#and that was what finally convinced me to start playing AW in the first place

[tommylovingho]

[batsandbirdbrains]

so I was wondering if you could do something where nobody realizes how much Dick hates Talia if they knew at all but then something happens so people find out/learn the full extent of Dick’s hate toward her how it’s not a little dislike but he hates her with a burning passion maybe they find out when the JL recruit some villains to help stop some big threat and they’re paired together and outwards he has zero reaction but internally he is freaking out like full blown meltdown because it’s Talia like I hate her so much plz anyone but her and then after the Thing is handled people find Nightwing in Talia Al Ghul in a full blown screaming match about who knows what nasty insults are thrown on both sides nobodies seen Nightwing like this either ever or in a really long time

on another note I think your amazing like these ideas are so good

Okay but imagine the hatred is very mutual. They both despise each other. It started when Bruce first took Dick in, because he’d been on and off with Talia for years. And Talia hated that Bruce committed to a child but not to her. A child who isn’t even his blood.

She told Dick from the moment they first met that one day she would marry Bruce, and she’d ship Dick off to boarding school the first chance she got. That she’d have a real child with Bruce, and Bruce would forget all about Dick. That Dick was a fleeting fancy and soon enough, Bruce would be done playing with his new toy.

And Dick is nothing if not petty. He becomes a stage 5 clinger with Bruce, never letting go, making Bruce carry him, hold him, play with him. He screams and cries and begs if Bruce doesn’t stay with him. And Bruce is so freaked out, so worried, so afraid of screwing up Dick’s childhood that he gives in to any little request. He carries Dick around everywhere. They’re always holding hands. Dick barely gives him a moment’s peace.

And after a gala where Talia managed to get Dick alone long enough to threaten him (again), Dick is now resting snugly in Bruce’s arms, his own arms wrapped around Bruce’s neck, and he sends a cheeky little wave at Talia as they’re leaving. Then he quickly follows it up with making the rudest faces and gestures towards her, but no one else is around to see it. No one will ever believe her.

They both drive each other nuts.

Fast forward several years, and the JL is teaming up with a few rogues for whatever reason. And Nightwing and Talia get paired up. They’re outwardly pleasant, but they’re both saying horrible things to each other under the breath when everyone is distracted.

Then they get back, and even though their part arguably went the smoothest, they enter the Watchtower just screaming at each other.

“You’re an evil fucking bitch, you know that?” he snaps. “I’m still not entirely convinced Damian is even yours, no way a kid like that came from a wicked witch like you!”

“You will not speak of my son, you little circus rat!”

“You’re just jealous he likes me better! Just like B; that really must grind your gears, always coming in second place to such a rotten little interloper like myself. Isn’t that what you always called me?”

“I ought to pull your intestines out through your bellybutton and hang you with them.”

“I’d like to see you try!”

Their argument devolves into name calling, shouting, rude gestures, and Nightwing actually sticking his tongue out at her.

When they hear Talia call him, “a rotten little boy who should’ve fallen with his parents,” Damian finally puts a stop to it. He stands in front of Dick and glares at his mother, barking at her to cease this behavior and apologize for saying such an awful thing.

“It’s alright, Dami, it’s fine,” Dick is quick to say, tugging Damian away, holding him close. “She’s said way worse, don’t worry about it. Let’s go home. Do you want to get Batburger with me?”

Damian is horrified to learn his mother has said such terrible things to Dick. He’s even more horrified when Dick lets it slip that they’ve been at each others throats since Bruce first adopted him. He holds on tightly to Dick’s hand, saying in a weak little voice that that’s an abhorrent way for an adult to treat a child. Dick just laughs it off, but he squeezes Damian’s hand and tries to change the subject.

They eat Batburger on top of a tall building in Gotham, looking out at all the lights.

Everyone else was also horrified, but they knew to give Dick his space. Bruce will ask him about it later, once he’s cooled down.

[lemonlover1110]

𝐔𝐧𝐤𝐞𝐩𝐭 𝐒𝐞𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐬

Toji Fushiguro

Pairing: Toji Fushiguro x f!Reader

Summary: Toji won't tell you he loves you, even when it's so painfully obvious.

Warnings: MDNI, Fluff, Smut, Nipple Play, Vaginal Fingering, Vaginal Sex, Creampie, Slight Angst

*The prologue is here🥹

Discord +18 - Twitter - Ko-Fi

Toji has never felt more alive before. Toji’s known love before, but not like this. It isn’t sweet or comforting… Thrilling, yeah, he’d say it’s thrilling. He feels like a dumb teenager again, but he loves the feeling.

You’re sitting next to him in the car, singing along to the song on the radio as he drives you home. He has a hand on the wheel, the other caressing your thigh. It’s a little late, but your night is just getting started.

“Your singing is awful.” Toji tells you as he parks in front of your apartment complex. He turns down the song still, wanting to hear your voice better even when he claims it’s bad– That’s how he knows something is wrong with him. Toji would tell you to shut up if you were anybody else.

He turns off the car when the song is over, and you whine because he’s ruined your fun. You quickly get over it when he opens your car door, offering his hand, which you take to prompt yourself out of the vehicle. Your arm enlaces with his before you begin the short walk back to your place. 

“Your dad told me to make sure you get home safe, so no funny business.” Toji says, and you roll your eyes at him. He’s the one that breaks the rule first each and every time, it’s annoying to hear him say that even when he’s clearly joking.

“Step-dad.” You correct him, though you know it goes in one ear and out the other. He’ll make the same mistake over and over again. “Since when do you listen to him?”

“Since he promoted me.” Toji responds, which earns a chuckle from you. That’s fair enough. He lets go of your arm, choosing to rest his hand on your lower back until you’re finally at your door. 

“Alright, see ya.” You open the door and enter the place without even looking back at Toji. You’re shutting the door, but his hand stops it. His arm wraps around your waist and he brings you back to him.

“That’s not a proper goodbye.” He says, and there’s a smirk on your face. He’s not going to leave so easily, but you aren’t going to let him have his way so quickly. You’re convinced it’s the reason why Toji always comes back at your doorstep, seeking more. 

Since the very beginning, you both agreed that you didn’t want something that required commitment. It started off as something casual, but slowly your relationship has evolved. It’s come to the point where you call him your boyfriend to others– Though, when someone asks about your relationship status, you tell them you’re single. 

“No funny business, Mr. Fushiguro.” You remind him, and you feel his grip tighten. You can’t keep up the act for too long, quickly melting with his touch. He knows the effect he has on you, and you have to put up a fight at the very least to put off the illusion that you’re wrapped around his finger. 

“Since when do you listen to me?” He asks, and you hold your breath. You bite down your lip before slowly turning to look at him.

“You wanted me to take you more seriously this week, and I’m doing what you told me.” You’re fighting back on smiling right at his face. You’re right, you had a minor argument earlier in the week because you ‘treat everything he says as a joke’. He purses his lips together, thinking of his next words. “Do you have an issue with my attitude?”

Instead of answering, he chooses to pick you up from the floor, throwing you over his shoulder before walking inside. He shuts the door behind him and idles in your living room. Should he throw you on the couch or take you straight to the bedroom?

“Put me down, Toji!” You yell, hitting his back with your fist. It causes no pain or discomfort to him, so he’ll ignore you. On the contrary, your fist hurts from making contact with his back. “Toji! Put me down you big buffoon!”

He puts you down, per your request, gently laying you down on the couch. However, he gets on top of you so you really aren’t free. There’s a smirk on his face as he looks down at you, which slowly fades away as he looks into your eyes. His cheeks turn pink as he looks back and forth between your eyes and lips.

He’s in love, he really fucking is. Even at the mere thought of your presence, his heart feels like it's about to beat out of his chest. How can he not love you? You’re so fucking beautiful, and that’s the least impressive thing about you. You’re compassionate, intelligent, hilarious, respectful, responsible– The list goes on. You’re everything that he isn’t. 

“Toji, get off me if you aren’t going to do anything.” You stop the train of thought that goes through his head, and he proceeds to listen to you. You sit up on the couch, while he stands up, making himself welcome at your home and going to your kitchen to make himself a cup of tea.

“You want some tea?” He asks as if you were the guest in your own apartment. You sigh, standing up from the couch and following him to the kitchen. You stay quiet, and he takes that silence as a no to his question.

You sit on the counter, watching every move Toji makes, in complete silence. Toji appreciates your gaze on him… But he can’t help but feel as if something’s wrong. You’re completely quiet, there must be something wrong.

“What’s on your mind?” He speaks up, not being able to bear the silence for too long. Silence between you is usually a good sign, he enjoys your presence as simple as it can be but there’s something up with you tonight. You’re watching him as if you were trying to figure something out. You shake your head, as if you have nothing to say but he knows you do, “I know that pretty little look on your face, you’re thinking of something.”

“I want to introduce you to my family.” You tell him, and he freezes. He furrows his brows before chuckling.

“Your family already knows me.” He answers, though he knows exactly what you mean. He’ll play dumb, that’s what he does best. He hears the water boiling, and he turns his attention to that. He hopes that with his answer, you’ll drop the subject. He doesn’t want to flat out tell you that he wants to keep things a secret.

“Where’s my mug?” He asks, searching the cabinets for the mug that he usually drinks from. That’s how serious things are, he has his own coffee mug at your place. He spots it, behind a nice tea set, one that’s usually hidden away. 

“I want to introduce you as my boyfriend.” You continue your conversation as he prepares his tea. He’s more than capable of talking as he pours boiling water into the mug, but he’s not saying anything. Your words fall on deaf ears. “Toji, I know that you heard me.”

“It’s such a big step.” He responds, and you feel your heart drop. A sheepish smile comes to your lips, and you nod in response. You’re not one to argue much, and you definitely aren’t a woman who will beg. 

If he’s not ready, then he’s not ready. He knows that you won’t wait around for him forever. He lets out a low laugh before saying, “Plus, I wouldn’t want your dad to kill me.”

“That man won’t be the one to kill you if you keep calling him my dad.” You stick your tongue out at him, and he stops what he’s doing to walk over to you. He loves that you’re sitting on the counter, with little room to escape. His hands go on either side of you, a cocky smirk all over his face.

“You killing me? I’d pay to see that.” His face is inching closer to yours, stopping when he’s practically breathing on your face. His nose touches yours, and you feel your body get hot as your heart threatens to beat out of your body. Your hands go behind him, interlacing on the back of his neck. His voice is much lower when he speaks again, “My big girl hurting me, oh I’d kill for that.”

“Since when are you a masochist?” You ask, and you hear him chuckle. When it comes to you, he’s everything under the sun. He’s looking into your eyes, getting lost in your gaze within a matter of seconds. 

He really is in love, it’s fucking sick. 

“Since a pretty little thing threatened to hurt me.” His hands go to your thighs, thumbs tracing lazy circles on your skin. If he continues, he won’t stop until he’s satisfied– Not that you particularly mind either.

“Your tea is going to get cold.” You remind him that there’s something waiting for him. You’re just waiting your breath, knowing that Toji has long forgotten about it. The moment he put the mug down, the tea was wasted.

“Good. I always burn my tongue for being too impatient.” He steals a kiss from you, and when he pulls away, you bring his head back. His lips are overpowered by yours, your tongue making its way into his mouth, pressing against his own. It’s more passionate than the innocent kiss he had stolen from you. It’s hard for you to stop once he gives you a taste. 

“Toji…” You place your forehead on his when you pull away. You look into his lustful eyes, the urge of asking a question that you shouldn’t ask now, overtaking you. But you will, because in order to get what he wants, he’ll say anything you want to hear. “Do you love me, Toji?”

His hands cup your face and he presses his lips against yours. It’s just one kiss. Then two. You lose count, and you’re getting lost in his touch. You’re melting with his every move, and the desire to hear him say he loves you grows. You’re desperate to hear it, even if it isn’t true.

“Toji, answer my question.” You put your hand over his lips, stopping him from kissing you more. It’s to no avail since it takes no effort from him to remove your hand, and resume kissing you. You don’t stop him this time, instead, you allow yourself to indulge.

You accept the silence as a no, which you won’t take to heart. He doesn’t have to tell you that he loves you when he doesn’t. It’s unfair to him when you agreed in the very beginning that this is something casual. You put him on the spot in hopes that he’ll take what you have more seriously, but he isn’t going to because it isn’t what he signed up for… So why does Toji act so loving?

Your legs wrap around his waist as he picks you up before carrying you to your bedroom. He knows exactly where to go, not needing to look away from you for a single second. He continues to kiss you so needily, he’s searching for something that only you can provide. 

“I need you.” He slips in inbetween kisses, which nearly drives you insane. It’s not what you asked to hear, but you’ll take it. He gently lays you down on the bed, once again on top of you and leaving you without an escape route. He kisses you slowly, his lips slowly moving down your body.

Toji’s kisses come to a halt when your clothing gets in the way. He wants to curse at the fabric for covering you up and making his job slightly more difficult. He gets up from the bed and hurriedly takes off every article of clothing that denies him the lovely view of your body. He nearly wants to rip apart every piece but he won’t risk you getting mad at him for it.

“You’re so fucking beautiful.” Toji says, licking his lips before tracing back all the places he’s kissed, just this time he won’t be interrupted by anything. He’s going to fulfill himself to his heart’s content.

