#…during the week (especially since most of those things involve being outside)

[heatherwitch]

Embracing the coziness of my home this winter.

[laughhardrunfastbekindsblog]

What Needs to Be Done

Summer of Bad Batch | Week 13 | Prompt: Crashing Hard

Summary: Crosshair was so sure he made the right choice, the only choice... But now he has doubts.

POV: Crosshair

Rating: PG

(Word Count: 650)

Notes: I've been wanting to delve more into what Crosshair might have gone through in season 2 before "The Outpost," especially since I think his confession to Hunter of "I've done things. I've made mistakes" refers to far more than just the Imperial missions we saw him on. I might expand on this storyline in the future; for now, here's a short little ficlet since there's only so much Crosshair angst I can write at the moment.

"CT-9904, report to Captain Dask for your next mission."

The operation involved relocating the inhabitants of Quwan to an Imperial holding facility to await the construction of a factory on their homeworld, a factory they would man in service to the Empire. Those who did not appreciate the opportunity, those who resisted, were not given a second chance, and so the people learned very quickly not to resist. The families cried as their homes were burned to make way for the factory; the children cried as they were hustled onto ships by armed troopers. Crosshair had completed operations very similar to this before; but for some reason, this time he heard Hunter's voice echoing through his mind: Crosshair, I've seen what the Empire's doing, occupying planets and silencing anyone who stands against them. You know it's not right.

But it didn't matter what he thought was right. "Good soldiers follow orders," he thought to himself, though the words had started to grow stale. "We do what needs to be done," he repeated like a mantra, drowning out the memory of Hunter's plea.

******

He heard the rumors, whispers about an attack on Rampart's Venator, intel extracted that proved instrumental in causing Rampart's demise. The Defense Recruitment Bill was passed, but Rampart was gone. And while no one had been able to ID the infiltration team, Crosshair listened to the details of the attack, and he knew who had done it. "They were fools, they won't let themselves see the bigger picture," he told himself, ignoring the painful wrenching in his gut at the reminder of his old squad, though the traitorous thought crossed his mind that he wished he had been with them, wished he was with his brothers now.

******

"Three CTs have gone AWOL and were recently spotted in the market district," the lieutenant addressed the hand-picked squad. "You are to apprehend them. One chance to surrender, one chance only. That is all."

"Traitors," he scoffed to himself, pushing down his unease upon learning that the CTs in question had been part of his detachment during their most recent operation on Vurun. He knew nothing about them, they hadn't even spoken to him the entire mission... so why did he worry about what he might have to do? And why did wish he could have left too? Going AWOL was pointless; they were tracked down soon enough.

"Traitor," he thought again, carefully aiming as one of them tried to run, though his finger trembled on the trigger...

Cody weighed on his mind, haunted his dreams for weeks afterwards...

******

He waited outside the ship preparing to depart for Barton IV; there was no point standing any longer than he had to inside the ship with all the other clones who always ignored him. A group of unarmored clones passed by, questioning an Imperial officer about forced retirement. He knew more clones were being decommissioned, but he wasn't concerned. That wouldn't happen to him. He was useful to the Empire. He had purpose as a soldier.

And he tried not to think about the long years stretching before him, serving as a soldier until the day he died, no friends, brothers gone, all alone.

******

Mayday.

Gone.

He had served as a soldier until the day he died, had outlasted most of his friends, all his brothers gone, and the lieutenant was now ordering Crosshair to leave him... to leave him all alone.

Crosshair had believed the Empire offered him purpose.

He didn't believe it anymore.

"Lieutenant," Crosshair said, the only warning he was willing to give.

He released all his anger and doubts as he avenged Mayday, and suddenly found that this release had sapped all his strength, sapped all his belief in purpose, and he collapsed, no longer caring what happened to him.

I... It needed to be done, was his final thought as the darkness closed in around him.

@summer-of-bad-batch

[minecraftbookshelf]

heeebeedeebs ok, so, any headcanons for the marriage of state au on like....uh.... heh.... burial customs? for like... the cod alliance?

(also maybe also wither rose toooooo????)

ooooooooo!

So I actually hadn't thought about this yet which is why it took me a couple of days to answer, i had to poke at it a bit. So now I do have thoughts!

This might get a little bit gruesome, along the lines of frank discussions of dead bodies and disposal thereof.

Cod Alliance

The Swamp being...swampy, it doesn't lend itself to burial very well. The honored dead are burned (dry wood is a valuable resource) and the dishonored dead are basically dumped in a specific corner of the swamp very heavily populated with Things That Eat People. (Mostly Catfish and Alligators, this is an American South swamp/bayou biome in my heart, which does, unfortunately, mean they have mosquitoes) They also have wakes, like full party mode, music and alcohol and stories of the deceased. They were also an occupied territory for several centuries, with very few resources left to them, community support in time of bereavement is very important. Especially in situations where the deceased supported a family.

The Ocean Empire buries at sea. The dead are weighted down and taken to the Deep Ocean and dropped there. Think whale fall. They are a bit more solemn about their rituals than The Swamp but there are several similarities. They have an appointed grieving period of two weeks, during which the loved ones of the deceased are sequestered.

Mezaleans build mausoleums. Their dead are burned and the ashes interred with their families or, for an honored few, mostly royals who provided exceptional service to their people, beneath the Mother Tree. There is also a public mausoleum in each city for those without families, though those people are few, as Mezaleans engage in liberal social adoption. Most people find themselves quietly absorbed into some sort of family unit before they have been alone too long (but that is a whole nother post). They also tend to build memorials, ranging from small potted gardens of favorite flowers to full, larger-than-life statues. They don't believe in reincarnation so much as in redistribution of energy and preservation of memory.

Pixandria, for somewhat obvious reasons, has a very unique relationship with death (and also Death). They also have a party, celebrating the passage from life to death, though theirs is less focused on memories of the past than the Swamp and more on congratulating the dead on their migration to the next stage of existence. Every death celebration includes a seat at the table for Death herself, that is kept liberally supplied with food and alcohol at all stages of the festivities. They bury their dead, and quickly, since corpses don't keep long in the desert. Priests and royals are buried in catacombs beneath the Anthill while everyone else is buried in one of a few designated locations in the desert. (The party does not start until everyone is safely back in the oasis or Anthill, as travelling drunk through the desert is a good way to end up having to repeat the entire event again very shortly, and while they do not fear death, they do also value life.)

Wither Rose Alliance

Mythland also buries their dead. I haven't thought too much about the details but the primary religion of the region is a blood cult so there is definitely something done with the blood of the deceased. It's drained from the body and they use it for some sort of memorial ritual. These are not open to outsiders and are usually closed affairs involving only the family and close friends of the deceased and a single priest of the blood sheep.

The Crystal Cliffs, as an empire made up in no small part of people who are direct transplants from other empires, do their best to honor the cultural practices of the deceased. If not, they practice a form of sky burial, as the sheer stone cliffs don't offer a lot of burial opportunities and they territory is too small for it to be practical. The native population consider dead bodies functionally as waste matter, no longer important once it is no longer inhabited by a living soul. It's just a matter of practical disposal. Though as stated, they will go to great lengths to respect the wishes of the dead regarding the disposal of their bodies, including transporting them all the way to Pixandria if necessary.

The Grimlands also bury their dead. (You can see some similarities here, in this alliance.) They have a couple of different regional variations, but they do bury their dead. If the deceased died of illness or redstone poisoning they are burned, to avoid contaminating the land or the living. They usually have a memorial service, and immediate relatives are expected to undergo a grieving schedule not unlike the Ocean. (This probably came from the salmon hybrid population)

Gilded Helianthia, like their primary allies, buries their dead but they do so fully communally, and without any kind of coffins or excess wrappings. Where you are buried depends entirely on when you die. Bodies are left in the ground for five years, to allow full decomposition of all tissues, then the bones are exhumed and burned and the ashes scattered over the ground they were buried in. Once a zone has been completely exhumed, it is converted into farmland. This is one of the ways they rotate their croplands and maintain soil health.

Rivendell has a couple of different burial traditions, depending on how high in the mountains you are. They have a relatively small population, and their birth and death rates are such that it remains fairly steady. Which is to say, both death and birth are fairly rare, when nature is allowed to run its course. (This does mean that things such as war, famine, and sickness can be devastating for them, as it can be very difficult to recoup the population loss) Death is a solemn affair, funeral rites take place over the course of at least a week, and the body is displayed for a significant portion of that. The cold climates of the mountain allow for that. Afterwards the body is burned and the ashes either scattered from a high peak, or into the river, depending on where the deceased lived. This releases the soul for reincarnation, and to deny this to someone is a very serious statement. Mourning periods vary from 1-10 years, depending on relationship with the deceased, age of the mourner, age of the deceased, and several other factors. The grieving are monitored carefully for signs of Fading during this time.

The Lost Empire has four different distinct burial traditions, equating to the four elements their culture is based around. Pyre, burial, sky burial (done from the tree-tops), and water burial. The rulers are buried on a rotation. (Joey is scheduled to be burned after death, and he maintains this is incredibly romantic given Xornoth's own elemental powers. Xornoth thinks he's weird.)

Everyone Else

It's literally just the Overgrown and Undergrove left at this point so might as well XD

The Overgrown, being fae, and having a very strong nature alignment, return their bodies to the Spring. Fae bodies also, to put it bluntly, decompose very, very quickly. Almost dissolving over the course of a day or so. Burial is swift and flowers are planted to memorialize the deceased.

The Undergrove does not currently have a population beyond Shrub themself, but the gnomes were/are fungal farmers and had very practical views on the burial of bodies, not dissimilar to those of Gilded Helianthia.

-

AU Masterpost

[fieldofdaisiies]

since you said you’re taking requests i was wondering if you could write a Cassian x reader angst. maybe one where nesta comes in between but ofc fluff ending with cassian and the reader. thank you bby 🤍🤍

Of course💛 sorry that it took so long. Thank you so much for requesting!!

Cassian x Reader | Good Things Take Time

type: fluff and a bit of angst warnings: self-doubt and a whole lot of fluff word count: 1.7k

*all rights reserved*

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

It had all been so good, life had been so good until Amarantha had come. But even during the time she had ruled you had been there for Cassian every single day of your life. You had been close friends, had known everything about each other, shared everything with each other, trained together and spent most of your time together.

Cassian had rescued you from the war camps. He had met you, had rescued you before your wings could have been clipped and brought you with him to Velaris. Rhysand, the High Lord, had allowed it. From then on Cassian was your protector, your friend, the most important person in your life. Later when the wing-clipping had fully stopped you moved back up to Windhaven to make sure the females there were also allowed to train—you became their protector. Cassian had obviously supported you all the way, always making sure you were fine and safe. And you were. 

You still came down to Velaris every week, to train and spend time with the boys—with Cassian.

You had loved those moments with him. You had loved those moments where it had just been the two of you, no one else, no pressure from the outside world, no Amarantha. 

“Cass, you’re coming?” Azriel shouted to the both of you, already half disappearing into the living room. “Nah, Y/N and I will stay out a bit longer and watch the stars.”

There were more feelings involved from your side and obviously you had always had an ounce of hope that there could be more. Cassian had never made a move, so you had decided to give it time.

Good things take time or something like that, you thought. 

And in all honesty, being friends with him had already been more than you could have asked for. You had loved this tall and kind Illyrian warrior your whole life and he had loved you from the moment you had met—as friends. With Cassian it was something special, you laughed about the same things, but in the next moment could talk about the most sincere and serious things together. You could be fully honest with each other, you could be emotional, you could talk about your mental health, your worries and insecurities with him. That was what you probably valued about him the most. He listened to you whenever you needed him, gave you his honest opinion and what he thought you should do.

But things had changed. Things had drastically changed after the Under the Mountain. Obviously you were happy that Amarantha was gone…but not about the fact that now Elain, Feyre and especially Nesta Archeron lived here — here in the Night Court, in your home.

It felt like they had invaded your space. You obviously were thankful for what Feyre had done — what kind of fae would you be not to appreciate it.

But still there was this jealousy that made you so very angry about yourself. You were mad at yourself for thinking so badly about them. You weren’t a bad person, but this spark of envy inside of you every time you saw Nesta Archeron train with Cassian was poignant. How he helped her with her stances, how to hold her sword, how he looked at her. She was so tall, so slim,…so beautiful. Did he find her more beautiful than you? Obviously he would find her more beautiful than you…she was gorgeous…

Your chest ached once again when your reached the training pitch and Cassian and Azriel were already there, training the priestesses. Azriel gave some dagger handling lessons to Deidre and Gwyn, while Emerie and Nesta practiced some sword fighting techniques with —who would have guessed— Cassian.

When Cassian heard someone appear he turned his head to the side and looked over his shoulder. He grinned and your heart broke. Was he grinning because of something Nesta had said? Or because he was so happy she was here?

“Sweetheart, you are late,” the general shouted and tilted his sword into your direction. “Get moving, pick up your sword and join us!”

Sweetheart. You cringed at the name. He always used to call you that, it was a joke between the two of you, mockingly and teasingly talking to each other. Azriel had often said you acted like an old couple, so you made fun of it and Azriel. Only that it had stopped being funny for you at some point.

“No, I am perfectly on time, Cassian. You just have stared earlier,” you snapped and instantly regretted the tone with which you had said it. You swallowed thickly and gave your head a tiny shake. You wanted to apologise, but Cassian immediately dropped his sword and ran over to you, leaving Nesta and Emerie behind.

This made you happy for a split second. Cassian stopped mere inches from you, his tall figure towering over you while he placed his hands on your shoulders. “What's going on? Devlon bothering you again? Tell me what they did! Did they hurt you? Touch you?” Cass commanded, nothing but the promise of violence, if they had done anything to you, in his voice. You shook your head. They had done nothing wrong.

“Nothing, don’t worry. I am just in a bad mood, Cassian. That’s it.” “Are you su— Hold up! Since when do you call me Cassian?”

Laying your brows in furrows, you shrugged your shoulders. Since you were mad probably?

“I always call you Cassian, Cassian.” The Illyrian general pouted and it must have been the most adorable thing you had ever seen. A chuckle escaped you when you quickly swatted his shoulder.

He spoke up before you had the chance to, “No, you always call me Cass, or Illyrian baby or general in a mocking tone.” “Well, so you prefer Illyrian baby over Cassian?” You braced you hands on your hips, smiling and locking your gaze with his. Y/E/C clashed with deep brown, your skin feeling once again tingly and warm. Cassian grinned from one ear to the other and he bit down on his lower lip. “No, maybe I prefer Cassian then.” You both had to chuckle at that.

“Come, join us for training. It will make you feel better,” Cassian suggested. 

"Not sure." “But I am!” Cassian clapped his hands before placing them on your shoulders and practically shoving you over to where Nesta and Emerie were already waiting, amused smiles plastering their faces.

You gave them a tiny wave for a greeting, not wanting to make conversation.

“Let us show them how well you can fight me. They need to see how good fighters females can be. Let’s go, sweetheart, pick up your sword and hand me my ass!”

A delighted grin filled your face and without further ado you picked up your sword. “Nothing I would rather do, you Illyrian baby.”

A whole-hearted laugh rumbled over the whole training pitch when Cassian strutted towards the other end, swiftly turning so he faced you and lifted his sword. 

“Ready?” he asked and raised his brow.

“Ready when you are.” And with that you lunged forward, swords clashing with their first contact. You were so going to beat his ass, dipping under his arms, sliding around his body, swords clinging and clashing until you brought the Illyrian general to his knees…or rather his back, wings spread widely on the ground. Losing balance you fell down on him as well, knees braced on either side of his broad torso when you landed. Your face was mere inches from his.

The general blew out a deep breath, brought one hand up to wipe it over his sweaty forehead and then grinned. It was probably the most beautiful thing you had ever seen.

“I hope you know that I let you win!” And with that being said you were under him, his tall figure hovering over you. His hair fell over his shoulders, he grinned, the sun illuminating his frame.

“Ass!” you groaned, pinched his biceps and curled your legs around him in the same moment. You rolled the two of you over again, obviously careful of his wings. Acting quickly you grabbed the wrists of both his hands and pinned him to the ground. An astonished look spread over his face, lips parting slightly.

You stared into each other’s eyes, breathing the same air. 

“Nah, you did not. I totally beat your ass, Illyrian ba—“

Cassian’s lips met yours first before he pressed his nose and then his whole face against yours, devouring your sweaty lips. You were too startled to kiss him back and so he pulled back and pecked the corner of your mouth.

“Breathtaking and cruel. I am sorry, I could no longer hold back. You do unspeakable things to me, Y/N. Fucking hell, I love you!”

You felt your mouth drop open before a happy and loud giggle left you. “Cass?”

“What? I have been fucking mad for you since the moment I met you.” You let go of his hands and sat back a little bit. “You were just a bit too blind,” Cassian whispered, leaning closer again, his lips ever so slightly brushing yours when his hand landed on your hip. 

“I was too blind?” you exclaimed and kissed the general’s lips. “I was the one who has been in love with you all those years and you didn’t notice.”

Cassian pecked your lips again.

“I—“ “You were both oblivious idiots!” Someone —Azriel— said and walked past you.

Right, you had totally forgotten about the others. Both yours and Cassian’s gaze shot into the direction of Azriel. He was following Emerie and Nesta as well as the other priestesses inside, turning around one more time and winking at you before closing the door behind him.

“Probably we were. I thought you…you wouldn't want me,” you huffed, hands stroking up Cassian's strong chest. Cassian gave his head a shake. “How could I not want you? You are all and everything I want, Y/N!”

