#who gave him the right to look this good damn

[clockwayswrites]

Distracting Birb! Part 28

*throws this and runs* Masterpost

“So what did you find out?” Tim asked as he spun around. He was at the computer, of course, and looked most of the way to villainy backlit by the large screens.

(Dick loved his little brother, but villainy really wouldn’t be the most surprising outcome for Tim.)

“What makes you think we found anything?” Jason answered, just to be impertinent.

Tim rolled his eyes. “You wouldn’t have called us all down to the Cave if you didn’t have anything.”

Jason scoffed. “You underestimate how willing I am to waste your time.”

“Boys,” Cass said calmly, ending the growing argument with just that word.

“Duke still out on patrol?” Dick asked as a distraction.

Tim glanced over his shoulder and back at the screen. “On his way back. He’ll be here in fifteenish.”

Best not to wait in case Danny woke, Dick decided. They’d be sure to fill him in. “Okay. Well, Danny was not lying, he has a lot of plants.”

“Dick managed to turn on the watering system. We’re all very proud of him,” Jason said flatly.

The siblings all golf clapped, which Dick took a dramatic bow to. “Thank you, thank you. Otherwise a pretty normal apartment. Comfortable, a little nerdy, and not fussy.”

Jason nodded. “There’s a hero—not sure if someone real or fictional—that we saw a few times. Someone called Phantom.”

Obliging, Dick sent the photo of the mug from the bathroom up onto one of the screens. Tim spun back to the computer and started searching.

“There were also a lot of medication in his cabinet; vitamins and several prescriptions also. Some of them had weird labels.”

“Damn, Dick, you couldn’t have gotten a clearer photo?” Tim asked as he squinted at the new set of images.

“As much as I hate to defend Dick,” Jason said as he added photos of his own to the screen, ‘that is a clear photo. Danny was writing in the same language along with English in a bedside notebook of his.”

“Are you in need of glasses, Drake?” Damian asked as he looked from the photos to Tim with a judgmental brow raised.

Tim flicked him off, which Dick considered telling Tim off for (Damian had enough bad habits), but was actually curious about this. “No. The text looks glitched out.’

“No,” Damian said slowly and with a scowl, “it is clear. Odd, but clear.”

“Cass?” Dick asked.

She moved a step closer to the television, head tilted. There was a long, quiet moment before she lifted her hand a gave a so-so motion.

Tim looked from her, to Damian, to the screens. “…Dick?”

“So that’s the thing, it looks wrong to me too. If I look at it too long it’s like it gives me a headache. Jason can read it though.”

Jason snorted. “That’s taking it a bit far. I feel like I should be able to read it. I can get a word here or there maybe.”

“Like it whispers,” Damian said, the quiet words oddly poetic for the youngest of them.

“…yeah, like it whispers,” Jason agreed, just as softly.

“Right, okay. Freaky language that only some of us can even see, much less read, and those who can have spent a lot of time in or around the league,” Tim said. “How concerned do we need to be able this? To we need to be concerned about this? I feel like we need to be concerned about this.”

None of them had an easy answer for Tim.

All of them were grateful for the roar of Duke’s bike interrupting the conversation as he pulled into the cave.

“What are you all looking some grim about?” Duke asked. He yanked his helmet off and took a deep breath, like he hadn’t been able to breath in hours.

It was a feeling they all got. Even a good patrol was draining and Duke had been actively on follow up over what had gone down today with the Mad Hatter. Dick tossed a towel Duke’s way and went to grab a drink for the other from the food safe fridge.

“Stuff from Danny’s place. Take a look at the screen,” Jason said.

“Danny? I thought that we liked the guy,” Duke said, accepting the drink with a grateful thank you. He drained half of it his the way to the screens. “Shit, that’s a lot of meds.”

“Take a closer look,” Jason said, though not unkindly.

Duke stepped closer to the screen.

And went alarmingly still.

Dick resisted the instinctual urge to reach out and grab him. “Duke?”

Duke gave an answering hum and turned his head, just slightly, towards Dick. His eyes never left the screen. Dick wasn’t sure if Duke had really heard him. It was Jason who ended up acting, ended up listening to that instinct. He stepped between Duke and the screen, blocking their newest brother’s view. Duke sucked in a sharp, startled breath.

“What?”

“Hey, come on, have a seat,” Jason said and guided Duke backwards into one of the chairs at the table.

Tim swiftly cleared the photos from the screen.

Duke shook his head. “Sorry, man, I don’t know what… that, huh. What did those look like to you all?”

“Magenta tinted pill bottles with different levels of medication in them,” Tim replied calmly. “Dick and I can’t read what’s printed on them. Damian, Jason, and maybe Cass can a little which means it might be League writing of some sort.”

Dick leaned against the table. “What did you see, Duke?”

“Magenta tinted pill bottles with something in them. Like whatever it was my powers were weird about it. I’d have to see them in person to know anything about why, I guess, but they were… I don’t know. But whatever that stuff was I don’t think it’s League because I don’t think it’s human. I don’t think it’s earthly.”

“Well, fuck,” Dick said with a sigh.

He wasn’t sure if that was better or worse.

[docdudo]

Hybrid 141 As Parents - Foster Human Child!Reader (Part 11)

Their background is clear to you—always has been since your social worker told you about them in her car on the way here.

They’re military men. Most of their long lives have been spent in the field. She even mentioned that their first children grew up on base when they were little.

Which sounded cool, you thought. It was so different from the office jobs other foster parents had. A bonus, even—it made you feel safe in their house.

They were bigger than most. If not by height, then by width. They were large. Buff. Even the damn harpy, who was supposed to be lean, had broad shoulders and lots of muscles.

So you felt safe. That was a big bonus. Better than that weird suburban house you stayed in, where the mother often avoided the creepy neighbor who looked predatory. You remember his strange glances and how nervous the mother was when he came knocking one night while her husband was away.

How nervous you were as you watched their interaction a few feet away.

So, you’ve always had a big thing about safety, thanks to the weird places you have stayed.

And they felt so safe. It was comforting, really. After the initial phase of settling into a foster home—when you flinched away from everyone until you got to know them better—you started to relax.

(Unless they were the angry type. Or worse, the type to lay their hands on you.)

So, when Price sat you on his lap, checking your temperature again and combing your hair with his hand and sharp claws, you felt... calm. Eh, not totally, you admit. You still tensed a little when his hand came near your face and stayed quiet because of your shyness.

But it was progress, and you really, really wanted to feel at peace with them.

When night came, after they gave you more medicine, warm tea, and another serving of John's bean and bacon soup, they decided to put you to bed early.

Which... was fine. You were actually very tired. Sickness does that to you.

Price carried you, lifting you easily from the dining room chair with the booster seat they’d gotten from somewhere. He placed you down carefully in the big nest full of heavy blankets and pillows, the others following behind at their own pace.

Being there gave you a chance to watch more of their routine.

Ghost was the last to enter. You could hear him rattling things downstairs and turning off lights as he came. His low voice confirmed that all windows and doors were locked.

Gaz was already in the room, sitting at the nest’s edge as he combed through his wing with a special tool, a weird looking comb thing. Johnny worked on the other wing with a concentration you didn’t know he could manage. Both of them were close to you, their legs nearly bumping your small form in the giant nest.

Price moved calmly around the room, putting things away and finishing his hygiene routine in the attached bathroom.

"Feeling better?" Gaz cooed softly, his leg—talons, talons, such sharp talons—bumping near you to get your attention.

"Y-yeah, better..." you answered quietly, nodding for emphasis.

"Good." He crooned, satisfied, especially when Soap purred right after.

(Is it really a purr if he’s a werewolf?)

"Good pup, such a good pup. Really brave, huh? Dinae complain even once. So strong..." Soap murmured, leaning over Gaz, who relaxed back against him.

"It's just a small fever..." you mumbled, frowning a bit at his exaggeration. You were shy. "It’s nothing..."

"Not nothin’, kid." Simon grumbled, finally climbing into the nest after discarding his mask and gloves. He lay beside you, checking your forehead again. "Sick is sick. A flu is a flu. Still makes you feel like shit."

"Simon..." Price scolded as he emerged from the bathroom, closing the door behind him. "Didn’t hear the hatchling say one bad word ’til now. Don’t influence her."

"To be fair, we barely heard her speak at all until now." Kyle retorted sassily, smiling at Price before glancing down at you. "Small, quiet fledgling."

"Nah, she’ll warm up to us!" Johnny declared confidently, shaking his head. "Right, pup? Wanna play with Papa tomorrow? We can play anything ya want!"

"Tone it down, mutt. It’s snowin’ outside," Ghost grumbled, already wrapping your small body in one of the blankets.

"We can play inside. We’ve got the space," Soap said smugly, finishing Kyle’s wing before slipping into the nest on your other side. "We can play, pup. Promise I’ll be gentle!"

You tensed a little, unsure. Your expression showed your doubt with your little frown. After a few seconds of silence, you managed to murmur.

"....o-okay... I guess..."

"See? Who said peer pressure doesn’t work?" Ghost deadpanned, making Price snort with laughter, faint wisps of smoke escaping his nose.

"You don't have to if you don't want to, hatchling." Price says with a quiet laugh, approaching the nest as he adjusts some kind of shoulder weight attached over his sleeping shirt where his missing wing used to be.

You stare at him for a moment, frowning slightly in confusion.

"...Soap...?"

Your question seems to stun them for a moment before they all start laughing softly, like it’s some kind of inside joke.

"Tha’ would be me, lassie." Johnny replies with a big smile, flashing all his sharp teeth as he leans closer. "Just a codename. Military, aye?"

"Nickname...?" you mumble, still confused.

"Close, hun. Codename." Gaz explains with a gentle laugh, sliding into the nest now, his wings resting against Soap and Price’s backs.

"It’s like a nickname, but it’s used for secrecy. So bad people don’t know our real names." Ghost adds calmly, his heavy hand giving your back a slight pat.

That makes you scrunch your nose slightly.

"Why Soap...?"

Once again, the others laugh at your question, except Johnny, who just sighs quietly, though his smile remains.

"Doesn’t matter why." The werewolf says with a shrug, still grinning as he gestures at Simon. "This bastard is called ‘Ghost’ in the field, Kyle is ‘Gaz,’ and John just uses his last name, ‘Price.’"

You nod quietly, blinking as you process the information. It’s kinda weird, but it makes sense for their lifestyle. Military men for most of their lives, huh? That actually makes you wonder...

"...Are your kids also military...?" you ask softly, hugging your knees over the thick blanket.

"Thank fucking god, no," Price answers quickly, sounding both relieved and horrified at the thought.

"I thought we weren’t doing bad words?" Ghost asks slowly, his tone sarcastic as he sends Price a bored look.

"Oh, shut it." Price growls softly back, leaning closer to him with a sharp smile.

"But no, none of them are in the military." Kyle chimes in, smiling slightly. "Doesn’t mean they didn’t think about following our footsteps at some point, though."

"Wee lads and lassies always thought the military was cool, wanted to be like their papas." Soap says dreamily, though his smile falters slightly to a more nervous smile. "We would never let them, though."

"Why?" you ask innocently, tilting your head in confusion. "You didn’t like the military?"

"No, no, not that! Ah love the military, wee lass!" Soap defends quickly, waving his hands around. "Can’t imagine doin’ anything else with my life!"

"But no parent wants their kids in such a dangerous job," Price interjects, shaking his head as he mutters under his breath. "Honestly, if I had my way, they’d still be here in the nest with me."

"Ignore ’im. Dragon instincts get the best of ’im sometimes." Ghost mutters, shaking his head before gently nudging you down into the nest. "Come on, kid. We can talk tomorrow. It’s sleep time."

You’re still curious, but you nod, laying back against the nest. Johnny immediately curls around you, his giant body wrapping you up entirely. You even feel his tail loop around your legs. You tense for a moment at the closeness, but soon relax, rolling slightly to burrow your face into the blanket. His much larger body shields you completely.

