#this is just complaining I´m not gonna be making a serious inquire about this all to her. she´s otherwise a good teacher

[nico-the-overlord]

I loath how one of my teachers handles grading and time allotted for assignments it is killing me slowly

[buckybarnesdiaries]

white wolf: “the story of a first date”

first part — second part — third part — fourth part (soon)

© @capsgrantrogers

bucky barnes x reader. ⎢ masterlist.

Sam helps Bucky to ask you out for a date and it's a disaster, but he gets it.

word count: 3.147 words. (not sorry, it worth it, i promise!!!)

warnings/tags: none. bucky being the cutest gentleman in the whole wide world, and sam keeping an eye on him.

author notes: as it happened with the first part, i'm not really happy with the result but i had so much fun writing it and i think that that made this writing perfect, so i hope you enjoy it as much as i enjoyed it. none of my stories contain reader’s body descriptions to be inclusive.

Join the tag list here.

The car stopped because of a red light, a moment where Sam took the advantage to turn at his copilot, glancing at Bucky from top to bottom in complete silence. Analyzing him. The soldier tilted his head raising an eyebrow, showing his curiosity about what the hell he was doing.

“What are you gonna wear, uh?” Sam asked then, maintaining a serious gesture on his face.

“Clothes”. Unworriedly, he put back his eyes to the front window.

“You probably look good naked, but that’s not what I’m talking ‘bout”.

“Just… some jeans, a shirt, and a jacket”.

“And shoes, I guess”.

Bucky turned on his seat towards his friend, squinting confused for the interrogatory. “Who cares?”

“About the shoe—”

“About the clothes”.

“Man, it’s a date! Do you wan’her to remember this night as the night Bucky Barnes shown up as a Russian bum?”

“I’m from Brookl—”.

“Yeah, but you look like mother Russia just spat you to the world”.

Sam rolled his eyes as a sigh escaped his mouth. Shaking his head, he took the next corner to the fifth avenue changing the planes they had in mind. A good outfit meant a good date. A good date meant happy soldier. Happy soldier meant no trouble. See the point? So the Falcon would take care of the Winter Soldier today. If only Steve could see them. He’d feel proud, that was for sure. They visited a couple of shops, finally letting Sam take control over the situation and pick the clothes he would wear for you. He had good taste, everybody knew that, and Bucky couldn’t complain about his choices.

Even less when the distinctive black suit dressed his anatomy to perfection. Spinning around in front of the mirror, he felt different. He looked different. He looked good, but not as he’d like. Holding the bucket of flowers once he was ready, Bucky left his apartment straight to the garage under the building. He was nervous, he couldn’t lie. But he had that sensation inside him that made him believe everything would be okay for the first time since he woke up.

The road didn’t take him more than ten minutes, not really worried about the time given that he had planned to arrive a little sooner than accorded. Life seemed like it was smiling at him, finding a parking lot in the same entrance. Landing his blue eyes on the rearview mirror, Bucky took a last view at his reflection, brushing back his hair as he used to do in the forties. He grabbed then the flowers he bought for you and stepped out of the car, trying to remember the advice Sam gave him. Resting his back against the copilot's door, he waited impatiently for you.

“Hey, you”.

His heart stopped for a second, raising his orbs to the man coming closer. Before he could react, the man in question tucked a hand beneath Bucky's jacket. Patting him down.

“What the hell are you doing, Sam?” He questioned irritatedly, slapping his hands and causing him to laugh.

“Just checking you didn't bring the notecards again”.

“Yeah, very funny…”

“Man, look at you! Should be illegal to look this good, uh?” Sam helped him to put on the jacket again, receiving another slap from his friend.

“Don't touch me”. Scowling, he fixed the flowers in his left hand, wanting them to be perfect. “Anyway, what are you doing here?”

“Watch you till (Y/N) comes. Lemme take a picture, I feel like a proud father on his son's prom day”.

“You're not m— Get the hell outta here, Sam”.

“Fighting again, kids? Should I call your mama?”

As Bucky heard you scoff, his soul abandoned. His pupils dilated. His legs trembled. And he could swear that everything disappeared around him when he watched you going downstairs, swinging your hips unconsciously sensual, with a black dress fitting you like a glove. If this morning Bucky wanted to marry you, now he wanted to spend the rest of his life by your side. Your makeup was on point, just like your hair, not being too formal but enough to run him out of words.

“Steve is off-duty, so, what 'you gonna do, soldier?” Sam mocked, an instant before noticing how pale Bucky was. He couldn't help but slap the back of his neck to bring him back to reality.

“I, uh… flowers… I bought you…”

“You're not Yoda”. Sam whispered as the other offered you the present.

“C'mon, stop messing with him”. You clicked your tongue, right before you drew an adorable smile on your lips, leaning to kiss Bucky's cheek. “Thank you”.

“You're welcome”. He just answered, responding to your same gesture while opening the door for you.

“Such a gentleman…” His playful murmur made Bucky frown and nudge him, trying to stop him from saying anything else and ruin the occasion.

“I'll bring him back at ten”. You joked palming his chest.

“The point is to not bring him back to me”. Sam cackled, shaking his head and taking a step back.

Once in the car turning on the engine, James joined the road after checking you were good. Never in his life he had driven with so much care as if he was carrying a bomb by his side. He set on the radio, not really knowing how to start a conversation, watching you through the corners of his eyes caressing the flowers over your lap. No one had bought you them before, thinking it was a thing that only happened in movies. But then, you met Bucky. An old-fashioned man, making yourself wonder how he was the same the news used to say he was a cold-blood assassin.

“What have you thought?”

“Uh?”

“About the date”.

“Sam told me about a rest—”.

“Okay, okay, Bucky. Pull over”. You couldn't help but burst into laughter, as his face was pale again thinking you were about to step out and end the date.

“Sorry, did I…?”

You swiveled at him on your seat, kissing your teeth and squinting inevitably. Studying his face you knew how afraid he was, and it was the most adorable reaction ever. You could have kissed at that precise instant, but it'd have been a little awkward.

“Where do you wanna go?”

The question didn't take him by surprise, actually. He was still getting used to doing the things he desired and not what other people asked him to do. The restaurant was a fancy place with a distinguished menu according to what his friend explained to him, but it wasn't the kind of site that he'd normally go, or that represented him.

“When I, uh… came back, I discovered that my favorite burger joint in Brooklyn was still standing”. Bucky told you, facing you after finishing the sentence. “They prepare the best burgers of the whole New York and you can decide what ingredients add, and the bread, and the kind of meat. And it still having the original decoration”.

You reclined on your seat, just staring at him talking with that kind of burning passion about something he loved. Puckering your lips, you nodded your chin. The fact that not only he wanted to take you to a different place, but a place that he used to go to when he was young made butterflies flutter within your belly. Bucky wanted to make you part of his future, but also his past. That made the difference.

“Sounds good to me”.

“Really?” He inquired funnily confused, wrinkling his nose and forehead.

“Really”.

The shine that appeared within his eyes made you place a hand on his cheek to urge him to turn his head and drive again. An innocent gesture that provoked him a lively giggle. If that man knew all the things he caused you, he'd have taken the step months ago.

As the night went on and Bucky was losing his shyness, he talked to you about the good old times. Before HYDRA, before the winter, before the war. When he was a kid with no worries more than keeping Steven safe from the bullies. It was nice to disconnect from the present, from the gazes around the two of you, from the back talks, only enjoying your dinner and your conversation. You talked to Bucky about how was to be raised on a farm, surrounded by open fields and animals, to join the army years later. Without going into details that could make him remember the old bad times, you told him about what you used to do, your missions, and how you were wounded in combat after being shot and fell from a helicopter.

Bucky felt confident enough to compare it with how everything started. Falling from a wagon to the snow. But as soon as his voice became lower, you couldn't help but hold his gloved left hand and intertwine your fingers with his. And you could swear you felt him shaking for a brief moment because of your touch.

“So, what, uh? It was a forties trend to jump into the void?” You tried to joke, wanting to feel relaxed.

“Yeah, seems like”. He mumbled curling up his lips. “Listen… I really want to… open up, and I know it’s easier with you because… y’know, you work doing this”.

“Hold on, Bucky”. You laughed waving your free hand, shaking your chin as you closed your eyes for a second. “That has sounded really bad”.

“Wait, wh— Oh, shit, no, no, no”.

For the first time since you walked into the small restaurant, his laughter was lively, unworriedly, honest.

“Take it easy, just kidding”. You grinned, nailing your elbow on the table to rest your cheek on your palm. “But… this isn’t work. We’re not doing therapy, we’re… knowing each other. And I don’t want to pressure you to talk about something you don’t feel prepared to, okay?”

“I know”.

Bucky couldn’t believe how much you seemed to empathize with him, not judging his acts nor his past, not deciding that the date wasn't a good idea nor running away. He couldn’t believe the less importance you were giving to his arm made of vibranium; usually, people used to freak out, to feel frightened somehow about the things it could do. But you were there, fingers playing with the others as if it was the most common and natural act in the world. And, for you, it was. That was you in all your best. Considerate, smart, patient, lovingly. The rainbow after a stormy life. Everything that Bucky needed in his life to start from scratch and be his better version. A shoulder to lean on and a reason to come back home.

“Was afraid of asking you out”. He confessed after some seconds admiring each other. Any person closer would say you had been dating for a long, long time by the way you had to keep silent and not feel uncomfortable.

“Why?”

“You came from war and made your world a place to live. I’m still stuck there”.

“I have my own red flags”. Clicking your tongue, you rolled your eyes.

“Oh, really? Please, surprise me”. Bucky teased you sitting up on his chair, not loosening the gentle grip around your left hand.

“I put the milk before cereals”.

“Oh… Oh, God”. He let out, pretending to be horrified and running a hand on his face. “Goddammit… you’re a monster, ma’am. I don’ think this is going to work”.

“Excuse me?” You chuckled, parting your lips in a breath while leaning over the table to palm his right shoulder. “It wasn’t me who added lettuce to the burger”.

“What? What’s the matter with that, uh?”

“Lettuce kills the savor!”

“Y’know what kills the savor? Ketchup. Today, people use ketchup literally with everything… And that’s disgusting”.

“Okay! Next time, no lettuce, and… no ketchup”.

“That’s a big challenge”. Bucky scoffed tenderly squeezing your hand between his cold fingers.

“I’ll live, Sergeant Barnes”. You narrowed your eyes and crinkled your nose at the same time.

“I was talking about a second date, not about your issue with ketchup”.

“So was I”.

A goofy smirk appeared on Bucky’s face, biting his inner cheek as he assented with his head. Seeing you again, knowing that you wanted it —that you wanted him—, made him trust Dr. Raynor’s words. He was having a second chance to do the right thing. To live and to be.

You wanted to add something else when the clock in his wrist started to beep. Curious, you raised an eyebrow. “We have to leave”.

“Why?”

“Sam told me you work tomorrow at eight, which means you’ll get up at six and a half… maybe seven. While I pay, take you home, all that stuff… I don’ want you to be tired in the morning”.

Bucky would never stop to amaze you, looking up to him in silence to contemplate how he called the bartender and beckoned his free hand to ask for the bill.

“What…? What are you doing?” He chuckled embarrassed, taking his beer to sip.

You cleared your throat when you realized how stupid you should look right now, shaking your head as you freed his cold hand from yours to find unlock your phone as soon as the guy brought the dataphone.

“Hey, no, no. I asked you out, I pay”. Bucky began to fight with you, provoking some laughs on the table as you tried to put your screen above the tpv.

“Well, welcome to the twenty-first century”. You hummed as the operation was confirmed.

“I’ll pay next time”. He declared licking his incisors, prior to his lips.

You wished the ride back home to last forever, not wanting to end the date. But the car reached your neighborhood in a blink of eyes. You couldn't help but sigh barely appreciably for your companion, gazing through the window until double parking in front of your apartment. You turned towards him, hearing the engine shut off. Bucky seemed disappointed like you, not being able to remember when was the last time he had a break, he had fun. The date was nicer than he expected but the idea of not knowing exactly when he was going to see you again was killing him from the inside.

“I'll accompany you”. He declared undoing his seat belt as you did to step out.

You reacted with a delicate smile, holding the bucket of flowers against your abdomen while walking to the front door of the building. That moment was a little uncomfortable, not being sure about how to say goodbye, just looking like two teens in love.

“Thank you for tonight, Bucky”. You uttered without thinking about it. “It's been the best night I've ever had”.

“Next will be better, I promise”.

“That's a big challenge”. You chuckled repeating his words a while ago in the restaurant.

“I'll live”. He nodded convinced, glancing at you bowing down your interest to the red roses between your hands.

How could you tell him that you were dying to be together again? That you wouldn't mind waking up sooner and having breakfast? You bit your inner upper lip, trying to find the correct words to say, without sounding like you were feeling something else to a physical attraction. Bucky was hot as hell, that wasn't up to debate, but he was the kindest and charmingest man you had known. He was sensible and strong at the same time. You both complemented the other like the pieces of a puzzle and you never thought something like that could happen to you. To find your other half and having it so clear you didn't want anyone else.

“I am, uh… free tomorrow”.

His words pushed you out of your thoughts, putting up your attention to a Bucky almost flushing, stroking the back of his head, and having the impression that he could scare you.

“Got a break for lunch, if you want”. You proposed without hesitation.

His eyes sparkled with happiness, holding your left hand with his to bring it to his mouth, placing a fond kiss on the back. Such a gentleman, like Sam said, inducing your cheeks to burn. And then, you saw him doubting about taking another step. You wanted it too to happen, tho, leaning forward to press your lips together. Your eyes snapped closed at that precise instant, not having any rush, tasting each other's and shortening the distance between both of you by his free arm getting wrapped around your waist. The kiss was innocent but passionate. It was warm, intimate, trying to transmit all the chemistry you woke up within the other with only one look, with only one smile. Breaking it —much to your regret— when you needed air to breathe. And even so, Bucky rested his forehead against yours freeing your hand to place it on the right side of his neck.

Neither of the two of you opened your eyes, extending the moment as much as you could. You felt he craved to spend the night with you, and you desired it too, but you also felt that he needed some time to get used to this new world he was living in. It wasn't easy. You thought back to the months after the war, the recovery, the loneliness you forced yourself to be in. You were in Afghanistan for three months. He had been fighting since nineteen forty. And he didn't want to ruin what you were building together.

“I should leave”. Bucky murmured against his wishes.

“See you tomorrow”.

At the moment you opened your eyes to meet the pale blue ones, your whole body felt weak. You saw the brightness in them after letting him know that the second date was going to happen and that it wasn't just a formality before disappearing, wiping out any minimal doubt by kissing him again. The last kiss. A good night, I'll dream with you kiss.

“I'm gonna play this on your wedding day, definitely”.

You screamed because of the unexpected metallic voice coming closer, clinging to Bucky's neck as his heart raced too. Redwing was suspended in the air some steps away from you, being controlled by Sam. Who else is not him, uh?

“I'm starting to think you have separation anxiety”. The soldier growled trying to hit the flying device with his flesh hand, hearing you laughing against his chest.

“Good night, kids”. You chuckled separating from Bucky.

“No kiss for me, soldier?”

“I'm not gonna kiss that thing, Samuel”.

“What about a howl, White wolf? Would be very appro—”.

“White wo—”.

“Please, don't. Don't ask”. Bucky begged you, licking his bottom lip while rubbing the back of his head, clearly ashamed.

“Hope you show me one day what it means…”

“Oh, he will… Just wait till the full moon”.

“Sam!” Bucky and you yelled in unison, you playfully, he annoyed.

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[hi-hey-haechan]

can you do one where you just suck lucas iff when he’s laying there and you’re hidden and you keep sucking him

!“I’m not even joking. They’d keep going for hours. I couldn’t look them in the eyes for a week following. How the heck were they so loud?” You explained, your mind flashing back to the horrible memories. Lucas, however, had his head thrown back against the pillow, laughing his head off. 

He had a habit of asking spontaneous questions, and so this time, you were lying next to each other on top of the covers of your bed. He’d asked what your least favorite day of the year was, and you always replied with it being your parents’ anniversary. As horrible as it felt to say, you never slept on those nights. Your parents were so loud with their... activities, and somewhere along the lines, they thought that starting after midnight just naturally assumed that you’d be asleep, unable to hear them. Telling your boyfriend about it, though, you couldn’t contain your laughter, realizing how hilarious the situation was. The way you described it also featured dry humor, which, when mixed with the topic of sex, created something very funny. 

“You must have been so traumatized,” Lucas said in between giggles.

“That dark part of my childhood still haunts me,” you agreed, shuddering at the memories.

“Gosh, at least we’re not that loud,” he pointed out, regaining his breath.

Your head whipped to the side to look straight at him. Was he being serious right then? “You’re right. We are not that loud, but you are.” Lucas had trouble staying quiet when he felt good, whereas you could remain almost silent the entire time if you really tried to. You weren’t complaining -- the moans that came out of him were hot, his voice low and deep. 

“I’m just blessing both of our ears,” Lucas replied, grinning cheekily, to which you rolled your eyes.

“It doesn’t change the fact that you’re loud,” you pointed out.

Lucas raised his eyebrows and smirked. “I can be quiet if I want to. Watch me.”

Just when you were about to ask how, exactly, he’d be able to prove this claim, his phone rang, Kun’s contact name showing up on the screen. Lucas held up a finger, as if to say, “Give me a minute,” but you, however, had other plans.

