#‘who am if I’m not standing there / who am I on a Thursday afternoon in November / and who am I if this blows over’ | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

sxcret-garden · 9 months

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ღ NCT Dream Jeno x fem-bodied!reader ღ words: ~2.5k ღ genre: college AU, roommates AU, a bit of humor if you squint, smut ((subby) perv!Jeno, a bit of humiliation, handjob (idol receiving), masturbation, voyeurism, unprotected sex, multiple orgasms) ღ warnings: none ღ prompt: “How many times have you jerked off to me?”

It’s a Thursday afternoon like any other - you arrive at home at around 4pm after the end of your last class, you’re slightly exhausted from having a busy day, and you’re craving nothing more than some alone time with your laptop and some comfort food.

Except that you didn’t expect to hear your roommate moan your name upon entering your shared flat. You think you misheard it at first - maybe you’re more tired than you thought and you’re so out of it that you’re having hallucinations? - but then you hear it a second time. Jeno, most likely in his room, is calling out your name loud and clear, followed by a groan that causes blood to rush to your cheeks. You’re a little embarrassed about it at first, but at the same time you find it strangely amusing. And so, you make the most immoral decision in a while, and you draw closer to his room as quietly as possible to eavesdrop.

“Mmmh… feels so good, Y/N…” you hear him mutter. “Your pussy… so tight…” You raise your eyebrows as you're caught off guard by the dirty things leaving his mouth, but at the same time a huge grin appears on your face. It doesn’t come as a surprise that he’s into you - you’ve known that something’s up for weeks, and even your friends who occasionally come over when you’re both home have noticed that he has a crush on you. He hasn’t made any clear advances on you though, and neither would you for as long as you’re stuck living under the same roof. You don’t mind that he obviously treats you differently than his other friends, that he smiles more to himself when he’s around you and that sometimes he stares at you a little too long when he thinks you’re not looking. However, the thought of attempting to date someone you’re already living with would’ve never crossed your mind either.

And still, here you are now, listening in on Jeno getting himself off to what you assume is a very detailed fantasy about you, and you’re somehow not repulsed by that at all. And so you bite your lip in excitement as you hear him groan your name over and over again, spelling out bits and pieces about the mental image in his head.

“Ride me… yeah… just like that…” An uncontrolled moan escapes him, making you think he’s about to cum, and you wonder whether you should announce your presence before, after, or not at all. “Ah… your tits… I love your tits bouncing like that…” And then it happens. You crack up. You make a noise. And at the same time he stops making noise altogether. You’ve given yourself away, and in order to spare him the suspense that you imagine is killing him at this very moment, you step through the half open door. Standing in his doorframe now, your gaze finds his huge hand wrapped around his cock in all its pre-orgasmic glory, and then also his wide open eyes, quivering lips, and deep red cheeks. He gapes at you, opening and closing his mouth like a fish under water, and you almost feel a little sorry for him.

“Excuse me, but would you let me in on the fun or am I supposed to keep pretending I’m not here while you’re getting off to my bouncy tits?” Jeno remains speechless. You’d have thought he’d immediately try to hide, try to talk himself out of this situation, but none of the likes. He just keeps sitting there, at the edge of his bed, frozen.

“What day is it?” That’s the first thing he says when he finally speaks.

“Thursday?”

“Fuck. Sorry. Oh my god. I thought it was Friday. Shit.”

“Sorry to disappoint,” you say, crossing your arms in front of your chest as you lean against the doorframe. Friday is when you would’ve had an evening class, so it makes sense that he thought he’d be undisturbed for another while. However, this also makes another burning question arise - almost as burning as Jeno’s deep red ears.

“How many times have you jerked off to me?” Jeno looks around the room, obviously in a panic, and somehow his hand is still wrapped around his exposed dick.

“U-uhm… like… today?”

“Lee Jeno, my god. I didn’t think you were such a huge pervert.”

“I… I’m sorry?” Now he grins abashedly, like a five year old boy that has just been caught preparing a prank on someone, which makes quite the contrast to the rest of the position he’s in.

“At least it’s not on my bed…” you comment, and when he seems to run through another circle of internal panic at your words, you immediately brush them off, gesturing wildly. “You know what? No, let’s not talk about this.” Though, if you’re perfectly honest with yourself, on second thought it somehow turns you on to think he’s secretly snuck into your room just to get off on you there.

“I… can I have a minute or two? And then we uh… talk about this?” Your roommate gives you an apologetic yet mischievous grin, and you profusely shake your head.

“No. No, you can not have a minute or two.” And then you push yourself off the doorframe, and you take a few steps to his bed until you’re standing right in front of him. You see him gulp as he looks up at you, and a single drop of sweat makes its way down the side of his face. Perking up an eyebrow, you slip out of your shirt, throwing it to the ground somewhere next to you.

“So… how many times?” You pose the question once again as you put your hands on his shoulders, and a knee between his legs.

“T-today it’s… the first time…”

“And overall?” You lean in and you let your lips ghost over his neck. “Be good and tell me the truth.”

“U-uhm…” Jeno stutters, unable to bring himself to answer. You find it kind of cute, and when you nip at the skin below his ear and you let a palm glide down the shirt covering his stomach, he becomes even more flustered. You decide to tease him for a while, running your fingertips back up and raking them into his hair as you take your sweet time scattering kisses all over his neck. He leans his head back a little, allowing you better access, and you have to grin at how needy he is.

“Been close?”

“Huh?”

“Were you close to having an orgasm when I barged in?” you clarify, and you lift your head to get a good look at his face.

“I-…”

“Just tell me. Maybe I’ll help you out a bit…”

“V-very close…” He’s still embarrassed that you caught him. You can tell by his stammering and by the way his cheeks are still dusted pink, but when you put your hand over his, slowly sliding it towards the tip of his cock in order to take over for him, he relaxes with a sigh.

“Now… how many times?” You stroke him slowly, watching him melt under your touch with a groan.

“F-faster…” he mutters under his breath, and you huff.

“Then answer my question.”

“A few times…?”

“Oh really?” You apply some pressure when going over his tip, and another desperate gasp escapes him.

“M-maybe every Friday… for… some time…”

“You are such a perv,” you say, but at the same time you speed up the movement of your hand. Jeno throws his head into his neck with a groan, digging his fingernails into the bedsheets at his sides.

“I heard you call my name too,” you say. “Wanna let me hear that again? Right in front of me?” If looks could kill you’d be dead by now, but when you cock your head to the side and you stop moving your hand, he’s quick to give in.

“Y/N…” he moans, “keep going. I’m begging you…” You smirk at his request, and you give him what he wants.

“It’s really cute how much control you can have over a guy once you have his dick in your hand.” You say that, not thinking much of it, but it seems to be doing something for him, as he squeezes his eyes shut and moans your name again.

“Y/N… I’m gonna-” His load spills into your hand as he clenches his teeth and a strained groan escapes his throat. You stay like that for a few seconds, drinking up his blissful expression that none other than you is responsible for, and then you get up to grab a tissue from beside his bed to clean yourself up.

“Ugh, I’m so sorry, I-” Jeno gets ready to apologize, pulling his pants back over his softened dick, but you’re quick to cut him off.

“What are you doing?” you ask, unzipping your jeans and slipping out of them. “I’m not doing this for free. Also, I thought you wanted me and my bouncy tits to ride you?” He blushes again at how nonchalantly you say this, but when you also rid yourself of your underwear, now standing completely naked in front of your roommate, he merely gapes at you in disbelief.

“Get naked,” you prompt. “Or are you telling me you’re gonna miss out on this chance?” Jeno doesn’t think twice, and he hastily slips out of all his clothes as you watch him with a victorious smile on your lips. You let yourself marvel at his toned, well-trained body, and once he sits down on his bed completely naked, you crawl on top of him, pushing him back into the blanket by his shoulders.

“Now, tell me again what you almost got yourself off to.” Again, he’s shooting daggers at your wicked grin and your words, but you can also see a certain thrill in his stare as he begins to talk.

“You… on top of me… like right now,” he begins to explain reluctantly as you run your hands down his chest and abs. However, the more your palms roam his body, the more confident he becomes. “I was thinking about you riding me… my hands on your hips, like this.” Jeno grabs your hips at once, giving them a squeeze, and then you allow him to guide them to his core. You roll them in his lap once, and you feel your folds grazing his hardening length.

“You’re already getting hard again just at the thought of it?”

“Aren’t you getting wet at the thought too?” he challenges you, and you can’t exactly deny it. Not when you feel the heat rushing to your core so clearly.

“So? What’s next?” You ignore his attempt at teasing you, and instead you keep rocking your hips, feeling him grow against your slick pussy. He sighs at the friction, and you raise an eyebrow, throwing in, “My boobs?”

“Y-yes…” he answers, and suddenly his stare is glued to your chest. He brings one hand up to squeeze your right tit, and you moan at his touch. It fits into his hand just perfectly, and you too find yourself throwing your head back at the way he gropes you.

“You’re so perverted…” you hum, and then you lift your hips off him for a second. Aligning yourself with his full grown length, you prepare yourself to take him in. And then you let yourself glide down on him, taking in just the tip to tease him, but in that same moment you can clearly feel just the tip isn’t enough for you either.

“Fuck…” you mutter under your breath, hands propped up on his chest.

“Well, you’re the one currently having sex with that perv, so…” Jeno comments. You come back up, having him slide all the way out, before lowering yourself onto him again. You repeat that process a few times, each time taking him in a little deeper, until eventually you both run out of patience, and he takes control with both hands back on your hips. Guiding you all the way down, you gasp at the way he stretches you out, and Jeno gives you a few seconds to adjust to his size. And then, you begin to bounce on top of him, and you find his lustful eyes fixated on your breasts.

“Perv,” you mutter, but that only seems to turn him on more.

“You’re enjoying it,” he throws back, and you can only moan in response.

“Maybe…” But who could blame you, when he feels so good inside you, and when his hips meet you so perfectly every time you sink down onto him. You feel him pressing his thumb against your clit, and it causes you to groan, becoming more eager in your movements.

“You gonna get off on that perv’s cock, huh?” Jeno teases you, directing his full focus on pleasing you. You whine in response, feeling your high approaching at light speed. Something about this situation makes you unbelievably horny, but you currently don’t have the means to figure out what exactly that is. Instead, you focus on moving your hips in just the right way to maximize your own pleasure.

“Fuck, Y/N… you feel so good…” You moan in appreciation, and through a string of curses falling from your lips, your high crashes down on you. You feel yourself clench around his cock, and your thighs tremble as you keep rocking your hips even past your orgasm. You bring Jeno’s hands up to your boobs, letting him squeeze and play with them as he pleases while an expression of utter bliss appears on his face.

“Mmhh… this is even better… than I imagined…” he groans through gritted teeth, and now you feel heat rushing to your cheeks as well because of his boldness. You feel him twitch inside you as your hips keep bouncing on top of him, and then eventually he shuts his eyes tightly and grunts your names as he cums inside you.

You crawl off him, knees still shaky, but you do your best not to let him notice. Then, you collect your clothes, tucking them under your arm.

“I’m going shower,” you inform your roommate, who’s following your every move with his eyes. You can tell he’s unsure what to say, and you’re at least as speechless as he is about what you just did, but you’re a bit better at seeming unbothered. You walk out of the room, and just as you’re right in the doorframe, he calls out to you to make you halt.

“We should do that again sometime,” Jeno blurts out, and you fail to suppress a dirty grin.

“Maybe,” you say. “If I catch you getting off to me again I’ll think about it.” You throw him a wink, and before you can fully register the smirk on his face that’s supposed to tell you he’s accepted your challenge, you leave the room for a nice and hot shower.

#nct dream smut #nct smut #jeno smut #nct dream x reader #nct dream imagines #nct dream scenarios #nct dream drabbles #nct imagines #nct x reader #jeno x reader #jeno imagines #kpop smut #smut

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harrygoeswest · 1 year

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Trigger Warnings: sweary sweary language, bullying

Word count: 7,129

Chapters five & six

seven

This was a weird situation to be in. I knew it. Harry knew it. The children definitely knew it - it was obvious from the tentative looks on their faces. But we were here and there was nothing we could do about it.

Sitting around a table of four in The Swan, the children animatedly enjoyed burgers and chicken nuggets while Harry and I picked apart our own meals and barely said a word. It was absolutely not where I expected to be on this random Thursday afternoon, especially not after standing Harry up here only a month before. It felt unusual, but it didn’t feel awful.

“Mummy, I think Ben’s mum is scared of you now.” Ruby said as she ate her way around a chicken nugget.

“Dunno about Lorraine, I’m scared of your mum now.” Harry joked.

I laughed once, a breathy sound. “Sorry, everyone. But maybe now she’ll think twice before passing comment to her children about any of us again.”

“It was really cool!” Oscar said.

I smiled at the boy and shook my head. “Thank you, but it wasn’t actually cool at all. Could’ve gone very differently and I shouldn’t have lost my temper like that in front of all of you.”

And I had really lost my temper. Harry had tried to stop me after I screamed the woman’s name across the car park, and I’d ignored him.

“Look after her for me,” I said breathily, nudging Ruby towards Harry before I began powering my way in the direction of Lorraine’s car.

“Floss, come back.” Harry begged, but there was no chance of that happening.

“Hey!” I shouted again. “Lorraine!”

I could see the smirk on her self-righteous face, and it only made it worse.

“Calm down, before you hurt yourself.” Lorraine taunted.

“Shut the fuck up.” I spat at her. I didn’t condone swearing in front of children, but I couldn’t control myself. “I don’t know who the fuck you think you are, but you can think again if you are for one second under the impression I would ever bring my baby back to your vile, poisonous, disgusting excuse for childcare ever again.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” She shrugged.

“I’m talking about you!” I screamed, slamming her car door again when she opened it. “You and your twisted, nasty, prejudiced,” I wasn’t even sure if I was using that word correctly, but it sounded right, “mediaeval way of thinking. Spoon-feeding your opinions to your son and allowing him to talk to other children as if they’re just shit on the ground because you think less of their parents. It’s revolting. You’re revolting, and cruel, and spiteful, and I feel sorry for your son that he has to listen to you and your gross opinions.”

Lorraine, for once in her life, was speechless.

“Whether or not you like me is irrelevant. Your child has been making jokes about someone else’s mum, and if you think that’s okay - you’re fucked in the head. It’s a disgusting way to behave. How do you think Ben would feel if you weren’t there, and other children started making jokes about it to him? You’d be fucking devastated, wouldn’t you?