"Night, kid." Ghost grunts as he settles, his hand resting on top of your wrapped form.

"Sweet dreams, hun." Gaz murmurs softly.

"Sleep well." Price adds last, leaning down slightly as the others settle into their spots in the nest. "Call us if you need anything, alright?"

"Gonna be monitorin’ her. It’s fine..." Johnny mumbles, still draped protectively over you. "Good night, lassie."

You fall asleep as the lights turn off and the others cuddle into the nest. Despite the heavy snowstorm outside, you feel incredibly warm.

Safe.

[flwrkid14]

The Batfamily and Their Resident Alley Cat

Tim Drake walked into the Batfamily’s lives the same way an alley cat wanders into someone’s home: scrappy, uninvited, and entirely certain he belonged. And somehow, he stayed.

There’s no formal discussion about it, but everyone just… treats Tim like a cat. Not in a bad way! No, it’s all affectionate, in their weird, batfamily sort of way. They praise him endlessly, the same way someone would coo over a stray that managed to charm its way into a warm house. They show him off too, proudly talk about him to anyone who will listen, like he’s a rare find, even though—to outsiders—he looks about as approachable as a cornered feral. (And to be fair, Tim will scratch if you get too close. He’s been known to bite, too, though usually in a verbal sense.)

The parallels don’t end there. If Tim ever decides you’re safe enough to relax around? To nap on? That’s it, you’re trapped. It’s an unspoken rule. If Tim curls up against you, head resting on your shoulder or his legs slung across your lap, you do not move. No one dares risk waking him up. Not only because he probably hasn’t slept in three days, but also because disturbing Tim in his rare moments of peace is sacrilege. Bruce has postponed meetings. Jason once held in a sneeze so violently it gave him a headache. Damian—Damian—sat perfectly still for over an hour because Tim had nodded off against his side, even though his arm had long since gone numb.

Startling Tim is another no-go. They all learned that the hard way. The first (and last) time Dick snuck up on Tim while he was deep in thought, Tim had reacted on instinct—nearly taking Dick’s eye out with a pencil. Since then, they’ve all adopted a “gentle approach” policy. Announce yourself softly, no sudden movements, and maybe bring a peace offering (read: zesti, to further grow his unfound stash hidden somewhere in the manor).

But beyond the quirks and the care they take around him, there’s a trust in Tim that runs deep. Like a cat, Tim has an uncanny sense for people. If he trusts someone right away, that person is good—no further questions needed. If Tim is skittish, more guarded? They all take note. Tim’s instincts are sharp, and the family has learned to respect them. It’s an unspoken rule: if Tim doesn’t like someone, you’re on thin ice until proven otherwise.

There’s something endearing about it all, really. About the way Tim has carved out his space among them, the way they’ve adjusted their lives to accommodate him without even realizing it. He’s their alley cat—scrappy, fiercely independent, a little rough around the edges, but theirs.

And no matter how sharp his claws might be, no matter how many times he insists he doesn’t need anyone, they’ll always make room for him. Because Tim Drake didn’t just wander into their lives—he chose them. And they’re damn lucky he did.

[sp1dermann0]

Dean Winchester x gn!reader

Summary: Edging him 😊

NSFW. Minors DNI. Not proof read ❌

I have nothing to say, but I want to say something. So…happy holidays and have a good day 🌚

You’ve denied him at least 3 times now. Letting your hand slip from his twitching cock down to his thigh whenever he was near the edge. And yet he still gave you the same puppy-eyed look.

Dean’s head went back against the pillow with a soft thud. His hips thrusting into your hand to feel and get more of the overwhelming pleasure that he oh so deserved. All while your lips softly pressed against his neck. Kissing your way up to his jaw then up by his ear. Your free hand cradled the other side of his face that you weren’t by.

Although the lighting in the room was dim, you could still see every detail of Dean’s face. The way he furrowed his eyebrows when you twisted your wrist around his cock. The way he looked when he got close.

His moans fell from his lips with every stroke of your hand. A whimper slipping out when you sped up; wanting to help build him up to the edge. Only for you to pull him back. He gave a weak thrust and a squeeze of his hands on your hips. Turning his head slightly to angle himself with your ear.

“Please, baby.” Dean whispered. Looking at you with those damn eyes. You looked back at him, only for a few long seconds though. Otherwise you’re sure you would’ve gave in. “You’re doing great, Dean. But this is what you deserve.” You say, dragging your thumb down on his lower lip, pulling it away from the other. Watching it snap back to place when your thumb now touched his chin. You remembered the way he acted earlier. Snarky remarks and catching an attitude with everyone who spoke to him. Nobody was sure why he acted like that.

You tried talking to him when it was just you two, to figure out what happened for him to be acting like that. Turns out there was no reason for it. No reason except that he woke up grumpy. And so, here you two are now.

“‘M sorry, won’t happen again, swear.” He said, softly. Still looking at you in hopes for some type of mercy. But you didn’t let up. Only starting to move your hand again just to stop.

When your hand resumed your pace on his dick, Dean groaned and let his head fall back against the pillow again. His back arched slightly and his hips went up to thrust into your hand. Your lips went back to his neck. Sucking hickeys that’ll probably get seen by Sam later. Dean didn’t care, nor did you. Well, sometimes. You did what you could to cover them, whether them being on you or him.

He bucked his hips and gripped your hips tighter. You knew he was close, yet still continued to move your hand. You wanted him to get right there before stopping. Make him think you gave in. And that you did.

His breathing got quicker and soon enough he gave one final thrust into your hand, thinking you finally listened to him. But when you pulled your hand away and set it on his inner thigh, he huffed and frustratingly groaned. His cock twitched quickly and was an angry shade of red. It leaked like a faucet. You ran your hand up and down his thigh. The feeling of your nails lightly scratching him gave him goosebumps.

You moved up close to him once again. Making sure your mouth was near his ear. He looked at you with a soft expression, and all you gave him was a slight smile. In which he scoffed.

“Maybe next time.” You whispered.

[spidermans-l-o-v-e-r]

Last Holiday, 2006

Pairing: Joel Miller x Reader

Word count: 5k

Notes: I’m not. I’m not doing great with this whole phone mess. It’s so funny, it truly is. The only silver lining is that man’s was hot and I got to work with him for an entire two hours.

Joel tosses his bags down on the bed, running his hand through his hair. You had run down to the car to get your charger and it gave him enough time to just… breathe. He never should have agreed to drive with you to your dad’s wedding. You were terrified of flying so he offered to help you drive the 12 hours it would take to get to Alabama, your dad's new wife had grown up there and wanted to get married before coming back to Texas. 

He stares at the large king-size bed trying to figure out the logistics, he knew you’d fight him for offering to take the couch but he’d feel more comfortable there. Okay not really, even if it was a relatively nice room and a nice couch it would still end his back. 

But being close to you? That close? That would end his life. 

He still remembers the first time he realized oh yeah, haha I’m attracted to my best friend’s daughter who’s damn near half my age! You took his house key from your dad when you found out he was laid up sick at home. You came over immediately with a ridiculous amount of bags in your hands, it took two trips to the car to get it all in and you refused to let him help. You set him up in his bedroom with a diffuser and a big mug of tea while you stocked his house with everything he would need and then some. You spent five days at his home, nursing him when he couldn’t do anything for himself besides turn over slowly and pass back out. 

On the third day of you sleeping in the chair in the corner of his room, he’d had enough… which was the beginning of the end for him. 

Oh if only he’d known. He might not have forced you into bed. 

“Look. The Doc said I’m no longer contagious anymore right?” He had his hands on his hips in one of the rare moments he was able to stand (he’d had to go pee) 

“Right” you sigh from under your blankets and he points to the bed 

“Alright then get goin’ little girl and get an actual good night's sleep. If you insist on staying here and takin’ care of me the least I can do is offer you somewhere better to sleep” 

You begrudgingly stomped over and flopped down on his bed and he rolled his eyes at your theatrics 

“You’ll thank me in the morning” 

That was the best sleep he’d ever gotten in his life, he woke up around three in the morning with you snuggled into his chest, his arms tightly around you. He froze for a minute, not sure if he should scream or shut the hell up so you’d stay.

“Joel?” You blinked up at him sleepily and he looked down at you 

“Yeah, Sugar?” He mumbles his voice rough with sleep. 

“Go back to sleep,” You tell him, putting your head back down against his chest and closing your eyes. 

So he did. 

And from then on he couldn’t help but want to be close to you, he wanted to feel you back in his arms again. He wonders if you even remember that happening? Either way, this one-bed situation isn’t…. Great. The door opens and you come in with a bag of chips and your charger hanging from the belt loops of those tiny damn shorts you insisted on wearing to be “maximum comfy” on your ride. 

“Which side did you want?” You ask as you wave the plug, looking for a socket.

“About that- Sugar I can-“

“Don’t even give me that, you have to stand with my dad! And we’ve got a ton of shit to do before the wedding so I’m not having your old ass breaking down just because you couldn’t sleep next to me.

His mouth drops wide open and you toss your head back cackling.

“I’m- I’m so sorry, did you say my “old” ass?! I could run fuckin’ circles around you. Snowflake ass motherfucker” 

You gasp dramatically and he tosses his coat down on the chair “Oh yeah, you heard me” 

“Do you wanna come say that to my face?!” You throw your charger over to your bag and open your arms wide, he scoffs and crosses his arms over his chest. 

“I’m not fighting a baby” 

“A- a baby?!” You splutter your mouth wide open and he gives you the finger 

“A little itty bitty baby” 

You go to tackle him onto the bed but he catches you first, slamming you onto it so hard you bounce up. You scream laughing as he pins you down with his body, immediately attacking your sides.

“Stop!! No-no please stop!” You laugh loudly, kicking your legs but it’s not doing anything. You buck your hips wildly trying to throw him off as he tickles your sides relentlessly. You shriek and twist but he isn’t moving, he’s like a rock. You start blindly throwing punches, still thrashing around and he captures your wrists, pinning them above your head and you try to buck your hips again.

“Let me go!!” You pant harshly, staring into his eyes, his face is so close to yours as he leans on you, holding you down.

“Oh, what’s wrong Princess?” He says in a stupid voice “Little baby can’t free herself from the old man? Awww am I too-“

Before he can finish his sentence you smash your lips into his, kissing him passionately before pulling away, your chest still heaving. It’s like he’s zoned out as you lay your head back against the sheets, you wait a few seconds before suddenly regretting everything. 

“Joel? H-hey Joel? It- it was a joke I was just-“ Your eyes widen as you feel his hard cock against your core, throbbing in his pants. 

“I was just joking” You whisper softly, staring at his lips for a moment, his eyes trail down to yours, staring at your little tongue darting out and wetting your lips. He lets your hands go and you wrap your arms around your neck, pulling him down against your chest. 

“Why did you do that,” He asks quietly and you shrug 

“Dunno, I mean- I just wanted to stun you… didn’t realize I’d break you” 

“You didn’t-“ he rolls his eyes and you giggle, “You didn’t break me. Do you know what you’re doing, Sugar?” He looks at you seriously and you blush a little, your voice becoming smaller and quieter than you expected.

“I know what I’m doing… At least I think” You say back, playing with the curls at the nape of his neck. 

“Why don’t I give you some time?” He pulls out of your arms and you frown, feeling the loss of warmth. He grabs his jacket from the bed and sighs. 

“I’m gonna go get some dinner for us. Don’t open the door for anyone.” 

Before you can protest he’s gone, the door slamming shut behind him. 

Joel is gone longer than he expected, he needed time to just sit in his truck and like, scream. Okay not scream, punks scream. But you kissed him. 

What the fuck does he do now? 

