#things always happen when i have my HANDS FULL OF A FUCKING HOSE) i’m gonna. hyperventilating shrieking yowling YAMOOOOOOO

[crossbackpoke-check]

I was reading through your old reblogs and sage to say the tags you put on the Oilers shower post are amazing and I would love to read something like that!!

Copying and pasting the tags here (the blue text is the part I was talking about but I left the preceding tags for context if that makes sense?):

#there's another shower right next to the sitting shower 9 is it in the front corner of the picture? is that little glass alcove the entrance #to get in? like there's also horny potential for somebody in the big empty open space & somebody waiting to come in hesitating but you can #see their shadow & their silhouette in the glass the one outside the door knowing that the other is inside all alone showering but still not #coming in because they're giving them privacy etc being the last ones out & this doesn't feel like a connor/leon thing so maybe it's going #in the vague yamo pile but whoever's in the big shower room all alone jerking off & narrating & god knows sound would carry inside that #space & it could be that whoever's outside the door forgot something in there (left soap etc etc) & just happened to walk in on it (and/or #on whatever is going on in the shower stall) & can hear but can't see them but they can see them & can tell that they're watching/listening #through the frosted glass anyway ALSO what i was trying to get to with nuge/yamo (Imao i don't even think i said nuge at first) was like. #omega yamo who goes into heat/is playing through it & yamo gets ejected from the game with the narrative of nuge five for fighting for #defending him (maybe it's the end of the third maybe it's the second & nuge gets a 10 minute major & yamo gets pulled for a concussion check #because of the hit & then the doctors are like Imao stupid no you can't go back out you're in heat [yamo saw nuge fight for him 00] so the #two of them end up in there alone i like the middle of the second bc then nobody's there & wont be for a minute actually) but it's yamo in #the big open space & nuge outside the door checking to make sure he's okay & thinking that he'll be fine he can control it yamo won't smell #because he's in the showers nuge'll just bury his face in soap nuge waiting politely outside the door & yamo is being a MENACE. ohhhhh we're #gonna have to do research but what was the injury that yamo was out for be the original gifset that started this... this is the inciting event #yamo has been bullying nuge for AGES & by god he's gonna get what he wants even if it takes jerking off in the oilers home showers to bait #nuge into doing it. nuge like 'you ok?' has a conversation with yamo etc nuge: 'you gonna be ok to make it home' & yamo says yeah but not

If you were referring to the time Nuge fought Holl, it was a because Yamo took a bodycheck up high and he had to be taken back for concussion protocol just to be safe

^^^real life footage of me receiving and reading this ask 🥺🥰 i would ALSO love to read a fic like that akdhskdjak, but getting this ask made me actually start a doc for omega yamo being a nuisance so thank you (also if you wanted more vague thoughts, here’s the original gifset i reference)

i think i know exactly which fight you mean!! and i think it is saved in my drafts with unhinged thoughts waiting to be released 😇 if i’m right, this is a video that i had to save multiple times on multiple platforms because it was Important To Me

[homerforsure]

Whumptober No. 6 Bruises / Touch Starved / Hunger Whumptober No. 30 major character death / left for dead / ghosts

Me: I can’t believe I have to post this absolutely incomprehensible piece of writing. 

Me: You don’t... have to?

Me: No, I’m gonna. 

Buck has an exceptional number of pillows on his bed. There are six, before he knocks a few to the floor every night, and he burrows into them like a nest, curling up with one against his chest, two pressed against his back, one between his legs. His sheets are a ridiculously priced, cool, crisp cotton that welcomes him in, surrounding him. The blankets he uses aren’t weighted, but they’re heavy and thick and he keeps his air conditioning turned up so he doesn’t have to give up the feeling of nestling into them in the heat of summer. Along with the white noise machine on his night stand, all of it is chosen to trick him into sleep. To keep back the feeling that night time in his own apartment is the loneliest part of Buck’s day. 

It wasn’t perfect, pre-covid. It’s been a long time since Buck had someone share his space, share his bed, someone he could reach out and touch whenever he wanted. But his life outside of home was full. He didn’t lack for closeness; in some ways he had more than he’d ever dreamed. So while he had lonely moments, they weren’t a constant ache in his chest. 

These months though. These months hurt. Facetime isn’t a substitute for curling up on Maddie’s couch with whatever silly-labeled wine she’d liked best that week. It’s definitely not a substitute for Eddie’s couch and losing to Christopher over and over again at Mario Kart. The last time they talked, Eddie had reached over and ruffled Christopher’s hair and Buck felt it. First as a tingle up the back of his scalp and then as a bruise to his heart. Eddie’s touches, so constant and so casual, became essential somewhere along the way and Buck feels himself reaching out for them even when he knows it’s not allowed.

“Six feet, gentlemen,” Bobby says gently when their orbits swing toward each other and Eddie makes a dramatic show of raising his hands and taking a giant step backward. Bobby just shakes his head and reminds them it’s the price they all agreed to pay for not wearing masks in the firehouse. 

Buck starts dreading the end of a call when taking off his heavy turnout coat leaves him feeling cold and exposed. He folds into himself, claiming a chair, putting in earbuds and crossing his arms tight over his chest, pulling his knees up even though he knows better than to put his shoes on the furniture.

It’s a similar position to the one he lies in at night, clinging to the pillows, trying to draw comfort out of the smooth fabric. In those moments, his loneliness is so loud it might as well be a beacon sent out into the universe, a burning shout of need. 

And that shout is heard. 

***

“Have you guys heard of exploding head syndrome?” Buck asks one morning when the calls are slow and the crew is all lingering in a lazy way rather than rushing off to take care of their other duties. 

“What, the band?” Chimney asks.

“I think it was an album,” Bobby says.

“No,” Buck sighs. “It’s a sleep thing. It’s this loud noise that you hear when you’re falling asleep like a massively loud explosion. Only it’s just happening in your head.”

“Is your brain actually exploding? Like an aneurism?”

“No. It’s just the noise.” 

Just the loudest noise Buck had ever heard. It woke him up with a feeling of abject terror. It was an explosion that didn’t echo. It just rang, clear and true through his eardrums like the end of the world. Even as he struggled out of his sheets, searching for the source so he could run from it, part of him knew it wasn’t a sound that left any physical evidence. What could it even be? A sound like that? An old fashioned safe dropping from two stories up? A car crash without the crunch? Just a high speed collision of two immovable objects, all of the equal and opposite reaction of their momentum forced to escape as sound. 

Once his heart rate had slowed, he googled. He wasn’t initially sure what to google. “Ridiculously loud noise woke me up” seemed at once too vague and too specific but sure enough. Exploding Head Syndrome. It was what happened. Obviously. But Buck remained too full of adrenaline to sleep. As he sat up in bed, he couldn’t shake the urge to look around. Under the bed, in the closet, behind the shower curtain. He didn’t feel alone. 

“I’m just glad it’s happening in your head instead of mine,” Chim laughs. “Maybe try putting some earmuffs on before you go to sleep tonight.” ***

The sound doesn’t reappear. Buck is relieved, but sleeping doesn’t get any easier. He tries to soothe himself with obscenely long hot baths, by ordering a hoodie that’s more fluff than fabric, by running a foam roller across his muscles, trying to pry them into relaxation. It’s so much work and it does so little. Buck’s entire body is screaming out at all times for a hug or a massage or even just a really fucking good haircut. It takes longer and longer to fall asleep and the little sleep he does get isn’t restful. It’s like whatever meager comfort he manages to give himself during the day is leached away in the night. 

He doesn’t even notice the bruises at first. It’s an easy enough thing to miss. Their job is heavy physical labor and Buck barrels through a scene like a one man stampede. Bruises are as common as the smell of smoke in his hair. The ones Eddie points out on his arm though are different. 

Buck’s carrying a kitten at the time. The fire they’ve been fighting is beaten back to smolders. Buck shucked off his coat, wet and dripping from the hose and too cold for the shaking animal, and grabbed a blanket from the ambulance to wrap her up and cradle her against his chest. He’s rubbing his face against her damp fur, feeling the softness like a concentrated shot of endorphins when Eddie asks, “What the hell happened to you?”

“What are you talking about?” Buck asks and Eddie’s hands are pushing up the sleeves of his shirt, rolling them up to his shoulders while Buck’s trying to hold onto the cat.

“You don’t feel that?”

“Feel what?” He’s maybe a little ruder than he means to be but the sleep deprivation makes him cranky and the touch deprivation means that Eddie’s gently probing fingers feel like a dream on his skin. The care in the brush of his hands makes Buck’s knees weak. 

“Your arms are bruised to hell,” Eddie says. “Are you- Did someone grab you or something?”

“I swear to god, Eddie. I don’t feel anything.” Except grumpy and exhausted and longing. 

“Jesus, it goes all the way up your shoulders. It looks like-” He stops, pulling Buck’s collar aside and tracing a small spot that Buck can’t see even if he turns his head. “They look like fingerprints, Buck. Are you seeing someone?” 

“What!”

“These are handprints. And they’re dark. Do you really not-”

Buck wrenches himself from Eddie’s grasp so he can turn around and look at him because if Eddie’s really accusing him of putting everyone at risk by trying to date someone right now… But Eddie’s face is nothing but concerned. Which makes Buck scared. 

“Is it really that bad?” he asks, clutching the cat to his chest. 

Eddie rubs a hand up Buck’s back (it feels so good, hot like Buck’s t-shirt isn’t even between them and is it just because it’s been so long or just because it’s Eddie?) without looking around to see if Bobby’s watching and that’s really all the confirmation Buck needs. It’s bad. 

***

After that, Buck starts to feel them. He wakes up and he can’t breathe. He wakes up and he can’t move. He wakes up on the floor. He spends every moment that he’s asleep fighting to wake up. Buck can only remember fragments and pieces of the torment but he knows that it feels like drowning. Like being held down. Like being grabbed and pulled and smothered. He thinks he remembers long dark hair. 

Google is useless. Sleep apnea. Sleep paralysis. Sleep terrors. Even sleepwalking. None of them can account for the worst of it. For the physical signs of whatever is happening to him while he sleeps.

Bruises bloom blue on the pale skin of his hips. Purple on his ribs. Green on the back of his neck. The ones that Eddie saw first on his arm fade to yellow.  A long scratch runs down the side of his face. Dark circles under his eyes grow darker every day. 

“What’s happening to me?” he asks his reflection.

All he wants is to be able to ask that question with someone’s arms around him. He wants anyone to hold him tight and shush his fears and tell him that it’ll be okay. 

It’s easier than he thought to hide it. Buck just chooses his shower times strategically and opts for a long sleeve uniform, complaining that he ruined his short sleeves ones by grabbing bleach instead of detergent while he was half asleep. 

He’s always half asleep these days.

At least in the bunk rooms, he gets some semblance of rest. Whatever presence he feels in his own bedroom doesn’t cross this threshold and Buck sleeps deeply, almost missing the scream of the alarm. 

“It’s getting worse isn’t it?” Eddie asks, cornering Buck in the locker room. Buck can’t help but nod and Eddie steps closer as if to touch him. 

Buck flinches away and Eddie pulls up short as though hitting an invisible wall. 

He breathes Buck’s name on a pained exhale and says, “You have to get some help. Whatever it is…”

“I don’t know what it is!’ Buck answers. “It’s living in my house and it- it- God. Maybe I need an exorcism.”

“Maybe you should come home with me,” Eddie suggests and Buck recoils again. 

The firehouse seems safe but there’s no guarantee that Buck won’t be followed anywhere else. He’s desperate to be safe--desperate for Eddie to make him safe--but not at the expense of anyone else. Not when he doesn’t know what he’s facing. 

“Okay,” Eddie says. “But call me in the morning.” 

***

The burned girl screams louder when she sees Buck than she did while they were putting out the inferno of her car. 

“Stay away from me!” She shrieks. “Stay awaystayawaystayaway.”

“Miss, we’re going to need you to calm down,” Hen says to her. “Buck, you wanna move aside? Like preferably somewhere she can’t see you?”

Buck does because the patient’s well-being is more important than anything, but his skin feels like ice. He wants to demand to know what else she sees when she looks at him. Wants to know how she knows. For half a second, he imagines following her to the hospital and waiting for her outside the glass doors.  

They aren’t far from her house (52% of accidents happen within five miles of home) and the girl’s father arrives on the scene before they finish prepping her to be transported. And he sees Buck. 

He freezes when he does, but at least he doesn’t scream. He ignores Buck completely, instead going to the ambulance where his daughter is still crying and trying to soothe her. Hen offers to let him ride in the ambulance, but he says that he’ll take his car. 

“You’re in a lot of trouble,” he says, returning to Buck as the ambulance pulls away. “What you summoned… That’s not a normal ghost.”

“I didn’t summon anything! It just happened.” Buck’s voice is high-pitched and he just barely stops himself from grabbing onto the man’s arm, but the man doesn’t seem afraid of Buck the way his daughter was. “What is it? How do I make it go away?”

The man shrugs, “She came in through an open door. Which door depends on the person. But she’ll do everything in her power to keep it pried open. All you can do is try to close it again.”

It is… the least helpful advice Buck’s ever been given in his entire life. But the man’s daughter is on her way to the hospital and he needs to follow her. He vanishes. 

***

They’re about to have four days off. Buck’s bracing himself to meet the woman in his dreams. To look around in that dreamspace for open doors and slam them shut again. He can do it. He has to. 

***

The next night Buck wakes up and he can’t move. He’s paralyzed on the bed. He’s paralyzed on the bed and someone’s standing at the top of his stairs. 

She’s not… right. Buck can’t quite see in the dark and he can’t lift his head but the woman on his stairs isn’t solid in the way a human should be. The outline of her is strong, but it’s like she’s a shell wrapped around a cavernous emptiness. She’s across the room but she’s already pulling at him. 

Buck tries to thrash but his arms are pinned as if her hands are already on his wrists. He needs to reach the lamp. If he can just turn on the light.

“Get away from me,” he pleads and the part of her face where lips should be turns up, revealing pointed teeth that stand in front of a void.

“You called me,” she says. The words don’t come from her mouth and Buck doesn’t hear them with his ears. It’s wrong wrong wrong. He throws himself hard to the left and he rolls, flying further than he expected to, suddenly free, and crashes hard into the table, knocking the lamp to the floor. It shatters, bulb and all and pain scrapes across Buck’s shoulders.

“Poor boy,” the ghost mocks. “Poor lonely boy. Just wants someone to touch him. Just wants someone to stay with him. I heard you.”

“No,” Buck says and he tries to scramble, but his feet can’t find purchase on the floor. “I didn’t want you.”

He doesn’t deny the call. Can’t deny it when his heart is reaching out in the same pleading, desperate way now. Please. Anyone.

In the time it takes to blink she’s in front of him. She’s so close. She shouldn’t be able to get that close without standing on him but she’s there. Her voice whispers in his mind, “You should choose your words more carefully.”

And then her hands are around his throat.

The pressure is insistent and her motive is unmistakable. She’s going to kill him. She’s going to squeeze the life out of him. He’s going to die here and Eddie’s going to find his body because Eddie’s going to come rushing over as soon as Buck doesn’t call him in the morning and what if this thing is still here waiting for him. 

Eddie, Eddie, Eddie.

Buck’s mind yells for him like his lungs did when Eddie was buried except now it’s Buck who’s too far away, who’s trapped somewhere deep and dark with no hope of escape. 

He tries to breathe and his breath whistles. It’s like the first time someone handed him a styrofoam cup of coffee and he tried to drink through the plastic stir stick. Black stars twinkle in the room and tears build in his eyes. 

Eddie, Eddie, Eddie. 

There’s a shift as she adjusts her grip and it’s enough for the stars to clear. Buck throws himself forward, shaking his head like he isn’t a ragdoll trapped in the jaws of a rottweiler, like he has a hope of breaking free and then he does. The ghost is thrown off balance and Buck jumps, scrambling back over his bed for the stairs. He can’t even think about defeating her, finding out the secrets of where she came from, closing whatever fucking door he left open. All Buck wants to do is live. 

A force behind him swells like a wave to lift Buck off his feet and slams him into the bathroom door. He expects to slide off of it and onto the floor, but he’s held in place hard, his head turned and his cheek pressed to the wood, toes just brushing the ground. 

“You begged me to come,” the ghost hisses. “I’m here for you, lonely boy. Don’t fight so hard.”

A hand skims up his back, nearly gentle, but leaving a numbness in its path and Buck shudders in disgust. He jerks against the door, but his arms are wrenched behind him and he screams. He realizes it’s the first time he has.

“I didn’t call you! I don’t want you here! Get out.”

“I came because you needed me.” A long finger trails down his cheek and Buck whimpers. She’s taller than him now. Was she always? “I could feel you from so far away. An aching ball of need. I’m here for you now.” 

“I don’t need you,” Buck growls and the room flashes like lightning. He hopes to fall, almost expects to fall, where he can scramble again but instead, Buck is hurled away from the door completely. He has time to see that he’s above the stairs, throw his hands out uselessly and then he’s frozen. 

Buck hovers there in the air above the stairs, dangling in the grip of the ghost, like a cat grabbed by his scruff. Kicking wildly, he grabs for the invisible hand that’s holding him, yelling “No, no, no, no.”

“Need me now?” the ghost asks. 

Smothering the terrified part of him that nearly answers yes, Buck forces himself to stop twisting and just hang there. He doesn’t want to fall. He doesn’t want to die. But what he needs isn’t going to come from the ghost. 

“No,” he answers. 

And he can’t explain how he knows what her face looks like when it’s screwed up in fury, but he does. It’s vicious and vindictive and Buck’s not surprised at all when he’s flicked away from her and down the flight of stairs. 

He seems to hit each one as he falls, something that should be impossible with the speed that he’s traveling and the force with which he bounces off of them, but the ghost is obviously responsible. Air leaves his lungs as his ribs crack against the stairs. His elbows and knees scrape. His head bangs the rail. Buck’s long, long legs seem to tangle as he falls, cartwheeling him down and he lands in a heap at the bottom. 

As he tries to figure out if he can still move, the door flies open. 

Warmth rushes in. Buck hadn’t even realized how cold it had gotten since he first woke up, but the room seems to thaw around him. It’s like sunlight. 

It’s Eddie. 

“Oh fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. Evan. Buck. I’ve got you, Buck. I’ve got you.” 

Tenderly, he scoops Buck off the floor, unsnarling the mess of his limbs and feeling all over for the damage he can’t see. “I’ve got you. Open your eyes. Come on.” 

The ghost stands at the top of the stairs and then she’s at the bottom. Buck clambers backward again, digging his heels into the floor to push himself upright in front of Eddie, to try and hide him from view. Eddie doesn’t seem to see the ghost. All of his attention is still on Buck, stroking his hair, promising over and over that he’s there, that he has Buck. 

All of the ghost’s attention is on Buck too. “You need me,” she says. “You called for me.” She sounds different now. Bitter. Like Buck wasted her precious time. 

“I don’t need you,” he says and he reaches behind him to grab Eddie’s hand. “I already have everything I need.” 

Lights flicker and that impossibly loud sound bangs in Buck’s ears again. He gets one last look at the ghost’s vicious, violent visage and then she’s gone. 

And then Buck wakes up.

[butwhyduh]

Can I request sth more fluffy? Middle of the night cuddle with my boi Tim and fem!reader (*^*). You wrote some good spice now can I ask for some sugar?

Christmas party

Tim drake x reader

Christmas series 1

It was a cold still night in Gotham. One where the moon was visible and the air was crisp. You snuggled under your blankets on your with your heaters on high but you had a bone chill that wouldn’t disappear easily. You shivered and wished Tim was there.

He had patrol. The city never slept and this was a prime night for crime. It was a perfect night. Or a Gotham perfect night anyways. He had given you a quick kiss and literally jumped off your fire escape. Your scream was caught in your throat as you watched him rappel away. It never got easier to watch. It didn’t help you sleep either.

Your eyes finally started to get tired and your comfort watch-a-hundred-times Netflix show wasn’t holding your attention anymore and you fell asleep. The street below was surprisingly quiet even.

You woke to the sounds of something or someone outside your window. You couldn’t see out because of the closed curtains. You quickly looked at your clock. It was only 2 AM. He was usually out until 4. You reached for the bat you kept by the bed and quietly stood up as the window opened. Your heart beat quickly and you clenched the bat. Tim had been very certain that you should swing on sight of an intruder. Use the element of surprise.

Legs slid into your apartment and you swung. Hard. A soft “oof” sounded and they grabbed your bat.

“Sunshine, it’s me! It’s Tim,” he whispered loudly. You relaxed. “Good hit though.” Groan.

“Sorry Timmy! Are you okay?” You asked turning on a lamp. He stood in his suit, his cowl still on. He pulled it off.

“I’m fine. I’m just glad you protected yourself,” Tim said pulling off his suit. He put it in the hamper and came up to you. He gave you a little kiss. You moved to hold his hips and he hissed and pulled away. You pulled back.

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. I just kinda got shot today,” Tim answered lightly and you gasped. “It didn’t go through the suit though. I’m fine. Just a bruise. Not even a bone bruise. I swear.”

You looked at him in the lamp light and there was a blue bruise forming on his hip. “Timmy, what happened?”

“I didn’t duck,” he joked and you blanched. “Just some drug dealers. Red Hood was there and he took care of it. That’s why I’ve got the night off. Not the bruise. Sorta the bruise,” Tim grimaced as he climbed in bed.

“Red Hood then shot out their kneecaps and said that he’d shoot any criminals on sight if they were out tonight. Said it was ‘fucking Christmas so go the fuck home.’ So B thought it was best to have the night off of Red Robin,” Tim said laying flat. Your eyebrows rose at that one. He tried to hide a tiny groan as he adjusted to be more comfortable. You laid beside him careful not to touch him.

“Does this hurt,” you asked, gently leaning against his arm. You’d rather full on cuddle but you didn’t want to hurt him. Tim moved and pulled you close to him from the waist up.

“I’m okay. Don’t worry about me. It’s late. Let’s get some sleep,” he said rubbing his thumb on your back. You rested your head on his chest.

“Yeah, but I’m definitely worried about you because you got shot. Please, be careful,” you pleaded. He had a hard time looking you in the eyes. Guilt over making you worrying was a bitch.

“Of course, always. I’ll at least have patrol off for a few days. Give me a kiss,” Tim said hopefully. You leaned over and kissed him delicately like he was breakable. He was so strong but still only a human.

“If anything happens to you, I’ll beat Batman up myself.”

“That’s the nicest and most ridiculous thing you’ve ever said. We’ll hang out tomorrow, before the Christmas party, okay Sunshine?” Tim said with his eyes already closed. He was severely sleep deprived and wasn’t going to be up much longer.

“Sure, Tim,” you whispered as his breathing evened in sleep.

——————————————

All morning, you both laid in bed and watched tv. Tim tried to get a little handsy but his hip was in more pain than he had anticipated and one touch by your hand had him almost jumping out of the bed in pain. It really was black and blue. But this was a rare moment to just cuddle with him and you weren’t missing it for the world. Tim was on the phone most of the afternoon.

The weather had changed from nice to sleet but the time you were getting ready for the party. You had changed and were finishing your look. Tim was throwing on a sweater and watch you had gotten him for his birthday. He pushed his hair back before it flopped right back in place.

“You’re beautiful,” he said suddenly like he was finally watching you. He meant it as a compliment but it came out almost like ‘who knew?’ You gave him an eyebrow. “You know what I mean. You look great tonight,” Tim said with some pink around his cheeks.

“Thanks,” you said giving him a kiss on the cheek. He groaned and wiped the lipstick off his pale skin. You smirked. He walked over to the coat rake with just the slightest stiffness to his walk to show how bruises up he was.

“Are you ready? Don’t forget your coat. It’s nasty out there. I think we might have to stay over at the manor tonight,” Tim said grimacing. “It’s okay right now but if it gets worse..”

“You sure?” You asked. You didn’t want to miss it but if the weather was awful you didn’t want to chance an accident.

“Yeah we’ll be fine. I can drive through just about any weather,” Tim said with a wink. You grabbed your coat and left.

Nude hose was a bad idea. It was frigid outside. You should have worn the fleece lined thick tights you had considered as you were shivering in Tim nice red sport coupe.

Wayne manor couldn’t come in view fast enough and you happily ran up the stairs and in the house from the parking garage. Tim chuckled and then grimaced when he tried to catch up.

“Careful on your bruise,” you reminded him. He nodded. The house was much warmer than outside. Alfred warmly invited you into the study. Bruce, and Duke were already hanging out. They were talking about movies and Tim jumped in. He didn’t get much free time but when he did, he was a huge nerd.

Damian and his friend? Girlfriend? Walked in and started playing chess.

Dinner was served in the dinning room. Alfred always made amazing food. A traditional mushroom soup. Apparently Bruce’s mother had it as a Christmas tradition and, while the boys barely touched theirs, Bruce happily enjoyed it.

You saw Jason and his date before he cleared his throat from your seat at the table. Alfred was so happy and quickly ushered them to their seat at the table. Tim held your hand as often as he could as the meal continued. His long fingers stroked the inside of your palm in a soothing way. Whether it was for you or him, you couldn’t tell.

Down at the other end of the table, Dick said something loudly and it took you a second to realize what was going on. He was proposing. Tim had a little smile as Dick stuttered his way through his words. That was new.

She looked at the box in shock. She wasn’t going to say no was she?!? You couldn’t handle the stress and you gripped Tim’s hand tightly. Dick literally pleaded for an answer and that broke the spell she seemed to be under and she said yes.

Kisses. Applause. Champagne.

Tim lightly squeezed your hand that you had relaxed and he smiled at you. You both were young enough that a proposal wasn’t an awkward thing to watch. You were seen as just too young. Dick and his new fiancé retired for the night and the party was moved to the parlor.

You sat on a stool by the billiards table. Tim and Jason immediately began playing a game while you talked to his girlfriend and Cass.

“So if I win,” Jason said a full hour later. By this time, Damian’s girlfriend had fallen asleep on his shoulder and Bruce had announced the storm too bad to travel. “I get the penthouse.”

“Sure Jay. That’s Bruce’s. But I’m willing to gamble it,” Tim said throwing his hands up at the ridiculousness.

“I accept terms,” Bruce said. Both boys looked at him surprised. “Whoever wins gets the penthouse.”

Jason narrowed his eyes at Bruce and Tim gave you a wtf look but neither questioned the decision. Jason played seriously. He was a natural. His rough upbringing had him playing pool in many hazy bars as a kid as well as the occasional trip to a bar on the weekend he enjoyed regularly. Tim just didn’t have time to play games. Plus he had a nasty bruise on his hip. Jason won the game easily.

“So the penthouse is mine?” Jason asked. Bruce nodded and shrugged. Tim softly coughed in his hand.

“If you’ll live in it,” Bruce said. Damian was carefully carrying his girlfriend upstairs.

“Deal.”

“Deal.”

“I guess, deal?” Tim said confused. “Though you should owe me. You’re the one that got me shot.”

“What?! You got him shot?” You asked loudly. Tim blanched.

“Not my fault,” Jason defended.

“Literally your fault,” Tim countered.

“What did you do?” Jason’s girlfriend asked looking at him suspiciously. He offered her a sheepish smile.

“I might have said ‘what are you gonna do, shoot us?’ I meant me. Not Tim! He also has a bulletproof suit,” Jason said.

“That’s not in the report,” Bruce said slowly and both boys flinched.

“Good night everybody. Merry Christmas,” Jason said pulling his date from the room.

“We’ll talk tomorrow,” Bruce called down the hall. Everyone else took it as a cue that the party was over.

You moved upstairs to Tim’s old bedroom. A My Chemical Romance poster and Dragon Ball Z poster hung on the back of his door as the only personal items. You smirked at him when you saw it.

“I forgot that was there,” Tim groaned reaching for it. His pale skin was flush with embarrassment. You grabbed his arm.

“Leave it. It’s cute. It’s got personality,” you said with a laugh. He rolled his eyes.

“Yeah. A complete nerd,” he said looking away.

“And you think you’ve changed since? You wear Spider-Man boxers under your suit sometimes,” you whispered in his ear.

“How do you know that?”

“When I pull them off of you..” you winked.

“Speaking of, having a hot girlfriend isn’t exactly nerdy,” Tim said getting a little handsy.

“Are you trying to get laid in your childhood bedroom?” You asked fake scandalized. He pulled you closer.

“Maybe.”

“Very nerdy to try and get in my pants right now with anime posters on the wall, Timbers,” you said pulling him towards the bed and into a kiss before he could protest.

[hotpinkhoshi]

long hot summer (m) | jinyoung

as part of the pleasure chest: a got7 cringe collaboration

pairing: jinyoung x f reader genre: smut warnings: terrible innuendos, second hand embarrassment, explicit sex, light choking word count: 4.8k

summary: it’s been a long, hot summer, and you’ve got your eye on jinyoung, the sexy gardener your dad hired back in june - and when you’re left alone with the house to yourself for a whole week, you devise a plan to finally get what you want. when daddy’s away, his darling daughter will play…

a/n: hehe hi guys! this was super fun to write, even though i played myself by waiting until the very last minute to write it. for that reason, it is mostly unedited so cut me some slack if you see any weird typos hahaha. anyway, thank you to the other writers in the collab for such a fun experience! i’m so glad i got to be a part of this! enjoy!

You awoke on Thursday morning with the same excitement that you’d had on Christmas morning when you were ten.

Today’s the day!

For weeks, you’d schemed and planned, researched and daydreamed. And now it was time to put all of your preparation to good use and get yourself the one thing you’d been wanting for the last two months.

Today, you were going to seduce your gardener.

Well, your father’s gardener, to be specific. You’d had your eye on him since the first day he pulled up in that forest green, beat up pickup truck with the giant lawnmower in the bed.

He was young, maybe a year or two older than you, but you weren’t sure. Your dad told you his name was Jinyoung and he’d started his own business after graduating high school, mostly just maintaining the massive yards of the upper middle class citizens of your neighborhood.

That was all fine and dandy, but most importantly, Jinyoung was hot.

He always wore the same thing—a plain white t-shirt tucked into a pair of jeans, and you didn’t even care that they were light wash and could use a tailor’s touch. The way he rolled the sleeves up to his shoulders, showing off the corded muscles from years of manual labor, made you forget all about his hideous jeans.

Every Thursday, Jinyoung rolled up in his truck and took care of your dad’s lawn while you stood in the kitchen staring out the window like a peeping Tom. You were completely aware that you were objectifying him, but it had been quite a while since anyone had watered your buds, and you had become shameless.

But this week, this week you’d decided to make a move.

Your dad was away on business for five days, leaving you with the house completely to yourself. You had put your time to good use, clicking away and devising a plan to get into Jinyoung’s pants.

Your research began on Monday when your best friend, Jongin, had come over. You had a strange relationship, but that was to be expected when you had known him since diapers. He also happened to have taken your virginity, but it wasn’t as awkward as one would think.

“Guys like it when a girl takes charge,” Jongin told you, reaching for a slice of pizza off the coffee table. You laid on the floor, staring up at the ceiling while taking mental notes of everything he told you.

“Take charge how?”

“I don’t know, like, make the first move. Just get on top of him and…” Jongin gestured vaguely with his hands, squeezing the air.

“And what? Grab his boobs?” You pursed your lips together, tossing a spare chunk of crust at him.

“If that’s what he’s into,” Jongin defended with a playful smirk on his lips. “Look, I’m just saying, it’s hot when you know a girl is into you and you don’t have to guess.”

Chewing your lip, you stored the information away for later. “What should I wear? Like, should I just walk outside in my bikini?”

Jongin snorted. “You could, yeah. Some guys are simple like that.”

