#(not really this is the first big peace i did in a while i just watch stuff and occasionally play regretevator and pressure)

[voitier]

HANS - In your Hands

둘 : Of caramel and coffee grounds

In a world where every single step is recorded and analysed by cameras, F1 racer Jeon Jungkook could care less about his reputation, having decided that with the amount of money he has he could buy the silence of everybody, if he wished.

Behind him, there's a girl losing her mind trying to get him to behave, knowing that her job is at risk if she doesn't cover up his mess-ups in time.

What happens when one of the most influential and world recognised racers falls head over heels for his PR manager, who absolutely despises his "I've got it all" attitude and wants nothing more than to keep doing her job in peace?

WORDCOUNT: 2k3 words

WARNING: 18+, description of semi-public sexual acts, kinda getting caught

AUTHOR'S NOTE: okay so. first of all, I owe you all my gratitude and affection towards anyone who got interested in the story, who supports me and believes in this little "project" as much as I do. second of all, I owe y'all also my apologies: this part was meant to be part 1 of chapter 2, not the whole chapter itself. however, life got in the way and unfortunately I couldn't do much work over the weekend, and I promised that I would post chapter 2 either during the weekend or monday so it was only fair that I kept my promise and posted it nevertheless.

now, to the chapter itself: this one is heavily focused on OC and Tae's dynamics, we won't see JK until the very end of it, and even then it's just a couple of minutes worth of interactions.

I'd also say that it's heavily explicit but I would be lying, just know that the whole ordeal will take place while OC and Tae are "messing" with each other. why? you may ask. because I needed to introduce to you some of the themes that will be discussed later on, and OC happens to be one of those people whose psyche heavily influences the things she enjoys when having sex, what makes her feels safe and what doesn't, what she redeems right and what not. there are hints to her past, but take them as they are now: just hints. time will unfold everything.

I hope you're not too mad that this chapter is short and JK doesn't make much of an appearance. enjoy your reading, I will wait for you in the comments/Inbox. love you all <3

“Coffee?” 

“Sure” 

Taehyung handed you an ice cold cup, filled to the brim with your iced coffee and topped with cream. 

You smiled, stirring the straw in a couple times before taking a sip. Caramel. “How did you know?” 

“You used to drink the exact same thing in college. Still disgusting, by the way.” 

You scoffed, kicking your leg dipped in the cold water of the pool to splash the man. Taehyung chuckled, tossing his shirt to the side before jumping in the water beside you. He emerged from the water, pushing his slick hair back. 

You lowered your eyes on your drink, doing your best to hide the way your gaze followed every single drop of water dripping on his skin, tracing every curve and crevice you spent nights trying to forget about. 

"You're not jumping in?"

"I have work to do," putting the cup down, you raise your notepad kept at a much needed distance from the pool. Months and months worth of work were scribbled down on its pages, and you weren't risking losing it just because you wanted to tan in the sun by the open-roof pool of the hotel. Not even a chance. 

Taehyung groaned, complaining with a whiny voice: "You can work later. C'mon, you're never relaxing. Plus, the water is really cold and nice."

Sighing, you shook your head, closing the notepad shit again. You turned around, ready to pull yourself up, muttering something about him not bribing you in, when two big hands grabbed your hips, pulling you inside the pool completely. 

"Taehyung!" you gasped, body shaking with the sudden impact of the cold water hugging you whole. 

"Here we go, much better," he murmured, face dangerously close to yours as he kept you trapped between his body and the pool wall. "Feels nice, doesn't it?"

"Taehyung..." you whispered, looking right over his shoulder to not encounter his eyes. You knew what intensity they held, and you knew you would cave in immediately if you dared to look at him. Your body tensed up when you felt his hand travel from your hips to your leg, silently thanking the water that hid the goosebumps rising all over. "This is not right," you whispered, probably more to yourself than him, your resolutions threatening to crumble as soon as he hit the right buttons. 

"Why not?" he asked, lips hovering the nape of your neck, his breath warm against your cold skin. You could feel the ghost of his kisses resurface to life, the memories of countless nights spent together hitting you at once. "Your man was hidden in the bathroom of the garage fucking the first willing woman he found and we can't have fun like we used to in the privacy of closed walls?"

Your breath hitched at his words.

Your man. Jungkook.

With the first willing woman. Isadora.

Fucking...?

"Wait what did you say?" you suddenly asked, pushing him back just the right amount to look at him as he spoke.

He cocked his head to the side, raising his eyebrow in a are you serious? manner. A little smirk pulled at his mouth, and he shook his head side by side in disbelief. 

"What did you think they were doing in there, Vel? Holding hands, exchanging rings?" 

You brushed away the feeling of your heart dropping at the nickname, Vel. It had been years since you last heard it, and you certainly didn't enjoy hearing it now and bringing back all the memories attached to it.

"I'm not that stupid."

"Never said you were."

"I just... I didn't think he would go all out, that's all."

"Last minute nerves, sometimes getting blown just doesn't do the job as it should." With a shrug, Taehyung swam back slightly and gave you time to digest what he had implied, observing you with critical eyes in the meantime. "Are you seriously shocked?" he asked tentatively, getting closer again. His other hand traveled to your back, pushing you gently against his stiff body.

Taehyung managed to be exactly what you needed every time you felt like you were tethering on the edge of failure: broad, stiff, firm. Secure in a way you envied. So it was no surprise when you let your body mold into his, throwing your head back with a groan that was both exhausted and terrified. 

"I'm so tired of having to cover up scandals left and right before the media and journalists find out. At least in the garage I thought I could have some peace from that," you whined, finally giving in and hiding your face in the crook of his neck. The smell of chlorine mixed with coffee grounds inebriated your system, momentarily distracting you from the mess you cleared up without even really knowing about it. You nuzzled your face into his neck further, drinking in his smell, letting your body and mind remember what it felt like to feel anchored and safe.

"Now you get why I'm not as worried as you are? We all have our good dose of mess-ups, here. You deserve to be human like the rest of us, Vel"

You deserve to be human like the rest of us, Vel.

Your throat constricted at his words, hands impulsively gripping his shoulders. Did you actually deserve to rest, to mess up? You weren't famous. You weren't rich either, maybe well-put is a more appropriate adjective to describe your economical status, yet you weren't one of those who could retire now and live comfortably like someone else could. That someone, of course, was none other than Jeon Jungkook, who not only could live off the amount of money his bank had stored away, but he could also buy everyone's silence in case one of his mess-ups accidentally slipped from your fingers and became public dominion.

Taehyung lips zeroed on your neck, taking his time leaving kisses behind, wanting to make you relax, first of all, and then take further steps. He made sure you were leaning on the pool wall, his gestures carrying a caringness that felt oddly familiar, yet still scary. He handled you with care and  affection, his touch expressing something that almost resembled a devotional act. 

He was careful and tentative the same way adults who were once musicians sit down at an old piano and slowly start to press random keys until they grow confident enough to play by heart one of their favourite compositions they learned when they were a child. 

That's what Taehyung was doing – playing you, playing your body, remembering exactly which keys to press, yet being careful in case some of them got out of tune over time. He didn't push, but he didn't pull back either. He acclimated you back again to the rhythm slowly, gently lulling you back into the routine. 

His kisses didn't hold the desperation they used to back when you were merely more than a teenager anymore, nor the seduction he used when you weren't totally in the mood, and he knew you could benefit from letting loose even for as little as a couple minutes.

He was measured, controlled, almost gentleman-like, if you will. His touch grew bolder, hands sliding under your legs and hooking them around his torso, pressing you further against the wall.

There, trapped between a literal wall of concrete and Taehyung's hard body, you couldn't help but feel safe, stable, grounded in a way that wasn't new to you. Years back, Taehyung had learned that you thrived off being pressed, almost trapped, between his body and a hard solid surface, whether it was the bed, the wall, or a library. What you couldn't handle though, and you two found out when you were around 21 years old, was not having something solid holding you. Safe to say, mirror sex with your hands on each side of the mirror didn't feel good at all for you, feeling way too "abandoned" to actually focus on pleasure. Taehyung was sure there was some sort of psychological explanation behind it, but it wasn't his place to ask you, so he never did.

You sighed softly, throwing your head back as Taehyung pestered your throat and collarbones in kisses, dipping your hand in his soaking wet hair. You couldn't help but let out a content hum as your body gave into his ministrations, going lax under his touch. 

He was definitely right, it felt so fucking good to give yourself to someone who knew what they were doing. 

"Just like that," he murmured against your skin, "we don't have to rush. We have all the time in the world."

“Tae,” you sighed, wrapping your arms around his neck for support. Taehyung’s fingers hooked under the straps of your bra, pulling it down your shoulders to continue his attack on your flesh. One of his hands traveled further down to cup your breast over your bikini, groaning as he became hungrier for this, hungrier for you. 

The sharp ringing of the elevator that opened right a few feet from the pool snatched you from the bubble of bliss Taehyung had so carefully brought you in, forcing a gasp from your lips and your nerves to jump at attention.

You turned around, panic rising as you saw a familiar silhouette with its head low on his phone appearing inch by inch as the doors opened slowly. Jungkook. 

“Taehyung,” you hissed, panicking, tapping his shoulders hurriedly. 

“Don’t make a sound,” was all he said before he dunked his head underwater, swimming lower and lower. You tried your best to act like nothing was happening as Jungkook got closer, his eyes lighting up as they spotted you. 

“Ah, here you are!” he exclaimed, sporting one of his best grins on his lips. “I’ve been trying to call you for the past ten minutes, no wonder you weren’t picking up!”

“Jungkook,” you forced a cough right after to cover up the way your voice cracked as you called his name, trying to ignore with all your might the way Taehyung decided that it was an appropriate space and time to make his hands run up and down your legs, slowly inching them closer to your core, slowly, torturing you in the process. His fingers brushed your inner thighs, his touch so delicate that it felt like something was tickling you instead. You clamped your legs shut, immediately regretting your choice as it had given him the perfect opportunity to push his fingers further up, fingertips grazing with feather-like pressure on your bikini-covered skin. 

Fuck. 

“...and,” Jungkook stopped his rambling, which you hadn’t heard at all, and shut his mouth to look at you better. He tilted his head to the side like a confused puppy, squinting his eyes to analyse you better. “Are you alright, Y/N? You look kinda flushed.”

You hummed, nodding your head up and down quickly, internally cringing at yourself as you heard the high-pitched sound that came from your lips. “Yeah, yes! Must be the sun,” your finger pointed up at the open roof, and you took advantage of the moment Jungkook looked up to try and push Taehyung away.

The man didn’t budge.

At all.

If anything, your little "rebellion" only spurred him on, and in a matter of seconds he had slipped two fingers inside your swimsuit, slowly circling your clit and sending sparks throughout your body. 

You hoped Jungkook wouldn't catch on to the way your breathing pattern grew irregular, heavier, or the way your cheeks flushed crimson red, or the trembling of your fingers. You had to find a way to get him out of there, immediately, before you lost all sense of shame and control and fucked Taehyung right in front of his eyes.

"Anyway, do you mind if I join you?"

Holy.

Fucking.

Shit.

"Yes! I mean– no, not like that, of course you can, it's not my pool, is it?" you chuckled nervously, kicking your legs underwater to tell Taehyung that now he really had to fucking stop messing around. "But shouldn't you go back inside and change? You don't have your swimsuit on."

Jungkook opened his mouth to talk, but immediately snapped it close. His eyes lit up for a brief second before a little smirk took over his lips, the next sentence sending you straight into cardiac arrest. "But I was thinking of swimming naked, Y/N, it would be... freeing."

"What–"

"Besides, aren't you naked too?"

That definitely froze you on the spot. And apparently, Taehyung had managed to hear something from his position, cause he had stopped, too. 

"Uhm... Jungkook, what are you talking about?"

The boy's eyes traveled up and down your body – or, well, what could be seen of it – before his fingers pointed to your form, even though confusion and hesitancy was now clear. 

"Aren't you...?"

You looked down to where he was pointing, gasping as only then you had realised that the straps of your bra were still down your shoulders, just like Taehyung had wanted them. From his position, not too close to the pool, it definitely looked like you were wearing nothing. 

"Oh my god, no!" you exclaimed, immediately pulling them up and around your shoulders. "Here, they were down cause they slipped. Were you seriously considering getting in naked? While believing I was naked, too?"

Right as Jungkook was about to feed you one of his shitty excuses you interrupted him, shooing him away with your hands. "Go, go change, I don't wanna hear anything."

Sulking, he walked towards the elevator, totally acting like a four year old throwing a tantrum: pouting, shoulders slumped over, feet dragging on the ground, exclaiming a defensive "Oh, c'mon, it would have been a nice view!"

"Fuck off, bun," you laughed, yelling something about waiting for him to change in his swimming attire.

You didn’t catch it, but his lips turned upwards in a soft smile right as the elevator’s doors closed.

© voitier 2025

series introduction post here

[slaybinnie]

HUMIN SMUTT PLEASE 🙏

PROBATION

ׂ╰┈➤ Humin (baku) x fem!reader

𝄃𝄃𝄂𝄂𝄀𝄁𝄃𝄂𝄂𝄃 Warnings: explicit sexual content (18+ MDNI), explicit language, KINDA CRACK FIC, reader has boobs, humin has a boob obsession (lolz), dw I don't mention the size.

about: Humin usually seeks comfort in touching y/n’s chest.. privately. But when he crosses the line in public, he’s but on restriction. Oh the horror! How long can Humin last his boob probation? (lol)

note: WHO DOUBTED MEEE?? I ended up finishing this fic and it kicked my ass lolzers but it was so fun to write. thanks anon for requesting ILY. MUAH

WORD COUNT: 5k <3

Okay you admit it, this was partially your fault. The first time Humin had ever put his hands in your shirt was by your suggestion. 

It was a cold day and you were both curled up on your couch watching some random drama he had put on. You'd noticed Baku rubbing his hands together periodically with that adorable frustrated expression he got when he was annoyed. 

You reached over to touch his hands and they were freezing, “Your hands are so cold.” 

“Well yeah, the heating in my house is so bad,” he grumbled, even though you both knew he just ran cold naturally.

Without really thinking about it, you grabbed his hands and guided them under your oversized sweater, pressing his palms against your warm stomach. “Better?”

Humin grinned and nodded, “Much better!” His thumbs traced small circles on your skin, and you tried to ignore the way it made your heart skip.

That innocent moment had somehow evolved into... this. Since then Humin's hands seemed to have claimed permanent residence under your shirts, hoodies, and sweaters. What had started as a simple solution to his cold hands had become his go-to comfort method.

What had started as something innocent had slowly become something much more intimate as time went on. You weren't even sure when it had shifted but soon enough, Humin had discovered that your chest was the perfect temperature for warming up his hands. Your stomach was no longer an option for him. 

You'd be lying on the couch together, his head on your shoulder while you scrolled through your phone, and his hands would automatically find their way under your shirt to cup your breasts. It wouldn’t always be in a sexual way, though you were very affected sometimes, but just for comfort. 

“Mmm, you're so warm here,” Baku would say, sleepily, his thumbs brushing over your nipples unconsciously. 

Sometimes he'd even massage them gently while you watched TV or he'd trace patterns on your skin, and also play with the lace of your bra until you were squirming beside him. He seemed to find some kind of peace in the action which was fine by you. But Humin had a big problem. The problem of not differentiating between “at home” and “literally anywhere else.”

It was fine when he did it at home. More than fine, actually. You'd grown to love the way he'd automatically slip his hands under your shirt when you cuddled on the couch, or how he'd sleepily reach for you in the morning. But gosh, Humin had absolutely zero sense of appropriate timing or location.

You'd lost count of how many times you'd had to grab his wrists and gently pull his hands away when you were out in public. At the grocery store when he got bored waiting in line. During study sessions at the library when he got restless. Even at cafes when he'd absent-mindedly reach for your chest while scrolling through his phone.

“Baku, no,” had become your most frequently used phrase and honestly, the worst part? He has no idea why you were stopping him. He’d give you these genuinely confused looks as if the middle of the campus quad was an appropriate place for his hands to be wandering under your clothes.

Today’s situation had been the most annoying though, which led to your final decision of banning his touches. 

You and Humin had decided to catch the latest action movie on a Friday night. The theater was packed, and you'd managed to snag seats in the middle of a row, surrounded by other moviegoers. The previews were still playing when you felt Humin's familiar cold fingers slip under the hem of your sweater.

You didn't think anything of it at first as you were expecting his usual gentle touch on your stomach. The theater was dark enough, and you were tucked away in the corner where no one would notice. But his hands moved higher than usual, and instead of stopping at your bra like he did in public, his fingers slipped underneath the fabric to cup your bare breast.

You jumped so hard you nearly spilled your drink and a quiet gasp escaped your lips. 

“Humin.” you whispered angrily, grabbing his wrist and yanking his hand away. “What the hell?”

He looked genuinely confused, how annoying. “What? I wasn’t-”

“You can't just…” you took a deep breath “grab my boobs in a movie theater.”

“Why? There's barely anyone here. And I always touch you?”

Your eye twitched in frustration. You wanted to raise your voice to get your point across, but since you were in a movie theater, you just rolled your eyes and ignored him for the rest of the film.

-

After the movie was over you walked out in a tense silence. Humin kept trying to hold your hand, but you pulled away each time, still irritated. 

“Baby, come on,” he whined as you both got into his car. “What's the big deal? It's not like anyone saw anything.”

You turned to face him. “That's not the point, Baku! You can't just... feel me up in public. It's cringe and inappropriate!”

“But I always touch you,” he said, that same dumb confused expression on his face that made you want to kill him. “You’ve never minded before.”

“Because we were at home, Humin. At fucking home! Not in a movie theater, not at the grocery store, and not at the library!” You replied, turning your head to look out the window.

After a few minutes of silence Humin spoke, “Y/n. I’m sorry about touching you like that in public. I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable but I did. I promise I won’t do it again.”

You crossed your arms over your chest and stared at Baku's apologetic face. His genuine remorse was clear, but you wanted to have a little fun with this. “I forgive you.”

Humin smiled and was about to say something until you said, “But I’m going to have to put you on restriction.”

“Restrict- what the fuck is that?” 

“Probation. You’re cut off. You’re not allowed to touch my boobs until you fully understand my frustration.” 

Humin's eyes widened in horror like you'd just told him the worse news of his life. Well, maybe this was the worst news of his life. “What? No! You can't do that to me!” 

“Well, I just did so…” You shrugged your shoulders, trying to ignore how his bottom lip was already starting to wobble. “Maybe this will teach you the difference between private and public spaces.”

The rest of the ride home was filled with Humin's dramatic sighs and protests.

“But what if my hands get cold?”

“Then you’ll wear gloves like a normal person.”

“What if I need comfort?”

“I don’t know, hug a pillow.”

“What if I can't sleep without touching you?”

"Then you'll be very tired."

“But I can’t survive without sucking them!” 

“Humin shut up!” 

By the time you reached his home, Humin looked like a kicked puppy. He followed you inside, hovering around you like that would change your mind. 

“This is cruel and unusual punishment,” he sighed, throwing himself onto the couch, “I'm going to die. Actually die. From sadness.” 

“You're so dramatic,” you said, but you couldn't help but smile a little. 

“Dramatic? Would if I withheld my penis from you? How would you like that huh?” Baku whined then buried his face in a couch cushion and let out a muffled scream.

“What the fuck is actually wrong with you.” You responded. 

“Nothing is wrong with me! I just love you is all.” Baku said, finally looking up from the couch cushion. 

You laughed then sat next to him on the couch, slowly running your hands through his hair. He immediately leaned into your touch, eyes fluttering shut. 

“So I can touch you now?” he mumbled, hope lacing his voice.

“No,” you said firmly, pulling your hand away.

“Goddammit woman!” 

-

So turns out Humin was the most dramatic person on the planet when he didn't get his way. He'd taken to wearing the most pathetic, sad expressions whenever you were around. He'd sigh heavily every few minutes, like he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders.

When you cuddled on the couch, he'd place his hands on your waist or shoulders, then let out pitiful sighs like he was being tortured.

Mind you, it was only Saturday. One day after his ban. 

“You're being ridiculous,” you told him when you caught him staring longingly at your chest.

“I'm not being ridiculous,” he muttered, but his pout suggested otherwise.

“You're pouting.”

“I don't pout.”

“You're literally pouting right now.”

By Tuesday his friends had started to notice his very… very unusual behavior.

“Dude, what's wrong with you?” Gotak asked during a group lunch, watching as Humin stabbed at his food with unnecessary aggression.

“Nothing's wrong with me,” Humin grumbled.

“You've been weird all day,” Juntae added. “You keep sighing and staring at Y/n like she kicked your puppy.”

“She might as well have,” Humin muttered under his breath.

You kicked him under the table. “Don't be dramatic.”

“I'm not being dramatic!”

Sieun leaned forward, “Did you two have a fight?”

“We didn't have a fight,” you said quickly, shooting Humin a warning look. “Baku is just being a baby about something completely reasonable.”

“I am not being a baby!”

“You cried yesterday because I wouldn't let you put your hands under my hoodie.”

“I didn't cry! My eyes were just... watery.”

Sieun, Juntae, and Gotak exchanged confused looks but let it go. 

By Wednesday, you were starting to feel a little bad for Humin. Not bad enough to lift his punishment, but bad enough that you were considering it..

You had just gotten back from classes and were in his bedroom changing into more comfortable clothes. Normally when you were at home you never wore a bra. It was just more comfortable that way. Humin had gotten so used to it that he barely even noticed anymore. Well, he noticed, but it was just normal for him.

But now, with him on probation, you realized this might be the perfect opportunity to mess with him just a little before ending his punishment. 

You put on a fitted shirt that showed every detail of your chest and some comfy shorts then walked into the living room where Humin was spread on the couch, still looking pitiful. Cute, but pitiful. 

“Hey,” you said casually, settling down next to him.

Humin looked over at you, and you watched in real time as his brain processed what he was seeing. His eyes went wide, then narrowed, then wide again.

“Y/n,” he said slowly.

“Hm?”

“Why did you even put on a shirt?”

You tilted your head, like you were confused, “What do you mean?” 

“I can see your tits through the shirt!” 

You looked down at your shirt innocently, as if you hadn't deliberately chosen the most fitted top you owned. “Can you? I didn't notice.”

Humin's jaw dropped. “You're doing this on purpose.”

“Doing what on purpose?” you asked, stretching your arms above your head in a stretch. The movement made your shirt ride up slightly and pull tighter across your chest.

Humin made a strangled noise. “You're evil. Actually evil.”

“I'm just wearing a shirt, baby,” you said, settling back against the couch. “It's not my fault you're... distracted.”

“Distracted?” His voice cracked slightly. “Y/n, you know exactly what you're doing to me right now.”

You turned to face him fully, watching as his eyes immediately dropped to your chest before snapping back up to your face. “What am I doing to you?”

“You're... you're…” He gestured helplessly at your shirt. 

“Use your words, baby,” you teased.

Humin let out a frustrated groan and buried his face in his hands. “You’re giving me blue balls!” 

“No I’m not!” 

“Yes, you are. You're the worst girlfriend ever.”

“Aw, that's not very nice,” you pouted, leaning closer to him. “Maybe I should add another week to your punishment.”

“No!” Humin's head shot up, eyes wide with panic. “No, no, no. You're the best girlfriend ever. So beautiful  and funny. I love you so much.”

You laughed at his dramatic change in tune. “You're being very cute right now.”

For the next hour, you continued your torture. You'd lean over to grab the remote, giving him a perfect view down your shirt. You'd stretch, arch your back, and basically do everything you could to drive him crazy without actually letting him touch you. 

Thursday came and guys were having dinner with friends and they still had so many questions.

“Seriously dude, what is wrong with you? We tried to drop it last time but I can’t ignore it anymore” Gotak asked.

“Y/n's still being mean to me,” Humin mumbled.

“Stop lying to your friends.” 

“I’m not lying. You're torturing me!”

“How is she torturing you?” Gotak asked, looking between you two with confusion.

“She just…” Humin trailed off, clearly not wanting to explain the situation to his friends. “She's withholding affection.”

“Withholding affection?” Juntae pressed.

“Yeah, like... she won't let me…” Humin caught your warning glare and quickly changed course. “She won't let me hold her hand!”

His friends exchanged confused looks.

“You're being weird about hand holding?” Sieun asked slowly.

“Very weird,” Gotak agreed.

“I'm not weird! I just love holding her hand! And she's being stingy with the hand holding!”

You buried your face in your hands, torn between embarrassment and amusement at his terrible cover story.

“This is the weirdest conversation I've ever been part of,” Sieun said.

-

Later that evening, you were curled up on Humin's couch, still giggling about his ridiculous hand-holding excuse.

“Hand holding?” you said, holding in a giggle. “That's the best you could come up with?”

“I panicked!” Humin flopped down beside you dramatically. “I'm not good under pressure, okay? I just wanted them to stop asking questions.”

You laughed, and the sound made Humin's expression soften.

“I love your laugh,” he said quietly.

“Even when I'm laughing at you?”

“Especially then.”

You looked at him as the two of you cuddled on the couch. His hair was messy, his eyes were soft, and despite his dramatics, he looked genuinely happy just to be near you. 

“Can I ask you something?” he said quietly after a while.

“Sure.”

“Do you like it? When I touch you like that, I mean. Not in public obviously, but at home.”

You turned to look at him, surprised by the uncertainty in his voice. “Of course I like it. Why would you even ask that?”

“I don't know. This whole week made me think that maybe you just put up with it because you felt bad for me or because you felt like you had to or something.”

“Baku.” You shifted so you were facing him fully. “I love the way you touch me. I love that you find comfort in it. The only thing I don't love is when you try to do it in front of other people.”

Relief flooded his face. “Really?”

“Really. And you want to know a secret?” You leaned closer, dropping your voice to a whisper. “Sometimes when you're just holding me like that, playing with the lace on my bra or just touching me  gently. It drives me crazy.”

Humin's eyes darkened slightly. "Yeah?"

“Yeah. A good crazy. Like I can barely concentrate on whatever we're doing because all I can focus on is your hands.”

“Fuck,” he breathed, his grip on you tightening slightly. “You can't say things like that to me right now.”

“Why not?”

“Because I've been thinking about touching you for six days straight and if you keep talking like that I'm going to lose my mind.”

You bit your lip, studying his face. His pupils were dilated and you could see the way he was holding himself back. It was actually pretty hot, seeing him like this.

“Well,” you said slowly, “I suppose you have been very good today.”

“Have I?” he asked hopefully.

“Mmhm. Very well behaved. Very respectfulish.” You traced a finger along his jawline, enjoying the way he shivered at the light touch. “I think you've learned your lesson.”

“I have. I definitely have. I'm a changed man.”

You laughed, “Okay. Your punishment is officially over.”

The words were barely out of your mouth before Humin was kissing you, his hands immediately going to cup your face. It wasn't rushed or desperate like you'd expected, but slow, like he was savoring the moment.

When you broke apart, he rested his forehead against yours and said, “I love you.”

“I love you too baby.” 

Humin grinned and leaned down to kiss your neck, his hands finally sliding under your shirt to rest on your waist. His touch was gentle and his hands were cold. The two of you shuffled so that you were sitting on his lap. 

“I want to see them,” he said, looking up at you with dark eyes. “Please?”

You nodded, and he carefully pushed your shirt up, his breath catching when you were revealed to him.

“So beautiful,” he whispered. “You're so beautiful.”

He leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to your chest, right over your heart, and you smoothed your fingers through his hair.

“Can I suck on them?” he asked, and the question was so direct and honest that you laughed.

“Of course baby.”

He didn't need to be told twice. His mouth latched onto your nipple, and the feeling made your back arch. He sucked gently at first, then with more pressure when you made a soft sound of approval.

“Missed this,” he mumbled against your skin, switching to your other breast. “Missed this so much.”

His free hand continued to knead and caress, and you got lost in the sensation. You missed this too. The way Humin touched you like you were his treasure, like you were his whole world.

“Feels good,” you breathed, and he hummed against your skin in response.

He took his time, switching between gentle kisses and firmer sucking, using his tongue to tease and his teeth to just barely graze your nipple. Your fingers tightened in his hair, and he groaned at the sensation.

“Humin,” you gasped when he bit down a little harder.

“You like that?” he asked, looking up at you with dark eyes. “You like when I bite?”

“You know what I like.”

“I want you to say it,” he said, his thumb brushing over your other nipple. “Tell me everything you like.”

“I like when you bite,” you said breathlessly. “I like when you suck hard enough to leave marks. I like when you use your tongue to…oh!”

He'd taken your other nipple into his mouth while you were talking, sucking hard just like you'd described. Your words dissolved into soft moans as he worked you over with his mouth and hands.

“You're so sensitive,” he murmured, switching between your breasts. “So responsive. I could do this for hours.”

“Please,” you gasped, not even sure what you were asking for.

“Please what, baby? Tell me what you want.”

“I want... I want you to keep going. Don't stop.”

“I won't stop,” he promised, his hands sliding down to grip your hips. “I'm going to love every inch of you. I'm going to make up for every day I couldn't touch you.”

Humin flipped you on your back so that he was hovering above you. He took a moment to just look at you, “I can't believe you're mine,” he said, his voice full of awe.

“I'm yours,” you confirmed. “All yours.”

