#which would be fine except I also have to catch a flight

[saerins]

birthday wish;

itoshi sae x female reader. wc 2.4k

content: fluff. some profanity. slight making out. birthday fic for sae <3

summary: it’s itoshi sae’s birthday. the world hates you. you’ve never been a lucky one. being “shit out of luck” is the only thing you know. the tables must turn.

if higher beings do exist, they really must hate you. they must. you can’t fathom your bad luck otherwise.

not only did your cab to the airport run into an hour long jam, your connecting flight also got delayed and now you’re running a day late.

all you get to see is the group chat blowing up, people sending pictures of others, of each of their antics. there’s a photo of everyone together except you.

because your business trip is a pain in the ass.

because it made you miss a weekend getaway with your friends in hokkaido.

because even when they made the effort to convince the birthday boy to make a little side trip back to tokyo, you’re still too late for that.

if it was anyone else, you’d have been fine with it. as much as you feel guilty about that.

but it’s sae. it’s itoshi fucking sae and you can’t even remember the last time you saw him in person because everyone else’s schedules match except yours. the world has driven a constant wedge between you and sae and you hate it.

is there any other emotion to be reserved when that happens to you and a boy you’ve had a crush on since forever?

meeting itoshi sae as a kid was exciting, hopeful. falling for itoshi sae when he was a teen leaving japan for opportunities elsewhere was giddying. sometimes you can’t believe that someone you know is that successful, and other times you hate the fact that he’s so far away because of it.

more than half the time, he’s in spain. he’s never where you are at least ninety-nine percent of the time. the one occasion he was, which was three years ago over new year’s, you were fucking sick.

and all he sent you was a text telling you to get better while the rest of your group of friends get to hang out with him.

though, you suppose that’s a good thing. he barely ever texts anyway, and you don’t initiate, if only out of fear for getting in his way. (as if small speech bubbles could get in his way at all.)

you sigh helplessly as you reach the immigration hall, even more irritated as you look at the time. already past midnight, sae’s flight would’ve already left by now—or, actually, an hour ago because he doesn’t have your bad luck—so you don’t even have the chance of bumping into him at the airport.

whoopee.

your phone finds itself tossed into your duffel bag at your irritation. unwarranted but it is what it is. by the time you finally get your luggage and exit, you’re exhausted. from the disappointment, the delays, everything.

it’s only when you walk a couple more steps, lugging your things behind you when you stop in your tracks, your boots suddenly feel like they’re one with the marble below them.

“didn’t think your luck could get any worse.”

is it possible for your heart to feel like it isn’t functioning properly after hearing a voice? a voice that you haven’t heard physically for who knows how long now?

you have to take a deep breath to even get his name out. “sae…?”

his brows furrow before he cocks one, sighing as he propels himself forward from against the railing, hands in his jacket pocket as he takes a few steps towards you. his face is hidden behind a black mask, his hood pulled over his head but you can still see the clear piercing teal of his eyes and the same nonchalant expression he always wears in his interviews.

you’ve seen a bunch of them.

“who else would i be?” he sighs again, like he’s exasperated, before he grabs the luggage handle from you and starts tugging it behind him.

it occurs to you seconds later that he expects you to follow him when he doesn’t even turn behind.

“wait wait.” you nearly trip over your own feet as you scramble to catch up to him, feeling out of shape the moment you fall into step beside him. “didn’t you have a flight to spain, like, an hour ago?”

you couldn’t have gotten the timing wrong because you triple checked it in the group chat.

sae makes a confused noice in his throat before shrugging. “pushed it a day later.”

he doesn’t elaborate. like he always does. or doesn’t.

“but why? don’t you have training right after you land? or, when you were supposed to land?”

his body brushes your side when he sidesteps someone on his right. you’re ashamed of how your heart skips a beat.

“i have training the day after. i just wanted to get a day to nurse my jet lag if i could. i could still make training if i leave tomorrow.”

he’s always to the point. but he’s intentionally evading a part of your question.

“but why—”

“i’m hungry. you hungry?” he asks, and you can only blink. you can’t even say anything before your stomach growls and answers for you and sae doesn’t have to wait for your response.

he holds your luggage with his right, and his left hand reaches out for you, warmth enveloping as he tugs you beside him into the nearest izakaya, swiftly getting a table for two in the privacy of their special corner table and all he had to do was remove his mask.

“it’s a little late but… happy birthday,” you whisper to him across the table.

sae’s gaze flicks over to you, blank expression as he just stares at you for a moment. “no it’s not,” he says, and upon your confused expression continues, “i got your text.”

right, because you used the shitty in-flight wifi to try and get your message to him. looks like it worked.

“oh, good then,” you heave a sigh of relief as you let yourself relax, subtly slinking lower against the booth.

over supper, sae purposely asks you questions, about your work, your days, life in general, overloading you with them so you don’t even have a chance to ask him anything thus far.

neither of you even realise that it’s not a 24-hour place, but it’s not a surprise that being itoshi sae has its privileges. before long, the only customers are you and the boy you like and your impatience that puts its foot down and bites the bait.

“why did you push your flight back, sae?”

his bowl is long cleared and all he has to busy himself with is the hot ocha on his side. he looks out the window for a moment, as if contemplating something before he spots the waiter and asks for the bill.

another attempt at shaking the question off that won’t earn him any points because the moment you step out of the airport and into the chilly air outside, you question him again.

“sae, tell me.”

sae takes a deep breath, and you can see the bare hint of a flush in his cheeks. it’s not that obvious, but you can see it.

he finally lets up for the first time tonight, the life granting a glint in his eyes. he chuckles, and he shakes his head, though his smile is subtle—just barely visible.

“you’re still as irritating as when you were a kid, you know?” he remarks, and you find yourself crossing your arms before he finally relents.

after a small pause, he takes a step towards you, his body barely inches from yours. he leans down to your ears, with a voice that’s barely a whisper, “i wanted my birthday wish to come true.”

this isn’t fair, itoshi sae.

“and what’s that?” you ask because he’s still there, his neck right next to your lips and sucking the energy out of you because it’s always nerve-wracking being near him even if you’ve known him most of your life. l

“i wanted…” he pauses, hesitant to say, “to see you. in person.”

and he finally straightens back up, giving you room to breathe.

is it greedy of you to not be satisfied? you feel like this could be a fever dream. are you sick?

“why?” you ask again, and you find yourself trailing after him when he refuses to answer.

sae flags down a cab, telling him your address, word for word correctly and it doesn’t register to you that despite never having been there, he remembers it like the curve of the soccer ball, like the arc of his passes.

nothing is ever too much effort if it’s worth it.

you’ve just never thought you were ever in sae’s head.

by the time you reach your apartment, the both of you are shriveling in awkwardness, too stubborn and stupid for too long that you’re too used to it.

“this one, right?” sae asks when he gets to your unit, the one in the corner of the top floor.

you nod weakly, and sae purses his lips before he pushes the luggage towards you.

“get some rest. you must be tired,” is all he tells you before he starts to make a move, heading back towards the elevator.

but you’re sick of it. sick of the chances you never take and sick of how you’re too scared to even try. your fingers reach out to grab the hem of his jacket sleeve, holding him back.

“i wanted to see you too,” you declare, even if he never asked. you get greeted by the sight of his widening eyes, by the slight upward tug of his lips. “you’re never free when i am and i just—fuck—i hate it. and you’re so accomplished and i’m happy for you, really, but i… i miss you.”

(sae looks at you, looking at the floor, looking guilty as if saying you miss someone is a sin. he feels the way his heart aches in his chest—fuck, did he really miss you this much too?

he’s used to having the upper hand, always having you squirm in embarrassment, but why does he feel like it’s slipping with every instance he’s about to tell you how he really feels about you? why is it slipping every single time he sees you smile? in your photos, your stories, even the emojis you send in your fucking texts.)

“yeah, missed me that much?” he asks, teasing you a little as he sees your feet shift nervously.

what you do next catches him completely off-guard, his eyes snapping shut the moment you grab his jacket lapel, pulling him close and kissing him, tasting so sweet he would be tempted to ask you to do that all night.

by the time you pull away, sae isn’t ready. he’s not ready anymore. to leave you. not so soon. you’ve always been one of the few reasons he couldn’t bear to leave japan and not seeing you all this time has helped him tolerate it. now that you’re here, in the flesh, his fingers digging into your hips, he doesn’t think he can leave.

“you- um- what time’s your flight tomorrow?” you ask, breathless when you finally manage to pull away.

sae groans, shaking his head. “don’t wanna talk about that, doesn’t matter it’s fine, i’ll make it,” he mutters, eyes shutting close again because the next second he’s chasing your lips, swallowing your chuckles as you stumble to open your apartment door.

he makes the effort to kick your luggage inside before he feels his back hitting the back of the door, eyes flying open and being greeted with a smirk on your face.

so you have this kind of side to you too.

sae smiles a little wider now, shaking his head when you wrap your arms around his neck, jumping up with your legs around his waist as you drown him in kisses that would probably last him at most a few days.

“sorry, i know this is more than you wished for,” you laugh weakly in between kisses.

sae shakes his head. “i don’t mind a bonus,” he jokes, and you hit him playfully on the chest.

it’s a little surreal to you that the boy you’ve had a crush on for half your life is actually reciprocating. you’ve watched him play pro-soccer since he was a teen until now, when you’re both full-fledged adults. you’ve never thought that anything would work out. not when you’re just barely navigating through life while he has his whole career figured out.

not when you’re always shit out of luck. but if this is the kind of luck that you get, you’ll take it.

“i… i’ve always liked you, itoshi sae,” you confess, foreheads pressed against one another’s as he continues to hold you in his arms, stronger than you remember.

a low hum leaves his throat. “i know, rin told me the first time i came back to japan from spain.”

you might actually kill rin.