“Yes?” You pecked the corner of his mouth. Cassian’s hand travelled lower and he gave your rear a tiny pinch. “Yes, you blind fool!” You stuck out your tongue. “Illyrian baby.”

tags: @we-were-beautiful @cityofidek @mulansaucey @nightcourtwritings @azrielsbitxh @perriii @crushedcloudsx @devilsfoodcake22 @azrielsbitxh

[daddyboyhalo]

Hey! I saw your post where you expressed how you were feeling these days, and I want to give you all my support. I agree that this is a very difficult time, being this involved in something and it being turn around in just a few days, changing everything about it... Personally I struggle a lot with the fact that the other streamers, and mostly communities, are kinda "allowed" in a sense to just continue as it was? It might not be very clear but in a lot of discord servers and all people are not AT ALL up to date to the admins stuff, and are just enjoying their daily qsmp stream. I'm not blaming anyone, every streamer takes the matter how he wished, and playing doesn't mean working on things, but I guess it feels a little unfair in a sense? like Phil saying Chay and Tallulah admins are well and waiting to come back stings a little after seeing pomme and dapper leave :( It's hard to feel happy for this when you have the short end of the stick I guess

And the French might be a little too forceful on the ccs ; they are obviously not ready to talk about it, and waiting to talk to Q, but bagh and antoine still said that they watched the awards. I am quite uncomfortable with everyone assuming they will just leave when most of them didn't even had time to look more into the matter, Antoine being on holidays, baghera on her dance show, and etoiles having health related issues... I'm just afraid that it will put pressure on them while the other ccs are kinda free to not talk about it you know?

But yes, I personally try to focus on my uni work, to go out a little, to watch other content. For me the hardest is definitely the fact that all of this happened while etoiles had to take a break. I'm very happy that he's doing it, since he needed it. But since he is my main streamer since a few years, going from having him in the background for hours and hours to nothing during now three weeks was hard, especially in a time when I wanted to change my mind. I kinda felt like an orphan lmao, and hearing that he a was going to the hospital every day, still made me sad despite it making me happy that he was getting treatment. He wanted to come back soon but a said he had a relapse in his health two days ago :( My only wish right now is to see him get better, and stream when he'll feel well ! But yes it's rubbing me the wrong way that ppl are assuming "etoiles will boycott, he'll do this, that" when the guy is really not well, the qsmp is not is priority at all these days...

Sorry for the long text, but your feelings spoke to me and I also felt the need to vent a little, sometimes it's better than just keeping things for yourself, you are free to ignore this!

Hope it'll get better for everyone <3

-🦦

aw anon no worries, i’m glad you were able to vent here!! ; ; sorry for the late response, i’ve been incredibly busy, but: i agree, i really don’t like when people put expectations and pressure on a cc to take a specific action, ie boycott, especially when they’re going through it outside of the server. it might be that people just don’t realize, because i actually didn’t quite know how etoiles was feeling and struggling since i haven’t been keeping up with his streams for awhile and don’t really use twitter, so i wasn’t aware until i looked into it more. i really wish the best for etoiles and can imagine how that feels with him being your main streamer!! ; ; the person who’s comforted you so much without even realizing it is struggling, and that’s not a good feeling. but i’m glad you’ve been focusing on uni and getting out, focusing on other content, because those are all important coping mechanisms and can make it just a bit less painful! you have my full support too!

and yeah, it really does short when we get the short end of the stick here; i was both comforted that chayanne and tallulah’s admins are doing well and just… i’m not sure of the right word, but bitter knowing that some people were treated well and others weren’t? i also worry with that being the only perspective some people get that they’ll assume that must mean everything is fine when it’s not true. honestly, i wish i was just a casual viewer for example watching qsmp with no knowledge of what’s going on and that my enjoyment could just continue as normal, but instead the burden of knowledge and loss stings and aches so badly. it gets to be business as usual for some but for others it’s this horrible loss and grief, and it causes such a dissonance—“like, do you guys not see the dead and dying on the floor? am i going crazy? why are you walking straight through them?”. don’t mind my own rambling, but yeah anon, we’re in this together :(

[slavicafire]

sunday funday, let’s play a tag game 🌞 thank you maurycy my best friend maurycy @kwiatuszku for tagging me: put your ‘on repeat’ on shuffle and list the first 10 songs. let’s see where this journey takes me!

1. the bottom of it - fruit bats. yes of course it’s the first one that comes up, I’ve been listening to your summer heat playlist on loooooop for two weeks now. or three?

2. ushme uturbe - kalush orchestra & bbno$. uncharacteristically, two genres I love more than most expect are electronic and rap.

3. sen katarzyny II - jacek kaczmarski. yeah spring and summer means hiking and hiking without fail gives me the polish sung poetry disease.

4. bring back the color - san holo and aurora. can’t say no to anything new by aurora!

5. feel your weight - rhye and poolside. the only way to make rhye better is to involve poolside, you know?

6. lipstick lover - janelle monae. on repeat since it came out, especially now that it’s so hot outside. 

7. musiałaś ty dziewce - kapela ze wsi warszawa. again, being in the mountains does things to me and I keep returning to this one song in particular.

8. gambino - daria ze śląska. heard it for the first time while getting home drunk basically through the same route that she sings about. weird feeling!

9. prada rave - da vosk docta. so good for those early june nights while exploring the thrills of the city! 

10. paris, texas - lana del rey and syml. I got to hear the instrumental during syml’s live performance in warsaw and it has a special place in my heart given how much I love his music.

and I think the rule is to tag 10 people as well, goodness me. another cop out in my standard fashion: if you’d like to do this, consider yourself tagged 🌞 but tag me so I can see 🖤

[sofiaaaa36]

promise me!🧡

(BACKSTORY/PT. 1)

summary: being one of the best hunters in nevarro's bounty guild, you reminisce about your heavily-adventurous, and boundless past on getting to where you are today. walking into work, you dont expect what your next commission is but, it involves an "old friend" or how your boss says it, "buddy".

warnings: f!reader, tiny swearing, a pinch of violence, FYI: this is just the start, also it won't be a full fanfic for each episode. i just wanna write it as it is in my brain. THATS ALL🫶🤭

nevarro was your home. even though the rocky and volcanic planet wasn't anything comfortable, you never had anywhere else to go.

when you were too young to remember, your father was a ruler of a mandalorian clan on one of the two moons of the planet mandalore. your guardians told you of how powerful your father was. apparently, your mother, surprisingly wasnt mandalorian. you were told that her lesson was that anybody could love anyone, no matter how different you are from them.

when the horrific purge started, it affected your home aswell. you would never forget the day you walked outside to see the streets filled with laying bodies, the sounds of the bright explosions echoing throughout the quiet city, and the smell of smoke surrounding you. it was tragic. at such a incredibly young age, you had lost your innocence.

you were told from your guardians, that your parent's last wish was for you to escape safely, and to become great just like them. survivors of the purge brought you to the far planet of nevarro. there, they granted your mother and father's wish. with their best efforts, they raised you to have traits like being intelligent, resourceful, and compassionate.

now being compassionate meant you cared for every little thing. you would fawn over any creature, big or small. you loved to see babies and toddlers. whenever you were around one, it would always stop crying or, it would look up at you in wonder. if you saw someone having a bad day, you felt that too. being able to read emotions came in handy, especially with your job right now.

your guardians also trained you in the way of weapons. from the long, harsh weeks of you getting knocked out during training in hand combat, to finally beating your "teacher" in a sparring match using a staff. talk about improvement!

as you were getting closer to the age of saying the mandalorian creed, you had mixed feelings about it. on one side, you felt pressure on having to wear the helmet since your family was mandalorian royalty. surely you'd carry on the tradition.. right? not really.. another side of you didn't want to put it on. the fact that the armor would have to stay on for the rest of your life scared you. the thought of not being able to eat or drink infront of anyone, not having your first "real" kiss, and not seeing the world in all of its true features made you uncertain about this whole thing. also even more reasons like, not showing your real emotions to the world, not being able to show your face for long amounts of time to your own future children and husband, and to top it all off, you hated the feeling of being "trapped".

of course you talked to your guardians about this and they listened to everything you said. they gave you the most thoughtful answer stating that it was up to you, the creed was made for those who wanted to walk the way. and what they said lastly, really stood out to you. your mother's lesson: she wasnt mandalorian and she still married your father. you can be completely different than others, and still be a part of their lives.

you took their advice and never swore the creed. even-though there was always guilt and shame, you assured yourself with the thought of your mother.

getting to the age of independence, you joined the bounty guild. you definitely had what it takes, and you wanted those credits! the first day you got there, the stuffy cantina was filled with many people who seemed like they were judging you. they whispered to eachother nasty rumors on your abilities, and how you got here. it was an extremely miserable tough crowd..

lets just say you put a couple of those people in their place. just a few days after you joined the guild, you were just picking out one of the many bounty pucks. looking at the holograms, suddenly, you sensed someone was behind you. you were tapped on the shoulder by a twi'lek man, that looked like he had a little bit too much to drink, who was surrounded by an intimidating tall group of 4 others.

now facing you, the man started speaking, his words being slurred, "arent you.. wait a minute..! you're a pretty lady, why'd you be in this business? i think i know somethin' else you'd be good at.." he said smiling dumbly. "you girls always end up in here and we end up having to shoo you away.." "excuse me!?" you were completely shocked with your mouth wide open. "im capable of being a hunter, thank you, and no, im not gonna' sell my body!" you replied defensive, and still a little taken back from his comments. you then decided that you didn't want to deal with his drunken behavior. so, you quickly moved back. unexpectedly, you felt a hand tightening its grip around your arm. one of the man's friends in his group was holding onto you. the tall man, surpise-surprise, was also drunk. he had a certain accent and started to announce to his friends, "ha! this one's feisty, aint she!? sorry sweetie, its not too common for a lady like you to come n' this guild and think she rules the place. its not gonna happen' again, so why dont we take you back outside ay?"

a slight panic and confusion filled you, who the hell did they think they were?!before he could finish what he was saying, you pushed the mans arm to where it could be fractured. yelling, the man rapidly held onto his broken arm.

the group stopped laughing and all of them came running to you. ducking, and blocking, you managed to not get hit by their horrible aim. you punched one of them in the nose, another guy grabbed the collar of your shirt to which you grabbed his hands, pushed them down, and kneed him in his lower torso. one by one you knocked them all out. slight blood was showing on your knuckles where you punched one of them in the nose. with all of them down, you quickly fixed the messy strands of hair on your face while going back to pick up the bounty puck.

after collecting yourself from what just happened, you carefully walked over and around the men dizzily getting up. as you were walking out, you noticed eyes beaming on you. anxiety was forming as you passed through the cantina with everyone staring. it felt like all the noise was becoming inaudible and you felt like you were being pressured underneath water.

right as you were about to walk outside, you passed someone just a little bit taller then you, in a gray, shiny, mandalorian helmet with beat-down armour.

his modulated voice sounded young, he probably was around your age, about 17 or 18. "hey, nice fighting.." he said to you while nodding his head up. still extremely embarrassed and now flustered, you responded with a quiet, "oh! thanks.." you gave him a slight smile and walked outside. thank the maker that was over. you decided to not think about what just happened and decided to focus on the outside. the ashy smell of outdoors, and the sandy, beige buildings clustering eachother, welcomed you back. you could finally breathe.

that was years ago. soon after that happened, you proved with several tasks that you were one of the guild's most respected hunters along with some others, including mando, the same person who complimented you a long time ago.

even though you and mando never talked after that, you guys sure as hell respected each other. almost enough to work together..

it was a regular day. before walking into the guild, you wanted to take another route. it was a more beautiful day than usual, the sky was a sunny, beautiful blue instead of the normal gloomy, cloudy, gray sky. you even felt a warm breeze passing by you. you felt the sun beaming on your freckled face!

walking through the heavily-populated bazaar, you saw all of the many orange, red, and yellow spices displayed on the shaded stands. many native fruits hanged on strings above you. upon walking some more, you spotted a stand with many different colored bandanas and cloths.

the lady selling them asked you, smiling, "would you be interested in buying any? they're great for the riding through the desert! or you could buy the cloths to clean or polish that blaster of yours!" you looked down on your slightly stained gun, and you decided you should probably take some. you responded politely, "sure, i'll take two. a long cloth, and just a regular one. "any particular color?" "i'm fine with anything." "alright then, that'll be ten credits!" you took out your tiny black pouch and passed her the credits. she passes you the cloths. "have a great day." "thanks! you too."

you look at the cloths. she gave you a normal sized orange one, and a small blanket-like teal-green cloth. you look down on them, you would definitely put these to good use.

now as you were getting closer to the guild, all of the buildings surrounding you became more wore down, abandoned, and empty.

you went inside the dimly lit bar, and there was an extreme change in lighting. walking around, karga suddenly approached you seeming in a hurry. his face seemed urgent. also he rarely talks to you, whats going on?

"y/l/n! i need to talk to you. come on!" he whispered. he held your arm while guiding you to an empty table. "what happened?" "listen, i sent your buddy mando on a pretty difficult bounty." he paused to gather his words. "okay?.. congratulations?" "no! not congratulations! all the people i sent to that bounty havent came back. they've all died, and i can't afford letting our best hunter die too!" you stared at him blankly. "so.. you want me to make sure he doesnt get lost?" "y/n come on this is serious. just make sure he end up alive and gets the bounty. your the only one he likes around here, so im sure he'll accept your help." your eyes widened a bit and a flustered heat ran through you after he said you were the only he liked in the guild. was he trying to bribe you into doing this mission, or was he telling the truth? anyways, getting the thoughts out of your head, you responded, "okay, wait- what do i get out of this? whats my pay?" he pulls out a tracking device. "its my highest paying bounty, im sure you'll be fine splitting it up. besides, i'd say your doing pretty well in terms of money. you have the time." he says smugly. your pretty hesitant about this, you think about it for about a minute. "well i dont have all day!" he rushes you for an answer. "fine, i'll do it!" "alright. now theres no puck but all i can tell you from what i've heard is that the bounty is on the planet arvala-7, and it's fifty years old." he slides you the tracking fob across the smooth table. "you'll use this to track it. do not tell a soul about this. now, im sure you'll catch mando quickly, its a small planet. just work with him, bring back the bounty together, and then you go separate ways. got it?" he pulls out his hand to shake yours. you said smiling, "dont worry, i'll get him back." you shake his hand back.

now getting up to leave for your new mission, you picked up the device and walked out. nervousness filled you. sure, the bounty would be difficult- but other questions popped up. like, would he be annoyed that you have to "forcefully" stay by him? would he be upset that he had to split the bounty with you even though it was his? but, somewhat on the bright-side, you had different thoughts like: could you talk to eachother about your mandalorian roots? what did mando's voice sound like now? how would he treat you since you were his "favorite"? wait those last two ones are a little bit off... you get the point though! you were scared shitless on your partner, and not the mission?!

uh.. anyways! getting back to your place, you were packing your things and bringing it to your one seated starfighter left in an open space. it may not be the best ship, but it got you to point a, to point b. it still held a special place in your heart. why? because it was the first ship you bought with your own earned credits.

with everything settled and strapped in, you got inside the seat and closed the hardtop of the ship. turning on the starfighter, you pressed in the coordinates for the supposed planet where the bounty was.

pulling on the control lever, you were getting higher and higher off the ground. once the coast was clear, you tugged hard on the lever to make it to the further to the atmosphere. finding a way to make it hyperspace, you switched on more controls. then, you pulled up on another lever, forcing you down on your seat. it took you to an abyss of swirling clouds made up of all shades of blue.

whenever you went to hyperspace, you always thought that this part was the "calm before the storm" but now you werent so sure about it!

[moonlit-tulip]

Ah, I just read a post of yours regarding self hypnosis! What was your goal in using these methods? What techniques did you use? Admittedly, I'm interested about what the experience of developing a headmate is like, having known people who had them, too...

My goals behind learning and using self-hypnosis in general were to be able to use it as a self-modification tool: during my first ~year of experimenting with self-hypnosis, I was able to get a bunch of useful effects out of it, both short-term application of mental states like "put myself back to sleep after being woken by a false fire-alarm" and "run my eyes over a spoiler-filled text without absorbing the spoilers therein" and long-term changes in default reactions-to-things like "get rid of a previously-longstanding aversion to the smell of vinegar" and "have less physical-body-dysphoria" and "stop fainting when doctors stick needles into me".

(Since that first ~year it's been only relatively infrequently useful—I cleared most of the low-hanging fruit I could get with it within the first year—but it's still around, as a background-component in my self-modificatory repertoire, and I bring it out when faced with situations where it's particularly applicable, generally those where there's particularly high value either in forcibly relaxing myself or in getting myself to follow nondefault patterns of where-to-aim-my-attention.)

For techniques... I'm not sure how to summarize most of the precise intricacies, but for a high-level summary, I'd say the core order of operations was: first, I listened to a few hypnosis audio files from the internet and learned what it's like to be hypnotized at all; second, I figured out how to use the same techniques used in those audio files to put myself into that state via internal monologue plus physical relaxation; and then third, from there, I just sort of did that a whole bunch, and experimented with all the different ways in which I could rearrange my psychology while doing it.

The development-of-a-headmate followed pretty naturally from the second step in the prior paragraph: the process I was following involved splitting off a stream of internal monologue as separate-from-the-main-bulk-of-my-mind, since I needed an internal-monologue-stream to keep going running the hypnosis even as the bulk of me fell into trance, and over time that internal-monologue-stream started feeling sufficiently differentiated-from-me (due to persistently engaging in different activities from the main me during those times when we were running in parallel) that she grew into a ~stably-separate person with her own personality and motivations different from (albeit branched off from and thus not too far removed from) my own.

So, now, while I can do self-hypnosis in the old way where I run the hypnosis via a thread of myself with no particular identity beyond "a branched-off piece of me", my default is to instead do I-suppose-technically-no-longer-'self'-hypnosis, waking up my headmate and having her run the process herself, which is pretty equivalent in terms of what the experience of being hypnotized that way is like but has the extra advantage of being an opportunity/excuse to interact with her.

