#( PLZ ENJOY THIS OLD ASS TREAT FRIEND <3 )

[jaigalorad]

@galaxycrxss : happy echo day

[sunderlust]

this is me trying i (rooster x reader)

masterlist part 1 | part 2 | part 3 pairing: bradley 'rooster' bradshaw x reader synopsis: bradley bradshaw was the bane of your existence back at UVA - you practically burnt yourself out trying to outdo him. now, you’ve quit your big shot engineering job in search of something more meaningful - the wind blows you across the country and into fightertown, where a familiar, sandy haired jackass is crooning away at the stupid piano in some naval bar. And you’re not sure if you should wait for the next gust or plant your feet down. (enemies to lovers! angst! fluff! smut? lol) warnings: explicit language, mentions of alcohol consumption, later explicit sexual activity, lots of existential dread, no use of y/n note: once again huge shoutout to seasonsbloom and gretagerwigsmuse for beta-ing and inspiring some really good details and research. again these gals are incredible writers their input means the world to me and this fic wouldn't exist without them! plz check them out.

——

Oh, wouldn’t you just love to grab him by his big stupid balls and set him on fire.

There he is. Bradley Bradshaw. Playing piano in the middle of the Hard Deck - which you've now learned is some sort of Navy bar. You weren't one for theatrics (correction: you definitely were one for theatrics) - but you're convinced he's your arch nemesis. Ever since that first moment he sat next to you in Spanish 103 in your first semester at the University of Virginia, he's caused nothing but constant stress and mental turmoil.

And it's just like him to be at the center of attention in this naval bar, playing that same stupid song on the piano with everyone singing along and treating him like fucking royalty. He's no different than how he was in undergrad - just a little more built and now sporting a push broom on his upper lip. Idiot.

Freshman year at UVA. You showed up to SPA 103 as a hopeful computer science major with bright eyes and a can-do attitude. Already, you'd enjoyed your first data structures class earlier that day, and you were excited to explore the option of a Spanish minor as well; until a tall, sandy haired boy plopped down in the seat next to you with just a pencil behind his ear and a piece of paper he'd clearly grabbed from the printer tray last minute. Later in class, you had eagerly raised your hand to answer Señor Soto's question, and Bradley had the audacity to correct your pronunciation right after. And that was the beginning of an intense rivalry with Bradley Bradshaw. From then on, the two of you battled it out in every class you shared together - some of your Gen Eds and most of your Spanish classes given that he, too, was going for a Spanish minor.

It infuriated you to no end how easy classes came to him - you'd study your ass off for the Gen Chem exam and earn yourself a 95% only to catch a glimpse of Bradley's paper a row in front of you with a neatly circled 97%. You'd deliver a stellar presentation in your Spanish course on culture and cuisine - spoken flawlessly in the language - and Bradley would go out of his way to ask difficult questions just to make you stumble through an answer.

Most annoyingly of all, he was always the "cool guy" amongst all your mutual friends. Always breaking out in song if (god forbid) there was a piano, and pulling girls aside and making them giggle and never even sending a second glance your way (not that you wanted it). Although, there was that one time he had asked you to his frat formal. But you'd turned him down, knowing it was most definitely a hazing thing with how nervous and shaky he had been. As always, Bradley Bradshaw had a knack for making you feel small. Smaller than a tiny mouse.

Now, almost fifteen years later and he's sitting at that piano with adoring fans around and it’s almost like nothing’s changed at all. Well, nothing on his end. You, on the other hand, feel like a shell of your old self. You were lucky enough to land a lucrative new grad job offer as a software engineer from one of the most highly sought after companies on the east coast. But after working almost five years now at a well-known company in Raleigh, the days started blending together way too easily for you. And after one long commute home on a rainy Thursday evening, you had a huge revelation when you realized you couldn't even remember what you did that past Monday - aside from waking up, working out, going to the office, making dinner, and grinding out more work at your home office until you fell asleep. Was your career, your degree, worth such a sad, passive lifestyle?

With that, you quit your job. And right after that, you called up every last one of your connections in hope of finding someone who could help you figure out your next step. It was all dead ends - most of your friends' solutions were offering you the same exact position you had before, just at their company and wrapped up in shiny new job wrapping paper. But you weren't sure you wanted to go back. You couldn't. Not just yet.

Your saving grace came in the form of Camila - your old college roommate who was currently working as a data analyst with the US Navy in San Diego with their partner, Cher. The two had recently renovated their guest house, and upon hearing your predicament, Camila immediately invited you to take a sabbatical in Miramar. "You're kidding, right? If you hate your job, don't go back to it. Come stay here - our guest house is yours and we won't accept any rent from you. Just take it easy, girl. I'll say it now - you're fucking burnt out."

Within a flurry of days, you had quit your job, broken your lease, and flown over to San Diego to begin a new, uncertain chapter in your life. And in order to have something to do, you had picked up a barista job at a coffee shop starting in a few days. They'd asked you to take the early morning shifts during the week, which gave you plenty of time to collapse in the evenings into a puddle of existential dread in your new, fancy guest house that you now called home.

All that to say, you had no idea how long you were going to be stuck in this limbo for. Part of you was hoping you'd never have to find a way out of it - that you could remain suspended in this uncertainty for ages. Because as soon as you start planning for the future, a new wave of anxiety is bound to take over and stress you out unimaginably so, with hushed whispers of potential failure echoing through your brain. It's better to hide from the unknown than to try and combat it, at least for the time being.

Back in the bar, Camila leans forward to nearly shout in your ear. “I have to go pee!” they tell you, grabbing their bag and hopping off the barstool. They had insisted on taking you out for a drink at the Hard Deck before your first day at the coffee shop, but you regretted saying yes the moment you saw Bradley at the piano.

"Go piss, girl," you mutter in response, eyeing Bradley as he steps back from the piano with humble nods to his praise. He then makes his way over to the other side of the bar, and you can feel your blood pressure skyrocket. You focus on busying yourself with the straw in your glass and try hard not to make eye contact with the bane of your existence across the room. If you’re lucky, he won’t catch sight of you at all. Lord knows whether you can handle having to interact with him after almost such a long ti-

“I thought my eyes were deceiving me, but it’s really you! How's life, Buttercup?" Bradley easily squeezes into the empty chair next to you. He's wearing a signature toothy grin, accompanied by that mustache that he's somehow really pulling off (but you'll never admit that to him, or anyone for that matter). In addition, he's wearing a wife beater underneath an unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt that you're 100% certain he had back when the two of you were at UVA, but you remember it hanging more loosely around his chest and biceps. Not that you're looking.

Buttercup - jeez, it’s been years since that nickname was able to boil your blood instantaneously. Bradley coined it your sophomore year after a mutual friend's apartment party gave you access to unlimited tequila shots and a cheap karaoke machine that had the lamest song selection you'd ever seen. You don't remember much about that night, but Bradley's infamous nickname does a great job of reminding you that you still took it upon yourself to entertain the masses with your own a cappella rendition of Build Me Up Buttercup. Thankfully, it never caught on with your friends. But Bradley always knew how to milk a joke for way too long.

"Bradley," you answer curtly, taking a long sip of the melted remains of your drink; the straw gets stopped up with a stupid mint leaf. "Fancy seeing you."

"Whatcha doing on North Island?" he questions, sipping from his beer and sending you a mischievous side glance. "Last I heard you were down in Raleigh? Working for IBM or some other-"

"You keeping tabs on me, Bradshaw?" you interrupt, hoping desperately to wean him off the topic.

Bradley raises his eyebrows in amusement. "Word gets around. Seriously, you over here on vacation or something? Because the nicer tourist beaches are about 20 minutes north of here-"

"I'm about to start a new job," you rush out, stopping the rest of his jest right in its tracks. It's not a lie - your first shift at the coffee shop off of Orange Avenue is on Monday. "I'm staying with my friend Cam here for a bit during my time off, living in their guest house. Wanted to change up the scenery."

