#they really think two black girls are interchangeable huh

[weisscreamcake]

i really really hope rhaena doesn’t claim sheepstealer. please. if you really want her involved in the war why couldn’t she have claimed grey ghost. or somehow claimed the cannibal. like it wouldn’t make sense but it would make more sense than erasing nettles

[atlafan]

Take it Slow - Part Fifty-Seven

a/n: okay this is my first shot at a harry:y/n fic, and it will be multiple parts. y/n had a bad experience with an ex over a year ago, and finally accepts her coworker and good friend Niall’s invitation to go on a blind date with his friend Harry.

Warnings: Smut and Fluff.

Masterpost (all previous parts can be found in the masterpost)

As promised, Wednesday after work, you and Harry went to the tattoo parlor so you could get your nose pierced. You picked out a white gold stud, and picked out a few hoops you’d want to interchange with once you could.

“This one is so cool, it has diamonds on it. It could be for like special occasions.”

Harry couldn’t wait to see you with the hoop once it was time. He was already parched just thinking about it. You grabbed some thinner hoops for work as well. He watches you look over the naval piercings. He points to a few he likes and you grab one of them. Your name gets called and you go to sit in the chair.

“Which side?”

“Left, please.”

“And you’re doing this so you can have a hoop later, right?”

“Yes.”

“Alright, so I’ll do it a little lower down. Now, don’t twist this like you would an ear piercing. You need to let this be so it can heal properly.”

“Okay.” You reach out for Harry’s hand as the man cleans up your nose. You close your eyes, and Harry almost thinks to take your picture because he think you look so cute.

“Okay, here we go.”

You grit your teeth and white knuckle Harry’s hand. He places his other hand on your shoulder.

“Son of a bitch!” You yelp as the needle goes into your nose.

“Almost done.” The man reassures you.

Your nostril felt numb, but you were happy with it when he showed it to you in the mirror.

“Looks great, love.”

“Alright, Harry, you ready?”

“Yup.” He hands him a piece of paper from his pocket. “I’d like that on my forearm, where there’s space.”

Harry sits down in a chair as the man cleans up his arm. You sit next him.

“What are you getting?”

Before Harry can answer, the man puts a piece of paper over where Harry wants it and peels it back. You see a very small, very detailed sunflower.

“A sunflower, for my sunflower.” He winks at you.

“Oh, Harry…are you sure?”

“Positive. Will yeh hold my hand?” He smiles.

“Don’t make fun of me.” You pout. “It really hurt.”

“I know baby.” He puts his hand out to you as the man gets to work. You’re amazed that Harry doesn’t even flinch, but he had so many he could hardly feel it anymore.

Thirty or so minutes later it was done. You take a picture of it for him before the man bandages it up. You each pay separately for your things and head out.

“So my nose really looks good?”

“Yup, can’t wait to see the hoop in it though.”

“Six to eight weeks.” You smile. “I can’t believe you got my favorite flower tattooed on you, that was so sweet.”

“S’not weird?”

“Not at all! It’s so special, like, something for the two of us.” He takes your hand in his and kisses it.

//

Harry had confirmed your double date with Rachel and Mariah. The four of you agreed on a trivia night at a local bar. You all meet there Friday night after work. It was a little weird for Harry to be hanging out with someone outside of work, but he got on with Mariah pretty well, so it wasn’t totally awkward.

You and Rachel told stories from college, and Mariah talked about getting into photography. Rachel explains why she wanted to be a high school art teacher.

“I just think kids that age lose a lot of the fun in their lives. Art is important at any age, but when they’re getting ready to go to college, I wanna help them destress with my classes.”

“That’s so cool.” Mariah says and Rachel blushes.

“Mariah, what was it like when you and Harry first met?” You were a tad tipsy.

“Oh god, I was terrified of him.” She laughs and his jaw drops. “But then when he shook my hand and I saw the bright pink color on his nails, I knew wasn’t so scary.” She giggles. “I’ll never forget, after the first two weeks, he comes over to me and he says, ‘I think you’re the only person here other than myself that isn’t a blithering idiot’.” Everyone at the table laughs at her impression of him. It was pretty good.

“I was right though.”

“Very true. God, it’s so annoying when someone else tries to set up a shot for you, isn’t it? Like hello, I have a vision.”

“Exactly! If it was as easy as just snappin’ away, anyone would do it.”

“So was everyone scared of Harry?” Rachel asks.

“I think they were mostly intimidated. Everyone talks to each other and gets together, but H always stuck to himself.”

“Not the type of people I wanted to be chummy with.” He has a disgusted look on his face, thinking of Mykenzie. “I quite like Isaac though, he’s been a good addition.”

“Love Isaac, he always gets us everything we need.”

“He’s always so nice when I come to visit.” You say.

“He’s got a huge crush on Harry.” Mariah giggles.

“Stop it.” Harry says groaning.

“You know he does.”

“Thought he just thought I was cute or somethin’. Didn’t think it was a crush.”

“Well, I’ve never asked him personally, so he could easily just be attracted to you. I’ve heard him talk about it with Julia and Dana.” The sound of Julia’s name makes you want to vomit.

“Jesus, Harry, does everyone at your work have a thing for you?” Rachel asks.

“Everyone except this one.” He winks and nods towards Mariah, making both girls giggle.

Trivia starts and you all pick a stupid team name. You and Rachel were best at coming up with answers. You both knew a lot about pop culture, and luckily there weren’t too many other categories.

“How the fuck did yeh know that?” Was something Harry said quite a bit, and you both just shrugged your shoulders.

“Which Kardashian married an NBA player after dating for thirty days?” The emcee asks.

“Oh that was Khloe.” You tell Rachel to write down. Harry’s jaw drops. “What?”

“You’re obsessed with reality television!”

“Not true! I used to watch Keeping Up when I was in college. It was night to have on in the background when I’d do homework. It’s not a show you have to pay attention to.”

“What was the name of season twenty Bachelor?”

“Ben Higgins.” You, Rachel, and Mariah all say at the same time.

“Jesus Christ.”

“You watch the Bachelor?” Rachel asks her.

“Never miss an episode. You watch?”

“Yeah, we should get together to watch some time.”

“I’d like that.” They smile at each other. You put your hand on Harry’s leg and give it a little squeeze.

“What did Leonardo DiCaprio text back to Jennifer Lopez after James Corden texted him from her phone back in 2016?”

“Who the fuck would know-“

“You mean tonight boo boo? Club wise?” You say as Rachel nods and writes it down. You look at Harry whose mouth was hanging wide open. “Do you not watch carpool karaoke ever?”

“Can’t say I do, love.”

“You’re missing out.” You giggle.

“Do you still have that picture of Leo with that quote over his like serious face and it’s in black and white?”

“I do! It’s in a drawer in my office. Makes me laugh when I look at it.”

You were quirky, and Harry rarely got to see these little things come out. He liked it, a lot. You were sort of nerdy in your own right and he thought it was insanely cute.

Your group came in third place, earning you each a coupon for a free app the next time you came to the bar. You all say goodnight, and confirm what time with Rachel you should be over tomorrow to get ready.

//

Your hair was up in messy bun and you had sweats on before you left for Sarah and Rachel’s. You bring your large overnight bag out to the front hall, and go up to the loft to say goodbye to Harry.

“Any plans tonight, baby?”

“Yeah, Niall’s comin’ over. Think we’re goin’ to play Madden.”

“Oh great!”

“That’s what you’re wearin’ for your big night out?”

“God no, I’m getting ready with them. Like old times. We pregame a little while doing each other’s hair and make up. We decide on outfits, all that girly stuff.”

“So I don’t even get to see what you’re wearin’ out before you go?” He pouts and puts his hands on your hips as you stand between his legs.

“’Fraid not.” You lean in and kiss his forehead. “I’ll send you a pic though.” You kiss him on the lips. “Have fun with Niall.”

“Have fun with the girls.”

He watches you descend down the stairs. He was very curious to know what you might be wearing. He hoped it wasn’t too sexy since he wouldn’t be there. The thought of a bunch people looking at you didn’t sit right with him, but it was out of his control. He also hated that you wouldn’t be coming back to him tonight. He wanted your drunk cuddles, they were the best.

You drive to Rachel and Sarah’s and hug Sarah and wish her a happy birthday. You all start drinking and get ready. You each take turns posting to your Instagram stories. Giggles and music in the background.

Niall comes over to see Harry, and they both get set up on the sofa.

“How was your date last night?” Harry asks.

“Made her cry tears of joy, finally gave her a key to my place.”

“Good for you mate!” Harry smiles at him. Niall checks his phone and looks at all three of your stories. “What in the fuck was that?”

“Our girls havin’ a grand ol’ time. Look.” Niall shows him Sarah’s story and sees you with your hair half done, curling iron in hand, making a kiss face as Rachel dances behind you. “Like they never stopped livin’ together.” He chuckles.

“Any idea where they’re goin’?”

“Pinz I think.”

//

“Okay, what am I wearing?” Sarah asks.

“We got you this sash that says ‘birthday bitch’ so you have to wear it.” Rachel giggles.

“Guess that means I should wear my red dress to match, huh?” She snatches it. “What did you bring, Y/N?”

“Oh, just my fav party outfit.” You grin. You take out a skin tight quarter sleeve, olive green, midi dress.

“Ohhh shiiiittt.” Rachel says. “She back in town.”

“For one night only.” You wink.

Sarah puts on a short sleeve red dress that flowed around her thighs. Rachel put on a black pencil skirt and white crop top. You all looked great. None of you wore a bra, purposefully, to just make out all of your piercings. You set up your phone to take a few pictures of the three of you. The three of you were feeling sexy, and you were ready to show Sarah a good time.

“Wait, I told Harry I’d send him a picture.”

“Better send one to Niall too.”

“Okay, line up you heteros.” Rachel says sarcastically. You both stick your tongue out at her.

“Y/N, push your boobs up, really put a show on for him.” She giggles.

“Okay, like this?” You push your boobs up and pout your lips.

“Model! Model vibes!” Sarah screams as she takes a shot of tequila.

“Okay, now turn around and look over your shoulder. Gotta show that booty.” You do as she says.

“He’s gonna kill me.” You laugh.

“Why?”

“Because not only am I not wearing a bra, but I don’t have any panties on either.”

“Well, duh, you can’t with that dress.” Sarah defends you. “Okay, my turn.”

You and Rachel snap pictures of the birthday girl. You both send the pictures to your boyfriends. You take some more silly pictures altogether.

“You know what’s crazy? This is my first birthday without Kate in years…”

“Are you upset we didn’t invite her?” Rachel asks.

“Not really.” She shrugs. “I haven’t really missed her to tell you the truth.”

“Me neither.” You admit. “I miss the old times, but I’ve been less stressed without her in my life.”

“Agreed.” Rachel says. “Uber’s here! Let’s hit it.”

//

Niall and Harry’s phones go off at the same time. They look at each other and pause their game.

“Jesus.” Harry’s eyes pop out of his head.

“Holy hell.” Niall says looking at the pictures Sarah sent him.

Harry zooms in on the pictures best he can. You looked incredible. He wanted to tear the dress right off you.

“Mate?” Harry says with his mouth hanging open.

“Yeah?”

“She’s not wearin’ any knickers…”

“Doesn’t look like Sarah’s got a bra on either.”

“Same with Y/N…why would they do that?” Harry looks at him panicked. “I mean, look, not even any knickers!” He shoves the phone his face, but Niall pushes it back.

“Do ya really want me lookin’ at her arse?”

“Right, no, I don’t. And I don’t want anyone else to either. Why would she do this t’me?” He whines.

“To remind ya how fuckin’ lucky ya are.” Niall gets up. “Come on, we better break into the liquor instead of just beer tonight.”

“Good idea.”

//

The three of you get to Pinz, and Sarah is given a free shot and drink of her choice as the bartender sees her sash and ID. You all head to the dance floor once you have your drinks. The music was good tonight, really good. You were all laughing and singing, adding more to your Instagram stories. Niall and Harry couldn’t help but keep refreshing their feeds to see what the three of you were up to.

“They’re havin’ a lot of fun…” Harry says.

“Fuck girl’s nights. We should be allowed to show up.” Niall slurs.

“Even to just roll up and have a shag in the bathroom quick, then I’d be good.”

“Exactly! S’not askin’ too much.” He sighs. “But we can’t. I was told specifically not to show up.”

“Bullshit is what it is.” Harry slurs. How much did they drink?

You go up to the bar to grab the next round of drinks. You bump into someone by accident and apologize.

“Oh, no worries…Y/N?”

“Matt?!” You cross your arms over your chest immediately.

“Hey!”

“Hi, um, how are you?”

“Good! It’s great to see you.”

“Yeah, you too. How are things with school?”

“Good, new semester. Miss working with you all.”

“We miss you too.” You walk up closer to the bar. You lower your hands and flip your hair slightly to get the bartender’s attention.

“Whatya have gorgeous?”

“Three vodka cranberries please.” You push your boobs closer together.

“Got a tab?”

“Nah.”

“Alright, that’ll be ten bucks.”

“But that’s only-“

“Know it’s your friend’s birthday over there.” He winks at you, and you put a ten dollar bill and a couple of singles down on the bar while he makes the drinks. Matt was in awe of you.

“Come here a lot?” You ask him.

“A little yeah. We came here for my birthday like you suggested, so we come out when we can. Guys! This is Y/N!” A few of his friends look at you and their faces flush, they wave hello and you wave back.

“Alright, here ya go.” You hear the bartender say.

“Thanks so much!” You say taking the drinks.

“Get off at two by the way.” You blush and smile at him. “Just a girl’s night, but thanks.” He nods in understanding.

“Well, it was good seeing you. Have fun!” Matt and the bartender watch you walk away.

Rachel and Sarah each take a drink from you. You notice a napkin stuck to yours.

