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shijiujun · 4 years

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Okay I’ve decided to do a single rec after I finish one novel hahaha because if I wait to get around to it all it’ll never happen! Anyway because @sarah-yyy has been reading it and I’ve gotten a lot of asks/replies on this, I’m just going to do one huge list for one of my faves so everyone knows what’s going on and where to find things XD

- Part of Min’s ‘Why You Should Read’ Series -

Summary:

This is set in a historical setting where men can marry other men, but it’s usually reserved for sons who were not borne by the official main first wife of the patriarch of the family, i.e. a son born by a concubine in a family may be forced to marry a man to keep him from being able to become the next family’s patriarch for example. This is because any family’s next leader needs to be able to have children with a wife who married in as a zheng shi (lawful wife), and not a ce shi (second wife) or any other concubines/mistresses etc. Most of these men who marry other men have to take them as their zheng shi and lawful spouse in a sense, and the same goes for the royal family.

The story starts with third prince Jing Shao, who was forced to marry Mu Han Zhang, a Marquis’ second son, by the Empress and Emperor, thereby officially and effectively cutting him out of the race for the throne. He’s mocked by the public as everyone knows what this means, and for the next 10 years, he neglects Mu Han Zhang, blaming him for his predicament, and deliberately showers his three other concubines with affection in front of him, but 10 years later, when Jing Shao is accused of treason, everyone leaves him except for Mu Han Zhang. They are chased to the edge of the cliff by soldiers, and Mu Han Zhang dies in his arms having taken an arrow meant for him earlier, and Jing Shao jumps off the cliff with his dead body, and promises that if there’s a next life, he will do everything Han Zhang says, and love him.

He wakes up immediately on the night of his marriage with Han Zhang, and realizes that he’s been given a second chance to make everything right. Han Zhang is definitely afraid of him, humiliated and angry when he first wakes up after how rough Jing Shao was with him earlier on their wedding night, and he has no memories of their past life. Jing Shao then sets to SHOWER HAN ZHANG with affection, love and basically everything, because he realized that this is the only person who stayed by his side until the end, and then he falls in love with Han Zhang properly this time, and also deals with every single person who maligned and schemed against him in his previous life, with Han Zhang by his side.

Read:

Novel (Online) | Novel (Print) - Not Available | Novel Translations | Manhua (You’ll have to download the KuaiKan app, the chapters are currently all free)

Characters:

1. 景韶 Jing Shao - 3rd Prince and is the first out of his three other brothers to be given a title 成王 (cheng wang). He’s referred to as 王爷, and also 小勺 (xiao shao) by Han Zhang. Went out on his first war when he was 14, and was thus given a title before any of his brothers. He’s known for being a merciless, cold and fierce army general/commander, but this was before his second life with Han Zhang, where he puts on like his doting mode and is basically a dumbass XD who listens to Han Zhang with a lot of trust, which is cool and all.

He marries Han Zhang when he’s 19, and in his first life he was very reluctant and resistant, and neglected Han Zhang for 10 years, until he was charged with treason and hunted down.

In his first life he wanted to snatch the throne, even from his blood-related brother Jing Chen, but more out of spite than anything else because he felt he was dealt an unfair hand by having to marry Han Zhang. Not only that, but Jing Shao is not his father’s favourite son, and he always felt that the emperor was biased against him. Anyway, a huge accumulation of daddy and anger issues, which is fair.

When he realizes that Han Zhang died for him, he decides he will be good to Han Zhang if they are reborn in their next life.

2. 慕含章 Mu Han Zhang - The 2nd son of Marquis Bei Hou’s, born to a concubine. He’s called by his 表字 which is 君清 (jun qing) by Jing Shao. Official First Wife Bei Wei Hou-furen and her son (who is in line to inherit the Marquis title from his father) has bullied him all his life, and wanted to push him into greater desperation by marrying him to Jing Shao, knowing he will suffer at the hands of the supposed merciless/heartless wangye. He has a weak body because of an accident when he was younger, and in his first life he was really sick after being neglected for 10 years, and knowing this in their second life, Jing Shao does everything he can to take care of him.

He is incredibly smart, has a brain for business and sales, and is also very good at handling people, especially scheming ones. He aids Jing Shao in the beginning of their second life, and then Jing Chen later as well, as both brothers begin to fight to put Jing Chen on the throne, against the 1st and 4th Princes. Is an incredibly good tactician in war as well.

3. 景琛 Jing Chen - 2nd Prince, Jing Shao’s blood related older brother who is handsome af too. His title, given later in the novel, is 睿王 (rui wang). He was misunderstood by Jing Shao in the first life as Jing Shao thought it was his brother who led to him marrying Han Zhang, and because he’s not very good at expressing himself and shows his concern to Jing Shao by nagging at him, Jing Shao always thought he hated him. In their second life, Jing Shao already knows that Jing Chen loves him and did a lot for him in his first life, and so trusts his brother and supports him right off the bat, because Jing Chen is indeed the most suited person for the throne.

He has a wife and a concubine, 3 sons and 2 daughters at this point. He ends up helping Jing Shao a lot, and when he realizes that Han Zhang is way more adept at politics and the whole scheming thing than Jing Shao is, he begins trusting Han Zhang a lot more as well! There’s a surprise with Jing Chen hahaha which I loveee and could see, but wasn’t sure until they confirmed it in the last few chapters AHAHAHAHA.

Other Notable Characters:

1. Song Ling Xin (Second Wife) on the left, and two other concubines on the right

They’re pretty much vying for Jing Shao’s attention, but at this point apparently he hasn’t slept with any of them before. Song Ling Xin is the daughter of the Military Department’s Head Song An, and Jing Shao married her initially out of interest. The right most concubine (I forgot her name oops) was a gift given to him by his oldest brother, the 1st Prince. The two of them played a huge role in Jing Shao’s downfall back in his first life, and so in his second life, he especially detests Song Ling Xin. Plus the three of them keep bullying Han Zhang in the beginning, but thankfully Jing Shao is like: “Anything my Jun Qing wants”. They don’t stay around for long either, watch as Jing Shao gets rid of them like he’s swatting flies.

2. Xiao Yuan & Zhou Da-Ge

This is another male couple who’s been married for 7-8 years if I recall. Xiao Yuan is one of Jing Shao’s important allies and friends in the second life, because in Jing Shao’s first life, this was one of the only young officials in court who spoke up for him when the accusations of treason came about. Zhou Da-Ge is his husband, who is a cook running a restaurant in the city. Whenever Zhou Da-Ge bullies Xiao Yuan in bed a little too much, Xiao Yuan punishes him by making him wear colourful clothes out (pink, bright yellow, purple, etc.) and thus he has a reputation for being eccentric and a weirdo, but oh well, all for love.

3. Gu Huai Qing

One of Jing Shao and Jing Chen’s most powerful allies, and he becomes blood-sworn brothers with Jing Shao without realizing who he is. Later he takes a liking to Jing Chen.

(Will update with photos when they come out, but they’re a bit further into the story so we won’t have them for a few months yet ahahaha)

Amazing Scenes:

Jing Shao & Han Zhang first looks in the manhua

Jing Shao being THAT clingy husband and helping Han Zhang to wear his clothes properly so cute!!!!!

Han Zhang and Jing Shao in their first lives (10 years later), about to die, sad and then Jing Shao jumps down the cliff with Han Zhang’s corpse, regretful cuz he a dumb bij

Jing Shao unable to resist kissing Han Zhang’s cheek, realizes what he’s doing, and gets embarrassed LMAOOOO 没出息!!!!!!! (This is different from the novel, because in the novel Jing Shao just kisses and is done with that, the embarrassment part is drawn in only in the manhua hahaha)

Other Things I Like in the Novel:

Jing Shao is like, he does a 180 entirely and he is very cognisant of all his faults and what he did wrong previously, and how badly he treated Han Zhang, so he legit forces his brain to go “I will listen to Jun Qing from now on” and he really sticks to it!

Loves kissing and teasing Han Zhang, but doesn’t force him into bed after their wedding night, and instead goes to Xiao Yuan and asks for tips on how to make his partner feel less scared about sex

The both of them end up with a pet tiger?!! That’s called Xiao Huang (little yellow) LMAO

They nap together a lot which I love <3333

Jing Shao knows he’s bullied at home, so when they go back to the Marquis Bei Hou manor, he holds Han Zhang’s hand in front of everyone to let them know Han Zhang has someone to back him up

Brings Han Zhang to war because he “cannot concentrate if Jun Qing isn’t with me at all times” - and asks for special permission to do so

Han Zhang notes that since he married Jing Shao, as the ‘wife’ he is supposed to serve Jing Shao, but it’s always Jing Shao serving him - Getting water for him, bringing him to baths, putting clothes on for him, putting food in his plate if it tastes nice, massaging his back and waist etc. - and best is he doesn’t have to deal with any in-laws?!! HAHAHA

Jing Shao gets revenge on those who hurt Han Zhang when he was younger for him, and the outcome is pretty hilarious but well-deserved

EPILOGUES are cute af!!!!

#the wife is first #you own my all #qi wei shang #妻为上 #danmei #danmei novel #stebeee recs #min's why you should read

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introvertguide · 3 years

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The Road Movie

Most movies follow a general script type depending on genre, and this is used to tell a story that has a satisfying ending. It is interesting when a movie mixes up type and tone and goes against genre type. Sometimes it works. Sometimes it is terrible. Great directing and acting can make the subversion of expectations less jarring (or more depending on the end goal), but the end goal and tone allows us to attach a film to a genre. But what about films that aren't about the end goal? There are many films that are in a sub-genre that focus on the journey with little regard to the end goal. These are what are called "road movies" and can fall under many different genres since the end goal doesn't really matter. Let's address some famous road movies through the years that are also classified in a variety of other genres:

Huckleberry Finn (1931)

The OG of travel films, this was the sequel to Tom Sawyer (1930) and had the same child actors. This wasn't what you would call financially successful, but this was largely due to the Great Depression. The 1939 version of the movie did a lot better and was one of the well known films of child actor Mickey Rooney. This story of travel was an early role for many actors including Rooney, Ron Howard, and Elijah Wood. Although there were threats of death and portrayals of slavery, this film was considered a family adventure in the pre-code film era. I guess a boy escaping his abusive father in the company of an adult escaped slave where people are actively attempting to rob and kill them was considered a fun family romp in the early 30s. This was the same story that came from a book that was banned in schools during the 1980s. It is a great story and I love the works of Mark Twain; I am just surprised at the genre.

Stagecoach (1939)

This is a great movie that transcends the Western genre of which it is categorized. A group of people all have different reasons for traveling from an Arizona territory over to New Mexico. There is word of vengeful thieves and angry Apaches that threaten the small band of travelers. It is actually very intense because the threat feels very real throughout the film. The entire film focuses on the journey and the relationships forged (and broken) on the way. This was the breakout role for John Wayne and was part of an amazing string of films directed by John Ford and starring John Wayne.

Easy Rider (1969)

This is a film that really spoke to the hippie movement during the Vietnam Era. It is statement on how difficult it is to truly be free and how society fears that freedom and tries to destroy it. The film might very well have the worst dialogue of any movie I have ever seen. Actors Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper were actively using drugs throughout film production, so the real draw was the sweet rides and the moving soundtrack. This is a movie where I actually want more driving montages and less character development because I don't identify with the characters at all. Maybe it is a generational gap.

Paper Moon (1973)

This film is amazing. It is the story of a traveling grifter who takes a little girl on the road with him after her mother dies. He teaches her how to make a living cheating people and they form a father-daughter type of relationship. It is a comedy drama that won the girl an Oscar for best supporting actress when she was only 10. Some nice back story, the girl is Tatum O'Neal and is the actual daughter of the grifter, played by Ryan O'Neal. It is kind of strange, but this is a "coming of age" film on the road.

The Blues Brothers (1980)

Now this is what I am talking about. Two brothers go on a trip after being released from jail because they got a message from God. I am pretty sure that this film still holds the record for most crashed vehicles in a single movie. It is also interesting that the film is technically a musical. The brothers stop at different locations and songs break out. In between stops, they are chased by the police in an almost demolition derby style chase. I really enjoy this movie and believe that it really keeps a fast pace (literally and figuratively), but, like many road films, I can't say it is good because it is more of an experience than a story.

Thelma and Louise (1991)

This was an interesting twist on the "run from the law" type of film. Two women are friends and decide go on a weekend retreat. They get in trouble after killing a man who tries to assault them and have to run from the authorities. It has a reputation for being very feminist (despite being directed by accused mesogenist Ridley Scott) because of the negative portrayal of men. It obviously wasn't that bad since it was nominated for 6 Oscars including both leads for best actress. In fact, Geena Davis and Susan Sarandon were both nominated for best actress at the Academy Awards, the BAFTAs, and the Golden Globes. It is the quintessential road film since the end goal is constantly changing and best defined as "away from here."

Natural Bork Killers (1994)

This was kind of a strange film. It is a crime drama where the audience follows two killers with traumatic childhoods as they meet and go on a murder spree. Similar to Bonnie and Clyde, but with gory murders as the focus over bank robberies. It is directed by Oliver Stone, and criticizes the glorification of violence by the media. It is most definitely a road movie because the end goal for the two is simply to be together and enjoy the rush of breaking the law. Hm. It is actually quite a bit like Bonnie and Clyde. Interesting. I would like to make a note that my mom hates this film because of the shaky cam and Dutch angles. It made her feel sick at the theater.

Road Trip (2000)

OK. This is far and away my least favorite film on this list, but it is the most famous "boner road comedy" that I am familiar with. It is a high school/college coming-of-age film that focus on the sexual pursuits of a group of young men. These types of films are marked with gross out humor, gratuitous nudity, and boys trying to have sex. There was a bunch of films like this that came out around the early 2000s and they all had to do with boys traveling some place in search of idealized sex (the plot on this one is a little different, something to do with a sex tape) and generally they find that the best girl for them was there by them all along. It takes a nice idea of character development and throws raunchy jokes and boobs at it. I was not a fan, but it was definitely a thing.

Death Proof (2007)

This is much better shlock. It is the Tarantino version of exploitation grindhouse films of the seventies, but updated to be a women empowerment film. It was part of a double feature that was paired with a horrific zombie outbreak film directed by Rod Rodriguez, but this one is much better on its own. It is the story of an old stunt man who travels around looking for unsuspecting victims whom he can run down in his indestructible car. This is a great example of what a road movie can be because Tarantino took the concept of a slasher and put it completely on the road.

Mad Max Fury Road (2015)

Here is an action revenge film in a post-apocalyptic wasteland where most of the film is driving. The producers couldn't find a director who they trusted with remaking George Miller's Mad Max franchise so the 70 year old Miller said "hold my beer" and made this masterpiece that is arguably better than any of the first three (edit: I guess Miller always intended to direct but it took so long to go into production that he joked in interviews about giving up on it). The original trilogy with Mel Gibson presents an amazing world where most people are nomadic and traveling can be a life or death proposition. Fury Road is the further adventures of the character and his interaction with one Furiosa. The use of many practical effects on moving vehicles that was garnished with CG effects made for one of the best action films in the last decade. It was more than a simple movie about traveling; it was a land were the road was life and everything surrounded the ability to be mobile enough to get supplies in a dead world.

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This is by no means all of the road movies. The Wizard of Oz is technically a road movie. The Grapes of Wrath is a critically acclaimed road movie from around the same time. Comedies like The Cannonball Run, Smokey and the Bandit, and National Lampoon's Vacation can all be classified in the genre. Rain Man is one of the best films of all time and it can be classified as a road movie. What it comes down to is that, when considering characters, a writer should think about the journey itself and think of how the leads interact with this entity. The road might be the best character in the whole story.

#road movies #thelma and louise #stagecoach #huck finn #mad max fury road #death proof #road trip #natural born killers #the blues brothers #paper moon #easy rider #introvert #introverts

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outer-bnks · 3 years

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Two Burning Hearts Are Dared to Break (JJ X OC) Ch. 11

The Pogues get a surprise visit from Agent Bratcher, causing tensions to rise in the group. JJ exposing Elle and Topper’s budding romance doesn’t help either.

Warning: swearing, brief mention of death

Word count: 1.5k

“This is so messed up”, JJ sighed, keeping his eyes down to the ground, shaking it in disbelief.

The Pogues silence that followed allowed them to mull over the possibilities of what could happen with their ongoing police investigation, before it was broken by knocking, Elle removing herself from the living room to answer it.

Opening the door she froze, coming face to face with Agent Bratcher. He took in her reaction, looking over her shoulder, “Hi, I’m Agent Bratcher of the SBI. I’m investigating the disappearance of John Booker Routledge and Sarah Cameron. I believe you and your friends may have some information that could help me.”

He definitely had come to the right place. Crossing her arms over her chest, she felt her heartbeat begin to quicken as a wave of anxiety washed over her. They had already given their statements to Deputy Shoupe, did they really have to recount the occurrences of this Summer again. “We can’t speak to you without a lawyer present sir, sorry to disappoint”, she spoke with confidence, hoping that it was enough to create a facade that he wouldn’t be able to see through.

Hearing footsteps approach her from behind she was soon joined by the others, relieved that she had some backup. “All due respect Agent, but it’s best if you leave”, JJ spoke, stepping in front of Elle and sizing up Agent Bratcher.

“I know you kids are going through a lot right now and the last thing you want to do is answer more questions regarding what’s happened,”,a look of genuine sympathy was displayed before it was replaced by seriousness, “but I think there’s more to the story than anyone is letting on”.

“We’ve already given our statements to Shoupe, there’s nothing more to say”.

“Look, between us, I think Shoupe is… overlooking some aspects that I would like to dive deeper into”, JJ turned to the others standing behind him, biting his lip whilst silently asking him with his eyes what Bratcher was talking about.

Bratcher took their curious faces as his signal to carry on. “The day of the storm, Sarah came to the SBI tents very aggravated… hysterical almost. It looked like she had been crying, she had a very anxious energy to her. But her father brushed it off as her recent diagnosis,”, he flipped through his pocket sized notebook searching before reading off, “Bipolar Disorder”.

Kie’s head flicked up from the ground that she had previously been staring at, confusion and surprise making her head fill with questions. Stepping forward between JJ and Elle she made sure she had Bratcher’s attention before speaking. “Sorry what? Bipolar Disorder?”, she turned her head to look at the others to confirm her own thoughts, “Sarah...wasn’t Bipolar.”

Bratcher shuffled on his feet, bringing his notebook down in front of his body before it was joined by his other hand, his eyebrows lifted at the news, eyes flitting from one Pogue to the other to check that they all thought the same.

“I’m sorry, I’m confused. Her Dad said that she had been recently diagnosed”.

“You really believe a thing Ward Cameron says? Come on man, you don’t need to be a detective to tell that he’s full of shit”, JJ expressed. Pope following that up with, “Wouldn’t that information be on her medical records sir?”.

Bratcher nodded, his eyes holding a pleading look as he skimmed over the Pogues once more. “Do you guys see why I need your help in this investigation now?”

Based on the silence that followed his question, he realised that the group may need some more convincing. “Listen, you all knew these two probably better than anyone else on this planet, let alone this island. Every little insignificant piece of information you have about them could lead us to either finding them, solving the case, or both. I need you to do this, not for me, but for them. They would’ve done the same for you right?”

His emotional tactic seemed to work, the Pogues glancing at each other before once again silently reaching an agreement. JJ stepped to the side, his arm outstretched to welcome the man into Elle’s house, “Come on in sir”.

---

“And then they were chased into that raging storm”, Pope finished. They had spent the past 2 hours in Elle’s living room describing the gold game and everything that occurred during their Summer, Agent Bratcher sipping on the tea Elle had prepared for him, in between jotting down notes on his pad. There were multiple instances where everyone had to hold back tears, when the memories of John B and Sarah became too painful.

“So that’s where the story ends?”, Bratcher enquired.

“Yep, forced into the storm by your men after being falsely accused of murdering Sheriff Peterkin”, JJ snapped sarcastically.

“So why didn’t anyone tell the police, try and clear John B’s name?”.

“Were you not fucking listening? We tried, and no one believed us. No one will ever believe us because we’re scum from the poor side of the Island”.

Bratcher maintained his gaze on a disgruntled JJ, before turning to others. “Look guys, I know the tension is high right now and you’re all grieving. But I’m not the bad guy here. I just want to solve this case. I want to find out what really happened to Big John, Scooter Grubbs, the Sheriff and your friends. And it seems like you have the answers. If you can all trust me, I can get the justice you all deserve. That your friends deserve,” he paused, “aren’t you guys tired of fighting this on your own?”.

The group pondered on his words. They were. They were all so tired.

Nodding his head, Pope spoke, “Yes, Agent Bratcher, we want justice, and we’re willing to do anything to get it”.

----

After another half hour of deconstructing the recent events, Bratcher decided it was time to leave. The Pogues all meeting in Elle’s living room, with solemn expressions, the exhaustion of the day catching up to them.

Letting out a sarcastic chuckle, JJ was the first to interrupt their thoughts, “Well that went well”.

Elle shook her head, fed up with his attitude, “JJ you didn't need to be so rude, he’s trying to help”.

Rising from his seated position on her couch, his tone became even more sarcastic, using his hands to exaggerate his point, “Oh yeah really Elle? Why should we trust anyone!”.

“Because we don't have much of a choice anymore!” Elle exclaimed, “Sarah and John B are gone, and now we’re being held responsible for this shit show! You really think they would’ve let us take the fall if they were still here?”.

JJ and Elle were face to face now. “Don’t try to play the emotion card with me! You might be naive enough to spill our secrets to Kooks in hopes for some sympathy and attention but I’m not. The more we tell them, the more they have to pin on us!”.

Kie and Pope snapped their heads to Elle, JJ’s revelation clearly surprising them.

“Wait wait, hold on,” Pope stepped forward between the two, turning to Elle, “Who have you been talking to?”.

Frustrated, she ignored Pope’s question, “God JJ you’re blowing it out of proportion!”.

“You’re falling in love with a Kook but I’m blowing it out of proportion, yeah right”, JJ replied, running his hand through his hair and walking away from the argument to the other side of the room. If Elle was paying attention to the blonde boy she would realise that his reaction wasn’t truly one of anger, but rather hurt.

Kie stepped forward, taking JJ’s place, “I’m sorry, you’re what now?”, she spoke bewildered by the accusation.

Continuing to ignore the other two, Elle’s attention remained focused on the boy who had his back to her, staring out the ceiling to floor windows at the sun setting below the horizon. She walked closer to him, hoping to regain his attention. “Jesus JJ, I get asked on one date and all of a sudden I’m the enemy”.

Taking his cap off his head, he ran a hand through his hair, before taking a breath. Turning his head to the side to face Elle, he held her eye contact. She couldn’t decipher the look in his eyes. She’d seen him angry and upset before, but this was different. She had seen this emotion only a few times, trying to place a finger on what it usually meant. Suddenly, the emotion had disappeared, replaced with one of betrayal, “when that date is Topper Thornton then yes Elle, you are the enemy”.

Taglist:

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#jj imagine #jj maybank #Outer Banks #outer banks imagine #rafe imagine #twoburningheartsaredaredtobreak #JJ x Elle #jj x oc #john b #kie x pope #outer-bnksimagines #outer-bnkswritings #jj series #outer banks series #outer banks netflix #jj x kie #jj x pope #jj x reader

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truglori · 4 years

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Homebody (Ch.8)

Summary: Amiyah is the younger sister of local drug dealer (Durkio). Shy and reserved she keeps to herself and stays out the way. But lately she began to find interest in his right hand man/ best friend (Erik Stevens). Wanting to get him to notice her she discovers that he already had her wrapped around his finger without even trying! There was only a few problems that kept her away from her fantasies , her brother that controlled almost every single breath she took and would kill anyone who looked at her that way and lastly Eriks girlfriend, Alexis , who they called the queen of the hood according to her lavish lifestyle as well as being with the next newest top boy in the making. While Alexis was his girl to the streets all Amiyah wanted to do was be his Homebody...

Pairing: Erik Stevens x Thick OC

Warning: Language

Laying snuggled up under the blacket Amiyah shifted sides on the couch as the tv played quietly. Not watching anything in particular but only wanting some noise in the background as she closed her eyes thinking to herself. Shuffling sounds came to the front from the back. She could hear Kelley getting ready for work. It was 5:30am and she would have to leave by now to make it on time. Hearing the footsteps getting closer her eyes opened.

“Hey girl! You sure you gonna be okay here by yourself?” Kelley bending down in front of her with eyes that showed she was worried.

Sending over a smile to console her Amiyah grasped her hand giving it a light squeeze. “I’m okay, and thanks for covering for me today. I just need a day to relax. I appreciate this.”

Not having any other choice but to take her word Kelley return a smile as she pecked her forehead before strolling towards her door. She gave her one last glance and a small wave goodbye as she left. Amiyah picked up her phone. Going through her messages she seen that she had two from Erik. They were sent some time around 11pm. She didn’t get to them because she fell asleep early exhausted from work. The only thing that was stopping her from opening them was the last text he sent that she could read through the thread.

Erik💋:You and me need to have a talk...10:57pm

Sighing and mushing her face into the pillow, her mind raveling over the things he could possibly want to talk about. Getting a text like this has never been associated with something good. It could only mean that he found out about one of her secrets. Did he know about Durk putting her out? Was there any way possible he heard about her accepting a date with Cane? The questions invaded her brain as she hesitated to respond.

