#ANYTHING SERVED AT A STATE FAIR?!?!?!?!?!?!?

[vaguelyhauntedcornfield]

Whoever gave the foods for that American food poll is clearly either west or east coast. No one from the south would slander good food like that, and no one from the midwest would neglect to mention the atrocities that every aunt or neighbor brings to potlucks. If you’ve suffered thru the mayo and jello based salads and the Frankensteined casseroles, you know they belong on there over grits, biscuits and gravy, and boiled peanuts. Also like, the basic white person from the suburbs meal of boiled/baked chicken, steamed broccoli, and steamed carrots, all with no seasoning…that should honestly have a spot too

[laundrybiscuits]

The officer leans close, jabbing a finger into Steve’s chest. “You’re damn lucky it ain’t ten years ago or one state over,” he growls. “You could be looking at a felony charge, serving 15 to life. We didn’t stand for this kind of thing in Hawkins when I joined the force.”

Steve just folds his arms and gives the officer a bored look. “Okay,” he says. “Good talk. Can I see my boyfriend now?”

The officer sneers, but he steps aside to let Steve through. They’ve got Eddie cuffed to the hospital bed with another gun-toting guard in the corner. 

“Jesus christ,” snaps Steve. “He’s not gonna escape, he can’t even walk right now. Why don’t you clear out and give us a little privacy, huh?”

“Sorry,” says the guard, not sounding all that sorry. “It’s for his own protection.”

Fuck. He’s gonna have to hope Eddie can follow his lead. All that practice pretending to be a wizard or whatever has to be good for something, right?

He perches on the side of Eddie’s bed and takes his hand. He can do this. “Hey, gorgeous. How’re you feeling?” 

“Uh,” says Eddie, eyebrows doing something hilarious. “Steve?”

“It’s okay,” says Steve. He rubs his thumb over Eddie’s knuckles. This is the most they’ve ever touched, he thinks—the most that was just skin, no layers of denim or leather in between. Not even a layer of blood and dirt. 

He swallows and keeps going, willing Eddie to develop freaky mind-reading powers all of a sudden. “I know you didn’t want to tell anyone about us, but I had to, baby. I’m sorry. I had to tell them you were, y’know, with me when…when Jason killed Chrissy.”

“You didn’t have to tell them about us,” says Eddie slowly. He’s giving Steve kind of an intense look. “Honey-pie. I’m sure there’s gotta be another way. One without as many consequences for you that you might not have thought all the way through.”

“There really isn’t,” Steve says. Thank god Eddie’s so quick on the uptake. Sure, he’s being a stubborn dick about it, but at least it doesn’t seem like he’s going to let anything slip. 

“Fucking hell,” sighs Eddie. “Don’t suppose we can put that pesky little cat back in the bag. Okay. Darling angel, light of my life, corndog of my soul, who else knows?”

Corndog of my soul, Steve mouths to himself. “Just the cops. And Robin and Nancy, obviously. And—oh, remember Hopper?”

“Do I remember Hopper, he asks. Oh, pudding-pop. The late Chief Hopper and I spent so, so much quality time together over the years; he was practically a father figure to me. And just as with my actual dear old dad, his departure was cause for great rejoicing in Casa Munson.”

“Sorry to break the bad news, then. Hop’s alive, and he—uh, he knows everything.” Steve tries to communicate the scope of everything by kind of tilting his head back and forth. “He’s been…helping.”

“Huh. No shit,” says Eddie. Steve can’t tell whether or not he’s getting it. To be fair, there’s a lot to get. “Okay, gallant knight errant of mine, any news on whether or not I’m getting sprung from this charmingly appointed dungeon?”

“We’re…Hopper’s working on it. That’s why I’m. Y’know. Here. To tell you that they know about us.” 

“Cool, right, understood.” Eddie closes his eyes, leaning back on his pillow. It’s so strange to see him in nothing but a hospital gown against white sheets. He looks like a wrung-out dishtowel. 

There’s a commotion from outside, raised voices saying something like you let him what and haven’t even interrogated the Munson kid yet and not a legal status you fuckin—

“Time’s up, sweetheart,” says Eddie, mouth quirking up into the ghost of a smile. “Anything else you wanna say before they decide to upgrade my security?”

“Uh,” says Steve. He’d mostly been focusing on getting the basics of Eddie’s alibi across in a convincing way, and he can’t remember if there were any other details Eddie should know. 

He hears the door slam open behind him, and panics. “Love you, bye,” he says, and ducks in to brush a quick kiss across Eddie’s chapped lips. The last thing he sees as he’s hauled bodily out of the room by a pissed-off detective is Eddie with his eyes gone enormous and shocked, lifting his uncuffed hand to his mouth, looking and looking at Steve like something is always going to be different from now on, forever.

(ETA: small continuation here!)

[lowkeyremi]

Kiyoomi Sakusa who is an absolute emotional drunk. He didn't want to go to dinner tonight but his manager already put him on the reservation list for the celebratory dinner. Of course you accompanied him as his plus one, but boy did he get drunk only after a few drinks.

He was less willing to answer questions and scowling way more than usual too. "Hey Omi! Those were some nice serves earlier!!" Hinata praises and Kiyoomi doesn't say anything, he just glares at his teammate. Did I mention he's clinging onto you like a sloth? His arms are wrapped around you and his face is buried in your neck. He wants to go home.

"Sorry about him Hinata, I think he's ready to go home..." Hinata nods enthusiastically as you say Kiyoomi's goodbyes for him and haul him out of the restaurant to his car. He suddenly out of no where grumbles, "I don't like the way that waiter was looking at you."

"'yoomi what are you talking about? He wasn't even looking at me." He reluctantly gets into the passenger seat. He's acting like a toddler the way a pout braces his face and he has his arms crossed.

"Yuh huh. He was eyeing you like I wasn't right there. I had to stop myself from punching that bastard." This overly emotional state of his has you giggling to yourself because you know if you were to giggle too loud he would think you were making fun of him.

"Well, it's alright now, he's not looking at me anymore." You assure him. You close his car door and run over to the driver side to make sure you two make it back to the apartment safely.

"I'm the only one who can look at you." He concludes from this whole ordeal. "That's not fair to anyone but you, Kiyo." He sighs dramatically and you think he's been spending a little too much time with a specific blond that he claims to hate.

"I don't care if it's fair. You're mine." No more words are spoken of him so you look over to check on him. Only to find his head pressed up against the window with his eyelids closed. His breaths are even and he sleeps peacefully. You cherish how cute he looks because you know as soon as he wakes he's going to be complaining about how his hair is flattened on the side that was pressed up against the window.

[david-talks-sw]

How the narrative framed Mace Windu, back in 2002

So there's this 2002 book written by Marcus Hearn, edited by J.W. Rinzler, titled Attack of the Clones - The Illustrated Companion. It was released a month before Episode II was released.

AKA, before EU material and anti-Jedi fanon could publicly reframe the meanings of the film... and before more recent narratives could reinterpret the character of Mace as a robotic, protocol-worshipping stickler who never bends the rules (when evidence shows he's anything but).

So how does Marcus Hearn - "untainted" by all the above factors, armed only with the Prequel films and their screenplays - frame the character of Mace Windu?

MACE & ANAKIN

Fandom: "Mace hated Anakin from Day #1 and never trusted him. Mace was probably jealous as he always thought he was the Chosen One, not Anakin!"

Attack of the Clones' - The Illustrated Companion:

"Jedi Masters Yoda and Mace Windu lead the High Council in rejecting Qui-Gon's application to train Anakin, 'He is too old,' concludes Mace Windu. 'There is already too much anger in him.'

Hearn explains that the problem with Anakin wasn't that he was just too old, it's that because of that age he had become too filled with fear and anger to a point where taking on the Jedi training would be twice as hard for him as it already was for everyone else.

Hearn doesn't chastise Mace for this initial decision. On the contrary, he adds more context to it by using a line from the screenplay to explain where Mace is coming from.

He also goes further into Mace's view of Anakin throughout the book:

"[Mace] over-estimates Anakin Skywalker, paying little credence to Obi-Wan's protestations that the boy is too confused and disturbed to be dispatched on a solo mission."

"The Jedi Council is aware of Anakin's exceptional skills, and Mace Windu believes Anakin may fulfill the prophecy that says a being will one day bring balance to the Force. But Anakin still has a lot to learn…"

He's basically stating that Mace believes in Anakin, but that doing so is a mistake. Which, to be fair, considering how things turn out for Mace and the Jedi... is kinda true!

Mace's problem with Anakin is almost the opposite of what most of the fandom projects onto him.

It's not that he dislikes Anakin, on the contrary, he holds Anakin in too high of an esteem and is overlooking Anakin's glaring flaws because "hey, Anakin's the Chosen One. He's got this!"

That's not the only flaw Mace has, according to Hearn.

MACE'S (and the Jedi's) ONLY REAL FLAW

Fandom: "Mace and the Jedi had become too emotionally detached, they had lost touch with the common folk by spending too much time in their ivory tower. They focused so much on being selfless that they forgot how to care, they've become a bunch of elitist, righteous sticklers for protocol who care more about upholding laws than actually helping the people those laws are meant to protect!"

Attack of the Clones' - The Illustrated Companion:

"Although he is a senior member of the Jedi Council, little in Mace Windu's experience has prepared him for the looming threats of the dark side of the Force and Count Dooku's Separatists."

"Mace Windu's faith in the Jedi to protect the Republic is admirable, but it also blinds him to the true scale of the growing menace. He is aware that the dark side is growing, but still allows himself to be too easily reassured about the Separatists' ambitions. [...] Mace fatally misjudges Count Dooku, refusing to believe he could be behind any attempt on Senator Amidala's life. 'Dooku was once a ledi, he tells Padmé. 'He couldn't assassinate anyone. It's not in his character.'"

"Mace Windu's strengths are, in many ways, qualities shared by the Jedi Order as a whole - he is an accomplished diplomat and a fine swordsman. Such skills have served the Jedi well in their role as the galaxy's peacekeepers for a thousand generations. But such skills are not enough to save the Jedi from their own complacency, and the tumultuous changes that threaten to wipe them out forever."

Hearn perfectly grasps what the Jedi's only real flaw is, in George Lucas' intended narrative: they were unprepared, complacent, they were blind... and now they're stuck playing catch-up.

But when he's saying that, he's not blaming them for it. Because this flaw doesn't derive from some sense of elitism or superiority... it is an inevitable consequence of their qualities.

They've managed to stay out of politics as neutral diplomats... ... but that makes them vulnerable to the Sith's plot, which primarily takes place within the political arena, where they have no control or experience.

They are painfully aware of the corruption in the Senate... ... but as a result, they're too quick to trust the Separatist's talking points as well-meaning and genuine, instead of seeing the movement for what it really is: greedy big business trying to become the government.

They trust and agree with Dooku, believe in what he publicly stands for (after all this man used to be one of the wisest and kindest members of the Jedi Order, Mace's friend, Yoda's Padawan, etc)... ... but as such, they are blind to his true nature, that of a treacherous Sith who'd stoop to orchestrating assassinations.

The Jedi have their guard up, knowing that there's another Sith Lord still out there, orchestrating in the shadows... ... but they can't really find him, because the Dark Side has clouded everything, so only darksiders are able to sense the possibilities of the future! Them serving the good side is screwing them over, in this situation.

Flaws such as being too trusting or being unprepared, letting your guard down because you've established a 1000-year-peace, are flaws that kind, noble characters such as the Jedi are bound to have.

They may be flaws, but they aren't faults. And considering the way he describes Mace and the Jedi, it's clear Hearn grasps the nuance.

MACE'S RELUCTANCE TO JOIN THE WAR

Fandom: The Jedi joined the war out of arrogance, they thought they could swashbuckle their way through the problem and win, instead they didn't realize that they lost the very moment they joined.

Attack of the Clones' - The Illustrated Companion:

"Mace Windu believes in the Jedi as keepers of the peace - not as soldiers - but there comes a point when he reluctantly realizes that it is time to take affairs out of the realm of diplomacy."

Mace and the Jedi didn't want to start a war. If you read the script for Attack of the Clones, Mace and Bail keep grasping at straws to not engage with the Separatists up til the very end.

But when you consider that...

the Geonosians are about to execute Obi-Wan without a trial,

and the Separatists leaders have been unmasked as a coalition of unscrupulous corporate assholes who are willing to plunge the galaxy in chaos just to make more money.

... at some point, the Jedi have to come to terms with the fact that Separatist leadership (and Sidious) won't accept diplomacy because they want a conflict. A conflict will make them all richer. And the Republic, well, they're just dying to go to war too.

So the Jedi go save Obi-Wan and capture Dooku, hoping that in doing so, the conflict ends before it begins. They succeed in the former goal... but fail the latter one.

The Clone War has begun.

From there on, the Jedi are drafted to lead the war. Which is why - as Hearn points out - Mace was so reluctant to take action in the first place. The Jedi are ambassadors, they are not built for war... and now they've been forced into one.

Mace is by no means a perfect character... but he's someone doing his best. Just like Obi-Wan, just like Yoda, and all the other Jedi.

Overtime, Windu's character has been dumbed down to either "that one angry black man" or "the dogmatic emotionless dick who hated Anakin"... and I really think that that's not what we were meant to see him as.

The way Marcus Hearn (who also wrote The Cinema of George Lucas) refers to him is a much more charitable interpretation of how others (ahem Filoni ahem) do, nowadays.

[nichuuu]

Beats Me - 4: Settle Down

Tags: Mommy kink, orgasm denial, cumshot, rough sex, Anal

The meat sizzled on the grill, grease splattering all over the place. With a pair of thongs, Eunbi flipped the slice of pork over and let it sit for a little more. The rest of the band was engaged in conversation, their chatter becoming a faint buzz in your ears as you stared off into space.

Practice hadn’t gone well that day. After Chaewon stormed out of the room, yelling about how she’d refuse to play for your band for as long as you were in it, the pugnacious brat seemed to be the only thing your mind could focus on. Memories of her came flooding back at random intervals, making you lose focus in the midst of song. You earned a record high of 6 death glares from Yeji that afternoon. 

After practice, Eunbi pushed the idea of going to eat as a band. Everyone enthusiastically jumped on the bandwagon, including Yeji—Who was peer pressured by Ryujin to come—and you wound up at a barbeque place just down the street.

Someone tapped you on your hand. You looked up and found Eunbi staring at you. Concern was written all over her face.

“Hey, you okay?” She asked quietly, careful not to alert the other band members. You smiled and sat up in your seat. 

“I-I’m fine,” You assured her. 

“You sure? You’ve been out of it since this afternoon,” The singer pressed. 

“I’m okay Eunbi,” You reiterated. Eunbi sighed and picked up the pork slice. She placed it down on your plate. 

“If there’s anything you need to talk about… I’m here. In fact, we’re here,” Eunbi smiled, gesturing towards the other band members. 

“I-I’m really fine Eunbi…” You stated. “I’m just… Thinking…”

Eunbi nodded thoughtfully and got another serving of meat going on the grill. She stared into the fire for a moment. 

“Look I… I’m sorry that I brought Chaewon in,” She muttered. “I… I should’ve known…”

“It’s alright Eunbi… I didn’t expect you to,” You comforted your singer. 

The girl sighed. She took a sip from her cup. 

“When did you guys start?” Eunbi asked. 

“Dating?” You confirmed. She nodded.

“Start of highschool,” You told her.

“When did you guys break up?” She continued. 

“About a month or two after graduation,” You replied. 

Eunbi drew in a breath. 

“Damn…  Two years together… That’s quite a bit of history,” She mused. You chuckled bitterly.

“I guess…” You mused. 

“Yo Squeaker!” Ryujin called out to you. “Be a darling and hand me the garlic would’ya?”

You grabbed the small dish of sliced garlic and slid it down the table. Your bassist caught it and shot you a wink. 

“Thanks babe,” She giggled. She’d gotten bolder with you since you first met her and you knew exactly why. 

“Ryujin seems to like you,” Eunbi told you. 

“Ryujin likes everyone,” You replied. 

“Fair enough,” Your singer hummed. “She is one hell of an extrovert.”

You nodded and took a sip of your beer, the bitter liquid washing down the aftertaste of meat. Eunbi distributed the new batch of freshly grilled beef.

“So…” She continued, dragging both of you back to the original topic—Chaewon.

“Let me guess… Why did you guys break up?” You predicted. When it came to Exes, this was a common question that was always thrown out. 

“Yea…” Eunbi muttered bashfully.

“I’d… I’d rather not talk about it,” You told her frankly. She understood and didn’t press any further into your history with Chaewon. She knew better than to re-open old wounds.

Yeji shoved the last piece of meat on her plate into her mouth. After wiping her greasy lips, she rose from her seat and shouldered her guitar bag. 

“It’s late, I’ll get going,” The guitarist declared. 

“It’s eight p.m. Yeji,” Ryujin pointed out. Yeji stepped out and pushed her chair in.

“That’s late enough for me. I have things to do. Bye guys.”

The girl turned tail and left, leaving the five of you behind. Ryujin sighed.

“That girl is too uptight,” The bassist remarked. “Someday, I’ll bring her to a party and get the fun back in her…”

“I’m sure she has her reasons for being the way she is,” Karina reasoned. “Maybe she lives  in a really serious environment.”

“Girl, she lives with her sister,” Ryujin countered. “Yeju’s the embodiment of a crackhead, and her husband is even better!”

“Who’s Yeju?” Eunbi inquired. 

“Yeji’s older sister,” Ryujin replied. “Yeji’s been living with her and her husband since she was in highschool, they got a really cosy place not too far from here. I love crashing there.”

Ryujin popped a beef slice wrapped in lettuce into her mouth and chewed it rather loudly.

“How do you know this much about Yeji?” Sakura piped. Ryujin swallowed.

“I’ve known her since middle school. She’s changed a lot since then, but the old Yeji’s somewhere in there,” Ryujin said. She took a sip from her cup then stared at the golden-yellow liquid inside it. 

“Sometimes I wonder what happened to old Yeji…” The bassist muttered. “She wasn’t like this before…”

You silently ate your slice of meat, silently observing Ryujin in her moment of thought that only lasted for a little over a second. Ryujin eventually pouted and set her glass back down.

“Oh well… I guess we’ll never know,” She sighed. She proceeded to raise her hand and call for another round of beer. 

You only left the barbeque place a little past midnight. Thanks to your self control, you managed to stay sober along with Eunbi, who had been too busy cooking for the band to take a sip out of her own glass. You held the door open for Karina, letting her walk out of the door with Ryujin straddling her back. Your bassist had once again gone to town with the alcohol, but she got knocked out this time around. 

“Jesus christ… She’s heavier than I remembered,” Karina grunted. 

“N-Need me to help?” You offered. Your pianist shook her head. 

“It’s alright Myeong-seok. I can manage her,” Karina assured you. “Kkura! Help me hail a cab will you?” 

“N-Ne!” Sakura squeaked.

“Let me give you guys a lift,” Eunbi offered.

“It’s good Eunbi… There’s a cab right there,” Karina declined, using her head to gesture to the taxi that happened to be cruising down the street. Sakura quickly ran to the sidewalk and stuck out her hand to flag it down. The vehicle came to a stop before the Japanese girl. Karina shot you and Eunbi a smile before hustling over to the cab.

“Be safe! Text when you guys are back!” Eunbi hollered. Karina yelled something in reply, but her words were muffled by the wind that blew by. Sakura opted to hop in with Karina and Ryujin at the last second, and the cab took off into the night. You stood next to Eunbi, watching as the tail light of the taxi moved further and further away till they disappeared from sight. 

“So… How are you getting home?” Eunbi asked you. 

“I’ll probably walk back to campus to catch a bus,” You answered. 

“Let me send you home,” She offered. 

“I-It’s okay Eunbi… I can get home on my own,” You assured her. 

“Fine… Suit yourself I guess,” She sighed. “Come on… We both gotta walk back to campus to get home don’t we?”

You smiled awkwardly and nodded. The two of you set off into the night, walking side by side as you made your way back to campus. Admittedly, it was a little awkward walking back with your singer. Even though you’d slept with her that one time, you still were a little tense around Eunbi. Maybe it was her demeanour, or maybe it was that dazzling face… You didn’t know why you still got nervous around her.

“Weather’s nice tonight, isn’t it?” She mused. 

“Y-Yea… I-I guess…” You answered.

“Do you always answer questions with ‘Yea’ and ‘I guess’? I swear that’s the only thing I hear out of you sometimes.”

You blushed.

“S-Sorry,” You apologised. Eunbi chuckled and playfully smacked your arm.

“Relax Myeong-seok, just having some fun with you,” She clarified. “Jeez… You’re really tense sometimes you know?” 

You chuckled nervously.

“I uh… I’m not really an extrovert,” You admitted. 

“I can tell,” Eunbi replied. “Knew it from the moment you stepped into the studio.”

You managed a sheepish laugh.

“D-Didn’t know it was that obvious,” You mused. 

“Oh it’s painfully obvious,” She told you. “You always look so shocked whenever any of us speak to you. It’s kinda cute to be honest.”

Eunbi laughed softly to herself, kicking aside a small pebble on the pavement. 

“So… How have your first few weeks with us been?” She asked, changing the direction of the conversation. 

“It’s… It’s been fun so far,” You said. 

“Are the practices too intense at times?” She continued. 

“Sometimes…” You answered carefully. “But uh… I-I can cope with it…”

Eunbi fixed you with a look. 

“You sure? Cause that glove on your hand really isn’t helping your case,” She remarked. You hid your blistered hand behind your back. 

“T-That’s my fault… I… Pushed myself a little too hard,” You replied. Eunbi chuckled.

“Alright, alright… Whatever you say Mr Drummer,” She joked. “Just let me know if you feel a little overwhelmed, okay? I’ll help you out as much as I can.”

“I uh… Thanks…” You managed to reply her. She gave you a pat on your shoulder.

“No problem,” Eunbi said. “I wanna make sure that you’re having a great time with us. Fun first, musicality second. No exceptions.”

She gave you a bright smile. Your breath hitched for a second. You turned away to hide the blush on your cheeks.

The two of you stopped at a traffic junction to wait for the green man to make his appearance. Eunbi started to hum a soft tune to herself, rocking back and forth on her heels while she looked around her. It was an old song, one of those upbeat 80s rock songs that your Mom used to play over the small CD player in your apartment. You couldn’t figure out which song it was, but the tune brought a small smile to your face as bits of nostalgia set in. 

Eunbi casted a glance towards you. Noticing the look on your face, she couldn’t help but ask, “What’s got you smiling like that?” 

“S-Sorry,” You quickly apologised. “The song you were humming… It just reminded me of my Mom…”

“Oh, I see…” She nodded. “Your mom listened to rock?”

“Die hard Van Halen fan. She has all the CDs, treats them better than me,” You disclosed. 

“Introduce me to her, I think we’d be great friends,” Eunbi chuckled. 

The red man disappeared, and the green man began walking on the display. You crossed the street with Eunbi and continued on your journey back to campus. A slight breeze blew by, ruffling your hair as leaves skidded across the pavement. You silently watched Eunbi from the corner of your eye, your head reeling as you thought of something to talk about. Alas, Eunbi beat you to it.

“You wanna know something?” Eunbi piped. 

“What?” You replied, urging her to continue.

“I…” Eunbi trailed off. “Ah nevermind…” 

You blinked, a little stunned. 

“O-Oh… Okay…”

You walked in silence for a little more. 

“How are your parents?” She suddenly inquired. 

“O-Oh… They’re good, busy running their Vet clinic in the city,” You told her. 

“Your parents are Vets?” Eunbi mused.

“Yea… It’s kinda sweet,” You remarked. 

“Sounds kinda romantic doesn’t it? A husband and wife in the same profession and they run a clinic together,” She chuckled. “That’s some wholesome stuff… Love it.”

You let out a soft laugh. 

“I guess you could say that…” You said. “How about you Eunbi? How are your parents?”

Eunbi went silent for a little.

“They’re uh… They’re good,” She answered after a second or two. 

“Are they still working?” you inquired. 

“I uh… Don’t know,” Eunbi shrugged. “I haven’t heard from them in a while. Last I checked, they were fine.” 

Judging from her answer, you had a feeling that further questioning wasn’t the best idea. You weren’t the best person to confide in when it came to other people’s personal issues, you let more qualified people handle those. You could never really think of what to say to comfort someone having an absolute breakdown before you, nor did you have the skills to offer any sort of advice to them. You tried to help once—It didn’t go well. 

The mood seemed to dampen after your attempt to make conversation with Eunbi. In your heart, you could sense that something happened to her over the course of your questioning. You weren’t sure what happened, but you were certain that it was your fault. 

“H-Hey… I-I’m sorry if I brought up a touchy subject,” You began to apologise. 

“O-Oh i-it’s fine,” Eunbi allayed you. “You did nothing wrong… The beer’s just kicking in… Getting a little woozy, you know?”

A strong gut feeling told you that she was lying her ass off, but you knew better than to pry into her personal life. The rest of the walk was filled with the awkward silence that you originally started the walk with. The joy seemed to have been sapped out of Eunbi. You silently cussed yourself out for asking the wrong questions. 

