#would he go to his parents and ask for help getting the ghost out of him?

[not-delusional-at-all]

Just the Tip

MDNI 18+

Ghost x femreader

CW: religion, sex, manipulation, dubcon??? (Idk maybe)

Been sitting on this for a while, hope you guys like it. Sorry I haven't posted new content in a while. Life's been crazy.

You and Simon had been together for a while. Simon really likes you and you really like Simon. You two got along really well but there is one point of tension between the two of you.

You're a Christian and you hold your faith very close and dear to your heart. That in itself isn't the issue. The point of tension between you and Simon is that you want to wait until marriage to have sex.

Simon respects your wishes but it's hard for him. He's never had to hold back for so long in a relationship. It doesn't help when you'll make out with him and still grope him and grind on him. How is that not supposed to drive him crazy?

The second his fingers even think about dipping below your waistband, you hit him with "no Si, remember? Not 'til marriage"

He'll reluctantly move his fingers from the waistband of your pants and groan and tell you "you're killin' me love"

This has gone on for months. He can't take the teasing anymore. It's killing him to go home after hanging out with you and he has blue balls from hell.

One day, it finally dawned on him to ask to put just the tip in. If your hymen is still intact, you're still a virgin in the eyes of God, right?

"Love, please just let me put just the tip in" he practically begged. His cock was painfully erect and trying to break out of his jeans. He needed relief, desperately.

"I dunno, Simon... I made a promise to God..." You told him. He wrapped his arms around you and held you, trying to butter you up so you would give in.

"Just a little taste? It's just the tip, it won't break your hymen- therefore you'll still be a virgin" he assured you. You were still iffy. You didn't know if this was a legit loophole.

He took a step back- his hands still resting on your shoulders and he looked at you with a pleading look in his eyes. He was begging for you to allow this. He looked like a kid begging their parent for a toy they saw in the store.

He leaned down and whispered in your ear "It'll feel good love. Don't you want me to make you feel good?". His hot breath fanned your neck as he spoke. It sent shivers down your spine. Your walls were starting to crumble. Maybe he's right? Maybe God will allow this one thing to fly.

You sighed, indicating that you were giving in and waving the white flag. "Let's do it" you responded. His face broke out into a wide smile before kissing you. "You won't regret it, love" he told you.

You two quickly started kissing and groping each other again to get back to the same intensity you were just moments ago before he brought up just putting the tip in.

He wasted almost no time at all getting you naked. This was the first time he had ever seen you nude and he marveled at how beautiful your body was. He was ready to make you his in every way possible.

"S'beautiful" he murmured as he positioned himself between your legs. He lightly brushed his thumb up against your clit, causing you to squirm which earned a light laugh from him.

He played with your clit for a few moments, bringing you to the edge of orgasm. You were biting your lip and gripping your bed sheets for dear life.

"Cum f'me love. I need you nice and ready f'me" he told you, his voice low and raspy. You finally let go, you cried out his name as he continued to assault your clit. You were feeling bliss and overstimulation all at once.

Once your orgasm died down, he gave you a kiss before sitting up and undoing his pants. "You sure you wanna do this?" He asked. You nodded before he pulled his cock out, the head glistening with pre-cum.

He smirked and got back on top of you, he lined himself up with your entrance. As promised, he put the tip in. It was taking all of his willpower not to go any further.

Just that little bit he felt of you was like heaven and he so badly wanted to go in fully.

"Y'feel divine, love" he murmured as he thrusted the tip in and out. You bit your lip, enjoying the feeling. You wanted more.

"more" you breathed out. "You sure, love?" He asked. You nodded frantically and his smirk widened to a full out grin. You didn't need to tell him twice.

He slowly pushed further into you, taking it slow so he wouldn't hurt you. He finally bottomed out and let out a groan. It was like your pussy was made specifically for him. So tight and warm wrapped around his cock.

He started to move after a moment, once he knew you were adjusted to him. He started off gentle but slowly started to go a little harder.

He knew he was getting close. He can usually last longer but fuck... You felt so good, like you were milking him for every last drop he has without even trying.

He reached down to play with your clit. He wanted to pull one more orgasm from you before he came.

It didn't take long for you to reach your orgasm. Hearing you cry out "Si..." as your walls clenched around his cock was music to his ears. He couldn't hold back anymore.

"'M gonna cum" he breathed out before pulling out and cumming all over your chest and stomach.

He's definitely gonna go get a ring before you can feel guilty about sinning and you're gonna have his last name by the end of the week. And there's nothing you can say to change his mind.

[seitmai]

Many thoughts

He’d never been happier to have a broken coffee machine than that morning he’d had to detour to a local spot not too far from his house. It was always on his mind to stop there when he ran errands, not when he was already running late for work and had to fight the morning rush. But as soon as he walked in and spotted you in line, Bradley thanked the coffee gods. Standing behind you, he cleared his throat and asked if you had any suggestions. The sleepy, surprised look you gave him when you turned, coupled with how you adjusted your glasses, made him smile. 

He is all smitten in the morning coffee line 🤭

Bradley wasn’t against marriage. He’d seen how happy it made his parents and a couple of his buddies. He’d also seen a lot of them fall apart over this time in the military and was holding out for something like he’d seen with his parents.

That's admirable

A few of his former partners called him a commitment phobe - and the options were certainly getting slimmer now that he was 40 - but Bradley preferred to look at it as being selective. And he wasn’t in a rush. He enjoyed being alone. It was nice to come home from a long day at work and have everything exactly where he left it. To know that the leftovers he’d been craving all day would still be in the fridge.

100% understand this

“Nothing that can’t be handled with a stiff drink,” you replied before muttering, “and a tranquilizer dart for the mother of the bride.”

That comment cracked me up 😅

Slowly, his hand migrated to the back of your chair as you turned to face him fully, your heel resting on the foot ring of his stool. The only hard line you’d drawn was when he asked about work. “I’d prefer not to talk about work if it’s okay,” you shrugged. “I feel like it’s all I do.”

I think that's fair, especially when there are clear sign that she is stressed, everyone deserves to take their mind off after a clearly stressful day

“Me too.” The way you raised an eyebrow made him chuckle awkwardly. “I’m also very aware that we got off on the wrong foot - I promise, I’m not usually late or this stressed out on a date. I… I’m gonna leave the ball in your court if you want to do this again. You’ve got my number. And if you do want to go out again and give this another shot, I promise not to schedule you after meeting with my most difficult client and their wedding designer.”

Wow 👏🏻 I love her for this!

“Which she apologized for and told you why! You’re not exactly a joy to be around after a bad day in the air, either, Rooster. She could have just rescheduled.” “Maybe she should have.” “And then you would have thought she was flaky. You’re lucky she didn’t ghost you.” The bar wobbled, but Nat made no effort to help him stabilize it. Belatedly, Bradley realized it probably wasn’t the best idea to try to go for a PR when debriefing his best friend on the date.

Nat is not gonna make it easy on him, as she should!

“Weren’t you the one who was just bitching about being 40 and still single and how none of the women you go out with seem like long-term relationship material?” He chose not to answer that, even though they both knew it was true. “And now you go out with a woman who is age-appropriate for once” - he ignored that barb, remembering the disgust she’d taken no pains to hide the few times he went out with girls in their early 20s - “has her own business, actually communicated what was going on with her, wasn’t a tag chaser, AND sounds confident as hell, and you’re not interested in at least giving her a second chance after having what sounded like an off day? After you were excited about meeting someone not on a dating app, for once?”

I love that he is calling him out on all of this 👏🏻

“I’m saying that if she’s as hot as you said when you first met her and gave you any sign she’s interested in women, you should give me her number.” He chuckled.

He is chuckling now, but if it was me I would 100% go for Nat 😌

She folded her arms over the bar and pinned him with a serious look. “It’s your call, Rooster. But at some point, being ‘selective’ just means you’re looking for issues with someone. And you’re sure as hell not perfect, you can’t expect others to be.”

Facts

Nat dropped Bradley off at his house with a hug and a promise to meet up later that night for drinks to celebrate his belated birthday and homecoming. As much as he appreciated having his best friend greeting him after his deployment, he’d felt a pang of envy seeing his fellow pilots rushing to meet their husbands and wives, kids, and family members. Officially 41 as of yesterday, Bradley wanted that. 

Well maybe his thoughts on being selective have changed

Setting the card down, Bradley licked the melted chocolate from his lip and devoured the cookie that didn’t taste store-bought. His thumb ran over the soft flower petals as he demolished another three, feeling a mixture of awkwardness and happiness at getting his first bouquet. Scrubbing a hand over his mouth, he turned to the fridge and opened it, hoping that he’d find a soda or maybe a beer.

What a welcome home!

“Asshole.” He could hear your eye roll when you chuckled. “Just wanted to say thanks for the cookies and the beer and the flowers. And cleaning. You didn’t have to do that.” “I feel so bad that I’m not there with you, so this is the least I can do.” “What, you didn’t think the clients would move their wedding so you could spend the day with me?” “I’m not sure why I never bothered to ask,” you hummed, and he laughed at your sarcastic tone.  “I’m not getting out of here until late and have to be out the door early for the brunch, so - ” “Please?” “I… I figured you’d want to sleep.”

He is so smitten🤭

“Fuck, I have to go. Have fun tonight, and I’ll talk to you later. Love you.” The call disconnected, and Bradley slowly pulled the phone from his ear to stare at it, wondering if he’d actually heard what he thought he had.

Oh 👀

Sighing, Bradley dropped the phone onto the counter and let his head fall back, a smile tugging at his mouth as he rubbed his eyes. This time, the fluttering in his stomach had nothing to do with hunger. 

Someone is giddy in love 🤭

It became clear pretty early on that golf wasn’t your forte, while Bradley had skills. Around the third hole, he let slip that he went golfing pretty much once a month with some of his coworkers, and you jokingly demanded that you should have a handicap to make things a bit more even. It was on the tip of his tongue to start correcting your form and grip, but he stopped himself and instead spent the time enjoying watching you wiggle your ass while settling into your stance. 

Oh I just know he is enjoying the view

The sun was setting when you turned in your putters and headed outside to grab some street tacos. Bradley followed your lead and switched from beer to soda, quickly tapping his credit card when you tried to pay. The trash-talking continued as you waited for the food, laughing as you accused him of cheating. You flushed with pleasure when he suggested hitting a driving range for your next date to continue to work on your swing, which he found adorable.

He can't wait for the next date, whatever they will do

 Your foot brushed his ankle as you ate, and he moved so his knee slotted between yours. This time, you were open to talking about work. Still, you didn’t go into too much detail about your job, just that you did, on average, 20 weddings a year with extra consultations for couples who just wanted to run their wedding plans past a professional. When he told you he was a pilot - that detail hadn’t come up in your previous date - your eyebrows rose, and you seemed more interested in what it was like to fly than his actual job. No one had asked him before what it was like trying not to pay attention to how pretty it was while also focusing on the mission.

Sounds like they are on the same wavelength

“It does,” he agreed. After a bit of reluctant discussion, you both decided to call it a night since he had work and you had a meeting early the next morning. Bradley’s hand brushed yours as he walked you to your car, and you struggled not to hook your pinky with his while he thought about tossing his arm over your shoulder and tugging you close. When you stopped by your car, you turned to stand in front of him, looking up at him through your lashes. His eyes dipped to your lips, watching you roll them together before your tongue darted out to wet them. “I had fun tonight,” he said, voice a bit huskier than a moment before.

Definitely better than the first date 🥰

He’d intended for it to be a sweet kiss goodnight, but intention flew out the window when your hands migrated to grip the lapels of his shirt. He felt your smile against his mouth as your fingers twined in the fabric, and he chuckled when he pulled away just far enough to have you chasing him. Hooking his fingers in your belt loops, Bradley guided you back so that your thighs pressed against the car bumper, before giving in to the tension on his neck from your grip on his shirt. You sighed against his mouth, opening for him when his tongue traced the seam of your lips. 

Whoops there go the intentions🤭

“Bradshaw men wear wedding rings.” He could still picture his father’s ring on the necklace his mother wore every day of her life.

🥹🥹🥹

“That’s… inconvenient.” “Yeah, he repeated, shrugging. “So… uh… I’m not sure if you wanted to… I’d understand if you didn’t…” Smirking, you crossed your arms over your chest and tilted your head until he met your eyes. “Are you saying you’re leaving the ball in my court if we see each other again?” His hand lifted to brush the hair from your face, trailing down to trace the shape of your jaw before kissing you again. “Guess I am.” 

Ahh they are such a vibe 😍

And later, when he’d tumbled into your bed, he’d let out an involuntary groan when his back hit the mattress. In the process of unzipping his pants, your hands froze on his waist, watching his eyes press closed tightly as he shifted under you. A giggle escaped as you sat back on your heels, watching an embarrassed flush creep up his cheeks. “You good?” “This mattress is like a fuckin’ cloud.”

The 41 years are showing, even if its just in moment like this 🤭

As he warmed up the walk-in shower for a post-sex rinse, he watched as you tossed two fluffy towels into a white thing and hit a button. Warm towels right out of the shower weren’t something he’d ever experienced, but a part of him wondered about buying one for his place before realizing it would take up too much space. But the huge towels - “bath sheets”, you’d offered when he asked about them - were definitely something he would invest in before having you come over. 

He is learning the ins-and-outs of a cozy home

It was the best night of sleep he’d had in years. And not only because he was curled around you, your hair tickling his nose and making cute little noises in the middle of the night. 

🥰🥰🥰

The idea of bringing you into his apartment had been intimidating as hell. He’d done his best to clean and make it look not as outdated as it was, but there was no getting around it. But you hadn’t said anything, just laughed and sipped the wine he’d offered, watching him from the couch as he moved around his kitchen, making the lemon chicken recipe he’d already made twice earlier in the week to make sure it was perfect. 

He is adorable when he is trying like that 🥹😍

On the carrier, he’d dreamed about coming home to your place and using your shower. Sleeping in your bed after surviving the shitty rack for six months. Hanging out in the backyard, with steak grilling and you in his arms while relaxing on the patio furniture. Watching you move around your walk-in closet naked. Standing side by side and brushing your teeth, and smiling when you’d scrunch your nose at him while swishing mouthwash. 

Sounds like her place feels more like home than his, for multiple reasons

But seeing you walk through the door, wearing a pair of jeans and a black button-down with those heels, work bag on your shoulder, made him wish he’d insisted. The time it took him to walk across the bar was too long to kiss you. To taste the wax of your lipstick and smell your perfume. To feel your hips in his hands, your fingers on his chest. He’d be without you for six months, and thirty seconds already felt too long. 

He is so whipped, I love it 🤭🥰

Taking the bag from your shoulder and suppressing a surprised look at how heavy it was, he led you to the bar to get you a drink. Penny shook your hand, smiling when Bradley held your bag out of reach when you tried to set up a tab, insisting that everything was going on his.  

Well if he insists 😌

And when he noticed other men looking at you, Bradley felt a thrill of satisfaction that you were tucked under his arm, his hand in your back pocket.

I'm sure he does 🤭

You laughed with his friends, and Nat shot him a knowing look when you stepped away to check out the jukebox with Bob. “And you weren’t gonna call her,” she smirked, elbowing him in the stomach. He wasn’t sure how to make it up to his best friend for making him get his head out of his ass.

Oh, he owes Nat big time☝🏻

 Especially when you’d cleared your schedule for the next day, making sure you were available to see him off on the flight line. It wasn’t the first time he’d had a girlfriend when going on deployment, but it felt different this time. Sure, you’d only been together for two months, but you’d gotten serious fast. Bradley had never discussed marriage and kids with someone so early in a relationship, not that you wanted to get married anytime soon, but just to share your thoughts. You’d carefully broached the topic of finances, and he knew that you were still paying off your house, car, and student loans while he was debt-free. You knew about his parents and how much he wanted to find a relationship like theirs. He loved the nights you spent on the couch or in bed, just talking, trading lazy kisses that gradually turned more passionate. Laughing at stupid movies or hiding your face in his shoulder at the horror movies you put up with. 

