#friends first

[icallhimjoey]

hello bestie i love you and you have to understand how much i love you but i dont know how to express it in words so instead ill trust you with this request: reader's best friend trying to cock block reader and Joe but they just cannot stop touching each other blah your mum cumcum bread

blah your mum cumcum bread thanks for the request babe! Wordcount: 2.1K ---

Friends First

“We said we wouldn't,” you near-whispered, but did nothing to stop him from grazing his hand further up your inner thigh.

“We say shit all the time,” Joe spoke softly into your hair as your eyes scanned around to see if anyone noticed the two of you in your booth. Then you locked eyes with your best friend, and sat up, pushing Joe away from you slightly. Joe followed your gaze and cleared his throat loudly as he let go of your leg when he saw her stern eyes.

“You're not doing this, guys,” she shouted at you from where she was stood. "Alright, mum," Joe called back, making you laugh. Your friend wasn't joking, though.

It was Friday, and it was one of those rare nights where most of your friends had ventured out to the same pub after work, for dinner and drinks.

The older you'd gotten, the more often people would find they didn't have the time, or the energy, throwing different excuses for not being able to make it up into your group chat after someone asked to meet up. That wasn't the case tonight, though – at 3 in the afternoon, you'd sent "Who's meeting me for dinner and drinks tonight?" and a flood of thumbs up and beer emojis had followed. Even from Joe.  

You'd started at a small table, ended up having to move to a larger one as more people trickled in to join you, and then eventually had to break up your group for your meal when there were too many of you.

You ended up in a booth with just your best friend who was going through something at work, so it was nice to be slightly excluded from the rest as she used you as a sounding board. You'd been all ears, almost not even able to really get a word in, and you'd caught Joe's eye over her shoulder. He held up his hand and made it talk, signalling that he'd noticed her yapping away, and you'd grinned, but hadn't stopped her. With the amount of times you had been in her shoes, you felt it was only fair to let her get all her frustrations out after a long work week. 

When your plates had been cleared, your friend had gotten up to use the restroom. It gave you a second to scan the room and have a sip of your drink, which is when Joe caught your eyes again. He saw that you were sat by yourself and made his way over. You thought he would come and get you, to drag you back into your group. People had finished their meals, and the pub started gathering a standing crowd now too. Instead, Joe placed his drink down on the table and let himself fall into the booth next to you, bumping into you as he did and making you spill some of your drink on the table.

"Jesus, Joe,"  "Sorry, sorry," he immediately reached for a left-over napkin from the end of the table and wiped it across the surface. You then took it from him and dabbed the underside of your glass as well. 

"These are new," Joe'd eyed your fingers and took hold of your hand, taking the napkin from it with his other and inspecting your rings close to his face. Joe hadn't seen you in weeks, there was no way he could have known how new your rings were, but he was right, they were new. 

"This one's nice," Joe's fingers played with a dainty gold band, twisting it a little, head cocked slightly, and you leant into him to have a closer look yourself as well. 

"Thanks, my grandma got them for me," 

You were very aware of what Joe was doing, but you let him, because this wasn't technically crossing any of the boundaries you'd set, and his closeness felt nice. 

"For your birthday?" Joe asked, taking the ring in between his thumb and forefinger, and moving it up your finger a little. You curled your hand into a fist so Joe couldn't take it off completely, to which Joe immediately changed his grip into a very strong one, pretending to want to pry it off jokingly, making you giggle and push his hands off.

"Yes, for my birthday," you said, hands now back to yourself, and you took another sip of your drink.

"I've been meaning to get your gift to you, but you know–" Joe tilted his head down and looked up through his lashes with raised eyebrows. You did the same, foreheads almost touching, and you both said, "– work." at the same time, an inside joke from years ago that the both of you no longer thought was funny, but you couldn't help doing. 

"You're too busy," you said, and it made him smile. It was another way of saying that he hadn't been around enough. "Tell me what’s been going on," you nodded your head up at him, and Joe moved a knee up onto the bench as he turned to face you more. 