It didn’t take long for the both of you to get back to campus. The bus stop was in sight, and you subconsciously quickened your pace to get to the stop. 

“Oh… Are you leaving already?” Eunbi asked. You turned to face her. 

“S-Sort of? The bus stop’s right there…” You answered. Her face visibly fell a little.

“Oh… Alright then… See you around,” She said with a wave. A pang of shame twisted your heart, but You returned the gesture and turned tail to walk away.

The lights of the bus stop were getting closer and closer. You could feel Eunbi’s presence grow further and further from you. It was like the lingering fuzz in your arm after you woke up from sleeping on it, slowly fading till it disappeared. As you stepped under the shelter of the bus stop, an odd sense of emptiness filled your core. Your attempts to shake it off were futile. 

Your bus was coming towards the stop. You turned to look at Eunbi’s figuring getting smaller and smaller as she walked back into the campus. 

The bus came to a screeching stop before you, the doors sliding open to welcome you in. The soft lights within the vehicle cajoled you, urging you to stop in and have a seat in the empty bus, but the usual pull to enter wasn’t there.

“Hey! You getting on?” the bus captain asked you, looking rather ticked off. You looked him in the eye.

You turned and ran back towards the campus. Your legs carried you with renewed energy, an invisible rope pulling you towards your destination. You managed to catch Eunbi just as she was about to enter the turnstyle. 

“Eunbi!” You called her. She whipped around.

“The fuck? Why are you back?” she questioned. You rested your hands on your knees. 

“I… I think… I could use a lift,” You panted. Eunbi blinked, looking a little taken aback. The look of shock didn’t last too long, the corners of her lips pulled up into a gleaming smile. 

“Cool,” She said. “Let’s get you home then.”

~~~

You’d expected her to ask to come into your place from the moment she pulled into the parking lot of your Apartment complex, yet her question still caught you off guard. You didn’t have the heart to turn her down. 

“Hm… Looks cozy,” Eunbi mused as she strolled into your apartment.

“I-It’s not much…” You chuckled shamefully. You weren’t expecting guests any time soon, so you hadn’t really done much of a clean up. One of your hoodies was strewn over the sole chair at your foldable table that functioned as your dining table. Unwashed plates and cups were in your kitchen sink, and you were half certain that that spot where you spilled some apple juice on the floor was still kind of sticky. 

“You look like you don’t receive guests often…” Eunbi mused, picking up your ACDC shirt that was strewn across your beanbag. You’d thrifted it a couple of days ago but hadn’t washed it yet.

“W-Well I uh…” You struggled to answer. “I… Don’t invite people in… At all…”

Eunbi giggled and set the shirt back down. 

“So am I the first person to enter your place?” She inquired. You rubbed the back of your neck. 

“If you don’t count my parents? Yea…” You blushed.

“Hm… Cool.”

Eunbi proceeded to do a little more exploration. She entered your bedroom, which you’d thankfully packed a couple of nights before due to a sudden motivation to do so at 3 in the morning. She casually looked through most of your things, skimming through folders and examining photos like she was given the permission to do so. You trusted her enough to not protest against her actions. 

“You know… You’re neater than I expected,” Your singer mused. 

“Thanks,” You replied. Eunbi set down the photo album in her hand and turned to face you.

“So… When can we get to fucking?”

Her blunt choice of words combined with her too casual tone threw you completely off guard. 

“H-Huh?” You couldn’t help but stutter. 

“Damn… I thought you’d take the hint when I asked to come up,” Eunbi sighed. 

“I… What?”

Eunbi folded her arms. 

“Jesus Christ Myeong-seok… Have I not dropped enough hints on the ride back?”

Admittedly, you weren’t paying attention for about 90% of the ride. You simply nodded and hummed in response to most of Eunbi’s questions and said “oh… cool” to a majority of her statements. In hindsight, you should’ve paid a little more attention. 

Eunbi walked towards you, a slight sway in her hips. 

“Get on the bed sweetie,” She purred. 

“E-Eunbi—”

“Don’t talk back to mommy.”

There was a sudden shift in the atmosphere. You could hear your heartbeat in your ears as Eunbi stared you down. The power dynamic had shifted, the balance tipping towards Eunbi. This was no longer a friend-to-friend bonding moment. Eunbi wanted you, here and now. There was nothing you could say or do to change her resolve.

You were hesitant, but you slowly walked over to your own bed and sat down on the edge of it. Eunbi walked over to the door and closed it, then she strutted over to you.

“You know what to do, don’t you?” She asked. 

“Yes… Mommy,” You answered. 

“Good. Now strip.”

You complied somewhat willingly, your arms and hand moving on their own to pull your t-shirt off your body. Eunbi was gracious enough to help you out of your pants and underwear, pulling the articles of clothing right off your legs and tossing them into a corner of your room. She settled next to you and gripped your semi-hard shaft. She squeezed it not too gently and slowly pumped you to full measure.  

“Fuck��� I forgot just how big you were,” She whispered right into your ear. Her breath tingled your skin. Her hand quickly set itself into a rhythm. 

“You know… I should’ve called you for a booty call sooner,” Eunbi mused, her free hand beginning to explore your body. “Searching for a trumpet player’s gotten mommy so pent up, should’ve called you for some form of… relief.”

You let a soft sigh escape from your lips. Eunbi giggled next to you. 

“Shall I play with you for a bit? Or should I just get right to it like I did last time?” She asked you. Her nails traced shapes on the nape of your neck. She was slowly breaking you down and weaving herself in the holes of your resolve, taking control of you. You knew it, but you couldn’t stop it. Her hand sped up, delivering full long strokes to your throbbing length while Eunbi began her assault on your ear. She nibbled, she licked and kissed, slowly tuning your senses into overdrive. You were her toy to play with. 

“I think… I should play with you for a little,” Eunbi finally decided. “Get you all riled up, then dMake you cum all over me… How does that sound?”

You weren’t in a good state to give her a reply, but Eunbi took the soft whimper that left your throat as a reply.

“I’ll take that as a yes then.”

Her hand stopped abruptly, freeing you from the spikes of pleasure that’d begun to surge from your crotch area. Eunbi gracefully slipped off the bed, deftly positioning herself on her knees before your twitching shaft. She stroked with consideration, taking her time with you as she let her forefinger and thumb apply pressure to your tip before letting her hand glide to the base of your cock. You stifled a moan, your hands stiff at your sides. The pinkness of her tongue poked out from between her lips. She lowered her head, letting you feel the heat against the tip of your cock. Ou squirmed. She smirked.

Her tongue made contact, teasing your tip with the moistness of her tongue. Every muscle in your body seemed to seize up, responding to her toying. Eunbi made sure to keep your eyes locked on hers as she licked the underside of your length. The softness and warmth made you grit your teeth as you watched her lather up the bottom side of your member. You’d slept with her once, yet she somehow seemed to have found an optimal way to bend you to her will. It was cruel of her—yet something about the way she took her time to paint your length in her spit aroused you to new extents. You twitched wildly in her grasp, each small flick of her tongue sending you gasping and grunting in ways you had no idea you were capable of.

Once your singer was satisfied with the control she’d established over you, she released your cock from the grip of her slender fingers. Spreading your legs further apart to allow for better access, she drawled, “Relax baby… Let Mommy please you.”

She tossed her hair behind her shoulders and rested her palms on your thighs. Before you could even process what was going on, the warmth of Eunbi’s little mouth surrounded your length, lips wrapping around your shaft. You couldn’t fight back a groan.

Sloppy… No, incredibly fucking sloppy was the best way to describe the way Eunbi pleasured you with her mouth. She let the drool flow freely from the corners of her mouth, the frothy fluid sliding down your cock unchallenged as Eunbi had her way with the hard, throbbing meat in her mouth. Glossy pink lips followed a strict path—up, down, up, down—relentlessly slobbering over your shaft while applying a near perfect amount of suction around you as she kept her pace. She was a deadly woman of consistency, each bottom of her stroke aiming to take in more and more of your member into the back of her throat. Her eyes visibly watered, but her resolve remained. 

You knew better than to rest your hands anywhere on her body, opting to crumple your sheets with a knuckle-white grip. You could possibly choke the life out of a grown man in seconds. She knew her way around you, the lustful fire in her eyes conveying the joy she derived from making you squirm in your seat while her not too gentle hands fondled with your spit covered sack. Spots danced before your eyes, your world spinning in the handling of Eunbi. 

Your cock popped out of her mouth, a mix of pre-cum and spit dripping from your tip. 

“You’re awfully quiet baby,” She told you, hand lazily pumping your slippery shaft with full strokes. “How will Mommy know if she’s doing a good job if you don’t moan for me?”

She was a playfully cruel woman. A dark part of you enjoyed this side of your singer…

When she took your cock back into the willing depths of her mouth, you made sure to vocalise your pleasure as much as you could. You caught the faint trace of a smirk on her face as she resumed her work. In and out; disappearing and reappearing—You couldn’t get enough of the way Eunbi blew you. 

When she decided that she’d played with you for long enough, Eunbi sadly released your throbbing length from the warmth of her mouth. Wordlessly, she rose to her knees and ridded herself of her clothes. No teasing, no antics. Eunbi was horny and she needed cock, your cock. 

She pushed you back, your shoulders impacting your mattress as Eunbi straddled you. She lifted herself up slightly, her hand reaching back to grab your swollen length and line it up with the entrance to her slit. She wasted no time in hilting you inside of her, a soft cry leaving her lips as she planted her hands on your chest. 

“Fuck… Your cock feels so fucking good inside of me,” She hissed. She raised her hips slightly and slammed herself back down onto you, earning a sharp gasp from you. Eunbi smiled wickedly. 

“Let’s see how long you last inside Mommy’s pussy… Don’t cum till I let you”

She took off. Eunbi rode you fiercely, roughly, taking you in and out of her tight wet slick. She was oblivious to your comfort, the only thing concerning her being filling herself over and over with your thick, hard cock. Eunbi’s nails dug into your chest, her face wild and brimming with need. Beads of sweat had begun decorating her curvaceous body, milky skin glistening under the dim lighting of your bedroom. 

“Fuck baby… So… Fucking… Full!”

She leaned down and crashed her lips against yours. Her tongue invades your month. You let her in. You were helpless, completely unable to resist Eunbi as she took her pleasure from your body. In a weird, twisted way—you were savouring every second of it. The way her pussy clenched tightly around you, so slick and so tight. The way she ripped her gaze from your eyes to cast her head back, sending locks of jet-black hair flying as she sighed and moaned her pleasure. The way her hips and thighs never slowed nor lost their rhythm… So much to take in; so much to feel.

“You love… My pussy don’t you? Do you like… how I fuck your cock with it?” Eunbi hissed between lustful moans. She thrusted her hips against yours, thighs crashing against your hips while your cock speared through her folds.

“Y-Yes Mommy… I-I love your pussy so much!” Came your reply. Eunbi pulled you upright aggressively. 

“Suck my tits baby,” She commanded. You were more than happy to obey.

Her hands gripped your hair and pulled you into her chest. Your face crashed against her breasts, the warm, delicious cleavage between them filled with her sweat. You quickly latched your mouth onto her left nipple and sucked greedily. Eunbi let out a strangled gasp of pleasure.

“That’s it baby… Just like that…” Eunbi spurred you.

You feasted on her breasts, tongue licking and swirling—Giving her the works. Her hips moved a little quicker, no longer taking your entire length into her pussy. Instead, she withdrew only half way before plunging down again to drive you faster and harder inside her tight, drenched pussy. Her juices flowed freely, coating the insides of her thighs and your crotch. Her sighs became shallower and shallower by the minute.

“Baby… You’re gonna make Mommy… Oh god… Oh fucking go—”

Ironically enough, the one who wanted to test how long you could last came first. Her entire body is struck by a bolt of pleasure, quivering, shaking and trembling involuntarily. Cusses spill out of her mouth, paired with intermittent cries of pleasure and other exclamations. From between her tits you could see Eunbi’s features twist, face wracked with pleasure as she holds you firmly against her chest. You yourself were fighting back your own orgasm. Rules set by Eunbi were rules that must be followed.

It took forever for Eunbi to wind down, but the wait was worth it as her hands slackened, allowing you to pull back and witness her bask in the glow of her orgasm. The need for control disappeared for just a little bit, the natural softness behind those eyes returning for a second while she gazed passionately into her eyes. You pulled her in for a kiss, earning yourself a soft moan into your mouth. 

When she pulled away, you could sense the slight change in her demeanour. She smiled warmly and cradled your face in her hands.

“You okay?” She whispered. You nodded, she giggled. 

“Good, cause I still need more.”

Your living room was the next location. She tossed away the ACDC shirt on the beanbag and bent herself over it, looking back to catch your gaze.

“Don’t keep Mommy waiting,” Eunbi rasped. You weren’t one to make a woman wait. You got down on your knees behind her, your tip lined up with her dripping slit. 

“Wait,” She stopped you. “My ass. Fuck my ass.”

She reached back and spread her ample ass cheeks apart for you. You lined your tip up with her asshole. 

“Be quick,” Eunbi instructed. You nodded and pushed right in. Your shaft, lubricated with Eunbi’s juices and saliva, slipped seamlessly into her warm, tight hole. Eunbi yelped, her hand gripping your beanbag. 

“Fuck…” She hissed. “Forgot… How that felt like…”

You gave Eunbi a moment to adjust, content with fondling her ass cheeks as Eunbi drew deep breaths. 

“Okay,” She finally sighed after a minute or two. “Go.”

One word was all you needed to know how she wanted to be fucked. You pumped in and out of her tight little hole, Eunbi rocking back into you with each thrust you made into her body. For what felt like hours, you continued to fuck Eunbi’s hot ass, shaft drilling in and out from between her asscheeks as sighs of pleasure escaped her throat. You took the risk and let your hands roam the curves of Eunbi’s body, reaching around her to grab ahold of her full tits and playing with the soft flesh of her butt. She let you do as you please, focusing on pounding back onto your cock. Her sighs filled your ears, hypnotising you in the sound of her sensual voice. The warmth of her ass roped you deeper into your lust, the scent of her perfume mixing with the smell of her sweat.

“Oh fuck… Oh fuck fuck fuck,” She let the filth spill forth. “God I feel so fucking full… Your cock always fills me up just the way I like…”

She propped herself up on her hands, her slim tummy resting on the bean bag. 

“Keep going baby… You’re… You’re doing such a good job,” she praised between gasps. It was taking everything in your body to keep you from unloading into Eunbi’s ass right there and then. Nonetheless, you persevered. 

Eunbi’s moans coaxed you, her soft sighs spurring you—Every little thing she did while you fucked her drove you wild. You could feel your cock pulsing inside of her, aching to release rope after rope of cum into that tight little ass of hers. All that riding done by Eunbi had already driven you close.

Eunbi definitely knew that you were at your upper limit, but that didn’t stop her from making things harder for you. 

“Speed up,” She prompted with a smirk. “And don’t you dare cum till I let you.”

“But—”

She shot you a glare that silenced you. 

“One more word and I’ll make sure that you’ll never cum tonight,” She warned. Not taking her seriously would be a stupid decision, but you weren’t certain how much longer you could last inside of her. 

Following orders, you picked up the semi-frantic pace. Eunbi tilted her head back, spine arching in a delicious curve. You could see the smirk on her face. It was killing you. 

You couldn’t hold on anymore. Your thrusts into her ass shallowed, your breath quickening as you prepared to let loose. 

“M-Mommy,” You groaned. 

“Don’t you dare.”

“I-I… I can’t!” 

Eunbi abruptly slid forward, withdrawing herself from your cock. She whipped around and gripped your cock tightly, squeezing it in a vice grip as she stared right into your soul. 

“Don’t,” She whispered flatly. “Don’t make Mommy punish you baby…” 

Her grip on your member was not helping to reduce the pressure in your cock. You could feel yourself leaking, your length twitching wildly in Eunbi’s hand. She laid a hand on your chest. 

“Good boy,” She praised once your breathing had settled. “Mommy will let you cum when she’s satisfied, so you better be at your best performance for the rest of the night.”

You gulped and nodded, knowing full well that she meant every word she said. You were in for a rough time.

She tortured you for the rest of the night, making you fuck her in all sorts of positions that drove you insanely close to the edge. Each time she sensed your impending orgasm, she forced you out of her and squeezed your member rather painfully. She made you fuck her over the sink, rail her on the bed, eat her out on the desk… The list went on and on. She kept you painfully close to the edge the whole time, making sure to put on an increasing lewd display of pleasure as you progressed into the night. It got to a point where a perpetual tingle lingered in your crotch area. It was like an itch that you couldn’t scratch. 

Your torture amounted to something at the end of it all. As Eunbi laid on your floor, spent from her nth orgasm of the night, she coaxed you towards her. With your jelly like legs, you somehow managed to waddle on your knees towards her. 

“Kneel… Over me,” She rasped. You did as you were told. With what remaining strength she had left, she reached up and began pumping away at your shaft. With satisfaction written all over her face, she uttered two words. 

“Paint me.”

The orgasm that you experienced would go down in your records as the definition of an explosive orgasm. You felt every burst of semen that shot out from your shaft, cries of pleasure leaving your mouth in streams as Eunbi milked every last drop out of you. Rope after rope painted her tight body, your seed leaving no bit of skin uncovered. Even when the orgasm subsided, warm spurts of cum still leaked out of you, oozing from your tip and dripping onto your singer below you.

Your legs eventually gave way. You crashed down next to her. With a face and body full of cum, she smiled and whispered into your ear. 

“Next time… I’ll let you cum in me…”

~~~

You both collectively decided to skip classes the next day. Eunbi spent the morning at your place, sauntering around your apartment in nothing but her panties and one of your Led Zeppelin shirts. She proved to be an excellent cook, whipping up an excellent breakfast with what you had in the fridge. Pairing Eunbi’s masterful cooking with a rather pathetic cup of instant coffee, you sat down on the floor with Eunbi to have one of the best meals you’d ever eat. 

“God… This is so good,” You told her. Eunbi giggled.

“Please, it’s just a simple meal,” She humbly replied. 

“Simplicity is good sometimes,” You shrugged. Eunbi smiled warmly. 

“Glad you like it.”

It felt like the distance between the two of you had closed after last night. You found yourself  feeling oddly comfortable around her, finding that you could hold a conversation with her without ever descending into awkward silence. You were glad that you got the sudden urge to run after her the night before. 

Before she left, she helped you to clean up the mess you’d both made. Surfaces were scrubbed clean, floors wiped till it sparked. Only when she’d made the place cleaner than when she first arrived did she dress herself in her jeans from last night.

“I’ll return your shirt to you next practice,” She assured you, slipping on her sneakers. “Or maybe you could call me over again…”

You blushed. 

“I think I uh… I think I’ll lay off for a bit,” You muttered. Eunbi giggled mischievously.

“Suit yourself,” She shrugged. “See you next practice then.”

Eunbi left your place, leaving you alone for the rest of the day. You used the rest of the daytime to catch up on some work. Somewhere in the evening, a knock came on your door. You set your pen down and hurried over to open it. When you did, a kind-looking young lady greeted you enthusiastically.

“Hello! I’m Yeju, pleased to meet you!” She beamed. You could feel the positive energy radiating off her. She looked familiar for some reason.

“O-Oh… Hi,” You greeted her. 

“I’m your new neighbour. I just moved into the apartment down the hall yesterday,” She explained to you. “Just wanted to drop by and say a quick hello! Hope we can be great friends!” 

It felt like you were the only introvert in this world. You smiled awkwardly and nodded. 

“N-Nice to meet you Yeju… I-I’m Myeong-seok,” You smiled.

“Wow! You share the same name as my husband!” Yeju laughed loudly. “Small world huh?”

“I-I guess…” You chuckled.

The lady’s name rang a bell in your head, but you couldn’t remember when and where you heard the name from. Fortunately for you, your memory was about to get jogged. 

“Oh! And before I forget,” The lady continued. “Let me introduce you to my sister!” 

She stepped aside. Hwang Yeji stared right back at you, fixing you with her signature death glare. You felt like you were about to shit yourself. 

With an icy cold look, she locked eyes with you and said, “I can’t fucking believe that we’re neighbours now…” 

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

Hai. Wats popping kings and queens.

This was long overdue and I apologies for my procrastination. Hope ya'll enjoy this fic that I re-wrote 4 times because it was funk at the start. Thanks for stopping by to read and have a nice day :).

[httpspedri26]

Your losing me (pt.2)

Angst fluff

Jude x reader

I’m still writing some requests but feel free to leave more!!

Your losing me (pt.1)

Jude hated himself because of what he did six months ago. These last months were the longest he ever went without you, without the sound of your voice, your laughter, Your scent still wonders around the house though, it’s everywhere, even though Jude has washed your pillow countless times or had another woman sleep on it. It serves as a constant reminder that you once in that house with him.

Every corner of the house holds memories of you both - the photographs on the walls, every time he wants to take the pictures of the wall he breaks down crying, so he figured it was better to leave them there.

He often wonders if you think about him too, if you miss him like he misses you. . The thought of you moving on, finding happiness with someone else, is both a source of pain and a glimmer of hope. Deep down, he wants nothing more than for you to be happy, but he can’t stand imagining you with another man.

This week, Real Madrid had agreed to cancel this week’s training for the holidays to spend some quality time with their families. Jude initially hadn't planned on returning to Dortmund, but he really wanted to see y/n, that’s all he had been wishing for these past 6 months just to hold her in his arms again.

That’s why he finds himself back in dourtmund back in the front door of his and y/n house. He didn’t really know how he got there, he wasn’t planning on showing up at your doorstep at this time, but all roads lead him here.

He can hear footsteps as soon as he knocks on the door. Jude’s heart drops as he sees a man, the complete opposite of him, standing in front of him. brown hair, light eyes, and fair skin.

"Hey, can I help you with something?" The man furrowed his eyebrows as he asked Jude.

Jude felt like his throat was closing and couldn't speak.

"I, um, no, sorry. I think I'm in the wrong house," Jude blurted out, as soon as he heard your voice from afar asking who it was.

✿

It’s been a few days since Jude appeared at Y/N’s front door. He had been staying at his parents' house in Dortmund, still alone as nobody was there yet. They were in Sunderland with Jobe for a few days before coming over to Dortmund, which brought Jude a sense of relief, not wanting his family to see him in that state.

A soft knock from the front door snapped Jude out of his thoughts. Furrowing his eyebrows in confusion, he groaned and threw his head back as he stood up from the couch. Opening the door, your scent enveloped his mind.

“Hey, Jude.” Y/n shivered from the rain; she only had one rain jacket that barely covered her.

"Y/n, are you insane?" Jude exclaimed as he pulled her into the house, wrapping her in his arms. She smelled as she always did, her scent filling Jude's nose. He felt the urge to cry, to drop to his knees and apologize for everything. Y/n looked up at him, her eyes reflecting a mix of emotions.

Y/n looked up at him, her eyes reflecting a mix of emotions. The warmth of Jude’s embrace offered a temporary refuge from the cold rain outside.

“I was just walking around, needed some fresh air,” Y/n whispered, her voice barely audible over the raindrops tapping on the windows.

Jude tightened his grip, his heart heavy with unspoken words. “And you came here? How did you know I was here?”

“I saw you Jude, before you left my house, I was just scared to say anything”

After they pulled away from each other, Jude rushed to grab a towel for y/n, making sure she wasn't still shaking from the cold rain. As he wrapped the towel around her, Y/n looked around the living room, recognizing the unchanged details of a place. The family photographs on the wall, and also a picture of her and Jude kissing caught her eye, prompting her to break the silence.

“Why did you go to my house Jude?”

Jude met Y/n's gaze, sincerity reflecting in his eyes. "because I miss you, Y/n/n. These past six months have been the longest, and it's been horrible. It hurts when my friends, my parents, even Jobe asks about you. I want to fix this, to make things right between us."

Y/n sighed, her eyes reflecting a mix of empathy and sadness. “Jude, we broke up because our relationship wasn’t working anymore. You know that. It’s not just about the past six months; it’s about what led us here.”

Jude’s eyes pleaded for understanding. “I know I messed up, but I can change. I’m willing to do whatever it takes to make things right, to be the person you need me to be. Please, give us another chance.”

Y/n hesitated, her heart torn between the memories they shared and the pain they endured. “Jude, it’s not that simple. We both need time to heal and figure things out.”

"Six months were enough for me, y/n. I don't need any more time to know that you're the person I want to spend the rest of my life with. I love you, and only you, you know how hard I tried to forget you? I went on thousands of dates, but I hated them all because nobody was you. please give me one more chance y/n/n”.

Y/n hesitated, the weight of those words hanging in the air. The scars from the past were etched deep, forgiveness wasn’t something Y/N was considering. After a moment of silence, y/n finally spoke, “It’s not that simple Jude, you really hurt me.”

Sighing in defeat, a tear traced down his cheek. Y/N smiled softly, delicately wiping his tears away. "But I can't live without you, Jude. I love you."

