#wow. this was such a small thing but apparently I was set to go off I guess

[leahsgirl]

blind date | leah williamson x reader

in which you and your fellow england teammate are set up on a blind date. no warnings, just pure fluff really.

i’m having such major writing block right now so hoping this pulls me out of it or i’ll scream. 💪

-

“wit woo!” your roommate alessia hollered as you finished putting on your earrings.

“do i look okay?” you did a full spin, showcasing the tight fitting black dress you had on that fell just above your knees, gold heels on ur feet, gold jewellery and your hair that flowed below your shoulders in loose curls.

“you look gorgeous - your date won’t know what hit them.” the blonde replied with a smirk, coming over and fixing your necklace so the clasp didn’t keep slipping to the front.

“can’t believe youse have bullied me into this.” your national teammates had made your love life the new topic of interest since you was ‘hot and single’ and should ‘get out there more’.

while they raised a good point, a blind date is the last thing you wanted considering you was probably the most socially awkward person going when meeting new people. not to mention; your teammates planned it which in itself is enough to make you not want to go.

“you’ll have a great time, wouldn’t be surprised if you hear wedding bells at the end of it.” the forward winked having way too much fun at this whole scenario.

“calm your horses russo, i don’t plan on that for another five years.”

seeing the time you scramble to get your belongings and find your car keys. “right i’m off wish me luck!” you shout out as you close the front door.

from the adress that tooney had messaged you beforehand you found yourself outside a small restaurant at the end of a street. it looked nice and welcoming from the outside to be fair.

now when your teammates said blind date, you didn’t expect to walk in to sheer darkness, bumping into something as soon as you entered the premises.

“name.” what you can only assume was a waiter asked. “oh sorry; y/n.”

“ah right this way miss - if you could just place your hand on my colleagues shoulder and we’ll guide you through.”

following the man’s instructions you lightly gripped the man and was led into a separate room which was still as dark, but you could at least hear voices of other customers there.

“your seat madam, your date should arrive shortly.” great you thought, first one to arrive which only meant more nerves could inevitably build up.

trying to burn some of the time you felt the table, getting to grips with where the cutlery and place mats were.

“miss your date has arrived, please take a seat.” the man motioned to the booth not that anyone could see it. “thank y- ah shite!”

“are you okay?” you asked after hearing a slight bang.

“yeah just banged my pissing thigh on the table.” the voice was one of a woman’s, also one that was incredibly familiar.

“not the best way to start a date eh. i’m leah.”

“shut up!” alessia’s playful comments and expressions, teammates overwhelming interest, the whole blind date notion in general now making a whole lot of sense.

“wow can’t say i’ve ever had that greeting.” the england captain a little confused.

“no leah it’s me, y/n.”

“piss off.” you could hear the disbelief in her voice, she too apparently well unaware of the obvious set up.

“take it you were also forced to go on a date with a stranger.”

“oh i’m so going to kill georgia for this.” leah scoffed before pausing “not because the date is with you! i just mean the whole deceit in general.”

“don’t worry i’ll be planning lessi and tooney’s revenge after.”

“gotta give them credit though, they’ve paired two incredibly hot women together.” leah was smirking while you was essentially swooning over the fact she called you hot.

“yeah but why? it’s not like you like me romantically or anything.”

just before leah could reply one of the waiters returned to the table “can i get you ladies something to drink?”

“erh i’ll have a margarita please.” you deciding on the same thing and ordering it.

“well we may as well treat this as a date considering that’s what we’re here for.” there was a brief pause. “so y/n, what do you do for a living?”

you laugh as you engage in her playfulness. “i’m actually a professional football player, both man united and england.”

“oh wow that’s cool, do you like it?” the older girl asked faking curiosity, resting her chin on her hand as she moved closer.

“it has its ups and downs, there’s this girl on my national squad though who is super competitive - she cried when i beat her at mario kart.” you beamed knowing leah would not appreciate the bringing up of her defeat.

“hey you said you’d let that go!” breaking away from her ‘never met you before’ character. “sorry.” (you wasn’t sorry at all).

“okay my turn; do you have any hobbies?”

“i’m quite good at kicking a ball around too to be fair.” you quirked a brow. “oh are you?”

“yeah if you google leah williamson you might see some of my skills. i’m also very good at sudoku.” the blonde wasn’t lying considering you’ve watched her play it hundreds of times, you yourself never being able to grasp the game.

after a bunch of easy, lighthearted conversation, food had arrived, leah opting for a steak and you on pasta.

“oh my god this is to die for.” having your first taste and the flavours melting on your tongue. “you’ve gotta try this.” you move your spoon towards the blonde’s direction “that’s my eye babe.” she said with a laugh, your cheeks immediately flushing at the embarrassing miscalculation and pet name. “shit my bad.”

“mhm your right, might have to swap plates.” leah acknowledging the how delicious it was.

“back off williamson.” you reply sternly as you wack away her hand with the back of your unused fork.

time was going by pretty fast, the pair of you fully present and engaged with each other. you didn’t even bother looking at your phone which now had a build up of messages off your friends asking how it was going.

maybe you both were a little tipsy when leaving the restaurant after splitting the bill, having taken a tumble up the step.

the cold breeze was like a harsh slap to your face once outside, a large juxtaposition from the building that was warm and cozy.

“wow.” a stunned leah stood behind as she took you in. “what?” having now taken notice to the blatantly obvious staring from the arsenal player.

“you. you look incredible.” her eyes racking every single inch of your body. “i’ve never really seen you this dressed up. it’s hot.”

“y’know being showered in compliments by leah williamson isn’t half bad.” revelling in the smooth girls words of praise.

“and yet i don’t get a single one back.” jutting out her lip and faking hurt which only made you laugh and roll your eyes.

“i guess you do scrub up okay, the outfit is a solid 9/10 i’d say.”

“we’ve got to improve on those compliment skills.” the blonde scoffed.

“can’t say anything too nice, that ego of yours will human combust.” you say already aware of the defenders cockiness/arrogance. “i’d say my ego is the perfect size thank you very much.”

“okay well thanks for this ‘date.’” using your hands to air quote. “-i’ve had a good time.”

leah smiled “me too.”

you stop for a second almost hesitating doing something before ultimately deciding against it, bidding your goodbye as you turned on your heel to make your way back to your car.

“y/n wait!” jogging to catch up with you, the blue-eyed girl grabbed at your arm making you stumble back and face her. “what’s up?”

her gaze flicking between your eyes and lips as her heart pounded out her chest “i forgot to do this.”

said barely above a whisper, her lips found themselves pressed against yours. the touch so light almost like she was afraid she’d scare you away.

that couldn’t be further from the truth though, with you reciprocating the kiss by deepening it as she moved her hands so they wrapped around your waist.

pulling away youse both had rosy cheeks and heaving chests, smiling dopily at each other.

“get in!” “fucking finally!” the pair looked around for the sudden screams, shock plastered on your face when you see ella and georgia peeping out behind a wall.

leah following your gaze and spotting the teammates “have you guys been watching us?!”

stanway was the one to reply “only the last five minutes; never knew you had that game within you lee.” winking, referring to the public display of affection youse just gave.

“it was so fun to see y/n swooning.” tooney added laughing menacingly.

you and leah lock eyes, sharing a look both of you seem to understand. “shall we get our revenge?” the captain asked slyly, you agreeing immediately.

taking notice of the devilish grins that were plastered on the pair, georgia and ella looked uneasy, starting to retract slowly but surely.

“come here you little shits!” running after the girls while they squealed like little kids, making their getaway.

[alotofrandomfangirling]

hi, could you do a x reader oneshot on live action Roronoa Zoro from the live action One Piece series!

Roronoa Zoro x reader oneshot (Netflix live action)

Summary: you tend to Zoro's wounds after he is hurt on a fight

Warnings: cursing, a bit suggestive, mentions of blood, me pretending to understand medical matters 🤡 (sorry about that, it was for fangirling purposes only ajskajakja)

A/n: hello anon! Thanks a lot for the request 🥰 this is probably set after s1? Sorry for any plot or grammar mistakes 🙏🏻 i hope you like it 🩷

The salty sea breeze hit your skin as you looked out the Going Merry trying to spot your friends.

The straw hats had left to a village to try to confront another crew. Apparently another annoying guy was threatening Luffy and he was not going to let that pass. It was stupid, you thought, but, when Luffy had something in mind, absolutely no one could convince him otherwise.

Luffy had asked you to stay on the ship in case anything happened. Being the crew's doctor, you had to be prepared for any emergency regarding the crew's well being.

Yep, you were the doctor in the straw hats crew.

You had met when Luffy saw you helping hurt people in the middle of a fight at the small island you lived. He was so impressed at how good you were, how you helped everyone with ability but also with a kindness in your eyes that he had never seen before in anyone.

Having lived your entire life with your doctor grandparents, you had learned from them and was just as skilled as them, so you were always ready to help those who needed.

But you were also a dreamer and wanted to go around the world meeting new people and new places, so when Luffy asked you to join his crew you happily said yes.

- we already have a navigator, a cook... we could use a talented doctor like you. I just know it's you. So, what do you say? - he asked, with that excited smile of his.

And that's how you became a part of this special crew. Everyone was so nice to you, so it didn't take much time for you to get along with them all, specially with their cute swordsman.

Yeah, it was like you clicked. You started getting closer, closer... and before you knew you were dating.

That's why you were specially worried today. You were really afraid your boyfriend was going to do something stupid and get himself hurt again (you still had nightmares about the whole Mihawk thing).

You were lost in your thoughts when you heard your friends coming back to the ship. You immediatly ran to check on them.

- is everyone okay? - you asked worried.

- we're fine, we were lucky. Can't say the same about your man over there - Sanji said and your heart dropped. What did this stubborn do this time?

- shut up, Sanji, i'm fine - you heard Zoro say as he entered the ship too.

You ran to him doing a quick check up with your eyes. That's when you noticed the big red stain on the side of his shirt.

- oh my gosh, Zoro, you're bleeding! - you said terrified.

- this? Nah, this is just a scratch - he said shrugging and trying to play tough, even though you could clearly see he was in pain.

- no, it's not! - you said, in a stern way - come on, we have to bandage you up.

You carefully led him inside and brought your medical kit to start tending to his wounds. He sat down as you began.

- take your shirt off - you ordered.

- Wow you're that eager, huh? - he said smirking, but instantly regretting and wincing with pain.

- Zoro! Will you stop being a brat and let me take care of you? - you said angrily - i can see you're in pain and you're not going anywhere until we fix that up!

You were usually a very chill person, but you couldn't stand seeing your friends and loved ones in pain. That activated a side of you people were even a bit scared of lol

- okay, boss - he said, a bit annoyed but finally giving up.

The way he called you 'boss' made you feel all tingly inside. You were sure going to have to talk to him about it later (and maybe share some ideas 👀) but now it wasn't the time. You had a wound to treat.

He took his shirt off and you couldn't help but take in a sharp breath at the sight (even though you had seen it before lol). Boy was sure shredded.

Focus, (Y/N).

You checked him and noticed he had a knife wound just above his hip. It was ugly, but you could do it.

You grabbed a piece of cloth to start cleaning the wound.

- my love, i apologize in advance, but this is going to hurt.

You started the cleaning.

- shit, that hurts! - he hissed.

- i know, i'm sorry.

You knew you had to do it, but you couldn't stand seeing the man you loved suffering like that. You had to distract him out of it so you could finish your work.

- umm baby, could you tell me again about that time you beat three pirates at once with only one sword?

- what? Now? Why? - he looked so cute furrowing his brows in confusion.

- it's just that... i like to work listening to your voice - you quickly made that up lol

Well, it wasn't totally a lie, you did enjoy listening to his voice, but of course it was mostly to keep him distracted ajskjakaja

He was still a bit suspicious but started telling the story since you asked him (trust me, there was nothing you asked Zoro he wouldn't do for you). Your strategy worked cause you cleaned the wound and bandaged it without him wincing too much.

By the time he finished the story, you had finished your work too. You also gave him some painkillers for him to feel better soon.

- there you go - you said softly and kissed his forehead.

He closed his eyes and melted under your touch, not only because of how tired he was, but also because he felt super safe with you.

- thank you, (Y/N) - he said squeezing your hand.

You smiled at him.

- now please lay down and try to rest a bit, or this thing won't heal - you said in a stern tone, but nearly begging for your boyfriend to take care of himself.

You gathered your medical stuff and were starting to leave the room when he said:

- (Y/N), wait!

- what is it? - you asked, worried he was starting to feel pain again.

- I... I might not be feeling 100% yet. I think you should stay and lay down with me just in case it gets worse - he said in a really nonchalant way.

You rolled your eyes at his completely obvious attempt, but couldn't help smiling and blushing a bit at the thought of the great Roronoa Zoro wanting you to stay with him.

- you're the worst, Zoro - you said playfully as you carefully laid down next to him and put your hand on his chest.

- yeah, but you love me - he replied with that smug smile of his and that deep voice that drove you crazy.

You chuckled at his response.

- yes, I do - you said smiling.

His next words came out merely a whisper, but were enough to give you a thousand butterflies in your stomach:

- and I love you more.

[wolfpackenthusiast]

Interruptions

Pairing: Seth clearwater x imprint!reader

Summary: You and seth have a picnic date planned, but you guys were interrupted every time you got too close.

Warnings: not proofread

A/N: Seth is literally my baby i love him so much he’s so precious

—————————————-

You got to the park you and Seth are supposed to meet at, he was apparently already at the park “setting things up” so you had to go on your own, you thanked the driver and shut the door, trying to spot Seth anywhere.

“He shouldn’t be too far, the parks pretty small anyway,” you thought, walking along the grass, making sure you watched your step in case of uneven ground.

After a few minutes of walking, you spot him, quickening your pace. “Seth!” You shout, getting his attention.

“Oh, Y/n!” He says, meeting you halfway and grabbing your hand gently, your fingers intertwining with his, “c’mon! Everything’s ready!” He said, excitement in his tone. The day you met was at a bonfire, and he had imprinted on you, this would be your first official date.

He sat you down on a soft, fluffy blanket, with a picnic basket right next to you, filled to the drin with food. “Woah, did you make the food?” You asked, amazed.

“Sorta, Emily helped me out.” He said, opening the basket and pulling out some pb&j sandwiches, handing one to you before taking a bite of his own sandwich.

You took a bite into the sandwich, let out a hum of satisfaction. “Wow, these’re really good! Remind me to make sure you or Emily make my Pb&j sandwiches from now on.” You praised, taking another bite as Seth smiled. “I’m really glad you like them, Y/n!” He said, eating his own sandwich. “This is going great so far!” He thought.

As you two ate, he scooted closer to you, your knees touching one another, you glanced at him, noticing the closeness, and you two locked eyes, feeling a spark once again, you both giggled.

Without realizing it, you two had gotten a lot closer, inches turning into centimeters as your faces got close together, but before you could close the distance completely, someone yelled.

“Watch out!!” It was.. Quil?! What was he doing here?? There was a soccer ball coming right at you two, before you could do anything, Seth pulled you down with him to avoid it, he looked back up at Quil.

“Well.. there goes our little moment..” you thought, a bit disappointed due to the fact you guys were interrupted. Instead of complaining, you didn’t mind it, there’ll be other chances.

As you and Seth’s little picnic continued, you two had gotten close once again. Seth grabbed your hand gently, pulling you closer.

“We hot interrupted last time, but i’m not gonna let that happen again..” he whispered, only you can hear it as he leaned in.

Though, there was a sudden noise from beside you, “RAAAHHHHH!!” It scared the living crap out of both you and Seth! You, let out a little squeak, your grip on Seth’s hand tightening as he looked up to see what the sound was.

It was Quil once again, laughing historically. “Do you think we’ll let you guys kiss? Not on my watch.” Quil said, hands across his shirt-covered chest.

“Wait, who’s we?” You asked. A bush ruffled nearby, you and Seth turned your heads to see Leah and Jacob. Jacob had been like a big brother to you, so obviously he was here.

“Leah!” Seth said

“I’m not gonna let my little brother kiss someone so soon,” she said, being cautious, you and Leah were pretty good friends, but her actions are understandable.

“Leah, i’m old enough, i can kiss someone now,, you know..” he mumbled stubbornly, you giggled, he’s so cute to you.

You glanced at Jacob, “jus’ making sure you guys don’t go too far.” He said, catching you off guard. “Jake! That’s nasty!” You said, feigning offense at his accusation, you’re not THAT dirty!

“Whatever you say, Y/n/n.” He said.

“fine, no kissing, just let us enjoy our… hangout.” Seth said, hesitant to say “date,” considering how Leah is.

After a bit of convincing, they agreed to leave us be, and the rest of the date went perfect, you and Seth had fun, talked, laughed and everything.

Once it was time to head out, he agreed to walk you off home. You walked and talking the whole way, and once you were there, you told him goodbye.

But before you went inside, he grabbed your hand and pulled you in for a kiss.

It wasn’t long, you both pulled back not even 10 seconds later. “Quil! You weren’t fast enough!” Leah scolded, looking behind Seth was Leah, Jacob and Quil, who was holding a football. “Sorry, sorry!” Quil said, and you giggled before hugging Seth goodbye and going inside.

What an odd date today.