“Stop being a bitch and just do it.” Talking aloud she gain the courage to click on the message.

Erik💋:Baby if your up can you call me...10:56pm

Erik💋:You and me need to have a talk...10:57pm

Was he upset about something? Amiyah couldn’t decipher his tone through the text. Tapping on his name she decided to call him instead. The ringing went on for about four times before he picked up.

“Why you ain’t call me last night.” Erik answered straight forward.

“I fell asleep. Lately I just been really tired. I’m sorry baby.” Amiyah spoke softly into the phone.

“Mm...that sweet voice you putting on not getting you out of trouble. You still at your friends place?” Erik asked already knowing the answer.

“Yeah she just left to go to work. You want to come over?” Twirling the string on her hoodie she waited for him to respond.

“I’ll be there. Let me make a quick stop and I’ll head over there.”

Nodding her head as if he could see her she gave an ‘okay’ before hanging up. Lifting up from her spot she walked to the bathroom. Grabbing her toiletry bag she reached for her toothbrush and toothpaste. Placing that to the side she went for her skincare products first, washing her face with her even bar before finishing up with a toner and a vitamin c serum. After brushing her teeth twice she checked in the mirror making sure they were nice and clean and went back in to the livingroom.

Fifteen minutes later she heard a hard knock. Getting up and checking through the peek hole she saw Erik standing there with a Dunkin Donuts bag in one hand and an orange and apple juice in the other. Unlocking the door she was greeted with a grin. Even though his hands were occupied Amiyah rushed him with a hug wrapping her arms around his neck but having to stand on her tippy toes because he was so tall and not bending down as usual.

Laughing, Erik return the hug to the best of his abilities without trying to drop the food and drinks in his hands. “Mama you gon make me drop our shit.”

“Sorry..I just missed you.” Bashfully blushing Amiyah step to the side to let him in.

Placing the items on the table that was between the furniture and tv Erik observed the area noticing the blanket and pillows sprawled out. He took off his jacket laying it on the arm rest of the couch before plopping down taking a seat. Throwing his arms on top of the couch he watched her steadily walk to him before she sat down. But she wasn’t sitting within arms reach.

“So you do all that hugging but yet you sitting all the way over there. C’mere.” He commanded.

Averting her eyes between him and the tv that was now at the time playing some old movie Amiyah slowly scooted over until she felt their thighs collide. Erik chuckled as he wrapped his arm around her neck bringing her closer to him. Now she was leaning her back into his chest holding the hand that was laying on her as they watched the movie.

There was a comfortable silence for a few minutes before he spoke.

“You want some breakfast? I brought a bacon egg and cheese on croissant and a sausage egg and cheese with some hash browns. Which one you want?” Leaning over, his long arm stretched out to retrieve the bag and sat it in his lap.

“It doesn’t matter. You can choose since you bought them.” She sheepishly replied.

“Unh uh mama...ladies first. Pick one baby.” He kissed the top of her head trying to tell her it was okay.

“Okay I’ll take the bacon please.”

Taking it out of the bag he handed it to her and gave her a side of hash browns as well. Amiyah thanked him and started chewing on the small potatoe bites while keeping her eyes forward on the tv. They ate in silence occasionally stealing glancing at each other. Even after they were done they still were quiet in each other’s company. It wasn’t until Amiyah’s phone alerted her that she had a text that snapped them back into reality.

Sitting up she leaned over to the other side checking it. As she glanced down at the notification her body tensed up with nerves as she swiped it away before sending her phone back to sleep. Erik noticed the change in her body language.

“Who was that?” His eyes gazing at her laying back into her previous spot.

“Kelley. She was just texting me about some rude customer she had to deal with.” Amiyah smiled nervously lying to him.

It was Cane. He sent her a good morning text and told her that he couldn’t wait until tonight. Guilt started to eat her up as she shrunk into his arms. The same accusations she tried putting on him that early morning when he asked her to be his girl were the same ones she committing now. Amiyah was trying to please both men at once. Being stuck in between a rock and a hard place she felt helpless. She wanted so badly to tell Erik but she would always wave the feeling off whenever she reminded herself that this was a one time thing. No strings attached. But she couldn’t shake the feeling.

“Erik I have to tell you something.” She paused.

Taking his attention off the television and on to her he brought his hand down to her thigh and caressed it. “What’s up.” He spoke softly.

“Two days ago me and Durk got into a fight. Not a physical one but a yelling match. I ended up saying some things that I shouldn’t have and it resulted into him putting me out. Which is why I’m here.” She said everything in one breath. It wasn’t the Cane situation but Amiyah hoped that if she was honest about this it would relieve some of the weight she was feeling right now.

Watching his face expression it was motionless. He looked unfazed about what she had just said as he sat there chewing on his bottom lip.

“Really? Nothing?” Amiyah scoffed folding her arms.

“Nah I was just wondering when you were going to tell me. That’s actually what I was trying to call you about last night. I thought I was gonna have to be the one to speak up.” He shrugged his shoulders.

“You knew?”

“When I went to see your brother last night he told me everything. Then I told him I didn’t like that shit and that he needs to call you so you can go back.”

Her lips formed a small smile as she listened to him revealing how he spoke up for her. Her eyes gleamed detecting his protectiveness in his voice.

“Well what did he say?” Amiyah asked curious about her brothers reaction.

“He definitely knew he fucked up. I just seen the hurt in his eyes when he was talking about the situation. He’s worried about you Miyah.” Staring into her eyes Erik wanted her to know that he was serious.

Rolling her eyes up to the ceiling she shook her head.” He didn’t seem worried when he kicked my ass out. All he wants me to do is run back to him and depend on him for the rest of my life like he’s expecting me to. I’m not going back.”

Erik chuckled taking note of her stubbornness Durk was informing him about.

“So what you gon do? Stay here with ya friend? I don’t mean to offend you when I say this but after a while miss Kelley’s patience is gonna get short every time she sees you laying her couch and getting in the way of her alone time.” He truthfully told her.

“No she’s not like that. In fact she told me I’m able to be here as long as I want so you don’t know what you’re talking about.” Her voice heightened circling her body around towards him.

His forehead creased. “Okay so even if it was like that, you still plan on staying here for a long time?”

“No-“

“So what you gonna do?” He cut her sentence short.

“Erik I don’t know but I don’t want to just run back. It’ll make me look weak...especially after how he treated me.” Her eyes became glossy when she shifted her head down to her lap.

Erik taking his hand tilting her chin lifting it back up. He pulled her face near his making them only inches apart from each other.

“Making up with a love one doesn’t make you weak. We only have one life and we need to spend it cherishing our family while they’re here, you never know when it’ll be the last time you see them.”

When he said that he began to recollect the times that he had with his father. He took those moments for granted. So when the tragedy happened when his father was murder it broke him down in the inside knowing that he will never be able to make anymore memories with him.

Amiyah captured his words and took them into consideration. Maybe she should make up with her brother. After losing both of their parents she couldn’t stand the thought of not having him in her life. If anything was to happened to Durk before they could make up she would be devastated and live with resentment towards herself. Maybe it was time to put her pride aside and put it behind her.

“Okay. I’ll call him later.” Sighing in defeat but filled with alleviation she cradled into him. This time she laid her head on his lap facing his torso.

Erik played in her hair smirking at her position. “If you tryna suck a little dick just say that.” He mumbled lightening the mood but knew she heard him.

Amiyah quickly got up hitting him in his chest. Going to the other side of the couch she mumbled a few words herself. “I bet it is little.” Rolling her eyes she cuddled the pillow.

Erik’s eyebrows lifted in amusement. A smile crept on his face when he stood up. Walking to her side of the love seat he stood in front of her. His hands folded behind his back as he sucked in his bottom lip making his deep dimples poke out.

“You tryna find out?” His low voice delivered a lustful tone never taking his eyes off her.

Sitting up she leaned her weight on her right arm. Amiyah was now face to face with his crotch. It was at this moment when she noticed the imprint of his dick. It was so visible anyone who saw it would assume that he was free-balling right now. Her lips involuntarily parted giving a light gasp when she seen the tip. What could she do with that?

Her doey brown eyes traveled to his face. His dark amber orbs were enticing. As if he was the devil himself tempting her to take the bait he made it worse when he stroked her cheek giving her a questioning ‘hmm’.

“I wanna see.” Amiyah retorted not knowing that her curiosity was going to get her cat killed.

“I pull my dick out you gon have to apologize for offending him. You gon be able to do that for me?” His eyes steady boring into her.

“Maybe.” Her soft voice sending chills through his body.

Erik groaned. The tenderness she spoke with always driving him crazy. To him it seem like she was ready for everything physically but not mentally. He knew that if he gave her some dick now she wouldn’t be able to handle it. Not being pleased since the last night when he was with Alexis his dick ready to stand at attention from anything. So Erik knew that he didn’t want to take out his sexual frustrations on her inexperienced pussy just yet. It’ll ruin her.

He chuckled lightly stopping his touch. “Quit frontin you know you can’t take no dick.” He teased her sitting down.

“Whatever! You don’t know that.” She chucked a pillow at him trying to plead her case.

Ignoring her Erik moved next to her and pulled the blanket off her body. His hands fondle her thighs before opening them and laying on top of her between her legs. His head resting under her breast and on top of her squishy tummy. Grabbing the cover he pulled it back over them and closed his eyes after. He felt her squirming under him shifting his body. Pinching the outside of her thigh lightly he moved his head getting comfortable again.

“Stop moving.” His voice muffled from talking into her stomach.

“Why do you have to lay on me? You’re heavy Erik.” She playfully complained.

“Shut up and rub my head.” His smile could be felt through the fabric of her hoodie.

Amiyah’s stomach filled with butterflies. Bringing her fingers to his hair she began to rub the waves in the pattern that they were flowing. The smell of a Shea and Mango butter reached her nose. Her head tilted when she heard him give her groan letting her know that what she was doing was feeling good. Her lips curled into a smile.

Around ten minutes into this position Amiyah felt his breathing slow down. They became shallow and rested. Glancing down she tried to look at his face but couldn’t see so she called him.

“Erik?”

She called a second time. “Baby?”

The moment he didn’t answer was when it came to her that he fell asleep. Her heart fluttered. It made her happy to know that he felt secure enough to fall asleep in her arms with no worries. Even when Erik was sleeping Amiyah didn’t stop her movements. In the inside she couldn’t stop her feelings from overtaking her body. She was falling for him. She was falling hard.

________________________________

Erik’s bell tower chime went off waking him out of his sleep. Hurrying to shut it off he dug in his sweats pocket grabbing the phone and turning it off. It was his usual reminder he set for himself to go on his daily jog. Checking the time it was one in the afternoon. Tossing the cell on the table he yawned examining his surroundings.

The feeling of a body under him shuffled. Lifting his head he watched as she was still in a deep sleep. He couldn’t take his eyes off her. The way her breast lifted up and down when she inhaled and exhale. The light twitch in her eyes. Her head turning from side to side periodically. She was like a black sleeping beauty in his eyes. She looked so peaceful he didn’t bother to wake her up.

Getting up carefully he grabbed his jacket throwing it over his body. Picking up his phone he place it back into his pocket. Erik checked to make sure he had everything that he brought with him. Bending down he kissed her lips three times making her turn her body.

“I’m bout to go mama. I’ll call you later.” He whispered in her ear.

Amiyah gave a sleepy moan. Erik smiled pecking her head one last time and left. Getting into his car he put his phone on the charger and sat it in the cup holder. Wiping the sleepiness out of his eyes he yawned before starting up his car and taking off to his place.

Scratching his beard Erik chortled thinking about how fast he fell asleep on top of her. It only took him a few minutes before he was out like a light. The feeling of her body and her hands running through his head cradle him to sleep. That was the best rest he had in a long time. Not that it was long but it was just enough. He felt well rested waking up next to her.

“What is she doing to me?” Blowing out air as he leaned into his seat driving with one hand on the steering wheel.

Erik was trying to unravel the thoughts in his head. It’s only been just under two weeks and he was already doing things with her he wouldn’t normally do with any other woman. He tried to justify his feelings to himself coming up with the excuse that he knew her longer than when they first started talking but that didn’t even work.

Before he started engaging with Amiyah he didn’t have any strong feelings for her. He liked her and would always check her out from time to time but that was it. This was different. In just such a short period of time Erik acknowledged that it was becoming more than that. She wasn’t some broad he would fuck on and then leave. He wasn’t capable of doing that. Not only out of respect for his best friend but for her as well. He cared for her and everything about her.

Arriving at his condo apartment Erik parked his car and went inside. Making it to his door he was interrupted by a phone call. Answering without looking he made his way in and hung his jacket on his coat hanger.

“Yo!” He stated to whoever it was.

“What’s up bro?”

Erik did a quick look at his phone. It was a random local number. He walked up the stairs and into his bedroom taking a seat at the edge of his bed looking out of his ceiling to floor windows gazing at the view.

“Who this?” The question came out crudely.

“Cane nigga. What’s good?”

Throwing his head back his brows lifted up with a slight surprise. “What’s up lil nigga. How you get this number?”

“Your mans Durk gave it to me that night we did some work.”

Erik nodded. “Oh so what’s up, what’s going on with you?”

“Shit just chilling right now. Yo you got paid from that job yet?”

“Yeah most def. Why, you ain’t been down at the shop yet? Durk should have your cut.” Erik replied as he got up to walk to his bathroom. He turned on the shower letting the water run.

“Nah not yet but yeah I’ma need that. Got a little date tonight so I’m tryna wine and dine and finesse shorty out of some pussy ya feel me.” Cane joked causing a chuckle to leave Erik’s lips.

“Aye do what you gotta do.”

“But no I was calling to say thanks for putting in a good word for me. Durk let me know what you said and he thinking about bringing me into the business with y’all from time to time because of that. So thank you man.”

“I just told him what I saw. A nigga that ain’t scared and with the shits. You know how to get the job done and don’t hesitate. Not gonna lie I thought you was a bitch when I met you.” Giving him his honest opinion.

“Listen that’s something you’ll never see in a nigga like me. I’m always ready to pull the trigger on anybody.” Cane boasted.

Erik smirked.“Well now I know when I saw it in person for myself.” He referred to the job.

“Exactly but I’ma let you go business awaits and yo man if you need anything hit me up. I got you!”

“I appreciate that. Peace.” Erik smiled shaking his head ending the call. He saved Cane’s number before placing his phone on the bathroom sink.

Undressing from his attire he walked inside the spacious walk in shower. Standing directly under the square shower head the water poured on him getting him soaked. His eyes closing to block them from the sudden rush. When he did Amiyah invaded the darkness in his mind. How her body felt up against his. The fullness of her lips. How her voice would go up an octave whenever she was excited. How she would nibble on her lip when she would overthink.

The simple things like that had drawn him into her. But what made his insides heat up with lust was when he replayed the way he had her moaning in the back of his car that night. Her pebble nipples perking up with ease the moment he flicked them. The grip her tight warm sticky pussy had on his fingers and he wasn’t even deep enough for his satisfaction. Her natural essence coating his tongue when he brought his hand to his mouth.

“Fuck.” Erik groaned as he took his Old Spice body wash and poured into a rag and began to lather his body.

To Erik it felt as if she was so close but yet far away from him, because he wanted her. He wanted her in a way he couldn’t have her yet. His body yearning to scratch that itch with hers. Glancing down he watched his dick grow with every thought. Erik wasn’t one to jerk off much since he always had access to some pussy on the regular but due to the circumstances of his new relationship he had no option.

“Calm down big man...we gotta be patient.” He chuckled when he talked to his appendage.

Adding more soap to his rag his body became covered with small bubbles. Traveling down low he washed his long and girthy member. Hanging the towel up on the handle he used his free hand to stroke his dick. Leaning one hand against the tile wall for support he glanced down and noticed the precum dripping out. He used his thumb and massaged the sensitive tip with the liquid before gripping the shaft and going up and down.

“Damn Amiyah...” He mumbled in a hush tone.

Putting his imagination to work he began to fantasize about her being in the shower as well and on her knees in front of him. Water flowing between her heavy brown titties. Her mouth open and tongue out waiting for her reward after sucking him dry with her tight lips. Soft brown eyes staring up while running her nail tips up and down his thighs creating goosebumps.

“Please give it to me Daddy...I want it.”

He could hear her moan the words in her soft pretty voice. His hand circled around his sensitive tip,which was his spot, as he worked to get his nut. The feeling of his abs tightening up let him know he was right there. He continued to stroke the shaft the way he liked it this time with a firmer grip imagining it was her tight walls.

“Shit..get it mama.” His toes curled into the wet floor not stopping his motion.

He was there. All of his energy was going to get drain out through his orgasm. Pinching his eyes closed and biting on his bottom lip he felt the pulsing at the head of his dick. Getting closer and closer to his climax until...

The sudden sound of his phone ringing made his eyes snap open. It alarmed him. His focus was gone. He could no longer see the image of her body he made up in his mind. Cursing to himself he was heated. Just when he was about to get the release he needed, it was taken away from him.

Turning the knob and walking out the shower he wiped his hand with a bath towel and wrapped it around his waist. He answered the call with irritation radiating through his voice.

“What!”

“Nigga you want to tell me why yo bitch Alexis is calling my place of business making threats she can’t keep.” Durk blared through the cell.

Erik shook his head forgetting about the situation.

“Shit! Look man don’t worry about that. I’m on the way right now.”

_________________________________

Seven thirty in the evening rolled around as the time was getting closer to her ‘date’ with Cane. Checking her hair in the bathroom Amiyah fluffed out the curls. She didn’t want to do to much so she settled for a basic body wave look. Amiyah didn’t want to go out her way to try and impress the man that she was only going to see for this one time and hopefully never again.

The black sweater maxi dress with a side slit clung to her curves. Deciding that it was appropriate for the night because it didn’t reveal too much it was any easy choice for her. Her thoughts were interrupted when Kelley stood in the doorway eating a bowl of ice cream. She observed her outfit with a grin.

“Okay bitch I see you! Where we going out tonight?” She cheered her on while taking spoonfuls of her dessert.

Amiyah laughed putting on her diamond studs.

“I’m actually going on a date tonight.”

“Aww with Erik..that’s so cute.” Kelley’s lip pouted as she admired her friend’s wardrobe.

Hesitantly Amiyah looked back in forth between herself in the mirror and Kelley. “Um. It’s with someone else.” Her words were mumbled.

Kelly’s eyes lit up looking amused before walking over next to her friend. “Sis are you treating these niggas like Lori Harvey? Let me find out.”

Their laughter became suspended when Amiyah got a text notification from Cane. He told her that he was waiting for her outside.

“Oh my God he’s here already.” She stated nervously as they both exited the bathroom.

“Hold up, he’s where?” Kelley put her bowl in the sink.

“Outside. I told him to meet me here.”

Amiyah watched as her eyes widened. “Bitch why you tell that nigga to come here. He could be crazy as hell.” Walking to her door Kelley peeked through the window blinds.

“I’m sorry but I didn’t know what else to tell him. I can’t meet him at the restaurant because I have no car and I don’t think he’s like that so you shouldn’t worry.” Amiyah spoke with reassurance so she wouldn’t have to worry as she grabbed her purse along with her trench coat.

“I hope you’re right. Don’t forget to share your location with me and be careful Amiyah.”

“Already done and I am careful.” Walking to the front door she gave Kelley a small smile and a glance before leaving.

When she made it outside she seen the black BMW parked in front of the house. Cane got out with a smile covering his face. He was wearing a cream colored turtleneck with black slacks. An all black LV jacket with 3D pockets draped over his fit and two gold chains to finish the look. Stepping off the porch she made her way to his vehicle.

Cane’s fist balled up to his mouth as he shook his head smirking. “Mm mm..damn ma you showing out tonight.” Walking up to her he greeted her with a hug holding her waist.

Amiyah couldn’t stop herself from blushing with the little distance they had between them. He was a little rougher than Erik but his touch still ignited something in her body. She returned the gesture quickly wrapping her arm around him and then released. She felt his hand swiped pass her butt when he let her go.

“You ready to get out of here?”

Shyly giving him a ‘yes’ she allowed him to walk her to his car guiding her by the small of her back. When they reached it he did a light jog to his side hopping in. Amiyah’s face screwed up when he didn’t opened her door. Mentally rolling her eyes she let herself in.

“So where are we going?” She started up a conversation to prevent an awkward car ride.

“The Signature Room. It’s a little drive so it might take us a while to get there. That okay with you?” He plucked at the cuff of his jacket.

Fiddle with her earring she gave a shy smile. “Of course.”

The ride lasted forty-five minutes. The tall look alike skyscraper building glowing with lights beamed in her eyes. Cane drove through a parking garage finding a spot. Shutting off the car they both got out simultaneously.

“Why are we here?” Her face brighten becoming agape.

They walked hand in hand towards the elevator.

He chuckled. “The restaurant is on the top floor to give you a view of the city.”

When they reached the top the doors open to a beautiful dimly lit restaurant. Tall windows with white drapes surround the restaurant. The pleasant smell of spices and herbs filled her nose. With her eyes dancing around Amiyah noticed that majority of the consumers were high class white people. She felt out of her element as they walked to the hostess.

“Welcome to The Signature. May I have your name?” The small petite lady spoke cheerfully.

“Last name Tejada and first is Lorenzo.” He replied with confidence.

“Oh yes Tejada! I see here that you recommended a private area for you and the lovely young lady here. Which I love your dress by the way. But yes follow me please!”

Cane glanced over watching Amiyah blush from the unexpected compliment. His eyes explored her body appreciating the silhouette that her dress was teasing him with.

Making it to the table the hostess left behind two menus before parting with a smile. Cane reached for her jacket helping her take it off. Amiyah gave him a soft thank you while observing the table.

It was facing directly out the window. The city’s lights giving a luminous glow into the building. The wrap around booth made it easy for them to have dinner with a view. Slipping inside she sat her purse to the side of her then folded her hands in her lap.

“Wow this place is beautiful. Great pick.” Her expression marveled at his choice.

Taking off his own jacket he places it next to him once he found his spot beside her.

“Thank you. I promised you I would bring you to the finest of the finest and here we are.” He stared into her eyes as he laid his arm around her resting it on the dining booth.

Amiyah’s face flushed with nerves. Her chest rose and fell with rapid breaths as she tugged on her earlobes to help calm her down. She became extremely jittery under his gawking eyes.

“Well thank you for bringing me here.” Giving him a light smile she picked up the menu going over the dishes.

“Of course. I just hope this isn’t the last date we have together.”

There was that word again. Her mind immediately thought of Erik. Here she was on a date with a random man while she was hiding it from her man. Her memory went back to her and Erik laying on the couch together as they fell asleep earlier this morning. Her body missed the weight of his being pressed on top of her. The feeling of his hands caressing her thighs to help get him to a relaxed state. She became filled with regret with every flashback.

Minutes had past by when the two of them quietly glanced over their menus. The silence was intense and thick. Amiyah stayed to herself not knowing what to say especially with the emotions she was dealing with. But Cane broke her muteness when he asked her a question.

“So tell me about yourself?” His arms now folded resting on the table.

“What do you want to know?”

He snickered. “Anything you want to let me know.” His voice became soft and attentive.

Clearing her throat she responded. “Well um..I’m 21. My birthday is in March. I work at a boutique called Bella Ellas. My favorite color is purple and I have one brother that I live with. Or used to.” She mumbled the last sentence low enough for him to not be able to hear it.

“No shit my birthday is in March too!” He sipped on the water that was brought to the table just seconds after they were seated.

Amiyah’s eyes lit up. “Really? What day?”

“March 5th, what about you?”

“March 16th. Your a Pisces too?”

“Yup, best zodiac sign out of the bunch.”

He bobbed his head as they laughed.

“Wait so what about you? Lorenzo? I would have never guessed that to be your real name.” Placing her hand under her chin she watched him lean back into the seat.

Cane laughed and folded his arms. “Yeah I was named after my dad. With me being the oldest of my siblings I had no choice but to be the one.” He threw his hands up.

Amiyah smiled feeling herself becoming comfortable. “So how did you get the nickname Cane?” She asked interested in his background.

“When I was a kid I used to go crazy around the house. I had so much energy just storming all over the place like a hurricane. So that’s what they called me, hurricane. But when I got older I stuck with it and changed it to Cane for short. I never felt like Lorenzo fitted me.” He tapped his fingers on the table as he finished telling his story.

Her body moved next to his. Both of their backs against the booth. Bumping his shoulder with hers playfully she gave him a gentle smile.

“I like Cane better anyways.” Her soft voice was comforting to him.

Canes eyes glanced at her full glossy lips. Sucking in his bottom lip he leaned his face closer to hers.

“And I like the way you say my name.” His voice low and deeper.

Amiyah studied him knowing what was coming next. She watched his hand travel up to her face caressing her cheek. Her eyes closing as she felt him pull her into a kiss.

_______________________________________

Please excuse any mistakes!