“Hmm…” you propped yourself up on your elbows. “He doesn’t seem simple. He’s like, mysterious and quiet.”

“Doesn’t matter, I bet he’ll still stare at your ass while you walk away.”

You smirked. Luckily, you had stayed committed to your squats this summer.

“Okay, so I make a move. Then what?”

Jongin looked at you like you had two heads. “What do you mean, then what? Then you guys do the deed.”

Sighing dramatically, you flopped back onto the floor. You wanted more than that—you wanted him to end the day thinking about how sexy you were, how it had been his hottest experience ever. You wanted him to tell his friends about it at parties.

The next night, you continued your quest for knowledge with some visual aids. You got yourself all comfy and tucked in bed, laptop resting on your lap while you scrolled through Pornhub.

Jongin was right—it was hot when the girls took charge. Sure, there was something to be said for the submissive, meek girl that dropped to her knees on command, but you wanted control.

As you got deeper into the black hole of XXX websites, you found yourself becoming more and more nervous. You didn’t look like the girls in these videos, with their perfectly trimmed pubic hair and their toned physiques. Your boobs were less than half the size of some of these women.

You also didn’t find yourself naturally sexy, comfortable approaching a man and throwing yourself at him. But you wanted Jinyoung, and all of that trumped any kind of insecurity you could feel. Soon, you’d be back at college and you couldn’t live with yourself if you let the opportunity pass you by.

Cut to now—standing in the kitchen in your teeny tiny workout shorts and an equally revealing tank top, your yoga mat rolled up and tucked under your arm. You saw Jinyoung outside, kneeling in front of one of the flower beds and giving you the perfect view of his side profile.

When you were just about to slide open the glass door and put your plan into action, your phone vibrated on the kitchen table. You jumped and went to answer it promptly after you saw who was calling.

“Hi Daddy,” you said, setting your yoga mat on the floor.

“Hi love, how’s it going?”

“Good,” you answered, eyes still locked on the back yard. Jinyoung sat back on his heels, bringing his forearm up to wipe the sweat off of his forehead. God, he was the finest man you’d ever seen.

“Hey, I forgot to tell you, make sure you give Jinyoung the check I left on the counter for the week. And be nice to him, it’s hot outside today—invite him in for a glass of water or something.”

Your lips curled into a devious smile. “I’ll be nice to him. Don’t worry.”

“That’s my girl.”

Your dad talked your ear off for a bit longer, telling you all about his flight and something about conference calls, blah blah. All the while, you were entirely focused on something else.

Jinyoung had lifted the front of his shirt up to his face, wiping his sweat once more and revealing his washboard abs. It was only a few seconds, but you felt yourself come close to flatlining right there in the kitchen.

Your phone beeped against your ear, the alert tone signaling that you had a missed call. You glanced at the screen to find Jongin’s name on the notification.

“I have to go, Jongie called,” you told him.

“Oh alright, tell him I said hello. And be good,” your dad said.

“I will. Bye, Daddy.” You took the phone from your ear, returning Jongin’s call with a few taps.

“Hey ugly, how’s it going?”

“I’m going to fuck his brains out,” you answered simply.

Jongin choked on the other end. “Like, right now?”

“No,” you answered, going over to the fridge to pull open the door. “But I’m about to go out and start seducing him. He’s here and he’s so hot. I’m gonna go out, do some yoga, and see if he needs help… with his hose.”

Your best friend snorted. “Don’t say that.”

You grabbed two water bottles, both ice cold, and tucked them between your arm and your chest. “I want him to know that I want him.”

“Okay, well, if a girl referred to my dick as a hose I’m pretty sure it would shrivel up. Just go flash your tits and call it a day.”

Sighing, you shook your head even though he couldn’t see you, letting the fridge door shut behind you as you turned away. “No, that’s not sexy. Don’t worry, I’ve got this. I’ve been watching porn for two days straight.”

“Oh, Jesus Christ. Fine, just… look, just one little word of advice. Don’t make that face you made with me, the one when you came.”

You stopped in your tracks on your way back over to the door. “What face?”

Jongin cleared his throat. Your first time had been a long time ago just before graduation after a bottle of tequila and your confession that you didn’t want to go to college a virgin. He’d taken one for the team, giving you exactly six minutes of pleasure before finishing on your bedspread.

You hadn’t come, then, you���d simply faked it for his benefit. But still, you hadn’t realized anything you’d done had been unattractive. What if you did make a weird face when you came?

“You know what, nevermind. I don’t want to know. Goodbye, asshole.”

“Good luck, slut.”

With a sigh, you hung up and placed your phone back on the table. When you glanced outside, Jinyoung had moved further down the flower bed, giving you a nice view of his broad back, his shoulder muscles moving under his shirt with every move he made.

Be sexy. Don’t be weird.

You grabbed your mat by its strap and pushed open the glass door, walking out onto the concrete of your back patio and onto the grass. Your yard wasn’t as big as some of your neighbors’, but there was still a good amount of distance between you and Jinyoung. It wasn’t too awkward for you to lay your mat down across the freshly mowed grass, in direct sunlight.

When Jinyoung glanced back at you, you felt your heart jump in your chest, warm from the sun and his gaze. Fuck. Words, what were words?!

“Need some water?” you asked, holding one of the full bottles out in his direction. “You’re hot. I mean, it’s hot.” You gulped and prayed he hadn’t noticed the slip of your tongue.

Jinyoung stood from his knees, utterly silent, as he seemed to look you up and down. It was hard to tell with the sun in your eyes, but it almost looked like he had been checking you out.

He was quiet, still, even as he began walking towards you. As he got closer, you were desperately trying to keep your drool inside of your mouth. He reached out to grab the water bottle from you, surprising you with a dimpled half smile.

“Thanks.”

And then he walked away.

Fine, then you’d have to resort to plan B.

— x —

Plan B was a bust.

You’d laid out there for half an hour, sprawled out on your yoga mat as you contorted your body into several positions and stretches that had you aching in the worst of ways. Every time you looked at Jinyoung, he was focused on his job, pulling weeds or planting soil or whatever it was that he got paid to do.

With an exasperated sigh, you slammed the glass door shut behind you once you were back in the kitchen. Stupid boys. No, he wasn’t a boy. He was a man, and maybe that was the problem.

Grabbing your phone, you opened Jongin’s text thread.

You [12:07pm]: UGH. fuck this. Jongin [12:08pm]: no dick yet? You [12:08pm]: no. i basically turned myself into a pretzel and he couldn’t have cared less. my rose petals were in plain sight and he didn’t even look once Jongin [12:10pm]: LOL show him ur boobs

You groaned and furrowed your brows, fully prepared to explain to Jongin that you didn’t think anything would work at this point, when you heard the glass kitchen door slide open.

Jinyoung walked through, sweat dripping deliciously down his temples and down the vein lining his neck. “Hey, just need to wash my hands. I’ll just be a minute.”

Then he was so close to you, you could smell his cologne, mixed with the earthy scent of the garden he’d just had his hands buried into. He stared down at you, licking his lips while his gaze bored into you like he wanted something. No, needed something.

Maybe the tables had turned.

“Can you move?”

You blinked. “Huh?”

Jinyoung tipped his chin. “I need to wash my hands.”

You hadn’t realized it, but in your angry pacing while texting Jongin, you’d ended up standing right in front of the kitchen sink.

“Oh,” you breathed, and still didn’t move for another moment until annoyance flashed in Jinyoung’s eyes. You side stepped and watched as Jinyoung took your place, reaching to pump some soap onto his hands.

“So…” you started. All you needed to do was strike up a conversation, and it would be easy from there. “Do you need any help?”

Jinyoung glanced at you. “...Washing my hands?”

“No, like…” You used your shoulder to nudge towards the back yard. “Out there. I could help you, um, empty your hose.”

Oh, god. Jongin was right. It wasn’t sexy at all.

“I mean,” you tried again. “I could lend you a hand. If you know what I mean.”

If Jinyoung knew what you meant, he didn’t show any interest. He just shrugged and focused on scrubbing the dirt from his fingernails. You gulped at the way the veins on the back of his hands flexed. You wanted those hands on you, ASAP.

“Jinyoung,” you said, scooting an inch closer as you leaned back against the counter. “What I’m trying to say is…”

“I’ll stop you there,” he said, turning off the faucet. “I know where this is going. You’ve been staring at me all summer, and I know you’ve been trying to get my attention all afternoon.”

You blinked in surprise. Had you been that obvious? Well, of course you had. That was the goal, anyway. Jongin had told you it was sexy when a girl was obvious…

“I’m just trying to do my job,” Jinyoung said, reaching for a kitchen towel to wipe his hands. “Not looking to get murdered by your dad for defiling his perfectly innocent daughter.”

It took you a minute for his words to sink in, for you to realize that he hadn’t said he wasn’t interested. He wanted to defile you.

Just as Jinyoung went to leave, you grabbed his wrist. “Wait.”

Jinyoung sighed, turning back to you with dark eyes. “Let it go. Don’t test my patience.”

Something about the look in his eyes sent a shiver down your spine, images flashing through your mind of other ways that he could look at you, how you could get him to do more to you.

“Don’t you want to…” you bit your lip, emulating those girls you’d seen in videos, trailing your fingertips up his chest. “Touch me? I’ve prettied my flower up, just for you…”

Jinyoung gave you a look somewhere between uncomfortable and turned on. His hand came up to wrap around your wrist, his thumb pressed to your pulse point. “I said let it go.”

Warmth spread your entire body as Jinyoung gazed down at you, his callused fingers gripping tightly onto your wrist, stopping your fingers on their path up his chest. Something told you he wanted you, maybe just as bad as you wanted him, and it had quickly turned from a fantasy into a reality.

“Make me,” you told him.

When he didn’t respond, just swallowed hard and tensed his jaw, you reached with your free hand for his tool belt. You hooked your finger into the loop of the belt, pulling his body closer to you.

“Touch me, Jinyoung.”

“Don’t,” he growled, the sound shooting straight to your core.

“I’ll be a good girl. My dad never has to know,” you tried once more, looking up at him through your lashes. His breathing had gotten heavier and his eyes narrowed as they locked on yours. It felt like a bomb was about to go off, just tick-ticking away until he exploded.

“You have three seconds.”

Three.

You closed the gap between your bodies, sliding your hand from Jinyoung’s belt to find his free hand.

Two.

Wrapping your fingers around his hand, you led it to rest on your lower back.

One.

His hand, entirely on its own, slid from your lower back down along the curve of your backside to grip your ass. You swallowed, running your tongue across your lips. You felt like a woman starved and Jinyoung was your only source of a meal.

Finally, Jinyoung let go of your wrist and instead gripped your chin between his thumb and forefinger, pulling you close until he could slam his lips upon yours. You whimpered at the rough contact, but your whimper quickly turned to a moan as soon as he brought your bodies together.

It was a blur after that.

You found the clasp to Jinyoung’s belt and quickly unbuckled it, letting it fall to the ground. You ignored the sound of the tools clanking against your kitchen floor, making a mental note that you’d have to sweep the dirt off the tiles before your dad got home.

Jinyoung made no move to take your clothes off--it seemed he was more than satisfied with kissing you and squeezing your ass. But you wanted more, you had been thirsting after him for so long, you wanted to cut to the chase.

What would those girls have done? They would take charge.

So you pulled back from the kiss and grabbed Jinyoung’s forearm, leading him without a word out of the kitchen and into the living room. The cleaning lady had already been here earlier, so you didn’t have to worry about Jinyoung catching sight of your half eaten bag of pretzels or the many issues of Cosmo you’d flipped through in these last few days.

You shoved him down to sit on the chair and knelt between his legs, shoving them apart so that you could occupy the space instead. Your fingers practically tore open the button and zipper of his jeans and you reached into his underwear, freeing his erection.

“Whoa, whoa, slow do-” Jinyoung started, but the words died on his tongue as soon as you got your mouth on him.

You bobbed your head, relishing in the feeling of his cock filling your mouth, the tip easily reaching the back of your throat each time you went down. You gagged and coughed, knowing how much guys loved that. You’d been told once, by Jongin of course, that all you needed to do to give a good blowjob was to be sloppy and enthusiastic.

“Mm,” you mumbled as your lips wrapped around the head, opening your eyes to stare up at Jinyoung. He was breathing hard, hands gripping the leather arm rests. You pulled off of him, replacing your mouth with your hand as you jerked him off. “You like that? You like… my mouth around your dick?”

Jinyoung groaned but reached for your hand, halting your efforts. He slid his other hand into your hair, pulling you away from his cock and making you look at him.

“Slow down, slow down.” He guided you with his own hand, creating a slow pace with your fingers wrapped around his length, his eyes still locked onto yours. “Fuck. Yeah, like that.”

“I wanna…” you thought for a moment, trying to recall all the dirty things you’d heard in all those videos. “Wanna fuck your cock. Want you to fuck me. Right here, just let you, uh, make me scream.”

You found yourself stuttering through it, not sure if you sounded so awkward because you’d never talked dirty in your life, or because you were just that turned on.

Jinyoung’s brows furrowed as he stared down at you, his expression getting less aroused and more confused as you continued to tell him all the things you wanted him to do to you.

“Hold on,” Jinyoung said, hand halting your movements once more. “I’m sorry, but what’s with the dirty talk? You sound like you stepped out of a sex hotline commercial.”

“Um,” you replied and felt your cheeks flush as you looked away, pursing your lips together. “I thought you’d like that. Guys like it when a girl takes charge, right?”

“Sure,” he answered. “But we aren’t in a porno. And something tells me you’ve seen a few too many of those.”

He had caught you red handed. Oh, maybe that was a poor choice of words when you currently had both hands gripped around his cock, steadily jerking him off.

“I-” You swallowed, lifting your eyes up to lock back onto Jinyoung’s. “Maybe I watched a few… to prepare for this.”

Then Jinyoung smiled. You stared up at him, confused, before he started to laugh. Not the best reaction you wanted while you were on your knees in front of a man, but this day was ending up a lot more uncomfortable than you had imagined.

“I see what happened here. Stand up,” he told you, and you obeyed, dropping your hands off of him down to rest at your sides. He pulled you down onto his lap as you rested your thighs on either side of his hips, his hands immediately sliding up the back of your shirt.

“I’m not going anywhere. There’s no reason we can’t take it slow, enjoy it. And trust me,” he said, his fingers gripping your sides as his thumbs grazed your rib cage. “I want to enjoy this.”

Jinyoung lifted your shirt above your head and tossed it to the side, revealing the baby blue sports bra that offered no support whatsoever, and you’d been grateful to finally have an excuse to wear it.

“Wait, watch this,” you told him, leaning back with an excited smile. You reached with one hand to the center of your chest, taking hold of the zipper that went straight down the middle of the bra. You pulled it down, freeing your breasts from the bra. “Surprise.”

Once again, Jinyoung laughed at you, but this time he had this fond look in his eyes that gave you a different type of goosebumps. He had a cute laugh, and an even cuter smile--you liked the little whiskers that formed next to his eyes.

You didn’t have much time to think about that before Jinyoung was leaning forward, trailing kisses across your chest, lips making a pathway to one breast. You moaned as soon as he sucked your nipple into his mouth, arching your back towards him.

Your hands slid into his hair, needing something to hold onto while he flicked his tongue back and forth. He pinched and squeezed the neglected nipple between his index finger and his thumb, earning a squeak out of you at his ministrations.

Out of all the guys you’d been with, you had never had one pay this much attention to you right off the bat. They’d all been immature college boys, ones that didn’t bother taking your bra off before fucking you. You’d only ever reached an orgasm during sex once or twice, and you’d only been half as turned on as you were now.

You moaned his name, grinding your hips down against his lap. You felt his hardened length pressing against your thigh, and all you wanted was to feel him inside of you. You were soaking through your underwear with arousal, core clenching around nothing in desperation.

He pulled away from your chest, kissing a line up to your collarbone and along your neck, nipping your jawline before he was kissing you again. You couldn’t get enough of him, wanting to feel and touch every inch of his body.

The fantasy idea you’d had in your mind was nothing compared to this. Jinyoung was an incredible kisser, his lips perfectly plump and surprisingly skilled. He was intense, licking into your mouth and nipping at your tongue, but you loved it. You wouldn’t have minded if he swallowed you whole, at this point.

For a few minutes, you just kissed, your hands roaming each other’s bodies. Jinyoung showed his appreciation for every curve of your body, no matter how different they were from the women you’d been imitating all afternoon. He seemed to like you just as you were.

You pulled away, briefly, to yank his shirt over his head and tossed it behind you. Your eyes widened as they traveled over his skin, mouth watering with desire. He was absolutely perfect.

“Stand up,” Jinyoung told you, hands gripping your hips. He slid his thumbs into the waistband of your shorts, waiting until you stood up to slide them down your legs along with your underwear.

“Condom?” you asked, trying to ignore just how bare you felt under his gaze.

Jinyoung’s eyes snapped from your body up to your face, an expression full of regret. “Shit. I don’t have one. Do you-”

You’d already scurried off, hurrying over to the closet where you kept your jackets, purses, and extra shoes. After some shuffling around and shoving your hands into the pockets of all the jackets, you finally found the small foil square you’d been praying for.

“Yes!” you squealed with happiness, practically running back over to where Jinyoung was waiting for you. You held up the condom as you climbed back on top of him. “I was a girl scout, you know. Always be prepared.”

Jinyoung shook his head with a chuckle as he took the condom from you, ripping it open. You watched as he slid the condom over his length, licking your lips. It was happening, really happening.

“You wet enough for me?” he asked, licking his thumb before he slid it down between your legs, circling your clit. You gasped, hips bucking towards him for more.

“Please,” you whimpered, placing your hands on his shoulders for balance. “I need you.”

With an easy movement, Jinyoung took his hand from your clit and gripped your hips, lifting you up to hover over his length. You reached down, lining the tip up with your entrance. You let out one long sigh as you lowered yourself down, feeling him fill you up completely.

“Fuck,” Jinyoung ground out and tipped his head back against the chair. “Good girl.”

You kept your eyes on him as you began moving your hips, tiny gasps and moans filling the room each time you came down on him again. You quickened your pace bit by bit, reaching for one of Jinyoung’s hands and guiding it to your throat.

You were no longer trying to replicate any videos you’d seen or follow any advice from your idiotic best friend, you simply wanted Jinyoung and were completely acting upon your own desires.

Jinyoung opened his eyes, previously closed in bliss, and stared up at you. He licked his lips and clenched his teeth, adjusting his hand to wrap around your neck. He kept a gentle grip as you bounced on top of him, the volume of your moans reaching higher and higher.

“Oh, oh,” you cried out, breathless, as Jinyoung squeezed your throat. “Don’t stop.”

Your pace began to slow out of pure fatigue, but Jinyoung didn’t miss a beat. He planted his feet on the floor and thrusted into you, the tip of his cock hitting even deeper inside of you than he had before.

Now, you were practically screaming as Jinyoung fucked you, your entire body bouncing and jolting up and down from the sheer power behind his thrusts. All you could do was hold onto his forearm as he pounded into you.

It didn’t take much longer for the heat to build inside of you, the intense pleasure bringing you closer and closer to the edge. You felt hot all over, as if flames were licking at your whole body the closer you got to your peak.

“That’s it,” he told you, his other hand sliding to your ass to grip the flesh as he drove into you as if determined to completely unravel you. “Come for me. Let go.”

You squeezed your eyes shut, your entire body tensing. You were completely helpless to him, loving the way his skin slapped yours each time he thrusted inside of you. With one final cry, your body began to jerk as waves of hot pleasure washed over you in an unending hurricane.

Vaguely, you registered the sound of Jinyoung groaning through his teeth, his fingers tightening around your neck for a few short seconds before he emptied inside the condom. He thrusted inside of you a few more times, panting from underneath of you.

You finally opened your eyes after you’d come down from your orgasm, finding Jinyoung looking equally exhausted after his own climax. You sighed as he dropped his hand from your neck and you took a gulp of air.

“Holy honeysuckle,” you said, body falling forward to rest against him.

A few quiet moments later, Jinyoung was stroking his hands up and down your back, a surprisingly tender action for someone that had just fucked all your brain cells out. He was so warm, and it felt so natural to have his arms wrapped around you like this.

You lifted your head from his chest and stared down at him, searching for the words to say to break the silence.

“Well,” you started, lifting one side of your mouth into a smile. “Your hose is empty.”

Jinyoung grimaced and groaned, playfully nudging you away from him. “Aaaand now you’ve ruined it.”

[shawnssongs]

Do You Remember?

Pairing: JJ Maybank x reader

Reader and JJ get a little wasted after a kegger and try to figure out what happened the night before. JJ worries the reader will regret it.

Warnings: Lots of drinking, obviously. A little bit of language. A bit of poorly written smut... also it’s 4k...

Check out my masterlist!

gif from @rudypankows​

You never approved of getting blackout drunk, unable to control your actions or remember them the next day, but sometimes things just happen.

You’d had a really bad day. While that wasn’t an excuse, you used it as one anyway. You lived with your mom, and you found out your store wasn’t doing very well. If sales didn’t pick up soon, you’d lose the store. You’d lose everything.

That’s when you found out the pogues wanted to throw a kegger in the bone yard, and honestly, that was great news. Not only could you let loose and relax after hearing such bad news, but since the bone yard was so close to the cut, everyone always stopped at your mom’s store to get supplies. Kooks would buy some hard liquor with their fake id’s. People would buy ice, candy, chips. Honestly, you didn’t even want to know what the use of certain things people bought before parties were. You never asked. You were just glad to get that rush of income.

Today, you’d decided to help your mom out at the store since you knew there’d be a rush. You worked the counter, letting kooks buy alcohol despite knowing they weren’t of age. I mean, you weren’t of age and you drank alcohol, and you never wanted to be a hypocrite, so who are you to stop them from doing the same? Either way, the fact that they never had to try too hard to get alcohol from you was kind of nice. Despite hating them, you got along with most of the kooks. They liked you. You knew it was only because of the alcohol, but you didn’t care. If the kooks started trouble with the pogues, or the other way around, you usually had a pretty good chance of stopping the conflict.

The party had been going on for about an hour by the time you were able to make your way down the bone yard.

“Hello, my very best friend in the whole world,” Kiara greeted, pulling you in for a side hug as she helped John B and JJ serve beer from the keg.

“Why hello, my very drunk best friend in the whole world,” you laughed.

“I’m not drunk!” She defended. “Just buzzed and happy.”

You smiled at her before looking to John B and JJ.

You glanced to the keg. “I’m gonna need some of that.”

“Alright.” JJ smirked, handing you a solo cup full of beer.

You shook your head. “No. I want up.”

John B and JJ both looked at you in shock, and JJ’s expression soon turned to amusement.

“No way.” He smiled in disbelief.

“You sure?” John B asked. “You just got here...”

“Oh trust me, Johnny boy, I already started.” You pulled a flask full of whiskey out of the back pocket in your jean shorts and tossed it to him.

He opened it and took a sniff, as if in disbelief that you’d actually been drinking alcohol.

You’d charged all the kooks extra when they purchased alcohol tonight, claiming that if they didn’t pay extra, you wouldn’t serve them. You left all the extra money at the store to help out your mom, but you did grab a little bottle of whiskey for yourself on the way out.

“Hell yeah!” JJ cheered after he took a sip from your flask and reached his hand out for yours. “Come on, girl.”

He helped you get situated with your hands on the side of the keg.

“John B, help her out. Grab the hose.”

John B nodded and did what he was told.

“Alright, you ready?” JJ asked, waiting for you to smile back at him and nod.

“You sure?” John B asked again, not wanting you to do something you’d regret.

“I’m sure.”

“Alright. 1, 2, 3!” JJ counted down and you kicked your legs up, allowing JJ to grip your thighs and keep you balanced upside down on top of the keg.

John B held the hose to your mouth, him, and the rest of the crowd that had gathered all counting how many seconds you stayed up there.

JJ couldn’t help but let his eyes wander while you were upside down. Your loose shirt was fairly sheer anyway, but it had fallen around your shoulders and neck, allowing him the perfect view down your toned stomach all the way to your bikini. JJ hadn’t seen this one before, and he had to say he was definitely a fan. It seemed to be pretty skimpy, and it was an emerald green color, complementing your tanned skin perfectly.

You gave a nod to John B when you heard him reach 22, unable to drink anymore.

You felt a little light headed as you stood upright again, but the cheering kept you going. You threw your arms up cheering for yourself along with everyone else.

JJ’s arm made its way around your shoulder and you felt him pull you into his side.

“Fuck yeah!” He yelled, holding his free hand out for you to high five.

The crowd around the keg started to disperse, but you weren’t really paying attention, your eyes locked on JJ’s.

“That was hot.”

“Really?” You asked. “I can’t go as long as you.”

JJ shrugged. “You can go longer than most. Bet John B can’t hit 20.”

You chuckled at that, knowing JJ was probably right.

JJ knew you weren’t the type to drink so much though, and since you were such close friends, he knew this meant something must be up. He also knew you wouldn’t tell him, but he asked anyway, just in case.

“So, what happened?”

You looked at him in question.

“I mean, why’re you drinking? Something wrong?”

You shook your head. “No, J. Just in the mood. Where’s my flask?” You changed the subject quickly, obviously hiding something.

JJ grabbed your flask out of his pocket and took a sip before handing it to you.

“Y/n, that’s strong,” JJ pointed out as if you were unaware.

You smiled. “I know.”

JJ watched as you swallowed way more than he’d expected you to be able to handle. He wasn’t sure if he was more turned on or worried, but he wasn’t going to question it.

“Let’s party!” You cheered, running back to meet some of your other friends.

JJ watched from afar as you got completely wasted. He kept up with you for a while, but he also wanted to make sure you didn’t do anything stupid or dangerous so he started to pace himself. He knew John B was looking out for you as well, but selfishly, JJ wanted to be the one to protect you.

JJ couldn’t have been happier when you made your way, on your own, back to him later on in the party.

You’d drunkenly sauntered up to him, wrapping your arms around his neck as you fell into his chest.

“Mmm.” He felt you mumble into him. “Take me home?” You asked, looking up at him with pleading eyes.

Of course, he could never say no to you.

“Wait!” You stopped, pulling away. “I’ll be back.”

JJ watched as you ran off again, approaching a group of kooks who were all sitting around, sharing a couple bottles of alcohol and smoking as far as JJ could tell. He watched as you got a little too close for comfort to one of the guys, practically sitting in his lap.

JJ felt something in his chest drop when he watched the guy start to kiss down your neck until his face was out of view and all JJ could see was your back.

He was about to head over and intervene when he noticed you standing up, bottle in hand.

You skipped back to JJ, happy as can be as if you weren’t just macking a kook.

“What was that?” JJ scolded, refraining from the profanities he wanted to use.

“Just gettin’ this.” You held up the bottle so JJ could see, smiling giddily.

It was an almost full bottle of sunset rum.

“Fucking shit...” JJ trailed off, taking the bottle to look at the alcohol content. This stuff was hard... and expensive.

“When he bought it, I knew they wouldn’t drink it.” You explained. “Kooks aren’t into rum. Not unless it’s a daiquiri or a mojito. They sure love their specialty cocktails.” You took the bottle back from JJ, opening it and taking a sip before wrapping your arm around his shoulder this time. “Now come on! Take me home.”

JJ took you to his place, knowing his dad was probably either gone or passed out. He didn’t want your mom to see you like this because he knew the two of you had a close relationship. Plus, Luke Maybank was smart enough not to mess with JJ in public. He knew how to get away with everything he did to his son. If he happened to be home and awake, JJ would be safe because you were with him.

JJ watched as you stumbled into his house after you pushed his arms away, refusing his help. You said you were a strong, independent woman, and you could take care of yourself. JJ only let you go a few steps on your own before he placed his hands on your hips, steadying your form until the two of you made it into his room.

“Ooh, comfy!” You cheer, jumping onto his unmade bed. He would’ve cleaned up if he knew you’d be coming over... Eh. Probably not.

“You’re a mess, Y/n.” JJ admitted, trying to keep himself calm even though you were literally in his bed. He had dreamt of this happening a few more times than he’d like to admit.

“No! I feel good!” You argued, that perfect smile still adorning your face. You were definitely a happy drunk.

“Yeah, you won’t tomorrow.”

JJ opened his drawer, pulling out a pair of sweats and a tee shirt.

“Here,” he offered, tossing the clothes towards you.

“No!” You complained, throwing the sweats back at him. “Too hot.”

JJ turned to look for a pair of shorts he thought might fit you, not noticing that you’d stood up from the bed until he heard you unzip your shorts.

“What are you doing?” He knew exactly what she was doing.

“You gave me clothes. I’m changing.”

JJ just turned around. He knew you weren’t going to stop, and as much as he wanted to watch, he couldn’t take advantage of you like that while you’re drunk. He listened as he heard clothes hit the floor, and he didn’t turn until he felt your finger tap on his shoulder.

JJ turned, and he had to keep his mouth from watering at the sight. You had picked up the previously discarded bottle of sunset rum up off the floor, and there you were, standing in front of JJ in only his shirt and your bikini bottoms. And he knew you weren’t wearing anything underneath his shirt because he could see the bathing suit top he had been so enamored with earlier in the night sitting on the floor just a couple feet away.

“Never have I ever?” You suggest, and JJ can’t keep himself from agreeing, so he made his way to the kitchen and grabbed two shot glasses before returning to his room.

He should’ve just put you to bed or something. He knew that, but something kept him from doing so.

He watches as you plop down on his bed, your toned legs crisscrossing in front of you, giving JJ a perfect view of your covered heat since his tee shirt that you were wearing rode up. He was spending most of his attention trying not to let his eyes venture downward, so he hadn’t even realized you’d been talking.

“JJ!” You snapped him out of it.

“Uh, huh?” He asks, meeting your eyes.

In his attempt to look away from the tempting sight in front of him, somehow JJ had ended up staring anyway, and he knew you realized what he’d been doing when he noticed the smirk on your face.

“Never have I ever been caught staring at my friend.” You spoke in a tone JJ couldn’t interpret, but that was probably just because his mind was a bit foggy.

“Ha ha.” He responded unenthusiastically, taking a shot of the strong liquid, wincing despite his efforts not to.

“Never have I ever...”

Apparently, the two of you continued to play the game until the bottle was empty, because you woke up with probably the worst hangover you’d ever had, your face hanging off the side of JJ’s bed, staring right down at the bottle of empty rum.

You roll over to see if JJ’s next to you, and that’s when you notice nothing is covering your bottom half. You’re completely naked under this tee shirt you knew was JJ’s.

You close your eyes, unsure if you really want to see the state JJ is in, but when you finally open them, you notice he’s curled up in his comforter. What a gentleman...

You pull yourself out of the bed, careful not to wake JJ, but not too careful because by the sounds of his snores, he’s not going to be waking up any time soon.

You find your bathing suit bottoms a couple feet away from the bed and inspect them. No rips or tears. That’s a good sign, right? Your shorts, top, and shirt are all together in one pile just past the end of JJ’s bed, and you briefly remembering taking all of that off when JJ gave you his shirt. You don’t really feel like re-dressing, so you just decide to slip on those sweatpants JJ had offered you the night before. You knew he wouldn’t mind.

You sneak out of JJ’s room, closing the door behind you lightly to not wake him up.

“Well, hello there.”

You jump, startled by the voice.

Luke Maybank.

“Hi, Mr. Maybank.” You speak awkwardly, turning to face JJ’s father with a shameful look on your face.

“You’re not a tourist are you?” He asks knowingly.

“Um...no.”

“Yeah, I know. I recognize you.”

“We’ve met a few times.” You explain.

“You screwin’ my son?”

“N-no!” You shake your head rapidly, your eyes wide in shock and your cheeks blushed in embarrassment. “I was... uh, drunk, and JJ brought me here so my mom wouldn’t see.”

