#this is also two days late but anxiety is a bitch :

[adventuringblind]

Attitude

Max Verstappen x Charles Leclerc x Reader

Genre: smut 😈

Request: Yes. No comment.

Summary: Charles is pent up and needs to do something with it. The reader needs Max to come help her with him.

Warnings: spanking, choking, subspace, lots of dirty talk, praise, degradation, anal, oral (both receiving), daddy kink

Notes: a lestappen sandwich?!

Masterlist

If you looked at the trio, the first words in your head would be ridiculous. It's unconventional. It shouldn't work. All the dumb stuff that people say that only makes all three of them smile and laugh about it later.

It works for them. They all love each other. Their dynamic is not anyone else's business. The more interesting part is how they all fit together in their own little world.

Max is the most outgoing and protective. He's aggressive, but he's also incredibly sweet. She blames his daddy issues for his want (need?) to be in control of things. This also goes for sex. He's good at it, too. He just has a way of working tactically that makes her shiver at the thought.

On the opposite side, she is quiet and gentle. Christian lets her follow Max around like a lost puppy some days if he's in a mood. Why? Mad Max can't make an appearance if she's holding his hand. Don't get her wrong, she would bitch slap somebody if she needed too. But for the most part, she'll simply do as told.

Then there's Charles. He is the lovely gray area between them. The Monegasque isn't assertive for himself, but if it comes to the other two, then he's willing to commit war crimes (at least that's how it feels). He's Max's source of understanding with driving, and he takes care of the female when people are asking too much of her.

He is also a switch, interestingly enough. He will, and has, tired every role. Some days, he prefers to tag team her with Max, others he prefers to just take what Max gives. It depends on his mood, and it always makes for interesting nightly (all times of day, really) activities.

One thing about Charles is that he has separation anxiety. If her and Max are away from him for too long, then his temper starts to flair. Not in a bad way, his mind just wanders to every possibility of what could go wrong.

The difference is, when she's the one that gone Max can take of him. The Dutch can get him to subdrop in thirty seconds (give or take). It makes him feel better, makes him forget. It's almost like a reset button.

When Max is gone, it's much harder. She's tried. She's tried too hard to get him to drop. Make an attempt at playing into Max's usual role. But she can't figure it out for the life of her. Whether she's too gentle or doesn't say the right things, she has no idea.

Max and Charles have told her ample times that it's not her responsibility. Yet the little voice in her head screams at her to make it better.

That's probably the reason she's letting Charles bruise her.

Max had to fly back to England during the winter break for a couple of weeks. Charles, as per usual, was getting frustrated by day three of no Max. She cuddled him, made him food, and watched movies. She once again tried to help him sexually, but the pent-up anxiety and frustration just kept coming, and she was starting to lose faith in herself.

Halfway through the second week, she'd called Max half sobbing. She felt clueless on what to do. Not even Lando, with all of his anxiety soothing tactics, were helping. He'd reassured her it would work out fine, that Charles says things when he's anxious, but none of it is true (the biggest being Max is going to die).

Then, she decided to switch tactics. Sue called Christian and pleaded with him to send Max home early because both her and Charles are sick (ly in need of his sexual assistance). Christian relented cause he owed her a favor anyway, and Max was to be home late that evening.

What she was not expecting was for Charles to slam her against the wall. It took her off guard when he started begging to use her body. She complied, offering herself up like a Christmas present with a bow on top for him to unwrap. It's nothing new for her. Being manhandled and fucked into next year.

But this is Charles. Her gentle Charles. Eyes dilated with lust and hands litterally ripping her clothes off. Her Charles that takes at least ten minutes to communicate, getting straight into it. Charles who lays light kisses to her most sensitive areas, now biting and sucking like he's a starving vampire.

In reality, this was not her plan. Max was going to come home and give Charles what he actually needs that she can't provide.

"Fuck chéri, you really are a slut." He slaps her clit and it drags a whine out of her. "A dirty whore, gonna let me use you? Hmm?"

She nods her head vigorously. Her head felt foggy a few minutes ago, but now she's just gone. Mind desperate to please and give what he needs. Let him take every piece of her that he so desires.

First, he takes her mouth. Her head hanging upsidedown off the bed. His cock hitting the back of her throat consistently, angrily. She's choking, crying, and finding it difficult to breathe. He still took care of keeping her hands on him so she could tap out, but she wasn't going to. Her mind repeats the same words over and over again.

Finally, his hips stutter, and he's trying to keep himself upright. It's sticky down the back of her throat, but she could care less. Charles is moaning and panting, and it satisfies that need in her head to please him.

But it's not enough. She doesn't get time to recover. Charles drags her by the knees back onto the bed fully. He pins her waist down with one hand and shoves her legs open with the other. A sharp stinging sensation is laid to the insides of her thighs. She screams in surprise but he doesn't relent.

"Such a good toy. Are you going to be a good slut for me and and let me spank you?" She cries as her thighs touch when she rolls over for him. She whines out a little 'yes sir' and braces for his hand to meet her skin.

"Count and say thank you."

Something in her mind snaps. Is she being punished? Or is she being used? Cause in her mind those are two different thing.

Slap.

"One... thank you sir."

He's not like Max at all. Her head is too fuzzy to really remember things, but she's certain Max always clarifies.

Slap.

"Two... thank you sir."

She's not sure she's going to make it through however many he plans on. So she just takes it.

Slap.

"Ten... thank you sir."

She aches in every are. She wants to please. She needs to please. It is her purpose.

Slap.

"Sixteen... thank you sir."

Her words are slurred. She can't talk. Her mouth feels impossibly dry. Her tears have soaked into the sheets beneath her.

She sobs as Charles flips her again. There is a small part of her that thinks if he keeps manhandling her like this, she might finish without doing anything else. It's not going to take much with how close she is already.

Once again, her legs are spread. His hands grip her waist. Then he sheaths himself inside of her. There is no pause, simply pace. It's relentless and has her wailing.

Then nothing.

It's like time freezes. There is no movement. Charles has even stopped breathing.

She pulls her eyes open. The sight of Max, his grip halting every movement Charles can make, meets her eyes like he's an angel sent to fix this.

"Did you really think you could dom our girl, Charlie? You can't even take care of yourself." Max forces Charles to really look at her. The damage he'd done to her body as clear as day. "Do you see what you've done? What were you trying to achieve here?"

She can actively feel Charles melting. She can see his eyes getting glassy. They probably match now. If she were coherent, she would be upset that Max managed to make him drop with a couple of sentences. For now, she'll stick to not thinking and writhing around in pain.

She suddenly feels empty without Charles in her. Max had pulled him out of her. "Knees. On the floor. Hands behind your back." Max's demanding tone makes her feel all warm and fuzzy.

His calloused fingers dance across her beat thighs. She hisses at the sting but doesn't flinch away. "Who do you need right now, schat? Do you want me to be sir and keep being rough? Do you want me to be daddy and give you something soft?"

She feels stupid just staring at him in awe. Her mind is not able to fathom how good-looking he is. She curses her brain. She thought the same thing as Charles was using her for everything she had.

"Come on love. I need you to stay with me. Need you to tell me your colors."

"Green, Daddy. Mm green. I tried to help..." it comes out a slurred mumble, and she hopes he can understand her.

"Daddy's gonna take care of you now, yeah? Have you cum yet?" She shakes her head no and goes back memorizing his face.

Max moves away from her, and she whines at the loss of contact. She can only watch as Max gets a hold of Charles' thick brown locks. The Monegasque moans at the force.

Max brings him to his feet and again forces his gaze onto her. "She hasn't even finished yet, Charles. If you want me to fuck you out of this mood then you're going to fix your mess first."

She's shocked at how easily Max maneuvers Charles into position. There is no hesitation for Max to shove his tongue into her core.

Fuck does she whine. She moans. She writhes. She wails as his tongue swirls around her clit.

Her hands find his hair, which only amplifies his moans. Max is behind him, working him open for whatever he has planned. She assumes, based on the level of moans and pants, that Max is touching his prostate in very clinical ways.

Finally, she's asking for it. Begging for her release that she has waited for, been used for.

"Cum for me. Let Charles taste all of you."

The pleasure she'd been dipping her toes in is now swallowing her whole. Her body spasms and her muscles contract. Charles has to keep her knees apart so her can help elongate her high.

She can barely breathe when her body settles. Sweat drips down her face along with another set of tears. Charles also lies flat, staring up at her like a puppy who's gotten in trouble. Which isn't to far from the truth, she thinks.

"Colors?"

A course of breathy "green" echoes through the room. Max then moves to the side of her. He kisses her skin. He tells her how good she is. Then he immediately goes back to situating their bodies.

"Okay, Charlie, I'm going to give you what you want. I'm going to fix this attitude problem." They end up in a position that is less fun for Charles, easy for her (despite the weight at times) and very fun for Max.

Every movment brings Charles more stimulation. Max moves his hips back and forth. In and out of both simultaneously. He is taking Max from behind while she lets him stretch her once again.

She's already to far gone to really notice everything that's happening. However. Charles is looking at her like she's the most amazing creature he's ever beheld.

"Apoligize to her, and maybe I'll let you move faster."

Charles begins dripping in apologies. "I'm so sorry, amour. I wasn't being careful. Just wanted to feel good. Please- fuck- I'm so sorry."

"S'okay, Charlie." Is what she manages. Though she's sure it isn't coherent.

Max picks up the speed. This time, praising them both. It's dirty and relentless. The words leaving his mouth are filthy to most, but to her, they create a sense of pride.

"My good sluts. Taking what I give you."

Charles is begging for it. She would be too if Max hadn't told her she didn't have to ask. To which she realizes it's probably not helping the Monegasque to have cum around him multiple times now.

Finally, Max relents. Charles collapses into a writhing spasming mess. Max's hands are all over his body, dragging the high out as much as he can.

Then they are curled up together. No sexual intent, just cuddles. Max In between the two, stroking hair and backs.

He didn't want to try and bathe them or start icing mucles and bruises so far into the head space. So he settles for kisses and sweet words instead.

"Mm sorry for being to hot headed."

"You don't have to be sorry for your emotions, Charles. But you also need to be in a good headspace if you're going to dom like that." Max turns and kisses his cheek. "I am glad your feeling better."

Max glances the other direction when he hears light snores coming from the female.

"Do you think she'll still trust me?"

"If she didn't trust you, then she wouldn't have continued. Just make nit to try that again for a while. I didn't think you had it in you to try that."

"I didn't either, to be honest."

"Next time, maybe I'll let you do that to me." Max laughs, mostly because he knows it would take a lot to get him to the point of wanting that.

Charles simply gives him a terrible wink as if to signify that he'll be holding him to that.

[boxbugdotcom]

poo poo pee pee oooohh you wanna tal;k about mumscarian asooooo bad ouuhohhhhh you wanna discuss tehem and tyour headcannons on them SOOO ABADDDD

OUHH I WANNA TALK ABOUT MUMSCARIAN SOOOOO BAD

(guys, obviously this is not about the content creators, those are real people. this is all about the characters!! ty 🫶)

guys literally ENOUGH trying to chose between Grumbo or Scarian or Redscape. they all have two hands. And it’s not Just Grumbo + Scar or Scarian + Mumbo, THEY ALL HAVE WONDERFUL CHEMISTRY!!

Grian and Mumbo CLEARLY like each other— summoning circles and bothering each other every single day (not so much this season), they genuinely enjoy each other’s company, love being around each other— a good example could be in secret life, Grian’s first task to make bad puns and have no one laugh. And what did he do?? Immediately goes to find Mumbo, despite knowing Mumbo is the world’s giggliest person!! Another one is Mumbo’s complete and total regret when making that deal with Grian for his permits— when he took the bit too far and Grian backed out he felt so bad about it!!

Scar and Grian, I mean. C’mon. We have everything about third life, and then double life— and they have such a fun teasing sort of relationship! They laugh with each other and poke fun and that’s how they are !!! They are NOT bad for each other or mean to each other or anything, they play off of each other and don’t hold grudges for their bits. Like the snails bit, or the on hold bit (all from this season), they’re just ! fun and playful together.

Mumbo and Scar are absolutely wonderful together ! their personalities work well together and they’re so hilarious— i love me a crazy bitch (scar) and the seemingly normal guy said crazy bitch totes around with him (mumbo). That’s not to say Mumbo’s normal, he’s only regular because everyone around him is batshit /j still though! Scar does all his crazy shit, and Mumbo’s along for the ride bc they like hanging out together! Mumbo loves Scar’s builds and takes inspo from them, they based next to each other on magic mountain, they’re just so !!

And let’s not forget !! the buttercups! All of season nine! The fact that they’ve based together every season since Grian’s joined!!!

as for headcanons i. literally could talk for hours about it but my phone is dying and its late,,, so have this short list!!

- Grian falls asleep in the sun SO often and whenever Scar or Mumbo finds him, they just ! join him !

- Scar’s the strongest, Grian’s the lightest, and Mumbo’s the weakest. Grian has hollow bird bones and therefore is really light ! Mumbo just is,,,, such a twink im sorry its gotta be said. He may haul redstone components around but he is NOT buff. Scar is buff okay it just Makes Sense. He can pick both Grian and Mumbo up easy

- Mumbo’s the most easily flustered, and Grian and Scar tag team flirt with him SOOOO OFTEN. It just ends in Mumbo being a red and stuttering mess

- Mumbo also is the worst at flirting— Grian’s the best, and Scar isn’t good at it but his insane demeanor and strange behaviors are so captivating to the other two. Mumbo cant flirt to save his life. He once tried a simple pickup line on Grian and forgot how it went halfway through. He’s tried to flirt with Scar and fell face first into the dirt.

- Mumbo still has insane loserboy rizz and autistic swagger. how??? no one knows! but his nervous demeanor and autistic rizz bagged both scar and grian idk

- The Buttercups was a resistance to Doc, yes, but it was ALSO Grian and Scar inviting Mumbo into their relationship. Mumbo did not realize this until FAR into the buttercups. He was not complaining

- On that note, Grian and Scar were dating first, absolutely. After 3rd life??? there was no way they weren’t. But they saw Mumbo, in all his autism, loserboy, anxiety disorder swagger, and both fell head over heels.

- Mumbo has like. Always been in love with Grian and Scar. Since they became friends, basically. But he was nervous to say anything, and then they were dating, and it was okay! Mumbo was absolutely smitten, but it was manageable. He loved them both so much— it was a bruise that only hurt when you pushed on it. But he loved being around them! He loved being their friend, so it was okay! He was their friend, and he loved them, and he was okay with that

- Of course, they DID love him back. Mumbo just didn’t realize that,,,, for a while,,,,,

I’m sure i could come up with more! but like i said it’s late and i need to sleep lmao

[strniohoeee]

Could you write a Matt x fem y/n where she gets overwhelmed with life (or something like that) and she tries to hide it from Matt. She fails miserably and in telling him what’s wrong she has a panic attack, so he has to guide her through it. Like kind of angsty in the beginning but very fluffy in the end? If that’s okay with you?

Trapped

Pairing: Matt Sturniolo X Female Reader

Synopsis: Y/N is struggling to balance her stressful life without realizing it. Unable to figure out what’s wrong some questions from Matt make her spiral and panic takes place🗣️

Warnings⚠️: None it’s just short 😭

Song for the imagine: Silver Soul- Beach House

Trap

(Past tense) Trapped

Verb

Prevent (someone) from escaping from a place

Lately my mind has been clouded by this overwhelming feeling of stress. I’m not usually a stressed person, but when I do find myself getting overwhelmed I handle it well.

But right now in this moment I wasn’t sure what was wrong and why I couldn’t control these feelings. I suppose it’s true that stress is a silent killer.

I couldn’t really pinpoint why my mind was racing and I felt this impending doom waiting for me. Like I was on the brink of snapping?

To make matters worse I’ve been distancing myself from Matt and his brothers because I didn’t want to seem like a buzz kill. Constantly plagued by the “what’s wrong” was making me annoyed. Because I simply couldn’t say what was wrong because I didn’t even know.

Matt had come over to my apartment to spend the night with me. I felt horrible because he was so excited and I just wanted peace and quiet, and to go to sleep.

I was being such a bitch, and I tried not to be but it was becoming very hard. My mind was constantly racing and for what? I had no idea….

“Baby are you okay?” Matt asked me, snapping me out of my trance

“Huh what?” I said looking at him

“Well I’ve been talking to you and you haven’t said a thing” he said furrowing his brows at me

“I’m- I’m sorry” I said shaking my head

“Are you sure you’re okay? You seem off” he replied rubbing my arm

“Yes Matt I’m fine” I said sternly kind of brushing his arm off of me

“Oh uhh I’m sorry” he said snatching his hand back

“Listen I’m sorry I’m just not feeling the best today” I said rubbing my forehead

“Would you like to talk about it?” He asked repositioning himself on the couch

“What is there to talk about when I don’t even know what’s going on in my brain” I said frustrated

“I’m not trying to make you upset so we don’t have to talk about” he said looking at me

“I’m sorry, okay, it’s not you I promise. I’m just stressed” I said back to him

“Well baby what are you stressed about?” He asked reading my face for an answer

“Matt I don’t know okay” I said feeling my heart beat quicken

“It’s okay” he said rubbing my knee which caused my anxiety to spike even more

His over analyzing of the situation made my brain go haywire. Anxious thoughts infiltrating my mind.

“I’m just stressed about a lot…..my content, and then my part time job and then also juggling school, and then my mom called me the other day to say that my dog is probably dying, and I have tons of bills and so much stuff to do and such little time” I said my chest rising and falling

“It’s okay to feel that way. You’re young and you’re doing a lot and living on your own isn’t easy” he said tucking my hair behind my ear

“And the warranty is up for my car so I have to call and purchase it again, and my manager has been trying to get a meeting in with me, and I have to fly back home in two weeks”

“and….and…..why does my chest feel like it’s tightening?” I suddenly blurted out the last part

“Y/N, you have to calm down okay. You’re freaking yourself out just breathe” Matt said sitting up

“I can’t breathe and my hearing is going out, my vision seems blurry? Am I going to pass out?? Why can’t I breathe Matt?” I said breathing quickly and erratically

“Listen to me, okay listen to my voice. You’re having a panic attack. You need to focus on your breathing and calm down” he said grabbing my hands and sitting in front of me

“I can’t” I said staring blankly as tears ran down my face

“Yes you can baby” he said

“Why am I crying?” I asked trying to breathe

“You’re having a breakdown, you’re going to be okay just do as I say” he replied back

“Remember when I took you to the cape and we went to that river?” He asked me

“Yes” I said shakily

“Okay now breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth” he said wiping my tears

“Well remember how beautiful it looked, and how vibrant the tree were….we sat down on a rock and you put your feet in the water” he said to me

“Yes I remember” I replied blinking my tears away

“And you tried to count the rocks in the water but you couldn’t” he said

“Yeah there were too many I kept messing up” I said laughing a bit

“And then you just focused on the water running through your feet, and you said that-“ I cut him off

“I said that it felt like silk running along my skin” I replied smiling at him

“Exactly, and you said the wind blowing through your hair made you feel like a main character in a movie” he replied laughing

“Yes I remember” I said laughing

“And do you remember who was there with you?” He asked and to this I furrowed my eyebrows

“Of course Matt, it was you” I said looking at him

“Exactly, I will be with you no matter what. I will always be by your side” he said kissing my knuckles

I had calmed down and my mind had cleared. Finally coming to my senses at what just happened. My body and mind feeling exhausted

“Thank you Matt” I said smiling at him

“Always my love. I’ll always be here for you. You should never let yourself get this way. If you ever feel any amount of stress just tell me I can help you” he said rubbing my cheek with his thumb

“I’m sorry I just don’t want to seem like a burden” I replied looking down

“You’re never a burden. Because when I’m stressed you’re always there to help me and I want you to do the same” he told me

“Okay Matt I will. I promise” I said leaning into his chest after he sat back on the couch

“Listen, you're doing well enough to quit your part time job, and if you ever need any money for anything just let me know okay. I want to help you! I’ll fly with you back home, and I'll go to the dealership to get the warranty package for your car again. Let’s look at your calendar together and schedule the meeting with your manager. And I can help be your study buddy for your courses” he replied rubbing my shoulders

“Thank you Matt I really appreciate it” I said melting into his touch

“This is what I’m here for! To be there for you always” he replied kissing my shoulder

“I love you” I said

“I love you too” he replied back

I looked over my shoulder and he placed a kiss on my lips. A kiss that let me know how loved I was….