—————————————-

Word count: 774

[insomniac4000]

Jelly Legs- ArthurTV

Becoming a camerawoman for ChrisMD meant two things;

Standing out in all weathers for hours on end watching people try to shoot a ball into the net and

Trying not to stare at ArthurTV while doing number one.

You were first introduced to Arthur on your first day on the job, you were obviously nervous but professional and found it sweet Arthur spent his down time when he wasn’t taking part in the video, asking you questions. It was a ritual now, after shooting had wrapped for the day Arthur would stop for you a chat, one of his questions was always ‘what are you doing after this?’ so you would tell him your plans whether it be with some friends or mostly going home and edit the photos from the shoot before watching some Netflix and Arthur’s response would always be ‘cool,’ and a nod before he stuttered and walked off to speak to Chris.

“Do you mind that Arthur has a crush on your videographer?” George asked when him and Chris were getting into an Uber to go home after another very long shoot. Your day was far from over still, you had to take the equipment back to the office and back up the SD cards before heading home.

“Nope, it’s been what? Eight months now and it’s still the exact same routine, he stares at her, talks to her about animal mating rituals, she follows him around with a camera for apparent content,” Chris said doing the finger quotes before continuing “Then he asks her what she’s doing that evening but never follows it up with oh you’re not doing anything? Maybe we could go out? There’s nothing to be worried about, Arthur is a man of habit,” the small man explained as he played with his phone. George nodded in agreement but just because he agreed with it didn’t necessarily mean that was the way it had to be.

“Has she said anything to you about possibly liking him back?” George asked raising his scarred eyebrow.

“No, I don’t know a ton about her outside of work, she tends to keep things professional mostly. I know she loved science fiction films so they’d be a good pairing in that sense,” Chris replied with a shrug and George nodded.

“When’s the next time you’re going out with your team? Let’s invite her along, I think it’s time you got to know her a little bit more socially,” George suggested and Chris nodded, just because he was unlucky in love didn’t mean he wasn’t willing to help out a friend.

“So if you fancy is we’re all going to go out for dinner and then some drink’s next Friday?” Chris asked you the next time you were both in the office, setting the wheels of the plan in motion.

“Oh wow, yeah sounds good,” you nodded before looking back to your screen.

“Really? Okay great,” Chris replied and you looked at him a little and frowned.

“Unless you were just asking me to be polite…”

“Oh no no no! It’s just, I wasn’t expecting you to say yes so quickly. I’ve kind of noticed you tend to keep to yourself quite often. Its one of the reasons why we’re doing this actually, to get to know everyone outside of work, I like to think it’s quite cool and relaxed here and I’m not some horrible slave driver boss,” Chris explained and you nodded. You did keep to yourself often and people had sometimes pegged you as unfriendly when you were simply unsure.

“Sure, it sounds good,” you smiled and Chris nodded before adding the line that made your heart thump a little.

“George and Arthur will be there too,” You needed a new outfit.

After work that day you went shopping, it wasn’t your favourite thing to do in the world and it was something you could do quite quickly, it was often the case that whenever you had money and needed to buy something there was never anything, here you now were in Westfield trudging through each shop in a desperate attempt to try and find something that made her look good but also make it look like she wasn’t making too much of an effort. She picked up a black cami with a floral pattern and lace trim, feeling the material between her fingers, maybe this would work some jeans? Suddenly she heard a voice the other side of her which sent chills right down to her bone.

“You know you suit dresses a lot more,” the dark voice said in a low tone, you froze and kept trying to tell yourself that this couldn’t be happening, there was no way he was here, it all had to be a misunderstanding, a terrible one at that.

You finally mustered the courage to look up and there he was in front of you, the one person you never wanted to see ever again in your life, the person who you thought you would never see again, sure the legal side of things had ended but perhaps naively you thought he wasn’t so stupid that he would seek you out and talk to you again. You pulled the hanger with the top on it from the rail and marched to the till, hoping that human interaction with someone else could firstly, cause him to back off and secondly it would stop you from bursting into tears. You bought the top but it only kept the tears at bay for those five minutes as the second you left the shop they started to flow. Your vision was blurry from tears no matter how hard you tried to wipe them away as they were being replaced so quickly. You could see a man approach you and you started to panic, your breath quickened in pace and you started to wheeze ever so slightly, feeling the intense squeezing sensation in your chest, a panic attack. You hadn’t had one of these in over four months, you were doing so well. The figure got closet but you noticed the hair wasn’t long and brown so it couldn’t have been him. But he was a big guy, you could tell he was definitely a gym bunny, it wasn’t until you could hear his voice that you started to relax.

“Y/N, Y/N it’s me Reev, what’s happened? Are you okay? Let’s get you somewhere a bit quieter,” he said softly and you nodded. Your main work was for Chris but as he didn’t have a crazy upload schedule you would often do other work in your down time mostly for other Youtubers as they knew your work from Chris and or shared an office with him so it was easy to coordinate.

You could only nod, not having the strength or ability to speak in that moment. It was only when you started to walk you noticed Theo who walked on the other side of you, you were squished between the pair and managed to find some seats in a quieter part of the shopping centre off from the main stretch of shops.

“Do you live far from here?” Theo asked scrolling on his phone for Chris’s number, not knowing who else to contact. Your breathing was still very erratic so you shook your head, it was roughly a ten or fifteen minute bus ride away so an Uber would take closer to ten minutes if not a little bit less.

“Do you have a housemate or anything we can call?” Reev asked but once again you shook your head as you gripped onto the bench so tightly while trying to steady your breathing. You lived alone, you had lived alone since you and him broke up, him. You couldn’t believe after so long you would ever bump into him, let alone him having the audacity to speak to you and now after months of hard work he was at the forefront of your mind yet again.

“Hey Chris, are you home? We’ve got a bit of a situation here,” Theo asked Chris who he had now gotten on the phone, he explained the situation with the little information he had and Chris agreed you could go to his if you needed somewhere. You were starting to feel incredibly embarrassed but still hadn’t gained your ability to speak, or regulate your breathing properly so off to Chris’s you went with Theo and Reev in tow.

“What’s happened?” Chris asked once you were settled on the sofa, a mug of tea in hand, a very concerned ArthurTV and George sitting on the other sofa staring at you waiting for answers.

“I saw my ex,” you managed to spit out, staring at the wall in front of you, you had a thousand yard stare, it was obvious you had been traumatised by something.

“Must have been a pretty shitty ex for you to react like that,” Theo noted. Arthur frowned, the thought of you being so upset by someone did not make him feel good, from the little he knew of you he had only known you as an incredibly sweet person.

“He was. I was so surprised to see him because well…” You sighed, it was all going to come out anyway you may as well let the cat out of the bag. You took a deep breath to compose yourself before speaking again “He went to prison, he was violent.” You stated before downing a big gulp of tea. An uncomfortable and stunned silence filled the room as you looked around to see everyone’s faces, there was a mixture of pity, shock and anger, it was usually what you got.

“Did you know he was out?” Arthur was the one to break the silence, he needed to know more, he needed to know if you were okay.

“Yeah, there’s no restraining order or anything, not anymore. I had a no contact order but he didn’t go to prison because of me, he had a fight with someone else, but still I just didn’t think he was stupid enough to talk to me in that shop. If you guys hadn’t have seen me I don’t know what would have happened,” you burst into tears again as everyone looked at each other not knowing what to do for a crying woman. Chris gave you a hug first, some of the others did too in an attempt to cheer you up, you spent the next hour telling everyone your story, asking their questions to the best of your ability.

“That’s why I keep to myself a lot and keep things professional, I’m so so scared to let anybody else in,” you explained, your gaze flicking to Arthur briefly.

“I can’t say I blame you, but you know if you need anything you can call on any of us right?” George offered as he nudged Arthur a little and the brown eyed boy nodded profusely.

“You know you’re safe with us,” Arthur added and you nodded, you did feel safe with them, but could you open up in the way you wanted to?

Armed with their new knowledge the boys had well and truly embraced you into their inner circle, the best part was as far as you could tell they weren’t just doing it because they felt sorry for you but they were genuine.

The work drinks were a huge success, you spent a lot of time talking to people but mostly you chatted to Arthur, George and Chris although pleased the two of you were talking were now very aware of the complication, as was Arthur but he was determined to not treat you any differently, in fact he was even more determined as he wanted to show you just how you should be treated, you deserved the very best.

“Do you think somewhere in China there’s English takeaway serving up questionable fish and chips and steak and kidney pies?” You asked Arthur as the pair of you tucked into a takeaway. The two of you had started to hang out together just you two. It was purely platonic, you had mentioned you had wanted to learn how to play chess so now it was a regular thing going over to his flat to play a game, eat and talk about your views of the world. For some reason this particular evening had ended up being a little boozy, Arthur often liked a drink but this evening he seemed to be drinking a little but more and also tonight you were in a mood to match him somewhat.

“Maybe, I want to go to China. I had a great time in Sri Lanka, I need to go to Asia a lot more plus it’s so diverse,” Arthur mentioned to you, you hadn’t travelled a lot but it was on your bucket list.

“I’ve never been outside of Europe, I’d really love to do something like that,” you replied as you ate your food.

“Maybe we could do something together? Only if you wanted to of course…” Arthur asked trailing off at the end as his shyness kicked in.

“That sounds amazing,” you smiled and blushed before eating some more of your dinner.

The two of you continued to eat in a comfortable silence, you always insisted on washing up when you went over to his flat despite his insistence it was fine but the two of you had a routine now, you washed and he dried and put away. You handed him a plate, the blush rising very quickly on your cheeks as your hand brushed with his momentarily.

“You’re very cute when you blush,” Arthur said, his eyes widened, he didn’t realise he had said it until the words fell out of his mouth, he stuttered a little as he tried to come up with something to say and now it was his cheeks which were the red ones. You couldn’t help but admire how cute he looked all flustered.

“I’m sorry,” he managed to choke out eventually and you frowned a little and shook your head.

“Don’t be sorry, it’s always nice to hear a compliment. You’re cute when you blush too,” you replied looking down a little picking up the fork and cleaning it so the last of the washing up was over.

“I just don’t want you to think I’m coming on too strong or that I’m only after something. There’s some nice guys out there and I really hope you believe you deserve something nice,” Arthur gushed, he didn’t know why he was saying this let alone why he was saying it now but he couldn’t help himself, the words were spilling out of his mouth he just couldn’t hold onto them anymore. You looked at Arthur carefully, trying to ignore the thumping in your chest. You reached out and grabbed his hand lightly walking back to the sofa where you both sat, hands still entwined and now resting on his knee.

“I know, I think you’re one of the good ones. I didn’t say anything before because of my past and I was scared to get into anything but I don’t want my past to effect my future anymore.” You admitted and Arthur had a very small and hopeful smile on his face.

“Does that mean we can maybe go out for dinner next time?” He asked his voice shaking ever so slightly.

“I’d really like that,” you replied with a giggle. This was going to be different in the best way possible.

[cosmerelists]

Cosmere Characters as Parents

As requested by anon. :)

If Cosmere characters who aren't currently parents (or who never got that chance) were parents, what would they be like?

1. Adolin

LOVES playing dress-up

Small child: And YOU'RE my servant, Radiant Princess Assassin Duelist! Adolin [solemnly wearing a princess hat and armor, carrying a large wooden sword]: I am at your service, Your Highness.

2. Siri

I'm seeing: Midnight Family Picnics.

Siri: Whose ready for Midnight Family Picnic?? Both kids: [cheering] Siri: Tonight we have a lovely assortment of sweet treats, assorted nuts for salt, and of course a Surprise Stew that the cook whipped up! Siri: Let's set up the tent, and we can get eating!!

3. Kaladin

Wants to support his kid in everything...but may be slightly overprotective

Small child: Dad, Dad look! I climb ALL the way to top! Kaladin: Wow! Great job!! Syl: Wow! I'm surprised you're letting him climb a rock that tall! Kaladin: Well, you know. It's good for a kid to get to explore and be fearless. Syl: ... Syl: Got him Lashed so he can't fall, huh? Kaladin: You know it.

4. Shallan

Has a little bit of trouble setting boundaries--she just doesn't want her kid to feel restricted, you know?

Teenager: See ya, Mom! Gonna go set a building on fire. Shallan: Hey, wait a second! Shallan: You got a good reason? Teenager: Yeah. Shallan: Got a plan to avoid being caught? Teenager: Of course. Shallan: Okay--have fun!! Radiant: ... Shallan: What?

5. Nikaro

As an emo guy, he of course ends up with a kid who is the opposite.

Akane: Are you wearing...a pink shirt with a heart on it? Nikaro: My daughter is obsessed with kawaii fashion. Nikaro: She wanted to style me. Akane: That also explains the sparkly eyeshadow. Nikaro: It does. Akane: ... Akane: Is your goth soul dying inside? Nikaro: Only a little.

6. Yumi

It feels inevitable that Yumi would give birth to a tiny Godzilla child.

Yumi: Look! Mommy made the stack sooooo high! Child: [shrieking with delight as they plow right into it, knocking it over] Yumi: [smile only slightly strained] A mother's love is a powerful thing.

7. Lopen

They say it takes a village, and Lopen definitely has that.

Sigzil: You know...I'm impressed by how well-rounded your kid is. Lopen: Ha ha! A Herdazian is always well-rounded--and very often round as well! Lopen: Every cousin teaches 'im something--he's learned to cook and talk quick and make friends and tell jokes and stick people to walls and all the things! Small Lopen child: [flips someone off] Lopen: He learned that from me! Sigzil: You don't say...

8. Tress

Raises her child on the high seas.

Child: [screaming a sea shanty at the top of her lungs while she swabs the deck] Ann: She getting punished for something? Tress: What? No! She just likes to sing and her favorite one is about swabbing the decks. Tress: I tried to get her interested in spores, but apparently that's not as exciting as swabbing the deck. Ann: [patting her on the back] Well, there's still plenty of time to share your incredibly dangerous hobby with your kid. Tress: Yeah, you're right!

9. Elend

Just doesn't want his kid to have a childhood like his

Elend: Wait a minute...are you reading that book after I told you that the thesis was juvenile speculation sprung from the mind of a man without two thoughts to rub together? Teenager: Yeah, what of it? I'm not gonna take your word for it! Elend: [sniffs] I-I'm so proud!

10. Vin

Just doesn't want her kid to have a childhood like hers.

Sazed: Wow so this is your baby, huh? Vin: Yup! Sazed: So....round. And happy. Vin: Yup! [The fattest, happiest baby you've ever seen gives Sazed a sleepy smile] Sazed: She's...perfect.

[marycom15]

Accidental vampire hunter Evbo x Vampire Seawatt & EMF AU

Once again here posting stuff from our discord lmao.. Thank you Crow for doing Yaoi of the day, it inspires me 🙏🙏🙏This one's a bit long

Evbo who doesn't really know what a vampire is - sure, he knows they're another kind of mythical being that's a threat to many, but he grew up in a rather close knit and small community, a place where a vampire would be immediately discovered. Threats such as these are typical for dark alleys of big cities, not his little corner of the world. So when a vampire does show up and try to terrorise his home, he does what he needs to and kills it - he's not quite sure how, but swinging some sharp wood around seemed to work. He's not actually aware it was a vampire, just seemed like a bit of a stronger thug who didn't know any of the local rules, but he's left with a cold body now (wow, it sure got cold fast. Maybe thats just how it always is, Evbo wouldn't know)

It's a bit awkward since he's not sure what to do about it, until a pair of fancy people he's never seen around appear and inform him that the man he's killed was actually a wanted vampire. There's a cash prize apparently, and as much as Evbo loves his home, he would never pass up an opportunity for a social rank up. The two lovely gentlemen offer to escort him to the nearest city, since they know the way and he's never really left the area before. His new companions insist that they need to get there as fast as possible so they shouldn't be waiting for sunrise. Evbo makes his goodbyes quick and offers to come back at some point, way richer, and they set out.

Now no one will look for him.

They do walk towards the city for a while, the vampire's head dangling from his backpack (taken as proof), and he learns his new companion's names - Seawatt and Emf. It's not untill they're rather deep within the forst and far from any civilization that they both smile at him and bare their teeth… So he of course bares his own back. He's a little confused, but they seem to be confused even more so he takes that as a win and continues walking.

The only thing he knows about vampires is the name. Nothing. Else. He doesn't see any of the obvious signs. Seawatt and Emf intended to just lol on him and kill him in the middle of the forest (couples activities !) but now they're just. Kind of baffled and entertained. So they decide to keep him around, but they still do need to feed…

So Seawatt gets the crazy idea to just ask him straight up. Worst case scenario they kill him. He just further confuses them by immediately being like "yeah sure you can drink my blood, i dont really have a knife or anything though!". He's just happy to be there really, and even when they mumble out that they can just bite him literally no red lights go off in his head. And so they do. They stop and they feed on his blood and drain just a bit to see his reaction and he's like wow that's new. Ok how far is the city.

Seawatt and Emf are obsessed.