(sae bites back a chuckle. he never thought of it much at all back then. he barely cared for anything except soccer. he can’t even remember when he started to think of you more. miss you. wish to see you on birthdays, on new year eves, on new years, christmases, whatever occasions there are in a year.)

“i think i might love you,” he confesses, and it takes your breath away.

you can only blink, slowly letting it sink in. you get down off his arms, both of you locking gazes and never looking away.

“think you could do that from halfway across the world too?” you ask.

it dawns on him what you’re afraid of, but after years of pining for you, sae has no doubt in his head.

“think i could do that forever, no matter where we are,” sae assures you, pressing a kiss on your forehead. “could you grant me one more wish?”

you swallow the lump in your throat. “what is it?”

“be mine.”

and this is his birthday (it’s still not 11 october in other parts of the world!) but you feel like it’s your lucky day.

“i think i’ve always been yours, itoshi sae.”

and for the first time since you’ve known him, you see him smile. wider than you’ve ever seen. you finally see the path clearing, you can finally tell, somehow—itoshi sae will be yours for life.

[promenadewithme]

Twelve days of Christmas - Chapter 2

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x fem! reader Word Count: 1.8K words Warnings: sexual innuendo, mentions of sex, slight angst, established marriage, divorce, the holidays, idk what triggers you so tell me if I should add anything else. a.n.: sorry for taking a few days to upload this, i've been christmas shopping and got down with some kind of flu that has me feeling unwell. I promise I'll post more if you guys like this, though.

part 1 part 2 part 3

“He’s getting away, Barnes” Stark reprimanded through the com in James’ ear “Forget to eat breakfast today? Where is that abiding need to keep the streets of New York safe? That unwavering stamina? Don’t tell me you’re getting old.”

The pokes had him grinding his teeth and stomping harder down the stairs. He forced himself to calmly answer “Your mother had no complaints last night.”

A distant cackle came through the com, which he imagined could have only been Thor, before Stark quipped “Then where the hell is your head at, Barnes?”

At my daughter’s recital that started 40 minutes ago all the way across town, thanks for asking. James thought with a moody frown on his face as he started jumping down the flights of stairs.

“Why don’t you do the chasing for a change?” he sassed, catching a glimpse of the assailant’s clothes just as he turned a corner.

Having been in the military as a young adult, one would expect more respect for the boss. But James was cranky, would rather be with his family, and was not in the mood for Stark’s cockiness. Besides, he was the best private detective in the agency and Stark knew it.

James picked up his pace, mere meters away from the target, only for the emergency exit door to slam open into the criminals’ face, with none other than Tony Stark on the other side.

“I don’t do the running.” He answered, smugness written all over his face “That’s what I pay you for.”

With a roll of his eyes and a huff, James bent down to search the man’s pockets. Two guns, four knives and what sure looked a lot like chloroform, were handed over to Bruce – the forensics guy, who accepted them with a tight-lipped awkward smile.

The man on the floor, a stalker that had been chasing one of their clients for the past months, attempted to get up. ‘Attempted’ being the key word considering James handcuffed him in seconds, getting halfway to the vehicle before his boss could reach him.

“Nice work today, kid.” He praised as James closed the door to the police car that waited outside.

Stark had friends in very important places, friends who appreciated the help that his company provided. Both monetary and otherwise. The police force was one of them, despite their motto being ‘doing all the men in blue could not do’.

“Thanks, man.” He replied while nodding at Steve, the police officer they usually worked with and his childhood friend.

“You can go home now; I’ve got it from here.” Stark patted his back as Steve drove away.

“I still have to write up the report and tell our client we caught the guy.”

In all honesty, James didn’t know why he didn’t accept. He wanted to go home, to go to his wife and baby girl. He also knew that he had a job to do, a job that wouldn’t finish itself.

“I’ll do that.” He reassured, earning an eyebrow raise from James, who was sure he had never touched paperwork in his life. With a huff and an eyeroll, he admitted “Fine, I’ll get Pepper to do it.”

“Pepper already has enough on her plate having to babysit you.” James replied, walking to his car.

Tony followed close behind “How about you let me worry about Pepper and you go home to your wife. Unless you want to do it the other way around, I’d be fine with that too. Tell me, how has beautiful (y/n) been - ”

He was cut off by a low growl emitted from James’ throat. His wife was beautiful, it was a fact, one he did not mind people noticing. Except when it came to Tony, the biggest playboy known to man.

“Down boy.” Stark lifted his hands in surrender “You should really let go of all that pent up energy. You know, there’s this reiki place down the street from - ”

“I don’t need to unwind.” He lied through his teeth.

James desperately needed to let it all out, preferably in his wife. The problem was that most days he got home after you were fast asleep and left before you awoke. It was hell, it was torture. It meant jacking off in the shower to the thought of you while being careful to not make too much noise, even though it was never really enough, not the same as you. It meant having way too much sexual energy and lashing out on everyone.

“Whatever you say, Barnes.” He sighed in defeat “But I do think you should take the rest of the year off. You’ve been my top employee of the year, it’s almost Christmas, just… Have a little fun for once. Take your wife on a date, take your kid ice skating, hell go crazy and rent a cabin in the woods. As much as this James is good for business, I miss the old Bucky. Corny and in love as he might have been, he was also a pretty decent guy. Besides, the clients are starting to get scared of that scowl of yours.”

Maybe it was time for a break; to spend some time with his girls, God knows he missed them.

“I’ll think about it.” He nodded, unlocking his car.

And that he did. James thought about it on the slow drive to Olivia’s school, he thought about it when he saw that all the chairs were already stacked, he thought about it on his way home, and when he saw your disappointed face as he walked through the door.

You looked so beautiful, all dolled up and Christmassy. You also looked broken, tired. Bucky had a sneaking suspicion it was because of him.

Closing the door behind him, he measured his next words, but nothing came out. No excuses, no explanations. He knew he was running; he just didn’t know why.

“You missed her recital.” Your voice came out hoarse and he realized your eyes were puffy. The realization that he had made you cry made James’ heart sink to his stomach.

“I know.” He whispered, feet plastered to the floor, unable to move from the door. Like he was ready to bolt at any moment.

“You are never home.”

“I know.”

“You come home after midnight every single day.”

“I know.”

“She misses you, I-” you halted before admitting “I miss you.”

That was when he found it in himself to move, to kneel before you and kiss both your hands while apologizing.

I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. Left his lips with every kiss he planted all over your hands, before resting his face on your thighs.

Tears filled your eyes again and it took all your strength not to back down, but you said it.

“James, I want a divorce.”

His heart stopped, and it sped, and it broke into a million pieces. You watched as his head slowly rose, his distressed gaze meeting yours.

“What?” he couldn’t have heard you right, could he? There was no way he could have messed up this badly.

“I can’t do this anymore.” You said, voice breaking “I can’t wake up every day knowing you won’t be here, I can’t listen to you coming home in the middle of the night and leaving before I can say goodbye, I don’t know what to do for you to love me. I’ve tried everything and I never seem to be enough for you.”

“No, doll, please.” He looked deep into your soul, holding both of your hands, afraid that if he let go, he would lose you forever, knowing there was a chance he already had “I love you. I love you so much. Please, we can work this out. Don’t leave me.”

“Leave you?” you seethed, untangling your hands from his and standing “No, James, I’m not the one who is leaving. You are the one who left. You are the one who runs away from his family, who overworks, who jerks himself off in the middle of the night instead of having sex with his own wife, who doesn’t even care to show up. If you truly loved me, if you loved us, you would be here. You would have been there today, when Liv needed you present.”

“I know I messed up but let me make it up to you. I can be present, I can come home earlier, I want to have sex with you.” He was on his knees; he did not know what he could say to make you believe him.

“James, it’s been eight months since I had an orgasm.” You said, walking into the kitchen to make yourself some tea. Anything to ease your nerves “I want a divorce.”

He followed you like a lost puppy; it would have been cute if your heart wasn’t weeping. James racked his brain, thinking of anything that could make you stay, that could help you change your mind. You were stubborn, the only person who could ever make you soft was Livvie. It was like a lightbulb went on in his brain. Liv. She was the key, the bond.

“Okay.” He said, even though it was the last thing he meant.

“What?”

It was what you wanted, right? So why did it feel like someone stepped on the already shattered pieces of your heart? Maybe, deep down, you wished he would fight for you.

“We can get a divorce.” He nodded slowly “But I want to give Olivia one last happy Christmas. Think about what it would do to her little mind if we separated during the holidays. It’s what, ten days till Christmas now?”

“Twelve as of tomorrow.” You answer, seeing his point.

“Stark gave me the rest of the year off. Let’s make the happiest memories with her, ones she will remember and not be traumatized by, let her have one last Christmas. Let us have one last Christmas.”

 You considered his words. Liv was six now, she was definitely old enough to remember this divorce and James was right, it could potentially make the holidays traumatic in some way. That was the last thing you wanted. It was only twelve days, right? What’s the worst that could happen?

“Alright.” You conceded and James let out the air he was holding in “Twelve days.”

“We pretend nothing happened, we act happy and in love, we make this the perfect Christmas. Deal?” he outstretched his hand, afraid that any other form of contact would make you push him away.

“Deal.” You took his hand, letting it linger as you looked into his somber grey eyes. Oh, how you would miss those, how you missed them already.

What to Liv would be the perfect Christmas, to you was the hardest goodbye. Would you be able to spend 12 days without changing your mind? Would James be able to spend them without letting you down again? Remember all the times he wasn’t there. A small voice uttered in your mind. It was enough for you to remove your hand from his and say goodnight. Twelve days would go by in a flash, you could do this. For Liv.

taglist: @ordelixx, @julvrs, @milanaasblog, @buckystevelove, @galactict3a , @ilovetaquitosmmmm , @tpwkcaryslizb , @unadulteratedpastazonkpeach

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divider by @bernardsbendystraws

[munsster]

the smoulder

A/N: what if i just want a kind man to look me in the eyes????? what if eye contact is the most intimate thing in the world??? what if????

