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lavenderbexlatte · 4 years ago

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stray kids 13.4k words female reader insert Reader x DILF!Hwang Hyunjin EXPLICIT/NSFW

🖤 warnings: original characters (adult f and child f), single father, unhealthy family dynamics, relationship insecurity, oral sex (f receiving), vaginal sex, creampie, breeding/impregnation kink 🖤

🚨🚨 the unhealthy family dynamic warning applies to hyunjin and his parents, NOT hyunjin and his child! there are elements of emotional manipulation and emotional neglect of an adult child by his parents. please don’t read if you would find this content triggering!

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You prepare yourself for a lot of social what-ifs when you go to the grocery store, but a three-year-old almost taking you out with a headbutt to the knee isn’t usually one of them.

On this particular day, you’re standing in the coffee aisle, scanning the rows of beans, trying to pick between a new roast for your French press, or a new flavor for the automatic drip. You’re not having an easy time of it, either. They all look the same to you. And really, is a French vanilla that different from a caramel swirl? Why are some of these so expensive? They’re all just beans, aren’t they?

The coffee dilemma is taking up all of your conscious focus, so you don’t even hear the tiny footsteps clicking against the industrial tile floor. You don’t see the head of bouncing dark hair, barreling toward you. You don’t notice anything until a tiny body slams right into your leg, and little arms wrap around your knees.

You look down in shock, rocking back to steady yourself so that you don’t topple right over. Your phone nearly slips out of your hand, right onto the head of the very small human peering up at you with big round eyes.

It’s a little girl.

She has glitter extensions and a floor-brushing gown, looking royal and in control right down to the tiny Mary Janes on her feet. She doesn’t look confused or perturbed at all, not even bothered by clinging to a stranger like this. Well, that makes one of you.

“Hello,” the little girl says, her voice high but confident. “What’s your name?”

You tell her, and she nods wisely, in a way that looks incredibly bizarre for someone so young.

“Okay. I’m Minnie,” she says.

“Minnie,” your repeat.

The girl nods, her arms still clamped around your knees. “Like the mouse.”

She points at one of the barrettes clipped into her meticulously styled hair. It’s a flat metal cameo pin of Minnie Mouse, smudged with tiny fingerprints as if she touches it often.

“Cool,” you say awkwardly.

You reach down and gently unwind her arm from around you, freeing yourself, and you kneel down so that you’re at her height. She just looks directly at you, and you can feel the judgmental intelligence behind her gaze. It’s kind of scary.

“I’m three and three-quarters,” she tells you proudly.

“Where’s your grown up?” you ask her.

You don’t really think you’d be much help to this child. You certainly don’t want to have to be responsible for her for too long. Where are her parents, or whoever she came here with?

“My grown up?” she mulls it over, “You mean Daddy. He’s lookin’ at juice.”

“Why aren’t you with him?” you ask.

“Ran away,” she shrugs, “If I run, Daddy chases me.”

“Do you think Daddy likes chasing you?” you ask.

You immediately curse yourself inwardly for asking a preschooler a half-sarcastic question like that. You don’t know this kid from Eden, you can’t just mouth off at her. But Minnie is sharp, and she just smiles at you winningly.

“I dunno. Prob’ly not,” she shrugs again, and you marvel at the big attitude in this small person.

“What if he’s worried about you?”

“Then he should find me,” she answers.

And with that, the kid sits down cross-legged on top of your feet, settling her gown neatly around herself. You’re floored. Apparently, you’ve become the shade tree that this kid is gonna sit under until her poor father finds her. Are all little kids this weird?

You’re not sure what to do. If you move, if you take her and go searching, you could spend all day missing her father at every turn. That means you should probably just stay here and wait for her dad to come to you. At least this way you know the kid’s safe and not running around to meet strangers more dangerous than you.

You get back to your coffee dilemma, as Minnie just sits primly on your feet. It’s not like you could walk away without dislodging her, anyway. And as you pick out a package of coarse-ground beans for your French press, you hear it.

“Minnie!”

An exasperated voice, from the end of the aisle. You turn toward the sound, and the person that you see takes your breath away.

It’s a man, tall and slim, long legs in wide-legged denim. His hair is shoulder-length and blonde, the top half of it held back in a small ponytail at the crown of his head. His face is equal parts angry and relieved, dark thick brows furrowing. The guy is incredibly, distractingly beautiful. You kind of can’t believe it.

“Daddy,” Minnie pipes up, as if confirming it to you.

She leans back against your shins like you’re her personal throne. You look down at her, and then back up at the man as he approaches, dragging a half-full shopping cart behind him.

“I am so sorry,” the man is saying, “She has a mind of her own and sometimes-”

“I made a friend!” Minnie interrupts her father.

The man leans down and scoops his daughter off your feet, plunking her into the basket of his shopping cart.

“You’re in jail, princess,” he tells her curtly.

“I’ll get out,” she replies.

You’re sure that your jaw is actually hanging open several inches as the man turns back to you to continue his rambling apology.

“I really am sorry, um…” he pauses.

“(Y/N),” you fill in for him.

“Right. I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be,” you dismiss, “She just wanted to talk. And I wanted to make sure she didn’t get lost. More lost.”

The man grins at you sheepishly. “I’m Hyunjin, by the way.”

“Nice to meet you,” you say.

“I like her,” Minnie calls from her shopping-cart jail cell, “She’s funny.”

“That’s a high honor,” Hyunjin tells you soberly.

“I’m glad to finally hear that someone thinks I’m funny,” you say.

Hyunjin laughs. He has a nice laugh, sharper and shriller than you would have thought, but full and honest. He looks just like Minnie when he smiles. You’re thoroughly charmed.

“Well,” you say, tugging yourself back to reality, “I have some more shopping to do, so…”

“We’re friends now!” Minnie announces.

Hyunjin glances at his daughter. “You two are friends now?”

��Yes!” the girl insists.

Hyunjin returns his gaze to you. “I guess you’re friends now. Any chance you’re up to see us again sometime?”

“See you again?” you repeat, nonplussed.

“Just for coffee, maybe. A playdate?” Hyunjin’s grin is teasing.

“Doesn’t she have other friends?” you ask, “Friends who are more…three years old?”

“Oh, sure. but Min is an equal-opportunity befriender,” Hyunjin says, “She likes everyone.”

You really don’t know what to make of this precocious little girl who’s just declared you her new friend and her very indulgent but admittedly very attractive father. You might consider that he was hitting on you, except that he’s clearly just bending to the will of his very willful child, and that he’s way, way, way out of your league.

“Sure,” you say, finally.

“Cool.”

Hyunjin pulls out his phone and offers it to you with the keypad open. You enter your number and call yourself, and you save each other’s data into your phones. ‘Hyunjin (Minnie’s Dad)’ goes in as your newest contact.

“We’ll text you to make plans!” Hyunjin promises, as he wheels his cart away.

“See you later!” Minnie calls.

She waves furiously at you until the two of them round the corner to the left, toward the checkout counters. You’re left standing there with your package of coffee and butterflies in your stomach.

Just like that, you have a new friend.

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

When you do eventually get a text from the number saved as ‘Hyunjin (Minnie’s Dad),’ it’s abundantly clear which of the two is doing the texting.

‘hello!!!!!!’ ‘yo u have to wear’ ‘princess dress!!!!!’

It’s a Thursday afternoon, and you’re at work, sat at your desk overlooking the production floor. Your lunch is just about to end, the boys in assembly below are already getting back to it, and you need to make this quick before your next meeting.

Hyunjin must have helped with the spelling, but that is definitely a message direct from Minnie. You’re debating how exactly to respond to this message, when a call comes in, instead. You answer it.

“Hello?”

“Hi!” The voice on the other end is unmistakable.

“Hi, Minnie,” you say patiently.

“Did you get my text?”

“Of course,” you answer.

“Good. Wear your princess dress,” she says decisively. “Talk to Daddy now.”

The phone clatters loudly like it’s been dropped right on the floor, and you hear a shout in the background. You wince at the noise, but keep the phone pressed to your ear until Hyunjin’s voice replaces his daughter’s.

“Hey, sorry,” he says, “She decided that PJ Masks are more important than this phone call that she DEMANDED I make to invite you for coffee on Saturday.”

“Coffee, huh?” you repeat.

“Yeah, if that’s okay,” Hyunjin says.

You can hear real hesitation in his voice, and you’re quick to reassure him, “No, no, I think it’s cute. It’s okay.”

“She just never takes to strangers this fast,” Hyunjin explains, and you can’t quite fathom why that piece of knowledge makes your stomach swoop. “I wanna encourage her to see the world as kind of…safe and fun, y’know? Is that stupid? Like, she shouldn’t just run around with strangers, but she shouldn’t be afraid of the world, either.”

“That makes sense,” you assure him.

“We had a talk about it, I think she understands the difference.”

He’s kind of rambling at you. You wonder how often Hyunjin gets a chance to talk parenting with someone.

“No, really, I understand,” you say, “I’d love to do coffee.”

“Great,” he says, “You can meet us at this café…I’ll send you the address. It’s called Mama Dining.”

You’ve never heard of it, but you trust Minnie’s taste. Hyunjin, you can’t say for sure. But you trust that little girl with more blind conviction than is probably necessary.

“Okay, see you then,” you say.

“Cool.” You can hear Hyunjin’s smile in his voice. “Bye, (Y/N).”

“Bye!” comes Minnie’s voice, far away but loud, and you know that she must be screaming as loud as she can.

You laugh, and you hang up.

--------------- Mama Dining is a small glass-front piece of realty across from a folk medicine shop and underneath a square brick apartment building, a few metro stops away from the area where you live. It’s so stuffed full of potted plants and flowers in vases that there’s barely any surface area for anything else, but it’s clean and bright inside. The tables are mismatched with their chairs, and the whole place smells like coffee and sharp herbs and fresh bread.

It’s homey, that’s the word for it. Cozy, and homey.

You’d taken your pint-sized new friend’s advice to the letter, busting out one of the nice dresses that you save for special occasions. The last time you wore it was to a coworker’s wedding; it’s light and floaty and floral, a long floor-length skirt over a tighter inner slip. It’s the closest thing you have to a princess dress. But it’ll have to do.

You check your reflection in the glass as you pull the door open, bells tinkling above your head. As soon as you step into the café, a little voice shrieks at you.

“YES!”

Minnie is sitting at a table in the corner, in a different gown, her hair in an elaborate braided style, half-up and half-down. She’s looking at you with the utmost approval, and even though she’s a three-year-old, you still feel proud that you’re passing her test.

“A princess dress,” she says, satisfied.

“I tried my best,” you say.

You give a silly little spin on the spot, so that your skirt stands out for her, and behind you, someone laughs. You freeze, cheeks heating up.

“You look nice.”

It’s Hyunjin, because of course it is. You turn around to see him in casual jeans and a long sleeve tee, an apron tied around his waist. His hair is pulled back again, off his face. He’s gorgeous. But it kind of looks like…

“Do you work here?” you ask.

Hyunjin nods. “Easiest place to meet up is here, while I’m on shift. Hope that’s okay.”

“It’s fine,” you assure him.

“I’ll get you a coffee,” he says, “What do you like?”

You tell him your regular order, and he heads to the espresso machine to start it up.

“Oh,” he calls, over the sound of the grinder, “And if Judy comes in while you’re here, I’m sorry in advance.”

Judy? Your stomach does an awkward flip at the idea of him inviting you here if he has a girlfriend, or a wife. You don’t think you’ve seen a wedding ring on him, but…

Oh, well. Nothing you can do, at this point. You’re here for the kid, anyway, aren’t you?

You go over to the table where Minnie has set up camp, propped in a booster seat to reach the tabletop. She has a coloring book and a pack of glitter crayons in front of her, and you pull up the second chair to join her. Minnie stares at you for second, her cute upturned eyes so much like her father’s, and then she opens up her coloring book, flipping the pages as carefully as she can.

When she finds what she wants, she sets the book down and rips the page out. It’s a picture of a teacup and saucer on a table, with a pitcher of flowers behind it.

“This is yours,” she says, with the utmost seriousness.

“Okay,” you say, matching her tone, “Can I use your crayons? I didn’t bring mine.”

You kind of expect a kid as serious and assertive as her to be careful about her possessions, but Minnie just upends the crayon box onto the table.

“Yep,” she says.

She grabs a lilac color and dives right into her own coloring page: a dressing table covered in cosmetics and trinkets. You select a red crayon from the pile and join her, filling in the delicate pattern on your teacup.

You can’t explain why it doesn’t feel like babysitting, but it doesn’t. It feels more like…coexisting. Like this preschooler really is just happy to have your company.

What a weird kid.

Hyunjin comes over after a moment with your coffee. The café is empty aside from you three, so he sits down at the table with you, placing the cup with your drink down beside the precarious pile of crayons.

“Daddy can’t color,” the kid tells you.

“Really?” you ask, looking up at Hyunjin wryly.

Hyunjin raises his hands as if in defeat, “My talents lie in performing arts, not studio arts. Unlike this renaissance child, who can do it all.”

It’s obvious that Hyunjin adores his daughter. You can see it in his eyes as he watches her scrub her crayons across the picture, in the way he talks about her. You’re not around kids a lot, but you can tell that this little girl has a lot of love in her life. That’s probably why she’s so bold; outgoing, kind, and well-adjusted kids are usually well-loved kids.

You smile to yourself as you keep coloring, switching the red for a grey. And after a while, you’re aware of Hyunjin’s watching gaze focused not on his daughter, but on you.

Embarrassed by the attention, you look up and meet his eye. He’s just watching you, with a lopsided smile that shows all of his teeth and crinkly smiling eyes that emphasize the little mole under his bottom eyelid on one side.

“What?” you ask.

He gives himself a little shake.

“Sorry,” he says.

It seems like all he does is apologize to you when he’s done nothing wrong at all.

“I was just thinking, it’s really sweet that you’re here,” he admits.

“Sweet?” you ask.

He tilts his head. “Yeah. How many people do you know who would come across town just to hang out with a little kid?”

You take a sip of the coffee. It’s perfect. Maybe the best you’ve ever had. Is he even real?

“Well, she’s like the coolest person I’ve ever met,” you say, “Regardless of age.”

“Yeah, she is,” Hyunjin says fondly.

“I’m cool,” Minnie agrees.

The doors of the café open softly, and you and Hyunjin turn around simultaneously to see a young couple, maybe college students, seating themselves and talking softly. Hyunjin excuses himself to go help them, and you let out a breath that you didn’t know you were holding.

What are you even doing here?

Did you agree to come on this very strange playdate because you were so taken by a strange child that you felt the need to keep a promise you made to her? Or, on some level, did you just want to see Hyunjin again? Neither answer is particularly good. Or sane.

“You and Daddy can be friends, too.”

Your head snaps up when you realize you’d being addressed, and you regard Minnie. “What?”

“You and Daddy can be friends. You’re my friend, but Daddy, too.”

You hum, as if you’re really puzzling it over, when in reality you’re about to collapse from the embarrassment of this child inadvertently setting you up with her dad. Or maybe advertently. You have no idea how smart she actually is.

“How does it look?” you ask instead, holding up your drawing.

Minnie puts down her crayon and scrutinizes your picture as if she’s a museum collections pro scouting for art.

“Do pink flowers,” she says eventually, and she returns to her own drawing with the same intensity.

“Good idea,” you say.

You pick out a rosy pink color and try to will all your nerves about Hyunjin away. He’s just a new friend. The father of you new littlest friend. You can’t make this weird just because he’s good-looking. Hyunjin himself has vanished into the back kitchen, tucked away to prepare something. You can hear a stove going, cutlery clattering.

The café door opens again as you’re idly listening to the sounds of the kitchen. This time, it’s a middle-aged woman with a long black ponytail and a practical, motherly outfit. She greets the young couple cheerfully, and then she sets her eyes on you.

“My Min!” the lady coos, and Minnie looks up from her drawing.

“Hi. I’m coloring.”

“I can see that,” the lady says, coming up closer to lean on the table next to your casually, “And who is this?”

“(Y/N),” Minnie answers.

“I see.”

The woman is smiling, but her eyes are regarding you coolly, as if she’s sizing you up. You just offer her a nervous smile, unsure who this is or why she knows the kid.

Hyunjin emerges from the kitchen then, timing perfect, a plate holding a large grilled sandwich in hand.

“Oh, hey, Judy,” he says, on his way past to give the couple their lunch.

Judy? This is the Judy that he mentioned earlier? Not to be ageist, you think, but she seems too old to be Hyunjin’s partner. But romantic relationship or not, you can understand why he apologized on her behalf; she’s already giving you incredibly intense vibes.

“(Y/N)’s picture goes on the wall with mine, okay, Judy?” Minnie says suddenly.

“Sounds like a plan,” Judy agrees, “Now, is someone going to tell me who this young lady is?”

Moving very quickly and pretending that he’s not, Hyunjin rejoins the three of you over in your corner, setting a comforting hand on Judy’s shoulder. You can’t help but wonder if he’s doing it as a means of subtly holding her back.

“Min made friends with her at the store the other day after one of her famous mad dashes,” Hyunjin says. “And we figured the polite thing to do after that would be to invite her for a cup of coffee.”

“I see,” Judy says.

Her face softens at Hyunjin’s words, even though she’s still looking you over quizzically, like she can’t decide how to feel about you being there.

“Well, welcome,” she says, finally, “I’m Judy. This is my café.”

She extends her hand to shake, and you take it. Her hand is slim and pretty, heavy with a few jeweled rings and slightly roughened on the fingertips from hard work.

“She takes care of us,” Minnie pipes up.

“I try to,” Judy agrees. “They need all the help they can get.”

“I resent that!” Hyunjin says.

“But really, I just use this pretty face to attract customers,” Judy continues, waving a hand at Hyunjin.

He squawks his outrage, and you can’t help the smile that creeps over your face.

“The teens see this face and they come right in. It’s like magic,” Judy says, as if she’s being purposefully oblivious to how much she’s embarrassing him.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you,” you say.

And you mean it, too. Hyunjin obviously has an unconventional support system going on, with this woman who he introduced by her first name and not by her relation to him. It leads you to believe they’re not blood-related or anything. It doesn’t really matter, though. She seems nice, if not a little protective.

“Nice to meet you, too,” Judy says, with such heavy finality that you feel as though you’ve just cleared a hurdle.

And from the way Hyunjin’s whole body perks up at her words, maybe you have. Why do you get the feeling that this was the equivalent of a meeting-the-parents moment?

As quickly as the atmosphere had heightened, it settles back to the lazy calm it was before. Judy pats Minnie’s head fondly and disappears into the back of the café, not to reappear. Hyunjin returns to his work, and you take back up the task of neatly filling in the coloring page, careful not to upstage your tiny host and her not-quite-developed motor skills.

It’s a slow afternoon.

The young couple eats their lunch across the room, adding only a quiet hum of activity to your surroundings. Minnie tells you stories while you work, regaling you with the deep inner workings of preschooler life.

“Their names are Sage and Ginger!” she’s saying happily.

You haven’t been listening closely enough, clearly, because you’re stumped. “Whose names?”

“The babies!”

“What babies?”

“From Blue’s Clues & You,” she huffs.

Oh. You vaguely remember the original Blue’s Clues show, but you can’t say you know exactly what she’s talking about. Is she talking about…the sentient salt and pepper shakers? Do they have babies? Why do they have babies?!

“That’s cool,” you say, with level enthusiasm.

Minnie looks at you flatly, but accepts your words with a nod. “They’re cute. So little!”

It goes on like that, bits of kids’ programming trivia and input on your crayon color choices. The couple leaves, and you can see Hyunjin zeroing back in on you as he lets them out with a wave and a call to come back soon.

“How’s it going?” he asks.

You pick up your drawing, for him to see. You’ve been finished with it for a while now (it’s a children’s coloring book, so it’s not all that intricate) but you don’t want to appear unengaged, so you’ve been going over your lines and blurring out the crayon marks. His eyes crinkle up with joy at the sight of it.

“Done!” Minnie announces.

She brandishes her own drawing, too, and Hyunjin beams at the two of you with equal pride.

“Can I put these up?” he asks.

“Together,” says Minnie.

“You got it.”

He takes both rough-edged pages and whisks them away to the counter. Behind the register, on an expanse of wall, there’s a collection of doodles and coloring pages that you hadn’t noticed when you walked in. They must all be Minnie’s; the bold coloring strokes are all the same, her heavy hand immortalized in wax and marker and glitter pen.

Hyunjin tacks up the pictures side by side on the wall.

It’s the tiniest gesture in the world, really. You can’t even count how many scraps of paper, how many school notebooks and work memos that you’ve scribbled on over the course of your life. You’ve colored kids’ menus at restaurants, done detailed adult coloring books at mixers. Somehow, this one ragged coloring page tacked to the wall of a café seems like a turning point in your life.

You wonder when you got so sentimental. It’s silly, but it’s there; warm happiness in your chest.

When Minnie begins to wilt, saying in not so many words that she’s getting tired, you know that your playdate time is coming to an end. It’s only been an hour and a half, maybe two, but that’s an awful long time to keep such a young kid occupied on one activity. You’re proud of yourself, honestly.

“She’ll go down for a nap soon, before dinner,” Hyunjin tells you softly, “You can head out if you want. I don’t wanna monopolize your day.”

“I think I will,” you agree.

It’s been a nice time, but you’re not one to overstay your welcome.

You say goodbye to Minnie, who insists on giving you another crushing full-body hug, and you make it all the way to the door before you realize Hyunjin is following you.

“What are you doing?” you ask.

“Walking you out,” he replies.

“I’m just going to my subway stop.”

“Then let me walk you to it,” he says.

You struggle to hold back your smile at his easy grace. “Okay, sure.”

The two of you set out into the afternoon, side by side, for the short walk from this inner part of the neighborhood to the metro stop that will take you back home. The breeze tugs at your skirt and ruffles Hyunjin’s apron, and you can’t help but sneak sidelong peeks at him as you walk.

“I hope Judy didn’t scare you too much,” he says.

“She’s intense. But I can tell that it’s out of love,” you reply.

He laughs at that, and you continue your slow meander down the unlined streets.

“She’s like an adoptive mom to me,” Hyunjin tells you. “I’m lucky to have her.”

“Oh,” you say, curious but knowing that you shouldn’t ask.

The two of you walk a while longer in your quiet bubble, but eventually, Hyunjin sighs.

“I don’t talk to my parents,” he says, “It’s not that crazy. Just how it is.”

“You don’t have to tell me more if you don’t want, I understand.”

“And now I’m oversharing. Sorry,” he winces.

You shake your head, “It’s not a bother, I just won’t pry.”

Hyunjin considers this, and nods. “It’s just me and Min, so Judy’s been a livesaver. Mom and auntie and grandma all in one.”

Just him and Min, which means no wife and no serious girlfriend. That makes you feel a bit better. You’d hate to get in the way of a serious relationship, even indirectly. Minnie is a nice kid, and you like her, but you’re not her nanny or her babysitter or anything. You’d hate to be that kind of person, shoving yourself into a family where you have no business being.

“But…I wanted to know…would you wanna hang out again?” Hyunjin asks.

You laugh gently. “For Min? I’d walk into traffic. Yes, I’ll hang out again.”

“Not with Min,” Hyunjin says, voice soft and hesitant. “With me.”

The word that falls out of your mouth before you can stop it is, “Why?”

Hyunjin snorts, and then breaks out laughing, harder than you’ve ever heard him laugh.

“Because I think you’re cool?” he says eventually. “You’re cute and you like my kid, which is more than I can say about ninety percent of the people I meet.”

This was not part of the plan. Not that you had a plan, but come on. You were here to hang out with a super weird toddler, to entertain a precocious little girl because it’s cute and fun, not to be asked out by her dad. Her gorgeous dad, who’s so out of your league that it makes your head spin.

You spare a thought to wonder if he’s playing a prank on you.

“Unless…” Hyunjin draws away from you (when did he get so close?), “Unless you’re already seeing someone? God, I didn’t even think – I’m sorry, I just-”

“No, you cut in quickly, “No, I’m not-”

“Am I being weird? I’m being weird,” he laughs, and he almost sounds…nervous?