Im not writing the rest of this out so detailed but. So begins the saga of accidental vampire hunter Evbo and his two vampire boyfriends. They get to the city and Evbo never questions why they refuse to go with him during the day ("i mean their skin is pretty pale, might be a health thing"), so he turns in the vampire's head and everyone freaks the fuck out because that's like some powerful fucking vampire and this random dude just came in casually with his head. So they immediately assume he's a seasoned hunter and they give him all the difficult targets and he's like wow ! i can make so much money ! Of course, they dont need to explain any vampire lore to a hunter like him - so he just keeps not knowing Anything.

Meanwhile Seawatt and Emf are just happy Evbo finished the job they started. They've been hunting that fuckass bitch for weeks and managed to weaken him substantially but explaining a murder of one of their kin is always hard so they're real glad a random human showed up and dealt the finishing blow. They are also very entertained (and possibly in love) by his anticts so they stick around. Evbo never questions them.

This is just the basis of this AU, other discord peeps expanded upon it but this is the basic idea - enjoy :)

[funkyplantguy]

for the prompt asks thing: how about scarian as musicians of some sort?

rubbing my hands together. excellent, excellent - featuring: drummer!scar and singer!grian (meet-cute! kinda)

- now, in all honesty, grian had assumed that the showers would be empty at this time of night. i mean, really, who showered at 3 in the morning on a tuesday night? (freaks, that was who, freaks, and a totally normal insomniac who had maybe been up a touch too late working on his latest music project). plus - he'd never run into anyone in the showers at this time before, at least not this semester. he'd been pretty quick to memorize the bathroom routines of the people on his floor - and then use that knowledge to avoid each and every one of them. he wasn't antisocial, per say, just very busy - and plus, if he was going to be wasting valuable time showering, anyway, he might as well make use of the frankly incredible acoustics in the bathroom. so that's how he found himself here, standing completely naked in the showers, his rendition of some old pop ballad tapering off into loud applause from directly outside his shower stall.

"that was really good!" came the voice (one that grian did not recognize - for better or for worse). "wow! you're an incredible singer." the shock of it all left grian speechless - speechless, and frankly a little incredulous at the nerve of his mysterious audience. really - who stood outside of someone's shower stall just...listening to them sing? what kind of stalker behavior was that? was it a fan who had somehow figured out where he went to college? he did have a fanbase, after all - small, but weirdly dedicated. but no, that didn't make sense - they would have had to have a keycard to get into the building, especially at this time of night when there wasn't really anyone coming. then who...?

a few moments and a hasty pair of pajamas later, grian pulled the stall door open to reveal -

oh.

oh.

sitting in front of him was a man - a very handsome man at that, all wide, green eyes and genuine, toothy smile. a very handsome man in a wheelchair, parked patiently in front of the only wheelchair-accessible shower stall on the whole floor - namely, the stall that grian had been using. hot shame rose in his cheeks as he shuffled out of the way, clutching his shower bag tightly to his chest.

"sorry," he blurted, sheepishly. "i...i, um...there's usually nobody taking showers this late at night during the week, and, uh, i didn't know that you...um...that...that anyone ever used...or needed to use...uh...oh god, sorry. yeah. sorry. i'll leave you to it."

he turned to scamper back to his dorm room, already anticipating the scolding he'd get from his roommate when he recounted the experience the next morning, but the man's loud laughter had him stopping in his tracks (and not because it was the most gorgeous laugh he'd ever heard in his life, no, definitely not that).

"it's okay!" the other affirmed, light eyes twinkling even in the dull florescent lighting. "no worries - i'm scar, by the way. i just moved in this week. had a bit of a late start - the university messed up some of my accommodations and originally had me over in schaffer."

"the dorms at the top of the hill?" grian gawked, his own blunder momentarily forgotten. "how do they expect you to get up and down that every day?" "my question exactly!" scar responded. "apparently, they "didn't think about that", so...here i am. a bit behind the curve, but hey, what can you do." "complain to the dean, frankly." "tried that. he didn't seem to care." "jesus. this place sucks." "you're telling me!"

a silence fell over the two, then, and grian shifted his weight from foot to foot, suddenly feeling...exposed, under the piercing gaze from the other. he felt like scar was taking him apart with his eyes, studying every visible piece of him and stringing together opinions - conclusions - based on what he saw. fleetingly, grian wished that he'd bought that cute, matching pajama set he'd seen when he'd gone shopping with mumbo the week prior.

"anyway," scar started again, smooth voice cutting easily through the tension. "your voice is really good! i play the drums - we should hang sometime! maybe have a jammy session." "i - a...a what?" "a jammy session! y'know, where you get together and jammy out?" "scar, i think you mean jam out. a jam session?"

"oooooh," scar responded, raising a hand to scratch at his cheek. "yeah, that makes more sense. i thought there was something weird about that, but cub said 'no scar, you're right, it's a jammy session'. i should have known better than to trust that rapscallion." "oh! cub? i know cub! he's dating my roommate, mumbo!" "no way! that's so funny - small world! cub's so annoying about mumbo." "yeah, mumbo's annoying about him, too. it's kinda cute." "definitely cute." they fell into silence once more, one thankfully much less tense than the previous. grian found his eyes darting from scar's eyes to his faded t-shirt, to the small scar above his eyebrow, to the way his long, curly hair fell messily over his shoulder - taking in every aspect of his face, taking him apart in the same way that scar had done to him, mere moments earlier. maybe it was the late hour - maybe grian was more tired than he'd thought - but something about this felt like a dream...like he was going to blink and scar would be gone. he found that he didn't want that to happen. he found that he wanted to wake up tomorrow morning and get to hear that laugh again - that loud, joyful laugh - maybe every day for the rest of his life. "a jam session would be nice," he found himself saying. "maybe you can teach me how to play the drums. i'm really rubbish at most instruments, but maybe drums will be the exception?" "sounds great!" scar chirped back, a warm smile settling on his face. "we'll make a drummer out of you yet. hey - here's my number. text me in the morning, and we'll compare schedules. alright?" "yeah - okay, yeah, i'll do that. goodnight, scar." "goodnight, songbird." it was only an hour later, swaddled in blankets and the comfortable sound of mumbo's snoring, that grian realized he'd never given scar his name. ah well. that could be remedied...at a later date.

[lou-struck]

The Couple in the Car

Atsumu Miya x reader

Flufftober Day 14- The Couple in the Car

W.C. 1.7k

~ Atsumu thought he would impress you by taking you to the drive-in for a scary movie date… But apparently, the universe had some other plans. 

The sun is setting, and you are thankful that you are warm inside Atsumu's car. Staring out the window, you squint into the light of the setting sun that just a month ago would still be in the sky.

"What's playing tonight?" you ask as your boyfriend pulls down the little gravel road to the drive-in, his warm car filled to the brim with fuzzy blankets and all your favorite movie snacks. 

"The Hammer, I think," he says, trying to play it cool, but you read your boyfriend like a book. That slight curve in his lips tells you that he is really excited to watch this notoriously scary slasher film with you. 

You pull up and see the headlights of at least a hundred cars parked in the stalls. "Wow, it's busy tonight."

"No kiddin," he comments dejectedly. And you know he feels guilty for picking you up so late this evening. Your heads are on swivels as you drive through the packed lot until an attendant drowning in a large hooded sweatshirt comes up to you holding a flashlight. A thick scarf covers his chin, protecting his face a bit too well from the evening air as he waves you over to a spot at the very back of the theater. 

"Hey man, are there any closer?" Atsumu asks disappointedly. 

"Not tonight; this is the only place I could fit you guys in." He says, not meeting your gaze as he turns and quickly walks off. 

"I'm sorry baby, this is my fault." He frowns, his background playing sports having taught him the importance of being better than on time for everything. "I would've picked ya up earlier, but Samu borrowed my keys and had to work late."

"It's really not that bad, Tsumu," you say, looking at the screen. "We can still see the movie really well from back here." you grab his hand resting on the center console and give it a comforting squeeze. "Plus, we have so much privacy back here. It's almost like we have the place to ourselves."

With that little tidbit, he brightens up and grins, "Yeah, we do," he winks, sliding an arm around your shoulder. "Now I heard this thing is pretty scary, so feel free to hang on to me nice and tight if ya get scared. 

"I'll keep that in mind," you laugh, pressing a teasing kiss to your boyfriend's lips. Just as the movie begins to play.

~

Maybe this movie is a bit too much for the oldest Miya twin. Ever since 'The Hammer' took his first victims, a young couple who chose the wrong night to go up to the small town's lookout point, your boyfriend has had a tight grip on your hand. 

Although he's not in the movie, he flinches at every corner, his mind anxiously awaiting the next jump scare. You are torn between watching the movie or the little show he's putting on for you. 

The Main girl's friend creeps through the winding basement with her flashlight, looking for clues and her impending doom. When suddenly, a rat scurries across her foot.

While the rest of the drive-in hears her scream, you can only hear Atsumu's

"Are you alright, Tsumu?" you ask as he places his hand on his chest and slows his erratic breathing. 

"Y-yeah, i-i'm fine." he lies, slightly, releasing the death grip he has on your hand. "Just spooked a bit, I guess." he looks so ashamed, even more so when he realizes that in his panic, he knocked over his drink, and it is currently spilling onto one of the blankets he packed. 

. "Oh no, that's getting everywhere," you say, opening the glove box hoping to find some napkins but find only an old pack of gum and his car's owner's manual.

"Stay right there, I'll go get some paper towels from the concession stand and wipe this up," you offer, getting up from your seat, but he is quick to stop you.

"What are you doing?" he says with wide eyes, "Stay in the car, haven't ya been watching?"

You are touched by his concern but know that if you don't get this cleaned up, the mess is gonna get worse. "It's fine, but if you're worried. How about you go with me for protection?

He swallows nervously but nods, walking you to the snack counter.  The line snakes around the corner and you feel thankful that your boyfriend planned ahead and brought you all of your favorite snacks. 

"Here they are," you say, taking a handful of paper towels from the condiments counter. Atsumu regards the stand with interest. 

"Do ya need anythin?" he asks. 

"Only you," you grin, grabbing onto his strong arm. 

"Yer cute." he chuckles, feeling much better than before as you start to walk back to your lonely car. You are almost there when he stops in his tracks. 

"What's wrong?" you ask, worried that he has forgotten something, but he only points to the ground. A single long Iron nail has been struck precariously into the dirt, just like what the killer does in the movie and you are hit with a wave of uneasiness. 

That wasn't there before…

"That's weird" you say, putting on a brave face, casually stepping over it. "Is this someone's idea of a joke? Someone could trip over that."

"Spooky," He mutters, his hand resting on your lower back protectively as you resume your walk. 

~

"Are you feeling better?" you ask Atsumu during a dull part of the movie. 

"Yeah, much better," he says, running a hand through his blond hair. "Sorry for freakin out earlier, that wasn't very cool of me."

"You know, I don't love you for just your coolness." you tease watching as his face turns from touched to teasing. 

"Aweeee, you loveeee meeee, don't ya?" he winks, leaning in for a kiss. But just before his chocolate colored eyes shut, he stops, looking beyond your shoulder out the car window.

"Did ya see that? I swear I'm not crazy." his hand trembles as he points to the woods; when you turn around, you are horrified to actually catch a glimpse of something moving through the trees. 

"Maybe it's a deer?" you say, not really believing yourself. 

Deer don't walk on two legs. 

"It's the Hammer Man,"… he whispers. The ridiculousness of it all fills your head with doubt. 

"Tsumu, it's just a movie."

"Based on a true story," he says firmly. "They say they never caught the guy. What if he is here tonight wantin' to take revenge on another hot young couple in their car."

You shudder thinking back to the opening kill of the movie. "It's just a movie," you repeat, this time as if you are trying to convince yourself. Atsumu's imagination is like a tornado, beautiful but dangerous if you get caught up in it."

"There he is again." he cries, and you see it this time, a man in a mask walking through the trees. You track his movements until he disappears behind a wall of green, and you try to figure out where he went."

With all your attention on the tree line you fail to notice a new figure creeping up to the window until they slam their fist on your glass. Someone screams (you) as the man in the mask raises his oddly shaped hammer as if ready to strike. 

"Oh no, ya don't," Atsumu says, leaning over your seat, sideling you with his body. His arm files to the door, and he forces it open quickly, sending your would-be assailant to the ground.

"Ouch, that hurt…" a familiar voice groaned, rubbing their head through the mask.

"Stay away from them~" Atsumu grunts, awkwardly climbing over you and getting on top of the killer. 

"Get off me, you oaf," the voice grunts, and you see recognition flash in your boyfriend's eyes as he carefully peels off the mask to reveal his brother…

"Samu?" he breathes, still sitting on his twin's chest.

"Duh… Now move, I can't breathe." the grey-haired twin says, shoving him off. 

"What are you doing here?" you ask, sliding from your car seat. And when you notice the large bump on your future brother-in-law's head, you almost feel bad.

Almost

He looks almost apologetic as he looks up at you, "Hey, y/n. Uhh sorry about that. We had planned on scarin Tsumu when ya went to the bathroom or somethin, but we got tired of waitin'."

"You bastard," Atsumu says, but you are more focused on his response.

"We?" you ask, hoping for a bit more clarification. 

"Hey hey hey, guess who got pranked?" a loud voice calls from behind the car. Atsumu's teammate, Kotaro Bokuto, leaps out of the darkness, holding a mask identical to the one Osamu had been wearing. He must've been the one running through the trees earlier. 

"I helped too," the attendant from before says, removing his hood and large scarf to reveal Shoyo Hinata.

"You guys were all in on this?" Atsumu asks, looking much better

"Pranked ya,"  Bokuto says, slinging an arm around his friend. "And it was all Samu's idea."

"The owner of the drive-in owed me a favor," Osamu explains with a devilish grin. "So he let me borrow the back row of the theater, and I made sure ya ran late to pick up y/n." He looks so proud of himself for putting this all together that if you weren't still catching your breath, you would applaud him for his creativity.

"You guys are jerks," your boyfriend says, twisting out from under the large spikers' arms to hold on to you. "Are ya okay babe?

You nod, "Just excited, I think; they got us good."

"Thanks for being such a good sport about this y/n," Hinata says, fiddling with his disguise. "You're super cool."

"Thanks," you grin. "So, whose idea was it to put that nail into the ground over there?"

At your question, the three men go silent. Until they ask the scariest question of the evening. 

"What nail?"

Tagging: @pixelcafe-network

[m1ckeyb3rry]

── THE GLASS PRINCESS // FOUR

Series Synopsis: You wake up in a strange room with no memories, broken glass at your bedside, and a prince named Zuko as your only chance at figuring out who you really are.

Chapter Synopsis: You go to the zoo with Ty Lee. Later, you and Jia-Li watch a brutal confrontation between Kaho and an underclassman.

Series Masterlist

Pairing: Zuko x Reader

Chapter Word Count: 5.3k

Content Warnings: complicated relationships (strangers to friends to lovers to enemies to strangers to lovers to enemies to lovers), amnesia, alternate universe, lots of secrets and lying and mystery

A/N: big reveal HAHA jia-li is ruon-jian’s sister and kaho is chan’s!! idk if that was what people were expecting or not but i thought it was funny so here we are

To Zuko,

I suppose that, if you really are set on it, it would not hurt me to think of you as my friend. I hope that you are prepared for what that may entail.

I jest. I do not think I am a particularly difficult person to have as a friend, though you might get a more honest review from Ty Lee or Jia-Li. At least in my own opinion (which one might find to be unfairly high), I am agreeable enough to get along with most people — at least those who are agreeable in return (so, not Kaho).

Ty Lee and I went to the zoo. It was entertaining. I am fond of animals, and I found I enjoyed myself more at the zoo than in the academy. At least the birds sound pretty when they screech! The same cannot be said for my dear classmates, who are of the disposition to speak quite incessantly but without anything of substance or value to contribute.

My classes have been going well. I am already at the top of the year, which is partially due to how much I study and partially due to a different factor. I will not call it memory, because it is nothing that that is personal to me, but it is true that at times I will understand something before our teacher has even taught it. I must have been a very learned Fire Nation soldier, indeed.

I had to watch an Agni Kai. One of the girls in the year below us fought Kaho. Of course, she lost. It is such a brutal custom, you know…though of course I understand the cultural significance, it is not a joy to watch. Certainly, I don’t understand how some of the girls were eating snacks and placing bets on the outcome. Luckily, the girl who went against Kaho is alright. Kaho let her off with only a small burn, but it could’ve been much worse.

In better news, Jia-Li has invited me to spend the next break at her house on Ember Island! So I will go there instead of taking up space at the palace. I am excited — I am not sure if I’ve ever been to the ocean or not. It will be exciting to see it for the first time; or, if not for the first time in my life, then for the first time that I will remember. Of course, I will continue to write to you even on vacation, and Jia-Li has already said that I can borrow her clothes and things, so there should be no strain put upon you. If there were, then I would not even suggest it.

The next time I shall see you in person will be after the term is properly over, then. I look forward to it will hopefully be the Fire Nation lady you want me to be by then.

From, Your friend Ursa

P.S. You should not be surprised by what I am about to say: I still don’t remember anything.

“Wow,” Ty Lee said, chewing on a piece of candy as the two of you walked down a gravel pathway together. “I still can’t believe we got free admission!”

“Apparently, all students do,” you said, holding out your hand. She dropped the small, round, fruit-flavored disks in your palm, and you popped it in your mouth, smiling at the burst of flavor. “Though it makes sense they don’t advertise that.”