Pairing: Javy "Coyote" Machado x Fem!Reader

Summary: Your lieutenant has serious resting bitch face. Fortunately, you love a smoulder. 1.2k words

Warnings: fluff, kissing, pet names (sweetheart), cursing, javy’s sexy rbf

At this point, you really can’t tell who is catching who staring. Every time you glance over, Coyote seems to be just turning his head to face you. It makes you nervous as hell, takes all the bite from your bark because damn if that look isn’t to die for. Undeniably sultry in the furrow of his brow yet somehow impossibly stone-faced.

Technically, because Coyote’s a slightly more decorated pilot than you, you’re supposed to take orders from him. However, he is regularly met with a sly smirk and smug rejection from you at most of said orders. Asks, really. But you tell him he’s too demanding and flit away in the opposite direction. It drives him crazy.

You always wonder if it gives you away.

You’d never admit it. Of course. How much you’re completely smitten for him. Not to him or to any of the other daggers. They’d tease you to no end, and he’d probably just laugh it off. And you wish the sun wouldn’t bathe him in gold like that. Jesus, your heart is racing.

Coyote finds it funny, sure. But more than that, he finds himself unable to stay away from your cocksure attitude and brilliance. Here, in Maverick’s beach house for a little ‘team bonding’ (see also: any excuse to drink cold beer without being suffocated by a flight suit), you look sweet in blue jeans. You’re always sweet, don’t get him wrong. Between your playful bouts of subordination, you’re so sweet, it’s distracting on a good day. On a bad day, it’s downright despicable.

“Hey, Coyote,” you coo, brushing your fingers over his bicep to squeeze past him into Mav’s kitchen. He watches you shuffle over the hardwood floors right towards the sink.

“If you even think about starting on the dishes, I’ll tell Maverick to ground you,” Coyote teases. You glare over your shoulder, which makes him chuckle.

“But what would you do without me all the way up there?”

“I don’t know. Maybe finally get some work done?”

You bat your lashes like you can read his mind. He’s about to crack a smile—he can’t help it—but you duck away and start fussing with the plates in the sink.

“Fine. At least let me help.” He says it to distract himself from the red hot feeling creeping up his neck. His wild pulse in his ears. You throw him a dish towel, and he considers the kind of ring he’d buy you if you let him.

“What?” you hum with a little nip to it. It scares him half to death thinking he accidentally said that out loud.

“Huh?”

“You’re staring, Lieutenant.” And God, it’s that classic stare. Too blank to read, and yet just sour enough to charm your socks off. You’re anticipating his next move like you’re still up in the air. But it never comes. You just hand him the rinsed plate, and he diligently dries both sides.

But he places it down on the counter with an air of urgency, making the ceramic clack on the hard countertop.

“Sorry. Am I making you nervous?” he asks, and you don’t have to look to know he’s smirking.

“What?” you bite, “What did Seresin tell you?”

“What? Nothing. You just have a horrible poker face,” he teases through a laugh, “Hold on, what have you told Jake about me?”

You think back to the night Jake cornered you at the bar of the Hard Deck to ask you about your wandering eye. You couldn’t lie after pushing it down for so long. He would’ve seen right through you anyway. And he didn’t have the heart to tell you everyone already knew. Well, everyone except your ‘lover boy’. You’d actually hoped Jake might put in a good word for you. After a couple weeks, you figured he’d probably forgotten.

You dodge his curiosity with a huff, “nothing. It’s none of your business.”

“Then why can’t you look me in the eye?” There’s a playful edge to his tone that really grinds your gears because you know he’s only doing it to rile you up. Trying to get under your skin just to leave you high and dry.

“I so can,” you scoff. Your face screw in on itself when you even think about meeting his deep brown eyes. You squint right at him in attempt to prove him wrong.

He laughs, almost immediately mimicking your stubborn expression. So different from his usual smolder that it knocks the breath out of your lungs. You roll your eyes and abandon the sink, opting for some fresh air.

But not before he can take your wrist in his gentle grasp and bring you face-to-face. You’ve never felt so warm.

“C’mon, sweetheart,” he says, “just admit you like it when I scowl at you.”

“Hangman did tell you! That fucker!”

Coyote chuckles, stern posture relaxing at the suddenly crazed look in your eye.

“If it makes you feel any better, he only told me because I asked.”

You glance up at him, inquisitive and shy and drastically more nervous looking into his eyes

“…What exactly did you ask?”

“If you liked me,” he blurts out. Like the words were unable to stay in his mouth any longer. You exhale hard.

“Why would you ask him that?”

“Because… I needed to know how you would feel if I did this,” he says, warm hand cupping your cheek as his body leans closer in tandem. You welcome his touch with a sigh, and suddenly you can’t take your eyes off him. Or stop your hands from holding his waist.

He’s considerably closer now, pressing his mouth sweetly to yours. He smiles helplessly when you hook your thumbs under his shirt. You convince yourself to pull away just to get another good look at him.

“So?” Javy hums. You’re still a little hazy when he swipes his thumb across your chin.

“Hmm?”

He chuckles. “How do you feel?”

“Sufficiently flustered,” you huff.

It’s not even that funny, but he still laughs despite himself. You’re the prettiest girl he’s ever seen and even prettier when kissed silly. Clearly, his luck is up. He thinks maybe he should try gambling.

Especially when you tug him close to smooch him all over again. His face is hot, but then again so is yours. He can’t help his hands folding around you when you drape your arms over his shoulders.

Just as your ass hits the counter, a loud throat clear sounds from the porch door. You grab Javy’s bicep and cover your mouth, burying your face against his shoulder.

“Alright, you two, enough,” Hangman’s voice rings loud and clear. You can hear the smugness in his teasing, “If you’re gonna act like horny teenagers, do it out of public view.”

Just then, you hear giggles and catcalls floating through the cracked window above the sink. How had you not noticed your adoring audience before?

Javy tilts his head, meeting your eyes with a pleased grin.

“What d’you say we get out of here?”

And before you can think, you’re nodding and dragging him to the front door. You slip into the night, hand-in-hand and giggling together like you’re back in flight school. Escaping the party was always in the cards. He was just waiting on when.

top gun masterlist

[lynne-monstr]

huang shaotain is at the airport when he sees his flight is delayed, but its fine it's okay he's fast (the fastest!) and he rushes to the airline help desk and gets on an earlier flight just in time! they print his ticket right before they close the boarding system for that flight! he prasies himself as he waits to board the plane.

and waits.

and waits.

he watches the departure board as his original delayed flight takes off and he's still stuck in this stupid airport on this stupid flight.

maybe being fast isn't such a good thing after all. didn't his mom always tell him to thinks things through before he acted. oh well. at least the guy next to him is good looking. in a nerd kind of way, if you're into that.

which huang shaotian is, thank you very much.

he's in the middle of secretly checking the guy out (and who let a guy with such a gentle smile have such massive arm muscles?! huang shaotian would wish himself a happy birthday for finding this guy except it isn't actually his birthday). anyway he's definitely not thinking about those muscles pinning him to his childhood bed when his stomach makes the loudest noise a stomach could possibly make.

the cute guy looks over and catches huang shaotian in the middle of licking his lips. (because he's thirsty! he skipped dinner to get on this flight give a guy a break.)

"I'm hungry!" he says, maybe a little snippier than usual, which he feels bad about because the guy hasn't done anything wrong except for being unfairly hot.

except, as he realizes when the guy's cute eyebrows shoot sky high, what apparently came out of his sleep deprived traitor of a mouth is—

"I'm horny!"

"um..." the hot guy says.

"no no no not like that. I mean I'm hungry. because I didn't eat, not that you're- I mean you are but that's not why i'm—"

huang shaotian stomach makes another loud noise and huang shaotian is so grateful he could kiss himself.

the guy reaches into his fancy briefcase and for a wild moment huang shaotian thinks he's going to offer a condom and lube. but no, it's just an energy bar.

"you look like you need it more than me," the guy says when huang shaotian tries to wave it away. his smile is so soft and nice that what else can huang shaotian do but accept.

he maybe inhales it like he's never eaten food before in his life, but at least while he's eating he can't talk and embarrass himself again.

ten minutes later, an announcement comes over the loudspeaker and gives them the bad news that their flight is cancelled. in the rush to rebook at the service desk for the next morning, huang shaotian learns the guy's name is yu wenzhou and that he's also traveling for business and needs a hotel for the night.

huang shaotian is casual—so casual, the most casual anyone's ever been—when he asks yu wenzhou if he wants to share a cab to some shithole hotel near the airport. maybe fate takes pity on poor hungry salesmen who chat too much, because yu wenzhou agrees.

they get to the hotel amidst a rush of other stranded passengers and huang shaotian doesn't know whether to be elated or panicked when the front desk clerk tells them there's only one last room available.

and that it has only one bed.

[capedcaretaker]

My brain just wanted to write something. So here is a little something about Agatha being miserable.

18+ content, thank you

Thinking about Detective Agatha coming home after an excruciating, exhausting and miserable day at the office. Her clothes are wrinkled and disheveled, hair slightly a mess, despite spending majority of her day in the office filing away caseloads and paperwork.

She's expecting to come home to an empty house; Rio scheduled to catch a flight earlier that afternoon to get back to her big cushy FBI job, but only after dropping Nicky off at some week long camp he'd begged her to let him attend.

It took a lot of convincing from Rio... convincing involving her tongue and fingers south of Agatha's belly button. Agatha wouldn't admit it but the long distance thing was killing her, especially now that she was slinking back to a completely empty home, but there was no way she could beg Rio to upend her own life and move in.