The End

Hiiiii I hope you enjoyed this one! I have two stories similar to this on my page, so I tried my best to make it different😭😭 I love yall and I hope you enjoyed this one🥹🖤🖤

-J💅🏽

[redclercs]

DELICATE✰ CHARLES LECLERC.

xi.it’s okay we’re the best of friends

— the one where all you do is think about the feelings that you hide.

warnings: guys, my brain was failing during this so not really proofread, also please pretend the dress is the same in both pics lol, alcohol consumption. 2.5k words.

currently playing: drive by halsey!

masterlist ✢ next

Liked by charles_leclerc, carlossainz55, mati.bassi, tchalamet and others.

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softyn FIRST POST SINCE MAY AND MOTHER WANTS US DEAD

ynstars I LOVE YOU SO MUCH SLAY

aid4anfeels ugly bitch

lecsainz516 whose wedding is this, charles and carlos were there too

formulayn did @/charles_leclerc take these?

liked by charles_leclerc

THE COMMENTS FOR THIS POST ARE LIMITED.

August 5th, Madrid, Spain.

WHEN Charles said you needed to make new memories in Spain to replace the bad ones, you didn’t have a wedding in mind. However, with the rollercoaster that is your life as of lately, you don’t swim against the current anymore. Just going with it is not a bad way to live when you’re still trying to reach the surface and get away from the wreckage.

Things aren’t good. Not yet. The press is still having a field day with all that he said, she said merry go round. Aidan and Victoria are fighting to play the victim and Mia Kim is on a mission to paint you as the worst sister-in-law who could have ever existed. Which, to be fair, paints her in a weird Freudian light.

But things are better than they were the last time you were in Spain. And that’s something to be grateful for.

“Are you sure?” You asked Charles on FaceTime for the third time that night two weeks ago, he had just asked you to be his plus one to one of his Ferrari mates’ wedding. “Are you a hundred percent sure they won’t mind?”

The last thing you wanted was to feel like an intruder, and with the type of attention you carry around like a dark cloud over your head, ruining someone’s special day was not an experience you wanted to add to your repertoire.

“Of course they won’t mind, soleil.” Charles assured, he was still in Hungary after the Grand Prix. “Tommaso told me I could bring anyone, and I want to bring you.”

The last time you saw Charles in person was in New York City, almost two months ago. It doesn't mean, of course, that you stopped communicating. Whenever Charles is on his phone, you can be certain you'll receive a text, a picture or a random iMessage drawing. You handle time zones as best you can without sacrificing too much sleep time, especially for the one who has to drive a car at 300 km/hr.

Although he insisted on you coming to any Grand Prix of your choice, you thought it best to stay away from the paddock for a while. Plus, you had some work to do. You didn't love Talk Shows while promoting, most hosts did horrible, unfunny jokes, and you were the butt of a lot of them, but if being in some of them helped you to speak about your situation and dismiss whatever rumor Victoria, Aidan or Mia (or just about half the internet) had going on, you were willing to make the sacrifice.

You were also willing to attend a complete stranger's wedding just to see Charles again, but you didn't want to give that thought the depth it demanded from you. Not in the seven hour flight from New York to Madrid, and not now, as you're getting ready for Charles to pick you up to go to the wedding.

Your blue dress is frankly magnificent, and you are aware of how good you look, but it doesn't hurt that the first thing Charles does when the doors to the lift open, is compliment you. Well, to be fair, the first thing he does is gather his thoughts and try not to feel stupid after basically picking his jaw up from the floor.

"You look gorgeous," Charles says, clearing his throat. His sudden anxiety makes you chuckle, as his Adam's apple bobs up his neck. "I missed you so much, soleil."

You are mildly disappointed when he doesn't hug you the way he did back in New York, and you dismiss the feeling almost as quickly as it appeared. Although his words linger in the air, he missed you, and you did too.

"I don't want to ruin your hair," he explains, as if he's read your mind, and smiles wider.

"Right," you shake your head, it was obvious. "You look pretty good yourself, Charlie," you add, always trying to return the compliment, and only managing to make it awkward.

There is something about men in suits that makes them twice as attractive, and it's unfair when it comes to someone like Charles, who is already way too handsome as it is.

"Thank you," Charles is always nice enough to accept your half-assed, anxiety induced compliments. "Shall we?"

You nod, and when he offers his arm to lead you to the car, you link yours through it taking a breath so deep, it makes your lungs ache.

"Do you like weddings?" Charles asks as the engine of his car roars to life. A red Ferrari is the only way you manage to describe it, afraid of getting details wrong. Although you're certain Charles would patiently explain anything you needed to know about it, you don't ask.

"Everyone likes weddings," you reply, setting both hands on top of your knees. "Right?"

Charles chuckles and shrugs, "I guess so,"

You love weddings, except when you're expected to be the bride.

"Charles," you pat his shoulder and he takes his eyes off the road for the briefest second. "Are you completely sure the bride doesn't mind my presence?"

You don't want to give yourself some sort of importance you don't deserve—the bride has more important things to worry about—but particularly nervous about how your presence will be received at the celebration.

"Seriously, y/n," Charles soothes, his right hand leaves the steering wheel and searches for your own blindly, accidentally landing on your empty lap. He takes his hand back immediately, red creeping up his neck. "It's fine." he resolves, his sight way too focused on the road now.

"Alright," you whisper, smoothing the skirt of your dress. "Alright."

Both of you remain silent the rest of the way as you take in the Spanish landscape and Charles drives like his life depends on it. You promised yourself you'd ask for as much information on the happy couple as you could, but your voice is lost in the pit that opened in your stomach.

And the evening is just beginning.

It's after the ceremony, at cocktail hour that you find everything out about Tommaso and Bárbara thanks to none other than Carlos Sainz, who seems to really have a thing for gossip and also, for making fun of you for crying during the vows.

"Leave me alone, Carlos," you warn for the last time, this time threatening him with your closed fist. "Not my fault you don't have a heart in that big-ass chest."

This makes him laugh harder, and even Charles chuckles against the lip of his whiskey glass.

"I miss you so much around the paddock, y/n!" Carlos sighs, patting the place above his heart. "For real."

You click your tongue. "Sure you do,"

Carlos and you talk a lot less than Charles and you do, of course. But if Charles calls you during whatever free time he has while in the Ferrari Suite, you can trust Carlos to insert himself in the conversation.

"And a lot of the other drivers do too," Carlos' tone is mocking again, and you glower at him.

"Stop picking on me," this time you punch him on the shoulder.

"I'm being serious. Lando has a crush on you,"

You talked to Lando a few times, mostly when he and Carlos were being boys and hitting each other in the balls outside the Ferrari Suite and Lando made small talk as he tried not to touch his private parts. A crush is an exaggeration, Lando just told you he thought you were cool for making movies.

"Why don't we take some pictures?" Charles suggests before downing the rest of his whiskey. You don't miss the look he gives Carlos.

"Why not?" you smile at Charles, shrugging. The place is beautiful and you would love to have a memory of this whole thing that you can go back to.

"I'll catch up with you guys," Carlos calls as you two walk away, uninterested in the impromptu photoshoot.

Charles directs an annoyed look at him again and then makes it go away to return his attention to you.

"What was that?" you ask, taking Charles' arm again for him to lead you to where the rest of the guests are more scattered and won't photobomb your pictures.

"What was what?" Charles lifts an eyebrow, forever the expert at playing dumb. Or, not really.

You shake your head, this is another deep thought you don't want to venture into. There is enough of this weird tension already, and you're not sure if Charles feels it too.

─────────

"Your girlfriend is beautiful," a lady is patting your hand, a gentle smile on her face as she looks at Charles. She's the spouse of another Ferrari team member, and the first thing she did was compliment your dress before even asking for your name.

"Oh, I'm not—"

"We're just friends," Charles clears up, gentle as well. "But y/n really is beautiful."

The woman raises both eyebrows and laughs, an 'oh you kids' snicker that isn't unkind. "Of course, of course."

It's the first time of many during this party that Charles has to say you're not in a relationship, and it seems to get easier every time the words come out of his mouth.

Although it's true, you're not sure why it nags at you.

You cry again during the couple's First Dance and verbally threaten Carlos to leave you alone as you wipe your tears carefully, doing your best to keep your makeup intact. He laughs, but takes your threat seriously and remains quiet. This whole Tom and Jerry thing is amusing but he doesn't want to actually make you angry.

A few songs in, after you're done bickering with Carlos and you have finished your third glass of champagne, Charles asks you to dance with him.

An slowed-down version of Sixpence's 'Kiss Me' plays as you take the dance floor. You blame your giddiness on the fact that you finished that flute of champagne in record time.

"What is it?" Charles questions, smoothly placing one hand on your hip while the other holds your palm. His thumb runs up and down the curve of your wrist.

"What if I step on your foot?" you retort, looking up at him. That's only one thing that makes you nervous, although you know how to dance. You took lessons for both Supercut and Parisian Valentine.

Laughter bubbles from Charles' chest and you join in, although this makes you even more nervous. It would be stupid to say you don't see how handsome he is, even if he's just your friend.

"I won't mind," Charles promises, and his fingers press a little harder against your hip bone.

"Okay, then."

It's obviously not a complicated endeavor to sway around the dance floor with Charles, he lets you set the pace, lacing your fingers together after you spin back to him.

"Thank you for coming with me, soleil," he says in a low voice. You can smell the alcohol in his breath although it's been a while since he stopped drinking, he still has to drive you back to your hotel. "I really missed you these two months."

"I love weddings. Thanks for inviting me," you squeeze his shoulder, the contrast of your manicured nails against his shirt distracts you momentarily from the fact that you can feel his breath against your jaw.

It's the second time today that you miss the chance to tell him you missed him too, and you know he notices it by the way he leans away.

The song ends before your tongue decides to respond to you again and Charles lets go of you. A few seconds feel like an hour as you stare at each other, unable—or unwilling—to say anything of what either of you really want to say.

"Care to dance?" a guy with longish hair and dark eyes is offering you his hand now, as a faster song starts and the lights around the room turn brighter.

You break eye contact with Charles and when you look at him again, he just nods, taking a step back to your assigned table.

"Sure," you tell the guy, a tense smile on your face. "Let's dance."

The ride back to your hotel is silent again, and you're too tired to find a way to fill it.

Charles' energy has shifted and this makes your stomach turn. Your anxiety worsens every time you feel someone is 'off' towards you, and that someone being Charles makes it a hundred times worse.

He takes the elevator to your room with you, placing his hand gently in the middle of your bare back to let you in first.

"We're okay, right?" you whisper, looking at your distorted reflections on the silver wall of the cubicle.

You see Charles' reflection frown and then his face turns to you. "Of course we're okay, y/n. Is something wrong?"

You shake your head, the loose strands of your bun tickle your nape. "I'm just wondering."

Charles is never bothered by your need for reassurance, not even when he needs reassurance himself. That he's not being a complete and absolute moron by wanting the woman all the boys want to dance with, and holding onto that little slither of hope that he might have a chance with her. He's the one standing next to you after the party, still.

"We are okay. Didn't you have fun today?" he asks, pushing those thoughts aside. You're friends. Just friends.

"Of course I did!" you inhale sharply, "I just— nevermind." you take your hand to the back of your head, already tired of the half undone bun that threatens to give you a headache.

"I had fun. I always have fun when I'm with you," Charles follows you out of the elevator and down the hallway to the third door marked with a 3321.

You're still struggling to find the exact hairpin that holds your hairdo together, and Charles pinpoints it almost at the same time as you do, pulling it out swiftly to make your hair fall down your shoulders.

It's a meaningless gesture, Charles hasn't given it a second thought or stopped walking. But a shiver runs down your back as his knuckles graze your nape.

"Thanks, Charlie." You say, swallowing.

"Of course," Charles puts the pin inside the pocket of his trousers with a shrug.

You stand in front of the room for a minute, having a stare down again as you rub the back of your head.

"Thank you again for today, Charles." you're the one to break the silence, keycard already between your fingers. "I had a great time."

"I'm glad, soleil." Charles his dimples appear when he smiles and your breath hitches when he leans towards you. It feels like you've been showered with ice cold water. "Good night, y/n," he says and presses his lips against your cheek.

"Good night, Charlie," you wave him goodbye from the door as he walks back to the lift.

The feeling of his lips against your skin is there, even after you've washed your face and tucked yourself into bed.

─── team principal radio: ❝thank you for reading! surprisingly, i don't have much to say this time other than i really hope you enjoyed this chapter, and that I appreciate each one of you dearly!♡❞

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[kissesforsatoru]

WANT YOU SO BAD | wc : 4.4k

BULLY! HANEMIYA KAZUTORA x FEM!READER

₊˚⌗ you hate him. you hate him. he ruined your life, so you should hate him. kazutoras specialty has always been getting his way by changing the minds of others, though.

⤷ cw : general yandere themes, vague bullying, social isolation and social anxiety, dub-con, semi-public sex, soft sex but also rough sex (???), oral (receiving), marking/love bites, dirty talk, teasing, degradation, praise, way too much kissing, kazutora being a bit of a sadistat first, then he gets soft, then he's back to being a sadist, slightly delusional reader (they’re kinda into it even though kazutora ruined their life)

notes : at long last, it's finished and at 2:21 am 😭 GUYS I HAVE TO BE UP EARLY TOMORROW BUT SOMETHING OVERCAME ME AND I JUST HAD TO FINISH THIS TONIGHT IDK

i honestly don't know how i feel about it, but whatever. i hope you guys are able to enoy this because it was honestly a bitch to write 😭

you anxiously gripped the hem of your shirt as you walked down the halls of your school, eyes cast down to focus on anything other than the fact that you were surrounded by lots of other students. you avoided getting too close to any of them, opting more to stay closer to the wall while simultaneously shrinking into yourself to look as small and unnoticeable as possible.

you didn't have to look to know where you were going, so to keep your anxiety addled brain at bay, you kept your eyes on your feet. one in front of the other, one in front of the other. you just wanted to get to class as quickly as possible and preferably without any sort of incident today.

as much as you had hoped and willed the whims of fate, every single day at that, nothing every favored you or what you wanted.

you bit your lip and turned your head to the side as you rounded a corner, bumping into someone as you did. all of the books and papers fell to the floor along with you, regrettably scattering everywhere. you whined weakly as tears welled in your eyes at the pain that shot throughout your body.

your lip quivers as you brace yourself with your hands, looking up at the person you'd run into—a boy, someone you weren't familiar with, though. he looked you over with a countenance of disgust before quickly turning to walk away, biting harshly to 'watch where the fuck you're going'.

you sighed, leaning over to collect your fallen things. your body shook as you moved around on the, still weakened from the impact of falling.

nobody stopped to help you—nobody even acknowledged you, for that matter. not that you expected anyone to, because ever since kazutora spread rumors about you nobody wanted anything to do with you. not even takemichi, who was usually so sweet to you. it was pathetic, really, how easily your life had come to ruin over one little mistake you made: underestimating how serious kazutora's threats were.

you were well aware he hated you from the moment the two of you met, he made that very clear, but you never knew how deeply that hatred was rooted. you didn’t know he was being serious when he told you to stay away from tekemichi, and now you’re here, very much aware, but it's far too late for it to even matter anymore. your reputation was trampled and ruined so effortlessly that nobody dared to associate themselves with you anymore—except for kazutora, who was the one person you actually wanted to leave you alone.

"hey!" a gruff voice called from behind you, and you tensed, eyes widening as you picked up your things faster. you could only hope that the voice wasn't calling for you as you stood up and practically ran down the hall, no longer caring about the pain or if you drew unnecessary attention to yourself. at this point, anything was better than whatever it was that kazutora wanted, because no matter what, it probably wasn’t good for you.

you gasped and once again all your things dropped to the floor as you were suddenly grabbed and shoved against a wall. you grimaced, looking away and sliding down to the floor as a pained sob escaped your lips. kazutora glared harshly down at you as he put his arms on either side of you, caging you in and blocking any chance you had at escaping--which would have been futile even if you did attempt to run again.

kazutora huffed at the sight before him, mocking you as you practically shivered in fear. nothing brought him more satisfaction than seeing you like this—completely helpless and at his mercy. he liked that panicked look in your eyes whenever you saw him, and he liked the way you anxiously shied away from him whenever he was close. it made him feel so powerful and superior.

kazutora doesn’t know why he liked it so much, because he’s never enjoyed this kind of thing outside of his delinquency, but the way you reacted to him drew him in and made him yearn to control you in every way. it was exhilarating, really.

"why the hell were you running away from me, y/n? i know you heard me calling." you flinched, falling further down the wall as a sob escaped your lips again. you wrapped your arms tightly around yourself, scratching your nails into your clothes as kazutora held your waist and gripped your chin.

he was close, far too close for your liking—though any distance from him wasn’t far enough for you, because no matter what, kazutora would always find you. it was like he had a leash wrapped around your neck, suffocating and inescapable. your many futile attempts to get away were pitiful and laughable at this point.

"fucking answer me, y/n." kazutora growled out slowly, his grip on your waist growing tighter with each second you remained silent. kazutora isn't a very patient man as it is, but whenever it came to you, he seemed all too pushy and demanding more than usual.

“i–i," you stutter pitifully, lip quivering as kazutora draws his face closer. "class–it… it starts soon." you spit out an excuse that you knew kazutora wouldn’t care for, but it was better than not saying anything.

he hums, grip loosening as he nods his head slowly. you almost sigh in relief, but you know better than to expect things to go off so simply. kazutora doesn’t care about class, or you getting there on time—your attendance records were proof enough of that. there had to be a catch of some sort, it was just a matter of figuring out what it was.