“What’s up?” Lucas asked into the phone, casually. As Kun replied, your hands slowly undid the belt to his jeans, unbuttoning and unzipping his jeans following the process. When you looked up at your boyfriend’s face, a pair of wide, confused eyes were staring back at you.

All you could do was smirk as an immediate response. You pressed a kiss against the bulge of his boxers, breath hitching in his throat as you did so. He stuttered on his reply, but he played it off really well. “You can be quiet?” you whispered, looking up at him. “Prove it.”

“Ten and Yangyang are trying to prank Sicheng? What do you want me to do about it?” Lucas asked into the phone, rolling his eyes in the process. You wanted to make the act of staying quiet more difficult for him. As a result, you pressed one of your hands against his clothed bulge, slowly yet almost skillfully palming him through his boxers. The heat of him radiated against your hand, and you felt him grow harder under your light touch. 

“W-wait, you want m-me to help prank him?” As soon as those words passed his lips, he glared at you, giving you a look that said, “You will regret this.”

You just gave him a simple shrug, and the look in your eyes was an innocent one. Lucas said, “No, of course I’ll help. But I’m currently with y/n, and I don’t intend on leaving.” Your fingers tugged the waistband of his boxers down, just enough to free his straining erection from the fabric. The look in Lucas’ eyes had turned to something fearful and pleading. In response to this, you engulfed the tip of his long, thick length in your mouth. 

He was sensitive there, and the fact that the pleasure had caught him off-guard made it even more difficult to remain quiet. A loud moan passed his lips, but he attempted to pass it off as a cough. It was convincing enough, you supposed. Too convincing. You were losing.

“H-how are we gonna--” he held the phone away from him for a second, letting out the slightest, most helpless whine you’d ever heard from him, when you hollowed out your cheeks, sucking on the tip. The saltiness of his precum ran over your tongue, and if your mouth wasn’t around his length, you’d be smirking at the moment. “How are we gonna scare him?” Lucas inquired. His tone was higher than usual, almost as though he was straining to get out his words.

After Kun spoke for a second, your boyfriend said, “Dogs.” He sort of gasped it out, but only you could really catch onto it. Lucas honestly only sounded as though he’d just come up with the idea and considered it a great discovery. Kun must have simply inquired what would scare Sicheng the most.

Lucas was too good at this. You had to make it more difficult on him, you knew, so you decided to slide your mouth down his length. Anticipating his huge size, you relaxed your throat and breathed through your nose as you deepthroated him. Your boyfriend could never contain himself when you took his length down your throat. One of his large hands knotted in your hair, finding something to grasp onto amidst his pleasure. He was so distracted, he didn’t even hear Kun’s question.

“Yes,” he replied, hoping Kun had inquired a yes-or-no question.

After another moment of Kun’s reply, Lucas said, “I can ask Bae-Baekhyun if one of his members has a big dog.” He was doing well, admittedly, at being quiet, but every word he said came out as though it was laborious, like he was struggling to just speak a sentence. 

Your throat was starting to hurt, so you withdrew from his length for a second. The muscles in Lucas’ stomach and shoulders suddenly relaxed. You’d provided him a second of relief. As a result, right as he opened his mouth to reply, you wrapped one hand around his thick length, which was slick, as a result of your previous actions. You rapidly moved your hand up and down his length, applying pressure to each of your fingers.

“F-fuck!” Lucas managed. “O-oh, I mean, that would be hilarious--” he trailed off, holding the phone away from him and attempting to cover the microphone as he bit his lip, screwing his eyes shut as stifled groans slipped out of him.

Kun went on to recite the entire plan. Perfect timing for you to speed up your hand without warning. Lucas gasped, and you knew Kun probably heard it, but he failed to mention it. 

Your lips enclosed around his length again, but you force him so deep this time. Instead, you settled for taking some of him in your mouth, and leaving your hand to jerk off the rest of his length, squeezing at some points. The entire time, his stomach muscles were clenching and unclenching, and his thighs would suddenly threaten to close around you at moments of heightened pleasure. This caught him off-guard, even more so than any of your other sudden actions. A series of moans spilled past his lips, sounds of pleasure that he couldn’t even attempt to play off as a cough. 

“What?” Lucas’ voice was higher than usual. “Yeah, I’m fine--ah” His statement ended with a noise that he couldn’t stifle, due to you bobbing your head on his length. “I just fell,” he said quickly, as though he could cover up what was really going on.

“Make Ten call him,” Lucas said into the phone, “I’m kinda -- fuck -- busy right now.”

His breaths grew shallower, and you knew that he was growing close to his high. You swirled your tongue around the part of him that was in your mouth. Suddenly, you hollowed your cheeks, sucking him harshly as he said, “Busy with stuff--” a legitimate whine passed his lips. “Lemme mute you for a second.”

Lucas’ legs were shaking, and his length was throbbing in your mouth, begging for release. In the next second, moans spilled out of his mouth, which was agape. His eyes were shut. The sounds he made were higher than his usual voice at times, but they were deep, rich, and so hot to you. You could no longer ignore the wetness that had pooled in your panties, which were sticking to you uncomfortably. He released his load into your mouth, the taste of him hot and salty, but pleasant at the same time. You locked eyes with Lucas as you swallowed his load. His chest was rising and falling, hair sticking to his forehead with sweat.

“Next time, make sure you actually mute me,” Kun said loudly into the phone, as you pulled away from Lucas’ now-soft length. “Have fun with your ‘stuff.’” He sounded alarmed and desperate to hang up, which he did immediately.

“I think it’s safe to say that you lost the bet,” you told Lucas, finally giving him the smirk that you wanted to display the entire time.

A/N ~ sorry this took so long. I went camping and honestly stalled writing this. I’m back now, and I’m now better mentally than I was last week, which is good. Anyways, this was honestly really fun to write.

[imagine-loki]

The Naughty Poltergeist

TITLE :The Naughty Poltergeist

CHAPTER: #1 of ?

AUTHOR'S: lokilover9 & velvetzybanshee

RATING: M

NOTES: This one shot is based on Loki having paid penance for ruining Thor's coronation. He never fell from the bifrost, nor attacked earth and is now free. Not to discount his true history, we just thought he deserved some happy. As for Felipe, he's based on the Spanish character Agador Spartacus, from the movie  The Birdcage and speaks in broken english. 

EXTRAS: Madre = mother  niña = girlfriend  panocha = pussy

Original Imagine  

Imagine thinking your new house is haunted. No one knows Loki lives there because he's always invisible and conjures furniture as needed. Disgruntled by your presence, he behaves like a poltergeist until one day you've had enough."I'm not leaving! Show yourself dammit!" Nothing happens for days and you think he's gone. Then while giving friends a tour, you find him naked on your bed drinking whiskey. "Cheers, darling. You did say show myself." Only you can see him and he follows you around like that for the remainder of their visit.

Loki was content residing on Midgard. With Thor King of Asgard remaining heavily influenced by Odin, he felt displaced as ever and decided to travel abroad. It was aloud providing he didn't hide from Heimdall and returned were the realm threatened, but that didn't mean he behaved. Midgard's continents teamed with beautiful maidens and Loki spent months at a time seducing them across the globe. Yet an introvert by nature, the constant socializing became exhausting. He needed intervals of solitude to rejuvenate his mind and cock. Indecisive of where, he conjured a world map, closed his eyes and randomly chose a location. 

First attempt. "A Frost Giant in the Amazon? I think not." 

Second. "Middle of the Bermuda Triangle? Know enough aliens already, thank you." 

Third. "Inside and active volcano? Fenrir's arsehole." He scoffed. 

Fourth. "Very well. Maine it is." 

The god settled in a vacant Victorian evicting its two following buyers with  'ghostly' shenanigans. Yet to the king of this miniature palace's annoyance the next didn't frighten so easily. 

Alexis was proud having bought her own house after a long divorce. Closer to friends and hours from meddling family, she'd thought herself free of troubles until sensing the place haunted. While unpacking, items started going missing and resurfacing in different places like her keys, clothing and once her vibrator after an evening of ménage à moi, disturbingly appeared in her dishwasher the next morning. Doors would slam, electricity short circuited, faucets unexpectedly ran, but most disconcerting was a voice randomly whispering 'mine' into her ear. Whether in the shower, her yard, doorways, the ghost didn't care. Alexis burned sage, had the house blessed, held a seance with a local paranormal group, but nothing helped. When returning after a long day at work to find half the main floor repacked, she angrily shouted into the air. 

"Ha ha, trickster! You don't scare me and I am 'not' leaving!" She held up a large envelope. "This is 'my' crib and here's the deed to prove it. Show yourself dammit!" Nothing happened so she put everything back, showered, grabbed her vibrator and stormed into the upstairs corridor. "And one more thing! See this? Touch it again and I'll summon your ass with a ouija board and douse you in holy water!" 

Loki inwardly chuckled. 'I'll be sure to bring a towel.' When she fell asleep reading in bed, he snuck a peek at what had intrigued her. 'Smutty fanfiction? Tisk, darling. Who could your heartthrob be? The name sounded familiar so he googled it. 'Ah, the actor from Crimson Peak. Good movie, but I'm much better looking. 'A wicked grin curled his lips when she moaned Tom's name. 'Maybe I need to play a little 'dirtier.'

With the next several days uneventful, Alexis thought she'd frightened the ghost off when in reality he was buying time. Since moving her in friends offered extra hands in their free time, but it was her befriended neighbor, a single gay man with a flamboyant, funloving personality who'd helped the most. They met one afternoon when she peered over his fence to complain about blaring Salsa music as he hosted a pool party. Felipe was sunbathing in a yellow thong, wearing sunglasses with enough bling to impress Liberace and choked on a shot of tequila when she whipped a pebble at his head. He invited her over with a promise to adorn shorts, they hit it off and became besties. 

Alexis planned to have other friends over for dinner one month after moving in, but with all the goings on had postponed twice. Now with a set date, Felipe was invited too and asked what she planned to cook.

"Who said anything about cooking? I suck at it Amigo and prefer no one hurling on my lawn." 

She waved a take out menu and he dramatically gasped. "Chinese food for eight people? Where you gonna put up you blow job booth to pay the mortgage after?"

Alexis smirked. "You're such a slut, Felipe."

He shrugged. "Happy whoopie stick makes a happy me."

"I think I've forgotten what they look like." 

"I show you mine, but no touchy touchy." She laughed, knowing he was kidding. "Too long without sex causes brain damage, niña. How long its been for you?" 

"Since my ex and I separated nineteen months ago."

"Ay dios mio. I lend you my Dustbuster for the cobwebs down there."

"Not funny, Felipe." 

"See. Abstinence makes everyone bitchy. My sister Maritza too. She was happy single before becoming a nun. Now she's Oscar the grouch with eyes like the chucky doll."

"How come you can pronounce words like 'abstinence' and 'cock' so well yet not others?" Alexis teased.

"Don't make me spank you. Come, we go shopping."

"For what?"

"I help you cook. We stay home and talk about cock, mine will curse me in Spanish. He's lonely too."

Alexis slipped on footwear. 

"Why you wearing those?" Asked Felipe.

"What's wrong with flip flops?" 

He stepped onto the porch. "You need something sexier, like bitch boots."

"It's ninety degrees in the shade today."

"So?"

Loki sighed when the door closed, relieved for some peace. He thought Felipe annoying enough as a neighbor yet worse as a guest who never stopped talking. So much so, he'd pondered concocting a tongue numbing spell, sneaking into his house and applying a heavy dose while he slept. But knowing his flair for drama, he'd run panicked to Alexis in the Boo from Monsters Inc. robe worn onto his deck every morning, carrying a note pleading to stay and until recovering, would hysterically sob each time he couldn't sing along to one of the show tunes on his phone. Loki opted to tolerate him for now. He'd be gone once Alexis left. 

The day of feasting came and while she handled finishing touches around the house, Felipe prepared guacamole dip and ingredients for fajitas while mixing margaritas. Hearing music, Alexis snuck to the kitchen and started recording him singing to Bad Girl, by Donna Summer while dancing like a hussy. 

"Toot toot, hey, beep beep

Toot toot, hey, beep beep

Hey mister, have you got a dime?

Hey mister, do you want to spend some time, ooh yeah

I got what you want, you got what I need

I’ll be your baby, come and spend it on me…"

He startled when noticing her.  "Girlfrien', you post that on social media, I kill you."

Alexis propped her phone on the counter and joined in wildly shaking her chest. 

Felipe tried the same. "No fair. I need big titties like yours to jiggle. Next time I bring tangerines and a bra."

Loki secretly watched on. 'Fucknuts.'

The three couples soon arrived. One, old neighbors of Alexis, Blake and Deidre, the others, her friends, Sage, Lisa and their newest flames Colby and Grant. She started a tour on the main floor then the upper leaving her bedroom for last. Excited to show it off, she was already opening the door as they shuffled out of the second.

"And this is my creme de la...eep!" She quietly squeaked once inside.

The resident spookster sat perched against her headboard sporting only what the Norn's delivered him to the universe in and winked pouring himself a whiskey. "You did say show myself, yes?"

She hurried out, slammed the door and her friends froze on approach. "Erm..wouldn't ya know I forgot to make my bed. Anyone for a drink?" 

Alexis passed them for the stairs and cringed when Deidre spoke. She was nice enough, but sometimes persistent when it wasn't welcome. "Nonsense, friends don't care. Right everyone?" 

Alexis continued down. "Enter at your risk then." 

Felipe watched her rush by into the pantry, close the door, followed and closed it too. "What you are doing?" 

"I can't go back out there."

"Why?" 

"He's upstairs naked on my bed." She anxiously whispered. 

"Which boyfriend? I take up the wooden spoon."

"No, the fucking ghost!" 

"It's a man? Is he hot and what do I tell your peeps? You afraid to come out of the closet?"

"Felipe!" 

"Sorry, it's the margaritas."

"I thought you the one person who believed my stories."

He eyed her sympathetically. "I do. You want I go bribe him to leave with a mcsqeezy?"

"Will you be serious? Ghosts aren't supposed to be naked. One look at him and everyone will think I invited them for an orgy." 

Blake and Grant came down first catching bits of their conversation and quietly conversed. 

"Can't believe she's still imagining this ghost." Blake wise cracked. "I always told Deidre she had a screw loose."

"Nah." Said Grant. "Lexi's a smart cookie. Sounds more like she needs a man. There's one inside with her. Maybe they'll shag, knock some shit off shelves." 

Felipe stuck his head out the door. "You not so quiet, cumquats. I gay. You want I show you my jolly green giant and shag 'you' inside against the creamed corn?"

Loki rubbed the back of his neck. 'I sacrificed prowling beaches of the French Riviera for this?'

Hearing the ladies coming, Alexis approached Blake and quietly inquired. "Still peeing in your wife's pond at night, murdering her koy? I'd see you through my bedroom blinds. Who's a few cans short of a six pack?" 

"Oooh snap." Said Felipe. 

Grant nudged the arse. "Let's chill in the dining room. There's a makeshift bar and appetizers."

The ladies entered the kitchen. "Who's a nincompoop?" Asked Deidre.

Felipe almost answered but pursed his lips together when Alexis loudly cleared her throat. "You know, just my ex."

"He sure is, honey." 

"Your bed's made, girl." Said Sage. "The room looks great." 

They all agreed passing through while thirty year old Lisa's younger boyfriend lingered. "Pretty awesome digs ya got here."

"Thanks." Replied Alexis.

Colby slid his hands into his pockets. "Soo..Lisa says you think it's haunted."

"Yep."

He spaced out for a second, staring at the floor. "I once thought a bat in our house was my dead uncle Howie haunting my parents for selling his mannequin of Vlad the Impaler. But hey, sometimes weird shit happens when you're stoned right?" Alexis and Felipe were saved when Lisa called him. "She misses me already. Laters." 

"He looks fresh from his madres panocha." Commented Felipe.

"That's the way Lisa likes them. Says the younger they are, the easier it is to train them."

Loki rolled his eyes. 'Age is irrelevant.'

Felipe feigned fright by playfully biting his nails. "She bad. Maybe Colby wear a leash and bark like a good doggy for her?" He goofily imitated one in a deep voice. "Woof, woof..woof. Or maybe he sound like an angry chihuahua?"

Alexis smirked. "I have my own problems. A streaking phantom who now makes unexpected appearances."

Felipe gave her a margarita. "Cheers. These make everything better." 

Alexis gulped down the beverage as he watched with raised brows. "Thanks. Next time that streaker appears, I'll just ignore him."

"Next time I give you smaller glass. Go enjoy you friends, niña"

She gave a thumbs up on her way out. "I got this. Easy peasy right?"

Loki mischievously grinned. 'Darling, I'm just getting started.

[kmomof4]

Here you go Alma!!!!!

Smutty one shot prompted by @teamhook

Rated M

Lovely Krystal, I wanna make a prompt. So I want a smutty love/hate, neighbors AU with maybe some hair pulling and handcuffs.

We got some hair pulling Alma, but no handcuffs I’m afraid. I hope you like it! Under the cut unless Tumblr ate it.

Ao3 link

 “I hate you,” she gasped, as she was jerked backwards by the hair as he pounded into her relentlessly.

“Oh, but you love what I do to you, don’t you, darling,” he purred into her ear. “So warm and wet for me. You feel like heaven around me. So tight. So perfect. Taking me so well.” One arm was around her middle as his other released her hair and snaked around to cup her breast. Fondling and kneading until she could feel her walls start to flutter along his length that felt like it was trying to split her in two. “Come for me, Emma,” he demanded.

She screamed his name as her orgasm crashed over her in wave upon wave of bliss as he continued thrusting into her at a furious pace, chasing his own high. As she started to come down, she felt him start to throb within her, telling her he was close. Moments later he came with a loud groan of her name.