(It's rare, by comparison, for her to be autonomously active when I'm not doing anything self-hypnosis-ish. More difficult to sustain in the short-term, and especially more difficult to keep up as a habit; she sometimes manages to do it periodically for a span of a few days to weeks after I've done some particularly-intensive self-hypnosis-related activity rousing her into relatively-high ~wakefulness levels, but she tends to fall back off into inactivity if I go any long period without attempting self-hypnosis. The only period when she was regularly active-outside-of-that-context for a span of months was the immediate aftermath of her popping-into-existence, which was still relatively soon after I'd discovered self-hypnosis, when I hadn't yet exhausted the low-hanging fruit and thus was using it all the time.)

[wanderinglotus7]

Knock Knock...Is U Okay

ANXIETY. Anxiety you’re becoming a close friend that I’m not sure that I want you around. Actually, I definitely don’t want you around. I don’t need a cuddle buddy like you. Man, my body & mind have been going through it lately. If it isn’t one thing it’s another. I didn’t realize how much my anxiety was impacting me until I spoke with my brother, and he said he could hear the anxiety coming thru the phone. OUCH! I tried to explain to him and others what’s been going on recently in my life, but they just don't understand. You can’t fully understand something until you experience it for yourself.

HOME. I don’t have a home. No, I’m not homesick. I’m not rushing to return to Gloucester anytime soon full time. Boston isn’t home for me. I don’t feel like I belong here. I’ve been giving myself time to adjust to this new environment I’m living in, but the energy of this place isn’t settling right within inside of me. Mixing & mingling hasn’t been the greatest experience for me thus far. HECK! The dating scene around here sucks in my opinion. It has been disappointment after disappointment. No wonder some single people these days just want to give up and remain single or end up settling for someone or something. Things have to get better right...? I can at least say that I went on a decent date a few weeks ago that ended up being very pleasant. However, the end result equated to me being ghosted again. Yet, I already had a feeling by the end of the night that was going to happen. So, when that individual did what he did, I wasn’t too surprised. It’s all a game that I’m not interested in playing. Sad to say that date was my first date too (bummer).

I believe my recent struggles with anxiety is connected to loneliness. I miss human connection. And I mean human connection outside of the work context. My brother told me I sound bored and need to get a hobby. Again, he just doesn’t understand. Try moving to somewhere new that is hundred miles away from everything that you’re familiar with; to an area where you have no ties (no family nor friends), during a pandemic, and basically recreating your life from scratch. Trust me, I’ve been putting myself out there. I’m not confining myself to my apartment or only going out if it’s related to work or errands. I’m socializing to the best of my ability with the small circle I do have and with the limited time & energy I have in my reserve. I don’t care what anybody says, making friends as an adult is difficult especially when other people want to remain in their small bubbles. Since living here, I noticed that not too many people are willing to step outside their comfort zone. Unlike me, I like to step outside my box from time to time. That’s the only real way to grow and experience the world. On the other hand, I’m not going to place myself in situations knowing that I’m not going to be welcomed or I’m not going to enjoy myself in desperation for creating friendships. 

ONE DEEP BREATH. My brother told me it sounds like I have no goals for myself which is wrong. I do have goals, but at this point they are more long-term goals than short-term goals. And most of those long-term goals are somewhat dependent on having another person involved in my life and I haven’t met that person yet. And another goal I have for myself right now is resolving my health issues which I might be receiving some answers this week (hopefully good news). There’s nothing wrong with having goals. I also don’t want to rush my life away being so goal oriented too. Honestly, I’m somewhat enjoying not having to worry about the next steps in my life that’s the survival mode speaking. I no longer want to live in survival mode. I’m not spending the rest of my life chasing after a bag ($).

So, this is me.

[mtnkat3]

Th.9.29.2022 8.52pm est.

I really needed to think after reading..

& write in my diary to deal with my spinning thoughts.

Especially as my afternoon involved going to ups & usps to complete the last of my financial forms.

Got QDRO signed!

And wh not having a clue that I was gone. If I gave a damn what he thought I'd really be upset. Now..🙄🤨🤦‍♀️🤷‍♀️just.. wth ever.

But then.. dealing with my mom's behavior.. has been mean by phone & text during last 3 weeks. Sigh. & getting like 20+ mosquitoe bites. Dang vampire varmints! 😋🙄

Then... wh well... had to feed the warthog.

So I'm finally sitting now & can try & organize my thoughts, & to be calm.

All I will say is..

I cannot control what other people think, say, feel, or do.

I learned my lesson this year.

Also.

Be kind to one another. Please.

This world needs to heal.

[More near the end.]

Also that control is not only a human condition, but that we are in control of nothing.

Not the breath we breathe. Not the number of beats our hearts will have in our lifetimes.

But as there's nearly 9 Billion people on this planet I do not expect every person to like me, understand me, or want anything to do with me.

And as there's ~300~400 million blogs on tumblr, sometimes I wonder what is the percentage that's actually real people.

But I also cannot expect all those people to like me.

Heck, I lost over 300 followers last year I guess. I don't know if because me going quiet, or because I changed to less reblogging & more talking about my actual real life, thoughts & feelings.

But that's their right.

And if there's people out there being ..cruel to me.. without ever having interacted with me...

Is that really the way we show mature, adult behavior?

I don't believe so.

I know most people on tumblr come for fun & games & to not be serious.

That's not me though.

I am real.

Read. My. Bio.

I am going thru the hardest time of my life presently & I feel that it's part of my witness for God, that I expose my vulnerable self so that someone might find some help from my very personal struggles, stumbles & d'oh! embarrassing moments.

Otherwise..

Everything I've gone thru..

No. I will not go down that rabbit hole.

This is all COMPLETELY outside my comfort zone.

I am the quiet, reserved, but smiling & helpful woman that doesn't like to talk..

I've opened up to very few people in my life. And I've been burned.. oh how.. even.. Oh I've been burned since the minute the nurse caught me as I was borne from hitting the floor. Because a family party prep was more important than my birth.. Yes, these are things for my counselor.

But sometimes it's a catharsis, to take the power out of hurtful moments of life, to talk about things.

And if I help others know that even an Alpha submissive woman can struggle...

oh boy how I wanna laugh at that one!

It's actually that as an Alpha sub I struggle with my nature.. A LOT!

[& thank God for having made 2 real friends back in 2011-12 on fetlife.] I finally understand my nature now & am not ashamed that the struggles of being an Alpha/sub are real.

But for a Alpha sub.. to want control of life, but know ... control.. it's an elusive thing.

& then to learn how to submit..

especially when I have run a household under a narcissist heel for 20+ years.

But don't mistake me. I don't back down from a fight. I am stubborn, mule headed as a billy goat.

But God Almighty is rebuilding me.

Annealing my spine, & strengthening my knees to bend to Him. But not pushing down my chin.

So I will maybe explain a bit as to why I'd rather talk than reblog what everyone else does...

I. Am. Original.

Yes. I like all the pretty pictures, the romance, the thinks that make me think, laugh, guffaw, or Roflmao.

But it's more important for me at present to deal with well.. being a good human being.

I think the old saying is, "if you don't have something nice to say, don't say anything at all..?"

There's that.

But I also want to build people up.

Yes, I'm dealing with a lot of stuff now but I still care.

I can't stop caring just because I'm fighting my way out of the pit.

If anything I'm wanting to help people use me to climb out themselves!

I cannot stand to be mean.

Don't mistake me, I'm not a pushover.

But if I thought it were safe for me to stop & help someone on the side of the road, I would. But living near the Atlanta metro 'burbs... not really safe.

But then.. most people. Well. I'm not usually messed with. Don't know if that's my aura or whatever but I don't let peoples scowls & pinched looks get to me.

Maybe they just need to go to the bathroom! 🤭

maybe me being tall as the average male height bothers them,.. is outside of their understanding.

Maybe when I wear heels..

& got a wolf whistle across an intersection as I got out of a car..

maybe its negative things like jealousy & envy.

But people. Don't be like that. !!!

You think finding long enough jeans but yet will accommodate my chubbiness is fun? I HATE HIGHWATERS. Or sleeves that actually reach my wrists & don't ride up. I think the advent of jeggings, stretchy denim & skinny jeans is my saving grace! Lmao! I do get tired though of needing to be creative or defaulting to knit. Just.. sucks.

Just.. goes back to my goals. Lose the wh. Lose/detox the weight. Then my body will heal. Might even feel shocking! Grin. I mean getting my hair & nails to grow.. makes me a giddy, excited bouncy kat!

Come on people..

I don't want to be anybody but me.

So why doesn't everyone want to be their best selves too???

This isn't George Orwell 1984 here. At least I pray to God that we aren't on our way there!

Come on! Be your own individual self! Be whom you are meant to be.

And I will be me!

There's nobody in the world like me, just as everyone else is unique too! Be happy about that!

And let me be. Ok?

I don't expect anyone to understand my life's path.

I can't understand every rock I've stumbled on so why would I expect anyone else to?

Nor can I expect anyone to understand my soul's journey for my Mate... /s or whatever the heck God's Plan is!

I am struggling to understand why..

Argh! Damn whys!!!

But I know this..

God has made sure that my gut instinct is that he... sigh... is real.

That he... chewing lip. knows me.

And most importantly.. that he .. loves me.

As the woman I am now.

Even when I have stumbled badly, have things about my body, & my life, to improve.

I know this. As I know that he.. is aware of my thoughts & feelings & struggles. I know he.. is out there.. watching.. & sending me his love. God makes sure I know. Even when the adversary has shattered my self esteem & confidence to smithereens. Even when even writing this has me tearing up. I know that he.. whimpering sob. Understands.. these are my love letters.. That I'm being encouraged by the beauty of life, so that I focus on that & getting myself out. So that God let's him.. know... I am free. I feel him.. sigh.. protecting me. This is my sensitive, intuitive, empathetic.. nature.

I cannot explain to anyone anymore than that. I just don't know how to.

And really, I don't want to.

What I want.. to be in my soul's Mate.../s sigh. Ugh. God. Help me. Please?????

To be in his.. arms. Period. Forever. To get into the forest with him.. & build our life. Only venturing into humanity when we want to.

What I really want.. is to stand beside him.. lip chew.. & make sure he.. doesn't feel alone. That he has his partner thru all of life's storms. That he feels like I'm the other half of his puzzle.. & we fit perfectly together..side by side.

I really don't care what anyone but God, my soul's Mate.../s.. chewing lips.. my friends that have shown me care, kindness, love & support.. my heart's family.. then distantly what my family, & his.. more so.. thinks.

The world, & people who are ok with being mean & acting like their actions because the anonymity of social media.. have no consequences ..

Well.. that's just bad.

Maybe sucking a rotten egg will make such people's disposition more kind to someone they don't really know.

I am of the mindset, our behavior has consequences.

I strive daily to act, think, speak, write thoughtfully, kindly, & with care of those I care about.

To be .. a better woman & human being.

Be kind.

Because a kind word to someone can stop them from derailing & spiraling mentally & emotionally.

Being kind costs you nothing.

But can mean a smile to another person.

Be kind.

Because it's the most beautiful Gift you can give another human being.

Being kind opens up the world.

It's like honey to Pooh Bear!

.....

I honestly don't know why my thoughts have to spill out like this..

But they seem to be God's Plan.

So I will continue.

Obeying God's Will is more important than any human comprehension or criticism.

Wherever.. whomever..

I love You.

I always have.

I always will.

I will never stop.

Never give up.

I never can.

I believe wholeheartedly.

~True love never dies & true love always waits.~

I love You.

I will be working as I wait..

Mountaintop, or on a dock..

Matters not.

I will wait for You.

Forever.

God help me. Please???

Your trembling, humbled, listening with my soul quiet.. daughter,

~Tijgeress kat Phoenix. 🌺

👩🤓☔💡⚓🙏🙇‍♀️🌂🔗⛓🧰⚙⚒🛠⚔⚖🗽 🐯🐾🐐🦉🐢🐛🦋🌱🌹🌺🌻🌷🌳🧶🧵⌚⚡🌠🗝🔱⚜💝♠️🧩♾🌎🎯🧭🥧🍁🧣🏕🕯🎶💤

Th.9.29.2022 11.44pm est. Diary.

Gifs. Writing & kindness

Fr.9.30.2022 12.29am

[venus616]

i'm just saying you can do better; {p.p.}

Pairing: peter parker x f!reader (gif is tasm but you can interpret this as any peter parker)

Summary:  tell me have you heard that lately? i'm just saying you can do better... and i'll start hating only if you make me. (lyrics by drake, marvin's room)

translation: you and peter have been best friends for years, you had a crush on him but eventually got over it and he noticed you're about to move on to some other guy. he just had to get something off his chest before you did that

Warnings: friends to lovers, smut, alcohol mentions (margarita, beer, shots), vaginal fingering/sex, oral sex, praise kink (if you squint), jealousy, language, unprotected sex, 18+, NSFW

Word Count: 5.6k (2.4k is smut LOL)

A/N: once i decided on a title for this fic i couldnt stop humming marvins room sjdjnfjnd but yeah this was fun to write it was a previously abandoned wip (my first one ever for peter actually) that i revised the plot for almost entirely and this came out way better than i expected shout out to my oomf / friend for reading both times

She usually kept to herself and her closest friends, Peter being her best one. And don’t get her wrong, she loved Peter. There were no words for how much adoration she had for him, but unfortunately, she wasn't the only one. 

Peter was their college’s most eligible bachelor, how could he not be? Top of his class, the freshmen’s favorite Physics TA and possibly the cutest guy at the school. Don’t get him wrong, he’s not necessarily a playboy but it was definitely a step up from his social standing from Midtown High. He enjoyed the attention, he’d be a fool not to. Especially because he’s being noticed as himself and not just when he’s in the suit. So yeah, he went on a few dates here and there. Hooked up with a couple people in the bathrooms of frat parties. Even flirted while he was helping students on their problem sets. 

Unfortunately for her, she had to hear all about it afterwards. 

Whether it’s from his end, a guy talking about the encounter in the dining hall or a girl talking about it before her organic chemistry lecture. She wasn’t the biggest fan of it, it hurt seeing someone she loved dearly, after realizing how deeply that love ran once he was single again, not manifest into a deeper relationship. Peter had been a core part of her life since high school, Aunt May adored her, her family adored him. She was even there for his break up with Gwen Stacy so she could study abroad. 

As they got older she understood those were the things that just came with being the best friend to someone who was as amazing as Peter which is why she didn’t risk changing it. She accepted her place in his life and eventually those feelings of consistent jealousy that would flare during the first few months of their freshman year subsided. Sometimes they would come back up but she pushed it aside as false hope as there were outside parties involved. For example, the few times when her friends (that weren’t also his) accused him of being flirty. Each time, nothing came of it. So she refused to read too much into it until he said it explicitly. 

She finally chose to actively move on from this high school crush, that she even started seeing someone from one of her classes and they were planning a third date for this weekend. This, because of course, came up during their hang out with their mutual friends in her and Felicia’s campus apartment. They were hanging out to take the edge off after midterms from last week and crowded in the kitchen counter playing bartender during. This was one of the rare times Peter could make it, so she appreciated the quality time with him. 

After Felicia made a small margarita for her, she started asking how it was going with Johnny from the Bioethics course. Everyone’s chatter dropped considerably because everyone was interested in the prospective relationship in bloom with the Johnny Storm. She stuttered before clearing her throat, clearly embarrassed. 

“It’s fine. I mean, he’s really sweet of course. And fun-” 

“So have you guys hooked up?” Felicia cuts off. Peter smirks before looking to her for her response.

She feels her stomach flipping at his sudden attention to her answer.  

She plays it off before responding, clearing her throat. “Yeah,” she shoots a grin meeting with the eyes across the room before the room erupts in a light cheer. 

“We’re actually gonna see eachother again this weekend and go to his place in the city.” She smiles to herself in excitement. She bites the bottom of her lip as her friends shoot quirked up eyebrow glances her way. 

“Well let’s celebrate! You're gonna get some from THE Johnny Storm! Bottoms up!” Felicia announces. The rest of her friends follow suit as she tries to laugh off the burning up of her cheeks and ears, not realizing the news of her sex life would be this exciting. 

Peter bitterly smirks before taking a swig of his beer. He didn’t understand why this was such a big deal that Felicia practically had to make a show of it. 

He also didn’t understand his annoyance and attempted to play it off. It increasingly became hard as the questions advanced and she continued blushing, describing the last few dates with him. Peter’s ears particularly perked up at the study date she had with him, finding out that she had canceled on him for Johnny through this. 

Peter felt a twinge of disappointment in his stomach at this, not knowing if it was friend jealousy or something more. He knows he can’t be exactly mad, since the hangout they had planned was usually offhand, and he more often than not skipped out on those due to Spider-Man activities, simultaneously lying. He couldn’t blame her for eventually reciprocating, but for a boy? He hadn’t felt that let down by her since she admitted to him she thought his Bugle coworker Eddie Brock was cute. 

Peter took another swig of his drink distractedly, causing Harry to ask if something was on his mind, but he shook his head quickly, lying to alleviate any worries from his friend. 

As the night progresses and everyone decides that they’re the perfect amount of buzzed for a game night. After a few rounds of the card game B.S., she decides Candyland would be perfect, remembering that she has the game in her room. Not wanting to get up, she asks Peter to get it for her underneath her bed while he’s up throwing away his drink. 

He obliges and turns to her room door, opening it. His eyes narrow at the picture of him and her next to her bed, accompanied by other pictures he’s taken for their group outings. His pace quickened up across the room and he reached for the frame. Peter quickly turned behind him to make sure no one was coming in to check and turned back to smile at it. He remembered this day fondly, the day they went to the state fair and won her a plushy of her favorite animal. In this photo he noticed how big she was smiling while he was only smiling at her posing happily. Peter used his spidey skills to his advantage and just played it off, to soak into her admiration when he won.