“Oh god!”

“What?” They both ask.

“The bartender gave me his phone number! What should I do? Just throw it out right??”

“Toss it on the floor!” Rachel says. And you do just that. You didn’t want to risk Harry finding anything like that.

The three of you continue to dance and pop your asses to the songs the club was playing. It was a really great time. You each have another round of vodka cranberries, courtesy of Rachel. Harry hadn’t texted you more than a kissy face since you sent him the pictures. You take out your phone and send him a drunk text.

You: having fun w ni?

Harry smirks when he sees it.

Harry: mhm, having fun with the girlies?

You: so much fun!! Miss u

Harry: miss you too baby

You: ur a cutie

Harry had a dopey smile on his face and Niall starts laughing.

“Oi, what’s so fuckin’ funny?”

“You’re so gaga over her.” He shakes his head.

“S’not a bad thing.” He pouts.

“Not at all.”

The three of you laugh and sing and are actually quite annoying in the back of the uber on the way back to Rachel and Sarah’s. The three of you set up camp in the living room with air-mattresses, blankets and pillows. Sarah uses the bathroom first to wash her face and change. You sit down and your head feels heavy. You decide to FaceTime Harry, Rachel sits next to you to get in on it.

“Oh check it out, she’s FaceTimin’ me.” He says to Niall. The two had just started a movie. “Hello?”

“Hey!”

“Hi Harry!”

“Hi girls.”

“Where’s my girl?” Niall pouts.

“Birthday girl got first dibs on the bathroom.” You explain. “Whatcha up to?”

“We just started a movie, love.”

“Ohhhh, fun. We’re gonna do that too, just waiting to wash our faces.”

“How was the bar?”

“So much fun! We danced the whole time.”

“I’ll bet. Any guys try to give yeh their number?” He jokes. Your face and Rachel’s lose all color. You both look at each other and laugh nervously. “Wait, did a guy actually try to give you their number?”

“Um…just the bartender.” Harry’s eyebrows raise. “But I didn’t even realize it! He had put a napkin with our drinks and I noticed it. I threw it right on the ground!”

“Why did he give it to you though?”

“Y/N only paid ten buck for the drinks.” Sarah giggles, sitting down with them, only in a large t-shirt. “Oh, hi Niall!”

“Hey baby!”

“You only had to pay ten dollars for three drinks?”

“Mhm.” Your face grows red. Rachel starts giggling. “Stop, you’re not helping.”

“What did you do? Why’d he discount it?”

“He said he knew it was Sarah’s birthday.” You shrug. You burst out laughing. “And I may have pushed my boobs up.” The other two start laughing.

“Y/N, that’s not fu-“

“You know what, I really need to pee. You know how I am when I really need to pee, Harry. I love you, have a fun rest of your night!” You end the call and get up to use the bathroom.

Harry pinches the bridge of his nose with his thumb and forefinger.

“You cannot get mad at her, mate.”

“Why not?”

“Because she’s drunk, clearly. She doesn’t know what she’s sayin’.”

“She purposefully showed off to get a discounted drinks!”

“Like you’ve never done the same thing.”

“Not while I was datin’ someone…”

“Oh Harry.” Niall shakes his head. “Please don’t make this a big deal. If I was a woman that looked like her, like any of ‘em, I’d do the same thing. Relationship or not. Don’t spoil her fun.”

“M’not.” He sighs. “You wouldn’t be mad if Sarah told you somethin’ like that.”

“It’s her birthday, she can do whatever she wants.” He shrugs.

Niall and Harry pass out on the couch, and they both wake up around three in the morning. Niall leaves and goes back home across the street while Harry sleeps in his bed alone. He imagines how lonely it must’ve been for you while he was away. He sleeps in the middle of the bed so it doesn’t feel so large without you.

//

You and the girls stay up until nearly five in the morning. You watch old movies and reminisce on your days in school together. You all pass out snuggled up together like old times. Harry woke up around eleven and you still weren’t home. No texts or anything from you. He sighs, and gets up to make some coffee. Just as he’s walking out to the kitchen, only in his boxers, he here’s your footsteps. He stands leaning against the wall of the outside of the kitchen, arms crossed waiting for you to enter.

Your hair was up in a messy bun, your sweat pants were hanging low on your hips, your dress from last night was rolled up to look like a shirt, and you had your sunglasses on. You drop your bag once you get into the living area, and you jump when you see Harry.

“Christ.” You say, pulling your sunglasses up on the top of your head.

“Fun night?”

“Mhm.” He starts chuckling. “What?”

“What are you wearin’?”

“I woke up sweaty and didn’t wanna wear my shirt home, so I put this back on, and these are your sweatpants, so they’re baggy, and I know I look ridiculous okay?” You walk towards him and go into the kitchen. He follows you. “Need coffee.” You go over to the Keurig.

“Do you remember FaceTimin’ me last night?” He asks with his arms still crossed. Yes.

“Vaguely.” You press the button on the machine after putting your favorite mug underneath.

“Do yeh remember sending me those pictures at the beginning of the night?”

“Course I do.” You turn to look at him. “I looked like a fucking stunner.” He looks down and sees your pebbling nipples through the top of your dress. You cross your arms over yourself.

“So happy everyone got to see your nips last night.”

“No one saw anything. It was dark in the club.”

“You didn’t have any knickers on.”

“And how would you know that? Easily could’ve been wearing a thong.”

“Were you?”

“No.” He lets out an exasperated sigh. “You can’t wear underwear with this dress, it shows everything.”

“Why would you wear it then?”

“Because I felt like it.” The coffee finishes pouring. You go over to the fridge and grab your creamer, and pour a little in. You bring the mug to your lips and take a small sip. You sigh happily. Harry begins making his own coffee. “Did you and Niall have fun?”

“Yes.” He narrows his eyes at you.

“What?”

“Nothin’.” He takes a sip of his black coffee. “Yeh hungover?”

“No, stomach just feels gross. We drank vodka cranberries all night. Way too much sugar.”

“Need breakie?”

“No.” You giggle. “Thanks, we ate. We had some hash-browns and cheesy eggs, that’s why I’m just getting back now.” You finish up your coffee and put your mug in the sink. You yawn and stretch. “I feel like I need to sleep for like ten years.”

You leave the kitchen and start taking your clothes off as you make your way to the bedroom. You were desperate a shower. But Harry was more desperate for you. You feel him wrap his arms around you from behind. You had only taken your top off.

“You’re still not wearin’ knickers.” He says into your ear.

“Nope.” You press back against him, and you feel him growing hard.

“I missed you last night.” He whispers while nipping at your earlobe. You turn around and wrap your arms around his neck, pressing your bare chest to his.

“And I bet you missed more seeing me dressed like that?” Your nose brushes against his as he nods. “My poor baby.” You rest your chin on his shoulder as you hug him closer to you. “Let me take a shower, and then I promise I’ll love on you all day.”

“Promise?”

“Promise.” You kiss him on the cheek and let go of him.

“I can’t shower with you?” He pouts.

“I need to, like, shave and stuff. Just ten minutes, get cozy and wait for me on the bed, okay?”

“Alright.” He sighs like you’ve denied him of the world, and gets on the bed.

You do your thing in the bathroom. You don’t need to wash your hair, so that saves a good chunk of time. Your stomach still feels like shit, but you know it’ll pass. You dry off completely and moisturize your freshly shaven legs. Usually you’re wrapped in a towel, have your robe on, or even have pj’s on after you shower. You and the girls were introduced to tik tok last night, and you kind of want to try the new challenge going around. You just hoped Harry kept his boxers on.

You grab your phone and start the video, showing the audience that you’ve dropped your towel. You open the bathroom door slowly. Harry had an arm behind his head, and the other hand was scrolling through his phone. You giggle as you open the door the rest of the way.

“Hey baby?” He looks over at you, furrowing his brows while he smiles.

“What are you doin’?” He reaches his hands out to you.

“Air drying.”

He gets up off the bed and walks towards you, picking you up, you stop your video and laugh hysterically. He puts you down on the bed, and wonders what’s so funny.

“Were you recordin’ me?”

“I won’t post it if you don’t want me to since you’re like naked.”

“Post it where?”

“Tik tok…”

“Jesus, how old are you?” He chuckles. “Dana and Julia are on that app all the time.”

“It’s actually a lot of fun. The girls and I all downloaded it last night. There’s this challenge going around for couples, so I thought I’d give it a try. Look, watch your face.” You play the video back for him and you both start laughing. “But I won’t post it if you don’t want me to.”

“S’fine, I don’t really care.” He shrugs.

You post the video and add all the hashtags, then put your phone on the night table. You turn over and rest your head on his chest. You drape your leg over his, and he pulls your thigh up closer. He rubs his hand back and forth.

“Ohh, nice and smooth.” He coos. “Not that I really care if you’re hairy.”

“So if I just stopped shaving my legs, you wouldn’t care?” You raise an eyebrow.

“You said it’s for your own comfort right? Do what yeh want. It doesn’t bother me, hair is natural.”

“How progressive of you.” You say facetiously. He looks down at you as he continues to stroke your leg.

Your hand goes up into his hair and he leans in to lightly kiss you. You kiss him back, and you both sink into it. Your mouth opens for him and his tongue slides in tasting you until your tongue meets his. You both let out soft moans. One of his hands is cupping the back of your head, the other leaves your thigh and moves up to your breast, kneading it.

You pull him on top of you, and you feel his hard cock press against your hip, as your kiss deepens even more. It wasn’t often the two of you just made out. You always really liked kissing, to have someone’s lips on yours. Harry had soft lips, always. He was good at pressing them hard against yours, always making yours puffy and swollen after. You loved the shade of his lips too, especially after kissing. They would become this raspberry color. It made you want to bite onto them even more.

Subconsciously that’s what you do. You bite his bottom lip and suck it into your mouth. He groans and grinds himself against your hip. You let go of his lip slowly, really making a show of it as you open your eyes to look up at him.

“Want you.” He says in a whisper.

“Take me.” You whisper back.

He groans again kissing you quick before tugging his boxers down his legs, and tossing them to the floor. He hovers back over you, and you put your hands on his shoulders. One of his hands reaches between your legs to make sure you’re wet. Of course you are. It doesn’t take much with him. He smirks as you spread apart for him. He lines himself up and he slowly pushes inside. You both moan at the initial contact.

Once he’s all the way in, he stays there for a moment, just savoring how your velvety walls feel around him. You tighten out of instinct, and loosen up letting him know he can move. He slowly starts to rock his hips against yours. Your head falls back against the pillow.

“Y’like that?”

“Yes.” You say with your eyes rolling back into your head.

He keeps up the same motion, just rocking in and out of you, his tip hitting your g-spot already. He picks up the pace only a little to give himself some of the friction he’s been craving, but he slows it back down for you because he knows that’s how you like it. One of his hands drops back down to rub slow, but purposeful circles on your clit.

“Ngh, Harry.” You moan softly.

One of your hands moves from his shoulder to the grasp at the hair on the nape of neck. He drops his head to the crook of your neck, kissing you softly. Your breathing was getting heavier. He could feel you starting to tighten against him in preparation for your orgasm.

“Gonna come f’me, angel?” You moan at his words, your eyes fluttering closed. “Go on, I know you can do it. Come all around my cock.” He nips at your neck, and your heels dig into the backs of his thighs.

You let out a large moan of his name, tears pricking at your eyes, and he feels you pulsate around him. He fucks you through it, not letting up on your g-spot or clit. You come really hard, and the sound in the room fills with squelching and skin slapping against skin.

“Gimme another one, come on, let’s see how many we can go for.” Your eyes pop open. You realize he still hadn’t let up on you. You start panting again.

“Harry.” You groan. It was too much. You were so sensitive.

“Don’t hold back baby, just relax. Don’t fight it.”

“Shit, shit, shit.” The way he was talking to you was sending you to another dimension. You release around him again and he groans against you, loving the way it feels.

He leans up a bit and looks down at you with a wicked grin.

“What?” You say trying to catch your breath.

“Can I hit it from the side, love?” Your eyes grow dark with lust and you nod.

He helps you turn your body with him still inside you. One of your legs going up over his shoulders, and the other staying between his own legs. He rocks into you and your back arches immediately.

“Feel good?” He smirks.

“So good.” You clutch at the blankets as he continues to rock in and out of you. “Fuck, Harry.” You grit your teeth. You reach down to rub your swollen clit.

“Jesus.” He moans watching you touch yourself.

“Harry, I…I want you back on top of me, wanna feel your weight on me, please.”

“Anything you want, angel.”

He pulls out of you only for a moment to let you adjust. Both of his eyebrows raise as he watches you flip onto your stomach. You look back at him over your shoulder.

“Go on, I’m okay. Want it this way. Just get fully on top of me. You’ve done it before.”

“Okay…but…if-“

“I promise I’ll tell if you if I’m scared.” You wiggle your butt back at him to let you know you’re getting impatient.

He uses his thumbs to spread you apart, and he lines himself up to enter you again. You feel his chest flush to your back, and he rocks into you slowly. You raise your hips slightly to slip your hand underneath yourself to rub your clit. Harry grabs your other hand with his, and you intertwine. That’s that good shit, you think to yourself. Your hands rest together by your head.

He’s getting in so deep this way, and the way he’s squeezing one of your hips just feels so good. You rub yourself a little faster, and you feel another orgasm coming on. He can feel it coming too.

“That’s it baby, come f’me again.” That was all he needed to say to make your release come. “You feel so fuckin’ good.” You pulse and vibrate around his cock. You wonder how much longer he’ll last.

You both have a pretty decent rhythm going. You push yourself back against him, and his hand moves from your hip to your ass. You squeeze tighter on the hand that’s intertwined with yours. He kisses on the back of your neck and shoulders. You arch up into him.

