#we have to do group assignments and turn in one copy

[poisonpercy]

My research methods discussion group makes me feel like a fucking genius holy fucking shit. I have never met people more dumb and unwilling to do work than this assigned group I got stuck with this semester

[chilling-seavey]

Dreamland (ln4) - Part Two

↳ A/N Thank you to my girl @grandprixwinnerlandonorris for delivering me like 5000 pictures of Lando in a button up at my request and, as always, being the proofreader for this universe hehe

↳ [Loosely] Inspired By: 'Don't Wake Me Up' by Why Don't We

↳ Summary: With a freshly purchased copy of your most recent book in hand, Lando is one of the first in line for your book signing when your tour brings you to Bristol. Having dreamt about you for months, he’s more than nervous to actually speak to you in person but he certainly gets more than he bargained for

↳ Pairings: Fanboy Lando Norris x Famous!Author!Fem!Reader (NO use of y/n), University Student Lando x Internet Friend George x Internet Friend Alex

↳ Word Count: 20.7k

↳ Warnings: 18+, NSFW, not elaborating on details here for the sake of spoilers!, dirty talk gets nasty, Lando's so incredibly down bad for a girl who doesn't know he exists

PART ONE

Lando stared at his reflection in the mirror as he tucked his button-up shirt into his black slacks, eyeing up each inch of himself for the uncountable time that morning. He tugged at the fabric of his shirt that was bordering on a size too small, hugging his torso just a little more than he'd like, silently willing it to not make him look absolutely ridiculous. He tried to take a few deep breaths as he fed his black belt into the loops on his pants and fastened the buckle at the front but even his hands were feeling a little shaky with nerves. 

As spring melted into summer, Lando’s semester was coming to an end just when your newest book tour was to begin. He had his eye out for any England dates the moment the tour was announced and much to his relief, there was a local date on the schedule. Much to his absolute horror, however, he had a final exam assigned that very same morning. With the help of his two closest internet friends, Alex and George, Lando planned that day down to the minute in order to attend his exam while still making the book signing in good enough time to get a good spot in line.

His 11:00 class was across campus and for the first time almost ever, Lando was the first one there. He looked far too dressed up for someone about to take a practical exam but he had some very important things to do right after class and thus was prepared to wear his best clothes no matter what. He had someone to impress, after all. 

By 2:00 on the dot, the exam was complete and Lando - who had been waiting impatiently at his desk with a finished exam in front of him - nearly ran out the door the moment they were dismissed and he threw his papers on the professor’s desk on the way past. The university hallways were annoyingly crowded and Lando was pushing past people to make it to the transit station down the street to catch the 2:16 bus, his backpack slung over one shoulder in his haste. 

It was a stunning day in comparison to England’s usually drizzly weather and the sun was tucked behind picturesque white clouds that made Lando feel like this entire day was a dream. He figured the weather cleared up into beautiful skies for the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. He was anxious to see you in person after so many long months of distant adoration. 

The bus was still at the stop when Lando ran across the street without a second glance to catch it, pulling his wallet out of his pocket as he did so and flashed the driver his transit pass as he hopped inside. Lando breathed out a soft ‘thank you’ to the driver for waiting for him and then he went to find a seat. The bus lurched forward and he caught himself on one of the poles before swinging himself into an empty aisle right by the large window to catch his breath. 

It was a bit of a drive into the city so Lando pulled out his phone and turned on his data to refresh his messages on Instagram. The group chat was waiting for him.

alex_albon: Good luck, mister accountant!  georgerussell63: Good luck mate! Get this shit out of the way and you’ll get the best reward later 😏 alex_albon: Hahahaha alex_albon: Mate are you done yet?? alex_albon: Did you make the bus?? georgerussell63: RUN LANDO RUN georgerussell63: Love how we don’t care about how his exam went, just that he catches this bus alex_albon: We have great priorities  georgerussell63: Yeah I don’t want this wedding suit I bought to go to waste y’know  alex_albon: Mate I’m literally so sad that we couldn’t go with him georgerussell63: I know georgerussell63: We look like shitty wingmen now alex_albon: Never! landonorris: MADE THE BUS!! landonorris: I don’t even remember what the fuck my exam was even about I was rushing but I made it landonorris: Waterstones, here I come!!!! alex_albon: YESSS!!! georgerussell63: LETS GOOOOO alex_albon: Fit pic?? What did you go with??

Lando glanced around him to make sure no one on the bus was looking as he snapped a picture of his chest and lap to show his outfit to his two friends. 

landonorris: *sent an image* georgerussell63: Yesss mans looks dashing alex_albon: If she doesn’t jump at you across that table, there is something wrong with her landonorris: Oh my god there’s nothing wrong with her landonorris: Just wanna make sure I look my best landonorris: And she said once she likes guys in dress pants so… georgerussell63: You wore dress pants landonorris: Lol yep alex_albon: You’re a complete simp, Lan alex_albon: Love you for that landonorris: I just hope I don’t freeze up or embarrass myself landonorris: I’m going in all alone here lol alex_albon: You literally have all the backup from us through your phone georgerussell63: Definitely!  georgerussell63: What’s your game plan anyway?? landonorris: Idk really landonorris: I don’t want to come across too fan-y landonorris: Tell her she’s a literal genius  landonorris: Tell her that she’s stunning landonorris: That her books are the only ones that I actually read alex_albon: And that you want her to mother your children georgerussell63: HAHA landonorris: If it moulds smoothly into conversation, sure LMAO landonorris: I’m just trying to not get my hopes up for earth shattering conversation or anything but it’s hard georgerussell63: Just be confident and be you georgerussell63: You’re literally a great guy so she’s bound to see that

Lando glanced up from his phone for a moment as the warmth of the afternoon sun hit his face and he peered out the window at the busy city traffic that had slowed the bus to a near stop. 

landonorris: Bruh we just hit traffic alex_albon: Oh shit how far are you georgerussell63: Can you walk it? landonorris: No way still too far

Lando pressed his face against the glass to attempt to see farther down the street if the traffic would clear but it wasn’t showing much at his angle. 

landonorris: Shit I’m literally panicking landonorris: I need to see her today like I can’t miss this georgerussell63: Panicking won’t help just take some breaths alex_albon: I’m putting so many positive vibes into the universe right now georgerussell63: You’ll get there, don’t worry landonorris: The signing is over at 4 and it’s already pushing 3 landonorris: Oh my God I’m going to cry alex_albon: Noooo! No crying no crying alex_albon: Traffic always feels like it takes longer than it actually does georgerussell63: Yeah! Just go over your gameplan a bit! Distract yourself alex_albon: You have the book with you already right landonorris: Yeah ofc landonorris: Bought hardcover off her amazon site last week landonorris: Honestly this was her best one yet georgerussell63: You say that about every book she releases lol landonorris: Mate no this time I mean it landonorris: There was this chapter that was so fucking hot I had to take a cold shower after georgerussell63: PFFF omfg  alex_albon: No spoilers!! I haven’t read it yet landonorris: Haha okok sorry landonorris: Hurry up though because I want to talk about it with someone georgerussell63: Mate I graduate in a week and then I’ll read it I swear alex_albon: We didn’t have to rush to read it because we’re not the ones about to MEET HER georgerussell63: AYYYY landonorris: 🥰🥰

The next stop that was called through the bus speakers was Lando’s - much to his relief - and in quick surprise he reached up to pull the cord to request the stop. He slid his phone back in his pocket and stood up with a secure hand on the bar as he walked towards the doors before the bus had even stopped, already far past impatient to get to his destination already. When the doors slid open, he called his thank you to the bus driver and hopped out onto the busy Bristol sidewalks in the afternoon sun.

landonorris: brb finally on foot now

Since living outside the city for most of his life, Lando was familiar with his way around and he barely even needed the directions from his phone to help guide him towards the nearest Waterstones bookstore. Well, also partially due to the fact that he had gone over his route almost every day since the book tour dates and locations were announced. 

Lando reached the book store just after 3:00 and there was still an insanely long line looping from the front doors of the store and down the sidewalk. Lando paused in place for a moment, his heart sinking at the time in comparison to the number of people still waiting, and it wasn’t until a stranger bumped him out of the way that he snapped back into place. With a shaky breath, Lando hurried down the line and took spot at the end behind two girls who were about his age as well. They each held copies of the new release and were flipping through it together and talking between them about the plot. 

Lando cleared his throat nervously and leaned slightly towards them, “Excuse me, this is the line for the singing, right?”

They both looked back at him with smiles suddenly flat as if his interruption was distasteful, and they gave him a look up and down, lingering on his scuffed up white Vans on his feet. 

“Yeah.” one answered finally. 

Lando pulled a tight smile and nodded once, “Great. Thanks.”

He felt a little stupid standing in a line of teenage and young adult women as the only few males were so clearly only there to accompany their girlfriends. But the momentary out-of-place feeling was soon replaced easily by nervous excitement as Lando caught a glimpse of the sign on the front window of the store that showed your most recent professional headshot and the announcement of the book release and signing; “TODAY ONLY!” it read. 

Lando was nearly silently begging to make it inside, to at least get a glimpse of you in the flesh, although a small part of him was rising with so much nervousness that he kind of hoped he wouldn’t have to face you. He didn’t want to run away now, not when he came so far. 

landonorris: *sent an image* landonorris: In line now!! Look how fucking long this thing is alex_albon: She’s going to be saying that about you someday! georgerussell63: ALEX LMAO  landonorris: Pfjfjf stop omg landonorris: I’m literally the only guy here though georgerussell63: That���s good georgerussell63: Makes you stand out! alex_albon: More those stunning good looks already do georgerussell63: You are damn right, Albono 😌🔥 landonorris: I’m so fucking nervous boys georgerussell63: Blimey you know he’s serious when our jokes don’t make him laugh alex_albon: Focus on that confidence!! You got this mate

The line was moving slowly but surely and Lando was soon stepping into the front vestibule of the store. He swung his backpack around to unzip it and pull out his hardcover copy of the recent release and then zipped his bag back up again. His was one of the only few hardcovers in line - he noted that the girls directly in front of him and behind him had paperbacks - and that fact brought a strange sense of pride to his consciousness. There weren’t too many people in line behind him as time was drawing closer to closing but the distance that Lando still had to the signing table was vast and his nervousness of meeting you was starting to mould into nervousness that he wouldn’t meet you. 

He was too anxious to even check his group chat messages and he tried to stay as in the moment as possible, rising up on his tiptoes to see if he could get a glimpse of the table where you had been sitting for the last three hours. Other fans rushed past him on their way out the door, bearing signed copies of books and over-the-table selfies on their phone screens and Lando tried not to let the jealousy overcome him. Impatient jealousy wasn’t a good look and Lando tugged anxiously at the front of his collared shirt a little to get some air across his body, hoping he wasn’t about to nervous-sweat through his shirt. That would have been embarrassing.

The line inched up some more and as Lando’s spot moved into the store completely and past the main aisle towards the lounge, he was able to spot you in the distance. It was almost like he scared himself at the fact that he saw you and he dropped back down onto his flat feet from his tiptoes with a soft gasp, eyes wide, heart racing. The two girls in front of him gave him a weird look before turning back to their conversation. After his initial shock, he rose up onto his tiptoes again to see over the shelves of books he would never read across the store and let his eyes find your table at the head of the line. 

You were in a black blazer and an emerald green buttoned blouse and your hair fell in natural waves over your shoulders and Lando swore to himself that you looked even more beautiful in person than on Instagram. He clutched your novel to his chest and rested back on his feet again, biting his smitten grin to the carpeted floor of the bookstore. He didn’t want to look away from you as if he had to soak up each second like it was precious. He didn’t have long and who knew when he was going to see you again. 

As quarter to four approached, the line felt no shorter and Lando was getting antsy and his feet were getting sore from waiting around for so long. He was about at the spot where he didn’t have to lean to get a good look at you and his eyes stared right at you almost without blinking like the simple sight of you put him in a trance. It almost felt like he was dreaming. 

You were so happy, smiling at every person who passed over their copy of your book for a signature and talking to them graciously and modestly accepting compliments. Lando swore your polite little laugh was the sweetest sound and he was completely yearning to just get to the front of the line already. 

But then another woman approached you at your table and leaned down to whisper something to you as you smiled in parting with the girl who just received her book back. You nodded to the woman who Lando recognised as your assistant from a few of your Instagram stories and then you stood up from your chair to address the crowd. 

“Sorry, guys, I know you’ve been waiting a while but I have to take a call really quickly. Give me a few minutes…I’ll be right back!” 

Lando swore his heart nearly stopped in the momentary fear that your initial apology was about to be followed with a ‘times up’ but he took a deep breath and checked the time. It was 3:53 but he would wait for you for as long as you needed, he didn’t mind one bit. 

He opened Instagram again for the first time in a little bit and checked the messages from his friends,

alex_albon: Any updates for us?? georgerussell63: Yeah how close are you? alex_albon: Lando?? georgerussell63: Omg he’s probably talking to her right now alex_albon: He probably is  alex_albon: I’m literally so excited for him georgerussell63: This is insane!!!! landonorris: She’s so beautiful landonorris: Not at the front yet but close alex_albon: Jeez that’s a long line georgerussell63: It’s almost 4…are they going to cut you off?? landonorris: Idk idk idk landonorris: 

Lando’s attention was pulled from his messages to the conversation of the girls who stood in front of him in line. 

“We’ve literally been waiting for an hour and she just blows us off for a fucking phone call.”

“What a bitch.”

“Everyone with a blue check on Instagram is the fucking same.”

“So entitled, honestly, she takes our money and then dips.”

Lando spoke up before he could even think, jumping strongly in protectiveness, “Hey. Don’t say that.” 

The girls turned to him with mirrored expressions of annoyance and surprise at his sudden interruption. 

Lando continued, “She literally just had to take a call. Can you give her a few minutes? She’s been sitting here all day for us.” 

One of the girls snorted in sarcastic amusement at Lando’s defence, “Okay, whatever.”

The other added, “Do what you want, but I’m not waiting here like a fucking lameass follower for her to take a phone call like she’s entitled to make us stand around like sheep.” 

They both didn’t give Lando a second look before they were stepping out of line and walking right out of the store. A few more people did the same as 4:00 came and went and it honestly shocked Lando that they weren’t ready and willing to sit by and wait a few more minutes for her…shocked that a few people thought it was a ruse that she played off to leave early. But Lando waited even as the line thinned. He would wait until store closing if he had to. 

By the time you returned to the table, there were only six more people in front of him and one behind him and Lando was trying so hard not to grin ear to ear at simply the sight of you. As if nothing was different and the line wasn’t measly now, you still looked just as content there at your table with a sharpie in hand, offering casual conversation to each person who approached. 

It was nearly 4:30 by the time Lando was next in line and as if reality hit him all at once, his feet wouldn’t move the moment your eyes locked with his. 

“Hey.” you said sweetly. 

Lando’s left foot scuffed over the carpet in an attempt to walk and then he forced himself towards you, “Hey.” 

Despite his racing heart, he was grinning so wide and his obvious excitement had you smiling right back from your chair as you held out your hand to take his book. 

“How are you?” he asked nervously and passed over his copy of the novel. 

“I am doing well, thanks so much for asking.” you replied easily. 

He watched you carefully as you set the novel down so gently on the wooden table top, perfectly square with the edge. 

“A hardcover. They’re my favourite too.” you said with a smile and brushed your hand over the crisp clean cover and then opened it to the first blanket page. “Haven’t seen many of these today.”

“I noticed.” Lando said. “I don’t know why because your hardcover designs are just so fucking stunning. I don’t know who’d choose a paperback.”

You chuckled softly, “Exactly. Glad to know someone has taste.” 

“It’s hard not to when you are literally a genius.”

His copy of your novel left open to the inside cover in front of you, you shared casual conversation for a moment - something he noticed about you was that you never rushed anyone when they were at the table with you. Lando didn’t want to take up too much of your time either, you were already over your time limit. But you listened politely to him, sharpie tucked between your fingers and wrist resting on the open book as he spoke. 

“I don’t read, like, ever…but the moment I skimmed the first page of your first novel I was completely hooked. I couldn’t tell you a single thing about any other book in this entire store. You just write in a way that completely speaks to me like nothing else ever has.”

Lando didn’t even know what he was saying as his words tumbled from his lips for him. 

“That is so kind.” you smiled bashfully. “I’m glad I could offer you some kind of entertainment in a style that you don’t normally turn to.”

“Entertainment? God, you offer me entire worlds. I wish I had an outlet as strong and promising as yours.” 

“What do you do as your outlet?”

Lando hadn’t expected to talk about himself but of course he was going to answer your question,

“Oh, uh…golf, I guess? Racing? Video games…”

It sounded so stupid coming out of his mouth as he said it - how incredibly lame and boring. 

“Racing? Like, cars?”

Lando’s smile brightened, staring right back at your pretty face, “Yeah, something like that.”

“That’s impressive…and it could make for an interesting plot. Maybe I should write a book about that…you might have just inspired me.” you wagged the end of your sharpie at him with a mischievous grin. 

Lando’s cheeks turned a fierce pink and he scoffed bashfully, “Nah.”

“I mean it! If I ever need any race-related questions answered for research purposes, I know who to call.”

Lando laughed lightly, “Yeah, for sure.”

You glanced back down to the book and tapped the blank page awaiting your pen, “Who am I making this out to?”

“Lando.” 

“Lando.” you repeated in the most gentle tone that it nearly made his knees weak. He had dreamt about how his name would sound coming from your lips for so long but hearing it directed at him so softly, so tenderly, he had to refrain from clutching his hand to his heart in sheer adoration. He also had to refrain from imagining you breathing it into the air just like that in bed but that was a bit more dramatic. 

“How’s your day been? I got so excited about the hardcover I forgot to ask.” you chuckled as he watched you sign his name in silver sharpie on the dark inside page and scribbled a little message before signing it yourself at the bottom. 

“Oh, my day is amazing now.” Lando said easily, “Bristol is usually so disgustingly dreary but I’m glad it’s sunny for you.”

“I’ve heard it’s usually quite rainy. Guess it’s a bit of luck then.” you smiled up at him. 

You closed the cover of his copy of your novel and held it back out to him. 

“Thank you so much.” he rushed out as he took it back. “I’m sorry you had to stay after your time.”

“Oh my gosh,” you waved your hand like it was no big deal, “there’s nothing I love more than this so it’s my pleasure. Plus staying around longer means I got to meet you, so…”

Lando literally blushed pink so obviously that you could see the hint of colour across his cheeks and his little bashful smile had you grinning up at him. It wasn’t often you had boys come out to see you and certainly not the likes of interested and attractive young men who actually read your content. It nearly made you feel just as pink in the cheeks too. 

“Did you want a selfie or something?” you asked. 

Lando stumbled over words for a moment as he had completely forgotten that he could ask that and he pulled out his phone, “Yeah, sure.” 

He carefully hid the fact that you were his wallpaper from your sight as he opened his camera app and turned to have his back to you. You leaned up to rest slightly over the table and smiled to the camera as he clicked a few pictures. 

“Oh, I look…like shit.” he mumbled to himself as he turned back around to face you once more and you sat down. 

He hadn’t expected you to hear but you did so you offered an honest polite, “You don’t look like shit at all, I think you look really good.” 

Lando literally breathed out a shocked, “Oh my gosh.” 

You giggled softly at his surprised expression. 

“Th-Thank you.” he stumbled out and petted a habitual hand over his hair-sprayed curls as he looked down at his outfit. 

“I love the slacks.” you gestured across the table. 

Lando nearly lost it at the fact that you were basically staring at his dick and he held the hardcover book in front of himself casually, and answered with a passé, “Thought I’d actually dress a little nice for your event.”

“Yeah? Well you look very nice.” you complimented, “A very successful choice.” 

“Thanks.”

You held up your index finger to him, “One sec.”

The one person behind him was still waiting close by and you held out your hand welcoming them to come over. Lando shifted to the side a little and tried to control the heat of his cheeks as you took the next person’s name. It was a mother waiting for the signing as a gift for her daughter so she didn't really need to stick around long after simply getting a signature and after a few shared pleasantries, the lady was off and Lando was the only one left. 

“Sorry, I just thought I’d get that poor mother on her way.” you chuckled. 

“For sure.” Lando smiled tightly. 

“Looks like that’s my day then.” you sighed, stretching your arms above your head for a moment, and then leaned under the table to pull out an empty cardboard box. You started to load your leftover copies into it - only a few remaining - and Lando jumped at his opportunity. 

“Do you need help packing up?”

Surprised at his offer, you glanced back up at him with a little laugh, “I’m not going to make you do my work.”

“I really don't mind. I don’t have anywhere else to be.”

You thought for a moment and Lando nearly held his breath in anticipation for your answer. 

Finally, “Alright…if you’re sure.” 

He honestly grinned and tucked his book and his backpack on the ground carefully beside one of the table legs and started to stack up the remaining few novels as you tidied your pamphlets and extra sharpies. Your hired assistant took the half filled box across the store to return it to the cashier for re-stocking, finally giving you and Lando a moment just the two of you on opposite sides of the now empty table. 

You stood from your chair and tucked it back under while you checked your phone habitually and Lando picked up his things from the ground. He tucked his book in front of his slacks again coolly. 

“Where are you headed now? More publicity meetings?” Lando asked. 

You glanced up at him as you slid your phone into your purse with a sigh, “Nope. Dinner and then hotel. Quiet evening for one tonight.”

“Your assistant doesn’t join you?”

You chuckled softly and picked up your tote bag to sling it over your arm, “No she’s kinda older than me so she does her own thing. I don’t mind. Means I can explore the city as I wish.” 

“Do you…want some pointers on the best places in Bristol? I’m kind of an expert.” Lando offered. 

“You want to be my food tour guide?” you chuckled, “I was just going to eat at the McDonalds down the street. I’m not much of an extensive-palette kind of eater.”

“Oh, neither am I.” Lando agreed quickly, passing off the fact that he already knew that about you quickly, “But if you’re in Bristol, you gotta do it the right way. You like Italian?” 

Your eyes narrowed at him in thought and you cocked your head to the side slightly, a smile teasing at your lips, “My favourite.” 

“Then you have to try Giovanni’s. It’s not far from here. Like a kilometre north or so. Their pizza is, like, incredible.” 

You contemplated his offer with a casual, “Just a kilometre from here?”

“Yeah. You can’t miss it. Any taxi driver will know if you just give them the name.”

“Yeah?”

“Yep.” Lando swayed onto the balls of his feet and then back, his nervous eyes lingering on your unreadable expression of amusement as you stared back at him. He pressed his luck, “I can…show you if you want.”

You smiled at him softly as you looked at him down the bridge of your nose, “I dunno…I don’t really know you.” 

“You know my name. What else is there to know?”

You laughed lightly, “You could be a murderer.” 

“So could you.”

“Touché.” 

Lando figured he was grasping for straws with his offer and hardly even took himself seriously until suddenly you were sitting across from him at a table for two at Giovanni’s Italian Restaurant. He hardly remembered the taxi ride from the bookstore or even you agreeing to have dinner with him honestly and part of him felt so hazy like this was some sort of cruel realistic dream. His phone was the last thing on his mind but he managed to send a quick update to the group chat as the hostess led you to your table. 

landonorris: Giovanni’s  landonorris: dinner landonorris: ttyl

With his phone on silent, he was ignorant to his best friends’ spam of confused messages as they knew he should have been finished with the signing by then and they had yet to receive proper updates of how it went. Usually Lando messaged them while he was eating his meals so his sudden disappearance was certainly odd. 

But how could he even think about looking at his phone when he had you sitting across from him in the warm light of the cozy Italian restaurant to look at. It was no fancy venue but it was better than a McDonalds and Lando had to constantly remind himself that this wasn’t a date but this also wasn’t a dream. 

You looked so casual skimming the menu, tucking your hair behind your ear before resting the side of your finger against your lips in thought. They were little habits that social media didn’t permit him to see and now he just couldn’t get enough of you, sitting right in front of him in your business casual outfit and free flowing hair. He felt greedy for wanting you closer. 

The waiter approached the table to take drink orders and you glanced up to place yours first, “Whatever your house wine is…I’ll have a glass of that, please and thank you.”

“May I see your ID?”

“Of course.” you fished it out of your purse and passed it to the waiter to double check. 

When he handed it back to you and turned to Lando, Lando shifted nervously. 

“Just…a water, thanks.” he asked. Playing it safe. 

You tucked your ID back into your purse and offered a casual conversation, “Maybe I should have had water too but after a full day of work, I think I deserve a drink.”

“You do.” Lando chuckled, “You deserve to celebrate.”

“If I used that excuse anything like this signing happened, I may be considered to have a drinking problem.” 

Lando chuckled lightly, sharing in your smile, and when you turned back to your menu, he kept staring at you. 

“You said the pizza is good here, right?”

He hummed in agreement as he rested his elbows on the table and his chin in his hand and shamelessly kept his eyes on your entire being. The warm light looked so good on you and it took a lot out of him to not think about salacious thoughts that often rose to the surface when he stared at a picture of you for too long. He was just lucky that the table covered enough of his lap.

You glanced over at him with your offer, “Do you want to share one?” 

As if in kindergarten again, the concept of sharing brought a flutter to his heart, “Yeah, sure. That sounds great.”

The waiter soon returned and you let Lando choose the pizza to order and with that placed, you were left with your drinks and a moment of silence. You sipped your wine and he sipped his water, keeping his eyes on the table. 

“Did you not want something better than water?” you asked. 

Lando shifted in his chair and chuckled awkwardly, “Uh, no, that’s okay. I’m not much of a drinker…don’t really know what to order that won’t taste like shit.”

Your eyes widened, “Shit, oh my God, wait, you are of age, aren’t you?”

“I’m twenty.” Lando assured you quickly.

You set your hand to your chest, “Jesus, okay, good, I almost had a heart attack there…I saw the frightful headlines already.” 

“Like what?” Lando laughed, “Calling you a cougar?”

“Oh, gross.” you shuttered, “Yeah, prying on the youth of my following.”

Lando rested his chin in his hand again and he smiled over at you, “Nope, I’m perfectly legal.”

“Good.” you chuckled. You glanced around and then slid your glass across the table to him, “Try some if you want.”

Lando’s eyes went wide and he sat up a bit straighter, “You sure?” 

“Yeah.”

Lando sent you a small smile across the table and he lifted the wine glass from the table and took a sip. He licked his lips as he set it back down and you left it between you to share. 

You smiled warmly over at him. He wanted to look back at you but your lingering stare made him nervous and he sat with his hands folded on his lap with his gaze downcast to the tabletop. The restaurant bustled around you with other patrons talking and cutlery clinking against plates but Lando felt like the two of you were in your own little bubble. 

Breaking the silence between you, you spoke, “Do you perm your hair?”

Lando’s head snapped up to look over at you in surprise, “What?”