Wow I think that's so good! And very not commitment phobe of Bradley 👀

Kicking off your heels by the door next to his boots, you tiptoed into the dark apartment and smiled. Bradley had fallen asleep on the couch, head resting on the arm, and was snoring loudly. Setting your bag down, you walked over to him and perched on the sofa beside him. Carefully, you ran your fingers through his hair, the curls shorter than the last time you’d seen them. He’d complained the whole deployment about the barber on the carrier cutting his hair too short and how much he was looking forward to getting back to his regular guy. When you leaned forward to kiss his cheek, Bradley snorted and jerked awake. Surprised, you slipped off the couch, feet and knees protesting as you stood quickly. His voice was hoarse when he said your name, a smile quickly appearing on his face. In a flash, he was on his feet, towering over you and tugging you into his arms. The remnants of your lipstick stained his mouth as he kissed you, and you laughed against his lips when he lifted you off your sore feet. Once safely back on the ground, his fingers buried in your hair, knocking more strands loose from the messy bun you’d tossed it in while supervising the venue clean up. “Hi,” he said.

That just such a cute and domestic moment between them 🥰

“Can’t believe I fell asleep.” “I can. It’s late.” Shaking his head, his eyes swept your face before stealing another kiss. “I wanted to see you. Shoulda stayed up.” You cupped his cheek, running your thumb over his mustache.  “You’re exhausted, Bradley. And you’ve done nothing but complain about how uncomfortable your bed was for the last six months - I’m not surprised you passed out.” He smiled devilishly, his hands leaving your back and resting on your ass. “The worst part of the bed was that you weren’t there.” Blushing, you rolled your eyes, tongue-tied at his statement. When he ducked his head to kiss you again, you quickly turned away to yawn. 

He is such a simp for her, I love it🥰

And, despite your protests that you wanted to talk, he led you to the bathroom, pausing to grab your bag. He set you on the counter while turning on the shower and tossing two towels in the warmer. Reaching behind you, he dragged the zipper of your dress down your back as you plucked things out of your bag. The material pooled around your waist when you shrugged off the sleeves, and Bradley pressed his lips to the red indents your bra hald made on your shoulders as you cleaned your face with a wipe. 

🥹🥹🥹

“Waited a long time,” you whined. A smirk crossed his lips as he pressed your body wash and loofa into your hands. “Exactly. One more night isn’t gonna kill us.” “It might,” you muttered, turning away from him. Bradley crowded your space, wrapping his arms around you to cup your wet breasts and kissing your neck. You tilted your head back onto his chest, sighing as he pinched your nipples. “Bradley…”

It might kill him tho 🤭

“Did you mean to say that, or was it a slip?” His fingers were gentle as they brushed the hair from your face. “Meant it.” Relief flooded your system as you captured his lips. “Love you too.” 

🥰🥰🥰

Bradley stood by the grill the next day, unashamedly watching you as you lay on the patio furniture. A sated smile was on your lips, and he felt a primal satisfaction at seeing the marks he’d left on your skin after fucking in the shower and your bed. With the wedding done, he had your undivided attention, and he was taking advantage of it.

Oh I just know he is very proud of those marks and can't wait to expand on them 😌🤭

“Relax. I love you for offering, but I wanna do it.” A pretty blush rose on your cheeks, and he grinned. He knew that, eventually, the thrill of saying those three little words would lessen, but for now, he loved how they tasted on his tongue. 

He is so excited to be in love 🥰

I absolutely loved these two!! If you ever feel up to it I would love to read more of them 🤗

A Sunday Kind of Love

Two months before deploying was a bad time to start a relationship. Especially when Bradley would be gone for six months. Returning the day after his 41st birthday, Bradley hoped to spend the day with his girlfriend, but a prior commitment makes that impossible. But that doesn't mean she can't show him how much she cares.

Word count: 8.7K

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After finishing the sequence to turn off the jet engine, Bradley relaxed against his seat and closed his eyes. In just a few seconds, he would set foot on American soil for the first time in six months. 

This deployment hadn’t been the worst. It was his first major one since receiving orders from NAS Oceana to Miramar, and cruising around the Pacific was a welcome change from the Middle East deployments he’d been on in the past few times. And as much as he missed his buddies from Virginia, he’d at least had Coyote, Omaha, and Halo for company.

The time, however, could have been better. Bradley hadn’t been looking to get into a relationship before a deployment. He’d seen too many people get the dreaded Dear John treatment and received one of his own - but he also hadn’t expected to meet you. 

He’d never been happier to have a broken coffee machine than that morning he’d had to detour to a local spot not too far from his house. It was always on his mind to stop there when he ran errands, not when he was already running late for work and had to fight the morning rush. But as soon as he walked in and spotted you in line, Bradley thanked the coffee gods. Standing behind you, he cleared his throat and asked if you had any suggestions. The sleepy, surprised look you gave him when you turned, coupled with how you adjusted your glasses, made him smile. 

Especially when he’d managed to get your number after helping track down the last open outlet and holding the table while you grabbed both coffees from the pickup window. The teasing smirk you’d given him after seeing the phone number on his cup had allowed him to say he was single and ask if you were in a relationship. He’d asked for your number when you said you weren't. 

It had been a bit of a surprise to be handed your business card after you’d scratched out one number and written another above it, and he felt a moment’s hesitancy at seeing that you were a wedding planner. Nothing against the career, but he’d taken a few women to weddings and almost universally regretted it when it prompted the ‘Do you see marriage in our future?’ questions. Going out with a woman who was always at weddings might be more trouble than it was worth.

Bradley wasn’t against marriage. He’d seen how happy it made his parents and a couple of his buddies. He’d also seen a lot of them fall apart over this time in the military and was holding out for something like he’d seen with his parents. A few of his former partners called him a commitment phobe - and the options were certainly getting slimmer now that he was 40 - but Bradley preferred to look at it as being selective. And he wasn’t in a rush. He enjoyed being alone. It was nice to come home from a long day at work and have everything exactly where he left it. To know that the leftovers he’d been craving all day would still be in the fridge. And he sure as hell hadn’t found someone willing to deal with his job. A lot of women liked the idea of dating a guy in the military - and those wings on his uniform drew a special crowd - but the reality wasn’t something they were prepared for. It wasn’t easy being in a relationship with someone whose job would call them away for months at a time, where he couldn’t talk about large parts of his day. Who might move every few years if they weren’t lucky enough to shift squadrons on base. Embarrassingly, his longest relationship was still his high school girlfriend - they’d managed about two years before going separate ways for college.

But even with those reservations, he still asked you to dinner and was surprised when you told him that you weren’t available on the weekends but could meet up for drinks during the week. And to say that the date had started poorly was an understatement. 

After agreeing to meet up, he waited at the bar you’d suggested, anxiously tapping his fingers on the sticky countertop as you texted and apologized for running late, and that you were trying to find parking. He was halfway through his beer when you walked in, and it took a moment for him to recognize you. At the coffee shop, you’d worn leggings, an oversized hoodie, and a smile that made him think about lazy days on the couch. But today? He would have thought you were a lawyer or some bureaucrat with the pencil skirt, sky-high heels, and a scowl that made him straighten as though he was in front of an admiral. He lifted his hand to get your attention, and your lips smoothed into a pleasant smile when you spotted him. Tossing your purse onto the bar, you sat on the stool and apologized, “I’m so sorry I’m late. My last appointment ran so far over.��

“No problem. Everything okay?”

“Nothing that can’t be handled with a stiff drink,” you replied before muttering, “and a tranquilizer dart for the mother of the bride.” Smiling at the bartender, you ordered a Manhattan, which surprised him. He would have pegged you for a martini girl in that outfit, not a whiskey one. With your attention on the bartender - it seemed like you were a regular at the place - he seized the opportunity to take you in. He felt underdressed in his jeans and Hawaiian shirt, especially when he caught the designer label on your purse. When you paused and glanced down at your wrist, he saw your smartwatch indicating that you had an incoming call, but you sent it to voicemail.

“Do you need to get that?” he asked, lifting his glass to his lips when you turned to look at him.

“Nope, I’m officially off the clock.” You reached for the bowl of peanuts he’d been working through and tossed a few into your mouth. “So, how was your day?”

“Not too bad. Spent it doing paperwork. Yours?” Taking a deep breath, you pasted on a tired smile. 

“Long.” Your lips parted to speak when Bradley heard your phone vibrating in your purse as the watch lit up again. Closing your eyes, you took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. 

“You sure you don’t need to get that?” 

“I’m sure.” His eyebrow rose when you removed your watch and dropped it into your purse, taking out a phone and tapping the screen a few times before putting it away and hanging the bag off the hook under the bar. When the bartender dropped off your drink, you took the glassware by the stem and lifted it toward him. “Here’s hoping for a better evening.” 

The conversation had been stilted for a little while. When he heard your purse vibrating, you continued to ask him about growing up in Virginia while reaching into the bag and pulling out a second phone, eyes briefly leaving his to glance at the screen and do something before putting it away. It was the standard first date conversation - where are you from, hobbies, siblings, family nearby, etc. You made a couple of sarcastic barbs that made him chuckle, and he watched you run your fingers through your hair. Slowly, his hand migrated to the back of your chair as you turned to face him fully, your heel resting on the foot ring of his stool. The only hard line you’d drawn was when he asked about work. “I’d prefer not to talk about work if it’s okay,” you shrugged. “I feel like it’s all I do.”

The answer had surprised him, but he agreed. The last thing he wanted to do was talk about his job, but in his experience, women always wanted to know what he did. Especially if they saw him in uniform, like you had at the coffee shop. When the bartender asked if he wanted another beer, Bradley glanced at you briefly, debating spending another thirty minutes or so before heading out. 

“Your call,” you shrugged, catching the look. The whiskey had loosened your tongue and put a pretty flush in your cheeks, but he could tell by the set of your shoulders and the subtle way you lifted your glass to mask a yawn that you were tired. It seemed like the date was starting to turn around, and he could see glimpses of the flirty woman from the coffee shop, but he’d also caught you glancing at your bare wrist to check the time. 

“Raincheck?” he asked. There was a brief flicker of disappointment on your face before you smiled and nodded to the bartender.

“We’ll close out. Separate tabs, please, Jacks.” 

“I can get - ”

“It’s fine,” you cut him off. The bartender gave a mocking salute, glancing at Bradley like he was crazy before walking away. Bradley watched you finish your Manhattan and eat the cherries off the cocktail pick while finishing his beer. The awkwardness was back, and he was starting to regret not just agreeing to another drink. “So, anything fun planned for the rest of the week?” 

“Not really,” he shrugged. “Just some exercises at work and hanging with friends. You?”

“Not much, just a comedy show Friday night.” That topic held you over until the checks came, and you were already slapping your card down when Bradley reached for yours. 

As you stepped outside, the sun started to set, and Bradley asked where you’d parked. He motioned for you to lead the way when you pointed up the street. “This was - ”

“So I know - ” Bradley looked at you as you spoke over one another and smiled when you blushed, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear. When you stopped beside a small SUV and turned to face him, he watched you lift your chin to meet his gaze. Even in your heels, you still had to look up at him. “This is me.” You cleared your throat, fingers tightening around the strap of your purse. “I had a good time tonight.”

“Me too.” The way you raised an eyebrow made him chuckle awkwardly.

“I’m also very aware that we got off on the wrong foot - I promise, I’m not usually late or this stressed out on a date. I… I’m gonna leave the ball in your court if you want to do this again. You’ve got my number. And if you do want to go out again and give this another shot, I promise not to schedule you after meeting with my most difficult client and their wedding designer.”

“Wait, aren’t you the wedding designer?” 

You scoffed, pinching the bridge of your nose, keys clinking in your free hand. “Oh, absolutely not. I’m just the planner for this one - I handle the logistics, contracts, and budget for the wedding, while the designer is primarily concerned with the aesthetics of the ceremony and reception. This one is the bane of my existence and doesn’t seem to care about the budget and managed to get the bride and her mother on her side, which is freaking out the groom since they’re going way over… ” Grimacing, you scrunched your nose and held up a hand. “Sorry, I said I didn’t want to talk about work, and I’m sure you don’t want to hear about wedding drama.” 

“Sounds more interesting than what I deal with at work.” The memory of Bob and Fanboy’s hour-long conversation over lunch about their D&D campaign flashed through his mind, and he winced. 

“Still,” you shrugged. After a moment of silence, you sighed. “I hope to hear from you soon, Bradley. But no hard feelings if I don’t.” There was another awkward beat before you gave a weary smile and unlocked your car. “Have a good night!”

“Night,” he replied, taking a step back as you circled the vehicle. Once you were safely inside, he waved and turned to make his way back to the Bronco.

“You’re kidding, right?” Nat glared down at him as he huffed a breath. His muscles burned as he lowered the weight, finishing up the last few reps of his chest presses. 

“No,” he grunted. “It was awkward as fuck.”

“Which she apologized for and told you why! You’re not exactly a joy to be around after a bad day in the air, either, Rooster. She could have just rescheduled.”

“Maybe she should have.”

“And then you would have thought she was flaky. You’re lucky she didn’t ghost you.” The bar wobbled, but Nat made no effort to help him stabilize it. Belatedly, Bradley realized it probably wasn’t the best idea to try to go for a PR when debriefing his best friend on the date. “Weren’t you the one who was just bitching about being 40 and still single and how none of the women you go out with seem like long-term relationship material?” He chose not to answer that, even though they both knew it was true. “And now you go out with a woman who is age-appropriate for once” - he ignored that barb, remembering the disgust she’d taken no pains to hide the few times he went out with girls in their early 20s - “has her own business, actually communicated what was going on with her, wasn’t a tag chaser, AND sounds confident as hell, and you’re not interested in at least giving her a second chance after having what sounded like an off day? After you were excited about meeting someone not on a dating app, for once?”

Huffing out a breath, he pushed the bar up again, a grunt forcing itself from his lips. “Maybe this was just a sign not to start shit before deploying.” His eyes darted from the ceiling to Nat’s face, and she rolled her eyes. Bradley’s arms shook, and she reluctantly helped him settle the bar back onto the weight bench rack. Sitting up, he grabbed his towel and scrubbed the sweat from his face. “So you’re saying I should give it another shot?”

“I’m saying that if she’s as hot as you said when you first met her and gave you any sign she’s interested in women, you should give me her number.” He chuckled. She folded her arms over the bar and pinned him with a serious look. “It’s your call, Rooster. But at some point, being ‘selective’ just means you’re looking for issues with someone. And you’re sure as hell not perfect, you can’t expect others to be.”

Later, standing in his kitchen and warming up leftovers, Bradley mulled over Nat’s words. Taking out his phone, he scrolled through your text thread, chuckling at some of the snarky remarks and flirty messages you’d sent over the week it had taken to set up the date. 

Maybe he’d been too harsh in deciding not to call or text. After all, there’d been some time during the middle of the date when he’d enjoyed himself; it was just the ending that had been awkward as hell. As the microwave went off, his thumb hovered over the screen.

Nat dropped Bradley off at his house with a hug and a promise to meet up later that night for drinks to celebrate his belated birthday and homecoming. As much as he appreciated having his best friend greeting him after his deployment, he’d felt a pang of envy seeing his fellow pilots rushing to meet their husbands and wives, kids, and family members. Officially 41 as of yesterday, Bradley wanted that. 

Dropping his duffle, he dug into the pocket of his flight suit for his apartment keys, bracing for the stale, dusty air. Nat dropped by to check up on the place while he was gone, but it was never enough to keep it from feeling like a mausoleum when he came home. The first day home was always the worst until he opened the windows and cleaned up a bit. A loud growling sound made him realize he probably should have had Nat stop for food on the way home because he wasn’t sure what he’d left in the pantry. 

But when the door swung open, there was no musty smell. Instead, something floral tickled his nose, and the scent of something sweet made his stomach growl again. Frowning, Bradley grabbed his bag and stepped inside, venturing further into the apartment. Following his nose to the kitchen, he stopped short at the sight of a vase of flowers on the island - orange and yellow ones that looked like the ones on his favorite shirt, with pink and purple ones dotting the arrangement. A plate of cookies sat beside it, an envelope propped against it with his name written on it.

A smile tugged at his lips as he strode toward them, snatching up the envelope with one hand while tugging at the plastic wrapping. Holding a cookie between his teeth, he opened it to quickly read the birthday card before flipping it to see your handwriting.

Welcome home! I’m so sorry I couldn’t be there to see you, babe. I’ve missed you so much, and I can’t wait to see your handsome face in person - the video calls don’t do you justice. 

I hope you don’t mind, but Nat gave me her key so I could put a couple of things together for you. Kick back and relax, enjoy stretching out on your comfy bed, and I’ll see you tomorrow. 