Humin smiled and took in your nipple in his mouth again, his hand trailing down to pull your pajama shorts off. 

“Baku,” you whimpered when he bit down gently on your nipple.

“Hm?”

Instead of answering with words, you took his hand and guided it down your body, past the waistband of your panties. He groaned when he felt how wet you were.

“All this for me?” he asked, his fingers starting to move in slow, teasing circles around your clit.

You nodded as you moaned loudly, sensitive from not being touched in a week. 

“So wet, Y/n.” He whispered, voice thick with desire. “So perfect like this. Falling apart for me.”

Your head tipped back against the couch cushions, a soft whimper escaping you. Humin kissed your cheek, then your jaw, then moved lower again to kiss the swell of your breast. 

His fingers slipped lower, circling your entrance but not pushing in, just teasing. You let out a sound of frustration, and he let out a low laugh. “Use your words, baby.”

“I want your fingers,” you whispered. “Inside me. Please.”

The moment you said it, he obliged, slowly sliding two fingers into your heat. You gasped and your back arched as your hands flew to grip his shoulders. “Fuck!”

Shh,” he murmured, curling his fingers just right. “Let me take care of you.”

He set a steady rhythm, pumping in and out of you as his thumb found your clit again. Your body responded instantly—hips rocking, breath hitching, thighs trembling around his hand.

“That’s it,” he whispered, never taking his eyes off of you. “You’re so fucking beautiful like this. You always look so good when I’m touching you.”

You felt like you were going crazy, your body wasa over-aware of everything being said and done. “I’m close,” you breathed, barely able to speak. “Please, don’t stop.”

“I’m not stopping,” he promised as his fingers pressed deeper into you. 

With a cry, you came hard around his fingers. Your body jerked as the wave crashed over you. Humin held you through your climax, his free hand stroking your thigh as he whispered praises into your skin.

He kissed your forehead. “You okay?”

“Yes but, It was so good.” You said as your body sunk deeper into the couch as you tried to catch your breath. 

Humin stayed close, his fingers slowly pulling out of you with gentle care. He brought his hand to his mouth, tasting you with a soft groan that made your thighs twitch.

Can’t believe I went a whole week without this,” he murmured, trailing kisses across your collarbone. “Lift your hips baby.” 

You lifted your hips and Humin tugged your now soaked panties down your legs. He ran his hands along your thighs, then leaned down to press kisses to the inside of each one then pressed a firm kiss to your clit. 

You gasped when his lips made contact with your core and a soft surprised moan caught in your throat. His tongue flicked over your clit in slow, deliberate strokes. He wasn’t rushing it. He was taking his time, savoring every reaction you gave him.

“Humin,” you breathed, voice already trembling again.

He hummed in response, the vibration sending a jolt through your whole body. His hands gripped your thighs, keeping you open for him as he worked his tongue on the place you needed him the most. He’d always been good at this but now it felt like he was determined to remind you exactly how much you’d missed this week.

You reached for him, one hand fisting in his hair, and he groaned softly when you tugged. His tongue pressed harder and faster when your hips started to buck into his face, he paused and sucked your clit into his mouth.

You choked nearly jerking away, but his grip on your thighs tightened. “Stay still,” he murmured, lips brushing your skin. “Let me take care of you, baby. ”

Your head tipped back in pleasure. Your body burning with pleasure and your nerves buzzing. You could barely think. All you could do was feel. 

Humin kept going until your whole body was trembling and your moans were little whimpers. Your second orgasm hit stronger than the first, and you cried out in pleasure. 

After your orgasm Humin didn’t stop. He kept licking you through it, even sucking your clit. “You taste so good,” he murmured between licks. “I could do this for hours.”

Finally it was getting to be too much, you were moaning continuously and you were pushing weakly at his head, oversensitive and gasping.

“Too much,” you cried.

Humin finally let up and gave your clit one last soft kiss before lifting his head. His lips were slick, and there was a soft look in his eyes. “You’re unreal,” he whispered, brushing your hair away from your face. “So fucking pretty when you cum.”

You wrapped your arms around his neck and pulled him down into a kiss. He melted into the kiss and his hands slowly found there way back to your chest, thumbing at your nipples. 

“Humin, I need a break,” you said pulling away from the kiss.

“Of course baby. We don’t have to go all the way tonight.”

“No! I want to go all the way, I just need a breather.” You responded, kissing his lips. 

“Thats fine! Want to watch a movie?” 

You shook your head no and pointed to the obvious bulge in his pants, “I can help take the edge off until I’m ready.” 

“You don’t have to do that, I can wait. Or I can take care of it in the bathroom-”

“No! I want to do it.” 

“Yeah?” he asked, his voice low, already affected.

You nodded slowly, “Let me take care of you, baby. You’ve been so patient.”

He swallowed hard, “You sure?”

“Very.” You kissed the corner of his mouth. 

He sat back as you shifted to the floor in front of him, pressing your palms to his thighs. His breathing was heavy as he watched you, and his hands rested awkwardly on his knees like he was trying not to grab you. You ran your fingers up his thighs, teasing the waistband of his sweats before tugging them down.

Humin helped you ease them off, his erection springing free. He looked painfully hard.

You leaned forward to kiss the tip, just a soft press of your lips, and he let out a shaky breath. “Fuck,” he muttered, head tipping back.

“And you call me sensitive.” 

When you finally took him in your mouth, his hips jerked up and he let out a string of curses. 

“Fuck, baby, your mouth feels so good,” he groaned, his hands gripping the ends of the couch.

You hummed around him in response, taking him deeper. Every reaction made you want to give him more. 

You took your time with him, using your tongue and lips to drive him crazy. When you could tell he was getting close, you pulled back, ignoring his whimper of protest.

“You can’t come two times. You know that.” 

“But-”

“I’m ready, Humin.” You said, cutting off his protest. 

His breath hitched as you cupped him, wrapping your fingers gently around his length. You got up from your knees and placed yourself over his lap, slowly sinking down onto his length. Both of you moaned at the sensation, your eyes falling closed as you adjusted to the feeling of being filled.

“Fuck Y/n, you feel incredible,” Humin moaned, his hands going to your hips.

You started to move slowly, savoring the feeling of being connected to him like this. His hands roamed your body freely, stopping to cup your breasts as you rode him.

“So perfect,” he murmured, his thumbs brushing over your nipples. “You're so damn perfect like this. Riding me. I’m the only one who gets to see you like this, hm?” 

You leaned down, pressing your forehead to his, lips barely brushing his in a soft, lingering kiss, “Yes Humin, only you.” 

Slowly, you picked up your pace, riding him faster and clenching him in. You felt him deepen his grip and his breathing get uneven as you slid down and back up again. 

He pulled you down for another kiss, and the angle change made you both moan into each other's mouths. 

You slowed your pace, leaning forward to press your hands against his chest, grounding yourself. His lips found your neck, trailing soft, featherlight kisses.

“Touch yourself,” he requested breathlessly. “I want to watch you touch yourself while you ride me.” 

“Fuck Humin,” you said but did as he asked.  Your fingers found your clit as you continued to move on top of him and stimulation was almost too much. 

“That's it,” he encouraged, hands guiding your hips, “Keep going.” 

Your free hand tangled in his hair as you picked up momentum again. Your eyes locked and you moaned at the lustful look behind his. 

Your hands left his hair and he leaned down to take your breast into his mouth for the 100th time today. You felt yourself tipping over the edge and you couldn’t hold it anymore. 

“Humin,” you gasped

“I know, baby. I can feel you tightening around me. Let go for me.”

Humin pushed your hand away from your clit and replaced it with his hand. The stimulation from his fingers was all you needed. You came with a cry, your body clenched around him as your third orgasm hit. 

The feeling of you coming around him was enough to push Humin over the edge too, and he thrusted into you one last time before spilling his seed into you.

You collapsed against his chest, both of you breathing heavily. His arms wrapped around you immediately, holding you close as you both came down from your high. 

For a moment, you stayed wrapped in each other’s arms, heartbeats slowing to match, skin sticky and warm. You were the one to break the silence, “Are you okay?” 

“I should be asking you that, you’re the one who came three times.”

You laughed, “Light work.” 

Humin smiled and kissed you softly. “We should probably shower.”

You yawned, “Probably.” 

“You’re not going to get off of me are you?” Humin asked.

“Nope.”

-

AND SCENE. Erm... thank you queens for reading. Was very very fun to write this :D REQUEST IF U WANT

[changingplumbob]

Second Round - Day Five (3PO) 1 of 2

@lostinsixam, @igglemouse, @simstagramsomeone, @daedriyth, @ashubii, @simscici - Sim creators and writers

Bright and early, the household wakes up. Room order was randomised with Jerrica and Lara getting the ground floor rooms. A wheel was spun for type of shower the contestants would have (opportunity for energised, flirty or inspired moodlet) and whether they would brush their teeth (possible confident moodlet). Once they are finished getting ready they're sent to breakfast. Autonomy is toggled on and room doors are locked.

The order the contestants arrive at breakfast matters a little. Deanna compliments each of them in the order they arrive. Those who are talked to early seem to have more chance of fitting in autonomous socials with Deanna. They might fit in a joke, flirt or gossip between her complimenting others.

Jerrica was first to breakfast today, she and Deanna deciding to share a hug before catching up.

Jerrica: How have you been?

Deanna: Busy. You all get days off but I don't. It's pretty non stop

Jerrica: Never underestimate the power of a good nap

Deanna: *chuckles* Oh Lara I keep meaning to say I love your jacket

Kennedy: It's real clever how it matches your hair

Lara: Aww, thanks you two. I do worry that I have a more limited wardrobe than some

Callie: You don't need a big wardrobe if you like what you have

Kay was last to breakfast, but she has some good moodlets on board!

Kay: Ohhh pancakes! Let me at em let me at em

Deanna: *chuckling* I hope they're alright. I figure you could probably make better

Abigail: Are pancakes baking or cooking?

*moment of silence*

Jerrica: My bisexual self says both is good

*laughter*

Kay: *while eating* Motion seconded

Lara: Do I have time for a quick swim before the challenge?

Deanna: *checks time* Yes, it's almost an hour and a half before they want us there

Abigail: You sure you can't tell us what the challenge is

Deanna: *hesitates* If I told you what it was you might leave

Abigail: *gloomily* That sounds so promising

Kay: It's alright Abby, it'll be an adventure

Kennedy: Did you pick this one?

Deanna: I did not. And I've not really done it myself

Kennedy: *gasps* Horse ridin'? Is it horse ridin'?

Kay: Horses are cute! Those ones at the shelter looked so sweet

Jerrica: If it was that surely it would have been an option for skill time

Kennedy: *sighs* You do have brains

Callie: Not necessarily. I mean we never got an option to work on our singing

Amidst the chatter Abby takes herself off to a mirror in the hall.

Abigail: Come on Abby, I know we woke up gloomy, but we can push through. Look how you did with karaoke. And you've already had your date so you don't need to stay positive all day... just the next few hours. Then we can come back and wallow in peace for a bit

Lara and Abby both return to the group at the same time. Lara feels refreshed from her swim while Abby has enough good moodlets now to quiet the negative ones. Callie had headed upstairs to play juice pong... although she didn't actually invite anyone so it came to nothing.

Kay: I love this movie

Deanna: Sorry Kay but they need us on set in ten. Time for a costume change

Abigail: Time for what now

Deanna: You'll have to put on your active wear

Jerrica: *sarcastically* Hooray

Kennedy: *quietly* Please be horse ridin'

Devin: Hello everyone and welcome to Tartosa Gym. Today's challenge was picked by our pa, who is a fitness fan. Each of you has been tasked with completing the beginners endurance challenge on the rock wall. Fastest time wins. Good luck everyone

Devin hands it over to Aaron who gives a brief tutorial on how the rock wall works. It operates like a vertical treadmill, ticking over as contestants get closer to the top. Aaron takes everyone through some pre climb stretching to warm up, we need to be safe after all.

Aaron: I've picked this challenge because love is a marathon, not a sprint. You have to keep putting in the work if you want it to thrive. I'm looking forward to seeing who wins

Devin directs everyone to the right walls and the cameras position themselves.

Aaron: Any guesses who might win this one?

Deanna: Most of the 3PO group are... how would you say it... indoor cats? I think Kennedy might have an advantage with her love of horse riding. She's probably the most athletic

Aaron: Care to tell me who you want to win?

Deanna: *smiling* Nice try, I'm not doing that pa

Jerrica: I'm willing to give it a try, but my lack of athleticism may not help me out much here.

Lara: Wow, that sounds awesome! I love a good adventure, but at the same time, I worry about the girls... Will they be okay with it? I bet some of them find the challenge a bit scary...

Abby: *gulp* ... I don't think my noodle arms are saving me from this one *nervous laughter*

Callie: I just hope I don't hurt myself!

Kennedy: Well, I climbed trees growin' up. How hard can rocks be?

Kay: *big wide eyes* Oh, uhm, well. I'm not the strongest here so this should be interesting.

The challenge is under way! Everyone starts off strong but the wall can be devious. Kay falls to the ground first, followed by Kennedy. Kennedy however sticks the landing. Next out of the running is Jerrica, who is surprised to land on her feet. Then lastly Lara falls on her butt, with a big oomph.

The only two who manage to complete the rock wall are gamer Abby and clumsy sim Callie. Abby completes hers in 23.87 seconds. Callie takes 25.15 seconds. Abby technically scoops the win but with a date under her belt we'll be giving her some bonus points. The date will be Callie's.

Kennedy: Rocks are NOT as easy to climb as trees...

Kay: I probably should work on my fitness skill...

Kennedy: We could go on some jogs on our days off

Kay: We could... or we could stay indoors and bake. I'd love to hear more about your horses and you can't exactly tell me if we're jogging

Kennedy: Fair enough

Lara: My hands and arms are a bit sore... I really wasn’t made for this sport, but it was fun anyway! 

Jerrica: Its nice to try new things even if i'm bad at them...

Lara: The falls reminded me of those funny videos online of people trying to climb and slipping with their hands, which made me laugh a few times during the challenge

Jerrica: ...now to go soak my hands in ice water for a year

Lara: There's a sauna downstairs. Maybe we can stay since we're not going on dates

Jerrica: I like that plan. I like that plan a lot

Villa renovation by @paracosmic-sims Gym build by @hashimasims

[thebumblebeesworld]

RAISING • FLORA

annie x fem reader • a blossoming love universe

summary: annie and reader have an adopted daughter and are navigating motherhood together, teaching her how to connect to the earth and herself.

cw: straight flufff

a/n: thank you to this anonymous ask that inspired this one shot. i love the a blossoming love universe so muchhh, but you don't really need to have read the series for this one! just know that reader is a farmer and besties with smoke and stack! but yes annie and the reader are married now and their daughter is ten years old!

masterlist

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The air was starting to turn a little bit cooler as summer turned into early fall. The sun stopped beaming down so hard—although it was barely bearable—and there was a refreshing breeze in the air. This was you and Annie’s favorite time of the year: when things were slower work wise and the energy that reverberated was more carefree and less active.

Soon you’d be done with the growing season, allowing you to spend all your time with your two girls instead of farming. But until then, you’d have to finish up the last of the season’s harvest until the sun decided to fully cool off.

You lugged your rake and hoe behind you as you trudged towards your work truck, throwing your tools in the back. The abrupt sound of the front door slamming open forced you to stop in your place

"I'm goin' with you today, mama," Flora ran out the front door behind you, jumping clear over the bottom two porch steps. She stumbled slightly, but she didn't let it faze her any as she quickly followed after you. A bright smile was on her face, a giggle held up in her cheeks.

You laughed, amused by your daughter’s eagerness. You shifted your weight to one foot and placed one hand on your hip.

"Did you ask permission, li’l bit?" Your eyebrow quirked as she stood before you with her hands behind her back. She had those big doe eyes she used when trying to get you to cave, and while that usually worked wonders when she tried to get her way, you knew your wife.

If Annie had plans, it was best to not disrupt her day.

Flora knew her mother as well. The both of you always ran things by her before doing it. Her approval was crucial as Annie saddled herself with making sure her home ran nice, orderly, and peaceful.

"I thought you were supposed to help around the house today, Flo. Don’t you got chores,” you questioned, not wanting to say no outright.

"But, mama," she whined, pouting in distress. She clenched her fists at her side, and you tried your best to not let her cuteness override your good sense. "Mommy won't care if I go wit' you."

"You gotta ask first, suga'," you shook your head. "You got responsibilities to maintain ‘round here. And you know it get too hot out in the field for you to be out there all day." Even with it being a cooler season, the heat was still a menace, especially for a ten year old. Now that you owned and operated your own farm land, your normal work day started and ended when you wanted. But more likely than not, you worked eight hour days in the blaring sun.

"Look, mama," she tried to respond, her brain going every which way as she developed a course of action.

As your daughter stood there negotiating back and forth about whether she could go or not, if she needed to ask Annie, and if you could just ask for her, the haunting woman stepped out onto the porch. Her eyes were full of that knowing she always had. She peered at you both like you’d been conspiring against her.

"Flora, baby,” she began, tone dripped in dissatisfaction. “I'm in here waitin' for you to come clean your room.” She looked you both up and down as the two of you put on the sweetest smiles you could muster. “What y'all out here plottin’?"

You wanted so badly to laugh at the conclusion she came to, knowing damn well she was right.

Annie was always right.

“Mommy,” Flora stepped forward, standing near the bottom step and looking up at her mother. Annie tried to appear unimpressed, but it still causes her heart to ache when Flo called her that. She always wanted to be a mother, so when Flora walked into y’all’s lives, it was like her prayers had been answered. Sometimes she still couldn’t believe how wonderful her life and family was. She had a loving wife who took care of their household just as much as she did, and she had a beautiful daughter who was a light in her life. She couldn’t ask for anything more than that.

“Can I go to work with mama,” Flora asked in a sweet tone of voice, “please?”

That question broke Annie out of the reverie she was in. You watched her face go from warmth to disapproval quickly. You stepped forward to help convince her to agree to the proposal, but your wife spoke before you could.

“It’s too hot out there for you, sweet girl,” she concluded, eyes shifting your way. Nothing but care exuded from her, but it still hurt your daughter’s heart as that child-like confusion enveloped her. It didn't help that Annie looked through her with that mom look.

“But I can sit in the shade of that oak tree in the middle of the field,” she pleaded, hands clasped in front of her body, lip poked out into a pout. Flora looked back at you for assistance when an idea propped into her little head. “Me and mama can come home early for lunch. That way I don’t get too hot. Right, mama?” Flo nodded at you as a signal for you to agree.

Your daughter’s persistence made you extremely proud. She was a problem solver, and she knew how to get her way. You couldn’t even disagree with the suggestion to end work early. That would just give you more time with your two favorite girls. But you still didn’t want to agree to Flora’s proposal for fear of undermining Annie’s authority, so you just looked towards your wife. Your eyes communicated everything she needed to know.

You were always gonna take care of Flo, and you wouldn’t let her overwork herself or get overheated like she was prone to getting. Having such a lively daughter meant she took every opportunity she could to be running outside, climbing trees, and swimming in ponds. She hardly sat down anywhere for fear of missing out on any fun. And that caused her to tire herself out without realizing it.

But as Annie looked between you and y’all’s daughter, you saw her apprehension crumble, her mind giving in.

“Fine,” she sighed, causing you and Flora to celebrate outwardly. She jumped up a down, face full of excitement until—“But," Annie warned, putting a finger up to stop your too-early celebration, "don’t think I forgot about that room of yours,” Annie pointed Flora's way, making her cower. “And you still got yo’ lesson this afternoon, ok?”

“Thank you, mommy,” Flora sighed gratefully. She ran up the steps, hugging Annie tightly around her waist. Annie hugged back just as deep, a content smile on her lips.

You climbed the steps to give your wife a kiss goodbye.

“I knew y’all was gon’ gang up on me one of these days,” Annie laughed in your ear. You trotted backs towards the car—your daughter in tow, mimicking your walk.

“You know you love us, baby,” you smiled over your shoulder. Opening the passenger door for your daughter, you heard Annie whisper a small I do.

“So why you wanna be out in the field with me today, li’l bit?” Your hands grasped the wheel lazily, and your eyes concentrated on the road. You loved spending time with your daughter, especially when she was expressing interest in farming or outdoors. Normally when Flora was out of school, she and Annie spent that time together, going over Flo’s lesson on healing magic, rootwork, and history. Every blue moon, she’d help you in y’all’s at home garden if the weather wasn’t too much.

“I just wanna spend more time with you,” she giggled, watching the vast fields roll by full of cotton and cows. She was always such a happy child; It brought a smile to your face knowing she was content. “I like runnin’ through the corn. That’s real fun. And I kindaaa didn’t wanna clean my room today.” You chuckled at the way she snickered, feeling accomplished in getting off easy.

You swore that your best friend Stack was rubbing off on her. The way she plotted stuff reminded you of when you, Smoke, and Stack were growing up together. How you and the twins would get into trouble or avoid responsibilities just because you could.

“Well,” you began, speech laced in that motherly taut understanding, “I gotta harvest that corn today. How ‘bout after you finish runnin' through it I show you how to harvest?”

“Yes, please,” she shouted ecstatically.

“But remember that you gotta hold up your end of the bargain, suga’,” you reminded her. “I need that room clean by supper time.”

“Ugh,” she sighed, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms.

“Watch that attitude, li’l bit,” you responded quickly, unfazed by her adolescent outbursts. Y’all had been working on communication since y’all adopted her. Flora was real shy and quiet at first. Not wanting to make too much noise for fear of being sent away. Not wanting to say what was bothering her and letting her emotions run wild and unhinged. When she bottled things up, it just made for difficult and hard to control outbursts.

Through her lessons with Annie, Flora learned more about self control, stillness, and self awareness. Through spending time outside with you, she’d learned about strength, trusting herself, and speaking up for her needs.

“You know I’ll help you clean up, if you need me to, suga’,” you spoke with not a lick of condemnation in your heart. You gave Flo’s hand a firm squeeze to ease the remorseful glint in her eyes. “Remember what we’ve talked about. We all have responsibilities to keep up wit’. And while it may be annoyin’ to hear us tell you to clean your room or do your homework or finish all your vegetables at supper time, you can’t just not do what you supposed to. You can’t expect me and your mommy to clean up after you when you’ve thrown your clothes and dolls all over your bedroom floor. We all have our own responsibilities to keep.”

She huffed but didn’t make any opposition against your words. You took your eyes off the road for just a second to see her pouting something fierce. To lighten the mood, you began tickling her side lightly, forcing a laugh out of her previously tense face.

“I’m sorry, mama,” she apologized, looking down at her hands. “I’d just rather be playin’ outside than cleanin’ all the time.”

“Well, suga’. Have you thought that if you pick up stuff when you know it’s in the wrong spot maybe it’ll be easier to control the mess?” The question is genuine as you try to push her towards understanding that chores don’t have to be so daunting.

“I guess so,” Flora sighed, shrugging her shoulders. You pulled up in front of the big barn on your farm land, putting the truck in park. “I just don’t know how, mama.”

“It’s always ok to ask for help, sug’,” you remind her. You turned your body to face her head on. “I’ll show you how I like to clean. Then we can try out some stuff to figure out what works best for you.” One thing you always wanted was for Flora to know that she could come to you whenever she needed. No matter big or small, you would always be there to help her.

“Mama,” Flora shouted, running out from behind the last row of corn y’all were harvesting for the day. It had been an eventful morning, and you’d honestly not gotten much work done at all. When Flo needed a break, you took a break with her—it was the only way to get her out the sun for long enough to cool down. When y’all were doing actual work, she would lose track of the task at hand, rattling on about friends from school or asking you questions about how you and Annie met.

You had chuckled when she asked that, recalling that blazing summer day when you first laid eyes on your wife. That lovely flutter you felt when y'all locked eyes for the first time. That nervousness you experienced when Smoke and Stack sought interest in her. That grating sound of your friends laughing at you as you became instantly head over heels.

“Mama, do you hear me?”

“Sorry, li’l bit,” you apologized as she stood before you, looking up at you with that annoyed eye she'd gotten from her mother. You crouched down to her level, always trying your best to look at her directly at eye level. "What's up?"

“I wanna cut down some sunflowers to take home to mommy,” she bounced on the balls of her feet, pointing out toward the back of the pasture that was thick with eight-foot towering sunflowers. “Can we, pleaseee?”

“Of course, suga’,” you laughed at her, throwing the shears over your shoulder to get to chopping down a few flowers.

At least once a week, you brought Annie and Flora a gift from the farm. It was a habit you'd quickly picked up when you and Annie first started dating, and Flo had naturally grown to expect a weekly gift as well. You thought it was cute that she wanted to do something sweet for her mother as well.

“We gon' take some of that corn too," you nodded toward the wheelbarrow chock full of corn. "Maybe I can make some of that grilled corn you like?” You suggested that knowing she only had a small number of vegetables she liked eating. Grilled corn was at the top of her list.

"Oh, yes,” she agreed quickly. You smiled with adoration as she ran to the tallest sunflower in the field, pointing out exactly which one Annie deserved to have.

“Ah, there’s my girls," Annie greeted you and Flora. She was standing before the oven, pulling out a cast iron of freshly baked cornbread. Her skin glistened from the heat of the hot stove, so to provide her some relief, you opened up the kitchen windows for fresher and cooler air. "How was y’all morning?”

“We had so much fun," Flora jumped up and down, listing off events from the day in a rapid fire. "I ran all through the field! And Mama taught me how to pick corn! And we brought some back fa’ supper tonight! And I wanna help you shuck ‘em! And mama's gonna grill 'em! And we talked ‘bout everything, mommy. Like how y’all met. And how Uncle Smoke and Uncle Stack was laughin’ at mama cause she was so in loveee wit’ you. And we even talked about responsibilities and why you gotta keep up. And how it’s ok to ask for help.” Flora took a deep inhale after her rant to catch her breath. She heaved, putting a hand on her chin the think of whether she’d forgotten anything.

You watched in amusement at the blank look on her li’l face. You crouched beside her.

“The flowers, li’l bit,” you whispered in her ear, reminding her of the sunflowers she clutched in her non-dominant hand.

“Oh, shoot,” she exclaimed in realization. “And! We got you flowers!” She thrusted the bouquet of sunflowers into Annie's face, causing her mother to giggle.

“Oh, thank you, my sweet girl," she grinned, smelling the long-stemmed flowers. Delight washed over her face, and a cool breeze wafted in through the open windows. "I love you, suga'," she kissed Flora on the cheek. "I’m so glad you and mama had a good day. Gon' and wash up for lunch and we can talk more about it when you get back," she eased her toward the bathroom on the back end of the house. Flo lightly skipped away, following her mother's command without a second thought.

Annie lifted her eyes from their rested position on the flowers. She took in your form. The way your clothes weren't nearly as dirty as most days. How you didn't look hot and overworked. How love sat behind your eyes and smile.

“Thank you, baby,” she spoke appreciatively, walking into your arms. She rested her head on your shoulder while you wrapped your arms around her waist. You caressed her there, smelling the patchouli and shea on her neck.

“No need to thank me," you breathed into her parted hair, "that was all li’l Miss Flora’s doing.” You swayed her body back and forth, dancing to a tune the two of you could only hear in your heads.

"Guess she takin' after her mama well, huh?"

"I'd hope so," you blushed, shying away from her eyes by burying your head deeper into her neck. Annie always could make you feel flooded with butterflies. "She take after you, too."

"How so," she laughed breathily.

"Y'all spend so much time together that she got that same knowing in her eyes," you squeezed her waist harder. Her hand that didn’t hold the flowers surrounded the back of your neck in a tight hold. "She got that airy and ghastly nature you got. She smart and kind. Spiritual and well-meaning.”

"Mm," Annie forced the sound out. Y’all had been together for so long and knew each other so well that you recognized what the sound meant even before soft tears fell against your neck. "I'm so glad we found her,” she admitted, confession full of joyful yet tearful emotion.

"Me too, lovely,” you whispered, feeling the same tears pinching at the corner of your eyes. Your lives felt so complete that the only tears any of y’all had now were nothing but happy ones.

"Is mommy cryin'," Flora stood at the end of the hall, watching as you cradled Annie in your arms. She stayed back out of curiosity. Her mother didn’t cry in front of her often, but the sight didn’t scare her or make her feel uneasy.

Flo was surrounded by the overwhelming need to hug her mothers, so she did so. Walking up to your conjoined bodies, Flora shimmied her way between you both, wrapping her arms around Annie as your arms hugged them both.

"Oh, I'm all good, sweet girl,” Annie kissed the top of Flora’s head. Her bottom lip trembled from the overwhelming amount of warmth and love she had brewing in her heart. “I’m just happy to have such a sweet daughter and a loving wife. I love y’all something crazy.”

“We love you, too, mommy,” Flora affirmed before you could even speak.

You held both of your girls, eternally grateful for the love you’d been given. Your mind was only focused on the now, not caring what the future held—only hoping that you had the two loves of you life standing alongside you.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

a/n: hi hi! i hope you enjoyed!! feedback is always appreciatedddd. tell me how y’all feelll

taglist: comment HERE to be added!

tagged folks are down in the replies!!

[cloverchameleon]

It Has to be Perfect! Sonic Big Bang 2025!

This year I participated in a Sonic the Hedgehog Big Bang event via @sthbigbang as a fic writer. This will be my first time posting a fic to tumblr, so that'll be interesting. As part of this event, I collaborated with a few artists who've drawn some amazing pieces for this story!

