#which is WILD considering the shit he pulled back before they knew he was having a menty b (mental breakdown for those who dont know)

[welcometogrouchland]

Batman #149 by chip zdarsky is mostly unremarkable, but I'm really fascinated by how it makes a great case for 'good' endings not saving 'bad' stories*. Because there's a lot of interesting concepts in this issue (bruce having to deal with his rapidly aging and decaying clone making him think about his own life, re-establishing a 'nest' so to speak for his family after pushing them away, etc) but bc of the OOC slog that came before it, almost every moment w/ the batfamily comes off as unearned and disingenuous imo.

Like, everything with Damian is the perfect example in this. Because in isolation it's...fine. admittedly it's a missed opportunity to not go deeper into how Damian would feel about a clone of his dad who tried to kill considering Damian's relationships with clones of himself (the heretic rejects and respawn) or with former enemies who wanted him dead but who were manipulated and/or brainwashed (like suren and maya).

Zdarsky doesn't go into any of this but you could maybe excuse it as the issue not being about Damian. However, coupled with the previous bizarre characterizations of Damian in 147 and 148, it ends up not being fine- instead it starts to feel...icky how Damian (who, despite often being drawn and written as white, will never have his connection to the non-white al ghuls forgotten and will always be effected by racism even when not portrayed as a poc) is constantly written as overly violent, uncaring and narrow minded in this run. Coupled w/ trying to recanonize the morrison origin for Damian it's like. OH this is badly written and laden with subtle bigotry, sick**

That's me going into detail on it with Damian but it's applicable to other things in this issue- the way Cass, Steph and Duke have all been ignored or turned into jobbers makes their inclusion in the 'family' here feel hollow instead of satisfying. Bruce proclaiming that Zur was still a part of him and he needs to accept responsibility for his actions (when it means taking in clone son) wrings hollow when just last issue zdarsky was bending over backwards to separate Bruce and Zur bc otherwise the Jason thing would get really awkward. Ends are achieved through means that feel hollow or strange. I'm at my destination but damn why'd the bus have to do all that???

I only really have opinions on this latest arc of zdarskys Batman bc it's the one I've read the closest (bc I'm a hater, masochist and avid follower of even the bad damian storylines) but it's not saying great things.

Bc zdarsky can do one thing good in this book, and it's write Bruce and Tim. And yet this entire story, whether of his own volition or editorial mandate, includes other characters who aren't Bruce and Tim, the fabric starts to unravel in very telling ways.

(p.s, I think pennyworth manor is an interesting idea but I feel like in execution it's just gonna be 'bruce living in a house haunted by the memory of the people he couldn't save' but with a different dead guy this time. Illusion of change and whatnot)

*whether or not the ending is good is up to you ofc, as is your opinion on the proceeding arc! I saw some ppl complain that the ending was too "WFA" for them, which I get even if I dont think it'll literally be the same premise. If anything it's probably a lead into the new tec run. Likewise many ppl who aren't in the weeds of Damian and Jason characterization liked the previous arc! But I have my opinions and rest my case before the bench

**disclaimer, I'm white and portrayals of bigotry in comics are complicated and subjective, but I am basing my point here off what other poc comic fans on socmed have been saying about 149. Also the "sick" is sarcasm incase that wasn't obvious

[bugsbia]

ʚ Campus asshole scara x fem reader

ʚ BEFORE READING: Fem reader, reader is just trying to get 5 minutes away from their annoying roomie. Take note of warnings.

ʚ WARNINGS: Use of drugs, implied laced weed, scara smokes a little, dub-con, shotgunning.

Scaramouche has always been known for his ill temper among the students on campus, always having something mean to say and getting into trouble for doing shit he shouldn’t be doing. Today was no different as he found behind the campus dorms, sitting against the wall as he had a quick smoke despite knowing there was a no smoking on campus policy. When did he ever listen to authority though?

You found yourself behind the dorms as well, just looking for a short escape from your loud and annoying roommate who wouldn’t seem to leave you the hell alone. You grimaced upon seeing Scaramouche there too, but tried to ignore his presence as he simply sat against the wall as far from him as possible.

That wouldn’t stop him though, he made his way over to you, looking down at you as you sat there silently. “Don’t see people coming back here often unless they’re up-to no good, so what’s your deal?” He spoke, his tone coming off like a demand for answers rather than a question.

Waving the smoke from his cigarette out of your face “I’m just trying to get a break from my roommate, promise I won’t bother you or tell anyone I saw you.” You responded, hoping he’d just leave you alone if he knew you wouldn’t go snitching about his smoking.

“Sounds like shit” he said, followed by pause as he considered his words carefully. Kneeling down in front of you he spoke again, his words coming out almost silky smooth. A sign of his manipulative intent which you seemed to miss “can come to my dorm, I don’t have a roommate, and nobody will suspect you’re there.”

With a small sigh you hesitated, considering his offer, but it didn’t take long for you to agree. Staying in his dorm for a few would be way nicer than sitting on the dirty floor behind the dorms, so you nodded eagerly. Following close behind him as he led you to his dorm.

“You shouldn’t smoke in here” you said as you stepped into his dorm, taking off your shoes. You didn’t really care that he smoked exactly, but you also didn’t want to have to smell the smoke the entire time you were in his dorm.

He moved closer to you suddenly, taking the cigarette from his lips as grabbed your face between his index and thumb and forcing your mouth open as he leaned in. Forcing your mouth open while his lips were mere millimetres away from your own, exhaling the smoke into your mouth in a twisted display of attraction.

You breathed it in instinctively before taking a step back, coughing slightly. “Don’t be fucking weird” you exclaimed, watching as he smirked and put his cigarette out finally, taking another step closer to you.

“Calm down, it’s just a little smoke. You should loosen up a little.” that devilish smirk still upon his lips. “Maybe you should try getting high, calm those nerves of yours a little.” He said as he moved over to his bed, pulling out a small bag of pre-rolled joints and holding them up.

Stammering a bit you responded “you can’t have that shit on campus- what if they find out??”

“They won’t find out, unless you tell them. But you wouldn’t do that to me, would you?” His tone was sweet, sickeningly so but it made a swirl of emotions run wild within you. Were you seriously considering getting high with the campus asshole?

You were, you absolutely were. You didn’t know why, maybe it was the fact he was nice to despite being rude to everyone else, maybe it was because you just wanted to relax after having your roomie pester you all day. Either way you found yourself sitting beside him on his bed, passing a joint between the two of you, not seeming to consider the fact that he may have laced it.

As you breathed in the smoke you felt a slight burn in your chest, coughing slightly at the sensation, but also felt a great sense of relaxation wash over you finally for the first time today. “This feels nice” you said quietly, eyes glued to the ceiling as you enjoyed the tranquility. You didn’t seem to notice how he never actually smoked any, he just held the joint for a second before handing it back to you.

“Yeah? I could make things feel better.” He added as he sat up, looking down at you with a sly smirk as he slowly moved his hand to your hip, His fingers gently caressing you over your clothes.

He held your chin between his thumb and index as he leaned in, kissing your lips hungrily, like he just wanted to devour you. You didn’t care to try and fight back or stop him, you were in such a calm state that you couldn’t even care, so you kissed back.

That only emboldened him further as he trailed his hands up your shirt, caressing from your waist down to your hips. He just wanted you so bad, and he had you right in his grasp, so high that he could truly just have his way with you.

Quickly he snaked his fingers beneath the waistband of your pants, tugging them down with ease without breaking the kiss. Next was your panties, which were also no problem for him. He quickly pulled them off and tossed them aside, landing somewhere on the floor in his messy room.

Finally he broke the kiss, moving to sit at the edge of the bed for a short moment as he took his own pants and boxers off. He was already so hard for you, he just couldn’t help but get excited when you were so easy to catch.

He quickly moved back to you, situating himself between your legs as he began rubbing his cock against your pussy. You grew wetter and wetter as he rubbed against you, small whimpers escaping your lips every time he brushed against your clit. He loved the sight, you beneath him, exposed and drugged out.

Pulling back slightly he angled his dick at your entrance and slowly pushed in, groaning at how good you felt, “Fuck” he breathed out “you’re so fucking tight”. After a short moment of letting your body adjust to his size he began moving, thrusting his cock deep into you before pulling out fully, just to slam himself back inside of you.

You couldn't help but moan out beneath him, his cock filling you so well, hitting the deepest parts of you which made you see stars. The drugs in your system only made it all the more better, making you more sensitive to his touch. The sounds of his groans and your moans echoed through the room, accompanied by the erotic sound of skin slapping together as he harshly pounded into you. He knew you could probably be heard through the walls, but that only made him more excited.

Suddenly he pulled out of you and grabbed you by your waist, pulling you to the edge of his bed and pushing your face down into the blankets as he entered your pussy again, fucking you hard and fast from behind.

He tangled his fingers into your hair tightly, pulling harshly as he leaned down and whispered darkly into your ear. "I wanna hear those pretty moans of yours". With that he snaked his hand down your stomach and to your pussy, beginning to rub quick circles around your clit.

You gasped at his touch as it sent waves of pleasure washing through your body, your legs going weak beneath you while you felt your orgasm growing close. He could tell how close you were by the way you moaned so desperately, and that sent him reeling.

His thrusts became faster and sloppy as his fingers moved faster, finally making the knot in your stomach snap as you came on his cock. Gummy walls spasming around his cock while you moaned out his name.

"fuck- yes!" he moaned as he too came, the combination of the way you moaned his name and the way your pussy felt twitching around his cock sent him over the edge. Releasing his warm cum deep inside your pussy as his grasp on your hair grew tighter.

Finally after a moment he pulled out, releasing the grip on your hair and giving you a moment to catch your breath, looking down at your weak form beneath him. Watching as his cum slowly leaked from your abused pussy he scooped it up with two fingers, then leaned over and shoved his fingers into your mouth.

He could spend all night watching you suck and choke on his fingers if he could.

[starshipsofstarlord]

Cuddle Bunny

summary - all you can do is reflect on the past as you sit by a tired and bedridden daryl, hellbent on not leaving his side. It seems he doesn’t want you to leave either, as you are the only person that sees him for who he is, in every light (1.3k)

warnings - daryl getting shot, mentions of violence, parental abuse (mental and physical) and death, slight angst, fluff, cuddly daryl, sophia being missing

daryl dixon + norman reedus works main masterlist

You had never experienced the fear that was currently combusting your entire being - Andrea had shot Daryl in the head. Sure, it was ‘just a scrape’, however you were furious, and ovulating a circus of panic within your veins.

Hershel was allowing the archer to rest, insisting that it was necessary in order to regain his strength, despite the veterinarian being displeased with him borrowing one of his horses without permission.

And you sat beside him, watching over him on a chair that you had pulled from the corner of the room. He seemed exhausted, and with a shaky hand, you reached across his forehead and brushed his hair out of his face.

He was beautiful, and you wished that he would acknowledge it more, rather than feeling insecure within the ranks of your group, always being made to feel by the others that he wasn’t good enough - that he was just like his brother.

To them, as his frugal search for the lost little girl had made such as Shane think further, he was a tragic liability, that was reckless, risking their uphold of temporary residency on the farmland. But he was the only one willing to venture out into the wild where the dead walked to find Sophia, having to believe deep down that despite being out there by her lonesome that she had to be alive.

Daryl had made it his mission, using himself as a pawn in the process, taking an arrow in the side and a bullet across the outside layering of skin at his temple all to strive on, and undermine the cruel evil that the world had evolved into.

You envied his loyal pursuit, neither of you owed these people anything, but nevertheless he found a role in which he could be responsible for, other than being the hand that kept them fed. The two of you were more like outsiders to the tight knit group, they all had varying opinions of you both, assuming the events in your pasts considering your closeness with Merle prior to him disappearing from the rooftop, abandoning his right hand on his untimely escape.

They knew nothing of importance when it concerned you and Daryl, you weren’t the proudest when it came to your past, but you weren’t ashamed either. There was nothing that they could perceive that was undoubtedly true, you remembered everything, both the good and bad that you had gone through before the world had gone to shit.

But none of it was as terrifying as seeing Daryl bedridden with stitches in his head, whilst you were trapped in a reality where everything wanted to kill you. If you could go back and just live in the memories that you had with him, you would, without a second thought. You and he were far away from any threats that would separate you in life, concocted in a mundane and happily bland routine.

You had a little house, on the outskirts of a rocky and small town in Georgia, and it wasn’t perfect but it was the roof that you and Daryl called your home. And all you needed to get by was each other, and whilst thing seemed perfect you still hadn’t got by without judgement. Merle and Daryl’s father was an obsolete rival to your relationship, he resented that his son had found happiness, brewing with cryptic resentment at the fact he had no physical control over his life.

But the mental aspect still remained, he was scorned within his brain from the impact that William Dixon had plagued into every scar that he invisibly wore, and you could see it on his face within the very moment he winced as he readjusted his head against the pillow beneath. Pain, it ran through his nerves, decaying him as though it was just another walker that Andrea had unloaded her misaimed shell towards.

She deserved your rationalised anger imploded upon her, and she’d be a sitting duck for the meanwhile, Daryl’s health was far more important than your yet to be unleashed rage. If you allowed all hell to be let loose, then you would never stop seeing the vivid colour of red, and there was no time to waste on yet to be salvaged conflict just yet, she could wait for the vengeance that she had earned to suffer from. Tending to the emotional instability that Daryl was floundering in was upmost priority, and that was one thing that hadn’t changed from before the constantly spreading apocalypse.

“Why ya starin’ at me, it’s gettin’ creepy?” His gravelly, smoke worn voice enquired, his eyes fluttered drowsily in your direction, the tight corners of his mouth uplifting at the sight of you. You felt exhausted as well, overwhelmed with emotions of despair and from the lack of much needed sleep due to your addictive worry.

“You say somethin’ similar every time you wake up.” You glowed as you spoke to the man that you loved, the raging sun illuminating your silhouette through the drawn curtains, brightening the focus in which Daryl had of you. Reaching across, you braced your adoring palm against the cusp of his cheek, brushing your thumb across his supple skin, relishing in the very touch of his flesh. Something so simple felt so intimate with him, everything did. After existing in a life felt as though it had no meaning, Daryl was the only constant, and the purpose for which you remained. And nothing had changed, and you knew that it wouldn’t for as long as you lived.

“Usually yer in the sleeping’ bag next ter me, a bed ain’t gonna make a difference.” He quirked his brow, wincing and allowing himself to be vulnerable as it stretched the tautness of his wound. His face creased in momentary pain, and you felt unbelievably lucky that the bullet wasn’t a millimetre to the right, as there was a chance that he wouldn’t be here, attempting to seduce you in an innocent and lustre fashion.

“Is that you inviting me to lay beside you Mr Dixon?” You corresponded with his portrayal of your early routine, unable to remember a morning to which he wasn’t a part of. He was a staple, a permanency that rendered you into a bathing of peace, and you both felt desired when sharing any type of company. Daryl meaninglessly rolled his oceanic eyes, tugging at your hand that was upon him to pull you closer, and beside him.

And his efforts became successful as you needed no convincing, and you rested atop of the mattress that was indeed much more comfortable than the makeshift bed, however your head in fact ended up laying on his chest, listening to his calm and steady heartbeat. “This is better than the meds the farmer gave me.” His words enforced you to laugh into his chest, addicted to the cheesy platter of jokes that he would share with you, and you alone.

Nobody saw this side of him, he was himself. And the world had turned into a massacring mess, the brutality shattering every ounce of soul that a person had. But you and Daryl never changed, you were adjoined to surviving the trauma that had tainted you both from birth, and nothing would change with the infected having the thirst to rip you apart.

“Well,” you dragged your word out, looking up at his face which was filled with adoration and surprisingly comfortability, “at least there’s no limit on the dosage you can take.” You leaned up, pressing your lips that had become chapped from the staring hue in the sky that was beating down on you in the passing daytimes upon his own. His arms tugged around the circumference of your waist, pulling you closer, him having the intention of using his time to rest to lay with you within his very grip.

[worth-the-chaos]

Adventures in Babysitting - Steve Harrington x female!reader - Chapter 4

Chapter Summary: Looking for Dart isn’t easy, but it gives you and Steve a lot of time to have a heart to heart, as you slowly start to realize your feelings for one another.

Content Warning: fluff, mutual pining, slow burn, upside down scary shit, boys being stupid

Word Count: 6.5k

Author’s Note: This part sticks closely to the original series, but there will be a lot more originality in the next part! I know it probably isn’t super fun to read what you’ve watched on the show, but for me this has been the ultimate rewatch fic writing experience, which I have greatly enjoyed, so if you’re looking to reminisce about stranger things, boy is this the fic for you ;)

Series Masterlist | Part 3 | Next Part

***

Steve woke up first, and nearly panicked when he realized that you were curled up in his arms, pressed flush against his chest. At some point in the night, you both must have rolled over to face each other, and now his arms were wrapped around your waist, one hand dangerously close to your ass and one of his legs rested in between yours. He wasn’t sure what to do and his mind was screaming at him to move before you could wake up and see the compromising position the two of you were in, but his heart was screaming at him to stay.

He pulled away slightly to look at you, his heart beating wildly in his chest. The worry lines that were usually etched into your features were gone, and it was the first time he could think of that you truly looked at peace. You were stunning, there was no question about it. I could get used to this, Steve thought, but then quickly pushed it aside. He felt guilty; he wasn’t even sure if Nancy and him were actually officially broken up and he was already starting to feel things for someone else. Though if he was really being honest with himself, he’d been feeling this way about you for a while.

He carefully untangled himself from you, cursing himself for not holding onto you for just a little bit longer, but he knew that it was the right thing to do. The last thing he wanted to do was make you uncomfortable, so he slipped out of bed and quietly exited the room, making his way down to the kitchen.

You groaned when you finally woke up, light filtering in through the window. The bed was empty, and you tried to push aside your disappointment as you checked the clock on Steve’s beside table. It was 8:00 which meant you had a couple of hours before Steve and you had to leave to pick up Dustin. You wanted to roll over and go back to sleep, unready to face the tribulations that inevitably lied ahead. Knowing that wasn’t an option, you got out of bed.

Upon turning the corner into the massive kitchen, you were met with the sight of a pajama clad Steve Harrington, standing over the kitchen stove while he cooked pancakes. He turned once he heard your footsteps and saw you, your eyes still sleepy as you drowned in his clothes that were way too big for you. He felt his face heat up at the sight of you, but if you asked, he would blame it on the hot stove.