Welcome home, birthday boy - I’ve missed you <3 

Setting the card down, Bradley licked the melted chocolate from his lip and devoured the cookie that didn’t taste store-bought. His thumb ran over the soft flower petals as he demolished another three, feeling a mixture of awkwardness and happiness at getting his first bouquet. Scrubbing a hand over his mouth, he turned to the fridge and opened it, hoping that he’d find a soda or maybe a beer.

Rather than the empty shelves he’d left, they were full, including a couple of his favorite bottles and cans of beer and a bottle of your favorite champagne. A sticky note hung off the closest beer. Enjoy a cold one, flyboy. But what really drew his eye was the package of filet mignon steaks resting on a plate with another note. 

Dinner for tomorrow night. Nat texted me when she dropped you off. Food is on the way. 

A flush tinged his cheeks as he grabbed a beer and closed the fridge, his hand slipping into his pocket to grab his phone. Bradley knew that you didn’t carry your personal phone with you during events, but that didn’t matter. Your text thread was pinned to the top of the messages, and he quickly typed out a text.

Thanks for the surprises, baby. Can’t wait to see you.

To his surprise, his phone rang just a minute later as he sipped his beer and looked over his cleaned kitchen and living room, not a speck of dust in sight. Grinning at the sight of your picture, he answered quickly. “Hey.” 

“Hey,” you whispered back. “Welcome home.” 

“Thanks - you busy?”

“Well, the ceremony’s about to start and I only have a minute before I have to calm down the venue manager after the MOB and designer screamed at the poor woman for having the audacity to use the folded napkin design they chose.” 

“Asshole.” He could hear your eye roll when you chuckled. “Just wanted to say thanks for the cookies and the beer and the flowers. And cleaning. You didn’t have to do that.”

“I feel so bad that I’m not there with you, so this is the least I can do.”

“What, you didn’t think the clients would move their wedding so you could spend the day with me?”

“I’m not sure why I never bothered to ask,” you hummed, and he laughed at your sarcastic tone. 

“Don’t worry about it, baby. You had the weekend booked long before we met.” Almost a year and a half, to be exact. Bradley heard your many, many regrets about booking the wedding, given all the drama that came with it. It was the biggest one you’d taken on, and you regretted the stretch into society weddings. “You coming over after?”

“I’m not getting out of here until late and have to be out the door early for the brunch, so - ”

“Please?”

“I… I figured you’d want to sleep.”

“Yeah, with you.” There was silence on the other side of the line, and Bradley ran a hand through his hair. Sometimes, it was easy to forget that, though you’d been dating for about nine months, only two and a half of that had been in person. And as much as he’d enjoyed the regular emails, care packages, and actually keeping his video calls rather than trading them away so he could see you, in a lot of ways, this was still a new relationship. “Baby - ”

“Shit,” you hissed, and he heard someone calling you in the background. “I’m so sorry, I have to go. Your food should be there soon, and I told them to knock and leave it at the front door.” 

“Thanks. I - ” He heard someone shriek your name.

“Fuck, I have to go. Have fun tonight, and I’ll talk to you later. Love you.” The call disconnected, and Bradley slowly pulled the phone from his ear to stare at it, wondering if he’d actually heard what he thought he had.

That small, four-letter word had been danced around quite often over the last few months. The first time he’d typed it out without thinking, fingers treading the unfamiliar path on the keyboard, he’d stared at it for a minute before hitting the backspace key. It had almost slipped out at the end of the video calls, especially when he caught you working late in your home office, glasses perched on your nose, and wearing one of the t-shirts he’d been missing since the first time you slept over. Or when you answered while driving, your phone propped up on the car dashboard so he could look at you as you hurried to find a parking spot, lower lip trapped behind your teeth unless you were yelling at idiot drivers. 

Your emails had always ended the same - ‘I miss you, come home safe’ followed by a heart and your name. Video calls ended with a blown kiss and some variation of being happy to have seen him. He hadn’t gotten any indication that those four letters had been on the tip of your tongue. 

Sighing, Bradley dropped the phone onto the counter and let his head fall back, a smile tugging at his mouth as he rubbed his eyes. This time, the fluttering in his stomach had nothing to do with hunger. 

The second date had gone so much better. Bradley had gone in with low expectations, and the memory of Nat’s smug smirk was at the forefront of his mind. When he pulled up to the place you’d suggested, he was surprised to see you standing by your car, head lowered as you looked at your phone. Gone was the uptight bureaucrat - he was definitely into the jeans and sneaker look, and the slight hint of cleavage your top showed. A hint of doubt played across your face as you looked up and around the parking lot, disappearing the moment you spotted him stepping out of the Bronco. 

Your smile was a bit shy as he neared, and he watched as you slipped your phone into your back pocket. “Hey,” he said, jogging the last few steps across the parking lot. 

“Hey,” you replied, lifting your hand to adjust your glasses. “Fancy seeing you here.”

“Yeah,” he smirked, noticing that you weren’t wearing your smartwatch but a regular digital one. “Have you ever been here before?”

“Nope, but it sounded like fun. Ready?”

“Sure.” 

And it was. The place was a combination of an indoor putt-putt course and a bar, with a food truck parked outside by the patio. Once you’d checked in, the two of you moved to the bar and ordered a drink. You ordered some fruity beer while Bradley ordered his regular. Drinks in hand, you made your way to the course, and he motioned for you to go first.

It became clear pretty early on that golf wasn’t your forte, while Bradley had skills. Around the third hole, he let slip that he went golfing pretty much once a month with some of his coworkers, and you jokingly demanded that you should have a handicap to make things a bit more even. It was on the tip of his tongue to start correcting your form and grip, but he stopped himself and instead spent the time enjoying watching you wiggle your ass while settling into your stance. 

The beers went down easily as you teased one another with friendly trash-talking, and a waitress got you refills by the sixth hole. Bradley smiled when he caught you swaying your hips and silently singing along with the music as he took his turn. When you asked for pointers, he found you fit quite nicely in his arms as he stood behind you and adjusted your stance and grip. Your ass grazed his cock, and he forced himself to focus on the feeling of your hand in his as he encouraged you to tighten your fingers around the putter, eyes darting to your lips when you looked over your shoulder at him.

On the eighth hole, he got a hole-in-one. His fingers curled around yours, holding a beat longer than necessary when you slapped palms. He spent the extra time checking you out and caught you doing the same as he teed off on the final course. 

The sun was setting when you turned in your putters and headed outside to grab some street tacos. Bradley followed your lead and switched from beer to soda, quickly tapping his credit card when you tried to pay. The trash-talking continued as you waited for the food, laughing as you accused him of cheating. You flushed with pleasure when he suggested hitting a driving range for your next date to continue to work on your swing, which he found adorable. 

Your foot brushed his ankle as you ate, and he moved so his knee slotted between yours. This time, you were open to talking about work. Still, you didn’t go into too much detail about your job, just that you did, on average, 20 weddings a year with extra consultations for couples who just wanted to run their wedding plans past a professional. When he told you he was a pilot - that detail hadn’t come up in your previous date - your eyebrows rose, and you seemed more interested in what it was like to fly than his actual job. No one had asked him before what it was like trying not to pay attention to how pretty it was while also focusing on the mission.

And before he knew it, Bradley glanced at his watch and saw it was almost nine. When you glanced at the time, your eyebrows shot up before meeting his gaze. “Wow, I didn’t realize it was so late. Guess time flies when you’re having fun.” 

“It does,” he agreed. After a bit of reluctant discussion, you both decided to call it a night since he had work and you had a meeting early the next morning. Bradley’s hand brushed yours as he walked you to your car, and you struggled not to hook your pinky with his while he thought about tossing his arm over your shoulder and tugging you close. When you stopped by your car, you turned to stand in front of him, looking up at him through your lashes. His eyes dipped to your lips, watching you roll them together before your tongue darted out to wet them. “I had fun tonight,” he said, voice a bit huskier than a moment before.

“Me too. I was a bit surprised that you wanted to meet again. I got the feeling our last meet-up didn’t end well.”

The corner of his mouth tipped up at the glint of insecurity in your eyes before he shrugged. “Kinda threw me at first, but I’m glad we did this. Would you, uh… wanna meet up again sometime?” He couldn’t help but match your smile, especially when you reached out to place your hands on his biceps and pushed onto your toes to brush your lips against his cheek. His hands automatically went to your hips to hold you steady and stayed there when you dropped back onto your heels. 

“I’d love that.” Your fingers flexed on his arms, and he was leaning down to chase your mouth before he could think. But his brain caught up before he kissed you, his gaze darting from your parted lips to your eyes, which were wide with surprise before one of your brows rose in a challenge. His grip on your hips tightened as he stepped into your space, the tip of his nose brushing yours in gentle encouragement. The moment your head tilted back just enough, Bradley’s lips descended on yours. 

He’d intended for it to be a sweet kiss goodnight, but intention flew out the window when your hands migrated to grip the lapels of his shirt. He felt your smile against his mouth as your fingers twined in the fabric, and he chuckled when he pulled away just far enough to have you chasing him. Hooking his fingers in your belt loops, Bradley guided you back so that your thighs pressed against the car bumper, before giving in to the tension on his neck from your grip on his shirt. You sighed against his mouth, opening for him when his tongue traced the seam of your lips. 

It took all of his strength not to slot his thigh between yours and to resist moving his hands to your ass. But there was a niggling prick of guilt that kept him from going further. “Gotta tell you something,” he murmured against your mouth. You froze, the hands that had just been holding him close now pushing him away. 

“Oh god, are you married?” 

“What? No,” he said quickly, brows furrowing. “I’ve never been married.” Your shoulders sagged slightly, one hand releasing his shirt to push your glasses up your nose. “I told you I’m single.” 

A rueful smile tugged at your lips as you shrugged. “Sorry. It’s just… better safe to double-check than be sorry later on.” And, as much as he was hurt by the assumption that he would cheat on his hypothetical wife, he understood. So, rather than get pissed, he untangled his left hand from your jeans and held it up.

“Wanna double check? Since you’re the marriage expert.” 

“Wedding expert,” you corrected, glancing at him before taking his left hand and putting on a mockingly serious look. You squinted while studying it, turning and bending his wrist to examine it from all angles. “No indent or tan from a ring. But you could be one of those guys who doesn’t wear a wedding band.”

“Bradshaw men wear wedding rings.” He could still picture his father’s ring on the necklace his mother wore every day of her life.

“Good to know,” you said. Hesitating a moment, you let go of his hand. It curved around your cheek as he leaned down to brush his lips against yours, pressing you back against the car. When his kisses were getting bolder, you whispered against his lips. “Want to check my hand?”

“Nope, I trust you,” he replied. He felt your smile and chuckled, only pulling away at your gentle push against his chest. 

“You had something to tell me?” That soft question made him pause, and Bradley let his forehead drop onto yours briefly before straightening. His thumb traced your kiss-swollen lower lip before he forced himself to take a step back, reluctantly pulling his hands away and shoving them into his pockets. 

“I’m deploying soon.” Your quiet ‘oh’ made him grimace, his gaze dropping to the ground. “Yeah. In about two months.” 

“For how long?”

“Six months.” Your eyebrows shot up, and he felt his stomach sink. 

“That’s… inconvenient.”

“Yeah, he repeated, shrugging. “So… uh… I’m not sure if you wanted to… I’d understand if you didn’t…”

Smirking, you crossed your arms over your chest and tilted your head until he met your eyes. “Are you saying you’re leaving the ball in my court if we see each other again?” His hand lifted to brush the hair from your face, trailing down to trace the shape of your jaw before kissing you again. 

“Guess I am.” 

If he hadn’t believed it before, Bradley knew that he loved you the longer he was home. Taking his duffle into the bedroom, he saw that his bed was made - he usually stripped the sheets before leaving - with the blankets turned back and a note on the pillows.

I replaced yours with the same ones from my place that you liked. Yours are in the closet in case you want to keep them.

He remembered the first night he’d spent at your place. Unlike his apartment, you had a home. Though younger than him, he’d felt somewhat intimidated stepping inside and seeing how grown-up everything was. Your furniture was newer and a pretty green color, rather than his beat-up leather couches that had seen one too many moves. The kitchen was big, and not a single one of your glasses had a chip in it. Hell, watching you make a Sazarac at the wet bar - letting ice sit in the low ball glasses while you muddled the sugar, water, and bitters, then winked and shot the absinthe used to wash the glasses - made him reluctant to invite you to his shitty one bedroom. Most of the time, he liked his place. Sure, it wasn’t the greatest, but he’d needed a place to drop his stuff after getting orders back to California. It was in the back of his mind to start looking for a house, but the idea of selling it in a few years when he got new orders kept him from pulling the trigger. 

And later, when he’d tumbled into your bed, he’d let out an involuntary groan when his back hit the mattress. In the process of unzipping his pants, your hands froze on his waist, watching his eyes press closed tightly as he shifted under you. A giggle escaped as you sat back on your heels, watching an embarrassed flush creep up his cheeks. “You good?” 

“This mattress is like a fuckin’ cloud.”

As he warmed up the walk-in shower for a post-sex rinse, he watched as you tossed two fluffy towels into a white thing and hit a button. Warm towels right out of the shower weren’t something he’d ever experienced, but a part of him wondered about buying one for his place before realizing it would take up too much space. But the huge towels - “bath sheets”, you’d offered when he asked about them - were definitely something he would invest in before having you come over. 

It was the best night of sleep he’d had in years. And not only because he was curled around you, your hair tickling his nose and making cute little noises in the middle of the night. 

The idea of bringing you into his apartment had been intimidating as hell. He’d done his best to clean and make it look not as outdated as it was, but there was no getting around it. But you hadn’t said anything, just laughed and sipped the wine he’d offered, watching him from the couch as he moved around his kitchen, making the lemon chicken recipe he’d already made twice earlier in the week to make sure it was perfect. 

For two months, you’d made sure to split the time evenly between your places, even though Bradley offered to go to yours more often. When you’d pointed it out, he’d dodged the real reason and shrugged, saying that your schedule was more unpredictable than his and he didn’t mind the drive. But you’d insisted on an even split, forgoing your towel heater and garage to deal with visitor parking and shitty water pressure. 

On the carrier, he’d dreamed about coming home to your place and using your shower. Sleeping in your bed after surviving the shitty rack for six months. Hanging out in the backyard, with steak grilling and you in his arms while relaxing on the patio furniture. Watching you move around your walk-in closet naked. Standing side by side and brushing your teeth, and smiling when you’d scrunch your nose at him while swishing mouthwash. 

So finding your towel warmer in his bathroom was a surprise. He chuckled at the note you’d left on it. 

This is only a loan - I expect it back, Bradshaw. Don’t think I haven’t noticed you lusting over it.

When he went to drop a towel into it, he saw that you’d already done it and he just needed to press the button. By the time he got out of the shower, enjoying the slightly better pressure than the carrier, his late lunch had arrived: a burger he’d mentioned wanting to have when he got home, and a milkshake. After sending a quick text to thank you, he started a load of laundry and collapsed onto the couch to eat, the television droning in the background. 

When a text came through the Daggers group chat saying that Payback and Fanboy were headed to the Hard Deck, Bradley got ready, knowing that you’d be working late. A few beers with his friends wasn’t a bad way to kill time until you got home. 

The first time he took you to the Hard Deck, Bradley showed up solo. You’d let him know that you had an appointment with a client that'd run late. He’d offered to pick you up, but you’d declined, reminding him it would be bad form to show up to his going-away party late. 

But seeing you walk through the door, wearing a pair of jeans and a black button-down with those heels, work bag on your shoulder, made him wish he’d insisted. The time it took him to walk across the bar was too long to kiss you. To taste the wax of your lipstick and smell your perfume. To feel your hips in his hands, your fingers on his chest. He’d be without you for six months, and thirty seconds already felt too long. 

Taking the bag from your shoulder and suppressing a surprised look at how heavy it was, he led you to the bar to get you a drink. Penny shook your hand, smiling when Bradley held your bag out of reach when you tried to set up a tab, insisting that everything was going on his.  

And when he noticed other men looking at you, Bradley felt a thrill of satisfaction that you were tucked under his arm, his hand in your back pocket. You laughed with his friends, and Nat shot him a knowing look when you stepped away to check out the jukebox with Bob. “And you weren’t gonna call her,” she smirked, elbowing him in the stomach. 

He wasn’t sure how to make it up to his best friend for making him get his head out of his ass. 