“I love you, Harry.” You groan.

“I love you too, so fuckin’ much. Wanna be able to look at yeh, can we do that?”

“Yes.”

He pulls out so you can flip back over. You grab back at his hand so you can continue to hold onto it. He knows you really like this. His other hand slides up your torso, feeling every inch of your smooth skin. His hand rest gently on your throat, he doesn’t even tighten around you, he just wants it there. You wrap your legs around his waist and pull him closer to you. He thrusts in deep and stay there so you can grind against him.

“Harry.” You moan. You were overly sensitive at this point, but he was so rock hard inside you, it felt amazing.

“C’mon baby, show me how you do it.”

You nails from your free hand dig into his bicep as your fourth release comes out in waves.

“Shit! Fuck!” You scream. You were completely drenched in sweat now. You felt like you were going to need another shower. “Harry, please.”

“Not done with yeh yet, my love.” You look up at him. What the hell was he trying to do to you? He kisses you hard as he moves his hips in circles.

“Mother of fuck!” You gasp.

“Yeah, you like it when I do that, huh?” You nod your head yes as he continues you stretching you out like this.

You’re down for the count when you feel your legs start to shake again and your back arches fully off the bed. He smirks watching your body writhe underneath him.

“Harry.” You breathe. “It’s too much.”

“Want me to come now?”

“Yes, please. Fill me up.”

He grins at you and squeezes tightly on your hand as he thrusts in and out of you. It doesn’t take much for him to come. The warmth from it all feels incredible. He pulls out once he’s done, and collapses next to you. Your mouth hangs open as you look at him. Your legs felt like jello. It was some intense love making to say the least.

“What was that all about?” You say, reaching for him. He lays his head on your chest.

“Just something maybe you’ll keep in the back of your head next time you flirt with some bartender to get free drinks.” He looks up at you with a smirk, and your jaw drops farther.

Oh he was good, really good. He was telling the truth when he said he missed you. But he didn’t want to make you come over and over just because you both were in a lovey mood. No, he wanted to teach you a lesson. To remind you he was always there, no matter what. That he was the only one worth giving the time of day to. That he was the only one that was ever going to make you feel this way. Well played Mr. Styles, well played.

[jbbuckybarnes]

Universe Portal

Description: Second Part of the Universe series. After people asked for a resolution to Universe Bracelet, a one shot I wrote for @yslbuckyx `s challenge, I thought I’d make a three-parter out of it. This is part two. Find part one on my masterlist below. Pairing: Bucky x Reader

M A S T E R L I S T

*I have a draft for how the portal could work but I still need to fix the suction problem.* *Solved the suction problem, now I have a size problem. Should take me about a week.* *Solved it. Still working on the last bits to correct it.* *Be ready at 3pm on Sunday and don’t lose your mind when you see it.* Shuri’s projection flickered in front of you over your Kimoyo bracelet. “Should bring him his sweater back,” you whispered to yourself and put it out to be ready the next day.

The next day rolled around and you sat on your bed in Bucky’s sweater, waiting for something to happen. It was a few minutes late but silently a portal opened inside of your room and made you jump back. “Holy,” you mumbled at the hole in your room that reminded you of video games. You slowly reached out towards it and your hand went through it. It looked like a mirror and your hand wasn’t visible anymore. With a deep shaky inhale you closed your eyes and stepped through Shuri’s portal into her universe. After a few seconds, you slowly opened one eye to see Shuri with a big grin and clearly happy about the portal working and being stable. With a deep exhale you embraced her in a hug. “You are a genius, Shuri.” you smiled and she giggled. “Nah, just a bit of math and a few weeks of work,” she said smiling proudly. “Girl, if I could be only half as good at math and physics as you are.” your brows went up. “Hey Y/N.” a deep and familiar voice came from beside you and you turned around to see Bucky standing there with his hands in his hoodie pocket. “Buckyyy!” you ran over and hugged him as tight as possible. “Is that my sweater?” he smiled and looked up and down on you, making you blush a little. “Yeah. It’s the most comfortable thing I own, to be honest,” you answered scratching your arm nervously. The short silence was interrupted by Shuri, ”Show her Wakanda a bit while I get my brother.”

You were on the streets filled with energy in the city center shortly after. “Were you here a lot when you weren’t...frozen,” you asked a bit distanced from him. “Sometimes. Most of the time it was a bit too much for my mind.” he smiled down at you before asking a question back. “What did you do in the last weeks?” “I just...wrote a lot and tried to take better care of myself. I tend to forget that I’m also a human being, you know?” you chuckled lightly. “I spent time here, watching Shuri work. And I was in South Africa with Steve for a break from the team,” he answered the question too. “Isn’t he the person you’d want a break from?” you asked with a grin and got laughter back. “You’re right. I enjoy having someone out of time with me tho. He got more mellow.” Kids were running around you and one smiled at him and said something in Xhosa and the words “White Wolf” which earned the kid a smile from Bucky. “What did he say?” you looked up at him. “Nothing.” he had a big grin on his face and put his arm around your waist. Whatever you wanted to say before was gone now. This was an unexpected move. You continued walking down the busy street and past tons of vendors that decorated their products colorfully. “Who is the pretty girl with you, White Wolf?” a middle-aged woman asked from a hair store that was decked out in hair products and scrunchies. “Y/N,” you got out a little shy but with a small smile on your face. She must’ve known him from the time he was here and it kinda made sense for someone with hair like his to be here sometimes but you were still in another universe and didn’t want to interact with too many people to not ruin the timeline if there was one. After a while, you had walked so far that you had left the city limits of the city center. Now, most of what was surrounding you was ackers and meadows. It was breathtakingly beautiful with multiple different flowers in full bloom. After a while, the street ended and you were standing in front of a big tree that was giving you a bit of shadow. “I suppose it’s a bit weird to ask you this since you’re not even from the same universe,” his voice broke through the silence and he positioned himself in front of you, “But would you like to go on a date with me, maybe?” He let a guard down and was nervous, which was quite an adorable sight for a scary big man like him. “I’d love to, Bucky.” you automatically answered calmly before you could even actively decide what to say and a smile formed on both your faces. The perfect moment was interrupted by your Kimoyo beads and a message from Shuri to come back and meet her brother, the King of Wakanda.

There he was, right in front of you. T’Challa, the King of Wakanda, the Black Panther. “Hello, Y/N. I’ve heard great things about you.” he shook your hand with his typical smile. “I can only give that back.” you blushed a little, not only had they talked about you but he also was really charming. Your brain interrupted you with the first world problem question if you are allowed to call him T’Challa or just ‘your highness’ “You know a lot about this universe?” he asked with attentive eyes on you. “Well, about the heroes in it I guess. It’s depicted in movies in my universe and doesn’t go too deep, but yeah...I blew his mind when I started talking about Wakanda.” you pointed at Bucky with a big grin. “Hey, it’s not every day that a girl from another universe knows my full story and how Wakanda works.” he held his hands up and really reminded you of Sebastian Stan at that moment. Laughter went through the room at how weirded out he still was by your knowledge. “My universe doesn’t have vibranium, at least not as far as I know. And no heroes. But also nobody that just turned half the universe to dust, so I guess I’m okay with no heroes.” you went on and a serious nod came back “No, Wakanda, huh? Would love to check.” T’Challa chuckled. “I think all hell would break loose if it was real in my world. I mean, you’re fictional where I live.” “With my sisters' new technology we might at least be able to study your world.” he smiled and looked over to Shuri. “You’re gonna find a lot of dumbasses. Shitty politics and people burning down the rainforest cause money seems to be more important than life.” you shrugged and got concerned faces back. “What? You can’t tell me that there is no equivalent to that here?” you held up your hands. “It’s just incredibly sad that this is a problem in other universes.” T’Challa went on. “Yeah, it’s not really helping my anxiety either.” you joked. “Guess some things are just human errors,” Shuri concluded before explaining the portal to his brother, you and Bucky.

“So...technically I could visit her?” Bucky pointed at you. A knowing smile spread across all faces in the room and you turned to him with a, “Yes, that’s basically the bottom line of what she just explained. But you wouldn’t be allowed to stay. I’d kick your ass if you would. Sam needs someone to annoy him to death.” you giggled. “You would kick my ass?” his eyebrows went up. “Well, verbally. I don’t think there is any way I could overpower you unless I get Nat.” “I’d pay to see you two have a strategic fight.” Shuri giggled. “Yeah, there is no strategy with me. I know how to kick basic men away, not a supersoldier with a metal arm.” “So...could T’Challa and I visit you, like right now if you let us?” he finally finished his thought from earlier. “Technically. If you plan to not come across fans of your in my universe FICTIONAL characters and possibly ruin a bit of a timeline, sure.” you shrugged. The three of you looked towards Shuri and got a nod towards the portal. “I didn’t clean tho. And don’t open drawers.” you giggled before going through the portal again. “I love the future man.” came from behind you from an awestruck voice. Your room had a little bit of chaos from the previous evening scattered across it. Socks, an empty cookie package, charging cables, a little pile of laundry and your bed was only half made. “Cute.” “I wouldn’t call it cute...but that’s subjective.” you chuckled before taking your pile of laundry and bringing it to the bathroom. “Show us our fictional versions.” T’Challa grinned like a child which would irritate you if you wouldn’t know the movies. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea. I don’t wanna change what’s happening in your universe.” your weight shifted from one side to another. “Pretty please!” Bucky joined in. Your glance shifted between the two grown men in the middle of your apartment. You felt like a mother with two children begging for more chocolate. “Fine.” a little success high five was interchanged between the two men. “So your universe is the MCU universe, there are comics that depict other universe versions and the MCU took inspirations out of those for the movies…” you started while walking to get your laptop. Knowledge hungry eyes stared at you for the rest of the day while you were explaining your and their world to them. Including the jealous look of Bucky when you started talking about the actor depicting him, looking exactly like him, just with a normal arm and different personality traits. “Don’t worry. He doesn’t know me. Probably never will.” you giggled before you went on about the actors. In the evening they left again and after T’Challa had left through the portal Bucky turned around one last time. “You’re really special, you know that?” one of his rare soft smiles was on his face. “You talking about yourself, Barnes?” you grinned taking both his hands, not without a tiny flinch from him. “Any requests for the date?” one of the hands went to brush a strand of hair out of your face. “I dislike restaurants. Maybe something more relaxed. As long as you’re there I don’t really care that much.” you said blushing and got a nod back. “Noted. See you soon, darling.” he left a kiss on your forehead before vanishing through the portal. You watched the portal vanish too and stared at the white wall behind it for another minute before getting ready for bed.

M A S T E R L I S T TAGS:

@elsatxx @yslbuckyx @marmariavel @yknott81

[platonicone]

Devotion -  Story of the Oracle and her Shield

Chapter 5 - A lost friend (ephelis)

Do you care for someone because of who they are? Or because of who you are? I wonder...

He turned around and noticed that both Umbra and Pryna were gone too.

“Guess it’s just you and me now,” he said, to sleeping Lunafreya.

He moved closer to her bedside and leaned on to get a closer look at the sleeping girl. “So, you are the legendary Oracle, huh? Did you hear what Gentiana said? Apparently, both Umbra and Pryna were in my world too.”

After pondering, he continued, “Gentiana didn’t say anything about you. I wonder if you were in my world as well. Did we know each other? You know, I am usually not good with people, but I am surprisingly comfortable with you. It’s as if we have known each other for a very long time. It’s either that or the medicine Dr. K gave me is making me high,” he said, allowing himself a small chuckle.

Talking to a girl in coma felt like a déjà vu. After a few quiet moments by her bedside, he sat down on the visitor’s chair. “I guess I’ll be sleeping in the chair tonight.”

He was not sleepy yet and there was nothing to do. To avoid boredom, he grabbed the remote and turned on the TV. He started flipping through some channels absentmindedly. He finally settled on a news channel. There was a one-hour special on the fall of Insomnia. The show covered a variety of topics such as the history of the Kingdom of Lucis, the Empire of Niflheim, Tenebrae, Accordo, the royal family and refugees.

Insomnia hosts Lucis's seat of power, the Citadel, that contains a large Crystal within its walls. The Crown City is a bustling metropolis stacked with skyscrapers. It is separated from the mainland by a bridge and is surrounded by water and tall ramparts. Insomnia is protected by a magical Wall projected from the Citadel by the monarch, and this is where the royal family lives. Citizens go about their daily lives under the protection of this impenetrable magical shield.

‘A magical barrier protecting its city from the rest of the world. Hmm, I am sure there was a city like that in my world.’ he wondered, as he continued watching the show.

Niflheim is technologically superior and more advanced than most nations of the world due to their knowledge of magitek. It has developed an army that doesn't need human soldiers, the magitek infantry, and is developing weapons to neutralize the magic of Lucian royalty. Niflheim deploys two types of soldiers (commonly from magitek engines): ones with glowing eyes, and others with their faces entirely covered. The glowing eyes type is the magitek infantry, humanoid machines powered by magitek cores. The imperial infantry appears to be human cyborgs. The terms "magitek infantry" and "imperial soldiers" are often used interchangeably, but the magitek types greatly outnumber the soldier types, having largely replaced them. Another type of magitek weapon the empire deploys is the magitek armor, usually large bipedal robots, but recently the empire has developed new forms, such as the monstrous Diamond Weapon to the wormlike Immortalis. The Empire has gained many territories under the watchful eyes of the Emperor Iedolas Aldercapt. Emperor Aldercapt is an ambitious leader who has practically conquered the entire Eos with his military might. Insomnia is the last frontier for the Emperor.

“An ambitious ruler obsessed with power. A militaristic nation which conquers everything in its path. This too, sounds familiar. Perhaps another memory from my old world?” he wondered aloud. His eyes were glued to the TV as he learned more details about this fascinating world.

