#u guys truly are like a package deal huh

[ofdragondrums]

aww, that’s so nice, i--

!!! don’t u think that’s a little extreme?!?!

[cloudywriter]

promposals

rowaelin month - september 1st

prompt: i just realized i’m desperately in love with you 

hey guys!! it’s finally rowaelin month and i’m literally so excited you have no idea. sadly, i don’t have time to do every day but i’ll do as many as i can. i can’t wait to see what everyone comes up with. happy writing/reading! (this is just some straight fluff) 

masterlist, AO3

~~~

The school was abuzz, anticipation hung thick in the hallways during each passing period. It had been that way for a week or so now with prom on the horizon. Everyone was constantly on high alert for the next promposal, most desperately hoping it would be their own. Girls hung around their lockers inconspicuously for far longer than necessary and boys tried to play it cool while secretly fretting over who to ask and how to do it.

Rowan was over it pretty quickly, but he’d likely have to suffer through the next month of promposal after promposal. Today was no different, there was an asking in the parking lot before school, one in his first-period English class, another in the hallway after. He couldn’t escape it. 

Thankfully, Rowan wasn’t quite as grumpy as he used to be due to a certain blonde worming into his life a few years ago but he was still Rowan. Sullen and reserved as ever. That fateful blonde being the only one to draw him from his shell. 

Rowan sighed, aimlessly scrolling around on his phone. It was the passing period before his 3rd-period class, AP Biology, and Rowan was leaning against Aelin’s locker.

Aelin always stopped by her locker after her photography class to put her camera away and then they’d head to class together. It was their routine, the same every day. Not yet broken during their entire senior year which was quickly coming to a close. That was a subject Rowan didn’t want to broach though.

He cleared his head of those unsavory thoughts. Rowan could tell yet another proposal was gearing up, Ilias came around the corner holding a poster board in one hand and a bouquet of assorted flowers in the other. At that moment too, Aelin turned the corner, giving Rowan a small smile as she hurried towards him. 

Rowan’s cold resting face tugged into a smirk as she approached her already open locker. Rowan always took it upon himself to open it for her in advance, Aelin tended to fumble with the locks that required a specific number combination and artful twisting. 

As Aelin stored away her camera and shut her locker door with a thud, a gasp down the hallway had them both turning around. 

Ansel was there, her hand cupping her mouth, clearly unsuspecting of Ilias and his proposal. They both watched as Ansel excitedly agreed to prom with Ilias and took the flowers from his outstretched hand, pulling him into a hug. 

Aelin turned her attention away from the happy couple and began to walk towards their next class, Rowan following suit. They progressed for a bit in silence until Aelin spoke up. 

“I hope Chaol asks me to prom soon,” she confessed. 

Rowan almost choked, that single sentence baffling him. “Chaol?” He asked incredulously. 

“Or Dorian,” Aelin shrugged, crossing her arms in front of her. Rowan was suddenly feeling very panicked, like a fish that had accidentally discovered land, flopping around in search of water in a frenzy. To say he felt confused was an understatement. Rowan hadn’t given prom much of his brainpower. He hadn’t even considered asking anyone. He’d just assumed he’d go with Aelin. Why would he have thought otherwise? They did everything together; he’d expected prom would be no different.

When they sat down at their blacktop table in biology Rowan silently floundered as he tried to think over this revelation. Why would Aelin want to go with someone else? Usually, before class started, he and Aelin would joke around until the teacher told them it was time to reel it in but today Rowan stared ahead, picking at the skin of his thumb. A nervous tick he’d developed throughout high school. 

Should he ask someone else then? He couldn’t even think of anyone else he tolerated enough to spend the night with. Maybe Lyria? She was nice enough, always sharing her notes with him in English when he was too busy with lacrosse to do the reading. She was quiet, soft-spoken. Absolutely nothing like the girl sat next to him. That thought made him frown. Remelle? No, he could barely stand Remelle, but he knew she liked him so at least she’d definitely say yes. 

Rowan was pretty much out of luck. Aelin and his friend group were to whom his time was devoted to, he didn’t branch out much beyond them. 

He thought of Aelin all dressed up, maybe in a golden gown that catered to her love of theatrics. Possibly in a deep green that complemented her bright eyes and skin tone. He imagined her with her hair loosely curled and flowing down her back. The delicate, golden Kingsflame silhouette necklace he’d gotten her for her 18th birthday clasped around her neck. It was easy for Rowan to conjure up that image but he couldn’t picture her looking like that and holding onto Chaol’s arm. It felt so intensely wrong to even consider it. 

It was always him. He always imagined her with him. They were a package deal in Rowan’s mind, but apparently not in Aelin’s. 

Aelin seemed to be catching onto Rowan’s internal dilemma. Throughout the duration of the class, he could feel her watching him out of the corner of her peripheral, trying to gauge what could be wrong. She stayed quiet though and dutifully continued her notes that mostly consisted of a collection of small doodles. Rowan couldn’t help but watch and wonder how she truly felt about him.

For the rest of the school day, Rowan pretty much blew Aelin off. He sat between Lorcan and Fenrys at lunch instead of the 2 seats on the right side of the circular table that always housed Aelin and himself. He told her not to wait up in the stands during his lacrosse practice and to head home on her own instead. He could tell she was confused maybe even a little hurt but Rowan couldn’t bring himself to push aside his mass of feelings that had him acting strange. 

He wasn’t even completely sure what was wrong with himself. The thought of Aelin accompanying another guy to prom shouldn’t affect him like it was; they were only best friends nothing more. She had free reign to go with whoever she wanted and she could get whoever, Aelin was a beautiful girl he wasn’t blind to that. He’d just thought it’d be him. 

All throughout lacrosse practice, Rowan was distracted, missing the ball or the goal when he had it, a stark difference from his usual skill. His coach had already pulled him aside once and asked if he was feeling okay only to be given a grunted yeah before putting him back in. He only grew more upset with Aelin as he pondered the day’s events instead of keeping his head in the game. Some part of him knew it was irrational but he couldn’t help it. Why wouldn’t she want to share one of their last big moments of high school together?  

And that’s how he continued to feel as he made the short drive home with his hefty lacrosse bag weighing down his shoulder and his school bag heavy on his back. When he finally entered the home he sighed, the scent of his mother’s cooking filling his nostrils. Honestly, he’d rather stay up in his room and stew than sit through family dinner right now but he knew it’d only prompt more questions from his parents. So he dropped his things by the door much to his mother’s chagrin and collapsed into one of the dining table’s chairs. 

“Feeling alright, son?” His father’s silver brow rose, already catching on to his foul mood. 

“Yeah, just tired,” Rowan confirmed, taking a sip of water. 

His mother entered then, a dish of pasta cupped between her oven mitts that she placed in the center of the table. “How was practice?” She asked sweetly, stripping her hands of their cover and sitting down. 

“It was fine.”

Rowan’s mother and father exchanged a look between themselves. He was normally much more talkative, always giving them updates on school, on plays they’d done during practice, on Aelin. Rowan chose to ignore their concerned expressions and instead served himself a helping of dinner silently. 

His phone buzzed then from inside the pocket of his shorts. Rowan pulled it out to check the message and frowned at the screen. 

fire-breathing b queen👑 : r u okay? 

He stuck his phone back into his pocket instead of typing a reply and forced himself to eat the rest of his dinner. He only half-listened to his parents’ conversation about their days and what was going on in his dad’s office. Rowan knew he was stewing again, falling into a spiral of uncertainty. 

“Rowan, honey, are you sure you’re okay?” His mother pressed, worry lining her brow. 

Rowan’s lips formed a thin line. No, he wasn’t okay. 

In a split-second decision, Rowan decided he was done dancing around whatever was going on between him and Aelin. “I need to go,” Rowan said suddenly, standing up from his chair that loudly scraped across the floor. His parents looked surprised by his outburst but didn’t stop him as he grabbed his keys from the little table by the front entrance and left. 

Rowan didn’t even need to look at the road to know the way to Aelin’s house. The route was in his bones now and within a few minutes he was pulling up in front of her large white house. He hopped out of his truck, not even bothering to lock the doors before he pounded on her green-painted front door. 

The door opened with a squeak and he saw Aelin standing there in one of her nightgowns that drove Rowan absolutely mad. 

“You’re not going to prom with Chaol,” he rasped, pushing the hair falling on his forehead back with his hand. 

“Huh?” Aelin was clearly confused as to why Rowan had come knocking at her door without preamble. 

“You’re not going with him,” Rowan once again declared, standing his ground, ready to get everything off his chest before he lost the courage. 

“Ro, I don’t get what you’re going on about. He hasn’t even asked me and if he doesn’t ask me I don’t know who’d I go with,” she admitted, her hand still holding the door open and her mouth in a serious line. 

Rowan surges forward at that, gripping both of Aelin’s hands in his own. “You’d go with me, Aelin. I want you to go with me,” he pleaded with her, lifting her hands up to his chest. “Aelin,” he continued, “I don’t want to go with anyone else but you. I want to do everything with you, go everywhere with you. Gods, Aelin, you’re like my reason to breathe, to get up in the morning.”

“Row-” Aelin tried to interrupt, her blue eyes going wide. 

“No, just let me finish, I- I know that sounds crazy and I know it’s so out of the blue and you didn’t expect me to show up outside your door like this and start professing my feelings,” Rowan was rambling now he knew. Everything he wanted to say to her was running through his mind like a freight train so much so he struggled to express it. The words were jumbled in his mind as if they were a bowl of alphabet soup in a blender. He just needed her to know how he felt. 

“I- I just, I thought about you going to prom with Chaol or some other guy all damn day and I hated it. Gods, I couldn’t figure out why I hated it so much, it just it- it felt so wrong. Fireheart, I want you to be with me. Gods, I think I’m so desperately in love with you I’m going to combust or something.” Rowan was getting flustered now, he knew his face was burning and he was sweating, maybe from the humidity or maybe from the sheer weight of what he was confessing to his best friend.  “Rowan,” Aelin started once again, her face contorted in pure shock. 

“I know you might not feel the same Aelin, I knew I came here risking that, and if you don’t feel the same-”

“Rowan!” Aelin said with more force, bringing her hands to cup his face. “Listen to me,” she pleaded. 

Rowan stopped trying to fight her and looked at her. He felt as though his stomach might fall out. His nerves were so intense as he stared into Aelin’s golden-ringed eyes. 

“You’re just so fucking stupid,” Aelin breathed. 

Rowan’s brow furrowed, he certainly hadn’t expected her to say that. “Wha-” he began. 

He couldn’t even finish his thought before Aelin’s lips descended upon his own. She cradled his face in her hands as her soft lips moved against his in a slow rhythm. Rowan’s brain stalled and struggled to catch up with what the hell was happening. 

He just knew this felt right, this felt so gods-damn right. 

His hands were loosely wrapped around her wrists and they traveled lightly over her arms and moved to rest on her back and pull her into him. 

Her body molded against his own. It felt like the final bit of a 50,000 piece puzzle had finally fallen into place after years of pouring over it. Rowan kissed Aelin back with just as much fever, desperate to keep her lips on his own. He brushed his tongue along the seam of her lips and she pulled back. 

They both stood there, gulping down air as they stared at each other trying to navigate this unimaginable revelation. 

“You’re- you’re not going to prom with Chaol, right?” Rowan finally managed to ask. 

“No,” Aelin breathed. “I’ll go with you, I’ll always go with you.” 

Their lips met once again.