He shuddered behind her before releasing her to fall on the bed. Laying down next to her, he pulled her back into his chest, and nuzzled into her neck while placing a kiss to the sensitive spot behind her ear.

“Ugh,” she complained, trying to pull out of his arms. This man, with his stupid blue eyes, and his stupid scruff, and his stupid innuendos. She had come over to give him a piece of her mind over that stupid limb that he refused to cut down. The one that hung over the fence separating their yards and was now dropping a mountain of leaves that she was gonna have to pay her lawn boy extra to rake up and bag. As a bail bonds woman, she didn’t exactly have the extra cash to blow. It was a good thing her lawn boy was one of Mary Margaret’s 6th graders and was doing her yard work for a pittance to begin with.

When she got over here he answered the door wearing nothing but a towel. His hair was still wet from his shower, dripping onto his shoulders. Her mouth had gone dry as she watched a single drop track down his bare chest before it was absorbed by the towel around his waist. She shook her head clear of the desire to run her fingers through his chest hair and kiss him into next week and found him smirking at her.

“See something you like there, Swan?” he asked, his smooth voice dripping with sin and promise.

She rolled her eyes at him. She could hear Mary Margaret in her head telling her that her eyes were going to stick that way if she kept doing that. You can take the teacher out of the classroom… or whatever the saying was. “Hah,” she scoffed. “You wish, Jones.”

“Oh, I very much wish, Swan,” he crooned, swaying into her personal space. “Having you come over here all hot and bothered over something…”

“The branch,” she deadpanned.

“Ah, yes, that infernal branch,” he agreed. “Having you over here all hot and bothered over that branch, well, you certainly have my,” he cleared his throat, “attention,” he finished, waving his hand suggestively over his obvious arousal.

“Oh my god,” she groaned, rolling her eyes again. “Can you please be serious for one second?”

“Oh, I’m always serious when it comes to you, Emma,” he assured her. “So you want to yell at me about the branch again?”

“The key word there being ‘again,’ you asshole,” she barked. “Why haven’t you taken care of this before now?” Her voice got higher with each word until she was nearly screeching at him. “I asked you, nicely, to have that limb, just the limb mind you, cut down before the leaves started falling so that I wouldn’t have to deal with all that. And here it is, September, and the leaves are falling, into my yard, for me to deal with.” When she finished her rant, she was breathing heavily and it was pretty hard to miss how his eyes darkened as they roamed over her face, down to her heaving chest, and then to her lips before returning to her eyes.

He sauntered closer, seriousness taking over his azure gaze instead of the flirtation from before. “The people I’ve called to take care of it can’t be here until the first week of October. I’m sorry, I should have told you. I’ll take care of the leaves in your yard this weekend,” he promised. “But in the meantime,” his eyes now twinkled with mischief, “may I suggest another way to work off all that residual frustration.”

She couldn’t believe that she was considering this. She’d have to be blind to not notice how handsome her neighbor was. He was a frequent visitor in her fantasies whenever his constant teasing and flirting got to her. All the attention told her he was interested, but she was a one night stand kind of girl. You can’t have a one night stand with your neighbor, but the way he was looking at her now was making heat curl in her belly. The seriousness with which he answered her concerns made her wonder if perhaps there was more underneath the flirty playboy she assumed he was. Plus, his state of undress was really starting to get to her.

Screw it.

She grabbed his hair and slammed her lips into his. It only took a moment for him to catch up and crush her body to his. The rest, as they say, is history.

“Ugh what, Swan?” he murmured, pulling her closer, bringing her out of her memories of the afternoon. “You were the one to kiss me, if I recall correctly. And after all this time, I’m certainly not going to let you get away that easy.” He nuzzled into her neck again.

“What?” she asked, stunned, turning in his arms. “What did you say?”

He pulled back slightly and looked into her eyes. “I said, ‘I’m not going to let you go that easily.’”

“Wh- what do you mean?” She couldn’t help the way her voice shook as she questioned him.

“Don’t you know, Emma?” he inquired, his heart in his eyes. “It’s you. It’s always been you. I’ve wanted you ever since I moved in. The more I’ve seen you, the more I’ve wanted to get under that armour of yours.” He traced the apple of her cheek with his finger. The tenderness of the gesture took her breath away. “The more I’ve seen you, the more I wanted you... to care for me. The way I care for you.” His voice got softer and lower the longer he spoke, until by the end, it was nearly a whisper.

“You care about me?” Her voice quavered. “You want me?”

“Aye.” He nodded, drawing her close again and pressing his forehead against hers. “And not just for enjoyable afternoons, such as this. If you’ll allow me, I’d like the opportunity to… win your heart.”

Emma was stunned. Her mouth opened and closed several times, but all her words seemed stuck in her throat.

“Could be fun,” he insisted. “I promise you can still come over and yell at me whenever you’d like. I quite fancy you, even when you are yelling at me. Unless of course, you’d rather go on hating me…”

“Well, maybe I don’t hate you as much as I thought I did,” she relented teasingly, looking up at him through her eyelashes.

A broad smile broke over Killian’s face. “Do you need some more convincing, Swan?” he asked, drawing her in for another slow, languid kiss.

When he finally released her lips, a soft chuckle escaped her. “Mmm, maybe a little. Just to be sure,” she replied before rolling him onto his back for round two.

[sitonmyhot-seatoflove]

A Sós - Brian May x Brazilian!Reader

(aka my insanely belated A Night at the Fandom gift for the lovely Ana @bismillahnah. there's an author's note for you at the end, darling! thank you so much @dtfrogertaylor for pulling this together for all of us! you rock! this was amazing! once again, I'm so sorry for being this terribly late)

word count: 3988 words

warnings: some making out, some implied sexual content, lots of cheesiness, a little bit of untranslated Portuguese (it’s set in Brazil!), and some playing fast and loose with the timeline.

Só nós dois e uma madrugada inteira pra conversar / Só nós dois e uma infinidade de Amor pra cantar / Com você o manual da vida fica fácil de ler / Com você a hipótese de uma vida pra ser / Vivida juntos / Nesse e naquele que é só nosso mundo / Um mundo de nós / Eu, você e a existência a sós.

---------------------------------------------

You were never really one to talk to strangers.

Not this incessantly, at the very least, and certainly not this intimately.

Something about this one made him a little extra special, though.

Maybe it was just that you'd had a couple of drinks, and had gotten free entry to what was supposed to be the best Carnival party of the year - only to be ditched by your best friend when she found someone to make out with in some random corner. You were all alone in the Baile Vermelho e Preto, and hell, it was Carnival - you weren't supposed to be alone.

Maybe it was something about him - maybe the way his curls framed his face and bounced around him as he walked, a little messy and a little frizzy, giving him a frazzled sort of look you couldn't help but find endearing. (It was all the humidity, he'd explained, from being so near the ocean - his hair was usually much tidier.)

Maybe it was how cute he looked when his pointier teeth showed whenever you said something clever. It was nearly addictive, that smile, and from the moment you saw it for the first time, your sole purpose for the rest of the evening was to make sure you could produce it as many times as possible.

Maybe it was the way he'd never lost his temper while trying to communicate with that bartender - even after seven whole minutes of failed attempts to order a different drink, even as there was a line forming behind him, even as he was sweating through his white button-up so much it was sticking to his skinny back. His voice was soft even as he half shouted out his order over the music in a heavily accented Spanish/Portuguese/English blend of a language - and even though everyone behind him seemed annoyed, they all seemed too reluctant to do anything about it. You'd noticed some of them looked almost intimidated - maybe by his height? Maybe by the fact you didn't usually get that many tourists in this part of town? You weren't sure. But, while they all stared and whispered, no one seemed about to step in, and you were a translator, damn it, even if you only did it as a side gig.

He was nine minutes into his attempts to communicate with the bartender when you'd decided to intervene.

---------------------------------------------

"Ele tá pedindo uma cerveja escura. Tipo Guinness. Se não tiver, ele quer só uma água tônica mesmo." The bartender looked exasperated at your attempt to help. You couldn't blame him - that crowd wasn't exactly the nicest to be around, and the last few minutes probably hadn't helped improve his mood.

"Eu entendi, moça. Tô tentando explicar pra ele que a gente só tem Brahma e água mesmo. É open bar, olha essa fila, pelo amor de Deus..."

"Desculpa, moço. Vê duas Brahmas mesmo." You turned to the tall stranger, who looked dumbfounded by your meddling. "Sorry, buddy, you'll have to make do with light beer and regular water. It's not too bad, though, I promise." You pulled him away by his upper arm - surprisingly toned for such a skinny lad - while holding the two beers in your other hand. He was wide eyed, and you assumed he'd been a bit stunned by your unabashedness.

"I'm-" He paused as he saw the line that had formed behind him. "Jesus. Sorry. Didn't mean to be a prick."

"I know. Figured I'd rescue you both." You offered him his beer and a soft smile, and he looked down at it, looking less than excited to give it a try. "C'mon, now. It won't kill you."

"No, no, I know, I just - not my favorite drink, really, but it'll do," he said, tilting his bottle to clink with your own before taking a tentative sip. "Thank you."

The smile he gave you right then completely changed your entire evening. The only word that your fogged brain could come up with to describe it was magical - you cursed yourself for the cheesiness of it. It really was how it felt, though - from the moment you saw the way his eyes crinkled just a tiny bit, and glowed just a little more than everyone else's, you were done for. And after he took a moment to look at you up and down, apparently taking notice of you for the first time that evening, and his eyes seemed to brighten up at the sight - that was it, this was the best Carnival ever. Never mind your friend, never mind the fact that you'd have to wake up at an ungodly hour. Who could possibly give a shit that your feet were hurting from the pretty shoes you'd chosen when this man was looking at you like that?

His raised eyebrows seemed questioning all of a sudden, and you realized his lips were moving. They had been moving. Cacete, Y/N, acorda, ele tá falando com você, responde- 

"Sorry, what?" You ask in response, finally waking from whatever weird type of trance this stranger's very handsome face and unearthly pretty eyes had put you under. "Hard to hear over all the music."

"I said, do you wanna step outside for a smoke?"

---------------------------------------------

“I swear to God I can speak Spanish.”

The smoking section kinda stunk, you couldn't lie. It was pretty rough - while the front of the building had been spruced up recently, probably for the party, the side, where most smokers had gathered, was all just rough cement with exposed orange brick in some spots. He - Brian, you'd learned, Brian from the UK, an Astrophysicist who was in town for work - leant on that wall while trying to justify his faux pas from earlier. You tried to stay serious, but a little scoff of a laugh escaped your lips at his proclamation. “I’m dead serious! I even spoke Spanish very well to some native speakers last week," he bragged, taking a long drag of his cigarette before speaking. “For work.”

His work was interesting. You were a little confused as to why an Astrophysicist had come to spend so much time in South America - he'd told you he'd been in Venezuela just last week, and Argentina was coming up next - but, really, you weren't complaining, not when it had landed him here, right in front of you.

“What do you do, then?”

“I’m still finishing my degree too," you said. He'd talked a little bit about his unfinished PhD - something about 'various pressures', but he'd been weirdly coy about those. Busy with work, he'd said. “Still on my bachelor’s, though. Wanna be a psychologist.”

“Been analyzing me this whole time, then?”

“Obviously.”

That one got you a smile. Score.

You both were comfortable with each other - weirdly comfortable, as far as your experience with handsome strangers went. Because he wasn't just asking you questions for the sake of asking - when he inquired further about your interest in psychology, he asked about the specifics and couldn't stop asking follow up questions. What you wanted to do with your degree, what type of approach you preferred, whether you actually bought all the stuff Freud had come up with, what was your take on the more recent developments in Cognitive therapy stuff… He also seemed to be knowledgeable in nearly every subject. An hour had passed, you'd noticed, and all you'd done was talk - about your interests, nonetheless. He shifted the subject slightly, only once, interrupting you mid-sentence while you mused at him about the more philosophical aspects of Freudian theories.

“I would like to see you tomorrow.” You were a bit taken aback at the interruption - and his interest - and he noticed. "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt, I just - you're brilliant. And beautiful. And I would like to see you again."

"That's not how Carnival works, Brian." He frowned at that, and you realized that maybe he'd forgotten what this was - where you were, what you were supposed to be doing. You weren't supposed to be discussing philosophy and he wasn't supposed to be taking an interest in your intellect; you were supposed to be making out in some corner, just like your friend had been, both of your names having slipped from one another's mind by the time morning came. "It's usually a one night thing… And I'm busy tomorrow." You were completely busy for the next few weeks, as a matter of fact; a fantastic job opportunity had turned up, but you couldn't help but want, just for a second, to say 'screw it' and give Brian all the time in the world. You could, at the very least, give him the rest of your night, though, so you tried to find a way to stretch your time together a little longer.

"You seen the beach yet?"

---------------------------------------------

Copacabana was just as beautiful at night, he'd decided. Turns out he had seen the beach, but only in passing - his hotel was a few of blocks from where you two were now, walking aimlessly, slowly, shoes in your hands so you could feel the sand. Just trying to pass the time with one another.

The sky was clear enough for you two to stargaze, too, which gave you a nice little way into his mind, for a change. He marveled at the constellations he'd never get to see back home, and cursed himself for not bringing a telescope along for the trip. You teased him for that - how does an Astrophysicist travel halfway across the globe and doesn't bring a single telescope? But he only shrugged at that, blushing a little and turning your attention to the Southern Crux, bright and beautiful and right above you both.

"Do you think we're ever gonna have a real answer?" He didn't seem to get your question, so you expanded. "I mean, do you think your lot - the hard scientists, I mean - do you think you guys will ever be able to tell us why we're here after all? What it all means?"

"Science's really good at the 'what's and the 'how's, but it doesn't have much to say about the 'whys'," he replied, thoughtful as ever, sounding a little more confident now that you'd switched lanes and were talking about his specialty, rather than yours. The way his voice had shifted was more attractive to you than anything else about him so far. "Neither should it, I reckon." He shrugged. "And I don't think we can ever come up with those types of answers. We know so little, as much as we like to pretend otherwise. I mean, think about it, we only know the size of the observable universe," he said as his eyes shifted upwards, "we can hypothesize all we want about what's on the outside of that, but, truth is, we have no bloody clue." 

"Great, that's not nerve wracking at all."

"It's kinda nice, if you think about it. We're tiny specks in a tiny world, which is a tiny speck in our Solar System, which is a tiny speck in our galaxy, which is a tiny speck in the part of the universe we know." He shrugged once again. "Puts things in perspective, you know? I mean, how special are we, really? But, then again, maybe we are. Maybe the Christians are right. I don't know."

"You think there's life out there?"

"Well, you ever heard of the Drake equation?"

God, you could hear him talk for hours. Even if it was about numbers. You did hear him talk for hours - and he heard you, too. About psychology again, sure - why you'd chosen it, and why you'd become passionate, and all the professors you hated and all the ones you loved. But things got a little more personal, too. You talked about how you'd moved up to Rio from the South because they had the best Psych school in the country, and while you really missed your family, you'd fallen in love with what you believed was the most beautiful city on Earth. How you liked the beach, but Copacabana was overrated - "it's touristy and there's prettier places" - and, really, you preferred the short stretches of woods you could find in the local parks. He kept up with everything you said, and your conversation moved so quickly you couldn't really tell how you'd skipped from one subject to another. He could discuss the complexities of Nabokov and the psychological analysis you'd done of his characters, laugh at a stupid pun you'd made about the ocean, and show real interest in your passion of history all in a matter of minutes.

"And there's this really swanky café," you said, while doing your best to give him a mental tour of Rio's historic downtown, "it's called Cafeteria Colombo. Bit touristy, but I'm into it. They're really traditional - the Emperor of Brazil supposedly used to eat there, which is kinda ludicrous but super fun at the same time."

"Take me there." You looked confused - it was the middle of the night, and you opened your mouth to explain that it wasn't exactly a 24-hour joint, but he beat you to it. "Tomorrow - let's go there tomorrow. My treat."

"I... don't think so, Brian."

"It's the least I can do after you saved me at the bar." You chuckled a little at that. "And introduced me to the best damn light beer I've ever had." You actually let out a full-bellied laugh, and he seemed satisfied to see it. "Let me see you again, Y/N. Buy you a cuppa."

And you wanted to, but that's not what this was. You had to keep it in mind, and he had to get it into his - it was not what this was. He beat you to your argument before you could even protest, though.

"I don't care how Carnival works." He stopped walking. "You can't possibly believe this is a one night thing, Y/N."

"You should really be more respectful of the holiday traditions, Brian."

He didn't have an answer for that, which made you a little disappointed. Still, you'd meant what you'd said - he was leaving in a couple of weeks, and you knew that if you got to see him again - if you got to hang out with him for any longer than a single night - you'd serve him your heart in a silver platter to take across the ocean without hesitating. Hell, you'd been with him for a few hours and already felt tempted enough to do it.

You kept walking in silence, the air feeling a little heavier from the higher rise and from the way you'd shut him down again. Before you could come up with something else to say - anything, puta merda, Y/N, inventa qualquer coisa pra falar - he moved his hand and placed it over yours, and you swore your heart started wanting to jump out of your body and physically reach over to him.

"Can you ever feel your heart in your ears?" You blurted out and immediately cursed yourself; he laughed a little, though, and had a surprised expression on his face when you dared to look over. "Sorry, that was stupid."