He doesn't need to know that you gave your two weeks notice on a whim in the middle of one of the busiest sprints ever for your team. He absolutely doesn't need to know that you have no idea what you're planning on doing with your life, that you're just hoping to stay still for the foreseeable future before you pluck up the courage to try something new.

“You're just treading water,” Camila had said to you. “There's nothing wrong with staying still and letting the tide take you where you need to go.”

Bradley bounces his head in a nod, still wearing those stupid sunglasses. "Well, welcome to Fightertown," he sends an easy grin your way.

You send a tight smile back. "What's going on in your life?" you ask. It pains your every nerve to try and feign interest in his life, but you power through for the sake of being polite.

"Ah y’know, this and that,” he says and waves a bartender over for another beer. “Another corona please, and whatever she’s having,” he holds his hand up to stop you from interjecting at him buying you a drink. “My treat, Buttercup. Anyways, I went to the naval academy after undergrad. Well- tried to." His face sours slightly. "Had some turbulence the first time around, but I enlisted."

“You’re in the Navy?” You ask dumbly, eyeing the rest of his friends behind him in their khakis and returning your gaze to his lack of uniform.

He chuckles. “Buttercup, did you keep any tabs on me at all?” The bartender returns with your drinks, setting Bradley's beer down in front of him and replacing your glass with a fresh minty gin and tonic.

You shrug and take a sip of your drink to hold off on responding. “I didn’t take you to be a sailor.”

Bradley lets out a hearty laugh that emanates from his chest and makes him catch onto the bar to keep from falling over. You're not sure what's so funny. “Sweetheart, I don’t drive the boats, I just land on them.” Your confused expression remains unchanged. “I’m a pilot. It's different from the Air Force - still part of the Navy. Like I said, we just land on boats in the middle of the ocean rather than land bases. Seriously, Buttercup, you didn’t figure this out from the naval air station on this island?”

He goes on, talking about various deployments and you are trying so hard to hide your growing annoyance at hearing him talk about his accomplishments. Yes, that makes you petty - you can blame it on the fact that you’re currently nursing your depression with your third gin and tonic of the night. “So what, should I call you Sergeant, then?”

His amused gaze never falters. "We don’t have Sergeants in the Navy. And I'm an officer - so that's Lieutenant Bradshaw to you,” he winks.

You nod your head slowly. "Amazing," you manage, feeling a pit form in your stomach that has nothing to do with the alcohol settling in. While you've been off on some crazy Eat, Pray, Love soul-searching adventure (minus the eat, minus the pray, and definitely minus the love), Bradley's more successful and popular as ever and living his best life. And you're not sure what else to say to that without letting on that you envy him, just as you always have.

"Well," he says after a few beats of silence. You shake yourself out of your thoughts. "It was great to see you - we should grab another drink while you're here! You're buying next time though, with your massive STEMinist paycheck and all," he chuckles. You try your best to hide your scowl - it almost sounds like he's mocking you. He drops a couple tens on the bar top and raises his beer bottle in your direction in farewell. "Take care, Buttercup. Hope you find... whatever it is you're looking for here."

Same old Bradley. Making you feel small. Smaller than a tiny mint leaf.

--

At the ass crack of 5AM on Monday, you start your first day at Java Roasters - and unlike the language, there is nothing functional about the shop’s operations. For starters, your mentor didn’t even know you were starting that day.

“Who are you?” A man with the name tag Todd looks over at you scrutinizingly. After you introduce yourself and pull up the long email chain with the manager on your phone detailing your employment details (as well as the confirmation that you were indeed starting today) - Todd takes a step back and bounces his head a few times, deliberating on what to do next.

"Yeah, Nancy mentioned something like this, I just wasn't sure how serious she was about me teaching you the ropes. I'm kidding!" he says, bustling around behind the counter to clear up some space. "Come behind here, I'll uh... show you around."

Todd walks you through some of the basics - where things are located, how to work the register, and where the brewed coffee was. Then, he decides to move onto the 'sinful art of drink crafting' - whatever the fuck that meant. “So here,” Todd spreads out a number of yellowed index cards with various recipes scrubbed on them in faded black ink. “By the end of this week, you’ll have all of these memorized!”

You look up at him with an unimpressed expression. He’s grinning and bobbing his head to some music that must be on a different frequency than the normal human hearing range, because it‘s completely dead silent in the shop. He stops suddenly and frantically looks down at his phone. “I, uh, I gotta take care of something out back. Don’t follow me! But uh, memorize these. Coffee’s already brewed over there.”

“Wait, what if someone comes in? I don’t know how to use these other machines-“

“You’ll be fine! It’s 6AM and we’ve just opened. No one comes in this early, not even the Navy guys. Pretty sure they’ve got their own shop on base. You’ve got this, kiddo!” He rushes the words out and disappears in a hurry. The door to the storeroom slams shut, and you're left alone to sit with the mess of note cards and the heavy smell of coffee beans. You sigh, praying that he won't take long and no one comes in-

The door swings open, the little bell over it tingling mockingly at you. Son of a bitch.

"Good morning!" you call out as cheerfully as you can, back turned as you survey the multiple recipe cards on the counter. Best case scenario, they order a large boring coffee and all you have to do is fill up from the already brewed coffee sitting on the back corner. Please, please be boring.

You turn around to face the customer. "What can I get... " you trail off, immediately recognizing the six-foot-nil mustachioed man in a Navy uniform (still currently sporting a fancy pair of Ray-Bans, might you add). "...You."

Rooster's eyes widen in surprise, eyebrows lifting over his shades.

"Buttercup?"

The familiar, stomach swooping anxiety descends upon you. This could not get any worse - not only are you stuck on this god forsaken island for who knows how long, but your arch nemesis is here and you're forced to take his order, make him coffee like you know how to, and do it all with a bright smile on your face.

Bradley's removed his shades now and he's looking at you with an incredulous expression, eyes darting down to examine your plain brown apron, then up to the name tag where Doug is scribbled messily. "You're working here now?"

You take a moment to compose yourself: regulate your breathing, banish the bad thoughts from your mind. You can go to the back room and cry the moment he steps out the door. No one has to know, least of all Todd. Fucking Todd.

"Yeah," you manage, taking a deep breath and plastering what you hope is a close match to your genuine smile on your face. "What can I get you?"

He looks up at the menu hanging on the wall behind you, furrowing his eyebrows at the tiny print. "Thought you said you were just here visiting?"

You shuffle your feet, crossing your ankles and holding onto the counter top for support. You're not sure you can handle having to explain to him the long version of your story. "Just taking a breather here for some time. As I'm between jobs."

He raises his eyebrows and nods slowly. “Okay. Uh… I guess I’ll have a cappuccino?”

Despite your best attempts to control it, your face falls, and you hurriedly turn around to try and locate the recipe card. “What size?” You try to keep your voice even and blink rapidly to keep frustrated tears from forming. This is humiliating. Stupid Todd probably dealing fucking pot in the back while you’re manning this ship all by yourself. Stupid Bradley ordering a fucking cappuccino like a pretentious dick.

“Um��� small.” There’s no way you’ll ever admit to Bradley that you don’t know what you’re doing, so you continue searching through the cards. Briefly, you chance a glance back at Bradley. He's standing attentively, narrowed eyes trained on you with an unrecognizable expression written on his face. You turn back and start sifting through recipes faster.

“You know what,” Bradley says after a few seconds. You halt your movements to look over your shoulder again. He’s now looking down at his phone. “I have to head to base soon anyway - can you make that a small black coffee?”

You exhale in relief as quietly as you can - but you know your whole body relaxes immediately. For the first time ever in your life, you think thank God for Bradley Bradshaw.

“Sure,” you say and grab a small cup with a cardboard sleeve to fill up. “That’s, uh..." a quick glance up at the menu above tells you. "Two dollars.”

“Thanks, Buttercup,” he replies and you immediately scrunch your face in annoyance.