“You are not special, Lorraine. And neither is your son. You’re nasty, and rude, and I feel fucking sorry for whatever happened to you that makes you think it’s acceptable to behave the way you do. I am happy without a man in my life and I don’t care if you think that’s not normal. Harry’s baby definitely shouldn’t be teased about it, either. Have a little fucking decency, and make sure you pass it onto that child of yours.”

I turned away, and then I remembered something else. “And one more thing - don’t teach my daughter that it’s acceptable for boys to pick on her because they like her. It’s not acceptable, it’s not normal, and it definitely shouldn’t be encouraged. Sort yourself out.”

I marched away from her towards my car, where Harry was waiting for me with Oscar still on his hip and Ruby by his side. I let out a deep breath when I reached them, ignoring the startled looks on their faces.

Harry cleared his throat. “Er…”

I looked at him with a blank stare. “What?”

“Nope, nothing.” He said quickly, looking between the two children. “I’m, er… I’m starving?”

The fact that he’d phrased it as a question amused me. “Are you?”

“Yeah,” he said more conclusively. “Why don’t we go eat?”

The four of us eating together felt like an alien concept to me. But I was hungry, and far too riled up to even think about cooking. So, in our separate cars we drove to The Swan, found an empty table, and ordered some food.

“It’s okay to lose your temper, Floss.”

“I don’t know, I was really harsh.”

“You were right, though. It wasn’t a lie - anything that you said.” Harry insisted. “It was all categorically true.”

“Did you hear everything I said?” I panicked.

“Oh, yeah,” Harry laughed, “was kind of hard not to hear it.”

“You were really loud, Mummy.”

I grimaced. “Whoops.”

“Anyway,” Harry sat straighter and looked between the two children across from us, “whatever that kid has been saying to the two of you doesn’t matter, because he has no idea how we live, or what we do, and he’s not a part of our families.

“We don’t know each other very well,” he gestured between he and I, “but it doesn’t matter because you’re both friends, and we want to support both of you. And I’m sure your mum agrees with me, Ruby, when I say we are both very, very proud parents, and we love you, and what happened today is not any of your faults. Ben is a bully, which has unfortunately been passed down from parents who don’t know how to be nice to other people. That’s not your fault. None of this is your fault.”

“On the back of that,” I added, resting my hands on the table, “nobody should be allowed to make you feel less important because you’ve only got one parent. How many parents you have doesn’t make you a better or worse person. Ben is not better than you because he’s got his mum and his dad. In the same way he’s not better than you because they’re still together. We’re all the same in this life. And you get back what you put out into the world, so it’s important to be nice to one another.”

“Does that mean we shouldn’t have hit Ben?” Oscar asked, voice timid.

That was a hard one to answer. I wanted to say they should’ve hit Ben twice, but that would be inappropriate. I didn’t want to say they shouldn’t have hit him, though, because then what karma would he be getting? He could go around hitting people as much as he liked and get away with it? Hell no, not on my watch.

“No, I think it was an incredibly acceptable response to want to hit someone who had already hit you.” Harry answered for me. “We just don’t hit people first.”

“And from now on, if someone is mean to you, or hurts you, you absolutely can tell us. We don’t want you to feel like you can’t come to us with something like this. It’s not nice for you to have to keep it in, and it’s not nice for us to know that you think you have to suffer alone. You don’t.”

The two of them gawked at me for a minute.

“Promise me you’ll tell one of us if someone is mean to you again. Or tell Mrs Moon.”

“Promise.” They said together.

I nodded. “Good.”

We finished eating and split the bill, and finally made our way to the cars to go home. Before I could get in, Harry stopped me one last time.

“Tomorrow…” He started, his right hand holding the driver-side door open at the top, “obviously you won’t be sending Ruby to the morning club.”

“No.”

“No, and neither will I. My first appointment isn’t until 10, so if you want to bring her to me before school then I don’t mind.”

Help, this man was starting to become more perfect by the minute. “Are you sure?”

“Of course.” He smiled.

“That would be amazing, thank you.”

“Sure, no problem. I live next to the post office.”

I pretended I didn’t already know that. “Alright, I’ll drop her off in the morning. Is 8 o’clock alright?”

“Fine by me.”

I nodded and smiled at him through tight lips. “Thank you, Harry.”

“My pleasure.”

Since Ruby had already strapped herself into the backseat, I was the first one to get away. Not that it was a race, but I was rather keen to get home.

The first thing I did when I got in was have a shower while Ruby called her Abuela, and then I ran her a bath. I realised while I was waiting for the bath to fill that I’d been filthy at dinner. The locals were sure to think I was mad. Moreover, Harry probably did, too.

Once Ruby was in bed, I didn’t hang around making my way to my own. I was tired, and even though the children seemed to be more relaxed than they were when we met them at the school, I was still especially upset.

I knew Lorraine was spiteful, but that day she’d proved to be callous, too. I felt let down. I don’t know why, because it wasn’t like I’d ever expected anything less from her. I knew she was cruel, why wouldn’t she pass that trait on to her child, as well? I had no idea what her husband was like. I didn’t even know what he looked like, which was unusual living in a village. Everyone knew everyone.

I was about to drift off when the door knocked. I looked up through one open eye, and Ruby was standing in the doorway with the teddy she always slept with.

“You alright, muffin?”

“Mummy, can I sleep with you tonight?”

I smiled and nodded, a warm feeling filling me. “Of course you can.”

She skipped over immediately and crawled into the side of the bed that was usually vacant. I let her cuddle in close to me, her head tucked into the side of my neck so I could smell her damp hair and the strawberry scent her shampoo gave it.

We lay in silence for a moment, the only sound in the room to be our uncoordinated breathing. Every so often she would nudge her face further into my neck, and I would stroke my hand down the back of her hair. Ruby had become so independent so quickly that I forgot how much I enjoyed moments with her like this - where I could hold her as my baby; my biggest and bestest achievement. She was my world, and today I learnt the hard way that not everyone would always treat her with the care and the love that I did.

“Never let anyone make you feel like you’re beneath them, Ruby.” I whispered, just in case she’d fallen asleep. “Your background doesn’t define you as a person - your actions do.”

“I know, Mummy,” she said back to me, her voice breaking. “I never really believed anything Ben said.”

That made me smile. “Good girl.”

“I don’t want a daddy, anyway.”

“You don’t?”

“No. I like that it’s just me and you. We’re girls - we belong together. A daddy would ruin our girl power.”

I giggled, stroking her hair again. “He would, wouldn’t he?”

“Yeah. Oscar and his daddy are okay, but not to have here. I like our house.”

“I like our house, too, Rubes.”

And just like that, anything that Lorraine had said to make me feel bad about how I lived my life vanished. My worries disintegrated, because the one person that was really important to me and that I wanted to be happy told me that she was just that - she was happy. That was all that mattered to me.

The next morning I drove Ruby into the village and dropped her off at the dentist’s house as we’d arranged. Admittedly I was late and therefore in a rush to get to the garage, so it left little time for niceties or the opportunity to embarrass myself in front of him.

Dad was helping me today, and once we’d closed up the shop in the afternoon, we got straight in the car and drove up to Wisbech. Yep, we were going to look at these bloody puppies. Ruby was none the wiser. Since I always had Friday nights without her, the most unusual thing was that her Abuelo wouldn’t be with her. Mum said she’d make up some excuse about him golfing and leave it at that.

We weren’t viewing the litter until the morning, so we’d booked a B&B for the night and popped into a local pub for dinner.

I didn’t sleep well that night. I didn’t know why - perhaps because I was so far from Ruby and keeping secrets from her. Perhaps it was because after yesterday I still felt a little deflated. I also didn’t know how her day at school had gone, and it could’ve been amazing or it could’ve been awful. It still played on my mind that she didn’t want to tell me about Ben bullying her. She’d never pretended to be sick to avoid going to the club, she just threw a tantrum and made her feelings blatantly obvious. Still, she didn’t feel like she could tell me, and that was the worst thing.

In the morning I had 3 coffees before 10am. It wasn’t my smartest idea, but I couldn’t exactly go and view a litter half-asleep.

The breeder’s house wasn’t far from where we were staying, but of course we made a meal out of finding it. Dad refused to use a sat-nav which left me trying to figure out where to go from my phone without him realising. I accidentally told him to go the wrong way multiple times.

When we finally got there we parked up and knocked on the door.

A tall and broad woman greeted us in a pair of black leggings and a well-worn ditsy floral swing dress. “Hi, you must be Dave?”

“That’s me!” My dad grinned, and shook the lady’s hand. “This is my daughter, Floss.”

I gave an awkward smile.

“Nice to meet you both. Do you want to come inside?” She offered, opening the door wider.

“Thank you,” Dad said, and wandered straight in.

I followed behind in a rather sheepish manner.

Inside we were immediately in the living room, where an open-top cage was set up in the middle of the room. The mother was laying down on her side snoozing, while her puppies were running rampant, trampling all over her, squeaking and ruffing away. A group of them were fighting, one was just aimlessly wandering around, and the last one was feeding.

Admittedly it was all very cute and I was trying my best not to make an abundance of stupid cooing noises.

“You know you’re the first ones to come and visit, so you’ve got the pick of the litter.”

I looked at the lady, startled. “Are you joking?”

“No,” she chuckled.

“I’m usually the last person. Christ, I’m so relieved.”

“I get that.” She smiled at me. “When I picked her up they were all ready to go - the owners had an open house basically. Absolute carnage.”

I grimaced and shook my head. “No thank you.”

Just as we were talking, one of the scrapping puppies broke away and marched right up to the side of the cage where I was standing. It started barking, and then kept trying to jump up.

“Someone’s keen.” Dad joked.

“Yeah,” the breeder said exasperatedly, and scooped her up out of the cage, “she’s the most vocal, that’s for sure. Not sure where she gets it from because both mum and dad are very quiet and well behaved.”

I stroked the top of the black puppy’s dopey little head while she animatedly tried to lick my hand and arm. “Hi, pretty girl. Aren’t you just gorgeous, aye?”

She barked again while I cooed away at her.

“We’ve got 5 black female, 1 black male and then 2 blue females and 1 blue male.” She said matter-of-factly. “Was there one in particular you were interested in?”

I laughed. That was a very female-heavy litter.

“Ruby, my granddaughter - Floss’s little girl - is dead set on having a blue one called Bongo. We don’t know why but she’s been banging on about it for weeks.”

“It’s nearly her birthday and she absolutely will not accept the idea of anything but this puppy.” I added.

“Oh, how sweet! Well,” she said, putting the vocal female down to collect another one - a blue one this time. She checked underneath to make sure she had the right puppy, and then handed him to me, “this is the blue male. He is quite lively and he does love a playfight, but it’s no word of a lie when I say he’s always the first one to cuddle his mum at nap times.”

I looked from the lady to the small puppy in my hands. He was staring right back at me with a big pair of bright blue droopy eyes. He didn’t move a muscle while I held him at arm's length, he just waited and stared.

I cocked my head and he did the same, and then I brought him a little closer and started stroking under his chin. He licked my wrist once and it made me giggle. “Aren’t you a handsome boy? Aye? Look how handsome you are.”

We continued that way for a while - staring into each other’s eyes while I lightly petted him. I didn’t think it was possible to fall in love with a dog so quickly, but I did with that little thing. Although I was well aware he wouldn’t stay little for long.

I gave him to my dad at one point to have a little play with the rest of them, and eventually the mum woke up and came to see me for some attention.

“So when are they ready to collect?” My dad asked, because I had absolutely no idea how this worked.

“About 2 weeks? If you need a little more time than that I can keep it for longer until you’re ready to come and get it.”

“No, the sooner the better.” I laughed once.

“Her birthday isn’t very far away - we were um-ing and ah-ing about it for too long.”

“When is her birthday, may I ask?”

“In about 2 weeks.”

“Ah,” the lady smirked, “then I’m happy for you to come and get it the day before?”

“Or even the morning of?” My dad suggested, looking at me. “I can come get him early and bring him home in time for her to do ‘presents’.”

I nodded. “That sounds like a good plan.”

“Okay, then…” Dad looked back to the breeder, “how do I go about this, then? I assume you’d need a deposit?”

While Dad and the nice lady organised reserving the puppy, I sat with them all for just a little bit longer before we had to leave and go home. They were all very lovely and adorable, but I still felt a stronger bond with the future ‘Bongo’, probably because I knew he was about to make my baby the happiest girl in the world.

We were on our way home, just passing by Northampton when Ruby FaceTimed me from my mother’s iPad.

“Hola, querida,” I said as soon as we started the call through a very ropey connection.

“Mummy, where are you?” She demanded. “And where is Grandad?”

“Nieta, te dije que lo intentaras en Español.” My mother’s tinny voice said from just behind Ruby. She’d told her to try speaking in Spanish.

“Mamá, she’s not advanced enough for that yet.” I muttered.

“Deberías haber empezado a enseñarle antes.” Now I was being told off for not teaching Ruby from a younger age.

“I’m not advanced enough for that.” I argued. “Anyway, we’re on our way home, poppet. Another hour or so but we’re about half way.”

“Okay.” Ruby sighed. “What are we doing for the rest of the day?”

“What do you want to do for the rest of the day?”

“I don’t know. Can we have a picnic in the garden?”

“Of course we can!” I giggled, overwhelmed with the innocent look on her face. “When I get back that’s exactly what we’ll do, okay?”

“Okay.” My daughter smiled.

We rounded up our call and ended it before I used up the rest of my data for the month, and then I sat back in my chair.

“Is she alright, she seemed a bit down?” Dad asked without taking his eyes off the road.

“I’m not sure. One of the kids at school has been bullying her.”

“What?!” He practically exploded.

“That bloody Lorraine at the morning club. Her kid, the horrible one. Been pulling her hair and making her feel like shit because she’s not got a dad.”

“What a horrible little cunt.”

I stared at my dad with wide eyes. I’d never heard him use that word before.

“How did you find out? And does Lorraine know?”

“Lorraine is a nasty piece of work and I’ve already told her to keep her prehistoric opinions to herself. And I only found out it was happening at all because Ruby pushed the kid over on Thursday and the school called me.”

“Good for her. She shouldn’t be letting ugly little fuckers like that make her feel bad about something like that. Or about anything for that matter, but not having a dad is nothing to do with her.”

“Exactly. That’s what I told her. She said she doesn’t want a dad anyway, so that little devil’s spawn can get fucked.”

“Precisely.”

eight

I felt weird when I got to the school on Monday afternoon to collect Ruby. I couldn’t put my finger on just what it was, but it felt like everyone was looking at me when I got out of the car. It probably didn’t help me that I’d shut it with more force than I meant to.