"It wasn't." You stared at him in mock seriousness, pointedly. "I swear." He was smiling at you, and at this point, you couldn't help but smile back. His eyes lingered on your lips for a half second too long. "Why'd you ask?" You stopped walking again, a little too stunned at his bluntness to keep going. Wasn't it obvious why you'd asked? "Can you feel yours now?" He asked, his voice softer than ever.

"Yeah."

He placed both hands - God, he had really large hands - on either side of your head, fingertips playing a little with your earlobes. "Well, your ears are hot."

"Well, you're not exactly helping with that right now, are you?" You wrapped your hands around his wrists, hoping to feel a quickened pulse, hoping to God his heartbeat was as strong and erratic as yours was right now. Did his heart want to come find you, too?

"How do I ask 'May I kiss you?' in Portuguese?"

"Eu posso te beijar?"

He tries to repeat it, and something comes out - it sounds more like Spanish than Portuguese, but you forgive him the second you look into his eyes. You thought you could get lost in them - Jesus Christ, where the hell were these romcom thoughts coming from? You could, though, you swore you could, and that looking straight at them felt like plunging deep into the ocean, and ugh, that particular thought was made so much cheesier by the fact that you were right by the ocean - and wait, puta merda, he was looking at you - at your lips, then back at your eyes, then back at your lips - very expectantly. Right, he had asked you something, you were supposed to say something, even though you were honestly about to go blind from how warm his hands felt on your face. "Close enough," you managed to whisper out, your swirly mind getting swirlier by the second as this beautiful stranger pulled you in.

His kiss felt huge - bigger than the both of you, bigger than tonight, certainly bigger than Carnival. That's the only way you could describe it. His lips were soft on yours, and as you opened your mouth with a gasp, you could taste a tiny bit of Brahma on his tongue. It was mostly mint and ocean salt and cigarettes and him, all around you, his tall body enveloping you and somehow putting your brain in a haze where time seemed to move outside of reality. There was nothing other than you and Brian and, for all you knew, Copacabana was the whole world.

You were trembling by the time you'd stopped kissing, and, as he moved his hands to encircle your waist, he was trembling too. You were giddy to notice it. He seemed giddy just from kissing you.

“Let me see you tomorrow.”

“Can’t live in the moment, can you?” You teased, pulling him back into you and playfully biting at his lip to get your point across.

You quietly inquired, in between warm kisses, where he was staying, again - wasn't it close by? And, wouldn't you know it, his hotel was just a block away from where you were standing right now.

And, well, that had to be kismet, right?

---------------------------------------------

His suite was fancy - too fancy for an Astrophysicist, and you might have realized that, maybe, if you weren't so otherwise distracted by his lips, seemingly all over you at once, setting your skin alight one peck at a time. By the time he started using his tongue on your neck, you were done for - nothing would come out of your mouth that night other than kisses and loving and strangled moans of his name, which happened by the minute. He seemed to love it - every time you said his name, he was a little spurred on, grabbed at you with a little more force, and, in turn, you loved that. Every time he said yours, your stomach did somersaults. You hoped you sounded as sweet to him as he did to you.

He fell asleep before the sun rose, and your heart sank a little at the thought of leaving his embrace and making your way back into reality. You tried to commit everything to memory - the smell of the crook of his neck, the curve of his tiny bottom, the pattern of the freckles on his upper back, the way he sighed in his sleep when you scratched his scalp, the freaking hotel logo on the face towel in the bathroom - absolutely anything you could get your senses to grasp at. You had to make sure you had a full picture to come back to, otherwise you feared you might think it was all an alcohol induced illusion of some sort. Besides, he looked so pretty while he slept, so that's how you chose to remember him - the crease between his eyebrows gone completely, lips slightly parted, drool starting to come out, hair more frazzled than ever.

---------------------------------------------

It was always great working with musicians - you liked talking to artists, you'd always get to see their shows for free and, as part of the 'entourage', you'd always get some damn good amenities - and this was an especially sweet gig. Queen was the biggest client you'd ever gotten - their original translator got sick and, when a producer friend of yours had referred you, you were more than happy to step in for them. The four members would need a translator to work closely with them for the next couple of weeks, and you couldn't have been more excited to run around town with rockstars for a longer stretch of time, especially while on break from school. It was perfect, really - good pay, good gig, and, hopefully, some good company.

You tried to keep this in mind - to conjure up how excited you'd been when you'd gotten the job; how, because of it, you had been able to buy tickets to go home for Holy Week; how excited your family had sounded on the phone. This was worth it, you thought, it was worth not seeing Brian again. He would go back to the UK so soon anyway - it was just a fling, just a sweet memory you had to lock up in a little box and keep in the back of your brain for now. 

And you did. You did such a good job at compartmentalizing you only thought of him once during your morning shower. Once again while making your coffee - you wondered how he took his, or if maybe he was a tea drinker. He was British. But maybe that was just a stereotype? Maybe he loved coffee, maybe he took it with three spoons of sugar just like you did. You wished you'd stayed long enough to find out.

You did a great job of keeping him out of your mind while commuting to the convention center all the way across town where you'd be meeting the band. You were running late on your first day, which was less than ideal, and the anxiety of it kept your thoughts stuck on the traffic and on your watch. They couldn't fire you on the first day, could they? You'd assumed most journalists at the press conference would be ready to ask in English, but you never really knew - Brazilian journalism could be unpredictable. They still needed you. You were fine, you were not going to get fired, and you were certainly not going to be distracted by the memory of the tall, handsome, unattainable man you'd left in bed that morning.

You were so consumed by your thoughts - your non-Brian thoughts - and the desperate need not to be late that you ran inside the venue, not bothering to take a second glance at the journalists setting up in the main area or at the Queen poster someone had put up near the entrance to the meeting room a staff member directed you to.

In retrospect, paying a little more attention might have saved you a lot of grief, or, at the very least, a hell of a scare. It would have been shocking to see Brian looking down at you from the huge poster right outside the room your new client was supposed to be in - but it was a much bigger shock to walk in and find the man himself, staring at you, eyes wider than ever, dropping his half-drunk tea on the carpet.

Well, you thought, guess he's a tea drinker.

---------------------------------------------

A/N: oi, Ana! espero que você goste do seu presente. não sei se você já sacou, mas eu sou brasileira kkkk e, como boa brasileira, tô chegando bemmmm atrasada por aqui com sua fic. desculpa o atraso, de verdade. não sou uma escritora necessariamente boa, mas juro que a fic foi feita com muito carinho - eu quase pirei quando recebi você no sorteio e vi que você era brasileira!! fiquei mandando mensagem em inglês pra manter o sigilo e não estragar a surpresa.

o título da fic e a inspiração vieram de uma música do Rizzih, como você deve ter percebido (aliás, não conhecia ele! fiquei super feliz de conhecer um artista novo). na real, eu tava querendo fazer uma fic com uma Reader brasileira e tradutora faziam décadas, e achei seu presente a oportunidade perfeita pra explorar esse relacionamento e essa personagem. ainda tenho algumas aventuras planejadas pra ela e pro Bri (um dos motivos da demora foi justamente o fato de que eu queria que essa fic fosse três ou quatro vezes mais longa, mas resolvi dividir em partes e ir postando conforme for conseguindo escrever). como as sequências não vão tecnicamente fazer parte do seu presente, apesar de serem da mesma história, me avisa se você quiser ser marcada quando eu postar! eu amei conhecer um pouquinho mais sobre você durante esse mês e espero poder conhecer mais ainda daqui pra frente. mil abraços e, novamente, espero que você goste! com muito amor, sua amiga oculta, finalmente podendo falar com você em português - S (🕺🏻)

[7hyuns]

wooyoung x reader [m] 

word count; 2.2k 

warnings; choking, use of babygirl 

[23:14] wooyoung’s arm remained lazily draped around your waist, your legs curled up underneath you and almost resting entirely across his at the closeness he was holding you at. you weren’t at all unused to being in this close a proximity to him, in fact you were sure you’d find it stranger if he wasn’t clinging to you in some way or another. the only thing about this moment that wasn’t entirely normal was his quietness – normally he’d have so many things to say that you’d have barely a moment to fully comprehend all the different things he was telling you. but as he sat beside you now, he kept himself almost completely silent, allowing you to suppose that practice had been more tiring for him than usual.

reaching your hand over to overtly tangle with his, you looked over to him to catch him grinning over at you in response. “hi,” you mumbled, squeezing his hand tightly within your own as you took in his messier hair and sweet brown eyes that reflected the lamp-light in the living room.

wooyoung’s lips twitched upwards in a grin that caused suspicion to bubble in your stomach, your eyebrows already raising to question his intentions. dipping his head closer to yours, so you could feel his breath begin to fan lightly across your face, he spoke softly, letting his voice sound deeper than it really was, “make out with me?”

laughing, you pressed your palms flat against his chest, feeling his own hands coming to curl around your wrists to stop you from playfully shoving him away. his eyes remained dark, although the glimmer of amusement was still evident in his features as you fought back the blush of having him so shameless to be so close to you like this. “all i said was hi,” you mumbled, now even more aware of the lack of space between your lips and his.

humming softly, wooyoung offered you a lazy shrug, “i’ve been thinking about making out with you all day,” he said nonchalantly, the glimmers of amusement turning the ghost of a grin on his features into a full and overt one. your demeanour threatened to change on you, to let you become completely swallowed up by the flush creeping up your neck.

swallowing thickly and hoping it was more discreet than it possibly could have been, you allowed yourself to lean in even closer to him, feeling as if your lips would connect with his the moment you began speaking. his eyes left yours for a drawn out moment, his eyes flitting down to focus on your lips as he waited for you to do something. “if you’ve been thinking about it so much,” you began, clinging to your composure by a thread as his eyes remained trained on your lips, “what’s taken you so long?”

scoffing, wooyoung pulled himself away from you suddenly, the warmth radiating off of his body gone all too soon and leaving you colder than before. the look on your face must have portrayed some kind of childish pout, as that amused glint returned to his features. stretching out lightly, he gestured to his lap, inviting you to move there as you rolled your eyes at him. despite this, you adjusted your position only a beat later, feeling his arms lock around your waist as soon as you were settled enough for him to do so.

he kept his eyes on you silently for a moment, as if observing to see if you’d do anything without him prompting you to. noticing your hesitation, he returned to your earlier question, “thought i was gonna be too tired to do anything else,” he answered, “didn’t wanna get you all worked up and have nothing else for you.” he laughed, watching as you scrunched your face up in mock disgust at the simplicity he found in his logic.

as his laughter died out, you felt his fingertips begin to lightly trace shapes on the skin of your hips, and you felt as though there should have been awkwardness or embarrassment with the way he was focused so intently on you, but you couldn’t feel any. “so,” he hummed, raising his eyebrows at you, “wanna make out with me?” he suggested, his tone reaching almost comical as you noted him biting back his laugh after he spoke.

“uh…hm,” you began, as if you were trailing off in uncertainty, hearing wooyoung huff and begin to whine as you did so. laughing softly, you slid your arms to rest around his shoulders, your hands moving instinctively to touch the hairs at the nape of his neck. “if you don’t kiss me now, i think i’ll be a little offended,” you informed, a faux serious look etching onto your features as wooyoung laughed lightly in return.

“oh, well, we can’t have that,” he started, sitting upwards and jostling you forward on his lap as he did so, earning a shocked laugh from you. you felt one of his hands move to cup your cheek before you’d even fully stopped laughing, a grin still keeping his lips turned upwards as he connected his lips to yours.

at first, his lips seemed to be moving far too softly against your own, his hand gently cupping your jaw in a sudden juxtaposition to his usual actions. you weren’t particularly complaining, although the suddenness of this shift caught you off-guard enough for him to notice; his lips falling away from yours before you’d even got a chance to properly feel them there. a bright laugh left him, his thumb stroking across your cheekbone as he smiled up at you. tilting your head at him, you watched as his tongue darted out to wet his lips before he answered your unspoken question.

“i’m too tired to try out a new kink,” he started, earning an embarrassed laugh from you, your hands moving to cover your face as he kept talking, “so i’m trying to go nice and slow with it, hm?” his hands curled around your wrists again, tugging them away from covering your face so he could properly cup his hand along your jawline again.

the notion of him expecting an answer to his earlier words hadn’t fully registered with you, especially not as his lips were again so close to yours that they were almost tangible. when he rose his eyebrows at you in expectancy, you nodded quickly, not wanting to waste more time speaking until he’d kissed you at least once more. chuckling lightly, he brought your face back to his, his lips connecting with yours almost as softly as they had done before. his actions seemed slightly sped up this time, however, although you were sure it was unintentional. it hadn’t even been a significant amount of time since you’d last felt wooyoung’s lips against your own, but it somehow felt like your mind was spinning from the feeling anyway. even as you could actively feel him attempting to keep his speed in check, the occasional moment that he’d notice his lips were moving more roughly against your own and then he’d suddenly decrease the movement within the kiss to an almost smooth, non-desperate type.

his grip on how much he actually wanted to continue just kissing you seemed to be slipping away from him, his tongue moving across your bottom lip as you let your fingers lightly tangle into his hair. one of wooyoung’s hands had snaked its way down to curl around you press flat against your back, pulling you closer enough to him that one of your hands slipped to instinctively land flat against his chest in surprise. his other hand remained guiding your jaw, keeping you in the correct tempo of the kiss and not letting you increase anything about it, although with his growing haste in his previously planned movements, you were sure it wouldn’t be you causing any problems.

he slipped his lips away from yours the briefest of moments, allowing you both to pull in a few ragged breaths before his lips returned impossibly quickly to your own, as if he couldn’t stand to be away from you for longer than he had to. the rhythm this time seemed to have switched massively; wooyoung no longer seeming to care about moving slowly as he had what could only have been a couple minutes earlier. even if you were entirely sure that you weren’t the one in control of the direction this kiss had been taking, you couldn’t help but think that even if the sudden changes in suggestion behind them were practically giving you whiplash, you wouldn’t want it any other way.

you felt the weight of wooyoung’s hand that had been constantly pressed to your cheek begin to move away, confidently leaving the skin of your jaw to drop down to your waist, only to get caught on your shoulder as he did so. usually, on any other day, this would’ve caused him to let out an embarrassed laugh, maybe a small whisper of an apology for ruining the mood. but the sudden waves of desperation moving through him made him decide it was better to try and cover it over, to make sure he really hadn’t ruined the mood this time. skimming his fingertips lightly up along the skin of your collarbones all the way to your neck, he let his hand rest comfortably there; the majority of his hand curled around the back of your neck while his thumb remained directly on your throat. he could almost feel the way your pulse was speeding – and increased yet again – underneath his thumb, making him wonder if he should pull away and inquire about it.

in the end, he supposed luck was more on his side, as he didn’t have enough to feel it begin to linger in the back of his mind and bother him. the feeling of his hand being so impossibly close to wrapping properly around your neck made a moan slip past your lips, the hand that was pressed to his chest balling his shirt up when your hand tightened into an curious fist. the roughness of his movement as he’d adjusted to curl his hand there had meant he’d – more than likely accidentally – applied the slightest bit of pressure to your throat with his thumb. for the smallest, most fleeting of seconds, you prepared yourself for the tidal wave of embarrassment for your dignity and worry for how wooyoung would react. that was before you remembered who he actually was.

wooyoung disconnected his lips from yours, a smug look gracing his features, even if a hint of inquisition did linger in the glaze of his eyes. bevelling his head at you, you laughed breathily, the slight bite of your nerves getting to you. “what was that about, babygirl?”

making sure to keep your eyes away from his, you shrugged, “felt nice,” you offered.

laughing brightly again, wooyoung then hummed lightly, “yeah, i could’ve guessed that,” he teased, his hand still resting in its place on your neck. the feeling was unsettling you, making you shift about in his lap as you waited and hoped he’d give you more without you needing to ask. his hand moved from where it had been only just touching your actual throat, spreading out so his hand was comfortably wrapped around your neck. you swallowed heavily, letting yourself look back at him finally, your mouth opening and closing in a silent ask for him to keep going.

he tilted his head at you in wonderment, as if he was amazed at the sudden starry eyed look you’d gained at such a minimal action from him. “do you want more?” he asked quietly, his voice having dropped to become raspier than you’d noted it being previously. you felt as though even placing any vague trust in your voice was a bad idea, and so you found yourself simply nodding at him again. the curiosity in your stomach mingled with a buzz of excitement, your eyes intently observing wooyoung’s features and the things they could portray to you.

gradually, wooyoung began to press down on the sides of your throat, placing the slightest bit more pressure down as he went. keeping his pace painfully slow, you let your eyes flutter closed at the sensation, already knowing wooyoung would be watching your every reaction intently as he did so. maybe he was moving slowly so he could gain some kind of frustrated reaction, or maybe he just wanted to see you beg as he normally did. the increase of pressure came to a stop, although his hand didn’t loosen from its place. a breathy whimper passed your lips, although you were sure embarrassment would flood you later upon remembering it.

you felt your position shifting suddenly, your back ending up pressed against the softness of the sofa underneath you. wooyoung’s hand remained around your throat, although his body now hovered above yours. your eyes fluttered open again, seeing his eyes focused on you completely, going between directly looking in your eyes to glancing down at your lips again. dropping your head back further into the surface underneath you, you basked in the feeling of his hand moving slightly against your throat.

sighing softly, you looked up at wooyoung, feeling as though you were seeing things through heart eyes, “i thought you didn’t wanna try any new kinks today,” you spoke softly.

wooyoung dipped his face even closer to yours, the overwhelming wish to have his mouth covering yours overcoming you for what seemed like the thousandth time today. humming lightly, he glanced over your face once more, “that was before this new development.”