Luke smiled, much to your surprise. You hadn’t had much interaction with the man before. JJ never really allowed it to happen, but from what JJ told you and what you assumed, you weren’t expecting a smile.

“He’s a good boy, isn’t he?”

Welp, if you weren’t blushing before, you were now. “The best.”

“JJ and I don’t have the greatest relationship-”

Yeah, I know.

“-but I love him. I do. I’m glad he has friends like you.”

You really didn’t know what to say to that. You barely even knew the man, and you were pretty sure he didn’t know your other friends either.

When he didn’t continue to speak, you waved an awkward goodbye and walked to the door.

Just as you were about outside, Luke Maybank’s voice stopped you in your tracks.

“One more thing.” You turned to face him, allowing him to continue. “Don’t lie to me again.” Before you even got the chance to question him, he pointed at his own neck. “You’re all marked up.”

Shit...

“Uh, I’m sorry,” you apologize, turning to leave. “Bye, Mr. Maybank.”

You walked as fast as you could to your own house, completely and utterly embarrassed. A reminder of something you couldn’t even remember happening was currently staining your neck. Did JJ remember? Maybe you just made out, right? Hopefully.

When you made it home, you weren’t surprised to be met with an empty house. Your mom was probably at the store opening up.

Breaking the threshold into your house also seemed to break whatever spell you were under for the whole walk home, because your hangover came back hard. You’d been so occupied with your thoughts on the walk that you hadn’t even noticed it.

You made sure to grab a few pills and a glass of water, downing them before going to the bathroom to take a shower.

“Shit...” Hickeys were plastered all over your neck, and there was probably more bruised skin than clean skin. You knew this didn’t happen at the party, so it had to have been JJ.

When you brush the tips of your fingers over the colored skin, you remember part of last night.

“Never have I ever... wanted to kiss my friend.” Your drunk self giggling at your own question and drinking along with JJ. When your shot glass went down, you leaned forward, drunkenly shooting your shot.

You were shocked when JJ’s hand immediately met your jaw and he leaned into the kiss.

Fireworks. It was cliche, but that’s what you felt in that moment. JJ’s lips on yours sent tingles all the way down to your toes, and after this, you couldn’t imagine not kissing him ever again.

You couldn’t help but let your mouth hang open when JJ clumsily places kisses down your chin and jaw until he reached the hollow of your neck, kissing and sucking as if he couldn’t get enough of you.

Eventually, you pulled him back up to your lips, and after what felt like hours of kissing, the two of you finally pulled apart.

“Never have I ever... kissed my friend.” JJ smirked.

Despite your best efforts, the memory ends there, and you’re stuck wondering. Maybe that’s a good thing. Maybe you guys made out, JJ gave you a ton of hickies, and then you continued the game until you fell asleep. There was no reason to believe yet that anything more happened last night. Not that it would be the end of the world if anything had happened, but if you really had sex with JJ, you kind of wanted to be able to remember it.

While you were taking a shower, JJ’s day began. He woke up on his own, taking a second before opening his eyes. His head wasn’t pounding, but he still definitely had a hangover, and the light coming through his window - since his blinds were cheep and broken - was giving him a headache. It took a second for his brain to turn on, but once it did, he immediately rolled over, checking for you.

Of course, you weren’t there. He wasn’t surprised, though. You were usually an early riser, and maybe you had to help your mom out at the store. However, unlike you, JJ remembered the night before... for the most part. That’s what started to worry him, and his mind immediately assumed the worst. Maybe you regretted what had happened and you left because you didn’t want to face him. Maybe you didn’t like it. Maybe you thought it was a mistake.

As much as JJ wished this had happened under better circumstances, he could never regret it. First of all, it was incredible. The connection between the two of you was just so strong. He’d been feeling it for months, and finally getting to be with you so intimately was one of the best feelings of satisfaction and relief he’d ever felt. He wouldn’t take it back for anything.

Well, maybe if you didn’t remember. That would make him feel terrible. It would mean he took advantage of you, right? JJ didn’t want to think about it, sh he shook it out of his thoughts and got dressed. He has to talk to you about this.

You were just finishing up drying your hair when you heard a knock on your front door. It was likely JJ, but for some reason your mind refused to believe it was him, making excuses like it’s too early and why would he ring the doorbell. Honestly, you didn’t really want to see JJ. You couldn’t remember all of last night, and it was embarrassing. Maybe he didn’t remember either though, right? He drank just as much as you did. You knew that wasn’t the case though since JJ’s tolerance was much higher, but when you heard the doorbell again, you knew you had to answer.

When you finally made it to the door after making sure you looked presentable, you were met with an empty porch. You were confused for a second until you noticed JJ standing out by the street. He must’ve been walking away and turned around when he heard the door.

“Hey. I thought you were at the store or something.”

You smiled, a bit awkwardly. Why were there butterflies in your stomach? It’s just JJ...

“Nope. I’m here.”

JJ has now made it back up to your porch, and he stood a couple feet away, looking awkward as ever.

“H-how are you?” He asked, running his hand through his long blonde strands of hair. JJ had never been good at talking, especially if it was a serious conversation.

“I’m good,” you chuckle. “And you?”

“Good.” He nods, refusing to meet your eyes with his own.

Yep. Awkward.

“Um, you wanna come in?” You ask, being polite, but JJ has other plans. He decides to just dive right in.

“Do you regret last night?” He bursts out, unable to contain his nerves. “D-do you remember last night? I-I know we were both drunk but you, were yo-”

You reached your hand out to grip his, trying to get him to calm down, but you get a different effect than planned. Touching him sent sparks throughout your body, and you flashed back to last night once more.

Skin, sweat, touch. It was messy. It was sloppy. It was wonderful.

Sometime during the game, that heated make out session turned into a lot more. You could feel JJ’s weight pressing you into the mattress, his hot breath palpable on your neck. The pressure was suffocating, but somehow you craved it. His length was thrusting into your heat roughly, but not too hard. Never too hard. It was perfect, like your bodies were made for each other and JJ knew exactly what you liked.

You would’ve gotten lost in the memory if JJ hadn’t been standing in front of you.

“Y/n?” He asked, wondering why you’d zoned out.

Instead of answering him, you took a step closer and tugged on his hand that you were holding, pulling him into a kiss.

Shocked at first, JJ took a few seconds to reciprocate, but once he understood the gesture, he wrapped his hands around your waist, pulling you impossibly close to him without breaking the kiss.

As great as it was while you were drunk, you wouldn’t trade this feeling for the world.

You struggled for your breath for a second before finally pulling away from JJ, a nervous smile on your face, but the nerves dissipated when you saw JJ’s expression.

He was staring down at you with the most genuine smile you’d ever seen on him.

“I take that as a no?” He asked, his arms still around your waist.

You moved one of your hands up to cup his jaw, not wanting to ever look away from his face again. His sky blue eyes accented by his blonde lashes, his perfectly imperfect teeth, and the sun freckles dispersed around his cheeks and nose. He was such a beautiful sight.

“Never, JJ. Though, I wouldn’t mind trying it again when neither of us are under the influence.”

JJ smirked at that. “How soon is too soon?”

“You’re a dork,” you laugh, and JJ lifts you up so you can wrap your legs around his hips.

“Your dork.”

“Yes.” You smile, leaning forward to rest your head on JJ’s shoulder as he carries you the rest of the way to your room.

You liked the sound of that. JJ was yours, and you were his.

Though you didn’t approve of getting blackout drunk, maybe it wasn’t the worst thing in the world...

Send me an ask! I always love feedback, + requests are open :)

[missfluffywriter]

Purple Irises  I Mafia Park Jimin x Reader

Authors note: Hello everyone! I know I’m supposed to be working on something else, but I couldn’t help myself. I read this amazing fic by @taetaewonderland Its called “The Bird Cage” and Oh My god it is so amazing. That is where I got the inspiration from, so please check out their blog. This isn’t my first BTS fic but it is my first mafia au fic. I had so much fun writing this I did this in like two day. And I was so inxplicably motivated. But yeah. And the fic does contain some medical stuff, and I tried doing my research but I could be wrong, and if you know something is wrong please tell me. :’) But there isn’t a lot of stuff. Just some here and there. If you think see any grammatical mistakes or mistakes in general, please let me know. Okay, that it for me. Happy readings!

Word count: About 7.6k 

Genre: Mafia AU, no angst yet :)

Pairing: Park Jimin x Reader 

Summary: You were supposed to be delivering flowers, how did you end up in an operation room digging out a bullet from a mafia boss’ shoulder? 

Purple Irises: Royalty and wisdom 

Warnings: Blood, guns, language, violence 

Next chapter I Masterlist

Gentle rays of light peered in through the store windows, the sun barely peeking over the mountains. A soft zephyr breezing through the streets. You admired the quaint peacefulness of the early mornings one more time, before starting your work in the flower shop. Relishing the freshness brought by the morning, you got up and grabbed your apron sitting on the reception desk, with a gentle smile you made your way to the back of the shop.

You made a mental to-do list as you collected the modified bucket. All the watering of the plants was done by hand. And this bucket was large enough to hold the amount of water needed to water all the flowers and plants in one trip. Only the problem was, when full the bucket was impossible to lift. So as a simple solution you suggested adding wheels to the bucket. Which had been working pretty well since installment. You wheeled the big bucket to the hose, and started the water as you waited for your boss to arrive. Sang Soomin, she was the owner of this lovely shop, and a good friend of yours. You were at a low point when she offered you this job, and helped you get back on your feet, and you were grateful for that.

“Good morning (Y/n)!” Speak of the devil, “Working as hard as always I see, We’re gonna need that kind of concentration today. There's a huge order that needed to be delivered later this afternoon” She smiled, putting away her bag under the reception desk. She rolled up her shirt sleeves before throwing her apron on.

“Oh?”

“Yeah, they asked for daisies, marigolds, white lilies, asters. And they ordered enough to decorate a mansion, I’m guessing a party.” She said, gliding over to where you stood. Ah, another party. The flower shop may have been small but it was in a rich neighborhood, a filthy rich neighbourhood. That was also why you were able to survive on only one job. You were snapped from your thoughts when you heard the splashes of water falling to the ground.

“Ah Darn it,” Soomin let out a soft giggle at your dismay. You hurried to close the faucet and sighed at the mess. Though not much had spilled over, you still had to clean up what had. You turned to grab some paper towels when you felt a hand on your shoulder.

“ I got it.” She threw some paper towels on the ground, she used her foot to move around the paper towels to soak up the spilled water. “Actually, leave all the watering to me. There's still some roses that need de-thorning. Can you get on that please? Seeing as you happen to be better at it,” 

“Got it,” You smiled, turning to the smaller flower room where most of the flower arranging happened.

“Okay, and that's the last one,” You heaved, hands tired from clipping thorns from roses for the past, what? Two hours? You pulled out your phone to check the time, 11:23 PM, okay maybe it was more than just two hours, then quickly pocketing your phone. Didn’t Soomin say the delivery was supposed to be made in the afternoon? It was about that time. You stretched before making your way to the main store. There were a few customers roaming the small shop, probably choosing flowers for a custom bouquet. 

“ Hey (Y/n) can you make the delivery? Hyun is out today. The address is with the daisies” Soomin asked, reading over what you assumed was the inventory list.

“Sure thing,” You quickly replied before leaving to load the van with the flowers. “Kay, I'm heading out” You called to her, grabbing the delivery clipboard and heading.  

“Be safe,” She waved at you. And you smiled in return.

‘Wow’ you thought as you looked at the mansion, which seemed more like a castel. They had an extensive front lawn, well manicured, neat hedges and bushes. And was probably bigger than a football field. Sure, you had seen your fair share of rich people houses. But this was just on another level. The front gates were large iron bars that bent to make beautiful floral designs, and two large pillars that supported the gates.

The house was beautiful, four large columns supported roman style columns supported a roof. Wide carrara marble steps that lead to large sierra double doors. You hesitantly climbed up the steps, reaching for the small doorbell. You rung the doorbell, somewhat nervous, the exquisite mansion making you feel smaller than any human being ever had. This whole place, basically calling you poor.

Tapping your foot on the ground, you impatiently waiting for someone anyone to pick up the flowers. You had rung the doorbell twice now and there was still no answer. They had to have known you were coming as the front gates were left open...right? And just as you let out another sigh, you heard a loud scream and glass breaking from inside the house.

BANG BANG

‘Gunshots!?’ Ducking on instinct, you covered your ears as loud bang’s echo throughout the property, only now there were more than a few guns firing. Loud cries and curses came from beyond the sierra doors. 

Finally gathering your barings, you beelined to the van, hurrying to get out of there, when the doors burst open and a man groaning and grasping at his bleeding shoulder fell to the ground, and you saw what was going on inside. People in black suits, crouching behind large objects and holding up guns.  

“Who the fuck are you?!” The man who came barreling out the door yelled. At his loud cries, a man from within turned to your direction.

“Shit, she saw. Kill her!” He yelled before a bullet narrowly missed his head. Eyes widening at his words as you tried again to rush to the van, when a grip on your right ankle nearly tripped you. “You’re not going anywhere, god damn it!”  

You tried using your other foot to kick yourself free from his grasp, but he roughly pulled at your ankle making you fall. You tried to stay as calm as possible you scrambled to get up on your feet, until you felt a hand on the base of your neck pull you towards the door.

You frantically tried to free yourself from his grasp, clawing at his hand, trying to kick your foot. But the man was on you left, and your legs wouldn’t reach so far left. As he dragged you inside, you took one more breath before grabbing the arm that was holding you with you left hand, then turning sharply, reaching with your right for the back of his neck and kneeing him in the stomach until he let you go.

As he fell to his knees clutching at his stomach, you axe kicked him, his head crushed onto the beautiful marble floor, knocking him out. A gunshot behind you brought you back to reality.

You turned and saw a man aiming his gun at you. You tried to move but your brain was processing faster than your body. Closing your eyes expecting you doom, but instead to be tackled onto the ground. You gasped and tried to push whoever it was that tackeled you off and scramble away from them, but hands grabbed at your waist and pulled you behind the bar counter. He had chocolate brown hair, and hazel eyes. His wore a black suit that had been bloodied and drenched in sweat.

“Who hell are you?!” He asked breathless, “What’re you doing here?!”

“Flowers!” you gasped, “I’m here to deliver flowers!”

His eyes widened in remembrance. Right they were supposed to have flowers delivered today.

“Stay here, and don’t move! Understand?!” You nodded, breath ragged as you eyed the young male. He tried peering from the above the hiding spot, then cursed dashing out from the behind the counter.

You brought your knees to your chest, trying to make yourself as small as possible. It was strange, you were terrified but calm. Anyone would be in tears by now in your situation. But now wasn’t the time for that, right now you needed to focus on not getting shot.

Moments passed and the number of guns being fired were dwindling. Until a man stepped beside you, his focus was at the people shooting at him. But he wasn’t alone, he had someone at gunpoint, it was the same guy who told you to stay here, and the two slowly backed away.

“Let him go Haewon, you’re done” A voice came from behind you, behind the counter. So this guy was the last of them. Out of nowhere you felt a brashness you had never felt before. Adrenaline bubbling.

 You grabbed hold of the tall vase that was in front of you, clutching it to your chest, you could feel your heartbeat in your hand, you took a deep breath.

Standing as fast as you could, you smash the vase into the man's head. The man lets go of his hostage and crashes onto the floor, unconscious. You put the surprisingly unbroken vase on the counter, then breathe in deeply, trying to get your erratic breath under control.  

One of your hands was on your hip as you hunched, taking a final deep breath, before looking up. To be greeted to the sight of men with stunned expressions, pointing their guns at you.

“Who the hell are you?!” one yelled. Oh this was getting old, you breath out, your head slightly hanging.  

“Hyung, the flowers. Remember the flowers we ordered.” The brunette that saved you life breathed.

“Guk step away from her,” A tallest of them, with syrup brown hair exclaimed, still holding the gun at you. You slowly raised your hand so as to not make any sudden movements, and to show you did not have weapons, and that at the moment you could in no way, do them any harm.

“It’s like he said, I was here to deliver daisies, roses, white lillies, and asters from the Kabloom flower shop,” You said in a steady voice. Heart hammering in your ribcage.

“And we should believe you because?” A man with silver platinum hair asked, voice strained. His hand gingerly holding his shoulder, leaning against one of the sofas.

“Is the van standing outside proof enough?” You answered with a question, sighing you continued, “You can call the shop and ask them.”

The short one with silver platinum blonde hair fell to his knees. 

“Jimin!”

“Hyung!”  

You lurched forward on instinct, naturally making a mental list of supplies you would need. So his name was Jimin. ‘This isn’t a time for names, we can worry about that later,’ you chide yourself, shaking your head back into focus.

But just as you stepped forward,you were stopped where you stood.

“Stop right there! And don’t move!” One of them said, threateningly pointing his gun at you. All the men around rushing to Jimin. But you were intently focused on the one on his knees. How long had he been bleeding for? This wasn’t good, at this rate he would bleed to death.

 Two men, the one that saved you and another red headed one supported Jimin by the arms. ‘No don’t do that, you have to stop the bleeding, gauze, alcohol, tape, tweezer’ that was the bare minimum you would need, you bit your lip as you thoughts raced.

“How long has he been bleeding?” You asked, stepping towards the huddle of people.

“ Stay right where you are!” Nostriles flaring as you breath through your nose. Anger gradually bubbling within as you were being kept from helping a patient.

“Okay! Listen here, it takes less than ten minutes for an average human being to bleed to death after a gunshot wound. So unless you want your friend to bleed to death, Let me help him?!” You said, tone expasrated but still firm, getting a little louder as you spoke. The men nervously looked at each other.

“And you would know because”

“Let. me. help” You said worriedly, stressing each syllable,  looking at the man on the floor further pailing, as he tried to brush off the other. Probably telling them he was fine.

“And what exactly makes you think we would trust you,” A shorter male with light brown hair, and wore a navy blue suit exclaimed. You understood they didn’t trust you but that guy was bleeding to death.     

“Look, I am trying to help! Your friend is bleeding out as we speak一” But you were cut off as said injured male collapses. The men around him worriedly call his name, panic in their eyes. Nervouseness hitting gull swing,  if they would just一

“Can you really help him?” The tallest one of them asks.

“Yes,” You replied, fidgeting as you thought of just in case alternatives you could use for some of the supplies, if they didn’t have them. 

“Then please help him’’ You exhaled loudly and stepped forward, but stopped when he spoke up again, his voice threatening,“BUT, we’re gonna be watching. You make one fishy move and we shoot you on the spot.”

“Fine,” You gulped, quickly making your way to the platinum blonde on the ground.

“Gauze, alcohol, surgical thread, sterile needle, tweezers, um...um lidocaine, and tape,” You recited your mental list as you pressed your hands onto Jimin’s shoulder, trying to slow the bleeding.  

“Well help him!” Guk? Stange name, cried, throwing his arms in the air.

“I can’t just do that here. We aren’t in some movie where you just rub some alcohol on and wrap the wound up and you’re done. We’re gonna need an operation room, and surgical thread, his bones don’t seem broken, but we still need a lot of stuff,” You replied to them as cooly as possible.

“Alright then let's take him to an operation room. We should have everything you just said, there. Jeongguk, carry him,” The tallest one commanded, his eyes moving throughout the room. His mind seemed to be running a mile a minute. And Jeongguk, effortlessly hoisted Jimin into a bridal carry. And walked to the winding staircase that was along the wall facing the door.

“You have an operation room?” You asked, amazed, rushing after them up the staircase.

“Which door?” Jeongguk asked.

“The doctor's room, Guk,” The tallest of the bunch answered. And you felt yourself relax a little hearing the childish yet adorable name for the sterile room.

You were surprised to say the least when you saw the room. Eyes wide as you take in the room that was almost identical to an OR, only this place had cupboards along the right wall. The lights and monitors and everything. You snapped out of your thoughts when you heard Jimin being placed onto the table. There were too many people in the room.

“There were too many people in this room, you can’t all stay here.” You ran your eyes through the cupboards, searching for things you needed.

“Like hell we’re leaving him with you一” One of the men at the back exclaimed.

“Please” You pleaded, placing the alcohol you had found on one of the tables.

“Yoongi, Jeongguk, and Seokjin stay in the room, everyone else go clean things up,” It was the one who had let you work on Jimin again.

“But, Namjoon一”

“Hoseok please,”

“Fine, alright you lot get out,”

“Thank you,” Namjoon gratefully said to the men as they turned to step out.

They were having their moment, but you were focused on finding what you needed to listen in. And astonishingly, they not only had surgical thread but also, dissolving thread. Anesthesia was out of the question, you didn’t have enough knowledge about it and you doubted any of them were anesthesiologists. And they didn’t have lidocaine injection, which numbed the wound and was a much safer option. But you weren’t too surprised, though that also meant you had to do this with Jimin still conscious, or could come to consciousness mid procedure.

Okay, you didn’t have a lot of time. You needed to do this and you needed to do this fast.

“Wait, some of you might have to stay after all,” You said before all of them could leave.

“Why? Nevermind, how many should stay?” Namjoon looked at you, alerting further at your words.

“Four maybe five, depending on how strong he is. There’s no anesthetic so we need to hold him down in case he moves mid procedure” You answered both questions as you washed your hands as furiously and as fast as you could. You were running out of time, you didn’t have time for proper protocol. You put on clean gloves then hurry back to the table. When you returned there were five men standing around the table.

“Okay hold down his legs, arms and torso,” You instructed them as you put on the surgical mask you had found.

“This is gonna hurt a lot. So he’ll thrash around, if he moves too much I may end up hurting more than helping. So hold him down tight.” You looked at each man with calm eyes, and began removal.

Jimin did wake up mid procedure and he did thrash around quite a bit, but Namjoon managed to somehow talk to him. After that he was as still as he could be with you digging around his shoulder. Eventually he passed out again from the pain. You didn’t have time to hook him up to the monitors, so you had Namjoon constantly keeping track of Jimin’s pulse. You told him to inform you immediately if he felt any changes. You found the bullet rather quickly, and neatly sutured the wound. Once all sutures were in place, you cleaned the new neatly stitched wound and bandaged his shoulder. After bandages were in place you took his pulse one last time to make sure everything was fine. You still needed to look for a stethoscope but after all that you just didn’t have the energy for that right then.

Heaving a relieved sigh you eased away from the table and towards the sink to wash off all the blood. You peered behind your shoulder to see what the others were doing, and their expressions were still twisted with worry. You smiled as you saw how worried they were for him. They weren’t bad people, just worried for their friend. If anything they looked kind as they watched their friend rest. But you still feared the future to come as you thought back to the prior events. The shoot out, the guns, those people, you had an idea of what was going on. And an idea how they afforded to live in such a lavish mansion. You wiped your hands with paper towels as you explained Jimin’s situation.

“He’s out of the woods for now but we’ll have to monitor him twenty-four-seven for the next few days. His wound will have to be cleaned and his bandages will have to be changed twice a day. We can move him to a more comfortable room but you’ll have to be super gentle. We should get him pain medication too, lucky no bones were broken, but He’ll still be in a lot of pain. He’s also lost a lot of blood, and foods such as lean red meat, poultry, fish, leafy green vegetables, brown rice, lentils and beans can all boost haemoglobin. Vitamin C helps with iron absorption, so to get the most from the food you eat, so make sure he drinks a glass of vitamin C-rich fruit juice with his meals. I recommend pomegranate just the fruit or juice, whichever he prefers”  

All five men seem to release a breath of relief as they heard you talk. Their shoulders slumping, finally relaxing. You watched with a smile before your eyes widened as you realized. You had been so focused on Jimin that you forgot about everyone else that had been injured. You jumped at the realization. The abrupt movement startled the men, and all jumped into an alert.

“Is anyone else injured, bleeding, hurt?  No wound is too small,” You said, looking at each man as they sighed and relaxed their shoulders. The men looked at each other before looking back at you.

“We’re fine but some of the men outside maybe,” Namjoon said, pointing towards the door.A questioning brow rose on his face as he saw your eyes narrow.

“Is that right? So the red stain on your shoulder is part of the outfit then,” You hummed. To which no answer came. “Thought so,” You coasted towards him, picking up the alcohol and left over gauze from the table along the way. You firmly instructed Namjoon to take off his blazer and shirt, which he refused...at first. As he continued to deny your help you stared him straight in the eyes and repeated your instruction.

He caved the second time around, removing his blazer and shirt. The other four attempting and failing to hide their grins and giggles. You dressed his wounds in record time before asking once more, “Is anyone else hurt?” They all shook their heads no. You sighed, the hard way it is.

“Jeongguk can I see your foot?” you asked, scuffled to the cupboards to get the arnica cream you had seen earlier. You returned quickly, sitting on the floor before looking at Jeongguk expectantly. He wore an uncomfortable expression, good. He was gonna cave.

He hesitantly gave you his left foot, “Your other foot,”

“It’s nothing really, there's nothing there,” He stammered out.

“Well then let me see your foot,” You said passively. He caved after thirty seconds of continuous eye contact. You smiled softly and applied the arnica cream on the deep purple bruise above his ankle.    

“Arnica, it's a cream that helps with bruising. Looks pretty deep, you might feel tender tomorrow. Take it easy and apply this cream three times a day, and the bruise should get better faster,” Words thoughtlessly escaped your lips as you finished applying his cream.

“Ahem一” Namjoon coughed to get your attention, “一So thank you for you help. And I apologize for what happened earlier, we were all just worried. But I’m afraid we can’t let you leave.”

You smiled, sighing, “I figured as much. After all I’ve seen, I have a pretty good understanding of what your...job. Don’t worry I won’t try to run away or anything, I know it will only make my situation worse,” Getting up you headed to the drawers, collecting bandages and tape, then returning to the table for the alcohol bottle, and struggling as you did, there being too much to carry. “And if you want to apologize, help me dress everyone’s wounds.”

“You’re awfully calm for someone in your situation, you have Stockholm syndrome or something?” Seokjin laughed, kicking himself off the wall he was leaning on and taking the alcohol bottle from your hands.

“Well, will me panicking and screaming about the situation make it any better?” You chuckled softly, making your way to the door.

“Touche” He laughed softly.

“But一” Yoongi interrupted, asking the question that was on everyone's mind, “Tell me something why are you doing this? Why are you treating our wounds?”

“Well, there’s a simple explanation really,” You tilted your head. Which the men couldn’t help but compare to a puppy.

“And what explanation would that be?” Yoongi raises an eyebrow.

“I was just hoping that if I made myself useful, you don’t kill me, and preferebly feed me too,” You answered simply.

“That's it?”

“I’d say that’s a pretty reasonable reason.” You lips stretched into a smile.

Yoongie looked incredusely at your answer, which seemed to be a common reaction to your words so far. That was honestly your thought process, you thought if you could make use of your skills, they would hold off on killing you, or decide to keep you alive all together. You knew the minute you saw what you did you couldn’t escape this. And the only escape you would find would probably be death.

But there was a strange feeling resonating deep within you. And you knew what it was. It was a feeling you should not be feeling in the situation you were in, it was thrill. You were excited to be where you were. It was terrifying but you liked the adrenealine rush that had felt. Was it wrong of you to feel that? A tinge of excitement when most people would feel dread. These men, judging by their demeanor were most likely forced into this life. 

And you felt guilty for feeling this excitement when you shouldn’t be, these men must have suffered much in their lifetime. And would probably give an arm and a leg to get out of this life, and here you were excited for what would happen next.

Your chain of thought was broken when you saw movement in front of you. Jeongguk carrying Jimin in his arms. Ah they were moving him, and it seems like everyone was going together. You stepped aside to let them pass, and followed them. Out the door, down the corridor, they banked left and down another tall, long corridor.

“I’m assuming we’re headed to his room?” You asked, walking next to Seokjin, still holding the bandages.

“You assumed correctly,” He answered, “His room is in the east wing, right down the hall actually.”

You walked down the hall in silence, aside from slight groans of pain some of the men. Which you registered for later, but perhaps it would be best not to push you luck with them. If you bothered them too much they might just kill you because you were annoying them. Eyes on the floor, you let your thoughts drift.

But your mind didn’t get to wander long as everyone stopped, you raised your head, taking in your surroundings. The door were large white double doors, they were doors you would see in a palace or castle. There was a large window at the end of the hallway and flowers in vases every few doors. There was clearly a color scheme, blues, whites, and beiges, and seemed like marble was a common occurrence throughout the house, well mansion.

Wait, flowers, flowers! You were here to deliver flowers! What time was it? Soomin must be worried. Your hands were full you couldn’t couldn’t pull out your phone, no clocks in sight. And you didn’t really feel like asking anyone right now. You thought of ways you would apologize to Soomin as the men opened the doors and walked in.

The room  was huge, probably bigger than your apartment, then again your apartment was more of a studio with a bathroom, but a very cozy studio. And the ceiling was high and the color scheme seemed to bleed into this room. There was a large rectangular rug on the floor. It looked so soft, and so expensive. There was a window of the far left wall. And a window bench underneath it, fluffy pillows decorating it. There was a painting on the wall, a medaow. The room was neat, aside from some papers lying around the floor. The room was well lit from the natural light coming in through those ginormous windows. But getting a good look at the room it was  simplistic. And said a lot about Jimin as a person.

Lots of soft colors and soft, fluffy things, he must be a gentle person...well maybe. Then your eyes landed on the cabinet along the wall that connected to the bathroom. A built-in liquor shelf, so he drank, no...a conisure? From what they eye could see, none of the bottles were empty. No ash trays, did he not smoke? Or was it just put away.

A small bookshelf next the liquor shelf. An armchair and a small, hickory brown table by the books. Which was surrounded by white sofa set, with beige pillows.  

Your eyes roamed the beautiful room, you couldn’t help it. You’d never seen a room this luxurious, except in movies and films. ‘I think I finally understand what writers were try to describe.’ You thought as you let your eyes return to the people whom you entered the room with.

Jeongguk gently placed Jimin in the large king size bed. Lined with white and baby blue sheets. Namjoon pulles the blanket onto Jimin tucking him in, a dimpled smile stretching across his face. The sight was endearing, they took care of each other as though they were brothers...were they brothers? Jimin now laying on his bed still wore an expression of pain. It was a bullet sound of course it hurt.

You placed the bandages in your arms on the table that was right next to the door. And quickly pulled out your phone, it read ‘4:30 PM’. You had left around 11:30 AM and now it was 4:30 PM, you had been gone for nearly five hours. The van! You needed to return the van!

“Hey you guys一” The men looked to you, “一I need to return the van, and check in my boss.”

“I’m sorry but we can’t let you leave,” Namjoon shook his head.

“Okay, easy solution, can someone else drop it off at the store?” You asked with urgency in your voice. Hyejin had done so much for you, you didn’t want to make her worry, plus it was her van.

“Well, I guess we could do that,” Namjoon shifted his weight to his other leg, “What’s the address?”

“Just go down the rich people avenue, you’ll find Kabloom flower shop along it,” Jeongguk snorted at you directions, his hands on his lips as he stifled a laugh. An amused smile played at Yoongi’s lips and a simple smile stretched across Namjoon’s face.

“Or… the address is on the van,” You chuckled with them.

“Rich people avenue? Really?” Yoongi chortled.

“What? Its true.” You said, stretching the what into something more of a whine. All of them looked much more relaxed now, Even Yoongi, who was the most suspicious of you, laughed at that.  

“But一” Jeongguk piped in, “一we looked over something kind of important,” Important? What had you missed? Your forehead scrunched, head tilting in question. Jeongguk gave a short laugh when he saw your confused expression.

“Your name. We don’t know your name?” He asked, light-heartedly. Ah, looks like the finer details were missed.