Especially when you’d cleared your schedule for the next day, making sure you were available to see him off on the flight line. It wasn’t the first time he’d had a girlfriend when going on deployment, but it felt different this time. Sure, you’d only been together for two months, but you’d gotten serious fast. Bradley had never discussed marriage and kids with someone so early in a relationship, not that you wanted to get married anytime soon, but just to share your thoughts. You’d carefully broached the topic of finances, and he knew that you were still paying off your house, car, and student loans while he was debt-free. You knew about his parents and how much he wanted to find a relationship like theirs. He loved the nights you spent on the couch or in bed, just talking, trading lazy kisses that gradually turned more passionate. Laughing at stupid movies or hiding your face in his shoulder at the horror movies you put up with. 

But, even as he kissed you goodbye and stole one last glance at you before climbing into his jet, Bradley wasn’t sure it would last. He wanted it to, but two months didn’t feel like enough time to build a solid foundation. The military was hard on relationships, and six months was a long time to be away from home. 

Claiming the last visitor’s parking spot, you turned off the car and let yourself slump back into your seat. The wedding that had been the bane of your existence for over a year was finally over, with only the brunch the next morning left to get through. While the paycheck would be nice, it had been more pain than it was worth to deal with all of the personalities. Granted, the ceremony was gorgeous, but if you ever had to work with their wedding designer again… you’d probably turn down the job. Taking on three smaller weddings for the same profit would be worth it in terms of savings on headache medication and massages. 

It didn’t help that your feet and back were killing you. When you showed up to the ceremony in your customary black dress and flats, clearly identifying yourself as staff rather than a guest, the maid of honor had pulled you aside after you caught a nasty look from the bride. The woman apologetically shared that the bride didn’t think you looked professional enough and wanted you to change. Rather than fight it, you’d given the poor woman a tight smile and left the bridal suite. 

Your outfit was practical. The dress had pockets, and you needed to be quick to get around the venue. Plus, the flats meant you could move around discreetly in the background without anyone hearing you coming if something needed to be fixed. But if the bride thought you weren’t professional-looking, fine. There was nothing you could do about your dress, but you swapped out your comfortable flats for heels. It slowed you down as you hurried from one place to another, running on your toes to try and limit your noise while trying to keep the flower girl from dumping the basket of petals and keeping the ring bearer from getting shoe prints on the bride’s long veil that dragged behind her. And, later at the reception, sprinting to stop someone from grabbing the wrong glass that would send the oversized champagne tower toppling over. 

If given the choice, you would have much rather spent the evening with Bradley. It had killed you not to be there when he got home. To make up for it, you’d woken up early yesterday to go to his apartment. Nat had gladly given you the key when you’d explained that you wanted to surprise him, and you were glad you had. The apartment was musty when you walked inside, a thin layer of dust covering everything. While the place aired out, you ordered groceries to be delivered and set about cleaning. You weren’t sure how he would feel about replacing his pillows, no matter how much he told you he was always tempted to steal yours, so you placed his old ones in his closet to decide what to do with them. From your car, you grabbed your towel warmer, which Bradley insisted on using whenever he was over, and a couple of candles to try to make the place smell better. The cookies baked while you arranged his flowers in the new vase, hoping that they wouldn’t droop too much overnight. 

It was strange being in his space without him, and you missed him so much. Six months of calls had kept you going, but you missed the scratch of his mustache on your skin. His laugh, warm in your ear. His big hands on your body. The smell of his cologne. 

And now, sitting outside of his apartment, you were nervous to go inside. What if things had changed since he’d been gone? Would he think your surprise was weird? After getting ready for the rehearsal dinner at his place last night, you’d made sure to pick everything up, but still worried that he wouldn’t want you in his space so soon after getting home. It didn’t help that you’d slipped and used the ‘L’ word earlier. It had been on the tip of your tongue for months, but you were conflicted about using it when you’d only really spent a few months actually together. There was no way to gauge whether he felt the same over the phone. You’d tortured yourself while watching the bride and groom exchange their vows, promising to love one another forever, wondering if your boyfriend even loved you. 

Steeling yourself, you forced yourself out of the car and grabbed your emergency kit from the trunk. You’d need to leave early in the morning to get a change of clothes, but at least you’d have your toiletries with you. Stifling a yawn, you glanced at your watch and saw it was already three in the morning - you’d need to be on the road again in three hours to make sure you got to the venue on time. Keeping your pepper spray in hand, you walked to Bradley’s apartment, hearing the clip of your heels on the concrete and wishing you’d swapped them for your flats. Especially as you stood outside his door, waiting for him to answer after knocking. A minute passed, and you shifted your weight, glancing at your phone to reread his text.

Can’t wait to see you. Missed you, baby.

But as time dragged on, you felt the nerves creeping in. You still had his key - Nat had told you just to give it back to him rather than return it to her - and you debated using it or going home. Hesitantly, you unlocked the door and stepped inside when you heard the television on. 

Kicking off your heels by the door next to his boots, you tiptoed into the dark apartment and smiled. Bradley had fallen asleep on the couch, head resting on the arm, and was snoring loudly. Setting your bag down, you walked over to him and perched on the sofa beside him. Carefully, you ran your fingers through his hair, the curls shorter than the last time you’d seen them. He’d complained the whole deployment about the barber on the carrier cutting his hair too short and how much he was looking forward to getting back to his regular guy. When you leaned forward to kiss his cheek, Bradley snorted and jerked awake. Surprised, you slipped off the couch, feet and knees protesting as you stood quickly. His voice was hoarse when he said your name, a smile quickly appearing on his face. In a flash, he was on his feet, towering over you and tugging you into his arms. The remnants of your lipstick stained his mouth as he kissed you, and you laughed against his lips when he lifted you off your sore feet. Once safely back on the ground, his fingers buried in your hair, knocking more strands loose from the messy bun you’d tossed it in while supervising the venue clean up. “Hi,” he said.

“Hi,” you echoed. 

“Can’t believe I fell asleep.”

“I can. It’s late.” Shaking his head, his eyes swept your face before stealing another kiss.

“I wanted to see you. Shoulda stayed up.” You cupped his cheek, running your thumb over his mustache. 

“You’re exhausted, Bradley. And you’ve done nothing but complain about how uncomfortable your bed was for the last six months - I’m not surprised you passed out.” He smiled devilishly, his hands leaving your back and resting on your ass. 

“The worst part of the bed was that you weren’t there.” Blushing, you rolled your eyes, tongue-tied at his statement. When he ducked his head to kiss you again, you quickly turned away to yawn. 

“Sorry,” you apologized, swiping away tears and forcing your eyes wide. Bradley only smiled softly, concern etched on his face. 

“Come on, baby, let’s go to bed.” 

And, despite your protests that you wanted to talk, he led you to the bathroom, pausing to grab your bag. He set you on the counter while turning on the shower and tossing two towels in the warmer. Reaching behind you, he dragged the zipper of your dress down your back as you plucked things out of your bag. The material pooled around your waist when you shrugged off the sleeves, and Bradley pressed his lips to the red indents your bra had made on your shoulders as you cleaned your face with a wipe. 

Fingers explored, relearning one another as you stood under the shower spray. When your hand closed around his hard cock, Bradley shook his head, kissing you and gently removing it. “You need to sleep, baby.” 

“Waited a long time,” you whined. A smirk crossed his lips as he pressed your body wash and loofa into your hands.

“Exactly. One more night isn’t gonna kill us.” 

“It might,” you muttered, turning away from him. Bradley crowded your space, wrapping his arms around you to cup your wet breasts and kissing your neck. You tilted your head back onto his chest, sighing as he pinched your nipples. “Bradley…”

“Ignore me,” he said. And you did your best, washing around his hands that slid along your body. But any time you tried to touch him, his teeth would nip your skin. 

After taking his time drying you with a warm towel, Bradley slid into the clean sheets with you, not bothering to dress. “What time do you need to get up?” he asked. When you told him, a flicker of disappointment crossed his features, but it was quickly pushed away. His hand slipped under the covers, cupping your ass and tugging you closer. You could feel his cock against your stomach as he held you, and you dragged your fingers along his back, drawing nonsensical shapes. Exhaustion hit hard, and you felt yourself drifting when his lips sought yours again in the dark. 

“Night, baby. Love you.”

Surprised, you tensed in his arms and felt him do the same. “Bradley?” 

“Hmm?”

“Did you mean to say that, or was it a slip?” His fingers were gentle as they brushed the hair from your face.

“Meant it.” Relief flooded your system as you captured his lips. 

“Love you too.” 

Bradley stood by the grill the next day, unashamedly watching you as you lay on the patio furniture. A sated smile was on your lips, and he felt a primal satisfaction at seeing the marks he’d left on your skin after fucking in the shower and your bed. With the wedding done, he had your undivided attention, and he was taking advantage of it.

The filets would be done in a few minutes, but that didn’t stop him from closing the grill and moving to your side. Your hand lifted, resting on his hip as he stood over you. “Steaks are almost done. Corn will take a bit longer.” 

“I wish you’d let me make it. It’s your birthday dinner,” you pouted. Shaking his head, he sat beside you and braced on the back of the wicker couch to lean down and kiss you.

“Relax. I love you for offering, but I wanna do it.” A pretty blush rose on your cheeks, and he grinned. He knew that, eventually, the thrill of saying those three little words would lessen, but for now, he loved how they tasted on his tongue. 

It was almost as good as the Sazerac he plucked from your hand, stealing a sip.

----------------------------------------------------

Author's Note: This has been living in my drafts since last year, when I meant to post it for Bradley's 40th birthday. Realized what yesterday was, and decided to dust it off and write the second half of it. I love Etta James' 'A Sunday Kind of Love' and it felt like the perfect way to describe Bradley's partner taking care of him, a relationship that's relaxing and peaceful. But also, the parallel with Sunday being the last day of relaxation before the week hits and life gets busy again - like right before a deployment.

Anyways... I hope you enjoyed this!

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[that-weird-thing-in-the-woods]

~{Heyyyy, here you feral little gremlins go}~

•Camera•

•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

Tim is sick and tired of this.

Tim along with the rest of the Bats have been led to this random warehouse on the very edge of Gotham by the joker where they were ambushed by over 30 goons and they have been fighting for the past 15 minutes and it just seems like the goons keep on coming and with some more goons shooting at them from the rafters while the Joker laughs and makes jokes as he live streams the fight.

You can see why Tim is over this shit and as time looks over at the other bats who look just as done and are starting to slow down as more goons join the fight one after another, but luckily for the bats and Tim he had brought along his secret weapon.

Even if when he was leaving the cave on their way to the warehouse and he got the strong and violent urge to grab the old family camera and even as he huffed at it and put it in his utility belt and ran back to the bats he now knew why.

His uncle always was protective.

Tim grabs his camera from his belt and moves to take a picture of the Joker and from how the other bats look other at him like he’s gone insane before having their attention turned back to the goons and as soon as Tim gets a clean shot and the light flashes on the Joker and obviously the Joker was about to say something but he didn’t even get the chance.

As after a moment there’s a shriek that sounds like a demon from hell and the only thing that is seen is a being with long white hair and sharp black claws fly over to the joker before he was basically drop kicked into a Lazarus green portal that had shown up as quickly as the being did and as soon as the joker was gone the being turned its eyes to the goons and started to take down the goons until none were conscious enough to fight back.

That’s when the beings hair turns from a stark white to a very familiar black and the long clawed hands turn into sharp black nails and float over to Tim and start cooing and worrying over him asking if he’s ok and check him for injuries that makes Tim whine out “Uncleeeee” like a child

As the bats look at the scene in front of them in stunned silence before Jason yells out

“Tim what the FUCK-“

-•—••••••••••••••••—•-

•Background•

Danny was just cleaning his vessel that day.

He remembers when Jazz first gave him is camera, a long time ago when Jazz was going off to college she and Danny realized that Danny had stopped aging and even if they had done a good job keeping their parents and everybody else in town from noticing but they couldn’t hide the fact their son hadn’t aged from a 14 year old and they were bound to get caught.

So Jazz made up a plan she would take Danny with her and when their parents asked where Danny was (if they ever did) she would say that Danny was just visiting her but there was a problem how would they get pass the GIW or anything else that could sense ghost so Danny headed over to the Ghost Zone and asked Clockwork if he knew a way to help.

And that’s when Clockwork explained that if a ghost attaches themselves to an object it would be impossible for anyone to sense them unless the ghost wanted to be seen and Danny books it back to Jazz and tells her about it and as they wonder what Danny should attach himself to Jazz remembers something and grabs than old box from underneath her bed that holds a old camera that their grandfather had given to her on her 7 birthday.

Jazz said that Danny could use it as it was easy to move around and no one would even question if the camera had a ghost so Danny attaches himself to it and it’s a perfect fit! And the two of them are off to Gotham for college.

It had been a long time since then but before Danny could think back on it anymore he hears the now familiar pattering of his little photographer’s feet and Danny puts down his vestal and looks to the opening and smiles at the boy.

-•—••••••••••••••••—•-

•Little Facts•

•Danny is a little protective of his little photographer (Jazz is just protective of her descendants)

•Jazz is Tim great-great-great grandmother and Danny is he’s great X4 uncle but he just calls them his uncle and grandmother

•Jazz is off in the Ghost Zone beating the shit out of the Drakes for how they treated Tim 

•Danny and Grey (Jazz’s husband) get along pretty well sure Grey was a bit freaked out about the the ghost of his wife’s dead brother living in their attic but after a bit Grey got used to him

•Sometimes a ghost will attempt to attach themselves to something but it will be very uncomfortable and disorienting if it “Doesn’t Fit”

-•—••••••••••••••••—•-

•Appearances•

Danny

•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

~{And that’s it! Sorry if the background and story bit are a bit awkward I’m going on a trip tomorrow and just needed to get this off my mind lol but hope you gremlins like it byeeeee}~

[leafbowl]

Jason Todd can see Dead People.

Jason can see dead people. Finding that out was... weird, to put it simply. He didn't even notice at first that some people were more blurry around the edges than others, that some people had weird features because apparently, ghosts can just choose what they look like. But when he watched the soul of a child leave their body, there was no denying it. He could see the dead, touch their souls and hold them in his arms, as he'd done for Rhune over and over again and he would again and again because that kid meant everything to him.

Jason can see dead people because other dead people can see dead people. It was almost unheard of for someone to straight up die and then be brought back. Of course, as Jason grows to find out, he's not the only one of the bats to die, or just in general die, and then be brought back to life. But somehow, no one else can see what he can. No one else can see the people who can walk through walks and choose to have big wings or duel-wielding horns. Believe me, he tried to find someone who could see ghosts too. He assumed he was a fluke and the universe did it's best to fix the fluke, making sure no one else could see between the realms but what's done cannot be undone. Jason will always be able to see dead people.

The worst ones are a couple that hang around the manor and Crime Alley. They help the young kids. They're considered to be everyone's parents. Jason isn't surprised. Not really because just taking one look at those faces- He knew who they were. He knew who their son was. He knew- Fuck, what did he know? What did Jason Todd know about Martha and Thomas Wayne? Not much. Certainly not enough to warrant being their grandson. So he ignored them, like he did most ghosts. He ignored them and refused to acknowledge them.

They knew he could see them. They knew and they waited until he was ready. He was ready, eventually. He was ready one night when he was bleeding out in the back of some alley because he was too proud to call for help. He was too proud to call for Bruce, for Dick, for Roy. God, if Roy could see him now he would slap the shit out of him. Dick too, probably.

"Jay, you're getting fuzzy," Rhune whispered, ever immortalised as eight years old. They had their hands pressed into his side over where the blood was pouring from between Jason's now-slack fingers. They were trying to hold them together but the pressure they could give wasn't nearly enough to save Jason's life.

"I know," Jason whispered back, unable to speak louder. "I know, baby. I'm sorry."

"Nope." Rhune shook their head. They stood up. Their dragon-like wings flexed behind them agitatedly.

"Nuh uh." They turned, their weird fucking baggy ass pants swishing as they moved, their hands digging into the tank top they were wearing.

"What're you lookin' for?" Jason asked, needing to focus on something other than the slowing of his heart.

"Mom and Dad," Rhune said simply. "They'll help. I know they will. They're always willing to help you, following you around everywhere."

"Wha-" Jason didn't get to speak any more after that because there were footsteps coming down the alley. He was far too out of it to figure out who. He hoped it was Bruce. He wanted it to be Bruce- and wasn't that thought terrifying? He was dying and all he wanted was his dad.

