#willing to put down the bottle to just give em a squeeze

[slamminslamminmcgill]

i can only support from the shadows but as an SA survivor please DO write about joel killing your rapists it would cure me

LETS GOOOO SA survivors eating good tn!!!! we making it out the rape kit with this one 🥵🥵🥵

warning: descriptions of sexual assault, rape kits, non-consensual drugging, police malpractice/incompetence, victim-blaming, arson, and spanking. one single use of the f slur for shits and giggles. reader is male and joel’s roommate. reader’s assailant is male.

"So, the next morning I..."

You sniffled as you relayed your trauma to Joel. He wondered why you'd tensed up anytime anyone even uttered the word 'FEDRA'. You’d said it was a bad experience. He’d said that doesn’t really narrow it down much, so you gave him the full story.

“I got the rape-“ You cleared your throat, that word burning your vocal cords like an acid, “got the rape kit done at the clinic… And I asked for a drug test, so that I’d… that I could prove he slipped me something… Nurse was good, she was nice… She gave me the release of evidence form to give to FEDRA’s law enforcement precinct… but they didn’t… they didn’t take it…”

“What?” Joel’s face was contorted in shock, then a scowl of disgust and rage on your behalf. “The hell you mean they didn’t take it?”

“They didn’t believe me. Said it was my *sniff*… my f-f-fault for meeting up with him in the first place…” You had your eyes down, staring off into space, speaking more to Joel’s shoes than to his face. You couldn’t bear to look at him right now. You just know it’d make you burst into tears, tears that you were struggling so hard to contain. “I told them he drugged me… and they said… ‘H-How do I know you didn’t take the drugs before you got there?’”

“Fucking pigs…” Joel grumbled, “…so they just put the blame on you and let him get away with it?”

You nodded. Eventually, you couldn’t hold it back anymore. Your tears flooded the dam, spilling down your cheeks and onto the floorboards with one lone loud sob. Your hands clamped over your mouth, a makeshift plug for the vocal leak. Your body convulsed with sorrow.

“Hey, hey, hey, it’s okay… You’re okay, bud…” Joel cooed as he took you in his arms, squeezing you tight enough for the facade to pop and your emotions to rush out in full. He held you to his chest and let you scream-cry into his clothes. You didn’t have to look at him, you could just let it out, eyes closed, your face buried in his flannel shirt. “It’s okay, little man. I’m here. I’m here.” He stroked your hair to calm you down, and sighed “We’re gonna make this right, you ‘n’ me…”

“H-How?”

How indeed. Joel’s eyes scanned the room for an answer, until they landed on his lackluster liquor cabinet. 2 shelves, on top: one nice bottle of scotch, about 3/4ths of the way full; on the bottom, about 12 cheap-shit bottles of moonshine. He broke the hug, hustled over to the shelves, and grabbed 4 bottles. He set them on the kitchen table, but not before peeling off the ratty-ass tablecloth that sat atop it. He grabbed it by one of its pre-existing rips, tore it into strips, and plugged the bottles with the cloth. Without even looking back over his shoulder, he commanded of you the following:

“Go grab your lighter.”

—

Thank god you’d had your panic attack when it was dark outside. There were only a couple of hogs working the night shift at the Boston QZ North Pigpen Precinct by the time you two rolled up to bike lock the doors. You’d split up to take the back entrance, while Joel hit it from the front. Then, you met around the side of the building, crouching under a window. He was holding a brick, and you were digging 2 molotovs out of a backpack.

“Alright. Now you’re gonna light ‘em, then I break the window. You throw ‘em in, and we fuckin’ run ‘til I say we can stop. You got that?”

How Joel managed to look so hot even in a ski mask was beyond human understanding. No one’s ever cared this much for you, ever been willing to risk so much for you, and who knew that arson was such an aphrodisiac? You’d been gazing faggily into his eyes, thinking about how hard you were gonna suck his dick after this. It’s the least you could do for him. You were processing such a vivid picture of the rough and nasty catharsis-fucking that you were due later, it was using up all your mental bandwidth. Therefore, his question took some time to buffer. “…What? Oh! Yeah, yup, got it. Sorry.”

Joel raised an eyebrow. “Yeah? Then tell me what we’re gonna do.”

“I light the bottles, brick goes through the window, bottles go through the window, and we run.”

Joel was actually pleasantly surprised that you were listening. “Okay, good.” He gestured to your hand holding the lighter. “Go on, do it, light ‘em up.”

One flick of the lighter, two burning strips of fabric, and three throws later, Joel grabbed you by the wrist and bolted down the street with you. No words, no time to think, just a mad fucking dash for a couple blocks or so. Eventually, he stopped you in another dark alley.

“Here’s good… Fuck…” Joel panted, bracing his hand on the nearest wall. “Ah, shit…”

“You good?” you asked.

“Yeah, ‘m fine… Fuckin’ knees,” he huffed, “Don’t get old, kid.”

You snorted, “I, uh… I don’t think that’s up to me.”

“Yeah, yeah…” Joel took one last deep breath, nudged you on the shoulder, “Hey,” and pointed out to the street. “Watch.”

You peered out past the alley, checking the left side first and keeping yourself mostly hidden behind the brick wall. You weren’t even sure where you were supposed to be looking, until-

BOOM!

Your head whipped around to the other side of the alley, where several blocks down, the precinct erupted into flames. A dark cloud of smoke suddenly draped the side of the building like a ceremonial cloth, smelling like incense lit by burning rage. It was prettier than any firework show you could imagine. The flames roared, sizzling away your trauma, your anger, and cauterizing your wounded spirit so that it could finally heal. You took off your ski mask to get a better look.

“Pretty, right?” Joel’s voice sounded from behind you seemingly out of nowhere. It made you jump out of your skin, snapping you out of your daze and into a new one when he peeled off his mask to show off such a gorgeous face. His expression was nurturing, cut with affection, pride, and yet laced with a lethal dose of violence. Yeah, Joel, you’re right. You sure are pretty. That’s definitely what we’re thinking about right now. You were left speechless, and simply nodded.

“Y’alright, kid?”

You nodded again, tripping over all your words as they tumbled out your mouth. “Y-Yeah, yeah, I’m… I’m fine. Thanks- Thank you… Thank you.”

“You remember where he lives?”

“Huh?” You cocked your head in confusion. “Where who lives?”

“Y’know… The guy who actually…” Joel pursed his lips, trying to find the most delicate word for the situation. “…violated you.”

“Oh!” You hopped up with an unexpected enthusiasm. Truth be told, you were so hyped up in the beauty of the blazing pigpen, that you’d forgotten FEDRA was only half the problem. They weren’t even the original offenders; they just shat the bed so badly that they managed to take the heat off your actual rapist. “Yeah! Yeah, I remember… I know where he lives.”

“Good. He’s next. Let’s go.”

—

And then later that night,

when you and Joel were back home, in the privacy of your own apartment, your joint safehaven, naked,

your face smushed into the window,

him inside you, behind you, and slapping your ass,

you moaned like a crazed slut, laughed ‘til you cried, and peered through the glass,

to see two vengeful fires lighting the skyline.

[daryl-dixon-daydreams]

Words: 2,698 Daryl Dixon x Reader Reader pronouns: she/her Era: the prison Warnings: Language, typical TWD stuff Requested by: Anonymous

Your name: submit What is this?

Daryl was frozen. In all their time fighting side by side, Rick had never seen the archer freeze. But there wasn’t time. There wasn’t time for anything. There wasn’t time for a murmur of reassurance or an argument or a second to fully grasp the reality of what was about to happen and the potential consequences. Rick took one final glance at your face, which was pale as freshly fallen snow and eerily calm. How were you so calm when you knew what was about to happen? Rick raised the blade.

Rick was suddenly in his face and although Daryl could see that he was yelling he couldn’t hear anything but a high-pitched ringing in his ears, until finally Rick reached out and grabbed Daryl’s shoulders. It was like someone suddenly turned the volume back on and time sped up from the grindingly slow pace it had been crawling at.

Daryl raised his crossbow and turned, his expression pure agony, but he snapped into action and helped clear the way back to the cell block. He couldn’t really even remember the trip back or getting you inside or what Hershel had done next, what Rick had said to him, how they had moved you onto one of the beds… All he knew was that it had been chaos and now he was sitting at the side of your bunk, staring at the beads of sweat on your brow and how pale your lips looked and how your left forearm just was… gone.

Daryl sensed someone standing in the doorway and looked up to see Hershel there. Hershel had never seen Daryl look so poorly… Daryl couldn’t even come up with the right question to ask, but the veterinarian turned doctor seemed to know what was on his mind.

“We won’t know for a while. I think the amputation was fast enough, but even if we averted that crisis, she still has a lot to overcome. Succumbing to the trauma of shock or blood loss or an infection are the biggest fears now.” Daryl turned back to look at your still form and his eyes continually hitched on the stump where your left forearm should have been.

Rick appeared over Hershel’s shoulder just in time to see Daryl gently take your right hand in his. “How is she doin’?” he asked quietly. Hershel glanced over at him.

“No signs of fever so far. But we need more clean dressings, an IV, antibiotics,” Hershel murmured. “Without them I’m afraid even if she survives the shock, she’ll die of a blood infection.”

Rick nodded gravely. “Time we go find the infirmary then.” Maggie and Glenn, who were waiting nearby, stepped forward.

“We’ll go too. And if the infirmary doesn’t have what she needs, we’ll get it somewhere else,” Glenn said. Maggie nodded.

“Whatever she needs,” Maggie agreed. She glanced in at the archer and her heart ached. He was slumped over beside you, holding your hand in his like it was a lifeline.

“I’ll make you a list,” Hershel said, nodding at Rick.

Rick hesitated for a moment and then produced his handcuffs from his back pocket. Daryl looked up at the sound of the metallic clinking. He straightened up as he saw them.

“The hell are those for?” he growled.

“Daryl, we just need to be safe—”

“Nah. Ya ain’t puttin’ those on her,” he snapped.

“It’s just in case—”

“I said no!” he roared, standing up abruptly. “She ain’t turnin’! And I ain’t leavin’ her side. So, keep your damn cuffs. We don’t need ‘em.” He sank down into his chair again heavily, trembling slightly. Hershel glanced back at Rick.

“It’s alright. She’s in good hands here. Let’s get that list made up so you can go find those supplies,” Hershel said softly.

Daryl pressed your hand between his palms. It felt so small, fragile, between his own. He stared at your face for any sign of you waking but it was still. Your breathing was slow but a little shallow. He reached up and stroked his fingers gently through your hair and then rubbed your hand between his again to warm it. You felt a little cold.

He moved forward and laid his head down on his arms, your hand still clutched in his. He squeezed his eyes shut, willing himself not to go to pieces, barely containing the torrent of emotions swelling in his chest. If he’d been faster… if he’d paid more attention… this shouldn’t have happened to you. His only job was to keep you safe and he had failed. What if you never woke up? What if—Daryl’s face contorted as he could no longer stop the tears from flowing out. His shoulders shook as he gasped in heaving breaths. It was his fault this had happened to you. It was his fault.

“Daryl.” Carol’s voice was gentle and soft from the doorway and the archer hastily wiped the tears from his face and glanced up at her. “It’s not your fault,” she said. She knew he was blaming himself.

“Ya weren’t there,” he said, sniffling a little and glancing back at your still and silent form again, giving your hand a gentle squeeze. “I should have been able to protect her. It is my fault.”

“These things just happen. It’s no one’s fault,” she said, watching the tortured expression on his face. Carol’s heart sank. If you didn’t wake up, she didn’t know what would happen to Daryl. The thought scared her as much as losing you did. He was so in love with you. Carol wasn’t sure he’d come back from it if you didn’t make it.

Just then there was a commotion in the room outside the cells and Carol turned to see Rick, Maggie, and Glenn rushing back with full bags slung over their shoulders. Hershel met them at the door. “We got everything on the list,” Rick said, setting his duffel bag down on the table. “And then some.”

Hershel heaved a sigh of relief. “Good. We need to get antibiotics and fluids into her system as soon as we can. She lost a lot of blood.”

Glenn pulled a big bottle out of his bag and handed it to Hershel. “Here. Some serious painkillers.”

Hershel nodded. “Good. I’ll mix up a cocktail for her right away,” he said.

Soon Hershel had you on an IV drip and he reached over and pressed a hand to your forehead. “Still no fever,” he said, catching Daryl’s blue eyes. “I think we’re in the clear from the virus. The amputation worked.” He patted Daryl on the shoulder kindly. “She’s strong. She’ll fight.”

Daryl gave your hand another gentle squeeze and raised it to his lips, pressing a kiss to it and holding it there, his eyes fixed back on your face. “How long—how long before you think she should be waking up?” he asked, his voice thick and heavy with gravel.

Hershel looked back at you on the bunk. “It’s hard to say. She’s experienced significant trauma so her body may just need to be out for a while. And the painkillers I put in her IV will make her sleepy. It isn’t time to worry yet,” he said.

Daryl scoffed. “It’s been time to worry since I met her,” he growled, squeezing your hand gently.

Hershel gave him a sad smile. “It’s okay she’s still unconscious, son. Look,” he said nodding toward you again. “Some of the color is coming back to her face. That’s a good sign.”

Daryl studied the pinkness that was back in your lips and your cheeks and stroked a hand through your hair again. He nodded, clutching more tightly to your hand.

“You come get me if anything changes, alright?” Hershel said. And then he left Daryl alone with you again.

Daryl refused to eat or drink as day turned to night, refused to sleep, refused to leave your side for a second. He sat watch over you, his stomach churning with every passing minute you lay there still. He hung his head and pressed his lips to the back of your hand again, shutting his eyes. “Please, wake up, Y/N. Please. I need ya. I need ya…” he whispered to you, hoping with his entire being. And then he felt something. You had squeezed his hand back. His eyes shot up and he fell forward onto his knees beside you, the chair clattering back behind him. Your eyes were open and they met his.

Tears immediately filled his blue eyes. “Y/N!” he stroked your cheek with one hand and held more tightly to you with the other. “You’re awake. I’m—I’m right here. It’s okay. I’m here.”

He watched in disbelief as your lips curved slightly in a small smile as you looked up at him. “I know, babe,” you whispered.

“What do ya—how are ya feeling?”

You blinked a few times like you were thinking hard about the question. “I think I’m high,” you said, your brow furrowing slightly. Daryl’s eyes narrowed at your answer. “Am I on some good painkillers?” you asked.

Daryl nodded. “Ya. I’m glad they’re working.” He stroked his fingers through your hair again and watched with apprehension as you turned and looked at the bandages on your left arm. He watched a shadow grow on your face and your brow furrow. Daryl felt like a bubble that had been expanding in his chest burst suddenly. Tears poured out onto his cheeks again. “Y/N, I’m so sorry. I’m so, so sorry. I didn’t keep ya safe. It’s my fault. I’m so sorry.” He hung his head again, trying to gasp in a breath.

You looked back over at him in shock. “Hey.” You squeezed his hand again when he wouldn’t look at you. “Daryl. Look at me.” You waited until he lifted his blue eyes again. “There is no way in hell that this is your fault.” He tried to look away again but you tugged on his hand. “I mean it. It just happened. You don’t get to claim any blame for it. None. Okay?” He sniffled but he held your eyes.

A few more tears leaked out of his eyes and he anxiously chewed his bottom lip. “I—I thought I was gonna lose ya,” he whispered, pressing your hand between his palms again. He looked down at it and smoothed his fingers over the soft skin on the back of your hand. “I thought—” he broke off, unable to even speak the horrible thoughts that had consumed him since you were bitten.

“I’m not going anywhere,” you whispered. “You’re stuck with me.”

Daryl was amazed at the small smile on your lips again and his heart hammered like it was trying to get to you. He leaned forward, cupping your face gently, and pressed a kiss to that little smile. He rested his forehead against yours for a brief moment. You sighed and shut your eyes, breathing in his familiar smell, loving the safety of his closeness. The archer finally pulled back and righted his chair beside your bed again. “Rest,” he said softly. “I’m gonna tell Hershel you’re awake.” He got up to find him, but you squeezed his hand again and he glanced back at you.

“You have to promise me that you will try to let go of the guilt,” you said. The smile was gone and there was concern on your face. You were lying in a bed missing half your arm and you were concerned about him. How the hell did he deserve you? He was almost overwhelmed with emotion again, but he nodded.

“I promise,” he said. “I’ll try.” He leaned over you and captured your lips in another kiss. “Rest, alright? I’ll be right back.”

You released his hand and turned your eyes to the bandages again. It had all happened so fast, and none of it felt real yet. It was like you were in a dream and would wake up at any second. The implications weren’t even occurring to you yet. Daryl was in the forefront of your mind. You knew he was likely to torture himself over this, despite the fact that it could have happened to anyone. It was just a risk of living in the world now. You felt lucky that the only thing you had lost was your arm, and yet at the same time you knew you would need to grieve it. But for now, you needed to know that Daryl wouldn’t blame himself.

He returned with Hershel, who immediately smiled at you when he saw your eyes open. He came and sat at your bedside while Daryl lingered in the doorway, chewing his bottom lip as was his anxious habit. “How are you feeling? How is the pain?” Hershel asked you.

“Pain is fine,” you said. “I’m just tired.”

Hershel put a kind hand on your shoulder. “I think we’ve turned the corner,” he said. “But you’re going to need to rest and give yourself time to heal. I don’t want you up and about for another day or two. You lost a lot of blood, and we need to make sure we keep that are infection free.” You nodded.

“Where’s Rick?” you asked, glancing at Daryl in the doorway.

The familiar drawl answered. “Right here,” he said, appearing over Daryl’s shoulder. You looked up at the lean man and saw he looked completely exhausted.

Your brow furrowed. “You look like shit,” you said, causing everyone to chuckle, even Daryl. “Thanks. For what you did,” you said quietly. “For saving my life or whatever,” you said with a small smile. Your eyelids were starting to droop a little, sleep waiting to take hold.

Rick patted Daryl on the shoulder and nodded at you. “Anything for you and Daryl. Anything.”

“Alright, she needs rest now,” Hershel said, getting up and motioning for Rick to clear out with him. “Get some sleep.”

Daryl moved back to your bedside as Hershel and Rick left and sank down onto the chair, immediately taking your hand between his again.

“What are you doing over there?” you asked him. He gave you a questioning look.

“How am I supposed to sleep with you so far away?” You turned onto your side, wincing a little as you moved your injured arm, but you cleared space beside you and looked up at the archer with a look he couldn’t resist, even if he had wanted to.

He carefully climbed onto the bed beside you, moving a strand of hair out of your eyes and stroking his thumb lightly over your cheek. You were facing each other and he could see you studying his face. You smiled at him, just a small, sleepy one. “Now I can sleep,” you whispered.

He pressed a kiss to your lips and tried to put everything he was thinking and feeling into it. When he drew back, your eyes flitted open again. “We’re gonna be just fine. You always take care of me,” you murmured to him.

He nodded. “And I always will.” And with that reassurance, you drifted off to sleep with your favorite person in the world beside you.

[cozyenigma]

Round Two

A continuation of this post!

Pairing- Illinois/Reader

Word Count- 2610

Request?- Yes!

Summary: No way out now. Illinois had a plan to get you your body back. Considering the current occupant was less than willing to negotiate, you could only hope Illinois makes it through in one piece.

Tag List- @cookielover0001010​ , @swag-droid​ , @watchoutforfrostbite​

Warnings- injury, violence, blood, character death

As far as plans went, it was pretty simple. With the current situation and your partner's stubbornness? You were feeling less than confident.

The half broken flashlight had been jammed between some fallen bricks so Illinois could see his work. Unable to help as you were, you were relegated to lookout. Standing at the corner of the passage, you glanced one way and then the other. No sign of the body snatcher. The place was still and silent apart from Illinois.

"Ah damn it."

Who really wasn't being all that quiet, considering.  You couldn't help but cringe as the sound echoed off the walls a bit.

"You okay?"

"Just fine," he didn't look your way as he worked, voice clipped.

You caught a glimpse of stark white bandages peeking out from under his shirt. It wasn't much, especially when he had to apply it himself, but it was better than nothing. Still, even though he wasn't as winded as before, his breaths seemed a touch too shallow.

Finally he stood with a sigh and dusted his hands off. "Think that's about as good as it's gonna get."

"Are you sure this will work?"

The trap Illinois had rigged might be enough for a regular person. The supernaturally strong body snatcher though? You weren't sure. Stretched across the passageway was a thin rope, only just barely visible in the dim flashlight beam and about the width of a shoelace. Illinois had had to improvise a bit. In actuality the rope was made from strips of leather that was once the strap on his bag. The rope you guys usually used for climbing would've been too noticeable. Plus he maintained you'd need it later.

"It'll work," he assured you. Grabbing the flashlight he moved back towards you. The oppressive darkness swooped back in and you could hardly see the rope at all.

Illinois looked into the distance, pensive. "Watching how they moved, I figured they knew at least where some of the traps were."

The flashlight beam swung back around, revealing the rope again and the section of floor just behind it. The dip wasn't immediately obvious but then again- you knew where to look.

"If they're moving fast enough," Illinois hedged, "they're not gonna be able to avoid this one."

Something echoed down the hall. It was too faint to identify but it wasn't from either of you. Your hands were shaking.

"Okay but- what about after that?" Illinois still had the creepy pendant in his pocket. He'd used another leftover strip of leather to fashion something for it to hang on. Better to try and slip it over the body snatcher's head than stick it in their hand or a pocket.

"If all goes to plan, I'll just give 'em a shiny new necklace and get out of the way." Illinois looked towards you, his expression hard set. "Then you'll be back."

"That's not what I'm worried about."

"Think about it this way," Illinois was rooting around in what remained of his bag, "you want whoever this is to get out of here? In your body?"

He was fumbling with a bottle of painkillers. They were what you might find in a basic first aid kit and you doubted they did much beyond taking the edge off. Illinois threw a few back.

"Who knows what they're gonna do," Illinois finished, chucking the bottle back in.

"Well maybe we can just- seal them in then!" You said in a rush. There was no easy way to even do that but it had to be better than this.

"There's the one entrance that we know about," Illinois, meanwhile, was frustratingly calm. "I'd need a good sized cave-in to do the job. Plus, there's no way of knowing if that'd even keep them in here for long."

"There's still time, Illinois."

He huffed. "And I'm gonna use it."

You don't get a chance to say much else. The sounds were drawing closer, louder. Your stomach twisted as you heard a shout that was somehow unmistakably your voice. It was wrong though. You never knew you could sound that angry. Illinois was already moving. He'd tossed his bag and the rest of his supplies aside, keeping only the pendant.

"Show time," he said grimly. Before you could even think to stop him, Illinois strode out in front of you.

Taking as deep of a breath as he could, he raised his hands and shouted, "Come on, is that the best you got?"

His words reverberated around you before fading into the distance, into the dark. For half a second only silence replaced it. Then a clambering, heavy footfalls. They didn't even sound like they were going that fast and but you still felt the need to run.

"Illinois-"

"I know," he doubled back, moving as quickly as he was able to.

Carefully stepping over the rope, he sidled along the wall, avoiding the large trapped section of the floor. Now all he could do was wait. There wasn't going to be any second chances. Illinois had used up all of his luck getting away the first time.

All too soon you could see a shape moving in the darkness. It was familiar. Your stomach bottomed out.

"They're coming," you said, taking a step back.

At first glance you wouldn't notice anything was wrong. But as they materialized out of the dark you felt nauseous just looking at them. A huge rust colored stain covered their stomach. Their expression was beyond annoyed, beyond angry. It was entirely foreign and you could only stare back at your own eyes, your own face as they simply stepped straight through you and around the corner.