The Strategy Mistress was sick, so you all had been given leave to spend the afternoon as you pleased. Ty Lee had offered to take you to the zoo with her, remembering that you had mentioned wanting to go when you had woken up in the palace, and you had jumped at the chance to not be in the suffocating dormitory for a little while.

At the moment, you and her were standing in front of the dragon moose enclosure, watching as they grazed. One of the dragon moose had a calf, and it was a sweet looking animal, somehow adorable in its awkward ugliness. As you watched, it had a spurt of energy, jumping and bucking through the pasture, racing along the fence line and only skidding to a stop when it realized it was being ignored. Its ears drooped as it trotted back to its mother’s side, lowering its head to the grass once again.

“These dragon moose look a little different than the ones that pull the carriages,” Ty Lee said.

“Oh, I know why that is,” you said, eager to prove your competence. “Dragon moose are actually only native to one small part of the Fire Nation. The ones that pull our carriages are the offspring of ones that were domesticated many centuries ago. They’ve been selectively bred to best fit our purposes almost since the day our ancestors first tamed them, so they’ve evolved into very different looking animals. The wild dragon moose, such as these ones, never had that push to evolve and optimize to our needs, so they look the same as they have for all of those centuries.”

“You sure do know a lot, Ursa,” Ty Lee said gamely. “Was that school knowledge, book knowledge, or past knowledge?”

“Book knowledge,” you said. “I don’t know if I was that interested in the convergent evolution of domestic and wild dragon moose in my previous life.”

Ever since the first day of your classes, when you had discovered a mysterious aptitude and innate understanding of the rules of etiquette, you and Ty Lee had come up with three categories: school knowledge, book knowledge, and past knowledge. School knowledge referred to the things that you learned in your lessons, the offhand comments and the droning lectures that you remembered better than anyone else in your year. Book knowledge was the summation of the many pages upon pages you had committed to memory, encompassing everything from the political structures of the Fire Nation to the fauna of the Northern Water Tribe. Finally, past knowledge was the most mysterious and ambiguous category, because it meant the random things you just knew in your mind, even though you had no real reason to.

More things than you were really comfortable with fell into that latter category. It really didn’t feel fair — why was it that you could recall the pillars of etiquette and the different battle formations of the Soldiers of Agni, but not anything about who you had been in the past? Why was your identity, which you wanted to know the most, the only thing you could not remember?

In the middle of the zoo was a large, artificial lake. You and Ty Lee stopped at the fence and leaned over to watch the flying dolphin fish leap through the air before diving back into the water with great splashes. A little ways away from you, a child raced up to the fence and gripped it, staring at the flying dolphin fish in awe. One of the fish noticed him and swam over towards him before slamming its tail against the surface of the lake, bowling the child over in a great deluge of salty brine.

You and Ty Lee exchanged looks, neither of you laughing until you saw the other’s face, whereupon you burst into fits of giggles, unable to hold them in any longer.

“Should we go help him?” you gasped out, wiping away the tears gathering in the corners of your eyes. Ty Lee, who was doubled over at this point, shook her head.

“I think — I think his mother’s got him,” she said breathlessly. True to her word, an adult woman was yelling at the boy as he wailed, still face-down and drenched to the bone.

“He should’ve just stayed with the turtle ducks,” you said, shaking your head and pointing at the small flock floating placidly along, far from the mischievous flying dolphin fish. “They’re so cute!”

“From what I remember, there’s a petting zoo area somewhere in the zoo, if you want to try feeding turtle ducks,” Ty Lee said. “I wasn’t able to see it when I came with Azula and Mai, though, because Azula hates turtle ducks.”

“Hates turtle ducks? How could someone hate them? They’re so sweet and guileless,” you said. “Was she wronged by one as a child?”

“You could say that,” Ty Lee said. She didn’t offer further explanation, but considering you had never even met Princess Azula, you didn’t blame her. Whatever her past with the turtle ducks was, it was the princess’s own secret to keep or share at her own discretion.

It took you a while to find the petting zoo, as they had no signs, so you had to ask people to point you in the correct direction. Unfortunately, most of the people that you asked were other visitors, and by the time you finally found a staff member to take you there, you had all but given up on the prospect of going at all.

“Mostly, the people who come to the petting zoo are kids, or at least have some of their own,” the zookeeper said. Ty Lee scowled at her.

“Some of us are young at heart!” she snapped, earning a snort from you and a bewildered look from the zookeeper, who raised her hands in the air and back away.

“I cannot believe that was your response to her,” you said as you reached the counter where a different zookeeper handed you little bags of food to give to the animals.

“I panicked,” Ty Lee admitted. “But really, she had no reason to be judging us! It’s her own job that relies on visitors like us. Who cares about how old we are?”

“Quite right, Ty Lee, and anyways it can be argued that I have about as much life experience as a child, in one way, so she really has no ground to stand on,” you said.

“I wouldn’t say you’re all too childlike,” Ty Lee said. “You act like most anyone else our age would. Maybe more mature, even, but certainly not less, even though you have no memories.”

“Of course, it isn’t as if the effects of my formative experiences on my psyche have been erased just because I can’t remember them,” you said. “They still shaped my spirit, even if I cannot recall how they did so.”

Unfurling your fingers and offering your hand to one of the dragon moose — which was of the domesticated variety, not one of the wild ones from earlier — you used your other hand to rub its forehead.

“Ew! It slobbered all over me!” Ty Lee said as the dragon moose she was feeding swiped its long tongue over her now-empty palm and then across her cheek, ignoring her attempts to shove it off of her.

“That must mean it likes you,” you said. She stopped trying to shove it away, her expression growing contemplative as the dragon moose used its lips to play with her long braid.

“Aw,” she said. “Now I feel kinda bad for being so mean.”

“I don’t think it’s offended, but maybe you should get your braid out of its mouth before it chews it off,” you said. Ty Lee yelped and yanked her braid out of the dragon moose’s grasp, jumping away to stand behind you.

“As soon as we get back to the academy, I’m going to have to shower,” she said, shuddering.

“You do smell somewhat like dragon moose,” you said, sniffing her delicately and then wrinkling your nose. “Wanna go back to the flying dolphin fish? I’m sure they’d be happy to rinse you off.”

“Very funny!” she said.

“It feels like you don’t think it’s that funny,” you said, snickering. “Which is a shame, because I do.”

“Let’s just go see the turtle ducks. They’re the whole reason we came here,” she said, stomping off.

“You don’t want to visit the hippo cow?” you said, pointing at the enormous beast that was allowing toddlers to clamber over it as it dozed with one eye open.

“I don’t even want to think about how things could go wrong if I go near that,” Ty Lee said. “Turtle ducks are nice and safe and little. As I said, let’s go there.”

These turtle ducks were kept in a pond which had no fence, allowing them to wander about as they pleased, swimming amongst the lilies blooming in the water and hiding in the bulrushes on the part of the bank further from the path.

Crouching, you broke off pieces of lettuce and threw them towards the turtle ducks. They paddled over and began to squabble amongst themselves, racing to snag the treats before their companions.

Ty Lee joined you, and for a little bit, the two of you were quiet, tossing lettuce at the turtle ducks and observing them eat. Only once all of your lettuce had run out did Ty Lee speak again.

“I thought turtle ducks ate bread,” she said.

“They do,” you said. “They love it a lot, which is why people give it to them. But it’s bad for them. Makes their stomachs upset.”

“Then why do they love it?” she said. “If it makes them sick, why do they keep eating it?”

“I don’t know,” you said. “It must taste very nice. Sometimes, it’s like that, I guess. You do things that you know are bad for you because you think that they are good.”

Ty Lee glanced at you out of the corner of her eye. “School knowledge or book knowledge?”

“Neither,” you said. “Past knowledge, I think.”

You couldn’t explain it, but then again, when had you ever been able to explain your past knowledge? Ty Lee exhaled but did not question you, which you were grateful for. You doubted you could’ve explained further, anyways.

“There you are!” Jia-Li hissed when you and Ty Lee walked into the dormitory building together. The light mood of the outing had faded after you had fed the turtle ducks, a pensive melancholy settling over you both in place of the earlier humor as the two of you considered your own respective thoughts.

“What’s wrong?” you said.

“Where have you guys been?” she said.

“We were at the zoo,” Ty Lee said.

“Didn’t I tell you before we left? Did something happen? Oh no, did the Strategy Mistress suddenly feel better and decide to hold class after all?” you said. “We have an exam coming up. If I missed a class, then I’m going to have to double down on my studying.”

“Those are words I never want to hear from your mouth again,” Ty Lee said. “How can you ‘double down’ on your studying when you already spend almost every waking moment doing exactly that? I mean, there’s only so many hours in a day, you know!”

“Never mind all of that!” Jia-Li said. “No, the Strategy Mistress is still sick, so you didn’t miss anything — at least, nothing academic.”

“Good,” you said. “I don’t mind missing anything else. Which I’m assuming we did, considering you look near to fainting, Jia-Li.”

“One of those idiots in the class below us has been spending the entire afternoon antagonizing Kaho! I’m afraid she’s going to blow up, and sooner rather than later,” Jia-Li explained.

“That sounds like something I’d like to be far away from,” you said. “We should’ve stayed at the zoo a bit longer, Ty Lee.”

“Mhm,” Ty Lee said emphatically. “I’d take dragon moose slobber any day!”

“I don’t think this girl realizes what she’s getting into,” Jia-Li said. “See, the thing is, whenever you’re around, Ursa, Kaho’s too busy hating you to get annoyed by anyone else. But since you were gone all afternoon, she’s had nowhere to channel her inner anger.”

You made a face. “So? Are you suggesting that I should’ve stayed around and let her be rude to me or something?”

“Not at all,” Jia-Li reassured you. “It’s more that she’s seemed downright gentle recently — or, I guess, gentler. That’s why that girl thinks she has a chance, but the truth is in terms of Firebending, Kaho is probably the most talented student in the entire academy at the present moment. And when you mix that talent together with an ill temper, it’s a bad combination.”

“Has she challenged her yet?” Ty Lee said.

“Not yet,” Jia-Li said.

“It’s only a matter of time,” Ty Lee said, sighing. “Ugh. This is all so ridiculous! We should all just get along.”

“Let’s just avoid them all for as long as we can and hope everything has smoothed over by the time we go down to eat dinner,” you said. “Ty Lee, you can stay in our room, as long as Jia-Li is okay with it.”

“Of course,” Jia-Li said. “I wouldn’t send you into the dragon’s maw like that.”

“I can handle her if it comes down to it,” Ty Lee said. “And I really need to shower — bad run in with a dragon moose’s tongue, Jia-Li, it’s a bit of a long story. But thanks for offering!”

“What can she do against someone like Kaho?” Jia-Li asked you. You shrugged.

“I have no idea, but she is one of Princess Azula’s closest friends, so she must know a thing or two,” you said.

“That’s true,” Jia-Li said. “Let’s stop talking about Kaho and her idiocy now, though. There’s no point in letting her spoil our time together. Did you have fun at the zoo?”

“I did!” you said. “It was nice to see all the animals, and we got to feed some of them at the petting zoo, which was nice. They were all very friendly.”

Jia-Li smiled fondly. “That’s good. I used to love going to the zoo as a kid. My brother and I used to visit together — his favorite exhibit was the flying dolphin fish, but I always liked going to see the koala sheep.”

“Were you and your brother close?” you said, feeling a pang in your stomach. You had no idea if you had a brother or a sister or any siblings at all. What if you did? Would they be missing you right now, or would they have moved on from you already? Would they resemble you, or would you look completely different? Would they have cared for you in your youth, or would you have cared for them in theirs?

“We used to be,” Jia-Li said. “When we were very young, that is. He was my best friend.”

“What happened?” you said.

“We grew up,” she said, undoing the ribbon tying her hair back and beginning to comb through her long locks. “I came here, and he went to the school for boys. Then I suppose we just learnt to have different interests. He preferred hanging out with his other boy friends, and so I was left to find my own entertainment.”

“That’s sad,” you said. She set down the comb and retied her hair.

“It is,” she said. “What I wouldn’t give to go to the zoo with him again, or some other such activity. Actually, I just wish we were children again…but we are grown now, aren’t we? It’s fine. That’s how life is.”

“Is he much older than us?” you said.

“Only by a couple of years,” she said before brightening. “You should come meet him!”

“Uh,” you said. “Where would we do that, exactly? And why?”

“Our next break is soon. My family has a house on Ember Island; you can come stay with us! Unless you have other plans already or something, of course,” she said.

“I don’t have any plans,” you said. “I probably would’ve ended up going to the palace again, but visiting this Ember Island place sounds a little more appealing, in truth. As long as you and your family are alright with it.”

“My family won’t care,” Jia-Li said, waving you off dismissively. “My father will probably be delighted to have the girl sponsored by the royal family staying in his home, and my mother will just be happy that I’m bringing a friend home. As for my brother…nobody cares about his opinion, anyways! If he wants to complain, then he can just run along and stay at his best friend’s house. They’re going to be on Ember Island then, too.”

“Then I would really love to do that,” you said. “Thank you for inviting me, Jia-Li.”

“Sure, you’re a great roommate, so it’s not an issue,” she said. “I was a little sad about having to leave you during break, but now I’m just excited! You’ll love Ember Island, I promise. It’s so beautiful there.”

“I’m excited, too,” you said. “Actually, I was a little scared about the break — I wasn’t sure if I had a place in the palace or not, and either way, there’s something a little intimidating about staying there. It’ll be much more fun to be with you the whole time, in a place that I can feel somewhat wanted.”

“Of course!” Jia-Li said, growing starry-eyed. “And I can take you to the ocean for the first time! Do you know how to swim? Wait, you probably wouldn’t know if you do or don’t. Well, if you don’t, I’ll teach you, and if you do, we can swim together! You can borrow my things, I think we’re probably close in size.”

“Alright,” you said, overwhelmed by the many plans she was already coming with. “I’ll leave all of that to you. Just tell me what to do, and I’ll do it.”

“You can count on me,” Jia-Li said, giving you a thumbs up. “I promise it’ll be the best break ever!”

Since Ty Lee had apparently gone to her room after showering, you and Jia-Li decided to make your way to dinner together in the hopes that you’d find her in the dining hall. Both of you were hungry by that point, though, and you unanimously agreed to just eat, even if she wasn’t there.

“I’m surprised,” you said when you walked in and found no traces of Ty Lee anywhere. “She’s normally so timely when it comes to dinner.”

“Yeah, but remember how long it takes her to wash and dry her hair? She probably won’t be down for a while,” Jia-Li reminded you.

“Right, I forgot about that,” you said. Ty Lee took a lot of pride in her personal appearance — rightfully so, of course, given how lovely she was — so her pre and post-shower routines were quite extensive, to say nothing of the actual shower itself. And especially because she had gotten covered in dragon moose saliva at the zoo, Jia-Li was correct to assume that Ty Lee might not be out for quite some time.

“Uh-oh,” Jia-Li said as you two sat down with your dinners. She nodded at the end of the table, where a girl you vaguely remembered being in the year below you was smirking at Kaho, whose jaw muscles were twitching with every word the girl spoke.

“Someone should stop her,” you said, though you made no move to get up, wanting to stay far away from the disaster zone that was about to emerge. Jia-Li hummed in assent, but she obviously had the same idea, remaining firmly put beside you. “It’s like she has a death wish.”

“She’s just trying to prove her superiority,” Jia-Li said. “There’s a clear hierarchy in this school, and right now, Kaho is at the top. She doesn’t like when people come for her spot, but of course, everyone wants to be there, to be number one, so they’re always trying to best her. It’s why she doesn’t like you — you’re beating her in terms of academics, which she hates, because she’s supposed to be the best. At least with you, though, you’re not a bender, so she can console herself with the fact that you’ll never be able to compete with her in any way that matters on that front. This girl, though, is challenging everything that Kaho is. She wants to be the most respected girl in the academy, but to do that, she needs to prove that Kaho isn’t worthy of that place any longer.”

“Can she do it?” you said.

“No,” Jia-Li said bluntly. “Plenty of people have tried. None of them have succeeded, except for Princess Azula, and she’s a special case in that she already was afforded a different status than the rest of us because of her bloodline.”

“Then she’s a fool,” you said.

“There’s more fools in this world than not,” Jia-Li said.

The girl continued to tease Kaho, who was obviously doing her level best to ignore her, not even affording her the dignity of looking at her. One could argue that it was maturity, but you understood it for what it really was: a way to demean her opponent, to prove that the other’s existence was meaningless to her, that she was so insignificant it was as if she truly did not exist in Kaho’s eyes.

“Honestly,” the girl said, voice lilting impishly, “I feel for you, Kaho. I mean, you used to be the top student, and then a girl with amnesia took your spot! It must’ve been embarrassing, losing to someone who doesn’t even have any memories. And to make matters worse, the prince really does seem to favor that girl, and we all know what he thinks of you…”

“What is she talking about?” you whispered under your breath to Jia-Li. “Why is she bringing me into this? What does Prince Zuko have to do with anything?”

“You’d do well to shut up now,” Kaho said, though it was the wrong thing to do, for her reaction was proof that the girl had struck a nerve.