“Never gonna stop calling me that, huh?”

He shrugs shamelessly and laughs. “Feels like nothing's changed. You still make the same annoyed little face.”

“Definitely, nothing has changed,” you agree with a sigh. “You still take pleasure in annoying me so.” You snap a black lid on top of the drink and slide it over the counter. “Two bucks” you remind him.

He smiles easily and pulls a five out of his wallet, pushing it towards you and sliding his glasses back on his face. “Keep the change, Buttercup.” And with that, he raps his knuckles on the countertop and saunters out of the coffee shop with an annoying amount of swagger in his step. You eye the five dollar bill like it’s personally offended you, like it’s the reason you’re in this mess.

“Keep the change, Buttercup,” you mock aloud before gingerly plucking the bill and ringing up the sale in the cash register. What a fucking douche - you don’t need his stupid pity money and his smug attitude and his-

The door to the storeroom behind you opens up and Todd stumbles in, smelling very faintly of marijuana. “Alright. Did any customers come in?” He says, a goofy grin in place. You shake your head, not wanting to have to explain. “Excellent. Now let's start simple. Ever had a cappuccino?”

--

You're almost through a whole week at Java (you now affectionately call it). Once a different, less stoned employee named Britt comes in for her 10:30 shift, you have a much better time learning and picking things up. "Todd definitely doesn't know what he's doing," she had told you. "I don't know why you got stuck with him for training on your first day. Probably because he's the only one who offers to open up, but we all know it's so he can deal out back."

Britt's amazing - she takes one look at the mess of index cards and wrinkles her nose, choosing instead to walk you through making the drinks one by one and talking you through the similarities. You slowly start to get the hang of things, finally able to make a cappuccino without burning yourself on Thursday.

On Friday, Bradley Bradshaw comes sauntering in again at 6:10 AM with his stupid sunglasses and stupid mustache and stupid brilliant smile. As usual, Todd has left you to handle the first thirty minutes after opening by yourself. "Good morning, Buttercup!" he sings, pushing up his glasses and scanning the menu above your head.

You squint at him. "Hi. What can I get you?"

Bradley looks down at your apron, smile widening further when he sees your name neatly written on a clean, laminated name tag instead of Doug. "I see you're settled in."

You rock back on your heels, averting your eyes to look at anywhere but him. "Yep."

He bobs his head idly. "Small latte this time, please," he says, pulling his wallet out. "Piping hot too- Hey! You got any non-dairy shit? Milk makes my gut-"

"Bradley," you cut him off. "Seriously?"

He looks at you like he isn't being the most ridiculous man on North Island. "What? I need my caffeine!"

"What happened to just a regular black coffee?" you ask, still making your way over to the machines to prepare an espresso shot. "We have almond milk, but I'm not doing this extra hot bullshit. You have a Starbucks on base - go to them if you want to burn the roof of your mouth."

Bradley rolls his eyes and waves a hand dismissively as you begin heating up the milk. "They’re way overpriced. I figured you've had a week to warm up, wanted to come back here.”

You narrow your eyes, finishing off the rest of the drink with an abysmal attempt at a latte heart. Good. You don’t want to give him the wrong idea."What, so you took it easy on Monday and now you’re ready to really test me?"

He shakes his head defiantly. “No, no, I really was in a rush that day! But usually I like my drinks complicated - Todd once told me it’s all about the ‘sinful art of drink crafti’-“

“$5.60. And no ‘keep the change’ bs,” you tell him flatly, ringing up the sale and pushing the drink over to him. Bradley shakes his head in amusement and pulls a card out of his wallet instead of cash.

After he swipes his card, you pull the monitor back before he can choose a tip option (yeah, it’s petty to hold back on it, but it’s just one customer. And you don’t want to fuel his savior complex by letting him tip some egregious amount). Bradley hits you with a “See you around, Buttercup!” before exiting.

You bury your face in your hands.

—

On your weekend off, you binge the entirety of Stranger Things. Not just the newest season - you start right from episode one. You hadn't given yourself time to indulge in any movies or tv shows in the longest time, and after several awkward pauses in conversation with Britt and Todd regarding pop culture references, you took it upon yourself to educate yourself in your downtime (it also has the added benefit of keeping you from falling into a deep pit of depression).

Camila and Cher insist on having you over for dinner most nights during the week - you oblige under the one condition that you cook every now and again. It’s nice to have something social to look forward to in the evenings, and you’re especially happy to be reconnecting with Cam again. You lend an ear to Camila’s qualms about the sexist men at their job and a new hire that can’t seem to grasp the simple concept of pronouns, while the two of them listen to you recap your Stranger Things and Silver Linings Playbook thoughts, all your gripes about having to be in the same city as Rooster (“you’ve always given him such a hard time,” Cam had said to your unimpressed glare), and your deep-seated fear that you’ve made a horrible mistake quitting your job and working as a barista across the country. Typical easy dinner talk.

And it’s not like there’s anything wrong at all with being a barista. And it’s perfectly okay to be changing things up and taking a breather - Camila constantly reminds you that you’re just treading water, that a completely different job during the week might defog your brain. They're absolutely right.

But no matter how many times you tell yourself to just let things be, every night your fear of the unknown strikes deep anxiety in your heart. And every morning, you let the prospect of a new day wash away your worries, and take on your new life with determination.

You're treading water, floating in place in a peaceful ocean. You only hope no malicious rip current sweeps you by the ankles, drags you deeper, tears you away. Or like, a bird doesn’t shit on your face.

—

On Monday, your Bradley-free streak is tragically broken twelve minutes after Java opens at 6. This time, his request is an iced dirty chai latte - you vaguely remember making with Britt last week. You’re tempted to dump an extra scoop of ice into the drink when he interrupts your process with a cheeky “less ice, please!” Instead, you go a step higher on the petty scale and only toss in two ice cubes.

Unfortunately, Bradley finds your move to be downright hilarious as he chuckles the whole time while paying.

+

On Tuesday, he comes in to order a caramel macchiato - with a twist (the twist being a drizzle of chocolate syrup on top. That really should be an abomination).

After he pays, you spin around to busy yourself with the espresso machine to avoid being on the receiving end of his signature goodbye wink. But as soon as the door closes behind him, you turn back around and your eyes are immediately drawn to the tip jar that’s now five dollars richer. You scowl.

+

Wednesday, he's absent. And while you revel in your moments of peace, you still find yourself eying the door the whole time from 6 to 6:30. And even after that, but you tell yourself it’s just a matter of being vigilant.

+

Thursday, he’s back. And you have to say, it’s definitely your breaking point with Bradley’s most absurd request yet. “Hey sweetheart,” you’re not really digging the new nickname. “Can I do a large nonfat matcha latte with some caramel syrup and extra whip? Oh, I know you guys have almond milk but i was thinking of getting some soy action today-”

“Bradley,” you settle a very unimpressed glare on him. “What gives?”

He’s quiet for a minute - furrows his eyebrows in confusion with his hands on his hips. Then, he bursts out into laughter. “I’m sorry sweetheart, just wanted to give you a hard time.”

You level him with a hard stare. Same old Bradley, pulling the same shit he did in college. “You’ve been giving me a hard time. Seriously, are you trying to humiliate me? Is this some kind of sick joke-”

“What are you talking about? I figured it’s just some light hearted teasing between old friends-“

“We’re not friends,” you hiss, gripping the edge of the countertop until the wood digs into your palms uncomfortably. You’re barely containing your anger - it’s just like him to play things off like it’s nothing.

Because it’s important to note that no matter how standoffish you were, no matter how insistent you were on not even giving him the time of day, Bradley still treated you like you were old pals. He did in undergrad and he continues to do it now.

He cocks his head at you. “Wha- I mean… maybe not now, it’s been a while, but we were cool back at UVA!”

You bristle. “No, we weren’t. I hated you then - you made me miserable!”

Bradley’s amused smile drops. Oh fuck - yet another reason you resent Bradley Bradshaw: he’s mastered the Puss-in-Boots look. “You hated me?”