Illinois held his arms out. "Well? What're you waiting for?"

The body snatcher seemed to hesitate. Their (your?) eyes narrowed and for a moment you thought they might know. Illinois took a step back. That self assured smile turned a touch more strained.

Too soon they were moving. Closing the distance with deceptive speed, your heart leapt up into your throat. Illinois tensed, braced himself with the pendant in hand.

Then, a twang as the body snatcher caught their foot on the rope. They shouted in surprise. Even though they managed to catch their balance, it was already too late. They'd stumbled a step too far.

There was a faint, tell-tale click. In the next instant they were falling back, a crossbow bolt buried squarely in their side.

You held your breath as they leaned against the wall. The pendant was swinging in Illinois's hand, catching the dim light. You couldn't help but wince as the body snatcher wrenched the arrow out in one rough tug.

"Illinois!" you warned as they stood. It wasn't working. They'd just been shot and it only slowed them down.

"Shit."

This was the worst case scenario. All you could do was watch as they tossed the arrow aside. Illinois glanced down at the pendant in his hand.

"Run!"

Your shout didn't do him any good. Illinois hadn't even managed to take a step before the body snatcher caught up. It was hardly a fair fight. Illinois was already injured and the impact of them tackling him to the floor was forceful enough to jar teeth. The flashlight skittered across the floor and for a few excruciating seconds the cavern was pitch black. It flickered back on, revealing Illinois struggling to get away.

Illinois grunted and tried to scramble out from under them. Even after being shot they were far stronger. He cried out as they pressed down on his chest.

"Illinois!"

He cursed and reached up, tried to put the pendant on them. The body snatcher simply batted his hands away. The world seemed to slow as they wrapped theirs around his neck. You went cold.

"No, no, no!"

The body snatcher didn't even seem to react to you. Not even when you tried to pull them off of Illinois. Your hands passed through their shoulders like they weren't even there.

This can't be happening.

You tried again. And again. Every time they just ignored you and kept squeezing. Their breathing was heavy. Maybe the crossbow had done more than you thought but it wasn't enough. Illinois wheezed. His hands were pawing at theirs, legs kicking in vain to try and get some traction.

He was dying. Illinois was dying because he tried to save you. This stubborn, wonderful bastard-

No. You grit your teeth. Not like this, not ever if you had a say in it.

As a last ditch effort you threw yourself at the body snatcher. This time though you felt the breath get knocked out of you as you actually made contact.

They crashed into the wall and fell in a heap. Then, thankfully, Illinois was gasping greedy, deep lungfuls of air. He rolled over and coughed, clutching at his throat. Your brief time being corporeal didn't last though. When you tried to grab him, help him stand, you came up with air instead.

There was scraping against stone. You turned to see the body snatcher had tried to stand, only managing to rise a few inches before falling again. The clothes you'd been wearing were well and truly ruined by now; a fresh new blood stain was rapidly growing at their side. You wondered if that last attack spent the last of their strength.

"Even-" Illinois coughed, his voice rough, "even good old fashioned blood loss works. Good to know."

He snatched up the pendant again and staggered to his feet.

"Thanks," Illinois said to you, "knew I could count on you."

Shaking your head, you kept your eyes on the body snatcher.

"Right."

It was downright unsettling to be looking at yourself during this. Or at the very least your body? At this point whatever injuries they already had, along with the wound in their side, were taking their toll. Illinois had no issue slipping the pendant over their head.

"If you're right about this-"

"I am."

"Then what now? I mean-"

The words were barely out of your mouth when you felt it. A sort of harsh tug, anchored in your gut. That same thump, thump, thump you only half remembered reached you. You skin crawled. The sensation was dizzying and it only seemed to increase and then-

Then...

You gasped awake, realizing now that you needed air. When did you get on the floor? Disoriented, you blinked as a hand swam into view. Illinois stood above you now, grinning softly.

"Welcome back, partner."

Getting you to your feet was a bit of a tall order for both of you. You grimaced at the feeling of dried blood against your skin, in your clothes.

The next instant there were arms around you. Illinois was holding you close like his life depended on it.

You buried your face in his shoulder, trying to steady your breathing. If it was any other day the two of you might snark at each other. Crack jokes to try and ease the tension. But instead you just held him back. The reality was that you'd died, twice really, and Illinois had almost joined you. It was far too close.

It was driven home by the fact that Illinois was half leaning on you for support at this point. Getting him to accept help was like pulling teeth sometimes. Pulling away, you looked down to see the pendant still hanging around your neck. You couldn't get it off fast enough.

"I think I know what you mean," you said out of the blue.

"Huh?"

"About the whole- watching me die thing? How it wasn't fair," you met his eyes, hands clenching and unclenching around the pendant.

Illinois squinted for a moment before his eyes widened. "Oh. Yeah that was- not great. Let's not make it a habit."

This time you did scoff. Instead of the light hearted bickering like usual, Illinois rears back a moment. His expression fell into a scowl and he held you a touch tighter.

"I'm serious. I-" after a moment he let out a sharp breath, winced slightly, "you've got no idea how afraid I was that I was gonna lose you, darlin'."

"Illinois-" you cut off, tried to reign yourself in, "I just watched you get strangled half to death. I know."

You looked at him then, battered and bruised, and you knew he'd had worse. Even though you can't think of an example you just knew. The thought made you want to scream.

"I've watched you almost get impaled more times than I can count. Seen you dip through traps like it's as easy as breathing."

"Now that's hardly-"

"What about that time in Nepal, huh? When you told me oh yeah I can make that jump? Because I do and you didn't."

"I was fine," Illinois sounded so affronted you almost laughed.

"You broke your leg, that's not fine. You think I wasn't ever afraid you weren't coming back? Do you think I-"

You huffed, frustrated, and Illinois for once is silent. Then, softer, you added, "You're the luckiest person I've ever met but if you think my heart isn't in my throat every time- if you didn't come back I-"

Finally you burn out, stuttering to a stop. You swallowed back the rest of the words and feelings with them.

The hand at the nape of your neck made you flinch. Illinois paused for a moment, searching your face, before his fingers smoothed out and just barely brushed into your hair. It was gentle, tentative almost.

Illinois's jaw worked for a moment. Finally he sighed and gave you a tired, crooked smile. "Guess you owed me one, huh?"

You laughed despite your nerves, despite your exhaustion. Rubbing at your eyes you said, "Guess I did."

A beat passed. The hand stayed, his thumb idly running across your skin. Your stomach flipped as he pulled just a little closer.

If you imagined what a first kiss with Illinois might be like (which you may or may not have) you pictured something desperate. Him yanking you out of the way of a trap and just not letting go. It'd be an impulsive thing. Fast as lightning and full of adrenaline.

This wasn't like that.

The lead up was longer than the kiss. Illinois took half a step, closed the distance and kissed you. It was soft, over in a second but felt like an hour, and you went just a little weak in the knees.

When he drew back, Illinois let his forehead rest against yours. For a long while you just breathed. Your mind spun, trying to pick out the words to say.

"Let's get you outta here, huh?" Illinois said, voice low.

"And you to a hospital?" You very much ignored how you sounded right now.

He heaved a sigh, pulling back. "If you insist."

In the silence that followed, you looped an arm around his back, supporting some of his weight as you trudged your way to the exit. Illinois had one arm over your shoulders, the other pressed to his ribs. It was slow going. While you didn't keep any of your injuries, you were exhausted. Illinois seemed ready to collapse. You both probably needed a hospital. Steadily though, the air turned less stale. The temperature started to rise a bit. You were gonna need a break from subterranean ruins and caves.

You caught Illinois's eye as he glanced your way.

"Suppose it also wouldn't be fair to ask you to be careful?" Illinois asked.

"Not if you promise to be careful yourself."

Illinois hummed, adjusted his hat and nodded. "I'll try."

And that was enough for you.

[rawdogmeharry]

anything [part 2 to everything]

or, the one where Y/N is the love of Harry's life and all he wants to do is marry her.

ask and you shall receive <3

requests go here:)

masterlist

•

Somewhere on the Amalfi coast.

Somewhere on the Amalfi coast, on some hot, grainy sand, under some soft azure skies, beside some crystal clear blue water lay Harry, and the love of his life, Y/N.

And Harry really can't keep his hands off his lovie.

Her lilac bikini, that perfectly accentuates her curves. The stretchmarks she adorns a lot more prominent on her already tanned skin. The smooth skin of her plushy thighs, wide hips and full tits. Is it even normal to get this many boners per day?, Harry thinks.

It drives him insane, really. He doesn't understand how a person can be as unearthly gorgeous as his girl is.

And to think Harry was going to ask this beautiful creature to marry him in just a few hours was undescribeable. It made Harry want to shit himself.

Of course, Harry hopes for the best. Harry knows the best. He knows she's gonna say yes, and not just to be a dick about it, but he knows his lovie. Better than anyone—better than she knows her own self.

He also knows how much she loves him. Knows it best probably from the way her touches bring electricity all the way down to his core and through every nerve ending in his body, as if the love seeping from her veins was trying to force its way into Harry. No need for force though, Harry thinks, he's capable of accepting and cherishing any and every single ounce of her love she's willing to give.

Also knows it from the way he doesn't have to say a word, and she already knows exactly what he needs. Knows him like the back of her hand, honestly, and Harry thinks that this is the actual reason they're meant to be—they really do know each other better than they know each themselves.

And Harry did end up choosing a serene spot on the Amalfi coast in Italy to propose. He figured since he'd already taken her to Paris for her birthday not even a mere month earlier, they should travel to a place they'd both never been to before.

Remember this place for the rest of their lives, make it go down in history as the place where and unseparable bond between them was made, and visit for every single anniversary. Harry's got it all planned out.

"Y'know, even with my eyes closed I can feel you staring at my boobs, Harry."

"Well why are they all up in my face for?"

"They're really not, Har. Y'could at least stop starin' at them in public. Y'watchin' them like a hawk watches his prey."

"Baby, y'know it's like some sort of magnetic pull between me 'n your tits. It's 'cause they are m'prey, lovie, gonna eat 'em all up once we get back to the hotel," Harry says and rolls over on the beach towel onto his stomach and leans his head on one hand. Fuckin' beautiful, is what she is, he thinks whilst tilting his head and staring at Y/N.

"Yeah? Y'promise?" She smiles at him.

He gives her a broad smile back, "Cross my heart, hope to die."

Y/N rolls onto her side on the small towel as well, and throws one of her thighs onto his hip, "think we should head back soon, then. Also, m'heads killin' me. Think it's from the sun. Want a nap and you kissing on my boobs."

Harry frowns, "y'heads hurtin', baby? Why didn't y'say so before? We could've went back way earlier. Um—will you be okay to still go to dinner tonight?"

She gives him a shy smile, "of course I'll be okay to go, Harry. Just gonna take an Ibuprofen or something and I'll be as good as new."

Harry lets out a sigh of relief in his head. The dinner he's been planning for almost three weeks now is happening in just a few hours, and nothing can go wrong, because if something does, he's really going to cry. He's sure he's going to cry if everything goes right, as well.

Eitherway, Harry's gonna need some tissues.

He lifts her warm thigh off his hip and gently squeezes it, stands up and puts both arms out to her, "up y'get then, lovie."

```

After a much needed two hour nap and a love making session after getting up when lovie's head wasn't hurting anymore, both Harry and Y/N are almost finished getting ready.

His darling stands in the bathroom in front of the mirror, leaning over the counter just a tiny bit so she could see a bit better and not get the soft pink lipstick all over her face.

And when Harry walks in on her in this position, his knees nearly buckle.

The slender curve of her back, the hem of her turquoise dress barely reaching mid-thigh and sitting tight on her hips.

Now is not the time to get a boner.

"Lovie, y-you look so fucking beautiful. I—I really don't have any words."

She gives him a shy smile through the mirror and he gives her one back, a light pink blush littering her cheeks from the stammering of his kind words, "thank you, baby. You look as handsome as ever." He thinks she might hear his heartbeat all the way from the doorway.

This time, his smile is so broad his teeth show and his dimple pops out, "nothin' compared to you, baby. Yeh about ready, then, gorgeous?"

"You really want some steak, huh? Let's go then, you impatient man," Y/N giggles.

If only she knew that the steak was the last thing on his mind right now, Harry thought.

```

After eating the best medium-well steak both of them had ever had, Y/N considers unzipping the zipper on the side of her dress. She literally feels like she's about to burst.

And Harry does too. Just not from the steak.

The steak was really good, Harry will admit that, and the wine was also not that bad (for six hundred dollars per bottle, it could've been better, he thinks), but these are really irrelevant things compared to the other's he's thinking right now.

And while Harry's close to having a heart attack, Y/N slowly leans back on her chair, puts her arms on the arm rests and tries to discreetly push out her stomach. She then takes one of her hands and slowly rubs it on her bloated belly, stroking it as if she was pregnant.

Petting her steak filled belly she looks around, and only then realises that just the two of them are left on the second floor of the restaurant.

The restaurant was situated outside, underneath the starry sky, and built right into a cave, with a view of the calm ocean right in front of them.

"Harry, d'you think they're about to close soon? We're literally the only people left."

Here goes nothing, Harry thinks.

"No, baby, that's how it's supposed to be."

She gives him a confused face, genuinely not understanding what he's just said, "huh? What's supposed to be?"

He slowly stands up, walks over to her chair and notices the hand stroking her little pouched out belly and immediately smiles. She's so fucking cute. Bends down to her face to face and puts his big hands on her small cheeks, "Just listen t'me, baby. No questions, just all ears for me now, yeah?"

She's even more confused now. "Yeah, okay."

He gives her a quick kiss, shortly trapping her bottom lip between his own. "Right. Here it goes."

Harry pulls away from her, and very slowly gets down onto one knee in front of her, quickly pulling out a small emerald green velvet box from his inner jacket pocket.

Y/N is in shock. She wouldn't be surprised if she went into cardiac arrest right then and there. Then it all comes together.

The way he was fidgeting with his hands all the way to the restaurant earlier in the evening, so much that she had to put her hands on his, just so he could properly hold the steering wheel. She didn't choose to question that, figured he'd tell her on his own time, when he felt comfortable about speaking of what he was so scared? of, after he gave her an appreciative, but shaky smile.

The shaking of his hands while he was cutting his steak. She really thought that was because of the steak.

The small beads of sweat gathering at the top of his forehead anytime he would make direct eye contact with her during the evening. She thought that the warm climate had taken its toll on him.

She feels stupid. That's why he's been so nervous, she thinks. Everything makes sense now.

"Y/N—I-I've literally forgotten every word I rehearsed for m'speech. Um—'m so nervous I think even m'tongues shakin' so 'm sorry, but I still want to say a few things."

He can barely hold the box in his clammy hands from the shaking.

And she already feels a few droplets of salty tears coming down her face.

Harry takes a deep breath. "Y/N Y/L/N, y'the love of m'life. Nobody comes close to the place you hold in m'heart. I know this is corny t'say, but I really did fall in love with you the first time I saw you. Fell in love with your kindness, compassion and the love you show t'the people most important to yeh. Couldn't imagine spendin' m'life with anybody else by m'side. Can't wait to marry you, bawl m'eyes out when I see you walk down the aisle and later have babies with yeh. Beautiful, beautiful babies, just like their mummy. Take you all over the world, show you places we'll remember for the rest of our lives. Make love every night and mornin', spend the days baskin' in each other's love. Um—know 'm just ramblin' anythin' and I can promise yeh my wedding vows are gonna be a million times better, but will yeh do the honors and make all m'dreams come true? Marry me and be mine, lovie?"

He starts to open the box containing the beautiful custom diamond ring he'd had made just for her but he can barely see where the opening is because of his tear-filled eyes.

And Y/N doesn't even look at the ring, doesn't really need to, even though she's extremely grateful, she knows she'd marry him if he gave her a ring with an engraved pickle on it.

She quickly shuts the little box and wraps her arms so hard around his shoulders, she nearly brings the both of them down to the wooden floor of the restaurant.

"Yes, Harry," she chokes out through her tears and feels his arms wrap tighter around her than ever, "yes. I love you so much. Of course I'll marry you."

Harry hasn't ever been happier than he is in this moment.

[rookie-ramsey]

Eclipse, Chapter 2 (Ethan X MC)

Description: Five years after the birth of their unexpected twins, Ethan and Olivia are expecting their third child. Even if they planned the pregnancy this time around, they learn that not everything goes as planned.

Rating: PG-13

Preview: Ethan’s hand brushed against her warm forehead. “You’re not nauseous from the pregnancy. Zoey and Jonah are both sick. They’re throwing up and have temperatures of 100 and 100.2.”

Olivia sighed. “I should’ve thought of that. The stomach bug is going through their school. They can sleep in here if they want to. You should sleep somewhere else so we don’t give you the plague.”

Ethan shook his head. “I haven’t had a stomach virus since I was ten.”

“Oh, yeah. You’re the Dr. Infallible Ramsey, immune to all human ailments. You have a golden immune system.”

Previous Chapter

On Sunday afternoon, Ethan read a book on the couch while the kids played and Olivia was out for lunch with Sienna. He looked up when he heard footsteps and saw Jonah and Zoey walking into the living room, both wearing their little lab coats and carrying their toy doctor’s kit.

“Daddy, can you play with us?”

Ethan set his book aside and nodded. “Sure.”

“What are your symptoms, Daddy?” Zoey grabbed a stethoscope, one of Ethan’s old ones, and knelt next to him on the couch. She touched the stethoscope to his chest and listened.

Playing along, Ethan pressed his lips in thought. “I have a terrible headache. Can you take care of it?”

“Yep! Jonah, get the Band-Aids!”

Jonah grabbed a box of bandages from their bag. “Got em!”

Zoey dug a Cookie Monster Band-Aid out of the box and unwrapped it. She stuck it to Ethan’s forehead and nodded in approval. “Okay. We’re done with you.”

Ethan feigned a frown. “A Band-Aid for a headache? Don’t you think you should be more thorough?”

“It’s a Cookie Monster Band-Aid,” Zoey supplied, shaking her head as she put the package back in their bag.

Jonah wrote some numbers on a piece of construction paper. With a mischievous smile, he handed it to his father. “Here’s your bill! That’s gonna be two hundred eleven dollars and… eight cents.”

“Did you even try to bill my insurance?”

“We don’t do that here!”

Ethan arched a brow. “I think this clinic is corrupt. I come in with a severe headache and I don’t even get an MRI?”

“Nope,” Jonah responded, trying to contain a laugh.

“Hmm. Why should I pay this bill?”

Zoey shrugged. “Okay, then. If you don’t pay, you can’t keep the Band-Aid.” With a giggle, she peeled the bandage off his forehead and tossed it aside.

“I think I’d like to see your medical licenses.”

Jonah shook his head. “I lost mine!”

“And you’re still practicing?”

“I’m just the bill person now.” Jonah shrugged. “I get to be the doctor next.”

Zoey handed him another sheet of construction paper with her name scrawled on it. “See? It says Doctor Zoey Ramsey on it!”

“Hmm. I still think this is medical negligence.”

Both kids laughed. Jonah took the stethoscope from his sister and leaned against Ethan’s knee. “Alright, I’m the doctor now. Make up a new sickness.”

When the front door opened, the twins looked up and waved. “Hi, Mommy!”

“Hi there. What’s going on in here?”

Jonah held up their doctor’s kit. “Medical negligence!”

“You can’t have a fun Sunday afternoon without that.”

“How was your lunch?” Ethan asked as she sat down next to him.

“Good. The baby made me eat tacos. We’ll see if they make a reappearance later. So far, I’ve only violently puked three times this pregnancy.”

“Here you go!” Jonah opened the Band-Aid box and stuck a Big Bird one to her abdomen.

“Huh. I’m not sure if I’m supposed to be amused or offended at the Big Bird implication.” Olivia ran her hand over her stomach when she felt a soft kick.

“Is our sister kicking?” Jonah asked.

“Uh huh.” Olivia took each of their hands and guided them to her stomach. “Feel it?”

“Yeah!” Zoey’s brow pinched in concentration. “It tickles my hand.”

“You two kicked a lot, but you didn’t start it until a little later. I’m pretty sure you were trying to kick each other.”

They laughed and picked up their toys before they left to play in their playroom. Olivia rested her feet on the table and leaned against Ethan, making herself comfortable.

“How are you feeling?”

“Alright. For now I just want to focus on controlling what I can. Even if she has to have a major heart surgery, we don’t have all the answers yet. Worrying 24/7 won’t change that.”

Ethan slipped his arm around her. “We’ll find out more at your next appointment.”

She nodded and gave his hand a squeeze. “Aside from being treated by five-year-old doctors, how was your day?”

He chuckled. “Uneventful. They asked for chicken tonight.”

“I agree with that.”

That evening, she helped Ethan fix dinner. Even though the chicken and potatoes looked and smelled mouth-watering, Olivia could feel the beginnings of nausea and she ate lightly to avoid unsettling her stomach.

Some time after they’d gone to bed, she awoke with an uncomfortable churning in her stomach. She grimaced and curled up on her side, willing the feeling to pass.

It didn’t, and she lurched out of bed when bile rose in her throat. She made it to their bathroom just in time and dropped to her knees in front of the toilet. A gag escaped her as she emptied the contents of her stomach.

Awoken by the noise, Ethan joined her in the bathroom. He held her hair back and rubbed her back with his other hand.

Olivia groaned. “I think I jinxed myself. Morning sickness just struck at one in the morning.”

“It happened like that last time. It’s not common for morning sickness to start in the second trimester, but it’s not unheard of.”

“It should be.” Olivia cringed and wiped at her mouth. She brushed her teeth to get the bitter taste out, then yawned and sleepily made her way back to bed. “Can you get me some water?”

Ethan retrieved a bottle of water from the kitchen and took it to Olivia. “Here. Keep yourself hydrated.”

Olivia sipped slowly from the water and yawned. “I guess the baby decided she doesn’t like tacos. Or chicken and potatoes.”

In the hallway, a door swung open. Ethan heard footsteps darting into the hallway bathroom. He left their room to investigate and found Jonah hunched over the toilet, throwing up.

Uh oh.

Suspecting that they were in fact not dealing with morning sickness, Ethan followed his son into the bathroom. His expression softened when Jonah looked up with a sad frown. “Feeling bad?”

“Yeah…” Jonah made a face as he leaned over the toilet again. Ethan knelt next to him and pressed his hand to his forehead, finding it warm to the touch.

Zoey ran into the bathroom with her hands clasped over her mouth. Seeing her brother leaning over the toilet, she dropped to her knees and retched into the trash can. “Yuck…”

Ethan found the thermometer and checked their temperatures. They were elevated, but not badly, to his relief. “Let’s get back to bed.”

He picked them up and carried Jonah to his room first. He tucked him into bed and moved his trash can next to his bed in case he threw up again. “Here you go. I’m going to get your sister to bed, and then I’ll bring you something to drink.”

“Okay…”

Ethan repeated the process with Zoey and made sure both kids were settled before he returned to his bedroom.

Olivia emerged from the bathroom, her expression sour. “I thought I was empty, but apparently not.”

Ethan’s hand brushed against her warm forehead. “You’re not nauseous from the pregnancy. Zoey and Jonah are both sick. They’re throwing up and have temperatures of 100 and 100.2.”

Olivia sighed. “I should’ve thought of that. The stomach bug is going through their school. They can sleep in here if they want to. You should sleep somewhere else so we don’t give you the plague.”

Ethan shook his head. “I haven’t had a stomach virus since I was ten.”

“Oh, yeah. You’re the Dr. Infallible Ramsey, immune to all human ailments. You have a golden immune system.”

