby inspects his spoon, you think that things won’t be so bad.

[mariasont]

mariaaa!! i have another idea!! > 3 <

ok, so…

sleepy, needy, & clingy bimbo!reader with hotch

either before they together or when they first get together <3

Hot & Bothered (No, Like, Literally, You Have a Fever) - A.H.

summary: bimbo!assistant!reader is feverish, clingy & just a little delirious, except, not too delirious to shamelessly flirt with your very attractive, very exasperated boyfriend. pairings: aaron hotchner x bimbo!assistant!reader warnings: sick!reader, no use of y/n, established relationship, soft!hotch, flirty banter, suggestive-ish content, clingy!reader, hotch ignoring all cdc guidelines, reader is kinda being a baby about everything (just like me fr), theatre kid hotch. wc: 2.3k

You started off playing it cute. All little sighs, sending Aaron pouty texts filled with emojis, making sure he knew you missed him, but in a haha, just kidding (unless?) kind of way. Now you're way past that. The cute phase had dissolved into something far more desperate.

You were sick-sick. The terrible kind of sick where your limbs feel like they're made of granite, and your skin somehow manages to burn and freeze at the same time.

Worst of all, Aaron wasn't here.

And really, what was the point of having a boyfriend as stupidly gorgeous, painfully competent, and naturally overprotective as Aaron Hotchner if he wasn't going to be around when you need him most?

You knew you were being dramatic. You knew this was your own fault. Aaron had practically ordered you to let him come home with you, standing there in his office with his disapproving frown, telling you that you shouldn't be alone if you weren't feeling well.

But in your infinite wisdom, you had waved him off, told him to stay at work. Because at the time, you were fine. Or, more so, fine-adjacent. And because sometimes, your brain tricks you into thinking you are a capable, independent woman who does not, in fact, require Hotch-shaped supervision.

So now you're curled up in bed, drowning in the well-worn fabric of his FBI academy hoodie, the one that smells like him. And it helps. But not enough.

Because if he were here, he'd be so good at taking care of you. He'd probably be all bossy and stern about it, telling you to drink your water, go to sleep, and stop pouting. But then he'd turn around and betray himself completely by smoothing your hair back so, so softly, by tucking the blankets up to your chin like you're something delicate. Contrary to popular belief, he did have a soft side.

Maybe you should call him. Maybe you should be really, really pathetic about it and beg him to come home.

Maybe you're just a little too codependent. (Just a little.)

The second the front door opens, you think you must be imaging it. You convince yourself it's the fever, twisting reality into want instead of what actually is. Because Aaron shouldn't be home yet.

You squint at the clock, but it's just a bunch of blurry numbers, and math is already hard enough without feeling like your brain is actively melting.

But then there's the sound of leather against hardwood, and not just any leather.

You know those shoes. The custom Italian Oxfords you forced him to let you buy. He'd grumbled about the price, all exasperated and dramatic (as if he had any real concept of what good leather actually costs), but he still let you drag him to the store. Still let you lace them up for him. Still let you kiss him senseless in the parking lot because he looked too insanely sexy in them to be allowed to exist without immediate compensation.

You'd told him once that good shoes take you good places. And now look where they took him.

Straight home to you.

The relief is so instantaneous, it makes your head spin. And suddenly, he's there, shoulders broad against the door frame, arms crossed, eyes warm despite the unimpressed look he's attempting to pull off.

"My poor baby," he says, half-teasing, but mostly just achingly soft.

Your bottom lip wobbles. "It's not that bad."

Aaron sighs loudly, already loosening his tie as he strides over, assessing the damage, which, in this case, is you, buried under what is objectively a very reasonable amount of blankets.

"Uh-huh." Flat. Dry. But he's already reaching to fix them, like he can't help himself. "That why you're buried in every blanket we own?"

You burrow deeper into said blankets. Maybe if you commit hard enough, he'll stop looking so smug.

"They're comfy."

He crouches beside the bed, undoing the last button on his cuff before pressing the back of his hand to your forehead. His touch is cool, and you lean into it immediately, shameless at how much you enjoy his skin against your overheated own.

"You're hot."

You blink at him, dazed, and—without thinking—mumble, "So are you."

The moment the words leave your mouth, you regret them. Not because they're untrue, that's indisputable, but because of the sheer pathetic delivery of it, all scratchy and pitiful and nothing like the effortless flirtation you usually bring to the table.

You groan, squeezing your eyes shut like that might somehow reverse time.

Aaron, of course, is completely unbearable about it. His lips twitch, and you can see it happening in real time, his struggle not to laugh directly in your face.

"Flattered," he drawls, his thumb brushing over your temple, fingers carding through your hair in slow strokes. "Have you been drinking enough water?"

You wrinkle your nose. "Water is boring."

"You're boring."

You gasp, sniffling as you try to look offended, despite the congestion ruining your tone. "Boring? You weren't calling me boring last night when I—,"

"Okay."

Aaron cuts you off immediately, already leaning down, pressing kiss after kiss to your face—forehead, cheeks, anywhere he can reach. You squeal in protest (or, well, try to, your voice is too weak for it to be truly effective), but he just laughs against your skin, relentless.

"Okay, I take it back," he murmurs, kissing your nose like an apology. Like a bribe. "You're the most exciting person I know. Now be exciting and drink some water before I have to force it down your throat."

"Force it down my throat?" you rasp, a weak smirk pulling at your lips as your fingers prod into his dress shirt. "You promise?"

"So inappropriate." He lets out a breathy laugh, shaking his head, but his hands are already cupping your face, his lips pressing to yours, like he loves kissing you too much to stop himself.

You barely have time to enjoy it before your brain remembers how sickness works.

"Wait, germs!"

Aaron just smirks, tilting your face up with a knuckle under your chin. "Since you brought up last night, that's an interesting concern, considering where your mouth was last night."

You should say something flirty in return. Something about how that was different because it was basically an act of public service (one you love providing). Because that's what you do. You throw him off, make him sigh like you're exhausting and adorable at the same time, watching his ears flush pink when he pretends he's not affected.

But the words never come, instead, your brain hands you a far worse visual. Aaron, like this, but worse. His face pale, head pressed against a pillow, forehead creased with discomfort he wouldn't acknowledge. You can see it clearly, the way he'd insist he's fine, the way he'd make it through a workday half-dead before even considering rest.

And suddenly nothing is funny.

Your fingers clutch at his shirt without thinking, like holding onto him will somehow fix the terrible, awful, no-good mental image you just had.

You're frowning, and you don't even realize it, not until Aaron does, his thumb pressing lightly against the center of your forehead, like he can smooth it away.