~~~

day one down. stay tuned and have a wonderful day, xoxo

[poptod]

Pretty, Little Doll (Merriel Shelton x Reader)

Description: Merriel makes friends with the pretty little doll serving ice cream.

Notes: jus thinking about ice cream. implied female reader, but this.. is too much. theres just too much here. youve been warned. edit: wait no u havent. the warning is that theres suggestive themes and such WC: 2.3k

+

After working long hours in the broiling sun of the south, what felt best down his parched throat was a beer––a bar where many of his friends and coworkers drank at, and the waitresses wore low-cut dresses with short hems and long stockings. That sight went down wonderfully with several drinks, but what drew his attention today was a newly opened shop.

There was no sign, but the large, pristine windows gave a good view of the inside. Clean, white walls with several tables and chairs to the left, and a counter to order at on the right. Behind it stood you, dressed to the nines in ruffles and bows as you opened up the shop, displaying buckets of ice cream.

Merriel grinned. Lopsided and toothy, and he jogged inside, sweat and dirt still trailing down his skin and clothes. With his shirt slung over his bare shoulder, he met your eye and his cocky smile returned as his chin tilted high.

"Afternoon," he drawled as he approached the counter, barely grazing over the different flavors before returning to you.

"Good afternoon," you said in a much quieter voice, though you did mimic his smile, just more politely. "How may I help you?"

"You new here?" He asked, gesturing generally to the shop.

"Oh, yes," you said. "My grandmother always wanted an ice cream parlor, so.. I thought I could help her."

"That's awful sweet of ya," he said as he leant on the counter, tilting ever closer to you. "This ice cream sweet as you, boo?"

Your mouth fell open, eyes widening as you did a double take. For a moment you were at a loss for words, but you quickly attempted to stammer out a response, a blush burning your face.

"Well, um, we have, uh, strawberry, and um.. chocolate, vanilla, cherry, and uh, banana. And bourbon."

"Bourbon?" He said, a single brow kinked upwards.

"It's my grandma's favorite," you said with a sheepish chuckle.

"Damn, girl. Grandma knows how to have fun," he laughed.

"Would you like to try it?"

Only if I can lick it off you, he thought, his attention drifting to the soft skin of your neck. The thought of it melting down and pooling in your clavicle. While usually he didn't bother to censor himself for anyone, you seemed a little fainthearted. His chances with you would probably be ruined after one too-strange comment.

"Sure," was what he said instead. "Long as it's cold I don't care."

"I understand that. I moved here recently and it's certainly something to try and adapt to the heat," you rambled as you stuck a tiny plastic spoon in the bourbon ice cream, giving him the single bite. "Are you a local?"

"Been here long's I remember," he said, taking the spoon. "What time do ya get off today?"

"Oh, um," you fixed the ruffles on your collar, "I won't be finished till late. We're not all set up yet."

"If y' need some help, I'd be happy to offer my expertise. I do a hell of a lot a' nailin' things ta the wall."

You stared at him again, once more losing your words. He hadn't quite meant what he said, but the fluster he left you in had him grinning, humored by the connotation you'd incorrectly understood.

"That – that'd be very nice of you," you said, wringing your hands. "I don't want to bother you. You look.. busy."

He didn't miss how your eyes raked up his body, from his wrinkled, dusty pants up his bare waist and chest still gleaming with the sweat of morning work. His jaw could cut hearts and he knew that very well; accented it whenever he could as he cocked his chin upwards, watching carefully as your breath froze.

"I won't be busy tonight. How 'bout this." He walked up right to the counter, pressing his hips into the edge of it. "I come after I finish up ma' own job, and I'll give ya' a hand. Don't even gotta pay me."

"Really? But –"

"Don't worry 'bout it. 'S nothin' for a pretty doll like you."

"At least let me get you a cone? It's hot out today," you offered, reaching for the largest waffle cones you had.

The guys wouldn't really take well to him eating ice cream instead of drinking, but he figured they'd eat their words when they saw you.

"Won't say no to that."

As much as he wanted to boast about you, how pretty and sweet you were and how he so easily slid his way into your life, he didn't want his friends finding your shop and vandalizing it with their own dirty boots and flirtatious looks. Only he could do that.

In the evening he returned as promised, having walked from his house on the outskirts of town to your shop on the main street. The build, decorum, and location of the shop screamed rich family to him. No one in his state would be able to afford a business on main street, much less fully renovated and repainted. He could ask you, he decided, about your family, your grandmother, and of course you.

Inside, you were closing up the tubs of ice cream, hauling them out of the display case and into a back storage room. He knocked before he entered, earning a muffled 'come in!' from you.

Before either of you could speak, both the buckets in your arms began to slip, and he ran round to the other side of the counter to help. He took one from you to ease the load.

"Careful, cher," he said, grabbing another bucket in his other arm. "Don't wanna break yaself."

"Thank you," you said, mostly ignoring his comment. "My grandma is in the other room, so just, um.. be polite and proper."

Fat fuckin' chance, he thought in his head, but fortunately did not say aloud as he followed you.

The door swung open into a freezer room, where an old lady stood in the corner, covered head to toe in coats as she stirred.

"I keep telling you to let me do that," you sighed, setting down your container before rushing to her side.

"I can do it quite well myself. I'm not useless, you know," your grandmother said, staring you down with a glare. You hesitated, gauging her carefully, before you relented with another exasperated sigh.

"Fine, alright," you said quietly. "I'll go work on hanging up all the paintings and such."

"Thank you, dear."

You motioned to him as you passed by, pushing open the door and heading out of the freezer. He once again followed you, watching your ass with a grin you never saw.

"We need to hang up these," you said as you brought him to one of the circular tables, each of which carried a small pile of paintings, license plates, or tin posters.

"You got a ladder?" He asked, glancing to the high walls.

"Yes sir," you said, sorting through the different posters. He quirked a brow, intrigued by the possibility of that nickname.

"I neva did get ya name," he said as he leant on one of the tables.

"(Y/N). What's yours?"

"Pretty name for a pretty doll," he half sung, the same, one-sided smile stretched lazily across his face. "My name's Merriel."

"Also a pretty name," you said, picking the largest poster to start with. A pin-up girl in a sailor's suit. "Our ladder isn't all that steady. Will you hold it for me?"

He opened his mouth to offer himself up, but with one look to the ruffled skirt you wore, he shut himself up.

"'Course," was what he said instead.

Everything was a bit of a game––one you were unwittingly a part of, and one where you played your role rather well. A sweet, unassuming little thing, essentially a toy for him, accepting his help and letting him in. He hated to act the predator, but when it came to you he couldn't help it.

That was how he saw it. Hunting you down and taking you for his own at the end of a long chase. However, to any outsider, it appeared in a much simpler way; a young man doing anything for someone he'd developed a crush on. That was how it truly was, though the innocence of his crush was abruptly stripped away as he held the ladder, staring shamelessly up your skirt.

"Merriel?"

"Huh?" He said, broken out of his dreamy trance.