“You’re not being weird,” you assure him, “You just surprised me. I didn’t think…”

“Then you’ll go out with me?” he asks.

“Yeah,” you say, surprising yourself, “Yeah. I will.”

Hyunjin’s smile is the fucking sun coming up. It warms you right down to your toes.

“I’ll call you,” he promises, “I’ll call and we can make plans.”

“Okay,” you agree.

The dimly-glowing sign marking the subway entrance looms ahead, and Hyunjin falls back, as you approach the down escalator.

“I’ll call you!” he says, again.

You wave as you go down the escalator, and once he’s out of sight, you practically melt. You have no idea why life is throwing you this curveball, but you’re not complaining.

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

True to form, it’s Minnie who calls you some days later. Not Hyunjin, the adult who presumably has control over the phone and has to dial the call. No, it’s the toddler whose voice filters over the line, the toddler who is undeniably and ultimately in control of her father’s whole world.

“Hi, (Y/N)!”

“Are you supposed to be making calls?” you tease.

“It’s okay, I have a mission,” she tells you.

“A secret mission?”

“Maybe…” Minnie’s voice pulls away from the phone, and you can hear her shout, “Daddy! Is it a secret mission?!”

Hyunjin’s voice calls something in reply, and then Minnie returns.

“Yeah, a secret mission,” she says.

“What’s your mission?”

“We gotta know, do you like Japan food or Italy food better?”

“Hmmm,” you think out loud, “I think I just like food.”

“Me too,” Minnie agrees, “I just like food.”

There’s another shout from Hyunjin that you can’t make out.

“Daddy says it’s gonna be a s’prise, then,” Minnie reports.

“Surprises are fun,” you say.

“It’s okay?” she asks.

“It’s okay,” you confirm.

“Okay! I gotta go. Talk to you later!”

Minnie hangs up, and you burst out laughing so hard that tears pool at the corners of your eyes. She manages to make it sound like she has a high-powered meeting that you’re keeping her from. How does she hide all of that thirty-five-year-old boss energy in her cute little self?

But more important than the absurd circumstance of the call is the outcome. You’re going on a real date. With Hyunjin. You try to pretend that a whole swarm of butterflies haven’t hatched in your gut.

You have a date with Hyunjin.

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

The date goes well.

It goes incredibly well, in fact. If you thought Hyunjin was pretty and charming when he was in more domestic setting, with his kid and at his job, that was nothing compared to fully-focused-grownup Hyunjin on a date.

He dresses well, he’s funny and he’s gentle, he nearly cries because the dish you order to share is too spicy for him. He’s got all the puppylike charm of the young man that he is, and this underlying tired seriousness of the doting single father that he is.

You argue with him until he lets you split the bill for the meal, and he gives you a gentle kiss on the lips when he leaves you at your subway stop. It’s like a fairytale.

So you go out again, and again, and again, still. Sometimes it’s barbeque in your neighborhood, at an outdoor restaurant with great side dishes handmade by the older couple who own the place. Sometimes it’s just coffee and a long chat at a 24-hour café. You haven’t been to his home, yet, and he hasn’t been to yours, but it’s refreshing to just take things slowly with him, when the rest of life moves so fast.

Underneath the fun of being with Hyunjin, though, is the doubt.

Everything you see makes you more and more certain that he’s not a real person. He’s a dating sim come to life. He’s so good-looking that teenage girls stop to whisper and giggle about him, and passing aunties give him bold compliments. Dogs like him, service staff like him, little kids like him. And you understand it; you like him tremendously.

You’re not entirely sure why he likes you, though. Compared to him, you’re kind of reserved, kind of plain. It’s not that you don’t like yourself, but you’re a cottage to Hyunjin’s skyscraper, a woodwick candle to his disco ball. Just different realms entirely.

It doesn’t matter, you suppose, because regardless of his motivation or your understanding, you’re spending more and more time with Hyunjin, and Minnie.

You learn that it’s Hyunjin who does her hair every day, creating looks with pins and braids and tiny ponytails. He grew out his own hair to the length it is now to practice on, he tells you one day. You learn that Minnie only likes crunchy vegetables, raw carrots and the stems of lettuce, and that she can inexplicably eat much spicier food that her father can.

You’re comfortable being part of the mundane. But Hyunjin seems to have different aspirations for the two of you, in your casual and fluid relationship, still without titles or formalities.

“I want to take you somewhere nice.”

You glance up from your laptop, blinking to get the fuzziness out of your vision at you look at Hyunjin where he leans over the prep counter. It’s a weekend, but you have a pile of leftover work to get through before Monday, so you’ve set up camp at the café for the afternoon. Hyunjin is on shift, and he’s been slinging you snacks and coffees between customers. It’s been just the two of you, work obligations notwithstanding, and it’s been��domestic.

“This isn’t nice enough?” you quip.

“You know what I mean,” he rolls his eyes, “Like a real date.”

“Oh, so now you’re saying the first half dozen dates weren’t real?”

Hyunjin sticks out his thick lower lip in a pout. “What happened to the shy awkward person I met at the store? Bring her back, please, this (Y/N) is mean to me!”

You laugh. “Where did you want to go?”

“There’s this place I haven’t been to in years. It’s really nice, my aunt used to take us back when family outings were more my thing,” he says.

“Sounds okay,” you decide.

“You’d have to dress up,” he warns, “Like, for real. I’ll have to dig out a suit.”

“That’s fine.”

You turn your attention back to your laptop, trying to hide your flustered face at the idea of Hyunjin cleaning up extra nice for you, Hyunjin in a fitted suit and shined shoes. He might notice it anyway, though, if the smile that lights up his face as he turns back to the kitchen is any hint.

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

It’s decided that Hyunjin will pick you up from work and drive the two of you to your first fancy date. So that morning, you hitched a ride with a coworker so as not to strand your car at the office overnight, carrying your change of clothes in a bag. The downside of that was having to explain to your coworker what necessitated the change, and your team quickly found out that you have a date. The teasing hasn’t stopped all day, good-natured ribbing all during your shift, about stoic, shy supervisor (Y/N) going on a hot date with a mystery man.

You stand in front of the full-length mirror in your office’s nice bathroom, the one reserved for visitors who can’t pee with the staff. The one with potpourri on the counters and immaculate tile floors. You’ve gone for a menswear look yourself, wide-legged slacks and a silky blouse, and heels. Hyunjin’s already seen you in a nice dress, you figure, and besides, clinging to the businesswear that you already don at work gives you just a bit more nerve.

Somehow, a date at a nice restaurant that holds some sentimental value for him is more serious than anything you’ve ever done, more intimate than splitting cakes at the café and watching Minnie force the other kids to take turns on the slide at the playground.

You adjust your French tuck just a bit, make sure that your necklace hangs neatly, and deem yourself as good as you’re gonna get. You walk out of the bathroom, bag now holding your work clothes tucked under your arm, only to see a whole group of your production team boys waiting for you.

The company where you work is a decently large tech manufacturing plant, and as a production manager, you oversee a team of techs and assembly workers who tend to be on the younger side, and much more often are young men close to your age. They’re all nice boys who you’re quite close to, but they’ve already been on your case all day. Several of them are right here in the hall, now, ready to make fun of you the way that annoying little brothers are meant to do.

“Jeez, (Y/N), out for blood,” says Taehyun, his silica filter mask hanging off one ear.

“Don’t be gross,” you say, rolling your eyes.

“It’s true, you’re really going all out for this date, huh?” adds Jeongin.

“Quit it before I vom and then report you all to HR,” you say.

“Oh, come on,” says Taehyun, “I’ve worked for you for like two years and I’ve never seen you have fun on purpose before.”

“That can’t be true,” you argue, walking toward the front of the building with your little line of assembly-boy ducklings following behind.

“On your birthday, you asked us to get you a firm handshake and a new set of pages for your planner,” Jeongin deadpans.

“You’re Ron Swanson with tits,” Jaemin says.

“Charming,” you glance at him, and he shrugs.

“It’s true.”

Car headlights shine in the picture windows that span the front of your building, and you can make out a small red car sitting in the visitor’s parking right by the door.

“Please don’t embarrass me,” you implore the boys, as you haul open the heavy glass door to let yourself out.

“We would never do that,” Jeongin says, defensive.

“Maybe we should talk to your date, though,” Jaemin suggests, “Rough him up a little.”

“Yeah, please don’t ever do that,” you say, “I’m leaving now.”

The driver’s side window is rolled down, and you can see Hyunjin leaning out, waving to you. You walk around to the passenger’s side of the car as fast as you can, giving your stupid underlings as little time as possible to ruin things.

You slide into the seat and slam the door behind you right as you hear one of the boys yell, “GET HER HOME SAFE. BY TEN.”

“Oh my God, go, drive away,” you groan.

“Who are they?” Hyunjin asks, amused, as he backs out of the parking spot.

“They work for me,” you say. “They wanna intimidate you, I don’t want to talk about it.”

“They must really like you,” he says.

“No, they just really like being annoying.”

Hyunjin laughs, glancing at you as he maneuvers onto the main road.

“You look really great,” he says, sounding a little bit shy.

“Thanks.”

“The restaurant isn’t far,” Hyunjin says, “But I wanted to look cool and drive you.”

“I already think you’re cool,” you tease.

“Well if you’d told me that before, we could have called a cab,” he says.

“Nah, I wanted to see your car,” you say, turning around in your seat to get a full view of the interior, “Big pink carseat and all.”

“Min’s constantly telling me to just get a pink car to match,” Hyunjin says, “I don’t know if I could pull that off, though.”

“With your good looks and princess hair? I think you could.”

“Good to know. Next car, pink,” he says.

Hyunjin wasn’t lying about the restaurant being close by, because the whole drive is less than fifteen minutes. You’ve barely relaxed when he pulls up to the street parking outside a modest building with a pretty marquee and rough brick siding.

“This is it?” you ask, peeking out at the building.

“Yep.”

You scrutinize the restaurant as two of you get out of the car, and you can tell instantly that it’s an upscale place. Everything from the valet in front to the fabric of the curtains reeks of steaks that cost a paycheck and truffles in every possible dish. You’re kind of excited for it.

The maître-d greets you warmly, and brings you to a table against the window, with a view into a small back garden full of lanterns and lit trellises. The table itself is a delicate wooden thing, with full-course silverware and origami napkins. Candles dance on the tabletop, a single red rose in a vase brightening the whites and silvers of it all.

Hyunjin must know a thing or two about romance, because you’re properly wowed. It’s so stereotypically wonderful, it makes for a great sixth-or-seventh date. You’ve known him long enough that you know he’s not trying to blindly impress you, but just to treat you.

You wonder what kind of family he has, that they would bring him to a place like this as a kid or a teenager.

When the waitress, a pretty young woman in server’s blacks, comes over, the two of you order from the set menu and argue only a little about what dishes to taste and what wine to have.

“They’re barely Brussels sprouts,” you’re saying, “They’re covered in oil and bacon and shit.”

“They’re green vegetables,” he counters.

“They’re gourmet, don’t be a baby.”

Starters come and quickly disappear.

The main course comes, and by this point, you’re a glass or so of wine deep, and Hyunjin is only looking more and more handsome, as your stomach starts to be comfortably filled and the drinks warm you up from the inside.

Hyunjin’s gazing at you between bites of his dinner, expression so soft that you wonder if he’s gonna lean right across the table to kiss you. It’s tender, it’s lovely, and it’s unlike any other date you’ve ever had.

But a woman’s shrill, furious voice shatters the entire atmosphere with a single sharpened word.

“Hyunjin?!”

It’s almost comical, the way Hyunjin freezes with his fork halfway to his mouth, eyes wide and startled. It’s only almost comical, because this emotion seems to be very real fear on his part. He keeps his eyes on his plate, but you look toward the sound.

There’s a woman approaching your table, thin and elegant and beautiful. She’s got only the faintest age lines on her perfectly made-up face, and her clothes are designer, a plum-colored dress that brushes her knees and a handbag worth more than your whole closet. She doesn’t even spare you a glance, zeroing in on Hyunjin as she comes to stand right beside the table, puffed up in self-righteous anger like a provoked bird.

“Hwang Hyunjin!” she barks.

Hyunjin turns his head so slowly that you wonder if he’s even moving at all, until finally he’s looking at her.

“Of all the places – what on EARTH are you doing?!” she asks him, tone stiff and angry.

It’s the kind of tone that you can imagine her using to yell at waitstaff, or berate the hotel bellhop. She’s that kind of wealthy, you can just tell. You’ve been dodging people like this your whole adult life, working your way up in the tech field, littered with its new and old money. You glance at Hyunjin, but the urgency in his face tells you to hold your tongue.

“I’m eating,” he says finally.

“Your aunt told me you were still in the city,” she says, “I can’t IMAGINE what you’ve been up to that you haven’t had time to even call, the nerve-”

“Mother,” Hyunjin says evenly, “You’re interrupting a nice time.

Mother. This is Hyunjin’s mother?

As if she’s just noticed that you’re there, she rounds on you. “And who is this?”

The disgust in her voice makes your stomach twist unpleasantly. It’s been a long while since someone has been so openly dismissive of you. Not since you were a student, you think, but God does it hurt.

“This is my date,” Hyunjin answers.

His words are clipped, like he really doesn’t want to say more.

“Well, obviously,” his mother sniffs, condescending, “What is her NAME?”

“You don’t get to know that,” Hyunjin says.

You know that Hyunjin is distant with his parents. He’s mentioned that they don’t talk anymore, and that they don’t really know his daughter at all. But it speaks volumes that he doesn’t even want his mother to know your name.

“And where did you meet this shining example of gilt wood pretending to be gold?” she asks, “The community center? The food bank?”

“There’s no need to be mean,” Hyunjin says, much more calmly than you would be able to, “We’re trying to have dinner. You should leave.”

“I’ve finished my meal. I’m on my way out,” his mother says haughtily, “But I saw you and I needed to come say something.

“No, don’t let us keep you,” Hyunjin says, gesturing toward the exit with his still-full fork.

“Hyunjin, when are you going to give up this ridiculous act and come back to make things right?” she asks, and though the tone is sincere, there’s no warmth behind it.

“Never,” he replies, “Things are just the way I want them.”

This woman, in her all finery and dignified air, stamps her foot on the ground like a child having a tantrum.

“You’re making a mockery of our family, you know that, yes?” she asks.

“You’re the one yelling at me and embarrassing yourself in a restaurant full of people,” Hyunjin points out.

“You are an aggravating and ungrateful child,” his mother hisses.

“Maybe,” Hyunjin agrees, “But I’m happy.”

Perhaps sensing that she’s starting to make a scene, his mother glances around at the other patrons, who are trying to hide the way they’re listening in with varying levels of success. Your waitress is lingering by the edge of the service floor, eyes glued on the scene.

“You’ll come to your senses,” she promises darkly. “And you’ll come begging for my help. We’ll see if I take pity on you then.”

And with that, she turns around and stalks toward the exit, not even pausing as she barks at the valet to bring her ride around. You watch until she’s outside and out of sight, and then you focus on Hyunjin.

His hands are shaking so badly that his fork clatters against his plate. You reach out and cover his hand with yours, easing the fork out of his grip and laying it down. You feel horrible, and kind of sick, but you know that between the two of you, Hyunjin is worse, so you have to push that discomfort down, just for a while.

“Let’s finish our dinner, okay?” you say, “And then we can talk about this.”

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

The rest of the date isn’t agonizing, but it is uncomfortable. You chat, and joke, albeit without the same easy grace as before. Seeing his mother, and having her speak to both of you that way has really seemed to rattle Hyunjin more than a confrontation usually would.

You settle the tab, splitting it like you always do, and then you find yourselves on a bench outside the restaurant, set away from the main road. It’s dark, and it’s chilly, but it’s comfortable with the gentle atmospheric music from the restaurant marquee and the sounds of traffic.

“Min’s mom wasn’t ready for a baby.”

You glance at Hyunjin at the sound of his voice. He’s fiddling with the cuffs of his blazer, still looking distinctly unsettled.

“Neither of us were,” he amends.

“Was she a hookup?” you ask.

“A girlfriend,” he says, “But not…she was just a girl from a good family. Someone my parents thought would be a good match, so we dated for a long time.”

“A good match,” you repeat, “A good match for you?”

“A good match for the family,” he says bitterly.

“What does that matter?”

“Oh, it matters. Way more than what I want,” he says.

“They’re really rich, aren’t they?” you ask, thinking about his mother’s clothes, and her attitude, and pretty much everything about her, “Your parents, I mean.”

“Disgustingly rich.”

“Oh.”

“She’s a really nice girl, a good person. But she really didn’t want to be with me forever, and she certainly didn’t want a kid,” Hyunjin says.

“So what happened?” you ask.

“She broke things off when she got pregnant, which made both of our families pissed beyond belief. The proper thing to do would have been to get married, right? But instead she ended the relationship, and moved home,” Hyunjin says, “They took care of Min for like a year and a half, her parents and a nanny.”

“Not the mom?”

Hyunjin shakes his head. “She just didn’t want a kid. Which is okay, more than okay. Our parents were the ones who wanted to keep the pregnancy, not her. I just wanted everyone to stop fighting.”

You just nod. Hyunjin is keeping this story so purposefully vague, not dropping names or placing blame or really showing any anger. You wonder how much time he’s spent thinking about this story, or telling it in different ways. He seems almost desensitized to it all.

“When Min was almost two, her mom asked if I would take on full custody so she could sign away her parental rights and be out of the picture for good. And I figured,” Hyunjin laughs bitterly, “I figured, better to have one parent that loves you the most than two while one is half-assing it.”

“No, I can see that,” you say.

“Minnie lived with me at my parents’ house until they realized that my ex was never coming back. They always figured we’d get back together.”

“Why?!” you ask, incredulous.

Hyunjin looks at you. “Because that would be the dutiful thing to do. Get married, stay together for the kid, avoid any embarrassing attention on the families.”

“Even if that meant you were both miserable forever?”

Hyunjin turns his gaze back at the ground, sighing. “My parents said they wouldn’t support me if I couldn’t even do that one thing right and convince my ex to do right by the families and marry me. But I wasn’t gonna force her. She’s a good person. just in over her head, and scared. And I can’t blame her for that. I can’t forgive her. But I understand.”

“So, what, they kicked you out?”

“Kicked me out, cut me off,” Hyunjin nods. “I used to be set for life, with their money to back me up. I could have fucked around forever, lived comfy. They took it all away because I wouldn’t marry a girl who didn’t love me and just wanted to live her own life.”

“You’re a good person,” you say.

“It was an easy choice,” he quips, some of his usual humor returning now that he’s gotten the stress of his story out of his mind, “Either my parents, who only love me conditionally, or my daughter, who loves the biggest and best out of anyone ever.”

You laugh, but you can’t shake the new strange feeling that has settled over you, now that you know all of this about him. Knowing that Hyunjin is the rejected son of a wealthy family, a silver-spoon kid with a heart of gold. It only validates some of those nagging feelings that in some unavoidable way, Hyunjin is far, far too good for you.

He’s given up a life of luxury and security for his daughter, and his freedom. You’re not about to make him compromise on anything else, ever. At all.

“Min doesn’t even miss any of them,” Hyunjin says thoughtfully, “Doesn’t even ask.”

“That’s good, I guess,” you say.

He shrugs. “Means that she’s not too fucked up from bouncing around like that as a baby, which is a fuckin’ blessing.”

“She’s safe and happy with you now, though,” you say.

Hyunjin grins at you. “But you know who’s been a great parent influence on her?”

“Who?”

“You.”

You laugh. “I’m no parent, trust me.”

“I dunno, you’re pretty great with her,” he says airily, “I don’t trust my kid with just anyone.”

“You gotta stop being so nice to me,” you say. “You’re gonna give me ideas.”

“Ideas like what? Afraid I’ll wanna take you out on a date? Introduce you to my kid? Oh wait-”

“Shut up!” you whine, nudging him. “I just…can’t believe you like me, sometimes. Like, that you really like me, like this.”

“Of course, I like you,” Hyunjin says, dumbfounded, “We’ve been going out for weeks.”

“Yeah, and that only started because Min told you that she wanted to be friends with me.”

“Did you really think that I got your number that day because I wanted you to be friends with my three-year-old?” Hyunjin asks.

“Yes!” you answer, totally honest, “Yes, I did. I think that you would do anything in the world for that kid, even something stupid like inviting me out.”

You stand up, suddenly needing some space, some air that isn’t warm from Hyunjin’s presence by your side or scented with his soft cologne. He just watches as you pace a few short steps away from the bench.

“It was maybe twenty percent because she was being so cute with you,” he says desperately, “But the other eighty percent was for me.”

You can’t believe that. Sure, part of you hoped for it, because it’s truly so insane to just let your preschooler make friends with random women in public. It makes sense for him to have an ulterior motive. You’d hoped that it was really him who was interested, even if he just intended to hook up with you and then cut it off.

It’s beyond obvious to you that you’ve fallen hard for Hyunjin, even in just this short time. The idea of him feeling anything like that for you is much harder to fathom.

“I know you care about me, at least a little,” Hyunjin says, standing up to join you, “At least, I hope you do. Something, some chance that you like me as more than a friend, or a casual date…”

“I do,” you say, voice strangled and tiny, “But you…you’re-”

“I’m what? I’m a father already? I have too much baggage for you?”

Your heart breaks a little bit more as he says that, as you imagine other people in the past dumping him with those exact words. The conviction in his voice is all that you need to picture it; a different person, a different night, the same outcome.

“No!” you insist.

“Then what?”

You bite the bullet, and you say it. “Because you’re beautiful, Hyunjin. You’re perfect. You have a wonderful kid and a nice life that you’ve built for her and yourself after all of that shit you went through. You…you’re too good for me.”

Hyunjin recoils like he’s been slapped. “How can you think that?”

“I just look at your life, and I can’t possibly picture you moving things around just to fit me in,” you say.

“How can you think that there’s not already space for you?! Can’t you see that you’re the best thing that’s happened to me in a long, long time?” he asks.

“Because I’m…” you struggle, “I’m boring, Hyunjin, I don’t know! I’m not worth changing for.”

“That’s bullshit,” he scoffs. “You’re letting my mother get to you, which is just what she wants.”

“Then I’m just not right for you,” you say, trying to ignore his comment about his mother and how absolutely right it is. “You have this cute little picturesque life, and I have my normal job and my hobbies and my family and friends and I would just…be in the way.”

“You’re not in the way now,” Hyunjin says.

“We’re not a serious couple now!”

“Why can’t you just let me like you?!”

He’s practically yelling now, keeping his distance and nearly folding in on himself as he looks at you with eyes that are far too shiny. It’s not the yelling that gets to you, but what he’s saying.

“Because it’s scary!” you yell back. “I don’t want to lose you, or your kid, but I know that-”

“I can show you,” he pleads.

He draws in a little closer, like he’s afraid he’s going to spook you. Against your stubborn brain’s protests, you reach out to thread your fingers with his.

You don’t want to lose him.

But as disgusting and cliché and self-deprecating as it is, you just can’t fathom someone like him wanting to be with someone like you.

Hyunjin leans more fully into your gentle grasp, pulls you right up close to him so that the two of you are toe to toe, there on the street outside the restaurant, as cars pass by and streetlights cast their dim yellow light over it all. He’s looking right into your eyes, expression firm and warm and so, so Hyunjin. You can feel your heart fluttering in your chest as you scan his face for nervousness or insincerity, and find none.

He’s looking at you the way he looks at Minnie when she falls asleep on the couch watching Frozen 2 for the millionth time. The way he looks at Judy when her back is turned in the café.

“I’ll show you that I mean it,” he says again, “I’ll be here for you. I’ll support you the way that you’ve supported us. I’ll love-”

He can’t get to the end of that sentence, because you wrench your free arm around his neck and pull him down to kiss you. He startles, lets go of your hand, and you freeze, thinking you’ve miscalculated the situation and gone too far. But he recovers quickly, wrapping both arms around your waist. He adjusts you so that you’re flush against him, and kisses back, harder.