You gestured across the table to him, “The curls? Is that your natural hair? It’s a really nice style on you.”

Lando was speechless for a moment, mouth literally parted slightly in shock, and when he regained himself, he spoke his honest confession to you, “Yeah. Yeah, this is my natural hair. I’m surprised you like it.”

You raised your eyebrows, “Why surprised?”

“I dunno,” Lando mumbled, tracing the rim of his water glass with his finger, “I figured you were, like, not really into the messy curls kinda look.”

“Why?” a smirk tugged at your lips, “Because of my boyfriend?”

Lando looked to his plate without a word as his heart clenched with that awful tightness that came with the heartache of the mention of your relationship. He was hoping you wouldn’t bring him up - guess it was too good to be true.

“Wanna know a secret?” you rested your forearms on the table to lean towards him, “I trust you.”

He glanced back up at you curiously and nodded lightly, hazel eyes wide with wonder of what you were going to admit to him. 

“He’s not actually my boyfriend. It’s a PR relationship.” 

Lando could have fucking rejoiced out loud in that moment and he audible sighed in near relief as he slouched back in his chair, “Oh my gosh, I knew something was fishy.” 

“We were dating for real but when it kind of fell off, our managers kind of just said we should keep it going because the followers shipped us or whatever the hell. I’m never around him if we can help it. It’s just awkward now.” 

Lando, surged with a strange feeling of protectiveness, leaned over the table himself too, “Why would they make you do that if it makes you uncomfortable?”

“I dunno. It’s fine though. My readership goes up from overlap with his fans and whatever so the selfish part of me benefits.” you chuckled with a shrug. 

“But you can’t publicly date then? Since the world thinks you’re taken?” 

“No, but that’s okay.” you waved your hand casually as if to brush it off, “I’m kinda too busy for all that right now with my book tour and stuff.”

You both reached for the glass of wine at the same time and shared nervous giggles when your hands brushed. You offered him the next sip and he ignored the warm reminisce of your touch as he lifted the glass to his lips and sipped the bitter woodsy red wine before passing it over to you. He couldn’t tell if his cheeks were red from simply being around you or if they were red from the bit of alcohol but you were no different. There was something so intriguing to you about Lando, this random young man who lined up for your book signing and seemed to care far too strongly about you and your work for his own good. It flattered you greatly and you didn’t want to see him go. 

By the time your pizza had arrived and you were well into casual dinner conversation, any hints of shyness had disappeared as you were both falling into comfort in each other’s presence…maybe the wine helped a little with that, just enough to take the edge off. Lando was talking about his degree he was working towards and life at college while you shared the best stories of how many times you were declined trying to get published for the first time. With only just less than a year between you, you had quite a bit in common from growing up and although life took you in different paths, it was interesting to hear the other side of things. You had to admit it was a nice change from the common whiny influencers you had gotten too used to sharing conversations with. 

Lando could draw you in with just his voice, soft yet just perfectly deep, he was only enticing you more and more with each sentence. Not to mention the way he spoke about your writing like he was just as proud of it as you were, rambling on for so long about each book, each character, each deeper meaning, and you went back and forth about your writing until the pizza was gone and the shared glass of wine was empty and the sun had gone down over Bristol. 

The waiter set the bill on the table between you, tucked neatly in a leather pouch. You reached for your purse but Lando was already grabbing the bill and giving it a skim over. 

“I got it.” you offered. 

“No, it’s okay.” Lando reached into his backpack that was resting at the foot of the table beside him and he pulled out his wallet with his credit card. 

“Don’t be ridiculous, I can pay for dinner.” you chuckled. 

Lando smiled boastfully over at you, “Nope. My city, you’re a guest. I’m paying.”

“Well then I wouldn’t have ordered such an expensive glass of wine!” you tisked. 

“Then it was very good that we shared it!” Lando whispered across the table at you as the waiter returned with the debit machine. 

You only smiled at him and shook your head in defeat as Lando paid the bill on his student income and he did so proudly, without hesitation. When the waiter left once again and wished you both a pleasant night, you thanked him and then looked across the table to each other. 

Lando’s heart ached slightly at the thought of having to say goodbye as the night came to an early conclusion but he smiled softly at you, ignorant to how you were thinking the exact same thing. 

“I’m just going to sneak off to the bathroom. I’ll be right back.” you said. 

Lando nodded you off and watched you walk across the still busy restaurant to the washrooms. He finally pulled his phone from his pocket for the first time all evening, having missed an unreadable amount of pestering messages from his two best friends. He only took the time to read the most recent two,

alex_albon: Lando what the fuck mate where are you?? It’s almost 7 georgerussell63: Holding back the updates is one thing but let us know if you are at least back at your dorm landonorris: I took her for dinner landonorris: Can’t really talk but I swear I’ll tell you everything the second I leave georgerussell63: WHAT alex_albon: ARE YOU JOKING?? landonorris: IM LITERALLY NOT JOKING landonorris: WE SHARED WINE AND EVERYTHING alex_albon: HOLY SHIT LAN georgerussell63: WAIT IM LITERALLY FREAKING OUT georgerussell63: How did that happen??? Oh my GOD MATE your plan literally WORKED alex_albon: Get her number!! Or at least her follow on ig! landonorris: I'm gonna try

When he saw you emerging from the bathroom again he typed a quick reply to his friends before locking his phone again and tucked it into his pocket. 

landonorris: Gtg talk later

You returned to the table and sat back down, sending him a polite smile as you did so. Always one to take notice of every little thing about you, Lando silently noted your tidied up hair and re-applied lipstick and his heart did a little jump at the concept that maybe you tried to look good for him. 

“What’s your plan for the rest of the night?” you asked casually. 

Lando shrugged, “Nothing. I was just going to go back to my dorm and make dinner by myself and eat it by myself and watch Netflix by myself.”

“Wow, our plans sounded really similar then.” you teased. 

“Yeah, apparently.” Lando chuckled. 

You both hesitated a moment, glancing out towards the front windows of the restaurant that looked out over the darkening city streets of Bristol. Lando felt at a loss for words, nervous suddenly, and he was thankful to still have his water on the table as he took a long drink. He was just so handsome to you and only seemed more so as the night went on from being the hesitant fanboy at your book signing to the young man you shared a glass of wine with at dinner. 

Lando looked back at you and you shared tight, slightly awkward smiles as if neither of you wanted to say goodbye first. You weren’t someone to often go out with strangers so this was uncharted territory for you and Lando seemed just as uncertain of himself in a similar sense. You just kind of wanted to see how far you could push it without crossing boundaries. 

“Listen,” you cleared your throat bravely, looking right at him with a hopeful smile, “I dunno if you’re comfortable with this but…if you want, you can come back to my hotel with me. Maybe we could stick with our individual ‘watch Netflix’ plans but…together.” 

“Really?” Lando’s eyes widened. “Are you sure?”

“If you want to.”

“Yes. Absolutely.” he assured you almost quickly. 

“Okay.” you bit back a smile. “I’ll call an Uber.” 

“Sweet.” Lando grinned, although he had to turn away from smiling too wide. 

Maybe this was his chance, he thought, to actually make a bit of a move; why else would you be inviting him to your private hotel room after all? This was the last thing he had prepared for that morning and he had no clue what he was going to do with himself if anything went any farther than even a kiss. He didn’t want to absolutely embarrass himself in any way, certainly not around you. His inexperience was apparent and he was just hoping he could play it off enough to not look like a clumsy idiot. 

Waiting at the curb for your Uber, Lando was standing right at your side. He intentionally stood close to you until he could almost convince himself to reach out and brush his fingers over yours if he really wanted to. He had his backpack slung over one shoulder and your purse and tote were on your opposite arm from him, your gaze looking back and forth down the street for the arrival of your Uber. Lando kept staring at you in the city light, disbelieving that he was really standing right there with you and about to go back to your hotel after a dinner for two. Life was unreal in that moment. 

His eyes drifted down your side to where your hand rested casually at your side and he just had to reach out and brush his pinky against yours. You glanced over at him with a small smile and nudged him in return. 

“You probably hear this a lot,” Lando mumbled, “but you’re so beautiful.” 

His gentle words left an unmissable flutter in your heart and you bit your lip as you stared right back at him. Sure, you had been privy to bountiful comments on social media or haphazard compliments in passing over the last while you had been in the media spotlight, but none that sounded as genuine as Lando’s just did. 

It was out of your mouth before you could think, “Do you mean it?”

Lando was taken back by your confirmation as if he couldn’t imagine you or anyone not knowing, “Yeah. Of course, I mean it. You’re literally the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. Your Instagram does not do you enough justice because holy shit…” 

He faded out when he caught himself rambling but you just smiled in near adoration at his sweet complimenting words that went straight to your heart and the flutter that warmed deep within your body. You didn’t want to admit that a near stranger was turning you on but he was so polite and genuine and handsome and you couldn’t help it. 

“Can I kiss you, Lando?” 

His breath nearly shuttered in his chest with the suddenness of his gasp, and he stumbled out a promised, “Y-Yeah-”

On the nearly empty quiet city street, you reached your hand up to link your finger in the collar of his shirt and you pulled him even closer. Lando wasn’t a stranger to kissing but he certainly hadn’t overhyped a kiss as much as he had in his thoughts about his first kiss with you. When your lips met for a moment, you both stood perfectly still as if to savour it, as if to not cross any unspoken lines between you. You were still strangers after all. 

Lando’s fingers ghosted hesitantly over your waist as his lips locked with yours for a few long seconds and then pulled back just long enough to go in for one more together. The plushness of his sweet lips had your stomach in eager knots but you forced yourself into restraint as you broke your kiss after only a few seconds and rested your hand down against his chest, feeling his heavy heartbeat under your palm. 

“Wow….” Lando breathed out of your kiss. 

His eyes found yours under the streetlights and he licked his lips free of the taste of you left behind, lingering with the bitter reminisce of rich wine. He was thankful you were focused on his face because he no longer had your book in his hand to cover the front of his slacks that were now feeling much tighter around the crotch. It was pathetic really, how he got hard so fast and from so little, but to be fair he had been dreaming about that very moment for months. 

You took your hand from his chest with a cheeky little smile of your own and turned back to the road as your Uber approached. Driven by greed, Lando reached out and linked his pinky in yours, just to keep you close as long as he could. You glanced back at him with a small smile before getting into the Uber and he followed behind you eagerly. 

You knew to be discreet in public since your image was only growing with passing days so you had to let go of his hand when you got into the Uber, being extra cautious as the driver kept glancing in the rear view mirror at you. Lando clutched his backpack to his lap, arms wrapped around it, and his gaze focused all on you, not even bothering to be discreet about it. He was in complete awe of you but so innocent and ignorant to the tightrope walk it was to be in the public eye. To him, he could have said or done anything right there in the back of the car but you were silently praying he was smart enough to keep his mouth shut. 

Lando liked to think he could read you well and your obvious tension the moment you stepped in the Uber had him on high alert. It was as if a switch had flipped in your persona and although you made sure to send him a small reassuring smile, you were clearly putting up a divider between you two. It made him nervous, treading in uncertain waters. 

It was a fifteen minute drive to your hotel, crossing over the river that ran through the city and past the bookstore that only three hours before he was lining up cluelessly for your book signing. Lando swore this was a dream and his lips tingled with desire to kiss you again, to get his hands on you properly like he had always imagined. You looked so pretty in the passing city lights and he was so fucking hard. 

When the Uber pulled up to the front of the hotel, you thanked the driver politely and you both climbed out of the backseat. You hopped up onto the curb with him and led the way towards the front doors of the Marriott guided by the red outdoor carpet. Lando felt like a true vip…even though he was embarrassingly trying to hide the obvious bulge in his slacks that he was surprised you were yet to notice. Gladly surprised, however. 

At his side when you walked through the sliding glass doors, you whispered, “Don’t make it obvious.”

Lando nearly stumbled over the front carpet in surprise, “Make what obvious?”

“That we’re anything apart from, like, business partners.” you mumbled. “Don’t do anything to give anyone ideas.”

Lando shook his head quickly, his heart racing in his chest that maybe you thought you had something to hide with him, “Of course. Of course.”

The man behind the front desk glanced up as you walked in and he greeted you both politely. You offered him a just as pleasant greeting before walking as casually as you could towards the elevator bay. Lando couldn’t hide behind his backpack and still make himself look passé and it wasn’t until you were both safely alone in the elevator that he felt like he could breathe. 

“To the outside world I have a boyfriend, y’know.” you explained, pressing the button for the sixth floor, “So bringing some random guy back to my hotel room can be seen as a little suspicious.”

“Yeah.” Lando agreed coolly as the door slid shut behind you and he looked up to the small screen that counted each floor passing by. He was desperate to figure out a way to tame his little situation before you noticed and it got embarrassing. The only bad thing about wearing dress slacks was that it made it so obvious. 

You glanced over at him, a good few inches of space lingering between you, “You okay?”

Lando met your gaze cluelessly, that haze over his face as if he were in disbelief that this was real but then looked away again, “Yeah.”

“You got quiet on me.” you pointed out. “You can dip out whenever you want…if you’re uncomfortable or just wanting to go. I won’t be upset.”

Lando looked back at you quickly, “No, I don’t want to leave at all.” 

“Okay.” you nodded gently, almost fearing that he was lying to you. 

He could see that you were overthinking his answer so he told himself to suck it up and confess his truth, “I just really want to kiss you again…and I didn’t know if I should.”

“You can.” you offered as casually as you could muster despite the heavy beating of your heart. 

You both looked at each other again, meeting gazes before dropping your eyes to each other’s lips as if out of habit. Lando didn’t need much more persuasive consent from you than that and he reached up to take your chin in his hand - like he had always dreamt of - and met you halfway for another soft kiss. You hummed gently against his lips, both of you lingering still for a moment before pulling back just quickly enough to move in for another, lips slotting together ever so slightly. His lips were pillow soft and nearly sweet, you swore, and you raised your hand up to slide over his chest and around the back of his neck. 

Lando was nearly dizzy with shock as he kissed you more, parting your lips with his own to deepen it, sharing slow open mouthed kisses that had you nearly breathing into each other’s mouths. He had spent so long imagining your lips that the real thing was nearly sending him into cardiac arrest. It was everything he wanted and more and he cradled your jaw in his hand, caressing his thumb over your cheek tenderly as you stepped a little closer to him in the elevator. 

Lando opened his eyes a little, as if having to double check that you were still really truly there with him, and he just smiled into your kiss at the sight of your pretty lashes resting on sweet cheeks. The elevator doors dinged as they slid open and you both pulled away from your kiss quickly, both grinning like fools, and you swiped the corner of your mouth with your pinky to make sure your lipstick wasn’t too smudged. Lando had a little bit of the reminisce of your re-application on his own mouth and he wiped it with the pad of his thumb just to see the warm pink colour that was smudged across his skin as if to prove his reality. 

Your hand fell into his lazily and you linked your fingers together as you pulled him out of the elevator and onto your floor. Lando traipsed behind you with a lovestick grin all over his face, rubbing his thumb over your fingers that were tucked casually around his and he felt like a million dollars just from a single thirty second kiss. 

As you fished out your room key from your purse - a task requiring two hands free - Lando greedily let his fingers trace the sinch of the blazer at your waist and down the black fabric to the slight curve of your hips. He made sure that no one else was in the hallway with you before he bravely swiped your hair over your shoulder and leaned in to kiss your neck. 

“Oh fuck.” you giggled in surprise, squirming away from him a little. 

“Sorry.” Lando hurried out, eyes wide. 

“No, it’s okay.” you assured him as you swiped your key and pushed open the hotel room door for you both, “I’m just not used to someone trying to turn me on in the middle of a hallway.”

Lando’s cheeks flushed a brilliant red at your cheeky statement and he was literally at a loss for words, his mouth opening but nothing coming out. He was turning you on? His sudden speechlessness had you laughing breathily and you linked your fingers with his once more, swinging your joined hands between you for a moment in the open doorway.

When you looked at your hands, your eyes were drawn to the bulge in the front of his slacks that was more than obvious. You bit your eager lip and looked back at his face, “Wanna come in?”

“Fuck yes.” Lando blurted out, only making you laugh again as you pulled him into the room and let the door shut behind you. 

The moment you were closed in the hotel room, you both moved in for more kisses, your hands sliding around the back of his neck and his wrapping around your waist. Once cautious and gentle, your kisses were moulding into impatient and hungry and you couldn’t help but lick your way into his mouth teasingly. Lando moaned softly into your kiss, raising a hand up to cradle your jaw again, and he gladly pushed his tongue against yours to meet you halfway. 

He didn’t feel like a stranger to you anymore - to Lando, you never felt like a stranger - and driven by the lust that grew within you, you only seemed to crave him in ways you never would have expected when you met him only three hours earlier. He physically pushed you back against the wall just inside the door and at impact you were groaning pleasantly against his lips and tongue with his body pressed to yours. You seemed to fall into some sort of rhythm together with your heads tilted ever so slightly to the left to let your lips lock between messy tongue filled kisses, bodies almost moving ever so slightly against each other in time with your lips. 

You tangled one hand in the back of his hair with ease and dropped your other to his waist to tug his body closer against yours until you could feel his erection poking against your thigh. Lando ground into you habitually, moaning into your kiss that was led equally between the two of you and his fingers pressed greedily into your hips under the material of your open blazer, his backpack still slung over his one shoulder. 

You slid your hand down his neck to his chest and pushed him back from your lips for a moment to ask breathlessly, “Just checking that you are actually over eighteen, right?”

Lando was already moving his clumsy kisses down your neck, “Almost twenty-one. On Saturday.”

“Fuck, okay,” you breathed, tilting your head back to give him room to kiss your neck and he nibbled right up under your ear, making your knees nearly go weak. You tried to play off your question despite the arousing overwhelm that was growing inside of you, “Not that you look like a teenager…I just…gotta check.”

Lando didn’t even have time to laugh at that because he was so damn focused on what was going on and he could only mumble out an “I know” before pressing his fingers to your jaw to turn your lips back to his. 

You both moaned into each other’s mouths, breathing in steady time, and you arched into him hungrily as your hand grabbed at the side of his neck. Lando’s arm snaked around your waist to hold you close just like that and his lips smacked wetly with yours, pulling more pleading moans from your throat with each tongue-led kiss. Your hips rubbed against his front slightly and his breath shuttered between kisses for a moment, fingers pressing tighter into your waist and he looked down between you to watch how close you stood together, still fully clothed. 

“You got hard so fast.” you whispered. 

Lando restrained himself from explaining that he had been growing hard from simply the sight of you since he first stepped foot in the bookstore that afternoon if not for simply looking at your pictures on Instagram over the last while. His eyes just focused on your lips, swollen from his kiss and smudged with your thin application of lipstick, and he spoke softly, “You’re just so fucking gorgeous…difficult not to get hard when you’re looking at me like that.”

He had so many smooth lines from his plentiful fantasies that involved you and of course he had to put them to the test before he got too in his head to remember any of them. That one seemed to work because you were giggling breathily and pulling him close by the side of his neck to lock your lips again. Lando swore you could take over every inch of his body and soul with ease but in that moment, he wanted nothing more than your mouth on his, kissing him like you were honestly meant to be there with your tongue working right up against his. 

It was such a rush into the hotel room that you both still had your bags slung over your shoulders and Lando slid his backpack down without taking his lips from yours, discarding it to the other side of the hallway. You followed his lead and dropped your tote bag and your purse to the tile floor too without breaking your kiss, keeping your one hand around the back of his neck to prevent his lips from leaving yours for anything longer than a second. 

Within his fit of determination, Lando guided you away from the wall and started to walk you farther into the room carefully to avoid tripping with his attention so distracted by your lips. His hands pushed your blazer from your shoulders and you gladly let him toss it across the carpeted bedroom floor before you were unbuttoning your blouse. You desperately tried to keep kissing as you undressed and Lando pulled his shirt off and dropped it to the floor before your blouse was joining it within seconds. 

“Holy shit.” he literally whined into your kiss as his eyes stayed open to try and get a good look at you. Shamelessly, your breasts were always a bit of a weak spot for him in most of your Instagram pictures so seeing them really, truly in front of him was unbelievable. You kept kissing him no matter how much he was trying to look at you, your hands sliding down his bare chest and to his faint abs that you gently scratched your fingers over to make him shiver. 

“You’re so sexy.” you whispered into his mouth before grabbing his waist to pull his body against yours again as your teeth nipped at his bottom lip, “Touch me.” 

Lando exhaled sharply at your order and you let his lips go so he could properly look at you, wide eyes staring down at your chest pushed up in your black bra. His hands glided up the curve of your waist, over your warm soft skin, and his fingertips ghosted over the lace of your bra as if afraid to touch. It pushed your breasts up so addictingly full and he literally licked his lips as he stared at you and cupped his hands over your chest. His wide eyed wonder had your gaze lingering on him for a moment, trying to read his expression as more than the male desire to look at breasts and instead thinking if maybe this was the first time he had seen any. 

“Sit down.” you instructed gently, taking hold of his wrists to steer him against the side of the neatly made king size bed. 

He sat. His eyes stayed on your chest and his hands reached for you once more. 

You let him touch and squeeze your breasts in your bra as much as he pleased because you were taking to his belt right after. Lando’s quick gasp was obvious and you looked him right in the eyes as you unpinned the buckle and then popped the button on his slacks. 

“You tell me to stop at any point if you want.” you whispered. 

Lando nodded and leaned in to kiss your lips again, playing his inexperience off with a casual, “You too.”

You just giggled softly and unzipped his slacks and tugged open the front before kneeling on either side of his lap. As your kiss broke, Lando’s hands slid around your waist to your back and his wide eyed stare locked on your chest that was nearly in his face. When you lowered down onto his lap, he bit down on his bottom lip in anticipation and when you started grinding on him a little, his hands gripped tighter to your waist. 

“Holy…” he groaned out softly, gaze unwavering from your breasts in his face. 

You moaned softly at the feeling of his clothed erection pressing up against your dress pants, right over your clit, and the friction was unbearably addicting. Greedy slow rocks of your hips back and forth had Lando trying to restrain himself from smothering his face in your chest, his eyes wide with lust. He couldn’t tell which one to look at, licking his lips, and his large hands followed the motions of your hips lazily. 

“Do whatever you want to me.” you whispered to him. “You can touch my tits if you want.” 

Lando’s big hazel eyes blinked up at you like a sweet little puppy and his teeth sunk down into his bottom lip as his mouth formed an eager smile, his hands sliding down the back of your pants to grab your ass with your given permission. 

“That’s it.” you breathed, still grinding down on his lap.

He pulled you into your motions harder and he groaned softly as he leaned in towards your chest. Tongue first, he licked testingly between your breasts and with your soft exhale, he tried again over one of them before sucking gently on your skin as he moved back. You raised your hand up behind you and unclipped your bra and Lando’s breath nearly froze in his chest as the lace fabric fell away to expose you to his eager eyes. 

“God, you’re so fucking beautiful.” he breathed, taking his hands from your ass to grab your chest. 

“You like my tits?” you asked sweetly. 

“Yeah.” Lando groaned, squishing them together before leaning in and nuzzled his face between them. He absolutely showered you in kisses as you laughed lightly at his eagerness and ran your hand through the back of his hair, still grinding down on his lap slowly, watching as he licked and kissed and suckled at your skin. But when he finally wrapped his lips around one of your nipples and sucked on it roughly, you audibly withered, your head falling back for a moment at the sensation. 

Lando’s eyes raised to yours as his teeth tugged at your nipple teasingly and you met his gaze again, “Does it feel good when I do that?”

“Mhm.” 

“Yeah?” he moved back in to suck on the other one, mimicking his same actions and pulling back with a little bite. “You have such pretty tits.”

You giggled lightly, “Thank you.”

Lando dropped his hands back down to your bum as you kept grinding on him back and forth, and he kissed wetly at your breasts a bit more before peering down between your bodies. You both still had your pants on although his were unzipped and resting open tauntingly and he moaned softly as he bit his bottom lip, watching you rub yourself down on his aching boner with almost four layers between you. 

“Mm, that feels so good.” he whispered. “Can I take my pants off?”

You nodded him on and leaned up on your knees to give him room to shuffle his slacks down his legs and he kicked them across the floor. It was only then that he noticed the full length framed mirror on the wall across from him over your shoulder and he mouthed ‘oh my God’ to himself as he watched you drop back down onto his lap. His hands gripped your ass and pulled you into your motions stronger and with your arms wrapped around his shoulders you dipped down to kiss his lips. You shared pleasant moans, tongues welcome into each other’s mouths as the sloppy sound of your kisses filled the hotel room with your heavy breaths. 

“Fuck, baby.” Lando groaned out of your kiss as his head tilted back for a moment to breathe. 

You kissed down his neck and his thumbs bravely tucked themselves in the back of your dress pants and started to pull them down over your ass. 

“Can I leave hickies?” you asked against his ear. 

“Fuck, yes.” Lando answered easily, honestly excited for you to leave your mark on him. 

You licked over a spot on the side of his neck and tangled your finger in the back of his hair to pull his head to the opposite side to give yourself more room. Lando just watched through the mirror over your shoulder as his hands rested on the curve of your bare ass, greedy eyes exposed to the burgundy lace of your panties that was as rich red as the wine you shared with dinner. His nose scrunched up at your first gentle suction and you tugged at his skin a little more and he withered slightly, hands gripping your flesh a bit tighter. 

“Ohh, my God.” he groaned. 

You pulled back from his neck with a soft slurp of spit and left one last lick over the forming bruise before blowing a gentle puff of air across it just to make him shiver. You both shared almost eager little grins as you moved back in to kiss him and when your lips locked, Lando couldn’t help himself but wind his hand back and slap it back down against your ass. The small yelp you let out had him rubbing his hand over the spot soothingly but you just whispered a ‘harder’ into his mouth instead. 

“You’re so fucking dirty.” Lando mumbled, staring you right in the eyes as he spanked you harder. 

“Do you like it?”

“Yeah, I love it.” Lando bit back his grin. 

He went to lean in to kiss you again but you slid off his lap and shuffled off your pants all the way before sinking to your knees between his legs. Lando’s eyes only widened more and you kept his gaze as you placed a careful hand over the front of his black briefs, only giving him the smallest pressure against his aching hard cock hidden underneath. 

“This okay?” you asked. 

“Mhm.” he nodded, resting his hands on the bed behind him to watch your hand rub slowly over the tent in his underwear. His eyebrows were furrowed in disbelieving concentration as if trying to sear into his memory the sight of you touching him just like that, his hips rising slightly from the bed to nudge up into your touch habitually. 

Your fingers ghosted across the taut fabric of his underwear up to the top of the bulge formed underneath and then you wrapped gentle fingers around it. Lando’s mouth fell open silently, still staring down at you as you rubbed him over his briefs with a secure grip around the girth of his clothed cock. 

“You’re so hard.” you whispered up to him, leaning in to press a careful kiss over the black fabric, “You feel big.” 