[imaginetonyandbucky]

Natasha sets Tony up with a blind date, who is running an hour late. Natasha just said broody hot guy, with brown hair, formal leather boots & a leather jacket. So he mistakes Bucky for his date who is brooding at the bar after the shittiest day. Bucky doesn't have the heart to tell him & Oh dear lord he's pretty & interested. They get real cozy & flirty, then Tony's real date Logan shows up... Bucky's not letting this dude ruin the best date hes had in years. Happy Ending Pls & Thank You?

He Shoots, He Scores

Tony checked hiswatch and tapped his foot some more. Swear to god, he was gonna give thisasshole another five minutes and then he was out the damn door. He only agreedto the blind date because Nat was getting on his case regularly, and he thoughtif he did one date, maybe she’d leave him alone.

Probably not,Tony considered. Variable reward system. Her nagging him had gotten him toagree to one date after six weeks. Next time, she’d nag for eight weeks.

Ug.

The door openedagain and Tony’s gaze went to the newcomer, checking him against thedescription he’d long since memorized.

Dark hair,broody. Leather jacket and boots. Hot.

Dark hair, headbowed, moved to the bar like he was parting the Red fucking Sea, check.

Leather jacketand boots. Check.

Hot. Check,write the fucking check.

Smoking hot.

The guy wentstraight to the bar and ordered a double whiskey and a beer chaser. He washalfway through the beer when Tony raised his chin to the bartender andsignaled. That guy, those drinks,on me. It was a complicatedseries of hand gestures, but Tony was a good tipper and the bartender knew it.So he’d taken pains to get to know Tony. Either that, or Tony was going to endup footing the bar tab for the entire night.

Which might havebeen okay, too.

The bartenderleaned close to Walks in Beauty (and wow, he was so hot that Tony was doing themental Byron, so bad, he was sunk already… Maybe he should have taken Nat up ona date earlier, because she shoots, she scores, Raven Tresses was on his wayover.)

“Shove over,”the guy said.

“Huh?”

“Need t’ put myarm up,” the guy said. “M’ shoulder’s killin’ me and if I sit on th’ other sidewith my arm up, everyone’s gonna stare.”

Tony was aboutto inquire further when his gaze fell on the man’s sleeve. Which was empty.Huh. Nat hadn’t mentioned that, and then Tony had to wonder if she’d done it onpurpose because she didn’t want Tony to form expectations, or because shethought Tony wouldn’t want to date someone who was missing a limb.

“Sure, sure,”Tony said, and he slid over in the booth. The guy practically fell in the seatnext to him and groaned as he stretched out the stump; from the dent in hissleeve, it looked like his arm ended about two inches over his elbow.

“I got aprosthetic,” the guy said, “but it’s fuckin’ heavy and I hate wearin’ it.Thanks for the drink, hot shot.”

“You wantanother beer? Or cheese fries or something? Honestly, the whole buying someonea drink is old hat. I’m trying to expand my repertoire,” Tony said.

“Been a whilesince anyone even bought me a beer,” the guy said.

“Well, that’sjust short sighted,” Tony said. He waved over one of the waitresses. “Ang,bring -- cheese fries okay? Yeah, that, and another beer, and a scotch? Thanks,love.”

“Sure thing,Tony,” she said, and bounced off.

“Yeah, okay,you’re Tony Stark,” the guy said. “Not really where I’d expect to find you.Not… razzle-dazzley enough for you.”

Tony was almostaffronted. “Razzle-dazzley?”

“You know,matching dancing girls and glitter bombs and flying cars,” the guy said. “Thatseems more your speed than pickin’ up a sad sack who’s down an arm an’ a job.”

Tony made anoise of sympathy. “Rough day, huh? Well, you know who I am, what’s your name?”

“Bucky Barnes,”he said. “An’ yeah, it’s been for shit today.”

Bucky? Bucky,really? Well, that would explain why Nat hadn’t given him a name. Tony wasn’tso shallow to turn down a date with a guy with one arm, but he might well haveturned down a date with a grown man who went by the name Bucky.Of course, all she would have had to do was show him a damn picture…

Angie came backwith booze and fries; she truly was an angel. Bucky scooped up a handful offries, dredged them through the ranch dressing, and stuffed them in his mouth,chasing it with a hefty swallow of beer.

“Tell me aboutyour crappy day,” Tony invited.

“You serious?”Bucky stared at him for a moment, then taking something in Tony’s expression aspermission, went into it.

They drank beerand went through a truly epic number of fry baskets. Bucky talked about gettinglaid off from Hammer Industries, and Tony told ridiculous stories about hisinterns at SI. Bucky complained about the way his prosthetic fit, and themuscle pain that he had in his shoulder all the time from wearing it. Tonysuggested they go get a couples massage as a later date. Bucky talked about hisroommate, who was a starving artist who’d just actually managed to get a boothat a local festival and sold a few pieces, which meant they weren’t going tostarve to death before Bucky’s unemployment came in.

“What did you dofor Hammer, anyway?”

“Tech support.Even a one armed guy can answer the phone,” Bucky said. “I misunderstood th’purpose of their tech support, though. We have-- had.Had a minimum of calls transferred to sales. I thought I was s’posed to helppeople fix their damn stuff.”

Tony madeanother mental note to see if he could get a recruiter to call -- if Tonyoffered the job directly, Bucky would probably turn it down, but a third partyrecruiter could probably get Bucky to at least go in for an interview. Poachingoff Hammer was its own reward.

Tony talkedabout some recent developments in his research departments, which includedprintable organs.

“Y’ should makepatterns for print ups of prosthetics,” Bucky suggested. “The one the VAcleared me for weighs a ton and it’s not very adjustable.”

“That’s a…that’s a damn good idea,” Tony said.

“Enlightenedself-interest,” Bucky said, waving his stump awkwardly.

They moved on tomusic and movies, with a vast venn diagram of matching preferences when a shortguy with truly ridiculous sideburns stomped up to the table. “You Tony?”

Tony blinked andleaned back to look at who was accosting them. Dark hair. Broody. Leatherjacket and boots.

He glanced atBucky, back at the guy who might have actuallybeen his blind date. He squeezedBucky’s knee under the table.

“No,” Tony said.

After the guystormed off, muttering about only being two hours late, and what did peopleexpect these days, Bucky turned to Tony. “What was that about?”

Tony ran histongue over his teeth. “I… I’m so sorry,” he said. “I thought you were the guymy friend set me up with. But… you’re not, are you?”

“No, I’m justthe guy you’ve been buying drinks for all night?”

“Yeah, I thinkthat was her pick,” Tony said, and he squeezed Bucky’s knee again. “You’re mypick. He shoots, he scores! Come on, let’s blow this place before he comesback.” Tony raised a finger for the tab.

“I ain’t givin’up th’ best date I had in ages to someone who can’t be bothered t’ show up ontime.”

“Best date, huh?”

“Well, so far,”Bucky said. “I expect more razzle-dazzle next time.”

Tony wasgrinning. “You want it, Buckaroo, you got it.”

Also a fill for @tonystarkbingo for square K1: image of Tony Stark saying “Razzle-Dazzley?”

[thesoundofnat]

Painted Canvas

Tony/Steve, the Avengers

Summary: The Avengers notice that Tony has a bunch of bruises on his body, but he won’t give them proper answers.

Warnings: references to abuse/violence, though no abuse or violence actually takes place. Description of bruises, though not very graphic. Mentions of sex.

[Read it on AO3]

Words: 2 209

Clint had been staring at him for ten minutes before he noticed.

Now, Tony wasn’t self conscious of his appearance. He appreciated when people enjoyed the view, but there was something about Clint’s expression that told him he wasn’t admiring his features.

He cleared his throat. “Can I help you?”

Clint didn’t blink. “What’s that on your wrist?”

Tony glanced down. “A watch.”

“Under the watch.”

Ah. Okay.

“It’s a bruise,” Tony said, resisting the urge to withdraw his hand.

“It’s a big bruise. Does it stretch around your whole wrist?”

“Possibly.”

“When did you get it?”

“Not sure. It’s healing.”

“Is it from a battle?”

“Probably.”

“How did that happen in your suit?”

“How should I know? I’m always black and blue, I don’t keep track.”

Clint’s eyes were narrowed. “You’ve gone through great lengths to hide it.”

“No, I haven’t.”

“You’re wearing long sleeves in the summer.”

“I’m a cali boy. I’m used to heat.”

“And that watch has a rather thick band.”

“It’s just a coincidence, Barton.”

“I’m just saying.”

Tony grabbed his coffee cup, glancing at said watch and wishing for the stupid meeting to start. “I’m acknowledging your observation skills, okay? But this time you’re incorrect.”

The door opened, Fury shuffling in with the other Avengers in tow. Thank god.

Clint kept staring at him until Steve pulled up a chair and sat down between them. The staring turned into a glare.

“I hope I am,” he finally said as Fury started talking. Tony only had time to raise an eyebrow, Steve to frown in confusion, before he’d turned away from them.

All right then.

*

Tony hadn’t been to the gym in ages and it was starting to show, so he joined Steve and Natasha early in the morning for a sparring session.

“Why does it have to be early again?”

“Better just get over and done with,” Nat said, pulling her hair up into a ponytail. “And it helps you wake up.”

“I can wake up just fine in three hours.”

“Come on,” Steve said, giving his side a squeeze. “You’re up and here now. Stop complaining.”

“Who’s complaining? I’m merely inquiring.”

Steve rolled his eyes. “Whatever you say.”

Tony rolled up his already short sleeves a bit, purely to show off his biceps better. To tempt Steve a little bit. Couldn’t help it.

But Steve was already wandering off, going for a treadmill to probably do some light jogging before they started as if he hadn’t been on a run earlier when Tony was still struggling to get out of bed.

Nat got to witness the glory of his arms all by herself instead, but her narrowed eyes was not the reaction he’d expected (not that he’d expected her to really do anything, to be honest). “What’s that?”

“What?”

“On your arm.” She grabbed one of his wrists, which he’d been smart enough to cover with sweatbands, and moved closer, inspecting his skin. “It’s bruised.”

“Oh, that.” He slipped his hand out of her grip. “A silly accident. Nothing to worry about. It’s healing.”

He knew the greenish misery looked terrible, covering his bicep, just shy of his shoulder, in an almost artistic circle, as if someone had slapped handcuffs onto the wrong body part. He’d forgotten all about it, for a brief moment. Stupid.

Natasha didn’t say anything else about it. Tony was surprised she’d said anything at all. He must’ve really caught her by surprise if she slipped out of her perpetual observational role. Wondering just how he could’ve been injured when he was in a suit half the time and hadn’t sparred in weeks.

He cleared his throat. “Steve, you done?”

Steve was on the treadmill, not even breaking a sweat. “Give me a minute.”

Nat was looking at Steve in a way Tony couldn’t understand, but then again, when was he ever able to interpret her expressions?

“I didn’t wake up at dawn to wait for you.”

“Drama queen.”

Natasha insisted on sparring with him, practically ordering Steve to the punching bag because “that way you can use all your strength on a target that can handle it”. Tony might’ve protested if it hadn’t been true.

*

Thor noticed his discomfort pretty much as soon as the hug started and let go immediately. “My apologies. I thought we were on those terms.”

Tony waved a hand at him. “No, no, we are, don’t worry. Well, I’m not really saying you need to hug me every time you see me, but you were gone for three months and I kinda missed you, so that was fine.”

“But you were squirming. Did I make you uncomfortable?”

“You just surprised me, s’all.”

“Are you hurt?”

“Not really.”

“Why do I get the feeling that you’re lying?”

“Well, all right, I might have some bruises around my ribs. Nothing serious.”

“Show me.”

“What?”

“I want to see.”

“Uh, no. Not gonna happen.”

“Stark, you have a tendency to downplay your injuries.”

“Trust me, if it was bad Steve would’ve been on my case.” But he could tell the god wasn’t backing down, so he quickly raised his shirt and flashed the blue spots for a second, but it was enough for Thor’s eyes to widen.

“Those look fresh.”

“They are.”

“How did you get them?”

“Does it matter?”

“I reckon not, but-”

“But?”

Thor didn’t say anything (why did everyone keep doing that?). Only looked him so intently in the eyes that Tony felt the need to run.

“Oh, would you look at the time.”

“Are those bruises on your wrist, too?”

Lord help him.

*

The fire alarm started ringing so unbelievably loudly and suddenly that Tony didn’t have time to think. Didn’t have time to process the fact that someone had probably just burned their bacon and that JARVIS would have it all under control and that there really was no need for him to fly out of bed and rush out into the hallway in just his underwear. But apparently a half asleep Tony Stark couldn’t think rationally.

He had no idea what Bruce was doing on his floor, or where Steve actually was (a half asleep Tony Stark didn’t remember that Steve Rogers never slept in), and he blinked blearily at his friend. “What’s going on?”

“I have no idea.”

“JARVIS, what’s going on?”

“Mr Barton burned his breakfast.”

“Of course he did. He got it under control?”

“Yes, sir.”

The fire alarm went blissfully silent, and Tony shut his eyes for a moment in order to gather his thoughts. “What a morning, huh.” Bruce looked more shaken up than Tony had seen him in a while. “Hey, it’s okay. No one’s burned to death.” He knitted his eyebrows together. “The big guy’s not gonna come out, is he?”

“It’s not that.”

“Oh, good. You know I’m fond of him, but I’ve had enough action for first thing in the morning. Now I need coffee. And food you can’t burn.”

“Tony.”

“Hmm?”

“What’s happened to you?”

“Clint Barton’s happened to me- oh.” He followed Bruce’s wide eyed gaze to his own person, finding his skin splattered in bruises of various stages of healing and sized. Almost like a painting. “This.”

“What is this, exactly?” Bruce’s voice trembled ever so slightly, not enough time to control it. “I mean- how?”

Tony shifted. It had been a while since someone other than Steve had looked at his bare skin so thoroughly. “It’s nothing, Brucie, don’t worry about it. They don’t bother me.”

“But how did they get there?”

“It’s not important. Look.” He held up his hands, as if surrendering. “I’m tired. My heart is still freaking out over the alarm. I just need to go lie in bed for a moment before getting dressed and heading for the kitchen and go about my day. What are you doing up here anyway?”

He wandered off, giving Bruce one last glance before going into his room. Bruce was gone when he returned fifteen minutes later.

He had a feeling he wasn’t about to have a calm day.

*

He was right. The whole team, sans Steve, approached him only twenty minutes later when he was just finishing his breakfast.

“We need to talk.” Natasha’s voice was surprisingly gentle.

He lowered his cup. “Is this an ambush?”

“Something like that.”

“Should I be worried?”

She didn’t answer, only turned to meet Bruce’s eye. “You’re sure?”

His nod was almost nonexistent. “Positive.”

“What’s going on?” Tony had a vague feeling that he knew, but he simultaneously felt like he had no clue of what was about to come out of their mouths.

“Is Steve… aggressive with you?” He’d never heard Nat speak so carefully. “This isn’t something I ever thought I’d ask because he’s the last person I would suspect of something like this, but the evidence is too striking.”

“What are you talking about?”

“Does he hit you, is what she’s asking.”

Tony’s eyes snapped to Clint. “What? Is that what you think is happening?”

“Your body is full of bruises,” Bruce said, his voice so quiet that Tony barely heard it due to the blood pumping in his ears. “You refuse to give proper answers.”

Tony rubbed his eyes. “Oh, for god’s sake. Steve doesn’t hit me.”

“Then what-”

“They’re sex injuries, all right?”

A stunned silence as Tony tried to collect himself, barely having time to enjoy their shocked expressions before Clint said, “What the fuck, Stark.”

He shrugged. “You asked.”

“How can sex leave you all black and blue?”

“Even though it’s none of your business,” he started, crossing his arms. “I like it rough and Steve likes giving me what I want. Don’t worry, though. It’s very consensual and he checks on me all the time.”

“Holy shit, are you into BDSM?”

Tony rolled his eyes. “No. Not all of it.”

“You can’t just leave me hanging.”

He pointed at Clint. “This is the last time I ever discuss my sex life with you. But. Handcuffs.”

“The bruises on your wrists.”

“Right. He did something particularly good and I ended up pulling too hard as I came. You wanna know more?”

Natasha held up her hands. “No thank you. Those mental images will haunt me forever.”

He smirked. “None of you can tell me you don’t find those images at least a little hot.”

“No, Tony.”

“Oh, and Steve’s a biter. And a scratcher. A lot of my marks are scratches and hickeys, but the bruises overpower them.”

“Stark.”

“The bruises on my hips and ribs are from Steve holding onto me as he-”

They fled. It was kind of hilarious. Only Thor remained, one eyebrow raised as he said, “This is a part of both you and Captain Rogers I never would’ve expected.”

“Well, I don’t think you spend a lot of time imagining what we do in bed.”

“That is true.”

Tony shifted. “I appreciate the concern, by the way. I know it probably looked sketchy. Tell the others, will you?”

“Of course.”

“I’ll go tell Steve purely to see how offended he’ll be that you thought he’d ever hurt me without consent.”

*

Steve was both enraged and astonished, leaving him fumbling with his notebook as he tried to gather his wits. “What?”

“I mean, I find it as ridiculous as you do, but at the same time it looked pretty suspicious.”

“Why didn’t you just tell them when they noticed your bruises?”

“You really think I thought they thought you abused me? Wow, that was an exhausting sentence.” He sat down on the bed, knee touching Steve’s. “I thought they suspected me of being extremely clumsy and having a bit of a death wish.”