He shrugged. “Either way, I’ve already been exposed to all three of you. There’s not much point in isolating myself now.”

“Fair enough.”

Ethan left the room to check on the kids, finding them both awake and purely miserable. He carried them to their bedroom and set them down on the bed. They immediately ducked under the covers. When Ethan lay down, Zoey and Jonah snuggled in between their parents and closed their eyes.

“I think a king-sized bed was the right choice,” Olivia yawned, closing her eyes and pulling the covers up to her chin.

“Are we gonna have to take medicine?” At the thought, Zoey wrinkled her nose.

Ethan shook his head. “It wouldn’t help a stomach virus. All you can do is stay hydrated and try to rest as much as possible.”

“Okay. Are you gonna get sick, too?”

“No.”

“Daddy never gets sick,” Jonah reminded his sister.

Olivia snorted. “We’ll see if that theory is true in a few hours.”

By four in the morning, they had a pile of vomit-soiled clothes and sheets. Eventually, after a few hours and cups of ginger ale,  they drifted off to sleep and slept through the early morning hours without waking up to throw up.

Despite the long night, Ethan’s internal alarm woke him moments before sunlight spilled through the window blinds. He stifled a yawn and gently untangled himself from Jonah’s arm thrown across his chest and Zoey’s leg draped across his stomach.

He gathered the pajamas and bedding and started the washing machine, then emptied all of the trash cans and put clean bags in them in case they had a round two of last night’s occurrences.

An hour later, Olivia yawned as she joined him in the living room. “Did you call in?”

“Mm hmm. For both of us, and I called the school.”

“I’m lucky to have someone who’s programmed to run off of two minutes of sleep. I refuse to wake up before the sun when I have a day off.”

“Habit. I try, but my brain isn’t wired to sleep in on days I’m used to going to work.”

Olivia nodded as she opened the fridge and poured a small glass of ginger ale. She took a tentative sip, drinking it slowly in case her stomach decided to expel that, too. “The kids are still out cold. None of us have thrown up for over three hours.”

“The worst of it is probably over.”

“Well, we did have a doctor who made a night-long house call,” she chuckled. “Even if it meant letting three contagious people sleep in his bed all night.”

Ethan laughed quietly. “Sounds like a good doctor.”

Zoey and Jonah shuffled into the kitchen, both yawning and wearing Ethan’s old tee shirts from Hopkins. They climbed into their seats at the table. Ethan didn’t want them to risk unsettling their stomachs again, so he gave them each a cup of Pedialyte and some toast to try.

He poured himself a cup of coffee and raised the mug to his lips. When the scent of freshly brewed coffee hit his senses, he paused. Normally the smell was inviting in the morning, but today it made him blanch.

Olivia gave him a curious glance. “You look like I did last night.”

“I think I feel that way, too.”  Cringing, he set the mug down and poured a glass of ginger ale instead. He took a few sips, only to set it down moments later. Olivia followed him when he left the room and found him throwing up in their bathroom.

“I’d say I told you so, but I know that would be a little harsh right now,” she teased gently, laying her hand on his back.

Ethan winced in disgust and took a swig of mouthwash to get rid of the taste. “I suppose my ego had me convinced I wouldn’t get sick. I stand corrected.”

She squeezed his shoulder. “Well, I’m feeling better than I did last night, so I think I can manage Zoey and Jonah for now. They’ll probably just nap most of the day.”

“If you’re sure.”

“I am.” Taking over, Olivia gripped his shoulders and steered him toward the bed. She urged him to lie down and pulled the covers over him. “Let me get the kids settled in and I’ll be right back.”

“Alright.”

She made her way to their bedroom door and paused, glancing back at him with an accusatory frown. “Oh, and by the way…. I told you so.”

Next Chapter

Tags, part 1

@princess-geek / @lapisreviewsstuff / @msjpuddleduck / @silverlitskies / @paulfwesley / @dr-brianna-casey-valentine / @junehiratas / @choicesstanblog / @trappedinfandoms / @justanotherrookie / @bellcat2010 / @desmaranj / @lion-ess24 / @nooruleman / @caseyvalentineramsey / @xee-na / @edith-eggs1 / @oofchoices / @schnitzelbutterfingers / @tefigranger / @jlynn12273 / @laceandlula / @crazy-loca-blog / @somegdchoices / @sanchita012 / @forthebrokenheartedthings / @lilyvalentine / @parkerattano / @drramseysownsme / @misswhit12 / @drethanfreakingramsey / @juneiswriting / @macy-ray85 / @swimmingauthordreamerbonk // @myusualnerdyself​ / @siaramsey​ / @takemyopenheart​ / @queencarb​ 

[simp-ly-in-love]

Bummer Summer

Step 3 (18 y/o)

Summary: Jamie is having a hard day mentally and Cove is eager to help them out 

Words: 2100

Trigger Warning: I am basing this off of what a less severe depressive episode may look like. In this, Jamie is on medication and has been seeing a therapist for years. Cove is privy to their lows prior to this episode. If you are easily triggered by mentions of depression/ vague descriptions of dissociation please read at your own risk. And if you are feeling low and can access help, please do :)

You couldn’t quite put your finger on what had felt off when you woke up, besides the extra strong desire to stay nestled comfortably in bed. You had thought that perhaps you had just had a bit of morning laziness, that surely would pass after an hour or so of browsing on your phone. Doubt started to creep in around the 45 minute mark, and after the morning slowly crept into the afternoon, you realized that perhaps that wasn’t going to be the case after all.

The slightly bad taste in your mouth from morning breath did nothing to persuade you to get up, nor did the low rumble of your stomach or the dryness of your mouth. The idea leaving bed simply seemed like an increasingly impossible task for today.

Wanting to block out this uncomfortable realization, you pulled your covers over your head and willed yourself to fall back asleep. Mom and Ma must have been out for the day since they hadn’t been up to check on you by now. And you vaguely remembered Liz mentioning she was leaving for the day to meet up with some friends. On any other day, having the house to yourself might have been nice, but now it just felt lonely.

The staccato buzzing of your phone cut through the silence, and begrudgingly you checked to see who had texted you.

Cove:  Jamie Are you home? I haven’t seen any sign of you all day

You felt mildly bad that you didn’t have the energy to respond. But even that bit of remorse felt muted, far away somehow. With a sigh, you turned your phone off, not wanting any more potential interruptions. You closed your eyes once more, hoping to drift out of consciousness…

…

“Jamie?” A soft voice called out to you, accompanied by a series of light shakes to your shoulder, pulling you from your second nap of the day. A mop of green hair greeted you as you blearily blinked the sleep from your eyes. You felt your eyebrows pinch together in confusion, and the voice spoke again before you could ask what Cove was doing there.

“You read my messages, but didn’t reply. You never do that” Cove explained, sheepishly. It was true, you had always made time for a quick reply whenever you had gotten a message. “I got a bit anxious, so I figured I’d check on you…”

For a moment, silence filled the air once more, as you stared at one another. You could see the concern pooled in Cove’s eyes as he stared back at you. Still you found yourself at a loss and couldn’t find the words to reply.

“Did you take your meds today?” Cove asked, determined to figure out what was going on with you. His head swung to look at your desk as he spoke, searching to see if you’d taken your daily dose. His eyebrows raised slightly in alarm when he saw the day’s portion still occupied. Without a thought, he quickly crossed the room and grabbed your meds and a half open bottle of water that had been on your desk. He offered them to you, looking at you with a mixture of pleading and expectancy.

Using all of your strength, you sat up for the first time all day, gingerly taking the pills and open bottle from him. Cove smiled softly as he watched you take your meds and drain the rest of the water. He took it from you once empty and threw it in your trash can with ease before joining you on your bed

“Are you having a hard day?” He asked, and you replied with a nod. Cove’s lips parted, presumably to ask you another question, when he was cut off by a much louder groan from your stomach. After a moment of surprise he let out a little chuckle then said, “I guess that answers my next question”

You felt your face flush with embarrassment at the exchange, but were relieved to see nothing but a soft smile on Cove’s face. Of course he never would have laughed at you for something like this, but seeing him still look at you like he always had in your current state really helped any lingering unease.

“Tell you what; How about if you go get ready for the day, and I’ll go get us something to eat?” Cove suggested cheerfully. Though still muted, you felt your heart fill a bit. You could always count on him to take care of you at times like this. When you agreed, his smile grew wide.

“Up and at ‘em” he declared, hopping out of bed and offering you both of his hands to take. Allowing yourself to stretch your back first, you placed both of your hands in his and allowed him to help you out of bed. As you slowly shuffled around your room, grabbing clothes from here and there to change into, Cove offered some words of encouragement and praise. “Take as long as you need,” He said with a smile after dropping you off at the bathroom. You nodded in acknowledgement to him before closing the door.

…

You could feel a change in yourself as soon as you stepped out of the bathroom. You definitely felt lighter after cleaning up, without the feelings of shame and slight disgust weighing you down. Feeling fresh even gave you the energy to discard your old clothes in the hamper and make your bed before heading downstairs.

As promised, Cove was sitting at the kitchen table with two bags from your favorite fast food place and some tall water glasses. When he heard your padding over, he looked up from his phone and smiled. “You look great, Jamie!” he stated, with the same enthusiasm he had the night of the ORCA fundraiser. His enthusiasm brought a sheepish curve to your lips as you joined him at the table.

“I know it’s not the healthiest, but I figured you’d enjoy some comfort food” Cove rambled as he handed you your meal and one glass of water.

“Thanks” You said gratefully before digging in, not quite catching the proud expression Cove was wearing. You ate together in comfortable silence, and you had to admit it felt incredibly good to finally have a full stomach and some water in you.

The orange hue of evening sun was the first thing you had noticed once you had finally tuned into your surroundings. Your mouth opened in awe when you checked the clock in the kitchen and it read almost 7 pm.

“I can’t believe I spent the whole day in bed…” You mumbled with a mixture of disappointment and sadness. While your mental health was something that you had actively been working on improving for years, there were still days like today. Sometimes, it made you feel like all of the progress you had made had been thrown out the window.

“Hey, don’t be so hard on yourself” Cove offered, his hand reaching across the table to capture one of yours. “I’m so proud of you for getting out of bed and getting ready,” he added, determined to re-inflate your mood. He let go only to clean up after you both and refill your waters.

Having only been satisfied after watching you drink two more full glasses of water, Cove suggested you go on a walk together. Truthfully, you weren’t quite feeling up to it, but you’d felt bad rejecting the idea when you knew he was only trying to help.

The sun was almost fully set by the time you’d arrived at the beach, adding a coolness to the air and the sand. Kicking off both of your shoes, Cove offered you a hand once more. You took it, allowing him to guide you to the shore. The coolness of the water was more shocking than you thought it’d be, causing you to jump a bit at the contact. A light laugh escaped from Cove, who seemed to be enjoying himself well enough as he watched you begin regrounding with the world.

You stood still, letting your eyes close as you focused on your surroundings. Taking a deep breath, you smelled the patent saltiness of the sea. The cool waves still washed over your ankles, though their chill was less shocking to you now. The distant cries of seagulls and chirps of crickets could be heard. A light wind gently stirred your hair, slightly tickling you. And the warm hand in yours offered a calming, comfortable presence.

When you reopened your eyes, the sky had changed from hues of orange to purples and blues. You turned to Cove, your rock for the day, and drew him in for a hug. He happily accepted, giving you a tight squeeze in return, his cheek resting on the top of your head. The two of you stayed like that until you were ready to let go, and to Cove’s delight, you were beaming at him.

“Thanks for taking care of me today, Cove”

“Thank you for going along with it,” he replied cheekily, flashing you a broad smile of his own. He knew you well enough to know that sometimes it took you more than one try to accept help when it was offered to you, especially on days like today. He was genuinely thrilled that you had allowed yourself to be vulnerable with him enough to let him take care of you. “Should we head back?”

“Sure” you agreed easily, this time offering him your hand to hold as you led the way home. You walked together, hand in hand, in silence until about halfway home when a thought suddenly occurred to you.”Hey Cove… How did you get in?”

A deep flush fell over Cove’s cheeks at the question. His free hand scratched awkwardly at the back of his neck, his eyes averted from yours as he awkwardly replied, “I… may or may not have picked the lock at your window…”

“WHAT?!” You exclaimed, more surprised than upset really.

Flustered by your reaction, Cove panickily tried to explain, “The front door was locked- and I tried calling you but your phone was going straight to voicemail. Then I saw you in bed and tried to wake you but you didn’t hear me… So i just-” Cove fished out his utility knife and mimed picking your window lock.

“Sorry… Please don’t be mad” Cove pleaded, puppy dog eyes aimed straight at you. You could only shake your head ruefully at his antics.

“Maybe I should just leave my windows unlocked from now on…” you mused aloud, bringing a smile back to Cove’s. You weren’t quite sure if it was due to his lack of a punishment or because he genuinely found the idea appealing.

“Honestly, why didn’t we think of that years ago?” Cove huffed out in a laugh.

“True, it would have saved me from you waking me up in the middle of the night all the time” You teased back. By the time your joint laughter died down, you had reached the street between your houses.

“Thanks again, Cove” You said, simultaneously pulling him in for another hug.

“Anytime Jamie… I hope tomorrow’s a better day. And even if it’s not, I’ll always be right across the street” You felt your heart melt a bit at his offer, and you gave him an extra tight squeeze in response. You really had been blessed with the sweetest, and most wonderfully attentive neighbor.

“Goodnight, Jamie” Cove bid you. You did the same, finally releasing him from your embrace and made your way to your respective front doors. Of course you both looked back at another before heading inside, offering each other a smile and a wave before finally letting the door close shut.

***

Only when you were ready for bed did you recover your cell phone that you had accidentally left in bed when you made it earlier. After waiting a few minutes for it to turn back on, a series of buzzes went off in rapid succession.

Cove:  Helllooooo Earth to Jamieeeee Why didn’t you respond ? I’m going to try calling you…

Conveniently, you also had 3 missed calls

Cove:  That’s it, I’m coming over Reply if you don’t want me to Or if you do … On my way

You couldn’t help but laugh at his unreturned messages. If there was one thing you could always count on, it was definitely Cove cheering you up, you thought as you settled into bed, a smile resting firmly on your face.

[descendantofthesparrow]

Encore - Part of your world - Harry Hook x reader - part 22 - planning

=

“beasty boy if yeh don’ tell meh where we are goin’ im goin’ ta rip that pretty grin off yer face!” Harry growled, trying to rip the blindfold on his eyes off but once again Ben slapped his hands away.

“pretty? Thank you~ and no this is a surprise! You can't see anything until we’re right where we need to be so hold on for just one more moment”

Harry was silent for a beat before he reached up to take off the blindfold again “ ‘ight that was a moment” he cackled a bit as Ben smacked his hand and he could feel the pout Ben was aiming at him.

“haha very funny now it's just around this corner!” Harry felt himself be tugged to the right and then abruptly stopped as Ben put his hands on his chest. “okay one moment”

“Ben” Harry warned, grinning slightly as Ben clicked his tongue at him and smacked his shoulder.

“okay….look!” Harry finally ripped off the blindfold, blinking fast from the sudden influx of sunlight that blinded him.

His jaw dropped as he looked at the large ship that rested in the docks before him. “I-Ben-wha’?”

Ben stepped in front of Harry and threw his arms wide open “this is my engagement gift to you and (y/n), I was planning on giving you this after your wedding but Evie gave me an idea that you two could use this to get married on!” Harry stared at the silvery-white sails that were held tightly by the pristine ropes.

“when-when did yeh start on this thing?!” Harry whispered yelled, climbing up the gangplank after Ben as the king went to give his friend a tour of his new ship. Ben gave a sheepish smile at that “, uh, I had it commissioned a bit after the barrier came down, it was originally going to be an apology gift to you and (y/n) for…well…taking her away from you” Harry's expression soured at the mention of when the vks kidnapped (y/n) to have FG send her back to her world “but then you proposed to (y/n) and I switched it up to an engagement gift! And luckily it was done just in time for you to possibly get married on” Ben clapped his hands together excitedly as Harry smirked at him “come on! I want to show you the captain's quarters!”

Harry followed Ben in stunned silence, spinning on his heels as he looked up at the magnificent sails.

-

“whew” you breathed, leaning back in Evie's sewing char and stretching your back “all that work just for the dress form huh?” Evie let out a small laugh, slipping your work in progress dress back into the form after she had you try it on to make sure her measurements were correct.

“Yeah, pretty much” she hummed, picking up a roll of chiffon and drawing some out until she reached the amount she needed “there's a lot that goes into dressmaking, even more, when it's for a wedding”

Uma hummed in agreement, scrolling through your tablet and seeing your designs for your dress and the bridesmaid's “rose gold?” Uma asked, facing the screen towards you. You glanced at it and nodded.

“yeah, rose gold looks good on just about anyone and it's pretty form-flattering color, my friend Jazzy’s a bit on the curvier side so I wanted her to feel comfortable yet fab as fuck so rose gold” Uma nodded, raising her brow at the one turquoise dress.

“what's this one?” Uma asked, raising her brow as you smacked your forehead.

“I knew I forgot about something!” you hissed, standing from Evie’s sewing chair and giving the girl a look. She immediately understood and left the room with an excuse of ‘forgetting something’ Uma raised her brows and looked back at you. “Uma, I meant to ask you this like, almost immediately after Harry proposed to me but” you reached out and took her hands “you have been by my side since the day Harry dragged me into the chip shop to join the crew, you accepted me as one of your own when you didn’t have to, and you didn’t turn me away when I told you the truth after lying to you about where I was from.” Uma eyes started to water as she realized where this was going. “you have been so supportive of both me and Harry and you are my best friend and pseudo sister, so on my wedding day, will you be my maid of honor?” Uma’s face scrunched up as tears of joy and shock ran down her face, she nodded and pulled you into a hug.

“yes, you fucking sap” Uma laughed, curling her fists into your shirt “ugg you’re making me cry”

You let out a small chuckled and squeezed her a bit, rubbing your thumb against her back “im sorry” she shook her head against your shoulder and pulled back, using her palms to dry her cheeks.

“it's fine, gah when did I get this emotional?” you giggled at that and shrugged.

“well there's no reason for you to bottle em up now, so” you gestured to her with a grin. Uma rolled her eyes and punched your shoulder “ow” you held your shoulder with a grin.

Evie stepped back into the room with a smile “well! You’ve got that done, your dress is being made, and you’ve got the guest list” Evie gestured to the purple folder on her sewing desk which had a white label printed on it with the words ‘guest list’. “now all you have left is the wedding party, the reception food planning, cake tasting with your aunt, decorations, flowers, and where you’re going to get married! Oh, and where you are going to have the reception too” Evie rambled, not watching you as you started to nervously tap your thumb against your ring.

Uma sighed and patted your shoulder “don’t worry girl, you got us and Harry to help with those decisions, it's not just your wedding to plan it's Harry’s too, and im sure he’d be more than willing to help out with everything he can” you giggled a bit and nodded.

“im sure, he still has to ask Harriet to be his best maid though” Uma and Evie gave you an odd look “he was going to go with Gil as his best man but he decided to go with Harriet instead so…best maid” Uma nodded while Evie took a second to shrug and turn back to your dress.

“So where are you thinking of having the ceremony,” Evie asked, distracted by creating the neckline for your dress.

“well, I was thinking the lost revenge?” you half asked half answered, looking to Uma for permission. She shrugged and nodded.

“yeah, if you two want to get married there go for it-“ she stopped mid-sentence as your phone started to ring. You quickly pulled it out and answered it when you saw the ID.

“hey harry, what's-…the docks? Why?...okay then? I'll see you soon” you snorted a bit; Harry had sounded very excited and had wanted you to come down to Ben's private docks for some reason. “uh, I have to go for a bit? Harry wants me to come down to the docks” Evie and Uma rose their brows but nodded.

“go on ahead, we can resume wedding stuff later, I’ll just be here working on the dress” Evie waved you off, Uma clamping your shoulder for a moment before leaning on Evie's sewing table as you walked out of the green room, got on your motorbike, and headed towards the docks.

-

You turned off your bike and took off your helmet, setting it on the seat and walking towards the docks, where you could see the form of Harry getting closer. “Harry?” he turned with a grin and held out his hand to you.

“(y/n)!” you grabbed onto his hand as you got close to him and smiled as he pulled you into his chest “I have somethin’ ta show yeh”

You gasped a bit as he covered your eyes with his hand and started to pull you towards the left end of the docks “uhhhh what's got you so excited?” you chuckled, tightly wrapping your hands around Harry's arm that held your hand and closed your eyes against his hand.

He took his hand off your eyes as he felt you close them and continued to pull you towards the surprise “you’ll see love, I promise, yer gonna love it”

You hummed in unknowing agreement and smiled as you felt Harry stop you and move in front of you, hands moving to your shoulders “yeh ready?”

“as I’ll ever be?” you laughed, gasping as Harry stepped beside you and told you to open your eyes “holy-shi- what?!” before you was a large dark brown ship with pure white sails, docked to Ben’s pirate docks. “what is this?!”

“it's our new ship love” Harry cooed, grabbing your hand and pulling you onto the ship, twirling you around for a moment before pulling your back against his chest “Ben had it made for us, and he” Harry paused for a moment “he had an idea about it”

He pulled away from you and started to walk towards the front of the ship at the bow “we-we can have an archway here, and-and fairy lights” he gestured above him with a wide grin, his eyes sparkling with excitement “strewn above us! And-and there” he pointed behind you. You turned to look at the back of the ship where the captain’s quarters were “you-you’ll come out and walk towards me…looking perfect, and then” you turned back to Harry with a smile on your face as Harry looked at you with the softest look you had seen on him. “then we’ll get married and we’ll start our new life together…here on the ship” you walked towards him, reaching out and grabbing his hands, pressing a kiss to his cheeks.

“you are such a dork and it's adorable “ Harry gave a sheepish grin “and that is an” you sighed dreamily, looking up at the sails “amazing idea… let's do it” you looked back at Harry, wrapping your arms around his neck and pulling him close “let's get married on this ship”

“yeah?” Harry whispered, bumping his forehead into yours and wrapping his arms around you.

“yeah” you giggled, pressing a soft kiss to his lips and laughing as Harry's lips pulled into a grin and he picked you up and spun you around.

He set you on your feet and hugged you tightly. “I love yeh (y/n)” he whispered, burying his face in your shoulder as you hugged him back just as tightly and whispered back.

“I love you too Harry”

-end of part 22-

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[doctorstethoscope]

The Right Chapter 4 || Aaron Hotchner x Fem!Reader

Hi besties we’re back besties :)))

Read previous chapters of this fic here!

 contains: brief mentions of a gun and domestic abuse, the beginning of ~feelings~ between hotch and reader

wc: 3.1k

The first thing you noticed when you woke up was the smell, which Reid would tell you was interesting, because smell is the sense that we lose the most in sleep. Hence, smoke alarms. Shaking the thought away with a fond smile, you padded into the kitchen slowly, finding Aaron with his jacket and tie long discarded, his shirt unbuttoned at the top and his sleeves rolled up to his elbows. 

“It smells so good!” You announced. 

“It’s olive oil and garlic.” Hotch chuckled as he turned away from the stove to face you. “And you’re supposed to be sleeping.” 

You craned your neck to look at the stovetop clock behind him. “I slept for three hours, Hotch. And I’m sure you’re going to enforce my full eight hours later tonight.” 

“Well, this isn’t ready yet.” He said. 

“Really? You aren’t just feeding me oil and garlic?” You quipped. 

“Don’t be a smartass,” he smirked at you. 