“You can take it out.” Lando offered, trying to play it cool while on the inside his heart was nearly racing out of his chest. 

“Yeah?” you bit your lip up at him, stringing him along a little longer, “And then what? Want me to put it in my mouth?”

“Fuck.” Lando choked out, “Yes.” 

His obvious eagerness had you smiling and you slid your warm palms up his stomach and leaned in to press slow open mouthed kisses down his abs and right to the fabric of his underwear, pausing to lick teasingly at the little line of hair that disappeared into the waistband. He shuttered under your touch and you just bit back your own excited grin as you slowly started to pull his underwear down. It rested around his thighs for a moment as you let yourself take in the sight of him, how his dick stood tall in front of your face, angled up so perfectly it nearly made you moan out loud. 

Lando was slowly shying under your silent stare and he reached a hand out to cover himself but before he could you were dropping out your tongue and licking at the tip. 

“O-Oh my God.” Lando choked out, his thighs flinching slightly. 

“You have a gorgeous dick.” you whispered up at him, wrapping your hand around the base greedily to hold him still as you dragged your tongue right up the underside. 

Lando was almost scared to touch you as if it would somehow make you stop and his right hand was held clumsily in mid air as his gaping mouth stared down at you in his lap. Your eyes met his as your lips wrapped around the head of his cock and you sucked on it lazily, gently, teasing him a little more. When you pulled back again, you let a string of spit dribble from your lips and down the shaft of his dick to meet your hand as you started stroking it slowly. 

“Oh my fucking God.” Lando breathed shakily. 

Your hand was so much better than his own, so soft and gentle, simply yours, and he stared at your motions as if in complete disbelief. You gave him slow twisting strokes up and back down, letting your eyes take up every inch of him as you licked your lips at the sheer size of him.

“You’re huge.” you complimented as you dragged his underwear down his legs completely and he helped to kick them off his ankles and across the floor. 

Lando never really thought to compare himself to others so he never really knew where he stood but honestly you could have been completely lying to him and he would have believed you. Your voice was a drug to him. Your touch was addicting. Your mouth was even better. 

The moment you took him in your mouth, Lando was whimpering shakily and his hand that was once hovering in mid air raked through his hair to grab a tight fistful to restrain himself. You kept yourself slow, pushing down on him carefully and easing back up with a snug hollow of your cheeks that was gentle for him. He had tried to play it cool but his obvious inexperience was oozing out of him and you saw that well. You didn’t want to call him out and embarrass him so you just took it slowly and made sure he was comfortable. 

With a soft moan, you kept your mouth and hand working together and Lando audibly withered as if his eyes were physically going to roll back in his head. 

“Is this a dream?” he whispered, mostly to himself. 

You giggled as you pulled back from his cock, letting your hand take up the motions that your mouth once was, “Not a dream, baby.”

Lando swore there was no better sight than you between his legs and he hesitantly slid his hand through your hair as if to make sure you were really there. You smiled up at him and then lowered down again, keeping your hand stroking his dick as you sucked gently on his balls one at a time. 

“Oh my God.” Lando gasped out. “Shit.” 

“Feel good?” you asked after licking back up the underside of his dick. 

“Yes.” 

You smeared the tip of his cock over your pursed lips, bubbling out a bit more spit to slick him up some more and then you pressed your tongue right under the head just to see how his nose scrunched up in pleasure. He whimpered so prettily and you nearly grinned as you fed his dick back into your mouth, shaking your head to get him to hit the back of your throat. When you gagged, Lando’s hand gripped tighter at your hair and his head fell back with a lingering groan, only breathing harder in steady time with you as you started bobbing your head again. 

As his moans got louder, you moved slower before finally pulling back from his lap with a deep inhale, leaving him sighing shakily. 

“Why’d you stop?” Lando asked quietly. 

“Because I don’t want you to cum yet.” you answered easily and reached up to grab him by the back of his neck and pull his lips to yours. 

He moaned into your kiss as his tongue fought against yours with fierce desire and both of his hands cradled your cheeks to hold you close. Without breaking your kiss, you stood up between his legs while still stroking him off lazily and he shuffled back farther onto the bed to let you join him. You placed yourself on his outstretched thighs, arms wrapped around his shoulders, and his hands pulled you closer by your ass until his cock was pressed up right against your clothed clit. 

Lando’s hands groped your ass strongly and he moaned hungrily into your mouth as if chasing your breath for more. He was desperate for your touch and to feel every inch of you but the gentleman in him just had to speak up before his inexperienced brain could really process his offer. 

“Want me to eat you out?” 

The offer nearly started himself as much as it took you by surprise, his instant regret pouring through his veins at the sudden remembrance that he would have no clue what the hell to do down there on you. The last thing he wanted to do was make a fool of himself and prove to you that he was a measly virgin. He had no clue you suspected it. 

“That’s okay.” you brushed it off coolly between passionate kisses. 

“Mm,” Lando kept pushing no matter how much he was fearing a ‘yes’, protesting weakly into your mouth, “but you went down on me…”

“So what?” you mumbled, grinding up against his cock. 

“Mph-” Lando groaned, voice strained, “it’s gotta be fair-” 

“Who says this isn’t fair?” you tangled your fingers in the back of his hair to gently tug his head back so he was looking up at you. 

Lando only whimpered, “Me.”

You dipped in closer to bite at his bottom lip once, twice, and then gave it a little tug on the third time, making his breath shutter in his chest when you pulled back. His wide eyes were focused in on yours, swollen lips parted sweetly in awe, and when you slid your hand around to his throat, his eyelashes fluttered with a shaky inhale. 

You spoke to him lowly, voice dripping in lust, and Lando could have came right then and there as you told him seriously, “I just want you to fuck me already.” 

“Oh my God.” Lando withered, sliding his hands up your waist to roll your both over gently. 

Still laying perpendicular to the pillows, his lips magnetized to yours almost right away. He situated himself between your legs that you wrapped around his waist and as his dick rutted up against your panties, he could nearly feel how wet you were, soaking through the fabric. You shared impatient moans into each other’s mouths, hung up on each other’s lips, and your fingers tangled in the back of his hair. 

“Do you have a condom in your bag?” you breathed into his mouth, words muffled slightly by his lips. 

Lando leaned back from your kiss just enough for your noses to brush, “No. Do you not have any?” 

“Wasn’t really planning on taking a stranger from my signing back to my hotel.” you chuckled. 

Lando could have nearly cried with frustration as he sat back from you, resting on his knees between your spread legs. You leaned up on your elbows against the neatly made sheets and you could have smiled at his adorable pout that he was trying so hard to suppress as his hands ghosted down your torso and over your thighs. 

“Lando,” you giggled, brushing your foot over his waist to bring his attention back to your face, “Do you wanna fuck me raw?”

His eyes could not have opened wider in shock, “What?”

“If you wanna. I can just stop to grab a Plan B tomorrow.”

“Are you sure?” Lando questioned. Was it concerning that he didn't even fear an accidental pregnancy? To be fair, he had been dreaming about knocking you up for months so the risk was more to his desires than he’d have liked to admit. 

You bit your lip and nodded, “If you’re comfortable.” 

He couldn’t nod faster if he tried. 

“Okay,” you smiled sweetly and held out one hand towards him, “C’mere then.” 

Lando leaned back over you, holding himself up on the bed beside you as his other hand cradled your face to keep your lips on his for more lingering kisses. You couldn’t get enough of his lips, moaning softly into his mouth as they moulded together like perfection. 

“Fuck, I’m so wet.” you whimpered into his mouth, chasing his mouth for one more sloppy kiss as he tried to pull away, “Mm, I want you so bad.” 

Lando stared down at you as he sat back on his knees again and let his hands travel down your body, over your breasts and hips and to the thin lace of your rich red panties. You draped your arms over your head and rose your legs towards your chest for a moment so he could easily pull your underwear off you and then let them fall to the ground, leaving you both completely naked. In the quiet of the hotel room, Lando nudged your thighs open again and got his first real look at the part of you that he swore he was only going to see in his dreams. 

You were glistening wet and Lando stared in wonder at the effect he had on you. Only egging him on more, you dropped a hand down and spread your lips open with two slender fingers so he could see all of you before gliding your fingers between them to smear around your sticky arousal that nearly dripped from your pussy. 

“Holy…fuck.” Lando licked his lips and then took a deep breath. “You are a fucking dream.”

“All reality.” you assured him with a giggle.

He rubbed his hands over your thighs for a moment, contemplating his next move, and you let him take his time. With a soft call of your name and a hum of acknowledgement from you, Lando had one request, “Can you call me ‘sir’?”

You were surprised by the slightly kinky suggestion, something you hadn’t even thought about at all, “You want me to call you ‘sir’?”

“You don’t have to.” Lando assured you quickly, his cheeks flushing pink.

“No…that’s…really fucking hot.” you admitted with a smile.

Lando’s lips perked up at the corners, “Yeah?”

You nodded with a sultry, “Yes, sir.” 

“Ohh fuck.” Lando chuckled through a low groan and he leaned back down over you to kiss you again. 

You moaned contentedly against his lips, swallowing up his tongue against yours, and then let him go with a smile when he sat back again between your spread legs. He shuffled closer to your body and you pulled your legs back a bit more to give him room, watching carefully as he let a thick string of spit fall from his lips onto his dick and he rubbed it in with his hand. 

“How much dirty talk do you want?” you asked softly. 

Lando answered with ease, “Write me a novel worth.” 

“Oh my God.” you giggled, draping yourself back down against the sheets, “I can do that.” 

Lando nudged the tip of his dick against your dripping pussy and the simple action made both of you gasp lightly. He was honestly a little nervous to get inside you, fearing that he’d cum within seconds and truth embarrass himself, so he teased you a little more by dragging his dick between your legs. 

“Shit,” you sighed out, eyes focused on his face as he watched the head of his cock glide between your wet folds, soaking himself in your arousal, “I just need you to fuck me with your big dick.” 

Lando nearly shuttered at your words and his eyes rose to meet your face. 

You reached down your body and gently stroked the head of his dick with your fingertips, tracing the smooth shape and stroking it right at his most sensitive spots. His hips naturally pushed into your touch and he groaned tightly. 

“Yeah, you’ve got such a pretty cock…gonna fucking ruin me with it. Just want it buried in my tight little wet pussy, sir.”

“Jesus fucking Christ.” Lando groaned softly, keeping a tight fist around the shaft of his dick as you nearly petted the swollen pink tip so tenderly. 

“Do you want that, sir?” you asked him sweetly, staring right up at his face as you wrapped your hand around his and brushed the tip of his dick strongly between your folds, “You wanna fuck me into my bed? Watch me take every inch of you?”

“Oh my- yeah-” he stumbled out. Lando could hardly think of words, all his smooth one-liners completely disappeared from his mind as he watched you rub his dick between your legs. You felt so warm and he wasn’t even inside you yet.

“How do you want to fuck me?” you asked softly. 

Lando swallowed thickly, “This is…fine. This is good.” 

“Okay.” you giggled. You took your hand back from over his to spread yourself open for him, urging him in with no words spoken. 

Lando shuffled forward on his knees again and held a cautious hand down against your stomach as he angled his dick between your legs and started to push inside you. You reached down to help guide him a little, making sure he got the right angle with the gentle re-direction of your fingers.

“Yeah, right there.” you breathed shakily, “Keep going.” 

The moment the head of his cock slipped snugly into your pussy, you both gasped softly at the feeling and Lando moved both his hands to grab your spread thighs as he watched himself ease deeper into you ever so slowly. You felt like heaven and Lando had to blink a few times to make sure that he wasn’t dreaming, far too good to be true. It was a feeling his hand could never recreate and he wondered how the hell he could go back to using his imagination after this, after being blessed with how tight and warm you were squeezing around him. 

“Oh my God, you’re so big.” you moaned quietly as you shifted onto your forearms behind you again to give yourself a better angle to watch behind a bitten lip as he slid in farther. 

Lando couldn’t even form words as he bottomed out and his hips pressed snugly against yours, his cock buried as deep as it could inside you. He was scared to move, worried that the moment he started to fuck you that he’d cum in seconds. 

You reached up a hand to wrap around the back of his neck and he raised his eyes to yours as you asked him softly, “You okay?”

“Mhm.” he nodded and leaned in to kiss you. 

His slight movement had his hips nudging against yours and your muscles fluttered around him at the shift and you both moaned into your messy kiss. 

“Fuck, you feel so good.” Lando rushed out in one hurried breath as he pulled back from your kiss and slowly rolled his hips into yours. 

“Slow.” you whispered, sliding your hands around the back of his neck. “Nice and slow.”

Lando’s eyes locked on yours as he eased deep into you again, resting his hands flat on either side of your head, and your mouths fell open together at the feeling. 

“That’s it.” you breathed. 

Lando moaned tightly into his next achingly slow thrust, slipping inside you so easily. You took his face in your hands and pulled him down for more kisses, sharing soft breaths and moans between you for a moment. 

“Can I ride you?” you asked against his lips. 

Part of him was sort of relieved to have you offer to start for him and he pushed a final kiss to your lips before pulling out of you again. You shifted him over onto his back, moving around so he was resting back against the down filled pillows and you tossed a leg over his lap. Lando’s wide eyes soaked you up eagerly and his hands found your hips to pull you closer before he was taking hold of his dick and helped you to angle it right again. 

It was a bit easier to slide into you now that he had already been fully inside you once and you sank right down until your ass met his thighs. His little grunt as you bottomed out had you smiling down at him and he just grinned right back, a dopey little pleasured grin, and his large hands slid up your waist to grab at your breasts. You rose back up just a bit and then lowered back down on him, starting slowly to start him off. 

“Fuck.” Lando squeaked out, eyes focused down his body to watch how you took him all every time you dropped down. He was just getting slicked up in your liquids to the point that every time you took him inside you, it made the filthiest wettest sound that made his mouth drop open. 

“Can I go faster, sir?” you asked breathily. 

“Uh huh.” he nodded. 

He wanted to take you over so badly but his mind was absolutely racing and he could hardly figure out how to form words. You bounced on his lap a little faster but still pretty slowly, grounding yourself with your hands on his chest as the bliss washed over you easily. 

“Mm, fuck, you feel so good inside me.” you moaned. 

Lando couldn’t help but naturally stumble out, “Good girl.” 

You blushed pink at his deep voice praising you so honestly and you squared your shoulders again and held his hands over your chest as you swirled your hips in impactful circles, “You think I’m a good girl, sir?”

The lust that raced through Lando’s veins had him staring up at you with so much he wanted to say and your taunting dirty talk only pulled it from where he had kept it suppressed with his initial shock of pleasure. He groped your breasts stronger and nearly pulled you into your motions by them, “Yeah, you’re a good girl, baby.” 

His protective walls were falling away as he fell into comfort and you bit back your smile down at him as you moved back into bounces, “God, I love riding you. You look so fucking good.” 

Lando audibly groaned, pulling his hands from your chest to grab your hips again and tried to slow you down desperately. But you fell to your knees on either side of his body and tossed your hair over one shoulder to lean down and kiss him, bouncing your hips back on him as you did so. 

“Mm, fuck.” Lando muffled into your mouth, desperately trying to keep kissing you back but it was growing increasingly difficult. He spanked you once before grabbing your ass and tried to buck up into you with a whine. 

You had only been on top of him for not even a minute and he was already about to burst. He was embarrassingly close and if he didn’t stop you and the way you were riding him he was going to cum embarrassingly fast. 

“Stop, baby, st-stop.” he stumbled out, trying not to show how strained his voice was.

You did, stalling your motions as you pulled back from his lips to look at him, “You okay?”

Lando played it off coolly, “Yeah. Just wanna…”

You let him lead you off of him and he got up to take his spot behind you, naturally urging you onto hands and knees. His direction had you biting back a grin and you looked at him over your shoulder as you spread your legs a little wider and he brushed his dick between your folds again. 

“Put it in.” you whispered. 

Lando took a deep silent breath that he held in his chest as he pushed back inside your sinfully tight body. He groaned lowly and grabbed your waist tightly as he couldn’t help but start to thrust into you slowly as if driven by some sort of natural instinct. 

“Oh fuck-” you gasped, hands instinctively gripping the sheets beneath you. “Yes.”

He slapped a hand down across your ass and you giggled blissfully into the pillows as you slouched down to arch your back for him. Taking it from the back, he could hit so deep that his balls smacked against your clit every time he thrusted into you and the slick sound of wet skin filled the hotel room. 

“Oh my God.” Lando groaned through his teeth. “Good girl…take it.” 

“Fuck, sir.” you moaned pleasantly, unable to hide the honest smile from your face. “Don’t stop.”

Lando’s head literally fell back and he mouthed an “oh my God” to the ceiling as if literally speaking to heaven - it nearly felt like he was in heaven in that moment. You…were heaven to him. His hands gripped tighter onto your waist and he pulled you into his every thrust as he tried to hold himself back. He wanted to cum so badly but it was still so soon and he was trying everything in his power to not think too hard about how good you felt and how pretty you sounded. 

“Fuck me faster.” you whimpered, glancing back at him over your shoulder. 

Lando physically clenched his jaw and forced himself faster, shoving into you messily just to make you moan louder into your arm. 

“Yes, yes, yes!” 

“Feel good, baby?” he asked, unsure of his own capabilities.

“So good!” you cried softly, “Don’t stop!” 

Lando could feel himself growing close again and the filthy wet and warm squelch of your pussy taking him all certainly wasn’t helping him last any longer. He honestly tried to think of his exam he had taken earlier that day, his failing GPA, his current assignments, desperate for any thought that would keep him from finishing too quickly. But you were louder than his thoughts and your jagged fucked out moans and whimpers and chants of “yes” were making it increasingly difficult to hold back. 

So he pulled out again. 

“Ohhh.” you whined in protest. 

Lando tried to steady his breathing, his cock aching with need to cum, and he took his time nudging you onto your back and pulled your right leg over your left so your hips were rotated ninety degrees and left your pussy on perfect display for him. It only took a few seconds to get you situated but by then the knot inside him was diminishing and only leaving behind that unfulfilled throbbing. 

“Okay, okay, okay, okay-” Lando breathed, spanking your ass once more before he was grabbing it in his tight grip and then sliding his dick back inside you strongly. “That’s it.”

“Holy shit, you’re so big!” you cried. 

Lando just started fucking you again, holding you down by waist and chest and your head tossed back against the pillows with a loud cry of pleasure. He couldn’t get enough of you, the feeling he had never been blessed with before, and he stared down at you behind a bitten lip and stormy determined eyes that had your mouth dropping open. 

“Oh my fucking God, yes!” you shrieked, tossing a hand up behind you to grab onto the headboard. “Right there!”

Lando had a one handed vice like grip on your breast but the sting of his grip didn’t phase you as you were too hung up on the way he fucked you. His strokes weren’t completely graceful and were certainly infused with an unmissable desperation but they felt so good regardless and the angle he had you at had him hitting your g-spot straight on. Whether he knew that or not was beyond you but he literally had you going quiet as only the sharpest little gasps were fucked from your throat. 

“F-Fuck-“ Lando whimpered, staring right into your eyes. 

The expression you held was driving him crazy, nothing but euphoria spread all over your face with your mouth fallen open and eyes nearly rolling back in your head thanks to him and him alone. You reached one hand down to grab his thigh, fingers pressing into his flesh as if to pull him closer, deeper, to urge him to give you more. He shifted to grab your ass and waist with both hands, biting hard on his bottom lip as he stared down at how you took him all so deep inside you, drenching him each time he pulled back out just to shove back in, dizzy on the wet squish of your body. 

“Yes, yes, yes, yes, sir-” you rushed out, fingernails digging into the back of his thigh from where you held him and your other arm was draped above your head and gripping onto the pillow beneath you, your moans only growing louder and more desperate, “Fuck, I’m gonna cum! Don’t stop!” 

As your pussy started to grip down around him, Lando physically stopped in surprise, his hips stuttering, and he pulled right out of you again with a startled gasp. Your disappointed groan had his wide eyes raising back to your face again. 

“Wanna cum for you.” you whined, reaching down to rub pleadingly at your sensitive pussy, “Please let me cum on your cock.” 

Lando couldn’t say no to that. He shoved your legs apart again to get you flat on your back once more and you grinned sweetly up at him as he proudly angled his dick between your legs and dragged it through your pooling wetness and pressed it against your gaping hole, already fucked out by him. He eased it inside you slowly, so slowly so he could watch how your body stretched around him and took him all, how each inch made your breath shutter in your chest. 

He knew he really wasn’t going to last long anymore - he had already done literally all he could to hold himself back - and he leaned right over you with his forearms pressed to the pillows on either side of your head as he filled you completely once more. You leaned up to kiss him, lips smacking wetly and sloppily with your passion and heat, and when he rolled his hips into yours, you broke your kiss with a lingering moan. 

Lando stared at your face right in front of him as you wrapped your legs around his waist and your arms around his shoulders and neck and he pushed into you slowly again. Your sweet moans were nothing less than beautiful to him and he thrusted into you a bit stronger to have you making more of those pretty sounds. 

“Please,” you whimpered, cut off by his lips finding yours again as he thrusted into you a little faster. You squeaked against his kiss and smacked your hand down against his shoulder blades in surprise at his change, nails sinking into his skin. 

“This okay?” Lando asked softly, his breath falling against your cheek. 

“Uh huh! Gimme more.” you nodded. 

Lando couldn’t get enough of your filthy words so he egged you on - testing the waters - with a little, “Beg.” 

“Fuck me harder!” you pleaded, “I wanna cum all over your huge cock. Want you to make me cum, sir. Want you to make me scream, sir.” 

“Oh fuck.” Lando groaned quietly, slumping down on top of you a little more as he let his hips take their natural desperation out on you, pounding into you faster. 

“Shit!” you gasped sharply, head tossing back against the pillows, “Yes! Keep going!” 

“Good girl.” Lando breathed, so quiet as if he were nervous to say it out loud but you still heard and it still made your stomach twist. 

Your ankles linked behind his back to keep him as close as possible and you welcomed his lips back on yours to share a few more sloppy kisses and hungry moans before he was pulling back to breathe again. Lando had to tuck his face into your neck because looking at you felt like far too much to handle as he stayed nice and deep and fucked you quicker. 

“Yes.” you squeaked out, digging your nails into his back. “Yes, yes, yes-” 

Lando moaned shakily against your skin, already feeling himself needing to cum again. He desperately thought of his exam again, trying to think about anything to make it last just even a little bit longer. He was getting so close so fast and as you did the same, the squeeze of your muscles only drew him dangerously closer to finishing. 

The sound of his panted, strained breaths against your ear was invigorating and the tight reverberations of his soft groans had you biting his neck to keep yourself composed, to keep from getting too loud between the thin hotel walls. But you still moaned for him, pleading sweet little moans that he felt in every inch of his body and his balls fucking ached to cum after so much edging. It nearly brought tears to his eyes. 

You could tell he was close as he shuffled closer to you on his knees and his thrusts were turning sloppy and his groans were turning into strained little whimpers, his cock pulsing strongly deep inside of you. Just to help it along, you dropped a hand down between your snug bodies to rub at your clit, already so sensitive that the slightest touch had you shuttering with overwhelm. The way it made your pussy clench up had Lando gasping and you held him by the back of his neck to keep his cheek pressed to yours. 

“Do you want to cum inside me?” you asked softly, voice dripping like honey. 

He nodded quickly. 

“Yeah? Good because I want it. I want you to cum so fucking deep inside me, sir. Please, gimme it.” 

Your voice was strained as you were getting yourself close too by the extra help of your hand and Lando’s fists were tightening on the pillows on either side of your head as he fucked you right down into the bedsheets. Your words certainly weren’t helping him hold himself back but thankfully he didn’t have to hold it much longer because in seconds he was privy to the perfection that was your orgasm. 

He could hardly get a good look at your face with how close your heads were but he got the best of it; how your nose scrunched up and head fell back and how you sobbed out his name to the ceiling with a trail of the sweetest moans and whimpers he had heard all night. But the best part was how it felt, how fucking tight you got around him, because the moment your orgasm washed over you, the vice like grip of your muscles sent him to his own rapid conclusion. 

Lando literally tensed so hard he trembled, eyes scrunched closed as he grunted out a whimpery, “Y-Yes…yes- f-fuck-” 

He held onto you so tightly that he couldn’t get any deeper inside you if he tried and he savoured the feeling of coming in something that wasn’t his hand. It was hard to wrap his mind around the fact that it was you. 

Your heels pressed into his ass to grind his hips against yours to make sure he let it all out, your shared breathy moans lingering in the warm air of the hotel room. Lando bucked into you a few more times and you kissed at his neck as he came down from his most incredible orgasm to date. His hands loosened on the pillows and he leaned back just enough to look at your face properly. 

His cheeks were dusted pink and he was blinking away the pleasurable tears that had brimmed in his eyes, parted lips staring down at you in near awe. You brushed your hand through his messy hair and you both leaned in for a quick kiss or two before you were guiding him back by his biceps as he sat back on his knees between your spread legs. 

Lando’s chest nearly hurt with how fast his heart was beating and he pulled out of you slowly, watching the trickle of cum that dripped out in his wake. He licked his lips and raised his eyes up to yours as if asking for permission to touch you as he reached his hand out and smeared his fingers through it greedily. 

“That’s so fucking hot.” he breathed. 

“Feels so good too.” you giggled. 

Lando shifted out from between your legs and fell onto the bed at your side, both of you resting back against the pillows and staring at the ceiling as your breathing steadied. You grabbed his wrist of the hand that had just been in the mess you made and you pulled it up to your mouth to suck off his fingers. Lando exhaled shakily as he watched you lick him clean - nearly deepthroating his fingers as you did so - and then you shoved his hand away with a little blissful laugh and a lick of your lips to linger on the taste of him. 

In the silence that fell for the initial moment after everything, Lando started to wonder if he should be saying something…bringing you something…thanking you? He felt like a fool, not knowing what he was supposed to be doing and he turned his head to look at you again, speaking your name into the warm air between you. 

“Lando.” you replied right back with a little smile, lolling your head to the side to look right back at him. 

“I have to tell you something.” he whispered. 

You shifted your body onto your side to give him your full attention, face falling into slight concern, “What is it?”

He bit at his lip nervously before confessing to you, “I’m a virgin…I was a virgin...”

Your lips pricked up into a tiny smile at the corners and you stroked your thumb across his cheek, “Yeah, sweetheart, I could kinda tell when you kept having to stop to keep from cumming too fast.”

Lando’s cheeks went red, “Oh.” 

“Was that okay though? You didn’t mind losing it to me? I should have asked but I didn’t want to make you uncomfortable or anything.”

Lando propped himself up on his side too with a quick shake of his head, “Absolutely. I wanted nothing more than to lose it to you, honestly. It was like a fucking dream.” 