"I don't want you to get sick."

"My sweet girl," he murmurs, fingers threading through your hair once before he stands. "I can handle a cold. What I can't handle is you being miserable and dehydrated. Be good and let me take care of you."

Aaron disappears before you can argue and by the time he returns, a glass of water in hand, you've barely had a chance to process how much you missed him in those few seconds.

You watch as he puts it down on the nightstand beside you.

"There. Now drink."

"Yes, sir," you mumble, taking a few small sips just to prove that you're listening.

But if he really wanted you hydrated, he should've just kissed you again.

Aaron's eyes narrow, shooting you a pointed look.

You sigh, loud and put-upon, then take another sip, longer, just to appease him. You make a show out of it, before immediately reaching out, patting the empty space beside you with undeniable urgency.

Aaron snorts. "Didn't last long, did you?"

"I'm sick. I need warmth and love."

He exhales so dramatically, shaking his head. "If that's what my poor, suffering girl needs, then I suppose I have no choice."

Alright, theatre kid.

You bite your tongue, not because you're wrong, but because self-preservation is a skill, and you'd like to see another sunrise. And, fine. If he wanted to pretend like sitting still for five minutes was his own personal crucifixion, then who were you to deny him. It wasn't your fault, he ran himself into the ground, like he was trying to beat time himself, working to the bone until someone (you) had to physically drag him to bed.

You watch, maybe a little too intently, as he kicks off his shoes, undoes his belt, and swaps out his boring, stuffy work pants for the sweats. Your sweats. The ones you have a deeply personal attachment to.

You have history with those sweats.

"You know, you put those on and suddenly I start feeling a whole lot better." Call it divine intervention, maybe. "Do you think if you let me sit on your lap, I'd be at full strength again? Because I think we should at least try. For medical purposes."

Aaron settles in beside you, pressing one, two, three kisses to your lips, because he can, because he wants to. When he pulls back, he's smirking.

"Cheeky girl," he murmurs, thumb skimming your jaw. "And here I was, thinking you needed me to take care of you. Turns out you just wanted an excuse to climb all over me. How tragic. I've been completely fooled."

You brain-to-hand coordination is questionable at best, but that doesn't stop you from attempting to very subtly slip your fingers along the waistband of his sweats.

Aaron grabs your wrist instantly laughing—an actual, real, Hotchner laugh.

"Sweetheart," he muses, so damn amused, his thumb tripping over the pulse point of your wrist. "You can barely hold your head up, and you're trying to start something?"

"With a boyfriend like you, I'm like, legally required to start something."

Aaron lets out the longest, most suffering sigh known to man.

Like you said—theatre kid.

"Don't I know it. You're insatiable."

You open your mouth, fully prepared to launch into a passionate defense of you very reasonable levels of attraction to him, but a sneeze—tiny, weak, kind of embarrassing—ruins it.

Aaron's smirk evaporates. It happens fast, like a switch flipping, like he's just remembered, really remembered, that you're not at full strength, that beneath all your teasing, you're a little delicate, too easily worn down.

For a second, he just stares, jaw tight, brows furrowing ever so slightly, like the sight of you, flushed cheeks, fever-glazed eyes, pathetic sneezy, physically pains him.

And then you're moving, no he's moving, pulling you in, tucking you into his chest, as if you were something his hands were built to protect.

"And yet, here you are," he murmurs, kissing your temple, breathing against your hair, "disease-ridden and tragically adorable."

You sigh, shoving your face as close as humanly possibly, like some kind of human limpet. His heartbeat is strong beneath your ear, soothing, a constant thump thump thump that makes your eyelids droop.

"I really missed you today."

Aaron's arms tighten around you, but then you sniffle. Not the same pathetic little sound from earlier. This one's different. This one is softer, wetter.

He tenses just enough for you to feel it, enough to make you regret it, because now he knows.

You blink rapidly, tilting your face down, trying to breathe past the sudden, stupid sting behind your eyes, willing it go away before he—

Too late.

His arms loosen just enough to tilt his head down, scanning your face like he's already trying to figure out how to make it better.

You turn, burying your face in his chest. "I'm fine."

A lie. A bad one at that. So laughably transparent that even you wince a little.

Aaron doesn't call you on it, however, just pulls back slightly, just enough to cup your cheek, catching the tear before it falls.

"Oh baby," he breathes, voice a little rough, like he wants to pull the sadness out of you and keep it for himself.

He presses another kiss to your temple, then another, then another, like he needs to fix something unfixable, his fingers curling around the nape of your neck.

"You're killing me here."

You sniffle. Again.

"M'sorry," you mumble. "This is probably like... super unattractive."

Aaron shifts again, tilting your chin up as his thumb brushes against your cheek.

"Still the prettiest girl I've ever seen," he murmurs, but his jaw is tight, his fingers flexing against your skin. "I should've come home sooner."

"You wouldn't have lasted," you mumble, voice slowing, words dragging just a little.

Aaron raises an eyebrow. "And why's that?"

"Because you'd stress yourself out." You hum sleepily, tracing absent circles against his shirt. "You'd take my temperature every hour. Make me drink disgusting tea. Then, once you ran out of things to fuss over, you'd start deep-cleaning the grout just to feel useful."

He snorts, shaking his head. "You make me sound unbearable."

"You are unbearable," you murmur, but your grip tightens around him, contradicting yourself entirely. "But in a very sexy, very productive way."

He laughs and presses a kiss to your temple.

"You know what would make me feel better?"

Aaron's chest rises with a deep inhale, like he already knows. His arm tenses around you. "Sweetheart—,"

You grin against his shirt, weakly.

"A very hands on wellness check."

Aaron chokes out a laugh, tightening the blankets around you. "Christ."

He presses one last kiss to your forehead and you think you hear him mumble should've seen that one coming under his breath.

You hum in agreement, mentally ranking all the times he should've seen something coming.

This moment, obviously.

The time he let you fall asleep on him once and then acted surprised when it became a permanent thing.

The time he told you to be serious and then immediately realized that was the worst possible way to get you to stop joking.

The time he tried to fight it, tried to keep you at arm's length, tried to act like this thing between you wasn't inevitable.

You should tell him. You should. But then he tucks you closer, breath hot against your temple. And before you can launch into your incredibly important findings, you're already too far gone.

💌 masterlist taglist has been disbanned! if you want to get updates about my writings follow and turn notifications on for my account strictly for reblogging my works! @mariasreblogs

[toxictransrobot]

Personally I think proof that New Vegas had the capabilities to ascend "beyond" the clutches of the FO3 engine is the entirety of the Dead Money DLC.