Because you’re his best friend’s daughter, he helped you move into your dorm for fucks sake. He was there for your dad when he was depressed about you moving out, he slept in your bedroom for like a week straight. He had a great time going through your shit that was for sure, he’d sent you pictures of him with your diary open in front of him with a little thumbs up. He didn’t actually read it but you called him cursing him out and he nearly died wheeze laughing and rolling off your bed. 

He picked up a few things for you too, you’d left your bedroom a mini tornado, knowing you’d be back soon anyway, college wasn’t very far away but you knew if you weren’t closer you’d totally skip class. 

That’s how he’d found it, he’s glad he did before your dad did, in a box that was labeled that it was supposed to come with you. He’s only opened it to take a picture and see if you absolutely needed him to bring it up to you right away or if you could wait for the weekend. It’s a Polaroid of the three of you, he remembers when it was taken too, at the last neighborhood picnic. You’re sat in his lap, your arms around his neck as you give him a big kiss on the cheek, your dad is standing behind you two with a giant chef's knife as a joke. But you’ve put an adorable little heart around the two of you, he turns it over to see a red lipstick mark over your names and the date on it. 

Suddenly he didn’t feel so weird about getting off to the smell of your room that surrounded him night after night. 

He looks at the little bouquet of flowers in his hand as he comes up in the elevator, they look stupid now that he’s got them in the hotel. Not to mention what if you decided this wasn’t what you wanted?? Here are some awkward “Cool guess we forget the kiss!” Flowers. 

He taps the door with his foot, leaning close to it “Open up Sugar, before I spill these drinks” 

He hears the lock sliding and the door swings open, you’ve got an oversized t-shirt on and your hair is up out of your face. You grab the drinks from him and turn away, letting the door smack him and he rolls his eyes, pushing it open with his hip and coming in. 

“Alright, I got you McDonald’s” He tosses the flowers onto the table nonchalantly and you set the drinks down, staring at them. Your fingers trace the long stems, three pretty roses, thorns and all. 

“Got your little pansy ass some nuggets, what do you kids call them these days? Chickie-“ 

You stand on your toes, pecking his lips and holding onto the front of his shirt to steady yourself.

“Thank you” 

You grab the bag from him and take out your food before going over to the bed and hopping on, you carefully open your barbecue sauce and set up your food before grabbing the remote and sitting crisscross. 

“So what should we watch?” 

He looks at you for a second, narrowing his eyes and studying your expression before grabbing the bag and coming over to the other side of the bed. He tosses it down and plops on the bed then snatches the remote from you. 

“Hey!”

“I’m not watching any of your shitty little cartoons” 

“You have shitty cartoons” You grumble “What did you used to watch? Steamboat Mickey??” 

He snorts a little and you point at him “I got you!” You laugh and he slaps your thigh 

“You didn’t get me. Jesus how old do you think I am??” 

“Like 100 or something?” 

“You wanna kiss a hundred-year-old man? What you got a kink or somethin’ Sugar?” 

“Ew!! Joel!!” You squeal and whack him with your pillow, he yanks it from your hands as he falls back laughing. You snatch the remote back from him after beating on his thigh and turn to SpongeBob, while he’s busy laughing to himself and unwrapping his burger. 

You eat in silence, giving him glares and he can’t stop snickering every time he catches your eye. You force him to watch SpongeBob for a couple hours with you after dinner, you stay curled up on your side of the bed and he stays on his, you know you’ve caught him laughing a couple times. No one can resist SpongeBob, especially old SpongeBob. 

You’re on your fifth episode when he reaches his arm out toward you. 

“Y/N?” He actually sounds sleepy when he says it, you turn to look at him, your heart melting. His head is back against the headboard, one hand over his torso, half slumped into the sheets. 

“Yeah?” You say softly and he waves you over, patting the bed. 

“C’mere Sugar, too far away from me” 

You shut off your light and crawl across the bed to him, snuggling into his side. You pull your knees up and bury your face into his chest. He puts his arm around you, kissing your forehead and you smile, turning down the TV and kissing his cheek.

“It’s like 10 pm” You whisper and he rolls his eyes 

“I’ve done a lotta drivin’ alright? Shut up. I saw you nodding off over there too” 

You flick his chest and he chuckles “Mhmm that’s what I thought” 

You listen to him breathing, as he rubs lazy circles on your shoulder. You put your arm over his waist, tilting your head up to kiss his jaw

“Is this… something you want?” You ask quietly and he hesitates for a moment, his finger stopping on your shoulder. 

“Is this something you want?… I’m not, I’m not perfect Y/N, you deserve better.” 

“I’m not perfect either, Joel. I don’t want perfect, I want you. I’ve been wanting you. Ever since-“ You stop, and you feel him take a deep breath before relaxing into the bed. He reaches back, shutting off his light and pulling you into his arms as you settle in against him. 

“Ever since you came to take care of me” he finishes for you and you wrap your arms around his neck, nuzzling your nose against his.

“Bingo” 

Joel wakes up to your soft moans, he blinks blearily, checking his phone.

3am.

Your chest is against his, face buried into his neck, your leg thrown over his. He stretches a bit, resting his hand on your hip and you grind against him suddenly. His eyes widen as you gently roll your hips into his, gasping softly and gripping the front of his shirt. 

“S-Sugar?? Y/N??” He grips your hip tighter, shaking you a little “C’mon baby wake up” 

You whimper and his cock twitches, he seriously needs to wake you up. He pushes your hair from your face, kissing your forehead. 

“Wake up baby girl, fuck- please you gotta wake up” His voice is strained with need as you roll your hips into him again, he can feel a little wet patch forming on the front of your panties and he can’t help but moan lowly, as you grind against him again. He pushes you onto your back and starts kissing your neck, he sucks a dark mark below your collar and your eyes open slowly.

Your fingers tangle through his hair and you tug gently, sighing softly.

“Is this a dream?” You say sleepily and he pushes your shirt up around your waist, kissing your soft skin. 

“Can’t tell, don’t really care though” 

He inches down your body, kissing along the way. You let your legs fall open and he moans, inhaling your scent. He rubs his nose against your wet, pink, panties and you moan, scrunching his soft hair in your hands and grinding against his face. 

“That’s it, baby girl, use me” He growls, lapping at that damp spot as you arch your back, pulling your thighs together around his head. He pushes your thighs over his shoulders and continues sucking on your panties.

“You want me to take ‘em off? Wanna feel my tongue between your legs?” 

You nod dizzily, rubbing his hair “Y-yeah, please? Joel. Please” 

He reaches forward, ripping them open and you squeak, trying to shut your legs but he won’t let you 

“There’s no runnin’ from me now Sugar. He leans in again, kissing your lips tenderly, he smirks as he feels you trembling. He nuzzles his nose against them, teasing your clit.

“You clean it up down here just for me?” He looks up and you roll your eyes, huffing a little 

“I mean-“

“Didn’t have to go through all that trouble you know… I’m a grown man sweetheart, a little hair isn’t gonna scare me off. ‘preciate it though”

“It’s not like I expected you to be-“

Your back sass is cut off by Joel licking a long slow stripe between your folds, effectively shutting you up. He buries his face between your legs, moaning as he savors your arousal. He pulls you against his mouth, sliding his tongue inside you as far as he can. 

"Fuck, you taste so sweet," he groans, his voice muffled against your pussy. "Could eat this pretty little cunt all day."

Your back arches off the bed as you pull your legs up, keening softly and he grabs your thighs, keeping you in place. He wraps his lips around your clit, sucking as he slowly slides his fingers inside you, curling them up as he strokes your g-spot. Your body jolts and he chuckles, hitting it over and over again, listening to your gorgeous moans. 

“None of those little boys you’ve been with even know this exists huh?” 

“H-holy shit” You gasp and he pumps his fingers harder, his tongue concentrating on your clit, you push his head down, grinding against his face and he hums delightfully, enjoying every second of you using him as he sucks and licks your cunt with practiced precision. 

"Fuck, you're so tight. Gonna feel so good wrapped around my cock," he moans, grinding his hips into the bed.

"Cum for me, baby girl. Let me taste you." 

“J-Joel wait- wait it feels like I’m-“

“Let go, baby, I’ve got you, it’s gonna be so good I promise” He coaxes and you fall apart immediately, your body jolting as you climax, squirting over his chin. 

Your juices flood his mouth and coat his fingers. He laps at your needy pussy, drinking down every drop of your release as you shake and tremble above him. 

He crawls up your body as you lay there panting, staring up at the ceiling 

“You good there Sugar?” He’s got such a cocky grin on his face you just want to slap it off. You cup his face, rubbing your thumbs over his cheekbones before pulling him to you and kissing him. You can taste yourself on him as he swirls his tongue in your mouth, wrapping it around yours. You giggle and pull away as he settles next to you. 

“I could do that all damn day if you’d let me” He nuzzles into your neck, kissing you softly as your eyes start to close in exhaustion. 

“I just might…” you blink rapidly, trying to keep yourself awake and he pulls you into his chest, resting his chin on your head 

“Go to sleep sugar, we got a long drive” 

“But what about you?” you pout, stroking his cock slowly and he pushes your hand away slowly.

“There’s a bathroom”

You giggle sleepily and lean into him “Gonna jerk off to me?” 

“Oh shut up and go to sleep. Damn brat” 

Joel runs his hands through his hair, rinsing the soap from it. He’d gotten off at least three times since last night and it wasn’t really helping all that much, but he had places to go, people to see. 

Like your dad. 

What a way to kill a boner. 

What was he supposed to say? Hey buddy glad you’re getting married, hey on the way here I ate your daughter out like a man starved. It had been a while… so technically he was but whatever that didn’t matter. 

What mattered was he felt like a lovesick teenager. He woke up to you curled up like an adorable little angel in his arms, so soft and sleepy…which absolutely ended in him between your legs again, his newest favorite place to be. 

You were just so sweet and giggly now, still the biggest pain in his ass, but now that pain in the ass liked to wrap her arms around his torso and bury her face in his back and not let go. 

You were disgustingly cute. 

“Joel come on we have to go! Quit jerkin’ off and get your ass in gear!” 

…and incredibly annoying. 

He shuts off the shower and steps out, running the towel through his hair and grabbing another one before wrapping it around his waist and coming into the room.

���Alright, alright keep your damn shirt on” He looks up from the floor as you’re pulling your mini skirt over your ass. He stares at you, his tongue darting out to wet his lips and you blush. 

“That’s-“

“It’s a skort… you’re gonna tell me it’s too short right? It’s… it’s got shorts with it” 

Your eyes widen as you see the towel start to shift a little and he coughs awkwardly, covering his cock. But the towel comes from his hips and you can’t help but giggle, as he takes his second towel and covers his butt. 

“I’m- I’m gonna-“ He nods toward the bathroom and you put your hands up 

“Wait! N-no you can just- why don’t you just get changed?” 

“You want? Me to drop the towels?” He sounds bewildered and your cheeks heat up as you roll your eyes and look back at the bag in front of you, avoiding him completely

“I mean- you’re- you’re my boyfriend now?? I think- I think I can see your ass” 

“Boyfriend huh?” He sounds so fucking cocky when he says it too. You throw your pajamas into the bag and whirl around. 

“Yeah jackass my-“ You knock into his chest and he grabs your arms, steadying you. You squeak and he pulls you into his chest, running his hands down your arms. 

“You hittin’ it this early Sugar?” he teases and you swat his chest “I mean I know you can handle your whiskey but-“

“Oh shut up! I didn’t realize you’d come over here… you’re like, really freaking quiet”

“I hunt a lot” 

“Huh…” you trail off, looking up at him. His hair is so much curlier after the shower, and little drops of water fall onto his tanned skin. 

He’s gorgeous when he’s like this. He smells nice too, you look up at him, your doe eyes wide and he wraps his arms around your waist, pulling you against him. Your eyes nearly pop out of your head as you feel him against your thigh… he’s not only large, he’s thick too. 