He kisses down to your breasts before focusing his tongue around your nipple. You feel a warm hand travel down your body, and getting caught between your thighs. You inadvertently get shy with him, even when this has become part of your weekly routine. He always manages to get past it, spreading your legs apart and stopping his mouth to tell you, “Now’s not the time to get shy, beautiful.”

His mouth wraps one of your nipples, sucking on it, as two fingers run through your slick folds. You’re already so wet for him, and he’d tease you for it but his mouth is too preoccupied to mutter a single word. Toji’s priority at this moment is making you feel good– As well as enjoying himself.

You’re softly moaning while Toji flicks his tongue, and his fingers rub your clit. He detaches his mouth from your nipple, his lips going up to messily kiss yours before going back to your breasts. His mouth wraps around your other nipple, beginning to suck as two of his fingers apply pressure to your entrance. 

“Toji–” His name rolls off your tongue when he pushes his fingers inside of you. It’s the sweetest melody for his ears, motivation to keep him going. Your voice is all he needs to hear. 

He doesn’t waste a single second in satisfying you, curving his fingers so they hit just the right spot. Your eyes are rolling to the back of your head, pleasure already consuming you. Your thoughts from earlier are long forgotten while he’s doing what he does best.

Your moaning gets louder as his thumb begins to play with your clit. It’s getting harder for you to contain yourself, since he’s stimulating you in every way possible. He’s moaning on your tit, the vibrations of his tongue nearly sending you over the edge. 

“You’re such a good girl, baby.” He praises you, finally detaching himself from your breasts. His eyes focus on your face and the look of bliss that’s written all over it– And he isn’t even close to being done. 

Toji takes his fingers out before the pressure that builds up in your lower abdomen can release. He’s usually not impatient, but his cock is throbbing in his pants and if he doesn’t deal with it soon, he’ll lose his mind. He almost feels bad for leaving you unsatisfied… Almost. The whine that leaves your lips makes a smirk appear on his face, making him comment, “Aw, you need me so badly?”

“Just hurry up.” You respond in complete annoyance. You’re clenching around nothing, needing him to fill you with pleasure. Just for tonight, he won’t tease you more. He just needs you so much, he can’t waste any more time.

Toji strips down from his clothes, spitting into his palm before taking his cock into his hand. He slowly strokes his cock as his eyes watch you… What position will he take you in tonight? Before he can even decide, your legs wrap around his torso. He’ll watch your face contort with pleasure to serve as another stupid reminder that he’s in love with everything you do. 

Toji’s cock runs through your folds, slowly inserting himself into you. A soft moan escapes his lips as he feels you around him, feeling too good. This is what he’s been waiting for all night; his definition of a proper goodbye from you.

When he bottoms out he gives you a moment to adjust, until you’re moving for him, a little too desperate to wait any longer. Toji’s hands hold on to your hips as he begins to move for you. Toji hates the feeling– He’s in ecstasy the moment he’s inside of you. He’s addicted to you like a drug, how is he supposed to ever move on?

“You feel so fucking good.” He says through gritted teeth, trying to contain himself. Although he sees that it’s not only him that’s struggling in keeping control. You’re arching your back, eyes rolling to the back of your head and lips parted as Toji hits every right spot.

“It’s too much, Toji!” You’re practically yelling, even when he isn’t doing much. He just does everything right even when he’s barely trying. It boosts his ego.

“You can take it, baby.” He answers as his hand goes down to play with your clit, adding even more to your pleasure. You’re completely putty with his touch. You’re absolutely nothing. It’s hard not to be when a simple touch of his makes you euphoric.

“Toji– Fuck!” You moan, and he fucks you with more vigor every time he hears his name. It fuels him. He wishes it was a sound he got to hear each and every day. Every hour. Every minute. Every second. 

“Keep saying my name, beautiful, it sounds so fucking hot.” He says and you chant his name as many times as he needs to hear it. Your mind is completely clouded, you’ll do his every request with the promise that he’ll satisfy you.

Maybe you should use the situation to your advantage– Hear what you want to hear, but you can’t. Toji’s completely dominated your mind and body.

You get louder as your orgasm nears, slowly taking over you. You’re clenching around him, getting him to moan your name because of the way you feel around him. Your hand is gripping the bed sheets, shutting your eyes as the pleasure of your body consumes you as a whole.

You feel Toji force your hand away from the bedsheet, forcing your fingers to intertwine with his. Your legs spasm as you reach your climax, a loud moan almost drowning out Toji’s words, “You’re so fucking beautiful.”

It doesn’t take too long for Toji to follow your lead, too worked up from the mere thought of being with you. Toji fills you up with his cum, not even bothering to make the effort of pulling out. He never does anyway, he’s not going to change tonight.

Toji pulls out, laying down beside you as you both pant to catch your breath. After this he’ll run you a bath and leave after a couple of kisses, it’s his usual routine. A routine he made to not get attached… A routine that’s gotten him nowhere.

You turn your head to look at him while he stares at the ceiling. The answer is no, but the question still weighs heavy on your chest. “Toji…”

“Hmm…?” He looks back at you, and there’s a spark in his eyes that’s unmistakable. You know that actions speak louder than words but you need to hear it.

“You still haven’t answered my question.” You respond, and a slight frown appears on his face.

“Why do you need to know?” He questions, and you feel your heart is about to beat out of your chest. You bite down your lip, wondering if you should drop it. Never ask him again, even if you know you’ll regret it in the near future.

“I–” A sigh leaves your lips. You can’t hide it from him, even if he doesn’t love you or care for you the way you care for him. “My parents want me to get married soon.”

He knows. He knows all about your situation, more than he’d like to know. Toji doesn’t say anything to comfort you, instead, he brings you close to him. He kisses the top of your head, instead of telling you all that he wants to say. He’s not going to tell you all that you want to hear.

“I’m not worth it.” He mutters. He doesn’t want you to ruin your future for him. Toji wants the best for you; after all, he is in love with you.

Even though it's different from the love he's experienced, he's still in love. No amount of arguing with himself will disprove it.

“What do you mean?” You ask him, hope in your eyes that he’ll say something more. You’d do anything to have him say just a little more. But he shakes his head, refusing to elaborate.

“I’ll run you a bath.” Toji changes the topic, standing up from the bed and walking to your bathroom.

He’ll continue the routine, knowing it’s one of the last times that he’ll get to do it.

[thephantomsdream]

Simon "Ghost" Riley that likes to be pampered, to be taken care of and let me tell you, he's just so not used to it. He's never had anyone to really treat him anything close to good.

In all honesty, he genuinely thought it was fine, being alone. He's a solitary creature, as life taught him to be, and deep down he convinced himself it was best. It didn't matter if there was a small, minuscule, pained tug at his heart every time he thought about it.

What he didn't expect was to be whipped immediately, one glance into your eyes and he was a goner. It went against his reasoning, this instinct of his to have you, battling everything he's been trying to avoid at all costs. But that one glance, that small smile you gave him, and he just knew. And months of tedious yet slow opening up and trying not only for you, but for himself, Simon was yours somehow. Baffling as it was, he now had someone to go home to. A sweet angel that in no time he plans to up and move into that bare house he has and take care of. Only thing is, the man did not expect to be taken care of himself, as if he forgot that was an option.

The first few times you two dated, officially, as he had to clarify this wasn't what kids these days mean by "hanging out" or "talking to" or whatever the fuck Johnny and Kyle were babbling to him about their dating lives (it's dating or not, Simon likes things clear), the man was surprised by how sweet yet determined you were. "Can I hold your hand?" You asked him a little flustered, and this big boy almost stuttered. He found himself nodding while gulping before taking your hand in his, internally beating himself up for acting like such a... boy? Having a silly crush on a lovely sweetheart that made him nervous by just exiting around him.

God, it felt fantastic when he finally got to kiss you. Simon thought it was gonna be just a kiss, big fucking deal (he was trying to cope, his hands were sweaty but whatever, big deal), but the way you sighed and melted into him, wrapping your arms around his shoulders and playing with the hairs at the nape of his neck made him shudder. It ignited something in him and his heart tugged again, this time not painful but hopeful.

It was the way you touched his scarred face that really astonished him, especially the first night you spent in his house. Whatever movie you babbled about the last date, vampires or whatever, was now playing on his flat screen on the new profile he created for you on whatever streaming service Simon just bought just to watch it. Another tiny bit of you in his life, it seemed. Movie was fucking awful, truly, fucking dumb teenagers and vampires, but whatever, your boyfriend (bloody fucking hell it felt fantastic and scary to think that he's now yours officially) was determined to watch it even if he snorted and made fun of it every three seconds, yet having you giggle by his side made his cold heart warm up as it beat a thousand times per second. Once again, he found himself about to mock something jokingly when he turned to you, finding your beautiful eyes already on him, expression warm and relaxed.

"Come here." At that moment, Simon Riley realized he'd follow anything you'd order him, as his body moved without any thoughts, just closer to you. Like a stray dog that's learning what a home is, something he's never really had, and when your lips touched his cheek while caressing the other, the world slowed down.

Having you move closer to him, placing a leg over his, smiling at him sweetly while gently kissing the scar near his lower lip, all he could do was stare dumbly as his face felt on fire. Little did he know that his pale cheeks reddened so adorably that you started to giggle. God, he fucking loved that sound.

"Lay on me, c'mon." You ordered gently again, grabbing his calloused hands to tug him onto you as you laid down on your back. Simon knew he looked like an idiot in awe, very much aware he's always had a staring problem. But as he crawled gently over you, expecting you to push him off after abruptly changing your mind, all he could do was to look down into your cleavage and stare like a muppet. " 'S aight?" Being all he asked before hearing a nice hum, approval for him to lay on you.

That day, Simon learned what heaven is. Your fingers into his hair, slowly, gently playing with his dirty blond locks, his face in your soft tits, your voice oh-so clear as he pressed his ear into your torso, the slow rumble almost putting him to sleep while his eyes were focused on the silly movie. His arms were wrapped around you while he just laid down between your legs. His dumb jokes still delivered as he muffled them out lazily, getting you to laugh and make him smirk as you(r tits) jiggled under him, and his reward, because you're a fucking angel, of course, was a sweet kiss on his temple every single time. The man could be turning into a clown by the end of the night as long as you kissed him so tenderly.

You spoiled him too. How dare you, really? Bringing him sweets, asking him what he wants to eat, adjusting your schedule to fit his (man's off duty, he can camp outside your house and come in whenever you want him to, if you'd be willing, like a good obedient dog), just making him feel wanted. It was odd. And new. And addicting.

You cared. You cared for him. And in his wonky yet honest way, he cared too. Always making sure that you know he's somehow thinking of you. He wanted to try. He wanted to make sure you'll stick around. The military has taught this man a lot of things, and apart from his head-strong conviction that he indeed can do anything if he puts his mind to it, another was how to not fuck up something good, all through the hundreds of stories from many other soldiers about failed relationships. He knows all the perspectives, all the failures, all the erros and all the aftermaths, so he learned to listen and not blame, to pay attention, to be there even if he was half a world away. Simon is determined to keep you around, coming back to you battered, wounded, traumatized, exhausted, and is greeted with his angel, all ready to pick him up, wrap him in a warm blanket and fuss over his ass. He'd roll his eyes at you, but his emerging smile said it all.

His heart now tugs when he's about to pick his luggage, a duffle bag filled with essentials and nothing more. A week earlier than expected too, relief washing over his body like never before, knowing you're at home waiting for good news. And he's heading that way too, determined, unrelenting, head first, no thoughts. He's going home to you.

Home to warm, delicious food, instead of stale and plain. Home to sweet laughter and love, instead of orders barked and indifference. Home to his, your comfortable bed, arms and legs wrapped around each other, the plump delicious curves of your body pressed against his hardened one. Home to gentle, home to calm, home to soft, home to himself, home to everything. Home to his heart, that is tugging him closer and closer, where he left it with you.

I'm just gonna dump this here and leave. Not proofread because we're old and lazy here.

[pbaz7]

AGAINST THE TIDE: PART THREE

paige x azzi

word count: 5.3k

A/N: Here’s a chapter with a lot more interaction between Paige and Azzi. Don’t do too much on my girl this chapter y’all she getting better😭. Let me know what you think and leave reactions! I’m low key starting chapter 5 today 🤭

—————————————————————————

April 2021

Azzi and Paige's respective seasons had come to an end, though in completely different fashions.

For Azzi, it was the perfect finale to her high school career. After a long recovery from her ACL and MCL injury, she returned stronger than anyone thought possible in her senior year. And she was able to cement her place as one of the best players in the nation after everyone questioned if she would be able to come back the same. She became a McDonald's All-American and earned the prestigious Morgan Wootten Player of the Year award on top of carrying her team to another state championship, leaving her high school legacy on the highest note possible. When she walked off the court for the final time in her high school jersey, the roar of the crowd and the embrace of her teammates felt like the perfect send-off. Azzi was content. She had conquered every challenge thrown her way, and now she was ready for the next chapter at UConn.

For Paige, the end of her freshman year at UConn was a much different story. On paper, her season was nothing short of extraordinary. She had helped the Huskies defeat their rivals time and time again, putting on performances that left commentators and fans in awe. She’d scored a season-high 32 points and dished out 7 assists against St. John’s of New York—a game where it seemed like her fierce competitiveness toward the St. John’s she’d grown up playing against carried over to this completely unrelated team.