“It’s like I told you,” Jia-Li whispered back. “Kaho is used to being at the top. When we were younger, before everything with the, ah, banishment, she tried very desperately to befriend the royal family. She was never able to endear herself to Princess Azula, but her sights were always on the prince, anyways, so that mattered little to her. It was marriage she sought; the prospect of being Fire Lady was too appealing.”

“I’m assuming she was unsuccessful,” you said. Jia-Li nodded.

“Extremely. It wasn’t even her fault, really; Prince Zuko was always kind, but unattainable for all of us. He had no interest in dallying with girls that went to school with his sister, so Kaho was never able to gain his approval in the way she wanted. Perhaps it might’ve been different if he hadn’t been…you know. They might have grown closer as they grew older simply due to her sheer persistence, but we’ll never know,” she said.

“For being the supposed best of us, you’re not the best at a lot of things,” the girl said. “I mean, I bet you’re not even that good at Firebending!”

Kaho slammed her fist on the table, standing to face the girl and glaring at her.

“Is that the game you want to play?” she said. “Fine. I’ll go along with it. I challenge you to an Agni Kai!”

“I’m assuming that’s not a good outcome,” you said.

“Nope,” Jia-Li said grimly. “Let’s just say that things have gone from bad to worse. Come on.”

“We’re going to watch?” you said.

“It’s all but mandated. I don’t like it, either, but we kind of have to,” Jia-Li said. “Hopefully, it’s over soon. Sometimes, Kaho can be inventive.”

You and Jia-Li stood in the very back of the crowd, though your view was still perfectly unobstructed. You almost wished there was something blocking your vision, though, something in between you and what was surely going to turn out to be a grotesque sight, one way or another.

“Want some?” the girl in front of you said, turning around and proffering a bag of candy to you and Jia-Li.

“No, thank you,” you said, for you were already queasy and knew that sweets would only worsen the effect.

“I’m okay,” Jia-Li said.

“I’m betting on Kaho,” the girl said, grabbing a handful of candy and dropping it all in her mouth. “Wanna join the pool? One of my friends is running it.”

“Like a betting pool?” you said.

“Yup! It’s how I could afford to buy this candy — I won last time,” the girl explained.

“No way,” you said.

“We’re good,” Jia-Li said when the girl looked offended at your short response.

“I can’t believe they’re betting on something like this!” you said.

“It’s common, believe it or not,” Jia-Li said.

“I believe it, sadly, but I wish I didn’t,” you said. “It’s so heartless.”

“That’s just how things are here,” Jia-Li said. You pursed your lips as the fight between the girl and Kaho began, deciding to keep silent, because your words would be wasted when your argument was not even with Jia-Li in the first place.

Even though the girl was no slouch in terms of Firebending, the fight was over almost as soon as it started. Kaho’s power was too much for her opponent, and she seemed bored as she coated her palm in fire and slapped it against the girl’s bicep.

“I got the first burn,” she said, miming a yawn. “So I guess that means I win. Why are you crying like that? Honestly. Just shut up. Why’d you agree to fight me if you couldn’t accept defeat like an adult?”

The skin on the girl’s arm was red and angry, already beginning to blister, but you could tell even without an explanation from Jia-Li that Kaho had been merciful. She could’ve done worse, but she had chosen to let that girl off with a warning. A reminder to never be so daring again.

There was something odd about it all, though. Despite the fact that her opponent was standing across from her, you noticed that it was not the burnt, sobbing girl that Kaho was scowling at so darkly.

It was you.

Ursa,

I’m glad you were able to make it to the zoo. I know you mentioned wanting to go a while back, so it makes me happy to know that that desire of yours was fulfilled. I wish I could’ve been there. Did you get to feed the turtle ducks? I remember doing that when I went, though of course I only visited once, with my mother, and that was a long time ago, so maybe things have changed and they don’t let people do that anymore.

I wish you hadn’t had to see an Agni Kai. They are definitely a darker part of Fire Nation culture. But, then again, for a nation that values honor so greatly, they are just a natural consequence. I hope you haven’t been frightened too terribly. Mai says that Kaho isn’t always so generous with her opponents, so there’s something to be grateful for: at least it was only a small burn. You’re entirely right — it could’ve been worse.

You shouldn’t worry about taking up space at the palace. It would be my our pleasure to host you once again. But Ember Island is a nice place. You will have fun there, I’m sure. The ocean is very, very beautiful. It’s the bluest thing you’ll ever see, and it goes on for what seems to be forever. The Fire Nation is lucky in that our ocean is warm, and the tides are not so vicious — nothing like the poles, where it is so treacherous and cold.

It is nice to know that you are enjoying yourself so thoroughly. That is what I am really concerned with; it matters little to me if you ever become a proper Fire Nation lady or anything along those lines. I would even prefer it if you didn’t. It’s more important that you are happy.

Yours, Zuko

P.S. Perhaps I am not surprised, but I am still disappointed on your behalf.

[oceanlix]

Day 8: Eric

Pairing: Eric x female reader

Genre: Smut

Word count: 1045

Warnings: Wall sex, breathplay, dirty talk, hand kink, praise, creampie

Smutmas 2023 Masterlist

This is so stupid, you tell yourself, biting your lip to try and tame your thoughts. You’re supposed to be watching the instructor for safety tips, not imagining what it would be like to have those veiny hands wrapped around your thighs. Or inside of you. Or even better yet, around your neck. No, this is definitely crossing the line into perversion, you decide.

“Y/N?” You blink, realizing the hot instructor has just now called you out in front of the whole class. Great.

You push your goggles up your nose even though they aren’t falling off in the slightest, hoping to buy some time as your eyes dart towards his nametag. Leave it to your horny brain to not even remember his name, wow.

“Sorry, drifted away for a bit there,” you chuckle nervously. Hopefully he buys it.

Eric looks you up and down, a little smirk appearing on his lips. Oh, you are so busted, you realize. You gulp, watching as his eyes come back up to yours and linger there. “Well, as I was saying, everyone’s going to pair up and practice belaying for each other. Since we have an uneven number of students today, I’m going to partner up with someone. And since you were spaced out while everyone picked their partners, I guess you’re stuck with me.”

You’ve gone and got yourself into some deep shit now, apparently. 

—-

It was inevitable you’d end up here, some hours later. The gym is long empty, the class having ended after an intense hour of flirting with the instructor while he attempted to teach you how to belay. And now he’s got you in his office, stripping in front of you.

You’re practically drooling. Obviously you expected Eric to be a little muscular; you don’t become a rock climber without having a certain level of strength, after all. But knowing it and seeing it for yourself are two very different things, you’ve realized.

“Like what you see?” he teases you, letting his shirt drop to the floor. You do; you’re licking your lips in anticipation, actually. But your speech has failed you, so you just nod while he takes off his pants and underwear.

“Come here,” you request, holding your hands out. Eric looks amused, but walks towards you anyway. As soon as you get your hands on his chest, you let out a groan, leaning forward to kiss his neck. “God, you are so hot it’s not fair.”

Eric laughs, tilting your face up so he can kiss you. “And you’re adorable,” he tells you, wrapping an arm around your waist.

It shouldn’t surprise you when he lifts you up easily, carrying you over to the wall. You’re dripping at the display of strength, even if your back hurts a little when he lines his cock up with your entrance. It’s a small price that you’re willing to pay for the pleasure he’s about to give you.

“Let me know if you’re uncomfortable, okay?” he says, sliding into you a second later. He’s so deep that all you can do is moan, digging your nails into his shoulders to ground yourself. Eric’s muscles ripple as he holds you in place, letting you adjust to his size.

His hands feel even better squeezing around your thighs than you imagined, drawing soft moans out of you. “Please,” you whimper, opening your eyes to look at him. “Move.”

Eric wastes no time, lifting you off his cock until just the head is inside. He smirks, then slams you full again with his hard length. You’re trying not to scream in case anyone’s still around, but it’s proving difficult with the brutal pace he sets.

You just about disintegrate when he adjusts his grip on you, bringing one hand up to wrap around your throat. All your dreams come true when Eric’s fingers squeeze gently at your neck, your eyes rolling back in your head. “More, more,” you babble, feeling his cock twitch inside you. You’re glad he’s clearly into it too.

“Bet you were thinking about this the whole class,” he growls, fingers digging in a little harder. Your vision swims a little, but Eric backs off just as quick as your eyes pop open. He looks like he wants to eat you, making your pussy clench around his cock. “Couldn’t wait for me to get my hands on you, huh?”

You nod frantically. “Needed it so bad,” you moan, arching your back so your breasts press up against his chest. “Your hands are so distracting.”

Eric chuckles, pressing two of his fingers against your lips. You open your mouth to let them in immediately, loving the way his eyes darken as you suck on them lewdly. “That’s it,” he whispers, rubbing the pads of his fingers across your tongue. “You’re so good to me, sweetheart.”

The praise goes straight to your pussy, your walls fluttering around him. Your thighs are slick with your own fluid as you drip around his cock, the squelching sounds driving you crazy with every thrust.

“Can I come inside?” he asks suddenly, dragging his fingers out of your mouth and down your neck. You briefly think about how you’d probably let him crush your windpipe if he wanted to, but you just nod. You’re on birth control anyway.

Eric’s pace picks up immediately, his cockhead hitting your spot on every thrust now. You can’t even think straight, moans spilling from your mouth like it’s the only language you know. His fingers are gripping your thighs for dear life now, fighting to hold you up while he impales you on his cock over and over again.

“Shit, I’m cumming!” you warn him, digging your nails into his skin so hard there’s definitely going to be marks later. Eric hisses at the burning pain, but then buries himself fully inside you and blows his load.

It feels like he cums forever, rope after rope of hot, white fluid hitting your walls. You’re slumped against the wall when he finally pulls out, your mixed cum dripping out of you onto the floor.

“Come on, let’s take a shower,” Eric insists. He has to hold you up with an arm around your waist, but the two of you leave his office together.

[lillaydee]

In Time Part 9

Rancher Joel Miller / Reader

You lost your dear Uncle. Your TV Star boyfriend dumped you. You needed a job. You got one at a ranch in Wyoming. Where you met Joel. A very grumpy man. Grumpy man has issues.

WARNINGS:

Grumpy Joel, Hurt Joel, Grieving Joel, Joel is Bad at Feelings (The Last of Us), Joel Needs a Hug (The Last of Us), Joel Has PTSD - Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (The Last of Us), Mentions of Hostage Situation and Shooting, Alternate Universe - No Cordyceps Outbreak (The Last of Us), Mutual Pining, Fluff and Angst

SERIES MASTER LIST

Part 8

---

Maria felt her head freeze. She hadn’t recognized Cindy, or Cleo, apparently, as she went by these days. Wow. The wonders of cosmetic technology. She looked different on TV, much less from when she left Joel to fend for himself with a baby. But it was her.

The man offered his hand to Maria, “Dave Landon,” he said. “You know these people Sweets?” he asked his partner.

“No, I’ve never met them,” she said.

Fucking hell this woman can act, Tess thought. Too bad that talent didn’t really translate to the screens.

“They know your real name, Sweets,” he insisted. “That name’s not even on Wikipedia.”

“Cindy Salts, that’s your name. You lived here for six months.” Maria said, her arms crossed on top of her belly, a stern look on her face.

“I’m sorry, lady, I don’t know what you’re talking about. My name is Cleo Savvant. Let’s get out of here babe,” she said, looking annoyed at the two stone-faced ladies in front of her.

You and Frank drove in, having just completed a call from the adjacent ranch. You stopped walking when you saw David and Cleo, the ready smile on your face wiped off immediately. They seemed equally stunned to see you.

“Sweets,” David said. “What are you doing here? Is this where you’ve disappeared to?” He made a move to come greet you, but Cleo held him back.

“Who are you calling Sweets, Dave? I’m your Sweets now, remember?” she huffed. 

The door to the office opened, and Joel walked out. He stopped in his tracks when he saw Cleo. She clearly panicked when she saw him and pulled David’s hand, going back to the car. You saw her face; her eyes gave it all away. She was high, drunk too, possibly. So was he.

“I want to get out of here! Let’s go!” she yelled at him when he questioned why. They got in the car, you heard her scream something at the driver, who quickly sped away.

“What just happened?” Frank asked.

“That was Cindy,” Maria explained.

You were shocked. Cleo was his ex? Sarah’s mother? Frank looked stumped. He had never met her. Sarah was already six when he started working there.

“She pretended to not know us,” Tess said, before turning to you. “He called you Sweets, he called her that too. Did you know him?”

“He’s my ex. He cheated on me with her.”

Silence all around. Holy shit.

Small world.

---

You sat in your cabin alone, not knowing what to do. Seeing David again was one thing, understanding that they were here to scout for wedding locations was another, but seeing Joel’s face when he saw Cleo, that was jarring.

He was angry. You thought you had seen him angry. Turned out, you had only seen him mildly annoyed compared to what you saw just then. His entire body was tense, his face red, his fists clenched, his jaw set, his eyes sharp. After David and Cleo left, he stormed off into his house, the door slammed so hard you were convinced you saw the house shake.

No one went after him, not even Tess. That, to you, was a testament to how angry he was, that even Tess didn’t have the courage to bother him. Your fingers itched to text him, call him, anything, to make sure he was alright. But you knew that was a bad idea. At this point, you would willingly go birth a hundred mares concurrently than face Joel when he’s not ready.

Dinner time came and went, and still no one was saying anything. The group chat was mysteriously quiet. You were about to give up and just go to bed when someone knocked on your door.

Joel’s grumpy face greeted you, but immediately softened when he saw you.

“Hi.”

“Hello.”

“You want to come in?”

“I think I need a walk. Will you join me? Maybe we can go to the Benny place? We don’t have to talk… I just… want to sit there. With you, if you don’t mind?”

There’s desperation in his eyes. You couldn’t deny him. You grabbed your jacket and shut the door.

He asked if you were okay. Seeing David again. You laughed and asked if he was okay. David may have been an asshole, but he didn’t abandon you with a two-month-old fourteen years ago before suddenly reappearing. There was no way, in any universe imaginable, that you could relate to what he must be going through at that moment.

“I don’t know what to feel. I don’t know what I feel. I think I’m angry. But I don’t know if I’m angry about her leaving, or reappearing.”

You didn’t know what to say. It felt as if this was one of those moments where listening would benefit him more than advising. He looked defeated. His shoulders slumped, his head down. You wanted to comfort him. But what could you possibly do?

“I’m sorry, Joel. I don’t know what to say to you. If I did, I would.”

He looked at you, gratitude in his eyes. “I know.”

Both of you sat on the bench at the oak trees, or the Benny place, as Joel had now officially dubbed it. You sat quietly for a while, taking in the beautiful view and the gorgeous twinkling stars above.

“Hi Benny. Hi BabyGirl.”

“Hi Benny, Hi Sarah.”

“I’m Joel, Benny, in case you didn’t know who I was. And BabyGirl, this is Amelia. She’s the one I to…” he cleared his throat quickly before speaking again. “She’s the vet taking over from Pete.”

Your heart stopped at his hesitation. Had he been talking to Sarah about you?

He placed his arm behind you on the backrest, and you two sat quietly, just lost in thought.

You found yourself fighting the urge to just snuggle up to him. But no, you shouldn’t do that. The man was deep in thought. He was angry. He had other things to think about than you. The woman who broke his heart just reappeared. Don’t take advantage of that you old pervert!

So, you sat there, stock still, pretending to enjoy the view, when all you really wanted to do was snuggle up to him and never let go.

Joel found himself fighting the urge to just pull you in to snuggle up to him. But no, he shouldn’t do that. You were deep in thought. You must be confused. You had other things to think about than him. The man who broke your heart just reappeared. Don’t take advantage of that you old pervert!

So, he sat there, stock still, pretending to enjoy the view, when all he really wanted to do was pull you in to snuggle up to him and never let go.

“Do you think they’ll come back?” you suddenly broke the silence.

“I don’t know. Is it weird if I say I hope not, but at the same time, I hope she, at least, does? I have had these questions I wanted to ask all these years, and I need answers.”

“What kind of questions?”

He shrugged, “Am I the reason she left? Was I a bad partner? Did she feel forced to have Sarah? Was anyone unkind to her? Was I absent? Did I not listen to her? Was it a post-partum thing? Did she…” he stopped, eyes looking down at his own hands, fiddling with the zippers of his jacket.

“Did she what?”

He took a really deep breath.

“Did she even love me? Love Sarah? Did she find what she was looking for? Was leaving us worth it?”

He felt so vulnerable. These questions that he had never asked out loud. The source of his insecurities, the reason he shut down, covered himself in a stoic, grumpy façade, now said out loud for you to hear. He rubbed his face before releasing a long-held breath, laughing softly.

“I feel naked.”

“Naked is good.”

His head snapped to look at you, a disbelieving scoff escaped his lips, as your eyes widened as you realized what you had just said. He laughed out loud as you covered your face with your hands, your body shaking in laughter, face red from the shame of it all.

“No! Not like that, you pervert! Oh my God I cannot believe I just said that!”

The two of you kept laughing until the wave passed. Really no point trying to talk when you were sure you were going to break again as soon as you started talking.

“What I meant was, sometimes, exposing yourself to others, not literally, of course,” you said as he began giggling like a schoolgirl, smacking him on his shoulder, “can have a relieving effect.”

