#this is long and rambly i hope it makes enough sense and answers your question

[hugheses]

Have you ever read anything about why Jack decided not to go to college? I know he was projected to go first for a while and his goal was to make the team right away, but Quinn and Luke committed to Michigan at like 14. So when jack was 14 too it was kind of a long ways off from him knowing he’d go first overall. I wonder what his parents thought since their dad has said multiple times that their kids all playing college hockey was their dream

this is a kind of long answer so buckle up. first of all, as kids, jack was very different from luke and quinn. obviously all 3 are elite players now, but both jim and ellen have said that jack’s trajectory differed from a young age. so while quinn went 8th round in the ohl draft, the plan for him was always college and it wasnt until he was at the program that he started to be seen as a top player. but jack as a player was so elite so young that people were talking about him going first overall before he was in high school. he applied for exceptional status for the ohl so he could play as an underager but was denied (bc he was so physically immature and would have been playing against men) but had he played in the ohl, he would have not been eligible for the ncaa. so for a while that was the reason. and then he went to the program and after his first year a lot of michigan fans had hoped that he would graduate HS early to go play with quinn at umich, but he said that he wanted to stay where he was for his development. and at this point he's been the presumptive first overall pick for years, it wasn't until the year of the draft that kakko was seen as a serious challenger. most first overalls go into the nhl their draft year, with some exceptions like owen power obviously, but for the most part, 1st overalls who play in college either have earlier birthdays than jack (so would age out of the ntdp etc before their draft year like auston matthews) or graduate early on purpose to play in college. quinn's birthday actually falls in the weird category of spending 2 years at the ntdp and still needing to graduate early to go straight to college. to sum things up, college hockey was yes the dream for quinn and luke, but jack was always different and their parents have said as much. they wont explicitly say it, but they knew jack was going into the nhl long before 14. and i don't know how close it actually got to happening, but in summer 2018 jack was (allegedly) stopped by the admissions department from going to umich where sometimes they will fudge stuff for elite athletes. but i kind of doubt he would have gone anyway, because he loved the program and it was hockeyhockeyhockey 24/7 in a way college just isn't, and he lived close enough that he saw quinn all the time.

from earlier that year,

And Quinn said he'd be happy if Jack played for the Wolverines next season. “Playing with my brother would be a dream come true,” Quinn said. “He’s gotta make his own decision.”

and

Jack and the Hughes family has options. Along with U-M, the Mississauga Steelheads drafted him with the eighth overall pick in the 2017 Ontario Hockey League Priority Selection. Or he could stay at NTDP for the second year. “It could be a perfect scenario,” Jim said of Jack going to U-M. “But they’re not there yet. The beauty is Jack is in a really great spot right now. He values the development he’s getting with Seth and Wrobo.” Quinn said he and his brother haven’t talked about next year's possibilities yet. They’re focused on what they still can accomplish this season, on their respective teams.

and then here's an article on him choosing to stay at the ntdp that year. so the reasons he didnt commit young were mostly that he didnt know if he even could go to college, and then he almost did go as a 17 year old but ultimately did not. every school in the country would have tripped over themselves to try to nab him, but it was assumed by umich and everyone else that if he went to college, it would be there. but pretty much everyone at the time expected him to make the jump to the nhl immediately in 2019, including himself, he was very vocal about wanting to do so.

[enwoso]

I MISS YOU, I'M SORRY — alessia russo

based loosely off the song by gracie abram’s. i rewrote this three times and i’ve got it to where i’m happy with it. wouldn’t say it’s my best but hey ho. if there’s part that don’t make sense i do apologise i wrote some of this while being half asleep🙃

ANYWAYS hope you all enjoy! it’s a long one<33

masterlist

"i miss you" her raspy voice echoed down your phone, as she slurred over and over how she missed you. the sound of the music blaring in the background told you that she was out in a club.

whilst you were sat on your couch at home, in some old joggers and a hoodie which most definitely had toothpaste stains on it. love island playing as you were catching up on the last few episodes you'd missed, which was playing just as white noise at the moment.

"alessia, you need to go and find the rest of the girls." you said bluntly, the blonde having told you moments before her i miss you rant that she was out with the arsenal girls, which you probably could have guessed anyways after there win in the league early in the day.

but you also wanted to get back to your series, wishing you weren't having this conversation with your ex but you also couldn't find it in yourself to just hang up on her as you didn't want her to be in any harm — especially while she was drunk.

why did you still care?

"i miss you, y/n" she slurred out again, you could imagine the stupid dopey smile on her face as she said the words, her drunken ramble continuing, "i wish you were here, i miss your cute smile and, and those lips. i miss everything about you."

"alessia can you please just go and find the girls" you begged not wanting to carry on hearing her pleads but you also couldn't bring yourself to press the red button which your finger had loomed over for the past ten minutes.

"i'm sorry for everything y/n, i know you hate me but i still love you, i promise" the blonde slowly slurred out again as you could hear the pout in her voice as she spoke.

you didn't hate her, well maybe you didn’t, you hadn't quite figured that out yet where the blonde stood in your mind.

more just trying to space yourself away from everything that happened with alessia however that proved pretty difficult when you both played football, maybe not for the same team anymore but you'd still see her at england camp.

"alessia, please can you just tell me who i can call to make sure your gonna be safe?" you hated that you still cared, that you had stayed on the phone listening to her ramble drunkenly on about you for the past twenty minutes.

knowing that by the morning she wouldn't even remember it or anything she had said so why were you sat listening?

"can you stop callin' me alessia. i'm baby, less, darling, pretty girl, gorgeous—" she began to rattle out all the names you used to call her, opening up another wound you had spent months healing as with each words she spoke you could feel her opening more and more.

"alessia! will you just answer the damn question!" you yelled down the phone, cutting her off as the frustration growing in your voice was obvious, your patience was wearing thin. you didn't want to hear her voice anymore.

hearing the blonde mumble something about your bluntness, as she hummed on probably trying to figure out herself who would be the best option.

"lotte."

after the drunken call you'd gotten from your ex, you hadn't heard anything from her. not that you expected her too. she wasn't yours to be worried about, but it had left you confused especially over her words. they lingered in the back of your mind. what if she meant it. drunk words are sober thoughts as they say after all.

you knew now though you were just strangers who show up but don't matter enough to each other to be friends. however deep down you knew you had too much history to be just strangers.

weeks had gone since that night and you were arriving at england camp for the set of friendlies which were happening in sunny spain, arriving with the rest of the manchester united girls, you knew she was here. you'd seen it on instagram.

so once you arrived you could feel the tension rising in your shoulders and your chest. grabbing your key for your room and heading straight up there wanting to avoid any chance of running into her.

you hadn't seen her since december, in the home game against arsenal. you both didn't say a word to each other, you wouldn't even look in her direction. so the thought of seeing her again was sending you into hard drive, you weren't sure how you'd react, if you'd react at all.

getting yourself changed and flopping onto the bed you'd call your own for the next ten days. your body realxing into the soft sheets, as you began to flick through the channels on the tv hoping that something would take your interest.

however, you only got two clicks in when there was knocks echoeing through your room. a loud groan coming from you as you pulled yourself up from the comfort of your bed, dragging your socked feet towards the door and opening it.

"mary-"

"come on, everyone's waiting for you to come down" mary interrupted you as you looked on with a confused look, "what for?"

"cause we're watching a film as a team and if your not there then we aren't a team!" mary stated as if it was obvious reaching out to grab your arm as you nodded.

"wait! let me get my keycard!" you said quickly, stopping the door from closing as you heard a tusk of the teeth from the goalkeeper as she mumbled out her complaints. grabbing your keycard off the side table and slipping the card into your pocket, praying you wouldn't forget where you'd put it.

walking down the corridors of the hotel complex the FA had situated the team in, side by side with mary it felt a little eerie. something felt off but you couldn't quite put a finger to it.

coming out the elevator as mary continued to chat your ears off, about anything and everything. from telling you what she did last weekend to what she had for breakfast this morning. but you didn't mind, you would class mary as one of your closest friends in football.

she'd been there for you from the very first day you started at united, helping you settle in to helping you navigate your feelings after she happened.

although you didn't say it very often, you were very thankful for her and you honestly dreaded to think where you'd be without mary, even more so in the past few months.

which is why- you were brought out your thoughts as you felt yourself walk into something or rather someone.

"i wasn't looking- sorry" the blonde mumbled stumbling over her words a little as she looked up from her phone, a slight look of shock on her face when she realised who she'd actually walked into.

"s'fine" you said simply, taking in the blonde’s appearance a little. her hair scraped back in a low bun,

the shorter strands sticking out of the bun. she'd cut her hair again, you could tell. dressed in a grey hoodie and some blue england shorts, her legs bare as her socks covered her feet.

her blue eyes which you'd spent many of your nights getting lost staring into— why were you still stood there?

forcing your body to move, not before catching her disappointed look on her face at the few words you'd spoke to her. the blonde looking as if she was going to say something but her lips pressed back together as she carried on walking the way she was going originally.

"well.. that was a tiny bit awkward!" mary murmured as an awkward laugh came from her, you totally forgetting that mary was stood next to you as you tried to steady your breathing to go back to normal.

"well you could have warned me!"

after the awkward interaction with the blonde in the hallway, you’d noticed her small looks towards you before she would quickly look away. probably in fear of you catching her staring at you.

it was now down time and you were sat on one of the sun lounges, hoping to catch a few of the sun rays. with your book in hand and a fresh bottle of ice cold water you had your afternoon sorted.

glancing every few minutes or whenever a loud cheer came from the girls who were playing a game in the pool. your eyes immediately looking for the blonde before you would switch your eyes to someone else.

"why don't you just talk to her?" mary had noticed you looking towards the blonde, especially in the past few days. the goalkeeper being sat on the lounger just next to you.

she'd known since the day you joined united and no matter how many times you would say you were over the blonde or that you didn't care. mary knew that couldn't be further from the truth, she could tell. she's didn't need you to admit it out loud to know.

but mary had been put in a little bit of a hard position when the break up happened. as she was close with both you and alessia. hearing both sides of the story and giving you both advice which from the older girl you both valued deeply. however mary always claimed herself to be switzerland when asked who side to take.

the only side mary was taking was the side where both her close friends were happy whether that was the two of you happy together again, or if that was you happy with someone else. although deep down she was hoping for the first option!

"talk to who?" you tried the oblivious act, as you turned the page of your book. your eyes trying to follow the words on the page.

pretending you didn't know who she was talking about in hopes you would avoid the topic all together as well as hoping the conversation would change. but you also knew how stubborn mary could be.

"y/n don't play thick with me, you know who i mean" mary gave you the pointed look that told you she wasn't going to give up until you gave her an answer.

"maz i- i can't." you stutters over your words as you saw the sympathetic nod and smile that the goalkeeper sent your way. mary understood why, but she was also close with a certain blonde and knew exactly how she felt.

"but what's stopping you? i know that brain of yours has been whizzing with questions since you know, it ended on a sour note" mary began as you placed your book on your chest, turning over to face mary listening to her as she spoke.

"you don't have to magically become best friends or even be friends for that matter, just what have you got to loose by talking to her?" mary shrugged, as you hummed looking up from the ground. you knew mary was right you didn't have anything else to loose.

"mhm i'll think about it"

you were in london, not by personal choice. united had been playing chelsea in the fa cup. after a full 90' minutes on the pitch you had been longing for your bed since the final whistle blew.

but you'd gone out and had a few drinks with the girls to celebrate before returning to the hotel as the some of the other girls where going off into the next club along the street.

you'd just gotten changed and was about to begin brushing your teeth when there was a quiet knock ringing around your hotel room. at first you thought you'd imagined it but the knocks continued this time a little louder and more continuous.

huffing and placing your toothbrush on the side of the sink, "mary! i haven't got-" you opened the door thinking it would be mary asking if you had a spare key card for her room except it wasn't.

"oh" you whispered as you stared at the last person you thought would be standing at your door just past midnight.

"alessia what are you doing here?" you asked dismissively, wondering how she even knew where you were staying.

"um i was hoping to talk.. to you" you could tell she was nervous, her quiet tone which had replaced her usual confident tone not only gave it away but the fact she was swaying slightly from side to side. a thing she did when she was overthinking something.

"at quarter past twelve in the morning?" you pointed out tiredly looking at her as she timidly nodded before opening her mouth again.

"it's just- i've been wanting to talk to you for ages but it never seemed like the right time- and mary she said where you were saying-" she explained as you still held the same confused look still not quite grasping the fact she was stood at your hotel door at stupid o'clock in the morning but maybe that was also the alcohol in your system slowing your thought process down.

the blonde noticed the hesitated look on your face. "i'm sorry, this is stupid- i'll go. forget i was ever here. i'm sorry" alessia spoke fast, beginning to spin on her heel, not giving you a chance to respond.

but you quickly before she got to far away grabbed her arm pulling her back towards you. why? you didn't know yourself but something inside you was telling you to hear her out.

"no, i'm just a little shocked, you can come in" you said shallowly, moving out the way as the blonde wondered into your hotel room. taking a deep breath in as you shut the door behind you reminding yourself mental to have a chat with mary tomorrow.

"so?" you asked, hoping she would get to why she was actually here watching from behind as the blonde took a seat on your bed, you sitting on the one opposite her.

"i just wanted to see where we stand with each other-" the blonde started as you scoffed a small smile appearing on your face it dropped just a quick as you realised she was serious, "really?"

"yes y/n, look i know you hate me and you have every right to but i just want us to be civil or friends or something. i don't know" the blonde huffed as you nodded slightly with what she was saying.

a silence filling up the room, and an awkward silence at that.

"i miss you and i'm sorry for the way things ended" alessia admitted as your head snapped up. memories of the words she said to you when she was drunk flooding back within a second.

you paused, your head spinning giving you a slight headache, but that could also be from the shots you had taken mere hours ago. “i don’t hate you..” you whispered. this time the blonde looking at you her head tilted slightly sensing the fact you weren’t finished with what you needed to say.