His plush lips are wine-sour and soft, and he molds them against yours like he’s starving for it.

“My place,” he says, pulling back just the slightest bit so he can speak, “My place.”

“But-”

“Min is at Judy’s for the night,” he says, “Please.”

You want to. You want to so badly that your head is spinning, that your heart is beating out a rhythm against your ribcage. He’s here in front of you, wrapped up in you, so handsome and so unattainable…

Well. You think that Hyunjin is making a mistake. But if he’s gonna make it, you’re gonna enjoy every minute of it.

“Okay,” you breathe.

“Okay, or yes?” Hyunjin says, “I need a real yes.”

You hesitate. You decide. You say it.

“Yes.”

Just like that, he’s pulling you down the road to his car and opening the passenger’s side door for you. His place is across the city from here, so you settle in for what’s sure to be the most impatient car ride of your life. Anticipation drags out the minutes, as the energy between you grows so tense that you’re sure one of you is going to snap and start things up before you even get there.

But you’re spilling out onto the sidewalk in front of his building before you know it, Hyunjin’s hand on the small of your back, guiding you.

You’ve been to his place before, to meet him outside for dates, but you’ve never gone inside before. It’s a regular villa building, boxy and painted a demure white, and he leads you up the metal stairs to the third floor.

“I’m not trying to pressure you into anything,” Hyunjin says uncertainly, as he unlocks the door.

“I know,” you say, “I wouldn’t have come up if I didn’t want…well…”

Hyunjin grins his understanding, and you follow him into the apartment, taking his lead as he kicks off his shoes. You peek around when he flips on the lights.

His home looks about the way you’d expect: modest-sized and full of plain, sturdy furniture that looks like it could take a few hits. The décor is understated, intending to be an atmosphere of minimalist modernism, except that a girly, demanding preschooler definitely lives here. Drawings cover the fridge, the corkboard on the wall, the dining table with its one normal chair and one pink booster seat. Toys, hair accessories, and art supplies sit on shelves, in baskets, on end tables.

“It’s cute,” you say.

“Hm?”

Hyunjin pops his head out of the kitchen, now sans blazer, where he’s switching on more lights. He obviously has a just-gotten-home routine, and he’s not about to abandon it just because you’re here.

“This place. It’s cute,” you repeat. “It suits you.”

“It’s small,” he says with a shrug, tossing his blazer onto the back of the couch, “But we each have a bedroom and that’s really all that I can ask for. You ever shared a bedroom with a toddler? Not cool.”

“I’d like to see your room,” you tease, cringing at yourself instantly for making the dumbest of the dumb jokes.

But Hyunjin’s expression is just dangerously joyful, like he’s really taking it to heart.

“I’ll give you the grand tour,” he says.

“Sounds like you’re plotting.”

“I did tell you that I would prove it to you,” he says, drawing in close to you again, “How much I care about you.”

“The only way you know how to do that is with sex?” you ask playfully, “That’s sad. Maybe expand your vocabulary, first.”

He looks down at you, amused and just slightly frustrated. “Why can’t you make this easy for me?”

“Nothing with me is easy,” you say, “You should get used to that.”

“I dunno. You’re kind of easy to love.”

There he goes again, with that word. You can feel your cheeks burning, unable to process such casual affection from someone you like so much.

“Can I kiss you?” you ask.

“As much as you want,” he promises.

You slot yourself comfortably into his arms and lean up to kiss him. He’s got such ridiculous plush lips, soft and sliding against yours, and he holds you like you’re something precious. It’s an overwhelming amount of attention, but you let yourself bask in it.

“C’mon,” he says, “I’ll give you that tour.”

He winks, and then he releases you, walking across the small living space toward the doors on the far wall. Following him is second nature, at this point, and you pad after him.

“This is Min’s room,” he tells you.

He cracks the door on the right, so that you can see a peek of the pink explosion on the other side.

“She picked all her own décor,” he says.

“I’m starting to think that pink is just your favorite color, and you’re using the kid as an excuse,” you say.

“You’ll never get me to admit it,” he grins.

He opens the door on the left, and this room is soft woods and earth tones. Definitely an adult’s room, almost stark in its lack of personal effects. It’s dark except for city lights filtering between the open curtains, casting the room into a seductive kind of shadow. You follow him into the room, grinning to yourself.

“Bed looks comfy,” you say.

Hyunjin sits down on the edge of the bed, strong thighs in dress pants drawing your eye shamefully quickly, and fixes you with a look.

“Come find out,” he offers.

You can’t keep being so self-conscious about this. It’s Hyunjin, it’s only Hyunjin, your friend. One of your dearest friends. With his supermodel face, and his long blonde hair falling out of its ponytail in wisps around his cheekbones, and the outline of his cock against his thigh-

Fuck.

Something in you snaps. You climb into his lap, settling yours knees on either side of his hips, winding your arms around his neck to pull his mouth back against yours. He laughs into the kiss, his hands landing on your hips and pulling you down harder into him.

“See?” he says, voice low, “It’s not so hard to open up to me, is it?”

“I think you’re making a mistake,” you mutter.

“You’re so mean to yourself,” Hyunjin chides.

You cock an eyebrow at him. “I can be mean to you instead.”

He just laughs again, grinding his hips up into you briefly. You can feel him getting hard beneath you, distinct even through the layers of clothes that separate the two of you.

“Can this come off?” he asks, plucking at the collar of your nice silky blouse.

“Yeah.”

His answering smile is dark and satisfied, conniving in a way that makes your pulse jump. Hyunjin is so calm and sweet most of the time, cheerful in a way that suggests naivety. You almost worry about him, sometimes, worry that to other he’ll come across as just pretty and dim. Why are you getting the feeling that you’ve stumbled across a very different part of him, tonight?

“D’you know how long I’ve wanted to do this?” he asks, against your collarbone, as he unbuttons your blouse down your chest, down your stomach.

“How long?”

“Too long. Way too long.

He’s pushing your shirt off your shoulders before you know it, reaching around to unhook your bra. His hands are firm and certain, the stumbling hesitation that he’d shown while asking you out nowhere to be found. Here, apparently, he’s absolutely comfortable.

Your shirt and bra are discarded carelessly, and you’re surprised that you feel no shyness at all when Hyunjin cups your breasts in his hands and thumbs over your nipples.

“Knew you’d be pretty,” he says.

“Shut up,” you mumble.

He gives you another one of those feline grins.

“Watch it,” he warns.

Hyunjin hooks one arm around your back and flips the two of you over so that he’s on top, all but dragging you up to the middle of the bed. You’re sprawled on your back under him now, bouncing gently on the mattress with the force that he’d used to move you.

“You’re even prettier like this,” he smirks, “I like the slacks, by the way, very professional. I didn’t tell you that earlier.”

“Thanks,” you reply, breathing heavy, unsure how to handle this new Hyunjin and his blinding confidence.

“Can those come off, too?”

“What about your clothes?” you whine.

“We’ll get to that,” he promises.

He only needs one hand to unbutton, unzip, and tug your slacks down to your knees in one fluid motion, and he move aside so you can kick them off all the way.

“These are so you,” Hyunjin says.

You’re confused, until you look down yourself to see the panties you’d put on that morning: light blue with a pattern of tiny white running llamas. They’re not all that sexy, but they’re comfy, and it’s not like you’d explicitly planned on anyone seeing them, date or no date.

“I wasn’t expecting to get fucked tonight,” you say bluntly, “Give me a break.”

“Should have at least hoped for it,” he grins.

“I try to keep my expectations realistic.”

“You need to give yourself more credit,” Hyunjin says.

To punctuate it, he leans down over you fully, caging you in, and kisses you breathless again. He trails his mouth and hands down your front lazily, scraping his teeth against your hipbone where it peeks from the waistband of your underwear. He lets one long finger trace over your panties, across your covered pussy, and you can’t help how you twitch.

“Bet you’re fuckin’ delicious, too. Am I gonna get to taste?” he asks.

“Jesus Christ,” you groan.

The mouth on him…you’ve never had someone talk to you like this before, so tender and affectionate but also so obscene. It sends arousal pealing through you, the idea that he can be so into this, into you.

“Use your words,” he says, “Come on, can I taste you?”

“Yes,” you say, “God, Hyunjin…”

“Oh, I like how my name sounds, like that, listen to you,” he purrs.

He hooks his fingers into your waistband and pulls your panties off smoothly. Those are abandoned over the edge of the bed, too, and Hyunjin has his face between your legs seemingly as fast as he can.

“Tell me if anything doesn’t feel good,” he says, warm breath fanning over your inner thighs.

“I will,” you say, “Don’t worry.”

“Fuckin’ gorgeous,” he mutters, and he licks into you indulgently.

He’s got one hand bracing himself against your leg, one hand holding your folds open for him so he can dip his tongue into your opening, drag it slow across your clit.

“Fuck,” he says, and you swear you can feel the word against you, “Can’t wait to feel this sweet pussy around my dick.”

You moan. You can’t help it, can’t help the way you’re leaking your arousal against his tongue, the way his words and his gorgeous mouth are working you over. He pulls away from your core much too quickly, and he smiles when you whine.

“Just a taste, I said,” he placates.

He sits back on his heels between your legs to strip off his own clothes, but you haul yourself up to meet him.

“Let me do it,” you say.

“Be my guest.”

So it’s your turn to undo his buttons and give yourself an unencumbered look at his body for the first time. He’s slim, working muscle like a dancer, gorgeous skin under your hands. You kind of want to take your time, leave marks all over him and get to know every inch. But it does seem like he has an agenda tonight, as he impatiently shrugs off his shirt and undoes his own belt.

He rids himself of his pants and underwear quickly, and you really should have expected him to have a cock like THAT. He’s tall, and pretty, and of course, this part of him matches perfectly, long and thick and beautifully flushed.

“I’m clean,” you find yourself saying, “And on birth control, so if you want…we can…”

Hyunjin grins at you. “You just want me to fuck you raw.”

“I do,” you agree, “Fuck, I do.”

“I’m clean, too,” he tells you.

He nudges your legs apart to make room for him as he crawls back up your body, giving you a gentle playful shove so that you lay flat on your back for him again.

“Is that what you want? Want me to fill you up, just like this?”

He’s looming over you, propping himself up with his hands planted on either side of your head. You can feel the tip of his cock nudging between your folds.

“That’s what I want,” you agree desperately. “Please.”

You don’t know why you’re begging him like this. Are you that easy to break?

But you can’t bring yourself to care how ridiculous you sound, because Hyunjin rocks his hips forward to dip the head of his cock into you, and you keen.

“What do you want?” he asks, with a knowing smirk.

“You know exactly what!”

“I can’t give you anything unless you tell me,” he says.

“I want,” you struggle, “I want you to fill me up. Please.”

“That’s a good girl,” he praises gently.

He rewards you with another thrust, a little deeper, sending a fantastic thrill through your body but still nowhere near enough. He works himself into you slowly, just a bit at a time, pulling completely out in between just to be able to sink all the way back in.

After what seems like an eternity, he slides in completely, hips flush against yours. You squirm, needing him to do SOMETHING, after taking his sweet time to get to this point, but Hyunjin seems content to just sit like this for a moment.

“I was right,” he tells you, “Feels fuckin’ heavenly.”

“Move, please,” you beg.

“Be patient. Maybe I just want you to cockwarm me for the rest of the night,” he teases.

“I would go home,” you say.

He laughs. “Okay, okay, you got me, that’s not what I want.”

So slowly that you know he’s doing it on purpose to torture you, Hyunjin draws back and fucks into you, hard and deep. It coaxes a punched-out moan from your throat, already so strung out though you’ve just begun.

He’s stronger than you would have imagined, driving into you with those narrow dancer’s hips and leaning down to press kisses to your cheeks, your mouth, the sides of your throat. His hands roam like he wants to be touching all of you at once: kneading into your breast, smoothing back your hair, bending your legs up farther so he can fuck you deeper, better.

“Look how well you take me,” he says.

You do look. You crane your neck up to look down the narrow space between you, as Hyunjin props up his body above you, and you can just barely see his thick cock working into you, disappearing with an obscene squelch that leaves no question about how much you’re enjoying yourself.

“So messy,” he teases.

“’m not messy,” you mumble, feeling sex-stupid but indignant.

“No?” he grins, “Not dripping wet for me?”

You want to argue, but he’s right; you can feel exactly how wet you are for him. You can’t remember the last time someone had you so desperate, so ready and eager to take what you’re given. Hyunjin falls forward to let your bodies press together, covering you and pressing a kiss to the shell of your ear.

“Sweet girl,” Hyunjin murmurs, voice soft and fond and dangerous, “So good for me. So good with my kid. We could give her a sibling, you know.”

It sounds like something that just slipped out, the way that it’s so honest and the way that Hyunjin nearly gasps at himself. But your mind has gone one hundred percent completely blank. You let out a moan that’s mostly silent, as you let the implication of that wash over you.

You didn’t think you had a thing for, well…this.

But Hyunjin, looking at you like this, talking like this, honest and filthy, right in your ear. You know that it’s just dirty talk, that he doesn’t mean it, not right this instant. You both know that you’re on birth control. But the game of it, the idea of it…

“Yes,” you gasp, “Oh my God-”

“Oh, you REALLY like that,” he purrs, “I can feel you squeezing around me.”

“Hyunjin!” you moan.

“Is that what you want, baby? You just wanna be filled up with my cum, is that it?”

You can’t believe the words coming out of his mouth, and you doubly can’t believe how much you fucking love them, how you’re nodding and clawing your fingernails down his back at the picture he’s painting for you.

“Please,” you gasp, “I want – I want-”

Hyunjin draws up so that he can look into your eyes. “Baby wants me to give her a baby. Hm.”

Never in your life have you been brought right to the point of cumming just from someone’s words, but that’s exactly what’s happening. You can feel that perfect fuzzy electricity in your toes, building up. If you cum untouched, just from this, you’re gonna have some real soul-searching to do.

He seems to be at a similar place, fucking into you at a breakneck pace, still murmuring at you mindlessly.

“Want to fill up this sweet pussy, put a baby in you…Jesus fucking Christ, so good,” Hyunjin moans.

“Inside,” you agree, “Please – I need you, I just-”

As if he couldn’t be more perfect, Hyunjin slips his hand between you, presumably to bring you over the peak with him. The instant his finger presses against your clit, starts to rub a messy circle in the wetness spreading across your folds and your inner thighs, you cum.

You feel like screaming, but your voice is strangled, constricted with arousal, “Oh-”

“Fuck!” Hyunjin moans, like he’s agreeing with you.

One, two, three, four deep strokes, and Hyunjin bottoms out, pressing into you as he cums. Your hips buck into him on their own accord as he paints your walls with his cum, and you can’t help the newly-awakened corner of your mind that thinks about what could happen, if you weren’t on your birth control, if you did this again…

Goddamn. You really have some journaling to do later, or something.

“So perfect,” Hyunjin mutters, letting his head fall, burying his face in your shoulder, “So fucking perfect, how did I get so lucky?”

You’re the lucky one, you think to yourself. Your brain is simultaneously too full and too empty to say anything coherent, so you just lay there, wrap your limbs around Hyunjin as well as you can. He gets the message, you think, because he snuggles more firmly into you and turns his head to press a kiss to your jaw.

He’s warm, and kind of heavy, but you don’t want him to move, or to pull out of you. Just let this minute last a little longer, you think. Just a little longer, before you have to talk about what all of this means.

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

You only know you’ve fallen asleep when you wake up.

There’s a weight on your chest, pressing you into the mattress. For a second you think you have sleep paralysis, until you get a face-full of blonde hair and realize that it’s just Hyunjin, fast asleep on top of you.

“Get up,” you say, pushing on him gently, “And, ew, let me clean up.”

You can feel his cum drying on the inside of your thighs, where it trickled out around his softened cock while you slept. It’s kind of nasty, but the memory of all the hazy lust-filled things you said to each other makes you not mind so much.

Hyunjin yawns audibly, right next to your head, and then he peels himself off you.

“Sorry,” he grins. “Are your arms asleep?”

“No. Doesn’t your neck hurt from laying like that?”

He presses a smacking kiss to your forehead. “No. You’re a good pillow.”

Hyunjin pulls out of you and climbs gingerly off the bed. You squint around the room until your eyes find a glowing digital clock on his bedside; it’s only just past midnight.

“Shower and then sleep?” Hyunjin offers.

“Sounds good.”

He helps you to your feet, laughing as your knees threaten to buckle despite the cooldown period you’ve had.

“I hope I didn’t cross any lines,” he says tentatively, “I took a risk with all that baby talk and-”

“I liked it,” you admit, shy.

“Really?”

You nod. “I mean, we shouldn’t do anything stupid. Not right now. But just to play with, in the bedroom…”

Grinning, you fan yourself dramatically with your hand, like you’re a proper lady being overwhelmed with the saucy behavior of your male paramour.

Hyunjin laughs again. “Good to know.”

He shows you across the hall to the bathroom, men’s hair and skin and shaving products lined up next to rainbow-packaged kiddie shampoo and a small bin full of bath toys. As the shower is warming up, steam and the sound of rushing water filling the bathroom, he nudges you with his elbow.

“I knew all along that you were just into me because I have a kid,” he says.

You consider it, as you pull back the shower curtain and test the water. It’s warm, so you draw the curtain fully back and step under the spray. Peeking out at him, water starting to run down your back and warm your skin the way that Hyunjin’s presence warms you on the inside, you smile.

“Guess you’re just a DILF.”

💕💕💕💕

#hwang hyunjin #stray kids #hwang hyunjin smut #hwang hyunjin fics #stray kids hyunjin #stray kids hyunjin smut #dilf series #kpop #kpop fanfic #tw emotional manipulation #tw emotional neglect #tw unhealthy relationship

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imaginesforjohnnydepp · 4 years ago

Text

Violette Pt. 4

@kittenlittle24 @evelynrosestuff

Johnny was glad that he took up Violette on her offer because he had to get out of Los Angeles; Violette was a gracious host and they fell back in sync with each other. While she was at work, he took the opportunity to explore the area to find souvenirs for his kids and check up on them, other times he’d go through Violette’s books and movies and photo albums, which were his favorite things to do. The albums were completely filled up with pictures. There were pictures of her at weddings, work related parties, vacation pictures (lots of them), newspaper clippings of her accomplishments. It made him happy knowing that Violette became so successful and is well respected, because she deserves it.

When he heard the keys at the door, he quickly closed the book and turned up the volume on an episode of Chopped just as Violette walked in, shaking water off her umbrella and putting it in the stand. “Sorry I’m late! I was held up with paperwork then there was a wreck, but on the plus side I got Italian!” It was nearly eight thirty when they sat down to eat, the both of them digging into their shrimp pasta as they filled each other in on their day. Since it was Friday and Violet didn’t have to be at work the next day, they watched TV together after dinner, the living room dark except for a lamp on a low setting. It was halfway through a second episode of Fraser, the one where Fraser accidentally tells Daphne about Niles’ feelings for her before the wedding when Johnny noticed Violette had fallen asleep.

Her head was tipped back and her chest was gently rising and falling; she looked so comfortable and peaceful he felt bad for waking her. Johnny shook her gently. “Hey Vi? It’s time to wake up, you’re gonna hurt your neck like that.” Slowly, Violette came to, lifting her head from the back of the couch, her eyes slowly opening. “Huh? What time is it?”

Her voice was heavy with sleep and she stretched, arms above her head. “Bout time for you to go to bed. You fell asleep halfway through Fraser.” Violette knew he was right; she had a long day at work and now all she wanted was to apply a serum or two and get into bed. “You’re right, it’s been a long day. Do you want the bathroom first?” He shook his head no, and she smiled before heading to her room.

“Good night Johnny.” They both headed their separate ways, and as he changed into his pajamas, Johnny could hear Violette doing her night time routine, the faucet running every few minutes as she rinsed her face. He checked his phone for messages, emails from his lawyer and Amber’s, two missed phone calls from his family about funeral arrangements, all things that can wait until tomorrow; he hooked it up to the charger and placed it face down. After a few more minutes, the faucet turned up for the last time, and Violette knocked twice before opening the door. “Bathroom’s all yours now.”

He tried not to notice how long her legs looked in her pajama pants or how ample her chest looked, even in an oversized shirt. Frankly, ever since he got here, Johnny’s been trying to ignore how gorgeous Violette is; she looked good in just about everything she wore: her work clothes where the slacks she wore clung to her legs like a second skin, the leggings and tank tops he saw her in, drenched in sweat when she came back after a morning run. It was like acting in front of a green screen and trying to ignore how ridiculous Bill Nighy looks with black dots on his face as he wears a gray leotard. Johnny couldn’t ignore the fact that Violette has an ass and breasts, and he felt guilty checking her out when her back was turned, but what could he do? He certainly wasn’t going to tell a grown woman to cover up in her own home; with a sigh, he shuffled into the bathroom to do his business.

Meanwhile, Violette was in bed, simultaneously reading and going through her text messages; due to the torrential rain that would be coming this weekend, book club was cancelled (which she was grateful for because she’s kind of behind the rest of the group). Violette was just about to call it a night when a new message appeared, from Angela. I know you took my floral dress the other day. Mikayla said she saw you leave with it. Yes, she did take the dress but that’s only because Angela took her favorite Dooney and Bourke handbag (something that happened months ago and Violette has yet to see it back in her closet) but unlike her sister, she plans on actually returning it. And what about it? she typed back. You can pick it up from the dry cleaner on Basin Street tomorrow, and you’re one to talk considering I haven’t seen my Dooney and Bourke purse since New Years.

Once the message was sent, she went back to her book, which had five chapters left; Violette reached for the notebook and pen and started scribbling notes about the chapter when her phone buzzed again. Thank you. And as for your purse, I think Miki has it. It’s hanging on the doorknob of her closet. Probably thought it was mine. But how’s it going with Johnny? Her fingers hovered over the keyboard, and she didn’t know what to say. How is it going with Johnny? Violette wanted to tell her sister that things are great, like nothing’s changed between them, about her growing feelings for her ex husband, but all she texted back was that things are fine.

Really, only fine? Leave it to Angela to be overly observant, might as well come clean now. It feels like nothing’s changed between us even though a LOT has. We’re cracking jokes, eating together, going out. It feels like old times. Violette knew what Angela was going to say next: that they need to slow down, how Johnny probably isn’t ready for another relationship when he already has so much going on. She hastily texted: And I know what you’re going to say next, but I can’t help it. He’s still Johnny. I gotta go, it’s late.

She put her phone on the charger and placed it face down on the nightstand. Violette hoped that all her feelings toward Johnny could just be chalked up to not getting enough sex or boredom or loneliness, because really, what would a relationship with Johnny look like today? Probably a long distance relationship and media interference, and she’d had enough of that from last time to last a lifetime. Besides, Violette never dates men with children, and in her age group, it’s like looking for a needle in a haystack to find a single male in their late forties/early fifties who doesn't have children. Shaking her head at the thought, she pulled the covers up over her head and waited for the air conditioner to kick on to lull her to sleep.

So this was how the rest of their week went, both of them pining over the other without the other’s knowledge: Johnny pretended not to notice her figure and his growing attraction and Violette pretended that she didn’t harbor romantic feelings for him, until one day Johnny couldn’t take it any longer. He brought up the question while they sat in Violette’s car at a snowball stand, the a/c blasting and the radio on a low volume. “Why are we doing this, Vi?” The question was so out of left field that she almost choked on a bubblegum flavored hunk of ice. “What do you mean?” she asked, sucking the bubblegum syrup from the ice.

“I mean, why are we ignoring… whatever this is? We’re adults, Violette, we should be able to communicate with each other.” She was sure she was doing a good job at masking her feelings, but apparently she was wrong. “Because Johnny, it wouldn’t matter. Your life is in LA, with your children and work and my life is here. What could we actually do about it? You’re only here for another week.” Violette was actually glad that he brought it up now, because there was no way they would be able to do anything about it, since Johnny would be here for another week before going home. Leaving Violette alone with her unresolved feelings.