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#black panther #erik killmonger #erik stevens #erik x plus size reader #erik smut #killmonger fanfiction #killmonger x reader #truglori #black panther killmonger #homebody

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tooruluv · 4 years

Text

Tooru Oikawa x F!Reader ( part 10 )

❝ my love for him is much like winter, a skeleton for the world to see. too bad he never liked the cold. ❞

description: being the neighbor and lifelong best friend of tooru oikawa definitely had it’s perks. you were never an outcast, always had a seat at lunch, got into volleyball games for free. the problem was, however, that being in love with him outweighed those perks. you would never tell him that, though, even if it hurt like hell.

genre: best friends to lovers, angst, unrequited love, fluff if you squint hard enough

word count: 2,005

warnings/notes: hi guys. only two more parts...that’s crazy... anyway. this one has some underage drinking and maybe some kisses lol. jk....unless... anyway. enjoy.

tag list: @afuckingunicornn @maii-flowers @clandestinerays @brownandchill @readeretal @wedojustbevibin @shigarakiskitten�� @shittykawaa @saeranoppa @srirachibi @tpwkatsumu @sempiternal-amour @bokutos-h0e @pinknugget @intheawks @tori218 @seikamuzu @alexthe80swhore @ghostly-toastie @bumbledunce @pineapplelantern

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Tooru Oikawa didn’t get jealous. One of the various traits that he gained by not having any serious relationships (and simply because he was awesome). However, he had a terrible feeling in his gut the minute he watched you meet another guy on your porch.

“You must be Oikawa.” The man said from his position beside you. You mumbled something, but Oikawa couldn’t hear.

“That is me. And you are…?”

“Kuroo.” The man didn’t move from the porch, hands in his jacket pockets and smirk-like smile plastered on his face. Oikawa expected him to come down, shake his hand as an introduction. Instead, Kuroo just gave a slight nod of his head. “See ya later.”

And with that, you scooped Kuroo into your house. Oikawa saw red.

“I told you that you didn’t have to talk to him.” You told Kuroo, scrolling on the TV to find a good movie to watch.

“I wanted to see how he’d react.” He shrugged and chuckled a little to himself. “He got jealous.”

“He did not.”

“He did too.”

“Oikawa doesn’t get jealous. He was probably just confused, since he’s never met you before.”

“Babe, he was just jealous. That face he made? Jealousy.”

“Ew don’t call me babe.”

“You don’t like it?”

You paused. “Just… don’t call me babe.”

“You do like it!”

You used to watch movies with Oikawa every Saturday. It was a tradition for as long as you could remember. But since the silence between you both, it hadn’t happened. Instead, Kuroo had decided to take over and watch movies with you.

He always let you pick the movie.

Hajime Iwaizumi wanted you to marry Tooru Oikawa. It was a secret of course, he would never tell either of you. And maybe it was because he wanted to be the best man, or maybe it was because he had watched you both pine over each other his entire life, but he did. He wanted you both to just confess, get the emotions out, and just be in love.

God, he hated being the best friend sometimes.

He sat and watched as Oikawa stared directly at you while practicing. You were waiting for Iwaizumi, a promised dinner in order, and decided to just wait in the gym. It wouldn’t be the first time you waited in the practice gym while they finished up.

“Hey, Shittykawa.” Iwaizumi threw a ball at his friend. “How hard are you going to stare at her?”

“Hm?”

He threw another ball. It may have been a little bit harder that time.

Tooru Oikawa didn’t get jealous. So, why, he wondered, was he jealous when he watched you eat with Kuroo.

You even wore his hoodie.

Oikawa sat with the volleyball team, a team dinner for “bonding” as coach had claimed. They were in the corner, and you were sitting by the window. Unexpected.

You had Kuroo’s hoodie on.

“Staring again.” Iwaizumi muttered to him. Oikawa didn’t listen.

A laugh between you and Kuroo. Your hand on his. Kuroo had called you “babe”.

Why did you have Kuroo’s hoodie on?

“Stop calling me that!” you giggled, pushing his arm as he continued to call you “babe”.

“I can’t! Not when it makes you blush that hard.”

You haven’t gone to a volleyball game in weeks. It was another kink in your normal routine, your normal schedule.

It felt weird to go without the jersey.

So, during their latest game, instead of being at the game, you were sitting at Sana’s. You let her do your makeup, you took pictures of her products she used on the daily. It was just a lot of Girly Things, something you definitely were not used to.

“You can date him, you know.” Sana said as she fixed some of your makeup that got messed up when you laughed earlier. “Tooru, I mean. I don’t mind.”

“I…”

“Just. I want you to know that you can date him despite us being friends now.” She continued, looking over your face. “I don’t want me dating him holding you back.” She paused, only for a moment. “Oh! Or is it Kuroo that’s holding you back?”

You bit the inside of your mouth. “I don’t think it’s Kuroo.”

“Then what is?”

“Me.”

“Are you and Kuroo…together?” Oikawa asked you.

You two had a new theme after school. On Mondays, Oikawa would walk beside you in silence on your way home. He was waiting for you to make a move first, waiting to see when you would talk to him and be his go to again.

“I… what?” You gaped. “No. We’re not. Why would you…”

“I heard him call you “babe”. I just wanted to ask.”

“’Kawa.” You stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, turning to face him. His chest almost collided directly into your face. He waited for you to continue. “I’m telling you right now that I am not dating anyone, or planning to date anyone for that matter.” You looked between his eyes, back and forth. “Kuroo was the one who picked me up from the school after you yelled at me in the gym, he’s been a good friend.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You apologize too much.”

“I don’t think I’ve apologized enough.”

“Can I ask you something?” you haven’t moved, not yet.

“Yes, of course. Anything.”

“How did you know?” You asked. A question that had been burned into your skull. “How did you know that I was in love with you?”

Oikawa chuckled. “Was.”

“Hm?”

“You just said, “I was in love with you”. Was.”

You shook your head. “Do you want me to say it?”

“Say what?”

“Oh, nice try.” You rolled your eyes, and he smiled. You knew he was messing with you the minute he brought it up. “Seriously, how did you know?”

“I…I don’t know. I kind of figured after Sana broke up with me, and I was pissed off to I just let out all the accusations I could.” He was no longer looking at you. “I’m sorry.”

“There you go apologizing again.” You started to walk again. He followed. “How about this: what do you think about Saturday movie night?”

He nearly tripped over himself. “Yes. Yes I agree.”

Oikawa showed up at your house before dark. You knew that it was because he didn’t know if he would be staying over, or if it was just movie night and then you would kick him out. Either way, your mom was surprised.

“I didn’t know you two would be back to old habits so soon?”

“Well,” you held up the glasses of alcohol you already had on hand. “Old habits die hard.”

“Don’t kill yourselves. And clean up when you’re done!”

You sat a little bit further away from him than usual. He compensated by putting the popcorn bowl in the middle, trying to make it seem normal.

But, after a few drinks and some liquid courage, you shrugged. You moved the popcorn bowl to the ground and placed yourself directly beside him. His warmth was nice. Welcoming.

“Hey, ‘Kawa.”

“Hey, nut.”

He giggled, a little drunk soft giggle that made your stomach churn. He put his arm on the back of the couch, above your shoulders. You giggled back and laid your head into his side.

“More!” you cheered and drank straight out of the bottle.

It was late. Too late. And, to quote what they say on How I Met Your Mother: nothing good ever happens after 2 am.

You both were drunk. Not just tipsy, and not in a way that would even make sense. But both of you were completely gone, and you couldn’t even see what was on the TV anymore. And Oikawa’s a lightweight anyway.

“You’re cute.” you told Oikawa, a bit of a slur to your words.

“So are you.”

“You told me that you love me.” you were looking up at him, your head on his lap and his hands limp as they laid around your head.

“I did, didn’t I?” he giggled, looking down at you.

“Are you?”

“Am I what?”

“Are you in love with me?”

He sent you the most beautiful smile you’ve ever seen. “Are you in love with me?”

Before your sane part of you told you no, and exactly when that drunk part of you said “fuck yeah it’s time”, you leaned up and kissed him.

Oikawa kissed back instantly, his lips molding into yours as perfect puzzle pieces. You moved up, straddling his hips and bringing you closer to him. He kept his hands on your outer thigh, quickly catching your lips as you kissed.

You were like this for a while, kissing and only taking breaks to smile into the kiss or to breathe. Until, finally, a little window of sobriety made you pull away.

You stayed on his lap, arms on his arms, with him looking up at you now.

“Sorry.”

“Now look who’s apologizing.” Oikawa smiled.

Oikawa stayed the night, though on the couch. You went to your room.

What the fuck just happened?

You told Iwaizumi the next morning. Like a schoolgirl who just had her very first kiss and had to run to her closest friend.

He came over so fast you swear he had super powers.

“Why do you still love him?” was the question Iwaizumi asked you as he laid in your room. Just like old times.

To which you only had one answer. “Because I don’t know how not to.”

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kindahoping4forever · 4 years

Text

Yes, Sir // Ashton Irwin

This is definitely the fastest turnaround I’ve ever had for a piece of writing 🤡. Yesterday @spicycal sent me a TikTok of Ashton reacting to being called “sir” and as you can imagine, the inspo machine started turning for a lot of us. Pretty quickly, I jokingly pitched a premise to @pxrxmoore @cashtonasfuck and @feliznavidaddycal that served as a sequel to the fic I had just posted, You Were Digging Plants, I Dug You. The more I thought about it though, the more I liked the idea so I ran with it and here we are. Thank you to @cal-puddies for as always, reassuring me I was on the right track and to the anons who excitedly messaged me in anticipation for it. (And to @rebelwith0utacause for implying my writing was worth losing sleep over.)

Warnings: Boyfriend!Ash, Gardening!Ash, Home Repair!Ash, Dom!Ash (we love a multi-faceted man), references to bondage and cumplay, brief degrading language, sex in a public place, unprotected sex in an established relationship

Word Count: 3750

Masterlist // Taglist // Ko-Fi

Let me know what you think!

————-

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say you were proud of what you’ve done,” Ashton accuses you with a smirk.

You drop your jaw in mock offense. “What I’ve done?! Ohhhhh, that’s right, that was my other boyfriend’s dick I was bouncing on that day. I’m sorry, baby, you’re correct. This was entirely my fault,” you offer with pouted lips, opening your arms for a cuddle.

“You were a woman possessed and your frenzied demon sex destroyed my relaxation zone,” he teases, pulling you in to first bite and then kiss your pout.

It had been a week since your spontaneous romp had ended in the untimely demise of Ash’s beloved hammock. He hadn’t let you hear the end of it since it happened and now the two of you were finally back outside, assessing the damage.

“I think I have a fabric patch kit in the garage but the framing is definitely fucked,” he mutters, picking over the pieces. “Gonna need new hooks… new spreader bar…”

“Been talking about getting one of those anyways,” you joke with a twinkle in your eye.

He gives you a look and shakes his head. “Jesus, already with you?”

You giggle and raise your arms in surrender. “I’m sorry, Ash, I honestly hate that I’m that girl but the manly man ‘lemme get my tools out and work with my hands’ act just does things for me.”

“Are you sure you want to go with me to get the supplies or are you gonna spontaneously combust right when we walk in the hardware store?” He teases, standing behind you and snaking his arms around your waist. “And you’re not that girl, you’re my girl.”

“Nice save,” you comment dryly and wiggle away from him; he chuckles warmly and you both walk back to the house.

While you’re getting ready to go, Ashton gets caught up taking notes on the hammock repair videos he’s found on YouTube so you end up heading out later than either of you intended. The home improvement store isn’t far but it’s LA so there’s still traffic and the car ride has a slightly tense air because of it.

You can tell how irritated he is by the way he’s relentlessly drumming his fingers on the steering wheel as you sit in the standstill traffic. You reach out and take his hand, both to calm him and to stop the noise. He looks at you appreciatively and gestures at the line of cars in front of him with his other hand. “40 minutes to go five fuckin’ miles,” he grumbles. “There’s no way this is getting done today, the sun’s gonna be goin’ down before we even leave the goddamn store.”

You kiss the back of his hand that’s tightly squeezing yours. “I told you, I’ll help you with everything tomorrow,” you remind him reassuringly. “It’s not a big deal, just relax, baby.”

“You know what would help me relax?” He turns to you with a smirk. “If I could go home and lay in a fuckin’ hammock.”

You finally arrive at your destination and enter the store. After his YouTube deep dive, Ash decided he should install wooden posts to hang the hammock on since your sexcapade uprooted the metal stand’s legs straight out of the ground. He heads over to visit the lumber department and you decide to browse through the garden center, thinking that if you pick out some new seeds for him, it might put a smile on his face.

Ash returns to you less than 10 minutes later, looking more agitated than ever. You raise your eyebrows to him as a silent question and he huffs, “They just happened to have sold out of what I need. Gotta order it, won’t be here until next week.”

You give him a sympathetic frown and rub his back. “I’m sorry I broke your oasis center or whatever you called it earlier,” you say, trying to lighten the mood.

He cracks a smile and starts browsing the seed packs in front of you. “I called it my relaxation zone and I’m sure I’ll forgive you someday.”

You two linger in the garden section, pointing out vegetables that could be helpful to have on hand and having a mild disagreement over which flowers would look best growing next to his sunflowers.

“My phone is dying and I need it for my shopping list, baby, can you Google and see if we can plant marigolds right now?” He asks, turning a packet of seeds over in his hands.

You pull your phone out of your back pocket, happy to see that he’s calmed down and is interested in making the most of this trip. You chirp emphatically, “Yes, sir.”

Ashton hears your response and lets out a sharp, raspy exhale that you’ve never quite heard before and he immediately tries to disguise it as a cough. You glance over at him curiously but he appears to be intensely examining the package he’s holding so you move on.

“Depends on what type but these ones you can plant through the summer, so we’re good,” you inform him, pointing to the seeds he’s holding.

“Cool,” he breezes and tosses them into your shopping cart. “What about... basil?”

“Yes, sir,” you say again, fingers adeptly typing. You hear a similar noise come from him, though he deals with it much better this second time. You’re sure this wasn’t coincidental this time and you peer at him over your phone to see his jaw clenching in a way you’re very familiar with. Interesting.

“I’m just seeing ‘warm weather’... maybe just get one pack to try?” You suggest, eyeing him, trying to figure out if what you suspect is going on is really going on.

He shrugs, “Couldn’t hurt.” He flings the packet into the cart and moves down the aisle.

Ashton tosses out a few more things for you to look up and while you’re happy to help, you’re also glad for the opportunity to test the theory you now have. You vary your affirmations to him and as you suspect, “Yes, sir” is the only one that seems to get a reaction out of him.

The garden center is located outside and the afternoon sun is just starting to hit the area you’re shopping in. You notice Ash has begun to sweat and if you weren’t in a mood before, you absolutely are now, so you decide to rile him a bit more.

“That sun is brutal!” You start, dramatically fanning yourself. “You’re lookin’ a little warm too, handsome… unless there’s another reason why you’d be sweating.”

He looks at you incredulously and you stare back innocently, eyes wide and shining; he stares you down as he briskly takes off his black button down shirt, leaving him in a white tank.

“Are you good or does the sight of any bare flesh in the presence of gardening paraphernalia have you needing to excuse yourself?” He fires back, whipping his shirt into the basket pointedly, glare challenging you to push your luck.

You smile sweetly and answer, “Oh, I’m feeling just fine. But thank you… sir.”

Mischievous grin on your face, you start to make your way to the end of the aisle, scooting your body between him and the shopping cart. Sure, you could’ve gone around the other side but that wouldn’t have given you the opportunity to graze your ass against his crotch to confirm - yep - he’s losing the battle he’s fighting with his cock and he is definitely harder than he wants to be right now.

As you pass by, his large hand grabs your wrist and wraps around it tightly. “Watch it,” is all he says but the low tone he uses mixed with the feeling of his hot breath on your neck has your head spinning.

You lay off your teasing for a while but if you’re being honest, you both seem to enjoy the charged air lingering between the two of you now. Ashton grabs your waist to move you out of his way so that he can look at a display and his fingers dig into your skin just a little too hard, causing you to gasp sharply. You stop to read a tag on the bottom shelf and just happen to catch his gaze as you lick your lips, on your knees in front of him; you hear him curse under his breath as he turns away, adjusting himself.

The cat and mouse game continues and judging by the hiss you get out of him the third time you “accidentally” bump his crotch, you’ve pushed it as far as you can; you know you’re probably in for a long night when you get home but maybe that’s what he needs to take his mind off of how frustrated he is with this project. Or at least that’s what you tell yourself. It’s also quite fun.

You leave the garden section, cart full of various treasures, and start to head for the checkout. “Wait, baby,” Ashton calls out and you stop. “I wanna get a couple of the things I need for the hammock so when I come back for the wood I can just pop in and out of here.”

He directs you to an area towards the back of the store; you follow him and wheel the cart down an aisle that’s filled with boxes of metal hooks and chains. He sees your eyes taking in the aisle and he makes a face at you. “Whatever obnoxiously horny crack you’re about to make, just do it now so you can help me look for what I need,” he says in faux exasperation, making a “come on” gesture with his hand.

You laugh genuinely, “I don’t have anything to say!” You walk down the aisle and peer into a few of the boxes on the shelves. “I do wonder if we might get a better price on some of these things at one of the other types of stores we frequent,” you say under your breath.

He ignores your remark and starts consulting the notes on his phone. He scans the selection of items and finds the types of hooks he needs, throwing them into your basket. He furrows his brow, unable to find the next thing on his list.

“What are you looking for, babe? Let me help,” you ask, eager to speed things up.

“We need this,” He states, standing next to you to show you a picture of chains on his phone.

You examine the photo and quip suggestively, “Yeah we do.”

He lands a light swat on your ass and you squeak. “Your jokes are gonna seem a lot less funny if you keep it up,” he warns quietly in your ear.

You look around and see that this section of the store is more or less deserted. Feeling emboldened by this discovery, you reach to palm him over his jeans. “Yes, sir,” you nonchalantly reply.

The words have barely left your mouth and his hand is already back around your wrist and dragging you to follow him down the aisle. Your logical mind says you should protest that his shirt, your sweater and all your intended purchases are being left in the cart unattended but the decidedly less rational section of your brain, the part that just told you to grab your boyfriend’s dick in the middle of a home improvement store, kind of wants to see where this goes.

You get your answer seconds later when he pulls you into a bathroom tucked away next to the employee break room; it’s small, only a couple of sinks and stalls, and looks infrequently used. Which is probably for the best because Ash does not appear to have any interest in taking you into a stall, at least not just yet.

He presses you up against the door, kissing you deeply with a bruising intensity. He pulls away and you gasp. “You’ve been acting up all day, sweetheart, you can’t be surprised we’ve ended up here.” His hand, large enough to reach across your entire face, grips your chin and turns you to look at him. “Is this what you’ve been aiming for, is this what you hoped would happen?”

His tone is harsh and his words threatening but his eyes glimmer with mischief, desire and excitement. You’re sure the look in your eyes matches his when you unflinchingly answer with a confident, “Yes. Sir.”

He smiles widely and leans in, kissing, nipping and sucking harshly at your neck. You groan against him, involuntarily, and then quickly wonder how thin this bathroom’s walls are and you start trying to recall if you saw anybody in the break room next door.

Ashton pulls back to admire his work on your neck and sees your concerned expression. His face softens for a minute and he asks you, “You remember your word, baby?”

You flash him a brief tender smile, appreciating how attentive he is, that he would pick up on even your briefest moment of apprehension. You nod enthusiastically and then your smile turns devilish as you think to once again answer, “Yes, sir.”

He hooks his fingers in your waistband and yanks you from the door, spinning you around and then pressing your chest into it. You hold your breath and brace yourself for the spank you’re certain is coming but it never does. You’re not sure if you’re disappointed but the way your core is throbbing hints that you probably are.

Instead of smacking your ass, Ash is rutting up against it, breath heavy against your neck, giving you goosebumps. “Feel this, baby? You knew what you were doing out there, you just couldn’t help yourself, could you? Gave you my cock this morning and you’re still begging for it, aren’t you?”

You bite your lip and wiggle against him, enjoying the feeling of his hard bulge pressing into you. “Yes, sir.”

Before you even realize he’s pulled away, that hard smack you’d been waiting for comes down on your ass and you cry out in surprise.

"That’s for being smart.” He presses his body roughly up against yours again and shoves his hand down your shorts, dragging his fingers through your folds, humming at the wetness he discovers there. “We’re on a fuckin’ shopping trip and you’re this wet for me? Even more desperate than I thought… and believe me, you were already very desperate in my mind.”

Ashton yanks his hand out of your shorts and pulls you away from the door, unceremoniously pushing you towards the sink counter. “Off,” he commands, gesturing to your bottoms. There’s not a lock on the bathroom door so he drags the metal trash can in front of the door, wedging it somewhat under the handle. “We already know you clearly can’t keep quiet, can’t have anyone barging in here to see who’s demeaning themself in the bathroom,” he taunts. “That’s only for me to see.”

You and Ash used to play like this all the time when you first got together but lately you’d gotten so caught up in your bubble of domestic bliss, it had fallen by the wayside. Things weren’t boring or unadventurous by any means but it’d been a minute since your last risky public romp or use of any degradation. Combining the two, plus the thrill of jumping back in after so long? Heavenly.

You hop up on the counter in your panties, shedding your tank top and spreading your legs, inviting him closer. “Yes, sir,” you tease with a sultry smile. “I’m your slut, no one else’s.”

He walks over and settles between your legs, kissing you hungrily as he unzips his pants and takes his cock out. “That’s right,” he growls. “Love hearing you say that… In fact, think I want you to see that too.”

He grabs you down off your perch and spins you to face the mirror lining the sink, your hands fly out to brace yourself as he presses you up against the counter, kicking your legs apart. He makes quick work of tugging your panties down your legs and then reaching over to jerk the cups of your bra down. You watch your reflection as he exposes more of your body to himself and now to you; you don’t even process your nakedness, your only thought is of how blown your pupils look.

Ashton lines himself up and pushes his cock inside you and begins thrusting roughly. You were undoubtedly turned on but the stretch is still a lot and you find yourself gasping and white-knuckling the counter at the sensation.

He sees your eyes start to close and he yanks your hair to get your attention. “I said I want you to see what a slut you are,” he breathes, already struggling to control himself. “Want you to see what I see, want you to see what everyone is gonna see if that door stop doesn’t hold up and someone comes in here and finds me giving you what you’ve been needing so badly.”

You whimper quietly at his words, at the thought of being caught. “Yes, sir… I love seeing how I look with your cock inside me…” You pant, “I already look so fucked out and we’ve barely started… I just wanted it so much.”

He slaps your ass again and the already loud smack sounds even louder given your setting. “We’re only at this fucking store today because we had to solve a problem created by your greedy little pussy and now that we’re here? You can’t even act right for a couple hours, got me hard looking at fucking flowers, now I’m having to bend you over in a fucking bathroom? How embarrassing,” he rasps at you through gritted teeth.

You love when he’s like this, you feel like you could almost cum from his words alone; you know it’s risking setting him off but you reach down and start rubbing your clit, you can’t help it. Ash immediately notices and laughs darkly. “Aww, baby, that time already? Go ahead and make yourself cum, sugar, the faster that needy pussy gets satisfied, the faster I can get on with my fucking day… until you’re back to begging me for it when we get home, of course.”

You’re aggressively meeting his thrusts now, throwing yourself back on him with pleasure being your only concern. You’d love to respond to his teasing with some sass of your own, rile him up some more but he’s hitting inside you just right and the only thing you can think to do is moan.

Seconds after you let out a particularly long moan, you notice voices can faintly be heard on the other side of the door, a pair of employees walking through the hallway. You catch Ashton’s gaze in the mirror and you can see the question in his eyes, letting you decide if you want to stop; you surprise yourself with how little you care and you stare at his reflection as you bounce yourself against him and rub your clit faster.

An amused smile paints his face and he whispers, “Starting to think you might want everyone to know what a slut you are for me. Is that what you want, baby?” His fingers dig into your skin as he drives his hips relentlessly into yours.

To keep from crying out, you bite your lip hard enough you’re almost sure you’re breaking the skin. You manage to gasp out, “Yes, sir,” before your orgasm completely takes your breath away.

The combination of you cumming around him and your breathless use of that phrase finally does Ash in and he thrusts into you only a few more times before his cock starts pumping you full of cum. Those voices outside the door are still somewhat present and you watch his reflection as he tries not to make a sound, fascinated by the way his jaw almost seems to be clenching in time with the pulsing of your pussy.

You both stand at the sink, catching your breath for a good minute, reality slowly starting to fade back in. You close your eyes and open them again, giggling once your mind finally starts to process the sight of yourself tits out, bottomless and bent over a bathroom sink in a hardware store.

Ashton smiles at the sound of your laughter and pulls out of you, hurriedly reaching for a handful of paper towels to help you clean up before things get too messy.

You accept his help and wryly ask, “You’re not gonna do the whole ‘no, put your panties back on, want you to feel my cum dripping out of you until we get home’ thing?”

He looks at you with amusement in his eyes and replies, “Gross, babe, we still have to go through checkout and everything. Jesus.”

You snort and pull him into you, kissing him sweetly before you both start the process of making yourselves and the bathroom look like nothing happened.

You manage to exit both the bathroom and the store without anyone catching on; you notice he’s in a much lighter mood and much more affectionate and touchy than he was earlier. You like it.

There’s traffic on the drive home but it doesn’t seem to bother either one of you; you’re excitedly chatting about the purchases you made and trying to decide what to order for dinner.

There’s a lull in the conversation and you can’t fight the urge to comment, “So… you definitely can’t tease me anymore for getting turned on by home improvement because I’m pretty sure you’re not gonna be able to visit that store without getting just a little bit hard now.”