War is such a terrible thing. So many lives lost, so many families separated, so much destruction, for what? To gain a new piece of land? For the right to be called most powerful? As the Oracle once said, ‘The only war worth fighting is the war within against your own greed, lust for power and ego. If only, we did that, this world would be a better place.’ Thank you for tuning in for this special program, this is your reporter Avery Ware.

“There are no victors in war, only survivors. Everyone loses something in the war,” he said before turning off the TV.

“As a soldier when you are deployed on a mission, you don’t know if you or your fellow soldiers will ever come back. That’s why I try not to get attached to people. It hurts so much when you lose them,” he said to his sleeping friend at a distance.

He stood up and walked up to her bed to check she was comfortable. He slightly lifted her head and adjusted her pillow. He pulled over her blanket and tucked it around her gently.

He took his medicine before retreating to his chair. He reclined his seat back and drifted to sleep.

Next morning

He noticed light footsteps in the room and immediately bolted upright in his seat.

“It’s only me, calm down,” said Dr. K., “I came to check on Stella.”

Still half asleep, he blurted out without thinking, “Who is Stella?”

“What?” said Dr. K in complete shock.

‘You stupid.’ If his mind had a face, it would have facepalmed itself.

“I said how is Stella?” He tried to cover up his slip.

‘Smooth recovery.’ His mind said.

“Oh, for a second I thought you said, who is Stella and I kind of freaked out,” she said laughing.

“How is she doing?” He asked, getting up from the chair.

“Her vitals are stable. Her blood work returned this morning, nothing out of the ordinary there as well. We still know why she is not waking up, though.”

“Dr. K, we have an emergency,” said a nurse from the door, interrupting their conversation.

“Coming,” she said before rushing off.

“So, nothing is wrong, but you still refuse to wake up. Did I ever tell you that you can be very stubborn sometimes?” he chided sleeping Lunafreya playfully.

After finishing his morning rituals, he got ready to take on another day.

‘Day one, we almost got killed. Day two was spent in the hospital. Day three, let’s see how this pans out.’

After arguing with the front desk staff for a good half an hour, he finally stepped out of the clinic, still furious.

‘Just because I am injured does not mean I cannot get the job done. Yesterday Dr. K said that I could help with their chores to repay my hospital bills, but today she was like, ‘oh no, you can’t take on quests, what if you get hurt more?’ Just shut up old lady and give me the damn quest and let me worry about myself. I know you are trying to protect me, but let me just help. Why is everyone in this world so damn stubborn? I can’t believe I wasted half an hour on that. Next time—' He was walking around fuming when someone ran into him with full speed halting the progression of his thoughts.

“Oh my god! I am so sorry. Are you okay?” asked a feminine voice of the person who literally ran into him.

“Watch where you are going,” he said, trying to get back up on his feet. She had run into his injured arm, sending a jolt of pain through his shoulder.

He got back up and looked at the culprit.

She was about 5’3” with short dark brown hair and brown eyes. She wore a black and red short-sleeved hoodie, and a black and red tartan-pattern miniskirt. She wore black heeled boots with red soles. She had a leather choker and a necklace with a round black pendant. She had two belts with a chain hanging from one attached to her skirt. She had a red cord wrapped around her left wrist and a leather bracer on her other wrist.

She said in a sweet voice full of concern, “Umm, are you okay?”

“Ya, I am fine,” he replied curtly.

“I am sorry for running into you,” she apologized sweetly.

“It’s okay,” he said with a nod.

“By the way, my name is Iris,” she said, offering a handshake.

He usually does not like to shake hands, but thought he should play along this time.

“Squall,” he said, as he shook his hand.

“It’s nice to meet you, Squall,” she said, in a cheery tone.

‘If sugar manifested into a human form, it would be her.’ he thought.

“I have not seen you around before. Are you new here?” She asked.

‘Just shut up and let me be on my way.’

“Ya,” he replied, short and sweet.

“Oh, I know,” she said, getting all excited and clapping her hands. “How about I give you a tour of Lestalleum? Since I ran into you that’s the least I could do to make up for it.”

“No, it's okay,” he said, trying to step aside and be on his way.

She sidestepped blocking his way. “No, it’s not okay. I have to make it up to you. Come on, it would be fun.”

“No, I have to--” before he could finish his sentence, she interjected. “Pretty please?” She said joining her hands and giving him puppy eyes.

He sighed and agreed, “Fine.”

“Whoo-hoo,” she exclaimed in joy.

A sudden jolt of headache came as he clutched his head in pain. A distant memory resurfaced. He vaguely remembered a girl who ran into him on her first day of school. She had eyes like a puppy. She had a very cheerful attitude, which can make even the cemetery come alive. He recalled giving her a tour of their academy on her first day and being her friend since then.

He suddenly jolted out of his trance when she placed her hand on his right should, “Are you really okay? Should we go to the clinic?”

“I am fine. I just have some headache,” he said, trying to brush it off.

“If you say so,” she said in a concerned voice.

Within the next few moments, she was back to her cheery self, “Shall we begin our tour, Squall?”

‘Even if I say no, it's not going to make a difference.’ He thought with his hand instinctively reaching his forehead. ‘Besides, it might not be a bad idea to do some reconnaissance.’ He concluded.

“Come on, this way. For our first stop, we’ll check out the marketplace,” she said, walking ahead of him.

Along the way she asked, “Squall, where are you from?”

“Tenebrae,” he said, recalling the name from watching that TV show last night.

“Wow, that’s a long way from here. I’ve heard from Noct that it is a very beautiful place with lots of waterfalls surrounding the palace.”

“It is,” he played along.

“I am from the crown city, Insomnia,” she said proudly.

“So, you are a refugee here?” He took an educated guess. He was glad he watched TV last night.

“Yes.” She paused in her steps, losing all color from her face.

“I am sorry.” He knew enough about the recent event to understand her circumstances.

“It’s okay. We’ll bounce back and kick Empire’s ass. We’ll make them pay for everything they have taken from us,” she said with determination.

Squall nodded in approval.

They reached their set destination. “This is the Partellum Market. You can get almost anything here. Isn’t it great?” She said cheerfully as ever.

“Ya, it is,” he said unenthusiastically as ever.

“I’d buy out the whole place if I could,” she said dreamily.

‘Speaking of buying, I need to get new clothes.’ He said looking at his tattered clothes.

He followed Iris through the crowded street. She stopped at practically every shop window shopping.

While following Iris around the marketplace she came to a sudden stop when she saw something, “Wow! Look at all this neat stuff! I’m gonna take a look, gimme just a sec.”

Even before Squall could say anything she ran off.

Squall explored on his own for a while. He stopped by at the Tostwell Grill to check out hunt quests. He learned more about being a hunter from the shop owner. Eventually, Iris caught up with him.

“Having fun yet? Come on, next we’re gonna see the power plant,” she announced, marching ahead.

Once they climbed the stairs and came out of the alleyway, he saw a huge power plant.

“That’s the power plant, the driving force behind Lestallum’s prosperity. But get this: only women are allowed to work there. As a matter of fact, women do most of the work in this town.”

“Interesting.” He was surprised that he hadn’t noticed it sooner.

"Alright! Next, we’re going to the outlook! Follow me, right this way,” she said with a little extra joy in her voice.

“I’m a city girl, but I love the charm of this town,” she said even without asking.

As they pass a restaurant near the main thoroughfare she said, “You should try the food here. It is really good.”

Squall made a mental note of her recommendations along the way.

As they crossed the road, they could see palm trees lining the main street. Tropical weather of this town made it an ideal tourist destination. All they were missing was a beach, else it would be a complete package.

“You know, I love giving this tour,” she said with a grin looking back at him.

Upon seeing one of the antique-style cars parked in the area, she chirped, “Imagine riding that.”

“Would be nice I bet,” he agreed.

Soon they arrived at the outlook. The scene in front of his eyes was breathtaking, to say the least.

"This is Pegglar Outlook. Amazing view, right? Look! There’s the Meteor!” She said, pointing it out.

“It looks beautiful,” he confessed.

“It’s even more beautiful out here at night. The perfect place to bring your date,” Iris said with a mischief in her voice. “I plan to bring my dream date here someday too,” she said with a smile.

The two stands silently for a moment, looking at the Meteor.

“It sucks to be a refugee, doesn't it? You live in a place where you don’t even belong,” she said, after a long silence, with a sudden shift in her tone.

“Ya, it does,” he agreed, still looking at the glow of fallen meteor.

“I lost everything in that attack at Insomnia. My home, my friends, and my father. My old life, all gone,” she said with sadness evident in her voice.

Comforting a girl who had lost her home felt like a déjà vu. He ignored those thoughts and paid attention to the girl in front of him.

“The damn empire took it all away from me,” she continued in a somber tone still looking towards the meteor.

“Then get strong enough to protect what you love,” he said.

“Huh?” she said, taken a bit by surprise, not really expecting Squall to chime in.

“Reality isn’t so kind. Everything doesn't work out the way you want it to. But at every juncture, you get a choice, either to be a victim and surrender to the circumstances or be a warrior and fight for what’s rightfully yours. If you were one of those lucky ones to survive the destruction at Insomnia, the least you can do now is to fight. Fight for your right to dream and live.”

“You are right. I am not going to give up and surrender. Even if there is nothing but darkness all around me, I will still keep fighting till I find the light,” she said with a firm determination in her eyes. He nodded in affirmation. “You are very brave.”

“No, I am not,” she said with a laugh. “Thanks for motivating me and cheering me up.”

“I did nothing,” he said being modest.

“Have we met before, Squall? You kinda seem familiar,” she said with a confused look on her face.

“I don’t think so,” he denied.

“Ya, you are probably right,” she agreed.

As if an imaginary light bulb had lit over her head, suddenly her expression changed. “Oh, do you remember how I ran off in the marketplace?”

“Yes.”

“I went to get this. Here, take it. It’s a gift,” she said, pulling something out from her pocket.

“No, I can’t take it,” he said politely pushing her hand away.

“Pretty please? I ran into you like a maniac, so I have to make up for it. This gift is a form of my apology,” she said, joining her hands and giving him puppy eyes. His will melts in front of her puppy eyes.

“Fine. What is it?” he said, succumbing to her ultra-powerful puppy eyes.

“It’s a good luck charm; it’s called phoenix pinion. It might come in handy in battle when the odds are against you,” she said cheerfully.

“Thank you,” he said, taking the item as he slightly bowed his head in appreciation.

“You are most welcome,” she said with a wink and her usual mischievous grin.

Suddenly a Chocobo theme song started playing. He wondered where the sound was coming from.

She pulled out her phone as she said, “Sorry, gotta take this.”

She looked at the caller ID and picked up the phone. “Hey Dustin, what’s up? Uh ha. Okay, I’ll be there ASAP.” She hung up the phone and looked at Squall. “I would love to hang out more with you, but Dustin needs some help. One room just opened up at hotel Leville so we will be moving there now,” she said sounding happy.

She reached in the depths of her pocket and pulled out a piece of paper and quickly wrote something on it. “Here is my number. Feel free to reach out to me if you need anything. Or if you need another tour,” she said with a smile.

“Let’s hang out again. It was fun. Gotta go for now, bye,” she waved enthusiastically before dashing off.

‘What a strange girl.’

He stood there silently admiring the scenic view in front of him. As he was about to leave, someone approached from behind.

“At first, I thought my eyes were deceiving me, but here you are in the flesh, Squall Leonhart,” said a stranger addressing him.

Squall noticed a middle-aged man with red-violet hair, amber eyes, and strong facial features, walking towards him. He was dressed in a black trench coat and pinstripe trousers. He wore a red scarf and a hooded, gray and white flower-print mantle. He had a black fedora and a black winglike accessory on his left arm.

“I am delighted to see you again, my dear friend.” He said removing his hat and bowing down slightly.

[fallen029]

Out with the Old

"You need a new couch."

"No, I don't."

"Yeah, demon," Laxus complained as, upon sitting on the filthy old thing, he sunk into the overly used cushions. "You do."

"No," was her simple reply as she walked passed, her equally as old dog following close behind. The beast spared Laxus a glance, but mostly ignored him.

They'd come to an agreement of sorts.

Mainly, Laxus was allowed to be around Mirajane so long as he was there to supervise. Unless he was out running the streets like the filthy stray he was.

"You need," Laxus had complained a few months before to his girlfriend as he literally had to run from her front yard and straight into the front door, in order to avoid the mutt as he hid in the bushes, almost as if waiting for the man, "a new dog."

"No," Mira giggled as, after allowing the man in, she tossed a treat out the door, for the dumb stupid canine. "I don't."

And she didn't. At all. She was insistent upon that. He'd been her baby, once upon a time, and he'd have loved Laxus then. But now Alexandria was her crotchety old man and he just wasn't fond of change.

What did he want from her? Huh? She couldn't just shoo him off. If she didn't feed him, who would?

"You need," Laxus growled one day when Mirajane ordered him to get the leftovers out of the icebox, so she could take it out to the old mutt, which he quickly found wasn't working as everything in there was warm, "a new fridge."

"No," Mira told him as she only went off to find her brother and a tool box, so he could fix it, "I don't."

She was this way about most things. She didn't need a new movie lacrima even though you had to bang it a few times every ten minutes to keep it working. She didn't need a new fence outback, not when you could just keep hammering the boards back up. No need for a new backdoor, even though you couldn't lock it, really, other than shove a chair up under it because the doorknob, which she also didn't need a new one, didn't turn. She didn't need a new work schedule even though the woman was never off.

Nothing new. If it wasn't clothes, which could just be added, not interchanged, Mira wasn't receptive to it. She went through enough changes over the course of her life, up at work, even; her personal life, she liked to stay as close to the same as possible.

"But you got a new boyfriend," Laxus complained.

"Who?"

