#we maybe added it to our bingo sheet?

[eddiesgaymustache]

wait I just thought of something so funny. buck bisexual dating montage intercut with Eddie gay dating montage where they are finishing each others sentences. but at one point. They are each on a date. With Josh

[andy-wm]

AYS Behind the scenes: behind the paywall

Now that the Disney+ episodes are complete (sob), my attention is firmly fixed on my mailbox as I wait impatiently for the AYS photobook and QR code.

I was always going to buy the Jikook photobook, even though I doubt there will be much we haven't already seen in the episodes. But the inclusion of the QR code was the clincher.

I must admit, Hybe locking up the behind the scenes for AYS was not on my bingo sheet.

Making behind/additional clips available on Bangtan TV would have been more in line with their regular MO. We don't generally have to pay for what really amounts to outtakes.

Okay, yes, we have to pay for behind cuts of Run BTS, but the actual episodes are free. With everything else the behind clips are included when you buy the series (I'm thinking of BV, ITS, and concert boxed sets).

In fact I can't think of any other time a behind/ bonus clip hasn't been available to fans who pay for the main content.

Maybe it is because Hybe was only contracted to deliver 8 episodes to Disney+ and the price was fixed. Maybe they saw an easy way to make the series more profitable.

We know they will take any opportunity to lighten our wallets.

But I think there's more to it

Let's talk business:

If Hybe wanted to make money from this, having the sale point directly on Weverse would make more sense. That way anyone could buy it any time without having to buy the photobook as well. Even if they charged just a few $$ for these extra clips, the return could be substantial over time. Long tail products can be very lucrative and Hybe clearly knows this - they have heaps of old footage for sale on Weverse. Since they're hosting the content already, it makes sense to keep that 'buy now' button active and let the dollars trickle in.

So why reduce the potential pool of buyers? Why limit this to those who buy the photobook??

Well, let's consider who is going to buy the photobook?

Who is going to fork out US$28 plus postage for a keepsake of these two on their third honeymoon?

I doubt OT7 ARMYs would buy it. Even ARMYs who bias JM or JK - if they aren't part of the SGMB they probably don't want it either.

Solos sure as hell don't want it - they are probably wishing the whole thing never happened... sucks to be them haha

Who really wants to see these two living their best lives together?

We do!

And by we, I mean Jikook supporters.

People who want to see more of this:

and this

And this

We are the people who will buy this photobook (and probably never look at it more than once, let's be honest)

But let's get back to the topic at hand....

The photobook/behind combo seems like a chicken/egg situation to me.

Which came first - as a concept - the photobook or the behind clips?

Did they decide to offer a photobook, and then think of adding the extra footage to make it more appealing?

Or vice versa?

Did they decide to make the behind clips, and think of the photobook afterwards?

Hard to say, since behind clips have always been a thing and recently Hybe is putting out photobooks for everything.

But I think I have a fair idea

Consider the price point for this photobook - it's the same price as most of the others produced recently: +-US$28.

AYS photobook & behind is the same price as the Photo-Folios, Tae's Type 1 (magazine version) photobook, and the Beyond The Stage photobook

🗣 So they aren't charging any extra for the behind footage?

No, they aren't. They're basically giving it to the buyers of the photobook as a gift.

🗣 Could they be making money off it?

Yes, the could.

Long tail, remember?

Looking at the profit-making potential, it makes WAY more sense for Hybe to offer the behind footage on Weverse for a few meagre dollars and... wait for their ship to come in...

See what I did there? hahahhaha (laughing by myself)

They really aren't making any money off this!

how unlike Hybe...

So why go to the effort of setting up QR codes and putting it behind a paywall? It costs money to host content this way. They are in fact SPENDING money to bring us this footage.

Not only through the hosting costs there are also production costs to consider.

Wouldn't it make more sense to just freely share it with ARMY via Bangtan TV? Or not release it at all?

Yes, it would...

So there's only one logical answer...

Hybe has chosen to make the content available - but also make it just that little bit more difficult to access.

This whole exercise seems to be about releasing additional footage without releasing it to the general public. It's being shared specifically with those of us who support them.

Does that mean we'll see slightly more personal content?

Maybe it's a little more revealing of their undeniable bond and their hot chemistry...?

Whatever they contain, these behind clips are definitely for a limited audience - and purposefully so.

The only reason for it, that I can think of, is to safeguard Jimin and Jungkook from too much scrutiny and criticism - from within the fandom (unfortunately) and outside of it.

We will find out in a few days I guess.

In the meantime, I'm camped out by my mailbox

[gosecretscribbles]

Rise August 2024 Day 3: Todd

“Guess who’s heee-eeere!” Muninn sang, flying into Draxum’s lab.

The lab had only recently been rebuilt and still had bits of rubble swept into the corners. The skylight that took up most of the roof was cracked and filmed with rubble dust. The light filtered grudgingly down to the counters lining the walls, all laden with glass beakers, notebooks, and grimoires. A long-haired teenager in battle armor sat on one of the counters, casually swinging his legs. Baron hunched next to him, carefully pouring a bubbling pink liquid into an empty beaker.

Baron glanced over his shoulder, scowling. “Do you mind?”

“Oh we absolutely don’t,” Huginn assured him. “Anyway, since you won’t guess – it’s Todd!”

“Lemonade!” Todd announced, stepping through the doorway with a platter full of very full glasses.

CJ’s eyes lit up. “Todd! I haven’t had your lemonade in ages!”

“Oh? Are you one of the folks from Alaska who needed a little citrus sunshine?”

“Alaska?” CJ repeated, taking a glass. “No, um – I’m from the future, actually. An apocalypse where the Krang wiped out all life on earth. You ran out of ingredients for your lemonade when I was five or six.”

Huginn hissed through his teeth. “Riiiight, sorry, Todd. We didn’t know CJ would be here or we would’ve told you his Tragic Backstory TM.”

“Um, okay?”

“He’s been useful,” Barry said shortly. “He told me quite a bit about my experiments in mystic energy and life force manipulation. It’s advanced my research by several years.”

He finished pouring. The air in the apparently-empty beaker suddenly turned bright pink, then condensed into a bright pink cloud. The cloud rained tiny droplets and a little vine grew from the base of the beaker. The vine crackled with tiny lines of lightning, flexing its leaves in an unmistakable threat to its creator.

“Aw, it’s cute!” Todd cooed. “Like a…little angry bonsai. So! Lemonade?”

“You really should take a break,” CJ told Barry.

Barry rolled his eyes and straightened. Or rather, tried to straighten. His back popped several times in the attempt. He glared at CJ, who very pointedly hid his grin in a glass of lemonade.

“What did I do to deserve this,” Barry grumbled.

“You completed your sticker chart!” Huginn said proudly. Beside him, Muninn whipped out a wrinkled Bingo sheet with squares that read ‘Hug My Son’ and ‘Exist In the Same Room as Lou Jitsu Without Violence for Two Minutes.’ The stickers were all tiny glittery stars.

Barry glared daggers at them. “You have ten seconds to remove that from my sight.”

Muninn giggled. “It’s okay, boss! We know you’re the tsundere type!”

“Yeah,” Huginn added. “If you really meant it, you’d have – hey!”

A vine dropped from the ceiling, grew fangs, and swallowed the sheet in one bite.

“Does the vine want lemonade, too?” Todd asked cheerfully.

Baron grumbled under his breath and CJ just shrugged, so Todd offered it a glass. The vine ate the whole thing, burped, then drifted slowly towards the jar, as if contemplating dessert. The monster bonsai grew a mouth and hissed at it.

“So, an apocalypse, huh?” Todd asked, setting the platter down. Huginn and Muninn descended on the remaining glasses. “Does that have anything to do with the alien invasion?”

CJ grimaced. “Yeah. I’m…still getting used to things here. I know people lived separately Before, with humans and youkai completely separate, but it’s weird to see it in action. I like walking around the Hidden City more than New York. It feels a lot like one of our bases on a busy day.”

“Maybe you could show me around! I haven’t really visited it beyond a few restaurants. It would be neat to learn more about youkai customs!”

CJ frowned. “But…you…are a youkai?”

“Nope!” Todd said cheerfully. “Born human!”

“He’s a product of my oozequitoes,” Barry said. He swatted at the big vine, which had been creeping closer and closer to the jar. The bonsai blew a raspberry at it.

“Huh,” CJ said thoughtfully. “You never said. I mean, there were a few mutant rebel leaders, but they usually made a lot of noise about being human. Why didn’t you?”

Todd shrugged. “I can’t speak for Future Me, but mutating was never really that upsetting. People change all the time. Experiences, memories, friendships, even just the passing of time can shape who you are. This is just a change you can see on the outside.”

“I guess,” CJ said dubiously. “Except you seem exactly the same as the last time I saw you, minus the scars.”

“Oh, rugged Todd!” Muninn exclaimed. “Just like that time he tried to break into Barry’s stronghold!”

Todd sighed. “Ambush strategies are not my strong suit.”

“Cheer up, Todd!” Huginn landed on his shoulder. “You still can still infiltrate any stronghold with the power of kindness and lemonade!”

Muninn landed on his other shoulder. “Does lemonade count as bribery? Is Todd actually secretly manipulative?”

Huginn gasped. “That was a twist I did not see coming!”

Barry rolled his eyes. “Don’t you two have anything better to do than annoy me?”

Huginn shook his head. “Nah, we cleared our calendars to celebrate your sticker chart. It’s important to celebrate personal milestones!”

“You would know that if you read the parenting book we got you,” Muninn added.

“I do not need to know six ways to get a child to eat their vegetables! And I highly doubt that the number of hugs per day affects physiological development, or everyone within a five-mile radius of Michelangelo would be twice the size of Raphael! That book is absurd!”

“Then why did you highlight those pages?” Huginn asked innocently.

Barry twitched. The bonsai leaped out of the jar and smacked Huginn in the face. Huginn fell off Todd’s shoulder with a squeal, clawing at the plant as it lit up with numerous tiny shocks.

“Ow! Ow! It’s like a really angry sock! Get it off!”

“Oops,” Barry said flatly.

CJ chuckled. “I guess some things never change.”

A/N: I had so much trouble thinking of what to write, but now that I did I'm just picturing Todd bringing everybody lemonade in the middle of the apocalypse. Where does he keep getting it? Does he have secret stashes buried everywhere? Does he keep the ingredients hidden in his enormous mustache?? (That's why it's so big, it's full of secrets.)

@sariphantom

[royallyprincesslilly]

Title: Sin In The City {3}****

OFC Nalani x Lewis Tan x OFC Lynix Mini Series

Warning: Cursing, NSFW AT ALL, SMUUUUT, FILTH, Threesome, Girl on Girl Action, PLENTY OF WORDS, Grocery Eating 😉, First Person POV

Words: 12.9k 🤣🤣

Summary: Nalani and Lynix have been friends since they first grew hips and tits. They do everything together. When Lewis tells Nalani that he’s in Vegas for the weekend and invites her to come out, she jumps at the chance, especially when Lewis says the more, the merrier to bringing Nix along. The long weekend goes from a fun time to putting the “sin” in Sin City thanks to a secret plot Nalani concocts.

Note: As you know @munteanhorewrites and I are HUUUUGE Lewis Tan fans. The man is just absolute deliciousness and the whole entire package. So, Ru and I got to talking about him currently being in Vegas for the long weekend, and we thought, why not treat you guys while indulging ourselves. This is going to be a four-shot miniseries where Ru and I will each write two chapters for the four-day weekend of sheer debauchery. Thank you @munteanhorewrites for suggesting we combine our evil powers. Mwhahahaha! 😈😈

We hope you enjoy this. As always, thank you guys so much for reading. ❤️❤️

If you enjoyed this, please, LIKE, COMMENT, REBLOG.

Note 2: Bold Italics are an internal thought. Plain Italics are a memory. Plain Bold text messages. Please excuse the slip ups with “I” and “your”. I would have checked it but I was exhausted! 😭

Chapter Legend:

-Chapter One: @royallyprincesslilly

-Chapter Two: @munteanhorewrites

-Chapter Three: @royallyprincesslilly

-Chapter Four: @munteanhorewrites

***NOT Edited/Proofread***

***Interactive***

~~~~~~~~~~

Chapter Three: Thirst Comes at You Fast

 -Nix-

Groaning, I rolled onto my back for the umpteenth time. The brightness of the sun was blinding, and it was even worse because you had barely slept a wink. Thanks to what I’d seen last night, I tossed and turned and had the most salacious dreams I’d had in a long time. If I were honest, those dreams were downright filthy even by your standards. Now I wasn’t some innocent little thing. Not in the least, but over the last night, I’d dreamt of so many things.  

 It began with sitting on the couch right in front of those large windows and watching the show Lani and Lewis were putting on. I imagined sitting there with one of those expensive bottles of champagne just sipping as Lani took every inch of him down her throat. From the looks of him, she was taking quite a few inches and then some. The way he stared at me was unlike the way anyone had looked at me.

 I could tell that Lani was doing an excellent job from how his lips curled up at the side and how every so often his he grunted, making it echo over the waters of the pool. It was the sexiest sound I’d heard in a long time, and it should have been shameful how quickly it made me wet, but I felt no shame. All I felt the entire night was the slickness between my thighs that never seemed to go away, the heat in the bed though the air conditioner was on all night, and the sheets were silk and always remained cool. Whenever I found a comfortable spot, I had to roll seconds later because of the intense desire that coursed through me. It was frustrating, to say the least.

 There were three things that made me cranky and bitchy. One, when I was over hungry. Two, when I was exhausted. Three, when I was horny with no way to relieve myself. This morning I’d found myself struggling with numbers two and three, and one was steadily creeping up on me. As I showered, I still couldn’t get what I’d witnessed last night out of my mind. This time I zeroed in on the way Lewis had gripped Lani’s head and fucked her throat. The sounds coming from her made it seem like he was hitting places in her throat she’d never known.

 Without even realizing it, my hand crept down my belly to the apex of my thighs. Quickly, I pulled my hand away and hit the tiled wall.

 “Fuck! This cannot be happening.”

 My head ran to Lani’s words from the other day.

 “How would you feel about a threesome with me and Lewis.”

 She was serious. I knew it from the look in her eyes. When Lani was serious about something, she had this determined look.

 “You don’t need to be alone. It can be a one off thing. I’ll take care of you; Lewis will take care of you. It’ll be fun.”

 The thought of that had me pausing as the soap washed from my body. If I was honest with myself, that didn’t sound half bad. There were benefits of threesomes; I thought to myself as I tried to formulate a list of pros and cons.

 “Pro, complete pleasure on all fronts.”

 Just thinking of the possibilities for pleasure had goosebumps peppering my skin. As soon as I began thinking about that pleasure, I thought of a con.

 “Con, pity fuck.”

 That was all it took for me to eighty-six the idea and finish up with my shower. Once out, I tackled the daunting task of my hair. That alone usually took me almost an hour, depending on the style I chose. Today I wanted something sleeker, which meant busting out my flat iron. Deciding on a chill look for the day, I opted for as little makeup as possible before making it to my luggage to choose my outfit for the day.

Once I made it downstairs, I could smell the food and coffee and knew that Lani and Lewis had probably already started without me. It was fine. I needed that extra time to myself to steel myself to be in the same room as him, especially after last night. When I descended the steps and turned into the dining area, Lani was the first to see me. Her face brightened like the sun after a sun shower as she got up and made her way to me.

 When she threw her arms around me, I returned the embrace. From behind her, Lewis sat at the table still. His eyes met mine, and again, the look in them was enough to light a match on sight. He was the one to look away first, though.

 “You decided to take your sweet time this morning,” Lani teased.

 “Yeah, I just needed some me time.”

 Lani peeped into my eyes while crinkling her brow, nonverbally asking if I was okay. Giving her a soft smile, I rubbed her back.

 “I’m good best friend.”

 The two of you walked back to the table. Lani walked around it to sit beside Lewis again.

 “Good morning Nix.”

 The way he said my name made butterflies flit in my belly. Swallowing the small lump that had formed in your throat, I spoke. “Good morning.”

 Once I was sitting, I reached for the orange juice pitcher. If I were lucky, it would be mimosas. Pouring it into the glass, I took a small sip and sighed. Bingo, I thought.

 “How’d you sleep?”

 Glancing at him, I nodded. “Great. I mean, not great, but fine.”

 “What happened?”

 Lani was pouting now.

 “Nothing really, just tossed for a bit. It was so damn hot,” I informed as I piled my plate with an assortment of the food on the table.

 “I wasn’t hot last night. It was cold. I had to snuggle close to Lew,” Lani expressed.

 “Yeah. We were fine. Maybe it’s one of those things you just have to—ride,” Lewis suggested.

 I could feel his eyes on me, and ninety-five percent of me said don’t look up, don’t chance it to find out. The other five percent said just take a peek; that one peek won’t hurt.  It was that five percent I listened to. When I looked at him, he’d just popped a strawberry into his mouth. My eyes instantly dropped to his lips, and I watched him chew the fruit. He did it impossibly slow. When he snaked his tongue out to lick his lips, I could have come just like that. When I looked back to Lewis’s face, his eyes were on me.

 The way he looked at me had a fire creeping up my spine so slowly that its burn felt like a blaze that fanned out throughout your body. He knew he had sex appeal, and from his look alone, he knew how to use it as a weapon.

 “So--,” Lani stretched out bring my attention to her.

 “Maybe we should talk about the elephant in the room.”

 Crinkling my brow, I put a piece of the strawberry pancakes that were in front of me into my mouth.

 “Last night. Me and Lew. You saw,” Lani enlightened.

 My eyes dropped back to my plate as I pretended to intently focus on swirling the strawberries around in the strawberry syrup and powdered sugar mixture.

 “It’s okay, Nix; you don’t have to be embarrassed about it. We didn’t think,” Lani explained.

 “It’s fine. It’s his penthouse and your—you can do whatever.”

 “Funny choice of words,” Lewis murmured before he tilted his head back and dropped a few blueberries into his mouth.

 Glancing at him, I saw Lani rest her hand atop his chest as she smiled then whispered something in his ear. Lewis smiled and kissed her. Watching the carnal kiss between them, I couldn’t look away. As I was going to, Lewis’s eyes met yours again. It was probably one of the most sinful things you’d seen. As he was passionately kissing Lani, he was giving me eyes that said come join in.

 I have to be imagining that.

 Lowering my eyes, I focused on the food and tried to ignore the moans across the table. I usually wasn’t a prude, I was pretty free with my body and inhibitions, but I felt as if I were crowding them for some reason. Like I shouldn’t be there.

 “So--,” Lani began again a sing-song in her voice.

 She was in such a good mood. Why wouldn’t she be? The effort I’d seen her put into getting all that thing in her mouth said he gave her several inches of reasons to be happy.

 “It’s cool, Lani, I understand. What’s the plan for the day?”

 Lewis and Lani looked at each other and smirked before Lani sly shrugged.

 “I thought we could hop on some ATVs and ride through the desert,” Lewis piped up.

 Lani’s eyes widened at the same time mine did.

 “That sounds so fun but dirty,” Lani said.

 “Getting dirty is all the fun,” Lewis said at the same time I did. Our eyes met again, and I saw the playfulness in them.

 “See, Nix gets it,” Lewis added, making you smirk.

 “Okay, ATVs in the desert it is,” Lani confirmed at the same time my phone rang.

 Glancing down, I realized it was Cesar. I would have rolled my eyes, but right now, I needed the distraction.

 “I’m gonna--,” I began pointing to my phone.

 “Yeah, you can use the office around the corner if you need some privacy,” Lewis offered.

 I rose from the table with my phone in hand and made my way to the office. Before I turned the corner, I heard Lani shout after me.

 “That better not be Caesar’s clingy ass. I rebuke him!”

 Pinching my lips, I dipped into the room but heard Lewis’s voice before I pulled up the door just a bit.

 “Who’s Caesar?”

 Leaning on the edge of the executive size desk, I looked out the window and answered.

 “Hey, Caesar.”

 “Hey there, angel face.”

 The sound of the pet name he’d always called me had me smiling for a few moments.

 “I went by your apartment earlier. Were you asleep?”

 “No, I’m not in Miami.”

 The silence on the line stretched.

 “Oh yeah? Where you at?”

 I thought about it for a little while. Caesar was a jealous guy. He was also territorial. It always led to an argument of some sort. At times I didn’t mind it, but other times, it was a pain in the ass.

 “Nix,” Caesar breeched.

 “Vegas for the weekend,” I replied.

 “You alone, or is Lani with you?”

 “What’s with all the questions?”

 “I just miss you. I wanted to spend some time together.”

 I walked closer to the floor to ceiling window and gazed out over the view of Vegas. The sin in sin city was resting for now, but I knew it would awaken once again by the time six hit.

 “C, we talked--,” I began before he cut me off.

 “You’re tryna tell me you don’t miss me?”

 I almost laughed out loud. I didn’t miss him per se.

 “C, let’s not do this.”

 “Wow, Nix. Are you fucking kidding me? For the last month and a half, we’ve been working on getting back together.”

 “You’ve been working for that, C,” I thundered before lowering my voice a tad bit lower to continue. “You’ve been the one fueling this. I told you that I wasn’t sure. I told you that it might not be a good idea.”

 “What am I supposed to listen to? Your words or you spending nights at my apartment?”

 He was right. I’d muddied the waters by turning him into my sporadic fuck buddy even though I knew it was a bad idea.

 “Horniness was the root of all evil and bad decisions,” I whispered out, pressing my forehead to the glass.

 “What was that?”

 “Nothing, C. Look, how about we talk when--.”

 “Everything okay in here?”

Glancing back, I saw Lewis filling the doorframe. He wore a pair of dark ripped jeans that hugged his long legs so well and a black short-sleeve Henley that accentuated the size of his biceps and showed off how good of a shape he was in. Unconsciously my teeth sunk into my bottom lip. He looked fucking good.

 “Who the fuck is that? You said it was you and Lani.”

 Cesar’s voice was so loud it had me coming to my senses. I pulled my eyes from Lewis and looked back out the window.

 “Yeah, everything is fine,” I replied to Lewis before responding to Cesar. “C, we’ll talk when I get back.”

 “No, who the fuck is that? Nix, don’t play with me,” Cesar cautioned. I could hear the jealously in his voice.

 “We’re ready to go. Thought I’d come to get you,” Lewis informed.

 “Yeah. C, I gotta go.”

 Before Cesar could respond, I ended the call and sighed out.

 “Are you okay?”

 His voice was coming from behind me. When I turned, he was resting on the desk with one leg up and the other planted on the floor.

 “Uh—yeah, fine,” I lied.

 “You don’t look okay. You didn’t sound okay a little while ago. I hear you shouting.”

 Nodding, I shrugged, trying to play off your annoyance. It was your own fault.

 “Boyfriend?”

 “I told you, I don’t have one of those.”

 Lewis nodded and sipped from the glass I just realized he held. From where I stood, it smelled tropical, and you guessed it was some fruit juice.

 “Okay, so not a boyfriend—maybe a friend with benefits?”

 Lewis quickly clenched his jaw. It was so quick I almost missed it. That one action had my interest piquing all the way up. What was that for?

 “I don’t have one of those either. He was a horny mistake,” I admitted before turning my back to him again.

 “Ah, horniness. I see. You settled, and now you can’t get rid of him. Sucks to be you.”

 I felt his breath brush against my ear, and the scent of pineapple and grapefruit hit your nose. I could also feel the warmth from his body. He was close. Holding my breath, I kept my body as still as possible and waited for the moment to pass.

 Lewis now stood beside me, looking out the vast windows you were. Neither of you spoke. You focused on the tease in his voice. He was taunting me. Every so often, the soft clinking of ice against crystal echoed in the room, reminding me that I wasn’t alone. Not that I could ever think that. His scent was too powerful. He smelled earthy like he walked through the thick of Guam's forests, then went to the mountains of Tibet to soak up the scent of freshly fallen snow and fresh air. To top it off, I could pick up faint traces of salt. Not cooking salt but the salt of the ocean. The other subtle hints of rose and some exotic flower only made him that more delectably alluring. It was such a good scent.

 “In life, I’ve learned that lesson. Never settle. No matter what it is, never settle. You deserve the best, and the best will come.”

 I looked at him at the same moment he looked at me. Our eyes lingered, but we didn’t speak. There didn’t feel like there was a need to.

 “Plus, you’re too beautiful for the universe not to bend to your will,” Lewis finished.

 My belly fluttered, and without even realizing it, my body swayed sideways. By the time I realized it, I was leaning so far sideway that I lost my balance. With reflexes like nothing I’d ever seen before, Lewis reached out and caught me, pulling me to his body. That was when my skin decided to shoot fire throughout my body. The beauty in his cognac eyes only served as another distracting factor. Now that I was closer, the scents that were subtle before were now more prominent.

 I wonder if he tastes like the sea.

 The thought was a quick one, but it also quickly ruined you. Feeling my nipples bead underneath my thin shirt, I silently prayed he was none the wiser. A flicker of fire sparked in his eyes that made them appear slightly darker. I watched his tongue slowly snake across his full bottom lip. He was wiser. He’d noticed.

 Before he could speak, I pulled away but did it a little too quickly. Lewis’s hand slid from my back to my hips and steadied me. Once I was steady, he didn’t lower them; instead, I felt him squeeze my shapely hips. I thought of moving but I couldn’t. Seconds later, it was Lewis who stepped back, dousing that magnetic energy between you that had encompassed the room.

 “Em—you might wanna--change for the desert,” Lewis suggested.

 Without a word, I walked out of the room and hurried to my room, the whole time admonishing myself for whatever the hell that was.

 Once the three of us got into the chauffeured car, I’d managed to pull myself together and find my chill and detachment. I kept one ear on the conversation in the car, so I could respond when needed. For the most part, I was lost, creating a new blog post about your weekend while going through comments on your post on IG yesterday. You were going to ignore the hot man in the car as long as you could.

 When the car rolled up to our destination, my jaw dropped. For as far as I could see, there was nothing but sand. It gave me a sense of peacefulness.

 “This is gonna be so lit,” Lewis said as he clapped his hands before he dropped a heavy-handed slap to Lani’s ass, making her squeal and giggle.

 “Lewis,” Lani whined as he led the way chuckling to himself.

 For the next fifteen minutes, we listened to the rules, safety precautions, and expectations. After there was a quick demo on how to operate the ATV, then we all signed waivers. Once the formalities were out of the way, each of us ran to an ATV. The one I chose was a camo printed one that looked so badass. I was so excited, and once I climbed on, I glanced over to Lewis, whose eyes were already on you, but they were not looking at my eyes. They were much lower on your ass. Scoffing, I shook my head then revved my engine.

 “Get into it!”

 With that, I sped off, leaving Lewis and Lani in my wake. It didn’t take long for Lani to pull up beside you. she shouted out into the open air then sputtered, spitting out sand.  I couldn’t help but laugh at her. Hearing a sound on the other side of me, I turned and saw Lewis. He was now in a tank with his shirt tied around his mouth like a mask. Genius, I thought. I could hear his muffled words but couldn’t make them out. Shrugging, I spoke into my helmet mouth guard.

 “Sorry, can’t hear you above the sound of you eating my dust!”

 Picking up the speed, I pulled ahead. When they caught up again, I swerved in another direction and did it again and again. Each time I swerved, someone took over the lead. Neither of us kept lead for long. Each one of us had a strong competitive side.

 A few hours passed with desert riding. Lewis was the one to be the show-off. He did flips, standing tricks, and other dangerous stunts while Lani and I looked on with our mouths wide. His adventurous side called to me, making it impossible to steer clear of your rapidly increasing thirst for him.

 It also didn’t help to watch on as he and Lani kicked up the PDA. Almost every time I glanced around, Lani was either hugging on him from the back of his ATV, or his tongue was down her throat. They were cute, but it only made me think of watching them last night, and that made me think of Lani’s suggestion for a threesome. That suggestion hadn’t left my mind all day. I was still so frustrated that the idea of it was not as gobsmacking as it had been. The more and more Lewis’s eyes found you or parts of my body from across the desert, the further away from shocking you got.

 Because of Lani’s whining over how sandy she was, we took a break letting her clean off a bit. I didn’t mind the dirt. While she cleaned up, it left Lewis and me alone. We played around on the ATVs, just acting like kids. It was a lot of fun. After a while, I suggested we stop to capture some of our surroundings for my blog and social media. Lewis agreed, wanting to get his own shots.

 I took video after video and even recorded a few short ones before taking several selfies. When I looked over to Lewis, I watched as he unbuttoned his jeans to peel them off quickly. There was no way I could look away. I was confused as to what he was doing and, honestly, who would look away. Once free from the jeans, he pulled off his tank leaving the scarf he’d worn from before.

 “How is it possible for him to look like he belongs in the desert too?”

 The wind picked up, and the sand blew around him as he stared out toward where the sun shone. My eyes traveled over every dip and curve of his perfectly lean and toned body. No wonder Lani was in heavy lust. He looked like he not only broke backs but possibly parts of the female anatomy.

 Lewis looked back, and for a few moments, it looked like he was walking in slow motion.

Holy Shit.

 Before I even realized it, he was standing in front of me.

 “You got a little drool,” Lewis teased before he hopped onto the bumper of your ATV.

 “Whatever. You wish.”

 It was a weak rebuttal and nowhere near believable. We sat in silence for a little while, taking in the scenery.

 “It’s beautiful huh.”

 “Yeah. Makes you feel like the only human left on earth,” I added.

 “Well, if I were the only human left on earth, I’d want you with me.”

 Our eyes met again, and my heart raced, making me look away. Again, the silence stretched until you found something to say.

 “I’m really sorry about last night,” I began.

 Lewis snorted, making you look at him again with confusion etched on my face.

 “What’s so funny?”

 Lewis didn’t speak right away; instead, he studied me as if he were looking for something. He sighed then licked his lips.

 “Do you know what I see in your eyes?”

 “What?”

 “You’re not sorry.”

 My jaw dropped, and my eyes bugged. “What!”

 “Yeah. You’re not sorry you saw. You’re sorry you got caught,” Lewis cockily informed.

 “Caught? What am I a child? It’s not like I snuck out there to spy.”

 “No, I know that. I do know, though, that if I hadn’t looked up and seen you, you probably would have continued watching.”

 He got me there. I probably would have. It was a good show.

 “Again, your eyes say it all. Not only are they completely hypnotizing, but they’re also very expressive.”

 Was he hitting on me?

 The look on his face said he might have been, but his eyes were masked. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking.

 “All day, I’ve been trying to figure out if your physical reaction to my touch is an instinctual thing or if it’s more.”

 Wow, I thought. The man was so self-assured. He didn’t come off insecure at all. It was both attractive and slightly annoying. No man should be that confident. I looked away and hopped off the ATV, sinking into the sand. Before I could walk off, I felt his body behind me, barely touching me, and his hand spread across my stomach, keeping me in place.

 Oh, fuck. This is not what I needed right now.

 Lewis didn’t speak. He just remained perfectly still. The longer his hand remained on my stomach, the hotter it seemed to get. I didn’t know how long passed with us standing like that, but I was sure it was long enough for the heat from his hand to sear away the high waist of my biker shorts. It had to have been. It felt like there was no barrier between his hand and your skin.

 On your left, you felt his other hand slowly snake up the length of your arm. Where it went, it left an agonizing burn that slowly at away at you. By the time Lewis’s hand made it to your shoulder, he moved your hair so his head could gently touch the side of your face. Still, the smell of his skin wasn’t masked by the sand all around him. It hadn’t done anything at all. I heard him take a deep inhale before he moaned.

 “I know what you want, Nix. I can see it every time I look into your eyes. Fuck I can feel it. All you have to do is say the words.”

 I could feel his touch on my neck as if he really did touch me, but alas, he never did. He was so close. All he had to do was tip out his tongue. Lewis released a guttural groan.

 “Put us both out of our misery, Sunshine,” Lewis finished before he released you and walked away toward an approaching Lani.

 “Son of a bitch.”