[cucumberteapot]

I feel like people aren't as open to discussing E-42 Prowle because there is so much about the character we don't know or the films haven't explicitly told us yet. However, I'd like to think writers have presented us with enough information that we can make a strong assessment as to not to what kind of role they'll serve (I think it's fair to say Miles G is going to be an antagonist later-turned hero or anti-hero in BSTV), but what kind of character this is and how they challenge Miles as the main character.

I'd like to discuss one crucial aspect of piece of body language and physical characterisation. This right here:

This is our first proper shot of E-42 Prowler and it closely parallels Aaron Davis in then first movie when he's watching Miles run away.

Now I want to pay mind that in deliberately holding off the plot twist of Aaron being the Prowler, the audience is given no key identifiers as to the Prowler's true identity. He doesn't even have any lines of dialogue until Miles is hiding in his apartment and we after we get the reveal. In every sense of the term, Prowler is a gun for hire. Except he doesn't use guns. The point is he is a hitman. He consistently does what he's told by Kingpin - "You can count on me, sir. I don't ever quit." But then when he's confront with the reveal of the kid he's been hunting is his own nephew and he must choose between his identities as Aaron and as Prowler, that loyalty is severed and it costs him his life.

Which leads us to this specific visual of E-42 Prowler dangling from the rafter before dropping down to face Miles. The camera doesn't cut away from how he drops. Instead we're put entirely in Miles' perspective as to this guy's every move. Between us and Miles, the crew don't want us to miss anything. So what are we seeing here?

Well firstly I think it's clear this is something the Prowler we know wouldn't do because this is a merge of personas of Miles as the Prowler and as a 15-year old. This reads to us as something a lanky kid would do on a jungle-gym, and the fact E-42 Prowler doesn't take his eyes off Miles not only demonstrates curiosity but almost an invitation to play. Not literally, but I believe this Prowler is someone who likes to toy with their victims (which he see a bit of towards the end). And in this case, Prowler is definitely testing Miles from the moment he starts talking about ideas counteractive to his reality - That Aaron Davis could be a "good guy" and that the Prowler identity is something detrimental to the E-42 dimensions' existence. Granted, Miles is speaking from the experience of someone who's Prowler didn't provide income for their family and represent a symbol of strength like the Spiderman identity, so it's a no brainer E-42 Prowler views Miles as antithetical to his state of being. Another thing is that this is how Miles hangs from his webs throughout the movie (under the clocktower, before going through the portal to mumbattan, etc.), so it's a nice consistent characterisation between the two.

But that only leads us into what separates them. After keeping their focus directly on the other, they have their first exchange:

Prowler: Your dad is still alive? Miles: What? Prowler: Your father... You said he's still alive. Miles: Yeah. Prowler: Oh.

Okay, let's dissect this. Specifically Miles' confusion at to why Prowler's asking this because the audience is in the same boat but for very different reasons.

Now I don't want to make assumptions but even before Prowler unmasks, Miles already knows it's his counterpart and his question isn't so much as not knowing but a request for confirmation. However the reason why Miles is confused here is because he expected that same curiousity about identity from his counterpart - not about relatives. Prowler doesn't ask who Miles is even though he doesn't really know, and when he gets his answer that, yes, Jefferson is alive in the other universe, his reaction is played off as dismissive, separating his identity and priorities from Miles. Whatever it is, considering it's the first thing he's asks, this is a vital piece of information for Prowler but his reaction removes any possibility he can be negotiated with... which Miles continuously fails at.

Miles: Who are you? Prowler: My name is Miles Morales. But you... You can call me the Prowler. Miles: If I don't get home, our dad is going to die. Prowler: Your dad. Miles: Please... You have to let me go. Prowler: And why would I do that?

That then leads us on to Miles' question because he's not only asking for his kidnapper's name, he's asking for who this person is. And in turn who we see isn't particularly angry or vindictive - we'll get to that. Instead, Prowler's expression is complete desolation.

It's only when Miles further insinuates they are the same by referring to Jefferson as "our dad", does he shoot back with "your dad". It's quick because this Prowler is still separating himself from this version of himself and the idea he could or would've been or had anything like his life. Finally Miles accepts that they are separate and ask Prowler to let him go, but Prowler has another rhetorical question which implies although he considers this Miles separate to himself, he still has use for him somehow. Which honestly if you had this strength-is-all mindset, it might feel rewarding to have captured this part of yourself that you considered weak - which for all Prowler knows, Miles is just this inferior version of himself who got decked in one hit.

And then lastly we have these two shots here where Prowler raises his "claw" beside Miles' head and sizes him up.

If Aaron can scare Miles by punching the sand out of a boxing bag while Prowler only has to put his fist on it, you tell me who's more terrifying?

But truthfully this last non-conversational exchange before Miles stares Prowler back down is evident that not only is Prowler going to beat the shit out of Miles, but that Miles' "flippy, little sassy jokes" as Spot puts it, is not going to help him here. Because if he wants to survive, he's going to have to match Prowler's energy. This film has a bittersweet ending not because Miles is captured but because Miles has internalised what he's been fighting against the whole movie - The emotional desolation of being Spider-man that lets them deal with or appear indifferent to the harm or death of people around them and it's exemplified when he applies Peter's first lesson of being Spider-man:

"Don't watch the mouth. Watch the hands."

[secretwritingspot]

Blurb #2: Handle Yourself

Pairing: Shanks X Reader (OPLA or OG, up to you really)

Rating/Content Warnings: pg-13ish? No actual suggestive content, but there is suggestive language.

Summary: being a barmaid, your career necessitates dealing with creeps. This is one such case- but this time, Shanks and the rest of the Red Force are there as witness.

Disclaimer(s): creepy guy being creepy, reader is stated a woman in this, some suggestive humor. Other than that pretty light.

Empty days ticked on long, but busy nights were longer.

So was the life of a barmaid- sit around busying yourself with maintenance and cleaning in the lonely hours of the day when it was still too early for most to drink, boredom seeping through every pore.

Night brought customers at 6 or 7 and chaos after 8. The kind of chaos that made you miss the mornings, though when the morning really came you knew that would change, too.

Always wanting for the other, never satisfied with this. Greener grass, and all that.

This time, it was a busy night.

Rowdy drunkards, the townsmen no better than the pirates, shouted and sang and tripped over their feet to call you over, sometimes for unsuccessful propositions and other times for more booze. Those were more pleasant, the ones who didn't want anything from you but more booze.

At least they kept to their own. Most didn't.

Most felt the need to grace you with their presence, and very few had one that was actually tolerable. Those few, you cherished.

“Hey, love! Come have a drink with us, rest your feet!”

Speak of the devil, and a red-haired man shall appear with a bafflingly quickly emptied mug and a bright, boyish smile, waving at you as enthusiastically as if you were a passing ship and not a regular person about 4 feet away from him, at most.

You roll your eyes but the rest of your face won't seem to listen to you, lips quirking into a smile.

“Some of us have jobs, Shanks,” you throw back, a dry observation that sounds a little more fond than you meant it to.

You almost wished he would wave you off with a glare or a muttered diatribe about you being a bitch like the majority of the men who came through your bar did when you turned them down. It would be easier to understand.

Instead, he throws his head back and laughs. Pretty. Genuine. Too fucking free for your liking. Jealousy inducing. In a day's time, he could be halfway across the world.

He probably would.

“Aww, c'mon- that's hardly fair!”

“You should know better than to annoy the person serving your drinks.”

Yassop cackles at that as Shanks shakes his head like a dejected puppy. Though he's trying to look upset, he can't hold back his grin for long. It's not even a moment before he's back to laughing again, smacking Lucky Rou’s shoulder.

“Hear that, boys? She's gonna poison me!”

You fight back the smile twitching at your face as you refill their drinks. It doesn't work very well.

“I was implying I'd spit in your drink, actually.”

You know it's a mistake the moment you say it, mischievous glint lighting in his eyes as his grin goes wide, wolfish.

“Well, I don't see why a gift like that should be a threat-”

“Stop talking while you still can.”

And he does, hands up placatingly. The smug look never leaves his face. Bastard.

The moment breaks abruptly when the door slams open and you're back to business mode- standing straighter, customer-service smile on.

“Hi, welcome to Open River! Take a seat if you can find one and pick your poison.”

He looks you up and down slowly, this new man, not budging an inch for the fraction of a second you can see him appraising you. It's hardly noticable, really.

But you notice. You've learned to notice.

He grunts a response and makes his way to the bar and you take a specific kind of breath - a Lord, give me strength kind of breath - before following him back.

Shanks’ eyes never leave you, but they're no longer smiling. His teeth are, but not his eyes. None of the rest of his crew notice the man much, or the way he looks at you, only that Something Is Wrong With The Captain.

This is the other kind of pirate.

“Whiskey.”

He speaks in growls and bare exhalations of breath. Never more than three words at a time.

It is not a question.

You slide the drink over to him and keep the plastic smile on your face - the one you hope says daughter, sister, long-lost dead wife. Someone he could know and maybe, in that different way that men like this do, love. His eyes are dark and blank, though they follow the flick of your hair when your ponytail swishes behind you.

This is good. It means he, too, somehow, can be swayed.

“Leave the bottle.”

He adds, cold and condescending, when you pull back. You do, and he seems sated. For now.

Despite the crawling feeling under your skin, for a while there is peace. The man drinks in relative silence, compared to the rest. The Red-Haired Pirates call you over frequently - at least once every five minutes, you think - but they take the no every time it's given. You get the feeling from the looks on their faces that they know you really would like to join them, but this is a job and this is your shift and shift ends at closing.

You cannot drink with them, but if you spend more time on your feet walking the space by their tables than you do behind the actual bar, it's no one's business but yours.

There's no rule against talking to patrons, after all. Some might even say it made you a good hostess.

The problem is, you let yourself get wrapped up in it.

You don't even notice when the other man empties his bottle. Instead, you go behind the bar for the Red Force’s umpteenth request of a refill, happier to provide it than you're willing to admit.

“In a minute, boys!”

In all honesty, your world had largely narrowed down to that warm bubble of companionship around Shanks and his crew’s table. You didn't even see anyone else, instead hurrying to get them a new bottle with a smile on your face. You only snap back into it when you collide with a wall.

Man. A man, not a wall.

The man from before is not taller than Shanks (and really, since when had he become your go-to comparison?) but he is taller than you.

“I'm all out.”

“Ah- my mistake, sir, I apologize-”

Your words and the accompanying giggle are nervous, as stilted and off-balance as you feel in the present moment.

This, apparently, is not enough. You hand him the bottle in hopes of placating him, and for a moment you think you've done it. Then, after taking it from you with a truly off-putting smile you think is meant to be grateful, he grabs your wrist.

Your heart suddenly feels too loud and the bar too quiet.

You liked him better when he wasn't smiling.

“C'mon, little lady. Drink with me.”

“I'm sorry, but I really can't.”

It's a different kind of rejection than the one you gave Shanks and the rest of the crew. Shanks seems to have noticed, too, from the look he's giving you.

For once, a man looking at you makes you feel safer than you did before.

You try to return his gaze with one that says both ‘I'll be alright’ and ‘please keep watch just in case’.

“Aww, I'm sure you can-”

“She said she's busy, man.”

The interjection is decisive and flat, a not-so-subtle hint of a threat. This time, the bar really does go quiet. For one, short moment, everything is silence. The rest of the crew seems to realize exactly what had Shanks so upset in the first place and you can see them exchanging glances. Exchanging a plan. You glare back.

“I can handle myself, Shanks.”

You turn back to the man, who smiles like this is some sort of victory. You know his face is about to go sour before you see it happen.

“I'd appreciate it if you'd let go of me now.”

The words are terse and cold and exactly what he doesn't want to hear. You see him snarl and his new bottle tip over above your head and in a flash it happens, over far sooner than anyone would expect.

Your hand is in the hair at the back of his neck, wound tight into the strands. Your knee is in his stomach. There's a crack when his forehead hits the bar in a slam as you double him over, and he goes down without the fight you'd expect from a man his size.

He drops like a man who hasn't slept in days.

A few men on the crew whistle, others cheer. It's different when it's coming from them, you decide, and you find yourself grinning at the response.

You wipe the look off your face as quickly as you can and grab a new bottle, heading back to their table like originally intended.

You do not bother stepping over the other pirate.

When you make it to the table their drunken cheering has largely dissolved, but when they take the time to look at you they're quickly in giggles again. You can't place why.

Shanks looks at you with a raised brow as you approach, amused glint in his eyes, something suggestive in his gaze. You can't place exactly what for, but you're sure he'll tell you soon enough.

“So. Handle yourself, can you?”

His eyes go pointedly down to your chest and you squint in confusion, following them with your own. Perhaps this is why the others are giggling, perhaps-

Oh.

Oh, yeah. That.

You hadn't really processed it during the scuffle- the sudden coldness, the damp, sticky feeling that wasn't sweat.

The man with the full bottle that was now suspiciously empty on the floor next to him.

When you look down to find your white shirt soaked with booze, black bra (because of course you'd chosen black today) starkly visible under the now practically transparent, soaked fabric that clung to your skin, you feel a feeling that shouldn't be surprise but is anyway. Your face tinges pink.

When your eyes go back up to meet his, about half of the crew have hands slapped over their mouths to muffle laughter. Shanks’ face is still drawn in a smirk.

“It looks good on you.”

[blues824]

Imagine a pregnant mc getting kidnapped by sebek because she is his darling and the child can be mallius his next guard

Imagine if she died and he blamed the child making lilia raise it but later seeing I looked like his darlingHe would fose her to talk like darling dress like her her old name that's gone it's his daughter He whoud not see her in a romantic way he just missed his darling and makes his daughter pay for the death of her mother in that way.

or he goes to get the milk and leaves her with lilia you do you magic bestie you are the yandere sebek expert,

Warning: This is a yandere story. Sebek went to go get the milk. Also, Fem!Reader who is pregnant and dies after giving birth.

Sebek Zigvolt

“Grandpa Lilia, could you tell me the story again?” A little girl with her father’s hair color and her mother’s eyes was being tucked into bed by her grandfather… or a man she saw as her grandfather.

“The one about the knight and his love?” Lilia sat straight, a smile on his face at the small girl’s excitement.

“Yeah!”

“Alright,” He sighed, “Once upon a time…”

~~~~~~~~

No fairytale could describe your life with Sebek. It all felt like an enemies-to-lovers story, but the ‘enemies’ part was really one-sided. Even though he was often kept busy, he would always make sure that you felt cherished and loved, even if he didn’t want to admit that he loved you, a human, half of the time.

You were taken away from him too soon.

Everything was going wonderfully. His grandfather even accepted you as a new member of the Zigvolt family. Your wedding wasn’t anything too grand, as you wanted it to be smaller and more sentimental. It was a special moment between you two and your loved ones, and in your new shared home, some wedding photos hung on the wall.

The first meal you cooked in your house was salmon carpaccio. Dancing in the kitchen with one another was a rare moment of intimacy that you had to yourselves. There was no music, and while you were seasoning the salmon, he reached around you and you both started swaying back and forth. 

Because of his job as a knight, you often found yourself lonely at home. Sure, you got visitors from the village, but the house was quiet. So, one night, over dinner, you brought up having a child. He was definitely surprised, but he was alright with it. After all, there was a possibility that they could grow up and become a knight and serve the Draconia family.

The world was quiet without you… because you were the world to him.

Once you received the news that you were with child, you were super excited. You even set up a surprise for your husband so that you could reveal it to him. He was delighted to hear about it, but that’s when his mental state started deteriorating. You suddenly were prohibited from going outside, doing anything that he deemed ‘strenuous’, and you were put on bedrest. 

It wasn’t fair, you thought, as you weren’t even in your 8th week of pregnancy yet. Fortunately, you had books. When you were not allowed to traverse the world yourself, you could dive into a multitude of fictional worlds. As an apology gift to you, Sebek would often return with a new book for you to read, as you had read all the ones in the house already. This did not work, obviously, as you were still angry.

Eventually, in the beginning of your third trimester, you both got into a fight. He had caught you out of bed as you were absolutely done with being stuck in one place. You were actually painting the lower sections of the wall of the nursery. You were not able to get up quickly enough when you heard the front door open and close, so you just kept painting. You were going to stand your ground this time.

“WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” He shouted at you. Way to start off a conversation with the love of your life.

“What does it look like I’m doing? Or maybe you should go to bed and stay until your eyesight gets better.”

“Get back into bed, darling. You know that vigorous activities could affect the baby-”

“Vigorous?! For the Seven’s sake, tell me what is so vigorous about painting a wall!!! I am not on a ladder, I am merely moving my arm back and forth with the paintbrush!” You exclaimed, finally at your wit’s end.

He went silent, and his face darkened. You were worried that you had hurt his feelings when he stepped forward and scooped you up into a bridal carry. You tried to struggle, and you could feel your little one start to get stressed out because she could sense something wrong with her parents. You groaned as she started to kick, but Sebek didn’t stop walking to your bedroom.

“I am not going to argue with you, as stress is bad for your and her health. You, however, will stay here until you are ready to give birth. I cannot lose you or her, and it will not be because of you or your disobedience,” He stated as he set you back down in your bed. When he left the room, he locked the door behind him… you were now a prisoner.

~~~~~~~~~

“Is this where it gets sad?”

“Yes, dear child. It’s also the part where I leave because it’s time for you to go to bed. Uncle Silver will take you to school tomorrow.”

“Ok…” The little girl groaned, not wanting to go to sleep just yet. However, she allowed Lilia to walk out of the room before she looked at the portrait of her parents that resided on the wall. It was a picture from their wedding. She could almost hear their voices.

“You are so beautiful, my love,” Her mother would whisper as she brushed her hair.

“I am proud of you,” Her father would tell her as she progressed in her training as a knight under Lilia’s tutelage. 

However, she has never heard the voice of her mother, and she has never held a proper conversation with her father.

She continued to hold onto the hope, however, that she could meet her father properly, as she knew that she would never meet her mother…

Her mother was dead, after all.

~~~~~~~~

“Sebek,” A sense of urgency accompanied your voice as you felt a wet spot on the sheets beneath you. You knew that it wasn’t your baby pressing against your bladder… She was on her way.

“What’s wrong, darling?” He sat up, blinking the sleep away from his eyes. Looking you over, he saw that you had a panicked look on your face as you were clutching your stomach, and he quickly pieced two-and-two together.

Quickly rushing out of bed, he picked you up into his arms and placed you in the car, heading to the Briar Valley hospital. He was definitely speeding while allowing you to crush his hand in your grip as the contractions hit you like a truck. Even though the baby was only a quarter fae, she was still very large and you were lucky you had Sebek’s mom to help you prepare.

Unfortunately for your husband, he was not allowed in the hospital room because he was not able to calm down. He was panicking, and his older brother and father both had to restrain him as his mother went in his stead. Hearing your screams of pain made his heart tear itself apart. He actually elbowed his brother in the nose, making blood trickle down.

Baul Zigvolt took over the restraining, trying to talk him down and smack some sense into him, and he settled down a bit. Your screams also settled down, along with the cry of a baby. A doctor walked out of the room, and he walked up to Sebek.

“Mrs. Zigvolt is asleep right now, but you may come see the baby. You are the baby’s father, right?” The doctor asked the knight.

“Yes, I am. Is my wife going to be okay?” He asked, worry evident on his face as the woman held open the door for him.

“Her blood pressure is higher than we would like it to be, so I can’t say that she’s out of the woods yet. However, she is responding to treatment.” 

And that’s when he saw her: a little infant, the perfect mix of both you and him, wrapped in a pink blanket, crying. The sound made him tear up as the nurse carefully handed her to him. Making sure to support her head with his arm, the baby calmed down and stopped crying, instead falling asleep.

Everything was wonderful… until it wasn’t.

The monitor that was watching over your vitals started going haywire. Sebek was rushed back out of the room as doctors rushed in, but instead of behaving like a husband should when his wife is deteriorating quickly, he just gently rocked his baby to calm her down after being disturbed with all the commotion.

Grandma and Grandpa Zigvolt, as well as Great-Grandpa, were each worried about the man. Gently taking the infant from his arms in the case that he just went into shock, they watched as he walked away, exiting the hospital. Baul tried to stop him, but he just kept walking.

When the doctor came to collect a name for the birth certificate, the family had named her ‘Aurora’, a name you had told them that you were considering. It had been a while since they last saw him in-person.

~~~~~~~~

Little Aurora grew to be a rather determined and passionate young girl. Top of her class, training whenever she could, and reading extensively, she was definitely a young prodigy in the making. However, she was rather quiet, despite the loudness of the Zigvolt residence. 

Every day, people stop her and say that she looks so much like you, or that she had the personality (but not the volume) of her father. She hoped that she was making you proud in the stars, and she hoped that her achievements made their way to her father in the form of the letters she often sent.

No one wanted to tell her about the time he did reach out, only to say that he wanted nothing to do with her as she was the reason that you were dead. Yeah, they agreed to not contact one another ever again. What was really concerning was when he quit his job. King Malleus had even stopped by to ask about him, and that was the first time he met Aurora.

Lilia grew to adore the girl, as did Silver. She often, when the ‘feelings’ got to be too much at home, sought refuge in the Vanrouge cottage. Lilia, or Grandpa Lilia, as she called him, took her under his batwing and would often help her train. However, Silver, or Uncle Silver, would take over the cooking, because there did not need to be another generation with a bad relationship to food.

There, she felt like she got to learn more about her parents and how they met and the hot mess her dad was when he wanted to ask her mom out. The story always made Aurora giggle, as she often heard the story of a knight of great promise courting a lovely maiden. It was nice to hear about her father’s more human side.