@thekeerok [art link]

@chiaraeliz [art link]

@pyriteparasite [art link]

Beta read by @harthic

It Has to be Perfect! Pairing: Tangle/Whisper (IDW comics) Length: 7,141 words, oneshot Rating: G Summary: Tangle is a lemur on a mission. A mission to create one grand, absolutely perfect, peak romance date for her girlfriend, Whisper. But with so many wacky characters around, something is bound to go a little sideways - okay, maybe a lot of somethings. But she can salvage this! ...right?

[SPOILER WARNING: THIS FIC CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR THE IDW SONIC COMICS UP TO ISSUE #75, INCLUDING THE TANGLE & WHISPER MINISERIES]

Jewel the Beetle flits comfortably through the familiar streets of Spiral Hill Village on a beautiful, quiet day. Every day in Spiral Hill tends to be very quiet – with a few very notable and extreme exceptions. It’s part of what she always liked about it, having as nervous of a temperament as she does; the slow, monotonous day to day of such a place, even from more of a leadership position, was always a cozy, manageable level of stress. And when anxiety makes a few misappropriated agates feel like the world crashing down, this place really did feel like the most she would ever be able to handle. It’s a little strange to be back here now, after everything she’d gotten wrapped up in and the genuine world-crashing stakes she’s had to lead people through. But just as much as this place has a comforting pillow-fort security to it to her, she knows one girl who finds that kind of peace and quiet stifling to the point of madness. In fact, that’s why she’s on a mission here now. It’s because she knows that Tangle the Lemur was coming home for a little while between adventures – and that if she hasn’t heard back from her, whining about being bored or cooking up some new thing to chase down, she may well have gotten caught up in another incident in this town’s sudden increase in incidents per year.

Jewel flies up to the door of Tangle’s home and gives it a nervous little knock.

“…maybe she’s not h-“

The door slams open. “HELLO?”

Tangle is wide-eyed, restless, disheveled. That sort of post all-nighter so-tired-it-looped-back-around-to-hyper jittery. “Oh, hey Jewel! I’m kinda busy – is everything okay?”

Jewel is taken aback – and not just the distance she had to get aback to dodge the door.

“I’m… fine. Are you?”

“I’m great – I’m so good! Oh! You like planning stuff! Come here, you’ll love this!”

“AAH!”

Tangle pulls Jewel along like a startled balloon into the house, excitedly rambling “I’ve been working on this for ages, but I’ve finally got every detail ironed out – it’s a foolproof plan, Jewel! Every possibility accounted for!”

“You… planned something?”

“Yeah!”

“In detail?”

“All the detail!! That’s why I wanna show you, you’re the most enthusiastic planner I know, I’m sure you’ll get a kick out of… this?”

Tangle trails off looking back at Jewel. Jewel in the meantime has snagged an umbrella and tearfully holds it overhead, ready to bash.

“Alright, shapeshifter – where’s the real Tangle?”

Tangle looks unimpressed. She plucks the umbrella away with her tail.

“I’m not a shapeshifter, I’m planning a date for Whisper. Do you want to see my cool plans or not?”

Jewel looks skeptical.

Tangle sighs. “When we were 9 you submitted an anonymous tip to the town newspaper to complain about the font choice for the new street signs and got embarrassed because everyone knew it was you.”

“It wasn’t a good font… Okay, fine, I believe you’re you. But can you blame me? I’ve never known you to plan anything in high detail. Do you usually do this for dates?”

“Only when it really matters.” Tangle flings the umbrella to go crash into some other part of the room that can be a later problem. She opens a door and triumphantly bounces in. “Check it, Jewel!”

Jewel’s eyes widen taking in the scene.

“Oh… oh my.”

“BAM!” Tangle throws her arms open wide, slapping the wall where she’s set out a conspiracy board of sorts – pictures, notes, printed reviews and menus, a big world map festooned with little doodles and pins – even bits of red string that don’t seem to be actually connecting ideas to each other. Simply there because boards have red string.

“I’ve been working on it all week! Ha-HAH! It’s gonna be GREAT!!” She grins and bounces in place. “I’ve been reading a ton of articles about all the most romantic places and things in the world – I’ve become a whole romance-ologist!”

“I don’t think that’s a word.”

Jewel’s quiet objection is completely bowled over by Tangle cartwheeling to the far end of the chart and carrying on. “But I hear ya, Jewel – ‘Tangle, these are all over the place! There’s no way you can do them all in one date!’ WRONG! Cause Tails gave me this!”

She whips out a small, yellow-orange remote control, with a zig-zaggy antenna with a ball on the end, a little keyboard and screen, and a tiny little fox nose and whiskers decal on it.

“This bad boy’ll let me put in the coordinates of anywhere on the planet and zip-zap-zop, there we are!! He said – he said, uh – that’s it! He said:

‘That multi-portal Eggman and I built with Starline’s weird tech got me thinking. We have friends all over the world – Sonic’s fast, but even he gets tired running back and forth across the whole ocean when someone needs him – and that doesn’t help the rest of us get there to help too! I can only make the Tornado so fast before it’s too dangerous for passengers. So I’ve been reverse engineering the blah blah blah tech talk, satellites or something, I dunno – to make the MOVE System! All my tests have been going great, it’s safe to use, it just needs a stress test to see how much use it can take! And I can’t think of anyone better to stress it out than you.’

“So he gave me the remote, showed me how to use it, and bada-bing bada-boom, IDEA!” she slaps the chart again, “OPERATION KISS THE GIRL!”

Jewel reels – as she often does when trying to keep up with Tangle – and looks at all the pinned stops. “Put in… coordinates? Tangle, doesn’t that mean you need to know the exact latitude and longitude of every place on this list? There’s no way you can memorize all-“

“I WAS UP ALL NIGHT MEMORIZING ALL OF THEM!” she pumps her arms triumphantly. She turns and starts pointing at places, listing off coordinate codes at top Tangle speed until Jewel puts a hand over her mouth.

“Sweetie, don’t you think this is all a bit… much? This is far too much pressure to put on yourself for one date.”

“No it’s not.”

Jewel jumps at her sudden serious tone.

“Whisper trusts me. I know you don’t know her like I do, but that’s a big deal. She deserves better – she deserves everything.” Tangle wrings the hem of her shirt. “She deserves this much effort and so much more, and I’m gonna give it all to her. I’ll make sure she doesn’t regret it.”

“Regret it? Tangle…”

Jewel is cut off this time by a loud beeping. Tangle shoves back the edge of her glove to reveal a little watch and turns off its alarm.

“THAT’S TIME!! I gotta go pick up my girlfriend! Bye Jewel, see ya later, stay safe, byeeeee!!!”

She speeds off, sending papers flying off her chart in the slipstream. Jewel reaches for her helplessly. Worried.

Whisper the Wolf meanders peacefully through Spiral Hill Village. It’s a much more pleasant place to visit when you’re not in a high stakes game of cat and mouse with a murderous traitor or… something. Yeah, much nicer without something like that hanging over one’s head. It’s hard to imagine someone like Tangle coming from such a calm place. Or maybe it makes sense that an adventurous spirit would get that hyper with so few adventures in arm or tail’s reach. At the very least, it makes sense that such a sleepy town tasked with raising a Tangle would be as ready to brace and dodge that swinging, flipping, bouncing ball of energy as the way Whisper watches them respond to her running up the street toward her.

“HIIII WHISPER!” Tangle calls, waving enthusiastically. She dives at Whisper, who just as readily braces herself to let Tangle swing her momentum out – revolving around her before wrapping back into a hug.

“You seem extra excited… something to do with that surprise you promised me?” Whisper’s soft, quiet voice teases.

Tangle grabs onto Whisper’s shoulders to lean back and squeal. “Yes yes yes it is! Cause I have this!” She whips out the little remote.

Whisper shifts her mask to eye it curiously. “…what is it?”

“This, my fair lady, is the very first remote for the – the, uh – the-“ she squints at the label maker sticker on the back, “Mobility Over Variable Energies… system.”

They both stare at the cartoony device.

“You know, I think he comes up with a good acronym first and then picks whatever words he can make fit it.” Tangle says.

“It also has two-way radio, so maybe watch what buttons you’re pressing before you start making comments.” The device crackles back.

Tangle grimaces. “Sorry, Tails – thank you, Tails.” She releases the microphone button. “A-anyway. As I was saying – I have big plans for us today, Whisper! First stop, Apotos!!”

Whisper tilts her head. “Apotos? If this is going to be a whole trip, I could use a little more time to prepare…”

“Why Whisper, my dear, who needs to take a whole long, expensive trip like that when we can have a one-day Apotos vacation at the push of a button?”

Tangle types. And types. “…at the push of several buttons HEY there we GO!”

She points the remote at an empty space nearby and confirms her coordinates in the system. Almost instantly, space wibbles and warps, ripples spreading out like a pebble dropped in a pond. A whirling, light orange portal sits in front of them. Tangle gives a little bow and holds her arm out to Whisper with a wink.

“Shall we depart, miss?”

Whisper breathes out a tiny laugh and takes her arm. Together, they step through the whirling light. Back at Spiral Hill, the portal closes quickly behind them.

The two of them are hit with a sensation not unlike missing a step on a staircase. A disoriented lurch and the sensation of falling toward very close ground. They support each other as they catch their footing on the other side of a rippling orange circle that’s waved to life just above pale cobblestone paths.

The duo step, blinking against the brighter light, out into a breezy Apotos morning. The sunlight bounces off the white buildings, making them look almost luminous. Seabirds drift lazily on the ocean breeze coming off the perfectly blue water rolling invitingly a little ways off. Whisper approaches the wall of the raised walkway they’re on and leans on it to look out over the water.

“It’s beautiful…”

“Yeah…” Tangle smiles toward her. “Y-yeah! Top ten vacation spot!”

Whisper looks at her curiously.

“S-so I hear – always wanted to visit, so hey, why not, y’know? But uh, yeah, I figure we could…” she does a little circling motion with her finger, “…walk around a bit? Take in the sights, maybe, uh – hey!”

Tangle hops around her, guiding her gaze over toward an ice cream stand opening up for the day.

“Maybe some ice cream for the walk? I’m pretty sure it’s like 8am here, but hey, it was afternoon back home, and clearly no one ever told this guy ice cream isn’t a breakfast food – so that works out for us!”

Whisper snickers. “Sure, ice cream sounds nice.”

And so they stroll together down the alabaster streets of the island, hand-in-hand. It’s certainly a far cry from Spiral Hill – but even the beaches back home have a very different atmosphere to them. There’s simply something in the way the breeze rolls off the ocean here that feels warm and serene compared to their coast’s playfulness. Tangle steals a look over at Whisper. She looks happy. Curious and relaxed, taking in the sights in a way that doesn’t feel tactical this time. Tangle can’t help but smile. She’s doing it! She’s going to get a good grade in girlfriending! A very normal thing to think!! 

Just as they get close enough to the ice cream booth to read the menu, they see the truly decadent cone the vendor is assembling in a little stand and wonder at the balancing act of it all – chocolate and vanilla scoops dotted with chunks of chocolate, multiple fruits both chocolate-dipped and plain around the edge, pocky and an extra wedge of waffle cone in it for good measure – confidently slid across to the edge of the counter at its completion. A work of art to be sure. Although there’s no sign of any customer waiting to eat it before it melts. Before an eager-looking Tangle can volunteer on their behalf, they both jump – battle-ready, alert – at the blur that shoots by and sets the stand spinning in a clattering circle. Robbed of its pride and joy.

Sonic leans against the corner of the booth and looks over the frosty treat. He gives an appreciative whistle. 

“This might be your best one yet! Take a look at that!” he shares a friendly, familiar smile with the shopkeeper before plucking a chocolate-dipped strawberry off to pop into his mouth.

“Only the best for my best customer! And how about you ladies? You look like you could use a scoop or two. What can I get you?”

Sonic follows his eyes to them and waves.

“Well, hey there! Fancy seeing you two here!”

“HI SONIC!” Tangle waves back.

“Hello!” Whisper puts her hand up.

“Friends of yours, I take it?” the vendor asks him.

“Oh yeah, you know me. Mr. Popular over here. I’m guessing they’re here to try the best ice cream in the world – is that right, girls?”

Tangle’s eyes sparkle. “The best in the world? Really?”

“Oh yeah! If you’re looking for recommendations, you’ve got to try the Sundae Supreme,” he waggles the impressive cone, “they come with a hefty seal of approval.”

“A favorite of yours? It doesn’t seem like your usual fare.” Whisper teases.

“Hah, not quite. But a close friend loved them. I come by to get them – for him, you know? And they’re great every time!”

Whisper nods solemnly.

Tangle gulps. The atmosphere is taking a turn for the sad – gotta get this train back on the track!

“SO! If they’re that good, we’ll take two!” She calls, a bit too loudly, to the vendor.

He matches her energy with an equally loud and enthusiastic “Two Sundae Supremes for the lovely ladies, coming right up!”

Tangle taps her foot anxiously, watching Whisper and Sonic continue to chat. They lean on the wall lining the walkway and look out over the water, talking about the scenery here. What if they talk more about this whole memorial ceremony he’s doing – it’s not that she doesn’t care about his loss, that sucks, she’d love to talk about it another time for sure! But what if they start talking about it, and Whisper starts thinking too much about her old friends, and everything she’s done for their memories, and then she gets sad, and she doesn’t want to keep doing this date! And then when she thinks about dates with Tangle she thinks about being miserable in such a pretty place and she doesn’t want to go on any more dates at all, and then she doesn’t want to be her girlfriend at all, and breakups are so awkward, so she stops wanting to see her anywhere, and she leaves, and it’s all her fault, and-

Tangle’s anxious, tapping, spiraling mess of thoughts are interrupted by a loud crash that shakes the walkway. She runs up to the wall and looks down with the others. A submarine of some sort has emerged from the water and started spitting out badniks that are already beginning to attack the outskirts of town.

“Tch, can’t even take one morning off, huh? Alright.” Sonic scarfs down the ice cream cone. “If that’s how Eggman wants to – ahhh ah-ah-ah, brain freeze!”

Whisper points the ice cream vendor toward the buildings. “Go. Get somewhere safe.”

“Good call, Whisper. Ah, geeze, gotta stop eating cold stuff that fast! Alright!” He steps up onto the wall and does a couple stretches in place, “Change of plans! Let’s scramble some eggs, and then ice cream’s on me!”

Whisper nods and draws her wispon.

“WAAAAIIIIT!”

They both stop. They turn, utterly confused, to Tangle.

“Hi, yeah, sorry – actually, Sonic, do you mind if we… maybe dip? We’re uh – we’re sort of on a date? Right now?”

Sonic blinks. “Oh.” He looks between them. “Oh – OH! Yeah, of course! Go, go, have fun! There’s barely any bots here, I can handle this solo no problem – you two go get your romance on! Sorry, Tangle!”

“No problem! We’re just gonna – yeah! We’re just gonna head out!”

She hooks Whisper’s arm and types a new code onto the remote, quickly popping up a new portal.

“Ooh, fresh Tails tech?”

“Yeah!”

“Nice. Alright, you kids have fun now. I’ll catch ya later!” Sonic gives them a little salute and hops off the wall.

“Come on, he’s got this. And we’ve got plans!” Tangle encourages Whisper. She sighs and begrudgingly puts her wispon away.

“Okay… where did you have in mind?”

They step through to a bustling city center, alive with chatter and cars – a sharp contrast to the slow, relaxed Apatos coast.

“Tah-dah!” Tangle trumpets at a crosswalk. “Oh. Wait-“ she takes Whisper’s shoulders and rotates both of them. “-tah-dah!”

They stand in front of a neon wonder – a world of flashing lights and dinging, singing machinery known as Secret Zone Games.

“Come on! I bet I can win more tickets than you!” Tangle teases.

Whisper snickers and nods. “You’re on.”

They pick through the digital playground, caught up in mostly friendly competition. Rolling skee-balls, mashing buttons, trying to pick the next nearest game they each think they’ll have the advantage in when they start slipping behind.

“I don’t remember Super Monkey Ball being that hard!” Tangle groans.

Whisper shrugs. “Never played it before.”

“What!? But you totally kicked my tail!!”

“Hm. Skill issue.”

“Ah! AH! Skill issue?? Oh, those are fighting words – that’s it. No more missus nice lemur – let’s cut the kiddie stuff and go where the real warriors test their skills, then we’ll see who has a skill issue!”

“And where would that be?”

“The rhythm games. Sure, you’ve revolutioned, but can you dance, dance?”

“I don’t think revolutioned is a word.”

“She’s dodging the question!” Tangle declares to an imaginary jury, “Sounds like someone’s scared to get shown up!”

Whisper grins. “You’re on.”

“Then let’s go, let’s settle this – all or nothin!”

Racing to the next section of games, they round the corner to an unexpected sight.

“Shadow?” Tangle asks.

Sure enough, the ultimate lifeform stands with his arms crossed next to a large claw machine full of adorable, multi-colored plush chao. And standing at the controls is a little cream-colored rabbit girl with her tongue out in intense concentration. She carefully lines up the claw and pushes the button to lower it into a plushy pile. As the claw makes contact with a doll, she starts aggressively mashing the button – but the doll slips right out of the claw’s loose grip and back into the pile.

“Dang it!” she huffs.

“Why are you hitting the button like that?” Shadow asks her incredulously.

“The internet says it helps.”

Shadow sneers. “Don’t just believe everything you read on the internet, Cream. It’s full of fools and liars.”

“And recipes.”

“Fine, fools, liars, and sometimes recipes.”

Tangle lands on top of the claw machine without warning.

“Hi Shadow! Hi Cream! I didn’t expect to see the two of you here – together, no less! How’d that happen?”

“Hi, Miss Tangle!” Cream waves.

“Not that it’s any of your business, but Vanilla called in a favor. And lucky for her, I had nothing better to do today with Rouge taking Omega for maintenance.”

“Mister Shadow babysits me when Mom and Gemerl are busy!”

Tangle grins down at the kid. “Awww, isn’t that sweet! I knew you were a big ol softie, ya ol’ sharp, dark, and broody.”

Shadow snarls up at her. “Aren’t you busy right now?” he demands, gesturing back at Whisper. Her and Cream wave at each other.

“Ah!! You’re right, you’re right – sorry, Whisper! Have fun, Cream! See you around, Shadow!” She flips off of the claw machine.

“Not if I can help it.” Shadow grumbles at her back as she links arms with Whisper and they run off together. And so he turns his attention back to his charge – who is currently counting out her game tokens to see how many more chances she gets to win that chao doll.

“Don’t you want to try a different game?” he asks her, “It may be time to give up on this one.”

“Sonic says you can accomplish anything as long as you don’t give up. So I’m not gonna give up on this toy! I’m gonna win!”

“Tch, what does that guy know? The only thing he can actually outrun is his own sense of reason.”

“So… it doesn’t matter if I try my hardest, I still can’t win?”

“Someti-“ Shadow catches himself. And he catches those big, sad eyes – looking up to him, begging him to tell her the world can be fair. He can’t take it.

“…give it one more try, and then I see something I want to play.”

“Wow, really? Okay! One more try!”

Shadow leans against the machine with a huff while the little girl hypes herself up and inserts her tokens. He checks the coast is clear. And seeing no one looking their way, he presses a hand to the side of the machine. Just a bit more power to the claw. Make sure it holds onto the doll, make sure it carries it by whatever part of the damn thing it touches clear to the chute and into her eager little arms. He whispers to himself, buried under the hyperactive calls of a hundred games that couldn’t take her attention from her dreams.

“Chaos… control.”

Tangle and Whisper watch the commotion from the established perimeter. Whisper watches the action curiously. Tangle gapes in disbelief.

“What… do you mean… it caught fire!? Where?? How!?”

Whisper shrugs. “A lot of machines. Maybe the wiring couldn’t handle it.”

“It’s an arcade!!”

“Was an arcade.”

“It’s still an arcade, it’s just a slightly more on fire arcade!” Tangle looks around at the utter chaos. “Oh – HEY! CREAM, SHADOW – THAT WAS CRAZY, RIGHT??”

Shadow is carrying Cream on his back, and she looks absolutely shocked.

“It was the claw machine,” she tells them quietly, “I almost got my doll and the whole thing sparked green and started melting. How did that happen – did I do that?”

Shadow clears his throat uncomfortably. “It chose death rather than allow you victory over it. A coward’s way out.”

“Coward.” Cream parrots. Whisper nods.

“Yeesh, well that sucks.” Tangle rubs her neck with a grimace. “Guess that’s a sour note on both our days out, huh?”

Cream perks up. “Shadow says we’re gonna go to the toy store and I can pick out any doll I want!”

“She earned her victory square, I’ll not let her go home empty-handed.” He looks at Tangle smirking at him. “…stop that.”

“And in exchange, I don’t tell Momma we burned an arcade down!”

“IT’S NOT BURNED DOWN, IT’S JUST A LITTLE MORE ON FIRE.” Shadow and Tangle both exclaim.

Tangle puts her hands up before Shadow can glare at her any harder. “Okay, okay – well you two have fun with that! Whisper and I also have a backup plan~!”

“We do?”

“Yes indeed we do – I think we need more fun and games a lot closer to a source of water, don’t you?” She punches some numbers into her remote. “All aboard the romance train! Next stop, Emerald Coast! WHOO-WHOO!”

Tangle dances through the portal backwards, keeping an eye on Whisper, who gives her a little smile and a little, reserved arm waggling in return on their way through.

The air immediately smells and feels a world apart from the city. Now it’s heavy with the smells of fried foods and sweet treats galore, carried on a fresh saltwater breeze, and music and chatter carry across it more freely in the more open space.

“Tah-dah! There’s a carnival in town today! Come on, let’s play a couple more games and get that arcade energy out of us!”

“And then we can get some of those delicious-smelling snacks, right?”

“Well, if you insist.”

Whisper gives a little giggle, taking Tangle’s arm again. It’s perfect, she’ll win ring toss, or that milk bottle game, or both! And then she can give Whisper the prize from those and impress her! And if Whisper wants, she’d be a shoe-in for those shooting games these things always have, being a sniper and all, so she can also have a chance to show off and be so cool and pretty and – and then! She knows exactly what time they need to get on that big, beautiful ferris wheel in a few hours so they’ll be up at the top when the sun’s setting into the water, and it’ll be gorgeous and romantic and maybe they’ll even kiss and-

“Actually,” Whisper leans through Tangle’s thought bubble, “I’m kind of hungry. How about we get some food now and eat it by the beach? We can play afterwards.”

“Oh! Yeah! Yeah!!” Tangle pivots away from the game alley. “Yeah, let’s eat first! The beach looks great right now too, that’s a great idea!”

So they instead follow the siren call of unholy amounts of breaded and fried food. Soon they’re making their way down the pier, balancing their greasy treasures. In one hand Whisper holds the stick of a silly sort of corndog with a second, mini corndog jabbed on under it to make a little exclamation point  - in the other, a tray of fresh, hot onion rings. Tangle pants, trying to not burn her mouth on the ring sacrificed to make room for little paper cups of ketchup and mustard, her own hands occupied with a truly staggering concoction that might have once been considered tater tots, but has since been drowned beyond recognition in shredded meat, hot peppers, and Gaia knows what else hiding under all that cheese sauce – and an enormous lemonade. With two straws, naturally. The couple finds a nice spot along the edge of the walkway and sit down, dangling their legs out over the idyllic blue water. They watch the birds sweep easy arches toward the sea and back up into the sky while they eat.

It's a comfortable sort of quiet. Peaceful. The kind of moment neither of them had known in a long time, if ever, before they found each other. Whisper’s not very talkative anyway, but since losing the original Diamond Cutters, she’s grown used to long stretches of quiet. But that’s a hollow kind of quiet. The kind that feels heavy from what is supposed to be filling it but can’t anymore. Hours, days, weeks left alone with just her thoughts and replays of better times to keep her company. It grew comfortable in the same way being cold for too long makes you start to feel warm. And then there was Tangle. A loud, relentlessly chatty, energetic summer’s day. Thawing out hurt. But now that she’s been warm again, a cool breeze – a moment of close quiet like this – feels good.

Heaven help Tangle if she’s ever been able to let a room stay quiet for more than a minute in her life. Spiral Hill is great, she loves her home, but it’s always been so boriiiiiiing! Just sitting there like a blank canvas begging for a splash of paint to liven it up! For years Tangle’s been the only one holding a paintbrush, bouncing off every wall, filling the sleepy quiet with any adventure she could scrape together from misplaced tools and lone stray badniks. And then she met the Sonic – and because of him, she met Whisper! And sure she was quiet too, but she had all these adventures, and cool battle skills, and a mysterious past! And a painful past. And a good reason to want to stay small and quiet. And Tangle felt so, so guilty for… for a lot of things she messed up with her. And now she kind of got it. How sometimes, it’s just nice to enjoy a moment of quiet for a bit and know it doesn’t need to be filled with noise right now. Because that moment of peace and quiet made a pretty wolf trying to find the mustard stuck on her fur look that unguarded.

But a quiet moment is just that: a moment. Tangle has too much planned to spend the rest of the day sitting on some wood staring at the water – totally just at the water, that’s all she was staring at! She pops back up to her feet.

“Alright! That was delicious, buuuut! I believe we have a date with some games, don’t we?”

“Do we? That’s odd…” Whisper tilts her head.

Tangle’s tail droops. “Do… do we not?”

“It’s just,” Whisper smiles, “I could have sworn my date was with you.”

Tangle snorts. “Okay, very funny.” She reaches down to help Whisper up and bundles their collective lunch trash into a proper container. “Come on, come on, come on! Those booths are callin’ our names, I can hear them from here!”

They hold hands and stroll their way back down the pier. Tangle gestures with her tail to make up for the occupied hand.

“Sooo, how are you at hoops? These things always have a basketball thing, yeah?”

“Why Tangle, are you questioning my aim?” Whisper teases.

“No, I’m questioning your throwing arm.” Tangle teases right back.

“Those sound like fighting words.”

“Well maybe they are! So come on, let’s… rumble?”

They pause, looking around for a source for the rumbling affecting the pier, making the wooden structure shake like an earthquake.

“Move, move, move!!” someone yells.

“WHAT!?” Tangle screeches, seeing the source.

Amy Rose, hammer out, runs full tilt down the walkway while frantically shouting for everyone on it ahead of her to run back to safety. And behind her an absolutely gargantuan orca!? An orca bigger than Tangle even thought they got is crashing through the pier CHASING HER DOWN.

“Tangle! Come on!” Whisper tugs the stunned lemur’s hand, running them both toward safety. She shakes off the shock and also focuses on running. Before long she’s pulling ahead of Whisper and dragging her along at her speed. All the while behind them, Amy swings and smashes at chunks of wooden planks, intercepting them in mid-air from hitting the fleeing carnival-goers.

Once they reach the end of the pier, Tangle and Whisper turn back, with tail and wispon protecting the gathered people from debris so Amy can focus on spinning, winding up, charging up a decisive slam of her hammer into the orca, finally redirecting it away from all the people. They all wait, watching for a surprise second phase… but it seems the danger’s passed for now. Amy twirls on her heel and bounces the hammer up on her shoulder.

“Hey, girls!” she waves.

Whisper slowly lowers her wispon and awkwardly waves back. Tangle’s tail, arms, ears – everything that can droop droops, staring at the floating pile of debris that was, until very recently, the Emerald Coast boardwalk.

“Wha… that… why…” she stammers.

“Oh, that whole thing?” Amy gestures too casually at the wreckage. “Eh, it happens sometimes.”

“WHALES HAPPEN SOMETIMES!?”

“Well, actually orcas are more closely related to dolphins?” Amy taps the hammer handle thoughtfully.

“Oh sweet Gaia.”

“Is that why you were in the area?” Whisper tilts her head.

“What? Oh, no, no – I mean, it’s lucky I was! Or maybe fate? I actually had a little fortune telling booth set up over there, I was giving tarot readings.” Amy pulls a deck of unevenly stacked cards out of her pocket. “But then, you know… orca happened.”

A breeze off the water sends a particularly loose card flying out of the set and away before Amy can drop her hammer and grab it – so it’s Whisper snatching it out of the air. And holding it back out to her. She sighs in relief, more fazed by almost losing a card than being chased by a dock-destroying murder dolphin.

“Oh my goodness, thank you! They’re not really together properly, it’s so hard to gather cards in a hurry! Oh – but as they say! If a card jumps out, it’s trying to tell you something! So let’s see what card jumped at you… Ooh, The Lovers, I adore that one!” Amy looks up from the card at them. She looks like she’s about to say more, but she holds that thought. She looks between Whisper, and just behind her where Tangle is pulling on her own ears in stress.

Amy claps her hands over her mouth with a gasp. “Were you two on a date??”

“Yes, we were just about to play some games. But it, uhm…” Whisper leans to look past Amy at the destruction and the amount of the boardwalk now out of reach. “…I assume the carnival is closing early.”

“But that doesn’t mean the romance train is derailed!” Tangle bursts in, already punching new coordinates – maybe harder than is very nice to the buttons – onto the remote. “We’ve got more stops to go! CHOO CHOO! ROMANCE!” She insists, punching the activation button and opening a new portal.

“Oh! Neat, is that Tails’ newest…” Amy tries.