"you make a fair point, y/n. but you can't go to class looking like this…" he trails off, leaning back to rake his eyes steadily over your body. you wore a cute little skirt that came up to about mid thigh paired with a plain white shirt and light brown sweater vest on top. kazutora was more interested in the white knee high socks you were wearing, though. it made the outfit much more alluring, and dare he even say slutty.

kazutora grazed the soft skin of your exposed thigh with his finger tips while using his other hand to pull you closer by the waist. a little whimper escaped your mouth, and kazutora smirked as he saw how flustered you were getting.

kazutora’s never really touched you like this before, but he knew you were incredibly reactive to him anyway—always making small noises and gestures that were very telling of how you were feeling. he's always wondered how far he could take those reactions, and now he been given the opportunity to explore it thoroughly.

"kazutora, sto–mmh–stop." you choke out as you try to suppress the noises that threaten to spill from your lips. using one hand, kazutora pins your wrists to the wall while the other continues to feel you up. you can’t do anything as his cold fingers trace your skin salaciously with a certain slowness that makes you shiver under his touch.

"y/n… '' kazutora calls your name teasingly. "you’re dressed so slutty, you know? how can you expect me to control myself?" the question was met with watering eyes and a small whimper. for the first time since kazutora had ruined your life, you dared to look him in the eyes. it caught him off guard; his movements pausing and breath catching in his throat as he stared into your teary eyes—kazutora was pretty damn sure he might’ve just fallen in love again.

you were so fucking pretty. everything about you was just so captivating and attractive.

small noises escaped your lips as you wordlessly pleaded with him, but it was clear to kazutora that you weren’t exactly sure what it was you were pleading for.

he smirked, releasing your hands only to pick you up entirely to walk somewhere that you can only assume nobody will find you. you wrap your arms around him hesitantly, sniffling and biting your lip as you rest your chin on his shoulder. his grip tightened ever so slightly as you began to relax in his arms. you don’t know what’s happening, but honestly you don’t have the strength to question kazutora right now.

it didn’t take kazutora long to get to his destination, which you figured out was the gym supply closet after he sits you down on one of the cold mats.

a weird feeling in your stomach made you shiver as you shyly grabbed the hem of your shirt. kazutora spread your legs, shoving his larger body in between them while placing his hands on either side of you again. he was close, still too close for your comfort, but you weirdly felt okay with it now—the intention was different, now more of a hungry lust rather than aggression.

you flinched when you felt a hand press against your cheek and then a few seconds later a muffled gasp left your mouth when you felt soft lips press against yours. you place both your hands on kazutoras chest, not to push him away per se, but to ease the pressure of his lips against yours that were all too hungry and consuming.

you don't pull away either, despite being a little but confused and definitely scared. instead you allow kazutora to lead the kiss while you hesitantly following along—tried to at least, because you were sloppy with it. kazutora doesn’t seem to mind though since he doesn’t pull away and complain like you expected him to.

and inkling of doubt and worry slowly consume you as the kiss drags on, because this could full well just be another one of kazutora’s sick jokes. yet, there was a part of you, the part that kept you from thrashing and demanding to be let go, that wanted to believe that wasn't the case.

kazutora finally pulls away when your rhythm begins to slow and your body grows limp. soft little pants fill the room as you try to catch your breath, still holding tightly onto kazutora’s shirt that you ended up grabbing in the midst of the kiss. kazutora admires the look on your face in the meantime, all flushed and dazed like you’d just taken some sort of addictive drug that gives you a pleasure high. kazutora likes that thought—you being addicted to his kisses.

after a few minutes, kazutora pushes you down flat on the mat and crawls on top of your body. bracing both arms on either side of your head, and his knee between your legs, kazutora traps you beneath him. smirking as he leans down, kazutora revels in the sound of your whimper.

"you look so lewd, y/n. is this what you wanted, hm? for me to fuck you senseless for being a little slut in that outfit you've got on?" kazutora whispers against your neck, the warmth of his breath on your skin causing you to squirm. you turn your head away, embarrassed by his words.

"yeah, that's definitely what you wanted. you were practically begging me to fuck you with your pretty eyes earlier." kazutora licked the shell of your ear, nibbling gently at the top, dragging an airy gasp from your lips.

"no–mhph, please!" salty tears begin to steadily drip down your cheeks and between your parted lips, causing you to choke on your pleas. kazutora grabs your face and tilts your head so that he can lick away your tears.

"shh, you’re such a good girl, so pretty for me." he whispers as he starts rubbing your thighs again. he goes slow, more focused on intently watching you—the way you struggle to catch your breath and how your body continues to shiver ever so slightly as he drags his fingers along your skin lightly. every small noise that leaves your lips doesn’t go unnoticed by kazutora, and neither do any of your cute expressions. he takes them all in and commits them to memory, no doubt to think of when he jacks off when he's at home later.

“just wanna touch you a bit and make you feel good,” he whispers between licks and kisses to your tear stained cheeks.

you feel as kazutora trails his fingers over your body, spending extra time in the areas that make you gasp and whine. your body is all hot and all tingly, practically pulsating with pleasure as you squirm in anticipation of where he’ll touch you next. maybe your neck, where you’re most sensitive, or your thighs that were mushed against kazutoras leg in a desperate attempt to keep your wetness at bay. and while you would enjoy him touching you in those areas, you really hoped it would be in the place that you ached most for him, which was the one place he seemed to avoid.

your breath grows quick and ragged as kazutora drags his finger slowly between your breasts and down your tummy, continuing until he reaches the hem of your skirt where he stops to flick it up and reveal your already soaked underwear. an airy moan-like gasp leaves your lips when he suddenly presses his thumb onto your fluttering cunt.

“that’s right, little baby. you like that, don’t you?” he coos, tracing your bud teasingly a few times before rubbing it with a little more force. you close your eyes and nod curtly with a groan, much more focused on the way his thumb teases your pussy in all the right ways.

kazutora huffs at your reaction and pulls his fingers away, which draws a needy whine from you at the loss of contact. he shuts you up with another kiss, one that lasts only a few seconds as he's pulling away to kiss your cheek, then along your jaw and down to your neck where he sucks lightly in a few places.

he licks, sucks and kisses down the rest of your body, only stopping to take off your sweater vest and undershirt before he leans back down with desperation to kiss you more. he bites teasingly on your collarbone and licks his way down from your chest to your left breast that he latches onto easily. he sucks softly as he swirls his warm tongue around the bud, coaxing another sweet moan out of you, along with the many more to follow. you thread your fingers through his hair and tug on it gently whenever you jolt in pleasure.

kazutora pops off your nipple, licking it one last time, then he tilts his head and settles his mouth on the neglected one, intent on giving it the same attention. you begin to pant softly, hot and bothered by kazutoras stimulation. he suddenly bites your bud and tugs on it for just a second, causing you to arch your back and wrap your legs tightly around kazutoras waist. your wet cunt brushes against kazutoras hard cock, and he groans against your tit.

"mmh– ka–kazutora!" you moan, and you can feel as he smirks against your skin with a huff. he then pulls away, to which you whine, but he shuts you up with a kiss for the second time.

your tongues swirl together and drool seeps from both of your mouths. kazutora was determined to learn each and every part you you and engrave it permanently into his memory. he wants to know exactly what makes you feel good, what tips you over the edge and makes you scream out as your body convulses with pleasure. he wants to make you feels so good that you a cry and pass out, and he'll do just that.

kazutora pulls away and admires the way your tong lolls out of your mouth as you lean up to chase his lips. he coos, grabbing your chin to tilt your head up so he can place his tongue against yours; you squirm and whine beneath him in response.

your breath hitches and you make a strained noise when kazutora's fingers trace down your thigh and between your leg to press against your aching pussy lightly. you're even more wet now, and it has kazutora cursing beneath his breath as he feels his cock throb uncomfortably. he ignores it in favor of putting a bit more pressure on your clit, watching the way you shutter as he then begins to rub on it just a little bit--not enough for you to feel satisfied, apparently, because you buck and wiggle your hips to create more friction.

kazutora hums and lets you try to please yourself, but a lazy smile graces his lips when you quickly grow restless from the lack of pleasure you were receiving in your pursuit. you huff and whine, flicking your big, watery eyes to kazutora to give him a pleading look, but he only continues to watch you pitifully chase the little pleasure you got from your movements.

"please," you eventually mutter out in a half whine.

"hm? what was that? you have to speak up, pretty," he says lowly, tilting his head. you huff and whine some more out of frustration and kazutora's smile stretches wider.

"please," you repeat, this time louder, "want you to touch me," you decidedly add.

kazutoras smile is now a full-blown smirk as he eagerly pulls your panties off of you, putting your pussy on full display to him. pretty and all slicked up, practically begging to be eaten like a full course fucking meal. he doesn't touch you yet, though. instead, he grabs both your wrists to pins above your head, while with the other hand he spreads your legs further and slides his body down yours until his face is right in line with your cunny.

the warmth of his breath against your sensitive clit makes you mewl in anticipation. you moan loudly into the air and throw your head back when kazutora finally—finally—licks a stripe from your seeping hole to your puffy clit. then he does it again, and again, and again until he's slurping sloppily as he laps up all of your slick desperately, like a man starved.

you cry, whine, moan, and sputter any possible noise that you can as he mercilessly eats you out, letting go of your wrists to wrap his arms around your legs and hold you against his mouth as you try to buck and ease the pressure his tongue puts on your pussy. he latches onto your clit after he's satisfied with drinking up your wetness, sucking on it gently and swirling his tongue over it every now and then. he's driving you crazy; it feels so good, so, so good, but you're greedy—you want more.

“ahah— mmh, kazu–kazutora” you moan his name so sweetly; there’s a high-pitched, whiney edge to it when you do that makes you sound utterly wreck—it drives kazutora mad with hazy lust—makes him hold you down against the mat more firmly as he presses his tongue so expertly against your clit, drawing from you more delicious moans of his name.

he smirks against you as you come easily undone, and his eyes flick up to catch your pretty eyes roll back as your mouth falls wide open, a broken, yet completely enthralling slew of noises fall from between your bruised lips as you orgasm. kazutora doesn’t pull away though, despite the way your grip on his hair has becomes unrelenting from the overstimulation being forced upon your poor, spent body; he only does when you sob weakly and begin to pant heavily.

kazutora releases your hips and pulls himself up so that he’s hovering above you. you look so fucking perfect like this—fucked out, from just his mouth, drool seeping from the corner of you parted lips.

“fuck, baby. you’re such a naughty girl, huh?” he asks, but you don’t respond. he doesn’t expect you to anyway considering the kind of state you’re in; it’s no wonder that all you can do is whine and tug on kazutoras shirt like a needy fucking slut. he leans down to kiss you softly, simply enjoying how pliant you are for him right now. you kiss him back messy and lazy, but it doesn’t matter. kazutora doesn’t mind doing all of the work for the both of you.

when he pulls away, you're practically asleep, lying limp on the mat, eyes fluttering between opened and closed as you breathe airily. kazutora won't allow you to slip away though, not until he's done fucking you senseless.

you gasp, yes widening as you quickly sit up after you feel something penetrate you. kazutora smirks as he works a finger into you slowly, tauntingly, watching your face carefully. he lets you catch your breath for a second before he pulls out and plunges his finger back in, and oh, you breathe so enchantingly as his long fingers reach deeply inside of you.

he keeps his eyes on you as he stuffs you with a second and then a third finger, watching intently as you gape your mouth and your eyes begin to water--it's too much, he gathers, but continues nonetheless. his fingers and mouth are nothing compared to his cock, so you'll have to get used to it.

kazutora only pulls his fingers out when your walls begin to tighten around him, indicating that you're close to another orgasm; he wants the next time you cum to be around his cock. kazutora pulls his fingers out and licks his fingers clean, to which you fluster over, before he takes off his clothes. he hisses as he grabs his painfully hard cock, stroking it a few measly times as he crawls back over you and aligns himself to your entrance. he slips in just the tip, and the moan that escapes your pretty mouth is just as sweet as the rest of them.

he hungrily leans down to swallow the rest of your moans that follow as he slides himself all the way in. you grab his shoulders with a jolt as the tears finally begin to slowly drip down your already tear stained face. kazutora holds your chin in place while he drags his tongue along your cheeks, drinking up every tear that spills from your pretty eyes like a man that's been dehydrated.

kazutoras base presses firmly against you at last, and with a strained groan, he pulls out and then pushes back in, this time with a little more force then before. you clench around him, mewling so innocently, unbeknownst to the amount of control kazutora has left--it's a miracle that he does have any left when you're sprawled out on full display for him, but if you keep making those noises and fluttering around him so generously, he may full well end up fucking you like a rabid animal, and that is not what he wants at all—not for your first time at least. 

trust him, he would more than love to hold you down and pound himself bruising into you until he's satisfied, but right now he just wants to hold you in his arms as he pleases you, take his time with it and make you feel loved. the threads of his patience are wearing, though.

you throw your heard back as kazutoras hips connect with yours, demanding and desperate, yet gentle in intention. every little movement he makes has you squirming in pleasure, eyes glassy, lips plump, and tongue lulled out of your mouth like a dumb cock-drunk whore. it's a sight that has kazutora shuddering and groaning lowly into your ear, which only does to make you more like putty in his hold. it feels so unbelievably good to have his body above you, caging you in as he fucks you steadily; it makes you want to cling onto him and beg for more, more, more, because you will never be able to get enough of it.

"fu—mmh—fuck, please! tora, tora i need it— need you," you babble on, writhing as that familiar coil in your stomach makes itself known. he smirks lazily above you, eyes hooded—there's a darkness to them now that wasn't there just a second ago, you note.

"hell, you sound like a proper whore, y/n. are you really that fucking cock hungry?" you choke on a moan at his words, but mostly due to the sharp thrust he does against your sopping cunt. you nod pathetically, slurring 'yes, yes,' even though his question was rhetorical. he snorts with a shake of his head as he leans down to nibble on your neck, no doubt leaving a mark, then he trails his nose up until you can feel the warmth of his breath on your ear.

"yeah, that's fuckin' right. who's making you feel this good?" he whispers and your thighs clench around his legs to keep even more slick from seeping onto them.

"you, you're," you say breathily, words slurred from the amount of overstimulation and pleasure you're feeling. a whine breaks from your lips when kazutora slows down and holds your wiggling hips in place.

"say my fuckin' name, call me tora or i won't let you cum, pretty baby," he growls, biting your neck in warning.

"you're makin' me feel so—hah—so good, tora," you choke on a weird moan-like sob when he shifts, sending a jolt through your body. "please, tora, don't stop. want you to make me cum," you finish, and he curses lowly into your neck. you sigh in content when he begins to thrust again. there's a little more force than before, but it drives you mad as your body pulsates with heat every time he drags his cock out and then straight back in.

"don't you ever fucking forget it," he mouths, almost high-pitched and whiney, "'m the only one that can fuck you like this, understand? you belong to me."

one of the hands on your hips comes to cup your clit, just for a second and then two of his fingers are rubbing on it at a pace that has you convulsing and crying in pleasure as you orgasm a second time. you call his name over and over again, once for every thrust that meets your hips, and you tug on his shoulders to bring him impossibly closer to your body.

kazutora curses and quickly pulls out of you before he cums, the warm liquid splattering on your heaving tummy, and he collapses on top of you, the both of you panting hotly as you come down from your pleasure highs.

© 2023 by kolyasobsession━all rights reserved. plagiarism is strictly prohibited. comments, likes, and reblog are highly appreciated.

[sketchy-rosewitch]

Crying at Death’s Door: Bo Sinclair x afab!reader

18+

Warnings: allusions to an abusive Bo, asking about dying, bondage,crying, Bo calls reader a dog (yes a dog and not a bitch), afab reader, no pronouns used.

A/N: I literally watched like 6 minutes before this scene and then the scene itself and I’ve watched this scene so many fucking times it’s not even funny. This is only lightly based on the scene. Movie is Dead Ringers it’s free on Tubi and I guess the shows coming out April 21st too (this time lesbians). Also me using “kneels properly” if your Catholic you know

Masterlist

You whine softly and wiggle your arms. They’re spread and tied across the metal footboard. You don’t know how long you’ve been like this. All you know is that prior to this you were in the basement under the gas station, then you’d been moved to a small doctors office in the house, and lastly to what you assume is Bo’s bedroom.

You didn’t bother to try to escape any of your situations, you’d given up on that a week into your kidnapping, there wasn’t a point when you had no contact with any of your family and your friends were all dead, you just had to wait for your death.

You assumed it would be soon, Bo used your body already and took so many pictures of you, hanging them in that dingy room. You’d seen all of the girls and recognized some when you had went into the wax museum that day. You know your friends are in there and god you’d do anything to be with them, especially with this growing anxiety of not knowing when Bo would pull the plug on your life.

The front door opens and you perk up, recognizing Bo’s footsteps immediately. Your arms tingle as you wiggle a bit more wanting to run to the man. The foot steps fade and you assume he’s going to the basement, which was Vincent’s work area. You put two and two together that that’s where the floor door had led to when you decided to look around when you were strapped to the medical bed in their father’s office.

Minutes later Bo is back on the main floor, you hear the sink go off, and the slam of the microwave. It hums then beeps a few minutes later.

Bo’s footsteps start up again and this time get louder and louder as he ascends the stairs.

The bedroom door opens and Bo can be seen on the other side holding water and a microwaveable pasta. You look tiredly up at him.

“You been good baby?” He asks, walking into the room and sitting in between your spread legs. You nod at his question, thinking you have been.

“Nice to know you like tellin’ the truth to me now. Asked Vincent if you’d been cryin’ or tryin’ to escape, said he couldn’t hear a thing from you. You’re so good. Such a good baby.” Bo coos and brushed his thumb across your face. You smile lazily and lean into his touch. “Made you a little snack.”

Snack? This has been lunch and dinner for months for you. Those stupid microwaveable meals, now he’s saying they’re a snack?

“Dinner ain’t until late.”

Bo takes the water and tilts it into your mouth, you drink until half of it is gone, not wasting a single drop and for once Bo isn’t trying to make you fuck up.

He takes the pasta and stabs some noodles with the fork, bringing it to your mouth you bite the noodles off of it. A snack. A little treat before dinner. What the hell was dinner gonna be then?

“Doin’ so good.”

Your heart flutters at his praise. God it’s done that since you first met him. Even when he had you in the basement he could fuck you up and his sweet talking would change your mind completely about him. Bo Sinclair had you wrapped around his finger since you two laid eyes on each other.

You finish the meal and Bo let’s you drink the rest of the water. He gets up and leaves only to be back a minute later with a refilled water he sets on one side of the bed.

“H-“ You let out a small noise when Bo walks in. He raises a brow and starts getting undressed, most likely to get into comfortable clothes.

“You can talk, what is it?”

“Hhow was your day?” Your voice cracks between speaking and a whisper.

“Was alright.”

You stare at him in only his boxers. You’d never seen him with little clothes on, he always had his shirt and pants on even if it was just a little when he fucked you. He finally takes his boxers off and walks over, kneeling and scooting forward setting you onto his lap. He touches your tied arms and smiles. Then Bo looks into your eyes and leans in kissing your lips softly, feeling up and down your thighs. You wiggle wanting to touch him. You never got used to being tied up, always begging to touch him, just for a second with your hands. Just to hold his face.

Bo moved his lips down your jaw and kisses your clothed shoulder, he unbuttons one then two buttons on the shirt and kisses your chest.