To hear his struggles rather than his accomplishments. To hear her mother’s failures rather than her successes. It was what drove her forward.

~~~~~~~~

The one time where she had met her father, it was when she was a toddler. Great-Grandpa Baul took her to your grave, placing a single rose upon the cold stone. As much as the older man despised humans, you changed his mind, and you were the one human he actually accepted into the Zigvolt family tree. It was a travesty for the entire family when you passed on.

However, he did not blame his great-granddaughter. She had no control over anything. Instead, he blamed whatever cruel god was looking down at them from the heavens, as now the little girl would have to grow up without knowing the gentle caress of a mother.

Anyway, he was surprised to see his youngest grandson at the grave as well. He picked Aurora up into his arms, as he did not know Sebek’s next course of action.

“Hello, grandfather,” The young man’s tone was cold.

“Hello, grandson,” As much as Baul hated to admit it, he was glad to see that his grandson’s trance had been broken as he looked back at him. Then, his eyes fell to the little girl now shyly hiding her face in the crook of his grandfather’s neck. A look of grief fell upon his face.

A moment of silence passed between all three people present, until Sebek stood up and spoke.

“I do not blame her anymore, but I am unable to take care of her. Please see to it that she has the best chance you can provide for her. Her mother would have wanted that, even if we were unable to provide it ourselves,” He said as he passed the two.

“You have my vow as a former knight and as your grandfather. However, I will inquire about one thing.”

“What is it?”

“Do you love her?” Baul knew that this was a bit of a stretch, but he needed to know.

…

“Yes... As much as I loved Y/N.”

[justfandomwritings]

You'll See Why (Peter Ballard x Reader)

Pairing: Peter Ballard x Female!Reader, implied Steve x Reader (Does not really factor into the story)

Word Count: 5.1k

Warnings: mostly just fluff and angst that doesn't require a content warning. General content warnings consistent with Stranger Things

Summary: It couldn't be him. She refused to believe it. Eleven had to be wrong, had to have the wrong person. It wasn't that he wasn't capable of something like this; in the back of her mind, she knew he was. More, it was that she didn't want to face what it meant about herself.

Masterlist. Ko-Fi.

There was a familiar face staring blankly up at her from the page… she knew this face.

“Well, he looks evil,” Steve mused, looking at the drawing over her shoulder.

“He was 001… He was the first. They built the lab to contain him.” Eleven explained.

(Y/n) was holding up the sketch Eleven had drawn of the patient from Hawkins Lab, who Eleven knew as 001, that Nancy had discovered was Henry, that they all called Vecna.  

(Y/n) knew that face.

“(Y/n)?” Dustin touched her shoulder. “(Y/n), are you okay?”

She heard her brother’s voice talking to her, and yet somehow she didn’t register it. He felt, he sounded, so far away.

It felt like an out of body experience, like her thoughts were no longer contained inside her brain, like they were swirling around her in a cloud, consuming her entire world. This was not Henry Creel, could not be Vecna. Eleven had to be wrong. She knew this face, and she knew it all too well.

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

“Hi Peter, I see they let you out again. The usual?” (Y/n) smiled brightly.

Peter was her favorite regular at Benny’s, not that he was all that regular. He came in once every couple weeks or so. She assumed whenever the lab could spare him, though he always referred to it as a “reward” for good behavior. Benny’s menu was hardly “reward” worthy. It was decent. Benny was a good cook, but it was just regular diner food. She could think of four other diners in Hawkins that served the same fair, though Benny’s was certainly the closest to the ltab.

He wasn’t a particularly nice regular. He tipped very well, which she appreciated, but most regulars do or they wouldn’t be regulars anymore. Mostly, he was her favorite because he was an enigma. He worked for the Hawkins National Laboratory up the road, and he was very cagey about his work and himself.

“No coffee,” Peter amended without looking up from the papers in front of him.

(Y/n) scribbled haphazardly on the ticket and slid it across the window to put on deck for Benny. There were a couple tickets ahead of it, and that gave her extra time.

(Y/n) dragged the stool out from behind the register and plopped down directly in front of Peter, propping her elbows on the counter and looking at him expectantly.

Peter rolled his eyes but kept them trained on his work. This was (Y/n)’s usual routine any time Peter came into the diner, so he didn’t need to look up to know she was staring him down.

“Must you watch your customers so intently?  I feel like a subject in the lab.”

“Only the interesting ones,” (Y/n) dismissed. “Now tell me; how’s the lab?”

Peter flipped over one of the pages mindlessly. He hadn’t processed all the words, but that clearly wasn’t going to happen if (Y/n) had anything to say about it. He kept up the appearance of reading though to hold her interrogations to a minimal. “It is in its usual state. I am nothing but a humble nurse for the children being experimented upon and tortured within its walls.”

(Y/n) rolled her eyes. It wasn’t the kind of joke she would have made, but she let it slide. “Yes, of course, but how is your work?”

“Why would you care to know?” Peter dismissed the question.

“Because I’m bored, and like my brother always says life is a curiosity voyage.”

Peter rolled his eyes, “Your brother sounds foolish.”

“Hey,” (Y/n) reached up and smacked Peter lightly on the side of the head, causing him to jolt. He stared at her in utter disbelief, as if no one had ever touched him before in his life, which she found very hard to believe. He was far too high and mighty, full of himself, not to have been bullied as a kid. “That’s my brother. Only I get to mess with him.”

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

Nonresponsive and zoned out was not a good thing to be in Hawkins, Indiana in 1986.

“She’s infected with Vecna!” Dustin began to panic, “Quick someone get my headphones from the desk,” Dustin pointed to the desk behind Max, who practically threw the headphones in her rush to get them to Steve as Dustin ran to the small shelf and began digging through Mike’s cassette tapes.

“No, no,” (Y/n) shook aside the memory as quickly as she could manage. “Dustin,” she called to her brother, “Really, I’m fine!”

“Like hell you are,” behind her, Steve forced the plastic strap of the headphones around her neck. “Seriously? How hard is it to find Pat Benatar!” Steve shouted.

“Again, I’m fine,” (Y/n) rolled her eyes, wrenching the headphones off.

They couldn’t afford to waste a pair on her now. She could feel things coming to a head. Over the last 24 hours, virtually all of them had had to procure a pair of headphones and wrap them around their necks. Only Steve, Dustin, Eleven, and herself hadn’t heard the ticking of a clock at some point yet. A low drone of noise was filling the room as songs played from the necks of the other occupants.

“Really!” She insisted to the skeptical crowd of teens staring her down, “no ticking. I was just…” In addressing the room, her eyes found Eleven’s, “remembering something.”

Eleven’s eyes seemed to see right through her, and (Y/n) hesitated for a moment, wavering in whether revealing this information was a good idea or not. Everyone else in the room was staring at her, eyes darting now and again to Eleven.

It was too late to back out now. She took a breath and, watching Eleven’s face intently for her reaction, said the name.

“Peter Ballard.”

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

“Hi again Peter, I’ll put the usual on for you.” (Y/n) greeted him with a wave as he came through the door.

This time, when Peter walked in, Benny’s was empty except for herself and Benny. He had his usual folder full of papers tucked under his arm, stamped with the fancy Hawkins Lab’s seal on the cover declaring it was privileged information.

“Thank you,” Peter took up his usual counter seat.

He had a way of being both extraordinarily polite and also incredibly rude at the same time. It was like he had spent his entire life being lectured on manners without actually having a single social interaction in which to use them.

“Benny!” (Y/n) called loudly over the order window, “Peter’s usual!”

Benny was somewhere in the back. With the diner being empty, Benny had ducked out to rearrange the stock while he left (Y/n) to mind the front. “Give me just a minute!” She heard her boss shout back.

“So!” (Y/n) whipped around, leaning back against the order window, “Gonna tell me how work was today?”

“Tiresome.” Peter clipped.

(Y/n) raised an eyebrow, “That’s about as descriptive as you’ve ever been. Was it coworkers or your human test subjects?” She said the last part teasingly.

Peter paused for a moment, still not looking up from his papers, but he seemed to consider her question longer than he usually would before dismissing her. “Boss.” Having answered, Peter immediately went back to flipping through pages, only adding under his breath, “Not that I would call him that, persay. He’s more like my worst nightmare.”

(Y/n) chuckled and approached, taking up her usual seat across from him. “Tell me about it. Last week, Benny didn’t let me off early on Friday even though it was my mom’s birthday, so my little brother recruited his friends to try to bake her birthday cake instead of waiting for me and almost lit my house on fire.”

The word fire seemed to catch Peter’s attention. He still didn’t give her the time of day or meet her eyes, still seemed to think that she was too beneath him for that, but his head did cock to one side. He was listening.

“What’s so nightmarish about your boss?”

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

“What do you mean you ‘know’ Vecna?” Dustin demanded.

“He came into Benny’s from time to time,” (Y/n) felt like she was retreating into her skin. Eleven, Mike, Eddie, Max, the whole room. They were all watching her with dark eyes, watching her like they were watching the enemy.

Dustin was staring at her in utter shock. He didn’t notice the looks from his friends or the fear in her eyes. He was still trying to comprehend this massive piece of information.

Only Steve’s hand, resting with a firm grip on her shoulder, was keeping her grounded in the room, keeping her from bolting out the door like a frightened deer.

“And you talked to him? You knew him?” Max joined the questioning, her tone far closer to interrogation than Dustin’s disbelieving one.

(Y/n) shrugged defensively, “Lots of people from the labs came in. We were the closest restaurant. He said he was a nurse. I didn’t know he was the literal devil.”

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

“Your boss sounds like a dick, no offense.”

“None taken.” Peter had talked to her. He had actually talked to her. Granted, they were complaining about their bosses, which was the oldest and most basic form of bonding in the book, but still. It was something. “He is.”

“Well,” (Y/n) hopped down from the seat she had taken on the counter while he recounted his tale of woe. “I’m gonna start cleaning up if it’s all the same to you.”

Peter waved his hand down the length of the counter and immediately reverted his eyes back to his papers that were off to the side of the plate he was presently eating off of.  

(Y/n) smirked to herself as she pulled out her rag. It wasn’t much, but it was a start. She’d be damned if she wasn’t going to keep poking at him till she got the answers she wanted.

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

It was Nancy who turned the whole scene into a proper interrogation. Though, perhaps given her profession, it was more of an interview. She waved the kids away from the seat in front of (Y/n) and took up a spot front and center in her vision.

“Tell us everything you know about him. Start from the beginning.”

(Y/n) took a breath and recited the facts as coldly and emotionlessly as she could manage. “His name was Peter Ballard. He came into the diner once every couple weeks. Everyone else from the lab came in groups, but he…” Her voice cracked for a moment, and she hoped everyone else in the room saw it as nothing more than the nerves it was, “He was always alone. He barely talked to me. The others said he was a nurse, and that he never talked to anyone in the lab either. He always brought files with him to read. It took months for him to even bother making eye contact with me.”

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

“You never went to a proper high school?”

“No,” Peter droned. He still acted thoroughly unamused with her presence, but he had started more readily answering her questions.

(Y/n) huffed and leaned back on her stool, tilting away from him. “Well, that explains so much.”

Peter’s eyes shot up from his paper, and for the first time he met her gaze. Not exactly an angry expression, but at the least a doubtful one, colored his face as his eyebrows drew together. “How?”

“Well,” she let the legs of her stool fall back on the floor with a crash as she leaned forward towards Peter, “Sure, you didn’t have to deal with assholes on the basketball team shoving you into lockers, or girls on the cheer squad making fun of your clothes. But you also never found a group of friends with the same niche interest as you, or a guy to bond with over your mutual hatred of some bully, or a cute girl who thought you were the cutest thing since God invented puppies.”

Peter’s eyes narrowed.

“No, I’m serious,” (Y/n) immediately dismissed his expression. “Sure, there are giant swathes of humanity that are the absolute worst, but there are some humans who are really great when you give them the chance. And you,” she poked a finger into his chest, “never did. You were aware that some people sucked, but you didn’t hang around long enough to find the ones that didn’t before you decided to write all of us off as intolerable.”

Peter pursed his lips and turned back to his files. He wasn’t going to continue this line of conversation.

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“That’s really all I know, Nancy. I swear.” (Y/n) huffed.

“There has to be something though!” Nancy jumped up from her seat and began to pace, “It can’t be a coincidence that you knew him. Can it?”

“I didn’t know him,” She emphasized. “We didn’t exactly bare our souls to each other and get matching tattoos. We were friendly. He came in every couple weeks, ordered the same thing. Towards the end he started making small talk, but that was it. Small talk. He didn’t exactly spell out for me that he had dreams of becoming a mass murderer.”

“Yeah, but what are the odds that you would get wrapped up in all of this?” Jonathan pointed out. “It sounds like you’re the only person he talked to outside of the lab.”

“Pretty freakin’ high, Jonathan,” (Y/n) huffed. “If you haven’t noticed, Hawkins isn’t a metropolis. It’s a pretty small town, and weird shit keeps happening. We’re all wrapped up in it at this point.”

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(Y/n) froze, staring at Peter as he approached his usual seat at the counter. She’d clocked him instantly when he walked in, and instantly had known something was very off.

He looked more or less the same, all white outfit, holier than thou expression. His hair was in its usual blonde waves, and he seemed more or less as agitated with his own existence as he usually did.

“H-Hey Peter, Usual?” (Y/n) asked.

“Yes, please,” Peter replied.

And in that moment she realized it. That moment when he sat there, still looking up at her expectantly, waiting for her to put his order in. That moment when he didn’t look down.

No files.

(Y/n) rushed the order in to Benny and whirled back around to join Peter. There were a handful of other people in the diner, but they were all regulars who’d already gotten their food and knew their way around. She was completely unbothered with doing her rounds to their tables.

“Why no files?”

Peter raised an eyebrow, “Aren’t you the one who’s always bugging me to talk to you?”

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“He’s not here,” Dustin dropped the flashlight back to his side with a huff.

They had gone to the Creel house again, hoping to find where in the Upside Down Vecna was. Now that they had Eleven, with her powers back no less, they wanted to lure him to a place they could face off against him.

“(Y/n),” Lucas called over the bannister from the second floor. “Did Vecna ever mention anywhere else he liked to go? Or somewhere else in Hawkins he felt connected to?”

“No!” (Y/n) shouted back with a huff, “If he’s not here he must be at the lab!”

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

“So?” (Y/n) smiled, “Thoughts?”

“It’s… cold.” Peter mused.

(Y/n) huffed and pulled back from where she was leaning on the counter. “That’s it? It’s cold? I thought you were going to actually help me? You know, useful feedback?”

Peter slowly pushed the mostly-full milkshake away from his plate. “I never agreed to help you. You only assumed I would when I came in.”

“Yeah! For a free milkshake!” (Y/n) threw her hands up, utterly exasperated with him, “You have to have more thoughts than ‘it’s cold’. I’m making Benny put milkshakes on the menu, and it’s my ass on the line if they aren’t good.”

“It’s sweet.” Peter added, picking up another fry and taking a bite.

“Ooooh! Thank you so much! That’s so much more helpful.” She bit back sarcastically.

Rolling her eyes, (Y/n) snatched the milkshake away, slurping through Peter’s abandoned straw. She made a face, “Oh, ok… that is sweet.”

Peter didn’t meet her eyes, but he waved his hand and made a face that very much said ‘told-you-so’.

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It didn’t look like anyone had been in the lab since Eleven closed the portal. The bodies had been cleaned up, no doubt by the military coverup team, but the broken glass in the screened in room surrounding the old portal was still strewn about the floor. Hopper’s gun Bob had left in the control room was still on the desk. There were even still spatters of blood every few feet along the walls and stains from dried up blood on the floors.

“So,” Robin murmured quietly to (Y/n), “This is what Round 2 looked like? Man I am so glad I just had the Russians.”

“It doesn’t look like he’s here either. Doesn’t even look like he’s been here at all. There’s no portal,” Will assessed, turning back to the room.

“Fuck!” Mike turned, kicking a wall. “Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!”

He wasn’t at his old home. He wasn’t at the lab. He wasn’t at any of the places he’d opened portals that they knew about. (Y/n) was at a loss. There wasn’t anywhere else to look.

He must be hiding, hiding somewhere completely random with absolutely no connection to him. It was the logical thing to do if he didn’t want to be found, but it just didn’t make sense. Sure, Eleven said 001 was a creature completely void of any emotion, set to the singular purpose of restoring order to the world by ridding it of humanity.

But (Y/n) knew that wasn’t true. Hell, the Party should’ve known that wasn’t true. 001 had slaughtered an entire lab in an instant he was so blinded by rage, not even giving them the option to join them that he’d given Eleven. When he became Vecna and was sent to the Upside Down, the first place they knew he’d gone was home. Max had seen the disassembled pieces of the Creel house in Vecna’s inner hideout in the Upside Down. And Henry had talked to Nancy about her visit to his father, about how he’d vengefully plotted his demise.

Even the Peter (Y/n) knew was riddled with emotions, most of them negative, but still they were there. Even when he was putting on a neutral face, she always knew he detested humanity. He hated his job. He…

He’d teased her about her milkshakes, about how much she talked, about high school, about her brother. He’d…

(Y/n) bolted for the door. “Steve, get the keys! I know where he went!” She shouted.

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

“So why don’t you ever sit with them?” (Y/n) asked, nodding with her chin over Peter’s shoulder to the lab coats at the table behind him.

They weren’t literally wearing lab coats, but in her mind everyone who worked in a lab was supposed to be wearing a coat. So that’s what she called them. In actuality, they were all dressed almost exactly the same as Peter.

“I mean, I know you hate them, but even you have to get lonely sometimes.”

Peter picked up another fry and put it in his mouth, avoiding her question.

“There must be someone tolerable enough to eat lunch with.”

“I eat with you.” Peter told her, “Do I need someone else?”

(Y/n) felt her cheeks turn a little bit pink, and she tried to swallow it down. “Well no, but you must have friends. Someone at the lab? Or someone from when you were a kid? I know you were homeschooled, but still. Everyone needs friends.”

Peter snorted, and (Y/n) wasn’t sure if it was at the idea of him needing someone or at the idea of having a friend. “Well, I regret to inform you that I just have you.”

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

There was a portal, up against the wall of the diner, behind the counter right where she used to sit when she would talk to Peter.

“Dead on, (Y/n).” Steve patted her shoulder, joking, “He must’ve really liked the eggs.”

Grilled chicken with a side of fries and a coffee. Always the same food; didn’t matter what meal it was. (Y/n) didn’t bother to voice that though.

“It’s one of the basketball players,” Dustin pointed out.

A pair of broken, twisted out of shape, legs were sticking out from behind one of the couches the kids had dragged into Benny’s after it was deserted.

“It’s bigger…” Eleven murmured, taking a step forward towards the portal.

Mike caught her arm, pulling her back away from the portal.

(Y/n) didn’t join in, the banter or the analysis. She was staring at the portal.

It was right where she used to sit, literally right there. If Peter had been there, and she’d been in her usual spot talking to him, all she would’ve had to do was tip her stool back, like she always did, and she would’ve fallen straight into the Upside Down.

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

“You’re gonna fall over if you keep doing that,” Peter pointed down to the legs of her stool.

(Y/n) rolled her eyes and continued to totter back and forth on the back legs of the stool. “Then I’ll knock my head in and get off work early, and you won’t have to put up with me. Sounds like a win for both of us.”

The front legs of the stool slammed to the ground, and (Y/n) stared wide-eyed, mouth ajar, at Peter.

Peter’s eyes had a fire to them she had never seen. There was something there, something behind his usual disinterested, annoyed expression. Something dangerous.

He had a vice-like grip on her wrist, and (Y/n) was positive that she was going to have a ringed bruise around the bone there in the morning from how tightly he held her and how hard he’d jerked her back forward. Her arm was stretched out across the width of the counter, practically touching his chest he’d jerked her so far back.

The shock in her face seemed to douse the fire in his. “Sorry,” Peter cleared his throat, dropping her wrist.

“N-No, it’s okay.” (Y/n) dismissed haphazardly. “Didn’t realize I was worrying you.”

Under his breath, so quietly she wasn’t quite sure she heard him right, Peter whispered, “Of course you worry me.”

“What was that?” (Y/n) asked.

“Nothing, just don’t want you dead on the floor. The hassle of finding another friend is unappealing.”

“Well,” (Y/n) smiled, though not as brightly this time as she usually did, “you can’t get rid of me that easy.”

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

Vecna.

A grey body, void of skin and hair and a face. Vine-like Tentacles protruding from his back, whipping back and forth in all directions as if they had a mind of their own, encircling the party, drawing them tighter and tighter into him.

She knew what Eleven told her, knew the story of how Vecna had come to be, but she just couldn’t believe it. She couldn’t see Peter under there, inside the monster.

She couldn’t see Peter batting away Eleven with a vine, without a care in the world for her scream as she went flying back into a deadened tree.

Not Peter, not her Peter.

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

“I’m sorry.”

(Y/n) looked up, startled. She hadn’t heard anyone come in. She’d been too absorbed in the math homework splayed across Benny’s counter to notice anything other than the mental image she’d been constructing of going to watch all of her friends graduate knowing she was going to have to repeat senior year.

“Oh Peter, I didn’t hear you come in. Usual?”

Peter sat down in front of her, which was not in his usual seat. “No, I only… I came here to talk, to apologize, and say goodbye.”

“Wait you’re leaving?” (Y/n) dropped the pencil from her hand. “Are they moving you out of the lab? What’s going on?”

“There’s been a… development. And soon my services will no longer be required.” Peter caught the pencil (Y/n) hadn’t heard rolling across the counter and carefully balanced it back in place in front of her textbook.

“W-Well, where are you going?” She tried, and failed miserably, to hide the disappointment from her tone, “I’m sure they have phones there. I’d hate to leave you with no one to pester you every week.”

“I can’t tell you.” Peter smiled, actually smiled. (Y/n) didn’t know if it was unnerving or endearing. It was the first time she’d ever seen him smile. She got the occasional snear, once in a while a smirk if she was particularly amusing that day. But he never smiled, certainly not like this, sad, disheartened, like he was sorry he had to go. “That’s why I came. I know I scared you last time I was here. I… I showed too much of myself, and for that I’m sorry.”

“Peter, you don’t have to apologize.” (Y/n) reached out, hesitantly and took his hand. “Not for being yourself at least.”

“Oh but I do.” Peter dismissed. Turning his hand over, Peter took hers in his and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Maybe one day you’ll see why.”

And as easily as he slipped into her life, he was gone.

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

“Eddie,” She whispered from their hiding place behind the rock, “whatever happens, can you promise me something?”

“What?” Eddie whispered back to her.

(Y/n) hesitated for a moment before she peeled herself away from the rocker’s side. “Hold Steve back.” Turning to Jonathan on her other side, she patted his arm. “And don’t let him and Dustin do anything stupid while I’m gone.”

(Y/n) was usually an anxious, hesitant person. She was an extrovert to the extreme, but she was also very risk averse. She was the type of girl who walked with her eyes on her own feet, and her arms brought in across her chest at all times. She didn’t exude surety or confidence ever. The three words her friends would use to describe her were skittish, excitable, and self-conscious. With Dart, Dustin had taken the lead trapping the monster in the cellar. In the Byer’s home, she had cowered behind Steve, from the demodogs and from Billy. In Starcourt, her brother had practically dragged her down to the Russian base. She had been the one driving the distraction car, all too happy to put distance between herself, Dustin, and Steve and the Mindflayer.

She was not fearless like Nancy or powerful like Eleven or a natural leader like Steve. In the face of monsters and spies and alternate dimensions, she was scared, like any normal person would be.

But this, she’d convinced herself, wasn’t a monster from an alternate dimension. A monster, maybe, but one she knew.

“(Y/n), what are you doing?” Jonathan tried to grab at her arm, but she moved faster, ducking out of the way as she came running out from behind the rock.

Vecna was baring down on Eleven, standing in front of Lucas, Mike, and Dustin with her arms wide as she tried to push him back.

“(Y/n)!” The shout came from somewhere behind her, but she didn’t look back at Steve as she heard him running after her.

“PETER!” She came to a stop under him and shouted up into the air, at the body in the center of the mass of tentacles.

His head turned, slowly, towards her. “Peter, come down here!”

“(Y/n),” he said, seemingly to himself.

She should’ve been afraid, quaking in her boots afraid. But for once, she just couldn’t seem to manage it.

Somewhere in the distance she could hear Steve shouting, shouting at her, at Vecna, at Jonathan and Eddie for holding him back.

“Peter!” She called again.

The tentacles seemed to whip back and forth through the air, splaying themselves out flat on the ground and slowly encircling where she stood, as they lowered their master to the ground.

“NO!” Dustin tried to jump, but without instruction needed Lucas and Mike grabbed him and held him back.

“Peter, you don’t have to do this.”

“Peter is dead. Your friend,” he spat the word, “saw to that.”

“I know she put you here, but I don’t think Peter’s gone.” A tentacle slithered at the back of her heels, and (Y/n) took a step closer to Peter.

“You always had such idealistic notions.” He snarled, “This is what I am. Not Peter, this.” Two of the tentacles whipped out from the circle they had formed around (Y/n), and latched onto her wrists, wrenching her down to her knees.

(Y/n) shook her head, “I don’t believe that.”

The tentacles tightened around her wrist, and she bit back a whimper in disgust as they began wrapping themselves slowly up her arms.

“Society is a scourge (Y/n). The real curse is not me; it’s humanity.” Peter began walking towards her, the tentacles around her dragging her to meet him.

“Then why haven’t you cursed me? Killed me?” (Y/n) asked, “Everyone else has heard the clock ticking, Peter. But here I am.”

The tentacles were wrapping around her chest now, gluing her arms to her sides. Peter, Vecna, did not respond. He stood directly above her now, her bound defenseless at his feet.

“If Peter was dead then you wouldn’t be listening to me right now.”

One of the tentacles wrapped itself around her throat, but she didn’t feel it constricting her at all. It was like it didn’t know what to do.

“Let them go, Peter. They’re just kids. Scared, little kids like Henry used to be.”

Steve was still shouting and struggling with Jonathan and Eddie, and in her peripheral, it seemed Eleven had joined the boys in holding back Dustin.

“I’ll stay.” She whispered loud enough for only Peter to hear. “We’re friends right? I’ll stay here, with you. But you have to let them go. Leave them alone, leave Hawkins alone.”

Peter blinked. “You wouldn’t leave your brother.”

He sounded like Peter, the dark, raspy voice of Vecna was gone. He sounded young again; he sounded whole.

“I’ll leave him to protect him. Peter, you live in this place free of people and the society you hated, and it’s still not enough. You never wanted to be alone.” The grip the tentacles had on her was loosening, and (Y/n) tried to stand. The tentacles melted away as Peter saw what she wanted to do. “I’ll stay here, with you. You won’t be alone… But you have to let them go.”

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“NO!” Dustin shoved forward and began pounding on the wall where to portal used to be. “No!”

His fingers tried digging into the wallpaper, into the wall. It had to be there; it couldn’t be gone. He could get back to her. They could save her.