“Ah right, My name is (L/n) (Y/n), but please call me (Y/n),” You smiled, making sure not to forget that the van still needed to get to the store.

“Well (Y/n), tell me something, who are you exactly?” Seokjin questioned, his tone wasn’t threatening, but the way he worded the question had you on alert. “I mean, with all that stuff about vitamin-C and hemoglobin, and I saw how you worked on his wound, and you knew what you were doing, one would think you were a doctor or something,”

“That’s cuz I am a doctor, well I never finished my residency, so I’m not an official doctor but I do have a PhD,” You shrugged, you didn’t mean to hide it, besides it wasn’t like it was a secret.

“That’s not possible, you’re too young to be a doctor,” Yoongi commented in disbelief. You didn’t look old enough to be a qualified doctor, you looked no older than twenty-four, twenty-six at most.

“I was in an accelerated program, so I graduated high school early, plus I never finished my residency, so again, I’m not an official doctor,” You played with the edges of bandages.

“Wait, wait how old are you?” Yoongi asked, still perplexed.

“Twenty-four,” You looked up, only to be met with five confused men.  

A still confused Seokjin asks, “Then why is someone with a PhD delivering flowers? Is it like a side job? Or did you just not like being a doctor?”

“I… have my reasons…” You trailed off, and they saw your expression somber, and understood not to push the subject.

“Alright (Y/n), we’ll have the van sent back to your store,” Namjoon smiled at you, he appeared to be much more relaxed like he trusted you… to some degree. You were grateful they were doing this for you. But there was something you needed to get from your house, for one, if you were going to be staying here then you would have liked to get some clothes, and more than that you needed to get someone from your apartment. As you thought the cluster had broken off into two and three person groups.

Namjoon and Seokjin were talking amongst themselves, wearing serious expressions,  probably talking about all that had happened today. Yoongi, Jeongguk and Hoseok were chatting with each other. They held lighter air to them.

“I just had one more thing,” attention reverted to you, “I need to get something from my apartment, and I need to go get it,”

“We’ll just bring it to yo一” You cut Namjoon off.

“I’m sorry but I have to go, you guys can come with me but, I have to go” You declared firmly. It wasn’t something you could just grab and go.

“Why?” Namjoon frowned, confused as to why you had to be there.

“I have to go because what I need to get isn’t a something it's a someone, I need to get my dog, and you can’t go alone because my dog is special,” You exasperated, your shoulders slightly slumping.  

“And how is your dog special?” Yoongi inquired.

“Well my dog isn’t just a dog, she’s a wolf dog, and she’s more wolf than dog, and I don't think she'll appreciate strangers in her home trying to grab at her. And More than that I’m afraid she might end up attacking you, and you guys end up shooting her,” You sighed. 

Namjoon nodded, understanding the situation. “Alright but it will have to wait till?”

“Yes,” You replied, knowing this must be just as stressful to them as it was for you. And your pupper would be fine without you for one night, she should be tied down for tonight with the whole chicken you left her.

“Okay一” Namjoon sighed, “一 so (Y/n), you said we had to monitor him, right?” You nodded. “You and Jeongguk stay with Jimin, while we’ll deal with the mess outside,” You bobbed your head in understanding, as the rest of them poured out of the room. And seeing as Seokjin grabbed the bandages on the table, you assumed he would take care of the injured.

“Well, I guess it’s just us now,” You smiled at Jeongguk. To which he returned one of his own. His face scrunched as he did, he had a bunny smile. ‘How cute’ You thought, taking a seat on the floor, next to Jimin. But there was a rug underneath, that honestly felt more like a cushion.

“So you have a dog?” He inquired intrigued. 

“Yeah, her name’s Shelty,” Jeongguk nooded as you thought about your adorable puppy. 

“And she’s a wolf dog?” 

“Yeah, a german shepard, wolf hybrid. But I’m not sure what kind of wolf,” You said, thoughtfully. 

“You know I had a pet fish once,” He began. 

By the time you had realized how much time had passed, the sun had set. When had you turned the lights on? The day seemed to have melted away talking to Jeongguk. You found out a lot of things about this group. He was one of the seven founding members. And that one of them was out right now. That he was the youngest of the seven, about how they would sometimes eat so much someone threw up, and that they weren’t actually blood related but were as close as brothers. 

And you listened and imputed comments when you thought necessary. But there was a common theme in his topics, it was his hyungs. He somehow always returned to his elder brothers, you couldn’t help the smile that made its way on your face . He was a good kid, sweet and caring. And judging by how his eyes softened and that gentle smile that you saw on his face. You could tell how much he loved his brothers. You couldn’t help but wonder, how had he ended up as a mafioso.

“Gebus, it’s late, where did the time go?” You stretched your arms, then got up and stretched your legs.

“Thank you (Y/n), for listening to me,” He says, looking at his lap, then up to you, “With my kinda job you don’t really talk much about anything besides business...so this was nice. So thank you,”He smiled. Oh it was his bunny smile again, you were going to melt. Too late, you melted.

“I liked talking to you too, Jeongguk,” You eyes softened and you grinned, as you ruffle his hair. He let out a noise of protest before the door opened behind you.

“We brought food!” Hoseok entered, beaming. White plastic bags in hands. He was followed by Namjoon and Seokjin, and Yoongi entered a little later, clutching: wine, whiskey, and soda.

“I get fed,” You cheered, as you laughed with the five men.

“Yes, yes you do (Y/n),” Namjoon chuckled, placing the bags of food he held on the coffee table. Hoseok, doing the same, opening the chinese take out boxes and throwing the bag somewhere in the room.

“I for one think I’d be pretty rude to not feed the person that saved our boss,” Seokjin concludes with a smile. “Well then, come on, eat!” He waves his hand to invite you to sit with them. You playfully roll your eyes and scuffle to an open seat.

“I’m surprised you’re letting me sit here and eat, not to mention with you guys,” You thanked Seokjin as he handed you a plate of food.

“Well, you cooperating and not screaming at us helped your case, though I would understand why you would,” Namjoon said, reaching for a plate. You hummed at his answer as you ate your stir fried noodles.

“(Y/n) what drink do you want?” Jeongguk asked, pulling out lowball whiskey glasses from the built-in cupboard, beside the liquor shelf.

“Hmm just coke please,” He nodded and poured coke into a lowball glass, then handed it to you, as you thanked him.

“No alcohol? Why cuz it’s bad for you?” Yoongi laughed, softly throwing his back.

“I for one recall being on montering duty, and I can’t exactly do that drunk now can I?” You laughed.

“True, true,” Yoongi said, sipping his whiskey.

Dinner went by just as fast, you made small talk with Seokjin. Favourite food, favourite animal, surface level question. During that small talk you learned some interesting things. Turns out Seokjin or Jin as he went by, was the only one with any skills in the kitchen. He told you stories of mishaps that occurred in the kitchen, complaining about the guy’s culinary skills, or their lack of said skills. Jeongguk protested, refuting Jin's claims, only to be silenced with tales of the tin foil in the microwave incident.

You helped Jin and Hoseok clean up the area, gathering all the empty boxes in a plastic bag and handing them to Hoseok, who volunteered to take out the trash. All five men had decided to stay in Jimin’s room tonight. You chuckled because you thought it was because they didn’t trust you. But thinking more about it, it was probably for you than for Jimin. Considering he didn’t know about you. And you doubted he remembered anything from the surgery. 

Jin turned off the lights, to your surprise, a lot could happen in the darkness. He waved you off simply saying it was so Jimin wouldn’t wake up. But you knew the actual reason for the lights being out. Everyone was tired, and the yawn Namjoon let out, proved that point. Jin must’ve wanted everyone to get some rest, it was probably going to be a hectic day tomorrow. You gave an understanding nod, before going back to your original stop on the floor beside Jimin. This time however, Jin sat next to you instead of Jeongguk, who sat at the sofa with Hoseok and Yoongi.

And sure enough, one by one most of the men had dozed off, lulled to sleep by the quiet darkness. Even Jin had nodded off, you smiled at them. You wondered if there were any extra blankets around, you looked about the room, not you could see anything. But knew better than to just get up and search for blankets. So you sighed and nudged Jin. Who gasped awake, hand reaching for his concelead gun.

“Hey, it's just me,” You whispered.

“(Y/n) what? What happened?” He asked, still dazed from sleep. 

“Blankets, are there any extra blankets? Looks like nearly everyone’s asleep” You said softly, as to not wake anyone.

“No, I’m not,” Jeongguk’s mischievous piped.

“Well, almost everyone,” You rolled your eyes in a playful manner.

Jin smiled at your words, not that you could see in the darkness. He got up yawning and stretched. Then left the room to fetch the blankets.

Sensing the question from the youngest mafioso, you answered before he could ask, “I just wanted everyone to be comfortable, we all need blankets at night no matter what you say. Besides I wasn’t gonna risk searching around for blankets in the dead of night only for you guys to shoot me for snooping around,” Jeongguk gave a short laugh 

Jin was having trouble carrying multiple blankets. You let him in and placed one of the blankets on Yoongi and gave one to Jeongguk, who accepted it happily. As he placed one on Namjoon and Hoseok. You had returned to your spot when Jin handed you a blanket as well. Turned out he got one for you too, which you took gratefully.

Minutes passed and the moon had completely risen, the moonlight pouring through the tall windows, you had much better vision now. You took Jimin’s wrist and took his pulse just in case. Pulse was steady and everything seemed normal. You placed his wrist on the bed and sighed, at this point Jin had dozed off again, but weren’t too sure of Jeongguk.

You sighed, your head resting on your palms as you continued your monitoring. You blinked as you took in Jimin’s features. He was pretty, well, handsome. Flawless skin, plump, soft lips. And he had a peaceful expression as he slept. His silver locks seemed to have this strange luster in the moonlight. He really was beautiful, like an angel.  

Before you knew what you were doing, your hand had moved to brush his hair off his face. When your fingertips made contact with his forehead, you felt his skin, and he was burning up. Your stomach twisting, you fully placed your hands on his forehead. He had a fever, now that you were looking properly he wore an expression of discomfort. It wasn’t unusual for people to get fevers after surgery, but you had to get it under control. How had you not noticed this? 

“Jeongguk, you up?” you questioned quietly, trying not to disturbe everyone, you stood. Your sudden movements seemed to have Jin awake again.

“Yeah, why? What happened noona?” He replied quickly sitting up.

“Wha? What's going on?” Jin asked, still half asleep.

“Jimin has a fever, I need a thermometer, a cold compress, and a fever medication, tylenol, Advil either will do,” You said, a hand on your hip, turning on the lights.

Jeongguk sprung into action, dashing out the door with an ‘I’ll get it”. Which seemed to have woken everyone else up. All of them with sleepy confusion written on their face.

“Will he be okay?” Concern lacing Jin’s voice.

“Fever after surgery isn’t unusual, his body has been through a lot, we’ll give him some medication and a cold compress. Then we’ll watch his fever. Okay?” You give a reassuring smile. Jin nods. 

“Here! (Y/n) I got everything you asked.” Jeongguk burst into the room, materials in hand. You quickly thanked him, placing the cool ice pack on Jimin’s forehead. His features, relaxed at the feeling of the cool ice pack. You gently opened Jimin’s mouth and placed the thermometer under his tongue. Letting him rest for a while, as you waited for the thermometer to beep. But now that you were thinking about it, he was going to have to eat something before taking any kind of medicine. You bit your lip, not really wanting to have to wake him up.

BEEP BEEP

The thermometer beeped, and you gently pulled it out. 101 degrees, okay a low-grade fever. So it wasn’t too serious. You decided it would be best to wait a few minutes, if the fever went down great, if not he needed the medecine. And the cold compress seemed to have been enough.

You took Jimin’s temperature again, and smiled at the result, 99 degrees fahrenheit. Good the fever went down. You sighed in relief, “The fever broke, we’re all clear, we won’t even need the medicine”

Everyone heaved a relieved breath, Jeongguk coming to sit on the rug next to where you sat on the bed. Namjoon and Yoongi relaxed where they sat, and Hoseok had a hand over his face. Jin sat down behind Jeongguk. And the lights turned back off.

You took your seat back on the rug, next to Jimin. You reached for Jimin’s wrist one more time, this time not to take his pulse. You just played with his fingers, tracing small scars you felt on his hand, you didn’t know why, but you felt this inexplicable need to be in some sort of physical contact. You rested your head on the bed, and the fatigue of the day hitting you like a truck. ‘No I can’t fall asleep,’ were your last thoughts as everything fell to darkness.

[ilovefandoms102]

Part 14*

Summary: The Pogues go back to the Crain mansion to get the gold..what could possibly go wrong?

Taglist:

@ma10427 @lasnaro @certainstatesmantoadartisan @iamaunicorn4704 @riverdaleserpent04 @justcallmesams @sspidermanss @tangledinsparkles @jellyfishbeansontoast @hurricane-abigail @outerbongs @gviosca @eb15

Part 13 Part 15 

Note: Hope you guys have enjoyed this series as much as I have writing it! It means the world to me when you guys message me about how much you like this story, I was so nervous to post it and didn’t expect to get so much positive feedback. Thank you so much to every single person who has read this!

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JJ and I headed back to the chateau, reluctantly of course. My brother decided tonight would be the night we went and retrieved the gold from the Crain mansion. He wouldn’t stop calling both JJ and I, so we had to cut our date shorter than either of us would have liked. 

“What if all we find is the remains of Mr.Crain?” JJ asked, nervously biting his lip.

“Would you stop with that shit babe, Mrs. Crain did not kill her husband.” I said rolling my eyes at him.

“The only reason I’m even stepping foot near that place again is to get that gold.” JJ said.

“J, she’s not even going to know we’re there. She can’t hear or see.” I said, driving the boat to the dip by the chateau so JJ and I could drag up on the mainland. 

“She’s bat shit crazy, probably has like spidey senses or some shit babe” JJ said, helping me to pull the boat up. 

We walked into the chateau, my brother and Sarah sitting in the kitchen. I went into my room and changed into all black, tossing my old clothes in the hamper. I was a little chilly, so I threw on one of JJ’s sweatshirts.

“Pretty sure that’s mine” JJ said, coming in and throwing his stuff on his side of my room. He walked over closer to me, eyeing my outfit.

“Pretty sure I do the laundry around here so I have a right to wear what I want” I sassed back.

“You look hot in my clothes baby” he smiled, leaning down to kiss me. I chuckled, walking out of my room to the kitchen.

“So what’s the plan Bird?” I asked my brother.

I took out some things from around the kitchen to make stir fry. It being the cheapest thing I could buy and easy to make. I listened to John B, JJ and Sarah discussing the plan. 

“We’ll have to create a pulley so that I can be lowered down to get the gold.” John B said.

“How are we supposed to get 250 pounds of gold out?” Sarah asked.

“No way should we get all of it at once” JJ said. 

“Yeah, we need to just find one piece to take to someone and they can tell us how much it is. No reason to try and get it all if it’s not worth anything.” I said.

“Is it even safe to talk to anyone around here?” Sarah asked, irritating me with all her questions. 

“I’m confused to why you’re still here?” I asked. 

“Bubba, please” John B said, looking at me pleadingly.

“No John B, I’m not going to let some Kook tramp break your heart if this gold isn’t what everyone thinks it is.” I said, roughly placing things on the counter. I turned around to look at them. Sarah looking at the table and JJ giving me a ‘please stop’ look.

“She wants to help us, why is that not enough for you?” John B asked, he walked over to me and turned us to where our backs were facing JJ and Sarah.

“You are crazy if you think she’s not trying to set us up John Booker Routledge” I whispered.

“She’s not! I love her bubba, please just trust me. I promise you that is not her intentions.” he said.

“Birdie...” I sighed.

“Let me decide who is and isn’t good for me, please.” he said, gripping my hand. 

“Alright...but I’m still kicking her ass if she fucks with you” I said, moving back to the stove to continue cooking. 

“I love you” JJ said, coming up behind me and wrapping me in his arms. 

“You love me because I’m feeding you Maybank,” I joked, playfully pushing him away.

I finished dinner and we sat and ate. We got the stuff we needed to take to the Crain mansion. We piled in the van, picking up Kie and Pope on the way there. I was driving with JJ in the passenger seat, he was a nervous wreck. We got to the mansion, getting the stuff together before John B stopped us all.

“I just want to say, thank you guys. It means a lot for you guys to be here.” he said looking at each of us.

“Of course” Kie said, laughing.

“Always” Pope said, doing a handshake with my brother. Sarah blushing and looking down. 

“Alright are we done with the circle jerk?” JJ asked, throwing the rope over his shoulder. 

“I’m only here because I feel obligated as your older sister” I said, rolling my eyes.

“Two minutes” John B huffed. 

We made our way over the ledge and walked towards the middle of the yard. We started making our way towards the back side of the house when lights came on. We made a run by one of the trees and ducked under the taller bushes. 

“So she has motion sensor lights” Pope said. 

“Let’s throw a rock at them” JJ said, I looked over at him raising my brow.

“Are you dumb?” I asked sarcastically.

“What are we going to do about the light?” Kie asked.

“There’s and electrical box by the porch, I can just go up and turn it off” Sarah said. We all looked at her confused. “We used to come here and play hide and seek” she explained. 

“No way, you’re not going up there” John B said.

“Can you chill, she’s going to the porch” I said.

“No” he said. 

“Watch me” Sarah said.

“I’ll come with you” Kie said. I was glad she went because I’m sure my brother would have made me go if Kie hadn’t offered.

“Hey, be safe” John B said. 

“We will” Kie said. 

As they walked away I grabbed JJ’s face.

“Be safe” I said mocking JB.

“I’ll be so safe baby” he said, putting his hand on my cheek.

“Can you guys shut up” John B said irritably.

“But how will we be safe?” I asked jokingly. JJ, Pope, and I cracking up at ourselves. John B not finding it funny and heaving our stuff towards the back. 

We entered the side of the house where the basement was, setting up our equipment. John B and I moving the planks where the well was while Pope and JJ set up the pulley. 

“Are you sure about this?” I asked my brother. 

“What do you mean?” he asked.

“I mean, you just got out of the hospital. I can go down and you stay with the guys.” I said. 

“Bubba, I’ll be fine” he said, now adjusting the rope and harness.

JJ, Pope, and I lowered John B down into the well. 

“Please, for the love of God, don’t drop me” John B said.

“No promises” I mumbled. 

We were struggling hard, trying to adjust to get a good system going. JJ slipping, the rope losing slack and causing me to fall from having to grip the rope tighter. 

“JJ!”I yelled.

“I told you not to drop me!” John B yelled. 

“Beggars can’t be choosers” I yelled back.

We lowered the rope more, still struggling since the rope was super thin and my brother wasn’t exactly the lightest human.

“Ok, I’m at the bottom” John B said.

“What do you see bub?” I asked.

“Is Mr. Crain down there?” JJ asked, earning a smack on the head from me. 

“BUBBA PULL ME UP! JJ! POPE!” John B screamed all of the sudden.

We all jumped into action, pulling as fast as we could.

“Hold on Birdie!” I yelled.

“What’s going on John B?” Pope asked.

“Wait, wait!” John B said.

“What is it?” JJ asked.

“I found something hold on” he said.

Then, Sarah and Kie come barreling down the stairs. They looked terrified, like they had seen a ghost. Kie running to hug Pope, and Sarah coming to grab my arm, holding on to me. We heard John B talking but none of us could make out what he was saying. 

“What is he saying?” Kie asked.

“We need to go!” Sarah yelled. 

We all started pulling John B up, a gunshot ringing out and breaking the pulley. We all fell forward, losing the rope.

“John B climb up!” Pope yelled.

We saw Mrs. Crain with a shotgun, she rang out another shot all of us ducking. JJ grabbed me and ducked us in a corner, Pope joining us while Kie and Sarah went to the opposite of where we were. She shot the gun again, all of us darting out the door and to the van. 

“She’s blind as fuck how is she wielding a shotgun?!” JJ shouted, tugging on my hand as we ran. 

“That bitch can’t aim that’s for sure.” I said, laughing.

JJ jumped into the drivers seat with me being the passenger this time. The rest of the crew following behind, throwing themselves in the van. JJ took off, all of us looking behind for my brother. And sure, enough he comes running, throwing himself in.

“What the hell just happened?” Sarah asked.

“Why are we always getting shot at?!” Pope asked, throwing his arms out. 

“JB you smell like straight up asshole” I said, scrunching my nose up.

“I did it” he said, holding up a gold bar.

“No fucking way!” I shouted.

“You did not!” JJ said, looking back at John B.

“Oh my God guys, we’re gonna be rich!” Kie exclaimed.

“Full Kook!” Pope yelled.

We whooped and hollered the whole way down the road back to the chateau. JJ grabbed my hand and kissed it, his excitement warming my heart. We got back in one piece, Sarah cleaning the van where John B was. I took the liberty of hosing him.

“You got me messed up if you think you’re about to take one step in my house.” I said, forcing him to stand by the hose.

“Bubs come on” John B sighed.

I sprayed him thoroughly, JJ bringing him a towel. He stripped down to his underwear, tying the towel by his waste and threw me his wet clothes. I hung them on the porch before walking back inside. I closed the door in my room before looking back at JJ. He smiled so wide before running at me to pick me up and spun me around. I squealed, hugging him tight, and throwing my legs around his waist. 

“We’re gonna be rich baby” JJ said, looking up at me.

“It’s all real now J, I can’t believe we actually have it” I said, leaning my forehead against his. He fell back on the bed with me on top of him.

“I’m building us a big ass house, right on the beach.” JJ said, running his fingertips up and down my arms. 

“My only request is that we also have a huge pool, and a hot tub” I said, smiling down at him. 

“I’ll get you whatever you want baby” he said, sitting up to kiss me. 

I smiled into his kiss, putting both my hands on his cheeks. His hands going underneath my shirt. I shuddered at the contrast of his warm hands and his cold rings. He began to kiss down my neck, I tilted my head back to give him more space. 

“And you know the first thing we’re going to do after I build our house sweets?” he asked, his breath hitting my neck.

“What’s that my love?” I panted, threading my fingers in his hair.

“I’m gonna fuck you on every surface of that house” he growled, biting my neck and sucking at the spot. I gasped, moaning into his ear. 

“Properly christening it yeah?” I asked, pulling his head back so I could give him the same treatment. 

I bit my mark into his neck, licking up his neck. He grasped at my hips and flipped us over. We tore our clothes off, JJ rolling on a condom before thrusting hard inside me. I moaned loudly, throwing a hand over my mouth when I remembered my brother and Sarah were still here. 

“Shhh baby” JJ laughed, leaning down to cover his mouth with mine. 

JJ moved at a steady pace at first, thrusting in and out. I moved my legs higher on his waist, getting him to hit that special spot. I threw my head back, dragging my nails down his back. He moaned in my mouth, causing him to thrust faster.  

“JJ, baby, please, I need to cum” I pleaded.

JJ obliged, flipping me over on my stomach. Hoisting me up so I was on all fours, he grabbed my hips and started pounding into me. I yelped, throwing my head down to bite at the sheets. He reached under to rub at my clit, I could feel my orgasm coming. 

“JJ” I whimpered.

JJ grabbed my hair, pulling my head back to kiss me before starting to pound harder inside me. Silent screams escaped as my mouth hung open and no sounds came out. I screamed his name into my sheets as I collapsed on my bed, JJ being the only thing holding me up. I came hard, feeling JJ growing twitchy before he slammed inside me and stilled.

We went in the bathroom to shower, JJ sitting on the counter afterwords while I did my night routine. We went back into my room, collapsing on the bed. I laid on my back, JJ putting his head on my chest and snuggling into me.

“I love you baby” he mumbled sleepily.

“I love you honey bear” I whispered.

We both fell into a peaceful sleep huddled in each others arms. 

====================================================

[whump-tr0pes]

HB4-31/Whumptober day 9

This is a series. Start here, continued from here.

This is a sequel to Honor Bound, Honor Bound 2, Honor Bound 3.

AO3

Masterlist

~

She’s here.

Content warning: emesis, mention of dissoci@tion, PTSD, unplanned pregnancy, mention of consensual sex, description of birth, past torture

~

Ellis lurched forward, their hand covering their mouth where they sat hunched over the puzzle. They leapt to their feet and dashed from the living room.

Finn stared after them, concern pinching their mouth. They glanced at Vera where she stood in the kitchen, framed by the half-wall, a cutting board full of chopped potatoes held aloft in her hand. Tori stood at the counter. Her arms wrapped tightly around her own chest and she shrank slightly towards Vera. She looked towards the bathroom. Her eyes were fogged and distant, and her lips pressed into a thin, nervous line.

Not Tori’s worst day. At least she knew where she was today.

Finn got to their feet and made their way across the living room and down the hall towards the bedrooms, pausing just outside the bathroom door as Ellis vomited loudly into the toilet.

“Oh, babe,” Finn murmured, dropping to their knees beside Ellis and gently pulling back their short black hair from their face. “I’m so sorry.”

Ellis dry-heaved, their stomach empty after throwing up on and off for the past two days. They groaned, slumping against the toilet seat. Finn smoothed back Ellis’s sweaty hair with one hand and rubbed their back with the other.

“What the fuck,” Ellis groaned. They reached for the handle and flushed the toilet. They got up on one knee and pushed themself to their feet. Finn helped to stabilize them as they leaned over the sink and washed their mouth out.

“I’m sorry,” Finn said softly, gently rubbing their hands up and down Ellis’s arms. “I don’t know what it is… Maybe it was something you ate, but… we’ve been eating the same stuff…”

“It’s fine,” Ellis said, already sounding better. “I think that was the last of it. Although, that’s what I thought yesterday…” They drew their hand over their face. It still shone with sweat, but the color was back in their cheeks. “Sorry that’s so gross.”

“I’ll try and get more Zofran from town tomorrow,” Finn murmured, and drew Ellis into a hug. “Although I hope this is over by then.”

“Probably will be, babe,” Ellis said with an awkward shrug as they pulled out of Finn’s grasp. They gave Finn a tired smile and walked out of the bathroom, back towards the living room. “I really am feeling a lot better.” Finn followed right behind.

“Still feeling sick?” Tori said. Her voice sounded thin, frightened, but… Finn heard the shadow of the person she was before. Ever since they escaped, Tori had been slowly, slowly emerging from the wasteland that had been made of her mind. She had only been able to be coaxed out by two people: Vera, and Ellis. Under the fear, Finn could hear the person who’d kept them all safe and cared for them for months as they all recovered from Gavin. She stood in the doorway of the kitchen, her muscles pulled tight under her skin. Always ready to run. Always ready to hide, or just stand there and take the shocks.

Three weeks later, and she still had days where she waited for the shocks. Finn blinked and shook their head to clear it.

“Yeah,” Ellis griped as they crossed to the couch and sat down again. They pulled the blanket around their shoulders and took a sip of their tea.

Vera covered the pot on the stove and turned it down to a low heat. She walked to Tori’s side and wound an arm around her waist, looking into the living room at Ellis. A wry smile twisted her mouth. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think you were pregnant.”

Finn froze. Ellis’s head snapped up and they stared at them with wide eyes.

“Oh, fuck,” Finn breathed.

The silence pounded in Finn’s ears.

“F-Finn,” Ellis whispered. “I am late. I thought it was just the, um, the stress, but…” Their hand drifted to their stomach and rested there, almost unconsciously. Their mouth hung open, their eyes unfocused. “Yeah,” they rasped. “I’m a week late.”

The room lurched around Finn, and they thought they might throw up.

“But I…” Finn stared at Ellis, dumbfounded. “But we…” They thought back over the last three weeks, the sex they’d had every day – multiple times a day, in every position they could think of and a few Finn had never even heard of before – since they and Ellis had been reunited. They’d gone through several boxes of condoms, blushingly having to go ask Gray to bring them more with every trip into town. They’d worn a condom every single time. Finn fell back a step, looking up in confusion as the walls moved around them, zooming out and zooming in at the same time.

A bolt of realization hit them and they met Ellis’s eyes, and Finn knew they were having the exact same thought.

“The first morning,” they said at the exact same time.

“Oh, god,” Finn whimpered, tearing their hands through their hair. “Oh, god, oh, fuck, I, I don’t…”

“Holy shit,” Ellis whispered from the couch.

Finn couldn’t focus their eyes. There wasn’t enough air in the room. “Oh, god, oh, what if I, if I, oh god, I don’t know how to, to be a fucking, parent, Ellis, what are we gonna do, I… oh, holy fuck…”

Ellis appeared in front of them, and Finn clutched at their arms. “Oh, Ellis, is this… is this okay? I’m sorry, I… I didn’t… mean to…”

Their eyes focused, and they realized Ellis was grinning. More than that, their joy was radiating off of them, crinkling their eyes, pulling their lips into the biggest smile Finn had ever seen on Ellis. Suddenly, tears were streaming down Finn’s face.

“Oh, god,” they babbled, sobbing in Ellis’s arms without being sure when they actually started crying. “Oh g-god, Ellis, we, we talked about it… so long ago, and I know that… so much happened, and I don’t… I never… I didn’t think it would, would happen, and, oh, god, are we ready?” Finn fumbled for Ellis’s hands and they squeezed. Ellis’s hands were so warm, and Finn realized their hands were freezing. “I mean, is this… do we… I mean, a baby? Oh, Jesus Christ, I… I don’t know how to…”

“Finn,” Ellis said gently, tilting Finn’s chin up until they met their eyes. “Shhh.”

“Do we even have the, the facilities? I mean, risk of complication is—” Finn cut themself off with a choke, paling, their eyes going wide and staring sightlessly at Ellis. “No. No no no no no no it’s okay, it’s okay, it’ll be okay, oh my god, delivering babies is a BLS skill, delivering babies is a BLS skill…” Suddenly, ridiculously, a perfect recall of Finn’s OBGYN chapter in medic education training flashed across their vision. A cross-section diagram of a uterus, the baby drawn almost comically placid as it slid out of a disembodied pelvis – squeezing a bowling ball out of a garden hose, their mother used to say. Finn felt a sudden lash of grief, thinking about their mother and the eternal question: is she still alive?

Then, just opposite of that diagram was an actual picture of a woman giving birth, a tiny head looking absolutely massive as it poked out from between the woman’s legs, steadied in the doctor’s hands like they were handling a football. Instructor Grant had told them to skip that chapter, since it wasn’t relevant to combat medicine… but the students had flipped to it just the same, with giggles and groans as their friends whispered ‘oh my god, there’s a naked woman on page 278’, only to discover that, yes, she was naked, but she was also pushing out a bloody, purple, wrinkled baby head, who looked very upset about the whole thing.

Oh, god. I should have read that chapter. I should have read that chapter and not just looked and gotten grossed out. Oh, god, oh god, oh god, oh god…

“Finn,” Ellis murmured, and gently took Finn’s hand. They laid it gently against their abdomen, right over where the baby was growing. Just a zygote, really. Probably no bigger than a few hundred cells right now, maybe the size of a grain of sand. Maybe? God, why don’t I know this?

As Finn’s hand settled against Ellis, gently pressing against the waistband of their sweatpants, Finn stopped. Every breath, every thought, every fucking cell of blood in their veins froze in place. They could feel the warmth of Ellis’s skin through the fabric, but more than that: it was as if that little bundle of cells, that baby, Finn’s baby, was shining through, reaching its little light out for Finn, shining warmth and strength and love right into their hand and into their body. The baby inside Ellis, their baby.

Finn crumpled to their knees and wrapped their arms around Ellis’s legs.

They sobbed against Ellis’s stomach, pressing kisses against the waistband of their pants. Finn’s face shone a smile, joy flooding through them, so hot and sharp it was almost painful. Ellis’s fingers stroked through Finn’s hair and Finn leaned their cheek against Ellis’s stomach, happy tears streaming down their cheeks and soaking into the hem of Ellis’s shirt.