“Pancake?” He asked, the one on the pan finally done cooking. You simply nodded and he plated it and walked towards the kitchen table, setting it down at a seat before pulling your chair out for you.

“I’m honestly surprised that you know how to cook anything,” you teased. It was pretty baffling to see the boy who had previously been a complete ass standing in a kitchen making pancakes with the most wild case of bedhead you’d ever seen. “Or that you’re cooking at all considering the day we have ahead of us,” you added, mind beginning to focus on the more important things.

“Well, my parents are gone most of the time so I have to fend for myself a lot. Which, you know, sucks, but it also means I kinda can do whatever the hell I want, so I guess it balances itself out, doesn’t it?” Steve took the seat across from you, sitting down with his own pancake.

“I guess,” you agreed. You both ate your breakfast quietly, trying not to think about how domestic all of this was. I’m supposed to be thinking about the damn demogorgon, not playing house with Steve, you thought, annoyed with yourself for enjoying this all a little too much. “I don’t know what I’m supposed to wear today,” you spoke up, interrupting the blissful quiet of the meal you were sharing.

“What do you mean?”

“Well, if I wear my clothes from yesterday, Dustin’s going to make…assumptions. And I certainly can’t wear these,” you added, giggling and flailing your arms to demonstrate how long the sleeves were, “but I also can’t go home to change because my parents aren’t going to let me leave so easy when they find out I didn’t come home last night and now some boy they don’t know is dropping me off for a pit stop.”

Steve was quiet for a bit as he contemplated all of this. “Well, for starters,” he said through a mouthful of pancakes, “I think you look fabulous, but I can see how in a defensive situation, the miles of extra fabric would not be the best. You can raid my mom’s closet? She might have some stuff that fits you better? She also has a shit ton of stuff she definitely doesn’t wear anymore,” He offered. You felt weird about it, but given it was basically your only option, you nodded in agreement.

Steve brought you into his parents’ room, pointing out the clothes he knew his mom wouldn’t miss. You settled on a pair of jeans, a white turtleneck, and a beige windbreaker. Simple enough. You swiftly changed in the bathroom and took a look at yourself in the mirror. These clothes were definitely nicer and more expensive than the ones you normally wore. You felt good in them, and they fit your body nicely, much more well tailored than your thrifted outfits. You put your hair into a low ponytail and shook out your arms, bouncing from foot to foot trying to psych yourself up for this. At least if I die today, I’ll die wearing nicer clothes.

You and Steve loaded his trunk with things you might need: the nail bat, a few knives, a golf club, a can of gasoline, as well as a few buckets full of raw meat. If you were going to catch this thing, you were going to have to bait it.

***

“So, what are the odds you think we’re really going to find this thing?” Steve asked as the two of you drove towards Dustin’s house. To be completely honest, he thought that this attempt was most likely futile. Hawkins was small, but not that small. Hell, by now it might not even be in Hawkins anymore.

“I’d say slim to none. But we still have to try. I can’t in good conscience not find it. I don’t think I’d ever be able to sleep again if I knew it was just out there, roaming Hawkins,” you shuddered, squeezing your eyes shut.

“Yeah, I don’t sleep too well anymore. Not after last year,” Steve admitted. He hated being vulnerable, but it didn’t feel so bad when he was being that way around you.

“I know what you mean. The amount of nightmares I’ve had about that…that thing is just truly astounding” you sighed, giving Steve an empathetic look.

Steve didn’t have the heart to tell you that his nightmares weren’t scary because he was face to face with the demogorgon. They were terrifying because they always ended with you getting hurt. Every single one of them was just the two of you in that damn living room, but this time he didn’t have the bat. It was just you, pinned to the floor helpless, and him unable to move. Unable to save you.

“Yep,” he replied instead, “I didn’t have any last night though.” It wasn’t a lie, and he felt his heart race as he said it. Admitting that seemed risky, but at this point he didn’t care. With the amount of shit you both always seemed to be in, holding things back seemed riskier.

“Me neither,” you added, voice quiet but sincere.

It wasn’t long before you pulled up to the Henderson household, Dustin hurrying towards the car. He quickly got in the backseat, clearly eager to get this all over with. You couldn’t really blame him, as you felt the exact same way.

“We have shit in the back of the car so we don’t need to stop for supplies. Where are we going first?” You cut right to the chase.

“I was thinking we could walk the train tracks. It’ll be easier to cover more ground that way, and it’s secluded enough that we won’t look batshit crazy,” Dustin replied. Honestly, you had to give the boy credit, he was pretty damn smart. Steve began to pull away, headed towards the park. He knew one of the hiking trails ran parallel to the train tracks and you’d only have to deviate from it slightly in order to reach them.

“Why didn’t you pick me up first?” Dustin suddenly asked.

“What?” Steve replied.

“I said, why didn’t you pick me up first? My house is between yours and y/n’s. It doesn’t make sense.”

“Does it matter?” Steve returned his question with a question, gripping the steering wheel tighter as his shoulders tensed. You cleared your throat and looked out the window, avoiding eye contact at all costs. Your body language gave you both away, and Steve could see Dustin’s eyes light up in the rearview mirror as he connected the dots.

“Woah! Wait a minute. You didn’t have to pick her up because she stayed at your house!” Dustin exclaimed, letting out a laugh and feeling like a genius.

“You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about,” Steve shot back, clearly angry. You buried your face in the palm of your hand. If Steve just wouldn’t react so huge, then Dustin might second guess himself, but no, that was too complex a reaction for the boy to ever consider.

“You’re lying! Haha! I knew it!” Dustin yelled out, pointing at your look of defeat. Maybe I could have reacted a bit differently too, you thought sheepishly, flashing Steve a look that said “I’m sorry.”

“Dustin, would you just kindly shut the fuck up,” Steve fumed, trying to pay attention to the road.

“Wait a minute, did you guys have sex?”

“NO!” You both shouted in unison, and Steve slammed on the breaks, the inertia causing your seatbelt to lock as you all jolted forward. Steve very aggressively put the car in park and whipped around, putting his left hand on the back of your seat to fully twist his body towards the boy in the backseat.

“Listen here, dipshit. It wasn’t fucking like that, she slept in the guest bedroom because I didn’t feel good about leaving her home alone while your little science experiment is running all over this goddamn town. Ask one more question about it, and I swear you’ll have bigger concerns than this Upside Down bullshit,” Steve threatened. Dustin put his hands up, signaling that he would back off, and Steve nodded as he turned back around, taking a deep breath, and putting the car back in drive.

You were a little shocked by his outburst. The old Steve would have bragged about the fact that you had shared a bed with him, so you were a bit surprised that he lied, placing you in the guest room in his explanation to Dustin. Maybe he was embarrassed about it, you thought as your heart sank a little in your chest.

You finally made it to the park, Steve parking haphazardly by a trailhead as you all exited the BMW. You handed each boy a pair of rubber gloves from your backpack, slipping a pair on yourself before passing the boys each a bucket of raw meat. Steve threw on his backpack, nail bat sticking out of it. Your backpack looked similar, but packed with a golf club instead. You also had found a hunting knife that belonged to Mr. Harrington as you both had scoured the house for anything that was or could be turned into a weapon, and it sat sheathed on your right hip underneath your windbreaker.

Suddenly, Lucas’ voice was ringing out from Dustin’s walkie talkie, “Dustin! This is Lucas, do you copy? Dustin!”

“Well, well, well, look who it is?”

“Sorry, man, my sister turned it off.”

“Well, when you were having sister problems, Dart grew again, he escaped, and I’m pretty sure he’s a baby demogorgon,” Dustin fumed.

“Wait, what?”

“I’ll explain later, just meet me, Steve, and y/n at the old junkyard,” Dustin informed him.

“Steve?!”

“And bring your binoculars and wrist rocket.”

“Steve Harrington?!” Lucas emphasized his question again, still clearly in disbelief that Dustin was hanging out with that asshole. You couldn’t help but laugh. Steve rolled his eyes.

“Alright, let’s go,” he chimed in, ready for Dustin to end his dumb conversation with his friend. Why can’t Lucas be confused as to why y/n’s here too? Why does it always have to be me?

“Just be there, stat! Over and out,” Dustin ended the discussion, putting the walkie talkie back in his pocket.

It took a second for you to finally find the train tracks, having to hike about a mile and a half before you actually were able to see them. You were glad it was still early on a Sunday, so no one was out hiking to see the three kids who definitely looked like they did not hang out together on a regular basis with bright yellow gloves and bait buckets. There were some questions you just couldn’t answer.

So there the three of you were, walking the train tracks and dropping small chucks of raw meat behind you like sailors chumming the water for sharks. You tried not to think about it as the three of you made conversation to pass the time, beginning with you forcing Dustin to explain himself.

“Alright, so let me get this straight,” Steve spoke up after his explanation, “you kept something that you knew was probably dangerous in order to impress a girl…who you just met?”

“Okay, that is grossly oversimplifying things,” Dustin replied. You were walking in a line, Dustin leading, Steve in the middle, and you taking up the rear. You were glad that this arrangement allowed you to emote freely, the boys unable to see you.

“Why would a girl like some nasty slug anyway?” You chimed in, speaking on behalf of females across the globe who weren’t looking for boys to sweep them off their feet by showing them some trashcan residing tadpole that likes nougat.

“An inter dimensional slug? Because it’s awesome, duh. And I’m a little disappointed that you wouldn’t be excited about that y/n, considering you’re like a complete nerd.”

You scoffed in disbelief. “I’m not a complete nerd.”

“Uh yeah. You are. You’ve babysat me for a whole year now and all you do is homework. Even over the summer. I’m not even that nerdy!” Dustin exclaimed.

“I mean, the kid’s got a point y/n. I don’t think I’ve ever seen you have fun…like ever,” Steve added. You gaped at him, unable to believe that he would take Henderson’s side. These motherfuckers were ganging up on you, and you wouldn’t have that.

“That is so not true! I went to that dumbass party you invited me to,” you reminded him. Dustin’s ears perked up at this, as he slowly turned, looking past Steve and narrowing his eyes at you. So Steve had been the one that invited you to the Halloween party. You realized your slip up and gave Dustin a look that you hoped was threatening enough for him to keep his mouth shut.

“Anyway, regardless of whether or not she thought it was cool—which she didn’t—I just…I don’t know, I just think you’re trying way too hard,” Steve refocused the conversation, not digging the obvious but silent argument the two of you were having that he was not privy to.

“Well, not everyone can have your perfect hair, Steve,” Dustin grumbled.

“It’s not about the hair man. The key with girls is just…just acting like you don’t care.”

“Even if you do?”

“Yeah, exactly, it drives them nuts,” Steve replied as if it was the simplest thing in the world. You slowed down your strides. Steve continued to make it abundantly clear to you that he cared…like a whole hell of a lot. In some ways, you were starting to confuse all of this for interest, but maybe you were wrong; maybe he did truly just want to be friends. You bent down and retied your shoes trying to put some distance between you and the boys, not wanting them to see how let down you felt. The boys noticed, and started to slow their steps, but you shooed them ahead, letting them know you’d be fine. Steve hesitantly obliged, following Dustin who had already started back down the tracks.

“Then what?” Dustin asked.

“Then you just wait until—“ Steve turned making sure you were out of earshot, not quite wanting you to hear him talk about how he used to pick up women. “Uh, until you feel it,” Steve finished.

“Feel what?” Geez, did this kid ever stop asking fucking questions.

“It’s like before it’s gonna storm, you know? You can’t see it but you can feel it, like this uh…electricity, you know?” Steve searched for the right words to explain it to Dustin. He figured a metaphor would be better, just in case you came within earshot again.

“Oh, like in the electromagnetic field when the clouds in the atmosphere—“

“No, no, no, no, no, like a…like a sexual electricity,” Steve connected the dots for him, “you feel that, and then you make your move.”

“So that’s when you kiss her?” Dustin asked innocently.

“No, woah, woah whoa! Slow down, Romeo…sure, okay, some girls want you to be aggressive right away, strong, hot and heavy, I don’t know, like…like a lion,” he continued to speak in metaphors, “but others you gotta be slow, stealth, like a…like a ninja.”

“What type is y/n,” Dustin asked.

Steve was thrown off by the question, but answered it anyway, “y/n’s different. She’s different than the other girls,” Steve said quietly as he looked over his shoulder, you were still trailing several paces behind, and for once he was glad. He didn’t usually like it when you were out of his sight…it was too dangerous, but right now it was nice to speak freely.

“Yeah, she is pretty special I guess,” Dustin agreed. Not many girls would have fought like hell for some random kid they babysat. You were probably one of the coolest people he knew…even if you did do a lot of homework.

“Yeah. Yeah, she is,” Steve sighed, still unsure of what the hell he was supposed to do about that. His love life was a complete shit show, but he was hoping that maybe by the end of all of this it wouldn’t be.

“But that’s the thing…this girl is special too, you know? It’s just like...something about her.”

“Woah, woah, woah. You’re not falling in love with this girl are you?” Steve asked, judgment and concern painted across his features.

“You’re not falling in love with y/n, are you?” Dustin shot back.

“Touché,” Steve replied. He looked back at you again. You had bent down to clear a branch out of the tracks, tossing it aside. Standing up and brushing your hair out of your face with your forearm, avoiding touching your skin with the rubber glove. “Well, don’t. She’ll just go breaking your heart and you’re way too young for that shit,” he added, turning away from you. Dustin hung his head down, and Steve remembered what it was like to be that age. He was never unpopular like Dustin was, but he remembered how awkward it was to be in middle school.

He sighed. “Fabergé organics,” he said pointing to his hair, “use the shampoo and the conditioner and when its damp—not wet, okay, damp—you do four puffs of the Farrah Fawcett spray.”

“Farrah Fawcett spray?” Dustin asked, trying and failing to hold back his laughter.

“Yeah, Farrah Fawcett. You tell anyone that I told you that and your ass is grass, you’re dead Henderson. You understand that?” Steve stopped, pointing a gloved finger in Dustin’s face.

“Are you threatening my kid?” The boys turned as you shouted, watching you jog towards them to catch up.

“Yes, yes I was,” Steve owned it, selling the threat, while Dustin stared a little wide eyed at him, gulping before nodding in agreement. You continued on, but you slowed a bit as you noticed a yellow flag sticking out on the side of the trail, marking a tree that’s trunk was black with rot. You felt a sinking feeling in your stomach, as you’d never seen anything quite like it…and someone was keeping tabs on it too, which was equally, if not more unsettling.

“Y/n? Are you coming?” Dustin asked, the impatience of his age showing.

“Uh, yeah. Sorry,” you muttered, shaking away the thought as you caught up with the boys.

***

You made it to the junkyard, each of you pouring the remaining chunks of raw meat in a pile in a clearing.

“I said medium-well!” You heard Lucas yell, turning to see him and a red headed girl headed your direction. You recognized her, and you kept trying to wrack your brain for how but you kept coming up empty. Dustin pulled Lucas aside to talk, so you decided to introduce yourself.

“Well, I’m y/n. It’s nice to meet you. I wish it were under better circumstances,” you told her, extending your hand towards her. She took it and smiled.

“I’m Max.”

“So, how much do you know about all of this shit?” Steve asked and you rolled your eyes.

“This is Steve,” you added, not wanting to be entirely rude to the poor girl. Realization flashed across his face as he lifted his hand in a half wave, not really in the mood for introductions. The world was basically ending, did it really matter if you all knew each other?

Max waved back, pressing her lips into a thin line, clearly also unimpressed by Steve. You couldn’t imagine how she was putting up with Dustin and his friends all this time, but then again, you had spent the last twenty-four hours with Steve Harrington, so you really couldn’t judge. “I know pretty much everything,” Max answered your previous question, though you could tell she didn’t really buy it. You weren’t going to try to convince her. Hell, you wished you didn’t believe it either.

“Well, we should probably start prepping for some serious shit,” you spoke up, starting to lift up a piece sheet metal and turning to carry it towards a broken down old bus. Steve knew that had to be heavy as hell, and if he was being honest, watching you carry it was kind of hot. He shook the thought from his head as you returned to help Max carry another piece. He turned to make his way towards the boys who were doing nothing to help whatsoever.

While you and Max carried the sheet metal, you finally realized where you knew her from, “hey, you’re Billy’s sister, right?” You remembered her from the car. She had to walk all the way down to the middle school because Billy was a lazy piece of shit.

“Step sister, but to answer your question, yeah, unfortunately,” she rolled her eyes.

“Well, I wouldn’t tell Steve that because he definitely is not a fan of your brother,” you chuckled.

“Join the club,” she sighed as you set the scrap down. You heard a loud bang as you turned to see Steve banging a metal chair against a car to get the younger boys’ attention.

“Hey! Dickheads! How come the only ones helping me out are y/n and this random girl?”

You and Max looked at each other and you burst out laughing. You apologized that Steve had referred to you as “this random girl,” as you moved to grab more and more materials to set up your impromptu shelter. Steve and the boys continued to grab sheet metal and you began pouring gasoline all over the clearing. Fire had worked pretty damn good the last time, so you were banking on it working again, hoping that it was enough.

You had fortified the entire bus with sheet metal, wiping the sweat beading on your forehead after you and Steve placed the last piece. The kids were all piling onto the dilapidated vehicle and you were about ready to join them when Steve grabbed your elbow for you to wait.

“What?” You asked, not quite sure why he had stopped you.

“Are you sure you’re going to be okay if this thing shows up?” He asked, scanning your face trying to read your expression as if it would reveal some sort of fundamental truths about the universe to him.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” you shook free of his grasp, somewhat annoyed with him. If him showing he cared meant that he wasn’t interested, you weren’t interested in hearing it.

“What’s the matter? What did I do?” Steve was confused and a bit hurt too. Through all of this you had gotten along so well, and now was not the time for your friendship to be on the fritz.

You sighed, not quite sure how to explain yourself. You knew you were being unreasonable, but you just didn’t have the energy to care right now. “It’s just…I don’t know, I just wish you didn’t care so much about me sometimes. I didn’t matter to you at all a year ago, so it’s just a lot sometimes to have you worried about me all the damn time, whether it’s some guy hitting on me or this shit. I can take care of myself, I’m not fucking weak, okay?” You grumbled.

“That’s not fair, y/n, and I think you know it. And I wish I wouldn’t have been so stuck up and that we could’ve been friends sooner. And yeah, believe me, I fucking know you can handle yourself, but now that we are friends, I kind of am partial to having you around and if that means yelling at sketchy douchebags like Billy and knocking some inter dimensional fucker into next week, I’ll be damned if I let you stop me,” Steve emphasized. You could hear the annoyance in his voice, but you could also hear the desperation. Steve didn’t say it, but his heart just wanted him to scream let me take care of you…in every damn way there was.