I ignored everyone and walked straight towards Geri, redoing my hair into a ponytail rather than the scruffy bun I had it in.

“Where have you been?” Geri asked before I’d stopped walking.

“What do you mean?” I retorted, frowning.

“I feel like I haven’t seen you for ages - you weren’t here on Friday to get Ruby. I saw your mother here but she kept her distance.”

“Oh, that’s because she hates Sharon.” I muttered, making sure Sharon couldn’t actually hear me even though she was standing 10 metres away. “And I went straight to Frisbech from work on Friday with Dad.”

“Where?”

“Frisbech?”

“Where the fuck is that?”

“Like, near Cambridge I think.”

Geri’s gaze fell flat. “You mean Wisbech, you silly cow.”

“Yeah, whatever.” I shrugged.

“What’d you go all the way up there for?”

“To look at a fucking dog.”

“Oh, that’s happening, is it? I thought you were on the fence.”

“I don’t own a fence.” I said. She knew I didn’t have a fence, so I was confused by the baffled look on her face at my response. “We put the deposit down on one just like she wanted.”

“I should hope so if you went out to fucking Cambridge. Have you got a picture?”

“Er, yeah,” I pulled my phone out and found a picture to show her of little Bongo.

“Oh, he’s very cute. She’ll be over the moon, Floss.”

“She bloody better be.” I huffed. I turned over my shoulder at the sound of a car pulling into the car park, wondering who could possibly be later than me.

It was the dentist. The hairs on my arms stood on end and I turned around again.

“Why doesn’t your mum like,” Geri started, nodding her head in Sharon’s direction, “you know?”

“Oh,” I grimaced, “apparently every time she goes into the salon to get her hair done she complains about it afterwards.”

“What a bitch.”

“I know.”

“You’d think after so many times she’d just… stop going. Find somewhere else, you know?”

“I think my mum has actually suggested it but she still keeps going back.”

“People like that wind me the fuck up-,”

“-Hey,”

I looked to my left where the dentist had suddenly appeared, a polite smile on his face while he folded his arms across his chest.

“Hi, Harry,” Geri said in a more casual manner than I expected.

I glanced at my friend with a narrowed gaze, and then back to the school gate. “Hello,”

It was silent now. I felt awkward and had no words to give to start a conversation. Apparently Geri and Harry felt the same. There was still no sign of the children coming out of the classrooms, and I could feel the odd other parent looking our way for whatever reason. I had no way of determining whether it was at me directly or just the three of us standing together, and I wasn’t sure if I wanted to.

I caught Debbie’s eye just by accident, but her stare wasn’t very friendly, and she very promptly looked away from me. I was somewhat offended considering she usually had no problem talking to me, but I didn’t dwell on it.

I then purposely started meeting the eyes of the other parents I felt looking our way, and they were always looking at just me. It happened three or four times, and I was starting to get pissed off.

“Have I done something wrong?” I asked out loud, an irritated expression on my face.

“Why?” Harry asked, turning to face me at the waist with his arms still folded.

“Because all of the parents are looking at me like I’ve just taken a shit in the middle of the car park or something.”

Geri screwed her face up, and Harry snorted.

“You know what,” Geri said, facing me fully, “I do remember a bunch of ‘em whispering on Friday about you and Lorraine. I was gonna call you and ask but I forgot.”

“That fucking bitch, I should’ve slapped her.” I seethed. “And her little cunt of a child.”

“What happened?”

Children started appearing out of the school building then.

“I’ll tell you another time, I’ll just get more upset talking about it now.”

“Alright…”

I spotted Ruby hurtling her way towards me, and I was happy to have her back with me again.

“Hi, Mummy!”

“Hello, muffin.” I giggled as she wrapped her arms around my shoulders for a hug. “Have a good day?”

“A really good day.”

“Excellent! Did you give your invitations out?”

Even though I said if she wanted a dog she couldn’t have a party, technically she didn’t know about the dog and I didn’t want to ruin the surprise. So she was having a small party. I’d said she could invite 3 friends to a party on the Saturday before her birthday - just a little one at our house with some food and party games.

“Yes!”

“And is everyone going to come?”

“I think so.” She said, a big smile on her face.

“Great news. Are you ready to go home?”

“Yep.”

“Alright, let’s go then.” I said, standing straighter to take her hand.

“Wait!” She squealed.

I looked at her with wide eyes. “What?”

“I haven’t said goodbye to Oscar yet.” She said practically in one breath.

“Okay…”

“I’ll see you tomorrow, Floss!” Geri called, already on her way to the car with her little one, Milly.

“Bye Geri!”

“Bye Auntie Geri! Bye Milly!” Ruby waved eagerly.

I couldn’t help but smile at her enthusiasm, my gaze warm on her while she received her goodbyes. I watched as she looked over at Harry, and marched up to him with some newfound purpose.

“Mr Oscar’s Daddy?”

He smirked, shoulders shaking with silent laughter. He looked right at her, and said, “That’s Dr Oscar’s Daddy to you, young lady.”

“Sorry,” she mumbled back.

“I’m teasing, you know it’s Harry. Can call me Harry, Ruby.”

“Right,” she shook her head, brows furrowed while she returned to her train of thought, “um, I gave Oscar an invitation to my birthday party. Please can he come?”

“Of course he can.” He grinned. “What about me? Am I invited?”

I was suddenly awash with hot panic. Again. I felt my cheeks burning and the back of my neck was tingling like crazy.

Ruby looked at me blankly. “Mummy said I’m only allowed three friends. But maybe you could come as one of her friends?”

I couldn’t believe it. I was being mugged off by my own child.

I made an incoherent noise and then cleared my throat. “Well, I did put on the invite that if parents wanted to stay then they’re more than welcome to.”

“I see. I have to be a plus one to my child, I don’t get my own invitation.” He nodded with pursed lips, trying to tease us, I assumed.

Ruby looked at me again. “What’s a plus one?”

“I don’t know.” I muttered. I looked at Harry, digging up the courage to give a somewhat sincere response. “You will be welcome to stay, Harry. It’s not a very big party - just family and Ruby’s friends. And… their parents.”

He was clearly trying not to laugh. “Got it. Thank you.”

Oscar finally appeared, heaving some apology about forgetting his lunch box. He then immediately turned all of his attention to Ruby, as if he hadn’t probably had it all day.

“Um, while we’re both here,” Harry started, and shoved his hands in his pockets, “this whole palaver with the childminding stuff has got me thinking.”

“Right?”

“I know you said the mornings are the problem for you, but if you want I can look after Ruby some afternoons after school so you can get more work done?”

I blinked at him. “Thank you. Yeah, that would be… amazing. But what about your work?”

“It can be worked around. Fred normally does the later appointments so it doesn’t really interrupt anything.”

“Who?”

“Dr Wade.”

“Oh right, yeah. Um, well, yeah. That’d be a huge help - I can open later some days and stay later, then.”

“Any days that you’d prefer?”

“Oh, no - you tell me. You’re the one offering.”

“Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday?”

I frowned. “That’s too many. Just Wednesday and Thursday will be fine. But I can do a day if that helps too? Like Mondays or something?”

“That would be good, if you wouldn’t mind?”

“No, not at all.” I forced a smile. “The least I could do, really.”

“No, I get it. Single parenting… it’s hard.”

It wasn’t a particularly groundbreaking statement - we weren’t the first single parents to ever exist on the planet, much less in one place. But something about the way Harry appeared in front of me changed. He didn’t look different or sound different or anything like that. But his words seemed to ground himself before me - we were suddenly on the same level.

“It is hard.” I agreed, trying not to sigh.

“Right, er,” Harry spun around in search of his child, “Oscar, come on!”

The two children were playing together, on the floor with some stones writing on the tarmac. At the sound of Harry’s call they both immediately stopped.

“Say goodbye to Ruby, we need to go.”

“Bye, Ruby!” Oscar shouted, and sped off towards Harry’s car.

“Bye, Oscar!” Ruby said back, already by my side.

“See you later, Florence.” Harry said, smiling through pressed lips, and then corrected himself, “Floss.”

“Yeah, bye, Harry.”

Ruby took my hand, and we walked to the car together that way. “Is Harry coming for dinner?”

I frowned. “No, why?“

“Because he said ‘see you later’.”

“Oh,” I laughed and squeezed her hand, “he just meant goodbye.”

“Oh,” she pouted, “okay.”

Something told me she wanted me to invite Oscar and his daddy to dinner with us some day, but the idea of having the sexy dentist in my house to experience my cooking was terrifying and absolutely would not be entertained.

“Did you have any trouble from Ben today?”

“No. He kept away. I think someone told him off.”

“So they should do. It is absolutely not acceptable to talk to you like that.”

I unlocked the car and opened the door for her, making sure she was all strapped in. “What do you want for dinner?”

Ruby made an over-dramatised thinking sound. “Something with mash and gravy.”

“Oh, that sounds good to me.” I grinned, and pecked the top of her head before I closed the door again.

Looking around, everyone had left the car park except for us. It was often like this. I don’t know why it took us so long to leave.

I’d spent too much time trying to fix a car that had been with me longer than it should’ve, and wound up very late to collect Ruby from Harry’s on Wednesday. I’d been stumped for ages figuring out what was even wrong with it, and it turned out not to be an easy fix when I did. I hoped to have it ready by the end of the day, but alas, it was still far from done.

I called the owner with an update when I left, which was a difficult conversation. I then closed everything and headed into the village to collect my abandoned offspring.

I’d only been to the dentist’s house that once last week to drop Ruby off in the morning, but I hadn’t really been thinking about it too much. When I pulled up today, I realised how overcompensating it was for two people. I’d always thought the houses in the village were cottage-y and small, but not this one. It was still charming in that traditional sense, with sandy-colour stones and windows in the gables, but it physically looked like it would swallow the rest of the village whole.

I waited after I knocked on the door, wringing my hands as my gaze wandered the surrounding views. Harry’s house had the perfect view of the River Coln and Arlington Row, situated at the foot of the footbridge that led to Awkward Hill. And it was close to the pub. Part of me was a little jealous.

I was taken by surprise when he opened the door - obviously not because he was there in his own house, but more because of his attire. He wore a white vintage t-shirt with a Jamaica print on the front (something I’d have in my own collection) and a pair of stripy green, red and white shorts.

“Hi,” he smiled.

I blinked out of my shock. “Hi, sorry I’m late.”

“I didn’t even realise, so don’t worry.”

“Has she been good?”

“As gold. She’s so polite!” He laughed, and twisted at the waist to look into the house.

“Ruby, your mum is here!”

Silence followed. Apparently she didn’t want to see me just yet.

“Typical.” I tried to joke, and rolled my eyes.

“Do you want to come in for a cuppa?” The dentist asked, his hand with an oddly firm grip on the door.

His gaze was particularly intense and it made me itch. “Oh, no thank you. We have to go for dinner at my parents’ and if we’re late my mother will kill me. It’s the Latin in her.”

“Your mum is Latina?”

“Yeah, Colombian.”

“Wow… I never would’ve guessed.” He said dumbly, clearing his throat. “Only because I’ve never, like, heard an accent on her and your name is so English.”

“Well, my dad is English. And my mum just loves that whole quadrilaterally English ideal.” I shrugged, turning at the sound of a couple arguing as they walked past the driveway.

“Do you mean quintessentially?”

My gaze snapped back to him. “What?”

“You said quadrilaterally English…”

“Yes?”

“I think you meant quintessentially.”

“Yeah, that’s what I said?”

Harry blinked at me. “Okay… well, I’ll leave you to get going to your mum and dad’s.”

I don’t know where he got that idea from. “Thank you… and thank you for looking after Ruby while I worked.”

Ruby finally appeared with all of her things, Oscar not far behind. “Hi, Mummy!”

“Oh, my pleasure. Any time, honestly. She’s a really good girl.”

I smiled, “I’ll see you tomorrow, then?”

Harry nodded. “Yes, see you tomorrow.”

I turned to find my child. “Ruby, come on.”

I helped her into the car with her school things, and then strapped myself in. “Did you have fun at Oscar’s, muffin?”

“Yeah! Their house is really nice but it’s not finished yet.”

“Not finished how?”

“It’s being done up.”

“Is it? That’s fun.”

“Oscar said they’re getting a cinema room.”

“Sounds fancy.”

“That’s what I said! Oscar said when it’s done we can go over for movie nights with them. I think his daddy likes you.”

I got goosebumps. I looked at her in the rear-view mirror. “What makes you say that?”

“Well, Oscar said he thinks you’re funny. And pretty.”

I laughed slowly, feeling awkward. “I’m sure that’s not true.”

“But you are pretty, Mummy.”

That made me smile. “Thank you, baby.”

On Saturday when I collected Ruby from my parents we decided to have a barbecue. Mum and Dad had already invited a couple of friends, including Frank and Diane, there was food on the go, drinks on the table, and a couple of games to keep Ruby preoccupied.

I’d spent my morning in Cirencester’s Pets at Home making sure I had everything ready for when Ruby’s puppy arrived next week. I’d also spent my Friday night reading up on everything I possibly could to make sure I was prepared for life with a dog. I wasn’t entirely convinced I’d be the best dog owner ever, especially not for one so bloody big, but it was too late now, I’d already paid the money for the poor thing.

Mum was always a good host, but Dad was the better entertainer. Once everyone had a plate stacked of food and enough to drink, she took a step back and let Dad do his thing. I’d never really figured out exactly what that thing was, but he had it. Like the Z Factor or something.

She took a seat by me when she was done. I was far too busy enjoying the cholados she’d made to pay any attention to whatever drama might occur.

“Un día ese hombre va a recibir una bofetada de mi parte y lo disfrutaré.” Mum was saying she wanted to slap someone and that she’d enjoy it.

I didn’t look away from my dessert when I spoke. “¿Estás hablando de Frank?” I assumed she was talking about Frank. It’s usually about Frank when he’s here.

My mother nodded.

“Deberías haberlo abofeteado hace años.” I told him she should’ve slapped him years ago.

She grunted. “Tu papá es ciego - el hombre es un perro.” Your dad is blind - the man is a dog.

I laughed out loud, head thrown towards the sky. “Claro que lo es.” I agreed with her. “Se ofreció a pagar por el perro para no tener que pagar por arreglar su carro.” I told her he’d offered to pay for Ruby’s puppy so he wouldn’t have to pay me to fix his car.

“Esa maldita comadreja.” She called him a little fucking weasel. “¿Por qué no puede simplemente pagarte por el trabajo que estás haciendo?” She asked why he couldn’t pay me for the work I’m actually doing instead.

“Eso es lo que dije.” That’s what I said.