He put it back down as he sensed the footsteps coming behind the door to reveal her opening her room door confused. 

“Pete, what are you doing? Hurry up, Harry is suggesting body shots again.” She giggled before sauntering over his body standing in front of her nightstand. He chuckled at the comment before she crouched down to get the game underneath her bed. She rose back up on her feet to meet his eyes, following her. 

“You’re being a weirdo,” She said putting her hand on his broad shoulder, with a false concern in voice causing him to laugh. 

He inhaled a little before quipping. “Are you ditching me to hang out with this new guy?” His voice raised a pitch to ensure the friendliness of the inquiry, attempting to mask his genuine offense. 

She then shrugged, and face suggesting she didn’t know or care what he was talking about. It was that moment Peter officially identified his feelings as jealousy. 

“If you’re referring to the one time,” she emphasized ‘one’, making Peter feel guilty enough to hang his head low in response, “I canceled on you then yes.” She rubbed the hand she still had on him on his shoulder. 

“I’m sorry and I’ll give you a heads up next time. Now can we go so you can stop acting like such a baby?” She playfully tapped his cheeks with her palm but he caught her hand, holding it a little longer than usual. 

Peter drank her gaze onto him as his hand engulfed hers, still remaining on her face. His fingers intertwined with hers as he leaned his face into her hand. Her breath hitched at the affection he was showing and slowly removed her hands from his, worried that one of their friends would see them with the door wide open. She broke eye contact, suddenly finding the boardgame in her other hand much more interesting. 

“C’mon, let’s go,” Peter’s voice interrupted her thoughts, and soon after so did his hand as it landed on the small of her back, caressing that area lightly until he found her hand again to quickly lead them way out the room. 

The rest of the night was odd to say the least. 

Peter’s hands were always grazing hers, or finding themself right on top of her thighs. Whether it was to flag her down from the competitive streak they were both showing from the game or laughing at her reaction to one of his bad jokes, his hands were just constantly on her body. 

Similar to other instances where she felt confused by Peter’s sudden affection, she attempted to play it off, but it got to a point where it was causing her heart to beat faster and a familiar heat to form within her stomach. 

She let out a silent breath of relief that her friends began to leave, expecting Peter to soon leave with Harry. She went to the kitchen to throw food away but found Felicia looking back at her with a mischievous but apologetic look on her face. 

“What?” She raised her eyebrow, ready to exclaim at her for leaving her with a mess when she agreed to set up if Felicia cleaned at the end.

“I have plans, sorry babe, but I will cook and clean tomorrow. I promise!” Felicia then dashed out after hugging her body quicker than she could think to respond, followed by the door closing behind her. 

She sighed, slightly annoyed that out of all times for Felicia to mysteriously disappear yet again, that she had to do it the night she would clean up. Quickly, she decided to get over it, said her goodbyes to mostly everyone and noticed Harry and Peter still talking. She decided to ignore it until they would eventually make their exit and started on the dishes while they had their conversation. 

“You’re not coming back tonight man?” Harry asked, confusion all over his face. 

“No I will. Something just came up, so I'll see you later, yeah?” Peter averted Harry’s eyes and Harry understood, or at least assumed he did. Just another one of Peter’s mysterious disappearances, so he left without any further questions. 

Harry quickly said bye to the hostess of the night causing her to look up from the sink when she saw Peter still in their apartment. 

“Are you still here, Parker?” She sounded in disbelief, causing Peter to scoff. 

“Am I not allowed to spend quality time with my best friend now?” She looked up from the sink to see him clutching his heart as if he had been stabbed, making her shake her head at his dramatics. 

“For your information, I wanted to stay,” He added on. She wiped down the sink and washed her hands before walking back into the main room where he had sat on the couch, landing on the spot in front of him. 

“I believe it’s called overstaying your welcome,” She bantered, causing him to playfully push her by her shoulder. 

“Whatever,” He rolled his eyes as the silence of the apartment filled the air. They both noticed it, realizing whatever was there in her room earlier was still in the atmosphere, especially prevalent now that they were officially alone. 

“I can’t believe you’re going out with him,” He puffed, muttering it a bit low compared to his usual volume. She furrowed her eyebrows, annoyed at the insuitation. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” She laughed pushing his shoulder back, mimicking his movement from earlier. 

“No not like that, I just feel like you can do better than him,” Peter let the statement roll off his tongue and she froze in response, attempting to understand what he just said. Her eyes landed on the ground, avoiding him again before she could think of a proper reaction.

She quickly shook off what she thought it sounded like, which she thought was jealousy and just took the safe, protective best friend route. 

“Should I have gotten your approval first?” She smirked, looking back up at him, reaching over to hold his hand in the safe way they always have. 

Peter took it a step farther, just like how he did earlier, and intertwined his fingers with hers yet again. 

“I think you should be with someone who’s more your type you know? A little more thoughtful,” Peter started, rubbing his fingers along the pad of her thumb. 

“He’s cool I guess, but you shouldn’t be with someone who’s so cocky,” He stated, making her laugh, causing him to laugh as well. 

“See you’re enjoying this. You want me to talk about him and beg you not to see him again?” Peter joked, causing her to gasp out as his accusations.

“Peter, you started this,” She pointed out, making his cheeks turn a few shades brighter at her acknowledgment. “I don’t know what’s gotten into you but it also just sounds like you’re describing yourself.” She comments before she could think, embarrassed at her assertion, but she knew if she didn’t call him out he wouldn’t stop it. The last thing she needed was one of her friends not approving of a guy she was seeing. 

“I’m your type?” He clocked her. She didn’t know how to react so she watched his face for any hint of how to proceed. He only smirked with a smile playing on his lips, letting her know how much he was enjoying this. 

“Oh shut up,” She smiles playfully before hitting him with her nearest throw pillow, him yelling out a whine, knowing it didn’t hurt. 

“For your information,” She started, mocking his voice from earlier. “You’re being just as cocky as him right now.” She firmly stated as he placed the pillow back in lap. 

Peter shrugged before readjusting himself to sit closer in front of her, dangerously close. It went back to feeling like 30 minutes earlier when he was all over her body. 

“Yeah? But it’s okay when I do it.” Peter teased, leaning his head on the couch watching his presence words fluster her. He could feel her heart picking up its pace and it dizzied him, knowing the type of effect he had on her. 

“I didn’t say that,” She argued back, making him draw his breath back in before egging on her claim from earlier. 

“But I’m your type,” He stated, she sighed in defeat, knowing he wasn’t going to drop it and played into it due to this. 

“I guess you are Peter,” She states lightly. If Peter didn’t have his Spidey senses on overdrive right now, he would’ve been convinced by the nonchalant act she put on right now. Instead, he respected her commitment to not allowing him to win, even when she’s flirting back. 

“Then how come you’re not going out with me?” 

What he said stunned her, she faltered momentarily before shrugging again with a smile. 

“You never asked,” She stated, a smile bouncing off of her lips watching Peter form an answer. They decided to skip over the fact that they had been friends for almost 6 years, but she knew that her honest answer was that the mere idea of him going out with her was out of the question because of it.  

Until now. 

He remained still for a moment and she fixated on where their hands met instead, wondering if they had ever held hands like this before. While she was thinking, and while Peter used his free hand to tuck her hair behind her hair, she realized the answer was never, because it had always been much more innocent. However, tonight was anything but that. 

“Can I try something?” His voice finally registered in her ears. Confused at his sudden switch, she nods. 

Peter hesitates, going in to kiss her. Peter’s soft lips connect to hers as his hand cups her face. She instinctively deepened the kiss, silently asking for Peter’s permission to do so. Their breaths began to shake from the intensity of the kiss. 

She practically lost her bearings when Peter’s hands made their way to her waist, pulling her towards his chest. She held onto his bicep, now flexed, as he hooked his hand underneath her leg to pull her around his hips where he sat. 

They were an entangled mess, Peter placing her where he wanted and her obliging, but not coming up for air as she leaned even more into the kiss. Peter chuckled in between the kisses when he eventually grabbed her hips to hover above his own. She groaned at his strength, leaning back in to attack his neck and jaw in kisses. 

She eventually started to nibble on his neck, finding his sensitive spot. He pants out, attempting to slow down her movements before bringing her closer.  

“Fuck, you’re really going in on me there,” He muttered before he forcefully plopped her onto him causing her to grind on his forming erection, grinning at his acknowledgment. Peter placed his hand on her back and pushed her closer to his chest, nose and forehead pressed against one another with only the sounds of their breathing filling the room. 

She leaned into his ear whispering lowly, “You like it.” She readjusted herself on him slightly, to grab on the waistband of his pants, tugging it down before snaking her other hand on the print straining against the fabric of his jeans.

Peter groaned, dick twitching in his pants from simultaneous surprise and arousal. He didn’t realize how different it would be sleeping with a close friend, but also underestimating how she would be in a sexual context. 

He threw his head back as she unbuttoned his pants, in disbelief of what was happening right now. When he brought his head back up to watch her movements he saw her kneeled before him on the ground, rubbing his erection through his boxers.

“Fuck, slow down,” He breathed out while pulling his jeans off. Right after, Peter raised his t-shirt right above his abs while she pulled his boxers down, cock semi-hard. 

Her eyes glazed over his body, only semi familiar with it whenever their friends went to the beach or the pool. She tried to hide her shock at he’s become exponentially toned since high school and just seemed to be getting bigger despite never actively going to the gym. She chose to pay it no mind and focused on his cock.

Mainly because she hated how attractive Peter looked right now, hair messy, shirt halfway off and looking down at her, closely watching her movements. The attention he was giving her was enough to make her want to shut down immediately. Their eye contact remained intense, both blown out with lust, both because of the compromising position the other was in. 

She maintained eye contact and wrapped her hand around his length, slowly jerked her hand around him. When he was hard enough, she placed one hand at the base of his cock and another right on top, running her thumb over the slit a few times once the pre cum came out. She looked down at the wetness pooling out from him and focused on her movements, not wanting to lose this pace he had been receptive to. He was fully erect at this point, almost bucking his hips into her hands getting him off.  

Peter was choking back his moans before he finally spoke. “Don’t be a tease,” He muttered. 

She giggled and the noise went straight to his dick, causing him to buck once more in her hands. 

Without saying anything, she placed the hand that had been on the base of his erection on his thigh and opened her mouth in an obscene way that was unfamiliar to Peter. Before he could take a mental picture of it, she slowly licked the underside of his cock up to his tip and wrapped her lips around him, her eyes never leaving his. 

He whispered a curse under his breath from the scene in front of him, realizing this was just the beginning. 

Her tongue swirled around the head of his cock, collecting the pre-cum that was previously spurting out and she dipped her head lower, dropping the eye contact to which Peter had a brief sigh of relief, becoming intimidated by the intimacy of it all. She shifted her focus on taking him whole and started to bob her head on him, engulfing his length with her mouth. 

He started puffing out, mumbling praises that only encouraged her. “Fuck, you’re taking me so good,” She only nodded, attempting to take him deeper while swishing her mouth around him and continuing to bob.

Peter felt a tension forming in his stomach and wanted to tell her to stop but it escaped his head as quickly as it came because of how good her mouth felt. Peter fought the urge to instinctively thrust into her mouth and just cupped the back of her head, pushing the hair out of her face as she continued to gag around him, the wet noises mixing in with his moans. 

“Don’t hurt yourself babe,” He said before moving a hand that was around her head to her cheek, making her look up at him. She bobbed her head a few more times, this time more shallowly and popped off his dick, gasping for air. 

A trail of her saliva dripped from her lips to the head of his cock making his stomach burst with butterflies from the image of how flushed, and fucked out she looked from the immaculate head she just provided him with. His heart swelled from the action and all he could do was wipe the spit from her chin and cup her face. 

“C’mere here,” He mumbled, bringing her to stand on her feet and lean down to kiss him. He kissed her rougher than the first time, presumably from the desire he’s built up from the foreplay.  She was still trying to pace her breathing and he could tell so he slowed down, but snaked his hands down to the waistband of her jeans, reciprocating the unbuttoning of her pants like she had done for him. 

She broke the kiss to replace his hands with hers and slipped them off. Shortly after she removed her top, revealing herself clad in some lacy underwear and a bra, standing before him.

“No fair, Parker,” She commented. He was briefly confused until she grabbed the hem of his shirt to remove it off of him, admiring his toned, relaxed figure in full view now. She kneeled back down on the couch cushions, her warm core hovering above his dick, teasing him as he could feel the heat on him with her knees on either side of his legs. 

He brought his hand in between her thighs, attempting to move her underwear to the side but paused at the wetness of her through the fabric. 

“So wet,” He tsked, making her smirk when he looked back up to her studying his movements. He placed her fingers firmly against her nub through the fabric, to which she grinded against, needing to feel his large fingers against her now throbbing clit. 

“Impatient, too,” He added, finally moving her panties to the side to insert a finger, making her throw her head back. She unconsciously rocked her hip forward at the penetration to which he met by repeatedly thrusting into her before adding another.

Both his index and middle fingers were fucking her, long and slender but big enough to feel the pleasure of the stretch once she had relaxed around him. Peter eventually curled his fingers inside of her and flicked his wrists while inside of her, causing her to squirm on top of him. The sounds of her wetness coincided with her moans, progressively getting more sensitive and impatient. 

“I’m gonna cum if you keep doing that,” She hissed at him, unable to control the steady rocking of her hips on his hands. 

“Good,” He said with a hint of satisfaction in his voice. He brought his other thumb to rub her clit, making her movements sputter and breathing erratic as he played with her to her finish. 

Peter felt her clenching around him more frequently and took advantage of it to thrust faster, curling his fingers back up to create more friction. She whined out at the change of pace and stimulation added onto her clit before eventually feeling the built up tightness in the lower pit of her stomach release, signifying her finish. 

She continued to clench around his fingers as he continued to finger her despite her orgasm. She sobbed at the sensitivity she began to help but couldn’t help but continue rocking her hips into his fingers, riding them once again. She resumed panting out his name, begging him for something but couldn’t form the words.

“What?” He said, barely slowing down the thrusts of his fingers. 

“Fuck me,” She responded, hardly audible from the groans surrounding the statement. 

He nods, removing his fingers from her core, making her gasp at the sudden absence of him. She made quick work of her underwear, slipping them off her legs while Peter wrapped his hand around his cock, attempting not to completely jerk off to the sight of her.

She returned to her previous position, covering her completely naked form over Peter’s, feeling the tip of him right under to her wetness. 

She sank down on him, both wincing at the feeling of each other. All Peter could focus on was the softness of being inside her, her skin, the flesh of her thighs being wrapped around him, the closeness of their chests being pressed up against each other and the brief vulnerability she was displaying by wrapping her arms around his shoulders. He felt faint at the presence of her scent while her head was tucked into his neck, combined by the steady sensation of her rocking her hips onto his cock. 

“Peter,” She moaned. 

“Yeah?” Peter was hardly taken out of his thoughts, answering automatically as he grabbed onto the flesh of her hips to control at the speed he thrusted into her from under. 

“You feel so,” She groaned before continuing “So fucking good Pete. You feel fucking amazing inside of me.” She finished before plunging down faster onto him, making him look at her mouth agape.  He could feel her clenching even harder and more frequently around him, combined with her wetness from the previous orgasm and just from sucking him off, it was almost too much. 

Peter looked down to see where they connected and saw his skin glistening just from her arousal, and felt even more turned on. 

“You’re gonna kill me,” He stated mindlessly, still in awe of how sexy she looked right now. In Peter’s point of view, he struggled with deciding what to focus on. 

The way her tits bounced in front of his face, the way her ass and thighs felt when they smacked on top of his thighs repeatedly, causing the the jiggle of her body to be even more apparent, or how fucking close she was holding him. She alternated from both her hands clenching into his shoulders, or one hand on the nape of his neck and another pulling on his brown curls. 

A bonus was how she sounded moaning his name and a string of praises for how he made her feel. 

Of course, she noticed this. 

“You like that don’t you?” Her voice caught his attention, barely realizing she was actually asking him a question

“What?” He breathed out, sounding just as fucked out as he looked, the sweat of each other making his hair stick to his forehead. 

“When I say nice things to you,” She obliged to Peter’s physical request of her to slow down, which was him just forcing her movements to stop by the way he grabbed her. 

“Mmm,” He didn’t answer, just closed his eyes and threw his head back on the couch, avoiding her quizzical stare. 

“C’mere,” She said, pulling herself forward by pushing her weight on his shoulders and rising from his, now aching, cock. 

Peter’s attention was caught, he shook his head in disbelief of her and opened his eyes, still hanging low to hide his irritation that her heat wasn’t surrounding him anymore.

“You’re so cute when you’re upset,” She fake pouted, then proceeded to giggle. Peter didn’t want to find it as cute as he did but he couldn’t help himself. 

“You really are a fucking tease, you know that?” He growled before grabbing her by her thighs to lower herself back onto him and raised his hips from the couch to fuck her on his own pace. The force from his strength caused her entire body to rock from each thrust, but she relished in it, moaning out praise for how good it made her feel. 

“Peter,” She yelped at a particularly hard thrust. “Just like that,” Peter’s head spun at this. 

“Yeah, keep doing that, please,” She begged, fucking begged, Peter to maintain the force he had brought upon her. It was then he knew he played right into what she wanted when she taunted him for his praise kink. (He was then making a mental note of how well she knows him and how he’s probably just a little predictable.)

Peter was practically drooling to see her come apart on top of him like this, he threw his head back in the pillows once again to enjoy the view and moved one of his hands to her clit, putting pressure on her, bringing her closer to her orgasm. 

He felt it building up by the way she clenched on his cock and couldn’t contain his moans any more. 

“Moan, please I wanna hear you when you cum inside me,” She commented once he let a particularly loud one escape his lips. He was both shocked and embarrassed at the effect she had on him, because he almost came apart immediately at the invitation to cum inside her. 