The rest of the party watched in utter silence as Dustin scratched and clawed at the wall, trying to open the portal back to his sister.

No one tried to stop him, or intervene. They were all too stunned to speak, too stunned to move.

The only noise in the room was Dustin, screaming in despair at the wall, and Steve, quietly sobbing in the corner.

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Note:

Thanks for reading! If you like this, please go read my Eddie Munson fic. I'd really appreciate it! I think it's even better than this one, and it meant a lot to me writing it. I look forward to knowing what you think!

[speakeasyaoi]

Rocky Rickaby x GN!Reader

> Requested by @d144-catzie | A bit shorter and messier than I'd like it to be, schoolwork got in the way :P

PROMPT: Rocky is in a close friendship with the reader that looks more like a couple at first, and has the beginning buds of a romantic relationship.

Rocky has a tendency to be extremely clingy and attached from the minute he meets you, especially so if he finds himself attracted and crushing on you. He ends up finding every excuse he can to spend some quality time with you, be it skipping out on work at his own expense and following you around at your heels like a stray pup, or dragging you along by your scruff on his chaotic escapades- He's constantly craving your presence, and he'll scrape together any opportunity he can to get it.

Rocky just adores both giving and recieving physical affection, and it's fit to make him burst with excitement nearly every time without fail. He tends to avoid things like chaste kisses and handholding in fear of seeming too forward, but he's more than open to ruffling your hair, wrapping an arm around your shoulder, patting your back or walking by your side with your elbows interlocked. Maybe he sneaks a hand on your waist or your hip as you're walking together, or hugs you for just a little longer than what might be considered platonic, but nothing too drastic. When he hugs you, he totally does the thing where he sways you side to side or lifts you up and spins you around.

He tries to talk you into getting some kind of matching article of clothing with him; matching neckties with your initials on them, matching bracelets he can wear under his sleeve or lapel pins he can wear alongside his Lackadaisy pin, he really isn't picky. Though, doesn't have the money to afford to buy you something of the quality he thinks you deserve, so it's probably going to be handmade. ...Or stolen. One of the two.

It's a fun pastime of his to tell you long, over-exagerrated stories of his life- including anything during his youth, adolescence, his time spent travelling around the states in search of work, and earlier years spent working for Lackadaisy with Zib's band. His storytelling skills are nothing short of grand and over-the-top, and he'd be ecstatic to ramble on to you over a shared platter of pancakes or a brisk walk through St. Louis if you'll let him. Fair warning, you're not going to be able to shut him up.

It's often he'll invite you over to Lackadaisy to watch him play his violin, and if not there, he just takes you to a nice, secluded area where he can show you without interruption. Most of what he plays is upbeat, spritely instrumentals or brief little tunes, but every once in a while he'll work up the confidence to sing you a ballad with vague lyrics that seem to apply to you a bit too well.

Similarly to how he calls Calvin Freckle, Ivy Miss Pepper, and Mitzi Miss M, he can't help but come up with a fun, sweet little nickname to call you, mainly serving to take the place of the more romantic terms of endearment he wishes he could call you without coming on too strong. But for now, what he's chosen works.

There's a 100% chance that Rocky's going to try and sweet-talk his way into staying with you in your home instead of continuing to live in his car. He'll beg and whine and plead and hug you tight once you finally give in, agreeing to crash on the living room couch. Though, if you aren't careful enough, he's probably going to end up sleeping in your bed one way or another. Oh well!

If you're able and willing, Rocky takes to teaching you how to play the violin. In all honesty, he makes a pretty shitty teacher, but he tries his damn hardest to help you with the very basics at the least. He also can't help but use it as an opportunity to be close with you, laying his hands over yours as he guides you into playing the right notes and holding the violin in the right position, peppering words of praise an encouragement all throughout.

Other notes: I struggled to keep this one not overly romantic, but still close and fluffy enough to stick to the prompt, this should be fine. I'm also probably going to keep to a range of 8-15 bulletpoints moving forward to speed up the time it takes to get to each post and keep me from burning myself out lol

[cheegu3]

𝐉𝐉𝐊 - 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭

genre > yandere, royal au, one-shot

pairing > prince!j.k x f.m reader

wc > 3.7k

warnings > yandere themes, murder, blood, sadism, asshole jk, inaccurate depictions of trials, mentions of rape, classism, corruption

summary > In the country where justice was the center of everything, things seemed a bit different when it came to the royal family. The prince had never been taken down before successfully, do you dare try although others have failed?

You stared up at the palace in front, stretching as far as your eyes could go and covering the sky above with its height. Perhaps its size was intentional; intimidating those that were contemplating going up the wide steps.

It could be the reason why many didn't dare do what you were about to do - demand a trial against a royal family member.

It could be the reason why many didn't dare do what you were about to do - demand a trial against a royal family member.

It could be the reason why many didn't dare do what you were about to do - demand a trial against a royal family member.

Your country took pride in being a just society. More justice is served here than any other land, they'd boast. If you demanded a trial, no matter how big or small the concern was, you'd be granted one as that was your right.

But even though the fair state made no exceptions for the royal family or anyone being upperclass or otherwise '' more important '' people - very few dared bring the royals to court.

It may be more because of the way that they are. Royals were usually charming, either loved or admired by the people. Although that was obtained by manipulation, it was a fact no one could argue.

The Jeon family were different from other royals however. They were honest in all of their feelings, wether they were good or bad ones. There was no room for sugarcoating and they were therefor pretty disliked but well respected.

A cold, almost sinister or dark aura seemed to follow them whenever any of their members were seen - even more so when they were together.

The king and queen had two sons, Jeon Jungkook and Jeon Wonwoo. Both had beautiful faces and tall physiques, fit for a prince. But the younger of the two brothers, seemed to be the worst.

He was a loose cannon in the family. Committing several crimes such as murder, arson, kidnapping, torture and genocide - rightfully earning him nicknames like '' the psycho prince '' or '' the dark knight''.

Since almost no commoner dared take the royal family to court - he was left to do whatever he wanted. The ones that had been brave enough to try it after they had gotten their loved ones murdered, all for some fun for the little prince, had lost every single time.

For being such a fair country in theory, it was far from it when it came to the court and the family. They were the ones ruling it, making the judgements very biased when it was a case against their own kind.

You had been at a handful of public trials before, and it was brutal. One time a poor man had tried taking on the Jeon Jungkook after he pillaged a town and murdered all the kids there.

And the psycho smiled right at him, confidence and arrogance radiating in his oddly innocent looking bambi eyes, a feature of stark contrast to his real personality.

No lawyer, and the prince still won in the end. That's how they work. Yet even for the more complex cases when they'd need one, they would hire a family friend and win anyway.

You knew all this as you walked the steps with your head held high. You knew it but you had lost everything to him, and you were going to make him pay, being the first to do so - even if it meant dying in the process. Because you had nothing to lose after all.

The grand doors swung open just as your hand hovered near the handle. A man in his 60s stepped out and gave you an empty look, his face void of any emotions.

He must be from the royal family

You mustered up a polite smile, trying to look composed, despite feeling anything but at that moment.

'' We're closed '' he muttered tight-lipped and glared at you.

'' I know, sir. But I will be quick '' you gave him another smile and batted your eyelashes, trying to feign an expression of innocence.

You weren't sure how you'd react if he rejected your judgement proposal. But you had a feeling you might lunge at him as rage had already started to form upon realising he was from the same family as the boy you hated the most.

He sighed deeply and swung the door open again, disappearing without looking back. You hurriedly ran after, almost getting hit by the door because of the force he swung it open with.

It had to be quick, and you couldn't irritate him further or else he'd reject you immediately.

'' Sit '' he beckoned towards a chair beneath the high table he was now standing at in his office.

'' I'd like to request a judgement '' you blurted out, as soon as you sunk down on the cushion.

'' For? ''

You hesitated for a moment, it was hard to believe you were actually going through with this. Some had been sentenced to death before doing exactly this, due to '' false accusations '', and that could very well be you soon.

'' Eh...the prince '' his eyebrows raised '' Sir '' you added, swallowing your anxiety.

'' Very well '' the man muttered, engrossed in some kind of book he had in front of him.

'' I'll schedule it. But I must ask, are you aware of how hard it is to win against the prince? ''

You furrowed your brows in surprise. Since he was a part of the prestigious family himself, he surely wouldn't admit to there being foul-play involved in the trials with the royal family, right? Or maybe he was trying to warn you subtly of not wasting their time, due to the slim chances of winning.

Either way, you nodded. The passion of hate burning within and making you appear confident. He only scoffed at your newfound confidence. It was laughable to him since he knew you'd lose, without a doubt - everyone did after all, why should you be any different?

'' Very well '' he said again, but this time with a slight sigh.

The man threw the paper towards your direction and you carefully picked it up into your hands. It was just a document stating that you had demanded a trial and the date it would take place, a week from now.

That's plenty of time to make a good case

Since you were poor, you couldn't afford a lawyer and the city didn't give out public defenders - everyone had to fend for themselves, which probably contributed to the royal family's win-streak.

Even the rich didn't dare take on the family. It was always those with nothing to lose that tried their luck, expecting the outcome to be different than those that tried it before, and you were no different.

'' Now, begone. I've got better things to do ''

'' Thank you '' you said and left, mind racing with all the arguments you could come up with.

*******

You didn't shy away from the piercing glares from the stands in front of you as you took in every word the judge was saying.

She had just introduced the case, what its circumstances were and the other judges behind her. You only quickly glanced at them, their matching features telling you that they were all part of the royal family.

That's all you needed to know to make the judgement that they would be very partial. But that didn't bother you because it was a public trial.

You had specifically asked for it, so you knew some people could still be on your side. Therefor you paid the stand with the commoners more attention as you gave them a polite smile.

'' Jeon Jungkook, please come up to the podium ''

Your eyes followed the crowd to find the young man in the middle of the royals' stand. He looked just as surprised as the rest. You almost rolled your eyes visibly at the realisation that the family loved theatrics and had probably refrained from mentioning who the accused was, until the very end - for the ultimate dramatical effect.

The prince still got on his feet and walked up to the podium as he was told, he only spared you a stoic look, signature of the Jeon's.

But you weren't scared, even as the male took his place next to you and towered over you; his narrowed eyes on you when you spoke.

'' I accuse the Jeon Jungkook of the murder of my father '' you hesitantly looked down at your notes, the next part was kind of an improvisation just to further add to the length of his imprisonment that you were hoping for.

'' And mass killing of the Village of the West, where I reside in ''

A few gasps erupted from the crowd and you could hear a chuckle to your right. All eyes were on you right now, and it was impossible to not feel it.

'' On the night of January 24th, the man next to me galloped in with his horse straight into my town. His men plundered the houses, and-'' you swallowed thickly, voice starting to shake from the memories of the screams ''-And raped them, while Jungkook did nothing to stop them. He was busy murdering the many innocent civilians for fun ''

The accused only hummed next to you, arrogance evident in his tone. But you refused to let it affect you - everything in your delivery had to be perfect, otherwise you'd lose this case and be sentenced to death like all the others.

'' I begged him '' you did as you had practiced, pressing the tears out as a pained expression overtook your features.

The prince watched you in awe, a slight sarcastic smirk on his face.

You were different from the others, weren't you?

'' I-I tried to stop him, but he didn't want to listen- '' you wiped the tears tactfully away from your stained face.

'' I could only watch as the blood ran out of his body, until it was cold. I held him until he took his last breath ''

You shook your head.

'' This country prides itself on its fairness. But what justice is it if the murderer of my father gets set free? Shouldn't he suffer, as I have suffered? ''

Your glossy eyes darted towards the commoners' stand, trying your best to beg without audibly saying it. Then they briefly brushed over the royal family's stand too, although they looked less sympathetic.

'' Do you have witnesses? '' the judge asked, looking rather bored by the whole thing, like she had better things to do.

'' Yes, ma'am '' you nodded, enthustiacally.

The doors' to the witnesses' quarters were opened and out came a shy looking boy, around the same age as you. Behind him was his father, following him closely while staring at the ground.

They took their place at the witnesses' stand and you let out a breath of relief, half expecting them to not show up as you had predicted the royal family of paying the witnesses off.

You smiled at them now, feeling more confident than ever that you'd win this case.

'' Where were you on the night of January 24th? '' you asked.

The father nudged the soon forward, urging him to speak.

'' Uh...I was at my home. In the Village of the South, ma'am ''

'' And, what did you see? ''

The boy's eyes seemed to flick momentarily towards the savage man next to you in fear. Maybe he was scared he would get targeted if he spoke out against Jungkook but you had already anticipated that, having watched many trials the prince had been in before - so you softly called out the boy's name again to get him to focus on you, an encouraging smile adorning your face.

'' I was on my way back from the Village of the West. I always go there to pick berries, and I heard a lot of screaming as I had turned my back towards the village. When I went back to investigate, I saw men dressed in royal clothing, plunging their swords into the civilians or entering the houses ''

The crowd murmured, and some shouted out in anger, claiming the boy was lying. You tried to catch his eyes again, drowning out the people and he seemed to understand, he gave you a sad smile while grimacing as the crowd got louder.

'' Are you sure of this? '' the judge said, after slamming her gavel to get the courtroom to be quiet.

'' Yes, and I'm not the only one '' he said, shuffling so his father could get up to the podium.

'' I met my son halfway as the screams could be heard all the way to our village. Us two and more, went in a group to investigate and we saw the same thing my son just described ''

He gestured towards the stand were two gentlemen got on their feet and confirmed they were a part of the group.

When they were seated again, the courtroom was eerily silent. The royals seemed to cast worried glances at each other while the commoners looked at the accused with disgust.

Despite feeling his eyes on you, trying to maybe persuade you with his charm and puppy-like eyes - you refused to look at him until the very end of the trial, when you'd hope he would be taken away.

You knew of his ways and his famous charm. That's how he got away with most things; pretty privilege to its finest.

'' The court will take a brief, five minute break '' the judge said.

You didn't fail to notice how her eyes said something unspoken to Jungkook, and not long after you saw how he disappeared somewhere along with her and his parents.

Those five minutes felt more like a few hours. In the meantime you tried to ignore the stares from the rest of the royal family, assessing you from head to toe.

But thankfully it didn't last too long, some doors to the side swung open exactly as five minutes had passed. You made the mistake of looking, at the judge and then at you opponent who smirked confidently at you.

He took his place next to you again and the judge went up to the front. An unreadable expression was on her face, one that sent unexplainable shivers down your spine.

'' The judgement has been finalised '' she announced.

The murmur from the crowed started again and you couldn't help but murmur to yourself as well. You felt a bit puzzled. Only you had presented your side, yet there was a verdict? This couldn't be good news.

You felt his eyes on you again as you bit the inside on your cheek, basically holding your breath while listening to the judge's next words carefully.

'' The court has found Jeon Jungkook guilty of the murder of Miss. y/n's father ''

You released a breath of relief, a disbelieved laugh slipping out.

'' He has been judged to serve two years in prison ''

You closed your eyes as the tears started streaming down your face and you prayed a thousand times, thanking whatever deity might be up there for their help in this historical moment.

Your hands gripped the corners of the stand while you kept sobbing when you were embraced by the goodhearted witnesses.

Raising your head, you looked at them, smiling while your vision was blurred with tears. It had all been possible thanks to them, because they had refused to be bribed by the royal family's money and had decided to stand by your side instead.

You thanked them as well. There were probably not enough good deeds you could do in this lifetime to repay them though. But you knew you would try your very best to do so; until your very last breath, you'd be at their service.

If there were any insults thrown your way, you didn't hear them. All you could think about was how your father would be so immensely proud of you.

You were escorted out of the court with your newfound friends by your side, and you of course failed to notice the pair of eyes following you all the way out.

There was only euphoria coursing through you, and it would probably remain that way for the rest of the day.

Your friends walked you all the way to your home and you said your goodbyes; promising to visit them early in the morning, eager to pay them back for their help.

You laid down in your bed and another laugh slipped past your lips as you stared lazily at the ceiling.

The best part was that this trial didn't just affect you - hopefully it gave thousands of other citizens the courage to rightfully take justice into their hands, having been servants of that filthy immoral family for so long.

This meant everything. You could already picture in your mind as the royal family was taken down by the public. Their power and members growing weaker as the years passed by, until they completely seized to exist.

Knock, Knock, Knock

You groaned and squirmed out of bed to go to the front door. Opening it, you were met with two unfamiliar faces. Two tall men dressed in suits, your eyes widened - royal suits.

You tried to slam the door shut but they were quicker, putting a foot down in between and forcing themselves inside.

There wasn't anywhere for you to run to, they closed the distance between you in mere seconds and your scream was muffled by the bag being forcefully put over your head.

You screamed silently again as several blows were delivered to your head, a lone tear sliding down your cheek before you passed out completely, engulfed in darkness.

*******

'' Y/n? ''

You fluttered your eyes open, being met with the cold stone floor. The world was tipped and it took some time for your eyes to adjust to the new room.

With the help of the man in front of you, you were now sat upright which made you get a good view of who it was.

'' Did you miss me? '' a childish like grin was plastered onto the handsome face of the man you had seen just about an hour ago in court, the prince.

'' Jungkook? '' you said, voice hoarse.

He hummed, turning his back on you.

At that moment, you didn't feel scared quite yet. It felt more like a sarcastic and humourless smile was about to escape from you, like - of course, of course this was bound to happen.

You had tried to take down the most powerful family of your country, all on your own and you really thought it would work?

Jungkook seemed to read your thoughts as he scoffed when he faced you again.

'' Regretting your choices now, huh? ''

You shook your head, biting your lip so hard blood almost showed. He smiled. A hand ruffling your hair caught you by surprise, making your eyes widen.

'' I bet you felt so happy in that moment, all proud '' he was up on his feet again, pacing with what appeared to be a dagger in his hands.

'' But things aren't as easy as you scums seem to think '' you struggled against the ropes on your wrists upon his insult, face growing hot.

'' It doesn't work like that '' the prince came closer now, crouching down and he pointed casually at you with his dagger as if it was only an index finger and not a murder weapon.

'' Did you really think that I- Jeon Jungkook, would go to prison because of some pathetic low life, like you? ''

He shook his head, looking nauseuous, as if the mere thought of such a thing happening made him want to empty his whole stomach on the stone floor beneath him.

You held the eye-contact he now initiated, confidently.

'' Did you actually think you stood a chance against me? '' he half-whispered, in a low tone.

His eyes looked like he wanted to tear you apart right then and there, and it was getting hard to stay so confident under his stare now.

'' I- '' but you bit your tongue, falling silent as you weren't sure what to say.

The prince laughed sardonically.

'' That's what I thought ''

The dagger was waved towards you again and you flinched without meaning to, your tough facade slowly breaking down as the reality of you being here locked up with the country's biggest psychopath finally dawned on you.

'' What do you want from me? Revenge? '' you managed to choke out.

His hands were nowhere near your throat yet it felt like he was suffocating you slowly with his eyes alone.

Jungkook briefly looked towards your red lips, licking his own while seemingly being in deep thought.

'' Revenge, yeah ''

'' Then kill me, quickly. I have nothing to lose ''

The prince had to stop himself from laughing out loud at your bold statement, he only grinned while his body shook from silent laughter.

'' No ''

'' What? '' your voice was shaky now, it sounded like you were on the verge of tears, which perhaps you were. You felt like you couldn't stand one more minute together with this psycho, and would rather quickly invite death now.

'' I said, no- '' his stern tone and icy glare made you flinch back, head hitting the wall behind you as he got closer yet again.

His hand reached up to caress the back of your head and you squirmed in his grasp uncomfortably.

'' The judge promised me I'd have you, as my...revenge '' a boyish grin replaced the glare he had worn just seconds ago.

Somehow you preferred the stoic look much more. You tried pushing yourself away from him but there was nowhere to go.

'' You tried to take me down but you failed, and they promised me you'd be mine in return '' Jungkook's hand pet your head now, almost as if he didn't see you as a human.

You wanted to die, sink through the ground in embarrassment - anything to escape his tainted hands touching you in any way.

'' I would never kill you, that would be an easy escape. Wouldn't it, darling? '' he hummed, head tilting as his graceful fingers found your jawline to force you to look at him now.

Those doe eyes, that looked so innocent and so sweet. But ones that had in reality been the last thing many had seen before he plunged that beautiful dagger he was twisting in his hands, into their flesh.

[lover-222]

Angel Baby (D.S)

warning: smut 18+

...

it was known that dominik was a playboy, liverpool's finest man on the field loved having different girls on him. he was one of liverpool's best players right now. the hungarian man loved partying and living the football dream. he was a heartbreaker, he loved how women desired him. today was nothing different.

liverpool had just won their last game of the season, and the boys were going to celebrate just how they always did.

"you ready for today dom?, i wonder who'll be your next victim" trent chuckled as he looked at his teammate.

dom wore an all black outfit with his silver chain and a diamond bracelet. he made a simple outfit look extravagant. he put on lotion, styled his brown hair, and sprayed some of his favorite cologne.

the club they frequently went to was busy. the flickering colored lights danced all over the building, the dance floor was filled with many couples dancing. the alcoholic beverages were being served to many different tables.

dominik talked and laughed with his teammates slowly but surely getting tipsy. the boys one by one started leaving the table to go dance and talk to pretty girls. trent and dominik were the only ones left.

that was until he spotted her, she looked angelic. she wore a tight white dress, her long black hair was waist level. she was there with another friend who had caught trent's attention.

the boys went up to them and offered them a drink. the couples separated into other tables just to be more comfortable with their dates.

"you're very beautiful i just had to talk to you, i'm domi-" he was cut off by the pretty girl.

"i know exactly who you are, dominik szoboszlai" she smiled.

she was innocent, sweet, and delicate. nothing like he's ever had before. all the girls he would fuck were all over him, she was different. y/n wanted him even if it was just for the night. she didn't want to look desperate but one night with dominik szoboszlai would be amazing.

the drinks were coming and coming, the alcohol burned her throat. although by the fifth shot it felt like they were drinking water. the tension started to rise, they couldn't help it.

they ended up at dominik's house, she knew how he was. he didn't want commitment or something stable, he just wanted a good time.

the couple was inside of the house, neither of them disconnected from the heated kiss. dom kissed and sucked on her exposed neck, leaving hickeys on her skin. she felt pure bliss, his lips felt so good on her skin.

he lead her upstairs to his room, he was eager. he needed her badly. dominik laid her gracefully on his bed, she looked truly angelic as she laid on top of his white sheets. he got on top of her, not doing anything yet. he just looked at her facial features, admiring every detail of her frame.

"i just wanted to let you know that i don't want a relationship or any commitment since of football-" he stated.

"i know, i just want to be one of your girls tonight dom. so is liverpool's best man going to fuck me or not?" she said seductively.

he had pure lust in his eyes, his brown eyes turned into a darker shade and were blown out. dominik took off her dress, leaving her in her matching lacy set.

dominik thought he had died and gone to heaven. her matching white lacy bra and underwear were making him hard by every second.

"not fair you still have your clothes on" she said and sat up properly.

he laughed at her, y/n's hands traveled to the hem of his black shirt tucking on it. as soon as she took it off she kissed his muscular chest, while her hands explored his abs. she saw more of his tattoos that were scattered all over both of his arms.

they were perfectly detailed and the shading gave them more depth. the way each design wrapped around and covered his arms made her wet. the thought of being manhandled by him made her dizzy.

dom kissed her tan body, gently unclasping her white lacy bra. she looked ethereal, a true angel was laying down right in front of him. the lust and sexual tension filled the room, and the heated make out session didn't stop. not until he pulled down her panties, and she reached out for his boxers.

"no angel you first i want to see how much of a good girl you are" he smirked as he planted kisses on her stomach.

he kissed her thighs, she was melting from his touch. the combination of his lips on her and his manly scent was intoxicating but in the best way possible. he wrapped his hands around her soft thighs to keep her from moving. as he kissed her thighs, she'd sigh in pleasure. his beard would rub against her flesh making her squirm.

dom licked her inner folds, he gently sucked and licked every part of her sex. she couldn't stop moaning his name. he was so good at what he was doing, his tongue felt like pure bliss against her core.

"god i don't think i'll last very long" she said following up with a moan.

it was heaven for dominik, her angelic voice saying dirty things made him smirk.

"god's not here baby, it's just me" he replied as he pulled her into him and harshly sucked on her clit.

her mouth made an o-shape, y/n grasped a handful of his hair making him groan. she had felt the vibration right in her core, there was no way she could hold her orgasm in. his tongue circled around her clit making her pulsate against him.

she was so wet against him, although she was getting frustrated because he wouldn't let her cum. to the point where she started riding his face, which he quickly made her stop and pulled away.

"no what are you doing my love?" he asked playfully, knowing exactly what she wanted.

she would do anything to reach her orgasm, she craved him so badly.

he had a playful yet sinful smile, "i want to be inside you when you cum".