“you don’t?” alessia asked, a slight bit of relief coming over her as you shook your head.

“i don’t but you really fucking hurt me alessia, i know you moved to arsenal for your career. and i’m not trying to take anything away from you for that cause i’ll admit your shining there. but i was your girlfriend. i thought you loved me and you just threw me to the side as if i meant nothing as if our relationship meant nothing!” you paused, taking a deep breathe as you continued.

“i had to ask your fucking teammates how you were doing just to know if you were okay cause you couldn’t seem to find the time answer my messages or calls..” you trailed off, your eyes starting to fill with tears.

“do you know what that felt like, to feel so un-important to someone that i cared and loved so much and someone who was supposed to love me.” you breathed out rubbing over your eyes to stop the tears from falling down your cheeks.

alessia looked at you were pure sorrow in her eyes, a sad smile on her face as she looked down at her hands playing with the gold ring that sat on her middle finger on her left hand.

“i didn’t know..” alessia whispered, still sliding her ring on and off her hand unable to look at you as guilt filled her body from your confession.

“of course you didn’t! you never made an effort once you moved to london!” you spat back, instantly regretting the out-lash as you pinched the bridge of your nose. before moving from sitting opposite the blonde to sit next to her on your bed.

“all i want is a second chance, just as friends nothing more. i meant it when i said i miss you” alessia confessed as you hummed. “i could say it a thousand times that i’m sorry for what i put you through but that won’t do it justice, i just want for our past to be put behind us.. and i would like to get to know you, the new you. if that’s okay with you.” alessia smiled as you nodded.

“so friends then?” you asked, alessia moving her eye line to meet yours her smile still on her face. “friends!” she moved slightly forward to hug you but stopped half way thinking she misread the situation spluttering an apology out as you shook your head wrapping your arms around the blonde in a friendly hug, pulling away after a few seconds.

“so do you still like ketchup with everything?”

part of you should have known you could never just be friends with the blonde. after the night where you spent with her in your hotel room talking the entire night, getting to know each other. rediscovering old habits and discovering new ones.

you found yourself wanting her attention. needing it.

after getting only a few hours sleep that night, you having a hard time saying goodbye to her after only just gotten her back in your life after so long. you didn’t want to say bye, again.

“i don’t want to go” you whined like a child as you slowly did your hair as a giggle came from alessia who was sprawled out on the bed.

“you have to though! we can see each other soon” alessia promised as you still sat tying a hair tie in your hair a huff coming from you. “but that’s too long!”

“it won’t be, either i’ll come up to you or you can come down to me”

and much to both of your promises only a week later after constant messages and facetimes, you found yourself at the blondes apartment in london. finding your first next free day and getting the first train down.

as you spent the evening watching a film, both cuddled up on her couch eating dinner which she had prepared and made before the night coming to a close and as you were going to the guest bedroom, her hand capturing yours and pulling you into her room.

you weren’t gonna lie it did feel weird to be this close to her after so long trying to distance yourself from her, but everything you knew lead you back to her.

you were lying on her bed face to face, as her hand gently came up to move the strand of hair from your face.

a small sigh coming from you, you felt at peace again. as alessia looked at you with nothing but love in those blue eyes of her, looking at you as if you were the only person in the world.

her hand dropping from your face, but before it could drop to its original place you grabbed it. lacing your hand between her, you noticing how your hands fitted perfectly together. together like a puzzle piece.

"i love you so much." she said quietly, a slight smile appearing on your face. but just as quickly as your hand laced with hers, she kissed you.

you responded with such enthusiasm that alessia was a little taken aback at first, but regained her thoughts and reminded herself of what was happening.

alessia was really kissing you.

you were really kissing her.

a feeling you'd been craving for just under a year, since the last time she set foot in your apartment in manchester. when she kissed you goodbye on the cheek, as you stood there shoulders sunken in and lifeless.

nothing could have meant more than her, nothing could have have more beauty than this moment. the way her hands pressed into your chest, the way her blue eyes fluttered closed. you fit into her like a glove, her kiss was like the beating of a butterfly's wings. so soft and wholesome until it became addictive.

and in those few moments you were reminded of why you fell for alessia in the first place. her scent was what you craved. you wanted to have her close to you, unsure where she ended and you began. you’d rather walk through hell again and again then lose her again.

her entrancing eyes, her captivating smile against your lips, her laugh when you did something silly, her hair which now hung just at her shoulder height as she looked at you, her raspy morning voice, her love was everything to you.

but your stupid, stupid lungs had to find air again, as you pulled away from her still lingering in close proximity to her. somehow alessia had moved position as she was now hovering over you, as she straddled you.

she was looking down at you with such an inviting warmth that you wanted to kiss her again, the silence still lingered as she pulled away you adjusting yourself to sit a little upright. a heat rising to your face.

"sorry, i-i shouldn't have..." you trailed of quietly looking at your fingers playing with the rings that you wore.

"what do you mean?" she said softly, watching the your worry struck face. "that wa- it's okay love"

"o-okay?" your voice was hoarse. you cleared your throat, laughing a little before she made the move to kiss you again.

"we'll take it slow, i promise. but i know what i want and that for you to be in my future and if i have to wait then that's what i'll do." alessia spoke with such reassurance and pureness, that made your heart beat just that little faster as you nodded.

a small smile coming onto the blondes face as she leaned forwards to place a gentle kiss onto your cheek.

"i love you, so much."

[charles-leclerizz]

🏎️ ๋࣭ ⭑ peaches

🏁 Pairings : Lando Norris X fem! Reader

🏁 Warnings : none! just fluffy times

🏁 Word Count : 4.0k words (4070 words)

🏁 Author's note : This is probably the most chaotic thing i have ever written, so I hope you can make sense of it (hope being the key word) Make sure to lilke and reblog (anything is appreciated, but comments and reblogs fuel this sad little writer). The word dividers this time are also from @plum98!

🏁 Music player : This will be by Natalie Cole

“God he’s hopeless.” Oscar observed his entranced teammate stumble over his words from beneath the shade of the umbrella set up to the side of the filming area. Having finished his own media duties, he was now watching, unimpressed, as his friend attempted to use his remaining two braincells to blubber at you, like a fish out of water.

To be fair, you were also blubbering, your cheeks were red and hands shaking as you sorted through the white, glossy cue cards that had the signature McLaren logo printed on the back. You shuffled the cards mindlessly, humming under your breath after the third question was answered and Lando had maintained eye-contact with you for a minute too long, staring into the depths of your irises when the last syllable had left his lips causing your heart to stutter at a pace that had to be confirmed as medically concerning.

“U-um, right, okay so.” You attempted for the sixth time, your fingers finally finding purchase on a new piece of cardstock that contained the fourth question printed on one side in large, sans-serif font.

“Ehm-“ You cleared your throat, flipping a piece of hair over your shoulder as you looked back up at the driver who sat in front of you, enthralled by the minute movements you made. Like the arch of your brow, the dip of your lip and the curve of your collarbone that lay exposed, thanks to the strapless, silk corset you had opted to wear.

“Right, the fans want to know Lando. Who’s your favourite thing to eat?” You said with. Pseudo-confidence, oblivious to your mistake.

Lando’s eyes widened as a few chuckles bristled around the small crowd of camera technicians and other personnel that filled the McLaren media pen “Excuse me?”

“Huh-“ You blink a few times, “Oh shit- no.” You begin to wave your hands in front of your burning face, “I meant, what. What is your favourite snack, or meal to eat before a race?” You blurt out the correction.

“Oh- oh thank God. I don’t think I would have been able to say that.” Lando chuckles, despite the rogue blush that had spread from his neck to his ears, “Normally, I like to have snickers?” He offers, “Especially before a race, it’s a tradition. My dad used to buy them for me, during my karting days” Lando smiles at you, bracing his elbows on the arm rests of his seat whilst tilting his head boyishly.

You go silent for a few minutes, staring at him as your mouth opens and closes uselessly, your mind was fuzzy, and you could swear that you could hear the blood rushing past your ears.

With a heart beating wildly you plaster on a dazzling smile, “Watch the stock prices shoot up.” You joke, focusing on his shirt instead of his face, to protect yourself from his irresistible gaze, “Well Lando, I wish you the best for the race, here in Singapore later in the week.” You lift your eyes from the very interesting speck of dust on the front of his McLaren jersey to meet his hazel eyes, “On behalf of the entire Sky sports team, of course, not just me, that would be weird-“

He cocks his head at your rambling, huffing out an amused laugh, “Thank you,” he returns, as if your well-wishes were probably the only thing that made him want to participate in the race.

But that’s ridiculous, right?

The media segment had finally ended, having collected enough material for the next week in Singapore and you were thankful for it.

The few hours that you had been interacting with the driving duo was excruciating, not only from the sweltering afternoon that you found yourselves in, but also the fact that Lando was always in your line of sight, laughing at something that Oscar had said or screeching hysterically over the periscope goggles that he was struggling with. He was always there.

Some may say that it was “your job” but frankly you found it insulting. Because he wouldn’t let you do your job, you were either blushing too hard, sweating too much or your heart was about to end your existence with its erratic beating.

“I’m just glad it’s over” You pout to May, your producer. She was sweet and imaginative, always carrying around a leatherbound, flowery notepad to scribble new and creative ideas for interview styles to attempt with the 5-year-old men that you were tasked with interacting with.

“It wasn’t that bad” She comforted you, handing over a chilled water bottle whilst an on-set assistant dabbed at your forehead with a damp towel, “I honestly thought that you were having a heart attack, couldn’t even tell that you liked him.”

“She’s right y’know” A third voice burst into the conversation suddenly, which caused you to jump and clamp your hand down on the half open water bottle, sending the cool jet of water straight up the man’s nose.

“Oscar!” May shouted, holding a hand over her daisy detailed blouse with shock as she signalled to another assistant to grab a towel for the driver, who was currently holding his nostrils and attempting to plunge out the of water that had lodged itself up his nose.

“I’m fine,” He snorted whilst dripping onto the sizzling concrete and dabbing the cloth on his face, “For the record, I was worried for your health halfway through that painting task. But that was before I noticed you drooling over Lando.”

You groaned, running both hands up your face to your hairline before threading your fingers through your scalp and pressing the strands away from your forehead, “It’s not fair,” you whined, “He was distracting me throughout the whole thing. I probably look like a mess on camera,” You press the pads of your fingers against your temples.

The whole ordeal made you want to cry, or vomit perhaps both? It was hellish having to endure him staring into your soul the entire interview segment and endearingly answer all your questions with unnecessary detail.

What a jerk.

“Nah, you looked good.” A fourth voice popped in. And much like Oscar’s intrusion, it made you jump, but instead of squeezing your bottle and waterboarding the person, you shrieked and swung, as hard as you could towards the source. Making impact with the side of their face.

A very familiar face which had whipped around like a grape on a toothpick. A face that emitted a groan whilst a hand came up to soothe the quickly forming bruise.

“Fuck me” You groaned, bending over to help Lando who was still checking for any blood that may be leaking from the side of his face.

“Well, I would be honoured, but I think you did permanent damage,” He joked, standing to his full height whilst you brought your hand up to tap the purple-ish skin with a light, albeit panicked hand.

“Oh Lando,” you hissed when he clenched his teeth as you pressed against his cheek, “I’m so sorry.” You whispered on instinct, continuing to stroke the skin whilst May came up to the two of you, having recovered from the shock of you assaulting Lando and rushed to procure a bruising ointment.

You turned around quickly, thanking your friend as she handed of the white tube into your palm, not noticing that half of your hair had slapped the man in front of you in the face, “Oh come on,” you heard him garble through the clumps of hair that had made its way into his mouth.

“Shit, sorry,” You apologise for the umpteenth time in the few hours that you had spent in the close vicinity of him, “I can’t get it together for some reason.” You offer the dull explanation whilst stepping closer with a thick strip of the ointment spread between your fingers.

“Yeah” He murmured, eyes more focussed on your concentrated expression that was barely millimetres away from him, “I can tell.” His breath tickled your ear as you stood on your tiptoes and rubbed the ointment onto his face, it made you blush and realise how close your faces were. How easily you could turn your neck and graze your lips against his, or bump your noses together like a sweet, long-term couple who were used to your clumsiness.

Fat chance

You stepped back, taking one of the discarded towels from the table to the left of the pair of you, “I’m so sorry again,” you apologised, wiping away the remaining cream from your hand and moved to pick up your purse from the surface next to you.

“You could make it up to me?” He offered, shoving his hands into his pockets and rocking on the balls of his feet.

You cock your head, removing the hand that was rooting around in your purse- searching for your phone and let it hand limp “How?”

“What are you doing today?”

“Nothing much,” you offered, shrugging, “Not my first time in Singapore, I’ve been working with F1 for a year. Just wanted to hit some stores that I didn’t get to last time.”

It was true, last year was your first year and like the dedicated rookie you were, you holed yourself up in your room doing pre-liminary research for the upcoming days on all things related to the Singapore track along with the prestigious millionaire drivers that came attached. This was despite the long list of high-end stores, cute cafes and boutiques that you had made in your apartment back home, before the season began.

Luckily, you had managed to hit one or two of them up before the next race. But there were many remaining which you were desperate to visit.

“Let me take you out then,” His eyes glittered with enthusiasm as he unpocketed one of his hands and reached towards yours, brushing against your soft knuckles and running down the divots of your hand before dropping to his side, “Anywhere you want.” He promised.

“I have a long list Lando, and you have a race, or have you forgotten?” You tease him despite your barely inflated lungs and dry, anticipatory throat.

“Haven’t forgotten,” He argues, “I don’t have to-“ His breathe hitched as he watched you reach out to intertwine your fingers with his, gently as if your movements were a fleeting butterfly and could easily be lost as such, “Don’t have to be training the whole day- just give me your number and text me the places you want to go?”

“Okay,” You settled, keeping your pinkie fingers locked together as you stepped impossibly closer to him and handed him your card, a small glossy cardstock with the sky sports logo printed on one side whilst on the other had your name, number and “Formula 1 presenter and interviewer” centre-aligned in black font.