You wave your arms frantically in the air, trying to ignore the sinking feeling his sad expression gives you. “Of course I did! I - fuck! You beat me out in half of our classes, you gave me such a hard time during Spanish presentations, you asked me to formal as a joke. Need I go on?”

“Spanish presentations, I didn’t… what? Formal?” Bradley sputters. You sigh and clench your fists, landing your gaze firmly on the empty tip jar between the two of you.

“Bradley, even now you’re giving me such a fucking hard time just by ordering stupid little drinks that you probably dump the second you step out of here. And I can’t stand all these fucking jokes to just humiliate me and give me a hard time at this new job like you’re making a mockery o-or a fool out of me! Yeah, go on! Laugh it up at the failed engineer!”

Bradley’s mouth hangs slightly open in shock. “Wait, did Apple or whatever fire you or something?”

You feel your heart clench painfully as his words hit. Was it that easy for Bradley to assume there had to be some foul play in your career for you to be standing in front of him at a completely different job? After losing half of your academic battles, after losing the tour guide exec position to him (oh yeah, you still resented him for that, too), after every time he told you to loosen up and “get the stick out of your ass” during frat parties you had been unceremoniously dragged to by your friends - did he think - no, did he always secretly expect - that you were just destined for failure?

You feel small. Smaller than the stray coffee bean that’s sitting on the counter between you two.

Anger has always come easier to you than pain; you throw your hands up in the air and let out a loud groan of frustration. “Oh my fucking god! Bradley! I say this with the utmost sincerity: you were the bane of my existence at UVA. Quite possibly my arch enemy. We were never friends. And I’d really appreciate it if you’d quit making my life so miserable right now!”

He’s staring at you, completely slack jawed now. Then, he picks it up. His jaw muscle tenses slightly. “Fine,” he says tersely. “I’ll leave you be.”

And with that, he gives off a two fingered salute (the audacity, you think furiously to yourself), and makes his way towards the door.

Fuck Bradley Bradshaw.

—

part ii here

Note: full disclosure this fic is kinda inspired by the bs I'm going thru rn but I tried to make it as generic as possible - at the very least I think we all can relate to just pushing ourselves so hard and burning ourselves out and maybe stagnating at one point and wondering where the fuck are we gonna go now??

[arlocedwards]

╰ ✧ HARRY STYLES. MUSE NINE. PANSEXUAL ❞ say hello to the s club’s very own ARLO EDWARDS! a TWENTY-FOUR YEAR OLD, CISMALE that goes by HE/HIM pronouns. i heard they were voted BEST SHOULDER TO CRY ON in high school, which says a lot about them because they’re very IDEALISTIC and INTUITIVE, but watch out for their DETACHED and DESTRUCTIVE side as well. i hope they’re ready to take a break from being a MUSICIAN and finally get this summer started! ( kt / 24 / pst / she/her )

hiya! i am kt &+ underneath the read more is some info about my bb, arlo. ** insert clown emoji but make him yee-haw ** 

trigger warning : death .

NAME: arlo cornelius edwards. GENDER: cismale. PRONOUNS: he, him. AGE: twenty-four ( 24 ). BIRTHDAY: february 14th. ZODIAC: aquarius !! HOMETOWN: kent, england. ORIENTATION: pansexual OCCUPATION: drummer. LANGUAGES SPOKEN: english & french. FACECLAIM: harry styles ~ currently featuring long hair.  :’-) 

kt’s note: I KNOW THIS IS SO LONG, SO IF YOU DON’T READ IT, I WILL NOT GET OFFENDED. 

but, just read this so y’know what you’re getting yourself into when interactions open : death tw: arlo will be joining this summers reunion coming from his parents home, post-funeral, trying to escape boxing up his brothers stuff and wanting to not be pitied. :’-( my boy is going through it, so his typical behavior and personality is gonna be v muted for a while.

ᴀʀʟᴏ'ꜱ ʙᴀᴄᴋɢʀᴏᴜɴᴅ

arlo was born in kent, england. i know what you’re wondering, and yes, he does have an accent. :’-) his family moved to new york when he was five years old because arlo’s father was offered a high level position within his company.

arlo was born into a loving family, him being the middle child. he has two supportive parents, sasha edwards (his mother), & carter edwards (his father). there are two years separating him from both his older brother and younger sister. his older brother ( now deceased ) was named holden edwards, and his little sister is named ivy edwards. his older brother can be imagined as eric matthews from boy meets world ( at the end of the day, they were bffs ) & his little sister is quite literally cher horowitz from clueless mixed w/ a splash of bianca stratford from 10 things i hate about you  ( they are polar opposites which makes for a fun dynamic !! )

growing up, arlo enjoyed playing all types of sports - there truly wasn’t anything that he wasn’t really good at, and that’s simply because he’s always been such a competitive individual. he would go home and practice a skill or trick for hours in order to be able to come back the next day and whoop everyone’s asses. he will fight  you over board games and make alliances in monopoly to mess w/ you. 

his interest in taking up an instrument kicked in when he was seven years old. he and his dad were driving back from a hockey game together late at night, and his dad played him the song moby dick by led zeppelin & he knew it was something that he wanted to pursue bc “john bonham was a genius.” ~ arlo vc. and so his dad gifted him a drum set on his eighth birthday !! :’-) soft. but over the years he was exposed to other instruments and can also play the guitar, piano, and he has a nice set of pipes !! harry styles being his vc as well ~ makes it easy. he really wants to learn the saxophone tho??? don’t get him started - he will go on and on and on.

throughout highschoool ; arlo was a v dedicated student. although he’s a bit reckless and loved to goof off, he was always acing classes and applying himself. he genuinely cares for others, you could’ve seen his ass volunteering at a soup kitchen with his mom on sundays and what not! just soft things.

until now - now anti-soft. hard things.  sdgjdjgd okay, so, arlo is A Mess™️. and i say that with so much love in my bones. arlo is the type of friend that is honest, and all about tough love when it’s needed. he doesn’t mind getting into a fight or two if he knows its worth the outcome he’s envisioned. he will tell you when you’re fucking up, and if you’re throwing a punch as a result - catch him leaning into it. this ties in l8r !!

he’s just a bit desperate to feel against following the death of his brother & also post-break up with shanley? ( which give me one hot sec and i’ll go into those v soon ) but overall he just wants to feel like himself again, y’know ?? don’t we all. amen & what not. to break it down, he just feels so intensely that he ends up numbing himself in the aftermath of it all, and he’s sadly willing to put himself into harms way in order to get a bit of that - happiness / pain, it doesn’t matter to him as long as he no longer feels numb. so, if ya see him with some scrapes and stitches ~ MIND YA BUSINESS.

arlo’s lurve life : woo ! okay, welcome back -- let’s get into it. so shanley and arlo dated throughout hs and into their first year of college, for a whopping five years together before they broke up. god if you’ve made it this far, i applaud you...but hmu and let me know your fav color, okay? like and comment below ?? subscribe ?? thx. OKAY BACK TO BUSINESS. in case you’re wondering who broke up with who, gosh so nosy, let me just tell you ‘twas arlo. he did it, we can unfollow his ass now. BUT ~ he didn’t want to ? y’know. he felt like due to the long distance, she was missing out on college experiences and her waiting by the phone for him to call was just sad, and he felt guilty. he wanted her to enjoy her time and felt as if he was weighing her down. although he did try make an effort to fix this doing by visiting her that weekend at her university in chicago, but when he came across her with friends he felt stupid and bailed back to cali again. a couple months later he called her, hoping to apologize for his poor judgement and admit to his mistake of ending the relationship, but she wasn’t the one who answered the phone. arlo assumed the random guy who answered was shanley’s new boyfriend (although , he was shanley’s roommates boyfriend but my sad dumb ass boi didn’t know ). arlo only assumed the voice belonged to shan’s bf bc he swears the voice distinctly said “coming, babe!” ( although he did, just not to shanley) and ever since arlo’s been a bit jaded when it comes to romance. shanley called him back later that day, and arlo shrugged her off bc he was jealous af and drunk - claiming he “butt dialed her and it wouldn’t happen again.” :’-( since then they haven’t been in contact. 

he was so in love with shanley, and despite him being the one to end things, he’s never fully gotten over her. he’s definitely hooked up with other people, but my boy is not the committing type after that relationship. 

after high school, arlo attended stanford university, as they offer one of the best criminal law programs across the nation. wahoo ! yahtzee !

after graduating college, arlo moved to san francisco & moved in with ali !! they have a nice little place overlooking the golden gate bridge w/ quality acoustics for their creative music projects. / also where he currently lives !! :’-) we love a bromance.

while in san francisco, arlo attended university to continue on pursuing his law degree  and after two years was able to graduate with his juris doctor. 