“I want to help,” you told him earnestly, looking up at him from where you’d perched yourself in one of the barstools at his counter. “What can I do?” 

“Here, chop this onion,” he said, sliding everything you’d need across the counter so you could stay seated. 

He moved around the kitchen gracefully, combining ingredients and stirring a sauce and boiling water for pasta with the ease of a practiced chef. He refused to tell you what he was making, and you leaned forward in your chair, trying to see if the spices by the stove would give you any clues. They didn’t, but before you knew it, Aaron was plating pasta with chicken and mushrooms and broccoli in a sauce that smelled heavenly.

 “Will you tell me now?” You whined as you both sat down at the table to eat. 

“It’s nothing special, really.” he laughed at your antics. “It’s pasta in a lemon-dill cream sauce.” 

“You’ve been holding out on us,” you accused as you took your first bite. “Aaron, this is delicious.” 

He smiled back at you, trying to ignore how much he loved hearing his first name come rolling from your lips. “Well, you helped.” 

“Please. I chopped vegetables and used the can opener. I certainly did not, and could not, whip up a lemon-dill cream sauce on a moment’s notice.” 

You continued to banter over dinner, laughing and smiling in a way it felt like you hadn’t in weeks. Aaron, ever-efficient as he was, had handled most of the cleanup as he was cooking, so all that was left was packing up the leftovers and putting your dishes in the dishwasher. When you closed the fridge, Aaron spoke up again. 

“So, Jess is supposed to drop off Jack tomorrow.” Aaron mentions, with a certain forced casualness. 

“Oh, I can be out of your hair.” You said with a smile that didn’t quite reach your eyes.  “I’m sure I can stay with Emily--”

“Woah, woah, slow down.” Aaron stopped you. “I’m not kicking you out. I was just going to say, I can ask Jess to keep him for a little while longer.” 

“Hotch, no way. He’s your son. I’m not kicking him out of his own house or keeping him away from his father.”

“Of course you aren’t. I can go visit him at Jess’s place and when you’re comfortable with him, he can come here.” 

“I’m plenty comfortable with Jack.” You assured him.  “I just meant, won’t it be weird for him, if I’m here? And I don’t want to intrude on your time with him.” 

“You’re not an intruder. Jack loves you. And I--” he started to say something, but caught himself. You decided not to think too hard about it. “I would be happy to have you here, with him.” 

You still felt uneasy-- you knew his time with Jack was precious. You took a deep breath, preparing to strike a compromise. “How about this-- I go stay with Emily-- listen--” you stopped him before he could cut you off. “I go stay with Emily tomorrow night. It’s Saturday. I need some girl time, and Jack needs some dad time. You and Jack can spend the day together, and then I can come back on Sunday and you can talk to him about me being here before I’m actually in his kitchen eating his cinnamon toast crunch. I know he loves me, and I love him too, but I don’t want to overwhelm him.”

You could tell that he wasn’t entirely sold on the idea of you being out of his sight for a whole day, but he wasn’t Josh-- he wasn’t going to try to use his emotions to control your behavior. He didn’t say anything, but you could see the discomfort on his face. You know that sooner or later, you’d have to have a conversation about where you’re actually going to live-- but you decide not to push him any further tonight. 

“I’ll be with Emily the whole time. After today, I’m pretty sure she’d shoot him on sight if given the opportunity. You don’t need to worry.” You told him, reaching over to squeeze his hand. Your touch grounded him, brought him back to reality.

He took a deep breath, resigning himself to give you what you wanted, just as he always would. “And you’re going to take your meds, and take it easy, and not--”

“Yes, dad.” You scoffed. “See, this is why I need you and Jack to take some time. You should get all of this out with him.” you laughed at him, and he grinned back at you. 

“You’re just as stubborn. That’s not my fault.” 

“Some people call that being strong-willed, Aaron.” you teased back, sticking your tongue out at him for good measure. 

Aaron panics slightly when he doesn’t find you in the guest room the next morning, but his anxiety evaporates when he sees you perched on the couch in the living room, your hair thrown up into a bun, sitting criss-cross with your feet tucked underneath you and your laptop on your lap. You’ve brewed a pot of coffee, and Aaron takes a minute to look at you fondly before that nagging voice at the back of his head reminds him that you’re his subordinate, that you were hurting, and that even if you weren’t, you could never love a bitter, old, broken man like him. 

“Working on something?” He asked, interrupting his own spiral. 

Your eyes shot up instantly, not having noticed his entrance. “Nothing important. The coffee’s still hot, I hope you don’t mind.” 

“Of course I don’t mind.” He reminds you, rolling his eyes goodnaturedly. “You’re not an intruder here. Especially not when you make a strong pot of coffee.” 

“Doing anything fun with Jack today?” You asked, shutting your laptop as he sat down at the other end of the couch. 

“It’s supposed to be nice, I think we’ll go to the park. He’s just about ready to take the training wheels off of his bike.” He smiled fondly. 

“Aw, my little man! I’m so excited for him.” You cooed, only brightening Aaron’s smile.

“What about you?” 

“I’m not sure. Emily said I should be ready for brunch and that she, JJ, and Garcia would handle the rest. She mentioned that someone gave her explicit instructions for me to take it easy, so I imagine we’ll probably be skydiving and binge drinking.”

“You think you’re real funny, don’t you?” Aaron asked dryly. 

“Yeah, actually, I do.” You smiled over at him, and the corners of his mouth quirked up before he could force them into their usual stoic line. 

There’s a knock at the door, and you shoot up. “That’s Em.” 

Aaron places a hand on your forearm as you trot past. “Hey.” His gentle voice stops you in your tracks. “Be safe, please? Be vigilant, and call me if anything happens?” He looks up at you, and you can see the lines of concern etched around his dark brown eyes.  

“Nothing’s going to happen, Aaron.” You placed your hand on top of his. “Enjoy your day with Jack. I’ll see you tomorrow.” 

There’s a moment that passes between you, and you almost think you’re going to lean and give him a peck on the cheek to say goodbye, but Emily knocks again and you’re both distracted. You roll your eyes at yourself as soon as your back is to Aaron. Clearly these painkillers were taking their toll on you.

When you and Emily arrived at the restaurant, JJ and Garcia were already at an outdoor table waiting for you. The four of you chatted and laughed over pancakes and coffee and fruit before walking around the downtown area shopping. Then JJ started leading you down a less-familiar street. 

“Where are we going?” you asked, picking up your pace a little to walk next to JJ, who was at the front of your four-person group on the sidewalk. 

“That is for us to know, and you to find out.” She winked at you with a smile before taking off ahead. You let her, falling into step with Penelope. 

“You know, too?” 

“Of course I do, kitten. But I’m not spoiling the surprise! Just be patient.” 

You know better than to even try with Emily. You just rolled your eyes, chuckling a little at your friends’ antics. Eventually, JJ is leading you up the steps of a brownstone, set back a little way from downtown. 

“What are we doing?” You asked breathlessly. 

“We’re just taking a peek.” JJ said, opening the door and leading you up to a second-floor unit. 

“This feels illegal.” You remark as Emily produces a pair of keys. 

“I know the owner,” she tells you, swinging the door open and letting you walk inside first.

Natural sunlight pours into the empty apartment. You look to the left and see a granite kitchen island, and crisp white cabinets situated between stainless steel appliances. The space that you assume to be the living area is open, and the room is of course void of furniture, but it’s not hard to imagine a loveseat in the center of the room, a chaise along the far wall, a coffee table in the middle, an open bottle of wine and all of your friends filling the empty space. 

“What are we doing here?” You ask with a little chuckle. 

“Well, we know that Josh’s name is on the lease at your current place.” Penelope starts. “And you just have a lot going on right now, and we wanted to help, so we were looking at some places for you. If you don’t like this one that’s fine, I have a whole catalogue of others sorted by distance from work and walkability and--” 

“You guys didn’t have to do that. Thank you.” You smiled. 

“We wanted to.” JJ tells you. 

“Well, what do you think? Go, look at the bedroom.” Emily prods, and you smile, swinging open the door across the room, revealing a large open bedroom and an en-suite bathroom with a truly gorgeous tile shower. 

“The place looks great, Em, it really does. I’m just going to have to think about it. There’s been a lot going on.” You understate. 

“Of course.” She responds. 

“Not to mention the fact that Hotch barely wanted to release me into your care for the night, so I’m not sure he’ll take well to me moving further than his guest room.” You laughed. 

“He’s got it, bad.” JJ comments offhandedly, and your jaw hits the floor. 

“Jennifer!” You chastise her.

“What? You can’t possibly play dumb here.” She asks. 

“I literally couldn’t have less of a clue what you’re talking about. Hotch has only ever been platonic and professional with me.” You denied.

“Well, of course, but he’s different with you.” Emily defends JJ. 

“Different how?”

“He’s--- he’s just different, sweet cheeks. He lets his walls down, and only by 10% or so, but for Hotch, that’s major.” Garcia supplies.

“He’s protective of you in the field.” JJ notes. 

“He’s protective of all of us in the field. We just get partnered up a lot.” You defend him, although you don’t know why. You’d want nothing more than to let them convince you that you meant something to Hotch the same way he meant something to you, but you couldn’t let yourself believe that. It would only mean more heartbreak later. 

“And who makes that decision?” Garcia reminds you.

“And it’s not just the field. He doesn’t even like it when the local cops look at you the wrong way or give you a hard time.”  Emily adds.

“You all need to get away from work more. You’re profiling when there’s nothing there.” You argue weakly. 

“You’ll see,” JJ smiles, rolling her eyes at you. “We’ll let you off the hook for now. But you might want to put a little thought into why your first worry about getting a new place is what Hotch would think.” 

The rest of the day found you back at Emily’s place, lounging around in comfy clothes and binging shitty rom-coms. You ordered a couple of pizzas for dinner, and passed around twizzlers and coca cola like you were at a middle school sleepover. It was nice. Great, even. Josh wasn’t the biggest fan of your coworkers, and you had grown more distant from them over your time with Josh. The conversation was breezy and light, the evening full of laughter. It wasn’t until later, when everyone was cleaning up and preparing to head out, that your tone became a little more serious. 

“Thank you guys, seriously.”

“You know you don’t have to thank us for eating takeout and watching movies in our sweats.” JJ tells you with a smile as she tosses some candy wrappers.

“And you know that’s not what I’m thanking you for. I know I wasn’t the best friend when Josh and I were together.” 

“Clearly that wasn’t your fault.” Emily reminds you. 

“Maybe not, but I still appreciate everything you all did for me today. I missed you.”

“We missed you too, bug.” Garcia said, wrapping you up in a hug. “Just don’t tell boss man that we stayed past your bedtime.”

You let out a laugh. “He’s so ridiculous.” 

“Ridiculously in loveeee,” JJ sings out teasingly. 

“Watch it, or I’ll tell him you kept me out late drinking!” You joked with her as you and Emily walked JJ and Garcia out the door. You and Emily bid your goodnights to each other as you slipped into her spare room, stretching out across the bed lazily. You feel your phone start to vibrate, but you can’t for the love of god remember which zippered pocket of your go-bag you’d left it in. When it stops vibrating, you let out a frustrated groan. Finally, you find it, in the pocket of the jeans you’d worn to brunch this morning. You have a missed call from Aaron, which you return immediately, flipping back over to lie against the mattress. He picks up on the first ring. 

“Hey, I didn’t wake you, did I?” 

You check the time briefly, rolling your eyes a little. It’s not even midnight. “No, I was awake.” You tell him. 

“Did the girls just leave?” He asks casually, but you know Garcia probably wasn’t joking about Hotch enforcing a bedtime. 

“A while ago. I was in the shower when you called.” 

“You’re an awful liar, you know.” He chuckles at you. 

“I thought we agreed that you were going to let all this parental energy out on Jack.” You responded, hoping he could hear the smirk in your voice. 

“I just don’t want you to push it.” Hotch confesses with a sigh. 

“Hotch, I’m okay. Really. You got me out of there and got me patched up. I’m good now.” you tell him, sitting up against the pillows. 

“I also let you go home with him that night after I saw him hit you.” He reminds you, and although you can’t actually see him, your mental picture of him, head hung and thumb running anxiously against his fingers, is startlingly real.

“I made that choice, Hotch. You gave me an out and I chose not to take it.” You reminded him. “That’s on me.” 

“No, it’s not. This wasn’t your fault.” He’s quick to correct you 

“Not yours, either.” You add.

“He pulled a gun on you that night.” He says, more to himself than to you. 

“Yeah, he did.” You said quietly.

“If I had let you go home with him, and he had--” He starts to spiral, but you pull him out of it. 

“Aaron. I’m right here on the phone with you. You came and got me out of there. I’m okay.” 

“I don’t know what I would have done. I can’t-- I can’t imagine a world without you in it.” He confesses, sounding breathless even though you were sure he was just sitting on the sofa at home. 

“You don’t need to. I’m right here.” You tell him. “Is that why you called?”

“It’s good to hear your voice.” He answers, in his own roundabout way. “Did you have a good day?” 

“Yeah, I did. What about you and Jack?” 

“Yeah, we did. We didn’t quite get the training wheels off yet, but we’re getting there. He’s so excited to see you tomorrow.” 

“He is?” You asked. 

“He is. Are you surprised? He’s not exactly shy about how much he likes you.” 

“No, I guess not,” you laugh, remembering a time he had nearly knocked you over in Aaron’s doorway with the force of his hug. “What did you tell him?’

“I just told him that you’d been feeling a little sick, and that you were going to be staying here until you were feeling better.”

“And he was okay?” 

“His exact words were ‘is she too sick to build legos with me,’ so yeah, I think he’s okay.” He laughed, and you tried to push down the sense of warmth that the sound of his laughter spread throughout your chest. It didn’t work. He interrupted your internal dilemma without realizing it. “I should let you get to sleep.” 

“Try to catch a few hours yourself, Hotchner.” You tell him. 

“I’ll see you in the morning. Goodnight.” 

“Hotch?” You say before he can hang up the phone. 

“Yeah?” He asks. 

“I can’t imagine a world without you in it, either.” You tell him in a whisper that’s almost self-conscious.

“You don’t need to. I’m right here.”

tagging:  @the-modernmary @greeneyedblondie44 @angelic-kisses13 @wanniiieeee @hotforhotchner11  @baumarvel @ssamorganhotchner

[nabsthevulture]

Bone Cleaning Aftercare "Oh no, my skull stinks!"

One of bone cleanings biggest annoyances is nasty smells being left in skulls and bones. It’s not an unfixable thing, but it can definitely be distressing and irritating. There are a few different approaches you can take to remedy this problem, and we’ll cover a few here.

First, go down a little list to figure out what could be causing the smell you’re dealing with. 

1. Is the skull fully clean?

-If not, then this is why your skull stinks. Any leftover rotting flesh or viscera will be not only a source of smell, but it can attract bugs, bacteria, and even start growing mold. Toss that critter back into maceration and let the rest rot off, unless you’re willing to pick it all off by hand. (No shame! I’ve done that plenty of times) 

2. Does the skull need degreasing?

-A greasy skull can definitely be a stinky skull. Make sure you thoroughly degrease your skull, and the smell should go away.

3. Is the skull waxy?

-That's grave wax, baby! Adipocere doesn’t usually smell, but sometimes it can really pack a nasal punch. You can remove it by scraping it off with a toothpick, an X-Acto blade, whatever you’ve got around. Even better is an old toothbrush; Brush away dry or under running water, it’ll come off relatively easy. Go ahead and use some dish soap as well, that’ll help give the skull a better smell.

4. Where is the smell coming from?

-This is probably the first question you ask yourself; Why does my skull stink? And Where is the stink coming from? Built up smell likes to linger in spots where the bone is dense, or where there’s a lot of small places for tissue to hide. The brain cavity can smell a lot like cat piss, in my personal experience. Brain likes to get really nasty while it rots. That’s one of the toughest smells I’ve had to get out of a skull, it’s just such a lingering scent. Smell coming from the nasal cavity could very well mean that there’s still tissue shoved up in there that needs to be fished out or rotted away. Locating the source will ultimately help you figure out what you’ve gotta do to remedy it.

5. Any weird discoloration?

-While not every bit of discoloration will smell, if you’re having a hard time finding the source of a smell, sniff the discolored spots. They would be stains from tissue or bacteria that occurred during the cleaning process, or could be hidden pockets of grease. 

6. Is the skull fully dry?

-Sometimes it can be hard to tell if a skull is all the way dry. The surface may be, but depending on how dense the skull is, water could take longer to dry out. If its degrease water, peroxide, or maceration water, it can smell. They may be cleaning process, but they can really smell bad. I personally have a degrease bucket that I haven’t messed with in a few weeks, affectionately nicknamed “Fart Bucket” because it smells horrible.

Now that that’s out of the way, let's get to the options you’ve got. There’s a few different things you can do, varying in involvement, chemicals, cleaning agents, and time.

Peroxide

A good starting place would be to give the skull a soak in warm water and peroxide. It can knock loose random dirt, and will begin to oxidize and puff up any remaining tissue. That’ll make it easier to spot and pick off if that’s what you feel inclined to do. You can leave the skull to soak for as little or as long as you want, though of course peroxide will begin to whiten the bone. If that’s not the desired effect, limit the soak to around 15-20 minutes. Give the skull a good thorough rinse afterwards to flush out anything that was knocked loose or that you decided to remove, and let it dry. If there’s persisting smell after that, move on to a different method! Peroxide will help with the little smells, but a bigger smell will need a stronger approach.

Heavy Duty Scrubbin’

Grab a bucket, some hot water, a scrubbing brush (Hard bristled toothbrushes are amazing for this) and your favorite smelling, strong dish soap. Lather up your skull and get to scrubbing! Don’t be shy with the soap, make sure you’re thorough. Scrub inside the nasal cavity (Carefully, if the turbinates are still in there), inside the brain cavity, around the sockets of the teeth, etc.. Rinse the skull off every once in a while and start again. It’s tedious for sure, but the results are what you’re after. 

The lower jaw will be an interesting clean job. The hole that runs through the mandible (Mandibular Foramen) can contain a lot of excess grease, build up, or left over meat. If you have em’, grab a couple of pipe cleaners and run them through that hole. Pour some soap into the hole, and keep flossing the pipe cleaner through.It’ll break the excess loose and clear it out on the way through. Make sure you have a few on hand, they’re likely to get really gross really fast.

Let your skull dry and give it a sniff. Still stinks a little? Try again! There’s no harm in scrubbing; Do it until you reach your desired result, or try something new. Either way, no harm done.

Soaks

If you want a less involved method, you’ll probably want to try soaking skulls in a couple of different mixtures. I excluded peroxide and made it its own category because of the chemicals bone whitening ability. It’s not a prolonged soak kind of thing, but these are! These soaks will also act as degreasing baths, given what you use.

Ammonia Soak

-Get yourself some lemon scented ammonia from the dollar store or wherever you may find it. (It doesn't have to be lemon scented, but citrus is an odor killer). Fill up a bucket with enough hot water to cover most of the skull, and then fill up the rest(about an inch or so over the skull) with the ammonia. Ammonia on its own isn’t a necessarily pleasant smell, but it’ll be diluted by the water and won’t ultimately smell like ammonia once dried. You can let this soak for however long you please, but if you’re in a hurry just wait until the water is cold and pull it out. Let it dry, and check it out. The longer you let it sit, the more likely the smell will dissipate. If you have one, a tank heater will keep the water warm and help the ammonia work it’s way through the bone and pull any residual grease out; Grease very well could be the source of the smell.

Acetone Soak

-You’re gonna do pretty much the same thing with this soak as you do with the ammonia, the biggest difference is that you’re only going to use a few ounces of acetone. It’s a strong chemical that works just fine in small quantities. Make sure the water covers the skull completely and then some, and then pour in around half a bottle of acetone (Standard bottle of nail polish remover) depending on the size of your container. Let it soak until its cold, or keep it in until you feel like taking it out. Acetone has a strong smell to it, and is also an agent used for degreasing. You’ll be looking at a two for one like with ammonia. If the smell persists, give it some more time. 

Dish Soap Soak

-Like the last two; Bucket and hot water, fill up above the skull, and then squeeze in some dish soap. Whatever smell you like, use that. Stir the solution up so it’s nicely mixed, and let it soak until its cold or longer if you wish. Let the skull dry, give it a sniff. The longer it hangs out in the soak, the more likely the smell will go. 

With soaks, you’re going to want to check the solution if you leave it sit for a long period of time. If it begins to smell nasty or get cloudy but you aren’t ready to pull it out yet, go ahead and restart your soak solution. The only thing worse than the smell leftover from bone cleaning processes, is the mixture between that smell and dirty degrease/soaking solutions. It’s like getting punched in both nostrils simultaneously. 

Obvious but mediocre solutions

(These are things my taxidermist friend has told me about clients doing in the past, and some are from personal experience. Some are good, some are just...not.)

-Spray em down with air freshener! It’ll help for a very short while before it wears off and goes back to smelling.

-Stick some dryer sheets in the back of the skull, why not

-Rub em down in coffee grounds (This can stain the bone)

-Stick em in a bag of coffee beans (This could also stain the bone)

-Sprinkle them with cinnamon (I have had this stain bone and it’s also like you’re just asking to get cinnamon in your nose)

-Soak them in rose petal water (Can’t speak to this method)

-Set it out in the sun for a few days, let the heat leech out the smell (This can bleach the bone if you leave it too long.)

Realistically, you can do whatever you need to do to get the job done. Just make sure you aren’t using agents that will damage the bones (or yourself) and you’re good to go! Keep in mind that bones that are already brittle, such as nature cleaned, sun bleached, boiled, or bleached skulls can be damaged by some of these processes. If they are brittle to the touch, flaky, easily scratch-able (As in you can put a scratch/groove in the bone very easily), or seem all around unstable, use your best judgement to decide whether or not you should clean them at all. Sometimes weird smelling skulls just need to be put in a display case or somewhere out of smelling distance and left alone.

These methods are applicable to all bones, not just skulls! But as i said above, use your best judgement to determine if the bone will hold up to any of these processes.

Hopefully this is helpful in some way to anyone looking for some help with stinky bones. If you have any questions, feel free to reach out!

[maybeimamuppet]

dance with you

“Jan, calm down, you’ll think of something,” Damian comforts, patting her back gently as Janis lies face-down on her bed and lets out a groan.

“Damian, prom is in a month! And it has to be perfect, it’s our senior year,” Janis huffs into her pillow.

“You’ll think of something perfect. You could... fill her locker with ping pong balls that say ‘prom’ and then when she opens it and they all fall out say ‘I finally got the balls to ask you to prom’?” Damian suggests.

Janis chuckles at that, finally poking her head out. “Is that how Elijah asked you?”

“Maybe,” Damian mumbles. “I thought it would at least make you smile.”

“You got me, then,” Janis says. “Ugh, why is this so hard? I had an easier time with the ACT.”

“Feelings.”

“Gross. I don’t want ‘em anymore,” Janis sighs.

“Just think of stuff she’s into. Like animals or math. You can borrow Pippa if you need to.” Damian says as Janis leans against his shoulder.

“Animals... math... I can probably work with that,” Janis says, a hint of a plan forming in her mind.

“There‘s my Janjan. You go Janjan. Ask the girl you’re already dating to prom,” Damian teases.

“Shut up! You know Caddy loves those tacky promposal things you see on YouTube, I gotta do something dorky,” Janis says. Cady really does love them, she gets so excited every time someone at school gets promposed to, the tackier the better.

“And you’ll think of something perfectly sappy and gross. I have faith.”

“Thanks, D.”