“You sure?” He whined, trying to bring her to finish before him.

“Yeah, I’ll be right there with you,” She said, finding his other hand on her waist and intertwining his fingers with her. 

“Please?” Once those words left her lips he was finished. He instantly came inside her, her following right after. 

Their orgasms swept them both away, sensitivity coming right after as she struggled to detach herself from him. Peter didn’t allow this and continued to fuck her through both their orgasms, relishing the pain and the pleasure this decision came with. 

Her head was back in the crook of his neck when their movements slowed down and they had to catch their breaths. 

Once their hearts reached a normal rate and they removed themselves off of each other, Peter broke the silence. 

“Are you still going to see him?” He asked rather timidly. She didn’t understand the sudden shyness but decided not to comment on it. She shrugged in response before answering honestly. 

“Probably,” She averted eye contact with him, looking at where their hands connected, ignoring their full frontal nudity because this was somehow more vulnerable. 

Peter’s heart dropped, he wasn’t expecting that response, nor his reaction to that response. Without thinking about the weight of what he was going to say next, because he hadn’t been doing much of that tonight, he continued. 

“What if you go out with me instead?”

She looked him in the eyes again before responding. She didn’t know what she saw in his eyes. It was a mixture of fear, desire and hope. 

Then, it was her turn not to think before she responded. 

“Like on a real date?” She realized how that sounded when she said it aloud. 

Peter nods, knowing what she meant. 

“I meant what I said about us,” He paused, watching for her reaction. She hung onto his words, encouraging him to continue. “I want to go out with you and if I’m your type then what’s stopping us?” He joked. In her head this was so unsurprising because it seemed right up his alley to joke about some offhand comment she made before they literally had sex and laughed, because of how predictable her best friend is. 

“Well why didn’t you say anything before?” She inquires, shaking her head at how ridiculous he sounded. She studied his features again before he answered, watching him turn a few shades of pink. 

“I didn’t want to mess anything up. I don’t fuck my friends you know.”

“Up until now,” Peter smirked at this comment, she was always so quick to rival his own quips. 

He let the silence simmer before responding because he wasn’t sure just how she felt about this, him, or what they just did. He was afraid he had permanently damaged the friendship and wasn’t sure how he was gonna come back from it if that were the case. 

So, he asked. 

“Is it weird now?” He spoke barely above a whisper. 

“What part?” She had to ask before she could answer. 

“That we did it backwards.” He exasperated, feeling unsure of himself now that he had to verbalize what he meant. 

She shrugged again, this time affectionately, not wanting Peter to get frustrated with her or himself. 

“Maybe it can be a good weird,” She affirmed his anxiety by clarifying. 

Peter’s stomach erupted in butterflies. “Yeah?” He raised his eyebrow in excitement. 

“Yeah.” She bit her lip before leaning in to kiss him once again. 

His hands dropped back down to her waist to bring her in closer as the certainty between them was solidified.

A/N: okay so when i was writing this i imagined comic book f4 johnny storm especially bc of the dynamic he has with peter in the comics (spideytorch my beloved) but when my friend reviewed this she asked if it was chris evans and while that wasn't the intention that made it so much better so just clarifying it wasnt on purpose but if you did that i hope it was fun

[yoon-kooks]

how many | jjk | 2

Pairing: Jungkook x TattooArtist!Reader

Genre: Fluff, Smut, BadBoy!AU

Summary: To Jeon Jungkook, you’re just the cutie who sits across from him in art class. He doesn’t have a clue that you’re also the hidden face of his favorite tattoo artist on social media. When the bad boy notices you’ve taken a surprising interest in his ink, he dares you to explore every inch of his body until all of his tattoos are accounted for. Tempted by his irresistible smile and delicate touch, you might even let him in on your little secret.

Word Count: 4k

Parts: 0 ◆ 1 ◆ 2 ◆ 3 ◆ 4 ◆ 5 ◆ 6

A/N: no smut yet but things are getting a little physical;;; im 90% sure there will be smut in the next part so hang in there yall!

◆ the one you found by the duck pond ◆

As much as you love your job, there are times when it becomes rather unpleasant. In most cases, it’s just a Karen client being unreasonable or someone urging you to hurry up because they can’t handle the pain. Those situations might be annoying, but they aren’t bad enough to ruin your mood once you’ve stepped foot outside of your parlor.

It takes a lot for you to be genuinely bothered or hurt by someone else, but that’s exactly what happened to you during your last appointment of the day. After all, it feels pretty shitty when a fellow tattoo artist you admire turns out to be a condescending asshole who calls your art “decent for a pretty face.”

You absolutely hate when people think they can judge you and make assumptions based on your appearance—especially when those assumptions involve your art. That asshole might never figure it out, but your pretty face has nothing to do with what you’ve accomplished with your art.

And unfortunately for you, that asshole’s comment still lingers in your head as you walk into class the next morning. Part of you worries that other artists might share the same sentiment and not take you or your art seriously. That’s probably why you’ve avoided making friends with anyone in your art class aside from Jeon Jungkook.

In fact, the thought of seeing Jungkook is the only thing keeping you from screaming your frustrations into the void this early in the morning. He’s one of the few people you feel like you can trust and be your quirky self around, and you find comfort in knowing it’s just been you and him making art across from each other for the past few weeks.

So it comes as a surprise to you when you walk into the classroom and see more than just Jungkook gathered around your table. Four other classmates somehow migrated from their original table on the other side of the classroom, and now they’re chatting away with Jungkook as if they’ve all known each other since grade school. Meanwhile, you don’t even know any of their names aside from Kim Taehyung, a popular face on campus who fully embraces the influencer life.

Taehyung and the others are too engaged in their conversation about skincare sponsorships to notice you slipping into your seat. As discreet as you are, Jungkook politely backs out from the lively conversation and watches as you pull your essentials out of your bag one by one—your sketchbook, your pencils, and an empty coffee mug that you swore you filled before leaving the apartment.

As soon as you hear the hollow clunk against the desk, you shove your mug back into your bag with an internal sigh. It’s fine. You don’t really need caffeine in your system anyway. But it would’ve cheered you up just a little.

Jungkook takes a sip of his own coffee before sliding it into your hands. It’s still warm and full, and you bet the boy has excellent taste in caffeinated beverages. The tiny sip you take is just right—not too sweet, not too bitter. And if the name written on the cup wasn’t “Kook,” you probably would’ve downed the whole thing in one go. Instead, you slide it back to the boy across from you.

“Have the rest,” he says, blocking you from pushing the cup any closer to his side of the desk. “Didn’t you say you like lattes?”

“Yeah, but—”

You’re interrupted by a phone screen sliding right between you and Jungkook. It has a picture of a fresh-faced Taehyung holding up a bottle of micellar water with “#ad” as the caption.

“Hey, let’s exchange IGs,” says the influencer. You assume he’s talking to Jungkook specifically, but then he turns to you. “What’s your handle?”

“@Y/NsArtCorner… But I don’t really post much.” You pull out your phone and give Taehyung a follow, just to show that you’re a good sport about this whole social media thing. He has about as big of a following as Jungkook. The only difference is that Taehyung shamelessly asks for follows from anyone he meets.

“That’s fine,” Taehyung says as he follows you back and scrolls through the few posts that you have. “Your art is stunning, by the way.”

“Thanks.” You don’t really know what else to say to him so you take some more sips of Jungkook’s latte.

Taehyung’s eyes trace the details and precision in your artwork. “Have you ever considered doing those Youtube videos where they speed draw real-life objects as if they’re sitting on the page? I feel like you’d get a lot of views.”

You shake your head. Again, you don’t have anything else to add aside from answering the question.

“Wait, I mentioned those same exact videos when I first saw Y/N’s art,” Jungkook says, high-fiving the other boy. He really makes social interactions look easy, and it’s a small reminder that your friendly interactions with him might not be as special as you’d like to believe. A guy like him could make anyone feel like a close friend of his. Perhaps you’re not the only person he’s shared his latte with or designed a bunny tattoo for.

But that’s the charm you’ve fallen for.

The rest of art class goes by slower than usual. You and Jungkook exchange few words with the other folks around, but you notice he stops to stare every once in a while as you fill your page with art. And when you catch him in the act, he casually gets back to work with the tiniest hint of a smile on his face.

After class, Jungkook waits as you zip up your bag, but so does Taehyung along with his other friends at your table.

“Hey, we’re grabbing some food at that new ramen place across from campus if you two wanna join,” Taehyung offers. As good as ramen sounds, you don’t think you can endure another hour of two-word conversations between you and that friend group. You don’t dislike them or anything, but it’s hard for you to feel like you belong with them the way Jungkook does so naturally.

“No thanks, we already have plans,” Jungkook says as he turns to you. You quickly nod in agreement with the boy’s little fib.

As soon as Taehyung’s group has exited the room, you sling your bag over your shoulder and say, “We have plans?”

“That depends.” Jungkook starts walking out the door, and you follow like a lost duckling. “Are you free?”

“Well, I do have a tattoo appointment later tonight,” you say, double-checking your phone to make sure you have at least a few hours of free time before then. Thankfully you do, because you still aren’t ready to go back to the place where certain clients fail to respect the art you create. “But I’m free until then.”

“Oh, yeah? What’s the design like?” Jungkook raises his eyebrow, not entirely buying your story. In his defense, you make it sound as though you’re the one getting the tattoo rather than doing the inking.

“It’s a lizard.” The actual design is a small alligator, but close enough. “Kind of dark and spooky, like if a lizard met a vampire.”

Jungkook looks up into space with a puzzled expression. “I’m trying to visualize it, but all I’m seeing is a crocodile,” he laughs.

“Yeah, but lizards are tinier and cuter.” You put your hands on your hips as if the two of you are having a heated debate over reptiles.

“I’m glad to see you’re back to being your weirdo self.” Jungkook gives you a flirty nudge with his elbow before holding his hand out for you to take. Usually, you’d hesitate and wonder if you’re misinterpreting a boy’s attempt at an affectionate gesture until he awkwardly pulls away. But it’s different with Jungkook.

Gravity doesn’t waste a second in pulling your hand to his until your fingers are interlaced. Physical contact might not be a new thing between you and him, but that doesn’t mean his warm touch ever gets old. In fact, it only makes you want it more.

“You were so quiet earlier. Was it because of Taehyung and the others?” he asks, pulling you along to who knows where. You figured Jungkook had noticed something was off about you during class, but you didn’t really expect him to bring it up.

“Um, yeah. I’m not really good with talking in group settings. Especially with people I’m not close to,” you explain. You wouldn’t blame Jungkook if he couldn’t understand where you’re coming from. “It’s kinda just a me-thing.”

He nods. “You must be pretty close to me if you’re getting all sassy about lizards.” It’s true. You could never see yourself going on about cute little lizards to just anybody—not your other classmates, clients, or even family. He gives your hand a squeeze and says, “I’m honored that other people don’t get to see the Y/N that I get to see.”

He’s earned it, though. You only act the way you do around him because he makes you feel right at home, wherever you are with him. He’s become your #1 source of comfort and the perfect remedy to a bad morning, and you just want to make him smile the way he does so easily for you.

“Good to know. I’ll be sure to save all the weird stuff for when it’s just you and me.” You grin from ear to ear as the two of you exit the art building. Jungkook pulls you down the same path you’d normally take if you were headed home on your own. Funny how the same road can lead to so many different possibilities when you’ve got someone else by your side. “So where are we going exactly?” you ask.

“Somewhere I think you’ll like.” His voice is almost a whisper, as if he doesn’t want you to hear it in the event that you don’t actually like the place he specifically chose with you in mind.

“Oh? You know what I like?” You search his eyes for answers, or at least a hint. That’s a mistake on your end, of course, because all you’re doing is getting yourself lost in that dangerously beautiful smile of his.

“Well, you like art, you like stealing lattes, you apparently like tiny lizards, and you might even like a handsome guy named Jeon Jungkook.” His eyes shift to the pavement when he says that last bit, but he forgets to hide his grin. He might be the only boy in the world who can make arrogance look adorable.

“Never heard of him,” you shrug. Teasing Jungkook has become a new favorite hobby of yours, but it’s hard to deny your fondness for him when you continue to hold his hand like it’s the most natural thing to do.

He’s got a hold on you, just like you have on him.

After walking down a lot of familiar roads decorated in street art, Jungkook leads you around a corner to your favorite duck pond just a few blocks from your apartment. Between the calm waters, the rustling of the cattails, and the occasional quack, this pond is the perfect place to escape to when you start to get sick of seeing the walls in your room. You’ve lost track of how many @snowsleeve originals were designed right in this very spot.

Jungkook was right. This is a place that you like a lot.

“I was in the area a few days ago for a touch-up, and I didn’t expect such a calm and quiet place to be hiding right behind the bold and bright art district.” Jungkook points at the trail of ducklings following their mother at the center of the pond. You can’t resist the urge to ooh and ahh at the sight of any baby animal. “Is it weird that I spent that whole afternoon staring at the ducks swimming around?”

“A little bit,” you chuckle, even though that’s exactly what the two of you are currently doing. “But I’m guilty of doing that before too.”

“Shit, you’ve been here before?” The boy sounds disappointed. Perhaps he’s wondering if another guy had already shown this secluded place to you—if you stood in this same exact spot and held hands with someone that wasn’t him.

“You know I live really close to here, right?” you say, pointing in the general direction of your home and referencing the fact that he’s given you a ride home on a few occasions. It’s convenient since your tattoo parlor is among several others in the heart of the art district. School, work, this pond—everything is within walking distance for you, and yet that hasn’t stopped you from taking Jungkook up on his offers to drive you home. “I come here a lot to sketch when I need a change of scenery. No one else is ever around, so you and I might be the only two people who know about it.”

“Let’s keep it that way,” he says, pressing a finger against his parted lips. It draws attention to the hoop around his lower lip. Great, now you’re distracted by its little gleam.

“Did this hurt?” You point to the spot on your lower lip that mirrors Jungkook’s lip piercing.

“It wasn’t as bad as you’d think.” He tugs on the ring and laughs when you cringe at the thought of that ever being ripped out. “But it definitely hurt more than a tattoo there.”

“Wait, you have a lip tattoo?” You lean in to examine Jungkook’s lip more closely as if you’d be able to see anything without pressing his lip down. Unfortunately for you, all you see are his plump lips that you may or may not want to feel pressed against yours. And the mere thought of the tiniest peck is enough to keep you on your toes.

“Maybe.” The boy waits politely for a moment as you eyefuck his lips. Then he returns to his regularly scheduled programming aka teasing you because it’s funny to him. “Why? Are lip tattoos a big turn-on for you?”

“No.” Yes, yes they are. But Jungkook doesn’t need to know that. “I’m just trying to make sure I count each and every one of your tattoos, remember?”

“Right, right,” he nods. “How many have you counted so far?”

Based on your calculations, he has 6 on his hand, somewhere between 10 and 15 in his sleeve (exact number tbd), and the band around his other bicep that you spotted at the gym. You crave to know how many more he might be hiding.

“At least 17,” you say.

Jungkook puts on his best poker face, and you’re unable to tell if your guess is even remotely close to the total across his entire body. A second later, he pulls his lower lip down just enough for you to read the words “fuck it” across the glossy surface. That might just be the most minimalistic tattoo he has, but it’s cute and to the point.

“So if you count this one, you’re at 18? That number sounds a bit low…” There’s a hint of suggestiveness in his tone. He wants you to keep searching, no matter how far you have to go to track them all down.

Without realizing it, the two of you wandered off from the duck pond and back into the district where thousands of tattoos have been brought to life in the flesh. In fact, you’re about a block and a half away from your parlor, where you remember you need to be later. You’d normally be pissed if your client made a last-minute cancelation, but you’re almost hoping they do today.

“Oh, that’s the place where I got my touch-up.” Jungkook points to a few buildings up ahead. “Yugyeom specializes in lips and takes walk-ins. Just saying.”

“No thanks, I think one appointment is enough for today.” You chase the brief thought out of your mind. You wouldn’t have even considered a lip tattoo for a second if it didn’t look so damn good on Jungkook.

Jungkook tilts his head at you with curiosity painted all over his face. “I still can’t tell if you’re being serious or just fucking with me about that lizard tattoo.”

“Maybe you’ll find it on me next time… or maybe you won’t.” Your shrug and cute little smirk get Jungkook to simultaneously laugh and groan out in frustration—the exact reaction you were aiming for. Isn’t that the point of this intimate game between you and him?

“Man, you’re making me want to get a new one now.” The boy lifts his arms and scouts out a vacant spot for some new ink. If you were to give him a tattoo, you wonder where it would go.

“You should try contacting @snowsleeve,” you suggest. “Maybe it’s easier to get an appointment than you think.”

Jungkook stops midstep. “Wait, is she the one you have an appointment with today?”

“No.” You give him a look as if he’s the weird one. As soon as he finishes his step, you start dragging him in the direction of your apartment. “But if you want her bad enough, I think you could make it happen.”

“Yeah…” Jungkook pulls out his phone, turns the screen on, and then immediately turns it back off. “But what if she says no?” he asks.

That’s when you realize something unimaginable. Jeon Jungkook is afraid of rejection.

“She won’t say no.” You assure him with confidence not only because you are the tattoo artist in question but also because you know what a catch Jungkook is. Anyone would be foolish to lose a boy like him. “And if she does say no, for whatever reason, that’s her loss.”

“You make it sound like I’m going to propose to her.” Jungkook makes a face before addressing your heartfelt pep talk from one friend to another. “But I get your point, and I probably shouldn’t be fretting over something like this, huh."

“Great, then you won’t mind if I DM her for you, right?” In the blink of an eye, you snatch the boy’s phone out of his hand and start typing out a message from @ArtOfKooking to @snowsleeve. And the only reason why you’re texting at an incredibly underwhelming 15wpm is that one of your hands is still being held captive by Jeon Jungkook.