“And you already have so much going on. Are you sure this is what you want? If you’re ready for this?” Violette put another spoonful of her snowball in her mouth, sucking off the syrup until the ice was hard packed on her tongue. “Is that what you’re scared of? That I might leave again?” Johnny asked. “Not might, but will. As you can see, I don’t have a normal work schedule and I’m not a fan of long distance relationships.” And because I’m scared you could hurt me again,” she added in her head.

“Johnny, we’re not in the ‘80s anymore. We’re so different now, we always have been.” Johnny sighed before putting his cup in a cup holder. “We’re not that different, you’re still you and I’m still me. We’re older now, have more life experience. Violette, we were so young when we got married. And I moved on from her long before I thought about filing for divorce.” She took his words into consideration, really thinking about it. Was the reason why she never remarried is because that deep in her subconscious, Violette knew she and Johnny would make their way back to each other?

“Just one chance is all I’m asking. Please.” He looked so sincere, and the offer was so tempting. How many times had Violette had this dream of Johnny coming back to her and begging her to take him back? Too many times in the early days of their breakup, and Johnny was right, they’re older now, old enough to know what they want in their partners. “What do you say? Can you give me another chance? We can take it slow, whatever you want.”

Violette put the last spoonful of her snowball in her mouth, savoring the last bite as she thought it over. While she was a little apprehensive about the whole thing, she’d be lying to herself if she said she wasn’t at least a little curious as to how a relationship with Johnny would be like today. A lot of traveling back and forth, probably meeting his kids at some point. And what about long term? Would they live together?

Get married (or in their case remarried)? “We’ll take it slow?” Violette asked, just to make sure. “As slow as you want,” he answered. Violette smiled and grabbed Johnny’s hand. “Okay.”

#johnny depp imagines #johnny depp imagine

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starryknight09 · 4 years ago

Text

Surprise?

Febuwhump Day 27: identity reveal

Read on AO3.

________________________________________________________

“Hey do you want to come over tonight?” Ned asked as they stood at their lockers, shoving their books into their backpacks.

“I can’t. It’s a Friday remember?” Peter said, feeling kind of bad. He knew he’d been neglecting Ned lately with everything that was going on in his life. Juggling decathlon, school, homework, Spiderman, and his internship made it seem like there was just never enough time in the day, or week for that matter, for all the stuff he needed to get done.

“So?” Ned frowned.

“I have my Stark internship on Fridays.” He reminded him.

“Oh right.” Ned nodded as they walked down the hallway toward the school doors. “So, are you going to tell Mr. Stark about you know what today?”

“Um no.” He winced. He’d applied for the Stark internship on a whim a year ago and had actually gotten it. The day he’d found out he was going to be interning directly under Tony Stark, he’d almost wet himself, but after almost a year of working with him, that had definitely faded. As Mr. Stark would say, he sassed him more than he complimented him now.

When he’d gotten bit by the radioactive spider six months ago, he’d thought about telling Mr. Stark about his new powers, but by then they’d grown close enough that he was worried Mr. Stark wouldn’t allow him to keep being Spiderman if he found out. And then Ben had died. And thoughts of anything else had gone out the window.

“Peter.” Ned chastised. “It’s been weeks. You should just tell him. He’s going to figure it out soon anyway.”

“Not necessarily. Spiderman’s been around for the last six months and Mr. Stark hasn’t figured it out yet.” Peter hedged. Ok, so realistically he knew Mr. Stark would eventually figure it out, but he’d been extra careful ever since the man had started up his hunt to find out who Spiderman was. Besides, Peter had an advantage. He worked directly with his enemy, so he was always one step ahead of him and Mr. Stark had no idea.

“Yeah he’s been around for six months, but Mr. Stark has only been looking for him for the last three weeks.” Ned argued. “He’s getting closer and you know it.”

Peter did know it. On Wednesday Mr. Stark had shown him a clip of Spiderman swinging into an abandoned alleyway to change. His mentor had been so sure he’d had him, but then a garbage truck had driven by the entrance of the alleyway just as Peter was leaving in his street clothes, luckily obscuring his identity. Mr. Stark had sworn up a blue streak and Peter had made a mental note to be much more cognizant of city cameras whenever he was getting in and out of the suit.

“But if I tell him who I am then it’ll take all the fun out of it for him.” Peter smirked. He’d known Mr. Stark long enough to know that as much as he kept complaining about ‘this webhead’ he was enjoying the challenge of it. Peter didn’t want to spoil it for him. At least that’s what he’d been telling himself the last few weeks ever since Mr. Stark had told him he wanted his help to find Spiderman.

“You’re playing with fire dude.” Ned warned as they passed through the school doors to outside.

“Why? What’s he going to do to me if he finds out?” Peter said with false bravado. “Ground me? He’s not my dad.”

“Does he know that though?” Ned joked. “Didn’t he pack you a lunch for school when you stayed over at his place last week?”

“Yeah.”

“And didn’t he spend all day watching a Star Wars marathon with you last weekend when he doesn’t even like Star Wars?”

Peter made a face. Ok, so Ned kind of had a point.

“And don’t him and your aunt have like coffee dates every month now just to talk about you?”

“Ok ok I get it.”

“So how do you think he’s going to react when he finds out you’ve been keeping this from him?” Ned asked.

“He’s going to be pissed.” He decided.

“Right.” Ned nodded. “And do you think he’ll be more or less pissed if he finds out on his own instead of you telling him about it?”

“Definitely more.” Peter agreed.

“Ok so you agree you should tell him today.”

“No.”

“Peter!” Ned shook his head. “You’re hopeless.”

“It’s all a moot point anyway. He’s not going to find out.”

“Hopeless and in denial.” Ned said.

Peter rolled his eyes.

“Whatever dude. It’s your funeral. Just don’t say I didn’t warn you.” Ned clapped him on the shoulder and turned to start walking home. “Text me if you want to hang out this weekend.”

“I will.” Peter said and made his way toward the nondescript Audi waiting for him.

“Hey Happy.” He greeted the man behind the steering wheel as he crawled in. Or as he liked to think of him, not-so-Happy.

Happy didn’t respond to his greeting as he started driving away, but Peter still liked to think he was slowly growing on the man.

“Guess what we did in chemistry today? Our teacher said—”

“I’ll give you this snickers bar if you don’t talk for the next ten minutes.” Happy interrupted, holding up said candy bar as proof.

“Really?”

“Yes.”

“Ok.” He stared out the window. The man was bringing him candy now. He was definitely growing on him.

**********

Ned was wrong. Mr. Stark didn’t figure out Spiderman’s identity that week. Or even the week after. Or the week after that. Although Peter did have another close call with a traffic camera he didn’t know was installed nearby when he’d taken his mask off to deal with a bloody nose. In the intervening weeks, he’d thought more seriously about coming clean to his mentor because Mr. Stark was getting a little obsessive and it was making Peter’s life a lot harder. He had to completely avoid the area near his apartment now because Tony had come up with an algorithm to track where Spiderman was sighted and he was using it as a tool to try to narrow in on his possible residence. Admittedly smart, but super annoying for Peter because now he had to walk at least ten blocks home every night after Spidermanning. And his mentor had even figured out the components of his web fluid, although he hadn’t been able to successfully reverse engineer it yet. Part of Peter felt a spark of pride at that even though some of his Mr. Stark’s failure might’ve been his fault. He’d been trying his hardest to slow him down. But now that his mentor knew the web fluid materials, he was looking for people who had bought large quantities of those exact chemicals. At least Peter was safe in that regard, he still mooched everything from his chemistry class. But by now even Peter had to admit it was only a matter of time before Mr. Stark thought of something even Peter couldn’t foresee or deter.

Ned had been on his case the past week about telling the man and Peter was seriously considering it for the first time.

“Hey Mr. Stark!” He greeted as he walked into the man’s lab, feeling his usual flash of wonder. After a year, having access to Tony Stark’s private lab still hadn’t gotten old.

“Hey Mr. Parker.” His mentor said, spinning in his desk chair to face him. “How many more times am I going to have to tell you to call me Tony?”

Peter shrugged. Honestly, he did it now solely because he knew it annoyed him. “What are you doing?” He asked, sidestepping the question and pointing to the holoscreens Mr. Stark had pulled up over his desk.

Mr. Stark narrowed his eyes at him as if trying to decide whether or not to push the name thing, but after a moment he twirled back to face the screens, letting it go. “I’m hacking into a bodega’s security camera.”

Peter walked over to him, dropping his backpack on the ground next to the desk with the weight of the knowledge that it held the suit of the very vigilante Mr. Stark was looking for. He stared at the screens over the man’s shoulder. They looked oddly familiar. “Why?”

“Because I’ve finally got the little pipsqueak.” Mr. Stark said with eager excitement.

“What are you talking about? Because you’re starting to sound a little supervillainy...” Peter joked.

“Spiderman.” Mr. Stark answered. “I finally got him.”

Peter’s heart leapt into his chest as he asked nervously, “You did? Um h-how?”

“He repeatedly patrols around this area.” Mr. Stark explained and pointed to the corresponding area on the map of Queens. The part right by Mr. Delmar’s shop. Oh shit. He hadn’t thought of that and he thought he’d been so careful. “Ever since I realized it, I’ve had FRIDAY continuously scanning the traffic cameras and we got lucky. She caught him going into this alleyway here.” Mr. Stark pointed to the alley on the screen. “Now watch. A minute later someone comes out.”

Peter watched himself exit the alleyway with his navy hoodie pulled up over his head to obscure his face. He breathed a silent sigh of relief. There was no way you could tell that was him.

“Now, I know you can’t see his face, and I couldn’t get a good enough angle from any other cameras in the area, but I managed to follow him the next three blocks to this bodega. I screened the footage from outside of it for the previous hour before he goes in, and if I’m right, it should be completely empty except for him.”

Yeah, that tracked. No one had been in there when he’d visited Mr. Delmar and Murph yesterday.

“So?” He asked, sensing Mr. Stark was waiting for him to do so.

“So my young grasshopper, whoever this guy is goes in with his hood up, but when he comes out ten minutes later, look.” Mr. Stark pointed to the screen. “His hood is still up but the strings around it aren’t pulled tight anymore which means…”

“He took it off in the store.” Peter mumbled in shock. He had taken it off in the store. He’d thought he was safe, and he hadn’t wanted Mr. Delmar to think he was being a weirdo punk.

“He took it off in the store.” Mr. Stark repeated with satisfaction. “So, if I can hack into the bodega’s security footage, I can finally figure out exactly who this little twerp is that’s been evading me these past couple months.”

“Uh huh.” He said distractedly as he tried to figure out a way out of this, but no ideas came to mind. Shit. He never should’ve stopped for a sandwich yesterday during patrol. It didn’t matter how hungry he’d been or how good they tasted.

Mr. Stark continued typing away and moment later declared, “Ah ha! I’m in.”

“Um Mr. Stark, there’s something I need to tell you.” Peter tried to nervously interject, but his mentor was in the zone. Peter could’ve been screaming he was on fire and Mr. Stark wouldn’t have heard him.

“Get ready to be amazed kid.” Mr. Stark said, cocky as hell as he brought up the footage from the camera behind Mr. Delmar’s counter. “It’s finally time to see exactly who you are Spiderman.”

“Uh…” He really needed to say something or do something or—

Too late. The feed from Mr. Delmar’s camera came up on the screen. He froze. There was Mr. Delmar, and Murph lying on the counter, and there he was walking in with his hood over his head. Shit. His hand moved up to his hood. It was a lot like watching a train wreck in slow motion. And his hood was off. His profile wasn’t very descript, but he knew any second he’d turn toward Mr. Delmar and be facing the camera straight on. And yep. There he was. In all his idiot glory.

“Wait.” Mr. Stark frowned and leaned closer to the screen as if he didn’t believe his eyes. “That looks like…”

Peter winced and a split second later Mr. Stark whirled to face him, face showing absolute shock.

“You.” Mr. Stark accused and then said in disbelief. “It’s you.”

He fake shrugged, holding his hands out, palms up. “Surprise?”

“What the f—”

“I’m sorry!”

Mr. Stark stood from his chair so fast it fell over backward. He pointed a finger at him. “You’re Spiderman? This whole time I’ve been looking for him and he’s been in my own lab? My very own intern?”

“Um, it looks like it?”

“Don’t be cute. Yes or no.”

“Yes.” He nodded, backing up as Mr. Stark slowly advanced toward him. Peter’s eyes widened. “I was going to tell you! I was! But then I just…didn’t?”

“You were helping me look for him!”

Peter made a considering face. “Well, I was pretending to? But really I was trying to stay one step ahead of you.”

He bumped into his desk chair and fell into it. Tony stood over him, arms crossed, still looking more than a little angry.

“How. Did. This. Happen?” Tony ground out.

“Um, remember that field to Oscorp that I went on about six months ago that you said I shouldn’t go on?” Peter asked nervously.

“Yes.”

“Turns out you were right.” He said as he nodded.

“What?”

“I uh got bit by a radioactive spider, and it made me so sick I thought I was dying, but then I woke up and I was this.” He gestured at his body.

Mr. Stark’s eyes narrowed at him.

“Oh. Um.” He lifted his shirt so Mr. Stark could see his perfectly chiseled six pack abs.

“Jesus kid.” Mr. Stark shook his head.

“Oh and I lied about getting contacts. I didn’t. I just don’t need glasses anymore. The bite fixed all of that. And I don’t have allergies or asthma anymore either, so you can update that on my employee form if you want.”

“Yes because that’s what’s important right now.” Mr. Stark scoffed.

“I’m sorry.” He repeated although it seemed like Mr. Stark’s anger was cooling. He didn’t look like he was about to have an aneurysm anymore. “I should’ve told you when you started looking for Spiderman. I know I wasted your time.”

“No! You should’ve told me six months ago when it first happened!” Mr. Stark yelled. Ok, so maybe he was still pretty mad. “You thought you were dying and you didn’t tell anyone? And then you woke up with superpowers and you still didn’t tell anyone?”

“Yeah, that’s the gist of it.” He grimaced.

Mr. Stark put his hand over his face as she shook his head. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly before dropping his hand and meeting Peter’s gaze to ask, “So no one knows?”

“Well, um, Ned knows because he caught me sneaking into my room as Spiderman, and now…you know.” Peter answered.

“May doesn’t know?”

“No.” He shook his head vehemently.

“Of course not.” Mr. Stark scoffed. “Because why would you tell a responsible adult you’re going out at all hours of the night to fight criminals. Jesus.” Mr. Stark shook his head again in disbelief. “You’re going out at all hours of the night to fight criminals. Well that ends today.”

“No!” Peter shot to his feet and raised his chin as he faced Mr. Stark unflinchingly. “I’m not going to stop! And you can’t make me!” He knew the wording made him sound like a petulant child but he didn’t care.

Mr. Stark raised his eyebrows at him in challenge and Peter had to force himself to stand tall and not wither under his gaze. Sometimes he forgot Mr. Stark was Ironman, Tony Stark, but at times like these, getting stared down by the man, he remembered.

Mr. Stark shook his head and said, “You’re fourteen years old.”

“I’m fifteen! And I know you know that! You got me a birthday present.” He accused. “Besides, I’ve been doing this for six months and I’ve been fine. I’m not going to stop now. And this is exactly why I didn’t want to tell you! I knew you’d go all nuts about it!”

“Yes because not wanting to let a child run around in the middle of the night fighting crime is nuts.” Mr. Stark rolled his eyes.

“I’m not a child!”

Mr. Stark frowned and the next second he suddenly spun on his heels and marched over to where he’d left his backpack, lifting it up to his desk and opening it.

“Hey that’s mine!” Peter protested, hurrying over to him but it was too late. Mr. Stark fished out his Spiderman suit from the bottom of it and held it out.

“This? This is what you fight crime in? It’s a onesie!”

“No it’s not.” He frowned. He’d put a lot of work into making that. He didn’t appreciate Mr. Stark making fun of it.

“What is it then?”

“My super suit.” He smiled.

“We are never watching The Incredibles again.” Mr. Stark shook his head. “And what are these?” His mentor asked, holding up his goggles to his own eyes. “How the hell do you even see anything through these?”

Peter snatched them from his hands. “They help. Ever since I got my powers all my senses are have been dialed to eleven. There’s way too much input. Those help me filter it out and focus.”

Mr. Stark frowned, looking at him in a way he never had before, like there might be something wrong with him, which didn’t make any sense. He’d never once looked at weak, little, half blind, asthmatic Peter Parker the way he was now looking at Spiderman. Peter didn’t like it.

Mr. Stark dropped his suit to his desk with a sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose. “So let me get this straight, you got bit by a radioactive spider, almost died but didn’t, woke up with super powers and then decided to sew a onesie and start swinging around town fighting crime?”

“Um, yeah.”

“Tell me why. Why are you doing this?” The man ordered and Peter could tell this was important.

“Because…when you can do the things I can and you don’t and then the bad things happen, they happen because of you.” He explained solemnly and tried not to think of his uncle lying limp on the concrete, bleeding out.

Mr. Stark sighed and dropped back down into his desk chair, resting a fist over his mouth as he examined Peter.

Peter tried not to fidget under the scrutiny.

“If I let you do this, we’re doing it my way.” Mr. Stark finally spoke.

“Yes!” Peter thrust his arms in the air and then threw himself at Mr. Stark to hug him. “Thank Mr. Stark! Thank you!”

Mr. Stark patted his back awkwardly. “Yeah. All right. All right. Don’t thank me yet. There are going to be ground rules. A lot of ground rules. And a curfew.”

“Aw come on.” Peter complained as he pulled away.

“And I don’t want to hear any sass about it, because you can say I can’t stop you all you want, but you and I both know I can.” Mr. Stark held a finger up at him in warning. It was true. He did know. “First of all, I’m going to make you a suit.”

“Really?” His eyes went wide.

“Really. You’re in dire need of an upgrade. I can’t let you keep swinging around town in this.” Mr. Stark poked at his super suit as if was a stinky pile of garbage.

“It’s not that bad…” He argued but the thought of having a suit built for him by Mr. Stark made him want to jump up and down in excitement.

“And I’m telling May.” Mr. Stark said.

“No! Please Mr. Stark, you can’t tell her!”

“She needs to know kid. You’re her responsibility and you’re out there risking your life.”

“Risking my life is kind of an exaggeration. I mean I don’t do that many dangerous things. I’m more like the friendly neighborhood spiderman.”

“I saw a video of you webbing up bank robbers last week. They were shooting at you. Very real bullets. Very real life risking danger.” Mr. Stark said, not amused. A second later he frowned as he stared off in the distance at the wall behind Peter, looking like he was deep in thought.

“Uh, Mr. Stark?” Peter prompted.

“Just replaying in my head all those videos I’ve seen of you doing stupidly dangerous stunts.”

Peter rolled his eyes. “They’re not that bad.”

Mr. Stark arched an eyebrow at him.

“Please don’t tell May.” He pleaded. “If she knows she’s going to freak out and then I’m going to freak out and she doesn’t need this kind of stress right now, not after…” He trailed off, not wanting to talk about his uncle’s death. He could tell Mr. Stark understood though because he made the face everyone made whenever Peter mentioned Ben these days.

Mr. Stark ran a hand down his face and nodded. “Ok fine.”

“Thank you!”

“But I reserve the right to change my mind at any time.”

“Fine.” Peter didn’t like it, but it was better than the alternative.

“So.” Mr. Stark sighed and slapped his thighs before standing. “That web fluid. You made that yourself?”

“Yeah.”

Mr. Stark smiled, and Peter didn’t think he was imagining the pride in his eyes. “Where’d you get the supplies?”

“Chemistry class.”

Mr. Stark snorted. “Of course you did. You want to walk me through how you make it?”

Peter grinned. “Sure.”

Huh. Maybe Ned had been right. Mr. Stark finding out hadn’t been as bad as he’d thought it would be.

#febuwhump2021 #febuwhump #irondad

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alias-b · 4 years ago

Text

sins of my youth. 015

Billy Hargrove x OC! Evie Fenny~ Also posted to my AO3

Summary: It was common knowledge that Billy Hargrove hated Hawkins. Hated Cherry Lane. Even loathed the strange girl next door. Evie Fenny wasn’t too fond of the chaotic Cali transfer either. An awful high school tradition sparks a chain of events that changes everything, ultimately bringing two frayed souls together.

A/N: I was excited to post this one! Billy continues to learn secrets about Evie as they grow closer. The first day back to school arrives with new challenges. TW: talk of teacher/student relationship, vomiting, pica, bullying, and some Well Earned Smut. *Thanks all and chat with me about the fic if you have time!

Chapter 15: Fires Within Fires

Billy decided he liked unwrapping these layers to Evie, despite the fucking interruptions.

Their little game of back and forth where even grazing her skin with his fingertips felt like a prize.

Where a glimpse of her smile's ghost sent luna moths fluttering inside the glass jar that he'd long-sealed his beating heart away into.

He certainly couldn't tell her she'd consumed him. Syllables became harder around Evie. No amount of cooing at his mirror would save him from those painted eyes. Brushstrokes that destroyed him utterly.

And all he could think was brush me again.

The greatest mystery presented itself that Saturday night.

Mona stayed out with friends and went home with something a little more chiseled. Which meant she’d be out and go straight to the salon to play with the books. Blue was fed. The stars were bright and silent. Placed just so.

Evie applied a red lip, bent over the vanity before it reached eleven on the dot. With her mother out, she used the front door after grasping her coat. Green bomber covered in patches. Crept over the frozen grass and pavement toward a hippy sort of van. Tan with a maroon stripe.

Billy crawled out his window at the sight of her along the way. Dressed. Head down as he hid near his car.

He had to know.

The van was already driving off so Billy waited a bit to follow behind it. Hoped the few cars on the road would mask him if he stayed far enough away.

He trailed after the damn thing all the way to the city. Saw it still in an alleyway and swerved to find parking elsewhere. Waited a few minutes with his eyes on the rearview mirror to see lights flicker.

Beyond the cold buildings, a cozy nightclub illuminated. Covered in trellises with twisted metalwork roses and thorny vines. Slicked in frost. A red, ornate canopy and steel black gate lining the outside area with empty tables.

Music vibrated within. Billy lit up a cigarette and watched the door. Eyed a bouncer chatting it up with a group outside in the cold. Smoking and shooting the shit. He readied to make his move.

The sign read Sugar Kane’s in swirling lights.

Boots carefully stepped around the alley. Eyes trained on the bouncer at the end of the street corner. A thrum of piano keys echoed. Billy slipped into the door, down an immediate tunnel of high steps into another world made of pure red velvet.

Wall to wall velour curtains and uniform lines of crystalline lights. Felt like Billy stepped into a dim, smoky dream. Busy round tables with idle chatter and even a bit of friendly gambling. A dance floor with plenty of couples. Sleek black bar and mirrors behind it.

Taste and class and care went into this dream.

Billy fell into a table in the back, darkest corner. Watched the slow dancing. Heels clicked. More people drank and smoked at tables. Playing cards and speaking in hushed tones under the music.

The music.

As couples swayed and parted, Billy’s eyes lifted to the band. Bass, drums, and keyboard. And the singer looking like a chandelier painted red like the walls. Red like the blood boiling and pounding under his flesh.

Slow and steady, a pure blue light bathed. Made her the center of the universe. Let her slip into a warm bubble bath birthed of the cosmos itself. Billy had to scan her again. Had to blink to make sure he was seeing this correctly.

Sleek dress of beads like what a flapper would wear. Glossy red lips sultry into the mic. Huge lashes. Bigger curls.

Evie.

Her hips moved against the swell of sound. Breathing in and out with it. Stage lights framed her body. Kissed it. Made her glimmer as an ethereal creature. Not of this world.

Billy’s jaw was on the table.

“This is a man's world,” she cooed, head shaking while brown eyes fluttered closed, “this is a man's world…”

Billy’s fingers twisted into the tablecloth. Eyes trained as her voice picked up against the reverberations. Filled the air. Filled the empty spaces around Billy. He’d heard her sing, but this starlet wasn’t the delicate songbird she came off as. She owned the air. The space. The stars. The world at her feet.