he teased her entrance with his cock, moving it gently up and down. he was a good size, way bigger than her ex boyfriend. she felt him deep inside of her, every thrust was pleasurebale. the couple moaned loudly, his thrusts were fast and then slow. he would thrust into her at a fast pace, then would slow down, teasing her.

"fuck dom please i'm so close" she whined, tears building up making her eyes water.

"such a pretty angel begging me to let her cum, are you really going to cry?" he teased her as he grabbed her face with his hand gently squeeze her cheeks, yet not stopping his rhythm.

tears ran down her face, the pleasure was too much to handle. she would bite her lip to stop herself from cumming. she'd bit to hard and was now bleeding a bit, the metallic taste wondered her mouth.

he was reaching his high, his thrust became faster and more precise. his chain dangled from his neck, she hooked her pointer finger on the chain making him come closer to her. their lips crashed against each other, he tasted like mint. he was hitting her g-spot in every thrust which made her claw his back.

"you feel so fucking good, i'm going to cum" he said as his thrust became sloppy.

"me too, fuck i can't hold it anymore" she moaned out.

"cum with me angel" he said as he quickened up his pace.

his cock thrusted deep into her, making her shiver. she felt on top of the world, her orgasm building up in her core. he kissed her hashly, then swiftly put her on top making her ride him.

she moved desperately on his thick cock, nothing stopped her from riding him. it felt incredibly good. her perfect body was on display just for him, he held on to her waist. he followed her rhythm and would thrust into her occasionally. y/n looked down at him, he was a mess under her.

his hair was a mess, and his cheeks were scarlet red. even with his hair all over the place, he looked fucking beautiful. he looked like he was sculpted by greek gods, every single one of his curves were perfectly defined.

dom thought she was angelic, her doe like eyes attracted him. she was a sweet angel, her lips tasted like cherries. her dainty hands would messily pick up her hair, although her head tilted back due to her pleasure.

he snaked his hand up her chest and rested it on her neck. she loved it, he maintained a firm grasp around her. she felt euphoric, she held on to his arm as she felt her orgasm building up.

"i'm close angel" he told her as he thrusted into her yet again but deeper.

her eyebrows scrunched up, "me too fuck dom please".

the sensation built up as he thrusted into her, she managed to reach down and circled around her clit fast. dom quickly replaced her hand with his. his fingers played with her clit moving his digits fast around it.

finally reaching their climax, he whined and grunted while thrusting into her one last time. she moaned loudly and shuddered while she laid on top of him.

"fuck you're so good" she sighed as she breathed heavily.

"me? angel you were perfect. see you can be a good girl" he said while he smirked at her.

he pulled out and laid her next to him, dom got up and went to grab a warm cloth. he helped her get cleaned up and got back into bed.

the brunette boy caressed her face and tucked her hair behind her ear.

"i think i want to see you again angel" he said softly.

"am i going to be dominik szoboszlai's fuck buddy?" y/n replied playfully.

"i mean if you want, but i mean more like maybe go on a date with me?" he asked her, his puppy dog eyes glistened.

"i'd love that" she smiled, dom excitingly kissed her and wrapped his tattooed arms around her. she felt safe in his strong embrace. maybe she's the one that takes him out of the playboy lifestyle.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ─── a/n: i took like three days writing this and i'm not even sure if i like it lmaoooo

give me feedback plss anyways i hope y'all enjoyed it!!

d<3

[wood-white-writer]

“Didn’t mean to make your heart Blue” || [4.5/...]

- OPLA! Buggy x F!Reader

Pairing: Buggy the Clown (Live action) x F!Reader

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6

Summary: In which Buggy discovers that he’s in over his head while making a deal with Arlong the Saw.

Warnings: LA! One Piece, Canon typical violence, slight canon divergence, Arlong is his own warning

A/N: Unfortunately, part 6 of "DMTMYHB" is a little delayed and won't be out until at least next week. However, I began working on this initially out of boredom, so at least you can read about Buggy's POV after the events of chapter 4 and before the events of chapter 5.

Life sure is a shitshow sometimes, Buggy thinks to himself while spitting out a few grains of sand. For fish people, there’s a certain irony with pulling over a bag propped with sand over his head.

Then again, it could’ve been considerably worse.

They could have decided to water board him, or maybe take a decent chunk off his nose. It’s not too outlandish to assume that these kinds of people prefer the taste of human flesh, and although he considers himself fairly experimental man on occasion, that one is not on his kink list.

He might be big-headed sometimes, he’s man enough to admit as much, but even Buggy knows better than to underestimate the fish people. He’s had his fair share of encounters with them before, and needless to say, mixing a Devil Fruit eater with people who primarily live and breathe in the sea is a bad combination.

A very, very bad combination, especially if you throw Arlong the Saw into the mixture. Buggy’s not a recluse; he’s heard of his reputation as the self-proclaimed ruler of the East Blue. Ask just about anyone who he is, and they’ll whisper his name while pissing their pants like school children.

A misanthrope with a less than discreet disdain for all things human, and a face only a mother could hope to love, the guy does not fuck around with what he considers his, which approximately covers all of the East Blue. And the people in it are merely collateral.

If anything’s a testament, it’s his bounty. Twenty million berries for his head, doesn’t matter if it’s attached to his body or not. The highest bounty on this piece of the ocean.

Well, second highest. The top spot belongs to you, but that’s a thought Buggy has tried desperately to bury in the sand for the past few days. He doesn’t need to think about you, least of all now.

He has bigger fish to deal with, and it blows.

It’s his fucking luck that this is happening specifically to him.

No, it wasn’t enough that he got his ass handed to him by a bunch of scrawny nobodies.

It didn’t suffice that he had to watch you turn your back to him twice in a lifetime.

He’s managed to evade the saw-nosed fucker’s eye up until this point, and so, of course Fate would deal him this final one.

Just as the cherry on top of the shitty sundae that is his life.

So, to conceal or own terrified state when faced with the darkened stage room, Buggy decides to do what Buggy does best:

Fake it ‘til he makes it.

And he sure as fuck hope he does.

“Is this the best way to ask for an autograph?” His echo bounces like a ball through the darkened room. “I mean sheesh! Fans have gotten so toxic!”

The eerie silence is his only companion now, and he finds that he can’t stand it. Not even the two fishy folks standing guard at his side offers him more than rolled eyes. Rude.

This place — his stage — which once served as his sanctuary, might soon become his tomb. If Arlong lives up to his rep, he’ll ask the clown to dig his own hole before chomping on his jugular.

Curtains for him and all fucking that.

“Alright, what do you want?! Tickets to the show? I can get you house seats, they’re pricey!”

A loud thud emerges from the shadows behind him, and a cold breeze brushes against the the exposed skin on his face.

“Oh, I am no fan of yours.”

He knows a beast when he hears one, even better when he sees them. He spent the good portion of his youth alongside one, and witnessed first-hand just how they could be. Beasts are strong, and brutal, and precise. They can tear you apart if they deem it necessary because it’s in their nature, but that’s all it is. Nature.

However, Buggy’s also come to discover that beasts have also the capacity for kindness and love. A beast is someone he can fall in love with.

This thing that emerges from the dark at his side, on the other hand, is no mere beast.

Hell, he can’t even qualify it as such. This creature at his side, one he doesn’t dare to face at first until he notices it’s gradual approach, is a monster.

Ain’t no way in the blue hell he’ll ever consider tapping that the way he would with a beast.

“I run things here in the East Blue,” the fish-man speaks, voice grating Buggy ears as he circles the clown. “I’m here to remind of you of your place in the food chain. You pull a job in my seas, you gotta pay tribute.”

Despite the fact that he’s nervous as shit, there’s a certain taunt crystallising in Buggy’s brain that he’s subconsciously urged to free against his better judgement.

Arlong’s place is second in this so-called food chain. Yours is the first, and if it wasn’t for the fact that voicing this would guarantee his premature death, Buggy would’ve reminded the fishy shithead of this.

Despite whatever grievances you two share, Buggy knows that he won’t mind not being at the top as long as it means it’s not under Shark-boy’s hierarchy.

The East Blue is, per Arlong’s definition, yours, whether you know it or not, and he’d much rather comply with that.

But Buggy keeps his act going. “But Arlong, baby, you don’t gotta worry about me. I’m small potatoes. Pirating’s more of a side gig.”

As much as he tries, and he does try, Buggy knows his words can’t keep the shark’s teeth at bay for much longer. Arlong is not a patient type, and it just about snaps when he reaches for his throat and prepares to chomp.

Buggy doesn’t intend to die now. He can’t. He’s got unfinished business to attend to.

“Wait, wait, wait, wait!”

Maybe fate is actually on his side for fucking once, because the fish man actually does wait.

He has a shot.

“You know who’s out there really disrespecting you? It’s that little Rubber-Prick in the straw hat, goes by the name of Luffy.”

It doesn’t work, because it seems Arlong is more of a recluse than him. Has never heard the boys name. So, he tries a different approach before the teeth settle in again.

“He— He’s not alone.” Fuck, he’s losing air, and he kinda needs that to get the primary point into Arlong's thick, scaly head. A point that he’ll be sure to catch the asshole’s attention. “Cross-Hairs is with him!”

Arlong halts, and his lips don a sneer.

Another thing Buggy has discovered in all of this is that Arlong is an inherently proud guy, and believes himself superior to others not only because of his fishy nature, but due to the fact that he has among the largest bounties on this piece of the map.

Yours is the only obstacle keeping him from completely claiming that title.

“The Captain of the Cross-Haired Pirates has been absent for the past decade.” Arlong lets up on the pressure around his neck, enough to let Buggy grasp a few fistfuls of air, but his feet still dangle above the ground.

“Y-Yeah—,” Buggy heaves. “But her— b-bounty hasn’t changed, has it? And the kid, he just knocked over a marine’s base in Shells Town, then he stole a map of the Grand Line and now he’s talking shit about finding the One Piece.”

This seems to be enough reason for Arlong to finally drop him, and Buggy struggles to retrieve all the air he’s lost.

“The One Piece, an excuse for humans to spread their filth across the seas.” Arlong is less than impressed, but what he says next opens a door. “Why should I concern myself with the ambitions of a mere human boy?”

“Because that map is useful,” Buggy regains some semblance of balance on his knees. “The kid is not, but I have unfinished business with him. What’s more, if Cross-Hairs is with him, then that’s your chance to get the highest bounty in all of the East Blue. Think about it! You’ll be at the top of the list if she’s out of the way.”

Arlong doesn’t like the implication laced in Buggy’s words, the possibility that he’s in any way lesser than a human. “I am already at the top of the list, clown. The Cross-Haired Pirates are disbanded, and humans tend to age so quickly compared to fish men. I’m sure she’s grown old and weary in the last couple of years, hardly worth my time.”

Buggy wants to smile. Smile as he thinks about just how fucking wrong this guy can be. The years have not drained you, nor weakened you, nor made you any less hot if he does say so himself.

Oh, if anyone can wipe the floor with Arlong, it’s you. That’s why he’s not afraid of revealing your current whereabouts, because he already knows fishy over there will get his ass whopped big time.

“How about this: you let me live, and I’ll help you find Luffy and Cross-Hairs. Two birds with one stone, so to speak.”

Two birds, one stone, and one fish filet, to be more specific.

Arlong grabs him by the neck. “And how do you plan to do that?”

“I've got eyes and ears everywhere.”

The fish takes the bait, and Buggy can't help but laugh.

Laugh, not because Arlong agrees to his plan, but because the guy is going to be struck by lightning so fucking hard that in the end, there'll be nothing left of him save for that ugly-ass tool he calls a nose.

The moron has deliberately put himself up for slaughter, and personally, Buggy can’t wait to watch the show unfold.

The stage is yours.

He’ll watch from the front rows and give you an upstanding applause once the curtains falls.

---

Taglist: @kurinhimenezu, @carpinchootaku, @ay0nha, @teh-vampire-bunny, @lokiscure, @internationalsuper-spy, @detectivesparrow , @yuriwk , @notyuralycat , @angeli-fucking-cat, @machinema7k, @shuujin, @avatar-lover, @gingernut1314, @autumn-slaves. @marvelouskatie, @floristoflillys, @dizzyenby, @redpool, @deliri-yum22, @aemondsb1tch, @ackroxia, @gayandfairycore (If you want to be tagged for this story, just send me a message or leave a comment :))

[extrashotodepresso]

Hawks X Fem!Reader:

Blurred Lines

Warnings: SMUT DNI if not 18+ , somnophilia if you squint, unprotected (please don’t do this guys), some red flags here (but when you’re wearing rose colored glasses red flags look like flags)

As always, comments and reblogs welcome. If you don’t have anything nice to say- say it to the wall. Not my wall, the one in your room. Go to the corner and think about what you want to say to a stranger on the internet and what’s driving you to take out your ick on them.

Alright so I really wanted to write Hawks as not a dirtbag but just as like the cute lovable weirdo he is. Honestly… I struggled with this. I really just wanted to get this one finished and I just did what I could but if I can be honest- I struggled part way through and I’ll probably edit this eventually. It eeees what it eees.

Summary: Reader is neighbors with Hawks. They start a friendship that leads to more over time until they cross that final line. That’s it. That’s the fic.

The first time Keigo landed in your apartment, it was an accident. Actually, that’s how you found out you were neighbors with the number two hero. You wouldn’t have expected it; with his ranking, he was bound to have a fancy upper side Mustafu apartment, why was he renting in your shitty little neighborhood?

But questions you had at the sudden encounter would have to wait; he had rolled in from your open patio window missing feathers, covered in grime and blood. You had been cooking dinner at the time, and all you could do was stare dumbly at the man on your floor, tongs raised in your hand casually.

“Uh… you okay?” You asked, cringing immediately at how stupid you sounded. Thankfully, you heard a laugh before his arm slithered out from beneath him and he pushed himself halfway off the floor. He looked around your apartment for a moment, seemingly puzzled before his eyes landed on you.

“Just peachy, thanks for asking.” He groaned as he brought himself up to stand, feathers falling out of his wings and littering your floor among the rest of the debris. “Uh…” he stepped up and down carefully, his boots crunching in the grime. “Sorry about the mess.”

You shrugged. “Happens. Do you… um do you need any help or…?”

“Nah, I’m good.” The two of you stared at each other, neither really knowing what to say, the popping of fried chicken sizzling away in a pan being the only sound for a few moments.

“I think I live next door.” He said, looking around, the slight flush on his cheeks darkened as he reached for the back of his neck. Bad move, he immediately winced. “30C.” You nodded slowly, then returned to your chicken.

“It would appear you do.” You flipped the pieces in the pan, frowning a little at the bits that had burned while you were distracted by the hero hurdling into your living room. “28C.”

“Hawks.” He offered, gesturing to himself and seeming to wince afterwards at the obvious introduction.

“(Y/N).” You turned as you introduced yourself, moving the cooked chicken into a serving bowl and finally turning back around to face him when you were done.

“You don’t seem all that bothered, (Y/N).” His voice was light and pleasant and despite the strangeness of this encounter, you couldn’t help but feel comfortable in his presence. Must be a hero thing, you figured.

“Of all the crazy things in this city that could have crash landed in my apartment, a top hero is probably one of the better options.” You smiled wryly and he offered a sharp laugh.

“Fair enough.” He studied you for a moment. “I uh… I should get going then. Do you need any help cleaning up or…” you glanced at your floor, considering the state of him, it was pretty minimal.

“I can handle it, it’s fine. Seems like you had a rough day.” You offered a short sort of smile at this. He put his hands in his pockets, then after another awkward moment, walked towards your door. “You can come back for dinner if you want.” You offered as his hand closed on the doorknob. You didn’t know why you had offered, this was probably already the weirdest day of your life but something in you forced the words out before you could stop them. His face lit up, and you felt your heart thud thickly in your chest.

“That would be awesome! I’ll be honest, it smells amazing- just uh- give me a bit to freshen up, okay?” You nodded and he practically ran out of your apartment, before poking his head back in. “Don’t clean that up- I’ll get it, it’s the least I can do.” He pointed at the mess on the floor and you nodded before you heard him hastily enter his own apartment.

“Welcome to the neighborhood.” You muttered to yourself before setting up another serving of chicken to cook.

When he came back, he cleaned up the mess on your floor and even set the table while you finished cooking. It was strangely domestic of him. Your brain was still working to process the information of the past half hour. The nation’s number two hero had crash-landed into your living room and now the two of you would be having dinner. You chucked to yourself as you finished cooking and brought the food to the table. Weirder things had probably happened before, though you couldn’t imagine what.

“Thanks again for your hospitality.” Hawks offered with a stunning smile. You had been moving to sit down across from him, and your entire body froze for a second at the brightness of his expression.

“N-no problem.” You offered, lamely. As the two of you began eating, he seemed like he wanted to talk more, but your own shyness and hesitance to conversation made it difficult not to stagnate. You felt the sweat on the nape of your neck. Leave it to you to be unfazed by the bizarre yet challenged by the basics of conversation.

As he took a bite of chicken, his eyes grew wide.

“This is so good, (Y/N)!” He exclaimed. You thanked him, then couldn’t hold back the snicker that had been threatening to escape you. “What’s so funny?” He said, words partially muffled as his mouth was stuffed full of chicken.

“Bird hero, eating chicken.” You managed to explain. “Just… made me laugh.” He stared at you before bursting into laughter himself.

“Despite the bad PR it might get me, I’ll admit, it’s one of my guilty pleasures.” You smiled, glad you hadn’t offended him as you took a swig of your beer.

Conversation flew by a little easier after that. It seemed like Hawks was just as down to earth as his reputation would reflect. You learned that he had been your neighbor for about a month, but because of the nature of his work, you wouldn’t have really seen him around. Besides, he really only ever entered his apartment through his patio. That’s why he had landed into your living room; normally his door was the only one left open. You asked him why he didn’t live in some fancy huge building since he could clearly afford it and he shrugged, explaining that he wanted to be closer to the neighborhoods he actually served.

He asked you about your work, you explained that you worked from home; data entry, nothing nearly as exciting as his job. He politely nodded as you explained your work, he was even kind enough to ask questions and act like it wasn’t entirely boring. The two of you talked for a while about a myriad of things; favorite movies, heroes, books, restaurants- it seemed like you both actually had a lot of common ground. It was nice, you usually lived a pretty secluded life, having someone to talk to was more than pleasant.

After dinner, the two of you parted as unlikely friends and his visits over to your apartment became relatively frequent. He would stop by after patrols without any sort of announcement, and while the average person would be annoyed, you really didn’t mind except for that one time he barged in and you had just gotten out of the shower. Months like this passed, and you and Keigo made a habit of spending practically every night he wasn’t working together.

It was on one of these evenings that he came over and the conversational tone shifted.

“Why don’t you ever have any guys over?” He asked, suddenly. You had been distracted by the movie on the screen, some detective flick that had just come out, so it took you a minute to process the question. When you finally did, the mouthful of popcorn you had suddenly became stuck in your throat, leading you to practically choke.

Keigo’s eyes widened with concern as he pat your back, urging you to breathe before offering you some of the beer that was on the table. You gulped it down, panting before you responded.

“What?”

“I didn’t mean to startle you. Is it that strange of a question?” You looked at him incredulously, trying to search his face for any hint as to what he was thinking.

“I mean… it’s a little left field, Kei.” You offered before taking another drink.

“Why? You’re a beautiful woman, I’m surprised that you don’t have any other guys coming around here.” You felt your face flush red, your brain sputtered to find any sort of response.

“What?”

“Unless… you’re not into men?” His face grew serious. “I am supportive of whoever you want to love, I need you to know that.” You shoved him.

“Oh my God, Kei, what’s wrong with you?”

“What, there’s nothing wrong with being gay-“

“Of course there isn’t!” You practically shrieked. “But where is this sudden interrogation coming from?”

“I was just curious if you were seeing anyone.” He was pouting. “You never talk about it.”

“Of course I’m not!” You hit him with a pillow. “Why? Do you have some secret girlfriend you’ve never shared with me?” You stopped hitting him, for some reason the thought made you feel nauseated.

“No. You’re the only one I ever see.” He said, studying you thoughtfully.

“Well then, there you have it.” You hugged the pillow you had been using to hit him against your body. “We both have no life; love or otherwise so there.” You muttered, dragging your attention back to the TV.

“Guess so.” He said, thoughtfully. The two of you finished the movie in an awkward silence. You didn’t know quite what to say or do moving forward, so you stood with a stretch.

“I’m gonna go take a shower.” You said with a little yawn. “You can let yourself out or crash here. Whichever.” You tried to sound as casual as possible, but didn’t know if you quite succeeded.

Lately, there had been more and more nights when Keigo would stay the night at your house. The first time was unintentional, the two of you had fallen asleep on the couch after an impromptu movie marathon. The next time had been intentional, he asked to crash on your couch because he didn’t really want to go back to his empty place. In the morning, he had complained about his back hurting like hell, so the next time he wanted to stay over, you suggested you both share your bed. You justified it, saying that it was just like having sleepovers with friends in childhood- which led to a conversation about how Keigo had missed all sorts of things as a kid. You had been dedicated to giving him the experience, staying up late with snacks and Manga until the two of you crashed over the covers.

Since then, you hadn’t needed to do the entire sleepover experience, he just helped himself to your bed and the two of you had relaxed into your own routine with it. It seemed your relationship seemed to frequently evolve in a way that felt natural, no matter how blurred the lines were becoming.

Because of those blurred lines, and the conversation from earlier, your brain couldn’t focus as you showered. It didn’t help knowing that possibly in the next room was your insanely hot hero neighbor, waiting for you to come to bed. You definitely didn’t use your best body wash, or take the extra time to use a salt scrub on your skin, or spend a few extra minutes deep conditioning your hair while you shaved for the first time in months- that would have been insane. *cough*

By the time you left the shower and entered your room clad in a nightgown (also definitely NOT strategically picked over your normal tattered T-Shirt) ; you were pleased to see he had decided to stay. He was laid out on your bed, head towards your side, seemingly passed out. You crawled into bed carefully, sitting up for a moment simply admiring him before you snuggled under the covers.

As you studied his face, you reached out and caressed his cheek. Your thumb found his scar, tracing the flesh gently before it came to his lips. His mouth was so soft, softer than you would have thought and an impulse you couldn’t control took hold of you.

Your breathing had stopped. Almost in foresight of your plan- you had to know. You leaned in and softly brushed your lips against his in a gentle kiss. He didn’t move, but just the feeling of his lips on yours made your heart leap out of your chest.

When you pulled away, prepared to look over his face with satisfaction, your heart sank. His eyes were wide open and he was staring at you. Not just staring, his eyes practically burned into you. Your cheeks flushed, heart racing and you tried to speak but all that came out was a squeak.

“What a naughty little bird you are.” He said to you darkly. You felt the suffocating weight of your shame, and tore your eyes from him as quickly as possible.

“I-I’m sorry I just-“

“You what?” His voice was cold. You had fucked up.

“I wanted to know what it felt like… to… kiss you.”

“Well that isn’t gonna help you.” His voice was dripping with condescension. You looked at him in confusion before you felt him roll on top of you, grabbing your chin with his hand before taking your lips in a bruising kiss.

That flipping, over the moon feeling came back as his lips glided over yours, and when you felt his tongue drag across your bottom lip you groaned into him, happily obliging the escalation. His fingers tangled themselves in your hair, his other hand slowly finding its way to your back to pull you in impossibly closer.

When you felt like you couldn’t breathe, he finally parted from you.

“How was that?” His voice was raw, husky and you swallowed before shaking your head.

“No good.” You managed to let out between panting breaths. He looked almost hurt until you kissed him again. “Now I just want more.” You whispered into him and you could feel him shudder over you- the fluttering of his wings showing his pleasure in your statement.

“I can do that.” He growled into your open mouth, his tongue exploring yours just long enough to leave you breathless again before he moved his kisses lower. He kissed along your jaw, then down your neck and over to your ear, licking at your earlobe before biting it gently.

“Did you know-“ he whispered into your ear before moving his kisses lower. “That our bedrooms share a wall?” He licked the juncture of your neck and collarbone before taking a bit of flesh into his mouth and sucking on it. Your hands made their way to his back, clawing at his shirt helplessly.

“Oh yeah?” You tried to follow the conversation, but the heat from his every touch was beginning to be quite distracting.

“Mmhmm. And did you know that I can hear everything happening in this room?” You could feel the flush spread to your chest from your cheeks as his fingers deftly slid down the straps of your nightgown.

“Is that so?” You tried to sound casual, but you knew what he was implying.

He groaned again into your skin in response as his tongue explored the flesh of your newly exposed chest, slowly nudging the fabric down until your breasts were exposed. “Beautiful.” He said almost to himself before he sucked at your breast, tracing his tongue along your peaked nipple before biting down softly. You gasped, arching into him as your hand found his hair and your fingers laced into the roots.

“Keigo-“ you were panting, but his mouth continued its ministrations.

“Do you know how much self control it took for me to not come over here some nights? Hm?” He spoke into your skin again, then brought himself back to your lips, allowing one of his hands to continue the work his mouth had been doing. “Hearing you moan out so sweetly- never quite able to reach what you were looking for?” His hand traced down your torso, over the bunched fabric of your nightgown to between your legs.

As you felt the silky fabric drag up your thighs, your pulse quickened- you were simultaneously mortified and thrilled by the decision you had made getting out of the shower- when his hand touched your bare mound and his wings stretched out like they did whenever he was excited, you bit your lip.

“Nothing underneath?” His voice was feral. “You are a naughty bird.” His fingers wasted no time in spreading your lips, finding your clit with ease, he rubbed the bundle of nerves before sliding down to your entrance. “Soaking wet too.” He let out a little whine and the sound of it made you clench around nothing. “It’s like you did this all f’me.” When his fingers entered your twitching core, you thrust into his hand, urging him deeper, faster.

“I did-“ you managed to mewl as his fingers curled up inside you- “It’s all for you.” You were quickly becoming an unraveled mess, your breathing labored as you felt yourself nearing your release. Keigo kissed you again, all consuming passion and sloppy need and you felt a tear rolling down your cheek. The hand that had been at your breast came up to your face, his thumb wiping it away as he spoke into your mouth.

“It’s okay little bird, let go.” You nodded, kissing him again as you finally felt yourself break.

Keigo stroked you through your orgasm, gently caressing your thighs when you had control of your breathing again. You pulled back from him, looking into his face. His pupils were completely blown, looking fucked out already. His expression, which had been one of puckish excitement moments before, was now solemn. He kissed you once more, softly, before rolling away from you with a sigh. He laid flat on the bed, staring at the ceiling and you didn’t quite know what to say or do now.