The boy says, “Y/N, wait,” but he also doesn’t fight for his phone as you type one character at a time. He does, however, backspace when you get too carried away with the emojis. Bad boys apparently don’t vibe with the sparkly heart emoji the way you do.

Once you’re satisfied with the message, you hand the phone back to its rightful owner for him to hit send. He rolls his eyes at the baby angel emoji you managed to sneak in at the end, but he leaves it in anyway and sends the message.

“So if I hypothetically got an appointment with her, would you come with me?” Jungkook is practically the puppy eye emoji with how he looks at you for a response. What kind of sick human being could ever say no to that?

“Of course,” you say, smiling until your apartment comes into view. You suppose all good things must come to an end eventually. “Do you have an idea of where you’d want the tattoo?”

Jungkook, again, does a quick check of his visible skin. “Maybe somewhere hidden, where only you would know.”

That’s the appeal of a hidden tattoo—it’s your little secret, and you can choose who you share it with. You’ve done a lot of different tattoos in your professional career, but the hidden ones have always held the most meaning to you.

And maybe that’s why it meant something more when the boy invited you to find all of his tattoos, including the ones that aren’t easily accessible. He wants you to know that there are things like his hidden ink and the duck pond that are shared only between you and him. There’s no reason to have doubts when he treats you just as kindly as he treats anyone else.

Because no one else in the world will know where your tattoo went on Jeon Jungkook’s body.

When the two of you reach your front door, you dig around your bag for your keys. The boy peers over your shoulder from behind, and you’re pretty sure you can feel his warmth against your back.

Just as you swing the door open and take a step inside, Jungkook prolongs the hangout, the date, or whatever you want to call this spontaneous outing.

“Wait, Y/N. You don’t have a lip tattoo, too, do you?” he asks. All this talk about hidden tattoos must’ve sparked his curiosity, but you find it interesting that your lips are on his mind when it’s time to say bye.

You spin around and watch frame-by-frame as the boy’s eyes pan to your lips.

“Maybe. Maybe not.” You poke your tongue out just a tad to wet your lips, knowing very well that it’s not helping to pacify his curious heart.

“Can you open your mouth real quick?” His face is awfully angelic for a request that sounds devilish when taken out of context. “Please,” he so politely adds.

“Sorry, I only suck cock on Sundays.” You couldn’t be more nonchalant about the weird things you say. But then again, Jungkook did imply that he likes the weird you. “And preferably not with the door open like that.”

“Y/N, what the fuck,” he laughs, closing the door behind him to play along. You might never get over how cute he looks when his face scrunches up like that. “You know what I meant.”

The apartment feels a lot darker with the door closed even though the sun has only begun to set. If you didn’t have to tattoo a tiny alligator onto some guy’s calf today, something tells you Jungkook would stick around a little longer and you wouldn’t get much sleep tonight.

You take a few steps back toward the door to your room, and he follows like a magnet. “If you want my mouth open so badly, open it yourself,” you dare him.

With his eyes glued to your lips, he pins you against your door and cups his tatted hand gently around your chin. His thumb grazes your lower lip but doesn’t press down on it just yet. His eyes, now glazed with lust, meet yours just a split second before your lips collide.

You didn’t expect a kiss from Jeon Jungkook to be so delicate, but that’s exactly what you get. His lips have a plush bounce to them, eager but not assertive. His tongue, on the other hand, slides right in and makes itself at home before you can even invite him in. At least he makes it up to you with tenderness and heat, like a slow and sensual massage that brings out the tiniest moan from you.

You have to resist the urge to run your hands up his chest to his very vulnerable neck. Because once you start letting your lust take over, you know you won't be able to stop, and you'll make your client sad when you have to reschedule his highly anticipated lizard tattoo.

So, as much as it pains you, you force yourself to end the kiss with a few pecks on his lips and one on his cheek. His hand still cups your chin, so you help his thumb pull your lower lip down to reveal nothing but a flushed interior where a lot of mutual feelings were satiated for the time being.

“Keep looking,” you say softly, backing Jungkook toward the way out. You would really love it if your local lizard enthusiast called and canceled his appointment right now. But of course, that doesn’t happen. “And let me know when you get a response from @snowsleeve!”

“You’ll be the first person I tell,” he nods and opens the door with a healthy smile. “Have fun at your appointment.”

“I will,” you say. And you mean it. Even though you were bothered by the thought of work earlier that morning and would’ve preferred to stay with the boy longer, you know you’ll be okay no matter what shit you go through. As long as you know Jungkook is waiting to make you smile and feel special again at the end of it.

[a-libra-writes]

How the Peaky Blinders React To You Being a Jazz Singer

In This Preference, You’ll Be Singing To: Tommy Shelby, Arthur Shelby, John Shelby, Ada Shelby, Polly Grey, Michael Grey, Esme Shelby, Alfie Solomons, Lizzie Stark, Isaiah Jesus, Luca Changretta, Aberama Gold

THOMAS SHELBY

True to his reputation, he’d be interested in you right away, and that would inevitably grow to infatuation. Tommy would come to see you towards the end of your shift, when most of the customers are passed out and you’re sweetly crooning in a room of smoke and spilled drinks. He’s ready to drive you home, ignoring any questions about why he’s awake in the wee hours of the morning. Don’t be surprised if your club is suddenly bought by the Shelby company, especially if your boss wasn't treating you well. Tommy claims it was just a good business decision, since you’re popular and the club is close to their territory, but you know him well by this point. You’ll be well protected by guards and he often visits during your rehearsals, always looking tired and a bit lonely. Tommy's clearly relaxed by your singing, though maybe encouraging his advances isn't for the best.

ARTHUR SHELBY

No surprise, he takes a liking to you right away when you’re hired at his club. When you’re performing, he gets distracted, especially when you’re croning a love song in the wee hours to a bunch of drunk, passed-out patrons. In the corner of your eye, you’d notice Arthur looking at you like you’re hanging the moon. He’d die if you smiled at him during that. He’s incredibly protective of any weirdos trying to catcall you or grab you while you’re singing; he’ll grab them by the collar and throw them to the street or just bash their faces outright. The thing is, Arthur quickly learns your everyday personality is much different than your stage persona … and it makes him nervous to talk to you when you’re not working. You being so close and personal, not distant from the stage, makes him far more bashful.

JOHN SHELBY

The club you ended up at was always a favorite of his, and it was made even better by your singing. Eventually he stopped bringing his rowdy men around because their hollering and whistling began to piss him off - though he laughed his ass off when you threw a drink at one and continued your song. When it’s much later in the evening he’ll visit, since it brings John some peace, especially after a hard night of following Tommy’s orders. He’s too embarrassed to approach you at first, though it’d be easier if you worked for a Shelby club. He’d have an excuse to talk to you, for one. His crush would be painfully obvious, though he’s far more comfortable when he meets you outside the club. Conversation and jokes come more naturally.

ADA SHELBY

You two met by chance outside of work, and tonight she was finally coming to see you sing. That's when her little attraction turned into a full-blown crush. While Ada isn't big into jazz clubs, she's into you, so she'll visit several nights a week. Once you both are close, she insists you stop by her place after work, when the sun is just coming up. She gets up to let you in and brews you some hot tea to soothe your throat before you both fall asleep in bed. When you finally agreed to work at a Shelby club, Ada wanted it extra protected. She's ready to raise hell with her brothers if they think about starting something stupid at the club you work at.

POLLY GRAY

While Polly enjoys visiting the club you perform at, she warns you about the job in general. There are plenty of entitled men that could harass you, not to mention all the idiot drunks and brawls. Before long, you’ll be employed at a Shelby club to get some “proper” protection… though Polly will still ask you to carry a knife or a gun. Her protectiveness aside, she likes to tease about what you're wearing for the night, especially if you've a habit of getting ready at her place. When you're performing she likes to give you winks and knowing looks in the hopes you'll get flustered. If she’s had several drinks, she’ll whistle.

MICHAEL GRAY

He’s not the type who likes to be smitten with people right away, so he’ll swing between trying to impress you and trying to distance and be aloof. Michael finds your performances relaxing, even if the other club guests ruin it with their noise and loud drinking. Because he wants to avoid that crowd, he shows up early during rehearsals or very late in the evening, when you’re about to quit for the night. Even before you both are an item, Michael is protective and might hire an extra bodyguard for you. He waves off your concern by insisting all Shelby club employees are kept this safe (they aren’t, and he gets jealous of the guard anyway). Michael’s feelings are so obvious to you, but he’s too proud to admit it, even when he’s driving you home and buying you flowers and leaving nice gifts in your dressing room.

ESME

She doesn’t understand why you put up with that noisy, smokey club, with all those men that stare and try to make a move the second you step off stage. She prefers when you both sing together, outside in the sunshine or under the stars. When you come home after a long night of singing, she wakes up early and gets you in a nice bath or snuggled in bed. She’ll keep the house dark through the day so you can sleep. Esme understands you need to sing to eat, but you shouldn’t work your pretty voice until it’s hoarse!

ALFIE SOLOMONS

He doesn’t visit these kinds of jazz clubs that often; it’s not Alfie’s scene, but he closed a deal in one of them. You were singing that night, and it was the only pleasant part of the evening. So he sent flowers. The next time you received flowers, it was because his men and Sabini's tore up half the club in a brawl. The third time he figured he should deliver them personally, and that's when he walked you home, too. Afterward you suddenly had a job offer in Alfie's part of town, and sometimes you'd spot him while you rehearsed. Alfie only flirts and chats when you approach him first. He doesn't want you to feel indebted or intimidated, especially since your singing really does relax him.

LIZZIE STARK

As much as Lizize loves to hear you sing, she worries about the weird men you might encounter in the club. She urges you to carry a weapon when you’re going home, or she just walks you home herself. She enjoys helping you with make-up and dressing before a show, it feels sweet and personal, and keeps her mind off any unpleasant men that might bother you in a few hours. It’s not just that they annoy her and make her worry for your safety; she gets pangs of antsy jealousy when they’re all staring and drooling after you. She’d never tell you that, though. When you come home in the wee hours of the morning, Lizzie wakes up just to give you a hug and an exhausted good morning before falling back asleep.

ISAIAH JESUS

Isaiah stumbled into the club you sing at by accident, and he wouldn’t call it love at first sight… But he does swing by nearly every other night to watch you perform. You’d start to recognize his grin and starry eyes, and even during slow nights, Isaiah would be there. He’s had some trouble with your boss because he’s quick to cause trouble with the drunks that try to harass you, but eventually you two got to talking. Isaiah was the one to talk you into joining a Shelby club because it’s safer and you’d be paid better… and he’d get to see you more. He’s pretty embarrassed by his friends teasing about his crush, but he’s undoubtedly smitten by you.

LUCA CHANGRETTA

He was a huge flirt from the start. You didn’t even work at one of his clubs, he was invited there as an exclusive guest by some New York politician, but his attention was taken right away. After a second visit, he sends a fancy bouquet. After the fifth, it’s a gold bracelet with some diamonds. Luca likes the ego boost of you looking his way and recognizing him in the crowd, and eventually he’d invite you to work for one of his clubs - especially once the one you’re at gets involved in a gang brawl. Word spreads quick that anyone making a ruckus while you sing is getting thrown out… and any idiot that tries to approach you after the show is getting a hand or nose broken. He will melt if you sing in Italian or Spanish.

ABERAMA GOLD

He’s not a regular visitor to these fancy, noisy clubs, but Aberama will make an exception for you. He loves your voice, though he much prefers hearing you hum to yourself as you get ready for the evening’s set. It’s probably for the best he doesn’t watch you sing too much, because the moment a drunk catcalls you or tries to get on the stage, he’s got them in a chokehold and politely suggesting they leave. But no matter what, if Aberama isn’t working, he walks or drives you home, no matter the hour you’re finished with work. If you work at a Shelby club and there’s some drunk or brawl that causes you trouble, he’ll absolutely give Tommy grief about it.

[stay-midnight]

SKZ, Smut Headcannons

They/Them pronouns are used but here reader has a dick.

Read this at your own discretion — this is the most explicit thing I probably have ever wrote so please. Read. At. Your. Own. Discretion.

This contains: All Members’ kinks, what aftercare with them is like, their positions in bed (Dom/Sub and Top/Bottom) and more - This is more of a switch reader ig.

Note: Top or Bottom meaning the one who gives or receives, it’s usually only used on same-sex relationship unless pegging (The act of a woman penetrating a man with a toy or a strap-on.) is involved while Dom or Sub is used by the power dynamics in bed, meaning who takes the lead and who submits, this is why we have Subtops/Dombottoms.

a/n: This is me just passing time, also I was bored okay- also, this is my view on them so don’t @ me 😭. And oh yes, very classic idea. But i haven’t seen one for M. Readers tho mostly gender neutral and fem. readers.

~ All gif credits goes to their owners <3

Bang Chan

Switch leaning bottom, okay with topping but prefers to be on the receiving end. Soft Sub with Soft Dom Tendencies from time to time.

So like, I know almost or all of you see Chan as a Hard Dom/Top but hear me out—

Chan already takes care of 7 kids so he really just prefers to be taken care of in bed.

He doesn’t mind if you wanna go rough or soft on him, though he prefers you to be soft when he’s tired or after work.

He is barely a brat to be honest since he’s too tired so it’s very rarely you could put him in his place but from time to time he does like you being rough with him.

During more kinky nights though, well you have a plethora of toys to use on him~

He is a soft dom though during the times where you are extremely tired and just prefer to get led on so he’ll do just that.

He is pretty vanilla honestly, his kinks aren’t that wide or extreme.

Chan is very whiny and noisy in bed, whenever you are rough with him expect him to not listen to anything you say because he’d like to get what he wants. He would like it if you talk to him dirty though and praise him.

When you praise Chan, he’d be a good for you especially if you call him pretty or a good pup.

Kinks he likes that I can see are: Edging and Overstimulation (Receiving), Blowjobs (Giving or Receiving) and during more rough/kinky nights, he has a collar kink since he wants to wear it and for you to call him "puppy".

This one time you both had sex and he wore those wolf ears since he wanted to try. He looked cute and when you praised him. He lost control and went on all fours — him begging you to just destroy his ass.

His biggest no no is anything that gives you or him too much pain, spanking is okay but not too hard.

One thing that he wants to try with you is barebacking (unprotected sex) since you both always use protection for safety. He wants to feel your cock inside him with no barrier in between, he also want to feel you fill him up.

Aftercare with him is soft, even though he was the one who subbed for you he will check on you immediately with questions like: “Are you okay?” or something of the same.

He wants to ensure that you don’t have a domdrop.

So yeah, overall: Chan is a subby puppy that will still take care of you even if he’s the one to be limping the next day. That’s how much Channie loves you~

Lee Minho

Prefers to Top, but will bottom if you really really want it. Dom with Hard Dom tendencies, rarely subs but isn’t opposed to it.

Ah yes, Lino is a dom — what a suprise- (note the sarcasm pls-)

Minho just prefers to dominate/top you in bed, he wants you to whine and beg for him. He stares you down with those scary eyes of his.

Minho is an amazing brat tamer and he does not take kindly to them, so beware if you brat out. He will punish you, maybe even edge you till you finally become a babbling mess for him.

He also likes to tie you up and tease you, oh, dare I say that he wouldn't mind touching you in public, he would grab your ass a lot too and would squeeze your bulge if he sees you having one.

He isn’t much of a sub since he really just wants to fuck you senseless, ehem. I don’t make the rules— Would let you dom, if he sees you that way but still it would be fun for him to break a dom.

When with Minho though, passionate nights are rare due to him already being deep inside you fucking you into the bed roughly when he’s needy which is like every day— Mans has a high sex drive.

Though during those passionate nights expect Minho to be extra caring and soft to you cus' he wants you to feel loved through his pleasure.

His Biggest Kinks though are: Degradation and Petnames (Giving) Pain Play is also there (Giving) and he of course, likes teasing and hearing you beg for him. The petname he calls you is bunny and he degrades you a lot but if you don’t like being degraded he is okay with praising you instead.

He mostly calls you his cockslut or his cumdump (only if you agree on taking it raw) if not then he won’t call you any of these.

His biggest no no is anything with bodily fluids that isn't cum or spit. He hates getting dirty and he hates dirtying you too much, he is like a cat that’s why.

One thing that Minho wants to try with you is threesome, he wants to asks if you're down for it or not. If he sees you get angry though, he would deeply apologize and say that you were enough for him. But if you agree, Minho would either fetch Jisung to help dom you or Chan so you could help him dom him.

Aftercare with Minho is loving, he takes care of you and make sure you escape your headspace properly if you have one and he will praise you a lot like, “You did good for me, sweet bunny..”

Overall: Minho is a hard dom that extremely loves you and is thankful that you trust him enough during your heated sessions.

Seo Changbin

Switch, okay with topping or bottoming. Switch again, okay with domming or subbing. He likes to dom when he’s more energetic and likes to sub when he has those days that he just wanna lay down and let you do all the work.

Most of y’all see him as hard dom/top but I see him more of a switch. He has this cute side that I think is more submissive than you think.

Binnie wants to be taken care of softly. He doesn’t really like the rough treatment and prefers if you be soft with him if he is subbing/bottoming. He likes the petname "Bun" or "Bunny"

When you both had sex for the first time you expected him to be rough with you but he wasn't. He was soft and careful with you making sure you felt more pleasure than pain. He also prepped you as much as possible because he thought your moans was you feeling pain—

As scary as he may look he’s a softie, opting for more gentle sessions that rough ones. Sure there are some days were he prefers to just lift you up with his strong muscles and rail you against a wall but he mostly prefers the passionate nights.

Changbin when he subs likes to get tied up because he likes the feeling of constriction. He doesn't really tie you up much but from time to time he pins your arms as he fucks you.