"I said could you hand me another nail," you said, pointing towards the package of nails with your hammer.

"Oh. You sure ya ain't gonna fall if I leave?" He asked with a grin. You chuckled, shaking your head.

"I'll be alright."

"If you say so, boo."

After a little while he supposed he ought to offer some more help than holding a rickety ladder, and took your place at the top with a hammer in his hand and nails in his mouth. As promised, his experience with nailing things to the wall (nails specifically, not women) made him much faster than you, and the entirety of the wall behind the counter was covered within fifty minutes.

"Thank you for your help, again," you said as you put away the hammer and nails.

"My pleasure," he said, the image of your thighs still fresh in his mind. "If y' ever need help.. I'm happy t' to be of service."

"Well, thank you. Come stop by again soon. On the house," you said as he left, peeking your head out the door and giggling.

"You know I'm stoppin' by again, get two things done in one trip. Some'in sweet for th' eyes and the tongue," he laughed, watching your face light up with a blush.

And it ain't just the ice cream, he thought.

Over the course of the coming summer, he left drinking for the evening, and instead visited your shop over his lunch break. You insisted on giving his cones for free considering he continued to help you out, but he usually found ways to sneak you the money anyway. You were not, as he assumed earlier, a very rich family.

His favorite activity, which he found rather early on, was to sit outside on burning hot days, his shirt draped over the back of his chair as he ate. Through the pristine glass, he spied you watching him often.

You couldn't help it either. Most of your life was spent in your family cabin, cutting you off from many teen and early adulthood experiences. People flirting with you was a lot to deal with, especially when it came from someone as pretty as him, the smooth dips and ripples of his lean muscles shining with sweat and dirt from his construction site.

His tongue. Ever since he made that comment on that first evening you met, you hadn't been able to get it out of your mind. How it rolled and drawled between his puffy lips drawn backwards with his teeth, in a very specific method you'd pinned down to 'the Tongue Thing'.

Your heated, embarrassed blush only worsened as ice cream dripped down his fingers from the heat, cleaned up by a sharp and precise tongue. You could hardly breathe watching him like that, but as he caught your eye you turned quickly away.

His bravado had clearly earned a huge boost from catching you mid-drool, prevalent in his step as he waltzed back into your store. You hardly met his eye, pretending to clean up the counter, but that didn't stop him. He walked right up to you, leaning down with his elbows on the stone, forcing you to stop and look at him, which you did with incredible reluctance.

"You been watchin' me, cher?" He asked, close enough to see his reflection in your wide eyes.

"No," you said quietly.

"A' think you're lyin'," he said, leaning in closer yet. "Betta' not do that. Could land you in some trouble."

You raised your brows.

"Are you threatening me?"

"Not with anythin' ya can't take," he said as he raked his eyes purposefully slow down your body. When you appeared to be at a loss for words, he said, "I'll ask ya again. Were you watching me?"

"... and if I don't answer?" You tested carefully.

"Well then, I think there's too much space between us," he said, grinning cockily as he jumped the counter, crowding you suddenly.

You drew in a sharp breath, backing up as he continued to step forwards till he pinned you to the wall with his hips.

"Tell the truth, baby." he drawled, carefully setting his hands on your hips and pulling you in. Something hard poked you.

"I – I wasn't staring, I –"

He half-grinded into you, pressing you tighter against the wall as his hands drew upwards, resting at your waist.

"Such a pretty thing," he mumbled beneath his breath, watching your stumbling reaction closely.

By pinning you with his hips, he had free roam to move his hands, one of which toyed with the hem of your skirt. It was wrong, certainly, and it was also illegal since you were in plain view of main street, but he lost control the minute his fingertips brushed the soft, supple skin of your thigh.

Your breathing hastened, hips yearning for something, though you didn't know what. When the rough skin of his fingers suddenly brushed inbetween your thighs your hands shot up to steady yourself on Merriel's shoulders. He laughed, running a finger through your lips, finding you already soaked and not wearing underwear. Instantly his laugh faded, devolving into a long, needy moan as his hips once more pushed up into you.

"Th – there's someone – someone coming," you said, eyes darting to the front door.

Immediately he was off you, stepping to the side as you straightened yourself out. You walked forward with shaky legs, which he most definitely noticed, and took the mother and son's orders as usual. When you finished you glanced to him, your heart stopping at the sight of him licking your slick from his fingers.

"I guess your ice cream is as sweet as you, boo," he murmured in your ear, giving you no chance to react before rushing back out to return to his construction job.

[reversecreek]

snickers feverishly at myself for bringing in a 5th... who do i think i am? unstoppable? invincible? suddenly ripples my titanium plated pecs. maybe so. u can find her pinterest here n her playlist here. 

* margaret qualley, cis female + she/her  | you know bradley milligan, right? they’re twenty-four, and they’ve lived in irving for, like, all of their life? well, their spotify wrapped says they listened to looking for knives by dyan like, a million times this year, which makes sense ‘cause they’ve got that whole snow angels trampled through by your father’s footprints, casually reading a newspaper that’s catching flame & stubbing a cigarette against the wing mirror of a parked cop car thing going on. i just checked and their birthday is november 11th, so they’re a scorpio, which is unsurprising, all things considered. ( nai, 24, gmt she/her  )

HISTORY:

bradley has this memory of meeting her grandmother for the first time n everything in the room was frozen still. even the air. she didn’t feel like she cld move n she got the impression this is how it’d always been in the milligan lineage. the only thing that was allowed to act of it’s own accord was her grandmother’s eyes as she tracked every slightest flinch of muscle. when her father left the room her grandmother reached out and took bradley’s hand n bradley looked at this like it was smthn she’d never seen before until her grandmother leaned close and all she could stare at was a nicotine stain on one of her front teeth. “he’s cold, isn’t he? he’s always been cold. i don’t think he’s mine.” bradley could tell from how tight she held her hand that he was. she could tell by the way she smiled as she said it, too. the way she felt obliged to smile back.

growing up in a huge white house in aquila drive w pruned hedges sounds idyllic n looks it too. swanky cars w tinted windows in the long driveway. always men filing in and out under the cloak of night wearing expensive suits n smiles worthy of a politician’s billboard. bradley’s mum alyssa thought so too n that’s hw she got into this whole mess tbh. tony milligan is very good at advertising. he cld package a jarred human heart as strawberry jam and convince u to spread it on ur toast if he wanted to. he could make u smile politely as u ate ur own. 

alyssa ws this very pretty blonde kind of mysterious presence in a room. everyone wanted to kno her story or fk her but noone rly treated her like a person more just like a puzzle to solve. john green syndrome alert..... literally manic pixie dream girled bt on turbo charge. there were vague whispers she’d run away from home when she appeared in town out of nowhere bt nothing concrete. tony decided he wanted to crack the case n once he set his mind to something there was no changing it. they wound up embroiled in a whirlwind romance. head over heels. he came at romance hard and fast as a freight train. alyssa knew he was into shady things but not quite the full extent of it n honestly she didn’t care bc she wanted security n a family to call her own n tony promised that. they were married within a year. 

tony came frm money bt he wanted to carve his own path n make his own legacy. destined fr greatness he’d tell her. we’re destined for greatness. it sounds nice doesn’t it! alyssa thought so too.

(drugs mention tw) slowly over the yrs he essentially forged his own crime organisation tht only grew. he opened a strip club down the seedier side of irving called ‘no angels’ n this became the front thru which his gang ran drugs in the back (predominantly coke n they pride themselves fr having a Superior Blend apparently) as well as laundering cash n this also was kind of their home base to hang

(abuse tw) their marriage increasingly lost it’s shine n alyssa came to realise she’d been sold a lie n she didn’t rly know this person or what he was capable of right around the time bradley was born. by then it was kind of like Wow i am rly in this n there is not an exit door huh. i won’t go into details bt things were not good at all. bradley witnessed n experienced a lot of things she shouldn’t have growing up. she didn’t understand why other kids drew home in all these different coloured crayons like they were bright places to be. she didn’t understand why everyone got so excited when the bell rang at the end of the day bc she just felt sick. she rationalised tht this was normal when she was younger bc sometimes kids talked abt the monsters under their beds giving them nightmares n she thought mayb they were talking abt their dads too. as she got older she realised tht actually her world wasn’t the same as anyone else’s n she also realised no-one wld ever be able to tell her why. she started becoming friends with the angry feeling in her chest tht she used to try and swallow around this time. often she’d wander the mall for a while to put off going home. smoke on random park benches. watch trains rattle thru town from the vantage point of a random rooftop. 