Was there even room for two...three, in her house. What was she thinking, of course there was...but she couldn't ask that from Rio. She couldn't twist her arm when what they had was fine. Long distance was fine, it was working for them...spending every other weekend with each other...it was working.

The strings that were attached were loosely tied and that's what Rio liked... Agatha could learn to like them too if it meant she got to keep Rio around. For her sake and Nicky's

She was ready to drag herself to the sofa, ready to curl up and lay there in her own misery for the remainder of the night; maybe she shouldn't have dragged herself to work that morning. She'd already felt the makings of a cold settling in her sinuses... which had itched and bugged her all day. She could've even spent a few extra hours with Rio before she had to catch her plane. Except that wasn't fair. The thought of pawning off some of her cold onto Rio; a little gift to take back with her to the big city, probably one she didn't want. Lord knows Agatha didn't want it.

But it didn't matter. Because she hadn't stayed home and she hadn't begged Rio to stay an extra night...or three, while she mustered through the makings of a horrible cold that would settle fully in her nose

She sniffed hard, it was like now that she was home, now that her nose knew it was just the two of them, that was all it needed. Fuck. Would she even be able to get any sleep if it was already acting up? Threatening to become an absolute leaking faucet.

"Looks like you had a rough day," her voice unmistakable; warm like tea and honey, spoken in such an octave not to startle Agatha from her troublesome nose.

Agatha wanted to question her. Didn't she have a plane to catch? A life that didn't involve the makings of an emotionally repressed needy sick, not quite, girlfriend?

But any questions she had got jumbled. Words weren't enough while also being far too much. Instead, Agatha closed the space that remained between them, practically crumbling into Rio's arms. Her warm surprised laughter reverberating in her chest and kissing warm against Agatha's ear.

"I missed you too." She hummed against Agatha's skin.

Was she allowed to miss someone she'd seen within the last twelve hours? It didn't matter, because she truly had ached to be wrapped in these arms all day.

Agatha sniffled soft damp and repetitive, until it proved to be an endless cycle that only made her nose burn. Fuck. She needed to sneeze. She was doomed to sneeze. Her breath coming in soft and drawn out, breathy and itchy.

She couldn't decide what she needed more; the horrible begging relief or the warmth of Rio's arms around her, holding her with all the security in the world.

It didn't matter. Rio's arms tightened just a touch, clicking her tongue as her thumbs rubbed soothing along Agatha's back. Maybe she thought she absolutely lost it; crumbling into tears right in the middle of her entryway.

She couldn't bring herself to form the words through the horrible wavering of her breath, only managing a soft whimper before mirroring Rio; pulling her tighter before shuddering into a horrid torrent of itching sneezes, doing her best to spray them over Rio's shoulder without catching her skin.

[innytoes]

I will be shocked if I'm the only one who sends you this, but: found family Thanksgiving, greater polyphantoms polycule

It wasn't like Thanksgiving was the biggest deal, Julie tried to reason with herself, even as she refreshed her phone again, and again, and again. She didn't even like Thanksgiving that much. The Molinas had always been more of a Christmas kind of family. Mostly because Mom liked the sparkly lights and Dad was a fiend for gingerbread.

But her phone still said that all flights to LA were cancelled, and would be until after the holidays, due to the stupidly early snowstorms. She should have just done what most people had done, and skip her last few days of class to catch an earlier flight.

But she really couldn't afford to miss more of her stupid mandatory PE credit dance classes, after she already missed two in a row due to oversleeping after staying up working on her musical composition homework and a bout of the flu. So her dad and her aunt had advised her to not skip, school came first, it would be fine, the news was always being dramatic anyway.

She couldn't even bear to call her dad, knowing that just the sound of his voice would make her burst into tears. Instead she texted him the screenshot, and he sent her back a very long text about how much he loved her and would miss her and he'd send some money so she could get something nice to treat herself. They could video call all day if she wanted to.

She sent him a little thumbs up, before throwing herself at her pillow and having a good cry. Then, she went down the dorm hall to get a hot shower and change into her coziest, most comforting PJs to have a little pity party with the hidden lock box of snacks under her bed. (Her roommate Kayla was an awesome friend but also a dirty snack thief.)

The dorms were echoingly empty. It was almost creepy. The food hall was closed for the holidays, so she quickly heated up some water for instant noodles before hurrying back to her room. She stayed up too late comfort-watching Gilmore Girls and eating an entire roll of Oreos and several mini chocolate chip muffins before falling asleep amidst the crumbs. Excellent pity party.

She woke up to what sounded like three separate people knocking on her door. For a moment, she was confused, before she blearily shoved her glasses onto her face and rolled out of bed. She opened the door angrily, ready to snap at whoever was disturbing her wallowing. "What the hell are you doing knocking so early it's only..." she threw a look at the clock and deflated. "Um, noon."

"Julie!" Oh no. That was Luke, from her song writing class. The guy who she kind of had a crush on, with his cute smile and his pretty eyes and his brilliant lyrics and his- "You were right, Reg, she's totally still here, just like you said."

"Not that I was stalking you or anything!" Oh no, and there was her other crush, red-cheeked and fidgeting. Reggie was in her dance class, one of the few people who showed up yesterday. Which meant that they'd been partnered up a lot. Which had been really nice, except also very, very distracting. "It's just that you were saying you were going to the airport right after class but the news said everything's shut down and we just wanted to check if maybe you were still here but not to like be weird or creepy but-"

"Oh for..." A third boy, in a pink hoodie and backwards baseball cap said. "We wanted to ask you if you wanted to come to our Friendsgiving party."

"Orphan and Stranded People Tofurkey And Epic Sides Meal That Does Not Perpetuate A Fake Racist Narrative Party!" someone called from down the hall, where they were knocking on doors, apparently to see if anyone would open.

"Willie, that's too long..." Pink Hoodie started, before sighing. "Okay. Yeah, that."

"I... I don't have anything to bring," she said, looking at her now sadly empty snack box. "Except for maybe some stray peanut butter cups."

"That's okay," Willie said, moving back towards her room. None of the other doors opened. "We were planning on breaking into the kitchens anyway, there'll be plenty of food there. Besides the Tofurkey, of course."

"Yeah, Alex stole that from work!" Reggie beamed.

"I did not!" Alex, pink hoodie guy, said, his voice high pitched. "I just... used my staff discount."

"You rang it up as a single grape," Luke pointed out.

"The manager is an asshole and ordered way too many anyway," Alex shrugged. "She won't notice."

Honestly, hanging out with both of her crushes and what appeared to be a set of Chaos Gremlins seemed much better than faking internet connectivity issues so she wouldn't cry on a video call home. So she agreed to come if she could change into something more suited for breaking and entering (and impressing her crushes) and then joined in the 'search party'.

In the end, there were seven of them. Willie made picking the lock to the kitchens look easy, and they all had a great time sneaking around and rummaging through the kitchens for food. Flynn took charge, delegating 'the eye candy' to mix and chop and stir when all of the admitted they had no idea how to cook a turkey, much less a Tofurkey. Julie, after a brief rapid fire round of questions, was put in charge of the stove, since 'she could be trusted with fire'.

While they were cooking, the stories came out. Luke wasn't going home for the holidays because his parents had freaked out when they found out he'd switched his major to music. Reggie and Alex didn't have any family to go home to ("none worth our time, anyway"). Willie's uncle was in Paris, but he'd sent a bunch of money so he could eat out 'somewhere they don't serve cranberry sauce from a can'.

"But you're here with us breaking into the kitchen?" Julie asked, pointedly looking at the cans of cranberry sauce on the counter.

"He already spent it all on art supplies," Alex said fondly.

Flynn was stranded, like her. Carrie, who hadn't been very talkative, just gave a curt 'I don't want to talk about it'. Reggie got her to smile, though, by guessing more and more outlandish scenarios, beaming and shouting 'I knew it' when she finally gave in and agreed that yes, her pegasus was in the shop so she couldn't fly home to her fairy kingdom.

By the time her dad called to check in on her, the Tofurkey, rolls, and mac and cheese were in the oven, and they were all laughing. She made the rounds, introducing her new friends, beaming when they all waved back just as dorkily as her dad was.

And if next year she brought them all home with her? The more the merrier.

And if a couple of years after that, they were the ones hosting their friends and family at their own Thanksgiving party in their shared house, trading cranberry flavoured kisses and bites of stuffing while cooking together?

Maybe Julie liked Thanksgiving after all.

[snowandwolves]

hihihihihhi it's lengthy ask anon i am running off of too little sleep (nightmares still ugh) but also good news which is a danger combination lol

so part of how i've been dealing with my sleeplessness is rereading some of the lighthouse au until i finally feel fine enough to go back to sleep. so! questions. that you don't have to answer. really!

why did Bea never know she talks in her sleep? also, does Ava ever try to have a full on conversation with her?

Cam and Ava talk about the benefits of hugging a tree and with all the pine reference i have to know: has Ava ever hugged a pine tree??

when Mary almost asks Ava about moving in with Bea, do you think Bea had talked about it with her friends beforehand? like a am-i-being-too-lesbian worry?

what's something Bea and Ava eventually fight about? (and do they follow that "order" for making up)

do you think Chanel ever designs something for Jillian? how about Ava?

from last time - how you handled the main plot and subplots was amazing - did you have one of those (*virtual?) murder board-esque things to help visualize things? (*i'd never thought of using notion for fiction work!!)

i think i've reached my caffeine limit for the day i hope you are getting better sleep than i am! here's to having the crispiest vegetable of your preference! (i.e. not celery lol)

I’M ALIVE AND STILL EMPLOYED IDK HOW BUT OK 💀 hi hello, lengthy ask anon. how’s the nightmares? i hope they’ve left you alone? am i gonna have to have a Serious Talk with whichever god’s in charge of that? 😤 pls lemme know. but! i sincerely hope you’ve been sleeping since you sent this 🥺

and now (finally, idk how long it’s been), answers!