“Just waitin’ for me ta come back? Makin’ sure you were so good when I was gone. Such a good dog.”

You moan at the pet name and shift in his lap trying to get Bo’s cock to touch your clit. Bo kisses your lips again and moves his hand in between your legs. You don’t wear underwear, haven’t worn any since he tore them off in the basement. He has easier access to your cunt that way. He told you himself.

His middle and ring finger slide between your folds, only just brushing your clit, then dipping into your pussy.

Your mouth opens, you cry out and Bo smirks touching at your g-spot over and over again. He kisses your cheeks and bites your ear lobe.

“Been so good to me baby. You don’t fight me or nothin’ ain’t fought me since you got into that chair. You want me that much huh?”

Bo’s hand gets rougher and he puts more pressure into you.

“Yeah! Yeah Bo I-ah I- do!” Your back arches against the metal frame, it hurts but Bo’s fingers feel too good for you to care.

“I like hearin’ those noises, keep goin’.” Bo sucks on your neck. You whine, rolling your eyes up. You feel a tightness in your core.

“Please, Bo I’m gonna cum. Please let me cum. Please keep going!”

He quickens his pace and you squirm, squirting into Bo’s hand. You cry out vision turning white, your body trembles as he rides you though your high.

“Messy ass dog.” Bo says, before dropping you on his lap and licking the palm of his hand to his fingers, then sucking on them. You watch in a haze, smiling lazily, too out of it to feel flustered.

“You like cumming on my fingers?”

You nod frantically.

“What about my cock?” Bo teases, you nod again. “Say it then.”

Embarrassment unravels, your mouth opens, closes then opens again.

“Go on. Been so good, say it or you won’t get it.”

“I-I like cumming on your cock Bo.”

You can’t even cover your face to try and hide. Doesn’t matter anyways cause when you try and turn your head away away Bo grabs your face and tuts at you. “Say it again, bein’ truthful aren’t we? You’d admit it to me twice wouldn’t you?”

“Yes..” Your hips wiggle , trying to adjust yourself on Bo’s lap. You were getting worked up again.

“Then say it, no stuttering either.”

“I like cumming on your cock Bo. I like when you cum in me too.” Your eyes read desperate. He hums in approval and kisses your forehead.

“Good dog.”

Bo kneels properly, your ass slowly slides off of him but he holds you up, he holds his cock with his other hand and slowly slides into you, stretching you out. You moan into his shoulder.

“So tight for me.” Bo mumbles. He pulls out and pushes back in a few times, just sitting there for a some seconds each to get used to the stretch. Then he fucks into you somewhere between a slow and fast pace. Kissing you roughly. The bed creaks, especially the bars that you’re tied to, as you bang into them. Bo wraps his arm around your waist, and uses his other hand to hold onto the footboard.

You wanna grab Bo and hold him so badly. You let out soft cries, but hope Bo just mistakes them for you moaning. He seems to as his pace never stops.

“You like being like this? Always tied up for me? Like me being in control?” Bo grunts, you nod and kiss his shoulder and you his neck, stopping at his jaw.

“Yes, yes I do! I love being ready to be used. I love when you take control of my body and I don’t have to think.” You babble, Bo’s hold on you tightens.

“Always know what to say. You’re so good at not thinking. You’re a good dog.” Bo’s hand goes to move the hair from your face and kiss all over it. You mewl, your cunt tightening around his cock.

His thumb hooks into your mouth, it opens without hesitation and he spits in it. You pant and wait for him to close your mouth but he spits again. Then closes it. You wait again as he pounds into you. “Swallow.” And you do. You roll your hips into him and whine, your pussy pulsates.

“Gonna cum? Tell me.”

Your back arches. More loud loans come from your chest.

“Yeah, I’m gonna cum. I’m gonna cum on your cock!” Your mouth hangs open, you let the moans escape you as Bo thrusts faster into you.

“Come on, cum on my cock.”

He thrusts a couple of more times and again, your eyes roll back and vision flashes white. You let out a loud squeal, your body shaking. He fucks you through your orgasm.

“Want me to cum in you?” Bo asks, you nod lazily. He keeps at his pace, your body shakes at the overstimulation, he cums in your cunt, groaning into your shoulder.

Bo kisses your cheek and unties both of your arms. He kisses your wrists softly, the marks still not as bad as his. Your arms are sore but regardless you wrap them around Bo. You kiss and hold his face, running your hands through his hair for the first time. You almost sob, in fact you do. How many more times would you get to touch him with your hands before he killed you?

Bo doesn’t say a thing as you cry, only softly shushing you. He hates crying, shit stresses him out and almost, almost pisses him off. He thinks it’s about sex. “You did so good for me.”

You nod into him and he shushes you more.

You finally calm down and lean against the footboard. “So how much longer do I have?” You ask, your eyes puffy and red.

Your lip trembled but you try and keep your composure, regardless of the anxiety swimming laps in your stomach.

“What do ya mean?” Bo’s brows furrow.

You reword your statement. “When are you going to kill me?” You look into his beautiful blue eyes. Something of anger shows in them before disappearing. Instead it returns in his voice.

“You tryin’ to leave me or somethin’?” Bo sounds accusatory. You ignore it.

“No, I just notice a pattern. You tie all of your victims in that chair, you take pictures of them as a trophy and kill them. I don’t wanna go anywhere but if I am going somewhere I’d like to at least know when.”

Bo sneers. “Ya ain’t gettin’ that same treatment. You told me you’ve been good and proven that to me. You ain’t goin’ no where. You’re mine.”

You suck in some air and smile. “Okay, that’s all I wanted to know.”

Bo kisses your nose and wraps his arms under your ass before standing and setting you onto his soft bed. “I got you some clothes and I’m makin’ dinner for us later.” Bo explains. He slides in next to you and and shuffle so you’re under the blanket and cuddled into Bo’s side. “I don’t want you ever thinkin’ I’m gonna kill you. I would’ve done it already if I wanted you gone.”

You nod into his chest and close your eyes drifting into a small nap.

[neteyamssyulang]

Edging

Day 20

Pairing: Lo’ak aged up x Fem Omaticaya reader

Summary: You’ve been busy all day with hardly any time for your beloved mate, so once your finally done you decide to give your mate a small surprise.

Warnings: Handjob, Sub Lo’ak, Dom Reader, Whiny Lo’ak, Oral (M receiving), Mommy kink, Edging ofc.

Word count: 955

Translation(s): Yawne -> Beloved, Muntxatan -> Male spouse, Paskalin -> Honey.

A/N: I love subby lo’ak thou I’m not sure how well this will do 🥲

Tags: @teyamsatan @pandoraslxna

Your day was exhausting, having not only to do your chores but also Amitsa’s chores. The bitch just gave them to you while she faked being sick, sometimes you just wanna throw her to a palulukan and leave.

Unfortunately you can’t, and because of her you don’t have any time for your lovely mate. Normally you have time to sneak off and spend time with him before heading back and finishing up but thanks to Amitsa you can’t.

Eventually you finish up and start the walk back to your hut, it’s not that long maybe 5 or so minutes before you enter seeing your mate sharpening his spear for the hunt tomorrow.

“Hey mamas” Lo’ak beams looking at you before getting up pulling you into a warm embrace. “My sweet boy, did you miss me?”

He nodded his head “Missed you so much..” You smile softly “I’m sorry baby.. Amitsa faked being sick so she gave her chores to me.”

Lo’ak tenses hearing her name, see before he was with you he had been with her except she treated him so badly. She didn’t care lo’ak had separation separation anxiety, instead of holding or being close to him she’d shove him away and go hang around her male friends.

She’d use him for her pleasure only, when he went home late after training she expected HIM to fetch their food, she wouldn’t wear anything he made for her. What hurt him the most was when he planned a surprise for her birthday but as he went through the flap of her hut he saw her getting railed by someone else.

It broke your heart when he told you all of this, so naturally it took awhile for him to trust anyone again. You and him were friends until out of the blue one day you asked to court him, he was confused on why you’d wanna be with him thinking low of himself.

You gave him all the reasons why, he was funny, kind, bit of a skxawng at times but nevertheless you loved him. Each day you brought him new courting gifts like neck pieces, armbands, waist beads, or even his favorite food. He was nervous but he returned the favor making you a beautiful beaded necklace which you happily accepted and wore with pride.

Even to this day you have it on, you loved the way his face lit up when you wore the gifts he made. A week after your courting you got his parents blessing as he got your parents blessing. The two of you became bonded for life that night and you’ve never been more happy.

“Shh it’s ok” you hold him closer rubbing soothing things circles along his back. “You don’t have to deal with her anymore ma’muntxatan..”

He sighs pulling away “I know, I’m grateful to have you now yawne, you don’t know how much you mean to me” he kisses your cheek softly.

You smile and pepper kisses all over his face making him giggle, it was so cute. But looking down your not surprised to see the outline of his already hard cock, he only got this way with you, not anyone else, not even her.

“Already hard Paskalin?” You grin looking back up at his face, his beautiful blue skin now has a faint pink hue on it.

You drop down to your knees untying his loincloth, his cock springs out slapping against his stomach making him groan.

Slowly you kiss your way up from his balls all the way to his tip giving him kitten licks. Your mate moans softly “Mommy please..”

“Please what darling? Use your words” you say looking up at him. The pink hue on his face is more prominent now, he gulps looking down at you.

“I..” he licks his lips “I need your mouth wrapped around me..” Your ears perk up and you smile, “Good boy” praising him before you take him into your mouth.

Lo’ak moans moving his hands to fist your hair which you slap away. He’s about to protest when he sees your eyes narrowed at him.

You start moving bobbing your head taking him as far as you can without gagging. The hut fills with the sweet sound of his whimpers

His cock throbs in your mouth signaling he was about to cum, but before he could you pulled off his cock with a pop.

“Mommy why..” he whines, “Shh sweet boy, you’ll get what you want.” Taking his cock in your hand you begin to pump him gradually picking up speed.

He groans holding back his whimpers making you tsk “Be a good boy and let mommy hear your pretty little whimpers.”

You swipe your thumb over the slit in his cock coaxing out his whimpers, “Pl-please can I cum?”

“Not yet sweet boy”, your mates desperate cries fill your ears as once again you pull off him at the last second.

Tears roll down his face “Why do you tease me like this?”, “I’ll be worth it yawne” you coo slowly starting to pump his shaft again.

Lo’ak whines from his cock being so sensitive after you denying him release. His hips gradually thrust towards into you making you take more of him down your throat.

Deeming it has gone far enough you allow him to fuck your throat raw as he chases his orgasm. Broken moans and sobs leave him as he gets near that sweet sweet release you kept on denying him.

With one last thrust he holds your face against his pelvis cumming down your throat, as he pulls away you swallow everything licking your lips.

“T-thank you mamas..” he pants smiling softly.

“Anything for my good boy.”

[elkonigin]

Supersum Update

I know that this week is supposed to be a Supersum update, but there's been a lot of things happening in my life recently and none of them have been conducive to my writing as of late.

My cat died last Tuesday, and that's been surprisingly hard to deal with. Today, I came home, saw some paper on the ground and couldn't figure out why my cat hadn't destroyed it yet, and yeah.

I'm packing up my classroom, because I'm moving to another district, and I have a lot of shit, which is surprising?

One of my coworkers is actively trying to be a bitch, and while I can deal with it and her, it's also just one more thing.

It's the end of the year for students, I just had to cram three days of grading and final exams into two because we lost a day due to a storm that ran through the area last Thursday. So bad, that we had 100+ mph (160 km) winds that ran through here, and some people are just now getting electricity back.

Annnnd we're under another tornado watch tonight. 🙃

I have therapy (physical, brain, anxiety) every single day of the week, and have for the past three weeks. I have two different types of therapies on some days.

In short, I am very, very tired, and I have not gotten anything done in terms of writing or cleaning or anything really, and I haven't even looked at the latest chapter, so it's definitely not ready to publish tomorrow.

I am really sorry, but I'm going to have to postpone the update for this week.

[mamawasatesttube]

ok i posted a lil snippet of this fic last night but then decided i didn't like it out of context and deleted the post, but i do think i like this snippet well enough!!! current wip: kon versus the existential loneliness of being alive again.

warnings for internalized homophobia and suicidal ideation!

And then, just as a T-rex goes to fight the Nazi robot in the movie, Tim taps his long fingers against Kon’s knee. A jolt of lightning zaps through Kon’s body, but he ignores it.

“Hey,” Tim murmurs. “How’ve you been doing, big guy?”

“What?” Kon blinks. “I’m good. Why?”

Tim tips his head back and pins him with a piercing look. It’s not as piercing as Lois’s staring-daggers-through-your-soul looks can get, but it’s still up there.

“You’ve been avoiding everyone,” Tim says. “Cassie I get, ‘cuz, like, breakups are never fun. But Bart? Kory and Gar? Cass? And… me?”

“I saw Bart just the other day!” Kon objects. “We played video games and hung out for a while.”

“He said that only happened ‘cuz he invited himself over to see you.” Tim pauses. “Not that I mean we’ve been, like, talking about you behind your back or anything, uh—that’s not what I meant. I just asked because I haven’t seen you around much lately, and I didn’t know if that was a me thing, or…”

Oh. Kon could smack himself.

“No no no—it’s not you, I swear!” He groans, squeezing his eyes shut, and turns his head to hide his face in Tim’s hair. He smells of generic basic bitch men’s shampoo. “I’ve just, uh… I’ve been staying in Smallville mostly. Just… you know.”

Tim hums softly, his hand still resting on Kon’s knee. “Something on your mind?”

I keep wondering if I should have stayed dead. Also, something has been wrong with me since I came back, because I should be devastated about breaking up with Cassie, but all I feel is relief. Something is wrong with me, and I think I didn’t come back right, and I don’t know if I should’ve come back at all.

He can’t say any of that. Not to Tim, who was so shattered by his grief that he tried to clone him. Just to have a little piece of him back. Even if he knew it wouldn’t truly be Kon.

How could he possibly say any of this to Tim?

“Nothing, really,” he says. The lie tastes like ashes on his tongue. “Just… adjusting, I guess. Lost a year. That’s weird. Pa’s dead. That’s… I don’t even know what to say.”

For a moment, Tim is quiet. Then he shifts against Kon’s side, dislodging him. He turns to look Kon dead in the eyes; one hand reaches up and tips Kon’s chin up, resting against his cheek to prevent him from turning away. Kon resists the urge to squirm under his gaze.

“Dude,” Tim says. “You and I both know if it was just adjustment and grief, you wouldn’t be avoiding us.” Another pause. He scrunches up his face a little. “I mean—adjustment and grief both are real and suck and they’re totally valid reasons to be out of it, but that’s—you’re not…”

He trails off. Kon swallows hard and bites the inside of his lip. He can’t tell Tim what’s really eating at him, but his ability to read Tim is a two-way street. Tim knows how to read him, too.

Tim takes a breath. “You used to tell me just about everything.”

Fuck.

“Tim, I’m not…” Kon scrubs a hand over his face. His heart pounds hard in his chest. He can’t put this on Tim’s shoulders. He can’t. It would be so, so cruel to put that kind of fear in Tim’s head, the idea that Kon might want to die again—he doesn’t, he doesn’t want to die again. He just—he just thinks maybe he should’ve stayed dead.

But he can’t say that to Tim. He can’t be that cruel. Not to Tim, who’s already been through so much grief.

“There is something else bothering me,” he admits, unable to meet Tim’s gaze. “But I can’t tell you. And that’s—it’s not your fault I can’t tell you, it’s me, I just—I can’t, okay?”

Tim is quiet for a moment. Something explodes on the TV screen; the white light washes over his face as Kon peers at him through his fingers, heart racing with anxiety. He doesn’t want Tim to think he’s the problem—he just can’t… he can’t say it.

“Are you sure?” Tim asks, after a beat. “I know I’m… different. Not really the same guy I was when you died. If that’s… if you need space to process that, and that’s why—”

“It’s not!”

That’s—that’s too much. Tim can’t think that, Kon can’t let him think that, that would never in a million years be the reason Kon can’t tell him something and he needs to know!

Kon shoves the bowl of popcorn out of the way; his TTK is the only reason it doesn’t go flying across the room, and instead settles neatly onto the coffee table. He throws his arms around Tim’s waist and hauls him into a hug, mindful of the gauze on his upper back as he clutches at him. He can hear the beating of Tim’s heart, can feel it against his own chest; Tim’s bare skin and his own are separated only by the thin layer of Kon’s shirt, and he can feel the warmth of his body radiating through the fabric.

For an agonizing second, Tim is still, frozen in his arms. Then, like a spell has broken, he melts, slotting himself into Kon’s chest like he was made to fit there; his cheek comes to rest against Kon’s shoulder, nose brushing his neck, and his arms slip around Kon’s waist in turn.

“I swear, Rob, it’s not that,” Kon manages. “I swear it’s not. It’s—it’s something in my head. It’s not you at all. You’re—you’re perfect, okay?” He can’t fuck this up. He can’t fuck this up and make Tim think he’s the problem. He just—

He just can’t tell him.

“Kon…” Tim takes a slow breath, blows it out as a deep, heavy sigh against his shoulder. Kon holds him a little tighter, helpless. After a moment, Tim nods slowly against him. “Okay. I believe you.”

The relief is so poignant that Kon’s stomach churns. Thank god. His shoulders slump with the weight of it; gratitude settles like snowfall on top.

Then Tim draws back, looks at him with those same piercing eyes. Like Kon is a puzzle that he needs to turn over and over in his hands until he figures out what makes him tick. “But you still can’t tell me?”

Kon looks away. He misses Tim’s warmth in his arms already. He doesn’t want to think about what that might mean. “…No.”

[tempkiriri]

Tiger & Bunny Week (Day 1)

Technically I'm late but uhhhhhhhhhhhhh

April 2: Favorite Character, Episode, Movie, and/or Song

Most people seem to be doing them all, but I'll be skipping movie since there's only 2 of them.

Favourite Character:

MY CRINGEFAIL SON IVAN!!!! I relate to him immensely, even his dynamic with Edward I'd say I can somewhat relate to with someone in my life. It's uncanny. He tries his best to be outgoing but anxiety and self esteem issues sure are fucking bitches, so he can only really do it behind a mask. Even in S2 whilst his whole outlook may have taken a bit of a rollback, that's honestly realistic, not everyone can just keep marching and continuously improving themselves, there are setbacks and holes you can fall into at times. I wish we knew more about his personal life beyond his backstory of getting bullied as a child + what vague stuff we have of his hero academy days, a lot of heroes suffer from this, however. His passion for his hobbies is also just like me. He's cringe but he is free, just like many of us wish to be. Runner up is Keith I love the Autistic dog man

Favourite Episode:

I gotta go with Sky's The Limit. The title is a very OH GEE WHOS FOCUS EPISODE IS THIS kind but genuinely it doesn't prepare you for the content. There's a wholeass lore drop, an intense fight scene with a robot, and of course Keith being Keith. It also puts into focus just how much pressure heroes are put under when it comes to the rankings, and second place apparently not being enough for Poseidon Line is a very corporate reality. It's go big or go home. The ending is also like OH MY GOD IM CRYING???? Like, we know Cis isn't very capable of behaving like a human, but Keith doesn't realise she's not human at all, he treats her as any other person and falls harder than an anvil for her despite their short time in contact. It makes me think that Cis had a potential to be something, someone more than she was initially made for. And these two are a bit of a guilty pleasure ship that me and like 2 other people in the west side seem to ship and yes I will be taking those "Keith is still lowkey in love with her even in S2 era" crumbs thank you-

Favourite Song:

Oh shit this is where it gets tricky. I have so many, so I'll split it into categories:

OP: Earth Diver ED: Pilot Character Song: GHHHAAAAAA DONT MAKE ME CHOOOOOSE Other supplementary Song: Orion Wo Nazoru Hero Cover

I can't really put to words for Earth Diver, but I really like how it starts and kinda soothes you into the song before it really kicks. The lyrics are also very passionately sung.

