#timetable cover

[monkeyssalad-blog]

Amtlicher Kraftpost Fahrplan : Deutsche Bundespost : Oberpostdirektion Düsseldorf : Sommer 1953 : artwork by W. Seelback by mikeyashworth Via Flickr: With the post bus and bus stop flag dominating the cover, the Summer 1953 Düsseldorf area postbus timetable by W. Seelback.

[drawfee-quot3s]

what's twelve times fifty two

i have an art degree you can't ask me that

- jacob + karina

[wolfchans]

the gods of graphic design have once again blessed the stray kids comeback

[yymiya]

why is trying to get a MINIMUM WAGE RETAIL JOB in the uk an uphill battle, im TIRED

[starsinthesky5]

quarterback || joe burrow x reader

description: joe is back to doing what he does best, and you cannot get enough of it ;)

a/n: seeing him back out there is a literal dream!! here’s a little something inspired by all the football content we’ve gotten over the past month 🤍 and good lord he looks FINE as hell.

fair warning, i struggled to write a part of the smut (wink wink) so i really hope it isn’t too cringe because it took me a second to write that

warnings: language, smut

word count: 5.5 k

—————————————————————

The sound of Joe’s alarm blared throughout your bedroom early Monday morning, causing you to turn over and pull your covers over your head. It was currently 6 AM, meaning it was too early for anything. You let out a little whine as you felt Joe’s arms snake around your waist and pull your back into his chest. You lifted the gray comforter off your head and turned your head to face him. You were met with his gentle eyes and messy bedhead, looking absolutely precious this early in the morning.

“Joee, it’s early,” you whined. He moved the covers down a little more so that your shoulder was uncovered, pressing light kisses to the soft skin.

“It’s Monday,” he said in between kisses. You were a little dazed and rubbed your eyes to snap the drowsiness out of you, realizing that it was in fact Monday meaning today was Joe’s long-awaited return to being a quarterback. 

You turned around onto your side to face him and took a long look at him, taking in every little detail. He was now lying on his stomach, his muscular back on display along with his messy hair. “Back to football,” you smile lazily while raking your hand through his hair, which he had been growing out since the start of the year. It was one of the few changes to his appearance, and you were loving it. It was getting longer in the back and the front, almost mullet-like (similar to what he had in college), but you didn’t say that to him because you didn’t want to jinx it. 

You loved Joe’s hair. You loved it at the beginning of the past season even though it ended up looking like a wet mop by the end of the game, and you loved his hair during the end of the season as well, referring to it as ‘prince hair’. This hair might just be your favorite, referring to it as ‘prince hair volume 2’. You loved when he grew his dirty blonde hair out, partly because you loved running your fingers through the strands, but mostly because you loved playing with it during sex. 

“Back to football,” he sighs, the smile on his face fading. 

“Not excited?” You question. 

“Oh, I am, 100%. I miss being out there,” he says as he slides his hand gently across your shoulder. 

“Then why do you not look excited?” You softly ask.

“Nerves,” he responds, turning his face into the pillow to hide his telltale eyes. His eyes could always tell you the emotion he was feeling at the moment, thus the reason why he was trying not to let you see. There was no way you were going to let him get in his head again. He’d already done that enough at the end of the last season into the beginning of the off-season and it did not do anyone any good. 

“Joseph Lee Burrow,” you begin to lecture. 

“Uh oh, full government name never means anything good,” he jokes. 

“You have absolutely no reason to be nervous. You have worked your ass off to get better these past few months. I’ve seen it, the public has seen it, the fucking aliens have seen it,” you lecture as you hear a soft laugh come from his lips. 

“You came back from what could’ve been a career-ending injury and have killed it in rehab and recovery. You were ahead of all their timetables, no surprise there, but you did that all on your own,” you add, moving your hand to his bare back, sliding it down his muscular frame. 

“I’m just nervous about really getting back into it, you know?” He says as he takes his head out of the pillow. “I know I’m better for the most part and I’ve been throwing for a little over a month, but getting back out there with the guys means it’s time to face reality,” he says. 

You stay silent as you let him vent to you, which you had ensured he did while he was injured. “I just don’t want things to go south again, this season means a lot. I know what everyone’s been saying and I’ll be playing with a chip on my shoulder. I just don’t wanna lose it,” he says, referring to his reputation, accomplishments, and goals. 

“You’re not going to lose it, Joe. If anything, the public and the league will lose their minds over how fucking amazing you are after such a devastating setback. You’re going to kill it today, the next day, and every day after that. Now you know that you need to listen to your body more and not push yourself, which will make a huge difference in how you feel,” you smile. 

“I’ve seen you throw and in my unprofessional opinion, it doesn’t look like anything even happened. The team is ready for you, I mean you have 2 giants that are going to be on both sides of you and a whole new class of rookies that I’m sure are ecstatic to be around you,” you giggle. 

“It’s time to be quarterback again. You’re ready, trust me, Remember that you are Joe Fucking Burrow,”. 

Joe smiled at your little speech. You always knew how to get him out of his head and back down to earth and this was just another example of that. “Have I ever told you how much I love you?” He mumbles as he turns onto his back and pulls you on top of him, making you let out a little squeal. 

“Many, Many, Many times,” you say, moving a little so you were straddling his waist. His hands find their way to your waist, pulling you down so that you are just inches from his face. “Well, I love you,” he says again before pulling you closer and seizing your lips in a slow kiss. The grip on your waist tightens as he starts to rock you back and forth. The soft fabric of your shorts was grinding against his black boxers, your core was throbbing with each movement. 

“Joe,” you whimpered into the kiss. He pulls you closer while his right hand slides under the fabric of your tank top, his warm hand sliding up and down your bare back. His perfect lips were devouring yours as if he had been starved for days and had just gotten his first morsel of food. He pulls away from your lips and presses open-mouthed kisses along your jaw, eventually moving down to your neck and sucking on the soft skin. 

“Mmm,” you moan, feeling Joe’s growing erection and slick lips all over you. You knew where this was leading, and if it were any other morning you’d let it happen. But not today. 

You carefully pull away and move off of his hips before it could go any further, he has a look on his face that a child would have if they got candy taken away from them. “Baby, Come back,” he whines.

“Nope. Not right now,” you innocently smile. “You have to get up and get ready and I’m not trying to tire you right before your first day back out there,”.

Joe gets up from the bed and sits upright, “It can be my warmup,” he shrugs, his full bare chest on display sending chills down your spine. Another one of the physical changes Joe had gone through was an increase in weight and muscle, and boy did it pay off. The result was Joe being way bigger than he was before, once again similar to how he looked in college. Not only did it help him with training and recovery, but it also made you even more insatiable around him.  

You stare at him for a few seconds, wanting to jump into bed with him more than anything, but you shake your head and snap out of it. “Maybe after you come home,” you tease. 

“So like a reward?” He asks.

“Precisely,” you say. 

He lets out a dramatic sigh, “I guess I can wait,”. He moves out from the covers and stands up, walking over to you. 

“That’s my man,” you smile, wrapping your arms around his neck and placing a gentle kiss on his lips. 

You quickly freshen up while Joe gets his things ready, and then you let him take a shower while you pack him a few snacks. You pack him his favorite protein bar, an Orange Mango Body Armour, and a Greek yogurt protein powder muffin you made last night. You open the kitchen drawer, searching for a notepad. You find one and grab your pen, etching a note onto the paper.

I’m beyond proud of you, and I mean it. You have been killing it since you started training again and it’s finally time to remind everyone who the hell you are, and this is step 1. You are amazing in every single way possible. Keep your head up, 9. I love you more than life itself <3

You hear his heavy footsteps descend the stairs and quickly put the note and snacks in his bag and back on the couch where he left it. 

You spin around to face him, “You want something to eat? I can make an omelet or something?”. 

“It’s okay, I think I’ll grab something at the Facility,”.

“Missing those nasty green smoothies aren’t you?” you chuckle.

“Yes, and they are not nasty,” he says raising his eyebrow as he grabs his water from the fridge. 

“Thaaat’s debatable,” you drag out as you stumble towards him. It was almost time for him to head out and you deep down didn’t want him to. It was nice to have him around more than usual and now it was time for him to go back to doing what he does best, which you were obviously excited about. But you’d be lying if you said you didn’t want to curl up on the couch with him for hours doing absolutely nothing productive.

He looks over at the time and sees that he has to head out soon, a little frown appearing on his face. He places his water on the kitchen island and throws out his arm to pull you in for a tight hug. “Mmmm, I don’t want to leave,” he groans. 

You wrap your hands around his waist and pull yourself closer to him, “I know,” you mumble against his warm chest. “But the day will pass by and before you know it, you’ll be back home,” you say as you lift your head off of his chest and meet his starry eyes. 

“Back home with my mouthwatering girlfriend, hopefully too exhausted to get up from bed because of our extracurricular activities,” he smirks. 

“Are you always horny?” you scoff as you pat his chest.

“You left me hangin’,” he says while tilting his head. 

“Sorrryyy,” you say, feeling bad as you hide your face in his chest again. 

He laughs as his hand moves to the back of your head, softly placing his hand on it. “It’s okay, as long as I get my reward when I get back,”. 

You lift your head again from his chest and meet his eyes which were now dark blue and filled with desire. “You got it,”. 

Hours Later 

You were sitting on the couch reading one of your favorite books before you saw your phone light up. You placed your book down on the couch and grabbed your phone, seeing that it was a text from Joe. A smile creeps up your face as you read his message.

Joe: Thanks for the snacks, I was starvingggg and those muffins are the best things I’ve ever had to date. But most importantly, thank you for that note. Seriously. Your words are so important to me and I don’t know what I would do without your constant encouragement and love. I love you I love you I love youu

You blushed at the repetitive “I love you’s” at the end of the text, and then remembered what you and written on the note to make him act like this

“He must be doing good,” you whisper to yourself as you type up a response, getting a reply from him instantly. 

You: I love you ❤️ How’s practice going by the way? 

Joe: Really good. Been throwing around a lot today with the guys and worked through some other stuff. They took a bunch of videos for media stuff so that’s something to keep an eye on if you want a peek 

You: Is it finally time for more football thirst traps? 

Joe: You’re funny

You: Hey? Can you blame me? The increased muscle and the flow you got going on is about to break the internet for the 2nd year in a row. My boyfriend is the definition of sexiness and when he puts on that jersey… Whew, someone has to restrain me 

Joe: You’re lucky I’m not at home right now 

You: Oh really? 

Joe: Yes really. 

You were about to type up a teasing response but you got a notification from the Bengal’s Instagram and immediately switched over to see what it was. It was a compilation of Joe throwing today at practice. 

You watched as he moved around in slowmo, throwing the ball around to the guys, his luscious hair flopping with every movement. The jersey he was wearing and the compression sleeve showed off his large muscular arms, arms you wish were wrapped around tight you right now. You paid attention to the grip he had on the football, the grip you wished he had on your thighs as right now as he took you to heaven. God, he looked so good right now. 

“Fuckkk,” you whispered to yourself, squirming around in your seat, feeling a little horny at the sight of him all sweaty and footbally. He looked mouthwatering and you were regretting letting him leave without a little quickie this morning to satisfy both your cravings. His throws were absolutely amazing in the video, managing to make each one hit his guys perfectly. He really was doing amazing and you couldn’t be more happier to see him back in his true element. 

“Ooh, that’s new,” you laughed as you watched him do a backhand pass to one of the guys. The smile on his face made you incredibly excited and at peace, he was going to be just fine. 

You switch back over to your texts with Joe, finally typing up a response after taking a few seconds to snap back to your senses.

You: Saw the video and you’re killing it ;) You feel good?

Joe: Oh, I feel greatttt. I’ll feel even better by the time I’m home. Got a lot of energy today 

You let out a shaky breath, feeling the tension through the screen. You needed him badly and this conversation was not helping the situation. 

You: I hope sooo. That video has me feeling some feelings that need to be cared for in more ways than just one. Maybe needing some gentle care, maybe a little rough care? Still trying to figure it out.. I think I need some help figuring out what it is 

Joe: I’ll be home in an hour

You: Drive Safe ;)

You turned your phone off, throwing it to the side as you threw your head back into the couch pillow. “He’s going to be the death of me,” you giggle before covering your face with your hands. 

An Hour Later 

You’re sitting at the kitchen island after taking a shower, making sure to scrub everywhere and anywhere with your new Rose Body Scrub, and scrolling through your Instagram feed until you hear the sound of the garage open. 

You felt heat rise up your body as you realized he was finally home. You turn off your phone and stand up as you hear the door open and close. Joe walks in, bag in hand, wearing his black sweat shorts and a loose sleeveless white workout shirt. You watch as he places his bag on the floor, takes his shoes off, and walks over to you without saying anything. 

He pulls you into him, hands wrapping around your lower back, and lips crashing down onto yours. His lips move against yours at a slow and needy pace, telling you everything you need to know without actually saying anything. His tongue slides into your mouth as his hand moves down to your butt. Your hands slide down his back and under his shirt, running your manicured hands across his soft back. Suddenly, he pulls away and meets your eyes. His eyes are dark and intense, filled with lust and desire once again. 

“Do I get my reward now?” He whispers as his hands slowly cup the flesh of your ass. 

“Mmm, I don’t know,” you tease as you break away from his grip. “I don’t know if you were quarterback enough today,” you lie, earning a scoff from him, knowing he absolutely was in every single way possible. You slowly walk over to where he dropped his bag on the floor, bending over slowly to grab it and making sure he was watching, and oh he was. 

“You and I both know you’re lying through your teeth,” he says as he walks over to you. He picks you up, causing you to let out a squeal, and throws you over his shoulder.

“Put me downn,” you laugh, patting his back. 

“Nope. If I remember correctly, it’s time for my promised reward and you apparently are feeling something that needs gentle and rough care. Time to kill two birds with one stone,”  he smirks as he walks over to the stairs, still holding onto you over his shoulder, and carrying you up to the bedroom. 

He enters the room and gently throws you down onto the silk sheets before ripping his shirt off so that his bare chest is on display. Your eyes move down to his chest, taking in every little detail of his upper body. His big muscular chest was tan from all the sun he’d been getting, his strong veiny arms on display, and that little blonde treasure trail that led down to one of your favorite features of his. 

“Like what you see?” He teases as he leans down to hover over you. 