And he burst out laughing again. You facepalmed yourself when you heard what you said.

“Oh God, get that muck out of your head Joel Miller. God, you’re such a nob.”

He stopped laughing, his face screwing up in confusion.

“Are you trying to insult me by calling me rich?”

Oh… you’re in America… nob means something else here.

“Erm, sure. Are you insulted?”

“I have a feeling you meant something else.” He eyed you suspiciously, before pulling out his phone to google it.

NO… no, no, no, no, no.

You snatched his phone out of his hand, horrified at the thought he might find out. It unlocked, a picture of him and Sarah gracing the home page.

“Hey, this is Sarah, right?”

He took his phone out of your hand, and opened the gallery, selecting the photo so you could look at it without the apps being in the way. Yeah, he breathed. A small smile on his face.

“This was the last picture we took together. Her team won a soccer tournament. She died two weeks later.”

“She was beautiful, Joel.”

He whispered a thank you. His face didn’t look sad, per se. More regretful than sad.

“She would’ve loved you. She followed Pete on his rounds. I think she would’ve done the same with you. She loved animals.”

“I’m sorry I didn’t get to meet her. From what Ellie’s told me, she sounded like a wonderful young lady. I wish I’d known her.”

“Thank you. She really was, you know? Sweetest little girl anyone could hope for. It’s a shame her own mother didn’t feel the way you do.”

“You don’t know that… you should ask her, if she turned back up. That’s what I meant to say, before your mucky mind ruined it,” you said, smacking him once more as he began to laugh a little. “Sometimes, showing a bit of vulnerability could get you answers. You never know what someone else is going through. No one can read other people’s minds, so, unless you voice it out, no one would know. It’s good that you felt strong enough to express your worries and wonders to someone. Maybe now that they’re out there in the universe, you could begin getting answers.”

He's not laughing anymore, but there was a sincerity in the way he was looking at you.

“Thank you for making me feel safe enough to tell you about it.”

Your heart warmed at the thought of it. “You’re welcome.”

“We should probably go, big day tomorrow.”

He got up and offered you his hand. You took it. But instead of letting go, he slipped your arm through his, and walked you back with his other hand covering yours. Neither of you talked until you got to your cabin, unlocked the front door. He leaned in and gave you a lingering kiss on your cheek, your eyes involuntarily closing at the sensation. You had to consciously stop yourself from turning and capturing his lips.

He whispered a good night and shut the door behind him.

---

The next day was indeed a big day. Two buses full of tourists from Europe arrived, gorgeous looking European men and women looking to experience a day on a typical American ranch disembarked. They had breakfast in the chow hall, and broke into smaller groups, going to different sections of the ranch at a time. You made your rounds as usual, going about your day, your schedule shouldn’t be tampered with by their visit, unless there’s a birthing happening.

You made your way to the stables, where a bunch of men and women were watching (more like filming, really) Bill change the shoes for Hunter, one of the commercial horses. You said a polite hello, Bill introduced you to everyone, who said an enthusiastic hi to you, before going inside to check on Willow. She’s improving, but you didn’t want to risk her being limp for good, so she was still resting. You greeted her with a carrot, stroking her head, giving her a few words of encouragement, and just as you were about to enter her stall, one of the tourists appeared behind you.

He was about your age, dashingly well-dressed and good looking. He’s a vet, too, he said. But more of a city one, tending to household pets. He wondered if he could join you. See what the life of a vet in a place like this was like? Sure, you said. Why not?

He watched you tend to Willow’s leg, asking questions about her injury. His name was Antonio. He’s originally from Italy but moved to Spain for work. He’s very… friendly, let’s just say. He followed you on your rounds, moving on from Willow’s stall to the fields, where the recently birthed foals were running around with their mothers. He seemed very excited to have this experience, and watched intently as you checked the foals for their progress and general health.

He didn’t rejoin his group, sticking with you as you visited the cowshed next, and checked on Lady, the dog who lived there, who had just had puppies. He’s pleasant company, you enjoyed having him around, glad that he wasn’t one of those annoying men who wouldn’t leave you be.

You went to one of the paddocks, where another group was having a quick lesson in riding. There was a handful of older people crowding Shimmer, Ellie proudly showing her off, Jake keeping her company. This was the first time she had joined in on an activity like this on the ranch, so she was very excited. This was a big group, so Jake and Anita came in to help out.

Your eyes were drawn to another area on the paddock, where another crowd gathered. This one, predominantly younger women. Callus was standing patiently next to them, so the crowd of gaggling ladies was not crowding him. And then, Joel’s head popped up, towering over the ladies, having bent down to fix something.

The ladies seemed… very interested in him. Very interested indeed. And these ladies were not you. They were tall, supermodel-looking Europeans with a great fashion sense and were very… gifted, chest-wise. They all probably smell of flowers and delicate fruits, or whatever the expensive European perfumes were made of, while you most probably smelled like cow manure and arse. Their hair stylishly set, while yours was just rolled up in a messy bun – Callus almost chewed your ponytail off one time, you learnt your lesson. All of them dressed up to the nines, their stylish dresses and jackets and super expensive leather boots adorning their perfect body, while you were in a plastic apron and rubber boots. And these ladies were crooning at him, with their sexy accents, their hands on him one way or another. They were calling him “Jhole”, eyelashes fluttering so fast at him you were surprised none of them just took off in flight from the speed. Why would he look at you when he had all these shameless bitc-erm-ladies swooning at him?

He was explaining something to them, pointing at the various parts on Callus’s saddle, most probably teaching them the basics before they eventually ride a horse.

One lady kept taking pictures of him before forcing herself into the frame with him for selfies. At one point, she had her entire body pressed up to him, head on his shoulder, while he kept a very stoic face. She then rubbed his chest, and said something to him, before pressing her back on him, her hand on his neck and taking another selfie.

And that started the whole group wanting one too. Joel desperately looked around for help, when he clocked you with Tanner, one of the commercial horses that was waiting for his turn for the riding lesson. He had a small cut on his flank a few weeks before, and you were showing Antonio the healed wound.

When he saw you, he started to smile, but the smile disappeared as soon as he saw Antonio with you. He quickly detached himself from the group and walked over. You introduced him to Antonio, and explained why he was following you around. Joel shook his hand, a bit too firmly, maybe? And only let go after staring Antonio in the eye a bit longer than he would other people.

You couldn’t look him in the eyes for long, lest your unfounded unease of him being rubbed on by gorgeous European women whose existence seemed to be solely to make you feel inadequate be made obvious. So, you moved on from there, taking Antonio to the chicken coop instead.

Joel watched you leave with this Adonis of a man, one who made him look like a tramp, so stylishly dressed and chiseled up to there. Joel did at least put deodorant on that day, but he probably smelt like a horse, and he could smell this man’s perfume from yards away. Joel couldn’t remember if he ran a brush through his hair that morning… when was the last time he shaved? And this man’s hair looked like it could withstand a tornado, his beard neatly trimmed and well maintained. He bet that guy was one of those men who had a purse just to keep his beard trimming supplies on hand. Probably had a mustache comb too. He had put on his best flannel for the day, Tess’s lecture about not wearing the ripped ones from ten years ago fresh in his head, but this guy’s socks alone were probably worth more than his truck. And of course, there was his accent. Why the hell would you want him when a bast-erm-man with an Italian accent who could probably speak better English than him was standing right there, swooning over you?

---

When you and Antonio walked into the chow hall for lunch, Joel was sitting at a table amongst his throngs of screaming fans. You resisted rolling your eyes and guided Antonio to a smaller table, where he proceeded to tell you about his life in Spain.

Joel watched from the doorway as you had your lunch with the Italian man after he was done. You laughed with him; you looked interested in what he was saying. He wondered if you were internally swooning at this man too. Ellie walked past him, before stopping and reversing, peering at what he was looking at, exactly.

“Aww…” she said in a low voice. “Are we staring at the hot vet talking to the hot Italian man?”

“Shut up.”

“Just tell her how you feel, old man. What’s the worst that can happen?”

“She could hear me.”

Ellie laughed out loud, gave Joel a slap on his back and left.

Joel kept watching as the man leaned in closer to you and began speaking to you in a more intimate way.

“Don’t look, but someone is watching us,” Antonio said to you in a low voice.

“Who?”

“The man with the horses just now. Joel, I think was his name, no?”

You nodded. “He’s just keeping watch. He’s my boss, so that’s what he does.”

“So, he is not your boyfriend?”

You laughed and shook your head, changing the subject.

As the group got ready to leave later that evening, you noticed the ‘Jhole’ fan club dabbing their eyes at having to say goodbye to their beloved dream man. So many cards and pieces of papers were stuffed in his flannel pocket by them. If this was the Renaissance, he would have delicate lacy handkerchiefs stuffed all over his body.

“So, I’ll say goodbye,” Antonio said to you. “Just for the record, I think your boss wants to be your boyfriend. If we were cowboys, he would’ve challenged me for a duel long ago. But if I am wrong, please, call me. I enjoyed spending time with you today. Thank you for letting me hang around with you,” he said, as he slipped you his card, before giving you a chaste kiss on each of your cheeks and got on the bus.

“Nice looking guy,” Joel said to you as the buses drove off.

“Nice looking ladies, Jhole,” you said back to him, faux batting your eyelashes at him.

He laughed and walked with you back into the chow hall. The whole family was there, just lounging around, breathing a sigh of relief that the group was gone.

“How many of these do we have every year? Cause I’m beat. I would rather shovel shit every day for the rest of my life than do that again,” Ellie complained.

You laughed and sat down next to her. She immediately snuggled into you.

Joel was still standing in the doorway, laughing at Ellie’s statement, when the bell at the front door dinged. Joel turned around and immediately froze.

Cleo walked in.

The whole room got quiet.

“Hi Joel,” she said, taking a few more steps to get to him. She walked right up to him, stopping only a couple inches from him. “Been a long time.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck, before pulling him into a full-blown kiss.  

---

Part 10

[leeeeeeeeech]

Been thinking about eldritch Beej a lot, and I'm in the process of polishing up my ao3 fic, but I just had to get a scene out of my head so enjoy :3

Fem! reader

Well, this was not how you anticipated your night going. The date started off well enough. The guy was cute, handsome even. He said all the right things, he was interesting, he was the perfect guy to take home to the folks….

But he wasn't Beetlejuice.

That was the issue. The kerfuffle if you will. The whole date, I couldn't stop thinking of that damn pervert. Imagining how he would react to what I said. Probably some fumbled sex joke instead of the polite cough I received in its stead. Polite, and superficial. Like a business meeting. Transactional intimacy at its finest. I got a goodnight kiss at least. But, all I could think about was what was missing. The lack of scratchy stubble, the smell of dirt, the grabby hands...

"No dice?" Beetlejuice had asked me. He had told me that guy seemed like a loser, not worth my time, yadda yadda. I remember rolling my eyes and muttering something about keeping his dirty shoes off my couch before storming off to my room. I could still feel the fiery white hot sensation in my chest as his echoing laugh followed me down the hall.

At first, I mistook it for annoyance. Beetlejuice always had something to say about my dating life. Nobody was good enough. I knew he just didn't like the idea of me giving my attention to someone else. He had to get over himself at some point!

Now, I'm in my bed, fucking myself with my fingers. Apparently the line between anger and horniness has dwindled significantly.

Go figure.

"Hmnn." I bit my lip, trying to keep myself quiet. It's been a while since I've masturbated, my pussy tingling deliciously as I furiously rubbed at it, growing impatient. All I wanted was to cum and go to sleep. I just wanted to forget my stupid feelings for the night. I could sort them out tomorrow.

A low growl reverberated throughout the room, making me freeze in place. A green glow filled the space, illuminating my room in a otherworldly light. The air seemed taught, like a string about to snap. My eyes darted around just as a low whine stretched itself from the doorway to me. Beetlejuice stood there, with an expression I didn't quite recognize.

I snapped out of whatever spell I was under, and covered myself with my blanket. He laughed, taking a step closer towards the bed.

"Little late for that toots."

He breathed in deep, his nostrils flaring. He closed his eyes, and that low rumble filled the room once again. Like thunder.

"Get out. I don't want you here." Another step towards the bed. His eyes shone in the dark, there glow held a primal power that made my insides throb with fear, or maybe desire. Hell, it was probably a little of both.

"We both know that one's a lie, Y/n~" He smirked, tugging on the blanket. I tightened my grip on it.

"N-No. I want you out." Wow, even I didn't believe myself. He chuckled, tearing the blanket away with ease. I snapped my legs together as the cold air hit my exposed sex.

"Don't be shy now, babes. I know you were thinking about me." He drawls. My face heats up at the declaration. He doesn't say anything regarding it, but I don't miss his shit eating grin.

" I can smell how wet ya are around me ya know," His eyes rake over me, and I feel like I'm burning underneath his gaze.

"I know you like it when I feel ya up." A set of hands appeared by my chest, giving my breasts a playful squeeze. I gasp, but there gone before I can do much else.

"It's been torture to hear ya practically scream for me in yer sleep." I can't get much more red at this point. This is humiliating, being emotionally eviscerated like this. I feel that familiar throb once again, like my ovaries are pounding at the door to the outside, begging for him.

"Whatever yer fantasizing, I can do sooo much better~" He winked, giving a small chuckle.

"Wha- why...?" My words caught in my throat as I felt something slimy wrap itself around my ankle. I look down and gasp as a tentacle waves at me before stretching itself towards my thigh, pulling my leg outward. My breath hitches, and I try to fight it.

"Never been one fer slowburns. Gets boring. I like a lotta action." Beetlejuice chuckled. Another tentacle appeared from behind him, diving straight for my other thigh, practically wrenching my leg open. I panted from the overexertion, and watched helplessly as Beetlejuice leaned forward, his arms boxing me in as he looked me up and down once again before meeting my eyes.

"You want me to stop, you know the words." All I do is nod, giving in to him. He smiled that signature toothy grin, before sliding down my torso. He gives a small bite to the inside of my thigh, making my breath shudder. He chuckled again.

"Don't worry, Y/n, I'll take very good care of you~" His tongue snaked its way out of his mouth, and made it's way towards my dripping sex.

[spicywhenspeaking]

heaters out: noah x reader

Just some fluff about you and Noah dealing with a little power outage during your weekend away.

🥶🌬️⛄️❄️🩵

“Its freezing, Noah can you check make sure the heater is on please?” you ask from the bundle of blankets you’re buried under on the bed. Noah surprised you by whisking you away for the weekend to a secluded bed and breakfast in th mountains.

“Oh shit.” You hear noah mumble from the other side of the room. “Umm, I think the power is out. Let me run down to the front desk and ask really quick.” He runs over to where you’re huddled and gives the top of your head a kiss before quickly exiting.

You get out of bed to add more layers on, one of Noahs hoodies he brought back from tour and a second pair of fuzzy socks you packed. Hoping back under your mountain of covers you wait for Noah to get back. Several minuets pass and Noah returns with a bundle of fire wood, more blankets and a thermos of something.

“Well a few things.” He begins. “The power is out and we are snowed in for at least the next day or two until the snow plows can get up to clear the roads. Good news is I have firewood, more blankets and hot chocolate.” He throws the blankets onto the already comically large lump on the bed and sets to building a fire in the fire place. Thats the great thing about staying in cute bnb’s like this. Each room has a beautiful fire place but unfortunatly the electrical work is old and apparently prone to outages when the snowfall is heavy.

Crawling out of the cave of blankets, you move to sit on the small loveseat next to Noah as he pours two mugs full of steaming hot chocolate. “There is also a huge collection of games down in the library if you want me to beat you at monopoly again.” Noah jokes and you knock into his shoulder “hey! You totally skimmed from the bank last time.”

The two of you laugh as you warm up by the fire and drink the delicious chocolaty beverage that heats you from the inside out. “This is the best hot chocolate i’ve ever had.” You groan as you finish the last sip. Noah grabs a blanket off the the bed and you cuddle closer together, watching the fire shift in orange and reds and hear the wood crack and splinter. “They said they’d bring some more wood when it’s closer to dinner time so we should stay plenty warm tonight.” Noah tells you. We spend most of the day cuddled and reading by the fire.

Before dinner, which is soup the owner of the air bnb cooked over the fireplace in the main room. We played a game of monopoly like Noah suggested and he beats you. “How!? How are you so good at this game? You- you capitalist!” You joke and he holds his hand to his chest, gripping his heart. “Capitalist? I resent that, I’m just a master strategist.” You roll your eyes and laugh “okay, okay, but next time I get to pick the game.” He holds out his hand to shake and says “you got a deal.”

“Perfect. Strip poker it is.” His eyes widen and then he gets knowing look in his eyes. “You’re just trying to get me naked arent you? Last poker night you nearly got Jolly to bet the keys to his new car.” You both laugh because you’ve always won when you played poker. “What can I say, I guess I’m just lucky.” He leans over the small table you were playing at and kisses you softly. “I think I’m the lucky one.”

After eating you decide to both bundle up and go on a walk in the snow.

“Wow, it's so beautiful. I haven’t seen snow like this since I was a kid” you pick up some of the snow in your hands and ball it up tight. Noah is looking out onto the snow covered field so he doesn’t see you when you wind up to lob a snowball right into his left shoulder.