TRIGGER WARNING : DEATH / CAR ACCIDENT / DRUNK DRIVING. the death of his brother is very recent, like four weeks ago recent. arlo and his brother were road tripping across the states back to their family home in NY to visit their parents, when a drunk driver struck the driver side of their vehicle, which on impact killed his brother. arlo has survivors guilt as a result from the accident. he and his brother had switched seats a couple minutes prior to the collision, after arlo had asked to switch with him in order to rest for a bit. :’-( miraculously, arlo was unscathed in the greater scheme of all things injury-based. he’s entering the villa w/ a couple broken ribs, broken left arm and scrapes/cuts. so plz sign his cast. 

post-break up with shanley, they had some type of unspoken agreement of trading off years of who gets to attend the summer( aka who has custody of the sclub ) and so last year, arlo did not attend. however, this year, they somehow got their info wrong about who was going / not going, so they have found themselves here at the same time. this being the first time they’ve seen each other since holidays during their first year of college previous to their break up. so get ready for some spice.

last summer, since arlo wasn’t attending the sclub reunion, he was taking the california state bar exam. which is only offered twice a year - he opted for the one in july and passed! :’-) he spent some time after the exam in europe with hastrid. <3

however, arlo will be joining this summers reunion coming from his parents home, post-funeral, trying to escape boxing up his brothers stuff and wanting to not be pitied. :’-( my boy is going through it, so his typical behavior and personality is gonna be v muted for a while.

ᴘᴇʀꜱᴏɴᴀʟɪᴛʏ

overall : arlo truly strives to be kind, and genuinely wants for everyone to get along. treat people with kindness and the like. he has the best of intentions, but often times that can get a bit muddled with the way he goes about things due to his chaotic energy. he will do anything to lighten a dark mood, and will sacrifice / throw himself under the bus if its needed. however, he also is the type to cause the dark mood depending on the day.

however rn, with his current state of mind, arlo is just going through the motions. numbing himself with unhealthy outlets and has a different type of mentality. definitely engaging in a bit of the more chaotic activities, as well as leaving everyone alone to their own vices as well. whereas his typical behavior would be more so attempting to lead them onto a better path if it meant well for their overall wellbeing. 

habits : smoking cigarettes ( ali likely nags him bc they aren’t herbal ) . staying up into the early hours of the morning, and yet somehow still an early riser ( hence, he drinks an absurd amount of coffee ). yeah, hence. - get it, from the house bunny? sdjfkngdg any who, he’s in a phase of numbing via alcohol and drugs rn. 

personality type : INTP - T / THE LOGICIAN

moral alignment : chaotic good

tarot card : the hermit ( currently )

character inspo : connor walsh from how to get away with murder, jess mariano from gilmore girls, & ambrose spellman from chilling adventures of sabrina ( literally his #1 ranked personality match on a quiz i took ) !! so, we have that ! and also a heavy sprinkle of seth cohen from the o.c.

ʜᴇᴀᴅᴄᴀɴᴏɴꜱ

the album ‘fine line’ by golden child, harry styles in this case will be used as a hc for arlo. arlo wrote and recorded the album - all songs included, with his muse being shanley over the course of the last couple of years. he’s just kind of been sitting on the entire thing, never really feeling it was the right time to release his work/side solo project...but later this summer, he may just leak it. :’-)

arlo is a vegetarian ! he has been since his freshman year of high school.

those who inspire him : roger taylor, mick jagger, alex van halen, john bonham.

LUNA : ali and arlo co-founded the band with friends edie dorn and guy perkins in junior high. playing gigs where they could as often as possible. arlo was on lead vocals, ali as lead guitarist, edie on bass, and guy on drums. although when it came down to recording and what not they seemed to bounce around when it came to other instruments - v experimental. the band took off in college, prior to something strange and over the years they’ve produced numerous albums and have won a couple awards. 

red roses are his Thing™️ ; fans of the band will walk up and hand him them. i think that’s soft. and i am here for it.

he loves fancy wine ~ he’s cultured.

fun fact : dirty dancing is v much so a sharlo movie. they used to practice and be able to successfully pull of the jump & lift dance move literally just for fun / bc they wanted to. after nailing the lift, they learned the entire dance - i can't. dfjkgndjkg SOFT.

arlo has all of harry’s tattoos !! makes it simpler, might add more along the way !! stay tuned, folks !!

also the ‘ h & s ‘ rings that will be seen in photographs later on are for his brother, holden, and bbg, shanley </3

arlo is a gucci enthusiast - having much of his closet filled with staple pieces over the years. to further his love for the brand, he was recently asked to be in an upcoming campaign for the fall season - he’s v jazzed about it.

ᴏᴘᴇɴ ᴄᴏɴɴᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴꜱ

𝖌𝖔𝖔𝖉 𝖎𝖓𝖋𝖑𝖚𝖊𝖓𝖈𝖊 ( open connection ) : with arlo being a bit chaotic in nature, he needs somebody that is likely going to steer him clear from all the ideas that’ll bring him to the brink of disaster. he’s impulsive and in that desperate attempt to feel again, he’s very likely to bring a bit of mayhem upon himself. so while they may constantly worrying and attempting to talk his ideas down, he’s trying to get them to go along with his plan. it may be rare that he actually takes their advice, but when he does it seems to be for the best.

𝖕𝖆𝖗𝖙𝖞 𝖋𝖗𝖎𝖊𝖓𝖉 / 𝖈𝖔𝖓𝖋𝖎𝖉𝖆𝖓𝖙 ( open connection ) : these two know how to have a good time together. despite the amount of alcohol they are throwing back and the shenanigans they find themselves in as a result, this is a time where they also find themselves confiding in one another. if you look at their camera rolls, it’s likely they have tons of embracing and unflattering videos and pics of one another, in between their sob-worthy confessionals and venting/rants. these two trust one another, and although they love getting wreckT together, they find themselves discussing very raw and personal details.

open to other connection you may have in mind! :’-)  LMK!!!! <3 i love me some chemistry !!!

ᴛᴀᴋᴇɴ ᴄᴏɴɴᴇᴄᴛɪᴏɴꜱ ( featured on arlo’s connections page here !! )

𝖋𝖗𝖎𝖊𝖓𝖉𝖘 𝖜𝖎𝖙𝖍 𝖇𝖊𝖓𝖊𝖋𝖎𝖙𝖘 ( taken - simon peralta ) : these two went through rough break ups of their own, and a rebound didn’t sound too bad to either of them at the time things started. it may not occur all the time, but they sometimes still find themselves offering up to one another. this occurred more frequently then any of arlo’s one night stands, obvi, but it never surpassed anything other than the physical aspect of their relationship. the nature of their relationship outside of the bedroom can go either way !!!  :’-)

𝖆 𝖇𝖗𝖔𝖒𝖆𝖓𝖈𝖊 𝖋𝖔𝖗 𝖙𝖍𝖊 𝖆𝖌𝖊𝖘 ( taken - ali mallick ) : as if living together for the past two years wasn’t enough, ali & arlo are also roommates every summer that arlo attends the sclub reunions. these two are always laughing, and saying some ridiculous ish. you’ll likely hear loud jam sessions and howling laughter / the occasional excited shouting back and forth from their room in the late hours. they are truly nothing but a good time and tbh, they know it. that and the fact that they have the best hair in the villa. djfgnjkdfg FIGHT ME !!