(abuse, missing person implied, murder implied & grief tw) when bradley was 12 she woke up and all of her mum’s clothes were gone frm their drawers. no shoes anywhere. a framed photo of them at the beach holding bradley as a baby vanished from over the mantelpiece. when bradley asked her dad what was going on, tony essentially said “it was exhausting her. being here. being your mother. she didn’t want to do it any more, so now she’s gone” n then he hugged her. little details leaked into the mix over the yrs. at one point tony dismissed her as having flown overseas to a foreign country to drink in the sun like she’d always wanted even tho alyssa always told bradley she liked the snow best (once she even walked outside as it fell in a thin lace nightgown when tony was out n when bradley said “mom you’re gonna get cold” she only tugged her down and made her do snow angels until her lips looked blue). the most significant memory bradley can never shake from her head is her mother cupping a yellow tulip at the park n saying she hated them. when bradley asked why she only turned and smiled at her as she stroked the hair from her face n then said “because they look so happy”. after bradley’s mum vanished a long flower bed at the bottom of the garden was suddenly overrun with dozens of freshly planted yellow tulips. whenever bradley looked at them out of her window she got this sickly feeling in the pit of her stomach like she was visiting a cemetery. she suspected what had happened to her mum (especially as rumours circulated within tony’s organisation abt alyssa being unfaithful with someone tht used to work fr him) bt she cld never bring herself to truly accept it. thus she ws stuck in this strange purgatory state of not-quite-anger at her mum for “leaving” and not-quite-grief.

bradley rly started to transgress in school after her mum was gone. alyssa was always kind of a character when she’d pick bradley up (wasn’t doing well n acted kind of ‘eccentric’ i suppose u cld say) so tony managed to spin it all as a child acting out in the wake of an unfit mother uprooting n abandoning. bradley became........ interesting. JKHGFSSKJGHFSGHSKFGHFG. she’d snap n resort to violence very easily. very desensitised to it. students were kind of scared of her tbh. as this progressed into proper high school she got in w the more rowdy popular crowd solely bc she was so fking.... wild for lack of a better word. rly would just do anything fr the thrill. had no sense of ‘i shouldn’t do this bc it’s dangerous’. partied harder than anyone. bit back harder than anyone. no filter. hung w a lot of guys honestly bc they had less morals n either found her scariness cool or wanted to fk <3

(hospitalisation, depression & drugs tw) she’s had. a few stints in psychiatric institutions fr various reasons tbh. missed a small chunk of her senior yr fr this but it wasn’t widely known just kind of rumoured. she showcases a lot of similar symptoms to her mum who struggled w severe depression (which was difficult to cope w when ur husband was often pouring ur prescription down the drain fr kicks) n in order to compensate fr the lows she takes a lot of things to kick them into highs. drinks n snorts too much. bradley i love u bt i’m begging u to seek healthier coping mechanisms......

as the yrs went on (especially once alyssa had gone) tony rly started trying to integrate bradley into the business side of things...... she literally. is named bradley bc he was expecting a boy n he was like well let’s still call her bradley. n had in mind she’d still fulfil the role he wanted her to of being his little protege so to speak.... both sexist n ugly all in one fell swoop...... an example of this is he literally. bought her a mint green switchblade for her 14th birthday n named it tinkerbell bc it would “die without attention” aka using it. tht sounds like a healthy gift to give a child tony congratulations sis <3

in an ideal world bradley wld have gone to uni to study psychology bc she jst wants to know how the fk her dad is literally like that bt she probably stuck around n is now managing no angels along with billy n marco (billy’s in her dad’s gang n is, u guessed it, a cunt, n marco is his sort of right hand man so to speak) bc tony’s in the closest neighbouring city overseeing a second ‘no angels’ opening up there to expand into a franchise n widen their income margins. bradley wld also be sort of used as a honey trap type deal once she got older if they needed to lure ppl places n sometimes still is bt it depends. the guys in the club all know not to mess w bradley bc she’s tony’s daughter n literally kind of scary herself sometimes bt there’s also this certain allure tht comes with being the boss’ daughter n it kind of comes across in how they act or talk abt her. yes i will kill them all n no i won’t feel bad abt it <3

think that’s kind of all u need to kno history wise... blinks one eye out of sync w the other..... runs to personality

PERSONALITY:

a phrase i wld always use to describe bradley in old intros is “like a cup of black coffee with one grain of sugar that u don’t taste until the last sip”. also dark chocolate. lime. liquorice. she’s an acquired taste n i feel like u either love her or u hate her. 

cannot express how unpredictably chaotic she is..... frequently throws a drink in a stranger’s face jst to start something bc she’s bored. loves to hurl cheese slices across the room so they slap onto someone’s face out of nowhere. likes smashing things. stubbing cigarettes out on faces in framed family photographs. will literally pick a lock n then smash the window besides it to defeat the whole purpose just bc she found how neat it was boring. does anything fr the adrenaline n thrill. gets into far too many fights n fights dirty. probably been thrown out of every bar in town at least three times. banned from a bunch too.

she’s witty bt she has a dark sense of humour..... can be quite mean.......... loves to roast ppl for no reason........ honestly has some nathan young frm misfits aspects in that sense like jst seems untouchable emotionally n like she doesn’t take anything seriously n is fking outrageous about it.....

has this quality abt her tht kind of scares herself sometimes. it’s like she recognises parts of her dad in her. she’s very perceptive (bc she’s had to be over the yrs trying to read every micro-expression of her dad’s to predict what’s next) n like emotionally intelligent in a way which is ironic bc her own emotions r just an absolute minefield.... bt. she can read people quite well. gets this eerily calm look abt her sometimes n it’s jst like god what’s. she thinking. what’s she’s gna do. i’m shaking. a cool n controlled kind of rage can often be scarier than the explosive type n bradley does that well. grits my teeth n tugs on my collar....

very strong on the surface. hates being vulnerable. has this ingrained idea that crying is childish or rly any kind of emotional display within herself. 50% not taking things seriously 50% angry. tht’s how she comes across....... internally? whole different story. bt ppl don’t see that.

very cavalier abt some things. will flash her tits n not even think abt it. jst very out there...... one of her closest friends is a homeless man named joe who wears neon purple fishnets on his head n loves to spit on ppl from over an underpass. finds eccentric ppl like this funny n surrounds herself w them. loves to be kept on her toes.

LOVES driving stolen cars down the wrong side of the highway. it’s a lot.

fiercely loyal to a fault to a select few bt if u wrong her personally this can switch pretty quick. quite a force to b reckoned w n will hold a grudge. bt like. if ur a Chosen One she’d bury a body for u no questions asked. 

WANTED CONNECTIONS

deals to u: bradley isn’t like full time into dealing bt she does do it sometimes.... treats it kind of like a hobby bc the lesser ranked can do tht shit as far as she’s concerned bt.. sometimes also jst gets bored n is like. why not. might be chaotic. mayb they’ll try to rob me <3 we love the thrill <3 or like..... if ur friends w her she’ll deal to u n no she will not do a friends discount <3 or if she does there will definitely be some sort of stipulation attached <3

high skl crew: if ur muse is local n ws an absolutely demonic hell spawn in high skl tht went to 1974547254 parties n was outrageously chaotic n rude then. bradley probably was friends w them <3 her friendships tend to be surface level bt they’d definitely go out a bunch bt whether they actually knew a lot abt her life is debatable bt we could explore options fr this

people who work at no angels: no angels is her dad’s strip club in irving that she kind of helps to run now. it’s kind of a shifty environment. the place where ud have an outrageous bachelor party. u go for the first time w a fake id n u get served bt u also get ur wallet stolen n ur convinced someone spat in ur drink n u also kind of think there might b a hit on u now after u made eye contact too long w a broad shouldered man smoking in a back booth. scary environment. testament to her dad as a person. maybe ur muse is a dancer there or works the bar or security or whatever u name it....

ma’am are u ok?: ur muse found bradley passed out across two bus seats one time in smudged dark eyeliner a silver slip dress n the world’s chunkiest combat boots this town hs ever seen. sometimes she winds up in spots like this when she goes too hard n it’s absolutely dangerous n reckless bt that’s jst bradley <3 mayb they forged an unlikely friendship frm this strange meeting or maybe even? dare i say it? a romance? opposite worlds colliding? good influence? let’s go crazy. release ur inhibitions. feel the rain on ur skin.

hook-ups: bradley’s cavalier abt this stuff..... very unemotional typically..... mayb we cld do an unrequited thing that wld be angsty n fun altho i won’t lie i don’t kno if she’d be the one to catch the feelings.... she rarely sleeps over bt once when she woke up in someone’s bed she hiked over to straddle them carefully as possible so they wldn’t wake up n then pressed her knife to their neck as a fun little surprise where she said boo when they opened their eyes.... she’s a lot clearly.

watermelon slugger, hiiii: bradley has this habit where she gets a bunch of watermelons n then goes to a rooftop n throws them over the edge to watch them explode when they hit the pavement.... maybe ur muse almost got hit by one once n were like WTF???????? another quirky meet cute moment like the bus one <3 can’t stop w them <3 maybe she randomly invited ur muse to do it w her when they were like. a stranger of f the street. she was bored. decided to adopt them as a science experiment. we cn elaborate on this probably....

ouch charlie: similar territory bt she also sometimes shoots pedestrians w a bb gun from rooftops. mayb ur muse wld always get hit by one on a certain route they walked n finally one day they saw her head ducking down behind a ledge n then they see her in the street one day n are like HEY IT’S YOU............. WTF? n bradley’s like ya i’m christ risen again it’s a lot to take in i know...

rly jst anything... mutually destructive friends... exes.... in one rp a character tried to get close to bradley so he cld write an expose all book about her n her family which i found so fking funny so i’ll request that again.... people she’s fought.... ppl whose gf/bf she’s fk’d n it’s caused enemy status.... someone whose place she broke into and shaved their eyebrows off in the night only to draw them on again in crudely thin permanent sharpie lines.... roommates cld be fun n sexy i’d love that actually.... jst anything rly. go wild. kisses everyone tenderly on cheeks.