The silence, though it lasted mere seconds, felt like a vast expanse of space in which nothing but your own anxiety existed.

“Keigo?” Your voice came out louder than you had anticipated, inadvertently causing you to cringe. He turned towards you then, bringing his gaze to yours before his eyes dragged down your half dressed body, nightgown still scrunched to expose most of you. A groan left him as he pulled his gaze away, his hand that had brought you to pleasure moments previously was now covering his grimacing face. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothin’, angel.” He said, though it was entirely non convincing.

“Kei.” You repeated, rolling towards him, resting on your arm to look over his face. You pried his fingers off his eyes. “Look… I-I’m sorry.”

His eyes widened at you, but he said nothing. You worried at your lip, teeth pulling the tender flesh nearly to shreds. This was the first time you felt uncomfortable around Hawks. You didn’t just feel uncomfortable, you felt terrible. Like you had taken advantage of a friend, like you had finally crossed one of those blurred lines that was supposed to be sacred and unscathed.

“Sorry?” He repeated softly. “Sorry for what?” You tasted copper in your mouth- you licked over the flesh you had chewed open, trying to will yourself to stop the nervous habit.

“I shouldn’t have- I mean I wanted to, but it was wrong and-“

“Wrong?” Why was he just repeating after you? You suddenly felt too exposed, pulling back on your nightgown, you sat up and protectively covered your chest. “Did it really feel wrong to you?” Your eyes snapped to him.

“Of course not!” Your outburst ripped through the quiet that had been momentarily reestablished. “But- I- I shouldn’t have just- without asking- if I lost you I don’t know what—not that I have you- I mean-“ he leaned up then, grabbing the back of your neck and pulling you towards him to kiss you again. You whimpered into him, a relieved sort of sob threatening to leave you at any moment. He licked over the rim of your lips, clearly he had noticed your habit too.

“If you want me to stop- you need to tell me.” He spoke into your open mouth. “But … I’m not going to be able to stop if we keep going and once we…” he readjusted, tensing, “there’s no going back, (Y/N).” He was severe again, pulling himself just far enough away that his gaze could transform from one big eye into two amber pools, threatening in their intensity. You said nothing, swallowing hard. “If we keep going, I’m never going back to what we were. I can’t.” You might have imagined the way his voice broke on the last word, the way he hitched his breath and let it out with a sad sort of groan, but it didn’t matter as your lips sought his again. You offered your acceptance to his terms, trying to show him with each glide of your lips just how you felt.

Hawks eagerly met each movement, descending with you into a new subspace, recently discovered but yet to be explored. His hands reached for your nightgown again, pulling it from your body before pushing you rather roughly back down. He peeled off his own shirt awkwardly, you hadn’t ever seen him maneuver in or out of his clothes before and despite the mood of the moment you couldn’t help but giggle a bit at how urgently he wrestled out of it.

“Hope you enjoyed laughing, little bird.” When he was finally freed, he looked down at you with a dark expression, a smirk playing at his lips clearly promising more than you were prepared for. “You won’t have time for that soon.” He lunged for you again, kissing you with a demand for compliance. His tongue bullied its way into your mouth, deftly exploring your taste. You could hardly keep up with his movements, his hands were all over you, claws raking down your back and pulling across your ribs before sliding up to grip your breasts. His fingers bullied your flesh, though you had never been handled so roughly you couldn’t say you minded at all.

“Kei-“ you tried to pant into him, his kisses moving towards your neck while your hands grasped for his sweats. You tried to pull them down, but his hand batted you away.

“No.” He spoke firmly and you bit your lip. The hand that had slapped yours came up to your chin, pulling your lip away from your gnawing teeth slowly. His tongue grazed over the wounded flesh again before he sucked at it, letting it fall from his mouth with a satisfying pop. He then moved down your body quickly, spreading your thighs open wide. There was not a part of you left unexposed; the thought that you were the only one in that position suddenly made you feel vulnerable.

You didn’t have to meditate on that thought for very long though, as Keigo lowered his head down to your core and immediately used his mouth to mercilessly drag you towards orgasm. It was too much too fast; the hero was known for his precision and speed- each pass of his tongue proving just how hard he worked to earn that praise. Your head crashed into the bed below you, back arching unnaturally as you let out a noise that could hardly be recognized as belonging to you. You exploded, fireworks bursting behind your eyelids, and though he could not have missed the fact that he had just brought you to your second orgasm that evening, his oral assault continued.

“‘S too much—“' you squealed, “K-Kei-g-g—ugh!“ you cried but he continued to spell his name over you, branding you with it, the burn almost too much to handle. When you truly thought you would die, he pushed his fingers inside of you, curling the digits up and hitting the spot he had found earlier so expertly that without you being even slightly prepared, another climax was ripped from you. He still didn’t give you a moment's rest, lapping up every drop you offered to him until he was satisfied. Finally, he stopped for a moment, sitting on his knees with his wings flayed out, casting a shadow over what seemed like the entire room. Your eyes shut, heavy with exhaustion as you attempted to collect yourself.

When you could breathe again, you realized he was now laid between your thighs, arms on either side of your face. He wiped tears you didn’t remember shedding from your cheeks and kissed you gently, slowly bringing you back to his plane of existence.

As your consciousness slowly reentered your body, you noticed the way his skin felt against yours. All of it. The realization that he had undressed completely finally dawned on you when you felt a twitch of hardened flesh at the apex of your thighs, prodding you as if requesting entrance. A high pitched whine left your throat and entered his mouth, the ridiculous sound causing him to grin into your kiss. Finally you understood his frustration earlier at your flippant laughter.

“You ready, angel?” He spoke into your mouth as he lined himself up with your core; you nodded dumbly into him though you weren’t even quite sure if you were in fact ready. You felt like a million exposed nerves; every part of you was hyper aware of every touch, stray breath and every bead of sweat gliding across your skin.

Keigo began to thrust inside you, exhaustingly slowly, his entire body over you shuddering. Your hands, which had been clenching themselves in the sheets before, came up to his shoulders, dragging down to the base of his wings. When you allowed your fingers to trace the fine feathers at the base of them he let out a sharp hiss before burying the rest of his length inside you in one sharp thrust.

There was no sound, at least not that you could remember after that, just the feeling of his tongue running against your throat while his hips ground into you. His movements were shallow, as if he was too afraid to leave you, like all he wanted was to figure out how to make the two of you one. Desperately, you tried to move in tandem with him, but every bit of him was so distracting. You felt every muscle in his back, tried to grab at his thighs and pull him closer to you. Seems you agreed that nothing felt close enough.

So lost in your own little world, you didn’t notice he had been talking to you until he bit at your ear to get your attention.

“Hmm?” You were delirious with contentment, never had you felt so absolutely complete.

“I’m close, angel- are you?” He panted into your flesh and you just turned your head towards him, looking at his flushed, fucked out face with a groan. You shook your head no, then tried to lace together words; something like ‘It’s okay, let go’ or ‘I’ve already been fucked stupid, I’m just a plaything now.’ But in the absence of further response, Hawks took your no as a challenge.

He readjusted his body beneath you, moving to sit on his knees, draping your legs on either side of him. The new angle hit even deeper, and you let out a high-pitched moan of his name. Keigo moved his hands to your hips and he began to pull and push your body, effectively using you like a living flesh light. The way he arched your back and manipulated your body had you nearing your final release and as you opened your eyes to see the way he was studying your every movement you felt yourself clamping down on him.

“Fuck-“ he groaned, head flying back, crimson wings splaying out again. He looked so angelic- so inhumanly beautiful. You grabbed your breasts, pulling at your nipples, just following every urge you had. “Sh-shit angel, just like that-“ his hips faltered for a moment. “Play with yourself- that’s it-“ one of his hands holding your hips rested on your lower belly, pushing down while he brought a thumb to your clit, adding the most delicious pressure until you found yourself unable to hold on.

“Fuck!” You screamed as you felt yourself finally let go- clenching him for dear life, trying to milk him of every last drop. Distantly, you heard the symphony of sound the two of you were creating; the accumulation of whimpers and grunts emphasizing your crescendo. When he felt you cumming around him, he collapsed over you, blindly pounding into your flesh before letting out a final groan of your name. A pleasant warmth spread through you, his hips continued to pump into you slowly until finally he fully stilled, offering you a slow, sensual kiss. His arms slithered beneath you, holding you tight in a hug before rolling onto his back, taking you with him and laying you on his chest.

The two of you were still connected and you distantly noticed that your breathing had synchronized. You were spilled over him like jello, unable to move but enjoying the gentle caress of his hands on your back and your hair. You felt yourself dozing off, feeling completely and irrevocably satisfied.

“That was well worth the wait, angel.” He let out finally. You simply hummed in response, eyes growing heavier with each passing moment. “We should really get you cleaned up.” He added when you didn’t respond. To this, you groaned.

“No. No move. Only sleep.” You spoke into him, words muffled with the way your cheek pressed into his chest. You felt the roll of laughter he let out through his abdomen, jiggling you with it.

“Come on.” He didn’t seem to be willing to give you a choice, giving a short slap to your ass before lifting you off of him without much ceremony, leaving you feeling empty. You whined at the absence of him but didn’t have the opportunity to protest when he swooped you into his arms and princess-carried you to your bathroom.

He sat the two of you into the bath, his wings draped over the back of your tub and your back pressed into his chest. It was a tight fit, and as he leaned over to turn on the water, he scrunched you forward and you let out a groan at the stretch on your sore muscles.

“Sorry, baby bird.” He whispered into your ear softly and you whined, the sound of his voice eliciting a pleasant flip in your tummy. He sent a feather to grab the washcloth you had hanging on your shower caddy and grabbed the bar of soap you had resting on the ledge of the tub before lathering it and moving it over your skin.

You melted into him, letting out a gentle sigh of contentment while you snuggled into him as close as humanly possible. Despite your protests, this was heavenly. Hawks kissed your hair as he continued to clean you, dragging the soapy cloth over your chest and down to your thighs. You ignored the way your body reacted to him, refused to acknowledge the way your hips raised subconsciously to his touch. You could feel his smile against your neck but neither of you spoke. This was tender intimacy.

When the tub was full, he turned off the tap and the two of you simply laid there for a while. Your hands found his and you played with them, admiring the way his fingers slotted between yours, dragging your touches over the dozens of tiny scars and calluses. It was a solemn reminder of the reality of his situation ; how vast the difference between a civilian like yourself and a hero like him actually was.

“Are you sure?” You asked him, abruptly.

“Hm?” He questioned you sleepily.

“About this, I mean.” You tried to figure out what it was you wanted to say. “I mean- where does this leave us? You said you couldn’t go back, so where do we go?” You tried to look back at him, but the stretch was too uncomfortable, so you simply laid the side of your face against his chest.

“What do you mean where do we go?” His hands, which had been limp in yours allowing you to explore squeezed your fingers, and he brought his arms in to hug you. “You’re mine. I’m yours. Simple as that.” You couldn’t help the furrow of your brow, you were thankful he couldn’t see it.

“But why me?” You asked, recognizing how insecure you sounded.

“I knew it was you the first day we met.” He said, with finality. You let out a giggle.

“It was the fried chicken, wasn’t it?” You joked. He laughed into you.

“That definitely helped. But I knew even before that.” The way he said this was so confident, so finite.

“What if- what if this doesn’t work out?”

“Not an option.” Again, he was so sure.

“What do you mean?” His grip released you and he didn’t offer you a response.

Instead, he leaned forward and pulled the plug on the bath, then picked you up again before resting you on the bath mat. Keigo wrapped you up in a towel before grabbing one for himself, then he disappeared into the other room.

“Kei?” You called out, awkwardly, not really willing to move. When he came back, he was dressed in a pair of sweatpants and had brought you your normal sleep T-Shirt.

“Yeah?” He asked as he stripped the towel off of your body and wordlessly dressed you. You felt like a kid but still complied with every silent request he made to lift your arms or move your hair. He picked you up again, apparently to him, you no longer had the need to walk, and he rolled the two of you into bed.

He had laid you down beside him, tucked you in snugly, and was leaning his head on his hand as he gently caressed your face, studying you like he was debating something. You were still awaiting his response to your earlier question, trying to compel him to answer with a slight glare.

“When I told you that I can’t go back…” he started, finally getting to the answer you needed, “I meant it. You’re absolutely everything to me.” He closed his eyes, laying down fully while he looked up at the ceiling. “You’re home to me, (Y/N). The only one I’ve ever had.” He faced you again. “I’m never going to let that go. Even if you wanted me to.” His face was a little frightening as he said the last bit, and while somewhere you recognized you should be concerned by his sentiments , you couldn’t feel anything but joy. You smiled, despite yourself and didn’t miss the confused expression on his face.

“Okay.” You simply replied.

“Okay?”

“I’ll be your home, Keigo.” You rolled the top half of your body over his chest and kissed him. “For as long as you want me.” You kissed him sweetly, then snuggled into his chest and closed your eyes, noting the rapid thumping of his heart in his chest and allowing the tempo to guide you to sleep.

When you woke up in the morning, he was gone, but he had left a single feather behind to keep an eye on you. You weren’t worried, or offended that he hadn’t said goodbye. You knew he would always come home.

[chrollohearttags]

𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐛 • 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭

synopsis: after spending all of his time and nearly a week in Houston with (y/n), EJ must return home and to reality. But he isn’t pleased to find that his manager has been making moves behind his back. Ones that may sever their longtime bond and jeopardize her relationship after a heated altercation results in legal troubles for the rapper .It's also there that he reveals a secret to his best friend and what it may mean for his future as an artist. Could EJ the Don really be done with music as the media claimed? Meanwhile, (y/n)’s starpower continues ascending as she receives offers from tons of companies to do business. With the concerns of her friends lurking over her head; worrying that she may have been distracted by her recent fling, she proves to be more determined than ever to make things happen, especially when a part of her past is unearthed, serving as a reminder why she started in the first place and with news of EJ’s recent run in with the law, it’s one more reason to stay the course and keep distance. But will it really be that easy? The head executives of AMG are finally introduced, and with plans to host one of the world’s largest musical festivals for the first time in history, they meet to discuss the state of their current roster and how they plan to proceed.

content warning: mentions of violence, fighting/arguing, drug mentions, angst, mental health, mentions of death and grief, toxicity, implied sex, legal stuff and mentions of jail

word count: 8.8K

📝: just wanna tell you all thank you so very much being patient with these very sporadic and inconsistent uploads. I promise it is not due to lack of inspiration, these chapters just take a hell of a long time to write! If I could have them out in a week, I would. But I hope that everyone is enjoying this story so far and I can’t for y’all to see what’s next! 🫶🏾

previous chapter >>> next chapter

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“Listen, Mr. Jaeger..I assure you. There’s nothing to worry about, alright? In all fairness, and in the eyes of the law, they were trespassing onto your property. Which gave you grounds to defend yourself. We’ll beat this case, trust me. And if they press their luck, we’ll crush them..you’ll own their entire company by the time I’m finished.”

“Shit, I hope so. My manager’s gonna be on my ass when she finds out. I don’t even wanna know what story those grimy ass journalists cooked up and put out..but that’s why I pay you. Do your thing and make this headache go away, please. I have full faith in you.”

It was a rather interesting Monday morning for the jaded Eren, who had been mid-conversation with his lawyer. A defense attorney to the stars who had beaten some of the most harrowing allegations and cases. Yelena Pithikos, a woman as intimidating as she was intelligent..and boy, did she live up to her reputation! A perfect track record with not one single lost case. She really was the greatest of all time in the legal world. With her on his side, there was no way he’d lose. The two would converse for a little longer; the rapper facing a half smoked blunt and blowing smoke before ending the call. To say he was stressed would be the biggest understatement of the century. Having been a free man for a little over twenty four hours, he had not only been hit with a barrage of text messages from concerned friends but knew that a media shitstorm was headed his way. All of it seemed so exhausting! Floch, who came and posted bail on his behalf, was worried that he’d be irate but if anything, he was just worried. Worried that he had caused yet another issue for Mika and how she’d have to spend the next week trying to clean up his mess. Little did he know though, that this wasn’t a result of his own actions..

“Come in.”

Uttering tirelessly over his shoulder as he mashed away at the keys on his mixing board. Suddenly, the door would creak open..followed by the faint footsteps of clacking heels hitting the tile. “No snarky comments today?” That old statement about speaking of the devil and they shall appear had never rang so true before. Just then, a visibly tired Mikasa came walking in; hands folded over her chest and cell phone in hand. Truthfully, he didn’t even want to look at her. Not out of embarrassment but fear that he had angered her or upset her. He sometimes worried the people around him with his careless actions. He did things without taking into account how they may affect everyone else. However, this wasn’t a matter that he should or could apologize for. Not when his home, his safe haven was invaded.

“..look, I know what you’re gonna say. And I’m sorry, but I really don’t feel like listening to any lectures right now. Already got an earful of the damn cops and a bunch of crazy bastards in a holding cell getting on my last good nerve. Also, I forgot how much of a pain in the ass handcuffs are..I’m just not in the mood right now.”

blurting out before proceeding to focus on his current task..avoiding eye contact with her if at all possible. But surprisingly, she wasn’t as talkative or angry as she normally would have been. Which he didn’t even notice at first. But as the conversation progressed, he’d soon come to realize that he wasn’t so much at fault as he initially figured and in truth, the one to blame was standing in front of him. Even so, she’d glare down at him as a disappointed mother would her unruly child. For a split second, he even thought about how his own mom had called him not too long ago to check on..and scolded him about the incident and he was drained! The last thing he needed was another chewing out.

“Why did you skip out on our meeting last week?”

the question caught him off guard and confused EJ even more. What exactly did that have to do with this situation in particular? Was she not ready to rip his head off for creating yet another mess for her to mull over with the execs and the media? What was going on?! Leaning back in his chair, he’d blink profusely to really make sure he heard correctly but she’d give him that glare she’d done many times before and await his answer. “Don’t stare at me like I’m speaking another language. What was so goddamn important that you couldn’t even give me a phone call to let me know you weren’t showing up? That meeting was booked out months ago and you made me look like a complete dumbass in front of the board members. Your album deadline keeps getting pushed back and I keep having to make excuses. You don’t find that a little fucked up?”

he understood exactly where she was coming from..Mikasa worked tirelessly to ensure that all of her talents received equal attention and that they were being given opportunities to showcase their talents. As well as being backed by the top brass at AMG. It was her job as the median between the two to ensure that things went smoothly. It wasn’t easy to get a room full of stiffs in suits to fund projects sometimes but Eren’s reputation and record sales had always spoken for themselves. But with a four year time lapse between his last album and now, it was becoming difficult to do so. She was just irritated that once again, his selfishness had put her in a bad spot. It was hard enough that she had to work to prove she wasn’t just some byproduct of nepotism and family favors. But she had earned her spot as the executive PR and internal affairs manager. One she held proudly. But he’d try to explain as best he could without detonating the ticking time bomb.

“Look, Mika. I’m sorry, alright? I was busy, kinda needed to duck off and clear my head for a lil’ bit, that’s all. I didn’t realize that the damn meeting was so soon. I wasn’t trying to stand you up, I promise. I had other things to tend to, that’s all. Just schedule another one and I’ll be there, promise. Hell, tell Floch and I’m sure he’ll remind me.” Once again, there was that nonchalant attitude. It ground her gears to a halt, really. It was as if he had no real concept of reality..

“I wish I had an excuse but I don’t. Truth is, leaving town was some shit I decided last minute. I can’t even tell you why I went. I was out drinking and the next, I was in Houston. Doing shit I hadn’t in a long time...enjoying myself. That I won’t apologize for. I didn’t expect to come home to a bunch of paps at my door, interrogating me about some fuck ass article I knew nothing about. Saying I was retiring and a lot of other bullshit. Respectfully, the last thing I wanna deal with is your uncle and the rest of the firing squad questioning me about an album rollout. I need some time to think.” It seemed that he was truly agitated by all of this. As if he were confused as to how he could have a perfect weekend, pillow talking and fucking on (y/n) to now being in the midst of a media frenzy. It just seemed so sudden and now, he was trying to figure out how to deal with it. But Mika’s next comment would not only catch him off guard but eventually, send him into a tailspin.

“Damn, I knew something like this would happen.”

“What do you mean?”

Before she could recant though, Mikasa’s expression gave it away and she knew that he had definitely peeped that statement. Just what exactly did she know about this situation that he was clueless on? One thing was for certain though, he was going to find out. Glaring up at her with a rather peeved look, Eren began to press the issue..wondering if he’d get a straight answer or some calculated shit she’d orchestrated. What was this all about?

“Mikasa..I asked you a question. What do you mean ‘you knew?’ Answer me.”

normally, the banter between them was nothing more than playful, joking discourse but there wasn’t the slightest hint of happiness in his tone at the moment. But rather, complete and utter irritation and quite frankly, a hint of anger as well. He wasn’t much for the games and she figured it best not to test him either. So, against her better judgment and her own interests, she decided to come clean. Releasing a heavy sigh, Mikasa began to confess and tell him how the entire situation came about. From the fact that she was fed up with him ducking and evading meetings from the phone call with Annie and even putting the bug in her ear about writing the article. She told him that she knew he was with (Y/N) for the weekend and that she was furious about being stood up yet again..and that his inconsistency was affecting her own standing within the company. Admitting that she knew him well enough to know that he would’ve never moved for some one off blog post about him hooking up with an Instagram model but the second they mentioned news of him retiring or perhaps becoming stagnant, he’d definitely respond by clapping back from the booth. It seemed like such a sure fire way to give him that extra push to put out a new track or maybe even a full project..what she didn’t count on was him being swarmed and the whole plan backfiring.

“Look, Eren..I’m sorry, alright? I didn’t know they’d take it this far. It was a last minute, brash decision I made out of anger and I put you in a bad situation. I apologize.”

But he wasn’t hearing a word. Honestly, he had blanked from the moment she admitted that she had all but set the catalyst for this entire ordeal. Now, he had to attend court, pay legal fees and deal with a dumb ass judge..all because she wanted him to produce another record to improve her status quo?! It was infuriating but the worst part was that she was willing to exploit her own best friend and things that he had and were still struggling with for clout. He had known Mikasa for the majority of his life and she was one of, if not the most logical and intelligent person he knew. Out of all his friends, she was the one that always made the smart decisions, even in the most high stress of situations. Always thinking things through and ensured that her emotions never got in the way of her thought process. However.. “..how fucking stupid can you be?” That wasn’t the case and Eren was more than happy to let her hear about it!

For a moment, she stood still..gasping as she had never heard him speak to her in that manor. Granted, she was full and well aware of how irate he could truly become but not once in the entirety of their friendship did she think she’d become the subject of his anger. But this was coming from a place of pure hysteria. Hurt and betrayal that she would do something like this..standing to his feet, EJ tried his hardest to practice restraint to avoid saying anything extremely hurtful but he wasn’t much in the way of exercising such resolve at the moment. Especially when not only had she gotten him in this mess and offered no real solution to help repair his reputation but also, he hadn’t heard from the one person who was keeping him happy and this may have very well been the reason. So he didn’t feel compelled to hold back in expressing his feelings.

“Look, I said I’m sorry, alright? We’ll get this sorted out. Just calm down–”

“Calm down? Are you serious? Mika, I just spent the past twenty four hours in a fucking holding cell. One more fuckup and they’re gonna send me away for a long time. I had to fight a bunch of psychos off of my car and property over a story I knew nothing about. Not to mention everything in it was a lie. I take a few days off for myself, for once and you jump the gun all because you and the rest of those slave driving maniacs at AMG want me to make another album? To hell with calming down and honestly, to hell with you too for even pulling something like this! I’m your friend and you sold me out like I was nothing..”

The frustration was visible all over his face..the emotions coming through clear as day and radiating all throughout his body. Even causing tears to well in his eyes. He was furious, enraged and if it were anyone else..moreso a man, he would’ve slid them across the floor by now. But this stung more than anything. He knew how hard she worked and the lengths she went to ensure her clients’ success; not only for them but to prove that she was capable of one day becoming the heiress and figurehead of Ackerman Management Group but never in a million years did he think she’d become so obsessed with proving herself that she’d lose sight of what really mattered. Now, the damage had been done and he didn’t know if he could forgive such an act. Even so, she wanted to at least try to defend her actions!..

“Only because you never listen to me. Hell, you won’t listen to anyone!..you never think about how the things you do affects anyone else. It took three months..three months to get that goddamn meeting and you couldn’t give me so much as a phone call to let me know you wouldn’t be there. Out of every client I have, you’re the most difficult. I get it, you’ve been working since you were sixteen. Harder than anyone I know but hell, this has been my life for as long as I could remember. I’ve got a whole line of old bastards who’d do anything to remove me from the equation because once my uncle steps down, they don’t want to execute decisions made by the same little girl that used to play in the lobby. None of them truly believe I deserve that spot, no matter how hard I work. How many success stories I create…I’ll never be good enough in their eyes. The least you could do is not make it hard on me to do my job..Jesus! You’re getting a little too old for the rebellious bad boy act. In and out of jail, long before this..doing whatever the hell you wanted! You have obligations and you won’t even stand on your word but you want to preach about friendship and loyalty? Spare me, Eren. Please..this is business, remember that.”