For a while you just talked. Friends catching up. Your best friend, upon returning from the bathroom, had reached for her drink from the table and had joined your other friends in conversation by the bar, but not before giving you a look over the table. One of which you knew exactly what she meant – “Do not do this to yourself!” – and you were glad Joe hadn't seen it. You knew he hadn’t, because his hand remained on your thigh, where it had found itself somewhere along his anecdotes. You hadn't reacted to its placement or its squeezes, until Joe started moving it upwards, your conversation still platonically casual above the table. 

“So, about this birthday gift,” Joe started, gazing down at your lap, acknowledging what was going on down there. 

And that was the moment your best friend had caught the two of you, sitting entirely too close to each other with hands in places they really shouldn’t have been.

You and Joe had never officially dated, ever, but you’d grown too comfortable around each other after an accidental – you honestly hadn’t meant to – one night stand when you were 22. Talking the next morning, embarrassed but both able to laugh at yourselves, you came to the realization that neither of you regretted it, thus turning your nightly escapades into a semi-regular thing. You’d promised each other one thing though: friends first, always. Your promise is what eventually lead you to stop sleeping together when you’d felt the first flutters of butterflies. You’d been honest about them with Joe, and Joe had just pressed a kiss into your knuckles before saying, “So, then we’ll stop it. Hey, can you help me move some things over to my parents’ tomorrow? I’ll get us burgers after,” like it’d been no big deal. 

What lingered, was a comfortability around each other that others, strangers, could easily mistake for more than platonic friendship. And they’d be right. Because about three months prior to this evening at the pub, you’d fallen into the same trap with each other, just like you had when you were 22, and had woken up next to each other in his bed, absolutely satisfied. “Uh oh,” were Joe’s first words when he squinted at you in his early morning haze, the both of you naked in between his sheets. “We’ve made a grave mistake,” you’d croaked back, looking at him from your side of the bed. “Friends first,” Joe had then said, holding out his pinky finger for you to hook yours through. You’d both grinned at each other, agreeing that, yet again, this had been a one-time slip up that wouldn’t happen again.  

Except you hadn’t really considered it an actual slip up, though. And neither had Joe.  

Your true slip up was immediately telling your best friend about it, who thought it was the stupidest thing you’d ever done. “This is going to end disastrous, trust me. Am I going to have to be the biggest cock block ever?” she’d threatened. “I’ll keep you at a distance from each other, no problem. Watch me.” Which had led her to keep an eye on the both of you that evening, and it was why she was the one who caught Joe trying to feel you up underneath the table of your booth.

Joe reached in his pocket and tossed a packet of cigarettes on to the table, taking a second to shove everything else he’d pulled out with that packet back into his pocket. “Care to join me?” he asked, and you’d just nodded. You didn’t smoke, but it was easy to claim you’d just go for a bit of fresh air after your meal. “Yea, you want another?” You grabbed your empty glasses before following Joe out the front feeling the eyes of your best friend burn in your back. You stopped by the bar to quickly get new drinks before stepping out. As you ordered, you leant over the bar to make sure the bartender could hear you, and when you’d stepped back, you felt Joe behind you. You saw Joe’s hands hold the varnished wood of the bar on either side of your body, encasing you against it. 

“Had I mentioned that I think you look really good tonight?” Joe spoke, his mouth close to your ear. 

It made you duck into your shoulders to suppress a giggle, and you shoved into him slightly. “Joe,” you hoped that it sounded like a warning. It didn’t, but Joe took it as one none the less. 

“As a friend,” he pointedly said, making you turn your head over your shoulder to look at him.  

“Friends first, of course,” he said, and you could see his head bob, ready to release the chuckles he tried very hard to hold back. “Idiot.” you grinned, turning back, taking both your drinks from the bar before you made your way outside.

Stood outside amongst a couple more people smoking and chatting, cold drinks in hand, you could see your friend inside giving you warning eyes through the window. You shot back a defensive look, eyes almost hurt that she seemed to be accusing you – you hadn’t done anything! Then you pointed at Joe, gave your own best accusing eyes, entirely blaming him for what she’d just witnessed. It made her roll her eyes at you – she knew there were two people at play here. One of your other friends inside followed your best friend’s gaze, saw you outside and waved with a huge smile, entirely oblivious to the silent conversation the two of you had been having through the glass. Just to piss off your best friend, you smiled and waved back at him, ignoring her face all together.