[keena-kapu]

Acoustic Version

Pairing: Blake/Weiss (Monochrome) Words: 7′740 AU: @dashingicecream‘s RWBY!Rock AU Content Warnings: NSFW AO3 link (Recommended for mobile users!) Summary: Tensions are high. The night before had Blake questioning how she truly felt about her and Weiss's arrangement and left her craving more, but just as she tries to confess, Weiss accidentally dashes that possibility away. But perhaps Weiss is in fact just as interested as Blake is.  Ko-fi | Commissions

The journey to Beacon was a long one. The hours seemed to span on forever, and asides from talking to one another or using personal entertainment, there wasn’t really much to do. For Yang and Ruby, that wasn’t a problem. They had plenty to talk about or games to play. But for Weiss and Blake, between each other that was impossible.

The fact remained, no matter what they’d agreed in terms of their arrangement, they were hurt. But the problem now was how to get out of it. Weiss felt she couldn't say anything, not without it easily being rebutted with the ‘no commitment’ argument; but Blake also felt like she shouldn't say anything again, knowing bringing it up once more would hurt Weiss. While they had good intentions for the other person, remaining silent just let emotions stew on for longer and longer.

It wasn't just them that could sense it. Ruby and Yang could also feel the tension between them throughout the journey. And of course they would, it was strange for the two going from best friends to barely speaking a word to one another in the course of an evening. Such things got both sisters worrying if there would even be a show at all.

Finally, they’d arrived. The bus pulled into the concert hall’s parking lot, stopping itself as close to the main doors as it could next to the stage crew trucks and vans. From there the hotel was within walking distance, but it kept the van out of sight from prying eyes.

“Phew, can't wait to stretch my legs.” Yang arched her back, holding her arms and legs both out and yawned whilst stretching her back, before getting herself up and making her way out the bus. “Better give’em a hand with the bags too.”

Shutting off the game from her scroll, Ruby nodded. “Good idea! Last time Qrow looked a little pissy at us cause we forgot.”

“Yeah, but it was funny though,” Yang admitted. She then looked at the end of the bus toward its last two passengers.

Weiss was sat at the small table, looking at something on her scroll and occasionally flicking her finger to look through, and Blake was right at the rear of the bus, reading a book in bed. The furthest away from each other anyone had seen them throughout the tour. They never said a word to each other, or even prepared to leave just yet.

This couldn't go on forever. The first to break the silence was Weiss, who lowered her scroll with a sigh.

“Actually, could you guys go ahead? I need to speak to Blake. Privately.”

From behind, Blake’s ears had just started to perk up. She’d heard Weiss’s request, looking up toward her and then to the sisters for their answer. Thankfully Ruby gave a small nod.

“Sure, just remember your cases. Um… Are you two still ok to room together?”

Weiss looked back toward Blake for a moment. Neither responded directly to it, so Weiss answered honestly. “Once we talk things out I believe so.”

“Alright, good then! So we'll… see you guys later I guess?”

And with that, Ruby followed Yang to the doors, hopping out and closing the doors behind them, leaving the two girls alone with one another. Weiss placed her scroll back into her pocket and away, walking into the bed area to be with Blake as she started putting her book away as well.

Both were once again quiet. How could they even begin this? In Weiss’s head, she knew she needed to apologise for upsetting Blake with her feelings, and somehow try to express that all she wanted was to make her happy, regardless of the emotions she felt for her. But Blake’s head was thinking of something else.

It wasn't exactly good the night after she’d slept with her ex to admit that she wanted to make their relationship more serious, but that had been the stepping stone to make her realise that. She also wanted to make Weiss happy and wanted to be happy with her. It was time to move on and had been for a long long while. She just needed to say the words.

Both of them took a deep breath, and then...

“I kinda want us to start dating-” “I’m sorry for how I reacted-”

“Huh?” “What?”

Both had blurted out in unison, unable to hear what the other said. Weiss cleared her throat, looking to one side. “I’m sorry, I interrupted. You go first.”

“No, no, you go first, really.” Blake insisted, shuffling to sit on the edge of the bed. “Please, what was it?”

“Okay…” Taking another deep breath in, Weiss sighed slowly to try and calm herself down, before looking up again and making eye contact. She wanted to be completely open with her words.

“I’m sorry for how I reacted last night.,” Weiss took her seat on the bed opposite, holding her hands together. “We’d said we didn’t want anything messy and it was all just for fun. I don’t know why I got so upset about it.” She shrugged her shoulders, looking to one side. “I guess… Since you’re the first person I’ve ever really slept with, I just got ahead of myself with it. I just assumed that I’d be the only one you’d want to do that with.”

Blake looked shocked. Did that mean she returned her feelings? This was her chance! “Weiss, I-”

“No, please, let me keep going,” This time Weiss insisted. “I’ve started, I need to finish.”

While Blake wanted to confess there and then, she stopped herself. She nodded to her, encouraging her to keep going.

“Anyway, it wasn’t fair of me to make that assumption. I was selfish, and as it stands… I like what we’re doing right now.” Looking back again, Weiss chuckled to herself, thinking about their recent moments together. “This is probably everything I could ever wish for in a first time. No messy endings or mixed feelings, just two people exploring and having fun. Hell, it's every bit of the rockstar lifestyle I thought I’d never fit into when I first left home.”

Smiling fondly, she shrugged her shoulders lightly. “I guess I went off on a tangent, but the point I made stands. I want to keep having that freedom with you, and I still want you to feel as free as you want too. So from here on, I’ll keep my awkwardness to myself. Deal?”

How could Blake respond to that now? That pretty much answered the request she was about to make, and any commitment was a downright no. To ask again now after hearing her pour her heart out would be truly disrespectful. But just as Weiss agreed to, Blake decided to keep her own feelings to herself. It's what Weiss wanted. And what they’d agreed. No mess, just sex. She forced a smile, nodding. “Deal.”

“Alright. Excellent.” Weiss grinned in response. “Anyway, what were you going to say?”

“U-uh…”

Shit, why didn’t I just go first?! At least that way Blake wouldn’t be stood around awkwardly umming and ahhing about what to say instead of asking Weiss out. Scratching her head, she laughed nervously, looking toward the ground.

“I… was just gonna apologise as well. I know we said it's no commitment but the least I could have done was kept you in the loop. Especially since it was your hotel room as well.”

Weiss seemed oddly surprised at the response. She raised an eyebrow at first, as though she were about to question it. But in the end, she said nothing. She shrugged her shoulders. “Well, that’s fine. I had anything embarrassing packed away, if that’s what you mean, so her seeing any of my stuff was not an issue. Speaking of which...”

Sliding forward, Weiss got to her feet again. But instead of making her way off the bus like Blake had expected, she was instead looking under her bed, pulling out her case from beneath the bed. She opened it up, starting to look through. “I bought something a few nights ago I’ve wanted us to try.”

“Oh?” Blake’s curiosity piqued. Once again, Blake was pushing her feelings to the back of her mind to deal with later. “This isn’t gonna be liked the flavoured condoms, right?”

“We agreed never to speak of that again,” Weiss said in a hushed tone, “but at least we now know you’re allergic to honey. Ah-hah!” Moving aside one of her shirts, she’d found the item she was searching for. A cardboard box. Opening it up rather hastily she first tossed out some of the packaging that came with it, and then brought it into view, revealing a sight that made Blake’s eyes widen.

“... You bought a strap-on.”

“I did indeed,” Weiss confirmed, holding it up for Blake to see. The ice blue toy, probably just over six inches in length made Blake continue to stare with wonder. Even compared to the very real cock she saw yesterday, seeing this new one in Weiss’s hands had a way of already getting her excited. A fact Weiss giggled when she picked up on it. “You look like you’re about to drool.”

“Huh?” Realising her mouth had been hanging open, Blake shook her head to focus again. It never stopped the huge blush forming on her face when she realised what it meant Weiss had been thinking about. “S-Sorry. I just… didn’t think this would be your thing.”

“To be honest, I don’t know if it is yet…” Weiss chuckled, clearly noticing the blush on Blake’s face and her eyes occasionally glancing at it. She could read her like a book. She looked over with her eyes half closed, smirking lightly. “Looks like it's yours, though.”

Blake swallowed. It certainly did appeal to her to imagine what they’d do, imagine that Weiss was the one in Ilia’s position last night, taking her for a change. Seemed like Weiss knew all too well what got her going these days. Or perhaps… “Did you guess that just because both my partners before had dicks?”

Seemed Weiss was caught in the act, given how red that question made her cheeks. “Well… Alright, that fact may have slightly influenced the purchase.” Though she placed it to one side, instead tilting her head to Blake. “Does that really matter? You still looked eager to try it the moment I pulled it out.”

“No, I guess it doesn’t matter.” Blake really was eager to try it, staring at it on the bed next to Weiss. The bus was empty, but Ruby and Yang had gone ahead to check into the hotel, and probably would remain there to use the facilities and settle. Chances were the drivers would be taking their well-earned breaks too. They had a lot of spare time.