“I know, but Steve the reality of the situation is that we’re in deep fucking shit, and either of us could get ripped to shreds or incapacitated by that thing at any moment, so I need to know that I can be okay without you.”

It was hard to admit it and your voice wavered a bit, but it was true. Something in Steve clicked when you said it and he finally understood why you were so hellbent on fending for yourself. Suddenly, Steve stepped forward and put his arms around you, pulling you into a hug. He buried his head in the crook of your neck, needing to just hold onto you for a second.

You weren’t expecting the hug, but it was more than welcome nonetheless. You didn’t really know how you were supposed to react, but you felt your hands instinctively go up to run your fingers through his hair. You spent a minute like that before pulling away, Steve taking a step back again and clearing his throat.

“Sorry, it’s just I think I push the idea that we might not come back from this out of my head sometimes. I don’t want to have any regrets if this all goes to shit,” he said. What he wanted to say was I want the chance to hold you, just in case.

You nodded and the two of you entered the bus. If the kids heard your conversation, they didn’t say anything, as you and Steve joined them on the floor.

Now it was just a waiting game. Your hand went to the blade at your hip, your fingers running over the leather of the holster. You were ready.

***

Lucas had vacated the bus, instead choosing to sit on the roof to operate as look out. You wished you would have volunteered because sitting and waiting inside this damn thing had become near excruciating. Steve kept flicking his lighter on and off, and you glared at him in the dark, hoping that it would have enough fluid left for when you really needed it.

“So…you really fought one of these things before?” Max spoke up and asked. Steve nodded, continuing to mess with the lighter.

“…and you’re, like, totally 100% sure it wasn’t a bear?”

“Shit. Don’t be an idiot. Okay? It wasn’t a bear. Why are you even here if you don’t believe us? Just go home.” Dustin fumed.

“Geez, someone’s cranky. Past your bedtime?” Max shot back, crossing her arms.

“Dustin!” You scolded. He rolled his eyes and turned away from you, and you decided to give up on trying to get him to play nice. “I’m definitely sure it wasn’t a bear. I’ve even got the scars to prove it,” you tried to go back to Max’s original question, believing that she deserved a kindly worded answer.

“Yeah, she almost died. Still think it was a fucking bear?” Dustin grumbled from his seat, still refusing to face the rest of you. You rolled your eyes and shook your head, trying to make it clear to Max that you thought he was being ridiculous.

“Here, I’ll show you.” You took off the windbreaker, and slipped your arm out of your turtleneck sleeve. Steve went to avert his eyes as a large part of your chest and torso was now on display, but he stopped in his tracks when his eyes caught your upper arm. He had never actually seen the wounds, just your blood-soaked sleeve and then the bandage, and since, you had avoided wearing anything that showed your upper arm. It was littered with scars and his breath hitched in his throat. He left that fight without a scratch on him. Well, other than the ones he already had from his scuffle with Jonathan. He couldn’t imagine what it was like to have that permanent of a reminder.

Dustin cleared his throat loudly and kicked Steve in the leg, signaling at him that he should probably look away before you noticed him staring. Steve quickly obliged, becoming very fascinated with a spot on the floor while you covered back up.

“That’s fucking crazy,” Max breathed out, “why the hell are you guys here if you almost died last time you had to deal with this thing?”

“Because who else would?” You replied as if it was simple. This was now your burden to bear, and you felt a pang in your chest as you realized that it was now Max’s as well.

With that, she nodded, moving to the ladder to join Lucas on the roof. Dustin scoffed and muttered another insult as she disappeared from the body of the bus.

“That’s good. Just show her you don’t care,” Steve spoke up.

“I don’t,” Dustin grumbled. Steve winked at him, and you rolled your eyes.

“Why are you winking, Steve? Stop.” You interjected, kicking at his leg, much like Dustin had done earlier. “Besides, just so you know,” you added, directing your focus back at Dustin, but saying it just as much for Steve’s benefit, “that’s terrible advice. Girls like it when you show them that they mean something to you. If you just keep them guessing they’re going to lose interest.”

Suddenly, you heard a growl settle across the junkyard and the familiar chattering that haunted you in your sleep. You, Steve, and Dustin moved quickly to look out the caged in window. The fog making it difficult to make anything out.

“You see him?” You asked.

“No,” Steve replied, his eyes rapidly darting around the clearing hoping to catch a glimpse of something, anything that would be helpful in giving you even the slightest advantage in this fight.

“I’ve got eyes! Ten o’clock! Ten o’clock!” You suddenly heard Lucas yell from the roof. Surely enough, there it was. You felt anxiety start to creep up in your chest, but then you reminded yourself that you were caged in. The demogorgon couldn’t get you in there…right?

“He’s not taking the bait. Why is he not taking the bait?” Steve asked.

“Maybe he’s not hungry,” Dustin proposed. Surely that couldn’t be it, and you wracked your brain trying to come up with a plan. You finally settled on one, granted it wasn’t great, but it was about your best option at the moment. It’s now or never.

“Or maybe it’s sick of cow,” you added, swiftly getting up before anyone could stop you and grabbing the golf club.

“Y/n? Y/n, what are you doing?” Dustin asked, fear seeping into his voice. Steve shot up grabbing the nail bat, understanding where you were going. He decided he wasn’t going to argue, but he wasn’t going to let you go by yourself either.

“Y/n, Steve!” Dustin called out again. Steve tossed him the lighter, the boy fumbling it before he caught it.

“Just be ready,” Steve warned as the two of you quickly swung open the door and exited the safety of the bus. Steve started whistling and calling out to the demogorgon, attempting to lure it towards the bus so you could enact your plan. You both cautiously stepped farther and farther out into the clearing, weapons in hand, looking like you were about to play the most fucked up game of basegolf ever.

“Come on! Dinner time,” you shouted out feeling fear rise in your throat. You couldn’t believe you were walking back into this again, but you had three kids with you and you weren’t going to let this creature put a scratch on them. No one else needed to come out of this with scars. You finally saw the demogorgon, or well, adolescent demogorgon. It was on all fours, stepping out from the fog into the clearing. It looked fucking menacing and you the longer you were out here, the more determined than ever you were to kill the fucking thing.

Lucas’ voice suddenly rang out “Steve! Y/n! Watch out! Three o’clock! Three o’clock!” You looked to your left and realized it wasn’t alone as two more began to climb over one of the other rundown vehicles. It had brought company.

“A little busy,” Steve called back, eyes still focused on the demogorgon in front of him.

“Steve,” you warned, and the fear in your tone caused him to turn, finally realizing that you were outnumbered. Suddenly, the face of the one across from Steve opened up as it started bounding towards the two of you, it’s buddies swiftly closing in as well, Steve dodged the first one, rolling over the hood of a car to get out of the way. You whacked at one to your left with the golf club, barely dodging another as it charged at you. So much was happening at once, and you were struggling to process it all. You barely jumped out of the way of another attack, as Steve roughly grabbed your wrist swinging you in front of him and shoving you as you both sprinted towards the bus. You heard the kids’ screams for you to hurry as the creatures closed in behind you. the two of you barely hopped back into the bus and shut the door, landing in a heap as you shoved more sheet metal to block the door. One of the demogorgons lunged at the bus, its sharp claws clamoring against the metal as you and Steve tried desperately to hold the door shut with your legs.

The kids all sprung into action, Dustin calling out on his walkie talkie for help, as the demogorgon finally broke through the door. Steve started beating it with the nail bat, swinging again and again, as it still didn’t die with each blow. It finally stopped moving, but that was when you all heard the sounds of footsteps on the roof, realizing too late that you hadn’t blocked the emergency exit. Max stood at the bottom of the ladder as the demogorgon approached, you shoved her out of the way as it opened its mouth to shriek at you. You were back in relatively the same position you had been in a year ago, you unsheathed your knife from your hip about ready to slit its throat, when all of the sudden it stopped screeching, growling off into the distance before swiftly vacating the bus.

You all cautiously exited the bus, realizing that the rest of them had left as well, all of you confused by the fact that they had just left. These things didn’t leave, not without killing something first.

“What happened?” Lucas asked.

“Y/n and Steve scared them off?” Dustin replied.

“No way,” Steve disagreed, “they’re going somewhere.”

***

The five of you made your way back down the train tracks, trying to get back to Steve’s car so you could get the hell out of there. Lucas and Max had began asking Dustin questions, similar to the ones you and Steve had asked him when he first told you guys.

“When’s he gonna molt again?” Max asked.

“It’s gonna be soon. When he does, he’ll be fully grown, or close to it,” Dustin replied confidently. The thing had already grown significantly in just a few days, there’s no telling how long you had to find him until he was the nine-foot beast you were a little too familiar with.

“Yeah, and he’s gonna eat a lot more than just cats,” Steve added, unaware of the argument that it was going to start.

“Wait, Dart ate a cat?!” Lucas yelled the question, clearly angry.

“No, no he didn’t,” Dustin answered way too quickly.

“What are you talking about? He ate Mews,” Steve interjected clearly confused. You elbowed him in the ribs to get him to stop talking. You were already annoyed with these children 90% of the time; you didn’t need to listen to another one of their dumb arguments. You tuned out their yelling back and forth before you and Steve started to walk ahead, but then you heard a growl in the distance. You all ran at the sound, coming up to an overlook where you saw Hawkins Lab in the distance.

“It’s the lab,” Lucas finally said, “they were going back home.”

You started taking off towards the lab. You were going to finish this thing once and for all. Steve ran after you, putting a hand on your shoulder to slow you down. You whirled around already thinking of your argument when he told you that this was a bad idea. Before you could even get the words out, he was speaking.

“Hey, just promise me, whatever we do, we do together, okay?” There it was again, his pinky extended towards yours. You grabbed it tightly, looking him in the eyes with the most sincerity that you could muster.

“Promise.”

***

a/n: I hope y’all liked this part. Honestly I’m just excited for when I get to write Billy showing up and Max being a total badass, so if you’re interested in that stay tuned. I’ve been trying to crank these out as quickly as possible, and your engagement makes it all the more exciting to write them, so comment and reblog if you liked it!

[angelsanarchy]

Glass Houses: Jack Thurlow x Y/N Series CH 16 -> CH 17

Tagging: @roryculkinluvr @thatsthewrongwallcraig @icarus-star @cc-luvr @madamemaximoff06 @shady-the-simp @quicksilversg1rl @s-0lar @kristennero-wallacewellsver @ophelialaufey @mayathepsychic1999 @x-prettyboy-x @rorylover71

Jack knew he had to come clean to Dr. Carty about what he did the other night. He was surprisingly not as pissed as he would have expected.

"Jack, if your side effects were this bad then you should have told me. I will send a few new prescriptions to the pharmacy but I want you to start making notes of the side effects every day. We have to figure out a better way for you to get the things you need without wrecking your system." Dr. Carty pinched the bridge of his nose.

"You're lucky she checked on you when she did. You could have died." He scolded softly and Jack nodded his head.

"I know. I guess if I'm going to have a guardian angel, it's probably a good thing she's a nurse that lives next door." Jack could see that Dr. Carty wasn't impressed with the humor.

"You should consider adding her as an emergency contact in the event you decide you want to get a little fast and loose with your medications again." He peered over his glasses and Jack scrunched his face.

"I don't think we're there just yet." Jack didn't want to burden Y/n with so much of his shit so soon. He wanted to build up a connection before she had to be a part of all his demons.

They talked for almost an extra hour, discussing new medications, what they're supposed to do and some of the side effects. Jack made sure to make a list to ask Y/n about the next time he saw her which turned out to be at around 9:30 that night. He saw her taking her evening walk as he sat on the porch reading through googles best medication side effects. He sat the computer down and jogged towards her.

"Hey!" She jumped making him laugh.

"Sorry, you scared me." She pulled her headphones out and pocketed them as he started walking next to her.

"You're looking a lot better. How are you feeling?" Y/n she asked as he shoved his hands in his pockets.

"I'm feeling a lot better thanks to you. I just wanted to apologize again-"

"Jack please. I'm just glad I was able to get to you in time. I highly suggest switching to weed if you need something to knock you out but that's just my medical opinion." She smiled at him.

"I finally talked to my Doc about the medicine change. I made a list of all the ones he's changing up just in case you want to give an opinion on that too." Jack pulled the list out and she laughed.

"Are you comfortable sharing that with me? I mean you can just tell me about the side effects when they hit. You don't have to-"

"I trust you." Jack pressed and she took the slip of paper. She nodded at the names and handed it back to him.

"These are some good alternatives. I would keep an eye out for dry mouth with this one. They make tabs to put under your tongue if it gets too annoying." Jack smiled at the recommendation.

"Who takes care of you if you're taking care of everyone else?" Jack asked curiously.

"Oh I've taken care of myself since I was young. I don't require a lot of care anyway. You'll be shocked to hear I am insanely boring." She lowered her voice.

"I don't believe that for one second. I'm sure you've got a wild night life that no one knows about. Maybe a secret second job at a club where you can dance in scantly clad clothes to get your kicks." Jack teased.

"So you think I'm a nurse by day and a stripper by night?" She laughed.

"I barely have enough energy to wash my hair let alone change out of scrubs to find some upper body to swing around a pole. Plus I have terrible knees." Jack laughed as she tried to show off a squat and winced.

"Okay so no secret double life. How about hobbies? What do you like to do when you aren't working or taking care of your mom and crazy neighbor?" Jack watched her take a moment to actually think about it.

"I like to read. I like to build things with my hands. I love to paint." Jack let out a belly laugh.

"Well shit why didn't you say that? I have tons of house that needs painting!" Jack gestured over his shoulder towards the house and she shook her head at him.

"I like landscape painting, not free manual labor." She pointed out.

"Maybe you could do a painting for me? My dad was an artist. He has this drawing of the house that kind of got wrecked during the clean out. I would love to get it redone. I'll even pay you for it." Jack offered.

"You don't have to pay me. I'm not an artist. I just like to paint." She blushed. This was kind of the first time Jack had seen a more vulnerable side of Y/n. She always seemed confident in how she presented herself. As a nurse, as a daughter, as a care taker.

"What about you? I think you mentioned you like to write?" Y/n remembered.

"Yeah I'm working on a book about my life...kind of. Changing the names to protect the guilty I suppose." Jack rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"I'm sure it'll be great. The horror stories of our lives always make for believable fiction. Most people don't think there are people who actually struggle as writers portray." She paused in front of the front gate and Jack stopped walking.

"Maybe...you could read some of what I have? Let me know how believable it is?" Jack asked nervously earning a sweet smile.

"I would love that, Jack." Jack now felt more anxious than before knowing she might hate his writing or his life story.

"I'm glad you're feeling better. Please call me if you start to feel your breathing getting weird. I'm still worried you're going to have after effects." Y/n touched his arm and he nodded.

"I'm feeling better, I promise but I will call you if anything feels off." Jack promised.

"You can call me too if you need anything...or you know, you just want to talk." Jack took a step further and Y/n laughed.

"You want to talk about all the neighborhood gossip? Did you see Sharon's new gardening outfit? Absolutely scandalous." She teased.

"If Sharon's the one with the red hair and huge tits then yes, absolutely scandalous." Jack's smirk made Y/n hit his chest with the back of her hand.

"Ew Jack! Stop jerking off to the neighbors!" She pushed her way through the gate and Jack threw his hands up.

"What!? You can't just expect me to not take advantage of free tits!? I'm a man!" He defended.

"Now you're hurting my feelings. I thought I was special." She put her hands over her heart.

"You are. You still hold the top spot of best tits in town." Jack admitted. Y/n smiled so brightly her cheeks were blushed as she shook her head.

"Goodnight Jack." She waved over her shoulder and Jack turned back to the road to walk himself home. He took a breath he didn't know he had been holding, worried things would have changed between them. He was ready to make a different kind of connection with Y/n. He just hoped she felt the same way.

[hailtothepumpkinqueen]

(Oh holy moly this turned out a lot longer than I thought it was gonna be. But, uh, I wrote a thing? Nothing graphic, just a little smidge of angst but it ends happy? *tosses it and runs*)

It was supposed to be a quick little excursion into the mines.

The mayor had asked her for help, because an increase in the red slime population was making things unsafe for less experienced spelunkers(the fact that she could be considered an "experienced" spelunker would have been a wild concept to her a few years ago). Of course she accepted. The idea of one of her friends getting hurt exploring made her anxious, and slimes were easy enough for her to deal with. It would take an hour, maybe two tops, and she could be home before it even got dark out.

What Lewis had neglected to mention, the bastard, was there was ALSO an increase in the Void Spirits making the mines even more unsafe. Shadow Brutes and Shadow Shaman far out numbering the supposed red slime problem.

So what was meant to be a quick trip turned into a five hour slog she hadn't properly prepared for. Maybe he thought she wouldn't have agreed if she knew how dangerous it really was, but a fucking head's up would have been nice. Then she could have at least packed better supplies beforehand and maybe not gotten her ass handed to her as badly.

But, by the grace of Yoba and a warp totem to the farm, she made it home in one piece. Bloodied, bruised and covered in sticky red slime from head to toe. Honestly, a little pissed at Lewis, but she'd deal with that later.

Right now, guilt was starting to settle heavy in her stomach when she saw all the lights in the house were dark, and her dog had fallen asleep by the door dutifully waiting for her to return. Yoba, just how late was it?

The oven clock said 12:50 AM. Shit. It was REALLY late. Shane, her husband, would be dead asleep by now. Blissfully unaware of the trouble she had gotten into and back out of. Maybe she could keep it that way. What he didn't know couldn't worry him, right? She just had to be sneaky...

Kicking off her boots, and shrugging off her backpack, she creeped through the quiet house and up the stairs to their bedroom. Carefully padding across the room towards the bathroom, desperately needing to shower off all the gunk before even dreaming of crawling into bed. So close to her destination before being sabotaged by a creaky floorboard.

"Chickpea?" Came Shane's tired voice in the dark almost immediately, accompanied by the sound of fabric shifting and the mattress squeaking with movement. "S'late. You just get home?"

"Sorry, hun. I lost track of time." She called back gently, inwardly cursing the old farmhouse. "I'll be there in a minute, I just need to shower first."

"Without me?" She could hear the smirk in his voice, amused with his own joke.

"Go back to sleep, doofus." She chuckled, shaking her head.

"Come to bed. We'll shower in the mornin', s'fine."