I really like the calmer tone of Pilot and even though the explicitness of the shippyness isn't as heavy as Aida, the subtlety honestly fits them more. The credits themselves are also just beautiful; the visual aspect of them hits immensely hard in ep 14 especially since you saw what could happen to their suits in the fight the episode prior, and they're both no longer in their prime. Closing it out as they stare at the sunset makes me emotional and Proud Fiesta I love you but goddamn why did you return for Episode 25 that was a fucking mood killer I stg.

I love a lot of the character songs, with the ones from Best Of Hero very enjoyable romps, especially Mikirezakura and Thanks and Thanks Again, the energy these two songs have makes you wanna coreograph something. Some other highlights are POWER OF JUSTICE and Aaa Hero Suit. (Also Hidden Heroism actually kinda sucks it tries to be Mikirezakura 2 and thus loses out on an identity of its own which is very disappointing).

I love the harmony of the heroes cover of Orion, I can really picture them all in recording booths singing next to each other...who's the cheering guy, though? I've listened to this cover so many times and the line the cheering guy seemingly sings just sounds like Hirata's Kotetsu, I don't get it. I get wanting to balance the lyrics between groups and characters evenly but that was an awkward way to do it.

[stefanmikaleson1864]

3 Months

A/N: Requested by @courtney-reagan​

I really hope you enjoy this !!! 

P.S. If you like my work please comment like and reblog it means a lot to see interactions on my work

911 X Reader 

Can you do one where Bobby and Athena’s daughter is kidnapped from Daycare by someone trying to get back at Athena? 

Athena’s POV

3 months. 3 long months since the last time we truly left the house. It was safe there. It was where I could protect my family.

 But lately I was struggling a lot and spiralling. I was working this big case and it wasn’t just affecting me anymore.

This case was a drug trafficking case. Angelo Lupo was the headmaster behind it. One by one we were scooping up the fishes. Angelo didn’t like that though. He couldn't do business without them. 

One of the little fishes ratted me out. Told him who arrested him and they put a hit out on me Bobby ad the kids. Apparently, this Angelo man had a lot of connections we didn’t know about. 

 My family was involved now and seeing those two worlds collide was hard. I felt like it was all my fault. May and Harry were with their dad. He took them out of state so that was one problem you would think was off my plate. 

But it wasn’t i was always worried this son of a bitch would find them. Then I also had the problem that Bobby and Iris were still at home. Iris was me and Bobby’s daughter and she was only 5. I couldn’t ask Michael to take her to so she was home with us. 

I couldn’t eat and I couldn’t sleep. The constant anxiety was over me. Bobby kept telling me that i shouldn’t worry and that I needed to try and act normal for Iris. She could tell something was off and we didn’t want to keep her scared. 

I knew he was right but actually working on it was a lot harder than I ever thought. 

There wasn’t much activity going on this past month. Maybe something happened to the guy. Maybe he ran out of the state so he didn’t get caught. 

Today was a good day to put what Bobby was saying to the test. We both had work and there was no one to watch Iris.

I tried putting work off as long as I could. Hell we both did but we didn’t have any more time left. 

 Bobby told me to put her in day care that she would be fine. I was trying to trust him. 

Neither one of us could take more time of work. So i needed to put my trust in someone else to take care of Iris. 

I could tell she was also ready to leave the house to. It wasn’t fair to her either. She needed her friends back and it wasn’t good for her to be stuck up in the house. So we were getting her ready to go to day care.

She was excited and I was trying to be happy for her to. She was running all around the house signing and dancing and it felt like the old her was finally coming back to her old self. 

Bobby was packing her lunch and I was getting dressed for the day. 3 months was what i kept telling myself. 3 months sense any activity. Why would anything happen today.

“Let’s go mommy i’m ready” Iris yelled to me breaking me out of my thoughts. 

“You got this it’s all gonna be okay” I told myself in the mirror. 

I grabbed my stuff and headed on down. Iris was all dressed up and had her lunch box swinging in the air. Bobby was waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs. 

He was smiling up at me and damn that smile could always get you. I walked down the stairs and wrapped my arms around him. He pulled me closer and pulled me into a kiss. 

It broke when Iris yelled out

“Ew that’s gross let’s go” She said scrunching up her face. 

We broke apart and laughed and headed out the door. I was nervous but i didn’t wanna show it. I didn’t want to take away Iris being happy. 

Bobby drove the way down. Iris was smiling out the window and she looked adorable and it did make me feel better seeing her so happy.

The daycare was about 15 minutes away but it felt like it was a lot longer. Finally after a while we reached in and Iris just about flew out the car.

We stopped and all got out. 

“Hey baby wait up” I yelled out. 

“Ugh fine” Iris yelled back

She ran back to us and Bobby bent down to her hug her. She wrapped her little arms around her and hugged him back. 

“I love you baby have a good day” Bobby said. 

I walked over and bent down to meet her to. I placed my hand on her face and smiled up at her. 

“I love you to have a good day dad will get you after his shift” I said 

“I love you to mommy and okay” She said in her little voice. 

She hugged me and i hugged her back and have her a good squeeze. 

“Now go on your friends miss you” I said 

She ran off and i tried to keep my nerves calm. Bobby looked over at me and smiled 

“You did good” He said wrapping his arm around me and kissing the top of my head. 

“Yeah for now” I said back

We both got back into the car and Bobby was gonna drop me off at work. I was praying for a normal day. Not that those really exist anymore. 

I didn’t even realize that we had pulled up until Bobby had broken me out of my thoughts. 

“Babe you ready” He said 

“As ready as I’ll ever be” I said chuckling and then got out the car. 

Bobby got out with me and then walked over and gave me a hug. He kissed the top of my head. 

He let go and looked down at me and smiled

“Your going to do great now go in their and kick some ass.” Bobby said 

“Yes Captian” I said grabbing him by the waist and pulling him in for a kiss. 

We pulled apart and i grabbed my stuff. We said our I love you’s and I went into the office. 

I was meant with the usual sad and upset looks. Which was expected  honestly. I went to my station and sat my stuff down. I was on desk dusty pushing paper work. I tried to look on the positive of it but it was hard. 

A good couple of hours had passed and things weren’t getting better. I was bored everyone was being different towards me. 

I decided to step out and get some air. And as i was pulling out my phone to look at it the phone started ringing and my heart stopped beating when i saw it was Iris’s daycare. 

I hurried up and answered 

“This is Athena” I said 

“Athena Omg the police is on the way  we tried everything” Her teacher said on the other line. 

“What the hell is going on” I asked pure panic in my voice. 

“A man came in he had a gun he made us get into a room and I tried to grab Iris but he wouldn’t let me” She said all in one breathe 

“I’m on my way” was all i got out 

I ran back in and went to the desk sargent. I barely also got a breath out trying to explain what happened. 

“They took her” I said 

“They took my baby they took her. Get the damn swat and every officer you can to 34th and 6th st. It’s Angel Ark daycare” I said. 

I didn’t even hear him call in. I just ran out of the building and into a squad car. I turned the sirens on and i did 100 miles all the way down. 

It usually takes about 15 minutes i got there in 3. That’s how fast I was going. 

I stopped the car in the middle of the street and meant some other officers on the scene. 

“Do we know anything” I asked. 

“Were searching the cameras trying to see something sergeant.” One officer said. 

“Try harder” I said walking away. 

I walked over to her teacher who was with some kids trying to calm them down.

“What happened” I asked 

“A man came in he had gun he shot a warning shot in the air and he made us all get into a room. And then he grabbed Iris and kept the gun on us” She said in tears. 

“Thank you” I said touching her arm. 

I was on my way in when Bobby cut me off 

“Athena what the hell is going on” He said 

Panic and worry all over his face. 

“They took Bobby they took her” was all I could get out.

“What who” He asked 

“Who do you think” I said 

“What are we gonna do” Bobby asked 

“Were gonna get her back he just got her he couldn’t have gotten far we closed down the area and were gonna have search times on the ground” I said 

“I can take the truck out we can look you know keep an eye out” Bobby said 

I knew he couldn’t just sit there. I mean what parent could 

“Yeah that’s a great idea go” I said 

I looked over at Hen who had a worried look on her face and i gave her a nod telling her to look out for him. 

I walked into the day care. I don’t know what I was hoping to find but anything would be something. I looked around the scene and there wasn’t much there. 

I decided to go to the cameras and see it for myself. I could feel my tight clenching and my palms sweating. 

I walked into the office and sat down. I took a deep breath and pulled up the footage. I fast-forwarded to the time it had all happened. 

My poor Iris her face looked so scared. It broke my heart so bad. But the man he had a limp and he had on a red bracelet. He looked familiar and I was trying to place it. 

I kept re winding and then playing it again. Hoping to see if something anything would. 

Then finally after the 100th time it hit me. Like a bomb went off in my head. 

“It was him Angelo Lupo” He was a part of the team I took down he was close with his boss. 

I knew the hell these people weren’t done. But I also knew that they kept a stash house close by here. 

I was hoping this dumb ass was stupid enough to take her there. It was a place that was familiar and that he knew. 

I pulled out my phone and called Bobby

“4876 Glendale ave check there bust every damn door they have” I said 

“On it” was all he got out. 

I ran out after them and got back into my squad car. I sped all the way down there sirens blasting. 

I pulled up the house the same time as the 118 did. Me and Bobby both ran out and up the house. He kicked the door down and we kept quiet. He went up the stairs and I was checking the down stairs. 

The upstairs was clear and I crept down the basement. My heart was beating fast and I could feel the anxiety growing closer. 

I walked down the stairs slowly. I made it to the bottom and I saw her. My baby girl was laying on the floor. Her little hand was tapped to the pipe and it looked like she was sleeping. 

I walked around the corner slowly and Angelo was sitting on the chair on his phone Dumb Bastard. Out of all things he was watching Tik Tok videos. He had no idea what was waiting for him. 

I slowly walked over to him and cocked my gun on him. 

He looked up and he was hella shocked. 

“Your under arrest you sick son of a bitch” I took the gun and pistol whipped him in the head. He dropped his head and was unconscious. I took out my handcuffs and took his arms and arrested him. 

“Bobby i got her” I yelled out. 

A few moments later he ran down and ran over to her. I ran over to and Bobby checked her pulse. She’s fine it’s good. 

Then he pulled out a knife and freed her little hand. We then pulled her into a group hug and smothered her with kisses. 

Bobby then picked her up and carried out her out the house. Hen and Chim were waiting by with the stretcher. 

“Were take care of her I promise” Hen said. 

“I know” I said 

I held her hand and followed them in the back. I walked into the back of the ambulance. Chim had on full sirens. 

Hen worked on put a IV on her and was giving her some medications I knew nothing about. I just kept my eyes on Iris. Thinking if i looked away she would disappear. 

We made it to the hospital in no time. When we rolled up the doctors and Nurses were waiting for us.

I didn’t want them to let her go but I also knew they had their work to do. Me and the rest of the 118 gathered in the waiting room. 

I couldn’t sit still and neither could Bobby. I couldn’t believe my worst fear had become true. I never should have left her. 

Bobby looked like he was reading my mind. He got up and walked over to me and grabbed my hands. 

“There was nothing you could have done” He said 

“We could have stayed home”I said 

“What for the rest of our lives and look she’s gonna be fine and now you got that sick son a bitch and it’s over” He said. 

“We don’t know she’s okay he could have drugged her with god knows what” I said

“Yeah well I can’t think like that right now our little girl needs us and she needs us to be strong” Bobby said 

I knew he was right. I knew my baby girl needed me to be strong. I just didn’t know how to do it. 

Bobby grabbed my hand and pulled me into sitting down. I sat in the middle between him and Hen and they both grabbed my hand. 

It made me feel a little calmer feeling their touch. 

A little bit later one of the Dr’s came in and we all jumped up when we saw her. 

“She’s fine her toxic screen came back negative and all her labs came back normal. Which is good she probably just had a paniac attack she got scared and it made her tired.” The DR said 

When she said that I felt my knees get weak and a wave of relief washed all over me. Bobby grabbed me up and I looked up at him. He looked down at me and he was smiling hard. 

Everyone was cheering and hugging each other after they heard the news. 

“See I told you she was gonna be okay” Bobby said 

“Can we see her” I asked 

“Of course follow me” The Dr said. 

We got up and followed her down the hallway. I was getting anxious all over away but in a good way. 

We finally made it and when i walked in my baby was sitting and smiling watching tv. Of course she was happy she always was. 

“When can we take her home” Bobby asked. 

“I want to keep her until tomorrow just to make sure she is okay” The dr said. 

“Okay thank you” I said 

We walked over to her and Iris nearly jumped out the bed when she saw us. 

“Mommy and Daddy I missed you” Iris said 

“We missed you to baby” I said

“Me to love bug” bobby said 

We both leaned in and gave her a big hug

“You guys are hurting me” Iris yelled. 

“Sorry” We both said.

Apparently it was to big of a hug. 

Iris grabbed my hand and and she looked up at me 

“Is the bad guy gone” Iris asked 

“He is not coming back ever Mommy took care of him” I said 

“Good” was all she said. 

Then the whole 118 piled in after that and they were all hugging on her and showering her with gifts. Buck even brought a whole ballon Bouquet. Which Iris ate up she was in heaven. 

Everyone was here and Everyone was going to be okay I told myself. 

3 Months Later 

3 Months had passed and Iris was adjusting okay. She had the nightmares and the nights she was sleeping with us. Which was to be expected. We got her a therapist to help her process everything. 

 May and Harry were back home and it felt complete. Being all together again made me feel complete. 

Angelo was arraigned and took a plea thank god. I was glad because Iris didn’t have to go through it all over again. 

I stayed home to help everyone adjust to what had happened. I was working on going back to work to soon. 

Knowing he was put away did take a lot of my plate. And I was anxious to get back out on the field. Everyone told me where it was i belonged and I knew they were right. 

All i could keep thinking though was how 3 months could change everything, But I knew together as a family we could face anything and everything.

[nowoyas]

Koi no Yokan 9: don't startle the stray (Nishinoya Yuu/Reader)

First - Prev - Next - M.list - Ao3

A/N: MAN this chapter got away from me. enjoy some fluff!

Summary: The weekend at Nekoma comes to an end. You settle in for the ride home.

Warnings: blanket series warnings

Words: ~4400

The vibes are off and you're too tired to do anything but marinate in them.

Another shuffle of bus seats—three girls, two seats at most, but because it's at least daylight and you're alright with it, the others, including Takeda-sensei, have reluctantly allowed a single instance of co-ed seating on the bus, trusting that you'll hit Noya if he tries anything. (You'd gotten onto the bus after him, but you're pretty sure he threatened to fist-fight anyone who sat with him and took your spot. Taking the aisle seat didn't save you: he simply climbed over you to take the window seat.)

Surprisingly, he's not taken the opportunity to talk your ear off. He's kind of got the same vibes everyone else has had ever since this morning, the ones you can't place.

Tense, maybe? Moldy?

You try your best to sigh only internally, not fully willing to be forced to hash it out in an enclosed space regardless of who's decided to pounce on your mood. Instead, you stare at the same damn page of your book that you never got through on the way down here and don't process a single word.

Hinata… got too excited, you guess. Crashed right into Azumane because he wasn't paying enough attention to who the set was for. No one hurt, but then he started in about changing things (not a bad idea, in your totally-expert opinion as someone who has recently gained an entire half of an idea about how volleyball works but who also just spent the past day or so watching them lose), got totally shut down by Kageyama, and outright stated that what they're doing as a team isn't actually working. And ever since, this is what it's been: something pulled taut between the team, everyone on edge.

Something's gonna burst soon.

It's probably a good thing, you think? One of those throw-up-and-then-you'll-feel-better deals. They'll have, like, one big event that fixes everything, and it'll all go back to normal, and it'll be fine and the thing that gets you out of the house will stay fun.

Yeah. It'll be fine.

~

Mei had always been the weirdest Nishinoya sibling. Kaede was responsible (don't make trouble for Mom this month; she gets really sad around the time her ex-husband left); Satsuki was the troublemaker (I wouldn't have punched him if he weren't such a bitch). Yuu was the only boy, the baby, and only a bit less bad than Satsuki. But Mei?

Mei was quiet. She was a Nishinoya and she was quiet. Despite looking alike, the contrast between her and every single other Nishinoya sibling resulted in strangers assuming they were friends at best and that Mei was being harassed by strangers at worst. Jii-chan got to her too late, probably: all the shyness and all-consuming anxiety that Yuu learned to throw out, to set aside, to hold in for times when no one could see, remained her defining trait.

She didn't have any particular strong hobbies that she was willing to talk about. She cried seemingly at random. She spent long stretches of time doing what looked like nothing at all. She was smart and good at school, but where Yuu got to the test and found it almost impossible to focus long enough to finish in time, she'd sit down for an exam and be escorted out half an hour later, hyperventilating after talking herself into a panic attack. Where he'd learned to simply not give a fuck about academics because he was never gonna be good at them anyway, she was already good and stressed herself to tears.

It'd been Yuu who checked the college entrance exam results for her, Satsuki who screamed about her acceptance loud enough to wake the neighbors, and Kaede who baked a cake to celebrate. But before that, they had to bring home Soba.

Satsuki would kill him for saying it, but Mei was also his favorite sister. He had her to thank for teaching him to spot the onset of an anxiety or panic attack, and her to thank for being able to tell the difference between the two. It was Mei he learned simple, effective strategies for calming oneself for, and Mei who jumped to his defense when he brought home yet another shitty test score. It was hard to control his energy around Satsuki, just a year older than him and the most likely sibling to start or join a fight, and Kaede was kind and responsible but just didn't get it. Mei was the one he could sit silently with, decompress, just exist without feeling the need to be bigger than himself. He found that hard to do with anyone else, at any other time.

(It helped that Mei was the only sister who did not tease him for his height, being shorter than every single other Nishinoya sibling and the only boy.)

The day he found Mei crouching near an empty building in the pouring rain, he listened to her whispered instructions, and they stuck.

Don't push too hard. Crouch down, make yourself small so she doesn't think you're a threat. Let her smell you, but don't reach too fast or move too quickly. Don't shout or you'll scare her. If she hisses or shies away, back off. Be patient, and don't give up.

Admittedly, he's been trying to use the same methods that brought Soba home that first night to get close to you, and admittedly, he hasn't done a very good job with most of them, but you don't seem to have noticed when he breaks a cardinal rule by tackling you or shouting because he's excited to see you, and anyways you're not a stray cat and the two of you are more in the "befriending a nervous cat" stage, but the general strategy stands.