I took another bite out of my cup, a mouthful of strawberries and raspberries. It was delicious but there was something obvious about it.

“Did you put rum in this?”

My mother rested her head on my shoulder. “Sí.” She said around a sigh. “No puedo pasar una tarde con Frank sin él.” I can’t get through an afternoon around Frank without it.

I snorted. “Es delicioso.”

“Oh,” she sat up straighter and looked at me face on, “why don’t you and Ruby come away with us during Whitsun?”

“I can’t go, but please do take Ruby with you.”

“Why can’t you go?”

“I have to look after the garage. Mamá, you know I take my holiday in the summer.”

“Florence, you never give yourself a break.” My mother scolded me. “You’re going to burn out if you’re not careful, and you look so ill at the moment.”

“I’m fine. I like working, I feel like it gives me purpose.”

“Your child is your purpose, and you and Ruby need to spend some quality time together.”

I got angry. “No me hagas sentir culpable de esa manera.” I told her not to guilt trip me.

“Lo siento,” She apologised and took my hand, “I just thought it might be nice for the two of you.”

“It would be, but I can’t leave the garage for a week at such short notice. But I’ve got three weeks over the summer already planned, so if we go anywhere together it will be then.”

“Alright.” She let a breath go, and kissed the palm of my hand.

“Where are you going to take her?”

“Just to Cornwall, I think. This weather is supposed to be sticking around for a while, so I said we should make the most of it.”

“I agree. Thank you for offering.”

“Don’t be silly. You two are all we have, we want to look after you.”

“I know you do.” I mumbled, and put my finished cup aside. I rested my head against her shoulder now, and she wrapped an arm around my middle.

“Eres mi mayor logro.” You are my greatest achievement, she whispered.

In that moment I felt incredibly happy. I knew how lucky I was - to have the most important people in my life love me for me. Ruby often seemed to worship me to no end and I struggled to understand why, but I would take her worship for what it was, because I needed her just as much as she needed me. And I could never take my mother’s love for granted when she was so good to me, just the same as my dad was.

I felt at peace with my life for once. Why would I need to change anything now?

Let’s chat!

Chapters nine, ten & eleven

#harry styles #harry styles imagine #harry styles imagines #harry styles fic #harry styles fanfic #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles writing #harry styles smut #harry styles angst #harry styles fluff

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forever-rogue · 2 years

Text

Trust

AN | Am I ever going to give up Javi and his Dulzura? Maybe, maybe not. I am simp for them! ❤️

Summary | After a mysterious stranger comes to your door, you wonder if your worst fear has come true.

Pairing | Javier x Fem!Reader

Warnings | Language, Discussions of infidelity

Word Count | 3.2k

Masterlist | Main, Javier, A Good Man ‘Verse

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The doorbell rang at the most inopportune moment. It was a late Thursday afternoon and you were home with your small gaggle of children. Dinner was cooking on the stove and you were trying to keep everyone sound and happy. It wasn’t always an easy feat with four children aged eight and under and two dogs that liked to stay in the thick of it.

“Coming!” you shouted towards the door as you glanced at your brood. Lucia was coloring at the dining room table, happily humming to herself while Diego attempted to play hide and go seek with Santi, leaving Thea to toddle around in search of something to get into, “Lucia, mija, can you please keep an eye on your brothers for a moment and make sure they don’t hurt themselves?”

“Okay mamá,” she threw down her crayon and slid off her chair, laughing as she ran after the boys, calling for them to wait for her.

“And you little miss,” you scooped Thea up in your arms and settled her on your hip as she hugged onto you tightly, a little smile on her face, “are coming with me so you stay out of the trouble. The youngest and yet the biggest trouble maker!”

You pressed a kiss to the top of her mop of dark curls as she laughed and you made your way towards the door. You opened it just as the bell was rung again, finding a young woman standing there. You didn’t recognize her but you could immediately see that she was beautiful. Dark haired and statuesque with plush lips and big doe eyes, all dressed and done up. In your current state you were sure she put you to shame.

“Hello,” you said as you wondered who this could possibly be, “how can I help you?

“Is this the Peña residence?” even her voice was pretty, which really didn’t seem fair.

“Yes,” you nodded curiously, “how can I help you?”

“Oh,” she offered you a little smile that caused an unpleasant shiver run up your spine, “you must be Mrs. Peña.”

“I…am,” should you have admitted this? You weren’t even sure what was going on anymore, “what did you need?”

“Is Javier here?” Now you were worried…how did this pretty young woman know your husband? How did she know where he lived?

“No,” you replied, “h-he’s not here.”

“Do you know when he’ll be back?”

“I don’t,” you lied, getting seriously worried about who this stranger was, “did you need something from him? I can…take a message for him?”

“Oh no,” she giggled, a grating sound that got on your last nerve. She made it a point to put her hand on her stomach and rubbed her belly. Your eyes naturally flicked down and your heart almost stopped when you noticed the slight swell, “I’m sure I’ll see him soon. Thanks for your help, Mrs. Peña.”

“I…what…”

“Your daughter is beautiful,” she said just before turning around, and bouncing down the porch stairs, “she looks just like him.”

You watched her bound away, practically skipping as she made her way back to her car. You held Thea tighter in your arms, your heart practically slamming against your ribcage as you watched her until she was gone. You slowly closed the door and made sure it was locked before walking back into the kitchen.

Your three other children seemed unphased as they continued playing without a care in the world. You set Thea down and nudged her in the direction of her siblings while you turned back to the stove. Your mind was reeling with trying to figure out what the hell had just happened.

A sense of dread set in as the little worry that had been sparked at the back of your mind started to creep forward. No…no. There was no way. Javier would…never. The knowledge that your husband was devoted to you didn’t lessen that deep rooted fear that had sprung up.

And this had to be the day he was working late. Of course it was. But now…you couldn’t help but wonder if he really was working.

“Stop,” you hissed at yourself, trying to control your racing thoughts, “he’s at work. He’ll be home this evening. He would never…he wouldn’t.”

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

You stiffened when you heard the front door finally open. You were sitting at the dining room table, waiting for him after you’d put all four kids to bed. You listened to him kick off his shoes and drop his bag by the front door as he routinely did when he came home. He slowly made his way over to you, a happy but tired little smile on his face. But as soon as he saw your face, he knew something was very wrong.

"Did you cheat on me, Javier?" was the first thing out of your mouth, despite your initial intentions. You put down the napkin you had been playing with and looked up at him, trying to swallow down the lump that had welled up in your throat, "did you?”

Javier's mouth dropped open as he looked at you in confusion, brows knitting together. He ran a hand through his hair in exasperation; he was tired, exhausted, and just wanted a shower and to get into bed with you. But he couldn't find the words to even reply to your question.

"Well?" you asked softly as he leaned against the chair and let out a long sigh, "why aren't you saying anything?"

"I don't even know how to respond to that question," he sighed heavily. This had come up so out of the blue and he had no clue why, "why are you asking me this? That’s the most ridiculous thing you’ve ever asked."

"Why aren't you saying no?"

"I - what the fuck kind of question even is that!?" he hadn't meant to snap at you. The shocked look on your face was enough to cause instant regret to well up as he sighed, "baby-"

"A girl came by today," you wiped your eyes with the sleeve of your sweater, willing yourself not to break down and cry, "she was so young and so pretty. She was looking for you. Asking where you were and when you'd be back. She knew who I was - she saw our daughter and said she looked like you. She…she was pregnant, Javier."

"What!?"

"Who is she?" you were crying now and he ached to reach over and touch you but he was afraid that would only make things worse, "why was she looking for you? Tell me. Tell me."

"I don't know who you're talking about," he insisted, a look of genuine confusion crossing his features, "I…I don't know what's going on."

"We have four children, Javier," you whispered, "four children I carried and gave you - us. We have two dogs. We have a house. We have careers. We have good friends and family. Was that not enough for you? Am I not enough for you? I don't…know what to think right now."

"Dulzura-"

"How would you feel, Javier, if the roles were reversed? If a random man came to the house looking for me? Asking where I was or when I'd be back? Commenting about how our son or daughter looks like me?"

"I'd k-"

"Yeah," you didn't even give him a chance to finish, "so imagine how it feels for me. And the fact that you're not denying makes it so much worse."

"I'm not denying because I don't even know what's going on! I have no clue what happened. I would never do that to you."

"I want to believe you," your voice was almost a whimper as you stood up and started to breeze past him, "but I'm so…I don't even know right now. I'm going to bed…you can stay on the couch tonight. Or I can if you want the bed."

"I…" he pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed deeply, "I'll take the couch."

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

By the time Javier woke up the following morning, he felt as exhausted as the night before. He'd tossed and turned all night, worry and confusion nagging at him. The look on your face had broken his heart.

He looked at his watch and groaned loudly; he was late. The house was silent and as he poked around he realized you had already left for work and towed all the kids with you. You hadn't woken him up. You'd never done that before.

"Fuck me," he slammed his fist on the dresser as he tried to calm his racing mind. He let out a long, shaky breath, running a hand over his tired face, “fuck!”

He had no idea what he would do if you truly believed he had cheated on you. He loved you more than anything; he practically worshiped the ground you walked on and yet… The pain and hurt you had in your eyes had made him want to fall to his knees and beg you for forgiveness.

─── ･｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Javier had felt like he was in a daze as he went about his day, attempting to act as though everything was normal. You hadn’t called like you normally did when you got a break from teaching; he’d looked at his phone what felt like every five seconds as he willed it to ring. But it never did. What would happen when he got home that night? What would you say to him? Do to him?

Javier was interrupted by a soft knock on his office door. He could have pretended he wasn’t there, but he almost welcomed the distraction at this point. After he called whoever was at the door in, it creaked open slowly before she walked in. Her walk was silent and she swayed her hips more than necessary as she sauntered over to his desk. Once she was in the light and he could get a proper look at her; his breath caught in his throat and he felt rage begin to boil in his blood.

It was her. That damned kid from one of his classes from last semester. He should have known. He should have Chelsea Peltz be capable of doing something like this.

“Hello Javi,” she had a smile like a Cheshire cat as she slipped into the chair opposite his. Javier’s eyes instinctively flicked to her stomach where he could see the small swell of a baby bump.

“It’s Professor Peña to you,” he insisted shortly as she laughed lightly, “what are you doing here? What have you done?”

“Your wife is very pretty,” she grinned as leaned back in her seat, “but she seems a little young for you-”

“Don’t you dare talk about her,” in another life he would have let his anger win over immediately. But not now; now he was able to control himself, despite how he practically shook with anger, “how dare you go to my home and ask for me. What the fuck were you thinking?”

“Your home is beautiful too,” she sighed wistfully, “I bet all of your kids are super cute like your little daughter.”

She snatched one of the picture frames off his desk and flipped it around to study it. It just so happened to be a picture of you, Lucia, Diego, Santi, and Thea all snuggled into your bed, watching a movie together. He’d captured the snap when none of you had been paying any attention to him; it had easily become one of his favorites.

The young girl trailed her fingers over it before he ripped it back out of her hands, “I was right. Beautiful children. You must really love her if you got her pregnant that many times. I bet you’re really good in-”

“Why?” he sounded somewhere between angry and desperate, “why did you do this? She thinks I cheated on her - she thinks I got you pregnant. I…how could you do this?”

“I really didn’t even have to do anything,” she shrugged playfully as if this was all some sort of joke, “I didn’t say I was there because I wanted you or that you knocked me up. I just asked where you were, I don’t think it’s that weird…”

“You knew exactly what you were doing,” his chest rose and fell rapidly as he reminded him to keep calm, “why?”

“I was so nice to you last semester,” she pouted as she leaned towards him, “all I wanted was some alone time with you. Everyone knows you’re the hot professor. But you kept turning me down even when I was so nice. And then you failed me. I told you I would do anything to get my grade up. I would have sucked your cock, let you fuck me. Aren’t I pretty, Javi? You like them younger, right?”

“You failed the class because you didn’t turn in any assignments and flunked the midterm and final. I didn’t do that - you did. Your grade reflected that-”

“I just wanted you,” she hissed through gritted teeth, “and if I can’t have you and then no one will. I wonder what the school will say when I tell them you forced yourself on me - when you got me pregnant? Your career will be ruined. I wonder what your pretty little wife will do. Will she really stay with you through anything? Or will she take your kids away from you and leave you forever?”

“You know that none of that happened,” he was seething at this point, “I never touched you, I never did anything.”

“That might be true,” she admitted, “but who is going to believe you? Are they really going to believe a grown man with a bad reputation that he thinks is behind him or an innocent young student? Tell me - who will they side with?”

“What do you want from me?”

“I already told you,” she leaned closer to him, “you.”

“Never,” he spat at her, seeing nothing but red, “never. You know what - you can walk out of this room and tell them whatever the fuck you want. I would rather lose my job and any future job than see you ever again. Maybe my wife won’t believe me, maybe she’ll hate me forever, but I’d rather have that than see your face ever again.”

“Really.”

“Now get the fuck out of here before I decide to make good on that bad reputation,” he was glowering in front of her as he hauled her out of the chair, his hand wrapping around her bicep as he dragged her towards the door, “you need to get help because you’ve got some issues. Do what you want, but don’t let me see you again. Don’t ever go near my wife or my family again. If you do, there will be problems. Clear?”

She swallowed thickly, unsure of what to do. She was in deep but the rage that she saw in his eyes was enough to scare her to the bone. Instead of saying anything else, she turned on her heel and stormed out of his office, slamming the door shut so harshly that several photos and prints fell off the wall.

Javier inhaled deeply, his whole body shaking as he sat on the edge of the desk. He felt tears pricking at the back of his eyes, as he picked up the photo of you and his babies. What would he do if you didn’t believe him? He didn’t know if he would ever survive without you. You were his world, his everything. He wiped away the tears that had rolled down his cheeks; the last time his heart had been this broken was after Santi and Thea were born and you were dealing with postpartum depression.

Another knock came at his door and he jumped off his desk and set the photo down as he tried to recover his appearance. After a few moments of hesitation the door opened and there you were. His heart dropped into his stomach and he awaited your anger. Instead, you looked at him with glossy eyes and tear stained cheeks, slowly walking over to him, “Javi.”

“Baby, I-”

“I heard,” you sniffled as you practically ran to him and through your arms around him in a tight embrace, wishing you never had to let him go, “I heard it all.”

He hugged you back, closing his eyes and burying his face into your neck, “I’m so sorry…for everything.”

“I’m sorry, Javi,” you pulled back and cradled his face in your hands, before kissing him softly, “I should never have…given into any thoughts about what she’d said or did. I never should have doubted you. I know you’d never…cheat on me.”

