#thread:01

[burnishedrebel]

continued from [x]

“That it doesn’t…” Cesar replied, a slight and knowing smirk gracing his features. From his numerous professional entanglements with Serena over the years, Cesar knew she knew his background far greater than her statement let on. They’d worked together successfully, and Cesar had no doubts they’d continue to do so. However, with Serena’s hair down and figure adorned in a bright-coloured dress, her presence entirely unexpected, Cesar couldn’t help but think she might have some other intentions. 

As the prospects danced around his mind, Cesar chuckled at her quip about looking at his body. “I wouldn’t have expected anything less,” Cesar returned, the smirk curling further on his lips. After toeing off his boots and tugging down his shorts, Cesar was left in nothing but a pair of black briefs. With a simple tug, he pulled those down too. He had no qualms about being naked before Serena, especially with how she looked at him. Strolling into the water, Cesar got halfway in before he turned back to face Serena. “Care to join?” he asked, another smirk tracing his features. 

@imperfectox

[cohenblake]

𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘰𝘳 @courtneyxblake

Cohen Blake was still shocked at the outcome of his life sometimes. He had loved Courtney for as long as he could remember - the two had met as neighbors when they were just five years old - and Cohen had made a promise to himself and to her that they'd be in each other's lives forever. And while they were living out that dream, there were still days that Cohen barely believed he deserved it. His life had been chaotic at one point, and despite the fact that he still didn't fee as if he did enough sometimes, he was more than thankful to have Courtney and her never ending love in his life. Because sometimes that was about all he had going for him. He parked the car outside his trailer, turning the engine off before he leaned into the passenger seat and grabbed his lunch box, tossing the water bottle inside and using his free hand to grab the flowers he'd picked from the side of the highway on his way home. Typical Wednesday night shenanigans if you asked him. Unlocking the front door, he made his way inside keeping quiet regardless of the fact he knew that he'd been heard - the unfortunate part of driving a beat up Bronco and living in a trailer often meant you couldn't show up at home unannounced - placing the keys in their designated spot before he took off his shoes at the front door, moving towards the kitchen and grabbing the now empty vase from the counter top. Filling it with water and placing the bouquet of wildflowers inside he returned it to it's home and moved through their home in search of his wife. "Court?" he called, quietening his footsteps in fear she may be sleeping and he was disturbing her.

[writermuses]

When Lilith pulled panels of fabric and bags of materials out of the back of her Uber, she didn't think about people watching her like she looked insane. Running her teeny tiny boutique in Hell's Kitchen was her dream and every piece of lingerie was something she'd dreamt up or made to help someone else's dreams come true. She didn't have employees and if she needed a pair of hands she harassed her siblings into being those people. Littlest sibling perks, she called it. Nevertheless, eyes were on her as she bent over the back seat in her tiny denim cut offs. Stumbling into her shop once she got the door unlocked, Lili struggled to the back where she made garments to dump her goods. They'd hardly left her arms before she heard the door chime. "Coming!" She hollered, breathless, and then hustled their way.

Stopping in her tracks, rosy cheeked and doe-eyed, Lilith looked up-up-up the length of the man in her shop, "Hi there. You looking for something special?" Her voice was soft and she cleared her throat, "I just got back in for the day. I usually look more put together than this." She didn't, but he didn't need to know that. Her sisters were always telling her that she needed to stop wearing cut up shorts, dying her hair plum purple, and knotting vintage tees at her waist. They'd even tried gifting her comfortable minimalist attire to get her through her time with clients. At the end of the day, Lili let her work speak for itself.

closed starter for @thereapersmc

[sadavang]

Who: @rhianwells Where: Sada's Office When: April 12th, Mid-morning

"I don't know about these, I mean... the colour isn't exactly in my palette, do you think?" Looking at one of the cushions that had come off the sofa in the office she had moved into but hadn't done much to change besides going through the paperwork within, she held it up for Ria to inspect. Her input on such things was exactly why Sada had brought her up here.