You shared light laughter and he leaned in - hesitating for a split second - and kissed your lips. You raised your hand up to the side of his neck to keep him there a moment longer, smiling into his mouth as your breathlessly moulded into messy little kisses. 

“Was it okay for you?” Lando pulled back to ask, “I wasn’t…too clueless, right?”

You bit back your smile at his courtesy and shook your head, “No, you were amazing. Pleasantly surprised you could actually make me cum.”

He let out a little sigh of relief and you both leaned in for a few more quick kisses between light blissful giggles. Lando felt a surge of pride for himself, like he was unbeatable, and when you pushed him back by his chest, he flopped back onto the sheets with a smiling sigh. 

“I’m gonna go clean up.” you said, scratching your fingers gently over his abs, “You’ll be here when I come out?”

Lando nodded, sharing in your smiles, and he watched you climb off the bed and retrieve a clean pair of underwear and a t-shirt from your suitcase by the wall before disappearing around the corner into the bathroom. When he heard the door close behind you, Lando permitted himself a deep exhale, raking his fingers through his hair as he stared up at the ceiling with shocked disbelief all over his face. He had been playing it cool for hours and suddenly, with the wash of reality overcoming him, he was stunned to silence by what just happened. 

He mouthed a “what the fuck” to the ceiling and then sat up on the king size bed to locate his underwear from where they had been earlier tossed across the floor. He got up and tugged them on before tiptoeing past the bathroom door to where his backpack was left in your rush of entry. With his phone in hand, Lando returned to the side of the bed and sat down as he unlocked his phone with your birthdate as his passcode and swiped across his home screen that was wallpapered with a picture of you, and opened Instagram. 

His two best friends were chatting to pass the time in the groupchat,

georgerussell63: It’s literally 11:00 right now and I’m going to be so tired for my exam tomorrow but I can’t go to sleep until we know wtf is going on alex_albon: I know alex_albon: I’m so wide awake alex_albon: I can’t even lock my phone I’m scared we’ll miss something georgerussell63: Do you think anything happened? alex_albon: Ahh idk- georgerussell63: Omg wait Lando just opened the messages georgerussell63: Hello?? alex_albon: Lan?? You alive?? georgerussell63: Mate don’t just leave us on SEEN  alex_albon: What happened? We are dying here! landonorris: Guys landonorris: Oh my God georgerussell63: LANDO alex_albon: WHAT HAPPENED landonorris: I fucked her alex_albon: WAIT WHAT georgerussell63: WHAT THE FUCK?? georgerussell63: REALLY? landonorris: Ahherghbj omfg yes really alex_albon: Proof plz omg we need proof georgerussell63: Wtf kind of proof Alex? The used condom? Nasty landonorris: Yeah that’d be difficult since we didn’t use a condom- alex_albon: LANDO NORRIS georgerussell63: WTF georgerussell63: WHY NOT alex_albon: BECAUSE WE WANT THOSE BABIES LES GOO landonorris: HAHA landonorris: Idk she just said she’d take plan b tomorrow and idc pffhf landonorris: I’m fucking buzzing holy shit georgerussell63: Where are you rn?? alex_albon: Give us all the details mate landonorris: In her hotel room landonorris: She’s just in the bathroom so I probably can’t chat for long but landonorris: Yeah I had to tell you guys right awayyy georgerussell63: Hear that Albono? georgerussell63: Our boy isnt a virgin anymore 🥲 alex_albon: I’m literally speechless omg alex_albon: Did you get her follow yet?? georgerussell63: ALEX georgerussell63: Mate georgerussell63: Who cares about a follow right now georgerussell63: The boy just shagged the girl of his dreams 🥵 alex_albon: I'm just ASKING if its a one time thing or what landonorris: Idk it literally just happened so we haven’t even really talked landonorris: I still can’t believe it really georgerussell63: Was she good? 👀 alex_albon: 👀👀👀 landonorris: YES landonorris: She was so fucking loud too landonorris: And her dirty talkkkkk holy shittttttt georgerussell63: YEEESH alex_albon: Oh my GODD

Grinning from ear to ear at how boastful he felt, Lando glanced at the bathroom door to make sure it was still closed before he went over to the full length mirror and opened his camera. He tilted his head back a little to show off the bruising hickey on his neck and the faint reminisce of teeth marks just below it and he snapped a picture for his friends.

landonorris: *sent an image* georgerussell63: Ohhhh you got BRANDED alex_albon: LANDO alex_albon: Fucking get it mate omfg

Lando took a second to look at himself in the mirror as if he were a whole new person. He felt new…improved…absolutely buzzing. He turned around in the reflection just to see the pretty red scratches down his back and across his shoulder blades. With a disbelieving giggle to himself, Lando raised his phone up over his shoulder and took a picture through the mirror.

landonorris: *sent an image* alex_albon: LANDO georgerussell63: SHIT alex_albon: You must have had serious game to be scratched up like that holy shit georgerussell63: You really did it omg landonorris: YEAH I REALLY DID IT landonorris: Four positions landonorris: Not including her getting on her knees first landonorris: The whole time she was basically screaming for it landonorris: Hottest thing I’ve ever fucking done landonorris: She was so fucking incredible  landonorris: Even better than I could ever imagine  landonorris: It felt so good I’ve never come so fucking hard before lol georgerussell63: Geeeeez it’s getting hot in here alex_albon: I’m dying to know what this means for you two alex_albon: If she liked it that much this better not be a one time thing alex_albon: She better have fallen in love with you rn georgerussell63: Our boy’s got such good stroke game he wins girls hearts alex_albon: Hell yeah landonorris: Seriously guys it was unreal georgerussell63: I’m so obsessively happy for you rn it’s probably unhealthy 

Right then, the bathroom door opened and you stepped out, only giving Lando a few seconds to say goodbye to his friends. 

landonorris: gtg talk tomorrow

“You okay?” you asked cautiously.

Dressed in only a t-shirt and panties, makeup washed off and hair brushed away from your face, you were still a vision to him and Lando smiled at you softly as you walked over to him.

“Mhm, my roommate was just asking where I was.” he lied casually, still not wanting to be seen as too much of a cringey fanboy as he locked his phone in his hand. 

You walked into his outstretched arm and slid your hands over his bare chest and around his shoulders, “Do you need to go?”

Lando shook his head, his breath sweet and shallow as his heart rate sped up by just having you in arms reach and he bumped his nose gently against your cheek, “Not unless you want me to go.” 

Lingering just in front of his lips you whispered your response, “I wouldn’t mind some company tonight.”

“Yeah?” he smiled. 

You nodded with a smile of your own and guided him closer by the side of his neck to kiss his lips. He hummed softly into it and raised his hand up to cradle your cheek in return, letting his lips lock so effortlessly with yours. After a few seconds, you pulled him back towards the bed and you both climbed under the sheets together. 

“Did you wanna watch Netflix or something?” you asked. “It’s still a little early.” 

Lando hesitated for a moment at your side, “Is it weird if I ask you to read to me? I missed your reading today after all.” 

You laughed lightly but leaned right in and swallowed his lips up with eager kisses, “Mm, no, that’s so fucking sweet. Get your book.” 

Lando grinned and shuffled back out of bed to unzip his backpack and pull out his hardcover that only a few hours earlier he was waiting in line for you to sign. Now, he was taking it into your bed and passing it to you once more while holding his arm up to permit you to cuddle up against his chest. You rested back against him, both of you propped up slightly against the pillows, and he snaked his arms around your waist and pressed a kiss to your cheek as you flipped to the first chapter. 

“You sure this isn’t weird?” he asked softly. 

You leaned your head back against his shoulder and smiled up at him, petting your hand through the side of his messy hair, “Promise. I love it.” 

Lando smiled back and leaned down to kiss your lips and then your temple as you turned back to your book. You read the first few chapters out loud - only stopping once to order room service for a late night snack and refreshments - and shared kisses between each chapter that only had Lando’s stomach fluttering with butterflies at how sweet your voice sounded reading the words that spoke wonders to him. He made you skip over the smut - whispering that he didn’t think he could handle getting hard again - and you did with a shy little laugh as he admitted that your filthy written words always had such an effect on him. 

When you were both fading, the half read novel was tucked onto the bedside table and the lights were turned off in exchange for the presence of each other’s bodies. He was a stranger to you but somehow he made you feel so warm inside like you had known him much longer than a few measly hours. His fingers twirled through the roots of your hair at the nape of your neck and you were put to sleep in mere moments after such a tiring day. 

As Lando held your slumbering body to your chest, his heart was soaring. He wondered if you could hear it racing for you, all his mind taken up by every last bit of you. 

Lando’s alarm went off at 8am, ringing loudly from the dresser across the hotel room. You stirred first and your shifting woke Lando as he had been clinging onto you like a koala all night. His tired eyes blinked open, trying to piece together where he was for a second and why his dorm room bed suddenly felt so comfortable and why his pillow he was clutching felt so warm. 

He had almost entirely forgotten that the previous day wasn’t a dream. 

When he blinked himself into consciousness, he shifted away from you at the annoying ringing of his alarm, “Sorry.”

“S’okay.” you yawned as he climbed out of the king size bed and traipsed across the clothing strewn floor to retrieve his phone and turned off the noise. 

He had class at 9:00 but he certainly wasn’t going to make it across the city in time if he took his time with you. In the mayhem of the previous night, he had completely forgotten about his class. 

“Shit.” 

“Everything okay?” you asked, rolling over to face him under the sheets with your hands tucked under your head. 

Lando glanced up at you, in awe of how angelic you looked in the morning, and then looked back down at his phone to pull up the bus schedule, “Yeah…just…forgot I had class this morning.”

“Oh, shit. I’m sorry.” you sighed, “I shouldn’t have kept you.”

“God, no, don’t be sorry.” Lando assured you quickly. “No regrets here.” 

You smiled up at him as he came over to the side of the bed and leaned down to kiss your lips. 

“I had a great night.”

You reached up to hold him by the back of his neck to keep his lips on yours a moment longer, “Me too.” 

Both of you pulled back from your kiss smiling and Lando nearly stumbled over his feet as he turned to retrieve his clothes from across the floor. You giggled at his clumsiness and sat up against the headboard to watch him pull his shirt on and button his slacks up. He looked as passé as one could be but in his mind, he was stewing about saying goodbye to you. He didn’t want to say goodbye to you. He didn’t want to never speak to you again. 

“Lando.” you called. 

He looked up at you from his belt, blue eyes wide, “Yeah?”

“You look good.” 

He cracked a small smile and looked back down to the buckle on his belt, “I feel good.”

“Wonder why.” you teased. 

He returned to the side of the bed and sat down to lean back with one hand propping himself up on the other side of your lap. You stared at each other for a moment, eyes moving between eyes and lips. He needed to ask. He felt stupid asking. 

He forced it out of his mouth, “Can I…can you…maybe follow me on Instagram? So we can maybe keep talking?”

You smiled cockily at him, “I was wondering when you were going to ask. Was starting to think you just saw me as a booty call.” 

Lando laughed awkwardly, relieved, “God, no.” 

“Pass me my phone?” you gestured to your purse sitting against the wall and he got up to reach into it and pull it out for you. When he returned to the side of the bed and you unlocked your phone, he leaned forward a little to peek at your background out of pure curiosity. The aesthetic picture of notebook paper and pen was almost expected. You opened Instagram, right away being notified of dozens of likes, comments and a few follows but you ignored them and selected the search bar. “What’s your user?”

“landonorris.” he said, leaning forward a little more as he spelt it for you, “l-a-n-d-o-n-o-r-r-i-s. All one word.” 

The sight of his profile appearing on your screen was almost more surreal than the sight of him inside you the night before and he bit back his smile as you requested to follow his private account. His follower count looked miniscule compared to yours but you didn’t seem to bat an eyelash at it. 

“There,” you said proudly, “Accept me and then send me a message. I wanna look at all your sexy pictures.” 

“They’re hardly sexy.” Lando scoffed. 

“You’re sexy so they will be too.” you giggled, leaning towards him slightly.

Lando laughed shyly under your strong compliments and he let his eyes flutter closed as your lips met. You both stayed still for a moment, letting your kiss linger between you before moving back in for a few more little ones. 

“You have a bus to catch.” you whispered as you pulled back. 

“Mhm.” Lando pouted. 

“Don’t forget your book.” you gestured to where the hardcover was left on the nightstand. 

He grabbed it quickly as he stood up again, “Right. Thanks.”

“Thank you for dinner, by the way.” you said, “And for a truly unforgettable night.”

Lando smiled bashfully, “Yeah. Right back at you.” 

He dipped down to kiss the corner of your mouth and then he started for the door of the hotel room. As it closed behind him and he was suddenly alone in the long hallway, he slouched back against the wall and let out a deep breath before taking another one in nice and slowly. He opened his instagram requests as he waited for the elevators and he couldn’t help but screenshot the sight of your verified account in his pending follower requests. 

With you now in his followers, he slid into your dms with a casual, 

landonorris: Hey 😉 Don’t forget to stop by the drug store today

The whole way back to campus, Lando was grinning out the window and holding your signed copy of your book to his chest. He felt as light as air and as if he had been living the most perfect dream the last 24 hours. The only thing he realized he had yet to do was read your note you left him in the inside cover of his book. In the light of the morning sun across the streets of Bristol, Lando carefully opened the hardcover novel and admired the crisp silver sharpie inked across the dark inside page in your careful handwriting, 

“Lando,

Thank you for being so thoughtful and genuine.”

Signed with your curling signature and a little heart. 

Tag List: @black-fireproofs @k3nmakyan @m4rt10ne @strawberryy-kiwii @herebereblogs

♡ None of the original writing on this blog may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the author.

[rileyslibrary]

hii, i love your page, it’s so cute!! i was just wondering, can we have a fic where ghost/the 141 forgets the readers birthday?

tysm,

~ 💖.

A/N: Apologies for the delay, anon! Also, I hope that didn't happen to you, but if it did, happy belated birthday. Here’s your gift, I hope you like it.

———————————————————————

Type, type, type.

That’s all you’ve been doing since this morning.

Replying to emails, developing the recruits’ training programme for the next week, preparing reports, and going back and forth on that group chat with the engineering team about that stubborn drone that refuses to take off but is mandatory for the next mission.

They wished you a happy birthday. Yes, it was through a faceless and impersonal message, but at least they did.

Unlike him.

He’s been sitting across from you all day, doing the same—typing, typing, typing.

Not at the pace you’ve been going, though. He’s much slower compared to you.

His fingers hesitate as they hover across the keyboard, lacking the speed and confidence he usually has in the field. The keyboard feels foreign in his hands—it’s not an MP5, you see.

His eyes, trained for action, struggle to adjust to the screen in front of him. He types, pauses, looks up at the screen, and then resumes typing. Yet his posture remains rigid like he’s ready for action at any given moment.

“Do you need help?” you ask, noticing his struggle to find the right shortcut for copying and pasting.

“I need a cigarette,” he replies, standing up from his chair. He opens the window, turns his back to you, and lifts his mask halfway.

He opens the packet and bites down on the cigarette filter to extract it from the package. Tilting his head to the side, he lights it up and takes a deep inhale.

There’s a knock on the door.

“Shit.” He swears and shouts at the door to “wait a fucking minute.”

He extinguishes the cigarette, pulls down his mask, and returns to his desk. You wait for him to sit down before inviting the person outside to come in.

Two recruits currently assigned to your team enter the room.

“Happy birthday!” says one, and the other repeats the wishes more timidly.

You give them a warm smile and thank them.

Their eyes, however, often drift from you to him. They look like they regretted coming into the office. Like they’d rather be anywhere else but here.

You empathise with them—you, too, were scared of him when you first came to the base.

You decide to relieve them of their discomfort.

“There are cupcakes in the kitchen,” you say, “please help yourselves.”

You can’t tell if they are too excited about the cupcakes or relieved that they now have a reason to escape the trap they’ve gotten themselves into. With a nod, they quickly exit the room and shut the door behind them.

You turn to the computer screen and continue typing.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

You slightly turn your head towards him while keeping your eyes on the screen.

“Why didn’t I tell you what?”

“That the sky is blue,” he replies sarcastically. “That today’s your birthday, of course!”

“That’s not the kind of thing you go around telling people, Ghost,” you explain, “besides, you already knew.”

He stands up from his chair, and you turn to look at him.

“Why didn’t you remind me?”

“What should I say, Lt.?” You ask, “Hey, by the way, it’s my birthday today, in case you’ve forgotten?”

“Yes!” He insists, lifting his hands, “Yes, you should have told me that! Then you should have added a ‘you fucking idiot’ to complete the sentence.”

You look at him with furrowed eyebrows and a smirk.

He sighs and drops his hands to his sides.

“Come here,” he says, waving his hand for you to come closer.

You look at him, amused, and your smile widens. Yet you remain seated, and lean back to your chair.

“Come here!” He repeats and starts walking towards you.

You stand up, and he immediately wraps his arms around you, locking your arms to your sides. You hug his waist.

“Happy birthday,” he whispers and leans down, planting a kiss at the crown of your head.

“Thank you, Lieutenant,” you reply, your words muffled against his chest.

“I’m such an idiot, aren’t I?” He murmurs, his lips lingering against your head, “I’m sorry.”

You chuckle and push yourself away to look at him.

“No, you’re not,” you reply, “these things happen.”

He releases you from the hug but keeps his hands on your shoulders.

“Thanks for the cupcakes, by the way.”

“You had one?”

“Two,” he says, letting you go and returning to his desk, “but I didn’t know who they were from.”

You sit back in your chair and continue to type, type, type.

But this time, there’s a smile on your face.

———————————————————————

[missmonsters2]

—Lips Over Your Nightmares

Pairing: Wednesday Addams x Fem!Reader/OFC

Summary: You've been having trouble sleeping. Nightmares haunt you every time you close your eyes, and Wednesday offers a solution in the form of comfort only she is capable of.

Warnings: Soft!Wednesday. Possessive!Wednesday. Intimate. Wednesday ran out of patience. Emotionally charged confessions. Kissing. Lots and lots of kissing.

Masterlist | Library Blog | AO3

Reminder there's no taglist but you can follow my library blog for notifications 💘

Note: I said wednesday is soft for her girl and I will take no arguments about it. The act of kissing in this fic is peak wlw. I'm sleeping on the highway tonight and taking you all with me.

Count: 2.6k

Please do not copy, repost, or translate my work anywhere else.

⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷†⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷

Nighttime could be hellish.

It was probably why Wednesday adored it so much. 

You loved it too. There was something divine about the nighttime. People feared the dark, but you saw it as an opportunity to rest your weary eyes and bones. The night gave way to being invisible, and there were some days when that was all you could bear to be. 

But to Wednesday Addams, who loved the dark, you could never be invisible to her.

It was a blessing and a curse. 

To be seen by Wednesday—it was something more than many people could ever hope for. 

But to be seen when you wanted to be invisible? It was like being dragged without anything to hold onto. 

Nighttime was hellish, and you wanted to disappear into the dark as your nightmares plagued you until you couldn't even tell what was the dream and what was the reality.

But Wednesday Addams saw you. 

⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷†⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷ 

You've missed Enid's late-night studying session again. It's the second week in a row that Enid's gotten a text from you two minutes before the session started.

"I guess we can start," Enid told the group with a disappointed smile. "She's not coming today either."

"Fuck," Xavier sighed. "She's the only one who's good at art restoration. I was hoping she'd help me with my assignment."

Wednesday's face scrunched together mildly, and Xavier rolled his eyes. "Except for you, Wednesday. But you hate teaching me and I hate learning from you."

"I can't help it if you're stupid," Wednesday dully replied. 

"Not all of us can do it perfectly after being told what to do—told only once might I add," Xavier raised his brow at her.

Wednesday shrugged, which only seemed to irk Xavier more and to prevent them from bickering further, Yoko turned to Enid and asked, "Why isn't she coming?"

Enid shrugged, her lips quirked to the side as they pressed together. "She texted to say she wasn't feeling well and couldn't make it."

"She does seem tired lately," Bianca commented, her expression in deep thought as she recalled the last two weeks when she saw you. "Also, really quiet. Well, quieter than she normally is."

There were murmurs of agreement around while Wednesday sat silently. Of course, she also noticed, but she was waiting for you to say something to her. You always told her whatever was plaguing you, even when Wednesday told you she didn't ask. Wednesday was used to hearing your mundane thoughts or solving your problems. 

But there was nothing this time, and Wednesday couldn't figure it out. She tried to think back to see if anything had changed—if something had happened, but there was nothing. 

Two weeks of leaving you be was enough, though, Wednesday decided as she packed her things into her bag.

"What! Wednesday, are you leaving too?" Enid groaned. "But I need help with botanical sciences!" 

"Ask Bianca," Wednesday didn't even look up.

Enid looked at the siren, who had a deceitful, happy smile.

"I'd be happy to help you, Sinclair. Let's talk The Poe Cup negotiations first."

"Absolutely not!" Enid scoffed before turning back to Wednesday with pleading eyes. "Wednesday..." she whined.

"Ask Xavier," Wednesday didn't budge.

"But all he does is draw in class. There's no way he's doing well."

"I'll have you know I'm getting a C," Xavier looked affronted.

Enid merely stared at the sullen boy for a long moment before she turned back to Wednesday. "I'll just wait for you tomorrow after school."

Xavier was about to say something else when Wednesday briskly nodded, standing up and leaving the group behind without another word. 

⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷†⊶⊷⊶⊷⊶⊷ 

It was completely silent on the other side of your door, and from its looks, it was dark as no lights were shining underneath it.

Wednesday knocked in three successions. 

There was no answer. 

If it were anyone else, they would've believed you weren't there and left, but not Wednesday.

No, she knew you far too well. 

This was a place where you could truly be invisible with no roommate.

Wednesday knocked insistently until she heard shuffling, an agitated huff, and footsteps approaching the door. 

The door only opened marginally. You looked mildly surprised to see her, but Wednesday supposed you had too little energy to manage anything more. 

There were dark circles under your eyes, and they looked puffy and slightly red around the edges from lack of sleep. Your skin was pallor, which suited someone like Wednesday, but she decided it was not on you. Your hair lacked its usual shine, and Wednesday's eyes narrowed as she finished scrutinizing you.

"What are you doing here?" You asked quietly. 

"Are you going to just let me stand out here?"

"I'm not in the mood for company, Wednesday," you blinked slowly. 

It was new.

You were usually happy for Wednesday's company whenever she stopped by, and you often visited her dorm. 

"I have had enough of this," Wednesday glared at you through the gap in the door. "You will let me in."

"And if I don't?" You challenged back, and Wednesday almost wanted to applaud the snippy attitude you've mustered through the tiredness.

"Then I will wait out here and ensure you don't get a. Single. Wink. Of. Sleep." It was a threat that tugged at your nerves. You looked at Wednesday, and for a brief moment, she thought she won before you shut the door in her face. 

Disbelief clouded over Wednesday's eyes. 

Then, Wednesday began to knock incessantly over and over on your door. Her knuckles knock with a vengeance, and she'll be damned if you think she doesn't take absolute joy in torturing you. 

It worked because you open the door wider this time, as you stare at Wednesday with a glare.

"What part of 'I'm not in the mood for company' was unclear, Wednesday?" Your voice was gruff, and Wednesday could tell that you were still trying to not snap at her despite how tired you were. 

And that in itself was everything. It was like that all the time. 

You were always trying to be considerate of whatever feelings you thought Wednesday might have while gently pushing her to admit which ones she was truly feeling. 

Maybe that was why Wednesday could never leave you alone now.

You were a gateway to things Wednesday never wanted, and she genuinely thought you should pay for making her desire things she swore she'd never want. 

"Say you don't want my company then," Wednesday said haughtily. 

Wednesday knew you wouldn't—couldn't, even. You never would. 

Just as you were her exception, she was yours. 

You pursed your lip at her, starting to close the door swiftly, and Wednesday stuck her foot partially into your room, preventing you from shutting the door in her face again.

"Wednesday!" You called her name, concerned you might've hurt her when the door hit her foot, but the macabre girl used the opportunity to press her palm flat against your door and pushed it wide open.

She took a step forward menacingly, forcing you to take a step back. She took another step, and you took another one back. When she was inside your room fully, she used the back of her heel to shut your door.

The resounding click of it made you swallow.

"Wednesday," you clenched your jaw, fighting against something you weren't even really sure why. But you were terrified—of her, you don't think, but rather what she was capable of doing to your heart.

"I have been patient," Wednesday's voice is quiet, but her tone is sharp, expressing every bit of her lost tolerance. "I have waited for you silently."

Wednesday kept walking towards you, backing you up until your back bumped into your desk. She looked positively irritated. "I have even refrained from saying a single unkind thing despite them running through my mind at the sight of you moping at whatever has been keeping you up at night."

"How did you know—"

"Do you take me for an idiot?" Wednesday's eyes flashed dangerously at your insinuation. You shook your head.

"Then you must take me for a fool with endless patience," Wednesday glared at you. "I don't take kindly to the kind of games you're playing."

"I'm not playing anything—"

Wednesday cut you off again. "Then explain concisely what has been keeping you up and why you've been keeping it to yourself."

Silence filled the room as you didn't speak, but Wednesday had already waited this long. She could wait a little more. 

Wednesday watched how you gripped the edge of your desk, your finger tapping underneath in rapid succession before you closed your arms over her chest. 

The stance was defensive, but you looked more reluctant than wary.

"I'm having nightmares about you."

The admittance stunned Wednesday, and she didn't know how to take it. Initially, it felt like a compliment because nightmares were so fascinating and exhilarating to experience, and Wednesday hoped to have nightmares every night she slept based on that logic. 

But you were not her. 

Nightmares, illogically, were typically not desirable.

"Wednesday, I—" You swallowed. "I have feelings for you. You're the best and worst part of my days because I actually feel clinically insane everytime I see you, spend time with you and then have to face the fact that you're not mine and I'm not yours."

Wednesday's jaw clenched, and it was noticeable. She wanted to open her mouth and demand how you could feel the exact same way she did, but she kept her mouth shut, waiting for you to continue on. 

"And I have nightmares about losing you," you confessed. "I have nightmares about losing you to Tyler or another deranged supernatural being. I have nightmares about losing you to Xavier or Enid or somebody like Tyler, minus the whole mass genocide. I have nightmares about losing you in every single imaginable way, only to wake up and realize you're not mine, and you can't lose what you don't have."

"I can't tell if the nightmare is when I'm asleep or when I'm awake." You put your hands to your face, laughing hollowly. Tears well up in the back of your eyes, burning as they were so dry from lack of sleep. "I think I'm going crazy."

Wednesday wanted to tell you that going crazy was supposed to be wonderful. But she, herself, has been experiencing the whirlwind of elation and torment you put her through and believed that going crazy wasn't as wonderful as she thought. 

But Wednesday decided then and there that there was no way up from crazy. And while it's unfortunate that she's not the brand of crazy like Uncle Fester, she's been driven mad nonetheless. It's the only thing that could explain all of this and everything that's about to come. 