It was not his dad. No. There were steady hands replacing his own and pressing down on his wound. Jason groaned at the pressure but someone's fingers wound into his hair, whispering soothing things to him as someone pressed the skin on either side of his wound together. He didn't know who, only did when he felt the pit's magic race through his veins, finally able to kick in due to the careful hands holding the wound together. His eyes shot open and he sat up, green receding from the corner of his vision. And there, knelt in front of him was Thomas Wayne, telling Rhune to go not squeeze him so tight. Jason didn't even notice they were holding on to him.

And that's how it started. After that, Martha and Thomas didn't pretend not to notice him. They often stopped by his apartment to see how he was doing and to make sure he was taking care of himself. He usually wasn't. They also pushed Jason in the direction of his family, back to Wayne Manor and to his dad.

Jason went, not wanting to ever feel that twisting in his stomach because he never did tell Tim he was sorry for trying to kill him. Twice. He apologised. Tim looked confused and kind of uncomfortable. Jason wondered if he knew the tips of his fingers kept brushing against the scar across his throat.

He told no one about seeing ghosts, never uttered a word to them in front of others or looked in their direction. Well. That's what he thought he was doing. Apparently he was doing quite the opposite because Dick decided to hold an intervention.

Jason blinked at the awkward, very wound up Richard Grayson sitting on his couch. Jason moved slowly to take off his boots and his jacket. "What're you doing here?" Jason asked.

Dick cleared his throat. "I'm... I need to talk to you about something."

Jason narrowed his eyes, fighting off the want to look towards Martha and Rhune who had decided to eavesdrop from his kitchen. Rhune was on his counter and he wanted to scold them for it. "Okay? What?"

Dick shuffled over and patted the spot next to him. Jason plonked himself down there. Dick took a deep breath. "I think... Jason, I think you're schizophrenic."

Jason blinked. Martha gave a quick snort while Rhune cackled, doubling over and clutching their stomach at the force of their laughter. "What?" Jason's eye twitched.

Dick put a hand on Jason's shoulder, which he side-eyed with distaste. "It's okay if you are, Little wing, I'm sure trying to look out for you and make sure you're safe."

"Dick, I'm not-"

"I see the way you keep glancing at the corner of rooms, the way you can't help but smile at the weirdest times- and the way you helped with that case a while back?"

Jason winced. He didn't want Bruce to bring it up. There was a boy who had been murdered by a bunch of predators after being raped by all of them. Jason had asked the boy for his help. He had agreed. They had got the guys. Dick wasn't supposed to ask Jason how he knew the things he shouldn't've.

"You knew everything about that kid, everything that happened to him. I know that isn't normal. I think you're internalising people's issues and projecting them into existence."

"That's the stupidest thing that's ever come out of your mouth," Jason deadpanned. He ran a hand down his face. "Look, Dick, I'm not schizophrenic."

"Yes, Jay, you are," Dick said eloquently.

Jason groaned. He slumped back on the couch. "No, I'm not. I can see dead people."

It was Dick's turn to stare. He blinked. "I'm sorry, what?"

Jason sighed. He pressed the tips of his fingers into his eyes. "Because I died, I can now see, touch and talk to dead people."

"But-" Dick's mind was running 40 miles a minute, faster than he could comprehend. "But I've died before and I can't-"

"No, you can't." Jason shook his head. "But you died after I did. I was never supposed to be able to communicate with the dead, but I can and I'm the only one and I need you to not freak out about this and tell me it's all in my head."

Jason closed his eyes. He heard Martha move, felt her grab his hand. "Because they can't be fake," Jason whispered, gripping Martha's fingers tightly. "I need them to be real, Dick. They're all I have left."

Dick shifted on the couch. And then he was hugging Jason. Dick was hugging him and Martha let go so Jason could hug his brother. "I believe you," Dick whispered into Jason's shoulder. Jason's fingers tightened on the back of Dick's jacket.

"I believe you, Jay. I always will, okay? I always will."

And that was that. Dick knew. Jason did his best to introduce him to Martha, Thomas and Rhune. Dick was a bit awkward and he didn't know where to look but he kept his eyes on Jason, watched his baby brother smile and laugh for the first time in a long time. He didn't fully believe it all but he knew more than anyone how fucked the world was and he wouldn't put it past someone to let this happen. Besides, Jason needed this and anything Jason needed, Dick would burn the whole world down to get it.

[nanenna]

The more I thought about this the more I liked it. I was also thinking about Jason/Danny (and Red Hood/Phantom) more so! Strap in!

So part of why everyone just accepted Phantom was a heretofore undiscovered evolution of LBM (which are pure ghost type, btw) was because only Professors give out pokedexes. No one has one! Oh, Sam's parents offered to get her one... if she accepts the Cleffa they got for her. Sam went with the boys to the Amity Park gym and got a LBM.

And then the trouble trio met Jason, who does have a pokedex (ooooh fancy pants rich McGee over here). So he tries to register their pokemon because that's the whole point, right? Except Phantom comes up as completely unknown, so he gets to write it in himself! Danny, of course, makes a bunch of nonsense up that Jason copies down faithfully and I feel bad for whatever professor has to read all that. (A lot of pokemon have descriptions that just don't make sense, written by ten year olds -_-)

This leads into how Danny is the Red of this AU. He knows nothing, doesn't really learn/study pokemon during the whole thing, catches a bunch of legendaries, gets all 8 badges and wins against the local Pokemon League. He has such anime protagonist energy. Poor Jason, on the other hand, got maybe 5 badges at most but due to getting blown up and nearly dying never finished his grand poke-adventure.

Which brings us back to the present because I was thinking about Danny and Jason meeting again. Danny never really wanted to go into being a trainer as a job when he grew up. He went on his adventure partly because it's just what kids his age do and partly because his besties really wanted to and he wanted to go with them. He did have fun, that's undeniable, but it's not his future. So after graduating high school he ends up in Gotham going to Gotham U on a Wayne scholarship. He remembers his friend Jason Todd who said he couldn't fight the Gotham gym leader because his family runs the gym and well... Danny misses his friend.

So Danny goes to the gym to watch the acrobatic show and also maybe ask about his old friend. Who's helping run the the place. Just because Jason can't be a trainer/one of the performers at the gym without a flying type pokemon doesn't mean he can't help with back end stuff. So they meet again, catch up, tell their stories.

Jason backstory time: he still got adopted into the Wayne family by Bruce. (For his own protection when with the Waynes in public he's Jason Wayne but when he was out on his adventure he was Jason Todd.) So for the Waynes it's expected that when you're young (<30) you help run the gym, be a trainer or a performer (before Dick it was just aerial shows by the pokemon, now the trainers are performing acrobatics with their birds, running obstacle courses, etc.), then when your energy starts flagging you move into helping run Wayne Enterprises (which technically is separate from the gym but since WE does so much charity work and helps fun the Pokemon League in general it's eh... kinda a gray area).

Since getting adopted Jason thought of that as his future, but after he failed to finish gathering badges, let alone challenge the League, he feels like that was the first in a long list of failures. His team didn't have any other flying types, why would he? He had his Robin, who was going to evolve into a Dark Knight just like his dad's (his dusk stone was stolen). Except that didn't happen and now his Robin is a Red Hood, and he lost his ability to fly. After everything they've been through Jason can't imagine leaving his best bud behind, so no being a trainer or performer at the gym. And as for the family business? Tim's the one who's actually good at it, and Damian keeps insisting he's going to take over some day.

Jason's just been... kind of drifting ever since coming home. Haunting his own life rather than living it.

Reconnecting with Danny helps. A bit is living through Danny vicariously a little, asking him about getting all his badges and challenging the League. Most of it is being the only friendly face in a new city for Danny. Danny keeps wanting to spend all his time with Jason: having him show him around, show Danny all his favorite spots, hang out with him, go out clubbing or mini golfing or to the movies. It wakes Jason up, gets him living in the moment instead of just drifting while grieving the plans he had for his life.

Then Danny suggests they go finish Jason's grand adventure anyway. Jason wouldn't be the first adult to do it, he won't be the last. Jason... genuinely considers it. He doesn't want to go alone, and Danny says of course he'll go with Jason. They talk about it and Jason realizes he doesn't want to go when all the little kids are going (during summer break) so Danny offers to take a gap year and they go after school starts back up so there's way less kids. Jason also realizes he doesn't want finish the Justria League, he wants to start over and do it right. Good thing Danny is taking a gap year. They can just go to the next region over, or they can travel far away, maybe Kalos or Galar.

So they go. They leave as friends and come back as boyfriends. UwU

When they get back is when the first egg appears. And it's like "who laid this????" Out pops a LBM. Danny knew it! Congrats Phantom, you're a mama! Or is it Phantasma's? (Ew, no! Phantasma is not the mama, no thanks!)

This leads to problems though, because there are more and more eggs. Will you 2 knock it off? What are Danny and Jason supposed to do with all these LBM running around?

They end up moving to Amity Park so they can donate Phantom's eggs to the gym. Danny wants to cry, why does all this pokemon stuff keep pulling him in? He wants to be an astronaut, not a pokemon trainer!

Except Jason's the one who already knows how to help run a gym, knows how to care for pokemon, and his companion is now a ghost type...

So Jason ends up working at the Amity Park gym (and eventually becomes the leader) while Danny commutes to the nearest college to finish his degree and live his dream.

DCxDP Pokemon-ish idea

Just a silly idea I've been kind of batting around while my hands are busy at work. Everyone is normal humans, their alter egos are their pokemon. So for instance: John Jones has a green Martian for his companion pokemon. The Kents give their children a Superboy or Supergirl for their first pokemon.

The Waynes traditionally give their child a Robin regardless of gender. Robin is the Eevee of this AU because there are several forms it can take. For instance: Dick's Robin evolved into a Nightwing and Tim's Robin evolved into a Red Robin. (This implies Bruce used to have a Robin that evolved into a Batman, which is of course what Damian is aiming for.)

Now obviously Danny's companion is Phantom. Not a Phantom, just Phantom. That's right, he's that kid that caught Zapdos thinking it was a Fearow. Danny comes home with his first pokemon showing it oof all "I caught ghost pokemon!" and showing off his brand shiny new legendary. He's ghost/ice type and knows all these cool moves! (I cannot be arsed to go find attacks that fit Phantom.)

Anyway! All that just to be backstory for this DeadonMain story idea: Phantom and Red Hood like each other, so it's up to them to get their trainers to hook up.

[justwannabecat]

Time Travel can cause many problems.

One of them, of course, is creating a paradox. If the future changes enough that the traveler never actually goes back in time, then there are several rips in reality.

That’s not the only problem that I’m presenting.

What happens when the traveler doesn’t know that it was them? When they think it’s an entirely separate entity?

What happens when Danny Fenton comes to his parents and says “I think I’m possessed by a ghost thousands of years old”?

[apatheticsunday]

Gotham TikTok

AKA "Danny moves to Gotham and records TikToks with absolutely deranged captions. He films Get Ready with Me in Gotham videos, fit checks, and even A Day in the Life of a Ghost in Gotham! Except everybody is freaking the fuck out in the comments" prompt idea!

No, you don't understand, I'm obsessed. Like, what if Danny's idea of "safe" is just... anything that doesn't actively try to kill him? So Metropolitians, Star City, and Central City citizens are literally biting their nails and sweating bullets every time he posts, because what if he gets merc'd by the "Eight Heads in a Duffel Bag" Red Hood?? And that's one of the nicer villains in Gotham. And Danny's just like wow, this place is niiiiiice, I haven't even been murdered yet!

Maybe Jazz took a 12-year-old Danny to Gotham to escape their parents. Gotham's cheap, dirty, and doesn't ask questions: it's the best place to go to disappear because damn near half the city's population are either super villains, hostages, dead, or vigilantes. She gets a job at an understaffed hospital as a clinical psych intern. She enrolls Danny for online schooling because she's scared a public high school would be too easy for their parents to track.

Which leaves Danny alone for hours. He makes a TikTok account called "Danny Phantom" because, c'mon, he's a kid. And, like most kids, he doesn't really comprehend the idea of a digital footprint or that his account is public, accessible by literally anybody.

He's also a little shit. So, the first TikTok he uploads is of a man getting carjacked, but the caption reads: love to see people helping each other. remember it's always okay to ask for help! it's okay, I don't know how to parallel park, either :)

And you just see this guy in a mask shove a businessman away from his car, gesturing with his gun, before getting into the driver's seat. Except the car is parallel parked so the carjacker just slowly inches back and forth between a Prius and a Honda until he can wedge himself out of the parking space. And then gets stuck in stand-still traffic. The TikTok goes viral. It's talked about on the Gotham news and Gothamites are losing their shit, pointing out the exact moment you can see the carjacker start to soundlessly cuss through the car's windshield or the way the businessman is just... standing on the side of the road, watching with a deadpan look.

Danny doesn't know about it being on the news, but he sees all the comments, likes, reposts, and feels something. He wonders if this is what Ember feels every time people listened to her music. So, he keeps posting. Usually, it's short three-second videos of a hilariously unexpected situation with an even more deranged caption. But then he's accidentally caught in the reflection of a store front while recording and doesn't know, posts it like he always does; only for this TikTok to go viral, too. Because "Danny Phantom" is a child??

He doesn't notice the shift in his comments, but the public opinion quickly changes from wow, Gothamites are just like that huh lol to what the FUCK, kid, get inside!!! anytime he posts.

Except Danny never gets hurt. Even in the most dangerous situations, when you'd think this kid is a goner for sure, he's just happily yapping in the background. He's so different from Gothamites because he lacks that dead-eyed, despair-inducing aura of someone who's lived in a hellmouth their whole lives. (A couple people post that Danny kind of reminds them of Golden Boy Brucie Wayne, all air-headed and unrealistically optimistic, and suddenly there's memes of "what happens when you've never gotten shot in Gotham" or "how i act when Commish Gordie accuses me of shoplifting again" with them side-by-side.)

And then Danny's posts go viral again and again. Danny doing a fit check with a blond-haired woman with a checkered outfit, she ruffles his hair and kisses him on the cheek. A picture of him wearing an old jean jacket with a bright red lipstick smear on his cheek is trending for weeks. Spoiler, fully suited up in an all-purple vigilante attire, and him shoving gas station hotdogs in their mouths. He even has videos of him clearly in Killer Croc's lair, with comments of are you in the sewers??? DANNY??? and he responds, no, i'm in mom & dad's basement :) (Waylon Jones is actually sitting behind him in one of the videos, intently watching a TV show on an iPad.)

Everybody adores Danny - Rogues, Gothamites, even the Bats. (There's at least six videos of Nightwing teaching Danny how to do backflips, handstands, and other acrobatic moves. Even the youngest Robin has been caught on camera quietly talking with Danny, a shocking lack of violence that left half the city's population suffering from cuteness aggression for the kids.)

So, yeah, Danny belongs to Gotham.

But the internet is widely accessible and Danny made it so, so easy to find him. Jazz obviously didn't know he was posting videos of himself publicly; she was too tired after back-to-back 12 hour shifts at the hospital that she hadn't even checked social media in months. Otherwise, she would've told him to be careful, to never show his face or post his real name on the internet. Then again, Jazz would never have expected all of Gotham (and Superman himself, totally endeared by the kid after Kon and Jon showed him a couple TikToks) would beat the absolute shit out of anybody going after Danny.

Imagine GIW's surprise when they track down Amity's former residential Ghost only to find an entire city frothing at the mouth to protect their Phantom.

[leafyeyes417]

Venting

The GIW had gotten on his last nerve. Danny wasn’t at all worried about them actually managing to catch a ghost they were just that bad. But when their pure incompetence managed to mildly injure 12 people and seriously injure another 5, with one in the ICU and no confirmation on them ever coming out of the coma, Danny felt his patience fraying.

After getting the cryptic okay from Clockwork, he enacted his plan to get rid of the jerks. Death by debt. As in, their funding wouldn’t be enough to keep them afloat and they would be disbanded. He started by getting Tucker to locate all their bases, and had Sam work on creating a sedative (using plant products, because she would kill him if he used chemicals).

Once the bases were located and gas canisters were prepared, he was off. All the agents were knocked out, removed from the building, and all weapons taken. After that was Tucker getting into their systems and taking all the data, then wiping it. Then was setting all paperwork on fire and destruction of the building completely.

Watching it crumble gave him so much satisfaction. He stuck around invisible to watch the agents wake up and have a meltdown about their clothing before even noticing the destroyed building. He only barely made it away before nearly dying of laughter.