"Me, Mira."

She grinned then. "I just wanted to hear you say it."

"Demon-"

"I don't like...updating, Laxus," she told him as he sat at her rickety old kitchen table, watching her sweep the cracked linoleum floor. "I like old. It's why I like you."

He sighed some, not even taking offense. Only remarking, "I just don't understand you, woman."

"That's okay," Mirajane assured him. "I understand myself perfectly."

Maybe. Laxus was pretty sure that she didn't. That she misconstrued doing things that placated herself as actually being what she needed. It wasn't. He knew it wasn't. He just wasn't sure how to convince the woman of that.

"Just," Evergreen told him bluntly, as she did anytime Laxus brought up something about the Strauss woman, "break up with her."

"Or stop trying to change her," Freed offered with a bit of a shrug. "You shouldn't be with someone who you only wish to change."

As he glared at them though, one day after a training session as they all sat about a clearing, recovering, Bickslow decided to toss out his own wisdom.

"Maybe, boss," he offered up to the man as he'd mostly been watching his babies float about above his head, "you could, you know, just do all those things anyways?"

"What do you mean?" Freed asked as Evergreen only huffed, annoyed they were digging beyond her very simple solution. "Bickslow?"

"Like go ahead, buy her a new fridge," the seith insisted. "Replace her fence. Put the dog to sleep and buy her a puppy."

"Do not," Evergreen finally spoke as, even as a woman with stone for a heart, she couldn't imagine the disaster that would bring, "do that."

"Or any of that," Freed cautioned. "Honestly, Laxus, I do not see this going well. Are you listening?"

Yes, but he was still going to do it.

"What's going on?" Mira questioned a few days later when she arrived to find Elfman on the front porch, pouting as the old mutt sat at his side. "Elf?"

"Laxus says that a real man would recognize when his sister needs a new brother."

"Wh- Laxus!" She was bypassing the muscular man then, but less because she cared about all that (the boys fought all the time; they always made up...when she forced them to) and more because she finally spotted her old fridge sitting out on the porch as well. "What is going on?"

"Uh, try I'm fixing your shitty life." The slayer only peaked out from behind the front door though, very cautious of the dog out there. "You're welcome."

She only shoved her way in though to find Bickslow and Freed in there, along with Lisanna who was more than impressed with the Strauss house kicking their frequently malfunctioning icebox to the curb.

"Now," she was saying as Mira stalked into the kitchen, "Laxus can get me a super expensive coffeepot, huh?"

"Why would Laxus do that? And what would be the point of that?" the slayer asked. "Huh? What does that even mean? Don't they all just make coffee?"

"Oh, innocent Laxus," she hummed as Bickslow, excited to see Mirajane was home, took to gesturing in excitement to the new fridge while his dolls only began chanting.

"Ta-da!" they sang as they floated about. "Mirajane!"

Her smoldering gaze, however, was more than enough to make the others realize the horrible situation they were all about to be stuck in.

"This was not my choice, Mirajane, I assure you," Freed was quick to say, because yeah, he never wanted to go against Laxus, never ever, but he also didn't feel like going up against Satan Soul in that moment.

Because they were certain going up against Satan Soul. All of them. Even poor, innocent Lisanna.

"Where," came her deepest of tones, Mirajane's did, as she slowly turned to glare only at the slayer, "do you get off? Huh? To think that you would just come into my home and violate it-"

"Vio- Mira, that thing shocked me! The other day! When I reached in it!"

"Maybe you're the one that shocked it. Ever think of that? Huh? Sparky?"

Everyone was uncomfortable then. Everyone. Especially Bickslow who only whispered, "Spark?" to Freed questioningly.

Clearly, Mirajane was trying to cut deep with her insults.

As deep as she could, anyways.

"What?" Laxus was growling then, fists clinched. "Mirajane, are you dense?"

Yes. Why was he asking?

"I'm helping you," he kept up. "How hard is that to understand? Huh? You can't live like this, Mirajane. It's ridiculous that you live like this. Things break. Things get old. You get new ones."

"Like," Lisanna whispered softly, hoping to aid along her dream, "coffee pots."

"Or dogs," Bickslow added as Freed only tried to make himself as scarce as possible. It was hard; the kitchen wasn't very big.

"I didn't ask for your help, Laxus." Luckily, she and the slayer hardly noticed the others, now both facing one another as they stood toe to toe, glaring. "With anything. I don't want it. Nothing was wrong here. Nothing-"

"Everything was wrong! Especially with you. What's wrong with you, huh? Mirajane? Call me names. I don't have to put up with this. I don't-"

"Then don't."

He didn't even care about her devil dog outside then as he stormed out of the house, slamming her front door behind him. This was a problem for Bickslow and Freed, who were trying to get the hell out of there as well and had to reopen it, but he didn't care about them. Not one bit.

It was as he was stomping across the yard (Alexandria the close to death dog couldn't be bothered with chasing him; not if he was leaving anyways) that Evergreen, always fashionably late (especially to something she didn't want to do anyways), showed up. Frowning at the fleeing Laxus and even more at the yelling at him from the porch Mirajane, she was about to hightail it right back down to the guild to get the juicy gossip scoop from Bickslow and Freed when Elfman, at the sight of the woman, rose to his feet.

"Hey, Evergreen," he greeted as he walked right over and she only toyed with her glasses, trying to decide on her mood that day. Depending on it, he might just turn into a lawn ornament. "I guess you've heard from Laxus, huh? Men aren't supposed to live with their sisters forever. I guess I kind of agree."

"Is that what's going on?" Ever frowned as Mirajane stomped back into the house once Laxus was too far gone to hear her yelling after him. "Your sister sure is taking you leaving terrible."

Elfman only shrugged. "Laxus said though, that men are supposed to live with significant others."

"Did he?" She examined her nails then. In need of filing. "Well, I hope you and Freed are happy together."

"I- Hey, wait, what? No! Ever, you're supposed to ask me to move in with you."

"Not happening." She'd only just moved out of the dormitory and into her own, real place. She was not going to let the man muck that up. No way. "But I do know of a free room at Fairy Hills-"

"That's a girls dorm!"

"I've given you two viable options," she complained simply. "And yet-"

"Elfman!" Lisanna was coming out on the porch then. "Uh, can you come help? Sis is… Well-"

"Duty calls," he sighed as Evergreen only watched. "If you're sure."

Completely.

Laxus never wanted to see Mirajane again. He was on a warpath on his way to the hall, growling and practically foaming at the mouth. He drank himself silly that night and went home to finish the job, blacking out in his own bed, still just as pissed as he had been hours before.

Mirajane stewed around the house, the whole night, and it was only after Lisanna had explained to Elfman that, actually, a lot of brothers lived with their sisters...for their whole lives…it was healthy...that the younger two Strauss went to bed. This gave the elder a chance to decompress without feeling the constant need to mutter "Traitors," under her breath at her siblings.

Coming into her kitchen to get a glass of water, she could feel the anger heat right back up inside of her. Laxus Dreyar had some nerve. Who did he think he was? Huh? Who? Who? She wanted to know who?

Still...well, she did have to go over to it. To look at it. Examine it. Get angry all over again. Open it. Admit that it was quite a bit more spacious. And it didn't smell like something had died in it, like her old one did. And it even had a light in it, so she could see in it at night, and it was just too much.

No.

Laxus would have to get rid of it.

Yes.

"It's too much room," she reasoned as she sat down at the kitchen table, eyes still hard as stone over at the thing. Yeah. "Inside. And outside. Who does he think that he is?"

Someone who cared about her. She could admit that. And just wanted the best for her. He wasn't trying to be a controlling jerk. He didn't mean to come off as a prick. An elitist. A whiner. Her fridge didn't spark him! It...it…

"You're not," was all the woman told him the next morning when, after arriving to the bar and hearing from Kinana about the man's state the night before, she headed right back out, to his home, to take care of him and his incoming hangover, "getting rid of my dog. Or brother."

"Who says I want you here?" he croaked from bleary eyes as he only laid on his cool, bathroom tile floor, hoping for an end to his suffering.

A wrung washcloth on his forehead from the demon was the closest he was going to be getting.

"We apparently don't care what the other says or wants anymore," she pointed out. "Sparky."

He grumbled some, just a bit, gave up rather easily.

Someone did need to get him some aspirin, after all.

It was slow. But steady. The changes the Strauss house went under were all a long time coming, but all appropriate. A new fence here, a new backdoor there, one less Elfman mucking up the place there, and oh, wow, was that Mirajane moving out as well? Leaving all her old stuff behind after a big of convince because the poor, just starting out Lisanna needed it? Could Laxus be that lucky?

"A housewarming gift," Laxus offered to Lisanna as, the last Strauss standing, she immediately had the party of her dreams.

Considering the guest list seemed to just consist of people around the hall he didn't wanna be around anyways, he wasn't even stepping inside. He hoped to never again.

Still, Lisanna only held the coffee maker box closely. "I'll treasure it always. Now, if you could scram-"

"Excuse me?"

"Natsu will try and fight you." She was shoving him out with one hand, holding onto her new gift with the other. "I don't want anymore damage done to my new house."

She was right, anyways. It couldn't stand that kind of throw down.

He had somewhere else to be, anyways. Home. Where he was still trying very hard to balance Mirajane moving in and what that meant.

"Get your damn dog, demon."

"He just doesn't like it when you sit in his chair, is all, Laxus."

"It's my chair!"

He just had to remember, he reminded himself frequently when he and the mutt (he was adjusting quite nicely to Laxus' nice, lush apartment; definite step up), he wasn't the one that came out the worst in the whole Strauss house disbandment.

"How," Evergreen complained frequently when Elfman inevitably got excited over something (happy, sad, angry; it didn't matter, he reacted the same to all) and, while bouncing around, knocked over her coffee table or end table or broke a plate or a mug or just annoyed her, always annoying her, "did I end up with you?"

"Well," he told her truthfully once as he thought. "I wouldda stayed home, with Lisanna, but she was pretty certain that men only live with their oldest sisters. Protect them. Younger sister and older brother? It would just be weird."

"Your whole family's weird," she remarked with squinted eyes and that argument was had a lot.

It could keep them all riled up for days.

Not nearly as much as Laxus, however, when he found that though Mirajane was rather attached to her old stuff, she had no desire to hang onto his.

"Where's my black-"

"Oh, Laxus, that was so old. I'll buy you a new pair."

"But-"

"I donated them. Your old boots. And a few shirts. A couple-"

"Mira-"

"And do you like this couch? Because-"

"You're about to get shipped back to your sister."

But she only grinned from where she sat, in his chair, with her dog, as the pair watched the slayer stalk off to his bedroom.

"He just loves us so much," she assured the dog who, while skeptical only panted in what she assumed was agreement.

[ruthlesswind]

Chapter 729, High Sweetness

Fu Jiu has not yet pulled out, and the whole person has been drawn into this joy. .

Less than eighteen years old.

The body is so arrogant.

There is no ability to parry at all.

What's more, the look that looks good reminds her of her first time when she fell down on a dog pet.

The messy black hair and the different shackles.

Don't say that it is a woman.

Even men may not be able to escape.

Obviously knowing that she has no resistance to the beautiful male, she still came to this trick.

Fu Jiu raised his hand, first the ring on the neck of Qin Mo, the thin lips are close, and there is no point at all.

Qin Mo hooked the thin lip.

Just kissed the boy's mouth.

It was a fierce wind.

Very beautiful to take and overwhelm.

The positions of the two people are interchanged.

The juvenile's arms are on the side of Qin Mo, and the light is low: "Meng Ge, you should know that even if I react now, it is only physical, it does not mean anything."

Said, Fu Jiu raised her hand, put the white shirt on Qin Mo together, that means to stand up.

Qin Mo took the guy's wrist in front of him, and the black broken hair hit it down, like laughing and a little cold: "You don't have such high resistance to other people."

Fu Jiu knows the character of the great god, and understands that if she refuses even the god of this kind, the relationship between the two will drop to freezing point.

But continue.

The identity of her girl will be exposed.

The god has always wanted to bend her.

"Oh, is it a responsibility?"

When Qin Mo was lifted up, there was no chance for anyone to repent before, and the opponent’s hand was directly pressed to his hot place.

Looking at the red rising between the teenager's face and the trembled shoulder.

Qin Mo smiled again. The dangerous thing was like a demon. His teeth were white and clear. "Is it not very good to touch, huh?"

All over the world, perhaps only the great god can look like this.

Saying this in words,

Doing that kind of action on your hand.

Fu Jiu could not control the temperature at which the face rose.

Qin Mo raised his eyebrows: "So not so simple? Jiu, men will not care about this kind of thing, you say, especially between good friends."

"There is no such thing between good friends." Fu Jiu's teeth bite the lip, the ear is red, want to pull the hand away.

Qin Mo refused, even the heat of breathing was a bit hot, and in the deep eyes, only the reflection of the boy was left at this time: "Yes."

There are no two words in consciousness at all.

But this man has become more irresistible.

That feeling is very strange.

Fu Jiu has never experienced it.

This master of this person's breathing is even a look.

She can clearly see the shadow that she swayed in the pupil of that person.

You can also see Qin Mo, that the others have never seen before.

That handsome beauty to the heart-warming face, now rendered on the ****, when the black forehead hangs down, it is even more sexy to pull out.

In addition to some blushing sounds, it is the breath of this person and the burning touch.

Fu Jiu only feels that her palm is hot.

When I came back to God, it was the black eyes.

"Technology is so bad." Qin Mo half picks his lips: "It's not like the legendary nightclub little prince."

This time, people who can dig her black history, only the great god.

Fu Jiu wants to avoid the breath of that person.

It is found that sandalwood will also spread.

Simply go straight to the side: "It is obviously a nightclub small outbreak."