Wednesday grabbed your wrist, moving your hand away from her face. No visions plague her, and all she knows is that this meant her decision wouldn't end in misfortune and it wouldn't drive her down a lonely path. 

"Enid's not expecting me back tonight," Wednesday told you as she dragged you over to your bed. Her succinct tone leaves no room for you to ask any questions. 

"Um, okay?" You said anyway, thrown off by her response and feeling exhaustion saw at your bones, dragging the invisible knife back and forth.

Wednesday guided you to get into bed, and you complied. Resignation settled over you as you rested your head on your pillow. It was cold again with you being away from it, but it brought no comfort. 

You lay facing the wall, about to pull the blanket up to your chin, when you heard something drop against the floor. You turned your head and saw that Wednesday had set her backpack down, and now she was zipping off her sweater, hanging it on the pole of your bed frame, leaving her in her black long-sleeve.

Wednesday took her shoes off before using every bit of her vulnerability to steadily and carefully climb into bed with you. It was dark, with only a little light from the moonlight shining just barely into the room, and you could make out the barest hint of her features and knew she was staring intently at you, trying to ascertain if this was a boundary both of you could bear to cross. 

Her touch was slow and hesitant, revealing this was something she's never done before, but the moment you were in her arms, you clicked into place like a puzzle piece. 

Wednesday was cool against your body, but she was warming from your touch and shared heat trapped under the blanket. She smelt like rain and dry leaves, and you felt like you were going insane. You buried your face into her neck. 

Wednesday wrapped her arms around you, holding you close, allowing the things she's been desiring for a while to come to fruition. She couldn't tell if this was making her saner or driving her closer to insanity.

It was deliriously pleasant.

"Who said you're not mine?" Wednesday muttered into the shell of your ear.

It's suddenly not enough, and Wednesday now knew the answer was that it was driving her closer to insanity. 

Wednesday pulled back slightly, looking into your eyes that were so tired just moments ago. The dark circles remained, but you were wide awake, speckles of oblivion in your eyes.

Despite how everything else changed as you became sleep deprived, your lips still remained full and soft. 

Wednesday moved to close the gap, sighing softly as her lips slanted against yours. 

How could she feel like jagged glass, splintered and sharp, while you felt so soft, practically melting around her serrated edges?

Wednesday only pulled back marginally, cupping your jaw and the back of your neck. "Who told you that you don't already have me? I want names."

You couldn't even think straight with how her breath felt on your lips. You pushed forward again, pressing your lips against Wednesday's insistently.

Was it possible for reality to be better than a dream? 

Your lips slotted over Wednesday's over and over and over. Wednesday tugged at your bottom lip, smoothing over it with her tongue before it dipped at the edge of your mouth where your tongue met hers. 

It was dizzying, something that frequently happened to Wednesday when it was too warm. She usually hated the sensation of it, but, of course, as many things were exceptions when it came to you, this was one of them too. 

"Your nightmares are inane."

You couldn't help but laugh against Wednesday's lip. 

"I think I am actually insane," you grinned, and you saw a ghost of something similar on Wednesday's lips. 

"Sleep," Wednesday ordered you, kissing you chastely initially but ending up biting your bottom lip tenderly. Her hands pull you closer, her lips resting on your forehead. "I'm here, so nothing will plague you."

The softness of Wednesday is unimaginable, and you're nearly skeptical.

"But—"

"No." Wednesday countered bluntly. "I'm telling you that I'm here and yours. You may come to regret it, knowing how...difficult I am. But you're stuck with me. Congratulations," Wednesday tilts her head slightly, brushing against yours, "or condolences."

But you could hear Wednesday's heartbeat, and it was dark, and you were so tired, but you were close enough to hear Wednesday's heartbeat. 

Your lips tingle from Wednesday's kisses. You felt your eyelids grow heavy along with your body, and the way Wednesday shifted told you she was satisfied.

Nighttime could be hellish, but Wednesday Addams saw you—she always would. And all she had to do was put her lips over your nightmares.

[oak23]

What was up with the premier? (Eyes emoji eyes emoji eyes emoji eyes emoji)

The biggest issue is how poorly organised the premiere was for the fanzones. I was told conflicting things about everything, from when the wristbands would be allocated (12pm Sunday but they were given out at Saturday night) to the lack of technology used (I had to do EVERYTHING via pen and paper and they lost my info several times because there wasn't a digital copy made), to when we were meant to turn up.

We didn't even get a sheet detailing the things we were allowed to bring or not and safety measures because they ran out. I only got this cuz a person I talked to in the line let me photograph it for a copy.

We were told to turn up at 3pm to start queuing and were threatened by security guards saying if we turned up earlier they would rip off our wristbands.

Turns out they started letting in people by 1:30pm and I only found out cuz we walked past the venue after lunch.

We were assigned numbers but instead of actually allocating our numbers by group it was first come first serve, but again,it wasn't communicated to us.

I also got violently shoved and pushed and when I told security they said if I kept complaining they would have me removed as it was "disrupting things" instead of dealing with the shitty people doing the shoving and pushing.

There was absolutely no rain cover provided despite literally being November in London so I was drenched waiting 5 hours to even be let in, then the actual event was so fucking miserable because there was no proper flow of people that no one walked past except people like Jon M Chu, Bronwyn James and such who went out of their way to walk near us.

My partner is physically disabled and despite promises by the venue to accommodate his invisible illnesses, we were met with incredibly rude and awful security that didn't give shit about safety, they only cared about minimising complaints.

The fact that the big stars of the movie didnt even come around to ANY of the fan zones and no one told us why or how, and the general atmosphere was fucking miserable and upset so it's pretty telling there isn't a lot of footage of fans after a certain point.

It was pretty fucking disgusting how the London Wicked Premiere was handled for normal people lol.

[sansaorgana]

Hi! Can you write a Buck Cleven x female reader where they met and fell in love while he's in England and on one of the missions she's told they think his plane went down and she's really upset but it turns out they just got separated from the rest of the group and she just runs to him as soon as he gets out of the plane? Angst and then fluff?

I loved your other Buck fic!

thank you so much, sweetheart 🍭 this time I've read the request like 10 times before starting to write to make sure I haven't misread anything lol 🤣

my inbox is open for blurb/short fic requests for major cleven 🤗

"You're gonna come back to me, baby, am I right?" you pressed your forehead to Buck's and you closed your eyes to inhale his scent and memorize it. Your fingers played with the hem of his jacket as you were pulling him closer and closer.

"Always," he answered in that deep voice of his that usually made you dizzy.

"That's a promise that a gentleman cannot break," you giggled as you opened your eyes but his expression was as serious as ever. He only smiled gently and it made your heart skip a beat. "What's wrong?" you asked.

"You're pretty, you know that?" Buck raised his hand to fix a reckless hairstrand and get it off of your cheek.

"Yes, sir," you nodded. His seriousness was contagious. It was almost as if he had a bad feeling about the upcoming mission but he didn't want to say it out loud. "Go," you leaned in to kiss his cheek and patted his shoulder. "Go, don't be late."

Buck saluted you and went outside as you followed him. You watched him running up to his boys and getting on the plane. You have watched that many times before but this time it really felt different.

"Everything alright, miss?" Colonel Harding furrowed his brow at the sight of your face.

"I'm fine, Colonel," you took a deep breath in to stop your tears from falling.

"Go, busy yourself with something," he nodded.

"Colonel…" you grabbed his sleeve desperately and very unprofessionally. He looked a little surprised but not angry with you at all. "Please, let me know about him… If something happens… I want to know first."

"That would be against the procedures, miss," he explained and you clenched your fingers even harder.

"You see, I'm going crazy here every time he's up there," you tried to explain.

"We're all going crazy, miss," he was a stubborn man. You gave up and saluted before leaving to find yourself something to do.

You were assigned to copy some official papers in Colonel's office but you were more and more frustrated with each given moment. You spent hours by that typewriter and haven't managed to copy one single document. You kept on doing typos and stupid mistakes that forced you to start all over again.

Colonel Harding walked in nervously all of a sudden and you could see that something had been not right but he was excellent at hiding it.

"Colonel," you greeted him.

"What are you still doing here?!" he snapped.

"I'm copying documents."

"Still?"

"I'm stuck on the first one, sir," you confessed as your bottom lip trembled. "I… I'm sorry, I can't focus."

"Get out of here," he ordered and you nodded before getting up as fast as possible and trying to clean up the desk a little. "Go!"

"Yes, sir," you whispered and left in a hurry. Before you closed the door, you could see that he was reaching for a phone. You took a look at your watch and your heart skipped a beat when you realized that Buck had to be above Germany for some time now.

"You're still here?" Colonel's much softer voice made you turn around and face him.

"I'm sorry, sir, I can't seem to focus on anything today…"

"Here, come here," he put his hand on your arm and guided you back inside before gently helping you to sit down. "There's something I must tell you. I shouldn't but…"

"What is it?" your eyes widened and your heart started to pound in your chest as your hands got sweaty.

"Buck's plane went down. There were no parachutes... we're not sure. We lost him."

His voice was firm and loud but to you it sounded like you were sitting behind a glass as the time slowed down.

"N-No…" you shook your head. "No, this can't be, no… Colonel, you see, he's made me a promise. Gentlemen don't break their promises," you kept shaking your head like a maniac.

He didn't say anything and gave you a while to cry and try to catch a breath. You didn't even know what to feel at that moment, what to think. Your body started to tremble and there was a stinging pain inside your chest but your head was empty. You could only remember the taste of his warm lips on yours, the feel of his leather jacket under your fingertips, the way his hair would tickle your forehead when you kissed, the smell of his aftershave and the depth of his voice. And then you realized that you would never ever experience any of that again…

You stood up immediately and ran out of Colonel's office, straight to the bathroom. You needed a splash of cold water and to stand in front of the mirror, staring at your smudged make up as your hands clutched on the sink.

"The boys are back!" you heard someone shouting after a long while but you didn't even flinch. There was no point to go outside. No point of watching every single one of the boys who had survived and not finding your Buck amongst them. No point of seeing with your own eyes that there was a plane missing on that field.

You sobbed and cried as your hand reached underneath your blouse to find a small chain with Buck's ring hanging from it. He gave it to you a few weeks back when you became more serious. You kept it safe for him every day and kept it warm with your body. The ring was warm now, too, as you played with it. And it was a very physical reminder of the man you loved. Of the man who would not come back to you…

It was loud outside for an hour or so; everyone was busy with the boys coming back. They had to rest, get a proper meal, make reports and the planes needed to be fixed. You kept sitting on the cold bathroom floor with your head hid in your hands. You didn't have any tears left for quite a long time now but you still had troubles breathing and standing still without feeling dizzy. Your body kept shaking uncontrollably as well.

"Buck's back!" someone shouted and at first you didn't even react to that. You thought that your brain made that up. But then someone shouted it again and again and you were sure that it had to be some sort of mishearing. You just wanted to hear this, right? Running outside, looking for him, it would make a fool of you... but who cared… You were desperate.

You pushed the bathroom door open as loud as possible and you ran outside. People you passed on the corridor looked at you like you were crazy. Your hair was a mess, your makeup was all over your face and a few buttons of your blouse were undone with a ring on a small chain hanging from your chest.

Cold outside air made you catch your breath finally as you looked up. Indeed, one of the planes was just preparing to land. Its engines were damaged and it looked poorly but it was there.

"Colonel!" you ran up to Colonel Harding who observed the landing. He looked at you with pity in his eyes. "Is that right? Is he…?"

"It's his plane," he answered. "That's all we know. Maybe they got lost somewehere. We still know nothing, we lost connection with Buck some time ago."

"And now? He's not saying anything through the radio?" you kept asking.

"The connection's been lost, miss," Colonel was slowly trying to explain. Your heart skipped a beat as you watched men jumping out of the plane.

And then you spotted him. You'd spot that golden shade of hair everywhere.

"Buck!!!" you screamed and started running towards him. You had quite a big distance to make but you didn't even feel tired. It felt like flying more than running.

He smiled at the sight of you and despite being exhausted, he started running, too.

"Baby!" he greeted you in the middle as he lifted you up and spinned you around.

"Buck!" you laughed and cupped his face. "Oh, Buck!"

"You look like hell, baby," he chuckled.

"Well, you've given me the worst time of my life, you arse!" you pushed his shoulder. "Where have you been? They told me you were dead!"

"I'm sorry," he leaned in to give you a hungry, loving kiss. You heard some men cheering in the distance but you didn't care at all. You were just happy to have Buck back in your arms. You kissed him back, getting lost in the salty taste of sweat and blood. You tangled your hands in his hair and pulled on it gently, like you were checking if he was real.

"How could you do that to me?!" you sniffed the tears back and he pressed his forehead to yours.

"Hey, hey, shh, hey…" he helped you to calm down and catch a breath again as he held your hands to squeeze them reassuringly. "Always, remember? Always."

MASTERLIST || BUCK MASTERLIST

[siflshonen]

The Greatest Robot on Earth: Astro Boy and Pluto Part II

Part I is here. This side-by-side continues in part III here, or you can read the whole thing on Ao3.

Side-by-Side Comparisons

“The Greatest Robot on Earth” and Pluto

The best place to start in comparing these series is their summaries. This summary for “The Greatest Robot on Earth” comes from the 2002 Dark Horse release: 

“In the novel-length "The Greatest Robot on Earth," a wealthy sultan creates a giant robot to become the ruler of all other robots on Earth. But in order for that to happen, he must defeat the seven most powerful robots in the world, including Astro Boy, who must have his horsepower raised from 100,000 to 1,000,000 to face the challenge! And his sister, Uran, also flies in to lend a helping hand!”

Well, besides the fact that Uran doesn’t actually fly, I suppose that’s true enough. Gotta love marketing copy.

And here is Viz’s summary for Pluto: Urasawa X Tezuka, vol. 1: 

“In an ideal world where man and robots coexist, someone or something has destroyed the powerful Swiss robot Mont Blanc. Elsewhere a key figure in a robot rights group is murdered. The two incidents appear to be unrelated...except for one very conspicuous clue - the bodies of both victims have been fashioned into some sort of bizarre collage complete with makeshift horns placed by the victims' heads. Interpol assigns robot detective Gesicht to this most strange and complex case - and he eventually discovers that he too, as one of the seven great robots of the world, is one of the targets.”

An ideal world, eh? Well, I’m all about subverting surface appearances, so I like it. Anyway, right off the bat, we can tell that these two series aren’t the same genre, aren’t using the same principal characters, and aren’t concerned with the same stakes. They seem to only have one thing in common: the word “robot”.

The following pages for “The Greatest Robot on Earth” are from the Dark Horse Omnibus. In most cases, I have used pages from Viz’s Pluto: UrasawaXTezuka, but there are a few pages from the fan scans. Why? Because I own the physical manga, didn’t want to pay for all the volumes again in a digital version, and realized that the images in the fan scans were cleaner and bigger than most of the ones I could get from cracking the spine of my books and mooshing them on the scanner.

Pluto at Its Most Faithful

Mont Blanc died first in “The Greatest Robot on Earth”, and in Pluto he fares no differently. Of course, in true dramatic Urasawa fashion, Pluto chooses to begin with the fiery discovery of Mont Blanc’s head tucked within his killer’s calling card to establish the mystery and suspense of this work rather than start with a quaint lumberjacking-scene-turned-robot-fight like the original.

Urasawa and Nagasaki’s choice to include human victims in Pluto also immediately raises the stakes in a way that “The Greatest Robot on Earth” never did or would. It also immediately changes the type of exploration within the world that the series would do, given that the robots of the extended Astro Boy universe are believed to follow Asimov’s Laws.

Greece’s Hercules, spelled Heracles in Pluto’s English translation, is a straightforward warrior-type in “The Greatest Robot on Earth”, and he sasses the crap out of Epsilon when he shows up to speak with him just as he does in Pluto. He then gets trounced by Pluto after a drawn-out fight. 

In Pluto, Hercules still fits the original warrior archetype, but with the addition of his very own character arc! His rivalry and friendship with Brando is new and refreshing, and his blooming respect for Epsilon pairs nicely with his own discovery of his humanity and personal beliefs as it relates to combat, war, and victory.

They called him the god of victory, after all, not necessarily bloodshed. He may have lost his fight with Pluto, but he went down believing he won and with a newfound appreciation for life and the bravery it requires to not fight. His manager Al Haft(a) is an easter egg character.

In real life, Greece participated in the Gulf War, but disagreed with the 2003 Iraq War and did not participate. Meanwhile, Australia participated with the goal of growing closer to the USA. In Pluto, these stances were swapped in their representative robots.

Personally, I think Epsilon (sometimes called Photar in the Astro Boy anime adaptation dubs) is the most surprising figure in these page comparisons if only because he didn’t actually change that much between works. Instead, it is Wassily who exploded onto the Pluto scene with his very own expanded story and Bora trauma. Yes, the disembodied hands scene is in both.

Pluto’s Epsilon looks just like Monster’s Johan, which is funny—Urasawa seems to use Tezuka’s Star System method across his works. In English, Johan and Epsilon are voiced by the same guy, too.

Speaking of, Bora is native to “The Greatest Robot on Earth”, and he is still a bomb. In “The Greatest Robot on Earth”, his creator takes the time to tell the sultan that he created him just to beat Pluto and, by extension, the sultan. In Pluto, Bora’s existence and purpose is to exact vengeance on a broader scale.

Uran’s changes between series are actually really straightforward. In the postscript of the physical Pluto manga’s volume 6, essayist and critic Gorot Yamada laments the fact that Urasawa avoided the “ero-kawaii” of Uran confronting Pluto in nothing but Atom’s briefs and calls it a “minor weakness” since it is representative of Urasawa’s relatively gentler hand in showing “cruelty or eroticism” when compared to Tezuka.

I can’t begin to tell you how funny I think this criticism is, although I do believe that Urasawa does have, overall, gentler sensibilities than Tezuka. But still. I don’t think we’re missing much by keeping Uran in her clothes. She’s still a snot, she’s still a braggart, she’s still good-hearted, and she still makes her big brother look like a square and a stick-in-the-mud. Writing precocious little girls and sweet stories of unlikely bonding moments are a few of Urasawa’s specialties, so I don’t find it surprising that he took the Uran by the hair-horns and maximized her existing character traits.

Spiritually, she feels consistent to me, though her basic actions are decidedly different: Pluto’s Uran doesn’t fight or try to fight Pluto, doesn’t want Atom to fight Pluto at any point, doesn’t ever hate Pluto, and has empathy-based powers (separate from that, she may just be smarter and more emotionally intelligent than the original Uran). 

However, the sequences in the park and the underpasses where she befriends Pluto strongly resemble Uran’s near-naked adventures in the streets of “The Greatest Robot on Earth”, and that’s fun.

Abullah is where things get spicy, and that’s mostly because the only real change to his character was the addition of his human backstory and discovery of hatred. In Pluto, he is Tenma and Abullah’s science project who believes he is a human scientist (which he isn’t), but he’s actually also got a split personality! That’s a lot. There’s just so much going on with that. But still, where Pluto’s twist falls on the scale of wild twist bullshittery lessens considerably once you know how this character is portrayed in the original, I feel.

In “The Greatest Robot on Earth”, Abullah is a robot butler disguised as a scientist disguised as another scientist. Not to pooh-pooh the original’s Scooby-Doo antics, but, by comparison, Pluto’s reveal is actually quite nice, logical, and thematically consistent. It also gives Tenma a chance to look cool and not just pathetic.

Professor Ochanomizu is the best character. Don’t argue with me. In Astro Boy, he has a big heart and a big temper to match, and he gets knocked around more than Wile E. Coyote in a Looney Tunes segment. He spends most of “The Greatest Robot on Earth” being kidnapped and hanging out with the sultan, but Pluto spreads the wealth by letting the other roboticists be the damsel in distress throughout the plot.

In Pluto, he’s mostly characterized by doing kindly old man shit (do you recognize that robot dog and how it definitely influenced Ochanomizu’s design for Bobby?), but it is absolutely the kind of stuff the original Hiroshi Ochanomizu would do. He gets treated with more on-screen respect in Pluto than in Astro Boy, but only because he isn’t as cartoony. The animation team made damn sure to have the physics of his stomach work not like those of an innocent-at-heart anime girl’s titties when he’s enthusiastically running to the next big important thing, and that’s exactly the right spirit for a creator to have towards this character. A+ job, M2.

Also, in the manga only, Ochanomizu is the facilitator for the single most entertaining referential gag in all of Urasawa’s works: the police dog car diagram. This was cut in the anime.

In the postscript of Pluto: UrasawaXTezuka volume 5, manga critic and lecturer Tomohiko Murakami observes that “Urasawa’s depictions of Professor Tenma and Professor Ochanomizu almost appear to be [his] perspective on two different aspects of Osamu Tezuka’s character.” I don’t necessarily disagree, especially given the commentary Tezuka gave regarding Atom’s status as a “monster”, but I think that Ochanomizu and Tenma also more generally represent the “dark” and “light” side of progress and science. This is likely what Tezuka intended for them, too, back when he was writing the series.

But Tenma is just a hot mess. For the duration of “The Greatest Robot on Earth”, he was more or less emotionally stable up until the “death” of Atom (and guess what? He totally enabled Atom’s increase in strength to 1,000,000, despite Ochanomizu constantly advising Atom not to do), though his general moodiness and instability is a defining character trait for much of the series. He gets better over time, but make no mistake: he is an eccentric, reclusive, and vain disaster man.

In Pluto, Urasawa lets Tenma’s disaster qualities shine alongside his signature ego, moodiness, cynicism, and destructive tendencies. This man self-sabotages like it’s his job. He also flings his creations around willy-nilly and never thinks about the consequences, and that’s why he has a hand in a significant number of the most harmful and destructive events in the extended Astro Boy universe somehow, including in Pluto.

Tenma’s rejection of Atom at the dinner table in Pluto is way classier than his breakdowns in the original Astro Boy manga, but I liked the gravitas of the scene and the over-the-top vibe of the fancy dinner in the sunset. Tenma’s portrayals throughout different series run the gamut from “frenetic cartoon maniac” to “vanilla un-stellar dad” to “Phantom of the Opera”, and this is a nice lean towards the latter end of the scale.

His constant contest over ownership of Atom/influence over Atom with the Ministry of Science (and specifically one Hiroshi Ochanomizu) extends beyond “The Greatest Robot on Earth”, though, and I think elements of their more direct conflicts are very present throughout Pluto. I love an old man fight, and it seems Urasawa does, too.

But goddamn is it satisfying to see Ochanomizu tell Tenma to shove it where the sun don’t shine.

Apparently, their dynamic is so popular that it inspired a completely new series set in the alternate universe where they not only go to college together, but are best friends. If you want something fluffier than Pluto where the old men aren’t old, go read Atom: The Beginning, I guess.

And, like, sure. This is all great. But sans the extended old man drama, many of these side-by-sides have been pretty faithful to “The Greatest Robot on Earth”, and that is NOT what Makoto Tezka asked for.

Pluto as a Remix of Astro Boy

North No. 2, called Monar in “The Greatest Robot on Earth”, is generally the same robot as in his original portrayal, but instead of just going to fight Pluto, he stars alongside new character Paul Duncan in a brand new story about pianos and music and being blind and growing past trauma to accept others into the heart. Tezuka’s Kuroo Hazama (Black Jack) was even there in Paul Duncan’s memories. It had everything: crying old people and kids, medical drama, orphan trauma, mama trauma, prostitution implications, castles, the emptiness of fame and fortune, singing, an android dreaming of more than just electric sheep, long monologues, and an emotional goodbye where one character stares longingly (even if he can’t actually see anything) at the other knowing they shall never return.

I’ll just say it: Turkey’s Brando is a total red shirt in “The Greatest Robot on Earth”. Meanwhile, Urasawa gave him a family, a love of Turkish drinking culture, a friendship and rivalry with Hercules, and a penchant to dabble in illogical forces like luck, and a classic tearjerker death. Urasawa gave him the world. 

In the anime, Brando is among my favorites. Y’all can swoon over your twink Epsilon or whatever, but it’s Brando over randos for me!

Chochi Chochi Ababa transformed into Saddam Hussein—er, Pluto’s King Darius XIV. One is a cartoon villain who provides an opportunity to learn a basic moral lesson, and the other is a motherfucking war criminal. I think that's a sufficiently mature new twist on an old concept.

Of all the characters present in Pluto, Atom himself is likely the one that gave Urasawa and Nagasaki the most grief, if only because he is the one and only Astro Boy, hero of justice, and if his portrayal wasn’t popular, they’d probably be sent to manga hell forever.

For me personally, one of the most gratifying details regarding his portrayal is how quickly he will lie while maintaining the lie that robots can’t and don’t lie. This line of thinking, as well as the implication that Atom follows Asimov’s Laws more because he wants to, not because he has to follow his programming, is something that became more and more apparent the longer the original Astro Boy ran even if none of the other characters directly said anything about it. Speaking as a fan, I also think it’s nice that Urasawa makes the most of upholding Atom’s observed personality traits throughout adaptations. That he made Atom a deeply curative flavor of an insect kid is a grounded, but nice touch.

(It may also be worth noting that Osamu Tezuka had a known fascination with insects. The “Mushi” in Mushi Productions means “insect”. I don’t know how intentional that was, but it seems Pluto’s Atom may have been intended as a chip off the ol’ Tezuka block whether he was his “monster” or not.)

But as lovely and detailed as Urasawa’s embellishments on these characters is, this is still not what Makoto Tezka asked of him. So far, these characters are strikingly similar to the existing “The Greatest Robot on Earth”, and apparently, if Tezka’s interview in the postscript of Pluto: UrasawaXTezuka volume 2 is to be believed, he told Urasawa multiple times to keep revising until he made it his own! It seems Atom really became Urasawa’s monster, too!

[yes-ihavealwaysbeengreen]

"I don't feel so good." Simon 'Ghost' Riley x F!Reader

Summary: Simon Riley had no idea the truck they were following would have more than hostages inside. Instead, he finds someone who sees him, the man behind the mask.

Pairing: Simon 'Ghost' Riley x American F! Reader

Warnings: 18 + for language, mentions of trafficking, Simon Riley and Ghost are the same body but two men, angst, blood, and military inaccuracies.

Cross Posted on AO3

“It’s always an adventure when we come to visit you, Amigo,” Soap shouts through the comms and Ghost rolls his eyes. 

“I like to keep it interesting,” Ghost could hear the smile in Alejandro’s voice, “that way you and Señor Ghost keep coming to see us!” 

“Focus,” Ghost gruffs, “we’re almost to the truck.” Soap laughs, stepping on the gas pedal, keeping up with the two bikes in front of them. Rudy and Alejandro weave through the terrain like it’s second nature. 