The giggle Ash lets out fills the car and it’s the best sound you’ve heard all day. “I think whatever sex demon possessed you last week got to me,” he shakes his head in disbelief. “I literally had to stop myself from eating my cum out of you. That’s how far gone I was.”

You playfully jab his side. “I can’t even get you to do that at home and you’re trying to do it in a public bathroom? And we call me the slut in this relationship.”

He laughs again and squeezes your thigh affectionately. “Well… we have fun, don’t we?”

You place your hand on top of his, turn to him and grin. “Yes, sir.”

—-

My tag list is breaking my posts atm so apologies if you get tagged more than once/don’t get tagged at all while I figure out what the problem is!

—-

@mymindwide @suchalonelysunflower @loveroflrh @ghostofmashton @sexgodashton @ashtonangst @castaway-cashton @boomerash @megz1985 @ashdork-irwin @angelicfluffs @findingliam-o @abadaftertaste @myloverboyash @youngbloodchild @irwinsbetch @ashsun @everyscarisahealingplace @wiildflower-xxx @metalandboybands @another-lonely-heart @realisticnotes @makeamovehemmings @ashtondaddy90 @golden166 @burstintocolor @mfartzzz @babyoria @saphseoul @petunias-pet @youngblood199456 @notinthesameway- @seanna313 @calumftduke @zhangyixingxing1 @stardust-galaxies @Redeserts @zackoid @queenalienscherrypie @xsongxbirdx @justhereforcalum @laura66sos @calumrose @karajaynetoday @valdanvers @Obey-Kaylin

Click here if you’d like to be tagged for future fics and click here if your name is on my list but crossed out (Tumblr won’t let me @ you)

#5sos smut #ashton irwin smut #ashton smut #5 seconds of summer smut #ashton irwin fic #kindahoping4forever #smut #kh4f fic #Yes Sir #I have no idea where this came from and I can't believe I wrote this in a day lol #the clownery #fr shouts to everyone who encouraged me to churn this out #it was a challenge but i definitely feel accomplished and am happy with the result tbh #ALSO #if people are still interested in a True Sequel to this story lmk lol #That hammock ain't gonna fix itself #Feedback is appreciated #thank you for reading 🙏🏼

346 notes · View notes

royallyprincesslilly · 4 years

Text

Kismet {10}

Henry Cavill x Famous OFC Aliya Taylor

Warning: Slow Burn, Mild Cursing, Dialogue Heavy, Small Time Jump, Mild Angst

Words: 5.8k

Summary: Aliya is a singer turned model turned actress. Since she was fifteen, she’s been creating her empire in the entertainment world. As the daughter of a famous fashion model/designer and Hollywood director, you’d think life is easy for her, but her past has been anything but easy. Due to past trauma, she’s forever changed and no longer trusts any man that is not in her family and a select few in her team. She’s sworn off love and serious relationships and has planned never to fall again, but love isn’t something that can be planned. It just happens when it’s meant to. Can Aliya outrun a love that seems hellbent on holding tight to her, a love that is Kismet?

Note: The chapter includes some French. I’ve added the translations best I could. Some from memory, but some from Google translate. If the translations are off, I apologize.

If you enjoyed this please LIKE, COMMENT, REBLOG!! 😘

As always, thank you so much for reading. ❤️❤️

***Loosely Edited/Proofread***

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It didn’t take long for you to realize you’d either offended him or hurt his feelings. It was clear from how stiff he was when he walked away from you. Everything about him was different. You’d wanted to call after him or chase him down the street to explain, but something kept your feet planted right where they were. What made you feel worse was that he didn’t switch up. He still called you to say good morning and wish you a safe flight again the next morning. When you’d landed back in LA, he’d picked up your call on the second ring. He didn’t speak like a man with a grudge or chip on his shoulder. He was the same, Henry.

Over the next few days, he kept the same energy and consistency. It was something you didn’t expect, but it was something refreshing. You thought about him more and more, and every conversation you had, you wanted to apologize for your stark reaction, but every time you opened your mouth to, the right words never seemed to form. It also didn’t take you long to notice that he wasn’t asking again. You doubted he ever would.

As the days ticked off and his departure date grew nearer and nearer, you could sense the disappointment in him, and that disappointment came across more and more like hurt. With each passing day, you felt more of an urgency in you that you couldn’t understand. You felt as if your time was dwindling, and you only had so much time to do what was right even though you didn’t know what that was. The day he called to let you know he was about to board his flight, you sat in your living room you wished him safe travels, then hung up, which left you just staring out for hours, wondering how big of a mistake you’d made.

“What’s up with you?”

Alicia’s voice beside you brought you out of your daze. You groaned, then dropped your head back onto the couch.

“Henry asked me to go on vacation with him,” you blurted out, unable to hold it in anymore.

It had been six days since your time together in London, and you hadn’t been able to get it off your mind or tell anyone. When Alicia didn’t respond right away, you looked to her to find a confused expression on her face.

“Confused.”

You groaned again then explained everything that happened in London to her. The only things you left out were the butterflies in your belly the entire night, the feeling of breathlessness every time he came close, the strong urge to touch him any and everywhere, and your impulses that went against everything you’d stood for the last few years. So all in all, you told her everything.

The huge smile on Alicia’s face was expected. You rolled your eyes. “Stop smiling.”

“Okay.”

Her smile remained pasted to her lips, and it was growing with every second. Annoyance flared up in you.

“Stop!”

“I can’t!”

She began giggling.

“You like him, like really, really like him,” Alicia accused, right on the money.

“I do,” your let slip without thought. “I don’t know why or how. I’ve known him maybe two months tops, and we’ve only been out four or five times. I know nothing about him, nothing at all. I don’t know what I like. I don’t know if I like him or his looks and body,” you blurted as each revelation came to mind.

“Oh, you definitely like his looks and body, but I think this is something different, something you’ve never experienced before,” Alicia revealed.

You rolled your eyes again, then stared at the ceiling. She made perfect sense, you thought.

“You’ve heard about love at first sight.”

You sprang up looking at her like she was bat shit crazy.

“Bite your heathenous tongue.”

Alicia busted out laughing then. You remained silent. This was no laughing matter. Especially when the “L” word was waved around willy nilly.

“Oh god, that was not funny,” you said.

“Stop being so dramatic. Look, I know neither of us has ever experienced it; hell, I said it was a fucking bullshit, but--.”

“Don’t Leece,” you cautioned, not ready to remotely go anywhere near that landmine.

“Okay, look,” she began scooting closer to you. “This is what I know. You have these ridiculous rules.”

You glared at her, but she didn’t back down. Before she opened her mouth to speak again, you stood and walked off toward the kitchen, knowing she’d follow. Once in the kitchen, you dug in the fridge for a can of ginger ale, hoping it would settle your stomach, and like clockwork, Alicia reached in also to retrieve one for herself. As she opened the can and took a seat at the island, she continued.

“So your ridiculous rules. I know they’ve kept assholes away this long and has made it possible for you to keep your head above water. I get it, and I’m all for self-perseverance. You know I am. But--,” she smacked her lips as if she was getting ready to tell you off.

“Your rules—honey--,” she sighed. “They’re bullshit, and they are keeping you from developing something substantial, something real, something—true. Now I get that was the point in them in the first place. However, Mr. Blue eyes and British accent,” she finished reading you like an open book.

You gulped the soda, ignoring the burn of the acid on your tongue. It was a trick for the brain. Give it something else to focus on, so you got a moment of quiet. It always worked, but it was only temporary. When you lowered the can, you hissed.

“Fuck!”

“I like him. Amaya likes him. I don’t think he has ulterior motives, and I’m an excellent judge of character. I never liked Evan for a reason.”

You scoffed and closed your eyes, trying to get your brain to quiet down.

“So what do I do?”

“You know what to do. Lucky for you, it’s what you really wanna do anyway.”

“He’s on vacation,” you said.

“Yep, he’s on vacation,” Alicia reiterated.

“I don’t know where.”

“It’s a good and lucky thing you’re a member of a royal family no matter how much you like to denounce it. You can find him.”

A lightbulb went off in your head and giving you your big ah-ha moment. You ran out of the kitchen to the living room where you’d left your phone. You sat then debated what you were about to do. You’d never gone to lengths like this for anyone. It took almost two minutes for you to make the call, and as you did, you wondered if this was a little wrong. It took two minutes to make the call and another two minutes before you had the information you needed. Once you ended the call, Leece was sitting on the arm of the couch with an expectant look on her face.

“So, where is he?”

“Bandol, France,” you answered.

“Ooh, so luxurious. Go get him.”

You stood then hugged her. You didn’t know how she wasn’t tired of your ass after all the years of knowing you and being the one to talk you down off your ledges or up on your horse.

“Do me a favor, best friend.”

“What?”

“Turn him black, so he never goes back!”

You snorted so hard that it hurt. Your laugh was so powerful that your stomach hurt after just seconds.

“Shut up, oh my god.”

For the next hour or so, Alicia helped you pack while you made the call to your manager to let him know you were planning to take some time off. When you said the words, he even laughed, finding it hard to believe you. It took some convincing to let him know you were serious, but once he got it, he was quick to help, saying you needed a vacation. Turns out he’d been trying to find the right time to bring it up. You had a quick meeting where he assured you he’d tie off all your loose ends for the next two weeks to start. By the end of the call, you were halfway to the airport to get to your waiting private plane.

Nervousness was the least of what you felt. Anxiousness, fear, doubt, and nauseousness were right up there. After an hour in the air, it had only grown. You kept worrying if you were doing the right thing or if he’d think you were absolutely insane to fly across the world without a technical invitation. The more you thought about it, the more you doubted what you were doing.

By the time you landed in France, your nerves had pretty much mellowed out, for the most part. The beautiful scenery alone should have worked to calm you and give you a sense that you were on vacation, but it didn’t. Using the email you’d gotten from the family’s security services, you gave the taxi driver the address to where Henry was. As you drove through the town, you marveled at the views and tried to enjoy the warm breeze. When the car stopped in front of an impressive villa, your jaw dropped. He sure didn’t go low key, you thought.

“Mademoiselle Mlle serait -vous que je apporter vos sacs à l'intérieur? {Miss, would you like me to bring your bags inside?}

You contemplated Pierre, the driver’s question for a few seconds.

“Eh bien, ce n'est pas chez moi, si je le faisais, je serais trespassing. {Well this is not my home and if I did that it would be trespassing.}

That realization had you making a face that said you knew it was questionable.

“Comme un homme que je ne serais pas fâché de trouver un ange comme toi-même dans ma maison. {As a man I would not be angry to find an angel such as you in my home}, he said with a wide grin.

Such a sweet talker, you thought as you laughed. I smile.

“Voilà monsieur douce. Je vais attendre ici. {That is sweet sir, but I will wait here}

“Ici, sur les étapes ? Seul? {Here, on the steps. Alone?}

He sounded like it was something he’d never heard of. You got out of the car then looked around for the best spot to sit and wait.

Oui, je vais bien. Merci de votre aide. {Yes, I will be fine, thank you for your help.}

Pierre came around the car then opened the trunk to take your bags out. One by one, he brought them to the steps of the villa. Once he finished, you dug into your purse and handed him four hundred dollar bills, and pressed them into his palm. He looked shocked but appreciative. After thanking him, he drove off, leaving you there with the seaside cliff view as your company.

You texted Alicia and Amaya, letting them know you’d gotten there but knew they probably wouldn’t see it right away, thanks to the time difference. You sat for a few minutes only to get up and pace back and forth for another few minutes. Then you switched and did it over and over. Your brain made it feel like it was an eternity that passed, but you knew that couldn’t have been true. You heard a motorcycle approaching and watched as a silverish white one pulled up. You couldn’t tell if it were him, but you had a feeling it was. Once he’d turned the engine off, his movements slowed, and you knew he’d seen you.

He threw his large leg over the bike then peeled off his helmet, revealing curly hair and a scruffy beard. You gulped. That’s how damn good he looked.

“Damn.”

Henry approached you with a confused but cautious look on his face. It did nothing to assure you that you hadn’t made a colossal mistake. Unable to hold his gaze, you looked over what he wore, preppy sky blue shorts and a white polo shirt that was unbuttoned, showing off sprigs of chest hair. You’d imagined he had chest hair, and this was your answer.

“Aliya?”

“H—hi,” you stuttered.

Henry looked around like he was wondering how the hell you got there.

“What’re you doing here?”

“In France?”

“On my doorsteps,” Henry clarified.

“Oh, um—right. I can see how this would—look. Strange, alarming even. I promise there is an explanation.”

Nervousness overtook you, making you giggle. Henry stood there patiently waiting for said explanation, but the look of bewilderment didn’t go away.

“How did you know where I was, first of all?”

Damn it, you thought, trying to find your voice. “Eh-em, well—I called in a favor and—had your cellphone tracked.

His eyes widened, and you braced yourself for the freak-out you suspected was coming.

“What!?”

With your face scrunched, you decided to face it head-on and nodded. “Yeah. Saying that out loud now, I can understand how it sounds and even how it looks.”

“So, you know people who will just track a phone?”

Uh-oh, you thought, trying to find an answer that wouldn’t give anything away.

“I do,” you slowly answered.

Henry stared at you, and you knew he was weighing his options on whether to call the cops to get your ass out of there or listen to more. It was hard to read him, harder than it had been the last few times you'd been together.

“You’re freaking out. Look, I’m not crazy; I promise I’m not. I just—I had to find you.”

“Why? You made yourself perfectly clear a week ago,” Henry threw in your face.

“I did,” you began, groaning from exhaustion. You sat down on one of the steps and sighed.

“God, I have lived with a set of rules for the last three years. These rules have helped me tremendously. They’ve helped me keep people at arm’s length and have helped me protect myself from everyone, whether they meant ill or good. I’ve lived with these rules and have never broken any of them—not one. Then here you come.”

You dropped your head into your hands and released a heavy breath before you continued.

“Here you come, and within less than a month, I’d broken three, and that alarmed the shit out of me. I wasn’t prepared and didn’t know how to deal with it. Then you go asking me to go away on vacation with you and—that would have broken another rule, and that would have led to me breaking all of them on this vacation,” you blurted out.

Henry stood there, staring at you with yet another unreadable expression plastered across his face. Your head said shut up, but your lips kept moving.

“I couldn’t accept, then this last week I realized that I didn’t want to be anywhere but here—on this vacation—with you, and if it meant breaking another rule, then it would be broken. So here I am.”

Henry sighed, “What are these rules?”

Uh-oh, you thought again. You were sure after you told him he’d run for the hills. Even Amaya and Alicia made fun of your neurotic ass because of these obsessive rules. You chewed your bottom lip, reluctant to voice them. Henry didn’t look to be in any hurry, though; he just waited.

Realizing he still hadn’t kicked your ass to the proverbial curb, you said a silent prayer, took a breath, and sang like a canary.

“Um—in no particular order—one, no outings that have been labeled as a date, only hanging out is acceptable. Two, no back to back outings and or hanging out. Three, no hand-holding. Four, no one sees my house or how to get to my house. Five, No one comes to my house at all, not even to hang out and definitely not sleep. Six, I don’t hang out or sleep at anyone’s home. Seven, no kissing on the first date. Eight, no kissing on the second date. Nine, no kissing on the third date. Ten, no kissing with my eyes closed, period. Eleven, no PDA. Twelve, no gifts of any kind. Thirteen, no emotional intimacy. Fourteen, no vacations together. Fifteen, no sex with anyone you can see yourself with longer than three months. Sixteen, no meeting families or friends on either side. Seventeen, Never relinquish control.”

Hearing them out loud, you would have run in the other direction without looking back. He didn’t move, though, hell he didn’t even speak. He didn’t have to; his face was doing all the talking you needed. With bugged eyes, slightly parted lips, and his arms crossed over his chest, he looked the perfect picture of an outright terrified man.

“Those are a lot of rules.”

You nodded. “Yes, they are.”

He took several moments before speaking again. “How do you keep them all in mind?”

“Practice.”

“Wow, I don’t—I don’t know what to--.”

His words drifted off, and you watched him rub the back of his neck.

“So you’re willingly going to break number six and thirteen.”

He already had them memorized; you thought as you nodded. “Pretty much.”

Henry studied you for several more moments and then breathed out before he walked up the front doorsteps. You watched him unlock it before he looked back at you.

“Please come in.”

You didn’t know if he was serious or not, so you didn’t move. He must have sensed it because he beckoned you over with an added smile. Sighing, you slowly walked up the steps toward him and the door.

“I’ll get your bags,” he said before he walked back down the steps to gather your bags two by two.

On his second trip, you walked inside with him and looked around. It looked like a mix of Mediterranean, coastal, and traditional décor. The ceiling's wooden beams complemented the neutral colors of the furniture and the wood strewn around the foyer.

“Make yourself at home,” Henry said before he walked out again for the remainder of your bags.

You took a few more steps and looked at the art on the wall. They all were a mix of expressionist and abstract, and all made you feel relaxed. You could see him living here, and you wondered if he were renting this or if he owned it. A photograph on the sideboard resting against the wall caught your eye. It was of him and four other men all wearing athletic clothing, smiling widely and holding up medals. They all resembled each other, making you deduce they could have been his brothers. You walked further inside the home toward what looked like a living room and touched the white brick accent wall. It was a pleasing aesthetic that was set.

“Wow. This is--.”

You didn’t know the right word. Henry approached and stood beside you as you continued looking around.

“This is an architectural dream, and very different than I thought.”

“You’ve thought about my home?”

You paused with your hand on the back of one of the creamish, grey tufted couch and turned to look at him.

“Um, the environment to which you lay your head,” you cautiously corrected. “They say someone’s home tells you everything you need to know about them.”

“Is that so?”

You nodded and continued walking around the living room. The view from the arched window was beautiful.

“Let me give you a tour,” Henry offered, leading the way out of the living room.

He walked around, showing you each room, and they all resembled one another. You could imagine him in each room. Sitting in the armchair by the big window sipping coffee or kicking his feet up while watching tv at night before going to bed. When he showed you the kitchen, you pictured him cooking shirtless, making some French dish. It all screamed him.

“This is all yours?”

“I bought it as a holiday home for my family. I wanted us to have a place where we could go on holiday either together or separately. That is why it’s so big. There are a lot of us.”

“That’s nice,” you answered.

You nodded and followed him outside the large French-style glass doors. As soon as you stepped out, you could help but gasp at the beauty.

“Oh my god. Holy shit, this—this is—incredible. Wow.”

You gaped at the comfortable sitting area that was primed for dining outdoors. You went up the few steps and turned to the right, and marveled at the inground pool and the greenery of France.

“It is.”

Smiling, you turned to him then scoffed. “Wow.”

Henry smiled softly, then dipped his head. When he did, the smile fell.

“I’ll show you where you’ll sleep,” he said before turning to walk back inside. You took one more look around and followed him.

It wasn’t a quick walk by no means. You noted it was probably the other side of the house. When he stopped and opened a large, heavy wooden door, you walked in first. The room wasn’t obnoxiously large. It was comfortable and minimally decorated. You walked to the window and smiled. It was the perfect view of the cliffside.

“Is it to your liking?”

You spun while nodding your head. “Of course, thank you.”

“No problem,” Henry replied. Your eyes locked for a few seconds, but he was the one to look away.

“I’ll bring your bags.”

He walked out, leaving you to admire the view some more and formulate a better plan. You’d only thought as far as finding him. You didn’t plan to tell him everything about your rules, and now you didn’t know how to proceed. You felt awkward.

“God Aliya, stalker much?”

Sighing, you began pacing the floor, hoping something would come to you while you tried not to imagine him thinking of you like some crazy chick. Your phone went off, and you were thankful for the distraction. You plopped into the chair beside the window and went through your emails and messages, answering the urgent work ones, quickly getting lost in them.

“Here you go,” Henry began as he placed your bags on the far left side of the bedroom. You heard him come in, but being in the middle of an email, you didn’t look up, just mumbled a thank you.

“I thought a vacation was supposed to mean no work.”

Looking up at him, you released a breath. “I’m sorry, I—I got distracted, and I got sucked in.”

Smiling, you put your phone down, hoping he would see it as a peace offering. He was leaned against the wall with one leg crossed over the other.

“I understand. It happens to me too. I personally set everyone I work with, or for on a separate ring and alert sound, so I know not to answer or check it.”

“Everyone? That has to be at least fifty people,” you said.

“Try sixty-five, seventy.”

“Wow. How long did that take you?”

“Ha—hmm, about forty-five minutes maybe an hour,” Henry added.

“Is that what you think I should do?”

He shrugged, then raked his fingers through his curly tousled hair, and you wondered if he’d even bothered using a comb or a brush this whole time. He didn’t look disheveled, though. He looked perfect like this.

“I can’t say. It’s up to you.”

Again, your eyes locked, and you were just waiting, wishing for him to give you any hint at all that he wasn’t done with you and just being polite and hospitable.

“Thank you for bringing my bags, Henry.”

“You’re welcome.” He smiled then spoke again. “Out of curiosity, how long were you staying? You have enough bags to say a few weeks.”

“Um—one thing you’ll learn about me, I overpack all the time. I can’t seem to, no matter how hard I try, but I’d rather have something I need rather than not have it when I need it,” you answered.

He nodded, then uncrossed his legs before changing his position.

“How—how long are you staying?”

“I planned on being here for about a week, maybe.”

You nodded, “Then?”

“Not sure. I’m not making plans for the next three and a half weeks at least,” he answered.

Tens of things flashed through your head to say, but you were still trying to read him and the situation. After a few seconds of silence, Henry spoke again.

“You’re—uh—you’re welcome to tag along wherever the wind blows.”

You didn’t like the sound of “welcome to,” but you also knew you’d already fucked the situation up, so you shouldn’t have any expectations. You sighed, then bit your bottom lip, trying to stop your lips from opening. You had the worst censor.

“Welcome? Huh, somehow that sounds different than an—invitation.”

Henry scoffed then nodded. “Last time I gave you an invitation, you didn’t really accept it or gracefully decline it.”

Damn, you thought. He’d thrown that right at you with force. You deserved it. He was right, you hadn’t accepted the invite, and it was done in true Aliya fashion—avoidance.

“Wow. Did you really just call me ungraceful?”

You bit your bottom lip, fighting the smile.

“You called yourself that,” Henry answered.

Another long stretch of silence filled the room, and the longer it went on, the more nervous you got. Henry pushed off the wall.

“I’ll make some lunch,” he said before he walked out.

Once he was gone, you breathed out and tried to catch your breath. There was something about him that always gave off an overwhelming feeling. It wasn’t a feeling of you being afraid but in a heightened state. Of what? You were still trying to figure it out. You slowly began unpacking your things while setting all your contacts on an alert. You were going to try his strategy to see if you would actually be able to enjoy this vacation.

About an hour later, you walked out of what was designated as your room and walked through the house, looking into rooms with open doors and around corners for where he could be. Following your nose and the delicious scent of roasted vegetables, you stepped into the kitchen expecting to see him, only to find it empty. Backtracking, you walked to the opened doors that led outside and saw him putting down a bottle of white wine on the rustic walnut table that had two place settings filled with the fruits of his labor.

“Right on time. I was going to come knocking.”

You smiled and tipped your head back to take in the wood and vines wrapped around the pergola.

“No need. I cannot get over this view,” you said.

“Do you come to France a lot?”

“No. I come once in a while, usually for work.”

“Ever Baldon?”

You approached the table, sliding your finger along the Rattan chair that accompanied the table.

“No.”

“Nice, so you’re a tourist,” Henry said with a smile as he pulled out a chair for you.

You returned his smile and sat down. “I am.”

As he walked to his seat adjacent to yours, you took in the spread before you. “What do we have here?”

“Avocado salad with mozzarella and roast beef sliders on Fiselle,” Henry explained as he pointed out everything he mentioned.

You were impressed. “Wow. Did you make this?”

His smile was wide; he looked proud. “I did. The roast beef was leftover from last night, and the avocado salad was quick. The bread was store-bought from the bakery in town, though.”

It all looked delicious. “So you can cook.”

“Yes, I can. My mother taught me; she taught all of us. She said it was her gift to our future significant others.”

You chuckled, already liking his mother. Henry motioned for you to try something, and you wasted no time doing so. You placed a forkful of the salad into your mouth, your eyes instantly closing. You moaned at the avocado's buttery taste and how the flavors of the mozzarella and lemony but sweet vinaigrette complemented the tang of the vegetables.

“This is good.”

Henry’s smile widened as he picked up one of his sliders.

“Thank you. Do you like French food?”

“I do.”

He nodded again as he finished chewing what was in his mouth. “Good, you’ll be eating a lot of it.

You couldn’t help but smile because it sounded like he planned on cooking for you more often. You liked the sound of that and everything it meant. The two of you ate in relative silence, but it wasn’t an awkward one. You were enjoying the feel of the sun beaming down on you through the vines and the sound of the ocean, you guessed was only a few miles away. You could even smell the salt in the air from it. Henry did look to be in dire need of conversation either. He seemed happy to listen to the song of the birds and the rustling of the leaves. You were glad for it because it gave you the needed time to get your thoughts together.

However, your thoughts only dwelled on one thing; the prospect of him hating that you were there.

“Are you freaked out that I’m here?”

Henry didn’t immediately speak. He lifted his glass and leisurely drank half of it before placing it back on the table. “All honesty, I’m just a little confused,” he began.