“Cute,” He flipped the card over in his free hand before looking up from the paper and into your eyes, bouncing his pupils over your entire face as though he was memorising each feature up close and personal, “I’ll see you later.”

You nod, biting your lip as your stand on your toes again and press your glossy lips against the scruff of his cheek, “I hope so.”

You had handed off your contact details to Lando on Tuesday. Throughout the passing days, you both had texted each other constantly, any free treasured minutes in your schedule would be spent chatting with the other. It was now Thursday and still he had not brought up the date.

The “not-date”

Thankfully, you had managed to check off nearly half of your destinations on your list and the bags in your hotel room were evidence of such. Odd, thick shopping bags that were brightly coloured and bent in ways that could merely hint at their high-fashion origins, had taken over the bedroom, slowly pilling up by the dozen.

You stumbled out of the sleek, metallic elevator and winced with each step you took through the 20th floor foyer and down the corridor, each light-wood slab of the miscellaneous rooms had been allotted a cluster of numbers that morphed together in your tired eyes. It had been nearly four hours of running around, collecting information and small video snippets from all the teams as the entire PR team was rushing to put out the last round of pre-race content.

Your stiletto heels clicked to a stop when you finally reached your door, the electronic card reader waiting patiently for you to tap the key on its matte black surface. You rooted around in your purse, holding it open with one hand as you searched for the damn card, fearing that you may need to bother the sweet receptionist for another duplicate key.

Whilst looking around in your seemingly endless bag, your phone vibrated once...twice...thrice.

You unsheathed the device and clicked on the notification that popped up on your lock screen. Lando. He had left a small string of messages that made your heart flutter as though cupid had just struck you.

You looked pretty today.

Not that I was stalking you- I saw you when you came to garage.

I’m free for the rest of the day, can I take you out?

On a date. If you want.

You smiled to yourself, reading the messages repeatedly, imprinting them in your mind as you felt your blood swim through your arteries and blossom a deep red blush across your cheeks.

“Is it possible for someone to be this beautiful?” A familiar British accent sneaked up behind you, caressing the skin behind your ears as a minty fresh breath followed suit.

“I don’t know, maybe you should ask yourself.” You teased, turning on your heel to rest your back against the door, to face the handsome man that was currently grinning down at you. You clutched your phone to your chest, soothing the fluttering butterflies that escaped your stomach to scuttle throughout your body, suddenly, you weren’t very tired anymore.

“I would rather ask you,” He smirked, reaching to tuck away a rogue piece of hair that had escaped from your ponytail, his finger lingered on your nape, allowing his entire hand to cup the back of your neck and ghost the pads of his fingers across the expanse of your skin.

“Hi Lando,” You smile at him, leaning into his touch.

“Hey.” He whispered, more focused on analysing the tantalising swoop of your eyelashes and sleek slant of your nose. As one does.

“You ready to go?” he tilted his head at you.

“Well, I have an idea about where I want to go with you, I just need to change and re-do my makeup.”

“Okay, you want me to wait out here?” He offered, watching you as you brought your purse between your bodies, flitting through the mess within to finally, triumphantly present the room key. He giggled at the victorious squeal that escaped your lips as you brushed the card against the reader and skipped into the room.

“No, it’s fine. You can come in, just don’t judge the amount of shopping.” You warned him, already cautiously stepping over the French boutique bags that greeted you.

“It would be hard to fit my judgement into the room, there’s so much stuff,” He commented beginning to pick up various bags and place them onto any free surface as an attempt to clear the walkway.

“Ha Ha,” You laughed sarcastically, twisting your neck to stick your tongue out at him, “Let me find something to wear,” You bent down, searching through the few bags that sat on the bay window sofa.

“Do you have the directions to the place?” Lando inquired, watching you with interest as you held a small, teal bag over your head and went over to the other side of the room to search for shoes.

“Yeah, it’s a frozen yoghurt cafe, 0 sugar and vegan, I figured it will be good for you. Since you’re on a strict diet.” You shrugged, unaware of his touched expression. He was enamoured with you from the first time that you had sat down in front of him, stuttering over your questions despite your once cool, calm demeanour with his teammate. But the fact that you had considered his diet requirements was like the cherry on top.

“Oh- you didn’t have to. I could always break away from the diet.” He half expected you to jump at the opportunity to go someplace else.

“No no, it’s fine. I heard such great things about this cafe. I’m excited. Plus, I would’ve gone with or without you,” You snickered, walking towards his place, perched on the edge of your freshly made bed. Apparently, room service had conveniently avoided your shopping but had happily tackled the other features of the area.

“If you say so,” He relented bundling the soft comforter in his fists to stop himself from looping his arms around your waist and pulling you against him. Luckily, you rested your arms on his shoulders and intertwined your fingers together at the start of his spine, burying them in his hair and twisting the curly strands with one digit.

“I do say so,” You nodded your head sharply, before retracting your arms and began to walk towards the bathroom, “Be right back,” you promised, slinking through the washroom door.

You pushed the sliding slab shut and flicked on the warm yellow light before pulling out the compact package of tissue paper, held together with a white, cream silk bow.

The paper crinkled loudly as you undid the ribbon to reveal the milky white dress that lay nestled within the packaging. A long, floor length number that contained embroidered butterflies on the final organza layer, layered on top of a chiffon slip with a middle veneer of muslin. The empress waist had folded over fabric that sinched in the silhouette along with emphasising the carmen neckline that sat sultry with the help of thin, pearly straps.

You slipped on the elegant dress, smoothing over the divoted attire whilst pulling and pushing at the material until you were satisfied. Your hair flowed freely along your back as you leaned forward towards the mirror, touching up your concealer and swiping generous amounts of your glossy, lip balm before slipping on a pair of black, matte kitten heels.

Finally, you were ready.

The door squeaked open as you stepped out, short heels clicking on the marble floor as you stopped around the bend of the wall, calling out for him, “Lando?”

He turns towards your voice curiously, floppy brown hair bouncing with his movements, “Yeah?” He answers, standing up and pocketing his phone.

“I’m ready,” You reveal yourself to his gaze, smiling happily when his mouth pops open and eyes widen substantially.

“Wow, you look amazing.” His eyebrows furrow as he takes in your outfit, biting his lip whilst walking towards you, “Glad I asked you out when I did, otherwise I would be in trouble.”

“Yes, you are quite lucky,” You agree, patting his chest as you adjust the collar of his shirt, “Let’s go?” You offer, hooking your arm with his by the elbow.

He looks down momentarily before smiling toothily, “Let’s” He nods and opens the door.

Lando held the large cup of frozen yogurt in his palm, itching to dig the small plastic spoon into the tall peak of cold, white cream that was covered in melted dark chocolate, “You got the photo?”

“Yes, sorry,“  You tuck your phone back into the inefficiently small purse that hung from your shoulder, “You taste it first, I feel like you’ll burst if you don’t” you chuckle at his expression as he fills the spoon with the cold dessert and places it in his mouth, he groans pleasurably as his eyes roll back.

“Holy shit that’s good.” He compliments, holding out the paper cup to you.

“I would hope so, looks like you just orgasmed,” You take your own plastic spoon and taste the treat, “Never mind, your reaction is valid, it’s so good.” You hum.

“I know right?” He continues to eat, keeping his right hand steady as he shuffles around you from your left to the other side, so that his free hand could intertwine with yours.

“I could’ve just moved?” You giggle, swinging your hands up and down as you lean to take another bite.

“It’s okay, I don’t mind.” He shrugged, licking his spoon free of the remaining frozen yogurt as you continued down the street and across the street towards Pearl Hill Park.

You both continued to chat animatedly, taking bites of the sweet yogurt between the two of you as you enter the park and walk down the foot path, admiring the large canopying trees and delicate flower’s that littered the shrubbery which lined the walkway.

“You’ve never had a boyfriend?” Lando clarifies, his eyes bugging out with shock.

“I mean, guys have liked me, and I’ve had crushes. But boyfriend? Never had anyone that serious,” You confirm, unbothered with his reaction.

“How?”

“I don’t know! I never asked and I never have got asked,” You defend your single status.

Lando nods, squeezing your hand in his as he kicks a small pebble beneath his feet, “But you’re so beautiful.” He murmurs penultimately beneath his breath.

“What?”

“What?” He looks at you, surprised that you heard him.

“Nothing,” You dismiss, your chest warming with the compliment, the sensation made you giggle to yourself and press your lips together.

The skin of your lips seemed dry against one another, causing you to stop walking, pausing the lazy travel around the man-made lake that you both were taking and remove a tube of flavoured lip balm from your purse. Lando pauses, watching you press the tube of the glossy moisturiser and lay a generous amount on your lips before twisting the top back on and dropping it back in your bag.

“What flavour is that? It’s so bright.” He snorts at the light pink coating that covers your mouth.

“Oh, is it too much?” You go to remove your compact mirror before you feel Lando hold your wrists gently, stopping you.

“No, you look perfect,” He assures you, softly laying his thumb beneath the swell of your lip and pulling the skin down slowly, “I was just curious of the flavour.” He muses, supressing a grin at your dazed expression as you fight away the feeling of your eyelashes fluttering closed in anticipation for his lips on yours.

“Um..I think it’s peach?” You offer.

“Really?” He snorts, moving his face closer to yours, analysing your face for inhibitions towards his actions, only to be met with your rouge ears and innocent doe eyes looking at him, “Let me try,” He whispers, finally bringing his face closer to yours, allowing his breath to fan over your slightly parted lips. You finally connect your mouth together, one of your hands loops around his neck whilst the other hold his wrist as you savour the sweet taste of his lips against yours.

It was as though the blossoms that surrounded the two of you had begun to bloom within your mind, bursting with new life and innocence as the water rippled in the summer sun, casting glowing streaks against your faces like crystalline diamonds shimmering beneath a spotlight. This moment seemed to paint itself on the canvas of your mind, permanently memorised to never be forgotten. ��

Lando pulls away all too soon, resting his forehead against yours, “I can agree-“ He pants, “That it tastes like peach” he pulls away minutely to grin at you.

You grin back, licking your lips slowly, “Yeah, I guess it does.” You agree, pressing your mouths together again, desperate for the sacred dopamine that he filled you with. He smiled against your lips before you became conscience of your surrounds and broke apart. His eyebrows furrowed but nevertheless he caressed your cheek, enjoying the feeling of your soft skin beneath his finger.

Lando stepped back, taking your hand in his again to resume the slow, lazy steps around the lake, “You’ll watch that race then? From the garage?” He asked hopefully, looking down at you from your position on his shoulder.

“Peach?” He called out.

Your heart grew three times bigger at the nickname as you lifted your head from his body and looked at him earnestly, “Of course, I’ll be there in the orange.”

📻 Kcccchh.... come in.... come in...translatiion unavailable...over

[cupids-chamber]

KISSING Azul's beauty marks, leaving light peppermint kisses on Malleus's horns, ruffling Leona's hair, petting him, leaving small kisses on each of his ears, Kissing Silver, to wake him up...

GENDER NEUTRAL READER A/N: Is Silver's part, just me showing my inner Silver simp? Nooo-

Leona was settled on your lap, as you fiddled around with his hair.. it would have bothered Leona, but he let you as you pleased, your touch was rather comforting, and stress relieving. It felt as though all his problems would disappear, when he's with you like this.. The soft praises you whisper makes him all soft and gushy inside, a feeling he wasn't quite familiar with.. he hoped you didn't notice.. Leona disliked looking weak.. especially to you.. He'd be beyond embarrassed if you told him you noticed his little grin, and the way his tail would move in excitement, while you pet him.

It was a rather amusing sight, Leona's tail moving around in excitement and his ears perking up and moved ever so slightly, rhythm in sync with all your movements, touches, and compliments. Your praise was the biggest ego booster for this lion.

Leona closed his eyes for a bit, trying to sleep. The way your hands moved, ruffling his hair, every soft touch lulling him to sleep. Yet his senses overloaded, the moment you leaned down, and pressed two soft kisses on his ears, the feeling lingered, as he felt his ears tingle with heat.. He was flustered.. And if that wasn't enough, his tail started wagging aggressively.. He was sure he could hear you giggling right about now.. "What are you laughing at herbivore!"

You entered the room, Azul was working on some sort of paperwork, as always.. Nothing out of the usual.. but your precious octopus, has been rather busy lately.. you were afraid he was overworking himself, It was at this point that Azul noticed your presence, as he turned to smile at you, flashing you a rather tired grin. You sighed, knowing full well he wasn't planning to rest anytime soon.. "How was your day today love?" Azul asked, his voice was less energetic then usual, "It was good.. I suppose.. How about you?" you asked, as you made your way towards him, carefully sitting on his lap, "Your not overworking yourself, are you?" you asked..

"Of course not!" he said, focusing his attention on you, as he slowly moved his arms around your waist, making sure you were comfortable in the position you were in. "hmm, but you should get some rest, K?" you carefully grabbed his face, pulling it towards you, you watched as his face tinted red ever so slightly, as he hesitated to answer.. He never liked lying to you, nor did he enjoy making false promises to you.. "Fine.." Azul complied with a sigh.

"Do you promise?" you asked, moving a tad bit closure, as your eyes stared straight into his. Causing him to grow slightly nervous. He stuttered ever so slightly, no matter how long the two of you were together, he could never grow completely used to the closeness between you two.. "I-i promise"

You grinned, as he finally complied to your words, you pulled him closer leaning in, and just before your lips touched, you leaned down and kissed his beauty mark. "See you later tonight!" you winked as you left a very flustered and tired octopus in his office.. 'What am I going to do with you' Azul thought, as the door finally closed.

You were settled on Malleus's lap, as he rambled on and on, about his favorite subject.. Gargoyles! You were half mindedly listening, focusing more on fiddling around with his hair, admiring his features.. After all, it's not always you get to have such a close up view of the fae prince.. though if you asked you would be able too..