1. this… is a good question LMAO maybe no one brought it up to her cos she might get embarrassed? OR bea wakes up too early for anyone to catch her in the act 😂 and yes, i’d think ava would definitely try to have a full conversation with her like “bea, bea, what’s the weather like” and bea just randomly spouts temperature numbers and sea condition. or like “bea what’s your favorite sex position?”, which ends up with bea having a rather scandalous dream, much to ava’s amusement 😂

2. i’d say yes!!! except she hugs the smaller ones and ends up with pine needles everywhere. bea’s exasperated but ava just shrugs and says, “worth it.” on that note, hug a tree people. it’s fucking soul-healing.

3. oh, definitely. camila gives her twinkle eyes, mary’s like “what the fuck does that even mean, too lesbian”, and lilith doesn’t even dignify it all with a response 😂 which is to say… her friends weren’t any help at all.

4. i think it’d be something simple cos they’re good at talking to each other about their feelings. so stuff like ava leaving her shoes a mess by the front door, which means beatrice keeps tripping on them, or bea’s tendency to overpack, which almost makes them late for their trips. they’d snipe at each other because they’re human (bea: “what’s so difficult about putting your shoes away, ava?” and ava: “what the hell would you need a sewing kit for, bea?”) and probably get too irritated until one of them realizes it’s a ridiculous thing to fight about. probably won’t always make up through sex because bea got a concussion the last time she tripped on ava’s shoes and there was no time for even a quickie when they almost missed their flight, but someone will make a joke and they’ll laugh about it at least. (this… got unintentionally soft 😂)

5. omg, yes!!! what if they attend a gala and ava’s whole fam is wearing chanel’s clothes? literally A+++ publicity and just about launches chanel in the spotlight 😌 jillian in a suit and ava in a dangerous dress, what more can you ask for 🔥

6. lengthy ask anon, i had notion and phone notes and paper charts and i even tried using this free mind mapping thing just to keep track of everything 😂 i went full-on type A on this thing. i even had a mood board. and a playlist. and 2847293 drafts. i have so much content idk what to do with these now 💀

lettuce! i’ve been having so much lettuce! but omg pls, i really hope you’re sleeping well now 🥺 as always, thank you so, so much for this! literally the best thing to do after somehow crawling out of hell LMAO

[darkfictionjude]

[R.A.T IF]

How would the RO react if they woke up one day with a mutant power from My If.

Let me explain for context a mutation power is used to refer to unexplained power phenomena involving the human body the most common is animalistic mutation it's separated in multiple stages and its what MC in the R.A.T if has and you can choose all stages if you want.

Base Stage 1: animal ears and tail (the less radical of the mutations)

Stage 2: humanized animal sexual anatomy (for men is having a phallus almost similar to their regular animal counter part and for women is extra breasts depending on the animal, this mutation leads to alot of bullying and sexual harrasment to the people who suffer from it)

Stage 3: animal anthropomorphi (your basically a furry)

As to how this happened a scientist decided that he would make his furry girlfriend a reality when people found out what he had done he was subsequently arrested but the damage had been done and people started being born with animal ears and tails and sometimes with all 3 stages of the mutation at once.

So now back to the RO and their mutations

Irme: would be a canine like Lorcan and he would have fox ears and tail and the fur the same as his hair color, in stage 2 his you know what would be capable of knoting and his bush would be more hairy and in stage 3 he would be a beauty and a beast (also i forgot to mention their powers are tied to the animal they belong to so above human speed, sight, sense of smell and stealthy)

Nia: Would have feathers the same color as her hair growing in certain parts of her body like her neck and a pair of wings for flight and her nails would be super sharp, stage 2 just more feathers and stage 3 you better not Fuck With mama bird or her talons and beak will tear you to shreds.

Lorcan: The same as Irme.

And before anybody comments cause I read the comments The R.A.T IF is gonna be an Adult, Story, Sandbox Type Game with sometimes Very Dark Themes.

Im also gonna go on record and say don't assume things about Me that's not cool I already had people assume I had a breast feeding fetish I don't need people assuming I'm in to animals that's absolutely disgusting🤢.

Oh you thought I was implying you were into animals? I merely said it because you’re asks are very creative although you have assumed things about me and there have been moments where I feel my boundaries have been slightly over stepped which wasn’t cool either 😭

Imre is fine with the ears but not his genitalia, he finds the idea of a knot too violent for sexual intercourse. Nia would like the look but hopes the nails are retractable because she wouldn’t want to have them catch and ruin her clothing. Lorcan thinks he looks ridiculous and it’s worse because it makes him noticeable and he would really curl into himself

I think people comment such things because they didn’t expect to see another IF here except for this one? I think it’s understandable from them 😅

[realmackross]

PARTIES: @realmackross TIME: Evening, September 17th SUMMARY: Mackenzie gives Taylor a little phone call over some social media issues. WARNINGS: None! PREVIOUS THREADS:1 - 2 - 3 - 4 - 5 - 6 - 7 - 8 - 9 - 10 - Current.

“Social media is not a media. The key is to listen, engage, and build relationships.” - David Alston

Taylor. Mackenzie was going to murder her. Not literally, but still. The warning Winter had given Mackenzie right before she left had sat stewing in her brain for a day or so, before she had finally decided to look into things. And low-and-behold, what did she find? Someone had indeed been posting for her. Just another headache to worry about with the slew of other things she had been dealing with.

The phone rang and it rang again, until, "Hey Mack. What's going on? Everything still okay?"

Mackenzie was fuming. But yet, she had still understood why her assistant had done it. Mack had a persona to keep up to the world and not just to Wicked's Rest, which she had sometimes forgotten, especially when things had seemed like they were finally going right for a brief minute or so. But there were delicate things happening with people like Cass, who now thought that Mackenzie didn't want to be her friend. Of course, Taylor didn't know that Mackenzie had fallen over a balcony and went splat in front of a room full of people. But Mack had figured she was doing the already overly stressed woman a favor.

"Hey, so, just curious...Have you been posting stuff on my social media accounts?" Her jaw was clenched as she held back the urge to yell. Mackenzie didn't yell at Taylor. She never really had, except for the night they were cleaning up the Brody incident. But that was out of fear, stress, and so much more.

"What?" Taylor paused knowing that Mackenzie wasn't happy. She had been her assistant for nearly a decade now. A friendship and partnership longer then Mack had known Winter.

"Taylor, don't act dumb. I know you have. Winter told me." Mackenzie knew how much the pair didn't get along, so double checking first had been as much of a service to her assistant as it had been anything else. "Look, I'm not...okay, I'm mad. Those are my private accounts. You have control over the public ones. And I'm fine with that, but I have friends on there who now think I don't like them, and you know how hard it is for me to find genuine friendships with my status." Mackenzie took in a deep breath holding for nearly a minute, before letting it out very slowly, "I know you're just trying to do damage control, and I appreciate that. I do. But those people I can handle, okay? So just, stop. I'll be home in a few days. I'm feeling much better. The public socials look great. And I'm so sorry you've had to get wrapped up in all of this with me again. I'm honestly surprised you've still stuck with me through all of this, and I don't know how I can ever repay you for that. But I'm okay. Alright. Just don't worry about the follow-up to any conversations. I'll handle it when I get home."

Taylor had stayed quiet. She had felt bad, but had also felt somewhat frustrated. All she had done, ever since the zombie fiasco had started, was take care of Mackenzie. Make sure her secret had been kept safe, and that's all she had been trying to do this past week, considering her boss and so-called friend had kept her in the dark more and more since coming to Wicked's Rest. There had almost been a part of her that wanted to say 'fuck it'. Out Mackenzie for what she was and what she had done, but she couldn't. Partly because she would probably go down with the zombie, but also, because they had just been through so much together and Mackenzie had still meant something to her. Whether or not that held true on the other side of the friendship, she wasn't sure anymore. But Taylor reluctantly replied back, "Yeah, got it Boss. Glad to know you're doing okay. Just let me know when you're back, and I'll catch a flight out to see you."

Hearing the click, Mackenzie's eyes dropped. She could tell that Taylor was upset. The defeat in her voice had made the zombie feel even worse than she already was, and she would now be adding Taylor to Apology Tour 2023.

Laying the phone down on the nightstand, she slid down in the bed and pulled one of the pillows over her face. Letting out a loud scream as hard as she could into the fabric pressed tightly to her face, Mackenzie had wanted to disappear. The talk with Alex from the day before going out the window and into the abyss, at least until Mackenzie could find the courage to go back home to Harborside and face the absolute nightmare her life continued to become.

[nightcall99]

Dreams from 7.4.24

Dream 1 I have a folded-up till receipt that I stole and it's hidden in the waist band of my pants. I had stolen it from a girl's bedroom. I was in a very large house, like a mansion, belonging to her family who were extremely wealthy. Her bedroom was on the opposite side of the house to everyone else's and it was taking a long time for me get there. I am walking through, trying to find her bedroom. The corridors were empty of servants/workers. When I finally reach it, I'm not sure that it really is her room since it's such such a remote area of the mansion but I know it is. I open the door. I peek in and see the lower half of her body in the canopy. Just a silhouette of a person, really. Now that I had what I came for, I had to go hide. Someone is chasing me, trying to find me. I go to another part of the forgotten wing and hide there.

Dream 2 There's something I need to tell someone, to an older man who is my friend. At that moment, I don't know what it is but I don't say anything yet, like I can't reveal it yet.