“DEPARTING NOW! ALL ABOARD!” Tangle calls, sliding Whisper through and following close behind. To the next stop. The next perfect date spot, the next backup of a backup of a backup plan!

Backups of backups of backups become backup-backup-backup-backups, become back-back-back-back-backups, become –

Becomes a beautiful day at the Sunset City Central Park, until Rouge and Omega come crashing through, shrubbery catching on fire from Omega’s thrusters, bag leaking jewelry with guards hot on their tail.

Becomes a cute little café and bakery in Seaside City with delicious sweets, coffee, and tea galore – until Vector crashes through the awning onto their table, Espio and Charmy close behind on some investigation or other – becomes Silver and Blaze rushing up to them, saying something about a timeline-altering event about to happen that-

“NO!!”

Tangle grabs the remote once again, by now starting to feel very warm, and smacks in some more numbers, slams the activation button again, drags Whisper through another portal to another spot where another plan can go all

Wrong. She put in the coordinates wrong. They’re on land at least, barely, popping out on a cliffside overlooking the water once again. Problem is, she has no idea where this is, she doesn’t even know which ocean she’s looking at right now. She chokes down an aggravated screech into more of an angry beep and starts trying to punch in on the remote. But the casing feels so hot, the numbers are flickering on and off the screen as she tries to type them. Finally with an anticlimactic pop, the little fox-faced remote fizzles out.

Tangle stares at it. She tries to push the buttons. It does nothing. She tries to turn it off and back on again. It does nothing. It does nothing, it does nothing, it does nothing, it

Her hands shake. Her grip threatens to crack the plastic casing – as if she could make it any less functional. Her vision gets blurry. She can’t think of anything else to do, so she spikes the remote to the ground and collapses. She curls tight in on herself, wrapping her tail around her like a cocoon.

Stupid – how could she be so stupid! All this work to try and impress Whisper, to try and do something right for her, just this one time to think ahead – to look before she leaps so she doesn’t make a mess of things – and where did it get her? Where did it get both of them!? Stranded Gaia-knows-where. And it’s all her fault. It keeps being all her own fault.

“Tangle?”

She can’t summon up an answer. Apologizing again feels so hollow. She doesn’t have an excuse for this.

Whisper, softly as her name implies, steps closer. She looks over the tight coil of fur, staggered by the intensity of it all. Her hand stutters in the air between them, wanting to reach for Tangle but… not sure if she should. Not sure how to handle this at all. She knows Tangle wears her heart on her sleeve and feels everything so fully – it’s one of the things she loves most about her. But she’s seen her unbridled joy, her righteous fury, her seemingly boundless excitement over everything. She’s even, on rare occasion, seen her slammed-brake brand of hesitation, of doubt.

She’s never known her to break like this.

So she does what Tangle would. She pushes forward, running her hand softly, hopefully comfortingly, across the tail enveloping her.

“Tangle, what’s wrong?” she tries, a little louder.

“…I broke it…” Tangle sniffles.

“No,” Whisper gently corrects, settling to the ground next to her, shoulder to tail. “I don’t mean what happened to the remote. I mean… I didn’t know how to say it earlier. You’ve been on edge all day.”

She nestles in closer and rests her cheek against Tangle’s tail.

“You’ve been so jumpy. You’re running away from fighting alongside our friends. Even if they don’t need us for these little things, that’s not like you. Even now – we both know you hate small spaces like that, you can’t feel better wrapping yourself up like this. Tangle, did something happen?”

She slides her fingers between the coils as if she could pry them open and free Tangle from her self-imposed cage. She presses her forehead into the fur.

“You’re always there for me when there’s too much for me to handle on my own. From the moment we met, you’ve never let me face a battle alone. Please. Whatever happened, whatever hurt you – we’ll face it together.”

Tangle’s tail loosens. The loops gradually slipping, melting off of her into a limp, pathetic nest. She looks to Whisper with big, teary eyes and a hiccuped sob. She tips over, dropping her head into Whisper’s waiting shoulder to be hugged.

“I’m sorry,” she mumbles wetly, “I messed it all up, I’m sorry.”

Whisper shushes her and rubs the back of her head. “It was an accident. Everyone said that remote was new, right? How would you know that would-“

“No, no, no! I mean – yeah, I broke the remote too – but it’s not just the remote, it’s the whole rotten thing!” Tangle sits back. “I picked all those stupid places, and every single one of them went wrong! I just wanted to give you one perfect day – no fights, no stakes – just one day where you could relax and have fun and not have to worry about anything! You deserve so much more than that, but I messed it up again!”

“What?” Whisper reaches for Tangle’s cheek. “Again?”

“Yeah, again! After everything you went through before, you still trusted me – and what did I do with that? I got got by the zombots and made you go through all that again!”

“You didn’t mean to – you didn’t even know back then.”

“And then when you were dealing with Mimic I let him trick me – twice! In one day! And when he came back again I didn’t have your back, I let him pull one over on me again instead of listening to you! I took the Diamond Cutter name without asking you first – I keep pushing you and messing things up for you, and not thinking and getting you hurt, and you deserve better than any of it – you deserve better than you’ve gotten – you deserve better than me!”

“Tangle!”

Whisper cups Tangle’s face, wet with tears, and makes her look at her. She thumbs across her cheeks to wipe some of it away.

“Tangle, I don’t care about any of that. I don’t blame you for half of that stuff, and the things I was mad at you for, I already forgave you. And I’ve been having a lot of fun today. I’ve just been worried about you. I’ve been worried about you being so stressed because I love you. And I want you to be okay too.” She presses their foreheads together. “We’ve both made our mistakes. And I think we’re going to make more. But I trust you. Whether I wanted to or not, I trust you. So I trust that whatever else happens, we’ll get through it together. That’s all I could want from you.”

Tangle sniffles. She wraps her hand around Whisper’s on her cheek and closes her eyes, leaning into the embrace.

“It doesn’t have to be perfect…” Whisper breathes, “…it just needs to be us.”

Her hands fall off Tangle’s face as the lemur lurches forward and pulls her into a tight embrace. Tangle’s tail wraps behind her to catch them from completely falling into the grass, giving them a soft place to sit and melt into each other’s grip. Even once they relax back into a less overwhelmed cuddle, it serves as a nice cushion for them to look out over the water and finally take in the view they stumbled into. Wherever they are, it’s evening here, as the sun is setting in just the right way to paint the clouds vibrant oranges and pinks and the sea the kind of almost purple-ish color they talk about in old poetry.

With a crackle and a pop, Tails' voice calls out to them. "Tangle? Whisper? Are you guys still together?"

Tangle grabs the remote the voice is coming from. "Of course we're still together!" she cries back at it, gripping it tightly in both hands, "It didn't go that badly!!"

"Oh good!" Tails gives a staticy, compressed sigh of relief. "When I got a critical error message from the MOVE System, I was worried. But it put you both in the same place, that's good!"

"Oh! Yeah!" Tangle sweats. "Yep, physical proximity! We're sure in the same location in space, yep, no worries!"

Whisper snickers behind her mask.

"Okay, great! I'm going to triangulate the distress signal from your remote off the other Tails-tech around - I'll come get you in the Tornado as soon as I can!"

Tangle and Whisper look at each other for a moment. Whisper gives her a soft, encouraging smile. Tangle grins back and lifts the remote.

“Take your time, Tails.”

Tangle settles back, pulling her tail a little closer around the two of them.

“We’ll be alright.”

[powerful-niya]

Update

(June 23, 2025)

Hello, everyone. It's been a while—again.

Let's call this Long Time No See: Pt. 2.

First, before I dive into anything else, I just want to say thank you.

Truly, from the depths of my heart—thank you to everyone who took the time to send me congratulations on my graduation. This milestone has meant everything to me, and the overwhelming wave of support, kindness, and love I received during this time truly moved me. I will never forget it. To those of you who stuck by me during my absence, continued to cheer me on, and offered me grace without expecting anything in return… you are all gems.

The truth is, I've been going through a season of big changes. A lot of long-term decisions, a lot of serious soul-searching. So after I walked across that stage, I gave myself permission to do something I've denied for a long time:

Rest.

As someone who's poured so much into fandom spaces like ours, I've come to understand how essential breaks are.

Breaks are something we all need more than we realize.

Breaks are not weaknesses. It's not laziness or procrastination. 

It's healing.

Being a writer and a part of a community as passionate and lively as the Naruhina fandom can be a beautiful experience. But it can also be draining. Over time, the joy of creating can quietly become a pressure to perform. A constant need to meet expectations. And eventually, you start feeling like you're giving so much to everyone else that you forget how to give to yourself.

I'll be honest. 

There were moments where being part of the Naruhina fandom started to feel more isolating than inspiring. As the vibe of the fandom began to change, I found myself questioning if I still belonged. Some days, I felt like I was trying too hard—coming on too strong. Other days, it felt like no one noticed me at all. Like I was talking to a wall. And for the first time, I started to doubt whether I truly had a place here anymore.

To be completely transparent, these feelings hit me hardest in the Naruhina Discord.

Something about it just felt… off. Unfamiliar. 

The energy there, the tone of the conversations—it was different from what I had grown to love about the fandom. And truthfully, it started to weigh heavy on my heart.

And to just be plain honest, the discord just stopped feeling like a Naruhina-focused space anymore, and that shift is something I've been uncomfortable with for quite a while now.

((Just to be clear, I'm only speaking from my own experience and perspective—I'm not speaking for anyone else, nor am I trying to stir up any drama or negativity.))

For a long time, I just kept these worries to myself. I didn't know how to express them—or if I even should. But I started to realize… if we're really about community and positivity the way we say we are, then there shouldn't be anything wrong with having real conversations.

So that's what I'm choosing to do now—be real.

At the time, I had a lot going on—emotionally, mentally, and just in life overall—so I made the decision, instead of continuing to force myself to engage, to fit in where I didn't feel seen, I decided to listen to that quiet, persistent voice within me—the one urging me to pause, step back, and reconnect with myself outside of all the noise.

And I'm so glad I did.

I took May and most of June to just live. To feel what it's like to be done with college, really done. No deadlines. No lectures. No work. Just peace. And in that peace, I found my creativity again.

Y'all… I have been writing like crazy.

I dusted off my overflowing "Ideas" doc and poured myself into it. One-shots, projects, scenes, and tropes I've dreamed of sharing with you for ages. It's been so fun, so freeing, and exactly what I needed to fall back in love with writing all over again.

Which brings me to the real reason for this announcement…

✨ I'm back! And I've got a summer full of stories for you. ✨

I've stocked up on a ton of one-shots and a few extra surprises too. 😉 Starting now, I'll be uploading on a regular schedule: Mondays and Fridays throughout the summer. Some stories will be standalone; others might have parts, which means some weeks will have more than two updates! 

I've got so much in store for you this summer; I seriously can't wait to spoil you with content and a little extra love.

I know the weight of the world feels especially heavy these days. Everything's been so loud—on the news, in our feeds, in our communities, and even in the quiet battles we're each facing behind closed doors. 

It's no wonder if you've been feeling drained, distant, or just a little out of sync.

So my goal this summer is simple: I want to bring us back.

Back to the joy. Back to the fun of things. Back to the magic that made this fandom feel like home again.

Let's scream in the tags again. 

Let's cry over scenes we weren't emotionally prepared for.

Let's laugh at each other's comments. 

Let's cry, squeal, and completely lose our minds over our OTP. 

Let's fall headfirst into the world of Naruhina again, together.

And yes, I still plan to leave you shook. 😏

Some of the stories I've got in store? Absolutely unhinged. You've been warned.

So here's to a summer of stories. Of reconnection. Of love, drama, fluff, angst, smut 👀 and everything in between.

It's so good to be back, Naruhina family.

I've missed you all more than words can say.

With all my heart, Powerful_Niya

Oh, also expect a reblog dump here and an update from me real soon, lol. 

[mellohiizz]

hi chat... i actually really enjoyed the newest parrot episode... here's a little bonding moment between those two i actually really liked ^_^

[swagging-back-to]

im actually floored by how well the girls are getting along. they're all running on the wheel together and just napping. they are literally so chill together rn it's insane

[enterstellars]

and with that i do believe that my run with interstellar in imax has come to an end.

[coconutdays]

sex, money, feelings dont die

s. you come back home after spending a year away from your friends, suguru geto among them. and you think you've gotten over your suppressed feelings for him, you think

w.c. 11.2k

w. fem! reader, kickboxer/business student!geto! x reader , mutual pining! friends to lovers! fluff!, smut! virginity loss! (but it's not that big of a deal, you'll see why) masturbation!

a/n: ummmmmm I thought about this while watching a suguru edit. this is a little slowburn, but not painful I think idk I stayed up to finish this. will proofread later I need sleep. mwah hope you like.

you are beat up the first morning you wake up in your home after spending a year abroad.

your head is pounding, the light is agonizing to stare into, and your back is tense after spending the last 24 hours running around with the fattest luggage on earth, sleeping on stiff airport lounge seats, and sleeping on the stiff plane seats, or at least trying to.

buzz-buzz-buzz-buzz-buzz-buzz

fuck's sake

"let me sleep, let me sleep, let me sleep." you groan painfully into your bed, body short circuiting on the jet lag and reminiscing on the peaceful sleep you were just having.

buzz-buzz-buzz-buzz-buzz-buzz

"oh my-"

knock-knock

your head whirs up and looks towards where the door to your apartment would be outside of your room. and you hear a faint, familiar voice calling out your name cheekily.

exhausted, you get up and out of bed to open the door.

"as much as I missed you guys, I just traveled across the world and my body is still recovering..."you groan, walking to your couch and flopping onto it, eyes still a bit puffy.

"my body too would also miss the crisp baguettes and wine for breakfasts," gojo slyly comments as he slides into your apartment with one step and plops into your--small--beanbag, his legs poke out comically while he inhabits the light pink ball of foam.

a light whiff of cigarette smoke and cherries inhabit your room too when shoko throws a warm? bag on your back and picks up your legs so she can sit underneath them.

"I told him you wouldn't want people at your door this early." she sighed aloofly.

"nothing a breakfast bagel can't fix." gojo snickers

you finally open your eyes and sit straight up, digging into the brown paper bag that was once on your back

"or two." he adds, watching with a smirk as you take a hearty bite out of the first bagel

when you gulp it down and clear your throat, you point a finger at him then to your suitcase in the corner of the room, "there are four boxes of pierre herme macaroons in there with your name written all over them."

"aw you thought about me."

"yeah I really do," you speak gruffly between heavenly bites, "paris doesn't make this shit."

"there's no bagels in Paris?" shoko tilts her head, a blank look in her eyes

"shut up, you know what I mean." you almost moan, faintly rolling your eyes back in pure bliss before forming a realizing thought and turning to gojo, "did you come here this early for your macarons gojo satoru????"

his smile is blank and so are his eyes, you can tell, even through his stupid glasses.

"eat that second bagel, why don't you, my favorite friend who I've missed so dearly."

right before a slight scowl forms on your face, shoko interjects.

"he did cry when nobody else wanted to drink the nth pornstar martini with him at the function the other day."

"hey!"

you giggle a little and feel your sleepiness and grumpy mood fading away. (thank you gojo's breakfast bagels and shoko's disrespect)

"no need to worry anymore babygirl, daddy's home." you smile, lazily hugging the armrest of your couch

gojo huffs and puts a hand close to your face, "I saw your stories unfaithful slut, those cheese fiends were matching your freak, with espresso martinis of all things."

"but did I ever drink a pornstar martini without you?" you poke back, slapping his hand away

you can tell gojo is thinking and has been left speechless, but just as much as he's a victim to shoko, so are you.

"that she posteddddd."

"you guys are not allowed to wake me up this early and bully me, either of you," you state as you jump up and address the both of them before heading to your fridge to serve yourself some water.

"anyways, where's suguru?"

"training." shoko answers airily as her head lolls onto the armrest.

"he's been super focused lately right? I think he deactivated his instagram like the first month of me being in France."

you remember feeling bummed out every time you posted a pretty picture and never saw him in your views.

"that's an understatement," satoru scoffed snarkily, "I do not understand such a dedication to kickboxing when he's deadset on business."

"can't a guy have hobbies?" shoko questions, not at all seemingly bothered by Geto's dedication to sport such as satoru is.

"you guys want coffee?" you ask, about to turn your back to turn on ur espresso machine.

"yes," gojo says before adding a quick, "but from the cafe two blocks from here."

eyes squinted, you turn again and lean against your kitchen countertop, "I literally have a coffee machine."

"you drink that pretentious small espresso shot crap, weirdo, I don't want that"

"okay but I can just pour milk for yours?"

"I doubt you can make an iced vanilla biscoff latte here." he scoffs

"satoruuuuuu~" you whine, exhaling as you stare up at your ceiling, "I have to wash my face and get ready! I wasn't mentally prepared for that."

"I'll buy you a pistachio matcha latte," he grins, toothy and sharp, "with that creamy oatmilk you like that's an extra 2 dollars."

"I missed you and your bank account so, so much," you say whole heartedly, sending him quick air kiss of appreciation with your middle and index finger as you trot into your bathroom to start getting ready.

on the walk to the cafe, you fight and try to suppress the wondering your conscious has for suguru geto.

you're friends, have been since your freshman year of college, and that's all you have been. there's always been a feeling there in regards to him, but you've never touched on it for more than you've thought about it (repeatedly.) you just couldn't bring yourself to break that peaceful friendship or to even think about crossing it.

sure you noticed the day he deactivated his socials.

sure you like wearing his hoodie/jackets and acting like nothing of it.

but it's not like you took up the scholarship offer in Paris because maybe your favorite city in the world could distract you from hoping he'd ever flirt with you.

it did

"oh is that the rock climber?" shoko asks as she peers over your shoulder and onto your phone.

"indeed it is," you mutter cheekily as you answer the French fling's text, "he thought I was leaving tomorrow instead of yesterday, lmao"

"no goodbye sex?"

"fingering me is hardly sex," you look at her with a side eye

"woah, couldn't get over the 50/50 thing after all huh?"

"never," you sighed, putting your phone back in your pocket, "the least he could do was service me a little with a few orgasms after I had to pay for my own drinks."

"so who did you fuck?" satoru interjected, visibly curious as he stood in line with you guys and simultaneously read the coffee menu for any new sugary drinks

"nobody," you sighed, "didn't feel like anyone was worthy losing my card to."

but all this and here you are, shoving thoughts of him to the back of your mind. it's all become so natural that compressing any thought of geto isn't an overthought process anymore. you've forced yourself to become near careless about him, silencing the voice that cares every minute of every day. you don't know if you're in love with him or containing a small crush on him, that's how scared you are.

"understandable," satoru reasons, whilst picking his phone out of his pocket to read something.

"hey, look at that, haibara wants us all to come for drinks at his place tonight," blue eyes sparkle at you from beneath his glasses that he's purposely let slide downwards, "you know he makes the best lychee and passionfruit martinis."

"and dirty martinis." shoko pipes in

both you and gojo stare at her in slight disgust before he returns to giving you his puppy face.

"as long as there's a ride home involved, I hate sleeping at other people's places."

satoru stands straight up in glee and claps his fingers together, "great! don't worry about that, suguru doesn't drink anymore because of how uptight he's been lately."

the whole day becomes hang out with satoru and shoko day after that. you can't exactly go home by the time you're done with your matcha latte and your stomach starts rumbling for lunch, especially when trust fund baby satoru offers to pay for lunch. then he drags you both into a museum he's been wanting to see, and suddenly it's nearing sundown and it's time for dinner.

"let's go buy pizzas for haibara!" satoru exclaims with a pep in his step as he leads the way for you and shoko to follow after him.

when you get to haibara's apartment, everyone's already there.

various chimes of your name are said as you begin to greet everyone after being away for so long.

utahime hugs you particularly tight and fusses over you, "thank god you're back, you look so beautiful, shoko's too careless to have conversations with sometimes."

fearing your friend would be offended, your mouth open and closes, unable to figure out what to say until you turn to look at her sleazed on the couch and already lighting a cig.

"it's true," she shrugs

"I'm glad to see you too hime." you smile, embracing her in the hug again.

you hear a familiar voice speak when you let go of the embrace

"there wasn't really anything for me to wear haibara, had to settle for this shirt."

geto stands at the door to haibara's bedroom, one hand up and holding onto the frame as he calmly peers down at his shirt and then to the owner of it.

why was he wearing haibara's shirt? and why does it look so...

and suddenly he's looking at you, eyes softening just a bit as he greets you by your name and starts to walk towards you.

you'd imagined, hoped seeing him again would warrant more excitement from him, but no he's still the same calm and collected guy he's always been.

"suguru" you smile, ignoring the way your heart races at the side hug he gives you

well, his body isn't the same. god, how often has he been training? you didn't know his arms could be that veiny.

"satoru texted me that you've been with him and shoko all day." he starts, lips only slightly, minisculely turned upwards as a way of being polite towards your presence.

"since eight in the morning." you sigh, looking over at the freakishly tall giant already breaking into one of the many pizza boxes he bought.

"he missed you." suguru looks at his best friend too, making a face of disgust for a moment when satoru finishes a pizza in two bites.

"I missed him too," you breathe, smiling a little, "wallet or no wallet."

that makes suguru laugh and you're so thankful tails evolutioned off of humans or else you'd have a hard time controlling the urge to wag it back and forth at the reward that was making geto suguru laugh.

"I missed you." he says once his laugh falters away

"me too." you respond, fighting the awkward and terrible pit in your stomach

did he really miss you? miss you? how much did that mean for him?

it doesn't seem like a lot because he gives you a small grin before walking towards shoko and striking up a conversation with her. and gojo hithers you to him from across the room to start drinking your first martini of the night.

you've forgotten how drunk you get with gojo.

your vision is tunneled and you dont know what time it is or what is even what.

"oh brother." you groan, stabilizing yourself on the kitchen countertop. you had gotten up from being sprawled on gojo's back on the floor because you wanted a slice of pizza and the journey seemed quite treacherous now. so far, yet so close. you just had to open that pizza box.

until a hand made its way into your vision, opening the box, getting a slice, and offering it up to you. its a pretty hand, a silver ring on the index finger, veins running up it and onto the arms

of suguru

he's smiling fondly at you

"hungry?" he asks in amusement

"yes, thank you." you gulp, otherwise unable to show how flustered you are due to the immense alcohol in your system and insatiable hunger.

once you take the slice from him, geto begins to slide a chair out and helps you land on it considering it was a little high.

he sits across from you on the kitchen island.

"parmesan?" he has the bottle in hand, jeering it to you

"mhm" is all you can say through a muffled mouth and take the parmesan bottle for yourself.

"is this anything like the pizza over there?" he asks again in amusement

"no," you shake your head gruffly, almost groaning from how wonderful the taste is on your inebriated mouth, "but I can appreciate this right now."

you feel as if you've finished your pizza far too soon, knowing that the part of you that's embarrassed is subdued and screaming that you've been far unladylike in front of suguru, who eyed satoru so disapprovingly when he did it.

suddenly,

"you have some..." suguru leans over just a smidge and brushes your cheek with his thumb, "...parmesan dust."

"oh," you try to keep your jaw closed amid the surprise of his actions, "thank you."

"you want another slice?" he nudges his head in the direction of the box next to him, eyes innocently waiting for a response.

he sees you open and close your mouth again, hesitant on a response before he decides for you and gets you another slice.

"you need something else in your stomach to keep the martinis some company." he smiles a little and motions for you to look at the plastered satoru on the floor, "he's done already, so don't worry."

"thank you." you almost pout as an appreciation to his mercy and figure you should ask what was on your mind earlier, after chewing and swallowing a bite gracefully. you were going to be more conscious of this second slice.

"why are you wearing one of haibara's shirts by the way?"

"Oh," his eyebrows only raise a little and he looks down at the extra tight black shirt, "he was trying to imitate those street vendors that make slushies out of regular soda before you three got here."

"and haibara being him, I figure somewhere along the lines it erupted all over you." you giggled a little, imagining the mess

"that you are correct." geto smizes. he then looks around to the various bodies thrown across the room and zones in onto the floor.

"are you ready to go now satoru?" he asks, one brow quirked up, wondering if his best friend heard him or not.

you turn a little to look at him too and he only turns his face so that his cheek is resting against the floor.

"I don't think I'm even ready to get up," he grumbles, "you guys can go without me, I'm fine right here for the night."

feeling alert already at the idea of being alone with geto, you ask satoru if he's sure

"your back is going to hurt a lot in the morning Toru." you plead internally

"don'ttttttt careeee." he burbles

you're about to open your mouth to urge him again, but suguru gets up and nudges your arm lightly, keys already in hand, "don't worry about satoru, he doesn't have anything important tomorrow anyways."

then his hand is reached out towards you, probably to help stabilize you as you get off the ridiculously tall chair.

hazily, you take it and start to follow him out of the apartment and to the parking lot

his back looks really good in that shirt, you note. every muscle is carefully outlined, every movement of his being emphasized.

"hey," he turns his head over his shoulder to peer down at you, "why're you back there."

suguru then reaches a hand behind your back lightly and motions you to walk in front of him.

"oh, my bad," you murmur, having been snapped back into reality.

the rest of the walk to his car is quiet. and when you get there, suguru's leading you to the passenger seat, opening the door for you, and leaning in to buckle you in without even asking if you could do it.

when he starts the car, you see the time on his front screen.

3:43

"oh my god," you gape at the time, then look at geto while he starts to back out.

one hand on the back of your seat.

"hm?"

and that's all it takes for you to resume what you were going to originally say, finding all the scattered gibberish in your brain to form and communicate the thought.

"weren't you telling utahime that you had to get up early for training? it's so late..." you point at the time

"I do," he shrugged, eyes on the emerging road

"I'm sorry," you lightly pout in guilt

suguru gives you a quick once over and he grins so faintly, "I don't mind."

"let me send you money for a coffee or something." you turn in your seat to look at him pleadingly, eyes scanning him for any hint of resentment

he laughs

"I'm flattered," he smirks, amusement lingering in his tone, "but I'm not taking your money."

you slump in your seat at the rejected offer before you remember something and quirk up in your seat a little

"at least let me give you the gift I got you when we get to my place?"

"sounds like the perfect exchange." he nods

when you wake up, its 1 p.m. and you're surprised you slept through the many alarms on your phone.

you remember everything from the night before and you're not hungover, thank god.

oh

you reminisce on the moments you shared with suguru, even the ones you're embarrassed about.

"arghhh why did I force him to walk all the way up for his gift," you groan into your pillow, "wasted like fifteen more minutes of his time."

a small shriek leaves you as you headbutt yourself on the bed, "why did I do that."

its been about a week and a half since haibara's hang out. which has given you enough time to finally get used to being back home. you reorganized your place to accommodate for all the trinkets and decor you brought from Europe and cleaned out your closet.

you finished everything in time for your hangout with satoru

"Hey Toru." you lean down to give him a quick hug from where he's seated snugly, slurping on a sundae

and suguru

"hey." you breathe, not gulping when he gets up and hugs you to greet you.

when you sit down, you notice your heart is racing and your breathing is just a bit labored

probably the long walk over

"we got you strawberry mochi and a matcha latte," gojo mutters through the straw he's still slurping on, eyes zoned in on particularly nowhere? on the table in front of you all.

never separate this man from his sweets...

"oh thank you satoru." you say appreciatively, happy he thought of you

"thank suguru," he mutters back, "he paid."

your eyes drift to suguru, who smiles unphased, and lifts a hand up to minimize the gesture of paying for you, "satoru knew your order already, I just offered to pay."

"oh," you try not seem too disappointed that he didn't go out of his way to know your order, "well, still, thank you."

"it's no problem." he settled back into his seat comfortably

"didn't offer to pay for my sundae." satoru rolled his eyes

geto's eyes creased a little, as if internally smiling, and said, "didn't you eat out almost a third of my fridge yesterday?"

"whatever," satoru rolled his eyes, "buy me a second sundae then, im already finishing this one up."

"I'm not familiar with anything you've just said. are you feeling light-headed?"

"oh puh-lease," satoru starts to nag, "you can hear me just fine. stop acting like an idiot."

suguru fakes a look of confusion and concern, which makes satoru bolt up out of his seat and start heading towards the door to enter the parlor. and you're pretty sure you hear him say something about taking a bite out of your mochi when you're not looking.

the idiocy makes you giggle a little and you don't notice when suguru turns his head from looking over at a grumpy satoru to you, a slight upturn of his lip at being able to make you laugh.

flash!

after a blinding white light attacks your eyes, you're met with five schoolgirls, all with their phones out.

you'd think they'd be ashamed but?

"you guys are going on my Pinterest!" one giggles

another one is laughing almost as if she's on a sugar rush, very manically, "I hope my boyfriend is as hot as him one day. oh my god. aha aha ahahahahah!"

"you're so so so pretty." a ditsy one with a valley accent deadpans, nearing your face and making immense eye contact, "I know that you guys have the hottest sex."

your jaw drops and you look at suguru in shock, embarrassment out the door at being a coupe and more surprised by the actual words these teenagers are spilling out.

suguru's no better, no other movement on his face except for his raised eyebrows and wide eyes.

the ditsy one speaks again before they start to trail off, "I'm using you as hairspo for my next hair appointment."

and it goes in one ear and out the other because your mind is still stuck on the, 'I know that you guys have the hottest sex.'

what the fuck? what kind of crap was she imagining?

what was she thinking about?

hottest sex?

like flashbacks that never happened, vivid images of you on your knees and suguru drilling into you from behind play in your mind quickly.

he's so big in person and the thought is so palpable when he's next to you...

stop!

you feel your cheeks heating up and a shiver runs up your back.

you try to laugh to brush it all off, "they were probably high or something. or just really really extroverted..."

the tips of suguru's ears are the slightest pink as he finally makes eye contact with you.