“... Don’t suppose you want to try it now?”

Weiss froze solid, looking at Blake wide-eyed, sparing only a few blinks every so often. “Wow… You really are eager, huh?” Though taking the length into her hand again once more, she took a look at the ‘strap’ part specifically. It looked simple enough, like a pair of underwear with the toy sticking out of the front. There was nothing to adjust or alter in any way. And yet still, Weiss questioned. “ Can we try it now? Do we need anything special to set up?”

Blake couldn’t help but laugh to herself. “It’s sex, not a science experiment.” She found herself crossing her legs, trying her best to hide the growing length from the view of Weiss. She really was eager just as expected. “Well, we shouldn't even need a condom so it's just lube-up and go, really.”

Weiss blinked again, staying very still. “... Lube?”

“Mmhmm.” Blake hummed to confirm, nodding her head. But Weiss still didn’t move. Blake raised an eyebrow. “... You did buy some of that too, right?”

Again more silence for a moment, until she looked to Blake instead. “... In my defense, the video I watched didn’t show that part.”

“Weiss!”

“Well, I’m sorry! I thought it would be informative, okay?!” She was completely red with embarrassment, shrugging her shoulders in an attempt to hide it and looking toward the ground. "The girls I watched just did it and they seemed to enjoy it without any.”

Blake raised an eyebrow again. “Were they both cis girls, by any chance?”

“... That makes a difference?”

Blake sighed deeply, trying to stop herself laughing again at the whole scenario. That was another feature about Weiss. Even if she didn’t mean to, she made her laugh. And no doubt they’d both look back on this and end up laughing.

“First off, never take lessons from porn, it's nothing like real life. And second, yes it does. The back end doesn’t work the same way as the front does.”

“Well forgive me for being a distracted enough to not consider that!” Bringing her hand to her forehead, Weiss shook her head in disbelief. If she didn’t laugh about it she’d cry, but being able to laugh about their mishaps was what made everything so meaningful. Taking the toy again, she began to shift off the bed to pack it away again…

“Hang on,” Blake was quick to stop her. “I think I might have picked up the bottle Ilia left. Should still have some in it.”

Weiss said nothing. She sat back on the bed again, keeping the toy in her lap just until she’d confirmed. While it wasn't a problem to go out and get some for later in the evening, Weiss felt the sooner they tried this toy out, the easier everything could be after. Talking, figuring things out, anything. But they needed that moment of intimacy first to truly move past the events of last night and prove that terms were still good.

“Yes!” Blake couldn't help but whisper to herself with glee, pulling the half-empty bottle of lube from her bag. “More than enough for now.”

In another moment of confidence, Weiss looked up from the toy again, only to smirk in her direction. “Well, what are you waiting for?” Her hands lead to the bottom of her shirt, pulling it up and over her head and waiting politely for Blake to do the same. “Let’s get using it.”

Blake didn't have to be told twice. It seemed her and Weiss were in the same frame of mind, where the sooner they had an intimate moment the better. Both hurriedly undressed, throwing their clothes into a pile together. The bus’s beds didn't exactly offer the most spacious area for this sort of thing, but they would make do.

Blake, now naked, sat on the edge of the bed, watching in anticipation as Weiss pulled their new toy into place. And once it was in position, she was speechless. But the redness in her cheeks now that she could see it on, see the length there and ready, that spoke more than any words could.

“ Now you’re drooling,” Weiss commented.

“If you could see what I could, you wouldn't blame me.” She hesitated. For a moment she debated to herself, before taking the risk; “There’s something about seeing you with a hard on that’s just… wow.”

Weiss raised a brow. She began to run her hand along the length as though it were a real one and she was keeping it erect. “Well, glad I look pleasing to you. I was worried it wasn't going to be my look.”

Honestly, you could do any look. That was all Blake wanted to say. But she wasn't quite brave enough to do so. Instead, she stayed silent, tilting her head and wearing the blush with pride. Might as well make it look attractive and lure Weiss in. She crossed her legs again innocently. “It definitely is, if it helps to hear it.”

Weiss scoffed, trying not to be distracted from the job at hand. She collected the bottle, looking at its label for short moments and the contents within, while her spare hand continued to stroke the toy, clearly to put on a show for her. “Hmm… according to this, I need to put it on the toy and your-” She had to clear her throat. Blake really wasn't the only one getting flustered by thinking about this.

Blake spared her the trouble of finishing the sentence. “You can use a condom over your fingers for that part. Saves you clean up.”

“Right, y-yes.” She took Blake’s advice, quickly grabbing her handbag and searching through for a condom and immediately tearing it out of its packaging. This is certainly not how she expected their morning to be going a few minutes ago. “Just… be sure to talk me through this. I don’t want to do it wrong and hurt you somehow.”

But as Blake watched Weiss coat her now covered fingers in the lubricant, she couldn’t be surer of her response. “You won’t,” Already she pushed herself back onto the bed, laying back onto the covers and spreading her legs ready. “I know you won’t. I trust you.”

It brought a warm smile to her face. Amazing how Blake could make her feel so confident in her moments of weakness just with the right words and phrases, no matter what it was. Getting back to the task at hand, she stepped forward and pressed the fingers between Blake’s cheeks.

To which she suddenly flinched at in response.

“What? What is it?” Weiss pulled her hand away instantly. “What did I do wrong?”

“No, nothing!” Blake tried to laugh it off. A familiar problem she’d had the night before had returned. “It’s just a little cold, that’s all.”

“Oh.” Weiss nervously laughed with her. She placed the spare hand on Blake’s thigh, gently rubbing it to soothe her somehow. “Do you want me to keep going anyway?”

“Please.” This time, Blake made sure to grasp at the blankets below, bracing herself ready. “I’ll try not to this time.”

“You don't have to. I’ll just have to remember how you twitch in the future.”

And once again, Weiss eased her fingers forward to Blake’s opening. And once again was met with a series of twitches and shudders. But this time, she persevered. She pushed the lubricant against the opening, circling and prodding to prepare Blake for what was to come. And judging from the way she gripped the sheets and bit her lip, it was met with positive response.

“Oh my god why does this look so good?” Weiss asked herself, unable to stop herself looking away from what was happening. When she felt things loosen up enough, she pushed her fingers inside.

And was met with a muffled moan from Blake.

When she looked up towards her face instead, it was a picture of pure bliss. Red cheeks, eyes closed and her eyebrows furrowed while she bit her lip to contain her sounds. It looked like she was having the time of her life already, something truly hypnotic to watch.

“Oh my god… why does she look so good?” She couldn't draw herself away from looking. It truly was wonderful to watch Blake come loose under her fingers. How far could that go? She decided to experiment a little more to find out. On the next thrust inward with her fingers, she decided to curl them to watch the reaction.

“Hoh!”

Immediately Blake grasped the sheets even tighter. And it only continued when Weiss teased more. She continued to move her fingers in and out, curling each time and sending pulses of pleasure through Blake’s body.

“I could do this all day…” It was accidental that Weiss said that out loud, but she meant every word. Somehow seeing Blake so pleasured by the simple movements of her fingers brought her far more satisfaction than receiving pleasure herself.

She really couldn't keep it up all day though. With the next thrust forward, Blake had to reach between her legs and grasp Weiss’s wrist to stop her. Absolutely breathless, she’d only just managed to rasp out. “D-don't. I’m… I’m gonna finish early if you keep it up.”

It was tempting to keep going anyway and finish Blake this way, a call back to their first sober encounter this way. But seeing as she was already dressed for the occasion, she did as Blake asked, drawing her fingers back from their full depth to allow her to recover. “Alright. Are you ready for the full thing now?”

“Yes.” She released her grip from Weiss’s wrist. “Just cover the toy with lube too.”

Weiss nodded, finally withdrawing her fingers and removing the condom from them.

Now the real fun was going to begin. Blake watched Weiss eagerly as she grabbed the bottle of lubricant again, giving the toy a fair amount and rubbing it over. But there was another important question. Position. As easy as it would be to repeat the position from last night with Ilia, she didn't want that. She wanted something a little more interesting. Not just for herself, but for Weiss to experience as well.

After realising her feelings last night, all she wanted was to be as close to Weiss as possible, in any way she could. There was certainly a position she could think of that would allow that.

“... You mind if we try something?”

Weiss looked up from what she was doing, having just finished coating the member. “I can't see how I can say no. What are you thinking?”

“Sit on the edge of the bed.”

Although skeptical, Weiss obeyed. She sat on the bed next to her as Blake asked, positioning the toy upright and ready. The confusion didn't last long when she finally realised what Blake was up to, however. She sat up and climbed up onto Weiss’s lap, straddling herself across mere inches from the coated length. To support herself, she held her hands on Weiss’s shoulders, looking down with a rather nervous smile.

“Is this alright?”

“Oh my…” Something about this position brought a lot of heat to Weiss’s face. And down below as well. Sure, Blake was usually the party on top, but this was in a very different way. She’d be riding her, she’d be the more submissive party. Something about that just got Weiss’s heart racing like nothing she’d felt before. Supporting Blake’s waist, she looked up to her with a flustered expression of her own. “More than alright.”