“I would rather be dead and buried rather than ever even entertain that notion,” he huffed lightly, trying to keep it together and not break down completely, “I would never. You are…everything. You always have been and always will be.”

“I know,” this time it was your turn to wipe away his tears, just like he had done for you so many times in the past, “you’re my everything too. But…what are we going to do about…her?”

“You are not going to do anything,” he promised, “you don’t have to deal with any of this, whatever the fall out might be. But I don’t think she’ll actually do anything…she’s cunning but she’s not smart. And it would be really easy to prove that the baby isn’t mine. It’s okay, we’ll be okay.”

“Okay…okay,” you agreed as he kissed you slowly, attempting to pour every last bit of love he had into you, “I love you.”

“I love you,” he whispered into your ear, “baby, I love you so much.”

“Come home with me,” you insisted as he just nodded in agreement, “let’s get away from all of this. I don’t want to think about it anymore. I just…I’m so sorry. Will you ever forgive me?”

“There’s nothing to forgive,” he promised as he took your hand and put it to his lips, kissing your knuckles, “I can’t even imagine what I would have thought if the situation was reversed. I’m not a good man and I’m afraid that I would have-”

“You are,” you reassured him, “you are a good man, Javier. What was in the past is not who you are. Is it bad that…I’m the one that wants to go after her and…I don’t even know. But I do know that if anyone tried to do anything to you or the kids, they would-”

Javier didn’t even give you a chance to finish before he captured your lips again, kissing you with a hungry, needy urge that you gave right back.

��Come on,” you whispered against his lips, “let’s go home, mi amor.”

“Dulzura,” he nuzzled his nose against yours, “mi sol, mi vida. I love you.”

“I love you more.”

#javier peña #Javier peña x reader #javier peña x you #javier peña x fem!reader #pedro pascal #pedro pascal x you #pedro pascal x reader #agm

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hccn-overseer · 9 months

Text

Issue 17, 8/9/2023 - The Overseer

Issue Masterpost About the Overseer

Weekly Weather Report

By Lydia

Temperatures are represented using Celsius. Sorry, Americans!

Wednesday: Temperatures will reach a high of 30 degrees with a low of 22 degrees. Skies will be clear throughout the day with light showers throughout the evening and overnight.

Thursday: Temperatures will reach a high of 28 degrees with a low of 15 degrees. Skies will be partly cloudy with a breezy afternoon.

Friday: Temperatures will reach a high of 30 degrees with a low of 15 degrees. Skies will be mostly clear throughout the morning and afternoon with light showers throughout the evening.

Saturday: Temperatures will reach a high of 33 degrees with a low of 20 degrees. Afternoon thundershowers are possible, however, it is expected they will be easily avoided, courtesy of Bdubs.

Sunday: Temperatures will reach a high of 25 degrees and a low of 14 degrees. Skies will have scattered showers throughout the day and gusty winds.

Monday: Temperatures will reach a high of 27 degrees and a low of 13 degrees. Skies will be clear throughout the entire day and evening, however, whirlpools will be very active, so be careful if you are going swimming.

Tuesday: Temperatures will reach a high of 28 degrees and a low of 19 degrees. Heavy rain is possible throughout the early morning hours and afternoon, however, late morning and overnight is expected to be clear.

Wednesday: Temperatures will reach a high of 25 degrees and a low of 12 degrees. Skies will be mostly cloudy throughout the entire day and evening.

Now onto other news under the cut!

Astrology Corner: BarbieheimerScopes

(Yes I know that's not how you spell it hush.)

By Corundumcat

Have you been feeling without guidance? Do you look at your birthday, look up your star sign, and wonder, “Will I feel weird after the movie?” “Am I Allan or Kenough?” Don’t worry, here at The Overseer, we can help you.*

Aries: You are the actor Barbie who is in all of the Barbie Movies.

Taurus: You are the Barbie from the 2011 TV series.

Gemini: Ken with the job of Beach. Don’t worry Beach needs you.

Cancer: You are (K)enough. You are the Ken in the third act after “I’m Just Ken”

Leo: Oppenheimer. You are the coffee cup in fantasy movies that somehow made it into the movie.

Virgo: You are the president Barbie.

Libra: You are the Pink Shoes Barbie.

Scorpio: You are the Ken from all of the pre “Barbie and Her Sisters in The Great Puppy Adventure.”

Sagittarius: Allan. You’re unique and there is only one of you.

Capricorn: You are the barbie who shouldn’t have worn makeup to the Barbie Movie. You are the Original Barbie.

Aquarius: You are all of the animals in all of the Barbie Movies.

Pisces: Bibble. <3

All star signs: “I'm just Ken (And I'm enough), And I'm great at doing stuff” - Ken

*Ignore how blatantly specific these are. Nothing bad will happen to you. This author is running out of ideas for horoscopes and is the Barbie with too many jobs. I have like 5 :)

Lost and Found

By Lydia

All of the following items have been brought to The Overseer staff’s office for safekeeping until they are claimed. If you recognize one of these items as yours, please visit us to receive your items, or contact us at [email protected]. Thank you! *Not a real email address.

Item 1: Three perfume vials with ornate designs These perfume vials appear to be made in the style of the 19th century, with clear tints and hexagonal bases and stoppers. They depict designs of Endermen and Sniffers.

Item 2: A pair of brand new sneakers These sneakers have never been worn, as their packaging is still intact. They do not appear to have any specific brand and have very long shoelaces. The shoes themselves are bright orange with blue stripes overtop of them, and white laces.

Item 3: A wooden sculpture depicting abstract interpretations of Joe Hills’ poems This wooden sculpture stands at approximately 5 feet tall. It has various branches, curves, contortions, and concave portions. It is made out of birch wood and is not painted any particular color.

Item 4: A large model of a colorful moth made out of wigs and pipecleaners This model is very large, standing at approximately 8 feet tall and contains various colors, including red, orange, purple, green, blue, and yellow.

Item 5: A costume mannequin This mannequin stands at approximately 5’7” tall and has a very stocky build. It is made out of acacia wood.

Item 6: A dodo bird This dodo bird speaks the coordinates of the Rift in Empires, not the Rift under Grian’s base. It has a saddle. No other speech has been detected from this bird.

Item 7: A miniature diorama of The Shopping District in a bottle Created in the style of a Ship-In-A-Bottle craft, this miniature diorama of The Shopping District is very detailed and can be fully viewed with the use of a magnifying glass.

Item 8: A replica of a L.O.O.T. Shard This meticulous replica speaks in the same voices as those by the Tree of Whimsy. The person who located this item has been cured from past issues and has befriended the voices. They have become silly together.

Item 9: An armor set in an overgrown box This set includes a chestplate with knockback 2, a helmet with sharpness 3, leggings with punch 2, and boots with multishot. The box this set came in was found very overgrown.

NOTE: Lost items will be sent to Twinkly Trash if not picked up after two weeks. A window has already been broken and no one is paid enough to take care of the dodo bird long-term.

Fun and Games

This week's fun and games are brought to you once again by Lydia and Azure!

Word Search and Crossword by Lydia

Brain Teasers by Azure

And that's all for this week folks! Thank you for reading and have a wonderful one :D

#issue #hermitcitizen #hccn weather #hccn astrology corner #hccn lost and found #hccn fun and games

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landosgirl97 · 1 year

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can we get a chase blurb fluff?

youre spending easter with his family for the first time you have a bit too much wine so you are half asleep on the couch you over hear chase saying that he wants to marry you to his siblings?

Easter was always a crazy time when it comes to family getting together. Chase was finally able to take some time off so we could both visit our families. We decided to see mine Thursday and Friday afternoon, then fly out and spend Saturday night and Sunday with his family. We got there just in time for dinner, and Chase’s mom opened a bottle of wine for us to celebrate Chase being able to come home. Dinner was nice, I got to spend my time talking to his mom and Kaden, Rylie, and Kendall. “How has work been, Y/N? Crazy?” My eyes got. Wide an I nodded, swallowing my sip of wine. “Yes! It’s kind of crazy! And the amount of people who come to my office just to ask questions about Chase is kind of insane.” His family laughed, and Chase shook his head, laying a hand on my knee and squeezing softly. “I’m sorry sweetheart.” I shook my head, looking up at him slightly, “it’s okay! It’s endearing honestly knowing that your fans love you so much. Most of them respect it when I say I don’t want to discuss it at work, so it’s fine with me.” He nods, smiling giddily at me as I turn to talk to Rylie. I had missed her birthday due to family obligations so she was telling me stories about her party, with Kaden cutting in to put in his two cents every once in a while. When dinner was over, we sat at the dinning room table and talked, his mother refilling my wine until the bottle was gone. We decided to clean up, get in comfortable clothes and watch a movie in the living room. While Chase and Kaden helped Jennifer with the dishes, Kendall, Rylie and I were belting out Top 40 hits and dancing together in the living room. We took turns using kitchen utensils as microphones and upping up and down while the rest of thee family laughed when they could see us.

We all made our way to our rooms when the kitchen was cleaned up, getting ready for a movie night. I was standing in front of thee bathroom mirror taking off my makeup and taking out my contacts when I felt Chase’s arms snake around my waist as he placed a soft kiss on my head. “How did I get so lucky?” He mumbled, placing his chin on my head. I just shrugged, letting him sway me back and forth for a minute before I turned in his arms, placing my arms on his chest and placing a soft kiss on his lips. “I love you. Thank you for bringing me this weekend.” Chase scoffs, “I wouldn’t have it any other way. Here, do you want to wear my hoodie?” I immediately pulled it from his hands, sliding it on and sighing. He grabbed my hand, leading me downstairs to where the family was sprawled out on the floor and couch, leaving the chaise for Chase and I. Chase sat, leaving space between his legs for me to sit, and then covered us with a blanket. Jennifer pressed play on the movie and passed the popcorn. The wine must have finally hit me, because halfway through the movie I could feel my eyelids getting heavy. I tried to fight it, but ended up relaxing against Chase’s thigh and closing my eyes. He started to run his fingers through my hair and I fell asleep for a while until I heard his voice. I was trying to fall back asleep but couldn’t ye3t. Then, I heard Jennifer. “Yes sweetheart, I like her a lot! You seem so relaxed and happy with her.” He nods, “I am. She’s…. Amazing. There aren’t words I can use to describe her. She just has so much love to give and she is so happy and upbeat and it really helps when I’m drained.” Riley spoke up, “So, you’re gonna marry her, right? Like, it’s obvious you guys are made for each other.” I feel Chase’s hand pause momentarily in my hair before I hear him sigh. “I want to, yeah. I already have a ring design in mind, but I don’t want to rush into anything and scare her either.” Jennifer said, “I saw the way she looks at you. That girl is madly in love with you. I can almost guarantee she will say yes. She looks at you like you’re the only thing in the world that matters to her.” “Well, I asked her dad and he gave me his permission to marry her, but I’m still hesitant. I don’t want her to have to give up her career to be with me even though she offered. I don’t want her to have to do distance with me either.” “Who says she has to give it up? Maybe she’d be willing to relocate but be able to find a job closer.” “That’s true.. thanks mom. I better get her to bed. She’s had a long week. I love you guys.” Chase scooped me up in his arms and carried me upstairs to bed. He tucked me in, getting in soon after and pulling me into him. “Goodnight baby, I love you.”

#chase stokes fanfiction #chase stokes #chase stokes imagine #chase stokes fic #outer banks #obx #outer banks imagine #outer banks fic #obx fic #john b routledge

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girlwiththepapatattoo · 1 year

Text

Protocols for the Exceptionally Lonely: Interlude 5

Warnings: Kenpachi-typical blood and injury, super mega fluff

Summary: Societal connections are difficult for someone from Zaraki. (Takes place before the main story.)

Notes: Happy Thursday everyone! Super fluffy chapter coming at you today, which was an absolutely joy to write. I hope you like it!

Read on Ao3 here!

////////////////////////////

“Oh, are you done for the day, Akane-san?”

“I am, yes. I hope you have a good afternoon, Satsuki-san. If you need anything, send a…” Chōko Akane pauses as the front desk clerk, a cheerful, tiny woman who has endless patience for the bureaucratic challenges of the 4th division, goes pale, looking up (and up) over Akane’s shoulder. That’s when she feels the weight of an absurdly powerful reiatsu settle on her shoulders, and she sighs, already knowing who she’ll find behind her. “Zaraki-taichō, I’m afraid that I’m–what the hell happened to you?!” she gasps as she turns around.

Zaraki Kenpachi, infamous and feared captain of the 11th division, stands before her, bleeding profusely from a face that looks halfway to ground beef. He grins faintly down at the woman before him. “Caught a building in Rukongai with my face,” he replies cheerfully.

Akane actually slaps a hand to her face. “...yes, okay, fine. Satsuki-san, please draw up the paperwork for overtime for me.”

“Y-Yes, Akane-san, right away,” comes the all but squeaked reply.

“Follow me, Zaraki-taichō, and try your best not to bleed all over the floor.” She sweeps off down the hall.

“Tch. I’ll bleed wherever the hell I want, woman,” is his answer, and she rolls her eyes.

4th division members leap out of their way, flattening themselves against the walls as they pass. Akane is outwardly serene, even if inside she’s cursing. She’d been looking forward to dinner and a hot bubble bath with a glass of sake and a good book. Now she has to heal Zaraki. Normally that wouldn’t be so bad: she’s one of the few who actually enjoys the rough captain’s blunt way of conversing.

She’ll never tell him that though.

But she’s had a long day, and just wants to relax. Ah, well, my tub will still be there a little later, she thinks as she opens the door to her regular clinic room.

“You know the drill, Zaraki-taichō,” she says, and Kenpachi immediately sits down on the exam table, his visible eye on her as she pulls her winter coat back off, washes her hands and pulls on gloves. Then she grabs a stack of paper towels and fills a small bucket with a mix of water and disinfectant. “I hardly have to say it anymore, but it’s protocol,” she murmurs as she pushes a small step-stool over. She may be tall, but he’s a giant, and she’d rather he be as comfortable as possible for this. “I’ll-”

“-clean the blood away, look for debris, then heal me,” he grunts, and she can’t help but smirk.

“So you do listen to me. Color me surprised.”

“Tch. You’ve always had a smart mouth, woman.” He smirks faintly, and she hates that her stomach does a small flip. “You’re lucky I like you.”

“Am I?” she replies, and he can see her lips trying not to curl into a smile. “If you didn’t I could be home by now, making dinner.”

An amused rumbling sound from his chest makes goosebumps prickle along her shoulder blades. She’s glad he can’t see her physical response. “Shit like this won’t take long to heal.”