“More than you’ll ever know,” you smile as you reach up and pull him down for a kiss. You kiss him hungrily as he starts to fiddle with the strings of your shorts. He unties the knot and slips his fingers into your panties, immediately going down to your wet heat.

“Mm, Joe,” you moan into the kiss as you feel his fingers tease your folds. He continues to kiss you as his fingers enter your core, slowly pumping in and out while his thumb toys with your clit.

You break away from the kiss and throw your head back into the pillow as his fingers pick up the pace, moans, and whimpers leaving your lips as he pushes you towards your pleasure. “Right there,” you moan as he hits your sweet spot. Just as you’re about to reach your high, he pulls his fingers out of your shorts.

“Why’d you stop,” you pant as you lift your head up.

“Because I don’t want you to cum yet,” he nods as he licks his fingers clean of your essence. He pulls down your shorts and panties all in one go and then starts to pull your tank top off, you lift your arms to make it easier for him. 

“I wanna take my time,” he says. 

“Shouldn’t I be the one making you feel good since this is your reward?” You ask as you unclamp your bra, freeing your breasts as Joe’s eyes travel down to them. 

“You are my reward,” he growls, pushing you back down. His lips wrap around your breast, sucking on your nipple. You move your hand into his long hair, pulling at the strands as he continues to suck on your breast. A few sighs leave your lips as he swirls his tongue around the bud. He pressed a few kisses in between them as he moved over to your other breast. His tongue swirled around your bud and the wet kisses sent shivers down your spine. 

“You smell so good,” he says in between kisses. 

“Joe,” you whimpered as you pulled his head back up to your face. You crashed your lips onto him as you hooked your leg around his body, pulling him closer to you. You could feel his boner through his shorts, only getting bigger by the second. 

“Let me take care of that,” you say as you pull away from the kiss, slowly moving you both up. 

“But I wanna taste you,” he mumbles as he presses kisses around your collarbone. 

An idea suddenly pops into your head. You hadn’t done it in a while, and when you did do it, you both absolutely enjoyed it. 

“Wanna kill two birds with one stone?” you echo his words from earlier as you run your fingers across his thigh. He pulls his head out from your neck and looks like he’s seen a ghost. 

“Are you sure?” he asks, searching your eyes. 

“Hell yes,” you giggle as you move out from under him, your body sizzling with desire and anticipation. 

A few minutes later, both of you are laying bare against each other. You move yourself further back and he grabs your hips, pulling you right to his face. 

“Ohh,” you whimper as you feel his warm tongue lick a stripe across your folds. 

You lean down and run your tongue across the tip of his cock, lapping up the pre-cum that was pooling at the tip. You feel Joe groan into your core, sending vibrations all throughout your body. Wet slurping sounds were coming from behind you as breathy moans escaped your lips. 

You wrap your soft lips around the tip of his cock, slowly sliding your mouth down, taking him inch by inch. You begin to bob your head up and down as Joe moves to suck on your sensitive clit.

“Joe,” you moan as you pull away, sliding your tongue along the prominent veins. You felt his warm mouth lap at your folds as he rhythmically sucked on your clit, sending you straight to heaven. You took him in your mouth again, this time sucking harder and setting a quick pace. 

“Y/N,” he moans against your core. You both are caught up in the heated moment for what feels like hours. He continues to eat you out like a starved man, and you continue to suck him into oblivion. His grip on your hips tightens and you feel him start to buck his hips, a sure sign he was close. You felt tension building in your belly as you felt his tongue slide into your core and his thumb rubbing circles around your clit. 

A few seconds later, the tension in your belly snaps as you feel a gush of wetness release from your core prompting you to moan around his slick cock. You hear Joe whimper as he laps up your juices, inching closer and closer to his release. You wrap your hand around his cock, sliding it up and down along with your mouth. A few more sucks later, hot spurts of his cum fill your mouth. 

“Fuckkk,” he moans behind you. You slide your lips around the tip of his cock, and then licking the sides, lapping up his release before turning around and sitting up so you were straddling him.

“That was so hot,” he smiles as he takes in your disheveled appearance. He runs his big hands along your sides, sliding down to your thighs. 

“So hot,” you echo as you move some of his hair out from his eyes. 

“Sooo, now that I got the gentle care out of the way, I think it’s time for the rough care,” he says as he flips you over, a squeal leaving your lips. 

“Was that not enough,” you giggle as he kisses down your body. 

“I think I quarterbacked pretty hard today and deserve a little more than that,” he says moving back up to your face.

“I guess you’re right,” you playfully tease. He presses a kiss to your nose and then to your lips, slowly sucking on your bottom lip as he teased your slick core with his cock. He slowly pushes the tip in, still attacking your mouth with his lips. 

“Shit,” you moan into this kiss at the increased pressure down below. 

“F- Fuck,” you whimpered as he slid all the way into your core, completely stretching you out with his big cock. He started thrusting into you hard, not giving you a second to collect your thoughts. Your cushiony walls felt like home to him and he couldn’t get enough of it, he needed you. 

“You feel so good,” He groaned as he pounded into your heat. He moved his head to the crook of your neck, pressing open-mouthed kisses along the side and softly sucking on the skin. He moved deeper and deeper into your core with each thrust, sending your hips further into the bed. 

“Joe, I-” you begin to say but are interrupted by a moan as Joe’s cock grazes your G-spot. “Ohhh,”. 

He uses his hand and lifts one of your legs, causing your knee to bend, and allowing him to thrust deeper into you. “Joe!” you screamed as you felt him hit your G-spot.

“Right there?” he smirked.

“Yeah,” you moaned as you closed your eyes, the pleasure becoming too much for you. “Right there,” you whispered. You felt as if you were floating on a cloud as your boyfriend continued to pleasure you in every single way possible. 

“You’re so wet,” he groans as he continues to thrust into you. Sounds of your skin slapping against his fill the room, a pleasant sound that signifies that whatever was happening inside the room made you both feel good. 

“Joe, Fuck me harder,” you whimpered as you opened your eyes, your arms flying to the side as you were being pushed into the mattress. He was balls deep inside of you right now, and you were loving every second of it. 

He drops your leg and grabs your hand, lacing your fingers together as he thrusts into you faster and harder, causing your breasts to shake with every thrust. Joe leans down and licks a stripe across your nipple, sending chills down your body at the cool air hitting the wet skin. 

“Baby,” you moaned as the pleasure was building in your belly. 

The intense pleasure you were feeling right now was your favorite feeling in the entire world. Joe was so good to you and you were so good to him. The sounds that left your mouth and the feeling of you beneath him would often send him into overdrive. All he wanted to do was make you feel good, and you wanted to do the same for him. He was the only man that would ever see you like this and you were all his. He grinned at the moans and little noises leaving your lips as he sent you to heaven. 

You begin to buck your hips up into his, matching the pace of his quick thrusts. He moves his hand down to your waist, gripping you tightly, a bruise surely to form there later. His thrusts start to become more erratic, a sign that he was close. 

“Y/N..” he moaned. 

You moved your hands to cup his back, helping him move against you and guiding his thrusts. Each stroke hits every pleasure point, causing ecstasy to course through your veins. “Baby, I’m close,” he groans. 

“Fuck, me too,” you whisper. Your legs were starting to shake from his thrusts and your body started to become sore, but the pleasure in your belly only getting stronger by the second. A few well-placed and rough thrusts later, you felt the warmth of his release fill you, his head dropping down to your neck as he panted sweet nothings into your ear.

"You're so good. Fuck, I love you," he panted.

“Mpmh,” you whined as you were so close to letting go, your hands scratching the soft skin of his muscular back. Joe lifted his head from your neck, realizing you hadn’t come yet, and went back to snapping his hips against yours. How was he not tired yet? I mean, it really shouldn't be surprising considering his stamina. He can go for hours and hours if he feels like it.

He moved one hand down to your incredibly wet lower half and played with your clit. “Cum for me baby, you can do it,” he said as he pounded into you. The pressure in your belly was building up, but it was a feeling different than any other orgasm. This one felt strong, and a little painful, but also caused your stomach to flutter. “J- Joe, I-” you moan as you start to arch your back. “I- I can’t,” you whimpered. 

“Yes, you can. I’ve got you,” he soothes, moving down to press a soft kiss to your lips. 

A few seconds later, you felt the band in your belly snap hard. The result was you releasing all over the lower half of both your bodies and onto the bed. 

“Oh my god, Joe,” you moaned as you fell back against the sheets, throwing your head to the side, a smile creeping up on your face as you felt your extreme high. Now you really felt like you were on a cloud and the room was spinning. He uses his hand to turn your face to meet his, and his lips crash down onto yours in a delicate yet passionate kiss. He pulls away, a huge smirk on his face as he was taking in your fucked out expression, feeling satisfied that he could make you feel like this. 

“Now that was hot,” he laughed.

“It’s been a minute since that happened,” you pant, your eyes fluttering as you were trying to regain your senses. 

“I’m so glad it did,” he chuckles as he slowly pulls out of you, both of your releases dripping down your inner thigh. You hiss at the loss of contact but Joe presses a kiss to your cheek to ease any discomfort. He walks over to the bathroom to grab a towel and makes his way back to you. He cleans you up before picking you up and placing you on the comfy chair next to the windows so he can change the sheets. Then he walks into the closet and hands you one of his big t-shirts to slip on while he slips on a pair of shorts. He then digs through the drawer and pulls out 2 Tylenol tablets and a bottle of water from the mini-fridge for you.

You smile at his sweet gestures as you slip on the comfy shirt. Only he could be so soft and affectionate after completely re-arranging your guts.

A couple of minutes later, you both are back in bed, lying against the fresh sheets and wrapped up in each other’s arms. 

“Was that gentle & rough enough for you,” Joe teases.

“Oh, 100%. I don’t think I can move, you beat it up gooood this time,” you lazily giggle. “I’m surprised you’re so awake right now. You weren’t kidding about having a lot of energy today,”.

“I feel good. Hell, I feel fucking amazing,” he says, squeezing your shoulder. “Today was really good and being back out there feels incredible,”.

You look up at him and see his hopeful and excited facial expression. You felt so proud of him and so happy that things were going back to normal. The past few months were tough, but today, by the sounds of it, felt like a fresh start for him. 

“That’s really great Joe. I’m so proud of you,” you say as you press a kiss to his bare chest.

“Thanks for the reward by the way,” he says.

“Please, even if you sat out today or missed all of your throws, I still would’ve pounced on you. Nothing can keep me away from my own personal 6’4 bundle of sexiness,” you teased. 

“Good to know in case things go south again. At least you'll still want me if I fail,” he jokes.

“Hey, that is not funny,” you say, looking back up at him with a solemn face.

“I’m just playin’. I think we can save the repeat of your speech from this morning for another day,” he laughs. 

“Good. I’m too tired to lecture your ass,” you sigh. 

“I’m feeling it now too,” he yawns.

“You should be. You did most of the work tonight,” you say as you hook your leg over his hips so that you are straddling him again. His arms wrapped around your lower back, holding you close against him. You tuck your head under his chin and let out a content sigh.

“And that’s perfectly fine. I owe you for all those times when I couldn’t move my wrist because of that big ass cast,”. 

“Well, I’m just glad that we don’t have to ever deal with that again,” you say.

“Tell me about it,” he mumbles as he presses a kiss to your head. “Wait, you still didn’t answer my question from earlier,”. 

“Hm?” you question. 

“Was I quarterback enough today?” he asks.

You turn your face to look up at him. “Absolutely. In every single way possible. From the jersey to the thirst trap pics, the throws, the smile on your face, not to mention that stamina in bed. Yeah, you were quarterback enough today,” you smile.

His deep blue eyes were filled with love as he listened to you talk. Everything was going as planned now that he was back on the field, and he could see how relaxed and happy that made you. 

“I love you,” he says, hugging you tighter. "So, So, So, Much," he says, pressing a kiss to your head each time he says 'so'.

“I love you, quarterback,”.

–The End–

[cheriladycl01]

I need to go! No you need to race! - Max Verstappen x SwedishOlympicHockey! Reader

Plot: You get hurt during a hockey match at the Nationals and Mad Max makes a return for all the right reasons!

Usually yours and Max's timetable linked up, you'd be training or doing your tournaments from Monday to Wednesday which Max would join you on before you left in his jet with him to wherever his race was that weekend.

But this week you had a national tournament which was on a Saturday, Sunday where Max was in the world. It was race day for him, and he was using one of the televisions to watch your tournament being streamed.

He couldn't understand any of it, where it was in Swedish so he just watched on with some of the mechanics who knew you and were rooting for you.

It was a good game and you guys were winning, absolutely tearing up the hockey field of the stadium you guys were in. Every time you scored, everyone watching cheered and Max had a big grin on his face when it zoomed in on your face yelling in a smile.

He always found it funny when you smiled as you wore a mouth guard that made your cheeks look puffy.

But things took a turn, it was about 20 minutes until the end of your game and an hour before the race started. All the mechanics were crowed around the TV watching until one of the girls in the opposing team swung their stick up, just as another tripped you up causing the base of the stick to smash into your face.

Max's hand came up to cover his mouth and 'oooooo's' flowed around from the mechanics realizing what just happened.

"Is she okay?" one of them said.

"I could hear something break!" another admitted.

Max watched as a few girls helped you to stand, but it was hard your nose was streaming blood down your face and the knock had clearly made you a little fuzzy.

Max was frowning gripping his fists as he watched the girl who hit you argue with the ref and medics who came out. She was pretty much shouting while you held your nose to try and stop the blood flow coming out.

You were escorted off the pitch and Max immediately went to his phone hounding you with messages asking if you were okay.

When that didn't work he proceeded to blow up your fathers phone who had been at the match in person and would be with you, which also didn't work.

He was so caught up with trying to get in contact with you that he didn't see Christian come up to him.

"Max?" Christian asks tentatively having heard what happened from the mechanics.

"I need to go!" Max exclaims looking up still having no word from your family on how you are doing.

"No, you need to race!" Christian says looking to his watch which showed it wasn't long before he needed to get in the car.

"I can't get in contact with her though, and what if something happens when I'm racing and she needs me!" he admits angrily raising his voice at his team principle.

"Max, calm down!" Christian says, his voice going a little gruffer.

"NO! I need to know shes okay!" he shouts and everyone can tell he's getting madder by the second. He only ever got like this when he was younger and someone crashed into him, he didn't have as well a hold on his emotions back then than he did now. But that was slowly slipping.

He was arguing back and forth with Christian until his phone rang. It was your contact number.