She owned everything. She wasn't sorry.

“But it wouldn't be nothing, nothing without a woman or a girl.” Evie plucked up the mic to come forward. Smiling when hands dropped dollars into a bowl she shared with the band. Her voice grew. Boomed. Curled around throats and hearts.

Enthralled.

That stage was where she belonged and she wasn’t sorry about that either.

Bathed in the echoing ruby glow from seas of crimson velvet and black silk around the room. Spotlight pulsing technicolor. Painting in blues and pinks and reds. Utterly decadent. Small chandeliers hung down to sparkle against cherry hardwood that met the vibration of a musical crescendo.

Evie’s dress flicked about as she moved. Tiny knit shadowy fishnets and strappy heels. Miniature white flowers woven into her free spun curls that truly made her look like an angel. A glowy star. The light caught a collared necklace she’d made with a cameo brooch and loose jewels.

Again and again, Billy let himself be consumed. Bowed to her voice ever-growing. These untouchable notes that wrung around his soul.

“But it wouldn't be nothing!” Evie’s head tipped back. “Nothing!” Mic high with the greatest note that stilled the entire room as the music hushed so she could shine. Obscene and shameless and so bright. Eyes lifted from tables to see her there beckoning like the sirens of old. Evie came down to look out, settled the mic on its stand. Romanced it. “...without a woman or a girl…”

Billy sat there and watched the set. Eyes all over Evie without her knowing. Blissfully unaware of the boy in shadows. He smoked a slow cigarette and no one from the bar bothered him. Not yet.

Evie was five songs in before they switched it up. Let the band take on some peppier instrumental so Evie left to cross to the bar. Billy thought to flee before a huge hand touched his shoulder.

“You look a little young to be in here. Not drinking. Where’s your ID, kid?”

“Hey, I’m eighteen.” Billy sounded childish, snuffing a cigarette out on a clean ashtray. The bouncer glared down at him. Bodybuilder type and pretty. Tanned with styled slick hair and little strands tumbling into his brow. Blue eyes. One ear framed in silver piercings. “Just listening to the girl, she...she knows me.”

“Yeah, yeah, let’s go, stalker. She's working.” The bouncer cooly plucked Billy up like he was a doll. Catching the attention of the bar as they stumbled toward it.

Evie reeled out of her conversation before Billy Hargrove was presented to her. One shoulder high into the air as a muscled hand held his arm.

“Does this belong to you, Eve?” He began, giving Billy a jostle for good measure.

“Oh, god.”

Billy flashed his brightest smile. Begged to be claimed like a little, lost puppy. Poor Evie could only groan. Elbows on the sleek wood to hide her face. The woman she’d been speaking with behind the bar was already cackling. “Yes...he’s mine.”

“Is this the boy you won’t shut up about?” Came a quip. Gravelly, feminine voice.

“Told you, I know her. Lemme go, Lurch.” Billy ripped himself clean from the bouncer. Fixed his jacket.

“Marlon, baby, we got him from here.” The barkeep continued, bringing one acrylic nail to her plump lips. Dolled to the gods in a Marilyn Monroe type wig of platinum, buttercream waves that swooped to frame her face and touched her glowing shoulders. Sapphire cocktail dress cinched in and flowed to knee length. Matching heels that made her a head taller than Billy.

“Whatever you say, honeybunch.” Marlon gruffed and went back to go up the steps. Evie shoved at Billy and grabbed his jacket.

“What are you doing here?” Her classic hiss.

“I wanted to know where you snuck off to two nights a week. Just a concerned neighbor.”

“Sometimes three when we have the stage open.” A hand adorned in a huge diamond ring extended. “Looks like James Dean and Jim Morrison had a blond baby boy. Little Eros crawled out of a Def Leppard video.”

“Billy.” He shrugged out of Evie’s grip. Left her making that signature scrunchy face of anger she was known for. Arms crossed at him. Pride rose so he boasted. Took the bejeweled hand in both of his to kiss the knuckles smelling of jasmine. “Evie’s favorite subject.”

“Are not.” The retort clipped.

“Don’t tell lies, Evie dearest, they cause wrinkles.” A wink of huge false lashes followed. “Iris Lee Arden. I manage the place for the owners. Evie’s never brought us a pretty stray before.” She gave Billy’s chin an affectionate brush. Nails painted to silver claws.

Iris moved like a feline. A trans woman with brown skin and a full figure. Thirties. Commanding presence. Love of Marilyn Monroe with roots in the art of drag. Billy spotted a sign behind her about the specials. Chalked in different colors. A variety of musical stylings. Another sign about the shows nightly. Thursday being drag night.

One of those open places he figured. Accepting of all colors and sexualities. Safe haven to outcasts. California had them too. Seemed more of a rarity in this area. Double the bouncers of the places back home.

“Evie’s telling people about me, huh?” Billy leaned into the bar to play the flirt. Evie’s hand covered his mouth.

“Ignore him. He should not be here. I’m sorry.”

“Says you who lied about your age for the job, sugar.” Iris teased, eyes flicking to Billy. “We found out like the day after. Obviously.”

“I was in it for the free booze.” Evie beamed a smile, hand snatching from Billy when he licked her finger. “Gross.” The pink tongue caught between his teeth before he grinned.

“Uh. Nice try. I don’t even drink the alcohol for free, girl. And the only thing we ever give you free is a Shirley Temple.” Iris laughed again. “I’ll get two going while you lovebirds work things out.”

“We’re not, ugh…” Evie rolled her eyes and decided to sit. Huffed for effect. “So, you got me.”

“I always do." His dangling earring caught the light. "Not a bad place. You ever sing on Thursday?”

“No, but I did host a couple of shows for Iris. The girls love me and I love them. They taught me plenty. Helped me. And I...learned a lot about myself too.” Evie kicked a stool out so he’d join her. Paused to see his expression. Her lips quivered. "Would it bother you if I think about girls and boys the same?"

"Did it bother you when I flirted with that Jesse guy right in front of you? More in common, Angel. It's adding up." Billy held her eyes steady when he said that. They shared this softer beat. Simple and clean. Plenty of room to breathe. He shifted, lashes batting. "So, this place. Start from the top."

“I was sixteen and I saw flyers so...I sorta lied about my age. No one knows. Not Heather, not even Fredrick. They found out I lied quickly. But, they liked me so we worked out some rules and I just sing a few nights with the band. Couple songs. Great guys, too. The Starlighters. They’re here almost 24/7. Marvin on bass, he drives so they pick me up on the way most days. I have to hide in back, I don’t want to get them in trouble. Cops will treat them differently cause they're not white. Always been that way.”

Billy noticed most of the people in here, including the workers and band, were people of color easily. Many mixed like Evie.

Opposite of Hawkins. She and Tommy H were practically the only mixed kids in their classes since his birth mother was Hispanic. Strange thing neither of them addressed in the open.

“The club runs all sorts of music. Jazz, rock, classics, and some pop. I like the more rock and pop nights cause I can bring my guitar. Sometimes I help back up visiting bands. This place just appreciates it all. I love it here and I can sing anything they need, it's like a second home. Accepting. Good for people who get the fuzzy end of the lollipop.” She shrugged and two bubbly glasses were set down. “Thank you, Iris.”

“Owners have more musicians coming in toward spring so hours for you will be slim. Summer should be better, they might have some more day and evening gigs.” Iris perked a smile.

“I get it. Easier to work during the day when I turn eighteen.” Evie sipped. "The best birthday present of all is more of that stage."

“It's happy to have you, sugar. So, tell me, Billy, have you locked this girl down?” Iris plucked up a clipboard to make some inventory notes, elbow on the bar.

“Hey!”

“I’m working hard on it,” Billy winked and that was enough to silence Evie.

“She also told me you’re the one who took care of the shithead who gave her that,” Iris tilted Evie’s face. "Boy is lucky I couldn't sink my talons into his eye sockets. Sick my guys and dolls on him." Billy barely caught the bruises under layers of color corrector and makeup. “Good boy.”

“I do what I can.” He shrugged and played with the straw of his drink. Evie could have blamed her blush on stage lights. Instead, she stole a sip when Iris offered a fresh glass of water.

“I’m gonna go sing.” She pushed Billy’s arm. “He’s a compulsive liar. Don't listen to him.”

“Don’t worry, Eve, I’ll babysit the pretty boy. Make him feel right at home. It's what I do.” Another wink and Evie groaned all the way to the stage. Rejoined the band with a red smile. Sparkling. Garnered a few claps and nodded to pick up the next song. Beaming.

She found Billy's eyes for one fleeting moment.

"The French are glad to die for love..."

“She’s gonna go far, that one." Iris caught his attention. "Just needs a chance is all. Someone bigger than me to give it.”

Billy’s eyes were glued to the ruby supernova whirling and bursting before his gaze. Felt the vibrations inside his ribs. Again and again.

“You take the stage too?”

“Oh, yes. Never too late. Prefer to manage these days. Guide others starting out. Lots of queens and questioning tweens in the city in need of a place. I like to give them one. Outcasts who need to learn they're not alone in this big world. I've had plenty of success and now I have dreams of managing one great star.”

“My dad would hate all this.” Billy piped up aimlessly, head shaking.

“More of us than of him, if you believe it. Just have to speak up. Scream it out.” Iris cleaned a couple of empty glasses. “You’re pretty. You could do drag, you know?”

“Thanks.” Billy broke to chuckle, eyes turned back at last.

“Don’t hurt my girl either.” One long nail pointed. A talon that tapped Billy’s chin. “We’ll take you out back and smack you around a bit.”

“Maybe I’m into that, lady.” Billy flirted back. His insufferable self. The pretense lowered. “Already hurt Evie. Trying not to do it again.”

“You’re young. So is she. You both will fuck up, that's life. Sometimes people hurt more when they're comfortable. Just make it right.” Iris had offered, arms back in the bar to sigh.

“Sometimes I don’t know how to do that,” Billy blinked his gorgeous eyes, “make it right, I mean.”

“Watch. Listen. Learn.” She cooed softer. “It’ll do you good. Be a gentleman too, offer my girl a ride home when her set is over. Short night. I assume you’re staying?”

“Yeah…” Breathless, he marveled. “Yeah, I’m staying if she is.”

Evie had a few more songs before the mic was turned over. Something sinking every single time she had to see it go. They split tips and she parted ways for the night. Offered the shortest hours of all the workers being so young. Schooling first, Iris always said.

Bundled in a jacket, Evie pushed through some beads and curtains to see Billy waiting. Head cocking toward the exit.

“You stayed.”

“Why wouldn’t I? Drove all the way here.” He lit up a smoke outside, having not had many during the set. Music lingered behind them. Echoed along the cool winds and wet pavement. “Free show and all the Shirley Temples I could suck up. I did tip, by the way. All the pretty people I could flirt with and brag about my girl to. What a night.”

He slung a lazy arm around Evie’s shoulders. Not looking at her. His girl. Smoke flitting out his lips and Evie lost all her thoughts. Lost the nerve to tell him he was so beautiful. That she could be his. He shifted closer to her and peered at his watch, trapping Evie into his chest.

“Damn, it's just after two.”

“Couple times I stayed till four.” She lamented. “Guess I should be happy they have room at all even if it’s once a week these days. Iris is good to me, I’m loyal… What did you guys talk about?”

“How pretty the stars are at night.” He mused, snuffing his cigarette out onto a brick wall before he paced to the car waiting. Evie slid in wordlessly, sighed when Billy got the heat on before she buckled.

She also noticed he did it too for the first time since riding with him.

“Usually I’m wired after shows but I’m dead tired tonight,” she rubbed her head to moan, leaning back.

“You had a long week.” Was all Billy said, swerving down the street to the freeway.

This heavy silence hung in the air. Billy intent on the road. Idle glances that never matched up. Finally, he peered over and saw Evie’s head lulled aside. Fast asleep.

A smirk crept.

He turned some easy music on. Let her rest all the way to Hawkins and parked at his house. Turned slowly and brought his knuckles up against the apple of Evie’s cheek. He felt her shift into his touch and reeled back. Evie seized up, groaned to see him.

“We’re back.” He whispered. Not sure why.

“Hm, sorry. Dozed off there.” Evie felt for the handle. Also felt Billy’s eyes on her skull. She froze and blinked to see him. “You want to come inside?”

“Easier than sneaking into my place. Dad’s a heavy sleeper, but he has Billy Fuck-Up Radar.” He laughed and she didn’t, pushing out. Evie staggered in her heels, holding herself so Billy crossed around in silence. They went up into her house.

“Gonna...bathroom. Wash my face off ‘n change.” She had this sleepy adorable way about that, petting Blue idly. Already tugging little clips from her curls.

Billy came to give the cat some attention. Heard the sink running and crossed back to Evie’s room. Tucked his boots and coat aside. Sprang at attention when she came in wearing a long tee and cradling a bundle of clothing. Curls free and messy. The slightest smear of black makeup still under her eyes but the rest of the paint came off leaving her fresh-faced and glowy.

“Need to use it?” She gestured behind her and stepped aside, depositing her laundry properly. Blue eyes lingered before he went off. Wordless.

Evie let out the breath she’d been holding to sit on the bed. Back taut when Billy returned so she stood awkwardly. A quick movement that made him stop. Created a standoff. Eyes held steady. Expectant. She bit her lip and clicked the light out.

Somehow that made him feel safer to cross. Careful steps like he was approaching a skittish nymph. Stood inches away. Evie let herself cave in.

“Can I undress you?”

The words blurted.

Billy didn't hesitate.

“All yours.” He watched her too pointedly so Evie looked aside. Reached to lift his shirt until he adjusted to get out of it. She got a look finally at the nasty red and purple welts on his shoulder. Healing yellow tinge. Clouds shifting.

Visible from the moon and streetlamps outside flitting through the blinds. A hand hovered but didn’t touch and he just went rigid there. Let her look at him. Let her see every inch. The color splashed over his shoulder like spilled paint.

“Can I kiss you there?”

“Only once.” He said so she swept over. Placed her lips on the flesh that was burning hot. Pecked too light and came out to see Billy’s eyes close. They opened and she reached for his belt. Clicked to get it off before unbuttoning his pants. Billy hitched to shudder when she brushed him, easing his pants down over white briefs.

Slowly, Evie brought a finger to her lips. Tapped once and Billy obeyed. Claimed them without ceremony. Pushed into her body until they tangled back in bed. Adjusting so he could hover.

Aroused into a creamy thigh, Billy rocked easily between parting legs. Nestled there and heard her moan. Drowsy kisses as her hands slipped around his back. One arm braced by her head, fingers smoothed the curls aside.

“Can I look?” He uttered, hand inching under her shirt. Gazes locked. A pulsing beat.

“Yeah.” Evie let her hands fall into the mattress. Billy pushed fabric up over her chubby stomach and naked breasts. Traced her flesh without shame and she felt it all melting away. Piles of insecurities shedding to drop like little weights hanging from her heart. Brown eyes lifted elsewhere. A quiet shiver followed.

Her chest rose and fell. Evie tried to stay alert and locked into him, but the sensation returned that sunk her down.

“Billy," she squeaked to still him, "I-I do want you.”

That broad hand palmed her side.

“If you’re unsure, Angel, it’s a no.” He shrugged. “It’s okay. You’re tired. Doesn’t hurt my pride.” Eyes lingered on her face. Evie still felt so exposed there. Billy’s thumb rubbed a hot circle into her skin. He chuckled before pecking those waiting lips with ease.

“We could...I still want to… Do things.” Evie shuddered, swallowing to find the words. “Warm-up. Start slow. Small.”

“Little things you dream of me doing to you.” He leaned in again to taunt. Hips pushed into hers. “Wet your panties already.”

“Please, you leaked all...over me…” Evie lost the exact jab while he kissed up her neck. Tongue and teeth. His hand inched. Ever so slightly. She touched his knuckles, guided him higher to cup her breast. Billy moaned at that alone. Twitched like he might burst and wasted no time getting his tongue on her nipples.

“Taste better than I dreamt, that’s for damn sure.” He ran his nose over her sternum. Tormented her other breast. Let his teeth tug once. Twice.

Suckles until she bucked into him. Head tossed back to moan. Fingers curled into spun gold. Coaxed him onward. Billy kissed her all over. Tummy and back up again. Shifting, he moved over to straddle one leg, nudged her thighs to stay parted.

“Wanna spread you open,” lips ghosted, “touch you.” Brush you again and again.

Evie had his arm in her grip. Felt like two irons clinging. Slowly, she nodded, eyes huge and darting over his there in the dim light.

“I want to feel good again, Billy.” She gulped dry air. “Want you to make me feel good.”

He took in her expression. Pleading and vulnerable. Unafraid to want him in the open. Fingers rolled over her hard nipple and then slipped down under flimsy fabric he wished he could tear. Contained himself just barely at the feel of her. Soaked for him. Responsive to every little beat and sigh. Pride set fire to his marrow. Two fingers pushed up into the bud, coated in arousal to stroke it.

"Like that?" He teased slow. Her mouth opened for his tongue in response.

Evie grasped desperately at the pillow under her head. Legs opened so he got off to curl next to her. Braced his head up with one propped elbow and offered lazy rubs. Drew it out until her thighs hitched to part wide.

“Hear that fucking sound you make?” Billy’s lips touched her ear. “Fuck.” He whimpered like she was the hottest thing on two legs. Made her feel coveted and sexy. Desirable. Slick sounds mingled with their breathing hurried. “I could listen to it all day and get off on that alone, you know. Musical girl. I could play you all night.”

He kept kissing her, rendering Evie unable to articulate. Wanting him in little breathy sounds.

Fucking wanting him.

Evie twisted, hitching a gasp as her toes curled. Thighs parting wider because Billy was some sort of fucking wizard at this. This boy couldn't be real. Eliciting perfect notes out of her. One hand gripped the pillow under her head while the other clung to his bicep now. She felt the muscles bulge white-hot and loved it. Heard Billy breathing soft in her ear, lips trailing down her jawline and collar.

“You’re so wet.” Billy brought his fingers up to lick them. Pushed his tongue into her mouth after. “Taste so fucking good.” Evie yelped as he slapped her thigh playfully. The words slurred into her lips. He slipped his hand back into her panties, played rougher, and felt her tense. Evie’s lips opened into his to moan. Her legs bent up and spread for him. Bucking to meet his touch that was ending her. “Shameless, Evie, I like it.”

“You talk too much.” She had gasped, eyes rolling to shut. Breast jutting so he kissed them next.

“I don’t think people talk enough during the act.” Billy curled back into her. Supporting himself on one arm by her head. “Nothing like seeing a pretty girl’s face when I tell her she’s gonna come so hard for me.” She felt his shaft against her side, rubbing idly to make some friction. Leaking and wet. "So very hard."

Billy liked to play dirty, it kept his emotions at a safe distance.

Evie caved in.

“More… Faster, Billy.” She clung for him. Neck exposed. Pulsing. Lips parting obscenely. "More."

A finger pushed inside with another following.

“Oh, fuck.” Evie worked into his touch. Brown eyes finding his intent ones. Billy thumbed her clit in tune. Pumped a few times. Watched her chest rise and fall in shaky breaths. The shirt still bunched over her tits. Lips fell to suckle one rosy nipple then the other.

“Too much, Angel?” Billy slipped out to resume circling the bud. He hummed, slowing to inhale deep before he granted her another taste of his lips.

“Don’t stop, I like it.” Evie whimpered into his mouth. Caught his bottom lip in her teeth playfully.

“Couldn’t tell.” Billy sped up again. “Wanna see you come for me.”

“Billy.” Evie twisted at that. Thrusting herself into him. Breasts bouncing.

Slick, filthy sounds filled the room. The damn streetlamps glimmered around the curtains. Gave her almost no place to hide from him. Something churned in her stomach. Alert.

“I’m close.” She strained at last. "I'm so..."

“I know,” he grazed their lips to murmur, “just chase it. Don’t run, Angel. That’s it. Chase it for me.” He watched her expression flutter and cloud. Loved it. Worked her relentlessly.

Nails dug into his skin. Out of breath and bucking until her body gave a little quake. A moan followed. Drawing out with her climax. Billy rubbed her until she fell to pieces. Crying out and shuddering. All for him. Back curved to echo sweet delights. He didn’t stop until she fell limp and quivering by the force. With Evie spent, he pushed up to reach into his briefs. Slicked his shaft in her arousal. Began to pump.

“Lemme see you.” She slurred, turning over to tug his underwear down. God, he was beautiful. Lines cut down his hips. Trimmed gold curls. She bit her lip again and wasn’t coy for once.

“You mind?” A suggestive eyebrow rose.

"If I can help." She pushed up more with heavily hooded eyes. Drunken. Messy kisses trailed his abs before she licked his tip.

“You just go for it, huh?” Billy added. Allowed her to swallow him down. “Fuck, that mouth you have, Evie.” He bucked into her throat. Tried to apologize when she made a sound that was utterly pornographic. Heavy cologne wafted up her nose. A trail of spit ran from flesh to lips as she came out. Lapping again. Sinking down so he could pump. She gripped his hips and worshipped him. "You don't...You don't have to..."

"I like it when you feel good. You're so beautiful." Evie dipped out. Let Billy tilt her head up by the hair. Thumb slicking her swollen mouth. Billy curved to dip his tongue in. Groaned when she kept stroking. "Feels good to give pleasure. We have that in common, Billy."

His spine arched. Muscles taut because her lips were on him again.

"You look like a star, you know that?" Billy had to peer away. Sighing soft. Shuddering. She didn't lie about being skilled at this. Evie placed little kisses up and down. Slowed. He didn't have time to continue the praise.

“Where do you want to cum?” She resumed stroking him. Kissed shapes around his hips sweetly. Billy tried to articulate and gasped as her teeth nipped along his skin.

“You’re asking me? Shit...You won’t like it.” He tried to not blow it all on her face. Felt like that might be rude. Billy shuddered again. “On your tits.”

“Hm.” Evie reclined back, let him scoot in and helped him stroke himself. Being dirty also assisted in keeping her emotions and insecurity at bay. She worked him with her slick hand. Felt him starting to lock.

“Listen, I’m not gonna last much...longer.” He was thrusting into their palms. Leaned over her to grasp the pillows so she could finish him herself.

“It’s okay. Just let go, Billy. It'll feel so good when you do.” Tease.

“Fuck, Evie, fuck.” Billy looked exquisite. Vulnerable. Eyes glittering with pleasure. Whining. Lips opened to groan. She worked him until release gushed. Milky spurts right across her chest. Billy swallowed for some air, looked down at her. Messy and fucked out. Shirt bunched up with his filth all over her skin. Puffed.

“Don’t get mad, but I thought about that the first time I saw you.” He twisted one nipple, heard her hitch to sigh. Evie fell back with a huff.

“Yeah, you made that obvious.” She felt Billy sweep up some release with two fingers and offer it to her lips. Sucked him clean, peering through thick lashes. Evie laced their fingers and let a slow smile pull. “I enjoy you, Billy.”

“Yeah?” He fell next to her. Nestled in so their curls mixed. “Only took you a couple of months and an orgasm to admit it.”

“Shut it… I want you. Not trying to countdown to it like it’s some rocketship.” She pushed over him and felt under the bed for a dirty shirt to wipe off with. “That’s all I’m saying. Foreplay is one thing. Sex always changes people. Maybe I'm...freaked about that.”

“I enjoy you, too.” He admitted to the dark. Eyes lifting to the ceiling before she tucked herself back in between him and the wall. “We could get a motel room sometime. Make sure no one walks in for once. We'll be wide awake and go a few rounds. And I won't change on you.”

“Hmm.” She turned to muffle into his chest. Drowsy as can be. “Sure.”

“Really?” Didn’t expect a quick reply. “Not gonna take it back when the glow wears off?”

“Maybe.” Evie teased, grinning into Billy’s skin. “You make me mad sometimes. Still want to go slow like this.” He chuckled with little air, chest steady until he adjusted so she could cuddle into him. Evie traced a heart into his flesh. Caught herself. “Can I have a ride Monday? I think Steve will understand… I’m just freaked out about going in.”