“It will if I have to cut out a piece of wood because your reiatsu healed it under your skin.”

“Building was made out of stone,” he says with a grin.

“Oh, pardon me, my mistake,” she says with only a little hint of sarcasm. She tosses the third blood-soaked paper towel into a garbage can. “Really, how did a building get thrown at you anyway?”

“Was fightin’ hollows,” he grunts, “in an abandoned area out near Kusajishi. Fuckin’ thing thought that would actually work.” He chuckles, closing his un-patched eye at her gentle touch on his right jaw.

“Yes, well. Be glad it missed your visible eye,” she murmurs. “Eyes have never been my strong suit to heal.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” It goes quiet for a while as she works, and when she’s almost done cleaning the blood away he clears his throat. “You uh…got plans for New Years?”

“Beyond delivering some gifts to my friends, I do not,” she replies absently, distracted as she is with looking for rocks in his face.

“Good. Got a job for you.”

She blinks, her hands stilling in surprise. “A…job?” Her brows come together. “I’m not in your division, Zaraki-taichō. Healing you is my job.”

“You still gotta follow a captain’s orders, don’t you?” he retorts, and her lips press into a thin line.

“Yes…what is the job then?”

His eye flicks away, his shoulders stiffen a little, and if she didn’t know any better she’d think that Zaraki Kenpachi is nervous. Then his eye meets hers again and he all but barks, “I order you to come with me to Kyōraku’s New Years party.”

She reels back from him in surprise so quickly that she starts to topple backwards off her stool. He quickly grabs her, his hands around her biceps, and yanks her back to safety. “I–you–what?! As in, to be your date?”

“Yeah.”

“...you’re ordering me to be your New Years date?”

His eye-ridge twitches. “Yeah.”

“Why not just ask me like a normal person?” she asks incredulously, even as she restarts checking over the gashes and scrapes on his face.

“Because Ken-chan doesn’t think you’d say yes!” a brightly cheerful voice suddenly chirps from the window. Kenpachi has to catch Akane again as she jumps with a small yelp, spying Kusajishi Yachiru sitting on the windowsill, beaming happily and kicking her little feet.

“Yachiru!” Kenpachi growls. “I told you to wait outside!”

“But Ken-chan, it’s boooooooring out there!” she says with a pout. “You said I couldn’t throw snowballs at the people walking by! And it’s cold!”

“Then go back to the 11th,” he grumbles. “You can throw snowballs at Ikkaku. I’ll be there soon enough.”

“Okay! Bye, Aka-chan!” And she’s gone, leaving Akane blinking, a bit lost.

“Okay…okay, let’s start over,” she says, and the absolute confusion in her tone would have made Kenpachi laugh if he weren’t working on trying not to be embarrassed. “You want me to be your New Year’s date, but you didn’t think I’d say yes if you just…asked, so you’re trying to order me to do it?”

“...yes,” he replies reluctantly, his tone clipped.

She has to bite the inside of her cheek to keep from giggling. It’s so typically him, but it’s also rather adorable. “Zaraki-taichō…first of all, why even ask me?”

He huffs, rubbing the back of his neck and staring at her shoulder. “...You know that Yama-jī doesn’t plan the party, right? He puts Kyōraku and Ukitake in charge of the plannin’ and shit. That asshole Kyōraku made dates mandatory, but if I don’t show up he’ll come and get me himself, AND set me up with some woman who’s obviously terrified. Don’t want that, for myself or the poor woman he ropes into it.” His eye flicks to hers for a brief moment before he shrugs. “You’re the only woman I see regularly who ain’t scared of me, and we get along pretty decently.”

“I see.” Her hand on his cheek begins to glow a gentle green as she calls up the healing kidō. “And even though we get along decently, you still felt the need to make it an order?” To her shock he begins to blush…which isn’t great for his condition right now, considering how many lacerations he has across his face. Fresh blood begins to seep from a few of the larger wounds, but she just shakes her head and wipes it away. “Zaraki-taichō. Ask me normally.”

He glowers at her. “No.”

“I won’t follow that order.”

He scowls now. “You’re gonna disobey a direct order from a taichō?”

“No taichō in the history of the Seireitei would actually arrest me for not following an order like that,” she replies wryly, making him huff. “Zaraki-taichō.” Her voice has gentled, and he meets her eye again in surprise at her tone. She’s smiling, and there’s something fond in the look that makes the blush on his cheeks deepen faintly. “Ask me normally. Please.”

He swallows, clears his throat, takes a deep breath, and finally blurts, “Come with me to the New Year’s party.”

She rolls her eyes, but the fondness deepens. “Is that even a question? Come on, Zaraki-taichō.”

He growls faintly in frustration, then takes a few more deep breaths and finally says, “Akane. Will you come with me to the New Year’s party?”

She beams at him, a bright, beautiful smile forming across her lips. “I’d love to! It’s next Thursday, right? What time?”

He stares at her. “...really?”

“Yes, really.” She raises an eyebrow. “Did you think I’d say no?”

“Yes,” he replies bluntly.

She rolls her eyes. “Kenpachi, I’m sarcastic, not cruel. I wouldn’t have made you ask me properly only to turn you down. Yes, really, I would be delighted to go with you.”

In spite of himself, he can’t stop the genuine smile that pulls at his lips as the last of his wounds heal shut. “Good. Good! It starts at six, and he wants everyone to bring a bottle of their favorite booze.”

Her face falls a little. “Ah, I see.”

“What’s wrong?” he asks, a little concerned.

“It’s…nothing really. I just don’t drink much.” To his surprise, she begins to blush. “I’m really a lightweight.”

“You can’t be that bad,” he says, shrugging dismissively. “I’ll bring the booze, don’t worry about it.”

She smiles faintly. “Thank you.” She steps down, picking up her cleaning supplies. “You’re all done, Zaraki-taichō. Please try not to catch any more buildings with your face until next week.”

He barks a laugh, then to her surprise he suddenly leans down and catches her up in a hug. “Thanks, Akane.” Then he’s gone, and she’s left wondering whether he thanked her for the healing, or for agreeing to be his date.

She’s also wondering how it’s possible for the most feared captain to smell so damn good.

Then she shakes her head and finishes cleaning up. Dinner and her bath can wait: she’s going to put more thought this time into his New Year’s gift than just a bottle of sake and a bag of candy for Yachiru. She clocks out and heads for the shopping district of Rukongai with a happy smile on her face and a spring in her step.

#bleach fanfiction #zaraki kenpachi #kenpachi x oc #bleach kenpachi #my writing

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laiqualaurelote · 2 years

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I got double-tagged in the Out Of Touch Thursday tag game - thank you to lovely @auntieclimactic and @swallowtailed for tagging - to share a snippet of a fic I’m working on. I’m so out of touch that it’s no longer Thursday, and have spent the past month embroiled in a morass of Major Life Events, but am confident that I will be back on my nonsense soon. In the meantime, here’s a snippet from A Gentleman’s Guide To Love And Piracy:

“Good afternoon, ladies,” said Izzy. “Is this seat taken?”

“Yeah,” said Anne Bonny, who was lightly stabbing a butterfly knife between her spread fingers. “Saving it for Mary.”

“Mary is already sitting on your right,” Izzy pointed out.

“It’s my big dick energy,” said Mary Read. “Takes up so much space. It’s such an affliction. You wouldn’t know, of course.”

Izzy opted to remain standing. “How’s it going?”

“Convention’s shit, as usual,” said Anne. “Every year they ask us to do the gender diversity panel, and it’s always me and her and Madam Zheng and Jackie. Not very diverse, if you ask me.”

“Cut the small talk, gizzard face,” drawled Mary. “What d’you want?”

“I have a proposition,” said Izzy. “An opportunity to exact vengeance for your husband, Anne.”

Anne squinted at him. “My husband?”

“Calico Jack.”

“Oh, that guy.” Anne frowned. “Didn’t he get blown up by the British navy?”

“Well, yes,” allowed Izzy. “But the man responsible for putting him in that position is here right now, at the convention.”

“Imagine, if you will, the number of miles between here and England,” said Anne. “Then replace all those miles with fucks. And then perhaps you will have some idea of how many fucks I do not give about avenging my asshole ex.”

“We’ll do it if you give us a ton of money though,” put in Mary. “What?” she added as Anne made a face at her. “You said yourself you wanted cabin upgrades, babe. We’ll do it for fifty doubloons,” she told Izzy. “Each.”

“Fine,” said Izzy. He could probably charge it to expenses. Edward wouldn’t even notice. “I’ll point him out.”

Mary grinned. “Sure thing. You can leave it on Read.”

Tagging @justplainsalty, @glamorouspixels, @prewars and anyone else who wants to play!

#tag game #our flag means death #ofmd #ofmd fic #izzy hands #anne bonny #mary read

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springgirlwaiting4fall · 2 years

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You and your Darling wanted to spend a fun day outside, everything was planned...and then it fucking pours. Do you have a backup plan or so you just spend the day at home?

As soon as I opened this, my mind immediately went to Dax. But than the doubts starting coming in, because I’ve been focused on him so much lately. So I tried thinking off other AEW Darlings who I would want to spend a rainy day with: Trent, Eddie, Santana, MJF, Ortiz, and even my most favorite idiot Max Caster. But nothing came. So strap on your seatbelt lady, because you are getting another Dax and me. I would say sorry…but I’m not. 😂 😝

When I was younger I used to be all about spring, but in my twenties that changed. All of a sudden, the world just seemed most magical in the fall. The air had a chill to it and I could wear flannels and cute boots. Halloween and thanksgiving two awesome holidays happened in the fall. And best of all, the activities that you could do in fall: Pumpkin picking, scary movies, costume parties, apple picking, making apple cider, decorating, carving and painting pumpkins.

Tomorrow was going to be one of the best fall days I could imagine. My boyfriend Dax was home on a Saturday, and with his schedule that was a huge deal. I went all out making plans. We would wake up and head right out, stoping for Dax’s coffee and hot chocolate for me. He would drive us over to this adorable farm where we could snuggle on a hayride and pick apples. Than we would go out for lunch and stop at the store so I could get ingredients to make apple pie. Dax even promised to help make it and we would have it after dinner while we sat outside on our sun porched and star watched.

My excitement quickly turned to disappointment when I woke up on Saturday and the whole sky was dark. I cursed the weather channel out in my head, when Dax told me on Thursday, he would be home my app said Saturday would be clear skies and and 63 degrees. I hoped that maybe it would be a quick thunderstorm and that we would be able to go out in the afternoon to pick apples. But I had no luck, it was only going to get worse as the day went on. I felt myself get teary eyed which was stupid, but my I couldn’t help feeling so disappointed. I turned Dax’s phone alarm off and went downstairs to pout. At least Dax would get to sleep in now, a luxury he normally didn’t get.

It’s a little after 10 when Dax comes shuffling down. I’m still on the sofa in my pajamas watching New Girl (the show I binge when I’m bummed and need a laugh) when he comes over and sits down with me. Dax wraps his arms around me and pulls me into his chest, before giving me a kiss on my temple. “I’m sorry firefly (the nickname he given me since ‘I brightened up his life’.) I know how excited you were.”

I kiss his lips and the instant they touch his I do feel a tad better. I’m here with the love of my life and we get to spend a weekend day together. I’m not going to waste this opportunity. “I am bummed. Cuddling next to you on a hayride would be the perfect start to fall. But we can always do that another day. And on a weekday it won’t be as crowded.”

We sit and finish watching the episode where Jess finds Nick dancing to reggae music.

The show ends, Dax stand up, takes my hands, and pulls me up. I have to bend my head to look up at him, since he is so much taller than me. He gives me a deep, knee weakening kiss. “Get dress,” Dax whispers in my ear, before lightly spanking my butt and running off to get in the shower first. I still dress in my apple picking planning episode and Dax makes my stomach do a flip flop In his jeans and Bret hart shirt. I still can’t believe someone as funny, charming, smart kind, talented, athletic, and such a handsome man loves me. And he doesn’t believe any of those things about himself, but I vowed to make sure that one day he will believe all those things about himself.

The first place we go to is a cute café we never been to before. Dax drinks at least 4 coffees with his brunch and I eat fluffy waffles with warm maple syrup and drink a mimosa. I try to ask Dax where we’re going next, but he won’t tell me. He pulls into a Halloween store and we spend our time walking through the whole store. We debate on what our costumes will be, with me coming up with so many ideas and Dax insisting we don’t need to dress up. Him

And I both know we will have matching costumes October 31st. We end up picking up a few new decorations and I’m bouncing out of the store. The rain has really started to pick up, but Dax says that we have one more stop left.

Dax pulls into a target parking lot, I raise my eyebrows at him and ask if we’re out of toilet paper or something. He takes my hand into his and kisses my wrist before saying, “don’t start doubting me.” We walk into the store holding hands and Dax grabs a cart. Together we take our time even when I have to look through the Dollar spot section and the office supplies for any cute journals or pens. He never rushes me. In the grocery area Dax starts loading up on soda, popcorn, and the movie theater style box candies. We have lived together for two years now, I know Dax doesn’t think I’m a gold digger or anything like that, but I still try to pay. He rolls his eyes and swipes his card before I can even get mine out of my handbag.

The rain has really picked up by the time we got home. It’s thundering and lightning, and the rain is coming down so hard that I thought Dax would have to pull over on the way home. Dax has me run ahead and unlock the front door while he grabs all the bag. Once we’re inside we change into our more comfortable at home clothes and Dax turns on the fireplace that is under the tv. We cuddle back on the sofa with all the snacks. I laugh, squeeze Dax’s waist and kiss his cheek when he turns on Hocus Pocus. He hates the movie, but he loves me more. The rain might have ruined our plans, but it couldn’t ruin our perfect fall Saturday.