Ellis tilted Finn’s head up, and Finn nearly crumpled again at the look of disbelief, of fierce joy, as Ellis looked down at them. It was as if years had been shaken off their face, as if, for a moment, the pain that laced through every moment of their life was lifted.

“We made a baby,” Finn rasped, their voice breaking.

“We made a baby,” Ellis whispered back. Then they laughed, and the sound went through Finn like a knife, and they loved the ache.

Finn glanced towards the kitchen. Vera stood motionless in the doorway. One arm wrapped around Tori’s waist, and her other hand covered her mouth. Her eyes streamed tears she looked at Ellis, then Finn, then Ellis again.

Tori’s eyes were focused, her shoulders squared, her hands laced under her chin. Her eyes shone as she looked at Ellis. Then, slowly, she stepped out of the protective circle of Vera’s embrace, and walked to Ellis’s side. Finn stumbled to their feet and swayed, dizzy.

Tori placed her hands on either side of Ellis’s face, her smile matching theirs. Their hands went gently around Tori’s wrists and they laughed together a moment. Tori didn’t shrink or cringe away, but laughed, quiet joy cutting through the fog of pain that shrouded her every day. Her eyes focused entirely on Ellis, and Ellis on her. The moment hung in the air, suspended, like a glass just before it shatters on the floor. Finn sucked in a breath, waiting for the crash.

It never came. Tori threw her arms around Ellis and held them as they wept.

They felt Vera at their side and they jumped. They turned to her, stunned. Vera practically tackled them in a hug.

“Congratulations,” she murmured, and she choked up on the word.

“Oh my god,” Finn whined softly, grinning, gasping for breath.

Vera pulled away, and Tori folded into Finn’s embrace. “I’m so happy for you,” she said softly, her voice warm, steady, and even. As she leaned back, Finn’s mouth bobbed open and closed, grinning like a fool.

Then Ellis was back in their arms, and they stayed. Ellis squeezed Finn tight, nearly crushing them in their embrace, as if they were an anchor against the roaring tide in their ears. Ellis was in their arms, living, breathing, here, alive, pregnant. For three weeks, Finn had been in agony, trapped with their family but alone. For three weeks, they’d been helpless, useless, branded as a medic while the rest were collared and tortured as playthings. It was as if Finn could feel the scar on their brain.

But Ellis… Ellis was here. Ellis was alive. Finn pulled back and stared at them dazedly, disbelieving. Their hands locked around Ellis’s shirt as they pulled them closer, pressing their foreheads together so hard it almost hurt. A tear fell from their chin and into their shirt.

Finn wet their lips. “I…” Ellis leaned back, that smile still so radiant, so beautiful. Finn blinked. “I hope it looks like you. I hope… oh… I hope it has your eyes.”

“I hope it has your brain,” Ellis said softly, and kissed them on the nose. “God knows we need another genius in this family.” Ellis laughed, and there was no snark, no anger.

Finn giggled, their voice shooting up an octave. “Oh,” they whimpered. They thumbed away the tears on Ellis’s cheeks. There was something rising in their throat, words that they could barely comprehend. Words they’d never once imagined in this order:

“I’m gonna be a dad,” they whispered.

Ellis’s eyes crinkled at the corners. “Yeah, babe,” they said, and cradled Finn’s face. “You are. You’re gonna be a dad.”

Continued here

@untilthepainstarts, @womping-grounds, @free-2bmee, @quirkykayleetam, @walkingchemicalfire, @inpainandsuffering, @redwingedwhump, @burtlederp, @castielamigos-whump-side-blog, @whatwhumpcomments, @cursedscribbles, @whumpywhumper, @stxck-fxck, @omega-em-z-02, @whumps-the-word, @justwhumpitwhumpitgood, @justplainwhump, @moose-teeth, @slaintetowhump, @finder-of-rings, @inky-whump, @thatsthewhump, @orchidscript, @insanitywishes, @this-mightaswell-happen, @newandfiguringitout, @whumpkitty, @pretty-face-breaker, @cinnamonflavoredhugs, @inaridriscoll, @im-just-here-for-the-whump, @endless-whump, @grizzlie70, @oops-its-whump

[methylphenidating]

Wild Things That Go Bump - Hollstein one shot

Read on AO3

Carmilla - student/teacher AU

Rating: Explicit

Wordcount: 4.942

A/N: Just some good old fashioned porny writing. A series of one shots that does have somewhat of a storyline.

Summary:  Carmilla Karnstein, English and Physics teacher, decides to take things further with her gorgeous colleague, Elle Sheridan. Much to Laura Hollis' dismay. As things heat up between the two women, Carmilla is about to find out just how far Laura is willing to go to get her teacher's attention back to her.

Carmilla boringly plays with the spoon in her cup. The cute heart the barista had made from the milk foam was now turning into something more abstract. She hears Elle in the background talking about Sparkles, which she figures is her cat’s name and the only thing Carmilla can think about is how the fuck a math teacher, with a PhD nonetheless, can name their cat Sparkles.

She can't help but laugh at that and as it turns out it is just in line with something funny Elle had said. Which has gone completely over her head. They exchange a smile at each other.

Why did I bother to go out with this woman?

As her gaze travels from her coffee, to Elle, to the student standing across the street behind the gorgeous teacher, she remembers. 

Carmilla can't get her eyes off of Laura, who is using a large sponge and practically her whole body to clean the dirt off of a SUV. Her white t-shirt and shorts are soaked through and through. A very tall redheaded girl is holding a hose and at first is pointing it at the SUV. But as Laura is practically mounting the car unceremoniously, she then points it at Laura. Both girls are laughing and seem to have lots of fun as the redhead is now full on hosing down Laura, with Laura trying to pretend she isn’t enjoying it.

Carmilla has to cross her legs to tame the ache between her legs, but she doesn't look away.

Just as she is about to figure out what Laura is wearing underneath her shirt, she feels a slight brush on her hand. As she looks down, she sees Elle brushing her thumb across the back of her hand. Carmilla’s gaze then travels from their hands to Elle’s face and they lock eyes for a moment. 

Carmilla knows then and there that this isn’t just a routine coffee date.

I fucking fell for it.

She tries to ignore Laura in the background and moves her attention to Elle. 

Maybe she won’t be as boring in bed. She is gorgeous after all. Something about more than meets the eye?

Carmilla retracts her hand, but never seizes the eye contact.

They had found a nice place to sit in the shade before ordering their coffee, but it was the middle of summer and the sun was beaming above their heads. The coffeeshop they were sitting at, called Carpe Diem, was close by the campus where the carwash was being held today.

“Such eager students aren’t they? I think that’s your SUV being washed thoroughly.” Carmilla finally speaks.

Elle turns her head and now both her and Carmilla are watching the redheaded girl and Laura hose down the black SUV.

“Danny, more to the left!” she hears Laura shout to the redhead.

It gives her an excuse to enjoy the sight a little more before Elle's attention goes back to Carmilla.

“Honestly, I feel like these things are nothing more than an excuse for students to gain easy credits. Kinda cheap as well.”

“It’s for charity.” Carmilla replies with a smirk.

She finally gulps the coffee down with a grimace, since the temperature of it is not that enjoyable anymore.

She puts the cup down and Elle gives her a chuckle.

“What? Did I miss some foam?”

As Carmilla is about to wipe her mouth with a napkin, Elle's hand is suddenly on her face.

“Just about there, yeah.” 

Her words are a whisper as she stares intensely at Carmilla’s lips. Elle brushes away the remainder of foam on the corner of her mouth with her thumb and Carmilla can feel the tension being cranked up to eleven.

“Carmilla, you didn’t bring your car. Not in the mood for a free wash?” 

Carmilla follows the movement of her hand as Elle brings her thumb back to her own mouth to lick the foam off.

This woman is moving at the speed of 'let's fuck right here' kilometers per hour.

She decides she has had enough of Elle's teasing and blatant flirting.

“I still have to pick it up from the garage. Come to think of it, I might do that now. And then we can have some iced tea at my place.”

Elle gives her a knowing smile. She knows Carmilla has no intention of picking up her car or feeding her iced tea for that matter. She knows she is going to get fed something else entirely.

“Yeah sure, I’ll come with.”

As they both stand up to leave to go to Carmilla’s apartment, which is about a block away, Carmilla gives a quick glance to the SUV. She has to do a double take as she now sees Laura standing there, looking straight at her, with what seems to be a very displeased and annoyed look. 

If Carmilla didn’t know any better, it was a full on death stare.

Carmilla locks eyes with her for what seems like forever, then turns around and starts walking away with Elle. She knows exactly what just happened and grabs Elle’s hand as they go around the corner of the block, giving Laura a glimpse of what she’s about to do.

You don't own me, you little brat.

 ***

 The walk seems to take forever and Carmilla is ready to trade the fuck sessions with her brat of a student in for this gorgeous teacher. Besides, less chance of getting caught and suspended, though she was more worried of what the principal would do to his precious not so innocent daughter, if he found out.

When she opens the door to her ground floor apartment, she lets Elle in first. 

"Nice crib, Carm. I always wanted a ground floor, two bedroom."

Elle looks around as she walks further in. Carmilla throws her keys on a small dish on top of the dresser.

"Thanks, I took it over from a friend."

Before she realizes what happens, Carmilla is being pulled inside and Elle uses her to shut the door. She rams Carmilla against it and Elle immediately plants her mouth on hers, not leaving any questions left in the air about her intentions.

She feels Elle's hands roam all over her body, cupping her breasts roughly and Carmilla moans into the kiss. Elle quickly unbuttons Carmilla’s white blouse and the button of her black jeans. She feels her impatient fingers going inside of it, pushing her panties down.

Carmilla decides she’s done not having the upper hand and turns Elle around, pushing her against the door. She puts her thigh against Elles center and presses against it. Elle moans and breaks the kiss. 

Carmilla starts kissing her neck, pleased with herself.

“Not gonna let me take control, huh?” Elle pants.

Carmilla chuckles.

“You’re way in over your head.” she purrs against her neck and continues her pathway with her mouth, while rubbing her nipple through the fabric of her blouse.

“Oh Carm, that feels so good” Elle whispers.

Suddenly, Carmilla stops dead in her tracks.

She holds herself there for what seems like forever and pulls back from Elle.

"Carmilla?”

She finally meets Elle's eyes and gives her a haunted look, but recovers from it before Elle takes note.

"I'm sorry Elle. I forgot about this appointment I have and I still need to grade a ton of tests before Monday. Maybe we can continue this another time?"

Carmilla hopes she sounded as nonchalantly as possible and Elle just stares at her for a good few seconds, her expression saying something in the line of  ‘you can sit on my face while you grade your exams, I won't mind.’

Eventually she gives Carmilla a soft smile and kisses her cheek, lingering long enough for Carmilla to get another good whiff of her perfume.

Doesn’t smell as good as-

"Of course, I don't mind some old school hard to get." she says with a wink as she pulls away.

Carmilla just smiles and lets her out. After closing her front door, she leans against it with her back, closing her eyes as her mind yet again replays the scene Elle triggered with just a few words.

To yesterday.

To Laura.

Carmilla slumps down on the floor against her door as the memory unfolds in her head.

She was kissing Laura's neck, sucking on her pulse point when Laura had heard her call her ‘Carm’ for the first time.

"Oh Carm, that feels so good." Laura had whimpered.

At the time she had punished Laura for it, but she could admit it to herself now. She had loved it when Laura had said it. Called her name like that.

She lets her head fall back against the door as she realizes she didn't like it when Elle had just now.

Carmilla feels a twitch in her center as the memory of Laura unfolds further.

Whimpering. On her desk. Her legs spread.

She pinches her eyes, trying to make it go away. But then she remembers how her students tongue had felt. Lashing over her clit eagerly. 

"Fuck, that girl is good with her mouth." she mumbles to herself.

The twitch is replaced by full blown aching and she can feel her swollen clit rub against the fabric of her panties.

She stays on the floor, her blouse and pants still unbuttoned. Her hand starts to travel downwards, past the hem of her panties, when suddenly her doorbell rings.

Carmilla lets out a frustrated sigh and gets up from the floor. She quickly buttons up her blouse and shoves them back in her jeans.

The doorbell rings again.

Someone is an impatient little fuck.

She swings it open, ready to fight some stupid mailman.

Instead, she kind of chokes on her breath.

"Laura."

Carmilla stands nailed to the ground. The sight of the younger girl instantly turns the full blown aching between her legs into full blown throbbing.

The white t-shirt she has on is still wet from before, but surprise surprise, no bra underneath.

"Hello, Miss Karnstein."

The girl smiles, but Carmilla senses a hint of annoyance coming off of her. And this would match her displeasing look from earlier.

Carmilla scrapes her throat.

"What can I help you with, Laura?"

She wants to mentally shoot herself for giving away her desire with a raspy voice and she knows it wont go unnoticed with Laura.

After all, they have heard the other orgasm multiple times now.

"Can I come in?"

Laura smiles at her. It's that innocent smile of which Carmilla doesn’t know why it just makes her want to see it disappear by jamming a few fingers inside her tight little-

"Sure."

Carmilla opens the door wider and Laura enters, looking around amazed. But Carmilla notices she is searching for something.

Probably someone.

"Nice apartment."

"So, what are you doing here?"

Carmilla crosses her arms impatiently.

"Well, Miss Karnstein, you never brought your car, for a wash. So I thought I would come by to remind you."

Carmilla isn't really paying attention to what she is saying as her eyes are glued to Laura's chest. More specifically, the hard nipples straining against the white wet fabric, of which she can swear are getting harder the more she looks at it. As Laura starts to walk closer to her, Carmilla finally meets her eyes.

"I'm sorry Laura, I got a little busy." she says in a bored tone.

Laura doesn't really seem surprised at that. In fact, it seems as if her annoyance just grows after she said that.

As Laura now stands a few inches away, her eyes get caught on Carmilla's top buttons of her blouse. They're undone.

"With Miss Sheridan, I presume?"

Laura never meets her eyes as she asks the question. Instead, she is fidgeting with the top button of Carmilla’s blouse, fixated on it.

"Laura," Carmilla speaks as she stills the hand that is sneaking its way inside her blouse, "that's none of your fucking business, is it cupcake?"

The last words are spoken in a mocking tone and oh did she love mocking this girl.

Laura's expression changes from playful to angry.

"You don't have to hide it, you know." she says as she distances herself from her teacher. "I saw her leaving your place not too long ago."

"Are you spying on your teachers now?" Carmilla asks, raising an eyebrow.

Laura's expression softens a little. "Not all teachers, no."

Their eyes meet again and Carmilla can feel the sexual tension practically dripping off of the walls of her house.

It would be so good, just to take her in my own bedroom. She’s practically screaming for it.

But she can't make Laura think she can just come into her house, invade her privacy, and interrogate her like some jealous lover.

Carmilla regains her composure and gives her student a mocking smile.

“You know, Laura, you're just a student who doesn't have any business poking around in my private life and I sure as hell don't owe you an explanation of who I'm fucking in my free time.”

"You can fuck me in your free time."

The words are out before Laura realizes it.

Did I hear her correctly?

Carmilla feels her composure slipping away again and she wonders why this girl has such an effect on her.

Laura's expression is now that of a begging student. Much like when she had begged for a higher grade. Much like when she had begged Carmilla to let her come.

"Excuse me?"

"You heard me, Miss Karnstein."

Laura suddenly seems very sure of herself and Carmilla isn't liking it.

She decides to stand her ground and not let this younger girl manipulate her.

"No."

"No?"

Did I really just say no?

Laura looks flabbergasted and Carmilla guesses by her expression she really didn't expect her to say no.

Hell, even Carmilla herself couldn't believe it.

This girl is practically offering herself up on a silver platter to Carmilla, in her own damn house, ready to be feasted on whenever Carmilla wants and she refuses her.

"You heard me, Laura." Carmilla snaps back.

As she is making her way to the door to open it, ready to throw this brat of a student out, Laura is suddenly in front of it, blocking her.

"Laura, you need to go. Now." Carmilla feels her frustration turning into anger.

"Wait no, Miss Karnstein, please."

"Laura, get out. Leave." 

Carmilla practically spits the words out.

She grabs the younger girl by her arm and tries to pull her away from the door so she can push her out of her apartment.

"No, Carm, I won't!"

As she shouts her name, Carmilla can hear it echo through her house and she can't help but still her movements. 

Laura knows there are consequences to using her name like that. But at this point she doesn't care.

She won't let Carmilla be seduced by some floozy teacher. She would never be able to give Carmilla what she wants. What she needs.

But Laura can, she is sure of it. She knows she can please Carmilla in ways no one can ever imagine doing. Every time she catches her teacher staring at her, in the back of her class, she knows it means something. She knows it bothers her when Laura flirts with others.

Yesterday she finally had the courage to walk up to her. And when Laura had offered herself up like that, she knew Carmilla wanted her as much as she did. She has had a crush on her teacher since forever and this is her chance to turn it into more, to make her fall in-

"Laura, move, or there will be some serious consequences you can not begin to comprehend." Carmilla says in a very calm and collected voice. The menacing undertone doesn’t go unnoticed.

Laura's expression changes. Her eyes get dark and it makes Carmilla stare at her in confusion. The student innocently looks up at her.

“Miss Karnstein, you and I both know I actually  can  begin to comprehend the things you will do to me. In fact, the things you wanna do to me right here. Right this moment. You tell me you want me to go when what you actually wanna do, is suck on the nipples that have been pressed against my shirt for the past few minutes. You wanna take my tight wet pussy and put as many fingers in, and see which finger it is that's gonna make me beg for you to stop. But even when I do beg, you won’t stop.“

Carmilla just stares at her in shock.

“Don't you, Miss Karnstein?”

That bratty look returns, the one Carmilla knows all too well.

If Carmilla even had any resolve left after that, it disappeared as fast as the speed of light.

She grabs both her hands and slams them above Laura's head against the door. She kisses her, hard, reminding Laura who is going to be in control of this whole fuck session they are about to begin. 

Although Carmilla has the younger girl pinned between the door and her own body, it is Laura that deepens the kiss, brushing her tongue eagerly against Carmilla's. Any lingering desire for Elle has long gone.

Carmilla lets go of her hands, to let her own roam freely over the young girl's body, going to where she wanted to touch her for the past few minutes when the student had stepped foot in her house.

As she squeezes her breasts, Laura moans in her mouth. But Carmilla wants more.

She pulls away from the kiss, spins Laura around and slams her face first against the door. She continues where she left off, her hands traveling under her shirt back to her breasts, only now she can easily squeeze her nipples too. She puts the hardened nubs between her index and middle finger and massages her just like that. Laura moans and lets her head fall back, and Carmilla starts sucking on that pulse point, of which she knows exactly what that does to both of them.

"Hey cupcake, tell me this." Carmilla pants in her ear.

Laura tries her best to listen to the words coming out of her teacher's mouth, while her breasts are being touched so eagerly. Her nipples have always been so sensitive. She plays with them quite often when she touches herself.

"Yes, Miss Karnstein?" she breathes, followed by a gasp as she feels Carmilla tug on her earlobe.

"Have you been braless all day long?"

Carmilla feels a small sting of what she would never dare to call jealousy while she asks the question, but somehow the thought of Laura washing other people's cars with that sight to behold makes her feel just that. At the time she couldn’t really check as Elle was there distracting her.

She turns Laura back around, bringing her mouth close to hers.

"Tell me, Laura." Carmilla purrs, her hands still under her shirt.

Laura blushes a little and bites her lip. She looks down before looking back up to meet Carmilla’s eyes. 

"I… no. I waited till daddy went home after saying goodbye to the teachers, then I..."

Her words die in her throat and she moans as she feels Carmilla's tongue brush against her nipple.

She looks down and sees Carmilla has pulled her shirt up with both hands. She is slowly circling the hard bud with her tongue. Her tongue darts back in and Carmilla glances up at her.

"Then you..." Carmilla motions for her to continue.

She then takes Laura's nipple between her teeth and bites on it softly. Laura lets out a louder moan before continuing, although having trouble speaking now.

"Then I.. Ah, went to the changing rooms and... removed it… oh god" 

Carmilla is now sucking hard on her nipple and that alone can send Laura over the edge if she keeps doing that long enough. She tangles her fingers slowly in Carmilla's black wavy hair and gently urges her to keep sucking on it. She expects her teacher to refuse and punish her, as she had done the last time.

Instead, Carmilla increases the pressure and Laura is letting out small moans now as her head falls back on the door and Carmilla continues to suck on her swollen nipple. She tugs it between her lips before kissing her way back up to Laura’s mouth.

"And then you came straight to my house, to spy on me and watch me fuck someone else, didn’t you?

Her tone has changed, Laura notices, and the look in Carmilla's eyes are the familiar displeasing look she had seen yesterday, which sends shivers down her whole body.

Carmilla begins to realize just what is happening between them right this moment. But she wants to tease the younger girl some more. Not wanting to acknowledge any of it, in fact.

She leans both hands against the door and brings her lips close to Laura’s ear again.

“Tell me, buttercup, how long were you standing there, outside my house? Did you watch, through the window as well? Did you watch as I took Elle hard, right here on this very floor you’re standing on?”

Laura has trouble controlling her emotions. She feels the familiar ache in her sex from hearing her teachers seducing tone in her ear and the oh so familiar jealousy she had felt whenever she saw Carmilla even being mildly flirty with someone else, especially Miss Sheridan.

She hates the wench for even touching Carmilla the other day, in front of her.

Laura regains some of her composure and she decides to put an end to Carmilla’s smug face.

“Nice try, Miss Karnstein, but I know for a fact that even if you fucked her, she definitely didn’t fuck you.”

Carmilla leans back and raises an eyebrow, eyeing her suspiciously, but listening curiously as Laura continues.

“You see, I know exactly how long it takes for you to come.”

Laura moves closer to Carmilla, her hands slowly unbuttoning the blouse she is wearing. As she reaches her pants, she unbuttons it as well and removes the blouse from her jeans.

“And since I saw Miss Sheridan going into your house and getting back out within a certain time, I know for a fact she definitely didn’t make you orgasm.”

Carmilla smirks and looks at her.

I might have underestimated this girl.

She is about to call her a stalker student, when her retort dies in her throat.

Carmilla didn't even realize her pants were undone. She was so mesmerized by Laura’s sudden confidence, until she felt fingers go through her soaking wet folds.

“Ah. Fuck.”

Carmilla’s hips jolt from the touch and she rests her hands back on the door. She remembers not so long ago she had been so turned on just thinking about Laura, she was about to take care of it herself, right on this exact spot.

It turns out she doesn’t have to anymore.

“You’re so fucking wet” Laura whispers, her lips brushing Carmilla’s cheek.

“You have no idea what you do to me.” 

Carmilla hisses as she feels Laura’s fingers move over her swollen clit.

“Nothing that Miss Sheridan can do to you, I’m sure.”

“Shut up. Come here.”

Carmilla pulls her closer and kisses her. She takes her own blouse off, leaving her black lace bra on and unbuttons Laura’s shorts. At that moment she can't help but wonder if this time she will have briefs on or not.

“No more talking about Miss Sheridan.” she says with a strict tone.

Last thing Carmilla wants is to think about is Elle while she is relishing in the slow rubbing of her clit by Laura and her head falls back as she lets out a moan. 

Laura is definitely good with her hands as well.

She puts her own hand over Laura’s and presses against it, seeking more friction. 

Her hips buck. She is getting dangerously close, but to her own surprise she doesn’t want to come. Not yet.

“Keep going, slow, just like that.” Carmilla instructs her.

Laura nods and complies happily as Carmilla continues to get rid of her shorts. She unzips it and before she can do anything else, she feels a massive jolt go through her core.

“Fuck, damn it” she hisses, feeling her orgasm edge closer. Laura is putting just the right amount of pressure on her throbbing clit as she continues her slow, but oh so sweet up and down motions. She knows it will take just about five strokes more and she's done.

“Are you enjoying it, Miss Karnstein?” Laura says with a grin.

Carmilla lets out a frustrated groan.

Yes, too much.

She swiftly removes Laura’s hand from her pants and gets down on her knees, pulling Laura’s shorts with her. Much to Carmilla’s surprise, she is wearing a pair of white lace briefs, definitely from Victoria's. 

“Not your usual attire, cupcake.” Carmilla says with a smirk.

“Do you like it? I bought them recently.”

Carmilla looks up at her and gives her an approving smile. Laura can’t help but feel butterflies in her stomach.

She gets rid of the briefs quickly and she stares at the younger girls sex, mesmerized. Her wetness is glistening in the sunlight and Carmilla can’t help but lick the opening of her folds, relishing in the taste.

“Ah, Miss Karnstein, wait, I wanna touch you first. Please.”

Laura is about to pull her shirt over her head when Carmilla stops her and gets back up.

“No. That stays on.” 

The shirt had dried up a little, but with the fabric being as thin, there was still not much to hide.

As they kiss, Carmilla leads her to her bedroom.

She pushes Laura against her dresser and lifts her up on it. Their tongues are battling for dominance, but as Laura wraps her legs around Carmilla’s waist and pulls her in closer, Carmilla feels the edge of the dresser press against the seam of her jeans. She moans and it gives Laura an opening to kiss her neck. She moves her hair out of the way and licks along her pulse point. Carmilla shivers and she decides then she is done edging.

She impatiently shoves her jeans and her black briefs down to her thighs and puts one hand around Laura’s middle.

"Go inside." she pants.

Before Laura can reach to touch her, Carmilla has already taken her students hand and she pushes two of Laura’s fingers inside her. They slide in so easy and she takes them out half way, only to shove them in deeper, going straight for her sweet spot.

Carmilla groans and she feels her legs go weak.

She holds on to Laura while she fucks herself using Laura’s fingers.

“Miss Karnstein, here, let me do it. You feel so fucking good."

Carmilla holds her own hand there as she feels Laura mimicking her motions from before. She spreads her legs further to give the girl easier access and the sensation of it all is driving her crazy.

She is speechless, aside from the continuous moans and she is so close to orgasming, her brain content has gone straight to her center.

“Fuck, Laura... so good… gonna come...” is all she can manage to bring out.

Carmilla rides her hand as Laura thrusts in and out of her at a maddening pace.

I definitely love her hands as much as her tongue. 

Laura pulls her in closer by the back of her head.

“You’re fucking amazing. I wanna feel you come.” she whispers in her ear.

Carmilla feels her walls tighten and then contract. She finally climaxes, very hard, grunting as her hips buck wildly against Laura’s hand.

She bites her moans down on the younger girl's shoulder, having shoved aside the fabric of her shirt.

Carmilla pushes Laura’s fingers even deeper inside her and holds them there to ride out the last waves of her orgasm.

They pull back and Laura slowly pulls her fingers out, bringing them to her mouth. Carmilla shivers and watches her intensely as she licks them both off. 

Just from watching Laura lick off the fingers that had been inside her just a few moments ago makes her ache again.

Carmilla wants to taste her again, touch her again, have her whimpering again. She can’t get enough of hearing the younger girl beg.

"Laura, get on my bed, right now." Carmilla commands her student.

Laura’s face instantly turns into that of a puppy who just got thrown a bone.

"Yes, Miss Karnstein."

She swiftly gets off the dresser and Carmilla leads her to the back of her room. She is about to push her down on her white linen covers, when suddenly her doorbell rings.

Seriously, what day is it? Trick or fucking treat?

Carmilla gives out a frustrated groan and pulls her briefs and pants back up.

"Stay here. Don’t move.” she orders Laura. “I’m not done with you yet.” She gives her a quick kiss on the lips before exiting her bedroom.

As she enters her hallway she sees Laura's briefs and shorts lying there along with her own blouse. She smirks, picks her blouse up and puts it on. The remaining clothes are thrown through the bedroom door she left ajar.

As she buttons her blouse back up she tries to peek through the windows to see who it is, but the person is practically hugging her door it seems.

She rolls her eyes and annoyingly swings it open. She raises an eyebrow at the person standing in front of her.

Are you fucking kidding me?

[squidbatts]

we could stay-

Or: Your name is Kankri Vantas and your father may be out for the night, but a certain wannabe greaser is in

((i challenged myself to rewrite a fic that i wrote in 2013 and this is the result (though this version is mostly makeouts and dry humping while the original was very “chaste kisses and gentle cuddling” but like, that’s what the kids call growth). anyway: humanstuck, not Quite explicit but certainly more than suggestive, so ymmv))

{ao3}

“I’m only going to be gone a couple of hours, alright?” Your father says as he pulls on his coat by the door. You stand straight-backed and nod. Your brother slouches at the foot of the stairs beside you and rolls his eyes.

“Sure,” Karkat says, sarcasm coating his every syllable, “Just text us when you decide you’re staying the night at the Leijons’.”

“I’m not- who even- why would you-?” Your father splutters, flustered. “Listen, that’s none of your business. Anyway,” He says, regaining control of himself, “No parties, no guests, Kankri’s in charge.”

“I take the responsibility incredibly seriously, father,” You say dutifully. Karkat rolls his eyes again, this time with a dramatic full body motion. You ignore him.

“Great. Please don’t destroy the house while I’m gone.” Your father says, as he always does when he goes out on what he refuses to call Date Nights. Karkat mutters something expletive-filled but you merely smile, waving goodbye as your father walks out the door. You continue to stand there, watching through the window as his car starts and pulls off. You watch until it disappears around the corner, then you look down at Karkat.

“All clear,” You say.

Your name is Kankri Vantas and you are in charge for the night.

“Cool, I’m going to my room, don’t fucking bother me,” He says, but you can see that he’s already on his phone. You have no doubt that he’ll be back downstairs welcoming in a gaggle of his little friends in less than half an hour,  which means that you have some time to kill. You don't send any texts, but keep your phone close by just in case. You do your homework, eat some of the lasagna that your father prepared for you and your brother, and search through the family movie collection. There are a lot of romcoms.

It is, if you’re being honest, mostly romcoms.

But you knew that before you started looking, because you’ve gone through your family’s movies with almost alarming frequency of late.

Regardless, you pick out a movie, put it into the DVD player, and wait. Eventually, you hear a knock on the door, but before you can open it or call him down, Karkat stomps downstairs, scowling.

“Can you douchenozzles not read a simple fucking text? I said not to knock, jesus fucking christ,” Karkat says.

“Language,” You chide, mostly reflexively, as you walk up. There are five children outside your door, including the youngest Maryam, who is holding a pizza box and avoiding your eye. You wonder how she got her mother to let her out of the house on a school night, but decide it’s very much not your business. Still, you’ll probably text Porrim about it later, just to check.

“Shut the fuck up,” Karkat snaps back, likely also only on reflex. This is a dance you both do often.

“Hi, Karkat’s brother,” One of the kids, a boy in blue, says. You can’t stop your mouth from twitching into a slight frown.

The kids know your name, you know they know your name, and yet they insist on calling you ‘Karkat’s older brother.’

“My name is Kankri,” You say, despite all this.

The boy grins and Karkat snaps out a quick, “Yeah, no, we aren’t fucking doing this tonight,” and ushers the all of them in and up the stairs, shooting a quick, “Text me if dad’s actually coming home,” to you over his shoulder.

You nod, agreeing to your own side of the unspoken Date Night agreement you two have. There’s something of a comradery in breaking this one rule; others you won’t allow, and five friends are pushing the “no party” rule in ways that you’ll detail to Karkat in a thoughtfully crafted note tomorrow, but this one... Well, it has benefits for everyone.

Brother and friends firmly dealt with, you pull out your phone and send a simple text of your own: I am going to be watching a movie tonight while my brother and his friends yell and do whatever else children their age do on weeknights upstairs, as my father has gone out with Ms. Leijon and is likely to return late, if at all.