The accolades poured in. Paige was named Big East Player of the Year, unanimous Big East Freshman of the Year, and helped UConn secure the Big East Championship title. She had the most points by any UConn player in their NCAA tournament debut. By the end of the season, she’d been crowned AP Player of the Year and Naismith College Player of the Year—the first freshman in history to earn both honors.

But none of that mattered to Paige.

For all the individual awards and historic milestones, she couldn't forgive herself for how the season ended. UConn had made it to the Final Four, and the weight of expectations—both internal and external—was immense. Paige believed it was her job to lead her team to a national championship, but when they lost to Arizona in the semifinals, everything came crashing down for her.

She replayed the game in her mind constantly, scrutinizing every missed shot, every turnover, every moment she thought she could have done more. The praise and accolades felt hollow, and no one could convince her otherwise. For Paige, and according to the media, the loss was a failure. It didn’t matter that she was only 19 years old, it didn’t matter that she was only a freshman, the media tore into her from every angle and she hated herself for giving them the room to talk in the first place, despite what everyone around her said. If she had won they wouldn’t have had anything to say.

While Azzi basked in the glow of a picture perfect end to her high school journey, Paige drowned herself in guilt and frustration. Day after day, she was in the gym, pushing herself harder and harder. No one had to tell her to work—she was relentless. The sound of basketballs hitting the court echoing through an otherwise empty gym.

For Paige, there was no off-season. The only way to make peace with her freshman year, she thought, was to be better.

Her freshman year had been historic. But Paige didn’t care about history. She only cared about winning, and anything less wasn’t good enough.

May 2021

Paige was back home in the DMV, spending her days exactly the way she had since the loss in the Final Four. The small, private space her trainer let her use had become her sanctuary. She had poured every ounce of herself into her offseason grind, putting on muscle and sharpening her skills. Each shot, each drill, each drop of sweat was a reminder of what she wanted to fix.

The gym was empty, just how she liked it. Paige worked in solitude, her sneakers squeaking on the hardwood as she moved through her drills. The sharp echo of the ball bouncing against the floor filled the space. She was locked in, oblivious to everything but the rhythm of her workout.

The faint creak of the door opening didn’t even break her focus.

“Hey,” a familiar voice called out.

Paige barely glanced over, recognizing Azzi immediately. She gave a slight nod in polite acknowledgment but kept shooting. Azzi lingered near the door for a moment, unsure if she should stay or leave. Last summer, she would have turned around and walked away without hesitation like she almost did. But not this time. She stepped farther into the gym, watching Paige as the other girl moved with mechanical precision, no emotion on her face

After a while, Azzi spoke again, her voice cutting through the quiet. “Are we ever going to talk? You know, now that we’re going to be on the same team.”

Paige didn’t even look up. “Not really in the mood to talk today, sorry.” She said, launching another three-pointer that swished through the net.

Azzi sighed, crossing her arms. “Seems like a pattern,” she muttered, just loud enough for Paige to hear.

That made Paige pause. She caught the ball as it rebounded toward her and turned to face Azzi, her expression annoyed. “What the hell are you talking about?”

Azzi leaned against the wall, arms still folded. “You know what I’m talking about. When I came to visit UConn in December, you blew me off. You couldn’t even speak, let alone stick around for five minutes.”

Paige scoffed, dribbling the ball lazily as she shook her head. “Not everything is about you, Azzi.”

Azzi pushed off the wall, her brows furrowed. “That’s bullshit. You were avoiding me. Just stop being pussy and admit it.”

Paige let out a humorless laugh. “Contrary to this inflated-ass ego you seem to have, other people have things going on. It didn’t have shit to do with you Azzi.”

Azzi stared at her, stunned eyes almost bulging out of her head. “I have the ego? You can’t be serious right now?”

“Yes,” Paige said flatly, bouncing the ball once before shooting it again.

Azzi stepped closer, her frustration bubbling to the surface. “You couldn’t put your feelings aside for two seconds to welcome me to UConn because your ego’s so damn big.”

Paige rolled her eyes, spinning the ball on her hand before letting it drop to the floor. “Like I said, it didn’t have shit to do with you. I played like garbage the day before and needed to clear my head.”

Azzi tilted her head, her tone incredulous. “You played fine, Paige. I watched that game.”

Paige snorted, shaking her head as she bent to pick up the ball. “No, I didn’t.” She straightened up and started ticking off mistakes on her fingers. “I had a sloppy turnover, missed three shots that all hit the rim the exact same way because my footing was off, got scored on because I went under screens too many damn times…” Her voice was rising, her frustration with herself evident.

Azzi blinked, caught off guard by the laundry list of self-criticism. “That’s not even that bad, Paige. You’re just trying to find excuses for being childish and avoiding me.”

Paige’s eyes flashed as she now fully faced Azzi, her tone sharp. “See that’s your problem, Azzi. You’re fine with ‘not bad.’ You’re fine with mediocre shit and you get mad at people who aren’t.”

Azzi, clearly offended. “You don’t know shit about me if you think I’m fine with mediocre Paige.”

“Oh, I know enough,” Paige shot back, her voice laced with irritation as she shot the ball again.

Azzi let out a muttered, “Whatever,” as she turned away. She grabbed her basketball shoes, plopping down on the bench to lace them up. Afterward, she moved to stretch, her movements calm and deliberate, just like she always did.

The silence between them was heavy, but neither seemed willing to break it. Paige resumed her shooting, her focus sharp and a little intense now. Azzi followed suit, picking up a ball and taking her own shots. Unlike last summer, when they’d somehow found a rhythm together, this time they kept their distance, rebounding their own shots and staying on opposite ends of the half court.

The only sounds were the echo of the basketballs, the swish of the net, and their heavy breathing. The tension that lingered between them from the argument didn’t dissipate, but they both seemed like they were just going to ignore it.

Paige’s focus faltered as her phone, lying on the bench nearby, began to ring. The sharp tone interrupted her music in her ears, cutting into her concentration. She ignored it the first time, then the second, but by the third, she was definitely irritated.

“Are we serious?” she muttered under her breath, catching the ball after it went through the net and tucking it under her arm. She walked over to the bench, her frustration evident in every step. Grabbing the phone, she glanced at the screen before answering.

“Yes, E?” Paige said, clearly irritated with everything happening today.

Azzi glanced over briefly but kept shooting as she heard the nickname she knew was for Evina, her movements still smooth and efficient. She couldn’t help but listen to Paige’s side of the conversation, even if she pretended not to.

“I’m fine,” Paige said, her tone clipped. A pause, then, “No, I don’t need you guys checking in on me every five minutes. I’m not a kid.”

Azzi caught her rebound, her curiosity piqued. She heard Paige’s exasperated sigh before she continued. “I said I’m fine!…I’m sorry…I’m just in the gym, okay?”

Another pause, longer this time. Paige’s expression softened slightly, though her tone remained defensive. “Yes, I’m eating. No, I’m not overdoing it. Can you guys please just stop hovering for like two seconds? I swear I’m fine.”

Azzi missed her next shot, distracted by the way Paige’s voice wavered slightly on the last sentence. She retrieved the ball and glanced over again, noting the way Paige’s jaw was clenched slightly with the conversation.

“Yes E, I get it, okay? I do. But I don’t need you to—” Paige stopped mid-sentence, closing her eyes and letting out a frustrated breath. “Yeah, I know it’s not my fault–Yes I know. Ok, I’ll call you later.”

She hung up abruptly, tossing her phone back onto the bench with more force than necessary. Her shoulders sagged for a moment before she closed her eyes, took a deep breath and straightened up, spinning the ball in her hands as she made her way back to the court.

Azzi didn’t say anything, but she watched Paige carefully, her expression unreadable. Paige didn’t acknowledge her, resuming her shooting with a little more force than before, as if trying to work out her frustrations on the court.

The silence between them stretched on, filled only by the rhythm of bouncing balls and the occasional swish of a perfect shot.

July 2021

The short break before heading to UConn for the summer session had gone by a little too quickly for Azzi. It felt like one moment she was at home with her family, soaking up their familiar warmth, and the next, she was packing her bags, giving tight hugs, and heading off to start a new chapter in Connecticut. The thought of being at UConn felt surreal, even though she’d visited before. Now it was official—she was part of the team.

The roster had shifted quite a bit since her last visit. Azzi wasn’t the only fresh face; two other freshmen, Caroline and Amari, had joined the team. The sophomore class had thinned out, now consisting of only Paige, Aaliyah, Nika, and Piath. Aubrey was the only junior on the team, and was known for her quiet but steady presence on the court. The upperclassmen rounded out the roster, with seniors Christyn and Olivia bringing their experience, Evina stepping into a leadership role, and Dorka, a graduate transfer, joining the fold for her first year at UConn.

It was a balanced team, a blend of youth and experience, and Azzi felt a mix of nerves and excitement at the thought of working with them. The expectations were high, but she was ready.

…

From the moment she arrived, the practices were intense. UConn’s reputation as a basketball powerhouse wasn’t just for show, and the demands were grueling on Azzi’s body. The upperclassmen set the tone, with Evina and Christyn emerging as clear leaders, guiding the team both on and off the court. Paige, despite being only a sophomore, was right there with them. She had an undeniable presence, her skills speaking louder than words, and her surprisingly calm demeanor commanded respect everyday at practice.

Azzi, however, was still trying to get a read on Paige. The girl was an enigma. For someone who could be so fiery and competitive on the court, Paige seemed almost indifferent to Azzi off it. She didn’t go out of her way to ignore her, but she didn’t engage either. Paige showed up to team bonding events, polite and cordial, but her interactions with Azzi were nonexistent unless they were arguing during drills or scrimmages.

It was frustrating, to say the least. Azzi couldn’t tell if Paige didn’t like her or just didn’t care for her presence. And yet, somehow, during today’s team bonding activity—a scavenger hunt organized by Coach CD, of all things—Azzi found herself assigned as Paige’s partner.

Paige muttered something under her breath when the pairs were announced .

Azzi crossed her arms, arching a brow. “Trust me, I’m not exactly jumping for joy here either.”

Paige rolled her eyes at Azzi’s comment , adjusting the strap of her backpack. “Let’s just go.”

The rest of the team was already scattering in pairs, armed with clue sheets and a mix of determination and excitement. Azzi glanced at their first clue and sighed. This was going to be a long afternoon.

The two of them trudged through the scavenger hunt, their movements as tense as the silence between them. Paige seemed perfectly at ease with it, her eyes fixed on the list in her hand. Azzi, on the other hand, was brimming with unspoken frustration. She wasn’t one to hold things in, and after several minutes of biting her tongue, she couldn’t take it anymore.

“Why don’t you like me?” Azzi blurted out, the words cutting through the quiet.

Paige barely looked up from her paper. “I don’t not like you,” she replied, her tone not hinting at her emotion.

Azzi huffed, folding her arms as she followed Paige. “Yeah, sure. That’s why you barely talk to me outside of practice. That’s why all you do is argue with me when we scrimmage. And don’t think I haven’t noticed the way you roll your eyes every time I open my mouth.”

Paige finally stopped walking, turning to face Azzi with a mixture of confusion and something else. “You’re reading too much into it Azzi. Just because we don’t hang out doesn’t mean I don’t like you.”

Azzi raised an eyebrow, her expression incredulous. “Then what does it mean, Paige? Because from where I’m standing, it sure feels like you’ve decided you can’t stand me and you bust my ass everyday in practice.”

Paige sighed, glancing around as if hoping for the next clue to appear and rescue her from the conversation. “That doesn’t mean I don’t like you. It just means I think you need to be better.”

Azzi blinked, caught off guard by the bluntness of the statement. “Better?”

“Yeah,” Paige said, her voice even. “You’re good, Azzi. Everyone on the planet knows you’re good. But if you want to be great—if you want to be what this team needs—you have to start acting like it.”

Azzi scoffed, her frustration bubbling over. “Are you kidding me? I work my ass off every single day. I’m in the gym just as much as you are—probably more.”

Paige shrugged, not bothered by that last comment knowing it wasn’t true. “It doesn’t matter how much you work if you don’t carry it with you onto the court. Until you start playing like you know you’re the second-best player on this team, it’s not going to mean anything.”

“Second best,” Azzi repeated, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “Wow, what an honor.”

“Exactly,” Paige said, her eyes narrowing. “You don’t agree. You need to own that. Play like it. Make everyone feel it.”

Azzi shook her head, incredulous. “Just because I don’t have a giant ego like you doesn’t mean I don’t think I’m the best.”

“I don’t have an ego,” Paige said. “I just know what this team needs.”

Azzi stepped closer, her voice rising slightly. “Oh, you mean they need another uptight, self-centered recruit who thinks they have all the answers?”

Paige’s jaw tightened, but she kept her voice calm. “No, they need the top recruit they just got to stop being passive and start leading. They need someone who plays like they know they’re the best so the rest of the team can feed off of it.”

Azzi let out a bitter laugh. “So... basically an asshole?”

Paige exhaled sharply, clearly done with the conversation. She shook her head and turned back to the scavenger hunt, muttering, “You don’t get it.”