 ~~~~~~~~

It was lunchtime, and I was starving and hornier than I’d been before we left. Only now it wasn't because I’d inadvertently saw Lewis and Lani together, no it was because of Lewis’s words. I had no idea what he meant by he knew what I wanted. How the hell could he know that? I didn’t even fully know what I wanted. Every few hours, it changed.

 When Lewis, Lani, and I got back to the penthouse, we showered and changed, then made it to another beautiful restaurant. Deciding not to pretend I were less hungry than I was, I ordered whatever I wanted. As we all ate, the conversation was never strained. Lani told stories of the countless adventures we’d had, all the while never leaving out not one embarrassing detail. Throughout the stories, Lewis looked genuinely interested. He listened with a tuned ear and sincere interest. I liked watching the different emotions light up his face. It was like reliving the memory but through someone else’s eyes.

Every once in a while, Lewis’s eyes found mine, but again they were masked and almost detached. It was an interesting change from earlier, one that had me doubting what I thought I saw and heard.

 At times when he spoke to me, his choice of words always threw me. When asked if he wanted more of the dim sum, he looked at me and said, “I want it.” When Lani complimented her food, Lewis looked at me, bit his bottom lip, and said, “Bet it tastes good.” I squirmed, shifted, and tried to handle it throughout lunch, but the last thing he said threw you. We were all eating dessert. I’d chosen something simple like a sorbet while he and Lani went in on some decadent chocolate, vanilla, and cherry concoction. They took turns teasing me about wanting it. It was Lewis who locked eyes with me and rocked all reserve with his “you want this deep inside.”

 What the fuck was I supposed to say to that? I had no idea, and he knew I had nothing. He also knew he’d had an effect. He’d had such a profound effect that my panties were now uncomfortably soaked. Asshole, I thought. He knew he was one; the sly smirk on his face said it. You watched him dip his spoon into his mouth and moan. He was pleased with himself.

 After lunch, I had steam to blow, so gambling was my suggestion. What else would bring almost as much pleasure as sex than winning more money than you came with? We went from table to table, placing bets, dropping chips, and claiming double what was wagered. Lani was a pro at Roulette, which she proudly showed off, winning two grand like it was easy. I was a monster at Blackjack. No matter the casino, or the deck of cards, or even those around me. I dominated the Blackjack table for almost two hours, winning hand after hand until management capped my winnings at six grand. I understood. They didn’t want me cleaning them out. Lewis was an ace at Poker and Craps and gladly let his cocky side.

 Before every roll of the dice, Lewis held them out for both Lani and me to blow on. The first time he held them out to me, I was confused. That was when he said, “Blow me.” The look he gave me had way too much effect on me. His amusement from my delayed reaction was evident, and he enjoyed making you pause. Roll after roll had him winning game after game at the Craps table. Every time he won, Lani wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged his head to her breasts.

 Their antics brought so many eyes, including mine, but I was having so much fun winning that I didn’t care when Lani pulled me into a sandwiched hug with Lewis in the middle leaving his head was pressed between yours and Lani’s breasts. Lewis crept his hand around my hip, resting it right at my hip bone. That was when I could have sworn I felt lips slide across my nipple. The instantaneous reaction began with my nipple hardening and my back arching slightly, all while a soft moan rolled from my lips. When I glanced down, Lewis was looking at me, and for a second, I forgot where I was and who I was.

 Lani cleared her throat, pulling my attention to her. The look on her face said all you needed to know. She was liking the way things were going.

 When I shied away from Lani and Lewis, I tested out a few of the slot machines wanting to try your luck there. It took some time for your streak to start, but there was no stopping it once it did. You struck gold every time you pulled down the handle on the side of the machine.

“Either you’ve got the Midas touch, or you’re rigging the machine.”

 You turned and saw Lewis standing there looking at the machine.

 “How would I have rigged it?”

 He shrugged and leaned on the seat I was sitting in. “There are ways.”

 “I just have the Midas, I guess.”

 Lewis smiled and nodded. “Looks like it. How much have you won today?”

 “More than you make in a month,” I teased.

 The laugh Lewis let out brought so many eyes to us, and he didn’t seem to care. I liked that he didn’t pay attention to others and focused on being himself.

 “Wow, you have quite the sass, huh.”

 I shrugged and pulled the lever again. We watched the screen as the images rolled in, showing off another win.

 “I should keep you by my side at all times. You just may be the luckiest woman I’ve ever met.”

 Before I could answer, another voice to my left drew my attention.

 “I second that.”

 He was tall, with a perfect jawline that was so chiseled it could have cut steel. His eyes were a deep green close to the color of seaweed, and his smile said he should work as a game show host or something.

 “Name’s Brian. I couldn’t help but watch you. You’re gorgeous.”

 On your right, Lewis scoffed in such a way there was no misinterpreting what it meant.

 “Uh—Lynix,” I replied.

 “Such an exotic name, almost reminds me of a Lynx cat, of course, sexier,” Brian added.

 “Oh boy, here we go,” Lewis chimed in. I glanced at him with a curious look, wondering why he was acting like this.

 “You are?”

 Lewis turned to the newcomer crossing his arms over his chest, making his biceps pop in the polo shirt he wore.

 “Don’t worry about all that. No one asked you to come over here.”

 My jaw dropped because that sound a lot like possessiveness. Brian stood tall and turned to Lewis as well.

 “Who can stay away from a beautiful woman like her? All I wanted to do was get next to greatness,” Brian slid in, making me smile. He was smooth. Looking at Lewis’s face, he didn’t look amused.

 Right when Lewis was about to say something, Lani came by giving Brian the once over.

 “What’s going on?”

 “Nothing,” I answered before Lewis could. Lani looked at me then, Brian. It was her asking if she wanted him gone. I slightly shook my head. I wanted to play this out.

 “Who’s your friend?”

 “This is Brian. He was just about to take me for a drink. Right, Brian?”

 Brian looked surprised by that, but not for long. A few seconds after I said it, his smile spread again.

 “Absolutely.” He held out his arm and waited for me to take it. When I did, I glanced at Lewis, whose jaw was clenched and eyes blazing. You knew a displeased man when you saw one, and he was definitely displeased.

While I had a drink with Brian at one of the bars and listened to him talk about his time in Vegas, I saw Lani and Lewis at the bar as well. They were drinking and whispering, having a grand ol’ time, but every so often, Lewis glanced over to you with the only annoyed look on his face. When he did, Lani looked amused, giving me a look that said she peeped it. Halfway through my drink, my phone went off.

 MSG Lani: Pity fuck huh. 🙄 

 I looked at her, narrowed my eyes then gave her the same eye roll she gave me in text. She wasn’t funny, not one bit. However, she might have a point, I thought. As I continued my conversation, Lani and Lewis came over to join you. Lani went on Brian’s right while Lewis came up to your left. He was close enough for me to smell the dark rum that swirled with his cologne. While Lani talked to Brian, he focused all his attention on her.

 “Another horny mistake?”

 His voice was a whisper that made it easier to smell the rum he was drinking. Lewis took another sip from his heavy crystal glass, but he didn’t look at me. He kept his eyes on the plethora of bottles decorating the wall of the bar.

 “Who said I was horny?”

 Lewis then looked at me and smirked. “Aren’t you?”

 I looked over the features of his face and got lost on his lips. They looked soft and well cared for.

 Jesus, I’m lusting.

 “Are you?”

 Lewis took another sip then sucked in a slow breath through his mouth. He didn’t speak for several moments. He just stared into my eyes like he was looking for something.

 “If you only knew,” Lewis whispered before looking away to finish his glass of Rum this time.

 “I’m sure Lani can help with that. There are plenty of corners, although I doubt you two need corners or privacy.”

 In seconds you felt Lewis’s breath on my ear. “What do you need, Nix?”

 Holy Shit!

 Though I tried, I couldn’t get any words to pass my lips. Not one.

 “All you have to do is say the words, tell me,” Lewis whispered again, his lips softly grazing my ear.

 My heart was racing so fast that I was sure there was no way he didn’t hear it. I was also sure that he could smell my arousal. I was that wet. Someone’s phone went off, and the unexpected sound broke the tension of the moment. Clearing my throat, I stood and adjusted my skirt.

 “Dinner. I think we should get to dinner,” I stuttered, walking away.

 I needed to get upstairs to that bedside drawer, and I needed to get there now. The car ride was the longest. As I sat there beside Lani, I couldn’t stop squirming. Every move I made, the slickness between my legs only turned me on more.  

 MSG: Did you tell him?

MSG Lani: Tell who what?

MSG: Don’t play innocent with me, Lani. Did you tell him?

 Lani looked at me, and I narrowed my eyes. There was no way she didn’t bring up her threesome plan to him. He’d gone from mildly seductive just from his aura to extremely panty soaking in one day. Lani rolled her eyes and tapped into her phone.

 MSG Lani: I did, but before you get mad, it wasn’t any serious. I just said I mentioned it to you.

MSG: Lani!

MSG Lani: Don’t be mad. It’s no big deal.

MSG: What did you say?

MSG Lani: That I’d asked, and you turned me down. He wanted to know why, and I said you had your reasons.

 I didn’t fully believe her.

 MSG Lani: I promise it’s no big deal.

 Sighing, I slipped my phone between my knees, leaned back, and willed the car to hurry up.

 Once we got back to the hotel, Lani said she’d meet us upstairs because she wanted to book a spa treatment for tomorrow. I didn’t need to be told twice. The elevator ride with Lewis wasn’t uncomfortable; it was more tense than anything else. Both of our eyes remained on the changing dial as the floors ticked away. Neither of us spoke. When I did have the courage to look over at him, I saw that his jaw clenched, his arms crossed, but his back was straight as an arrow.

 Unexpectedly Lewis looked over to me, and it felt like he was daring me to do something. His lips were curled into a sly sort of smile before he bit his bottom lip. My belly fluttered, making me drop my eyes, but when I did, it landed it on something unexpected. The bugle in his pants had almost all of your reserve falling, leaving only one measly ounce. Thankfully, the doors opened into the hall leading to the penthouse. I made a mad dash toward the door and inside. Not sparing another look at Lewis, I hightailed it to my bedroom.

 Once inside, I stripped and hurried into the shower, hoping that the water would help with the slickness I felt that only fueled my arousal even more. It was next to impossible to stop thinking about someone bending me over in the shower, but somehow you managed to focus on getting clean rather than getting dirtier.

 After my shower, I only felt less wet but still horny as ever. I was barely able to get through putting on my makeup. My hands kept shaking at the worst times, and my concentration was shot to shit. I’d wanted my makeup to match the dress I planned on wearing, but I couldn’t even get that together for the life of me.

 “Get your shit together, Nix.”

 Another few minutes found me just giving up on the elaborate eye makeup I’d wanted and dropping my brush in frustration. I rested my forehead on my hand and took a few deep breaths.

 “Fuck it!”

 I got up, walked over to my bed, and laid down. Once I reached inside the drawer to get my vibrator. Instead of using it our the gate, I slipped my fingers between my legs, only becoming half surprised to find I was already as wet as I’d been before I got into the shower. I ran my fingers up and down my slickened slit once, then twice and third. Each time I shuddered from the delicate pleasure that rolled through me. A soft but husky moan escaped my throat.

 Dipping my fingers into my heat, I brought the slickness back to my clit and circled the desperate bud. It wasn’t long before I’d closed my eyes and focused on the pleasure that was increasing by leaps and bounds with each passing second. Dripping my thighs back to the bed, I sped my movements making tight circles rather than the bigger ones from before.

 “Oh my god, yes!”

 There was no way I was going to last much longer. I could already feel the tension filling the pit of my stomach. Dipping my fingers back inside my cavern, I used them to replicate what I imagined Lewis did. At the thought of him, my eyes flew open to stare at the ceiling. While Lani was giving him head, I hadn’t been able to see just what he was blessed with. The only indication I’d gotten was from the constant gagging Lani did. She had said that he was more endowed than anyone she’d been with. I was curious now.

 My fingers had sped their plunge, and with it, so did the moans that fell from my lips. Soon your moans and whimpers cascaded from you. By the time I wondered if Lewis could hear me, I was too far gone. It was then I looked down my body to find Lewis at the door watching me. I should have screamed and clamped my legs shut or even hid from shame or embarrassment, but I didn’t do any of that.

 Instead, I bit my bottom lip and slowly took my fingers from my body to bring them back to my clit.

 “Mmmm, yes.”

Lewis took a few steps more into my room and toward the bed. Our eyes never left one another, and the longer he stared, the more turned on you were becoming. When Lewis made it to the bed's foot, his eyes dropped to your sex, and another whimper escaped you.

“Fuck!”

 His voice was strangled, and his eyes on fire. Earlier it looked like it was anger or annoyance, but now it was neither of those.

 “Fuck, you’re beautiful, Nix.”

 Lewis dropped to the floor, coming eye level with your sex. He then took a deep inhale.

 “Mmmm, you smell incredible. Do you taste as good as you smell?”

 The combination of his voice and his words had my back arch slightly off the bed.

 “Does it feel good, Nix?”

 I nodded.

 “Tell me how good.”

 “So—So—good.”

 Lewis groaned, focused on your pussy. He looked almost transfixed. After a few seconds, his jaw dropped, and I could have sworn I saw a little drool at the corner of his mouth, but before it dribbled, he closed it again.

 “Goddamn, you’re so wet. Be a good girl and show me.”

 I brought my hand away, dipped it into my heat, and pulled it back to show him the slickness that coated my fingers. I heard an audible growl fill the room. The fact that it came from him only ruined me more. Dipping my fingers back inside, I did what I knew would get me off.

 “That’s right. Fuck that pussy, Sunshine. Show me how you like it.”

 Bringing my other hand into the mix, I circled my clit then looked at Lewis again. He looked like he’d inched closer, and I wanted him to bury his face in to take over.

 “Mmm, you’re so tight, I can tell. Spread that pussy open for me.”

 Doing as I was told, I spread it, but I never slowed the tight circles around my clit. I was so close.

 “You’re gonna come? Come for me, Nix. Let me see how beautiful you are when you come.”

 My whimpers turned into whines, and my tight circles turned sloppy and staggered as did the speed of my fingers thrusting in and out of my sopping core. In seconds my toes curled, and I’d bent off the bed as if I was a bridge.

 “Fuck, fuck, fuck Lewis!”

My body shook for several long moments as I rode the waves of ecstasy and relished the tingles that spread through my body. I’d been holding a lot of tension, and now I could feel the little bubbles popping in thin air as they exited my body. When I looked back at Lewis, he was so close. Inching up, I withdrew me soaked digits and brought them to Lewis’s lips. Without needing to be told, he opened his mouth and sucked each and every one of my fingers clean.

 “Mmm, you taste amazing. Let me clean you up and eat that pretty pussy baby. I want it so bad.”

 That was what you wanted to. It amazed you how badly you wanted him to clean up the mess you’d made of yourself. As you opened your mouth to speak, you heard Lani shout your name. Lewis looked as if he’d found his senses. He rubbed his forehead and sighed before he stood from your bed foot.

 “I’m—sorry.”

 With that, he was gone. Though you were satisfied, I could feel the heat rising again.

 An hour later found me dressed, collected, and at a steakhouse with Lani and Lewis. Thank to my release, my body was more relaxed now, but my mind was a chaotic erotic nightmare. I couldn’t stop replaying what happened in my bedroom and he gall I’d had to feed him my fingers to clean off. The fire I’d seen in his eyes and the yearning I’d head in his voice was something I hadn’t expected.

 Would it really be a pity fuck?

 Lani flirted with Lewis using her seductive touches and whispers, and I could tell that he was hanging on but barely. Deciding to toy with him a little, I did what Lani did, but more subtly. When she ate off his plate, I did too. When she held his hand on top of the table, I slyly allowed my body to touch him underneath the table. When Lani leaned into him, I leaned over him to take a piece of food from Lani’s plate. The whole time I knew that he could see my cleavage.

 By the time we’d moved on to dessert, Lewis was the one squirming and downing his drink like his thirst was unquenchable. I loved seeing him squirm. He thought he had this power and control. He needed to be humbled to realize just which sex had the power in the world. When Lewis went to talk to the owner of the restaurant, I filled Lani in and tried to get whatever information she had. I knew she couldn’t be an innocent bystander, and she wasn’t.

 “I can’t believe you told him that.”

 Lani nodded. I saw the remnants of his drink and finished the glass.  The burn of the dark liquor was intense against my tongue.

 “So, he’s been acting like this all day on purpose?”

 “Lani smirked, giving the answer away. I couldn’t help but snort, bringing my hand to my head, smacking myself.

 “If you needed more evidence that you’re attracted to him or him attracted to you, then you have this entire day. Hell, you have the casino.”

 I looked at Lani silently, asking her to continue.

 “I saw how he was when that guy came over and flirted. Lewis can keep his cool about a lot of things, but I can always tell when he’s jealous.”

 “Jealous!? Lani, get real. That’s yo man. He wouldn’t be jealous.”

 Lani pulled me closer to her and rested her chin on my shoulder. “Why do you think I was so adamant about you coming this weekend?”

 Glancing to her, my brows crinkled, wondering what the hell she was talking about.

 “As I said, I’m only cool with sharing with you. A while ago, I knew Lew would like you, and I couldn’t think of anything better than having you by my side while we have some fun.”

 Snorting, I shook my head. “Lani--,” I began.

 “Stop frontin. You know you like him. You know this whole day you’ve been horny and wet for him.”

 At that moment, a thought filled me, making me gasp loudly, snapping my head to Lani.

 “Oh my god, did you put him up to this Nalani?”

 “Damn, my whole name, huh.”

 “You did!”

 I dropped my forehead into my hands while resting my elbows on the table. I couldn’t believe this. It kind of felt like my best friend was pimping me out to her sexy as hell fuck buddy.

 “Lani, you’re pimping me out.”

 “I am not. Think of this as more than sex. This could be something.”

 Rolling my eyes, I sighed, “Like what, a contractual fuck buddies situation?”

 “Shut up. No. Like he flies us where he goes, and we soak up the culture of the world while enjoying his company and the perks of it,” Lani explained, raising her eyebrows for emphasis.

 “Oh my god. We don’t need anyone to help us soak up the culture of the world, Lani. We do good on our own.”

 “True. It’s just—sometimes, it’d be nice if someone took care of us the way we take care of ourselves. Ya’ know?”

 I did know. I understood her completely. While it was great being able to do things and get things for yourself, it was also nice to be taken care of by someone on a different level. Sighing, I sat back and pondered her words. She had a point. Maybe I needed to just give in to what I really wanted. From across the restaurant, I could see Lewis talking to the owner. They were laughing like they’d been long time friends. The comfort between the two was evident. When he glanced back to Lani and me and pointed us out, the owner said something to him with a smile on his face—a smile Lewis returned with a nod.

 “Let’s head out. I think we can find a club that’s more up to our speed,” I said to Lani, raising one of my eyebrows.

 The excitement on Lani’s face said it all. She knew what time it was.

 When Lewis came back over, we took a picture with the owner. Lani and I were in front, stooping down like the Charlie’s Angel’s Charlie’s Angels wished they could be, while the two of them stood behind us. It was a dope picture.

 In the car, I whispered to the driver where to take us while Lani distracted him so he wouldn’t suspect a thing. Thankfully the drive wasn’t too long since everything in Sin City was in short distance. When the car pulled up, and we piled out, I watched Lewis’s jaw drop when he saw the name of the establishment.

 Treasures.

 Lewis looked at both Lani and me as if we’d grown a pair of extra heads. Lani wrapped her arm around my waist and led me to the door.

 “Enter if you dare,” I teased, walking inside with a giggling Lani.

Once inside, we waited for Lewis to catch up. It was only a few seconds before he was behind us, draping his arms over both our shoulders.

 “Now, why would you ladies lure me here?”

 “Lure? Did we lure, Nix?”

 “Not at all. If we were to lure you, it would look like this.” I began turning around to face him while walking backward.

 “Are you coming?”

 Lani was the first to join my side, and then Lewis did the same with a wide smile. We walked to one of the empty lounges and sat with him in the middle.

 “Hi there, welcome to Treasures. I’m Pinky,” began a beautiful woman with pink hair, cheek piercings, and deep brown eyes.

  As I looked lower over her mahogany skin, my eyes couldn’t help but take in her incredible breasts that were barely concealed by her bedazzled bikini top. I didn’t know if they were implants of natural, but it didn’t matter. I bet they brought in plenty of horny men.

 “Hello, Pinky,” Lewis replied, leaning back on the lounger with a smile.

 “What can I get you three? Food, drinks, one of the girls?”

 Lewis looked at Lani, then me licked his lips and smiled again. “Whatever you ladies want.”

 Lani and I exchanged looks for a few moments communicating nonverbally.

 “How about a bottle of dark rum to get us started and maybe a girl for a dance,” Lani requested.

 “Sure thing? Any preference?”

 Lani and I smiled and replied, “Black and beautiful.”

 Lewis chuckled, “I third that.”

 When Pinky left, Lani leaned to Lewis and took out something rolled from his sports jacket's inner pocket. Lewis offered her the light, and I watched as she took a few puffs then released the smoke. When she did, I could tell just what it was.

 “Who knew weed was your cup of tea,” I said, leaning back and crossing my legs.

 “Ha, there’s plenty you don’t know about me,” Lewis answered before he took a few puffs of his own. When he finished, he held it out to me.

 “Let’s hope by the time the sun comes up; you know me a lot better.”

 Those were more than empty words. I took the blunt and took several long drags from it, closing my eyes to allow the substance to work its way to my brain.

 Who knows, the odds of that statement becoming true were getting more and more likely.

 Fifteen or so minutes later, once the three of you had the bottle of rum open and taking turns gulping from the three hundred dollar bottle, a dancer named Lioness was doing her thing on the small table before us. Her outfit was perfect and showed off all her best assets—everything. When she approached Lani, she shook her ass in her face, to which Lani slapped one of her cheeks. Almost instantly, she gasped and held her hands back in an apologetic way. Lioness didn’t seem angry; instead, she sat in Lani’s lap and proceeded to give her a lapdance. Lani’s squeals said she was having a good time.

 “Oh no,” I whined, holding up the blunt that was now too small to hold.

 “Not to worry, sunshine, daddy’s got more,” Lewis said, showing the inside of his jacket.

 I smiled and reached for one coming even closer to his face. Glancing up, our eyes met, and that’s where they stayed.

 “You’re blazed,” Lewis said with a wide smile, one I returned.

 “Don’t laugh at me.”

 His smile softened, and his hand came to my cheek. “I’m not babygirl. I have better things I’d rather do than laugh at you.”

 From the side, I saw Lani nod her head, and Lioness approaching like a predator coming for her prey.

 “I hope this lapdance is one of them,” I said, nudging my head, making him look back to see Lioness approach to dance in front of him.

 “Wow.”

 Lewis leaned back and looked over her body, which gave me the time to light the new blunt. After taking a few puffs, Lani whined for her turn. We traded her for the blunt and me for the Rum. When Lioness sat in Lewis’s lap, he laughed. While he looked to be having a good time, he didn’t look to be on the brink of losing control. I got up and slinked around Lioness to Lani. As she took a puff, she held it out to me to take one. After I did, I gulped a mouthful of rum and moaned as it burned its path down my throat.

 Lani stood and began swaying to the music in front of you. The instrumental version of Desperado was blaring in the club with a slowed-down dub. It sounded a lot more seductive than the original.  Lani took the rum and handed me the blunt. As I took another drag, I leaned my head back and moaned. When I looked over to Lewis on the couch, his eyes weren’t on Lioness. They were on Lani and me. That was when the most devious idea popped into my head. Whispering to Lani to clue her in, she looked at me and gave me her sinister smile.

 I dug into my clutch, took out a few bills, then walked over to Lioness, tucked it into her jeweled thong, and whispered a thank you. Her smile was soft. She got the hint. Lani and I walked toward Lewis, held out our hands, and waited for him to take the bait. It wasn’t long before he did. Pulling him to us, Lewis’s body collided with ours.

 “Not interested in the dancer, baby?”

 Lewis smiled, took the blunt from my lips, and took a long pull from it then smiled.

 “How can I be when you two are right in front of me.”

“I think he wants a show of his own, Lani.”

 Her smile widened before she bit her bottom lip. “Then follow us, daddy. We’ll give you a show you’ll never forget.”

 Lewis’s smile slipped as he looked between the two of us. We’d sure gotten his undivided attention now. We turned then walked away to one of the rooms that were marked “private.”

 Once inside, the mirrored walls threw our reflections back. I walked to the mirror and fluffed my hair, and rubbed my lips together. My body was tingling, which was normal for when I drank and smoked. It was a pleasant tingle, one that had me feeling loose.

 “Oh Nixy,” Lani sing-songed making me turn to see her at the music player.

 The song that she’d chosen was a personal favorite. She walked to me while circling her hips. Once to me, she walked around me once, then went around to my back and placed her hand on my hip. Following her rhythm, I circled my hips with her and handed her the rum bottle. As she drank, I bent forward just a little, poking my ass out and onto her. Lani quickly slapped my ass, making me laugh. Soon we were both giggle loudly until Lewis’s figure in the center of the room caught our eye.

 “Forgot about me?”

 “Never, daddy,” Lani said as she walked to him, making me follow.

 Once in front of him, Lani rolled her hips, turning her back to him to bend forward. Lewis groaned then slapped her ass, making her moan. When he looked at me, I walked to his back then bent over his shoulder, making my breast press against him. Looking at him, I saw the desire in his eyes. I smiled and took the blunt from him, then went beside Lani. As I puffed, she went behind me to trail her hands down the center of my body until she turned me to her. The look on her face was easy to read.

 We both looked at Lewis before our lips met in a slow and teasing kiss. This wasn’t the first time we’d kissed. It wasn’t a big deal for either of us. When we pulled apart, we both looked back to Lewis and blew out the smoke we’d transferred and split. He didn’t look like he was breathing, but the bulge in his pants said he was alive.

 “Like what you see, daddy?”