The taste of the wine on your tongue told you there was more than grapes in it. You tasted pear and even strawberries. It tasted like France.

“Yeah.”

“I do find it interesting that to you, I’m worth tracking my phone.”

You smiled and brought the glass back to your lips, using it more as a distraction than anything else.

“So you don’t plan on calling the FBI and telling them what I did?”

He snorted and leaned back in his chair. “Nah, you’re safe there.”

“It’s not as hard as you think. You just need the person’s full name and phone number,” you matter of factly advised.

“Also, a friend with the skill.”

You nodded again, not wanting to give anything away. From the corner of your eye, you could see him smiling like a fool trying not to laugh out loud. It was too much for you, and you had to laugh out loud. In seconds, he joined in, and any tension between you melted away.

After lunch, Henry suggested a quick look around, so you hopped on the back of his Ducati, and he gave you the driving tour of the area. He pointed out the bakery that supplied him with all his baked goods, the local butcher where he got the best cuts of meat, and even the local winery. The town was beautiful, and the best part was that it was so close to the beach. It was everything that everyone thought of when they thought of a town on the Côte d'Azur—beautiful, quaint, luxurious, and a ten on the romantic potential scale.

The entire time Henry remained the perfect gentleman. He kept his hands to himself, allowed you to go first, pulled out chairs, paid for all the small treats you sampled, and kept his language respectful. He was behaving so kind and professional it drove you crazy. The entire time you couldn’t ignore the magnetic pull you felt to him or the attraction that was growing by leaps and bounds thanks to the change of his appearance. He looked so good, and your body recognized it.

Your eyes always found each other no matter the size of the crowd or how far you were from one another. When your eyes met, they lingered so long the butterflies in your belly swarmed wildly, making you feel as if you’d run a marathon. You could even tell by the way he looked at you that he might have been feeling the same attraction, but still, he stayed away.

By the time you took a break, the sun was gone, and it was dinner time. Henry chose a restaurant with the perfect ocean view and the sweetest breeze. There was nothing that could have been more perfect. As you sat at the table across from him, eating a classic seaside French meal—Bouillabaisse. As you ate, you listened to a story Henry told about his childhood and the reason why his parents had to put him and his brothers in different sports. It turned out their competitive natures was too much with all of them grouped together, the testosterone needed to be split up.

It was nice getting a different viewpoint of him. Through his work, you got the professional view, and through the magazines and photoshoots the sex symbol view but hearing personal stories in the town where he’d chosen for holiday because of sentimental reasons at a restaurant he’d probably eaten at tens of times really made you want to get to know him better and give him a real chance. By the time you’d finished your dessert and began on your way back to the villa, you made the choice. Try.

The house was quiet, and thanks to the windows and doors he’d left open, it smelled of sea salt, lemons, and the lavender that bathed the surrounding hills. It was a smell you’d gladly get used to.

“Thank you for dinner,” you said once you were in the living room.

“No need to thank me. You have to eat,” he replied with a polite smile that made you clench your jaw.

“How um—how long have you been here?”

“A few days.”

You nodded but didn’t know what else to say. With the combination of the wine, the aphrodisiac oysters in the Bouillabaisse, and the smell of lavender, you felt a gentle lull of relaxation that made you feel ten times shier than you usually were. Henry didn’t speak though his eyes looked as if he had plenty to say. After a few minutes of silence, a confused look washed across his face before he looked down and sighed.

“Good night, Aliya.”

The words caught you off guard, but you nodded and hid it.

“Good night, Henry.”

It was a shaky whisper. You then watched Henry turn from you and walk off in the opposite direction than where your room was. You stood there for a few moments longer, debating with yourself on if you should follow him or not. When you thought to, you had no idea what you’d say when you did. When you finally decided just to call it a night, you’d stood in the dark living room for almost five minutes.

After a quick shower, you laid in bed staring at the full moon through the window, hoping somehow sleep would claim you, but after forty minutes of tossing and turning, you gave up and watched the moon instead. For the first time in months, you didn’t feel the urge to work. All you felt was a stillness in you that was very new—but welcomed all the same.

“Tomorrow is another day, Aliya. Make it right.”

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#kismet fic #henry cavill #henry cavill fanfiction #henry cavill x reader #henry cavill x you #henry cavill x black reader #henry cavill x black ofc #black fanfiction #slow burn fanfic

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pl-panda · 4 years

Text

To Marry a Vigilante: Part 10

MASTERLIST || First || Previous || Next

To Marry a Vigilante: Part 10

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Chloé felt that something was wrong. She knew that the drama would only start with the class kicked out. She tried to enjoy the evening and do what she did at all other galas: be a star. As the daughter of the mayor of Paris and a famous fashion icon, she attracted quite a bit of attention. Now that she was the only reliable source of information on Marinette and Hawkmoth-related stuff, she found herself in the center of attention. Someone even asked her about her time as Queen Bee. She loved it here!

She just finished a small talk with the wife of… someone important, when unmistakable sausage hair flashed in the crowd. She would recognize her anywhere. Lila was still at the gala.

The blonde tried to find someone to tell it to, but she couldn’t do it fast enough. She saw her disappear into a corridor that led to the kitchen. Making a split-second decision, she followed her alone. On her way, she got a bright idea and sent the text to whoever she called last. There was no time to search through the contact list. It better be someone who can help.

The doors to the kitchen were closed and inside buzzed with the work of several hired helpers. They were preparing for the midnight toast. There was no way Lie-la could hide there. The only other doors led to the servants’ staircase.

“Ugh! The sacrifice I make for friendship.” She sighed before entering the tight passage.

This led her to the second floor, where she found the doors already open. It led to a long corridor with several doors on the one side and large windows overlooking the back garden. She realized she was in the west wing, which was the second oldest part of the manor.

“More creepy secret passageways…” She quickly checked her phone to see if somebody answered, but a crashing sound coming from one of the rooms got her attention.

Slowly, she crept toward the only room with lights on. She managed to get a sneaky peek inside before something hit her in the back of her head and everything turned black.

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“So… he really asked you out on the first day?” Allegra starred at Marinette in disbelief.

“Yeah. He was all shy and flustered, almost certain I would reject him.” She giggled. The two girls were standing on the sidelines while Jon got the boys to finally talk their differences out in a safe manner.

“That guy? Flustered?” Allegra giggled. “I think not.”

“And you? I thought Damian had no friends? Well, Jon was more of a family friend from what I heard.”

“My dad is the Gotham Mayor. Probably the only one who stayed in office longer than a week in the last decade.”

“No way!”

“Yes, way.” Allegra nodded. “I met Jon during the interview his mom was doing in Gotham for the Daily Planet. Then, we met at Gotham Academy. Damian was kinda just tagging along. And he still does. Well, I think he actually likes the occasional hanging out with us, but Claude disagrees.” She nodded toward the boys, who seemed to be coming their way. “It’s going to be nice to have a second girl in the pack.”

“I should totally introduce you to Chloé.” Marinette giggled before walking to meet Damian half-way.

“Tt. Felix is not his cousin.”

“And the floor is indeed made of floor.” Jon chuckled.

“I have the dusters…” He threatened, but his friend just laughed.

“Can we dance?” Marinette asked fast. Truth to be told she was waiting for a chance for quite a while, but with the press and then the drama and all the people wishing them well.

Nodding, he led them to the dancing floor and they joined many other couples.

“I just hope I don’t fall over… Or step on…”

“If a man doesn’t come to this thing with reinforced shoes, it’s his fault.” Damian stopped her before she could spiral. Then, his voice softened. “There is nothing to worry about. The only important person today is already dancing with me and the rest can stuff it.”

She blushed bright pink but didn’t respond. Instead, she hugged closer to his chest and allowed him to take the lead. The pair glided seamlessly through the dance floor, moving between other pairs and completely obvious to the stares they received. They melded in perfect harmony, losing the sense of time and space.

Inside Marinette’s head, they were dancing between the stars, bathed in subtle light coming from nowhere and everywhere. In the distance, her imaginary eyes could’ve seen the comet passing by and the full moon glowing in the sky. The music seemed to be coming from everywhere and encompassing them in soothing tones.

For Damian, they were the only constant in the sea of darkness. There was nothing to distract them from dancing. Even the music faded to the background when they moved in perfect harmony. The only source of light seemed to be Marinette. And even her glow was only an aura around her, not illuminating the rest of the place at first. In his imagination, everywhere they stepped, she would leave a small trail of light in the darkness.

Finally, the music stopped. The couple didn’t notice at first until the applause finally broke to them. They both realized they were now in the center of the large circle where people watched. One old lady had a tear in her eye. Marinette blushed at the attention, but did her best not to appear shy. Damian shrugged. He was superior to them, so it was obvious their dance was the center of attention. He bowed slightly to the crowd while Marinette curtsied before rushing away from the prying eyes.

“That was something…” Allegra smiled at her. “You two looked amazing. I really love how your dress reflected the light.”

“Thanks. I ma… nevermind.” She stopped herself. She wanted to reveal she made it, but Allegra was still unknown to her and she wasn’t comfortable with revealing that she is MDC so soon. Even if Jon vouched for her.

“Mari-bear!” Chloé rushed to the pair. “Quick! You need to come with me!”

“What’s going on Chlo?”

“It’s Lila!” The blonde motioned. The reaction was immediate. Marinette’s eyes narrowed and her whole body tensed. She nodded and followed the blonde, who led her toward the kitchen and servants’ staircase.

A saner part of Marinette’s mind noted that Chloé had no problem with the tight passage used only by ‘peasants’ but the majority of her focused solely on stopping whatever evil scheme Lila concocted.

On the second floor, the blonde led Marinette toward Bruce’s private office. Blood started to run cold in her veins. Did Rossi discover the entrance to the batcave? But no, Chloé would be calling the whole Batfam then. She was probably just scoping around and now awaits inside. Or maybe she just broke something in rage?

When they got close, Chloé opened the doors. Inside was in perfect order, except the chair was turned back. As it rotated slowly, Marinette managed to see disheveled blonde hair before pain exploded from the back of her head and she collapsed into the embrace of darkness.

Nobody noticed one more person in the corridor when Marinette left the office alone.

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Damian was ‘enjoying’ the small talk with some rich snob, doing his best to appear as the perfect son and heir to Bruce Wayne. Inside, he was cursing Allegra for stealing his angel so close to midnight. He could see the waiters hired for the evening spreading the champagne already.

“Hi. You’re Damian Wayne, right?” A girl asked him. Her blonde hair was let loose to form a large mane around her head. She looked maybe a year younger. What attracted attention were her eyes. One was bright pink and the other was brown to the point it was almost black.

“Tt. I need to get a better mask.”

“It’s the eyes. They give you away.” She smiled.

“What is it?” He scoffed. “I’m looking for someone so if you excu…”

She grabbed his wrist in a strong grip. “I’ve got a message for Damian Wayne. You will listen to what I have to say.” Her hand squeezed his wrist to the point it started to sting. “You’re far from victory yet.”

She then let go of his hand and disappeared into the crowd. She was small enough for him not to be able to track her. He took a sip of his (non-alcoholic) champagne and returned to his search, promising to check on the cameras later. Finding his beloved was now even more important.

Cursing under his breath, he turned. Marinette was just coming back from where Chloé dragged her. As soon as she saw him, she rushed toward him. A small smile ghosted his face when they met. Except something was wrong. She looked ashamed and scared.

“Damian… I… I think… I must confess something…” She said loudly, attracting the crowd. “I’m so sorry. I really am! It… I never wanted to push it that far! I just wanted a bit of the fame…” Tears welled in her eyes.

“What are you…” He started.

“They were right! I was just a filthy gold digger! But your family was so kind and you’re so precious and smart and I feel so bad for manipulating you! I can’t continue like that! It’s over between us. For your own good!”

A sword was suddenly pressed into her neck to the point it drew blood. Nobody was sure where Damian got the sword , but by now the guests were used to the fact that he could get the sword at any point in the Manor.

“Who are you, harlot, and what did you do to my Angel?” He seethed. People around quickly made a space for them, not wanting to accidentally find themselves on the business end of the sword.

“I’m sorry Damian. I know it must be hard but…”

“You are definitely not Habibti and you can drop the act. She would not act like this. You don’t even know her well enough to realize that this gold digging crap is laughable,” he accused. His voice was full of cold fury.

“You must let go. I… I really don’t want to hurt you.”

“You can’t even tie someone correctly.” A new voice joined the discussion as another Marinette pushed her way through the crowd. “Or check if someone sees you change. You’re pretty amateurish for a villain.”

“But… but…! Impostor!” The Marinette at the end of the sword screamed. People were already too confused for that to have any real effect.

“Tt. You’re the only impostor.”

“She wants to get the hands on your fortune!” The girl tried. “I’m so sorry!”

“For the love of god shut up. You sound like a broken record.” Marinette snapped. “And for your information, I don’t need to try and attach myself to someone. I have my own source of income.” Marinette hesitated. Even if the impostor, whoever they were, was dealt with, the media would still keep accusing her of trying to marry into wealth. And at school it would be even worse. She would not give Lila more lie material. “After all, I made my dress for today’s evening.”

Murmurs immediately broke. So far, everyone assumed that it was an MDC original. Very few smarter ones caught up on that, but the majority was scratching their heads. Slowly, the small intelligent percent explained to their oblivious colleagues what that meant.

“Yes, I’m MDC. It used to stand for Marinette Dupain-Cheng before I switched to Marinette Désign et Création.” She gazed over the crowd. “You can ask uncle Jagged if you see him.” She grinned. “Or Tim Drake. He has a signed CD. In fact…” She pulled her phone and made a quick tweet about the Wayne Gala on her MDC account.

“No…” The other Marinette starred in disbelief.

“Yes. I wanted to keep it a secret until I graduate, but someone forced me to unmask a bit earlier…” She glared at the impostor.

“No!” They screamed. Black bubbling energy covered them. Damian tried to stab with his sword and fell right through it, with his suit burning in several places. When it stabilized again, A teenager stood there. She looked mostly human, except her hair was fluorescent orange and her dress was torn in several places now. She had no accessories and her feet were bare. “You ruined everything! This was supposed to be my trip!”

Marinette took a battle stance, mentally giving herself a pat on the back for making her dress combat-ready. She didn’t bring the rope dart this evening since it would clash with her look, but she did put a small, almost unnoticeable sheethe with a knife on her left thigh. She quickly drew the blade and got ready.

“I will not be denied again!” The villain charged at Marinette. The girl tried to strike with her knife, but the blade broke on the first contact, shattering into small pieces that flew everywhere. Several cut her arm. In retaliation, the criminal delivered a punch that pushed all the air from her lungs and made her tumble.

Impostor was just preparing to deliver a final strike when suddenly a blade cut off her right hand before being stabbed through her calf, making her fall one one knee and pinning her to the ground.

Sabine was there, with fury on her face that would make demons run for cover and saints pray to God.

“No one.” She delivered a spin-kick at the downed enemy’s head. She tumbled down and spread like a run-over frog “Hurts.” Before the villain could catch the second wind, she pulled the sword from her calf and stabbed it deep into her left palm, pinning her into the ground. There was no blood whatsoever. “My daughter.” She spat on the impostor and stepped on her head with enough strength to knock out any normal human.

Just as her leg was supposed to give the villain a concussion, she turned into purple bubbling energy and moved. Sabine’s leg passed through the energy and her leg started to smoke a bit and turn red.

“That hurt!” The villain screamed once she reformed, all wounds gone like they were never there. A purple butterfly-shaped mask appeared over her face and the few people that knew what happened in Paris gasped. “Ugh! Fine!” She tried to lunge at Marinette, but a chair smashed into her head and batted her away like a baseball ball.

“Run!” Tom screamed at her daughter and charged with the chair. Marinette looked at her mother and Damian and all three nodded at the same time. Using the panic and people running away, they ducked into an empty corridor and locked the door.

“Tikki! Spots on!”

“Plagg! Claws out!”

“Roaar! Prowl!”

The light of three transformations was blinding. When it died, Sabine looked over the couple and noticed that she was the only one that had an unchanged outfit.

Damian’s outfit consisted of what were dark gray linen pants, a linen shirt with long sleeves and a hood with two folds on the top of his head that resembled cat ears. Over the shirt, he wore a black vest with dark-green finishes. On his left breast was a cat symbol. His forearms were wrapped with gray straps, over which he wore green armguards that reached a bit over the back of his hand. His dark-gray gloves had sharp claws at the end of each finger. His feet were covered with soft shoes that would make no sound as he moved. Behind him, a loose sash of gray imitated cat’s tail. The final touch was the black mask almost identical to what he wore as Robin, except the white eyes were green in this case. His baton was safely attached to his right thigh for easy access.

Marinette now wore a much more stealthy outfit. The core of it was black with dark-red accents. The boots that reached beyond mid-thigh had a single black spot on each vamp, knee, and at the top. There were dark red spots on each of her hips that doubled as some protection. Over her shoulders she wore a dark-red bolero with a black spot near her neck. The sleeves of her bolero ended just below her elbot and on each end was another black spot. She had an additional, very large black spot, on her back. A simple red mask covered her eyes. Her dark hair, which she wore loose these days, was tied into low twin ponytails with red ribbons. On each hand, she wore a red fingerless glove with a single spot on the wrists.

Sabine looked over the two of them. She immediately noted that Damian’s outfit was much more assassin-esque than the leather tights Chat Noir wore. Her daughter also looked more mature now.

“What happened to your outfit?” She asked, curious why the change happened now.

“Ladybug and Chat Noir are connected. Since I’ve got a new cat, I have a new outfit.” She smiled.

“Black Cat. In the outfit, I’m Black Cat. Chat Noir was a bastard.”

“Um… Akuma?” Ladybug waved her hand toward the main room.

The three jumped out of the corridor to the pandemonium that was happening there.

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Masterlist // Next

104 notes · View notes

florrickandassociates · 3 years

Text

TGF Thoughts: 5x03-- And the court had a clerk...

Hello again! It’s nice to have this show back. This episode was a bit less of a standout than the previous two, but I’m still happy with the overall direction for this season. More under the cut (or here, because tumblr sucks).

When Robert King tweeted the episode title, I asked him if all the titles this season were adding up to one long sentence/story, hoping he’d confirm it and give a little more information. He did! He said it’s “in the Farmer in the Dell mode” and while I think I get what he’s saying, I’m very curious to see how it plays out. Haven’t been able to track down 5x04′s title yet, but the promo is out. (As of this morning! It’s interesting they’re not putting them after the episode this year; I kind of like it.)

Kurt’s job is up in the air given the new administration. I think this scene exists mostly just to remind us where Kurt works and the stakes.

What month is this supposed to be in? The transition seems recent but no one is wearing masks.

Kurt spots a poster asking for help ID’ing people at the Capitol on January 6th. He thinks he recognizes someone...

And now we’re in case of the week land. This case is about a small business owner whose business went under after someone created fake news articles accusing him of pedophilia.

I think the whole point of this (kind of long) scene is to show that this case is a pretty small deal. Low stakes, inexperienced opposing lawyer. (Not even sure why Liz would be arguing this in court, but whatever.)

Tbh I thought this was going to wind up in 9 ¾ court.

Now that we have junior level characters, we get scenes showing that there are, in fact, people at RBL who are mid-level. Liz asks an associate to work on something, he asks another associate to work on it, she delegates to other associates, and they delegate to Marissa and Carmen. This work seems terrible.

It’s so funny to me how this is probably more realistic than most of the lawyering on the show and yet it only shows up selectively. We only see the hierarchy here to make it clear that Marissa and Carmen are at the bottom.

David Lee interrupts and asks for Carmen. He’s very rude to her. Interestingly, she’s hesitant to leave her grunt work and follow David, even though she must know he outranks the associate who gave her the grunt work.

“Why am I supposed to know you?” David asks her as they walk through the halls. “I don’t know if you are,” Carmen responds. “Why does Benjamin Dafoe know you?” he asks. She doesn’t know who he is.

“Who are you?” Dafoe asks when Carmen enters. She states her name, again. “Why are you important?” he asks. “I don’t think that I am,” Carmen responds.

Then Dafoe says his top client, and it’s a name that the characters all know. I’m glad this scene is free of any “he’s the white OJ” expository lines (that’s from Sweeney’s introduction) -- it’s clear from the reactions and the discussion of police and rape that the top client is a bad guy, probably a rapist. The rapist wants Carmen to represent him.

Putting 2 and 2 together, Carmen asks if the rapist knows Rivi. He’s not, but he’s at the same prison. As soon as Carmen says she’s representing Rivi, David Lee switches gears, understanding the situation and trying to sign the new business. He’s so shameless!

Marissa sorts ALL the papers. There are a LOT of papers. I’m swamped. Look at all this paper.

She catches the associate who assigned her the task leaving for the night just as she finishes up, and cheerfully notes she’s finished the task. Then the associate mentions this was only half of the bills. Marissa does not like that. Since her goal in wanting to be a lawyer is mostly just to give her something exciting to do and earn respect... this hierarchy thing is not going so well.

Marissa decides that after her rough day, she’s going to stop by Wackner’s court. He’s in the middle of a case about Emily in Paris fanfiction and he’s very happy to see Marissa.

Wackner’s night court has a program—it notes the sponsor is Copy Co-op (I thought it was Copy Coop?) and the paper products were also provided by them. And “there will be regular intermissions at the discretion of Judge Wackner.” It’s very theatrical.

Wackner takes a recess and calls Marissa to his “chambers.” He asks for her thoughts on the case. “All they want is attention and to feel like they’ve won,” Marissa notes. Wackner’s on the same wave length and compares it to the Scarecrow’s diploma at the end of The Wizard of Oz. So, he makes copyright certificates and some minor modifications to each of the fanfic books. They say “I respect you and I love you” and that’s that.

Wackner catches Marissa before she leaves and asks her to be his law clerk—part time or full time, 10% of all the legal filings and unlimited use of copy machines. She is hesitant because she “doesn’t even know what this is.”

Wackner says his court is “the future.” Marissa turns him down; notes she wants to pass the bar. “You know why all these people are here? ‘Cause the courts and the lawyers and the appeals have made justice... unattainable. Out of reach. To anyone who doesn’t have a shitload of money to wait it out. That’s why Exxon beats out Mr. Nobody. Read Kafka’s Before the Law.”

I just read it, and you should too! It literally is a page, but tl;dr, there’s a man who wants to get to the law and instead he spends his whole life trying to win over the first of many gatekeepers on the path to the law. He never gets through the gate.

“Justice is only just if it’s available to everyone,” Wackner says. Marissa thinks about that.

As I said last week, it’s smart that Wackner makes so much sense. Hearing him say all this, knowing that it’s true... it makes it very easy to get on board with the thought experiment. Of course there would be huge repercussions to this kind of system, but it makes so much sense it’s compelling TV!

Kurt’s showering when Diane gets home, which gives her time to stumble across the WANTED poster and notice that Kurt has drawn facial hair onto one of the pictures. “Who is this?” she asks him. “No one,” he says. “Well, you drew in a beard and a moustache on him,” Diane notes. Kurt says he was doodling, but Diane calls him out as he is the “exact opposite of a doodler.” Kurt says he thought it was someone he knew, but he’s not sure. Diane pushes him to tell the feds. Kurt reiterates he’s not sure, but it’s someone he went shooting with. “Oh my God, then it’s him,” Diane jumps to (not incorrect) conclusions. Kurt says he didn’t talk that way; he’s a veteran. “Kurt! That’s the profile!” Diane argues. Kurt isn’t convinced and he doesn’t want to be responsible for naming names. He notes he’ll be threatened with indictment for not naming names and then only lawyers will end up benefitting. Diane is not convinced.

I think this is an interesting conflict for Kurt and Diane. I understand why Kurt is hesitant to speak out before he’s sure. And I understand and agree with Diane that it’s important to identify the attackers and prevent anything like that from happening again.

I don’t mean to blame Kurt, exactly, but I feel like all of what happens next could’ve played out differently if Kurt had been just a little clearer with Diane about why he was hesitant to ID the man. Like, the threat of indictment for not naming names sounds like some typical anti-government rambling. Saying you specifically are afraid that this will turn back on you and you need to weigh your options and come up with a plan first would put Diane in a very different mode, in which they’d work together to craft the best strategy. Because this man would’ve been ID’d by someone, sooner or later, and Kurt would’ve needed to be prepared.

Diane stares at the wanted poster at work and asks Jay to find his identity. He’s on the FBI TEN MOST WANTED? Ten!? Ok!

Diane shares the extra information she has—the gun range and that he’s a veteran—and Jay gets to work.

Turns out there’s no money in the case that Liz, a name partner, is working on and Marissa just spent all those hours sorting bills for. I could’ve told you there was no money in that case lol.

Jay IDs the guy very fast. He’s faster than the feds because they didn’t know where he shot. The range had his license on file, and Jay got ahold of it.

“Well, we don’t pay you enough,” Diane says. “Oh, I know that,” Jay laughs.

Diane says she’s going to think about calling the feds—it's definitely the same guy.

Marissa notes someone high profile (David Cord, who I presume is a thinly veiled stand-in for David Koch given the name, his role in the plot, and the fact that he is “David Cord of the Cord Brothers”) in the lobby giving a fake name and goes to tell Liz.

David Cord is performing magic tricks for the receptionists (they don’t recognize him) when Liz and Marissa show up. “I knew your father. I hated your father,” Cord says. “Yes, well, he hated you too,” Liz says. He says he gave a fake name to see what the reception would be like since he’s kinda infamous.