He didn't answer straight away frozen in shock from your number being up there.

"Schat?" he asks as he holds his phone to his ear.

"läckerbit" you tease knowing he hated that nickname.

"Are you okay?" he asks and you can tell he's worried from the tense and strain in his voice.

"Focus on the race, I'm fine and you'll see me soon" you smile into the phone making loads of kissy noises to him before he sighs nodding. You reassure him before you hang up turning to the nurse who was coming back with the x-rays of you nose.

"Yeah, it's definitely broken!" she sighs showing you making ou sigh too.

"Oooo and you have a mild concussion!" she smiles kindly making you laugh a little.

After the race and his podium, Max rushed as quickly as his jet provided to get to the hospital in Sweden you were being helped in.

He tried to sleep on the flight but was far too nervous to the point where he was pacing up and down the free walkway in the middle of the jet until the airhost made him take a seat handing him a beer to calm his nerves.

When he arrived to your private room in the hospital to see you scrolling through your phone he didn't fully take in your appearance at first.

He didn't note the greasy hair, or the bags under your eyes or the stuff helping fix your nose.

"Hey Schat!" he sighs and your head snaps up you look at him in disgust and shock.

"No! Don't look at me!" you cry pulling his hoodie up over you head and face to cover everything. And he couldn't help but laugh at your reaction. Hiding from him as if he hadn't seen you at your worst.

"Why are you hiding from me Princess" he laughs coming over and sitting on the edge of the bed after having taking a picture of your embarrassment.

"Mmmmm i look awful!" you say peeking at him through the hood.

"I think you look beautiful, like always" he grins, kissing you cheek not wanting to risk kissing your lips and numbing his nose with yours.

y/user

Liked by maxverstappen1 and redbullracing

y/user: This weekend in order between my hockey competition and Max’s race.

Image 1 - me and my girlie frejalarsson getting ready for battle (we had a national tournament)

Image 2 - Max at his race to me tacking a hockey stick to the face 😳 (my nose was bleeding pretty bad)

Image 3 - Max leaving after his race on Sunday to fly to me in Sweden to visit me in the hospital. (I looked awful and was embarrassed)

Image 4 - going with Max to Monaco to get cuddles from Jimmy and Sassy

It’s been eventful to say the least!

Tagged 2 People

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redbullracing: get well soon y/n!

maxverstappen1: now I know how you feel when I get into a crash! Scariest moment of my life! So glad you are okay! 🥰

-> y/user: Love you Käresta 🤭🫶🏼

landonorris: get well soon y/n! Need you in the club asap 🍾🎈

-> y/user: i broke my nose Lando …

-> landonorris: so you can’t party with a broke nose? LAME!

-> maxverstappen1: I’m breaking your nose next buddy if you aren’t careful ❗️

-> landonorris: 😦

Instagram Story Caption: Lego Date 🧱

Taglist:

@littlesatanicassholebitch @hockey-racing-fubol @laura-naruto-fan1998 @22yuki @simxican @sinofwriting @lewisroscoelove @cmleitora @daemyratwst @lauralarsen @the-untamed-soul l @thewulf @itsjustkhaos @purplephantomwolf @chasing-liberosis @summissss @gulphulp @starfusionsworld @jspitwall @sierruhhhh @georgeparisole @youcannotcancelquidditch @tallbrownhairsarcastic @ourteenagetragedy @peachiicherries @formulas-bitch @cherry-piee @spilled-coffee-cup @mehrmonga @bigsimperika @blueberry64857959 @eiraethh @lilypadlover @curseofhecate @alliwantisadonut @dark-night-sky-99 @i-wish-this-was-me @tallrock35 @butterfly-lover @barnestatic @landossainz @darleneslane @barcelonaloverf1life @r0nnsblog @ilove-tswizzle @laneyspaulding19 @malynn @viennakarma @landosgirlxoxo @marie0v @yourbane @teamnovalak @nikfigueiredo @fionaschicken @0picels0 @seomako @urdad-hot @tinydeskwriter @ironmaiden1313 @splaterparty0-0 @formula1mount @styl1shl1v

[nrdmssgs]

Reacting to the reader, accidentally falling asleep on them. (Price, Ghost, Gaz)

Masterlist

Part 1 (Soap, Alex, Konig)

Captain John Price

Platonic

Won't mind, if his old friend takes a quick nap on his shoulder, as long as this old friend tolerates a cigar smoke.

If he was discussing something with the others, and you happened to fall asleep - he'll try to speak quieter to the point, where his low velvety voice turns into a full-fledged asmr session.

But if the talk grows heated and his low menacing rumble wakes you up accidentally - he'll just pull you back on his shoulder. "Sorry, darling, go back to sleep... Now back to you, you d**p sh*t!"

Will unconsciously fidget with your fingers, John can't help it: your skin is so soft - it calms him down to lightly massage and caress your hand while you are napping.

Price finds it endearing, how flustered you got, after you finally woke up and understood, how exactly have you been sleeping all this time. Once again, he has nothing against it, but he will gladly joke about it, just to see you blushing. "Of course, you can spend a considerable amount of money on this orthopedic pillow in the hope that it will help you start sleeping better. Or you can always call one of your old friends - it costs nothing..."

Romantic

John will have to fight the urge to scoop and cradle you, so that you lean against him with your full weigh, enjoying his warmth enveloping you.

Even if he has something to do - his attention will be concentrated on you. Your calm deep breaths, your fingers clasping on his shirt lightly - that is what Price consumes with his every his single fiber. Because after all, it's memories of those things that keep him alive and sane on the battlefield.

Will definitely kiss the top of your head, even if you two are not alone. Multiple times.

It's moments like these, when he remembers to take a pause, look outside the window, remember, that his war is not everything he has - there is life beyond it.

Expect to wake up with his hand on your head, fingers sinking into your hair, a warm smile blooming on his face as he notices you slowly opening your eyes. "Had a nice nap, my love? Now how about I take you somewhere, you could actually sleep properly?"

Simon Ghost Riley

(this one turned out more like a scenario, sorry)

Platonic

Ghost doesn't notice the weight of your head on his lap right away. He's seen you curl up on a bench next to where he was sitting, but you are so small and light in comparison to him, it's hard to register your head leaning against him.

He sits at the table and talks to someone, when it hits him: a strange warmth, spreading in all directions of his body from the place your cheek meet his lap.

Simon makes a little, almost unnoticeable, pause, breathes in and goes on talking.

There's a voice in the back of his head, telling him to find anything, that might resemble a pillow, for you to sleep on. It would be so much better, than his dusty jeans. And you definitely deserve something softer than his lap to rest on.

But there's nothing, that he could offer you right now to replace him. So he settles to sitting as still as he possibly could and covering the edge of the table with his hand in case you wake up and get up abruptly. Little gesture, showing how much he really cares for every squadmate, how much he values their trust.

Back on the base, you notice, some late training hours disappeared from your timetable. Your Lt may never comment on you briefly passing out on his lap, but he never forgot, you needed a bit more time to rest after the last mission.

Romantic

He might be reserved and distant with you in public. Nothing personal, just a professional attitude, a facade, if you want. But here, behind the closed doors of his room, he freezes the very next minute he hears your muffled mumbling as you drifted to sleep on his shoulder.

"Don't go. Not yet."

Simons' heart sinks. He wishes, he didn't know, what were you talking about in your sleep, but he knows. Even in your dreams, on the territory, where you can have anything, you've ever wished for - you ask only for him to stay.

In public, you are always ok with him going on missions without you. You are always collected, supportive and optimistic. But when no one is around, you let yourself cling to Ghost for a brief moment, clasp your fingers around his arm and wordlessly plead 'don't go, don't go, don't go, don't...'

As he brushes hair from your face, you slightly flinch, not waking up.

"Take me, not him."

Simon looks at your face, feeling guilt building up in his chest. He puts his work papers aside, scoops you up and carries you to his bed. There he cradles you, caressing your face till you stop mumbling, descending to deeper sleep.

You wake up the next morning alone, surrounded by his scent, as he left you his shirt. He always does that, when he leaves on a mission without you. Your gaze wanders around, till it stops on your arm. His handwriting, black pen ink, covering your skin. Never before has he done anything like this. You grab your phone and frantically make a few dozens of photos of the inscription, that he left on you. You already know, that you'll make it permanent.

The inscription says "On my way to you"

Kyle Gaz Garrick

Platonic

Kyle is actually the one to ask others to speak quieter, when he realizes, you've fallen asleep on his lap.

Will shoo away Soap, who is ready to attack you and Kyle with a myriad of 'so when's the wedding' jokes.

Gaz is also the one to actually make sure, that there is nothing hard in his pockets and that the no sharp edges of his tactical clothes touch your delicate skin. He is a very good, genuinely caring friend.

In fact, he will protect you from any person, threatening your sleep. He will even convince Ghost to come back to you with new intel or orders just a bit later, or give them to Gaz, so that he can tell you everything later.

If you work together - he will try to help you with paperwork, so that you have more time to sleep between trainings and missions.

Romantic

Kyle has that face of the happiest, most proud man out there. It's you, the one, he has been dreaming about for so long, feeling so relaxed next to him. Not only he has you - he can make you so content, you smile, while napping on his shoulder.

His eyes are glued to your face. Nothing else matters in this very moment. It's impossible to distract him with anything.

Covers you with his jacket, always makes sure that you are warm and comfortable in his hands.

Loves to surprise you with something small, every time it happens and you wake up on his shoulder. If you two were in the park - Gaz will carefully pick a flower and tuck it in your hair. If it happened in a coffee shop - he will quietly order your favorite cupcake and move the plate towards you.

Lives for that smiles appearing on your lips in first moments after you wake up. Peppers your face with kisses. "Morning, sunshine!" (says it even if it's almost midnight, and he is about to drag you to the bedroom in a few minutes)

[literaryvein-reblogs]

10 Study Tips

Work out why you procrastinate

Procrastination, the act of avoiding studying or carrying out a task can have many different roots causes, including:

You don’t understand the work

The topic is boring

You’re waiting for a time when you feel more motivated

The task is so overwhelming you don’t know where to start

And many more.

The first step in being able to work out how to stop procrastinating is to work out what it is that’s making you feel that way.

Spend some time reflecting on what it is that makes you procrastinate, then you will be able to easier identify which of our following study tips will help you the most.

Chop the material into chunks

If you’ve got a huge pile of work to do and you’re not sure how to begin, you should start by ‘chunking’ it – break down each task into small chunks.

For example, if you want to revise the GCSE Chemistry topic ‘chemical changes,’ try breaking the module down into smaller sub-topics such as ‘reactions of metals,’ ‘what are acids?’ ‘what are alkalis?’ etc. Then, assign yourself a certain number of those chunks each day which you will cover.

Instead of having one large overwhelming topic, you will have a series of smaller, more manageable chunks to work through.

Create a study timetable

If you’re always waiting for that perfect time to arrive for you to begin your work, then creating a study timetable could be the key to getting you motivated.

By nature, we love routine.

And once you’ve got yourself into a consistent and manageable study timetable, you’ll find it much easier to slide into study mode each time you come to sit down and do some work.

The key to making a good timetable is to make sure it’s manageable; give yourself enough breaks and down-time to relax each day and switch off from work.

Research suggests that around 50 minutes of studying with a 15 minute break is the optimum time for productivity.

So try creating a timetable that fits in around this, and one that fits in around your other commitments such as school, extracurricular activities and socialising.

Reward yourself

As part of your timetable, you should schedule time for rewards.

Whenever you complete one or two chunks of information, you should reward yourself with a short period of relaxation, such as going for a short walk or spending five minutes on your phone.

If you’re actively rewarding yourself at the end of each topic, you’re more likely to stick to your routine and remain motivated.

Work out why you want to achieve high grades

Another great way of finding study motivation is to work out why it is that you want to study in the first place.

Perhaps you want to try and get into a good university? Or have a great career? Maybe you want to know that you’ve given it your best shot? Or make your parents proud? Whatever it is, write down your own list of reasons and stick them next to your study space.

Whenever you’re feeling unmotivated, read through the list and remember why it is you’re there in the first place.

Study with peers/friends

Lots of students find it more motivating to study in a group, either with other classmates or their friends.

When you study as a group, you’ll have the chance to explain bites of information to one another and test your knowledge, as well as ask for more information around difficult topics or concepts from peers who have a better understanding.

Of course, you need a group of focused and disciplined students to ensure the group study works effectively. Though you may want to work with them, sometimes studying with friends can be more of a hindrance than a help.

So always bear this in mind when thinking about organising a group study session.

Active learning

Don’t expect to sit and read through a piece of work and have a full understanding of it. That’s passive learning, and it probably isn’t at all effective for most students.

Research has shown that active learning is the most effective way in being able to stack and store new information in our brain.

But what is active learning?

Active learning is when we are cognitively engaged in learning new information, trying to make sense and construct knowledge around it which relates to what we already know.

Once we have an association to something we already understand, we are more likely to absorb the information.

Ways you can actively learn:

Discuss the new topic with your peers or friends

Take notes on new information

Annotate the book/slides

Create a presentation on the topic and try to teach it to someone

Healthy lifestyle

It’s a well known fact that eating the right foods and doing regular exercise will help you to study effectively and stay motivated.

Aerobic activity sends oxygen and blood to the brain, while feeding your body the right foods will ensure you’re getting the right nutrients.

All of this contributes to maintaining a healthy lifestyle and optimum brain performance.

Perfect for acing your study time.

Get rid of distractions

It may seem obvious, but it’s amazing how many times you’ll find yourself scrolling through your phone or replying to a text when you should be studying.

Write a list of all the things that you find yourself distracted by when studying and then work out how to eliminate them.

For example, if your phone distracts you, put it on flight mode, or try downloading the app Forest, which grows a tree during the time that you don’t open your smartphone. If you open it, the tree dies and you have to start all over again.

Expect to have bad days

It’s very unlikely that you’re going to stay focused and be able to study consistently without ever finding yourself procrastinating.

Sometimes you’re just not in the mood – either you’re having a bad day or you’re just simply burnt out. It’s normal to expect to have these days, and you should never get angry with yourself for having them.

Instead, take a break, do something you enjoy and take a moment.

You can always move your schedule around and try and go back to studying later that day, and it’s likely to be far more productive and effective than if you were to sit and force yourself to do it.