Steve shook his head. “Clint’s been hostile toward me for days, and I couldn’t understand why.”

Tony poked his thigh. “You’re not mad they thought you were capable of hurting me?”

“Of course I am, but-”

“But?”

“I mean, usually people ignore the signs and refuse to believe the victims. At least I know they genuinely care about you and would kick the ass of anyone who tried to hurt you. Including me.” Steve put the notebook aside and reached out to grab Tony’s hand. “I can’t be mad about that.”

Tony hummed, lacing their fingers together. “It’s a rather serious accusation.”

“It is.”

“Should’ve seen their faces when I explained our sex life to them.”

Steve groaned. “You didn’t.”

“Of course I did. I had to prove them wrong, didn’t I?”

“Did you say that it’s all consensual?”

“Obviously. They ran away, though.”

“They did?”

“Practically fled. It was ridiculous. I just defeated half the Avengers with my words. Thor was the only one who stuck around.”

Steve was laughing. “Oh man, you think JARVIS can play back the footage for me?”

“Probably. But you know, all this talk of sex has left me kind of needy.”

“You’re always needy.”

“As if you don’t like it.” He leaned closer. “My canvas is looking bleak. Would you mind painting me some more?”

“You’re ridiculous,” Steve said, grabbing his shoulders and rolling them over. “Absolutely ridiculous.”

“Only one way to shut me up.”

“Oh, I’m on it.”

*

After that, the reactions to his occasional bruises ranged from uncomfortable avoidance of the topic and knowing smirks.

[captainexplody]

Crybaby Crudgington

Crybaby Crudgington is kicking over a small table outside a coffee shop in anger, as he shakes his fist to the heavens above. He assumes that the heavens above are full of angels listening to his constant mumblings and grumblings.

Crybaby Crudgington: Son of a gun! I can’t believe this! I can’t believe the way I’m being treated right now!

An employee at the coffee shop is standing beside the irate Mr Crudgington, trying to make all of this go away.

Coffee Shop Employee: Please, sir. I just told you that you had to sit near the entrance because that’s the only available table outside right now. There are a few tables inside you could sit at if you’d rather.

Crybaby Crudgington turns around and points at the guy irately. 

Crybaby Crudgington: No I don’t want to sit inside I want to sit outside! I like it outside, I have to sit outside! I have a SERIOUS MEDICAL SKIN CONDITION THAT IS MEDICAL where I need lots of fresh air on my skin otherwise I break out in pimples.

The coffee shop employee looks at Crybaby Crudgington and notes that his face is covered with pimples anyway, but he decides not to go down that path.

Coffee Shop Employee: Well as I told you earlier Sir, this is the only table available outside. As you can see, all the others are occupied.

Crybaby Crudgington: No! Not acceptable! I want THAT table!

Crybaby Crudgington points at a nearby table that has four people sat by it, all drinking expensive coffees and enjoying some baked treats as well.  

Coffee Shop Employee: Sir, there are already people sitting there.

Crybaby Crudgington: Well I don’t care, I want to sit where they are sitting. They can sit at this stupid table.

Crybaby points at the table he’s just kicked over. The group have obviously noticed the commotion and one of them speaks up.

Nice Guy: Hey we don’t mind moving over there if it’s causing you any bother. I mean we don’t care, it’s just a table, right? Just a place to sit.

Crybaby Crudgington folds his arms confidently and puts a smarmy look on his face. 

Crybaby Crudgington: Yeah, move out of MY spot, willya?

The group all shrug their shoulders and pick up their things, moving to the slightly smaller table that the coffee shop employee is picking up and dusting off.

Coffee Shop Employee: I’m so sorry about all of this.

Nice Guy: Eh, it’s no big deal. 

Coffee Shop Employee: Thanks for being so cool about this whole thing, I don’t know what that guys problem is. Hey I’ll send out a few snacks on the house just for you guys.

Nice Guy: Oh wow, thanks.

The group all mutter to themselves, pleased about getting some free snacks. Crybaby Crudgington doesn’t notice, he’s too busy lounging at his table, stretching his legs out to rest them on a chair opposite. He pulls out his phone as he cackles to himself, glaring dismissively at the group for a moment.

Crybaby Crudgington: Heh wait’ll Twitter hears about this.

Mr Crudgington starts to mash away at his phone excitedly, using his fingers as one tends to do.

Crybaby Crudgington: Heh... ‘Just showed a bunch of cuck losers whos boss in sTarbucjs todayn lol #thuglife #maga #lol’

He holds the phone up to his face to take a picture of himself sat at the coffee shop, which he then uploads to accompany the witty tweet. The coffee shop employee has returned with a few free snacks for the group of people, and Crybaby Crudgington bangs his fist on the table in front of him.

Crybaby Crudgington: Yo, garson! Get over here, bring me a drink.

The coffee shop employee sighs and turns to face Crybaby Crudgington. He doesn’t get paid enough for this shit.

Coffee Shop Employee: Sir if you want to make an order, you go inside and order at the counter.

Crybaby Crudgington: Are you serious?! Are you denying my right as a customer to have a waiter bring me my drink? Aren’t you a waiter?

Coffee Shop Employee: Dude I just work here, get off my back.

Crybaby Crudgington: Oh my god I have never, NEVER been spoken to like that!! Not in my ENTIRE LIFE has anybody been so rude to me! I’m going to go speak to your manager!

Crybaby Crudgington moves as if he is about to step up out of his chair. He watches the employee carefully, waiting patiently, in that prone position where he’s like rising up but not really because he’s still sitting on the seat but he’s kind of looking like he’s about to stand up, y’know? After a painfully long time, the coffee shop employee relents.

Coffee Shop Employee: Urgh. Fine. What would you like to drink?

Crybaby Crudgington smiles smugly as he relaxes back into his chair.

Crybaby Crudgington: Yeah, that’s better. I want a small Coke. In a tall glass, with a straw. Lots of ice, but not too much ice. There’s a good boy.

Crybaby sits there with his arms folded smugly, and the coffee shop employee rolls his eyes as he walks away to get this dignified gentleman his small glass of Coke. Crybaby Crudgington relaxes and stretches his feet out onto the other chair again. He’s having a good day. He pulls his phone out again to check to see if anybody liked his earlier Tweet. Nothing yet. No traction. Maybe he has to make fun of more people. He excitedly taps at the screen of the phone as he has a great idea: updating Twitter about his fight with the waiter. 

‘Lol guys just had a terrible confrontation frim a waiter at this coffee shop, looks like this guy cant’ handle the truth #truth #realtalk #gangsa #lokl’

Send. That’s a classic, man. Everyone is going to boycott this stupid coffee shop because of him. He clicks reply on that tweet, he’s got too much to say to contain in one single tweet. 

‘still raging over theat guys attitude towards me man it was broderline assault i should call the cops man. i,m gonna givet hem a bad yelp review lol #justdoingmyjob #harrassmentsucks #mentalhealth #lol #fuckbitcheseveryday’

Send. That one was better than the first tweet, hot dang. Crybaby Crudgington is such a good tweeter, he’s got comedy skills for days. He thinks about how he deserves a job at one of those media companies that tweets a lot, he could be the guy that makes all their funny tweets. He’d be great at that. Crybaby Crudgington thinks that he’d be so great at that job, so incredible at it, that there’s no point in him even bothering to inquire about such a job. He’s just going to continue to put out his hilarious tweets for the world, safe in the knowledge that eventually one of those big hip social media companies will reach out to HIM, begging him to work for them.

Crybaby Crudgington looks up from his tweet-lyfe, over to the group of people. The friends all seem to be having a good time, laughing about something or other. Crybaby Crudgington bangs his fist on the table again, demanding they all look at him. They all turn, inquisitive about the fist-banging.

Crybaby Crudgington: Hey you guys want to keep it down over there? You guys are being really loud, it’s pretty obnoxious.

The friends all look at Crybaby Crudgington, and then they turn back to continue conversing with each other. Crybaby eyes them carefully, annoyed that they decided to ignore him, but he’s choosing to believe that they are indeed trying to keep their laughter down. Their enjoyment. Whatever they’re laughing about can’t possibly be as funny as him, Crybaby Crudgington. He’s a comedy genius. Speaking of which, it’s probably time to go back for another tweet. 

‘lokl cant believe it such hate just for sitting at a coffee shop haters cant get enough lol i feel sad for them though but thats just me. lol sorry you guys saw me like this, hugs ! #lol #sensitive #powerthroughpain #imokdontworry #loveyouguys #fuckbitcheseverdaysmokeblunts’

Send. Another classic. Some days it’s amazing to think that he gives away this kind of content for free. The coffee shop employee returns, holding a glass of Coke in his hand.

Coffee Shop Employee: Here you go.

The employee places the glass down on the table in front of Crybaby Crudgington, who doesn’t look happy.

Crybaby Crudgington: Where’s your plate? The plate you use to bring people drinks, your waiter plate? You didn’t even bring me my Coke on a tray, now the glass has your dirty finger prints all over it.

Coffee Shop Employee: So?

Crybaby Crudgington: So? So?! Oh my god I can’t believe it, you’re one of them, aren’t you? One of those guys who doesn’t believe that all major diseases are spread via the fingers? You could have anything, any disease at all, and you’re spreading your fingers all over my glass of Coke, and all that bad stuff on your fingers will travel up the condensation on the glass and then go INSIDE the glass and then when I drink it I’ll be infected, and also if I pick up the glass then my fingers are rubbing against where your fingers used to be ie essentially my fingers rubbing against your fingers and so it could spread that way as well. Oh my God, I can’t believe you don’t know about this. I bet you haven’t even read the article about it on reddit, like wow. I mean that article went up two days ago, TWO DAYS! And you still don’t know about it? Jeez, you need to get your head out of the clouds. You need to wake up, man. 

Coffee Shop Employee: ...

Crybaby Crudgington: I’m definitely going to be reporting you for this. I’m going to find out who in the government to complain to, and then I’m going to complain to them. And I’m DEFINITELY going to want to speak to your manager.

Coffee Shop Employee: Dude you need to chill out.

Crybaby Crudgington has had enough, and he stands up dramatically from his seat. Well he imagines that it looks really dramatic.

Crybaby Crudgington: Well. I don’t believe this. After all I’ve had to go through today, after all you’ve put me through, the emotional stress, the snide talk and the insults to my character, the terrible service, the rude attitude, the fact that you almost infected me with some diseases you might have, and after all that you still stand here in front of me and treat me with such disrespect? I don’t believe it. I just do NOT believe it.

The coffee shop employee backs his way slowly back into the coffee shop, leaving Crybaby Crudgington by himself, silently seething with rage. He can be silent no longer. He needs to make a stand. People need to understand his point of view, because it’s always 100% correct. He needs to take action, to MAKE people see things from his point of view. It’s at this point that Crybaby Crudgington pulls from his pocket a small silver revolver. He points it at the group of friends that were enjoying themselves and he fires his gun four times, one for each of the friends. He had no intention of hitting any of them, although obviously there are some casualties, as there often are when a man points a gun point blank at four people and pulls the trigger a bunch of times. The police are already on their way. Crybaby Crudgington is arrested, and he goes to court, and then he gets released and is let back into society, scot free, because he’s a fucking whiney crybaby son of a bitch and goddamn if they don’t yell so loud that they don’t get their way. Also he’s a white male, that helped too. 

[aoibhs]

Research

Chapter One 

Chapter Four

"News Flash, Ben. School's out for summah!" Richie put on a funny accent as he began to root through Ben's backpack.

"Oh, that? That's not school stuff," Ben replied coolly, just allowing Richie to continue what he was doing, which made Nora laugh to herself. It was only a matter of time before Richie found something that Ben didn't want anyone to see, let alone Richie Tozier.

"Who sent you this?" Yup, Richie held up a postcard that Ben immediately snatched back.

"No one!" The boy retorted, obviously embarrassed. Nora chuckled, shaking her head and catching eye-contact with Stan who was doing the same. They both knew it was gonna happen.

"What's with the history project?" Eddie asked upon seeing Richie pull a folder from the bag.

"Oh, well, when I first moved here, I didn't really have anyone to hang out with," Ben said, a bit awkwardly while Richie passed the folder to Bill, "So I just started spending time in the library,"

"You went to the library? On purpose?" Richie scoffed.

"Oh, I wanna see," Beverly got up from her sunbathing position on the ground and sat beside Bill. Now left alone on the ledge, Nora got up to join Eddie and Stan on the rocks.

"What's the Black Spot?" Stan inquired.

"The Black Spot was that night club that was burned down years ago by that racist cult," Eddie said.

"That was in the sixties, right?" Nora tried to recall her parents discussing the incident over dinner some months beforehand.

"Yeah, '62," Eddie looked up at her from the ground.

"Y-your-your hair," Bill looked at Beverly but neither of them said anything else.

"Your-your hair is beautiful.. Beverly," Ben leaned towards them to make his opinion evidently clear. Nora had to hold back the urge to snort. Both boys had obviously taken to the red-haired girl.

"Oh, right. Thanks," Beverly replied, equally as awkward and Nora kept her head down to release a small chuckle. Both Stan and Eddie noticed this. Stan shot her a slight smirk, but rolled his eyes and shook his head, whereas Eddie just looked confused. Why did she want to laugh? It wasn't that funny, was it?

Nora knew she was being a hypocrite. If she was being complimented, or giving compliments for that matter, she would be just as awkward, if not more. The situation unfolding in front of her still amused her nonetheless.

"Here, pass," Richie motioned to Bill, he wanted the folder back, "Why's it all murders and missing kids?" He then gave the folder to Stan, so he, Eddie and Nora could get a chance to look at Ben's research.

"Derry's not like any town I've ever been in before," Ben said, a tinge of unease in his voice, "They did a study once, and it turns out, people die or disappear six times the national average," Nora felt her eyes go that bit wider, immediately being reminded of Patrick Hockstetter's disappearance, or Betty Ripsom, or even poor Georgie Denbrough.

"You read that?" Beverly asked. Nora looked around at her new friends. She knew they all felt it too. Something was very wrong in Derry.

"And that's just grown ups," Ben added, "Kids are worse. Way, way worse," Yup, something's wrong for sure, "I've got more stuff if you wanna see it,"

Eddie looked up at Nora and Stan and then to everyone else, shaking his head in desperation.

"S-s-sure," Bill nodded before his nervous friend could vocally protest.

"..I, um, I actually should go," Nora got from the rocks, adjusting the blue bra-strap that kept sliding down her shoulder.

"..Nora," Beverly looked at her, disappointed that she was leaving them."I.. I just want to go home and change, y'know?" The brunette laughed with no confidence in her own words, "I'm still soaking wet,"

"I bet you are!" Richie didn't exactly yell, but he wasn't far off as he held up his hand expectantly, only to get his high-five rejected by literally everyone and his hand shoved down by Stanley.

"I can meet you after.. or something?" Nora suggested, suddenly feeling guilty that she was leaving them, "Maybe for ice cream?"

"Are you asking me out, Sheridan?" Richie placed his hand over his chest in fake shock.

"Yes, I'm all over the idea of dating a younger man," She quipped sarcastically, gaining a nod of approval from the already sardonic Uris boy, and a few laughs from the others.

"Yeah, I-i-i love ice cream," Bill smiled at the thought.

"We'll fill you in if you miss anything," Beverly smiled at her.

"See you all in a few hours, I guess," Nora gave a wave, heading back up to Beverly's bike and her small pile of clothes.

"Nora!" The half-dressed girl looked down the gorge again and assumed Stan was just waving her goodbye from a distance, so she waved back and walked on home.

Once she was alone, she began to think. She hummed to herself, some song by Simple Minds that had been popular a few years before. She remember walking down Jackson Avenue the night before with Victor Criss, in total silence. It was then that she laughed at how ludicrous their behavior was. Who the Hell walks the full geography of a town and stays completely silent? She baffled herself and it was hilarious.

But then, thinking of the previous evening forced the memory of her mattress back into her mind. She shuddered and couldn't find the will to stop. She was quite cold though. Her skin wasn't all that wet but her bra was very damp. Her long dark hair was still dripping with the quarry's water and was causing her top and skirt to become heavy with water too.

"Nora, what have you been up to?" Joan Sheridan pretended to scold her only child, but wasn't all that convincing since she looked so amused.

"I ran into Beverly and we went to the quarry with her friends," Nora said sheepishly. She looked like a mess.

"I left your purple dress up on your bed if you want to wear that after your shower,"

"Shower?"

"Nora Sheridan, I did not raise you to jump into a quarry of dirty water and then not wash yourself afterwards," The woman rolled her eyes at her daughter's cluelessness, "Go and get yourself cleaned up. Are you meeting up with Beverly later?"

"Yeah, once I've changed we're going for ice cream,"

"Well, don't keep her waiting," She ushered her daughter inside, "Get inside before the neighbours think you're a savage,"

Showering was fine until she had to go back into her own room again. Her mattress was in there. She felt her stomach drop as she went back inside. It was a sensation similar to when she leaped off the cliff that afternoon, except there was no water at the bottom of this gorge, there was a tall, clown-like being and its evil mattress friend. Her bed looked fine, but not in her eyes. Everything seemed tarnished and ingrained with dirt. She grabbed the dress off of her bed and ran back to the bathroom to get changed and dry her hair. She put her gold locket around her neck and tied a black tied into a cute bow at the back of her head. There was no need for her to go back to the room so she asked for some money from her mom and then walked down to the diner. She sat in a booth alone and waited for the guys to show up. She was only there fifteen minutes and then Bill, Richie, Eddie and Stan walked in.