Mei's instructions after the two of them had gotten Soba home had been similar to the ones that got Soba out from under the porch she'd been hiding under, and following those instructions religiously were why Soba loved him and Mei and hated everyone else alive, save for you.

If she needs to hide, let her hide as long as it won't hurt her. It's not like we're trying to give her life-saving medicine, and we'll leave out the things she needs so she can access them on her own time.

Picture you, texting him multiple times in the middle of the night, asking for nothing but a picture of Soba with the sort of texting tone that indicated something was wrong. Picture you, refusing to explain what was wrong. Picture him, letting it go even when he can't shake the sense that you didn't just randomly decide you wanted to see his cat at four in the morning.

Try not to upset her routine. She's a nervous kitty, so doing things around the same time each day will help her get used to us.

This is how he justifies yelling your name and complimenting you every single morning. You're not quite as skittish as Yachi is, but he sees the way you walk yourself into conclusions in your head and he saw the way you spiraled directly into an anxiety attack that time you helped him Ryu and him study. And anyway, you smile when he tells you you look nice that day, so he's not stopping that anytime soon.

Let her come to you. Don't chase her down.

He's not sure near-daily marriage proposals qualifies for not chasing, so to speak, but he's really, really trying not to push any harder than you seem to be okay with.

This last one—other rules for acclimating the nervous new cat that he's decided also apply to courting the prettiest girl he's ever seen—is why, after the fortieth time since he slid into the bus seat beside you, he still doesn't ask why, exactly, you've been on the same page of your book for the past—he checks his phone—forty-three minutes, give or take.

There's no point to giving space to worry ninety percent of the time. If he can't change the outcome, there's no sense in worrying. It's not that he doesn't feel the worry—he just… sets it aside. It's easy to forget it's there if you switch focus to something else, and he's the champion of not focusing on anything at a given time. Shouyo gets too caught up in the game, he creates a new worry by smashing into Asahi's side, but no one was hurt, so forget about it—there's a set to play, a ball to bump, a point to keep in play until it lands on the other side of the net.

But here he is: four and a half hours on a bus, and his most frequent worry these days has been silent a different way from the usual. Yuu would like to think he knows the difference between your pleasant-quiet and your something's-wrong-quiet, and he would also like to think that this difference is fairly obvious considering how much of the past forty-three minutes of silence was you openly glaring at your book without reading it.

Part of let her come to you and don't chase means following cues and paying attention to how you react. You don't like when people worry over you. In fact, you do everything you can to make sure they don't have a reason to. It has the opposite effect, as far as he's concerned, but you take it to a new extreme. He even swears you try to hold in yawns until no one's watching you so no one thinks you're tired, even when the bags under your eyes are clearly running deep. And you're good at putting on a mask—he's seen you switch, the exact moments you decide to smile and talk sweet or otherwise mask some emotion you've decided doesn't have a place in the situation.

That being said, this latest glance worry-ways has him catching you before you sway into the aisle, a firm hand quickly grabbing your shoulder and guiding you back to safety.

Your eyes drift open as he tries not to laugh. "Mmgh?"

"You almost fell," he whispers. "Go back to sleep, we've got a while to go."

"Mmkay."

He shuts his eyes tight, presses a hand firm over his mouth to stop himself. Much like the first time Soba fell asleep on him, there's a life-changing pride that swells in his chest, spiking to what he's pretty sure counts as a cardiac event when you sway again, this time leaning over to rest your head against his shoulder.

"Uh—[name]-san—"

You turn your face into his shoulder wordlessly. You've already fallen back asleep.

Face burning, he shuffles to get comfortable, marks your page in your book, and sets it closed on your lap. Then, as an afterthought, he pulls up his phone's camera and starts a video recording.

"Before you fall back asleep, [name]-san," he whispers.

You wrinkle your nose, let out a tiny whine of acknowledgment.

"Marry me?"

You let out a breathy mumble that he's pretty sure is an attempt at the words stay still.

He won't argue with that.

~

You wake up with a sore neck.

You'd imagine it has something to do with the weight currently resting on your head, but you can't be sure and you're too tired to bother opening your eyes or moving. Instead, you listen to the ambient noise of the bus, which right now appears to be consumed with whispers more than anything.

"E-eh?" Yachi is saying to someone. "I-I can't just—that would be so rude—"

"Come on. You can always delete it if she asks when she's up."

"I-I'm sorry, Tanaka-san—"

"No worries. Here, let me just—"

You have a weird feeling about this. You shift, turn your face into whatever it is you've decided to use as a pillow for this bus ride.

This is about when you remember who you were sitting beside for the ride back.

"Got it! I'm just gonna—"

"Tanaka-senpai, if I open my eyes and I see you recording us in any form, I'm breaking your phone," you grumble, not bothering to unwind your arms from what you're pretty sure is Noya's midsection. You're also pretty sure that soreness in your neck has something to do with his head resting on yours, and you're absolutely certain that that's his arm around your waist. Put simply, any untangling right now is gonna wake him up if you're not careful.

All fine. You vaguely remember him catching you from falling into the aisle earlier. Given that he would appear to be asleep right now, you can't really blame him from shifting into a more comfortable position in his sleep, especially seeing as you can't see him moving your arms to wrap around his body in your sleep. That, and you know how often you wake up cuddling your pillow. For once, you're not going to kill him for something.

That being said, you're also pretty sure Tanaka can tell that you're not fucking around.

"Do me a favor and don't open your eyes yet, then," he replies simply. After a moment's shuffle: "Alright, now you don't have to break my phone."

Your phone—or maybe Noya's?—buzzes between you.

You'll bet actual money that he just sent whatever photo he took to one—or both—of you.

You open your eyes with a sigh, raising an eyebrow when you catch Yachi's sparkly look from over the seat back.

"Um." She takes a moment to collect herself. "Sensei says we'll be stopping at a rest stop soon, so everyone should be ready to get up and stretch their legs."

"'Kay."

Tanaka leers from across the aisle. "You can have the honors of waking your cuddle buddy up, [name]-san. Since you two are so close all of a sudden."

"I'm going to hit you."

"Lucky me, you'll need to wake him up to do that, and I'm pretty sure Noya-san will hold you back if you try."

You grumble. "Just watch me."

Finally, finally, you move to untangle yourself from Noya. Pat a hand on his chest in hopes of getting him to wake up. "Senpai. C'mon."

He shuffles a little. You shake him harder.

"Senpai."

He sighs sleepily, brings up his other arm to pull you against his chest in a crushing hold.

Tanaka stifles a laugh behind you. "By the way, he's got a bit of a death grip when he's still asleep. Good luck!"

"Don't you good luck me, help!" you hiss, wriggling in his hold.

"Promise not to hurt me for anything that's happened on this bus today?"

"Tanaka-senpai! After all I did for you—"

A hand reaches over the back of your seat, baps Noya on the head hard enough that it moves your head.

"Oi," Ennoshita says. "Get up. You're crushing [surname]-san."

A sleepy mumble. You feel the weight on top of your head shift, and you peek up at Noya, red-faced as you watch him process where he is.

Your one consolation is that he appears to become equally red-faced the moment he looks down at you. "Good morning, Senpai. P-please let me go so I can kill your best friend."

Impossibly, his hold on you tightens, sleep clearing from his eyes with frankly impressive speed. "What'd he do?"

"Irrelevant. I said please?"

He hums softly. "I'm not sure… we do need him for matches…"

Fuck. You need to get out of this before you combust. Not even just because this weird twist in your torso is starting to make more than just your neck hurt—every word from his mouth is rumbling through his chest, still sleep-tinged, and straight into you. "C'mon, Ennoshita-senpai can take his place, it won't kill you guys."

He studies you carefully, having apparently immediately grown used to the position where you've become a teddy bear. "Give me a strong yes and I'll think about it."

Alright, bet. Time to break out the big guns.

Looking at him with your best, sweetest puppy-dog eyes, you shift your voice into something just a touch cutesier than your usual. You'd normally never be caught dead with that tone, but desperate times call for desperate measures, right? "Senpai."

He blinks, expression going carefully blank.

"Please?"

He lets you go like he's been burned, and you immediately respond by launching yourself at Tanaka. Regrettably, Sawamura had sat across the aisle from the both of you as a pseudo-chaperone. He doesn't even look up when he sticks an arm out between you to block your path.

"The cleaning fees if you murder someone on the bus are ridiculous. All that hard work you and Yachi-san put in for donations would barely make a dent in it."

You frown, deflating a little. "I barely put in any work. Don't credit me for that."

He glances up at you curiously, but doesn't lower his arm until the bus pulls into the rest stop. "Tanaka, don't antagonize [surname]-san."

"Why am I getting yelled at? She's the one threatening me!"

Sawamura doesn't respond. You stick your tongue out and quiet down—Takeda-sensei's gotten up to address the bus.

"Alright, everyone, we're going to take some time to stretch and eat before getting back on the road. Feel free to get out, get some food, and everything, just please remember to be back at the bus in forty-five minutes."

Ukai nods along. "Don't make us hunt you down."

A round of affirmations stirs up in reply as your heart sinks.

You didn't bring any money.

No problem; you'll get off, bathroom break just so you can say you got off the bus, and then just get back on the bus and wait to leave. Maybe actually make progress on that fucking book you haven't been reading even though you've had at least six non-consecutive hours to read. It's getting ridiculous at this point.

You hop off the last step of the bus, scan the area until you find the large red and blue signs indicating the bathrooms. Before you can take more than two steps towards them, someone taps your shoulder.

There's Noya, grinning like always. "Where are you off to?"

"Bathroom. I'm pretty sure you can't legally follow, Senpai."

"Wanna grab lunch?"

"I'm not that hungry, but thanks."

He doesn't miss a beat. "I'll treat you."

"We've been over this, you don't have to—"

"Consider it payment for the exams I wouldn't have passed without you."

"You already got me chips and stuff."

"And now I'm getting you lunch. Come on." He guides you very deliberately towards the food court. "If you actually need to use the bathroom I'll let you escape, but if you hide there until we leave I'm picking food for you and buying it anyway."

"You're insane."

"You're stuck with me," he retorts, and, well, you don't have anything to say to that.

~

You get the Shunsai Curry and Noya gets a slice of pizza. He'd raised an eyebrow at you picking the cheapest thing on the menu, but let it slide when you pointed out it was a meal and you could have just refused to eat anything but gelato.¹⁸

He'd then insisted that afterwards, you get gelato. You'd insisted that he not buy you gelato. You've compromised, and now you're sitting across from him with a cup of gelato.

12:42. Be back at the bus in thirteen minutes. Give five minutes to walk, or three if you're willing to run, which Noya might be but you're not. Finish the gelato by 12:50. Easy enough, if you could make yourself take a bite.

"You alright?"

900 yen for the curry. 350 yen for the gelato. He's spent 1,250 yen on you in the past thirty-two minutes.¹⁹

Another glance at your phone. 12:43. You're going to be late getting back if you don't eat the stupid gelato, and you can't waste it. Not when he spent 350 yen on it.

This is so fucking stupid.

"[name]-san?"

A hand waves in your field of vision. You blink, snapping back into reality. Noya finished his gelato sometime between the walk from the stand to the table, while you haven't even tasted yours.

"Sorry," you mumble. You don't elaborate.

"I asked if you were alright. You're glaring at the gelato even harder than you were glaring at your book earlier."

"Oh. Sorry."

"One more apology, and I'm buying you a souvenir—"

"Stop," you snap, the anger startling even you. "Stop wasting money on me, Noya-senpai. You don't have to—I'm not a charity case, you know?"

He flinches a little, settles back in his chair. "Is that what you think I'm doing?"

"Aren't you? I'm not—I'm not destitute or anything, I just—I mean—Otoo-san has money, I could have just asked for money to spend on the way back, it's not—"

"I didn't think you were," he says slowly. "Poor, or anything like that. I mean, I've seen your house."

"Exactly!" you bite out as the first tears slip down your cheeks. "You've seen my house. You're probably just—I mean, everyone in the neighborhood probably knows that—"

He slips back into that gentle tone from before, the cat-coaxing tone like you're some scared animal. "Hey. Why are you crying? I'm sorry."

You drop your head, stab the gelato almost too hard with your spoon. "Do you seriously not know?"

"You're really going to have to elaborate for me to have any idea what you're talking about."

"…let's do this. Why do you go out of your way to be nice to me and buy me stuff?"

"You're the prettiest girl I've ever seen and I like being around you," he says, beginning to count on his fingers. "I'd say we've become friends, seeing as you actually started calling me Noya-senpai when I asked you to and we talk a lot, and I like doing things for my friends. Especially when they're pretty girls."

"…do you have a lot of pretty girls as friends?"

"Just the one!" He doesn't miss a beat. "Not only that, but a good senpai takes care of his underclassmen. It's my job to buy you and Shouyo ice cream and nikuman! Hm, what else… oh! Because I wanna spoil you! I said this before, but you've got a really nice smile, and even though you always try to stop me from spending money on you, you usually smile and you always thank me, which feels really nice."

Unbelievable. Actually unbelievable. Everyone in the fucking neighborhood knew about it. You spent weeks getting cards and flowers and fruit plates from well-meaning strangers. You stopped going to the closest grocery store because the owner kept giving you a pitying look and mysteriously forgetting to charge you for a few things. The only butcher shop you're willing to attend is because the owner has never even once commented on it, even though you're certain she knows. And Noya has no idea. "Is that seriously it?"

"Oh! Also because I don't think anyone should have to skip lunch just because they don't happen to have any money on them. I've got the extra to feed you, and Okaa-san and Jii-chan are both huge on the whole 'if someone goes hungry, you're failing them' deal. So right now I'm also feeding you because it's the right thing to do."

You study him carefully. You're not sure Noya can lie—he's refreshingly, frustratingly open at all times. He doesn't ever hold back. Even for stupid things like transparently trying to get you to let him try your cooking, he just admits to it when you confront him.

"…how good are you at keeping secrets?"

"Satsuki, my sister, has gotten into something like twenty fights in her lifetime and our mom has never heard of a single one of them. Does that mean anything?"

Fuck it. You've already broken down in public. "Do you want to come over for dinner tonight?"

He blinks slowly. "Yes. Absolutely. Why?"

"I… I'll tell you about it, but we really don't have the time right now, and I don't want to talk about it in front of everyone else in the club, so…"

"Dinner, then." He grins. Pats your head.  "Eat your gelato quick and try to get the sniffles out so we can run back to the bus without anyone asking any questions. I'll let you run my phone battery down with full access to the Soba albums once we're back."

You obey quietly: wipe your tears, eat your gelato. Noya checks his phone while you freeze your brain, and at 12:52, the two of you run back to the bus and pile into your seats at exactly 12:55.

Once again, you underestimated him.

Footnotes

18. In draft one of this chapter, I mixed up Nekoma and Shinzen's locations, so I laid out this whole itinerary for getting back from the weekend training camp to Miyagi and researched rest stops along the route they were most likely to take and settled on one in Tochigi before remembering that Nekoma was NOT the school based in Saitama and Karasuno would take a totally different route home. I had to re-write this section to accurately go off of what was available at the rest stop they would actually stop at, which makes me deeply sad for two reasons. One: the rest stop in Tochigi had lemon milk, which is now the second food item I have an aching urge to try someday as a result of research for this fic. Two: the sentence that originally started this scene was, "You get a karaage bowl and Noya gets the hamburger steak", which I personally prefer the general rhythm of. Unfortunately, neither of these items were on the menu at the rest stop they're actually at.

19. At time of editing, this comes out to about $8.55 USD. Just so we're clear about how much Noya's ruining his financial future with all this big spending. Prices taken from the menus on the linked site in footnote 18.

Tags: @deeplightgarden @idonthaveanameideayet @dusstory @kazunish

[vex-bittys]

When Life Gives You Skeletons: Chapter 4: One of Those Days

(Warning: anxiety attack, non-graphic description of injuries)

Waking up can be disorienting, and it's always worse in unfamiliar surroundings. The disorientation factor increases exponentially if you discover those unfamiliar surroundings by rolling over in what you assume is your spacious bed only to discover that you've been sleeping on a not-so-spacious couch and landing on a bony lump that squawks in surprise and shoves you back-first into a coffee table. You rub your sore spine with a sigh. It's going to be one of those days.

Once the bony lump, which is of course your new friend Red, has recovered from being squashed into wakefulness, he checks on you to make sure you weren't injured by his instinctual fight response. You can barely hear him over a cacophony of voices from deeper within the house. You recognize one of the voices as Blueberry.

“EDGE, NO! OUR GUEST IS SLEEPING!” Blue speaks loudly enough that if you had still been sleeping, he would have woken you up. 

“ARE YOU DEAF? CLEARLY OUR GUEST-” Air quotes are heavily implied around the last two words. “- IS ALREADY AWAKE AND CAUSING PROBLEMS!” By the time the angry rasp of the second voice reaches you, you've risen to your feet and turned in the direction of the argument. You hear a scuffle beyond an open entryway, then Blue and another skeleton monster walk into the room.

The new skeleton monster, who must be Edge, is tall and slender with sharp, angular features. He has narrow sockets, red eyelights, and sharp teeth set in a permanent frown. A trio of deeply grooved scar lines over his left socket completes his spooky, scary skeleton look. As if the intimidating appearance isn't enough, the new guy is also dressed like he rolled around in a pile of Hot Topic new arrivals and wore whatever stuck. His low slung black pants (are they leather?) are tucked into red heeled boots with a gold, skull-shaped belt buckle to hold them tightly to his hip bones. His shirt sports impressive shoulder pads (or is it armor?) and the insignia of the monster Royal Guard. Red leather gloves cover his hands, ending just below his elbows. In short, this skeleton monster is screaming “badass” with each and every article of clothing in his ensemble.

Edge stomps over to stand in front of you, glaring, and Blueberry chases after him, cheeks puffed out in irritation. You're grateful to sense Red close behind you because if looks could kill, you would be six feet under after Edge’s scathing once-over. The tall skeleton then ignores you completely to speak to Red.

“IS THIS,” Edge says with a quick gesture that encompasses the entirety of you, “GOING TO CREATE PAPERWORK FOR ME?” 

Blueberry tries to capture your attention, but indignation flares inside of you. Why does everyone keep blaming Red for your injuries? You answer Edge’s accusation before Red has a chance to.

“Red didn't touch me,” you snap haughtily, tilting your head to stare the imposing skeleton straight in the eyelights. What you mistook for a sneer on Edge’s sharp features turns out to be his resting bitch face. You know this because he's sneering at you now, and the expression is downright terrifying.

Thankfully, Red intercedes before you melt from the intensity of the tall skeleton’s disdain. “i didn't use magic, an’ the fucker's still alive,” Red tells Edge in a tone that makes it clear that not killing someone should be viewed as a laudable achievement on his part. Red must be talking about Jay, and once again you wonder what happened after you passed out.

Red pulls Edge aside, and the two begin to converse in hushed voices, most likely discussing the details of Red's late night damsel rescue. This gives you the opportunity to speak to Blueberry, who has been bouncing up and down trying to get your attention. As soon as the two other skeleton monsters move away, he bounds up to you.