Malleus, went on to explain some random facts about Gargoyles in, in-depth detail. You hummed at everything he said, making sure he didn't feel ignored, when you had an idea.. "Malleus what's your favorite Gargoyle again?" you asked, the question was rather controversial, you know this conversation wouldn't end any time soon.. but.. you had an idea! "Well I quite really have a Gargoyle I favor.. but —" .. He continued on and on about the subject, when you suddenly started rubbing his horns.

Malleus got a bit flustered, the action was rather unexpected, he tripped over his words ever so slightly, if you looked down, you could see just how red the man was. You proceeded to take things up a notch' by coming a bit closer, and leaving soft lingering kisses on his horns. An action, that is guaranteed to shut your poor lover up..

When you were finished with messing with your prince, you lowered yourself down to his level, and gave him a big hug. "Malleus?" you poked him in the cheek.. The man looked stunned and flustered.. 'I guess he's still processing things..' you thought, as you giggled..

The two of you were in your early stages of a relationship, and needless to say your lover is quite easily flustered by your actions.

Lilia had told you that he couldn't find Silver, the two of you had gotten together a couple months ago, and Lilia suggested that maybe you should go out and find Silver, since you seemed to know his favorite sleeping spots well. Somehow that convinced you to go and look for Silver by yourself.

Walking around the forests of NRC, you found Silver sound asleep, leaning ever so comfortably on the tree. 'He looks so beautiful'.. He looked very comfortable.. You almost forgot why you were here! You were supposed to wake Silver up! Though you could have just simply nudged him and called out for him.. you had other ideas... Comfortably sitting beside Silver, you leaned in.. and for a second you paused with your movements. Taking in his features.. 'He looked lovely' you nudged your head, mumbling under your breath to focus.

You leaned in and gave Silver a kiss, Silver was quite sensitive to movement, that seemed foreign.. especially in his sleep. It didn't take long for him to carefully open his eyes, as he made eye contact with you.. "It's time to wake up love.."

© cupids-chamber, do not repost, plagiarize, translate, or adapt my work/theme without prior permission and or confirmation.

[wordsinhaled]

hi there! I started following you after seeing your essay-long answers to DBD things in tags, and it made me very happy to see someone as deeply analytical as me about this show.

I wanted to ask you: if you were given the final say, how would you want the show to confirm both Charles' bisexuality and his romantic feelings towards Edwin (as both can be done at different points)?

Personally, I can't get the idea out of my head that it will be done with some kind of tragic goodbye, somehow Charles and Edwin have to separate, and Charles either verbally confirms it or kisses Edwin goodbye. Not saying that's what I want, but it's what I expect the writers to do.

Hope you're having a good day.

btw, would love to hear you talk more about timerogue (Fifteen/Rogue), I need more essay-long analysis about those two.

Hi there! <3 I am so happy you have enjoyed my tag rambles! And thank you so much for asking this great question, I had a lot of fun thinking through it!

I have many thoughts on this! Sticking them under a cut eventually because it is a long post!

Re: Charles' bisexuality: So the thing is I think that the DBDA universe generally seems to eschew labels in favor of showing rather than telling the audience what the characters' identities are. For example Jenny is interested in dating women, which is clear from her dialogue, and she goes on a date with Maxine, but she's never labeled anything. Edwin is never labeled anything by anyone in the narrative, either, but the narrative shows us that his only love interests and his desires and romantic feelings are for other boys. I would argue that we have been shown textually that Charles is bi, already, the same way the show shows-not-tells us other things. Charles by the end of the first season feels bi enough to me in a way that just feels like someone... living a bi life, and not yet realizing they might in fact be in love back with their best friend. I don't know how else to put it but I hope that makes sense. (My alternate, slightly sappier version of canon is that Charles fell for Edwin the first night, but has shoved it down for the duration of their friendship, but the former feels more likely as the direction I think we see on screen.) We are being told Charles is bi:

In the way Charles himself draws parallels between why he likes Crystal (his romantic love interest) and Edwin, pointing out they share the exact same traits

In the way he gives Crystal and Edwin the same genre of deep, loving gaze

In the way he thinks Crystal is fit, and he checks Edwin out, on multiple occasions, but only flirts with Edwin overtly in episode 8 ("My smile is pretty convincing," plus more than the usual amount of physical touch/proximity and less plausible deniability) once he can be assured by Edwin's recent confession that doing so will not be poorly received

In the different kinds of softness and masculinity he displays around both Crystal and Edwin

In the way that, despite not knowing the ending, he draws a parallel between himself and Edwin & a pair of lovers from classical mythology as though it is the most natural thing in the world to bring up the story of Orpheus & Eurydice, making overt the romantic potential of his relationship with Edwin

In the way he is so quick to write off that the two jocks were "just best mates" the way a person does when they are recognizing their own queerness in themselves and have to keep themselves safe from it, because of the environment that they are in (Charles being the Sports Lad, needing to fit in with other sports lads, and needing to avoid the censure/violence of his father)

And coming off the above, in the way that Charles navigates along the toughness-sensitivity spectrum within the social constructs of being "the brawn"

In the entire sparring scene in episode 1, tbh. The rituals are very intricate /drops mic

I understand the importance that's been placed by fandom spaces on "confirmed canon" queerness that is spelled out in so many words, given a label that can be pointed to to say "This character is definitely this!" but I think (and this is just my personal opinion) it can be reductive sometimes, and I don't really want Charles to label himself in that kind of way, just as much as I don't think the other characters needed the labels to "confirm" the queerness of their relationships or indeed of the show; having him be the one to do it for being bi would set him apart. I also think taking into account the time period that he grew up in, Charles would care more about living by the truth of how he feels and how he can use those feelings to connect with the one he loves, than what to call it. I just don't think we're gonna get like a "Hello my name is Charles Rowland and I am a verified bisexual"-type scene in season 2, and I think that's okay, and I don't really think that's the way for the show to 'confirm' it. Mind you I would love to see Charles talk about how it makes him feel to realize his feelings, and how his feelings for Edwin are different compared to how other people make him feel, because god, I love Charles so much and I just know such a scene would both destroy and heal me. FEEL YOUR FEELINGS, CHARLES <3

I think it says something really important that many, many, many people took one look at Charles Rowland and said: "Oh, he's bi." Not like... he has bi energy, or could plausibly be bi, or whatever; for so many people he just resonated as being bi, in a very organic way. (I know there are people who do read Charles as being straight/having rejected Edwin in s1, and I respect that, but they probably will not like my ideas about Charles very much, then, tbh.)

For what it's worth, though, Jayden's acting choices playing Charles, and the way Jayden (and George) have addressed the 'straight best friend Charles' line of questioning during interviews, both make it seem to me that Jayden is intentionally playing Charles as bi and we are already supposed to understand this for what it is, based on Charles' actions—just as we understand similar things about other characters inner worlds we are shown. Whether Charles is consciously aware of it yet is more the up-for-debate part to me, personally. It's like he is dancing right on the edge of the revelation, or something, but his actions (and his EYES) are speaking for him pretty loudly already.

As for how he confirms it more obviously? Hmm. Well, I'll admit i think a kiss between them would be lovely, if only because I think it would quite possibly be the Most Kiss a kiss could be, with all of Charles' tenderness and adoration for Edwin poured into it. I also think it would be in-character, given Charles canonically misses kissing, and wants to do it with people he's interested in romantically (see Crystal).

Charles struggles with being able to admit romantic feelings out loud because he is scared of his own capacity to hurt Edwin; after all the only example of "romantic" love he has seen was his parents' marriage. Charles is a person who acts first, thinks later, but in this process of understanding what he feels for Edwin he's taking his time and being the opposite of impulsive. This shows how important his relationship to Edwin is to him and his commitment to Getting It Right. Even with that deliberateness, though, I think it would still be easier for him to express himself through a tangible action like a kiss than through words—at least at first.

It reminds me of this scene from the first draft of Maurice between Maurice and Alec. Alec is struggling to verbalize his feelings for Maurice, although he does know he feels them. He can say other things, but naming love for what it is is the challenge; and in the end they use a shared memory of a time Alec showed his love through actions (running through the rosebushes just to see Maurice's face) to communicate and mutually understand their love for each other. Similarly, Charles finds it difficult to admit a deep romantic love aloud, but his actions speak louder, in his determination to retrieve Edwin from hell ("There's no one else—no one else—I would go to hell for") and he can allude to the romantic implications of the act, by referencing the Orpheus & Eurydice myth. It similarly becomes, I may not be able to say the words, but you and I both know the lengths i would go to for you.

Maurice : "I love you, sir be damned." Alec: "Maurice"—never before had the word been spoken—"you're an angel." Maurice: "I don't want to hear that." Alec: "Maurice, Maurice" his voice failed also; he had once said the rest to a woman. "Maurice - what you've said I feel. Understand?" M: "I think so, but I want to be sure. Remember those rose bushes in the other rain? - Look at me hard - That's right. That'll do. It's settled."

As far as the catalyst for Charles revealing his feelings... a tragic goodbye—gosh, as heartbreakingly compelling as I know seeing George and Jayden act that out would be (I know they would crush it), I really hope the writers don't do that to them! The thing about Payneland that is so refreshing to me is how they manage to subvert trope expectations and break out of the tragic narratives they are placed in, and I think they would ultimately defy any attempt at separation. As Edwin says, "I will make sure that doesn't happen," about them ever being split up. I am rooting for a happily ever after for them, because they have both been through enough, and have fought tooth and nail to stay together.

Steve Yockey has mentioned potentially having Desire of the Endless cameo on the show and I also think having them and Charles interact would be a fascinating way to bring to light some of the deep-rooted stuff Charles struggles with around love (and would nicely parallel Edwin's experience with the Cat King which catalyzed his Charles-feelings realization). I also like the idea of the team maybe meeting a couple during a case who parallel Edwin and Charles and are romantically involved. Seeing that would allow Charles to externalize the way he feels for Edwin by seeing it reflected back to him by other people; sometimes things are easier to pick up on in others than in ourselves. I think that would be a fun way to get him to see what's been there under the surface for some time :)

Oh my god this got so long asfhlgkjhg SORRY

(I'm sure the Doccy Who fixation will come back in time for the Christmas special! :D)

[blueclownsworld]

✦✧ — "I do care." — Levi Ackerman x gender neutral reader — ✧✦

Content & possible warnings: cold Levi, gender neutral reader, Erwin as Levi's friend, arguing & insults, one-sided love, slight angst, fluff

Plot: Levi loves you, yet he pushes you away due to fear of losing you.

✦✧✧✦

"Do you ever shut up?" blunt question interrupted your passionate rambling.

"And are you ever friendly?" you asked as visible frown formed on your face. He was always like this, yet you never got used to it. He seemed to be even colder around you than the others, which made no sense to you.

"Don't get cozy with me. I'm still your captain." his eyes narrowed as he noticed frown on your face. However, it didn't make a difference to his unfriendly behaviour.

"Sorry, captain", you spit out his title like it was poison, causing his eyes to narrow further in annoyance.

"Whatever. get out, brat", he turned away from you, focusing on the pile of papers on his desk again. He payed no attention to your presence anymore, it didn't matter to him.

Once again you felt small sting in your heart. It never really stopped hurting, even though he treated you like this all the time.

✦✧✧✦

Except..

"Don't forget your jacket, idiot." Levi hissed at you and placed a jacket over your shoulders.

✦✧✧✦

It was past midnight, but you couldn't get sleep and decided to light up a candle to read instead. Not a long after you heard sharp knock on your door, following with Levi's usual cold tone: "I expect my soldiers to take care of themselves. So, why are you not asleep?"

✦✧✧✦

You were excitedly talking about a book you had read earlier, when you took a glance at him. He looked more bored than usual, so you decided to stop talking. "Why'd you stop?" his eyes snapped back at you, brows furrowing.

✦✧✧✦

It was the small moments that made your heart flutter and stopped you from losing hope. This made loving him really painful, you never knew when he would act like he hated you and when you would get proof that he actually cared.

Today was one of those days when it seemed like the mere existence of yours in the same room as him was insufferable to him. So you left.

✦✧✧✦

Oh, if he only knew of the tears you shed because of him. He never really reciprocated your feelings, but he didn't let you go either. You were attached to him by a string of hope, yet that was all you would ever get. Or so it seemed.

✦✧✧✦

At Erwin's office:

"Levi. You should tell them before it's too late", Erwin said with that strict but friendly tone of his. He had noticed how Levi was denying his feelings towards you.

"What do you know about that?" Levi crossed his arms, clearly not appreciating his friend's advice.

"I know how you look at them when you think that no one notices. And I've seen the small gestures you make", Erwin explained calmly, not willing to drop the subject.

"If you don't tell them, you'll have to live with the regret once they're in love with someone else, or worse."

"Precisely why I don't tell them. I don't need to watch someone I love die in front of me anymore", Levi answered with bittersweet voice and stared at the floor.

"You love them, wether you admit it or not. Wouldn't it be nicer to live with the memories of them, rather than with the regret of not being brave enough to admit your feelings?" Erwin asked while keeping his gaze on Levi. He didn't enjoy seeing his friend in a difficult situation like this.

"You make it sound like I am a coward", Levi huffed, even though he couldn't deny Erwin's words did make sense.

"Maybe you are", Erwin hummed in response, causing Levi to throw daggers at him with his gaze.

✦✧✧✦

Later:

It was late in the evening and you were getting ready for bed, still thinking of Levi and his changing behaviours. Maybe you should talk to him about it, tell him to stop messing with you. Or would that be seen as being disrespectful towards your captain? He would definitely complain about it.

This train of thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a familiar knock on the door. "May I come in?"

It was Levi, and your heartbeat accelerated from the tone of his voice. It was softer than usual, something wasn't right.

You open the door to stare at him in disbelief, meeting his eyes.

"You weren't sleeping, right?" he asks and shifts back to the cold demeanor. Perhaps you misheard his earlier tone.

"No.. I wasn't", you answer slowly, still staring at him. The situation was uncomfortable.

"No one told that your staring is weird? Or do I have something on my face?" Levi asks with dry voice, brows furrowing.