"I can't. I'm covered in slime, and I'm not getting that on the sheets."

She saw his silhouette sit up straighter in bed immediately.

"Why are you covered in slime?" His voice more awake now, more serious. The guilt twisting her stomach in knots to the point of nausea now.

"There were slimes making the mines unsafe. Mayor Lewis asked me to help make the mines, well, safe." Trying not to feel like a child being reprimanded for misbehaving as she continued to inch towards the bathroom. Definitely not running away from what felt like a brewing confrontation.

"Are you okay?" He threw off the covers and started walking towards her, arms outstretched to pull her to him.

"Don't! I'm slimy and gross." Putting her hands out to stop his approach. Thankfully, he acquiesced and stayed put for the moment. "And I'm fine. A little banged up, but fine."

"Banged up?? You're hurt, and you didn't lead with that? Yoba's sake, Kat.."

Dammit, why did she say that? Her plan to not worry him was going horribly wrong. And now not only did he sound worried, he sounded upset. Which was worse.

"Please don't shout. I promise I'm fine. We can talk about it later, I just...I just really want to get out of these gross clothes and shower, okay? Please?" Trying and failing to keep the emotional wobble out of her voice. She could feel the prick of tears in the corner of her eyes and was thankful Shane couldn't see.

He sighed heavily and his posture deflated, taking a step closer to her despite her protests.

"Okay.. You get the shower started, I'll be there in a minute."

"You don't have to..."

"I WANT to. I'm going to. So there."

She sighed this time, stepping to meet him and carefully press a kiss to his lips--that she could feel were set in a frown--without getting any gunk on him. Scurrying to the bathroom before her eyes could adjust enough to the dark to see the expression on his face.

The bathroom light was blinding and made her wince, far brighter than the dimly lit mines or the dark bedroom she was just in. Making her feel exposed in her own home. She tried not to think too hard about it, peeling off her sudden clothes and letting them drop to the floor with a disgusting squelching sound. Actively avoiding her reflection the entire time.

But she must have been a sorry sight, given the horrified gasp her husband let out behind her. She heard his footsteps get closer and felt his arms encircle her waist, pulling her against his chest. His body still sleep warm and like a hot pack on her sore muscles.

"I'm going to kick Lewis's ass next time I see him..." he growled, the sharp anger in his voice juxtaposed by how carefully he held her.

"Hey, now. That's not a nice thing to say about your Aunt's secret boyfriend." She teased, entwining her fingers with his and squeezing his hand.

He groaned in disgust and buried his face in the back of her shoulder, making her giggle.

"Buh...don't remind me.." he grumbled, keeping his face hidden. Squeezing her a a little tighter. "...why did it have to be you, huh? Why couldn't the 'good mayor' deal with it himself? Or Marlon? Isn't that his job? Why do YOU have to be the one put yourself in danger?"

"Because I didn't want anyone else getting hurt." She admitted quietly, looking at the floor. "Seb and Abby go exploring in there and don't have the experience I do. Plus the mines are close to Linus's tent and Seb's house. What if monsters started spilling out of the mines?"

"Well, they're not you, so I don't care." He huffed.

"Shane." She admonished, very gently elbowing his ribs. Not really upset because she knew he didn't mean it, but still.

"Katherine." He shot back, putting his chin on her shoulder now.

"Uh oh. The full name. Am I in trouble?" Still teasing but inwardly a little worried he was actually mad at her. Old habits die hard.

"...I didn't even know you went into the mines tonight. What if something happened? What if you were..." He hid his face again, the only way he could be vulnerable right now. "I can't go through that again. I can't...I can't lose you. I won't."

His voice cracked at the end, and she felt her heart break a little. Of course he was upset, of course he was. After what happened with Jas's parents, how sudden it was and how badly is wrecked him...of course he wouldn't want to lose anyone else. In that moment, she felt like the worst spouse in the world for almost putting him through more heartache.

She twisted around in his arms to face him, pressing her forehead to his.

"I'm sorry I worried you, love. I'm sorry my self preservation skills are shit, and that I didn't tell you where I was. That wasn't fair to you, and I'm sorry. there anything I can do to make it up to you?"

He hummed in thought, lower lip jutting out as he did so. The humming going on long enough for her to catch on that he was doing a bit for comedy's sake, and she giggled again.

"I can forgive you...IF.." He paused dramatically, pulling back to arch an eyebrow at her and smirk mischievously.

"If?" She prompted, mirroring his expression.

"If you stay home with me all day tomorrow. Doing nothing but eating mountains junk and watching movies on the couch in our underwear. Aaand if you help me put chicken shit in Lewis's mailbox without getting caught."

She laughed at that, feeling the weight of guilt and exhaustion fall off her bones. Yoba, she loved this man.

"I think I can agree to those terms."

"Yeah?" He grinned, putting his forehead to hers again.

"Yeah." She breathed, leaning to seal the deal with a kiss. One that was reciprocated this time and held an unspoken declaration of love.

"Then let's hit the showers and hit the hay. We got a long day ahead of us~."

[cairavende]

Worm Arc 16 second half thoughts (after Defiant interlude, 16.7 to end):

I'm very glad I split this arc where I did cause WHAT THE FUCK

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!

WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK WHAT THE FUCK

Tattletale . . . the entire time . . . in secret!

And Coil's whole crazy plan at the town hall debate!

And and and Rachel held Taylor's hand and it was gay BUT IT WAS SAD GAY!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And the bug box (I'm sorry, "The Famine Engine") what the fuck

And Taylor was shot and almost lit on fire and she become a fucking terror demon scary bug monster and got away from all the people and set off some grenades and and

passes out

...

ALSO MY DAUGHTER KILLED COIL! SHOT HIM RIGHT IN THE HEAD!

Taylor sees her dad and argues with his friends a little and realizes that things aren't as clear as she thought they were maybe but whatever I just want to get to know Lacey better. For reasons.

I knew something would happen at the town hall. Once Dragon was taken care of I figured it would be Coil but I wasn't sure what he would do and I didn't expect this. I thought he would mostly be trying to take out Skitter or something.

Happy to see Uber and Leet again, even if they are working for the asshole. They are fun.

Getting more info on Leet's power and I'm even more fascinated then I was before. He couldn't make the teleporter work if it was putting the target into instant danger, like a bomb or a vat of acid. Wild. I wanna know more.

ALSO COIL LEGIT CONSIDERED DROPPING SKITTER INTO A VAT OF ACID!

He really did go full supervillain right at the end. Monologuing, using cheesy lines, stopping the execution of his enemies when one of them yells "Wait!" and letting them talk. Crazy elaborate plans. Good for him I guess.

The Wards new "teleport without swapping matter" tech is quite fancy and it can apparently do a heck of a lot of people at once! Which I could see becoming a big deal. I had initially assumed it was Kid Win who made it (since he did the same with is guns before) but with how stuff has bounced around I'm legit not sure.

OH AND I KNEW I LOVED CIRCUS FOR A REASON, WHAT A WONDERFUL LITTLE GENDERQUEER! THEY GET A PASS FOR STABBING SOME PEOPLE CAUSE THEY DESERVE TO GET TO STAB A FEW PEOPLE.

I had fully called Coil being Thomas Calvert by now, so that itself wasn't a surprise. But I hadn't expected Thomas to have gotten back to working with the PRT. Makes sense if he can make it work, that is a wonderful source of power.

Too bad Tattletale pulled the fucking rug out from under you Thomas!

Taylor leaving her dad at the hospital without stopping to see him is unfortunate I guess, but not really unexpected. I've kinda given up on their relationship getting repaired. Besides who needs Danny when shes got me!?

Oh and I guess Taylor can't really see now. Cool. I'm sure that will just get better right away with no issues! /s

I mean it isn't really a huge deal for her vs most people. But still.

OH AND SKITTER'S DEAL WITH COIL WHEN HE WAS GOING TO KILL THEM ALL INCLUDED "Ta

Oh and Skitter's deal with Coil to turn off the dead man's switch included "Take care of Bitch's dogs!" GAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!!!!

And "Tattletale gets to live!" like ya ok sure it was all so she could get Tattletale here and such I get that but whatever, it is also GAY! GAY GAY GAY GAY GAY GAY GAY!!!!!!!!!!

But for real Tats has been coming in with the fucking long con OH MY GOD. I legit didn't see it coming. Coil losing this arc? Sure, maybe not likely but possible. Coil dying? Again, was surprising but not shocking. But Tattletale having payed off have the mercs in a carefully planned coup in the works since Arc 3 at a minimum? Blindsided me. Just hit by a bus. HOLY SHIT!!!

Fake Skitter shot Bitch!!!! AHHHHH!!! But she was ok. And the speed of her accepting that real Skitter didn't do it and not staying mad at her!!!! GAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!

Seriously though Skitter breaking out of the house she was teleported into and getting past all those troops? God. Using the swarm speech for physiological warfare? Chef's kiss

I wonder how Cauldron is feeling with Coil dead? I don't know exactly what they needed him for but he sure ain't doing it now.

And Dinah at the end!! Just me sobbing.

I'm sure the whole thing with Noelle (or should I use my cape name for her when she's on a rampage - Traveler in a Vault, or TiaV) will just blow over and won't be a bigger deal than arc 8 in the end. Everything is fine.

Marquis interlude thoughts:

TINY PRISON! I love tiny prison.

Look I'm sorry I don't make the rules but Marquis and Lung are totally gay for each other. They are both terrible people. I don't ship them because I want to, I ship them because there is no other option. I do what I have to do.

Glaistig Uaine is my new favorite. She is terrifying and I love her. Forget Bonesaw's passangers or Coil's agents, they're called head fairies now.

I'm sure Amy and Glaistig Uaine working together in the future won't be bad at all.

[praetorqueenreyna]

lovely and lonely, Tamlin/Lucien, Chapter 18

Summary: a shift in his relationship inspires Tamlin to begin sending his sentries across the wall again.

Click here to read on AO3, or continue reading below!

48 years after the curse

Lucien never truly grew used to Tamlin’s beauty. Especially when it was just the two of them and he let his glamour fall. He was radiant, a godlike being plucked out of the most reverential myths. It was a sacrilegious miracle that he, deformed as he was, had permission to touch him, let alone everything else they did together.

Tamlin’s eyes were closed, making it easier for Lucien to admire him. His head lolled back, braced against one of Lucien’s thighs. They had just finished a bath, dirty and exhausted from their work patrolling the borders of Spring. At Lucien’s insistence, Tamlin rested himself between Lucien’s legs, the Autumn male sitting on the edge of the bath with the High Lord sitting on a low shelf in the water. It was the perfect position for Lucien to groom Tamlin’s wild mane. Tamlin never did more than wash it with harsh soap and brush it out, which Lucien considered a travesty. Tamlin grumbled over the long minutes Lucien spent in meticulous care of vanity, but he allowed the indulgence all the same.

At the end of the routine, Lucien was massaging oil into Tamlin’s scalp. His fingernails scraped behind one of Tamlin’s ears, which got the High Lord purring contently. Lucien bit back a laugh; if Tamlin thought that he was being made fun of, he would stop. And Lucien so loved the delighted rumble that reverberated through Tamlin’s chest, making the water around him ripple with the vibrations.

“All done,” Lucien finally announced. Tamlin turned and hoisted himself out of the pool, practically spilling into Lucien’s lap. Before Lucien could complain about being splashed with bath water, Tamlin was kissing him. His mind completely emptied as Tamlin pressed his back against the cool marble of the bathroom floor. Their lovemaking was slow and lazy, a deep sensual push and pull. Hours, days, or even weeks might have passed by and Lucien would be none the wiser. He would gladly spend eternity here.

Afterwards, Tamlin pressed a series of chaste kisses along the column of Lucien’s neck and down his shoulder. “I love you,” he mumbled against Lucien’s sweat-slick skin.

Despite the heat, Lucien froze, ice cold water drenching his soul and shocking his senses. Neither of them had ever said those words to each other. Despite their past fifty years together, Amarantha’s curse had hung over them, tainting everything they had together. It had been an unspoken rule not to say it, knowing that any moment, Tamlin would have to give his heart to another. Even as the terms of the curse drew to an end, they hadn’t said it. To say it would be a harsh reminder that they were running out of time. That they could never truly belong to each other.

Too late, Lucien realized he had been staring blankly up at Tamlin. Something in those green eyes shattered, and he looked away. “Shit, I’m sorry, I—”

Lucien forestalled any unwanted apology by pulling Tamlin down to him, kissing him fiercely. “I love you,” he whispered against Tamlin’s teeth. “I love you, I love you, I love you.”

**********************************

The next day, Tamlin began sending out his sentries across the wall. They were confused but elated, pleased to be doing something as the deadline of their destruction drew nearer. Only Lucien knew. That heated exchange on the marble floor had ignited something in Tamlin. He had to fight, now that he had something worth saving. It was terrifying to know that all of this was for Lucien. Even as his comrades were slain one by one, he couldn’t help but selfishly be glad that Tamlin was trying again.

The dam had broken and the flood rushed forth. They said “I love you” a hundred times a day. Tamlin fucked him as if he thought Lucien would dissolve under his fingertips. Soon enough, all of their bedding was torn to shreds from Tamlin’s claws sinking into the mattress as he came, groaning “I love you” into Lucien’s throat. This too was terrifying; Tamlin seemed to be saying goodbye, intent on leaving his mark on Lucien so that when they were inevitably separated, Lucien wouldn’t forget him.

As if he ever could.

Eventually, there were three: Tamlin, Lucien, and Andras. Brave fool that he was, Andras went out every day across the wall. He refused to let Lucien be the sacrificial lamb. “You’re basically the only thing keeping this court running. I’m a dumb grunt. I’m replaceable,” he laughed whenever Lucien pleaded with him to stop. Empty words; they all knew the real reason. Andras loved Tamlin, and knew that he’d be devastated if Lucien were killed.

Against all odds, Andras lasted a full month. Every morning, he would kneel before Tamlin, the general of an extinct army. Tamlin would solemnly lay his hand on his forehead, infusing him with shapeshifting magic until the fae was replaced by a wolf. Lucien thought there should be more ceremony to the whole thing, but Andras refused. He didn’t want them to act like it was their last moments together.

They were in Tamlin’s office when it happened. Even with the world in ruins, there was still bullshit paperwork to go over. Lucien was going over a proposal for some agricultural reform, fingers kneading against his temples as he tried to decipher the dry, complicated prose. He glanced up to ask Tamlin a question, only for the words to die in his throat. Tamlin was staring off in the middle distance, face slack with shock. It could only mean one thing.

“He’s gone, isn’t he?” Lucien asked pointlessly. Grief overwhelmed him. After all he had experienced, he hadn’t known that he could still hurt like this. He really hadn’t ever expected Andras to die. Andras was strong and dependable as a redwood tree, growing straight and true for centuries. He had been the first friend that Lucien had made in Spring. When Lucien’s heart was broken, pining over Tamlin, he had shared his bed to ease the pain. Lucien could still feel the touch of chapped lips and beard stubble against his cheek, warm calloused hands holding him tight. And now he was dead.

“He’s gone,” Tamlin echoed. “He was killed by a woman.”

Lucien’s heart stopped. Almost every other sentry had been killed by humans who didn’t fulfill the terms of the curse. He had already assumed the same had happened for Andras, and was preparing himself to begin going across the wall. It seems he didn’t need to. “A woman?”

“A young, human woman. With hatred in her heart.” Tamlin’s gaze was still unfocused, still with Andras, in that connection that only the High Lord could have with his subjects. Unbeknownst to him, tears began to fall.

This was happening. Lucien rose to his feet, speaking in a steady voice that didn’t betray the tumult of emotions in his heart. “I’ll have Alis prepare a room.”

[jaxteller87]

say my name

We moved in perfect sync, the rhythm of our bodies matching the beat of our hearts, which only went faster and faster. A few minutes earlier, I had Amber pinned against the wall, whispering how she was my good little plaything. That kind of shit drove her wild— and whatever drove her wild— drove me wild.

“Say my name, angel,” I growled into Amber’s ear.

“Jax,” she breathed, her voice was mixed with moans of desire and submission. She grabbed my ass, giving it a playful squeeze as I continuously plunged my manhood into her again and again.

Don’t you dare cum, I thought, struggling to hold back. She felt so good, too good.

“No, my love, what’s my name?” I panted.

“Papa,” she cooed. Her voice was like a sweet melody in my ear.

“That’s my naughty angel,” I growled again, relishing the power and intimacy of the moment.

Nearly half an hour later, we lay beside each other, basking in the afterglow. We sparked up a joint to feel a new high as we came down from the other one, and the room soon smelled of sex and smoke. The whole culmination of events was one of those moments you just think back on and go: Hell yeah…That was a good time— a great, fuckin’ time. You know, I never understood how people can use alcohol to get high— wait, let me rephrase that. I never understood how people enjoy the high they get from alcohol— it’s a shitty one that usually ends with puking your balls off, waking up somewhere strange, and fighting off a headache for the first few hours of the day. For me, it’s simple. Wake up, take a ride, lay pipe into Amber, and lay naked with her on the bed after, smoking some sweet Mary Jane. If you want to get high, that’s the way to blast off.

“I know I’ve said this a few times now, but the genie joke has been the best thing for our love life,” Amber sighed joyfully. She took a drag from the joint and handed it to me. Before she exhaled, she took a sip of her water and then blew the smoke out of her nose.

“Just consider yourself lucky I’m not one of those pathetic three-wish genies,” I joked.

Amber thought about it for a minute and then started laughing. “That’s true. If that were the case, I would have exhausted all my wishes the first hour I rubbed your lamp…”

“Yeah, you naughty, selfish little girl,” I teased, taking a good long toke.

We finished the J and snuggled up for a little before she started twirling my beard in her fingers. This usually meant she had something on her mind.

“What’s up, darlin’?”

“So, about those wishes…”

The next thing I knew, I was wearing the genie costume, slapping her ass, and calling her my good girl before having my way with her all over the bedroom. We were up against the wall, on the floor, on the bed— it was like the Jax and Amber World Tour because we were everywhere. What my lady wished for, she got. The ironic thing about it was I also got what I wanted out of the deal as well— and that was fucking the shit out of my girl.

After round two, we resorted back, relishing in the moment and catching our breaths.

“Do you need anything?” she asked, gently scratching my beard as I leaned down so she could kiss my forehead.

“I have everything I need,” I smirked, kissing her forehead, too, then pulling her closer to my bare body. We settled into each other’s arms. With the moonlight casting a soft glow in the bedroom, I traced my fingers up and down Amber’s arm.