“No, I don’t,” Azzi shot back, her tone challenging. “And you know what? You don’t get me either. You think you’ve got me all figured out, like I’m some shy, passive player who’s too scared to take charge. But you don’t know the first thing about me Paige.”

Paige stopped walking, spinning around to face Azzi. “And you think you know me? You think I’m just some uptight ass self-absorbed player who doesn’t care about anyone else? I just have my own shit to deal with. Not everything is about you.”

Azzi bristled at the words, her voice dropping to a quieter but still heated tone. “I never said it was about me. But you could at least try to make me feel like I’m part of this team instead of treating me like an outsider.”

Paige’s expression softened for just a moment, but she quickly masked it with a shrug. “Maybe stop acting like one.”

Azzi stared at her, her frustration mixing with hurt. “You really think I’m not trying?”

Paige didn’t answer right away, her eyes flicking back to the scavenger hunt paper. “No that’s not what I said, I think you’re holding yourself back. And this team doesn’t have time for that.”

Azzi shook her head, biting back a retort. They resumed walking, the silence between them now heavier than before. Paige stayed focused on the clues, while Azzi followed a step behind, her mind racing with everything they had just said—and left unsaid.

After a stretch of silence, the tension between them still hung heavy in the air. Azzi walked a step behind Paige, her frustration simmering beneath the surface as Paige stayed focused on the scavenger hunt paper, seemingly unaffected.

Finally, Paige slowed her steps, glancing over her shoulder. Her voice was quieter this time but still firm. “Azzi… I don’t not like you. Seriously.”

Azzi looked up, startled by the unexpected comment. “Could’ve fooled me,” she muttered.

Paige turned to face her, her expression unreadable. “You belong on this team. You wouldn’t be here if you didn’t. And yeah, you can be frustrating as hell and I definitely don’t agree with a lot of the things you say, but that doesn’t mean I don’t think you’re good. Doesn’t mean I don’t like you and I’m sorry if I made you think that.”

Azzi blinked, caught off guard by the blunt acknowledgment. She shifted her weight, her frustration tempered but not entirely gone. “Well, maybe if you didn’t act like I had something to prove all the time, I’d actually feel like I belonged.”

Paige exhaled sharply, shaking her head. “Pushing you is how I know you do belong. I wouldn’t waste my time talking to you if you didn’t.”

Azzi’s lips pressed into a thin line, but a flicker of understanding passed through her expression. “Fine,” she said after a beat, her tone quieter now. “But maybe try dialing it back a little. Just… once in a while. It’s tiring.”

Paige shrugged, a faint smile tugging at her lips.

Azzi rolled her eyes at the silence but didn’t press further. They resumed walking, the tension between them still lingering, but the weight of it had lessened—just enough to keep moving forward. Maybe Azzi would try her luck again at getting to know the blonde.

…

Later that night the team was gathered in one of the larger suites, the atmosphere buzzing with energy as conversations overlapped and laughter echoed through the space. Players lounged across couches and the carpeted floor, munching on snacks and joking around. It was one of the nightly bonding sessions the seniors insisted on, a tradition meant to bring the team closer as the season loomed.

Paige sat at one end of the couch, scrolling through her phone with a focused expression. Azzi, perched on the armrest opposite her, noticed how Paige’s grip on her phone tightened slightly, her jaw set in a way that betrayed her usual calm demeanor during times like this. Curiosity piqued, Azzi leaned subtly to get a glimpse of what Paige was reading. The headline immediately made her frown: “Paige Bueckers: Can She Handle the Pressure This Season?”

The article was harsh but clearly biased, questioning Paige’s ability to bounce back from the previous year’s challenges. Paige’s face betrayed nothing, but Azzi could feel the tension radiating from her as her jaw continued to tighten.

Without a word, Paige suddenly stood, catching everyone’s attention.

“Where are you going?” Nika asked from her spot on the floor, looking up with a raised brow.

“The gym,” Paige replied flatly.

A collective groan went around the room.

“Come on,” Christyn said, leaning back against the armrest of a chair. “We’re supposed to be bonding, not sneaking off to the gym again.”

“You’ve been there all day already,” Olivia added, shaking her head. “What’s left to work on?”

Paige crossed her arms, clearly unimpressed by the protests. “You don’t have to drag me out later I swear. I’ll be fine.”

Before anyone else could chime in, Azzi spoke up, her voice cutting through the noise. “I’ll go with her.”

The room fell silent, and all eyes turned to Azzi. Nika blinked, looking as though she misheard.

“Wait, what?” Aaliyah asked, tilting her head.

“Azzi, you good?” Christyn asked, confused about her voluntarily being around Paige.

Even Paige hesitated, glancing at Azzi with a mix of surprise and confusion. “You don’t have to—”

“It’s fine,” Azzi interrupted, her tone firm. “There’s some stuff we probably need to work on together anyway.”

Paige’s eyes narrowed slightly, as if trying to figure out Azzi’s angle, but she didn’t argue.

Nika glanced at Caroline, who sat beside her on the floor. “Am I the only one wondering what’s going on here?”

Caroline shrugged, looking equally curious. “Nope.”

“I mean, we’re all thinking it,” Dorka chimed in, earning a few quiet laughs.

Paige sighed, clearly ready to leave the scrutiny behind. “I’ll grab you some clothes,” she muttered, already heading toward her room.

Azzi stood, ignoring the murmurs and exchanged glances from the team. Aubrey, who had been quietly observing from the corner, gave her a small smile, the only one not visibly surprised.

As Azzi followed Paige out of the suite, Nika leaned toward Aaliyah, whispering just loud enough to be heard, “This is either going to end in a fistfight or... something we don’t want to know about.”

“Probably both,” Aaliyah replied with a smirk.

Azzi caught the comment but didn’t react having no idea what they were talking about.

…

Azzi and Paige had just finished an intense workout. They worked through it together in silence for the most part with the occasional high five or pay on the back. The gym was eerily quiet at this hour, with only the hum of the overhead lights and their heavy breaths filling the space. Both of them were seated on the floor, backs resting against the padded wall, their bodies dripping with sweat.

Paige let her head fall back for a moment, staring up at the ceiling before finally looking at Azzi. “Thanks,” she said, her voice softer than usual.

Azzi glanced over at her, slightly caught off guard. It wasn’t the thank-you that surprised her—it was the way Paige was actually looking at her. For the first time, there wasn’t a guarded or dismissive edge in her expression, just sincerity.

It threw Azzi off balance for a second, and without thinking, she blurted out, “Woah your eyes are blue.”

Paige raised an eyebrow, a small chuckle escaping her lips. “They sure are,” she said, amused.

Azzi shook her head, laughing at herself. “I just mean, I never noticed before,” she admitted. “Probably because you’re always glaring at me the few times you actually address me.”

Paige laughed again, the sound lighter than Azzi expected. “Yeah, I’m sorry about that. I know I can be... a bit much sometimes.”

Azzi shrugged, brushing it off.

They sat in comfortable silence for a beat before Azzi tapped her phone screen, the faint glow illuminating the time. “So, you wanna tell me why we’re in the gym at...” she squinted at the numbers, “1:47 a.m. on a Wednesday?”

Paige glanced at her, the corners of her mouth quirking up slightly. “I know why I’m here. You wanna tell me why you decided to join me?”

Azzi leaned her head back against the wall, smirking. “I knew they wouldn’t let you come if I didn’t. Plus, like I said earlier, there’s some things we need to work on.”

“Like what?” Paige asked, her curiosity piqued.

Azzi turned to face her more directly, her expression serious but still teasing. “Like you passing the ball where I’m going instead of where I am.”

Paige rolled her eyes, a playful scoff escaping her. “I’m a great passer.”

Azzi raised an eyebrow, her smirk growing. “And I’m the best shooter in the country. I move a lot. You need to figure out where I’m going to be, not just where I currently am.”

Paige blinked at her, processing the critique. Her lips twitched like she wanted to argue, but instead, she let out a small laugh, nodding slightly as she thought about it.

Azzi stood up, brushing off her shorts before grabbing the ball that sat nearby. She spun it in her hands and tilted her head toward the court. “Come on,” she said, motioning for Paige to follow her.

Paige smiled despite herself, pushing up from the floor. “Fine,” she said, her tone mock-defeated.

Azzi grinned. “Let’s see if you’re as great as you claim you are.”

Paige laughed, jogging after her toward the court, the tension between them starting to ease in the quiet rhythm of the game.

Paige and Azzi stood at the top of the key, the ball in Paige’s hands as Azzi explained what she’d meant earlier.

“You follow my eyes, just like everyone else,” Azzi said, dribbling the ball before passing it to Paige. “But my eyes don’t always tell you where I’m going. You’ve gotta look at my movements instead.”

Paige nodded slowly, absorbing the critique. She dribbled the ball once, then shifted her stance. “Alright,” she said, her voice intrigued. “Let’s run through it.”

They started with basic passes, Paige watching Azzi closely. Some were spot-on, hitting Azzi perfectly in stride. Others lagged slightly behind, forcing Azzi to pause or adjust.

“See?” Azzi said after one of those off passes, tossing the ball back to Paige. “You’re looking at where I am. You’ve gotta watch my hands.”

Paige tilted her head, brow furrowing. “Your hands?”

“Yeah,” Azzi said, holding them up. “My hands show you where I’m going to end up. Pay attention, and you’ll see it.”

Paige bounced the ball a couple of times, nodding. “Alright, let’s try again.”

They went through the drill several more times, Paige focusing on Azzi’s hands like she’d suggested. Slowly but surely, the passes started to click. Paige began to notice the subtle flicks of Azzi’s fingers or the way her hand angled before she cut. After a while, the passes were seamless, their movements flowing together effortlessly.

“See?” Azzi said, catching another perfect pass in stride. “Told you.”

Paige smirked, brushing a stray piece of hair from her face. “Guess you were right.”

“Always am,” Azzi teased, tossing the ball back.

The two of them had been running the same drill for what felt like forever. Paige’s passes were sharper now, landing perfectly in Azzi’s hands as she moved seamlessly through her cuts. The flow of their movements had become natural, like they’d been doing this together for years.

Azzi caught the ball mid-stride and jogged back to the top of the key, bouncing it casually. “You know it’s almost three, right?” she said, glancing at the clock.

Paige paused, hands resting on her hips. “They’re going to kill you for letting me stay this late,” she said, half-smirking. “You’re supposed to be the responsible one, remember?”

Azzi shrugged, her lips curving into a small smile. “They never said what time you had to leave,” she replied. “All they said was that it was supposed to be team bonding.” She held the ball out toward Paige. “I’d say we bonded a little bit. Plus,” she added, her smile widening, “we haven’t argued the whole time we’ve been here, so that’s a win.”

Paige chuckled, wiping the sweat from her forehead with the hem of her shirt. “Guess you’ve got a point.” She reached out and took the ball from Azzi. “And for the record, I wouldn’t call you responsible. You’re just as bad as me for sticking around this long.”

Azzi laughed softly, leaning back against the padded wall at the baseline. “Maybe. But if you didn’t notice, I’m not the one who dragged us here in the middle of the night.”

Paige shot her a playful glare, bouncing the ball a couple of times. “Fair enough. But you didn’t exactly put up a fight about it either.”

Azzi raised an eyebrow. “Because I saw how tense you were and someone had to make sure you didn’t overdo it. Like I said—team bonding.”

Paige shook her head, laughing under her breath as she lined up a shot. The ball arced perfectly through the air, swishing cleanly through the net. “Fine,” she said, turning to Azzi. “But if they ask, this was your idea.”

Azzi rolled her eyes, pushing off the wall. “Yeah, sure. I’m sure they’ll believe that.” She walked over and retrieved the ball, tossing it back to Paige.

For a moment, they stood there in the quiet gym, the weight of the night settling between them. Paige glanced at Azzi, a hint of gratitude in her expression. “Thanks, by the way. For coming with me.”

Azzi shrugged, though her smile softened. “Don’t mention it.”

Paige held the ball, debating for a second. Then she smirked. “One more run?”

Azzi sighed, shaking her head with a chuckle. “Fine. But only one more.”

“Promise,” Paige said, already moving to her spot.

Azzi jogged to hers, the exhaustion fading as they fell back into the rhythm they’d built over the past few hours. It was definitely more than one run through.

[percyswhxre]

spin the bottle

loser! best friend! luke castellan x daughter of athena! daughter

a/n: this is only my third story, and i’m open to feedback! let me know if you guys like it. also in this story, pretend that annabeth never like luke in that way. and sorry for the abrupt ending, i didn’t really know what to do

word count: about 900 words

it was the kind of party that was loud, messy, and filled with way too many people. music blared from the speakers, cups clinked, and laughter echoed off the walls. y/n sat on the couch with a group of people, her eyes scanning the crowd, not really paying attention to the conversation. she spotted luke across the room, his usual awkward self, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. he looked uncomfortable, like he didn’t know what to do with his hands.

y/n grinned to herself. she couldn’t help it. luke was her best friend, and after all his moping, he was still… well, luke. and even though he was the one to act all cool, he was secretly a mess around people, especially girls.

“you’re staring,” annabeth teased, nudging y/n’s shoulder.

“shut up,” y/n muttered, her face flushing a little. annabeth had been making fun of her for weeks now. ever since she’d started noticing that luke didn’t look as awful to her as he used to.