Then I'm at the airport with this man, and we're trying to get home desperately because we are going to miss an important event. We are in the waiting area and sitting amongst the crowds of people who are also waiting for their flights. There's barely any room to sit down. The man is like a celebrity or something, a famous actor. There was an event fair being held for him, like a massive meet and greet. I remembered the event name because there had been posters and banners advertised, it was something very simple, just his name with the year 2024. I don't remember the man's name anymore but for example it was 'Brad Pitt 2024'. He was the reason this event was taking place and we were already late for it, in fact I think it was already taking place at that very moment.

Unfortunately, it so happened that there was a huge storm happening around us. It was only happening around the airport and nearby surrounds, as if we were inside of a bubble which was experiencing vastly different weather for some reason. Because of this, all fights were delayed. It seemed that we would have made it back to catch the end of the event but now the airport people said our flight would not be for another 8 hours. Then it was made known that the bad weather was just localised to 'this' side of the bridge, the side we were on. I looked out the window and could see this grand bridge, which wasn't far off. The man said, if only we could get to the other side of the bridge where the flights are operating as normal. I don't think it would be possible. Then he said something like, What a waste, What a shame, Everything that was organised going to waste. We weren't going to make it and now all we could do was wait. Waiting was an inconvenience but we would be fine I supposed. I think the man mostly felt bad about disappointing his fans.

Dream 3 I am trying to get to a toilet, I'm busting. I think I'm in Japan, that's the vibe I'm getting. But every single cubicle in the women's toilets are full. There are regular toilets, but also showers and change rooms. I even see a women in her cubicle who has a mat laid out and is doing some light stretching, yoga or something. They're all occupied with Asian women. Except the ones that are not occupied are really dirty and I can't bring myself to use them.

[gravitasmalfunction]

Big list of South-East Queensland recommendations under the cut

Anti-rec for the Gold Coast. Everything nice about the Gold Coast, there is a nicer alternative elsewhere in the region. Beautiful surf beaches? The Sunshine Coast has those. Gorgeous subtropical rainforest hinterland? Bunya Mountains has all that and is covered in adorable photogenic wildlife. Theme parks? Okay, fine, the Gold Coast does have a monopoly on those.

Brisbane has the most flight options from Melbourne, then Gold Coast, then Maroochydore/Sunshine Coast.

BRISBANE Come visit the beautiful river with a city problem! Public transit trips in Brisbane are currently $0.50 each (except the airport, don't ask), and to be honest there's a lot of great things to do and see that make more sense to get to on public transit.

~Take a CityCat (or a KittyCat) up and down the Brisbane River Enjoy a literal 50 cent river cruise of the city! The Southbank precinct has museums, galleries, theatres and an artificial beach. If you time it for a Friday, Saturday or Sunday, you can cap off your ferry day at Hamilton's Eat Street Northshore for dinner and live music.

~Ferry day #2 to North Stradbroke Island/Minjerribah Use the Translink journey planner to find out which train to catch to get to the ferry to Straddie. There is a bus that stops near the Gorge Walk at Point Lookout. You'll definitely see turtles, dolphins and manta rays from the track, and if it's whale season, maybe whales too! There are more walks and national parks camping and lots of holiday accommodation options if you want to stay longer.

TOOWOOMBA/BUNYA MOUNTAINS I am lumping these together for geographic convenience. Best way to get here and around will be by hire car.

~Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers (Sept/Oct annually) This would be the main, possibly only reason to visit Toowoomba.

~Bunya Mountains In pre-colonial times, every few years when the bunya pines here flowered and fruited, Aboriginal people from all over travelled stupidly long distances to gather for the bunya nut harvest. Nowadays most of the mountains are Queensland's second-oldest national park and there are heaps of beautiful walking trails and the little holiday village is just lousy with the most adorable wallabies you've ever seen. You can't feed them or touch them but you can send all your friends wallaby photos all day until they block your number and declare they never want to see another wallaby again. I am not on Instagram but you could probably search for "bunya mountains wallabies" there and get an idea of what I mean.

SUNSHINE COAST Technically accessible from Brisbane via public transport, but worth hiring a car for the convenience of not waiting for the really slow hourly bus to wherever. The "Sunshine Coast" will quickly become obvious to you as one of those annoying region names that means nothing, like the "Yarra Valley" or tbh even the Gold Coast. Less busy, less overdeveloped and maybe even less good than the Gold Coast, YMMV, the Sunshine Coast has surf beaches, stupidly expensive luxury canal house developments, a hinterland and "Noosa" - another place that technically exists, everyone has heard of it, and yet cannot be uniquely located on a map.

~Beach There's lots. Warm water, nice sand and relatively hazard-free by Australian standards (benign jellyfish, crocodile-free, but always a chance of sharks). Pick any - if you like beach then you are sure to have a nice time.

~Hinterland A day trip up the mountain for scenic views, tourist trap little towns with arts and crafts and what passes for antique shops here. There is also Buddhism and permaculture. Kondalilla Falls is a particularly nice national park and walk.

~Australia Zoo Steve Irwin may be dead but his family are still flogging his Crocodile Hunter legacy. See over 1200 animals! Crikey! (also easily done as a day trip from Brisbane on public transit, the zoo shuttle bus collects you from Beerwah station)

~Noosa Go to Noosa Heads Main Beach (there is a local bus from Maroochydore if you don't want to risk not being able to find a car park) then do the headland walk in Noosa National Park. Possible chance of a koala on the path from the beach up to the headland walk. 100% chance of scrub turkeys on the little paths north from Main Beach. Admire the beach and leave, secure in the knowledge you can now tell people you've been to Noosa. HERVEY BAY/K'GARI (Fraser Island) If you want to go to K'gari you kinda have to go through Hervey Bay, hence I have put them together. From Brisbane or the Sunshine Coast it is possible to get there without a car, by taking the regional train with bus connection to Hervey Bay, and if you book a tour of K'gari (highly recommended) they will pick you up from Hervey Bay and take you to the ferry and then around the island and drop you back at the end. SKIP ALL OF THIS IF YOU GET MOTION SICKNESS.

~Hervey Bay whale watching In season, obviously. Many tour operators would love to take your money and put you on a boat ride which is actually an experiment in stretching the limits of the law about distances from whales and marine engine operation.

~K'gari/Fraser Island It's beautiful, it's remote, you get there on a boat. Then it's 100% 4-wheel-driving while you're on the island, whether you're in your own car (not recommended) or on one of the nifty 4WD tour buses. CANNOT STRESS ENOUGH ABOUT THE MOTION SICKNESS THERE IS NO ALTERNATIVE TRANSPORT IF IT GETS TOO MUCH. THE ISLAND IS TOO BIG FOR YOU TO WALK BACK TO THE FERRY. Very high chance of sighting one or more dingoes, on top of all the other natural wonders. Non-zero chance of being attacked by a dingo, too.

That's all the insider information for SEQ I can think of for now.

Do I have any followers who have visited or live in Australia? I have a job there for the next few years and I have never been. Please recommend me places to visit or tell me interesting things that a non-Aussie won’t know!

Ive heard there are 300+ national parks??? Which ones should I visit?

(I’ve been told by my UK coworkers that Vegemite is super weird to someone who only knows marmite…)

[measuringbliss]

Spider-Man Read-Through 043: "Oh no! Super-heroes!" (SSM 16-18)

MASTERPOST

Today?

A cop, an angel, homoeroticism, and Spidey's most vicious enemy...

The Beetle.

Before we begin with the storyline, let's check out reader's letters!

Well, that clears some things up. First, people are still complaining that the mag doesn't live to its name, and you know I completely agree, but it seems like things are going to be better in a few issues. We'll see!

There's also the matter of the big fish in Peter's flat! It was a mistake after all, he doesn't have two different fishes. I feel serene now.

I also agree that the treatment of Peter and Flash's friendship was excellent in the last batch (particularly its first issue, which I noted).

I don't mind the lack of intertwining: I'm fine if both mags have their own storyline. I actually enjoy it! Spectacular had the Sha-Shan plot, and Amazing had the mystery of who took pictures of Peter and his clone. The latter in particular was stretched very thin, as in, you wouldn't hear anything for many issues, then it would appear. At least, when Wein concluded his storyline, it was extremely good, dare I say great, but compare this to the more involving plots of previous eras.

I'm curious to see what this new era will bring.

SO.

Our story begins with a cop, Macone, doing heroics to catch a bad guy with Spidey's discreet help. Eager to get a picture of the new celebrity, Jameson entrusts Peter with the task to go to his place.

Mary Ann just doesn't get it, man! The appointment is short, and Peter quickly concludes that he never imagined being a cop or married to one could be so difficult. Shh, no one mention that cops are among the most abusive partners, Naive Peter could not handle such a reveal.

Meanwhile, the Beetle tries very hard to make me believe it's a good villain and is focused on stealing something from a precinct house. Soon, the whole city is ablaze with various thieveries and other commotions. Only one cop stays at the precinct...

Uh-oh.

The beetle tries to retrieve an item there, but Spidey's there to stop him.

As he's being thrown around, Spidey ponders on the fact that he cares about May's health and gives gifts to his friends on Christmas to make us believe the magazine cares about Peter's secondary cast.

Wanting to help our beloved hero, Macone mixes water with heroin to throw the result at the Beetle. He quickly gets yeeted, but it's always nice to see people help Spidey in battle. Or. Help him at all.

*sigh* I feel like I know where this is going.

...Except I don't, because Macone doesn't die! There he is, a few days later, telling the whole city that the attache-case the Beetle was after contained fake money. OoOh!

That's actually a great ending to this issue. I kind of enjoyed it! Macone is surprisingly neat.

Onto #17! This time, the action is set in California. That's right, we're going to Sunnydale, guys!

"Palm trees and 80 degrees in January?! I'm going to come down with a cold--I can feel it!"