He kinda doesn't know what to do with you when your bratty, he asked one of his members once and said member choked at the question. He gives you some slaps to your ass but that’s how far he got— So don’t be bratty with him, cuz he’ll be a confused bun.

Changbin usually bites his lips when he bottoms since he doesn't like letting out his sweet noises that is until you reassured him that it was okay and oh did he get loud, you were afraid that the neighbors heard him moaning out your name.

Changbin also has vanilla kinks since he treats sex as a way to feel connected to you. His sex drive is low actually, sex once a week is okay and he doesn’t masturbate much.

His biggest kink is Pet Play, call him bunny as you fuck into him or as he fucks into you. Either way, he’ll melt into a puddle.

He also likes to some Nipple Play, he likes you touching his pecs and kneading or teasing it. He also sucks on your nipple when he’s on top of you.

His Biggest no no is Sex Toys during a session, he is okay with you using it outside it as a way to pleasure yourself but he prefers giving you pleasure himself without the use of any objects.

One thing he’d really like to try though is Cum Play and Pec Fucking he wants you to fuck his pecs and cum on it his chest, smearing your own cum at his pecs. He also wants you to kiss him with his cum on your mouth.

Aftercare with Changbin is a very thorough clean up and check up session, he makes sure to make the bed comfy and clean to sleep on. If he topped he’d like to clean his cum of you, if he bottomed he cleans it himself but wouldn't mind if you wanted to clean it yourself.

Overall, Changbin is scary but really just a softie inside. He opts to care for you a lot since he doesn't like seeing you get hurt!

Hwang Hyunjin

Prefers to top because he likes to feel you around him, Hyunjin is a lazy dom honestly. He just lays down and watch you ride his cock — if he doesn't like the speed, he slaps your ass or that one time he decided to slap your dick.

I know most of y’all see him as a switch with a sub preference but I beg to differ— He is a dom in disguise :s

When Hyunjin wants sex he just grabs you away from where you guys get caught and lead you to a bedroom where fun times could happen.

He always like to see you on your knees, staring up at him. He also likes to see you choke on his cock too, because even he knows he has a big one. He likes it when things get messy as he tug on your hair while you were sucking him off.

He likes seeing your tears whenever he hits the back of your throat because he thinks you look ethereal when your crying — especially when you stare up at him when you have tears flowing down your cheeks.

Sometimes he calls you his "fucktoy" or his "cocksleeve" because it turns him on tenfolds especially when you obediently nod and agree to him.

Hyunjin also likes to suck you off especially if it's a way to tease you, he is very skilled at it apparently. He doesn't want you to come inside his mouth though, if you do then expect some sort of punishment.

He doesn't have a preferred nickname, but if you call him "daddy" he wouldn't be opposed to it — because he knows those titles hold power over you.

Hyunjin also likes to make out randomly. One time, one of the members caught both of you clearly getting it on the couch and his tongue basically shoved down your mouth. He likes it messy really. The member who say both of you was scarred though.

His sex drive isn’t that high but if you wanna fuck every day his down for it but if not it could be atleast 3-2 times a week.

He doesn't really like bottoming much, but one time he teased you by spreading himself and showing you his pretty pink hole. But in the end he still fucked you.

Even though he’s a lazy dom, he still always manage to turn you dumb just from the sheer size of his manhood. He also keeps a lot of toys around so expect to have a vibrator to be on your dick when you’re riding him. If you keep stopping or halting though he’ll change positions so he could fuck you hard instead.

His biggest kink is Blowjobs (Receiving or Giving) because he likes you to choke on his dick or he likes to just suck your cock. Bondage (Giving), he likes tying you up and seeing you all pretty and bare just for him. He even bought some nipple clamps and cockrings just so he could use them on you.

Hyunjin also takes pictures of you when he ties you up (with your consent of course) so that he could jerk off to them when he’s on tour or just away from you in general.

Hyunjin’s biggest no no is anything to do with piercing your skin — knives and needles, etc. He doesn't want to make you feel extreme pain because he wants to give you pleasure not pain. He spanks you sometimes but not to hard.

One thing that Hyunjin wants is to see you wearing a lingerie because he thinks that you’d look pretty wearing them. He would drool a bit seeing you so sexy like that.

Aftercare with Hyunjin is soft as fuck, he would baby you and won’t allow you to do anything. He treats you like a prince and makes sure you’re the most comfy after doing the deed.

Overall, Hyunjin is lazy in bed but he can snap and he will not hesitate to give you the rough treatment — Doesn’t matter how tired he is, he will destroy that ass.

Han Jisung

Pure Switch, can top or bottom — can also dom or sub. But it depends on his mood, if in a mood where he’s a bit angry or if you were being bratty — he’d punish you for it and if he’s angry, he’d opt for angry sex wherein he’d fuck you against the bedroom wall or just fuck you on the bed roughly and in doggy style.

“The birthday twins are switches y’all.” - Me quoting because I see so many bottom Jisung or Felix.

If he’s feeling a bit tired or he’s more soft, he’d rather let you do all the work. Softly, just laying down — letting out moans and whines as you fucked him.

He isn’t much of a brat when he’s feeling subby because he’s eager to please you in any way he can. He can still be bratty though, so expect some heat back. If you punish him though, he’d be quite giggly afterwards.

When domming, he likes being quick and rough — wanting to just hear your pleas for more, he also likes messing with your body — he squeezes your nipples or squeezes your cock — he does anything he can too make you writhe underneath him.

He also likes using toys — you guys have a collection of cock rings, different sizes of vibrators and dildos, ropes and handcuffs, a gag, blindfolds and buttplugs. Buttplugs are his favourites, you’ll see why later-.

Jisung has lots of fun power bottoming especially this one time that he stuck the largest vibrator you both had into you and placed it on a high setting. He rode you with a grin as tears fell from your face, before he wiped them with his fingers and kissed you to ease down the stretch and constant vibrations.

His biggest kinks is filling you up with his seed or getting filled up by your cum, he likes the feeling of being filled and wearing a buttplug to keep it in. He very much likes to fill you up to the brim and keeping you plugged up. It gives him the sense that you belong to him.

He also enjoys tying you up, so that he could ride you teasingly or fuck into you relentlessly, Jisung also likes to tease you in public — So expect some ass groping or thigh groping.

His biggest no no is Weapon Play — either with a gun or a knife because it’s too dangerous for him. He hates playing with these because things could go wrong and he wouldn't want both of you to end up in the ER.

One thing, I think that he would think about a lot is threesomes — he would ask if you were opposed to it or not cuz if not then expect Minho to show up on both of your doorstep one night.

Aftercare with Jisung is 80% cuddles and affection, 19% talking/praising and 1% actual cleaning, because he would be too lazy to get up after sex. He would just lay both of you down and praise you for either fucking him well or you being a good boy for him.

Overall, Jisung is a switch with a rough dom and a obedient sub tendencies. He will take care of you well and hopefully you do the same to him~

Lee Felix

Pure Switch can top or bottom — or dom and sub. But unlike Jisung, it depends on his partner not his mood. If you’re a sub/bottom, he’ll happily dom/top you and vice versa.

B-day Twins switches supremacy and y’all can't tell me otherwise 🤨

When you’re a switch, he’ll have sex with you depending on what position, you want — Felix always wants to make sure you, his partner gets the best fuck of their life. Wanna feel him clenching around you? He’ll happily bottom for you. Want his cock deep inside you? He can make it happen too.

When subbing, Felix is an obedient sub — ready to always please you, he never becomes bratty since all he wants is to make you feel good. He would follow your every instruction clearly. Felix is also amazing at blowjobs and has learned to minimize his gagreflex so you can fuck into his mouth without worrying of hurting him too much.

When domming, Felix is a dom based on how you like it — if you want him soft or a hard dom, he can be both. When you like him soft, he gives you praises and makes sure that your legs aren't wobbly the next day. When you like him hard — then he fucks you hard, grips your hair as he’s ramming into you. Loving your moans, whines and grunts of pleasure because it reminds him that he is making you feel good.

He always complains how small his hands is because he can't finger you properly.

He always likes to try out new kinks with you. You both tried kitten play, so coming home to a Felix with cat ears and tail buttplug was shocking and a huge turn on at the same time. He also wanted to try out a collar and leash with you, so as he rails into you he could pull the leash and pull you back on his cock. Both of you agreed to try more of those from time to time.

He has a unusually high sex drive, it isn’t Minho level high but it was high enough that you could fuck twice in one day. He asks you to fuck in a funny way too, “Babe, wanna fuck?”

His biggest kink is marking (giving or receiving) he likes leaving a lot of marks on you. So usually after sex. Yours or his body is full of bruises and bite marks — since when he goes to hard on you he sinks his teeth down on different parts of your body. He also begs you to mark him when your on top.

He also likes rimming, he is very whiny when you fuck him with his tongue. He always likes to feel your wet muscle against backside. He also likes eating you out, he spreads your legs sometimes too much that you have to say it out then he goes like “Oh shit, sorry.” then resumes to eating you out.

His biggest no no is Degradation, he doesn't like calling you names like that even when he is being a hard dom, he prefers to praise you dirtily like, “You look so fucking good speared on my cock, pup.”

One thing that Felix would try with you is Choking. He wants you to choke him while have sex or for him to choke you but he needs proper guidance for that cus he doesn't wanna accidentally kill you during the session.

Aftercare with Felix is full of him cheering you up with jokes cuz he doesn't wanna let you experience dom drop or sub drop. He will also tell you pick-up lines teasingly to make you smile and laugh.

Overall, Felix is a simp for their partner therefore would also be what his partner prefers him to be on bed, whether a top or a bottom, a dom or a sub. Felix has the ability to adjust!

Kim Seungmin

Top, he doesn’t like bottoming but willing to power bottom, very rare though. Dom, don’t even try to make him submit — he’ll put you back in your place for even thinking about it. He has hard dom tendencies but soft dom on more sensual nights.

Yes, I know that most of you see Seungmin as a sub (Whoever you are come fite me fr /j)

Seungmin doesn’t like to be topped nor does he liked to be dommed, try it and you’ll get a punishment. He’d make sure you’re limping for days to come.

Seungmin is a sadist, he likes punishing you and he gets off on you struggling or crying. He wouldn’t hesitate to get on top of you and just fuck you senseless to just see your pretty tears.

Oh, Seungmin hates brats so don’t even try. You’ll be either getting harsh spanking or on your knees — making you choke on his dick. He would edge you until you become a babbling mess. So beware brats, this puppy would immediately make work of you.

He also likes humiliating you, especially when someone points out that he’s the bottom/sub in the relationship. He would argue with that person calmly before he grabs you and show you on your knees for them.

He doesn’t have a high sex drive but if you really want him too, he could go atleast once everyday.

Seungmin likes to cockwarm you, it is especially common during cuddling sessions where he would just spread your cheeks or pull down your pants for him to just insert himself inside you.

He also like a bit of somnophilia but you guys have to talk that over and he needs your clear consent for it but expect to be woken up with him thrusting shallowly inside you if you agree.

On more softer nights, either him or you is tired then he is more caring — giving you praises and giving you soft touches. He would opt for cockwarming when extremely tired or just slow sex.

His biggest kinks are: Punishments and Dacryphilia, he likes punishing you — he doesn’t like brats but he likes giving you punishments from time to time. He likes making you cry because he thinks you’re pretty when you cry but from pleasure and slight pain of course.

He also likes placing a collar on you, but if you’re not into that he wouldn’t mind it.

His biggest no no is Blood Play, he likes marking you up but he wouldn't like to cut your skin and he doesn’t like making you bleed.

One thing that he’d like to try with you is gagging you with his used boxers. Idk, he just finds the sight of it, very hot. He’d be even more willing to make sure that hole of yours is gaping for days.

Aftercare with Seungmin is him checking up on you fully, making sure he didn’t hurt you too much and he’d place some cream on any bruises he made. He wants to make your mental state after sex is intact. And afterwards you’d have some cuddles while cockwarming (if you want), whispering words like “You’re so good for me, love.”

Overall, Seungmin is dom that doesn't like being told what to do, he’d always asks if he was treating you too roughly and he’ll tone it down a bit.

Yang Jeongin

Soft Top and Soft Dom, he doesn't like to bottom because he prefers to take care of you especially since he always get babied by his hyungs.

Dominant Jeongin Supremacy, if you think he is a sub (come fight me 😭 /j)

He always babies you in bed even if you’re older than him, he calls you sweet petnames like "bubs", "baby", and "sweetheart". Things like those.

He used to be very confused on what to do during sex, so he just does things that make you let out noises — like pinching your thighs, slapping your ass lightly, jerking you off slowly and kneading your chest.

Now though, he’s much more experienced and takes time teasing, and getting you riled up. He always slowly strip himself off his clothes because he knows you whine at him being slow.

He always kiss every part of you —from your jawline, to your cock even down to your entrance — his lips had touched every single nook and cranny of your body.

He also is a bit possessive of you sometimes, especially when one of his hyungs is a bit too touchy — he sometimes gets close to you and grabs your chin to kiss you possessively, glaring at his said hyung while lip locked. — he isn't shy when it comes to what’s his. Said member didn't appreciate the upfront make up session though-

Jeongin always praises during sex, “Such a good boy for me...”, “You take me so well, baby..” are just few examples, he also says “I love you.” to you during the session.

He isn't much of a hard dom to you, the hardest he got was where he fucked you and left you after he came — leaving you to jerk yourself off sadly, to cum. He felt bad after doing that so he came back a bit later to fuck you again and this time he allowed you to cum. This happened when you were being bratty.

Jeongin is pretty vanilla when it comes to kinks, but I guess sometimes he has some wild fantasies. He has a normal sex drive, he always calls you when he needs it.

His biggest kinks are: Praises (Giving) and Foreplay. He likes to give you praises because in his eyes, you’re always his good boy. He likes foreplay because he likes to takes things slow and sensual, he likes to tease you a lot too.

Another thing he likes is marking you. He especially likes it when another one of the members see it on your neck, seeing their reaction gives him great amusement.

His biggest no no’s are threesomes, foursomes and anything to do with sharing you. Jeongin doesn't like it one bit, if you even think about a threesome — expect him to teach you a lesson.

One thing, he’d like to try is rimming. He wants to eat you out a lot especially since he is fascinated with your ass. He squeezes it alot too and now he wants to fuck you with his tongue.

Aftercare with Jeongin is a fun one, after a short break after sex, he’d get on top of you and starts to tickle you not caring about the cum on your stomach or his cum inside you (if you agree on taking it raw)

Overall, Jeongin is a soft dom that makes sure you feel the most pleasure he can give, he also likes to praise you and makes you feel appreciated and special to him.

[esamastation]

Xerxes au snippet

The first official political overture the small desert nation of Xerxes makes towards Amestris in over fifty years is a year after the end of the Ishvalan Civil War. Though it is expected to concern the war, and the border between Amestris and Xerxes, or perhaps even Amestrian use of Alchemy in the war, is has nothing to do with the bloody conflict, or it's relation to Xerxes' famously pacifistic view on alchemy.

It is a simple, polite appeal to the Amestrian Government – an invitation for an Amestrian automail mechanic to join the Xerxesian court.

"Bit odd," Havoc mutters, after a copy of the letter has gone around the office a few times. "What do they need an automail mechanic for – isn't Xerxesian medical alchemy, like… world famous?"

"For given the value of fame, yes," Roy agrees, fingers crossed together and a thoughtful look on his face. "They say early Amestrian alchemists learned from Xerxesians. We still use a lot of their symbols in our alchemy – but if Xerxesian alchemists are world famous about anything these days, it's their reticence. No outsider has seen much about the way they go about things these days, if they even practice alchemy anymore."

Of course there are rumours, there are always rumours, and there's history – the great and wealthy kingdom of Xerxes, alchemically on top of the world and widely known for their wisdom and knowledge and the miracles they achieved… who reached too far, tried to achieve the power of gods, and got struck down by said gods for it. How accurate that is, no one knows, but it's known that some disaster hundreds of years ago devastated the kingdom, killed most of its people, and it never fully recovered. Now it's people can only barely scrape by, living in huts and caves and underground, and they don't treat with outsiders much beyond the absolutely necessary.

Beyond trade routes established to get Amestrian goods through Xerxes to Xing, there's never been much interest for Xerxes, except maybe for it's grand history and it's many ruins. It doesn't help that Xerxes, as far as anyone knows, has never really reached outside, keeping to its isolationist values – and since it has little to offer to other nations… no one reached back, either. As far as anyone knows, Xerxes hasn't advanced at all scientifically or technologically in the last hundred years.

Which makes the fact that they want specifically an automail mechanic, an craftsman of one of Amestris' most advanced technology, rather interesting, doesn't it?

"I hear they took a lot of Ishvalan refugees during the war," Fuery says – he's the one holding the letter, reading it through.

Roy hums grimly. There's that, though took in might be stretching it a bit. Xerxes didn't do much to protect its borders – there was no need, with a desert all around their kingdom. So, when Ishvalan refugees sought to escape the conflict and set out to the desert, there was nothing but the terrain itself to stop them. Who knows how many Ishvalans made it through the desert, on foot and probably hurt…

"Why'd they send this to our office?" Breda asks, casting a look at Roy.

"They sent it to Grumman who sent it to us," Roy sighs and leans back in his chair. "The Lieutenant General wants us to find a suitable mechanic and then escort them – along with the Fürher's greetings – to Xerxes. The mission isn't exactly time sensitive, but since we're in the East…"

There's probably many reasons it was thrown their way, really. Way to keep those uppity brats from East busy, easily justified with them being closest to the matter at hand. It also wasn't exactly vital as diplomatic missions go – but it was still a diplomatic mission to a foreign nation, which means that Roy would want to handle it himself instead of leaving it to any of his subordinates. Especially since it's to Xerxes – what Alchemist wouldn't give an arm and a leg for a glimpse at how Xerxesian alchemy is these days? So, it was expected that he'd go himself. Which would get him out of people's way for a while, and maybe open up a slot for someone else to be promoted to his place, depending how long it would take.