𝖍𝖎𝖌𝖍 𝖘𝖈𝖍𝖔𝖔𝖑 𝖘𝖜𝖊𝖊𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖆𝖗𝖙𝖘 ( taken - shanley evans ) : these two began their relationship in their freshman year of high school - spending five years together before breaking up in their freshman year of college. * cries in sharlo * they were the “it” couple, no pennywise included … unless ? anyways, everyone thought that they were going to get married, and arlo was v much in love / thinking shanley was his romantic soulmate. yet when they did break up everyone was shookith - even the birds and the bees.

𝖆𝖓𝖉 𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖞 𝖜𝖊𝖗𝖊 𝖗𝖔𝖔𝖒𝖒𝖆𝖙𝖊𝖘 𝖇𝖆𝖓𝖉𝖒𝖆𝖙𝖊𝖘 ( taken - ali mallick , willow finch , sirena rose ) : these four formed something strange. arlo is the drummer of the group, and also writes some songs for the group. they’ve blown up over the years and are a quite successful group.

𝖛 𝖘𝖎𝖇𝖑𝖎𝖓𝖌-𝖑𝖎����𝖊 𝖗𝖊𝖑𝖆𝖙𝖎𝖔𝖓𝖘𝖍𝖎𝖕 ( taken - sirena rose / willow finch ) : these two have a love/hate relationship, very sibling like filled with pranks, competition, teasing and playful banter. however, when it comes down to it they have so much love and respect for one another. they know that no matter what happens they will always have one anothers back and be supportive of the other. pure relationship.

𝖗𝖎𝖉𝖊 𝖔𝖗 𝖉𝖎𝖊 ( taken - delilah jacobs ) : ride or dies ! need i say more ?? these two have one anothers backs despite anything and everything going on otherwise. they play in to one anothers antics and enjoy one anothers presence as they can likely be seen dragging one another across town and causing a bit of mayhem together. you can catch them in their beautiful, bitch #1 & #2 tee's.

𝖈𝖍𝖆𝖔𝖙𝖎𝖈 𝖈𝖔𝖒𝖕𝖆𝖓𝖎𝖔𝖓 ( taken - ramona verdez ) : it would be wrong to say one is the more likely the bad influence over the other, although arlo may just be. these two find themselves bounding into, well hell, ( i guess??? ) together. playing on one anothers impulsiveness and if one ends up in the back of a police car, the other is handcuffed to them. and yet despite the length of their potential injuries, they find themselves thinking of something crazier to subject them to the next time around. with arlo having his law degree, he’s always able to squeeze them out of trouble before it gets too serious, so trust - it’s ok !! 

𝖚𝖓𝖑𝖎𝖐𝖊𝖑𝖞 𝖋𝖗𝖎𝖊𝖓𝖉𝖘 / 𝖕𝖔𝖑𝖆𝖗 𝖔𝖕𝖕𝖔𝖘𝖎𝖙𝖊𝖘 ( taken -  izzy de la rosa ) : these two may have ran in the same circle, but were complete opposites when it came down to their personalities / styles / perhaps even humor, so it was expected for them to stand their distance. however despite the odds, they just clicked !! opposites attract and what not, ya dig??  somehow their dynamic just works and they have a lot of fun together by introducing new things to one another.

[ehstarwar]

flesh stays no farther reason (3.5/6)

“Did you want me to call?” Ben asks after a minute.

“I’m glad you did.” Rey figures there’s no point not playing coy. He made the first move, after all.

-

Five times Ben looks for Rey and the one time she finds him.

-

Rating: Explicit

Word Count: 1.9K

Read on AO3

A/N: hi friends! so, so sorry for the slow updates, but life is... ya know, life. plz enjoy our two space dummies bein all horny and such (´∩｡• ᵕ •｡∩`) ♡

-

“... so I guess what I’m trying to say is... I’m sorry to be springing this on you right now.”

“Don’t be sorry! This is exciting for you guys. I’m happy for you; really.”

“It’s just been such a long time coming and we’re ready to take the next step.”

“I totally get it. I don’t want you to be sorry.”

Rose looked at Rey with worried eyes, clearly not believing her one bit. Rey tried to smile wider, but she’s pretty sure that would just make her look insane. 

Rey is happy for Rose and Finn, finally taking the relationship to the next level by moving in together. It’s not like this was totally out of the blue. Her and Rey’s lease was ending soon and Rey has seen the Zillow alerts on Roses’s phone more than a few times. She shouldn’t be shocked, and really she’s not, but it’s just hard to come to terms that this is reality and not some fleeting worry. 

“Finn and I can help you out for a little if you want to stay here and not get another roommate, if you want,” Rose offers. Rey takes her hand with a small smile. 

“Don’t worry about me; I’ll be fine, I always am,” she says, but Rose still looks unconvinced.

“I don’t want you just to be fine; I want you to be happy, too.”

Rey sighs deeply and they just look at each other for a minute.

“I will be happy... someday.”

Rose frown lines deepen. “It’s just... you’ve been so mopey recently. That’s why I’ve been scared to tell you.”

Rey scoffed. “I haven’t been mopey. I just get- it’s the change of the seasons. My mood always shifts when the seasons do.”

A beeping from Roses phone makes both of their heads snap up.

“It’s Finn,” Rose tells her.

“Don’t keep him waiting; you two go off and have a fun night,” Rey says while getting up and grabbing Roses purse for her. Instead of taking it from her outstretched hand, Rose pulls Rey into a hug.

“You deserve to be happy, Rey, right now.” Rose whispers. With a quick peck on her cheek and a short ‘bye,’ Rey is all alone. She looks around the apartment, taking stalk of all that she has. Most of the bigger furniture is Roses, passed down from her sister, so she’d probably take those. It would leave her with a broken arm chair, a small side table, and a couple of plants. Rey sighs while picturing it, and decides that it’s a worry for another day.

Rey decided to treat herself this even, seeing as it would probably be one of the last times she could do so if she were to take on all the rent. So she orders her favorite take out, rents the movie she’s been wanting to see for a while, and veges out in her pajamas for the rest of the evening.

-

Captain America has just fought himself and commented on his peachy ass when her phone rings. It’s not entirely unusual for her to get a call this late, but it is cause for some concern. When she looks down at the caller ID, a shock runs though her spine. She immediately picks up.

“Hello?” She asks.

“Hi.”

His voice is tired. She can tell that from just one syllable. He sounds far away and that makes her chest ache for some reason.

“Is everything okay?” She says, unable to keep the worry from her voice.

“Yeah; is everything okay with you?” He questions right back.

“Yeah, I was just... not expecting you to call. It made me nervous.” She tells him.

“Did you want me to call?” Ben asks after a minute.

“I’m glad you did.” Rey figures there’s no point not playing coy. He made the first move, after all.

“Good.” She thinks if Ben were in front of her, she’d see his mouth twitch, his give-away that he’s pleased.

“So... why did you call?”

“To be honest... I’m not sure. I just got back from work and I wanted to hear your voice..” 

Rey glances at the clock on her bedside table. “You just got off work? Ben, it’s like midnight!” 

“It’s only midnight there? That’s good. It’s nearly 3 where I am,” He says.

“Ben...” Her voice is soft, and she can’t keep the sound of disapproval out of it. 

“I know, I know,” he brushes her off. “How was your day?”

She hums. “Eh... not terrible. Work was okay, but...” she trails off.

“Did something happen?” 

“My roommate decided to move in with her boyfriend when our lease is up in a few weeks. Which isn’t bad, necessarily. Before Finn was Roses boyfriend, he was my best friend. I introduced them a few years back and now they’re together, and I’m…”

“… not.” He finishes for her.