Its atmosphere is impeccable, it isn't afraid to be downright unfair and recontextualizes the combat the engine gives you in a way I think is neat (especially when you go in at an early level!). The same goes for the crafting in that DLC, because all of your items got yanked away from you, you give that much closer attention to the world around you, letting you take everything in better.

The way every Companion is AMAZINGLY written, which tbf has been the case for some of them in the base game too! However unlike the base game, the Difficulty of the DLC + the really good bonuses /abilities every companion gives you means that you are way more invested in them, letting you take in their writing a lot more!

(This is something FO1/2 did too, just by having combat be a nightmare and more turns on your side be a MASSIVE improvement you feel much closer to everyone you recruit! Having the "gameplay" and "story" this intertwined is imo very very important.)

The Map design is amazing too, with a hub and clear signs letting you explore without needing the god forsaken compass telling you where to go (the base game tried tackling this too but I think it didn't succeed as well)

It all flows so well together, I wish the entire game was like that, it is a miracle that it works as well as it does,,,

I have never tried playing the DLC in the hardcore mode and now I wonder what it would be like.

I do agree with @stylo-90 that New Vegas is a very far cry from FO1/2 but maybe give Dead Money a try! You might be suprised, though do go there with a low level, otherwise it gets ruined in a very similar way to the rest of the game.

IMO, the biggest videogame opinion red flag is something being unfavourably compared to “unmodded skyrim”. i agree with the baseline assertion that Skyrim is a bad & boring videogame, but i think it’s laughable to say these problems could be solved though modding. sure, you can mitigate how uninteresting and broken Skyrim is, but the issue isn’t just the content, the entire framework & engine is the sloppiest, sludgiest, mushiest take on an open world fantasy rpg i can even imagine. the entirety of every system in Skyrim would have to be thrown out to make it worth playing

[markantonys]

3x01 cold open!!!!! between rafe and everyone hyping up this scene for a long time now and people from the brazil con reporting descriptions of it, we knew how it was going to go down, so no huge surprises for me, but so exciting to watch it for myself! it definitely lives up to the hype!

a few quick thoughts

what do liandrin, sharon gilham, lorne balfe, and the vfx team have in common? they're all slaying in this opening sequence! i'm not someone who's at all knowledgeable about or sensitive to production value, but even i can tell they've stepped it up yet another notch this season. it looks decadent! epic! i can see why everyone involved has been boasting about this sequence so much! what a way to start the season.

it's also fantastic setup for all the tensions and weak points within the tower, because we see our inter-ajah mistrust, we see doubt in siuan's leadership, and of course we see the black ajah. that faceoff outside the hall between red sisters and others was really great - it shows that not all reds are like liandrin and some of them are light-serving, that non-reds can be black ajah, and that light-serving enemy ajahs will have to figure out how to trust each other and work together if they want to be strong enough to fight the shadow. this sequence does a good job establishing that the tower isn't split into just good guys vs. darkfriends, but that the good guys themselves are fractured and opposing each other.

i'd thrown out a wild speculation of diem camille as a surprise tuon since nothing was known about what character she might be playing, but we see her here as a light-serving red sister! i was wishing for the x-ray feature of the normal episodes here to see if any of the new aes sedai have names we might recognize, or if they're just randoms.

i'd have to rewatch closely to take a tally, but we seem to have representation from just about every ajah in liandrin's group: liandrin for red, nyomi for brown (sob!), joiya for gray, the green sister who was glad her warders died, the yellow sister who healed liandrin, and i think i saw a blue sister as well. there might have been a couple others besides these ones too!

in s2 we had a few scraps between channelers, but i think this is the first extended multi-person channeling battle we've seen. it's so exciting!! and awesome to see the gloves come off for our usually-composed and regal siuan, and see what she's capable of. we also see her doing a tricksy evasion of liandrin's accusations about what happened in cairhien, since everything liandrin said is true and siuan can't deny it, so siuan is definitely set up to be in some hot water.

leane also killed it! loved that moment of her beating someone up with her staff - a good visual demonstration of the oaths placing no restriction on non-channeling violence (though i'm sure this would've counted as "the last defense of her life/the life of another sister" anyway). wild theory i'm by no means subscribing to without rewatching to check for it, but just throwing it out there: could leane have been stilled during the battle and that's why she's doing physical fighting here? just thinking about the CV leak that named lelaine as the keeper of the chronicles; that could make sense if leane was stilled here and needs to be replaced. but it's also entirely possible that CV leak was inaccurate or that lelaine is slated to become future keeper in salidar but not yet in s3, and there wasn't any moment calling attention to leane being stilled or anything like that, so probably not.

we got a time-check as well: it's been 1 month since the cairhien events of 2x07, and therefore since falme too since i think that battle takes place basically the next day. that feels like a reasonable timeskip to me. enough time for the gang to gather their wits and come up with the best way to handle the truth bomb of liandrin being a darkfriend (and for rand to grow out his hair a little haha) but not so long that it feels like they've been sitting on their asses when there's stuff to get done.

correct me if i missed her, but i don't think we saw ryma in this sequence, but she is reported to be in s3. so, either we'll see her in the tower later on, or she's still with the seanchan and maybe we'll see her in tanchico (at which time hopefully our gang will free her!). i would most expect her to be relevant to the story via nynaeve again this season, whether that be a tanchico encounter where nynaeve frees her or early-season lessons in the tower if she's already free (we see a reminder of nynaeve's block during the battle, with our poor girl once again failing to channel when she really needs to).

people have pointed out that that shot of joiya sitting on the floor in the trailer looks like it might be the angreal storeroom, so the theory is that she gets captured and taken prisoner in this battle. that would track with the books, where the wondergirls take her prisoner and eventually get out of her that tanchico is the place to go for their hunt.

speaking of the storeroom, people have spotted what looks like a redstone doorway in it!! i've brightened it up to see better:

this is VERY intriguing, as my current theory had been that mat would find it in tanchico towards the end of the season. but i do stand by that his neck doesn't look injured in the tanchico still from ep6, nor is he wearing a medallion (which we can feel pretty confident is coming this season since he has it on the poster), so it could be that this white tower doorway is only an easter egg and the ones that people actually go through are located elsewhere, or it could be that mat does take two trips after all and he gets his answers in the white tower doorway in the early season (perhaps his motivation for going to tanchico instead of joining rand or perrin?) and his items & hanging in a tanchico doorway at the end of the season. but there would also have to be one in rhuidean for moiraine and lanfear to go through, right? so could there be 3 doorways in showverse? tar valon, tanchico, and rhuidean? i don't think there would be any problem with that.

okay, i think that's all the thoughts i had off the top of my head! this is a sequence that happens offscreen in the books, and bringing it onscreen was such a smart choice. it makes great use of our established aes sedai players, sets up the huge tensions brewing in the tower just in time for elaida coming on the scene, and really drives home for the audience that ANYONE can be black ajah/a darkfriend, so we'll be feeling that paranoia and mistrust right alongside the aes sedai.

and this is only the first scene of the season! i can't wait to see everything else that's to come!!