“okay, whatever,” annabeth said, dropping the subject, but her grin stayed.

the night wore on, and soon enough, someone suggested playing spin the bottle. y/n was just about to protest when annabeth grabbed her by the wrist, pulling her into the circle.

"this is gonna be fun," annabeth said, her eyes twinkling.

“right,” y/n muttered, rolling her eyes. the bottle spun, people kissed, laughter filled the air. it wasn’t a big deal, not really. she’d played before. but this time, there was a weight to it—something she couldn’t explain. maybe it was because luke was in the circle, sitting right across from her, looking more uncomfortable than ever.

the bottle spun again, slowly at first, then picking up speed. y/n watched it, her heart beating a little faster for no reason at all. she had no idea why, but her gaze kept drifting back to luke. it stopped. everyone gasped, laughing. y/n froze when she saw who the bottle had landed on.

luke.

he was already looking at her, his face a little red, eyes wide. he cleared his throat, looking everywhere but at her.

“well…” someone said, breaking the tension. “this is gonna be interesting.”

y/n felt her palms get sweaty. why was she nervous? they were best friends, right? they’d hung out, fought monsters, saved the world together. but for some reason, this felt different.

“come on, just kiss him already,” annabeth teased. y/n shot her a glare, but annabeth just grinned, obviously enjoying the moment.

“yeah, it’s no big deal,” luke said, his voice a little shaky, like he was trying to convince himself more than anyone else.

y/n took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. she leaned in, closing her eyes. when her lips brushed against luke’s, the world kind of… stopped. it wasn’t a long kiss, just a quick peck, but it felt like everything changed. her heart was pounding, and when they pulled away, their faces were only inches apart.

there was a long silence.

“that was… different,” y/n said, her voice barely above a whisper.

“yeah,” luke agreed, his voice thick with something y/n couldn’t quite place.

the game continued around them, but they both stayed frozen, caught in the moment. luke’s gaze didn’t leave her face, and she could see the confusion and uncertainty in his eyes. but there was something else, something softer.

“hey,” luke said quietly, once everyone’s attention was elsewhere. “can we… talk for a minute?”

y/n nodded, feeling a little dizzy from the kiss. she followed him outside onto the back porch, away from the noise of the party. the cool night air hit her, and she felt a little clearer.

they stood in silence for a moment, neither of them sure what to say. luke kicked a loose pebble, clearly not knowing how to start. finally, he looked at her, his eyes serious.

“so… that kiss. it wasn’t like… just a kiss, right?”

y/n blinked, caught off guard. “uh, no,” she admitted, her voice small. “it wasn’t. but I didn’t… I mean, I didn’t expect it to be.”

“me neither,” luke said, a soft chuckle escaping his lips. but then his expression shifted. “but… y/n, I… I’ve kind of liked you for a while now. like, more than a friend.”

y/n’s breath caught in her throat. she stared at him, trying to figure out if she’d heard him right. luke castellan, the guy who had never kissed anyone, who was always awkward and unsure, liked her?

“you… you do?” she asked, almost too afraid to ask the question.

he nodded, looking a little embarrassed but also relieved, like he was glad to finally say it out loud.

“yeah,” he said, stepping a little closer. “I think I always have. and after that kiss… I don’t know, it felt like maybe you felt the same.”

y/n smiled, her heart racing. “well, you’re right. I do. I’ve just been too stupid to say it.”

luke grinned, stepping closer still until there was barely any space between them. “well, then,” he said softly, leaning in, “maybe we should try that again.”

this time, when their lips met, it wasn’t quick or awkward. it was slow, and sure, and everything that had been unsaid between them clicked into place.

luke’s hands grabbed her waist and y/n’s hands tangled in his hair. she began to walk backwards as he walked forwards, until they found the padded bench seat. he sat down, pulling her into his lap without breaking their kiss.

y/n broke away with a small laugh before getting up and grabbing his hand. “let’s go back inside now, and maybe we’ll continue this later?” she asked and he almost immediately nodded. they walked back inside to the party, holding hands.

[thatcobrakaifan]

request from @johnnylawerencegirl1984 !!

young! johnny lawrence x fem reader

| finding out you’re pregnant |

───────── ౨ৎ ─────────

You’re both sitting behind the school gym after hours—his favorite hiding spot from Sid’s constant barking. You’re fidgeting, clearly nervous, and Johnny keeps asking, “Babe, what’s going on?”

When you finally whisper, “I’m pregnant,” his face goes blank. Like his brain has hit a wall and crashed. But instead of running or yelling, he just goes, “…Seriously? Like, for real?”

You nod. And he stares at your hands, then at your belly, like he’s trying to see something.

He doesn’t yell or storm off. He just says, “Holy crap,” about five times, then runs a hand through his already messy blond hair and mutters, “I’m gonna be a dad?” over and over, like he’s trying to convince himself.

But then he looks at you and sees how scared you are—and it clicks. He takes your hand and says, “Okay. Okay. We’ll figure this out. You and me.”

───────── ౨ৎ ─────────

Johnny starts trying to act more mature overnight—he stumbles through it, of course. He tells Sid, who scoffs and calls him an idiot. But Johnny doesn’t back down. For the first time ever, he stands up for himself: “I’m not just some loser. I’m gonna take care of them. I swear.”

───────── ౨ৎ ─────────

You’re laying on his old, lumpy couch at Sid’s place when Robby kicks. Johnny jumps like he’s been electrocuted.

“Did he just— Was that—? That was him!”

His eyes go wide, and his whole face softens in this way you’ve never seen before. He puts his hand back like it’s something sacred. “That’s our kid,” he says, completely awed.

───────── ౨ৎ ─────────

Johnny is terrified to hold him. He keeps saying, “I’m gonna drop him, I know it,” but you put Robby in his arms anyway.

He just stares at this tiny bundle of squishy cheeks and soft hair and lets out a choked laugh. “He looks like you. Thank God.”

Robby wraps his tiny fingers around Johnny’s pinky, and Johnny melts. He kisses the baby’s forehead and whispers, “Hey, little man. I’m your dad. I’m not perfect, but I love you, okay?”

───────── ౨ৎ ─────────

When Sid sees Johnny taking care of Robby—changing diapers, heating bottles, staying up all night—he grumbles something like, “Didn’t think you had it in you.”

But Johnny sees the flicker of pride in his eyes. And for once, that means something. It’s fuel for the fire in him.

───────── ౨ৎ ─────────

He starts calling him “Champ” and narrating everything they do together.

“Okay, Robby, we’re gonna build this baby gym thingy. I have no clue what I’m doing, but we’re gonna try, okay?”

He plays guitar (badly) to help him fall asleep and swears Robby only likes the loud chords. Bath time turns into a splash zone, and Johnny thinks Robby’s laugh is the best sound in the world.

───────── ౨ৎ ─────────

Johnny may have never felt good enough before, but every time Robby smiles, reaches for him, or babbles when he walks into the room, Johnny feels like he’s doing something right.

He’s not just “Lawrence the screw-up” anymore—he’s Robby’s dad.

[kinsfics]

we fell in love in the middle of nowhere (2) – steve harrington

▶︎ NOW PLAYING: amnesia by 5 seconds of summer

⸺ summary: A small town boy, a small town girl, her biggest love, his biggest loss. AKA, Steve's POV of what life in Hawkins is like after (Y/N) leaves.

⸺ author’s note: I was not expecting it to take this long to get this out but work is awful and I just want to sleep when I get home. Anyway, hopefully I can finish rewriting all my old stories sometime this year lmao. Also, I'm making a taglist so let me know if you want to be on it! (it can be for just one character/fandom/series or the overall taglist)

I drove by all the places we used to hang out getting wasted

It’s been three months since you left Hawkins, and Steve still couldn’t seem to get you out of his mind. On the nights his imagination would run wild and he couldn’t stop picturing what life would have been like had he found the courage to follow you to Paris, he would get in his car—the same one he spent countless hours with you in—and drive around Hawkins, passing all the spots he had frequented with you.

He drove past the school where the two of you first met, the movie theater where you had your first date after he finally convinced you to go out with him, the park where he told you he loved you for the first time as you lay together under the stars. He remembers that day best. Steve had managed to steal some beer from his dad for the two of you to try, and the two of you had gotten drunk for the first time that night, falling asleep in the backseat of his car after lying in the grass and talking in a drunken haze for hours. Lying in the grass with the stars twinkling above you, he remembers thinking you looked like an angel. He remembers thinking he was the luckiest guy on the planet to be the one you chose. But luck has never been a strong enough foundation to build a future on.

He doesn’t really remember telling you he loved you, but he knows he’ll never forget the way he felt when you said it back. Steve doesn’t think he ever noticed how small this town really was until every turn reminded him of you.

I thought about our last kiss

How it felt, the way you tasted

He remembers your first kiss almost as well as he remembers your last. He remembers standing with you outside your house just moments before you drove away from him for the last time. He had told himself that he wouldn’t let you see him cry. This was your dream, he knew that, and he was happy for you. At least, he wanted you to think he was. But it was over for him the minute you let your own tears fall. Neither of you could bring yourselves to say goodbye. So instead, he pulled you close and kissed you for what was likely the last time. He savored the feeling of your lips against his, the salty taste of your tears mingling with your usual strawberry chapstick. He swears he can still taste you on his tongue, and he’s not sure if that’s a blessing or a curse.

I remember the day you told me you were leaving

I remember the makeup running down your face

And the dreams you left behind, you didn’t need them

Like every single wish we ever made

For as long as Steve had known you, he had known about your plans to leave Hawkins. It was all you ever talked about, but maybe a part of him thought it was nothing more than a fantasy. Maybe that’s why he ever thought it was realistic to promise he’d follow you anywhere. It wasn’t until you were holding the acceptance letter to a university in Paris that it hit him how real your plans actually were. He would give anything to forget the way your perfectly done makeup ran down your face as the tears started to fall from your eyes.

Steve is almost envious of how you were able to walk away from your life in Hawkins—from him—so easily. He knew you were chasing your dreams, but he thought that he had played a bigger part in them. How could you leave all of that behind? He certainly wasn’t able to let it go so quickly. Steve wishes he was as brave as you were. If he was, maybe both of your dreams could have come true.

And all my friends keep asking why I’m not around

It hurts to know you’re happy

Yeah, it hurts that you moved on

Robin and Dustin give him three days to wallow before they start bombarding his house with phone calls. They insist he get out of the house and do something with them. But he can’t. Not when everywhere he goes reminds him of you. And maybe a part of him was scared to make new memories with anyone who wasn’t you. If all he has left of you are the memories, he’ll hold on to them even if it kills him.

Steve wonders if you’re suffering as much as he is. A part of him hopes that you are. He knows it’s selfish, but he can’t bear the thought that you’re moving on. He doesn’t want you to realize that you can be happy without him because then he knows he’ll really lose you. Above all else, he doesn’t want to be just one of the many things you left behind.

If today I woke up with you right beside me

Like all of this was just some twisted dream

I’d hold you closer than I ever did before

Every night, Steve goes to sleep, hoping that everything was just a bad dream and that he’d wake up with you by his side. And every morning he wakes up alone. Still, he can’t help but imagine what he would do if you were here. He would hold you close and show you how much you mean to him. He would tell you how much he loves you, how much he needs you. Maybe this time it would be enough to make you stay.

[irisintheafterglow]

there's one week out of the entire year iwaizumi hajime loathes: back to school week at the gym.

as an athletic trainer? sure, he's happy for all these new students stepping out of their comfort zones and trying out their campus' amenities. as your boyfriend? he's one more lingering look away from hurling a kettlebell at whoever stares at your body for too long.

"haji, my love. you're scaring the new kids," you chide, setting the squat bar with your warmup weight back on its hooks.

"not my fault they've got wandering eyes," he grumbles, his usual approachable demeanor nowhere to be found. "how many plates, babe?"

"i'll do one for now, but grab me two ten's just in case. i'm trying to take it easy today, but not too easy," you request after a sip from the water bottle he'd gifted you for your first anniversary. a gold volleyball charm the size of your fingernail dangled from the side on a keychain, identical to the one hanging from his car keys.

"you can do two plates in your sleep. i'd say three is where you start to struggle," he points out while rolling you the weights, ever the cheerleader in testing your strength to its limits. "but do what you feel's right for today. don't worry about those assholes who keep lookin' at you." as you work through your sets and add on plates, you vaguely hear your boyfriend's firm mutters of warning as fresh faces pass by.

keep it moving.

eyes elsewhere, buddy.

look there one more time and i'm gonna call security, newbie.

maybe it's because he's preoccupied with playing security guard, or maybe it's because you want to show off, but you end up sliding on a bit more weight than you can handle on your best days. your legs wobble on their own, the strength in your quads gradually fading as muscle failure sets in. you shake away a few beads of sweat that drip from your forehead and will yourself to dig deeper.

"there you go, baby. that's it," hajime murmurs encouragingly, the note of awe in his voice evident. "doing great. just a few more."

"haji, i don't think i got this one," you chuckle nervously, your chest heaving with deep, hurried breaths. "might be...fuck...a little too close to the sun, here...shit."