Joe, who had been watching your animated face looking past him as he stood with his back towards the window, huffed a laugh before taking a drag of his cigarette. 

“Who are you talking to?” 

“Who the fuck do you think?” 

Joe grinned and looked over his shoulder. Your best friend instantly flipped him off, and it made him cough out a laugh before returning the favour to her. 

You fell into conversation about your birthday party. The one he’d missed, because he’d been off filming on location somewhere for his job. Joe apologised again for not having been able to make it, like he’d already done a dozen times. You purposefully made it sound like you hadn’t missed him there, which was a blatant lie – that night your best friend had to confiscate your phone for fear that you’d text or call Joe with messages you’d regret later. But you didn’t want him to feel bad for missing it because it had made you feel sad. Instead, you made him feel bad for missing out himself, because the party had been so fun. It hadn’t been karaoke night, but just for the occasion, and because none of you could stop asking for it, the pub had turned on the system for you and all of you had been spraying drunken lyrics into the same two microphones all night. 

“I’ll have to make it up to you,” Joe saw right through you, though. He knew you hated that he hadn't been there.

“Oh yea?” you cooed. “How?”  

Joe looked at his drink, took a couple big gulps to finish it and then turned around to knock at the window. It made a bunch of people inside turn and look at him. Your best friend one of them. 

Joe nodded his head up, as if he challenged her to a fight, then looked down and reached for your hand. He held it up by your wrist so your best friend inside was able to see that he laced his fingers with yours. Then he gave her a fat smile, waved, said, “Let’s go,” and started walking, pulling you along with him. 

-----

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[letiel]

Kai/Evie - Questions

He walked past her door twice, slowing nearly to a stop each time before anxiety quickened his steps away and courage urged him to try again. Each time Kai got close his heart beat a little bit faster in time with the tug of war in his chest until finally, the scales of his knuckles rapped lightly on the wood with a soft *tap, tap*.

“Come in,” she called, just as softly, and it was too late to turn back.

Kai carefully slid the door open on its slide so he could step inside. Evie was kneeling on a cushion at the desk, dressed comfortably in a robe and slippers, midway through penning a letter. Her delicate script scrawled across the page in perfect rows all but forgotten now as she beamed. She didn’t even finish the word she was writing, all her attention belonged to him.

“Hey,” Kai managed, and his mouth felt a little dry. “Would you like to take a walk with me?” A shock of worry paralyzed him for a moment in anticipation of her response, but it faded just as quickly when she put the pen down and tilted her head ever so softly to smile.

“I’d love to walk with you! I need a moment to get ready.”

“I’ll wait for you outside then.”

A moment felt like an eternity. Kai had found a spot to sit to wait on the balcony overlooking the hostelry’s primary traffic. It was out of the way but easy to find. He fiddled with his pencil and the little notebook in his lap. The notes he had written for himself had blended into the patterns doodled in the margins. Ideas mixed with words he wanted to say to her, practice on paper when being alone lent itself to a less addled train of thought. Kai had to have read through them a dozen times, but he could barely remember the first few words.

Not a promising start.

Kai noticed Evie the moment she stepped out from private spaces to join the public and his heart skipped a beat. She had changed into a yukata, white at the shoulders and a darker shade of lavender at the bottom, blending in a lovely and subtle gradient throughout and under the white obi. Embroidered birds flitted about an assortment of flowers along the hems and sleeves. Her hair was loosely pulled back and held in place by a white headband and tucked behind her horns where it was long enough to do so.  

He immediately felt underdressed in his sleeveless top and black pants.

Evie noticed him in the same breath that she called his name and hurried up the stairs to meet him. Her tail was wagging so hard that thrice she very nearly fell over and he instinctively reached for her with his own to steady her.

“Where would you like to go?” she asked.