#aew #aew fanfiction #dax harwood #cash and dax #Dax and I #my best girl request #I reply #Halloween and fall vibes only #ftr #top girls out

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valerie · 7 months

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TWITL - week 40 - middle of fall break

It's day 5 of my long weekend aka the last day of my long weekend. I've been off since Thursday because I wanted to be home on Thursday to watch the New Zealand play Uruguay in their last match of group stage in the Rugby World Cup. The All Blacks won 73-0. SWEET! Now it's on to the quarter finals, where they will face Ireland. Yikes! I think I'm pretty much cheering for the southern hemisphere teams at this point but most especially for the All Blacks. Of course. https://flic.kr/p/2p7DaAg cheering on the All Blacks LUNCH WITH THE FESTIVAL CREW https://flic.kr/p/2p8cA9a Festival Crew - October 7th (photos by HP) Saturday afternoon, we headed out to Livermore so that I could meet up with some of my friends from my movie theatre working days. Decades ago, we all worked together at a place called Festival Cinemas in Hayward. The theatre is long gone but we're all still around and whenever we get the chance, we meet up for a meal and conversation together. (Thank you, Sam!) It's always so lovely to see old friends and catch up. Social media only tells a little of our stories, eh? I look at our faces in these pictures and I still see how we looked back in our uniforms, behind the concessions stand or sweeping up in the auditoriums. I'm thankful that we all see each other now and again. We met up at Sauced. The food was good but it was pretty loud there. We all sort of had to yell a bit to talk but it was still fun! My food was delicious and everyone seemed to enjoy their choices for the most part. Later on, I realized that I was the only one without kids. They're all parents. Hmm... https://flic.kr/p/2p7QoKT I'm pretty sure no one knew I was taking this shot... TV & MOVIES Ahsoka - I liked this show well enough but if I hadn't watched all those recap videos on YouTube, I would have been a little confused. I think the show suffers from drawing much too much from previous shows (Rebels and Clone Wars), which is great for those folks who watched those shows but not so great for casual viewers. I think a show or a movie, no matter how connected it might be to a larger story, should be a good story in of itself. For me, Ahsoka missed on that mark. And the way it ended made it seem as though the season was just an in between moment, part of a larger whole. Do I care what happens next? I don't know if there was enough in the show for me to answer yes... Loki - I am so glad this show is back. I hope this show sticks to the character moments and twisty plot points like the first season. The first episode of the second season was good! It was exciting and funny and had me on the edge of my seat. I cannot wait to see what happens next! Strays - This movie was silly but hilarious. It's fun watching dogs talk and go on crazy adventures... https://flic.kr/p/2p7goMP the work desk companions in vacation mode... SOCIAL MEDIA Honestly, I will only slightly mourn the final demise of Twitter (@walelia). I am staying there until the bitter end but most of my posts are Wordle or telling people where else you can find me. :P I don't post much else there and I don't spend a lot of time there either. I don't see a lot of the weird crap that is apparently there because I have fine tuned my feed and no one cares enough to try and antagonize me. I do, however, see things from a few people I follow that just make me sad. So how am I faring on the three new networks I'm using? Read on... Threads (@kiari) - I do like how this one is tied to my IG account. Of the three that I'm using (mostly) daily, this one is the one that has more people I care about following. A lot of the YouTube tech folks I follow seem to use Threads more than the other two I'm checking out and it's fun to get replies or likes when commenting on their posts. Threads is honestly pretty chill though there are those folks who think they need to tell their followers about what's going in the world as though they're not smart enough to look elsewhere for that stuff. I do want Threads to succeed and even if it doesn't, I think I will keep using it. Spoutible (@valerie) - Honestly, this one is the most stable of the three I'm using. The people there have started to chill out a little and there's more balance. I follow a good group of people of differing backgrounds but similar viewpoints. They are the most "real" and it honestly feels like the early days of social media networks-- people finding connection in their differences and exploring new perspectives. The folks behind the scenes are working constantly on new features and rolling them out when stable. I think Spoutible is a sleeper in the new social media realm. Also, how can I not love a place where I get to use my actual name as my handle? Bluesky (@kiari.com) - This one feels the most Twitter-cloney. I don't say that as a bad thing and it could even be a good thing except they are suffering from a super slow rollout to users. I try and look for users to follow but when I try the "discover" or "popular with friends" feeds, they end up being mostly posts of people I already follow! I was so excited to get my invite that I just started using it but it's a little boring. I put in the effort because that's what I like to do-- I like to try new things. Things that make my eyes roll when reading at different socials about other socials: - "Is anyone using this?" - This is a familiar refrain on Threads. Why are you posting on Threads yet asking if anyone is using it? YOU ARE USING IT by posting! Lord. - "The other platforms aren't as good as this one..." - Or something of the like. This one seems to happen regularly on Spoutible. I roll my eyes and refrain from saying, "Just focus on this social network and don't worry about the others. They can all exist together." - "The place formerly known as Twitter is a cesspool and using it means you're supporting EVIL." This one happens everywhere. People post thought essays with this thesis and I just shake my head. If you don't want to post on Twitter, then don't. But just because people still post there doesn't mean they're supporting evil, etc. STFU on that. - "All these social networks needs to support real time news." No they don't, people on Threads who keep belaboring this point. Social networks are supposed to be about people. If WE want to share news, then let's post a link to a legitimate news site. But I don't need my social media to be constant news. There are other networks for that AND legitimate news sites. If those news sites want to have profiles on the different social networks, that's on them but I should have a choice on whether or not to follow them. https://flic.kr/p/2p8bRmw As mentioned at the top, today is my last day of a long weekend. I got up early, got ready, and was on the road to Kaiser to get my COVID and flu shots of the season. I was at the right place before 8:45 AM and waited along with mostly older folks. It was funny listening to a couple of those older folks: Older man: Is this where I get my COVID and flu shot? Staff member: No, you'll line up over there. Older man: Over where? Staff member: Over there. OM: So I get my shots over there? SM: Yes. OM: So what is this place? SM: This is adult injection. OM: So I get my COVID and flu shot here? SM: No, you get in line over there. OM: So what what is this place? I thought I had to check in here. SM: No, you don't have to check in here. You wait in line over there. This is where you get other shots. OM: I want my COVID and flu shot. SM: You'll wait in line over there. OM: The sign says COVID and flu shots here. SM: Yes, over there. Or something like that. It was excruciating to hear and amusing too. The staff member was SUPER PATIENT and I thought, "Damn, I don't know that I would have that much patience!" I ended up sixth in line for my shots. They took three people in at a time and OMG, I had to listen to the nurse tell the patient in her chair that they only have Pfizer, they don't have Moderna yet. The patient had only ever gotten Moderna before and must have asked the nurse if she should take the Pzifer. The nurse told her that she couldn't make the decision for her, that she could only tell her that they had no Moderna. The patient ended up getting the Pfizer. When it was my turn, I had my card in hand, answered her questions, then had to wait for her to get the vials. It was over soon after and I walked out to a line longer than when I got there. I was so glad to get it done! https://flic.kr/p/2p87nwC I drove back to Brentwood and ended up at Mabuhay to order the longsilog and pork adobe plate. I had to wait for the longsilog! But I didn't care since I didn't have anything else to do. I went down a few shops and bought some Starbread as well. I actually had my longsilog for breakfast as opposed to dinner, like I usually do. Breakfast for breakfast, what a concept! ;) I only have to work three days this week so I'm not too sad about my long weekend ending. Hopefully the work days pass peacefully enough. Maybe I'll watch a movie on Friday... https://flic.kr/p/2p8b1fL I'll end this here. Get your shots when you can! Let yourself feel those little moments of joy. :) Read the full article

#COVID-19 #FestivalCrew #movies #socialmedia #tv

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sunspray-peak · 9 months

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Ch. 37: Foxes Getting Married

THURSDAY - FALL 19

Stardew Valley was in for an Indian summer, according to Achilles’ favorite Zuzu4 meteorologist, Amelia McCarten.

In response to this sudden skyrocket in temperatures, Shane had advised they kick off the canning process a week early before any of their cranberries could spoil prematurely in the baking sun. Thank goodness Achilles had placed the order for jars last week!

Unfortunately, Shane had had to head to his now twice-a-week Joja shift after lunch, leaving a mildly irked Achilles alone in his kitchen standing over a boiling stove where a giant pot of sugar water simmered.

Bad day to wear glasses, he thought, folding the fogged lenses and setting them on the counter behind one of the three boxes of red berries he and Shane had picked earlier that morning. He had woken with a terrible headache and had been forced to ditch his usual contacts—must not have slept well… and all this suffocating steam wasn’t helping either…

Just five more hours to kill… Elliott had invited him to dinner again. Just had to keep busy until then…

A knock at the door.

Not Lewis not Lewis not Lewis…

Since the fair, Achilles had been avoiding the mayor, who had been incredibly insistent (and who had eventually devolved into making threats) he join him and Gus as an “honored guest and cherished representative of the community” for an upcoming gala in Zuzu City. No doubt the governor would be there. No doubt Achilles was to be used as ammo in Lewis’ forever quest for increased tax credits.

He attempted to sneak a surreptitious peak from the behind the window curtains, but the figure on his porch step must’ve anticipated this, and Achilles was met with a comical close-up of Alex staring with his face pressed against the glass.

“I just cleaned that,” Achilles said in greeting as he wrenched open the door. “Oh Yoba, that’s nice…” A cool breeze had quickly wafted through, swirling through the sauna that had been festering in his kitchen.

“Good morning to you, too. Or, I guess it’s afternoon now…” Alex gave him a little wave from the porch before sheepishly attempting to wipe the window with the sleeve of his letterman. “Sorry about that.”

“Don’t apologize, I was lying. I’ve never wiped a window in my life.”

Even so, Alex couldn’t help but finish wiping the mark away, peering through the glass at the scene in the kitchen. “What are you up to? Sorry, am I disturbing something? ”

“Hell no. What are you up to and can I join? I’ll take any excuse to quit canning.” Achilles pointed his thumb at the stacks of mason jars behind him and waved for Alex to step inside. Voltaire was keeping watch over the cranberries, having planted himself next to the filled jars. “Shane thought it’d be a good idea. And then Shane left.”

“Sounds about right… just thought since you finished that ‘stupid little draft of yours,’ you could use a break. Weather’s nice. Thought you might want to join me, I’m going for a swim.” Alex picked up a jar and gave it a sniff. “Hey, you can make sure I don’t drown—not that you’d be able to save me, but you could maybe throw the ring, assuming your aim is better than your backstroke—”

“Yeah, yeah. A bit cold though, isn’t it? I know it’s peculiarly warm these days, but still, compared to Summer?”

“Eh, I mean I don’t know, it’s not bad once you really get moving. No colder than a pool. But you don’t have to swim if you don’t want, I’ll mostly be, um, practicing, anyway. Training. Or we could stop by Willy’s, get you a wet suit so you don’t die of hypothermia.”

“Right… I think I’ll just stay in the boat. Maybe I’ll bring a book, how about that? Now just give a minute, will you, I have to finish this… syrup, or whatever the fuck it’s called…”

*****

To be honest, Achilles wanted nothing better than to soothe his headache with a mind numbing paperback (perhaps one of the ones Shane had gifted him last season), but it was his own book that he had chosen to bring onto the boat—or, at least, the outline he had been wrestling with and was continuing to wrestle with as he gazed out at the open sea.

Alex had made good on his threat from last season, and so it was Achilles who had been “bullied” (to use his word) into rowing them out into the Gem Sea, though Alex hadn’t directed him nearly as far out as they had gone last time. The tide wasn’t too high at this hour, and they could make out the half-submerged banks of some of the archipelago’s smaller islands not too far out in the distance.

Achilles wasn’t sure if staying visibly close to land had been a deliberate decision on Alex’s part, but though he was feeling significantly more comfortable in the boat than he had the last time they rowed out, he was nevertheless still grateful for the thoughtfulness, whether intentional or not.

Despite the sun, who was reigning solo in the clear blue skies above, it was much colder out on the water than Alex had suggested—though, if Alex had indeed been coming out here nearly every day since Fall started (as he had hinted during their row over), he likely had been dealing with even colder temperatures…

Achilles though, having grown up in Monstera’s subtropical climate, was currently huddled underneath Alex’s towel, right hand shivering the tiniest bit as it clutched an icy, stainless steel fountain pen.

Stupid stupid stupid. Stainless steel? Who are you trying to impress? Should’ve gone with plastic. Should’ve gone with fucking gloves. Should’ve brought a book. Should’ve stayed home.

Fueled partly by Elliott’s recent success and Alex’s words of encouragement, he had hoped the remote isolation of the Gem Sea would force him into overdue productivity. But for some reason or another, his brain had refused to focus on the project at hand. Instead he had found himself watching Alex, who had been slicing through the water at a startling speed—and so smooth! It was remarkable how little splashing one could make moving that fast.

For hours—hours!—Alex swam, only pausing and returning briefly to the boat to grab a drink of water. Stretch. Hover (too) closely over Achilles’ shoulder like a nettlesome gnat and ask about his (nonexistent) progress.

It was a little strange chatting, almost. With his brown hair flattened under a tight red and black swim cap and green eyes masked by polarized swim goggles, Alex’s most distinctive features (that is, his most distinctive features from the neck upwards, for Achilles refused to allow himself to look at anything below his shoulders) were hidden from sight.

But all the same, it was still so unmistakably Alex. The Dusty-like tilt of his head, the peek of tongue between his wide-toothed grin. Even the way he splayed his fingers to grip his water bottle. They’d known each other a little more than half a year, and yet it was all already so familiar to Achilles... for how long had he been cataloguing his habits?

Get back to work.

After roughly two hours of swimming, Alex climbed up the boat and took a seat.

“So,” he began, “I was wondering if I could get your advice.”

Achilles looked up from his (very blank) notebook. “Oh, I see. I suppose this is the real reason you brought me out here, then.”

“Give me that.” Alex wrenched the striped towel off from Achilles’ back and gave it a whip before draping it over his own shoulders, all while removing his swim cap and goggles in one fluid sweep of his arm. “I’m serious!”

“I didn’t say you weren’t!” Achilles set his notebook to the side and leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees. “Fine, sorry. What’s up?”

“Okay, so I’m, um… well. I’m thinking of applying for a promotion.”

“Oh! Good for you.”

“Yeah…” Alex ran his hand through his dry hair. “The manager of our branch finally put in his two weeks yesterday. Thought it might be… worth a shot. To, you know. Apply.”

“For sure! So you wouldn’t be teaching anymore?”

“No, no, I would, just not as much, yeah. And I think I’d get, like, more control over what classes. And it’d be better pay, of course. Better hours—I’d probably be able to ditch all my personal training clients, never been a huge fan of those… but basically I’d probably have more time. More energy. To, um, you know. Maybe focus a little bit more on training, if I decide to… take it more seriously…”

“You’re already taking it more seriously though, aren’t you? You’ve been coming out here more often.”

“Yeah… but there’s still a lot more I could do. Be more… precise about it all. Not precise, uh… what’s the word…”

“Purposeful?”

“Yeah! That. Purposeful.”

“For sure.”

“Anyway, I mean, I don’t know if I’ll actually go for it, or if I do, if I’ll get it—the role’s got a lot more reading to it and, well, you know… But I think I could still do it. I’ve been trying to practice more, recently. Been making a point to try to read a story from the Stardew Valley Tribune every day.”