“oh! It’s on now!” He exclaims as he rushes to make his own snowball to throw in retaliation. The two of you spend the next 20 minutes until the sun has begun to set, throwing snowballs at each other until you start to feel the cold sneaking into your coats.

“Okay, time to go in and warm up” Noah says as he wraps his arms around your shoulder and ushers you back inside the bnb.

Heading back up to the room you get inside and quickly remove the first layer of our snow covered clothes. Hanging them to dry on the coat rack while Noah goes to start up the fire again.

In your warmest pajamas you sit cuddled on the love seat in front of the fireplace as Noah opens the bottle of wine the owner gave him after dinner and pours you each a glass. “This, along with the fire should warm us up pretty fast.” I comment as I take a sip of the silky red liquid. “I can think of a few other ways we could warm up.” Noah says in a sultry voice as he leans to place a soft kiss to my neck.

[flamingspud]

Chapter 4: Ghost Writer

Problems arise when Jimmy finds an old diary under the floorboards. Meanwhile Grian and Martyn try to figure out what the mysterious box is.

Chapter under the cut:

"Hello? Anybody home?"

Lizzie practically flew down the stairs at the sound of her brother's voice. "Jimmy!"

Jimmy barely had time to drop his bags before Lizzie flung herself into his arms, giving him a bear hug.

"Lizzie!" He responded with the same level of enthusiasm, "it's been too long."

"Aw, isn't that sweet?" Impulse commented, positioned further into the foyer as not to intrude on the moment.

Cleo frowned slightly as she walked in to join him. "Who's this?"

"Lizzie's brother," Scar explained, "he's moving out here and he's staying at the hotel until he gets his own place set up. He even offered to help with the renovations!"

Jimmy then moved back from the hug, taking Lizzie's head in his hands and tilting it slightly as if to inspect it. "How have you been? How's your head? Are you still seeing things?" He spouted the series of questions with a tone of concern.

"Jimmy I'm fine," Lizzie assured him, pulling his hands away from her face, "and no, I'm not seeing things anymore, no reason for concern."

"Pfft, as if she could get rid of us," Scar commented with a conspiratorial grin.

Jimmy took the opportunity to look at the house, and let out a low whistle. "This is a nice place, could use some work but wow. You sure did luck out, sis."

Lizzie chuckled. "I sure did… you can stay with us you know."

Jimmy waved her off. "Nah, I don't wanna ride your coattails like that. I do appreciate the offer though."

Lizzie nodded. "Yeah- why don't I show you around?" She said, suddenly more excited.

"Sure!"

Lizzie dragged her brother along as she showed him all the splendour the manor had to offer.

While this was going on, Martyn and Grian lay on the lawn out front, bored out of their skulls.

"There's nothing to do…!" Grian complained.

"Being dead sucks," Martyn said in agreement.

They tried almost everything they could think of, and yet they found themselves outside, moping.

"Hey, what's Joel doing…?" Grian suddenly asked, sitting up to watch Lizzie's husband as he brought a fairly large box in from the car.

"Maybe it's treasure!" Martyn suggested excitedly.

Grian highly doubted that guess, but he was intrigued. So, the pair got up and followed him into the house.

Once inside, Joel went straight to the kitchen, and placed the box on the counter. The ghosts watched as he opened it up and took a this time metal box out of it.

He then plugged it into the wall and smiled at it. It was hollow on the inside, something made clear by the glass door on the front. There were a few numbered buttons next to the door.

They got closer to inspect it as Joel left to put the packaging into the recycling bin outside.

"What is it?" Martyn asked.

Grian shrugged. "Maybe it's some kind of safe?"

Martyn shook his head. "What kind of safe needs to be plugged in? Also a glass door on one is a terrible idea!"

"Hm." Grian was stumped.

"Maybe it's a small oven?" Martyn suggested.

"Why would they need two ovens?" Grian retorted.

"True."

And so, the two found entertainment for a while in trying to guess what the mystery box was.

*** 

"Hey, Lizzie!"

Lizzie wandered into the ballroom at her brother's request. The place was pretty rundown, with cobwebs in the corners and peeling wallpaper. Apparently the room was one of the only surviving parts of the mansion from when Scott lived there, and hadn't been put to much use since.

"What's up?"

Jimmy was in one of the corners of the room, crouched down next to a hole in the floor, the missing floorboard placed next to it.

"So I found this floorboard wasn't nailed down, right? And I was wondering how things were looking underneath it and I found this-" he picked up a book that seemed far older than either of them from the ground next to him- "I only read a page or two, but it looks really old."

Scott gasped. "Oh my God I thought that died in the explosion- Lizzie you need to get that back off of him and burn it!"

Lizzie raised her eyebrows at Scott's extreme reaction, though she quickly snatched the book from her brother. "That's mine."

"…Really?" was Jimmy's dubious response, "why was it under the floorboards?"

"Umm," Lizzie glanced at Scott, who didn't offer much in the way of an explanation for this conundrum. "I was… hiding it from Joel. I didn't want him reading it."

"So, what is it? Some kind of story?" 

"Yes."

"Can I read it?"

"Absolutely not!"

"Come on, please?" Jimmy begged.

"No. Now I'm going to put this in a safe place where you won't find it," Lizzie said finally, before leaving the room.

Scott followed her out. "Can you please destroy that?" He asked.

"I will," Lizzie assured him, "I can even light a fire later and throw it in for you if you want."

Scott nodded eagerly.

"Ok, I'm leaving it here for now while I finish up some chores," she explained as she put it under her bed. Jimmy would never look there.

That's when they heard Joel shouting from downstairs.

***

So, Grian and Martyn still had no idea what the box did, and they were out of ideas.

This meant they were bored again, which could mean only one thing.

"I'm going to see what the buttons do," Grian decided.

Martyn watched with anticipation as Grian pressed some random buttons, before pressing one that said start.

The pair jumped back when the machine made a low humming noise, and a light flicked on within it. There was a plate in the bottom that was now spinning slowly.

"Fascinating…" Martyn breathed.

Grian was just excited to have pushed a button.

After a few seconds the machine stopped without much fanfare, much to their disappointment.

"Hey, there's some kind of timer here," Martyn pointed out, trying to poke the digital display, but his finger only passed through it, "try putting a really big number in!"

So Grian just did that, pushing the number nine as many times as he could. He then pressed start.

Again, the mystery machine whirred to life, and the pair watched with way too much enthusiasm for such a mundane appliance.

It was a little over a minute later that the machine burst into flames.

"Woah!-" Grian exclaimed. It didn't take long for the fire alarm to go off.

"We need to get out of here!" Martyn said quickly.

"Why? We're already dead, we can't burn," was Grian's sassy reply.

"Yeah but we're the only ghosts who can interact with the living world! We need an alibi!"

That was all Grian needed to hear to get moving, and it wasn't long before Lizzie and co. came running to put out the fire. Luckily they had a fire extinguisher in the house, so Joel got to play firefighter for a moment.

"What in the blummin hell happened?!" He exclaimed.

"Maybe there's a fault with the house's electricity?" Jimmy suggested, though Lizzie had other suspicions.

So she excused herself and went looking for the ghosts.

***

"Grian!" It about an hour later when she found him and Martyn walking in through the front door.

"Oh, hey Lizzie!" He greeted overly-cheerfully.

She wasn't so happy though, as she crossed her arms and gave the pair a stern look. "Where have you two been?"

"Oh, you know…" 

"I don't actually." She wasn't giving them an inch.

"We've been in the shed all day," Martyn told her.

"So you two weren't the ones who blew up the microwave?" She asked suspiciously.

"The microwave blew up?" Grian asked.

Lizzie frowned. "Were you with anyone?" 

"Cub probably saw us," Martyn said.

"Cub?" Lizzie wasn't aware of anyone named Cub.

"He stays in the shed," Grian informed her.

"Why does he stay in the shed?" She asked.

"He's, uh…" Grian struggled to find the words.

"He's a bit crazy," Martyn filled in for him, "and it probably is better he doesn't know about you being able to speak to ghosts."

"How convenient," Lizzie said sourly, clearly not buying the con. "Well, it's not like he can do anything to me, so I'm going to ask him what you guys got up to."

The two ghosts gave each other panicked looks.

"You don't need to do that!" Grian insisted, but Lizzie had made up her mind, and was already walking outside.

"Why are you so suspicious?!" Martyn practically pleaded.

"Because changing the wires costs a lot of money so I want to be sure before going forward with major renovations," she told them. 

"Ok, ok, stop! It was us!" Grian admitted, causing Lizzie to stop in her tracks and turn around to face them.

"But it's not our fault! Why the hell would your microwave have a self destruct button on it?!" He demanded, the way he said the word microwave sounding weird in his mouth as if it was still new to him.

"Wha- it didn't have a self destruct button on it, you're just not meant to turn it on with nothing inside it!" Lizzie snapped back.

"Well how was I supposed to know that?" Grian demanded.

"Well maybe you shouldn't go pressing buttons if you don't know what they do!"

"So am I just supposed to do nothing then? We're not like you Lizzie, we only have a limited amount of things we can do to pass the time!"

Lizzie blinked at the emotional outburst, unsure where to go from there. Sure, she knew that there wasn't much the ghosts could do, like interact with things or leave the property, but it never occurred to her how that might effect them.

She didn't get the chance to say anything as Scott ran out of the house. "Lizzie!"

The three who were already outside turned to face him.

"Scott, what is it?" She asked, slightly exasperated.

"My diary," he exclaimed, "it's gone!"

Lizzie resisted the urge to scream. 

"Ok; you two-" she pointed to Martyn and Grian- "we will be continuing this conversation later."

She then made her way into the house, more than annoyed. "Jimmy!"

Her brother appeared at the top of the landing, Scar, Impulse and Cleo following behind him. "What's up?"

"You took my book."

"What?" He asked, but his eyes had gone wide and his face had fallen.

"Cut it out Jimmy, you have it written all over your face, but you went through my room?!"

"God no, I wasn't going through your room! After the microwave incident I figured I'd check the other outlets in the house in case it'd happen again. And when I was checking the ones in your room I noticed it under your bed and might have maybe read the whole thing."

"He read it all?!?!" Scott cried in distress.

"I can't believe this," Lizzie told him.

"But Lizzie- it's incredible! Sure, I wasn't expecting it to be so… explicit, but the writing's great! You have a talent."

"If I wasn't already dead I'd kill myself," Scott said from behind his hands which he'd brought up to hide his face.

"You shouldn't have read it in the first place!" She told him. 

"I'm sorry!" Jimmy said, though Lizzie didn't want to hear it right then.

"I'm going for a drive- this is too much for me."

As Lizzie left the house, Martyn and Grian sheepishly made their ways back in. 

"Well it looks like we're not the only ones in trouble anymore," Martyn commented, as Jimmy lowered his head in shame.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better as far as Jimmy's aware Lord Covington is just one of Lizzie's fictional Bridgerton characters," Cleo assured Scott, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Bridgerton?" Scar asked.

"It's a show Joel watches," Cleo cleared up for him.

"Ah."

Scott slowly turned his head to face the two of them.

"How do you know who Lord Covington is?" Scott said coldly.

Cleo and Scar froze in place, throwing glances at each other.

"What?" Cleo asked.

"Why do you know that name?" Scott reiterated.

"You, uh, mentioned him the other day," Scar said, an anxious smile forming on his lips.

"I very well did not!" Scott snapped.

"Impulse mentioned him," Cleo said quickly.

"Don't drag me into this!" Impulse exclaimed before turning to Scott, "Scott, you've gotta believe me, I tried to stop them-"

"You read my diary?!" Scott all but screeched, pulling himself away from Cleo's hand.

"Only a small bit," Scar assured him.

"They read the whole thing," Impulse said without remorse.

"Impulse!" Cleo exclaimed.

"I do not want to get on Scott's bad side, he's scary."

"You- you read the whole thing??" Scott's face was a jumble of anger and mortification.

Cleo and Scar had run out of excuses.

"I have to go-" 

Before anyone else could say anything Scott ran out the front door.

"…we fucked up, didn't we?" Cleo asked.

"Yup," Scar agreed.

***

Scott was watching the clouds go by. They were a nice distraction from the fact that everything was falling apart around him. He let out a long sigh.

"Room for two more?"

Scott jumped as Cleo and Scar approached him.

"What do you want?" He asked bitterly, turning his face away so that they wouldn't see the embarrassed blush that was creeping onto it.

"To apologise," Scar said, "we shouldn't have read your diary without your permission."

"Too little too late," was Scott's response.

"It's just you never talk about yourself, and we wanted to get to know you," Cleo told him.

"No, you were just bored and thought it'd be fun."

"We can have more than one motive!" Cleo insisted, "besides, there's nothing in there to be ashamed about, your life sounded exciting."

Scar nodded. "Totally! I was even shocked by half the stuff in there, and I worked in showbiz!"

Scott glanced at them dubiously. "You don't mean that."

"If it we didn't we wouldn't've stuck around to read the whole thing," Scar told him.

"Did you really do all that?" Cleo asked.

"Those are only the things I didn't think were too unseemly to write down," Scott said, a coy smile creeping onto his face.

"No!" Scar gasped.

"Well now you have to tell us," Cleo insisted.

"Nuh-uh, you two still need to tell me your deepest darkest secret!" Scott told them, "and your loser boyfriend doesn't count Cleo, we've all heard enough about him to last us centuries."

"Unless it's something really scandalous," Scar amended, earning a nod in agreement from Scott.

As they began talking about some of the craziest things they've ever done, Lizzie drove back onto the property, a lot calmer than she was when she left it.

She walked in through the front door to find Jimmy waiting for her.

"What's this?" She asked, referring to the cake that was in his hands, the words sorry Lizzie messily scrawled on its surface.

"An apology cake," Jimmy said tentatively.

Lizzie considered this. "Your handwriting is horrible."

Jimmy bristled at that. "I was using a piping bag, they're difficult to manoeuvre!"

Lizzie laughed at that, which put a hopeful look on Jimmy's face. "So…"

Lizzie sighed. "I'm not mad at you anymore."

Jimmy smiled wide.

"However, if you ever go into my room again without my or Joel's permission, I will kill you, got it?"

Jimmy swallowed. "Loud and clear."

Lizzie smiled. "Good! Now let's eat cake."

"I'll get the knife," Jimmy said.

"I just need to grab something from my car real quick, I'll be right back."

Jimmy nodded and bounded off to the kitchen, and as he did so Lizzie noticed Grian and Martyn watching her from the living room doorway.

She motioned for them to follow her, and she brought them outside.

"Heyyyy Lizzie…" Martyn greeted, "how was your drive?"

"It was alright," she told him. "Have you two thought about your actions?"

The pair quickly nodded. 

"And you know not to press buttons you don't know the function of?" She asked.

Martyn nodded, though Grian seemed less enthusiastic.

"Grian."

"Fine…" he muttered.

"Thank you. Now, to make sure you don't do it again-" Lizzie opened the boot of her car.

"…what is it?" Martyn asked.

Inside the car was a plastic children's toy with many different coloured buttons on it. Grian immediately started eyeing it up, though he was trying to hide it.

"You can press them," Lizzie assured him.

Grian didn't need to be told twice, and he practically pounced on it, pressing all the buttons fervently as if they'd be taken away from him at any moment.

Each click of a button caused a different light to turn on or a different noise to play, and a few of them even caused some plastic animals to pop up.

"It's electric and uses buttons so I figured it would be something you two could use to occupy yourselves rather than breaking our appliances," Lizzie explained.

She'd never seen Grian smile so much, and even Martyn looked excited. 

"Thank you thank you thank you!!!!!!" Grian exclaimed excitedly.

If it weren't for the fact that he was incorporeal Lizzie got the impression that he would've hugged her.

"So I take it you like it then?"

"Yes!" 

"Perfect! Now I'm going to go and get myself some cake." With that, Lizzie went back into the house.

***

Later on, Jimmy was out at the shop so Lizzie decided to bring the toy in for the ghosts.

"Ok, that's freaky," Joel said as Grian pressed some of the buttons.

"You're freaky!" He snapped back, though it wasn't like he could hear him, so he settled for repeatedly pressing the red button angrily instead.

Joel took a step back. "Ok, ok, I'm sorry!"

Grian smiled smugly and went right back to his button pressing. 

Joel got the impression that this present was going to be more trouble than it was worth.

[lulublack90]

Prompt 27 - Birthday

@jegulus-microfic March 27 Word count 902

Previous part First part

James arrived at his parent’s house the next morning with Sirius in tow. 

“Jamie!” Effie greeted him enthusiastically. Throwing her arms around him and hugging him so tightly, she lifted him off the floor. “Happy birthday, darling!” 

“Hi, Mum,” James beamed, feeling the love his mum gave him. She put him back on his feet and grabbed Sirius. “Hello, Sirius, sweetheart. How are you? You haven’t been around for ages, darling.” She released a guilty-looking Sirius. 

“Sorry, Effie. Moody wouldn’t let me out, and then we’ve been busy.” He pointed to James. “I promise I’ll make it up.” 

“Don’t be silly, Sirius. You don’t have anything to make up for. Just make sure you pop in when you can. We’ve missed you.” She smoothed his hair in a motherly way and herded them into the kitchen, where Monty was fighting with a frying pan.