Luckily this all happened during the summer, his parents had decided to go on a convention road trip, so he was free to leave the state and destroy more bases. He ended up in Gotham and was shocked the Agents had managed to even step foot in the place. It felt like the air itself would stain their white suits.

Shaking off the feeling and sending out a ‘I’m a guest here to remove some pests’ to Lady Gotham, Danny moved towards the base in what was a well oiled system by now. He had managed to knock all the agents out and was moving them outside when he heard a cough behind him. Turning he saw one of the Bats, Red Robin.

“What exactly are you doing?” RR asked with mild curiosity.

Danny glanced down at the agents then back up to RR. “Teenage venting through destruction of government property?”

They stared at each other silently for a minute before RR broke out in a grin. “Can I help?”

Danny smirked. “Sure! You go inside and bring the rest of them out. I’ll search them for weapons and stuff.”

RR was about to walk away to do as asked when he saw Danny taking off the shoes. “Are the shoes weapons too?”

Danny snickered. “Nah. They have this thing about getting their white suits dirty and it fills me with glee to make their white socks dirty too.”

Danny swore he could hear someone howling in laughter through RR’s coms.

[psuejo]

❥ boynextdoor!gojo and his adorable loser!neighbor :c

you never leave your house. like, ever.

the last time he saw you even step outside was two weeks ago on saturday at 1:02pm, and that was because you had to bring in the garbage can and mail since your parents were off on vacation.

how could you live like that? you just stay cramped up in your room, surrounded by anime posters and weird figures, hunched over some silly pc playing an even sillier game. it’s an absolute mess in there, too — empty cups and bottles everywhere, dishes that really need to go into the dishwasher, an ever-growing pile of unfolded clothes.

satoru can’t let you go on like this. the last time he snuck into your room for a little gift from your hamper, he’d nearly broken his neck. your room needs to be deemed a serious health hazard!

so, like any good neighbor would, the next time your parents leave to travel somewhere, satoru offers to stay at the house with you. y’know, for double protection. he wouldn’t want anything to happen to your parents’ precious baby girl!

you, of course, were not amused. c’mon, seriously? satoru gojo, the city’s it-boy, wanting to stay in your house that’s practically a shed in comparison to his massive mansion? it’s gotta be some cruel, twisted joke — an extra rusty knife shoved into the shitshow of your life.

but, no, unluckily for you. satoru is dead serious, and he pulls out all the stops to get your worrywart parents to agree: that bright, charming smile, a hefty compensation if anything goes awry, a voucher to some snobby golf club, and even an invitation to have dinner with his family.

what aspiring business person wouldn’t want to talk to the most influential clan in japan? they wouldn’t say no even if they wanted to.

it’s a win-win — they get to schmooze and network like the power-hungry vermin they are, and satoru gets to have you, his little cutie pie, to himself for a weekend, without any interruptions.

what could possibly go wrong?

you quickly realize that it is everything.

satoru is a pest. sure, you knew that already, but somehow his need to and the success rate of agitating you had skyrocketed in the past six months that you hadn’t seen him.

he’s always touching you — sitting too close on the couch, lanky arm slung along the back of it, his big hand ruffling your already messy hair whenever he walks past, or his feet brushing yours underneath the kitchen table.

and if that wasn’t bad enough, he never. stops. talking. it’s like when he was born, his genes forgot to put a switch to turn him off, because you swear he just goes on and on and on and on about nothing.

all you want is peace and quiet for a weekend. that’s it! your parents aren’t home to pester you about transferring to in-person classes at university or about finally applying for a job. alas, he’s here to spoil your damn plans.

your frustrations eventually reach a boiling point, and you relax the best way you know how: with that tiny pink vibrator.

you just didn’t expect satoru to walk in and offer to help.

which is precisely how you’re now in his lap, trembling legs spread as satoru pumps two long, slender fingers in and out of your needy cunt. they go way deeper than yours could ever hope to, curling and scissoring right against that sweet spot that has your back arching against his chest.

his other hand is clasped around your smaller one, making sure you keep your precious vibrator right on that puffy clit. if you wanted to get off so bad, all you had to do is ask!

but you didn’t, so he had to wait ‘til he heard those poorly stifled whimpers before casually strutting in for his forgotten phone.

oopsie.

“feels good, right?” he whispers, warm breath ghosting across the shell of your ear, and you don’t even need to see his face to know he’s smiling. bastard.

you nod your head, though, too far gone in the lusty haze to bother with being snarky. that delicate coil in your gut is so close to snapping, much closer than it usually is when you do this yourself. “mmf, yeah...”

and satoru knows it.

he moves your thumb to press the up setting twice on your toy, and his cock gives a happy twitch from its confines in his boxers when you squeal, hips bucking up into the vibrator and pushing his fingers deeper.

another oopsie.

one he doesn’t regret the second your moans get louder, gooey walls fluttering around his fingers as you grind up. “ohh, fuck, ‘m g’na cum, oh my god—!”

you’re so beautiful when you cum, eyes sliding back and squirt spraying the towel beneath you and satoru’s hand as you clamp down on his fingers, entire body shuddering and twitching.

he has to think about some long-winded chemistry formula to not cream his pants right then and there.

when you finally start to get your breath back, chest heaving and face flushed with what he’s sure is both arousal and embarrassment, that’s when satoru pulls his fingers free with a loud squelch.

“aww, she misses me already,” he coos, and you don’t even get a moment to be confused before he pops his fingers into his mouth, lapping up your essence like it’s his last supper.

it’s gross, hearing those wet slurping noises behind you, but your gut tightens anyway, and you ignore the small feeling of disappointment when he takes his fingers out of his mouth.

“don’t worry, baby.” with two big hands on your waist, he shifts you off his lap and lays you down on your back. “i’ll stuff ‘er full with something bigger, how about that?”

[livinghalfway]

Brothers, Aisle Six

Danny was having a terrible day, or more like a terrible week. His parents had discovered that he was Phantom, and had immediately attacked him. The only reason he had managed to get away through the portal was Jazz holding them back as she shouted at him to run.

Once in the ghost zone Clockwork was instantly by his side leading him to Far Frozen to help with his injuries. Once the worst of it was over Clockwork told him that to help keep him safe he was sending Danny far away from Amity; to Gotham. Whether he agreed or not didn't seem to matter as in a blink of an eye Danny finds himself standing in an alleyway with nothing more than what he already had.

The next few days were hard, and Danny was really trying not to let that get him down too much. So it only makes sense that the universe would take that as a challenge to do worse by raining.

When walking aimlessly in the grocery store to escape the rain he was absent mindlessly picking things up, reading them, and putting them down. That seemed to be a problem for some people though as in the next moment an older woman is grabbing his arm, and demanding him to put back what he was going to steal and asking where his parents are.

The woman doesn't even give him a chance to respond though before she is shouting at and pulling Danny towards an older teen (Tim) who is also standing in the aisle and now staring at them with wide eyes as they approach.

"You need to keep a better track of your little brother! I caught him trying to steal while you were over here looking at your phone!"

The older teen makes eye contact with those words. Now, Danny will admit that while this guy and him did look oddly a-like they weren't brothers, or at least he hoped that was the case. He would know if he was adopted right? Probably.

"Yes," Tim reaches out and pulls Danny out of the woman's grasp; tucking Danny into his side, "I'll make sure to do that thank you."

The woman obviously wants to continue talking, but before she can Tim is already walking away from her with Danny right next to him.

Danny is so thankful that Tim was willing to not correct the woman that he doesn't even notice when Tim plucks a couple hairs from him.

[theglamorousferal]

Teenaged Danny and Bruce meet somehow and become friends. (Summer camp? Boarding school? Training? Gala with Vlad? Can't be a TUE au because the clones need to exist for this particular fic.)

They lose contact when Bruce drops off the map to train to be Batman.

In the meantime, Danny has ascended to the Throne of the Infinite Realms and established himself as some sort of paranormal archeologist in the living world. (It's easiest way to declare treasure from the King's Coffers to the IRS.)

After Vlad got redeemed ( l like to think after he got over himself and realized he was in love with BOTH Maddie and Jack), he turned over all his research to Danny. This includes the fragmented cores of all the Danny clones.

After an issue where Danielle was destabilizing again, they found that if they introduced another person's DNA, that she would stabilize. Sam volunteers. So Danielle is stabilized with Sam's DNA, however it ages her down so now she's her actual age, 11 at this time. Danny is 26, and ends up adopting her, she chooses the name Ellie. Ellie ends up with some of Sam's attributes, like her eyes turning more purple and her hair being easier to tame.

After some researching, it's found that the clone's cores could reform themselves if they can absorb enough healthy ectoplasm and a stable human DNA donor.

When Dan breaks out and is shoved into a clone body, he asks Valerie to be his donor, as she was the last person he had respected. He ends up at three years younger than Danielle. He prefers the name Dante. His skin is darker than it was, and his hair gains a wave to it when in human form, it's still flames when in ghost form.

The first of the failed clones to reform about 5 years later got some of Tucker's DNA. A pair of twins that have heterochromia with one piercing blue and one ocean teal eye, on opposite sides of course. They go by Kelly and Sprite. (they were the bedsheet and pixie ghosts) Somehow the genetics introduced while they were still dormant resulted in them both being girls. They appeared as 9 year-olds.

The last one took the longest to reform and when he did, he reformed as 6 years old. Obsidian used some of Wes's DNA. He got Wes's green eyes and freckles.

Danny is able to work with each of his adopted but also genetic children to harness their powers and helps them re-form their ghost halves so they can choose how they present themselves to the world instead of being locked into their original forms.

Fast forward about 9 years and the Fenton family is attending a gala at a museum that Danny is lending pieces to in Gotham. He ends up running into Bruce who is there with his gaggle of children. They end up getting lost in their conversation and are going over the different things they've been doing since they last saw each other. They end up dancing together at least once, Danny beaming and a quiet smile on Bruce's face not normally seen when he's in his Brucie persona.

Somehow the children of both of them have all found each other and are observing their respective parents closely, noting that they haven't seen their father look so besotted in a long time.

Numbers are exchanged and group chats are made. They plan to Parent Trap their fathers together.

[milkymars]

Everything we know about Bill Cipher's past so far

His home was called Euclydia and it was entirely two dimensional. ("Flat minds in a flat world with flat dreams.")

Bill was unique among his people because he had a mutation that allowed him to see the third dimension. This can mean that either a) Euclideans don't have eyes and Bill is the only one who had one or b) if they did have eyes, he literally had a third eye.

Bill's parents were most likely named Scalene and Euclid. Entering either of their names into the computer gives the prompt LIFE FORM NOT FOUND. Bill is stated to only draw red and blue triangles in art therapy, so those were probably their appearances.

From the code JUSTFITIN, you get this colour-coded poem:

Rock a bye billy Please don’t you cry It’s not your fault You have that strange eye Stay safe with mommy You’ll never fall And we’ll always love you Sharp angles and all

Bill says that everyone in Euclydia loved him. However, it's more likely that he was feared because of his mutation and talk of a third dimension. Bill has said numerous times that love and fear are the same, and if you enter WELLWELLWELLBEING into the computer:

Bill's parents took him to a doctor to help suppress his vision of the third dimension. This has been discovered through the codes on the silly straw page:

Fussy eater, baby Billy / Wouldn't drink unless it's silly The doctor says three sips a day / Will make the visions go away Eye doctor of a different kind / Who wants to make his patient blind Twisted out of shape after the kill / The ghosts of his family are haunting him still

Bill is responsible for the Euclidean massacre. Reversed audio on the website says that "the sky is on fire", and when Bill talks about liberating his dimension, his eye shows a fiery landscape too. Though he claims to have liberated them both in Weirdmageddon and the transmission with Time Baby, he is regretful and misses home. If you type in EVENHISLIESARELIES, you get a transcript of one of his sessions in the theraprism.

And from the axolotl's poem in Curse of the Time Pirate's Treasure:

When he tells Ford about his home dimension, he says that it was destroyed by a monster. And when Ford says that he could seek out the monster and get revenge on it, Bill replies: "Sixer, it would eat you alive." Bill also says that if he tries to talk about the day Euclydia was destroyed, there's a loud buzzing in his ears and he blacks out for 30 seconds. Still, he tells others that he freed everyone and that they are grateful for it. Until he gets drunk and starts calling out for his mom, asking her where she went...

[quarterlifekitty]

How they’re getting you back

Aka what they’re like as exes that just can’t get over you.

cw: unhealthy relationships, manipulative behavior

Gaz is the guy your parents just won’t stop bringing up. Why’d you break up with him? He’s so kind, and so handsome, and he’s got a steady job— so what if he was a little jealous? He keeps hanging out with your family even after you break up. Like pull up to thanksgiving and he’s there because your mom invited him! And he’s betting you’ll give into the pressure soon and just take him back. They want grandkids, babe, why keep them waiting?

Soap loved forcing himself into your personal space when you were together, and that hasn’t stopped. He knows all of your usual haunts, and he’s using that knowledge to stay close. Your favorite coffee shop, your favorite pub, where you like to stop on your lunch break. It’s just such a big coincidence that you keep running into each other! Great minds, right, bonnie? Oh, he forgot you asked him to stop calling you that. How can he help it? You’re still just as pretty as you were when you were together. And weren’t those good times, hen? Why’d they have to end?

Ghost is leaving you scary fucking voicemails. Telling you that you’re never really gonna be rid of him, so you may as well just take him back, yeah? And yeah, you can hear the slick sound of him jerking his cock in the background, what about it? You know you’ll never get it as good as he gave it to you, birdie. Just answer the door next time he comes knocking, and he’ll remind you of how good you were together. And if you won’t be mature about this, he has his ways of getting in.

Price is this looming presence that you can’t shake. Flowers at your door, unsigned, but you know. Bills paid before you get the chance to pay them yourself. He was the perfect man when you broke it off— you said no contact, he complied. You moved out, he helped you box it all up and drove you to your new place without any complaints. You catch more flies with honey than vinegar. The truth was, he was calm when you told him it was over because he knew he just needed to put in the work, and things would be better than they were before.

König is perhaps handling it the worst. Like, this man is buying love spells off of Etsy witches to bring you back together. The gifts he sends are extravagant and pathetic. It might be a little more sweet and sad if he wasn’t huge and capable of killing you with his bare hands. It gets to the point where your friends feel badly— maybe you should just give him another chance?

Nikolai is, more than anyone else, completely sabotaging your efforts at finding someone new. Threatening any potential dates, bribing some, making others disappear. All with a knowing smile as he sits at a table on the other side of the restaurant, enjoying the nasty look you send his way when you’re stood up again. He wouldn’t keep doing this if you’d just go after a man who deserved you. A man who wasn’t so pathetically easy to drive off. But there’s only one man so crazy about you that nothing would get in his way when it comes to seeing you again, isn’t there? This could be easy if you’d come back. But he’s happy to keep playing games for as long as you like, malýshka.

[cherrynpink]

just "friends"

pairing: situationship!dokyeom x f!reader

genre: situationship to lovers, slight angst, smut (with a bit of plot) MDNI!

warnings: cursing, oc is a bit mean to him in the start but it's ok, soft dom!dk, jealous oc, fingering, oral (f. receiving), mentions of giving head, multiple orgasms, a bit of overstimulation, down bad dk, needy oc, praise, ass smacking, protected sex but oc doesn't want to use a condom initially, hair pulling, mentions of creampie (wrap it before u tap it), doggy style, mention of hair pulling, big dick!dk, he is literally too big, slight strength kink, he is an idiot, dirty talk, lmk if i missed anything!

w.c.: 4.2k

playlist: just "friends"

for more of my work, check out my masterlist!

Note: aaah this is the first fic i'm writing on here so pls bear with me. if u find any mistakes, pls lmk! this was loosely inspired from the situationship i was in last year, except mine didn't end well unlike oc's. hope u like it n pls give me wtv feedback u feel so that i get better at this! hehe anyways go on

also u can comment or message me if u wanna be added to my taglist!

dokyeomie:3 : are u mad at me???

Your phone buzzes. It's 2 a.m. and your phone buzzes. You know there is only one person whose texts you would receive this time at night. You didn’t want to ignore dokyeom, you really do like him after all. You’ve been in, what you would call- a situationship? You’re not very sure. You met him through you mutual friends during a trip you all went to together. It’s funny how during your first year you never noticed him in campus despite him being in the same year as you, but as soon as you returned from the trip, he was everywhere. It was like a dokyeom plague all around.