A hand pushed her hair aside so they could look at each other. Billy played with lush curls. Got serious.

“He's not gonna be there.”

“I know.” Evie hummed with her eyes closing. Fingers in her hair lulled her further. “Sometimes I think I see him standing in dark corners. Even when I’m on stage. There’s this glimmer of him everywhere. Especially as I close my eyes.”

Billy didn’t know what to say so he kissed her until she was breathless and distracted. They shifted around so Evie faced the wall, pulling his arm over. Thrilled him to pieces. Billy framed her body with his, lips melting into dark curls. Sweet blessings placed upon her crown. A protective barrier he hoped soothed her.

He really hoped.

The blankets pulled up so they twisted together. No more syllables followed until the morning birds began to sing.

** ** **

Monday crept to swallow Evangeline whole.

She donned a vintage plaid dress that was cinched with a belt and short. Threw her bomber over it and fashionable black tights. Knew she was dressing for Fredrick even still. Her little outfits pieced together so he could imagine taking them apart in class. Earrings caught the light as she swung her bag on and crept outside into the morning windchill. Didn’t want to keep Billy and Max waiting.

Just in time, they stalked out of the Hargrove house. This knowing smile crossed Max’s face when she saw Evie.

“So, you’re hanging out with Billy again.” Came the monotone observation.

“Back seat.” He snapped at her. Evie’s lip twitched before a little nod followed and the redhead disappeared into the back. Snapping the seat in place for Evie to take. Without ceremony, the Camaro lurched forward to go. Billy fiddling with his radio and cursing all the hick stations until he found one at Evie's quiet recommendation.

“Is Evie your girlfriend now?” Max was leaning between them.

“I’ll pull over, I swear to god, Max.” He lifted his eyes with an aggravated breath, turning hard after the stoplight changed. Max snickered and Evie wanted to laugh, but didn’t. Eyes darting at the many trees they passed until they began to blur. A sea of earthy tones and pure white frost pooling. Almost looked like chaotic, muddy ocean waves. Crashing.

Sensing the nerves, Billy’s hand found her knee. Stayed there until they got to school. Thumb smoothing.

“See you two later.” Chipper for once in the morning, Mad Max jumped out after them and raced down the hill to meet Dustin waving across the way. Evie huffed as he looked between Billy and her then asked Max an obvious question out of earshot.

Students moved all around them. Many pausing to glance at Evie Fenny appearing from the magical blue of Billy Hargrove's legendary Camaro. She didn't belong there. One hot orgasm wouldn't change that. Fingers curled into her bag’s strap. Nervously twisting it.

“He’s not gonna be in there and you won’t feel better until you face it.” Billy finished his cigarette against the hood. Eyes pointed.

“We could just skip.” Evie looked around at passing students and Billy came to her side.

“You do know how to tempt me. C’mon.” An arm swept around her shoulders. Nearby students took more frantic notes as they got down the hill so Evie wiggled from him. Kept walking and felt sick by the time they got to her locker.

“People are staring at us.” She faced inside and sorted books. Billy leaned next to her. Eyes flickering with this unreadable expression.

“I didn’t notice.”

Evie gave him this glance like she didn’t believe him.

"I don't care." Came the actual sentiment.

“I have to get to calc.” Evie dismissively shut the metal door and gasped when he kissed her. Right there in front of everyone. Billy cupping her cheeks. Making a point in his way. Cartoon confetti tumbling down. Students watched Evie stumble into the lockers. Billy Hargrove’s arm steady around her back. Pulling her into his body as if he wanted her and only her and nothing else existed.

“Clear enough, Angel?” He pulled out. Left her breathless. Unworried and wishing it was enough to unbind her nerves. A thumb fixed her lipstick idly. “See you in English. Don’t run.” Billy swept off. Students parting to let their king by. Evie shuddered to herself and hunched to hurry in the opposite direction. Cheeks burning.

Brush me again.

She didn’t learn much in her first period. Heather met her at the door and kept glancing the entire class. Carol and Tommy both skipped. That should have brought Evie some ease. Instead, she figured she might blow chunks.

The first bell had her springing up. Not even waiting for Heather as she disappeared into crowds. Shoving a bathroom door open so she could throw up her breakfast. Two eggs arranged with wheat toast. Mona had spent the entire time prattling about some man she was seeing as if Evie were her best friend and therapist and not a soul she gave birth to.

Evie so often wondered if her mother had wanted her. Really wanted her. This life that stilled all her starlight, electric dreams. And not treated birth as a duty because these things can happen.

Luck was not on her side. Evie had passed Carol in there with a couple of other girls in her gaggle's orbit. Smoking and late to class. Too cool for it either way.

Bile and food exploded into the toilet bowl. A twisted clothing pin that was stuck somewhere it shouldn't have been came up too. Evie swallowed that a good while ago. Spots of blood pricked.

“Gross, Fenny, didn’t know you were that type.” Vicki sneered outside at the sound. Snickering followed. “Two fingers are better than one, precious. I hope you give Billy’s dick better treatment.” Footsteps followed and Evie didn’t have time to be mortified. She figured they all left and gasped. Spotted a loose bolt in the wall.

Evie propped her head up and fumbled to unscrew it.

Heard voices that told her to stop. Just stop. She can stop. She can stop this at any time.

There rust.

It went down and Evie felt that sickly wave of calm wash. Rocked back to a distant shore and wiped her mouth on a wad of thin toilet paper. Felt disgusting. Gave her cheek a soft pat like a baby. Breathe. Breathe. Feet staggered out with her backpack to see Carol sitting on the farthest sink like it was a throne. Smoking still and far too elated.

Shame sunk its talons into Evie like Carol watched the entire thing play out.

Unable to even rasp, she went to the sink and washed out her mouth.

“Not preggers are you?” Smoke pooled up.

“Just sick.” Evie bit back, hands braced over the sink.

“About the party,” Carol continued, not listening as she snuffed out her cig against the mirror's corner, “I was so drunk. Don’t take it personally.”

“Fine.”

“I just think it’s a fresh start today. New leaves. Right?” Carol dug around as Evie shuddered and tried to reapply her lipstick. The redhead approached. “Here.”

A stick of bubblegum flicked out. Evie eyed it suspiciously and Carol actually smiled. Glossy lips curling before she chewed her own piece. Blew a plush pink bubble for good measure.

It popped.

“Nothing funny. You need to work on those trust issues. Especially if you’re gonna hang with Billy. He gets around." Her head cocked. "Don't mind Vicki, by the way, Billy sorta dropped her unexpectedly. Hm. She was hoping to take him all the way to prom and only got one taste at Lover's Lake. Poor thing.”

Carefully, Evie took it. Let the sweet flavor fill her rustic mouth. Didn’t mask enough.

“Thanks…”

“Anytime.” Carol went to the door and stopped. Lips smacked. Couldn't hold it in any longer and let the glee flow. Red hair flicked. “So how does it work, you and Bowers, is it a grade thing? Are you just easy? I’m so curious because he seems like a guy who could get anyone. Billy, too. So, why you, Evie?"

The question that kept Evangeline up at night haunted the air. Carol grew relentless.

"Are you a witch of some kind? Could be comparing the young and old. Gross. Maybe you work well on your knees. I’d love some tips.”

Evie stared at the sink. Heard the bell blare signaling she was late. A deafening silence followed.

“I don’t…” She peered at Carol crossing her arms to smile. The gum went sour. “I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”

“I don’t know if I’m grossed out or impressed, Evie,” Carol faked a look of shock, “you really suck off our teacher. I mean, how pathetic do you have to be?” A nasty, faux scoff followed.

"As if you weren't leaning over his desk to press your tits against his back and hiking your skirts up all the same." Evie shot up. Caught Carol off guard by matching her malice. Easily.

Evie found herself shaking. Face hot. Eyes betraying her too well.

“But, I don’t know what you’re talking about. Leave me alone.” She spat the gum in the trash and pushed out to go. Carol followed her down the empty hallway, skipping and loving this side of Evie that poured like tar.

“Does he at least buy you nice dinners? I bet he’s flush with cash. Buys you things in leather and lace. Does he have a preference? I think lace. You're a dainty spring flower he plucks the petals from all for himself. Right?" Carol struck Evie with an arrow at that sentiment. "Is Billy jealous? Bowers is probably into the weird shit. You must be a real pro at-” Carol hitched to squeal when Evie flared.

Two hands plucking her up to shove her into the lockers. Breaths in sync, Evie found herself hissing. A fire built to pour and ravage. Warming them both. She leaned too close to Carol's face.

“Just, shut up.” She trembled, teeth-baring. A silver tear fell down her cheek. Fingers warped into Carol's pink turtleneck sweater. The trapped girl actually reached up to catch it on her finger. Looked dreamily into the droplet like she was viewing a distant memory.

“Ah, you’re actually crying. Like a little baby. You should start wearing a big red A, Fen. Bowers must love having a little baby girl around. Dress her up and down, down, down.” Carol sneered, glossy lips popping.

She dropped the pretense as Evie held her there. Let it all flutter. Started to shatter silently. Evangeline wondered. She really wondered if what Carol Perkins saw in her that she hated so much was just herself reflected. Poor thing.

Poor things.

"You don't know shit about me." Evie managed. It sounded so unconvincing coming out.

"I know all these people around here are weak. They're so fucking weak." Came the spark. "But, not us."

Carol came in close. Added fuel to the fires. Did something peculiar and gave Evie this sickly sweet peck on the lips. Gloss and red mingled. She stole something she saw deep inside of Evie that she felt too. Got shoved back again when Evie recovered. Tongued her mouth after tasting the salt of more tears. Carol was welling now. Voice low. Starting to quiver. Evie's fingers left blushing marks on freckled skin.

It hurt and Carol loved that it hurt.

“It feels good, doesn’t it? Real good. Pile that pain onto someone else. This. Feels better.” Carol sniffled with budding fury. Waited for admission. She tremored and asked a question that killed them both. "What happens when we run out of silky petals, Evie, huh? What the fuck do we do then?"

Tears shed, they didn't cleanse.

"I d-don't know, Carol," Evie released the thoughts and mourned it deeply, "but, I think about it every single day."

Disgust welled. Evie thought of Fredrick grabbing at her. Seething to keep their secrets locked at any cost.

Wheels within wheels. Turning endlessly.

Fires within fires.

She dropped Carol and stalked off. Proud like Hester in The Scarlet Letter. Fleeting temptress with dominance and power for days like Abigail in The Crucible. Heroines and villains and virgins and whores and martyrs. None of them win.

Women were always packaged just so. The world seemed to prefer that. All these stories Fredrick made her read and reread until she took them into her soul. Lolita who always gets the blame she never deserved because she was young and a victim and no one cares about that. Why don't they care about us? They care about how she was prepackaged by a society that never tried to save her.

No one cares or grieves why and how women are carved from pristine marble, only that it's their fault if they tarnish and crack. Their fault if they stumble and fall. No going back.

No going back.

White roses painted red. They never asked first.

Evie was a couple of steps away from the classroom when a mass of claws tore into her curls. Yanked her back so hard that her backpack fell off.

“Still pretending you’re better than me, bitch! Admit it!”

Evie cried out. Alerted nearby classes. Thought of Fredrick tearing her down the same way and whirled with her hand out on pure instinct. Smacked Carol in the mouth. Froze with huge eyes. And Carol actually smiled. Bloodied teeth and sticky lip gloss. She looked like such a girl there.

"Alright, Fenny babe, I'll play the villain for you. Just like you wanted." Carol dove on Evie while classes began to pool out. They hit the floor and lockers rolling around. Not really landing punches or slaps. Just locked around each other shouting and tearing into clothing and loose hair. Both crying.

“Shit!” Billy, Steve, and Tommy shoved through the jeering teens to pull them apart. Chaos rained.

“Girl fight! Girl fight!” This school really reveled in such things every single time.

“We need help here! Ladies, enough!” The poor substitute in Bowers' room was not having a great first day.

“Get off me!” Carol finally detached from Evie so Billy scooped her up under the arms. The redhead noticed Mr. Bowers wasn’t around and stopped struggling. This cruel look twisted her face.

“Can’t leave you alone for a second, huh?” Billy’s voice brought Evie back into the shouting as she scrambled up with his help.

“You two! Principal!” Another teacher came between them. The useless security guard was just now jogging around the corner. Evie tore her bag up and passed Steve and Tommy. Carol was already stomping off. Something awful lighting her bones aflame. Red locks bounced and became fire.

Ushered away through crowds, they were put into a cramped room. Seated next to each other.

“Perkins and Fenny?” Their principal plopped into a chair with his secretary sitting in back to make notes. “I haven’t had problems with either of you.”

Carol burst right there. Sobbed through the words.

“It’s all Evie's fault! She slept with him and she’s just getting away with it! She gets everything! I'm sick of it! I'm sick of all this and...and I want it to stop! I just want it all to stop!”

“Ms. Perkins, you’re not being app-!”

“What if I told you it was a grown man, huh! Maybe someone who works here.”

“Liar!” Evie wretched over her chair to swat at Carol until they had to be forced apart again into separate rooms. A clock ticked. Blared in her ear and made her crazy while she waited. Tears streamed.

Carol was about to ruin her life. Drag all this shit back to the surface.

God, what would Mona say if she knew her daughter was an evil temptress?

Evie got into her bag for something. Anything to make it better. Nothing small enough to swallow at the bottom so Evie just rocked. Patting her cheek again to console herself. Bubblegum lip gloss still stained her red lips. No wiping it away.

Chief Hopper poked his head into the room ten minutes later, causing her to drop the bag and send her items everywhere.

Hester. Abigail. Lolita. Twisting goddesses. They all pay for it somehow. The narrative always makes them pay and they never had a chance to be anything else. Can't blame them.

Poor things. Lost to the fires within fires.