Okay, so guys, I was mindfucked for a minute. I thought Peter had missed his 9 am plane flight for Los Angeles and had thus done NY->LA by swinging and ARRIVED AT 10 AM THERE.

I was like, "IN WHAT WORLD DOES THIS MAKE SENSE?!" and turns out it didn't and I had to read more carefully.

Looking at it though, it looks nice to just take a bus and get lost in the US wilderness... aaah, I think I should replay Life is Strange: True Colors!

Peter's unlucky though, he's barely set his foot there when he has to be saved by X-Men Angel!

Turns out Peter was sent to take pictures of the Champions before they got disbanded... but he's too late! Furthermore, his camera just got broken!

However, Angel, who's a rich guy (Warren Worthington doesn't sound like the common people to be fair), pays him a new one. He's nice!

I gather that Bobby Drake's comphet runs deep.

Damn, he was almost the original Jean Grey, outing people without their consent! Careful, Angel!

Warren says everybody left, but Spidey has a feeling he was lying, at least about Iceman's disappearance. Hmm!

And he was right to be cautious!

Fighting ensues.

I presume it his Bobby under the mask, considering his gay tendencies are put on display here (good for him).

And I'm proven right essentially right here and there. The homoerotic tension between Angel and Iceman is something I didn't expect, but it's definitely there and I enjoy it.

In #18, while Clarke has been knocked down by the almighty power of electricity, Iceman is still a menace.

This is the second time Bobby calls Warren "daddy". Make of that what you will.

The fight continues and one driver has the best reaction ever.

Spidey is an ally!

Anyway, we don't care about all that, because in New York, at ESU...

Good for them, I guess!

For maximal immersion, picture that there's two pages of commercials before that terrible cliffhanger gets resolved... in the best way, actually.

Yes yes yes! I'm very happy to see him again.

The last page touts that next issue features a "mystery". I'm eager to see what it is, but I have to lower my expectations because these never end up being satisfying, hahaha

In the next post: Peter graduates! Can't miss that now, can we? I'm actually curious to see the aftermath of the Green Goblin arc.

To close out this post, I'd like to share a comment that I found fascinating.

Yes, it really is.

[kdrama-preferences]

Holidays with Baekhyun: Chapter 1

this is a WIP FF I am writing at the moment and I decided to put the chapters on here as well.

Hayley and Baekhyun were preparing for their trip to the States, EXO had a couple of months off for the holidays so the two of them had decided they would fly out as soon as possible to spend time with Hayley’s family since last year they spent the holiday season with Baekhyun’s family. Hayley was from America so they were flying out so they could be there for Thanksgiving and were planning to stay till after Christmas but they’d have to see how things went. Baekhyun of course was nervous since this would be their first time traveling together for the holidays and his first time spending the holidays with her family but he was looking forward to it.

“So tell me again who all I’ll be meeting.” Baekhyun states. He was sure she had told him about three times already but he had already forgotten plus he was also trying to make sure he packed what he was supposed to.

“Well we’re getting there about a week early so you’ll probably just meet my grandparents.” Hayley states. Baekhyun had already met her parents and her sister and since her grandparents lived out of state they usually came in early and would probably be there when Hayley and Baekhyun arrived. Baekhyun nodded and zipped up his suitcase and sat it by the door. “What about after that?” He questions, his nervousness was clear in his voice. “Baek.” Hayley said, taking his hand since she could tell he was nervous. “You have nothing to worry about.” She adds. “But what if they don’t like me?” Baekhyun asks with a pout. Hayley frowned at the face Baekhyun was making. “Aw Baekhyunnie.” She says and hugs him. “They’re going to love you, I promise.” She states. 

Baekhyun nods and the two of them make sure they have everything before heading out to the airport.

The flight from Seoul to North Carolina seemed to take forever but once they finally landed and picked up their bags they headed to the waiting area where Hayley’s dad was waiting to pick them up. “Dad!” Hayley yells when she sees him and then runs to hug him. Hayley’s dad chuckles and hugs her back. “It’s good to see you too Pumpkin.” He says using her nickname. “You too Baekhyun.” He says acknowledging Baekhyun’s presence. “How are you and mom?” Hayley asks as they head out to her dad’s waiting truck.

“We’re doing fine.” He states and puts their suitcases in the back. “Your grandparents arrived about an hour ago and your sister is on her way over with her boyfriend.” He explains as Hayley and Baekhyun get into the truck. “Your mom needed some things from the store so your sister said she’d go get them.” He adds and Hayley nods. 

The entire ride from the airport to the house was filled with conversation, Hayley and Baekhyun were catching her dad up on what had been going on with them, this caused the ride to go by more quickly and they had arrived before they knew it. 

Hayley got out of the truck and then looked around to take in her surroundings, not much had changed since the last time she was home, the walkway from the driveway to the front door was still in tact and was covered in some fallen leaves from the oak tree in the front yard, the screen door still creaked a little when you opened it and the big red front door was the exact same except her mother had put out the fall wreath on the door, this one looked new since Hayley had never seen it before. 

“Look who I found at the airport.” Hayley’s dad says as he opens the door, which leads into the living room. Hayley, her dad, and Baekhyun all wiped their feet before entering the house and Hayley was immediately met with hugs from her mom. “Hi mom.” Hayley says with a laugh and hugs her mother back. “And how are you Baekhyun?” Her mother asks once she pulls out of the hug.

“I’m fine, thank you for asking.” Baekhyun says. “You two make yourselves at home, I have to go check on some things in the kitchen.” Her mother stated before heading through the archway on the far side of the room into the kitchen. Hayley and Baekhyun took their shoes off by the door and then sat down on the couch. 

“I put your bags in your old bedroom.” Her father stated as he came back into the living room. “Ok, thank you.” Hayley says with a smile as her dad sits down in his armchair. “So how long has Hannah been gone?” she asks, wondering if they’d be back soon. “About an hour, your mother gave them a pretty long list.” Her dad explains. “What about Grandma and Grandpa?” Hayley asks. “They went to take the dog for a walk and should be back soon.” Her father states, and not long after he said that her grandparents came through the front door.

“Grammy! Pappy!” Hayley says with excitement as she gets off the couch and goes to hug them. 

“Hello sweetheart it’s good to see you.” Her grandfather states once they break the hug. “It’s good to see you too.” She adds. “And it’s very good to see Nugget.” She says bending down to pet her grandparents' golden colored Cocker Spaniel, which immediately started wagging its tail when she gave it a pat on the head. “And who is this handsome young man?” Her grandmother asked, nodding in Baekhyun’s direction. 

“This is my boyfriend Baekhyun.” Hayley says walking over to him and wrapping her arms around his waist in a side hug. 

“It’s nice to meet you Baekhyun.” Her grandfather says taking Nugget’s leash off of him and the dog immediately went and curled up on it’s bed that was near the fireplace, it was the only out of the way place for the dog bed since anywhere else you’d have to step over or around the dog and if you were carrying something there was the potential to trip and fall. 

“It’s nice to meet you too.” Baekhyun states, he must have been really nervous because Hayley had never seen him this calm or this quiet before. 

Hayley’s grandmother was about to say something when they heard a car door from outside. “That must be your sister.” Her dad said getting up from his armchair and heading outside to see if they needed help.

Chanyeol got out of the car and grabbed the heavier bags out of the backseat on the passenger side and then closed the door. “Do you two need any help?” Her dad asked from the doorway. “No we got it but thanks Dad.” Hannah says, grabbing what was left from the backseat on her side and closing the door. Her dad holds the door open for them since they had their arms full and Hannah was through the door first greeting her sister and Baekhyun before taking the groceries into the kitchen. Once Hannah came back from the kitchen she greeted her sister and Baekhyun with a hug. Hayley pulled out of the hug and then noticed Chanyeol. 

“Wait, what is Chanyeol doing here?” Hayley asks curiously.

“He’s my boyfriend.” Hannah states as if it was common knowledge or her sister should have already known that.

“How did we not know that?” Hayley and Baekhyun ask at the same time. “We wanted to keep it a secret for a while.” Chanyeol states.

A couple hours later, Hayley was curled up on the couch with Baekhyun, the two of them were watching a movie and had a blanket draped over them. Baekhyun had his arms wrapped around her and holding her close, they had finished dinner and there was a movie they wanted to watch so everyone left the two of them alone, so they could have the time to themselves. Nugget was curled up at the end of the couch at Hayley’s feet. 

Hannah and Chanyeol had gone out on a date since they hadn’t had one in a while, Hayley and Hannah’s grandparents had gone to bed already and their parents were getting ready to turn in. 

Hayley was starting to doze off when Baekhyun noticed and started to tickle her. “Baekhyun stop.” She giggles and playfully smacks his hands so he’ll stop tickling her. “If you’re sleepy, we can turn the movie off and go to bed.” Baekhyun states. “That sounds like a good idea.” Hayley says between yawns and gets up off the couch and grabs the blanket. 

Baekhyun gets up off the couch and takes the blanket from her and throws it back over the back of the couch where it had been. “Good night Nugget.” Hayley says giving the dog a pet on the head before turning the living room lamp off and leading Baekhyun to her old bedroom where the two of them would be sleeping. 

Hayley grabbed her suitcase off the floor and placed it onto the bed and unzipped it, she grabbed out her pajamas and headed into the bathroom to get changed. Baekhyun shut the bedroom door and so he could get changed since there wasn’t really any need for him to have to wait for her to come out of the bathroom. Hayley came out of the bathroom in one of Baekhyun’s t-shirts and a pair of leggings and then crawled into bed. 

Baekhyun had on a t-shirt and a pair of plaid lounge pants and crawled into bed next to her. He held her close to him and the two of them drifted off to sleep almost immediately. 

[gottagobuycheese]

so close...freedom is Right There....