“HUMAN!” You can practically hear Blue's barely contained energy vibrating in his words. “I DIDN'T LEARN YOUR NAME LAST NIGHT!” Blue's smile is wide, dazzling, and completely sincere, and his brilliant blue eyelights sparkle. His upbeat and openly expressed mood is contagious, so you return the smile and tell him your name.

“MWEH HEH HEH,” laughs the exuberant skeleton. “NOW THAT WE'VE BEEN FORMALLY INTRODUCED, WE SHOULD EXCHANGE PHONE NUMBERS TO STAY IN TOUCH!”

“I'd love to, Blue, but I have no idea where my phone is right now.” You hate to disappoint Blue, but the skeleton monster doesn't miss a beat.

“GOOD THING THE MAGNIFICENT BLUEBERRY IS ON THE CASE!” Blue strikes the same hands on hips heroic pose as last night, pausing dramatically before solving The Case of the Missing Phone. “YOUR PHONE IS BEHIND YOU ON THE COFFEE TABLE!”

Sure enough, your phone and purse sit on top of the coffee table that you unexpectedly encountered earlier. Your back throbs at the memory, but you ignore it, unlocking your phone. You see the time and freeze. Unless Red is willing to drive you to your no-longer-residence to retrieve your work clothes, there's no way you'll make your afternoon shift on time. You hate to ask the skeleton for more help after everything that he's already done for you.

“IS SOMETHING WRONG, MAIDEN?” 

You're curious about Blue's use of the word maiden, but you put the thought aside for the moment. “Nothing that I can't handle,” you reassure him. You open a new contact entry in your phone and hand it to him, and he gives you his phone so that you can input your number. You save Blue's contact as “The Magnificent Blueberry” just in time for Red to tap you on the shoulder. 

Edge moves towards the front door, followed by Blue. You watch them open a closet and grab leather jackets, black with silver studs for Edge and blue and gray with a futuristic design for Blue. Edge grabs two sets of keys from a row of hooks by the door and tosses one of the sets to Red, who catches it easily out of the air. Blue and Edge then disappear out the door, leaving you alone with Red.

Red shoves his hands in his pockets and rocks back on his heels. “i'm gonna take ya back ta yer house t'get yer stuff, but first yer gonna need some clothes.” Red tips his skull at what you're wearing which you just now realize is nothing except an oversized t-shirt that ends mid-thigh and yesterday's underwear. No bra. No pants. No shoes.

It's a little late to be embarrassed, but heat rises to your cheeks anyway.

“c'mon.” Red leads you through the entryway that the other two skeleton monsters had emerged from earlier, and you discover an enormous open floor plan kitchen and dining room. Red continues on through a smaller doorway that opens into a laundry room with a pair of big fancy 2-in-1 washer/dryer machines that cost as much as the type of used car you've been hoping to buy.

Red begins to dig around in a hamper of clothes that you hope are clean. At this point though, you'll settle for anything that will cover you more than what you have on. Red’s hamper foray produces a pair of track pants, a blue hoodie, and a pair of white socks, all of which Red hands to you.

“you c'n get dressed in here if ya want. i'm gonna go t'my room t'change an’ i’ll meet ya back in the livin’ room when yer done.”

You nod. “Thanks, Red.” The skeleton seems taken aback at your sincere gratitude and quickly leaves the room, grumbling under his breath as he goes. You notice that distinct red tint creeping over his skull again, and you're beginning to think it might mean that he's blushing. Does genuine praise embarrass him?

You ponder the possibility while you pull on the clothes that Red provided. The pants are a little long, but the hoodie fits fine and, as a bonus, hides the fact that you're not wearing a bra. Shoving your phone into the hoodie pocket, you make your way back to the living room, taking a moment to admire the extravagant house as you go.

Red is already waiting for you. His outfit is so similar to yesterday's that you do a double-take. A pair of gold chains hang where a collar once sat, but other than that, you can't spot a difference. Did Red wear the same clothes minus the accessories or does he have a dresser full of identical shirts and basketball shorts? 

Once you're close enough, Red holds out a pair of sneakers to you. You slip your feet into them, grab your purse, and trail after Red as he walks out the front door and heads for a hulking black SUV parked in the driveway. The skeleton hops into the driver's seat, leaving you to scramble into the behemoth of a vehicle on your own. You finally manage to climb into your seat with Red providing a soundtrack of chuckles from the driver's seat.

“Why couldn't we just take your car,” you complain. 

“i borrowed my bro's ride so we could get all yer stuff in one trip. didn't think ya'd be too keen on seein’ yer shithead roommate more than once.” Red has a point. The mere thought of Jay makes you sick to your stomach, and if you never saw him again, it would be too soon. You won't need a huge car to get all of your belongings in one trip though. You could carry everything you owned with your own two hands, just like you had when you moved to Ebbott City to start over.

“Why is Blue driving such a huge car?” Red cackles at your question. You're not sure what's so funny except for maybe the idea of Blue trying to climb into the SUV without a stepladder.

“blue ain't my brother.”

“Oh, I just assumed since you guys have similar skull shapes and…” You trail off, a sneaking suspicion arising. “Wait, is Edge your brother?”

Red's cackles turn into howls of laughter. When he has his laughter under control, he explains. “edge is my bro,” he confirms. “blue n’ i ain't bros but we're related, kinda. we're… uh… cousins.” 

Ok, the hesitation is a little weird, but you don't dwell on it because Red is pulling out of the driveway, finally giving you an uninterrupted view of the place he calls home. The house is nestled at the base of Mount Ebbott, with sprawling woodlands just a stone's throw from the meticulously manicured yard. You recognize the style of the architecture as a Southern plantation house, complete with a wrap-around porch and pillars, and you wouldn't call the three-story building anything less than a mansion. You sigh dreamily; living in a place like that is goals.

“y'alright?” Red must have heard you sigh. You decide to answer his question with a question of your own.

“Do you, Edge, and Blue live in that huge house by yourselves?”

“nah. there's ten of us, all skeleton monsters. five pairs of brothers that also happen to be… cousins.”

You make idle conversation with Red while he drives and discover that he's never visited Ebbott Aquarium despite being on the Surface for what he mistakenly says is four years. Monsters emerged from the Underground five years ago, but correcting him feels rude. Instead you insist on treating him to a day at the aquarium to repay him for his kindness even though he says it isn't necessary. 

You tell Red stories of your life, nothing too specific about your past, just silly things that have happened at your job or during your time in college. He listens to you talk about the drunk Santa who wandered into the store you work at and the woman who asked you to double-bag every single item she purchased. You even told him about the time you saw a dog with heterochromia, and instead of telling your college roommate that the dog had two differently colored eyes, you simply shouted, with maximum excitement: “That dog has two eyes!”

The sound of Red's deep, growling chuckle fills the car, and you smile in satisfaction. “humans’re just as fucking weird as animals.” 

A comfortable silence settles in the SUV after the skeleton’s observation. You watch the neighborhoods pass by through the vehicle's tinted windows. Red navigates with confidence, and far too soon, you've reached the outskirts of the place you called home only yesterday. It feels like months ago.

The events of last night have wormed their way into your catalog of experiences. The memories are a part of you now, for better or worse, ready to resurface when you least expect them. You would not consider this to be “when you least expect them,” yet here they are, pushing forward in your mind.

Jay yells.

The bathroom door splinters.

You can't breathe.

He's choking you! 

You can't-

“doll. doll, yer alright. breathe!”

Red opens the passenger door of the SUV and leans in to unbuckle your seatbelt. You didn't even realize that he’d stopped and gotten out. Reality catches up to you, and your hands begin to shake. You can't slow your breathing, and you can't seem to suck enough air into your panicked lungs.

“hey, look at me,” Red continues to talk you through the episode. “my bro called a friend of his in th’ human police force. th’ guy's gonna meet us there. you'll be safe.” You focus on inhaling and exhaling, and Red's next words are so quiet that you nearly miss them. “i promise, n’ i don't make promises lightly.”

It takes awhile, but you manage to bundle up all of your emotions and shove them into the “Closet of Things You Don't Want to Deal with Right Now" in your mind. You calm down enough that Red is able to get back into the SUV and drive the remaining few blocks to the scene of last night's attack. Jay is outside when you pull up, talking to a uniformed police officer standing next to his cruiser.

Jay definitely looks like he's been in a fight… and lost. His entire face is swollen and bruised, including two black eyes and an obviously broken nose. Red parks in front of the house, and the police officer approaches his window and taps on it, indicating that Red should roll it down, which he does.

“You're Lieutenant Serif's brother?” the officer asks. He's young with a friendly demeanor that puts you at ease.

“yeah, i changed that pompous dickwad's diapers when he was a babybones,” Red responds. The policeman snorts.

“Well, it might be best if you wait in the car. There's still some lingering animosity after last night's altercation.”

“pussy's mad i kicked ‘is ass,” Red translates, making no move to get out of the car. The officer shifts his attention to you. 

“If you'll come with me, ma’am, we can go inside and collect your belongings.” 

You take a deep breath to steady yourself and step out of the car. Making your way towards your once-welcoming residence, you stick close to the young policeman. Jay trails behind you, and while you dislike having him at your back where you can't track his movements, it makes avoiding any contact, the physical and the eye variety, easy. Jay doesn't speak to you either, and for once, you're grateful to him for something. You just want to get in, grab your stuff, and never look back.

The first thing you notice when you get to the door is that the jamb is smashed near the lock, causing the door to swing open loosely when the officer pushes on it. The next thing you notice is a very strong scent of bleach, which surprises you since none of your roommates are the slightest bit cleaning-inclined. The very last bit of noticing that you do involves the feel of the house itself. Just yesterday, this place represented safety and belonging; today you simply feel detached from the place as if you never lived here at all.

You deliberately avert your eyes when you pass the bathroom with its wrecked door. The bleach odor coming from inside overwhelms you, and your eyes water from the strength of it. Finally you arrive at your bedroom. The door is already ajar, and you push it open further only to discover that the room you once occupied is completely empty. It's not just empty either; it looks as though it's been ransacked.

The closet door is open, and hangers litter the floor. The drawers are all pulled out of the dresser and nightstand, showing nothing left inside of them. The sheets, blankets, and pillows are missing from the bed, and not even your pile of muddied clothes remains. You stare, at a loss for words. 

“Oh yeah, your stuff is in the bathroom,” Jay says, acting like he just remembered the fact. Dread settles in your stomach. The bathroom is only a few feet away, and that short walk somehow takes far too long and not nearly long enough. 

The source of the bleach smell and the location of your stolen possessions turns out to be the same thing: the bathtub. The bathtub is overflowing with torn fabric and pillow stuffing, and every single item is soaked and stained from the bleach that's been poured on top of it. You don't know how to process what has happened, so you stand there, numb. Every time an emotion rises inside of you, you stuff it into that mental closet of yours. This isn't the time for a breakdown. Not with Jay and a stranger watching you.

Jay leans towards you. “That's what you get, monster fucker,” he hisses. You recoil at the hatred in his words.

“Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to step back.” The policeman's voice is cold and clipped, nothing like the friendly tone he used with you earlier. He addresses you next: “Ma'am, would you come outside with me?”

You can't get out of the house fast enough. Standing out in the yard, you gulp down the fresh air and hope that you'll never smell bleach or talk to Jay ever again.

“Unfortunately, I can't arrest someone for being an asshole,” the policeman tells you. He's back to using his kind voice now that it's just the two of you. “Because he destroyed your property, this has become a civil matter, which means that you'll have to take your former roommate to small claims court if you want him to pay you back for what he destroyed.” You nod, not trusting yourself to speak at the moment. “I'll make a detailed report of the incident, and if you decide to pursue a case, I'll get a copy for you to use as evidence.”

The officer gives you his card, and you shove it into the pocket of your borrowed hoodie. You thank him, then join Red back in the SUV.

“what happened,” the skeleton monster asks, apparently noticing that you haven't brought anything with you.

“Jay wrecked all of my stuff.” You sigh, feeling defeated. You don't expect Red's explosive reaction.

“i'll kill that fucker!” Red snarls and reaches for the door handle. You place a hand on his arm to restrain him.

“It's ok. I didn't have that much stuff to begin with.”

Red huffs but stays in the vehicle. “that just makes it worse,” he grumbles. “so where to now?”

You shrug. “I need to call my boss. I'm definitely going to be late today. You don't have to keep driving me around though. I can take the bus.” You appreciate Red's efforts, but you're starting to feel like a burden. Surely he has better things to do with his time than chauffeur a human around.

“ya can't get rid of me that easy, doll. howzabout we grab some food an’ find ya some new duds?”

You are admittedly relieved by Red's offer, and he drives a short distance to a nearby superstore with a sandwich shop conveniently located inside. You and Red seat yourself on opposite sides of a small booth, and you pull out your phone to make your call. You shouldn't be surprised that things don't go well. It has been one of those days, after all.

Your manager answers the phone, and you quickly tell her about the attack, first on you then on your defenseless work attire. There is a long pause on the other end of the line after you finish your story. Your manager finally speaks.

“I know it isn't your fault,” she says, and the heavy weight of dread returns to your already churning stomach. “But we have a three strikes attendance policy, and I can't make exceptions.”

You want to argue. Sure, your first absence occurred because you slept through your alarm, but you weren't responsible for your other roommates throwing up in a dryer containing your clean work clothes or for Jay's aggressive actions.

“They aren't absences,” you reason with her to no avail.

“If you're over two hours late, it counts as an absence.” There’s another lengthy pause. “Look, I'm really sorry about this, but it's corporate policy. I hope things turn out for you. Goodbye, hon, and good luck.”

Your now ex-manager terminates the call, and you're left sitting there, staring at the phone screen. You try desperately to cram more unwanted emotions into that special closet in your mind, but it's filled to capacity from earlier events. 

You feel a bony finger gently brushing tears that you weren't even aware had fallen from your cheeks. “aww, doll, don't cry.” At some point during the ill-fated phone call, Red had gotten up to attempt to comfort you. Suddenly you find yourself pressed against his warm body, shaking and sobbing into his shirt. After a brief hesitation, he wraps his arms around you and holds you while you cry.

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[all-the-things-2020]

Late Night Talking - Chapter Two

Summary: Emily and Dieter go on their first date.

Rating: PG-13

Tagging @rhoorl because Working Title inspired me to write this

I spent most of that Friday getting ready. A mani-pedi and eyebrow wax at the salon, a mini makeover at Ulta, and a blowout and style at my hairdresser. I’d debated buying a new dress, but decided to spend my money on the beauty treatments instead. I wore my favorite dress, a comfortable but clingy teal blue wrap that showed just enough cleavage.

By the time I was done at the hairdresser, it was almost 3 o’clock and I headed for Pasadena. Traffic on the 210 could be a bitch at any time, but was especially bad on Fridays, so I didn’t want to take any chances. Better to get there early and have to kill some time than to be late. Objectively, I knew that if I got caught in traffic, I could text Dieter (everyone in SoCal understood getting stuck in traffic) but I didn’t want to have to make him wait. So I left ridiculously early and for once traffic was light. I pulled into the parking lot behind Vroman’s at 4:08.

Well, might as well browse the store a bit, I thought, rather than sit in the car. It was summer and too bloody hot to sit in a car without the A/C running. I walked into the bookshop and took a deep breath. The smell of brand new books filled my lungs and helped settle my nerves a little. Just a little, though, because I was on the verge of an anxiety attack every time I realized I was actually going on a date with Dieter Bravo.

I hadn’t told anyone about my plans other than Sam. I was fully aware of the rumors about Dieter’s past, and I knew at least one if my friends would try to warn me off. I was also very aware that he’d done a stint in rehab and had stayed out of the headlines ever since. I was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt.

I wandered the aisles, reacquainting myself with the layout of the store so I could impress Dieter with my knowledge of the place. I’d talked it up so much but it had been a while since I’d had the chance to visit and I didn’t want to look like an idiot. Really, though, I was just nervous and trying to keep myself busy. Finally, at 4:30 I gave up and went into The 1894.

I took a seat at the bar and ordered a glass of wine. Maybe that will settle my nerves, I thought. I asked the bartender if I could save the seat next to me. “I’m meeting someone at five,” I told her. “I got here early.”

She shrugged. “Sure, but I can’t stop anyone from sitting there if we run out of seats.”

I understood, but so far the place was only about half full. Most people hadn’t gotten off work yet. I sat my purse on the empty seat next to me and sipped my wine. Twice people came up to me and asked if the seat was available, and I told them no, someone was sitting there. They moved on without a fuss, but it was a little annoying. When the third person walked up, I was about to roll my eyes and make a smart remark, but before I could turn, a familiar voice said, “No fair starting without me.”

I picked up my purse and he slid onto the seat, leaning his arm on the bar. He was wearing a pale blue short sleeved button down shirt, the top few buttons left undone, and a pair of dark blue slacks. Nothing too fancy, but a definite step up from the t-shirt and jeans from the other day. His hair was mostly tamed, but still a bit messy. It was a good look on him.

“Hi,” he said, with a smile.

“Hi,” I said, smiling back. “I got here super early. Traffic wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.”

He nodded. “Yeah, I got here faster than I expected, too,” he said. “Guess the freeway gods wanted us to start things early.” He winked and I melted inside. “That dress looks great on you, by the way,” he went on. “The color really brings out your eyes.”

Now I really was blushing, and it wasn’t from the wine. “Thanks,” I said. “You look nice, too.”

He shrugged. “I clean up fairly well.” The bartender came over and asked if she could get him anything. “I’ll have the same,” he said, pointing at my wine glass. “And put it on one check, please.”

I picked up my glass and took a sip. “The feminist in me wants to insist I’m perfectly capable of buying my own drinks,” I said, “but my bank balance is telling her to shut up.”

He laughed and laid his hand on mine. “Tell your inner feminist I respect her very much, but I agree with your bank balance that she needs to mind her own business for a while.” He rubbed his thumb against the back of my hand and I took another sip of wine to allow myself to recover a bit of composure. Fortunately, the bartender brought his wine and he let go to take his glass.

“Cheers,” he said, tipping his glass toward mine.

“Cheers,” I replied, as we clinked our glasses together. He maintained eye contact as he took a drink.

“Nice choice,” he said after he’d swallowed. He pulled a menu closer and waved the bartender over. “Can we get a meat & cheese board, and some olives?” She nodded. “Sorry,” he said. “I got sidetracked this morning and didn’t get lunch before my meeting.”

“No worries,” I said. “Who knows if or when we’ll get around to dinner. I don’t know about you, but I can spend hours in this place.” I nodded toward the bookshop proper.

He smiled. “Great minds think alike,” he said. There was that smile again. I found myself smiling back, sure I looked like a total goofball. He reached out for my hand again and gave it a little squeeze. My insides turned instantly to goo.

“So, um, how was your meeting?” I asked.

His face lit up. “It was really good,” he said. “I’m in talks to do a TV series.” He took a sip of wine. “The producer has a couple of different options for my character, wanted my input on which one I liked best.”

“And let me guess, you can’t say a word.”

He grimaced. “Nope, sorry. They’d feed me to the … what’s that thing that ate Boba Fett in Star Wars, that giant sand worm thing?”