Books and papers flew out elegantly around her feet. Scattering away as Evie burst into harsh tears.

~~~~~~~~~

Oof, sorry to end it there lads! More to come and thank you so so much for following as always. All the comments mean so much to me and I’d love to chat about the chapter!! Thanks!

TAGGED: @80sbxtch @nottherightseason @orxhidshavana @alagalaska @alongcamedolly @kellyk-chan @10blurredsmoke10 @stanley--barber @charmed-asylum @unmistakablyunknown

#billy hargrove #Billy hargrove x oc #Billy Hargrove imagine #billy hargrove fanfiction #billy hargrove smut #mine #somy #angel fenny #Billy x Angel #writing #Carol

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kyloring95 · 6 years ago

Text

The Rise of Skywalker aka Ben Solo-Skywalker aka WE TOLD YA SO

Holy crap guys. We have a TITLE and a teaser trailer I did not expect! I tried to put my thoughts into words yesterday after the live stream of the panel but all I could successfully do was fangirl aggressively. So here is my completely unasked for opinions/reactions on THAT trailer.

We have an interesting set up here with Rey on this desert planet (Jakku, Tatooine, or maybe a new unknown planet?) she doesn’t seem worried/upset/panicked. It looks like she has done this before? Like she is preparing herself for something.

We hear Ben’s Silencer flying in the distance and not only does she ignite the legacy saber but she turns her back on Ben then she pauses listening then takes off like she is trying to time something just right and then does the most badass of all badass flips onto Ben’s Silencer. Side note: Ben never fires on her and he is ALONE. They aren’t fighting in this sequence. Nor do I think Ben is training per se...I think they are trying to coordinate a move just right before having to apply it to a fight. (TFA concept art anyone?)

The next frame is odd to me as I can’t place it nor do I have any idea as to which planet this is? Have we seen this one before? Or is this a new world we get to visit potentially in the unknown regions.

Oh my god LOOK at the cinnaren roll kicking ass here. Boi straight up clotheslines this dude (who suspiciously looks like the guy from Rey’s vision in TFA that he impales) this poor poor stunt man... This scene does remind me now of that section of vision in the TFA novelization. FYI if Ben tells Rey “I’ll come back for you sweetheart.” I will legit pass away my soul will leave my body and I will melt in the theater.

I want to know who they are fighting in this scene. CONTEXT damn it I need it!

Words can not describe how HAPPY I was to see Ben maskless. I came into this season of marketing fully expecting them to desperately try and make Kylo look like the big bad for IX and have his precious face covered by his mask but no they gave us MASKLESS BEN SOLO.

These. Are. Not. Ben’s. Hands.

These are not Chewie’s hands.

I want to know who.

I want to know why.

This does look similar to one of the leaks of one of the new alien characters that’s nameless right now. I am hoping that as time goes by we will get more to work with on this front.

Finn and Poe are looking fiiiiiine. Mmmm MMM mmm. I am LOVING everyone’s new looks.

Could they be on the same desert planet as Rey and Ben when she flips onto his Silencer?

Have they stumbled upon Rey and Ben’s meeting place and are watching her do that BADASS flip?

I need to know. I want to see an extra salty Poe talking to Rey in front of Ben all like “He tortured us Rey. You of all people should be against this!” and Rey can be all awkward and Ben can chime in “Torture? I didn’t torture her Dameron.” *dies laughing*

Lando and Chewie piloting the falcon just brought a wave of bittersweet emotions...

Are those stormtroopers using jetpacks like in the video games?!?!?!?! I am sooooooo excited to see if they are as thats the only time we have seen them!

Poe, Finn, and 3PO on a vehicle that reminds me of the ones used at Jabba’s palace.

Leia...oof... Carrie you are missed by so many.

This clip of her hugging Rey and Rey’s tears...my heart hurts.

The clip of Leia holding Han’s? Luke’s? medal...

Just hit me in the feels LF.

Look at Chewie.

Look at BB-8 and D-0.

Look at C3-PO.

And Poe.

And Finn.

And Rey.

They FINALLY get to go on an adventure together!

I am so ready to see the character dynamics in this film!

Also they found the remnants of the Death Star...

Sith relics?

What is on the Death Star that they need? Hmmmm

THIS COCKROACH

THIS SLIMY OLD MAN

THIS BASTARD THAT F*CKED WITH ANAKIN’S HEAD

THIS EVIL EVIL MAN THAT KILLED PADME THEN TOLD ANAKIN HE DID IT

THIS PIECE OF WRINKLED DEFORMED GARBAGE NEEDS TO STAY AWAY FROM MY SPACE FAMILY DAMN IT

I heard his cackle and wanted to vomit.

He literally makes me sick to my stomach.

Ben should finish what Anakin started and finally kill this walking talking piece of space Sith garbage.

Yes this is in here again because...how could I not put this here again? Look at that precious boi out to destroy people.

Last random thoughts.

Luke’s voiceover.

“We’ve passed down all we know. A thousand generations live in you now. But this is your fight. We’ll always be with you. No one’s ever really gone.”

So many possible meanings...

I am crossing my fingers and praying that he is talking to Ben or even Ben and Rey when he says this. JJ already said on the panel that the light and the dark would have to face the greatest evil (probably misquoting this rn but you know what I’m talking about) so this could be Luke giving them a talk about what they need to do. It also makes me think that multiple force ghosts? have given them knowledge of some kind that they need to use to defeat Palpatine once and for all.

ASLO Ben’s theme as the title is revealed only to sound hopeful and HOLY SMOKED THEY AREN’T EVEN TRYING TO BE SUBTLE WITH THAT MUSIC OR THAT TITLE.

Alright everyone that’s all I have for now. Hope you enjoyed my cluster f*ck mess that is my blog post.

#bendemption #reylo #the rise of ben skywalker #the rise of skywalker #episode ix #that trailer though #someone get me life alert #words cant describe what this feels like #we have content again #let the over analyzing begin #jj abrams #rian johnson #the true mvps #the first reylos

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completeresources · 6 years ago

Photo

COMPLETERESOURCES — Batch Icons

I’m using CS6 extended, but any version will work

You’ll need basic knowledge of Photoshop

Also basic knowledge of the Frame Animation Tool

Please Like / Reblog if you find this useful.

This tutorial will help you make a lot of icons without having to do a lot of work. This will work for any show, person, color palette, icon style. This also helps a lot when making icons for multiple characters for the same icon set.

If you're like me and end up having 30+ icons open, and having to edit, color, sharpen, etc on each one, this will really help you get them done in half the time.

*This tutorial is image heavy

The first thing you'll want to do is choose and cut out your images. I use a drawing tablet to do this, but you can use whatever method you want. The only info I'll add is to apply the "cut out" on a group with the image inside, rather than directly on the image. Like this:

That will make it so much easier to edit the image / add blush, makeup, etc later, especially when using this method.

So, here are my images cut out. I always crop and resize my images so they're 500px high, but for tutorial sake, they're all 150px high:

Once you have all your images cut, I highly, highly, recommend that you save the .png files so you always have them cut for future icons. Okay, next is to set up your "base" icon. I'm going to work on just one image for now, but I'll catch up the rest later.

So, make a new canvas in your icon size. I always use 100X100, but I've seen 150X150 and 200X200, so whatever you want. Then add a base color. I have a set of color schemes I use for icons (ie pastel, dark, aesthetic, etc). Add whatever color you'd like from your desired palette.

Now resize your png 100px bigger than you need. So if you're making 100X100 icons, resize to 200X200. This gives you some wiggle room when resizing to your perfect size. Then drag your png folder on to your new canvas.

Here's mine:

And after I resize the icon to my liking using the transform tool by going to Edit > Free Transform and while holding down "shift" drag the corners in to make the png smaller:

Next is to edit the the icon design. My default is to add a gradient fill in black and in white by going to Layer > Fill > Gradient and with these settings:

Then I change those both to "Softlight" and change the opacity to some where between 10-60%. Here's my icon now:

And my layers:

Now to edit your image. Since everything is in a masked group, you can edit, color, etc and only edit the image. You can also color on blush, makeup, etc and being able to color "over the lines".

You can add a psd, or edit your icons individually. I'm just brightening and balancing the colors. Here's my icon now:

I'm also adding some color over the image, here's what I've painted:

And then set those to color and lowered opacity:

Now you can add your finishing layer edits over the top of everything. Here's my final layers:

You'll notice I have the base color and the color on his jacket labeled as "Color - " this is because these are all the layers I need to change the color of for each color icon I'm using later.

The very top layer is always the overall color I want the icon to have. I usually just use the eyedropper tool and select a color inbetween the light and dark of the background:

Then I set that to "Softlight" and lower the opacity so my icon can better match the background color:

Okay so now the "Batch" part. For each layer you have to color, duplicate it for each color you need. So to make it easier, name each set the same number, so for my base purple, everything is named "1", for the blue it's "2", red "3", so on and so on. I'm going to group my character, and the character related color, in this case the jacket color together and name my group after my character. Here's my layers:

Make sure none of the colored layers are visible except "1".

Now, one by one, drag your other characters on to the canvas. Follow the early steps to resize, edit, and color each of these and hide them except your first one, same as the colors.

Here's my layers now, this is a small image, but you can see I just added the other characters on top and hid all the layers except the first character and purple bases. I also made a note of which groups have additional color layers (like the jacket for Five and the dress for Ludovica):

Now you might want to save your icon as a .psd and then re-save it as a psd with a different name so you have your base and now a new on for these next steps.

Now, go to Window > Timeline. This may be different depending on which version of PS you have, but we're using the "Frame Animation". Here’s what you should start with:

Now click on the “New Frame” icon to add a new frame:

Then one by one, un-hide the next group of colors, so hide all the “1″ layers and un-hide all the “2″ layers. Here’s my next icon:

Now go through each layer and character by adding a new frame, hiding the current color, and un-hiding the next color. Do this until all your icons are shown on the timeline like this (edited to fit):

I also made a more aesthetic set too, super quick because if you duplicate this entire base, and change all the colors- in my case 5 to a new color scheme, all my frames will change since I’m changing the actual colors. So just click on the first “1″ frame and change the color of all the “1″ layers, then click on the first “2″ frame, change the colors, etc, etc until you get to the last color. You will see as you change the color of the layer, all the frames will automatically change. Here’s my other set:

Now to sharpen. Group all your layers so you just have one group with all your layers (including all the colors, characters, etc). Now I’ll be using the timeline, but if you don’t have CS6, just merge all your frames into layers:

Then either sharpen all your layers on by one, or run an action if you have it.

For me, I’ll convert the “Frame Animation” into a “Video Timeline”:

Then I’ll convert my group into a smart layer by going to Filter > Convert For Smart Filter. Then you can sharpen all your frames at once.

Once you’re done, click on the timeline settings, then go to Convert Frames > Flatten Frames into Clips. Once that's done, regroup all your layers and click the timeline settings and then click Convert Frames > Convert to Frame Animation

Then you’re back with all your frames. Click on the timeline tool again, and click on “Make Frames From Layers” to make all your frames show up.

So on to saving. You’ll want to first save your base, then go to File > Export > Render Video. Here are the settings you need to use:

Name: This is where you name your icons

Select Folder: Save location

Type: Make sure to choose “PS Image Sequence” so it saves every frame

Format: File format, I always use PNG

Once it’s done, all your icons will be saved in the folder you chose. Here’s a peak at all mine:

Since I already know how to use this method, I made 50 icons in about 10 minutes, and that includes cutting out all the images! It’s also super easy to set up your base (with your frames added) and duplicate the entire image a few times to make multiple color schemes at once. I made over 150 icons in vibrant, aesthetic and dark colors in a matter of minutes.

I hope this tutorial helps and good luck on your icon making!

#ours; tutorials #tutorials #yeahps #itsphotoshop #icon tutorials #desiraes #ours

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stillgotme · 6 years ago

Photo

HELLO EVERYONE ok i’m finally doing this after like 84 years lmao

SO yeah several people in the past few months have asked me about my editing process and i said that i’d hopefully do it after gen 2 stuff and since i’m taking a break from gen 2 and wanna stall bc returning to gen 1 will be painful, ya girl got her ass to go through with it. keep in mind, this tutorial is for people who already know the basics of photoshop. if you don’t there’s many tutorials online that’ll help beginners. i’m gonna be editing a pic of val and chance all dressed up and ready to crash a prom to get lit with their homies maggie and eli

*rosanna pansino voice* LET’S GET STARTED

so i use reshade and i believe the version i have is 3.0.7 or something idk but it’s 3.0 and i switch between 3 presets that are my own. the one i use the most started with pickypikachu’s cinematic preset as a base.

now, i know not everyone has reshade, but there’s still a way you can mimic the DOF effect with photoshop. when my stubborn ass edited everything myself all i did was duplicate the photo, apply field blur and adjust the bokeh lighting, added a layer mask and with a brush using the color black, i “colored” in what i didn’t want to be blurry and BOOM ya got that DOF goodness

so for DOF i use either the marty mcfly shader or the matso shader and even both, like in this case. i also love that sweet mxao bc ooh yess them SHADOWS. but unfortunately bc i’ll never ever let go of alpha hair and you’ll have to rip them away from my cold dead hands, ya get this shit.

the dof and shadows cutting through the hair making it look ugly and blurry and just all around BLECH

so when taking screenshots, i take two photos. one with the dof and mxao and another without those shaders

now i open both pics in photoshop and layer the photo with the effects over the one without

ok this is totally optional and you don’t have to do it but i like to crop my photos and the preset for my cropping dimensions is 1150 x 705 bc that’s what i’m going to resize my photos to (w/ 300 resolution). again, totally optional, you don’t have to do this part but i do.

so now i add a layer mask to the top layer

next i select the brush tool and choose whatever brush i wanna use. i usually switch between these two brushes depending on what i need at the moment. and make sure the color you’re painting with is black.

and now just “paint” over the ugly parts to erase them. depending on your photo this can sometimes take a while, but hey ya get that dof and beautiful alpha hair. i also take this time to erase some of the blurriness that forms around my sims from the dof effect

right click on the layer and select “merge down” and i’m left with this. obviously, you see some parts that aren’t blurred anymore but i just fix it with the blur tool at 100% opacity, zoom in on the unblurred edges and blur them in with whatever brush i choose. i personally choose the one with hard edges and i make sure the brush size is very very small. this part’s also a lil time consuming so ya gotta be patient.

doesn’t that look better? now it’s time to get to the actual editing lmao. first, click layer > background layer to make it a background. this is necessary for me bc of the photoshop action i use.

so in order to give my pics that “crisp” look, i first reduce noise and these are my default settings

then i do topaz clean

then smart sharpen

then i use the liquify tool bc sometimes there’s jagged edges on the shoulders, elbows, chins, etc. that i wanna smooth out. i also use this to adjust facial expressions, like for this i wanna make the smiles curve up a lil bit more bc chalerie are in love and happy

now this is the part where i kinda nitpick bc i’m a perfectionist lmao like i clean up some lines on val’s arms and fix that weird spot on the collar of chance’s shirt, all that small stuff people wouldn’t notice but I DO so i fix it

alright now it’s time for me to draw hair! again, this is optional and i understand not everyone has a tablet or likes drawing hair so skip this if it ain’t your thang. first add a new layer for the hair.

i like to add extra hair to make it more full or fix clipping and “highlights” to kinda emphasize the lighting effects i’ll do later and i usually go with a lighter color of the hair for the highlights OR i do the color of the lighting. in this case i’m just going with a very light brown color. this brush is from this set by castrochew and i have the opacity at 100% and size at 3 px.

this is what it looks like after i draw all the hair. and for the highlights i always reduce the layer opacity to 50-60% or even less than that depending on how subtle i want them to be. after that, i merge them all down.

now it’s time to do all the shading and highlighting. make sure you do it all as separate layers, too. even tho i use mxao it still doesn’t do enough for me, so i always add shadows and i recommend you use dark brown for the shadows as black is a a bit too dark especially when you’re adding shadows around the faces. like y’all don’t want it to look like your sims put mud on their face. trust me guys i contour my face.

now take a hard edge brush and draw where you wanna add shadows

apply gaussian blur and erase any excess “shadows” then reduce the layer opacity to your liking. now keep doing that in other areas where you wanna add shadows. it all depends on the picture and i really just use my general knowledge of how lighting and shadows work. remember, make sure each shadow and highlight you add is a separate layer!

for highlights, use a light color, a soft edge brush, change the brush opacity to 60% and change the layer mode to “soft light”. like with the shadows, just paint whatever you wanna highlight, gaussian blur, reduce layer opacity, etc. then after you’re done shading and highlighting, merge all the layers down.

then to enhance the highlights even more i use the dodge tool with the exposure at 25% and paint over all the highlighted areas

so this is how it looks after i did all the time consuming stuff and now it’s time to play with COLOR YEAHHHHHH

this is the action i’ve been using forever and it’s a ride or die, always got my back, never fails me, always there when i need it. all i gotta do is click on that and press the “play” button and everything’s beautiful and colorful and all my problems seem to go away and suddenly the your lie in april soundtrack is playing the background

but most of the time i untick the “curves” layer from the action as it can be too bright for me and i just adjust the curves of the image to what i prefer.

now it’s my favorite part! time to add that good-ass LIGHTING and since i went crazy with the lights for the background, it’s gonna be fun to do this one hehehe. ok so first duplicate your image and then choose the color of the lighting you want. for this pic, i want the lighting to be a nice light warm yellow/orange color

now for the brush mode, choose “linear dodge (add)” and change the opacity to 35%-45% or hey even higher if ya wanna go bright as fuck. and get a soft edge brush and make it big. like fucking BIG. you see the size i put it at? yeah, make it big bc we want that beautiful shit EVERYWHERE

YEAH DAS DAT SHIT I LIKE. keep painting over areas ya wanna see glow and even paint over the same area twice to make it brighter. hell, don’t just stop at one color. add other colors of light if ya want. add some pinks or blue or purple, adjust the brush size, go crazy. BLIND EVERYONE.

buuuuuuut with all the sweet lighting, it tends to make your pretty pic look all washed out and also lighting doesn’t always work that way. and that’s why i told y’all to duplicate your image bc we’re gonna add a layer mask again and with a soft edge brush you gotta erase some of that lighting. change the brush mode back to normal, put the opacity at 100% and make sure your brush is black and get rid of what you need to. but what’s good about this is you don’t have to be perfect and it’s ok if there’s still some lights on your sims bc now it looks like the light is shining on them awwww. now merge that layer down

now color balance! i like to enhance the red, magenta, and blue most of the time but as always it all depends on the photo and what your preference is.

all that’s left to do now is change the image size. i change the resolution to 300 ppi (it doesn’t really do anything but like it’s become a habit of me to do it so i do it idk) and make sure if you’re making your image smaller, you apply “bicubic sharper” so your image stays sharp when you change the size

AND THIS IS THE FINAL PRODUCT.

so this is my editing process and i hope some of you learned some stuff from this. also please keep in mind that i also encourage y’all to do your own spin on things when you edit. i’m all for taking tips from others and learning cool new tricks but develop a style that fits YOU. eventually you’ll find it and i know that you’ll end up creating something amazing that shows how unique and lovely you are.

anyways, i’m so glad i finally got this done. love you guys 💖💖💖

#the sims 4 #sims 4 #ts4 #simblr #tutorial #aliya's editing tutorial #giving it that tag so i can make a link on my blog #i really hope i explained things well #like i don't do tutorials #but here ya go #now i gotta edit the other photos for this photoshoot byyyyeee

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myfavresources-archive · 7 years ago

Text

How to make gifs like this:

Kindly requested by @sobeatifullyhuman

Difficulty level: medium, not for beginners. Tutorial under the cut.

Things you need:

a 720p/1080p video (lower res looks awful in my opinion), in which the subjects aren’t moving too much;

a Photoshop version with timeline (I can’t do anything without timeline sorry);

good knowledge on how to make gifs (screencapping, importing layers, sharpening etc...) and layer masks;

patience because I suck at explaining things and English is not my first language.

I created 3 gifs with the same number of frames (not too many) separately, then converted them to timeline, and to smart objects. The gifs have to stay on the same canvas, so I click on new -> file (or Ctrl+N).

I always use the new Tumblr dimension, so a width of 540px and, in this case, a height of 200px

Now I drag all my 3 smart objects on this canvas. They obviously look muuuuuch bigger than I want, so i click on each one and hit Ctrl+T to make them smaller and fit the canvas. Remember to always hold Shift while doing this, and always use the little square in the corners (never the ones on the sides), or your gif will look like a total crap). When I’m done, I sharpen each smart object and make sure the gif I want to put in the middle is the upper one (the layer named 720_028 is the middle gif), so my layers look like this:

and my image like this:

so it’s time to work with the eraser tool, to smooth the borders of the middle gif and merge it with the others.

You can’t use the eraser tool directly on a smart object, so I select the top layer and click on this icon, “add layer mask”

and a little white rectangle will appear beside my smart’s object name:

Now I can use an eraser tool, here’s the settings I used

but you can play to the size and the opacity to get the result you want.

This is how my image looks like when I erased both sides of the middle gif.

As you can see, the left part is ok but I still have a border on the left side, that’s from the Ezra’s part, so I’m gonna erase it too. I just click on its layer and create another layer mask

that I use to erase and smooth the side the same way I did before.

Here’s my canvas now (the big circle is the eraser).

Now, I choose a psd or create a coloring from scratch. If you want all your gifs with the same coloring, you can put your psd on the top, above all your three layers. But I decided to make the middle gif in b&w, so I put it under the upper layer and above the other two, like this:

To color the middle gif, I use a Black & White adjustment layer (you can also use a gradient map or a hue/saturation adjustment layer with saturation on zero, on your choice).

To apply the effect only to the upper layer, I right click on the b&w layer and choose “create clipping mask”.

this little arrow appears

and now my canvas looks like this:

We’re almost done! Just put a text on the top if you want, and save your gif.

Hope it helps! :)

#itsphotoshop #chaoticresources #yeahps #completeresources #gif tutorial #smart objects #mine

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cas-regenerates · 3 years ago

Text

Carp Fishing – A Confident Approach

As a younger lad, most my fishing was spent on small, intimate waters local to home. Over the years, I have also been fortunate enough to have entered and fishing some UK Carp Matches at the likes of Linear Fisheries and other popular day tickets across the country. Both two quite different styles of angling, but ones that have allowed me to refine the way I fish, and approach my angling nowadays.

That brings us up to date… Most of my angling more recently has been spent in the famous Ringwood area, down south. An area that is spoilt with waters containing huge carp and somewhere I can see me spending many a year going forward!

As an angler, I, like many, try to keep things as simple as possible when it comes to rigs and rig tying. There are two rigs that play a pivotal role in my angling, and they are the D-Rig and Hinged Stiff Rig. Both incorporate some of the same components and materials, but are fished very differently depending on the angling situation and spots out in front.

The first is a simple D-Rig incorporating a Covert Dark Chod Hook and tied using my preferred 25lb Mirage Fluorocarbon. This is best suited to bottom or balanced bottom baits, and a rig that I will only fish on areas that I know are clean. Whereas my second, go-to rig, the Hinged Stiff Rig can confidently be cast to dirtier areas, to the sides of clear spots in the weed, or amongst showing fish.

As always, I tweak my rigs to suit me and my style of angling – it’s a confidence thing! You’ll often see anglers preference swaying toward high Hinges. Whereas I tend to fish mine really short – close to the deck. It’s a personal preference, but on busy circuit waters, doing things differently and making minor adjustments to your set-ups can no doubt, help you land more Carp!

Just like my D-Rigs, my hinges incorporate a stiff boom section (25lb Mirage), Stiff Link hook sections and a sticky sharp Specialist Sharpened Chod Hook – check these out if you haven’t already!

The above rigs, will often be attached to a helicopter set-up, my preferred Mirage Platinum Fluorocarbon main line, and a big lead – 4 or 4.5oz’s. I love a ‘heli’ mainly for it’s anti-tangle properties and the confidence it gives me, knowing that I am fishing every time! Don’t get me wrong, some situations and scenarios will mean I switch over to a conventional lead clip set-up. However, if this is the case, I will make small adjustments to suit that set-up. Such as, changing from my preferred, stiffer Fluorocarbon boom over to an Ultra Skin coated braid boom, to offer a bit more flexibility and give to my rigs. Ensuring they are presented to the best of their ability over different bottoms.

If I’m fishing a weedy lake and I have found a ‘fairly big’ spot. I will often place my D-Rig in the middle of the area, and then fish my Hinge to the edge of the spot or just off it. Not only do think this approach masks your lead and leader better, than having two rods standing out on a clear spot. I have evidence in my own angling that it seems to pick up the bigger fish! Especially the rare ones that don’t come out as often – give it a try!

Putting rigs and spots to one side, my approach for fishing new waters or any water for that matter, is to always walk the lake and find the fish – it’s critical! 9 times out of 10 if you find the fish, you are not far away from catching them.

I will always go with my own knowledge and instinct. Not anyone else’s (unless I know them well)! You’ll never see me change my tactics, just because I am on a ‘new’ water. Ultimately, I always want to be sitting behind my rods knowing I have full confidence that I am on fish and fishing effectively for them! In my opinion, confidence catches you fish. My honest advice would be to never go to a new lake, fishing rigs or bait that you’ve never used before. Just because you see people catch fish on it doesn’t mean you will.

Use the things that give you confidence! Starting on a new water is always daunting. However, by applying the tactics that have a proven track record, ensures you have one less thing to worry about. Allowing you to focus on learning the lake and the Carps behaviour.

carp fishing leads

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dinghyturret5-blog · 4 years ago

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They often tend to vary by the sort of incision, number of tissue layers dealt with, the location of the face that is targeted, and also their level of invasiveness. Normally, a facelift is executed under general anaesthetic, although for some surgical treatment such as a mini-facelift local anaesthetic and also sedation might be utilized. A facelift will certainly recover definition to your face, jaw and neck line as well as ravel deep lines. deals with loosened skin, lines as well as creases, absence of muscle mass tone, as well as other signs of aging by lifting up your skin, deeper cells and bordering muscles. A lot of cosmetic surgeons will wrap your face to reduce discoloration and swelling. These plasters will remain on for 1 or 2 days, and the stitches will certainly be gotten rid of after seven or eight days. Renovations and necklifts are typically lugged under a general anaesthetic or a local anaesthetic.

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The mini lift is the perfect procedure for anybody in their 40s or 50s seeking to turn around the preliminary indicators of ageing. I have actually reviewed and also understand Cadogan Facility's Personal privacy NoticeFrom time to time we may wish to keep you current with info, offers as well as promos we really feel will be of passion to you. The treatment is typically combined with fat transfer to recover shed face volume. Fat is harvested by means of liposuction surgery and then used to increase the cheekbones, cheeks, temples, eyebrow, chin and also anywhere else where it will boost facial equilibrium as well as framework. The Cadogan Center only supplies 'mini' or 'mini' facelift methods to our clients, usually in mix with invigorating fat transfer shots to the face.

An US study that reviewed YouTube videos on face cosmetic surgery has found that most video clips are deceptive and also not instructional. Ramsay Health Care UK Procedures Limited will certainly utilize your individual details to provide you with an action to your enquiry such as to confirm treatment/specialist availability, a therapy rate quote or booking a preliminary consultation. Information gathered using our call type or phone number displayed on this website might be shared with medical care consultants who offer therapy concerning which you are enquiring under strict privacy arrangements.

origins and significances Of cliches, Expressions and Also Words.

Can alum tighten the Virgina?

Although chemicals and vaginas are not a good mix, applying potassium alum to the vaginal walls has been touted as an effective home remedy. It's said that the astringent properties of the chemical are good at tightening the vaginal tissue.

As a specialist, it helps me learn more about my patients even better and also builds a bond with them, which isn't feasible with a basic anaesthetic. But do not simply take my word for it, look at video clips of real person experiences on the website, our clients truly are Bella Vou's best adverts. The Majority Of Bella Vou's individuals locate the experience relaxing as well as worry-free. We beware about making certain the area is entirely numb, as well as we talk throughout the treatment to ensure that each person is confident that they remain in safe hands. Bella Vou incorporates sophisticated treatment and also professional quality with the high-end, convenience, as well as discretion of a medspa as well as the hospitality of a luxury resort. Bella Vou offers competitively priced plans of care, without concealed additionals.

Which locations Of The Body are Suitable For Fat Freezing?

The Idea ™ Facelift is generally performed under regional anaesthetic, although sedation and general anaesthesia are likewise offered. It is a day case treatment, so there is no demand to remain in the center over night. The face is meticulously numbed so that the treatment is pain-free, and Bella Vou's professional staff will provide assistance, advice, and also music to keep you relax, comfortable, and also unwinded throughout the treatment. The Idea ™ Facelift is a cutting-edge new method established solely by Bella Vou.

Amir made me feel completely secure, I really did not really feel worried at all. A pleasant yet professional group of individuals that made me feel super at ease at every visit. I am amazed at the results of my current treatment with Rohit and also can't start to thank him sufficient for the distinction it's made and also neither can my other half. After the operation, you can loosen up in the convenience of Bella Vou's healing suites. The encouraging staff will certainly use you a drink and also biscuits after surgery as well as discuss your aftercare as well as what to expect as you recoup. In the Bella Vou theatre, your surgeon will chat with you throughout the treatment.

Your previous case history will certainly likewise be tape-recorded (consisting of previous surgery, drugs, allergies and so on) as well as an assessment of your physical fitness for surgical treatment. I was scared yet the nurses put me at ease and everyone made me feel very calm.