[knowseverythingaboutyou]

starsinshadows​:

     He was not phased by ‘aliens’ and he sure as hell wasn’t the most pessimistic person she knew, but he had damn good reason to be hitting the levels he had and aliens just… really weren’t that impressive. Maybe for someone who hadn’t been dealing with the Upside Down for years before being sucked into a nightmare realm and spat back out 40 years later to find out that comic book shit was actually real, too. His first instinct when he heard 'aliens’ was how dangerous they were and how did you stop them, and that said everything about his experiences with anything not normal.      “Trouble with the power is exactly the kind of shit that I’m talking about. That happened,” he started, quite obviously thinking about the labs running their experiments and obviously the Entity grabbing them  - he didn’t know if there was an issue with the power when that happened, but given how weird shit worked, he wouldn’t have been surprised. Hearing it made him want to look deeper, and she might say that Hawkins had been fine since everyone disappeared, but what did she know if it was being covered up? Her agency might not be in the loop, right?      He also had very little reason to have faith in the 'adults’ and general authority figures, considering how they’d mostly been either useless or actually hostile in his past experiences. Joyce Byers and Chief Hopper were obvious exceptions, but it wasn’t like all of the Hawkins cops were in on the truth - Powell and Callahan had actively been treating Eddie like a suspect and murderer. Generally, agencies were not to be trusted, which made this thing with Maria a lot more complicated. Of course, she also asked if he wanted her to track anyone down for him, and that? That made his jaw snap shut. “No, I–. No. It’s been too long, forget it.”

“I know that’s what happened, I’m just saying that power outages were all that happened afterwards. No bodies being found, no one going missing, no National Guard redirection or suspicious bank transfers from a branch of the government to anyone in Hawkins. It could have been a blip, or a mini-time loop, or one of your friends trying to reach out to their family the way that your friend Will did before everyone got snatched.” She shrugged. Taxes were always the way to find out where someone was or what they were doing — the reason for the paycheque might be fudged, but it would still be issued. Catching Capone on taxes had made a lot of organizations change the way they paid their people off the books. No one liked going through accounts more than Congress and the IRS. “Okay.” Maria eyed Steve thoughtfully but didn’t say anything else. She could assume the thought process behind his refusal — what if the people he knew were dead? What if they weren’t? Forty years was a long time to be gone. It was a lifetime, and everyone would have to deal with that. Maria could understand why Steve didn’t want to deal with it just yet, if ever. For some of them, if they were still alive, it might be kinder to let them think that Steve had, in fact, died when he disappeared in the eighties. “Well, if you ever change your mind, road trips are kind of my jam.” Trying to get a SHIELD jet for that without explaining why she needed it wasn’t worth the effort, honestly, and commercial flights were — well, terrible. “Indiana Pacers still haven’t won an NBA Championship, but hope springs eternal. Trust me, I’m a Cubs fan.”

[vi-trying-to-survive]

We Can Share

Anthony Lockwood x f!Reader

Warnings: None this pretty much fluff only :) 💖💖💖

Summary: Lockwood and Y/N have to stay overnight in a hotel for a case, which is not the biggest problem until the room only has one bed

A/N: I hope you guys like it :) 💖💖💖 I wasn't sure how to feel about it and it is a little cliche but I couldn't get it out of my mind also :') 💖💖💖 Also sorry if updates are slow :') 💖💖💖 Hope you have a great day :) 💖💖💖

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"So you're telling me they didn't have a cheaper room", she frowned, chasing after him.

He didn't look back, crumpling the receipt into his pocket, "Yes".

The straps of her bag weighed down on her shoulders, pulling her down close to the ground, as they walked up yet another flight of stairs. Her feet ached. If this hotel was so brilliant why were all the elevators broken ? It was probably because the location of their next job was far out of London, next to the middle of nowhere. She probably should have seen it coming when the train station was just a misshapen shack that was barely standing. George and Lucy had rather conveniently decided to sit this one out, something about providing assistance remotely. She rolled her eyes.

"Remind me again why we took this case", she groaned, finally catching up to him.

He chuckled, shaking his head, "They are paying us highly for our services".

"Mmhm", she closed her eyes, leaning against the wall. Money. It was the denominator of every fraction in their lives. She longed for a time when they wouldn’t be so dependent on it, to the point where they put their lives on the line just for it. It was a harsh reality, one they were used to, but if anything she could at least thank it for the people that had come into her life, for him.

"Oh come on it's not that bad", he grinned widely, readjusting the bag on his shoulder before handing her a dull looking iron key.

She gave him a pointed look, “That's what you always say"

"But is it ever a lie", he raised a brow. She couldn’t help but smile. It was never awful, not even subpar, not if she was with him. He just knew all the right buttons to press with her, granted he also knew the wrong ones but it didn’t happen often enough to be a concern. He was reckless and overconfident, but he was also sweet and funny. It was hard for her to not have a good time when they were together.

"No, but I am allowed to miss the comfort of home", she grinned. She twisted the key through the lock, swinging the door open.

"Well, you'll be there soon enough", he laughed.

"Oh", her smile faltered. The room itself was relatively normal, no expensive sheets or fantastic views. It was clean and tidy, the covers folded in neatly under the mattress. The only problem was that there was only one bed. She thought this only happened in books, but the universe decided to prove her wrong this one time and of course it had to be with him. She chewed her thumbnail. It was already too late for them to request another room. She wondered what to say. Who would even know what to say ? No one, because no one ever ends up in these kinds of situations, except her apparently.

"Right, this is fine, you take the bed, I'll take the floor", he dumped the bags haphazardly at the foot of the bed. He was already gathering some pillows off the bed.

She felt a twinge of sympathy and maybe something more. Call it a careless decision. In the moment she felt brave, or maybe she was just desperate, she wasn’t sure. Yet she was aware of the consequences, even as the words spilled out, “Don't be ridiculous, we can share".

"I- Only if you're alright with it", he was surprised. She couldn’t tell if it was a good or bad one. If she was being honest she was surprised too. It would have been easier to let him stay on the floor, kept a solid barrier between them. What had she gotten herself into ?

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was dark when all the lights were turned out. Fortunately, she was quite accustomed to the dark. It didn't scare her. What scared her was the fact that she was lying in a bed with a boy next to her, a boy that she hasn't been able to stop thinking about for the past 6 months. It was not the most ideal situation, but she figured they'd been stuck in more compromising positions. Yet, her heart was still pounding like she'd run a marathon and she was working a little too hard to keep her breathing quiet. They had always been close, even from when she had first joined the agency. She had always summed it up to them being a good team. That was until it developed into something more elaborate. When had things changed ? When had they become complicated ?

"Are you comfortable ?", he turned towards her, whispering.

"Very", she hoped she sounded confident. Her hands were clasped together tightly over her chest as she stared at the ceiling. She refused to look at him. She just might explode from anticipation alone.

"You're practically falling off the mattress", he scoffed. So maybe she had forced herself to be at as close to the edge as she could without falling off. It was only to put a respectable amount of distance between them, so she could manage the night with some semblance of relaxation. She had been hoping that he would be ignorant enough for her plan to work, but he seemed to be the exact opposite. She sighed. This was going to be one of those long nights.

He wrapped an arm around her waist, "Come on".

"No I-", she pressed her lips together. Her body went rigid as he tugged her closer to the middle of the bed, closer to him. She felt overtly self-conscious, choosing to concentrate on breathing in and out, instead of the fact that her back was pressed tightly against his chest. It was a more difficult task than what she had anticipated, especially when the warmth from his body spread to her. Her confidence faltered, and she felt herself relax into him, “This is nice, actually".

"Surprising isn't it ?", his tone was sarcastic, but his hand still rested comfortably over hers.

She was confused to say the least. They were always close, but sharing near-death experiences could do that to a person. Still, the last few months had been different. His touch would linger a little longer before he pulled away hurriedly. She would feel his stare in a crowded room, but he never met her eyes. Maybe it would have been simpler if she had been more forward with him, but she hadn't, and it put her in a vulnerable position. She could have gone to sleep, but she didn't, "Lockwood ?".

"Yes ?", his hot breath left the hairs on the back her neck standing.

She pushed herself to sit up, "I can't keep doing this".

"Doing what ?", he mimicked her position. His brows were furrowed and he sounded unconvinced.

"This", she groaned, throwing her head onto her knees. Why was this so hard for him to understand ? Why was it so hard for her to tell him ? Why wouldn't her heart stop pounding ?

She took a breath in, "We always act like a couple but somehow we're just friends, I just- I need- I-". He watched her closely, eyes dropping to her lips, before pressing his against them. He tasted faintly of honey and tea. She was quick to respond, grabbing a fistful of his shirt and tugging him closer to her. Her racing heart finally seemed to slow. She felt relieved and desperate all at once. She hoped he felt the same too, and to some extent he must be, seeing as he was kissing her like she might disappear if he didn't.

"Was that a good enough answer for you ?", he chuckled, pulling away.

She was breathless, but stood by a nonchalant facade, "Well you didn't really say anything".

"What? I was trying to make a romantic gesture?", he pressed his lips together, falling back onto the bed. The springs creaked under the sudden weight.

She giggled, smoothing his hair and patting down the stray strands that were sticking out, “Just kidding".

She lay down on the bed, settling into his side. She wondered if this was just a dream, and that she would eventually wake to a version of him that was unaware. The thought alone made her eyes grow wide. Well, it wouldn't hurt to check she thought. She poked him harshly in the side, "Just so you know, I really like you".

He only grinned, "Thanks, I really like me too".

She hit him across the chest, "I hate you". Only Anthony Lockwood could be that big-headed. At least she could be sure that this was reality. Where he had gotten his ego, she would never know, but at least she could go to sleep in peace.

"Don't worry I really like you too", he laughed, softly pressing a kiss against her temple. Though, she thought, when he wanted to, he could also be sweet.