He blanked. Kai’s eyebrows raised by a hair, and he awkwardly glanced at his notebook for an answer. Finding none, he pocketed it. “Um.” “It’s okay,” she reassured him, “I have some ideas.” Evie’s smile softened and her tail slowed to a manageable wag. She grabbed one of his hands in both of hers and pulled him to his feet, already tugging him along to the Tasogare Bridge.

The late Summer sun and corresponding heat danced with the ocean breeze, alternating between the scent of warm stone and the salty sting of the sea. It swirled around the Kugane markets as they wandered, carrying sounds as well as smells, giving their noses a path to follow through the mishmash of merchants. They picked up takoyaki and dango, senbei and taiyaki, and all the while Evie’s tail wagged, even in the moments when his tail held hers.

Kai caught her stealing glances as the afternoon turned into evening. She was studying him, squeezing his hand, and gauging his level of comfort. The crowds weren’t his favorite. The noise *did* get to him but while he preferred quiet spaces, he didn’t mind them as much today. It was easy to tune out the world when she smiled at him. When she spoke all the other voices faded away into a distant background. When she pulled him along his stride reached to stay beside her as though he’d be swept away in the tide of people without his anchor, his rock, his light.

When the sun kissed the horizon and the clouds became fire against the dark velvet of the evening sky, they strayed from the beaten path. The market crowds, the colored lights, and cacophony of summer sales had morphed into a proper assault on the senses, and it was time for softer pastures.

They wandered instead to the quiet streets of the upscale citizenry, where soft lamps cast subtle glows along the paved road, sharing shadows with the setting sun. It was aimless but not lost, where they went ultimately didn’t matter, it hadn’t from the start. But as they moved away from the bustle and to the quiet, Kai felt the anxiety in his stomach like a pit, and he couldn’t hope to hide it from Evie.

She squeezed his hand and pulled him along, following the soft sounds of running water to a garden tucked in a space between buildings, a cultivated haven of nature, resisting the creeping of the city around them. Little lights along the pond made the scales of the koi glitter like gems in the dark water and cast shadows in the canopies of the sheltering trees. The flowers and the topiaries absorbed the rest of the lingering sounds and left them alone in quiet peace.

“Evie,” Kai started, and she paused at the foot of the bridge spanning the pond to look up at him. “I have a question for you. All those years ago, what made you approach me?”

Evie furrowed her brow a little and her tail stopped wagging. She let go of his hand to walk up the bridge and lean over the railing to watch the fish. Her lack of immediate response was making him nervous and he wondered briefly if he should have practiced some more.

Her tail swished back and forth, and she held out a finger for a firefly to land on. It flashed a pale yellow-green and considered its perch before lazily taking off to glide amongst its friends above the water.

“You were sad, and I wanted to help,” she thoughtfully answered, and Kai realized she was recalling the days of their youth. Evie held her hand to her chest, curling her fingers into a loose fist as though grasping at an invisible something there. “I remember feeling a nudge, no, a tug, deep inside. Almost like a voice without words telling me that someone needed me.”

He took the few steps to stand next to her and leaned so he could put a hand on the railing.

“It sounds silly when I say it out loud,” she admitted.

“It does,” he teased, and she playfully punched his thigh.

“Do you remember how ridiculous we were back then?” Evie asked.

“I was never ridiculous.”

“You were thin as a stick! And couldn’t stop fighting with Ori!”

“Ori couldn’t stop fighting with *me*,” he insisted, and his tail reached for hers.

She chuckled at the memory. “He won a few times.”

“He did not.”

“More than a few times!”

Kai huffed but smiled all the same. “His mudpies were better than yours.”

“He had more practice rolling around in the mud, caterpillar eyebrows!”

He snorted.

“I learned how to cook real food before he did,” she said.

“Debatable.”

Evie bumped him with her shoulder, briefly leaning into him before pulling away. “Better than you.”

“I’ll remember that.”

“Noooo,” she tried to make a show of pouting and flopped over the railing with a huff, still smiling. “You two are still really competitive.”

“Not as much anymore.”

Evie gave him a skeptical look and he ignored it, avoiding eye contact.