Source ⚜ More: Writing Notes & References

[emlovessid]

@wolfstarbingo2024 for the prompt they were roommates, 635 words bingo masterpost

It's been two years, eight months and five days since Sirius first met Remus, when they were randomly assigned as roommates in their first year of university.

He'd been sick to his stomach all morning waiting for his roommate to arrive, running through a thousand different scenarios in his head, each seemingly worse than the last.

What if we don't get along? What if they have shit taste in music? What if they snore? What if their friends are annoying and they bring them around all the time? What if they have a partner who's annoying and they bring them around all the time?

What if no one shows up at all?

So when his new roommate does eventually arrive that afternoon – nervous smile, baggy sweater, scar across his nose, duffel bag slung over his shoulder – and introduces himself as Remus, Sirius realises pretty quickly that all of his worrying had been for nothing.

–

It's been two years, eights months and two days since Sirius decided he wanted to sleep with Remus, when he first saw him walk out of their shared bathroom, towel clutched around his waist as he darts out to grab his forgotten clothes.

"Sorry, forgot these," Remus says with an apologetic smile, scooping the folded clothes from the end of his bed with the hand not holding his towel in place, and disappearing back into the bathroom.

It's a crisis Sirius doesn't need only three days into the semester, sitting red-faced and cross-legged on his bed, trying to focus on his timetable instead of the droplets of water dripping down Remus' chest that he has the overwhelming urge to lick from his skin.

–

It's been two years, one month and six days since Sirius realised he's in love with Remus, when they both fell sick with some sort of stomach bug and spent a feverish 24-hours talking across the space between their twin beds in between bouts of sleep and cold showers.

"If we died in here, how long do you think it'd take for someone to notice?" Sirius asks from where he lays corpse-like under his covers.

"Jesus, Sirius. What happened to the power of positive thinking?" Remus attempts a laugh, before grimacing and clutching at his stomach.

"Oh, that's long gone. I'm writing my will in my head, now."

"God, you're dramatic." A pause. "Can you write one for me while you're at it?"

–

It's been thirteen hours and twenty-five minutes since Sirius found out that his unrequited love wasn't so unrequited after all, over a sink of dirty dishes of all things.

Hands submerged in the hot, soapy water as he washes their dishes from dinner, he calls out, "Hey Moons! Can you help me for a sec? I've got this piece of hair in my face and it's driving me nuts."

Appearing from the other room, Remus shuffles across the kitchen in his pyjamas and socked feet, rolling his eyes fondly at Sirius as he reaches out to tuck the stray strand of hair behind Sirius' ear. Sirius tilts his head in question when Remus pauses, hand hovering over his ear for a few moments before it slides into Sirius' hair, cupping the back of his head and pulling their lips together in a kiss.

It's instinct more than anything, that has Sirius wrapping his arms around Remus' back to hold him close, realising a moment too late that his wet, soapy hands are now soaking into the back of Remus' t-shirt; not that either of them really mind.

"Good morning," Remus mumbles now, a sleepy smile on his lips as his tired eyes find Sirius' on the pillow beside him, their legs tangled together beneath Sirius' sheets.

"Good morning," Sirius whispers, a lovesick grin on his face as he kisses Remus softly. Just because he can.

[bitsofshanshine]

Miffy All-in-one Notion template (Ver. 1): Your gateway to peak productivity with an aesthetic Miffy life planner! 🐰🌷

Dive into the delightful universe of Miffy, where organization meets adorable charm in perfect harmony. This template isn't just a tool—it's a playful journey that turns your Notion workspace into a haven of cuteness and productivity.

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🌷 Workspace: Work Progress, Work Files, To-do List, Quick Notes, Important Links, Clients, Meeting, Ideas

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🌷 Book Library: Currently Reading, Reading Tracker, Monthly Reading Goals, Book Wishlist, Book Reviews, Notes & Quotes

🌷 Movies Log: Currently Watching, Watch List, Links, Movie Reviews, Movie Recommendations

🌷 Language Learning: Weekly Schedule, Study Notes, Study Goals, Study Materials, Quick Notes, Pomodoro Timer

🌷 Self Care: Morning Routine, Night Routine, Self-care Check, Skincare Routine, Period Tracker, Meditation & Affirmations

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✿ Get Miffy All-in-one Life Planner Notion Template (Ver. 1) only on Gumroad and Ko-fi! ✿

[pfhwrittes]

have a chunk of tradie!141 for your reading pleasure.

it's fuckin' pourin' down, has been for the last 3 days and the forecast ain't getting any better. thick, claggy muck sucks at the soles of simon's boots, threatening to pull 'em straight off his feet as he crosses the quagmire to slip into the portakabin-cum-office where he knows his skipper'll be.

price is fumin' under his hard hat, his ancient brick of a phone glued to his ear as he barks out demands to whichever poor sod is gettin' an earful off the boss today (probably nik, who straight up refused to drive onto site, stating bold as brass that the wagon would get bogged down, fuck the delay, captain. i'm not hurting my girl for your timetable).

with a disgusted snort price throws the offending phone onto the cluttered desk sending a sheaf of papers careening onto the floor.

"fucks sake, riley. what d'ya want?" price growls out in his direction and simon just lifts a battered eyebrow at the tone. no point gettin' his knickers in a twist over weather but price has always thought himself better than acts of nature and god himself.

"told the lads to put the tools down and go 'ome."

if looks could kill, simon would be buried in a shallow grave under the portaloo. price's face is as stormy as the sky rumbling ominously outside.

"well tell 'em to pick them back up, for fucks sake! we've got a fucking job to do here, simon." price snaps, his patience well and truly gone and it isn't even dinner time by simon's watch.

simon's hi-vis jacket creaks forebodingly as he straightens up.

"no."

there's a beat as simon squares off against his skipper, the unstoppable force of john price smashing against simon's immovable iron will. simon's known john a long fuckin' time and he'll play dirty to keep the crew safe if he has to. john's seen him walk off jobs for less.

price sighs noisily, ruffling the ends of his moustache.

"right then. who're we losing?"

"gaz can't work with the humidity, ale and rudy can't paint if gaz ain't finished the plaster, don't trust soap not to fry 'isself, and flash is sat in the van dryin' out." simon counts off on his fingers.

price's eyebrows hike up to his hairline at the mention of the plumber's apprentice.

"'s matter with flash?"

simon chuckles at the memory of flash covered head to toe in mud after an unfortunate tumble.

"debuted 'is mud-wrestlin' career f'r us."

price snorts out an amused sound and shakes his head. poor sod'll be miserable for the rest of the day without any spare kit to change into.

"right, go on then. tell 'em they can fuck off for the day." price reaches for his abandoned phone, probably to tell the client, some jumped up property developer-slash-social media wanker, that the job's been delayed by the shit weather. (simon doesn't envy him in the slightest, last time he met her she looked him up and down like he was scum and he was tempted to "accidentally" score the side of her flash car with the end of a length of 22mm copper pipe.)

simon offers price a nod and turns towards the door of the 'kabin, hooking the flimsy hood of his jacket over his head.

"oi, riley. you better not have stuck flash in my van."

"nah, stuck 'im in with soap and gaz. i ain't gettin' that shit on our seats."

price's barking laugh follows simon out the door into the pissing rain.

[sorrowsofsilence]

Desolate Love • N.S

Pairing: Noah Sebastian x reader (oneshot)

Words: 1.7k

Warnings: Angst, angst, angst.

Prompt: His October eyes sang secret confessions as he poured his soul into the melodies of desolate love; but you weren't meant to be sung for, even if you loved each other first.

Authors note: I have never written anything like this publically before, but I'm feeling a little sad and angsty lol. I hope you enjoy the words that came from my heart. (ps. I know many on the taglist are here for smut, and this isn’t smut, but I'm just re-using tags since I'm not sure who enjoys what! Pls let me know if you don't want to be tagged in all things!!)

Tags: @sammyjoeee @cookiesupplier @th4t-em0-k1d @dsireland86 @whenthesummerdies @spicywhenspeaking @gretaswhore28 @veronicaphoenix @lma1986 @calleyx13 @somewhere-diamond @talialovesmiw @auratheopossumwitch @blackveilomens @skulliecadaver-blog @silentglassbreak @darkmxgician

No one talks about the grief of a loss that was never yours to mourn.

He got a tattoo; a constant reminder of the pain.

A reminder of what once was.

A reminder of what would never be.

You wrote unspoken words in your diary, quarrels that would never be said aloud.

Words that confessed years of feelings, years of silenced affections.

As your fingers grazed over the pages of yearning within the leathered journal, your heart reminisced the ache for unattainable amour.

Tears pricked at your eyes as you let out a quiet sob, unsure why you were even crying for someone who was never yours.

He consumed your mind; the way he smiled at you the day you met; his contagious laughter that danced through the walls in grandeur.

“Is this Henderson’s gym class?”

The voice behind startled you, and you turned, meeting a pair of ochre eyes. The stutter that left your lips caused your face to warm in embarrassment, as the messy brunette locks that fell across the boy’s features left you captivated.

“Yeah, I think so?” Your brows furrowed as you second-guessed yourself, even though you double-checked the classroom timetable a thousand times.

His lips spread into a dancing grin, his slight buck teeth chewing playfully on his bottom lip in shyness.

“Cool,” He stuck out his hand, long fingers wrapping around yours, “Noah.”

“Y/N,” You returned the smile, your ears heating as his October gaze never left yours.

You pulled away, briefly glancing down at his shirt, immediately excited.

“You like blink-182?”

Noah looked down at his shirt, pointing at it, “Oh yea, I fucking love them.”

He glanced up at you, fixated, “Do you?”

You nodded excitedly, “They’re probably my favourite band at the moment, other than the 1975, and Oasis, and-” you began to ramble, but stopped, afraid to embarrass yourself anymore than you felt you had.

Something flickered within his eyes at that moment; something you never noticed.

“Wonderwall?” He asked.

A song that became yours.

The burned CD he gave you collected dust in the corner of your room, aged and scratched from years of use. The disk player sat untouched, left as a painful reminder from when the tunes that played were melodies of hope; melodies of elation.

These feelings of grief consumed you, engulfing you into an overwhelming feeling of remorse.

The waves of heartbreak came and left, nostalgia shielding your anguish when memories flooded in.

No one ever filled you with such devotion and desire as he did; and throughout the naivety, you could have sworn it to be love.

It was the way Noah would shout your name from across the room when he saw you, or the way he would cover your eyes, asking you to guess who.

Every time you would laugh, placing your hands on top of his, saying you weren’t sure.

But you knew every time.

His long fingers would twirl your hair when he sat behind you in class, tugging the strands playfully before running his nails over your scalp.

“I just like your hair,” He’d say.

And whenever he picked up his guitar in the band room, he would strum the chords to your song, as if inviting you to listen to his lyrical confessions.

His texts consisted of using silly nicknames, and an overload of emojis to express his feelings. It was over the top, almost as if he was afraid he never came across as genuine enough without them.

Late night conversations went on for hours, laughing at the random stories and memories exchanged through flirtatious banter. You wanted to tell him everything about you, and learn everything about him.

You wanted to know his favourite colour, and what cologne he wore. His goals and dreams intrigued you, his fears and dislikes alluring.

You began to like the things he did, just to have something to talk about. You watched the shows he recommended and googled the things you didn’t know. Anything for him.

Noah would tell you how proud he was of you if you shared an accomplishment, or how pretty you looked when you wore your hair down.

He told you he loved your sneakers, and the way your oversized sweaters engulfed your body.

“You could wear mine,” He said, “You look good in my clothes.”

He would grab your hands, drawing silly pictures in Sharpie. It always left you frustrated when the image of an scribbled smiley face barely faded with each scrub.

But really, you would stare at it in admiration, blushing at the thought of his fingers brushing against yours.

“You like him, don’t you?” Your best friends pried, causing you to flush in embarrassment.

“He doesn’t like me like that,” You sighed, shaking your head, “We’re just friends.”

Just friends don’t play with each others hair like that.

Just friends don’t call each other pretty.

Just friends don’t text each other all night long.

“Is it easier to just pretend?”

Time went on, and your heart fluttered at every smile Noah shared with you, and at every word you exchanged.

The daily good morning and goodnight texts left you melting, succumbing your heart to his as he claimed it for his own.

Deep down, you knew he liked you more than just a friend. The way he treated you was special; there was no way that was how friends treat friends.

N: “Hey, your crush 100% likes you back.”

You: “Uhh hey? How would you know?”

N: “Well, I know who you like.”

You: “I guarantee you don’t.”

N: “Hmm, but I do? And I know he likes you back.”

You: “Sure Noah, haha. Go to bed.”

N: “I’m just saying. He likes you. Goodnight Y/N <3”

With a spiralling mind, your heart hammered.

Did he know how you felt about him? Did he just confess his feelings?

Hope.

It wasn’t until he pulled you into the storage closet a week later, that sorrow knocking down any previous signs of faith.

Torn.

“Y/N, I just wanted to talk… but I know you have feelings for me.”

His eyes bore into your own, sorrowful and sullen.

“Look,” he began, grabbing your hands in his, eyes glancing at your entwined fingers, “I- I just promised myself to someone else. My girl- ex-girlfriend, is coming here, and the reason we broke up was because I transferred.”

He began to ramble, unable to look into your eyes as he confessed his worries. Your heart began to shatter as you forced a small smile. Pulling your hands from his you placed them on his shoulders, causing him to pause.

“Noah,” You said softly, the words leaving your mouth a blatant lie, “It’s ok. I understand.“

His shoulders fell as he watched you. He brought you into a hug, squeezing you against his body, holding onto you.

Ludicrous. Empty.

You cried, your knees held to your chest in comfort as a shield from the feelings of abandonment. How could you be so naive?

You: “Just wanted to say thank you for telling me. I’m sorry if my feelings complicate things, I care about you a lot Noah.”

N: “I’m sorry, for everything. You mean a lot to me, and I care about you. ”

You: “If you knew who I liked all along… why did you say that my crush liked me back?”

It took him almost an hour to respond.

N: “Because I do like you Y/N. I like you a lot… but I promised myself to someone.”

The tears that fell from your face that night left you parched and broken, your world-shattering.

You found someone else a year later. Love that fulfilled your every need, someone to cherish you for you. It was someone who gave you everything; but your mind selfishly always wandered back to him.

You didn’t know that the day he found out you became spoken for, was the day he broke into a million pieces from a whole.

His heart was mutilated, head spinning with uncontrollable thoughts of regret.