“I got eyes on them, two armored jeeps keeping up the front and rear, one box truck in the middle, that’s where they’re keeping the hostages,” Rudy reports, “we need to take down the two jeeps quickly, I’ll take the rear.” 

“And I’ll take the front,” Alejandro nods, “Ghost, and Soap you take out the driver and any other hostiles. Secure the truck.” 

“Copy,” Ghost releases the button on his jacket, lifting up the gun in his hands and bracing for a fight. 

“Approaching in three, two, one,” Rudy counts down before Alejandro gasses up the bike, going around the truck and spraying the side of the front vehicle with gunfire. Ghost gets lost in the routine, the weight of the gun in his hands as he pours hot lead into the cartel leaders, watching as their blood stains the side of the truck like a Jackson Pollock painting. 

Soap goes around to the back, shooting the lock off the truck and raising the door open. The stench makes their nostrils burn, and a group of women, about forty all crowd along the back wall, “steamin’ Christ,” Soap lowers his gun, “this wasn’t just a hostage situation,” he glances at Ghost, “this was a transaction.” 

Alejandro comes around the side, lowering his weapon and pulling off his glasses, quickly speaking Spanish to the group of frightened women. Several of them burst into tears, more than half are younger than eighteen. “We need to get them to the hospital, and then work on finding their families,” he turns to the others. 

Several of the older women turn looking at one pressed deep into the corner, their brows furrowing as they look back and forth between the men and her. “They don’t like it when you speak English,” you shout, two of the women helping you forward, your left leg dragging uselessly behind you, “they don’t know what you’re saying and that makes them nervous.” 

“Fucking hell,” Soap shouts, “you’re American!” 

“Ding-ding-ding, we have ourselves a bright one here,” you wave a finger in the air, “figured that out all on your own, did ya?” 

Soap barks out a laugh, and Ghost smirks beneath his mask. “How the hell did you end up in here?” 

“I’m a Marine, working the border on a temporary assignment. We got wind of a human trafficking ring in Tijuana. My superiors didn’t want to get involved. ‘Leave the Mexicans to the Mexicans’ they told me. But women kept going missing and we had to do something, so…I did something.” 

“What happened to your leg?” Ghost puts his gun over his shoulder, reaching a hand out and helping you sit at the edge of the truck. Sparks fly when his fingertips brush your bare leg, the makeshift wrappings doing little to help the pain. He turns it this way and that and you reach out without thinking grabbing his shoulder and letting out a painful moan. 

“Fuck, that hurts,” you gasp, inhaling deeply through your nose, clenching your teeth, “they didn’t like a woman who fought back.” 

“Atta girl,” Ghost praises before straightening, “I think you’re gonna need to be med-evaced for that. They shattered the femur and looks like they dislocated the knee judging by the direction,” he slowly feels around your calf and your eyes roll back when he feels the stab wound. 

“I think I’m gonna be sick,” you heave and he quickly moves forward, catching you as you lean over your head between your knees vomiting. “I don’t feel so good,” you sit up, leaning into Ghost and he mumbles out a quick apology before lifting you into his arms and moving towards the van. 

Cries out outrage sound behind you and Ghost shocks everyone when he replies in perfect Spanish that he’s taking you to the hospital. “Soap, c’mon,” he waits while Johnny slides open the side and Ghost places you down inside, crawling in beside you, “we need to get her to a hospital, stat.” He lifts his hand, the blood staining his gloves, “she’s lost a lot of blood.” 

“We will take the other truck and meet you there,” Alejandro nods, “Rudy help me get the bikes into the back.” 

Soap climbs into the front, turning on the engine and tires screeching as he turns back towards the city. “Hang in there, love, we got you,” Soap shouts back as you fade in and out of consciousness. 

“Are you the angel of death?” you whisper, fingers grazing the hard plastic of the skull mask. “Have you come to take me home?” 

“No,” he’s gruff, reaching around for the medical kit and grabbing a clot kit from the bag, placing it over the stab wound. “You’re not fucking dying today, darlin’.” He quickly yanks off his belt, building a tourniquet just above the stab wound, knowing you would black out from pain if he put it on your upper thigh where it should go. 

You giggle, “I’m dying and the angel of death is calling me darling.” You’re eyes sober when he looks up at you, seeing the man behind the mask, the black paint thick around his eyes as he tosses the skull mask to the floor. 

“Doesn’t look much like an angel now, do I, love?” Ghost keeps your gaze and you feel your chest pound as you take in the three scars splitting across his face at an angle. “Now, fucking keep your eyes open and keep talking.” 

“What’s your name?” you ask, trying to stay awake, the darkness encroaching on your vision with each breath. 

“Ghost,” he mumbles, “they call me Ghost.” 

“Your mother had a wicked sense of humor to name you that,” you tease, earning a soft smile that makes you think no other has seen before. 

“No, my mum named me Simon, Simon Riley.” 

“Is that who I’m with right now?” He furrows his brow, “are you Simon Riley or Ghost?” 

Soap looks at him through the rearview mirror and he ducks his head, trying to tie a makeshift splint around your thigh. “Simon,” he mumbles, “right now you got Simon.” 

“How will I know when it’s Ghost?” your voice grows quieter and he leans forward to hear you. “I’d like to thank him when I get the chance.” 

“Thank him for what?” he asks, desperate to know even though he knows they are one and the same. Simon Riley is Ghost and Ghost is Simon Riley. 

“For saving me,” you whisper, blinking furiously to try to keep your eyes open. “When that truck door rolled open I wasn’t sure what was going to happen. I wasn’t going to last another day, I knew that much. But then I saw you and it was like a light switched on, and I knew,” your eyes close and you feel the pull of darkness drag you deeper. 

“Knew what?” he asks, brushing your cheek, the warmth giving you the strength to open your eyes. 

“I knew I was safe,” you lose consciousness after that and Simon shouts at Soap to go faster, the van pulling into the hospital with a team of doctors and nurses waiting. Ghost only has a moment to tug on his mask before they're ripping open the doors and lifting you onto the gurney. Ghost watches as they rush you through the open doors, shouting orders, and putting an oxygen mask over your face. 

He doesn’t know how long he stands there before Soap puts a hand on his arm guiding him out of the way as the truck pulls up with Alejandro and Rudy. Ghost goes to work helping the women down from the truck, many of them barefoot with a colorful array of bruises littering their skin. 

“Fucking animals,” Soap seethes, helping the last of the women down from the truck, Alejandro and Rudy at the desk, calling families and working on getting them there. “I don’t understand how you could treat women with such disrespect.” 

Ghost is silent before he walks through the door, hearing them shut behind him and Soap shouting as he follows him to the front desk. “I came here with a woman, massive trauma to the left leg, probable broken femur and dislocated knee cap. Where is she?” 

“Name?” the woman asks, and he clenches his hands on the desk before she sighs looking it up in the computer and saying your first and last name. “She’s in surgery, says here it should be another ten to twelve hours.” 

“Where do I wait?” he asks before she uses one ruby red fingernail to direct him toward the waiting room. He nods, turning to walk away when she shouts back at him. 

“Do you want to doctor to come out and talk to you when she’s done?” He’s nodding before he can think it through and Soap follows along silently. Both of them sit before the doors to the surgical wing, the plastic creaking as they settle into them. 

“You’re really going to wait for her?” Soap asks, running a hand over his face before he looks at Ghost unmoving with a sigh. “Alright, I’m gonna go help Rudy and Alejandro with the girls and then I’ll be back.” 

Ghost gives him a barely noticeable nod before he takes off down the hall. It’s nearing three in the morning and Soap and the others are long gone, back to the base for bed and food but Ghost is still there. The doors swing open, a man in a white coat calling your name and he stands quickly, taking note of how the man flinches when he steps closer. “How is she?” 

“She’s stable. We got most of the bleeding under control, the stab wound was heavily infected so we scraped away the dead tissue and sewed her back up. She’ll be on a heavy dose of antibiotics for the next ten days. We also reset the femur and put her in a full leg cast from her thigh to her upper calf, we didn’t want to suffocate the stab wound. She’ll need to attend physical therapy and have someone at home with her for the next few months but I suspect she’ll make a full recovery.” 

“Thank you,” Ghost mumbles thinking through it all, “can I see her?” 

The doctor rubs the back of his neck, nervously, “well, visiting hours are over, and she’s still waking up from anesthesia….” 

“You won’t even know I’m there,” he smirks, “I’ll be like a ghost.” 

The doctor nods, clearly not wanting to argue with the man before him, and gestures to follow him back. His breath catches when he takes in all the wires keeping you alive, your heartbeat a steady rhythm. “I’ll leave you two alone,” the doctor closes the door behind him, nearly running from the room. 

Ghost approaches the bed, standing over you and letting out a shaky breath as you slowly blink your eyes open. He reaches for the mask, not wanting to scare you when you wake from the drugs but you quickly grab his hand, holding it gently in your own. A smile breaks out across your face, eyes hazy as you take him in, “Hi Ghost,” you whisper, voice cracking. 

“Do you want some water?” he asks, using one hand to pour you a glass as the other is kept firmly in your own. He helps you drink, wiping the little bit off your chin before replacing the cup. 

“That’s better,” you smile up at him, “I was hoping you’d be here when I woke up. I have something important to tell you.” 

“What’s that, darlin’?” he sits down at the edge of the bed, careful not to touch you behind the hand he’s currently running his thumb along the back of. 

“I wanted to say, thank you,” you whisper, tightening your grip on his hand, “I wanted to thank you for saving my life.” 

“I wasn’t the only one there, love,” he reminds you, and you giggle, closing your eyes. 

“But none of the others made me feel safe. None of the others showed me their face.” His thumb freezes on your hand you slowly open your eyes, “Can you show me your face again, Simon Riley?” 

He lets go of your hand and pulls the mask off followed by the balaclava, his eyes like a raccoon, his hair standing straight up as he glances down at you. “There you are,” you whisper, reaching your fingertips out to graze his cheek, his eyes closing at the touch, “hello Simon.” 

He slowly opens them, a smirk spreading on his lips, “hello, love.” 

[toomuchracket]

pre-dating idea, the bday party friendship group all doing a "blind date with a book" night and everyone gets assigned another person to choose a book for that they think they'll enjoy. obviously, matty and girlie get each other, and they have to explain why they chose that book, and it just proves how much they really notice and care about each other

i love this i'm obsessed with it and actually it got me thinking... what if you got each other the same book by complete coincidence? also like as THE literary girly of all time and the friend group, i reckon you'd be the one planning the whole shindig - your flat isn't huge, but it's alright, because that means the book presentation evening will be cosy lol, and a month before the actual get-together you "pulled names from a hat" to allocate who was choosing for who, which is code for You chose strategically partially because you wanted to see what would happen when you paired frankie and enya, because they're so different, and partially because you'd be damned if anyone else got to buy matty a book lmao. anyway! once the teams are picked and shared, he messages the gc like "excited but also lowk scared. i've got to pick WELL lol" and texts you privately like "fr i can't wait to pick you something, darling. thank you for planning this, it'll be really fun!", and it makes you GIDDY. the whole thing does, actually, buying him a book and wrapping it and leaving your reasoning on the cover and then having a drink with him in your kitchen before the gifting part of the hangout. it's so fun to see what your friends all chose for each other - some choices are funny, some serious, but all are thoughtful - and have a laugh, and the excitement fizzing in your stomach when it reaches your and matty's turn is just as good; it briefly fizzles into panic when you open the package to see the exact same copy of crying in h mart that you bought him, but as soon as you look into those pretty eyes of his you can't stop giggling at the coincidence. neither can matty - he just leans over to hug you like "i can't believe that. maybe we know each other TOO well, darling, christ", and you return it like "we're mental. s'amazing". and while the book choice is the same, the reasoning is slightly different; yours was because you thought he would enjoy reading about a musician using another form/skill to process their emotion (in the book's case, cooking), and his was because he thought you would enjoy reading about how identity is shaped through the gaps in language and culture as much as those things themselves AND the hard things we experience in life (idk i am spitballing here), and you were both right about the other being interested in that. bless him, he's genuinely apologetic when you find each other in the kitchen again later, offering to replace the book with another, but you just put a finger on his lips (he goes internally insane at this) and shake your head like "nah, this one's perfect. and i was thinking - we could do a buddy read of it sometime, if you'd like, discuss it together as we go, maybe annotate each other's copies", and matty actually swears he's never been more up for anything ever in his life. a private book club, just the two of you? your handwriting on his books forever? he's lovesick i fear. yeah, i love this whole idea <3

[password-door-lock]

Mystictober Day 16-- Theater

You and Saeran discuss Zekyll and White before watching Zen’s performance (866 words).

“Do we have everything we need, my love?” Saeran asks as the two of you linger outside the door to the theater. 

You consider the question, patting your pockets. “Tickets, check. Here’s yours.” You hand Saeran the small cardstock slip. “VIP badges, check.” You tug at the sky blue lanyard around your neck, which indeed contains the laminated VIP badge which will get you backstage after the show. “Flowers for Zen, check.” Saeran is holding the bouquet, which he put together specifically for this event. “Shoes, pants, shirts, et cetera, check. Am I missing anything, dear?” 

Saeran giggles at your joke. “I don’t think so, my sweet. Let’s go in.”

“Alright. Let’s go in.”

You take Saeran’s arm with an air of elegance which only serves to exacerbate his giggling as you lead him into the wonderfully decorated venue for Zen’s performance. You’re over the moon to be seeing your friend’s latest musical, especially after hearing so much about it on the messenger. You and Saeran settle into your assigned seats, which, of course, allow an amazing view of the stage.

“It’s a good thing they postponed this until after the trouble with your father was over,” you whisper to Saeran as the other members of the audience begin to file in. “I would’ve hated to miss Zen’s show.”

You know Zen has worked very hard for this— as has Yoosung, for that matter— and that he would have been devastated if you and the twins had missed the production. The director was very understanding of the safety concerns faced by the entire RFA, including Zen, and so he agreed to the rescheduling. The entire group will be able to make it to the theater, and then to the late dinner you’ve planned for this evening. 

“And it gave me time to read the book,” Saeran reminds you. He’s spent the past day-and-a-half or so utterly engrossed in his copy of The Strange Case of Dr. Zekyll and Mr. White. The novel is short, but Saeran, as it turns out, is a very close reader. He annotates his books carefully, with neat commentary written on removable notes so as not to damage the pages. 

“Hm,” you hum. “What did you think of it?” This subject has been bothering you for a while— you worry that Saeran might not feel comfortable with the portrayal of Mr. White, considering the things that he was told about himself at Magenta. As you understand it, one of his reasons for reading the book prior to the show was to ensure that he’d be prepared for the topics of the musical. An adaptation like this could easily turn into a cruel caricature if not executed with requisite care. 

“The novel is just about how everyone has a mix of good and evil in them,” he explains, “Mr. White was created by the author to make the point that nobody in real life is completely evil. I don’t relate to the story very much… Saeran wasn’t evil, and neither was Ray, no matter what Rika told me. I’m strong enough now to understand that’s the case, but the book was still interesting to read.” Per usual, Saeran’s understanding of the media is nuanced and complex. You get the feeling that he wants to say more, and you’re looking forward to talking it through with him on the drive home. 

“It was written a long time ago,” you muse. “But I can’t wait to see Zen playing both characters. I know this was a huge challenge for him.”

“Mm,” Saeran offers you a contemplative hum, “Especially considering that White is supposed to be shorter than Zekyll. I wonder how they’ll show the scene where Zekyll’s employee meets White and doesn’t recognize him.” 

“Well, I guess that’s the magic of theater,” you shrug. “I’m sure the costume changes are going to have to be really quick.” But you know Zen can handle it. He once told you that his fastest complete costume change took him only fourteen seconds.

“It might get confusing to have one actor playing both parts,” Saeran muses, “But Zen is good at his job. I’m sure he’ll pull it off. Although… I’m curious to see how the adaptation will be structured, since the book doesn’t have much plot until the very end when the main character reads the doctor’s letter. If they show the story in chronological order, it might ruin the mystery.”

“You know what, now that I think about it, what happens in Zekyll and White?” You’re familiar with the concept, of course, but you don’t know anything about the actual plot of the novel. Maybe you should’ve read it alongside Saeran to better prepare for the show. 

“Shh, my love,” Saeran shushes you gently, with a loving hand on your wrist. “The lights are coming down. You’ll just have to wait and see what happens, won’t you?”

“Oh, you’re right, darling,” you whisper. You were too engrossed in the discussion to notice the lowered lights without prompting, apparently. “We’ll have to continue this discussion later, though. I want to hear your thoughts about the play.”

“Mhm,” Saeran agrees, holding your hand tight as the curtain is raised. 

[oniifans]

Lunch Money // Chapter Three: Bully! Eren Jeager x Female Reader

Possible finale?~ ¬‿¬ Maybe?

You and Bully Eren are in detention together. Uh oh, someone's in trouble~ I mean - no one could EVER do something obscene in a classroom right? …Right??

Kinks Include: Dubcon, Asshole Eren, Sex in the Classroom, Sex Over a Desk, Oral (Reader giving), Cunnilingus, Creampie, Dirty Talk.

More x female reader works incoming! I appreciate the patience and support as always. ♥

“Detention has now started. Please work on any assignments that you have for class or read. No phones allowed, not even to play music with. I’ll be stepping outside the classroom for just a moment to speak with Mr. Smith.” The teacher looked at you and Eren before shaking her head, walking out of the classroom to join Mr. Smith out in the hallway.

You let out a sigh as you buried your face in your arms. You knew better than to trust Eren with that damn test answer sheet. He went ahead and took pictures to send to his friends before another teacher caught him and he decided to tattle.

Fucker.

You pulled out your book from your science class and started to read the assigned chapters. Eren looked amused, visibly happy to see you stuck in detention with him.

“The teacher’s pet got caught, so sad,” He mocked with a frown, “what is she going to do now?”

You ignored him, moving to another page as you continued to read.

Eren let out a chuckle as he moved from his desk and walked over to you, sitting now across from you as he turned around to stare dead into your eyes. “What? Not going to talk to me now?”

“You got me in trouble, you prick. Why would I want to talk to you?” You hissed, moving your eyes from the book to him, “I did everything as you asked me to, you gave me a bit of protection, but you couldn’t just hide the test answers and keep them to yourself? I know you’re a selfish jerk, and rather keep shit on the down low, but damn you! Now my reputation is ruined completely because of you.”

Eren just stared at you, one hand holding his head. “The smart girl getting all of the straight A’s in class gets to be in trouble just once, and she loses her shit on me. How typical,” He snickered, “you know it’s hot for you to get mad like that.”

“Eat shit.”

“You’re always such a good girl, never getting into trouble, and just out of the blue, here you are.”

You didn’t reply.

“Oh? Nothing to say? From the girl who sits in the back of the class, never says anything to anyone, and passes all of her classes?”

Still nothing.

“You know,” Eren leaned close, one hand grabbing your book and slamming it down on the desk, “I bet under all of those baggy clothes, your oversized hoodies, anything to cover yourself, you have a banging hot body. A shy, introverted girl like you hiding in the back of the class has some secret kinks. Maybe we could work out a deal.”

Your hands gripped the edges of the book, but he held down the book firmly. “No more deals, and actually, you’ve seen me under the clothes-”

“Not completely.”

“What’s it to you anyway?”

“Just hear me out,” He smirked, “if you start sitting next to me in class, maybe move your arm so I could copy some of those test answers, work with me on my grades, I could take you to one of those large parties. You know, the ones that get wild and such, where everyone talks about it the next day? Maybe you’ll finally get a big group of friends, stop sitting in the back of the class.”

“There’s a trick to this, isn’t there?”

Even though you could deny it, you were curious to go to one of those big parties. You’ve heard crazy rumors about how things went down. Jean and Eren getting into a fist fight, Reiner and Porco, the two well-known football jocks, having a beer chugging race, and even Armin playing seven minutes in heaven with Annie.

There were too many stories about what happened, but no one could really tell you all of the details. You could even witness these yourself.

“No trick, but you just let me use you,” Eren breathed, “your holes, your body, completely in secret.”

“Really, Eren? That’s really it?”

“You want that invite? The address?”

You moved away from him, sitting back into your seat and crossed your arms. “I don’t believe that’s it.”

Eren shifted and sat up in his seat, “Nope. That’s really it. Getting head from the very innocent girl that swears up and down that she doesn’t do anything bad and she gets an invite to the party. Maybe even fuck that cute pussy of yours every now and then. No strings attached.”

“Why me?”

He raised an eyebrow, “Why you?”

“Yeah. You’re obsessed with me, aren’t you? Like to pick on me, tease me, and behind closed doors, you have me on my knees sucking you off and riding you. What, catching feelings?”

“Not in the slightest,” Eren tensed, his jaw ticking, “I just think it’s fair, since this is a way of us making deals. You get what you want, I get what I want.”

You stared hard at him. “And if I refuse?”

“I’d make your life hell. Start spreading rumors of how you were begging to have me use you. And that’ll even be worse for you, for your reputation and all of that,” He let out an exaggerated gasp, “oh no, that would be terrible. All that attention all on you about how much of a slut you are. You’d hate that.”

You scoffed, “That isn’t fair.”

“Then, why don’t you make it easier for the both of us and come on over here to put my dick down your fucking throat.”

You grimaced.

“Don’t give me that look. Just come over here and I’ll take care of you. You got that?”

You didn’t move.

“I love that look in your eyes. That look that you fucking hate me, but you’d still let me have you.”

It was like he knew you. Not even the last two times in the bathroom and he just figured you completely, from the inside and out.

You quietly rose from your desk and moved to the floor, sitting on your knees in between his legs as your hands started to undo the belt. Eren stared at you, his nostrils flaring as he watched you closely.

“Hurry up before they get back.” He whispered.

You managed to undo the belt completely, moving your hands to the zipper before Eren stopped you. “Not with your hands. With your teeth.”

You hesitated for a moment before moving your hand away and leaning into his crotch. Your tongue latched onto the zipper, catching it with your teeth and slowly pulling it down.

Eren moved his hand over to the back of your head and pushed you against his crotch. “Lick it through my boxers.”

Your tongue lapped up at the fabric, tasting the hint of his hot flesh through the threads. Your eyes stared up at him as you continued.

He grunted, feeling your tongue just barely rubbing against cock. “Don’t stall, do what you’re good at, YN.”

You hummed as your hands moved to pull down the elastic band of his underwear, freeing his erection. It was hot, pulsing as he moved to slap it against your cheek. “You look so good like this. My cock right against your face. Heh, take a good look at it. It’s going all the way down your fucking throat and into your rib cage once I’m done with you.”

Your hands reached up to take his cock, your lips wrapped around the tip as you gave it painfully slow licks. Your tongue dragged from the base to the tip, both hands wrapped around it, watching as Eren had one hand on your head, his breathing picking up.

He would never tell you that you looked perfect right in between his legs. That you were absolute heaven to touch, to watch. Why? Maybe he truly was afraid of catching feelings for you. He would never admit that.

You took him deep in your mouth, a choked gasp escaping Eren as his hips bucked up. Your tongue lapped against his throbbing flesh, choked moans barely making past your lips as you bobbed your head up and down on him.

His fingers brushed over the lock of your hair, hissing and panting. He could start feeling the growth of his climax, but he wanted more than just your mouth. He pushed your head away, little strings of spit caking your lips as he tried to catch his breath.

“Over the desk. Now.”

You stood to your feet, moving your upper body against the desk as Eren stood from his seat. He moved behind you, his wet cock in one hand as the other hand moved to pull your pants down. He let out a chuckle, staring over your panties as he traveled his free hand over your ass.

“Such a nice ass…” He said as his fingers dipped over to your clothed hot core, “oh? Someone got a little turned on when sucking me off. Is this a wet spot?” He rubbed it teasingly, his eyes watching your body quiver as you shook your head no.

“No? Then,” He pulled your panties to the side, exhaling a breath, “tell me why your cunt is so wet.”

His index finger traveled over your lips, sending shivers up your spine. He rubbed down to your clit, watching amused as you crumbled on the desk. Little whimpers could be heard from you as he slid a finger inside of you.

“Fucking hell, YN. You’re tight and warm. You thought about this, didn’t you? You’re dripping wet just from sucking my fucking cock. You want me to be inside of you?” He asked as he started to finger you. You let out a gasp, one hand over your mouth as you tried to fight back what your body felt.

You didn’t want to give in, but yet with each stroke inside of you, you wanted him to devour you, taste you, and make you his.

Eren leaned over your body, sliding his finger out of you as he pressed his cheek against your own, “You want this, don’t you?” He asked as he yanked down your panties down to your ankles. He rubbed his cock against your wet folds, while his tongue licked a stripe over your cheek, “Beg for it. Beg for me to be inside of you.”

Your cheeks burned as your head lowered. You mumbled a few words, but Eren grabbed a hold of your chin, turning your head to him. “What was that?”

“Please...please fuck me,” You said softly, “I want you deep inside of me, please.”

Eren’s hips suddenly thrusted forward, his cock sliding all the way in. You tensed up, standing on your toes before his hands grabbed your hips and held you down. You whimpered, legs shaking as you felt how he was stretching your insides.

He started to move, hips crashing against your ass with each deep thrust. He moved away from your head, watching how he was fucking you. Your cute pink clutch tugging and pulling with ease, while his hands grabbed handfuls of your ass and dragged you up and down on his cock.

You were a mess on the desk. Your face was hot, your eyes rolling back as Eren used your pussy. You could feel your wetness start to trail down your thighs, while your hands gripped the edges of the wooden surface. Your moans were stifled by your hand as you bit down on your knuckles to stop from crying out his name.

Was it embarrassing to be used by your bully? Maybe, but it still felt exciting to know that behind all of those harsh words and cold stares, that he wanted to use your body behind closed doors.

“It’s good to know how hot and wet you are for me, YN,” Eren said as he moved once more down to your upper body, his breath ghosting over your neck, “do you ever imagine us like this in your bedroom? Probably touching yourself to the thought of me buried in between your legs?”

You let out a soft cry, feeling ashamed as you nod to your sin, while Eren snickered and pressed a wet kiss against your neck. He started to get rougher, breathing heavily as one hand snaked at your neck and started to slowly squeeze.

“You’re gonna cum on my cock, YN. You’re going to cum and thank me for fucking you.” He gasped, feeling that he was getting close to reaching his climax.

His heavy balls slapped against your clit as he moved to heavy thrusts, feeling how he was pressed deep into your womb.

“Thank you!” You suddenly cry out, “thank you for fucking me, Eren!” Your legs gave out as you came, Eren following as he laid on top of you. Thick ropes of his cum shot deep inside of your womb, filling your eager cunt.

You were out of breath, your hair sticking to your sweaty face as Eren slowly pulled himself up from you, letting out a grunt as he slid himself out. Cum oozed from your hole, a perfect sight for Eren as he rubbed a hand over his disheveled hair.