"yeah," he breathes, "without a doubt."

"what were those schoolgirls yappin about?" satoru asks, a bit careless, as he plops back into his seat, a new sundae in hand

"nothing."

"nothing."

satoru glares a little at the both of you, his brow quirked up a little, "yeah sure."

you're shopping later at the mall with the both of them, a slight awkwardness between you and suguru that the both of you cover up by only really interacting with satoru and not the other unless satoru was involved in the interaction.

satoru is drowning in what looks like eight bags of clothes when he halts your walking and jeers his head towards the store next to him.

Victoria's Secret

"Didn't you come with us so you could buy new stuff here?"

Yes you had.

But that was before a group of teenagers made you feel awkward about discussing/associating anything nearing sex with suguru now.

"yeah..." you try not to stutter as you start to walk in

god, satoru is so unabashed and careless that he's going to accompany you too. and if satoru goes in, so does suguru. if suguru didn't want to, he would surely have to right now or else satoru would question him.

you know what, maybe suguru isn't overthinking it like you are. surely he isn't clinging on to the idea of sex with you.

yes, exactly.

bracing yourself, you walk into the store, pick up a bag, and ready yourself to start filling it up.

you've forgotten about your awkwardness with suguru after a while of being amazed by all the pretty options in front of you

and satoru, for the most part, is quite mature in this store.

for the most part...

"ha, look at those," he points at a mannequin wearing crotchless panties and at the same panties decorating the table beneath it, "get them."

disgruntled and rolling your eyes, you respond, "yeah sure when I'm getting screwed."

"girls wear lingerie for themselves you know."

"yeah I know," you huff, "and I do. but I can wear crotch on lingerie under my clothes. that's just plain old porn panties for not single people."

"you're such a debbie downer," he groans, "if I were a girl, id wear those with or without out a man."

"well, im a girl and you're not so." you say in a sing song voice as you check out a bra in your hands and toss it into your shopping bag.

"wait where's suguru?" gojo says, having noticed that his best friend's presence was quiet.

and that was all it merely was because suguru was scrolling through his phone, seemingly unphased by the store, paying no attention to what you and satoru were looking at.

"oh." gojo shrugs before he moves on to checking out more underwear with you.

and he spots a particularly cute set of babydoll's that you've grown enamored with, staring at all of them.

"those are very cute," your white-haired friend says

"and very expensive," you whine, having seen the price tag on one of them, "I don't know which one I want to take home."

"hm," satoru whirls around and looks between the mannequin wearing the see through pink one and the see through baby blue one.

"hey suguru." he calls out

suguru looks up from his phone and is slightly confused by where satoru's standing.

satoru has his chin in his hand, "which one do you think would look better on her."

suguru faintly gulps and quickly regains his normal calm confidence, slipping his phone back into his pocket.

"whichever one she'd feel the best in." his eyes smile for him

"oh don't be a prude," satoru gags before pestering him again, "really, pick one."

"why don't you pick satoru?"

"because I think both are too pretty." his eyes gleam, staring at both of the babydolls in question

suguru sighs then looks at you, who so happens to already be eyeing him down, eyes wide for a response.

"the pink one." he mutters quickly, eyes immediately darting away.

there's a loud sigh of relief from satoru when suguru finally makes a decision and you pick up the pink one sitting at the table.

"I think that's all for me," you breathe, skimming over the rest of the store quickly.

and before you make your way to the register line, you stop near suguru

"thank you sugu."

it's a Friday night that you've got all yourself the next month following the incident with those girls and suguru.

you've shaved, washed and blow dried your hair, did a thorough skincare routine, and put on the babydoll you bought last month.

you feel hot and have plans...in mind.

you've seen a little bit of stuff on twitter just for a spur

and there you are, sitting on your dildo, cheeks heated as you sit up and down on it.

you're unabashedly thinking about suguru.

truth be told, you haven't been able to get him off your mind since those schoolgirls planted the thought of that hot sex with him.

he's just so big and lean.

god

you remember satoru making you go with him to pester suguru while he worked out, considering his gym was next to his apartment complex and he had agreed to invite you both and shoko for a watch party of the scream movies that day.

he looked mad when he trained on his kickboxing, eyebrows furrowed and eyes dark on whatever he was taking out his strikes on.

you figured he'd make a similar face beating your pussy up.

that same trail of sweat making its way down his spine. thigh veins twitching all the same at the force he'd use on you.

"su-"

knock knock

the blood drains from your face and you immediately feel yourself getting dry

"oh my god, who's here at 10 p.m.?!" you whisper shout to yourself as you scram to put your dildo back in its hiding place and through your night robe on.

you take a breather and check through your door's peephole

a big blue eye meets yourself and zooms out when satoru leans back and reveals that suguru is also with him.

you open the door quickly, slightly angry.

"why are you guys here?"

you keep your eyes on satoru, afraid even looking at suguru would reveal somehow that you'd just been vividly imagining sitting on his dick.

satoru seems impressed as he looks at your very short night robe, thighs out in the open and he shrugs, raising a bag of fast food in his hand, "wanted to hang out with you."

unable to refute his friendly gesture, you move so that the both of them can come in.

"you were ready for bed early," he comments, setting down the food on your kitchen island.

"it's ten p.m. satoru." you sigh, spotting that they didn't get drinks, so you try to find some cups for the Diet Coke in your fridge.

you realize they're in a cupboard.

that you'd have to lean up to

you're about to ask satoru to help you, but he's far too focused in setting out the food for all of you and suguru's just there, standing watching you and satoru, mostly you, in awkward silence.

"um, suguru," you pipe

he fully turns his attention to you. argh, you didn't think having 100% percent of his attention would be so drastic than having 80% of it as opposed to earlier, but it did

"can you get some cups from here?" you point at the cupboard, "I'd get them but uh-"

you look down at your very short nightrobe and exposed skin and suguru's ears turn pink at the tips

"yeah, no problem." he says quickly, moving to open the cupboard and gets out three ceramic pink cups.

you, meanwhile, open your fridge and get the Diet Coke jug you've had chilling, thankful you put it in the top shelf and not the bottom, having avoided the risk of bending to get it.

you sit down next to suguru, unfortunately, since satoru took the single seat across.

"so," you start to pour drinks for all of you, "what were you guys up to before this?"

"nothing," satoru mumbles through a mouthful of fries, "we were supposed to watch t.v. at suguru's place but the internet went out in his building."

one of your brows raises, "and you came to hog my t.v.?"

"no," satoru glares at you a little, "the burger place was right by your place and I wanted to stop by."

"plus," he adds, "I didn't bank on you being ready for bed so early."

then something lights up in his head and he stares at you quizzically, a smirk forming, "were you getting off before we got here? is that why you're all dolled up and dressed for bed like you've got first name dil last name do coming over?"

"ugh," you groan, "gross, satoru!"

"shoko and I went with you to buy that eight inch purple girth monster," he laughs, "you were sooooooo on it."

you roll your eyes and decide to ignore him, taking a bite out of the burger in front of you.

"take it easy on her satoru," suguru swoops in softly to defend you, "I remember how disgruntled you were when I found you with the door open during our time as roommates."

"hey! we agreed to never mention that to anyone else!"

you start to laugh, embarrassment only a tinge less than it was before, thanks to suguru.

although their sudden presence had interrupted your orgasm, you looked forward to the moment in which they would leave.

but satoru somehow, being the annoying giant he is, finds a way to make suguru and him stay the night at your place.

"satoru, I don't think my back can support sharing this couch with you." suguru tries to reason

"oh come onnnnn, we've shared less at frat parties before" satoru chippers, beginning to roll himself into a ball in one of your blankets.

pitifully, you share a look with suguru and hand him a blanket.

"sleep well guys." you yawn before turning off the lights and heading to your room.

your very empty room.

and you can feel your panties dampening again.

no you shouldn't.

you get into your bed and stuff yourself under covers, hoping your body gets the message that it needs to sleep.

it doesn't

so you count sheep.

nope

force your eyes closed and hope it just knocks you out.

nope, you were in that weird limbo of sleep and no sleep.

you don't know how much time has passed but you assume its late enough that both of the boys are asleep, so you shoot up out of your bed and lean over to open your nightstand, flipping your covers off in the process.

the desperation never wore off, your panties were drenched and you didn't even have to play with yourself to spread your lubrication or open yourself up a little.

biting the bullet, you lift a leg up with one arm and use the other to press the head of your dildo inside.

your breathing was extra labored, but that was nothing compared to the moans you'd let out if your friends weren't sleeping in the room next door.

then you start fucking it into yourself slowly, inch by inch, and it feels oh so good. even if it was see through, you pull down the straps of your nightgown and let your tits out, letting the air hit them and put you in a further state of vulnerability.

then in a matters of seconds, you're pounding yourself as hard as you can without making a noise from either lips.

your eyes are rolling back and it's hitting that angle so well that-

the relief washed over you faster than expected, orgasm a little ruined because you wanted to relish in the feeling longer.

so there you are, dildo still inside, one hand over your stomach while you let your breathing go back to normal.

"I needed that anyways." you whisper to yourself, feeling your chest heaving up and down.

knock knock

"you've got to be fucking kidding me." you shriek to yourself in the quietest manner possible as you rapidly stash your dildo away and fix your nightgown back on.

you dash to your door and open it a little, only letting the top of your head and eyes peer through the side considering what you were wearing.

there's suguru, hair down and shirt ridden up just a little, face a little surprised at the way you opened the door

"yes?" you ask, quickly peering at his happy trail

"is it alright if I use the restroom?" he asks, a little sleepy

"yeah," you gulp, "just let me get back in bed so I'm not indecent when you come in."

"alright, just tell me when."

and you leap onto your bed, immediately tugging your cover on top of you.

"you can come in." you say meekly, hoping he can't see how disheveled you are. the moon was especially bright tonight and it always lit up your room nicely during nights like this.

suguru opens the door immediately and smiles at you a little as he walks towards your restroom.

you smile awkwardly back

he pees you assume, because you've barely seen three tiktoks on your phone by the time he comes out.

"did I wake you?" he asks while he approaches you on your bed, taking a seat at the end.

having him so near the spot where you just pummeled yourself to orgasm made you shiver a little in fear.

"no," you almost stutter and put your phone down, "I was struggling to sleep."

"so was I" he laughs a little, "satoru sleeps so selfishly."

and your blabber mouth, stupid fake facade that you aren't affected at all by him speaks up.

"you can sleep with me."

you're both caught by surprise at your offer except only suguru expresses it, his eyebrows have raised innocently

and you cough up another remark, "it's not like you can really see what I'm wearing and you can just turn to the other side."

"I don't want to make you uncomfortable-" he's about to get up

and you act so stupidly again

"I don't mind suguru, your body needs good rest with all the strain you put on it." and there you are, flipping the covers open from the other side of your bed and tapping it for him to get into.

hesitantly, he gets up from the end of your bed and walks towards the open spot, "are you sure?"

"yeah," you nod, other hand hidden under the cover and gripping the sheets under you, "we've slept cramped up next to each other on road trips. what's the difference with all this space?"

you both know the difference

but he slowly gets under the covers with you anyways, positioning himself on his back, stiff as a board as he looks up and tries not to look at you, well that's what it looks like and you understand why.

"I'm sorry if I snore." you peep, also staring up at the ceiling

suguru turns to look at you a little, "you snore?"

"I don't know..."you respond, following in his lead and peeking at him from the corner of your eyes, "but I'd be really embarrassed if I did."

"well, I'm sorry if I do too." he gives you a small smile, one of those tight lipped ones, no teeth, just the softness the moment in them.

then your phone suddenly starts ringing loudly.

and you scram to shut it off, putting your phone on night mode

"who was that?" suguru peers at you, neck turned more to look at you now.

you gulp, "some guy from paris. I should block him soon anyways."

"you were seeing each other?"

well you did go out with him various times and continuously stayed lots of nights with him. hell you even showered with him a couple times.

"hardly." you brush off

"shoko would talk about you always spending the night at a Claude's place. didn't you text her that you had to pay for your own uber once?" he said it so smoothly, without a thought

you shrink a little into the bed, "well yeah but I never saw him as something serious and we never sealed the deal. I didn't think you'd know about him..."

"shoko often aired out what you'd be texting her in the moment." he breathed, one arm behind his head as he went back to staring at the ceiling again.

"so you know about how hard I partied and stuff?" you asked, hoping that maybe they showed him all your selfies and outfits, casual and sexy.

"yes." he nodded

he seemed so serious and a hopeful part of you wanted to say he seemed...jealous?

does he think you saw a lot of guys on your nights out? what is he thinking?

"I liked it," you started, making the path for a way to comfort him if that was the case, "but I wasn't a big fan of having guys try to pull me to dance with them. I missed you and satoru being there to stop guys from hogging on me."

his ears perk up a little and he looks at you again, almost as if he's waiting for you to continue, so you do, stupidly but it was at attempt

"I'm just glad I'm back with you guys."

"I'm glad you're back too."

"you guys finally freak it?"

you get a sudden whiplash and wake up to find satoru standing at the end of your bed, one leg propped up on it while he brushes his teeth.

you lean up, making sure to cover yourself with the covers and notice the comfort of suguru's arm leaving your head.

HUH

you're at a distance from him, you would've definitely noticed his body pressed against yours, but he's turned in your direction, one long arm splayed out and oh my god

you had been using it as a pillow.

he starts to wake up too at satoru's sudden intrusion and squints sleepily at him, starting to stretch a little. the covers must've shoved off of him a little because you can see his v-line when he groans.

which reminds you that he must've not recalled/felt you on his arm just now. he probably would've been so awkward.

you calm yourself down enough and go back to looking at satoru.

"oh probably not." satoru, with a mouth full of toothpaste, mumbles without a shame after looking at suguru still being fully clothed and your reaction at sleeping on him

"satoru," your vision and brain is still blurry from waking up, "is that my toothbrush?!"

"no," he borbles offended before walking back into your restroom and beginning to clean his mouth out with water, "I have a go-go bag here."

"since when do you have a go-go bag here? and where the hell did you hide it?"

"since you left me your apartment key to take care of your place before leaving," he's already spit out the last of his toothpaste and is sassily walking back to you and suguru, "and I have it in your closet all the way at the top."

you fall back into your bed, rolling your eyes at his weirdness, "why do you still knock then?"

"I have manners?" he looks at you like you just asked a stupid question

"I found his bag in my laundry room." suguru sighs, running his hands through his face.

"well it's impossible to hide anything in your apartment considering we're the same height." satoru rolls his eyes, "haibara's like 5'10 so he can't see that I have mine at the top cupboard above his stove."

"normal habits follow you satoru," suguru sighs, flipping the covers off his lower half and standing up, "but you outrun it."

"track was my thing in high school." he shrugs

you haven't seen suguru since then. it's been two weeks and you've no sight of him. you were hoping he'd make an appearance at satoru's apartment today, seeing as he was hosting a House of the Dragon watch party.

"oh suguru? he's not coming," satoru shrugs as he plops onto his couch, next to shoko and tugs the bowl of popcorn from her, "he's working on his startup. something about a big client needing something by tomorrow."

then it's been another week, no sight of suguru with anyone at any hangout.

you don't feel that optimistic when haibara and satoru beg the group to show up to the club tonight, with pregaming at satoru's apartment.

you're dressed in a tight little white dress when you show up to satoru's apartment, clinging onto shoko's arm because of how cold it was.

and you feel so happy that you still put 100% of effort into getting ready because there was suguru, seated on one of satoru's couches, watching in amusement as haibara attempts to teach satoru how to make a negroni.

your own excitement blinds you and without thinking, you slip in past everyone and stand in front of him.

"I thought you wouldn't be coming tonight." you look at him in slight marvel, astonished that he finally made an appearance

he makes a face of surprise at you, well you think it's surprise at what you said. you probably came off too strong because his ears turned a little red. what else could it be?

god he was taking a little too long to respond. had he been trying to avoid you? was he-

"it wouldn't be gentlemanly of me to leave your protection solely up to satoru would it?"

and just like that his soothing voice brushes over your entire body

"it would not." you giggle a little when you sit next to him, hoping your perfume reaches him and relishing in the fact that his arm was already hung over the part of the couch you inhabited.

"but what have you been up to? I haven't seen you in a while."

suguru's eyes soften at your curiosity, and unbeknownst to you, his heart swelled at the fact that you noticed his absence.

"I've been finishing up a personal project of mine," he says warmly, "if all goes well, I'll probably come close to affording an apartment like satoru's soon."

affording an apartment like satoru's soon?

that's like

a lot of money

a lot

and why is him getting more money in his bank account making you fawn even harder for him

well, the stability, duh.

but you have to act cool

"are you sure you want to live in the same apartment complex as satoru gojo?" you tease?

"I said like," he shoves your leg a little with his own, "I don't think I would be able to stand living under the same roof as him again."

"well I don't think he could either," you giggle, "he says you're too much of a homebody and always say you have food at home."

suguru makes no attempt to defend himself and shakes his head instead at the complaint from his best friend, "I find it wrong to say I'm guilty when there's nothing guilty about cooking your own meals."

"are you good at cooking? I know you posted on your close friends about some meals here and there, but it's been a while since you deactivated your account."

"I'd like to think I'm good," he pauses, looking at you for a moment before continuing, "I'd make a pasta for you but I don't want to challenge the likes of Italy and France."

"now that just sounds like an excuse to not cook for me," you squint your eyes and scrunch your nose at him playfully

"I make no excuses," suguru drinks from the glass of water in his hand, eyeing you with the same playful aura, "I'll let you try if you want, but you can't make any comparisons."

"deal." you huff a little, reaching your hand out towards him.

"deal." he agrees, setting down his glass to shake your hand.

you don't drink a lot in the pregame

or at the club

something about suguru being there, sober, and able to control every moment makes you want to do the same.

so you're surprised that you're not at all even tipsy when you gently grab his hand and motion for him to dance with you amongst the crowd of your friends and other strangers.

it doesn't really feel awkward.

satoru's dragged you plenty of times to dance with him. haibara's kinda twerked on you a couple of times.

how is this any different?

at least that's how your mind approaches it, unphased by the sensual rnb music and your waist in suguru's hand.

when your arms reach around his neck eventually, you note he smells intoxicating, like amber and leather.

when you've known the club to normally be a place where you cause a ruckus with satoru and haibara, this is quite the opposite.

you didn't know you could feel so grounded

maybe it was the lack of alcohol to spur on the party animal in you, but this was fine. your brain felt woozy enough from breathing in suguru's cologne.

it's only when you feel a tap on your back that you and suguru are interrupted.

suguru juts his jaw for you to look behind and when you turn, there's shoko a lighter and a cigarette in her hands. you and suguru follow her outside for her smoke break, the bare minimum for her protection, a norm.

"how come you haven't been following satoru's pace tonight with the drinking?" she sighs melodically as she puts a cig in her mouth and cusps a hand around it while the other lights it.

"um," you avoid suguru's presence, feeling something that you just can't quite point your finger at, "I think im pmsing, so...I don't want to trigger any cramps with the drinking."

"fair enough." she blows out a puff of smoke as she says that

"and when are you going to ever drink again suguru?" she lets her head fall on her shoulder, lazy eyes looking at him.

"when are you going to stop smoking those?" he asks in return, leaning against the wall behind him and looking at the people in passerby considering this was a busy street during the night.

"soon." she shrugs

you and suguru exchange a look between each other at the response. shoko's been saying that since freshman year.

and your small moment is interrupted when you see a frantic utahime waving her hand, nanami and haibara holding up a very pale satoru between them as they walk out of the club and towards you guys.

the three of you meet them at the middle and utahime starts to explain.

"satoru threw up on this vip table trying to make it in time to the restroom..." a slight look of disgust on her face

"you guys know I can't stand the smell of cheap vape smokeeee~"he whines from between his two friends, body slumped over

"oh." you also grimace imagining the situation

"we're going to walk him back to his place." utahime tries to convey with sorry eyes that she's sad the night had to end like this

"it's okay." you say and turn to shoko, "are you going with them?"

her place was on the same side of town as theirs, and they were probably going to stay at satoru's anyway. he had more than three bedrooms and was always ready for sleepovers.

"yeah," she says, moving forward to poke at satoru's chest, almost as if he were a lab rat, "you guys fine to-"

"nice tits pretty girl!" you hear a holler next to your ear

and its some guy walking by with his two other friends, clearly inebriated but its also clearly not enough for him to blame the behavior on it. and his target couldn't be anymore obvious when he's making the nastiest eye contact with you, or more so your chest.

"come again?" suguru says sternly at him, he didn't yell but...

you could hear him well and clear alright.

the guy stops walking and turns to you and suguru, speaking with a sassy stupor, "I said her tits were nice."

you look up behind you and suguru is biting his cheek, something you've never seen from him. you can tell he's mad and so can the other guy.

"you her boyfriend or something?" he smirks, relishing in the way suguru scowls at him as he nears the both of you, "if you're not saying shit ill fuck her little pussy right in front of-"

BAM!

multiple oohs are heard when suguru sucker punches him. and height is the only thing that helps your offender, because he does manage to stay up and land a punch to suguru's nose.

but before you can react and head over to check on him, like lightning, the guy is the ground after suguru hands him an uppercut.

and there goes satoru, vomiting on the side of the road too.

which you don't seem phased by because suguru just defended your honor, and won, so quickly.

but you're also really worried because his nose is bleeding when he turns around.

ignoring the pain of your heels finally setting in, you click clack over to him and move the hand he's using to grab at his nose so you can inspect him.

you're not sure if he can tell you're somewhere between feeling lusty and worried when he looks down at you, but he looks serious still as he makes eye contact with you.

and satoru barfs even more

"I can't handle blooddddd~" he cries which ushers a panicked utahime into calling shoko over and asking if you'd be fine heading back with suguru, making sure he's fine at the end of it.

when they start heading off, you pull out your phone from your purse, "let me get us an uber to your place."

your hands are shaking a little in adrenaline and you jump a little when suguru swipes your phone from your hand and hands you his, uber app already open.

he's continuously wiping his nose as he painfully murmurs, "not letting you leave my place alone, I'll drop you off at yours first, put your address, I'll pay."

worriedly, you want to deny him, but the thought is intimidated out of you when he stares you down.

"ok-okay." you speak a little shakily

so much for you thinking you'd be cool and calm in a situation like this.

you dragged suguru into your apartment the moment you got to your place. you had finally noticed the small cut on his nose bridge and near his eye and really insisted on patching him up.

you also were scared that he'd somehow get a brain bleed and die on the way home out of sheer anxiety. so you wanted to keep an eye on him for a while to keep your mind at ease.

suguru is sitting at the edge of your bed, watching as you rummage through your restroom for your first aid kid. and when you finally find it, you're rushing to him and setting it down next to him, beginning to filter through it for the alcohol wipes.

"close your eyes," you ask breathlessly, still feeling the after effects of your adrenaline, "I don't want to irritate your eyes accidentally."

suguru listens to you and closes his eyes, a slight grimace already on his face in preparation for the sting you're about to bring to his cuts.

he hisses a little when you press on them

"sorry."

"it's okay." his eyes scrunch a little and you can see his hand on his lap, opening and closing as a reflex to the sting.

then you take out the antibiotic ointment to start spreading a little on his wounds. his body relaxes a little when he sees that the bothersome part is over and he keeps his eyes open, watching you.

you feel so hot under his gaze, you can't help but blabber when you're in the process of putting cream on his nose bridge

"you really have been putting the work in at kickboxing huh." you say awkwardly, trying to do a fake laugh, but

"did I scare you?"

suguru's burning a hole into your face with how intensely he's looking at you

you almost choke on your breath

"no."

"you were shaking when you were typing your address on my phone."

oh he noticed

you didn't want him to misunderstand

"well you didn't scare me, but I was scared for you, still am. I don't want you to drop dead on the street." you answer a little shakily, having forgotten to reach for the small bandaids.

"besides what girl gets scared of the guy who defends her honor..." you add

"shoko almost gagged when nanami made a guy apologize to her." he quips

"well that's shoko," you shrug and look off to the side, "I liked it."

you're about to reach for the bandaids when his hand on is holding onto one of your arms, gentle but it sustains all your attention.

"what do you mean?"

"well we all know shoko's a lesb-"

"no, when you said you liked it."

explaining that to him is complicated. when you said that you liked it you know that you mean that your panties got a little sticky watching him spit out blood that tried to seep into his mouth from his nose. the memory makes you subconsciously rub your thighs together. but you'll just brush it off as a normal like, as in it flattered you.

unbeknownst to you, suguru spotted the movement between your legs.

"it was flatte-"

"then why do you look so nervous trying to tell me that?"

a bit exasperated and heavily flustered, you stomp your foot a little and avoid looking at him, "suguru, please stop. you're making me nervous."

"what's there to be nervous about?"

"we're just friends." he adds

and his eyes light up watching when your own shoot towards him, your offense front and center.

and for the first time, you can see how he looks at you with so much yearning?

"am I wrong?"

christ, has he always looked at you with this much desire?

you're speechless and even though the signs are pointing towards the obvious, you still form a sentence that spares your feelings.

"do you want to be wrong?"

"yeah."

you feel shaky again

and it's not because you're scared.

"can you please stop looking at me like that?" you beg, avoiding his eyes again, almost about to hyperventilate from the pressure his stare is putting on you.

he grabs your other hand and leers you close to him, breath tickling your neck since you're so stubborn on not looking at him.

"do you still want to be friends?" he asks

and even though it sounds seductive and suave, you can make out the slight genuine yearning to know if that's what you want.

so you look at him again, trying to swallow the nervous lump in your throat

"you know how I feel." you plead

"no I don't," he laughs a little painfully, "I've never said anything because I don't know, so tell me."

you stare at each other for a while, his patience everlasting as you muster up the courage to say something that shouldn't be so embarrassing.

"I don't want to be friends."

"do you want me to go home?" he asks, thumbs rubbing circles on your wrists.

and its the quickest answer you've given him so far

"no."

and you want it

bad.

so so so bad.

but you have to get the question off of your chest.

"what-what do you want to be?"

"each other's if you'll have me." he breathes, looking up at you still

he's saying all the right things. and he's here. you're freshly shaved and waxed and wearing the hottest lingerie under this. fucking hell you wouldn't even need foreplay to take him right now, you're preening at the thought of having him.

"do you think satoru packs condoms in his go-go bag?"

it just slips out of your mouth so easily and you want to be embarrassed, but you're to eager for that.

"I know he does." suguru gets up quickly, eyes darting to your closet and then to you, "are you sure?"

and it's like some sort of instincts take over because you take the hands that are holding yours and place them on your tits, motioning for him to squeeze them.

"I'm really sure."

the action has him baffled, a pink flush face you've never seen on him while he stands there taken aback. it gives you a little confidence to remove his hands and take off your dress. then you let him watch as you get on the bed, sitting on your heels as you take his hands in yours again to plead.

"I want you in me suguru."

"fuck." he curses, before rushing towards your closet and yanking the infamous go-go bag and tossing it next to the bed. he starts to take his shirt off soon after, immediately reaching for your face when he gets into the bed with you

he's a sensual kisser. sensual as in you're pretty sure it'd be illegal to kiss him in public.

he kisses like he's fucking your mouth with his own. and it has you shivering into his touch, pussy aching for him to fill you up.

you pull him in by the belt loops of his jeans and whine, "take it out please."

your words make him groan into your mouth and he reaches one hand down to help yours unzipper his pants and push them down.

you feel his raw length slap across and press onto your mound when he grinds against you

"you haven't done this before right." he almost says darkly as he stares down at where your bodies would be meeting soon.

"no." you moan, watching him as he stuffs his dick under your panties and slides it back and forth on your pussy lips.

he shivers at the contact and dips his head into your neck, mouthing and biting at the skin there, "fuck, you're actually drenched."

and for a moment, you both get rigid at the euphoric feeling of his tip catching on your hole so easily.

"I'm not sure I'm going to last long with you right now," he all but exhales shakily, hips still moving back and forth against you

"that's fine, just keep going."

and he's about to reach over in the bag for a condom when your lust takes over so much that you stop him and line him up with your hole.

"just do it like that please."

he moans as your ministrations and looks at you for reassurance, "are you sure?"

you can tell he's fighting so hard not to move

"just use my pussy please suguru, I need it so bad." you complain, reaching down to pull your panties further to the side, chest heaving from carnal need for him.

suguru leans closer to pull your see through bra down, and begins to suck harshly on one of your nipples when he starts bullying his cock into you.

you can feel every vein when he starts to sink into you and fuck, his tip is so snug and big, the feeling of it ridging against your insides every time he brings it in and out is dizzying.

you're so focused on the feeling of his thick dick filling you up that you've barely noticed how suguru's folded your legs back. both of you now entranced in the way he's balls deep in you, a loud wet pap sound accompanying every thrust of his.