"I don't want to you know... erase him," Yes she did. "But... if I'm going to have to work in here, it'd be nice to have some of... me, in it, too, you know? And these are not me. I mean... Tobias had taste at least five decades older than he was. Who has tweed cushions?"

[ofgrenvde]

closed starter @c0exiist - catriona ignacio

Titus balanced a box of cupcakes and a stuffed horse in his arms as he rang Catriona's doorbell. "I brought some treats, although I suppose I'll have to eat these red velvet cupcakes myself since someone's still on milk," he teased when she opened the door. He'd grown used to bringing gifts during his visits, while Lizbeth dedicated herself to perfecting her baby babble. The musical stuffed horse would have to wait until she could sit up properly on her own, but it filled him with simple joy to watch her grasp at the soft plush with tiny fingers. Watching the little girl grow, even at this early stage, made him question the gaps in his own past, the missing pieces that nagged at him whenever he saw family photos on her walls. But seeing that baby's toothless grin pushed those darker musings aside. Her innocent babbles had become his remedy for sleepless nights spent wondering who he used to be. He set the gifts on her coffee table, while he pictured Lizbeth's wide-eyed fascination with the horse's fuzzy mane. "What new sounds has my favorite tiny human discovered today?"

[wrongtvrns]

❛ AUGUST & SUNNY. — MAIZZ.

After making her order for elote ribs Sunny stood aside and waited. In that time the brunette scoped out the scene in the hopes of finding a table to snag for herself, and that was when @augustkovac caught her eye. Young, handsome, a brilliant smile — what wasn't there to like? Especially since he was a male she'd yet to have a conversation with. Too busy taking him n and the scene around him Sunny hadn't noticed that he'd caught her staring at him, and when they made eye contact she smiled and stepped a little closer to his table. "I promise I'm not a creep. Even though creeps would say that... I actually mean it," she winked at him. "You're just extraordinarily good looking. Love that smile." Since becoming a hygienist good teeth had become so much more important to her than ever before. "Caught me in a moment there." One that wasn't common for her.

[lonelyalchemy]

"what incredible prosthetic makeup work." chat he doesn't know.

"would you mind telling me how it was done? the horns especially are fascinating-- very lifelike."

@viladlind starter!

[vievieveda]

busy | francesco & veda

@philoflore:

Well, perhaps tonight was not going to be suited for relaxing with a nice cup of tea. At least, this was what he figured. The patrons weren't much like the sort you found on the patios of his hometown, although he generally found that you shouldn't judge a person by their language, or their clothes, or the state of their hygiene, though he did pray that what he was seeing on the sole of these boots was mud. It didn't smell much like it did in his garden, and he kept his finger against his nostrils as he waited for the woman he thought to be the owner to return. She seemed to have it all under control, which he found quite remarkable, given the rough manners of her clientele.

"That look is nothing less but my way of expressing awe, Madam. Miss. Tavern keeper." He wrinkled his nose. He figured that the place was always in such a state, no matter the day. "Oh. Hum. I ... Well..." The look he gave her then was apologetic. He was just about to ask her something more complicated than that. "I suppose I can survive without tea. Perhaps do you store Chartreuse." It came from the bottle, and it also was just a cocktail of plants carefully selected. Closest and furthest thing to tea he could think of.

.

"Veda. Vee if you're feeling some sort of way," she introduced when he tried to assign her a title. The human was no madam or miss, at least not in her mind. Having spent the majority of her formative years in the tavern had erased any manners or courtesy she might have formed elsewhere. Veda's language and general attitude was the same as the rowdy patrons that helped earn her keep. And she wouldn't have it any other way. "But the awe is appreciated all the same. That being said, feel free to remain awestruck even as I reluctantly tell you I have no Chartreuse and offer you some Madeira instead?" Vee graced the man with her most charming smile, resting her chin in her hand and elbow on the bartop. The options were limited by the tastes of her usual clientele. She only carried Madeira for the few regulars that preferred wine. "I've been told the ale doesn't taste like horsepiss tonight, as well."