How could he have let you slip through his fingers? All for some what-ifs?

He pretended to be happy for you.

Years passed, and you both grew. Both changed, both matured.

You got a ring, and Noah played in a band. You went to every show, you still showed up, even though you knew you were always a second choice.

He watched you the whole time as his fingers traced the strings of the guitar, and your heart yearned for him; screaming and aching and crying that you were just a body in the room.

It wasn’t until he found someone, that you told yourself it wasn’t healthy to fixate on past uncertainties.

It was rare you went to shows now. But when you did, you watched as he stood on that stage and sung; his smile brilliant and just for her.

But then you would meet his gaze, and you knew that the ochre was always for you. Forever yours.

His October eyes sang secret confessions as he poured his soul into the melodies of desolate love.

But you weren’t his: you weren’t mean’t to be sung for.

Some nights you called him drunk. You told him you missed him, that you wanted him to know you think about him all the time.

He told you he missed your voice, and how he wished you two still called.

He said he was happy you found someone to love you, because you deserved to be loved.

You knew he was lying.

It was the last time you talked, until you saw him sitting in the audience as you walked down the aisle, marrying a man you loved. A man who promised himself to you forever. A man who chose you first. A man who was not him.

Noah asked for your hand, he asked you for a dance. Your bodies swayed one last time in a synchronized beat, but just as friends; as desolate lovers.

You never listened to Wonderwall again.

Tears pricked at your eyes as you let out a quiet sob, unsure why you were even crying for someone who was never yours. You were meant to be happy now.

As your fingers grazed over the pages of yearning within the leathered journal, your heart reminisced the ache for unattainable amour.

A reminder of what would never be.

A reminder of what once was.

Noah got a tattoo; a constant reminder of the pain.

No one talks about the grief of a loss that was never yours to mourn.

[pro-cycling-primers]

🚴‍♀️🚴‍♂️ So, you're interested in starting watching cycling in 2025 (I hope), but have no idea where to start? 🚴‍♂️🚴‍♀️

Before the start of the road cycling season this year, I thought I'd post some information for people completely new to the sport. You might have seen some Tumblr posts going crazy about men and women in tight lycra, or watched a bit of the Tour de France on TV once, or maybe this post found you some other way! Let's get to it.

When does it happen?

Cycling doesn't have a set timetable nor are races only at weekends. It's mostly the same each year, but there have been some changes over the hundred-plus years professional cycling has been around.

The WorldTour (highest level of pro cycling, more about that in a later post) season lasts officially from January until October, with the full women's calendar for 2025 looking like this:

And the men's like this:

Don't try to watch all of them. Or do, I'm just a Tumblr blogger hoping more people get interested in this great sport 🤷

Okay then, which races should I watch?

The answers to this are many and varied; every list of 'best races to watch' will have at least one cycling fan clamouring 'But HOW could you ignore [x]!?'

In terms of basic introduction to the sport, I think this would give a solid season-wide grounding:

Five one-day races have mostly arbitrarily been declared The Monuments: Milano-Sanremo, Paris-Roubaix, de Ronde van Vlaanderen, Liège-Bastogne-Liège, and Il Lombardia. (A more detailed post about these will be coming later in the season). All but Lombardia have men's and women's versions, with Milano-Sanremo Donne running for the first time in 2025, though Trofeo Alfredo Binda is a more well-established women's race in a similar region at a similar time.

Each has its own quirks, history, and favour different kinds of riders. The big names (except the pure stage racers) will be there.

I'd also recommend one of the early-season one-week stage races, Paris-Nice or Tirreno-Adriatico. They run at the same time, for one week in March, and present the first opportunity for the top stage racers to stretch their legs (another post about different types of riders will come). On the women's side, Itzulia Women or Tour de Suisse.

One of the Grand Tours is in my view, essential: Giro d'Italia, Vuelta a España, or the big one, the Tour de France

If you want, you can disregard this entire section and just watch the Tour. It's the biggest race there is, the most-covered, and teams bring their best riders in their best shape. It's a massive cultural event. If you take nothing from this post other than following a little closer in July, then it has been a success in my book.

How can I watch cycling?

Cycling has a serious lack of easily accessible coverage. Every race organiser has different TV rights arrangements, varying MASSIVELY from country to country, with some having free-to-air coverage of most races on national television but some having no option other than the paid services Discovery+ and Eurosport.

For an international suggestion there is a lovely site: tiz [dash] cycling [dot] io has free (!) livestreams of every race you could feasibly ever want to watch, and a back catalogue covering most of the last decade +

5-15 minute highlight videos from YouTube channels such as Eurosport, FloBikes etc. are also available a few hours after a race finishes! The Tour de France has its own channel with decent highlights and interviews.

See you later in the season!

[wonder-innie]

magic, blood and lies (tvdu)

vampire!jay x witch!reader (the vampire diaries universe)

— ; A year ago, you discovered you were a witch, and your grandmother taught you that vampires are dangerous monsters. Now, on your first day at university, you meet Jay, a mysterious guy who questions everything you thought you knew.

word count: 7k

t.w: alcohol, death, heeseung is a jerk, harry potter and twilight references. lmk if i forgot smth

—> how does the vampire diaries universe work?

a.n: english is not my first language. check my masterlist.

a.n 2: i may do a part 2 if you guys like this :)

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It was the first week of September, marking the beginning of your first year in college. You were excited to say the least, you have always dreamed of living the typical university life; hanging out with your friends, fraternity parties, going out with the hottest guys on campus and stuff like that.

Your roommate, Samantha, seemed fine, she was the same age as you and was very friendly to you when you introduced yourself. Of course, the first thing you did when you met Sam was give her a hand shake. As a witch, you could realize if the person you were touching was either a vampire, a human or even a witch like you.

You found out you were a witch last year when you accidentally caused a fire at a pool party. Ever since then, your grandma has been teaching you how to control your magic. The lessons started with simple spells, such as a locating spell. Your grandma insisted that one of the first things you should learn was how to defend yourself against a vampire, knowing that vampires often force witches to obey them.

You woke up early in the morning, you checked your phone to take a look at your timetable. You had Economics class in a few hours, so you proceed to do your morning routine; brushing your teeth, having breakfast and taking a shower. Once you were out of the shower and finished drying your hair, you used your hands to wipe the fogged-up bathroom mirror to see your face. It was your first day, you wanted to be beautiful as hell, so you started putting on makeup.

The first thing you saw as you opened the door was Samantha, your roommate, laying on her bed while scrolling through social media.

“Good morning, Sam” you greeted her as you walked to your closet.

“Morning, Y/N, how did you sleep?” she sat down on her bed and put her phone down

“Like a baby, these beds are great” you replied while taking off a few shirts from your closet, not looking at her.

“Yeah, I could tell you loved them; you snored all night,” she said with a playful tone. You stopped what you were doing and covered your face with your hands, trying to hide how red your cheeks had turned. She couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m just messing with you, you don’t snore, thank God.”

You had a chit chat with her as you both were getting ready for class. Eventually, she went to the bathroom and you headed to the classroom. You thought you were so lucky to have a roommate like Samantha, she was cool.

When you arrived at the classroom, you saw that only a few desks were occupied. You didn’t want to sit in the back, but you didn’t want to be in the front row either, so you decided to sit in the middle, in the only empty row.

You watched as the seats gradually filled up over time. There were five minutes left before the class started—in fact, the professor had already arrived—and yet the seat to your right remained empty. It caught your attention because you didn’t think a subject like Economics would have any empty seats.

However, it didn’t take long before someone sat down next to you. You turned your head and locked eyes with a black-haired boy you had never seen before, someone who looked like he’d been sculpted by the gods. You couldn’t take your eyes off him, and apparently, neither could he. You stayed like that for a few seconds… in silence. Until the boy decided to break it.

“Hello… my name is Jay” he said with a shy smile on his face.

“I’m Y/N, nice to meet you” you replied, also with a shy smile.

He opened his mouth to say something, but the professor cut him off by starting the class. You both turned your heads to the professor. You quickly took out your laptop and started taking notes, and so did Jay.

The class was… not what you expected. It was boring as hell. You were interested in the topic he was teaching; the problem was how he was teaching it. On top of that, he spoke in such a low tone of voice that it felt like he wanted his students to fall asleep during his class.

At some point you got distracted and, because of that, you lost the string of what he was saying. When you tried to get back to taking notes you weren’t able to understand, since it was related to what he explained during the time you got distracted.

You sighed before looking at Jay; he never stopped taking notes. “Jay…” you murmured in the lowest tone possible. He tilted his head to face you. “Would you mind showing me your screen for a sec?” He didn’t hesitate to turn his laptop in your direction so you could copy his notes. “Thanks”

“It’s nothing,” he responded. You noticed he was staring at you as you were writing down his notes. You finished quickly.

As the class ended, you packed your things, feeling the relief of finally escaping. Jay, however, stayed seated, watching you with a smirk as you slung your bag over your shoulder.

“Hey,” he called, stopping you just before you stepped into the aisle. “Got a sec?”

You glanced down at him, one brow arched. “What is it, Jay?”

He leaned back in his chair, spinning his pen between his fingers. “How about you give me your number?”

Your lips curved into a smirk. “My number? For what, exactly?”

“To return the favor,” he said smoothly, tapping the edge of his laptop. “You know, for letting you copy my notes today. Seems fair, right?”

You gave him a look, not missing the way his eyes gleamed with playful confidence. “Hmm, sounds less like returning a favor and more like you’re finding an excuse to talk to me.”

Jay’s grin widened, clearly enjoying your response. “Caught me. Guilty as charged,” he admitted without missing a beat. “But hey, I figure someone like you might be worth chatting with outside this horrible class.”

You didn’t hesitate this time, pulling out your phone with a shrug. “Fair enough,” you said, typing your number into his contact screen before handing it back.

“Done,” he said, glancing at his phone to check your name. Jay stood, slinging his bag over his shoulder as if this whole interaction had been the most natural thing in the world. “See you next time, then. And don’t worry, I’m not much of a spammer, unless I get bored.”

He gave you a wink before strolling out of the classroom.

︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶

Later that night, you were brushing your teeth, thinking about Jay. You liked guys who took the initiative, and he was also handsome as hell. He hadn’t texted you yet. You weren’t dying for a text, but still, you wanted to know more about him. You thought about searching for him on social media; however, you only knew his first name, and it was a common one, so it was going to be hard to find him on Instagram. That’s when you decided to ask Samantha to help you get his last name.

You heard Samantha yell, “Found it!” Oh, that was faster than you expected. You left the bathroom and sat next to her. “I found him on your class list. His last name is Park.”

You grabbed your phone and started searching for Jay Park on Instagram. You visited a few profiles before finally finding his account. He had posted a few pictures of himself at the beach, at the gym, and at parties.

“Girl, he’s so handsome. Check his stories,” Samantha said, leaning over your shoulder.

You tapped on the highlight named “bros,” and as you were scrolling through the stories, you saw one of Jay with another guy on a yacht.

“Oh my god, look at his friend. He’s way hotter,” Samantha chuckled. She was literally all about boys. Luckily, Jay had tagged his friend in the story, so Samantha didn’t hesitate to grab her own phone and follow him. His name was Lee Heeseung.

A few hours later, Samantha fell asleep in her bed and you were on yours, still stalking Jay. You noticed something, in every picture he was wearing the same ring, maybe it had a special meaning to him… or something like that. You checked your timetable, you only had Economics on Mondays and Fridays, meaning you wouldn’t see Jay until the end of the week unless you and him shared another class.

At that moment, you received a text. It was from Jay, greeting you and asking what you were doing.

“Not much, just about to sleep,” you replied casually.

His response came almost instantly. “Going to bed so soon? Making sure you won’t fall sleep in class again?.”

You chuckled, typing back, “I wasn’t that bad. Your notes were just too detailed, they knocked me out.”

Jay’s next message had you smiling. “I’ll take that as a compliment. Guess I’ll have to tone down my brilliance next time.”

“Or just get a louder voice,” you teased, feeling a little bolder.

“Ouch. Brutal,” he replied. “But fair. So, do we have any other classes together, or is it just Economics?” He send you a picture of his schedule

“Apparently just Economics, Mondays and Fridays,” you wrote back. “Why? Hoping I’ll help you stay awake in other classes too?”

“Maybe,” he replied, and you could almost hear the grin in his words. “I mean, it’s a solid setup. You get my notes; I get a decent excuse to stay awake. Win-win.”

“Wow, you’re really thinking this through,” you answered, amused.

“Always,” Jay texted back. “Anyway, let me know if you ever need more life-saving notes. I might ask for payment next time, though.”

“Payment?” you replied, raising an eyebrow. “What kind of payment?”

“You’ll see,” was all he said, leaving the conversation hanging with just enough intrigue to keep you curious.

︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶

You spent the rest of the week texting with Jay. Eventually, you followed each other on Instagram—of course, you didn’t tell him you had stalked him. Even though your chats were never particularly deep, you felt surprisingly comfortable talking to him. He mentioned that he and Heeseung had been friends for a year. Speaking of which, Samantha had a date with Heeseung that Thursday.

You were lying on your bed, watching a movie on your laptop, when someone knocked on the door. Samantha hurried out of the bathroom and walked over to you. She was wearing a casual outfit—simple but effortlessly stylish. She had spent nearly an hour deciding what to wear, yet she somehow made it look like she had thrown it together in a minute.

“How do I look?” Samantha murmured, careful to keep her voice low so Heeseung wouldn’t hear.

You paused your movie and playfully scrunched up your nose in mock disapproval, making her look momentarily worried.

“I’m kidding! You look gorgeous. Now go open the door,” you said with a grin, pressing play to continue watching your movie.

She opened the door, and Heeseung greeted her with a warm smile. After they exchanged hellos, Heeseung raised his voice toward you.

“Y/N.”

You paused the movie again and looked at him.

“Jay sent you this,” he said, pulling a sleek, luxurious box from his jacket pocket.

You stood up and walked toward him, noticing that he didn’t step inside your dorm, even though he was talking to you.

You took the box from him. “Thanks. What is it?”

“I dunno, open it,” Heeseung said, looking intrigued.

You opened the box and… wow. You hadn’t expected such a beautiful bracelet. It had a charm that looked like silver. You took it out of the box and slipped it onto your left wrist.

“It looks gorgeous on you!” Samantha said with a smile.

“Giving you that bracelet so soon? Interesting…” Heeseung commented with a teasing tone.