Liz introduces Marissa as one of the law clinic lawyers. Marissa knows what to say in this situation. Specifically, she knows that it is the exact right moment to name drop her father.

“Democrats as far as the eye can see,” Cord notes. At that, Liz asks Marissa to get Julius involved.

More good expository work! (No, editor feature of Word, I do NOT want that to say “Better expository work,” that would change my meaning, go away and please stop grading my recap??? I don’t know how I brought this up but it’s telling me my score is 72%, so a C, and it’s driving me crazy. Oh, now I’m a 71%. It had me at like, 50%, because I had written “Wackner” and “Wackner” is not a word. No shit.)

Anyway, back to the exposition. I like that we don’t get a line like, “Liz! David Cord, the Republican super donor, is here!” We just get to see Liz’s reaction, Cord’s hate of Liz’s father, and the line about democrats. Then it becomes clearer who Cord is.

Just noticed Liz is wearing an Apple Watch.

Liz stands for her meeting with Cord, likely to maintain power. Cord says January 6th changed everything to him and now he’s all about unity and loving America.

Cord has something to say about Liz’s case, the one that’s not making any money, and he seems to know quite a lot about it. That spooks Liz.

Then Cord offers her $12 million to continue the case for another six months (all of these months, seemingly, will play out in the couple of days the rest of this episode takes, but, whatever). He just wants them to go after the social media company that distributed the fake news... and Section 230.

Don’t know what that is? Now you do, because there is a Good Fight short! These work so much better when they’re actually needed (explaining concepts, etc.) than when they’re trying to force one into every episode (remember that Downton Abbey one? What... was that?)

I was talking to @mimeparadox about this short and he pointed out that this short has a VERY clear POV on an issue that actually doesn’t seem to be all that straightforward. If you’re like me and only had a vague sense of what Section 230 was prior to this episode, this short is telling you what to think of it—it isn’t just explaining what it is.

I do tend to agree with the show’s POV on most things, but this is an issue I’d like to read more on. I love how Section 230 was something I hadn’t really read up on prior to this episode and now that it’s been on TGF I realize it’s something that actually, yes, I would’ve been interested in knowing about earlier. Is this because things that are on TGF are interesting to me because they’re on TGF or is it because TGF generally only discusses things that would be interesting to me? Probs a little bit of both.

Diane asks Jay how to make an anonymous phone call and he hands her a burner phone. She calls the FBI with the rioter’s name. She doesn’t leave her name and then she dumps the phone.

Credits! Did you catch there’s a Jordan Boatman in the credits? She plays one of the associates who passes down the grunt work to Marissa, and she’s Michael Boatman’s daughter in real life! She’s also been in one other episode, in season 3.

I never get tired of these credits!

The RL partners (and some associates who are on the case? I think these are the same ones who delegated the work to Marissa?) debate whether or not they should take Cord’s money. Madeline notes that he’s funded a lot of Republican campaigns; Julius notes that both Republicans and Democrats agree that Section 230 is flawed and this is an opportunity for unity.

Diane notes that the right doesn’t want to stop conspiracy theories from spreading, so is this really that bipartisan? “It would help if the boomers would stop falling for those conspiracy theories and sharing it with their friends,” an associate (I believe this is Michael Boatman’s daughter again) notes. That quiets the room and the partners all glare at her. Yeah, that was a kind of stupid thing to say. First of all, it’s just not appropriate to say to the partners, and it’s also, like, missing the point? If it’s easy for conspiracy theories to spread among boomers, maybe just expecting each member of that generation to suddenly have a millennial’s understanding of the internet is the wrong strategy? Maybe there’s some structural issue here? That maybe, just maybe, this case is actually about?

The associate also points out that the internet is currently a place where people can speak out about sexual harassment-- “they repeal section 230, and there would be no #MeToo.”

One of the partners says he doesn’t believe that—if they regulate section 230, then newspapers can actually be competitive and there’s still free speech online.

“We’re not going back to reading newspapers, grandpa,” some associate says. What the actual fuck, dude? Who talks like that to their boss?! It’s so condescending. He’s also wrong! “Newspapers” are not just physical things... reporting by major publications still matters and will continue to matter. Like, is he suggesting that in the future all news will just be random people tweeting things they think are true with no fact checking or curation? Sure, journalism is struggling right now—but I don’t think that’s because there’s a lack of desire for well-reported news.

I am glad the partners call him out on saying “grandpa” and honestly I’m shocked he isn’t asked to leave the discussion after that rude remark. Unless this young looking dude is a partner too? But I don’t think he is.

Julius notes that if they’re going to pursue this case, they need money like Cord’s. At that, Liz starts to leave the meeting. “We haven’t decided if we’re taking this Cord money yet,” Madeline protests. “Of course we are,” Liz says and leaves.

Now that’s more like it! I’m not sure if this is necessarily the best way to handle this, but she’s a) correct, they were always going to take the money because it is $12 million and an issue of interest and b) using her authority. Should Liz be making decisions totally on her own? Maybe not. Does Liz making this decision and then leaving (with everyone accepting that she’s correct) cut through a lot of bullshit and establish Liz as the one in charge? Yup.

Diane says, “Ooh-kay” with a little bit of an eyeroll after Liz exits, but she’s still laying low. I think in a different season Diane might’ve tried to push back.

Is it me or does Baranski get a lot of material this episode we haven’t seen before? Lots of really good reaction shots/tones in this episode I don’t really think we’ve seen from Diane before. I’m impressed there’s still new stuff after 12 years.

At some point maybe I will actually write the essay I’ve been wanting to write for ages about how TGF is still so relevant despite being in a universe that should be showing its age by now. I wish I could find the first time that I called TGW a period piece set in the present day (I know it would’ve been during season five) because I think that’s the key to TGW/TGF’s enduring success. The shows always feel timely because they try to capture the present moment (which is, of course, always changing) and don’t get stuck in any one moment in time. Further, the fact that the writers are always so tuned in to events and skilled at quickly reacting to what happens in the world makes them VERY good in a pinch, which is (I think) why they’re able to make the most of unexpected situations (Josh leaving TGW, the pandemic).

Liz and Julius bring a suit against ChumHum to attack 230. Judge Friend is initially skeptical of their argument that 230 is unconstitutional; then she’s intrigued. I am too. This argument about the press is a very interesting one. I obviously have a lot of reading to do on 230, but my take after this episode is pretty much that social media platforms have to be held responsible in some way, but I don’t think it’s feasible or desirable for them to be responsible for every single one of billions of posts. I think there has to be some way to regulate social media giants that would allow everyday people to share things and speak out but would prevent the curated (even by an algorithm) spread of fake news and make social media giants accountable when there are very public bad actors using their platforms. What that regulation would be I have no idea. I just refuse to believe that our options are to give the social media sites full immunity or to regulate the internet so strongly that no one is able to speak freely because all the platforms are worried about lawsuits.

Over at the VA, people are being fired. When Kurt gets into his office, Madeline Starkey (wait, are there two characters named Madeline in this episode?) is waiting for him. She’s still very quirky and scary.

Starkey says the guy that Diane reported is now saying Kurt trained him on using assault rifles and buying ammunition in bulk. Kurt notes these were topics covered in a group setting, which Starkey knew—and what she’s really after is the names of the others in the group. (She may already know them, since she knows there were five of them.)

Kurt refuses to name names and just stares at her.

Case stuff happens! (I liked the last two episodes a lot but it’s much faster for me to just write, “case stuff happens” for some of the scenes.)

Hey, surprise Aaron Tveit! (Not really a surprise; he is in the credits. But still yay!)

I don’t really know why Liz and Julius are talking about newspapers specifically and not all types of fact-based journalism/press? I feel like their argument is most convincing when it’s about actual newspapers (especially local ones) but still would apply to cable news...

Marissa’s still hard at work sorting papers when the associate comes back in and informs her she can stop; they’ve changed strategies and everything she’s done is now irrelevant. She also says “I forgot to tell you” at the start of that thought, meaning that she neglected to tell Marissa this important information earlier and wasted her time. Marissa is not pleased and so she goes to Wackner’s court, where Wackner now has a deli ticket machine and is wearing super-sized novelty sunglasses. Why not!

He sees Marissa and calls a five-minute recess. In “chambers,” Marissa tells him she’d like to work for him part-time but keep her RL job.

Wackner needs her help processing more copyright certificates. He’s priced them competitively at $20 and found that a lot of writers want these certificates, even though they have no legal value. (Neither do actual copyrights, Wackner notes. And he notes that if anyone plagiarizes, they can sue in HIS court.)

“Marissa, I’m building something here. I want you to join me. I want your advice on cases. I want to bounce legal theories off you,” he says. “What are your legal theories?” she asks. “I don’t know. That’s why I need to bounce them,” he says.

Marissa gives him from noon to 2 and 5-7, which seems awfully ambitious for someone working at a law firm!

“That’s how revolutions are made. Back rooms of copy shops,” he says, accepting her offer.

Kurt is sulking in the dark when Diane arrives home. He lets her know about Starkey’s visit and she immediately goes into lawyer mode. Notably, this scene does not spend much time on how Starkey found out the rioter’s name. Curious if they’re saving that for later or if Diane and Kurt both know what Diane must have done or if Kurt think’s it’s a coincidence.

Kurt SET UP A TOUR OF THE CAPITOL for one of the veterans in his shooting group, and that tour was ON JANUARY 6TH! I really do wish he’d told Diane that upfront.

Maybe the long pause where Kurt refuses to tell Diane which congressperson arranged the tour even after she promises she won’t say is him letting on that he knows that Diane ID’d the guy? Or maybe it’s just Kurt.

I do not like the dead birds in Starkey’s office, mostly because I do not like thinking about dead birds.

Starkey compares Diane and Kurt to the Conways.

And now more case stuff happens.

Julius gets to question a witness for the first time in two years! He’s a little shaky at first but then he does a fantastic job! Yay Julius!

When Diane arrives at the office, reception is filled with around a hundred teddy bears. “What?” she asks. “Build-a-Bears. They were sent to Marissa,” the receptionist explains. “Okay... why?” Diane asks the logical next question. The receptionist does not know.

“This one’s a Marissa bear,” she says, showing Diane a bear wearing boots and a wig. It does not look much like Marissa and it says “Hug me.”

Diane looks confused and furious at the same time. Her look here is, like, a milder version of the death stare she gives Alicia in Outside the Bubble when she learns about Alicia and Cary’s plan to leave.

“Why don’t we, meaning you, take all these stuffed animals and put them in the conference room,” Diane instructs the receptionist. She is NOT! HAPPY! The receptionist seemed to be having fun with the bears, but clearly the right answer was to have done something with them and... not to have put them over every surface in reception. Eeek.

Carmen’s new client, the rapist, arrives at the firm before anyone can hide the bears. “This may not be the firm for you,” his advisor/lawyer (I’m not totally sure what this dude’s job is) warns.

Madeline notices the rapist and glares at the receptionist. “I know. I’m putting them in the conference room,” the receptionist says, thinking Madeline is upset about the bears. She is not upset about the bears.

Diane finds Marissa, who’s working with Carmen again. She asks Carmen to give them a moment.

“Why are there hundreds of teddy bears in our reception?” Diane asks. Marissa is confused. Diane shows her the Marissa bear. Marissa looks horrified and amused. “That doesn’t even look like me,” Marissa notes, completely missing how pissed off Diane is. I don’t think we have seen Diane be this direct/no-nonsense in ages.

“That would seem to be beside the point. What is going on, Marissa?” Diane demands. Marissa suspects this is based on some advice she offered to a client who was buying a Build-a-Bear franchise and thinks this is a thank you gift. “What client? You’re not a lawyer! Why do you have clients?” Diane says exasperatedly.

Marissa gives her a look, and Diane immediately understands that she’s been back to Wackner’s court. “Oh my God, this is about that Copy Coop court?”

“Marissa, no. By participating in that simulacrum of a courtroom, you exposed this firm to malpractice, sanctions, and God knows what,” Diane says. If that were really true, she wouldn’t have sat there and argued. I mean, I don’t know the legality of this all, but I feel like it’s a bigger optics issue than legal issue if Diane and other lawyers are willing to even consider participating?

“If you wish to continue your employment at this firm, you will never do anything like that again. Do you understand?” Diane says. She will not hear any arguments.

I love that Marissa is the thing that keeps Wackner coming back. It’s a good plot for her, but structurally, it also allows the show to keep Wackner around without many contrivances. Wackner sees that Marissa would understand what he’s up to, she sees that he shares some of her frustrations with the law, and they both want to work together again. It’s not like suddenly everyone’s talking about Wackner’s court and all the cases somehow end up there or anything.

The receptionist, who is having a truly terrible day, comes into announce that Kurt and Starkey have arrived. “Don’t put them in the conference room!” Diane commands, knowing that the teddy bears will be there. It’s too late, though, because the receptionist (who previously seemed to be fine at her job if bad at recognizing public figures and understanding that partners might not find teddy bears amusing) has already put them in the conference room. I feel bad for her, and don’t think the other things were her fault, but I feel like she could’ve seen this one coming...

I find the teddy bears HILARIOUS, mostly because the reactions to them are so funny. It’s kind of the same gag as the balloons for Lucca in season two, but I don’t really care, because I’m getting to see Diane Lockhart treat hundreds of Build-a-Bears like they are a real work problem.

Starkey jokes about the bears; Kurt is silent.

The rioter from the poster is now accusing Kurt of coming up with the STRATEGY for January 6th, which Kurt and Diane both dismiss as bullshit.

I could do without Starkey’s musical cues.

I can’t tell if Kurt is in trouble here or if she’s just pressing him to name names. Why wouldn’t she just have rioter guy name names if he’s so eager to blame Kurt? I guess maybe if the others were actually there, he might be less likely to name the names of his actual co-conspirators? Or, Starkey might already know the names (surely the shooting range has logs) and be using this to raise the stakes.

No one (except maybe the partner named Daniel) is happy about the rapist in reception. “Since when are we representing people like Wolfe-Coleman?” Julius asks. Didn’t these people help both Sweeney (though I think Sweeney was in some weird police brutality case and they didn’t actually want to represent him) and Bishop? And Rivi? But they draw the line here? Sure.

Ah, there we go, an expository line-- “he’s the next Jeffrey Epstein”. Almost made it the whole episode without one of these. I’ll forgive it since it’s so late in the episode lol.

“Did you approve this, Liz?!” Madeline demands. Liz did not. Daniel wonders if that means Diane approved it. Liz doesn’t think so and calls Diane (who happens to be walking past) in.

“I know, the teddy bears. I’m working on it,” Diane says when she opens the door. I think the teddy bears are a bigger issue to Diane than to anyone else.

Diane didn’t approve representing Mr. Rapey either. She’s uncomfortable that a meeting was happening without her; Madeline notes that she is standing there specifically because they wanted to involve her.

David Lee pops up out of nowhere with the answer: one of the new associates (not Marissa, “the real one”) pulled in Mr. Rapey. Are there only two associates now even though orientation was for a big group?

Firth is gone, btw. David Lee is the new Mr. Firth. I have no idea why David would want to be STR Laurie’s guy for managing RL but... sure, whatever? David Lee is an effective antagonist, especially in small doses, and this allows the writers to keep him around and continue the STR Laurie plot without a key guest star. If STR Laurie is still a thing, and it seems like it is going to be a thing for a while, then having David Lee take on this role makes sense for plot. Otherwise they’re going to have to shoehorn him in to every plot somehow. At least now he has a reason to be around.

Liz and Diane take a walk to chat. Diane is worried about having David as their boss. Liz says she has a worse worry—David Lee knew exactly when to come downstairs with information, suggesting he know what they were talking about. “Would he do something like that?” Liz asks when Diane wonders if there’s a bug. “Oh, yeah,” Diane replies. Hah, yeah. He absolutely would.

They decide to have Jay search for bugs and Liz is frustrated with how much time they have to spend on things other than lawyering. Yup.

“What is going on with all the teddy bears in the conference room?” Liz asks as they head back to the office. “It’s a long story,” Diane sighs. I also love that the teddy bears link the various pieces of the episode together—it feels like all of these threads are happening simultaneously because of that constant.

I don’t get RL’s approach to clients. Bishop and Rivi are ok, Wolfe-Colman is not (except that actually he is fine). Cord is okay too. Do they draw the line anywhere? I know Liz was right when she said that OF COURSE they were taking the money, but is there really nothing that differentiates that situation from this one? I feel like there should be.

Marissa goes back to see Wackner. Since someone refuses to say “I respect and I love you,” Wackner reverses his ruling. This is part of the “Bad Loser Law of last Wednesday,” so the rules of Wackner’s court are clearly a work in progress.

Marissa explains she can’t be the law clerk because of Diane. She tries to connect him with a real lawyer, still not understanding exactly what Wackner’s after. “You know just enough not to crush what I’m doing here,” Wackner explains. “A real lawyer will look for reasons why not. I need someone to look for reasons why.”

Case stuff happens. I cannot read Cord’s handwriting. Liz and Julius lose the case because Judge Friend says what’s happening isn’t fair, but it is constitutional. (So here we have, at least in the show’s POV, a good and attentive judge who can’t make decisions that make sense because she’s bound by a document written before anyone had ever dreamed of the internet.)

Cord is waiting for Liz in her office. He’s prepared to bankroll an appeal. Did they blow thorough that $12 million already? Impressive; it’s been like a day.

Cord says they are definitely the firm he wants. Interesting.

Now Liz wants a meeting with Carmen, so it’s Marissa who leaves the room. This scene seems like it was meant to be a different day?

Liz wants to talk about Mr. Rapey. Carmen is, yet again, chill about the case. “Carmen, is there anyone that you would not represent?” Liz asks. Funny, Liz, I could ask you the same. Being hesitant about it is not changing the fact that you’re representing bad people. Carmen’s just cutting the bullshit.

“I don’t understand. Is there someone you don’t want me to represent?” I love how Carmen’s incredibly polite responses always seem very pointed. There is absolutely nothing wrong with Carmen’s reply, and yet it puts Liz in a place where she can’t dance around what she’s trying to say.

“I’m just trying to get a sense of who you are,” Liz explains.

Then Liz decides she’s going to help on the Craig Wolfe-Colman (Mr. Rapey) case, and they will keep talking about her career path. Liz, this does not seem like the right solution! You're worried about your associate representing bad people so you’re like, I know, what if I ALSO represented bad people? If your goal is to convince Carmen not to take clients like this, you’re kinda shooting yourself in the foot!

“Are you worried about me?” Carmen says, again turning things on Liz. “I don’t know what I am about you,” Liz replies. Me either. Well, I know I'm intrigued, but beyond that, no clue!

All the bears have ended up in Diane’s office, where Wackner is waiting. He jokes about how his court is always seen as informal, yet this real fancy law office is covered in Build-a-Bears. Then he says he wants to hire RL—he's willing to pay. He wants consultation from Marissa (“consultation on legal issues”) and he’s prepared to spend a lot. And, if there’s one thing we know, it’s that they’re always going to take the money. So, they do.

I love that Wackner’s goal is to “perfect my little clubhouse of the law.” It’s a fun plot, and it also allows for the rules in his court to change (I’m sure we’re going to be treated to/subjected to a lot of whimsical gags around changing and ridiculous rules). It's also a good way to work through the thought experiment over the course of the season. It’s not like Wackner already has a system set up and it’s perfect—I'm sure we’re going to see his system run into issues and explore that more, too.

Wackner monologues a bit here about why he’s running fake court, and he lets us know he’s going to monologue. Basically he thinks people no longer want to help people and are only motivated by their own self interest. He notes that no one talks about the Peace Corps anymore and asks the last time Diane heard anyone say those words. I’m sure I’ve heard a reference more recently but my mind went RIGHT to season one Cary Agos saying “Peace Corps. Belize,” as some kind of smarmy pickup line. This is likely not where my mind was supposed to go.

Wackner wants “A new Peace Corps. For America.” Diane’s sympathetic to that and agrees to take him on as a client.

Wackner asks if he can take a bear. Diane instructs him to take two.

Aaaand Wackner and Cord end up on the elevator together. Wackner hands Cord a bear, the elevator doors close, and the episode ends. Since last episode ended with Marissa and Carmen in the elevator together, I’m hoping this will be how every episode this season ends. I think using the Kings’ favorite liminal space to transition between episodes is kind of fun, and it fits with the ellipses at the end of every episode title.

Speaking of... did you see today’s elevator-themed episode of Evil? It was written by the Kings. Those two have been obsessed with elevators for at least a decade.

#the good fight #tgfthoughts

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lizacstuff · 4 years

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Hi! What did you think of ep23?I love your in depth thoughts on the episodes. I really enjoyed it, especially the EdSer moments (was smiling like an idiot during the skating scene - when Eda complained about it being hot (girl same), and also that she understood what he said in French omg). I hope the grandmother doesn't turn out to be as evil as everyone is assuming. I guess the one big con was Ayfer. She's gotten more annoying right? That's not just me? But I love me some Aydan!

Hello! Thank you for the kind words. Let's see, I did like the episode, but as I said in another ask I was a bit on edge while watching for a couple of reasons, but they're all Edser related so I'll talk about that when I talk about them at the end. As far as Ayfer is concerned, I FEEL YOU.

Good grief, woman. Why does she have to be such a harpy? It feels like she complains about absolutely everything. Plus, she's forcing a situation where her beloved niece can't trust or confide in her, and all the girls have to hide Eda's work schedule from her. Look, if Ayfer doesn't want to spend time with Aydan, fine, but her anger towards and disapproval of Eda's job and her relationship with Serkan are completely selfish. She may tell herself she's disapproving for Eda's own good, but come on.

Because, seriously, what does Ayfer think she's protecting Eda from? Serkan is handsome, rich, successful and head over heels in love with Eda. Let's be honest, Eda could do worse. He might be a tad arrogant and controlling, but he's a very good man with a very good heart. Also he tries with Ayfer. I get the connection with Alptekin is upsetting, but Serkan and Aydan have cut him completely out of their lives and neither had anything to do with what happened. I also get that Ayfer was put off by the whole contract thing, but it took two to tango there, and Eda's entire world opened up because of that arrangement.

Maybe that's the problem?

(more under the cut)

Maybe Ayfer can feel Eda expanding and growing and her world getting much bigger than Ayfer's and it scares her? She thinks she'll lose her, or won't recognize her? Privately, Serkan and Eda have talked about running away together, maybe Ayfer senses that's a possibility? (PRO TIP: Then don't be a negative force they have to get away from!)

Also what's happening with this Chef Alexander thing? Is he actually going to make an appearance? Is there going to be a romance? I think that would be good, maybe that will salvage Ayfer's character and she'll get distracted and maybe even happy. I did laugh, though, at her her calling Aydan and Seyfi out on their lie about having him on board with their charity scheme. They should know better than to try that. Amateur move, kids! But I will always applaud their matchmaking efforts when it comes to Eda and Serkan.

I enjoyed the girls this episode. I like that they don't share Ayfer's concerns about Serkan and are ready to go to the mat for whatever Eda wants. Poor Melo is the worst detective, but she gets points for trying. Also points for picking up what Eda was putting down and skillfully sweeping Balca and her broken heel out of the way. I'd want Fifi for protection as well, girl is badass. I can't tell what this Fifi/Erdem thing is supposed to be. Does she have a soft spot for him, she must because I don't know why she would give him the time of day otherwise. She's not one we have to worry about not being able to say no. If she wanted to rid herself of his presence, she'd do it. Ceren and Ferit are just kind of... there. I don't dislike it, but I also don't really care. They need something to spice that up.

Which is what we finally got with Engin and Piril! Holy moly, who is her dad!?! Mafia boss? Politician? Wealthy recluse? @alicekepley suggested on another post that maybe it's Aydan's first love. Now that would be interesting. Maybe he turned to a life of crime after being disappointed by Aydan? I am now looking forward to see how this plays out and how it affects them. However, there's one thing that gets me almost every episode. I love Engin and Anil, but he looks at least a decade older than Serkan, Piril, and Selin. So much so that I don't buy they could have gone to school together. This is where I'll have to call on my well honed suspension of disbelief I guess... I'll tell myself he spent a lot of time in the sun and is graying a bit prematurely.

I did like Engin and Serkan sitting around commiserating about their relationships and hoping things were about to turn around. That's the more equal buddy talk I want to know happens.

Speaking of Serkan, duuuuuuuuude. You're being hunted, wise up! I'm really stuck on what he said to Sirius after Eda left his house at the top of the episode. "Don't look at me like that, everything is under control, I know perfectly well what I'm doing, this is my tactic." We know from last episode he thought Eda would show, and this episode while talking to Eda he told her that he was expecting her and the candles were for her. So... did he purposely allow Balca in to provoke Eda's jealousy? If so, I'm not sure this is his best course of action. It's certainly not with regards to fanning Balca's dangerous pretensions, but I'm not sure he's getting his best result with Eda either. It's true that it gave him an excuse to flirt, make the bet, tease her, bask in her obvious jealousy even if she won't admit it, and get a Parisian date out of it. I suppose that's not a bad day's work. On the other hand, if he'd sent Balca on her way, he would have had a happy Eda, in his house, sitting on the couch next to him, watching a movie with him, which also could have led to a very good place for him.