A couple of the fish splashed in the water beneath them. The notebook in Kai’s pocket felt heavy and he shifted his weight as though that would offset the perceived imbalance. The sun had properly set now. Only traces of its light remained, and the brightest stars were blinking into life above them to compete with the lights of the city.

“Evie,” he started, and it felt weird pulling words from his core like this, practice be damned, “I enjoy being around you.”

“I enjoy being around you too, Kai,” she said, and he put his hand over hers. She blinked and looked at his hand, then up at him, only just now feeling the weight of his words.

“I mean it. You were always there for me even though I never said as much. You always knew what to do and I… I’m sorry for being so difficult at times, especially when we were in Ishgard…” he mumbled and studied the water, watching her reflection instead of her as the warmth in his cheeks spread to his nose. He pulled his hand back, putting them both on the railing, physically closing himself off to protect himself from how painfully awkward he felt. “Evie… I, um…”

Evie put her hand delicately over his. “Kai, I want to help you. I know it’s been a very long time since we were kids, and you’ve become so distant… but I know the Kai I remember is still in there; the Kai that I felt so drawn to, that I see in the little things you do and say every day, that I fell in love with.”

They both paused, processing what she said as they looked at each other. The color in her cheeks visibly deepened from a shade of pink to one of red.  

“I-I know this is a lot to ask,” she continued, getting even redder, “but would you want to try? Would you be my boyfriend?”

Kai had no idea how to react, so he didn’t, but Evie certainly did enough for them both. She wiggled in place, curled her tail, and buried her face in her hands.

“I-I’m so sorry!” she stumbled, “It’s okay if you say no! I-I really value our friendship too and I don’t want to do anything that would make you uncomfortable! S-So if it’s too much then we can stay friends!”

“No,” he managed to get out, little more than a peep as his brain rebooted after finally processing what she had asked.

“No, you don’t want to be my boyfriend?” she asked with a little bit of a quiver to her voice that she was desperately trying to squash.

He felt the panic in his whole being and hurried to reassure her, “N-No! I mean yes!”

She blinked and tilted her head, visibly confused, and Kai felt dizzy. It was suddenly extra hard to look at her and where did he usually put his hands? He felt feverish.

“Evie, I,” he tried but words had stopped working and he turned away from her instead to compose himself, maybe find a breath. He took a single deep breath and then Evie was hugging him from behind.

“I’m sorry I made you uncomfortable,” she mumbled into his back.

He shook his head and delicately untangled her arms so he could turn around and kneel to be closer to her level.

“Yes,” he said firmly. Then he took both her hands in his and said it again. “Yes, I want that.”

Evie blinked little tears from her eyes and smiled even more warmly than he felt. She took her hands back and delicately placed them on his cheeks to cradle his face. “My boyfriend,” she whispered.

They looked at each other for another moment, blushed even more deeply, and then they were *both* turning away in flustered confusion.

“Is it supposed to feel awkward like this?” she asked with a peep.

“Why are you asking *me*?”

“Cause you’re my boyfriend!” Evie’s voice cracked into a giggle when she said ‘boyfriend’ and Kai groaned.

“I take it back,” he grumbled and stood back up. She turned back around to hug him around his waist, still a little giggly.

“No, you don’t,” she mumbled happily to him, and he knew she was right.

“No, I don’t,” he agreed. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ And the red string of fate holds true! Took them long enough to get together >.> ~circa Stormblood era Kai Silberne and Evie Kiku belong to @ksilberne Always a delight to get to write them~ Thank you again for trusting your babies to me~ There is a sequel in the reblogs :3c Or here's a link if you're lazy: https://www.tumblr.com/letiel/722593687626022912/if-anyone-wants-to-know-how-evie-felt-about-all-of

[bl-bam-beyond]

THE EIGHTH SENSE (2023, SOUTH KOREA)

After kissing Ji Hyun (OH JUN TAEK) all on his own Seo Jae Won (LIM JI SUB) takes to ignoring the cute young man.