“Yeah,” She says sheepishly.

“I’m sorry that’s happening to you.”

“It’s fine, really. I’ve been though worse.”

They don’t speak for a moment and Rey knows if she were with Ben in person, there would be a frown on his face. She hates it.

“Where are you?” She asks.

“Bespin. Or, in my hotel room, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Hmmm… good to know.”

“That I’m in Bespin or that I’m in bed?”

“Both.” Ben chuckles. 

“Have you ever  been to Bespin?” He asks. She huffs a laugh.

“Ha! I make in a year what it would cost me to stay there for one night.”

“So, no?”

“Correct.”

“Hmm…” he seems to consider himself for a moment, “I think you’d like it. There’s a buffet on every corner; two just in my hotel,” Ben teases her.

“Oh shut it!” She laughs. “That sounds like a good time for anyone.”

The make small talk, mostly on Bespin; the climate, the lifestyle, the difficulty getting Über’s. It’s polite and unassuming, but sort of odd to be having this late at night. Rey want’s to ask him again why he’s called her, but he beats her to it.

“I lied earlier… when you asked why I called.”

“Oh?”

“I miss you. I don’t know if I’m allowed to miss you but I do.”

She doesn’t know what to say. She should say something non-committal or coy but she can’t think of anything other than the truth.

“I miss you, too.” Rey swears she hears a sigh of relief. “How long will you be in Bespin?” She asks.

“A few more weeks, probably.” Rey audibly pouts. “Maybe less depending on how my meetings go.”

“Hmm… that’s unfortunate. It’s much harder to fuck you when you’re a few timezones away.”

“Oh?” The shift in his voice gives Rey goosebumps.

“Harder… but not impossible,” She continues.

“Tell me, Rey, how would you do that”? He asks, voice darker now.

“I’d tell you that I’m not wearing any underwear. Just a ratty old shirt and socks-” Ben groans “- and that I’ve been wet since I heard your voice.”

“Have you touched yourself while we’ve been talking?” He asks.

“No, daddy.”

She hears him curse and the sliding of a zipper. 

“Good girl.”

Rey beams. Its been so long since he’s last said that to her, and the affect those two words have on her body is profound.

“Are you touching yourself, daddy?” She asks.

“Though my underwear. You’re making me so hard, so fast, but I want this to last. Do you want me to tell you what I’d do if I were there?”

“Can I touch myself when you do?”

“Yes, but you have to do what I say.”

Rey scoots down her bed so that she’s laying back, phone propped up against a pillow by her head to she can hear him clearly. 

“I will; I promise,” She tells him.

“First, I’d focus on your chest,” he tells her. “Rub your nipples for me. I like how hard they get. A dark pink. I love to taste them.” She rubs herself through the cotton of her shirt, moaning lightly. “Tell me, Rey, does it feel good?” He asks.

“Yes,” she breaths, “but not as good as your mouth.” Rey hears the distant snapping of something that sounds like the band of underwear.

“How wet are you?”  Ben asks, an urgency now lining his voice.

“Dripping... I’ll have to change my sheets.” Ben curses and Rey hears a slick sound speed up

“I would tease your cunt with my fingers. Just one, to feel your wetness. I wouldn’t touch your clit yet, just around it. Can you do that for me? Can you tease yourself?” Ben asks her.

Rey moans in the affirmative, and immediately snakes a hand down to her cunt. She’s puffy and soft down there, and her hand creates adds delicious friction. 

“I would tease you, too,” Rey says breathlessly. “I would jerk you off slowly. I’d trace my thumb over your head.”

Ben groans and curses under his breath. Rey begins thrusting her hips in time with her hand, but still refrains from touching her clit.

“I wish I could help myself around you but I can’t. I’d have to fuck you, Rey. I’d have to be in you. Do you want that?” The desperation in his voice increases ten fold. 

“Yes...” Rey whines. 

“Fuck, Rey, I want to be there. I want to feel your cunt on my cock. You don’t even know. It’s a fucking drug, being inside of you. I want to keep you on my cock for the rest of my life. Wanna stuff you full of my come so it’s always dripping out of you. Wanna kiss you until the world runs out of air. God, Rey! Touch your clit for me, baby, I need you to come for me. Please, please come for me.”

Her clit is a live wire, and when she touches it on his command, her body convulses. 

“I wish it was you- I want you to do that, all of that. Ben, I’m gonna come, can I come, please?” She begs.

“Yes, yes, Rey-” the words die on his lips as grunts and moans overtake him. Rey grindstone heel of her palm into herself, fingers barely even breaching her entrance. She comes with a shudder, high-pitched whines coming from her. Ben is grunting as the slick sound suddenly halts. 

Rey collapses onto her bed, unwilling to keep even the top half of her body upright. Her heavy breathing is mimicked by Ben. Rey can hear her blood still rushing in her ears, her hand still against her sopping cunt. She doesn’t care to move it because she know the unfulfilling sensation will creep inside of her once she does. 

“Rey,” Ben whispers though the phone, “you okay?” He says it with a softness that makes her shudder.

“Yeah... that was.... a lot.” Her vice is still breathless.

“Yeah,” he says. 

A silence befalls them again but the sound of him breathing is comforting. She feels the weight of sleep being into crawl up her and her eyes become heavy. Rey realizes something and can’t stop herself before she says it.

“If I close my eyes and listen to your breathing, it feels as if you’re here next to me.”

Rey can’t be sure, but she thinks Ben may have whimpered.

“I’m coming back soon,” he says after a minute, snapping Rey back into consciousness.

“But I thought you said-”

“I know, but- I... I’m not... I don’t know how to- I’ll be back soon; I promise.”

“Okay... will you call me? When you’re back, I mean?”

Ben chuckles lightly into the phone.

“Yeah Rey, I will.”

-

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[wetalkinboutbooks]

The Bird King by G. Willow Wilson

Summary

The Bird King is a 2019 fantasy novel set in 1491, the novel takes place in the Emirate of Granada during the territory’s final days. The story concerns the flight of Fatima and Hassan, a concubine and mapmaker, respectively, from service to the Emirate’s last sultan. (Taken from Wikipedia)

We follow Fatima and Hassan on their search for the Bird King as they avoid soldiers of the Spanish inquisition, and meet a variety of characters along the way.

Our Ratings: 

 → Geena: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

 → Kae: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Overall: The Bird King is an amazing book that manages to be complex yet light-hearted. It touches on subjects like faith, love, and friendship. The characters are engaging (and absolute drama queens) and the plot is fast-paced so there’s never a dull moment. The dynamic between the characters leads to the funniest situations that will have you dying. In summary, reasons to read this book if you haven’t already:

A- ONE SUPER FUNNY BOOK PLZ READ IT

B - THE DRAMAAA OF FATIMA AND HASAAN

C - Vikram 

D - Stupid

~ Spoiler-full discussion below ~

The Good: 

→ Hassan and Fatima’s Relationship

Geena: The best thing about the bird king (aside from the horse named Stupid) was Hassan and Fatima’s friendship. IMO it was so wholesome and they were so in love (PLATONICALLY!!!!). When Hassan said seeing Fatima walking around was like seeing his heart outside his body…… a BITCH DIED!!! Also, the fact they would take shots at each other constantly? Loved it. HOW COULD I FORGET… HASSAN CONSTANTLY BEING HORNY AND FATIMA BEING LIKE “CAN U CHILL!”  

Kae: OKAY MOOD LMAOOO. So boom. Geena covered it. We love this book! Hassan and Fatima are the definition of the 💯 emoji. But these bestie-bitches are DRAMATIC af. I’ve never seen two best friends who love each other as much as they do. They’re hugging and crying one moment, then the next they’re jealous that one of them is talking to someone else. DRAMATIC. I love it. Have we talked about Gwenny and Stupid yet?  