 “Come here, princess.”

 Lani walked to Lewis. Once she was before him, he pulled her down by the back of her neck and kissed her intensely, making a slow heat roll through your belly and across your limbs. Before the kiss got too hot, he pulled away, looked at me, and smiled.

 “You too, sunshine.”

 I slowly walked toward him and stood beside Lani again. He didn’t touch me, though. His eyes slowly roamed my body, drinking in every curve. Lani sat on one of Lewis’s spread thighs.

 “Dance for us, Nix.”

 Not needing to be told twice, I turned my back to them and swayed to the music and slowly wined my hips, bringing myself to the floor to slowly stand up while bending, giving them a good view of my ass.

 “Goddamn, girl,” Lewis groaned out before he moaned.  

 Looking back at them, I winked then faced them to continue my seductive dance. Lani stood and joined me, poking out her ass onto me. I brought my hand down to return the slap she’d given me earlier. The action had her moaning. Slowly I brought my hands up her body, all the while never taking my eyes off of Lewis. He smiled and blew out the smoke making the room even hazier. With every breath I took, my high was only increasing, and my inhibitions decreasing. Bringing my lips to Lani’s ears, I whispered.

 “Let’s do it.”

 By the time we made it back to the penthouse, we were all higher than before and laughing up a storm. Once inside, Lani was the one to shout for the pool before she took off. Lewis was right behind her, leaving me to walk behind them. When I got outside, they’d already gotten into the pool, and Lani was in Lewis’s arms. The two were heavily making out. Their moans echoed off the water, leaving me to stand and watch for a few moments.

 When their eyes turned to me, Lani slipped from his arms to disappear under the water. His eyes drank you in, and the way he looked at me made boy heart race, my belly knot, and my sex quiver.

“The water’s great. Come in,” Lewis beckoned as he approached the edge of the pool.

I stood at the edge, watching him swim to me. Before he got there, he stopped, and I could see Lani under the water claiming his cock as her mouth’s possession. She sure wasted no time, I thought. Lewis moaned then rolled his neck. With his head dropped back, I was able to take in the way his shoulders stretched out and how his arms were the perfect combination of power and beauty. The glow of the blue light that was in and around the pool only accentuated his sexiness. When Lewis looked at me, I was about ready to see what the fuck Lani’s screams were all about and if he deserved such praise.

 I unzipped the side of the dress and allowed it to fall from my body to reveal the neon green of my lacy thong.

 “Jesus, you’re gonna kill me, sunshine.”

 I sat at the edge and dangled my legs in the water, and watched the wavy image of Lani, giving him head.

 “She sure can hold her breath long.”

 Lewis smiled and bucked his hips forward. Lani came up a few seconds later.

 “Lew, not fair. You could have killed me,” Lani whined to a smiling Lewis.

 “Look.”

 Lani looked back at me and smiled. Lewis leaned to her ear and spoke. “Told you, daddy would make you get what you wanted.”

 Lani smiled wider and swam to me. When she got close, she flung water at me, leaving it to train down my body. Lani hopped up onto the stone beside me and sat down as well. She was completely naked.

 “I remember these,” Lani began snapping the waistband of my thong.

 “You should. It was barely two weeks ago we got them,” I replied.

 “They still look cute on you, especially against your skin. Uugh, so fucking gorgeous, right daddy.”

 Our eyes went back to Lewis, who still hadn’t moved. His eyes were looking between us as if he didn’t know what to say or do. He slowly approached us, then stopped. His eyes roamed my naked upper half until they dripped to the garment in question. When I saw him bite his bottom lip, he nodded.

 “So fucking gorgeous.”

 I couldn’t help but smile. He had a way with words.

 “Can I?”

 He looked as if he were holding his breath, waiting for my answer. When I nodded, he closed the gap between us. Trailing his finger from my shin up over my knee and along my thigh, they reached the waistband of my underwear, and he snapped them purposefully. Lewis kissed my knee then moved over to Lani. He hoisted her legs out of the water, pressed them back, and got up close and personally with her pussy.

 His eyes locked with mine before he licked along her sex, making her moan. He did it again and again, then sucked Lani’s clit into his mouth. Her gasp was loud. He sucked her like there was no tomorrow, and with every move he made, Lani whimpered before her hand dropped to the top of his head.

 “Right there, daddy.”

 As he lapped at her core, he kept his eyes on me. The longer he gave her pleasure, the wetter I became, and the wetter I became, the more I wanted him to touch me. After several long minutes, he still hadn’t, and my frustration was beginning to show. Cupping my breast, I tweaked my nipple at the same time Lani’s whines increased.

 “Fuck, you’re gonna make me come, daddy. Right there!”

 Lewis’s eyes were dark, and when he pulled back from Lani, his lips were wet. Lani whined.

 “Lewwww!”

 He dropped a slap to her clit, silencing her completely while having her drop her head back.

 “Oh, fuck.”

 Lewis smiled and came back over to me while cleaning his lips.

 “Do you remember what I told you this afternoon?”

 Thinking back, I remembered. When he saw that I had, he smiled again.

 “All you have to do is say the words,” Lewis repeated.

 The way he looked at me only solidified my decision and fueled my desire.

 “I want you,” I said. His smile widened, but he didn’t move.

 “While I love the way that sounds. Those aren’t the words.”

 “Lew, you know she wants you just--.”

 Again Lewis slapped Lani’s clit, and her body jerked, and a hand instinctively dropped between her legs. Lewis shot her a warning look, and in seconds she’s put her hands back on the stone surface. Lewis looked back at me and released a breath.

 “I want you to fuck me.”

 Lewis smiled, showing his perfect teeth. He approached, sliding his hands over my thighs to the waistband of the thong to pull it off of me. When he did, he tossed it behind him, not caring where it landed.

 “Show me that pretty pussy, sunshine.”

 You spread your legs but not entirely. Lewis tsked.

 “I know you can do better than that.”

 I fully spread them and watched him gawk at me like he hadn’t seen it before. When he brought his lips to my skin, he kissed my inner thighs, prolonging my desperate need for contact.

 “You’re so wet, babygirl. Is this for me?”

 I bit my bottom lip and nodded. “All for you,” I whispered.

 “Mmm, I’ve been thinking about this pussy all day.”

 Once the words were out, Lewis buried his face between my thighs. Once I felt his lips, I dropped my head back to the stone and allowed the pleasure he gave me without much effort to fill me. Moaning loudly, my body quivered. Cupping my breast, I tweaked my nipple again, edging my arousal higher.

 “Fuck I was right. You do taste incredible.”

 Lewis quickly flicked his tongue against my clit, making me whimper louder. It felt as if his tongue moved at lightning pace, and with every flick, he somehow made my body even hotter. I felt like I was on fire, but I didn’t hate it. I loved it. Dropping my hand to his head, I held on because I felt the stirs of an unexpected orgasm. Lewis moaned against my skin, making me tumble off the into ecstasy.

 “Fuuuuck!”

 My scream was not alone. Looking to my right, I saw Lewis plunging his fingers in and out of Lani’s core as his mouth still worked magic on you. Lani panted, writhed, and screeched.

 “Yes, daddy. I’m gonna come. Yes!”

 Lewis didn’t slow his fingers or his tongue. Instead, he continued and sucked the soul out of your body while having Lani cream all over his fingers.

 When he pulled back, we laid there panting, trying to catch our breath. Once I did, I looked down, expecting to see Lewis, but only saw an empty pool. Looking to my right, I watched as he approached in all his glory, finally getting my answer I’d been wondering about. He was hunger better than Seabiscuit.

 “Holy Fuck, Lani.”

 “I’ve been trying to tell you.”

 “No need to tell her anything. Seeing is believing. Your knees,” Lewis instructed.

 Lani seemed to know the drill, but I did not. I watched Lani get on her knees then I looked back at Lewis. He just watched me and waited for me to obey. I mirrored Lani and feasted my eyes on his manhood. It looked heavy, long, and thick. Lord have mercy, I thought.

 “I know you want this princess. Do you, babygirl?”

 Deciding not to answer, I wrapped my hand around his shaft, drawing a strangled groan from Lewis. It was as heavy as it looked. I ran my hand up and down, familiarizing myself with him, then I tipped my tongue out to swirl around his swollen head.

 “Aaah, yes, babygirl,” Lewis whispered before he whimpered.

 I moaned on him then dipped my mouth down his length taking him as far as I dared. Lodging him in my throat, I tightened it and hummed. Lewis groaned deeply, then laced his hands behind my head, keeping him snugly where he wanted to be. When his groan turned to a whimper, he released me, making me pull back to catch my breath.

 Lani rose onto her knees and took over, mirroring her same movements from the night I’d seen her. Instead of sitting there and letting her have all the fun, I dipped under her mouth to capture one of his balls in my mouth to suck on it gently. Lewis sighed out long and loud and placed a hand on the back of both Lani’s and my head.

 “Mmm, that’s it. Suck this dick, Lani.”

 She moaned her acceptance.

 “Mmm, yes, Nix. Just like that.”

 Lani pulled back, and we switched positions. For the next few minutes, Lani and I alternated between her at his balls and me on his dick and vise versa. When Lewis pulled away and stepped back, he helped us up and led us upstairs to the bedroom. Once inside, Lewis pulled me into his body to kiss my lips. His moved expertly over mine, sucking, nibbling, and teasing as he pleased. When he wrapped his tongue around mine, I moaned, clinging to him.

As I was getting used to kiss—our first, Lewis abruptly pushed me onto the bed. While he kissed Lani with the same fire he’d kissed me. When he came over to kneel on the bed, I watched him stroke himself. The way he did it had my mouth watering. I knew what was next, and I wanted it so badly my sex quivered.

 “You ready for this dick, Nix?”

 I nodded.

 “I can’t hear you. Tell daddy how bad you want this dick.”

 Nah!

 I dropped my hands between my legs, bringing his attention to it, and circled my clit. That was when I spread my lips so he could see just what he was doing to me. Lewis groaned but didn’t tear his eyes away.

 “Are you ready for this pussy, Lewis?”

 Lani giggled behind me from her spot on the bed by my head. Her laughter only emboldened me.

 “Hmm? I can’t hear you.” I dipped a finger inside my heat and raised it to my lips to suck it clean.

 “Mmm, this pussy is so good. Do you want it?”

 Lewis smiled then hovered over me to take one of my nipples into his mouth to swirl his tongue around the peak before nibbling down. I whimpered again then squirmed when I felt him swipe his cock across my slit.

 “Lani was right about you,” Lewis whispered.

 “I told you, daddy. I hope you can handle two of a kind,” Lani teased.

 Lewis leaned over my head and kissed Lani fervently. The view from underneath was a sensual one, and as I was getting lost in it, Lewis thrust forward, connecting our bodies in one swift move.

 “Fuck!”

 Lewis and I shouted the same thing at the same time. With him buried to the hilt, he didn’t move. He waited, allowing me to adjust to the size and girth of him. The stretch was the most sinfully delicious thing I’d ever felt. Unable to take the maddening pressure, I began pushing Lewis back at his hips, but he didn’t budge.

 “Oh no babygirl, don’t push me away. Take this dick. You wanted it, right?”

 With that, he retreated only to thrust forward again, nudging that special spot within me.

 “I can’t hear you? You gonna tap out?”

 Another retreat and thrust forward sent my breasts swinging and my head angling back.

 “We’ve just begun. You hadn’t even screamed my name yet.”

 Another retreat and thrust forward had me clenching around him and panting to catch my breath.

 “Fuck, Nix. You’re so fucking tight. It’s taking everything not to come.”

 Three thrusts followed, and before Lewis slowly rolled his hips, making me moan deeply.

 I could tell he wasn’t going to go slow anymore, and a few moments later, it was like a beast was released. His thrusts sped, his moans increased as did mine.

 “Mmm, Sit that pussy on her face, princess. Give her a taste of what’s mine.”

 Lani looked at me, seeking permission. Giving her a slight nod, she moved to angle herself over my mouth. This is a first, I thought to myself as I tipped my tongue out to lick across her flesh. Lani moaned softly, making me do the action again and again. After teasing her flesh, for a few moments, I sucked Lani’s clit into my mouth. It was an interesting experience, to say the least, but it wasn’t one I was against.

 Lani jerked forward before she cursed.

 “I got you, princess. Does it feel good?”

 “Mmm, yes, daddy, it feels good.”

 “Is she licking that pussy, right?”

 Lani exclaimed again as I pulled her lower onto my mouth so I could have more access. Mimicking the same thing Lewis did to me, I flicked my tongue against her in a pattern of flicks and swirls, each pattern changing, never the same. Lani whimpered and hissed.

 “Fuck, Nix. That feels so good.”

 Lewis’s thrusts sped, and my whimpers picked up, breaking my concentration from what I was doing.

 “Shit, you’re close huh, babygirl,” Lewis said through clenched teeth.

 Before I knew it, a violent orgasm was ripping through me, making me see stars, rainbows, heaven, and hell. That was when Lani began bucking against my mouth, using my lips as her personal toys.

 “Shit, I’m coming too,” Lani screeched out.

 Lewis pulled from me, then rolled me to the side, pulling Lani to him to plunge into her depths.

 “Fuck, Lew!”

 He groaned loudly and set a fast pace. He had no intention of going slow.

 “Your turn, babygirl.”

 I knew what he was instructing. Crawling to Lani, she nodded at me, allowing me to swing my leg over her face while still kneeling with my ass facing Lewis.

 “Clean her up for me, princess.”

 Lani sucked my sex into her mouth and lapped at mine and Lewis’s combined juices, instantly making me moan and whimper. As Lani moaned her pleasure, I dropped my head to the bed and focused on the orgasm that was bubbling within me. Lewis’s hand dropped to my ass, making me whimper again.

 “Goddamn, this ass is something else!”

 He slapped it again, this time a lot harder than I felt his lips against the most taboo part of me, which made me fling my head back. Not only was Lani underneath me making it damn hard for me to go back to strictly dick, but Lewis was behind me, showing me the pleasure I’d been missing out on.

 That was the last straw for me before I came undone. Dropping to the bed on my stomach, I tried to catch my breath from the sheer force of my orgasm. Lewis kissed my ass, then rolled to the side to lay on his back. The three of us panted in the elegance of the room. I don’t know how many minutes passed before any of us moved, but when I moved, I saw the sun rising through the window and groaned.

 “Oh god, the sun, make it stop,” I whined.

 “Two of a kind indeed, Lewis said on a scoff before he clapped his hands, bringing the blinds to a close, darkening the room.

 We all slithered to the covers slipping underneath them. Lewis laid in the middle while Lani and I climbed on either side of him. When I rested my head on the pillow, I sighed, and Lewis kissed my cheek.

 “Thank you for putting us out of our misery,” he whispered into my ear, making me smirk before I rolled my eyes to focus on sleep. I was exhausted.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

TagList:

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Chapter Four, the final chapter will be on @munteanhorewrites page.

[devendrasbeard]

So Good At Being In Trouble

Prompt: Touching under a table in public Relationships: Geralt/Regis Rating: M Content Warnings: PDA, just Regis being horny for his silver fox husband Summary: Long-term husbands Geralt and Regis are so in love, they can't keep their hands off of each other, even at an important meeting.

Also on ao3!

Whenever Geralt and Regis were discussing business, they went to their favourite little coffee shop, located just at the outskirts of the city. They valued their privacy so much they didn't want to invite any insurance agents or tax advisors into their home.

So they sat on the little comfortable couch in the secluded nook of the coffee shop, going through brochures and printed out Excel sheets with their financial advisor.

"As you can see, the new mortgage plan will save you up to 3k annually," the woman pointed with her pen to the summary printed on one of the papers.

"Hmm, okay," Geralt looked through the papers once again while scratching his silver beard. Regis snuck one hand under the table and squeezed his knee with affection. Geralt grabbed his hand and put it away to the empty space between their legs on the couch. He didn't even lift his head, gaze focused on the spreadsheet.

"So, if you'd like, but I would strongly recommend this, you could invest those savings. You can put them into your retirement or invest in a better life insurance plan," the woman continued.

"Okay, what would be the best option in your opinion?" Geralt asked. Regis smiled fondly at how concentrated Geralt looked, reaching under the table once again to pat his leg.

He squeezed Geralt's thigh a bit harder than before, causing him to give Regis a quick scandalised look. Regis smiled at him lightly and slid his hand a bit further up, at the same time focusing his gaze on the spreadsheets in front of him.

Geralt cleared his throat, his muscles tensing under Regis' touch. He shot him another half-angry and half-amused look, before turning back to their financial advisor. "Since we're not that young anymore, I think investing the extra money in our retirement plan would be best?"

"I think so too, I'm hoping to spend my pension years comfortably and financially well-kept," Regis added, his hand still caressing Geralt's thigh under the table. "And what are our options if we'd want to invest the money in our kids' funds?"

The woman handed him two other brochures, opening them on the topics Regis had asked about. Before he leaned in to take a closer look at the documents, Regis shot a quick glance at Geralt. His muscles tensed up visibly and he was worrying his lower lip between his teeth. Regis smiled cunningly and moved his hand another bit up Geralt's thigh.

"Regis, I beg of you," Geralt leaned in to whisper into his ear. "We're in public."

"And I love you in public just as much as in private." Regis whispered back, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.

The woman, sitting across the table from them, cleared her throat before pointing to the brochures again, trying to avoid Regis' amused gaze. Geralt felt the hotness of embarrassment creep up his neck, but at the same time he felt slightly aroused under his husband's warm touch. He huffed quietly, giving the advisor an apologizing look.

"Our kids are already both in college, so I think maybe we could save a little sum for each of them, so they could have a better start into adult life?" Geralt was thinking aloud, looking directly at their advisor, doing his best to ignore Regis' hand, still wandering up his thigh under the table.

When the sneaky hand of his husband found its way to Geralt's crotch, he inhaled sharply, causing the woman to eye him carefully from the other end of their table. "I know the costs might be a little high, but it's because you're starting the fund already at an older age..." she started explaining the details of the new insurance plan to Geralt once again.

Geralt grabbed Regis' hand under the table and squeezed it, harder than necessary, placing it back in his husband's lap. "I think the new costs will be easy for us to manage," he smiled at the woman. "Can you get all the necessary documents ready?"

As the advisor noted everything in her notebook, Geralt leaned in to Regis once again. He put his fingers on his nape and pressed a little, just the way he knew Regis liked most. "Can you last ten more minutes without tormenting me?" he whispered through gritted teeth.

"Judging by your pants being suddenly too tight for your own good, I don't know if you can last those ten minutes," Regis laughed, his fingers digging into the flesh of Geralt's leg once again.

Geralt let out a heavy breath, throwing his head back with a barely audible mewl. Then his hand wandered under the table too and he caressed up Regis' thigh only to find that his husband was equally aroused by his cunning game.

The woman stood up from the table, stretching her hand out to them to say her goodbyes, eyeing them both with a suspicious look. She looked as if she wanted to roll her eyes at them. "We'll be in touch, I'll call you as soon as the paperwork's ready." They both shook her hand, snickering like teenagers the very moment she left them alone.

As soon as they left the café, Geralt's hand was already on Regis' butt, giving him a long overdue squeeze. "You're impossible," he whispered in his ear, having pushed him to lean his back on the side of their car. "You're fifty-five and yet you act like a horny teenager!" Though his face was serious, there was no sign of annoyance in Geralt's voice.

Regis laughed against his husband's mouth, kissing him deeply. "You act so surprised, as if we haven't been doing this for the past thirty years," he smiled, his hands already palming at Geralt through his pants. "Now, do we go home, or do you want to jump into the back seat with me?"

Geralt took in the sight of his husband, his slicked back silver hair, his flushed cheeks and his wrinkles-adorned fiery eyes. "Back seat it is," he decided. "I can't possibly drive us home with your hands all over me."

-----

@witcher-rarepair-summer-bingo

[3pirouette]

Fic: Nobody's Baby: Menace (1/1)

Title: Menace

By: TriplePirouette/3Pirouette

Disclaimer: They're not mine.

Menace at AO3

Nobody's Baby Series at AO3

Story Summary: Steve wasn’t sure he was going to make it.

Six weeks.

There were six weeks left, give or take, and then…

Well, he supposed that things would change, but the truth was, he wasn’t sure and neither was Howard.

A/N: Set in April of 1954, right before the Epilogue of Nobody’s Baby. For Steggy Week Day 6: Our Favorite Family. I’m also using this to cross “Domestic Fluff” off my Steggy Bingo Board because I don’t think it gets much more domestic OR fluffy.

I… have no idea what kids learned in school in 1954. Just… made my best guess.

~*~

Steve wasn’t sure he was going to make it.

Six weeks.

There were six weeks left, give or take, and then…

Well, he supposed that things would change, but the truth was, he wasn’t sure and neither was Howard.

Mandy was enough of a tornado; at eight she had the energy of three grown men and the ability to sit still for about five minutes if something didn’t capture her attention. But adding Peggy into the mix…

He scratched his head, looking at the dent in the refrigerator. He was strong enough to reshape the metal, but he wasn’t exactly sure how to get to it without disassembling the whole thing. He bit his thumb and turned back to his wife who was watching him from the door, hands on her stomach.

“How, exactly,” he started, curious but still gentle, “did you manage this one?”

Peggy looked contrite, her lip between her teeth and eyes sad as she stroked her pregnant belly. “I leaned on it too fast.”

Her earnestness hit him in the gut and he could do nothing but laugh.

She gently pressed off the wall, frustrated. “It’s not funny, Steve!”

“Awww,” he tried to suppress his laughter, but it still trickled out as a chuckle as he pulled her tight into his embrace. “I’m not laughing at you. It’s just…” When she sniffled he knew he’d gone too far. Steve leaned back, taking her chin gently in his hand. “I’m just getting really good at home repairs, is all.”

Peggy shook her head fiercely, eyes welling. She was still subject to horrible mood swings, even this late into the pregnancy. “I’m a menace.”

“You’re my menace,” Steve replied quickly, kissing her forehead and cradling her tight in his arms. “Besides, the refrigerator needed a little… style.”

He wasn’t sure if the sound Peggy made was a laugh or a sob, but her held her just a little tighter, anyway. They hadn’t been sure, after so long of trying and nothing happening, that they’d be able to have children of their own. Being pregnant was a big enough surprise after years of thinking it wouldn’t happen, but the enhancements she was displaying since, well, those were a little harder to deal with.

Howard had tried to figure out exactly what was happening, but could only give them his best guesses since he and Erskine hadn’t ever gotten this far in their planning or research. He assumed it was something about Peggy and the baby sharing blood supply and genetic material, but as to how long it would last once the baby was born or if it was a permanent change to Peggy’s system, he didn’t know. Anytime they asked him a question he didn’t know the answer to, Howard would wave his hands in the air and say it was the “miracle of pregnancy.”

Neither Steve nor Peggy were very partial to that answer.

The hearing and sense of smell were both helpful and annoying to her, the quick healing was quite useful, but the strength had knocked her for a loop and almost seven months later she was still having little… mishaps.

“I know I say this all the time,” Peggy mumbled into his neck, “but how did you manage?”

“It was a war,” Steve whispered, not caring how many times he’d have to talk about it. “People didn’t care if there was some collateral damage until I figured it all out.” He swayed them side to side gently, rubbing his hand over her back. “Though, they were a little sore on the USO tour if I managed to break something.”

Peggy shook her head against him. “The kitchen table, two chairs, three… three doors off the hinges, the shower head, two holes in walls, the typewriter, the bathroom sink, and the refrigerator. Any other casualties I’m missing?”

Steve winced, but said it anyway. “The dollhouse.”

She deflated in his arms. “Yes, and the dollhouse.” She turned sideways, letting her belly rest against his so she could lean into him. “What if this never goes away?”

Steve let his hand flatten over the curve of her stomach, stroking gently through the fabric of her dress. “Then we will have the most well protected kids in the world.”

“Right,” she muttered, “As I stumble around and put holes in the walls.”

Steve continued gentle strokes up and down over the curve of her stomach. “No, by then you’ll have regained your balance and with the little guy—”

“Or girl,” Peggy mumbled.

“Or girl,” Steve amended quickly, “on the outside we can get you training- get you used to it.” He rubbed his cheek against her hair. “No matter what happens, in a few weeks we’re going to have a new focus, but I’m not going to let you struggle, ok?” He gave her a gentle squeeze. “I’m right here with you.”

Peggy hummed, unconvinced as she did a little two step to turn them to face the refrigerator. “Perhaps.” She sighed, her tears abated for the moment and her mind set on more practical things, “But what are we going to do about right now?”

“Well—”

Steve’s long, drawn out syllable was interrupted by the slamming of the back door and Mandy tearing into the kitchen, her bag falling off her shoulder and braids in shambles. “Hi Mom, Dad!” She hugged them tight, her bag falling to the floor.

Steve’s arm wrapped around the girl as Peggy held tight to him, Mandy’s energy nearly knocking her over. She let her hand settle on the back of the girl’s head after she finally regained her footing with more than a little help from Steve’s sure grip. “Well, aren’t you full of energy today!” Peggy laughed out, her fingers running over the hairs sticking out of the braids.

“School was so boring today,” Mandy mumbled, looking up at them. She turned her head and pressed a kiss to Peggy’s stomach, whispering something unintelligible to the baby before pulling away from her parents.

Steve could see Peggy tearing up again as she rubbed the spot Mandy had kissed. He gave her a little squeeze and turned back to Mandy, who was gleefully chattering on, unaware she’d done something precious. “Math was a review and I got all the answers right from last night’s homework, so I just had to listen. Then we had time to read our chapter books, and we had to write a summary, which is boring because I already read it, so why do I have to talk about what I just read?”

Steve smiled as Mandy sat herself on the floor, digging through her bag. “So that you can show you understand it. That’s an important skill.”

Mandy looked up at him and after a moment of contemplation, shrugged. “Ok,” she muttered, turned back to her bag. “We had art today, too, and that was pretty fun. We used different kinds of macaroni to make a map yesterday, and then after lunch today we painted it.” Mandy was almost halfway in her backpack now, looking for the errant art project. She pulled it out with a flourish and smiled. “Miss Williams said mine was the most colorful, and Jeremy got in trouble.”

“Jeremy got in trouble?” Peggy asked, smiling as Mandy stood and tried to show them both the sheet of paper filled with an explosion of various shaped pastas in bright colors.

“He said they should have kept the pasta for lunch because lunch was bad, so he got sent to the principal’s office for talking back.” Mandy shrugged and handed the picture to Steve. “He’s not wrong. The turkey sandwiches were dry.” She scrunched up her face and shook her head like she was trying erase the memory of the food.

“Be that as it may, this is quite lovely dear!” Peggy smiled and looked at the paper. “What is it the map of?”

“Well, we were supposed to make a map about a place we know, but I thought that would be boring.” Mandy sat back down on the floor and started to put all the papers and pencils from her bag back in. “So, I made a treasure map instead.” She stood back up and hefted the bag over her shoulder. “I only have a little homework tonight so I’ll be done pretty fast. Just some science homework. What’s for dinner?”

Peggy stepped away from Steve, setting a hand on Mandy’s shoulder. “Well, that’s good that you don’t have much, because Aunt Ana has invited us over for dinner tonight.” She smiled and moved to head her towards her room. “We need to get you a little more presentable, and you can work on your science while we’re talking about boring adult things after dinner.”

Mandy squealed in delight, bouncing. “Do you think Aunt Ana’s cooking or is it Uncle Jarvis? Maybe she’ll have the little rolls I like. Oh! Will Bernard be there?”

Steve shook his head, chucking under his breath as he moved towards the refrigerator, a glint in his eyes.

Peggy laughed and flicked a half-unraveled braid over Mandy’s shoulder. “Absolutely not. Bernard lives in California, darling.” She turned her daughter towards the door. “I’ll let you pick your dress but you must sit still for me to fix your hair, understood?”

Mandy could barely hide her excitement for the night out. “Yes, Mom.”

“Hey, what do you think? Temporary fix?” Steve caught both of their attention, pointing to the refrigerator where he’d hung Mandy’s art up with a magnet over the dent with a proud smile on his face.

Peggy rolled her eyes good-naturedly at him, rubbing a hand over her belly “I suppose it shall do for now.” She sighed happily, felling just a little overly domestic at the sight of Steve standing by their daughter’s artwork, proud of both her and himself. “Alright, you two, we need to get a move on. Edwin’s expecting us.”

“Yes,” Steve agreed, starting to move then stopping, turning his head to the side as he contemplated the macaroni art. “Mandy?”

She and Peggy stopped half out of the kitchen. “Yeah, Dad?”

“Is this…” he paused, a concern growing in his head, “is this our yard?”

She nodded proudly. “Uh huh.”

“Oh!” Peggy smiled, smoothing down her daughter’s hair, oblivious to Steve’s discovery. “I can see the shed and the little garden patch in the back. Very good job.”

“And…” he paused again, this time his hesitancy caught Peggy’s attention and her smile dropped just a bit. “And where’s the treasure?” Steve asked, cautiously. “I don’t see an ‘x’ to mark the spot.”