[cerebralbleu]

@astrallithid

" You people, you call this the sea, " Legato remarks thoughtfully, eyes staring at the endless waves of blue churning before him, whittling away at the beach. Since taking up residence in Golden Ward, Legato had found himself coming back to the shoreline several times now. He simply could not stop staring at this foreign body of water.

" Such a thing does not exist where I am from. Where you see a canvas of blue here, it is nothing but an expanse of sand burning beneath the binary stars. It is. . .

Soothing, in a way. "

He was not sure why he felt compelled to share these thoughts with the stranger lingering nearby, but Legato felt the need to express this feeling out loud.

" Do you find the water a place of comfort, or a place of terror? "

[elysicnxficlds]

closed starter @xmysticx

The sun hadn't risen yet when Aliyah dragged herself to the beach, desperate to clear her mind after the disaster at Soundwave. The club's entire sound system had crashed during peak hours last night, leaving her with hundreds of angry customers demanding refunds. Getting yelled at by drunk customers over something she couldn't control had pushed her patience to its limits—if another person screamed in her face, she might actually hose them down. She'd have to dip into her savings to fix everything, which made her queasy considering how much she'd already spent getting the place ready to open. It should have been a smooth night of good music and happy patrons, but she got chaos and complaints that would probably show up as bad reviews online by morning.

Now she wandered along the shoreline, hoping the quiet would ease her frustration. Her mind kept circling back to the repair costs—money she didn't have readily available since she'd put everything into renovating the place. A break from those calculations came when she noticed Dev near the water's edge. She changed course to approach him, grateful for any distraction from her spiraling thoughts about potentially having to take out another loan. He always seemed to show up when she needed someone to talk to. She'd gotten used to seeing him around town, their paths crossing often enough that conversation flowed naturally between them without any awkward small talk. Maybe the universe decided to give her a break by putting someone friendly in her path instead of another problem to solve. "Well, this is an unexpected surprise. What brings you out here at this ungodly hour?" She asked, plopping down beside him without waiting for an invitation. She'd known the man long enough that formalities seemed pointless, and right now she needed someone to talk to who wasn't connected to the club's drama.

[burnishedrebel]

continued from [x]

From his tone, the man sounded friendly enough, and so Leon moved further into the steam room. The door closed behind him, and as Leon approached the bench, he got a clearer view of his newfound companion through the steam. The first detail Leon noticed was that he was sitting naked. It was hardly surprising, seeing as they were in a sauna, though Leon found some men preferred to preserve their modesty with a towel whilst others liked letting it all hang loose. Of the two types, Leon was also one of the latter. And so, as he reached a bench adjacent to the one the other male was sitting on, Leon undid his towel. 

The question made him scoff, a laugh and a grin following. “An actor of a type, you might say,” he mused whilst folding his towel so he could place it down on the bench to sit on. Leon turned when he’d done that, facing the blond once more, his cock and balls hanging as freely as theirs. He sat down and said, “I’m a stuntman. I throw myself around all day, and then they superimpose some box office draw’s name onto my face for the final edit.” A light chuckle followed. “So, I ‘act’, I guess, but only with my body. How about you?”

@modcrnspirits

[ciphertone-a]

@railheist sent ; "Why does everything have to be a competition to you?"

"BECAUSE MOST THINGS IN LIFE ARE A COMPETITION, SISTER, AND IF YOU AREN'T PLAYING YOU'RE GETTING PLAYED. NOW, PERSONALLY, I KNOW WHERE I WANNA BE ON THAT SCALE - IT'S WHERE YOU WANNA BE THAT'S UP FOR DEBATE HERE!"