Qin Mo listened to this sentence, paused, could not help but want to laugh, somewhere more spiritual: "Do your work."

"Meng Ge, who did you meet such a confession?" After all, Fu Jiu is a girl, unable to stand up, his face is getting red.

Qin Mo is close to the boy's ear, and the light is like the night, saying that it is not like what he would say: "Only you, because you want too much, want to lock you up, do whatever you want, even want to hear you. Dumbfounded pleading, or as it is now."

I noticed that it was hot and violent, and the thin lips were trembled, and the thin lips were kissed.

Breathing is like being taken away.

A blank in the brain.

Some of the big heartbeats make people tremble.

Fu Jiu can clearly feel the numbness of the tailbone.

That made her all strength.

"It seems, don't you like it?"

The smile of the magnetic sink, with the kiss, passed over her ear.

There is also the musk that has not been scattered, as well as the steaming breath.

Even the hand pressed against her wrist began to move down slowly.

Passing from the waist side, followed by the lower abdomen, the kiss across the battle suit, just before moving to Qinn Mo's legs.

Fu Jiu suddenly clesed his eyes.

A bang is crisp!

The sound of disharmony sounded at this time.

It’s very harsh.

Qin Mo did not go to see the back of his hand that was reddened, but instead bowed down and looked at the ruddy boy who had not retired.

Fu Jiu said: "Sorry, I don't need it." Immediately stood up, this time in addition to her speed is too fast, there is the pause when Qin Mo heard these two words.

The last thing he wants to hear is this response.

As a psychocriminal scientist.

It is very clear when a man is most vulnerable to a call.

So this way you will bend a person.

Qin Mo side turned and looked at the door closed in the bathroom.

It is like a gap that cannot be crossed.

A clear stream of water passed.

The thin nine looked at the palm of his hand and was washed away, and looked up at himself in a pair of glasses.

After washing his hands with hand sanitizer, he washed another face.

Almost.

It’s really just a little bit worse.

The Great God is a man... The Fu Jiu heads are against the mirror, and they will attack them.

If she goes further, her secret is undoubted.

Thoughts are somewhat unclear.

Fu Jiu is very clear, no one can let her do this.

It’s really messy.

But the big god thought she was a blue child.

Also take the initiative to marry her.

Fu Jiu touched his eyes.

This will not work.

First think of ways to bring people back.

Must come back.

Fu Jiu touched the eyebrows and swept the smoke and fire in the bathroom before the god.

Take it out and give yourself a point.

That position is very handsome, the silver hair is broken, and the smoke is lining up.

Qin Mo originally thought that the juvenile would not accept it because of the previous incident, so he did not come out in the bathroom.

Pushing open the door, I found that I was wrong.

Looking at that face is not like putting more on what you just said.

This point is the most interesting thing in the past, but now... the heart seems to be tied up by something.

Those media who say that he is cold-blooded should really look at the way this guy looks. It is good for you, but never affected by you.

Qin Mo did not go over: "How long are you going to stay here?"

Fu Jiu took the light away and said: "Always give me some time to smoke afterwards."

Qin Mo was really a pain in the chest. After listening to the three words, it was really... I glanced at a guy who didn’t always play according to common sense: "I’m not smoking after the smoke. ""

Fu Jiu does not speak, she thinks that one day she will be back soon, if there is time.

Qin Mo slid out people: "You first explain to me, you a high school student, how do you know the three words after the event."

"I am not a nightclub small outbreaker." Fu Jiu is not very fond of smoking, and occasionally can not understand the thoughts, but one thing: "Meng Ge, things like today, don't do it again in the future.

Qin Mo’s fingers slammed, and the light in his eyes followed a little.

Then, head down, point the cigarette.

The action is completely different from that of the Fu Jiu.

It’s just that there is no fireworks in the body, it’s very cold.

Not talking.

Someone came knocking at this time.

It is Lin Shentao’s voice that can be heard in the vagueness.

"Hey, is the little spam sleeping? Do you want to have one more?"

Fu Jiu has such a person to break the deadlock.

But she is not willing to let anyone see what the god is like now.

Pulling the door open, I wanted to agree, but when I turned around, my eyes touched the reddish, and I turned around and asked Lin Shentao about other things.

After Lin Shentao finished speaking, he asked: "What do you want to do?"

"At noon, I sold coconuts, my knees were broken, and I wiped them."

Lin Shentao shook his head: "fine skin tender meat."

In fact, since the Fu Jiu has left.

The air in the room seemed to be evacuated.

Qin Mo reached out and tied a button of a shirt with a button.

Just the end of the line, the cooler the bottom of the eyes.

Heavy enough to make him look like he was abandoned.

What a ridiculous description.

[ahouseoflies]

The Best Films of 2019, Part I

On one hand, I fear the direction of American cinema, and I feel more personally distracted from great art with each passing day. On the other hand, my viewing was up 5% from last year despite my belief that I’ve gotten choosier. I even approve of most of the films nominated for Best Picture. Are the offerings just top-heavy this year? Are my standards declining? Answering questions like those is part of why I present a paragraph or two on everything I see each year, though I can’t even imagine someone sitting down and reading all of this.

Full disclosure: I haven’t seen Just Mercy, Monos, Portrait of a Lady on Fire, Good Boys, Frankie, For Sama, or An Elephant Sitting Still. The tiers, as always, are Garbage, Admirable Failures, Endearing Curiosities with Big Flaws, Pretty Good Movies, Good Movies, Great Movies, and Instant Classics. GARBAGE

129. Cold Pursuit (Hans Petter Moland)- A film professor of mine showed us Wings of Desire and City of Angels, its American remake, in order to show us how a film can technically cover a story while losing the essence that made it special. I can only hope that Hans Petter Moland's Norwegian original is better than his stab at an English language remake, which fails completely at balancing violence and comedy. The movie almost announces its own boredom with the protagonist as it shifts focus first to the villain and then to cops on the case, all of whom have artificial quirks to try to give them life where there isn't any. The Neeson character's journey toward revenge is empty, so the film drifts from him, but it doesn't have anything to say with the other characters either. 128. Domino (Brian De Palma)- Seeking revenge, a Libyan informant roughs up a potential terrorist by throwing him over a restaurant bar. Cut to two cops driving wordlessly. Cut to the Libyan guy dunking the other guy's head in boiling soup. That interruption spells out what the rest of the film does: De Palma could not be less interested in his replacement-level actor's shoddy policework, especially in the self-parody of the last twenty minutes. Any intensity the movie has comes from terrorists (or Guy Pearce over-salting a salad), and then the police drain the momentum. Just make a movie about terrorists, Brian! And, as I've urged you for years, get rid of Pino Donaggio. 127. Beach Bum (Harmony Korine)- Moondog, the spacey, Floridian hedonist poet at the center of the film, is supposed to be "brilliant" and "a good guy" at heart according to his daughter. But at the daughter's wedding, he shakes the hand of her fiance, whom he usually calls "limp-dick," and he says, "What's your name again?" The line got a laugh in my theater, but is it likely that he didn't know the name of his daughter's fiance? Especially if he's a good guy who doesn't hurt people on purpose? It's one example out of a thousand of Harmony Korine making the goofy decision instead of the one that would benefit character or story. I thought that Korine had taken a turn for the lucid with Spring Breakers, but he just isn't interested in making anything consistent enough for me. There's an hour of consequence-free episodes to follow, though I did cherish Jonah Hill's three improvised scenes, for which he tries a sort of Tennessee Williams voice. You can admire how audacious some of the choices are--describing Zac Efron wearing Jncos makes the film sound more fun than it is--but looking at the poster gives you about 70% of what you would get out of the long ninety-five minutes. Yes, McConaughey's shoes are funny, but what else have you got? 126. Fyre Fraud (Jenner Furst, Julia Willoughby Nelson)- Half as good as the Netflix one. Please, by all means, explain to me what a millenial is again. 125. The Kitchen (Andrea Berloff)- One of my mentors stressed that Shakespeare worked in "cultural touchstones," truisms that weren't difficult to prove but served as a sandbox for all of the juicy stuff. So we all know that, say, too much ambition is a bad thing, but having that North Star at all times allows Shakespeare to ply his trade with character development and imagery and symbol. I know that The Kitchen isn't funny or cool or original, but it also doesn't really have an emotional or thematic core. It's a movie with neither the window dressing nor the window. I don't know what I'm getting at, but I watched the last five minutes twice to make sure that it actually was as anti-climactic and inert as I thought.

124. Climax (Gaspar Noe)- Ah, to be a provocateur who has made his best work already and took all of the wrong lessons from it. I don't envy Noe, who insists on formal rigor even when it adds nothing, who goes to greater, more desperate lengths to shock. A third of this film, embedded somewhere between the three openings, is gross young people talking, lewdly and clinically, about whom they want to bone. I thought I started watching French art movies to get away from locker rooms. 123. The Best of Enemies (Robin Bissell)- The supporting cast of Anne Heche, Wes Bentley, and John Gallagher Jr. avail themselves better than the finger-wagging, scenery-chewing leads, but that hardly matters in a movie this fundamentally broken. Apparently no one saw the problem with making a Ku Klux Klan president the dynamic hero of a school integration that he fought against, but that's how the story functions. He's the guy who casts the deciding vote and gives the speech at the end, but it's a bit anti-climactic for an audience that assumes, yeah, the White race is not morally superior to any other race. Congratulations on your realization, buddy. Long before that, Sam Rockwell’s character is inconsistent. Neither the Rockwell performance nor the Robin Bissell script can thread the needle between showing the heinous terrorist that a Klan member is and revealing the depth that foreshadows the character's change. The answer is to show the character being nice to his developmentally disabled son, which, again, doesn't get all the way there. That's cool that you love your own son, but, uh, that has nothing to do with the hatred that made you shoot up a girl's house because she has a Black boyfriend. Of course you can show these contradictions and changes in a character incrementally--lots of good movies have--but this one ain't going on the list. 122. The Intruder (Deon Taylor)- Probably the most two-star movie of the year. Prototypical in its two-starness. Instructive to me as far as what I give two stars. There’s a point of view error in the first twenty minutes that ruined it for me. ADMIRABLE FAILURES 121. Little (Tina Gordon Chism)- We're all good on body swap movies for a while. This one, otherwise undistinguished in its comedy or storytelling, is notable for just how specifically 2019 it might look in a time capsule: Here's a joke about transitioning as we're on our way to our job developing apps; there's a kid doing The Floss and talking to Alexa. Whoops! Bumped into a guy wearing a VR headset! 120. The Kid Who Would Be King (Joe Cornish)- I appreciate that somebody is still making movies for 9-10 year old boys, but I checked out hard and kind of just left this on until it was done. I don't like lore. Much less funny and urgent than Attack the Block, and it's crazy that this is the only project that came together for Joe Cornish in the intervening eight years. 119. Godzilla: King of the Monsters (Michael Dougherty)- Exhausting and joyless in its large-scale destruction, Godzilla: King of the Monsters pitches everything at the same volume, and even the end of the world ends up not mattering as a result. Despite (or maybe because of) the presence of such great actors, the screenplay dilutes the characters by having three fighter pilots or three scientists when all the lines really could have been given to one of these interchangeable figures. That's first draft stuff, homie. Still, Kyle Chandler is kind of awesome as the weathered one shouting about how everyone else is playing God. He reminds me of Larry Fitzgerald toiling away with professionalism on teams that would never sniff the playoffs. 118. Blinded by the Light (Gurinder Chadha)- I made it about twenty minutes into this movie before flipping the switch and making fun of it relentlessly. It tries to strike the heart-on-sleeve authenticity that a Springsteen song does, but if The Boss never overwhelms you with language, almost every line of dialogue in this film spells out what the character is thinking. The overbearing father is especially intolerable: "What is this music? You need to get rid of distractions and focus on getting a good job so that you don't end up a taxi driver. Like me!" I'm only sort of paraphrasing. Blinded by the Light is too well-meaning to be offensive, but it's absurd in its spoon-feeding. LMK, ladies: On the third time that I have headphones in my ears during a conversation with you, and I start buttering you up with lyrics to "Jungleland," will you still love me? 117. Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (David Leitch)- What a summer, huh? The go-for-broke final setpiece redeems the film somewhat, and Vanessa Kirby is a welcome addition to the universe. But Idris Elba's first line, responding to a question about who he is, is "Bad Guy," and the characterization doesn't go too much further. I feel as if I have honed the requisite disposition to enjoy a Fast and Furious movie, but that doesn't mean that the most cliched thing has to happen at the most cliched time in the most cliched way.

116. I Lost My Body (Jeremy Clapin)- Not for me ultimately. The film presents itself as above the tropes of cinematic romance but sure seems to circle around them. Clapin is willing to set up the pins of, say, "I'm actually the pizza delivery guy but have kept it a secret for a year," but he is unwilling to knock the pins down with anything resembling catharsis. I don't know if the French bowl, but feel free to substitute whatever kind of metaphor they might get offended by.