[please-read-the-manga]

'Sasuke deserves to die in a ditch.' Actually, though?

Decided to make this its own post because truthfully I don't know the etiquette here, but someone posted something pretty laughably egregious in the 'Sasuke' tag (as far as character interpretations go) and I felt compelled to gather up some manga panels to try and figure out where they were coming from and if you could feasibly justify their take.

The initial assertion, from what I gather, is that Sasuke's supposed inaction towards Orochimaru's other prisoners/experiments is heinous and as a result has warped him into such an evil that even Itachi cannot/should not forgive him. I am summarizing, perhaps crudely, but it's not the most thought out concept in the original post lol. I did consider it, though... were we ever shown Sasuke participating or condoning Orochimaru's actions? Was Sasuke complicit and to what degree?

Now, I'll briefly caveat that I think it seems like the original post might have been more of a story request? Which, in that case, who am I really to judge what someone wants to write for their own fun/enjoyment? But taking it in good faith that that's all it is and the post wasn't actually bait (which I acknowledge I'm falling hook, line, and sinker for if so lol), then that's still a pretty tall order for a story as it (imo) requires such a dramatic departure from the canon portrayals of multiple characters to make it work.

I mean, even the cognitive dissonance Itachi would have to employ in an act of ultimate hypocrisy to judge Sasuke's alleged inaction as any worse/less agreeable than his own active violence would be incredibly fascinating given he is the murderer of countless innocents, operated as a reliable agent in a terrorist organization for multiple years and faithfully did whatever it took to uphold the appearance of loyalty, and encouraged Sasuke to go to any length for enough power to defeat him/later be able to fend for himself post-assisted suicide.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's just check out some panels and reflect on what Sasuke was doing while he was under Orochimaru's control and see what we can extrapolate from there.

1.) We can start out easy with Sasuke's alleged interest/participation in Orochimaru's experiments to which we are blatantly shown that he actually has complete and utter disgust for Orochimaru's methods.

He is revolted by what Orochimaru does for his experiments, even (in the panels above) likening Orochimaru's cruelty to that of Itachi's, someone who (at this point in the story) Sasuke views as the ultimate evil.

The rest will be hosted under the cut because adding panels (and I apparently hit the limit of that) drags out the length of these posts to an absurd degree.

2.) Kishimoto makes a point of showing us that Sasuke has deliberately chosen not to kill or even give in to Orochimaru's cruelty during their time together, something Orochimaru mocks him for.

Sasuke's sole goal at this point in the story is to achieve justice for his slaughtered family and bloodline. He even continues to reiterate this point post-Orochimaru's death (but pre-Itachi death/reveal of Konoha's atrocious betrayal of the Uchiha) to Team Hebi.

3.) Sasuke outright states that he was only able to kill Orochimaru while he was weakened. He is also well aware that Orochimaru wishes to possess his body (ie. genetics) and, given that he is prepared to face Orochimaru at this exact, pivotal moment when he is most weakened/Sasuke is most guaranteed victory (ie. Sasuke is not taken off guard at all), I think you can make the argument that he was keenly preparing to attack/kill Orochimaru as soon as he was able. If he didn't do so earlier, then perhaps it stands to reason he didn't believe he was capable of succeeding at any other point.

4.) Sasuke certainly has some degree of freedom and maneuverability that other captives of Orochimaru do not, but he is definitely not an equal to Orochimaru and that power dynamic between them is reiterated frequently. While he is sometimes referred to with respect, he is also referred to as a pet/experiment. A gilded cage is still a cage. The power dynamic of Orochimaru as the master and Sasuke as his captive/future vessel/object of desire is notably and routinely emphasized.

*Note Suigetsu's use of 'we' and 'us'. To me, this implies that Sasuke is viewed by other captives as 'one of them' and not someone operating alongside Orochimaru like, say, Kabuto and Karin. Also, I'm out of images, but there's a panel I had to delete for space which has Orochimaru referring to Team Taka + Sasuke as his 'superior lab rats' again emphasizing Sasuke's status.

5.) Speaking of Suigetsu (who we know was experimented upon), he appears to be quite familiar with Sasuke when Sasuke comes to free him. While we unfortunately don't get to see it, its obvious that a relationship of some degree has been formed between the two. Their familiarity with one another highlights that this is not the first time Suigetsu and Sasuke are meeting and from this we can (perhaps) infer that he and Sasuke bonded at an earlier point and, due to the lack of antagonism from Suigetsu towards Sasuke compared to his immediate dislike of Karin who he does state experimented on him, Sasuke did not participate in his torture.

Keep in mind that, at this stage in the story, this is a hardened Sasuke who has fully embraced his role as the sole arbiter of justice that can do right by his family, but it's still Sasuke. This is still the same Sasuke who fed Naruto, violating Kakashi's rules, and risked never becoming a ninja. This is the same Sasuke who sacrificed his life for Naruto, who called Naruto and Sakura his precious people he wanted to protect, etc. This is the same Sasuke who a few chapters later goes out of his way to show respect to the ninja cats and Nekobaa, thanking her for everything! Even if he may have been hardened, I'd argue we are almost always encouraged (as readers) to remember that Sasuke is fundamentally a good, kind child (like Naruto) that was horrifically tortured and manipulated by bad actors and the corrupt ninja system into embracing those more violent tendencies out of his deep love for others and a need for survival. Naruto, importantly, never lets this image of Sasuke fall from memory and, in my opinion, neither should the reader. In this vein, who is to say he never fed Suigetsu when Kabuto wasn't looking, igniting their bond? That he and Suigetsu didn't talk about their brothers? It's pure conjecture, but thoughts to consider that aren't the most braindead 'Sasuke is pure evil' nonsense you see out there lol.

*Also, 'I knew you'd show up' can imply so much. Did Suigetsu know of Sasuke's plans to overtake Orochimaru? Why was he so sure Sasuke would come rescue him? Much to consider there.

6.) Outside of Suigetsu, let's take a moment to look at how other prisoners/captives view Sasuke. We are directly shown that they, in some form or another, view him as one of them. Again, I interpret this to have emerged from an understood kinship that informs Sasuke's status as 'Orochimaru's next vessel' as not inherently divorced from the idea of him being just as much a captive/victim as them.