[writermuses]

Taney looked over her shoulder, "Oh, all this paperwork and Mr. Serious has forgotten his words?" With a dimpled grin she shook her head. "Why would I get down when I love it so much when you spank me for insubordination?" While a sane person would obey, Taney was a nightmare, selfish and erratic one her best days. Her green gaze landed on the papers, not bothering to read them, simply observing the sheer amount of work he had to do. "Why summon me if you're clearly behind on whatever the hell it is you do?" Her head tilted to the side, the corner of her mouth curling, "Unless you like mailing papers out covered in cum. You do know you're supposed to lick the stamps, right? That that is supposed to be the only DNA on the damn things?" Her cackle echoed through the office. "Not it? So was I supposed to be your reason to stop working then?"

continued from here for @souldealsandnightmares

[midnightsaboteur]

continued from [x]

In just three simple words - ‘Jay, mi amor’ - Carla easily soothed some of the worry making his shoulders tense. Her nicknames for him always had a way of relaxing him, even in the most fraught of moments. Alongside those words, the way she came to rest her chin on his shoulder and slide her arms around his torso also helped to ease Jayson’s posture. However, it was Carla’s subsequent words that finally banished the worry from him, with her admission that the ‘organisation’ behind the task was in reality a bet between Carlos and her.

Jayson chuckled, and a grin spread across his lips. “It’s kinda my fault for assuming the worst, I guess. There I was thinking I was about to get whacked, and in reality it was a bet between you and your brother,” he mused, another laugh coming from him after the statement. He’d just been about to turn to face Carla when she nipped his earlobe gently, in a gesture accompanied by a playful purr about how talented his fingers truly were. 

“Talented with safes… or talented when touching something else… you’re giving me mixed messages here, babe,” Jayson teased, smirking. 

@siiinfully

[ofgrenvde]

closed starter @akashxbedi - akash bedi

Ezra strode through the courthouse lobby, case files from the Golden Lotus's latest security audit tucked under his arm. The Zhao family needed these depositions filed before their casino's quarterly review, and he'd rather handle sensitive documents personally than trust a courier. Five steps into the building, he spotted Akash Bedi by the information desk. That snake had defended half the corrupt Chicago cops who'd torn Ezra's informant network apart, yet here he stood in Devil's Junction, probably still getting rich off others' misery. "If it isn't Chicago's favorite puppet. Still defending murderers for a living, Bedi? Or did you finally grow a conscience in Devil's Junction?" He kept his voice steady, professional despite the rage churning inside him. Each dead informant's face flashed through his mind and the man before him had a hand in their demise—indirectly or not. "Must be nice, sleeping at night after helping killers walk free. Tell me, do you charge extra for covering up police executions, or is that just a complementary service?" His expression remained neutral, but his words dripped acid. Some people never changed, and Bedi was living proof that a Harvard law degree couldn't buy morality.

[wrongtvrns]

❛ AKSEL & BEAR. — FINE CLOTHING STORE IN WOODSIDE HEIGHTS.

For a man that could count the amount of times he'd dressed up for anything on a few fingers Bear stood in the men's section clueless as his gaze perused the selections of sport coats, dinner jackets, and finer nearly tuxedo stylings. There was a state dinner at the end of the year and it was coming up quickly, an event that required a suit and tie, and he was up for some award or special acknowledgment... whatever. Something like that.

"Come here often?" He'd asked the tall, dark haired woman that looked at home among high quality fashions. Even if she hadn't technically been in the section she'd edged close enough that he'd stepped closer and nabbed her attention. "That's not a line, I promise..." Something of a grin took shape on his lips and the slightest shake of his head indicated that he only understood how his words came across after he'd uttered them.

"I could use some help and you look like someone that knows what kind of jacket a man should wear to a state dinner gala thing." For such an establishment they could've done with more staff. Everyone working seemed to be busy with a customer. Even then something told him this woman likely knew more than any of them. "I could return the favor. A free hike in the park..." Bear smirked. "Maybe a drink."