————-

On Monday, Janis uses her study hall period to hunt down Kevin G. Cady is in English on the other side of the building, so unless she goes really out of her way to go to the bathroom there’s no chance of her finding out what Janis is up to.

She finds Kevin in the library, reading what appears to be a math textbook cover to cover. Janis puts on some fake confidence and marches her way up to his table, sliding into the chair across from him.

“Yo, Sarkisian, how ya been?” Kevin asks, closing the book and looking up at her.

“Um... fine. Listen, can you help me with something?” Janis says hastily.

“Depends,” Kevin responds. “What do you need and what do I get out of it?”

“I’m trying to think of a way to ask Caddy to prom, is there any sort of, like, equation or something that would spell out prom if she solved it or something? Something math related I could do?” Janis pleads. She had decided getting animals involved was a little more risky than she was willing to try.

“Oh. Uh, I don’t... actually know about that. I can check with Norbury and get back to you?” Kevin says.

“Sure. Just, would you be able to do it soon? Like, sometime this week? I wanna give her time to get everything prepared, and prom is less than a month away.”

“Sure thing, Sarks. Don’t stress, Africa never shuts up about you. She’ll say yes.”

“Thanks, Kevin. I really appreciate it.” Janis says, relieved.

“Anything for Heron. We’d be a fuckin’ wreck without her.”

—————

On Wednesday, Janis is sitting in art when none other than Kevin comes barreling through the door, making a beeline for her.

“Yo, Picasso, Norbury and I have somethin’ for ya,” He calls.

“Really?” Janis asks, tucking her paintbrush behind her ear.

“Yeah. Um, Norbury got really excited when I told her you were trying to think of a good way to ask Africa and did a lot of research. They have a strange relationship. Anyway. She found this dope series of equations that spells ‘prom’ once it’s graphed. Norbury said you can ask her during Mathletes practice on Friday using it, if you’re into that.” Kevin says.

“Oh, that’s perfect. I’ll talk to Ms. Norbury, I have a free next. Thank you, thank you, thank you,” Janis says. “I owe you big time.”

“You wanna design a new logo for my DJ business?” He asks with a slightly creepy wink.

“Sure. Uh, how long do I have?” Janis asks, pulling out her sketchbook to get going.

“As long as you need, I... um. Don’t get many gigs. Also, don’t fuck it up with Heron, please.” Kevin begs.

“I’ll do my best,” Janis says, determined not to.

-

Janis heads to Ms. Norbury’s classroom next, knocking on the doorframe. This is her plan period, so there’s nobody else there.

“Oh, Janis, hello. Kevin told me you might come by,” She says once she looks up.

“Um, yeah. He said you found something I could use to ask Cady to prom?” Janis says nervously. Ms. Norbury is one of the sweetest teachers at their school, but Janis always gets anxious when she talks to adults.

“I do indeed,” Ms. Norbury says, pulling out a sheet of very complicated looking numbers and letters. “This looks like this, once it’s been graphed.” She flips the page over to reveal a graph with what looks like ‘prom ?’ in cursive.

“This is perfect. Can Caddy really solve this kind of stuff?” Janis asks, looking at the equations again.

“She can,” Ms. Norbury confirms. “She’s my MVP, so to speak. If you’d like, we have practice this Friday after school, we can squeeze this in at the end.”

“That would be great,” Janis breathes with relief.

They decide that Janis would drop by on Friday morning to drop off a few supplies, and then show up before Cady in the afternoon. She would hide in the classroom storage closet until Cady solved her graph, and then pop out with prom balloons and some flowers.

It’s just tacky enough for Cady to love, and not quite tacky enough for Janis to hate. It’s perfect.

———

Friday rolls around quicker than Janis is quite ready for. She wakes up two hours early to head to the party store and get the balloons, and then to the convenience store next door to grab a bouquet of pink roses, one of Cady’s favorite flowers.

Ms. Norbury looks rather startled when she comes barreling into the room in a frenzy, but shoots her a wink as she stuffs everything into the closet and dashes back out the door to meet Cady like normal.

She’s just barely gotten her breath back under control when Cady comes bouncing through the doors, auburn curls in a ponytail today. As always, she looks for Janis by her locker, smiling as she spies her and comes up for a hug.

“Hi, Jayjay,” She says, wrapping Janis up tightly.

“Hi Peanut,” Janis says back, kissing her forehead. “Did you take your medicines today?”

“Mmhmm! Did you take yours?” Cady answers. Cady almost always remembers, Janis almost always forgets.

“No,” Janis answers, looking around as she pulls the bottle from her backpack as if she’s committing a felony. She’s not, but they’re technically not allowed to carry their own medications. “Did you have breakfast?”

“No,” Cady mumbles. She struggles sometimes to recognize physical sensations, occasionally forgoing a meal or forgetting to stay hydrated, especially if she’s sucked into an activity or a routine.

“Eat one of your Kälteens, then,” Janis says once her pills are down and the bottle hidden away in her bag again. Cady does, offering one to her too. “Thanks, babe.”

“Are you okay, mpenzi? You look nervous,” Cady says worriedly. Shit.

“Yeah I’m fine, everything’s fine! All good,” Janis says rapidly, shoving a large bite of her bar into her mouth and grinning at her like a chipmunk.

“Okay...” Cady says, clearly not believing her even slightly but also recognizing it’s not something Janis wants to talk about.

The warning bell rings then, Cady pouting as she hugs Janis goodbye. “Bye, Butterfly. Have a good day,” Janis says, pecking her lips gently.

“Bye, Bluejay. I love you,” Cady says, blowing her another kiss as she walks away.

“I love you too!” Janis calls after her. And that makes this afternoon much easier, she thinks to herself.

-

Janis is almost relieved when school finally ends, the nerves having been building inside her as the day went on. Luckily Janis has study hall in the science wing directly above the math wing, allowing her to rush down and get to Ms. Norbury’s room before anyone else. Cady has English on the other side of the building, so she’s commonly the last one to arrive at practice.

She opens the cupboard where she’ll be spending the next hour or so, luckily spotting an outlet so she can charge her phone to keep herself busy. Ms. Norbury agreed to film for her, so she has that covered. She makes sure no light shines out and sits on the ground, peeking under the doorframe as Cady enters, calling a hello to everyone else.

They all mill around and chat for a while before Ms. Norbury enters again with their practice problems for the day. Sometimes they practice competition style and other days they just make sure their problem solving skills are still up to snuff. Today is the latter. Cady greets Ms. Norbury as well, asking about her day and complimenting her blouse.

The boys all sit down first, having been informed of the plan, leaving Cady the seat with the best view of the cabinet Janis is in so she’ll be able to see the reveal right away.

Janis watches her work for a while, having to hold on a chuckle as Cady’s brows furrow in concentration and she taps away furiously on her calculator. She’s so cute. She finishes first, taking the time to double check her work before going to Ms. Norbury for the answer key.

“You finished, Cady?” Ms. Norbury asks, taking her worksheet to check over it.

“Yeah, I’m not sure about number eight though,” Cady says, rubbing her sleeve against her lips nervously.

“You got it correct, Cady. We’ve talked about this. Confidence,” their teacher chides gently. “I have some bonus things for you to work on now, we need to work on graphing practice more. Here you go.”

Janis perks up at that, standing quietly and grabbing hold of her balloons and flowers. There’s just a big enough gap between the door and its frame that she can still peek and see what Cady’s up to.

Cady taps away on her calculator again, plotting all the points down with her pencil carefully. Her brow gets progressively lower with her confusion as she goes, starting to realize something might be up here.

Her head snaps up when she finishes connecting all the points and sees what it spells, Janis taking that as her cue to step out of the closet. That’s a hell of a metaphor, she thinks, bracing herself for Cady’s reaction.

Cady gives an excited gasp when she sees her, scrambling out of her chair and rushing to leap into her arms. Janis drops the balloons and flowers to catch her, glad she had the foresight to go for a balloon weight. “Cady Heron, will you go to prom with me?”

“Of course I will, goofy,” Cady says, sounding a little choked up. “This was perfect.”

“Good,” Janis says, setting her down gently and pressing their lips together. She forgets they’re not alone until the other Mathletes start whistling and cheering, and Ms. Norbury gives an audible coo. They both break apart, blushing violently. “I love you.”

“I love you too. How long were you in there?” Cady asks, pointing to the cupboard as she bends over to pick up the abandoned roses.

“I dunno. About ten minutes before you got here, I think. I wasn’t paying attention to the time.”

“You hid in a closet for an hour just to ask me to prom?” Cady asks, hugging her tightly again.

“Apparently I did, yes.”

“You’re such a dork, I love you. I’m so excited! We get to match this year,” Cady squeals, bouncing up and down.

“Treat that one right, Africa! She’s committed,” Kevin hollers from behind them.

“Oh, I absolutely will,” Cady purrs, leaning in for another sweet kiss.

————-

Damian insists on taking them both shopping, individually of course, so as not to ruin the reveal. Cady gets to go first, since she didn’t get to pick an outfit for Spring Fling last year. Cady would decide the color scheme, and Damian would pass that information to Janis when it was her turn.

“This is fun!” Cady cheers, lugging him around the mall happily.

“We haven’t even gotten to the store yet, Cads,” Damian says, huffing slightly. For how small she is, Cady moves very quickly. He can’t tell if it’s the autism, the bisexuality, or some leftover instinct from Kenya, but he’s exhausted.

“I know, but I like hanging out with you! You’re fun,” Cady says as she swings their arms back and forth happily.

“Aww. You’re fun too, Cads.” Damian responds, touched. “So, do you have any ideas of what kind of dress you want? Wait, do you even want a dress?”

“I want a dress, yes,” Cady giggles. “I think a suit could be fun, but I didn’t get to wear a dress last year. I think I want a long one? But I don’t like when they have long sleeves, they’re usually lace and it’s too itchy.” She looks at him questioningly, as if asking his approval for her opinions.

“Okay, we can work with that,” Damian says as they enter.

“Whoa,” Cady blurts, immediately slightly overwhelmed by all the colors and big poofy skirts.

“Yeah, it’s a lot,” Damian chuckles. “Do you wanna split up and look or stick together?”

“Stick together,” Cady says hastily, pressing closer. “I trust your fashion sense more than my own anyway.”

Damian thinks that’s probably a fair assessment. “Okay, I think your sizes are over here.” He starts flicking through a rack, and she roots through the one next to it. They have to be a bit more particular due to Cady’s sensitivity to certain fabrics, but they get several good options.

“Oh, this is great,” Cady says as Damian hands her a gown. “My cousin had some Broadway star take her shopping for her prom last year and it didn’t go very well. Turns out a future Broadway star is much better.”

“Wait, your cousin had a Broadway actor take her prom shopping? How did she swing that?” Damian asks.

“Oh, her school turned their prom into some big civil rights thing, they wouldn’t let her go since she’s a lesbian and wanted to take her girlfriend. They came down from New York to bring attention to it and stuff, I think. Her name is Emma.” Cady says, grabbing another dress from the rack.

“Emma? Wait, does she live in Indiana?” Damian asks, excitement building.

“Yeah, why?”

“Emma Nolan is your cousin?! Janis and I each watched her video, like, fifty times. We donated to her campaign thing for the inclusive prom,” Damian says.

“Oh, really? That’s so sweet, I’ll tell her. She’d love to meet you guys. I’ve told her a lot about you,” Cady says, now weighed down by a mountain of heavy dresses.

“Oh my god, yes please, she’s such an icon. Anyway, give me these, I can’t even see your face anymore. Let’s go pick your dress!” And with that, the pile is transferred to Damian and they head towards the changing rooms.

The first dress she tries is an amethyst color, and mermaid style. She likes how it looks in the mirror, but it’s so tight around her legs that she almost falls flat on her face when she goes to show it off. Damian catches her and immediately turns her around to go try something else.

The second one is an emerald green, with a shorter skirt and long (but thankfully not itchy) sleeves. She’s more into the length than she thought she would be, and the color suits her. Damian takes a photo so they can compare it to her other options.

The third dress is a beautiful yellow color, and has a sweetheart neckline and thin straps. It reminds her of her costume from Beauty and the Beast. She absolutely loves it, but it turns out to be way too large and her whole chest is pretty much exposed. Oh well.

Her fourth option is a periwinkle two-piece contraption with a very complicated top piece and a long poofy skirt. She likes the color and the way it fits, but the neckline makes her feel like she’s choking and the material of the skirt is very itchy. Damian claps when he sees her in it, though, so she decides to keep it as an option.

The fifth time turns out to be the charm. It’s a royal blue gown, the bodice tight and embroidered with a large flower pattern, and a skirt that flares out at her waist. The  short sleeves hang just off her shoulders, and it makes her feel like a princess. This might be the one.

Damian’s eyes go wide as he spies her coming from behind the curtain, gasping at the beauty of it. “This one this one this one,” he repeats excitedly, clapping his hands in between. “What do you think?”

“I really like it,” Cady says, turning to look at herself in another mirror. “The material is really nice. And the color is so pretty.”

“It makes your eyes pop. And it goes so well with your hair,” Damian says as he comes up behind her, laughing as she starts moving her hips to see how the skirt swishes.

“The swish is good,” Cady giggles. “Do you think Janis will like it?”

“She would love anything you feel good in, you know that,” Damian says. “But yes, I think we’ll be lucky if she doesn’t pass out when she sees you. You look gorgeous, Little Slice.”

“Thank you. Oh, wait, can you take a picture to show my mom? She wanted to come with us but she got stuck with a work thing,” Cady asks. “I think she said someone brought in a sick elephant and they had to decide what to do with it.”

“An eleph- okay, sure. Smile,” He responds, taking her phone and snapping a few photos. “There you go. Wanna go get some boba?”

“Ooh, yes!” Cady squeals.

————-

The week after is Janis’ turn, Damian taking her shopping along with both of their mothers and Juliana. It’s much easier  shopping for suits. There’s less variety, so they don’t have to decide from as many options.

Damian goes first, he and his date Elijah having decided on an emerald color scheme for their outfits. He tries on two options, a slate grey suit with a green button up underneath, and a fully green suit with a black button up.

He looks great in both, but Julie in her typical brutally honest fashion says he looks rather like a tree in the full green one. Janis’ mom whacks her on the back of the head and tells her to be polite, but Damian just laughs and agrees with her, going with the grey ensemble.

Janis’ turn. Damian tells her that Cady’s dress is a royal blue, and that’s all the detail she gets. She grins, trying to imagine what her girlfriend will look like on the night, wondering what style of dress she chose. Janis does love Cady in blue.

Their group wanders aimlessly for a minute until Janis finds a black pantsuit in her size, Damian grabbing a soft blue crew neck t-shirt as an option to go under it, as well as a white button down and cobalt skinny tie as an alternate.

She heads to the changing room, tugging the curtain closed and staring at her pieces for a second. She decides to try the more traditional button down and tie first, fumbling with it for a second before giving up and heading out, asking her mom to tie it for her.

Janis looks in the mirror once her mom loops it around her neck correctly, grinning at what she sees. She looks hot. The thin legs of the pants make her look even taller than she already is. They’re a little long, so she’ll have to get it tailored a bit, but the fit other than that is perfect. The dark blazer accentuates her shoulders, and the length of the sleeves makes her feel like a boss bitch.

She turns around to see what her little crew thinks, finding Julie already in Damian’s lap and wide grins on everyone’s faces.

“You look beautiful, hon. Very sophisticated,” Ms. Hubbard says, her own mom sneakily wiping a tear away and nodding in agreement.

“Go see what you look like with the t-shirt instead,” her sister demands. She does, heading back to change before pulling the blazer back on. She looks in the mirror again. The t-shirt is a little less formal, but she still looks very dapper.

“Which do you like better, baby girl?” Her mom asks. She has to think for a moment. The shirt allows her to match more with Cady, and is more comfortable. But if she wore a tie, Cady could use it to pull her into kisses, which she’s always wanted to do.

She decides they’ll be doing plenty of kissing anyway, and goes with what she feels more comfortable in. “I like this. I think once I have my accessories and makeup on and stuff it’ll still be fancy enough.”

“I think so too,” Damian says, removing her sister from his lap to stand. He heads to change back into his so their moms can take pictures of them together.

Janis’ phone pings right as she’s about to hand it over for a photo. She pulls it back to check, grinning a little when she sees a message from Cady.

Caddy Cakes: Hi lovey!!!! 🥰📷 Did you pick an outfit yet??

Jellybean: hi baby

Jellybean: i just picked my suit, no you can’t see it yet

Caddy Cakes: D:

Caddy Cakes: Just kidding, I know. I have a request

Jellybean: 🤨

Caddy Cakes: Can I see you in heels????? Pleeeeeeaase?? Just for prom night and then I’ll never make you wear them again 🥺🥺

Caddy Cakes: Sent a picture: Pwease?

Jellybean: you gotta stop doing the puppy eyes

Jellybean: fine. i’ll talk to damian

Caddy Cakes: Oh yay!!! Ok I’ll let you go now. I love you!!!!! Mwah!

Jellybean: i love you too baby 📷📷

She clicks her phone off and stares at it for a second, realizing what she’s just gotten herself into.

“What happened?” Damian asks, concerned something is seriously wrong.

“Caddy wants me to wear heels,” Janis whines as she buries her face in his blazer.

“You are so fucking whipped,” Damian teases. “We’ll find something.”

Their moms finally finish taking photos and they head to the shoe store, Janis looking longingly at the flat men’s dress shoes Damian chooses from. Once his are picked, they head over to the high heels. Janis stares incredulously at the height of some of them, very glad she escaped the Plastics before the heels got this high.

Juliana suddenly comes running at her holding a box, nearly tripping over her own feet and falling on her face until Janis reaches out to steady her. Julie shoves the box at her, Janis taking it curiously and looking to see what her sister has found.

She pulls back the tissue paper to find a pair of stiletto heels (which concerns her, thin heels are not a good way to introduce yourself to them), about four or five inches high and the same royal blue as their color scheme.

“These are huge, Jules,” Janis says incredulously. “Pretty, but... damn.”

“They’re the only ones that match,” Juliana pants, still out of breath from dashing around the store. “I checked everywhere.”

Janis looks at them again. Maybe if she practiced wearing them she could do it. “I’ll try them. You gotta help me, though, or I’m gonna fall on my ass.”

Juliana giggles at that but nods as Janis heads over to a bench to sit, tugging off her comfortable boots. She immediately regrets agreeing to this, but does kind of understand the appeal once she stands up for the first time.

With the height of the heel she’s roughly six and a half feet tall and feeling like she can grind the patriarchy to a pulp under her foot. Of course, it all flies out the window when she tries to take a step, since her entire gait has to shift.

Julie grabs her hands to steady her, guiding her slowly down the aisle like she’s teaching a baby how to walk. Unfortunately, Damian and their mothers come back at this point, all of them immediately bursting out laughing at the sight.

“Oh, baby girl, you’ll have to practice,” her mom giggles.

“Those shoes are perfect, though,” Damian says excitedly.

“I picked ‘em!” Juliana says proudly.

Damian looks impressed. “Nice, squirt. You have a knack for that.” Juliana beams proudly as Janis messes up her hair, immediately losing her balance.

“Who fucking invented these,” she grumbles crankily under her breath.

“Language, Janny,” her mom chides warningly, despite knowing she swears all the time.

Janis looks sheepish, turning away. “Sorry Mama.”

“Alright, let’s go get you kids fed and head home,” Ms. Hubbard says.

“God, yes please,” Janis breathes, yanking the shoes off her feet and stuffing them

back in the box.

————-

The day before the dance, Cady insists on all three art freaks (plus Juliana, who had her own middle school dance on the same night) going to the spa together.

It’s a lovely place, very clean and bright. Janis decides to get her nails all painted the same royal blue shade to match their outfits, Cady gets a glittery silver, and Juliana gets a purple to match the dress she had picked. Damian felt left out and decides to get his painted green.

Since they’re not getting any kind of fancy processes done, they’re all led back to sit next to one another in massage chairs to wait for their nail technicians. The hostess offers them a drink of their choice, Damian and Julie choose a cola, Cady gets water and Janis asks for a Sprite.

While they wait for their drinks, their nail techs come to get to work on them. It turns out that part of the package is hot stone massages on their legs, and warm lotion massages on their arms while they get their nails painted. Janis nearly falls asleep in her chair, lulled by the soothing warmth of the lotion and the repetitive motion of the chair.

She’s startled back awake by the lady returning with their drinks, learning that they had run out of Sprite and offered a Mountain Dew instead. She says it’s fine and takes it, finding the contrast of the drink and the sensations she’s experiencing very funny.

Once their nails are all painted, they’re led over to a drying station in the middle of the room, sitting on benches and sticking their hands and feet under fans to blow their nails dry. Cady leans her head on Janis’ shoulder while they wait, Janis kissing her hair and pressing her cheek against the top of her head.

“I can’t wait to see you tomorrow,” Cady whispers. “I’m so excited.”

“I can’t wait either, Peanut. You’re going to look so beautiful,” Janis responds softly, pulling her into a sweet kiss once her nails are finished and safe to use again.

Cady looks sad to see Janis go once they have to pay and leave, but cheers up a bit when she’s reminded that they get to spend the whole night together tomorrow.

————

On the day, Janis’ mom helps her get ready. The dance doesn’t start until nine, but she and Cady are going out to dinner with Damian and Elijah first, so she has to be ready early.

She’s lucky that her mom appreciates her style. She applies some natural looking makeup around her eyes, which is a bit different than Janis normally does, but she does have to admit it’s a nice look. She’s surprised when her mom gets to the lips, pulling out a blue lipstick, so dark it’s almost black. It’s perfect.

Janis thinks she looks sort of like a model when she looks in the mirror as her mom starts working on her hair.

“I’ve missed doing this for you,” her mom says as she starts brushing out her hair.

“You can anytime, Mama. I hate doing it,” Janis huffs.

“You always did, baby girl, you always did,” her mother replies. Once she finishes brushing it, she applies a few products to get her natural wave back into it, and then starts slicking it to the side with some gel. Once it’s finished, all her hair is resting over her shoulder. It’s a very elegant look. “There.”

“Mama, are you crying?” Janis asks, turning around to hug her.

“No,” her mom sniffs. “Yes. You’ve just... grown into such a beautiful young lady. Feels like the years have gotten away from me. Won’t be too much longer before I’m doing this on your wedding day.”

Janis laughs at that. “You’ve got a while, I’m nowhere near ready to be married yet. I love you.”

Her mom squeezes her, brushing a hand against her cheek as she lets her go. “I love you too, baby girl. Go put your suit on, I’ve got to help your sister now.”

-

Janis heads to her room, tugging on her now perfectly tailored suit pants, then her royal blue t-shirt, her blazer, and necklaces. She decides to forgo the shoes for as long as she can, leaving them resting on her bed. She slides her fanciest rings on as a finishing touch and heads to look at herself in the mirror.

It’s strange. She’s wearing a suit, but she looks more feminine than she has in a long time. Even in comparison to her suit from last year’s Spring Fling where she wore a skirt, it’s a more feminine look. She decides she’s into it. She looks good.

-

She heads downstairs right as Damian and his date pull up outside. Juliana goes rushing up to hug him, looking beautiful in her lavender dress. Janis is glad her sister and best friend get along so well.

“Looking good, guys,” she says as her sister finally releases him. Elijah wound up choosing the option Damian didn’t, looking quite handsome in his green ensemble. He’s shorter than Damian, so he looks less like a tree.

“So do you! You look so good, Jan,” Damian says, pulling her into a gentle hug so he doesn’t mess anything up.

“Thanks,” Janis says shyly, spinning around to show off with her shoes still in her hand. “When’s Caddy coming? I wanna see her.”