Mandy chuckled, her face alive with what they’d come to know as her mischievous smile. “You’re going to have to find it.” She turned, moving out of the kitchen and bounding up the stairs. “Especially if you want it back!”

Steve and Peggy stared at one another for a long moment, the sound of Mandy bouncing around in her room a far second to the panic they both felt.

“What did she bury?” Peggy asked, her voice quiet and as deathly serious as if she were in the field.

“What are we missing?” Steve asked, just as serious, eyes flying all over the room. He and Peggy passed one another as Steve kept looking for little holes where trinkets or heirlooms might have caught Mandy’s eye while Peggy scoured the colorful macaroni for anything that might be a clue. Steve stopped and turned slowly, another thought dawning on him. “Honey?”

“Hum?” She asked, eyes still scouring the page.

He tried to keep his voice as calm as he could, but he knew that if he was right, this was unlikely to go well. “Where’s your ring?”

“I couldn’t find it this morning; I must have missed my jewelry dish last night and I couldn’t quite get on the floor to check under…” She stopped, her mind finally clicking over. She stood slowly, looking at him. “No.”

He grimaced. “I mean…”

Peggy’s jaw tightened and her eyes grew serious. “You need to take this one back,” she gestured at her belly. “I can’t handle two.”

Steve smirked and took her hand, gently pulling her towards the stairs. “A little late for that, I think.”

Peggy reluctantly let him pull her along. “No. Absolutely not. I can’t handle another little carbon copy of us scooting about, being sneaky and subverting our every effort to parent them.”

He stopped them at the bottom of the stairs, smiling softly. “It’ll be fine.” He kissed her softly then started up the stairs. “Let’s just take it one refrigerator and wedding ring at a time, huh?”

Peggy grumbled and started up behind him, significantly slower. “That little devil is lucky I love her, Shield has some beautiful new detention cells I’ve been dying to try out.”

Steve paused at the top. “She’s scrappy, like her mom.” He kissed Peggy’s forehead and helped her up the last few stairs.

“And as stubborn and sneaky as her father when she gets an idea in her head.” Peggy took a slow breath and stood near the doorway. “It’s your turn.”

Steve rubbed his face, suddenly not liking where this was going. “Then why’d you come up?”

“Because while you’re digging out in the yard for my ring, I’m going to have to get that whirlwind of a child ready and as you just saw, I do need a hand nowadays if I’m to get up here in one go.” Peggy shook her head and gave him a push towards the door. She smiled, a glint and a challenge in her eye. “You’re up, Daddy.”

He took a deep breath, and with a voice and facial expression Peggy knew well from the days of the red, white, and blue suit, entered enemy territory. “Amanda Grace? Where did you bury your mother’s ring?”

Her voice was so proud when she replied, Peggy nearly doubled over with laughter. “I told you, you’re going to have to find it. That’s what the map is for!”

Peggy wasn’t sure she was going to make it.

Six weeks.

There were six weeks left, give or take, and then…

Well, she supposed that things would change, but the truth was, super strength and buried rings and all, she wouldn’t give it up for the world.

[avengerscompound]

Catch and Release - 7

Catch and Release: A Captain America Fanfic

Masterlist PREVIOUS //

Buy me a ☕ Character Pairing:  Bucky Barnes x Steve Rogers x F!Reader

Word Count:  2414

Rating:  E

Square filled:  @star-spangled-bingo​ - "It just slipped out."

Warnings:  Smut (Bisexual MMF, vaginal fingering, oral sex, double vaginal penetration) 

Synopsis: When you overexert yourself on a mission with Steve and Bucky, the boys admit to having fantasies that involve you.  Fantasies that you share.  But with one Super Soldier needs intimacy and the other is still dealing with being touch starved, exploring those desires without anyone catching feelings is a little tricky.

Landing the Catch

It was a little over a week before either Steve or Bucky brought up sex again.  You had started to think that that was that.  Which would have been fine, of course.  The whole thing had gone on far longer than the usual trying out a threesome thing would normally have gone on for.  Not that it wasn’t fun either.  Bucky and Steve were good and as you still had no actual romantic prospects, filling your dry spell with your extremely hot friends was perfect.

You had spent a little time just hanging out with them, both alone and in the group, just to make sure the wires in your own head didn’t get crossed regarding who they were to you.  Pining over two men you couldn’t have was not how you wanted this to end.

It was the day you’d rejoined the group for regular training that they brought it back up with you.  Everyone had finished and headed out and you’d sat down against the wall downing the last of your water as you massaged your aching thighs.

Steve approached you and crouched down in front of you.  “You okay?  Didn’t push yourself too hard?”  He asked.

“Maybe a little.  I’m okay though.  Just a little sore.”  You said.

He began to massage your thighs and you closed your eyes and just enjoyed the feeling of his large hands working out the tension in your legs.  You let out a soft moan.  It was completely unintentional, but the way he was kneading your aching flesh felt so very good and it just slipped out.

Steve chuckled softly.  “I gotta say… I love those sounds you make.”

He spoke just over a whisper.  His voice a soft, gravelly rumble.  It reverberated right through you and made you shiver slightly.  “Well, what can I say, Steve?  You’re really good at getting me to make them.”

He smiled a little and looked back over his shoulder before turning his attention back to you.  “Do you want to come by tonight? See if I can’t draw some more out of you?”

“Steve…”  You said, seriously.  As much as you liked the offer, there was something about the fact this was at work and 10 minutes ago he had been in full Cap mode and Bucky wasn’t here.  It felt wrong.  Like he was crossing a line that shouldn’t be crossed.

He took his hands away immediately and his whole stance changed.  “I’m sorry.  Sorry.  I thought… I thought…”

“No,” you said putting your hand on his.  “You thought right.  But this is work and … does Bucky even know you’re asking?”

“Oh,” Steve said, relaxing a little.  “Yeah.  He’s over there.”

You looked where he was pointing and say Bucky lurking in the shadows.  He raised his hand and smiled at you.

“Sorry I made you uncomfortable,” Steve said, genuinely.  “You know… I would never intentionally link what we’ve been doing with work.  You’re one of our closest friends.  There are no conditions on that or work.”

“Yeah.  I do know.  But… in the future, maybe ask me… completely separate.  Is that okay?”  You said.

He nodded.  “Of course.  Here, let me help you up.”

He offered you his hands and pulled you to your feet.  “I’ll be around at about 7.30.”  You said as you headed to the elevator.

Steve smiled and gave a short nod.  “Looking forward to it.”

When you went up to meet Steve and Bucky you had showered and dressed in a light dress with simple but pretty matching underwear.  There was a different feeling to everything this time.  The three of you ate sitting on the couch, and it was a lot more casual.  You’d experienced both the slightly formal dinner party and the more relaxed hang with them before without the sex.  No one was one thing all the time after all.  But the way it had relaxed spoke to you.  It was like previously they were overthinking everything.  Whereas now, they’d relaxed into the idea.

There was a lot more touching.  Steve and Bucky cuddled together.  They touched your leg, both just casual pats, but more intimate teasing too.  They played with your hands and played footsie with you.  When the meal was done, the touching became more.  They kissed each other and beckoned you in to join them.

You climbed over their laps and Steve curled his arm around you, letting you relax your weight against him.  He cradled your jaw as Bucky ran his hands up your legs.  “We’ve been thinking,” Steve whispered, as his lips ghosted over the shell of your ear.  “You really gave us something amazing.  Something I never thought I’d get to do.  I was okay with that of course.  I’ve never been the most sexual person, but Bucky really brought that out in me.  And then you… you were so patient with us.  If there’s anything you want to try…?”

You hummed and took a ragged breath and the cool steel of Bucky’s metal fingers crept up to the apex of your thigh.  “I wanted it too.”  You said.  “I talked you into it.”

Bucky chuckled and skimmed his fingers over your panties.  “That you did.”

“Still… we want to make sure you get everything you want too.”  Steve said.

“I’ll… I’ll think about it,” you gasped as Bucky’s fingers slipped under the elastic of your panties and between your folds.  “I’ve just been enjoying the ride.”

“I bet you have, you dirty girl,” Bucky teased as his fingers slid over your clit.  You moaned and lifted your hips.

“We had something, if you’re out of ideas,” Steve said.  “It might be asking a lot though.”

You leaned into Steve and kissed his neck as you slipped you hand down between the two of you and began to massage his dick.  “What is it?”

“Well,” he growled softly.  “Do you think you could take us both at the same time?”

Your breath caught and Bucky’s finger pushed inside of you and curled, stroking over your inner walls.  “I don’t know… we can try though.”

“Don't worry, darlin’,” Bucky cooed, adding a second finger to join the first.  “We’ll take it so slow you’ll be beggin’ for it.”

He pulled his hand away and Steve stood, lifting you bridal style and carrying you to their room.  He placed you on the bed and as you kicked your shoes off, he pulled your panties down.

Bucky crawled up the bed next to you and the two of you began to kiss.  It was one but graphic.  Your tongues circled together and dipped into the other’s mouth. He cradled you with one arm while his free hand teased and massages your breasts.

Steve kissed his way up the insides of your thighs and when he reached your cunt he placed a large, sloppy kiss over it, his tongue swirling around, and tasting all of you.

It wasn't long until he went from large and unfocused lapping all over, to sucking and nipping at your clit as he worked a single finger inside you.  You moaned into Bucky’s mouth and clenched around Steve’s finger.  One finger became two and Bucky sat up breaking the kiss and grabbing the lube from the bedside table.  As he squeezed it onto his fingers, Steve’s moved inside of you.  In the brief time you’d had a sexual relationship with Steve, he’d learned to play your body like an instrument.  He knew all the places to touch, and when and how hard.  His fingers pressed into your g-spot and he corkscrewed his wrist.  You bucked up hard and cried out as a jolt of pure pleasure shot right up your spine.

Steve sat up and watched you, as his fingers stroked over that sweet spot inside you against and again.  Your whole body shuddered and your legs trembled as an orgasm built inside you and pressed down, threatening to break.

One of Bucky’s fingers joined Steve’s two, adding to the stretch and creating a burn in your entrance.  He moved easily thanks to the way the lube mixed with your own fluids.  You dripped for them.   It ran down Steve’s wrist in rivulets as you tipped closer and closer to your climax.

“Fuck!  Fuck!  I’m gonna come.”  You babbled, your hands opening and closing in the sheets.

“Mmm?”  Steve hummed.  “Does this help?”

He twisted his wrist.  The way his fingers rubbed against Bucky’s stretched you wider, and his knuckles ground on your g-spot.  You bucked up wildly and your muscles clenched as a current tore through you and you came, gushing on their hands.

Your orgasm hadn’t even ended when Bucky added another finger.  Your cunt stretched and burned as it clenched and spasmed.  There was pain, but it blended with the pleasure, creating something new and good.

They kept pumping them in and out and curling them inside you and you came again, arching off the bed.  “Fuck!”  You cried as you fisted the sheets in your hands.

Steve pulled his hand free and grabbed the lube, squeezing it onto Bucky’s hand, adding to the mix.  Bucky pulled his hand out and folded his fingers on themselves before pushing four of his back into you.  It felt like even more than the two of them together.  Your cunt stretched around his knuckles making you moan and pant as your body adjusted to him.  Steve leaned down and kissed your neck slowly, sucking on your skin hard enough to mark you.  He began to rub your clit, his fingers flying back and forth over the swollen bundle of nerves.

You came again.  It tore through you and made you scream and shudder around Bucky’s fingers. As you came back down, Bucky pulled his fingers free and Steve brought his lips to your ear.  “What do you think, sweetheart?  I don’t think we’d be bigger than that.”

“Mm…” you hummed.  You were already feeling fuzzy, but you wanted nothing more than both their dicks inside you, stretching you and pounding into you as they chased their own release.  “Yeah, I want to do it.”

They both stood and Bucky took Steve’s hand and pulled him into a deep kiss.  As they kissed they shed themselves of their clothes, exposing their muscular forms and their hard, throbbing cocks.  You took the time to remove the rest of your clothes too.  

Bucky moved onto the bed beside you and the two of you began to kiss again.  Steve grabbed a condom and tore it open, watching the two of you, as Bucky grabbed your thigh and pulled it over his hip.  Steve rolled the condom down onto Bucky’s cock and then grabbed the lube.  He slicked Bucky’s cock, coating it liberally as he pumped his fist up and down Bucky’s shaft and teased the head of his cock up and down your aching cunt.

Bucky rolled onto his back, pulling you on top of him, so you were straddling your waist.  You rolled your hips, rocking back on forth on his cock as the two of you kissed hungrily.  Steve guided Bucky inside of you, slowly letting his cock fill and stretch you.  You both moaned and you pulled back breaking the kiss.  “You ready for us, darlin’?”  He growled as he rolled his hips up into you.

“Mm… I want it so bad.”  You groaned.

Steve grabbed a condom and sheathed himself, he positioned himself behind you as he slicked his cock and pressed the head of his cock up against your entrance.  He slowly sunk into you, letting your cunt adjust to the size of both of them.  You moaned and buried your face in Bucky’s neck.  Steve ran his hands down your back as Bucky held you close.  “That’s a girl.  Feels so fucking good, baby.  You like us both inside you?”  He whispered against your ear.

You moaned again and rolled your hips, wanted more from them, wanting everything.  Steve started to thrust as Bucky rutted up under you.  Everything felt good, but soft focus, like you were slightly high.

As Steve kept thrusting you felt your orgasm building, it swirled through your and pressed down in your core.  You squeezed your cunt around their cocks, making them groan loudly and their hands tighten on your back.

Steve pulled back and slipped from you, his cock slapped your ass as he thrust forward again and you squeaked in surprise.

“What the hell, Steve?”  Bucky groaned.

“Yeah, Steve.  I didn’t give you ass clearance.”  You said and Bucky burst out laughing, which made you start laughing too.

“It just slipped out,” Steve said, as he lined himself up and slid back in again.

You and Bucky completely broke down into laughter and Steve spanked your ass playful and then pinched Bucky’s hip.  “Focus.  I know you were both close then.”

“Oooh.  Steve’s bossy.”  You said.

“You didn’t already know that?”  Bucky said.

You started laughing again, but Steve began to thrust.  He went hard and fast and leaned forward wrapping his arm around you, slipping it between you and Bucky and rubbing your clit fast.  “Fuck!”  You gasped as your body clenched and shuddered in response.  Lightning ran through your veins, making your skin prickle and sweat bead on your skin.  “Oh god.  Fuck… there.  Right there.  Gonna…”

“Right there with you.”  Bucky groaned as he tried to match Steve’s pace.

Your body seized up and you cried out as you came, clenching around their cocks.  Bucky had not been kidding.  As your orgasm crashed through you, he jerked up and spilled inside you.

“Oh god.’  Steve groaned.  “Feel good.  Can feel you, Buck.”

“Yeah, Stevie.  Love it.”  Bucky groaned.  “Come with me.”

Steve jerked forward, slamming into your full and aching cunt and came.

“Holy shit.”  Bucky groaned as you both rolled off him and lay panting beside him.  Steve leaned over and kissed him lovingly, humming gently.

“You can say that again.”  You sighed.

Steve broke the kiss with Bucky and looked at you smiling a soft, contented smile.  He reached over and ran his fingers over your stomach.  “You okay?  Wasn’t too much?”

You nodded.  “Yeah, Steve.  You have a very satisfied customer.”

Steve chuckled and relaxed into the bed.  You considered getting up and dressing.  You didn’t want to repeat the last lot of awkwardness, but first, you’d just enjoy the high.  And if they wanted a second round… well, that might not be too bad either.

// NEXT

[pandapupremade]

Danger (Part 1)

WORDS: 1,304

WARNINGS: Mentions of explosions/evil plans basically

in case u wanted to know context of the Sympathy fic I did yesterday, I’m writing a prequel tihngy. this is part 1 and doesn’t feature much Self shipping (though it references my ship with Quackerjack and @sphearts‘ insert Patch), but pls know the next parts will. reblogs also appreciated!!! I had a lot of fun w this ;w;

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      The Fearsome Five were once more up to something very dastardly. When weren't they? But it seemed today that in that warehouse just off town, not all members of the group were feeling so dastardly. A nervous Bushroot tapped his leafy hands together as he looked over the crate in front of him, one that wires were extending from.

     "Are we sure this is such a good idea? I -I m-mean...There's - there's just - there's innocents down there, you kn-know?" He shook his purple-foliaged head and frowned. "Oh, I c-couldn't bear to destroy the poor things...N-not so gruesomely..."

      Bushroot's concerns fell on deaf ears, of course, and in fact his words were met with a laugh from Quackerjack, who was dangling upside down from the rafters for whatever goofy reason. "Since when do YOU care about the civilians, bush brain?"

     "W-who said anything about people?" The scientist almost seemed offended, "You know I'm talking about the plants! The - the - the trees! The f-flowers! They're all blooming at this time, I couldn't stand it if they..."

      "Are you having second thoughts?" Came the voice of Liquidator, poking up from a puddle on the floor, "Tired of destroying your family trees? Not to worry, the Liquidator will set things right! Lots of water for lots of plants, right?"

     "Uh, I-I guess..." Bushroot nodded, but still seemed tense. "A-anyway, Quackerjack - don't think you're one to - to talk. You're the one with a f-family at home. Shouldn't you be worried about them? What if they get caught in the explosion - bet you'd be pretty bummed then...!"

     "Please, they know to stay out of any destruction zone!" replied the jester with another laugh, "Well, except Patch - but who knows where they go....Maybe your plants oughta do the same...You know...Make like a banana and split! Hohohohoooo~!" As he said banana, he pulled out Mr. Banana Brain, because of course he did.

     "Just better hope they don't get in the way again," Megavolt sneered. "They're always so unpredictable...But then again, so are you."

     "Hohohooo!"

    "Which one of you idiots is making Quackerjack a fool of himself again?" growled a new voice, and one that shot chills down each Fearsome member's spine. Negaduck had finally arrived. "Or is it just Quackerjack being a fool all on his own? Either way, his laughter is getting on my nerves."

    "Oh, goody!" Quackerjack grinned from above. "Boss is back! Great to see you, Negaduck! Buddy, ol' pal!"

      "Yeah, yeah, roll out the red carpet." Negaduck waved his hand with disinterest. "Is everything in place, boys? 'Cause if it's not..."

     "The Liquidator has a 100% satisfactory guarantee! Indeed, you, Negaduck, will be pleased - or your money back!" The watery dog seemed a bit too cheery considering all this talk of explosions...

     Negaduck shook his head. "I'll hold you to that, you walking infomercial..."      But at this, Megavolt spoke up, "But Boss, you didn't give us any money, so we can't exactly give it back..."

    "Well,  your life can repay any debt, don't you think?" He tapped his foot on the ground. "I mean, really, that's what you're gonna give me anyway if you losers screw this up."

     "That's our Negaduck! Always so forgiving..." Seems like even the concept of dying a bloody death as punishment for failing sounded like a fun time to Quackerjack. "Anyway, boss..." He dropped down from the ceiling and landed directly in front of Negaduck now, "I've got a question for you, if you've got the time..."

      "I don't have the time." Negaduck tried to walk past the insolent clown, but Quackerjack quite literally bounced back to front and center.

     "It'll only take a second! See, Bushroot and I were just having a civil little conversation -"

     "Nothing civil about it," huffed Bushroot in the background.

      "9 out of 10 reviews give that conversation a thumbs down," added Liquidator.

      Quackerjack snorted. "Anyway, it got me wondering if YOU have any ties that could be -"

      And then, his beak was grabbed quite cartoonishly to shut him up. Negaduck was obviously unamused. "No, Quackerjack. Unlike you, I don't need a family to keep me stable."

     "Yeah, you only need a chainsaw," chuckled Megavolt.

     "Bingo. And frankly, I don't even need that. Any weapon will do, yeah?" Negaduck let go of Quackerjack now, but walked past while purposely stepping on the guy's foot. (Though this backfired, because there was a honking sound effect and that just annoyed the boss more.) "If that's all you nubs needed, then let's start the operation."

     "Aye-aye, sir!" came the chant of his cohorts. Negaduck would walk towards the earlier mentioned crate, which with the little help of a button on a remote he had, opened to reveal a computer inside. On the screen was a map of St. Canard in neon green color, and Negaduck began to type in some coordinates from a sheet of paper - one that he'd somehow taken from Megavolt when the rodent wasn't looking.

     "And...we...are...good...to....Eh?" His finger paused over the last number, "No, wait a minute, that ain't right..." He back spaced and tried again. Still no.

    "Somethin' wrong, boss?" asked Megavolt.

    "The coordinates I'm inputting on this detonator...They're nowhere near the correct ones." He glared at Megavolt. "Where did you set up the bombs?"

    "On the south side of -"

   At this, Negaduck's eyes narrowed. "The SOUTH side? You LOSER, you can't even follow orders right...I said the NORTH would be destroyed..."

     Megavolt stared, and became increasingly panicked. "W-wh-wha? W-well, it shouldn't be too big a difference! A-after all, it's still just a threat, r-right? Not like we won't get our point acro-"

    "That's not the point, you dolt! There's some stupid art convention going on in the South Side of town, and I wanted to specifically avoid that area!"

   Silence.

   "Uh....Why-" began Bushroot, but he quickly retracted his inquiry as Negaduck shot a nasty look at him. "Th-that is....We can just set the bombs up elsewhere, right?"

   "Yeah, and it's gonna take all day! Forget it, this plan was a failure...And it's not my fault, I'd like to say..." Negaduck crossed his arms. "Quackerjack and Megavolt can be in charge of defusing all the bombs."

    "Hmm...Is it really such a big deal?" Quackerjack smiled in a way that sorta said he was about to cause trouble, "It's just strange you'd care so much about a little setback that you'd cancel your whole plan...Not even a Plan B...."

   "Y-yeah, that's  - that's right!" chimed in Bushroot. "We should just go ahead with it, already!"

   "Act now, and the Liquidator can wash away YOUR worries, with a bang!" 

   "It will SURELY shock you!" beamed Megavolt.

   "Will you all be quiet?! I'm sick of your puns!" Negaduck snapped, "You're all so...useless!" Well, this was getting nowhere fast. Soon, in a comedic fashion, the Fearsome Five became the Fumbling Five - everyone started arguing, and in the midst of it...Somehow, probably when nobody was paying attention, that last digit got put into the detonator.

    "Forget this," Negaduck growled, "I'll just have to..." And then he noticed the timer. "W- No! Oh, for the love of -" Everyone watched as he rushed to the computer and began trying to stop the detonator. "UGH! YOU IDIOTS!"

    The others looked at each other. Then at Negaduck. Then at each other. And as they ran away so as not to meet his wrath, Liquidator shouted out another quote of "Act now, the offer ends soon!"

   "Oh, more than that is gonna end...." But there was no time to worry about that with the clock ticking. He gripped his hat in a stressed manner, yanking on it to try and calm his nerves. But he couldn't stop the detonator - he'd specifically planned that so that Darkwing couldn't screw things up...What irony!

    But why did he care about that art convention? Well, as he rushed off to try and find a certain someone,  he wondered that himself.

[lupinlongbottom]

Burning Bridges pt. 5

Neville Longbottom x Reader

Summary: Weddings are a beautiful thing, no? (Y/N) and Neville finally bring it upon themselves to make out up, trying their best to work with what they’ve got. 

Word Count: 4.5k

Warnings: bit of swearing

A/N: ooo fancy. squint and you can see plot, maybe? dunno.

Part 1 ... Part 2 ... Part 3 ... Part 4 ... Part 6 ... Part 7

___

The first thing Neville felt was the cold. The winter air nipped at his nose like an old friend, bitter and unrelenting. The cold contrasted the searing hot touch against his lips, suddenly and all at once. (Y/N) had pressed herself against Neville abruptly, effectively shutting him up.

“(Y/N),” He mumbled, pulling away reluctantly. “What’re you—”

(Y/N) pressed her lips to Neville’s again, a bit harder than before. Her hands connected around his neck, pulling him in deeper. Finally deciding the fight just wasn’t worth it, Neville gave in, snaking his hands around her waist, holding her close. The two swayed in silence, only breaking for a breath, going back deeper than they had left off. The tension that had been building like a taught rubber band for the last five years had finally snapped, blinding the two with a white hot light.

“Neville,” (Y/N) removed her lips from his, focusing on the flush of his face, noting the few freckles that had dotted the bridge of his nose. “I know this isn’t ideal—”

“—don’t care,” Neville mumbled, diving back in for another kiss, growing more daring by the whimper (Y/N) let out. The cold that had once bit at his nose was long forgotten. Neville grew more fearless in his motions, allowing his initial gentleness wash away, a low groan emitting softly from his throat.

“I never knew you were so daring, Longbottom,” (Y/N) pulled away, face thoroughly flushed. “Out in the open like this,” she glanced at the open courtyard, catching her breath. 

“Neither did I,” Neville smiled, resting his hands again at her waist, afraid to let her go. “But I need a push from time to time.”

“I’ll be here,” (Y/N) cupped his face, thumb resting above the scruff of his jawline. “I’m sorry if this fucks up our friendship—”

“—this,” Neville laughed, drawing circles in the sky with his nose. “Didn’t fuck up our friendship.”

“No?”

“No,” he smiled, pausing for a moment, thinking over his next words carefully. “Not talking to me for five years might’ve done that.”

(Y/N) slapped him playfully on the cheek, trying to pull an angry face. “Shut it,” a small giggle erupted from her lips. “Nev, can I be honest for a moment?”

“More honest than what we were just doing?”

She nodded. “Would it be completely insane of us to keep doing this?” Her eyes met Neville’s, looking for a wordless answer.

“I’m not following?” Neville replied, trying to see the suggestion in a different light.

“I want to snog you more,” (Y/N) admitted, not breaking eye contact. “I have a feeling you’d like to snog me more as well, but, someone may… catch us. Out here, I mean.”

“So you want to go snog in a broom closet like teenagers?” Neville laughed, pressing a kiss between her brows.

“Consider it making up for lost time,” she shrugged, grinning wildly.

“So you want to run and hide,” He started, watching (Y/N) nod. “Go snog in a dark room, hope that no one catches us,” Neville’s grin grew wider, smirking down at the woman before him. “At our friend’s wedding?”

“Bingo,” (Y/N) said, grabbing Neville by the hand and guiding him down the hall. Indeed they had passed a storage closet, thankfully unlocked. With one final double take of the hallway, the couple disappeared into the darkness.  

__

Sunlight filtered in through the darkness of the curtains hung carefully next to the bed. (Y/N) awoke with a beam of sun hitting her directly in the eye, blinding her momentarily. She felt warmer than usual, with a quick glance she realized that the blanket that had covered her legs was not her own. It was a deep green buffalo plaid print, terribly warm and inviting.

“What…” (Y/N) scanned around the bedroom. The layout was the same, bathroom to the right of the bed, dresser at the foot, doorway out to the living room adjacent to the dresser. Every corner of the room was decked out in greenery, from the various plants to the color of the sheets. “Oh…” she felt the bed shift next to her, begging her to look down.

It was Neville.

“Shit!” (Y/N) hissed, quickly glancing at what she was wearing. Realizing that she was still wearing the same dress she had worn the night before, (Y/N) let out a sigh.

Neville stirred in his sleep, groggily waking at the lack of warmth on his left side. At first, nothing was wrong, but the dream-like sight of (Y/N) practically threw him out of bed, toppling to the floor.

“Are you alright?” (Y/N) asked, quickly flying to the other side of the bed. 

Neville groaned in pain, having landed face first against the stone flooring. He mumbled a response against the marble.

“What?”

“Been…” Neville groaned, pushing himself off the ground, sitting next to the bed. He put his hands between his lap, stretching his back. “…better.”

“Don’t scare me like that!” (Y/N) said, flopping back onto the pillows.

“Scare you? Blimey, (Y/N) I would say that you’ve scared me a bit more just now,” he grinned, massaging his face, his eyes finding a large purple mark on his arm. “N-not that your face scares me! I just wasn’t expecting to see you.”

“Likewise,” (Y/N) admitted, running a hand through her hair, finally pushing it out of her face. A realization struck her. “We didn’t…?”

“Oh!” Neville shot up like a rocket, head practically touching the ceiling. “No! At least, I don’t think we did? I feel like I would’ve remembered? Right?”

“There’s no need to shout,” (Y/N) giggled, watching the tips of Neville’s ears grow redder by the second. “We’re still wearing our clothes from the wedding, so I don’t think so either. I don’t remember much from last night, which is odd considering I didn’t have anything to drink…”

“Neither did I…” Neville mumbled, flattening the white dress shirt from the night before, still buttoned mostly. “Come to think, I don’t remember coming back here?”

“We’re not forgetful people,” (Y/N) said, smiling. “Well, you’ve gotten better over the years.”