Among the huge advantages of the HIFU Facial is that it's a non-surgical treatment.

... Working with both the face as well as neck, it'll also enhance your skin's flexibility as well as shapes the face contours.

I had my examination with Dr Shirin today she has advised having Hydrafacial therapies to boost the structure and also thinning of my skin, I have scheduled these on her referral.

I was very happy with the examination and was comfortable with Dr Shirin.

She has likewise suggested more procedures to provide some volume to my face and also boost deep lines.

Face Lift 365 offers an amazing option suggests there's no scalpels or needles included and no recuperation time called for.

By raising as well as tightening your skin, it really can remove that double chin!

As the high-frequency ultrasound beam of lights are concentrated on a particular cells site listed below the skin's surface, there's no damage to the upper layers of the skin and no prompt visible signs of therapy.

It rejuvenates the face in a manner that looks natural as well as renewed instead of limited and also mask-like. It is carried out under neighborhood anaesthetic, providing a quicker recuperation, lowered bruising, as well as much less downtime, to make sure that you can get on with your life.

Is Femilift FDA approved?

FemiLift is extremely safe and received FDA approval because it meets the criteria of effectively treating vaginal laxity, with no risk to the patient.

The facility is positive in the abilities and professionalism and reliability of the staff and also provides a benefit warranty to offer clients with satisfaction. If there is a trouble or difficulty, the client will be looked after throughout, without any additional bills or costs. The laceration for the Idea ™ Facelift is short, running from the front of the ear to behind the ear, leading to a smaller sized mark as well as no loss of hair contrasted to traditional strategies. The skin is lifted together with a muscular tissue tightening up SMAS lift, to provide natural-looking, resilient results. The Idea ™ Facelift smooths the skin of the cheeks, lifts them to their original placement, and also gets rid of dewlaps, bring back meaning to the jawline.

What does ThermiVa help with?

ThermiVa can be used as a mild female incontinence treatment by tightening and firming the tissues under the bladder, reducing stress-related leaks and urge incontinence. Non-Invasive Sessions – ThermiVa is a completely non-surgical procedure that does not require anesthesia or any recovery period.

Hifu For Face.

Complying with surgical treatment, your loved ones ought to see that you look well and also fresh, but it ought to not be promptly obvious that you have had a procedure. The Idea ™ Facelift has actually been created to give a fresh as well as all-natural look. This kind of facelift surgery does not result in the very limited, mask-like look that some conventional renovations can develop. It is additionally not planned to make people look twenty years old once more, however instead to resolve the signs of aging that have actually made you look weary or older than your years.

just How Do I schedule a Cosmetic Surgeon consultation?

genital firm.

Please check out Spire Health care's terms for full information of what's included as well as omitted in your set price when spending for yourself. Financing options are available via our partner Omni Resources Retail Finance Ltd, 10 Norwich Road, London, EC4A 1BD. If you make a decision to have your treatment with us, you will be cared for by a knowledgeable multi-disciplinary care group. A more youthful looking face can share vigour and also power and rise self-confidence in your social, personal and also working lives. If you feel that your face no longer mirrors your vigor and you intend to do something about it, you could be considering getting this treatment. Review right here to find out more consisting of the process of the surgical treatment and the recovery.

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Ramsay health centers are registered with the Treatment High Quality Payment, as well as are well-equipped with expert cosmetic surgery resources. Facelifts are taken into consideration relatively risk-free, yet as operations they carry possible risks that are inherent in any kind of operation. A revision facelift, likewise referred to as a restorative facelift or additional facelift, is succeeding facelift surgical procedure after currently having had a facelift. Generally, you will certainly have one to 2 weeks off job and also three weeks if you've additionally had blepharoplasty surgery. Various other added surgical treatments are often executed with a facelift, such as blepharoplasty, rhinoplasty and also, facial implants to better enhance your outcomes. Mini or short-scar facelift consists of the MACS lift, s-lift as well as mini lift.

After meeting Amir for the first time, I really felt that I had actually made the appropriate decision. The procedure was quick and well-performed, with the help of his excellent group. I have very little scars, which are recovering nicely as well as I never had discoloration, by itself a wonder for me. I'm so happy I picked to go on with my treatment with Bella Vou. My scars are barely visible and also the customer care is extraordinary. I've had nothing but praises, and also I really feel far more certain.

Is V Tight Gel permanent?

A V Tight Gel, when used in the right manner, will certainly have long-lasting effects. However, its outcome is not permanent. The user must keep using it on a regular basis to enjoy its positive results.

My best advice would certainly be if you have this procedure, stay calm, rest a little bit after that, even without a general your body needs a little time to recoup and also like your outcomes I recognize I do. Thank you Amir and your team, unique reference too for Will, he was terrific company throughout my op. I would definitely suggest Amir to anybody who is interested in a cosmetic procedure, my experience at Bella Vou was superb and the outcomes were every little thing I expected as well as much more. After a facelift, your expert will want to see exactly how you're doing. We'll prepare a follow-up consultation each time that's hassle-free for you. Having had a basic anaesthetic, you'll be asleep while the specialist as well as medical team do the surgical treatment. They can remind you of the important things you intend to review as well as work as an extra pair of ears to absorb info you can talk about together later.

how Much Time Does A Facelift Last?

It makes the experience kicked back, stress-free, and assists establish a close bond in between you and your specialist. Your face will be cleaned, and also local anaesthetic infused to avoid any kind of pain or discomfort.

Is FemTouch covered by insurance?

FemTouch is currently not covered by insurance, however it should be covered by your HSA plan.

These s are much less intrusive and also make use of much shorter scars that often quit at your ear to use marginal scarring. They are recommended for people with a light degree of jowling as well as drooping skin as well as are frequently carried out on younger ladies who desire a fresher look. There are different types of facelifts you can select from based upon your aesthetic goals, face makeup as well as your choices around healing as well as the dangers entailed.

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barpurplewrites · 7 years ago

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Dragons, kitties and puppies, oh my!

@a-monthly-rumbelling Non smut prompt December.

It’s time for Storybrooke’s Miner’s Day Festival and Gideon Gold is very excited.

-x-x-x-x-

To say that Gideon was excited about the Miner’s Day festival would be an understatement of epic proportions. With the obsessive passion that a five-year-old can muster, he had learned everything about the history of the celebration, he’d been spouting trivia for weeks now. The only difficult moment had been when Gid had decided to put his knowledge into practice by ‘excavating’ a section of the backyard. He’d made a hell of a hole in the lawn before Belle had turned around from weeding to see what he was up to. Still his desire to dig had given Belle the idea that a sandpit would be a good addition to the yard, sooner rather than later.

Given this level of enthusiasm it was wishful thinking on Belle and Gold’s part to believe that they would get to sleep beyond six the morning of the festival. Belle groaned and buried her head under the pillow when the baby monitor picked up the first sounds of Gid moving around in his room. Gold pressed a sleepy kiss to her shoulder and muttered; “Relax, sweetheart, I’ll get him.”

He chose to believe that the sleepy grumble that came from his wife translated as “Thank you.”

Gid was rummaging in his closet when Gold ambled into his bedroom.

“Morning Papa. It’s Miner’s Day!”

Gold yawned as he nodded, “I know, it’s also very early. What are you doing?”

“Getting dressed.”

He eyed the odd combination of clothes Gid had selected for himself so far. Why he thought he needed three socks, and two jumpers was a mystery not to be considered before a cuppa.

“Okay, but how about we have breakfast first?”

---

They arrive at the festival on the dot of eleven, just as the stalls opened. A fast glance around the food stalls made Gold very glad he had insisted on cooking a full breakfast, at least now there was a slim chance that Gid wouldn’t be wanting sweets too soon. Although his own sweet tooth was already eyeing up the colourful cupcakes festooning Astrid’s stall.

Belle glanced over Gid’s head and caught his eye; “Not until after lunch.”

His wife had an uncanny knack for reading his mind when it came to sweet treats, he gave her look of mock offence, but then smiled and nodded his head. She was right; it wouldn’t do to get Gid into bad eating habits, they were already having to sneak spinach into him by mixing it with mash potatoes and calling it ‘alien brains’.

For the moment Gid was preoccupied with the History of Mining stand. Leroy Coalman saw them coming and whistled to one of his six brothers, who were all manning the display.

“Hey Joey! Your favourite little mining buddy is here!”

Belle and Gold exchanged a puzzled look. Joey was the quiet Coalman brother, unkindly dubbed Dopey by some of the crueller citizens of town, He didn’t speak, usually, but he hurried across to Gid and gave him a high-five, before saying in a raspy voice; “Got your kit. You ready?”

Gid was bouncing on his toes; “I am!”

Joey looked shyly at Belle and Gold, words failed him in the face of two adults, but Leroy stepped up to explain; “Gideon and Joey made friends during the mine tour the other day. Joey’s got something special for Gideon to play with, if that’s alright?”

Gold wasn’t sure how to respond, but Belle was there with the sensible question; “Where are they going to play?”

“Just here at the stand. Joey knows not to wander off and we’ll all be keeping an eye out.”

“That’s okay then. Gid? Papa and I will be right here. What’s the rule?”

“No wandering off, Mama. Can I play with Joey now?”

“Yes, go on.”

Leroy clapped his brother on the shoulder as he and Gid scampered into the wide room that had been set up to resemble a mine shaft. Joey handed Gid a miner’s helmet and helped him adjust it, so it sat correctly on his head. The other kids were wearing plain white helmets, but Gid’s was painted with bright yellow diggers.

Without taking his eyes off the two of them Leroy spoke over his shoulder to Gold and Belle.

“Your lad was the only one who talked to Joey during the school trip. Never seen Joey be so excited. Your lad was amazing rattling off all of these facts and figures about the mines, and he listened when Joey told him new ones. Joey’s spent the last few days painting that helmet for him and drawing him schematics of equipment.”

Leroy turned to look at them both; “Look, I know Joey ain’t the sharpest tool in the box, but he’s a good lad. Would you maybe think about letting him and Gideon meet up at the library or the park some time? With supervision of course, wouldn’t want the pair of them to get into bother.”

Gold was tight lipped; he was listening to Leroy’s suggestion, but he’d not been able to take his eyes off Gid. It was Belle who answered for them both; “I think a get together at the library would be a great idea. We’ll arrange something next week.”

Leroy’s normally gruff face split into a wide smile; “Thank you sister, thank you both.”

A shout from one of his other brothers called Leroy away. Gold was still watching Gid like a hawk, going so far as to stand almost on tip-toe as Gid and Joey ducked under the low tunnel cut out that was supposed to teach the kids about the cramped conditions in old mines. Belle squeezed his hand to get his attention and when he spared her only a flicker of a glance she moved to stand in front of him commanding his full focus.

“Sweetheart. Relax. Gid is fine. He’s playing with Joey and half a dozen other kids. He’s having fun and is perfectly safe.”

Gold sagged; “I know. It’s just, well, he’s our little boy and look at him, socializing and talking to people so easily.”

Gid was currently running around and around Joey, chasing or being chased by Neal Nolan and Alex Herman. It was amazing to Gold, who could never remember such a carefree moment in his own childhood. He smiled at Belle; “He’s amazing, just like his mother.”

Belle slid her hand up over his shoulder and ran her fingers through the hair at the nape of his neck; “And like his father.”

---

After lunch Gold was happily eating his cupcake when they approached the face painting stall. Gideon was turned into a green scaled dragon, hindered only slightly by his refusal to remove his miner’s helmet. It didn’t take much persuading from Ruby to get Belle to sit in the chair once Gideon was finished. Gold chuckled as Belle was turned into an adorable kitten. He licked the last of the icing from his fingers and fished his cell from his pocket; “Shall we have a photo of you two all painted up?”

He’d expected Gideon to agree, he loved having photos taken, but he shook his head and pushed his Papa towards the seat Mama had just risen from.

“You got to get face painted too, Papa, then we can take a photo of all of us.”

Ruby was grinning as Gid shoved Gold into the waiting chair; “Well, what shall it be?”

For a brief moment Gold wished he was still the feared landlord, the terror of the town, but that mask had dissolved when Belle had come into his life, the town apparently found it impossible to be intimidated by a man so lovestruck. He nodded his head at Gid; “This was your idea, son, what shall Miss Ruby paint me as?”

Gid got a sneaky grin on his face, and pulled Belle down to whisper in her ear. Belle chuckled and said; “Oh that’s a very good idea, Gid, tell Ruby.”

“Can you make Papa a puppy, please Miss Ruby?”

“A puppy? Why a puppy?”

“Because he was using his puppy dog eyes at Mama, so she’d let him have a cupcake.”

Gold felt a blush creep onto his face, but he couldn’t argue with Gid’s description. Ruby was laughing out loud as she picked up the face paints, “Okay, a puppy it is, erm can you hold your hair out of the way?”

“I’ll do that.”

Belle moved behind him and scooped his hair back off his face with her fingers. Her touch grounded him as he closed his eyes to allow Ruby to apply the paint, but he still felt vulnerable. Without being aware of it Gid eased his anxiety by chatting about dragons, and if dragons would be good miners, or would they eat all of the coal?

Belle was fiddling with his hair, which he thought was just to keep it out of Ruby’s way until he heard a smothered giggle, followed by Gid hissing ‘Shush!’. His family were clearly up to something sneaky. He kept his eyes closed until Ruby said; “All done!”

Gold opened his eyes to find his reflection staring back at him. He was a puppy. The face paint gave him the look of a spaniel, a look enhanced by the clips Belle had slipped into his hair to give him floofy ‘ears’.

He had to laugh at himself, in between chuckles he managed to say; “Very nice work Miss Ruby.”

She dipped a curtsy and returned the mirror to the table; “Gimme your phone, and I’ll take some photos of the three of you.”

He handed it over as Gid clambered into his lap, and Belle carefully rested her head on his shoulder.

“Okay, now make the right animal noises.”

Their mingled barks, meows and roars weren’t particularly harmonious, but they drew plenty of laughs from the crowd waiting for their turn at the face painting booth. Those laughs turned to soft ooohs when Gid patted Gold on the head and said; “Good Papa puppy.”

As they left the stall, Gold said to Belle; “You’re going to have to help me wash this off tonight, you know.”

Belle snuggled into his side and whispered; “I think that can be arranged, sweetheart.”

The husky hint of suggestion in her voice sent a shiver down his spine, before he could lean in and quietly ask her to elaborate Gid shouted at them; “Can we go on Whack-a-Mole?”

#rumbelle fic #a monthly rumbelling #fluff

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allenmendezsr · 5 years ago

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The Ultimate Rotator Cuff Training Guide.

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Dear Friends, Athletes, Exercise Enthusiasts, and Fitness Professionals:

Is your life being put on hold because of shoulder pain?

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If your work and play is more active, shoulder problems can be especially frustrating. Physically demanding jobs can leave you feeling helpless and worried about your job security. And not being able to enjoy a day on the golf course or other activities you’re passionate about can be a big disappointment.

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Will you be “cursed” to a life of

pain and limitation forever?

Hi, my name is Brian Schiff. Over the past 17 years I’ve worked with literally 1,000’s of people with shoulder problems as a physical therapist.

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In the seventeen years since, I’ve gone on to apply that knowledge in real world physical therapy and sports clinics helping 1,000’s of people with shoulder problems overcome their pain and get back full mobility and strength.

Over this time, I developed a personal “tool kit” system of exercises that I’ve consistently used to take people with torn, inflamed, pain ridden rotator cuffs and transform their shoulders into the strong, supple, pain free joints they were meant to be!

The truth is, with the right exercises done in the right progression, even severe shoulder problems can be overcome in a short time. While there are cases where surgery is necessary, many people don’t need it. They simply need to train their muscles to do the job they were naturally designed for.

Just like a student or new employee can be trained to perform a certain job, your muscles and joints can be trained to function in a healthy, optimum, pain free way. The problem is, most people simply don’t know the proper training to give their shoulder, and in many cases do things to aggravate their condition and make it worse.

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Exactly who this shoulder rehabilitation tool kit is for:

Do you know what the most dangerous exercises for the rotator cuff are?

Want to discover why so many people actually get tendonitis from working out?

Tired of skipping upper body workouts because of shoulder pain and being unsure how to modify the training accordingly?

Don’t workout and just simply have shoulder pain? No problem.

The complete solution for your needs, whatever they are…

I designed this tool kit to work for a wide range of groups. You may have very different aspirations for your shoulder than someone else, and that’s why I discuss several different levels of rehabilitation.

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If you’re a serious athlete who needs to get their shoulder back in peak condition, you’ll discover another level of exercises and steps to hone your shoulder’s capabilities and push it to peak performance in a safe way.

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I’ve been using the guide for two weeks now and am amazed at the results. I went to a Doctor this week and showed him what kinds of exercises I was doing and he said, “Well, it’s obvious you don’t need me!” You must be doing something right. Thank You!

– Ron

So, what will the program do for you?

Reveal the right exercises to alleviate shoulder pain related to rotator cuff tendonitisimpingement and bursitis in 6 weeks

Teach you how to avoid 7 common weightlifting errors that cause rotator cuff problems

Reveal how to reduce your risk for serious rotator cuff injurand manage arthritis

Detail how to spot common signs and symptoms of a rotator cuff injury

Eliminate your fear of working out if you have a history of shoulder pain or prior shoulder problem

Teach you proper training modifications to avoid lifting injuries

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Exercises Based On Proven Medical Science

You may have been tempted to look up a few shoulder exercises on the internet and give them a try for yourself. If you’re like most of my patients who have tried this, you’ve probably been disappointed with the results you experienced. And you may have even made your problem worse.

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Improves posture

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Resolves rotator cuff and shoulder pain in many clients

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Sleep through the night without pain again

Why Should You Trust Me With Your Shoulder’s Health?

Let’s face it, there are a lot of whack jobs claiming a lot of unbelievable things on the internet. So why should you put your shoulder’s health in my hands?

In addition to being a NSCA certified strength & conditioning specialist, I have been a licensed physical therapist since 1996, working primarily in sports medicine clinics.

Over the years, I have literally helped thousands of people like you who have suffered from rotator cuff tendonitis, bursitis, tears and surgical repairs. For the past 10 years, I have been educating fitness clients how to train safely to avoid and overcome significant injuries and physical limitations. Along the way, I have applied my medical background to my fitness training regimens with great success.

I have owned and operated a private fitness studio and have worked with clients ranging from professional athletes to senior citizens. Additionally, I have been a clinic director for a large outpatient orthopedic therapy facility. I am an author, nationally respected fitness professional and noted physical therapist, who specializes in post-rehabilitation fitness programs, injury prevention, sport specific training and return to play programs. I also provide post-rehab fitness consulting to other personal trainers and health professionals.

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Doug Jackson

personalfitnessadvantage.com

“As a fitness professional, I have been thoroughly impressed with Brian Schiff’s latest rehabilitation book, The Ultimate Rotator Cuff Training Guide. I currently work with several clients who have significant damage to their shoulder due to improper training technique and/or overuse stress. I have been following Brian’s book as a rehab modality and have seen very impressive improvement with these clients and the best part is that my clients now view me as the expert.

Thanks to Brian, I now have another medically based reference in my resource library. And not only does the Rotator Cuff book provide outstanding guidance, but the presentation of the book itself is impressively unmatched. I anticipate Brian’s next release as he has become the rehabilitation resource that I turn to.”

Brian Calkins

briancalkins.com

Read what people who purchased the tool kit and followed the shoulder healing steps inside had to say about their results…

“Prior to working with Brian Schiff, I was diagnosed with a left rotator cuff tear and tendonitis in both shoulders. After following his rotator cuff training program in therapy, I regained full motion, strength and use of my arms again. Since I work as a dental hygienist, this was critical in allowing me to work without limitation and pain. I respected his expertise so much that I decided to hire him for personal training to continue strengthening and prevent a future injury. As a fellow medical professional, I am critical of other medical professionals, but when it comes to fitness training his methods and medical expertise are second to none!”

Donna Newman, age 54 Hi,

I have suffered with rotator cuff problems for 5 years. I’ve seen 10 + physiotherapists, 2 chiropractors, 2 orthopaedic surgeons, 1 art therapist, 5 massage therapists, and 2 programs off the internet. I’m 4 weeks into your program and never felt better. I’m now seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. I wish I had discovered it years ago. The program is easy to understand and well structured, and you can see what your trying to achieve.

Thanks,

Dave Dear Mr. Schiff, “I want to first of all thank you for the Ultimate Rotator Cuff…” I am doing a thousand times better than a few months ago, and I feel most of the credit goes to the exercises you provide in your manual. I have been seeing a chiropractor once a week for the trigger points and doing your exercises.

Sometimes I can’t believe how good I feel, I was so discouraged a few months back that I thought the only avenue was the “shot”, and I’m scared to death of needles!!! So you can just imagine the state I was in!

I am so pleased (as is my husband) that I found your guide. Life is so much better without all the pain. Thank you again for your wisdom! If only more people would go this route rather than opting for a quick fix pain pill. My doctors are so impressed and wished more of their patients would go this route!”

Theresa Perkins

Isn’t It Time You Got Your Life Back?

You remember what it was like before your injury or when you were younger…

The persistent pain that follows you around all day wasn’t even a passing thought back then. You would go about your day, and never think twice about stretching over your head to grab something, picking up something heavy, or getting something in a tight spot.

You enjoyed being active. The adrenaline rush of throwing the ball, swimming the lap, lifting the weight, and pushing yourself to new heights. Your shoulder wasn’t a liability, but an asset you could rely on day after day.

Isn’t it time you got back to the life you’ve been putting on hold because of your shoulder? If you want to rid yourself of shoulder pain for good and understand how to workout smarter and prevent further injury, find out the techniques 1,000’s of people just like you have used to overcome their problems! Why expose yourself to unnecessary risks?

Start improving your health and workouts by implementing these strategies today! My program requires minimal equipment and the pictures make it easy to follow for those with no prior exercise experience. Still not convinced? Try searching the web for an all-in-one product such as this e-book. Most web sites offer small bits of information (some of it is actually inaccurate!) but nothing that compares to the breadth and ease of use that is available with this training program.

Click Here To Order Your Copy Today!

The Ultimate Rotator Cuff Training Guide is the most

comprehensive manual available on the market today with A to Z information on injury, anatomy, clinically proven exercises, and step-by-step training techniques to alleviate & prevent these all too common shoulder injuries!

It is packed full of over 40 descriptions and pictures of detailed exercises

Reveals 12 proven exercises you should be doing for your rotator cuff

Includes tips on how to avoid injury associated with risky traditional lifting exercises

Discover how poor posture and your own anatomy may lead to injury

Reduce the chances that rotator cuff tendonitis will sideline you or your clients

Immediate access to a proven 6 week rotator cuff training program for inflamed shoulders

Straightforward training outline for people with healthy shoulders

Finally learn how to end pain related to rotator cuff tendonitis/bursitis

Avoid surgery with a proven blueprint for fixing your shoulder injuries

Say Goodbye To Pain In Six Weeks Or Pay Nothing!

I’m so confident my shoulder repair tool kit will completely transform your shoulder from being pain ridden, weak, with low mobility into the relaxed, strong, easy to maneuver shoulder you’ve been wishing for… I’m backing my program with a 100% satisfaction guarantee.

My guarantee is simple. Read through the exercises. Follow the step-by-step instructions. And if your pain hasn’t disappeared in the next 60 days, just let me know and I’ll refund every penny you paid.

In fact, if there is anything at all that you are unsatisfied with or feel hasn’t lived up to the picture I’ve painted for you in this letter… I don’t want your money! Just send me a quick note and I’ll promptly issue a full refund. No hassles. No questions asked.

The fact is, I don’t think I’ll be hearing from you. Not because I’m arrogant. But simply because I’ve used this exact same system in my own physical therapy clinic time and time again with excellent results. And 1000’s have used this instant access electronic tool kit on their own and gotten results just as good as my private clients. But I’ll still leave the final verdict up to you.

So, how much does this e-book cost?

The information in this comprehensive guide is the direct result of years of formal education and hands on experience. This knowledge is actually priceless if you truly value your health. With the latest addition of my video clips and email consulting, the price will eventually go up, but order today and you can have all of this valuable information for a small investment of $39.95!

That is nothing compared to the cost of co-pays, prescription medication, doctor’s visits, and lost productivity. Best of all, you will be able to have your questions answered by a physical therapist.

Order Now And Get These Valuable Bonuses Being Sold Elsewhere For More Than The Price Of This Book!

Bonus # 1 The Rotator Cuff Explained A content rich 90 minute audio web cast replay (MP3 file) of a past live rotator cuff teleseminar with Brian Schiff discussing tendonitis, bursitis, tears and common causes of rotator cuff injuries. In this in depth discussion (including live questions and answers) he talks about classification of tears, how to assess and treat them, and how to know if you are a good candidate for surgery.

You also receive a 40 slide power point that accompanies the talk with detailed pictures of anatomy, research citations and relevant info on how to care for your shoulder whether you have a mild strain or massive tear. Many people buy the book for this info alone! ($20 value)

Bonus # 2 Self Stretching Guide for Stiff & Painful Shoulders This e-book by Brian Schiff entitled could easily sell for $37 on its own!! It has everything you need to know about stretching and range of motion exercises for rotator cuff injuries, bursitis, arthritis and stiff shoulders. Discover how 14 therapeutic shoulder specific exercises will help you regain full motion in your painful shoulder. ($37 value)

Bonus #3 New! Video clips of each exercise featured in the guide. You will be able to watch just one or all of them if you like. ($20 value)

Bonus # 4 New! Free email support for your questions for 30 days from the date of purchase. ($99 value)

Bonus # 5 Official written transcripts from a 60 minute interview with Brian Schiff discussing in-depth issues not specifically addressed in the e-book. ($125 value) Topics include:

Understanding the different types of shoulder impingement How shoulder stability affects the rotator cuff Are machines safer than free weights?

Differentiating between pain referred from the neck versus shoulder pain How does the fitness program differ after physical therapy?

What training modifications are needed after undergoing rotator cuff surgery?

What To Do Right Now To Begin Quickly And Easily Restoring Your Shoulder’s Health

Right now, you have two choices…

You can continue to bear the pain, and settle for a less than active life with the potential for even worse pain and injury down the line.

Or you can begin training your shoulder back into shape in a safe, medically proven way today. And begin seeing reduced pain, increased strength, and a wider range of mobility in just a few days from now.

Click the link below now to be taken to our 100% secure order page. Once your order has been submitted, you’ll receive instant access to the Ultimate Rotator Cuff training and rehabilitation guide plus all five bonuses if you act now.

You can begin using the exercises and techniques inside immediately, within just a few minutes of placing your order. The guide and bonuses will be available for download immediately after your purchase and can be opened and read on your computer just like any other text document. If you’ve never ordered a digital book before, you’ll receive full instructions on how to open and read it after you’ve ordered.

Get ready to say goodbye to your shoulder problems for good!

I look forward to guiding you toward a healthy, strong, pain free shoulder.

Yours in health,

Brian Schiff, PT, OCS, CSCS

Don’t feel comfortable ordering online? No problem!

Click here to mail us a check

P.S. Remember, you’ve got absolutely nothing to lose by trying this guide out for yourself. If you aren’t pain free within six weeks, or are unsatisfied for absolutely any reason you can receive a full, no questions asked refund. It’s that simple. P.P.S. Still undecided about whether or not this guide is right for you? Take a look at what some recent users had to say about it…

Thank you for your shoulder exercise program. From the day I started, I’ve had continued improvement. Before I found your book, I was praying that I wouldn’t have to eventually make a choice between immobility and pain or surgery. Now I don’t have that concern. My pain is gone. I believe your exercises were God’s answer to my prayers. Thanks again!

Lynette

Remember, this is a DOWNLOADABLE e-book. No physical product will be sent to you. You’ll be able to access and print the program in less than 5 minutes. After you order, you will get INSTANT ACCESS through a link sent directly to your e-mail address to download the e-book and product bonuses onto your computer. The e-book format is in adobe acrobat PDF, which can be viewed on your Mac or PC using Acrobat Reader. This is free software that can be downloaded by clicking the icon below if it is not on your computer already.

Why do I sell an e-book version? The answer is simple. I can deliver this great info to you at a much reduced price because I have no printing or shipping fees. Plus, you can get started right away. So, take advantage of the substantial savings. No snail mail or lost orders! No waiting, no shipping & handling fees and no hassles. You can begin putting these exercises to work for you in just a few minutes! Take control of your health today and put an end to your shoulder pain once and for all.

If you have questions or comments, contact us at [email protected]. This website is sponsored by B Fit Training Systems. For more information on our services please visit us online at www.brianschiff.com.

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