"you like that sweet girl?" he heaves through deep fast thrusts, mesmerized by the way your stomach moves just a little every time he bottoms out.

words aren't something you're capable of right now because when you try to respond, all you let out is shriek

this is nothing compared to the way you've tried to pummel yourself with your dildo. his hands are everywhere and he's got you right where he wants you. you can't escape him.

and when you thought he couldn't his pace and force grows stronger.

you're basically screaming now.

"yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes." is all you can say, so dumb on his cock that you can't help but want more and more

"fuck, don't talk like that," he groans, almost as if to himself, "I'm gonna end up creaming your pussy if you keep that up."

"cream it please." you beg loudly, "wanna feel us get messy."

your tongue is basically salivating at the though of his balls coated in cum and slapping against your clit, strings of mess forming from how intense it is.

and he starts twitching into you, rushing to kiss you as he pumps inside of you. thank goodness, it feels like its spilling out of you in heaps.

you're so happy, so so happy.

"let's do doggy yeah?" you pull him in by wrapping an arm around his neck, grinding your hips against him for more

"whatever you want," he nearly whines, pulling out of you just so he can flip you over and push your back down.

you feel hornier like this, pussy more exposed and growing needier with the feeling of his cum seeping out of you. it makes you wiggle your ass for him to fuck you more already.

and without warning he does just that, slipping into you again and gripping your ass so hard when he starts using you like a fleshlight.

"fuck, yesyesyesyesyesyesyesyes," he mumbles to himself, "tiny fucking wet pussy. love it so fucking much. fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck."

you're thoughtless, just utterly brain dead from how hard he's going on you, from how much your pussy is getting split open again and again.

this goes on for hours, so many positions covered by you and suguru. foreplay was never involved at all during that time, neither of you wanting to go without feeling each other so crudely connected for more than a second.

you actually fall asleep cockwarming him even, the both of you too stubborn to stop that you fell asleep still trying to get it on.

neither you or suguru hear the jingle of your apartment door being opened later that day. both too fucked out and tired to wake up.

but you do hear when the door to your own bedroom opens, and suguru quickly gets on the defensive, covering you with your bedsheets and about to-

"satoru!" you both yell.

"woah," you hear laughing through the door, "you guys really stayed up all night fucking? everybody's been calling you guys since two."

[yerchokito]

PRETTY KITTY TURNS PRETTY HORNY .ᐟ FT SATORU GOJO

synopsis - finally you decided to adopt a new friend at the adoption centre! only, he wants to be more that friends…

warnings - p in v, brief oral sex (fem receiving) unprotected sex, slight manipulation(?) creampie, shitty smut, petname: master used mockingly, not thoroughly proofread, talk of potential children, lowk masochist gojo, ect ect. fem reader

notes - yay I finally got this out! lol it honestly did get a bit sloppy at the end but I wanted to get this out b4 christmas!enjoy! the smut is lowkey short but I don’t want to fix it..

edit - I just realised I posted this on his death date

Phew, you did it.

You finally grew a pair and adopted a newly rescued snow-leopard hybrid! After months of your self-pitying you managed to convince yourself to adopt a friend!

You spent many, many hours contemplating on whether to actually adopt. And many hours more watching sad videos on hybrids, how mistreated they are out of the adoption centre.

That was more than enough to convince you.

Now you have an exotic hybrid of your own! And he’s just the cutest little—er big thing! He’s got fluffy little ears, a handsome face, striking blue eyes, and the fluffiest tail in the world!

You’ve learnt a lot about him. His name is Satoru Gojo, around the same age as you! Unfortunately, he spent a lot of his life in illegal fighting rings. Poor thing almost got killed a while back. Luckily, his caretakers at the agency have had no aggression problems with him! He’s affectionate, friendly, reckless at times, but overall great to have as a first time owner!

He’s really—really big. His head just about reaches the ceiling of your small apartment. It's gonna be hard finding clothes for the man. Let alone a bed.

But that’s all a problem for future you!

Packing him in the car was a hefty thing, his tallness being the main problem, a little cramped (he had to lay half his body on the floor) but it worked in the end!

As soon as you bought the little—uh, big critter home, you pampered him with affections. Petting his head, rubbing his ears, scratching under his chin all that stuff that makes him mushy in the brain!

The only problem would be leaving him alone… he’s fairly clingy. You’ll just have to work on that. He seems capable enough. Hopefully…

Note to self: get a baby cam.

˗ˏˋ — ˎˊ˗

Maybe this was a mistake.

Satoru’s a really good guy, he’s friendly, definitely affectionate and really clingy. All good qualities that you love about him!

But, there are qualities you come to… dislike, so to say.

He’s bratty. defiant against your house rules, a back-talker.

He always wants attention. Pushing things off counters or using his tail to block your eyes whenever he wants to annoy you.

He’s very manipulative. Using his wide eyes to trick you—or anyone—into giving him sweets!

He’s also unbearably horny, probably his worst trait. Always trying to rub against you, heck even mount you! For someone so angelic-looking, he sure ain’t an angel.

And you can name a couple of… embarrassing incidents.

Incident #1

“Hey—Toru! What are you doing, stop that!” You shout, trying to push him back and away from— wait, are those your panties he has in your mouth!

“Satoru! Bad boy, get those out of your mouth!” You splutter, face flushing red.

But, apparently you adopted the devil.

He tilts his head in an innocent way, ears flopping to the side as he deviously munches on your precious—and very expensive—underwear.

You try to wrestle them away from his maw, unlucky for you, you’ve also adopted an abnormally tall hybrid. His innocent act drops as he dangles them above your head, laughing at your embarrassment.

Of course, he gave it back. Not without it slicked in his spit and now turned crotchless.

It was… not a great moment for you or your hopes of being dominant over him.

Incident #2

It’s a nice sunny morning, you got up earlier than your alarm, made a nice breakfast, and finally got that darned work assignment finished.

A peaceful day.

Until your precious kitty takes his biting urges on you.

“Satoru, do-don’t bite meee!” You whine, once again trying to push away the snarky beast. God, why must he be twice your size.

He chuffs, pining you with his weight as he nibbles at your skin. Tail swaying mischievously behind him.

“Mn—be still, lemme jus’…” He whispers. Devious man he is. His nibbling becomes full-blown bites, decorating your neck and collarbone in a bazillion bite marks.

Satoru only giggles at your pathetic attempts of squirming away. Pfft, you think he’ll let you walk away? Nothing gets away from his keen eyes.

Needless to say, the bite marks were not a fashion statement at work. Didn’t really capture as many complements as it did laughter.

Note to self: Invest in a muzzle.

Incident #3

Now, maybe this is your fault. You did notice the change in behaviour, he’s always been clingy— the staff at the agency did say he was… the possessive type. But! You didn’t notice the possessiveness until now! So it’s not entirely your fault.

Okay, maybe his growling at your friend— male, should you note— was a teensy red flag, the constant butting of his head against you was also alerting you. So you maybe-sorta-should’ve predicted this.

Maybe if you realised that Satoru is not entirely human (even though he acts like it), you would’ve remembered he has an amazing sense of smell.

“aaahnn… mornin’ Toru’, how did you sleep hm?” you yawn. The lack of response is unnerving, and rude.

“Hey now, ts’ not nice to ignore me, Satoru.” Again silence, wait—what the-?

“Oof! Satoru—gah!—get off!” You struggle, your overgrown hybrid kitty has decided to pounce on you, his full weight crushing you.

“H-hey—oh!” Did.. did you feel that correctly, is your boy.. oh gosh.

“Mrrow…mn, you smell s’ good.” His breath is hot against your neck, sniffing at your throat, his fuzzy ears rubbing under your chin.

“Mnh—heat, in heat? mrr..” He purrs, big hands encasing yours as the big idiot rocks his hips against your backside— oh my.

“H-huh? No, down Satoru! Bad boy—ooh!—don-don’t!” You try not to moan out as he ruts against you. Licking at the nape of your neck, almost mockingly.

“Heh— shh, I’ll take care of ya. Aw’ you’re so small compared to me..” Satoru breathes, chuckling like he always does.

…

Lets just say, Satoru has become real good friends with the spray bottle.

Note to self: Get him neutered.

˗ˏˋ — ˎˊ˗

And there are way more incidents as… sexual as these ones. You love the big guy, he’s cuddly, got a fuzzy head, really warm, but he seems to really enjoy mounting you. Like, really badly.

He’s become a menace! I mean, you knew he wasn’t neutered, but you didn’t think he’d be interested in you!

It's almost everyday he tries to get in your pants! Gotta hand it to him, he’s really persistent.

Well, you won’t be taking any of his nonsense today!

“Satoru! Breakfast!” You yell out. You hear him scurrying around the corner, jeez food fein.

“Heh, mm waffles..” He purrs at your feet, nuzzling against the back of your knee.

He wraps his tail around your ankle, hands gently kneading at your leg. Nose twitching at the sugary smells.

“You hungry, sweetie?” You coo, petting the big oafs head.

Awh, maybe you’re being too harsh on him. He’s your baby, he doesn’t know any better!

˗ˏˋ — ˎˊ˗

Oh who were you kidding, of course he knows what he’s doing! Why are you so gullible?

What was supposed to be a nice, calm, peaceful, non-sexual breakfast, ends up with your mischievous kitty munching on your pussy instead!

He’s got your legs up, knees having small-talk to your shoulders whilst he —quite literally— devours you.

“Satoruuu!— don’t do thaah! Oh!” You squeak. You weakly push on his head, trying to get him away from your front.

Unfortunately, Satoru is a determined cat.

“Mnn, be still. M’ hungry.” He purrs between your legs, the vibrations of his voice send tingles up your spine.

For Satoru, that delicious nectar leaking out of you is heavenly. Until this thin, pathetic piece of fabric ruins his meal. If only he could just…

rripp!

“H-huh? S’toru! Those were expensiveee— haa!” You scold. well, try to. It’s hard to speak when you’re literally breathless.

He tongues at your now naked pussy, slurping all that gooey goodness you so graciously produce. So sweet.

He pulls back, your cunt and his mouth connected by a sloppy string of spit. He coo’s and presses a kiss hard against your clit, making you twitch and moan.

Out of the corner of your eye you see the devil incarnate smiling so sweetly, his tail curling around your ankle. What was once a sweet gesture is now no longer reassuring.

Your ‘innocent’ kitty now has free rein to your more… primal parts. The stronger scent pulls on Satoru’s will, he whines at the sudden, yet aggressive urge to bury himself inside you.

Hmm maybe he should.

Hoisting himself up, Satoru leans back on his calves, admiring the little mess he’s made of you. Flushed red, panting, drooling, and completely high on the pleasure. His pants tighten.

He’s been blessed with such a cute owner!

˗ˏˋ — ˎˊ˗

Plap! Plap! Plap!

“Haa— d’aww don’t be so shy, master. Heh—fhuck!” Said the devil incarnate, mockingly.

Satoru is a condescending bunch, cute but really full of himself. It’s shows in his way of fucking.

He has you on your back, legs resting on his broad shoulders as he literally folds you in half. Your head is just reeling, your face is covered in his spit, hairline all sweaty, jaw hanging open, and you're burning all over!

His cock is big, too big. It nearly split you in half when he tried to fit it in. He’s never been a patient kitty.

“Awhhh— masterrrr, you’re tightenin’ up sho’ muchhh…” He purrs. Tail swaying mockingly.

Leaning forward, Satoru nuzzles his ears against your cheek, wanting to be pet.

Unfortunately, you’re incoherent to his requests. Too focused on the harsh rutting of his cock into your sticky cunt.

“Heyyy… pet meee,” He whines, “Hm? Heh— tappin’ out already?” His eyes gleam with mischievous-ness as he grins a toothy grin. You’re not gonna make it out alive.

He bites his lip, giggling at your pleasured face. If only he could take a picture, save this moment forever. He cups your face, caressing your sweaty cheeks, then presses a loving kiss to your lips.

“Mwah! Hehe— you’re so cute,” He whispers against your lips.

In midst of this somewhat sweet moment, the pace of Satoru rolling his hips against you increases. Then turning into him full on slamming his hips into yours, huffing as he focuses on pounding you into next week.

All you can do is grip onto him, tugging on his ears. He moans pornographically, drooling as you harshly grip his sensitive ears. The painful yet pleasant sensation sparks something new in Satoru.

With the intent to breed, Satoru turns you over. His chest to your back as he leans his weight on you, arms wrapping tightly around your sweaty skin.

This new position gives Satoru a better chance at giving you some cute mini him’s!

“Oh! Oh!—Toruuu’!” You squeal, tears now brimming in your eyes at the overwhelming feeling that is undoubtedly him.

Without warning, you cum. Hole clenching and spasming and coating his lower body in a translucent liquid.

“Hm—hah— I knew you wan—ahn—wanted me!” He mewls, quickly pounding in and out, creating a wet ‘schlick!’ sound.

Oh you’re so perverted! Letting your precious kitty take you like this!

You’ll never live this down.

Satoru doesn’t seem to care.

“Oooh— m’ cumming, nng— masterrr!” He moans, non-stop humping into your creamy pussy, drooling all over you.

“Not—not insideee! Toru’!” You cry out, pushing your hips back to get him off of you, it does the opposite.

His tail wraps around your thigh as he cums. It splurts frantically inside of you, his cock twitching violently as he whines in pleasure.

It’s hot, sticky and definitely a thick load. It feels endless, liquidy rope after rope. But it feels so refreshing.

He pulls out (you didn’t think he would), nuzzling and purring at the nape of your neck. Innocently licking at your tear-stricken cheeks.

…

It’s been so long since you last experienced this pleasure.

You’ll definitely regret this later.

˗ˏˋ — ˎˊ˗

Oh god, why did you do that!

Having sex with a hybrid is just a different type of low, even for you!

Oh jeez, you're just as perverted as him! Oh whywhywhywhy! He was just supposed to be a companion! Not a—

“Mrr, pet meee..” Satoru whines, pawning at your chest. He’s back to his old self again.

Mostly. He’s become more… confident in his abilities over you. Let’s just say after your regrettable (not in his eyes) playtime with him, he has no restraint on mounting you now. The idiots even started humping you in public!

Which is why you’ve been leaving him at home.

Now more than ever, you two spend a lot of time together. Mostly consisting of naps, him licking you, more naps, eating… recreational activities, blah blah blah. He now sleeps on your bed, he’s more like an overstayed one night stand than an exotic cat.

At Least he’s extra cuddly!

[jazziejax]

𝐉𝐮𝐦𝐩𝐢𝐧’

𝐏𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 - Modern AU | Elias ‘Stack’ Moore x Black!OC & Elijah ‘Smoke’ Moore | Modern AU

𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲 - In which two twin gangsters return home after years in Chicago, to 2003 Jackson, Mississippi. Only to find that the chubby, brace-faced tomboy from across the street has grown into a woman they can’t ignore.

𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 - drug use, swearing

𝐉𝐚𝐳𝐳𝐢𝐞’𝐬 𝐍𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬 - something short because I literally have five other Smoke and Stack fics cooking in my drafts

𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭 - 2,178+

𝐌𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 ˖°❀⋆.ೃ࿔*:･

𝐉𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬𝐨𝐧, 𝐌𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐩𝐩𝐢

It always started with noise. Summer in Mississippi wasn’t just heat and humidity—it was loud. Between the swatting screen doors, the bugs flying, kids playing double dutch with mismatched ropes, and the rickety hum of box fans, it was hard to hear yourself think. But for young Juicy, the noise was a comfort… until it wasn’t.

Back in ‘95, Juicy was about eleven, braces still fresh, glasses sliding down her nose every five minutes, and dressed in a floral pattered dress that matches her sisters, though hers fit her more boxier than it did on the older girl. But she didn’t care much about appearances, and it didn’t help that her mama always compared her to her older sister, Sinclair, thin and pretty like the girls in those Jet beauty ads or the ones on the perm boxes. “If only you laid off them pork chops,” was her mama’s idea of encouragement. Her daddy didn’t say much at all.

Juicy found her peace elsewhere—mainly across the street.

The Moore twins, Elias and Elijah—known as Smoke and Stack to others—were about six years older, fast-mouthed, sharp-eyed boys sly grins and problems they never spoke too loudly about. Their father was known around the neighborhood for being the kind of man who left bruises instead of blessings, and their mother was long gone. But the Hall’s took to them like family. Martin, Juicy’s older brother, clicked with them right away over cassette tapes and corner store hustles. Sinclair even crushed on Stack for a while, though he never acted on it.

But it was Juicy—a little awkward, big-bodied, and always scribbling in her notebook—who lingered in the background. She wasn’t really friends with the boys, not like her siblings were. But some days, when things were too loud at her house and Mary, her only friend, couldn’t come out, Smoke would let her sit on the porch with them, passing her a freeze cup and tossing her lazy jokes that made her laugh until her gums showed. Or when Stack would let her old onto him as she rode on back of his bike as he made stops around the neighborhood.

Those little moments were enough. They made her feel seen.

And then, they were gone. Moved up to Chicago when she was fifteen, chasing something bigger—money, maybe, or just a way out. Life moved on. And the city was still as loud as ever.

But in 2003, the block got loud again in their return.

They came back in a long black Lincoln, rolling slow like they owned the pavement. Elias drove, toothpick between his teeth, silver chains glinting in the sun as she rubbed down his waves. Elijah was in the passenger seat, shades low on his nose, hair in tight cornrows. They’d filled out—solid, broad-shouldered men now, still dressed in dark clothes with just enough shine to show they had money. Word spread fast.

Smoke and Stack were home.

First stop was the gas station—for fuel and the liquor store next to it, then the old park where half the benches were gone and the other half were tagged up in Sharpie and knife scratches, looking for their homeboy in his usual spot. A few heads turned, so they dapped up old friends, nodded at familiar faces.

But the real reunion happened on Vernon Street.

Martin Hall was leaned up against his Impala, blunt behind his ear, gold ring glinting. He caught sight of the car before it even parked at the house across the street, and when he caught sight of the men in the car, he instantly grinned.

“Nahhh, I know this ain’t who I think it is.” He shouted, arms already wide open.

Stack stepped out first, grinning, and then Smoke followed. The three embraced like no time had passed at all, Martin falling the men up. Loud laughs, back slaps, the kind of reunion that made neighbors peek through blinds.

“Man, what the hell are yall doing back? And ain’t told a nigga?” Marin asked as he leaned backed against his hood, taking the blunt his girlfriend passed him from her place in his serving seat.

“It was quick to us too, man.” Smoke said, shaking his head a bit. “Them Chiraq niggas different, too much shit going on up there.” He said, placing his hands in the pockets of his black hoodie, his baggy white tee hanging from underneath a bit.

“Money was good, though.” Stack smirked, moving his gaze away from the woman in the car that was eyeing him with a lustful glint in her, to look at the against the hood.

“I bet.” Martin smirked. “I could only imagine what you niggas got up to up there. Especially to come back as fly as that.” He said, nodding over to the cars in front of the boys old home as he blew away the smoke from the blunt.

“Shit, us?” Stack questioned. “Look at you. The jewelry, new whip. Seems money down here moving smooth.”

“Mmm…it’s aight.” Martin shrugged, causing the twins to chuckle with a shake of their heads.

“You know we gotta celebrate.”Martin said, standing from the car a bit as he handed the blunt to his shorty in the car. “Whole block been a bit dry without y’all. Let me throw something together for tonight.” He suggested. “Plus, I gotta clean some paper anyway.” He shrugged, trying to ease the blow of an unexpected gathering upon the men.

Smoke and Stack exchanged a glance before both men looked back at their old friend and shrugged Martin clapped his hands with a smirk. “Aight.” He nodded. “Tracy, go call yo homegirls and shit, tell ‘em to come through while I get shit situated.” He said to the girl in his drivers seat. Tracy didn’t even say anything, she simply got out the car and made her at into the house, bit before making a bit of a show of pulling down her booty shorts. Stack and Smoke exchanged another look at that, but nothing was said further.

Plans were made fast. A block party. Speakers, coolers, grills were pulled out faster than the men could think. Now they just had to get everything jumpin’.

The men sat around Martin’s car catching up, reminiscing on old scams, and laughing at things they never got caught for. Smoke lit a cigarette while Stack leaned back, tapping his fingers on the dashboard.

That’s when they saw her.

Juicy.

She came walking up the sidewalk with Mary next to her, both of them laughing at something too far to hear. Juicy was still thick, but this time, she wore it like armor. Curves hugged up in a baby pink Juicy Couture set, midriff peeking under the hoodie. Her wedged flip flops clicked against the concrete with purpose. Her acrylics—French tips—glinted when she lifted her lollipop to her lips. Lips lined and glossy, brown skin smooth and glowing, gold hoops in her ears catching sun. Her sunglasses were perched on her head, the blonde highlighted tresses in a bun, looking like it just came out of a fresh roller set. It was only when she got closer that they could see that she still had the tiniest gap when she smiled, but now it looked like part of the charm.

Mary had her own vibe—low-rise jeans, rhinestone tank and a high pony—but no one was looking at her. Not the twins at least.

It was Juicy who had the street paused.

Smoke sat up a little straighter. Stack cocked his head. “Lil’ Juicy?” He mumbled.

And just like that, the heat of Mississippi summer wasn’t the loudest thing on the block anymore.

The heat clung to the air, and the bass from someone’s backyard radio pulsed low in the distance. Juicy walked like she owned the sidewalk, hips swaying in perfect rhythm with the click of her heels. She was curvy in all the right places—thicker than the girls on TV, but built with softness and strength that couldn’t be ignored.

Smoke and Stack hadn’t said a word yet. They’d gone still the second they saw her. Not obviously—nothing as sloppy as ogling—but they noticed everything. The gloss, the tips, the squinting, whenever from the sun or her needing her prescription. They both could remember how they used to slide down her nose every few seconds.

She no longer looked like the quiet girl who used to sit on the porch with a notebook. She looked like a woman now. A whole one.

Martin lifted a hand. “Juice! Come say what’s up.” He called out, waving the girl over.

Juicy raised a brow as she stopped at the curb, Mary lingering just behind her. “You actin’ like I don’t live here.”he caused, causing Martin to smack his lips. “You know what I mean.”

Juicy clocked the twins as soon as she approached. But her eyes didn’t widen, she didn’t blink. She just popped that lollipop out her mouth slow, head tilted, and said—

“Well, well. Look who finally came home.” All soft like.

Smoke stepped forward, arms crossed, head tilted just slightly. “Ain’t seen you in years, Juicy.” He said, voice a little lower than usual.

Stack nodded. “You done grown all up now.” He said, his eyes subconsciously giving the girl before him a quick once over, one that had him wanting to trace his eyes over her body again.

Juicy didn’t blush—she never did. She just looked between them, slow and deliberate, then popped the lollipop from her mouth and smiled, tiny gap and all. “Y’all look the same.” She said, though they really didn’t. “Maybe taller. Maybe.” She shrugged, not hiding the way she analyzed the men from head to toe, taking in their otherwise plain street wear, which she knew had to still be a decent penny for.

Martin chuckled. “They back for good. Figured I’d throw a little somethin’ tonight. Let the block know.”

Juicy nodded, barely glancing back at the twins. “That’s cute. I’ll see what’s up.” Then to Mary, “Come on.”

She turned without another word, strutting toward the house, and the two men made it their mission to not look at the rhinestones bedazzled on her booty, reading ‘Juicy’ across the span of the area. Mary, however, lingered just a second longer. Her eyes locked on Stack like she was sizing him up for dessert. No shame at all. She flashed a grin that was all teeth and trouble before jogging up the steps behind Juicy.

When they were gone, Martin lit his blunt, shaking his head. “Y’all look like you saw a ghost.” He said as he blew the smoke out. “Was it Mary? Yeah, I know, still freaks me out a bit to see her down here.” He added, not even waiting for an explanation from them.

Smoke leaned against the hood, eyes still on the porch. “Nah.” He muttered, voice tight. “Yeah, you right. Just didn’t expect that.” He said, though he was simply agreeing to save face.

A few minutes later, it seemed as though this party was about to take off as people began to show up, their drinks of chose and blunts in their clutches. This made Martin head inside to grab more beers while the twins stayed posted at the car, quiet now that the noise of the street settled down.

It was silent between them for a bit before Stack spoke up, not even looking at his brother. “Juicy is far from the girl we left them heard back.” Stack said, rubbing the back of his neck, internally questioning himself over the quick flashes of ‘not so pure’ thoughts he had about the girl he grew up with.

“Yeah.” Smoke replied. “She is.”

They didn’t say anything else for a moment, both thinking the same thing—how time had a funny way of flipping the script. How the girl who used to scribble doodles on everything and watch them from the corner of the porch now walked like she didn’t owe anybody her attention.

Smoke remembered the way she used to listen when he talked—really listen—without judgment or noise. How he used to feel stupid for sharing some of his serpent moments with someone so young. How at first he just needed her for an ear, and she levered that, and when he needed some answers, she was quick to help as well. And she had those same eyes. Soft but knowing. That hadn’t changed.

Stack was still thinking about her walk. The way she didn’t give them a second glance, like she’d seen men like them a thousand times. It didn’t bruise his ego—it just made him curious.

“And I peep she’s got a smart mouth on her now.” He finally said, half a smile on his lips.

Smoke nodded, but his gaze didn’t leave the front door. “Yeah.” He muttered, and that’s all he seemed to be able to say, as if she had rendered him speechless.

Stack’s smirked widen, longing his lips as a thought crossed his mind.

“Wonder who she’s lettin’ have it.”

If you would like to be added to the taglist, comment here.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐬𝐭 & 𝐅𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 🗑️ 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐞 𝐀𝐥𝐥 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬★ ★ ★ ★ ★

[c0s-lettuce]

your orbit

steve harrington x reader

synopsis: amidst a night of board games, junk food and extraordinary company, the only thing steve can think about is you.

→ or the deterioration of steve harrington's mind over the course of an evening.

word count: 4.1k

warnings/tags: fem!reader, set around s4 but no upside down, eddie and robin aren't subtle, steve just really loves you, childhood best friends to strangers to friends, one bed but not really ;)

a/n: i love ex bestie steve! i've been wanting to write for him for a while, so hope i did him justice. joe keery favourite white boy frrr. pls forgive any inaccuracies and thanks for reading <3

part two coming soon!

5 PM

Steve decided to take advantage of having the house to himself. His parents are gone for the week, as they so often are. So, he sent out a few invitations to some of his closest friends. A small get-together, he told them, nothing fancy.

Robin accepted, of course. And Nancy and Jonathan, too. Steve only told Dustin about the party, but he already knew that word would spread to all the other kids.

But Steve has a mini panic attack when he finds out you're coming. He isn't too sure where he stands with you these days. Your friendship has all but rekindled, but Steve is still wary around you, terrified of messing up again. You accepted the invitation, though. That's a good thing. Right?

As Steve waits for people to arrive, he takes out his only activities, a deck of cards and a single board game he received as a gift but never opened. He's relying on his friends with siblings and/or a healthier relationship with their parents to bring more things to do.

He sets out the snacks he bought. Chips and candy are laid out over the island counter in the kitchen, and soda is stacked in the fridge. Steve even sets aside a little stash of what he hopes are still your favourites. He also managed to get his hands on some beer, and there's money set aside for pizza later.

Soon enough, people start showing up. Robin arrives first, followed by Dustin, Lucas and Max. Then Nancy and Jonathan arrive with Mike, Will and El. Then you. And finally, Eddie.

The gaggle of children quickly bee-line for the snacks and games. Steve watches with disdain, knowing there'll be a mess to clean up after. But at least his other guests appear happy to see their gracious host, with you among them.

Steve pretty much shortcircuits when you arrive. You're dressed nicely, and your hair is all pretty. You lean in to give him a quick hug, greeting him fondly. He may as well have cancelled the night then because he's sure his heart stopped for a second.

He only snaps out of it when Eddie arrives, slapping him so hard on the back that it could've been an alternative to the Heimlich maneuver. Suddenly, the population of the house has gone from one to a dozen, and noise and energy immediately replace the prior peace.

Steve quickly realises that he's in for a long night.

6 PM

"So, what's the story between the two of you?" Eddie asks.

Steve blinks, caught off guard by the question. He turns to the other boy, who awaits his answer with a half-curious, half-smug expression.

"Nothing, man," Steve mutters, taking a sip of his beer.

"Nothing, huh?" Eddie smirks. "Is that why you're staring at her like she's the love of your life?"

Steve glares at Eddie, wondering who even invited him. Eddie is the newest addition to the larger friend group. Dustin is very fond of him. And from what Steve has heard, so are you. He's in a few of the same classes as you, and there's a rumour among the kids that you used to be in Hellfire for a semester in your sophomore year.

The thought of you being close to Eddie bothers Steve. He chases the feeling away with another sip.

"Come on, big boy," Eddie nudges him. "We're friends now. You can tell me."

He looks back at you. You're sat around the coffee table with the kids in the middle of a round of Uno. And you look so lovely. You always do. Even the way you're holding the cards is pretty. You're the perfect culmination of everything sweet. No wonder the kids are hogging you.

He looks back at Eddie, who's still regarding Steve with inquisitive and mischievous eyes. Steve considers acquiescing, especially since Eddie is willing to listen. At the very least, it'll give Robin a break from dealing with his usual sulking.

"We were really close in middle school," Steve begins. "Best friends, even. But then I started high school, and... well, you can probably guess the rest."

"Ah," Eddie nods, understanding immediately. "I see."