“Maybe someone used a memory charm on us,” He laughed, jokingly. “Let’s retrace our steps,” Neville said, sitting on the edge of the bed, facing away from her. “We were at the wedding, we went for that walk, we—”  

“—made out, yeah,” (Y/N) added. “I pulled you to that closet—”

“—where we only snogged,” Neville pointed, thankful his face was turned away from (Y/N). “After that…?”

(Y/N) shrugged. “I don’t have the faintest idea,” she focused her stare at the potted plant hanging in the corner of his room, leaves dangling almost to the floor. “I remember the snogging—Godric do I remember the snogging,” (Y/N) sang, swaying whimsically a bit to herself. “You’re quite the kisser, you know?”

“I-I didn’t,” Neville turned his head, cheeks redder than a radish. “Thank you…” he said, twiddling his thumbs.

“You’re welcome,” (Y/N) smiled sweetly. “Look, Nev, I think we need to talk… about last night,” she sighed, watching Neville turn his body towards her. “Well, about everything, really. Things got a bit explosive—”

“—it’s my fault,” Neville said, waving his arm. He crossed his legs, now sitting at the end of his bed near (Y/N)’s feet, deeply aware of her presence and how terribly close he was to touching her. “I-I shouldn’t have looked through your things.”

“You didn’t,” (Y/N) said, noting the Gryffindor’s stuttering. Had he been doing that recently? “Like you said, I had it laying out. Not exactly a secret I was trying to keep, I suppose,” she shrugged, fingers playing with the lace of her gown. “To be honest, I couldn’t begin to tell you why I kept that cardigan in the first place,” a chuckle.

“It’s a warm cardigan,” Neville shrugged. “You’ve always had a thing for warm jumpers.”

“This much is true,” (Y/N) nodded, glancing at her wrist. The pink ribbon was tied neatly around it. “You’ve always liked my ribbons,” she laughed, holding her hand up, allowing Neville to see. “I’m real sorry for how I snapped, it’s just seeing the ribbon, from that day… To think you found it, and then kept it for so long, I don’t know. Something inside of me just broke open.”

“Something bad?”

“If it was something bad, I reckon I would’ve knocked you to the ground instead of kissing you, no?” (Y/N) smirked.

“Fair point,” Neville nodded, albeit a bit fast. She always had high marks in Defense Against the Dark Arts, excelling at the knockback jinx, her signature move. “I’m sorry I didn’t make a better effort to find you—”

“—you did,” (Y/N) said, stopping Neville in his tracks. “You said so yourself, searched all around the wreckage for me after the fact. I was the coward hiding at the lake.”

“Your dad died, (Y/N), you had every reason to hide from other people…”

“My dad,” (Y/N) scoffed lightly, her fingers still dancing against the lace. “The dad that was in Azkaban my entire life? The man who decided that fighting for a pure-blooded society was more important than the blood of his own family? Deciding the fate of the daughter he knew for a few days, planning to marry her off to another pure-blooded bloke just to keep their family blood clean? Some dad.” 

“You were mourning the man you wish he could’ve been, not the man he was, right?” Neville said, hesitantly placing a hand on (Y/N)’s ankle, trying to comfort her. (Y/N) nodded.

“Sometimes I have dreams, you know? About what my life would’ve looked like if he hadn’t chose the life he did. He would buy me sweets all the time, teach me how to ride a broom, spoil me rotten,” (Y/N) let out a choked laugh, but no tears came. “But… he didn’t. I know that and I’ve known that for years now. It’s still no excuse for the choices I made that day.”

“I don’t blame you, at all,” Neville admitted. “I-I mean, I did. Then, for a bit. Honestly thought you were a bit selfish, running off the way you did.”

��I run off a lot, don’t I?” (Y/N) chuckled. “Never really been one to share my feelings, hold them all in here,” she pointed to her chest, tapping it a few times. “I’ve been trying to get better about it, took my few years on my own to reflect on that.”

“A bit ironic,” Neville joined in on her laughter. “Reflecting on the fact that you run off a lot while you ran from everything, no?”

“Shove it,” (Y/N) said, kicking Neville’s hand off her ankle. He smiled. “I mean it though, I’m sorry about everything. I was selfish, wasn’t thinking straight. I should’ve given you a chance, considering I was the one who initiated the kiss… both times.”

“Interrupted me both times, too,” Neville hummed. “Another bad habit of yours.”

“I didn’t interrupt you the first time!” (Y/N) scoffed. “I was so relieved that you were alive!” she felt her face heat up again. “But the second time you had said that you… well…”

“Oh,” Neville remembered. “I guess I did say… that.”

“Do you mean it?”

“I think I did,” Neville nodded. “Well, I know I did five years ago. I loved you,” He  said, finally releasing the words the two of them had been avoiding. He let them hang in the air for just a moment. “I did, love you, I mean. For a while. Practically since third year, actually,” the words came sputtering out of Neville like a babbling brook, faster than he could formulate a thought. “You were my best friend. You cared about me, more than anyone else really did. I just assumed you’d never feel that way about me so I shoved it down, especially when you and Seamus started to have that little fling.” 

“I think,” (Y/N) took a second to collect her thoughts. “I’ve always cared for you, Neville. You said so yourself. I guess I never really knew how I felt until I saw you, after all the fighting, saw that you were still alive and breathing,” she shrugged again. “I don’t know what I would’ve done if I lost you that day, too.”

“Did you ever…?” Neville couldn’t bring himself to finish his question, the answer almost seemed plain as the day before them.

“I did,” (Y/N) nodded.

“Do you think we could get to that place?” Neville asked, his voice barely above a whisper, his words as fragile as glass. “To be able to love each other at the same time, I mean?” 

“I’m not sure,” (Y/N) admitted, looking Neville in the eye. He looked almost defeated, his face turning down to his hands. “But I think we owe it to ourselves to try,” she leaned forward, gently placing her hand atop of his, the pink ribbon on her wrist tickling his fingers. “Obviously we both had some unresolved tension, if last night was any indication of that.”

“I-I’m not usually that bold—”

“—I know.”

“But you’re right, if we take it slow, start fresh,” Neville nodded, still staring at their hands. “Nurture it properly—”

“Are you comparing the complexity of our relationship to gardening?” (Y/N) laughed, pulling her hand away. Neville shrugged. “Should we make sure it gets enough water, too?”

“I’m trying to be serious here,” Neville said, pointedly. “Don’t have to go and make a joke about it.”

“What’re you going to do?” (Y/N) teased. “Break up with me?” 

“You said so yourself,” Neville stood up, adjusting his shirt. “Can’t break up with someone you’re not dating.”

“Ouch,” (Y/N) pressed a hand to her chest, right above her heart. “That hit me hard, Longbottom. Just annihilated my heart, crushed it to a thousand pieces.”

“Right,” He laughed. “We’ll take it slow,” Neville said again, circling back to their original topic. “I think we can get back to a place of mutual trust and understanding.”

“I agree,” (Y/N) said, finally hopping off Neville’s bed, unaware of the amount of time that had passed. “What does that make of us now, then? Surely we’re not just friends anymore…?”

“No,” Neville mumbled. “I suppose not…”

“And if we’re not ‘dating’,” (Y/N) said, stepping closer to Neville. She flung a finger between the two of them, now standing only a foot away from one another, waving it lightly. “What are we calling this…?”

“That’s a great question,” Neville gulped, now fully aware of the space, or lack thereof, between him and (Y/N). “B-because I have no idea. For now, anyway. If we can make it work, I’d want to ask you proper, not just in the heat of the moment.”

“Maybe we shouldn’t worry about putting a label on it,” (Y/N) said, pressing her finger onto Neville’s chest. “For now.”

“R-right,” Neville nodded, glancing down at (Y/N). “For now.”

“What time is it, anyway?” (Y/N) asked, trying to draw herself away from the situation at hand, fearing she’d dive too far and drown.

“Almost noon,” Neville said, taking a look at his watch, still attached to his wrist. “It’s Sunday, we don’t have any classes.”

“Sunday,” (Y/N) repeated, wracking her brain. “I think I was supposed to do something today…?”

“Funny,” Neville said, standing up. “Me too…?”

“I’m sure it’s nothing,” (Y/N) said, picking up her shoes. “Well, I better go and clean myself up for lunch, one look at me and the students will think I’ve gone mad.”

“Agreed,” Neville nodded. “I’ll save you a spot at lunch?” A small smile danced across his lips.

“I’d like that,” (Y/N) smiled back, fighting back a bigger grin. She exited Neville’s chambers, moving quickly to her own before anyone could see her. Thankfully the hallway was empty, allowing her to enter the room next door with ease. After a quick change and a simple detangling spell on her unruly hair, (Y/N) was ready for lunch.

The Great Hall was nearly empty, as the end of the lunch period was almost over. Students had gone back to their studying or other activities. The faculty table hosted only a few of her peers, Hagrid booming from the end, sitting next to Neville.

“…was beautiful, the weddin’!” Hagrid said, nearly sobbing into his napkin. “Ginny an’ Harry looked so happy!”

“I know,” Neville said, patting the half-giant’s back. “They looked really happy together.”

“Oh! (Y/N),” Hagrid stopped, noticing the young witch arrive at the table, sitting down next to Neville. “Sorry ya ‘ad to see that,” he sniffled, putting the napkin back onto his lap. “But it’s nice to see the two of you awake!” he glanced between Neville and (Y/N)

“Awake?” (Y/N) laughed, taking a plate of mashed potatoes and a thick red sauce. “You saw us last night, Hagrid, we weren’t sleeping.”

“Ya don’t remember?” Hagrid asked.

“Actually,” Neville said, swallowing a bite of bread quickly. “We don’t exactly remember much from last night…” he turned to (Y/N), noticing her face grow pink. “…from a certain point, that is.”

“Do you know how we got home? Back to the castle?” (Y/N) asked, hoping Hagrid had the answer.

“Well, I carried ya o’ course!” he boomed, laughter echoing throughout the hall. A few remaining students stared idly, wondering what could’ve caused him to laugh so loud. “I was walkin’ outside, ya see. Heard a loud thump from the courtyard,” he took a bite from his apple, leaving only half left. “Found the two of yer sleepin’ in a closet! Must’ve been the punch, ‘ad a few glasses of it myself.”

“We were… sleeping?” 

“On the floor?”

Hagrid nodded. “Figured ya ‘ad too much fun, took it upon meself to bring ya home,” he scratched his neck. “Tried droppin’ Longbottom off first, but,” Hagrid pointed at (Y/N) with his fork. “Ya started wakin’ up. Insisted ya were goin’ to sleep right there.”

“…and you let me?” (Y/N) said, hardly shocked, but her face was telling another story.

“Looked peaceful enough,” Hagrid shrugged. “Sorry ‘bout that mark, Neville. Thestrals accidentally gave ya a good kick."

Neville looked down to the growing purpling mark on his arm, oddly shaped like a horse’s hoof now that he took a better look at it. “At least that makes sense…”

“What doesn’t make sense is why we were knocked out in the broom closet,” (Y/N) said, voice growing low. “We didn’t have any punch and now we can’t remember?”

“Speakin’ of,” Hagrid said, setting his goblet down. “How’d yer meetin’ with McGonagall go?”

“Meeting?” the two said in unison.

“Semester briefing of course!” Hagrid laughed. “Reckon she gave me a nasty look ‘bout those murtlaps escaping, but we ‘ad a good laugh.”

“I don’t remember having a meeting today?” (Y/N) said, setting her fork down. “Neville, do you?”

“No,” he shook his head. “Hagrid, do all faculty have this meeting today?”

“Yep,” Hagrid nodded. “Don’t tell me ya lot forgot?”

“Shit,” (Y/N) said, slamming her head onto the table, nearly missing her potatoes. “We’re dead,” she slammed her head again. “So dead.”

Neville reached over, stopping (Y/N) from slamming her head again. “We’re not dead,” he laughed, noticing the red mark now adorned to her forehead. “Royally screwed? Maybe.”

“Why in Merlin’s beard would we have forgotten? I never forget this kind of stuff! Hell, I can remember at least a hundred potions from the top of my head!” She stood up, readjusting her robes. “We have to go and talk to McGonagall.”

“We? But we just started eating…”

“We’ll eat something after we’ve kept our jobs,” (Y/N) said, pulling Neville up by the collar. “Unless you don’t want to keep working here?”

“Right,” Neville said, face determined. “You’re right.”

The two marched out of the dining hall, quickly working their way to the headmistress’ office, giving small greetings to passing students. (Y/N) cleared her throat, mumbling the password to enter the office. The stairs began to move upward, Neville and (Y/N) standing next to one another. “How mad do you think she is?”

“Hopefully not mad enough to sack us, I quite like this job.”

The office, still adorned with portraits of past headmasters lining the walls, was warm and inviting. The faint scent of vanilla wafted through the air, a cauldron burbling in the corner. 

“Professors,” Minerva said, glancing up from her paperwork. “Glad you finally decided to take a break in your busy schedule to show up.”

“Headmistress, we can explain—” 

McGonagall raised her hand, silencing (Y/N) effectively. “No need,” she stood up, walking down the few steps towards the two professors. “Forgetting our meeting isn’t like you, (L/N),” she turned to Neville. “I can’t say the same for you, Longbottom.”

“Normally I’d agree…” Neville sputtered, growing hot at the accusation. “But this wasn’t my doing this time, honest!”

“Minerva, we’re sorry we forgot about our meeting. At the Potter’s wedding last night, Neville and I—”

“—I don’t need the details of your night, Professor (L/N),” McGonagall raised her hand again. “I’m truly disappointed that the two forgot about the meetings. What sort of example are you setting for your students?” The two hung their head in shame. “Thankfully I really have no need to have the meeting with the two of you in the first place.”

“What?”

“(Y/N), your student’s marks are impeccably high, across the board. Even students who were struggling in Potions last year are succeeding in your class, even if it isn’t by a large percentage,” McGonagall turned to Neville. “Your classes, Longbottom, have only gotten the highest praises from students passing in the halls. The two of you should be proud.”

“Thank you, Headmistress,” Neville said, bowing lightly.

“Thank you,” (Y/N) mirrored.

“Besides the praises,” McGonagall warned, her voice growing more stern. “I shouldn’t have to punish you like students to get the point across. But, for this instance, I feel it to be necessary.”

“Are you going to have us scrub cauldrons? (Y/N) already keeps them sparkling,” Neville asked, his voice growing lower as the Headmistress’s eyes fell upon him.

“Of course not,” McGonagall scoffed. “Cauldron cleaning is left for the Potions Master to dole out for detentions as she sees fit,” she nodded at (Y/N). “But, seeing as the two of you seem to have enough free time in your schedules, you can add Wednesday evenings to your patrol duties. Both of you.”

“Wednesdays were one of our only nights off, Minerva,” (Y/N) blurted, allowing McGonagall’s first name to slip.

“And now they’re not,” McGonagall hummed. “If I remember correctly, you said so yourself, (Y/N), you’ve always wanted to patrol the halls as a professor, any chance you got, no?”

“I—yes,” (Y/N) nodded, caught in her own words. “Of course.”

“Redeem yourselves and the patrols will return to four times a week. Now that the business is out of the way,” McGonagall cleared her throat.

“Longbottom, if I recall you have remedial Herbology with two Hufflepuff students this afternoon, do you not?”

Neville’s face dropped. “You’re right! I completely forgot!” He nearly sprang from his shoes, hoping back to the entrance of the office. “Thank you, Headmistress!” He shot (Y/N) a small smile. “See you tonight, Professor (L/N).”

“That man wouldn’t remember his head if it weren’t screwed onto his neck,” (Y/N) chuckled, heading towards the door.

“(Y/N),” McGonagall said, “I have a feeling there’s something else to discuss?”

“Professor,” (Y/N) said. “Headmistress, I mean. I know this isn’t work related, but I need the advice of another witch.”

“Yes?”

“Last night, at the wedding, Neville and I after a certain point can’t remember anything. We don’t recall getting home, or anything after that. We also couldn’t remember our meetings today…”

“Did you have any of that vile punch?” McGonagall asked, tipping her nose into the air. “Potter said that the Weasley twins had concocted it. Hagrid drank quite a bit of it,” she smiled. “Are you sure your memory loss isn’t from that?”

“That’s the thing,” (Y/N) muttered. “We didn’t have anything to drink, as far as I’m aware."

“And you’re saying that you and Mr. Longbottom can’t recall your memories after a certain point? None, whatsoever?”

(Y/N) shook her head. “No. We woke up this morning with no recollection of anything after—”

“—after, what?” McGonagall asked, watching (Y/N) grow stiff. “After you and Mr. Longbottom had disappeared from the reception?” She smirked, readjusting her spectacles.

“Yes,” (Y/N) blurted, only slightly ashamed. “A bit after that…”

“Have you considered this to be the work of a memory charm?” McGonagall asked.

“That’s what Neville joked about this morning,” (Y/N) laughed. “N-not that we were together this morning,” she coughed. “I highly doubt that it could be a memory charm. Who would use a memory charm on us?”

“Normally memory charms are used to erase a specific memory,” McGonagall hummed. “But sometimes, when used improperly—or depending on the case—properly, the victim can forget more than the user bargained for.”

“I’m still not following…?”

“I would bet my last Galleon that someone used a memory charm on the two of you,” said McGonagall.

“Really? No joke?”

“No joke.”

“I know this may be a stupid question,” (Y/N) started, her eyes falling on the Pensieve. “But would it be possible—”

“No,” McGonagall said, cutting (Y/N) off. “The Pensieve doesn’t work like that. Once your memory is altered, you cannot call the memories to the Pensieve. Unless the witch or wizard who cast the charm on the two of you reverses it, I’m afraid there’s not much I can do.”

“Surely there must be a way to reverse the charm otherwise, right?” (Y/N) asked, voice dripping with hope. 

McGonagall shook her head. “Unless you’d like to undergo intense torture and suffering, I’m afraid not.”

“Thank you, Headmistress,” (Y/N) bowed. “This has been helpful.”

“I hope it has,” McGonagall nodded. “And, (Y/N), please bear in mind what I had said to you on the first night of school.”

(Y/N) recalled the conversation. “Oh, Neville and I…”

“You two look good together,” McGonagall smiled. “But, please keep it professional. Students, they love their gossip."

“Of course, Headmistress,” (Y/N) nodded, finally bursting through the door. “How embarrassing…” she mumbled, walking back to her chambers. 

__

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[edenfalling]

[Fic] “Between the Saltwater and the Sea-Strand” - Naruto

Summary: Yukiko and Kakashi run an undercover mission in the coastal port of Asase during monsoon season. Rain can make anyone philosophical. Part of the Apartment Manager AU, set after The Guardian in Spite of Herself and before An Unorthodox Pedagogical Approach. (3,515 words) Note: Written for warriordrgnmage, in response to the prompt: Naruto: Hatake Kakashi/Ayakawa Yukiko set in the Way of the Apartment Manager Series Timeline. For the Bingo card: Monsoon. It is also a fill for the genprompt_bingo square monsoon. For obvious reasons, Yukiko and Kakashi are using fake names while undercover. Yukiko is Aoi, and Kakashi is Hyoujin. Also, you may notice that this is gen! See, while I am perfectly cool with people shipping Yukiko with Kakashi, that is 100% never going to become Apartment Manager canon, for many, many reasons. If anyone wants a shippy AU, you are welcome to write it yourself, because I flat-out CANNOT. Seriously, even if I tried, you wouldn't want the results. They would be awful. Trust me on that. --------------------------------------------- Between the Saltwater and the Sea-Strand --------------------------------------------- Kuwa Natsume looked up as Yukiko slung herself in through the office window in a spray of rain, raised one eyebrow, and then looked back down to her account books. "Misplaced your shadow?" "Does anyone have a shadow in this weather?" Yukiko said wryly as she shut the window, reducing the sound of rain from deafening to merely incessant and inescapable. "I thought I was used to rain, but coastal monsoons are something new, yeah?" "We get that a lot from inlanders," Kuwa-san said as she drew a sharp line under a column of numbers and wrote a sum. "You get used to it, and it's easier for shinobi -- you have all that fancy ninpou and whatnot. But in all honesty, Aoi-san, where is your partner? I can't finalize your supply contract without both of your signatures." Yukiko made a face as she combed water out of her black-dyed hair. "Is it that important to be fussy when this is all ninety percent illegal anyway?"

"The more illegal, the more important to nail down all the details," Kuwa-san said. "What court would adjudicate the case if you sign alone and Hyoujin-san decides next week that he won't pay for his share?" Yukiko personally agreed with Kuwa-san's caution, but her cover persona would probably make one further push. So, "Oh, don't worry about him. Hyoujin trusts me completely--" Kuwa-san raised her eyebrow again. "--nearly completely when it comes to contracts. What's the point of having a partner if you can't split your responsibilities?" "I would say partners split focus, not responsibility. If you don't maintain some degree of joint liability, what's to stop one of you from turning on the other?" "Ethics?" Yukiko said with a winning smile, and allowed herself to laugh at Kuwa-san's carefully calculated answering smirk. "Fair enough. Let me look over the terms and I'll drag him over here to pretend he knows how to use a brush sometime before-- when do you close today?" "Six." "Before six. Actually, let's say before five, yeah? He's not that hard to track or sweet-talk if you know what you're doing." Yukiko held out her now-dry hand for the supply contract and wiggled her fingers until Kuwa-san passed it across her desk. She retreated to the broad windowsill and began flicking through the pages. It wasn't complicated, just a dead drop of miscellaneous dry goods in neutral territory that would hopefully establish her and Kakashi as reliable clients and Kuwa-san as a reliable supplier -- a standard way for missing-nin and gray market merchants to feel each other out. If the goods wound up as a cache for a long-term Leaf-nin mission, well, nothing in the contract specified that Yukiko and Kakashi had to be the ones to make the pickup. And their cash was perfectly legitimate Fire Country tender, so as far as Kuwa-san was concerned, there was nothing to worry about. (Yukiko was fairly certain there was nothing to worry about on Konoha's end of the bargain either. Kuwa-san had a rock-solid reputation for following through on her contracts. Nobody survived twenty years in the gray market without either keeping their word almost religiously or spending a fortune on bodyguards, and Kuwa-san barely bothered to pay for warehouse security.) "Where do you source kunai?" she asked as the rain's intensity kicked up a notch, beating against the windowpane in a nearly solid sheet of water. "Wind Country," Kuwa-san said without looking up from her accounts. "Earth Country's metallurgy is better, but the border tariffs aren't usually worth the slight increase in quality. I could change that if you're willing to pay the difference." Yukiko feigned consideration. "I don't care, but Hyoujin can get picky about steel composition. What would the increase be for this number of kunai and senbon?" Kuwa-san named a figure. Yukiko made an exaggerated expression of disgust. "No thanks! He can whine and make do. I'm not paying that much more for what, a half percent less chance of flaws? It's not like anyone expects kunai to last anyway. Use 'em and lose 'em and buy some more, that's what I say. Or steal whatever's left from your targets! That's economy, yeah?" "Officially, I can't encourage any behavior that would reduce my chance to sell you more equipment, Aoi-san. Unofficially? Yes, that's very economical. If only all my clients were equally practical." "Eh, there's all kinds of ways to be practical. What we're good at is mostly spying and killing -- it's more efficient to hire a ninja than do that stuff in-house, yeah? Just like you're good at moving stuff around to where we need it, so it's more efficient to hire you instead of us trying to figure all that stuff out from scratch. It's win-win, is how I see it." Yukiko tapped the papers to shuffle them into a neat pile, then handed them back to Kuwa-san. "That looks fine on my ends. Me and Hyoujin will be back sometime this afternoon to sign and pay the next installment." "It's a pleasure doing business with you, Aoi-san," Kuwa-san said. Yukiko grinned and dove backward out the window, into the pounding rain. --------------- Kakashi was lurking in one of Asase's numerous quayside bars, most of which were run out of the back doors of warehouses and also did a brisk side business in assorted seafood dishes. Rain pelted down on the roof tiles in a clattering racket that Yukiko found personally soothing but professionally irritating -- it was a lot harder to eavesdrop through the constant noise, not to mention the complications it added to genjutsu. She and Kakashi had spent their first night in Asase mutually grousing about the unpredictability of electric ninjutsu in waterlogged conditions and the difficulty of filtering ambient sounds out of illusions. Today Kakashi was sipping a bowl of lobster broth through a long, curved straw that vanished into the deep blue folds of the scarf he'd used to shroud his face. To the casual eye he was staring out an open window toward the rainswept harbor, his oversized gray hood restricting his range of sight and hearing, but Yukiko followed the combined angle of his feet and chopsticks to their targets: a trio of young missing-nin drinking in the far corner, defaced forehead protectors proclaiming their renunciation of Kiri. They were small-time, only a few months out on their own each with barely a name and one line of description in the latest bingo book editions, but anyone willing to go against the Bloody Mist was worth a second look. Whether this particular investigation would conclude in a job offer or an assassination was still up in the air. "Heya, Hyoujin. Thinking of roping in some new blood for larger contracts?" Yukiko asked as she dropped into a seat across from him (back to their targets) and set her ramen down on the unsanded wood of the table. Kakashi shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. Three's better than two for flexibility, but more than four on a mission gets awkward without ranks and a chain of command. Nobody who leaves a village wants to go back to those kind of restrictions." Yukiko tilted her hand. "Eh, there's assholes on power trips and there's division of labor -- not necessarily the same thing. I let you take the lead in a fight and you let me take the lead on retrievals. That's just practical, yeah? But we wouldn't throw each other away. Shinobi are tools, sure, but if you don't look out for your teammates, how can you trust they'll look out for you?" Kakashi shrugged again and continued sipping his broth. Targets hear? Yukiko signed under the guise of snapping apart her chopsticks. Yes, Kakashi signed back as he lifted his bowl and drank the last of his broth under the shadow of his hood and scarf. No bite. Yukiko slurped a mouthful of noodles and nicely salted broth. "Grouch. Well, whatever we do for future contracts, today we have to sign off on the supply contract with Kuwa-san. We'll need the goods for that thing in Tea Country and she wants both of our names in writing." "Sign for me," Kakashi said "Tried that. She won't bite." "So fake it. Illusions are your thing, Aoi; pretend I'm there and forge my seal." Yukiko slurped another mouthful of noodles in her best imitation of Naruto's sloppy manners. "Oh, sure. Lying is the best way to establish trust for future contracts, yeah?" "She's a civilian, how would she know?" "Not the point. C'mon, Hyoujin. You won't melt in the rain. Let's go make nice with Kuwa-san and I'll make it real worth your while." She ran the edge of her sandal up the side of Kakashi's shin and gave him her best imitation of her cousin Yura's flirtatious smile. Kakashi twitched. Yukiko slapped the table and let her smile shade into a more genuine grin. "Ha, I win." "Fine. Finish your soup and let's go drown ourselves. Again." "Eh, getting soaked's not that bad. Especially when you've got a partner around to help you peel out of all your soggy clothes and warm up when you get home, yeah?" Kakashi twitched again, then rallied and let a tiny arc of electricity jump between two raised fingers. "And then get wet again?" Yukiko held onto her cover persona by the skin of her teeth. "Now you're talking my language. All right, I'm done. Let's go give a little now so we get more back later." --------------- Signing the contract with Kuwa-san took all of twenty minutes -- half of which was entirely for show, as Kakashi lived up to his cover persona and whined about the kunai quality until Yukiko overruled him -- after which they had the afternoon and evening entirely to themselves and a conveniently established reason to retreat to their rented room and lock themselves inside Yukiko's best privacy genjutsu. "We can't stay longer than another day now that the contract's signed," Kakashi said as he flashed his hands through the seals for a quick and subtle bit of ninjutsu that left their clothes and skin completely dry without spilling any excess heat. "Do you think the targets will be receptive if we approach them openly?" Yukiko shook her head, grimaced at the awkward motion of her still-tangled hair, and began working the tie out of her ponytail. "No chance. I don't know if they'd even be open to a joint mission with Aoi and Hyoujin at this point. Sumire wants security and Kenichi likes profit, but they're still raw enough to see tigers in every other shadow, and Eriko's almost too paranoid to make deals with someone as solid and non-threatening as Kuwa-san. On the bright side, they're wildly unlikely to join up with anyone else." Kakashi slumped back onto the futon with an annoyed set to his eyebrow. "And since they haven't moved against Fire Country assets, there's nothing to justify an assassination without a contract. I hate leaving loose ends." Yukiko dropped down to sit cross-legged beside him, fingers slowly working through her tangles. "Think of it as a guaranteed vacation in a few months. Our agents will send word the next time our trio pass through Asase, Aoi and Hyoujin turn up to sign a new contract with Kuwa-san, and we sound them out for a joint mission. They ought to be the right balance of calmer and hungrier by then, and we'll get a better reading after a week or so of close contact." "Ugh." "Yeah, yeah, talking to people is terrible and scary." Kakashi rolled over onto his stomach and buried his face in his arms, the soft, voluminous fabric of his hood blocking all apparent lines of sight. "Only the living." Yukiko froze, then sighed and flopped onto her back with her arms above her head. "Yeah. The dead talk back just as much, but it's still so much easier." "Sometimes I wonder how many people in Konoha would qualify for a 'Lone Survivor of My Genin Team, Including My Teacher' club," Kakashi said into the futon. "Then I stop wondering because the math is too depressing. But we could start a private chapter just for us." "Sometimes I hate that you trust me enough to say things like that," Yukiko said to the ceiling. "Then I tell myself not to be an idiot, because it means I get to say equally horrible things to you. Like that I'm pretty sure if we recruit our targets, at least one of them will be dead within two years, and I'm not sure that balances the odds that all three of them will die within one year if they keep working as missing-nin. After all, there's always a chance they might retire and start a farm." "Says the woman who got so bored with civilian life she jumped into a chuunin exam the minute Sandaime offered her a chance." "Says the Anbu assassin." Kakashi snorted. "We're all so fucked up." "Yeah." "Might as well be fucked up with other people who understand." "Yeah." They lay in silence for some time, listening to the steady thrum of rain on the roof tiles above. The air was warm and sticky, and the breeze eeling through the open window smelled faintly green beneath the ever-present fish-salt-rot odor of the sea. "Let's accidentally-on-purpose bump into the targets tomorrow morning, buy them breakfast, and float the idea of a joint mission later in the year," Yukiko said eventually. "Might as well plant seeds when the ground is soft." "You pay." "It's all mission funds in the end." "To clarify: you handle all the human interactions. I'll stand behind you and look vaguely menacing so they'll think at least one of us is competent." "To clarify: you'll look vaguely constipated, while I impress them with my social competency. Networking is an important skill for missing-nin." "I object to that assessment." "Which one of us has experience making business deals directly with civilians instead of through the mission office?" Kakashi flicked a gust of wind at her, re-tangling her hair. Yukiko pulled out Aoi's grin as she kicked Kakashi gently in the ankle. "Ninjutsu isn't a valid argument, which means I win. Your forfeit is fixing my hair." "Having teammates and friends is a terrible choice and I should never have made it a second time," Kakashi grumbled, but he sat up and tapped Yukiko's shoulder. "Turn around and hand me your comb." --------------- They hadn't been able to slap any chakra tags on the targets -- Eriko's paranoia was too thorough for even the subtlest of genjutsu threads to make it past her guard longer than a couple hours -- but Yukiko had gotten a decent sense of their chakra signatures over a series of not-quite-encounters during the past week. It helped to have rooms in the same lodging house, of course. Kakashi took first watch, leaving Yukiko to spend the back half of the night with a manual on steam heating systems and the interminable patter of rain. Eventually the sky began to lighten from matte black to flat gray and her spider-light sweep across the building and surrounding streets caught movement from their targets. "Time to go," she said as she stood. Kakashi remained unmoving until she nudged him with her foot, secure that he was actually awake and wouldn't strike her in reflexive defense. "I remember pretending to be a morning person when I was too young to know better," Kakashi grumbled into the futon. "It was a terrible idea then and it's a terrible idea now. Nobody should be awake before the sun is halfway up the sky." "Unfortunately the targets set the schedule," Yukiko said as she tucked her book away into a holding scroll. "Come on, put on your face and let's get to work." Kakashi flicked a minor wind jutsu in her direction as he rolled to his feet, but Yukiko had braided her hair so this time it stayed secure and untangled. "I wonder if I should switch to bulky scarves as an off-duty option. It's easier to eat and drink through the gaps between layers than to yank a mask up and down very fast or while people are looking away, and people have been much less interested in Hyoujin's face than they tend to be in mine." "That's because Hyoujin doesn't have a reputation. There's no glory in pulling down some random missing-nin's scarf." Yukiko grinned at Kakashi's affronted eyebrow and slipped out the window ahead of another wind jutsu. It wasn't hard to find their targets today: apparently Sumire's morning grumpiness had won over Eriko's paranoia and the trio of former Mist-nin were huddled near a breakfast yatai, half-sheltered from the incessant rain, and haggling over prices with the male half of the married couple behind the counter. Yukiko couldn't have asked for a better opening if she'd tried. She eeled her way up to the counter and grinned at the woman scraping down the stove from whatever she'd last been grilling. "Two miso and two fish on rice -- salmon for me, mackerel for my partner," she said, jerking her thumb over her shoulder at Kakashi, who was standing, smugly dry, under a wind jutsu shaped into an invisible umbrella. "Oh, and how much extra for nori with the salmon?" The woman named a price. Yukiko rolled her eyes. "I hate bargaining on an empty stomach, so I'll just pay nine tenths of that and we'll all pretend you're not robbing me blind, yeah?" She glanced sideways to where the three young missing-nin were still arguing with the other cook. "I hate listening to arguments on an empty stomach, too, so how about I cover these loudmouths, too? Or at least the difference between what they're willing to pay and what you're asking." "Deal," the man said, interrupting the mockery of persuasion Kenichi was currently attempting. "Pay up and thank the nice lady for making sure I don't turn you away unfed." Eriko slapped her hand over Sumire's wallet. "No. It's poisoned." Yukiko rolled her eyes again. "There's a difference between reasonable caution and paranoia, yeah? I want a peaceful breakfast and our last mission went well, so I'm willing to pay a little extra to smooth things over. It's not like it's that much money. And hey, if it'll make you feel better, consider it a-- a-- Hyoujin, what's the word I want?" "Why would I know? You handle contracts," Kakashi said as he slipped a bite of mackerel through the folds of his scarf. "Ugh, why are we still partners?" "Because I'm very good with knives." "Point!" Yukiko slapped the yatai counter and turned back to the trio of missing-nin. "Anyway, breakfast. You're right that nothing comes free, so let's say that I'm paying for you to consider a joint mission sometime in the future, if me and Hyoujin have a line on a job that needs more than three people and we're kicking around the same market, yeah?" Sumire blinked. Kenichi looked like she'd slapped his face with a whole salmon. Eriko scowled and said, "That's not how contracts work." "Yes it is. It's called a-- a-- it's an option, that's the word! You can ask any of the suppliers in town, they'll tell you. I'm paying for the chance to run a job past you, because anyone who makes it out of Hidden Mist is worth a trial run, yeah? You don't have to accept. You just have to listen. And now I'm done with this conversation because I don't like having arguments on an empty stomach any more than I like listening to them. Don't die, and me and Hyoujin will see you around." She grabbed her rice bowl, her cup of miso, and her disposable bamboo chopsticks and kicked Kakashi's ankle to make him turn around and stop staring creepily at the trio of missing-nin through the folds of his scarf. Bite? she asked in handsign masked by a low-level illusion -- the chakra for which ought to be covered by Kakashi's own completely explicable umbrella jutsu. Maybe, Kakashi signed back, then added aloud, "What do you want to do for our next vacation, if this job goes as well as the last one?" Yukiko shrugged elaborately as she swallowed a mouthful of fish and rice. "Eh, there's worse places than the ocean. And by then, the rain should be over for the year. I like water a lot better when it stays flat on the ground than when it's trying to crawl up my nose and into my ears, yeah?" "That's because you have no imagination," Kakashi drawled. Yukiko considered countering with her own innuendo, but no; they were leaving Asase. They could leave Aoi and Hyoujin behind with the rain and introspection and return to more familiar ground. So she poked Kakashi with her chopsticks instead, and laughed when he neatly dodged the strike. As they walked past Kuwa-san's warehouse, bickering companionably, a watery ray of sun pierced briefly through the clouds over the storm-wracked sea and laid a path west to the green reaches of home. --------------------------------------------- End of Story --------------------------------------------- Well, that took significantly longer than it needed to, but I won in the end. \o/ Also, Kuwa Natsume (from Whose Allegiance Is Ruled by Expedience) is now officially part of Apartment Manager continuity. You're welcome. :D