“I hope that no one heard that,” Eren snickered as he pulled his pants up, giving your ass a firm spank, “since, you know, you care so much about your reputation and all. But…I’ll text you the details later about that party.”

You were numb, lower body buzzing from the recent release as your eyes shifted to look up at him.

“And don’t forget,” his hand cupped your cheek, “about our little deal we have, hm?”

[faulty-heat-vents]

//Narrative communication established.

[CONTEXT: CONTINUATION]> Previous installments

Ashton sits on top of his desk with his knees pinched under his chin and hands around his paw-ankles.

Patience- this is Ciryn’s first rodeo, he thinks to himself. She’s not used to this shit.

Ciryn is seated on Thermie’s reconstructed leg, using the colossal war-machine as a bench as she fiddles with a mechanical box. She knows how to open it- she’s the only one who can- but she’s more preoccupied with finding out who sent it.

“Commander Oracle was right, you know.” She doesn’t raise her head from the box when she talks. “This open inbox thing is dangerous.”

Ash rolls his eyes under his helmet. “Would it make a difference if I closed it? Hive broke in and dropped off-“

“I know what that Hive pilot did. I also know that Oracle set up stronger security.”

“THIS KNIFE TELEPORTED.” He holds up the knife in question, waving it around despite its sharpness. “I don’t think whatever’s happening gives a shit about a few secturrets!”

Neither side says anything for a moment. A mirrored sigh, another pause, then half-laughter.

“We’re so fucked,” Ash exaggeratedly whines, letting himself flop to the floor beneath his desk. Ciryn copies him again, similarly sliding down Thermie’s leg. She tosses the box to the side as she shifts to lay on her back to face the rafters.

Ashton tries to redirect the tension. “How tall do you think this place is?”

“Hm?” Ciryn rolls her head to look at him.

“I mean- half-size frames are usually, like, two or three meters tall, right? And size one frames are twice that big, size two is double that, size three doubles that. Three, six, twelve, twenty-four meters tall?”

“Ash, you’re the only person here who’d think of that.”

“I think they rounded up to thirty.” Ashton sits upright and points to the hangar beyond. “Class-group C has a Barbarossa in their sortie, and the Apoc doesn’t even scrape the catwalks.”

“You have a rangefinder in your helmet, yeah? Just ping the ceiling-“

“That’d ruin the fun!” He crosses his arms in mock offense, then drops back down with a laugh. “Nah, I like to think there’s a Fomorian Frame Yermak running around here somewhere. Size Four.”

“Doesn’t IPS-N restrict that mod to size three? And besides, if there was a size four frame here, we would’ve seen it.”

Ashton sweeps his hand across his view, waving to the metal walkways above them both.

“Maybe this whole base is a Size Four. GMS Expanded Compartment. We’d never know- they never roll down the windows in the vertibird during deployment.”

Ciryn runs a hand across her face. “Ash, that’s because we’d be sucked into space. There’s no conspiracy going on.”

“Bullshit! Command’s lying to me about my past. Who’s to say they aren’t lying about the entire base?”

Despite Ash’s jovial tone, Ciryn can tell he’s upset with that one. She rolls over and leans her head on her hand, arms on their elbows. Ash doesn’t turn; he just side-eyes her.

“Ashton, you know why Commander Oracle is being so secret.”

“I don’t, but you’re talking like you do. What’d they tell you?”

“Nothing… forget about it.”

“They told me to pilot a meat mech.”

Ciryn shoots upright, lying to sitting ramrod in a blink.

“What?! When?!”

“A few hours ago. Dunno when the next drop is, but I’m gonna have to strap a bleeding gun onto Thermie.”

“Thermie,” Ciryn pointedly asks the frame to her back, “did you know about this?!”

//Affirmative. I was informed shortly after Pilot received the order.

“And you’re not freaking out?!”

//Negative- irrational response is not my directive. I have my concerns, but I will not field them. Instead, I will field the armaments assigned to my chassis. Good soldiers follow orders.

Ashton places a gentle hand on Ciryn’s shoulder, trying to pull her out of her panic. It doesn’t work. She whips around and snaps at him.

“Ashton, why didn’t you tell me?!”

“I…” He breathes to steady himself, sits up straight, then admits- “I was working up the courage to ask you.”

“Ask me? About what?”

Ashton stands up and offers her a hand to her feet. Once she’s up, he grabs the knife from his desk.

“Follow me. And bring the box.”

——

TO BE CONTINUED.

[orchid-mantis-petals]

WHEN HOME BECOMES YOU CHAPTER 4:

/ Why hello again!! Omg a post before 12 am MST shocker!! But here she is in all her glory. Chapter 4. Finally things are taking off!!

/ Couple of prefaces before we begin: I don’t own Stray Kids. I just love them dearly and want you to enjoy them too. All of the work here in this blog belongs to me. Do not copy or steal my work. Lastly I know very little about motorcycles so don’t come at me if things are wrong. I’ll learn and fix them 💜💜

/ I would like to thank @maximumkillshot she has been an absolute angel guiding me this week. She’s helped move the chapters and timeline of this fic in a proper direction. (The motorcycle scene in here is her brilliant idea)

/ Genre: Angst, comfort, fluff

/ Warnings: Panic attack (Han), anxiety, yelling, mentions of sleep (or lack of), crowds, and as always swearing

/ Summary:

“Y/N, I need to protect them,” he motioned to the boys as a defense.

“Sure, in the studio, on the stage, but here in this moment that is my fucking job. Out here I am your shield, I am your protection. I am the reason you will get from a to b safe and sound. Use me for the skills that I have. You put yourself into danger back there Chan!! Don’t ever do that again!! You said you trusted me, fucking prove it yah?? Let me do my goddamn job. Got. It??”

Your last few months since your arrival in Korea was to build up the team you had been assigned. From the moment you were given the job you were told to build a team you trusted to protect a high volume client. Without hesitation you hand picked the team based on their background and skills. It took you two weeks just to pick out the team. The rest of the time you built them up. You hoped this team was one you could be proud of, if they weren’t you’d scrap them all. It was something you had warned them from the beginning. If they weren’t up to the task you’d cut them from your team. No hesitation. It was easy to see some of the younger men were startled, the ones closer to your age had an air of arrogance you couldn’t wait to knock down a peg. Finally the day came, just as you entered the JYP building for your own daily training you got the call. The clients had arrived back from their overseas schedules. You were to meet the leader and a few of his staff upstairs in conference room 4. You were glad to have packed your uniform in your gym bag. After a quick change you wandered up to the room. Around a large table you saw various sets of faces. Some you had met through your months here, some were new. With a gentle knock you pushed the door open and bowed to greet the room. All faces were turned to you at the door.

“Hello, good morning everyone,” in a moment they all stood, bowed and greeted you formally as you sat down in one of the chairs. Directly across from you on the other end was a man you had vague recognition of, but you couldn’t place where you had recognized him from. His broad shoulders, bare face, and shaggy curls really didn’t give you much inkling.

“Hello, it is a pleasure to meet you. I am Christopher Bang Chan. But by all means please call me Chan. Everyone else does. I look forward to working with you,” he was formal, though you weren’t surprised, he was the leader of an apparently world famous idol group. Formalities were necessary in professional environments like this. You enjoyed the refreshing professionalism and charisma that seemed to roll off him in waves.

“Thank you, Chan,” it felt slightly awkward as it slipped off your tongue but he didn’t protest so you continued. “My name is (L/N), (F/N). Please call me by my first name. Since we’re being informal,” you smiled at him, it seemed to ease a slight tension in his shoulders. At his relaxation you also took a deep breath. “Has JYP spoken to you about what is going on??” you wanted to gauge the knowledge he had on the security situation.

“He told me enough, but I would like to hear it from you as well. So that we are both on the same page,”

“JYP has hired the company I work for to become private security for his idols. While you and your band were in America I used that time to hand pick and build a team I have confidence will do their best job to protect you and your band. Here are the files on every member of my team. It includes background, training, and skills. My own file is in there,” he nodded as he took the papers from you. You watched as he slipped them into a bag at his feet.

“Would you like to meet the band?? I heard the rest of your team had today off. But as the leader I would like you to meet them. I think it would ease some of the tension of change if they had a face to see,” change was hard you knew that. If providing them a name and face would help ease whatever stress they had you would be happy to.

“My schedule is clear until we work tomorrow. I am happy to meet them,” with a nod you joined Chan as he stood. The rest of the people in the room idled before they too dispersed to finish whatever tasks they had been assigned for the day. It was a short elevator ride to the practice rooms and a quick walk down the hall.

“Between schedules you’ll likely find us here. I will be sure to get you my phone number so if you need to reach me at any point you can,” you nodded as he slid open the door to the practice room. The flood of noise that filled your ears was shocking. Within the room you could see bodies moving around to music that blared loudly over a set of speakers tucked at the back of the room. Some of the noise filtered from sneakers as they scuffed the floor, instructions that were shouted over the music. Or the occasional holler of one of the men as they enjoyed the energy. It was refreshing to see such a lively attitude from how long you’d been on a strict schedule for your team. “Boys!!” Chan called above the music. You watched as all eyes moved to the two of you at the door. Whoever was closest to the radio moved to pause the music. Once it was Chan moved to stand by the boys. “Line up,” it was easy to see how quick he took command of the room. All of them, eight with Chan lined up in a row as Chan began a countdown “1, 2, 3, Step out, hello we are Stray Kids,” all at once they bowed hands creating a gesture you knew was likely unique to their team. After they greeted you it was your turn.

“Hello,” you bowed, low and formal. “I am (L/N), (F/N), please feel free to call me Y/N. I am the leader of your new security team. Come tomorrow I will begin my job of protecting you,” as you lifted your head your eyes met those of someone familiar. In a moment it all came crashing back. It was no shit the name Chan, and Stray Kids was familiar. Right there, three feet in front of you. There he was, the man with the dreamer eyes. It seemed he recognized you too. His jaw slack as he stared, as though it was unbelievable to have found you here. It wasn’t his face, more so his reaction to recognizing you. In a moment you covered your mouth as a fit of laughs wracked your chest. “I am so sorry,” you apologized as you turned your back to them and laughed harder. It was soon another laugh filled the room as you turned back to look at the group. He too had begun to laugh along. It had left the entire room in a state of confusion. The rest of the boys looked as though the two of you had gone mad.

“Chan, this is the security guard from America,”

“The one who saved you??” the two of you managed to collect yourselves as you both faced Chan.

“The very one, she dove between me and STAY to get me free. She said she had to kick me to do it,”

“She kicked you?!?!” oh maybe that wasn’t the right thing to say, the entire room shifted. The young man who shouted glared daggers at you now. That really wasn’t the first impression you had wanted to go for.

“Guys, guys she had to. She didn’t even kick hard. It was just enough force to get me loose from the crowd. Even came to check on me after the show. Y/N is a life saver,” that seemed to ease the tension of the room. But you could see your welcome was now unwelcome by some.

“It's nice to meet you, I better go,” before you slipped out of the room you made sure to bow, providing them with the utmost respect before you exited the room. Back to your original plan of the day you spent the next few hours down at the gym. Your interaction from earlier was good fuel to your boxing set that was prime overdue. After you logged the four hour set, and reminded yourself you would have to remove a set from a different day to give yourself some reprieve it was time to go home. A quick shower and a fresh set of clothes under your riding gear and you were on your way. Fate wasn’t really on your side today it seemed. Just as you settled your backpack on you heard the now more familiar shouts of Stray Kids as they entered the parking garage. All noise stopped once they had spotted you though. With a sigh you turned, giving the group a polite wave before you returned to set up the navigation on your phone.

“Y/N,” the deep trill of a soft voice at your side called your attention. When you looked up you found one of the members now beside you. You had left the room so fast you hadn’t even bothered to learn the names of the men you’d be protecting. Now, stood before you was a blonde man, with the prettiest freckles that fanned over his nose and cheeks.

“Yes,”

“Felix,”

“What's up Felix??” oh, the way he smiled at you when you called him by his name. It settled a warmth over your soul, lit into a gentle blaze as you looked into his eyes.

“Well, we were just admiring your motorcycle. Changbin over there really likes the color. You see, he kinda has this thing for pink,” you gaze shifted away from the blonde to the group. Changbin, was he your dreamy eyed man?? “He’s the big buff one,” Felix kindly pointed out as you looked at the group. So he was, you took mental note. “Anyway, he’s really shy. But I think he'd like it if you would talk to him,” when Felix smiled at you like that, how were you supposed to say no.

“Sure, I was just thinking I needed to learn everyone's names,” as you stood you moved to put your helmet down, having decided that morning to attach a set of fluffy rabbit ears on it for a fun effect.

“Wait, please bring the helmet,” quizzically you raised a brow to Felix, ‘why’ painted all over your face. “Bin, he likes cute things. I think it will make him blush,” oh, he was trying to tease his friend. “He likes you, hasn’t stopped chatting about the security guard from America since the day you saved him,” so the helmet would come with.

“Okay, let's go,” you smiled at Felix. You giggled as he beamed back, before you could stop him his small hand wrapped around your wrist as he dragged you forward to the group. With your helmet in hand you followed him, wary of the daggers that now bore into your face. The same man from before stared at you with a narrowed gaze, a shiver zipped up your spine. He clearly wasn’t your biggest fan.

“Guys!! Y/N didn’t get to learn our names!!” Felix called as he planted you in front of the group, he was kind enough to stay at your side when he dragged you over.

“Ah, well I know Chan’s from our meeting. And now I know yours Felix,” your gaze moved along the group, a few stood rather defensive but you wanted to try something to break the ice. “Felix said your Changbin??” you tilted your head as you eyed the man, when you had first met him you were in such a hurry you didn’t get much chance to take him in. Now, it seemed you would have all the time in the world. One thing that didn’t change though was the deep pools that were his eyes. What secrets they held, what things they saw. So much the same as the first time you saw them. “It’s really nice to finally have a name to go with that handsome face,” maybe you stroked his ego but damn was it worth it when the effect was so immediate. His cheeks flared in a deep red, you could even see it run over the tips of his ears. Felix doubled over with laughter at your side.

“Oh she’s funny,” the man that stood by the one currently ready for your demise spoke up as he giggled. “I’m Han, behind me is Lee Know,” right Han, and Lee Know.

“The others are Seungmin, Hyunjin, and I.N.,” Chan introduced the others as they seemed distracted in their laughter.

“It is nice to finally meet all of you. I will see you in the morning at the airport,” you bowed once more as you lifted your helmet up from your side and onto your head. All eyes shifted from you to Changbin as one of the fuzzy ears flopped down to the side of your helmet giving a droopy look to one and a half droopy to the other. You swore his cheeks got darker in mere seconds. You made a mental reminder to thank Felix for the icebreaker he provided. As you were on your way you circled the boys on your bike as you gave them one last wave of the night.

****

When morning arrived the next day Chan wasn’t sure how much sleep he had gotten the night before. After he made sure the others had gotten home safe he locked himself away in his room to work. Sure he could have gone back to the studio but they had a 5 am flight to Japan for a broadcast. If he had stayed at the studio he would have missed the flight. So he stayed home. He made sure the others got sleep, and that he got some. Before it had gotten too late he made sure to send you an email of the next month's schedule. Come morning he had downed two cups of coffee just to get his feet out the door. All bags were packed and settled by the door. With three broadcasts in Japan, and an awards show, they’d be there for a week before they’d come back to Korea for another session of broadcasts.

“Morning,” he looked up to find Changbin in the doorway of the kitchen, his broad frame leaned against the wood.

“Morning,” he greeted back as he looked at his watch, ah it was time to go.

“Cars loaded, staff are waiting for us,” Chan nodded as he settled his cup into the sink. He’d take care of it when they got home next week. As soon as the eight of them stepped into the parking garage you were there with the team you had cultivated. Chan hoped that he wouldn’t have to witness the skills you so cleanly listed in everyone's files. Especially today, 4 am was far too early to have to deal with a crowd of people. Chan especially knew how easy it was for Han to have an anxiety attack when he was tired. The freshly risen boys were an easy target for any possibility, Chan knew that all too well. When you stepped up you nodded short but sweet, then you turned to address the entire group.

“Dispatch has leaked today's flight schedule. Airport staff called the company early this morning. STAY is here, and they are wound up. I asked airport security to give us additional support as we go in. They have also notified me they have barricades set up to keep STAY pushed back. It will be loud, and I will keep a fast pace through here. Staff have already been sent ahead. I need you to trust me here, no matter what happens have faith that my team will handle it,” Chan watched his boys, their faces turned serious as they listened to you, even Lee Know was pulled into your instructions. Though he knew it was more so he knew Han and the rest would be alright. It had been a long time since he had felt so at ease with a set of security. Your attention to detail when it came to their safety was more than just a little refreshing. . When they were ready Chan let you know, he had faith in you. It was easy after you had shown such protective instincts with Changbin in America.

“Y/N, we’re ready,” you nodded as you guided your team into position With the added help of the airport staff Chan watched you work your magic. You had all of them line up single file as the security team surrounded them. Changbin took the front.

“If at any point you need one of us closer grab our shirts. We’ve got you,” you assured as you took your place at the back, Chan right in front of you. With a deep breath he followed the line you created with them. For once he felt like they could make it out of this with minimal damage. Wishful thinking, he knew it wasn’t going to be that easy as soon as they entered the airport lobby. From the second the doors opened he could hear STAY scream out for them. Lights flashed bright against his eyes. He was glad to have brought sunglasses with him. Chan let your team guide them up to the security entrance, beyond that they would be safe from the roaring crowd that surrounded them. Just feet away from the security gate his hopes were dashed. One of the barricades hadn’t been properly latched, in seconds it swiveled open, then toppled over by the overzealous fans eager to get closer to the boys. The loud sound drew the attention of the two men that were at Han and I.N.’s side. It created a gap, a gap that allowed STAY to get close, too close. In seconds Chan moved to protect the two younger members of his team. In the gap he could see two young women reach out to grab them, they snagged at Han’s clothes, aimed for I.N. 's hat. But before he even had the chance to set foot in front of the women. Before he could even use his own body to protect his boys, you were there. Right in front of the two young women. With gentle hands you guided them back to the barricade as the rest of your team tightened up around the boys.

“MOVE IT,” you barked over the noise of the room, and suddenly they were pushed forward to the security gates, each of them guided through the check and beyond the lobby. The silence that fell on them was deafening, Han was tucked into Lee Know’s side noise canceling headphones tucked tight over his ears. I.N. had shakily hidden himself against Hyunjin who also looked unnerved by the situation. So much had happened all at once Chan wasn’t quite sure where to begin. Truly he just wanted his boys to be okay. In seconds he moved to look after Han and I.N.

“Christopher Bang Chan,” all attention shifted to you, even his. After all, you just used his full name. But he couldn’t deal with whatever you had to say. Not when he saw Han’s shoulders hunch forward as Lee Know guided him down into a seat. The young man was clearly on the verge of an anxiety or even panic attack. He needed to make sure he was okay first then he’d face whatever you had to say.

“Hold on,” he added in a calm tone, body turned to Han.

“Sit. The. Fuck. Down,” oh, you weren’t going to take no for an answer. Chan turned to you his brows furrowed, the first thought that crossed his mind was how dare you speak to him like that. But then he saw you, shirt rumpled from what he assumed were fans. Eyebrows' downset eyes held a fiery gaze, one he did not question. Whatever retort he had died on his tongue as he sat in one of the chairs. “What the fuck was that?!?! Huh!! I explicitly remember telling you to trust me. That wasn’t trust Chan,”

“Y/N, I need to protect them,” he motioned to the boys as a defense.

“Sure, in the studio, on the stage, but here in this moment that is my fucking job. Out here I am your shield, I am your protection. I am the reason you will get from a to b safe and sound. Use me for the skills that I have. You put yourself into danger back there Chan!! Don’t ever do that again!! You said you trusted me, fucking prove it yah?? Let me do my goddamn job. Got. It??”

“Yes ma’am,” you were right, he interfered with your job. He put himself in harm's way. While he decided it was okay to do that, he was then quick to realize his decision could have made things so much worse for his members. That it had made things worse for you. He heard snickers from the other security members behind you, he felt whatever shame that settled into the pit of his stomach was deserved. That was until he watched you wheel around onto them.

“What the fuck are you all laughing at!! At least he had the balls to step up and protect his team. I will ask you the same thing I asked him,” Chan had to admit the way you took command of the room from your stance and voice alone was terrifying, having seen this side of you he vowed to never experience it again. “What the fuck was that?!?! I spent the last few months training you fools to be a near perfect team. But I can see now that you may not be up to the task. You left them wide open. You allowed those girls to get close. TOO CLOSE,” he wanted to ask you to not shout, for the sake of his boys but words wouldn’t form on his tongue, in awe as he watched the grown men in front of you, men near double your size cower before you. Not unlike he did when you scolded him. “You do not get another chance, if you want to be part of this team you will prove it to me in Japan. If you don't, the second the wheels touch down in Korea, you’re done. I have people more eager to prove themselves than you. So prove it to me you deserve to be on MY team. Got. it??” Silence fell upon the room, the same questions you asked him had been asked to your team, and they answered much like he did. After it was said and done your shoulders dropped with a deep heavy breath.

****

You ignored your team, and Chan as you stepped over to Han. You had felt bad for shouting when the young man was in obvious distress. But in order for your point to come across you felt it was necessary. Gently, as to not startle him you knelt in front of Han. Above you, you could practically feel Lee Know growl. You assumed he allowed you to get close under the guise of your job. For that you were grateful

“Han, can you breathe with me,” with Lee Know occupied keeping him upright, you used the space to help guide Han to slower breaths. You rested his hand over your collar bones, it allowed him to feel the full breaths you took. Slowly you guided him back to a gentler rhythm. “Good job,” you coaxed further until his watery eyes met yours. “I saw what happened, did you get hurt,” when he shook his head you released the breath you held. “That’s good. I am so sorry that happened to you Han. I failed you today, will you allow me the chance to prove myself to you,” you smiled when he tried to protest your failure, but his eager nod proved you had at least earned his trust in some capacity. “Thank you,” slowly you settled his hand back into his own lap and stood. “I’ll make sure you get water on the plane,” you nodded to Lee Know who nodded back. Progress, you hoped so. With that in mind you wandered to I.N. the young man was tucked into Hyinjin’s side, head buried in his shoulder. Seungmin was right beside him, hands settled into his hair as he coaxed him to stay calm.

“He’s okay,” the taller of the three remarked as you knelt down.

“I.N. are you hurt??” you asked anyway, you needed to hear it from him yourself. When he nodded you saw the older two become more alert. Calmly you looked at them to settle, the only way he’d say is if the room is calm. “Tell me where please,”

“They grabbed my hair,”

“Okay, may I look??” With permission you rounded the chairs to have a look at the youngests scalp. Nestled in the coarse thick hair you noticed a couple small scratches, and some bruising. “On the airplane I will personally get you an ice pack,” you stated before you moved around to report your findings to the three huddled boys. “Unfortunately I.N. I failed you today. Though small, I did find scratches on your scalp, and small bruises. I am so deeply sorry for my failure today. In my arrogance to have you trust me, you got injured. I promise, if you allow me to continue to I will do better, I will protect you,”

“No!! No!!,” at first you thought he was protesting your protection, part of you didn’t blame him. “Y/N you were amazing back there!! You did exactly what you were supposed to. Han and I came out mostly unscathed because you did an amazing job. And you managed to put our sometimes idiot for a leader in his place. Thank you, please keep protecting us,” you chuckled and nodded to him.

“If there's no objections, I’ll stay by your side. I will prove to you each and every day I am your shield,” when silence fell over the room you moved away your own nerves frayed from the experience. You sat in your own chair a decent space away from everyone.. It didn’t go unnoticed it seemed. Soon the seat beside you was filled. Changbin occupied the space next to you. His hands settled over yours as he lifted them. The slight tremble in your fingers had him frowning.

“I heard you scold my leader, your team, then check on Han, and I.N. But what I didn’t hear was, if you are okay??” you shifted your body to look at him, his hands were so warm against yours. It soothed the last little shake in your fingers.

“I am, thank you Changbin,”

TAG LIST:

Tag List: @taeminsung @maximumkillshot @feybin @alex--awesome--22 @liknws @palindrome969 @newbbystay @highlydestiny

[tvchi]

The Challenge: About Loss

Disclaimers: DO NOT COPY OR REPOST MY WORK. DO NOT TRAIN AI WITH MY WORK.

Warnings: Mature Audiences ONLY: 18+, SMUT, Minors DNI- Nudity, Sexual Intercourse, Spitting, Gagging, Profanity.

Pairing: Jalen Hurts x black female Word Count: 2010

A/N: I wrote this because my book club is LIT (waaay better than yours) and we write our own short stories and present it to the group to read and rate. I thought I would just upload it on here for everyone to read. It's more romance than smut but I hope that yall like it! Your feedback is greatly appreciated because I'm really trying to get better. So Like, Comment, and Reblog as the spirit moves you. ❤️❤️🥰!

Summary: You're in class and are forced to do a group assignment. The absolute worse thing happens, you are paired with the most popular jock in the university. You can't risk failing this assignment. Will things heat up in the classroom? Stay tuned.

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

“Good Afternoon, class! Today we are going to talk about loss!” she exclaimed as she slapped two large textbooks onto her desk. 

       Only Professor Martinez could be chipper about an otherwise dismal topic. This meant that a possible term paper was coming in the very near future. As her words still lingered in the air and the rest of the class began settling down, I went back to doodling on my page. I peered periodically through my curtain bangs at the board to see if she had written anything down, but the board remained blank. Some kids were texting and scrolling on social media, while others took this time to find the comfiest position for the best fifty-minute nap they were about to take today. The thing about Introduction to Medical Anthropology is it is kind of a bore. I mean, we are all required to take a “General Education” course at the College of Liberal Arts. My first choice was the class where they listened to vinyls all day and debated which was the greatest musical genre of all time, but I overslept on registration day, and it filled up. So, for the past couple of months, I’ve been here prying my eyes open through the medical corporate structure and its inner workings. I thought anthropology courses were supposed to be about the people, how they work, and all the stuff that tugged at heartstrings. You know, mushy shit. Instead, I’ve learned the quickest way to make a lot of money. It was giving “Who wants to be a Millionaire,” not Cumbaya. 

       I peered up once more at the board, and the word “loss” was written up in large capital letters. The room was now completely silent as if it held its finger up to its lips. I turned to get another pen and, as if right on cue, there he was. Eyes closed and head slowly falling forward, James Evans was never awake long enough for him to use any of those pens he was always borrowing from any one of the four girls he was always sitting next to. The college’s star athlete made sure he got his fifty-minute nap in, not wasting a minute. It must be nice not having people expect much of you academically. It must be nice having people offer you grades in exchange for physical labor. Or maybe not. I quickly grabbed my other pen, pushing thoughts of student-athletes aside, and started to take a couple of notes. Sometimes, I wrote notes not to remember key facts but because writing things down helped me stay awake. 