There weren't many more words to be said. Blake stared into Weiss’s eyes for a long while, almost finding herself getting lost within them. Were they really that pretty before? She really hadn't looked. But now that she was seeing Weiss in a whole new light, she could truly compare them to sapphires. Rare, precious, and beautiful. But that was Weiss all over.

Rather than getting started straight away, she brought a hand back so she could lift Weiss’s chin up, and bring her lips to meet hers in a tender kiss.

A kiss which Weiss insisted on continuing. One of her hands came to support Blake’s shoulders instead, holding her as she rolled her lips around hers, occasionally capturing the lower lip between her teeth. This was so different to any of their kisses before. It was slower, for starters, but something else felt different. It was intimate and loving, the kind of kissing that lovers did.

Were they both mutually feeling that? Blake knew in her heart how she felt but was still clueless as to how Weiss was. And yet, she wasn't backing away yet. In fact, she was the one that wanted the kiss to keep going, that rubbed between her shoulders to encourage her to stay. Maybe… just maybe-

“Hmgh!”

A thrust upward from Weiss cut that thought off completely. Within their kiss, Blake had entirely forgotten where she had been sitting, and what was so close to her opening before. Now the head was pushed in, and she found herself falling away from the kiss to moan out in surprise.

When Blake looked to Weiss’s expression, all that was looking back at her was a smirk.

“Y-you did that on purpose.” She just managed to rasp out.

“Maybe?” Weiss tilted her head and looked up innocently. “Are you upset about that?”

The question was another distraction. Blake felt Weiss’s hands pulling her downward, pushing more of the member inside her and sending yet more shudders up her spine. Oh god, she most definitely was not upset. When the member entered by another three inches Blake moaned out again, her arms returning around Weiss again as she nuzzled her head against her neck.

“I take that as a ‘no’.” Weiss grinned, nuzzling back against Blake in return as she continued her movements. Now they’d settled into a comfortable position, Weiss was able to focus on making this the best experience possible for her. Each time she pushed Blake down, she thrust up, meeting her rear and burying the member in as deep as possible. It started at a slow pace, enough for her to figure out how to do it correctly. So far there were no complaints.

In fact, Blake was joining in, and began to speed up the pace. She felt her matching the movements as her grip tightened, heard the moans in her ear each time she thrust forward. Suddenly she found herself wondering why they hadn't done this weeks ago. Feeling the way her lover was pushing forward with her and showing her need was an experience she couldn't explain. But it was addictive, and brought her far more satisfaction than she could have imagined.

It was certainly creating a burning heat for herself. Even if there was no physical pleasure to be gained, listening to the pleasure Blake was receiving was more than enough for now.

That was displayed again with another gasp. Blake’s grip tightened around Weiss’s body as she shuddered. She could feel her muscles tensing as her finish came closer, shown when her member throbbed between them. “Fuck…!” She bit her lip, desperately trying not to call too loudly.

All Weiss could do was smirk. This really was a callback. She continued to thrust, leaning forward to whisper in her ears the very words that had her screaming that first time.

“Stop holding back. It turns me on when you moan.”

It was Blake’s undoing. She let out a final desperate moan louder than Weiss had ever heard before, shuddering hard in her arms as she felt her finish arrive at last. Her legs tightened around Weiss, forcing the member as far in her as it could possibly get, muscles tensing to try and keep her there so she could take as much of that feeling as she possibly could. It felt so good she’d barely even noticed her member had finished up between them.

Weiss did though. Once she allowed Blake the time to recover she pulled herself back, looking down at the speckles Blake had made on her stomach.

“Wow, that was rude. You made a mess all over me.”

Still breathless, Blake could barely focus her vision when she looked between them to see what she meant, let alone think of a real response. She could barely even speak out between breaths to apologise.

But Weiss only giggled in response to it. She was simply enjoying the show too much. Seeing Blake in such a pleased and exhausted state offered a huge amount of satisfaction. That only grew when she thought of the reason for that. Her. She was the one that pushed Blake to this peak and over the edge. Not so bad for her first time with this toy.

She moved her grip to Blake’s cheeks, using it as leverage to lift her up and off the length, resting her back down on her lap again after. Neither were too interested in moving just yet, enjoying each other’s embrace for a while longer as Blake recovered.

She’d had her finish, now it was time for Weiss to get hers. She pressed her lips up against Weiss’s neck over and over, peppering up and down with small kisses up and down the skin.

A quiet giggle followed as she leaned into the kisses, holding Blake close to her as a hugged her chest instead. The kisses didn’t stop though. They got harder, mixing with the occasional bite. It wasn’t tickling any longer, now it was starting to build Weiss’s own heat up, just as intended. It wasn’t long until she was pushing Weiss back on the bed, pinning her there and continuing her kisses down from her neck to her collarbone.

Then her cleavage, then her breast, then the top of her stomach… Blake was sure to avoid the spot she’d ‘made a mess’ on. The longer that reminder stayed there, the longer Weiss could enjoy it alongside what was about to happen. She had to climb off her lap to continue the kisses, first unbuckling the strapon to remove it from her then kneeling at the foot of the bed to instead begin kissing Weiss’s upper thighs again and again… until…

There was a hum of delight when Blake hit the spot. Her lips met Weiss’s delicate sex, treating her to a variety of kisses and laps with her tongue. Pleasing Weiss in this way was somewhat of a rarity for Blake to try, she usually preferred to stick with fingers or ‘the typical way’, but it was something she wanted to improve. First, she treated the soft nub at the top to a flick of her tongue, focusing her attention there to circle it back and forth.

That small hum very quickly evolved into something more. Blake’s feline ears perked up to listen as Weiss moaned out into the air. She brought her hands up to her thighs to keep her in place, supporting her throughout as she continued the movements with her tongue, but also to feel every twitch and shudder. She craved Weiss’s response just as much as Weiss had craved her own.

‘This is where I mix it up, right?’ It seemed like the right thing to do. In all honesty, whenever she’d asked Weiss for the best advice on how to please her, there wasn’t much that she’d offered in critique. It was hard to give any when she hadn’t had anyone else to compare it against. In fact, it was her best friend she had to ask for tips from.

“Clit’s a good spot, yeah, but like… Well, you wouldn’t just lick the head of a dick to give a blowjob, would’ya?” She thought back to Yang’s advice. It might have been embarrassing at the time to listen to, but now she was thanking her lucky stars she did. “Vag’ is the same. You wanna mix it up. Treat the lips as well, tease the entrance, all that stuff. Least, that’s what I always like… Basically, if she starts pulling your hair or pushing your head against her for more, you’re doing a good job.”

Tilting her head to the right, Blake experimented with that advice. She instead lapped at the inner lips, both to the right, then to the left.

“Ooooohhh…” It was met with a mixture of a moan and an exhale. Definitely a good sign, even more proven when Weiss gripped the sheets below and allowed her eyes to fall shut. It only continued as Blake did, and Weiss found herself shaking every so often, quivering with the dull pleasure as it swam over her. “H-have you r-read a new boo- Oooh!- B-book or something? Because t-THIS!- this is so new…!”

Blake didn't want to break away to respond. Instead, she offered a small growl in the midst of her work, hoping her warm breath might also help with the building pleasure. Next, she lowered her head a little more. This time when she lapped, she was sure to do so right at Weiss’s entrance.

“WHOA! Shit!”

Hands reached into Blake’s hair in an instant. The response was electric! With each lap around Weiss’s entrance, a moan followed, the grip on her hair seeming to tighten as she tried to keep Blake right where she needed her. More and more shudders came the more she continued, it became very clear that Weiss was coming undone.

That much was obvious when Weiss tried to pull her closer, voice dripping with need. “F-fuck! Blake I’m-... I’m gonna-!”

No more needed to be said. Blake knew to finish the job by returning to the clit above, focusing the last of her attention there as she circled it with her tongue over and over, opening her eyes and looking up toward Weiss so she could soak in her response to the full.

Weiss was done for. She shuddered in Blake’s grasp, moaning her name loudly as the last of the pleasure seared through her veins and washed over her in wave after wave. Waves that Blake managed to maintain for a few seconds longer with each flick and circle of her tongue, being sure her lover would receive as much joy as she could possibly deliver.

It took nearly a full minute for Weiss to come down from her high. She gasped for breath, panting loudly and laying on the bed. It was heavy breathing mixed with a very weak laughter when she tried to look down, unable to even open her eyes. “That was… wow. Holy shit…”

“It was okay?” A stupid question perhaps, but Blake was eager to know.

“Okay?!” Weiss laughed again, this time using all her remaining strength to sit upright, having to hold her arms behind her for support. “Blake, that was probably the most intense orgasm I’ve ever had. Where on earth did you learn to do that so good all of a sudden?”

Red dusted Blake’s cheeks once more as she looked off elsewhere, tucking a few stray strands of hair behind her ear. “You know me and Yang talk about anything, right? Well, I just happened to ask and she gave me some tips.”

“ Yang told you how to do that?!” It looked like she was embarrassed at first. But as quick as it appeared, it faded. “You know what? If her lessons make you that good , I don't even care if she knows you’ll be using them on me. I’m not complaining about that performance at all.”