"Hey, where's Beverly and Ben?" She smiled up at them.

"They had to go home, Ben's mom had chores for him," Eddie said, sliding in beside her.

"Eddie, you bitch! I called dibs," Richie gasped, sitting opposite her, with Stan beside him and Bill beside Eddie.

"How was Ben's stash of research? What did I miss?" The girl ignored him, turning to the other boys.

"J-just lots of m-m-missing kids and other disasters in D-d-derry," Bill told her.

"Do you think they're all connected?" Nora picked up a menu, her eyes skimming over the types of ice cream available.

"Guys, are you serious? Why has every conversation this summer been like some bad mystery novel?" Eddie complained, his voice going to a higher pitch than usual, making Nora want to laugh.

"Oh, here," Stan reached for something in his pocket, "You had left before I could give this back to you," He held out her Duran Duran cassette that she brought with her to the quarry.

"Ah, thank you," She smiled, taking it, "My head has been like a sieve since school ended, I completely forgot about this. Thanks Stan,"

"Okay, if you're finished flirting with my woman, Stanley," Richie pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, "I would like my ice cream now,"

Chapter Six

[ladyvialana]

Fic: Eyes Wide

Part of the Hope series.

Voltron Legendary Defender fic. pre-relationship Keith/Lance

Summary: Keith actually isn't half bad at this whole leader thing. Lance finds it difficult to hide how smitten he is.

Notes: post season 2, pining Lance, pre-relationship, flirting, fluff

Also on Ao3

For once, they attended a distress call for a planet untouched by Galra and managed to help without any significant damage to themselves or the inhabitants. Allura was so impressed with the whole mission that she immediately agreed to attend a celebration in their honour. It had been so long since they had anything to celebrate that not even Keith—far too serious these days and even more worn about the edges—could argue (or wanted to).

There was a brief awkward moment, as there often was these days, when their leader inquired after the missing Black Lion and paladin. Rumours had been building for months. It had soon become quite obvious that the Black Lion hadn’t been seen for some time. Keith stepped in before Allura could wave the question away with a vague but mostly positive answer.

“The Black Paladin was instrumental in taking down Zarkon. Surely a feat like that deserves some recovery time?”

As was becoming the norm, any mention of Zarkon’s defeat immediately inspired a quiet awe and they quickly moved on from the missing paladin to ask about Voltron’s other heroic deeds. It was quite an effective way to avoid actually answering questions about Shiro without raising suspicion.

Lance was impressed. A few months ago, Keith would have skulked around the edges of the gathering, looking surprised and vaguely panicked when someone addressed him directly. Now he stood confidently in his armour at Allura's side on a raised dais and smiled politely as the alien leader complimented his battle prowess in front of a huge audience.

It was … an inspiring sight.

Cheers erupted as the leader finished his speech and the party got properly underway.

Keith glanced over at Lance, standing to the side of the dais with Hunk and Pidge, his polite diplomatic smile replaced with a tired but excited grin. Lance grinned back automatically, heart pounding faster as it always did when Keith so much as looked at him.

Lance watched as a very confident alien girl caught the distracted Keith by his arm and dragged him towards the mass of people dancing in a wide open square in front of the town hall where the ceremony took place. He laughed when Keith turned to the team, silently begging for anyone to intercede.

“Have fun,” Allura called, waving at him before letting the leader escort her to a table full of prominent citizens. Coran followed, musing about the possibility of showing off a few moves himself later.

Hunk and Pidge followed Allura's lead, leaving Keith to his fate with cheery waves before moving over to the tables stacked with food.

“Lance!”

Lance sighed and walked over to Keith and his pouting dance partner. The way his face lit up was beautiful. Lance almost hated to break his heart.

Lance clapped him on the back just as he was about to speak.

“Listen to Allura. Relax and enjoy yourself.”

Keith’s partner didn’t need any further encouragement, laughing and pulling Keith into a spin that had him stumbling.

“You are so dead next training session!” Keith promised once he had recovered from the move.

Lance laughed and shot him a salute before wandering off to find Coran.

Coran always had the good stuff.

***

Not an hour later, Lance was happily tearing it up on the dance floor. He recognised a few of the aliens dancing with him, including the girl who dragged Keith off earlier. Keith had managed to escape her clutches somehow but Lance wasn’t complaining. She was a great dancer. So was her friend. And her friend’s boyfriend. And his friend. And everyone really. They were great and fun and all had really nice smiles.

Lance may have had a few too many of Coran’s specialties. And a few of the celebratory drinks offered to him as one of the guests of honour. And he also may have forgotten to eat anything.

So, maybe he was a little drunk.

That might have been the reason why the minute he spotted Keith making his way back from a conversation with Allura and some of the more fancily dressed aliens he yelled out Keith’s name and waved his hands high enough that no one could miss him, much less his embarrassed leader who was trying to pretend to be a part of the scenery in the hope Lance would just give up. Ha! It was like he didn’t know Lance at all.

When Lance’s companions joined in with the waving, Keith sighed and hung his head, making his way over to them to much cheering. Lance was delighted to note that Keith could blush almost as dark a red as his armour trim.

“Definitely in for a beating next training session.”

“Worth it.” Lance kept twisting and swaying along to the music. He’d just managed to get the hang of the odd beat these aliens preferred. “Come on. Join the fun.” Lance reached for him but Keith pulled away easily.

Lance pouted. “Please?”

“You’re drunk Lance.”

“So you should be a good leader and stay and make sure nothing happens to me, right?”

Keith shook his head. “No, I’m just gonna cut you off and yell at Coran if he slips you anything else.”

“Or, you could dance with me.” Lance tried to grab him again, but Keith slipped from his grip. He tried a few more times, getting more frustrated as Keith kept escaping. “Would it really be that bad?” he asked, trying not to show that he was starting to get upset.

Clearly, he was very bad at hiding his emotions while drunks because Keith winced, looking guilty all of a sudden, and avoided Lance’s pleading gaze. “Maybe. I don’t really dance.”

“That’s okay, I’m really good. We’ll cancel each other out.”

“I don’t think it works like that.” But Keith was looking at him again and not trying to pull away.

“One dance,” Lance begged, taking a hesitant step closer. Keith didn’t step away. He took another and put his hand on Keith’s shoulder.

Keith sighed and smiled at Lance. “One.”

Lance grinned, unable to reign in his euphoria at having Keith in his arms. He pulled Keith close enough to smell the char from the skewers of mystery meat they’d had on offer at the buffet. Lance had seen Keith going back several times during the night for more.

Rather than keeping Keith too close and risking an embarrassing emotional response, Lance positioned them the way he’d seen other couples on the dance floor—Keith’s hands on Lance’s hips and Lance’s left hand around Keith’s neck with his right on Keith’s shoulder to lead. It was opposite to traditional Earth dancing positions but Lance was quick to get the hang of it.

Keith swallowed, muscles tense under Lance’s hands. “Lance … I don’t——”

Just then a new song started, heavy drums with a quick beat. The aliens sent up a cheer and a few started singing along with the band. All of a sudden the dance floor was full of movement and Lance and Keith got swept up in the motion and excitement.

Soon enough Keith relaxed, letting himself get pulled around by Lance. Lance was laughing and trying not to let his hands wander too much, though he couldn’t help letting his thumb brush against the soft hair at the nape of Keith’s neck. A few times other couples bumped into them, laughing along with Lance as they watched the paladins fumble along to the music.

It was fun. And it seemed like Keith agreed too. His smile was wider than any Lance had seen before and his eyes shone with delight as he spun around when Lance led. He leaned into Lance’s grip and didn’t seem to care at all that Lance was ignoring the concept of personal space. Sometimes, Keith was the one to draw close enough that Lance’s breath caught and his heart beat faster.

This was clearly the best idea Lance had ever had, drunk or sober.

Then Keith’s hair started to glow.

Keith didn’t seem to notice, still smiling. But it wasn’t just his hair now. It was the other aliens around them too, and they didn’t seem to notice anything odd either. The stars above looked far too bright and the music was suddenly too loud—the drum beat echoed through Lance’s bones, making him shudder. He stopped dancing, Keith bumping into him as he stumbled to a halt.

“Lance, are you okay?”

Keith’s voice was faint, like it was muffled by thick glass. But he was right in front of Lance and staring at him in concern.

Lance tried to speak but couldn’t say anything. He just shook his head and tried not to fall as the world spun.

Keith grabbed his arms and started pulling him from the mass of people. It became easier to breathe and think once he was away from the dance floor, but the lights were still too bright and the music was starting to give him a headache.

And Keith’s hair was still glowing.

“Let’s get you back to the ship.”

Lance nodded again, slumping into Keith’s grip as they started walking back towards the castle ship.

Halfway there, he found his voice again. “’m sorry.”

Keith squeezed his shoulders. “What for?”

“We were havin’ fun.”

“We were, but I was getting kinda tired anyway. Plus, I only promised one dance.”

“But we di’nt get to finish.”

“We can finish another time.”

“Promise?”

“Yeah, Lance. I promise.”

Lance hummed contentedly and closed his eyes, trusting Keith to keep him safe.

***

Despite his easy compliance on the walk back to the castle, once Lance entered his room he became an absolute menace. He kept tripping as he pulled himself free of his armour and Keith had to practically undress him. Luckily he didn’t have as much trouble putting his pyjamas on, though Keith still had to catch him once before he almost hit his head on the bedpost. But then Lance tried to insist on completing his night time skincare regime and Keith had to pin him to the bed and swear that a single night wouldn’t do anything terrible to his skin and that if it did he would give Lance a whole week free of training.

By the time the lights were off and Lance was settled under his bedclothes, Keith was the one so exhausted he felt like he could fall asleep right there, standing up even.

As it was, he allowed himself a brief moment of respite to sit on the floor by the head of Lance’s bed and let Lance pet his hair. It seemed to be doing the trick of settling him down.

(The fact that it also felt really nice was absolutely not a factor in Keith’s decision not to get up and go to his own room straight away.)

“Y’know, you don’t completely suck as a leader.”

Keith snorted. “Gee, thanks.”

“Serious though.” Lance tried to sit up and Keith put a hand on his chest and pushed him back down. Lance struggled a bit then relented with a huff. “I just mean, I know Shiro just dumped this on you and you have like zero experience and you kinda seem like you don’t even like people sometimes——”

“Really, Lance, you can stop complimenting me any time now.”

Lance reached out to smack his hand against Keith’s face and made a shushing sound. Keith was too stunned to initially react to the fingers pressing against his lips.

“I’m just saying, you really stepped up when it counted.”

Keith stopped trying to tug Lance’s hand away and Lance let his fingers drag down Keith’s face as pulled his hand back.

“I think it’s good you’re sort of talking about him now,” Lance continued. His voice was still slurred, but more because of tiredness than the effects of alcohol now. “I know it’s been hard, I know you two were close.”

“Lance …” Keith’s voice was a pained whisper in the dark room.

Lance dropped his voice to match the quiet tone. “I just wish you could trust the rest of us as much.”

“I do.” Keith protested. He felt Lance’s hand reaching for him again. He reached up to squeeze Lance’s fingers. “I do,” he repeated. “I couldn’t have done this without you. Without any of you.”

“I helped?” Lance turned his head and Keith could make out his hopeful expression, even in the darkness.

Keith smiled and leaned up to pat Lance’s hair the same way he had Keith’s earlier. “Yeah, you definitely helped.”

Lance closed his eyes and relaxed, head still tilted towards Keith’s touch. “Good. Means you’re not allowed to go away.” He pulled Keith’s hand, still tightly grasped in his own.

Keith tried to pull it back. “Lance. C’mon.”

“Stay.”

The quiet almost desperate request stilled Keith’s motions. Lance was squeezing his hand so tight it almost hurt.

Keith settled back down on the floor by Lance’s head. “Okay.”

Lance smiled and his grip relaxed a little, but Keith didn’t pull away from his hold. He just watched as Lance’s breath slowed and evened out as he fell asleep.

Once Lance was out, he could have left—should have left. Instead, Keith grabbed Lance’s oversized jacket from the end of his bed, pulled it on over his armour, and settled into a more comfortable position on the floor and closed his eyes.

Lance had asked him to stay, after all. He couldn’t well break that promise either.

[5hfanfiction]

GREEN IS THE WARMEST COLOR - CHAPTER 33

XXXIII.

https://www.wattpad.com/story/66624703-green-is-the-warmest-color-camren-fanfic

(Final Chapter)

Lauren’s POV

“These two lovebirds can’t just get away from each other!” Normani complained while we were both sat at the coffee shop the girls have been going to since we’ve all known each other. “So tell me camren when is it?”

“When is what?” Camila half- empties her cup of coffee while looking at Normani, puzzled.

“Duh! The marriage ya fools!” Dinah is the one to reply mocking. Camila and I suddenly shared the look. “Don’t even try to tell us you’re not going to get married.”

I cleared my throat and Camila touches my hand. “Well… uhhh… w-we haven’t r..really talked a-about it… you know? We’re j-just happy together… yes that’s it…” Dinah and Normani share a suspicious look. Ally wasn’t able to come because she had to go visit her grandmother’s house with the whole family.  

“You’re fucking kidding me…” Dinah whispered almost too loudly that we were able to hear. “Camren is going to get married… SOON! Fuck this my ship is definitely sailing!” Dinah yells all of a sudden and the other people staying at the coffee shop started watching us and I couldn’t help but hide my embarrassment. Camila giggles whilst watching Dinah yells something that clearly talks about the both of us. She’s really adored by how the whole thing between us flows perfectly and I just like watching her.

The owner of the coffee shop looks at us and I mouth “I’m sorry” at him and he just shakes his head as if he already surrendered to Dinah Jane.

“Wait hold up. Let’s take a selfie and send it to Ally!” Normani suggests. Dinah’s eyes perk up with the suggestion and Camila and I both agree. “I’m gonna use my phone.”

Normani reached for her phone inside her bag and I just began on wondering how things have been doing great now, like no one could actually stop us from being happy. All of us have been extremely contented and fulfilled looking now and when my gaze was intently on Camila. I just suddenly found myself fully smiling. I’ve been too attracted to this person that if ever she goes away and she’s so far away from me, I might lose myself. I might lose myself and I’ll never find myself again.

I’ve only ever been attracted to people but I’ve fallen in love with her.

She is my way back. She’s my home.

“Say cheese!” I hear Normani say and I’m just stuck staring and smiling at my girl. The phone flashes and Normani immediately checks the photos she’s taken of us. “Oh my God we all just so cute!” She keeps on scrolling the photos and stops to pick one photo to send it to Ally.

“Now we gotta put a caption.” Dinah helps her with the caption while Camila and I just keep on staring at each other as if we’re on a staring contest.

I stare at her and suddenly make goofy and teasing faces and she’s the one to burst out laughing. She slaps me on my shoulder and I just laugh along with her.

She pouts at me. “That’s no fair! I should’ve won the game if you didn’t get all cute on me.” She complains. “You really never win any of our games unless you cheat.”

“Hey! That’s foul, mija!” She slapped me again on my shoulder and I pretended to be hurt. “Ouch. That one hurt.” I make a hurting face and it might’ve worked because she suddenly looks worried and checks on the area that she slapped. When she notices that my lips are beginning to form a half smile she stops checking on me, instead she pinches me hard on my right cheek. “Damn it. That one really hurt.” I am the one to complain.

“You deserve that, Jauregui.” I was about to argue once again when she kissed me right there, on my cheek, she’s always kissed me before but every time she does it, I don’t know why but I still get stunned. “You deserve that too.” She winks playfully.

I stare at her. “I love you very much.” I truthfully confess when a flash from a camera of a phone blurs my vision. My attention returns back to the other two girls and they’re smiling because we haven’t noticed that they’ve been taking a video while Camila and I were arguing playfully. “Seriously?” I ask them.

“Can you blame us? You’re both so cute and I just can’t get enough of you! I’m gonna edit these videos and upload it on Youtube until y’all go viral!” Dinah explains and her eyes light up with the idea.

“Dinah Jane are you seriously trying to make money on us?” Camila asks her best friend and I burst out laughing, same with Normani too. “I’ve never thought you’d become like this.” Camila shakes her head and Dinah acts like she’s pretty much offended.

The Polynesian girl glares at her best friend. “Didn’t know these words would actually come out of your mouth.” Camila laughs and Dinah keeps on maintaining her serious face to mock Camila. “Don’t even laugh at me. I’m serious right now.” Camila stood up and walked towards Dinah’s seat.

“You hate me? Really?” She forcefully hugs Dinah and Dinah makes an embarrassed expression on her face although I could see that she’s having fun with her best friend. Dinah scrunches her face and looks away. “Nooo my baby is mad at me.” Camila keeps on teasing and hugging her. She also tries to pour kisses all over her face and Dinah makes an ‘ew’ expression on her face.

Normani is just amused at the whole situation. Then her phone rings and it’s Ally on the caller i.d.

“Wait guys Ally wanna video chat!” She accepts Ally’s video call and Ally’s pouting face comes in view and we all smile at her. “Allyzus!!!!!!!!!!” We all greet her and she keeps on pouting.

“You really have to send me the pic which focuses on camren?” Ally smirks at the video call and we, even the other girls, look at each other like we have no clue what she’s saying.

“What do you mean Alls?” Camila asks.

Ally laughs lightly. “Look again at the photo you sent me idiots!” Normani immediately checks the photo she sent to Ally a while ago and when she finds it, Dinah and Normani both smirk at me.

“Damn it Lauren you’re fucking whipped!” Dinah announces mockingly.