“She texted me and said she’s gonna be a couple minutes late, she shouldn’t be too much longer,” Damian responds, checking the time on his phone. “Oh, speak of the devil.”

Cady’s parents pull up then, Cady’s door opening before the car even comes to a complete stop. Janis gasps when she sees her girlfriend in her dress for the first time.

Before she even has time to fully process it, her jaw hanging open, her girlfriend is in her arms, hugging her tightly. “Janis, oh my god! You look incredible!”

“So do you,” Janis says, pulling back for a second to see her. “You look like a princess.”

Cady really does, her long auburn hair has been braided into a thick crown around her head, the remaining strands tied in a bun on top of her head and two little pieces hanging out to frame her face. Her makeup is heavy around her eyes, silver shadow on her lids and eyelashes dark. She looks very ethereal. Her lipstick is more natural, and Janis likes that she can still see her freckles through her face makeup.

“You look so hot! Very, um, sexy businesswoman going to a fancy thing,” Cady says, reaching out to feel her blazer. Janis realizes when she doesn’t have to reach as far that their height balance is off, thrown by Cady’s shoes.

“Thanks,” Janis laughs. “I think.”

“Put your shoes on, I wanna see,” Cady demands, pointing to the heels Janis is still holding in her hand.

“Fine,” Janis pouts as she rests them

on the ground and steps into them carefully. Cady reaches out to steady her at first before letting go once she’s more stable. Janis has been wearing them around the house all month to get used to them.

“Jesus, you’re tall,” Cady giggles, looking up at her. “Oh, wait, I have your-um. Thingy.”

“Boutonnière, baby. Thank you,” Janis laughs as Cady tenderly pins it on. “Here’s your corsage.”

“Why thank you,” Cady says as Janis slides it on her wrist and kisses her knuckles. “Now come on, we gotta take pictures. I want to kiss you but I can’t mess up your makeup until those are done.”

“Okay, Peanut, let’s go,” Janis chuckles, taking her hand and stumbling slightly as she heads over to Damian, Elijah, and their parents.

They take every cliché prom photo in the book, all awkward poses and cheesy smiles. Janis nearly breaks her ankle trying to do their jump shot in those shoes, but Cady somehow does and lands it perfectly, reaching out to steady Janis with a chuckle.

They take one more jokey shot of each other with the wrong dates, Cady with Damian and Janis with Elijah looking at each other confusedly before switching back to who they’re meant to be with.

“Alright, you crazy kids, get out of here,” Damian’s mom demands, shoving them towards their Uber that had pulled up. None of them were into the idea of renting a limo, but none of them wanted to drive either.

“Be safe!” Janis’ mom adds.

“Make good choices!” Cady’s mom pipes up. Her dad and Cady both roll their eyes lovingly.

————-

As they pull up to the restaurant, everyone clambers out quickly. Damian and Elijah head in first, Janis and Cady following hand in hand a few paces behind them. Just before they reach the doors, Cady tugs on Janis’ hand, hauling her backwards.

“Wha- oh, okay,” Janis stutters, gasping as Cady looks around quickly before fisting a hand in her t-shirt and pulling her down for a hot mess of a kiss. Turns out the shirt works just fine. Janis kisses her back just as hard, wrapping her arms around Cady’s waist to pull her closer.

When they finally break apart, their lipsticks have fully blended together. “Glad we made it to the dance before we ruined our makeup,” Cady chuckles breathlessly, pulling two makeup wipes out of her clutch to get rid of the evidence. Damian looks at them knowingly when they walk in several minutes late suddenly missing lipstick, but neither of them care.

-

It’s a fancy restaurant, and their table is next to a water feature. Janis immediately sticks her hand in it, causing water to splash everywhere for a second until she pulls it out.

“Janis, what? Why did you do that?” Cady asks in exasperation as she grabs a napkin from their table to dry Janis’ hand.

Janis looks down sheepishly. “I wanted to see if it was real.”

“Well now you know,” Cady says, dabbing at the splash marks on her suit and wondering how a fountain could be fake. “And I’m sitting next to that. You get the outside.”

“Sorry, Caddy.”

“Don’t be sorry, my love. I just worry about your regard for social norms and sense of self preservation sometimes.” Cady comforts, kissing her cheek gently to cheer her up.

“Oh, speaking of which, I got a great idea for senior pranks,” Janis says excitedly. Damian and Elijah both lean in across the table, as if they’re plotting something for the mafia. “I’m gonna get a cow and stick it on the second floor, and then put chickens in the elevator. Cows don’t go down stairs, so they’ll try to put it in the elevator and find the chickens.”

“Where are you going to get any of these things?” Elijah asks. It’s a fair question.

“My mom knows a guy, one of her old classmates is a farmer and he said I could borrow some of his livestock,” Janis explains.

“I- wh-“ Cady stutters, trying to find a response to this. “If you get expelled before you can graduate I’m not gonna help you.” Her own plan was just to stick a bunch of plastic forks in the football field. Gretchen and Karen had already agreed to help, too.

“I won’t get caught. It’ll be fine,” Janis says, sounding as if she already knows it won’t.

“That’s actually kind of genius, Jan,” Damian says. “I’m gonna put a speaker in the gym playing the chorus to It’s a Small World on repeat and then put a bunch of cups full of water in the way of it.”

“Nice!” Janis cheers, high-fiving him.

“You guys,” Cady pleads, looking as if she’s witnessing a murder plot. “You’re gonna get in trouble.”

“That’s the fun of it, Peanut! The risk,” Janis says boldly. “Plus, Regina knows how to hack the security cameras so there won’t be any proof. Unless someone rats me out.”

Cady thinks she might, just to save herself the headache. She feels as if she’s gotten a very telling taste of her future. “Jesus Christ.”

Cady and Elijah make exhausted eye contact periodically throughout their meal, exasperated with their respective partners. Once they finally finish eating, Cady has to haul Janis away from the fountain by the tail of her blazer to stop her from reaching into it again.

“Come on, Jayjay. No fountain or I’m revoking your little spoon rights for a week.”

“Fine.”

————-

A few minutes after nine, their group strolls into the school. Janis and Cady head to the bathroom to reapply their respective lipsticks before going into the main dance.

Janis stops Cady before she can put hers back on, pressing her against the wall gently and kissing her soundly again. Cady grips the fabric of her blazer at her waist, having to restrain herself from messing up Janis’ hair.

Janis checks under the doors to make sure they’re alone before coming back, pulling Cady flush against her and sucking on her lower lip. Cady groans softly, making Janis want to fast forward through the dance and take her home.

Cady gives her one last good smooch before pulling back, both of them panting slightly. “We should go in,” She breathes, ghosting the words over Janis’ lips. “We have time for this later, we only get one senior prom.”

“Fine,” Janis pouts, kissing her gently one more time before heading to a mirror to finally put her lipstick back on.

They head hand in hand into the gym, looking around at how it’s been transformed. The theme this year is a Night Under the Stars, so they’re surrounded by dark balloons, gold decorations, and glow in the dark stars stuck to the ceiling. Janis is reminded of Cady’s speech from last year’s dance. Maybe that served as the inspiration.

“Whoa,” Cady says excitedly. The school puts much more funding into prom than Spring Fling, since it’s supposed to be a kind of final memory for the seniors. It actually looks quite nice. “I’m gonna go say hi to Regina and Gretchen and Karen really quick, I’ll be right back.”

“Okay, Butterfly. I want punch, I’ll be over there.” Janis kisses her quickly and sends her on her way.

She people-watches as she sips slowly from her cup, wanting to get as much punch as she can before someone inevitably spikes it. Damian and Elijah have already been lost to the mob of dancers, but she can spy them just across the way. Regina looks strangely nervous in her baby pink dress. She’s been wary of large crowds since the bus incident. Gretchen and Karen look adorable as ever together, in royal purple dresses that are slightly different styles.

Janis is working on her third cup of punch when the DJ announces a request for Born This Way by Lady Gaga. She and Damian lock eyes from across the room, nodding slightly. Damian sometimes choreographs dances to his favorite songs, and almost always drags Janis into learning them. They both have backgrounds in dance, and can do them quite well. Janis figures they might as well go out with a bang.

They meet in the middle of the floor and start their routine. Damian is a talented choreographer, having spent hours studying for his various shows. The routine is actually very well put together.

People gradually start realizing what’s happening and stop dancing themselves, surrounding them to watch and cheer them on. It’s a nice feeling, if a bit strange for them. She spots Cady with the former Plastics watching her excitedly, and shoots her a cheeky wink before continuing her moves.

When the song finally ends, they pause in their ending pose for a split second before standing and blushing scarlet. Everyone claps for a short while, looking rather stunned as they head back to their friends. “Well damn,” the DJ says into his microphone. “Did not expect that. Uh, here’s the Macarena.”

Cady wraps Janis in a tight hug once she finally reaches her, yelling, “Janis, what the hell?! I had no idea you could dance like that, that was incredible!”

“Thanks,” Janis pants. “I’ll teach you sometime.”

“I’m such a klutz, good look with that,” Cady giggles. “You need more to drink, you must be exhausted.”

She leads Janis over to the table, pouring them both one more glass of punch. “We should go see who the prom court is, too.”

Prom court worked a bit differently than Spring Fling, in that it was a secret until the night of the dance. Student council made nominations, which allowed some of the less popular students to make the ballot, and then whoever attended the event got to vote.

“There’s two winners of each this year? That’s different,” Janis mumbles on seeing the sign at the voting table.

“Regina said it’s because there’s a lot more LGBT+ couples that are out and coming to events together now, and should both be able to win. They’re doing it from now on,” Cady says. “And look at who’s on the ballot.”

Janis does, surprised to see her own name listed, along with Cady’s and the three former Plastics. “I’m an option?”

“You are,” Cady chuckles. “And Damian is up for Prom King, too.” Sure enough, Damian and Elijah are both listed along with all the Mathletes.

Janis is stunned. It doesn’t make up for the years of torment they faced at the hands of these kids, and she doesn’t think for a second that she’s going to win, but it’s a nice gesture at least. A start.

They’re each allowed to vote for two people for each category. Janis votes Cady and Karen for queen and Damian and Elijah for king. Cady votes Janis and Gretchen as queen and also votes Damian and Elijah as king.

Once they slip their papers into the boxes, the DJ announces a slow song. “May I have this dance?” Janis asks in a suave voice, reaching out a hand for her girlfriend.

“You may,” Cady giggles, taking her hand and following her onto the dance floor. Janis kisses Cady’s knuckles gently before letting go to hold her by the waist, Cady grinning up at her as she holds onto Janis’ neck.

“I love you,” Janis murmurs as they start swaying softly to the rhythm of the song. Cady pushes up briefly to brush their lips together.

“I love you too,” she whispers when she pulls away again. “I’m so glad we got this night together.”

“I am too. We’ve come so far in a year, it’s crazy,” Janis responds.

“Crazy indeed,” Cady chuckles. “I’m so lucky.”

“I’m the lucky one, baby,” Janis says, surprising Cady by dipping her. She squeals and clings tighter to her neck, but giggles when Janis kisses her quickly and pulls her back up.

“You’re so smooth,” Cady teases as the song ends.

“Thanks,” Janis responds as she kisses her again. “God, my feet are killing me.”

“Take your shoes off then, Jellybean. The ticket lady will hold them for you,” Cady says. “Mine kind of hurt too, we can just walk around barefoot.”

They both sit on the bleachers to take their heels off, breathing a sigh of relief once they’re back to their normal height. Now that they’re free, they meet back up with Damian and Elijah, letting loose and dancing crazily to the loud music, jumping up and down as they laugh. It’s freeing, dancing like nobody’s watching in a room packed with people.

After several songs, the DJ announces that it’s time to reveal the winners of prom king and queen. All the nominees head up on stage next to him, Janis and Cady holding hands as they make their way up.

They announce the kings first. “Your nominees for prom king are: Damian Hubbard, Elijah French, Kevin Gnapoor, Marwan Jitla, and Tyler Kimble!” The DJ calls dramatically. “And your kings for tonight are... Damian and Elijah!”

Janis and Cady both cheer happily as their friends receive their crowns, clapping for them excitedly.

“Moving to your nominees for prom queen! Caddy Heron, Janis Sarkisian, Regina George, Gretchen Wieners, and Karen Smith!” Cady pouts a little at the mispronunciation of her name. “And your prom queens tonight are... Caddy and Janis!”

Janis blinks rapidly, stunned. They’re handed the tiaras to put on each other, Cady having to pop up on her tippy toes to reach that high. Janis places the crown tenderly on Cady’s head, sliding it in place around her updo. Cady bravely decides to pull her down into a brief, sweet kiss. A few people clap for them then, which is nice.

They’re led off stage after that, Janis still in shock. How the hell did I win? These people all hated me. If Cady finds out later that Regina had threatened everyone into voting for them, she’d take that secret to her grave.

-

They decide to stick around for one more slow song, this time with Cady leading. Janis leans down and presses their foreheads together, looking into Cady’s clear blue eyes happily.

Cady tries to dip her, too, nearly dropping her on the ground until Janis barely manages to pull herself back up at the last second. Cady looks very sheepish, until Janis kisses her cheek gently to make her smile.

“Can we go home?” Cady asks quietly once the song is finished, pressing close to Janis. “I feel buzzy.”

‘Buzzy’ is how Cady had taken to describing the feeling of being overstimulated. She surprisingly isn’t feeling too overloaded, given the amount of noise and the lights, but knows it will get to be too much for her soon.

“Of course, baby. Go get our stuff, I’ll go tell Damian,” Janis answers, kissing her sweetly and pushing her towards the door.

She heads to fetch Damian, who is deep in conversation with Elijah. She doesn’t want to interrupt, but he spies her lurking and waves her over. “Caddy and I are going home, she’s tired.”

“Okay, I’ll come say bye,” Damian says, kissing Elijah on the cheek and standing to follow her. Janis leads him over to where Cady is waiting with her bag and both pairs of their shoes.

“Bye, little slice,” Damian says, wrapping her in a hug. “See you later.”

“Bye, Dame,” Cady responds, leaning into his embrace as best she can. Damian heads back to his date then, Janis leading Cady by the arm out the doors gently. She taps into her phone to order their Uber home before sitting down on a bench and pulling Cady into her lap.

“Did you have fun, Peanut?” She asks, kissing Cady’s forehead as she squeezes her tightly to help with the sensory overload. Cady nods against her shoulder, too overwhelmed to speak unless she absolutely has to. “Good.”

It’s a cold night for springtime, and Janis notices Cady start shivering slightly in her embrace. She pulls away for a second to tug off her blazer, wrapping it gently around her girlfriend and pulling her back in. Cady kisses her jaw a few times in thanks.

————

Once they get back to Janis’ house, Cady leads Janis quickly up towards her bedroom, desperate to get out of her now heavy and uncomfortable gown. Janis hands her some makeup wipes as she pulls out Cady’s emergency sleepover pjs from her dresser, as well as some shorts and a sweatshirt for herself.

Cady takes the pjs once all her itchy makeup has been removed, but tugs gently on the hem of Janis’ sweatshirt, silently asking for one too. Janis goes to fetch another one, kissing her cheek as Cady heads to get changed.

Cady is scratching at her head when she returns, trying to relieve some of the ache caused by her hairstyle. “Help?” She asks quietly, barely above a whisper. Talking takes energy she doesn’t have to spare at the moment.

Janis nods, gesturing for her to sit between her legs as she removes the crown, starting to unravel the mess of pins and ties holding up her hair. Cady breathes a sigh of relief once her long curls are flowing down her back again, and her eyes flutter shut as Janis starts stroking a brush through them gently to remove any excess product.

Once she’s finished, Cady ties her hair up loosely so it’s not in her face before turning to face Janis. “Now you.”

Janis switches spots with her, taking a wipe to take off her own makeup as Cady starts gently brushing the gel and hairspray out. They’d still have to shower tomorrow, but that can wait. They’re both exhausted.

Once Janis’ hair is sufficiently soft, Cady lies down and pulls Janis to lie on top of her. Janis was worried about squishing her the first few times, since Cady is so much smaller, but Cady had explained that the pressure didn’t hurt and actually was very helpful when she was upset.

Janis tugs the duvet over them gently, kissing Cady goodnight before tucking her face into her shoulder and closing her eyes.

“I love you.” Cady mutters quietly, rubbing Janis’ back.

“I love you too, baby. Sweet dreams.” Janis says back, popping an eye open to look at the two tiaras resting on her nightstand. She grins happily before shutting her eyes once more and drifting off to dreamland.

Tonight belonged to us.

-

hope you enjoyed! if you want to check it out, I put some images of their outfits and such in this chapter of my work on wattled (titled cadnis oneshots so I can get some f*cking sleep). I'm sorry I didn't put them here, but I frankly do not have the energy.

requests are still open! please leave them either here, on my wattpad, or on my ao3. I've been getting a fair few recently (thank you all!) so it may take a few weeks for yours to be published, but I am doing my damndest to crank these out and will get to everyone's eventually.

thanks for reading!

lots of love,

ezzy

[absurdthirst]

Hi, there! I really enjoyed Read 'Em and Weep, and I was wondering if you would be willing to write a follow-up/sequel to it? Could be smutty, doesn't matter to me. If you don't want to, A ok with me. Thanks!

***What happens when more clothes come off??

Hold’em

Jack grinned at the woman who was trying to keep her eyes from drifting down. He was down to his underwear, Y/N was just in her panties, bra and that little lacy camisole that was driving him crazy.

He had tried to keep his thoughts innocent, keep himself from very obviously showing his hand when it came to his attraction to Y/N. But buddy boy had a mind of his own, especially a few whiskeys deep into the bottle they were passing back and forth.

She was tempting. God was she tempting to him. She was sitting there looking so pretty and within reach. He had been harboring a little thing for Y/N ever since she had come back to the Kentucky office from her rotation to the Kingsman.

“Do you want to keep playing?” Y/N asked, giving him an out as she gathered the cards.

Jack leaned back and looked at her a bit more seriously. “If you want. But I don’t mind declaring a clear victor in our competition.”

“Who’s wearing one thing between the two of us?” Y/N teased as she shuffled the cards.

“Darlin’, I guarantee that if you come sit on my lap, we would both be bare in seconds.” Jack drawled.

She quirked an eyebrow at him. “Oh you think?”

“Baby, I know.” He knew he was arrogant, sure that his teasing would cause her to blush and falter a bit.

He never expected her to turn the table on him. Y/N slithered out of her chair and sauntered over to him. Her eyes flashed wickedly as she crawled onto his lap. He was so surprised he could have swallowed his tongue. His hands hovered over her waist as she straddled him and put her arms around his neck.

“Your move cowboy.” She challenged him, her eyes intent on him.

He froze. For a good ten seconds he was rooted to his seat as his brain struggled to catch up to the fact that she was in his lap and pressing enticingly against his cock. When he finally shook himself from his stupor, Jack lunged forward and fused his mouth to hers. His arms pulled her closer to him and rocked her against him.

Y/N groaned into his mouth as molded over hers. His tongue flirting with hers as it swept into her mouth. His hands ran down her back to pull the silky material of her camisole over her head. Leaving her in just those lacy panties and bra.

Her hips shuffled forward, making him hiss as his hips rolled up against her. Her were on his chest, exploring as she leaned forward to lick at the side of his neck. Jack groaned as his hands tightened on her hips.

He moved his head down, capturing her nipple through the lace in his hot mouth.

“Jack!” Her hands tore through his hair as she held him to her breast. His tongue wet the material as he drew circles around the stiff peak. She was grinding down on him, making him harden even further under her.

“This table or should we go to my room?” Y/N gasped out.

He squeezed her hips as he pushed her up onto the table. “Right here, and then we will go back to the room.”

Y/N reached back and unclipped her bra as Jack stripped her underwear off of her. Her own hands pushed his underwear down so he could kick them off. Her hand wrapped around his cock and Jack felt like his knees were going to buckle.

His head rolled back as she stroked him. He pulled her to the edge of the table and reached between them. Two fingers roughly rubbed her clit, sliding through the folds of her sex. She moaned as her hips canted to his touch, her hand tightening around him.

“You’re already so wet, baby.” He murmured, dipping his fingers into her.

Y/N released him and grabbed his hand. “Don’t tease me, fuck me Jack.”

His grin was wicked as he lined himself up. He leaned down to hover over her lips. “Oh I’m going to, baby.”

His tongue thrust into her mouth as he filled her. Her legs wrapped around him as she kissed him back passionately. Jack moaned at the way she felt around him, throbbing steadily.

They set a hard pace, the table shaking as he started driving into her over and over. Her nails scored down his back as they moved together. Her hips rotated to meet his every thrust. The grunts and moans filled the room and got louder with every minute.

His mouth was everywhere as he fucked into her. His hands pulled her ass harder as he slammed his hips into hers. Tongue and teeth nipping and licking the sensitive skin on her neck. His mustache brushing along and making her shiver.

Y/N started tightening around him, her thighs quaking around his waist as she clung to him. She started chanting his name with every swing of his hips as he struck that sweet spot inside her. He was getting close. The desperate rhythm of his hips increased as he tried to push them over the edge.

He reached between them, pressing this thumb against her clit, applying the perfect amount of pressure as he rubbed tight circles over the bundle of nerves. Y/N seized up, crying out loudly as her walls locked down on his cock.

Jack released a shuddering breath as he drove into her as deep as he could. His cock throbbing as he painted her insides with ropes of his come. He gasped as her name as the last bits of pleasure were wrung from him as his hips slowed to a stop.

Heavy breathing filled the room as his head dropped to her shoulder, pressing small kisses to her sweaty skin. After a moment he picked her up and started for the door.

“Jack! Where are we going?” Y/N asked as her arms tightened around his neck.

Brown eyes laughed at her as he walked them naked through the halls of Statesman. “I told you we’d have a round on the table and then go back to your room.” He drawled as he flexed inside her.

Y/N’s moan bounced off the walls as his laugh was quickly turned into a moan of his own when she tightened around him again.

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[bonesthebeloved]

Over the body of a fallen god

Summary: Tommy and Tubbo make it into the prison to kill Dream. Things don't go as planned. Wordcount:  1560 CW/TW: Blood and injury, vague description of a dead body, mention of manipulation, trauma, being trapped. AN: New hyperfixation go brrr.  This is about the characters only. However is any of the CC that are mentioned here express discomfort with anything in this work I’ll take it down immediately. 

-

They’d gotten in. He really doesn’t know how they managed to get this far but they’d gotten in. 

Realistically he knew from the start that this plan was doomed to fail; the prison was inescapable. Sam and Dream himself had made sure of that. Layers and layers of practically unbreakable stone and obsidian with a lava riddled middle. Nothing should be able to go in and out without the warden knowing. 

This is why Tommy was so baffled that they were stood here: The giant staircase leading up to the main cell behind them, fire resistance, and netherite sword in hand. 

They were going to do this. Dream would finally be dead and they’d never have to worry about him or Wilbur or (gods forbid) Schlatt, ever again. 

Maybe- he thought- Maybe Sam had stopped caring about if Dream was kept safe. Maybe he’d stopped checking in on him except to give him his food. Maybe Tommy dying had something to do with that. 

Not that he cared. Why would he care? It wasn’t like Sam was there for him when he’d needed him the most!

Tommy shook his head to try and clear it a bit, Looking at his friend stood next to him, waiting patiently for him to give the sign for them to continue. 

So, after a moment, Tommy took a deep breath, downing the potion and feeling its effects settle in. Throwing the bottle to the side to grab his friend's hand, his other one clutching a netherite sword as he gave a nod.