"No, I just.. Why are you here?" you couldn't help but to wonder why was he there, since most of the time he didn't voluntarily seek your company.

"Our earlier conversation ended on a bad note", he explains.

'Ended on a bad note'? When did he ever care of being rude towards you or ending conversations with insults? Something was seriously not right.

"I didn't think you cared of that", you blurt out a bit too harshly.

Levi's expression turns into slight frown. Of course he would have known you would think that, considering how harsh his behaviour towards you often were. Still, it managed to unpleasantly surprise him.

"I do care."

Three words you never expected to hear from him. Three words that made your eyes widen in shock, had you misheard?

"You do?" was all you managed to let out. Your question held more weight that the words told, yet he understood that.

"I do."

✦✧✧✦

part 2

[ambrosiagoldfish]

First time requesting anything sooo let me know if I get anything wrong but,,, could I request some dragon!reader x Venti (Genshin Impact) fluff ? Dragon in like... The way that Zhongli is with a dragon and a humanoid form. let me know if I should send another ask with anything additional,,

Draconic Inquiries

Venti x Dragon! Reader

Safe for all Audiences!

Warnings: None! Just pure fluff and Gn! Reader!

Request Box: Open

Word count: 1634

A/N: Hi, thank you for the request! I’m sorry it took so long! There was a lot of hiccups that came up this past week, but I’m happy to finally have had gotten to finishing this!

I wasn’t sure if you wanted a Fluff Fic or head-canons so I did both! I would have asked you but I was already upset that it took this long to write, so I decided not to! I also wrote it to be romantic! I hope this is ok! If not, just shoot me another request and I’ll make you a new one!!

Proofread but of course I could have missed something.

He was first introduced to you via The Traveler, and right away he could tell something about you reminded him a lot of that "old block-head" as Venti so eloquently puts it. Of course, you weren’t anything like Zhongli, but there were some very similar aspects between the two of you at a more biological level.

It didn't take him long to figure it out though, despite his carefree and lovable nature, he is quite perceptive. He could tell from the power imitating from you, that you weren't some regular run of the mill Allogene. The power that you gave off wasn't exactly like his or even most of the other archons it was more… Pure? Something more undisturbed than most elemental beings.

Whatever you were, he wasn't sure if you were open about it, Him, being an Archon, would make him relate to you regarding hiding the truth about yourself, if that is the case. So he decided to ask you about it alone. You were a bit hesitant at first to outright admit it, especially to a person who seemed so interested. Being an Elemental beast, were able to sense an alarming amount of Anemo Energy coming from this short drunkard bard, way too much to just be some regular mortal.

When you finally reveal yourself to be a dragon, he's honestly pretty excited. He's only ever met 4 dragons in his 2600+ year life span, Zhongli, who was just annoyed by any questions he would ask, Dvalin, who, despite being one of his closest friends, is also annoyed by many of his drunken inquiries. Durin and Ursa the Drake tried destroying Mondstadt so they were definitely not an option... So he's been dying to ask a vishap some questions.

And Immediately they started

"Dragon's have hoards, right? Surely there has to be a teensy bit of fine wine there? No? Darn it..."

"Can you breathe fire?!"

"Is it true that dragon's are scared of mice? Eh... Wait! no! That's Elephants. Nevermind!"

It was quite a lot to process and answer them all in time before he went on to the next question. Eventually he seemed to run out of them, that or he saw how distressed you were trying to keep up.

"That's enough questions for today, Ehe! Next time we should have our conversation over a nice cold glass of cider!"

"Next time?"

Venti then, from that day forward, had the two of you meeting up more and more, He would bring the drinks, both Alcoholic and Non-Alcoholic, depending on if you drink or not. and every time, Venti would somehow come up with more and more questions about your heritage, nonstop rambling of questions that would go from dusk till dawn. He seemed to never run out of them. But eventually he would start asking questions that weren't about your Draconic lifestyle. Things like,

"So Y/n, have you ever dated anyone before?"

"Hey Yn! Have you heard that the Windblume Festival is coming soon? Ehe, What do you think the original windblume was? Cecilia? Great choice!"

"Have you ever been to Windrise? It's the place with the huge tree! Huh? eh, You haven't? I'll make sure to show you sometime"

The Windblume festival finally comes around, the whole of Mondstadt was in a fury of unending joy, there were games, foods and deserts, the entire of the city’s buildings were all decorated in many different flowers and ribbons. Dandelions soared through the air, each one carrying the wish of a soul in Mondstadt.

The Day was fantastic, but it seems Venti had more energy to spend after the day's festivities, Venti drags you by the hand through the decorated city streets, past the vendor's shops, and over the bridge, all while you were blindfolded. Of course, you were a little scared being led through all these places without even knowing where exactly you were, but your elemental sense was top notch, not to mention your regular senses at that. So you knew you weren't in any real danger.

"Venti, this is a bit dramatic, even for you"

"Eh he… very funny Y/n, but we're almost there! Just a few more steps and... There!"

The pulling of your hand suddenly stops and Venti’s hand lets go of yours, with one quick motion the blindfold obscuring your eyes was snatched clean off. It took a second for your eyes to adjust, the sun beginning to set but even then being blindfolded caused even the slightest of light to sting your eyes.

Looking up, a big tree hung over you both, lying under the tree, just by the roots, was a checkered red and white blanket layed across the viridescent grass, a seemingly warnout picnic basket layed atop it. From where you stood you could make out a plethora of food and drinks, Pie, Dandelion wine, Apples. You certainly knew there was more, you could tell just from your sense of smell.

But the most notable feature about the fairytale esq scene in front of you was Venti, holding something, a bouquet of Ceclia’s

"These are what you believe to be the original Windblume right? I picked them myself so, rest assured! They’re guaranteed to be the best of quality, ehe!"

"Y/n, the time we’ve spent together these past few months have meant the world to me... Since the moment you arrived in Mondstadt, you’ve been tangled up in every thought of my mind, you've become all I can think about, my one and only worry, my muse, my... everything... What I'm trying to say is, Y/n, I love you and if you feel the same, could you continue being my muse?" His arms stretch slightly to you, offering you the bouquet in his hand.

Everything about this, the scenery, the way he asked, down to the golden hour from the sun, it was all so unforgettable. Your hands slowly move to grasp the Cecilia’s, bringing them up to your face and smelling them.

“Nothing would make me happier, Venti”

Venti’s eyes lit up, blush washed his face as a soft breeze quickly caried him over to you as he practically tackled you into his embrace, the sudden forces causes you both to spin in each others arms, all while Venti’s heartfelt laugh drowns out all other sounds.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!” His voice grew louder with the repetition as a gleeful smile plastered on his face. He reaches back from his embrace, quickly grabbing his lyre and giving it a few test strums.

“The day isn’t over yet! Allow me to serenade you with a song I’ve made especially for you, my muse.”

And with that, you both continued to laugh and sing throughout the night. The sounds of the feverish festivities of you both echoed through Windrise, your love that would last for eons to come, dancing across the wind.

You both truly, couldn’t be happier.

HEADCANONS

Venti always makes sure that he’s always there for you when you aren’t your best mentally or physically. He cudddles you when your sad, listens to you when you’re upset. Overall he may be a loud bard but he’s also a great listener!

And speaking of cuddles he LOVES them. Since youre a dragon, your body temperature is a lot higher than humans, so he loves the warmth close to him. And if you ever decide to cuddle while IN dragon form then he wouldn’t let you leave for a while. (I also headcanon that since he’s a wind spirit, his body temperature isn’t that high so he’s often a little cold, so an S/o with a high body temperature would be perfect for him)

Regardless of if you can fly or not in dragon form, he loves to go on walks with you, and by “walks” I mean YOU do the walking and he just sits on your back. If you CAN fly than he’d be less of a koala and actually fly with you.

(You may have scared a few of the locals but love is love)

If there’s ever a time that you have to fight, either to protect him, yourself or something else, he will always have your back. Of course, him being a Wind Spirit and an Archon he has at least some power but after losing his Gnosis and him being demoted to the least powerful archon, he’s not incredibly strong. But you being a dragon seems to make up for his lack of power. The times you’ve saved him from some lowly fatuus trying to ambush him, he really couldn’t be more thankful.

He’s really into PDA (no surprise there) so kisses, handholding, etc are all commonplace. He's also always bringing you gifts like food. He’s not much of a baker, but he’d try to make anything for you that you’d want. (Just uh… don’t expect it to be anything spectacular)

Gifts he likes are Cider (obvi) and of course, Apples! You’d get him the finest of wines, (that’s totally not from your dragon hoard, because you are TOTALLY not that kind of dragon •-•^) and he would love them more each time.

He would eventually introduce you to Dvailn (it’s his best bud so it’s a given you’d meet him eventually) and Zhongli who he thought you two might have something in common with.

Overall, having a dragon S/o is one of the best things to happen to him (Tied only with that time Diluc accidentally left his wine cellar unlocked) He’s always wanting to learn more about you and loves spending time with you!

[charlottesbookclub]

like real people do (alistair x reader) 💜💜

Summary: honestly there's no real plot, just pure fluff. Alistair tries to adjust to having a human mate, and he's trying really hard 🥹

Warnings/Tags: gn!reader, mention of skipping a meal (not intentionally), mentions of eating, Alistair being awkward and a bit rude lol, basically just pure tooth-rotting fluff, but as always, let me know if I've missed anything!

Words: 1,634

Author’s Note: me, writing a twilight fanfic in the year of our lord 2024? it's more likely than you think. uhhh yeah I have no real explanation for this except that I have stumbled back into my Alistair obsession and I just wanted to write a cute little something for him. I don't think this is my best work, but at least it made me smile, so that's something. honestly I have no idea if there's anyone else out here reading fanfic for an incredibly minor twilight character, but if there is, I hope you enjoy whatever this is! I was thinking of making this a little series of Alistair trying his damndest to figure out human stuff, so do let me know if you have any interest in that. but okay I'll stop rambling now - enjoy! 💖

            A message pinged through on your computer, and you looked away from your work for a moment, pulling up the chatbox. It was Lucy from the front desk: 

hey – someone’s here to see you

who?

hard to describe – and i’m having a hard time getting his name

You chuckled softly to yourself, having a sneaking suspicion you knew exactly who it was. Odd that he would willingly put himself in a situation that forced him to speak with other people though. Your laughter turned into a small frown as you considered the fact that something might be wrong. You and Alistair hadn’t been together long, but you knew about his aversion to others well enough to wonder what could bring him into proximity of the possibility of needing to engage in small talk.

be right there

You pushed back from your desk and hurried down to the lobby. Lucy was obviously waiting for you to arrive, and she met you with a mildly panicked look, gesturing with her head toward the tall man standing awkwardly in the corner of the lobby. Thanks to his heightened senses, he had noticed your arrival long before Lucy, and was already striding across the floor toward you at a pace that was just barely slow enough to be considered human. You made a mental note to ask Carlisle to gently review normal human behaviors with him. You just managed to give Lucy a quick thumbs-up to indicate that you knew the tousled man before he bustled the two of you back toward your office.

“Alistair, what the hell?” you asked as he ushered you inside and closed the door behind him.

“What a truly awful system,” he muttered to himself, clearly continuing a rant he was already halfway through rather than answering your question. “I mean really, how many idiots should I have to go through to see my partner?” You just crossed your arms and leaned back against the edge of your desk, a bemused smile starting to fight its way onto your face. You knew it was no use interrupting him until he had gotten everything out. “’Would you like something do drink?’” He parroted Lucy’s question mockingly. “No I bloody well would not – unless you’ve got a few bags of blood stored away back there,” he retorted to this fictional Lucy sarcastically. “Zounds, how hard is it to just point me in the right direction and leave me in peace?” His words faded into muttering and soft curses in a version of English that hadn’t been spoken for hundreds of years.

“Alistair,” you said quietly, breaking him out of his monologue. His talking to himself had seemed strange at first, but the more you learned about his life before meeting you, the more it made sense. He had been his only company for so long and was only now slowly adjusting to speaking with other people again. You, however, found it incredibly endearing and hoped he didn’t break himself of the habit completely. 

His focus snapped to you instantly when he heard your voice, and he started murmuring apologies that you quickly brushed off.

“Alistair, it’s fine,” you assured him, sending him a warm smile and softly placing your hand on his forearm. Touch was another thing that was coming back to him only slowly. You had learned to proceed cautiously, gently, making sure he knew that you were about to touch him before making contact. The words stilled on his lips as his eyes focused in on the place where your warm palm met his cold skin.

“Alistair,” you said quietly after a moment of letting him adjust to the contact. His eyes traveled back up to your face at the sound of his name on your lips. “Is something wrong?”

“I—no,” the words tumbled out awkwardly, and you could almost see him trying to say three different sentences at the same time. If he still had blood under his skin, you were certain he would be blushing. Knowing that eye contact made conversation even more difficult for him, you flicked your eyes down toward your hand still on his arm, gently pulling it from where it hung limply at his side. You cradled his large hand in both of yours and began tracing mindless patterns on his skin, hoping this would give him enough of a reprieve to gather his thoughts. He took a deep breath and tried again. 

“Nothing is seriously wrong, but I— well I… worried about you.” This instantly caught your attention, and you looked up again almost without thinking, only to find his ruby eyes gazing back down at you with a softness you were just beginning to recognize.

“Alistair, I promise, I’m just fine,” you assure him.

“But… well… I noticed you didn’t eat breakfast this morning.” You tilted your head, wondering why that was such a cause for concern that he would willingly subject himself to the horror of checking in at your work.

“I was just running a little late and didn’t have time to make myself anything,” you explained, hoping that would ease his mind, “there’s always snacks in the break room, so I figured I’d have something when I got here.”

“I understand, but humans in your age group are supposed to eat three balanced meals per day, with the addition of one to three snacks. Lack of nutrients can result in many deficiencies, which in turn can lead to side effects like headache, dizziness, and trouble concentrating.”