“So… you wanna see my ass huh?” He teases and you blush, pushing at his chest but he doesn’t let go

“What times checkout Sugar?” His head dips down and you feel his soft lips on your neck, your eyes slowly close as he places feather-light kisses across your skin. He bounces you a little and your eyes pop open. 

“Checkout?” He asks again and you look back at the clock 

“Uhhh, 11?” 

“And what time is it now?” His hands slide into your skort, cupping your ass. He gives it a squeeze as he grinds his hips into yours. 

“It’s…it’s um” You wrap your arms around his neck, biting your lip as he continues kissing softly, leaving a steaming trail with his lips down your neck.

“Use your words Princess”

“9:30” you finally answer and he smirks, working your skirt and panties down your legs. You step out of them and kick them aside and he’s got you on the bed again. He tosses the towels down and climbs on top of you, you reach down and grab his ass, pushing him down into you. He hisses and you giggle, rolling your hips against his rock-hard cock. He reaches down and strokes himself a couple times, tapping your clit with his cock and you jump a little. He chuckles and rubs the tip through your folds before teasing your hole with it. 

“Can’t believe you’re already this wet for me” He mumbles “What a slut” 

Joel nips at your pulse point, sucking the sensitive skin into his mouth as his hands roam your body, feeling your soft curves that belong to him now. You moan quietly, relaxing into the soft covers beneath you as he worships your body. 

"Gonna make you feel so good, sweetheart. Gonna fill this tight little pussy up so good," he promises against your skin, his hips grinding against yours.

He pushes forward, sinking into your tight heat inch by inch. You both groan at the sensation, his eyes fluttering shut for a moment.

"Fuck, you feel so good, baby girl. So tight and perfect," he rasps, his hips rocking gently against yours. “Everything I fuckin’ dreamed of”

You pull him closer to you, holding onto him tightly as you take him in you, gasping slightly at how big he is. You bury your face in his shoulder, panting softly as he bottoms out. 

“Jesus Christ” You whimper, as he gives you time to adjust to his size, your eyes roll back and you tip your head down into the pillows. 

He sets a slow, steady rhythm, pulling out almost all the way before sliding back in. He leans down, kissing the column of your neck as he thrusts into you, gripping the sheets to keep from cumming embarrassingly fast. 

Your nails trail down his sides, gripping his ass in your hands and pushing him down harder into your wet heat. 

He moans as he sinks deeper into you, your walls clenching around him deliciously. He could feel you trembling beneath him, your small hands on his ass, gripping it tightly.

“F-faster” You moan, your chest heaving as you give him the go-ahead. He kisses you deeply, his tongue dominating yours as he speeds up, his hips slamming in and out as he grips your hip with one hand and reaches down to touch your clit with the other. You arch your back into his, your chest bouncing as you mewl desperately, the lewd sound of skin slapping against skin filling the hotel room. 

He reaches down, gripping your thigh and pushing your leg up higher, opening you up even more to him. He angles his hips, hitting that spot inside you that made you see stars last night. 

“Look so fuckin’ pretty when you’re takin’ my cock like this. Such a good girl” 

Joel's thrusts became erratic, his balls tightening as he feels you clenching around him. He buries his face in your neck, biting down on your shoulder as he lets out a guttural moan.

"Fuck, I'm gonna cum" he pants, his hips stuttering as he empties himself inside you, pushing all the way in and holding it as you cum around him, your body shaking as his fingers roll over your clit faster and faster. 

“Joel- fuck, fuck, fuck” You cry as he gives you a few rough pumps before pulling out and falling to the side of you. 

You both lay there together, panting harshly. He runs his hands over his face and sighs as he leaves them there, covering his eyes. 

“Best damn sex I’ve ever had,” He says through pants and you giggle, mimicking his stance. 

“Makes sense, for your first time. Explains why you came so quickly” 

His mouth drops open as you laugh into your hands, turning to look at him. 

“Do you wanna fuckin’ go?? I will fight you” He threatens and you gasp, sitting up fast. 

“Hey! I’m just saying! It’s completely normal!! Cumming in two minutes!!” 

He sits up spluttering and you toss your head back laughing 

“You son of a bitch that was way longer than two minutes! And you came at the same time!” 

“I don’t recall that happening” You tap your chin and he knocks you over back onto the bed, you squeal and laugh, holding onto him as he squishes you into bed. He slaps your ass and you jolt, your mouth dropping as he does it again, his hand coming down harder. 

“Joel!” 

“Bad girls get spanked, that’s the rule baby girl, sorry” 

“Something tells me you’re not actually-“ 

You both freeze as your phone starts ringing. Joel lets you go and you scramble to the edge of the bed nearly falling off as you pick it up off the table. 

“It’s my dad” 

“I know” 

“What do I do??” 

“Answer it??” He gestures wildly and you spin around in a fast circle, stomping your feet and whining before tossing your phone at him. 

“You answer it! I have to uhhh clean up!!” You run to the bathroom and he throws a pillow at you 

“Pussy!” He yells as he takes the phone from the bed and swipes 

“Uhhh hey man what’s up?”

“Joel? Where’s Y/N?” 

“In the shower, decided to sleep in today, somethin’ about beauty rest… not that it’ll help” 

Your dad snickers and he chuckles a little, getting up to put his boxers on 

“So uh what’s goin on?” 

“Eh nothin’ just seein' where you guys are. Carrie’s gettin' kinda anxious that you guys won’t be here on time. Y/N still has that last fitting for her best man dress and you’ve still gotta get the right shoes-“

“Do you want me to break the speed limit? I’ll break the speed limit”

“That would be nice yes” 

“Alright, we’ll be on the road in like 20 minutes? I’ll see how much time I can make up.” 

“Okay cool… cool. Well, tell Y/N I love her and I’ll see you guys soon. Love you, brother, bye” 

“Bye” 

“Joel” 

“Jesus. Love you too, you lousy fuck. Goodbye” 

You come out of the bathroom as he’s pulling his shirt over his head. He glares at you and you giggle. 

“What did he want?”

“For us to get our asses in gear, now get your shit together, and let’s go” He smacks your ass as you walk past and you squeak, hitting his arm as you throw the last of your stuff in your bag and hand it over to him. He leaves the room and you do one last walkthrough to make sure you’ve got everything. 

You come out to the truck watching Joel throw everything in. You lean against the passenger side as he’s shutting the back door. He leans against the door and pulls you into him, kissing your nose. 

“You ready Sugar?” 

“Mhm, you ready to keep your paws to yourself?” 

His hands slide down your sides, cupping your ass 

“Not likely” 

[wilhelminyard]

compilation of nice/sweet things the foxes said to neil because even though they're a bunch of assholes who'll insult anyone in their vicinity they all just love him so damn much (part 1) :

WYMACK :

"if your parents are a problem for you, we'll move you to south carolina early."

"foxes are foxes for a reason and they know we wouldn't sign you if you didn't qualify. that doesn't mean they know specifics. it's not my place to ask and I'm sure as hell not going to tell them."

"it's about second chances, neil. second, third, fourth, whatever, as long as you get at least one more than what anyone else wanted to give you."

"I have never, ever hit someone without provocation and I'm sure as hell not going to start with you. you hear me?"

"I'll take care of this. you take care of you."

"do you have any idea what could have happened to you between here and there? what were you thinking? you should have called me"

"any of us would have come and gotten you"

"it's not your job to take care of yourself anymore. it's your job to play, and mine and abby's job to look after you."

ANDREW :

"oh you might actually turn out to be interesting"

"you be something. kevin says you'll be a champion. four years and you'll go pro. five years and you'll be court."

"curious that a man with so much potential, who has so much fun, who could 'be something' wouldn't want any of it"

"a liar who practices occasional honesty. clever."

"are you going to tell kevin?" "don't ask me stupid questions"

"oh neil, as unpredictable as he is unreal"

"what would it take to make you stay?"

"I'll stand between you and the moriyamas"

"you gave your game to kevin. give your back to me."

KEVIN :

"neil is exactly what the foxes need right now. his inexperience is inconsequential. we went through a hundred files looking for a striker for this year, but neil is the only one we approached. we knew as soon as we saw him we needed to sign him. we're just lucky we got there before anyone else did"

"our primary concern was keeping neil safe"

"*to riko* leave him alone."

MATT :

"are you bleeding anywhere?"

"coach says [neil's] got potential. andrew says you're fast. [...] andrew bets you can outrun everyone on this team."

"seriously are you okay?"

"I'll owe you one" "you won't owe me anything"

"you be careful, okay?"

"I'm fine" "you say that a lot. I'm starting to think you don't know what it means."

"coach says stupid but I say you have balls of steel"

NICKY :

"neil, you clean up good"

"andrew is keeping you, same as he kept kevin. it means you're part of the family now. [...] family means something different with us because it has to. it's not about blood. it's not even about who we like. it's about who andrew's willing to protect."

"that makes you invaluable to andrew"

"you're one of us, which means we'll never push you further than you're willing to go"

DAN :

"are you okay?"

"coach said you hitchhiked your way back here. I'd yell at you for being stupid but coach said he handled that already"

"we didn't let him [in]. he didn't make it further than the front door."

"neil? you don't have to do this, you know"

ALLISON :

"looking fancy"

SETH :

"maybe you're not as stupid as I thought"

AARON :

(I know it surprised me too but it's probably the only compliment he gives neil throughout the entire series and they literally just met at that point)

"at least you're not going to completely drag us down. it'll take most the season to get you where we need you to be but I can see why kevin picked you"

[nknoxe-n]

◅You call that breakfast?▻

Synopsis: Shidou decides to make you breakfast in bed, too bad his idea of 'breakfast' is atrocious

Warnings: [Shidou himself is always a warning]

w.c 800

The early morning sun peeked through your curtains, its gentle warmth tugging you from sleep. The faint sound of clinking and shuffling echoed from the direction of the kitchen, immediately setting off alarm bells in your groggy mind. Before you could fully process what was happening, Ryusei barged into your bedroom with a tray in hand, a mischievous grin plastered across his face.

“Good morning, sugar tits!” He exclaimed, plopping the tray onto the bed with an exaggerated tone.

You blinked at him, still half-asleep, before glancing at the tray. On it sat an alarming assortment of items: a half-eaten bag of spicy chips, a handful of gummy bears arranged in a smiley face, a can of soda, and what appeared to be a sandwich… if sandwiches were made with two slices of bread and nothing in between.

“Ta-da!” he announced proudly, throwing his hands in the air like he’d just scored the winning goal in a championship game. “A gourmet breakfast, handcrafted with love by yours truly. Go ahead, dig in!”

You gave him a deadpan look. “Ryu… this is not breakfast. This is.. Chaos on a plate.”

“Chaos?” he gasped, clutching his chest like you’d mortally wounded him. “You wound me, babe. This is art. Picasso would weep at the beauty of this spread.!”

You raised an eyebrow, suppressing a laugh. “Picasso didn’t make food.”

“Exactly!” he retorted as if what he was trying to say was plain obvious, leaning in close with that signature manic sparkle in his eyes. “That’s what makes this better. Now, taste it before I cry.”

Knowing there was no winning against him, you sighed and picked up a gummy bear, popping it into your mouth. “Happy now?”

His grin widened as he plucked a chip from the bag and held it to your lips. “Not until you’ve tried everything. Open up, babe.”

You rolled your eyes but obliged, crunching down on the chip. It was absurdly spicy, the heat immediately hitting your tongue. You coughed, reaching for the soda, but Shidou snatched it away with a devilish laugh.

“Ah-ah, no drinks until you finish the sandwich,” he teased, holding the can just out of reach.

“Shidou Ryusei,” you said, your voice a warning.

“What? I’m just trying to make sure you enjoy the full experience,” he replied innocently, his grin anything but.

You shook your head, suppressing a laugh, and reached for the soda again. This time, you managed to snatch it from his grasp, triumphantly cracking it open.