[ceealaina]

Title: All I Know Is You’re Someone I’ve Always Known Collaborator Name: ceealaina Card Number: 3088 Link: AO3 Square Filled: K1 - Wake Up! Ship: Natasha Romanov & Tony Stark Rating: Teen Major Tags: Post-Endgame, Endgame Fix-It, Tony & Nat Brotp Summary: Tony wakes up to Nat waiting for him in the soul stone. … and that’s when things start to get weird. Word Count: 6196 (Also fulfills square G3 of the Natasha Romanov Bingo)

***

“Tony… Tony, open your eyes. Tony, wake up!” 

Tony opened his eyes, squinting. Everything was blindingly white, and then blindingly red, and he groaned in pain. 

“Easy,” said the same voice, low and soothing and familiar. “Just take it easy.”

All at once his eyes focused and he blinked at Nat, sitting at the foot of his fluffy white bed like she belonged there. 

“Nat?” he demanded, breath catching in relief as he sat up to stare at her. “What did you… How did you…” He didn’t bother trying to finish, just shoved the blankets out of the way and launched himself across the bed to pull her into a tight hug. For a moment she was stiff in his arms, and then she seemed to go boneless, breath leaving her body in a rush. Her arms wrapped around him in turn, and he could feel her hand shaking as it moved over her back, could hear the sound of a sob in her throat. “God,” he muttered, pulling back to look at her again. “I didn’t think I’d see you again.”

“And yet. Here I am,” Nat told him, and she tried to smile, but her face was crumpling, eyes welling with tears. Tony fought the urge to close his eyes as he realized that something was very wrong. 

“Nat. Where is everyone? How are you here?” 

She didn’t answer him, didn’t have to, and Tony nearly choked as the memories came rushing back in, so overwhelming he thought he might pass out. The stones, Thanos, the gauntlet on his hand, stones shimmering as he snapped his fingers. He felt something settle heavy in his stomach.  

“Oh.” He nodded his head slowly, matching Natasha’s sad, broken smile. “That’s how you’re here.”

Nat huffed out a laugh, her throat sounding thick. “Yeah, good to see you too, Stark.”

“Shut up,” Tony muttered. He stared down at the sheets as a fresh wave of pain washed over him, less than the power of the infinity stones, but also, somehow, more. It wasn’t like he’d really thought he’d make it out of there alive, but apparently he’d let himself hope anyway, and for just a moment the weight of everything he’d lost was overwhelming. He would never again see Pepper smile, watch her roll her eyes while she fought not to laugh at him. He would never see Rhodey give him that look that conveyed “I love you” and “I hate you” all at the same time, feel the warm weight of his arms when he wrapped him in a hug. 

He would never get to see Morgan grow up, or all the amazing things she’d do. He would never get to hold his little girl again. 

He clenched his eyes shut at the thought. 

Natasha curled a small hand around his ankle. “Did we win, at least?” she asked softly, and when Tony opened his eyes again, the pain felt a little easier. “Did Iron Man save the day in a blaze of glory?” 

Tony rolled his eyes at that, but his lip quirked up into a faint smile. “Yeah,” he told her softly, covering her hand with his. “Yeah, Nat. We did it. We won.”

***

They ended up laying side by side on the bed, staring up at the ceiling, fingers entwined for comfort, reassurance that no matter what, at least they were here together. Tony told her how it had all gone wrong, how they’d ended up fighting Thanos again, how the stones had worked, how they’d brought everybody back. And she told him how she’d never believed in an afterlife, how when she’d jumped in Vormir she’d expected that was it. But then she woke up here, in an empty tower in an empty New York, where time passed strangely, seconds and hours and weeks seeming to take the same span of time. How she’d started wandering at first, exploring, only to end up back at Avengers Tower over and over again without knowing how. Her fingers shook when she told him how she’d looked for someone, anyone, and how eventually when there was no trace of any life, she just started staying in the tower. At least it was familiar. 

Tony didn’t comment at first, just squeezed her hand a little tighter. “Hey,” he said, nudging his shoulder against hers. “But I’m here now, right? Just like old times.”

“Greaaaaaat,” Natasha drawled, but there was genuine relief in her voice. She turned her head to face him, a small smile on her lips. “You and me, huh?” 

Tony leaned over, kissing her forehead. “You and me,” he promised her. “Whatever this place is… I’m not going anywhere without you, Romanoff.” 

They fell into silence after that, comfortable and easy, but Tony could see what Natasha meant about time passing strangely. He was vaguely aware of his mind drifting in a way that it never had when he… Well, when he was alive. 

“For what it’s worth,” Natasha said suddenly, startling him out of his daze. “You’re the last person I wanted to see here.” 

Tony knew what she meant, of course he did, but something in his heart clenched thinking about what was left behind. “Oh, I see how it is,” he told her, trying to shove the pain away. “Always knew you liked Rogers more than me.” 

That got an actual laugh out of her, and the tightness in Tony’s chest eased a little at the sound. “Shut up,” she told him. 

Tony grinned, eyes crinkling. “Wish I knew where here was,” he added in an undertone. He felt Natasha’s arm move against his as she shrugged. 

“Purgatory, I guess? It has that empty, soulless feel to it.” 

“Mmmm.” It had been a rhetorical question, but her answer set off a spiral of connections in his brain. “That doesn’t quite make sense though… If it’s purgatory, why are we here together.” 

“I don't know, Tony. Up until very recently, I didn’t think purgatory even existed.” 

“No, but…” Tony sat up, rubbing at his forehead, neurons firing faster than he could articulate. “Alone, sure, maybe. But just the two of us? Together?” He pointed at her, shaking his head. “That doesn’t make sense.” 

“If you say so.” But Natasha was sitting up now too, watching him carefully, knowing him well enough to wait and see where he was going with this. 

Tony hopped off the bed, pacing around the room. “There’s nobody else here. It’s just you and me. We’re stuck in the tower, our home… Holy shit.” He rubbed his hand over his mouth and met Nat’s eyes. “You said it, Nat. ‘That soulless feel.’” 

Nat shook her head. “What, you think we’re not really dead?” 

“Not not dead,” he admitted. “But I… I died using the stones, and you happened to die in a beautiful blaze of life-altering self sacrifice for the soul stone. What if that’s where we are?”

Natasha’s entire body was tense, but there was a look on her face that wanted to be hope. “Everyone else came back,” she told him. “Right?” 

Tony nodded. “And let’s face it, we’re the two smartest members of the team. If anyone can find a way out of here, it’s us.” He grinned at her then. “You and me, honey.”

***

They started out exploring again, together this time, which helped to make the sight of the empty city a tiny bit less unsettling. They went through the city bit by bit, looking for anything that was different, registering and recording even the slightest change from what they knew. 

Neither of the brought up the fact that while nothing seemed out of place, it was the city they knew from before the snap. The New York City of five years earlier. 

They didn’t rush it, since time didn’t seem to matter anyway. They would just take their time wandering through the streets, resting when they needed to, sneaking into somehow fully-stocked shops for drinks and snacks and ice creams. They chatted while they moved, Tony telling all his favourite stories about Morgan, Natasha offering up stories about their dumbass teammates in turn. They teased each other with nicknames and insults, all seeped in the kind of affection that came from having each other’s backs for ten plus years. They kept it light and easy and familiar. They didn’t mention the way the light seemed permanently muted, like the colour had been leached out of everything except for them, didn’t talk about what would happen if they didn’t find a way out of here, what they would do with themselves for the next year, or decade, or… forever. When it got too overwhelming, they’d reach out, catch each other’s hands and squeeze, not having to speak out loud to remind themselves that at least they weren’t alone in this. And just like Natasha had said, no matter how far they managed to get, no matter how much ground they covered in a day, they’d somehow wake up back in the tower with no clear memory of how. 

They’d tried, exactly once, to leave the island. They’d made it halfway across the Brooklyn Bridge before something had happened. Neither of them could say exactly what, after the fact, but it had been awful. A memory, or an image, something that had left Tony curled on the ground, just wanting it to end, barely aware of where or who or when he was. They’d woken up back at the tower, and it had spent the next few ‘days’ just curled up together, not speaking. It was awhile before they’d gone back out at all. 

And, eventually, they had exhausted the extent of Manhattan, had catalogued the entire city. Tony wasn’t sure how they were still sane, honestly, if he stopped and thought about the sheer amount of time that was involved in that. Wasn’t sure how they could continue to stay sane, if they didn’t have a next step to work toward. But hell, maybe they weren’t, maybe they’d gone insane ages ago; he supposed they probably wouldn’t actually know. 

In the meantime, until they could find a next step, they’d stuck around the tower for a bit, wallowing in the safe and familiar of it. Nat had dug out the board games that they’d had for team bonding nights, and they’d been playing round after round of Risk, and Monopoly, and Trivial Pursuit and the Avengers board game that made no sense but they’d kept for the novelty of it. Natasha was a total cheat, but that was fine because Tony was too. Trying to outcheat each other just became part of the fun. Time continued passing strangely, but they weren’t trying to track it anymore, weren’t trying to look for patterns or explanations. They just settled in and accepted it.

Tony tried going into the lab once, thinking maybe there’d be some clue, or something. But the electricity didn’t seem to work quite right here (except, inexplicably, the elevators thank god); it was always bright enough to see, but there was no television, no computer, nothing to distract from the endless days. And without power, the lab felt wrong. It was quiet and empty, no holograms, no whirring of fans to keep everything cool. No robots coming to greet him in the most irritating way possible. That bothered him more than he’d expected. He kept having to tell himself that Dum-E and U were upstate. They weren’t gone, like everyone else, they were just upstate. 

Natasha found him there, one of those indeterminate amounts of times later, staring at the empty Iron Man capsules. “Tony,” she said softly, voice understanding. She caught his arm, gently tugging him away. “There’s nothing here. Let’s go.” 

He didn’t go back. 

***

In the end, the way out found them. They’d been sitting around the common room, reading quietly — Tony had almost forgotten about the entire library he’d had added to the tower — when there was a noise. He’d looked up, and felt the blood drain from his face at the figure standing in the doorway, staring at Tony intently. 

“What the fuck?” he yelped, book going flying and causing Natasha to look up too. She followed his gaze, and her eyes went wide. 

“Is that…?”

“Dad?” Tony choked out. 

Howard stepped further into the room, smiling gently. “Tony. Son.”

Tony stared at him wildly, gaze darting back and forth between him and Natasha. “I don’t… How…” Distantly he wondered if he was having a heart attack, if he even could be having a heart attack considering his possibly-already-dead status. 

Howard’s smile was soft and sad, a look Tony had never seen before in his life. “I’ve waited such a long time to see you again.” 

Tony swallowed hard, feeling his throat thicken. He didn’t know how, but somehow he knew inherently that this really was his father. “You have?” he asked, nearly choking on the words. 

Howard nodded. “I am so, so proud of you, Tony. Everything you’ve done, everything you’ve accomplished? I’m so proud.” 

Tony had waited his whole life to hear those words, and he let his eyes fall closed, blinking back the tears that threatened to fall. “Thanks,” he whispered.

And then the moment was broken. 

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Natasha burst out, glaring at Howard with enough anger that Tony shivered a little. Howard was probably lucky he was already dead. 

“Nat?” Tony asked, feeling a little like he was in shock. 

“No,” she told him shortly. “You might be able to forgive, but I’m definitely not.” She turned back to Howard, stepping closer as she pointed at him, furious. “Do you have any idea what you did to Tony? To your son?? Years of neglect, of making him feel like he wasn’t good enough, like he would never be good enough. And I guess ignoring him was still preferable to when you actively hurt him — don’t think we don’t all know exactly why he doesn’t like being handed things. Do you know how many years it took us to make Tony believe that we loved him, that he didn’t have to do anything just to make himself worthy of existing?? That he didn’t have to buy affection with money?” Her eyes narrowed further. “You’re lucky Rhodes isn’t here, by the way. He’d punch your dead ass into the ground. And all of that, all those years where all Tony wanted was a father, and you can’t even say you’re sorry?” 

“Nat!” Vaguely, Tony thought he should be at least a little upset at her just laying out all his neuroses like that — and to his father, at that — but all he felt was a sort of warm and fuzzy feeling that she was so furious on his behalf. “It’s alright.” 

And it was, really. Maybe it was this place, but the hurt here seemed to hurt a little less. 

But to his surprise, it was Howard who shook his head. “No, Tony. Your friend, she’s right.” He drew in a slow breath. “It’s a funny thing, when you die. You gain… Perspective. See yourself for how you really were. I didn’t do right by you, Tony. I was so scared to have a kid, and more than anything I just… I didn’t want you to be like me. But I fucked it up, kid. I was always proud of you, Tony. Always. But no one ever told me no. I thought I could do anything. And you were so much smarter than me, right from the start. So much better than me. You were so sweet, so genuinely good, but all I could see was all the ways you could turn into me. I thought I was keeping that from happening, but what I did to you? Tony, the way I treated you? It’s unforgivable.” 

And Tony wasn’t ready to forgive him, yet. As much as he still sought his approval, he knew Howard hadn’t been a good father. He was self-aware enough to know that Howard had fucked him up pretty damn good. But even if he wasn’t ready to forgive him, he tired of letting it define him and was ready to let it go. “It’s… It’s okay, Dad,” he told him, and he meant it. 

Howard smiled at him, and it wasn’t the hug that Tony would have killed for as a child, but that was okay too. 

Natasha was still looking mutinous, glaring daggers at Howard, and Tony reached over, patting her thigh reassuringly. Her gaze softened a little, and she gave him a reluctant smile. Something Howard had said was niggling at Tony though, and he frowned as he glanced back over at him. “Wait. You said that something happens when you die, that you gain perspective. That didn’t happen.” He glanced at Natasha for confirmation and she slowly shook her head in agreement. Feeling his heart thud in his chest, he looked back up at Howard. “Does that mean… Are we not really dead?” 

Howard looked pained. “No,” he admitted, after a too-long moment of quiet. “Not in the sense that anyone else is, anyway. You used the soul stone, and that… That changes things.” 

Tony felt his heart speed up, felt Nat’s muscles tense under his hand. “But that means... That means we can go back. If we’re not really dead, if we’re stuck in some sort of in-between, there must be a way back.” 

Howard shook his head. “No, Tony. I know what you’re thinking, and no. I’m sorry. Even if…” His face twisted like he physically couldn’t speak for a moment, and he stared at Tony, willing him to understand. “Even if there was a way out, I couldn’t tell you it. I’m sorry.” 

Tony nodded, staring back at Howard. “It’s okay, Dad,” he told him again. And he did understand. Howard hadn’t said there wasn’t a way out. Whether he could help them or not, a way out meant that Tony could find it. 

And then, abruptly, Howard smiled again. “Do you remember, when you were a kid — couldn’t have been more than two — you were obsessed with backhoe loaders? Told anyone who would listen that you wanted to become a tunnel engineer so you could dig out the tunnels.” 

Tony frowned a little at the abrupt segue. “Shouldn’t have talked me out of it. I could have built the Chunnel.” 

Howard was giving him a look again. “You would have had a heart attack at forty-one.” 

“I did,” Tony pointed out flatly. “At thirty-eight, actually.”

Howard just gave him another sad smile. 

***

He had faded out after that, almost as suddenly as he had appeared, and with the new information, Tony had thrown himself back into finding a way out, going over and over everything that he and Nat had collected, trying to find something they’d missed. 

But weeks later, and he had still gotten nowhere. It didn’t help that it was hard for him to focus, his mind stuck on something Howard had said. He couldn’t seem to get past it, and he couldn’t parse out why. 

Frustrated, he leaned back in his chair with a huff, tossing his pen across the room just because he could. God, he missed computers so much.

“Why did Howard tell me I would have died at forty-one?” 

Natasha looked up from the map she’d been frowning over. “Because you were a workaholic, even at two?”

He rolled his eyes at her. “But why forty-one specifically? Why from being a tunnel… engineer… Oh, holy shit.” 

“Tony?” 

But Tony was already gone, dashing off for the library again, since Wikipedia wasn’t a thing anymore. It took him forever to find the book he was looking for, long enough that Nat had followed him down, watching his chaotic search with an arched eyebrow. 

“What are you looking for?” 

“Just give me a — hah!” Tony hauled a massive tome of the shelf, dropping it on a table with a thud and thumbing through the pages. Natasha moved closer, lifting the cover of the book to take a peek. 

“A Brief History of New York City?” she asked, looking dubious. “It doesn’t look that brief.” 

Tony didn’t answer, too busy looking for whatever he was looking for, until he stopped suddenly, eyes scanning the page rapidly. “There, look!” He spun the book to face her, finger on a particular line. 

“Holland died of a heart attack at the age of 41, following a nervous breakdown due to the long hours and stress of working in the compressed air of the tunnel,” Natasha read out loud. “Who…” Her eyes flicked to the top of the page. “Who’s ‘Clifford Milburn Holland?’”

“The chief engineer of the Holland Tunnel,” Tony told her, face splitting into a wide grin. “It was a clue. Nat, the way out is through the Holland Tunnel.” Then he frowned. “The way out is through the Holland Tunnel?” He made a face. “Of course the way out is through Jersey. Fucking Jersey.”

Natasha’s lips were pursed, eyes focused on the page of the book. “You sure about this?” 

“No,” he admitted helplessly. “But I’m out of other ideas. And…” He looked around the room. “Do we really have anything to lose?” 

“Alright. Holland Tunnel it is.” 

***

The thing was, Tony hadn’t really thought about how dark the tunnel would be without lights. “Whelp,” he said, as the two of them stood in the middle of the empty street, peering down into the darkness. “This should be fun.” His hand moved automatically to his chest, fingers thrumming against the spot where the arc reactor had once sat, trying to keep control of his breathing. 

“Hey.” Natasha’s voice was soft, her hand reassuring on his arm. “It’ll be okay. Tony, I’m going to be right there with you, right beside you the whole way. It’s a straight route, all the way through, no side tunnels. We’ll keep our hands on the wall, and just keep walking. And it’s what, half an hour? And then we’ll be home.” She turned, pulling him into a hug, and Tony tucked his head into her neck, let himself be soothed by the steady, even rhythm of her breathing. 

“Okay,” he said, taking her hand as they turned to face the tunnel again. “Okay, let’s go.” 

They were stepping toward the tunnel, holding tight to each other, when there was a “Tony, wait!” from behind them. They turned back to find Howard standing there once more, hands clenched and face twisted in pain. “I’m not supposed to be here, but…” He grimaced. “Tony, it’s not what you think, you can’t just walk out.” 

Tony shared a look with Nat before turning back to his father. “What are you talking about?” 

“There are rules. You can’t just leave, it’s a trial.” His eyes flicked over to Nat, to their joined hands. “She’ll be behind you, but you won’t be able to see her, or hear her, or feel her.”

Tony felt panic flare through him at the thought, hand squeezing around Nat’s. “What?” he asked weakly. 

“What if I don’t?” Natasha asked. “What if I walk in front of him instead?” 

Howard looked more upset than Tony had ever seen him. “You can’t. You physically won’t be able to.” 

“That sounds kind of sexist,” Tony pointed out. “Can’t we switch?” 

Howard just shook his head, shrugging helplessly. “It’s the rules,” he said again. “She’ll be there, but you won’t be able to tell. Don’t do this, Tony, it’ll drive you crazy. You’ll be alone in the dark, wondering, doubting. And if you look back to check?” His eyes moved back over to Natasha. “She’ll be trapped here.”

Just barely he heard Nat’s breath catch, a slight gasp. This time it was her hand squeezing around his and Tony squeezed back, using his free hand to rub at his temple, willing away the headache he could feel coming on. 

“Why does this all sound so familiar?” 

Natasha looked thoroughly disgusted. “Because it’s a fucking Greek myth. Orpheus and Eurydice? Hades lures Eurydice into the underworld, Orpheus goes to get her back. He sings so beautifully that Hades lets them go, but he can’t see or hear Eurydice and if he looks back for her, he’ll lose her forever. Which, it’s a Greek myth, so that’s exactly what happens.” 

Tony stared at her incredulously. “What the fuck even is this place?” he burst out. “What, did the soul stone just take its first classics course? What the actual fuck?” 

Howard looked faintly amused at that, but still so sad. “Just stay here. You’re safe here.” 

Tony shook his head, feeling new resolve go through him. “I can’t,” he told him. He glanced at Natasha for confirmation, because this was her choice too, but she nodded at him, eyes determined. “We can’t stay here.” He glanced back at the tunnel. “You think I’ll go crazy in there? I’m going crazy here. We left so much behind. Dad, I’ve got a little girl. If there’s even a chance I can get back to her…” He trailed off, and for the first time since he’d woken up here, he could see Morgan as clearly as if she was in front of him, could hear her laugh when he swung her up on his shoulders, see the wide-eyed, proud look on her face when she figured out her first circuit board. Tony felt his eyes well with tears, his throat thick. “I have to take it.” 

Howard looked like he wanted to argue, but he seemed to recognize Tony’s particular brand of stubbornness and nodded instead. “Of course,” he said. “Of course you do.” He forced a smile to his face, though he had to clear his throat suspiciously to speak. “Be safe, Tony. I love you.” 

He was gone before Tony could say it back, and Tony blew out a heavy breath. “Well,” he said, turning to Nat with bright eyes. “That’s a hell of a send off.” 