It's also a mystery to me if Serkan is really clueless about Balca's intentions, or if he's playing dumb to suit his own purposes with Eda. I'm thinking it's the middle. He probably sees it but thinks it's a whole lot more harmless than it is. Like maybe he gets Balca has a crush on him, but he has no suspicion that he's in dangerous fatal attraction territory. Which is where we are. I don't want to fling words like 'crazy' around, but... bitch be crazy! If she is capable of trying to large-scale sabotage his company in her pursuit of him, that's some seriously scary stuff. WAKE UP, SERKAN.

I said I was uneasy while watching this episode and part of it was concern over what would happen with the tender, and worrying if Balca's sabotage was going to work, leaving Eda to blame. If that had gone the other way, the fallout would have been painful. Also storylines where a fav is falsely accused always make me antsy. I was able to handle the Serkan roof collapse one because it was at the end of the episode, and they were able to figure out that he wasn't responsible right off the top of the next. But this one had me on edge all ep. I was especially nervous after Eda made the independent report on her recommended firm part of a trust test. Sweetie, I love you, but NOOOOO. That was not the move of a professional. Serkan, as the company principle, wanting to vet a partner or vendor is completely normal and has nothing to do with how much he trusts her. Put aside the fact that she's only been in the workforce for a few months, you always want a second set of eyes on something that important. Always. She showed some of her immaturity there, which is fine, she's young and inexperienced, but it's a sign of how desperate Serkan is for her to forgive him that he humored her. That man will do anything for her, even if it doesn't make sense or is potentially damaging. I get why the writer's did it, for the suspense of Eda being out on that limb all on her own, but it was also actually a bit of a missed opportunity for him to mentor her there. (And I love when she learns from him.)

The other reason I was uneasy watching this ep was due to some frustration with Eda. See above on the trust test, but it was also a little hard to watch her just completely succumb to Serkan's charm and be in the moment with him one moment, and then the next second shake it off and be adamant that she was going to be leaving the job and him shortly. It felt like constant whiplash. Also if she won the bet she wanted him to leave her alone? Sure, Jan. She could have asked for something really good! We all know she doesn’t really want him to leave her alone, so that pretense has gotten harder and harder to take. However, the times she rebuffed him didn't bother me as much as when she told Melo she was leaving the job. I can chalk up the ones to Serkan as part of her act, trying to protect herself and poke holes in his pretensions, but when she said it to Melo it felt more real. Like that was really what she was still planning to do, and it's really hard to reconcile that with all the moments where she puts down her guard and it's obvious she's madly in love with him.

On a positive note, scenes where it’s clear they’re madly in love with each other were plentiful this episode. The romantic robot used every opportunity he could find to make her melt. My GAWD she has a will of iron that she was able to back away from him after he recited all the ways he could tell if a woman (her) was in love with him. He is one smooth bastard. And boy does he know her, he knows exactly what he does to her. That scene was FIRE. Not to be crass, but how did they not do it right then and there? After the last few eps, they have to be at a 100 on a scale of 1-10 when it comes to pent up sexual energy. Hey Eda, maybe you wouldn't be so jealous if you knew he had an outlet for that. I'm just sayin'.

The lunch was pretty funny and I definitely enjoyed the kicking and the under the table conversation. After refusing to admit she was jealous, Eda totally deserved that Serkan said that whatever Balca's feelings for him were, they were between him and Balca. Eeesh. I see what he's doing, he's trying to bring her feelings out into the open, and she deserves it, but I don't think he realizes how vulnerable she is over everything. He's walking a tightrope here. However, I do appreciate that he finally just admitted that he's jealous. If he'd just done that in 18, he would have saved himself some angst. Are we to infer from Serkan asking Eda not to use emojis with Efe, that Edser likes to use emojis when they text? Or was that just a generic, "don't be cute with him?" I think I'll take that Serkan and Eda use emojis, just because it tickles me to think of Serkan Bolat doing that. All of shipper twitter thinks that's the writers poking at the actors because of how much they use them with one another on social. Who knows, maybe that explains it, since it sort of came out of the blue. You gotta love, though, that every manipulative thing Balca did either failed or backfired spectacularly. Showing up at his place, sure she succeeded in upsetting Eda and derailing their night, but it also put Eda on her guard and brought about the flirty wager between Eda and Serkan. She left the earring, but Eda found it before she could use it as an excuse to return. She broke her heel, but that just gave her a ruined pair of shoes and Melo an excuse to get her out of there so Serkan and Eda could be alone. She and her devious friend succeeded in throwing Melo and Eda off the scent, however all that meant was that Serkan won the bet and gave him the pretense needed to get her to agree to the most romantic date on the planet. She sabotaged the report, but Eda still found out about the company's background and Eda was the hero when ArtLife won the tender. Balca: 0 percent success rate so far.

THE ICE SKATING SCENES WERE PURE MAGIC! It was fun to see the whole cast out there having a blast, but obviously it was the Edser scene at night that lit up the whole show. Damn was that pretty. (it's currently my ipad lock screen and home screen) The chemistry between the actors was on display all episode, but here it just exploded. When Eda said she was hot, no kidding! How could you not be? And I agree that Serkan speaking French to her was OMG. Love, love, love the date that Serkan planned for them in Paris. I'm bereft that we'll likely never see it. Damn you pandemic, look what you've taken from us! The characters, and the audience, deserve an entire episode of Paris romantic fluff. We've all earned this!

The date sounded perfect and I found it very interesting that he had purposely never been to Montmartre. So at some point he promised himself he'd only go there with a woman he was truly in love with, makes me wonder if it was a much younger Serkan who made that promise. The Serkan we met in the pilot didn't believe in love, he was hard-hearted, he actually talked with Engin about how a contract, a bloodless business transaction, was the way to go for relationships. Robot Bolat. So I don't think he made that idealistic promise any time recently. If so, that means he's had that in the back of his mind for years, but Eda's the only woman he's ever considered taking. My heart. I love how the show keeps showing us and telling us that this is the first time Serkan has ever been in love. You could see in that scene that Eda was right there with him. She was so happy and in the moment and swept away by the romance. She was as excited for Paris as he was. I know we all wanted a kiss/declaration here, it would have been a very good moment for it. A very good one. But the show has other plans for them, so we wait.

So, yeah, I really liked the Edser we got, but Eda’s hot and cold act was hard to reconcile at times. However, perhaps it all came together in the end, when she's talking to Melo and Ceren about Paris. She was feeling troubled over it, probably what agreeing to go with him meant, but they both told her to listen to her heart in Paris and it seems like she was going to do it: "From now on I'll stop worrying. I'm opening a new page in life." So I think in that moment she was ready for next steps and was planning to be open with him in Paris, let's hope it carries over to the next episode even without Paris.

Actually, that whole conversation was a bit of a window into her psyche and was more illuminating than almost anything in the episode in that regard. When Eda says she’s worried, Melo teases her that she's nervous to be alone with Serkan Bolat, and then jokes that all young women would like to have that problem, including herself. Eda does NOT like that joke and actually verbalizes it, "Melo, at least you don't do that." That was a huge spotlight into Eda's insecurities, like she is really discombobulated by witnessing women showing interest in him while they're in such a nebulous place. Since she is coming off of what happened with Selin, and was already feeling jealous when the first candidate set her off with (her creepy) talk of chemistry last episode, then finding Balca at Serkan's house in the opening scene, I suppose it's no surprise that all of that has had some residual effects. But that it's to the point where she can't take a joke from Melo is telling. Poor thing.

My hope is that this is just something she's working through while she's feeling off-kilter about everything. It would be one thing if they were together, but she's in this headspace where half the time she says she's leaving and it's over between them and half the time she acting like his wife, so I think she's just discombobulated. Maybe she just wants time to figure things out, but feels like she doesn’t have it, because someone is going to swoop in and take her place and that’s feeding her jealousy? The fact that Serkan can’t see it (Selin and Balca) until it’s out of control doesn’t help.

It's natural for her to be upset that this woman has entered the scene and is clearly trying to maneuver herself into Eda's place in Serkan's life. However, there is an easy fix to this. Just go be with him. Come on, Eda, we know you can do it! You're ready. You’re primed. Bring on the New Year's Ep!

#Sen Çal Kapımı #sen cal kapimi #edser #sck ask #sck episode discussion #edser discussion #sck 1x23 #edser meta #asklizac #Anonymous #sckask

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saladejin · 4 years

Text

Call An Uber? | 10

BTS x Reader | idolverse au, uber driver!Reader, translator!Reader | Fluff, flirting, super slow burn, angst and hurt/comfort, mature themes and eventual smut

Summary: Your normal life with a normal, yet inconsistent job gets drastically changed when your dreams come true. Sounds boring right?

What happens when all of this occurs, but you’re still doing something you love AND getting a large sum for it? Now there’s something to think about, and it’s definitely not what you’re thinking.

Warnings: None

Word Count: 2.5k

< masterpost >

»»————- <<prev | next >> ————-««

Red, Red, Brownish? Brown, I guess.

Well, things had definitely taken a turn.

Brown, even darker brown.

Was my brain even working? It had been days, but I still didn’t even know the answer to that question. Ever since I had returned to my apartment that night, things had been hard to grasp. The cogs were in tiny pieces, littering the floor inside my head.

Brown, brown.

My finger stopped and tapped the can in front of my eyes, almost as if trying to calibrate my scattered thoughts and feelings at the same time.

Black.

Okay, so now my life had truly reached a peak of existence. People very rarely lived their dreams, but here I was. A very much living and breathing instance of such luck.

I’d expressed my shaken gratitude to Bang PD right before he had to go. He had many important things to see to back at his company, and I had no intentions of keeping him waiting in the carpark just because I couldn’t flounder any more with my words. I really hoped he would forgive me for my moments of delay...in the mind, at least.

“You’re a blessing.”

Am I a blessing? I think I’m just the blessed one here.

The plastic bag was gently taken from my fingers and I looked up to see the slightly concerned gaze of the stylist raking over me. “Are you okay, (Y/n)-ah?”

I smiled and shook my head in pure disbelief. “I’m sure I’m fine. Sorry if I seem a bit dazed, it’s not something to be worried about.”

The stylist tilted her head fondly, and I rolled my eyes when she jerked her hand forward to pinch my right cheek. “You’re so cute, please say you’ll stay with us for a bit longer?”

I frowned and looked down pointedly at my wristwatch, seeing that my small break was almost due to finish up. The hopeful tinge alighting the taller woman’s eyes flickered out as I sighed and shook my head.

“Sorry, I have work to do. And this room is slowly killing me, I swear,” I whined to try and lighten the mood. I didn’t want the workers to feel sad just because I had to leave and do my actual job. The fact that most of my break had been spent driving down to the shop was sad enough on its own.

“You know we’re trying to get better ventilation,” another woman piped up from where she was organising makeup supplies, and I smiled when every person in the room let out an amused groan simultaneously.

“Our lungs are a small price to pay,” a male stylist snorted with disdain.

I left the room to joke amongst themselves, having already spending way too much of my time in there as it was. The basement was becoming like a second workplace, but it was only because I finished my jobs as an interpreter quite swiftly as the day went on. Practical things like interviews were happening rarely at this point in time, but I knew once the boys had their comeback, things would change greatly.

I passed the brightened practice room as usual and smiled to see some of the boys already delving right into their daily routines. This time, every single one of them could be seen warming up to the sound of the choreographer’s snappy instructions. I felt proud and awed at the sight of their determination to practice so hard, getting every minuscule move down to the point of perfection.

“Hello.”

I grunted with surprise as my attention was torn away from the narrow door window. I hadn’t even realised I’d stopped to observe through the glass, but now a deep and somnolent voice had broken me from the trance.

“Yoongi, damn you’re quiet.” I laughed airily, resisting the urge to clasp at my chest to calm the rapidly beating heart contained within. I glanced at the man in front of me, noting his attire to be fairly casual but sporty at the same time. His faded hair was partially hidden under a black cap. I remembered him mentioning it was due for a cut sometime soon.

“Sorry, but you’re just too easy to scare. You remind me of Hoseok-ah.” He smiled a tiny smile and leaned forwards to glance into the practice room. I watched as his facial expression grimaced slightly.

“You don’t want to head in yet?” I took a few steps, so I was out of the door window's view, and leaned against the adjacent wall. I didn’t want to accuse him of anything sly or sluggish, but it was quite clear that he was reluctant.

“It’s not that,” he began, and I was surprised when he moved to stand in front of me slowly. It seemed he also didn’t want to be accidentally seen by the other members practising inside the room. “I’m just being lazy, and I already practised so much yesterday that I’m worn out already by looking at them.”

I knew that wasn’t entirely true, as the rapper had a lot of stamina when it came to spending long hours at a time performing. Just as they all did, in fact.

“Poor you, why don’t you take a few minutes to chat with me then?” I suggested jokingly, and saw him raise an eyebrow before grinning with amusement. That gummy smile could literally brighten any of my gloomy days.

“If you insist.” He nodded thoughtfully, and I held back a betrayed gasp at how quickly he’d turned the situation around to be in his favour. All that escaped was an abrupt noise of protest, and he laughed again at my widened eyes.

“I seriously did want to talk with you though.”

He looked down, but his voice remained of the same calm levelled tone. He messed around with the drink bottle in his hands while I nodded and rested my back against the wall more comfortably.

“It’s about the other night. I actual...I actually wanted to thank you.”

My mind slowed to process his words. He had lifted his gaze to meet mine intently, and I was so surprised to see how much their inky depths had softened from their initial sharpness. I couldn’t help but suddenly notice how much livelier he looked, compared to when I had taken him on a car ride that one time.

“The concert night? I think I have more to thank all of you for.” I smiled at the thought, memories of the experience flooding right back through me.

“While that is true, I wanted to thank you for what you did for Jimin,” he continued on a serious note, his hands fiddling even more with the plastic bottle. I knew it was hard for him to open up to others so quickly into a conversation, let alone admit the vulnerabilities he and his bandmates shared. I only wished I could communicate how grateful I was for the sentiment.

“When he gets like that, I must admit that it confuses me a lot. We all know he works the hardest to be the best he can, and even then he has this belief that it’s never enough. I don’t think I can ever understand where he gets the negativity from, but in his mind he views the smallest mistake as something bigger.”

I nodded in agreement, but felt sickeningly bad at the same time. I didn’t want to talk too deeply about Jimin and his insecurities when he wasn’t there to hear my thoughts. I wasn’t sure why, but it just felt rude for me to launch into something I had so much to say on.

“I just wanted to thank you for the comfort. I mean, we all have our doubts especially when it comes to performing, but I’m glad you were there for him when we couldn’t see it,” Yoongi finished bluntly, and I knew he had a similar feeling of guilt when it came to talking about the younger member. It truly moved me to hear his outward display of care and appreciation.

“I’m… so happy you’re saying this, I’d love nothing more than to be honest with all of you and let you guys know just how talented and inspirational you are. The doubts will probably never go away, but I believe they can be changed with hard work and confirmation. That – That's why I’ll try and provide that in any way that I can.”

Yoongi’s eyes widened the smallest fraction before they returned to normal, and I didn’t miss the sharp exhalation that fell from his lips as he cast his gaze downwards.

“Wow, you…”

He stopped and I watched as his face broke out into a shy smile before he sniffed and continued to smile while looking straight at me instead. I hoped I hadn’t overwhelmed him too much.

“That’s all we can ask for, thank you. I literally don’t know what else to say.”

“It’s fine, I don’t expect anything more in return,” I chuckled to break any deep and emotional tension resting on our shoulders.

“Just keep making music. We love it as much as you do, I hope you know that.”

Yoongi nodded, a proud smirk working its way gently onto his face.

“Well that goes without saying, I don’t think I could ever stop.”

I glanced my head to the side, watching to see if anyone was approaching before pouting.

“If you did, I think I would have to file a complaint. You’d have more than a few hundred girls suing you then.”

He raised both brows and huffed quietly. “Would I now? My money is disappearing before my eyes.”

My giggle was cut short as the door to the room opened and the bright light filtered out into the hallway where we were talking. A curious Namjoon appeared and held the door open as he trailed his eyes from me to Yoongi, then back to me.

“Hey (Y/n).” He dipped his head formally, then turned a questioning glance to his older bandmate.

“How long have you been out here, hyung?”

Yoongi looked around aloofly and shrugged, turning on his heel to start making his way through the door. Namjoon looked taken aback, and as a result I covered my mouth with one hand to stifle a snort of amusement.

“Sorry, it was my fault for making him chat,” I explained while calming down, waving my hand in an apologetic manner. Yoongi paused with pursed lips.

“Well, I talked, so it was both our fault.”

Namjoon also shrugged and looked behind his shoulder quickly.

“Well, you know how he gets when you’re too late,” the leader warned with a hushed tone so nobody inside would hear him. Yoongi nodded in a brooding thought before turning back to where I was still standing pressed against the wall.

“See you (Y/n).”

I waved my goodbye and returned Namjoon’s small nod of acknowledgement before the door was slowly brought to a close once more. The air of the hallway felt colder now that I was left alone in it, and I shivered before rushing over to the elevator doors to make my escape.

The day was now drawing closer to nightfall. I blinked my eyes tiredly at the computer screen in front of me, barely having had any rest for the past couple of nights just because I was positively brimming with excitement over the thought of touring. I really wanted to bring it up with the boys to hear their thoughts, but the earlier conversation with Yoongi hadn't been the right time or place really. I knew I wouldn't be able to keep my mouth shut forever, so it was either they found out some other way or watched as I inched my way into their day to day schedules; ready to let the cat out of the bag.

I finished up a few translating tasks that were sent via email and breathed a deep sigh at the sight of sent work. It was somewhat a struggle to remember the last time I’d experienced such an intense sense of release. At least now I could go home and treat myself to some wine and snacks whenever I pleased.

“(Y/n), I just got a message from downstairs,” one of the other office workers said with a slightly confused expression painting his features. “Said they had a surprise?”

I hummed suspiciously before standing up straight and letting the wheeling chair roll away behind me. My hair, which had fallen out from being tied up all day, now flowed over my shoulders in an uncontrollable manner. I let my eyes gain a dramatic glint.

“If I don’t come back, call the police.”

The man laughed before shaking his head, and I smiled before packing up my desk and preparing to head to the elevator yet again. How many trips had I done just today?

I seriously need to pick a place to work and stay there.

The ride down seemed to take milliseconds, as I was so full of anticipation that time lost all presence. What were the stylists meaning by surprise? This could literally be anything, so I was a little scared to be completely honest.

I nervously shifted from foot to foot once halted outside the large door, raising one tentative hand to rap lightly on its surface.

To say I was unprepared would be an understatement and a half.

The door drifted ajar with an audible creak and I jumped when Seokjin’s face appeared from around the edge. He looked worn out from the day of practising, but the tall singer instantly broke into a grin when he saw me loitering outside the entryway.

“Hey (Y/n)!”

Then his face fell as he threw a quick glance into the room behind him.

“Um, what brings you here?”

Things were weird, I could tell by the way he was purposefully holding the door to block off my curiously wandering eyes.

“Oh, (Y/n)-ah! Come in, come in!” The excitable voice of my stylist unni broke through the heavily guarded atmosphere, and I watched as Seokjin furrowed his brows in semi-protest. It seemed like he truly didn’t want me to see what was happening behind the door, but it was obvious he was going to lose the battle one way or another.

“Hyung let her in!”

Taehyung’s voice now perked up from somewhere within the room, and I couldn’t let the flames of my curiosity dwindle anymore. I giggled with triumph as Seokjin’s shoulders sagged in defeat. He swung the door open to let me pass following another two beats of hesitation. I wondered why he was so defensive, but soon learned when my eyes drank in the scene.

The boys were seated in front of the mirrors lining the makeup room, but some were walking around while either looking at their phones or chatting to stylists. Each one looked up when I entered the strongly scented space.

I tried to avoid crinkling my noise at the sharp aroma of dye, but the notion fell to the back of my mind when I fully registered the sight before me.

Because now, every single one had their hair coloured black.

tagged: @joyful-jimin, @l4life, @gee-nee, @m0chilattae, @rossemayme, @doilooklikeinoe, @jeon-joker, @topthis808, @justyouraveragerando,@xcastielbabyangelface

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chappedandfadedvds · 4 years

Text

Dec 19th, Saturday 12:10

Jens was quite surprised by the notion that they were perfectly on time. Traffic into Brussels had been fairly light, given it was so early on a saturday. He had expected to have more people on the streets the weekend before christmas, when he had parked the car at his grandparents house to drop of his mom and sister. Perhaps the ongoing pandamic warrented reason enough to stay at home, he guessed. And because they had managed to be so quick, Lucas and him had found time to join for a larger second breakfast.

He wasn’t gonna lie, it had him incredibly nervous to introduce his boyfriend. His grandmother wasn’t a close-minded person, but he could definitely see that she didn’t quite understood at first. But over breakfast she seemed to come to terms with it. He was very grateful for his mom doing most of the talking.

His grandfather in the meantime greeted Lucas, calling him Robbe at least two more times afterwards, causing Lotte to call the old man silly, not comprehending, that their grandfather was sick himself. Jens apologised each time, explaining the dementia of his grandfather, but Lucas didn’t seemed to be bothered by it, after the initial confusion.

The couple left at exactly a quarter to twelve, with warm goodbyes and hugs and a large plastic box filled with freshly made cookies. To keep them from starving on their long journey ahead. Jens didn’t mention the cotton bag on the passenger seat, already containing way too many sweats, and instead joined Lucas to thank her for the thoughtfullness.

Sander and Robbe stumbled out of the trainstation, the same minute Jens stopped his car infront of Brussels central to pick up the two yawning boys.

The four quickly rummaged through the trunk of the car, fitting the additional bags into the spot, that had hold his mom’s and Lotte’s luggage before. Jens thanked Robbe at least for a whole minute, that they had taken the train here to join them, when everyone else had managed to leave from Antwerp. They had three packed cars in total, the other two driven by Senne and Milan. Though with their little drop off and no intention to have to organise for all of the group to stick together, they probably would arrive last.

Not a minute later, the boys were on their way. And just a moment later, the silence was already broken.

„Sander and me actually put a playlist together, it’s only 6 hours long though. I guess you’ll have to cover the last two.“ Lucas grinned from the passenger seat, already fishing for his phone from his crumbled up jacket on the floor to his feet.

„Oh my god, no.“ Jens groaned, not seriously discontent or upset about the procamation, but just to make a point, that he wasn’t quite prepared for a day long journey spend in the 70s.

„You get used to that, trust me. But agreed!“ Robbe offered from the seat right behind him on the beackseat. At least he had his best friend backing him.

„What is that supposed to mean?“ Sander pretended too be deeply offended by his boyfriends word’s, clutching his chest.

„Exactly what I said.“ Robbe stated, causing Lucas to simply laugh in response, as the boy was busy figuring out the car’s display menu. Jens definitely wouldn’t win this.

„Robbe. Robbe. Hey Robbe!“ Jens had to call a couple of times, in order to break up the bickering couple on the backseat. Now caught in an silly argument about Robbe’S music taste instead.

„Yeah?“ His best friend asked, accepting Sander’s hand to hold as an piece offering, before he turned to face the front.

„I have an idea!“ Jens declared, an ominous smirk on his lip, while he searched for Robbe in the back mirror.

„Uh-huh.“

„So you love me right, man?“

That certainly piqued everyone’s interest, as all of them stopped doing, whatever they did, to get comfortable. Jens briefly concentrated on the street ahead, waiting for Robbe’s answer.

„Of course.“ His best friend insisted. Exactly what Jens wanted to hear.

„Perfect!“ He said excited, before getting to the point. „So here is my idea: How about we forget about the last one and a half years or so ,and just pretend that you had declared your undying love for me after Jana. While I was obvously was already over her and comfortable in my sexuality. So we naturally got together, thus we can just ditch these two at the next rest stop we pass.“

Jens full on grinned by the time he reached the conclusion, as he hold Robbe’s gaze in the backmirror, aside from the glances back onto the street every second. „And then it is just you and me, baby!“ He winked, very pleased with himself.

Robbe laughed, the big amused smile present on his face, once he calmed down again to reply.

„Brilliant idea. Deal!“

Jens swiftly punched his fist in the air, before he instantly took hold of the steering wheel again. He was a responsible driver. He hoped at least, given his three passengers, he all loved dearly.

„Hey!“

It practiaclly echoed in unison, as their two boyfriends looked absolutely dumfounded in their outrage.

The two best friends caught in a fit of giggles at their shocked expressions. Robbe even leaning forward to sneak his hands onto Jens’s neck to stroke the naked skin, right beneath his hair. Not a bad start, Jens figured, fully playing into it, as he let his head fall back in turn.

„You literally declared your love for me yesterday morning for the first time ever, and didn’t stop telling me since then. What the fuck, Jens?“ Lucas tried to sound as hurt and accusing as he could, if it wasn’t for the grin spreading across his face betraying his pretended intentions.

„Aww that’s so cute.“ Robbe cooed, very much smitten over the newest development between the couple in front of him.

„Yeah must be nice.“ Sander mumbled, taking his hand out of Robbe’s he still had hold onto despite the whole joke developing before.

„What?“

„I didn’t get one this morning.“ Sander pouted at his boyfriend’s questioning look, crossing his arms.

„But I di...“ Robbe paused, his eyes squinting into the space between them, as he figured, that indeed he hadn’t. He blinked, trying for puppy eyes instead to smoothen the mood.