Before you could take a sip, Shidou leaned closer, his face suddenly inches from yours. “Careful,” he whispered, his voice low and teasing. “That soda’s not just any soda. It’s infused with the magic of my love. One sip, and you might fall even harder for me~”

You froze for a moment, caught off guard by the intensity in his gaze, before bursting into laughter. “Shidou, you’re unbelievable.”

“And you’re adorable,” he shot back without missing a beat. “So, who’s really winning here?”

Deciding to play along, you took a dramatic sip of the soda, giving him a mock-thoughtful look. “Hmm. Nope. Tastes like regular soda to me. Guess your magic didn’t work.”

He gasped, clutching at his chest like you’d just delivered a fatal blow. “Babe, how could you? My love isn’t regular! Take it back!”

“Nope.” You smirked, leaning back against the pillows, savoring your tiny victory.

Shidou, of course, couldn’t let that slide. He dove forward, tackling you onto the mattress with a laugh. “Oh, you’re asking for it now!” he declared, tickling your sides until you were squirming and crying with laughter.

“Okay, okay!” you wheezed between giggles. “Your love isn’t regular! It’s… it’s premium or whatever! Stop- you'll spill the food hah!”

“Damn right it is.” He stopped his assault, grinning triumphantly as he flopped down beside you and picked up the tray, only to set it aside on the nightstand. He turned back to you and pulled you close, his arm slung around your shoulders as he pressed a kiss to your temple.

For a few moments, everything stilled. You rested your head against his chest, the sound of his heartbeat steady and comforting. He glanced down at you, his earlier playfulness softening into something gentler.

“Y’know,” he murmured, brushing a stray hair from your face, “you’re kind of my favourite person. Thanks for putting up with my crap.”

You looked up at him, your heart-warming at the sincerity in his voice. “You’re lucky you’re cute, Ryusei,” you teased, poking his cheek.

He laughed, the sound loud and unrestrained, just like him. “Lucky? Babe, I’m blessed. I’ve got you.”

And as much as you wanted to roll your eyes at his cockiness, you couldn’t help but smile. Shidou Ryusei might be a lot of things—Erratic, devious, and downright ridiculous—but moments like this reminded you why you wouldn’t have him any other way.

[hailtothepumpkinqueen]

(This is probably the longest thing I've ever written, around 4.5k words, but it wouldn't leave my head til I made it real lol

From Shane's perspective. No one had seen the farmer all day, and he's the only one who goes to check on her. Lot of talking over drinks ensues.)

Everybody Talks

Gossip was nothing new for Shane. In a small community like Pelican Town, gossip was the lifeblood and social currency that kept it running. No "secret" was ever truly secret, everyone knew everyone else's dirty laundry. It was the number one pastime and practically a professional sport here. He himself knew far more than he ever cared to learn from his spot in the Saloon(and been the topic of discussion more times than he could count), but he at least had the good sense to drink his beer and keep his mouth shut.

And, on a Friday night like tonight, the not at all subtle gossip sessions were in full swing. Seemingly everyone clucking like excited hens about one topic in particular: the farmer.

Now, she wasn't a new topic of conversation either. The whole damn Valley was a-buzz about her before she even stepped off the bus, hungry for fresh meat. Hungry for new secrets to uncover and info to share. Speculating and predicting what kind of person she'd be purely based on their own biases. Not that he had been much better. Constantly hearing about her had soured his opinion before he even knew her name. Like hearing a harmless song on the radio so many times you'd grown to hate it. But, again, he at least kept his opinions to himself. Mostly. Not his fault his face gave away what he was thinking.

The specific reason why everyone was talking about her, however, pricked his ears up.

No one had seen her at all today. She hadn't come to Pierre's shop, she hadn't picked up one of her tools from Clint, and she was clearly absent from the Saloon on a Friday. No one could recall speaking to her and the requests on the bulletin board had gone ignored. It was as if she had just vanished into thin air.

But, in all the theories he heard bouncing around, he never once heard someone admit to going to her house to check on her. Fucking typical. Feign concern and then expect someone else to actually do something about it. Yoba forbid she was hurt or something..

The thought made his stomach churn and his chest tighten suddenly. Normally, someone dropping off the face of the earth wouldn't bother him. Maybe she just wanted to be left alone for once, that was her business. But, after their talk on the dock, knowing she was struggling, he couldn't help the nagging worry chewing on his insides.

Ah, fuck it. He wasn't gonna be able to enjoy his drink with his stomach in knots like this. Might as well be the one to at least make sure she was alive. Just get eyes on her and then back to the Saloon for a well deserved cold one. Easy peasy.

He found himself walking very quickly towards the farmhouse, shivering at more than just the chill of a particularly cold Fall wind as his brain swirled with worst case scenarios. Images conjured up by a mind that consumed horror movies on a regular basis and knowing the kind of damage farm equipment could cause. A new grisly mental picture cropping up every time he shook the previous one away. Blood and guts and exposed bone and lifeless eyes and--

The sharp sound of a dog barking ripped him from his gorey thoughts, making him freeze in place. The big ass german shepard he forgot she had was staring at him suspiciously, barking again as if to say "state your business!"

"Heeey, boy. Easy. I'm just here to check on your...master? Nope, that sounds gross. Owner? Uh, person?" He held a hand out for the dog to sniff, speaking softly and calmly. Hoping if he appeared chill he'd get to keep his appendage intact.

The dog, seemingly satisfied with that, licked his hand and looked back towards the wooded area of the property. Where Shane could hear, right on cue, the sound of approaching footsteps and see the light of a lamp growing brighter as it got closer.

Out of the treeline stepped the farmer, her dark hair pulled up in a bun for the first time he could remember seeing. It made her look taller somehow, maybe because her neck looked longer this way. Like a swan. She had an axe slung over her shoulder and presumably firewood under the other arm, the light he thought was from a lamp emanating from a ring on her pointer finger.

"Miller?" He called, more out of shock than anything. Inwardly relieved that she was okay and feeling dumb for worrying so much.

Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw him before her face settled into an uncharacteristic scowl, setting the axe down with a muffled thump as it hit the dirt.

"Cooper." She replied coolly, breezing past him towards the house. Putting the firewood in its cubby and pointedly not looking at him. "Did Marnie send you? She'll get her vegetables first thing tomorrow, tell her to just be patient."

"Wh...no? My aunt didn't send me, I'm not her errand boy." He huffed, offput by the assumption and her weirdly icy demeanor. Yeesh, was this what it was like to be on the receiving end of his prickly attitude?

"Little late to be checking on the chickens, then. They're asleep by now. But the coop's over there if you wanna wake them up and say 'hi'." Nodding her head towards said coop and still not looking at him, throwing off her work gloves on the porch.

"I'm not here for that either. I--hey!" He reached out to grab her wrist as she moved to walk past him again. "Would you just stop a second? I came to see you, okay?"

She tensed up but didn't try to pull away from him. And, now that he was close, he could see her eyes were puffy and red, and her lip was quivering. She'd been crying again...

"You came all the way out here just to see me? Yeah, right." She gave a bitter sounding laugh and shook her head in disbelief, her voice cracking.

"It's true!" He insisted, leaning to try and look her in the eye. "The whole town's in a tizzy because no one had heard from you today. And I was..."

"Were you worried about me, Cooper?" She arched an eyebrow brow at him, the barest hint of an amused smirk turning up a corner of her mouth.

"I mean...a little? Maybe. If you wanna call it that." He felt his cheeks burn in embarrassment, releasing her wrist and stepping away. Shoving his hands in his jacket pockets. "Just wanted to make sure you weren't stuck in a well or somethin'."

She blew air out of her nose, and the smile became a little more pronounced, some of the tension visibly leaving her shoulders.

"Nothing so dramatic, I'm afraid. Just...ugh. It's so stupid..." She frowned again and looked away from him, putting her hands on her hips.

"Try me. I bet I've heard stupider."

She sighed heavily, sitting on the top step of the porch and digging a crumpled piece of paper out of her pocket. Holding it out to him to take. Which he did, carefully, smoothing it out to make sense of the scribbles he could see written on it.

It was a letter from her dad. Short and sweet, hardly anything worth getting upset over from what he could tell. Though a line about the dad retiring to the Fern Islands using her hard earned money admittedly rubbed him the wrong way.

"Uh...?" He didn't know what to say, handing the paper back to her with a quizzical expression. She sighed again.

"I have been begging him to come see the farm, to come see me, for weeks. But Kaiden has peewee gridball practice or JJ has a band recital or Debbie needed another couples' getaway, so it's always 'next time, next time, next time.' Good to know he's sooo impressed with my progress and expects me to pay for his retirement, though, I guess. Thanks a fucking lot, dad."

She crumpled the letter up again and chucked it into the dark with an angry grunt, letting out a laugh when the dog ran after it and gleefully ripped it to shreds.

"You call your mom by her first name?" He cringed as soon as the question left his mouth. Really, Shane? She's upset and that's what you focus on? Fuck's sake.

"What?" She gave him a bewildered look. "No. No, Debbie's my stepmom. Her and dad's kids are my half-brothers."

"Oh."

"Yeah."

"...I'm still waiting to hear the stupid part." He said gently, daring to sit on the step next to her and putting them in close proximity again. And again she didn't flinch away from him, just scoot over a little to give him room.

"It's stupid to get my feelings hurt over a pattern of behavior I'm well aware of. I thought that, maybe, he'd be more interested in this place since Grandpa Miller was his dad and all. But nah. His new family is still the center of his universe and I'm only a blip on the radar when it's convenient." She shrugged like it didn't bother her, but he could see the way her jaw clenched and hear the way her voice wobbled. This was some deep rooted hurt. "Sorry. This is why I was a hermit today. No one wants to hear me whinge like an angsty teen because 'daddy doesn't love me'."

"You kidding? The old biddies back in town would kill to hear this kind of juicy family drama." He teased, pleased with himself when she laughed. Once again using humor to deal with the tough shit.

"Guess you'll have a good story to tell them then. Congrats." She grinned back at him, rolling her eyes good naturedly.

"Oh, yeah. You know me, biggest blabbermouth in Pelican Town. All your secrets traded away for the low, low price of cheap beer and spicy bar pretzels~."

She laughed again, throwing her head back and leaning against him for support. For some reason, the little gesture made his chest feel tight again, but in a good way? Weird.

"Well, I don't have spicy pretzels, but can I pay you in beer not to go blabbing my dumb family bullshit to everyone?" She waggled her eyebrows at him and smirked, whispering like they were making some kind of shady deal. He couldn't help but laugh at the silliness of it all.

"You drive a hard bargain, but I think I can agree to those terms." He held out his hand for her to shake, mirroring her smirk. She took his hand without hesitation and giggled, giving it a firm shake before using him as leverage to push herself to standing. Quickly disappearing into the farmhouse and leaving him alone with his thoughts.

He should leave. He had only wanted to make sure she was okay and head back. She was okay, physically anyway, just wanted to be left alone. He should leave. But she was offering him free beer...and honestly he preferred her company over everyone probably still gossiping about her in the Saloon. But did she want him to stay? Why would she? Half of the damn town was in love with her, all of them so much better than him, surely she'd prefer to be with anyone else than a miserable asshole. He should leave..

An amber colored glass bottle suddenly entering his line of sight startled him back to reality, blinking and looking up to where it had come from. She had returned without him realizing, holding out what he assumed was the beer she had promised while leaning over him. She'd let her hair down again, dark locks flowing over her shoulder in a curtain. The porch light illuminating her from behind like a halo, and she was smiling. At him. Seemingly content with their close proximity to each other. It honestly made his breath catch in his throat, and again he didn't understand why his body was acting this way.

"You good there, bud?" She chuckled, surely realizing he was gawking at her at the same moment he did. Mouth opening and closing wordlessly like a dying fish as he took the bottle from her.

"Uh. Yeah. Just spaced out a minute. Sorry." He cleared his throat awkwardly, grateful that the beer was already open so he could take a swig to distract himself. Surprised when it tasted much better than the cheap swill JojaMart was selling, and even more surprised when he went to check the label, only to see there wasn't one. "Where did you get this? I don't recognize the, uh, lack of brand."