Sure, he is afforded some privileges as we've already mentioned (being at Orochimaru's side and not in a cell, for example) but this does not negate the fact Orochimaru always intended to use him, just as he used every other prisoner/captive under his watch. Also, as far as these privileges go, I find it interesting that it's also implied Sasuke was constantly (or at least a majority of the time) accompanied/monitored by Orochimaru and Kabuto given that his mere presence without Orochimaru/Kabuto breathing down his neck is notable enough that people comment on it.

*Note the use of 'chaperone' here, I think that's an interesting choice of word.

7.) Now, let's discuss the curse mark which is the sole reason why Sasuke is with Orochimaru to begin with.

Orochimaru deliberately coveted, targeted, and groomed Sasuke as far back as the Chunin Exam arc so that he could harvest his genetics. He forcibly placed a curse mark (again, read: CURSE, this was not some fun little power-up, it retains extremely negative drawbacks) on the body of a 12-year-old genin who was taking a state-sponsored meat grinder-style exam while up against one of the Legendary Sannin he couldn't possibly hope to defeat.

And we know that the curse mark Sasuke never asked for includes the following:

It debilitates him/constantly erodes his body.

It could have immediately killed him (multiple characters familiar with the curse marks are shocked he survived and continues to survive).

It amplifies and inflames his hatred (we see Orochimaru taunting him and inflaming his survivor's guilt while he is knocked out, ie. utilizing his horrific trauma against him).

And, ultimately, it is implied it would have eventually always required Sasuke to seek Orochimaru out to survive it.

Additionally Orochimaru is frequently shown targeting vulnerable children just like Sasuke and manipulating them for his own gain. This is standard practice for him and as far as extremely vulnerable children go, there are hardly any better examples than Sasuke. There was always an inherent power imbalance shown in the relationships between him and the children he is manipulating. He handles them in a way that is expressly individualized to exert ultimate control over the relationship.

8.) And, on top of the curse mark, Sasuke must contend with Itachi's conditioning of his psyche. At the ripe age of seven, Sasuke was actively encouraged by Itachi to give in to killing to try and strengthen his sharingan (ie. the infamous 'kill your best friend' directive). Importantly, Sasuke resisted this! Even though he had no reason not to follow the bloody path his brother laid for him, he refused to give into such cruelty. This is on top of the intense psychological torture and enormous weight that Sasuke had to bear in his quest for justice. Knowing you are the only survivor and no one else cares half as much as you do about avenging your annihilated family and culture is no small pressure to bear. To then actively choose to do it your way and stay true to yourself/values, is also commendable.

9.) I saved this one for later on as it's pretty well known among fans already and so directly refutes OP's concept of Sasuke holding no care for the other captives around him. But Sasuke goes on to free Orochimaru's prisoners as soon as he can. Straight up does not leave them hanging lol.

Side note: I love these panels, I wish a lot more had been done with them. It was around this time in the manga I really wish it had been renamed Sasuke, because everything going on here was x10 more interesting than anything happening with the Konoha crowd lol.

10.) Finally, as far as Sasuke goes, we have to acknowledge that Sasuke's ultimate goals always revolve around avenging the grave injustices done against those he loves/loved. Sasuke represents selfless love, he will sacrifice everything so his loved ones (his mother, father, brother, and clan) who have had all these wrongs done against them are given proper rest and justice.

He is deeply traumatized, he doesn't always fully know the entire story (as it's in the best interest of the bad actors around him -Itachi, Orochimaru, Obito- for him not to know everything/the entire truth), and he often struggles to express his thoughts/feelings in an adequate way that will afford him the help/answers he needs from others. So, Sasuke is not without his flaws/difficulties. But you'd have to be purposefully misinterpreting the text/his characterization to not see the good in him that Naruto, the main character, is loudly, constantly, directly shouting about at every chance he gets.

And let's end on the quick, again, laughable idea Itachi would ever 'put down' Sasuke. We have a couple of Itachi's to consider:

We have Itachi 0.0, a traumatized child who had far too much responsibility foisted upon him, who took Danzo's shit genocide deal that guaranteed ONLY Sasuke would be spared. At this stage (and again, young traumatized child soldier) Itachi would rather have his name besmirched for eternity and be the mass murderer to his own flesh and blood than ever put his baby brother in danger and this is coupled with the fact Danzo is an incredibly manipulative, evil genocider who couldn't wait to mutilate some bodies/rob some graves for his own power/ambition while ruining countless lives (Itachi's included, and especially Sasuke's).

We have Itachi 1.0 that hoped traumatizing his brother and encouraging him to become as strong as possible (by any means possible) and avenge the clan/kill him so he could become this 'ultimate hero' to the village and theoretically (lifelong trauma notwithstanding) live a safe, productive life.

We have Itachi 2.0 that wondered if Naruto might be able to help his (understandably) spiraling brother and was heartened when Naruto insisted he would never kill Sasuke and would always find another way - ie. reiterating the unconditional love Itachi has and always had for his baby brother. This, interestingly, resulted in Naruto being given Shisui's eye that would have forcibly brainwashed Sasuke into serving the state that sanctioned their clan's genocide, but let's ignore the horrible implications of that for a minute...........

And finally we have Itachi 3.0 who admits he was wrong to go about the early plans for Sasuke's life in the way that he did. He states, ultimately, he will love Sasuke no matter what. It's unconditional. He stops trying to forcibly alter his brother's lifepath and he states outright and blatantly that he will always love Sasuke, nothing will change that. His actions have always been influenced by his interpretation of love for Sasuke and that will not be negated from his character.

I'm being a bit facetious in some of these summarized points, but generally Itachi's stance on Sasuke's well-being never changes, he always loves Sasuke, only the way in which he offers guidance/expresses his love/thinks about what Sasuke's well-being looks like evolves throughout the story.

*Apologies, I have no idea why the font is so atrocious on these panels lol, but it says "And not matter what you do from here on out, know this... I will love you always."

Idk man, whoever is writing this story OP is asking for, is going to have a crazy uphill battle trying to convince readers that Itachi would ever give up on his brother (that he... directly encouraged this type of behavior in...) when Itachi exists to support and love his brother, when Itachi has always done everything for Sasuke. The debate about whether those actions were all good or healthy is wholly separate, but the text outright emphasizes that Sasuke has Itachi's entire, unconditional support and love no matter what. I know people are allergic to the concept of unconditional love for some reason, but this is a crucial, critical, overwhelmingly highlighted point in the manga and these two specific characters' arcs that are known and favored by many, many people lol, I don't know how you renege on that...