Steve continues. "We only spent a year apart. And she was so excited to join me. But then-"

"Then King Steve emerged, and you left her in the dirt," Eddie remarks.

Steve cringes at the wording but doesn't refute it. It's an accurate recount of what happened. He knew he was horrible, not just to you but to everyone. He regrets nothing more than abandoning you and letting his so-called friends pick on you. Meanwhile, he stood by, telling himself worthless excuses to justify how things turned out.

You and Steve remained strangers after he left his throne behind. And it probably would've stayed that way if he didn't become coworkers with one Robin Buckley, who had become your new best friend in his absence.

He remembers the days you would visit Scoops Ahoy, mostly to distract Robin and make his job harder. You would often give him quick glances and polite smiles, never going out of your way to talk to him. However, he would occasionally catch your eyes lingering on him.

Robin would tell him you were checking him out, insisting she knew how her best friend thinks. But he was convinced you were judging him for his dumb hat and sailor outfit. Nothing ever made him wish he could crawl into a hole and die more than that.

But suddenly, he was back in your orbit again. And he's never left since.

Turning his attention back to you, Steve watches you play your last card, earning a groan from a few of the other players. You stand up victorious, stepping away from the table to grab another drink from the kitchen.

Steve recognises this as the perfect time to approach you and say something other than the "hey" he offered when you arrived. But just as he's about to muster up the courage, the doorbell rings, indicating the arrival of pizza.

With a sigh and another slap on the back from Eddie, he turns away to retrieve the food.

7 PM

You fit in well with the others. Not that it's a bad thing. It's great, actually. It just reminds Steve how much time has passed and how things have changed. It makes him think of what could've been.

You being best friends with Robin makes more sense than hot chocolate on a rainy day. You're like two peas in a pod. You match each other's energy, and both have a sort of charming madness about you.

The kids obviously like you. Not that their criteria are that high. But it helps that you used to work at the arcade and would give them your spare quarters. Plus, the rumour that you used to be in Hellfire makes you seem like a legend in their eyes.

Even Max likes you. He could tell because you were the one she approached earlier, asking if she could have a beer. You laughed and told her no. She just pouted and accepted it. Steve knew if he told her no, he would've been left with an insult.

You aren't particularly close to Nancy or Jonathan. Still, Steve knew they respected you, which means a lot, especially from someone like Nancy. And, of course, Eddie is... Eddie.

Steve comes to the realisation that he's jealous of everyone at the party. They all have a place in your life, in your heart. He wonders if there's even room left for him. There was a time when he occupied all that space. And it's his own fault that changed. Still, he can't help but hope.

The pizza disperses and disappears quickly. As the others chase their dinner with more snacks and set up another game, Steve remains leaning against the wall. He's so deep in thought that he doesn't notice someone approaching him.

"Steve?"

He flinches at the voice. It's you.

"H-hey," he stutters.

"Hey," you reply. "You okay? You seem a bit... distraught."

Steve takes a second to respond but nods. "Yeah, yeah. I'm good, just thinking."

You tilt your head, sensing more to the story but not wanting to pry. "Alright. Just don't hurt yourself."

Steve chuckles nervously, both relieved and terrified that you're making jokes with him.

You point back towards the coffee table. "The others are about to start a game of Monopoly. Did you want to join?"

He looks towards the group, at Dustin micromanaging how Will sets up the board. At Max and El scheming their game plan, having already picked the token they want to use. And at Mike dragging over his reluctant-looking sister, an amused-looking boyfriend following behind.

Steve knew he ought to join in, having just been standing around all night. But the idea of playing a game about capitalism with a group of kids who took board games way too seriously doesn't appeal to him right now.

So, he shakes his head. "No thanks. You go ahead."

You glance at the others before turning back. "Nah, I'm good. I need a break from getting lectured by Dustin."

Steve snorts. "Yeah, that kid's got a mouth on him. You wouldn't believe how often he tries to give me dating advice."

"He gives you dating advice?" you ask, amused.

"Yeah," Steve answers. "Now that he has a girlfriend, he thinks he's unstoppable. A girlfriend he wouldn't even have if it weren't for me, by the way. I taught him everything he knows."

You laugh and shrug. "Well, maybe you could learn something, Steve. You know, the whole 'student becomes the master' thing?"

Steve lets out a huff. "No, no way. Besides, I don't need a girlfriend when I've got-"

You, he almost says. But he clears his throat and corrects himself.

"Uh, all of you," he states, vaguely gesturing to the party. "My friends, you know?"

His words make you grin. "Aww, Steve-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know," he mumbles. "Just don't tell anyone I said that."

He averts his gaze. His cheeks flush a bit, but he's holding back a smile. He's glad to have gotten that reaction from you.

You're about to tease him some more when Robin's voice interrupts, calling for your help from upstairs.

You sigh, looking back at Steve. "Duty calls. I'll leave you to your thinking."

You give him a cheeky smile before you leave, a smile that makes it seem like you somehow read his mind and found his thoughts amusing. He can only watch as you walk away again.

8 PM

Steve isn't sure how he got here, sitting next to you on the carpet. The Monopoly game was cut short after Lucas and Mike got into a heated argument. And now they've switched to The Game of Life, which hopefully won't cause any fights.

Not only did Steve get roped into playing, he got teamed up with you. You had been calling most of the shots during the game, but when you reached the marriage space, stuck a little pink peg next to the blue one and murmured, "That's us," to Steve... well, it all got a bit confronting for the poor boy.

He felt like a fool, sitting there overthinking two words that likely were said as a joke. Steve had realised a while ago that he loved you. A part of him thinks he always has, ever since the early days of middle school.

But being friends with you again after everything is more than he felt he deserved, so he doesn't expect you to return those feelings just yet. But then you go ahead and say something like that. So casually, too. "That's us." Married. Yeah, right. Either you're cruel, or there's hope for him yet.

Steve manages to calm his emotions a few moments later. But as the game progresses, he continues comparing his life to the little blue peg that was supposedly him.

Steve, in the game, has a college degree, a decently-paying job, a pretty pink peg for a wife (which you've claimed to be you), three peg children and his own house, all while avoiding any mid-life crises.

Steve, in real life, at the ripe age of nineteen, has no idea what he's doing. He's been through at least two quarter-life crises. College is definitely not happening. And he's working a retail job Robin got for him through bribery. At least it came with a better uniform. One which would probably help with picking up girls if the girl he actually wanted wasn't the one currently sitting next to him.

At least now, when you visit Robin at work, you also come to see him. You make eye contact, give him bright smiles, and actually talk to him. And he has to do everything in his god-given power to not lose his mind each time.

But it's not all for nothing. After all, you're a loyal customer of Family Video, and Steve always looks after his patrons (as long as it's you). If he knows you'll be visiting, he'll put on one of your favourite movies on the TV in the store.

He'll also research movies he thinks you'll like, lie and say they're unavailable if someone tries to rent them before he can get them to you. It earns judgment from Robin, but he doesn't care. As long as it makes you happy.

Soon, Steve vows, he'll take you out to see a movie on the big screen. It'll be just the two of you at the back of the theatre with a big bucket of popcorn. He'll pull some cheesy move on you. You'll laugh at him or roll your eyes. Or maybe you'll fall for it. Either way, it'll be perfect.

Steve only checks back into the present when The Game of Life ends. He glances around the table, relieved no one has noticed him daydreaming. Everyone's cars are in the retired space, and Steve catches a glimpse of you and him and your three kids again. But he looks back at the real you as you turn to face him.

Steve is no help as you sort out how much money you ended up with, too busy admiring you instead. You're focused, doing maths in your head and using his lap as a surface to lay out the notes and cards. And somehow, he falls even more in love with you in this moment.

9 PM

The party has diminished, with Nancy and Jonathan having gone home with the kids. Now, just Steve, Robin, Eddie, and you remain. Outside, dark clouds have gathered, showering Hawkins in light rain.

The four of you are finishing the night off with one last card game. You had won, of course. And now Eddie has recruited your help. He has his arm around you, his head pressed against yours, his deck hiding your faces as you conspired his next move.

If Steve didn't know any better, he'd assume you two were a thing. But he does know better. Eddie must be doing this on purpose, trying to make him jealous or something. And it was working. Steve supposed that's what he deserves for trusting Eddie with his deepest, darkest regret.

The card game turns into a one-sided glaring contest, with Robin having to nudge Steve whenever it's his turn. With your help, Eddie finishes second. Robin comes third, and Steve loses the game. But at this point, he isn't even upset about it because it means his suffering is over.

Eddie finally lets go of you, letting out a contented sigh as he stretches his arms above his head.

"Alright," he announces. "I'm calling it a night. You ready to go, Buckley?"

Robin nods. "Yeah, let's head."

The two stand and begin gathering their things.

Eddie looks at you as he puts on his jacket. "You sure you don't want a ride home?"

You shake your head. "I'm good, Eds. You take Robin. My dad should be here soon."

Eddie accepts your answer with a nod, and you catch the slightest hint of a smirk. But you ignore it as you and Steve walk him and Robin to the door. You give them each a hug before they leave.

Robin has an expression you don't fully comprehend as she hugs you back, somewhere between smug and amused. "See you later, nerd. Make good choices, okay?"

You furrow your brow, but she heads out the door before you can ask what she means by that.

As Eddie steps out after her, he looks back at Steve. "Hey, Harrington. Don't do anything I wouldn't do."

He sends Steve a wink, who frowns at the implication of his words. You notice Robin is still giving you that look. You send her a raised eyebrow in return. But no more words are exchanged as the two go their merry way.

"God, they're weird," Steve mutters as he closes the door.

His comment elicits a chuckle from you, which elicits a flutter in his chest. He turns to face you, unable to help the smile that graces his features just by looking at you. But a mildly awkward silence follows as Steve racks his brain on how to proceed now that it's just the two of you.

"You, uh- you want another drink?" he asks.

You smile and nod. "Yeah, sure."

His own smile widens. "Alright. You sit back down, and I'll get us some."

Steve heads into the now almost empty kitchen, grabbing two bottles before finding you again in the living room. You're sitting on the couch, packing up the deck of cards. Steve is momentarily distracted by the way your hands move.

But as he approaches and hands you your drink, he decides to be bold and sits close to you, throwing an arm over the back of the couch. He doesn't even have a millisecond to regret it because he feels you lean into his touch.

Steve revels in the satisfaction.

10 PM

Eddie and Robin seem to have left just in time because the storm picks up only a few minutes after they leave. You and Steve sit and chat for a while as you finish your drinks, and you help Steve clear up the empty cans and scattered wrappers despite him ordering you not to.

But even after everything is cleaned, your father still hasn't arrived. Steve watches as you wait, looking at the time again.

"You're welcome to stay over if that's easier for you," he tells you.

You look over at him, considering his offer. "You don't mind?"

Steve shakes his head. "No, of course not."

He doesn't mind. He doesn't mind at all. In fact, he would prefer it. He's used to being alone for days at a time. But it's a bit harrowing going from twelve people to just one, especially in a big empty house during a storm. Yes, he definitely wants you to stay.

"Okay," you say, "I'll just call my parents and ask what's happening."

Steve nods as you walk over to the phone and call home. It rings for a bit before someone picks up.

"Hello?" your mother's voice greets you.

"Hey, mom," you reply. "It's me."

The pitch of her voice changes immediately upon hearing your voice. "Hi, darling! Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I just wanted to check if dad was still coming to pick me up?" you ask.

There's a pause before your mom groans. "Oh, I'm so sorry. We completely forgot. We had a lot of wine for dinner. I can go get him now."

"It's no big deal, mom," you interject. "The storm's getting pretty bad anyway. Steve said I could stay over."

Again, your mother's cadence changes, but you don't need to question why. You know she's always been a fan of Steve.

"Okay, darling," she responds. "That sounds like a good idea. You two take care, alright?"

You resist rolling your eyes, even though she's not around to see it. "Yeah, you too, mom. Bye."

Your mom bids you farewell, and you hang up the phone.

Steve, who waits patiently nearby, takes this as his cue to speak up. "You staying?"

You look over at him and nod. "I'm staying."

"Okay, great," Steve smiles. "You can take my room. I'll go in the guest bedroom."

"What? Steve, no," you say. "You don't have to do that. I'll take the guest bedroom."

"No, really," he insists. "It's cold and uncomfortable in there. Trust me."

"I'm the guest, Steve. I'll go in the guest bedroom," you respond.

"No, not happening," he states.

You frown. "I'm not letting you give up your room."

Steve crosses his arms. "Well, I'm not letting you stay in the guest bedroom."

There's a pause in the conversation as the two of you stare each other down, hoping the other will fold.

When neither of you do, you make another suggestion. "Alright. How about we just share your bed?"

Steve raises his eyebrows. "Uh, you- really? Are you sure?"

You shrug. "Yeah, I mean... we used to do it all the time as kids, right?"

It's true. You did. There were countless nights when you would pass out in bed together, having stayed up watching movies or spent the entire day in the pool.

"Okay," Steve agrees. "Let's do that then."

"Great," you say.

"Great," he replies.

Yeah... great.

11 PM

Don't freak out. Don't freak out. Don't freak out.

That's all Steve could repeat in his head. He's lying on his back, staring up at the ceiling while you're beside him. He forgot to factor in how the both of you have grown considerably since middle school, meaning there's less space between you now.

Don't freak out. Don't freak out. Don't fr-

"You know," you break the silence. "I forgot how weird your plaid wallpaper was."

Steve furrows his brow, his distress momentarily forgotten as he turns to look at you.

"It's not weird," he says defensively.

"It's pretty weird," you reply before looking at him. "But it's cool."

As your gaze meets his, he feels his nervousness rushing back. You look so soft and cozy in his bed, wearing his shirt. And you're smiling at him as if you knew the funniest joke in the world and you were about to tell it to him.

He lets a beat of silence pass before clearing his throat. "Did you have fun today?"

"Yeah, I did," you answer genuinely. "You?"

"Yeah," Steve replies. "It's nice having people around."

You nod in response, remembering how his parents would send him over to live with your family whenever they would go away. As much as he loved being able to spend time with you, you knew he hated being left behind.

"How long are your parents gone for this time?" you ask.

"Just until the end of the week," he tells you.

You nod again. "You've been faring up by yourself?"

He shrugs. "I don't mind it. They've been on my back a lot recently. Honestly, I needed the break."

"Right," you reply. "So not much has changed."

Steve lets out a humourless laugh. "Nope. It's been hell since I graduated last year."

You frown at his words. "I guess that's not surprising."

"Yeah, I don't know," he pauses for a second before continuing, his voice quieter. "Sometimes, I think they have a point."

You pause as well, trying to gauge what he's thinking. "You shouldn't let them get to you, Steve."

He sighs. "I know. But what if they're right, you know, about me?"

"They're not. I promise you," you reassure him.

Steve turns to look at you again, almost like he's searching for your sincerity.

You give him a smile. "You'll be alright, Steve. I know it."

Steve can't help but smile back. You sound so earnest that he's inclined to believe you. Besides, you're here with him right now. So, he must be doing something right.

You fall into a comfortable silence. There's barely any noise this late at night to disrupt it. After a few moments, you let out a yawn.

"Ugh, man. I'm so sleepy," you mumble.

"You should get some rest," he responds. "I still remember how grumpy you get in the morning."

You give him a deadpan look. "Gee, thanks."

Steve chuckles. "Just telling the truth."

Your feigned expression breaks as you laugh along, too. Steve cherishes every second of the moment before it fades away.

You yawn again. "Alright then. Goodnight, Steve."

"Goodnight, sweetheart," he replies.

The room falls silent again. Steve lets out a deep breath and closes his eyes. Despite the uncertainty, a smile still lingers on his lips. A million things could change tomorrow. But for now, at least, you're still by his side.

[satellite-evans]

best friends

Pairing: Lando Norris x reader

Summary: Lando becomes best friends with your daughter after taking care of her when she's sick <3

Word count: 4.6k+

Warnings: fluff

A/N:

English is not my first language, so I apologize if I made any (grammar) mistakes. Feedback, requests, talks, vents, recommendations or just simple questions are always welcome.

Happy reading xxx

I do NOT give permission for my work to be translated or reposted on here or any other site.

It was one of those rainy mornings when everything seemed to move in slow motion. The sky was a dull shade of gray, and raindrops trickled down the windowpane, blurring the outside world into a watercolor painting. The sound of distant thunder rolled through the air, a reminder that the storm had settled in for the day.

You stood in your living room, fingers wrapped around a warm cup of coffee, the steam curling up into the air like a ghost of comfort. The aroma was rich, but the exhaustion clinging to your bones made it hard to appreciate. You took a slow sip, hoping the caffeine would work some magic, but the fatigue from the sleepless night refused to loosen its grip.

On the couch, your four-year-old daughter, Sophie, was curled up beneath a thick blanket, her tiny form barely stirring. Her usually bright, mischievous eyes were shut tight, her breathing soft but uneven. Her cheeks were flushed with fever, her little hands gripping the edge of the blanket like it was the only thing tethering her to comfort.

You exhaled, rubbing a hand over your face. The night had been long—hours spent checking her temperature, pressing cool cloths to her forehead, whispering reassurances into the dark. She had tossed and turned, whimpering in her sleep, too warm, too restless, too sick to find peace. And now, in the quiet of the morning, you were running on fumes, your body heavy with exhaustion, but there was no choice.

You couldn’t call in sick. Not again.

Your boss had been understanding the last time, but you knew there was only so much flexibility they could offer. And as much as you hated it, bills didn’t pause for feverish nights or exhausted single mothers. You had to push through. That’s what you always did.

Your gaze flickered to the clock. Less than an hour before your meeting.

Your stomach tightened as reality settled in—there was no way you could leave Sophie alone, not like this. The thought of walking out that door while she lay there, weak and vulnerable, made your chest ache with guilt. But what choice did you have?

You chewed your lip, fingers tightening around your phone. There was one person who might be able to help. Someone you weren’t sure you could ask yet.

Lando.

Your relationship was still new, fresh enough that you hesitated before burdening him with something this big. But he had always been kind, always made you feel like you weren’t alone in this, even when you were too scared to believe it. And right now, you needed help.

You took a breath and started typing.

Hey, Lando… Sophie is really sick today, and I have to go to work. I know this might be a lot, but… I don’t know who else to ask. Would you be able to help out for a bit? xxx

Your thumb hovered over the send button for a second, doubt creeping in. Was this too much? Would he feel obligated? Would this change things between you?

But there was no time to second-guess. You pressed send.

The seconds stretched unbearably as you waited for his response. You took another sip of coffee, your throat tight, your mind racing through backup plans—plans you didn’t have. Your gaze drifted back to Sophie, her small frame so fragile, her body lost in the folds of the blanket. She needed you. But she also needed the roof over her head, the food on her plate, the security you worked so hard to provide.

Then, finally, the ping of a message.

Your heart jumped as you unlocked your phone, your breath catching as you read his reply.

Don’t worry, I got you! I’ll take care of her. You’ve got nothing to stress about. I’ll be there in 10 minutes xxx

You let out a sigh of relief, but a small knot still formed in your stomach. The idea of leaving Sophie in someone else’s care, especially someone as new to your life as Lando, felt a little strange. It wasn’t that you didn’t trust him—you did. He had always been kind, patient, and effortlessly good with people. But Sophie wasn’t just anyone. She was your whole world, and handing over even a sliver of responsibility for her well-being wasn’t easy.

Still, you had no choice.

Not long after, a soft knock at the door broke through your anxious thoughts. You took a deep breath before opening it, finding Lando standing there, a concerned but reassuring smile on his face. He looked effortlessly casual in a hoodie and sweats, hands tucked into his pockets as if this was just another normal day.

“Hey,” he greeted, stepping inside. “How’s our little patient doing?”

You led him into the living room, where Sophie woke up and was curled up on the couch, watching TV with tired, glassy eyes. Although she was awake, she barely moved, fully focused on what was happening indient of her. The moment she saw Lando, she peeked up at him before quickly hiding her face in the folds of fabric, too shy to say anything.

You sighed, kneeling beside her and brushing her hair back gently. Her forehead was still too warm beneath your touch. “She’s still really warm,” you murmured, more to yourself than anyone else. Then, turning back to Lando, you handed him a small notepad filled with your rushed, yet meticulous, handwriting. “I wrote down everything you need to know.”

Lando took the notepad, his eyes scanning over it with careful focus as you continued.

“Her medicine is here—one dose every six hours. She won’t eat much when she’s sick, but she loves toast with honey and banana slices or the tomato soup in the fridge. She also only drinks apple juice or water, but try to get her to drink more water.”

Lando nodded, already taking mental notes. “Got it. Medicine, toast with honey and bananas, apple juice, and lots of water.”

You glanced down at Sophie, who remained silent but was clearly listening. “She likes Peppa Pig, but her favorite is Bluey,” you added, lowering your voice like it was a secret just for him.

At that, Lando chuckled. “Ah, a kid with taste. Oscar loves it too. Bluey it is.”

You smiled, appreciating how quickly he was absorbing everything. “She’s really shy at first, but once she warms up, she won’t stop talking.”

He grinned. “Challenge accepted.”

Your expression softened. “She also hates loud noises when she’s sick, so keep things quiet.” You hesitated before adding, “And… just call me if anything happens. Anything at all.”

“I will,” he assured you, his voice steady and certain. “You don’t have to worry. We’re going to be just fine.”

You wanted to believe that, and maybe you did, but leaving still felt wrong.

You turned back to Sophie, kneeling beside her once more. Her tiny frame barely shifted beneath the blanket, but when you smoothed her hair away from her face, she blinked up at you, her watery eyes full of unspoken words.

“I’ll be back soon, sweetheart,” you promised, pressing a gentle kiss to her warm forehead. “Be good for Lando, okay?”

Sophie’s lower lip trembled, and she clutched the blanket tighter. “I want you to stay,” she whispered, her voice barely more than a breath.

Your heart clenched painfully. You stroked her cheek, trying to fight the wave of guilt rising in your chest. “I know, baby,” you murmured. “I know. But I have to go to work, okay? Lando’s going to stay with you. He’s really nice, remember?”

She didn’t answer right away, her little fingers playing with the edge of the blanket. Then, slowly, she gave a tiny nod. It wasn’t much, but it was enough.

Lando crouched beside you, keeping his voice soft and light. “You know, Sophie, I was actually thinking I could use some help today.”

Sophie peeked at him through her lashes, wary but curious.

“You see,” he continued, as if sharing an important secret, “I don’t know the first thing about Bluey. And I heard you’re the expert. Think you can teach me?”

For a moment, there was nothing. But then, finally, Sophie nodded again, just a fraction more certain this time.

You let out a breath you hadn’t realized you were holding.

Giving her one last kiss on the forehead, you stood, grabbing your bag and coat. Before heading out the door, you turned to Lando one last time, meeting his gaze with quiet gratitude.

“Thank you,” you said softly, your voice thick with emotion.

His smile was warm, unwavering. “Anytime.”

For the first hour, Sophie was quiet, keeping her distance on the couch while Lando sat nearby. He didn’t push her to talk, didn’t try to force a connection—he simply sat beside her, arms resting casually on his knees, watching Bluey with an easy, relaxed expression.

The sound coming from the TV filled the quiet space between them, the rain outside creating a gentle rhythm against the windows. Every so often, he could feel her eyes on him—brief, cautious glances before she quickly looked away, burying herself deeper into her blanket.

Lando pretended not to notice at first, letting her come to him in her own time. But when he caught another quick peek out of the corner of his eye, he finally spoke, keeping his voice light and playful.

“You know,” he mused, as if sharing a secret, “I have a friend named Bluey.”

Sophie blinked at him, intrigued but skeptical. “You do?” she asked softly, her voice raspy from sleep.

“Yup,” he nodded, a grin tugging at his lips. “She’s blue, just like this Bluey, but she’s actually a little stuffed toy my friend keeps in his car for good luck.”

Sophie’s lips twitched, and then, to Lando’s delight, she giggled—a quiet, sleepy little laugh, but still, a laugh.

“That’s funny,” she murmured, curling further into the blanket.

Lando grinned, feeling the tension between them start to melt away.

A little while later, when Sophie’s tummy let out a small grumble, he took it as his cue.

“Sounds like someone’s ready for a snack,” he teased, standing up and stretching dramatically.

Sophie hesitated before nodding. “Toast,” she mumbled, rubbing at her tired eyes.

“Coming right up, ma’am,” Lando said with a playful salute, making her giggle again.

He moved into the kitchen, following the notes you had left. He spread a thin layer of honey over the warm toast, slicing up a banana just the way you had instructed. As he placed the plate in front of Sophie, he watched with amusement as she immediately picked at the crust first, nibbling at the edges before moving onto the softer center.

He tilted his head, noticing how familiar the habit seemed. Then it hit him.

“You eat your toast like your mommy does,” he remarked casually.

Sophie paused mid-bite, eyes flicking up to him in surprise. “Like mommy?”

Lando nodded. “Yup. First time I saw her do it, I thought maybe she was just being fancy. But now I know—it’s a family thing.”

Sophie seemed to like that answer because she grinned before taking another bite.

A few moments later, she pouted slightly as honey dripped onto her fingers. Lando reached for a wet napkin, handing it to her with an amused smirk.

“Sticky fingers, huh?” he teased.

She nodded solemnly, wiping her hands with small, deliberate movements. “Mommy doesn’t like sticky fingers either.”

Lando chuckled, leaning back into the couch. “You and your mommy are a lot alike, you know?”

At that, Sophie smiled—really smiled this time—and it was the kind of smile that made Lando’s chest feel unexpectedly full. She looked at him for a moment, her tiny body finally relaxing as if she had decided he was safe. Then, with a small yawn, she snuggled deeper into the blanket, inching closer to his side.

Just as her eyelids started to droop, she mumbled sleepily, “Mommy says you has pretty eyes.”

Lando’s eyebrows shot up in surprise, a slow smirk creeping onto his face. “Oh, really?”

Sophie nodded, her voice barely above a whisper. “She told her best friend, Louisa. She said they’re ‘so dreamy.’”

Lando chuckled, shaking his head in amusement. “Did she now?”

Sophie made a soft noise of agreement, already half-asleep. “She likes you.”

Lando’s heart swelled at her innocent words, warmth spreading through him in a way he hadn’t expected. He glanced down at her peaceful face, looking exactly like you.

Gently, he brushed a stray curl from her forehead and whispered, “I like her too.”

As the day stretched on, Sophie’s initial shyness melted away, replaced by giggles and small moments of trust.

At first, she was cautious—watching Lando out of the corner of her eye as he sat on the floor beside her tiny play area. But with patience and gentle encouragement, he managed to pull her into small activities. They built a pillow fort in the living room, carefully stacking cushions and draping a blanket overhead to create a cozy hideout.

“This is the best castle ever,” Lando announced dramatically, lying on his back inside their creation. “I think we should declare this as The Kingdom of Sophie.”

Sophie giggled, adjusting the stuffed animals she had lined up as “guards” at the fort’s entrance. “And you can be the knight,” she declared.

Lando gasped, clutching his chest. “Me? A knight? That’s a huge responsibility.” He leaned in with a conspiratorial whisper. “Do I get a sword?”

Sophie considered this very seriously before nodding. “But only a soft sword,” she said, picking up a plush toy and handing it to him. “No hitting, just protecting.”

Lando chuckled, accepting the stuffed animal with a solemn nod. “I will guard this kingdom with my life.”

After their castle adventures, Sophie pulled out her collection of books, choosing her favorites and snuggling into Lando’s side as he read to her. She listened intently, her little fingers playing with the hem of his hoodie while he brought each story to life with silly voices and exaggerated expressions.

“You’re funny,” she told him at one point, peeking up at him with a sleepy smile.

“I try to be,” Lando admitted. “But between you and me, I think you’re the funniest one here.”

She giggled again, clearly pleased.

Later in the afternoon, when her energy dipped, they settled at the coffee table for a quiet coloring session. Lando grabbed a handful of crayons while Sophie carefully worked on her masterpiece.

“What are you drawing?” he asked, peering over her shoulder.

Sophie held up the paper proudly, revealing a childlike drawing of three stick figures. One was clearly her, with curly scribbles for hair, another was you, and the last one—labeled “Lando” in wobbly letters—stood right beside you.

Lando’s heart clenched in the best way possible. “Wow,” he said, genuinely touched. “This might be the best drawing I’ve ever seen.”

Sophie beamed. “It’s Mommy and you! And me!”

“I love it,” he told her, nudging her playfully. “You’re a real artist, Soph.”

After a fun-filled afternoon of pillow forts, storybooks, and coloring, Lando noticed Sophie beginning to slow down. Her energy had dipped significantly, her tiny body slumping against the couch as she blinked sluggishly at the TV.

He frowned, reaching out to feel her forehead the way he had seen you do earlier. The warmth against his palm made his stomach twist uncomfortably—she was still running a fever.

“Alright, kiddo,” he murmured, brushing a stray curl away from her face. “Time for a little check-up.”

Sophie groaned, her response muffled by the blanket she had pulled up over her nose. “Noooo.”

Lando chuckled. “Come on, your mom left me very strict instructions to make sure you’re feeling okay. I don’t mess around when it comes to doctor duties.”

Sophie peeked out, her cheeks flushed from the fever. “Are you a real doctor?”