“No shit,” she replied, not babying him at all. Tony appreciated it. “Hey, if you’re not ready to do this, we can wait. It’s kind of a lot, and since I sort of have a vested interest in you being able to handle it, I’m willing to wait. What’s one more day here, right?” 

For a moment Tony was tempted, he really was, but he shook his head. “If we don’t do it now, I’m afraid I’m going to chicken out entirely,” he admitted with a wry smile. “Besides, what was it you said? Half an hour and we’re home?” 

Natasha nodded, drawing in a deep breath and straightening her posture. “Okay. Okay, let’s go.” Then, as Tony started to turn to back to the tunnel, she grabbed him, hugging him so tight that Tony felt his ribs groan in protest. “Don’t you fucking dare look back, Stark,” she told him, and her voice was harsh, but Tony could hear the fear creeping into it. “I’ll be right behind you. Don’t you fucking dare.” 

Tony nodded, and they moved forward. Natasha was still holding his hand as they walked into the tunnel, but the second the crossed over the threshold, Tony could feel her hand slip out of his grasp. It reminded him, horribly, of Peter fading to ash in his arms, and the soft, pained noise he made was entirely involuntary. 

“I know you’re there,” he told her, voice echoing against the walls, and it helped a little, even if she couldn’t answer. “I know you’re still behind me. I’ve got this, Nat. I’ve got you.” 

Then he drew a deep breath, put his hand on the wall to his left, and started to walk. 

***

Apparently, the weird flow of time extended to the tunnel as well. At first, it hadn’t been so bad. There had been enough of the grey light filtering in from the entrance to the tunnel that he could still see his feet, still see the path in front of him. Then they’d passed through the curve under Hudson Street, and he hadn’t been able to see anything at all. He’d started talking then, rambling to Natasha about everything and nothing, anything to keep his mind of the endless darkness laid out in front of him. 

But gradually, as the tunnel went on, and on, and on, his voice had tapered off, the whispers in the dark drowning them out until he couldn’t speak anymore, all his focus on his hand on the wall and putting one foot in the other, over and over again. It hadn’t been half an hour, it couldn’t have been half an hour. He’d been down here for days, weeks maybe. For forever. It was never going to end.

Doubt crept into his mind, a little voice telling him that it was a trap, that he was alone here, and lost, that he’d be trapped here in the dark for all eternity. His feet stumbled then, and though he kept his hand on the wall, he couldn’t seem to make himself take another step. He choked on a sob, the sound bouncing down through the length of the tunnel and making him choke out another one. 

“I can’t,” he gasped. “I can’t do it. I don’t want to be alone here.” 

The only response was the echo of his own harsh breathing. 

“Fuck, I can’t do this. I don’t know what to do, I don’t… I can’t…” All he wanted to do was to turn around, to check if Nat was behind him. He just needed a bit of reassurance that he wasn't alone. He knew he was about three seconds from a full-on panic attack, and stuck in the dark like this, that seemed like a very bad idea. He sucked in a noisy breath, trying to find something to focus his breathing, since it wasn’t like he could see, or hear, or smell anything. He thought of Natasha, before they left, the steady beat of her heart, the easy rise and fall of her breathing, and focused on that, forced himself to match his breathing to the memory of hers. And maybe it was just his eidetic memory, but as his breathing eased, he could hear Nat’s voice as clearly as if she was standing beside him. 

“Don’t you fucking dare look back, Stark.” 

He was pretty sure he’d already lost his mind, could barely remember what sunlight looked like now, or Pepper’s smile, or Rhodey’s laugh. All the memories that had kept him going all the time they’d been here were lost to him now. But he forced himself to focus on the memory of her voice, on a vague image of her red hair, repeated her words over and over in his mind until the memory grew stronger. 

And somehow, it was enough. It was enough that he could almost convince himself that he was really hearing her, that he could tell himself that she was right behind him, hissing it in his ear. It was enough. 

He kept going. 

***

When he finally saw light at the end of the tunnel, his first thought was that it was another trick, that he was going to keep walking, and walking, and it was never going to get any closer or any brighter, that it would remain forever tantalizingly out of reach. He stumbled over his feet again, then snorted to himself. 

“Thought you weren’t supposed to walk toward the light on the end of the tunnel,” he mumbled, letting out a hysterical giggle. 

But he kept going, focusing on the memory of Nat’s voice, and the light grew brighter and closer with every step. Hope began to bloom in his chest, despite his best attempts to stay practical. 

“Okay,” he said, fighting against the sudden urge to look back, to make sure Natasha was still behind him, still with him. “We’re almost there. Just a little bit further to go. We did it, Nat. We’re going home.” 

Abruptly, it occurred to him that he had no idea how this would work once he passed through the other end of the tunnel. What if it only let him through, and because Nat was behind him, she was stuck? Or what if he was through, and she hadn’t quite gotten all the way across, and he made the mistake of looking back too early? How would he know when it was safe? 

Fighting another urge to check back for her, to see how far behind she was, he quickened his pace. There was nothing he could do except keep going, and hope that somehow, when the time was right, he’d know.

But it got harder and harder to keep from looking back at he got closer to the exit, and when he finally stepped through the threshold and out the other side, he resorted to squeezing his eyes tightly shut, figuring if he couldn’t see, he couldn’t accidentally look. 

Almost immediately he choked, fumes in the air making it hard to breathe. Then there was a loud, blaring horn, harsh on his ears after the silence of the tunnels, and someone behind him shoved him hard to the side. Tony grunted as his knees and palms scraped against concrete, but he didn’t open his eyes, couldn’t risk it. Exhausted, he just collapsed on the ground, squeezing his eyes so tightly shut that it hurt. 

“Tony? Jesus, Tony, are you alright??” 

Hands were turning him over onto his back, and that was Nat’s voice but he still couldn’t risk it because what if it was another trick, what if he opened his eyes just to get one last glimpse before she was whisked away forever. He shook his head frantically.

“Tony it’s me. It’s okay, we made it through. We’re home. It’s safe now, I promise. You can open your eyes.” 

Nat sounded close to tears, and somewhere deep inside he knew it had to be true, but he still couldn’t make himself look, terrified that he’d lose the last thing he had, that then he’d be completely alone. 

And then he felt heat on his face, the kind of heat that could only come from the sun, and he just knew. There had been no sun in the soul stone, just an endless grey, and it had been so long since he’d felt it, but he knew. He couldn’t trust his eyes or his ears, but this, somehow, he could trust. 

Feeling tears spilling down his cheeks, he pried his eyes open to find Natasha kneeling over him, her face red and blotchy with her own tears. For a long moment they just stared at each other and then Tony was sitting up and wrapping his arms around her and Natasha was practically crawling in his lap as they just held each other and cried, all the fear and stress spilling over into relief, too much to be expressed in any other way. 

The moment was broken by another loud car horn, and them someone hollering, “Coupla fuckin’ freaks!” in a thick Jersey accent as they drove by. They stared at each other a moment longer and then burst into slightly hysterical giggling. 

“Home sweet home, huh?” Nat asked dryly. 

Tony just shook his head. “I can’t believe the way out was through fucking Jersey,” Tony grumbled, even as he used his thumbs to brush Nat’s tears away from her cheeks. “Shit, we’re gonna have to try and find a ride upstate,” he told her. “I don’t even have any ID.”

“Well.” She looked over his head, arching an eyebrow. “Maybe these nice people can help us out.” 

Tony tipped his head back to see a whole bunch of transit authority officers making their way toward them and groaned. 

“What the fuck are you doing?” one of them hollered. “The tunnel is off limit to pedestrians! You can’t just walk through, you got any idea the kind of damage you could’ve caused? You could’ve killed someone! You could’ve…” He trailed off as he moved closer and got a better look at them. “Hey, wait. Aren’t you… Holy shit. Holy fucking shit.” 

Tony shared a look with Nat before they moved apart and got slowly to their feet. “Afternoon, folks,” Tony said, putting on his best press smile. It felt strange on his face, after going so long without having to bother. “Don’t suppose you could help a couple wayward superheroes out?” 

As the officers tried to figure out what the fuck was going on, Natasha pressed a little closer to his side, her fingers tangling with his. For all his futurism, Tony had no idea what was going to happen next. He didn’t even know how long they’d been gone, let alone how to begin to come back from the dead. Had no idea what they’d find when they made it back to the compound, if there would still be an Avengers team, if there would even still be a compound. But when he glanced over at Nat, he found her grinning right back at him and he knew they’d be okay. Whatever happened, they would be facing it together.

@tonystarkbingo @natasharomanovbingo

[i-am-out-of-my-vulcan-mind]

Weather the Weather

Just a wee drabble prompted by a message @indelibleevidence​ put on part one of this fic - Weather the Storm.

This can be read as a oneshot also.

Another bingo square, 'childhood trauma'

Jane was feeling sick with dread. Ever since her panic attack from the thunder storm the other night, she had been meticulously checking the weather report every morning. There had been clear sky's every night since - a little strange for NYC in the middle of winter. 

This morning she had checked as usual, and the report set like lead in her belly. Another storm was due to come in this evening, and from the looks of things it was meant to be worse than the last. 

Kurt had noticed how quiet she had been at breakfast, so had taken it upon himself to check the report himself. He knew how much the last storm had affected her. He sighed when he saw what was forecasted. It was going to be another hard night for both of them.

The work day was rather uneventful. They had spent the day doing paperwork. Jane was thankful for that, her frailed nerves probably would have caused her to be distracted, should they have had to go in the field. 

About an hour before they were due to go home, Kurt came up to her desk.

"Hey I'm gonna head home early." he said casually, sitting on the side of her desk. 

"Is everything ok?" she asked in concern. 

He nodded.

"Of course." he replied, offering her a small smile. "I just have some things to take care of is all." 

"Ok… I'll catch a ride with Tasha." she said, mildly confused. He never left work early. He especially didn't leave work early without telling her why.

She shrugged.

"I'll see you when you get home." he said, kissing her on the side of her head. 

"Ok." She smiled softly. "Bye." 

She turned back to her paperwork, trying to focus her attention on her work, rather than her growing unease at the impending storm. 

She was mostly worried about having another panic attack. They were truly the most horrific things she had ever felt. They made her feel like she had no control over her own body.

The rest of the day ticked by slowly. When it was finally cutting off time, she waited for Tasha in the locker room, before they left the building together. 

They were about halfway to Jane's apartment, when Tasha spoke up.

"Is everything ok?" She asked, glancing at her her.

"Yes? Why wouldn't it be?" Jane replied. 

Tasha shrugged.

"You've looked like you've seen a ghost all day and then Kurt left work early…" she replied, "Just a bit strange is all."

Jane looked down at her hands, picking at the skin on the end her fingers.

"I… ah…" she stammered. Sighing, she looked across at her friend. "You're going to think this is so stupid."

Tasha raised an eyebrow. 

"Try me."

Jane bit her lip.

"So it turns out I suffer massive panic attacks during thunderstorms." she said shyly. "I get… flashbacks from Afghanistan."

"Oh Jane…" Tasha replied sympathetically. "You know that's nothing to be ashamed of? Right?"

Jane nodded.

"Yeah I know… but it still makes me feel weak."

"Jane you're only human… it's ok to feel that way."

"Yeah I know…" Jane shrugged. "I just hate it is all."

"Just know I'm always here if you need to talk." Tasha said, looking at her again. 

"Thank you." Jane whispered, feeling slightly uncomfortable. "There's another storm forecasted for tonight. I'm just concerned about what it's going to do to me this time."

"Ah." Tasha replied in understanding. "Try earplugs?"

Jane chuckled. 

"Yeah… maybe." She smiled at her friend.  "As for Kurt… I have no idea why he left early." she added.

"Hmm… maybe he went to buy you earplugs?" Tasha laughed trying to lighten the mood. 

They spent the rest of the drive, consumed in idle chit chat. When they arrived at her house, Tasha reached over and gave her friend a hug. 

"You'll be ok." she said softly. 

"Thanks." Jane replied, hugging her back. She got out of the car and waved as Tasha drove away. 

She stepped into the elevator and made it up to their floor, where she wondered if Kurt would be waiting for her. A sudden panicked thought entered her mind, would he even be home when the storm hit? She wasn't sure if she could endure that by herself… 

She opened their door, to find her living room completely transformed. All of the furniture had been pushed back and there were sheets draped around the room.

"Kurt?" she called.

"In here." he whispered. 

Jane walked around the room, ducking under a sheet he had strung up. He was nestled in a mound of pillows and blankets, snack food littered around his head.

Jane laughed.

"Kurt… what is this?" she asked.

"Haven't you ever seen a pillow fort before?" he replied cheekily. 

"I mean… yes… but not in our apartment." She laughed again. 

"Well… I thought with the storm… maybe we could weather the weather together." 

"Oh Kurt…" she whispered, gratitude filling her. 

"Now… go put something warm and fluffy on, and come and join me!" Kurt said, shooing her towards the bedroom.

Jane smiled, then did as she was told. 

00000000

At the first crack of thunder, Jane tensed, seeking out Kurt's hand. He pulled her towards him.

"It's ok… I'll always keep you safe." he said, before realizing that wasn't the first time he had used those words in this type of situation.

At the next rumble of thunder, it was him that tensed, before a single tear rolled down his face.

Jane, sensing his unease, put her own fear aside to look at his face. 

"Kurt?" she asked, when she saw that he was crying. "Kurt what's wrong?"

He swallowed thickly. 

"Taylor." was all he said.

Jane reached out and kissed his tears away.

"Talk to me, my love." she whispered, pulling him against her.

He sighed.

"The last time I went camping with her, there was a storm. She was scared and I told her I would keep her safe… but I couldn't… I couldn't even keep her safe from my own father!"

"Oh Kurt…" Jane said softly. "You were just a child…"

He sniffed.

"I know… but… I just wish I had have been able to keep my promise." 

Jane sighed.

"I guess storms aren't great for both of us." 

He shook his head.

"I guess not…" 

"I have an idea." Jane said, extracting herself from his embrace. She walked towards the bathroom, shuddering when another crack of thunder shook the walls.

She grabbed the items she wanted, then made her way quickly back to Kurt. 

At his questionably look, she held out her hand.

"Earplugs." she said, shrugging. 

He took a pair from her and they both put them in their ears. 

She grabbed her phone and typed out a message.

'I love you.' she said.

He took her phone off her and typed out his own message. 

'I love you too.'

She took the phone back and wrote out one last message.

'I always feel safe when I'm with you.'

Kurt looked at her, pulling her close again. They lay there, enduring the storm of each others memories. Together they fell asleep slowly, knowing that the other would always be there.

[alleiradayne]

I Thought It Was You

Summary: Sam and Dean bump into the reader while in town and she mistakes Sam for someone else. Square Filled: Mistaken Identity Warnings/Tags: All fluff Characters/Pairings: Sam Winchester/Reader, Dean Winchester Word Count: 581 A/N: For @spnfluffbingo2019, this fills the square Mistaken Identity. Thank you, as always, to @atc74 for beta’ing. Song: I Thought It Was You by Herbie Hancock

He had seen the look in her eye from half a block away. Tenuous recognition clouded by doubt. But as Sam and Dean strode down the sidewalk toward the woman that scrutinized him, every step seemed to confirm her suspicions, uncertainty draining away.

“Hey, you’re that guy!”

Sam regarded Dean, then looked behind him to find the sidewalk empty. When he turned back to the woman standing before him, he stuttered. “Which guy?”

“The one from that show!” she exclaimed. “Right? Or are you just one of those really uncanny dopplegangers?”

Shit. Was there a Shapeshifter on the loose again?

“You were on that show,” she repeated, snapping her fingers, “dammit, what was it called?”

Sam stuttered as the fine hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. “Dean, what’s going on?”

Dean opened his mouth to respond but the woman spoke first. “Dean! That was it! Your character's name was Dean! You’re Ja—”

“No!” Sam interjected, but when the woman startled, he regretted his outburst and calmed. “No, I’m Sam. This is my brother, Dean.”

The woman cocked her head as if to see him clearer, inspecting him like a specimen under a microscope. “Sam. And Dean.” She paused and her stare shifted. “You’re joking, right? Because those are your character’s names on that other—”

“Stop!” Dean hissed, his face white as a sheet. “There is something very weird and very familiar about this. I’m getting major déjà vu vibes.”

“Don’t use that phrase. Today is definitely not yesterday again,” Sam insisted.

“No, that’s not what I’m talking about,” Dean said. “If Balthazar wasn’t dead, I’d swear we got tossed back into that bizzaro our-lives-are-a-fictional-tv-show universe.”

“That would be just as bad, dude,” Sam started, then paused when he saw the incredulous looked plastered on the woman’s face. “I’m so sorry, I think you’ve confused me with someone else.”

Her stare softened after a hesitant second. “It’s fine. You just… really look like him,” she breathed as her disappointment turned into a small smile. “Sam, I’m Y/N,” she added as she held out her hand.

Sam took it and, in that moment of connection, all the tension drained from his rigid spine. He smiled as he said, “Y/N. Pleasure to meet you.”

“Are you from Lebanon?” she asked.

“We are,” Dean interjected as he held out his hand.

She took it with a quick shake, then turned back to Sam. “I just moved into town last week. Still learning where everything is. Maybe you could show me around?”

Sam started to agree but caught Dean’s glare out of the corner of his eye. “I uh… I—”

“I’m just gonna go… over there and… be productive doing something else,” Dean said as he pointed across the street. “See you at home, Sammy.”

An endearing shake of her head prefaced her bewildered response. “Your brother is… interesting.”

“He’s annoyed,” Sam stated with a glare at the back of Dean’s head. “But he’ll get over it. Now, what can I help you find?”

Her brow shot skyward, nearly reaching her hairline as Y/N stuttered. “Right now?”

Sam shrugged. “I’ve got all day, nothing going on,” he said as he offered his arm.

A coy smirk curled her lips as her hand slipped into the crook of her elbow. “Is there a good bakery in town? I need a cake…”

Sam laughed far louder than he intended. Y/N giggled with him until he spoke.

“I know just the place.”

Feedback is appreciated! Feel free to reblog, too!

If you want in on any of my tags (Sam/Jared, Dean/Jensen), send me a DM or an ask!

ALLEIRADAYNE’S SPN FLUFF BINGO MASTERLIST

ALLEIRADAYNE’S SPN MASTER LIST

The Whole Thang:

@atc74  @hannahindie @bevans87  @meganwinchester1999 @oneshoeshort @jonogueira @andkatiethings @elfinmox @wonderfulworldofwinchester @princessofthefandomrealm  @just-another-busyfangirl @jmekitchens @81mysteriouslyme @dolphincliffs  @seenashwrite  @canadianspnhunter  @meowmeow-motherfucker @depressed-moose-78 @staycejo1 @hobby27  @pretty-fortune @mypopculturediva @fanfictionjunkie1112 @sandlee44 @4llmywr1tings @claitynroberts @maddiepants @scarletluvscas @donnaintx @blackeyedangel9805​ @rainflowermoon​ @winchesterprincessbride​  @lazinessisalliknow​ @the-is13​ @waywardafgrandma​ @keymology​ @sister-winchesters99​ @amanda-teaches​

Sam’s Sasstresses (Jared):

@karouwinchester​

If you see a strike through your blog, it’s because I cannot tag you for some reason. I blame Tumblr.

[intoxicatingficfest]

INTOXICATING BINGO ROUND INFORMATION

-What is the bingo about?-

The bingo round is a special event created in order to spice things up and to have a dynamic format, different from our original prompt & claim one. In this bingo, you will need to write a different number of fics featuring Hakyeon / Hongbin. It is nbin centric so you can write from any of their points of view. The ideal goal is to get a complete line of bingo, however, if you desire to keep on writing you are free to do so <3 you can even complete your card if you feel energized enough.

Remember it’s all about us having fun and giving love to the nbin tag <3

-What Bingo cards are we able to get?-

The Intoxicating team has prepared 4 different cards, all of them based on the same duality concept that we used on the first round. We didn’t want to make that many changes to the concept of the fic fest so here is what we came up with for this round!

BASIC 3 X 3 CARDS

INTOXICATINGLY SWEET CARDS

This cards will include a mix of prompts that are from the more lighthearted side of the prompt sheet (confessions, love at first sight, slice of life, friends to lovers--anything and everything that is light, if you have witnessed the first round then you know the drill).

FULLY INTOXICATING CARDS

This card will include a varied assortment from the angstier, sexier and darker side of the prompt sheet (all that is angst, perhaps forbidden romance? sexy times? all goes here)

How to get bingo with these cards?

To be able to say you got a bingo you have to fill a line of your card, which would mean getting 3 prompts filled ( horizontal, vertical or diagonal lines)

4 x 4 SPECIAL CARDS

ALL CONSUMING INTOXICATION 

This special card will provide you with the full Intoxicating experience, a 4 x 4 card made half of Intoxicatingly sweet prompts and half of fully intoxicating ones. This one is for writers who want to tackle a different kind of prompts and don’t want to limit themselves to only one side and/or want to experiment with the duality of nbin entirely! You will get a total of 16 prompts at your disposal so hopefully, it’s exciting enough.

HINTS OF INTOXICATION

A special one word / theme / au card, this one has been prepared by the mods for writers who don’t want to be caged by a prompt and want to be part of the fest, we will give you keywords, situations, maybe even quotes? who knows! it’s a surprise mix which will allow you to take your story wherever you want to~

-How to get bingo in these cards?-

To get bingo in these 4 x 4 special cards you will need to fill a total number of 4 prompts, any of the lines will help you win this card.

-How to fill out a square?-

For the square to be valid as a part of the bingo round, you have to write a fic based on any of the prompts provided in your card. General rules will apply but don’t worry! we will explain them again.

Keep in mind that the work in question must be a new work, so only works that were created for the fest are allowed (meaning that you can’t cross out the square if you are adding a chapter to an on-going fic. More about this on the posting explanation section)

-IS IT ALLOWED TO FILL THE WHOLE CARD?-

If your energy is all the way up then you are free to fill out your whole card! 

-Is it necessary to get a bingo if I sign up?- 

The ideal scenario would be for participants to indeed get a bingo, however, since this round is meant to be slightly more lighthearted than the previous ones then: you don’t really have to make a bingo. You can write any prompts from the card that you have been given in any order, or you can write just one prompt if you only liked one out of your whole card. The idea is to have fun. 

//GENERAL GUIDELINES + RULES //

This is to remind you about the basic rules that will still apply to the fic fest, some have been taken out in order to suit this round. But it’s always good to refresh the memory a bit!

-Don’t forget that it’s a must for you to have an ao3 account, so in case you don’t have one yet please don’t forget to request for one!

-Prompting and claiming will still be done through Google Forms.

-Prompts will be displayed on a Google Sheets file.

-Prompting doesn’t recquire any sign-ups, so do prompt away. Remember that you can send more than one prompt (in fact, we really want you to prompt to your heart’s content)

-Made bingo in one card and want to claim another card? You can ask for another card if you have either made bingo on your card or if you have at least written 1 fic and want to try out the other cards. This however only applies if you have either claimed one of the 3 x 3 cards or the 4x4 mixed card and want to get the special word / theme prompt card.

-The minimum word count for your work should be 500w for the check in and the final word count should be at 1000W, don’t forget that you can go above and beyond that limit, however.

-The works that can be submitted are oneshots, ficlets and chaptered fics. However, they have to be exclusive for this fest so they can’t be sequels or prequels to previous works or chapters of on-going fics.

-You can either submit your work at 100% or if your story evolved too much, you can submit the first chapter.

-Hakyeon/Hongbin must be the main pairing in all of the stories submitted. You are free to choose the pov you are going to be writing from though.

-Please tag your work correctly, make mention of any kind of triggering topics. (more rules regarding this when we release prompting and claiming information)

-Flaming and hateful comments won’t be tolerated, we want this fic fest to be an awesome experience for writers, readers, and the general public so we will be reinforcing this rule if we see any kind of conduct that will cause uncomfortable situations.

-It is a must for communication to be a thing between mods and you, do please let us know if you have received our e-mails! We will be sending e-mails throughout the whole process and tweeting that we have so in case you haven’t got an e-mail, contact us ASAP and in the case you have received it, do reply letting us know you read!

-This fic fest is exclusively Nbin focused so any kind of ot3+ isn’t allowed (other past ships for the sake of plot can, however, be allowed–but remember, this is Nbin centric)!

[joyofcrime-elinorhigh]

Barbie: Princess and the Popstar REVIEW:

 Hello everybody, my name is JoyofCrimeArt and I hate myself. Barbie.

 The Direct-to-DVD Barbie movies aren't something that I, and I assume many of you reading this, ever really thought about to much. They we're always that movie that you would see in the Wal-mart "five dollar" DVD racks. Or maybe you'd see a snip-it of one airing on Nickelodeon at like, twelve o'clock on a Sunday afternoon. Compared to, say, the direct-to-DVD Scooby-Doo movies the Barbie movies seem to be a lot less attention. Which is why it came to such a shock to me that there are SO MANY!  Thirty-six. As of the time of me writing this review there are thirty-six direct-to-DVD Barbie movies. And not only that, but they are divided into several different continuities and "seasons" as Wikipedia list it. The Barbie movies are a massive franchise! I just can't wait until their next film. Barbie: Infinity War. That one will make all the money!  So in order to honor such a long lasting franchise, I figured it was about time somebody gave Barbie the respect she deserves. The movie we're going to be talking about today, Barbie: Princess and the Popstar is the twenty-third entry in what I have titled the Barbie: Cinematic Universe. I had actually seen this one a couple of years ago on Nickelodeon. And it is, as of the writing of this review, the only Barbie movie that I have seen. Why did I choose to watch this movie oh so many years ago do you ask? Well, it was because of the title. Princess and the Popstar. Most Barbie movies have kinda dumb overly girly titles, but this one takes the cake. Princess and the Popstar! Somebody was PAID to come up with this!  And you wanna know the really crazy thing? This isn't even the first Barbie movie to be an adaptation of Mark Twain's "The Prince and the Pauper." There was another, I'm assuming more straight forward, adaptation in 2004. But I guess marketing decided that Mark Twain's classic novel just...didn't have enough pop stars to meet "Girls between the ages of 2-7" demographic.  But hey, maybe the film won't be so bad. I mean the film is directed by Zeke Norton, who directed both Scary Godmother films. And those films...exist. Anyway, no more stalling. Let's dive head first to Barbie: Princess and the Popstar.

 The movie begins with a pop concert. And honestly, I can't imagine it starting any other way.  Famous pop star Keira (voiced by Ashleigh Ball.) is preforming a music tour in the fictional kingdom of Meribella, in celebration of the 500th anniversary of the countries founding. We see her preform her set. We then cut away the kingdoms princess, Princess Tori (voiced by Kelly Sheridan.) standing outside her castle's balcony, listening to the event from a distance.  And if those voice actresses names sound at all familiar to you that's because our two heroines are voiced by Applejack and Starlight Shimmer, respectively, from My Little Pony.

UGH! As if I didn't already have enough reason to hate Starlight Shimmer! ... Starlight Shimmer is the one that everybody hates, right?  Princess Tori wants to go down to the concert, but she is stopped by her Aunt, Dutchess Amelia. And I want you to guess, purely from her design, what her personality is.

If you said, stuffy old authority figure who's too focused on tradition and doesn't get the joke, than congratulations! You can predict a Barbie movie!  Princess Tori wants to go to the concert, but her Aunt forbids it because Tori has to write and preform a speech for the kingdoms five hundredth anniversary event. And she hasn't even started writing it yet. But Princess Tori isn't one for all this "traditional, princess stuff." She's goofy, mischievous, and a bit of a prankster. She's just too much of a rebellious free spirit for all this noise. Like all princesses in animation she dreams of something more. She dreams of being able to live her own life, free from all the rules and restrictions that being royalty presents. But, y'know, she still wants all the riches and glamour. Cause hey, that shit is sweet!  Meanwhile, Keira is busy dealing with all of her pop star duties. She's headstrong, and a bit of a workaholic. She runs every part of her tour, from lighting, costumes, to TV broadcast all herself. She doesn't even let her manager, Seymour Crider, do any of the work and ignores all of his advice. Keira is under pressure from her record label to write a new album. She says she's working on it, but with all the workload of running the music tour she just isn't feeling very inspired. And Crider is the one who has to deal with all the heat from the higher ups. Keira is just tired of all the pressure from the studio, and wishes she could not have all the responsibility of being a pop star. But, y'know, she still wants all the riches and glamour. Because, as we previously stated, that shit is sweet!  I can relate with Keira. The constant stress of deadlines and work on other projects can make ANYBODY feel uninspired. Sometimes people will become so desperate that they'll be willing to do any half-ass project in order to to stay ahead of deadlines. Like doing a lazy Q&A, or reviewing a Barbie movie.  ...  Wait....  So as you may have noticed by now, none of the characters in this movie are named Barbie! So already, this movie is clickbait. As it turns out, a lot of these Barbie movies don't actually star Barbie. Rather they star "characters portrayed by Barbie" which is all sorts of confusing. But hey, it could be worse I guess. They could be portrayed by Amy Schumer. But luckily we still got a few years before that happens.   Oh, by the way, magic exist in this world. Yeah, I know I bring that up pretty suddenly, but so does the film. Princess Tori has a magic hairbrush that changes her hair, and Keira has a magical microphone that changes her outfit. And nothing is really brought up about this. Like the characters in the film say that it's magic, but nothing else is really elaborated upon. Because outside of the magic, the world the film presents seems to more or less be the same as our world. It's not like it's some fairy tale kingdom or anything, it's set in contemporary times. It's never brought up where the magic comes from, it's just there. And it's even weirder because all they use there magic for is for changing there hair and outfit. Y'know, THINGS YOU CAN DO WITHOUT MAGIC!