Initially, you weren’t interested in him beyond being friends but fuck- how can a guy be this sweet? And this nice? And this hot. You can’t blame a girl for wanting more. When he texted you first right after returning from the trip asking for the pictures you had taken, you knew this was your chance to lock it DOWN. Only a fool would miss a chance to let a guy like him pass by. After that it was nonstop texting. All day. 24/7. Point of no return.

You’d give him random updates of your day, he would call you when he went to Sephora with his sister and ask which lip gloss you wanted to feed your manic lip gloss obsession, he would send you pictures of cats he saw on campus and say “us”, coffee dates, study dates (even though you had different majors), teaching him to play DTI at 3 a.m. while you laughed at him dates, but not an official “date” yet. Not a label beyond “friends” yet.

You wondered how can two people do all this and still be called friends. This is not what friends do, right? Or is it? Fuck- this is ruining you. It didn’t help seeing him get coffee with some other girl from his class while she laughed like he was the funniest guy ever. And like he probably was. But she’s not allowed to laugh. Only you. He does NOT need to be this funny with some other girl when he hasn’t even labelled what you are yet.

Leading you to ghosting him for the past 2 days. And trust, it was truly torture. How do you suddenly stop talking to the person you’ve shared everything about you to for the past 3 months? Everything reminded you of him no matter where you went. This is the most down bad you’ve ever been for a MAN. Your prime man hater era would be ashamed.

dokyeomie:3 : im really worried, im coming over, okay? I’m almost there >.< bringing some ice cream too!!! i know ur not asleep yet so pls let’s just talk okay :)

You hear your bell ring and thank god for the fact your roommate was at her parents’ place this weekend- well, not like anything’s going to happen anyway, what would it matter. He didn’t even give you time to change as you open the door in your short pyjama set, and what do you see but crinkly eyed dokyeom with his heart smile which almost makes you want to forget the hell he’s put you through the past 3 months and just kiss him.

“Hi” he says, coming in and setting the ice cream on the table, “let’s eat now before it melts.”

“I don’t feel like eating right now.” You take the plastic bag from his hands and put it in the freezer.

He steps closer to you, and closer, and closer, until there doesn’t seem to be any distance between you and you feel your surroundings closing in, as he towers over you, his sandalwood musk encapsulating you making your heart race, your breath turning erratic and your cheeks a crimson shade like a blushing bride. It truly is so easy for him.

He tucks your hair behind your ear- “y/n what happened, are you mad at me? Whatever it is you can tell me. Just please, talk to me.”

“I was just busy, it’s really nothing. Anyway, you had that girl from your class to keep you from getting bored.”

“Is that what this is about? I got assigned a project with her so we grabbed coffee to discuss how to go about it, it wasn’t anything more I swear.”

“That’s not it.” You turn your face away and head to the couch. Talking about what you feel has always been harder for you, which is why you’ve never had any proper relationships- only casual no strings attached arrangements or situationships.

“What is it then? Please y/n, you can’t just go radio silent for two days. I was so worried about you, talk to me, okay?” he says as he sits beside you on the couch.

“You never asked me out.” You blurt it out so fast its barely comprehensible to him.

“What?”

“You never asked me out. You flirt with me all the time, we text literally all day, and when we don’t its because we’re together at the coffee shop or the library or whatever. My friends call me an idiot, that you’re just toying with me, until you’re bored with me. You’ve never even defined what we are yet, because we sure as hell aren’t friends. Friends don’t act like this- right dokyeomie?”

You looked up to him, doe eyed on the brink of tears as you felt a lump in your throat, a heaviness on your shoulders. He felt horrible.

How was he supposed to know you liked him? He just thought you were being really friendly with him- just like you would be with anyone else, right? Here he was thinking he was the idiot being so hopelessly obsessed with you. He was literally so down bad for you it was kind of pathetic. Once when you had just started talking to him you mentioned you liked glasses, low and behold, he wore glasses every time you saw him. You can’t find the lip gloss you want anywhere? He’s dragging his poor sister with him to every makeup store in the city, trying to find that goddamn lip gloss that seems to be sold out everywhere. And now he feels like shit for making you think that he would just lead you on and leave you when he’s tired of you or something. Fuck. He’s messed up BIG time. And he does the only thing he can think of to make it up to you, FAST.

He leans into you, one hand gripping your jaw while the other brushes against your waist, his face so close you can feel his breathe as your eyes flicker down to his lips as he wets them. Your breath hitches and he can practically hear his heart racing the speed of a bullet train. And just like that, the next thing you know, his lips are against yours engulfing you in a whirlwind of a kiss. Your hand reaches for his chest as he holds you. He kisses you softly yet so messy and passionate it sweeps you off your feet. As you deepen your kiss, he slips his tongue in and a soft whimper leaves your throat. Impatient to gain control he pushes against you in an attempt for dominance and his quick shift in demeanor has you flooding in your pajama shorts. Good thing you sleep without your panties on. 

As your make out session continues to grow more aggressive, you feel him manhandle you over his lap onto his hardening length. Fuck. He feels big, you think as your hips give an experimental grind. He seems impatient as you make out, like he’s trying to make up for the lost time as he tightens his grip on your waist to get you closer to him, and you’re no different- tugging at the collar of his shirt so desperate to be with him.

“I really like you” he whispers between soft open-mouthed kisses. “I really like you I just wasn’t sure you felt the same about me, I’m sorry for making you wait so long baby, let me make it up to you?”

Oh. Your pussy likes the sound of that. It comes out of his mouth in a whisper, as he tries to catch his breath because you might not see it, but he is doing gymnastics to keep up with you and you’re driving him absolutely crazy. Its actually a little unbelievable for him to be making out with the girl he’s been in love with for the past year. He can feel a wet spot forming on his jeans as you leak onto him through your shorts.

“So needy baby, can feel you getting wet just from kissing a bit. You want it that bad?” he chuckles. God, you must look desperate to him but you need him right now because his hands gripping your thighs and yours in his hair drive you insane.

“You made me wait so so long kyeomie, need you, please. Need you to fuck me.” It leaves your throat like a whine making him twitch under you. You don’t care how desperate your pleas sound, because truth be told its all you’ve been picturing for the past 3 months. His hand makes its way to your tits as he cups them from over your thin top. From where he's sitting, you look pathetic and so pliant under his gaze, even though you’re sitting on him. If he knew you were this into him, he would’ve done this much sooner.

“Fuck, don’t worry baby I’ll take good care of you. Lift your arms for me.” He says as he takes off your top and god, he can’t take his eyes off your tits sitting right in front of him. He kisses down your neck and you just smell so fucking good he doesn't want to stop. He recognizes the scent, that vanilla bakery cupcake scent that always lingers on him after you hang out with him, the one he's just so obsessed with. He takes your hardened nipple into his mouth as his hand plays with the other. You moan softly as dokyeom focuses all his attention on your chest. Nibbling and biting and licking, as you keep grinding your hips on him, feeling him getting harder.

“So pretty baby, so pretty just for me.”

“I- I need- need you dokyeom, please? Please I’ll do whatever- whatever you want. Wanna suck you off. Make you feel good. Can I?” you say as you get down on your knees. And oh, it is a sight for him. Something in your eyes changes, he sees them full of lust and desperation, so drunk. This was new for him. Before this, you would always be so shy around him, or anyone for that matter. Never laughing fully at the suggestive jokes your friends made when you all hung out together, just giving a coy smile. Even when you and dokyeom talked, you never reacted to his advances, innocent or suggestive, never reacted to the innuendoes he made, just avoiding eye contact with him. But this new you, he liked her for sure. He would’ve teased you more, but fuck, some other time.

You unbutton his jeans as your hands flutter impatiently and fumble with his zipper, because you quite literally cannot wait a second more.

“Slow down y/n, wait.”

He groans as he lifts his hips to let you lower his jeans. He’s already half hard in his boxers and oh. You have no idea how he’s ever going to fit inside you. You mouth at his boxers and lick at him through them. But he knows, if he lets you do this, he'll come in your mouth in an instant, and he is but a gentleman, and would rather die than to not make you cum first.

“Y/n as much as I would love that, I’ll cum in my pants if you do that, and I’m not gonna let that happen.” He says as he tugs you by your hair to get you up. You pout at him, disappointed he won’t let his dick in your mouth.

“Don’t make that face princess, you can do it next time.” he says as he lifts you in his arms. You gasp as he begins to carry you to your room and throws you on your bed as you rebound on it.

“You like that? Like it when I pick you up and throw you around. I see you staring at my arms all the time baby, don’t think you’re subtle.”

He kisses you again as he pins your hands over your head as makes his way down your body, marking you as he goes along. He reaches you thighs and begins to kiss them softly as he drags his tongue to your tiny shorts and begins to pull them down. And imagine his surprise as he comes face to face with your glistening pretty pussy. He sucks his breath in as he seems to be stuck in a trance.

You’re obsessed with the way his eyes follow your cunt. He looks like a child seeing candy for the first time, and you’re totally here for it. His big hands hold your thighs apart as he lays down between them and looks at your pussy like it has the moon and stars hung in it for him.

“No panties y/n? Fuck didn’t know you were a slut baby, you always act so shy and naïve in front of me, no?” he says as his fingers run against your slit experimentally, circling your entrance teasingly, taking you by surprise causing you to let out a desperate moan.

“I’m- I’m not!” you whine but you sound like even you don’t believe your own words. He’s right after all, isn’t he? You are a slut for him. Why would you be ashamed of it.

“You’re not? Then why are you dripping over all your sheets y/n. Haven’t even done anything yet and you’re trying to hump the air. If you needed me that bad could’ve just asked. Would’ve given you everything. But you wanted to give me the silent treatment. So, I’ll have to punish you baby.”

He smirks as one hand tweaks your nipple while the other dips inside you barely before he pulls it out in an instant. He traces soft patterns on your inner thighs, but every time you buck your hips up, he just moves his hand further away from your center.

“Please kyeomie, touch me.”

“I’m already touching you y/n. You need to be more specific.”

This is torture. You’re literally about to cry.

“In- in me. Your hand- your finger, need it in me.” you say with your face in your hand red with embarrassment.

“No please this time? Where are your manners?”

“Please dokyeom, need your fingers in me!"

Finally, he puts you out of your misery. The finger that was teasing you enters you in one instant. And oh. You are so tight. You feel so full, and its just one finger yet. You don’t know how you’re going to take him in.

“Gripping me like crazy y/n fuck, so fucking tight.”

He slowly moves his hand in and out, curling it and watching it squeeze him, barely fitting him in you. You grip the sheets tightly as he curls his finger and hits your g-spot right where you need it.

“You can barely fit one baby, how are you going to take my cock? Maybe I should just eat you out and make you cum on your fingers and leave it at that.” he says mocking you.

He knows he’s being really cruel, but only because you can take it. Also, you did make him wait so long too, so he deserves to have fun with it.

“No! No, I can take it I- I- promise!”

He chuckles and inserts another finger in, increasing the pace until you’re left gasping for air, a moaning mess. He feels your body tensing up, and leans down to kiss your thighs and whilst driving his fingers in you, making you moan his name over and over again like a prayer. Finally, he presses his thumb against your clit, and makes 8 figures over and over again, agonizing you as the pit in your stomach grows bigger every time you feel his fingers hit your spot.

Suddenly he takes his finger out, making you whine at the loss of contact and your eyes fill with tears because you were just so, so close.

He dives in between your legs licking a long strip up your entrance, the moan you let out is music to his ears, and the way you taste is better than anything he’s ever had. His tongue enters you as he pushes it in and out, and oh the way his nose keeps hitting your clit repeatedly with each motion has you seeing stars. You entangle your hand into his hair pushing yourself into his mouth as he moans.

He makes out with your cunt like a man starved as you feel yourself getting closer and closer. And at this point you have no idea about the words coming out of your mouth, a combination of broken moans and desperate pleas. Your legs are trembling as his big hands hold them apart, tightening his grip on them like he’s chasing his own high because you keep trying to close them with every brush of his nose against your clit.

“Please dokyeom, please I- I’m gonna- oh my god, I need to cum!”

“Yeah? Can feel you clenching baby. It’s okay, you’ve been so good, you can cum.”

And that’s all it takes. You feel the pressure in your stomach building up and the knot finally snaps as he hums against you and you break with a loud cry, your back arching and your hands pulling his hair. A euphoric feeling takes over your body as your legs going numb, and your mind in a hazy state with your eyes going dark, your back covered in sweat and your face so hot. There is only pleasure running throughout you but dokyeom doesn’t stop even as your cum covers his mouth dragging his tongue against your core as you come down from your high, until you’re gasping his name like it’s the only thing you remember.

When he looks up, it’s a sight to see; hair all messy, lips glossy, chin dripping with you and a hunger in his eyes like you’ve never seen before. He comes up and captures you in a kiss so deep you taste yourself on him. You never thought a someone eating you out would be this hot, but dokyeom has a way to keep you guessing.

“You’ve made such a mess baby, and you say you’re not a slut. What will I do with you hmm?”

There is something so demeaning about you being completely bare and vulnerable, withering under him, while he stays clothed. It’s like a fucking power trip for him, makes him feel fully in control of you, and oh does that make him so hard. Now that he’s gotten a taste, he doesn’t think he can stop.

“Take off- take- take it off” you say tugging on the collar of his shirt. Even you have no idea what incomprehensible nonsense is coming out of your mouth at this point, you’re just so drunk on him. He sits up taking off shirt and pants and you keep yourself from moaning out loud when you look at him. He looks so big. Not just beneath his boxers but him entirely, he looks so big. He notices your eyes travelling from his chest to his arms, trying to take it all in at once as if you would never have this chance again.

He finally takes off his boxers and you think you’re in love. His dick looks so pretty, his tip a slightly dark shade of pink curved a bit and veiny, you just don’t know how to explain it. He spits on his hand and pumps it in his hand and now that he’s fully hard, you have no idea how he’s going to fit in you.

“Like what you see baby? But your pussy is so tiny, how’s is going to fit?” he says as he brings his hands to your sides, running his hands all over your body. He pouts but you know he’s talking shit to tease you.

You reach up desperate for a kiss but he just kisses your cheek instead, “please, I need you to fuck me so bad kyeom, I can take it! I promise, just give it to me.”

He chuckles darkly, and this is so embarrassing for you but fuck it, who cares. “You beg so well baby, makes me wanna give you everything you ask for.”

He grabs your waist and turns you on your stomach in an instant, raising your hips to meet his, and smacks your ass hard, making you almost jump in surprise. Him manoeuvring you into being on your arms and knees was honestly such a turn on, but you know if you let him know that, you’ll let go of the tiny piece of dignity that you hopefully have left, so you settle for pushing your ass back into him making him groan.

“Condom baby?”

“In my drawer but no! no condom just, want to feel you.” you beg.

Fuck. You’re going to be the death of him. You were going to let him hit raw? Now he truly regrets not doing this earlier, but you’re not thinking clearly and he can’t take the risk no matter how much you make him want to.

“Sorry princess, but we can’t take the risk, some other time, okay?”

You groan, you hate him actually. Who gives us the opportunity to get in raw, you think to yourself as you hand him the condom.

You hear him slide it on and pump himself, “you’re so wet y/n, I might just slide in.” he says as he taps his dick on your clit making you moan. He runs his tip up and down your slit collecting your wetness, and pushes it in just so he's barely stretching you.

“I’ll take it slow okay, I promise.” He says as he grabs you by your hair and pulls you near him to kiss you on your cheek. His hands find home on your hips as he grabs them tightly, pushing himself in one inch at a time, easing you on, making you almost scream. As he bottoms out, he lets out a moan and so do you, feeling so full of him, because oh my god the stretch is like you've never felt before.

“So warm baby, so soft, cunt gripping me so good it doesn’t want me to leave I think.”

“Fuck dokyeom feel so full, I love it, please move.” You say as you beg him for the hundredth time for the night. And apparently that was all he needed to hear as he begins to drill into you sliding in and out mercilessly, slapping your ass every now and then. He fills you so good because its such a tight fit, and god does he love it. You are now left a mess under him, no thoughts in your head, just a chant leaving your mouth as you scream his name over and over.

“It’s that good baby? Or are you just too cockdrunk to think? Fuck, pussy so good it’s gonna milk the fuck outta me.” He moans as he tries to keep up with the unbelievable pace he’s set. His hand moves down your stomach as he toys with your clit from behind, making you see stars.