"say the word and i'll get you, honey," he reassures you, smirking at your colorful strings of curses that you only said when you were really pushing it. his eyes scan your body for any inkling that your form is deteriorating; like he promised you the first day he convinced you to go to the gym with him, his number one priority will always be your safety. whether that be creeps who keep stealing glimpses at your legs or attempting a new pr, he vowed that he would be there to protect you. "two more, baby. you're killing it."

you better back the hell up before i make you, he quietly threatens to a duo of freshmen that were inching closer to you from a blindspot in your vision. as he's glaring daggers, you're blinking away dark spots in your vision and trembling by the time you finish your last rep.

"haji, babe, you got me?" your body feels like it's frozen in a squat, unable to push yourself back up no matter how much you tried. maybe this is how atlas felt when he was holding up the world, you think to yourself. hajime's definitely gonna tease you for that one, later.

"you need me?" he's behind you in an instant, enveloping you in warmth and positioning his hands next to yours. the smell of his cologne and the familiar shape of his body behind yours give you a surge of energy, enough to force out one more word before your final push.

"please." he shoots one last look of warning to someone behind him before effortlessly helping you place the bar back on the hooks, kissing the top of your head once you've let your muscles relax. "thanks, baby."

"it's what i'm here for. i'm proud of you," he murmurs, brushing his thumb against your cheek when you turn to face him. he holds your bottle for you as you sip, your lower body still shaking even though you're only standing.

"alright." you smile once you've had your fill and re-racked your weights. you spot a pack of girls eyeing your boyfriend from the treadmills and stifle a laugh that he catches anyway. "your turn."

"what're you laughin' about?"

"it's nothing. need help with your plates?"

"i'm good, just stay there and look pretty. i'm gonna be wondering what you're laughing at for the rest of the night, though." he shrugs passive-aggressively and you roll your eyes. he follows your eyeline, zeroing in on the group batting their eyelashes at him like sirens. "hmm. friends of yours?"

"never seen them in my life," you reply. "guess it's time for me to play guard dog."

if you enjoy my writing and would like to support me, you can buy me a coffee on my ko-fi! commissions and nsfw requests can be sent through my fiverr! you can also check out my full masterlist here :)

[httpvomitello]

Okay soooo~ this is my first time writing to ur acc but- I have a headcon idea about the rottmnt boys and I just laughed so hard on the inside- Okay so picture them with a short bestfriend/crush like around 5,1 or 4,11 you get the idea anyway- So their bestfriend/crush made a bet that they couldn't find them in 5-10 minutes and since reader is so short they can fit into any type of space like the kitchen cabinets maybe the ceiling maybe even the lab- and the boys are just looking around trying to find their bestfriend/crush and then maybe after so much time has passed their bestfriend/crush jumps out and scares the living daylights out of them- (*cough* Mostly Donnie or Leo *cough*) those two have the best reactions when caught off guard can't convince me otherwise- tho I feel like Donnie would be getting scared shitless the most because he always somehow forgets their bestfriend/crush is short af and can fit and hide anywhere and probably in his lab- Like just imagine Donnie in his lab working on shelldon only for their bestfriend/crush scare him shitless while he just stands there frozen staring into space trying to come back down to reality- because the poor guy got so scared his soul almost left him early- I'm actually dying picturing it and it being so fucking funny-🤣😂

Nooooo ~ The worst part is that I also find this funny 🥹 Anyways.... (I'm also short, and I think I would end up scaring them by appearing out of nowhere because of my height) Hope you like it! ♡♡♡♡

Starts off cocky

He’s laughing as he searches, all swagger, tossing out taunts like, “C’mon, this’ll be easy! You’re like, what, a foot tall?”

At first, he checks all the obvious spots, confident he’ll win

But when he doesn’t find them right away

He starts getting… annoyed

With each passing minute, he’s scrambling more and getting low-key panicked

(But will never admit it)

He’s crawling under tables, looking behind every cabinet, even balancing on his toes to check high places, muttering, “Where are you?”

By minute 9, he’s convinced they’re using some kind of stealth magic

Just when he’s about to yell for a hint

His friend leaps out of a high cabinet right above his head, shouting, “Found you!”

Leo jumps about a mile in the air and definitely lets out a yelp, only to turn and immediately play it cool

“Pfft, please, I knew you were up there the whole time,” he insists, laughing nervously while they’re laughing their head off

(He’ll never live it down).

Donnie approaches the challenge like a tactical mission

He’s positive his analytical skills will give him the edge, he’s done simulations for situations like this

He starts systematically checking everywhere he deems logical, mumbling calculations under his breath

He doesn’t even consider weird spots like tiny cabinets or tight spaces because he just assumes “they can’t fit in there.”

But as time ticks down and they still haven’t turned up, he starts… glitching

It bothers him that he can’t find them

He’s questioning his methods, his intelligence, his sanity

By minute 10, he’s pulling apart his lab in desperation, muttering, “Statistically, this makes no sense…”

Then...

BAM!

They leap out from behind a stack of lab equipment, yelling “BOO!”

He freezes

Doesn’t move, doesn’t blink, just stands there, eyes wide, brain processing while his crush is cracking up

It takes him a solid five seconds to finally exhale and snap back to reality, half-annoyed, half-awed

“How… what… That was highly unnecessary.” But inside?

He’s impressed. Very impressed.

Raph is convinced he’s got this in the bag

He’s actually low-key excited to find them

Searches quickly, carefully looking under furniture and checking behind things

His biggest worry?

Accidentally breaking whatever tiny space they might be hiding in

Around the 5-minute mark, he’s getting a little worried, muttering “Alright, you gotta come out sometime.”

(He’s trying to sound annoyed but is actually having a blast.)

After a few more minutes, they finally jump out from a hidden nook and yell, “Gotcha!”

He’s startled, sure, but instead of jumping, he just lets out a big laugh and grins wide

“Nice try, short stuff. Almost got me there.”

He’s proud

Just doesn’t totally understand why anyone would want to squeeze into such a tiny spot to hide

Raph will start opening the cabins more carefully from now on, afraid that they might be hiding there out of nowhere.

He’s 100% into it, like it’s a treasure hunt, bouncing from place to place, calling out, “Ready or not, here I come!”

He’s convinced his “hide-and-seek intuition” will help him find them in record time

But when he can’t find them, he only gets more hyped

For Mikey, it’s all part of the fun

At minute 10, he’s practically pleading

“Alright, you win! Just tell me where you are!” He even starts rapping, trying to coax them out

When they finally jump out, surprising him with a “BOO!”

He lets out a huge scream and then immediately starts laughing

“That was awesome! You’re like a tiny ninja or something!”

(Mikey gets a little paranoid though, thinking they're going to jump out at him out of nowhere.)

100% asks for a rematch immediately

Mikey just wants an excuse to play this all over again.

[seung-mongmong]

Don't ask "What are we?"

the new album has had me in a chokehold, i had to write something inspired by i like it

Warnings: PWP(if you squint) mean seungmin, possibly toxic relationship, casual flings, spanking, biting, hair pulling, degrading, a little crying, oral (f recieving), unprotected sex

Word Count: 2k words

part one, part two

You really had tried to ignore the dings coming from your phone as you wound down for bed. You forced yourself through the motions of brushing your hair and teeth as the piercing notifications droned on. You knew exactly who was messaging you at this hour, your eyes scanned the clock to read 12 am. He was most likely attempting to convince you to let him come over, as he did every time he texted. You swore you would stop seeing him until he decided what your relationship actually was, but as your phone began ringing with a call, you felt some of that resolve crumble. 

You shuffled back into your bedroom to grab the phone, staring at the contact as you wrestled with yourself. All he’d do if you let him in was string you along for fun, but having him that close in the first place felt intoxicating. You hit the answer call button, annoyance seeping through your voice as you asked what he wanted. You had to bite your lip to not laugh at the sweet voice he put on, pleading with you to come over and watch a movie. You knew what that meant. 

“Seungmin, I'm tired, it's late.” you mumbled, playing with the sleeve on his shirt, one you’d started to use as a sleep shirt after he forgot it. 

“I know you don’t have anything to do tomorrow, you talked about it last time” he argued

“Well…” you started, but he cut in

“I’ll even stay the night, we could talk in the morning about…stuff, you know.” 

You bit your lip, weighing the options. He always knew how to get you to cave to what he wanted. “I’m going to bed in thirty minutes if you aren’t here.” you finally answered, sighing as he hung up immediately. 

You felt awful for letting him sway you so easily, but you couldn’t help the pang in your heart at his promise to stay and talk. You always hoped that he’d finally talk about your little situation, maybe finally treat you like a lover instead of a body to warm his bed. You knew it was foolish, he always dodged your questions. You still let yourself hope he’d actually stick around as you dug through your drawers to find a nicer pair of underwear. You didn’t bother grabbing a bra, recalling the past few he had messed up in the heat of the moment, rendering the clasp unusable. You curled up in your bed after getting ready for him and waited quietly, lost in thought as you mindlessly scrolled through your phone. 

Your door opened after about fifteen minutes, Seungmin knew where the spare key was, and he always let himself in when he visited. You sat up, glancing at your bedroom door as he slipped in. His jacket must have been ditched on the couch before he came in. 

“About time” you mumbled, grabbing your laptop to look through movies as he settled on your bed. You could feel his hands snaking around your waist, feeling up and down. 

“You aren’t even going to act like you want to watch a movie like you said?” you asked as his hands crept under your sleep shirt. He sighed “why bother? We both know what's going to happen” 

You sighed, moving your laptop to a safe spot on your bedside table before he could pull you closer by your hips. You reached up to grab his arms as he climbed over you, a sly grin on his face. You could recognize that look, silently telling you he always won when it came to the games he was playing, he knew exactly how to keep you wrapped around his finger, no matter how many times you begged him to stop treating you like a toy to play with. You should have kicked him to the curb months ago when he started acting this way, when the sweet dates stopped and he only called you to get you into bed. You should have, but as his lips began to trail down your neck, leaving a tingling feeling in his wake, you knew he had you hooked. You’d do anything to keep his hands on you, even if you’d always wish for more. 

He pushed your shirt up to kiss further down, only stopping to push your underwear down and off your legs. You lost your train of thoughts the second he shuffled between your legs, kissing around the inside of your thighs so sweetly, you almost thought he’d go easy on you tonight. The bite to your thigh threw that out the window instantly, and his hands quickly pushed your legs apart to keep you where he wanted you. You squealed as he finally began to kiss at your wetness, tongue darting out to taste you. You snaked a hand down to grab his hair, tugging in the way you knew he liked. He groaned, sending vibrations up your spine. He always took his time making you fall apart with just his tongue, his grip on your thigh tightening as you writhed. He could easily keep you pinned if he wanted, you knew he was being lenient with you right  now. Your whines and whimpers pushed him to draw more noise from you. An arm slipped around your leg to lay across your stomach, effectively pinning your lower half to the bed as he began to focus his attention on your clit. You moaned out, pulling his hair harder. He took his other hand, landing a sharp slap across the outside of your thigh to tell you to behave. You really did try to listen, but with the rough treatment and the feeling of his tongue on you it was becoming harder to ignore the shake in your legs and the heat licking up your spine. He delivered another slap to your thigh when your squirming failed to stop, making you whine out, pleading with him to let you finish. He hardly even spared you a glance as he doubled his effort on your heat, silently giving you the go ahead you needed. 

You came undone in a matter of seconds on his tongue, legs shaking as your breath caught in your throat. He stayed where he was until the shaking died down, before sitting up to wipe his mouth on the back of his hand. He stared down at you, your chest heaving in the aftershocks of an orgasm, trying to catch your breath, but he seemed to have other plans. He took a hold of your hips, effectively hauling you onto your hands and knees, just how he preferred you. You could hardly feel your legs still, but you knew he’d have you up all night if you complained or tried to move. 

The sound of him taking off his belt and pants reached your ears as you stayed still, waiting for him to do anything. Finally, he came close, leaning over your back to start leaving bites and marks down your shoulders, hands rubbing circles into your waist. It almost felt romantic, the soft touch and lack of urgency pulled at your heartstrings and reminded you of wanting more of his sweet side. You were quickly snapped back to reality when a hand came down against your ass, surely leaving a nice red mark. When he didn’t hear you react to the slap, he brought his hand down again, and at the same time bit into your shoulder harshly.

“You act all coy, like you don’t love this, but look at you.” His free hand came up to grab your hair into his fist, yanking it back so you had to look up. You made eye contact with yourself in the mirror you kept in the room, and your stomach swirled with emotion. Arousal, shame, annoyance. Seungmin knew you too well, he knew you loved being treated like this by him, no matter how much your heart ached at the thought of how empty your bed would be come morning. You’d still let him back in, time and time again. When you try to stick to your promise to ignore him, you’d come to miss the pleasure he brought you, and he knew it. 