Lando gasped dramatically. “Excuse me? I’ll have you know I am Dr. Lando, and I am very serious about my job.” He reached for the thermometer you had left on the coffee table. “Now, open up, little miss.”

She pouted but obeyed, letting him slip the thermometer under her tongue. Lando sat patiently, watching the numbers climb before it beeped. He pulled it out, checking the screen.

“Not bad, but still warm, Soph,” he murmured, concern flickering in his eyes.

Sophie just hummed sleepily, curling further into her blanket.

Lando glanced at the notepad of instructions you had left, then back at her. “Alright, first order of business—water. Your mom said you have to drink some, and I’d rather not get fired on my first day as a babysitter.”

Sophie groaned but didn’t argue when he grabbed her little cup of water and held it out to her.

“Just a few sips, okay?” he coaxed. “I’ll even let you have a super exclusive VIP sip while sitting in the fort.”

That got her attention. She let out a weak giggle before reaching for the cup with small, clumsy fingers. Lando helped guide it to her lips, watching as she took a few tiny sips before wrinkling her nose.

“Bleh,” she mumbled.

Lando smirked. “Not a water fan, huh?”

She shook her head, but Lando tapped the cup gently. “I get it, but we gotta make sure you don’t turn into a little raisin.”

Sophie giggled at that, taking one more sip before handing the cup back.

“Good job, kiddo,” he praised.

Next came the medicine, which was a slightly tougher battle.

“Noooo,” Sophie whined, pulling the blanket over her head when she saw Lando grabbing the small bottle.

Lando sighed, shaking his head. “C’mon, Soph. Your mom told me you have to take this.”

“Don’t wanna.”

“Okay, what if I take some too?” Lando bargained.

Sophie peeked out, squinting at him. “You don’t have a fever.”

“Yeah, but I feel like I could be getting one,” he said with mock seriousness. “Better to be safe, right?”

She stared at him for a moment, considering his words. “…Okay.”

Lando grinned in victory and poured the correct dose into the little plastic cup. He handed it to her, watching as she took it hesitantly before scrunching her face at the taste.

“Bleh,” she groaned again.

“Yeah, medicine’s the worst,” Lando agreed, setting the cup aside. “But you’re a champ.”

Satisfied that he had followed your instructions, he helped tuck her back into the couch, adjusting the blanket so she was snug and warm.

He sat beside her, ruffling her curls lightly. “Feeling any better?”

Sophie hummed, rubbing her eyes sleepily. “A little.”

“That’s good,” he murmured, watching as she yawned and curled closer to him. He reached for the remote, lowering the TV volume. “Alright, you just rest now, okay? I got you.”

Sophie peeked up at him, blinking slowly, her eyelids heavy with sleep. “Mommy was right,” she whispered, her voice thick with drowsiness.

Lando tilted his head, raising an eyebrow as he tried to hide a small smile. “About what?” he asked softly, not wanting to disturb the peaceful moment.

She yawned again, her tiny body curling further into the warmth of the blanket. “You’re nice,” she mumbled, her voice barely above a whisper. “And you’re officially my new best friend.”

A warmth spread through Lando's chest, more than just the gentle feeling of Sophie’s innocent words. He smiled to himself, his fingers brushing a stray curl from her forehead as he whispered, “That’s an honor, kiddo. You’re my new best friend too.” His voice was so soft, so sincere, and Sophie’s breathing soon evened out, signaling that she was finally drifting into a peaceful sleep.

Lando stayed where he was, right by her side. The room was quiet, save for the soft sound of Sophie’s breathing. He glanced around the room, ensuring she was comfortable—making sure the blanket was tucked just right, keeping the environment as calm and secure as possible. He knew how much you’d want this—how much you’d want her to feel safe and loved.

And just as you walked through the door, everything around you seemed still, frozen in a sense of calm that made your heart swell in a way that took you by surprise. The living room was serene. The TV played softly in the background, a nature documentary flickering in the corner, but all your attention was drawn to the sight before you. There, curled up against Lando’s side, was Sophie—utterly content, her tiny hand resting trustingly on his arm. The sight was simple but perfect. She had found comfort in Lando's presence, just like she always found in yours.

You stopped in the doorway for a long moment, frozen by the unexpected tenderness of the scene. Lando moved with such deliberate care, adjusting the blanket around Sophie’s shoulders. He tucked it in gently, making sure she was warm and settled in, completely unaware of how much it all made your heart swell.

It was a moment of quiet beauty, and you couldn’t help but feel a soft rush of emotion rise in your chest.

Lando caught the sound of your footsteps and looked up. His lips curved into a quiet smile, one that spoke volumes without needing words. “Hey,” he whispered, careful not to disturb Sophie. “She did great today.”

You set down your bag, your voice warm with admiration. “Looks like you did too.” Your gaze softened as you looked at them, the scene too peaceful not to melt your heart.

Sophie stirred, the gentle sound of your voice pulling her from the last remnants of sleep. Her eyelids fluttered open, and she blinked a few times before her tired gaze landed on you. Her little voice was still thick with sleep when she murmured, “Mommy…”

You knelt down beside her, brushing a few stray curls from her forehead. “Hey, sweetheart. Did you have a good nap?” you asked softly, your heart full.

Sophie stretched slightly, but stayed nestled against Lando, unwilling to leave the safety of his side. Her eyes were still heavy with sleep as she spoke again, her words slow and deliberate. “Lando’s funny,” she said with a yawn. “And he said Bluey is his friend.”

You chuckled softly, amused by her observations. “Did he take good care of you?” you asked, a teasing smile tugging at your lips.

Sophie nodded, rubbing her eyes sleepily. “Mhm,” she murmured, her voice drowsy but content. “And…” She paused, clearly considering her next words carefully, before her face shifted into a mischievous little smile. “He has dreamy eyes. Just like you said.”

Your whole body locked up, the blood rushing to your cheeks in an instant. Your heart skipped, and your mouth went dry. Your mind raced as you scrambled for a response, but no words came out. Instead, you opened your mouth—then closed it—before finally opening it again, only to find yourself completely lost for words.

Lando, on the other hand, had zero plans of letting this moment pass without teasing you mercilessly.

His smirk spread slowly, his eyes glinting with amusement as he turned to you. “So… dreamy, huh?” he teased, his voice low and full of mischief.

You groaned, immediately burying your face in your hands. “Oh my God, Sophie,” you whined, your voice muffled by your palms. “I’m never speaking in front of her again.”

Lando chuckled, clearly enjoying every second of your embarrassment. “No, no,” he teased, “don’t stop now. I’m very interested in this topic.” His voice was playful, but there was a warmth in it that made you feel as though he wasn't teasing in a hurtful way—just in a way that made everything feel even more genuine.

You shot him a playful glare, your cheeks still burning with heat. “I hate you,” you muttered, but the words came out softer than intended.

Lando reached over and gently took your hand in his, his fingers squeezing yours. The teasing smile faded into something warmer, something more sincere. “Don’t worry,” he murmured, his voice low and tender. “I think it’s adorable.”

You exhaled, still flustered but unable to stop the smile that tugged at the corners of your mouth. It was impossible not to feel a little bit lighter with him beside you.

Lando lifted your hand and pressed a soft, playful kiss to your knuckles. “And just so you know,” he added, his voice dropping to a playful whisper, “I think your eyes are pretty dreamy too.”

Eventually, as much as you secretly didn’t want him to, Lando had to go. It was already getting late, and though Sophie had been asleep earlier, she was now awake and clinging to his hoodie with surprising strength for a four-year-old.

“Nooo,” she whined, her lower lip jutting out in the most dramatic pout. “Don’t go, stay.”

Lando smiled gently, crouching down to her level. “Hey, I’ll come back, okay? I promise.”

Sophie crossed her arms, her little face scrunching up in stubborn defiance. “Pinkie promise?”

Lando grinned, holding out his pinkie. “The strongest pinkie promise ever.”

She eyed him for a moment before looping her tiny pinkie around his. “You have to come back soon.”

“I will,” he assured her. “And next time, we’ll build an even bigger pillow fort.”

Sophie gasped as if that was the greatest thing she had ever heard. “With lights?”

Lando chuckled. “With lights. And a secret entrance. And maybe even some snacks.”

Sophie giggled, finally releasing his hoodie. “Okay… but don’t take too long.”

Lando ruffled her curls. “Deal.”

Sophie then turned to you and grabbed your hand. “Come, Mommy. You have to walk him to the door.”

Lando arched a brow, clearly amused. “Oh, do I get an escort?”

Sophie nodded seriously. “Mommy has to say goodbye properly.”

Your cheeks warmed again, but you didn’t argue, letting Sophie lead the way as the three of you walked to the door.

When you reached it, Sophie turned to Lando. “Bye-bye, Lando.”

He smiled, bending down to give her a quick hug. “Bye, kiddo. Sleep tight, okay?”

Sophie nodded before stepping back, watching intently as if she was expecting something.

Lando turned to you, his expression softening. “Thanks for trusting me with her today.”

You exhaled, offering him a small, genuine smile. “Thank you. I don’t know what I would’ve done without you.”

Lando took a small step closer, tilting his head slightly. “Anytime.”

For a moment, you both just stood there, caught in the quiet, comfortable tension between you.

And then, before you could second-guess yourself, you leaned up and pressed a soft, lingering kiss to his cheek.

Lando froze for half a second, his breath hitching ever so slightly—but when you pulled back, his lips stretched into the slowest, most heart-melting smile you had ever seen.

“Was that a thank-you?” he teased, though his voice was lower, warmer.

You laughed softly. “Maybe.”

His eyes flickered between yours, something unspoken passing between you, before he lifted a hand and gently tucked a loose strand of hair behind your ear. His fingers lingered just a little longer than necessary.

“I really like being here,” he admitted quietly.

You swallowed, your heart skipping a beat. “I really like you being here.”

And then, before you could completely process it, Lando leaned in, brushing his lips against yours in a slow, tender kiss.

It was soft and warm, hesitant yet sure, the kind of kiss that left no doubt about where things were heading between you.

When he finally pulled away, his forehead rested lightly against yours, a quiet chuckle escaping him. “So… should I expect Sophie to tell you stuff about me too?”

You groaned, laughing against him. “Oh God, she totally will.”

Lando grinned, pressing one more quick kiss to your lips before pulling back. “Guess that’s a risk I’m willing to take.”

From behind you, Sophie giggled. “Mommy likes you sooo much.”

You buried your face in your hands. “Sophie.”

Lando only laughed, giving your hand one last squeeze before stepping outside. “See you soon.”

And as he walked down the path, you stood in the doorway with Sophie, watching him go—your heart already longing for the moment he would come back.

[multiversediaries]

MORE THAN FRIENDS

⤷ FRANK CASTLE X READER

Summary: After overhearing a conversation between Matt and Karen, you find comfort in the arms of the big, bad Punisher.

Warnings: mentions of cheating, small angst, soft, and i mean, VERY soft frank

Part count: 1/?

A/N: i loved, loved, LOVED! writing this!!!!! i hope u guys like it as much as i do ^-^ apologies for any mistakes! english is not my first language!

“Why aren’t you listening to me?” You heard Matt’s voice from outside of their office. You had just came back into the office, after looking more into a few cases you were all working on. You were eager to share the information you acquired to both your boyfriend, Matt, and Foggy.

“You are in a relationship, Matthew. This is insane.” Karen soon spoke up. You raised your ears in curiosity. Were they talking about you? You leaned into the door, trying to listen into their conversation.

You have been in a loving relationship with Matt for about two years now. You met him while working at his law firm, and ultimately fell for him. Who wouldn’t? Matt is a dream come true. It didn’t make you uncomfortable to know that his ex girlfriend, Karen, also worked along side Matt, since you knew he loved you. He reminded you every single day of how much he loved and appreciated you. He never gave you a reason to doubt him.

“Y/N? God, Karen. Can’t you see? She means nothing— not next to you.” Matt said, your heart sinking at his words. No, this isn’t the Matt you knew. The Matt you knew and fell in love with would never speak of you like this. No.. he loved you. He told you every day.

He loved you… right?

“You don’t mean that, Matt.” Karen replied softly. You could sense pity in her voice for you.

“Y/N… she’s lovely. She really is— she’s so good to me, but she’s not you. She will never be you.”

You heard Karen reply, but you weren’t paying attention anymore. You bit your bottom lip, hiding your silent cries, and shuttering breaths. You started to walk away from the office, not daring to even look back. You were grateful it was usually noisy around the office during that time, so Matt wouldn’t have been able to hear you.

You stood in the middle of the sidewalk, finally allowing yourself to hurt. Tears streamed down your face, painful sobs leaving your throat. The stares of people didn’t matter to you. How could he? How could you have been so naive? It was all too good to be true, and you knew this. You knew it was, yet you brushed it off. Just thinking this was the universe finally letting you be happy, for once. How naive.

You walked around the streets of Hell’s Kitchen. not having a place to go. You shared the apartment with Matt. You couldn’t go to Karen, or Foggy. Gosh, where were you going to sleep for tonight? Those were the only people you truly trusted and knew. You didn’t have any family left in Hell’s Kitchen. No one.

As you walked around town, flashbacks kept replaying in your head. Walking past that italian restaurant Matt loved so much, the small bar Matt liked playing pool in, the park Matt loved taking walks with you at, everything reminded you of him. You closed your eyes in defeat, as you felt small rain drops fall on your skin.

Just what you needed.

But even then, it was comforting. You always liked how the city looked during rainy nights. It brought you peace and now, consolation. You walked around the streets you loved so much, an emotionless expression in your face. You felt empty. You felt so pathetic, and like you had wasted two years of your life. Two years of nothing but what you thought was happiness and love. But it was just a fantasy. A delusion. Fiction. It just wasn’t real, nothing was real. You weren’t Karen. You didn’t have as much history with Matt as Karen did. You just weren’t her.

While you continued to walk, your tears now hidden in the rain, giving you the freedom to let go, to cry as much as you pleased, you heard a name you hadn’t heard in a while.

The Punisher.

Frank Castle. The man who once saved your life. The man who seemed to care so deeply about you. A long lost friend. You lost communication with him a few months ago. It was nothing new, Frank traveled a lot, he never truly stayed at one place for too long. You didn’t know he was back, as he hadn’t told you. He’d always find a way to contact you, to let you know he was alive and well. Most of the times, he simply got you flowers. He knew how much you liked them. So he wanted to be associated with something you liked so much.

You soon found yourself at his front door. Terrified he wouldn’t be home. After composing yourself, or at least trying to, you knocked twice on his door. You bit your lip, looking down anxiously.

Please be home, Frank. Please.

After a few minutes of silence, that sense of hope inside of you started to die down. He wasn’t home. Of course he wasn’t home. You let out a breathy chuckle, shaking your head. Again, how fucking naive. You wiped your teary, swollen eyes, and turned around on your heels, starting to walk away from his door. You began thinking of where you could spend the night. If anything, you could wait under they all leave the office, and you could sleep there.

“Y/N?” You heard a deep, raspy voice call out behind you, interrupting your thoughts. You could have sworn your heart stopped. You turned around slowly, finding Frank.

“You’re home…” You managed to whisper, earning a cautious nod from Frank.

“Everything okay, doll? What’s goin’ on?” Frank asked, his eyes scanning you, looking for any injuries on you. His expression softening at the sight of a broken you.

You opened your mouth to speak, yet nothing came out. You faked a smile, wiping your eyes once again. Frank’s heart tightened. He slowly began making his way to you. Your smile soon turned into a frown, small sobs leaving your lips. You couldn’t stop yourself from breaking down in front of him. Loud, and sore wails filling the hall you both were standing on.

Frank didn’t say a word either, he only embraced you into a tight hug. His strong arms stroking your back lovingly, as he held you together, knowing that if he let go, you’d fall apart right in front of him. Once he noticed your cries had calmed down, he finally spoke up.

“Let’s change you out of these wet clothes.” He spoke lightly, guiding you into his apartment. He closed the door behind him, leading you into the bathroom. He brought some of his clothes for you, and a towel.

“Take a warm bath, and then we’ll talk if you want to, alright?” Frank said, before offering you a small, pitiful grin, and closing the door. You took off the damped clothes and jumped into the shower, instantly relaxing as soon as the hot water touched your cold skin.

Frank could hear your whimpers and cries from his living room, where he impatiently waited for you. He had never seen you like this. His heart felt heavy while looking into your blood red, swollen eyes, your quivering lips and broken expression. He sighed harshly, remembering how cold you felt when he held you into his arms, how much you were shaking. He quickly stood up, gathering warm blankets for you. He also prepared warm chocolate for you, your favorite kind, in hopes of lifting your spirits, even if it’s just a little.

He must have gotten too caught up in trying to make you feel comfortable, that he didn’t notice you. You stood by the counter of his kitchen, wearing one of his t-shirts and long pants, which were most definitely a little big on you. He smiled just a bit, once he locked eyes with you. You returned the kind smile, watching him as he poured the hot chocolate into a cup for you.

Soon, your eyes drifted to a flower arrangement, carefully sitting by the end of the counter you were leaning on. You sighed quietly, in relief.

“Those are yours, sweetheart. Was gonna have them delivered to you tomorrow, or somethin’.” Frank said, handing the cup to you. You smiled, genuinely this time. Of course he was going to. How dare you doubt him? He cares about you. Truthfully. You brought the cup to your lips, softly blowing it, before drinking from it.

“See, I just didn’t know where to send ‘em to.” Frank continued, looking at the flowers he got for you. Tulips. “Didn’t know you moved in with Matt.” He said. You sighed at the mention of his name, a frown appearing once again.

“Yeah, well. Definitely don’t send them there.” You replied, so soft it was almost a whisper. Frank nodded, not wanting to push you. He didn’t want to pressure you into telling him anything.

“Are you alright, doll? Talk to me.” Frank said, as softly and tenderly as possible. You sighed shakily, recalling what you heard. Frank bit the insides of his mouth. “Let’s go sit, okay?” He offered, a hand lightly on your waist, leading you to his living room. Frank sat across from you, giving you all the space you needed. You looked down at the cup in your hands, trying to find the right words.

“It’s Matt, he—”

“Did he hurt you?”

“No! Of course not— I mean, yeah? Kind of?” You replied, placing the cup down on the coffee table in front of you, before your hands ran to caress your temples in frustration.

“I’m sorry.” Frank said after taking a deep breath. “Didn’t meant to interrupt ya.” He finished, his eyes never leaving yours. Your heart almost melted. Frank has always been this kind, this attentive.

“It’s fine, Frank. It’s just—” You continued, running a hand through your damped hair, trying to find the best way to explain your situation. “I don’t even know how to explain it, he just— he just doesn’t love me.”

“What?” Frank asked, truly baffled at your words. Because how can anybody not adore you?

“I heard him speaking to Karen. And he told her I was nothing compared to her, and that he only wanted her.” You continued, your voice breaking. “He doesn’t love me, Frank. Simply because I’m not her.” You finished, your head dropped in embarrassment and hurt. You held back your wails, yet there was not point in stopping the tears that now ran down your face. You heard Frank sigh.

After a few minutes of nothing but your silent cries, Frank had now moved to sit next to you, an arm wrapped around you, as you cried into his chest. His fingers traced circles on your skin, attempting to comfort you as much as he possibly could. A few more minutes passed, yet Frank hadn’t said a word.

“Why haven’t you said anything?” You finally spoke up, your voice sore and tired from all the crying. Frank shrugged his shoulders, looking down at you.

“Just can’t understand how anyone would want anybody else but you.” Frank said, his eyebrows furrowed in utter confusion. He was dumbfounded. “You’re it for me, sweetheart.” Frank continued, his face showing utter bewilderment.

“Didn’t know Red could be so goddamn stupid.” Frank said, looking down to stare into your eyes. Your eyes glassy and overflowing with tears. He sighed, his rough fingers wiping away the small teardrops on your cheeks.

“I’m sorry I can’t comfort ‘ya any better, I’m just bamboozled.” Frank confessed, making a small giggle leave your mouth. He offered you a small grin.

“Don’t you dare doubt yourself ‘cause of him. You know your worth and how fucking amazing you are— he’s missing out on you, pretty girl.” Frank continued, his rough hand felt warm and even soft against your skin. You bit your lip, killer butterflies filling your stomach while you heard Frank speak so softly and lovingly to you.

“I just don’t understand— if it were me, I would’ve put a ring on your finger ages ago. Fuck, I would’ve made you a mom by now.” Frank rambled on, your eyes softly widening at his sudden confession. Frank seemed to realized what he said, since he quickly looked into your eyes in panic.

“I mean— I would’ve never exchanged you for anyone or anything. I’m telling ‘ya, you’re it for me.” Frank finished, his hand leaving your cheek. You frowned at the loss of his warmth.

“You should be exhausted, go to sleep, alright? We’ll talk more in the morning.” Frank said softly, before planting a tender kiss to your forehead. You nodded, mostly speechless by what just happened. You made your way to then vacant room Frank had offered you, looking back once in a while, locking eyes with Frank. You smiled timidly, before walking into the room, and closing the door behind you.

“‘I would’ve made you a mom.’ ‘The fuck were you thinking?” Frank cursed under his breath, cleaning up his living room. His eyes going going over to the room you were sleeping at, wondering if you needed anything, and most importantly, if you were okay.

Inside, a smile had formed in your lips, remembering the words Frank had said to you. You couldn’t help the obvious attraction and love you felt towards him, from the very first day you met him. Matt hated Frank, probably because of how fondly you spoke of him and how excited you used to get when a bucket of flowers would get delivered to you. You used to reassure Matt to not worry about Frank, that you two were just friends.

But were you?

[kermdoeswriting]

"I wanna hire you"

Every last Friday of the month Jason, Kori and Roy partake in a small tradition.

They meet up for dinner in their respective cities, costume or not, and just catch up on the others respective lives.

It was a dumb tradition Roy had suggested when the Outlaws split up the first time, not wanting to let the others go with little communication in between them ever again. So here they were, New Years Eve being the last Friday of the month before ringing in the new year.

Lian was off hanging out with her friends for the holiday, choosing not to join them on their tradition this year which Roy was only slightly thankful for. Especially since it was Jason's turn this time which meant they'd be having dinner at his usual spot in Gotham.

Roy shed his coat the second he walked through the doorway of Joe's Diner. He was tired but not any more so than usual.

New Years Eve was always a harder day for Gotham. The crime rate always went up for the holidays rather than down, so it gave almost every vigilante here extra work to do alongside their usual duties.

But being able to visit was still the best part of making it to the end of the year.

"Happy New Year, Joe."

Joe, the owner way to used to the Outlaws shenanigans, just smiled back at him as he walked in. He had the usual to-go coffee cups in his hands.

"Happy New Year, Arse"

The two met up at the nearest table, Roy sliding into the booth as Joe handed him his own cup before turning around to the countertop to make his usual go to order.

"Any signs of Big Bat today?"

"Nothing nearby," He took a sip of his coffee as Joe continued on with his thought, still working on his sandwich order behind the counter. "But I'd reckon he's pretty busy considering the holiday"

Roy hummed in agreement while taking another swig of his drink. He honestly figured Jason would be late again, typical for him during the Holidays, and Kori would probably be over in a few minutes.

It wouldn't be a long wait.

He sighed and laid back against the booth chair contentedly, eyes shut to try and get some kind of rest before either of the 2 showed up. Roy tried to ignore the way he felt someone's eyes on him as he did so, hoping silently that whoever it was would just be a curious civilian and not anything crazy he would have to deal with.

But hope meant basically nothing in Gotham.

The person slowly approached him and Roy heard them harshly shove a backpack onto the table before he eventually opened his eyes lazily to look at the person intruding his peace.

It was a kid.

A very tiny looking girl, no more than 12 years old, hiding underneath a tattered looking Nasa hoodie that was basically swallowing her whole. Roy looked at her with curiosity as she seemed to examen him thoroughly, a hand still clutching her bag despite it being on HIS table.

"Are you Arsenal?" She eventually spit out bluntly, making Roy sit up sharply.

It was rare a real kid, one who wasn't a trained threat like Damian or any of the Titans, actually approached him and simply knew who he was. So her knowing him, despite being in costume, put him on edge a little bit.

"Well?" The girl snarked at his silence, looking more annoyed at the lack of response. Roy could feel his grey hairs getting longer by the second.

"Are you really Arsenal?"

She still had her sea-blue eyes trained on him between half hidden bangs and her hoodie as she asked. Roy just sighed into his cup of coffee quietly and nodded, watching as the girl brightened slightly and slide into Jason's usual booth seat.

"What's up kid? Isn't it a little late for you to be out in Gotham?"

The girl huffed at that comment, pulling her hood off of her head to truly look over at him. She seemed exhausted and much younger than he had originally assumed her to be. In a strange, heartbreaking way looking at her only reminded him of Lian when she had been that small.

"I'm not a kid." She snorted with a roll of her eyes before taking a sip of the hot cocoa Joe had silently passed to her with a ruffle of her hair.

"You look younger then 10. That makes you a kid, kid."

The girl huffed again before reaching into the torn bag Roy hadn't seen her pull off the table, digging as quickly as she could.

"Whatever, my age isn't the point. The point is I need to hire you to do something."

Roy almost choked on his coffee at that declaration, finally putting his cup down on the table. "I'm sorry what? What could you possibly need to hire me for? How did you even FIND out you could do that? You're like 10-"

"13" She interrupted, stopping her own search through her bag, unphased.

"Sure kid, 13 then. But still-"

The girl just groaned loudly to interrupt him again, kicking his legs harshly from underneath the table to shut him up officially. She took her attention back to her backpack while huffing and muttering under her breath in annoyance.

Eventually she finally seemed to grab whatever she'd been looking for, grinning again before turning to look back at him and slapping something onto the table. Roy looked down to see whatever it had been hesitantly, worried only a bit it'd be some kind of child concoction she had with her.

Instead he was met with 2 wads of cash, all 100 dollars, wrapped in what looked like glittery green rubber bands. Startled, he looked at the very obviously NOT 13 year old with money she also obviously did NOT usually have for any explanation.

The girl shrugged at his reaction.

"I also don't wanna just hire you." She responded pointedly between his shock as if it was obvious, taking a sip of her hot cocoa. "I want to hire the Outlaws."

Roy sighed and just tried not to give any answer just yet considering the situation. The girl took it as a sign of rejection and pushed the baggy of cash closer to him while slapping another wad of cash baggy towards him.

"Kid-"

"Not a kid."

"Okay, Not-a-kid then," Roy watched as the girl glowered at him before continuing. "What do you even need the Outlaws for that the police can't do?"

At that question the girl went quiet and slowly shrunk into herself against the booth seat, eyes trained everywhere but him. Roy immediately felt regret but didn't voice it.

"My siblings are missing." She eventually responds, her free hand brushing some of her bangs out of her face while sliding the money bags closer to her side again with the other hand. "They've been gone since Christmas Eve and I've tried everything to find them but no ones even tried helping me."

She sniffles slightly and Roy feels his heart breaks slightly as he watches her wipe her nose against the tattered hoodie sleeve.

"Everything?" Roy asks and he watches her nod, still not looking at him.

"The GCPD are too swamped with cases because of the holidays and we don't have any adults in our lives to help."

"What about Batman?"

Roy felt slight self justification at the way the girls face turned from crying into an angry scowl. As if he had just suggested her to take a swim in the Gotham Harbor.

"Fuck Batman"

He couldn't help but let out a choked out snort as he filed that tidbit away for later. Jason would like this kid.

"Got it. No Batman," Roy reassured her with a grin before continuing. "So what exactly made you choose us to find them?"

At that question the girl seemed to hide again, more so out of embarrassment this time rather then anything else, her cheeks tinged slightly pink.

"Red Hood's my favorite hero but he's hard to ask for help from and everyone knows that you work with him..."

Roy sighed again and felt his face pinch into a grimace. Of course it would be Jason's fault kids were approaching him for help with things. As much as Jason denied he was a helpful force to Gotham, it was pretty obvious to anyone who looked at the way he cared for Crime Alley that he was.

"Alright kid. Put the cash away, okay?" The girl eyed him suspiciously before doing as Roy said and sliding both bags back into her tattered backpack.

"Starfire and Red Hood are supposed to be here in a bit and when they get here we'll try and see how we can help you, okay?" Roy almost smiled again when he watched her eyes widen in surprise at him agreeing before going back to her neutral expression.

"Anything more you wanna tell me?"

The girl hesitated before nodding and speaking again.

"Me and my siblings are on the run from people who want us for... being different. If you help me find them, you have to promise we won't get caught by Batman or any one with some kind of government access." She spits out quickly, making sure to look Roy directly in the eyes as she talks about her conditions.

"If you try and turn us over to either of them, I will make sure you and the others don't have a grave to be laid to rest in."

Roy shivered slightly as she spoke the last part, her eyes flashing a bright green he didn't recognize as she tried to show him she was a true threat. He gripped his coffee mug, trying his best to not get worried over it since he knew she was just trying to protect herself and her missing siblings.

"Got it, you have my word. Any chance I can get a name for you?"

The girl looked him over again, her eyes having returned to the sea-green color they were before, eventually nodding in agreement to his request.

"You can call me Ellie. Most people do"

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

Or basically,

Ellie stumbles upon Arsenal at a diner late at night where she tries to hire him and the Outlaws into finding her siblings who went missing on Christmas Eve. Roy is just concerned this very obvious 8 year old wants to hire the Outlaws at all.