„See, I was correct.“

„Oh but I love you so much.“ His best friend countered, blinking sweetly up at Sander, who had trouble not to give in too fast, quite in vain, when Robbe shifted a little closer, the two boys sharing a kiss.

„Aww that’s so cute.“ Jens mocked the exact tone and words, his best friend has thrown at Lucas and him a moment earlier.

„What about us though, baby?“ He teased a minute later, trying intently to sound at least a little hurt. „I thought we were gonna be a thing now?“

„Yeah, Robbe, no worries. Jens is hot, I get it.“ Sander encouraged, pushing his boyfriend slightly back again.

Lucas snorted at the comment, before he nodded and vehemntly agreed to the statement that, indeed Jens was a good looking dude.

„Uhm, does that means I can have all of you? Do I get to choose?“ Jens loudly inquired, very happy with the whole direction this took. He’d gladly took the next seven hours of their trip, to be showered in compliments.

„Dunno, do I get to top?“ Sander pulled his face into a suggesting expression, wiggling his eyebrows amused, as he stared at Jens through the back mirror, who noted it looking up to it from the road infront. The oldest boy himself barely able not to just start laughing.

„Sure.“ Jens agreed instantly, not a thought wasted, which meant in turn, that all eyes turned to him in an unusual moment of silence. His eyes quickly searched for Robbe in the mirror, abolutely loosing it, as he saw his best friend’s jaw hung open, his eyes wide in disbelief.

„Excuse me?“ Robbe barely managed to say.

Jens simply shrugged in response. He hadn’t really contemplated it prior to this moment, but he definitely wouldn’t cross it out straight away. Why not?

„Then yeah you can have me too.“ Sander concluded, breaking out of his little stupor first. The cocky confidence back in his face, as he blew Jens a kiss, followed by a wink.

Now it was Jens who was definitely wheezing, traying hard to not loose his conentration as he stuck his eyes strictly to the front of the car, stopping at a red light luckily, for him to catch a breath. This was something he would have to made sure that the other’s vowed to never bring once they would leave the car. With them it felt easy, natural even, to joke around like this, didn’t mean he would like to have it told to others.

„I guess, I have to dissapoint though, Lucas is the only one for me. Sorry.“

A collective „awww.“ filled the car to a volume, that was definitely audible to the people outside that would pass them. But as they turned onto the highway, it fortunately made it impossible.

„Stay jealous, I win.“ Lucas proclaimed proudly, leaning over to peck a kiss on Jens’s cheek, before his boyfriend went to connect his phone over bluetooth. A minute later „I’m gonna be (500 miles)“ by The Proclaimers was blasting from the speakers. Lucas and Sander immediately singing loudly along.

Jens even caught Robbe mouthing the words to it. Traitor.

It would definitely be a long ride, that was for certain, Jens thought, sighing defeated.

Fuck it, he thought, it was his vacation. So he shook his head with a smile, before he gave in and just joined his friends, allowing him to simply have some fun.

__ __ __ tagged: @odi-et-amo85, @tayspots

let’s start a week of fun and fluff, what do you guys think? well deserved after last week, huh? 🥰

#week 9 #wtfock #skam #vds #jens stoffels #lucas van der heijden #chapped and faded #christmas week

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someoneirrelevant2u · 4 years

Text

Zutara slow burn: Highschool AU (Excerpt Part 1)

(Warning for child abuse.)

Azula saw Zuko coming down the stairs. She smirked. She was never one to back down from an opportunity to make her brother feel awful about himself. It was too easy. He already hated himself and she loved pouring salt onto the wounds. Azula knew that Mai had a crush on her brother and decided to use the girl time as a chance to hurt him more.

Azula giggled in false excitement. “Let’s talk about boys!” she exclaimed. “Who has a crush on who? Mai, who do you like?”

“Well,” Mai started, looking around them cautiously. Zuko had passed into the kitchen but she knew that he would be able to hear them. When Mai saw that the coast was clear, she continued. “I have always had a crush on your brother Zuko.”

Azula gasped, feigning surprise. Ty Lee had sat up at her confession. “How could you possibly like my brother?” she said, filling her voice with her usual disgust when she referenced him.

“Yeah,” Ty Lee giggled in agreement. “He’s got that gross scar on his face.”

Azula smirked at Ty Lee’s predictable, unfiltered, shallow ways. She heard a cupboard slam shut as Mai continued, unaware of Zuko’s lingering presence. “I don’t care that he has that. I still think he is cute! Besides, it’s what on the inside that matters.”

Azula knew her brother was still caught in the kitchen forced to listen. “What’s on the inside, huh?” she laughed. “My Mom would disagree I think. After all, it was after Zuko got his scar that she left. It’s why my Father hates him so much. He blames him for making her leave, and quite frankly, so do I.”

Mai gaped at her in shock. “That is so mean Azula!”

Ty Lee decided to stay silent and pick at her hair. “I don’t think so. It’s just the truth,” Azula stated simply. ”It’s not our fault he is such a shame to our family.”

“Let’s just talk about something else,” Mai shot back, pulling her bag towards her. “Who wants to watch a movie? I brought a bunch of chick flicks.”

Ty Lee perked up excitedly. “Let me see what you have!”

Azula smiled sweetly. “I’ll go get us all something to drink,” she offered innocently, looking forward to seeing Zuko destroyed. She stood and found her way to the kitchen where sure enough, her brother was sitting in the corner with his legs pulled up to his chest and his face buried in his knees. His hands were clenched into his hair and his shoulders were shaking, as if he were crying.

She grinned at the sight. She pretended not to see him, grabbing a few fruity coolers from the fridge and going back out to her “friends”.

They were just settling into the movie when Zuko passed back through the living room, looking upset. The other girl’s didn’t notice him, but she stood up and followed him outside to the back porch.

She walked out just in time to see her brother throw one of the porch chairs off into the back yard. It clattered loudly and he sat down with a huff, twisting his hands into his hair painfully.

Azula smirked at the sight. She had caused this. It was so easy and fun, though she feigned sorrow as she sat down beside him. “What’s the matter Zuzu” she asked.

“Go away Azula,” Zuko snapped back, his voice muffled.

“Dad’s not going to be happy that you broke a porch chair,” Azula noted innocently, though she knew exactly what this revelation meant to her brother. Her father would probably beat him for it. He tensed but said nothing.

She had grown immune to her brother being hit by her Dad a long time ago. Azula remembered it appalling her mother when she would laugh at Zuko’s bruised and weeping frame. Her mom had thought she was a psychopath, and while that had hurt, she wasn’t wrong. She knew she didn’t really care for anyone or anything. It was all about her to her, and she was okay with that. Besides, her father, the billionaire CEO of the most successful company in the world, adored her.

“What’s wrong, big brother?” she prodded, knowing very well the pain she had caused but wanted to see him crumble again for her,

He scoffed. “Like you care.”

“Is it so hard to believe that I care about you Zuko?” He rolled his eyes at her. “Someone has got to. If not me, then who? Definitely not Father, and well, I know you don’t have any friends at school.” Zuko huffed irritably. “So are you going to tell me what’s wrong or not?”

“Fine,” he snapped. “I overheard what you were saying to Mai and Ty Lee. And I heard what Ty Lee said about my scar.”

“Eavesdropping is rude, you know,” Azula accused. She knew it was ridiculous, but it was just too much fun. “Father won’t be happy to hear about it. I can’t even have friends over without you creeping!”

“I wasn’t eavesdropping!” Zuko exclaimed, his face beating red. She stifled her smile at how upset he was getting. “And I wasn’t creeping!”

“Whatever,” she shot back, dismissing his desperation. “You can’t be mad at what you overhear when you aren’t supposed to be listening.”

“You just make everything worse Azula!” her brother snarled.

“Well you’re the one stupid enough to get emotional over what 3 teenage girl’s are talking about, even if it is the truth. Just accept that you’re useless and no one wants you.”

“Go away, Azula,” he yelled suddenly, standing fast and storming back inside.

“Just trying to help you, Zuzu!” she called after him. He slammed the door.

Smirking, she stood and followed her brother into the house.

She couldn’t wait until father got home.

When Dad got home, it was hell. I hadn’t bothered to pick up the lawn chair in the back and when he confronted me about it, it was mysteriously in worse shape than it had been when I had actually thrown it. I deducted it was probably Azula who roughed it up to get me into more trouble. She had even thrown it into the pool for theatrics.

“What happened?” my Father snarled, dragging me across the backyard by my arm with bruising force.

“I don’t know! I swear! I didn’t throw it in the pool!”

“Azula said that you did. Are you calling your sister a liar?” His harsh grip rose to my hair and he shook me hard.

“No!” I cried.

“Then what happened?” he snarled.

“I overheard what Azula and her friends were saying, and I got angry and threw the chair across the yard. That’s it, I swear!” My Father let me go, and my body cringed against my will. My heart didn’t want me to come across as a coward, but my head reacted on instinct. “I’m sorry!”

“You should be! After all I do for you, this is what you do to repay me? You lose your temper like a child, throw my belongings across the yard and then accuse your beautiful, precious sister of being a liar?” I stayed silent. My Father hadn’t heard a word of what I had just said. ‘Your disrespect is too far this time,” he snarled, catching me by my hair again and smacking me across the face hard. I saw stars. “How dare you purposely listen in on your sister and her friends?” He struck me again, shaking me by my hair. It hurt. I didn’t matter how many times he did this, it never hurt any less. “I want you gone. Go inside and pack your things. Then get out.”

He threw me by my hair into the pool with a heavy splash. When I came up from the water, I saw him storming back into the house.

Father was kicking me out. He was kicking me out…

Where was I supposed to go?

I panicked, climbing out and running after him. “Father, wait!” I cried, dripping water all over the marble floor of the mansion. “Wait, Father! Please!”

He stopped, rounding on me. I flinched despite myself. Azula was there, watching with hungry, gleaming eyes and I instantly felt even more pathetic. “Please, don’t kick me out! I have no where else to go!”

Azula’s eyes widened in surprise before falling into a pleased smirk.

My Father smacked me again, sending me to the floor. “I don’t care. You have 10 minutes before I throw you out myself!”

My heart fell to my stomach. What was I supposed to do? I looked up at Azula with pleading eyes. Father would listen to her if she said something! She just had to say something!

Azula just continued to watch me, a dripping mess on the floor with a bruising face and tears building in my eyes. “Sorry Zuzu, I told you to just accept that no one wants you. That’s what you get for not listening to me.” She turned to leave, but stopped to throw one last smirk over her shoulder. “Better get packing.”

It took me a minute to get over the shock that this was really happening. I stood, still soaked and dripping water behind me and headed to my room. I packed all my school work into my bookbag, threw some clothes and shoes into a duffle bag alongside my phone and headphones. I stuffed a few blankets and pillows in there as well. I closed my bedroom door behind me ruefully, heading downstairs. Neither Azula nor my father were there to spit on me one last time before I left. It almost made me feel worse that they didn’t care enough to even do that. I began my trek down our overly large driveway, tears in my eyes. What was I going to do?

I made it off my family’s property and started my journey past all the other rich houses. An hour later I found myself in town, wandering aimlessly. I didn’t have any friends I could ask to stay with for a night. I didn’t have any money…

That’s when it hit me. My Uncle Iroh lived in town! He was an old man, crazy by the way my Dad spoke of him. I had only seen him a few times as a child. I remembered his son, my cousin, Lu Ten had died. Uncle was retired military. His son had followed in his footsteps and died during his first deployment. Uncle was supposed to inherit the family business, but his loss changed him. He refused to take his place as CEO and opened a small tea shop in town instead. My grandfather had disowned him, as did the rest of my family and the corporate world. I had forgotten the man had existed until now. I doubted very much he would want to see me, but I had to try.

It was 1 am by the time I made it to the Jasmine Dragon. I felt really bad ringing the doorbell to his closed tea shop. I only waited a few moments, my nerves getting the best of me, before turning around ready to run away. When the door opened, and I whirled around in surprise.

My Uncle Iroh looked at me with confused eyes, taking in my appearance. I felt ashamed. That’s when I realized he probably didn’t recognize me. “Uh, hi...Uncle Iroh.” His eyes fixated on the left side of my face where my scar was. “I’m Zuko. I know you probably don’t remember me but I-”

“Come in,” said the old man, stepping back and motioning to pass the threshold.

I nodded, drooping my head in shame and stepped into the small shop. The Jasmine Dragon had little booths and tables scattered throughout the small space. There were pictures of Uncle and his son hung on a few walls, along with others of what I recognized to be legendary spirits. Cinnamon and honey scented the building. It felt like home.

Home...which I had just lost…

Right. I needed to address that. I turned back to the older man who was still watching me with curiosity. “Uncle, I-”

“You’re all wet, Zuko,” he interrupted me. His words took my own away. I looked into his eyes, that were now filled with concern. I only nodded, shocked at what I was seeing. I wasn’t expecting to see kindness there, only irritation and anger at being woke by an estranged relative at this hour. “Please, go change and then take a seat. I will go make us some tea.”

“Yes, sir,” I replied, setting down my bags and picking out a clean pair of jeans and tee shirt. I did as he asked and changed before sitting down in a booth near the register. Uncle came out a few moments later with two cups and a steaming pot of tea.

He sat down across from me and poured us both a cup of the steaming brew. “Thank you,” I told him as sincerely as I could manage. I was feeling a little nerve wrecked and embarrassed about my situation, which he hadn’t even acknowledged yet. It wasn’t until I went to pull my cup closer that I realized I had handprints bruised around my wrists and upper arms, and I had completely forgotten about my face. I withdrew my body and hung my head to hide the marks, but I knew he had seen them.

“So tell me nephew,” Uncle Iroh started, sipping his tea and ignoring how uncomfortable I felt. I appreciated that he did not acknowledge it. “What brings you to my door at this hour?”

I swallowed thickly. “I needed somewhere to go and I know we don’t really know each other, but I need help. I don’t have anywhere to go and I will work for you and earn every bit of my keep, but I need help, Uncle, please…” It all came out too rushed and pathetic. I felt his gaze on me, but I couldn’t raise my own to meet his.

“Of course I will help you,” his Uncle replied gently. “I have a spare bedroom upstairs. Let’s go get you settled in.”

My head whipped up, my eyes wide with shock. I wasn't expecting that. “Thank you,” I breathed, tears welling up in my eyes. “Thank you, Uncle.…”

I hugged him impulsively. I gasped in horror at what I had done,withdrawing quickly in fear I may have overstepped a boundary and that he would send me away for it. Instead the old man just drew me close into a hug again. “Of course, Zuko.”

I picked up my things and followed him upstairs. It was a small apartment, quaint. It was sparsely furnished and decorated lightly. My Uncle was not a man of possessions, which I instantly appreciated. The lavish furnishings of my father’s and his friend’s homes had always made me uncomfortable. It was always just too much, or maybe it wasn’t and I just felt uncomfortable because I was never welcome.

Uncle showed me to my room. It was simple. It had a rug on the floor, a small nightstand with a lamp on it, and a twin sized bed. I set my things down on the floor. “Welcome home, Zuko,” the old man told me, smiling warmly. “I sleep right across the hall. Let me know if you need anything.” He reached out to touch me, but when I flinched he withdrew. I thought he was going to get mad, but all he said was “Goodnight” and gave me another small smile.

When he closed the door behind him, I instantly felt lost again. Why was he being so nice to me? That wasn’t normal, was it? I sat down on the bed with a heavy sigh. I felt old. I kicked off my shoes, shed my shirt, and folded my clothes into a neat pile and set them on the floor. I lay down under the sheets, exhausted. It had been such a draining day, and even though I knew that I should remain on edge, being in a stranger’s home… My father’s brother’s home, I corrected myself, I just couldn’t help but close my eyes and fall weakly off to sleep.

I will repay Uncle’s kindness.. I promised myself before the day went dark.

I was awake before Uncle was. I had only gotten a few hours of sleep but I wanted to start the day off right with him. I didn’t know how to make tea, and didn’t want to insult him by wasting the personal materials he had in his cupboard trying, so I set out the pot and glasses for him.

I set to work making breakfast for him. I didn’t make any for myself, not wanting to assume he was just going to take full care of me. I would eat at school. My lunch tuition was paid for the year, even my Dad couldn’t take that away from me. I was just setting the table for him when I heard his bedroom door open and he waddled into the kitchen with a yawn.

“Good morning, Uncle,” I said, trying to sound cheerful. Honestly, now that he was awake, I was afraid I might have overstepped digging into his food to make breakfast for him and he would send me away.

“You made breakfast for me?” he wondered aloud with a smile. I just nodded. “Why is the table only set for one?”

I shifted uncomfortably. “I didn’t want to assume anything, I’m sorry,” I told him quietly.

“Don’t be. You are more than welcome to anything in my cupboards and fridge. This is your home as long as you want it to be.”

His kind eyes met my wide ones. I just wish he would yell at me. This was all too weird. I nodded once in acknowledgement, not really believing he meant what he said. “I need to get ready for school anyway,” I said. I shifted uncomfortably, feeling guilty that I had to ask. “Could I-” I looked down at the floor. “Could I use the shower please?”

“Of course! Go right ahead!” he said cheerfully, digging into his food and again ignoring my discomfort. “I will have tea ready when you come back out.”

I nodded once. “Okay. Thank you, Uncle.”

I shook my head. I still didn’t know Uncle, and I needed to be careful. He was still my father’s brother, even though he was taking his own path. He seemed kind, but it was my only my first few hours with him. I had never trusted someone before, and I wasn’t about to change that over a few small acts of kindness.

#azula and zuko #prince zuko #avatar the last airbender modern day alternate universe #avatar the last airbender #Zutara #Zuko x Katara #Highschool AU #fanfiction

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exxar1 · 3 years

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Interlude 1: Lessons From The Old Testament

3/27/2021

It is a lovely Saturday afternoon in Las Vegas. And I mean genuinely beautiful spring weather! It’s 73 degrees outside with a perfectly pleasant breeze that would be great accompaniment for a hike in Red Rock canyon. Alas, I must report for work in an hour.

In following my plan to read the whole Bible in a year, I’ve been working through the books of Samuel and Kings for the last 2 weeks. This morning I wrote down some of the lessons I’ve gleaned from the Old Testament in general, but these 4 books in particular.

1. Am I listening for God’s voice? 1 Samuel 3:10: “…Speak; for thy servant heareth.” No, God doesn’t use an audible voice today as He did with Samuel, but that’s because we now have his Holy Word in the form the Bible. We also have the Holy Spirit if we are truly born again. I need to make sure that I’m always listening for the Spirit and seeking God’s wisdom in all things. I should never be so busy with daily life, nor should the noise of the world be so loud, that I don’t hear God when He speaks to me.

2. God does not tolerate sin. Eli was a servant of the Lord, but he failed to rear his sons to also fear and obey God. Because of this, God took the lives of all three and gave the priesthood to Samuel. Same for the nations of Israel and Judah. Throughout the books of Samuel and Kings, God punished his chosen people over and over as they continually disobeyed his commandments and turned to idol worship. There were occasional respites, short periods where certain kings would obey and fear God; David and his son Solomon, for example. Unfortunately, those two – and two or three others in the succeeding generations – were the exception, not the rule.

Am I always obeying the Lord’s commandments? Am I living my life in complete service to Him? When I do sin, am I genuinely repentant? God will forgive me, His love and mercy are as vast as the universe He created. But He is also a jealous God, and He will punish me when I turn from Him, as a loving father will discipline his child when he strays. I should always be striving to please God and obey Him always in all things.

3. There are consequences for sin. God’s divine patience with Israel and Judah finally reached an end in the latter half of the book of 2nd Kings. He delivered His people into the hands of their enemies, and both nations were exiled into Babylon. Chapter 17: 7-23 summarizes the sins of Israel and Judah and God’s punishment for their continual sin.

Even though God will always forgive me when I sin, He will not spare me the consequences of my sin. Therefore, I need to always be seeking Him first and be making good choices.

4. God will reward obedience and faithfulness to Him. David was chosen as King of Israel because he had a heart that was always seeking God. Even in the worst times of his life, when he was on the run and hiding from Saul, David never lost his faith that God was always with him, and that He would take care of him. (Psalms 23 & 46.) God rewarded this faithfulness time and again throughout David’s life.

Same goes for Solomon. When God spoke to Solomon early in his life, Solomon requested not riches or long life but, instead, the wisdom to lead the nation of Israel. God rewarded Solomon’s request with not only wisdom but riches as well.

Now, it should also be noted that, even though David and Solomon always sought to please and obey God, they also sinned. Both men were polygamists, and David even committed murder to try to cover his sin of covetousness and adultery. But God used them anyway, and each still suffered the consequences of their sin. Which brings us to the final point:

5. God always keeps his promises. The Israelites were never completely wiped from the face of the Earth. God had made a covenant with Abraham, and He had also promised His people salvation through the lineage of David. Therefore, while He allowed His people to suffer the consequences of their disobedience, He still protected them and kept His word to them.

God will do the same for me. No matter how many times I stray, I will never lose my salvation. God has promised me that He is preparing a place for me in Heaven, and He will keep that promise. But neither is that a license to go do whatever the hell I want. Refer back to lesson #3.

What I also found most striking about these four books was the clear parallel of the nation of Israel/Judah at this time and the United States today. Over the past year, I have argued with strangers on Facebook who try to convince me that America is not now and never was a Christian nation. That belief utterly baffles me. The phrase “In God We Trust” is still stamped on all our coins. The Declaration of Independence uses the phrase “divine Creator”. Despite all the scrubbing and washing by today’s social justice warriors, it’s still a known fact that all our founding fathers believed in the basic religious principles taught in the scriptures. Those principles are scattered throughout the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and other documents such as the Federalist Papers. George Washington and his compatriots might not all have been born again Christians, and they were most certainly as flawed, failing and sinful as you and me. But they regarded the Bible as an essential guide to the basic facts of our flawed, failing, sinful human nature, and they crafted a carefully constructed form of government that was designed to enhance the best in all of us and, by the same effect, discourage the worst.

Today, that government is in serious threat of being dismantled from the inside out. The founding fathers had not anticipated what Paul wrote to Timothy: “This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away.” (2 Timothy 3:1-5)

Today’s generation is all about the self. Just as Israel and Judah in the Old Testament continually turned away from God to worship false gods and idols, so we today have turned away from God to worship the idol of ‘self’. There is not a single news headline lately that doesn’t bear some form of the phrase “personal rights”, or “individual truth”, or “living as him/her/itself”. Everyone screams about their own “truth” and that their “rights and freedom of expression” are all that matters, especially when it comes to the homosexual and transgender movements. Everyone’s rights are more important than everyone else’s, and our nation has become a people who are “…lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God.” (And no, before you even say it, I am not referring to the COVID/mask/pandemic government mandates. That specific case is a whole ‘nother argument where, yes, personal rights and freedoms most definitely matter.)

And, just as He did to Israel and Judah at the end of 2nd Kings, God’s divine patience is rapidly running out for America. God delivered Israel and Judah into the hands of their enemies, the Babylonians. His chosen people spent seventy years in exile as punishment for their wickedness and their disobedience. Something I didn’t know before reading the commentary in my MacArthur study Bible is that Israel never returned from that captivity. Several thousand Israelites had migrated to the kingdom of Judah prior to the Babylonian captivity, so that all twelve tribes were still intact seventy years later, but it was only the former kingdom of Judah that actually returned, whole and united as the ‘new’ nation of Israel, seventy years later.

Think about that. God kept his promise to Abraham. The whole of His chosen people were not utterly wiped from the face of the earth, but the meager, reunited nation that returned from Babylonian captivity was nowhere near the size or power that it once was. God’s wrath was justified and vast.

If you study world history, you will find that ANY nation that has ever put God first has ALWAYS prospered. Think of the Victorian era of 19th century Great Britain. Queen Victoria was – and still is – revered as one of England’s greatest monarchs, and it’s because she believed that her empire was blessed by God. The evidence is self-explanatory. At that time, England – and the United States – were considered by all the world as the greatest powers, and the best lands of equal opportunity by all those seeking a better life. Our founding fathers built this nation on the premise that God had created every man and woman – no matter his/her race or station in life – equal. That ALL of us were endowed by our Divine Creator with certain, inalienable rights. And that, as long as we continued to recognize the source of our blessing and our greatness as a nation, we would prosper.

Sadly, that cannot be said of us today. We, as a nation, have fallen so far from God’s grace that I wonder what our exile will look like. Though I have not yet done a close reading and study of the book of Revelation, I am fairly certain that nowhere in that book is there a mention of any western nation such as ours. We are rapidly losing our reputation as a world super power, and I believe that America as we know it today will not exist by the time chapter one of Revelation begins. And, right now, it’s not hard to see why.

John 1:4-5 says, “In Him was life; and the life was the light of men. And the light shineth in the darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.” (Emphasis mine.) America has become filled with great darkness. For me, personally, that is my only mission for the rest of my life. I will do what I can to be a light for Christ and the gospel as we get closer and closer to that first chapter of Revelation. God’s wrath is coming, and only those who have believed on His name and accepted Him as their Lord and savior will be spared His judgment.

The only answer for today’s corrupt generation is the command from God found in Matthew 6:33, “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” For those who are still ignoring that command, Isaiah warns, “Seek ye the Lord while He may be found, call ye upon Him while he is near: let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and He will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for He will abundantly pardon.”

Amen.

#Christianity #life #God #the bible

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