115. The Lion King (Jon Favreau)- I saw the original Lion King when I was ten: old enough to think that Disney movies were beneath me but young enough to know nothing about art or the world. And I remember the way that the songs transcended reality: "I Just Can't Wait to Be King" turning into a Busby Berkeley number, "Be Prepared" taking on an expressionist green tint. It was mass entertainment that was far from experimental, but I remember thinking, "Can you do that?" As an artistic experiment, this remake is kind of confounding, to the point that I don't know whether to classify it as an animated or live-action film. The final scene starts upside down, and your eye adjusts to the idea that you're looking at a reflection in a stream, but that stream is a Caleb Deschanel-aided, computer-generated reflection of a reality. However, I return to my original point: You're missing something if you think The Lion King is a better story if it's more realistic. Capably made as The Lion King 2019 is, no one is referencing 42nd Street. These Disney remakes just reference themselves. 114. Stuber (Michael Dowse)- The critical community has been pretty forgiving of Stuber; I guess because it's a type of studio film that used to be common but now is not. Judged on its own merits, however, it's labored. The screenplay circles around questions of masculinity, but not in a way that hasn't been done better in other recent comedies. Perhaps most disappointing of all, I've seen Iko Uwais and Bautista fight before, and it looked a whole lot cooler than the way they're sliced and diced here. The ending's sweet at least. 113. After the Wedding (Bart Freundlich)- Think of what Julianne Moore could have accomplished in the time it took in her career for her to shoot four crappy movies with her husband. This is the type of melodrama that makes more sense after all of the revelations have cleared the air, but that doesn't mean the preceding hour and a half was any more fun because of the aftermath. 112. The Goldfinch (John Crowley)- One day someone's going to figure out how to coherently adapt a Dickensian novel and actually do that thing Crowley is trying to do: condensing two hundred pages of back story into 1/8th of a page here or a line there. Somebody's going to be able to figure out the little moments that are important and the big moments that aren't. And you'll all be sorry. The movie is ultimately hampered by the bad ending of the novel, in which a person who isn't a mystery writer has to solve a mystery. Perfect casting for Luke Wilson though. He definitely looks like a whiskey-faced dad who would steal your social security number. 111. The Souvenir (Joanna Hogg)- This movie is autobiographical. The protagonist has the same initials as Joanna Hogg, and she's attending film school at the same time Hogg did. But what a self-own it is for your hero, based on you, to be this inexpressive and restrained and deferential. The film is mostly about a cold romantic relationship--and I guess what the character learns through that experience--but when her beau's friend asks what she sees in him, she can't really say. Neither can the audience. I guess it's a skill to write a scene in which a family is having an argument that is so clenched-jaw reticent that the viewer can't even discern the topic of conversation for a few minutes, but it's not a skill I appreciate. 110. The Dead Don’t Die (Jim Jarmusch)- Jim Jarmusch must be a very good friend.

109. Velvet Buzzsaw (Dan Gilroy)- If the film were funny, I wouldn't mind the lack of narrative drive. If the film had narrative drive, I wouldn't mind the lack of atmosphere--glaring for a film that circles around to horror eventually. If the film had more to say, I wouldn't mind how pedantically it says it. If the protagonist's change of heart made sense, then I wouldn't mind that his conversion apparently happens off-screen. At least most of the actors seem to be having fun. I wasn't. 108. It: Chapter Two (Andy Muschietti)- I started squirming in my seat during a sequence somewhere in the circuitous second hour. Bill sees his old bike in an antiques window, haggles with a Stephen King shopkeeper cameo, and finishes the scene on a triumphant note, believing that his old bike will ride like the wind. Cut to the bike falling apart on the road, deflating his pride with comedy. Cut to a flashback of him riding the bike with young Beverly, serene and warm. Cut to him riding the bike again with determination until he stops, terrified. Within fifteen seconds, the film jerks us into four divergent emotions at a whim. The overall tone felt just as arbitrary to me, and that's before we get to the always-unclear line between fantasy and reality. And this time, the flashbacks of each young character's encounters with Pennywise are less scary because we know they all live into the present. Andy Muschietti just does not have a light enough touch to make this movie work.The last forty-five minutes are interminable. But I had all the same gripes with the first chapter, so personal taste is a factor. 107. Trial by Fire (Edward Zwick)- Perfect example of a true story that could use some poetic justice. I don't want to give away anything that the first line of the imdb summary doesn't already, but this ending could have been much more satisfying by changing one or two lines. This is a movie that recreates, multiple times, babies burning alive, but the ending is somehow more punishing. It's also one of those films that should have just begun at the halfway point. If we can praise special effects when they're done well, then they should be fair game when they're this embarrassing. Zwick definitely put his flash drive into the Lifetime computers for fire.exe.

[blackrosesfanfic]

Chapter 140

Next morning

Alex

"Jamaal?" I snap paying attention to him.

"Huh?" he says not looking up from the tablet.

I snatch the tablet from him. "Why would you wear the same clothes to work that you went out in? At least have the dignity to change clothes."

"Dignity?" he says frowning up his face.

"Oh you look like your father. Straighten up your face."

I look around. Jamaal snatches his tablet from out of my hands. I stare at the lady. She looks very familiar. Standing beside her is a tall white girl. She stood straight as an arrow in her 4 inch Michael Kors pumps. Pretty good for an assistant. She either puts her whole check into her wardrobe or her boss has really good connects. I stare at the woman for a few more seconds before getting hit by a train.

"Senator Andrews." I say stepping towards her a little.

"Hello, who's your assistant? Don't be rude."

She said that looking pass me. Hold the fuck on.

"That's fucking sexist of you to fucking assume I'm the assistant. Until a month ago I was the one and only person in my position."

"As what?" she says nonchalantly. "Executive assistant. I do love your attire. Ida, take a note of what I mean by work appropriate with some style. Hmm?"

"Yes, ma'am." she says smiling slightly.

Jamaal stops me from going off on her. He stands between us purposely. "Mama, good to see you."

"Jamaal, you were so silent I forgot you were here." she looks him over. "I see you changed your style."

"Mama. As in mother." I whisper.

He turns around and sighs. "Just be nice."

I giggle then stop abruptly. "Too her?"

"This is my partner, Mama. Alex."

"Alex? Just Alex?" she says like someone put spoiled fish in front of her to eat. "Is that a dyke thing?"

I put my hands on my hip. I gasp astonished by the length she is going. "I refuse."

"Do I know you?" Senator Andrews asks.

"Maybe then you over looked me as a simple assistant. I rather not gloat in my own shit. It can get smelly after a while."

She chuckles a bit. "Jamaal?"

Jamaal is a fucking bitch for not telling me that his mother is Senator Andrews. I should go across his head right now in front of her uppity ass. Sitting her acting like her shit don't stank. She needs to learn a few things about personality adjusting. You do that shit to reporters and shit. You don't do that bullshit anywhere you go. I don't care if you at your son's job. Hell you should be anymore respectful then.

"Lexie is in my office sleep still."

"What am I supposed to do with a sleep grown ass child and this skinny assistant."

I roll my eyes and walk towards my office. Oh she is fucking terrible. But then again I knew this. I never met her but her reputation for being a bitch is dead on. Usually you can give the person a chance but no. There's no compromising with that spawn. I sit at my office responding to emails. A little while later Jamaal walks in. I turn from the computer.

"Oh great." I say gesturing to him. "Come here and let me slap that face."

"I know." he says.

I turn from the computer. "But you gossip about everything."

"She is a bitch. Why would I tell anyone about that?"

"So it was her yacht!"

He shrugs a bit. "My father's but let's not ponder on that."

"Oh, your rich ass father. Jamaal, I can't stand your lying face. I should have told her you wore that outfit last night."

"Wore it where?"

I push him back. "You too close."

He looks down at himself. "I wanted to have a different look for her. Because she is in town. Clearly she is about 'style'."

"I mean she does have style with that pretty ass coat she was wearing."

"Do you want to come to breakfast?"

I laugh. "No."

He sighs. "Be selfless and save a nigga."

"Ha." I say turning to my computer.

"Damn, I wish I had something over your head."

I smirk. "Are you begging?"

"Yes." he says leaning on the desk.

"Are you desperate enough to kiss my ass?"

He stands up. "Your real ass?"

"Yeah." I say turning to him.

"Come up with something better. Say your asshole or armpits."

"Oh so you wouldn't mind kissing my ass?"

"No." he retorts.

I don't know about that one. He stands there waiting for an answer. I would not, absolutely not, want to sit at breakfast with his mother. Good Lord. I cross my arms. I need something out of this besides my ass being kissed. I could easily get that do without having to go through shit.

"You have to be a bit more persuasive."

"Alex. Be fair. There's nothing you need from me."

I laugh. "This is mildly satisfying. I have to go with you to your breakfast because..."

"My mother has nothing to talk about besides my failures and delayed success."

"Wait why is your mother here if she is such a problem and why do your niece stay in the hood? Why are you broke Jamaal?"

He pulls me up from my seat. "Cause she is my mother."

"Whom you are deeply afraid of."

"Shitless." he says. "She's a black bullheaded woman who believes in her own morals and strictly enforces them. I got cut off when I failed a class in college."

"One?"

"One." he says pulling me.

I snatch away from him. "Did I say yes?"

He sighs. "You are like the antagonist of my mother. Not because you act like her but because you have that same fire that won't be put out by her. She is my mother, Alex."

"Oh shut up."

"Come on. Only thing she can do is..."

"Make herself look weak by targeting my imperfections while I be nice because she is your mother?"

He touches my back. "You can say whatever you want. No being nice. But Lexie is going to be at the table. My mother is taking her for a week or two while she is in town for a conference."

"Who represents your mother?" I ask with a sudden idea for a business opportunity.

"Oh she would never leave her public rep. You can kill that."

I smile and grab my bag. "I would love to see you look shameful."

"If this isn't shame enough. I bet you do like to do the fucking."

"I'll show you." I say walking towards the door.

He steps in front of me opening the door. "Show me how you will fuck me or how you can convince my mother to hire you?"

I push him making the door swing back towards the wall. "Why do you have this dying need to mix the business of things with pleasure?"

"That's TV talk. A woman is a man's partner. If we can't conduct business then what are we together for. It's interchangeable. If we can work well together we can do anything pleasurable with great success."

"You practiced that in the mirror didn't you?"

"You vain enough to believe I think about you all day."

I chuckle walking away. ""Because you do."

  Trey

Forrest picks Lane up so I could see his face on the camera. "Look at Daddy."

"It a elebent." Lane yells not paying me any attention.

"Look Trey." Forrest says again.

Lane gasp. "It coming. Hey, elebent. Hey!"

Forrest puts him down. "I tried."

"I might have made a mistake suggesting the Zoo."

"Yes." Forrest says showing me Lane jumping up and down.

He is overwhelmed by excitement as he watches the elephant come towards the zookeeper. The zookeeper hands Lane a tree branch. Lane climbs a stool without being told and waits for the elephant to come up. The elephant takes the tree from him. He reaches out to the elephant to touch it. The elephant actually reaches it's trunk out. I fucking freak out. What if that thing grabs him? Or knocks him off the stool? Lane is calm as ever as it gets close to him. Buggiz comes up into the camera a bit. That's why I love Buggiz. I'm fucking glad he team Cammie cause he thinks like me.

"Elebent." Lane says.

"Okay." Buggiz says.

Lane touches the elephant's trunk again then starts crying. "Bye, elebent."

"Elephant." Forrest says. "Come on. Let's go see the tiger."

"Tiger?" Lane says excited.

Forrest shows Lane. "Your Daddy.

Lane starts talking too fast to understand him. I smile at him and nod my head. He was so excited that he could careless if I respond. Damn, even if we in the same country I miss shit. I sigh. After a few minutes of him talking he leaves Forrest and go to Buggiz.

"He going to the bathroom." Forrest says.

"He loving that. Thanks."

"You my nigga. He my nigga. Plus he not interfering with my plans for later."

I sigh. "About that."

"Don't do the guilt trip."

"I'm just saying that you can't be out here getting drunk and shit. You got to be better than me, right?"

He opens his mouth. "Oh the phone."

I laugh. He had hung up the phone on me. I hope that he remembers to call Cammie. I need to talk to her and see how it went. Well. She might not be up. I sigh and walk out into the crowd of waiting fans. They start cheering and doing the usual. I have to be 10 times more than normal because these girls are paying a shit of money to see me tonight. I sit down and get ready to sign whatever they give me.

"Trey?"

"Emily." I say signing the cd of someone in front of her.

She steps up to the table. "Oh silly me. I have nothing for you to sign."

"You stood in line to do what?" I ask.

"To take a picture with my number 1."

I stand up. "I'm sure you could have gotten a picture without standing in line."

"Oh, I just got in line." she says kissing my cheek.

"In front of all these people?"

She smiles. "They said they didn't mind. Enough of that. I'll be waiting on a call later."

I walk back to the table. In one breathe that went from innocent to inappropriate. Talking about some fucking call. As if I would dare fuck up my life. Fuck her for thinking she is that fucking important. It was a demand that I call her.

"You were su... My name is Ally." the girl says.

"What did I write?" I say paying attention.

I look around for CiCi. I don't think that she came in here with me. I signal someone to me to get this girl another poster or something to replace this. She smiles the whole time like I didn't fuck up her poster. CiCi comes with an arm full of stuff seconds later. She takes a deep breath and sits down a bottle of water.

"Sorry, Ally." I say signing a shirt and  a copy of other stuff.

"What does this say?" CiCi giggles.

"I don't fucking know?" I whisper back.

She gives me the water bottle. "There's a sedative in the cap."

I chuckle. "You really think I need that, CiCi?"

"I wouldn't if I didn't." she whispers.

"I need to go home." I whisper as the next person comes up.

She touches my leg. "Nicki already said she would understand."

"Yeah I know.

"I love you." the girl says handing me something to sign.

"I love you too."

She covers her mouth. "I love your wife. I wish I could meet her."

I exhale. "Wouldn't that be lovely?"

"Yeah."

"CiCi, why were you out of breath?"

She giggles. "I was sorta out of place."

I look at the water bottle. "Across the street eating?"

"I thought about you needing water."

"Hi, beautiful. What's your name?" I ask the young girl.

Her face lights up as she says her name too many times. I need to focus on this but I imagine myself somewhere else. Anywhere but here would be fine.

[artificialqueens]

Katya and The Space Barbie (Trixya)- Squeaky

Number one reason not to buy a sex doll from a sketchy, space shop— she might come to life.

(AN: really short, smutty one shot)

The galaxy is infinite, and Katya’s horny.