The entire time that she was speaking, he felt himself becoming even more sated with rage. His blood boiling at her deflection. But his face had completely gone blank from a few minutes ago. Not even making eye contact as he rolled yet another blunt. As if she weren't even there but little did she know, he had a hell of a response for her little tangent and he promised she wouldn’t like it. That nonchalant, brutal honesty was one of his most horrible character traits and she was about to be on the receiving end. Uncrossing his feet, letting the sole of his Nike Dunks hit the floor, Eren began to smirk and eventually..laugh. That’s when he was at his most dangerous and the words about to leave his mouth were far more painful than any punch could ever be.

“You know Mika, you make it sound as if it’s my fault you’re not up for the task. Don’t try to take the piss out on me because Uncle Levi and his lackies are second guessing if you should take his crown. But aye, I’m not surprised. I mean, shit..it’s not the first time they’ve had to intervene because you lost control.”

“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?..”

By now, the two of them were only inches apart. Her face screwed up and was riddled with hostility. Eren on the other hand was sporting the snarkiest, smuggest smirk he could muster. Blowing that cloud of smoke, he’d run a finger underneath her chin and look directly in her eyes:

“Exactly as I said, sweetheart. That little bullshit essay from your friend? I wonder just how much of it is true and how much of it is you projecting..let’s not pretend that you’ve always been..this. Little Miss Perfect. If anyone on this earth can’t tell me shit about obligations and integrity, it’s you Mika. You were on those stages and in the same dressing rooms I was. Getting high out of your fucking mind just to get through one set. Snorting coke off of a bathroom counter because you hated it so much. Sleeping with a bunch of assholes you couldn’t even stand looking at but hey, they made you feel better, told you you were pretty after mommy put you on another diet because the blogs were making fun of you. How many times did me, Armin and everybody else have to come pick you up off of the floor because you’d get so damned drunk after your shows, you couldn’t even remember where you were the next morning. And please, let’s not forget how many times you cried in my arms because you didn’t have the heart to tell your family to fuck off and stop forcing you to make music. It took that stupid ass fiancé of yours outshining you at your own show for you to finally realize that you hated being an artist. And you think you can actually lead that company? Don’t make me laugh. You’d probably snort your body weight if you had to handle that type of pressure. Hell, I’ve done some fucked up shit since I started making music. Taking drugs I had no business touching, just to stay awake and getting in trouble when I probably should’ve walked away but I never once tried to run from my mistakes either and I damn sure never stopped loving my craft..especially not enough to half ass a performance. No matter how bad I felt..how sick I was, even when I didn’t think anyone would even give me a chance or listen, I always showed up. Everything I do is for my fans. Losing sleep over a song because I wanted it to be perfect. You couldn’t even make it to a single album before cracking under pressure. This isn’t some money grab for me, music is my entire life and the only thing I’ve ever loved. And I’ll be damned if you or anyone else backs me into a corner over it. Tell that bitch Leonhart to put that on her website..and if you don’t like it, you and AMG can kiss my ass.”

Every single word he spoke sliced through Mikasa like a hot, searing knife through butter. Her face had become beet red and flush with tears. Huffing and breathing heavily as if she were going to explode at any second. She wanted to scream at him but couldn’t even find the words. Instead, she’d raise her open palm and smack him across the cheek with the hardest slap she could muster..so much so, it left a crimson colored mark on his face.

“Fuck you, Eren. Fuck you!..you’ve gone too far. I came here to apologize for what I did but the only mistake I’ve made is befriending an asshole like you. Burn in hell for all I care and find a new manager while you’re at it because I quit. Do whatever you want.”

furiously tugging her purse strap back up on her shoulder, Mikasa turned on her heel and proceeded to storm out. Not looking over her shoulder once because she wouldn’t be able to control herself if she did. As for EJ, he didn’t bother to stop her or even remotely show remorse for that long winded read. Rather, he’d listen as she slammed the door behind her and left. He was still pissed off but that may have been a little harsh.

“Damn..maybe I should think before I speak.” But it was too late now. There was no turning back or apologizing. For either of them..all that remained now was for him to put his focus where it always was: into his craft. Drown out all the noise and distractions and get back to what he truly loved. Because truth be told, she wasn’t the only one losing her grip on reality and goals. As he sat back in the chair, hands folded underneath his chin, all EJ could think to himself was one single thing:

“I think it might be time to call it quits. Maybe music isn’t for me anymore..”

* . °•★|•°∵ ∵°•|☆•° .** . °•★|•°∵ ∵°•|☆•° .*°•|☆•° .*°•|☆•l

meanwhile, as Eren felt that his time in the spotlight was beginning to dwindle, (y/n) on the other hand felt that your star was only about to ascend. Having just concluded the very last show in your cross country tour, you were already plotting on your next lucrative business opportunity.

“That sounds perfect. I’ll be back in Miami tomorrow so we can meet up and hash out the details. Thank you again, Mr. Smith. I appreciate your time.”

you’d find yourself on the opposite end with one of AMG’s elite directors and the man who had approached you back at Rolling Loud about starring in Connie’s video. You found it a bit strange that Mikasa wasn’t the intermediary for this particular deal but you just chocked it up to her being busy but you knew if Erwin Smith; the nine time Grammy Winner and music legend was contacting you personally then it must’ve been a huge deal. Either way, you were excited to see what was in store. Once you ended the call, you’d turn your attention back to the rest of the group, who were preparing to board their respective flights as you all paraded through the airport. Dressed in cute yet casual outfits, hair put up and bags stacked on one another. The final leg of the Pole Assassins Cross Country Tour had come to its end last night; concluded by a performance with a real rap legend performing. You all were excited to be going home…getting to see your families and most importantly, getting some much needed rest. But for the fearless leader, things never stopped. You were on your grind twenty four hours a day. Even counting up checks while you slept from brand deals and your namesake. It wasn’t all too bad. But for the ones that knew you best, they also knew that once you touched down back in Miami, you’d more than likely be closed off to everyone. That the reason you were working so hard was to keep yourself distracted from your impending grief. Even the passage of time never made it easier to get over the tragedy you suffered at seventeen years old and as a child in general. Affecting your life now even as a grown woman..living the way only few could dream of. Because of that, not one person in this world had access to (y/n) this time of year and it was very obvious by the very nonchalant reaction to the news of your sneaky link getting arrested, that the sullen mood had already set in. You didn’t even so much as gasp or even shrug it off as you had done countless other men that fucked up while in your life. And that’s what worried your girls.

“Aye, you sure she’s gonna be good while we’re on vacation? She already seems spaced out.” a concerned Kelley questioned whilst scrolling through her phone. Luckily though, Niesha wouldn’t be too far away, as you guys grew up only blocks away and not much had changed since becoming famous. You guys’ luxury apartments were within walking distance so if you needed anything, she could always pop in and check on you. “Yeah, she’ll be alright. She just needs her space right now. Listen, I’ll call y’all when we make it and keep you updated.” With that, the four girls would make their way over to (y/n), who had been standing near the gate for your flight, becoming visibly anxious. Suddenly, you’d feel a pair of comforting arms wrapping your shoulders. “Hey, pookah. You ready to go?” That warm and loving smile that could only come from your best friend and sister. “Yeah, I’m ready.” Returning the glance, you’d nod and turn to bid the rest of your crew farewell for now. Embracing in a giant group hug, the five of you exchanged laughs and even playful kisses to the cheek. Just then, your procession of being bid adieu was interrupted by a voice of the intercom, announcing departure of the Miami and Atlanta flights. “Y’all be good now. See y’all later, love you guys!” Kelley, Brianne and Syrai waved and you and Niesha would do the same as you clenched hands. Much like you had done as little girls when walking to the corner store. You were each other’s safety nets and truthfully, Niesha was all you had right now. So she’d do whatever to make you comfortable. To let you know that you weren’t alone at this time, no matter what it may have felt like. She loved you more than anything and you could feel the energy brimming from your bestie, even if there wasn’t a single word exchanged during the walk from baggage check to boarding the plane. As the two of you made it to your seats and got acclimated..you’d stay close to Niesha. Clinging to her like moths to a flame. Coiling an arm around hers and eventually, laying your head on her shoulder. Even in the dead of silence, the sentiment was loud and clear to Niesha:

“You know I always got you, pookah. You my girl and I love you…take all the time you need. You know your granny would be proud, just like I am, (Y/N). You've been working hard so now it’s time to go tell her all about it..forget EJ, forget working. This is time between you and her..”

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Page Break and Time Skip: Thursday Night, The Jaeger Residence, Miami Florida; 10:55PM

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darkness had well set over the bustling city..a thunderstorm showering the bustling streets and ruining the evening plans of would be partygoers and club hoppers. But there was an even darker cloud looming over the head of Eren, who was currently holed up in his home studio, flug lazily across the couch with his electric guitar lying across his bare torso and an open bottle of brown liquor next to him. He had been drinking and doing whatever he could to rid himself of any feelings and emotions. Having all but become a recluse..which wasn’t out of character for the hard shelled rapper to begin with but where as label mates and friends could find him working up until the early morning hours on a new song, he hadn’t even touched his work equipment. And instead, was instead getting inebriated with every substance he could tolerate so that guilt, anger or sadness stood no chance of plaguing his mind. Right now, he had his guitar lying across his bare torso and an open bottle of brown liquor in his hand. He was trying to find his spark..that extra push to drum up something to shut both his manager and his hating ass critics up. But nothing was coming through. He had no desire to make a beat, write lyrics…he just wanted to lie there and rot. It was a feeling he hadn’t experienced in ages. That creative slump and depression that had plagued many of his peers..the point of no return. Where artists could no longer achieve that sense of gratification when putting out music. They’d resort to making a few radio safe tracks to appease the masses before disappearing from the scene altogether and fading into obscurity. The last thing he wanted was to become an afterthought..but he was tired of grasping at straws. But luckily, a much needed distraction would be arriving in the form of his best friend, Armin. Who for some odd reason, couldn’t rid himself of the nagging suspicion that something was amiss with his homeboy. That would’ve been putting it lightly…

“Mr. Jaeger? You have company..” one of his loyal housekeepers and truthfully, someone he considered family, had been staying in one of the designated bedrooms for staff and was still tending to some chores when she got a knock at the door. Once getting the approval from security and seeing who it was pulling into the driveway, she breathed a sigh of relief. Because she knew if anyone could pull her gloomy employer from this week long slump fest he seemed to be trapped in, it was Armin. Whether EJ would welcome the thought or not. Before he even had the opportunity to attest and decline, the door would burst open and in would come a rather perturbed Armin, who was glancing around the dimly lit room; halting dead in his tracks at the sad sight before him. Turning to the housekeeper, he’d warmly assure her that he could take things from here and thanked the woman. It seemed to be a lot worse than what she had portrayed. He was hardly leaving his room nowadays, less known eating or anything else. Normally, she would’ve been sent home and still given a full day’s pay because Eren would insist on cleaning the mess for her, so as not to overexert herself. But when the head of the house was in a less than jovial mood, the energy was blatantly obvious to everyone.

“Alright, get your ass up. Enough of this. It’s pathetic..” the brash words leaving Armin’s mouth as he slammed the door behind him, which elicited quite the reaction from the hotheaded artist. “Watch your fucking mouth and don’t slam my fucking door either, bitch.” But alas, Armin didn’t give the slightest care. Because an angry reaction was better than none at all. Laughing as he took a seat in Eren’s chair, just to rub a bit more salt in the already festering wound. “And here I was thinking you had really lost it. You only look and smell like you’ve reached rock bottom. The proverbial clawing under his skin had seemed to work in Armin’s favor because he was at least sitting upright now and wiping his eyes so they’d adjust to the light. Releasing a loud yawn, Eren shot his best friend the middle finger and proceeded to ask exactly why the hell he was in his house this late in the evening. Armin would shrug it off as he’d always done, kicking back with a bottle of water he had confiscated from his fridge on the way up. Even going as far to take his shoes off and get mighty comfortable. “Oh, Eren. You silly goose..you can’t escape me that easily. Besides…I’m here on official business.” the response piquing his very dulled interest. Raising a furrowed eyebrow, Eren hoisted the bottle to his lips for yet another swig of the Hennessy. “Official business? At ten PM? What the hell are you talking about?” of course, he wanted to stay here another minute without being tossed from the second story, he’d elaborate. Although, EJ had quite the nagging suspicion of what this was pertaining to. Since he and Mikasa’s giant quarrel last week, word had gotten around the entirety of AMG..including the higher ups. Who had been in talks of what to do. On one hand, Mikasa was the best PR manager to come out of the firm, not to mention the fact she was the boss’ niece and next in line. On the other hand, EJ the Don was their highest earning artist. Regardless of Grammys or accolades, his name was still holding weight after all this time. And with the two of them at odds, who knew what would become of the team? However, for Armin..it was much more than that. He could care less about AMG’s record sales or a damn article. What he cared about was seeing his best friends at odds and hurting. Unbeknownst to Eren, this fight hadn’t just affected him.

It seemed that his harsh words had hurt Mikasa far worse than anyone had anticipated. The remarks about her younger days on stage and turning to drugs to cope with the pressures of being in the limelight had driven her back to some of those nasty old habits. She was trying to keep a brave face but it reminded her of how imperfect she truly was. Regardless of that front..and him. Sitting here wasting away, all because some fucked up article said he was washed. Enough was enough!

“Look, dude. I’m not gonna bullshit with you, alright? I’m not exactly sure of what happened between you and Mika. It’s honestly none of my business but what I do know is that both of you stubborn assholes need to fix this. She won’t even tell Jean..she just says it’s the stress of work before closing up in her room for hours. The other day, she blanked on one of the coordinators because he got the wrong number of napkins for an event. Whatever you said to her, you need to apologize before that bitch kills all of us.” And he wasn’t bluffing, sadly. Mikasa had been known to be quite the pistol. They had seen her beat grown men who tried to make passes at her so they knew she could be the Tasmanian devil when she wanted to. But there was one person with a hotter head than she had..

“I’m not apologizing for a damn thing. Should’ve thought about that before running to the blogs and trying to lie about it. She wants to use cheap tactics and dumb shit then she can stand on that. Just don’t expect me to feel sorry for telling the truth.” Honestly, it was pointless to get through to either of them and he knew he’d only exhaust himself trying to argue. Maybe what they needed most was not to be lectured but for someone to listen and once he began to open up..it all made sense. Talking back another swig of that dark liquor, Eren began to confess what was truly bothering him.

“I worked myself like crazy..for years, all I wanted was to be the best. To make music that transcended the charts. Hell, I didn’t care if I ever touched a Grammy or even got my flowers. I just wanted to make shit that people could relate to. Everybody told me how stupid I was for leaving home..a cushy life just to chase this so called dream of mine. But I loved it. I loved sitting in front of my laptop..pen and paper just coming up with verse after verse. After a while, it felt like second nature. I could do that shit in my sleep, y’know?” As he continued to speak, Armin listened attentively. In all the years that they had known one another, pretty much for the entirety of their young lives, Eren had never once been this vulnerable or open with him. They joked around and sometimes went at each other’s throats but this was a completely different side that no one had seen. It could’ve been the liquor or just the lack of having someone to talk to but either way, he was pouring his heart out. And a few tears too, no matter how hard he tried to hide it. Masking it behind his smirking and laughter..

“Lately, I’ve just been feeling like I don’t have a place anymore. I kept telling myself ‘maybe if I help them with this project’ or ‘if I produce this track’, my inspiration for my own shit would find me again. But nothing…I didn’t feel the same way I did a couple years ago. Less known, ten. I spent all this time trying to build this empire and now I feel like I don’t have shit to show for it..these labels, they decide you’re no longer useful, and you’re out the fucking door. It’s frustrating, I ain’t gon’ lie.” interrupting his rant only to wipe away his tears and take another sip. “I can’t even keep a girl. Finally find one worth a damn and I go and fuck it up. I’m sure she saw I got arrested and ran for the hills. Can’t say I blame her though–” it was at that moment, Armin had heard more than enough. Listening to all he could take of this pity fest and self wallowing. Unbending his knees, he planted his feet to the ground, snatching that bottle out of his hand. “First of all, if you think for one second and I’m gonna sit here and let you cry like a lil’ bitch, you’re sadly mistaken. Dude, do you know how many people you’ve inspired with this music shit? Including me? Ony, Connie, even Jean, loves your work and he can’t stand your ass. I’ve never seen anything like it. Ten years..ten years you’ve been doing and dude, you’re only getting started. If you quit now, that’s the only way it’ll be in vain. You gotta keep going..not just for your fans or even to prove a bunch of losers on the internet wrong. You gotta do it for sixteen year old EJ who chose sleeping in a bus station over the country club because he wanted to put the industry on its head. You gotta do this because no one else can. So what if you don’t feel like it right now? You have so much left in you and I’ll be damned if I watch you quit.” It were those exact words that had seemed to have brought forth a spark in him..bringing life back into those dull jade eyes. Finally getting himself together, he’d sniffle and begin to laugh. Wholeheartedly for the first time in days..it felt good. But that wasn’t it for the encouragement Armin had in store for him. There was one more bit of uplifting news he had.

“And about (y/n)? She’s not mad at you, dude. Promise. Niesha told me everything and honestly…she just needs space right now.” Armin found himself swallowing a lump in his throat as he uttered the sentence. “It’s not personal. I’m sure she’d be happy to link…when the time is right. But she’d hate to see you like this.” Taking another breath, he’d ask another request of his best friend while he seemed to be in a much better mood. “Listen, I know it’s not your thing and trust me, I already know what you’re gonna say. But I’m hosting a yacht party next week. I invited everyone else too..including (y/n)..so I was hoping you’d come too.” never had Armin been so soft spoken. Truthfully, all he wanted was to see his homeboy happy and the only person who had managed to do that in recent history was the gorgeous influencer who had obviously more than well caught his eye. Maybe the thing you two needed most was each other. Even so, it wouldn’t be that simple and EJ just wasn’t going to agree that easily.

“I’ll think about it, dude..” but before Armin could leave with a less than savory answer, Eren would avert his eyes towards the door, where Armin was close to opening it. “Aye..thanks, bro. I appreciate you.” reciprocating a toothy smile in return. Seeing him in a better mood than when he arrived was all the thanks he needed.

“That’s what I’m here for.” Doing their signature handshake they’ve had since childhood but alas the sweet, heartwarming camaraderie wouldn’t last long..as Armin had a bad habit of being as annoying as possible! “By the way, I’m gonna go get a shower and when I get back, we can work on some of these beats. I have a couple ideas.” at first, what he said didn’t exactly register to Eren but then he realized–

“I’m gonna take one of your spare beds too! The room with the mirror on the ceiling. I might have a little something coming over.”

“Yeah, man. No problem–wait a minute. You’re at my house, you jackass! What do you mean you’re gonna go shower?! Don’t you have a whole ass mansion?”

“Yeah, but I like a change of scenery.”

Before he even had the chance to respond, Armin was already headed back downstairs. “Love you, Eren!”

leaving the befuddled rapper shaking his head and in shock of just how tactless he was. One thing he could do was thank him for getting his mind right. Now..it was time to do something with that new found motivation.

••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••

the next day…

“All in favor of moving forward with the second decision, say I”

“I”

Meanwhile, the top brass at the renowned talent agency was in the midst of a very important meeting. One with a lot of dire topics being voted on and currently, this may have been the most pertinent of them all..

“That settles it, six to four. We’re getting Italian. Have the kitchen make enough carbonara to feed the National Guard. We’re gonna be here for a while.” earning a collective sigh from the roundtable. Seated on the top floor of the eighteen story building were some of the most powerful and brilliant minds in the entertainment industry..from multi-platinum recording artists to Grammy winning producers, any and everyone who had helped shape several as they were today were running AMG and making it the largest talent agency and label with over one hundred and fifty talents signed and billions in revenue every year. “Goddamnit, Levi. You know I’m trying to watch my figure right now and you’re not helping.” “I’m trying to watch it too and I think it looks just fine.” Seated at the head was chairman and former recording artist, Levi Ackerman. Second generation rockstar who hailed from a long line of talented musicians..best known for being the lead singer of notorious band, Paradis. Who had won over twenty Grammys and seven number ones during their tenure. The man across from him, Erwin Smith was his best friend and bandmate. The COO. Along with Miche Zacharius, who was also at the table. The lead drummer turned director of marketing. He was a genius when it came to advertising for these artists. He could take any budget and make it look as if it were worth millions. Perhaps, the most inquisitive mind there was the woman next to him and perhaps, his favorite person in the entire company. Vivian James-Ackerman. The Queen of Neo-Soul, five time Grammy winner and his beautiful wife of ten years..she was not only a generational talent with a sound inspiring many songs today; a creative director working on the set of many videos but a mentor to AMG’s biggest star, EJ the Don.

“You two are a mess..so, what are we gonna do about this little situation? We have PalmFest right around the corner and two of our biggest stars are currently out of commission. Think we can convince them to perform?”

“Not to worry, lovebug. I’m sure they’ll come around. Right, Levi?”

Next to Erwin was his beautiful wife of twenty years, Deanna Smith. She was a renowned R&B singer with a powerhouse voice for many years before trading in her sultry lyrics and silky vocals for the title of vice director of marketing. Her and Erwin had collabed on many tracks. Including one that was the talk of the tabloids, saying that it was far too ‘provocative’ for their time. But innovative, as it was the first time rock and R&B had meshed together and topped the charts.

“They damn well better or they’ll all find themselves out of a job. This is the first time in AMG history we’ll be hosting something of this caliber. Three days of music, entertainment..hell, if we pull this off, we might surpass Rolling Loud or Coachella in a couple years. Not to mention the cash it’ll bring in. Whatever those brats have going on, they better sort it out and quick.” When the president spoke, his word was absolute and everyone had done their part to make his vision come to life. Glancing around the table, they all nodded in agreement but among the tribe, there was always one person going against the grain. “Speaking of…” pressing his glass back to the table, Miche chimed in and added to the conversation; addressing the elephant in the room.. “..you know that niece of yours is one hell of a manager, Levi. She’s recruited some real heavy hitters in the past couple years. It’s hard to believe that someone so young has done the work she has..” as he continued talking, no one could attest to that. Mikasa was the top of her peer class in many areas. She was super talented. However, Director Zacharius had his reservations. “Even so, I’m a little concerned about her after news of her little outburst the other day. I mean, with something as huge as this on the line..how can we be certain she’s equipped to handle it? Are you sure we can leave her in charge of such a huge event?” His inquiry caused eyebrows to rise on each side. But as always, Levi remained steadfast, stoic and calm..twirling a pen between his fingers, he’d merely smirk and lean up before speaking.

“I’ll admit, she is quite the firecracker when she wants to be. Even as a little girl, she was a force and I’ll admit…the kid’s had her moments. Ones that have me doubtful of how well she could handle all of this pressure. The last thing I’d ever want is to see her or AMG collapse under the weight. Running a business is hard work..overseeing so many different people and ensuring that things run smoothly. CEO, chief operator, directors or managers. Nobody comes by these titles easily. All of it is a group effort and requires a lot of skill.”

as he continued with his speech, he’d clasp his hands together and take a stern look around the table..making one thing abundantly clear:

“With that being said, there’s no one more qualified to not only oversee this festival but one day, this company as well. Contrary to popular belief, I didn’t take it easy on her, never have and I damn sure won’t now. I also won’t coddle her. This is the test to prove she’s worth her salt and that she’s capable of being a true leader. She screws up then she’s out the door but I believe as always, she’ll pull through for us and make the best of her talents. I trust that you all will place the same amount of faith I have in her and assist as much as possible.” and that was enough for everyone else! Of course, the co-sign would come from the one person who housed enthusiasm in their veins as if they needed it to breathe. “Well I think Mikasa is more than capable and I’m sure she’s gonna do amazing things. Let’s just help her with whatever we need to make this a success.”

Zoe Hange, nightclub owner and interim data analyst; in charge of ensuring that the budgets were in order. As they all reached that consensus, they felt confident in proceeding with the fun part and that was planning the festival. Getting all the acts, deciding the staff and of course, who would be performing! But as they all flipped through their files and scrolled their iPads with presentations on the screen, Vivian would lean over and ask her husband about one more burning question on her mind..

“You know, Eren would make a great addition to this lineup. I think we should make one more effort to get him on board.”

“If you want to go grovel to that brat, be my guest. As far as I’m concerned, he has one more strike before I drop his ass for good. Money and sales aside.” Levi uttered without so much as even lifting his head. But Vivian wasn’t as ready to give up on her protege. And instead, proposed something else..

“I’ll go pay him a visit. It’s been a while since I’ve seen my little mentee anyways. I miss him.” And all Levi could do was laugh because she knew that Vivian looked at EJ as more than just a former backup singer or pianist, she thought of him like her own son and treated him as such so if he were in any type of distress, she’d do whatever to solve it. He also knew there was no arguing with her when she got her mind set on something! Snickering, the president would just scribble down his signature on a few documents as the rest of the table conversed among themselves.

“Well, I trust your judgment, sweetheart. Whatever you think is best. But remember, we only have a month so we don’t have any time to waste on him or anyone else.” With that, she knew she had all the time she needed to make this work. Tomorrow, she’d be heading to his Miami Beach mansion to not only convince him to headline PalmFest.

but ensure his well being above all else.

.･*:｡.･*:｡.･*:｡.･*:｡.･*:｡.･*:｡.･*:｡.･*:｡.･*:｡.･*:｡.･*: .･*:｡.･*:｡.･

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