“Good for you!” said Achilles for the second time. “I’m proud of you. Bet Lewis is proud, too, really boosting those circulation numbers…”

Alex flushed, quickly moving on.

“But I’ve never really had to have a resume or do an… interview before. Like a real job interview. And I figured I should look into that just in case, and I figured I’d ask you for advice because you…” Alex trailed off, his fingers looping themselves around the strap of his goggles as he bit his lip.

“Spent six years battling my way up the corporate ladder and am thus, in your eyes, an expert?”

“Huh.” Alex’s brows furrowed as he glanced to the side, out to the water. “I had actually been thinking of all the fancy press I assumed you used to do for your books, but I guess BRLO is actually probably a lot more relevant… listen, I’m stupid, remember—”

“—Alex—”

“—I mean, either way, one or the other, you’ve probably got more experience than anyone else in the Valley. So yeah. You were right. I confess. This was the real reason why I dragged you all the way out into the middle of the Gem Sea and had you watch me swim for two and a half hours.”

“Slow build. Cut to the chase next time. So you’re asking me for interview advice?”

“Mmhm.” Alex scooted forward on his seat, his knees now a mere centimeter away from Achilles’ in the tiny boat. “And resume stuff. But only if you have time.”

“I absolutely love that you still pretend I have a productive life, it truly warms my heart. Sure. Why don’t you drop off the job description later and anything you have prepared so far and we can go over it all together. How’s that sound?”

Alex jumped to his feet, sending the boat rocking wildly. Achilles’ fingers curled instinctively around his seat and he had to suppress a pitiful squeak as he bit too hard into the side of his cheek.

“Yeah. Yeah! That sounds great. Thanks, Ash.”

*****

If Achilles had secretly hoped that this entreaty for advice had marked the end of Alex’s training session (and in turn, the end of Achilles’ self-induced torture—Yoba, why didn’t he just bring a book…), he was sorely disappointed.

After resignedly showing Achilles where in the boat he could find a new dry towel for warmth, Alex gave him a little salute before climbing back down into the water and starting yet another sequence of drills.

All work and no play today, it seemed.

For one of them, at least. How the tables had turned, Achilles couldn’t help but ruefully think. His pen had inked nothing but haphazard swirls on the sides of his notes. Fuck, why is this so fucking hard you fuck?

And then… it started to rain.

Small drops. Their cold, violent hurtles towards the ground (or in this case, the sea) not unlike the piercing rain that had fallen Achilles’ first night in Stardew Valley, though significantly, and thankfully, lighter.

It took quite a few minutes before Alex, so focused on his strokes (or perhaps it was simply more difficult to feel half-submerged in the sea), noticed and paused to look up into the sky.

“You didn’t see this coming, weather boy?” he called, treading water from 30 feet or so away now.

“Blame Amelia McCarten,” Achilles called back, grateful for this welcome excuse to shove his pen and papers into the inside pocket of his windbreaker, though the act seared a small semblance of self-disgust across his heart. Useless. “I’m not a real meteorologist, cut me some slack.”

“Yeah, yeah, all right, I forgive you. But only because it’s still sunny. Weird.” Alex had raised his goggles and was peering up at the sky which was indeed, still strangely cloudless.

“The foxes must be getting married.”

“Huh?”

“I think I heard that somewhere once. Like folklore. They say if it rains but the sun’s still out, it means the foxes are celebrating a wedding.”

“Huh,” Alex repeated, now tilting his head ever so slightly to the right as he continued to search the golden skies. “I like that. That’s fun.”

He began to one-arm dog paddle back towards the boat, leaving the other arm to tap a finger against his temple in mock admiration. “So smart. Always learn something from you.”

Achilles chuckled and began to reach for the oars. “So I suppose we’re heading back then?” About time. Maybe he’d be more productive at home…

“Oooo…” Alex stopped in his strokes, just ten or so feet now from the boat. “Would you hate me if I said no?”

“It’s raining, Alex.”

“Yeah, but not hard. It’s barely a drizzle.”

Achilles bared his hand from where he had tucked it further up in the sleeve of his windbreaker and held it palm up to better feel the rain.

“Barely a drizzle my ass.” He watched as water dripped down the sides of his cupped hand before making a big show of wiping it against the towel which he was currently wearing like a headscarf.

“It’s just water. Come on, what’s the harm in getting wet?”

“Easy for you to say, you’re already wet.”

“You could be too if you just took that towel off your dang head, come on, please—”

“You know, I’ve half a mind to leave you out here. You can swim back to shore, just call it more training.”

“O ho, and if I drown? No boat. No radio. You’ll have to live with that on your conscience for the rest of your—”

Achilles tossed the towel to the side. The rain had begun to leak through the cotton, rendering it somewhat useless. “Last time I stayed out in the rain, I got pneumonia.”

At these words, Alex started, his eyes widening in remembrance (or perhaps guilt), despite his previous puppy-dog-eyed pleads. He quickly began to make his way towards the boat. “Oh. Heck. You’re right, I’m so sorry! Yes, of course, we should head back—”

For some (utterly outrageous) and (totally inexplicable) reason, witnessing Alex’s repentant shift in attitude did little to bring him comfort, instead injecting Achilles with his own little stab of guilt.

And, so, recognizing that his heart had been won over by Alex’s downcast disappointment, Achilles rolled his eyes in reluctant surrender. Though it was much cooler out here than it had been in the Valley, he supposed it was still nevertheless warmer than it had been that frigid, stormy Summer night of Shane’s reckoning when he had contracted pneumonia. At least today, the sun was still streaking across the sky.

“Ugh…” He tossed Alex yet another exaggerated eyeroll. “It’s fine. We can stay.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. I mean, it’s ‘only drizzling…’ Why are you so insistent, anyway? Something special happen in the sea when it rains? More jellyfish? Mermaids?”

“Oh…” The boat tipped slightly as Alex raised himself port side, forearms resting against the wood after gently setting his swim cap, goggles, and Pear Pods on the floor. “No. No good reason, really… I just think it’s… kind of fun.”

“We’re staying out here because you think it’s… fun?”

Alex scrambled for the ladder. “Okay, okay, we’ll head back—”

But Achilles was faster today—he slid onto the topmost rung of the ladder and leaned far forward so that Alex couldn’t pass. “You stay in the water where you belong, you wretch.”

Alex laughed, hands brushing Achilles’ legs as he pretended to swipe them in retaliation.

And then suddenly, Alex’s hands were around his ankles.

There was a sharp yank.

And he was in the water.

It was cold—far colder than it had been the last time they had come out here together to swim. Above, he could see the rain, feel the droplets punching rhythmically through the seawater into his arms.

The shock of it all had paralyzed his body—paralyzed his mind, even, for submerged in the water now, everything felt like slow motion.

Did he want to scream? Surely he wanted to scream. Surely it was time for panic to take center stage. It was the sea, the cold sea. This was where his nightmares lived.

But no. He felt… nothing. Nothing but calm, as he allowed his body to settle within the water, arms aloft.

And then his head was breaking the surface. Time reverted to normal speed, and he took an instinctual gasp for air and opened his eyes.

He was sitting. Firm, on cold, hard steel. Alex must’ve lifted him onto one of the lower rungs of the ladder.

“Shit, shit, fuck—I’m sorry, I’m so sorry—Ash, I’m sorry, I forgot, are you okay? I’m sorry, I’m so so sorry, are you okay—”

“It’s fine.” Achilles gripped the handrail. His legs were still submerged, and they dangled freely from under him.

“—fucking idiot, I don’t know why I did that, it’s so dangerous—hell, just common sense that you don’t do that, and with you still learning, you could’ve hit your head, I’m so sorry—”

“It’s fine.”

“—let’s go back, I’m—”

“Alex.” Achilles raised his voice.

“—I’m never swimming again—“

“Al. It’s fine. I’m fine.” Achilles found himself giving the distressed man before him a (hopefully) reassuring smile, adding even a laugh as he wiped the water from his face. “Really.”

Alex’s brows were still as furrowed as could be—they were nearly touching, really, as he continued to study Achilles with a penetrating, dilated gaze so intense that he felt almost too seen.

“You looking at me like that is making me more uncomfortable than the water was.”

Alex quickly averted his eyes, looking instead at his hands which were continuing to tread water. “We can… head back.”

“No.” The word was a surprise even to Achilles. But the fall—or the yank, really—had snapped the tenseness that had been tautly criss-crossed inside him. Who the fuck cared about writing?

He unzipped his windbreaker—his outline was surely bleeding out in that inside pocket, the few doodled spirals shot point blank by the seawater—and tossed it into the corner of the boat.

“Let’s stay. I want to experience whatever… fun you were going on about.”

Alex didn’t look convinced. A tight, small frown. And was he… trembling? “You sure?”

“Yeah.”

To support his sincerity, Achilles took a deep breath and launched himself from the ladder.

Unfortunately, Alex hadn’t twisted totally out of the way in time, and so Achilles managed to slam into his shoulder.

“Fuck, my bad,” he said, before Alex could apologize yet again. He pinched his nose, which had borne the brunt of the impact. “Damn. Really ruined the dramatic entrance I was trying to make.”

That got Alex to laugh, though it was a rather short, mono-syllabic one as he continued to avoid Achilles’ gaze and watch the rain patter against the small waves.“So… you promise you’re okay?”

Achilles rolled his eyes again. Alex had seen one panic attack. Okay maybe two… possibly three that first day in the pool… really, it just depended on how you counted them… okay, maybe the concern was warranted…

Nevertheless, he turned to tightly grip both of Alex’s shoulders—Yoba, he was warm…—facing him head on. At his touch, the man seemed to flinch, but looked up to meet Achilles’ gaze.

“Alex, if you ask me again, I’m getting back in the boat and rowing home without you. I’ll leave you the ring so you don’t drown.” Achilles let go, and began to tread on his own to further prove his point. “Seriously. Look. I’m fine. Don’t worry about me.”

Alex bit his lip as his eyes, still more black than green at the moment, widened in alarm for just the merest fraction of a second before seeming to soften, a somewhat dazed, bemused expression replacing his previous concern.

The sun began to hit the horizon, raindrops sparkling glints of gold.

For a minute, the two simply bobbed and breathed. The green was slowly beginning to reclaim its territory in Alex’s eyes, and his lips were now slightly parted as he continued to regard Achilles in tranquil silence.

And though Achilles had long locked his feelings in a little box of inaction, there were still little moments that could catch him off guard…

“Alex? Everything okay? Al?”

“Hmm?” His trance broken, Alex gave a start and paddled two strokes backwards. “Yeah.” He gave his head a little shake and ran his hand through his hair. “Sorry, yeah, I was just… scared.”

“Thought you killed me?”

“Mmm… maybe not killed… I just know you don’t like open water…”

“I can see what you mean about swimming in the rain. It’s nice. Strange, but nice.” That was a lie—what it actually was was a colder, more painful, and significantly more uncomfortable version of having the shower head on while you took a bath. But Alex still seemed rather flustered from his part in Achilles’ supposed near-murder, so Achilles figured a little white lie couldn’t hurt.

*****

“Looks like the clouds are finally rolling in,” Achilles said, nodding up at the skies that were indeed beginning to darken.

“Oh. About time… Thought maybe they just didn’t want to spoil the wedding…”

“What wedding? Was there a wedding I wasn’t invited to?”

“Yeah, the foxes. Remember?”

“Oh? Oh! Ha…”

They clambered into the boat just as a grey, stormy wind began to pick up, biting against their damp skin.

“Yoba, I’m really sorry, Ash, I really didn’t think that through…” Alex unzipped his duffle bag and tossed a pair of sweatpants to Achilles. “You take these. And I think I’ve got a third towel somewhere, too, those are probably all wet… shit, I really am an idiot aren’t I…” Muttering some more self-targeted curses under his breath, Alex began searching the little drawers scattered among the boat.

As eager as he was to get out of his waterlogged jeans, Achilles still felt awkward stripping completely. Oooh, but perhaps he was overthinking it. On second thought, he was definitely overthinking it. More than likely, Alex had seen it all in various locker rooms over the years. It didn’t mean a thing.

Even so, he changed at record breaking speed, despite the way the stiff, drenched denim clung relentlessly to his skin.

“Better?” A third towel found, Alex wobbled across the boat to drape it over Achilles’ bare shoulders. He gave his arms a brief squeeze through the cotton before quickly taking a step back and offering up a grey crewneck. “Achilles, I really am sor—”

“I can still throw you off the boat and row away without you.”

Alex, who, having given away his only change of clothes, was left to brave the wind unshielded, despite Achilles’ protests. He grabbed an oar.

“Let’s be real, Ash—at the rate you rowed us out here? Even swimming back, I’d reach Pelican Town before you.”

“Oh, shut the fuck up.” Achilles jabbed the other oar towards Alex, who dodged it with a chuckle. But it was good to see Alex making jokes, even if they were at Achilles’ athleticism’s undeserved expense…

*****

Despite Alex’s qualms with Achilles’ rowing capabilities, together they had managed to out-row the eye of the storm, bumping against Willy’s dock just as the first, soft drops of rain began to hit Stardew Valley.

“Going to be humid as hell tomorrow,” Achilles muttered darkly as Alex hopped deftly out and began to tie the rope to a thick wooden post.

Achilles followed, tottering unevenly across the boat, his still-sodden clothes bundled into a sad ball under his arm. The dock was slippery with the rain.

Alex offered his hand. Achilles had no reason not to take it.

He clambered out, barely registering the warmth of Alex’s callused palm until both his feet were planted securely on dry (or, dry as could be under present circumstances) land.

But as he made to let go, he found his hand still held tight in a grip that was lingering for just half a beat too long.

Achilles glanced half an inch upwards.

“Ah, sorry.” Alex jerked his hand back as if it had been burned and kneaded it against his chest.

They made their way wordlessly up the boardwalk and beach, where Achilles stopped. “Elliott wanted to host a little dinner tonight for us two—you know how he is, we’ll probably be ‘celebrating’ for another ten years… you… go on without me.”

“Oh. Okay. I’ll… um. See you around then, Ash.” Alex was still nervously rubbing his bare chest with his hand. “Again, I’m… really sorry about everything…”

Achilles watched him stare at the rapidly dampening ground, and a sudden burst of emotion surged through Achilles' heart at the sight of Alex's head bowed in shame. He bit back the sarcastic retort that'd been hovering at his lips, instead softly exclaiming, “There's nothing to be sorry for, Al. No harm done. Now go on. Get out of here before the storm gets bad.”

#llnks #stardew valley fanfic #my fic #sdv fic #stardew fanfic #stardew alex #stardew valley alex #stardew valley oc #sdv oc #sdv farmer #alex stardew

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