You turned your head as much as you could with him still holding your hair, closing your eyes defiantly. You could hear chuckle next to your ear, low and rumbling as he pulled harder “so you’re feeling bratty tonight? Be that way then” he said, pushing his boxers down just enough to free his cock. Still holding your hair in his fist, he used that as an anchor to keep you where he needed you, pushing into your heat slowly. He reveled in the cry you let out, arms going weak under you as your face met the mattress. He pulled out slowly, then used your hair to pull you back onto him, earning another cry from your mouth. He loved getting you like this, pliant and noisy. He could already imagine the call your neighbors would be making to complain about the noise. He moved to slap your ass one more time, before dragging you up by your hair, your back pressed against his chest as he kept thrusting into you. Your eyes were watering, sweet cries spilling out of your mouth at the feeling of him pounding away at your insides. His voice almost didn’t reach your ears as he began to speak 

“Look at you, always swearing this won’t happen again but you always end up crying on my cock. You couldn’t stop this even if you wanted to, you need me.” He spat out, not even giving you a chance to respond before he released his hold and let you fall forward again

“Face down, ass up, not a single protest to this. You like this arrangement no matter how much you say you don’t.” He continued, his thrusts speeding up. You could feel your stomach tingling with your second release, helpless to stop it as you came undone on his cock. He clenched his teeth, rhythm faltering as you clenched down on him. You could feel him struggling to keep it together, trying to keep himself from making too much noise.  He grabbed your waist with both hands, thrusting harder before he pulled out suddenly, prompting you to gasp at the sudden movement, while he began stroking himself to finish on your back with a low groan. You silently cringed at the way your back began to feel cold and sticky immediately, but let him. 

You could hardly keep your eyes open, slumping into your bed when he finally let go of you. The bed dipped beside you as he sat down, catching his breath. You could only bask in his presence briefly before he stood up again and began shuffling around the room. You peered up, watching him collect his clothes and belongings from the ground. Your heart ached again as he put his pants back on, not even bothering to say a single word to you. He got what he wanted, now he was running away before things got too romantic. 

“It wouldn’t kill you to stay, Seungmin.” you said, pulling your covers over your body. He didn’t even look at you. 

“Just go to sleep. There's no reason to start getting feelings involved in this.” He mumbled

“Seungmin-” you started, but he cut you off “there's no reason to change this, we’ve got something good going. We get to get off, no strings attached. It's on you for getting more attached, I like things the way they are.” He said as he fastened his belt, headed for the door. You sat up further “I’m serious this time, we should stop this- I can't keep this up, Seungmin. I’m done with whatever mess this is. Don’t text me” you spat out, watching him scoff 

“Yeah, we”ll see about that” 

[senseless-drivel]

Dr. Ratio encounters something absurd

Making haste back toward his hotel, Ratio is stopped at a crosswalk. As vehicles rumble by, he takes the opportunity to fire off a message.

Ratio: I am about to compile my reports. Please coordinate my return warp.

It's prudent to set that machinery in motion early, he thinks, shoving the phone back in his pocket and sighing impatiently as other pedestrians amble in a lot closer than he'd prefer. After all, considering there is no space anchor here, it's up to them to make this work.

The signal finally flips, and he finds himself in a small pool of people. He'd rather not shove the person in front of him, so he silently seethes until he can slip past. It's as if they're some kind of mindless piscine school, he grumbles. Bizarre behavior for humans ostensibly capable of independent thought. Finally free, and on the other end of the crosswalk, his phone buzzes.

Aventurine: Aw, leaving so soon? You know it's not really up to me, Doctor. Aventurine: Happy to play the role of messenger, anyway.

Ratio lets out a breath of relief upon re-entering the comparatively quiet and elegant hotel lobby, and is further relieved to find his hotel room apparently unperturbed. What he does find, amidst the now quieter soundscape of the hum of idle instruments, is an invoice for his two-night stay, which seems to have been slipped under the door.

A simple reminder of the impending deadline, he thinks, crouching to pick up the sheet of paper, and move it to a side table - an impulse borne less out of any concern over the information printed on the page than a nagging desire to keep the place uncluttered. With a sigh, he shrugs off his blazer, and doffs the hat and sunglasses, striding over to the clutch of instruments to begin the data review in earnest.

It's a lengthy process, even for someone as adept as Dr. Ratio, and the sort of thing that he would honestly normally outsource to a capable laboratory assistant, reserving himself as the final reviewer. Yet, alone in his hotel room, it's just Ratio, sitting in an armchair, muttering to himself and scratching notes on the datapad as the sun begins to set outside.

By the time he's editing his report for clarity, the room is distinctly dim, the only remaining sunlight reading as smudges of orange and purple on distant clouds. Ratio hums, leaning back in the armchair and crossing a leg over his knee, reviewing his own writing. "Not bad, considering it's a rush job," he murmurs, tapping a few things and scrolling to check that all downloaded data and primary result files are present. "A more detailed analysis can be done remotely, after all. This should, indeed, suffice."

Having convinced himself of the relative completeness of the report, he blorps a power bank and signal amplifier from the PoDi, and plugs in the datapad. Typing in the network address and passcode for the destination repository, he takes a deep breath, and taps initiate. The signal amplifier immediately hums to life, and a fan whirrs on in the power bank. Ratio watches the system for a minute or so to ensure the electrical demands of the trans-universal beaming of some 14 gigabytes of data don't immediately start a fire (1).

Satisfied, he looks up from his ad hoc satellite transponder, and only then realizes that the room is almost completely dark. "Ah," he murmurs. "I suppose I ought to manage myself, now."

A luxury hotel room, as it happens, is quite satisfactory for Ratio's self-management. Clean linens, a novel scented bath soap (ylang ylang, patchouli, and rosemary?), and an adequate room service menu (salade niçoise, paired with simple grilled chicken and baguette) leave him feeling reasonably relaxed even before settling into his bath. Leaning back into it with a contented sigh, he reaches to the side table and takes the top book off the stack, opening to the first page of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (2).

Far out in the uncharted backwater of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow Sun. Orbiting this at a distance of roughly ninety-eight million miles is an utterly insignificant little blue-green planet whose ape-descended life forms are so amazingly primitive that they still think digital watches are a pretty neat idea.

Ratio blinks, his eyebrows furrowing as he flips briefly to check the author bio again. Somehow, the comic tone of this book had escaped his notice back in the bookstore. He frowns slightly, returning to the first page.

The planet has - or rather had - a problem, which was this: most of the people living on it were unhappy for pretty much of the time. Many solutions were suggested for this problem, but most of these were largely concerned with the movements of small green pieces of paper, which is odd because on the whole it wasn't the small green pieces of paper that were unhappy. And so the problem remained; lots of the people were mean, and most of them were miserable, even the ones with digital watches.

His phone buzzes. Having technically been waiting on an update about getting warped back to Pier Point, Ratio heaves a long-suffering sigh, willing to let his reading of this tiresomely silly Earth book wait for a few moments, and picks up the phone.

Aventurine: I hope all is going well on Earth, my friend ~ Aventurine: There's been a little hiccup in the IPC lab. The details are beyond me, but suffice it to say that the primary beacon operations team is... indisposed. Aventurine: Not to worry, though, I already sent a distress call (3) out to the Astral Express, and you know how reliable they are.

Ratio stares at the phone for a moment, not quite comprehending what kind of hiccup would leave the team indisposed.

Ratio: For the last time, gambler, dispense with this ambiguity and say what you mean.

A long pause. Ratio glances down at the duck bobbing in the water.

Aventurine: Some kind of warp accident. The team is gone Aventurine: It's very mysterious Aventurine: Anyway, hang in there, doc, and keep in touch~

Ratio takes a deep breath, feeling the heat rising to his head. Idiots. What were they thinking, doing warp experiments while we already had one running, and without my supervision? What utter fool authorized this? The tension building uncomfortably in his jaw, he squeezes the phone in his hand slightly, jabbing the call button.

If I don't get off this planet, I'm going to strangle someone, he fumes, bringing the device to his ear.

----

(1): In the early days of the Interastral Peace Corporation, fires from overheating of giga-lightyear anchorless satellite equipment were a pretty common cause of data center exceptions. However, considering that most finance and delivery manifests were text databases that were easily transmittable, the bulk of the actual problems came from unauthorized use of company equipment to send and receive virtual pornography. The IPC quietly retrofitted its communications outposts with cooling equipment after a few particularly embarrassing incidents.

(2): The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy was originally a radio series, created by Douglas Adams, and published in novel form beginning in 1979. It is perhaps the best-known and most profoundly influential work of comedy science fiction in the English language. I suspect Dr. Ratio would find it bitterly absurd.

(3):

Aventurine: My friend! Have you ever been to Pier Point? Aventurine: I have a little proposal for you

[pouroverpaloma]

paloma I have revivified my tumblr from its decade-long sleep to beseech you: please talk about Rolan with me because I have Thoughts® and Feelings™ such as: As the eldest sibling do you think he has an oversized and detrimental sense of responsibility that continues to impact him negatively? like during his apprenticeship, do you think he actively avoided Cal and Lia to stop them from either storming the tower themselves or worrying over him when they were supposed to be enjoying being safe in the city, etc. do you think that sense of responsibility extends to Tav or is Tav the person that makes him feel like he doesn't HAVE to be in charge and on top of everything.

also this is hazelrah on ao3!!! I cannot stop commenting on your fics to save my life

Omg hi Hazel!!! ♥️ both Thoughts® AND Feelings™, what a treat you’ve brought for me

As a preface, I’m of the opinion that Lorroakan intentionally isolated Rolan. That’s one of the reasons Lorroakan didn’t let Cal and Lia stay in his fuck-off massive tower. Narcissism and disdain for others also drove that decision, because he’s an asshole, but I really think Rolan can’t be the first apprentice he’s abused. He knew he could never break Rolan’s will if his siblings were there to support him, and, let’s be real, Lia would clearly kill him with hammers the moment he raised a hand to Rolan. He had to get him completely alone.

As for Rolan—I think his gut knew right away that something was very, very wrong with his apprenticeship, even if intellectually he’d talked himself into staying. I think he did the time-old dance of hiding abuse from your loved ones because you don’t know how to explain it, you think you can’t leave, and you’re frankly embarrassed it’s happening to you at all. Imagine him talking about his apprenticeship back in the grove, right? Now imagine him behind the counter in act 3. The whiplash between his aspirations of greatness and the awful reality of life in the tower must have been extraordinarily soul-crushing, on top of everything else. And he just couldn’t let them see that he’d dragged them all to Baldur’s Gate on a false promise.

All that to say: I imagine Rolan told himself that hiding the truth from Cal and Lia was for their own good, but really, he was ashamed and afraid of failing to make them proud.

Because yeah, he feels way more responsible for them than they could ever know or understand. He’s convinced that he has to earn his place in their family by demonstrating his utility. Rolan is caught in that awful trap of trying to deserve what he already has. It’s a self-defeating cycle because there’s no end state: he already has Cal and Lia’s unconditional love from the very start, so nothing he does can ever make him feel like he “achieved” it. He can run himself into the ground trying to earn their love, but he already has it and he’s too caught up in his own self-loathing to see it.

The thing that finally gets his head out of his ass, of course, is Tav. We see him starting to make the turn at the end of the game, when he’s master of the tower and stepping into his confidence, but from there, I think falling in love really shakes his foundations. It forces him to begin to self-reflect in a way he’s never been emotionally safe to do before.

As for how all of this plays out once they’re together! I think their dynamic is a case of unstoppable force versus immovable object. I think he’s going to devote himself to taking care of absolutely everything for them (because nothing could ever be Good Enough for Tav but goddamn it he’s going to try anyway) and Tav is going to devote themselves to taking care of absolutely everything for him (because Rolan deserves rest and gentleness and adoration maybe more than anyone ever has). This kind of all-consuming care manifests in different ways for each of them, some complementary, some adversarial. They get nauseatingly competitive about it but the sex is phenomenal.

And finally—after a while—he begins to understand that he doesn’t have to handle everything by himself in order to be lovable. He can let go of the reins and let Tav be capable sometimes, and it actually makes Tav happy when he does. Somehow, the sex gets even better.

[whois-jess]

Baby Burrito's first christmas?

Babys first Christmas

Baby burrito: Rhea Ripley x fem!reader

Tomorrow was Christmas and Harvey was up in his crib asleep. Me and Rhea were wrapping his presents and because of when he was born he is only a baby for his first Christmas.

We put teddies and toys all in his little stocking from 'Santa' then the presents from me and Rhea under the tree, "that should be the last one" Rhea says placing a present under our tree "yep now its time for bed" i smiled up at her and she smiled back, our lips met in a gentle kiss her arms around my waist and mine around her shoulders "lets go" she says breaking the kissing taking my hand and leading me up to our room.

It was the next day it was Christmas and as Harvey isn't old enough to wake me and Rhea up a 5am i slowly get out of bed at 7am to wake Harvey up "baby?" I hear a sleepy voice "yeah its me Rhea" i say stopping to walk back over to her "what you doing" she said sitting up and rubbing her eyes a bit "i am going to wake Harvey then feed him and get us some food before we let Harvey open presents" i brush hair behind her ear as her arms wrap around me pulling me back on to the bed and her "baby i got to get Harvey" i say softly smiling at the half asleep woman "he is still asleep just cuddle me" her head buried in the crook of my neck i could feel soft kisses "you know he get cranky when he over sleeps" my hand comes up stroking her soft black hair "he is a baby how does he get cranky for over sleeping" Rhea groans clearly wanting me to stay "i dont know he js your weird kid" i say smiling "he came from you not me so actually your weird kid" i chuckle at this as even though Rhea isn't his biological mum their have very identical personalities.