You couldn’t stop the smile that was growing on your face as you listened to him recite this knowledge as though he had memorized it straight from a Wikipedia article. However, you seriously doubted Alistair’s ability to navigate the internet, since Carlisle had only recently convinced him to try using a flip phone.

“Where did you hear about this?” you asked, trying to remain serious and stifling the giggles that were rising in your throat.

“I’ve been reading Carlisle’s medical texts,” he responded with a furrowed brow, “I want to make sure I understand all the risks and ensure that I am prepared for every eventuality.”

If you hadn’t been completely in love with him yet, this would have undoubtably sealed the deal. He may be awkward and eccentric and even difficult at times, but he was trying so so hard to care for you in the best way he knew how. Although the whole situation was still incredibly amusing, you simply couldn’t bring yourself to laugh at him, even if it was all in affection. Instead, you raised yourself slowly to your tiptoes and planted a soft kiss on his cheek.

“Thank you for thinking of me,” you said as you lowered yourself back onto your heels. Your chaste kiss seemed to have frozen him for a moment, as he stood there completely still, his soft squeeze of your hand the only indicator that he was still present in the room. You let him recalibrate, and as he came back himself, he made a soft exclamation as though he had just remembered something. Reluctantly releasing your hand, he swung a small backpack off his shoulder. 

“I brought you some breakfast,” he explained as he pulled a jumble of containers out of the bag and placed them on your desk, “I tried to make sure I balanced all the proper nutrients to ensure you wouldn’t suffer any adverse effects from not having eaten this morning.”

You busied yourself with looking at all the containers of food to hide the tears that were welling in your eyes. You had never had someone care for you so completely like this before. Unfortunately, your plan didn’t work, since the awkwardly yet earnestly prepared food only brought more tears to your eyes. You had never expected that strangely cut fruit, mangled pancakes, and soggy cereal sitting in its own milk would make you cry with joy, but the amount of thought and care that had clearly gone into each piece of the meal was about to reduce you to ugly sobs.

You could feel Alistair watching you intently as you opened each of the containers, seemingly trying to gauge your response. When he couldn’t bear it any longer, he finally broke the silence. 

“If you don’t like it, I—I’m happy to go out and buy you something. I haven’t had human food in so long and even—even then I didn’t actually prepare it so I tried reading some of Carlisle’s recipe books but I think I still didn’t get it right—” 

“Alistair,” you didn’t normally like to cut him off, but you refused to let his anxious rambling sew any seeds of doubt in his mind. “It’s absolutely perfect – I can’t wait to taste it all!”

Alistair beamed at you then, a rare sight, but a welcome one.

“I just have one question though,” you said, and he looked at you quizzically, waiting for your inquiry. “Can I give you a hug?”

Confusion turned to elation on his face, and he spread his arms in assent and anticipation. You threw yourself on him, wrapping your arms around his neck as you wiped away a few escaped tears. His arms closed around your back hesitantly, like he wasn’t quite sure what to do with them, but his uncertainty seemed to fade as you melted into his grasp, and he wrapped you even more tightly in his embrace. 

Both of you were smiling when you finally pulled away. You settled into your desk chair and motioned to Alistair to pull up another. He sat just close enough that your knees could touch as you surveyed the feast before you. 

“What do you think I should start with?” you asked him.

“Maybe the pancakes? I’m rather proud of those.”

[bau-drabbles]

“you can tell me anything.” w any character of your choosing if you can? No pressure if you don't want to! 💕💕💕💕

this was so cute, i had to do hotch. i can't stop thinking about him 😩😮‍💨🫶

"y/n please go to sleep"

"fine" you huffed at hotch but then suddenly you giggled which resulted in a soft sigh from hotch. truthfully he would've entertained it had it not been for the lack of sleep the past couple days

"okay okay listen to meeee, listen. listen..." it sounded like you were drunk but there wasn't a drop of alcohol in your system. hotch knew the culprit, of course he did.

sugar.

more specifically, you and jack had a competition to see who could eat the most sweets and you obviously won. although now your darling boyfriend was paying the price of it, listening to your nightly rambles. nothing bad with it of course. it would've been all fine if it wasn't, again, 2am in the morning

"okay i gotta ask somethin, can i ask you somethin?" you giggle as you shift around so you're on your stomach, leaning on your elbows.

"you can tell me anything, you know that" hotch answers, his eyes closed but you know he's listening

"would you get any tattoos?" you ask, gently walking your fingers down his bicep. the pads of your fingers ever so gently graze over his skin, leaving a trail of goosebumps in their wake.

"tattoos? for what?" he asks, opening his eyes and raising his brows in question.

"just for fun. something about a man and his tattoos.... it's so sexy" you sigh dreamily, laying on your back again.

"it is?" he asks you, his voice a little more quieter than last time. he was suddenly very self conscious of himself, knowing he wasn't getting any younger. there was a bit of difference in age between the two of you and while you never cared, every so often he would catch a younger man looking at you and it made him feel so small.

why would you have him when you could have anyone?

"well yeah, something about em, it's just a turn on y'know?" you don't even know if it you're making sense, the exhaustion beginning to creep into your veins. but hotch turns to his side and looks at you, swallowing hard. he didn't want to let his insecurities get in the way. but it was a little hard to hear these sort of things especially when he didn't have any of them

"turn on?" his voice is so soft, you barely even hear yourself as he says it. his biggest fear is you waking one day, deciding that he was no longer good enough for you. it's why he put this relationship off for so long, not ready to be into another heartbreak. and when he found you, he fell first and so incredibly hard. how could he not? you were perfect in ever way

but now, he wondered if you had any regrets being with him. he wanted to know but he didn't know if he could fathom it either. the mature parts of him told him it was fine but that niggling voice in the back of his mind didn't give it a rest.

"yeah but..." you yawn, pulling the blanket up to your face, crashing down from your sugar high. you shift closer, breathing in his sweet scent as your eyes start to close.

"you're a much bigger turn on" you murmured into his neck, eliciting a soft chuckle from him. he breathes out slowly, a surge of love flowing through him as he glances at you. his hands come to hold you, stroking your hair gently. he brings your forehead for a kiss, cuddling you close. he was so so lucky for you, he could only hope one day you'd know deep down the extent of his adoration for you. but for now, he tucks you into the covers and fluffs the pillow a little.

"so are you" he whispers, thanks the gods you finally fell in a deep sleep. and his eyes follow suit, both of cocooned in the blanket.

[stoshasaurus]

i literally JUST discovered your ramv1 tag and I have to say I did not know I needed this and I am very obsessed. I am looking through the tag, and I'd really love to know where you got this idea and why you think they work, but my own speculation is because of how very different their stories feel, nearly opposites of each other. Ramattra wants Omnics to co-exist with humans, albeit probably away from them (as far as I remember, i have not read his lore in a hot second), while v1 is straight up slaughtering all life it comes across out of a need for fuel. So... very opposite from each other XD

either way, absolutely obsessed with this, no idea I needed this ship in my life

I love indoctrinating innocent bystanders into my cult.

Frankly, I have no idea how they came about. I like to claim that they came to me in a dream, or a strange divination, but the truth is just as vague because I literally don’t know. Even if I did know in the beginning, it’s been long enough that I don’t remember now.

I think it stems from them both being designed to kill. Granted, V1 comes from a world of machines that are built with the sole purpose of killing, while Ramattra comes from a world where his kind is really uniquely made for killing (yes, bastion and orisa units also existed, but there were tens, possibly hundreds of thousands, of completely docile brands of servant omnics. Ramattra and his brethren were merely a fraction of that population). So Ramattra feels like they share a bond in their purposes. Also, I think the ultrakill universe’s earth, albeit to a certain degree (he does have his limits for violence, unlike v1) kind of sounds like his ideal world. All humans dead? Robots rule? Sounds awesome (ignoring all of the other caveats).

It also probably stems from my religious need to ship my favorite characters together, and the often strange crackships that usually results in. That’s the more likely answer, to be honest.

My dynamic for them could potentially be one-sided, and sometimes is depending on how angsty I’m feeling. Ramattra is a mechanic, a man who designs his own null sector units, and probably admires the form and function of machines. My Ramattra is the biggest simp known to man in that he regards V1 as being the ultimate machine. A divinity, compared to him, one that moves quickly, self-repairs, and is one of the most efficient killers he’s ever seen. He loves it as a character but also as a machine, and worships it as its own deity, almost. In summary, he’d LOVEEE to stick his hands in there and see what makes it tick (in every imaginable way). Considering my V1 notably lacks personality (at least in my head. In art, that is very much not the case) it could be a very one-sided relationship. But because I am a sucker for sucrose in my ships, I imagine v1 regards ramattra as a beacon of safety, the armor that its lithe frame lacks, and a home that it can consistently return to and rely on when it is damaged or worn down. He helps it develop personality, and in turn becomes obsessed with what he regards as pretty much a god in mechanical flesh.

Does that make sense? God I hope so. These fuckers drive me crazy.

Anyway, if there’s anything else you’d like to know, PLEASE feel free to ask. Ramv1 drives me absolutely nuts since the moment it blessed my stupid little head and I will take any given opportunity to ramble about them. Or share your ideas!! I love hearing those too.

Thank you so much for this question.

[dearmura]

sight for sore eyes

cw. Mentions of self consciousness, mental breakdowns, academic stress, mild cursing

☆ genre. angst, comfort, fluff

☆ pairings. non-idol! Riki × fem! reader

☆ synopsis. Seeing y/n slowly lose herself in the midst of grades, riki brings you down to Earth and gives you much needed comfort (def not based on my own academic validation...)

🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤🖤

Babyyy

Are you busy:(((

Checking your phone with sigh, you peel your eyes away from your notes, smiling bittersweetly at his text. How you wish you had the time to give the boy the attention he deserves. Wish you didn't care so much about some goddamn numbers. Wish you could for just this once be happy and not beat yourself up. With a frown, you text back at an agonizing pace, forcing yourself to type the painful words he's heard too many times

I'm sorry babe

I have a test tomorrow I can't afford to flunk it :(

I promise we'll hang out another time

As you send the last message, a hot tear rolls down your cheek, knowing he didn't deserve these empty promises. You hesitate to put down your phone, desperately wanting to talk to the boy but you knew deep down you couldn't

A few seconds pass before another message rolls in, unlocking your screen, your eyes are met with a single word

Wait

At that point, you can't stop the tears from flowing. Sinking your face into your arms, you hold your head, breath hitching and hands shaking. Your hours worth of picture-perfect, font-like notes probably washed away by your tears but you didn't seem to care. You just wished you could be numb to it all

You ponder his message

Wait?

Wait?

What was that supposed to mean? Was he sick of your lame excuses? Sick of your inability to make time for him? Sick of your overachieving attitude?

Sick of you?

Your breath quickens impossibly. You knew you were overthinking, you always did. Getting self-conscious over little things like this? You're overthinking. Analyzing a question too much? You're overthinking. Asking too many goddamn questions because you can't fathom the thought you're not as perfect as you want to be? You're overthinking. You've heard it too many times to deny it, hell, you believed it yourself

If you knew you were overthinking, why couldn't you tell yourself that? After being told so many times, why did you still believe you weren't good enough? Why do you still beat yourself up day in and day out about dumb mistakes and things completely out of your control?

Because you were greedy. Greedy for it all. You hated to admit it but that word quite sums you up. Greedy for the No. 1 spot. Greedy for validation. Greedy for praise. Greedy for his attention. Greedy for someone who cared...

Well look how that ended up for you

Before you could think further, you hear a knock at the door, snapping you out of your thoughts. It's was 11 at night, who could be at the door? With a tear stained shirt, puffy eyes and red cheeks, you peek through the window only to see a figure undeniably belonging to your beloved boyfriend

Answering the door with a confused look, you immediately hear him rambling on

"I'm so sorry I took so long to get here. I didn't know so many convenience stores close so early. I hope you don't mind I got the party size chips, I sensed a long night so I thought we'd...need it" His eyes eventually meet your red ones. In an instant, he closes the door behind him, dropping everything in his hands and pulling you in a hug, chin resting atop your head, placing a kiss on your hair

The simple action broke down your dam walls, making you break out into full on sobs, clawing at his back desperately, almost as if doing so would ground you somehow, give you control over your own mind

"Shhhh that right, angel, let it all out" He whispers softly, rubbing soothing circles onto your back, holding your head in the crook of his neck as he caressed your hair

Feeling the warmth of his body, you hold him tighter, nuzzling your face into his neck, finding his cologne intoxicatingly soothing

After a few minutes, you pulled away, wiping your eyes with the cuff of your sweater

"T-thank you k-ki" you sniff, speaking through hiccups

"Take all the time you need, angel" he reassures you, rubbing soothing circles on your cheek with his thumb. You instantly lean into his touch

Leading you into your bedroom, he sits you down on your bed, holding your hands gently

You begin " 's just, 'm really stressed about school. I feel like I have no control over what's around me. I'm drowning in my own fucking mistakes. And you...I'm being so selfish, taking away your time and brushing you off whenever you want to hang out. I'm so so sorry, ki. From the bottom of my heart, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I'm not good enough for you. I'm sorry I care so fucking much for my grades and push you aside. Im sorry i-" As you feel another tear roll down your cheek, a pair of lips meet yours.