There’s a brief moment before you get a response, like the person on the other end was sitting in their bedroom, part of their attention dedicated to pretending to know how to play a guitar but mostly just waiting for you to text. got it chief, the reply reads, and a smile flickers across your face. Ten minutes later, you hear the sound of a hot rod roaring past your house and around the corner, gaudy and loud with a royal purple finish. You stand, making your way into the kitchen and opening the back door in time to watch Cronus Ampora trip over your neighbor’s hose and his own untied Chuck Taylors. He recovers easily enough, and saunters the rest of the way between the yards and to your door, hips swinging as his expression melts into a smirk like an ice cube on a stovetop.

“Hey there, doll,” He says as soon as he gets close enough to speak to you quietly. Your face scrunches, but he laughs and cuts you off before you can begin yet another treatise on how calling you doll is rude and embarrassing. “I know, I know, K. Won’t do it again.”

He will, almost certainly. You let him in anyway. You leave him in the living room to call up the stairs, “Karkat, do you want any lasagna?”

It’s a test, both to see if Karkat can hear you from the bottom of the stairs and to see if he’s hungry enough that he’ll want something from down here in the next hour or so.

“Fuck off!” Karkat yells back, over a chorus of laughter. You don’t roll your eyes, because you’re not your brother, but you do add another paragraph to the note -- no, email, it would probably work better as an email rather than a series of post-its on his door by now -- that you’re going to leave him tomorrow. You return to the living room and press play on the movie. You barely even remember what you’ve put in at this point, but you give yourself a moment to stare at the screen as the blonde love interest starts her day and rushes around her office, and to take a deep but subtle breath, before you turn back to Cronus.

Cronus is sprawled upon the couch, one leg spread across all three cushions while the other hangs onto the ground and the rest of his body sags against the arm, barely moving as he boredly scrolls on his phone. He’s shed his leather jacket and wears purposely distressed t-shirt that you know he cut the sleeves off himself. You clear your throat.

“Am I going to be allowed to sit down?” You ask. Cronus smirks and you immediately continue, “If you even begin to offer your lap as an acceptable place to sit-”

“Relax, K, I would never do somethin‘ so -- what’s the word? -- demeaning.”

You raise an eyebrow, begrudgingly impressed. “Yes, demeaning is the right word there.”

Cronus flashes you a shark’s smile as he rearranges himself to take a reasonable amount of space on the couch. “See, I know all my lingo, chief. Talk at a guy enough and anyone can pick up your social justice stuff.”

Your jaw tightens at his words but you make yourself relax. You don’t hang out with Cronus Ampora for his aptitude at activism. You, in fact, don’t hang out with Cronus Ampora at all.

Except for movie nights.

Behind you the movie plays on, and though you’re not watching it, you know what’s happening: a proposed article shot down, a bet and courtside basketball tickets, the consoling of a recently dumped best friend. You’ve seen this one many times, because Karkat and your father have unfortunate affinities for them. You, at least, have the decency to keep misogynistic, predictable, degrading things as a rarely indulged guilty pleasure.

You take a seat beside Cronus. Far enough apart that your bodies do not touch but close enough that you can feel the heat from the arm Cronus has thrown over the back of the couch. You sit, back straight, hands in your lap. You can feel Cronus looking at you. The fingers on your left hand twitch against your pant leg.

“Kankri,” Cronus starts to whine, but you cut him off with a shush.

“I am watching the movie.”

“Is that how we’re gonna play it tonight?” Cronus asks. When you hum in the affirmative, he huffs childishly. You’re surprised that he doesn’t cross his arms and stamp his feet too. “Fine then.”

It’s quiet for a moment, Matthew McConaughey the only voice in the room, before Cronus clears his throat and says, “So, uh, what’s this movie about anyway?”

Your eye twitches. You wish it didn’t but you know it did and you can almost feel the waves of smug glee radiating from Cronus as he shifts ever so slightly closer to you. You hate explaining movies while the movie is playing, but you suppose that since you did make him miss a bit of the beginning, it’s only fair that you help him out.

“She writes how-to articles for a women’s magazine but she wants to do hard investigative reporting, and he’s a marketing executive who’s trying to get a deal to represent a diamond seller,” You explain.

“Alright,” Cronus says, his thigh meeting yours as he leans in, voice pitched low so you can still pay attention to the movie over his questions. “How’d they meet again?”

“The women at his workplace -- they’re both named Judy -- asked him to prove that he understood romance so he could acquire the diamond deal from them, and then tricked him into choosing her as the woman he would ’woo‘.”

“And that’s a bad thing?”

“Yes!” You exclaim, shoulders rising in annoyance at the lack of attention Cronus is paying to the movie. When they fall again, Cronus’ arm slips over them. “She is trying to sabotage a relationship for her column, so he’d never be able to sincerely start a relationship with her, even if he wasn’t approaching her under false pretenses.”

“Uh-huh, got it. One more question,” Cronus says, voice shockingly close to your ear. You turn and he is- close. Very close. Your breath catches in shock. “How many times have you seen this one?”

“I haven’t-”

“Come on, Vantas, don’t lie to me,” He says, whispers, inching ever closer to you. Your mouth feels suddenly dry and you lick your lips, watching Cronus’ eyes track the movement. “Hey, Kankri?”

“Yes?” You prompt, voice barely a murmur. Cronus’ nose touches yours.

“I really don’t care about this movie.”

What happens next is inevitable. You wish you could say that Cronus kisses you and you’re entirely taken unaware. You wish you could say you don't know who moved first. Unfortunately, you know that it was you who saw the look in Cronus’ eyes, who felt the heat of his body and smelled his ridiculous expensive cologne, and leaned in, unable to keep up an uninterested face any longer. You go to kiss him and Cronus happily meets you, easy and hot and just what you wanted, wonderful enough as he bites at your lip and runs a hand through your hair that you barely even mind that you can feel the smug twist of his mouth against your own. You shift to get closer, to get a better angle to map the shape of his mouth, eventually giving up all decorum and tossing a leg over him to slide into his lap.

“Not a word,” You say.

Cronus raises his hands in surrender though his eyes still flash with mirth. “I’m not the one with the talkin' problem, chief.”

You kiss him again to shut him up. Admittedly, the way he licks into your mouth, how his hands slide over your hips and his fingers edge under your sweater, they’re all enticing, but they’re all particularly nice pluses when the main concern is occupying his mouth with something else. Your pocket buzzes and you think, somewhat vaguely, Oh, my phone. I need to get that.

“One second,” You say, and Cronus immediately starts to whine. You only manage to pull your phone out of your pocket before Cronus decides to switch his energy from whining to paying attention to your neck, taking care to suck and bite only at places that will be under your usual turtleneck’s coverage.

Suddenly, you’re no longer worried about your phone.

It’s fine, You think, dropping your phone to the carpet and shoving a fist into your mouth as Cronus presses an open-mouthed kiss to your jawline, Whatever’s happening can wait. You weave a hand into Cronus’ gel-stiff hair, mussing it as you tug to get Cronus’ mouth back up to yours. Cronus groans, low and needy and cut off as you greedily swallow the sound. From your perch on his lap, you can feel that Cronus’ whole body is very interested in the proceedings; you don’t grind down because that would be undignified, but even a slight shift of your weight is enough to make Cronus’ hips jerk.

“Jesus fucking christ, Kankri,” Cronus gasps into your mouth, “You’re gonna kill me.”

Something like pride fills your chest as something like interest warms your stomach. You shift again. “Am I?”

“Fuck, alright, lemme just,” Cronus starts brokenly before gripping your thighs and easily laying you onto the couch before leaning over you, arms bracketing your head. “This okay?”

You throw a leg around his waist and an arm around his neck, pulling him closer. “I find it perfectly acceptable.”

“I’ll show you ‘acceptable’,” Cronus says with a roll of his eyes before he’s kissing you again, his whole body a warm, shifting weight against your own. When he grinds into the couch, into you, you arch into it, heel digging into the small of his back.

You aren’t sure how long you’re there, kissing and rocking against one another, but eventually you hear a faint rumble over the now-ignored sounds of your movie. It sounds familiar, and something inside you, a part of your mind that’s somehow been able to retain its ability to think about anything but the sensations you’re experiencing now, says Pay attention! You reluctantly shift some of your focus to listening, allowing Cronus to go back to mouthing at your neck; it takes you a moment but you’re able to remember that it’s the sound of a car pulling up to the house. You jolt with shock and horror as you place it even more specifically as the sound of your father’s car.

“Fuck.”

Cronus leans back on his haunches, eyes wide. “Kankri Vantas, did you just curse?”

“Now is not the time,” You reply, pulling him back down and out of view from anyone who might look into your living room windows. “On the floor, now.”

“Are you being bossy now? Is that the move?” Cronus asks, laughing.

You don’t have time to explain or deal with his humor as you see the shadow of your father pass by, so you just shove him off the couch and cut off his grumbling by saying “My father is home.”

Cronus presses himself flatter to the ground. “Oh, fuck.”

“Exactly. Stay down and stay quiet, I can handle this,” You say as the lock turns. Cronus nods and mimes zipping his lips. Your father enters the house.

“Karkat? Kankri? You guys up?” Your father asks, kicking his shoes off. You sit up, hoping you look more sleep-rumpled than hand-mussed.

“Oh, father,” You say, affecting a yawn. “You’re home early.”

“Yeah, Di- er, Ms. Leijon, she felt sick, so we decided to call it a night,” He says. Cronus, from his spot lying completely flat and supposedly still, taps on your knee. Your father is not looking at you, busy removing his shoes and coat, so you entertain Cronus with a glance. He’s pointing at a nearby chair over which he threw his jacket, but you know it’s out of eyeline from the foyer so you shake you head subtly, eyes still on your father, and emphatically gesture something you hope he interprets correctly as stay still. Your father says, “I texted you.”

You think of you phone, on the carpet under Cronus, and curse past Kankri. “Ah. You must’ve sent it after I’d already fallen asleep.”

“It’s bad for your back to sleep down here,” Your father says, muffled as he opens the coat closet. “What were you doing anyway?”

Nothing really, despite my best efforts, thinks a sullen and unnecessary part of your mind. The rest of you clears your throat. “I had just been watching a movie.”

“Which one?”

It takes you a beat longer than it should to remember. It feels like there’s been a millennia of kissing Cronus between you picking out the movie and now. “How To Lose A Guy In Ten Days.”

“Oh, that one! I really-” Your father turns to you finally and pauses for a moment. When he continues, his voice is more disbelieving. “How To Lose A Guy In Ten Days, huh?”

“Yes,” You answer, off-put by his tone. The movie is still playing on the television behind you, so you’re not sure why he’s acting like it’s out of the realm of possibility. Somewhat defensively, you continue, “It’s one of my favorites.”

Cronus doesn’t laugh, because he values his life and is staying quiet, but you can see how he tenses like he’s holding in laughter in your peripheral vision. It takes effort not to scowl at him.

“Mhm. Well, you should probably be getting to bed soon.”

“Will do.” You say, and then you stare at your father with a fixed smile as he watches you with a raised eyebrow. It is the most stressful minute of your life. Eventually, he shakes his head and smiles.

“Alright. Goodnight, Kankri,” Your father says, and you reply in kind. You sink into the couch in relief, sharing a still-panicked we did it look with Cronus.

“Oh, and Kankri?”

You freeze and pop back up at the sound of your father’s voice. He’s not in your eyeline, speaking as he walks up the stairs. “Yes?”

“Next time, make sure that your friend isn’t taller than the couch is long.”

Your eyes dart to the floor and catch on Cronus’ stupid candy cane socks are far past the edge of the couch, where they can definitely be seen from the foyer. “I-”

“We’ll talk about it tomorrow, I’m too tired for this right now. Night, kiddo.”

You facepalm, with both hands for good measure. Below you, Cronus whispers, “Sorry.”

“You should just… Go, please. I’ll,” you run a hand down your face, embarrassment quickly overpowering whatever brief bits of relief you felt. “I suppose I’ll text you, after I speak to my father.”

Cronus nods and you help him to his feet. You walk him to the door, at which point he asks, “So… no more movie nights?”

You tighten your jaw so hard that your teeth ache. “Are you seriously thinking about that right now?”

“Yes- No- I mean, okay, yes, I’m wondering about like, this, about hookin’ up and shit, but also, I’m gonna… miss hanging out with you,” Cronus says, looking out into the yard rather than at you, which is good because your face feels hotter than it ever has before and you’re sure you must look ridiculous. “We don’t talk at school, obviously, so this was the only time I got to spend with you in person, y’know.”

“I-” You open and close your mouth in shock. “Cronus-”

“But I’m also gonna miss touching that sweet ass of yours,” Cronus continues, absolutely destroying the mood.

“Go.”

“You’re cute when you’re pissed,” Cronus says. You scowl, but still lean into it when he kisses you goodbye. Everyone has their vices. “See you, doll.”

Your splutters drown out his laughter as he books it for his car. To his retreating back, you hiss, maybe too loud for this time of night but absolutely necessary, “Don’t call me doll!”

[dontdietwd]

Day 66

My stomach was growling when Daryl and I stored the last of our few bags on Dale’s RV but I forced myself to ignore it, sure that everybody else were just as hungry. The truck where I’d been travelling since the beginning with Merle and Daryl was about to be left behind, just as T-Dog’s van and Shane’s Jeep, and Daryl and I would be hitting the road on the bike. I confess I got a bit emotional over the old truck Daryl has stolen from Mr. Walker, but just for a moment.

I took a couple more minutes to check if everybody was fine before moving to where Daryl was waiting for me, leaning against the bike.

“All set?” he asked with his head low but looking at me, trying to protect his eyes from the sunrise, a cigarette between his fingers.

“All good,” I stopped close to him. “Full tank?”

He hummed confirming and took a last pull of the cigarette before throwing it far on the street.

“God, I’m dying for a smoke…”

“Yeah, well,” Daryl said as he got up and turned to the bike, throwing one leg over it. “Ya ain’t havin’ it.”

I just groaned in response and waited for Daryl to get set. The RV and Rick’s car were already starting and he nodded to let me know I could join him. I settled awkwardly, the straps of the seat bag under me making it a bit uncomfortable, but the most uncomfortable part was not knowing what to do with my hands. Should I hold on to the bike seat? To Daryl’s shoulder, to his waist? He told me to hold on and I instinctively went to the last option, my hands holding on just enough to be safe rather than grabbing him as I’d like. He took off in front of the cars and they followed suit as Daryl made distance between us and the nursing home, the CDC and slowly away from the city.

“What’s up with the vest?” I asked as I leaned a bit closer to his ear.

Almost imperceptibly, Daryl flinched. It was for just a millisecond, and just slightly, but I caught it because I was touching him. He turned his head to me as he did, looking at me briefly from the corner of his eye, before turning again to look at the road.

“Found in the seat bag. Was Merle’s.”

“Oh…” I was quiet for a moment thinking of Daryl having inherited Merle’s things even though he was supposedly not dead. I’d never seen Merle use it, so thankfully I wouldn’t connect the vest to Merle. And again, damn. “Looks cool,” I told him, choosing ‘cool’ over ‘hot’.

He turned slightly to me again, “Yeah?”

“Yeah. Badass!”

He smiled a bit, just slightly, and looked back to the road. It was mainly empty and silent. It felt like it had been hours and we didn’t talk, just us and the deep roar of the motor and the sound of the cars behind us. I stretched her back, testing my balance on the bike, and Daryl looked at me sideways quickly and said something.

“What?” I asked aloud.

“Sore already?” he shouted.

“My back, a bit. Just adjusting. I’ll get used to it!” He just nodded at it. “How are your arms not tired?”

“What?” was his turn not ho hear me.

I relaxed my back, curving it a bit to get closer to his ear. “Your arms in this position, not tired?”

“Burnin’ like hell!” he nodded with a smirk.

I laughed at that and saw him smile more at it, eyes squinting against the wind. My discomfort seemed to vanish then. My arms went around him a little further, still not hugging completely by I rested my hands nearly on his stomach rather than on his waist. I decidedly liked riding with Daryl. We went quiet for a few more minutes then, but it was comfortable, companionable. I dared to raise my head up to the sky and close my eyes for a moment, feeling the warmth and the wind and allowing myself a moment of peace.

“Hey!”, Daryl called my attention, I opened my eyes to look at the back of his head.

“Yeah?”

“If there’s no Fort Benning?”

That was one damned important question that nobody had voiced yet. I hoped the others were feeling positive about it, because we all could use moments of positivity. I was on the realistic side, though. Just as I had felt about Atlanta before – we had to try it and make sure, but never really believed there was shelter – I felt about Fort Benning.

“If there’s nothing there,” I told Daryl, close to his ear. “We gonna have to stop relying on others to make do. Gonna stop going from a place to another looking for help. We’ll be done with it.”

“Make it happen ourselves?” he asked me.

“Yeah. Find a safe place.”

“Well, goes without saying…”

“I mean, find a place with walls, secure it, settle up. Staying on the road as we been won’t do. And settling camp in the open like the quarry won’t neither.”

“What you picture? A buildin’ or some?”

“Yeah, a condo, hotel, one of those fancy gated communities, anything that can be closed all around would do.”

“Maybe some land space to grow stuff,” he completed the thought.

“Yes!” I got excited and slapped his stomach a bit, more like poking him. “Grow food! ‘Cause canned and dehydrated food won’t last too long around. Maybe even animals! It’s what I mean, a place we can make life move on, you know?”

He was quiet for a moment and I let him thing, because my mind as also wondering far. He finally spoke again, “It’s a nice thought.”

“Ain’t it? There’s still so much we can do. It’s actually not the fuckin’ apocalypse. We’re still here after all!”

“Hey, look,” Daryl’s pointed ahead, the conversation dying then. “Road’s blocked.”

“Fuck… Things can never be too calm.”

We approached the last of the cars of what seemed to be an enormous traffic jam and Daryl slowed down. There were cars on the road and on the grassy area between the lanes, opened doors and no sign of life around. Daryl navigated through them carefully for a bit until I asked him to turn back to the cars. When we did, we found the RV and Rick’s car already stopped, waiting for us.

“You see a way through?” Dale asked us over the noise of the bike.

Daryl nodded as I answered, “Yeah, gotta go slow but I think we can pass.”

He rounded the RV with the bike. When passing between it and the car, we looked at Rick and I nodded, informing him they could go through. Slowly we crisscrossed among the cars, dead people inside, nothing moving.

“Lots a’ things here,” Daryl broke the silence. “Should scavenge a bit.”

“Yeah, can’t let all this gas go to waste,” I agreed as I twisted around to look at Dale on the RV and tell them we were stopping, but was instead met by his engine popping and smoke coming out of his hood. Daryl flinched at the sound, turning his head to look as well, alarmed, and stopped the bike.

“I said it! Didn’t I say it?” Dale was mumbling when everybody got out of the vehicles to gather by the hood. “A thousand times. Dead in the water.”

“Problem, Dale?” Rick asked the obvious.

Nodding at me in agreement, Daryl walked away from the bike and immediately started looking at stuff in an open car.

“Just a small matter of being stuck in the middle of nowhere with no hope of –” Dale paused to look at what Daryl was doing. “Okay, that was dumb.”

“Can’t find a radiator hose here?” Shane tried to joke but wasn’t smiling.

“A whole bunch o’stuff we can find,” Daryl grumbled from his position.

“I can syphon more fuel from these cars, for a start,” T-Dog was saying even as he already made his way through the cars.

“Maybe some water?” Carol said hopefully

“Food?” Glenn completed.

“This is a graveyard!” Lori said looking around with wide eyes, making everyone look at her. “I don’t know how I feel about this.”

“Well, I know damn well what I feel ‘bout this,” I said as I moved stuff on the same car Daryl was at and lifted one bottle of water in each hand to show everyone. “I feel like we have water!” I stepped towards Carol and gave her one of the bottles. “Everybody spread around and take a look, anything you think can be useful will probably be. Let’s gather stuff ‘round here and store them later. And watch out for walkers, could be some hidden ‘round here, you never know.”

Silently and quite a bit solemnly, people spread around. Daryl rushed to join T-Dog with the syphoning and I wandered. I found a bag full of some summer clothes that would not do any of any of us good these days and emptied it in order to fill it up with useful things. With it hanging from my shoulders, I grabbed anything eatable I put my eyes on – a can of Dr. Pepper, a bag of family size chips, crackers, another bottle of water, mints and, strangely, a catchup bottle – when I heard Shane celebrating somewhere behind me. Looking back, I saw he’d found water – lots of it – and was pouring some over his head, “It’s like being baptized, man!”

I smiled and kept moving. In a red car by my side, I saw a baby chair strapped to the back car seat and stopped to stare for a moment. The chair was thankfully empty, but I opened the door anyway. If there had been a baby on that car, there might also be baby stuff. Careful to check if the car was really empty, I scavenged through it and found a can of formula, a baby bottle and one small bag with baby clothes in it. Heart clenching at the thought of what might have happened to that specific baby, I dropped the entire content into the bag, the thought giving me a momentary stop as it always did. It still felt surreal that I was pregnant. I mean, I, Sam Danes, was pregnant.

“Sam!”

It was not simply Daryl calling me. It was him calling at an urgent whisper that alerted me something was wrong. Still sitting on the back seat of the car, I looked through the open door to see him crouching by one of the cars, crossbow in hand, a hand against his lips to tell me to be silent and then pointing down the road. I looked but the many cars on the way blocked my view, but I didn’t have to see the walkers to know they were there. I frantically gestured Daryl to come to me and enter the car where we could hide, but he gestured back that he’d be fine and I should close the door.

“Fuck, Daryl!”, I shout-whispered and grabbed the door to close it, but still whispering mouthed “Don’t die!” to him before pulling it quietly closed. I crouched on the floor of the car, making myself as small as possible, and barely dared to breathe.

The stench preceded them, the loud sound of their feet dragging and their low moans and groans following their procession. Long minutes passed and it seemed to never end. It was a large herd like none of us had ever seen before. They were apparently marching together, close to their own in search for food. And that was not good, that was no good at all. If they all started acting like this, it would most definitely complicate life a lot.

Once nothing could be heard again, I dared to stretch my neck and look outside. It seemed to be clear. I carefully got up from the floor and pushed the door open, sliding out slowly.

“Daryl?” I whispered again.

“Here!” he said nearly in a normal voice and I followed it to find him helping T-Dog up from the asphalt. My eyes instantly found his right forearm bleeding quite a lot, and his face was pale and sweaty.

“You bit?!” I asked as I knelt by him, Daryl standing next to us.

“No…” T-Dog said in a weak voice.

“Cut his arm wherever,” Daryl explained. “Was no walker. Come on,” he extended a hand for T to take. “Gotta go back to the group ‘n patch you up.”

As T-Dog stumbled to his feet, Daryl threw his unhurt arm around his shoulder and helped him walk back to the group, a little back on the road. We found most of the group together near the guardrail, looking out at the woods. Strangely, and what struck me he most, Shane was holding Carol in his arms.

My wrist ached.

“What happened?” I asked urgently, dropping the bag I’d been carrying.

“Man, are you okay?” Glenn asked as he approached us, eyeing T and his bloody arms. Dale also joined them, taking T from Daryl and helping him sit on the asphalt with his back against the car. As T explained what happened, Daryl and I approached the others.

“What is it, what happened?” I asked again, urgently. Carol let go of Shane and tuned to us, and now we could see she was crying, desperation clear in her face as she took a few unsteady steps towards me. “Oh, fuck, Carol, where’s Sophia?”

“She ran from the walkers and entered the woods and Rick went after her, she’s in the woods!” Carol cried without breathing.

“Carol, what? Rick went after her?” I asked looking past Carol to see Shane nodding.

“He was right behind her, he’ll bring her back anytime now.”

“Hey, it’s okay, she’s not alone, Rick’s there to help,” I tried but Carol kept on crying, although she nodded, and turned again to look at the line of trees.

“Why nobody keepin’ watch?” Daryl’s voice came from behind me. “Those were pro’ly not the only fuckin’ walkers in this road, ya know,” and at that he hopped up the hood of the nearest car, his crossbow in hand, and looked back and forth to check. Without a word, Shane did the same on other car.

The group went silent then, Glenn and Dale, now joined by Andrea – who I noticed, had her face smeared in blood – were helping T with his cut arm. The time passed for what it felt like hours, the heavy silence weighing on our shoulders as we just waited. The sun was scalding hot, burning our skins, bottles of lukewarm water being passed around, and we just waited.

The trees shuffled and dead leaves crunched announcing someone was there. In a moment Rick appeared, stumbling, bloody and sweaty, desperation clear in his features. Shane dropped from the roof of the car and the whole group gathered by the guardrail as Carol looked around frantically, looking for Sophia. She wasn’t there, it was just Rick. I instantly knew, and so did Carol because she was already crying when Rick asked even as he tried to catch his breath, “Where’s Sophia?”, and realization fell upon him as well. “She’s not back?” Carol sobbed and curved on the ground, a kind of pain nobody there knew, and Lori and Andrea went to hold her instantly.

 “Fuck, fuck, fuck!” I was mumbling under my breath as I walked resolutely to Rick, Shane close behind just as Daryl hopped from the car and joined us. “What the fuck happened, Rick?”

“There were two of them, I didn’t have a weapon, I had to attract them away from her. I told her to stay put – there’s a bank by the river, a hole, it was safe, she was supposed to stay there or come right back to the road! I got the walkers and went back, I went right back there and she wasn’t there, I thought she’d headed back here, she’s really not here?”

“No, buddy,” Shane told him in a grave voice. “We’ve been waiting for you to bring her back.”

“We gotta go back there and find her,” I said as I turned to Daryl who was slightly behind me.

“I’ll track her, but gotta go now or we’ll lose light”, he said already moving, knowing exactly what I was going to ask him. The three of us hopped over the guardrail to join Rick, who was already turning to Carol again, a deep breath to start speaking to her, but I held his arm strongly, making him stop.

“Don’t. Promise,” I whispered. “Don’t promise we’ll find her and bring her back safe.”

“I am not leaving her there!” Rick also whispered, angrily as if offended, affronted by what I said, taking even one more step closer.

“Obviously,” I said firmly. “But all you can promise her is that we’ll do our best. That you won’t give up. That you’ll do everything you can to bring her back. That you will put your own life at stake to save that scared little girl. That will have to be all because the fact is that we don’t know. We know all that’s out there. Don’t promise her girl will be fine when you don’t know you’ll be able to fulfill it.”

His face demonstrating a riot of feelings, desperation, anger, realization, Rick turned from me and told Carol simply that they were all going back there to look for her, and with a last glance at Lori, turned and marched away along with me, back to the woods where Daryl was already impatiently waiting. Right behind us, Glenn also joined without a word, clutching his rifle.

Rick practically ran through the woods, guiding us all, desperation coming out of his pores and quickly found the spot by a creek. He showed us where he’d left her, described exactly what had happened and Daryl started tracking immediately, no hesitation. He instantly took the lead of the group – this was his territory and his specialty, Rick close to him, Glenn, Shane and I staying a bit behind. After Daryl defined where Sophia had gotten away from the right track, we decided Daryl and Rick would continue alone, it’s was better to track with fewer people.

“Why you’re back?” was the first thing we heard when crossing the line of trees. “Where is she?” and Carol started crying again, but it wasn’t clear if she had ever stopped.

“Easier to track with fewer people,” Shane explained as he skipped over the guardrail.

“We were just standing on their way,” I said as I did the same and was approached by a weeping Carol. “Daryl and Rick are still there and Daryl found her trail,” I placed both my hands on Carol’s shoulders. Carol’s eye filled with a desperate hope at that. “Says she was on her way back here and for some reason went on a different way, but they’re tracking her.” Carol nodded mutely, lips tightly pressed. “Ok, now, you should sit a bit, have some water?”

“I’m not leaving, I’m staying right here,” the wet eyes woman said firmly.

“’Kay… I get it,” and with that I looked around to where I saw Shane organizing the others to start working on something. I excused myself and moved to him, a hand covering my eyes over the lowering sun, “Hey, you moving cars?”

“Huh, yeah. Figured we should clear the road so we can go through later.”

“Good, and gets people busy. But we ain’t going anywhere without Sophia, you surely know.”

“’Course not.”

“I gotta ask you something else, could you get a car seat like you did back at camp so we can set it for Carol?” I asked and Shane looked over my shoulder to the woman, standing there with her arms crossed. “Ain’t no way she’s leaving that spot and last thing we need now is anyone passing out from exhaustion…”

 ***

 I agreed with Shane when he decided Andrea should not have her gun back, not that I would ever say it. Making decisions about security and weapons was Shane’s responsibility after all, and as long as people were not trained to really use the guns, they could mean more trouble. This training, not only with guns but with any other sort of weapons should happen soon, I knew it. What was happening to Sophia was the best proof of that. Nobody at this group was safe and this had to change. The herd that had passed was a terrible sign for us who were prepared, even more for them who weren’t.

The dusk sun was nearly gone, day rapidly turning into evening and there was still no sign from Rick and Daryl. I knew they had to come back soon, tracking at night was impossible even for a professional like Daryl, and it wouldn’t be safe for them. Either they’d bring Sophia with them or they’d have to restart the search in the morning, maybe set up a search party. I rationally knew that, but my heart was breaking little by little at Carol’s sight, her quiet desperation as she sat on the edge of the car seat Shane had set for her, looking at the woods, at the exact same point her baby girl had vanished from, as if her very will would eventually summon her back.

Instead, the two dirty, bloody men emerged just as the sun set, with no girl in tow.

Carol had already shot up and was close to tears once again, “You didn’t find her?”

I approached them then, carefully eyeing Daryl, who was even dirtier than Rick, but it was all the blood that worried me. I stared at him, eyebrows up in question, and he nodded, telling me he was fine.

“Her trail went cold,” Rick answerer as the jumped over the guard rail. “We’ll pick it up again in the first light.”

Carol hugger herself, “You can’t leave my daughter out there on her own to spend the night alone in the woods!”

“Hunt in the dark’s no good,” Daryl carefully told her, choosing his words. “We’d just be trippin’ over ourselves. More people to get lost.”

“But she’s twelve! She can’t be out there on her own!” Carol cried and she looked again at Rick. “You didn’t find anything?”

“I know this is hard, but I’m asking you not to panic. We know she was out there!” Rick said but it was clear he was panicking himself even when he willed his voice to be convincing.

“And we tracked her for a while…” Daryl completed.

“Is that blood?” Carol asked looking at Daryl up and down, dread dripping for her weak voice.

Daryl hesitated to answer, looking away from Carol and finding my eyes.

“We took down a walker,” Rick spoke instead.

“A walker?” Carol breathed heavily. “Oh God!”

“There was no sign he was anywhere near Sophia,” Rick tried do reason.

“And you know that how?” I asked looking at Daryl. I knew all that blood had something to do with that.

He looked at me for a moment before looking at Carol and filling the expecting silence with his answer. “We cut the son of a bitch open. Made sure.”

People were stunned shocked by that and were silent for a long moment. Carol sat on the guardrail trying to get her bearings, and sitting there she looked up at Rick again, the innocence in her voice instantly gone, “How could you just leave her out there, to begin with?” she paused. “How could you just leave her?!”

Rick let himself go then, his own desperation showing and he stared explaining all over again what had happened, trying to reason with a desperate mother who had a missing daughter as if any words would bring her peace. Even Shane tried to pipe in, but there was nothing that could be said now. No words could do anything.