"Oh. Um, I made it." She said shyly, sitting next to him on the step and looking into her own bottle. "Sorry, I brewed it. I think that's the right term."

He blinked. "What?"

"I brewed it." She repeated, her voice even quieter. "Turns out Grandpa Miller had a little brewery in the cellar, including actually really detailed instructions on how to, y'know, brew stuff. Beer, ale, wine, mead, et cetera. So, I figured I'd give it a shot. And when...if my dad came to visit, we could celebrate the farm's success with a few beers made from wheat from the farm. But, you already know how that story ends.."

He could feel himself doing a dying fish impression again, trying to process what she had told him. This woman went out of her way to learn how to brew her own beer for her dad, who has clearly never made his daughter a priority a day in her life. Beer that he was now drinking because she was gracious enough to share. Gracious enough to tell him all this to begin with.

"Miller, you're incredible." The words fell out of his mouth before he could stop them, soft and earnest.

She spluttered and giggled at the sudden praise, seemingly torn between hiding behind her hair and tucking it behind her ear, pale face very noticeably turning red. It was cute, she was cute. How had he not noticed that before?

"Shut up. You're just saying that 'cause I'm bribing you with beer." She pushed at him playfully, still frazzled by his compliment. He made a mock offended gasp and pushed her back, hiding a grin behind taking another swig of beer.

"I'm serious." He assured her. "And if your dad doesn't realize that, he's a brain dead moron."

Her expression softened at that, eyes suddenly shiny with what looked like unshed tears. A watery little laugh escaping her before she took a drink of her own beer.

"I...thank you, Shane." She said quietly, wiping at her eyes with the heel of her hand. "And thank you for checking on me. Sorry I was so snippy with you before."

He scoffed and gave her a mildly bemused look. "Really? After all the times I've been a dick to you? 'Bout time you threw some it back at me honestly."

"I know, I know. I just...I'm not used to people remembering I exist unless they want something from me, I guess. No one ever just wants me, no one cares about just me. So, when I saw you I made an assumption, and I was wrong. So, I'm sorry." Her posture sunk and she curled into herself a little, fingernails tapping against the glass bottle.

Well, fuck. No wonder she always seemed so eager to help out everyone in town, including him. She didn't think she existed unless she was being useful. The idea of that broke his heart, which he didn't think was still possible.

"How many beers do I owe you not to tell anyone that?" She piped up again before he could respond, looking to him with a weak little smile. Obviously taking a page from his playbook and joking to lighten the mood. He chuckled softly, pretending to mull over a decision while tapping his chin.

"How many you got?" He eventually grinned, holding up his almost empty bottle.

They ended up drinking through her entire stash, sitting on the porch and talking for what must have been hours about...well, about a lot of things. She told him more about her dad, who never really tried to bond with her because she was a girl, and he couldn't figure out how to "relate" to a daughter. About her controlling mother, who cut contact with her when she quit her secure job to move to the uncertainty of Pelican Town. Clearly waiting for her to fail and come crawling back to the mom's "good graces". He, in turn, told her he hasn't spoken to either of his parents since he moved out almost two decades ago and was all the better for it. Not that he had much of a relationship with either of them to begin with. Toasting to the hope they didn't turn out like their parents.

She told him that before she was a data entry clerk for Joja, she was on track to becoming a professional ballerina. Until her achilles tendon snapped in the middle of a recital, effectively killing her mother's dream to live vicariously through her. So he told her of his varsity gridball days, how his dream of going pro was crushed when he tore his ACL during practice. She showed him the scar running up her heel, he showed her the scar running down his knee, and they laughed at an alternate universe where they'd be retiring from their lucrative professions by now. Toasting to knowing when it was going to rain before the weatherman because of joint pain.

They talked about music, about movies, about tattoos, about their animals, about anything they could think of until eventually petering out into a comfortable silence. One she broke after a long moment with a soft laugh.

"What?" He glanced at her curiously.

"Nothing. It's just...you're really easy to talk to when you're not being a complete asshole." She grinned, tongue poking out between her teeth to show she was teasing. He laughed, shoving at her playfully and pulling her back when he almost pushed her off the step by mistake.

"Well, you're really easy to talk to when you're not being the town kiss ass." He countered with an equally playful smirk, earning a laugh from her in return.

"Okay, fair. I deserve that."

She was still giggling as she polished off her drink, swaying a little where she sat and clearly intoxicated at this point, much to his amusement. Before she suddenly leaned into his space, close enough he could feel her warm breath fan across his skin. His own breath seeming to get caught somewhere in his sternum, body frozen in place.

"Did you know...when you smile, it's like your eyes light up and I can see how green they are. I never noticed before, but it's real obvious when we're close like this. S'pretty shade of green, too.." She relayed this to him in a hushed tone, almost in awe of this "revelation". He felt his stomach do a somersault and a blush creep across his face and neck like a wildfire. He and the word "pretty" had never been used in the same sentence, especially not from the mouth of someone like her. He didn't know how to deal with it.

"Oh Yoba, you are drunk. I think it's time to cut you off for the night." He huffed out an awkward laugh, scrambling to his feet and almost tripping over himself in the process. Brain screaming at him to run away again. Coward. Feeling like an absolute jerk when her expression fell into a panicked one.

"Oh. Oh shit, I'm sorry. That was weird, huh? I'm so sorry, I just said that without thinking. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. Fuck. I'm sorry." The words tumbling out so fast they almost blurred together, desperate to apologize for the perceived slight.

"Hey, hey. Relax. It's not you, alright? Me and compliments just don't mix. S'not your fault, okay? Promise." Using the same gentle tone he would when Jas needed comfort after a bad dream, one meant to soothe fears.

Thankfully, she did relax a little, the worried crease in her brow smoothing out. Looking between him and the house a moment before sighing.

"We probably should call it a night, though.." she frowned, almost sounding disappointed. But that was almost certainly just wishful thinking on his part. "It's getting late, I didn't mean to keep you so long. I know Fridays at the Stardrop are a town tradition, and I'm sure Emily's wondering where you went."

"Aaah, she's so busy tending to everyone else, she probably didn't notice I slipped out. Besides..." He rubbed the back of his neck and kicked at a pebble in the dirt, feeling a bit bashful all the sudden. "I had a good time talking and drinking with you."

Her face lit up at that, practically beaming at him before looking away again. Actually twirling her hair around her finger like girls do in the movies, but it was endearing when she did it somehow. "Yeah? Me, too. This was nice. Definitely made a shitty day a lot better."

That shouldn't have made him as happy as it did, but he couldn't deny the warmth spreading through his chest at the idea that he had made her day better just by being there. Her happiness was infectious, he supposed. No other reason for it.

The good feeling was quickly snuffed by the realization of how far he was going to have to walk to get home. All the way back into town, down past the Saloon, past Emily's house, past Sam's house down the path that finally lead to Aunt Marnie's house. Buh.

"You know you can just cut through my farm, right? It's much faster." She piped up again, startling him. Was she a mind reader?? Or was he talking out loud without realizing?

"Oh. Uh. You sure? If my aunt sees me, she'll know I was here and probably tell her whole aerobics class." Already cringing at what stories could be spun up by a bunch of women with nothing better to do than speculate on someone's (nonexistent) love life. She deserved better than to have her reputation hitched to someone like him.

"Eh, let 'em talk. They're gonna do it anyway." She shooed the idea away dismissively, getting to her feet with a groan and meeting him where he stood. "Here. Gimme your hand."

He complied, confused, watching her take off the glowing ring she was wearing and easily slip it onto his middle finger. Feeling heat prickle up the back of his neck as she continued to hold his hand and meet his eyes with a little smile.

"It's pretty dark that way. Wouldn't want you getting hurt tripping over something. Or have you fall in a well." Her tone light and teasing, using something he had said earlier back at him. Seemingly unaware of the affect she was having on him as she absentmindedly stroked the back of his hand with her thumb. He swallowed thickly, mouth suddenly dry, carefully (reluctantly) removing his hand from hers to focus on the ring giving off an absurd amount of light for being so small.

"Don't you...don't you need this, though?" He asked hoarsely, scarcely able to hear himself over his heart doing acrobatics in his chest.

"Well, I'm going to see you tomorrow, aren't I?" She arched an eyebrow at him, an amused smirk gracing her lips.

"Are you?" Had they made plans and he'd already forgotten? Focus! Stop staring at her mouth!

"Unless you suddenly don't live with Marnie anymore. I already told you I owe her some vegetables, and I was gonna drop them off first thing in the morning. Figured I'd get the ring back from you then."

Ah. Of course. She was being "helpful", and he just happened to live where she already had plans of going. It wasn't like she was going out of her way just to see him. That would be ridiculous.

"Right. Yeah, for sure. Guess I'll see you later then." He mumbled, flexing his fingers as if to shake off the lingering feeling of her hand on his. It didn't help.

"Or I can just walk you home?" She offered, tilting her head at him. "Save you the trouble of worrying about if I need the ring or not."

"And have you walk your drunk ass all the way back by yourself? Nuh uh. Don't worry about it. You gotta come by the house anyway, I'll see you tomorrow."

He gave a little nod and turned to leave, only to be stopped by her grabbing the elbow of his jacket sleeve. Swiveling around to glance over his shoulder and give her a quizzical look. She was chewing on her lower lip, eyes downcast but still holding onto his sleeve. And maybe it was just a trick of the light, but he could swear her face was flushed again.

"I wanted to...I wanted to thank you again for tonight." She said softly, the barest hint of a wobble in her voice. Releasing his jacket to tuck her hair behind her ear again. "I really did have a good time. And, um, and couldn't let you leave without saying 'good night'. So, good night, Shane."

"Good night, Katherine." He breathed out a quiet laugh, warmth spreading through his chest again. Putting his hands in his pockets (which didn't muffle the ring's light at all somehow) and beginning the much shorter trek home for real this time, smiling to himself as he walked past a patch of fairy roses growing. He'd have to tell Jas about that, and about the fact "Miss Kat" used to be a ballerina when she was Jas's age.

He could feel himself walking briskly, finding he suddenly didn't care if Aunt Marnie caught him walking from the direction of the old farmhouse. So what if she told people? Would it be the worst thing in the world if people assumed something happened? Not really. And, if he thought about it, he almost wanted to get caught. Wanted people to know everyone's favorite farmer spent time with him. Alone.

Huh.

That...that was an interesting feeling. One he did not have the mental bandwidth to deal with tonight. That was a problem for tomorrow Shane. Or next week Shane.

Or never. Never was preferable. He was too old to be feeling...whatever the hell this was. And it didn't matter anyway. They had just talked, that was all it was.

That was all it'd ever be.

[doomtrooper77]

The door down the hall was also made of heavy steel and was built almost like a bank vault. It was cracked open, and I could see the glow of fluorescent light coming through the crack. Although the door was heavy, it opened smoothly. I walked into another vaulting warehouse space. This one was full of rows upon rows upon rows of weapons. It was like walking into a Costco, but just for guns and weapons of every sort. Racks going all the way up to the ceiling of crates made of wood, some of molded plastic, and others of metal lined each level of racking around me.

The racking was configured so that a path led into the back of the warehouse. I followed it. When I reached the end of the path, there was an area of worktables, machinery, and tools. Sitting beside the table was a massive man with a buzz-cut and thick beard. His arms were covered in tattoos, and he was the size of a fucking Mac truck. The other guys he had met were huge, but this man was massive. His eyes looked at me from under heavy brows. Bright like steel, they looked right through me.  In his hand was a machine gun of some type I had never seen before. Well, that told me I was in the right place. It wasn’t pointed at me, but something told me it could be in a microsecond if I said or did the wrong thing.