You can't help but melt into the kiss, straddling his lap and playing with the hair on his nape, another tear rolling down your cheek at the pure sensitivity. You needed the proximity, the comfort, the touch

He smiles against your lips at your desperateness, bringing his thumb to your cheek to wipe your tears before gently holding your waist

The kiss wasn't rushed or heated but rather slow and gentle. He knew just what you needed, reading your mind like it was his own

Slowly pulling away, he kept a hand on your waist, the other tucking a strand of hair behind your ear

"Angel, I want you to know that I'm so so so fucking proud of you. You never fail to wow me every day. And it really breaks my heart seeing you beat yourself up like this. How I wish I could be there to kiss these beautiful lips whenever you doubt yourself, angel. You may think you're flawed but you are quite possibly the most beautiful, most loving, most intelligent, more hardworking, most deligent girl I know. So don't you fucking dare doubt yourself. You're doing so good, angel, I really wish you could see yourself through my eyes. Wish you could love yourself as much as you love others. As much as you love me" He whispers the last part

"It's okay to give yourself a break, beautiful. Take care of yourself. You're life doesn't revolve around your grades. Yes it's important but so are you, angel. It's okay to mess up, it's okay to fall, I know you have the strength to brush it off and keep going. Chasing perfection is digging an endlessly deep hole for yourself that leads absolutely no where. As much as I call you perfect, you're not babe, but that's what I love about you. The way snot comes out of your nose when you laugh too hard. The way you sleep with your mouth open. The way broccoli gets stuck in your teeth. I love it. Love it all. Love you" He breathes out his words, eyes locked on your lips

You blush intensely at his words, hitting his shoulder before hiding your face with your hands

"You're gonna make me cry again, ki~" You whine is faux annoyance, making him giggle

Taking your face in his hands, he forces your gaze to meet his

"I love you so much, angel, never forget that" He speaks before placing a peck on your lips, getting up from your bed and walking toward your desk

"Now about that test, sounds like you need a study buddy" he clears his throat

"Number 1, what is the p...ur..pose of the mi...to..chon...y/n I can't read shit, what is medieval looking handwriting" he deadpans with a devastating smile

You burst into a fit of laughter, playfully punching his side at his words. He feigns an injury, dramatically falling back on the bed, grabbing you with him. As you both giggle, you lean into his ear and whisper a soft

"I love you too, darling"

Fin

[tales-of-wocdes]

I am OBBSESSED with your story, it's absolutely interesting! To be able to play as a troubled—and more than traumatized child is kinda fun and interesting to play with, added with the mystery of the MC's past and what it correlates to the last interlude. Not to mention, I picked my MC to have fox ears, with Harvard commenting I could be from a beastkin heritage or a kitsune... Is that foreshadowing I see?👀

Or maybe not, who knows ¯\_(ツ)_/¯, either way. I'm completely hooked! But that just leaves me a dreading question, but may be necessary. If someday in the future, you'd release the full game, will it be payable? Do you have to pay to play the full game?

The game is interesting story-wise, one I keep coming back to in days and hours on end. Checking it out for new updates or trying out other options in the game, the mechanics are also easy to get used to, although I would have some trouble getting out of, for example profiles that are long since I play on mobile, and the writing is honestly amazing! It's pretty neat, and humorous at times.

But, still. I hope you succeed in this game and make it out of the demo, and I wish you goodluck! This game is really interesting, and i'd be a shame to end it so quickly. I also love how you at times interact with us users, and answering our questions, and also giving us some sneak peaks! Or more information. Keeps us hook, and eager to wait for more of your stories🥰

Anyway, did I ramble on too much?😅

Thank you very much! I keep repeating it a lot, here in these answers and in the comments to the demon, but it is important to say. Hearing that people like my writing and story is quite motivating.

The beastkin/kitsune thing.... maybe.... ok yes, that is a thing I have planned. I don't have all the details locked but I imagine that MC finding out that they have kitsune heritage happens when it is needed to happen (obviously a choice).

Now time to get a little real about my process and plans. If you would rather not see behind the scenes, I will cut this off here. Because I learned how to do it :D Also long ramblings ahead.

In all honesty, I get ideas while writing. Then I implement those ideas and worry about all the consequences later... A strategy that bites me in the ass quite a bit :D But I like doing it. For example what I said about wings in the previous post. Or the twins and Lexia interlude was not all that planned. I just started writing.

Of course, some of it is planned but a lot of it only comes to me while actively writing. This is probably why my outlines suck :D Maybe I indulge my whims too much, but I do sometimes pull back. Like having multiple heritage features did not happen... Even if that was mainly due to the fact, I am not good enough at coding yet.... Besides the point. Well I have cut some stuff! Like a reaction to meeting Havard where you just sort of squint at him... had no idea where to go with that one.

Now onto a completed game. This is such a far thing into the future, have honestly not considered it much :D This game is planned to cover MC from this age to full adulthood (or young adult at least). That is a lot of time to cover, and as I have said, I refuse to rush. That is a lot of words to write, code, and then edit. It would make sense to make it something worth money.

Yet, the world is something I have had in my head for years and years. I started writing this because I like writing it. I published this demo, because I wanted to see what other people thought of this story. If they like it too. I answer people with such long ramblings because I like discussing this world. I feel like this is the key. I like doing and sharing this.

Right now I am in a situation where I can spend a lot of time on writing the silver protector, and for the past two or so months I have spend most of my free time on the story. That is a lot of hours. This is something that I feel I should say: there will be a time when my personal life does not allow me as much time to work on this. It will happen eventually, though I am uncertain when. That will mean that progress will slow down, even if I don't it to. Until then, I will keep writing because I like doing it.

Of course I have considered things like a patreon or a monthly subscription on kofi or... boosty, I think it is called. Yet I hesitate. Why? Because I am afraid of this becoming more like work rather than a fun enjoyable past time :D Nothing kills motivation than not liking what you do, and things you like can turn into things you don't like... I know this quite well.

Then there is the question of what would I offer those who would pay to support this project? I like giving sneak peeks here to everyone which is a thing people like doing on their patreons right? Progress updates? I don't do those as often but I do them once in a while. Yet, writing this story is a huge use of my time. There is no getting around that truth either. Can I justify it to myself? As long as I like doing it, I think I can.

If I do start a patreon or a monthly subscription thing, it will be for early access to the demo. Perhaps smaller updates instead of full chapters. Then later publish to everyone. See, I have thought about this, and clearly do not like pay walling the story content itself. It would be possible to offer extra content or cut off something like interludes to use as exclusive content, but I don't feel like doing that. All of that is good and fine, but I want to focus on the main story, and if I do interludes, it is because I feel they serve some purpose. Of course, having something like patreon would have a benefit of having a "test group" that would perhaps report bugs and typos to me. Maybe. This is all something to consider and eventually I will need to make a choice.

All right, enough rambling about me and how my brain works. Thank you for asking, and for liking the story so far. I wish you the best.

Don't worry about rambling. I believe the above, and how I tend to answer questions I get in general, shows I ramble a lot :D And I have called the demo, my ramblings too . But what can I say, I like discussing and interacting like this :D

[callsigncherub]

How about a kiss?

How about a kiss?

Summary: When your day goes from bad to worse, Rooster’s there to make it better <3

Warnings: None, just fluff!

Word Count: 932

The drive home in the gruelling San Diego heat was not what you needed after quite possibly the worst day you’ve ever had, let alone being caught in the standstill rush hour traffic.

From the get-go you could tell that today was not going to work out in your favour.

To start, after a busy week your exhaustion caught up on you the night before, the 6am alarm you usually set was long forgotten as you passed out after dinner. That deep in sleep that when Rooster’s alarm went off at around 5am you didn’t even hear it, dead to the world. Waking up late, no time for your morning coffee, leaving the house in a rush and dropping your keys trying to lock the door, the small inconveniences slowly building up your frustration, it’s safe to say you showed up to work in a foul mood. With a full day of meetings, you skipped lunch and just minutes before finishing shift your boss slammed a full stack of papers on your desk in preparation for next week’s schedule.

By the end of the day, all you wanted to do was just go home and relax. But instead, here you are, stuck in your car, with little hope of making it home at a reasonable time.

“Seriously? Today of all days?” You huffed, blowing a stray piece of hair out of your face. But of course, it wouldn’t budge, sticking to the thin layer of sweat starting to make its way across your forehead. The heat was uncomfortable, thighs sticking to the leather seats of your car and a prickly sensation radiating over your skin. Leaning your head against your window, the sun, way too bright penetrating the windscreen temporarily blinding you as you pulled down the visor which to no surprise made truly little difference at all. Searching for your sunglasses and eventually failing, your emotions wearing thin.

Eventually after what felt like forever the traffic started to clear and when you finally got home an overwhelming sense of relief made its way throughout your body to find your fiancé’s Bronco parked in the driveway. Rushing through the door you were met with the sounds of Rooster clattering around the kitchen singing his very own rendition of Queen’s ‘Somebody to Love.’

“Honey? Is that you?” Rooster called from the kitchen as you toed your shoes off and made your way over to where he was standing in front of the stove. “Hey pretty girl. How was your day?” he said, eyeing you up. The look on your face was enough to answer his question and immediately you felt your bottom lip begin to quiver – the day beginning to take its reckless toll on you.

“It was awful Roos, I woke up late, I’ve barely had time to eat today and now I have a shit ton of work to do before next week and then I was stuck in traffic on the way home and it’s so damn hot!” You rambled, gasping for air with each word. “Hey, slow down, slow down.” Rooster whispered, pulling you in for a hug that you very swiftly dodged. “No Roos its way to hot and I’m really not in the mood.”  You snapped.

Feeling guilty at your sudden outburst, the dam finally broke and the tears previously threatening to spill from your eyes were now furiously falling down your face, red hot and showing no sign of stopping any time soon.

So, being the laidback but ever so caring fiancé he is, Rooster held both of your shaking hands in his own and let you have your moment. He knew you didn’t get this worked up often and that by the end of the night you’d have forgotten about the terrible events of your day. But, for now he sat in silence and waited for you to calm down enough for him to make you feel better.

“How about I run you a cool bath?” He offered but you shook your head no and sighed, rubbing your eyes. “How about we order takeout and watch more of Gilmore girls?” but you didn’t say anything, and he knew exactly what to do. “How about a kiss?” he suggested, wiggling his eyebrows, and flashing you a wide grin. Giggling, you nodded, and he drew you into his chest kissing all over your face and neck, the scratch of his moustache tickling you before he planted one sweet kiss on your lips. “Feelin better now honey?” you beamed up at him and nodded, wrapping your arms around his neck. “I think I do want to take a bath and order takeout and watch Gilmore girls.” You said slowly, yelping when he picked you up and threw you over his shoulder, heading up to the bathroom, with you in a fit of giggles behind him. He placed you down on the bathroom counter and drew your bath. Once you were in, he joined you and you leaned back against his chest, letting the stress of the day slowly leave your body. “Thank you, Roos, I love you.” You said tilting your head back to look up at him. He looked down at you with an overwhelming feeling of love and adoration. “I love you too Mrs Bradshaw.”

At that you gasped dramatically and looked down at the beautiful ring that belonged to his late mother, perched on your finger. “Did I miss the wedding?” Bradley barked out laugh at your faked offense. “I’m sorry honey, how can I make it up to you?”

“Hm, how about a kiss?”

Taglist:

@roosterforme

@roosterscockpit

@minichrismd

@aistash

[miss-madness67]

The Law Firm (Sam one-shot)

Prompt: You start a new internship and your boss is kinda hot.

If I were to be even more nervous than I am right now, I would probably be shaking like a leaf. My hands are sweaty as I approach clumsily the entrance of the building. The first time I came here, was two weeks ago, when I had the interview for the internship position. If it wasn't for my nearly neat résumé, I might have not gotten the job. I tend to ramble a lot when I'm nervous, and it clearly was showing on the day of the interview. 

This is the moment I've been waiting for throughout my whole career; when I get to put into practice my knowledge about the law. Even if it means starting as an intern pouring coffee for my boss. Whom I have yet to meet. In the interview, they told me that I’d be working under one of the senior lawyers to learn and observe. Then, if I do a good job, they might consider promoting me to a junior lawyer. I am really excited about the things to come. Perhaps too much because as I climb up the steps of the building in a hurry, I almost fall over. A steady hand in my arm stabilizes me enough to gather my bearings.

“Oh, thank you, I'm sorry.” I don't know what I'm apologizing for.

“No problem,” I finish dusting off my pants and look up to the voice’s owner that saved me from embarrassment.

My face lights up a deep shade of pink at the gorgeous man who stares at me. He's quite tall, possibly the tallest of the people around us. His hair is long, shaggy, and brown. His eyes are warm and inviting. This man is possibly the most handsome one I've encountered in my whole life. When I come to the realization of this fact, I notice that he is still holding my arm and, as well as me, he’s scrutinizing my appearance.

With a light chuckle, he lets go of me. “We wouldn't want you falling to the ground, would we?” He points at the coffee I hold in my hand. Luckily, it didn’t spill.

“No, of course not.”

For a sweet moment, none of us say anything. Normally, I would thank him again and leave, but there’s something pulling me to make this interaction last longer. So I introduce myself with the most confidence I can muster. He seems to like my approach because he smiles brightly at me.

“I'm Sam Winchester.” The name tries to wake something deep in my brain, but my overly restless self cannot comprehend what it is.

“Nice to meet you! Are you new here?” I don't know what prompts me to ask such a question, maybe it's a desire not to be the only one starting today in a new environment.

He scratches the back of his neck awkwardly, but he doesn't seem to be in a hurry to go inside.

“Well, you could say that.”

“Great!” I beam at him. “That way I won't be the only one.”

He can hear the relief in my voice. “Come on, I'm sure it won't be that bad.”

I nod enthusiastically, “I know, but I always get super nervous on my first day.”

Sam smiles sympathetically. There’s something akin to hesitancy when he says: “I’m sure your boss won’t be so hard on you.”

I shrug, “I haven’t met them, but I heard they’re fairly young. Well, at least my supervisor is, I had a meeting with the big boss the other day, Bobby. He seems like a good man.”

He chuckles. “Oh, yeah, Bobby’s great… as for your supervisor, don’t worry, I’m sure he won’t be too hard on you.”

“Well, I certainly hope so. If you haven't noticed, I tend to make a fool of myself easily.” I want to add something else, there's this little voice in the back of my head that is pressuring me to ask Sam Winchester out, even though I just met him. Maybe because he's handsome, or because he seems to be kind-hearted, but I cannot shut up my thoughts. Normally, I wouldn't flirt with him after just one meeting. This isn’t a normal day, and nerves affect me almost the same way alcohol does; they give me a false sense of security and make me say things that I probably shouldn't. “So, since we’re both new, why don't we meet up for lunch?”