“Rick, that’s not helping,” I placed herself between him and Carol’s sobbing form. “She already knows what happen, there’s nothing you can say now, ok?” Rick looked exasperated at me, trying to say something else while Shane’s look shot daggers at me, but I ignored it and just moved on. “What we need now is a plan. Actions, alright?” I looked at Daryl who was still across the guardrail. “Now, Daryl’s our tracker, he’ll lead this search. Okay?” I asked him and he nodded emphatically. “We do as he says. We leave at first light and we’ll spend all day looking and the next if needed!”, and I turned to Carol, who was still sitting there behind me. “We’ll do all we can, Carol, we ain’t giving up, this I promise you.” Weakly, Carol nodded, closely supported by Lori. I nodded back and looked again at Rick. “Now let’s just cool down and get some rest ‘cause tomorrow’ll be a long day and I want everybody up before dawn.”

The silence that followed was filled only by Carol’s weak cries on Andrea’s arms and Ricks loud, shocked stare at me. He then turned around and left the group, going to walk alone among the cars.

“Sam?” Lori called from where she was still sitting by Carol, just as Daryl hopped over it and went to the RV, leaving us alone. “You can’t seriously think Rick had any intention of leaving Sophia?”

“Never said that, Lori,” I then crouched in front of Carol, resting her hands on the woman’s knees but still speaking to Lori. “I know at that moment he thought that was the only thing he could do and I’m sure he regrets that decision with every breath. Really, wouldn’t want to be on his shoes.” At that Lori nodded, somehow relieved. “Carol? You need to eat something and rest a little. We’ll all be going to the woods tomorrow to look for her and you’ll need to be able to stand on your feet.”

“Can’t think of eating now when she’s out there!”

“I know. It’s fine. You don’t have to think, we’ll take care of you, ok? You’ll just eat and lie down until sun comes up,”

“I wanna stay here…”

I shook my head, “I know you do, but you won’t, ok?” I tried to say it and gently as possible. “Sophia will need her mom strong, staying here all night won’t do it. I’ll have someone watching all the time. Okay? Please, let’s go?”

I got up and reached for Carol’s hands, who looked up at me with her eyes filled with tears for a moment until she decided to take my hands and get up.

“But who’s gonna take care of you?” Carol surprised me by asking, still holding my hands.

“Me?” I took a second to understand and shook my head, “I’m fine, Carol…”

“I’m sick worried about my baby. You need to take care of yours too. If I gotta eat and rest, so do you. You haven’t eaten all day.”

“Go, Sam,” Lori spoke. “We’ll watch over her.”

“Yeah, go eat something,” Andrea agreed.

“See if you get some sleep,” and with that Lori leaded Carol away in the direction of the RV.

I watched them go and just as they got to the door Daryl hopped out of the RV, a shy look at Carol who nodded at him pressing her lips in an attempted smile. Daryl moved to stand by be.

“Got you some soup,” he pressed an opened can with a spoon inside in my hand.

“What about you?” I took it and felt the can was warm. My stomach growled at the prospect of warm food.

“Had beans just now. Come,” he turned around trusting I’d follow and led me to the nearest car where he opened the back door and pointed at the seat. “Ya sleep’ere, I’ll take the front seat ‘til it’s my turn to watch.”

My nose prickled and my chest warmed up. I felt so grateful for having someone making decisions for me for once I couldn’t even understand what I was feeling and had no idea what to say. I paused and Daryl just nodded in the seat’s direction once again, making me move to sit and start having my tomato soup. After the first spoonful I drained the can in a minute, starved and desperate for nutrition and decided not to think at all before dropping the can and spoon to the floor of the car and lying down. I could only hear the door of the car being closed before descending into sleep.

[jelloopy]

Murder on The Rockport Limited Notes

Previous: Character Creation, HtbG, Moonlighting

Ch 1

Robbie is a halfling who is pretty shitty but he’s good at making “potions” (Robbie is the roommate that everyone really hates but doesn’t want him to leave because he is their plug)

Taako is on the top bunk, Magnus is under Taako, Robbie is next to Taako and Merle is under Robbie

They are woken up at 3 am to report to Lucretia (3 am really?)

”Yeah it’s like Mario Mario or Luigi Mario” ~Griffin (This is so funny because this actually proves that Taako’s last name really is Taaco. Before Justin played it as a joke but this kinda derails that)

Robbie asks them for Pringles when they leave (Thus the beginning of me and the boys not remembering him by anything other than Pringles)

They arrive in their PJs (Taako is in footie pajamas and Merle’s has a flap in at the butt with a Kenny Chesney tattoo on his ass) (When the hell did Merle get that tattoo. Also, why is Lucretia in her full BoB garb right now? Was she asleep and get changed really quickly? Do her robes double as PJ’s? Did she just not go to sleep?)

Taako says he gets night terrors that’s why he’s in like a full-body Onesie/sleeping bag (That is so fricking sad if you think about his backstory later on…)

Magnus just starts changing clothing right then and there when Lucretia tells them that they don’t have time to get ready (This man really has no shame or boundaries. I imagine it was the same in the century tbh)

Leimann Kessler (half-elf man) was murdered before he was even on the train but was able to secure the Relic on the train (Personally, don’t know a lot about how trains work but this to me is kinda odd. Who knew he died? Do their bracers know when the wearer perishes? Is there like a body temp check and a pulse check in there too? We know that it can track them but… how much more can it do…)

All the relics come from a different school of magic. They were never in the hands of someone long enough to learn what they are capable of (Potentially this is a lie. We would have already known the names, schools of magic, and possibly what they could do based upon that alone. I bet Lucretia is hiding that info in her office)

The Gauntlet deals with Evocation magic (Hmmm, I can only imagine why. Maybe because Lup also worked in Evocation magic?)

Avi is manning the cannon! The whole scene with Magnus High as hell. Avi Never learned how to Wink (Avi you’re adorable I love you. Magnus. Get your shit together man.)

Taako pulls the lever too early and they change trajectory into a swamp

Leech fight! (I honest to god forgot this even happened before listening to it again. Not my fave fight)

Ch 2

Merle gets a lot of blood sucked from him by the leeches

Merle is completely submerged in the swamp and Magnus pulls his ass out (Why is it always Merle)

”Scientists have yet to agree” ~Griffin (I personally use this phrase all the time. It just makes me laugh so hard every time.)

Taako can levitate (I really wished he used this more ngl. I would also like to see some more fanart of this)

They are in Rockport! Covered in swamp shit!

Tom Beaudette! We see his house and they get hosed off then they see him at the ticket station again. (What a nice guy!)

Leimann, Diddly, and Justin Kessler (10/10 best alias’ ever)

Taako Charms Tom (It’s a nice go-to huh?)

Merle really wants to murder tom he wanted him to step in front on the train (Merle really is the one who goes straight for murder)

Ch 3

Hudson, Jess the Beheader, Graham Juicy Wizard, ANGUSSSSSSSS, and Jenkins McShittywizard (My favorite train gang!)

Travis making fun of Griffin for how he needs to sleep with 100000000 pillows (I cherish all of these out of character bits where they really just dog on one another)

Angus, my sweet summer child don’t talk to strangers. We know your grandfather’s name was long forgotten even though you’re going to visit him in Never Winter.

The boys legit think Angus is evil and Griffin yells at them bc they are being racist. (1- how are they being legit racist? You haven’t introduced anything about Angus’ race at all?) (2- Jesus he is only 10 years old my dudes)

Graham is 36 years young and is crazy obsessed with trains and his real name is Percy? He is shadowing Jenkins in hopes of learning more about working on a train

Taako from TV! (And so his legend begins!)

Ch 4

Jenkins is harnessing a limited version of teleportation magic

Angus calling the boys out on their bullshit

Taako calling Angus “pumpkin” (Literally melts my heart. I wish someone called me cute nicknames. Also, Taako hasn’t even talked to this kid that much and that name is reoccurring)

Angus has a nondescript blue book that is able to intercept messages sent through magical means (Where did this child get this book and who let him keep it? This is legit just like letting children under 13 have access to the unrestricted internet. It’s literal Hell)

The bit with Angus and “PRYING EYES AND EARS!” (uh foreshadowing my guy)

They find “Jenkins” Dead body after hearing Graham scream

Merle is able to identify a lot of things by looking at the body (It still scares me that he is technically a Physician.)

Angus pulls a small CROSSBOW OUT OF HIS SLEEVE? (Where did he get this, how did he keep it from Hudson, Why the fuck does he have it)

Angus really said “you guys run I’ll get rid of him!” and grabs Graham and runs (How strong is this child. He’s legit lifting and pulling a grown-ass man without help)

”I’m following Angus I’ll see yall in hell!” ~Taako (Yes follow the badass 10-year old please)

”I wanna tell you about the time about this time there were three ogres…”~Taako

The Foley work bit and then Griffin just snapping “The train derails and you all die” (Another out of character goof that I cherish)

”I shit and take 14 damage” ~Griffin (are you okay? How much health do you have? What’s your max HP dude?)

Taako makes the Crab monster Levitate

Magnus punched the crab monster out of the window and it got scrapped up on the side of the train

Ch 5

They follow the Crab into their sleeper car and Magnus attacks with a chair and Griffin says “I imagine because you are so skilled at carpentry that you’ve had to attack someone with a chair before so you are in fact proficient in this attack”

Jess comes in and finishes the crab off with her Soul bound ax that she can conjure at any time (This legit just means that Jenkins did not need to carry her ax to the crypt safe. She let him do it for shits n giggles. We stan)

Jess got her last name legally changed to “Beheader” and Magnus says that he got his legally changed to “The Hammer” (Really Magnus… this isnt 3rd grade stop trying to impress her. It’s that or it could be another sad reference to “Hammer and Tongs” which would mean Julia was “Tongs” D: that is so depressing and cute)

Magnus and Merle are making good progress in solving the murder

”Alright lads” “oh fuck” When Merle keeps up his disguise as Leimann Kessler (It’s so funny because his fake Leimann Kessler is just his current Argonaut Keen.)

”I cast ZONE OF TRUTH” “Jesus you’re like a zone of truth cleric” (Oh honey. This is just the beginning)

Magnus wakes Graham up with a 5% smack with his left hand and then a 6.5% smack also with his left hand (Wtf is this BNHA? Alright Deku)

Taako is an Alcoholic? (He keeps asking for a drink ...This is a bit concerning but it makes sense)

Magnus slaps Graham again with 7.2% and he popped something in Graham’s jaw and he begins screaming but Merle heals him (OKAY DEKU COOL IT MY GUY)

”I wanna be a guy... with a head!” ~” Hudson” (hehe foreshadowing)

SCUTTLE BUDDY!!!!! (A short but adorable life you have my Lil man)

Ch 6

The “fisticuffs” scene with Taako and Angus (Now this is really concerning considering his backstory. I know it’s a joke because of how many people they accidentally kill all the time but like dude… little do you know…)

Angus leading them through the mystery is so cute. But also you know its Griffin trying to get his family to really think it through and I love it. (It really makes my heart really full to hear Griffin get really excited when they figure it out slowly instead of mocking them when they guess wrong)

MERLE YES! MAGNUS YES! YOU’RE GETTING IT! YOU’RE SO CLOSE! (Teamwork makes the dream work baby!)

Magnus jumps out of the train and Griffin gets really serious and gives him the “if you fail this you will actually die” speech (This coupled with the fight scene that Magnus accidentally skipped and the fact that originally Travis did want Magnus to die so he could re-roll a rogue is so wild)

Magnus is gonna become a wrecking ball Jesus (very Magnus-core)

Hell yeah, Magnus! Knock the meat monster into Jenkins!!

Magnus gets hit for 10 points at 1hp and paries it for 10 points! (Top ten anime near-death experiences)

Jenkins threatens to kill the meat monster. Horribly misses then is thrown off the fucking train by the meat monster (Get fucked wrecked Jenkins that’s what you get for being cocky!)

Ch 7

They find the dousing rod compass that Jenkins was using and find the monocle (Pirates of the Caribbean much?)

Taako grabs The Oculus because he has escaped the thrall of a relic before

It tells him that it can make anything he can imagine (This is really interesting tbh)

The Umbrastaff eATS JENKINS WAND!!! and a Lil sigil appears on the handle of the staff that also looks like an umbrella (Lup gets fed lmao. Don’t really understand the Sigil appearing tho. It doesn’t come up any other time I don’t think so it’s cool)

Taako grabs the teleport wand thing and asks everyone to leave and he grabs a bunch of shit from the Cryptsafe pile (Very Taako-core)

They make it to the engineer’s room and Graham tries to slow the train down but he can’t

Taako wanted to open the gate to Never Winter to Phandalin but they change it to Jenkins’ garden because it needs to be a room with “one entrance” (Solid idea on Taako’s part. If it were to work no one would have been hurt)

Taako pushed Angus off the train and he looses two teeth (This man pushed a whole child off the train… ‘Ight)

Magnus dies by jumping off the train (Top ten anime death scenes)

Taako successfully opens the gate into Jenkin’s garden and the train crashes into the garden

Magnus is stabilized by Merle (Awe so the Cleric can do his job!)

Angus gives them pringles for Robbie and the compass. Taako gives Angus one of the forks from his grandfather’s set.

They go to a nearby Never Winter Clinic to get patched up

Out of character, they choose to work on voices and Griffin calls them out bc he’s been doing 8 “different” voices and Clint goes “Yeah try doing that for 40 years” get fuckin rOASTED Ditto! (Also Griffin I love you but like 3 of the voices were the exact same and 2 were so similar it wasn’t funny. Don’t get me wrong different voices aren’t my strong suit either but ya did give it your best shot so.)

We goin’ back to the moon baby!

AVI MY MAIN MAN! (I will forever and always want and need more Avi screen time)

The oculus works with illusory magic (Which is very interesting bc I know it was made by Davenport because he also worked in allusory magic but I don’t ever remember him using any magic… who knows maybe he has and I just never realized)

Lucretia thought they were gonna get it off the train before it left... woman… (You’ve known these men for how long and you thought they were gonna w h a t?)

Next: Lunar Interlude I, 

[meganshinsou-tm]

Shared Walls. (m)

↳ chapter twenty-two: finale

❧ genre: pro-hero shouto, coworkers to lovers, happy ending

❧ chapter warnings: none

[multi-chap masterlist] [previous chapter - next chapter]

Intense turquoise eyes looked at the patch of snow that your body had occupied only seconds ago, it was painted red - no, it was drenched in red. Enji could only imagine how deep the blood had soaked through the cold matter, possibly all the way down to the hard earth that lay beneath it. The hero wasn’t ever truly ever bothered by blood, not the sight nor the smell, but to see the liquid soaking your clothes, staining your skin; to see it staining his son’s clothes and his own hands as he held you - it bothered him.

He had failed not only his son, but he failed you as well. If only he had drove faster, searched faster, if only he had been faster period then just maybe you wouldn’t have been harmed. Enji was already the indirect cause of his own son’s wounds, now you were added to that list.

“Hey human-furnace, you gonna help me out here? I’m still a little too weak or else I’d do it my damn self.”

Enji cringed at the smug voice calling out to him, his massive fist clenching and teeth gritting as his flames ignited even more.

“Oh - did I strike a match,” Dabi chuckled.

Enji revved around to face the cremation villain, his massive leg blazing hot as it struck against the ice cocoon and shattered it into pieces. Dabi’s body weakly rolled out from it and was quickly picked up by the throat, eyes that matched his own staring back at him.

“I should throttle you right now boy,” Enji growled.

Dabi coughed on his short supply of air, a smug grin still gracing his features as his hands wrapped around the massive one holding him up. “..b-but you won’t, isn’t that right?”

“En-Enji, don’t hurt D-Dabi please – he s-saved me.”

Your one request echoed back in the hero’s head. His teeth bared as he shucked Dabi down into the snow and replaced his hand with a booted foot on his chest, pressing and keeping the male from evading him.

“Why did you tell her to run, wasn’t this all your doing in the first place?”

Dabi sighed, letting is head fall back with a soft thud into the snow, “Technically. I was going to bring her back once this shitty weather slacked off but that piece of shit came and fucked everything up. I was never going to hurt her just have fun and then - well I just - ugh fuck chief!”

Enji crushed Dabi’s chest harder under his boot, “You fucked everything up by taking her in the first place. Spare me your epiphany, I don’t care. Be thankful for her kindness, it’s your only saving grace.”

With that Enji finally let up and stalked away from Dabi. The villain sat up, coughing and groaning as he brushed off his shirt. Slowly he stumbled to his feet, stretching and cracking his bones as he walked towards Lucas still in his own ice prison.

“I was blessed by an angel, I know. Now excuse me while I burn this fucker to ash,” Dabi sneered as he looked upon a grinning Lucas and the flames from his palm slowly flickered to life.

Enji shoved the male to the side, throwing him off balance as he was still slightly woozy from the blood drain. Dabi groaned and glared at the towering hero.

“You won’t be doing anything, I’ll be taking him in and he’ll rot in Tartarus.”

“Look I understand you’re a hero big guy and that ‘ justice’ is your thing, but I can still kill him. There’s no sense in keeping him alive. Did you see what he did to her back there, the mother of your future bouncing baby grand-kid!”

Enji’s head whipped in Dabi’s direction, disbelief washing over his face and his flames suddenly going off as if someone hosed him down with a fire extinguisher.

“I-I’m sorry, what?”

Dabi flashed a shit eating grin and nodded, “Oh yeah, congratulations, your son isn’t firing any blanks.”

A laugh escaped from Lucas as he listened on, “That’s why she tasted different, had I known I would’ve taken care of the little spawn myself.”

Enji eyed Lucas, the blood in his veins bubbling over and boiling as his flames reignited. His fist came down in a blaze of glory, straight to Lucas’s mouth. The hero could feel every single tooth plucking flee from his gums and shooting down his throat. Lucas violently coughed up the teeth, blood spewing from his lips and down his shirt, dribbling down the ice.

Dabi shrugged, “Well, I guess he can’t bite if he doesn’t have teeth.”

“Do you ever shut up?” Enji groaned, cracking his knuckles and stepping away from the now toothless man.

With a sigh Dabi finally waved off the hero, turning on his feet to walk away before stopping and gritting his teeth.

“You know, if he stays alive, his idiotic followers are bound to come after him. They’re fucking nuts, I know, and they won’t hesitate to try and free him or do his bidding from the outside.”

Enji scoffed, melting the ice that encased Lucas who was now almost unconscious from pain, “They can try.”

That was all Enji had left to say before turning on his own heels and making his way back to the family cabin. Dabi shook his head, rubbing the side of his neck as he continued to walk as well.

“Stupid old man.”

The sound of steady beeping is the first thing you heard when you woke. It smelled sterile instead of damp musk like the cabin and your eyes snapped open as the panic took over you. Lucas carving into your flesh and Dabi’s fiery rescue played back through your mind and you inhaled deeply before your (e/c) eyes darted around the room and looked down at yourself. The beeping of the heart monitor next to you sped up gradually.

You were in a hospital gown, IV in your arm.

Safe.

No Lucas to be found.

The monitor returned to normal as the new information sunk in.

You looked at your arms, fingers tugging softly on the collar of your gown to look at your chest before you pulled your blanket to the side to look at your thighs. Several new small scars, half a letter here and there … but the word ‘mine’ had been erased from your skin. That fact alone made you tear up, but you wiped your eyes to look at the sleeping form next to you. Clothes wrinkled, dark circles under his eyes. Red and white hair a mess.

Shouto. Your Shouto.

A small smile pulled on your lips as you looked over him, his head rested on his arms next to you on the bed. He looked exhausted and you itched to run your fingers through his dual-colored locks, but instead decided to let him sleep. The familiar sound of Enji speaking quietly met your ears as you heard him slip into the room.

His turquoise eyes widened as he saw you and you lifted your hand in a small wave as he walked up the the opposite side of the bed. He glanced at Shouto before giving a rare smile, gently taking your hand in his much larger one.

“When did you wake up? How are you feeling?” He murmured.

“Just a few minutes ago. And I feel fine, you don’t have to worry, Enji. Truly.” You squeezed his hand softly and he nodded before leaning down and kissing the top of your head.

“Good. I’m glad. You sit tight, I’m gonna go get the doctor, alright?” You nodded, and he gave your hand a last squeeze before turning and walking back out the door.

You looked back at Shouto, thinking back at how you met him during your interview. The smile crawled onto your face as you thought about how he almost froze your hand with his nerves and how his quirk still glitches around you sometimes. There was something about him that truly made you feel like it was fate that brought you two together, not just your scars on matching sides or how you two came together like magnets. No matter what happened, Shouto was there to help you through it all.

You finally laced your fingers gently into his hair, stroking the strands affectionately back into place. It’s several seconds before you hear him grumble softly at being woken up, his eye cracking open and looking around before landing on you. You smiled as he snapped up, immediately sitting up and looking over you.

“You’re awake!” His voice was more like a croak and you laughed softly before gently motioning him up for a hug.

“Hi Roki,” You whispered, loving the way his arms felt around you and the comfort they brought. He kissed your forehead and gave you a tender smile.

“I was so worried,” he said softly, gently cupping your cheek as you looked at your hands. His face fell as your eyes locked onto your wrist, a guilty expression painting your features. “What’s the matter?”

“The bracelet you gave me,” you said sadly, lifting your hand to show him. “He took it off.”

Shouto gently lifted your face to look at him again, “Shh, it’s just a piece of string, we can replace it. I’m just glad you’re okay.” He replied and pressed his forehead to yours.

Your hands hung from his wrists, thumbs brushing his cool and warm skin with a smile as you whispered. “I knew you’d find me Shouto.”

“I’ll always find you.”

Nodding, your head tilted into him as you went to kiss each other after what felt like ages. You were breathing okay but if you could get just one kiss from him then all the oxygen in you would be replenished. Just as his soft lips brushed your own though, a light knock came at the door before the knob was being turned. Like two teenagers being caught, your heads hung low with defeated sighs. Shouto kissed your cheek and sat back up straight, turning to see his father and the doctor walking in, both of your hands firmly gripped in his own in your lap.

“The doctor just needs to do a quick check-up,” Enji stated with an apologetic smile.

You nodded and Shouto hesitantly moved from the bed, allowing the doctor full access to you. He listened to your heartbeat and breathing then checked your temperature.

“How are you feeling,” he asked.

“I feel okay, just a little tired and I’m hungry, really hungry.”

Shouto chuckled, “Of course you are, when he gets done we’ll order you some food. Whatever you want.”

The doctor went on to explain that they healed all your cuts the best they could, the only major scar left behind was on your lower back from when Lucas had practically impaled his claws into your flesh. By now, scars were nothing to you though, if anything they made you feel alive, simply because you were alive. Among the multiple cuts Lucas inflicted, he did drain a decent amount of blood from your body that needed to be replaced and the doctor explained further on that.

“Of course we needed to run a few tests just to make sure you were okay from all the bites, Mr. Todoroki here also mentioned something about you saying there was a baby, so we took this information as something to test as well while we were at it for safety precautions of course.”

Your heart stopped suddenly and your hand squeezed Shouto’s. He grunted and looked at you, a hand coming up and combing through your hair. “Are you okay?”

Looking up to him you nodded and sheepishly smiled. “I’m fine Shouto, I just sort of forgot all about that. I don’t remember too much after you showed up. What exactly did I say?”

The half and half hero smirked and kissed the top of your head.

“It’s kind of funny, all you said was ‘ baby ’ and at first I thought you were calling out to me. Then you mumbled about needing to check on the baby and make sure it’s alright.”

Your head fell in embarrassment. “Oh god Shouto - I’m so sorry.”

“What, why are you sorry?”

“Well that’s not exactly how I wanted to tell you, I can only imagine what you thought. I mean I don’t even know if you want kids, or even like them, we’ve never had this talk before. This is crazy though right - if I’m really pregnant? I mean Dabi is the one who brought it up in the first place. I didn’t believe him and thought it was nuts then he’s all smug like “Look angel when you do it raw and never pull ou - mph!”

Shouto quickly placed his hand over your mouth before you could continue spewing word vomit in front of the doctor and his father, who was side-eyeing him.

“Uh, sweetheart, how about we let the doctor finish and we can talk about this later?”

Your face went red as you realized how much you were rambling on, about to spill the beans of your sex life with Shouto with his own father in the room. (E/c) eyes looked to the massive man who was now quietly chuckling as he shook his head and crossed his arms.

“Please doctor, go on,” Enji instructed.

The doctor nodded while clearing his throat and put his clipboard under his arm.

“Well Ms. (L/N), you are in fact pregnant, I’d say you’re about a month and half. You’re very fortunate there was no major trauma caused to your abdomen besides the cuts. Since you seem to be doing fine I’m going to discharge you and request you take it easy. Get a lot of rest and try to avoid any unnecessary stress until you can see a obstetrician and they can let you know more about the condition of the fetus. We’ve done all we could do, now let your body do the rest.”

Shouto and Enji both nodded.

“I’ll make sure she takes it easy doctor, thank you,” Shouto replied as his hand continued to pet your hair, his other hand on your shoulder.

The doctor smiled warmly and gave both of you a brief ‘congrats’ before nodding to everyone and taking his leave. You let out a sigh and looked up to Shouto. He looked down to you, a warm smile as his face as he cupped your cheek. You went to speak but the sound of your stomach alarming the entire room that you were starving halted your words.

Enji chuckled and strode around to the other side of the bed where he squatted and was level with you. He took your small hand in his and let his thumb rub over the skin of your wrist.

“It may be a little while before you’re discharged so how about I order some pizza? Two larges just for you since you’re eating for two now?”

Shouto lightly chuckled above you and you nodded, “Thank you Enji, for everything.”

Enji stood to bend over and give you a hug, his massive arms enclosing around you like protective steel gates. You hugged him back tightly and kissed his cheek before he broke away. He ruffled your hair then walked towards the door, Shouto trailing behind him. They both stopped and Enji turned to his son with a smirk.

“So we got her back plus one huh?”

Shouto chortled and quickly hugged his father, “Thank you dad, thank you for helping to bring her back to me.”

The hell-flame hero hugged his son back, one hand resting on his head and petting his hair as though he was a young boy. “Of course Shouto. I love you son, I love you both and will always be here to help out,” Enji replied as he pulled away, “And right now I need to get the mother of your child some food so she can start growing a big and healthy baby boy yeah?”

“Enji,” you giggled from the bed.

“I’m kidding! I’ll be back soon with food.”

After Enji left Shouto made his way back to the bed and asked if he could lay next to you. Happily you moved over enough to let him in and immediately molded to his side, arms wrapping around his waist as you looked up to him. Before you could even ask, Shouto was answering your silent request for a kiss, his warm and all too familiar lips capturing your own and breathing that air back into your lungs that you needed to feel complete again. Your hand came up to cup his cheek, finger sweeping across his tarnished and beautiful skin as his arms wrapped around you tight. You couldn’t get enough of being back in each others arms, capturing the others smiles with your lips.

“I love you so much Shouto, always,” you breathed on his lips when pulling away hesitantly.

Shouto cupped your hand on his cheek and kissed the palm of it before melting into it, “I love you so much more (Y/N), forever.”

With a smile your head rested on Shouto’s warm chest as he held you close and you listened to his heart beating softly, perfectly in tune with your own that could still be overhead on the monitor.

A black SUV pulled into the driveway of a cozy modern home early in the afternoon, the drivers side door opened and closed, Shouto sighing as he slung his work bag over his shoulder and locked the vehicle. He went to walk around it and up the short pathway to the front door of the house, halting and smiling when he heard a soft and sweet sound floating down from a window on the second story. It was a sound he’d come to expect every day that he arrived home from work, a sound he always looked forward to. Shouto recalled when he only ever heard your singing through the vent of his bathroom at the apartments you both lived in before finally settling together in a proper home, how he always wondered who the voice on the other side of his shared wall belonged to and not once ever thinking that voice belong to his future girlfriend, future fiance, future mother of his unborn child - his future overall.

Of course he could always just request to hear your singing whenever he pleased, but there was something bittersweet about hearing it from afar. He stood in the cold snow a few more minutes, letting your melodic tune welcome him home before entering it. After shrugging off his bag, coat and boots the man made his way upstairs. Once he reached the bedroom he stopped for a minute, leaning against the wall and listening to your singing a little while longer.

“And it's not a cry that you hear at night. It's not somebody who's seen the light. It's a cold and it's a broken hallelujah. Hallelujah...hallelujah…”

Shouto smiled and lightly knocked on the bedroom door, peeking his head in to find you laying back against the headboard of the bed. One hand rubbing your pregnant belly and the other holding up a baby book as you read through it. He chuckled upon walking in and seeing the countless cartons of milk crowding the bedside table along with two boxes of Pocky. His knees hit the mattress and gently Shouto crawled up the bed towards you.

Putting the book down you smiled and wrapped your hands around his neck pulling Shouto in closer, his arms trapping your hips as he leaned in and gifted you a warm kiss. You hummed and kissed back, melting into his hand when it cupped your cheek.

“Welcome home hero,” you chimed softly before kissing him again.

He smiled and kissed your cheek before you released him. Shouto then lowered and laid down between your legs on his stomach, resting his head on your belly and letting his hand rub at the warm and taut skin of it. Your own hands started to run through his hair, fingers gently massaging his scalp and instantly working away the stress of work.

“I missed you two,” Shouto spoke.

You smiled wide. “We missed you Roki. I think he can tell when you’re not home, he’s always so anxious and never still.”

The hero smirked and pressed a kiss to your stomach, listening closely as the baby inside would gently shift every so often, instantly calming down like it could tell Shouto was there. Each time Shouto felt a light kick he smiled more. He was always fascinated when the baby moved or kicked, always so proud. He went with you to every single ultrasound, even if it was just a check up and not really something you needed him for. The man loved to hear his baby’s heartbeat, how strong and healthy it was even considering what you had gone through. The day both of you found out the gender he tried not to be too overjoyed that it was a boy, of course you both could care less what it was but something about having his very own son elated Shouto. Not to mention Enji and Natsuo were pretty hyped as well.

Your hand reached down to cup Shouto’s face, making him look up. With a smile he grabbed the hand and pressed a kiss to your palm then to the ring on your finger.

“How was your day Shouto?”

“It was good. Everyone missed you today as usual, constantly asking how you’ve been and Haru showed up with more baby clothes.”

Rolling your eyes you sighed. “Well they wouldn’t have to miss me if you and your damn father would let me go to work! This whole advance maternity leave is a little unnecessary.”

Shouto looked back down and kissed your stomach. “Your mother doesn’t know what she’s talking about.”

A light smack was placed to the side of Shouto’s head making him laugh as his cheek rested back onto your stomach. Your hands resuming their duty of petting and massaging his head. 

Shouto soon pulled out his phone and scrolled through it as he spoke.

“I have to show you what Natsuo sent me today.”

You hummed and look when Shouto gave you the phone. There was a text pulled up that made you cackle. Attached was a picture of Natsuo holding up two baby onesies, one that resembled Enji’s hero costume and the other resembled Shouto’s own hero costume. ‘ Had to get my nephew some official merch! :D,’ the attached text read. Shouto smiled as your laughter seemed to stir his son inside of you. His hand flattened over the skin and felt as he lightly kicked and you let out a small grunt.

“I love her laugh too,” Shouto spoke.

You smiled and let your head lay back against the headboard, eyes fluttering shut as Shouto’s soft hair threaded through your fingers and he continued to lightly rub your belly while continuing to talk to his unborn son.

“I love a lot of things about your mother, like how beautiful, kind and strong she is. How she can brighten any room she walks into or how she can bring people together. I can’t wait to tell you all about her, how I met her and fell so in love with her. I can’t wait to see what traits you take from her; I hope you have her eyes more than anything but either way I know you’ll be beautiful, just as she is.” Shouto sighed and nuzzled his cheek, his lips pressing another kiss to your skin, “Only a few more months and then we’ll be able to finally meet you, our little boy.”