“I wanted to ride the bull after, but that really took it out of me,” she chuckled, looking up at me.

“That’s okay,” I smirked, getting the joke. “If you want to call it at two rounds, we can save round three for next time. That’s perfectly fine. I’m more than content myself, but if you want to go again— as your personal sex genie, I’d have to oblige.”

Amber giggled and playfully pinched my nipple, which made me jump a little. “I love you, Papa. I’m so glad you’re mine.”

“Always and forever, my darlin’ angel.”

A few days later, Amber and I were getting ready to shower when I noticed what looked like a faint bruise on her butt.

“Amber, what is that? Is that a bruise on your ass?” I asked. Then it dawned on me. I did this.

“Crap,” she sighed.

“Amber Lynn, did I hurt you and you haven’t told me?” I huffed as we stood in the bathroom. We had been over this before, and I wasn’t impressed that she had kept it from me.

“Yeah, but—”

“No buts, Amber!”

“You’re right; you’ll probably just slap it,” she jokingly said under her breath, trying to be funny.

It was a little funny, but I didn’t crack a smile because I was trying to be upset.

“Amber Lynn! Excuse me?” I scoffed. 

Her expression quickly went from surprised and humored to shocked and angry. “Excuse me? How old do you think I am, Jackson Teller?”

“What? I’m sorry, I—”

“No, you listen to me, buck-o! I understand you’re upset, but you will not talk to me like I’m a five-year-old. You don’t get to put a handprint on my ass, then scold me about it, mister!”

Shit. She was right. Okay, maybe I overreacted, as I tend to do, but looking at my Mom and Clay, it’s no wonder. “You’re right, darlin’.”

“God Damn right, I’m right!”

“Look, I’m sorry, but I thought we had an agreement about that kind of stuff.”

Amber sighed and didn’t say anything for a minute, like she was holding her real thoughts back. “It’s more like you agreed and forced me to go along with it.”

“Amber, it’s for your own safety!”

“Don’t you think I get that, Jax? But for fuck-sake, I don’t like having to go cry about every little boo-boo to someone; I’ve been having to do that shit my whole life. Sometimes, it’s nice to just have secrets with yourself. It’s bad enough I have doctors gawking over me half the time, and now you come in here yelling at me like I’m some toddler sneaking cookies before dinner.”

“Not just some toddler sneaking cookies,” I replied jokingly, trying to diffuse the situation. “But you’re my toddler sneaking cookies before dinner…”

Amber fought to hold back her smile at my stupid attempt to make her laugh. “I’m sorry too, but damn, you know? Let a girl live a little. It wasn’t medically threatening or anything; it’s a freakin’ black and blue mark— and a small, faded one at that.”

 “I know, babe, and I will. It’s just that I told you a year ago when we took our relationship to the next level: no pain. That was a hard limit for me, especially with your disability. I know you can’t handle what most can.”

“Most?” she scoffed.

“How many asses have you slapped?”

“Not counting the guys in the Club?” I joked, trying to sway her off the topic of my past relationships.

“You know what, Jax— I don’t think I want to know the answer to that.”

“Well, if you want to know how many asses I smacked since we’ve been together, or as a genie— then the answer is one.”

“Come here,” she encouraged me to come closer with her finger.

When I bent down to her, she slapped me across the face.

“Ow! What the hell, babe?” It wasn’t hard, but it definitely caught me off guard. It was more playful than anything, but it was an authentic smack.

“There, you bruised an ass, and now I bruised an ass,” Amber smirked.

“Ha-ha. Okay. I deserved that, all things considered,” I rubbed my cheek and jaw.

“Are you done being a turd?” she asked.

“Maybe. For now, at least,” I replied like a smartass. “But to be fair, you agreed to the rule: no pain.”

“First of all, Mr. Teller, you didn’t hurt me. Some people just bruise easily.”

“Yeah, but not you,” Jax responded.

“Easier than most, you know that, but still—”

“No, but still—”

“Jax, you didn’t haul off and hit me to mean it. I think my exact words were, ‘Papa, please, more,’ or something along those lines, I don’t remember; I was horned up, hot, and in the moment,” Amber said, rolling her eyes at me again. “And I was able to sit in my wheelchair all week with no problems. If you had spanked me hard enough that I couldn’t sit comfortably, I swear I would have said, ‘Hey, we need to tone it down a bit.’”

“You swear?” I asked, looking at the faint bruise.

“I swear, babe,” she said, meaning it as I helped her into the tub. “And I’m glad this happened. And if I’m being honest, this is probably an indication that we should use a paddle, only hands, because I’m nervous that if you actually swatted my ass with something, it would actually hurt me.”

“I agree. If my hand did that just being playful, I can only imagine what a paddle or whip would do.”

“Ooh! A whip!” her eyes lit up.

“Babe. No.”

“I’m joking. But seriously, I mean it, Teller. I’m fine,” she said, looking up at me, giving my beard a gentle scratch.

“I believe you,” I smiled, resting my head on the wall. Amber sighed, resting her head on my chest as we soaked in the tub. “So, you really slapped me in the face a minute ago.”

“Yeah,” Amber giggled. “I did, didn’t I?”

“Yeah. You absolutely did,” I paused. It still kind of stung a little. “But it was kind of hot.”

“It definitely was,” she agreed.

Well, isn’t that just great— a new kink unlocked.

[luvly-writer]

“You are my sunshine”

Part 10: Deals and Intimacy

——————————————-

Jason Todd x Latina! Reader

Social Media Au

Warnings: none

Series: Finished

Author’s note: This is the second part of the written section.

Series Masterlist:

Taglist: @lorosette @screeching20s @milas-teapot @izukuisbaby @alecmores @writing-for-the-hell-of-it

——————————————-

She laughs at the conversation and decides to people-watch for a moment, the gala had been so fun. Before she knew it, someone stands next to her. She looks to the side and finds a young boy who is discreetly trying to get a good look at her. Damian. Oh shit! Oh shit! OH! SHIT! They make eye contact and the boy hums in approval. “Seems like I have won the challenge this time, aside from Todd,” he says as he drinks some water. You look at him and mock surprise, “Pardon me?”. He narrows his eyes with suspicion and hums. “Don’t act coy with me, lady” he answers and crosses his arms. Oh, this one will be a tough one to crack. “And why not?” you ask him and you also cross your arms. “Because frankly, I believe it insults my intelligence and we have been playing a game of cat and mouse to which you won the first time and this time won’t be the same,” he explains firmly. It is almost adorable how one boy can try to sound intimidating, but you can’t take him seriously. Especially, with the sparkly green bow tie. “Although I have to congratulate you on your choice of color for the night, green is a superior color, much better than red. Todd will pout once he finds out it is you,” he carries on without leaving you the chance to answer the other statement. “And, you have shown to be quite intelligent, seeing as you managed to escape all of us, though you aren’t showing much of it now” he finishes looking at you expectantly for a response. To that, you laugh and say, “Clever boy, managed to corner me and everything. And yet I can’t help but wonder Damian, if i were to expose your identity, just like I did with your father, and let the older women dote over you, would it still be there?” you ask with a smirk. Damian suddenly looks at you horrified, and says “You wouldn’t dare?” and to this you let out a loud laugh, and nod. He scowls and is about to leave when you say, “we can form an alliance though.” To which he considers his interest peaked and stays, motioning with his hand for you to carry on. “I heard from a little bird that you like animals, and on Wednesday afternoon, I have to go and check one of the wildlife sanctuaries in Gotham because they need me to design a space for the white tigers coming soon.” you say. His eyes widen with curiosity and this prompts you to continue, “If you’d like, I can pull a few strings and let you tag along and see all of the animals we have in there.” He stays silent and then expresses with narrowed eyes, “I dont like zoos, they are cruel to animals”. You understand his claim and correct him, “It is not a zoo, Damian, its a santuary. They gather animals that have been so hurt and abused that they can’t live in the wild and nurture them back to health. It is more of a rehabilitation center than anything.” At that, his interest had been even more piqued but before agreeing he asks his last question, “What’s in it for you?”. You look at him and get down to his level to whisper in his ear, “You keep the secret of my identity and I’ll take you with me”. Seeing no harm in the situation, he agrees and holds his hand out. You grab his hand and wink at him. He then makes his way toward his father, to tell him the news. You know he is trying to hide his excitement but you can see it quite well.

You start to look around and notice that Jason is nowhere to be seen, you walk towards the dance floor and feel someone touch your shoulder. You turn around and there he is, Jason Todd-Wayne, in the flesh. There is something unrecognizable in his gaze and he takes your hand and lightly kisses it. “May I have a dance?” he questions and you don’t seem to be able to form words so you just nod. How did he find you? Did he see you talking to Damian and Bruce? You let him pull you to the dance floor and position yourselves to start the waltz once you are there. He pulls you closer to him and you both begin dancing. “And so it seems, this is the second time I catch you off guard, sweets.” he whispers into your ear, sending chills down your spine. Your brain is in a daze. Between his sweet cologne, his arms around you, and him whispering in your ear, you almost felt dizzy. “Took you long enough” you reply with a smile. “If only you had told me we were matching masks, then it would have been faster,” he responds as he playfully rolls his eyes. You scoff, “As if I would let you have it easy”. He twirls you and then pulls you to him again. “You look breathtaking, love” he states as he looks at you as if he is drinking you up. You thank him and feel your cheeks grow hot. “You don’t look that bad yourself. Who knew you could actually clean up nicely?” you respond and he gives you a deadpan making you laugh. The song is nearing to an end, and he whispers to your ear, “Now that I’ve found you, can I get you to myself at our spot? I think I have earned it”. You act as if you are thinking just to see him get a little impatient. OH, so he was eager to see you. To get him out of his misery, you agree to it but in order to not look suspicious and attract the attention of the siblings that had not seen you yet, you were going to the bathroom and then meeting him there. The song ends and you clap. You make your way to the bathroom, passing by Alfred and waving to him. He smiles and responds and waves back. Once you are done using the bathroom and refreshing yourself and your makeup, you start to walk up towards the balcony. You walk towards the railing and look down to the garden where Jason is standing looking up. “Aren’t you going to come to me, Juliet, or do I have to go and get you myself?” Jason asks teasingly. You laugh and start descending the stairs, “I’m coming, I’m coming, you dork. Give me just a second”.  Once, you’ve reached him, he takes off his mask. Life, why is Jason Todd so fucking beautiful. He offers his arm and you take it, walking into the small maze that the garden had. You spend quite some time, talking and just walking around. As you conversed with him, you noticed that he would turn to look at your lips every once in a while. You walk side by side, arms interlocked until you get to the same gazebo you met. He sets his mask on one of the benches and stands in front of you. “May I?” he gestures to your mask and you nod. He unties the knot and takes the mask off, setting it next to his. You both stay there, lost in each other’s eyes. He takes one of your hands in his and pulls you closer. “My my, what a pretty face you have?” he says as he places his other hand under your jawline, his thumb caressing your cheek. “You sure it’s me with the pretty face and not you? Cause you are quite the sight for sore eyes,” you respond slipping into the same flirty banter you both constantly have. He laughs and stares at your lips. “Thank you for coming tonight, even though I spent the majority of the time searching for you.” he expresses and you smile. He continues, “Normally these are boring as fuck, but you have managed to..” his eyes scan your face with tenderness, “to bring such joy to them with just your presence alone. Im sure the entire room can feel it.” he ends. He nears your face and you whisper back, “Thank you for inviting me, Jas, and for everything, the dress, the mask, the company. It’s been truly a delight.” with each word you seem to get closer and by the end, you are almost whispering because of the closeness.

You are sure, he can hear your heart beating. The moment is so soft and intimate. You are just about to brush your lips over his when the snap of a twig sounds and you both are snapped back to reality and step away.You turn your head to look and see who was there and find Alfred with an apologetic look. “The gala has ended and the guests have started to leave. Master Wayne has insisted on your appearance in the taking off of the masks and dismissing guests. It is also time I take Miss Y/n home. It’s getting late and this is Gotham after all.” He was correct, Jason had to go back and you had to leave. “I’ll wait for you in the car, Miss Yn. My apologies for interrupting”. You tell him that it’s alright and turn to look back at Jason. He opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something yet closed it again. You both grabbed your masks and put them on. And start walking back. The silence wasn’t awkward but, you were used to always having something to talk about with Jason. Once you reached the entrance of the maze, you saw the car waiting for you. “Thank you again, Jason, have a good night,” you say. He responds with, “Anytime, love. Text me when you arrive at your house so that I know you got there safe.” you smile and promise to do so as you walk to the car and bid goodnight. 

That night, you texted Jason that you got home, showered, did your skincare routine, and fell into your bed. What a night! You would love to tell Nola all about it and go over everything. You had much to analyze seeing as you did catch both times Jason called you love and that intimate moment in the garden, and the almost kiss but you were much too tired to think and fell to a deep slumber. Thank the stars, that tomorrow was Sunday and you didn’t have anything planned. 

<3

[8bitsupervillain]

Higurashi When They Cry Hou Ch. 6 Tsumihoroboshi pt. 21

I guess this just goes to show the difference between cultures. Keiichi’s reign of terror with a BB gun sounds really inoffensive when you consider how much worse it could be. He could’ve been attacking them with knives or something and not just little stinging pellets. Later on when he tells the story to Mion, Rika, and Satoko he mentions how he accidentally shot a little girl in the eye with one of these BB guns. And while that it is bad I wouldn’t say this is as bad as, to pull an example out of thin air, beating three classmates with a baseball bat.

But Keiichi, ever the Peter Parker of this setting dons the mantle of the villain and accepts this dressing down from Rena as the least punishment he deserves. Which really, when you think about it, unless he was specifically going after like really little kids, five and below, this is a massive overreaction. It was such a serious crime no one pressed charges, and he got no official punishment when he turned himself in. So his desire here to have Rena just lop his head off with her hatchet seems a like a bit of an extreme overreaction.

Keiichi then thinks to himself about how he would probably be a touch afraid of Rena if he knew about how she did something bad before moving back to Hinamizawa. It’s not mentioned that he remembers the information he was given in chapter one yet, but he does settle on the idea that even if she assaulted her friends, or broke classroom windows he wouldn’t care. Because it’s the past you see.

You know, it just occurred to me how there really hasn’t been any screenshots, designs or anything of characters looking at things with absolute disgust. There’s been murderous rages, anger, but no pure disgust. I guess Rena has gotten pretty close with some of her looks in the remake art style, but I just feel a lack of disgust or contempt. Not even necessarily directed at the narrator/camera, I just mean generally. I guess maybe Rika got pretty close to what I meant as well during her showdowns with Shion and Rena.

This might just be wild speculation on my part but part of me assumed that the two cute girls Keiichi’s dad saw here was Rika and who we eventually come to know as Hanyuu. I have no idea why I think this is the case but I do. I think maybe I was trying to contrive a cosmic reason for why Keiichi and his family moved to Hinamizawa, and so I settled on Keiichi’s dad was beguiled by the god children to move there. It could be Mion and Shion for all I know, but just based off the description of “a beautiful face with a clear-cut profile for her age” it made me think that this was Rika and Hanyuu. Which that would be a whole different can of worms, because if that’s the case how could Keiichi’s dad see Hanyuu, etc.

The next day Keiichi decides to confess to his friends that he was a naughty boy and shot kids with BB guns back in his old home town. The stress of living up to his parents and teachers’ academic pressures got to him you see, so he took a keen interest in BB guns (for some reason I keep wanting to call them air soft guns) and one day he decided to start taking his anger out on randos by shooting them with the guns. Eventually he felt incredibly guilty, because he accidentally shot a little girl in the eye with a BB.

That’s 70s parenting for you! Slap the shit out of your disobedient child!

They’re all surprisingly levelheaded about this. Mion and Rika it makes sense that they’d want to keep their secrets, one being a mob boss and the other being over a hundred. Satoko though? I figured if anyone would have an issue with Keiichi victimizing children it’d be her.

I have a shirt with this quote on it. I think it’s mis-attributed to Shion though. I bought it a long while ago, long before I started reading Higurashi at any rate.

I was quite pleasantly surprised that this was the outcome to Keiichi’s confession. I was fully expecting the VN to play it for drama and for the three of them to start eyeing Keiichi with suspicion. So the fact they more or less shrugged their shoulders and went “and?” was a very pleasant surprise. Cause they’re right, what really matters is that you as a person are striving to be better than you used to be. It’s a very nice message that I don’t think it tries to oversell by acting like this is a divine message Keiichi received. Just his friends giving him the solid advice that, yes what you did was kind of shitty, but you don’t have to let that define who you are forever. Also you really don’t have to tell everything that you did in the past to your friends. Sometimes you can just keep that to yourself, you don’t have to blab it to all and sundry.

Another thing I like about this scene is the very subtle call back to the start of the series. At the very start of Onikakushi Keiichi is half asleep listening to some couple having an argument with the guy being very cross with this girlfriend. He mentions that no matter how bad the mistake, there’s nothing that can’t be forgiven. Satoko saying “what’s the point of living if we can never earn redemption?” I think is a very subtle reference to that.

[callsign-bunnie]

A humble request.

I simply wish to know if the Why Can't It Be More monster will be receiving a delicious, angsty meal soon?

The monster is hungry.

Only if the monster stops being so mean to Alejandro /j

I'll use this ask to post chapter 6!

--

You’re still Alejandro’s pet, I see.

He’s not a threat without Alejandro.

It was yet another sleepless night and Rodolfo was getting sick of this. He was not the type to be able to completely function on barely any sleep, even if he was able to fake it well enough it wouldn’t be noticed by Alejandro. 

Yeah, he could fake a lot of things, but that didn’t mean he was actually able to do them. Like dealing with his feelings. Or smiling. Stop being edgy, Rodolfo, and just get up and do something. 

Laying here and letting his mind run wild was not helping him sleep at all. 

He saw it was a little after 3:00 in the morning, so he got up. The next day was his day off, so he wasn’t too worried about being exhausted, thankfully. He could just sleep all day, if anything. He was supposed to be militant in his sleep schedule, but he also wasn’t supposed to be sleeping with or in love with his direct superior, so… 

It was well known that the Vaqueros didn’t really follow the rules. Alejandro’s looks were not up to regulation, hell half of them weren’t. Rodolfo did not do half of the shit he was supposed to, Alejandro didn’t either. However, they didn’t get scolded for it, because then the higher ups would have to give a shit about other things. 

Which they were never going to do, so… they were, for the most part, entirely left alone. 