But I'd love to see a writer try, I guess. Why not? If you can keep both Sasuke and Itachi in-character and manga accurate, I'd be very interested in seeing a Itachi that not only abandons his beloved brother he has done everything for but tries to kill him. I definitely wouldn't know how to go about making that convincing.

Now, the stuff we don't know about Suigetsu and Sasuke's time together or spin-offs that explore a Sasuke that continues on his trajectory to support and lead the people the shinobi world has abandoned? Like the kekkei genkai users (much like himself) who were abused by many in the shinobi world and further victimized by Orochimaru's vile ambitions? I'd, personally, be really interested in reading a faithful exploration of that.

[waitineedaname]

I think the funniest way to spin Lan Wangji and Jiang Cheng's dynamic is if they work really well together, but they fucking hate it the whole time. these are two guys who know how to Get Down To Business when the situation calls for it, and when they have a common goal, they can work towards it efficiently. they just can't stand it the whole time

[pushspacetocontinue]

"Oh good. Most of here are perfectly capable of that too," Bill said, with a grin of his own, "I will say I like that moxie."

Russell just let out another quiet sigh, but it seemed that with the Twins, Bill wasn't going to stay on the subject for too long.

Leofric then nodded when Erica pointed at Rook. He managed to let a small smile creep across his lips again, even if it wasn't natural for him to do so.

"Ah, I see what you mean now," Leofric said with a small nod, "I will call it that with her approval."

"That, that is a, a very nice chair in-indeed," Russell said, with a small nod. Of course, he had chairs back at the apartment, "It seems like they, they might be nice for, for those who, who just want, want to chill and, and chat."

It seemed Russell wasn't thinking about himself.

"Spectating," Simon suggested.

Bill nodded at Rook, smiling.

"Yep! And I'm going to repurpose some of the other things so they only work for us, rather than change them into something else. They could still be useful after all," Bill said, "Hmm, maybe with your skill, we could put a few explosives together..."

"As long as you don't accidentally trigger them in here," Leofric said, before he then slowly stood so he could go with Erica. He double checked his vials, just in case Ratchet would need some physical healing.

Travis followed Erica and Leofric as well, just in case Ratchet would still feel well or strong enough to try and make an escape or to fight as soon as he saw their faces.

Leofric decided he was going to hang around outside the door mainly. He would come in if he happened to be needed, but he wasn't going to crowd anyone.

Antonio was satisfied with the progress they made. They had gotten some very valuable information from this; even up to the other poisons Five could channel and what colours his hair and eyes changed to when he was using them, along with the kind of combat training the man had.

But it was definitely time to stop for the moment. They had been at this for a long time now, and he couldn't remember when they had last had something to eat or drink.

The Twins didn't seem to mind the jab and even took it with a bit of humor.

"This job can get you shot in the face, or stabbed in the back-"

"-It can get you rich or killed very quickly."

It was mainly dark humor, but it was something they had made peace with by this point. Still, it was no time to talk about their retirement plans when Russell didn't look like he enjoyed hearing about it.

Erica nodded as she pointed at Rook. "Pigeon." The rest should have been pretty self explanatory.

"Well, that adds to the fun, doesn't it?" Rook replied with a grin, "It sounds easy enough. What can I do to help?"

The Twins were quick to point out a nice seat for Russell.

"This one's got good back support."

"And you can easily fit a cupholder."

At the very least, the catalogue was keeping them entertained. The lack of screaming helped as well and reinforced Erica's idea that somebody should check in on the interrogation committee.

"I don't think that's supposed to be fun." the elf replied with a shrug, "Let's go check on them. They haven't had anything to drink or eat in hours."

Then again, it was as good of an excuse as any to go have a peek at what they were doing. Erica regularly witnessed what that kind of work did to Willow and was getting a little worried.

Smokey seemed to agree with that, though he might have just been curious to see where his friend was going as he ran after her.

[iwoulddieforienzo]

Something really great about the persona 2 cast is that they all individually fucking SUCK to talk to casually. Every single one of them. They are all infuriating. We have:

Tatsuya, who will stare at you blankly if you try to initiate conversation (IS) and will dip without saying a word afterward (EP)

Batsuya, who will scoff and brush you off/otherwise act dismissive

Eikichi, who might honestly be the best to talk to in the IS crew and that is not saying much, who WILL talk extremely loudly over you (probably not on purpose?) and will not be paying particularly close attention to the conversation beyond whatever he wants to say (gets points for talking about his gf. gets points taken away for constantly talking about his gf)

Lisa, who will automatically assume bad faith and will be rude to you the entire conversation unless you manage to defuse her temper (good luck)

Jun, who is uncommunicative at BEST and requires an encyclopedic knowledge of flowers, metaphor and body language just to get a HINT on what he’s thinking, and who will be extremely polite but completely unhelpful. If you tried asking him what he wants for dinner I guarantee it will be the longest 30 minutes of your life as he goes “oh I have no opinion :) whatever you want. :))” EXCEPT HE DOES HAVE OPINIONS. He has SO MANY OPINIONS. He is Expecting you to be able to pick up on his “obvious” clues. He will be passive aggressive if you don’t. (Jun babygirl you suck so bad I love u)

Maya, who is a delight but will very quickly become grating if you try to talk to her about anything serious as she hits you with the white suburban mom's "how to live a happy, healthy life" lifecoach slogans. You can’t even mention, like, stepping in a puddle or something without her hitting you with the positivity beam.

Yukino is great actually. 10/10. She’s fabulous we love her. Incredible conversationalist, chill and fun and easy to get along with. But she’s from Persona One, she doesn’t Count.

Ulala, who WILL bring up her relationship problems in every conversation within 10 minutes at least once. Any longer and she will start talking about Maya.

Do I even need to explain Baofu. Have you seen him.

And finally, Katsuya, who is a cop and a kiss ass and Very Obvious about these things. Also he can't talk to women. He can barely talk to men. Help Him.

And yet they all work wonderfully as a group. They are so annoying I love them

[quietwingsinthesky]

i know what tattoo millie doesn’t have, because during the short period where lucifer’s possessing her, she keeps taking the wheel of the vessel to go and get herself the ugliest cartoon devil tattoos money can buy. lucifer is wasting precious grace getting those off of her body because he can’t stand them, and then she just goes and gets another one in a couple days time.

[kfan04]

I'm so, so glad I caught you. That's a ton of lore, and believe me, I tried my hardest to find out at least half of this information and didn't manage to. You kinda brought me a bag of candies with this one <3

Actually, I think you've suggested the answer to my initial question (the one I had in my head) about what's Romeo's problem. I was trying to find a reason behind his decisions, and "I won't lose anything else" seems the most convincing out of all I could've thought of.