“What’s with the bracelet?” you asked, glancing at him.

“You’ll find out sooner or later,” he said cryptically before turning toward the hallway. “You coming, Sam?”

Samantha closed the door behind her, and just like that, they were gone.

You looked down at the bracelet. You didn’t know why, but you had a bad feeling about this whole situation.

Shaking off the unease, you told yourself it was just a thoughtful gift from a cute guy at college. You texted Jay to thank him for the bracelet, and he replied almost instantly:

“Glad you liked it.”

A few seconds later, another text popped up:

“If you like it, you should wear it all the time. I bet it looks pretty on you.”

︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶︶

You went to bed early, so you didn’t hear Samantha come back to the dorm.

Friday morning arrived, and you went about your usual routine. Standing in front of your closet, you spent a few minutes debating what to wear—you wanted to look good, confident, and just the right amount of irresistible for Jay.

As you were sifting through your options, Samantha walked in, practically glowing as she started gushing about her date with Heeseung.

“You should wear this shirt; it’ll look great on you,” she said, pulling out a shirt and holding it up for you.

You smiled at her suggestion. “Oh, by the way,” she continued, “Heeseung told me some of his friends are throwing a party tomorrow night. Wanna come? Jay’s gonna be there.”

“Sure, sounds fun,” you said, taking the shirt from her and slipping it on.

After finishing up and checking yourself in the mirror one last time, you headed to Economics class. You sat in the same spot as Monday, settling in and glancing around, but Jay wasn’t there yet. However, a few minutes later he arrived and sat next to you.

“Morning, Y/N, how are you?” he said with a smile on his face. God, he was so handsome.

“Oh, hi, Jay. Fine, you?”

“Same,” he replied casually. His eyes drifted to your wrist, noticing the bracelet he had given you. “It looks pretty on you.”

You tilted your head slightly, a playful smirk on your lips. “Does it look pretty on me, or I look pretty with it?”

Jay chuckled, leaning a little closer. “Maybe both,” he said smoothly, his grin growing wider.

You rolled your eyes as you bit your lower lip. You were going to answer him, but the professor started the class.

The class was proceeding as usual. During it, you could feel Jay glancing at you from time to time.

At one point, Jay leaned closer to your ear and whispered, “Are you going to the party tomorrow?” His voice took you by surprise, and for a moment, it sent a shiver down your spine.

“Yeah, Samantha told me you and Heeseung are going too,” you replied softly.

“That’s right. By the way, my favorite color is black,” he said with a sly smile before turning back to his laptop, thinking the conversation was over. But you weren’t done yet. Leaning closer to his ear, you whispered back:

“My favorite color is red.”

If he wanted you to wear black, he’d have to show up in red. You smirked to yourself and returned to taking notes as if nothing had happened.

The class finally came to an end, just as boring as the first one. You and Jay started putting your things away, still sitting in your chairs.

“So, I have to show up in red if I want to catch your attention, right?” he asked, a playful smile on his face.

“Yeah, and I have to show up in black to catch yours,” you replied, matching his teasing tone.

In that moment, your phone vibrated, so you quickly took it out of your pocket. It was a message from your mom. You unlocked your phone to reply but accidentally dropped it on the floor. You bent down to grab it, but Jay was faster.

“Be careful, if you break it, you won’t receive my texts,” he teased, leaning down to hand your phone back to you.

As you grabbed your phone, your fingers brushed against his. The moment your skin touched his, you felt it—a cold shiver ran through your body, like death itself had brushed past you. It was like darkness wrapped around you for a second. You let out a small gasp, a sound of discomfort you couldn’t hide.

“What happened? Are you okay?” Jay asked, his voice full of concern.

It couldn’t be real. Jay was… a vampire. Your new college crush was a freaking vampire. You’d spent the past week texting him, getting to know him, and now it all felt wrong.

“Ye-yeah… I have to go!” you stammered, your heart racing. Before he could say anything else, you quickly stood up and bolted for the door. You could feel his eyes on you, but you didn’t dare stop. Your mind was spinning, and you needed to get out of there.

In your rush, you didn’t notice Heeseung waiting outside, apparently for Jay. You bumped into him, and… it had to be a joke. Once again, that horrible feeling washed over you. You felt death crawl through your body.

“Watch where you’re…” Heeseung didn’t finish his sentence because this time, you just kept walking, nearly running.

Your heart was pounding, and you could barely catch your breath. So far, you’d met three people, and two of them turned out to be monsters.

In that moment you realize why Jay had the same ring in all of his pictures, it was a daylight ring, it allowed him to walk freely during the day.

What should you do? Go to the party and confront them? Pretend nothing happened? You had so many questions, and then you remembered that Samantha had gone on a date with Heeseung.

You ran back to your dorm and slammed the door open. “Samantha!” you shouted desperately. You shut the door behind you. She was lying on the bed, texting on her phone.

“I’m here! Don’t shout, it’s still early,” she said as she got up. “What happened?”

“Are you okay? Are you hurt?” You bombarded her with questions, scared of what Heeseung might have done to her.

“S-sure. What’s going on? You look like you saw a ghost.” You were pale, sweat running down your cheek from all the running. When she told you she was fine, you let out a sigh of relief.

You sat on your bed, trying to calm yourself down and think clearly about what to do. Right now, you needed to figure out how to get Samantha away from Heeseung without making her ask too many questions.

“Listen to me, you can’t keep seeing Heeseung.”

“What? Why?”

You weren’t great at lying, but you had to come up with something convincing for Sam’s sake.

“I heard he has a girlfriend. Seems like he’s cheating on her with multiple girls…” you saw how her expression changed form confusion and worry to fury.

“What?! That son of…”

She grabbed the pillow from her bed and threw it against the wall in frustration. She started yelling in anger, saying things you didn’t think a girl like her would ever say.

“You know what? We’re going to that party. I’m wearing the shortest dress I have, and I’m going to ignore him the whole night while he drools over me.”

“I don’t think going to the party is a good…” you were cut off by Samantha.

“We’re going, and that’s final!”

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You were sitting in the Uber with Samantha next to you, heading to the party. Jay had sent you a few messages since Friday’s class, but you didn’t even bother to open them.

As you looked out the car window, you got lost in your thoughts. Your grandma always told you that vampires were monsters—after all, they feed on innocent people. They could wipe out an entire town just for fun if they wanted to. Vampires are murderers.

But Jay seemed like a good person. He hadn’t done anything to hurt you. In fact, he even gave you a bracelet, which you were wearing at that moment. If Jay were truly evil, he would have attacked you by now. You had held onto that thought for the past two days.

Was it possible that good vampires existed? Vampires who didn’t kill? You were desperately trying to convince yourself that Jay wasn’t like the others. But that didn’t change the fact that he fed on people, probably killing them in the process.

Samantha was wearing a short red dress, while you had opted for a dark blue one. Of course, you weren’t going to wear black. You planned to ignore Jay the whole night and mind your own business.

When you arrived, you stepped out of the car and were greeted by the sight of a mansion packed with people. It was massive, with at least three floors. A few people were smoking and drinking on the porch. As you approached the entrance, the music grew louder and louder.

Once inside, you scanned the room for Jay. You needed to know where he was so you could avoid him. It didn’t take long to spot him—he had a beer in his hand and was chatting with a group of guys. He was wearing a red shirt, and it suited him almost too well. You recognized Heeseung among the group, also holding a beer.

At that moment, you and Jay locked eyes. Your heart skipped a beat, and you quickly looked away. “Let’s go get some drinks,” you said to Samantha, grabbing her arm.

You both headed toward what seemed to be the kitchen. Jay looked confused. Everything had been fine until Friday morning, but now you were ignoring him. He needed answers.

An hour later, you and Samantha were drinking jungle juice while dancing in the yard. The weather was nice, and the yard wasn’t as crowded as the house, making it the perfect spot. You were slightly worried about Samantha. You’d only had two glasses, but you’d lost count of hers after four. She seemed fine, though—at least, until she opened her mouth.

“I want to talk to Heeseung,” she said loudly so you could hear her over the music. “He deserves to be embarrassed in public. He’s an asshole.”

“Sam, don’t waste your precious time on him. He’s not worth it,” you said, praying she wouldn’t do anything stupid.

She sighed. “You’re right…”

Eventually, you needed to use the bathroom—you’d drunk too much. Samantha followed you back into the house to look for it. You asked a random guy for directions, and he pointed you upstairs.

As you were walking, you felt someone staring at you. Turning your head, you saw Jay watching you intently. He raised his hand to wave, but you quickly avoided his gaze again.

“I’ll wait outside to make sure no one comes in,” Samantha said as you entered the bathroom.

You peed quickly and washed your hands. Looking at yourself in the mirror, you noticed your makeup was still intact. You weren’t drunk, just in a “happier” mood.

Your phone vibrated as you were about to leave. It was a text from Jay: “Is everything okay?” You read the notification but didn’t open it. Instead, you deleted it.

When you stepped out, Samantha was nowhere to be found. She was way too drunk to be wandering around alone. You quickly texted her, “Where are you?” You hadn’t been gone long, so she couldn’t be far.

You began searching for her while waiting for a reply. After ten minutes of looking with no luck, you glanced in Jay’s direction, hoping Heeseung was still with him. But of course, he wasn’t.

If you were worried before, now you were terrified. What if Samantha was alone with Heeseung? You didn’t even want to think about it. You started asking people if they’d seen her, growing more desperate by the second.

“Y/N,” a familiar voice called from behind. You turned to see Jay. You didn’t want to talk to him, but he might be your only chance of finding Samantha.

“Are you done avoiding me?” he asked, stepping closer.

You moved toward him, now standing just inches apart. Looking directly into his eyes, you said, “Where is Samantha?!” Your tone was sharp, almost yelling.

Jay was taken aback. He’d been expecting an explanation for your behavior, not you screaming at him about your friend.

“Tell me where the fuck Heeseung took her, or I’ll drive a stake into your heart,” you spat.

His expression shifted to one of shock and confusion. Did he hear you right? How could you possibly know what he was? Then it clicked—this must be why you’d been avoiding him. Jay didn’t know how you’d figured it out, but he wanted to help.

“I think he took her to the last room upstairs. Seung always takes girls there,” Jay finally said, still stunned. “But don’t worry—he’s not going to hurt her.”

“I highly doubt that,” you muttered before turning and heading for the stairs. The second floor was much quieter than the first. The long hallway ahead was almost empty. Desperate, you sprinted to the last door.

It was locked.

Looking around to make sure no one was watching, you sighed. If you wanted to help Samantha, you had no choice but to use your magic. Placing a hand on the door, you concentrated.

“Dissera portus.”

You heard the lock click open and pushed the door without hesitation.

What you saw inside was horrifying. Heeseung had Samantha pinned against the wall, drinking blood straight from her neck. She wasn’t moving or making a sound—he must have compelled her.

“Let her go!” you screamed.

Heeseung stopped and turned to look at you, intrigued. “How did you get in? I’m sure I locked the door.” He wiped the blood from his lips with his sleeve, completely unbothered by what he was doing.

You glared at him, rage boiling in your veins. “Let. Her. Go.”

He laughed at your words. "Here's the thing. I'd compel you to forget this ever happened, but Jay gave you that." He pointed at your bracelet. "So this is what we're gonna do: I'll give you five seconds to turn around, leave, and find Jay.

"Or what?" you asked in a challenging tone.

"I'm gonna kill you," he said like it was nothing.

He raised his hand and began counting.

With each number, he lowered a finger. "One, two, thr-"

He didn't finish. You were already casting a stern gaze at him, using the Pain Infliction spell, one of the first spells you learned. It wasn't verbal but still powerful, causing his blood vessels to burst and inflicting unbearable pain.

Heeseung screamed, clutching his head as if it would split open. "Fuck!" he yelled, falling to the floor and writhing in agony.

Samantha stood frozen, tears streaming down her face, utterly speechless. She didn't know what was happening-only that she wanted to leave.

"You shouldn't have messed with one of my friends, Heeseung," you said, stepping closer without breaking your concentration. "Burn in hell, vampire. Incendia!"

Flames ignited at his feet and rapidly climbed his legs. He frantically patted at the fire, but his efforts were useless.

"Stop!" Jay's voice cut through the chaos. He appeared behind you in an instant, his speed unmatched. "Please... He's out of control, but I can help him."

"He's a vampire," you spat. "He won't stop killing as long as he's alive. He has to die."

Jay realized words wouldn't sway you.

He looked at you, then at his friend, who was still thrashing on the ground. The fire had reached Heeseung's hips, and his screams were becoming weaker.

"I hope this works," Jay muttered to himself before using his speed to move to Heeseung. In one swift motion, he grabbed his friend's head with both hands and snapped his neck.

You froze. You knew snapping his neck wouldn't truly kill him-he'd recover within hours.

"Wha-"

"I'll make sure he's punished for hurting your friend," Jay said, turning to you, desperation etched on his face. "But please... don't kill him."

What were you supposed to do? Stop the spell and trust Jay? Attack him the same way you attacked Heeseung?

You looked at Jay, searching his eyes for answers. Something about him made you pause. Against your better judgment, you felt you could trust him.

Raising your right hand toward Heeseung, you whispered, "Suctus Incendia." The flames disappeared instantly.

"Thank you," Jay said softly.

You didn’t answer him. You ran to Samantha and hugged her. Her cry became louder as she left tears in your shoulder. You to patted her head hoping it would help her calm down.

“I… I can help you” Jay said as he approached to you. He rolled up his sleeves and bit his own wrist. “You’ll heal faster if you drink my blood”

You broke the hug and Samantha looked at you, waiting for your approval. You nodded your head and Jay leaned his hand, Samantha drank the blood from his wrist and in a matter of seconds, the bite mark Heeseung left in her neck disappeared.

After that you both headed to the exit. “Thank you, Jay” you said before closing the door of the bedroom.

————————-

You practically had to drag Samantha to her bed since she was in a total state of shock. Once she was lying down, you went to her closet, took out her pajamas, and handed them to her. After that, you gave her a glass of water.

“How are you feeling?” you asked as you sat at the edge of the bed, near her feet, which were covered by the sheets.

“I—I don’t know…” she stammered, her voice shaky. “I’m afraid, I—I’m confused.” She sighed deeply, her eyes welling with tears. “Vampires exist… Heeseung and Jay were vampires, and… and you…” She looked at you with a mix of fear and curiosity. “What are you exactly?”