Either that dress has a very large pocket, or this scene about to get a lot more uncomfortable.    Anyway, the studio blames Keira's manager Crider for not having the album done already. Because like in the real world, pop stars don't have to suffer any responsibility for there actions. Crider is by far the best character in this movie. He is the most over the top, foppish gay man you've ever did see. We learn a bit about his backstory, as he was once a child star himself on this universes version of Alvin and the Chipmunks. But when puberty hit he fell from the lime light faster than Macaulay Culkin. So naturally he is not only bitter at Keira for having to be blamed for all her actions, but also because he is jealous of her fame. He's a great villain not just because of how over the top flamboyant he is, but also because he gives a refreshing breath of cynicism and bitterness that the movie is otherwise lacking. Also he's voiced by Rolf from Ed Edd'n Eddy. He doesn't sound like Rolf, like at all. But simply knowing that makes the whole film a lot more enjoyable.  He tells his bumbling sidekick Rupert (Because why wouldn't he have a bumbling sidekick? I mean have you seen the type of movie this is?) that he plans on meeting Princess Tori's Aunt Amelia during a PR event, wooing her, and then inheriting all her money when she eventually passes away.

 Crider, Rupert, and Keira arrive at the castle the next day and Crider begins his plot to woo the duchess. Meanwhile, Princess Tori and Keira and immediately hit it off. They are both huge fans of the other, and become fast friends. Tori offers to give Keira a tour of the castle. They begin talking about the problems that they are both going through. This is where they hatch the idea to switch places, and do so using there magic hairbrush and microphone, in order to make themselves look exactly like the other.  Oh, and they also each have a dog. Because hey, little girls like dogs. There are some brief scenes we see between the dogs where they talk to each other in "animal language." but overall they don't contribute much to the plot, other than added marketability. Interesting side note, in the 2004 Barbie: Princess and the Pauper film they both had cats instead. Again, I guess dogs were just deemed more marketable.  Keira and Tori, now disguised as each other, continue there tour of the castle. This is when Tori decides to show Keira, the person she literally just met, the castles most valuable secret. A secret that only members of the royal family are permitted to know about. And this is where the movies gets WEIRD!  Okay, so they activates a secret passage and find a tree. And this tree, which only blooms once every five years, is a magic tree. That is guarded and cared for by a group of magically fairies. And the tree grows diamonds, which Tori says royal family uses the money from these diamonds to help the people! Though the fairies still give a diamond each to our protagonist. Again, it's weird because the world they create in this films universe SEEMS fairly real to our own. But then they just add random magical elements to it with no explanation. They could of at least included some backstory on where this tree came from. It feels like there just trying to check stuff off there "pandering to little girls" bingo sheet.

AH! BINGO! I GOT BINGO!  

Unfortunately for our heroines, Tori FORGOT TO CLOSE THE SECRET DOOR PANEL BEHIND HER and Aunt Amelia ends up finding the two snooping around the secret garden. AND SHE DOESN'T CLOSE THE DOOR EITHER! How the heck has this secret been kept for five hundred years? She get's mad at Keira (Who's still disguised as Tori) and the three leave the chamber. But unbeknownst to them, since Aunt Ameila DIDN'T CLOSE THE FRICKIN' SECRET PASSAGEWAY Crider finds out about the diamond tree. And now he decides to change his plan from marrying into money, to just stealing all the diamonds for himself. But that conflict can wait, because we have pop songs to preform.

 This movie has a lot of pop songs. Like, about a third of the movie is pop songs. And I have to say...there actually really good. If you're into that kinda pop punk type of music that is. The voice actresses each have a separate singing voice in the form of Jennifer Waris (Tori) and Tiffany Giardina (Keira) and both singers really knock it out of the part. Not only that but there is also some really well done choreography. Not only that, but the film also really takes advantage of the CG medium, with some impressive camera angles and panning shots. I mean it's not the greatest thing ever or anything, but for a direct-to-DVD Barbie movie, I was pleasantly surprised. I feel like this is where the passion was when it came to making this movie. Like the story was second to the music.

 However, I would be lying if I said that the music didn't drag on a bit. Just due to how much is in the special. Not only that but several songs are used more than once, which isn't that bad because they sound really good, but it does make it feel a bit repetitive. That said though, I was suppressed by how good this aspect of the film was.

 So Tori and Keira both begin trying to fulfill the role of the others. However, the both seem to have a bit of trouble living up to the expectations of there new roles. Typical stuff you would expect from a

"Prince and the Pauper"

adaptation. Tori, now being disguised as a low class...world famous pop star....decided to take this opportunity to explore her kingdom beyond her castle without escorts.

(Because, yeah, a pop star TOTALLY wouldn't have escorts with her when she's walking through the slums of a foreign nation.)

And Tori ends up coming across something she's never seen before. Poor people!

 More specifically two poor little girls, who are taken a back by "Keira's" presence. We learn that, despite how glamorous the castle life is for the royal family, the kingdom itself is actually suffering. A major drought had occurred in the kingdom the year prior, and while the wealthy nobility we're not effected much the poor people are still suffering, and Princess Tori was completely oblivious to what was going on the entire time.

 So now that Princess Tori has finally

 Checked

 HER

CIS

 WHITE

PRIVILEGE!!!

 -she decides to try to do right for the people by holding a free concert for all the underprivileged children. (Since the kids she met weren't able to afford to go to the concert at the beginning of the movie.) Not only that, but the whole royal family would be in attendance, and the concert would be broadcast live on TV to help raise awareness for the issue. Though Tori and Keira agree that they need to make sure they swap back before the concert starts.

 Keira (disguised as Tori) begins to finally be able to relax without all of her pop star-ly duties. She begins to play and have fun with Tori's two little sisters, (who quickly figures out who she is.) And as it turns out, this break from all the stress of preforming and recording is what Keira needs in order to get re-inspired.

 The day of the concert arrives, and Keira tries to meet up with Tori to swap places before the show begins. But rut-row, Aunt Amelia shows up and finds that "Tori" never ended up writing her speech. And because of this, Amelia refuses to let "Tori" go to the concert and locks her in her room. I do like that Keira actually does try to tell Amelia about the body swap ploy, in order to get her to let her out of the room. But Aunt Amelia doesn't believe her, and heads out for the concert.

 As this is all happening, Crider and Rupert begin there plan to steal the diamond tree. They walk back into the castle claiming that the duchess sent them, and because plot the guards just let them in unsupervised.

 Meanwhile at the concert, the crowd begins to get restless, and Tori is forced to go on stage and preform as Keira. She get's onstage, and is nervous. She begins to preform, badly. But then, with the power of "doing it her way"...whatever the hell that's suppose to mean, she is able to give a performance good enough that nobody is able to tell who she is in a pop song performance that last a total of five minutes straight in this seventy minute film!

 The concert is a success. But wait, Crider and Rupert have successfully broken into the castles secret garden and have to face off against the fairies. Hey look, it's fairy vs fairy!

 ...

 Am I allowed to make that joke?

  Also Rupert brought bug spray to kill the fairies, which is pretty horrific for the villains bumbling side kick. Especially when you realize that this would be a Barbie movie that would have one of the villains using chemical weapons on his opponents. Granted, this doesn't happen, because Rupert accidentally bough hair spray instead, but still. It was his INTENT to use bug spray! Also, of course the villains of a Barbie movies use hair spray as a weapon.  

 Crider cuts the roots of the diamond tree all of the trees in the surrounding area begin to die. To which I have to ask....why? Is it like a redwood thing, where all the trees are actually just a part of this one organism? If that's the case than why don't all the tree's grow diamonds? Or is this a magic thing? Prior to this scene the tree was never implied to have any magical abilities besides growing diamonds. Was a jewel heist just not deemed an exciting enough climax, so they felt the need to raise the stakes here?

 Keira, with the help of Tori's dog, are able to find a secret passage way out of the room and she and Tori both notice the dying trees and run to stop Crider from escaping with the tree. They also switch back into there real identity, and I just now realize as I'm writing this that Crider does not question this very much. HE DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT THE WHOLE IDENTITY SWAPPING THING.

 Also, let me talk about something that bothers me. There was this character earlier named Prince Liam who's "potrayed by Ken." He had a few scenes early on with Keira (who was disguised as Tori at the time.) I didn't bring him up because he honestly didn't really do anything that was important to the plot. But then, suddenly in the climax, he shows up like he was a main character or something. And he's annoying. He feels really tacked on, like the producers realized that there wasn't a romance element to this film and decided at the hour mark that there needed to be one. Except that doesn't even work because he doesn't even end up with either girls. With I admit was a pleasant surprise, that neither girls in the movie end up with a love interest. But it makes Liam's existence even more worthless. Also he's kinda misogynistic, talking about saving the "damsels in distress." even though they save themselves. All Liam does is take down Crider's sidekick.

 Crider runs to his limo, but is blocked by the dogs. Cause y'know, a pug and a King Charles spaniel just COMPLETELY BLOCK THE ENTIRE PATH!  So he ends up be stealing a horse drawn carriage in order to make his escape. Tori get's into Crider's limo and we get a kinda fun car/horse drawn carriage chase striped right out of the end of Ouran High School Host Club.  How is it that I've reviewed two things with that very weird and specific climax?  Anyway, they cut off Crider's carriage, but he has an ace up his sleeve. Turns out his leopard print tuxedo is also a GLIDE SUIT and he jumps off a cliff to make his dramatic escape! And that's why Crider the best character in this movie.  But then Keira just zaps him with her magic microphone and turns his suit into a dress. And Tori zaps his hair to make it look more feminine.    The villain is defeated, but the tree is still dead. But Tori has an idea. They suspect that maybe the diamonds that grew off the tree could act as the trees seeds. They go back to the garden and take the diamonds that the fairies gave them earlier and plant them into the ground. The fairies use there magic and at first it doesn't look like it'll work. But then, the tree begin to regrow and all the life returns to all the other trees all over the castle. This is actually a clever twist, except for the fact that the tree still has diamonds on it, even though they specifically say that it takes five years for the diamond to bloom.  BUT WHO CARES ABOUT THAT, WE HAVE A CONCERT TO FINISH! Yeah, Tori kinda just bailed in the middle of that. Tori and Keira both show up on stage, and preform together. Tori writes her speech and and talks about making changes to the kingdom's irrigation and social serves system to help the people harmed by the drought. Tori learns about responsibility and Keira kinda learns to relax...I guess? And the movie ends on a pop song. Y'know, a good book end.

Puffy Ami Yumi?...  So that was Barbie: Princess and the Popstar! Overall what do I think of it?  Well, to be honest, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't kinda checking the time while watching it. Heck, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't even a little bit tired of thinking about it while writing this review. The main problem is the basic premises. Princess and the pop star. The whole point of "The Prince and the Pauper." is that it's a rich person with a lot of responsibility and a poor person with no responsibility changing places. But here, it's a rich person with some responsibility swapping roles with....another rich person with some responsibility. There's no real contrast, and because of that we only get the bare basics of character development or an actual moral. The overall animation is...okay. You can see there's ambition, but the lack of budget really makes it look like a Sims 3 machinima. The main villain is fun, but the rest of the characters are pretty basic. And the pop songs, while being extremely catchy and well choreographed take up somewhere between a third and a half of the film. And I feel like if the film used more of that time on more important things than maybe it would of been better.  If you want a movie with some so bad it's good elements (some actual good elements worked in) you MIGHT enjoy this film. But you  have to have the patience to get through some of the more tedious bits. Also I feel like a REALLY little girl might like this. I know people say "Kids deserve good things too." and there not wrong. But it's important to remember that kids have different taste than we do. When I was a kid I loved the Pokemon and Yu-Gi-Oh! anime, so that should be evidence of that. But if you want a GOOD girl power type of show or movie....there's plenty better out there. Steven Universe, My Little Pony, Star vs, Hanizuki, the list goes on and on. Those shows are girly AND can be legitimately enjoyed by anybody, young or old. This really can't.  That was my review of Barbie: Princess and the Popstar. If you've seen the movie by some...odd chance...tell me what you think of it in the comments down bellow. I would love to start a conversation. Anyway, see you next time for hopefully something better. Have a great day. (I do not own any of the images or videos in this review all credit goes to there original owners.)

https://www.deviantart.com/joyofcrimeart/journal/Barbie-Princess-and-the-Popstar-REVIEW-744926224 DA Link

[yuniesan]

Girl Meets Season 6 - Episode Fourteen – Girl Meets Spring Semester

Girl Meets Season 6

Synopsis: The Journey from High School and into College will test everything Riley knew about her life, her friendships and her love. What life lessons will she learn in her first year of college?  

[1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13]

A/N: the reason this took so long to post (outside of my real life problems) after my one-shot (which was probably a precursor to another one-shot) was because I heard a song, now hear me out, so the new Backstreet Boys song Chances, inspired me to go back and look at a one-shot I wrote last year, and from that I actually started writing another long fic, because obviously I had to write it after hearing the song. Although that story is going to be RUCAS centric, the other couple will exist yes, but the one shot in question is Love among the stars from Rucas fanfic week, and it has them going to different schools from everyone and all of that. I added a couple of twists, including a secret relationship storyline, because no one can stop me when I want to write something. I'm deciding on a posting schedule for this story, that story, and my Holiday Bingo stories, because I finished my writing sample for my MFA applications (they're being proofed as we speak), so I'm going to trying and write more, which means I want to write everything at once. Once I'm done with one of these things, I'm going back to the superhero AU, and possibly start plotting out season 7 for next year. Hopefully if I get into the MFA program I want to go to, I'll have time to keep writing what I want to write. This next chapter after this one is connected to this chapter, I'm still writing it right now, because I had started writing the first chapter of the other story first... sue me I really wanted to write this secret relationship AU.

Episode Fourteen – Girl Meets Spring Semester

There was a mad dash to get coffee before they left to go back to Maya’s school, Josh just wanted the morning with the two of them alone, since he knew that with his school year ramping up, he wouldn’t have the chance to visit as often as possible. They needed to schedule their lives around one another again and he wasn’t really excited at the prospect. He liked their weekends together, their dates, their lives, but he knew that Maya needed more time with Riley since they had a weird start to college so he wanted to give them that.

“I don’t wanna go,” Maya said slumping next to him on the couch at Topanga’s, “Too tired, want to go to sleep.”

He couldn’t help but laugh at the way she was acting because it was adorable to him, nearly two years together and he kept finding things he would think were dumb but were actually adorable. “I know Maya but you have to go, you’re a good student and you don’t want to fall behind,” he said before pulling her closer and letting her slump over on him to the point where he was sure that she would fall asleep if he didn’t give her coffee.

“I wish we could be like Riley and Lucas,” she mumbled to him before burrowing her face into his scarf. “They get all of this time together, and we have to commute for our dates, it’s not fair.”

“I don’t think it’s that bad, plus soon I’ll be up there with you and you’ll get sick of having me around all of the time,” he pulled off his scarf and put it around her neck, she would at least be warm.

Maya’s mother walked over to them smiling, “She giving you any trouble there?” the older woman said.

Josh shook his head and smiled, “Not a bit, she just needs some coffee and she’ll be alright.”

“That’s why I’m here,” she said as she placed their cups in front of them. “Take care of her on the way up to the school, I would love to go but Shawn is taking me somewhere so I can’t.”

“Don’t worry mom,” Maya mumbled through the scarf. “I’ll be fine.”

“Yeah I know, just be good baby girl,” Maya’s mother walked over giving Maya a kiss, then squeezing Josh’s shoulder before going back to the counter and working on stocking the display.

Josh handed Maya her coffee, getting a smile from her before she pulled down his scarf and taking a sip. She sighed once she finished, and smiled at the cup like it was the elixir of life.

“Feeling better,” he said once she put the cup back down.

“Yeah, would feel way better if you were with me at school though,” she sighed before leaning back into him. “I was serious, about wishing for what Riley and Lucas have, they sleepover in each other’s rooms, they have lunch dates, and all of that, and I want it.”

“Riley and Lucas get to have sleepovers because they go to the same school, while we don’t, we do have things that they don’t,” he said trying to bring forward the Brightside of their relationship.

“Yeah but I never get to see you like that, it’s just I guess it’s something I want.”

“Maya do you want to live with me? Is that what you’re saying?”

“Maybe, I guess it’s just that I’m a little jealous that they get all of that and we don’t.”

“Maya, my sweet, sweet girlfriend, just because Riley and Lucas have sleepovers doesn’t mean that we can’t...”

Josh was going to say more but a cup shattered behind them causing the two of them to jump, before seeing his brother standing behind them. His eyes wide as he looked between Maya and Josh, which means he heard some of their conversation, and Josh knew that they were in for it soon. Before he could stop Cory, his older brother moved so fast he hadn’t had the chance to grab him. He knew that Riley and Lucas were going to be in the middle of a storm the moment her father reached them, and Josh felt a little guilty, and from the look Maya had on her face so did she. The two of them sighed and got up, moving towards the exit, Josh texting his sister in law, who was probably asleep, on the way to his car.

Riley wondered why there was such a long time between semesters in college, it was five weeks of being at home, five weeks of going out with her friends, hanging out with her family, and of course getting sick. Now that the new semester was starting, she felt as if she had done nothing notable during the break even though she had gone out constantly. The break wasn’t as important as getting internships during the summer months, but it still felt weird not doing anything that would benefit her future. Now the spring semester was going to start and she wasn’t sure how she would be able to pay for things with the little money she did have saved up.

“You know sugar,” Zay said as he helped her with her bags. “You could have packed a little less, I mean you didn’t even take this much with you when you left.”

“Not my fault,” she said with a smile while carrying her laundry bag which was filled with extra pillows and blankets. “I didn’t know I needed all of this until I didn’t have it with me,” which was true, especially since people were always in her room hanging out, more so now that Maya, Josh, Farkle, and Smackle were feeling more comfortable with coming over and not living in their own little lovey dovey world. Which Riley thought it was cute, that they were all so in love, but she had missed her friends.

Zay sighed, before Charlie walked up and grabbed the other end of Riley’s suitcase and helping Zay up the stairs with it. She really hadn’t thought about bringing so much with her, but with Lucas always hanging out in her room, and now that her and Maya were going to figure out how to hang out more. There was a need to have things around, clothes to share, or more pillows so that Lucas wouldn’t sacrifice his arm to her. Even though she liked the feeling of his arms around her when they were watching movies, it only became a problem when they fell asleep and she ended up with his arm as a pillow.

“Oh, Riley,” Maya said as she rushed up towards her, “Josh said to tell you that he’s sorry.”

“Sorry about what?” Riley asked wondering what her Uncle could feel sorry about, they hadn’t seen much of each other since he had gone with Maya to Philly the week before the semester started. She knew that he was nearby too, because he had been helping Maya with her bags not too long ago, so now he was hiding from her too.

“Um well,” she said not looking her in the eye, “He may or may not have accidentally told your dad about Lucas staying over in your room a lot.”

“What?” Riley yelled out dropping the bag she had been holding, watching it as it rolled down the stairs. “What do you mean he accidentally told my dad, Maya my dad shouldn’t know things like that.”

“Well it was an accident, we were talking at the café, before we came back up here, and I was telling Josh about how I wish he could sleep over at my dorm with me like you and Lucas do and Josh was saying that maybe on a few weekends, that way we could all hang out more, and your dad had been standing behind us the entire time... so... yeah that happened,” she said and Riley knew it was an accident but what she was afraid of was her father showing up and ruining one of the good things that had kept her grounded during the first semester away from home.

“Maya, I need my Lucas time, we’re all so busy and it’s going to get busier and oh god my father is going to be in my room the minute I get up there isn’t he,” she said as the realization dawned on her. There’s only so much her mother could do to stop him, but if she didn’t know that he was coming up here with the pretext of knowing something then she wouldn’t stop him.

“Hey Riley,” Sam said as she was walking towards them, “your dad is in our room, and he’s doing something weird.”

Riley left the laundry bag and ran to her room just as Zay and Charlie were dropping off her stuff, watching as her father tapped up her window with a sheet, she noticed that some of her drawers had been opened as if he had been looking for something.

“Dad,” she yelled out looking at her room in horror. “What the hell are you doing?”

“Boys, I’m trying to keep boys away,” he said a nervous hitch in his voice. “No boys, boys bad, boys will take away my little girl’s innocence.”

Without even thinking she walked in and pulled him away from her window, forcing him to look her in the eye, “This is going too far,” she said to him her voice hard with anger. “I’m eighteen years old, I’m allowed to grow up, nothing is happening between me and Lucas that you don’t already know about.”

“But sex,” he started but before he could say anything, she put her hand up to stop him.

“No,” she said to him. “This is an invasion of privacy, I’m not living at home, you had no right to do this,” she could feel anger rolling through her, when she was growing up, she thought it was nice to have him worry, but now it was going too far. “Lucas and I only sleep in the same bed, and mostly it’s because we’re watching movies, his clothes which you have thrown all over this room are only here because I tend to steal them from his room, it’s a thing, girl’s steal their boyfriend’s sweaters all of the time.”

“That’s true Matthews,” Maya said from the door, she was actually wearing Josh’s NYU hoodie which long enough to be a dress on her, especially with how tall Josh was compared to the blonde.

“Now take all of that off the window, and get out before I call mom and tell her what you did,” she said knowing that her father’s Achilles heel was her mother, even after all of these years he was still afraid of making her angry.

Her father mumbled a fine, before undoing all of his work, Riley got to work on picking up what he had taken out of her drawers, looking for who knows what, while Zay brought in her laundry bag which had been left at the bottom of the stairs. Hiding behind him was Lucas, who didn’t dare go into the room, or let it be known that he was standing there. Rushing off she went to greet him, pulling him away from the door.

“Do I want to know what happened?” he asked once they were in the student kitchen on the other end of the hallway.

“Maya and Josh were talking about us,” she said looking up at him. “About how we tend to sleep on top of one another when we watch movies, and how she wished she could have that with Josh and well...”

“Your dad heard,” he said finishing what she was saying, before running his hand through his hair. “Will this change anything about how we are? Is he going to get crazy about me seeing you again, because I can’t afford to lose my shoes right now.”

Riley sighed, they were both in need of jobs, or at least work study, they didn’t have money most of the time, and the money they did have they saved up for when they wanted take out. Most of their dates since starting college had been to school events or just sitting in their rooms and eating what they had. They didn’t want to ask for help, it was oddly freeing for the both of them to try and make it on what they could, it was an experience for them all. But for the two of them, it was about finding ways to be together and not having to spend so money, they were trying to see how to live without relying on their families for help.

“I know,” she said to him as she put her arms around his waist and pulled him close. “I’m sorry that my dad is crazy.”

“We’ve known this for years,” he said as he kissed her hair. “Should I go to your room, or should I run.”

“I’m thinking we both could run, but that would only cause more problems, since it would leave my dad with Maya, Zay, Charlie, and Sam, and we don’t want to leave them with that level of crazy. But you can run if you want, I won’t hold it against you.”

Lucas shook his head, he wouldn’t leave her to deal with this, if anything, he would want to show her dad how much it didn’t affect them or their relationship. “If you have to deal with it so do I,” he said smiling at her before pulling away. “It’s what I signed up for when we started dating.”

“Okay but I’m going to protect you and your shoes from him today.”

“It would be an honor to have you protect me,” he smiled at her, and it still made her giddy just seeing him smile, it was strange feeling as if she could have someone just giving her butterflies for this long.

The two held hands walking back to Riley’s room, she held onto him comforting him, she didn’t want her dad to find a way to separate them. They wanted to be united in the fact that they wanted to have their little dates, and their sleepovers, where nothing happened.

Much to her surprise, her mother was standing in her room quietly yelling at her father, which only made Riley giggle, because if her mother was quiet when she was angry at you then that meant that she was really angry. Her mom smiled at her before dragging her father out into the hallway, “Seriously Cory,” she said.

Riley heard her mother telling her father about how when they were in college, they did the same things, and how there was the time where he was asking for more and she flashed him her butt, which only made Riley snort. “Honestly, those two sleeping in the same bed is still vanilla compared to how you and Shawn acted when you were in college. And yes, I know she’s your little girl Cory, but she’s technically an adult now and you had no right to come here and do that to her room.”

“But his clothes are all over the place,” he father practically squealed, which made Riley laugh harder.

“Cory, I’ve seen them, and honestly she wears Lucas’s sweaters all of the time, why is it a problem now? She probably steals them which is normal for a girl her age, it reminds me of when we were that young, but now you’re so preoccupied with making sure she doesn’t grow up I feel like you’re neglecting our relationship,” she said before turning around and winking at Riley. Her mother was up to something, and it was nice that she was using this as a teaching moment against her father.

She watched as her mother walked away, smiling, but acting like her husband wasn’t paying attention to her, Riley watched the woman who had raised her convince her husband that he didn’t care about her. Riley knew her father loved her mother, he was just overprotective, but it was interesting to watch. Instead of following her mother, her father watched her, before saying a quick goodbye to Riley and walking off. She knew that they would make up by the end of the day, her mother was just trying to make him feel guilty for ruining the beginning of the semester for Riley.

When she walked into her room, she was greeted by her friends all sitting around, Charlie and Zay on the floor with the extra pillows Riley brought with her, Maya and Josh sitting on one side of her bed, while Sam, Farkle and Smackle were on Sam’s bed.

“Well that was exciting,” Sam said making everyone laugh, it was the first time that Sam had truly been exposed to her father’s meddling, “But I think we should just relax for the rest of the day, because classes start tomorrow, and that was too much drama for the first day back.”

“Here, here,” Farkle said smiling at Smackle.

“I still don’t understand why your father is like that,” Smackle said, but there was no real answer for it. Farkle just took her hand and kissed it before turning back to the room.

“Let's just hope that he’s not going to do it again for a while,” she said before sitting on her bed with Lucas at her back. “Nope no more drama, so how about we get some food and watch a movie and we can talk about tomorrow.”

“Already ordered,” Farkle said with a smile. “We did it while your parents were fighting, or at least it looked like fighting.”

“More like her mother was plotting,” Maya said smiling at the group.

“I’m sure that Topanga is going to read him the riot act when they get back to the city, and then they’re going to do exactly what we’re all doing,” Josh said looking over at Riley. “Your mom is scary,” he added.

“That she is,” Riley said snuggling into Lucas before yawning, it really was her favorite place to be, he was always so warm.

Riley ended up falling asleep ten minutes into the movie, the fell of Lucas at her back, and the smell of his soap in her nose lulled her to sleep. No one had really noticed until the food arrived and Maya jumped off the bed so that Josh could help the guys bring up the pizza boxes, and everything else they had ordered. The bed moving made Riley wake up, but Lucas had held onto her so that she wouldn’t fall to the floor. It was a strange feel, being so comfortable around so many people that she could fall asleep without worrying about something happening.

“Have a nice nap?” he said kissing her temple. She relaxed into his arms, nodding before yawning.

“I don’t know why I’m so tired,” she said to him, the rest of the group had left them alone in the room.

“Too much excitement, I mean you and Maya have a class together this semester, we’ve scheduled our lives around each other, it’s our own little family, and you want to make sure that everyone is involved and happy.”

“It’s a good feeling,” she said to him. “Plus, it’s a little less stressful than my dad constantly being... well you know.”

“Trust me we all know, but hopefully he’s going to calm down a little after today, Josh was right about your mom being scary, and I wouldn’t want to cross her on any level.”

When the group came back into the group Maya leapt on top of Riley and Lucas, landing right on Riley’s legs, before turning and making herself comfortable on Riley’s legs, while putting her own on Josh’s. The food was spread out in front of them, everyone smiling at one another, it was weird, even with all of the time they had spent together over the break, this was more normal than anything else. She liked this more than going out and doing a million things because at least this way they would have the chance to sit and talk about things. It felt like having their little family together, which would only make her father sad, but she wanted to grow up and if it meant that the only version of family, she had around was her friends it was okay with her.

She didn’t love her own family any less, it was just a way for her to extend her family, make it grow into something bigger. This was the long game, this was life, you bring people in and make them a part of your world, and you hold on tight to those who matter to you. Her parents had embraced her friends before, and she knew that they would embrace them now as they are, because they were an extension of her. The only difference now was that her father had to learn to accept that she was growing up, she wasn’t going to stay a little girl, and while it scared him, she knew that her mother would show him that it wasn’t all that bad.