Geena: WE HAVEN’T TALKED ABOUT THEM, the perfect accessories to the Hassan-Fatima duo. Gwen is the token white boi, there for Hassan to thirst over and Fatima to learn how to sail a ship. Stupid on the other hand…. God bless that horse all it did was drown and then LIVE!!!! The absolute legend.  BUT Kae HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE GWEN AND STUPID? HMMM

Gwen: I only love God

Also Gwen: *sleeps with Fatima on the deck of the ship while Hassan is 3 feet away* 

Kae: Well... Gwennec. Ol’ Gwenny Gwen Gwen. Gwen, the Monk who FUCKS. PAHAAHA. Gwen was a new Monk who was at first, totally against helping our favorite bestie-bitches. But Fatima was all “Don’t test me white boi I will kick ya ass.” And Gwen lowkey thought it was hot so he let them slide. He taught Fatima and Hassan how to sail while Hassan made googly eyes at him and definitely wanted to tap that. But, as previously stated, Fatima and Gwen got it ooonnn.  Hassan found out and as like “Fa, I can’t believe you slept with my husband who doesn’t know we’re married yet!”,  and that was basically that.. Then we have Stupid. The horse who was just as damn stupid as his name. The horse lived to spite the Grim Reaper just to prove it would breathe another day. We also haven’t mentioned our Jinn friend and their literal lifesaver/guardian angel, Vikram.  

Geena: VIKRAM, aka another dude/djinn/dog man that Hassan wanted to fuck but couldn’t :( Vikram was essentially the only one in the group that had a substantial amount of brain cells, and spent most of the time trying to make sure Fatima didn’t accidentally kill herself. The fact that he saw his death and it was in the arms of a “beautiful woman” should sum up his character really well. 

Kae: Geena is sooo right. Vikram was the only one with brain cells because Fatima and Hassan both shared two. Our loveable, dramatic, but also a little dimwitted faves wouldn’t have survived any of their adventure without Vikram. He lead them through a Jinn filled tunnel that Hassan made. Escorted them across the land with the Inquisition right on their asses, and fought off whoever tried to hurt them. Initially, he agreed to save them because of a debt he owed to Fatima’s Sultana. But in the end, Vikram helped them because he wanted to. He was a weirddog/man/Jinn who just wanted Fatima and Hassan to stop being dumbasses for five seconds. But they couldn’t so he was constantly annoyed and probs wanted to eat them to shut them up. BUT WE STAN THAT FURRY LEGEND BECAUSE WITHOUT HIM, OUR ESCAPEES WOULD BE DEAD-EEE. Also he was one suave, smooth talking mofo and I feel like if he walked up to you and said “You’re lovely, but you’re an idiot. It’s okay, because you’re pretty tho.” that compliment sandwich would go right over your head and you’d thank him.  

Geena: ok FIRST OFF I would be like “why do you have a tail” but god Kae you hit all the points. 

The Bad AND The Ugly

→ The Sultan and His Mom Being Pedos 

Geena: Ok so, Fatima is 17 and I’m assuming the Sultan was in his mid-thirties, because he has kids Fatima’s age 👀. So I am sure it was historically accurate, the fact that the old ass man had a 17 year old concubine, but that doesn’t make it any less gross!!!! What’s worse is that Fatima’s mom was originally a slave for the sultan, so when she was born the sultan’s mom raised her and had her instated as a concubine when she was 15!!!!!! Scuse me while I 🤮. 

Kae: Yea, Geena said it all. The Sultan was ewww. Fatima was his favorite and I guess he talked to her like she wasn’t a concubine? She was treated very well. For a concubine. Probably better than any concubine I’ve read about Like, she had rights and could talk shit without punishment. But still, DISGUSTEEENNNG. Our girl was groomed so we do NOT stan the Sultan. 

→ Luz

Kae: we also have our main villain, Luz. She arrived at their palace to play peaceful, but she had ulterior motives that involved her spreading the word of the LORDT and taking Hassan in to be tried for Witchcraft and all that magic shit. Because if we didn’t say it before, Hassan can draw anything on a map and make that place a reality. Luz has this little worm in her eye that basically makes her super weirdly strong and badass. But fuck Luz. When Fatima finds out that Hassan is to be tried for witchcraft, she goes to him so they can both escape. Fatima wants to be free and she doesn’t want to see her bestie die. So what do they do? They dip. And now our friends are on the run. 

Geena: UGH Yes, can I just say the moment that Fatima realized that Hassan would get canned she was like “fuck all these people” and peaced out with Hassan? Friendship goals… But yes LUZ!! I enjoyed reading her as a villain because she genuinely thinks she’s a good person and that her life’s mission is to “Save” people like Fatima from people like Hassan. You really end up liking her in the beginning, and then she turns around and murders a few people and you’re like…. Ah…… i see….. aND THEN it turns out she was being controlled by some brainworm that was also trying to get to the Bird King and you kind of wonder…. How much of what Luz did was her being a violent inquisitor and how much was the worm controlling her… you kno? She redeems herself by dying, so I guess she gets…. Like one (1) right. 

Kae: Damn girl! Well said!!! LITCHERALY that is a perfect summary of Luz’s character. I can’t say anything else because it’s been SAID.  Villains are always interesting when they don’t see themselves as the bad guy. They’re righteous and unforgiving because they believe they are doing the right thing. That’s what scary about them. 

Conclusion 

Kae: Okay, so in conclusion. This is an amazing book and in all honesty, I enjoyed the hell out of it. I was never bored reading it. Hassan, Fatima, and Vikram had quite the adventure and all the dramatics of made it that much more enjoyable. They left the palace in hopes of freedom. Hassan and Fatima got the idea of The Bird King from a story they liked to read, but never knew the ending. So they continued the story on their own, making it up along the way. In hopes of escaping their new fate to Luz and the Inquisition, Hassan drew up a map to the Bird King in hopes to find it. Their journey took them to meet Gwennec who sailed them to said island, where they discovered used to be inhabited long, long ago. Soon, others began to show up on the island. Hassan even got him a MANS. A DOCTOR. Whew. He’s got taste. The island is also forever changing and some of the remaining inhabitants are Jinn. 

Geena: Kae summarized the story really well!!! The journey to the end was an absolute trip, but G. Willow Wilson tied up the story neatly. We get to see Fatima become less dependent on Hassan (thanks to his doctor bf who told her to chill out) and Hassan finally find the happiness he deserves. Gwen, unfortunately, doesn’t make it to the end (press F to pay respect). Luz essentially sacrifices herself by taking the map Hassan drew, getting off the island, and ripping it up. Why does she do this? Because to make a place or passage Hassan drew disappear the map has to be ripped. And leaving the map to the island wasn’t an option because the Spanish inquisition never stops!!

Kae: And if they ripped the map on the island, the island would cease to exist! Upon arrival to the island, everyone had their ships wrecked. Luz got fucked up on the shipwreck and that worm thing got ripped out of her eyes and then it became a monster on the island that was NOT to be trifled with. Since Luz got all jacked up, she was gonna die anyway and no one wanted her to stay--

Geena: Everyone said “u cant sit with us” to luz. OKAY DISCUSSING THIS BOOK MADE ME REMEMBER HOW MUCH IT MADE ME LAUGH, GENUINELY ONE OF THE FUNNIEST BOOKS I’VE READ. 10/10 FOR ME!!

Kae: LMAOOO HONESTLY. XPECIALLY FATIMA NEVER HAVING WALKED SO FAR BEFORE AND BEING A BIG OL BABY. but she DIIIID have messed up shoes that blistered so I’ll give her that BUT YES HASSAN WAS A DRAMA QUEEN “waaah, I have red hair and im pale BUT I'M STILL HOT AND I LIKE TO F U C K” But yeah, Luz got voted off the island and voted herself off the island, ripped up the map, and then they were safe and lived happily ever after. Vikram even made his final appearance to say his goodbyes to Fatima, even though he hates goodbyes. I give this book a 10/10. It was funny, the characters were likeable and relatable, and it was just a good adventure read.