“I’m… a witch,” you admitted, trying to give her a reassuring smile. “I don’t use my magic to hurt people.” You reached out and gently held her hand. “You’re safe with me, I promise.”

Sam took a small sip of water, her trembling hands barely steady enough to hold the glass. The room fell silent for a few minutes. Neither of you knew what to say or do.

Samantha sat there, gripping the glass of water so tightly her knuckles turned white. Her breathing grew uneven, and you could see the weight of everything she had just witnessed crashing down on her.

“I… I could have died,” she whispered, her voice trembling. Her words were barely audible, but the fear laced in them was undeniable. She placed the glass shakily on the nightstand and pulled her knees up to her chest, hugging them tightly. “Heeseung—he could have killed me. If you weren’t there…” Her voice cracked as she trailed off.

You stayed quiet, allowing her to let it out.

“And Jay… he didn’t even care. He was protecting that monster! What if they come back? What if more of them come after me?” Samantha’s breathing quickened, and her hands started shaking. “I’m not safe. Vampires exist, and God knows what else! Demons? Werewolves? What if this is just the beginning?”

She buried her face in her hands, trying to muffle the soft, panicked sobs that began escaping her.

“Samantha…” you said gently, moving closer.

“I’m just human,” she continued, her voice muffled. “I can’t do anything. I’m not strong like you, I don’t have magic to protect myself… I don’t even know how to fight!” She looked up at you, her face pale and tear-streaked. “How do I live like this? How do I go back to normal knowing there are monsters out there?”

You felt your heart sink. Samantha’s words cut through you, and you realized the full weight of what she was saying. This knowledge, this world she was pulled into, was tearing her apart.

You reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder. “Sam,” you said softly, your voice steady. “You don’t have to worry. I will protect you.”

She shook her head. “You can’t always be there, Y/N. And what happens next time? Or the time after that?” Her voice cracked again. “I don’t want to live in fear.”

You didn’t know what to say. For the first time, you realized that the truth—the world you lived in—was too much for her. It wasn’t fair to expect her to carry this burden.

You took a deep breath, your decision forming in the silence. There was a way to help her, to give her back the peace she so desperately needed. But it wasn’t a choice you made lightly.

Samantha sniffled, wiping her face with her sleeve. “I trust you, Y/N. I do. But this… this is too much for me.”

“I know,” you said softly. Your voice wavered, but you kept going. “I can fix this, Sam. I can make it so you don’t have to feel this way anymore. So you can be free from this.”

She blinked, confused. “What do you mean?”

You hesitated, guilt already weighing on your chest. “I know someone who can make you forget this ever happened,” you said softly. “But before I call him, I need to know if you’re okay with it. Are you in?”

Samantha stared at her hands, her voice trembling. “Forget? Like… completely? Everything about tonight?”

You nodded. “Yes. All of it. But only if you want to.”

She took a shaky breath and looked up at you, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. “Call him, please.”

You gave her a reassuring nod, though the knot in your stomach tightened. Pulling out your phone, you quickly dialed the number of the one person who could help.

As you waited for him to answer the call, you walked to the bathroom and closed the door behind you. He didn’t keep you waiting for long.

“Y/N! I was just about to—”

“Jay, I need your help,” you interrupted, keeping your voice low so Samantha wouldn’t hear his name. You knew it would terrify her.

“S-Sure, what happened?”

“I need you to compel Samantha. Make her forget about tonight. Can… can you do that?”

There was a brief pause on the other end before he responded. “I’m on my way. I’ll be there in fifteen minutes.”

“Okay, thanks,” you murmured, ending the call. You took a moment to collect yourself before stepping out of the bathroom and back into the room.

“He’s coming,” you said gently to Samantha as you sat beside her. “He’ll be here soon.”

A few minutes later, Samantha went to the bathroom. For the first time that night, you had a moment to yourself, a moment to think. You sighed deeply, tilting your head back to stare at the ceiling.

Jay… Tonight, he showed you he’s not like other vampires. He could’ve attacked you from behind to save his friend, but instead, he tried to reason with you and even healed Samantha.

Your gaze shifted to the bracelet on your wrist. Heeseung had said he couldn’t compel you because of it. You figured it must contain vervain—the only thing that makes humans immune to compulsion. But you were a witch; compulsion didn’t work on witches, so you didn’t really need it.

A knock at the door pulled you from your thoughts. It must be Jay. Samantha was still in the bathroom. You stood up and went to open it. Sure enough, when you did, there he was.

“Hi… again,” Jay said, his voice soft, almost shy.

“Hello, Jay,” you replied briskly.

For a few moments, the two of you stood in silence, staring at each other. Then, he offered you a small, shy smile, his lips pressed together.

“Uhm… could you invite me in?” he asked hesitantly.

You’d forgotten—you needed to invite vampires into a private space before they could enter. You hesitated, knowing that once invited, Jay could come and go as he pleased. He could kill you while you were asleep. Or even right now, the moment you let him in.

But… you trusted him.

“Come on in, Jay.”

“Thanks,” he said, stepping across the threshold.

At that moment, Samantha came out of the bathroom, she froze when she saw Jay, fear flashing in her eyes. She clutched the bathroom doorframe, her voice shaky. “Y/N… w-why is he here?”

You quickly stepped toward her. “Sam, it’s okay. He’s not here to hurt you. I promise.”

Her eyes darted to Jay, who raised his hands in a gesture of peace. “I understand you’re scared,” Jay said gently. “But I’m here to help, not hurt you.”

“He healed you earlier,” you reminded her firmly. “If it weren’t for him, you wouldn’t even be standing. Trust me, Sam. He’s not like Heeseung.”

Samantha hesitated, glancing between you and Jay, before finally nodding. “Okay… I’ll try.”

You guided her to sit on the couch. “This will all be over soon, I promise.”

You took off your bracelet and placed it on the table next to the couch. Jay’s eyes followed the movement, and for a brief moment, you noticed a flicker of hurt in his expression.

“Please compel her to never take off the bracelet,” you said softly.

Jay nodded, sitting down next to Samantha. He looked her directly in the eyes, his voice calm and steady. “You won’t remember anything from tonight. You decided to stay home and watch a movie. You’ll put on the bracelet and never take it off, no matter what. After that, you’ll go to bed and sleep peacefully.”

A few seconds later, Samantha picked up the bracelet, slipped it onto her wrist, and walked to her bed, falling asleep almost immediately.

“Thank you… it means a lot” you said

“Don’t thank me. It was the least I could do after what Heeseung did to her.” Jay paused, running a hand through his hair. “But… it wasn’t entirely his fault.” He sighed deeply. “He was turned into a vampire a few weeks ago. At first, he was doing fine. I taught him how to resist the urges, how to survive on blood bags without hurting anyone. But… last week, his father died.” His voice softened. “He couldn’t handle the pain of losing him, so he flipped his humanity switch. He thought shutting off his emotions would be better than feeling the grief.”

As Jay spoke, his sadness was palpable. It was strange seeing a vampire care so deeply about someone else, about doing the right thing. It challenged everything you thought you knew about them.

“Heeseung isn’t evil,” Jay continued. “Not really. Vampires… we’re not all monsters. Some of us try to be better.” He hesitated, looking at you as if to gauge your reaction. “I don’t feed on humans. Blood bags are enough for me. I made that choice a long time ago.”

Hearing that caught you off guard. For so long, vampires had been nothing but a danger to you and the people you cared about. But Jay… he wasn’t like the others. He didn’t embrace the darkness that came with his nature. Instead, he fought it. And that, more than anything, made you feel something stir inside you.

Jay and you stepped out into the aisle just outside your dorm. The cool night air brushed past as you faced each other in silence. You carefully closed the door behind you, making sure not to make any noise that could wake Samantha.

“You didn’t have to come tonight,” you said quietly. “You could’ve just… stayed out of it.”

He smiled faintly, almost shyly. “I couldn’t let Samantha suffer for something she didn’t deserve. And I couldn’t let you deal with it alone.”

Your heart softened at his words, though you refused to let it show too much. “You’re… not what I expected,” you admitted, your voice barely above a whisper.

“Neither are you, Hermione Granger,” he teased, a playful smirk tugging at his lips.

You chuckled, shaking your head. “Oh, shut up, Edward Cullen.”

Jay laughed, the sound warm and genuine. “Touché.”

There was a brief pause, comfortable yet charged with unspoken feelings. He tilted his head slightly and gave you a crooked smile. “So… I have to ask, after tonight… are you going to keep ghosting me, or are you finally going to answer my texts?”

You let out another soft chuckle, raising an eyebrow at him. “I don’t know… texting is kind of boring. When are you going to ask me out already?”

His smirk widened, and for a moment, he looked caught off guard, but not in a bad way. “Guess I’ll have to fix that soon, huh?”

“You’d better,” you said lightly, though your heart raced at the prospect.

Jay’s eyes softened as he looked at you, his usual confidence tempered with something gentler. “I will,” he promised, his tone quiet but resolute.

Jay nodded, his playful smirk still lingering. “Well, I guess I should let you get some sleep,” he said, glancing at the door behind you.

“Yeah, it’s been… a night,” you replied, the weight of everything settling in.

He took a step back, his expression softening just slightly. “Take care of yourself,” he said, his voice quieter now.

You gave him a small nod. “I will. Thanks, Jay.”

He flashed you one last smile. “Goodnight, Hermione,” he teased, his voice low and light.

“Goodnight, Edward,” you replied, the corner of your lips lifting as you shook your head.

Jay turned and walked away, his silhouette disappearing down the quiet street. You stayed there for a moment longer, watching him leave, before turning back toward your dorm, feeling the lingering energy of the night slowly fading into the quiet.

[winkliee]

friends with benefits

giyuu x fem reader

warnings: roommates, blowjob, mentions of masturbation, bold giyuu

my first kinktober prompt (drabble) lol, it's going to be a drabble, hope y'all enjoy! it's a bit whimsical too lmao🥴

even this morning you couldn't have even thought that you would be in this position.

knelt over, teary eyed, sucking off your roommate, who also happened to be your crush.

giyuu was always quiet, shy, and polite and respectable to you. he was a good student as well. on the other hand, you were the polar opposite, extroverted, always with friends, and a popular guitarist. you barely passed your exams.

maybe that is why you were so attracted to him from the first day he moved in.

it's been six months since, and your feelings never changed. instead your liking for giyuu grew.

when you saw the exam timetable this morning, you got a great shock. the exams were already knocking at the door, and needless to say, you weren't prepared.

after a lot of thought, you decided to ask giyuu for help. you needed to pass these exams. after all it was the final semester, and you needed to graduate.

and you could also spend some time alone with your crush.

but you were shocked when he refuses to help you.

"why should i help you?" he said with a slight smirk after hearing your request, "it's not like we are friends either."

you were desperate. you needed the help.

"please giyuu, i will do anything," you said instantly.

giyuu stared at you blankly, appearing to give it a thought.

"fine. but i have a deal. why don't you do me a favour first before i return yours?"

and that is how you were here, sucking his massive cock, as drool dripped from the corners of your mouth on to his balls, as you held his thighs for support. his hands guided you on his cock, occasionally pulling on your hair as he shoved you deeper onto his cock.

"you're so good at this. if i had known earlier," he groaned, "that you liked me, i would have had done this sooner."

you eyes widened as you stared at him. he looked truly beautiful and mesmerizing, with his red and sweaty face, disheveled hair, while his blue eyes darkened at the sight of you.

"darling, you aren't really quiet when you get off to me every night."

embarrassment flooded your cheeks as you gagged on his cock, tears escaping your eyes. he knew it all this time, he heard you masturbating.

yet you couldn't help but tighten around nothing, the wetness dripping from you as you felt it.

"ah ah, don't stop now dear," giyuu said, caressing your cheeks while he started guiding you again.

you closed your eyes as your hands left his thighs and went to his soft balls, gently squeezing them.

instantly you heard a whimper, as you opened your eyes to see giyuu covering his mouth, his hands having left your face.

you started repeating the action, having no restraints now, freely gagging on his cock, as you slowly adjusted your throat, before pulling away.

"do me another favour giyuu," you said to him, as he looked down at you, his face still covered with his hand.

"remove your hand. i want to hear those beautiful sounds you're making."

thank you for reading. likes and reblogs are appreciated.

[fanaticsnail]

Bar Shift: Part 1

First time writing for Sanji, which accidentally turned into a multi-part mini series. This is part 1!

Your eyelids fluttered open as the rays of the morning sun shone through the material of the curtain and directly onto your face. Any other day, waking with the dawn would cause you to groan, wipe your face with your fingertips and you would lunge straight into a tirade of self-hype to awaken your senses as you prepared for your shift as the front of house manager of the floating restaurant, Baratie.

However, today was unlike any of the others you had encountered over the past several months. Today, you had finally been rostered for a single day off. You smiled and raised your arms over your head, stretching them above you and arching your back with a low moan. You released the tension acquired in your shoulders and shrugged back into the mattress below you.

It was not like you hadn’t been rostered off, releasing you from your duties over the several months prior. You had just acquired the nasty habit of accepting shifts pushed onto you to cover other members of staff in their duties. From aiding with back of house duties: washing dishes, vegetable preparation, sauce reduction and preparing ‘family meal’ for the staff to enjoy after completing a successful shift; to aiding the head Chef Zeff with listing groceries, preparing payroll, timetable scheduling and product costing. This is how you rose so high in the ranks aboard the sailing restaurant as their front of house staff; never being one to decline a shift to cover others in their time of need.

You smiled to yourself, springing the sheets from your body and preparing to undertake a true day dedicated to only yourself. You had a whole list of items prepared in your mind: face masks, deep hair conditioning, pampering your body by doing some exercise in the gym and enjoying breakfast on the broad deck in the sunshine on the bar.

You started with your face, plucking unruly and unwanted hair from their desired location, applying a face and hair mask and began doing your stretches to limber your body up for a small run after your masks had dried, been rinsed and tidied.

As the conditioning treatments began to solidify atop your features, you placed a record in your music player and swung to the beat with a small giggle. You discarded your sleep attire and searched through your draws for something to exercise in and something to wear to breakfast after you had a shower.

You rinsed off the dried masks from your face and wrapped your masked hair into a tight bun out of your face and left your quarters adorning your work-out gear. You completed a slightly cardio intensive routine over the course of an hour, including some kick-boxing against a small bag hanging from the ceiling on the crew-quarters gym before heading to the showers.