The photo captures the exact moment of me staring right at Camila while she’s posing for the group photo and a smile suddenly formed on my lips. It’s such a beautiful photo that clearly shows how into I am to the girl who owns those little hazel brown orbs.

I look up and see Camila making faces at me. “Can I get to print and keep this though?” I inquire to Normani and she just nods her head and gets back to the video call with Ally that needed to be stopped.

Ally’s face is shown again. “See? See? Aren’t we all jealous right now?” She says through the video call and we just laugh at her.

“You’re just jealous you’re not here, Allz!” Dinah teases her and she pouts too sudden. “We all get to do cute stuff together like going on a trip and you’re going to miss that.” Dinah doesn’t stop her teasing and I just watch them amused.

“When I get back there you won’t have your Beyonce shirt which is personally signed by her.” Ally informs DJ.

Dinah’s eyes automatically widen hearing the B word.  “What! No fucking way, Allz!” Ally pauses the video for a moment when she gets something from her bag.

She shows a t-shirt with a real sign from Beyonce on the hem of it that reads “Hope to see you, Dinah Jane!” and Dinah gasps while staring at it.

“Oh my fucking God!” The Polynesian girl curses.

“Wait! don’t I have one?” Normani acts being left out and Camila and I just keep on watching them entertained.

Ally smiles. “You have one too, Mani. But I feel like I don’t need to give them anymore since it seems like you all are having fun out there.” Ally pouts and Normani and Dinah suddenly become nice to her.

“We have the craziest friends in the world.” I mutter to Camila’s ear and she chuckles. “But who am I to complain when I also have the best girlfriend in the world?” I wink at her and she giggles. I hug her and I slowly lift my lips on the crook of her neck. I place my hand on her left thigh and blow soft kisses on her neck.

“L-lau…uuur what a-are you d..doing?” I can feel Camila gulp against my lips as she softly utters. “We—.” I stopped her by giving a slight pinch on her thigh and kissing the side of her lips.

I stare at her eyes. “I love you and we’ll never be apart okay?” She nods and I just embraced her into a warm hug.

“W-woah. That was intense.” Dinah and Normani both said in unison. Camila and I just chuckled.

-

It had been weeks since I decided to have a serious talk with my parents. It sure surprised me that my father was there and he really wanted to talk to me too. A lot of voices kept on whispering to my ears that they didn’t deserve my forgiveness anymore but for Camila I had to remove them in my head completely. I needed to talk especially to my mom. She made me believe and regret the stories from the stars. But when I found those stars in Camila’s eyes I felt like I owed it to someone and it was never going to be anyone but her.

I had to talk to the both of them and it took me enough years to ready myself.

The house has changed a bit but it still feels the same way I felt about it years ago. I was a kid when I lost my family in this house and as much as it traumatized me and it should traumatized me looking right at it, I keep on stopping myself. I can’t go turn around now and run. I am not the same kid anymore.

I knocked at the door. “Who is it? Just a moment! The voice from the other side of the door says. I know it’s my mom and when she opens the door, her eyes widen staring at the person she left years ago. “L-lauren? Oh m…my G…God!” She covers her mouth with her hand as if almost crying.

“Can I come in?” I ask politely.

She nods and guides me inside. I don’t come as close as possible to her. I still need to feel the house I left years ago while carrying a broken heart and a ruined childhood memories. I should’ve had played with other kids, I should’ve had bonded with other people but I left.

“It’s still the same, Lauren. I just tried to get a little change just a little a bit of change is good right?” She keeps on staring at me as I can feel her eyes being glued on my back. “How have you been?”

I cleared my throat. “You’re right. It’s still the same. I’ve been better. How about you?” I ask her trying not to sound sarcastic as it would’ve had.

“I feel better that you’re here right now.” She steps towards me and suddenly my feet are glued to the floor and I’m speechless as if I’ve become a robot for such short time. “Am I allowed to hug my daughter?” She asks when she’s only inches apart from me.

I try to remember Camila’s words.

They’re your family. You will only feel complete when you already clear things out and get enlightened. I love you baby and trust me, you’ll better after.

I love you baby and trust me, you’ll better after.

I love you baby and trust me, you’ll better after.

I love you baby and trust me, you’ll better after.

I nodded and saw a slight smile being formed on my mother’s lips. She slowly leaned towards me and in just a matter of seconds, she embraced me into a tight yet warm hug I’ve desperately wanted to have for years.

“You don’t know how long I waited for this. I miss you Lauren. I miss you so much little kid.” I feel a single tear escaped my right eye. “I cannot apologize enough for the day I left you. But you know how much I regret leaving you Lauren. You’re my precious little angel. You’ve always been. You’re strong and passionate about something that you want. But do you remember when I told you to talk to the stars every night?” I just keep on listening to her talk. This is what I missed the most. “I always do it now and it’s true. It’s true because whenever I talk to the stars I always tell them to make you come back. Look you’re here now. You’re here and I’m hugging you little kid.”

I lift my hands to embrace her some more. “I stopped talking to the stars.”

“But you can talk to them again. They’re just waiting for you out there.” She says meaningfully. “I am really sorry my precious angel. I’m not going to leave. I’m never going to leave anymore.”

“Don’t promise if you can’t keep it. This is enough now.” I tell her and I can feel her tears drenching my shirt. I hug her even tighter and she does the same. “I missed this.” I whisper.

She released herself from the hug and stares at me. She cups both of my cheeks and my eyes meet hers. She’s smiling and I can’t help but smile at her back while she’s wiping my tears.

She wipes my tears as I look away. “You’re really still my little kid.” She chuckles.

“Clara, did you get my-.” My father’s shocked expression is evident on his face.  “La….lauren? Oh God. Lauren my girl… h-how are you?” Her rushed towards me and enveloped her in his arms. This is another feeling but it also feels the same. It also feels the same way I felt when they both hugged me when I was just a little kid. I feel complete.

She half- smiles. “I’m great.” She simply answers.

“You came here. You’re here. W-wow. I… we’ve missed you.” Her father admits and she just stares at him. He looks even older now with the wrinkles when he smiles yet he still has this aura that could make people’s days better. I think that no matter how much he changes physically, he’s still what he has always been. “Taylor would be excited to see you.”

“Where is she?” It’s my turn to ask.

“She’s upstairs in her room. She’s always busy engaging herself in music.” My mother answers and silence comes barging in when my father clears his throat and realizes that we just got stuck in the kitchen. “C’mon here Lauren and surprise Taylor.” I nod at the idea.

I’m left with my father while my mother goes upstairs.

My father keeps on looking at me as if she’s trying to remember if there are missing pieces of me. “Lauren, my child, did you forgive me?” He says as if it sounds too easy. But it’s hard, especially to my ears. I didn’t meet his gaze. “For the years that I’ve spent with your mom, it was beautiful and ecstatic almost every day. I loved your mother and I still do trust me but there are people who love each other so much that they can’t be together.” I stare at him feeling confused and lost with what he’s saying. “We agreed to so many things but we fought a bunch of times too and before we made up we would say how much we love each other and it would all be okay. I wanted your mother so badly. Before I started to love her so much, I knew she wasn’t perfect and that I wasn’t too. I accepted that. But there will really come a time that you’d be lost again. Clara found me. But the day when I felt I was fading away and she was fading away, I got lost.” He holds my hand while speaking. “I got lost and I was confused because I was with her. I was with Clara yet still I was lost. I ran away and I thought she would chase me. But she didn’t. That’s when I realized both of us weren’t home.”

It makes sense.

It makes sense to the point that I feel a tear escaping my eye.

My father wipes it for me and I know.

I know I am not lost anymore. This is my home, it always has been.

“Lauren?!” Taylor screams from the stairs. “Oh my fuc-God! There is no way you’re here! Oh my God!” Taylor is still stuck standing on the stairs and I smile at her.

“Come here buddy!” I tell her and she willingly obliges. She ran her way towards me and jumped onto me that we almost fell to the ground. Good thing, I caught her and hugged her tight. “I missed you, buddy.”

Taylor releases herself from the hug. “Where is your girlfriend?” Taylor starts searching for another face behind me and I just chuckle at her.

She even opens the door once again and frowns when she doesn’t find anyone else besides me. “Am I not enough for you, Tay?” I joke.

“Nah, you didn’t even bring me anything.” Taylor teases back and poke her tongue out at her.

“So when will I get to know the girlfriend?” My father suddenly asks and I’m surprised in all honesty. My mother just watches us interact with each other. “I assume she’s the one?”

“Well, of course.” I answer almost too shyly.

Taylor snakes her arms around my neck and I almost choked. “Awww you don’t have to be shy about it Jauregui. You’re in love and there’s nothing wrong about it.” She winks and my parents just laughed at the both of us. Taylor is my family even though we’re not fully blood- related. I love her.

“I’m just going to prepare the food.” Clara announces.

“Lauren, let’s go upstairs and you listen to my music!” Taylor happily declares and Mike just sits there nodding his head as if he just got another headache back. I smile at the sight of home.

-

“Lauren, oh my God this is too cute!” When I got back from home, I bought the cuddly bear I came across with in a store because I instantly thought of Camila when I saw it. “I love you so much baby.” She hugs me and I hug her back while she smiles against the crook of my neck. “I missed you so much too. I missed you. I missed you so bad.” She begins kissing the crook of my neck and I immediately close my eyes feeling the sweet tingling sensation.

“I m-missed you too, baby.” I whisper to her ear even if there are strands of hair blocking it. “I missed doing cute things with you and I missed being in your arms.” Camila lifts up her hand until she reaches the hem of my shirt. She suddenly draws circles on my stomach and I almost gasped. “Baby…”

“What else did you miss when you’re away?” She seductively asks, still her lips placed on the crook of my neck, her breathing becoming erratic.

I place my left hand on her thigh. “I missed being t-this c…close with you.” I admit and she lifts her head up and when I open my eyes, she is staring at me and wholeheartedly smiling. She cups both of my cheeks and inches closer until her nose reaches mine.

I can feel her smiling. “I really love you.” The distance between us quickly vanished away when she traps my lips on her own, slowly and full of sensation.

“Fuck this.” I whisper between kisses and when I was about to lay her down, a sound coming from my laptop suddenly made us distracted and there’s a call coming from Skype.

I almost forgot.

I stare at Camila panicky. “What? What is it?” She inquires worriedly.

“I may have said to my parents that they can meet you through Skype and I may have forgotten to tell you and they may have been waiting for me to answer the call.” I inform her and her eyes widen in surprise. She even slaps me on my shoulder and she hurriedly checks herself in the mirror if she looks alright. “Baby you’re beautiful no matter what.”

She looks at me sweetly and glares right after. “Yeah, damn right.”

I answered the call and Camila had no choice but to meet my parents. In all honesty I am excited that Camila would get to know them and that they would get to know Camila. Never in my dreams before that I’d feel this excited to make this legal with my parents. I mean, they got out of my life and they just got back in. But, it feels great.

“Lauren hello!!!!” Taylor’s face is the first one seen on the screen. Camila is awkwardly smiling at the sight of it. “Oh my God! Is that Camila? Woah she’s really beautiful! Good catch, Lauren.” I gulp and Camila just chuckles and waves her hand at Taylor and Taylor does the same.

“Good to see you again Camila. Sorry about her sister, she always makes an ass out of herself.” My mother whom Camila already met greets her.

My father’s face is now seen on the screen. He has a coffee in his hand. “Hey there Camila. You can call me Mike or whatever you want to call me like Papa J. The hell I care.” I swear if I could only fade away and escape the whole scene, I would already have done it.

“How’s it going there Lauren?” My thoughts are stopped when I heard my name.

I smile at Camila awkwardly before introducing her completely. “Well uh hey guys this is Camila Cabello. She’s the most beautiful girlfriend and I’m lucky she’s mine.”

Mixtures of ‘awwws’ and ‘ooohhhh’ are heard on the screen and Camila looks at me so cutesy that I can’t help but embrace her again into a warm hug.

“Dang, I wanna be into girls too. They’re cute together.” Taylor states adoringly while Clara and Mike are just in awe while they’re watching the both of us. “Hi Camila. I hope you guys last like million years!” Taylor says exaggeratingly and Camila and I just laugh at her.

“Camila, I hope you take good care of my daughter because I know that kid. That kid beside you, she’s badass.” Mike states and Camila just pinches my right cheek.

Camila smiles at my father. “I officially turned this badass into one whole cute thing.” Camila tells him and I make faces and Taylor suddenly fakes her vomit.

“Ew. Not cute Lauren. Definitely not.” Camila laughs at the pun.

It’s not my mother’s turn to speak to Camila. Clara looks serious and I feel like this is going to be a different one. “Well Camila we’ve already talked.” My girlfriend nods. “I know you’re a lovely person inside and out. I’m really happy that you’re the person my daughter found. I know she’s in good hands and I can assure you that you are too. Please don’t be in love with anyone else but my daughter. I can see that she’s in love with you and when someone is in love, it’s strong and it’s different.” My mother looks at my father after her speech and they both smile at each other. I smile at Camila and she holds my hand and caresses it.

“Thank you, Clara. Thank you that you trust me with your daughter.” Camila tells her and I just feel the words that come out of her mouth in my heart. I’ll keep them in my heart because they’re safe inside.

My family bid goodbye after their little talk with Camila and Camila also promised that she’d visit them soon and give Taylor some gift as a surprise. I am happy right now that I can’t even think of something life could do to ruin it for me once again.

I think I just destroyed life’s bitchy attitude.

Camila’s phone rang and she answered the call while I turned off my laptop.

“Lauren, can you do one favor for me?” She asks and I nod my head.

“Can you go fetch Sofia for me? I need to go somewhere to meet a friend that’s been talking to me about some business she’s really into. I’d just love to get to know about it and this is only her free time.” Camila pleads as she walks towards me and kisses me right on the cheek. “Please?”

I pretend to be thinking and she taps my shoulder. “Hey! You promise that’s not a party?”

“Of course baby. I pinky swear.” We pinky swear as if we’re both just 9- year olds and I giggle while staring at her as if she’s really focused on what she’s doing. “See you later then?” I nod.

“I love you baby.” I tell her.

“I love you too, so damn much.” She says as she blows kisses and disappears from the door.

I parked my car in front of the gate of Sofia’s school. This would be like a thing for Camila and I now. Sofia is like my sister too now that Camila and I are together. The bell rang in the school and there are bunch of kids who are already coming out of the school to meet their parents with tired eyes but happy smiles. I remember myself few years back when I was a kid and I knew then that when the bell rang, my mother was waiting and I would be truly excited to hug her and tell her what happened throughout the whole morning.

“Lauren?” I get a sight of Sofia from the crowd and I run my way towards her. “Hi Lauren. Where is Camila?” She greets me cheerfully.

“Hey there kiddo. Camila is in a meeting with someone right now. I, on the other hand, is really free and is really looking forward to hanging out with you.” She chuckles and lets me carry her while I walk to where my car is parked.

“Did you do great in school?” I engage her in a conversation.

“Well I guess it’s really good to be friendly. I have friends in school and we all play together. One of them gave me chocolates and I’m really happy.” She is giggling while she’s telling the story. “There are also bad people in school. They bully other kids and it makes me sad.” Suddenly her emotion is turned upside down.

Sofia requested to be placed on the back area of the car not beside me. She told me she wanted to play her newly- bought toys and she wanted to draw using her new pencils and color pens.

“They’re going to be bad people and you just don’t mind them.” I point to her heart. “No matter what happens, all you dare to become is to be kind. Always.” I tell her and she nods her head slowly. “So… alright! What do you wanna eat?”

“Ice cream! Ice cream! Ice cream!” She screams playfully.

We stopped in a short period of time at an ice cream shop and bought her favorite Pistachio and Oreo mixed flavored ice cream. She was all smiles when she caught a sight of her ice cream, I didn’t buy one for myself because I didn’t really feel like eating something at the moment. Also, I was driving and I was content with seeing Camila’s sister happy.

I continued driving to our destination. “What are you drawing Sofia?” I inquire while the traffic light is still in red. “You’re too engrossed with it, aren’t you?”

“I’m drawing you and Camila.” She answers, not looking up, to meet my gaze. I watch her through the side mirror and her mouth is messed with the ice cream.

“Hey kiddo, wipe your mouth with this.” I hand her the tissue and the traffic light gets green. She snatches it from my hand and her pencils and color pens suddenly fall. “Oh shoot sorry!” I apologize and suddenly all the cars are moving.

Sofia tries to find her pencils and color pens. “Lauren, I can’t find it.” She complains and I watch her from the side mirror as I continue driving. “Lauren.” She is beginning to feel annoyed and sad at the same time.

“I’ll find it for you. Just give me a sec.” I inform her, my focus is still on the road.

“But I need to finish my drawing until we get home.” She complains once again and I try to reach the pencils and the color pens using my right hand while I use my left hand for driving. I can’t reach something and I bend down a little in hopes that I’ll get the missing ones. “Did you find it?” Suddenly my hand reaches the pencils and the color pens.

I sigh in relief and get to return to my composure and give it to Sofia. “There you go kiddo.” She smiles so warmly that it infects me into smiling at her back. She snatches it once again from my hand.

“Hey Lauren, don’t hurt Camila, okay?” Out of the blue, she asks.

Before I even got to answer her question, flashing lights came into view and almost blinded my eyes. I couldn’t hear anything but complete silence. There were beeps and screams outside but it all seemed silence to my ears. I was unable to speak as the voice escaping my mouth was all transformed into thin air. I started panicking as I couldn’t feel Sofia. I couldn’t touch her. I couldn’t reach her.

The traffic light went red.