And with that, the switch was flipped and the platform ascended into the lava. 

He closed his eyes tightly. Focusing on Tubbo’s hand in his as they moved through the deadly wall of heat.

He and lava didn’t mix too well you see? Dreams voice echoing vaguely in his head with all the lies he’d fed him. Flashes of memories of just how far the man had pushed him flickering under his eyelids like the bright swirling orange of the lava around them. The slight tingling feeling of it on his protected skin far easier to handle than the scorching heat of the nether had been when he’d stood on that edge. When he’d been in the prison, back to the deadly wall they were now moving through as if it was nothing. 

A slight pulling on his arm, let him know to step off the platform, Tubbo leading him into the prison-cell. He could hear heavy breathing. He could hear the barrier between them being put down. He could feel the potion effect wearing off and the heat from the lava starting to heat up his back. He could feel Tubbo squeezing his hand even tighter than before. 

“Tommy...?” His friend said. Sounding awfully unsure suddenly.

“Just give me a moment Tubs.”

“-No Tommy I think you really should-”

“Hello, there you two.” Said a voice that he’d hoped he’d never have to hear again. 

His head shot up and his eyes flew open as he felt himself freeze in place. Finally taking in the scene before him. 

Dream was...on the floor. Dream was on the floor and his mask was off, shattered into pieces laying a little further off. His mask was off and his eyes were staring blankly at a spot in front of him. Unseeing. Grey.

Dead.

There was blood on the wall to their right. Splattered and trickling down. The same blood that was in a pool that seemed to be steadily growing around Dream’s head. The wound that it must be flowing from mercifully on the side of his head that was facing the floor. Hiding it from sight. 

His clothes were bloodied as were his knuckles. His nose seemed broken and he was...

Dead.

Dream was dead.

And the figure above him was casually wiping the blood off of his hands and onto his long brown coat. 

“Good to see you again Tommy. We never finished that round of solitaire,” Wilbur said, smiling in a way that Tommy had come to assume meant danger as he casually stepped over the corpse of their enemy-turned-god and moving closer to the two kids that stood in front of him. 

Both of them took a step back. Now inches away from the lava and Tommy suddenly became painfully aware that they’d not brought any more potions with them. 

The plan had been to wait it out until Sam would come to check on the prisoner and then be led out.

In hindsight, they should have thought this through some more. 

Tubbo seemed to recover from it all slightly faster.

“You’re- but you’re”

“Dead? supposed to be rotting in hell? Oh, I’m well aware Tubbo.” Wilbur said. A laugh in his voice made Tommy’s skin crawl.

“But Dream over here was so kind to revive me. So I thought, why not make it everyone’s problem.” 

“Why would he- you killed him. He revived you and you killed him.”

“You’re stating the obvious there, big man,” Wilbur said. His tone mocking as he said the last bit. 

“Dream might be smart. But he’s a bit of an idiot sometimes,” he said, sitting down crisscross as if he wasn’t partly leaning against the dead body of the most powerful person on the server. 

No way in hell Tommy was going to sit down and get comfortable with that man. 

“He thought I’d help him escape. Fella still doesn’t seem to realize that I have my own agenda. Had to resort to the only language the people here seem to understand.” he motioned to the blood on the walls and his bruised knuckles and Tommy saw Tubbo’s grip on his sword tighten. 

“You’re not getting out of here Wil. Sam is just gonna keep you locked in here instead of Dream. We’re never letting you out of here big man and you can go FUCK YOURSELF if you think you’ll ever have an ounce of power again.” Tommy said. Feeling the rage finally fizzle to life. The rage of all the wrong Wilbur had done to him during their stay in limbo. The rage of the only chance of getting closure, of plunging his sword into that green bastard's chest and seeing the light leave those cold eyes being taken from him. 

The rage of his best friend standing beside him now. In danger again because of him.

“Hmmm. Maybe. But unless you lot want to stay here forever as well, the cell is going to have to open up someday. And no way in hell that I’m not coming with you when it does.”

That’s the moment when Tubbo seemed to suddenly perk up. His eyes widening as he began to rummage through his inventory. Placing down an enderchest and frantically searching for something before he, with a silent ‘yesss’ fished out a potion bottle. 

“Oh, he’s leaving alright?” Tubbo said, pressing the potion into Tommy’s hand and giving him a nod. Tommy, suddenly incredibly glad that he’d decided to take Tubbo with him after all, was about to down the potion when he realized something. Slowly lowering the bottle again and looking over at his friend. Sword pointed towards Wilbur to keep him at bay as he hungrily eyed the little flask of freedom. 

“You only have one of these, don’t you Tubs?”

Tubbo nodded at that and gave Tommy a sad smile. One that seemed way and way too reminiscent of the one he’d given him in the artifact room then Tommy was comfortable with. 

“I’ve been willing to do this before and I’ll do it again Tommy. Go. You’ve been through enough in this room as it is.”

Tommy was shaking his head as soon as Tubbo had opened his mouth. A decision slowly taking shape in his head. One clad in iron and crystal clear. 

“No. No way. I can handle this, Tubs. You’ve got a kid now. And a platonic husband, weird as it is and how much I don’t like em put aside.” They both laughed at that quietly. Wilbur looking on from his spot on the floor patiently. Curious to see how this would play out. A sick sort of fascination at their struggle in his eyes as he scanned their faces.

“You’re building a nation. You just got a new mansion. I’m not letting you get all messed up in the head because of your stupid selfless morals. Not this time and not ever.” Tommy said, the decision made as he held out the bottle to Tubbo and after his friend had reluctantly taken it, sitting down on the floor in front of Wilbur. Staring the man down. 

“Tommy I don’t-”

“Go Tubbo. I’ll be fine.”

“I’ll be back as soon as posib-”

“Go.”

“See you soon Toms.”

And with that, Tubbo downed the bottle. stepping on the platform again and disappearing into the lava. 

Leaving the two men in the cell. Staring each other down over the dead body of a fallen god. One with curiosity and a barely hidden madness behind his eyes. The other with grim determination. He wasn’t going to break. Not this time. Not again. 

“I’m not going to let you manipulate me Wil. I’ve had enough of that shit to last me a lifetime.”

“Good. Makes it more fun that way.”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“So, about that solitaire match...”

[deathonyourtongue]

Care Taking Ideas : “Person A giving person B an injection” with Henry or one of his characters sounds adventurous😂💓

Title: Evasion  Word count: 1446 Warnings: Needles, tears, anxiety? It’s fluff, don’t worry.

I had to do this with Sy, ‘cause I legit could not figure out how else to work out a non-medical person giving a shot. :P  Also as someone who has ZERO fear of needles of any sort (I legit ask them which arm they wanna poke if I have to get bloodwork done), I hope I did the fear of needles justice.

_______________________________________________

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You know you’re due, but you hide out in your office anyway. With all the commotion and paperwork that comes with a tour change, you hope to ride out the last day and have him forget that you’re in need of a shot. 

Though you’ve got a full sleeve of tattoos and a chest piece to boot, the mere thought of getting an actual injection makes you queasy. Rolling your neck to rid yourself of the urge to throw up, you guzzle down half your beer and silently focus all your energy into willing the ‘lights out’ call to come sooner. 

The door opening breaks your focus, but before you can even move to bar him, Syverson is in and has the door locked behind him. His smile makes it clear he’s up to no good, and though you can’t see a syringe in his hand, you know damn well there’s no other reason for him to be here, so close to the end of his shift. 

“Evenin’, sweetheart,” he grins nervously, his eyes scanning the top of your desk for any weapons, finding none. 

“I will shoot you in the face, Sy, so help me God.” He laughs, holding both hands up as though surrendering, allowing you to see the bottle of whiskey in his hand for the first time since he entered. 

“Easy, doll. Just wanna enjoy a drink with the prettiest woman on base, that’s all.” 

“You’re a shit liar and it’s not happening.” You answer, stonefaced as you turn up the metal you’ve been listening to try and calm your nerves. 

“What, the drinking, or the fun that comes after?” He asks, taking a seat across from you and reaching to the top of your mini-fridge for two glasses. Pouring expertly, he gives you the fuller glass, making it clear he’s got ulterior motives.

You and Sy have been dating for nearly five years, maintaining the lowest of profiles solely so that you two aren’t shipped off to different corners of the world. Although drinking after lights out is routine for both of you, it’s rare that you’re doing it while still wearing your uniform; usually, you’re both naked in Sy’s room, enjoying the privacy his higher rank brings. 

Taking the offered drink, you down it in one go, steeling yourself for what you know is about to happen and vowing that Sy’s not gonna get laid for a week out of spite. Sy watches you shoot the alcohol, his face a mix of sympathy and awe that you can still drink like coed despite having long passed your 20’s. Eyes locking with yours, he gives you that puppy-dog-eyed, crooked grin of his, his chin tilted down for maximum effect. Damn him and his blue eyes.

“C’mere, gorgeous.” He pats his lap and despite your better judgment, you find yourself standing and moving around the desk, pouting as you move. 

Sy wraps you up in a bear hug the moment you sit down, his strong arms holding you close as he nuzzles his nose against your cheek, his way of asking for a kiss. Tipping your head down, your lips meet his with petulant reluctance, making him smile as he kisses you back fondly. When he pulls away, he’s smiling ear to ear and you can’t help but melt a little as he gazes up at you with the utmost affection. Your eyes close as his hand cups your cheek and you lean into the touch, feeling the stress of the day dissipate, forgetting the real reason he’s here for a moment. 

“Watching you out there today, putting those boys in line and scaring the shit out of the ‘em, was so sexy,” he growls, and you can’t help the soft sound that escapes your lips as he kisses your neck slowly, ‘lovin’ up’ on you as he so often calls it. His lips press against yours once more before he pulls away, his eyes kind despite what you know is an impending betrayal. 

“You know I love you very much, right, darlin’?” You let your head fall back while groaning, unwilling to accept that he isn’t just here for you.

“And you know I wouldn’t do this to ya if I didn’t have to, right?” Your head snaps back up and you look at him with narrowed eyes and a lifted eyebrow.

“You don’t have to do anything. You could just let Doc do it.” You counter, poking at one of his pecs accusingly.

“Yeah, well, Doc bruised you last time he gave you a shot, and you passed out and fell off the table ‘cause he didn’t believe you, so...I’m gonna be more gentle, and this time you won’t end up with a concussion. Besides, there’s a treat in it for ya if you hold still and let me do it quick.” 

“That’s what she said,” you respond flatly, still not convinced. Sy chuckles, both hands moving up to roll up the sleeve opposite of him. 

“Please, Sy, no. Can’t we just wait until...I don’t know, until I cut myself?”

“Out here? Absolutely not. If we were back home, maybe. But I’m not taking any chances with this stuff out here, sweetheart.” He tells you softly, pressing a tender kiss to your cheek even as he fishes the pre-filled syringe and the alcohol swab from one of the many pockets in his pants. 

“Hey, look at me, mama. Deep breath.” Sy tells you seriously, his free hand framing your chin as he inhales deeply and lets it out again in a slow rhythmic pattern. Keeping your attention, his eyes never leave yours as he swabs your upper arm, forcing you to keep breathing deeply. 

Tears fill your eyes as the smell of the alcohol hits your nose, and the nauseous feeling rises up again just as Sy tucks you in close. Holding your head against his chest, he covers your eyes gently with his fingers, uncapping the syringe with his mouth and quickly moving the needle out of sight. Certain you can’t see it, he wraps his free arm around you tighter, pressing a kiss to the top of your head. 

“Hold onto me, darlin’. Squeeze tight,” he encourages, and you do as he says, crying softly into his favorite shirt, panicking. 

“Deep breath. Hold it.” Sy’s voice is soft and patient, a stark contrast from how he normally speaks around others, especially new recruits. 

You squeak and cry a little harder as Sy pushes the syringe into your upper arm, hitting the mark with precision and gentility. A flurry of kisses are pressed to your face as he pushes down the plunger, injecting the Tetanus compound deep into your arm. Pulling the needle out as quickly as it went in, Sy presses a fresh patch of gauze to the sight, his hand pulsing gently to ease the sting and burn of the shot. 

“‘Atta girl. All done.” He murmurs, recapping the needle before shooting it and the rest of the waste into the garbage can by your desk. His face falls as he lifts your chin and sees that you’re still crying. 

“Well, that just won’t do,” he whispers, more to himself than anyone else as he shifts you so that you’re facing him, Sy wrapping your legs around his waist as he stands up. You don’t hesitate to loop your arms around his neck, unable to actually be mad at him, knowing he has your best interests at heart. With one hand under you, the other runs laps up and down your back, comforting you in the best way he knows how. 

Taking you back to your room, he sits down on the bed and just holds you, knowing the tears aren’t just from the shot, but from all the anxiety you’ve built up throughout the day to deal with it. Rocking gently back and forth, he lets you cry it out, knowing you need the release. His lips press kisses anywhere they can reach, and after a few moments, you settle, resting your head on his muscular shoulder, hiccuping. 

You feel his smile even before you hear it in his voice, Sy’s tone warm and full of love.

“You’re adorable, y’know that? My beautiful, adorable, tough-as-nails sunflower. Relax now, mama, it’s all over.”  Sighing softly, you squeeze him gently, a silent thank you for doing everything with such care and regard for your very-real fear. 

“What’s my treat?” You ask after a moment, pulling back to look into those gorgeous baby blues of his. His smile turns impish and he kisses your sternum before resting his chin there. 

“Gotta be naked to get it, darlin’.”

[astravires]

face the weather

It's not like he meant it to end up this way.

It was just a casual invite; the day before New Year with little to do. Spencer just drops a text like he was asking about the weather: "Hi, Emery, would you like to come over?" as if they hadn't fallen out of touch for the last few years.

It’s cold outside but the warm tones of Spencer’s flat seek out the chill that has seeped into Emery’s bones on the journey over.  The air smells like cinnamon and the lingering scents of reheated Winterfest leftovers.  It’s an inviting space, if somewhat smaller than the place Em knew that Spencer lived in.  Much tidier now too, but he supposes that’s because his memory is coloured with the fond tints of spending nights curled up on a battered and beaten old couch.  They’re older now - grown ups when once they had been angry, embittered teens.

Spencer has certainly changed, and yet, imperceptably he still looks exactly the same.  Hair is a little longer now, but the dusting of freckles across his nose like stars in a blanket sky are as familiar as ever.  He’s watching Emery with that soft expression he wore a thousand times before as Em takes it upon himself to be horrendously nosy at the decor.  Briefly Em wonders if he’s reading all the differences Em has etched into his own skin.  Certainly new tattoos adorn him now.  He’d been there through Emery’s trails and tribulations when it came to finding a signature hairstyle; dutifully holding the electric shaver against Em’s skull the first time he shaved the sides.  But what else can Spencer read upon his old flame penetrates into Emery’s mind as he takes up leaning against a kitchen counter, brow arching up in question at the other man.

“You’re thinking about something...” he puts out into the open.

Spencer hums acknowledgement, shrugging his shoulders weakly before picking his own way across the wooden apartment floor to the open plan kitchen.  Spencer was always hard for Em to read when they were young; he’s untranslateable now.  There’s an imperfect stiffness to his shoulders, made just a touch more on the noticeable side when he opens the fridge door to fetch two bottles of beer.

“Trying to get me drunk?” Em chuckles as he takes the offered drink.

Again, there’s another agreeing hum from Spencer.  He puts his weight onto the fridge, eyes wandering Emery’s entire length with an appraising view.  A gentle swallow of beer, and finally he breaks the silence.  “I wondered if you were still playing, since those at your usual spots said that they haven’t seen you busking for a while.  Imagine my surprise when I heard your name on the radio.  Here I thought you were against selling out.”

At that, Em couldn’t hold back the pout, hoping to hide it behind taking a drink of his own beer, mirroring Spencer taking his own gulp.  There’s no denying that Em let his gaze drop down to the way Spencer’s adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed long and deep of his drink.  “I needed some extra cash, and the music label was willing to pay,” he admits with a one armed shrug.  “It’s only fair I help Ros with the rent.”

It seems Spencer coldn’t fault Emery’s logic, granting a slight nod and another one of his agreeing hums.  Another pull from the bottle, and he’s leading the way to the sofa, slipping his weight down into the cushions and spreading like melting wax over a gentle flame.  Em is hot on heels heels, dropping down onto the sofa at a respectable distance.  Everything about Spencer is deliberate and oh so luciosly lanquid.  He spreads both arms ot over the backrest, neck of the bottle held loosely between index and middler fingers of his left hand.  He tilts his head, blond hair lazilly framing his face as he watches his guest with an expression of a cat who’s just eaten the canary and has now been given a large dish of cream.  Not that Emery would complain about being that cream Spencer can lap at.

Outside it is snowing again, bringing a layer of quiet to the world.  The sounds of the city are muted even further.  It’s late, but the white reflecting the city lights makes it seem much earlier.

“How is your sister?  Last I recall she was applying for a job in Strangetown or somewhere?”

“Strangerville...” Em mutters, dropping his gaze to the bottle he’s now rolling between his palms.  “A lot went down.”

Spencer clearly reacted to that, shuffling in his seat, one hand combing fingers throgh that fluffy mane of his before reaching over to place a warm hand on Emery’s shoulder.  He says nothing, giving Emery a firm squeeze before letting his fingers glide down Em’s arm to the bottle where he easily lifted it free and placed it upon the nearby coffee table, adding his own beside it.  A shuffle in closer, both hands capturing up Emery’s, thumbs brushing the back of his knuckles.  Em stares at the tattoo on his hand, the black ink faded with time.

“Do you want to tell me about it?”

Emery didn’t plan on it; bearing his soul to one that has seen all of its edges and bright colours before wracks at him.  First he’s lifting those hands to his lips, pressing gentle kisses to those inked knuckles.  He was there the day Spencer had them branded into his skin, fingers entwined with the other hand.  Then he’s tugging Spencer up from the sofa and leading him across the small space towards the bedroom.  Thirdly he’s pushing Spencer down onto the bed where he can climb atop his lap.

Forehead to forehead.  Spencer’s breath warm across his lips as he breathes, long and deep and with that minute audible rattle and crackle from lungs that once were stronger than they are now.  There’s that hum of agreement again, reverberating throgh his chest, and the upward curl at the edges of his mouth as he leans up into the inches of space Emery had put between them to claim his first kiss from those lips in years.

[mikauzoran]

Adrienette: Serendipity: Fifty Marichat and Adrienette Kisses: Kiss Forty-Four

Read it on AO3: Serendipity: Fifty Marichat and Adrienette Kisses: ...out of lust.

“Am I doing this right?” Adrien looked nervously to Luka for guidance.

“Perfect Fifth, you’re a natural,” he chuckled, grinning fondly as he set the drinks he’d just fetched from the kitchen down on the side table. He sat on the couch next to Adrien and gently nudged Adrien’s elbow a little higher. “There you go. Just like that. Just keep her head supported, and you’re good.”

Adrien frowned uncertainly. “You’re sure? I don’t have much experience with babies, so please tell me if I’m doing something wrong.”

Luka rolled his eyes and tussled Adrien’s hair, causing Adrien to relax a bit. “Don’t worry. You’re not going to hurt her. Xavier-Yves uses her as a free weight sometimes, and if he hasn’t hurt her doing bicep curls, I doubt you’re going to do any damage sitting with her on a nice, safe couch.”

Adrien looked up wide-eyed at XY sitting in the armchair cattycorner to the couch. “Do you really?”

“Hey, she likes it,” XY snorted defensively, jabbing at the air at Adrien. “And I am very, very careful with my daughter.”

Adrien nodded and would have put up his hands in surrender if not for the baby in his arms.

He looked down at little Élodie Couffaine-Roth and smiled as she gave a wide little baby yawn, blinking her enormous aquamarine eyes sleepily.

Adrien chuckled as a surge of warmth welled up in his chest. “She looks a lot like you, Orpheus.”

Luka laughed, reaching out to stroke his daughter’s head with a knuckle. “Technically, she looks like Juleka, but…”

“She looks more like me,” XY corrected brusquely, crossing his arms. His foot bounced with nervous energy as he watched Adrien holding his daughter, Luka hovering with his arm along the back of the couch behind Adrien.

“She definitely has your nose,” Adrien agreed, looking up with a grin that faded as he realized that XY was scowling at him. Adrien’s brow furrowed in worry. “Am I doing something wrong, Xavier-Yves?”

XY looked away, jaw clenched. “Nah. You’re doing it right.”

Luka glanced up from supervising Adrien with Élodie to find his husband pouting and antsy. “…Prune? What’s wrong?”

XY shook his head, trying to play it cool. “Nothing.”

Luka arched an eyebrow knowingly, his expression clearly reading, “Come on. Seriously”.

XY shrugged. “Nothing’s wrong. Everything’s totally dope.”

“Xavier-Yves,” Luka gently pressed, stretching out his leg to tap his husband’s foot with his own. “Talk to me.”

XY pursed his lips, giving Luka and Adrien a gauging look. “…Don’t get, like, all defensive or mad or whatever.”

“I won’t,” Luka promised.

XY let out a weary sigh.

He’d never been good at putting names to his feelings or picking them apart to figure out what they meant. Bob Roth had strongly discouraged his “imbecile son” from thinking too much and had never really cared anyway about what XY was feeling or what was going on inside of his head. It wasn’t until XY met Luka that he’d started to learn that it was okay to express himself. Nearly ten years later, he was still in the process of figuring out how to do so.

“Okay,” he finally agreed, meeting Luka’s eyes with a guilty expression. “I don’t really like it when Adrien holds Élodie.”

Luka’s brow furrowed in confusion as he tried to push down his own hurt so he could focus on XY’s feelings. “What? Why not? I thought you two were friends now.”

“We are,” XY assured, fidgeting under Luka’s searching gaze. “Me and Adrien are cool. It’s just…” He bit his lip and muttered in a rush, “It just makes me uncomfortable watching you go all goo-goo-eyed over your ex with our daughter.”

Luka’s jaw dropped.

Quickly composing himself, Luka slid off the couch and onto the floor to kneel at his husband’s feet. He took XY’s hands in his own and leaned into XY’s space to rest his forearms on XY’s lap.

“Xavier-Yves,” he cooed softly, fixing his husband with an intent look. “It’s not like that. It has never been like that between Adrien and me. You know that, Prune.”

XY looked away, mumbling, “Yeah, but that doesn’t change the fact that you love him.”

“No,” Luka agreed patiently. “It doesn’t, but the important thing to think about is that Adrien and I are both very happily married, and we wouldn’t trade our partners for anything.”

Slowly, XY looked back at Luka, studying his face for even a shred of dishonesty.

“I get why you’re upset, and it’s okay to feel uneasy or insecure, but remember that I picked you,” Luka coaxed, giving XY’s hands a squeeze. “There’s no need to be jealous. I’m yours.”

XY’s shoulders hunched up to his ears as he grumbled, “I know. I know it doesn’t make sense to get all pouty. I don’t really get my feelings; I just have ‘em.”

“It’s okay,” Luka comforted, leaning in to give his husband a quick kiss. “Are we okay?”

XY nodded, relaxing a little. “Yeah. We’re good.”

“Good. Thank you,” Luka breathed with a warm smile, giving XY’s hands one last squeeze before letting go and going back to his place on the couch.

“Xavier-Yves, if you’re not comfortable with me holding Élodie, I won’t hold her,” Adrien offered turning to hand the baby back to Luka as he got settled.

“Nah, it’s cool,” XY assured, pushing himself up out of the armchair and coming over to the couch. He motioned for Luka to get up. (Which Luka did with a puzzled expression.)