Those two thoughts aren’t related, but they occur to her at the same time. The spaceship is lightly vibrating because Katya’s running low on fuel; the vibrations aren’t helping her growing state of arousal. In fact, it’s getting harder and harder to think. The safety straps around her waist and chest are tight, and the reminder of how she’s strapped down makes her squirm against the hard leather.

Katya’s sure she took a left turn at the milky way before hitting accelerate. Or…did she? The directions blur together, and her navigation system took a hit. How am I going to make it back to Mother Ship now? Ask?!

“Uh, this is Captain Zamo from Sputnik reporting in to Headquarters. I’m operating a craft without navigation. Do you copy? Over?”

“Yes, I copy. Are you lost, Captain Obvious? Over.”

Katya internally groans at the sarcastic drawl of Alaska’s voice. Great, if she wanted a tongue lashing, she’d have dialed up her mother. Now, she needs to ask for Alaska Thunder’s help. God, there had never been any other girl at Ru’s Space Academy who gave her shit like Alaska.

“I’m not lost, ‘Lasky, just not…spatially coordinated. Over.”

“That’s the definition of lost. Over.”

“I’m lost when I say I’m lost, which I’m not. Lost that is. And aren’t we all existentially lost in the scale of this never ending universe splattered with stars and sperm? Over.”

Silence.

Katya sighs and presses the voice command: “I’m lost.”

“I’ll see what I can do, Captain. Hmmm….says here you’re approaching Planet Booberella. I’m sure you’ve been there before? Over.”

“Never,” Katya lies and then flushes as she realizes she forgot to say ‘over.’

Wow, way to be obvious, Katya.

“Well, I’m sure there’s a, uh, first time for everything. Pull over for fuel and directions. Over.”

She types in the coordinates for Planet Booberella. It’s infamous for well…boobs and bombs. The women and men there are just as likely to blow you for a copper piece as they are to blow you to pieces for the wrong word.

Katya hesitates before pressing the intercom: “Bets on if I’ll get fucked or sold into space slavery? Over.”

“Bet you’ll meet an alien girl and fuck her over so bad she’ll sell herself. Conversation- OVER.”

Katya bites her lip.

Is Alaska still mad about that whole date thing? Probably. They’d ditched the food and went straight back to her Cube for ‘dessert.’ Katya remembers how she’d pushed Alaska onto her knees. God, Alaska looked so pretty, still in her spandex uniform, with her face buried between Katya’s thighs. They’d fucked on the bed and couch and table. Alaska had come apart so easily under her fingertips. While Katya hasn’t been back to her Cube in months, she bet that Alaska’s ripped up uniform is still there.

“Thanks for the help, Coordinator Thunder. Any chance for another dinner when I get back? I can’t cook, but I could microwave us some popcorn…think about it? Watch the Cult Classic Contact? Over.”

Silence.

Well, losing friends and herself in space is kind of Katya’s specialty. Sputnik’s sput-sputtering down, and Katya’s not going to bother legally landing. She zooms down to one of the Black Market Pods to get herself situated in Tittington. Fuck, why is this whole planet a bad sex pun? It’s the biggest joke in the cosmos.

Katya jumps out, breasts bouncing in her shiny suit. It’s skin tight. Just the way that she likes it. All five of the mechanic’s eyes trail down to her chest as she slides him her platinum card.

“Oi, I’d be careful going out with ‘em bullets on yer chest,” he drawls.

“You want one less eye, huh?” Katya asks as she runs her hand down her thigh to grab her lazor gun and then presses it to his throat.

The mechanic puts his webbed hands up: “Peace, peace. I’ll be done refueling and patching up in an hour. Looks like the engine’s on its last leg.”

“Do a good job, and I’ll give you a tip,” she promises, and Katya regrets her words as soon as she turns. She can feel all five eyes against the curve of her ass. Katya leaves in a huff. Doesn’t anyone in this galaxy have a heart?

“Hearts! Hearts for sale! Buy three and get a kidney for free!” An old lady, porous skin covered in green ooze, wheezes up at Katya.

She flinches. Ugh, it’s like Miss. Fame used to say back at the Academy- ask and the universe will give.

Katya amuses herself by stopping by a hologram store and flipping through the intergalactic net. She gained six new followers on her travel blog. Then Katya goes next to the local, seedy sex shop.

It’s full of gadgets and gizmos that have been scattered all over and somehow filtered down here. The shopkeeper, a cute drag queen named Violet, winks at her when she enters. They’d met and fucked the first time she’d got here, and Katya had never been held down so tightly or fucked so thoroughly as she had with Violet. Katya leans against the counter-

“So what you got in stock, V?”

“Oh, possessed butt plugs, ancient dildos, and…I shouldn’t be showing you this but…” Violet bounces to the back and comes back with what looks like a Barbie Doll box. Katya’s spent enough years in her childhood watching reruns to recognize it. But what’s it doing in a place like this?

“I’ve heard of a lot of fetishes, doll…but never any involving barbie dolls?”

Katya takes the package in her hands. This doll has big blonde hair up in a pigtail and a Judy Jetson hooker-like costume. What is even supposed to be? A flight attendant? Katya turns the box over and reads ’Here To Satisfy Your Wildest Fantasy- it’s Trixie! Your favorite sex Barbie proves that life in plastic IS really fantastic.’

“It’s small for travel convenience,“ Violet explains. “But press the button in the back, and it blows up. She’s got interchangeable parts for maximum pleasure- since Barbies don’t have any. I just got it in stock, so I don’t know what the reviews are.”

“So I’m like…your test rat?”

“Mm, more like a sexual experiment,” Violet says with a wink.

Katya is horny, but she’s never tried out a sex doll before. From what’s heard of online, they usually come with a remote control, but the Trixie doll doesn’t have any. 

Violet puts her hands on Katya’s: “What do you say? Buy it now, leave me a sweet review on Yelp, and I’ll give you 50% discount, Kat.”

Katya does like the novelty of getting a souvenir from Booberella. Maybe Alaska will get a laugh out of it too…if she ever speaks to her again.

“You know what? I’ll take it." 

Katya pulls out a couple gold coins from her back pocket. She’s glad Booberella is part of the galactic union. It makes buying sex toys all the more convenient. Violet bites down to check that they’re not fools gold and then sends her off with a wink.

Katya’s pleased to see that five-eyed-creep has taken good care of her Sputnik. He leers at her and then the doll pressed up to her chest. God, I’m horny but not blind. 

She salutes the planet with a middle finger as she zooms off. 

Then she’s back on course for the Mother Ship. Katya sets the ships destination and leaves it for auto pilot. She’s still tightly strapped into her seat as she swivels her chair around to inspect the doll she bought. Katya gently runs her hands across the plastic casing. 

"Hello, there, Trixie,” she whispers. “Now, let’s see how you look outta the box.”

Katya tries to be neat, but she ends up tearing it open. Looks like a Barbie that she saw in the kiddie holograms. She never had one when she was little, so Katya takes a moment to run her hands through her soft, blonde hair. Skin’s tight and plastic. Katya flips up the white skirt, but it’s smooth- neither cunt nor cock to be seen. 

She undoes the velcro of the back of doll’s dress to find a switch. It’s OFF right now. Does she really want to do this? Maybe just to say that she tried it.

Katya slowly undoes her seat belt, sucks in her breathe, and presses ON. 

There’s a mechanical 'whirring,’ and the doll gets so hot in her hands Katya drops it.

Fuck!

There’s a bright white flash, smoke, and Katya’s bent over, coughing. 

“Thank god someone got me out of that box,” comes a voice from the mist. 

“W-who are you?”

“The voice of god- who the fuck do you think it is? I’m the sex doll you just bought and turned on. Though gods know why considering my line’s been recalled,” a humanoid figure parts the white. “Name’s Trixie. Mattel. Trixie Mattel.”

“Uh, Katya. Zamo. Captain of Sputnik and- what do you mean recalled?”

If Katya was low key aroused before, now her nipples are pressed against the tight latex of her uniform. Trixie’s got thighs like woah!, flirty eyes, and lips that should be illegal. There’s something eerily android-like about her movements, but the thought only turns Katya on more. 

“Mhm, seller musta ripped you off.”

Fuck Violet.

“W-what do you mean? Are you broken?”

“Rude,” Trixie simpers as she stands between Katya’s spread legs. “I mean that’s why they say- our line is prone to uh…malfunctioning?”

“In what way?” she gasps as Trixie drapes herself on her lap. Katya runs a hand up her smooth thighs, admiring how shiny they are. When Trixie giggles, her silicone breasts bounce. They may be fake, but Katya really wants to slide her hands up and squeeze them. But even with Trixya leaning forward against her chest, Katya feels strangely shy. That’s new. 

“We’re self conscious. Can pass the Turning Test. Hate to be turned off and put away….and,” Trixie dramatically pauses as she leans in. “Known to have something as horrible as feelings.”

“Are you telling me a planet called Booberella accidentally created sentient life before anyone else in the galaxy?”

“That’s exactly what I’m saying.”

“But,” Katya gulps as Trixie cups her face in her cold hands. “H-how’d you know all this? I just took you out of the box?”

Trixie’s lips are pressed up to Katya’s lips as she whispers, “This isn’t my first game of make believe.”

Of course Katya ends up with a sentient fucking sex toy. Trixie smirks at her horrified expression as she straddles her lap. Those thick thighs have a rubbery texture, and Katya’s not sure what to expect when Trixie impishly raises up her skirt. There’s…nothing?

“Tell me which you prefer,” Trixie demands. “I’m trying to follow the steps I was programmed with- one, assess owner. Two, satisfy needs. 

"Both? Either? Uh….”

Trixie rolls her eyes: “Problem with assessing is when people don’t know what they want. Let’s start slow and then I’ll give you what you need, baby.”

Baby? The words make Katya flush and squeeze her legs together as Trixie pulls her in for a kiss. Her lips are glossy and soft. She tastes like cherry lip gloss. It doesn’t feel much different from kissing Alaska. 

Trixie unzips her uniform, so Katya’s heavy breasts are revealed. Then her wet tongue is lapping at them. Katya squeaks and clenches at the sudden pleasure. Everything’s gone from 0 to 100 real quick. Trixie’s pink tongue slowly circles her nipples, and Katya flushes as she runs her hand through Trixie’s soft hair. 

“A-ah, Trixie, fe-feels-”

“Good?” Trixie finishes for her, pulling back so a strand of saliva still connects her to Katya. “I’m state of the fucking art. Just filled with crippling, existential dread.”

Katya gasps- “Me too!”

Trixie tilts her head, confused, as she leans back. Her eyes are filled with a curiosity that doesn’t seem natural to the rest of her. Katya didn’t know what she expected, but it’s not this. This is straight out of a TV show. Straight out of a science fiction novel. Straight out of a poorly set up porno. 

“So you don’t mind the idea that I’m filled with anxiety and neurosis and could disobey you? Put you over my knee and spank you just because I wanted?”

Katya bites her bottom lip and gasps, “S-sounds kinky to me.”

Trixie smirks: “You’re a fun one, huh?”

Then she sinks down onto her knees, and Katya hasn’t had anyone since Alaska. So the sudden tickle of Trixie’s fingertips against her still covered thighs makes her gasp. Katya’s wriggles out of her uniform, flushing under Trixie’s eyes. She’s not wearing any underwear.

“Such a good little captain, aren’t you?” Trixie demurs as she presses a fleeting kiss right above Katya’s wet desire. She’s been on space Odyssey for a month, so she’s not as neatly shaved as she’d like to be. But Trixie doesn’t seem to mind. Why would she?

“Oh, so how do I, uh-”

“Open your legs,” Trixie orders with a snap of her fingers. 

Fuck. Katya’s eyes flutter at the direct command, and it sends a sudden shiver up her spine. She loves to be told what to do like that. She’s always commanding her ship, so it’s nice to have someone else take the control away from her. Katya never thought a recalled barbie doll would be the one to do it for her. 

Then Trixie’s burying her blonde head between Katya’s thighs. Her tongue’s lapping at Katya’s wet folds. She whimpers. Katya runs her hands through Trixie’s hair again, and, wow, this feels real. It is real, isn’t it?

“I-I’ve ne-never met someone like you,” Katya gasps.

“You’re not really the type who usually buys a sex toy.”

“I’m glad I did,” Katya admits, flushing at the vulnerability, as Trixie looks up at her through her long lashes. The wetness of Trixie’s tongue has her leaking all over her Captain’s chair. Her toes curl in her space boots, waiting for more. 

“Your better than the last one,” Trixie says, and her eyes are softer than before. She leans up to press a kiss against Katya’s lips. She squirms in her seat, and Katya needs something more. 

“Trixie,” Katya gasps, unsure what’s she even asking for.

“Shhh, I got'chu, baby,” Trixie whispers. 

There’s a soft whirring and when Trixie lifts up her skirt again, there’s a toy strap there. Katya wants to try out all her functions, but she bites her lip at the sight of the phallic toy. Trixie roughly pushes her around, so Katya’s turned and pressed up to her chair. She holds the safety straps, arching her back in anticipation. 

Then Trixie’s pushing inside of her, and Katya mewls in pleasure. She’s been on edge, humming with low arousal all day. Finally, Trixie’s got a hand wrapped in her hair and is moving into her just like she needs. 

“There you go, Captain Zamo,” Trixie whispers in her ear as she fucks her, speeding up her pace. 

“A-ah,” Katya moans.

It’s the position in her chair, and the way Trixie’s pulling her hair as she fucks her that pushes Katya over the edge. With a whimper, Katya squeezes her thighs together. The liquid spills down her shaking thighs.

Oh, god, she loves how helpless she is. 

Trixie pulls out of her and whispers: “Again, Captain?”

“F-fuck yeah.”

Katya’s horny, and the universe is so wonderful. This is exactly what she wanted.