Rodolfo ran a hand over his face and pulled up his jeans, then his boots, then his hoodie. He had decided that he would go and run laps around the training field and hoped it wore his body out enough to sleep. If not, maybe it’d wake him up.

Something would happen, he was sure. 

Once he was done, he grabbed his radio and a water bottle, before heading on his way out to the field. Things between Alejandro and him had relaxed a bit. Rodolfo could handle Alejandro being too close and Alejandro stopped just randomly leaving the room. 

Almost back to normal. 

Of course, there were still tense moments. Alejandro would make a joke he probably shouldn’t and Rodolfo would flinch. Rodolfo would get too quiet and he’d notice Alejandro tense up, likely waiting for Rodolfo to go back to avoiding him. 

Rodolfo wished they could go completely back to normal. He wished… well, he wished he could just be normal about this. Why did he have to be such a… such a… a freak! That’s what he was, he was a fucking freak who couldn’t handle something as simple as hook ups. 

He wished he could, more than anything. He wished he could make Alejandro understand that he really was trying. He wasn’t avoiding Alejandro to punish him or anything. He just… It was the feeling of being used. Even if he was allowing himself to be used, it was still painful. 

Rodolfo paused, seeing Alejandro’s office door was cracked slightly and lit up. He frowned, wondering why Alejandro was up so late. He didn’t want to go in, knowing from past experience that it could only lead to an argument or a hookup and he wasn’t sure he could handle either of those, right now.

Plus, Alejandro was not really an agreeable person when he was tired, which was fair. Rodolfo wasn’t really, either. And since Rodolfo had not slept much the last three days, he was not particularly in the mood to have any sort of back and forth. Pleasant or otherwise. 

He was still curious, though, so he paused near the door and listened, carefully. Rodolfo knew Alejandro wouldn’t bring any hookups back to the base, so he wasn’t too worried about that. Just… curious. 

All he heard was soft typing, papers occasionally being moved. So, it was likely just work. He hadn’t considered anything else it could be, but… it was still nice to have a confirmation. 

He quickly slipped by the door, careful to pass on the other side of the hallway so he wouldn’t be noticed, and then he continued on the way outside. 

Rodolfo had to admit, he wasn’t too particularly fond of running at night. The shape of the trees liked to morph in his mind and become anything but trees. But, it was mid November, so at least it was cool enough at night to be fairly pleasant. He’d still probably get hot, hence the water bottle he grabbed. Plus, he generally tried to be hydrated.

He was careful to log himself as the one in the field, since command was kind of anal about it. It was for good reason, considering their losses. He still didn’t want to have to listen to Alejandro give him a lengthy lecture about properly logging his stuff. “We don’t need to give them any more reasons to yell at us, Rodolfo.”

Yeah, yeah, blah blah blah. They didn’t even check that stuff, half the time. What the fuck did they even check? 

Oh yeah, losses. The one fucking thing they had no control over. They couldn’t control whether their recruits left, they sure as hell couldn’t keep them alive. Fuck!

Rodolfo ran a hand over his face, starting to understand why Alejandro was so angry all of the time.

Once out in the field, he quickly went to a bench and put his radio and water bottle on it. He decided not to set a limit or goal. He’d just run until he was tired and if that ended up being a few hours, oh well, it was his day off. 

Rodolfo shook his head and started his laps. He really liked jogging. He had to focus on his movements and his pace, and he assumed that the endorphins it gave him evened out a lot of his emotions. At least, he always felt a lot more stable after a jog. 

Usually, he wore earbuds when he went running, as he hated silence. But, that night he didn’t mind not having them. It was kind of peaceful. He could hear the night sounds of Las Almas, the pleasant ones, anyway, and the usual sounds of night insects chirping away. 

“Hey, Rudy?” Alejandro asked as he made it up onto the thick branch Rodolfo was sitting on, swinging his legs. He was still in his uniform from school, but Rodolfo had had football practice so he was still in his shorts and jersey. 

“What?” Rodolfo looked over at him, tilting his head. 

“You know that lesson we had in Biology today?”

“I took Biology last year, remember? I had Chemistry.”

“Right, right. I forget you’re like super smart or whatever.” Alejandro laughed and Rodolfo rolled his eyes, punching his shoulder. “Anyway, we learned about insects and their mating patterns and how actually, a lot of them make sounds to get laid.”

“…okay?”

“Well, you know how people listen to insect sounds to sleep sometimes? I’m pretty sure that sound machine your dad got you for Christmas has an insect setting on it, anyway.”

“Yeah, but I mostly just use the rain version.”

“Yeah, anyway, they’re basically listening to an audio version of a sex tape for insects.” Alejandro grinned.

Rodolfo scrunched his nose up. “Gross.” Then, he considered. “Actually, wouldn’t it be more like the equivalent of hearing someone beg to get laid?”

Alejandro laughed, loudly. “You’re right. Hey little mama, let me get some ass.”

“You’re so vulgar.” Rodolfo shoved Alejandro before quickly having to catch him as he almost fell off the branch. 

Rodolfo shook his head in amusement at the small memory. Suddenly, the insect sounds didn’t seem quite as peaceful as before now that he was reminded of that. He missed when he and Alejandro were young. No worries, no… metrics or guns or violence or an ever growing cartel that they were meant to take care of. Just trees and cliffs and trails. 

Scraped knees and broken bones seemed a lot better to deal with than all of this. The most they argued about was the amount of fights Alejandro got in. It was easier back then. 

Well, maybe it was easier to Rodolfo, now. Younger Rodolfo would certainly not agree that it was easier and it likely wasn’t to him. Rodolfo had been trying to work on giving his younger self some grace. Still, Rodolfo would rather deal with those problems than these problems.

Speaking of, Rodolfo’s brain decided to try to finally process all of the noise in his brain. He had something to alleviate the panicky “I need to run” feeling, so it would be a lot easier to focus on them without feeling gross. 

Once again, he found himself trying to decipher what Valeria meant. He had kind of questioned if Alejandro wasn’t telling him something. But… Alejandro had no real reason to lie to him, so he’d pushed the thought out of his head. 

It had kind of stung, he’d admit, to find out that Alejandro had never told him about the cartel. Yes, at the moment he’d decided it was fine, but later… well, he really was just being petty. But, it would have been nice to know that she’d left for that reason. Of course, he’d never asked and Alejandro had said he would have answered if Rodolfo had. 

Rodolfo didn’t want to admit he knew little about the cartel. He would normally blame it on them not knowing much to begin with, so he wasn’t told much, but really, he wasn’t seeking out information that he should. 

Oh well, he couldn’t exactly do that, right now. 

What he could do, however, was continue to question exactly what the the actual fuck she had meant. “He’s harmless without Alejandro.”

Look, he wasn’t stupid. He knew most people considered him harmless at first glance. He was short and he was of a smaller build. He was not anyone’s idea of threatening. He’d been dealing with this since he was a kid. 

But, he’d known Valeria. They were never really close to friends. At best, he’d disregarded her as an arrogant, deeply selfish person who had never had the displeasure of being told she was wrong. At worst, she just was another person jumping on each of his nerves. But, he’d agreed with her a lot of the things she said about the military. She, Alejandro, and he had all hung out, frequently.

Fuck, there was a picture of them at Suenos because when they were off duty, they went there so often they’d become close friends with the people who owned it. When she went bad, the woman who ran the damn restaurant had mourned her like her own daughter. And it was the three of them, together. 

He didn’t quite understand what was between Alejandro and Valeria. Despite any jealousy, he didn’t really think it was romantic. He didn’t like to assume these things, but… Valeria had taken a lot of interest in the other women in their unit. More interest than could be chalked up to female friendships. 

Regardless, whatever her exact attachment to Alejandro was, she and Rodolfo had interacted a lot. They’d never really argued or had too many deep conversations, but… she knew him. She knew things about Rodolfo that only Alejandro knew. 

She had also seen Rodolfo in active combat. He could handle himself, this was well known. Fuck, it was a goddamn fucking requirement of being in the military. He didn’t need Alejandro and he certainly wasn’t useless without him. Hell, Alejandro held him back most times. 

If it wasn’t for Alejandro, Rodolfo’s death count would probably be a lot fucking higher. He had little patience for chasing people. 

Of course, that comment of him being harmless had been after she’d called him Alejandro’s pet. He hated when people acted like he was just an extension of Alejandro. He wasn’t, he was a person, and he was a person without Alejandro. 

Huh, you almost sounded convincing that time.

The reality was that Rodolfo wasn’t really a person without Alejandro. He didn’t have anyone but him. His family had left Las Almas and he hadn’t seen them since. Not that he wanted to, he had a… lengthy history of family trauma with them, he’d admit. But, when they left, they didn’t even ask him to come with them. They knew who he would choose. 

Rodolfo could tell himself that it was because he wanted to save Las Almas but… he would let it burn if he had to. If it was Alejandro or Las Almas, he would choose Alejandro, every time. Every. Single. Time. 

Without any hesitation. 

He paused his jogging to drink water and swiped at his forehead with his sleeve, looking up at the sky. It was clear and the moon was fairly bright. He’d always loved to look at the moon. In fact, he had several polaroids of the moon that he’d taken as a child. 

Alejandro had “bought” him a fancy lens for it that Rodolfo was fairly certain he’d actually stolen, but Alejandro had insisted, and likely would still insist, that he had bought and paid for it. 

Despite how much he was thinking about subjects that would normally make him upset, he did feel a lot better. It was easier to think about them now that he wasn’t at risk of having his fight or flight instinct triggered by anything. 

You know, even with how most people talked about, and likely considered, him as no more than an extension of Alejandro, no one had ever actually called him Alejandro’s pet. He didn’t understand why Valeria would. Maybe she didn’t think too highly of Rodolfo. He wouldn’t be shocked. Well, the feeling was mutual. It wasn’t like they’d really had too much in common besides a general interest in Alejandro. 

Rodolfo decided to do a few more laps before going in, wanting to be able to keep thinking about things without the need to run away. As he started back up, he found his mind drifting back to Alejandro, so he decided not to fight it, this time. 

They’d had a grand total of maybe 6 conversations, actual conversations, since their last… Well, Rodolfo might as well call it what it was. It was a hookup. They’d had maybe 6 conversations since their last hookup. 

The first had been when Alejandro had cornered him in the closet. He wasn’t ready to think about that one, yet, even while jogging. He still felt… guilty. 

The second had been about reports. It was short. 

The third and fourth had been about the weight room and Alejandro was asking if he’d been there yet. Rodolfo had not. Truth be told, he still hadn’t. It was usually full since everyone was excited to have it back and he had no desire to cram his way in there. 

The fifth was an attempt at cordial conversation, with the subject being the weather. Alejandro had commented on how sunny it was. It was always sunny in Las Almas. That conversation had also been… short. 

The sixth had happened the day before, after a meeting where Alejandro had been entirely ignored. Rodolfo didn’t honestly remember what had been spoken about, he just remembered a lot of ranting on Alejandro’s part about being frustrated and tired of the treatment from the higher ups. 

Nothing really new. 

Rodolfo was starting to feel bad for his treatment of Alejandro. He knew he was being unfair. He wondered if he should apologize, but… how? Well… he knew how. He’d have to just go and say it. Alejandro had never been one for apology gifts (though he often gave them) and Rodolfo wasn’t sure he had the confidence to try to apologize with a fancy restaurant. So, it would end up just being better for him to go to Alejandro and just apologize. 

Rodolfo sighed, softly. He really needed to get a handle on himself. This was ridiculous. He was approaching his thirties and he could honestly say he was less able to handle his own emotions, now, than he did when he was a teenager. 

Granted, when he was a teenager, the most he was upset about was… He slowed to stop, frowning. Huh. The most he was usually upset about was Alejandro not liking him back. Things really did never change, did they?

Finally, he felt worn out, enough to hopefully be able to sleep. So, he went back to the bench, taking a small moment to sip some water and breathe. When he sat down, he yawned, and immediately felt relieved. Oh thank god, hopefully that meant he would sleep. 

He paused and… his brain was finally silent. He let out a breath and ran a hand over his face before standing again and going inside. Once at the door, he logged that he was returning inside before going through them, curious about the day.

Mostly, it had been training groups, though they didn’t have many at the time, and a few of their majors for recreational use. He looked at his own log to make sure it logged correctly.

3:47 - SGM Rodolfo Parra for recreational use

4:01 - COL Alejandro Vargas for recreational use

4:20 - COL Alejandro Vargas for return inside

4:40 - SGM Rodolfo Parra for return inside

Rodolfo frowned to himself. Alejandro had been out to the field? Why didn’t he come and talk to him? Okay, he knew why, but why didn’t Rodolfo see Alejandro? He’d had a good view of most of the field. He wasn’t paying a lot of attention, but he would have seen a person. 

He just shook his head. Alejandro probably noticed a log and came outside before going back in. For nineteen minutes? Oh well, Rodolfo decided not to worry about it, for now. Hell, he could use it to start the conversation in the morning before he apologized. 

Actually, evening. It was Rodolfo’s day off and while, yes, he should be militant about a sleep schedule, he was completely fucking exhausted and he was going the fuck to bed. He’d wake up whenever his body damn well felt like it. 

12 hours and it had been absolutely fantastic. Granted, Rodolfo was still tired, but that was expected when one hadn’t slept well for several days. He wasn’t too worried, anyway. He’d still be tired that night, which meant he’d be able to sleep again. 

When he had gotten up, he’d made himself coffee, and had even made an extra cup for Alejandro. Then, he’d gone to Alejandro’s office, where he was again working on his laptop. Not really shocking, there was an endless stream of work for both of them on those things. 

“Hey,” Rodolfo spoke as he went inside, cringing at how awkward he sounded. “I, uh… I brought you coffee.”

Alejandro looked up from his computer, seeming almost started. “Rudy! Hey!” A smile broke across his face and Rodolfo watched him visibly relax, almost looking relieved. 

Rodolfo couldn’t help wincing slightly. So, he hadn’t been the only one hoping things would return back to normal. He took the coffee to Alejandro, setting it in front of him, and then leaning over the desk to look at his screen. “What are you working on?”

“Supply order. It’s that time of the month.” Alejandro shrugged, leaning back in his seat and inspecting the coffee before sipping it and relaxing.

Rodolfo made an ah sound and sat down in his seat. “Is it going well?”

“Well, they cut our budget by 2%. Which… is a fair amount, but they informed us of it in February.”

Rodolfo nodded, remembering the notice. Even if he handled tax reports, Alejandro often handled most orders. Supplies, gear… He handled that stuff because he tended to keep the most track of what was gone. “2% can be fairly significant.”

“Exactly, especially since they took the repairs for the AC out, already. And… general maintenance.” Alejandro sighed, sitting back up and setting his coffee down. “Found out the mice were from a broken vent. Kept getting in through a hole.”

“Oh.” Rodolfo nodded. This place really was falling apart. 

“Yeah, so I decided to go around. Tally up what needed to be fixed, see what else was broken.�� Alejandro shrugged, gesturing to the window. The curtain was no longer moving, so the draft had clearly been fixed. “Might as well fix it now.”

Rodolfo furrowed his brows, wondering if this had happened during the period they hadn’t really been talking. “Better to fix something now than replace it later.” He nodded, relaxing again. 

“Exactly.” Alejandro nodded. “Though, the higher ups would rather have me replace it later. Getting several of these repairs approved was like pulling teeth.”

Rodolfo snorted, not really surprised like that. They would saw Las Almas off and let it drift out to see if it was possible. Disown it and consider it no longer Mexico. Alright, maybe that was an exaggeration, but Rodolfo doubted he was far off. 

“I’ve also put an information restriction. Everyone is on a need to know basis. Not much change for you, since you need to know everything, but everyone else… well, honestly, we’re not changing much. But, I doubt this is even necessary, considering how many successful missions we’ve had since that particular tip off.” Alejandro sighed, turning to his laptop and then he was closing it.

Rodolfo smiled a little. “I’m glad. It seems like you’ve got a lot of things done.”

“I had way too much on my plate to be dealing with struggling to find a leak.” Alejandro shook his head. “We’ll stay vigilant, however. Just in case.”

Rodolfo nodded in agreement before hesitating. It was now or never, Rudy. “I’m… sorry. For being so distant and avoiding you.”

Alejandro looked at him for a moment before shaking his head. “Don’t worry about it, Rudy. I’m… sorry. I shouldn’t push you so much. I… shouldn’t ask for more than I receive. More than I give.”

Rodolfo relaxed, glad Alejandro wasn’t mad at him. He had been fairly worried this would ruin their friendship beyond repair. “I don’t… want to avoid you, afterward. I don’t like doing it, I just… I-”

“It’s alright, Rudy. I promise. I pushed you and I shouldn’t have. I knew that wouldn’t help.” Alejandro smiled at him. “You don’t need to apologize. Just… water under the bridge?”

Rodolfo finally relaxed completely and nodded. Alejandro had forgiven him and hopefully now they could go completely back to normal. “Yeah, water under the bridge.”

Alejandro seemed to relax as well and then he nodded, once. “I’m really glad you’re talking to me, again.”

“Me too.” Rodolfo smiled. He reached over and took a stack of papers beside Alejandro, straightened neatly and in a manilla envelope. “I’ll file these.”

“Thanks,” Alejandro smiled up at him before grabbing a different folder and pulling it over, likely to look over the contents. 

Rodolfo took his time walking to the file room, feeling leisurely. It was technically his day off, anyway. He realized, though, once he got to the file room and started to put papers away, that he’d never asked Alejandro why he’d come out to the training field the night before. 

He decided to ask him when he was done, since it’d be around time when Alejandro would be deciding to be off for the night, anyway. 

Rodolfo paused as he was putting a report away, seeing a folder labeled Valeria Garza. Odd, why did she already have a file? Of course, it was thin and… well, she did try to kill him during arrest. Not to mention, she was known, now, to be working for the cartel. 

Curious, he pulled out the folder and started to look over the first report. Information on this individual is classified. Rodolfo rolled his eyes. Whatever, he hadn’t really been that interested, anyway. He’d just go down, later, and read it on the computer, if anything. Just in case, he checked the access list. Access must be gained through COL Alejandro Vargas.

Rodolfo frowned, deeply. His name was usually on the access list, he had to be. If something happened to Alejandro, he would be who would step up to take control of Los Vaqueros, so he needed access to most of their files. There should be no reason Valeria’s was being restricted from him. 

However, he put the folder back and shook his head. That was an issue for a different day. He and Alejandro sat on thin ice as it was, he didn’t want to risk breaking it. 