How annoying. Grumman can be one clever son of a bitch when he wants to be.

"Right," Roy says while his team exchanges looks. "I want a list of all automail mechanics of East on my desk by the end of the day – if you can figure out their feelings about Ishval and if they have any history with the Ishvalan Civil War, that'd be a plus. Get to work."

"Sir!" his team answers, and immediately get to it, Fuery and Fallman both heading out to probably check records, while Havoc fishes out a phone book and Breda gets the phone. Beside Roy, Hawkeye gives him a look.

"Should I start preparing for travel?" she asks mildly.

"If you please," Roy says, turning to his paperwork. "We'll take Breda with us."

"Understood."

-

Over the course of next two days, they list and investigate various automail shops in the east, Roy privately wincing at how many there are, and how many of them are less than a decade old. The Ishvalan Civil War had been a boon to the business, and a lot of mechanics from the south moved in to take advantage of the situation. Lots of new up and coming mechanics, cutting their teeth in on a lot of freshly traumatised soldiers.

It left a lot of them… unsuitable for a mission likely to involve Ishvalan refugees.

"Known for his Anti-Ishvalan sentiments," Breda says, crossing out another potential automail shop. "This one has a No Refugees sign on his shop front, which probably means the same thing. This one has a pretty high record of automail rejection syndrome. This one has had two patients die on the operation table…"

Roy rubs a hand over his forehead, already imagining having to reach for the Southern District to find someone sensible in Rush Valley, when Breda offers him a potential. "Rockbell Automail, in business for decades before the Ishvalan Conflict even began."

"Rockbell," Roy says, lifting his head. "Any relation to the two late Doctors Rockbell?"

"Yep. Son and daughter in law of Doctor Pinako Rockbell, the head mechanic of the shop," Breda says and lays the file on his desk. "Their daughter is currently an apprentice mechanic in the shop, too."

Roy grimaces at that, but accepts the file, leafing quickly through it. Old, well established shop, known for their skill and efficiency, with very high praise from a lot of former customers and no known record of either deaths on operation table, auto mail rejections, or any anti-Ishvalan sentiments. There is a slight issue of the head mechanic being an old woman and the only other mechanic being a young girl, but…

It's promising.

"Phone," Roy says, and Hawkeye quickly lifts it on his desk, turning it toward him so that he can dial easily.

"Rockbell Automail, Pinako Rockbell speaking," a woman's voice answers the phone promptly, her tone brisk.

"Doctor Rockbell, my name is Roy Mustang, I'm a Lieutenant Colonel from the East Area Headquarters – may I have a moment of your time?"

"Certainly," Doctor Rockbell answers, no noticeable change in her tone. "What can do for you, Lieutenant Colonel? Aside from automail, presumably."

"I am currently looking for a skilled automail mechanic to take part in a diplomatic mission, likely to involve Ishvalan refugees," Roy says. "Your shop came up as highly recommended."

"Hrm. What kind of diplomatic mission? Don't the military have their own automail mechanics?"

"There are some, but none in the Eastern Headquarters," Roy admits – probably because the East has such surplus of civilian mechanics these days. "And I'll be frank, the likely length of this mission makes it difficult to use any of our military mechanics. The mission is to Xerxes, and will likely take weeks, if not months."

"… Xerxes?" now the old woman's voice changes, growing a little incredulous.

"Yes, the Xerxes Royal Family sent the Amestrian government an appeal for a skilled automail mechanic to join their court, and I was tasked with the mission of finding one," Roy explains and leans back, turning to look out of the window while he talks. "You would be well compensated for your trouble, however long it would last."

"Is this… a permanent position? In Xerxes?" Still incredulous.

"We don't know as of yet, the treaties are yet to be drawn. You would naturally be part of the negotiations and your wishes and needs would be taken into account," Roy assures her. "I understand this is a bit much so suddenly, and I will hold it in no way against you if you refuse outright – though I am hoping that if that is the case, then perhaps you, as a well established mechanic, might be able to point me in the way of more suitable candidates…"

Honestly, with a shop as old and as well established as hers, Roy doubts very much she would take him up on the mission – she probably has a whole lot of regular clients and steady stream of income, and no need to move. But, it never hurts to ask.

The phone line is quiet for a moment as the old mechanic thinks. "I need to talk with my apprentice for a moment, can I call you back in, say, two hours?"

"Certainly," Roy agrees, and gives her his office number. "We'll be looking forward to your call."

"Right – one more thing. You said it's likely to involve Ishvalan refugees," Doctor Rockbell says. "How'd you mean?"

"We don't know for sure, the appeal didn't explain the need for a mechanic. But during the Ishvalan Civil War, many Ishvalan refugees fled to Xerxes. So we thought it safe to assume the two are connected."

"Ah," the mechanic says knowingly. "And they put a State Alchemist in charge of finding a solution."

Roy swallows. Ah. She knows about him. It's not entirely surprising, but… "They did indeed," is all he says. There's no real explanation he can give, no excuse. It is what it is."

"Hm," Doctor Rockbell answers, noncommittal. "I will call back in two hours."

And she does, accepting the mission with two conditions. The military would help her pack up her entire shop and all the materials and tools would be transported with them – which was understandable, even if it tripled the estimated convoy size. The other condition was that she was taking her eleven year old apprentice with her. Both conditions Roy readily agreed to, tasking Havoc and Fallman with her packing while the rest of the team arranged the convoy.

"Guess we're going to Xerxes then. We're going to need a lot of camels," Breda muses.

"Yes," Roy agrees and sighs. It would be a hard journey and probably a hard mission, and likely one for very little gain in the end. Still. Xerxes. His alchemy master would've killed for the opportunity. Might as well take full advantage of it, and learn whatever he can, even if it's only from broken murals on ancient ruins.

-

Hmm... not sure I’m getting Mustang’s voice right.

Edit: Also tumblr eats italics for breakfast apparently.

[lovelykhaleesiii]

Newcomer: Chapter 2

Pairing: Rafe Cameron x fem!Reader

Words: 2.3k 

Summary: The Outer Banks was a place you’d only heard of until recently. The unfolding changes in your life had led you to this very moment, and it appears you still have much to learn... 

Warnings: swearing, (***) minor time jumps 

A/N - sorry for the delay, had a huge assignment due and work <3 I know this is a slow ass start to the series, but trust I’m trying to build momentum LMAO 

It had been just over a week, and seemingly still trying to settle in. Majority of your belongings, clothes and other sentiments have now been unpacked and neatly placed away in their new space, although you felt the hardest part wasn’t over just yet. Yourself, Caleb and Anya still struggled to find your way around town, mostly succumbing to the help of Topper, who despite initially being ever so welcoming, had grown slightly agitated from the coercion of having to always help. He’d be dragged out of whatever event or plans he had made, just to help out, especially during the grueling days of the unpacking stages of moving. Not to mention the not so discrete argument you’d overheard, just a few days ago, that he had with his mother, complaining about not being able to enjoy his own summer break. 

You couldn’t deny that your presence did somewhat impede on his break, therefore, the guilt was there. You knew you’d have to start taking on some accountability, with or without Topper’s help. 

“Y/N, can we just run to the store real quick, I need to grab a few things and you know how hopeless I am with directions…Please, come with, or else I’ll have to get Topper and we both know how much he loves-”

“Yeah, yeah-”

With a reluctant sigh, you tagged the page you’d just turned over in your book and propped yourself off the bed, adjusting your midi skirt before nodding in agreement. 

One of the most convenient things about the Outer Banks was that nearly everything was within walking distance. It gave you a chance to explore the scenic landscape and water front, and perhaps even chat with a few of the locals you hadn’t yet properly met. 

“So, how are things looking with that JJ guy? He seems pretty cute,” You intrigued, nudging your sister’s shoulder into conversation. 

“Yeah he’s great actually, he's a really funny guy. He, uhm, he wants to meet but-” 

“But what, Anya? That’s exciting! We sure could do with someone else’s company that isn’t Topper.” 

“Yeah, I know but, I, well we, don’t really know him that well. Who’s to say he isn’t some sociopath, Y/N.”

“I highly doubt anyone around here is a psychopath, Anya. Look around, this is a place people come around to relax or retire.”

“Don’t speak too soon, Y/N…”

For some odd reason, you hesitated in a response. Anya was right, you had no familiarity with the people of Outer Banks, although it just seemed like an outrageous place for crime. Ever since arriving, you felt some unexplainable ease here. 

“But I mean yeah sure. I’ll probably meet up with JJ some time… In public though, and you need to promise me that you’ll be on the lookout. Not like you’re busy with any plans at the moment, huh,” Anya remarks, as you appeasingly roll your eyes: God she could be so paranoid. 

“Yeah, yeah. I promise. Think we turn right up ahead-”

Continuing right on the pathway, you could just faintly decipher the movement of people bustling in and out of the stores, and with that a wave of relief settled over you. Seemed like you knew your way around after all, having doubts along each turn of the walk.  

“Make this quick, Anya, the sun’s starting to set, okay.”

“Whatever, Mum!” Anya quips, before rushing off into the convenience store, leaving your lonesome self outside waiting. 

You watched the crowd across the street at the diner, enjoying their dinner, as you observed the locals in action, contemplating who was who, as you heard Evelyn exchange many names with your father over endless dinner conversations. 

One name that stuck by you was “Cameron.” 

Evelyn mentioned it countless of times, although you’d simply assumed they were one of the many well-known families that had established themselves in town. There wasn’t much else you knew, or wanted to know. You hardly met anyone else outside of the house, nor were you in any rush to. 

“Hey!-”

Instantly snapping from your extensive thoughts, the familiar voice dragged you back to reality, as you turned your sight to its direction. 

“It’s Y/N, right? Anya’s sister! It’s me, JJ, the waiter-”

“Yeah, of course, I remember you-”

As formal and proper as your manners from childhood were, just as you’d gone in for a handshake, JJ wrapped his arms around you, pulling you in warmly for a friendly embrace, before letting you go. 

It had caught you off-guard, although not at all in a distasteful way. 

“How are you? How’s Anya?” He asked, folding his arms as he leant against the wooden post of the front deck. 

“Yeah we’re good! I’m sure Anya’s kept you posted, we’ve pretty much moved in now. How about you? I haven't seen you around.” 

“Yeah, I’ve been pretty good! Oh that’s great to hear, that would mean you guys are free to come to the Boneyard tonight!” 

“The what?”

“The Boneyard? Where we have this party with a kegger, Topper didn’t tell you?” 

By the puzzled expression reeked across your face, JJ knew to take that as an immediate no, not questioning it any further. 

“Well if you’d like, I could meet with you guys later and escort you there myself. There’s a few friends of mine I’d like to introduce you guys to.” 

“Yeah, sure. That would be lovely, JJ-” 

And as perfect as the timing could get, Anya returned from her little store run, stunned by JJ’s unexpected presence. 

“Anya- I was just telling Y/N, I’d love to take you guys out tonight to the Boneyard, I was going to text you about it before, but something with my Dad-” 

“That’s fine, but we just don’t know where exactly the Boneyard is.”

“That’s okay, JJ’s got us covered,” You exclaimed, before exchanging a friendly wink to JJ who just managed to catch it.

***

“You texted JJ our address right?” You persisted, growing anxious by the thought that perhaps JJ might’ve forgotten about you two. 

“Yes, for the last time Y/N could you just relax. He should be here any minute now!” 

And just on cue, in the close distance, the roaring sound of an old engine with dull headlights belonging to one of those old, retro “hippie” vans had pulled up through your drive-way. JJ’s head popped out excitedly by the window, waving for you guys to join, and immediately you both walked over. 

It was difficult to convince your father of going out tonight, in fact, he’d been pestering you both to get out and mingle. As soon as you’d both approached him with the idea of heading out to some party, he leaped with relief, and encouraged you both to take up the offer. He was easy going like that, trusted you both knowing how well he’d raised you both. Of course, he covered some basic ground-rules: no drinking, no drugs, no smoking. 

By the time you’d both arrived to the van, you could just make out the silhouettes of some figures inside the van through the grimey windows. JJ was out of the van, as the courteous man that he was, pulling the side door right open. 

“John B-” Pointing to the boy on the driver’s seat, who gave you a friendly wave, made himself known. 

“Kie-” A lovely, young girl, exchanged a gracious smile and nod to both Anya and yourself, before JJ finally introduced “And this is Pope-”, a young, pleasant man sat beside Kie. 

“Guys this is Anya, and her older sister Y/N. They just moved here like a week ago.” 

“Nice to meet you all, thanks for letting us join you guys tonight-” You warmly proclaimed, before gesturing Anya into the van with you following her behind. 

As JJ was carefully closing the door behind you, John B mentioned how JJ spoke of you two, confessing you to be the “mystery newcomers” before kindly welcoming you to the Outer Banks. 

You felt Kie’s over gaze fall between yourself and Anya, and felt somewhat intimidated, although it there was no threatening intent to it, however more of a protective sentiment. 

“So you guys are Kooks, huh?” Kie blatantly questioned, before Pope nudged his elbow into her, as though to signal her to stop whatever interrogation she had planned. 

“Sorry, what?”- Anya questioned in response, frowning as she looked around the van, back to you.

“Kie, stop. They don’t know about any of that stuff. Just drop it, okay!” JJ insisted, as he ran his fingers through his blonde locks, almost in frustration. 

“We really have no idea what this whole Pogue-Kook business is, but perhaps you could enlighten us one day, Kie-” You suggested, as amiable as possible, not wanting to already cross the line with the few locals you’d just met. 

“I sure will, I just can’t believe you guys live with Topper. He’s such an-”

“Ass?-” Anya intervened, finishing off Kie’s sentence precisely the way she intended, making Kie smile in agreement. 

“Yeah, I don’t think he likes us very much,” Anya confessed, and as much as you hated “gossiping”, you couldn’t deny this one. 

“Well Kie, you’re on to talk… What about your Kook year?” John B laughingly mocked, as Kie infuriatingly shoved his shoulder. 

“S-So what exactly is the difference between a Pogue and a Kook?” You intriguingly questioned, shifting your gaze from Kie to Pope. 

“Well, to put it short, Pogues live on the Cut, which I assume Topper would rather die than enter. Whereas yourselves and our Kie here, live on Figure 8,” Pope answered.

“So it’s just a social class thing?” You quipped, being reminded again of how very unprogressive things were around the Outer Banks. 

“Exactly!-” Kie shouted, a hint of relief, as though finally finding someone who’d shared mutual understanding with her cause. 

“I mean there’s more to it-” JJ added.

“But it’s best if you guys don’t get as involved, your only just new here-” He calmly reassured.

“Just keep an eye out for the Kooks, they usually come to these sort of events anyways for the booze they can’t afford-” Kie ridiculed. 

“Yeah, especially Rafe-” Pope uttered, his tone reeking of bitterness to the name. 

“Wait-Who exactly is that? The name just sounds familiar-” You brush off, not wanting to vex Pope any further. 

“Good God, he’s the worst of the worst-” Pope scorned. 

“An asshole-” Kie provoked. 

“He’s the older brother of Sarah Cameron, I’m sure you’ve met her. She’s Topper’s girlfriend,” John B confessed.

“HA! Topper has a girlfriend, since when?!” Anya broke out mockingly laughing: as Kie and JJ chuckled to her comedic outburst. 

“He must be that bad, huh?” You uttered, as the rest began to settle themselves. 

“He’s a terrible person, Y/N. If I was you guys, I’d avoid him at all costs,-” Pope insisted, although by the seriousness of his voice, it seemed more of a warning than anything. 

***

The Boneyard was a secluded location of the island, where the ashy white trunks of dead logs were arranged in a way to accompany large crowds, and rowdy parties far from the complaints of the adults. As you’d all arrived, kegs ready at the hand, the party had already commenced, as people from which John B described had consisted of Pogues, Kook and tourists. Regardless, all strangers to you. 

As you finally eased yourself into that party mood, you found yourself enjoying the company of the Pogues, they were quite the friendly bunch. And it seemed ANya was letting loose as well, no thanks to her new-found companions: it always seemed like an impossible mission for Anya to enjoy herself, although witnessing her from the standpoint of a bystander, you felt comforted. 

“I’m just going to go grab myself a drink-” You assured John B, as he nodded in agreement. 

As you crammed yourself through the crowd, you felt a tight grip pulling on your elbow, making you topple in the direction of whomever it was that grabbed you. 

“Topper, what the fuck?”

“How the hell did you get here, let alone find out about this?” He exclaimed, by the faint smell of the beer oozing with each breath, you could tell he was slowly becoming intoxicated.

“No thanks to you-” You snapped, before jolting your arm out of his strained grip. 

“Seriously, Y/N. Does your Dad even know you’re here?”

Before you could even respond, some sort of internal sixth sense, felt an intense pair of eyes on you. As you shifted your gaze, to a bunch of people standing behind Topper, you’d immediately recognised his face. 

For some odd reason you felt a shiver crawl down your spine, as though in fright of seeing some ghostly figure. His intense, blue eyes just fixated on you and only you, as he took sips of his drink, with one hand snugged away in a front pocket. It seemed he was in conversation with a bunch of other guys, all dressed quite similarly to one another in their polo shirts and summer shorts, and yet he was not at all engaged... Only to you.  

“Earth to Y/N!” Topper loudly interjected, stirring you to snap back, as you fixed your view on him. 

“Y-Yes, yes he does. Now could you just let me be?” 

And before you knew it, you instinctively stormed off, before Topper had the chance to drunkenly question you any longer. As you disappeared into the crowd, heading for the kegger, your mind persisted in contemplation. 

That was Rafe, surely. You vividly remembered the whole, minor incident during your first encounter with him. 

After what the Pogues had confessed about him, and by his looming nature, you’d never felt so unnerved by someone, you’d in fact, never even met.

But why?

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