After sometime of convincing Rhea i freed myself and walked into the babys room "is that my Harvey" i say in a baby voice seeing he was awake and his blue eyes were looking at me with his gummy smile "hey baby boy merry Christmas" i smile picking him up and walk over to the rocking chair sitting down to nurse him, he latches in and suckles as i sit there rocking a bit then Rhea walks in and hand me a cup of coffee "here baby" she says sipping hers "thanks" i smile setting it down on a small table close to us.

Harvey finally had enough and i hand him to Rhea as i sip my drink "ready for presents" Rhea says holding Harveys little chunky hands and he lets out a little giggle "i will take that as a yes" i smile at Rhea getting up out my chair as us three and the dogs go to the living room "right lets do Harvest first" i say sitting by the tree and Rhea sat with Harvey in her lap, i hand Rhea presents out of his stocking giving it to her "okay Harvey open it with mummy" Rhea smiles as she opens it with Harveys 'help'.

We open a of Harveys presents "here Rhea this is yours" i say with a smile as i hand her two little boxes "thanks princess" she says and opens one of them and gasps "aw baby its beautiful" she smiles pulling a ring out the box "i saw it and thought o had to get it for you" i say as she puts it on, it was a silver band with black little diamonds dotted around the band "aw Y/n" she smiles and kisses me as Harvey starts playing with the wrapping paper, Rhea opens the other one revealing a piece of paper "here use this coin its a scratch" she takes the coin and scratches it and the paper says your goung on holiday to...Bahamas! With the time,day and Rheas name on the card "Oh my god!" She shouts smiling "you like" I smile back "yes yes! Aw princess i love you" she kisses me again with more passion "knew you liked it" the smile didn't leave Rheas face as she loooed over the card "first family holiday" she says and i nod "open what i got you" she says handing me a box the same size and one bigger, i open the smaller one to a necklace with a locket that had a picture of me Rhea and Harvey in the hospital taking him home for the first time "oh Rhea it's so cute" i say looking at Harvey in the outfit i knew Rhea loved but said she hated, i move on to the bigger one to reveal a very small box "another box?" I say confused and she just nods i open the small box to a car key "a car?!!" I say and she smiles and nods "now we match" she says excited as she stood Harvey eating wrapping paper "your the best oh my god! You got me a car!" I walk over to Rhea and kiss her and as kisses back "love you" i say "love you too, now let's clean boys are over soon no doubt a little Mr will be spoiled" she smiles kissing Harveys cheek before we start cleaning.

And yes the boys very much did spoil Harvey don't excuse was "He's the judgements baby now he needs to be spoiled"

[mc-lukanette]

Luka laughed into the phone. "Marinette, I'm sure you don't need lessons anymore. Your playing already sounds amazing."

"You say that all the time," she huffed, Luka grinning as he imagined the pout on the other end of the line. "Besides, it'll—it'll be different! We'll be in a real place you'd play music instead of your room, so you can judge my playing fairly!"

"Mhm~"

"And I already called Penny so she could get it! There'll be some extra time too if you want to call the others to practice—!"

"You don't have to try to convince me," he cut in, leaning back on his bed casually. "I'm looking forward to it."

"It? How—?!" She paused, then let out a sheepish giggle. "Right, our lesson. Gotcha. See you later!"

She hung up before he could reply. Still, he said a fond, "See you," into his phone even though she couldn't have heard it. As he took it away from his ear, he navigated to his gallery and tapped on the picture that Juleka had taken of Marinette's first guitar lesson with him.

More specifically, it was a screenshot he'd taken of Marinette's post online that contained said picture. He already adored the picture itself - even if he'd been a fool to be staring at Marinette while a camera was being pointed at him, trapping his love-struck face into eternal replay - but Marinette's caption just made it better.

Starting guitar lessons today courtesy of Luka! 🥰🎶

He grinned wider, the heart face in particular warming him. Regardless of how Marinette saw him romantically, she clearly thought highly of him and that was enough.

She was good - really good - at guitar, just like he knew she'd be. She listened to him with every lesson, asked politely for feedback, and was willing to admit when there was something she didn't understand.

The only tragedy that came with seeing her get better was knowing that their lessons would get shorter and eventually come to an end altogether. Luka vividly recalled Marinette asking Juleka to take a picture of her first lesson to post online, then muttering about how glad she was that pictures didn't capture the sound of her awful playing.

He honestly didn't think she sounded that bad for her first time, but he might've been too focused on the song she played without need of a guitar.

——

Eventually, Luka arrived at the TV studio, trying not to smirk too wide at the guards who now had to let him in. The ride up the elevator felt long compared to what he expected, but he knew he was impatient when it came to Marinette.

Even if it was as simple as a guitar lesson, he loved spending time with her.

He entered the room slowly, a mix of positive and negative memories rushing back to him at the mere sight: the designs and music in their video getting stolen, getting mocked by Bob Roth and XY, Marinette being threatened, and finally getting the justice they deserved that let Kitty Section play on live TV.

In the center of all of it was Marinette, who he saw sat down on the stage they'd played while holding a guitar - his guitar - in her lap. It was technically something he let her borrow, but he also had no intention of asking for it back. After all, he had two black-and-white guitars, not one. Both had the same base, but the neck design was different for them. The one he gave to Marinette continued the black-and-white theme with a monochrome neck, whereas the guitar he used for himself had a wooden one.

Because there was so little difference between them, it made it easy to instruct Marinette on where her fingers should go, especially when he could either guide her hands or use himself as an example. She'd always appreciated the ease of it.

Seeing her cradling it like she was, despite already having it for so long, made him unreasonably happy.

"Hey, Marinette," he greeted.

She made eye contact with him, her shoulders relaxing as he approached. Taking one hand off the guitar to wave, she greeted him back with a smile.

He took his guitar case off, then sat down next to her and set it beside him. He turned away from her to undo the latch keeping the case shut, but her hand caught his arm before he could.

"Wait."

Glancing at her, he raised a brow. Her face seemed oddly serious all of a sudden, but he couldn't imagine why she wouldn't want him to take his guitar out.

"I, ah..." She pulled her hand back, fingertips rubbing against her thumb self-consciously. "I wanted you to listen to something before our lesson?"

He perked up. "You wrote something?"

It hadn't been his intention, but his enthusiasm alleviated her anxiety. She took a breath, sheepishly averting her gaze as she replied, "Um, sort of?"

He leaned towards her with intrigue, watching quietly as she checked, double-checked, and triple-checked the guitar to ensure it was properly tuned. He wouldn't have doubted if she'd also checked it before he arrived.

He was absolutely fascinated. Marinette had already had so many talents and hobbies that he thought she was just picking up guitar for the sake of it or as a tool to get her emotions out, but for her to go and actually write something?

He couldn't wait.

Once Marinette was ready, she closed her eyes and strummed a simply melody. It was a warm-up that Luka had taught her - only drawing him in further - but the moment she was done, the real song began.

It started out slow and even a bit bitter. While she didn't add any lyrics, Luka could feel the emotions in the song: loneliness and a lack of hope. It sounded strangely familiar to him, yet he couldn't place it.

Then, the song picked up, and the familiarity came with it. It didn't take Luka any time to catch it because he'd not just heard it, but played it himself. It wasn't a perfect recreation, but it was the song he'd played for Marinette when they first met.

She'd remembered it all this time.

It took one more change of tune, but that was when it clicked for him: she was playing them. She was playing all of their moments together and how they made her feel, from their slightly shaky beginning to his song for her and everything after that. He swallowed, already overwhelmed.

It all culminated when she got to the day they'd learned their music video had been stolen. He could hear the anger of the realization, the low subtlety as they snuck into the studio together, the fear when Bob Roth threatened her, the shock when he'd gotten akumatized to save her, and finally the tenderness when he'd confessed to her.

It took a lot to put one's feelings into music. It required a sense of vulnerability that Luka genuinely admired in a person: the ability to lay one's feelings bare to someone they trust. He almost wanted to ask Marinette to stop - seeing the visible strain on her face at everything she was trying to play right - but he couldn't bring himself to tarnish her efforts in any form.

Thus, he kept listening, almost forgetting to breathe in his awe of her.

There had always been something he could hear in the background of her song whenever he was with her, but he hadn't been sure of it. He thought he may've been fooling himself or was simply mishearing, yet now Marinette was playing it right in front of him as if to make sure he heard.

Love. She was playing not just their experiences together, but her feelings for him. She hadn't fallen as hard as he had when they met, meaning that those feelings started small and only grew over time. He hadn't noticed or at least tried not to, unwilling to be wrong despite his intuition so often being correct.

This was her way of confessing, her way of saying that she cherished their time together, that he was important to her, and that she was even sorry for taking as long as she did for it all to come together. Luka couldn't imagine a single thing that she needed to be sorry for, and certainly not when she was making him feel such a way. His heart was pounding like it wanted to escape his chest and he could barely sit still.

Eventually, the song came to an end, Marinette's face flushed red as she rested her arms on the guitar. Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, she explained shyly, "Y-you did it in words, so I thought... I thought I should do it in your language." Turning to him, eyes glistening with emotion, she added, "I know I'm still learning, but I couldn't wait! I wanted you to know, and if I waited too long, I was afraid you'd—mmphf—"

He kissed her. He'd never been the one to just act, but his guitar was still in his case and he needed her to know that he still reciprocated regardless of how much time had passed. He'd even scooted closer to be within distance to kiss her, and the guitar that she'd used to play such beautiful music was suddenly a nuisance, keeping him from showing his full affection.

Marinette, either reading his mind or being naturally in sync with him, used a hand to move it off her lap and to the side opposite of him. Legs free to move, she turned fully towards him and grabbed his jacket to pull him closer, Luka moving in response to cup her face with both hands.

He'd already been breathless from her performance, but he held the contact as long as he could, no other thought in his head beyond showing her that she was loved.

When they both pulled back, it was only a few inches away from each other. Luka simply had no intent to get any further away than necessary and Marinette still had a firm grip on him.

They made some attempts to speak, opening their mouths a few times to form words, but nothing came out. He thought that perhaps she'd seen him opening his mouth and stopped herself, but the timing was all off. They were both lost for words that they didn't need anyway.

A gentle yet insistent tug was all he needed to kiss her again, thoughts of inviting the rest of Kitty Section there having been abandoned long ago.

[adriwatchestoku]

Geats ep 9 (and 10)

@tanukitsuneko-suki

"when your game master doesn't know what's happening either that's when you should get worried"

Oh the ACTUAL game master

Oh this is what the Ascians get up to when they're not fucking with the wol

"you gotta select your starter pokemon"

okay but ace what did you do to make tsurumi point a gun at you? I mean, this time

yomi and I both appreciate the cat pose from neon

"these things should hatch fine on hteir own" you should still protect them ffs

"ace is like "my child, we are going to kill.""

these secret missions are just. so weird sometimes

michi plz

I feel like this is 100% a "if you use these as a team" issue but these assholes working together is just…

Michinaga's cheekbones jfc

oh that's a height difference

Neon…

Michinaga having a hallucination over here because yeah. YEAH. His mental health is in the gutter

I like this insinuation that Ace, someone played by a Japanese man, is from ancient Rome

I do appreciate that Michi and Neon have started to get along

"well yeah now he has two weapons rewarding blindly charging through an enemy" "proto-Hanto"

yeah this is definitely a "work together you assholes"

i love that revolving mechanic for their suits.

something about the track that's playing reminds me of a Parasite Eve track

Okay not as much now that the egg hatched but at first

oh goddamn it Ace. Just be honest and say "thank you" for real

I wonder if ffxiv would have happened if the ascians had the DGP

Ah.

ep10

oh shit I just saw the date this episode played on and I just heard "The Final Countdown" in my head

not too many episodes until Takahashi Yuya's Bag of Threats

"yeah I was interested in what happens in episode 15, and confused why episode 15… then I remembered Ex-Aid and Christmas and went aw fuck"

ACE PLEASE

OH GOD ACE PLEASE

Her reaction's even more understandable

Yomi just said something that's making me cackle and I need to transcribe it

"Any time they allude to Ace's wish making process at all, I am more convinced Ace went 'I wish for as many wishes as possible' frame one."

Tsumuri's face oh my god

"she's just so unimpressed"

that is the face of someone who has known Ace for more then five seconds and is made into family

"I'm going to scout out locals until I can find someone to take you out. This is personal now"

"is this an information gathering move?" "yeah probably"

"THAT'S BASICALLY THE SAME THING FOR WISHING FOR INFINTE WISHES FRAME ONE"

Ace my dude flirting frame one

The vibes of this scene are immaculate

"ace knowing he has one chance before he touches the thing and gets punched out frame one"

I keep having to pause to laugh oh god Yomi is on point today

ACE

"this show might be good"

Keiwa…

his name is literally "win"

Michi starting to learn why doing this over again sucks

And learning to care at least a little about others (mildly, it was mostly to get zombie back)

First henshins are so cute

"come on Michinaga, you have killing intent for at least three people"

"I don't think you're going to have a lot of crowd participation, I'm sorry"

oh you're staff, win

tsumuri's like "HI. NEON. HELP."

"he has a lot of killing intent but he can't be in multiple places at once"

this is a sick outfit and we both like teh colour scheme

alright then, neon, bard buff

oh yeah there is definitely something wrong with neon

"man that's like a pretty deep question"