      “What’s the most gut-wrenching thing about suffering a loss?” Professor Martinez asked a now-settled down class.

      “I was wondering when we were gonna talk about Palliative care! Ok, when my aunt chose to be placed in hospice after getting chemo for 2 years, it was really hard for us. It was like she was giving up on herself. I was so confused, “ Kelly Gardner, the resident overachiever, replied. 

       I rolled my eyes. I mean, no offense to her aunt, but her niece is really annoying. Once she starts on one of her personal anecdotes, she never lets up. The class turns into this historical account of the Gardner family and all the shit Kelly doesn’t like. I mean with what I know about her family tree and her dog, she should invite me over for Christmas dinner. 

       “Thank you for sharing, Kelly. That must have been really hard. However, my line of questioning was more of a general question about loss, not hospice care. What about loss hurts the most?” said Professor Martinez. This time, her eyes scanned the room as if looking for someone whose face would betray them into sharing their familiarity with the subject. The room was quiet for what felt like ages. 

       “I think it’s the part where you remember something. Something really funny and you go to call them up. Then you remember that they aren't here anymore,” volunteered a small voice.

      I turned to face where the sound was coming from. A tiny girl that I never noticed before emerged from the sea of faces. She had a baby face that was smooth and had flush skin. Her hair was straight and jet black, arranged in two low,​​ neat buns. Her clothes were dark colored but neatly pressed. She wore a broach and other pendants around the breast pockets of her sweater. On her feet were leather combat boots with silver buckles, which I noticed because they almost swallowed her tiny legs that dangled in her chair, hovering over the floor. 

     “Nah, I think it's when you see pictures of them up, and everyone starts talking about them like they ain't here,” said another voice.

      “It’s the crying. Sometimes, you see or hear something, and you just start crying out of nowhere,” yet another voice said.

      “Holidays and birthdays”

      “Seeing the date of the last thing they posted on IG. Every time you go back to it, you start seeing how much time has passed. Like their last digital footprint”

      “How tight you get when you see the world going about its business like nothing ever happened. You start to do the same, and you find that you can’t move—not like everyone else,” said a deep, rich voice vibrating across the room. 

      I recognized that voice, but I couldn’t be sure. I turned my head to see who Loss had wrung a confession out of this time, and the voice came from James. He was looking intently at his hands, visibly frustrated. A silence spread across the room after that, each person presumably contemplating their own brush with Loss. 

    “Good!” Professor Martinez said, “Very Good! This week’s assignment will be to write about a time when you suffered a great loss. You will write about how you reacted, how everyone around you reacted, and whether or not any of those reactions coincided with any of the stages of grief listed in Kaufman & Morgan’s ‘The Anthropology of the Beginnings and Ends of Life’. You know, the required reading for this class.

      Groans were heard throughout the classroom. My attention turned from James to the front of the class, confused.

     “Yes, yes, yes, but what would life be without a graded assignment?” Professor Martinez sarcastically retorted. “What’s even better is that you don’t have to go through this alone. I will be assigning you all a partner! Please listen for your name and who you will be working with,” she finished as more groans were heard throughout the classroom. 

      And there it was. The dreaded group project. Something I’ve been avoiding all semester. Apart from the fact that I don’t like democracy, where my grades are involved, I’m not particularly fond of the talent in this classroom. 

     “Sarah and Sam,” Professor Martinez called.

     God, what do I have to do? I already call my grandmother four times a year and pretend to care about her prayer meeting gossip.

     “Celeste and Patrick”

      Fine, God! I’ll raise you another hour on the phone and pretend to care about the hymns for the Christmas choir selections.

     “Hunter and Malachi”

      Please, God, just don’t let her place me with someone dumb or worse…. Can’t read!

     “Adaobi and Jasper!”

      I stopped praying long enough to catch Jasper’s eye. We nodded at each other. Jasper wasn’t bad. I peer-reviewed a prose piece he wrote in another class, and it wasn’t that bad, actually. I can work with this. Thank you, God! 

    “Oh, I’m sorry. It was my mistake. I misread the names on the page for a minute. It’s been a long day. I meant to say Adaobi and James,” said Professor Martinez.

     My heart slowed to a halt. I peered over at James and then back down to my sheet of paper. This is when I started to question whether or not God actually loved me. I steadied my breathing and tried not to think about the cards I had been dealt. Instead, I would focus on how to make lemonade. I needed to get him comfortable with the idea that he had no input on this assignment and it would be a good idea for him to let me handle everything. Then, I would catch him up to speed when it’s done. I took a minute to draft and rehearse a speech, keeping in mind what I was going to say and when I would start working on the project. I pulled out my planner to look at upcoming deadlines.

    “Hi. I’m James. I guess we’re paired up,” he said, offering his hand and a quick smile.

     I quickly understood. What is it I understood? I understood how all people drooled and hung onto his every word. His waist, directly in my seated line of sight, was slim and fitted under his gray sweatpants. He stood tall, easily over 6 feet. He had a solid build, the kind all of the guys wanted and avid sports players had. Broad shoulders that looked like they could a pair of legs up and down stairs with ease. His Nike tracksuit remained open, revealing a white beater that hung onto his sculpted pecs and chiseled abs. His skin was a rich, dark chocolate hue and burnished. I’d never been this close to him before, and a part of me didn’t think it was safe to.

      “Hi,” I said. 

      “So, how did you want to do this?” he asked.

      “I don’t, but we have to. So this is how it’s going to go: I’ll write the paper and turn it in with both of our names on it. I’ll send it to you before I turn it in so you can read it and at least know what it’s about. Just try reading a page or two out of the required reading if she asks any questions. Outside of that, you can do whatever it is you do, “ I said matter of factly as I gathered my things to leave the classroom. 

     “Nah. I kinda fuck with this assignment. I wanna write on it too,” he said. I glared at him. 

     “Interesting, especially since I haven’t heard you offer up an original thought about any assignment in this class all semester. But how could you? You’re never awake. Look, some of us have to think about our GPAs for our future.” I retorted.

     “So you’ve been watching me?” he asked, looking intently at me with the corners of his mouth threatening to curl upwards. 

     “No one has to watch you. You do this thing called snoring, and it interrupts the conversations happening in the class. The class we paid to have.” I spat, avoiding eye contact, hoping he couldn’t tell that I may have over-exaggerated some details to prove a point. There was a pause for a moment.

     “Look, yeah, I sleep in class, but Professor Martinez could put a TV to sleep, and you know it!” he said.

      “I know that everyone around you hypes you and lets you do whatever you want because you’re supposed to save University sports and finally lead the football team to their first Sugarbowl ever,” I started. “But you can’t fall asleep in every class, not read anything, and expect to write a world-class paper just because you have a ‘dead homie.’”

      He glared at me. His eyes were fiery with rage enough to singe my face. His eyebrows furrowed, creating canyons of skin on his forehead. He gritted his teeth, tightening his jawline. I stared back, trying not to betray my pounding heart or sweaty palms. After an eternity, he dropped his gaze and headed for the door. I exhaled a breath I didn’t know I had been holding. Turned back to my desk to gather the rest of my things.

       “I’ll be at the tech center at 6 pm for the next two weeks if you wanna work on this together. If not, I guess Professor Martinez will be getting two separate papers”, I heard. Then the door closed shut. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Click here for Part 2 Click here for Part 3

Tags:

@thecapodomme @writers-of-tmblr @melaninpov @spaceslutsworld @nahimjustfeelingit-writes @mymusicbias @the-black-label @master-builder42 @miraculously-dumb-bitch @megamindsecretlair @hopefulromantic1 @tranquilfandomer @thadelightfulone @vivalaorgasm @hotgrlcece @planetblaque @blackgurlnhermoods @sweettea-and-honeybutter @andriaharris @kumkaniudaku @theblacklewinsky @nun0ir @iloveorangesworld @cocogoddess0g

[sturniololuv08]

The Stand-In Part 2 (Chris - Still Rated G)

Summary for what's coming:

It's time to finally hang out with Nate.... and meet his special friend, Bella. They all meet up at the mall to spend the day in a relaxed environment with her. Things are definitely... 'freaky'.

Part 1

It was the morning, and the house was in full swing. Mary Lou was making breakfast for everyone. Nick was packing for the stay at the lake house. Matt was avoiding everyone under his blanket. Chris was in the shower, trying to prepare for the day at the mall.

"Boys! Breakfast." Their mother hollered up the stairs to them. Nick was first to the kitchen and grabbed a plate. Chris turned off the water and wrapped himself up in a towel.

"Want me to bring your plate up here?" Matt offered.

"I'll be down in a sec." Chris shook his hair like a wet dog in the mirror. Once Matt was out of the room, he whipped the towel off his pale hips. He quickly covered his exposed damp skin with compression shorts and all-black wide-leg pants. He looked around the room for a good shirt to wear. After settling on a black shirt with a white Ransom logo splash painted on the front, Chris headed to the kitchen to join everyone else.

"Is that my shirt?" Matt asked, noticing Chris' attire.

"It matches the pants." He wasn't apologetic.

"Are you coming back here after shopping?" Mary asked her boys.

"Yeah, we still need to pack," Nick answered.

"If you wouldn't mind, could you stop at the grocery store and get a head of lettuce? I'm making a salad to accompany dinner for tonight."

"Sure thing, Mom." Matt smiled and shoveled a bite of pancake into his mouth. Their morning was filled with mindless chatter and a lot of laughter as they played catch-up. Chris helped their mother wash all the dishes while Matt cleaned up the table, bringing them more. Nick finished eating and gave them his dishes as the last group.

"Nate, text me. It's almost time to go." Matt looked at his phone and typed back their updated status to their best friend.

"Have fun. Be safe." Mary Lou hugged and kissed the three of them in a line to see them off. When they were home, Matt was allowed access to the minivan whenever they needed it. They all hopped into their unofficial assigned seats, which they took naturally every time.

"Oh, I totally forgot Nate's girlfriend is gonna be there," Nick exclaimed from the back row.

"Yeah. I assume she's cool if Nate likes her." Matt was indifferent about her. He knew he had to meet her to make a full assessment. Chris stayed silent. He wasn't sure why, but he was dreading meeting her. He was looking forward to a weekend with his best friend, not his best friend and his new girlfriend. The van was parked, and Matt pulled out his phone. He was the only one texting Nathan since they got back into town to make plans. It kept them from crossing wires and mixing things up. "They are in the food court." Matt stepped out of the van. Chris mirrored his actions and fiddled with his pants band.

"I hope she likes Doja Cat." Nick was intrigued by the mystery girl. The three of them weren't even concerned with being recognized as they walked into the mall. They were used to everyone staring because they were carbon copies of each other their whole lives growing up. So when the stares became for recognition for being famous on the internet, they didn't even blink. Nate found them quickly and greeted Matt in a bro hug. He dabbed up Chris and gave Nick some knuckles.

"What's up?" Nate was excited to see his friends back home for no reason but to spend time with them. He knew their absence meant nothing to the years of brotherhood they experienced together. They even used to make jokes about him being the fourth brother, but that was before the internet started doing it for them.

"So, where is she?" Nick was giddy. Even though he occasionally came off as intimidating, he genuinely loved meeting new people and making new friends.

"She is... Ah. Over there." Nate nodded in her direction. All the boys looked to see a girl wearing baggy black jeans and a baggy burnt orange camo t-shirt. Her hair spiraled in the same curls as every Instagram picture they had seen. Her hair was a few shades lighter in person, meaning Nathan filtered their photos. She was in line at the food court to get a smoothie.

"We can't wait to meet her." Nick was genuinely gushing now.

"She is amazing. I know you guys will like her. She'll fit in fine with our group." Nate was smiling off in her direction.

"How did you meet her?" Matt asked, wanting to know more before she came over.

"It's actually kind of crazy how it happened. She knows my cousin or something and came over to my family's barbecue. We were all hanging out, and I just knew she was going to be my best friend."

"Yeah, best friend." Chris scoffed, already having been dreading meeting her; the way Nate said best friend pissed him off more.

"Wait, you guys think she's -"

"She's what?" Bella came up behind Nate and interrupted him. All the boys noticed how much shorter she was compared to them.

"Bella, this is Nick, Matt, and Chris." She sipped her drink and waved. "Guys, Bella."

"So what are we looking for for the party?" Matt didn't want her to feel uncomfortable by having all their attention.

"I know I need some new pants." Bella looked at Nate, and he nodded, giving her understanding.

"I wouldn't mind checking out shoes," Chris said.

"I think the new Sail and Ridgerock Jordan's dropped." Chris and Bella said at the same time.

"Okay, freaky." Nick laughed.

"We can look for sure," Nate smiled at Bella. Chris was getting annoyed that his attention was being split, and in his opinion, it was unevenly split.

"Are we splitting up or just staying a big group?" Nick asked, looking at the time on his phone.

"We can stay together. Get to know Bella more." Matt smiled softly. They all started walking toward the shops. Nick casually interrogated Bella while Matt, Nate, and Chris discussed upcoming and past events. Chris was glad Nick was taking up all of her attention.

"Oh my god, Claire's!" Bella and Chris both stopped their sentences to point at the pastel frilly store.

"You guys want to go in there?" Matt was inquisitive.

"Yeah," Bella said, watching Chris to observe his reaction.

"Nah, I can pass." He shrugged off the excitement he just had.

"Let's go." Nate nodded for Bella to follow him. While they were in there looking at the very childish designs and trinkets, the triplets waited just outside the wide opening of the store. Chris was trying to look at anything he could from his planted feet. He wanted to go in there badly, but he couldn't put his pride aside.

"You sure you don't want to go in there?" Nick cocked an eyebrow at Chris' craned neck.

"Positive." He folded his arms and widened his stance.

"Yeah. Sure." Matt chuckled, knowing better. Nate and Bella emerged back out into the primary walkway with a few small bags in hand.

"Nice," Nick said, peering into her bag. The group started walking again in the same formation. Nick was holding Bella's attention away from Nate so Chris could talk to his best friend in peace. The new shoes had, in fact, dropped, so Chris purchased a pair. Bella was worried that he would suddenly not get them if she bought a pair. She noticed his misery about her being in their group. She knew it was a possibility when Nate said he wanted her to come along in the first place, but she didn't expect it to be this bad. They were in line with Matt while he waited to buy some flannel he had found at Spencer's.

"We should stop by Hollister," Nick suggested.

"Yeah." Bella wanted them to like her, so she was being agreeable. Nate wasn't paying any attention. Chris noticed his friend spacing out.

"Boop!" "Got your nipple." Bella and Chris yelled at the same time. Their actions mirrored each other's as they both reached out and grabbed one of Nate's nipples.

"Ah." He yelled and used his arms to knock his friends away. The only laughter filling the room was Bella and Matt. Nick was completing Matt's purchase for him, Nate was rubbing both of his nipples, trying to find pain relief, and Chris was upset. His face had fallen flat as his jaw clenched. "You guys are insane." Nate avoided pointing out how similar they were.

"So similar." Matt laughed, pretending to reach for Nate's chest again. He ducked around a clothing rack to avoid another attack.

"Ugh." Chris let out a soft groan. It was one thing not to like Bella, but now his obvious remarks were starting to hurt her feelings.

"Ready to go?" Nick handed Matt his bag. They walked to Hollister for Nick and patiently waited for him to buy his new jeans.

"Can we go in here?" Bella whispered to Nate. She was starting to feel uncomfortable around Chris so she was taking comfort in her best friend.

"Zumiez, anyone?" Nate asked aloud for her. Everyone, including Chris, agreed. They all filed into the store and started checking out the racks of clothes. Not long had passed before Chris had his arms full.

"I'll be in the dressing room." He left.

"So, how's it going?" Matt asked Bella awkwardly. He hadn't had a chance to talk to her, so he was unsure how to start a conversation.

"Good?" She giggled. "Nick is extremely talkative." They both looked in the direction of Nick and Nate, collectively watching something on Nick's phone.

"We were all excited to meet you, but I think he was most excited about it." Bella's face showed confusion. Matt noticed but was not sure what he said, which was confusing, so he panicked. "Do you like Doja Cat?" He changed the subject hastily.

"Yes. But I'm more into rap than her stuff."

"Like who?" Matt was settling into a comfortable conversation topic now.

"Lil Skies, Kid Cudi, Kendrick Lamar, and Suicide Boys. Stuff like that." She sipped her smoothie.

"Oh, cool. We all like that stuff a lot. I'm glad Nate found someone who is like him in some ways."

She choked on her smoothie slightly. "Nate and I are not together," she said after she stopped coughing. An awkward silence settled in.

"I'm sorry... I didn't know. We all just kind of assumed because of his Instagram and the way he talked about you." Matt didn't know how to navigate his mess up.

"Nope. Just best friends." Bella nodded slowly. Matt stayed silent, afraid he'd say another wrong thing. "Welp, Imma go try these on before we go." Bella left for a dressing room to change. Matt joined Nate and Nick.

"I didn't know you guys weren't dating, and I just made it so awkward," he said to Nate.

"What? You two aren't dating?" Nick's mouth popped open as he stared at his Boston friend.

"No, we are just best friends. We hang out a lot since you guys are in LA the majority of the time." Nate didn't mean to sound sad about his friend's absence, but it was written all over his face.

"Oh." Matt went to speak more but was interrupted by his name being called.

"Matt! Come tell me if this looks stupid." Chris was about to come out of the little cubicle. All three of them walked over. Nick sat in the only chair.

"Come out," Matt instructed.

"Nate, what do you think?" "What do you think?" Bella and Chris both stepped out into the more extensive waiting area.

"Freaky," Nick said, looking up from his phone. Chris and Bella turned to look at each other. They were still wearing their wide-legged black jeans, but now they both sported the exact same Tupac long-sleeve shirt. Chris let out an annoyed sigh.

"That's kind of funny." Nate was holding his laughter in.

"I'm changing," Chris grumbled and went back into the stall after glaring at her. Bella looked at Nate. He shrugged, reading her questioning face. Up until this point, Nate had been oblivious to Chris' adversity.

"Should I get it?" Bella looked down at the shirt. She held the hem in her finger tips. She liked it, but she started to doubt herself because of Chris.

"Yeah. I like it." Nick was trying to project a positive vibe after Chris was rude. She went back to change and to decide whether or not to buy the shirt. She heard Chris join the group out of the dressing rooms before her.

"What was that about?" Nate tried to whisper, but she could still hear them all.

"What?"

"You are being a dick, Chris." Nick liked anyone until they gave him a reason not to, and having had a lengthy conversation with her, his consensus was she was lovely.

"No, I'm not." Chris' voice cracked a little.

"We should probably get going to the next store. We are running out of time." Matt changed the subject. He was really good at recognizing when the subject needed to shift but bad at making the transition smooth.

"Actually, we should leave." Chris's tone was still a little harsh. Bella finally came out of her cubicle so she wasn't in there for a suspicious amount of time.

"Why do we need to leave?" Nick stood up.

"Mom wants us to stop at the grocery store." Chris was quick on his feet with a reason that would cover the truth. He was irritated and wanted a break from everyone.

"That's right." Matt agreed in remembrance.

"That's fine. Bella and I are gonna shop some more before heading to the lake house tonight." Nate bro hugged Nick and shook hands with Matt in a particular way.

"I'll message you when we are on the way." Matt smiled, knowing his role as the informer.

"See you later," Chris mumbled. Now aware of his friend's change in demeanor, Nate is more observant of Chris's attitude. He knew it had to do with Bella, but he didn't understand why. He never thought Chris, out of all of them, would be the one to have an issue with her.

The drive to the grocery store was quiet. Matt and Nick went inside while Chris opted to stay in the van to get a break from being around people he was starting to crave.

"Freaky, right?" Nick asked Matt.

"I think it's comical." Matt was smiling with his brother while darting through the aisles.

"Poor Chris. Completely replaced." They paid in self-checkout to make it faster.

"And she is just like him." Matt cracked up. They cut their conversation short as they neared the car so they didn't upset Chris further. Chris cheered up once they reached the house.

"I'm gonna go finish packing." He smiled while hugging their mom.

"Thank you, boys." She took the lettuce and went away to the kitchen with it. Chris avoided his brothers. He was all in his headspace, trying to figure out a way to oust Bella.

"Chris?" Matt knocked on the door.

"Yeah?" He turned to see both of them in the doorway.

"Can we talk about today?"

"What is there to talk about?" Chris didn't want them to know he was upset.

"Your -"

"Attitude towards Bella." Nick was quick to the point. Matt wanted to tiptoe so they didn't close him off more.

"I don't have an attitude towards her." Chris smiled smugly. He was faking clearly.

"Okay, keep telling yourself that." Nick got shitty. He liked Bella, so he wasn't going to let Chris get away with being aggressive towards her.

"Ha." Chris angrily scoffed. He was getting annoyed they wouldn't drop it. Chris settled in bed after an awkward dinner where their parents were oblivious to their kid's varying opinions. He pulled the blanket over his head and looked at Instagram. He saw Nate posted the pictures he took with all of them individually in the post, but there was a separate one with just Bella and him. The mall photo of them, along with a few road trip-themed photos. He rolled his eyes, annoyed she got to spend quality time with his best friend. As he stared at Bella's long hair and dark brown eyes, he felt that same pit growing in his stomach. He set his phone down and called it a night before it got any worse.

Written for: @chrissbug333

I love you so much girl and I'm so so so sorry this took so long to post! I promise the next one I'm going to post THIS WEEK! Also its going to be the beach house chapter so things will get more interesting.....

[whenimgoodandready]

ENOUGH IS ENOUGH! We can not stand ideally by and let this injustice continue! Someone needs to grow a spine and tell those oppressors to shove whatever it is they’re spewing at us up their a**! I’m talking to you Sabrina Raincomprix! You need to end that toxic “friendship” you have with Chloe and be more upfront! And you Ms.Bustier! You need to put your foot down and start disciplining Chloe for her b*tchy behavior! And I’m most definitely talking to you Damocles! You’re the God damn principal! Do your job! You worship an owl themed superhero and you’re not living up to the justice they were trying to preach to you!? Shame on you! Just how are these three gonna do that!? Let’s see:

*Confrontation-The class is taking an orientation assignment on what schools would be fitting for them regarding their future careers. It’s what they call Lycée. It’s how the French educational system works there. If one were to pursue journalism (Alya), they’d be more focused on literary courses. If one were to be a filmmaker or artist (Nino and Nathaniel, respectively), a performing art school is best! An environmentalist? (Mylene) Green Peace! A hairstylist? (for “unicorns”/“dragons” Rose) A beauty school! (Maybe she can style those flying T-rexes that now exist?) A love for helping people? (Sabrina) Nursing school. A spoiled b*tch who can do whatever the f*ck she wants cuz she’s got connections and another who can easily bullsh*t their way into life as long as they don’t get caught!? (Chloe and Lila crickets chirp) Yeah, they got no future for themselves :P. What about Adrien? He’s not modeling anymore, so what’s he gonna do!?…….he doesn’t know…….(whispers) sentibeing. With all these different goals in life, it makes them realize they won’t all be together next year and thus no more Le Resistance. Awww, that sucks.

To further sabotage Marinettes life, new class rep Lila and deputy Chloe force Sabrina to falsify the classes application forms with obscure careers (ex.Sporto Kim as a physiotherapist! Lol!) and leave Marinettes desire for fashion school untouched so as to place the blame on her with the excuse that she’s trying to get revenge on everyone for voting for Lila as class rep instead of her. The akumatized victim was Juleka who’s wish to be a mortician, (well, she is goth! But I thought she wanted to be a model!? (“Reflekdoll”). Oh well), is now saying she has to repeat the year! Again! Wait! When was this pointed out that Juleka was repeating the year? Did I miss something!? Another surprise that we were supposed to find out instead of foreshadowing!? Ugh! Whatever, she gets akumatized into her signature akumatized form, Reflekta, with her given miraculous power of The Tiger, and goes on a super megaton punching spree to vent out her frustration. Lame! But hey! I don’t have any ideas either on a villain who’s theme is repeating a school year! What would their look be!? What would their power be!? So yeah, they just…..went with what they know. The only difference is Reflekta can not only turn people into copies of herself, but also with her mind set!…..Eh.

Sabrina Raincomprix! Ms.Bustier! Principal Damocles! Let me just say, on behalf of everyone in the fandom, IT’S ABOUT F*CKING TIME! They say patience is a virtue, but whoever said that probably didn’t have anything good to keep themselves anticipated for next week! Sabrina finally put her foot down and outed Chloe and Lila as the culprits to the doctored application forms and even though Lila countered it by saying she (Sabrina) did it outta jealousy over Lila joining in the group, Sabrina did get one over on the both of ‘em when she and Marinette exposed the two over the crime and reveal Lila’s true colors. Marinette constructed a makeshift restroom with hidden microphones and a two way mirror (where did she get that!?) with help from construction workers and permission from the principal (how’d she convince him?). Although Sabrina had conspired a lot of misdeeds for Chloe, the pressure finally got too much for her as it included her whole class and trashing their future careers and it wasn’t worth it for a petty hatred against a single person. Just wish that inner courage was there seasons ago. For Ms.Bustier, she admitted she was too easy on Chloe for trying to get her to change, but she strictly tells her that from now on, it’s no more carrot! Only the stick! The cold hard stick! (Hmm, must be the pregnant hormones). Was this cathartic like we all assumed it would be!? Am I satisfied to see Chloe get busted and Lila exposed for the conniving little b*tch that she is!? NO! It wasn’t and it wasn’t cuz I was already spoiled by this, but because the girls did not actually get their comeuppance! Chloe easily got away with it through her dads mayoral connections (although Principal Damocles did stand up against Mayor Bourgeois and decided to quit so as not to be abused in hurting his own students anymore) and Lila or Cerise!? Just walked away, dropped her identity and went with another in a new school! WHO THE F*CK IS SHE!? (I’ve heard “Orphan” rumors!) Yeah, NOT SO CATHARTIC! The whole thing with “Cerise” was completely forgotten about during the reveal of how those “useless” anti-akumatizing charms work and there was no mention of anyone calling the ambassador mother about all this! Another sucky moment in all this was only Ms.Bustier apologized for not believing Marinette about “Cerise” and not Alya or any of her classmates cuz that scene was deleted for God knows why even though that would’ve been sooooooo much better for us fans to see and make it cathartic! (breathes) Now that the three I mentioned grew a spine, it’s a shame we’ll barely see any of it cuz of the remaining time the characters have before school ends and how the season is ending too. Despite that, good job Sabrina! You’ll make better friends. Ms.Bustier, show no mercy on Chloe with what little time you have with her in class (even though the next two eps are gonna be Hell!) and farewell Principal Damocles! Hope you find a new job and thanks for teaching us how those anti-akumatizing charms work! (and Congrats on breaking your speech impediment Juleka for encouraging him on that). Maybe next season we’ll see how they stay more confident and assertive?