“Oh, yeah, I know what you mean,” I said. I searched my brain for the arcane Star Wars knowledge that I knew lurked in there somewhere. “The sarlaac? Is that it?”

Dieter shrugged. “Sounds about right. Whatever it’s called, they’d feed me to it.” Just then the bartender brought our food, and he popped an olive in his mouth.

“By the way, thanks for not giving me the Look,” he said. He nodded toward his wine glass. “Everybody knows I’ve been to rehab, so I usually get the Look from someone when they see me drinking alcohol.”

“It’s none of my business,” I told him. “You’re an adult and so am I.”

He smiled. “Well, thanks again,” he said quietly. “I’m in a pretty good place right now. I have my rules and they’re working for me. A lot of people judge me too harshly.”

We nibbled on the food, ordered another glass of wine, and chit chatted about work, the weather, and other boring stuff that actually seemed important and enthralling because it gave us each a glimpse into the other’s life.

He offered me the last morsel of cheese on the board, but I declined and he ate it, then drained his glass. “So,” he said, clapping his hands together. “Are we going to buy some books or what?”

I finished my wine and smiled. “Let’s do some damage to my bank account,” I said. He laughed, asked for the check and paid it in cash, leaving a ridiculously large tip that made the bartender break into an appreciative smile. I wasn’t sure if he was normally a large tipper or if he was just trying to impress me, but either way, I was happy for the bartender, who had been running herself ragged as the bar started to fill up with people stopping by for after work drinks.

“Shall we?,” he said as we stood up. He let me walk a half step ahead of him, and I felt his hand at the small of my back, gently guiding me through the maze of tables and customers toward the bookstore.

“Where do we start?,” he asked when we reached the sales floor.

“Anywhere you want,” I said. “Fiction? Nonfiction?”

“Definitely fiction,” he replied. I took his hand and led him toward the fiction shelves, glad I had scouted out the store layout earlier.

We wandered the shelves, pulling out a book here and there.

“Have you read this?”

“Oh, I love this one.”

Our reading tastes were not exactly the same, but we overlapped quite a bit. I pulled a copy of The Eyre Affair off the shelf. “Please tell me you’ve read this,” I said.

He shook his head, taking the book from me to read the back. “No, I haven’t. Wait, what the hell is this?” He laughed. “Dodos?”

“Don’t knock it,” I said. “It’s virtually impossible to describe this book without it sounding like the stupidest thing ever, but trust me, it’s brilliant.”

He raised one eyebrow and gave me a look of disbelief. “Interactive Shakespeare,” I said. “Time travel. An independent Wales. Neanderthals. And Jane Eyre is missing!”

He laughed. “Okay, okay, I’ll take your word for it.” He started to put the book back on this shelf but I snatched it from his hand.

“No, I’m buying this for you,” I said. “You have to read it. Non negotiable.”

“And what if I don’t like it?,” he asked.

“Then I’m afraid I’ll have to kill you,” I teased.

“I knew it,” he said, with an exaggerated groan. “My characters almost always die. It’s this face. People just want to kill it.”

“I like your face,” I said.

He leaned against the shelf. “Really?” He seemed surprised. I just gave him a look and he laughed. “Okay, so if I don’t like the book I die; what happens if I like it?”

“Then you become One of Us and must be initiated,” I said.

His eyebrows shot up. “This initiation … am I gonna like it?” He stepped closer to me.

“Oh, yeah,” I said. “You’ll love it. But you’ve got to read the book first.” I tapped him on the chest with the book. He chuckled and shook his head.

“Okay, but now I get to pick out a book for you,” he said. He took my hand and led me up and down the aisles, making a show of picking out just the right book. All the while, our fingers were entwined and he idly rubbed his thumb against my palm. Finally, he decided on a novel by an obscure Lithuanian author that sounded rather depressing to me, but which he insisted was better than the cover blurb would lead you to believe.

We continued to explore the shop, finding something interesting in every aisle. I picked up a tiny Jane Austen doll, which he insisted on buying for me. He admired a leather key fob with a Steinbeck quote, which I insisted on buying for him. Eventually, we each had a small stack of books and little trinkets picked out for each other.

“Ready for dinner?,” he asked.

“Yeah, we’d better get out of here before I find anything more to buy,” I said. We went to the registers, made our purchases and then traded bags.

“So,” he said when we’d stepped outside. “Any good restaurants around here?”

“I know a nice tapas place in Old Pasadena,” I said. “But we’ll have to drive there. It’s like five or six blocks away.”

He laughed. “Oh, you are such a Californian,” he said. “If you’d lived in New York, you’d know five or six blocks is nothing.” He slipped his arm around my shoulders. “Come on, it’s a nice night, let’s take a walk.”

We walked west on Colorado Blvd. It was still light out but starting to get dusky in the shadows of the tall buildings. I’d always found downtown Pasadena a bit “big city” and overwhelming, which I mentioned to Dieter. He laughed. “I’ll take you to New York City sometime,” he said. “Then we’ll talk about what constitutes a ‘big city’.”

I held my tongue, but the fact that he’d casually assumed we’d have a future together of some sort gave me a thrill. Even if we were just friends in that future, I’d take it, although of course I wanted more.

The walk to the restaurant was leisurely, after Dieter realized I couldn’t walk as quickly as he could (the curse of being a short person walking with a tall person), which was perfectly fine with me. He kept his arm around my shoulders as we navigated the foot traffic that always filled the sidewalks in Pasadena, especially on a Friday night. Only one person stopped us to ask for his autograph, although several others did a double take as we went past them.

We reached the restaurant and fortunately didn’t have to wait too long for a table. Most of the customers were crowded in the bar and lounge area, but we were tucked in a corner at a table.

“Nice place,” Dieter said, looking around appreciatively. As soon as he opened the menu, he grinned. “Ooh, they have oysters!”

I made a face. “What’s that face for?,” he said.

“I’m not a big fan of seafood,” I admitted.

“Well, I’m still getting oysters,” he said, with a wink. Our waiter came over and Dieter ordered a gin martini and a half dozen oysters to start with. I opted for potato empanadas and a mojito. By the time the waiter came back with our drinks and appetizers, we’d decided on a pizza to split for our main course.

“Trade you,” Dieter said, offering me an oyster after he saw how good my empanadas looked.

“Ugh, no,” I said. “Those things are disgusting. I’m very picky about what I put in my mouth.”

He nearly spit out his martini and I felt my face go red as I realized how that sounded. “I just mean, I’m a picky eater,” I protested, but he was already laughing so hard he had to wipe his eyes with his napkin.

“Oh, my God,” he said when he’d managed to catch his breath. “That was priceless. But the offer still stands. Those empanadas look really good.” He made puppy dog eyes at me and I shoved an empanada into his mouth.

“Mmph,” he said. When he’d managed to swallow it, he picked up an oyster and waved it in front of my face. “Come on,” he said. “Just try one. I bet you’ll like it.”

I shook my head.

“If you eat one, I’ll give you a kiss,” he offered.

I pouted at him. “I was hoping I’d already done enough to earn a kiss,” I said

“I meant, I’ll give you a kiss right now,” he clarified. “You’re definitely getting a kiss before the evening’s over.” He did that thing with his jaw that always turned me on.

I closed my eyes. “All right, in that case, I’ll do it, but if I don’t like it I get to spit it out, okay?”

“Deal,” he said. “Open up.” I opened my mouth and he tipped the oyster in. I shuddered a bit at the slimy texture and briny taste. “Just swallow it,” he said. I did and almost gagged, but I managed to get it down. I opened my eyes and he was smiling mischievously at me. He leaned across the table to press a gentle kiss against my lips. He tasted like gin and oysters and empanadas. “Worth it?”

“Definitely,” I replied with a lazy smile. “But I’m never eating one of those things again.”

“Fair enough,” he said. We talked about favorite (and not so favorite) foods while we waited for the pizza to arrive. After it arrived, we talked about movies and hobbies and a million other things. Finally, we’d eaten as much as we could and the waiter dropped off the check. Again, Dieter took care of it, this time with a credit card. I made a feeble attempt to ask what my share was, but he waved me off. “Tell your inner feminist she can pay next time,” he said.

We walked slowly back to the parking lot behind Vroman’s enjoying the cooler air now that the sun had gone completely down. We reached my car first and I dug out my keys, unlocked the doors and put my bag in the back seat. “Well,” I said, not sure exactly what to say.

“Well,” he said back, stepping closer, almost pressing me against the side of the car. He sat his bag on the ground and took my face between his hands. This time, the kiss was still gentle, but lasted longer. It was followed by a flurry of shorter but fiercer kisses that made my toes curl. I slid my arms up around his neck and his hands fell to my waist, pulling me closer.

“Mmm,” he murmured. “I had a wonderful time tonight.”

“Me, too,” I replied. He kissed me again.

“We should probably say good night,” he said. I nodded, and kissed him back.

“Someone’s going to wonder why we’re making out in the parking lot,” he said.

“Yeah, we should probably stop,” I said. We didn’t stop.

Finally, a woman and her kids walked past and she made a snarky remark. Dieter laughed and pressed his forehead against mine. “Okay, I think that killed the mood,” he said. He stepped back. “Text me when you get home, so I know you got there safe,” he said. “I’ll call you tomorrow and we can figure out where to go next time.”

“I will,” I said, fumbling with my car keys, which I’d somehow managed not to drop during all that. I opened the car door and dropped into the drivers’ seat. Dieter leaned in to press one last kiss against my cheek.

“Drive safe,” he said, then picked up his bag and headed for his own car, two rows over from mine. I couldn’t resist watching him walk away, admiring the view.

When he got into his car, I turned away and slid my key in the ignition. I’d need the long drive home to calm myself down.

*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^*^

NOTES: Vroman’s is a real bookshop in Pasadena. If you ever get the chance to visit, do so! And do it soon: the owner is retiring and the shop (as well as Book Soup) is up for sale. Fingers crossed they find a new owner who wants to carry on the 100+ year tradition of this indie bookshop. The restaurant is loosely based on a little place I had lunch with friends during a conference in Pasadena. The Eyre Affair is a real book and it is AMAZING. The obscure Lithuanian author is completely made up; I figured Dieter would be into something out of the ordinary.

[smolsleepyfox]

I found this in my drafts so enjoy my bitching about the absolute shitshow my first intercontinental flight turned into.

Travelers: smolsleepyfox + mother who doesn't speak a lot of English

The inbound journey: train to Frankfurt > flight to LA (Condor) > ~two hours transit time > flight to Honolulu (Hawaiian)

Estimated travel time: 24 hours

What actually happened: The ICE was late, of course, but we had more than enough buffer regardless. The plane was announced as 45 minutes delayed due to a delayed arrival. Okay, not fun, but doable.

We eventually started with a delay of 1h 40. Refer to the transit time stated above.

The flight itself was cool, I really liked the 3D earth model with our route showing all sorts of background info on sights we were passing. I saw Iceland and the Faroe islands for the first time, and some of Greenland, the Great Salt Lake and Nevada. (Why is the US so big and empty in the middle, it was kind of freaky??)

Anyway. We arrived with a delay of 1h 20 and hastened to get to the connection. As travellers entering the country we had to get our bags and then check them in again when we were connecting, so we did just that.

Mistake.

Because when we made it to the check-in counter of Hawaiian Airlines they told us we'd been rebooked to a different flight with an entirely different airline. At 7am the next day.

Apparently Condor thought we wouldn't make the connection and changed our booking. The very sweet lady at the counter wrote down the flight number for the new booking, and recommended we go ask our original airline to get us a hotel because by that time it was 7pm and we'd been up for about 24 hours.

Guess who does not work anymore at 7pm?

If you guessed Condor's customer service desk, you get a point. What followed should be familiar to people who watched Asterix conquers Rome. I probably spoke to everyone wearing some sort of uniform in the entire building. Turns out social anxiety is only a problem until your stress level hits the roof. And after all of that didn't even work, we got a SMS with a hotel booking and food vouchers.

Note that by that point, we'd been running around for nearly three hours and there's still no information the new flight booking even exists. We have no boarding passes, not even an email saying we got rebooked in the first place, just a hand-written flight number.

To be fair the hotel was extremely nice. There even was a pool in the courtyard - which we couldn't use because as I mentioned we'd checked in our luggage. We didn't even have a toothbrush. Regardless, half of the vouchers were spent on dinner that I thought was stupid expensive (but hey not my money!).

Next morning while waiting in line to get our boarding passes I talked to a dude from Cincinnati checking in a very friendly black Labrador Retriever. I told him I'd love to see the Great Lakes sometime and he said he has a friend who went to Germany with his athletics team and it sounded very fun. I told him we have a lot of big funky churches and he seemed to appreciate it. We also spent the other half of the vouchers on Starbucks.

We did make it to Honolulu airport. Our bags did not. The day before, they'd told us that they'd either transfer our luggage to the new airline, or they'd just put it on their flight to Honolulu that leaves the same time. We waited at the baggage claim for our flight. The conveyor belt was blocked by a large box for like ten minutes. No luggage. We have no flight number for the other Hawaiian flight and none of the screens even show that that plane exists, let alone is supposed to arrive in the span of the next two hours.

After asking five different people and my mom running off on her own, we manage to get to Hawaiian's baggage service desk and one of the crew wanders off with our receipts to take a look. He returns after 30 minutes with a cart. I didn't ask where the hell he found our stuff. He was probably a wizard.

We still don't have a confirmation we ever got rebooked.

---

This is where I left off, thinking we'd finished the Odyssey. Guess the fuck what! We had not!

We spent a lovely two weeks on O'ahu of which I was sick for most of the first (I blame the AC). Our flight back was at 7.25am.

The plan was for us to go to LA together, where I'd put my mom on a flight back (Condor again) and for me to spend two more weeks in LA. We arrived around 5am because we're German and that's the bare minimum of buffer. Online check-in somehow didn't work for the Honolulu-LA leg but did work for the LA-Frankfurt leg. So we get to the airport, try the kiosks. No luck there either. Go to the customer service counter.

The poor man took about five minutes looking between his PC and our passports before telling us he had to check something and wandering off for a solid twenty minutes. That can't be a good sign.

He returns. My mom's ticket doesn't exist.

What do you mean her ticket doesn't exist, I ask, wondering if I've lost the ability to speak English.

Apparently when Condor rebooked us on the inbound flight, they accidentally canceled both Hawaiian airlines reservations for my mom. So now we have an hour left and my mom doesn't have a ticket and a flight to catch.

Booking another ticket for this specific flight is 2800$ - even if we were willing to pay that (we were not) that is very much above my credit card's limit. The man, who clearly feels bad for us, advises me to call Condor directly.

I genuinely don't want to think about how much money I paid calling the hotline. The entire thing was a disaster - I have auditory processing disorder, it was loud as fuck in the airport and the man on the other end had an accent. At first I gave him the wrong booking number (mine instead of my mom's), then he misunderstood and thought our inbound flights were with Lufthansa so Not His Job. He eventually promised to reinstate the ticket so we should wait a few minutes and return to the check-in. At check-in the tickets did not show up, so I call them back and ask for the ticket numbers to double-check.

Having a pacing man at the airport yell into his phone in German probably fulfills some kind of stereotype.

We went outside so my mom could have a smoke break and I avoided having a meltdown with the help of a soggy Nutella bread, since I hadn't even had breakfast at that point.

At this point, we've missed our flight, meaning my ticket has lost its validity as well. Stakes are high.

The few minutes were apparently enough for the system to catch up though, because when we got back to the check in counter, a very nice lady told us that while it wasn't Hawaiian Airlines' responsibility, they offered a complementary rebooking to a later flight. They wouldn't be able to guarantee we got on if it was full, but chances were good. Very stressful 40 minutes until we were called up by a guy my age who apologized for not knowing how to pronounce our last name.

But wait - my mom had a flight to catch. The stopover time by that point had shrunken to an hour... And our plane was delayed. In all fairness, the cabin crew was lovely, they offered all passengers with connecting flights to get off the plane first, just grab our stuff and run. Which is what we did, running up to the gate and asking if boarding is still ongoing like we were being chased by the mob. This flight was also delayed and I think the stewardess was concerned for us.

But hey, at least my mom made it home. Just to put the cherry on top though, my mom's luggage arrived in Germany five days later.

My own flight from LA to Frankfurt was luckily completely unremarkable. Never again.

[weaponizedmoth]

Finally! Wooo! Finished! I had this idea from seeing so many pics of ballerinas on my pinterest feed. I used a ref, but lost it. I expanded a lot upon it, so I think it's ok. It was cool to draw so many people in the same space, too, cause I never do that if I can help it, lol. Under the cut is usually only lineart vers. but I wanted to put it up there cause I added shading. So, really, under the cut there's ballerina lore. All of them have backstories. You're welcome.

Ballerina lore. (Reminder that I have no idea how any of this actually works cause I never ended up doing ballet. Thankssss~ <3

She's waiting for the rehearsal to begin, and is very annoyed that it is so late, cause she woke up so early for this. The other girls aren't as worried, but my girl is punctual.

She's telling her friend about all the conspiracy theories she knows. It's a lot.

Her friend is actively shocked about all the stuff she is hearing and she believes it 100% purely based on delivery.

Sad ballerina is sad cause her boyfriend is away. She is also a bit introverted, and just likes thinking a lot. She feels like she doesn't fit in with the rest of the group, but she's neutral-to-like when it comes to them, esp. conspiracy theory girl cause she's enthusiastic. She thinks funny ballerina is obnoxious though <3

Funny ballerina is funny, she's the class clown. She is always trying to make everyone happy, but she's just very anxious. Addicted to caffeine, shouldn't drink it, esp. not cocla cola, cause she's on an obvious diet, but it's her cheat day, get off her ass.

Lesbian ballerina as hell, in love with the disaster in front of her. Not much is known about this woman, though, she is mysterious and usually quiet, although good humored and friendly when approached/towards new people.

She's so sleepy

She's waiting for her friend to arrive. She is late, and she's worried they're gonna start without her. She's go fairy emotions, so only space for one at a time, aka known as anxiety and fixation. Her friend grabbed coffee and now she is hurrying there. Not many friends here, they're close together though.

She thinks her hair is a disaster and it is, cause she doesn't have any really long bobby pins. She's trying to balance everything in place, but at least three girls will be helping her with this in less than 5 minutes, crisis averted.

Trying her best to help her friend, but she's sort of tired, zoned out. She's also a bit of a bitch, but people like her cause they realize that's her way. Not actively mean, and actually means to help, she's just a little rough around the edges. Friendly when treated calmly, like a cat in away.

She's reading the latest internet drama. She will regret this later and stop doing this, cause she's not missing anything and it doesn't add anything to her life. She's also usually happily amongst other people, but she's trying to distract herself with other things, to pass time. She's gonna sit down by sad ballerina and ask how she is later.

Upstairs ballerinas: Don't know them, but the last one on the right is reading Twilight. She likes the vibes of it, hates the characters, and she wishes Stephenie Meyer wasn't rushed on her next two books cause she wants to know what a Twilight world without Jacob and werewolves would be like. She's also quite smart, and is sort of the one the girls listen to when something is up. She is also into conspiracy theories though, esp. the scary ones.