It explains his persistence with Kaito while not contradicting (as far as I know) any plot points. There are some questions left, like: How did they first meet? What happened with Romeo's family? What has changed with the Clash? What is it about Kaito's pendant? What is it about Kaito's family? In what particular way is Kaito's presence valuable/advantageous for Romeo? Or the one I'm very curious about: Is there a way out for Kaito? I just feel sorry for the dude. I study business and constantly feel the urge to get inside the story and help him figure his debts out (possibly by also making him pinky promise me he won't gamble again). Although my beliefs would clash hard with the reality of the absence of law and basically prison of the environment... But for now I'm satisfied.

Just a couple of things I wanted to adress:

- there's definitely some tension, or maybe, competition between Taiga and Jin

That scene in the assembly was so nerve-wracking! With MC's help, Jin just straight up forced Taiga, who is very unstable and self-righteous, to sit still. Taiga's reaction made me think it wasn't the first time it happened? Was Jin using this power on the regular basis before? Taiga's "Jin" could mean he actually respects him, though who knows.

Frostheim and Sinostra, political power and wealth and danger and money, they go well together, but work on the different principles. The relationship between these two has to be very special. That's why Romeo's grudge for Frostheim and Taiga's... how would you call that look he gave Jin? There's more to it, I would say.

- Luca's time in Darkwick

I haven't even considered Luca to be eventually leaving! You know how in anime transfer students usually stay until the very end? I thought it would be the case. Plus, Darkwick is the kind of place nobody can leave — I remember realising that and thinking, "Luca is now cooked."

But now that you mention it, yes, Luca might transfer back after all... Again, given the genre of the game, unlikely, but it's not like the characters know they are in the game. Luca for now seems to be the most clueless about Darkwick character. He's doing what he thinks is right... but generally playing by the rules of others. I found it interesting when he was shown to be kinda bloodlusted in chapter 1, slicing that anomalies again and again after they've already died. He is also quite reckless, jumping into action immediately. This is almost the opposite from Kaito, who overthinks everything.

It makes sense Kaito knows a whole lot about Darkwick, having spent a year there already. Even as someone who tries to actively avoid trouble and danger, he seems to know important information. Between Luca and Kaito, Luca is more skilled, but Kaito is more involved. He is more of a player, in every sense, while Luca is interested in outside words, or particularly his goal, demons, than in politics. But it could change! In the case of Vagastrom, Leo was chosen to be vice because of his marks, I think? If Luca doesn't leave, he has a better chance in this case.

- what Kaito is capable of

You've mentioned how Darkwick might know more about Kaito than Kaito does himself, and I lean to this as well! Kaito's stigma has to do with auras — in chapter 13, he saw the mirror's aura without saying any incantation first. Does his stigma work all the time, like Subaru's? Kaito doesn't want to use MC's powers, which makes it very intriguing how they would work. If his stigma allows him to discover more about the person, would strengthening stigma allow him to know even more about the insides of the person? Or maybe influence them somehow?

Kaito's stigma may have to do with his interests. He knows astronomy, and someone mentioned he was shown with Taro cards in the chibi images. In the prologue, he was addressing some higher powers to escape from Romeo, which could be for comic relief, of course, or not. Do you happen to know anything else about it?

- Romeo & Hyde

Hyde is sketchy, period. He also holds a lot of power and participates in the academy's decision-making. But is he on Romeo's side, really?

Romeo mentioned he worked a lot to get the position he has now. It probably refers to what he has gone through after his family's crash. Hyde mentions it is Romeo who is more active in their relationship. This suggests Romeo was the one who approached Hyde first, possibly wanting something from, but if we look at their dynamics now, Hyde is constantly calling Romeo — almost as if he's the one establishing their objectives. Hyde definitely holds power over Romeo in many ways, manipulating him, while also doing stuff behind his back.

I think Hyde is using Romeo to destabilise Darkwick's environment, in return covering for him and Sinostra, and giving him an illusion of advantage over other houses and over everyone else. And Romeo either genuinely believes it will benefit him, or is afraid of Hyde and is too deep... I think. He certainly gives Hyde more respect than he does regarding anyone else.

Linking it back to Kaito, I'm only curious if Hyde had some say in this situation. Did he somehow hinted Kaito would be of use? Or maybe it's just Romeo's individual investment.

Thank you so much for sharing all of this! You're very kind. I hope your computer gets better.

What do you think is going on with Kaito and Romeo?

I've posted this on Reddit and now I'm posting it here so I more people see it and talk to me!

Particularly I'm interested in why Romeo seems to be so clingy with Kaito. I know that there are already some explanations — Kaito's debt and Kaito's pendant — but don't you think Romeo is putting too much effort into this?

Regarding **debt**: does Romeo chase around everyone with debt on the regular basis? Also, the academy is clearly full on well-off students, it would make much more sense to concentrate on them. Kaito doesn't have money and he won't somehow get them out of nowhere (Luca is another discussion).

Regarding **pendant**: have you noticed that Romeo is trying to convince Kaito to give him the pendant, instead of taking it away by force? Throughout the chapters he hasn't really tried to take the pendant away, although I think Romeo's more than capable of it. He is stronger than Kaito and the latter didn't have any protectors before Luca (Tohma and Jin are also not shown to be close enough to Kaito to defend him in the past). Otherwise, there must have been tons of opportunities for Romeo to hurt or kill Kaito and take away the pendant, everyone dies left and right, even when they were on the mission — little accident, minus one ghoul, nobody would've probably suspected anything. Why hasn't Romeo taken the pendant away already?

Regarding **Romeo's time and effort**: despite being the busy man Romeo claims he is, he still finds time to regularly look around for Kaito, calling his name, and with a gun. He asks MC for Kaito's schedule — twice. He spams Kaito with messages. He locks Kaito in the cage in his private office very few people know about — this is just another level, because why. He also takes Kaito on a mission with him, when being told that was his chance to assemble the best possible team — notably, he goes for Kaito before contacting his actual friends, and also has to threaten Kaito to go with him in first place. On the mission, it's Romeo's decision to split, and both times he takes Kaito with him, also physically dragging him and just casually intimidating him along the way.

Who would go that far for the indebted guy? Or even for a pendant? It's more like Romeo's interested in Kaito being constantly around, but also, why?