I walked over to him and said, “I guess you are the guy I am looking for, Mr.” He said nothing and kept looking at me. “Okay, I was told that you were the guy who could provide me with some specialty equipment that I need,” I continued. He still didn’t say anything and just kept looking at me. I was getting nervous now. My hand twitched to move toward the button, but I pushed that feeling down. I needed more evidence.  I needed to get him to talk. We both stood there in silence for another 30 seconds, and I said, “Listen, if you guys don’t want to do business, show me the door, and I can get out of here. If you are turning away money, then that’s cool with me. I will find someone else who can give me what I need. I just heard you were the man to talk to for things like this. Professional with quality goods.”

Again, silence until he said, “Who sent you, and what are you looking for?”  I gave him the name of the informant gave us and just enough background on the guy to make it seem legitimate. I hoped. He nodded slowly and said, “What are you looking for?”  Ice broken, I ran off a list of things we “needed”.  There were some esoteric things on the list that we hoped he had because it would put him and the rest of them in prison for the rest of their lives.  Again, he nodded and said, “I’ve got that. But ah, what do you need all that for?” 

Okay, this is not an unusual question, but “Listen, Mr.?? Like you, we have our own need for discretion. I’m told that all the gear you sell is untraceable, which is part of why you get paid extra. It’s why I am here, your rep is that you can desperately supply damn near anything a man can need from a weapons standpoint.” I said. He nodded sagely again. It was when I heard footsteps coming down one of the isles of the racking.

A middle-aged man came into view with a tablet in his hands. He was beefy but not like these guys. He stood around 6’1" and had a belly, but his shoulders were broad, and his arms were thick and hard. He looked like your office type of guy who worked out—a guy who wrestled in high school but got a bit soft around the middle. He looked at me as he walked over to the “Boss,” leaned over, and whispered in his ear.  I couldn’t hear what he was saying, but I could see the Bosses eyes. Those hard eyes did two things: they went ice cold, and an evil glint twinkled in them. His bearded mouth smirked. The guy with the tablet reached into his back pocket and pulled out a clear bag wrapped around a mesh of wire. Oh shit. I could see my phone in the bag, a Faraday bag. My hand went to the 4th button on my shirt and started tapping It discretely.

“How long do you think it will take them to get here?” the Boss asked. He looked at me with a smile that did not reach his eyes. My finger was pressing against the button now, not trying to hide it. “What are you talking about? “I said, trying to keep my voice even. He stood up then, and I could see he was about 6’6” and seemed to be damn near that wide. I took an involuntary step back and bumped into something, make that someone. I started to turn when two massive pairs of hands grabbed my arms and held me in place—the two guards from out front were behind me and holding me in their vice-like grip. The Boss's smile became a grin as he walked toward me.

I sputtered and said a bunch of things that did nothing in the long run. When he stood in front of me, it was like being in the shadow of a giant monolith. Everything seemed small around him—insignificant.  He simply said, “Shhhhhh!” to me, and I quieted.

Turning to the guy with the tablet, he said, “Which one is it?” The tablet tech guy stepped in front, looked me up and down, and stopped at the buttons on the shirt. From somewhere, the tech guy pulled out a big folding knife and snapped it open. I jumped and tried to pull back. The hands holding me tightened painfully on my arms, shoulder, and neck, lifting me to my toes. The beefy tech expertly moves the knife to slide under the 3rd and 4th buttons on my shirt, slicing them off into his hand. Looking at them closely, he turned to the Boss and said, “Camera and emergency transmitter. They look like something Mossad made last year. It's pretty good tech. Not as good as ours, but pretty damn good. We’ve been blocking the signals since he got in the van. The camera is running on local storage since he came into the bar.  As far as they can tell, he disappeared when he left the bar. I’ve been retransmitting a false signal west of the city; they should be trailing him out past Naperville and Westmont about now. “

The massive man smiled genuinely and clapped the tech on his shoulder. “Good job as per usual Al. Lead the signal out toward the compound in western Iowa. You know, those wingnut survivalists the FBI is always looking at. Make it end there for now.”  The tech guy started to walk away, and the Boss said, “Wait, keep this with those.” He lifted the Faraday bag my phone was in, and I watched his gloved hand crumple the metal like it was a beer can. He crushed it once, then casually twisting it in his hand, crushed it again until it resembled a ragged ball of steel and glass.  He handed the bag and demolished phone to Al the tech.

Turning back to me, he leaned over and said, “Listen, I don’t have time to listen to your lies and denials. Then threats. Not only does nobody know you’re here, but they don’t even know who took you. Al will lead them on a nice little electronic goose chase through western Iowa, where they will raid that right-wing survivalist fuckers. When they don’t find you there, your handlers will be at a dead in.”

His big, gloved hand engulfed my chin, and he moved closer, “Right now, my boys here are going to have some fun. They like to pay with their food. Eventually you’ll tell them what I need to know.”  He said. The massive men holding him grunted in agreement. He pulled back with a dangerous smirk, and his big gloved hand patted my face roughly as he turned and walked back over to the bench.

The guy holding me shifted and the one on my left quickly slid his arms under mine and put me in a full nelson. The other guy walked around in front of me and, after rolling his shoulders, slammed his fist into my gut. Then again and again. The guy holding me pulled me up, and I could see the Boss back at his worktable and the Tech guy looking at me. His eyes were watching with lust and need as those guys were working me over. The Boss absently looked up and said, “Fellas, take your fun elsewhere. I’ve got work to do. They replied, “Sure thing, Boss.”  They started dragging me away when the Boss said, “Boys, it’s been a while, so, take your time and enjoy yourselves. Also, take Al with you; you know he likes to watch.”  All three of them said, “Thanks, Boss,” in unison as they dragged me away.

[reddblight]

So I started a fun lil thing, idk what i’m gonna do with this atm, but i like it. Some spoilers for Harumasa’s story quest btw, if u haven’t played it yet you’ce been warned. Thinking of calling this Cat & the Canary if i do continue it.

Seth needs an apartment.

He’s been on the force for over half a year now and mostly he’s hopped back and forth from the precinct to his parents place. Which is fine for him! He doesn’t mind it. He’s never been a guy who really needed much personal space, honestly he doesn’t really know what he’d do with most of it given the opportunity. But as he’s once again pulled aside by Zhu Yuan he’s reminded.

“Officer Seth, how are you settling in?” They’re standing in a mostly empty hall, two officers on the far end having a friendly conversation about their weekends.

“Same as last week Captain,” Seth briefly notices that her posture is a little stiff and her smile seems a little worried. “Can’t really complain. You and all the other officers have been taking care of me well! Why do you ask?”

The captain sighs, deflating slightly, “Seth, I know I’ve said it before, but you really should get your own apartment. Qingyi has noted that you sleep here between 3-4 nights a week on average. I’m just worried is all.”

Zhu Yuan and Qingyi have been suggesting this to him for about a month now, albeit more subtly on Qingyi’s part. Seth was beginning to think they make a decent point. He doesn’t mind the barracks, and the lack of a commute is certainly nice, but he doesn’t really have a place to put things, or take his friends to hang out. He just doesn’t know how he’d manage his own apartment… it’s intimidating.

Zhu Yuan’s hand found its way, now resting on Seth’s shoulder as she met his eyes directly. “Promise me you’ll think about it at least?”

“Promise, I will.” He gave her a lopsided smile in return.

Which is why he now found himself sitting on his bed in the barracks. Thinking about it. It’s certainly not like he couldn’t afford a place if he really wanted to, his parents give him plenty in his weekly allowance that he keeps saved up. He just doesn’t wanna live off his parents’ money for the rest of his life. He’s got a decent amount saved up from his salary, so he could probably afford a smaller place for a while.

He pulls out his phone and readjusts his pillow to get marginally more comfortable on his maybe 4 inch mattress. He starts scrolling through some apartment listings. What neighborhoods should he look at though… It’d be nice to live near some friends, have someone to hang out with nearby. He opens a new interknot tab and looks at Zhu Yuan’s neighborhood and wOAH! That’s certainly a bit expensive for what he can afford right now, damn cap, good for you. Hm… who else. Qingyi lives in the precinct because she’s technically government property. Oh, Jane! Wait… where does Jane live? Huh.

Well that’s fine! He’s got other friends outside of work. Like… uh… Oh! Like the managers! Sixth street is pretty nice, and Wise & Belle are always inviting him to eat at General Chop’s, so at least he’d be closer to that. He’s pretty sure he remembers seeing an apartment complex across the street from Random Play. Seth rushes to open a tab and see if there are any open rentals in the building. Luckily there are a couple! Unluckily they’re all 2 bedrooms. Uff, he doesn’t need a 2 bedroom, he barely knows what he’d do with all the space in a 1 bedroom. It’d be so much easier if someone else could decorate the space and help him with all these application processes he knows literally nothing about.

Wait a minute. Seth, you’re a genius! A roommate! ‘Great thinking Seth.’ ‘Thank you Seth, I appreciate that.’

Maybe he does need to get out more…

Hmmmmmmm, a roommate. Does he know anyone who’s looking for an apartment? It’d certainly be easier if he did. Finding someone new to move in with him sounds kinda exhausting. Think Seth, think!

Seth gets up and walks over to the bathrooms to start brushing his teeth as he thinks. He’s so sure he heard someone he knows is looking for a place. He doesn’t think he imagined it.

Ooh! He does know someone looking for an apartment! Or at least he’s pretty sure he does. Didn’t the Captain bring up that Asaba Harumasa was looking for an apartment too? He’s like 83% sure she was talking with Executive Officer Hoshimi about it the other day. He’ll have to ask her tomorrow to make sure.

He excitedly skips back to his bed, earning a few odd looks from other officers trying to sleep in the barracks.

Seth and Harumasa haven’t always seen eye to eye in everything. Harumasa seemed to assume a lot of things about Seth and tended to steer clear of him most of the time while they were at the academy, but when they did talk he was snarky, a little but of an ass, and a lot of what he said tended to go over Seth’s head. But then, just last month they’d had that weird conversation at Port Elpis. Seth had thought they were arguing, Harumasa had said that awful thing about people with Ether Aptitude Regression Syndrome, but then when Seth had yelled at him about it he’d seemed to soften. He’d said “Seth Lowell, you’re an honest man. You’re going to make an excellent public security officer.”

Seth found his tail raising slightly at the memory. It had been such an odd interaction, another strange conversation with Harumasa that seemingly went over his head. His colleague had thought Harumasa was making fun of him, but Seth disagreed. He sounded so… genuine, so sure.

Ahem anyway.

So maybe it wouldn’t be so awful if he asked Harumasa to be his roommate. Worst case scenario if they didn’t get along he knew they could at least be civil, not like they’d really see each other all the time either with the odd hours their jobs could have. Really just weekends, and they would potentially have separate rooms.

Yeah, it was all coming together now. Seth got under the thin sheets of his cot and smiled to himself, committing to ask Zhu Yuan if he was remembering correctly when he sees her in the morning. Though he didn’t have many blankets, Seth felt pleasantly warm as he fell asleep, the memory of Harumasa’s words on his mind.

•••••

Asaba Harumasa is having a fucking rough couple of months.

Sitting at his desk, he thinks over how insanely busy Section 6 has been. First they start going traipsing through Hollow Zero because the Chief wants to obliterate all evil. A noble goal, but it’s hard to slack off while ethereals are actively trying to kill you. Technically this isn’t really the bad part, just his regular job, but still. Then they’re suddenly famous for some reason and he’s got people all over him trying to get his signature, some even trying to find where he lives (looking at you t-shirt guy)! Then of course they were trapped in the VR system at the HIA with a hacker trying to make his ass braindead for real. And as if all that wasn’t enough they got dragged into a fucking conspiracy with a proxy and had to kill the acting-commander of the Janus Quarter because he was committing treason and then corrupted himself into an ethereal. Not to mention last month Asaba had, with the help of the formerly mentioned proxy, gone on a suicide mission to stop his former master’s assistant from harvesting children’s spinal fluid for drugs, then nearly died in a hollow after killing his ether corrupted master. So yeah, bad couple of months.