As the two of you rested together for a few more minutes, you were both completely unaware of the cremation villain who dropped by so casually before your home. A hint of a smile on his face as he placed a small envelope inside of the mailbox before walking off and disappearing into the darkness.

[chromecutie]

Not A Ghost - part 30

A/N - Multi-part fic. Colossus x OC where OC has come home after being wrongfully imprisoned in the Icebox. Warnings for whole fic - references and flashbacks to harsh prison environment, including various types of abuse. Takes place shortly after events in Deadpool 2. Whole thing will end up on my AO3 eventually.

Taglist: @emma-frxst  @ra-ra-rasputiin  @holamor ​  @empressme-bitch  @marvel-is-perfection  @hazilyimagine ​ @marvelhead17 @rovvboat @angstybadboytrash ​ @whitewitchdown ​ @master-sass-blast ​ @mori-fandom @mooleche @dandyqueen @emberbent @leo-writer . Wanna be added or removed? Holla at me.

-------------------------------------

Piotr’s gut was in knots, sick with worry. Each minute passing by was a minute that his wife and best friend were in terrible danger.

Charles Xavier reviewed the plans of the Icebox, projected onto the wall of his office. One of his teams had hacked into government servers to steal them. Even so, they weren’t complete plans. Some of the files were redacted, and the team was still looking for full versions. But, it was enough to confirm what Xavier had suspected for years. “Part of the structure has the very same alloy that Magneto and the Juggernaut use in their helmets, to keep telepaths from finding them.” He centered his gaze on the distraught Russian. “That’s why I could never find her with Cerebro, Peter. I’m sorry.”

Piotr clenched his fists, then released. “I always knew it wasn’t for lack of trying, Professor.”

"What we don't know," Xavier inhaled, deep in thought, "is how they acquired so much of it."

Cable pointed at one section, then another, "I initially breached here. In this section is where I first engaged Wade. We did a lot of damage they'll have repaired by now." He looked back at the others. "Do we have anything on the repairs?"

Xavier shook his head, "The hackers are still looking. It will be a matter of time."

"We don't have much time," Piotr huffed, agitated, and paced around the table. 

"The plan," Cable said firmly as he followed the Russian giant with his gaze, "is for them to take the control office where the DMC keeps the hard tokens. They will need time for that. If we rush in too soon, there's too many factors we can't control."

Usually, Piotr was the levelheaded one. Usually, Piotr was the one talking down Logan or Scott from doing something drastic without thinking. His shoulders were tight with guilt and fear, tension etched into his expression. He turned to the youngest person in the room, "Russell, what can you tell us? What is the daily routine, how do new inmates get processed?"

Russell swallowed. It didn’t seem that long ago since he’d been in the Icebox himself, and he remembered even being a little excited to go, thinking he’d take over the whole prison with pure aggression and willpower. A lot had changed since Wade had taken a bullet for him, including realizing how dangerous the prison really was. He didn't dare say aloud that he thought taking over the place was impossible. “New inmates,” he began, licking his lips, “get hosed off before they give you the jumpsuit. They took mugshots of me and Wade and assigned us numbers, but I heard they don’t do that with everyone…” The adults shared a pointed look that made him pause.

“What else?” Xavier prompted gently.

He thought for a moment, then continued, “They brought me and Wade in at bedtime, put us in the same cell at lights-out. They did meals at six, twelve, and six.”

“What about guard rotations?” Piotr asked. “Or anything about the control office?”

When Russell couldn’t recall much specifically, admitting that wasn’t what he had been paying attention to, Cable filled in what he could. On the schematics, he pointed out a central box where he had previously encountered the officers gearing up in the armory. It had mostly glass walls, a bank of monitors to track security camera footage, control panels to operate every door in the Icebox.

“If they’re smart,” he added, “They’ll have changed a lot of this in the repairs.” Cable cleared his throat and squared his shoulders. “Superior firepower aside, I had next to no trouble just walking in there.”

Xavier nodded, carefully considering their options and the best approach to breaching the most secure mutant holding facility in the world.

Brows set in a scowl, hands clenching and releasing, heart pounding with worry, Piotr asked the teenage boy, “Is Rhonda well known in that place? What is her reputation?” He couldn’t bring himself to say his real question aloud. 

Russell’s eyes widened slightly, then his gaze fell to the surface of the table under his fingers. He grimaced, sucking his teeth before answering, “The main thing I was told was you only sign the ‘Book in a group.”

--

"Already making the boys cry," Mimi purred in the dark. "I always liked you."

“You arranged this on purpose,” Rhonda didn’t move from having her back against the cell door, wary of every word and action from the leader of the Vicious 13. One hand rose to her collar and rubbed at the scabs.

Mimi leaned into the glow from neighboring cells’ lights, revealing dark, pointed scales like a viper. In more light, the scales would shine shades of green and purple, but in the dark, they looked charcoal grey. Her pale eyes, framed by big, fake, very contraband lashes, greedily drank in Rhonda’s frame, from the green of her hair to the clenched fists. “Of course I did,” she showed a little slip of pointed teeth in a smile, “I couldn’t have you getting killed too soon.”

Rhonda rolled her eyes and slipped onto her cot, but her shoulders didn’t relax. “So you can give me the Join Us Or Die pitch again.”

The reptilian woman clicked her tongue, a delicate sound, “I never say ‘or die,’ please.”

“Well, someone trying to kill me after every time I turn you down isn’t subtle.” She started to settle under the thin blanket. It would never keep her warm enough.

There was a rustling sound like dry leaves as Mimi shifted around. “What about that husband of yours? Did he toss you back in here, or was he never real to begin with?”

Rhonda delayed her answer. It was best to give someone like Mimi as little information as possible. “He’s real.” Over the dull murmuring of inmates settling into bed, someone a few cells down coughed. Maybe Wade.

“Ah,” Mimi hummed with too much amusement, “Homecoming didn’t go as planned. My condolences.” The rustling sounded again, with an added swishing. “Well, a few things have changed since you ran off. What if I told you I’m the only gang in the Icebox now?” Rhonda was quiet long enough that she prodded, “Guestbook?”

“I’ll think about it,” she finally said, even as her skin was crawling.

“You’re a wonderful conversationalist, as always--”

“Good night, Mimi, shut up.”

--

One night down and Rhonda’s muscles were already getting stiff, joints already starting to ache. The hottest the showers would go was just a shade less than lukewarm. A grid of pipes hung from the ceiling in the completely open shower area, a spraying spout at each intersection. Sixteen inmates could shower at once, but there was no privacy. Between being exposed and cold, Rhonda couldn’t get the goosebumps on her skin to lie flat. She tried to imagine the tepid water was just a light summer rain, one she might go dance in just so her husband would laugh and say she was ridiculous. 

The showers were a dangerous place, surrounded by other wet, naked inmates, and Rhonda kept her eyes peeled the whole time, even when she got a little soap in them. Other inmates bumped into her or brushed close enough to slash her open if they’d managed to palm a shiv, but none of them gave her anything worse than a sidelong glare. 

The towels managed to be both threadbare and scratchy. At one of the cubbies that lined the walls of the shower area, Rhonda scrubbed herself just dry enough that she wasn’t dripping, and yanked on her DMC-provided underwear, grey t-shirt, and yellow jumpsuit. Another inmate, a wiry man with stringy blond hair lazily walked toward the cubby next to hers. She slipped on her flimsy velcro shoes without her socks, ready to fight or run. Getting shanked wasn’t the only danger in this place.

“Tick tock, motherfucker,” the wiry man hissed. “We all know you’re gonna tell Mimi no. Hurry up so we can have some fun with you.” So they were waiting. Either Rhonda would make an arrangement with Mimi and the Vicious 13 and she would have a modicum of protection, or she wouldn’t, and the attack could come from anywhere at any time. How long would they wait? Hopefully she would have time to talk to Wade.

--

Rhonda had gotten to the mess hall with just enough time to get a tray and scarf down some breakfast. She found Wade and took a seat beside him. Between bites of the thinnest, most underdone waffle ever, she noted his fresh black eye. “What happened to you?”

“Oh this?” he laughed, “My cellie was practicing our secret handshake. You should see him.”

“Try not to get in any more fights,” Rhonda replied firmly. She nearly choked on the dregs as she took a swig of what they said was coffee. “We’re joining a gang.”

Wade guffawed loudly enough to make a few people briefly turn their heads and look. “My friend is hilarious!” he told them, waving them off, “Just - just an inside joke, don’t worry about it.” Then he lifted some of Rhonda’s damp hair so he could say low in her ear, “Did you already get kicked in the head? What are you thinking?”

She leaned away until he let go of her hair and grumbled, “I think our options are real fucking slim unless we get some kind of alliance, and I have an in.” She gave the quickest, most casual of glances past Wade to the end of the tables. “You see the snake with eyelashes?”

Wade gave a much more obvious glance, and even waved. Turning back to Rhonda, his eyes went wide in a bright smile. “She’s a giiirrl dragon!”

Rhonda finished her last bite of cold hash browns and shook her head. “I wouldn’t make any more Shrek jokes unless you plan on being the donkey who fucks her.”

[ambereyesandwine]

We’ve Got Soul: Chapter 5

WC: 3073

Warnings: Sass as always, Cursing as always, Elijah Kamski being a creep, some angst because we can’t save Gavin from his childhood, Gavin being not nice to Markus

Beta’d By: @teaspacebar

Notes: She’s late, but she’s here and bigger than ever. This chapter is about the art show and the things that follow shortly after, and is our last chapter of pre-game content. The next chapter will start into events from the game, so get ready. PS: the entirety of the fic so far is almost 12,600 words, which makes it longer than the middle school project where I had to write a “book”. Do with that info what you will.

Chapter 5:

June 4, 2038

6:44 P.M.

           “Breathe. You’re going to be fine.” Carl sounded as calm as ever.

           “Easy for you to say. You’ve done a million of these.” Fantasia wrung her hands and clutched them to her chest. “What if no one likes them?”

           “Do you like them?”

           “What?” She looked to her mentor.

           “I asked if you like them. Are you proud of the work you’ve done?”

           “Yes,” Fantasia stated firmly.

           “Then fuck what they think.” Carl glanced at the watch he was wearing before speaking again. “You have about fifteen minutes to take a lap and make sure everything looks the way you want it to before those doors open and you suddenly become occupied for the next few hours.”

           She nodded. “Okay.” Fantasia walked away to inspect each of the displays. By the time she was done, she was feeling much less nervous. “Carl, I-” She stopped short when she saw people start flooding into the room. “Oh, we’re starting. Okay.”

           It was several minutes of “Nice to meet you,” and “Thank you so much for coming,” before a pair of hands covered Fantasia’s eyes from behind.

           “Guess who.”

           “Well I know it’s not my best friend, cause he knows better than to touch my face when I’m wearing a full face of makeup.”

           “Oh shit!” Gavin immediately pulled his hands away and Fantasia saw him check them over for make-up.

           Fantasia chuckled slightly before reassuring him. “You’re fine, I’m wearing an entire bottle of setting spray.”

           Gavin’s face scrunched with confusion. “I have no idea what that means.”

           “It means I’m gonna need a fire hose to get my makeup off tonight.” She took a step forward to hug him. “I’m really glad you’re here, this has been insane.”

           “Of course, I wouldn’t miss it.” He held her tightly as he spoke.

           When the two separated and Fantasia began to back away, she looked Gavin up and down. “You even got all dressed up,” She said with shock.

           “Well yeah, who do you think I am? I’m not going to show up to my best friends fancy art show scruffy and tieless.” He stood up tall and adjusted his sleeves, clearly proud of his appearance. “But,” Gavin gestured with open palms toward Fantasia, “Tonight’s not about me, and you look beautiful.”

           Fantasia’s smile spread quickly. “Aw than-”

           “Even though you’re still not as tall as me, even in four-inch heels.”

            “You’re a dick.”

           “An aspiring artist can never be too humble.”

           “Fantasia?”

           She turned to find that Markus had approached her and Gavin. “Markus, hi,” She said with a soft smile.

           “Carl asked me to come check on you,” Markus said, “Are you doing well so far?”

           “I am, thank you.” Her cheeks bloomed a soft pink. “Gavin, this is Markus, he takes care of Carl and is probably the only reason that man is even still alive.” Fantasia introduced as Carl wheeled over.

           “You and I both know that if I had to, I would find a way to survive on paint chips and spite.” Carl said before leaning forward slightly to shake Gavin’s hand. “I’m Carl.”

           Gavin took the other man’s hand and responded, “I’m Gavin, I’m a detective for the DPD.”

           “And speaking of the DPD, we’re here!” Chris Miller’s voice rang from a few feet away, but he quickly closed the distance to hug Fantasia.

           “Hi, Chris,” She hugged him in return before reaching for his companion. “Hi, Tina,” She hugged the other woman with a smile. “How are you guys doing?”

           “Doing good. All of this is amazing, I knew you were good with spray paint, but this is so cool.” Chris’s voice was filled with awe as he looked around the room.

           “We’re gonna keep looking around,” Tina suggested. “You’re really talented Fantasia.”

           “Thank you, guys,” Fantasia smiled and waved slightly as the pair left the group.

           “It’s nice to meet you, Gavin,” Markus spoke kindly as he picked up the conversation from moments ago.

           “Yeah, I’m sure.” Gavin turned toward Fantasia, “I’m going to go catch up with Tina and Chris. I’ll see you later.” He wrapped his arm protectively around Fantasia and stared Markus down for a moment before releasing Fantasia and leaving.

           “I’m sorry, I don’t know what all that was about,” She apologized to Markus for the other man’s odd behavior.

           He smiled slightly as he spoke, “It’s alright. Do you need anything?”

           “I think I’m okay actually, but-”

           “But I have some business with an old friend, and I need Markus’s help,” Carl interjected. “So, we’ll be back in a little while. Try to talk to some more people and make as many connections as you can. This should get you a good start in the professional world, especially if you network well tonight.”

           “Yes, sir,” Fantasia said with snark in her voice.

           Carl only shook his head in response as Markus pushed his wheelchair away.

           Fantasia took a moment to look around the room and couldn’t help but smile about all the people that seemed to be enjoying her work. She heard a throat clear behind her and Fantasia turned to scold the man. “Gavin, I don’t know- Oh.” Her words stopped short when she realized it was not Gavin standing behind her. “I’m sorry, I thought you were someone else.”

           “An honest mistake,” The man said matter-of-factly. “Sounds like you could use a drink.” He snapped his fingers and one of the wait staff rushed over to offer champagne. The man took one and handed it to Fantasia before introducing himself. “I’m Elijah, an old friend of Carl’s. You must be the North Star of the evening, Fantasia.”

           “Uh, yes.”

           “Mm,” His eyes slowly traced down her body and back up to her face. “A beautiful name for a beautiful girl.” He noticed Fantasia’s uncomfortable smile and chose a different approach. “’The Learning Curve’ is an interesting name for an art show.”

           “This whole show is works I’ve done while apprenticed to Carl. I think the name is fitting.”

           “I agree. Although, you’ll have to come into your own if you want to be a real artist someday.” He took a step toward Fantasia. “You’ll need good connections for that.”

           Fantasia took a step back, “That’s what this show is for, but thank you for the tip.”

           “Of course.” He took another step closer. “If you ever need anything, you’re welcome to come to me for help, with very minimal strings attached of course.” He winked as a cocky smile covered the lower half of his face. “I’m sure you can google my phone number when you decide you need it. Have fun with your little show,” Was all he said before walking away.

           “Who was that?”

           “AH,” Fantasia yelped and quickly turned to find Gavin standing behind her. “Oh, it’s just you.”

           “Woah, just me? Ouch.” He feigned being upset.

           “I’m sorry, that guy was just so creepy.”

           “Yeah, he looked like it. You good?”

           Fantasia nodded, “I’m fine. I definitely don’t want this though.” She put the champagne Elijah had given her on the tray of a passing waiter.

June 4, 2038

9:10 P.M.

           Gavin walked with Fantasia as she took a lap around the mostly empty venue, holding her shoes by the straps and counting green stickers.

           When Fantasia spoke, it was almost inaudible, and filled with awe. “All of them sold.”

           “What?” Gavin questioned.

           She repeated herself, “All of my paintings were sold tonight.” She looked at him with wide eyes, brimming with tears.

           Gavin mirrored Fantasia’s smile and pulled her into a hug where she happy cried in his arms for a moment before they were interrupted.

           “Fantasia, are you alright?” Markus had approached the pair.

           “She’s fine,” Gavin stated defensively, holding Fantasia closer to him. “Did you get told to come check on her again?”

           Markus’s LED turned yellow for a moment as he processed before responding, “No, I saw she was upset, so I came to see if she needed anything.”

           Fantasia pulled away from Gavin and gently wiped the tears from her eyes. “I’m okay, Markus. I’m just overwhelmed. I’m gonna go find Carl and get things wrapped up in here.” She turned to Gavin, “Meet you in the car in like 10?”

           “Sure.” Gavin didn’t look at Fantasia when he answered, he only continued to stare Markus down.

           Fantasia rolled her eyes and walked away, knowing it was best not to get involved in whatever he was trying to do. Wrapping things up with Carl was a quick process of explaining how buyers would receive their paintings and that the venue had its own cleaning and lock up crew that would fix everything up when they cleared out.

           “Okay, I’ll see you guys later.” Fantasia waved to Carl and Markus before exiting the front door of the venue barefoot.

           “Where are your shoes?” Gavin asked as Fantasia dropped into his passenger seat.

           “In my hand.”

           “Let me rephrase: Why aren’t you wearing your shoes?”

           “Because I’ve been in them for hours, and now I’m done.”

           “Yeah, but what if you step on glass or something?”

           “I didn’t though.” Fantasia looked at Gavin, “Can we go now? I’m exhausted.”

           “Yeah.” Gavin put the car in gear and made the mild drive back to his apartment. It was a few moments after they got inside before Gavin spoke again. “Can I ask you something?” He sounded cautious.

           “Sure, what’s up?”

           “What happens now?”

           “Now all of the art that sold will be carefully packaged and shipped out to the people that bought them and-”

           “No, I mean you’re a big artist now.” He interrupted her, “A bunch of important people know who you are so you’re gonna move up in the world and leave the rest of us behind.” It wasn’t a question.

           She turned to face him. “What?”

           “Well why do you need someone like me when you’ve got a whole bunch of new friends like that Kamski guy that can get you anything you want.”

           “Okay first of all, Kamski is a creep, and I would never, and second-”

           “What about when somebody else sees you and thinks they can do better for you? What if you agree with them? I don’t fit in a world full of fancy art shows and champagne and small talk all the time.”

           “No one’s asking you to.”

           “But you’ll need somebody who can when you start getting more attention. You wouldn’t want bad publicity about a shitty best friend ruining your career.”

           Fantasia seethed, “Do you really think that’s who I am? Somebody that trades in their best friend for a newer model just because I sold a few paintings?”

           “Upgrades, right?”

           “Excuse me?”

           “You’ll ditch me the second somebody better comes along. You wouldn’t be the first one, you won’t be the last.”

           The room fell silent, and the pair stared each other down, pain dominating both of their faces.

           “You do not,” Her voice cracked, and tears came to her eyes, “Get to lash out at me because you are scared.”

           Regret took over Gavin’s features the second he saw a tear fall over Fantasia’s cheek. “Tasia, fuck. Tasia, I’m sorry.” He reached out to her, but Fantasia stepped back, shaking her head slightly.

           “No one said anything about me doing all of this,” She gestured to her own body as she spoke, “full time. No one said anything about you being out of place, and even if you were, you tried. For me. And you think that makes me more inclined to abandon you, forget every ounce of our relationship, and find a new ‘best friend’ who’d be better PR?”

           “No, that’s not- I’m sorry, okay? I’m sorry. I fucked up and said something stupid because I’m a fucking idiot. I know you wouldn’t do that.”

           “Stop.”

           “Tasia, please.” He sounded broken as he spoke, reaching for her again. “I’m just-”

           “Gavin,” She spoke softly, “Stop.” She wrapped her arms around him. “It was never one or the other. It’s not a choice between you and my art, because there’s no reason I can’t have both. The idea of giving you up was never even on the table.”

           Gavin slumped into Fantasia’s body and took a heavy breath as he hugged her back.

           “I love you, jackass, even when you get all sabotage-y.”

           “I love you too.”

           Fantasia felt the shoulder of her shirt dampen with tears Gavin would never admit he shed. She rubbed his back and held him tightly until he stopped shaking. “Go get some sleep.”

           “Yeah,” Gavin sniffled and nodded as he backed away from Fantasia to head to his room. “Night.”

           “Good night.” Fantasia stood quietly for a moment before she retrieved her overnight clothes from her bag in the linen closet. She quickly changed and set up her pillow and blanket on the couch to rest.

June 20, 2038

5:22 P.M.

           “This is terrifying,” Gavin stated as he blindly extended his arm to feel for obstructions in his path.

           Fantasia chuckled as she held his other hand, leading him to their destination.  “What, you don’t trust me?”

           “Not even a little. I could run into a pole at any moment.”

           “I’m not going to run you into a pole, I’m not stupid.” Fantasia yanked his hand so he was out of the path of a bicyclist flying down the sidewalk.

           “What was that?”

           “Nothing. There’s two steps here.” She guided him slowly up the steps.

           His passing through an entryway was signaled to Gavin by the small jingle of a bell. “Where are we?”

           The smile was apparent in Fantasia’s voice when she answered, “My studio.”

           “What?”

           “Take the blindfold off.”

           Gavin heard the door shut behind him as he pulled the fabric from his eyes and saw an empty room with white walls and a concrete floor. “Tasia, this-”

           “Isn’t it amazing?”

           He was hesitant to reply, “There’s nothing in it.”

           She laughed. “Well not yet. But soon it’ll be filled with canvases and paint and easels and anything I want.” Her eyes closed dreamily.

           “That’s going to be a lot of work.”

           Fantasia’s response was to look at him pleadingly.

           “You want me to help, don’t you?”

           “Please?”

           He huffed. “Fine, but you owe me.”

           “Actually,” She chuckled, “This is you owing me for when I peeled you off the sidewalk after you went angry-drunk on a bar tender for kicking you out.”

           “I had a bad day, and that was months ago.”

           “And now I’m cashing in on it.”

           “Fine,” He grumbled.

June 29, 2038

2:31 P.M.

           “So, what else is there to do?”

           Fantasia looked over her notebook before answering Gavin’s question. “I think we just need to get these two boxes unpacked and get the futon set up in the back.”

           Gavin looked down into the boxes and snorted. “I’ll take futon duty. I’m not going to sort paints that aren’t even real colors.”

           “These are real colors.”

           “No, they’re not. What happened to just red and blue? Without looking, you tell me what kind of color,” He rummaged around in the box, careful to shield his choice from Fantasia’s eyes, “‘Admiral’ is.”

           She gave him a deadpan stare. “It’s blue.”

           “Damnit.”

           “Yeah, sweetie, that’s why I do art and you solve crimes.”

           “Whatever.” Gavin got up and started walking toward the back room. “I’m gonna go put together your couch-bed.”

           “Thank you!” She called after him as he walked out of the room.

           When Fantasia was almost done getting her paints organized on the shelves, she heard the door-bell jingle and looked over to find Carl and Markus in the doorway.

           “So, this is why you’ve been avoiding my house all week,” Carl stated as he approached Fantasia.

           She greeted him with a smile. “I have not been avoiding, I’ve been working.”

           “Clearly, given that it was just an empty room the last time I saw it. Impressive.”

           “Agreed,” Markus chimed in as he looked around, taking notice of the color-filled shelving that lined an entire wall, and the neatly organized brushes in one corner, and the varying sizes of canvas carefully leaned against a wall in stacks of three or four. “All of this was only a week? How did you get it all done?”

           “I had help,” She reassured. “Gavin?”

           “Yeah?” He came out of the back room, hammer in hand, and his face dropped when he saw Markus. “Oh. Great.”

           “Play nice. This is an important day for me.”

           “Yeah, alright.” He squinted at Markus for a moment before he relented. “What’s up, Tasia?”

           “I have a favor to ask all of you. I want you each to pick a color you think suits you.”

           “Any particular reason?” Carl asked.

           “You’ll find out in a minute.”

           If the men were unsure, none of them showed it. Each of them chose their colors and waited for Fantasia to explain further.

           “I have this idea that’s going to sound so corny, but I’d really like for the four of us to put our handprints on the wall. All three of you are just as much a part of the reason I have this place as I am.”

           “You don’t want them all to match?” Markus questioned.

           “No, I wanted them to be your own colors. Mine will be Boysenberry.” Fantasia showed her bottle of paint to the others.

           Markus showed his, “I chose Golden Yellow.”

           “Maya Blue,” Was Carl’s reply.

           “Forest Green,” Gavin read aloud from the bottle.

           Fantasia helped each of them paint their palms and fingers in their respective colors and chose an area near the door of the studio. “Okay, everybody pick a spot.” Fantasia planted her hand on the wall directly in front of her shoulder and left it there, waiting for the others to do the same.

           Gavin put his hand to the right of Fantasia’s and slightly higher. Markus placed his hand in line with Fantasia’s to her left. Carl’s hand landed lower than the others’, but between Fantasia and Markus.

           “Okay, pull them off,” Fantasia said with a smile and put her hands contentedly on her hips. “I love it.”

           “You just got paint on your overalls.” The monotone statement came from Gavin.

           A look crossed Fantasia’s face like she was dying inside. “I did.”

           “Are they ruined?” Gavin asked.

           Carl answered, “Oh yeah.”

           Fantasia nodded her head and closed her eyes in resignation. “Yeah,” She echoed.

[master-sass-blast]

Wet T-Shirt Contest

This was written and edited on Benadryl. Goob luck.

Summary: You beat the heat again --and get very wet in the process.

Rating: G. This is a wholesome fic. Basically no warnings.

Pairings: Piotr Rasputin x Reader.

Set after “Suck It.”

Taglist:   @marvel-is-perfection, @chromecutie, @super-darkcloudstudent, @girl-obsessed-with-things

You’re dying.

Well, okay, you’re not dying –but you’re suffering enough that you may as well be.

The heat wave is still marching on, scorching everything in its reach and making your life exceptionally miserable. It’s too hot to be outside most of the day –and forget flying, because you’re liable to get burnt.

Worse still, the weathermen were wrong about the rain; there hasn’t been so much as a wisp of a cloud in sight for days. The normally well-kept gardens that dot Xavier’s property are taking it on the chin as the landscapers and residents do their best to keep up with the sun’s oppressive reign.

Thus, you’ve been cooped inside, relegated to languishing indoors while the thermometers tick ever higher.

And you are bored out of your skull. There’s only so much drawing, sparring, TV watching, cooking, general mischief-ing, and fucking –yes, you even have your limits there—you can do before you start losing your mind.

But, just when you thought your brain was going to start leaking out your ears, relief presented itself in the opportunity of pranking your beloved boyfriend, Piotr (aka Colossus).

As it so happens, it’s been dry enough and hot enough that there’s an official fire risk warning. Fireworks have been banned by the local authorities (and even Wade is following it, which means it’s serious), the fire chiefs have advised avoiding grilling, and Russell and all other fire mutations have been on a strict “indoors only” restriction to avoid any sort of random incident.

And, as it also so happens, the wooded area at the back of Xavier’s property has a fair amount of brush in it. Very good for maintaining the natural hummus and the animals that live there, very bad for fire situations.

And, as it also (also) so happens, there’s a limited number of people that can handle being out in this kind of heat while clearing the brush –and one of them is your boyfriend.

Fortunately, for your steel sweetheart, his armor also leaves him relatively invulnerable to temperature spikes. His armor might get extremely cold or extremely hot –which presents various challenges and dangers to those around him—but he himself suffers no ill effects from the temperature shifts, including when he armors back down. Combined with the fact that his mutation includes having a lower dose of exhaustion chemicals running through his system while armored up, and there’s really only one candidate for the job.

He’d still opted for today, when the temperature index had lowered a little –not by much, albeit—to clear out the worst of the brush, which had given you time to prepare.

It hadn’t taken much to sell the more playful of the adult residents, the college students that summer at Xavier’s, and the permanent residents on the idea. Apparently, you’d all been going a little stir crazy.

The lot of you have prepared for the entire week. Water balloons. Getting the hoses set up. Squirt guns. Moving the sprinklers. Everything you could possibly need for a massive water fight, you have.

It’s basically a wet t-shirt contest, and your boyfriend is the primary target.

You stifle a giggle as you crouch behind a bush, alongside Ellie and Kitty. You’ve got a stash of squirt guns and a bucket of water balloons between the three of you, and you’re ready to wreak some serious havoc.

Piotr emerges from the tree line at the back of the property, already armored down and clad in a white t-shirt and a pair of gym shorts. He doesn’t look too much worse for wear, but he doesn’t look like he’s enjoying the heat, either.

“Alright, remember: I’m gonna get him first, and then you come out with everyone else once the sprinklers go off.”

“Totally,” Kitty says, bobbing along to whatever song is blasting through her earbuds at the moment.

You regard her for a moment, then turn to Ellie. “Okay, you remember.”

Ellie smirks and nods.

You grin back, grab a couple water balloons, then dart towards Piotr.

He sees you coming –you’re not trying to be stealthy either—then shouts when the first water balloon hits him square in the chest. He raises his hands, laughing as he tries to block your shots, but he’s kind of hard to miss.

He regards his now soaked shirt once you run out of balloons with a chuckle, then looks up at you with a mischievous grin. “Hug time.”

“No!” You squeal and try to turn, but between his stride and his long arms, he doesn’t have trouble catching you (not that you were really trying to escape in the first place). You squirm against his chest as he scoops you into his arms. “Babe! No!”

Piotr merely kisses your cheek. “Now we are both wet.”

“You always get me wet, baby,” you tease. You loop your arms around his neck and lean in to kiss him—

And then the sprinklers turn on.

He yelps and almost drops you when he gets hit square in the back with a jet of cold water. “D’ermo!”

Everyone else bursts out from their respective hiding place then, shrieking with delight, firing squirt guns, and pelting each other and you and Piotr with water balloons.

You laugh, grab a water balloon, and pelt Piotr straight upside the head.

He sputters and swipes at his face, then grins at you and gives chase again.

It’s nothing short of spectacular. There’s water everywhere. The entire yard devolves into complete chaos as everyone slips and skids all over the place. Water balloons sail through the air, littering the grass with neon colored bits of plastic after they burst. Squirt guns are fired and refilled –and a few tossed aside after they flat out refuse to work.

It’s amazing.

By the time the sprinklers shut off, you’re all soaked, panting, and feeling much better from having been cooped up all week.

Piotr starts picking up the worst of the water balloon remains and tossing them in one of the empty buckets while the others start migrating towards the house. “Did you plan this?”

“It started as a way to prank you,” you admit, not the least bit sheepish. “And then it turned into a good way to relieve some cabin fever, considering we’ve all been stuck inside with this heat wave going on.”

“Well, it was very good idea, myshka,” he says as he tries to wipe his hands dry on his shirt, then stops when he realizes his shirt is wetter than his hands. “Though I think I will need to change now.”

You cock your head to the side and admire the way his shirt, now basically see through, clings to his pecs and reveals the varying lines of his chiseled musculature. “I don’t know. I kind of like it this way.”

He smirks and lets his gaze flit over your body –which is when you realize your shirt is equally as wet, clinging to the curves of your waist like a second skin and showing off the lines of your bra in full detail. “I figured as much.”

“Well, duh.” You grin cheekily at him. “We should probably get dried off, though.” You hold your hand out to him. “Care to help me?”

He grins and scoops you into his arms, carrying you back to the house bridal-style. “It would be my sincerest pleasure, moya lyubov’.”

You giggle as you wind your arms around his neck, then lean in to kiss him.