I get it, when someone awakens feelings that seem unfamiliar or even shocks you. You take it out on that person in any number of ways. In this case Jae Won froze Ji Hyun out for a period time. (Perhaps to come to terms with his attraction for Ji Hyun)

But just as sudden. Jae Won seems to begin his pursuit of the cute freshman.

[dredsina]

Ive said this before but swear the biggest skill to learn as an adult is how to resist high-pressure sales tactics. You do NOT have to answer questions with anything other than "Sorry I'm not interested." No matter how nice they are or no matter how many follow up questions they ask or even how agitated they get when you stand your ground. Just keep saying I'm not interested. Don't answer their questions. Don't give them an opening to try to push back on your reasons. Be a fucking brick wall of I'm not interested.

[poorly-drawn-mdzs]

The math just adds up!

[bbbbbbbbatman]

Bruce keeping a tighter and tighter lid on his identity around the Justice League because with each new person to reveal their identity he realizes that he has fucked far too high a percentage of his co workers as Bruce Wayne and he has to take this secret to his grave

[canisalbus]

✦ Freshly ordained ✦

[beebfreeb]

Louisiana Meshi!!!! Thistle will be at the crawfish boil.

[thisiswhereikeepdcthings]

Robin!Dick: And that’s why there should be a team of young heroes!

Bruce: They all have their own cities and-

Dick: And it’s important to make friends.

Bruce, recalling every parenting book he has: Hrn.

Dick: That was the agreeing grunt which means you know I’m right. I need to practice making friends.

Bruce: You have friends and-

Dick: And I need to get in LOTS of practice now so I can have friends when I’m old like you.

Bruce, age 28:

Bruce:

Bruce: I have friends.

Dick: *snorts*

[theshadowrealmitself]

I like to think that Vulcans who come to understand that Humans just can’t try to process emotions the same way as them, it’s just healthiest to let it out in harmless ways, decide that venting and stuff should be taken just as seriously as Vulcan’s meditation time, and will encourage the Humans around them to complain about what’s upsetting them

People who are used to aloof Vulcans who avoid Humans at all cost running into one comforting a Human

“-and then they said my cheesecake was subpar, and they didn’t even bring a dish!!!”

“The purpose of this event was that every participant brings a food item of sorts, correct?”

“Yeah!!”

“And they did not follow this rule while insulting dishes that were brought?”

“Mostly just my dish but yeah >:(“

“How illogical”

“That’s what I’m saying!!!”

[alalumin]

OK I saw a poll about something similar and now I am curious

-Assume it's a celebrity you like and that they haven't made a statement about this sort of thing.

-The celebrity in question is just casually out and about, they are not part of an event or panel.

-By "go up to them" I mean saying hello or asking for a picture

-If you have to talk to them as part of your job it doesn't count unless you also ask for something similar to the above.

-This is a judgement free zone, there is no correct answer I am just curious.

Inspired by this poll

[eledsart]

griddlehark, in bed the kiss

[bl-bam-beyond]

BL- BOYS' LOVE:

Series: BETWEEN US (2022, THAILAND)

Room 1010

Moments of Crisis. Emotional Crisis.

A Walk To Room 1010

When You Don't Even Have To Knock

Slide Next To A Person That Cares. Truly Cares

A Peaceful Night of Sleep.

Hia Win (NOPPANUT GUNTACHAI aka BOUN) leaves the door unlocked & somehow Team (WARUT CHAWALITRUJIWONG aka PREM) just knew. Even if you're not ready to call it love. That's what it is.

[cherrycharai]

I lovvvee this little comic from Ryoko Kui 's Daydream Hours ♡. I would read a whole slice of life manga about Falin and Marcille's time together at the magic academy (⁠´⁠ε⁠｀⁠ ⁠)

[spinnrblog]

Secrets to a stronger relationship by starting as friends! 🤝 Discover six reasons why taking it slow can lead to lasting love.💖Read more: https://t.ly/C-F3r

[maxgicalgirl]

Being a “Fun Fact !” kind of autistic is all fun and games until you get halfway through sharing an interesting tidbit and realize that it probably wasn’t appropriate to share in polite company and now you have to deal with the consequences :(