The cherry on top of it all was that he was being evicted at the end of the month. Some PTA mom had reported him to the land lord. She must’ve either saw his scars at some point or seen him taking his meds or pain killers and assumed he was a junkie. Technically could he fight it? Yeah, but that was so much work for an apartment he barely liked. So fuck it, he’ll get a new one with less nosey neighbors.

Would getting a new apartment be hard? Probably. It certainly wouldn’t be easy now that he was donating a hefty chunk of his paycheck to the EARS kids that Kirishima was experimenting on, but it was worth it. He’d get a roommate. Two birds with one stone on that one, since Yanagi had been bugging him about it. She was concerned about him since the rest of Section 6 had found out about his condition. He gets it, he’s gotten himself a reputation for being a slacker and pretty unserious at work, add that to his recent close call and he doesn’t really blame Yanagi for getting worried. She was specifically worried that he was forgetting to take his meds some days, which was of course ridiculous, he was like 76% sure that he wasn’t. That’s a pretty high percentage! Anyway, because of that concern she wanted him to get a roommate to make sure he remembered his meds. It was a little annoying that she was inserting herself into his care, but he was trying to be understanding for the aforementioned reasons.

Even if the Deputy Chief’s concerns were annoying, Harumasa had to admit that given his current circumstances a roommate wasn’t an awful idea. He wasn’t gonna turn them into his personal nurse or anything, probably wouldn’t even tell them about his condition. Though a nurse had been another suggestion of Yanagi’s. Like he could afford that shit on a government salary. Ha!

Even though getting a roommate was his only option right now, he wasn’t thrilled about it… He didn’t need some stranger getting all in his business. He also didn’t really wanna risk bothering anyone with his night terrors, or worry about them seeing his scars. It’d be a bit of a hassle. Harumasa lays his head down in his arms onto the paperwork he’s supposed to be filing. He doesn’t wanna be perceived as frail or weak or sickly. What he really needs is someone unobservant enough or polite enough not to pry into his life.

The regular sounds of hustle and bustle in the office are briefly interrupted by his phone’s ringer, alerting him to a notification. Harumasa musters all his energy to look up at his phone screen. A text from Seth Lowell? What does he want?

Harumasa will admit he wasn’t a huge fan of the Lowell family in general. Was that fair? Maybe not, but Seth’s older brother left a bad taste in Asaba’s mouth. When he had started at the academy the elder Lowell brother had been in his final year, and he had a bit of a reputation for riding on the coattails of his family name, aiming for a cushy job. He didn’t work particularly hard or care particularly much and it just rubbed Harumasa the wrong way, so the next year when Seth came to the academy he steered clear. Now Seth was a pub sec rookie and his brother was a big wig behind desk who hadn’t worked a day in the field to earn it. It confused and frustrated him. He didn’t talk to Seth much but had assumed he’d be like a mini-me of his brother. He was proven wrong though, he was big enough to admit that to himself. When Harumasa had confronted and pushed at Seth at Port Elpis he’d snapped back that just because the EARS kids were sick, they were not worth sacrificing for drug research that may better New Eridu. Nice to know the Lowell’s had produced one good kid. Maybe he’d be worth getting to know.

Anyway, he opened the text to a somewhat surprising sight. “Hey senior Asaba, I heard through the grapevine that you were in the market for a new apartment! I’m also looking for a new living situation and was wondering if you’d wanna possibly be roommates? I’m currently looking at a couple 2 bedroom places on sixth street, right near Wise and Belle’s place.”

Well. That’s wildly convenient. Someone both polite and oblivious enough not to pry into his life? Fuckin ding ding ding. Harumasa started typing his response.

Uff all this thinking is making him tired. He needs a nap. He’s sure the Deputy Chief won’t mind heheh.

Thanks for reading btw guys, hope u like it. Lmk if you guys like it or have any notes, i’m more than happy to chat about this weird lil thing i thought up lol. Also i probably need name suggestions for Seth’s brother bc i think he has no canon name? And Harumasa’s cat.

[illiana-mystery]

Oh look, there I go again...swooning. Just swooning so hard right now.

[b4kuch1n]

I found your Spirou art, sorry for the spam, I have just found out he existed at all and I'm very in love

hey no need to apologize! I don't mind that stuff haha. hope u have a good time on BD tumblr!

[i-only-write-in-purple-ink]

Never tasted a poison as sweet as you have...

Trust Me / The Scorpion and the Frog

[mikomikomadness]

Y’know, the internet can be good at weirding you out, but with the right characters and context, it can also make you cry pretty damn hard

[soleilapproves]

Play fighting with Boxer!Sukuna

Note: Reader is referred to as girlfriend at one point.

Masterlist

“Babe.”

“Not right now.”

“Babe.”

“Sukuna, I promise I’ll be done with this book soon.”

He huffed and fell back onto the couch. He had been trying to get your attention for the past 30 minutes but you were adamant on finishing your book. This is all the fault of that damn community book club your coworker recommended you join. Now whenever, you’re off work and Sukuna doesn’t have to train, you’re reading. Usually the two of you spent almost all your spare time together but now you spent half of it reading your newest book for your weekly discussion. You always did your best to spoil him with kisses and cuddles but it was never enough.

Book club be damned, he needed you to be superglued to his side every single second.

“My girlfriend has a side man and he’s made of paper.” He huffed to himself as he watched you intently read. What was so great about your book anyway? Was it worth ignoring your gorgeous (and shirtless) boyfriend? He even had a tattoo of your name on his left pec and you were still choosing to smother a book with your attention.

Sukuna’s wallowing turned him creative- he stood in front of you, trying to make sure your guard was down. You didn’t look up which meant that you were still engrossed in your book. His hand swooped in and swiftly snatched the book from you. “Sukuna.” you groaned. “Give it back, I was at a good part.” You got up to grab it from him but he raised it above his head. “Kiss me.” You glared at him and gave him a quick peck on his lips. “Done, now give it.”

“No.” He nonchalantly replied. “But I kissed you.” You wondered why he was being particularly irritating today.

“That was me begging for a morsel of your attention. Now cuddle me if you want it.” He said and cheekily smirked.

You ignored him and hopped trying to get your book. Sukuna simply dodged your sad attempts and laughed every time you missed. “I don’t even know why you’re trying.” You gave him a pointed look at his comment.

“Okay, fine, you can have your book if you beat me in a fight.”

“What? That makes no sense.” You couldn’t believe this man. “It seems like a fair challenge to me.” He said as he walked to a particularly high shelf and placed your book on top of it. “You know I can just use my stepping stool for that, right?” You said before scoffing at him.

“Then it’s a good thing I hid it.” His sarcastic smile was now pissing you off. “But you literally fight for a living. You have the upper hand.”

“I’m in love with you. Use that as a distraction. Come on, let’s go to the ring.” You were speechless as he dragged you to the fighting “ring” (also known as your bedroom).

Since you had a smaller frame than him, he agreed to let you have the first hit. You sighed and braced yourself. You didn’t have much of a strategy except for charging at him with such a high speed that he’d fall on the bed and would accept defeat.

But as soon as you were in close distance, he caught both your arms, turned you around and threw you on the bed. He didn’t give you a second to get up before he straddled you. “Haha!” He exclaimed. Seeing you all riled up underneath him was a sight he was used to but it never failed to awe him.

“Feels familiar, doesn’t it?” He asked as he began to lower himself to face you. “This is so unfair! You’re like 200 pounds, I can’t even move you.” You said as you tried to push him off. Sukuna grabbed your hands that were fighting him and he playfully wrestled them. Who knows what would’ve happened if he used his real strength.

Thank goodness for your quick thinking because you remembered that Sukuna was extremely ticklish so you pulled your hand out of his grasp with all the strength you could muster up and started poking his sides. “Babe!” He yelled before toppling over to his side. It was your turn to straddle him and before you could pin his arms beside his head, he caught yours and pulled you down to him. He wrapped his muscular arms around you and tucked your head under his chin. Your cheeks were mushed against the very tattoo of your name.

You were literally stuck in one position. The more you tried to move the tighter he’d hold you. “Sukuna, you cheater. Why do I always do this to myself?” You sighed, accepting defeat.

Sukuna kissed your forehead and laid you both on your sides, still not letting you go. “Sweet, sweet victory.” He whispered to himself.

-•-

I need to be (lovingly) smothered by a beefy nerd. Someone like Clark Kent.

[monsterblogging]

"I know JK Rowing is a terrible person but her books are so good-"

You sure about that?

I mean, just for a start, have you taken a good look at her fantasy creatures lately? A whole bunch of them are straight-up based on malicious and dehumanizing stereotypes about actual people.

Remember the werewolves? And being a werewolf was made into a kind of metaphor for having AIDS?

And you know how AIDS was first associated with gay men? And how conservatives back in the day were claiming gay men were preying on children in order to convert them to gayness?

Remember how Fenrir Greyback preyed on children in particular? Yeah, she put that subtext in there. She was an adult in the 90's. She knew damn well what she was doing.

Remember the house elves? Remember how most of them loved to serve and needed to have a home and a master or else they just wouldn't know what to do with themselves?

Did you know that's literally what slavers in the American South said about the Black people they kept enslaved? Go look up the happy slave myth.

Do I even need to get into the goblins and the antisemitic tropes they're based on? No, folkloric goblins were not gold-hoarding bankers waiting for their chance to stab humanity in the back.

"But the characters are so good!"

Are you kidding me?

Most of her characters are pretty one-dimensional, including Harry. Her idea of making a morally complicated character is giving a tragic past to a bully. Numerous characters are little more than stereotypes. (Looking at Fleur right now.) Literally anybody, including you, can easily make dozens of characters just as good, if not better. (It doesn't exactly take a lot of character designing skill to go, "hey, actually, having a sad backstory doesn't make it okay to bully children" or "hey, maybe I should not base a character on the first stereotype that pops into my head.")

"But the rest of the worldbuilding!"

Sorry, but her worldbuilding is just as basic as her characters. Magical castles and secret passages are stock tropes. Magical people who keep their true nature secret from humanity is the premise of pretty much every White Wolf TTRPG. Most of her fantasy creatures are just common European fairy tale and folklore creatures with shitty stereotypes projected onto them.

I'm not saying "basic worldbuilding bad." I'm saying, you could do just as good, if not better, with minimal effort.

Also there's her magical bioessentialism, where only Harry's abusive blood relatives could provide him with supernatural protection from Voldemort. Rowling thus effectively declared that non-biological family isn't quite real family, and that abusive biofamily can give you some essential thing that a loving, supportive family that isn't related to you just can't.

The Hogwarts houses are one of the most insidious elements of her worldbuilding. The idea of being sorted gives you a little dopamine hit because wow now you have a li'l niche where you belong!

But the actual function of the houses and sorting system and the House Cup is teaching children to see each other as rivals, and ensure that the most toxic views of the upper class get passed on to every new batch of kids sorted into Slytherin.

Hogwarts effectively prepares children for a dystopia where magic serves to distract its citizens from how nightmarishly awful it is. Economic inequality is so bad that people like Arthur and Molly Weasley can barely afford to put their kids through school, casual sadism is just an accepted norm in everyday society, and non-humans are second class citizens. Rowling sorta acts like she thinks this is a bad thing with certain lines she gave to Dumbledore, but in the end, her special boy protagonist becomes an auror; IE, a defender of the status quo. So.

If you've never seen it, Lily Simpson's video goes into even more detail on how the worldbuilding of Harry Potter is actually incredibly fucked up, and how it betrays small-minded attitudes on Rowling's part. There's no separating the art from this artist, because Rowling's rotten values pour out of nearly every page.

Yes, there are many things in Harry Potter that evoke feelings and inspire people, but there's absolutely nothing in it that this series has a monopoly on. You can find those same experiences in much, much better media.