He filed the rest of the papers quickly and then locked the cabinet before turning and leaving to go back to Alejandro’s office. Once there, he settled into his chair and then just quietly listened to Alejandro type, watching some birds twitter to each other on the window sill.

One… two… Alejandro groaned in frustration and went to the window, knocking on it and scaring the birds away. Rodolfo shook his head in amusement, since Alejandro had never been able to handle the shrill chirping of birds when he was busy. 

When Alejandro sat back down and continued typing, Rodolfo turned and tilted his head, watching him. “I saw you came out to the field while I was jogging last night. Or, rather, this morning.”

Alejandro shrugged. “I was going through logs and saw you had logged for the field. So, I went to check.”

“Oh. You were out there for a bit, so I was just curious.” Rodolfo smiled to show he wasn’t being accusatory.

However, Alejandro’s head ducked and he appeared to become very enamored by the laptop. “I was so tired that I think I spaced out a bit. Must have been out there longer than I thought.”

Rodolfo wasn’t sure he bought that, but he decided not to question any further. “Tomorrow, I’ll get the logs archived, since it’ll be Friday.”

“Thank you, Rudy.” Alejandro finally closed the laptop and then smiled at Rodolfo. “Are you hungry?”

“A little.” Rodolfo admitted. He hadn’t eaten since the night before, and it was now nearing 18:00. Actually, he was starving. 

“Let’s see what they have in the mess hall.” Alejandro stood, straightening his shirt. Rodolfo stood as well and nodded before following him out into the hallway. 

As they walked, they fell into silence. Though, Rodolfo couldn’t tell whether it was awkward or relaxed. Maybe that was an indication that it was awkward. Or… maybe he was thinking too much. 

He was definitely thinking too much. 

“Why were you on the field last night?” Alejandro asked as they entered the mess hall. “Obviously, I saw you were jogging but it was 3:00.” He got them both food. It wasn’t fully being served, yet, but they were still allowed to just grab food as soon as it was available, since neither of them really stuck to a meal schedule. 

Rodolfo hesitated, unsure if he should tell the truth or not. Definitely not. “I couldn’t sleep. Hoped to wear myself out.”

“Did it work?”

“Yeah, I slept for a while.” Rodolfo nodded a bit. “I try not to let myself oversleep. Strict schedules and all… but I figured it would be better for me to be well rested than not.”

“Incredibly,” Alejandro smiled before guiding Rodolfo to a table, touching the small of his back after giving Rodolfo his food. Rodolfo had to fight back a blush, avoiding looking at Alejandro. 

Rodolfo sat first when they made it to a table, sliding down the bench so Alejandro could sit next to him. He winced when he tried to sit up fully, his back aching and he had to roll his shoulders again to alleviate the pain. 

Alejandro looked at him, appearing concerned. “What’s wrong?”

Rodolfo rubbed at his shoulder before relaxing a little as the pain finally subsided and he rolled them once more before responding. “It’s just my shoulders. They do not enjoy me slouching all of the time.”

“Oh.” Alejandro frowned. “Why don’t you stop?”

Rodolfo winced. “I try. But… then I just stop thinking and they drop again. I dunno, they feel kind of heavy.”

Alejandro looked down at his food, having picked up a bite that now looked forgotten. But, he finally had it finish the journey to his mouth and shook his head. “Sometimes, I wish I had never joined this place.”

Rodolfo blinked, almost shocked. He’d never expected Alejandro to even think such a thing, let alone say it. “If you hadn’t, I wouldn’t have but… I don’t regret following you.” And he meant that. He’d follow Alejandro wherever he went, every single time. 

“Thank you, Rudy.” Alejandro half smiled at him and then sighed. “There’s another raid on Monday. It’s just an operation center, but it’s a big one.”

Rodolfo frowned before shrugging. This was their job, after all, he couldn’t be too surprised. “And we’re leading it?”

Alejandro nodded. “Yes. Some big fish are expected to be there.”

“Oh how well that went for us, last time. Oh, right, I meant me.” Rodolfo groaned, shaking his head. “I’m not going to get thrown off a cliff again, right?”

Alejandro laughed, softly, and shook his head as well. “No worries, Rudy. No cliffs.”

Rodolfo relaxed. “Thankfully. Riding home wet was the worst and getting lectured while I was still sopping wet was not better.”

“You honestly looked like a wet, miserable kitten.” Alejandro laughed, affectionately, even when Rodolfo glared at him. “Don’t let any of them get away this time.”

“I didn’t see you fighting them!” Rodolfo huffed, though he knew Alejandro was just teasing him. “I got thrown off a cliff, my arm was slashed, and all you did was yell at me.” 

Alejandro winced and Rodolfo laughed, softly, finding how sheepish he was funny. “Alright, alright, my bad. I will do my best to keep up with you, this time.”

“Thank you.” Rodolfo took a deep breath and then relaxed, smiling. 

Alejandro’s eyes seemed to linger on him for just a moment too long before returning to his food. Rodolfo frowned slightly, confused. “When should I head to command to be briefed?” He asked.

“6:00. I want to be early.”

Rodolfo nodded a little. “Alright. 6:00.” He smiled at Alejandro.

[pantherastevens]

Sorpresa: Uncle

Back with another one! Welcome to Part Four of Sorpresa (Surprise)

In case you miss the previous parts, they’re right here:

Part One , Part Two , Part Three

I’m not gonna hold y’all any longer so I hope you enjoy Part Four 💜

Warnings: Cursing

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Summary: Miles vaguely understood that his girlfriend was a bit of a wild card. Quiet people tend to be like that. But it never fails to surprise him how often she could pull off such a thing.  

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Aaron Davis didn't survive the streets this long if he didn't know one of the most basic survival rules.

Stay vigilant.

Being aware of your surroundings is key to staying alive. It allows you to get the drop on others.

Which is how he knew about Miles' little crush turn romance way before the boy willingly came clean. At the beginning of Miles' junior year, he noticed a shift in his nephew's behavior. He seemed more lost in thought over something. Then he noticed Miles using his phone more, catching him smiling at it occasionally.

He hasn't really seen the boy crack a genuine smile unless he's around him or his sister-in-law.

Aaron knew that Miles didn't consider the boys at Visions his "friends" and usually got annoyed by girls who tried to get his number.

So who is this mysterious person who managed to catch his attention?

"It's nobody special, tío—just a classmate who so happens to be a little funny." Yeah. Bullshit.

That "classmate that so happens to be a little funny" seemed to be his partner in many assignments. Aaron had times when he had to wait for Miles to get back to him to show up for a job because he was caught in a partner assignment.

He hopes they're actually doing an assignment and not anything else.

Then when Miles' secret identity was discovered by this particular classmate nonetheless, things became even more obvious. Sometimes, he would come into his sister-in-law's home to find the boy on the phone, laughing as he chatted with the female voice. Shit, he caught his nephew on his phone with his feet kicking in the air. He would text her occasionally during a job when he thought his uncle wasn't looking.

The girl's contact was saved as "Gatita" in the boy's phone, which meant "Kitten" in Spanish.

The boy got it bad.

So when Miles comes around his apartment with nervous eyes, he already knows what this conversation was going to be about.

"So... there's something I got to tell you," Miles says. Aaron hums.

"This gotta do with your precious "gatita"," Aaron drawled, watching with an amused smirk as his nephew blushed.

"How did you-"

"Boy, you ain't slick. I've seen your phone screen whenever you're texting her. So, she your girlfriend?" Miles stared at his uncle briefly before letting out a long-suffering sigh.

'Well, that's half the battle...'

"Yes... and I want you to meet her first before I bring her to mi mamá," Miles said. Aaron tilted his head at the boy, mulling over his words before nodding. It would make sense.

Since his brother died, Aaron was more or less Miles' surrogate father figure. Even though Miles has grown up to be more independent, he knew that his nephew would still come to him for advice, help, or a listening ear when needed.

If meeting this girl to help vet her out before she went to meet Rio helps put Miles at ease, then he's willing to do it.

"Fine by me. Though, it's fair that at least you tell me a little about her," Aaron conceded. Miles nodded.

"So, what's her name?"

"Panthera Genesis Stevens." Aaron raised a brow before chuckling.

"Damn boy, you didn't have to give me a full government name," he teased. Miles grumbled, something along the lines of 'you would've tried to find out one way or another.' The kid wasn't wrong, but that shouldn't be nobody's business but his own.

Also...

"You said her name was Panthera," he asked. Something about that name was familiar, but Aaron couldn't figure out why for his life.

"Yeah, I met her in my music class, but we had a couple of classes together," Miles confirmed. Hm...

"So she's your main partner in your music class? Since you're always mentioning an assignment for that class?" Miles nodded.

"Interesting... what's she like?" Miles let out a dramatic sigh.

"Man, where do I start..."

"When you say it like that, you make it seem like she's a handful..." Miles shook his head at that.

"Nah, it's not that. Panthera's a wild card, for lack of a better phrase. She's nothing like the normal girls you've seen whenever you come to get from after school. She's very quiet and to herself. But she's very confident in who she is as a person. Like she keeps her personality hidden, but when it's exposed, she doesn't care who sees it. She's blunt, straight to the point, and no-nonsense, but she could be shy, goofy, and laidback." Aaron listened, watching his nephew talk about the girl he was dating. His eye sparkled, and he was animated, waving his hands about with curious awe ringing in his voice.

"The quiet ones usually hold the most surprises... and you said she knows about you being the Prowler," he drawled. When he first heard about that, he almost tore the boy a new one out of worry. The girl could be a liability to his nephew and everything he worked so hard for, but she proved loyal. She took him in, dressed his wounds, fed him, and ensured he had ample rest before Miles came to the apartment. And since then, none of their enemies seem to be none the wiser when it comes to Prowler's secret identity.

"Yeah, she does. I slipped up a bit, but even if I didn't, she's very smart. Says her dad always stressed the importance of staying vigilant. Same thing you always tell me." Aaron hummed.

'So the girl was street smart and book smart, interesting...'

Miles could see the glimmer of respect in Aaron's eyes, fighting back his smile.

"I think you two would get along pretty great. She's a total badass, Uncle Aaron. Not too long ago, we went on a date, and man, it was crazy," Miles rambled as he pulled out his phone to show his uncle the videos he had taken that day.

"How so," Aaron asked, genuinely curious. Miles was going through her photo library, searching as he answered.

"So I found that my beautiful girlfriend could hoop that day. Some guys that were playing were hitting on her while she was with me. It wasn't until one dude said something outta pocket that really got her attention, and rejected him in front of everyone. When I laughed at him, he got in my face and told me to play against him to embarrass me in front of her. Before I could answer, she said he was gonna play her instead." Aaron cocked his head to the side.

"It's not strange for a girl to know how to play basketball..." Miles shook his head.

"Nah, tío. Just look at her and look at the dude," Miles said, finally passing the phone to the man. Aaron glanced at his nephew before pressing play on the video. Immediately, he could see what his nephew meant.

The guy playing looked like your average dude, someone you can expect to know how to play ball. But when Panthera came on screen, she couldn't look more outta place if she tried. She was certainly dressed for a date, not to play ball against a grown-ass man.

The girl didn't even have shoes on.

"Hold the fuck up. Did she manage to block this man? She's tiny compared to him. How the hell did she manage to jump that high? How tall is she," Aaron stressed, finally looking at Miles. The boy laughed.

"Don't say that to her face; she's already sick of me mentioning it to her. And she's 5'5. Trust me, I was worried for her in the beginning, but my little baby could hold her own. Wait, you gotta see when she finally beats this man. She legit dunks on his ass," Miles said, clearly proud.

"Bullshit, ain't no way."

"Bet I got you." Even as Aaron watched the video, he was still shocked. He could barely see her face, but when she finally got down, Aaron knew there was a smirk on her face.

As she should, of course.

"Damn, I would have never thought..."

"Shit, me neither. Check this, though. She pulled a gun on that nigga because he was talking out his neck and coming after us all crazy." Aaron stared at his nephew.

"Ain't no way-"

"I have no reason to lie to you. Her dad made sure she knew how to look out for herself. Says she always remained strapped, even at school. I honest to God thought she was gonna lay his ass out right there on the court." Aaron shook his head out of disbelief.

The girl knowing how to hoop? A smidge shocking but believable.

The girl knowing how to kill a man, at her age and with her looks? Questionable.

"Imma say I believe you for now... Does her mother know she carries a gun?" Miles winced.

"So, about her mom... she's not in Panthera's life. From what Panthera told me, her mom wanted to abort her. She didn't only because her dad told her that he'll take care of her and even paid her mom to sweeten the deal." Aaron frowned, nodding.

He can see how it's a bit of a sensitive topic.

"So it's just her and her dad," he asked. Miles gave another nod.

"Whatchu know about her pops?" Miles had the decency to look a little embarrassed.

"Uhh... not much?"

"How is that possible?" Miles raised his hands as if he was going to defend himself.

"Look, I never even ran into the man, despite spending a lot of time at the girl's apartment. And I admit I'm a little scared to meet him, hearing how this man legit raised a literal badass and might hang me if anything bad happened between us. She does mention him in passing. The most I know is that he's from Oakland and moved to Brooklyn to start a new life for himself and Panthera. And by the sounds of it, her grandfather was born in some African country and moved to the States, where he had her father. I notice a lot of different trinkets that look like they come from there." Aaron frowned bits and pieces of old memories resurfacing.

"I just moved from Oakland, California. It's just me and my baby..."

"Honestly, I feel like my little girl saved me from a dark path. I wanted to avenge my father but found out my ex-baby mama was pregnant. Shit was unexplainable. I felt a pull, a connection to someone that wasn't even here yet. Something told me to save this part of me that I would've never anticipated for my life."

"Aw, would you look at that? She likes you, Aaron."

"AYO! Open up, nigga!" "Aaron, what the hell, man? Had me thinking you the feds or some shit." "Boy, hush! Where she at, you promised that I could have her for the day." "Bro, you sound like a grandfather looking for they grandbaby." "Nigga, shut yo ass up and give me my little baby."

"Uma-lu...me...!" "What did she just call me?" "She called you 'uncle' in our language. I've been teaching her bit and- Aaron, are you crying?" "No! I got something in my eye!"

"A..on? Unc...? Tío!" Aaron blinked, locking eyes with his very confused nephew.

"Sorry... I was thinking about something. Uhh, when do you plan on bringing Panthera over?"

"Today's Wednesday, so is Friday good for you?"

"Yeah... see you guys Friday..."

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"Miles, I'm having second thoughts about this..." Miles looked down at his girlfriend, who was fiddling with the ring on her chain. The girl opted to dress simply for the occasion: a simple white cami, black acid-washed ripped jeans, and black combat boots. Matching Cuban chain bracelets could be found on her wrists. The ring and dragon claw studs from their recent date made a reappearance. Her locs were in two barrel twists with two free ones hanging in front of her ears.

"Why is that, princesa?" Panthera let out a shaky sigh. This was her first relationship and the first time she's ever met any family members of the people she interacted with. She didn't want to mess this up.

"What if your uncle doesn't like me," she asked quietly, anxiously glancing at Miles' hand that hovered over the hardwood door. The boy frowned, taking her face in his hands so she could look at him.

"Hey, none of that negative thinking, gatita. My tío already likes you. There's nothing you have to be worried about, okay," he whispered. He could still see a bit of insecurity in her eyes, but she rolled her shoulders and nodded. Miles kissed her forehead before facing the door again and knocked. Miles knew his uncle was home; he could hear the man's music playing from the other side of the door.

Panthera could hear the heavy footsteps approaching the door's other side, taking a deep breath.

'It's okay, Panthera. Miles seems confident in his uncle's approval. That's all you need... You got this...'

The door unlocked and swung open to reveal a tall, lanky man. His facial features were sharp and hard. The man had no hair, save the goatee with a bit of gray hair. Panthera looked up to find his dark eyes already trained on her. The initial fear Panthera felt slowly started to disappear as she took in the older man.

'He feels so familiar... but from where?' Miles cleared his throat, snapping the pair out of the stupor they seemed to fall under.

"Uncle Aaron, this is my girlfriend, Panthera Stevens. Panthera, this is my uncle, Aaron Davis." Panthera trusted out her hand with a small smile on her face.

"Pleasure to meet you, Mr. Davis. Miles speaks highly of you," she said. Aaron smirked as he clasped his hand in hers for a solid handshake, a glimmer of approval shining in his eyes.

"The pleasure is all mine, Panthera. Call me Aaron. I'm not normally one for formalities all the time." Panthera's smile widened as the pair were ushered inside. The girl immediately bent down to remove her shoes, placing them by the front door. The strange sense of deja-vu seemed to grow stronger as the girl took in the apartment's interior.

"Welcome to my humble abode. Mi casa es tu casa. At least I'm pretty sure that's something my sister-in-law would say," Aaron said, nodding at the sight of her shoes near the door.

'At least I know she was raised in a cultured household...'

"Thank you, Mr.- I mean Aaron. This is a nice place you have here," Panthera said as she looked around. Aaron let a small smile, one Miles noticed. The boy grinned, happy to see his uncle being receptive to his girlfriend.

"Thanks, lil miss. Why not we get comfortable in the living room before we step out?" The two teens nodded, walking to the couch. Miles plopped down first before the girl could sit down, grabbing her wrist to pull her into his lap. The girl blushed, trying to get up to sit beside her boyfriend but failed when he simply tightened his grip on her.

"Miles, seriously," she whined, pouting. Miles smirked, pecking her lips.

"Calm down. Uncle Aaron is chill; besides, he might as well get used to seeing us like this anyways," Miles said, glancing at the man to confirm this. Aaron chuckled at his nephew's antics.

"It's fine." The man sat beside the pair and fell into a comfortable silence. Aaron studied the girl on Miles' lap. She was trying to suppress her giggles as Miles nuzzled her neck, seeking her affection. She threw an arm around his neck, thumb rubbing the skin behind his ear as she kissed his temple. Miles seemed completely at ease, eyes droopy with a lazy grin.

The older man suppressed a smile to take in the girl who seemed to hold his nephew's heart in her hands.

Aaron took note of her simple fit, understanding what Miles meant. He definitely wouldn't have noticed her immediately since many girls at Miles' school like their high maintenance expenses.

Panthera was simple, a natural beauty. It was refreshing for Aaron to see.

However, one thing caught the man's attention.

"What's with the necklace?" Panthera looked to the lounging man, eyes trained on the ring hung on her chain.