“You look so good like this y/n, all spread out for me. Makes me want to remember this forever, you’re gonna let me record this ass next time baby?”

All you can do is nod since you have no energy left in you to respond to him.

“Such a pillow princess, can’t even answer a simple question, need me to do all the work for you, hmm? It’s okay though, you don’t have to do anything, just sit pretty for me and I’ll take care of you.”

His grip on your ass tightens and his hand’s movement at your clit fastens as you feel him approaching his high, his strokes getting deeper yet sloppier and you wish he wasn’t wearing a condom so that he could fill you to the brim. At this point he too, like you- was an incoherent mess, because your pussy just feels like heaven to him, and he doesn’t think he can hold out any longer.

“Fuck! I’m so close dokyeom! I- i- fuck right there! Right there! Wanna cum so bad, can I- can I cum? Please, oh!” you scream with all the strength you have left.

“Ah, me too baby, fuck good girl, always such a good girl, asking for permission. You can cum princess, cum for me.”

And that’s all it takes for you to crash into the bed with a loud moan as your arms give out, your pussy clenching around him as he fills the condom. Your chest heaving and a buzzing sound in your ear, you have no idea of your surroundings as dokyeom continues to twitch inside you, finally taking his dick out after what feels like eternity. You whine at the feeling of emptiness, feeling yourself gape due to the lack of him as he crashes besides you out of breath. You turn your face to him as he softly kisses your forehead and wraps his arms around you.

After you both clean up, you lay on your new clean sheets wrapped around him as he caresses your hair.

“I’m sorry I was an idiot for not making it clear I like you sooner, I’ll take you out on a proper date later this week, okay?”

“mhm okay, but just so you know kyeomie, I don’t put out on first dates.”

[on-the-clear-blue]

Danny, staring up at Tim, who currently Robin: okay...so this isn't what it looks like.

Tim, giving dead pan glare: so you arnt breaking into Drake Manor?

Danny, shoulders dropping: okay yeah it's totally what it looks like...but not because you think!

Tim, sighing slightly: so you arnt homeless and thought that since Timothy Drake was recently adopted by Bruce Wanye, and both of his parents are dead you can just move in and live here?

Danny, blinking owlishly: I mean, yeah? I mean, not homeless, and I didn't even know that dude got adopted, like good for him, hope that he is safe and shiz, sucks that he parents died and all but not here to squat dude.

Tim, raising a single eyebrow: then why pray tell are you here?

Danny, kicking at the ground a bit: so like...ugh, so I might be um like...a...fudge what's the word...ah! Psychopomp? Like I am a dude that helps like people's ghosts pass and like keeps em happy.

Tim, squinting behind his mask: the only person that died here is Jack Drake and I assure you, his soul would not be happy going to where he deserves to be.

Danny, holding up his hands: wow lot of misplaced aggression there boy wonder...no I ain't here for him, like him and his wife did like...so much tomb raiding they would make the Victorians jelly. I am here cus they stole some dudes shit and he wants it back...like yesterday.

Tim, tilting his head: so you are here to steal an artifact.

Danny, popping the P sound: Yup, something about some guys clay tablet, he liked keeping his hate mail for some reason, said this one was about how he shorted some dudes iron? Or was it copper... my Mesopotamian isn't the best.

Tim, eyes widening, because he knows *exactly* which tablet he is talking about: Oh...yeah no bro, you seem chill but I really can't let you have that so why don't you just like...walk away and I won't be forced to do something kay?

Danny, frowning: Sames dude, up until that .y guy cus like...I *really* wasn't asking...

Tim, sighing as he extends his bo staff: Try and just like, not hold a grude yeah? Don't need a new villain...

Danny, pulling out an ecto gun and turning it on: I don't know man...I feel like we have good banter.

(They fight, Tim is still training so he is a bit sloppy, and Danny isn't shooting to kill, so it's more of them playing cat and mouse throughout Drake Manor, it ends with Danny stealing the tablet but having to leave the ecto gun, which gets broken when he escapes)

Tim, panting as he watches Danny flee: Fuck...is this what B feels after fighting Catwoman?

---

Bruce, rubbing his temples as Tim explains why he was late for training: You tried to apprehend an unknown, with a weapon of an unknown source and power...in the home of your secret identity?

Tim, looking properly chastised: God...yes that happened...he wasn't that bad honestly...was pretty witty.

Bruce developing a twitch in his eye: No.

Tim: No? No what.

Bruce, glaring hard at his adopted son: No falling in love with a villain.

Tim, looking scandalized now: Oh? What is this? Hypocrisy thy name is Bruce Wayne!

Bruce's glare turns into a batglare: Ten laps around the cave and fifty bo staff katas...no villains!

---

Danny becomes Tim's rogue, but not really, most of their battles are more each other showing off their new gear/moves they learned.

Danny also is only using tech that his parents made and he upgraded since he really doesn't want to go ghost in front of *Robin*, who is totally not his crush, and the only reason why he won't is because batman would 100% be on his ass.

Danny, pulling a massive creep stick with a nail driven through it out of seemingly nowhere: The new and approved Creep Stick! This time with nail to add tetnus damage!

Tim, watching as 'The Inventor' escapes once more: I hate seeing him leave but by God do I love watching him go...Damn should have turned on the camera just so I can see it again.

Barbara chiming in: Keep the main line PG Robin.

Batman, through coms: Hn...we shall be having words when we get back to the cave

Tim, sipping a soup that The Occultist made: "So like...why were you even here?

---

When the Titans tower incident occurs, Tim could only watch in awe as the Inventor, not only comes in from the ceiling with a literal metal chair, and then continues to beat up the guy with a bad Robin cosplay.

Danny, panting as he holds up the chair again: Back I say! Back! My blorbo!

Jason, seething as he actually hisses at this random teen that appeared out of nowhere, scurrying away while cradling his broken arm: You shall rue the day! Jason Todd was here bitches!

Tim, staring up at Danny, face a bloody mess and an adoring look in his eyes: omg he stalks me, this is must what the other guys felt when I did it!

They don't really start dating, it's much more Danny breaking into Tim's house and just not leaving.

Tim, watching as his "arch enemy" is sprawled across his couch, bucket of ice cream in one hand, spoon in another, phone balanced between his ear and shoulder, pants and socks tossed haphazardly across the living room and just chilling in his boxers: Now wait a damn minute.

Danny, pausing while looking up from his ice cream (which is actually Tim's, since the boy is rich and buys the good shit), pointing his spoon accusatorily at Tim: Your fucking late Mister! Drag race started half an hour ago and we agreed to watch it together!

Tim, blushing under the Robin mask: Sorry case got good and- wait wait wait, when did we agree to watch drag race together?

Danny, rolling his eyes: when I made breakfast this morning? I even gave you extra strong coffee for your solem swearing that you would be here.

Tim, thinking back to earlier: I just...remember a bright white orb giving me a mug and a plate of food...

Danny, scoffing: this is why I need to drug you to get to sleep more often. Now take off your gear and get over here, they about to choose who shall sashay away!

Tim, nodding slowly: Hope it is that one queen from last episode, that lio sink didn't have any- wait! Ugh you keep distracting me! When did you fucking move in? I don't even know your name!

Danny with a spoon just an inch away from his mouth: Jazz? Yeah I uhh...I gotta call you back...(clicks hang up on his phone) Your joking right? For the shits and gigs?

Tim, shaking his head slowly: No shits, not a single gig my dude, 100% honest.

Danny, who had just arrived this morning since his parents are renovating because Fenton HQ is a glaring OSHA violation, but also who's middle names are "commit to the bit" and "Gaslight GateKeep Girl boss" : Babe we have been dating for like, *months*...d-do ou really not remember?

Tim, existential crisis made manifest: Oh no...I have been mind wiped.

Danny, astounded that worked: Baby I am so sorry...

They "date" for like a week before Danny starts feeling bad that he tricked Tim (who he finally got to see maskless, he had to stop his heart to not show any outward reaction to that, cus like hell he is cute) and wants to come clean but he honestly never had seen Tim more happy nor more healthy.

Danny, sitting across Bruce at the Manor: S-So um...like yeah we um...met at a science convention? My um...my parents were show casing stuff and like...we met there?

Bruce, eyes narrowing because that sounded like a lie: Hn.

Dick, happy that Tim finally felt comfortable to bring his "boyfriend" to dinner: B stop glaring! Your going to scare off Timmy's Bf! God you weren't this bad when I brought over Roy that one time.

Bruce doesn't stop glaring, and it's making Danny even more nervous: Um I uh...need to use the bathroom one sec...

Tim moves to guide him but Alfred waves him to sit down: You really must eat Master Timothy, I did make your favorite today. I shall guide Mister Fenton to the lavatory.

Alfred does indeed lead Danny from the dining room, but the second they are far enough the old butler suddenly has a shotgun in hand, skin suddenly a pale blue and objects around the parlor turning green and floating: While they do try and see the best in others, I do not Phantom, now I must ask you to kindly leave and never contact Master Timothy every again. I shall not let my charge fall for such as the likes of you.

Danny blinking at how he was addressed, a sudden ghostly blue mist escaping his mouth: Oh shit.

They have a ghost fight, all while comically popping in and out of the dining room, making excuses for whyvthe other is gone.

It ends when Tim, finally fed up with why his boyfriend is taking so long opens the door only to see him duking it out with Alfred, fully gone ghost and was loosing.

Such leads to confessions of lies, real feeling and why Alfred has been able to be a spry 60 even though he fought in WWI and it is very much the mid 2010s.

(Danny and Tim do end up together, this time with no lies about a mind wipe, and get Kon and Bart to join their polycule later on)

[pomefioredove]

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ Love 101

my week-late valentine's post

summary: third years ask first years for love advice. the first years suck at giving it type of post: blurbs characters: cater, trey, leona, rook, vil, idia, lilia, malleus, rollo additional info: romantic, reader is gender neutral, reader is yuu

I. Cater and Deuce

Cater has always loved the thrill of the chase (or, really, the thrill of stalking your magicam at 2am) and he would have been content with keeping his digital distance if he didn't see you in Vil's last post. Suddenly anxious that he's fumbling, he does what he does best: info. And who would have better info than your best friend? "Uhhh, I dunno," Deuce says. "If you really like someone, then you should be honest with them- that's what my mom used to tell me, at least. Or did I read that somewhere? Uh, never mind. I'm sure the Prefect will understand! Just- you better treat them right, or else!" Be honest? When has honesty ever helped Cater? It'd take two more nights of crushing anxiety for him to send a risky text, spilling all of his feelings for you in a Magicam DM and then handing his phone over to a very confused (but pleased?) Riddle, so he won't check his notifs for your username every twelve seconds...

II. Trey and Ace

Trust me, he was not Trey's go-to. Okay, sure, Ace is your best friend. Sure, he knows everything about you, from your favorite desserts to your grades, and sure, you've probably told him everything about your dream man, but... It's Ace. And unlike darling, doe-eyed Deuce, if someone asked too much about you, Ace would get suspicious and go right into protective best friend mode. So, Trey keeps it vague. "Eh? You're asking me for dating advice?" Ace grins. "About time! I knew you were smart. What you're gonna do is give 'em a little, not too much. Maybe ghost 'em for a week or two, so they'll really miss you when you finally text back!" ...Yeah. Maybe Trey should just stick to desserts.

III. Leona and Jack

Listen, okay, Leona didn't want to ask him, either. But Ruggie had nothing, your other frosh friends couldn't flirt their way out of a paper bag, and Grim refused to give Leona the goods without tuna payments (and he's spoiled enough as it is). Of course, the moment Leona even implied he was thinking of you, Jack jumped. "You have to be direct and honest! This could be your life partner, you have to put your all in!" Right, sure. Why does he even bother with these kids?? You'd be turned off if Leona started spilling his guts like that. He would've given up then and there... but then Jack insisted he come to "support his upperclassman", as if it were a fight rather than a flirtation. Leona cursed the Seven, the stars, and every single student on campus as he stumbled his way through asking you out. "Not that you would, or that I care, but I-" he looks over his shoulder, and Jack is still there, arms crossed like an impatient parent. Leona grumbles. "If you want to..." "He wants to please you, Prefect!" Jack barks. "DON'T SAY IT LIKE THAT!"

IV. Vil, Rook, and Epel

It wasn't like Vil sought out Epel for the sole purpose of you, the freshman simply... happened to be in the room while Vil was thinking about it! Out loud! With Rook! In a... slightly argumentative manner! "Epel, settle something for us, would you?" "Oui, you see, I say the way to win the Prefect's favor is by anticipating their every thought!" "And I say that's insane. You know them best, so, tell us, what do they like?" The poor boy looks between them like he's being held at gunpoint. How should he have known?? It's not like you guys spent your time gabbing about boys! "APPLES!" he blurts out. "The Prefect loves apples!! My grandma always said the quickest way to a person's heart is through their stomach!" Rook giggles and Vil mumbles something about Epel's peanut-sized brain. ...Nonetheless, you wake up to crates full of apples at your door the next morning.

V. Idia and Ortho

beeeeeep... beeep... bing! Idia swivels around in his chair at the sound of the printer. Crap, did he accidentally hit print page again? What a waste of ink- that stuff's not cheap, you know! But it's just... Ortho. "Here ya go, big bro! I thought you might need this!" Idia cautiously takes the warm paper, entitled Romance Intel 101. "Uh... Ortho. Why are you giving me this? You know I max out the romance stats in all my games EZ," Ortho giggles. "It's not for a game, it's for the Prefect! Based on the data I've gathered, your heart rate accelerates by 1.2 seconds, and your pupils dilate by 40% when thinking of, or speaking to the Prefect!" Idia turns pink and crumples, as if he were the paper (the first line of which, BTW, reading "step one- make eye contact!") This is going to be a looooong school year...

VI. Lilia and Grim

You probably should've been suspicious when Lilia popped into Ramshackle and offered to babysit Grim for an afternoon, but you weren't- not with assignments due, at least. You said your goodbyes, and as soon as you were out the splintered door, Lilia spun on his heels. Short as he is, he towers over the little direbeast. "Hm, seems like we have time to spare. How about a casual conversation? Yes? Good! So, how do the youngsters these days go about showing their affections? I would like to make my feelings for a certain someone known, but I'm terribly out of practice." Grim thinks for a moment, and then: "Tuna. Looots of tuna. Heaps of it! It's all the rage!" Lilia nods sagely. "Ah, yes, I understand completely. There was a rotisserie chicken fad a few centuries ago... er, so I've read. Isn't love wonderful!" You come home from the library to an unconscious, drooling, but very happy Grim, and Lilia sitting atop a mountain of empty tuna cans and beaming. "Darling! You're back!"

VII. Malleus and Sebek

It had always been Sebek's honor and duty to serve the heir prince of Briar Valley, whether in war or in love. When Malleus wistfully said he wished to know you better, Sebek saw to it. That is, he spent the entire weekend shadowing you. And not subtly- he was never more than a few steps behind, pen and paper in hand. When you asked what in the world he was doing, he- "OBSERVING! NOW, QUIET! BEHAVE AS USUAL!" "You don't have to shout, you're right behind me. And observing what, Sebek?" "NONE OF YOUR CONCERN! ACT AS IF I AM NOT HERE!" At the end of the weekend, Sebek returned to Malleus' throne with a report that titled you "inquisitive, dense, and apparently hard-of-hearing."

VIII. Rollo and You

Your friends had seemed wary when Rollo asked you on a walk with him, though he promised he wouldn't take you too far from their clutches care. You had been in Fleur City for days and he didn't know a single thing about you, other than that you were magicless and pitiful. You were so often spoken over, interrupted, and dismissed, it took Rollo a strenuous amount of grace not to grab you by the wrist and drag you away from your rude, contemptuous classmates himself... He couldn't word the feeling. And he was hoping you could. "So," he says, "They refer to you as Prefect. That is your role? Do you enjoy it?" You shrug. Has being at that terrible school rendered you unfit for social interaction? "Very well. Then what do you do for... fun? You appeared to enjoy seeing the city. Are you interested in history?" You shrug again. How can he be expected to know you if you won't tell him anything?? Rollo decides that words are worthless, and his eyes land on your hands. His own fingers twitch and tingle in anticipation, and for a brief but terrifying moment, he thinks of reaching out to you. ...In the end, he can't will himself to do it. Maybe in another life.