Indulging in the warmth of a lengthy shower, you dried your now shiny soft hair and styled it in a way you hadn’t done in a while – wearing it out instead of in the tightly woven style you would adorn in your regular shifts aboard Baratie. You raked through the locks, pinched your cheeks a little to add some warmth to your un-made up features and left the showers wearing slightly dressy clothes.

You were relishing in every moment you had acquired in a well deserved day off, noticing the hands on the clock on the hallway indicated it was now around 7:45am as you made your way atop the deck. More often than not, you would pull double – if not triple shifts – to aid the creater, owner and head chef of Baratie; often starting at 5am to aid in pastries, work a full shift on the floor before covering for a chef in the kitchen or helping with the dishes from the rush before managing the bar for the night life. You would often end your shift just after midnight if the night was slow, but would stay later if required.

There had been two crew birthdays for the front of house staff, one chef du cuisine reigniting his affections with an old flame and asking you to cover for him in the kitchen, three injuries at the hands of apprentices and one chef finding themselves overcome with some form of sea-bearing respiratory illness he acquired on one of his days off that rendered him useless for a week. Each time, Patty or Carne would seek you out and sheepishly ask you to cover; knowing they could truly count on you. And each time, you would say yes.

As you took a seat, basking in the light of the morning rays; you rolled your neck and closed your eyes to release some tension in your neck as a shadow fell over your face – successfully blocking the warmth from falling onto your skin.

You opened your eyes and looked up to see the blonde chef, Sanji; a cigarette hanging loosely from his lips as he presented you with what looked to be some number of fruits above a jelly and custard tart with whipped cream on the side. You smiled at him and sat up slightly from your reclined position.

“For you, princess,” he said with a smirk twitching at the corner of his mouth. You rolled your eyes and accepted the dish from him and placed it on the side table to the right of the lounging chair you were sitting on.

“What is it, love?” you asked him, gesturing to the dish he had handed to you. He broadly smiled at you, appreciating the name you bestowed onto him. He removed the finished cigarette from the corner of his lips and placed it in the ashtray on the table beside a different recliner, further away from the dish.

“It’s a white chocolate ganache custard tart with a bitter blueberry reduction,” he began, crouching down at the table, fixing his gaze at the dish in front of you and gesturing to each part.

“I’ve topped it with a sweet lychee jelly with chiffonade mint leaves and finely diced cubed mango,” he pointed to the finely chopped pieces, “and I’ve hand-whipped a vanilla bean meringue buttercream just for you.”

You noticed a twinkle in his eyes as you looked the dish over, assessing its presentation. You narrowed your eyes at the tart base, noticing it was different than the usual pie crusts Sanji had worked with in the past.

“And the base?” you questioned him, arching your eyebrow up at him. He chuckled a little and leant forward.

“A flattened and rolled out layered Bischoff brioche,” he winked at you. You were not unaccustomed to Sanji’s flirting, as many of the chefs would playfully banter with one another during the shifts. Between Patty, Carne or the other line cooks; it was more loving insults or playful banter and encouragement. If there was a pretty lady sitting at the tables, a chef would alert the rest of the kitchen by calling out a dish to table number that didn’t exist, or more boldly, wolf-whistle under their breath.

With you, being one of the only women who would grace the back of house with your presence on the line, they would often include you in their jabs and try to point out any men they would deem worthy of your time. Sanji, however, would push to include you in a more flirtatious manner – often calling out the non-existent table number when you would walk to the pass on one of your front of house shifts, or referring to you with a rotating number of pet-names, his latest including “princess”.

“Thank you, love,” you smiled at him, broadly. You picked up a small fork and sliced the sharpened edge of the utensil into the tart and collecting a sample of each of the ingredients onto it.

“Did you make one for yourself too?” you asked before raising it to your lips. He was gazing at you with anticipation as you placed the ingredients into your mouth. Immediately, an explosion of flavours erupted over your tongue; bitterness from the reduction, richness from the ganache and meringue, fresh juices from the jelly and herbaceous botanicals from the mint leaves eclipsed over your senses; pulling an unwilling moan from between your lips. Sanji broadly smiled at your reaction, his eyes twinkling at the unwithheld compliment to him that he managed to bring forth.

You blushed heavily at the reaction your body made in response to consuming the first bite of his food and continued to chew, rolling the contents over your tongue.

“Bloody hell, Sanji!” you widened your eyes and covered your mouth with the hand you had the utensil in, still chewing the tart in your mouth. He chuckled and cradled his head in his enclosed fist, bashfully while he continued to watch you enjoy the dish he made.

“To answer your question, princess,” he smiled, “no I didn’t. I made that especially for you.”

You swallowed the first bite and rose your eyebrows in subtle shock. You again carved off a generous piece of the tart, ensuring you collected a taste of each of the many parts of the dessert. Sanji followed your movements with his eyes as you skilfully did so, only looking back to you in confusion as you presented the fork towards his lips.

“Well then,” you declared, offering the fork further over to his lips, “say ‘ah’.”

He smiled widely before leaning towards the silver utensil and wrapping his lips over the tip of the fork. His tongue collected the ingredients from the bottom of the fork, drawing your eyes to the silver balled piercing located on his pink frenulum momentarily. He maintained eye contact with you as he placed the contents into his mouth, causing an unintentional blush to rise from your chest, tips of your ears and over your cheeks.

He released the fork slowly from his lips, removing all pieces of indulgent tart from the end of the fork and he smiled at you with fondness.

“Thank you,” he nodded his head at the fork, “always wanted to share a meal with you. I didn’t think it would be quite as literal as this, princess.”

You rolled your eyes at his playful flirtation and began to collect more of the beautiful breakfast he had meticulously prepared for you.

“You should’ve made this one for Chef,” you commented, “he might even be so inclined to put this on the menu. I’d vouch for you, love.”

He laughed at your comment, reaching into his jacket pocket and placing an unlit cigarette between his fingers.

“Nope,” he said, bringing his lips to the filter end of the cigarette, “too much work went into that one. Wouldn’t want it wasted on uncultured pricks that believe the height of cuisine is a well-done tomahawk steak with mashed potatoes and boiled carrots.”

You laughed at his comment, watching him as he stood up and attempted to click his flint-less lighter to ignite a flame. He growled slightly in frustration, prompting you to reach for your own lighter in your bag. You rose to your feet and situated yourself in front of the tall blonde, reaching up your lighter and flicking the flint to ignite a small flame from the end. He smiled in thanks at you as you brought your hand cradling the flame up to his lips once more. He leant into your hands, igniting the tip of the cigarette and inhaling deeply before releasing the tobacco-riddled smoke from the corner of his mouth away from your face. You smiled at him and flicked off the flame from your lighter and made to place it back into your bag.

Unknown to you, Sanji’s eyes followed your every movement as he gazed at you with nothing but pure adoration. This little crush he seemed to have on you was subject to many of the unrelenting teasing from the kitchen staff, especially from Patty. He didn’t mind being the butt of the joke, especially as his only crime per say was his unrequited fantasy in pining for you.

Sure, he’d flirt with many women over the course of his shift – more often than not to secure a higher tip, or to simply mess with an overzealous man who needed his oversized head to be knocked down a few paces. It was only ever playful, nothing truly more. With you? He found to be fixated on you. The highlight of his shift was knowing you were with him on Baratie, pulling all of your strength, effort and unbridled determination in ensuring the smooth sailing of each night. He adored how much work you put into the place, especially as he owed his life to the head chef and having you aboard seemed to make everything flow so easily.

Silence fell between you as you cut into the meal Sanji prepared for you and continued to place it into your mouth. He continued to smoke, always turning to release the smoke away from you to not tarnish your dining experience in any way.

Loud footsteps broke you both out of your shared silence together as Patty almost skipped over to the place you were sitting, a broad smile adorning his finely groomed facial hair.

Immediately, alarm bells blared into you as this smile you came to know as the one he would only ever use when asking you to cover a shift.

“No,” you said, holding your hands out and defensively shaking them at him, “absolutely not.”

The smile continued to widen over Patty’s features as a clasped his hands together in a pleading fashion.

“Oh my darling, the most precious and radiant flower all of the ocean has to offer,” Patty began his tirade of flattery aimed at you, prompting Sanji to turn to stare at his form.

You shook your head and frowned at him, continuing to wave your arms in front of your face.

“Don’t even start-,” you began, being cut off by more flattery.

“The angel of the east blue,” Patty spoke over you, “more beautiful than the shooting stars littering the sky!”

You brought your thumb and middle finger to your brow before raking your fingertips through the loose strands of your hair. Sanji’s eyes narrowed slightly at the stream of compliments flowing from the blue-haired chef.

“What happened?” you uttered reluctantly at his flattery. Patty dropped his hands from their pleading position and released a sigh, reluctantly removing the smile from his face.

“Cole slipped a disc in his back while walking down the steps last night,” Patty uttered through gritted teeth. You sighed slightly and frowned at the comment.

“Are you certain it’s a slipped disc? Not the fact that his fiancé was finally cleared to dock yesterday?” you growled at Patty. He flinched a little at your accusation, before uttering.

“Actually, he did seem more limber this morning,” he confirmed with a downturned smile, arching his eyebrows. You groaned and lay back into your reclined position after placing the fork on the side table alongside you finished plate.

“If Cole wants me to do his bar shift for him, he should be the one here grovelling for coverage,” you declared with frustration. Patty nervously laughed at your comment, turning to look at Sanji who had a look of complete displeasure on his features.

“You know what?” you suddenly said, sitting up from your reclining position, “the only way I will accept the shift tonight is if the almighty head chef Zeff himself saunters over here and tilts my head up with his index finger and whispers it to me like he would a lover. If those absolute improbable circumstances are completed, I’ll work the bar tonight.”

You slumped back into your seat with a large smile, knowing there was no way Zeff would come to you and flirt his way into having you complete a bar shift for him. Sanji snickered slightly at the thought. Patty excused himself from your presence and sculked back into the halls to where you assume he would go and ask another rostered off member of staff to complete tonight’s shift.

“I think that’s the first time I’ve ever seen you turn down a shift,” Sanji said, collecting another cigarette from his jacket pocket.

“It’s been five months since I’ve had a proper rostered off day,” you shrugged your shoulders and slumped back into your chair and enjoying the warm rays of the sun shining into your body, “and that was the only thing I could think of to get Patty off my case. I have so much respect for Zeff, and I would never mean to disrespect him in any way. I’m sure Patty has run off to find someone else, anyway.” Sanji smiled in response.

“May I?” Sanji asked, gesturing to your bag to retrieve your lighter.

“Go right ahead, love,” you said, closing your eyes and placing your hands behind your head.

Suddenly your peaceful morning was again interrupted with a loud thump and heavy wooden slap echoing along the polished wooden floor of the hallway where Patty had retreated into moments earlier. Several other bellowing drumbeats could also be heard reverberating behind the thump and slap, alerting both Sanji and yourself to a few bodies approaching.

You snapped your eyes open and stood immediately alert, focusing your sights on the approaching figure of your head chef.

“Alright, pumpkin,” the chef declared, charging over to the place you were standing alongside Sanji, “I’ll play along.”

Your eyes immediately widened at the figure closing the distance between you. Several other chefs, including Patty and Carne were trailing closely behind him almost brimming with excitement.

“Sorry Chef?” you apologised as more of an indication of mishearing him, shock riddling your face. He closed the distance between your bodies, bringing himself uncomfortably close to your own. He reached his hand forward and hooked his index finger beneath your chin, lifting your gaze to focus on his eyes.

“I need you,” he whispered into your face with a hint of close intimacy, holding firm to your chin and pulling all of your focus into his gaze. He paused before he released your chin from his firm grip, “to work the bar tonight.”

You felt a blush creep up over your shocked features as your head chef stepped away from you.

“Y-yes chef,” you managed to stutter out from between your clenched teeth, eyes still standing wide in shock. He smirked slightly and brushed his hands over his apron, stepping away from your close proximity. The snickers of your coworkers were reverberating throughout the area, causing more waves of embarrassment to course over your body.

“I meant no disrespect, chef,” you called after him, suddenly. Zeff chuckled in response.

“I know, sweetheart,” he said, “couldn’t resist a challenge though. Get a move on, your shift starts in under an hour.”

He began to retreat back to the kitchen office before calling back over his shoulder; “and Cole was working a double tonight.”

You hung your head and grit your teeth at the shock of the fact your boss actually responded to your non-serious challenge. Your shock was broken by the full belly-laugh from the blonde sous chef next to you, prompting you to snap your gaze over to his. His eyes were closed as he flung his head back and released more of his unhinged laughter.

“Your face,” he managed to gasp out through his unrelenting chuckles, “you should’ve seen your face.”

You growled slightly at the comments made by your coworker.

“Yeah, well I didn’t think my words all the way through, did I?” you spat at him in mock anger. He continued to laugh at you, wiping a small collection of tears spent at your expense.

“I didn’t think the old man had that amount of charm in him,” he said once hunching himself over and wiping his palms over his knees to collect himself.

“To be fair, neither did I,” you replied, “for a second there, I almost caught feelings for the man.”

Sanji chuckled again and straightened himself up.

“Gee if that all it takes to charm you, I should’ve given that a go first. Didn’t need to go through all the trouble of making you breakfast,” he playfully flirted with you, nudging your shoulder with his own. You offered him a warm smile in response.

“Alright, enough playing,” you said, nudging him back, “I’ve got to go get changed out of all this and make myself presentable.”

“You’re always more than beautiful, princess,” Sanji commented at you with a playful smile.

“Hah-hah,” you responded sarcastically, “seriously, love. I’ve got to go get into my bloody uniform now. Customers await.”

You reached your hand up and patted his cheek affectionately.

“Thank you again for breakfast,” you expressed your gratefulness to him, “it was beautiful. We should do this more often.”

He widened his eyes at you and leant slightly into your touch before you turned on your way, returning to your crew quarters. His gaze trailed over you, eyes filling slightly with a small amount of want. Although partially exhausted, he was so glad he gave up his night to preparing a dish especially for you – especially as you released such beautiful sounds acknowledging how much you appreciated it.

He was absolutely going to make something more flavourful for you to hopefully pull more of those melodic sounds from your lips. If he can’t have you moaning his name while coupling with you in a romantic embrace, he was going to extract those illicit sounds from you the only other way he knew how: cooking.

Part 2