His eyes widen comically, but before he can answer, a voice coming from afar calls his name: “Ah, Sam!” It’s a young man wearing a pristine black suit, and he’s walking toward us. I've seen him before, I think his name is Brady. He was the one who led me into Bobby's office for the interview. “Oh, I see you met the new intern. Hi there, how are you liking it so far?”

“Hello,” I greet, “I haven't gone inside yet.” I discreetly check my watch to see that it's still early. “Sam was kind enough to help me when I almost tripped.”

“I see,” Brady nods, “Sam, huh?” The question isn’t directed towards me because he's looking at the tall man. Sam gives him a warning glance. I cannot comprehend what is happening until Brady speaks again. “Well, it's good you’ve already met your supervisor. He was promoted just yesterday. Honestly, it saves me the trouble of making introductions.”

His words render me speechless. What the fuck did he just say? Did I just flirt with my supervisor? Which is basically having the hots for my boss. Sam looks at me with an apologetic glance. I cannot meet his eyes. Brady mustn’t notice the silence his comment created because he continues: “I'm gonna head inside, see you later!”

His happy pace doesn’t falter one bit. I'm considering that maybe he was aware of what his statement would do.

“I apologize for my previous behavior… I didn't mean-”

Sam doesn't let me continue, “you didn't?” He ponders for a moment. “That's a shame, we would've had a nice time.” I can tell by the way his eyes shine and his mouth forms a gentle smile that he is not teasing me, but actually means what he's saying. “Why don’t you come by my office at 2 p.m. and then we can go grab some lunch?”

He doesn't leave room for opinions because he turns around and walks inside the building without another word. What just happened? Do I have a date with my boss? I guess this first day isn't as crappy as I thought it would be.

[justanamesstuff]

Didn't mean to hurt you baby - Matty Healy x f!reader

Matty is drunk and hurts her feelings with his words.

A/N: Had this in my drafts for a few weeks. I'm working on Chapter 8.5 but I needed a break from it. Hope you like it!! Reblogs, comments and all of that it's always welcomed ♥♥♥

Warnings: drunk rambles, mention of alcohol and weed, angst, hurt feelings, comments about bodies, Matty's a boob man, typos.

Word count: 1.8 K

Blog MASTERLIST

“Come on, sweets.” she said, trying to get Matty out of the car. After a night out with the rest of the band and their partners, saying that he was just drunk was very far from the truth. He was almost passed out from all he drank. 

“Mmm.” Matty mumbled. 

Answering to her commands, Matty leaned forward and almost meet the floor, tripping with his own feet. Y/n catch him by sneaking an arm around his waist, and passing his right arm to rest on her shoulders.

“Watch out, Matty.”

“Mm- sorry.”

She turned to look at his face, saying, “Can you walk or do you want me to help you?” 

“I can…” he answered, drawing out his words. Y/n nodded, so they started the short–but long with him in that state– trip towards the bed upstairs. Matty spoked again when his girlfriend managed to open the front door while holding his body, “Y’know what I’ve been thinking?”

“No, you want to tell me?”

“Boobs.”

Y/n suppressed a laugh, “Okay?” 

“Your boobs.” he clarified. 

“What about them?” 

They reached the bottom of the stairs, Y/n breathed loud, trying to gain enough force to push him up without him falling down the stairs. 

Matty and Y/n touched the first step. 

“They’re perfect.” Matty let his free hand touched the intricate patters on her shirt under her left boob. 

Y/n went to thank him for the compliment, “Thank you ba-“

But Matty interrupted her, “Not perfect perfect, but perfect for me…”

She couldn’t help to feel hurt after hearing his words. Y/n thought he liked her body and usually felt like he was obsessed with her breasts. Always sneaking his hands under her shirts and hoodies to touch her skin but especially the soft skin of her boobs. ‘Don't him love me any more?’, the question popped inside her head.

“Let’s get you in bed.” she didn’t acknowledge his words out loud.

Y/n felt like the stair had more steps than she remembered. 

Matty couldn’t seem to let go the topic, “They could’ve absolutely perfect if they were a tiny bit smaller….although I love them, I love you.” he talked directly to her chest.

“Are you talking to my breast, Matthew?” 

“I’m just in love with her, y’know?” his words making less and less sense.

“I can see that.”

Y/n managed to drag Matty to their shared bedroom. Matty fell on the mattress with a loud sound. 

“Okay, sleep. Now.” Y/n instructed him.

She took his clothes, leaving him to rest with only his boxers on. Matty closed his eyes when she tugged him in. Y/n quickly went through her night routine and joined him.

Matty felt her get under the sheets, “I love you.” he breathed out into her chest.

With his words still in her mind, Y/n hesitated to replied,  “I love you, Matty.” because she mean it, although her heart was swelling. 

……………………………………..

Matty woke up the next day. His head was hurting, his limbs weight more than usually, and his mouth was dry. Even though, her first realization that morning was the empty space beside him. 

Y/n wasn’t in bed.

The singer huffed and groaned more than necessary, letting the world know he was in pain and craved the touch of his girlfriend. He wondered where she went, or she had mentioned having to do something that morning. He couldn’t recall anything.

Y/n was seated on the kitchen table, the sun touching her factions, while she read something on her phone. She was perfect.

“Hi, baby.” he let his hands rest on her shoulders, approaching his face to her neck, breathing her in. 

“Hey.” she dryly said. 

“You weren’t in bed.” Matty pointed out, hugging her from behind.

“Had to do some laundry.” Y/n moved forward, feeling nervous in his embrace. “I’m going to run some errands now. We’re out of milk…” she moved away from him. Matty felt his stomach twist.

He looked at her moved around the kitchen, leaving her mug on the sink, “Okay, do you want me to go with-“ he started to offer. 

Y/n cut him, “No, it’s fine. Be right back.”

The sound of the door closing down let behind a very confused Matty. She hadn’t kissed him or even hug him. He felt hurt.

The frontman tried not to think too much into it. He walked towards the fridge. Looking for some eggs to cook, his hand found something. Milk. Matty stared at it, deeply puzzled. She lied? What’s going on?

——————

Late after lunch, Y/n made her way inside the house. The sound made Matty rushed out of his studio, startling her. 

“Hi!” Matty shouted. 

“Shit- Hey, you scared me!” Y/n brought a hand to her racing heart. 

Matty looked down at her hand. They were empty. 

“Sorry. Did you forget the milk in the car?” he wondered.

“What? Ah- Um…yeah, I’ll-“ Y/n started to turn around, avoiding his eyes.

“Y/n?” Matty asked.

“Yeah?” she reached for the handle, having him her back. 

“What’s wrong?” 

“Nothing, why?” Y/n quickly answered. 

Matty started walking, stretching the space between them, “Baby…” 

“Fuck.” she said under her breath, feeling her eyes watered. “It’s…nothing.” While inside, she debated to tell him or not.

“It’s not nothing if you hide from me, and run out when I’m around you.” Matty accused her from a few steps behind her.

“I’m not-“

“Y/n, please tell me. I’ll help.”

“I- This is stupid.” Y/n let a hand ran through her forehead. She turned around, taking him in. She went to say something but closed her mouth. Matty waited. With one more look to his eyes, Y/n sighed loud, “Do you remember anything from last night?”

He tried to think, but his mind was blank. 

“Not really, babe.”

“Mhm.”

“What did I do?”

“Why you think you did something?” Y/n let her hands touched the cold door behind her.

“Because you’re running away from me, my love.” Matty’s face softened, feeling like this was indeed a big deal. 

“You- It’s nothing major, you just made some comments.” She avoided his eyes.

“About?”

“Me.” Y/n choked a little.

Matty felt instantly bad, “What did I say?”

“You don’t really remember?” she almost pleaded. 

“I swear to god…” Matty approached her fully, taking her chin in his hand, forcing her to look to his eyes. “Even though I’m an atheist.” He tried to joke. “George brought this weed seed…that blown my mind, and it was a mistake to mix it with alc-“

“Matty.” she interrupted, exhausted with his long speech. 

“Sorry, sorry…I don’t remember, I swear!”

“Okay, I believe you. Thing was…” she looked everywhere around his face, but not his eyes. “You made some comments about my body, about my…breasts.” Y/n finally admitted. 

“Y/n, just tell me.” Matty tried to found her eyes. 

“Do you find me attractive? Like be the most superficial about it right now.” she dared to ask.

“Y/n? Baby…”

“Abstain yourself, answer my question.”

“I do! You’re the hottest chick out there…I- I don’t even know where to start without sounding like a total douche.”

“What about my breasts?”

“You mean my girls?” he wiggled his eyebrows. 

“Matty…”

“I adore them, you know that. If you allowed me, I’d have my hands and…or…my mouth there all the time. I’ll do it without skipping a bit. I thought you knew that.” Matty let his hand fell to his side.

“I thought I did…”

“Tell me what I said.” he requested.

“‘They are perfect…’”

“See?” Matty smiled wide.

She continued, “‘Not perfect perfect but perfect for me’ well, you…you know.” Matty went to interrupt himself, Y/n held a finger up. “They would be perfect perfect if they were a bit smaller.” 

“Y/n.”

“So now you know why I was avoiding you.” she stated, feeling her eyes stung.

“Baby.”

Her lip was quivering when she said, “You can’t comment on my body like that, Matty. I don’t care how stoned or drunk you were, are…you just can’t. Because over all morality, you hurt my feelings.”

Matty took her face in his hands, “Y/n, I'm so, so sorry, baby.” She didn’t say anything. “I’m a fucking asshole, a twat….fuck, I don’t deserve you, I really don’t. Please forgive me.” He approached his face really close to hers. 

“It was horrible to hear it from your mouth.”

“I know…I understand.”

“I’d never do that to you. You’re perfect in my eyes, Matty. Even when perfection is impossible.” Y/n moved uncomfortable on her spot.

“You’re perfect perfect in my eyes, baby.” he hid his face on her neck, sneaking his arms around her waist.

“Apparently I’m not.” her words made him leaned backwards. 

“Y/n…”

“I couldn’t sleep thinking about how you probably fancy another girls more than me…and you’re around models all the time-“

“Y/n, stop.” he begged. “I don’t want anyone the way I want you, I need you…body and soul. You’re my everything. I want to worship you, your body, for the rest of my fucking life. Please tell me how to fix this.” Matty dared to peck her lips softly.

“Don’t lie to me, Matty.”

“I’m not lying! I swear, I’m sorry- I just- please believe me when I tell you…”

“Matty-“

“Let me show you then.” he urged her.

“No, I’d be self-conscious.”

“I can beg.”

Y/n kept her silence. Matty stared at her eyes. She felt like he was sincere and continued fighting was a waste of time. Although she wanted to take the advantage she had at the moment. 

“Can you?”

Matty instantly dropped to his knees, without breaking the eye contact.

“Please, Y/n.”

“It’s not fair that you’re so pretty.” she whined, instructing him silently to move back up.

Matty kissed her fully. He felt completed once more after one long day of not having her. 

“I love you…I’m sorry for being such a shitty boyfriend.” he apologized.

“You're not shitty…there are things you have to learn, me too.” Y/n explained. 

“And I want you to teach me.”

“Sure.” she smiled.

Matty took a step back, looking down at her body, “I’m sorry girls.” going to press his face on her chest. The scene made her laugh, and Matty’s insides fluttered. 

“Such a weirdo.” she chuckled. 

“I love you too.”

“I love you. Next time I’m dumping your ass though.” she warned him.

“Yes, ma’am! There’s not going to be next time, I promise!” Matty left a trail of kisses reaching her neck.  

“Ok…although, there’s a lot of reassurance you have to do, Healy.” Y/n took her hand, leaving the entrance of their house. 

“With pleasure, my beautiful, drop dead gorgeous girlfriend.” Matty said, trailing behind her.

Y/n rolled her eyes at him, “Don’t push it.”

[redpenship]

How do you think the Restoration operates? Or rather, what kind of society you think the mobians live in?

For example, do you think they’re anarcho-capitalist (the Restoration works like an insurance company)? Anarcho-communist (the Restoration works by people just volunteering to work together for the common good)? Both? Or something else?

How do mayors factor into all of this? Do you think the mobian territories are just a collection of democratic city states?

I think the anarcho-communist label works better, mostly because I really like the idea of Mobians living in a moneyless society. Admittedly, this HC was based on a misunderstanding of the "no money" rule mandated by Sonic Team to comic/game writers, but I think it's more fun to imagine them as just not having any money period. Although, this only works by ignoring huge sections of canon, such as the Chaotix and the fact that the islands appear to have major urban areas, which tend to only exist when a surplus of capital has accumulated in a specific region. Anyways, I hate monetary theory and it has consistently been the least interesting political subject to read/write about, so I'm going to end that here.

Without money, how do you motivate a society to function? How do you end up with an organization like the Restoration? The answer is SOCIAL PRESSURE. Pretty much all values are learned, including the "every man for himself" variety of individualism that makes it hard to convince people to help others for nothing in return. Which means the opposite is possible, too. A functional anarcho-communist society, assuming they are collectivist, would be very good at making its people feel obligated towards helping the community as long as it is within their means. If we assume Mobians live in this type of society, then it would make sense that the Restoration would mostly be run by volunteers, especially if they felt an imperative to help victims of Eggman's schemes. So, in this case, your second explanation fits a bit better.

You can probably consider the islands to have a government/civil organization SIMILAR to democratic city states, although I tend to think they don't have a state at all. Hence where the "social pressure" part of the compulsion to contribute to society comes in.

As for the mayors, I'm not suuuuuper sure. Jewel being the "head" of the Restoration tells me that Mobians aren't entirely allergic to hierarchy, but whether or not Jewel can unilaterally impose her will over others due to her position is yet to be seen (I think). So that one is still up in the air a little for me. A mayor could exist to handle disputes, or more specifically have a specialized role where their job is moreso to see the big picture of the town and make sure everyone is being taken care of.

ty for the question!! sorry if this was a bit rambly, and i hope its a decent enough answer haha