XY took Luka’s vacated seat, even going so far as to put his arm along the back of the couch and around Adrien’s shoulders. “The problem isn’t you holding her. It’s him looking at you like he wants to have babies with you when you hold her.”

“Oooooh.” Adrien stretched the word out over three syllables, grinning impishly as he scooted closer to XY until their knees were touching. “Good to know I’m not the problem.”

“Nope,” XY snickered, resting his hand on Adrien’s knee and sneaking a look at Luka’s reaction.

Luka rolled his eyes, crossed his arms, and shook his head as he smiled good-naturedly. “You two are such dorks.”

“He thinks we’re sexy,” Adrien stage-whispered conspiratorially.

XY nodded, giving Adrien’s knee a squeeze. “He has a thing for blondes with daddy issues,” he confided solemnly.

“That explains so much,” Adrien chuckled.

Luka groaned. “Guys.”

“Sorry,” Adrien apologized with an innocent smile. “Is our combined sexiness overwhelming you?”

Luka’s eyes narrowed, and he shook his head. “I hate you.”

“Not in front of the baby, Six Strings,” XY chided. “Don’t be teaching our daughter to be a hater.” He turned to Adrien. “Sorry about him. He gets cranky when he’s all hot and bothered.”

Adrien broke out in a startled burst of laughter.

Luka glared at his husband. He then took a deep breath, went over to the armchair, and decided to be grateful that peace had been restored, even if it had been at his own expense. It was good to see XY and Adrien joking and playing around.

“All joking aside,” Adrien remarked when he’d recovered from his giggle fit, “thank you for letting me come over to learn about babies and letting me hold Élodie. I learned a lot today.”

“Of course,” Luka assured. “Always more than happy to train a willing future babysitter.”

“I don’t get why anyone would want to watch someone else’s kid,” XY confessed, leaning back and removing himself from Adrien’s personal bubble now that the joke was over. “I mean, I like Juleka and Rose, but their kids are little terrors.”

Luka arched an eyebrow as he tried not to smile. “You do remember that you’re the biological father of one of them, don’t you?”

XY shook his head. “Yeah, but I’m not Violetta’s dad. Trust me on this one. Just because a kid is biologically related to you, that doesn’t make you their dad.”

Adrien and Luka both mumbled their assent, thinking of their own experiences with fathers.

“So, yeah,” XY sighed, reaching over to stroke Élodie’s hair gently. “I don’t get why you’re so excited about learning how to make a bottle and change diapers and all the not-fun stuff.”

“Well, it’s never too early to learn,” Adrien responded with a sheepish shrug.

XY tipped his head to the side. “You thinking about having one?”

Adrien blushed, looking down at Élodie thoughtfully. “I mean…I’ve always wanted a family…and I really am jealous of my friends who have settled down and started having babies already, so…”

“So make your own baby,” XY encouraged, gently elbowing Adrien, mindful of Élodie’s position. “If two dudes can do it, you and your wife should have no problem,” he laughed, not seeing the way Adrien’s face lost all colour.

“Prune?” Luka called gently. “You haven’t shown Adrien that new track you made yet, have you? He made this crazy remix of the Promenade theme from Mussorgsky’s Pictures at an Exhibition.”

“Oh, yeah!” XY glowed with excitement as he easily took the bait. “It is mad sick ballin’! Let me go get my laptop. You have got to hear this.”

Without waiting for a response from Adrien, XY was on his feet and heading for the bedroom.

“You okay?” Luka inquired softly when his husband was out of earshot.

Adrien shook his head, gently bouncing Élodie as she began to fuss. “…Just busy wishing I was allosexual. You know. The usual.”

Luka got up and went over to sit on the couch beside Adrien, placing a comforting hand on his back. “Hang in there. You have a wife who loves you exactly how you are, and you guys are going to figure this out together. You’re not alone, Adrien. You two are Paris’s greatest team, aren’t you?”

A small smile peeked out from the corners of Adrien’s lips. “Yeah. Yeah, we are.”

“You are,” Luka confirmed, ruffling Adrien’s hair. “And you’ve got plenty of time, so don’t stress. You guys will make it work, and, someday, you two are going to have beautiful babies. Just hang in there, okay?”

Adrien nodded, beaming with gratitude at his brother-mentor-friend. “Thanks.”

“Any time,” Luka assured, giving Adrien a pat on the back as XY came back into the room.

“Hey. Hands to yourself, Six Strings,” XY pouted. “He’s mine.”

Luka rolled his eyes fondly at his husband’s antics while Adrien got caught off guard by a laugh.

“Oh, really?” Adrien chuckled. “When did this happen?”

XY snorted as he took a seat on the couch on Adrien’s other side. “Dude. Like, five minutes ago. Keep up, Agreste-Dupain-Cheng.”

 “I’m home!” Adrien called, locking the front door behind him.

“Living room!” Marinette responded from the back of the house. “Did you have fun?”

“Yeah, I did,” he replied, making his way down the hall. “Élodie is a real cutie, and it was nice spending time with Luka and Xavier-Yves. What are you up to?”

He turned the corner to find her sitting cross-legged on the couch, her sketchpad propped up on her knee and reference materials scattered all over the coffee table in front of her.

She looked up with a wide grin. “I got inspired out on my walk this morning for a new line of autumn smart casual dresses, and I just finished getting my initial ideas down. Wanna see?”

“Sure,” he agreed with a fond grin, loving her enthusiasm.

He went to sit beside her, and she flipped through her designs, chattering excitedly about potential fabrics and colour schemes.

“You’re so talented,” he breathed as she finished explaining her plans for a pumpkin orange dress that zipped down the front with a cute, front-tying cloth belt and zipper pockets.

“I know,” Marinette chuckled, chest puffing up with pride. “That’s why you married me.”

“I married you because I couldn’t live without you,” he corrected, leaning in to capture her lips in a needy kiss.

Marinette hummed in pleasure, setting her sketchpad and pencil down on the coffee table. Her arms wrapped around him, her fingers twining in his hair in encouragement.

He gently pushed her back and down onto the couch, moving with her so that his knees were to either side of her thighs.

He pulled back to catch his breath and steel his nerves. He swallowed. “Marinette…let’s make love.”

She responded with a passionate kiss, pulling him down on top of her.

“I meant…make love for real,” he clarified the next time they stopped for air.

Marinette paused, eyes widening as she understood his meaning. “Really? But you hate sex. Like, you hate sex as much as I hate oysters. Are you leading up to telling me you broke another one of my flowerpots, or did I forget some kind of special occasion or something? Not that I’m complaining,” she quickly added with a coy grin. “I am more than happy to have my husband spoil me, but…”

The teasing tone dropped out of her voice, and she gave him an earnest look as she stroked his face. “You don’t have to do this to make me happy. What we normally do really is enough, so don’t push yourself. I know how uncomfortable it makes you. I know you don’t like it.”

“I want this,” he stressed, voice only shaking slightly. He looked away and sheepishly admitted, “This…This is for me.”

Marinette frowned in confusion, searching his face as she gently pushed his hair out of the way. “You want this?”

He nodded, face reddening not just from the physical exertion of making out.

“I want…I want to have a baby,” he confessed in a whisper.

Marinette’s lips rounded into a silent “o” as understanding hit.

“I know we could pay for in vitro, but it would be a huge hassle, and most of the burden would fall on you, and that’s not fair. This is my problem, and I just want—”

She cut him off with a kiss.

“Adrien,” she cooed lovingly as their lips parted. “This isn’t a problem, and, even if it was, it wouldn’t be yours alone. We’re a team.”

“I know,” he mumbled shamefacedly. “I just…”

“I know.” She gave his cheek a soft peck. “Here. Let me up.”

He quirked an eyebrow but did as requested, backing up so she could get out from under him. “Are we…not making love?”

She shook her head, taking his hand and threading her fingers through his. “There are only a couple days a month I could potentially get pregnant, and I don’t track my cycle closely enough to know where I am because it’s never been an issue.”

Adrien deflated, shoulders slumping and expression turning mopey. “Oh….”

She gave his hand a reassuring squeeze. “I’ll start keeping track so we can figure out what our best window of opportunity is. We can start trying next month.”

His ears perked up as his mood immediately lifted. “Really?”

She nodded, smiling sweetly. “Yep. And, until then, we’ll start researching what we can do to increase our chances.”

He grinned, leaning in to plant a sloppy kiss on her cheek. “You’re the best. Have I ever told you how much I love it when you come up with a plan of action?”

She shrugged, glowing with pride at his praise. “Yes, but I won’t complain if you tell me again.”

“I love it when you come up with a plan,” he sighed, happily, pulling his wife into a hug.

His joy was short-lived as a realization hit him. He pulled back slightly to gaze down at her in concern. “…It occurs to me that I didn’t ask if you wanted to have a baby right now. It’s…kind of a big deal. I mean…I would understand if you didn’t—”

She put her fingers over his mouth to cut him off before he could slip into a downward doubt spiral. “Adrien, I don’t think there’s ever going to be a good time to completely upend our lives and start a family. We’re both always going to be busy with our careers, and nothing is ever going to be ideal, so…and I do want children with you, so let’s just do this now. We’ve been married for about a year, we’ve settled into our new house, our careers are going well, and our finances look good, so…let’s have a baby.”

“Thank you.” His voice almost cracked with emotion as he leaned in to kiss her in gratitude.

[dontasktheradiodemon]

Theater #1 (1/1/2021)

Theater #1 (1/1/2021)

Click here if you’re like “What the heck is this about?”

Angel @sluttyspiderpolkacock finds some silks and tries them out, and Kyxs @usedhearts sits down to watch. Happy death day to Kyxs, congrats on not getting spears thrown at you this year.

Angel

Angel passed the grand entrance on the way to seeking company and decided to stop and smell the theatrical roses. Heels echoing the high ceilings, he dragged his sights over the grandeur. This was the scene he loved most, he realized as he cleared the orchestral pit and plopped himself down front and center. To be here, like the starlets of old weilding the attention of every set of senses in the room. Singing, dancing, comedy, burlesque & striptease. Angel hardly got the chance to do these types of performances, to his chagrin.

A deep breath.

Cut short.

From where he sat, he could see some rigging on the ceiling. He scrambled to his feet and rummaged backstage. Most of what he found had alien workings he couldn't even begin to understand, but his tunnel vision ceased as soon as he found what he was looking for. He'd only had the opportunity to try them once or twice, but no one was stopping or micromanaging his skills NOW. Angel dropped his coat off the front of the stage and was flying amongst silken ribbons before he knew it.

Kyxs

A drink on his deathday that wasn't straight from a bottle and didn't burn on the way down, was something that Kyxs had always wanted. Not to mention not having to hide in a bunker while angels thrashed his home up above his head. No panic, no stress, not this year, and he was grateful.

Holding his glass in delicate talons, he wandered the quiet mansion, peeking in doors here and there. This place was so huge, someone could get lost in it easily, and he let himself. At least until he happened upon the theater. Massive, and like he always imagined one of those fancy Parisian opera houses would look, he almost didn't notice who was on the stage.

But then he did, and his attention focused. Of all the gin joints in all the worlds....

He smiled a bit and walked down the main aisle, his hooves clacking on the hard floor. Kyxs wasn't sure if Angel would notice him, he looked pretty into his routine from where the chimera stood, so he didn't speak. He didn't want to break the spell, and so sat himself, front and center, instead. He'd rather let Angel perform to his heart's content and watch, than interrupt him in the middle. That would be rude, after all.

Angel

His senses perked as soon as he heard hooves, but it took a couple high swings before he could see who it was. Mischievous smile gleaming his visage, Angel angled directly above Kyxs and spun into a sudden drop before their face.

" Ya gonna keep creepin' , or ya gonna say hey ~ ? " he teased with a gentle anchoring of his fingertips to his horns, silks twisted about his legs in suspension.

Kyxs

He wasn't expecting such a sudden drop from Angel, and nearly dropped his drink in surprise. His heart hammered in his chest, for a variety of reasons, but he smiled all the same.

"I didn't want to interrupt. You looked very...concentrated on it, I didn't want to say something and ruin it." Kyxs gave a half hearted shrug.

"You're here, though-- on Okkylk, that is. Means you got out, yeah? You didn't arrive with everyone else so I didn't know if..." He shrugged again, looking downright sheepish.

"I'm glad you did, Angel-- get out, that is. I'm glad you're here." And not _there_, his tone implied.

Angel

Angel let himself a little lower so he could more comfortably lounge at their level.

" Get out? It ain't like I was waitin' in line t' get tossed to the EXTERMINATORS, BABE, " he said much too casually, " I pull in too much REVENUE fa THAT ~ "

Angel gave his legs a stretch and folded his hands beneath his chin. He was yet to speak so frankly of the nature of his relationship with his ~~ex~~ EMPLOYER, but it seemed Kyxs was more keen on his moments of slippage than he thought. As far as he need be concerned... _he loved his job._

" I just decided I needed a break an' took it, " he shrugged, then fell from the silks to perch upon the back of the seats before them, audaciously planting a heel above their shoulder. _A change of subject._ " So what brought YOU here? Ya make fast frien's wit' Valera, too ~ ? "

Kyxs

He was ready to comment on all that, but then Angel swapped subjects. Well. Kyxs would let it go, for now, he supposed. He gave a little shrug, taking a sip of his drink, hooves clicking against the ground as he swung his legs a bit.

"Yeah, me and them have been talking a lot. Even helped them chop some stuff for stew a few days ago. They offered me and Alastor a place here, to get away from the Extermination. I wasn't _about_ to pass that up." They laughed softly, thumb tracing the rim of their drink, which they held in both hands.

"Nice to have a Deathday that isn't me cowering in a bunker with Alastor, and the exterminators trashing the station upstairs." He gave a snort and shook his head. "I sure picked a great day to off myself, huh? December 31st. Thought I was being _poetic_, but turns out that was just about the dumbest thing I could've done."

Angel

" Like ya could'a KNOWN the Heaven e'ryone talked up so fuckin' much purged Hell's residents e'ery year... " Angel scoffed as he reached to relieve Kyxs of his drink so he could slip onto his lap, " Don't go sellin yaself SHORT NOW, Da'lin'. Still got ALL ya afterlife t' go an' do ANY amount a DUMB SHIT ~ "

He laughed boistrously, a demonic undertone reverberating throughout the theatre with the hopes he'd drown out the thoughts plaguing his mind.

" I'm TEASIN'... I mean it, though. No point in feelin' sorry fa yaself. Death Day's just like any other day. It don't gotta mean NOTHIN' if ya don't want it to. Shit, give yourself a new one if it bothers ya so much. What's gonna 'appen? Ya go ta HELL? "

Kyxs

Oh, and there's an Angel in his lap. One of his hands curls around his waist, the other rests just above the knee on one of his legs, just on instinct. And then a voice in the back of his head wonders if it's okay for him to do that, to just touch Angel like that. But Angel did....want him to touch, he'd say so, right? But he also didn't want to seem like Angel wasn't welcome to sit on his lap any time of the day or night....

Why was dating so complicated? Kyxs shook his head and focused on what Angel was saying instead.

"Oh, it's less feeling sorry for myself and more that I always wanna go out and be social and, y'know, _have some fun_ on my Deathday and I never get to. So more frustration than anything." He laughed, shrugging a bit, smirking up at Angel.

"Though I'd be bigger in Hell than I was when I first arrived, too. Like somehow my reputation from the living world would follow me. Realized how wrong a lot of my expectations were real fast..."

Angel

" Y'must've killed mostly good people then... " he mused with a slow drag of one pair of arms over the backrests behind him, a second pair up his fluff, " I dunno how many a mine's up in the clouds, BUT... " Angel stretched his neck to make way for a flirtatious boost of volume. It was natural and fun for him, putting on a small private show.

" I dunno, a big... WARM WELCOME might not be what it's all cracked up t' be. Especially if ya gonna be showin' in the middle of a fuckin'... MOB a people ya offed... " He winked nefariously, curl of his back curating a most perfect angle of him from Kyxs's point of view. " I wouldn' bum out over it so much, Toots, ya got y'self under the ranks of one a the Pride Ring's biggest head honchos. It's the next best thing ya could be doin' down 'ere, y'know... "

A wide, playful smirk preceded a theatric flash of his wrists mimicking gunfire. " Before decidin' to OFF 'EM an' take the power fa YASELF ~ "

Kyxs

He snorted a bit. "More like I didn't know them beyond what little casing I did. Did they have kids? Were they rich and/or up their own asses? Were they willing to let me in? That's about it."

His eyes can't help but be drawn to how Angel fluffed and moved. Kyxs definitely wasn't opposed to a private show like this-- In fact, it was more than welcome. Helped make his Deathday pretty good, actually.

At the mention of offing the boss, though, his brow creases, and he shakes his head.

"No, I wouldn't do that to Alastor-- Don't think I _could_ to be honest. He's so powerful. And he's a better boss than most would give him credit for. Though...I definitely understand the sentiment when it comes to other bosses-- or, even, people who aren't bosses but you just don't want to see their dumb, stupid faces anymore..."

His expression darkened and it was _rather obvious_ who he was talking about. Both a certain moth and a certain father and brother that were decidedly non-spidery.

"I hope the Exterminators get all of them. That'd be nice to return home to that news, huh?"

Angel

" They're SINNERS just like any one a us, out here hidin', too. They can go down just as easy wit' the right sinker ~ " Angel scoffed, a cynical curl of a corner of his lips, " Either way, a big chunk of them are gonna be gone, it ain't gonna be you or me... "

Playfully, Angel cupped his fluff and slotted Kyxs drink into his cleavage before grinning widely. " Happy Death Day, Babes ~ " he sang with an inviting wink.

Kyxs

"You're damn right, Angel, you're damn right." He grinned at the offering, leaning close to get his lips on the rim. Kyxs took a sip, giving an over exaggerated 'Ahhh' after.

He smiled, leaning back in his seat a bit, his hands giving Angel's waist and leg a bit of a squeeze. "Thanks, Angel. Best one yet, hands down. In no small part to you."

He took the drink from Angel's fluff, and the held it towards him, offering him a sip of it.

"To many more like it."

Angel

Angel lightly booped the rim of the glass to Kyxs's nose before helping himself to a little bit more than a sip. A lotta bit more. The whole thing. He seemed to think that was the intention, as he wiggled the empty glass with a dramatically disappointed look on his face.

" She's empty... " he sniffed with a wiggle of his hips, " Should we go fill 'er up? Get summa her alien friends ~ ? "

Kyxs

He blinked a bit when booped, and then smiled as he watched Angel drain it. Well, that was okay, there were plenty more where that came from.

"Y'know? I think we should. Just not too many, or Valera might get pissed. I remember them mentioning something about not getting _too_ wasted."

Even though he said that, his hand tightened on Angel's waist, and he leaned up as far as he could to kiss Angel's cheek.

"Alright, let's go, Angelcake."

Angel

_Angelcake._ The name fluttered in his ear on the dusty wings of another voice. Shielding his face with an arm as he turned, Angel flourished a leg over Kyxs's head and rose to his full stature.

" Easy way aroun' that : don't be a fuckin' LIGHTWEIGHT ! " he teased with a dramatic spread of his arms as he took a few steps to the stage to gather his coat. Mass of red and white bundled under his arm and glass in the air, he dragged a hand across Kyxs's shoulders and started for the door.

Kyxs

Kyxs noticed that turn, but didn't catch the expression. The alcohol already buzzing in his veins was distraction enough though, and his mind latched onto Angel's words instead.

"Oh, I've been practicing that skill for fifteen years. Let's do it, babe." He trotted after Angel, catching up with his long strides. Damn all these tall demons and their long legs, giving him a real work out with every stroll!

"Want me to carry the coat, Angel?" He asked, beaming up at him. That's what a gentleman did, right? Carry coats?

Angel

" ALL YOURS, TOOTS ~ " Without hesitation, Angel fluffed it out to its full trailing glory and draped it around Kyxs's shoulders. The second set of sleeves graced the ground and the train splayed more than his entire height behind him. _The picture of regality._

" Drag that bitch all aroun' the estate ~ " he sang with a fix of the collar, " It's all yours fa as long as ya wanna be feelin' like a million bucks ~ "

Kyxs

Well! He wasn't expecting it draped around him, but who was he to complain about a coat this nice. And....familiar....

He inspected it as he trotted, his snake tail coming out from underneath it.

"Hey, uh, Angel? Is this....Valentino's coat?" He let the sleeves flop around a bit, amused by how long they were.

Angel

" _Was,_ " he said with a shrug, " A little partin' gift fa the night. He ain't gettin' it back ~ "

Angel played coy, extending a hand to Kyxs so they could walk out together.

" Nothin' t' worry about. He ain't gonna miss it. "

Kyxs

Kyxs arched a brow, but didn't comment on that. Well! If it wasn't Valentino's _anymore_ then sure, he'd drag it all over the place. It was definitely comfy enough.

He waggled the sleeve until it slipped down enough to reveal his hand and he took Angel's. "I'm swimming in this thing so much I feel like a toddler," He said with a laugh.

Angel

" Better behave, then, 'case bad little boys get _spankin's ~_ " Angel teased with a swing of their joined hands before turning down the hall, " I'd hate fa ya lil' snakey tail - end t' take the fall fa ya bein' _naughty ~_ "

Kyxs

Kyxs laughed, smirking up at Angel. "Do they? Well, maybe I should be naughtier then?"

He winked a green eye at Angel, as his tail came out to give the spider a tongue flick.

Angel

A playful SNAP at the snake before an affectionate nuzzle. " Ya really wanna be beaten half t' double death on ya Death Day? A man afte' my dead, sadistic heart ~ " he teased with a laugh.

Kyxs

"Maybe, if it's you doing the beating." A snicker. "A little treat, just for me."

Angel

" Smart an' resourceful a ya, shackin' up a professional ~ "

Kyxs

He smirked and put the hand still covered in the sleeve up towards his chin. "I am pretty smart. But of course, my boyfriend would have to be equally as smart, to help me figure out that I liked these things." Kyxs winked at Angel.

Angel

Angel couldn't help laughing. That coat was RIDICULOUSLY huge, but he felt a smug sort of pride draping the spoils of his escape over Kyxs's shoulders. He OWED the split - second decision to the people in his life like him. _What it would mean in the long run was still up in the air._

" Tell 'im he ain't so smart fa thinkin' he stands a chance ~ " Angel joked with an arrogant grin, " That if he's REALLY that sma't, he should be watchin' his back an' lookin' both ways b'fore crossin' the street. 'Cause that's just good SENSE. "

Kyxs

Kyxs giggled as well, giddy and light. "Oh, yes, I will! I'll make sure he knows everything. I'll tell him--"

He's cut off as his hoof catches on the edge of the coat, and he's stumbling. Well, it was bound to happen, with how long the coat was, but Kyxs still scrambles to try and catch himself. He even tugs on Angel and his conjoined hands, trying to keep himself upright

Angel

Angel reflexively tightened his grip and rose his hand to keep Kyxs from hitting the floor. A split second of panic, but he was quickly laughing again and dropped to a knee to sweep the chimera into his arms.

" Damn babe, so fuckin' regal ya gotta be carried e'rywhere too, ah ~ ? " he chided playfully with a nuzzle into their mane before continuing down the hall, flutter of white and hearts barely gracing the floors.

Kyxs

His eyes were wide, but once he was in Angel's arms, a deep, rumbling purr started up.

"Oh yeah, absolutely. Gotta be carried by my Prince Charming." He laughed and set his head on Angel's shoulder. "I think we learned an important lesson today: My hooves plus a giant coat isn't a good mix. At least not when I'm walking and trying to keep up with those long legs of yours."