“Didn't think you would.” Blake giggled quietly. But speaking of the other band members, it only just occurred to Blake how far behind they really were. Their ‘moment of madness’ must have delayed them by a good half hour at the very least. “We’d better get showered up and go, I’ll bet they’re waiting for us.”

“Of course, yes. But first, Blake?”

The soft voice stopped Blake in her tracks just as she was about to fetch her clothes again. “Yeah?”

“Thank you for forgiving me. I’m really glad we’re still doing this.”

Such a simple phrase had completely caught Blake off guard. In her head, Weiss hadn't absolutely any reason to be sorry in the first place, but in her heart, she wished for so much more than this. And she was so very close to telling her that fact too… If only she’d spoken first, maybe she wouldn't be stuck in this limbo of her own feelings.

But it didn't matter. She smiled back in return to Weiss and nodded. “You didn't have anything to be sorry for, but I’m glad we’re together too.”

A subtle word choice perhaps, but it seemed Weiss didn't focus on it while she concentrated on cleaning up her stomach. Blake did, however. And now a different focus was on her mind.

‘Maybe I should be asking Yang for more advice other than just sex stuff…’

Hours later, everything had been back to normal. The two had reassured the others that they were back on good terms then got straight to unpacking for their week’s stay. The first performance was tomorrow, but tonight, everyone had their own plans to unwind before the big night.

While he was in town, Blake took the opportunity to go out with her friend Sun to a local bar upon hearing it was ‘Faunus night’, so Weiss had made plans to keep herself occupied with Ruby. It had been too long since she last hung out with her best friend, and room service with a side of pizza was just what the doctor ordered. Might as well have a chilled out evening and a friendly chat and save the drinking for tomorrow after their show.

“I’m surprised you weren’t out with Yang tonight,” Weiss mentioned, taking another slice of pizza from the box. “Or that she’s not come back here.”

“She said she was seeing someone tonight?” Ruby took a sip from her can of soda, still scrolling through the TV to try and find something decent to serve as background noise. “And then said ‘don’t wait up for me’ in her special voice. I’m guessing that’s sister code for ‘I’m getting laid but I don’t want to tell you out loud ‘I’m getting laid’ ’.”

Weiss couldn’t help but scoff at that while chewing on her pizza, nodding her agreement before she could answer. “ That voice. Yes, Winter is also a user of ‘the voice’ when she tries to discuss her evening plans, and she too used ‘the voice’ to describe tonight.”

Ruby paused a moment. “Hey, wasn’t your sister in town this week for one of the shows?”

“Indeed she is, we’re meeting tomorrow morning for coffee. No sooner than that. I think she’s eager to ‘relax’ now that she’s back for a while. Hence the voice.”

“Maybe they’ll meet up and go date hunting together.” Ruby smiled, leaning back against the wall and taking another sip of soda. “Oh, hey! Did you and Blake figure out that thing you needed to?”

“Yes, we did,” Weiss responded to Ruby now she’d finished the last of her pizza, crudely licking her fingertips to clean them. A rather bad habit she picked up from her friend. “It was easily figured out. Just a small disagreement we had the night prior with the… sleeping arrangements. I don’t understand how we let it drag out for so long.”

Ruby tilted her head. Sleeping arrangements… that’s what the kids were calling it these days, huh? Rather than drag this out for longer or even use it to tease, Ruby cleared her throat. “Y’know that Yang already told me that you two are kind of a thing, right?”

To which Weiss sighed in response. A mixture of both annoyance and relief, but she brought her hand to her face. “Please tell me it’s only you two that know? Because it’s really not enough to make a big deal out of.”

“Just me and her,” Ruby confirmed, offering her a reassuring smile. “But you do both make a cute couple! I’ll admit I did squeal a little bit when Yang told me.”

“Yeah… Right.” Weiss didn’t seem as thrilled at that as expected. In fact, she looked off into the distance instead, bringing her hands back and holding them in each other. “We’re not a couple. Not really. We’re just… Experimenting, or whatever you’d want to call it.”

“Oooh…” The cogs seemed to have turned for Ruby as she nodded, also avoiding eye contact as she looked towards the TV instead, but not truly watching. “You’re just ’doing stuff’ . That’s cool too! As long as you’re both okay with it and safe and… whatever.”

“Of course we’re both okay with it. We’d never arrange it if we weren't… although…” Weiss had been about to begin, though hesitated. Eventually, she shook her head. “Nevermind, it’s dumb. You won't want to know.”

“No no, I do!” Ruby took her focus back on Weiss again and looked over, moving the last pizza boxes to the bedside table instead so she could shuffle closer to her. “C’mon, it’s been ages since we last talked like this. You can say anything to me if it’s bothering you so really, go ahead.”

Weiss continued to stare at her hands for a long moment. She really hadn't confided in Ruby in a very long time, since she and Blake started to do things with one another in fact. It would feel good to have an ally that knew the circumstances, and even better for that ally to be Ruby once again. She shuffled on the bed, facing toward Ruby instead. “Okay. This arrangement we have? We’d agreed to have it open-ended. No commitments, no ‘girlfriend’ label, nothing like that. I thought I’d be okay with that until… well…” She sighed, looking down again. “Until she actually did sleep with someone else.”

“Oh? OH! Oooohh….” Mere seconds it took for Ruby to figure it out, to which she then winced. “So that was the issue with sleeping arrangements…”

“Well done.” Weiss shook her head as she smiled to herself. At least Ruby could make her laugh in a topic where she really didn’t think she could. But the smile soon faded again, giving way to a much more vulnerable expression. “So now I feel really stupid for how I reacted. This whole ‘no commitments’ thing was my idea in the first place so I had no right to be so hurt by it! But… But it did hurt, a lot. It… It still hurts now.”

Ruby raised an eyebrow. “If it hurts so much, then why are you keeping it going?”

That was a very good question. Weiss shrugged her shoulders, taking a long while to think about that answer. Thinking about it alone was enough to make her eyes begin to water. There must be a reason she wanted to keep it going, and in her gut, she knew it went hand in hand with the reason she was hurt in the first place. It was about time she admitted it to herself as well as to Ruby.

“Because it would hurt more to not have her at all.”

To that Ruby shuffled closer. She placed a hand on her shoulder to rub in the hope it would comfort her a little. Anyone could see the past twenty-four hours had clearly taken their toll on the poor girl and thrown everything she knew so far into question. Ruby didn’t have any answer to give in response, but she wasn’t about to turn her away.

But once the silence was dragging on for too long, she spoke up. “Do you want input? Or is this more ‘I’m letting this out’ right now?”

“It’s definitely the latter.” Weiss sniffed, rubbing her eyes to catch a tear before it fell. “But what advice do you have to offer?”

“Well, firstly… It sounds like you want to be more than an arrangement. ” Ruby was pointing out the obvious, but a good place to start. Sometimes having someone else say it aloud helped. “Do you think she does too? Like, are there any hints?”

“No, she doesn’t.”

But the instant she spoke it aloud, she paused. “Wait… There might be?”

Weiss’s cheeks were turning red as she remembered. “I mean… During uh… ‘making up’ today she did initiate a kiss that was kind of…” She tilted her head, thinking back to that moment back in the van, to that intimate kiss they’d both shared right before Weiss used the toy properly. The one that Blake herself started. “Okay, I’m sorry if this is dumb or TMI or whatever, but it didn’t feel like an ‘I want to screw you’ kiss. It felt like a nice… romantic kiss.”

“So… what did you do? Other than kissing back, I mean.”

Weiss’s blush intensified further. “Well, I got excited and I jumped and it pushed the toy into-”

“OKAY THIS IS THE TMI PART NOW!” Ruby called out quickly as she reached to cover her ears instead.

“You asked!” Still flustered, Weiss shrugged her shoulders. “I panicked! I had to play it off smooth as if I meant to do that, else it would have been really awkward!”

“Alright alright, okay, we’re going slightly off topic.” Ruby only just uncovered her ears again, trying to hide her own forming blush before it got any worse. Once clearing her throat, she looked back to Weiss again. “I think, even though you might be a little scared to… You should tell her. Because holding this back, letting yourself get hurt by something she doesn’t even know hurts you? That’s just not fair on you. And it might lead to a fight, then… Then you really could lose her.”

Weiss held her head in her hands once more. “God, you’re right. You’re completely right.” It pulled at her heart to admit that, and to even think of what could happen.If she confessed and Blake didn’t feel the same way too, what would happen to their arrangement? Could it even go on longer or would it get messy?

Even bigger than that, what would it do to the band if there was a huge fallout? This was their final show, on their biggest tour ever. There was no way she could allow this mess to ruin that for everyone now, not when they were so close! But that meant swallowing her feelings for a little longer, and possibly being hurt for longer.

But for her friends, for her new life, for Blake , she’d do it.

“I’ll wait till after the last show.” She looked downward again, sighing quietly to herself. “It’s only a couple of days, then if anything does go wrong… At least the shows will be done.”

That was that. While Ruby wasn’t a fan of her friend putting it off even longer, she understood. In a few days, all the questions would come to an end, and the answers for the future would become clear for everyone. The band and their careers, Blake and Weiss with their relationship; all of it could possibly hang in the balance. It was just a matter of waiting, waiting for the perfect moment to finally confess her feelings and reach the closure that they both deserved.

As long as nothing worse happened first.