“Effie, my love.” He didn’t need to say anymore as Effie swooped in and rescued the pan from him. He kissed her on the cheek in thanks and then rounded on his boys. 

“You don’t write, you don’t visit?” He joked as he scooped them both into his arms in a bone-breaking hug. 

Lunch was a jolly affair. Effie had cooked all James’s favourites and baked him a Victoria sponge cake. He blew out the candles after a rendition of Happy Birthday, and they sat in the living room enjoying a slice of cake and a cup of tea. 

Monty handed James a small pile of gifts, and Sirius pulled out a bottle of Ogden’s best firewhisky from Godric knows where complete with a huge red and gold bow. 

“We can crack it open tonight.” Sirius grinned, waggling his eyebrows. 

“Oh, are you having the girls over? How lovely.” Effie smiled as she watched James open the rest of his presents. He looked up at Sirius before he answered her. 

“Erm, no. Just me and Sirius. The others are busy.” He wasn’t sure if they were busy or not, but he couldn’t exactly tell his parents about the party his Death Eater friends were throwing him. 

“Oh, what a shame. I do miss Marlene and her crass mouth.” 

“Mum!” James cringed. For some unknown reason, his mother doted on Marlene, especially when she said the most outrageous things that you don’t say in front of your friend’s parents. 

They spent the rest of the afternoon chasing each other around the back garden on their brooms. They finally came back indoors, tired and sweaty but very much looking forward to the party later. 

“We’re going to get off, Mum,” James said as they walked back into the house. 

“What’s the rush? You and Sirius are just going to be alone drinking. Why not stay here, and I’ll make you my famous hangover breakfast for the morning?” They shuffled awkwardly. 

“Leave them be, Effie. They’re young men. They’re probably going round town.” Monty came to their rescue, giving them a cheeky wink as he ushered them towards the door. “Don’t leave it so long next time, boys.” He said as he hugged and kissed both of them before Effie could get her hands on them.

“Happy birthday, darling,” Effie squeezed him. They waved goodbye as they apparated back to Sirius’s flat. 

A quick shower and a change of clothes, and they were ready for Evan’s. 

Everyone was waiting for them when they arrived. 

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!” They chorused as they dragged the pair into the ballroom. It had been decked out with hundreds of balloons that drifted around the room, illuminated by the fairy lights artfully looping around the room. 

They’d set up a table with food and drinks on it. In the centre was a beautiful golden cake decorated to look like a snitch. It had delicate spun sugar wings that fluttered gently as though the cake were flying. 

“Wow, guys, this is amazing. Thank you.” James couldn’t believe how much effort they’d put in for him. It hadn’t been very long ago that they’d have happily hurled curses at him, let alone plan a birthday party for him. 

Regulus tucked himself under James’s arm and handed him a small flat box. He gladly accepted it. It was very light, and he couldn’t even guess what could be inside it. He opened the black box, and there, nestled inside, were season tickets for Puddlemere United. His eyes went wide. 

“There’s two in there,” Regulus told him. “Hopefully, after the war is over. I’ll be able to use the other one. Until then, I suppose you can take my idiot brother.” James wrapped him in a hug and kissed him passionately.

“Thank you, Regulus. It’s my favourite gift ever.” He kissed him again, enjoying the pink flush that coloured Regulus’s face.

“Oi, and what about my gift?” Barty came over, breaking them apart. 

“Barty, you got him broom polish.” Regulus rolled his eyes at his friend. 

“Yeah, the best broom polish on the market. His broom’s going to be so smooth he’s going to slip right off it.” 

Sirius got the music playing, and then they were dancing. 

“James couldn’t believe he got to spend his birthday with his closest friends and his boyfriend. This was shaping up to be his best birthday ever, and when Regulus reached up and whispered in his ear and pulled him out of the room and upstairs, he decided it definitely was his best birthday.     

Next part

[phyrestartr]

Simple Things [2] - Miguel O'hara x Male!Reader

# SFW, fluff, comfort, flirting, light angst, male!reader, dad!reader, spider!reader, implied depression, mentions of trauma, mentions of past relationships, mentions of manipulation, old men just doing their best, miguel is a sweetheart and a nerd, multi-part drabble collection

[ 1 ] Smoke Break | [ 2 ] We Change Like the Seasons | [ 3 ] Meet The Kids

Notes: WOW I DID IT?? AN UPDATE AYO!! No promises, but I might try to update this drabble collection every Saturday or smth 🤔 The thought for this was to make it a sorta prelude to establish the reader's relationship with Miguel, and to cement him into the universe a little bit before closing up this sequential collection and delving into shite that's more random and based off rando prompts or smth. Dunno, but we'll see!

--We Change Like the Seasons--

After your candid smoke break with Miguel, the universe apparently thought it'd be funny to throw Mercury into retrograde and absolutely wreak havoc within HQ.

Miguel, the man deciding he was responsible for all,  got affected the most: on bad days, comms exploded with barked commands and a plethora of scoffs; on worse days, a twisted frustration would fray his voice and heat his stare; on the worst days, he grit his teeth and flexed his claws whenever anyone so much as thought to come near him. Miguel didn't scare you, though. His temperament paled in comparison to what you'd faced in the military.

But you would hear the whispers sometimes, discussions about your leader going unhinged or feral. You knew how bad people moved, though, and you'd decided too long ago that Miguel was anything but a bad person. Prickly, sure, hot-headed and temperamental at times, too, but he cared. If he didn’t, then he never would have thought of funding and organizing an entire HQ and society for spider-people. He wouldn’t work towards saving everyone’s everything, either. You couldn’t help but appreciate his strong leadership, even if he did lose his temper every now and then. 

But still, you ended up keeping your distance for a time. Life had gotten busier, and you couldn’t bring yourself around HQ as often suddenly. You weren’t part of the “elite strike force” that Miguel had going, so it didn’t really matter in the end; you weren’t one of the best, you weren’t special. All you wanted was to help where you could, as much as you could. The important shit could be left to those more ingrained in all of this.

–--

Miguel felt your absence around HQ. It was like noticing the sun setting a little earlier on its way to autumn, the realization that the world would have a little less time in the light each day. A small thing. A simple pleasure one didn’t realize they basked in until too much time had passed since it disappeared. 

His mind wandered to the times he saw you before the small talk, the way you always gave little nods in greeting, whether you were passing by or coming for a meeting, and the way you sought out the younger spiders to check on them. And how could he forget about that pie you brought him? He wasn’t used to someone doing something thoughtful for him just because they wanted to. He told people where to go, what anomaly to fetch, but he never expected anyone to be so…you. 

"Heeey, Miguel? Head stuck in the clouds?" Lyla asked. 

"I–what?" Miguel blinked, suddenly feeling how dry and tired his eyes were from staring blankly at orange screens. "Santa Muerte. How long was I–" 

"Liiike ten minutes?" She smiled as Miguel sighed and rubbed at his face, willing the fatigue away. "But you got a special delivery." 

Miguel squinted over his shoulder. His expression relaxed when he saw it–a familiar, lone tupperware container. It sat near the very back, where the elevator doors were, hidden somewhere in the shadows. Last time it'd appeared on his centre console. Why so far away this time? 

"Thanks, Lyla," Miguel mumbled. He padded to the box and popped the lid open, indulging in the sweet scent of sugar cookies. A pleased purr rumbled in his chest as he peered inside, first spying an incredibly misshapen, large cookie that sat on top. Words in red scrawled across the creamy white layer of frosting, reading something to the effect of, "for Pa's frend Meegull." 

Meegull.

His hand rubbed over his mouth. Warmth bloomed in his chest, curling into an emptiness he’d long acknowledged, but refused to fill. Did he have a right to? After everything he’s done–

But those thoughts could be set aside for a moment, carefully and tenderly, acknowledging the state of his own fragility. This moment, this little thing, was a gift from someone else. Time and care spent into forging that spark in his chest for just a moment.

He could see ripples of the past: the messy chaos of the kitchen, smiles shared between father and daughter, a little girl refusing her father’s help and wanting to write the message all on her own. 

Miguel had been there too, once. In the sun and the rain, playing goalie for a little sports star, teaching her to dribble and pass and play nice with the other girls on her team. His little one was so like him–competitive, snarky, bright. She burned so bright she turned his heart to ash.

“You okay?” Lyla peeped, peering over Miguel’s shoulder. 

Miguel took a deep breath. He nodded. “Yeah. I’m–I’m fine. Just…yeah.” 

His confidant nodded. “Yeah. I get it.” Lyla adjusted her sunnies before flickering down to the box and reading the garbled message. “Awe, that’s cute.” 

Miguel huffed a laugh and nodded. “Yeah. It is.” 

“You think he’ll bring his daughters around?” Was that hope he heard in his little AI’s voice?

“Well, if he does,” Miguel started as he snapped the container closed, “I’ll have to make sure I thank them.”

–-

You laid on your back, one leg crossed over the other. Your wakefulness ebbed and flowed to the rhythm of whatever song buzzed through those old headphones of yours. They were beaten up things, artifacts that should have been replaced three times over already, but you couldn't bring yourself to do it; your girl loaned them to you on base all those years ago, and whenever you picked them up and felt the soft, crackled leather against your fingers, you'd be reminded of easier times, simpler days–a past where you were blissfully unaware. 

The memories hurt, sure, but the little bit of peace she brought you soothed your heart, while at the same time breaking it into two jagged parts. You wished she still stood by you, that you might find yourself whole again if she were still there. Maybe your serenity would have lasted, turned into marriage, evolved into something unreal, but that's not what happened.

Sometimes, you'd feel the icy prick of needles when you reached for the decrepit Sonys. They'd pierce all over, from your temples down to your ankles, and they hurt. God, did it ever hurt. Just like whatever they injected you with–whatever she injected you with–that bonded to your DNA, that made you more than human, and less than human. 

God. It hurt.

You remembered her so vividly. Behind the veil of black obscuring the vision of closed eyes, you saw her standing there, the spitting image of what your little Isabella would look like when she grew up. Only, you hoped she'd have the good parts of Liliana, leaving behind the frigid woman who lured you into an experiment. 

"You're gonna be fine, honey, just trust me. Your DNA's a perfect match. You're the only suitor for the test--you'll be the next Captain America."

Honeyed words, simple lies, sweet nothings–she did everything to trap you, but you would have bent a knee at "please."

"I trust you." 

But you really shouldn't have. 

Your hand curled tightly around the phone on your chest as you recalled the pain: the acidity eating your eyes, the boiling in your veins, the snapping of rearranging bones. It wasn't normal, not in the grand scheme of Spiderman and how his powers felt when they manifested. But you weren't exactly normal, either, considering you once coexisted with another in your body. 

Heat washed up your face. Your eyes slid open slowly, and you stared up at a perfectly clear, azure expanse of sky, blurred through molten, crystalline grief. Christ, why was this happening now? You'd done so well for so long, kept it all together. Why–

The door to the balcony hissed open. You rubbed your face, willing the pear-cut diamonds away, not letting them rest on haggard skin. Losing it in front of somebody wasn’t allowed. You weren’t sure if you could come back from it. 

“Good to know I'm not the only one who sleeps on the job," Miguel remarked, voice warm and latent with snark. 

You couldn’t help a huff of amusement yourself. "Great minds think alike, hey?"  You yawned and sat up, letting your headphones slip down to your neck while you messed with your nest of fluffy hair. "This is the only place I–uh, I…" 

You blinked dumbly in the face of a to-go cup held out to you. The roasted scent of fresh coffee wholly distracted you from whatever the hell you were trying to say, but you didn't reach for it. Was it even for you? You wanted it, but–

"This is the part where you take it," Miguel teased, reaching it slightly closer to you.

You grasped it with both hands, feeling a weird, pleasant, happy boom pulse through your chest and down your arms, rushing a dusting of rose to your nose and cheeks while your mind flailed helplessly. What the fuck was this? The hell were you supposed to do with this? Well, drink it, duh, but…

"I, uh…yeah, thanks." You held the drink close and let it warm your cold hands. It felt nice. "But, uh, why–?" 

"That's a stupid question." Miguel didn't even look your way. He leaned against the wall, though, and sipped from his own cup.

You were the one left fidgeting this time. You picked at the cardboard sleeve, tearing tiny rips into it before finally letting yourself indulge and take a sip. It was sweet, slightly too sweet, but in a very…well, Miguel kind of way: expected to be bitter, but decidedly the opposite.

"Didn't know how you take it," Miguel grumbled, hints of (oh?) embarrassment in his voice. Hah. Cute. 

"Hey, tastes fine to me. Better sweet than bitter, yeah?" You hummed as the tiniest of smiles fought its way to the surface. "'Ppreciate it, Boss. Seriously." 

Miguel's shoulders lost their tense edge. "Well. Least I could do, since you keep feeding me." 

"That's just my fatherly instinct kicking in; I got a mighty strong urge to take care of any reckless kiddos that run amok. Y’know, the ones who leap before they think, the ones who forget to eat, yadda yadda." You sipped your coffee again and intentionally ignored the indignant look sent your way. 

"Good to know you see me as a reckless punk," Miguel huffed. 

"Mh. Feel free to call me 'daddy.'" 

That got a laugh out of him, just a few breathy beats. "Oh, wow, I think I'll forget you just said that, actually." 

"Your loss." You smiled slightly against the rim of your cup as you stared out at Nueva York. "Can’t say daddy is much of a turn-on in bed these days, though. Not when you have little ones," you mumbled to yourself more than to Miguel. But the man had enhanced hearing, so of course he heard. 

"You're joking," Miguel said, exasperated. 

Your gaze met his and you quirked a brow. "Hm?" 

"You really had people call you that in bed?" The distasteful sour expression Miguel wore reminded you so much of your littlest one when she ate something she hated. You had to rush to swallow your coffee before you laughed.

"Yeah. Not my favourite thing, but it happens. Besides, I'm not about to tell them to knock it off in the middle of things." You shrugged and picked at the plastic lid. "Men 'n women 'n everyone in-between think it's sexy to call a guy that these days, y'know?" You shook your head and sighed softly, but still amused.

"These days," Miguel repeated. "How often are you–?" 

"A man's gotta eat, Boss." You smiled at him, letting that atrocious playboy slip out to say hello with the sort of smirk you gave him. You almost thought Miguel's ears turned a bit red, but it was probably just from the cold. 

"You can't tell me you're not getting any," you half-asked, half-remarked. “A guy like you?”

Miguel cleared his throat and sipped from his cup. "Guess I just haven't found anyone in a while." 

"Yeah?" You tilted your head back against the wall as you stared up at the clouds. "Huh. Not even any of the spiders?" 

"It's just–what's the point?" He burst. "At the end of this shitshow, all of us are going back to our dimensions, back to our lives and we won't get to–" his breath hitched, "we don't always get what we want." 

You dragged yourself up from the ground, being careful not to drop your drink, headphones or phone as you stood by your fellow Spiderman. You ditched your phone in your pocket before clasping a warm, heavy hand on Miguel's unyielding shoulder. 

"Miguel," you started, looking at him earnestly while he stared forward, eyes hard, but softening with the murmur of his name, "you can't think like that. Everything ends. It has to." 

"Not comforting." 

"Hey, hey, I'm not done." You gave him a small, friendly shake and felt his muscles almost relax under your touch. "Listen, if everything lasted forever, nothing would be special, yeah? Life would be meaningless, love wouldn't matter. But you get a chance to have that happiness–" 

Memories of roses in her hair came with a gentle gust of peculiar warm wind, so out of place in the playful nip of autumn. If you took a moment, if you closed your eyes and breathed deep, you might've caught the whisper of white jasmine riding the coattails of summer nights long since passed. That was your happy place. Somewhere you wished you could have stayed longer. Somewhere you were glad you could wander back to moments of quiet loneliness.

"--and it'd be a real shame to give up on that." 

Maybe it was the vibrato in your voice, or maybe it was the words you spoke resonating with him, but something sparked in whirling carmine irises, painting them a colour so like Dahlia's favourite red roses. You couldn't help but stare. You couldn't stop the thorned buds blooming in your chest, either. 

Miguel smiled, then. Light and sweet, with a sweep of those eyes, half-lidded and thoughtful, gazing back to the city. More flowers bloomed. 

"And here I thought you were a soldier. Where'd all that come from?" He asked quietly. His brows furrowed, though, worrying over something. 

"Eh. Lots of therapy." You pat his shoulder a few gentle times. "But I'm serious, y'know? Good things come to an end. And, y'know, if it really hurts ya, you can just use your fancy gizmo to go visit, yeah? Or, I mean, you can just find someone to fuck." 

Miguel gave you a look and the mood shifted away from genuinity back into clownery (thank God). "To fuck?" He balked. You nodded wisely. "You-- I'm too old to be sleeping around."

"Hey, hey, I sleep around. You're never too old." You almost managed a glare at him. "Sometimes I just wanna mess around, get laid, maybe accidentally find The One–" 

"Oh, you’re hoping to find 'the one,' huh?" Miguel remarked, definitely believing you. “How’s that going for you?”

You sighed dramatically and leaned into him like your will to live was running out. "Oh, It’s brutal. Lots of trial and error. Such a shame." 

"Mmh, I'm sure."