"It was my father's. The ring belonged to my grandfather. My dad gave it to me when I was 12, so I had a connection with him," Panthera answered, fiddling with the cool metal. Aaron hummed, his eyes narrowing in thought.

He remembers seeing that same exact ring on a similar chain on a man he met years ago. His baby girl seemed to love to play with it when he held her to his chest.

Before Aaron could say something, Panthera perked up at the sound of a new song playing. A song she hasn't heard in years.

"Oh my gosh, I haven't heard this song in so long," the girl gushed, her head nodding along with the beat. Aaron raised a brow.

"I wouldn't have suspected you to be a 2Pac fan, Panthera. The song's called My Block, in case you wanted to know," Aaron drawled. Big dark brown eyes shone happily at him, reminding Aaron of a familiar look from a little girl who loved this song whenever he played it.

"Baba would play him from time to time, but I mostly remember listening to him whenever I visited my umalume's apartment. Oh man, my dad probably has a video of me trying to sing along with the chorus with my uncle cheering me on," Panthera reminisced with a fond yet sad smile.

She last saw her uncle when she was six years old. It's like he just vanished from their lives almost. Eric told her he was too busy to visit them anymore, and Panthera asked her dad to play 2Pac to remember him. The girl was sad that someone who she considered family was just gone, but she had no choice but to move on.

Unknowing to her, Aaron froze, staring at the girl with wide eyes.

Umalume... uncle.

Aaron remembered returning to his apartment one day when a man with a baby and a couple of bags came off a bus. Aaron slowed, noticing the man's pinched expression. Normally he would've just kept walking, but the man looked rather young and tired. Plus, it was at that very moment the babe let out an ear-piercing wail.

"Ayo!" The man turned to Aaron, looking sheepish as he tried rocking the baby back to sleep.

"Yes, sir?" Aaron approached the young cat with a hint of a smile.

"Need a hand there?" The older man watched as relief washed over the man.

"Yes. Definitely." The Brooklyn native chuckled, carrying the bag, leaving the young father with one as he soothed his baby. Dark brown eyes met a matching pair, a tired smile on the younger's face.

"Name's Eric, by the way. Eric Stevens. And this is my little girl, Panthera Stevens." Aaron peered at her little face, smiling at the pout on her lips and big dark brown eyes.

"Nice to meet you, Eric. I'm Aaron Davis. And Panthera's a cute little girl. She looks like you a little bit."

The pair became fast friends, Aaron helping Eric find a place for him and little Panthera after discovering he was new to the city. He watched the little girl grow for years, growing a strong attachment to her after he held her in his arms for the first time. It reminded him of his young nephew, born shortly before her.

"Yo, tío... you okay," Miles asked, seeing the man's eyes grow misty the longer he stared at his girlfriend. The man shook his head, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down.

"Lil cub? Is... is that you?" Panthera's head snapped in Aaron's direction, eyes wide. But Aaron could see the spark of recognition in her eyes.

"...Umalume," she asked, really looking at the man. A younger, less jaded version of the man appeared in her mind's eye. She remembers his bright smile and his bolstering laugh. How his eyes would soften the same way Aaron's was right now-

"Oh my goodness! It is you!" Miles was confused by his girlfriend's outburst, which only worsened when Panthera partially jumped out of his arms into the arms of his uncle.

Aaron let out a genuine, joyful laugh as he stood up and spun the girl around.

"Damn, I can't believe it. It's really you, lil cub," Aaron said, squeezing Panthera. The girl pouted at him, reminding him of the kid version of her.

"I'm not little..."

"Yo feet still can't even touch the ground-"

"We not gonna talk about that-"

"So, does someone wants to clue me in here?" The pair stared at the Afro-Latino, who looked more than a little lost. Aaron chuckled as he set Panthera down, resting a comforting arm around her shoulders.

"Panthera is my non-biological niece. I met her father when he first moved to Brooklyn when Panthera wasn't more than a few months old. Her pops and I became fast friends, and like you, Panthera wormed her cute little self into my heart." Miles blinked before laughing. Panthera gave him that usual innocent blink whenever she managed to do something that baffled him.

"Just when I thought you couldn't surprise me anymore than you already have, you managed to do so again? What's next? You've met my mom too?" Panthera blushed, giggling.

"Funny, babe, but I haven't. Promise." Aaron turned to his nephew, eyes shining.

"Your mom is going to love her. I wouldn't stress it, lil man." Miles smiled at that.

"But... if you break her heart, you have more to worry about than just her Pops coming for your ass, Miles."

"Wha-?! But I'm your nephew!"

"And I would love for you to make Panthera my niece officially. Don't let me find out you two are no longer together now." Miles let out a groan as Panthera stifled a laugh behind her hand. The trio soon left the apartment, heading to a diner. Aaron took both of them there at some point in their childhood for some food. The couple were happy to revisit it, now older and as a couple.

Despite his uncle's threat, he couldn't help watching on happily as his uncle and girlfriend joyfully interacted with each other.

Things were looking up for Miles.

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Dedicated to @444morales apprecite your support, friend 💜💜💜

[blackestnight]

Asking you to go off about one of your table top characters of choice. Tell us about them and their adventures!!

hello, you get to hear about my Terrible Horrible No-Good Very Bad Starship Captain

i played her in a horror starfinder campaign (the official Signal of Screams AP, for those who care), which—you know hellraiser? imagine that, but in space. which is why i'm taking a moment to send thanks into the ether for our GM, who was so good to us, because you cannot run a campaign like that without a GM who is invested in taking care of the players. not only did we get general warnings for the campaign, but we'd also get session-specific warnings, and he'd actually pull some people into a different room for certain scenes or to pass on specific information based on the comfort levels we'd already established, and he made certain we all knew that any of us could ask for a pause or get up and walk away at any time, no questions asked. there were some game nights where we'd have to goof off and decompress after but no one at that table ever felt like we were getting into anything we couldn't handle, which is amazing when you consider some of the content warnings that come with that particular campaign.

anyway: her name was yashtavi (tavi for short, but that's "captain" to you); the campaign she was in lasted multiple years so i can't recount all the adventures but highlights include:

first meeting the party while she was stuck in prison (i joined in the middle of another campaign); they broke her out of her cell and she introduced herself with a "oh, you have a starship? i'm your captain now. get in." and just Did Not wait for dissent

you need to understand, tavi is a five-zip space valley girl with bright pink hair. she would blow away in a strong breeze. naturally her highest skill was intimidation

which is how she sent a void troll running for its mother by smiling at it a little creepily

also, bargaining with space pirates. by "bargaining" i mean she said "we're either doing this the easy way, where you do exactly what i say when i say it, or we do it the fun way, where i turn your internal organs upside down and then you do what i say"

and then she turned their internal organs upside down. we love consistency.

the time she walked into a mirror trap that was supposed to suck her soul out while she stood enthralled by an enchantment that would cause her to wither away before the hapless eyes of her party. however she was so full of herself that she just shot fingerguns at her reflection and walked back out with 20k of treasure in her pocket (thanks, nat 20 will save)

also the time she literally dodged a death trap because she was so obsessive over her hair that she chose to sleep in an office chair rather than in a sleep pod with a built-in beautician routine. (the gm was SO MAD because he couldn't force me to climb in without making it clear he wanted me to climb in.)

despite all of this, and despite the fact that she traded away her humanity to the forces of darkness for shits and giggles, somehow she was deemed the most responsible party member, which is how she somehow??? wound up settled down with a wife and daughter at the end??? straight up u-haul space lesbians (adopting the teenage clone of the BBEG). it was wild.

anyway i love her endlessly, thank you

[baby-girl-e]

Daylight

Okay so here's the first fic based on a song from my Spotify wrapped playlist! This one was requested by the lovely @elenaalva and her number was 19, which was the song Daylight- Live from Paris by Taylor Swift. Shocking I know, but if you're listening while you read, I would recommend this version especially because her emotion while singing it live is very much the vibe I gave Maverick! Enjoy, and also feel free to request a number in my ask box!

Pete was wild. It’s where he got his callsign from. His rebellious and unpredictable behavior was not just reserved for the skies but translated over to his love life as well. He was long considered to be a womanizer and a heartbreaker, and even took pride in it. He never stopped to think how this would affect others, just what could give him his next rush and distraction from his own pain. 

He never lied to these girls, no he always told them the truth. But he never told them goodbye either. Just up and left one day without so much as a note. He hated facing people when he made his great escape, feeling the guilt but ultimately decided to leave before he got left was simply easier on his heart. 

He was so unlucky in his professional life, with his dad being Duke Mitchell, that he was consistently the butt of every joke and it was only a matter of time before the distaste seeped into his dating pool. 

He was well and truly fine continuing on like this but then fucking Iceman Kazansky had to show his stupid perfect face. Pete had never liked guys before so when his heart fluttered after being told he could be his wingman anytime… he needed a long weekend to figure that shit out. He knew Tom couldn’t be into him like that, could he? Was this just another thing for him to get disappointed about?

All ready to ignore his feelings he steeled himself to pointedly ignore the hot blonde at all costs while on their shore leave before TOP GUN was back in session. Could you believe Ice had also chosen to be an instructor? Just his luck. Apparently Ice had other plans though because on the first day of their leave Pete heard a banging on his door. 

“Open up Mitchell, I know you’re in there!” Tom was loud and it was indeed 0500 but he didn’t seem to care. 

The door opened to a disheveled Maverick still rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

“Jesus Kazansky, you know you don’t always have to be up before the sun right?”

“Yeah well this couldn’t wait.” Pete barely had time to register that he was being pushed through the doorway of his small house because once they were over the threshold he was being kissed. Thoroughly. Tom had wasted no time in grabbing Pete’s waist and pushing him up against the door as it shut, he was a man on a mission. 

Pete kissed him back frantically, not knowing where this came from but he was nowhere near complaining. They stayed like that for what felt like hours but was probably more like a few minutes before they pulled apart with heavy breath. 

“Uh, hey Tom, good morning?” Pete was out of breath and his brain was mush so he could only go back to basics. 

“I walk in here and stick my tongue down your throat and all you have to say is good morning?” Tom had a lovingly amused tone to his voice and Pete nearly melted. 

“Well you never did so someone had to. And maybe you should do that again, I don’t think I got a good taste.” He leaned in to chase Tom’s lips but he put himself just out of reach. 

“Don’t you think we should talk about this?” He gestured between the two of them and Pete should’ve known that the spontaneity of the kiss was all that Tom could muster and he was back to being practical. Damn.

“I’d much prefer our mouths do other things but if you insist, care to explain yourself?” Pete had a small idea as to why he had just been kissed by his wingman, but he wanted to hear it from him. He wanted to hear the words I want you fall from his perfect lips.

“I think you know why Pete. You have to know how I feel.” He was pleading with his eyes and Pete knew right then that he had to make him do that again in a different way. 

“Tell me Tom, I want to hear it.” And Tom did. He let himself speak himself sore on his adoration for the man, throwing all caution to the wind. 

“...Pete I just couldn’t stop thinking about you and I had to take the risk. I’ve never settled down in my entire life, it’s why I chose the Navy, but dammit Pete I want it with you. I just want you. Please tell me you want me too?” 

He didn’t know what to say. He never expected him to be so open about his feelings, especially when he himself felt it impossible. 

“Okay, Tom. Okay. I want you, I do.” He felt like if he didn’t get the words out in time then Tom would float away, that he’d wake up and this would all be a dream. 

They fell back into an easy kiss and it suddenly felt like they’d been doing this for years. Pete led Tom back into his bedroom and shut the door, neither of them leaving until well after the sun came up.

They spent nearly every morning that way for as long as they could. All throughout their leave and well into their time at TOP GUN. Every once in a while they’d have to spend a night alone to not raise any suspicion but those were always the darkest nights. 

One morning, on a saturday, Pete was up before the sun and looked down at his slumbering boyfriend. He didn’t want to look at anything else ever again if he could just keep looking at Tom. He didn’t even want to think of anything else.  He stayed like that, admiring the man for a while. He really thought that love was only black and white, you either get it or you don’t but oh it’s so much more than that, it feels fucking golden. He didn’t care that he had to all but sneak into Tom’s bed every night, he’d do anything to feel that gold light in his chest. Tom’s love felt like that first peek of daylight after the longest cold night, and from the looks of it? He was going to have thousands of daylights with this man.

[hope-drunk]

- let’s take jesus off the dashboard | s. harrington

| you can’t help but stare at your boyfriend while he’s driving

| content warning! 18+ PLEASE, pwp, implied f!reader, reader’s bold and mouthy, steve’s mean but it’s an act, implied subspace? a little?, fingering, piv, unprotected sex.

“would you stop looking at me like that?” steve said, passing you a glance.

in his defense, you had been staring at him driving for the past 15 minutes. he just looked so, good. you couldn’t explain it. something about him being so concentrated on the road. it did something to you.

you were on your way to your friend’s lake house that was quite a ways away. you had already been driving for a while. while you loved steve, you were quite bored.

“i’m sorry, can’t help it. you’re so handsome, stevie.” you tell him with a little smile, putting your eyes on the stretch of road in front of you instead of the side of his face.

“yeah, well, you’re looking at me like you want me to pull over so i can fuck you.” he says, quietly, but with a small laugh.

“what if that is what i want?” you were mostly joking, mostly. the car fell to silence and you put your feet on the dash. steve’s car was some minivan his parents had gotten him, which was perfect considering he always had the kids with him.

steve lets out a “hmm” and looks over at you. you’re shooting him a shit-eating grin. you knew he wouldn’t ever actually fuck you on the side of the road. i mean it was steve.

steve who holds your hand during sex, steve who kisses your forehead while his cock is buried so deep inside of you. steve who barely lets you suck his dick, even if you’re begging for it, because he feels like you don’t get anything out of it.

before you know it he’s slowing down, pulling off by some random corn field in the back of an unknown town. he unbuckles his seatbelt and looks at you, “we gonna do this or what?” he’s smiling, pearly whites on full display. 

“oh we are so doing this, big boy.”

“oh we are so doing this, big boy.”

you’re quick to climb into the back, already kicking your shoes off and yanking the red tank top over your head. steve’s not far behind you, he’s already got his polo off when you look at him. 

you both lean into each other, hard. a kiss that’s so rough you think you might break his teeth. it’s sloppy, and quite honestly gross. you hop into his lap and pull away, gasping. there’s a line of spit connecting you two together still. 

“you’re so hard already, steve. were you being an unsafe driver? thinking about my pussy instead of focusing on our safety?” the look he gives you is something you’ve never seen before. he’s wild, the hair he spent so long on is messy now, from your tugging. 

“do you ever stop running your fucking mouth?” he asks. in his normal tone, nonetheless. steve’s running his big hands up and down your thighs.

you let out a laugh of disbelief, “what?” you’re tilting your head, like a lost puppy. 

“you heard me.” all you can do is look at him. you truly do not know what to say. 

“i guess that answers the question, then. just need to be a little mean and you get quiet, is that it? you want me to be mean to you? y’want me to fuck you on the side of the road, like you’re some whore?” his voice sounds deeper to you. and he’s still rubbing your thighs, up and down and up and down. you find yourself nodding without even realizing. it’s like your body is responding to him. he raises his eyebrows, your eyes search his face all over. you realize he wants verbal confirmation from you.

“yes, want it.” you sigh out. steve flips you over. his chest is pressed to yours and you’re kissing again. you realize that you’re trying to grind up into him, grind onto anything, really. “so needy.” he mumbles against you. your hands have found the button of your shorts and while you’re in the middle of undoing it, steve’s hands are yanking them down, along with your panties. he rubs a finger through your folds, earning a gasp from you. 

“oh you’re fucking wet, sweetheart. y’sure i was the distracted one? you were supposed to be my navigator. did you get us lost? were y’thinking about my cock in you?” he doesn’t wait for a response, he just slips his middle finger into your hole, and you realize he wasn’t lying about how wet you are. you can hear the squelching sounds your making, but you can’t seem to care. your back is arching off the seats while you let out pathetic moans. steve adds another finger into your weeping cunt.

you don’t really know what to do. it’s not that you were usually in charge during sex, but he wasn’t usually in charge either. all you knew, is that it was driving you crazy. you loved how he was putting you in your place. you loved that he was making you speechless, and you especially loved how he was touching you.

“you’re so pretty when you’re like this, baby. all quiet for me. you don’t have a thought in your head, do you?” you’re grasping steve’s wrists, not sure if you want him to slow down or speed up. small please’s are leaving your lips.

“what d’ya want, honey? tell me what you want and i’ll give it to you, you know i will.” he’s kissing all over your neck now. it’s just adding to the overwhelming sensation of him.

“want your cock, please steve. want it so bad.” he brings his head up to look into your eyes.

“yeah? you want my cock? poor thing.” he says, followed by a tsk. steve’s taking his fingers out of you fast, making you whine. but he’s quick to undo his pants and line his cock up with your cunt.

steve pushes in and lets out a groan. “oh shit, you feel so good. always so good for me, huh? yeah, you’re my good little girl.” you’re mumbling back to him, “good girl for you, steve. good girl.”

he laughs at you. steve’s pounding into you hard. his balls slapping against your ass. you have your hand on the window behind you, trying to steady yourself, but it’s no use. it slides down and makes an ugly squeaking noise. they’re too fogged up from all the panting and moaning. 

“look at me, sweetie. wanna see your eyes. can you keep your eyes on me? yeah?” he’s gripping your jaw, and you’re doing your best to keep looking at him.

“wanna cum, stevie. please wanna cum so bad.” you’re crying into his hand. steve uses his thumb to wipe away the stray tears. 

“you wanna cum, puppy? go ahead, give it t’me.” his words are all you needed to let go. and when you cum you see white. the coil in your stomach snaps so hard you don’t even remember what’s going on.

steve’s thrusts are getting sloppy as he fucks you through your high. you can feel his cock twitch, and you clench around him from overstimulation. he lets out a final moan and buries himself into you, releasing his load. 

he lays on top of you, cock still deep inside of your cunt. you gently rub his back which makes him lift his head up. he pushes the sweaty hair off of your forehead and lays a sweet kiss onto your nose. when he pulls out, he’s quick to grab a towel from your bag in the back to get you cleaned up. 

“was i too mean?” he asks, barely above a whisper.

your, much louder, voice comes, “no steve, are you kidding? that was so good.” you lean up to give him a reassuring kiss. he smiles into it.

once you’re both dressed again and ready to get back on the road, steve lets out a sigh.

“you really did get us lost. we went the wrong way.” you let out a little giggle, and steve loses the fake angry dad act and laughs with you.