Regarding **Romeo's attitude**: he's the mix of tenderness and frustration when it comes to Kaito. The phrase he use to call him is *Doko itta no, dete oide?* which translates kinda like *Where have you gone? Come on, come out!* and is often used to talk to animals and kids. He also uses *Fuji-kun*, emphasising on either Kaito being his kouhai, or being on friendly terms with him. He's very touchy when it comes to Kaito — grabbing his hand, his collar, his ear, shaking his shoulders, clamping a hand over his mouth. It's not necessarily tender, but it seems that Romeo finds it absolutely natural to act towards Kaito in such way. Romeo's also often implying Kaito acts unreasonable towards him when not willing to comply, like when Kaito is hiding or running away from him, or when he doesn't want to go on the mission. One time he says something along the lines "there's more on the map than that, so just shut up and do as I say", implying it's in Kaito's interest to listen to him.

**Why does Romeo seem to be convinced that Kaito should be doing as he says without asking questions?**

Regarding **Kaito's attitude**: Kaito isn't shown to be super intimidated by Romeo. Yes, he runs away away from him, and in one voiceline he mentions he started getting chills when someone calls his name because of Romeo — so it's not like Kaito doesn't recognise Romeo as a threat. However, Kaito is constantly talking back and resisting. When talking to Romeo, Kaito openly questions his decisions, mocks him, swears at him, uses *omae*, simply disagrees and Romeo has to put *a lot of* effort to actually get Kaito to do something — and half of the time, Kaito doesn't do what is expected of him anyway. He talks to Romeo almost freely, definitely less scared than with Jin or with Tohma, or even with Ren or Jiro. Interestingly, Kaito uses *Romeo-san*, instead of *-senpai*, like with Tohma and Jin. Kaito also doesn't seem to have a clue about why Romeo is following him, but he's not interesting in figuring it out either, just "weird guy, ugh how annoying, does he ever stop".

Unlike Romeo who perceives his own actions as natural, justified as "Well I'm just collecting debt", Kaito openly talks about how strange Romeo acts towards him. Locked in the cage, he says "shut up, kidnapping creep" and "do you even realise how unhinged you sound" when Romeo says no one would save him from there... When MC says "he has certainly taken a liking to you", Kaito corrects "liking, more like stalking".

For now, no one except Luca and to some degree MC hasn't commented on Romeo's and Kaito's connection — do they know? Or do they don't care? Or both.

Regarding **timeline**: Kaito mentions Romeo has been on his tail for half of the year. Before that, he wasn't even in the gambling den. This lines up with the estimated time of the Clash. Does Romeo's interested in Kaito has something to do with the Clash? Did it just happen in the same time? Kaito says he has somehow avoided the Clash — he himself doesn't connect the Clash with Romeo's interest in him. Kaito doesn't seem to connect Romeo's interest with anything, implying it was sudden. It could be that the determining point of the Romeo's interest was the moment Romeo was looking at Kaito from a distance, if Kaito cannot remember any special confrontation. What doesn't line up is the warding card of Romeo standing above Kaito and looking at his pendant — judging by his expression, for the first time. Who wouldn't have remembered this situation? Another thing, Kaito mentions that he hasn't seen Romeo much before, and he wasn't even in the gambling den. So although Romeo justifies his hobby by collecting debt, he possibly wasn't that interested in collecting this debt initially, before that special point six month ago.

Regarding **paperwork**: Luca repays Kaito's debt in the prologue, another simple solution to Kaito repaying his debt and Romeo not having to go after him ever again. Yet Romeo claims "he still owes rate of interest, so it's not enough to buy his freedom". To which Luca replies "I'd like to see the paperwork then", and Romeo's muttering he "hates men with brain". Other than Kaito commenting on how he didn't know about the rate of interest (which could be written off as ignorance, and not necessarily as Romeo deceiving him), Romeo's comment suggests there might be something unclear with the documentation. Another important paper is the one Romeo threatens to show the MC when telling Kaito to join him on the mission. It is not the debt-related issue — MC already knows about it. It is something that Kaito feels to be embarrassed about, and something that allows Romeo to say "you really think you can say no?". In the prologue, when Romeo demands pendant, Kaito also replies with "this is one thing you will never get from me" — one thing? Does that mean Kaito agrees in some way Romeo can demand anything else? The paper which Romeo threatens to show the MC — which conditions are written there?

Let's assume that Kaito does owe Romeo more than money. What exactly is Romeo gaining in this situation? Why would he need specifically Kaito's compliance in the first place? Why Kaito of all people, of all ghouls. Okay, maybe Romeo thinks it's handy to get a guy who he can threaten to do anything. Why would he put so much energy into keeping Kaito close to him — especially on the occasions that could've used more catered to the situations ghouls, like the mission. Judging by how he addresses Kaito as "plebeian", he doesn't think Kaito's pendant connects him with the powerful family, plus he comments how Kaito doesn't know its true value. So Romeo is not after Kaito's potential prestige.

Romeo's behaviour doesn't make sense. It especially doesn't make sense considering he *is acting rationally* when it comes to missions, or his income, or dealing with others, which means there *is* an explanation for how he acts with Kaito — my guess, it directly or indirectly includes money, or another physical value.

What is notable, is that *Romeo is deliberately keeping Kaito close* and *monitors his actions*.

What are your thoughts? Have I missed something? I'd die to discuss, really. I see all these signs, but I can't really understand what it means. I know we are quite early in the story, but for the 13 chapters the story has been very consistent with the relationship between Romeo and Kaito, and Kaito's pendant. I'm super interested to know what others think!

[dirtyassvoiceactors]

Oml ok Raven Queen coming in with a 2 for one boons on the menu kkkkk

Shes like “why these level 15 are fighting a godeater level creature, the last party i talked to who were doing that were level 20 wtf?! There’s a level 20 party on the moon, jeez you poor newbies here a free lvl up fuck it 2 for one”

RQ: “My life is in the hands of an idiot”

BH: “nonono, two eight idiots”

[wildstar25]

What physical part(s) of Arsay does her partners find the most attractive! Is it the same for all partners or does it differ between them?

(also optional bonus ask of what part(s) of/about Arsay generally do they love the most, physical or not!)

Meanwhile, if you were to ask the same of Arsay:

[guinevereslancelot]

starting to kind of date someone right before christmas is so stressful fr. do i get him a gift or what we've been on two dates but i'm seeing him tonight n it's christmas eve.....but what if he didn't get me anything then it will be weird.....

[alleycatchitchat]

wow sonadow fans feeling very validated right now

[teabiscs]

Third Sapphic Sunday: Emily/Mao

Another Pink&Orange wlw ship. These two were the first wlw ship i ever drew for the fandom over a year ago in november. (I need to do a redraw of that. i drew that piece traditionally scanned it and then manually lined it with a mouse in Sai. and my art is better now)