#And she will without doubt point out she’s getting the better end of the trade in a singsong voice

[xx-sketchy-xx]

Mwahahah. I loved them so I colored them

[ddarker-dreams]

Scarlet ribbons but she is the one telling the boys how she thinks they are super pretty/handsome/etc.

(Ps love your writing sm, it cheered me up alot after i had a rough day yesterday uwu)

WAHH WHAT AN ADORABLE IDEA.... it's what they deserve tbh... my favs from part 5 are like the only people who get to be happy on this blog hrjktmger and i'm so glad that my writing helped cheer you up, i hope that the past few days have been treating you better!!

Reader is referred to as girlfriend here!

[Scarlet Ribbons index]

Giorno

He gets the cutest blush that he tries to hide by covering his face with his hand and clearing his throat. Passione's Don, who remains unwavering in the face of death, can't handle his beloved heaping praises upon him. No matter how suave he may act, your relationship is his first foray into romance. There's a slight shakiness to his voice when he returns your compliment. It doesn't help that there's this glint in your eye that tells him you'll be using this newfound knowledge to your advantage. He supposes it's only fair, considering his penchant for teasing you whenever possible, but maybe he'll go easy on you after learning how it feels. That isn't to say he dislikes your kind words — more so that the temporary loss in his composure is a strange sensation. Strange, yet not unwelcome.

Bruno

Your serious Capo melts on the spot at such ardent praise — he can feel Cupid's arrow piercing him in real time. He takes a moment to recollect himself, before wondering aloud what brought this on. When you point out that he compliments you all the time without any real reason, he puts his hands up in defense, conceding to your argument. If you're in public, he'll limit his response to a warm thank you. Should you be away from prying eyes, however, he'll pull you into an embrace. It serves a dual purpose. You won't be able to see the pink dusting his cheeks and he gets to wrap you up in his arms. You really are the light of his life, he'll tell you. As unconventional as the lifestyle you both lead is, it's moments like this where he delights in a shred of normalcy.

Fugo

His overactive brain temporarily short circuits. Fugo is the type to blush up to his ears, no matter how vehemently he denies it. This poor guy considers you infinitely out of his league and immediately assumes you broke the espresso machine or something and want to soften the blow by using flattery. He sputters for a few moments before his tongue recalls how to properly form coherent words. He'll downright ask what angle you're trying to use here. He isn't used to receiving compliments without the other person having an end goal in mind. Once it's clear you just felt like letting him know, he takes deep breaths to calm his heart, which he can hear thumping loudly. Fugo then starts saying that objectively speaking, you are far more aesthetically pleasing, and starts lifting off some mathematical terms that fly over your head.

Mista

Mista points at himself and says "Me?" just to make sure he heard you right. This is a big moment for him. It isn't that he doubts your physical attraction to him, but hearing it confirmed out loud in your sweet voice is a real treat. He'll sling an arm around your shoulder and drops the line, "You're not so bad yourself", because he thinks it sounds cool. Mista wants to maintain his laidback air, but when you say stuff like that, his stomach does soumersalts and his hands start sweating. He has this big goofy grin and confident gait the remainder of the day. The one trade off (in his opinion) is that the Pistols start swarming about, insisting that you pay them equal praise. Chaos ensues until you appease their neediness for your validation. It is his soul made manifest, after all.

Narancia

Narancia does a little fist pump and starts cheering internally. Although, if you called him pretty, he might pause and get petulant. He totally exudes machismo, he'll insist. He'll warm up to the compliment eventually, though, but he won't admit it. Regardless, he's hype about it. His energy skyrockets the rest of the day. He's all over you, peppering your face with kisses, picking you up and twirling you around, he's on cloud nine. He considers it his personal mission to shower you in praise and this only reaffirms the creed. He'll go up to random people in public, point at you, and say stuff like, "Isn't she so cute? That's my girlfriend, yeah, that pretty lady over there. Do you see her? Just look at her, she's amazing, the coolest ever, did you know she—" and on and on he'll go.

Abbacchio

Similar to Fugo, he initially assumes that you're trying to butter him up. He'll wryly ask what you intend to cajole him into doing. When you huff and insist that this is a no strings attached compliment, he'll study you, since he knows the many tells that signify you're lying. Upon realizing you're being genuine, he'll grumble a few words of gratitude and leave it at that. Don't let his composure fool you — his heart is pounding away like he's a hormonal teenager again. He will lie awake that night, your words repeating on a loop without his Stand's assistance, floating in this warm and fuzzy sensation. Abbacchio might not be the best with his words, but he swears an oath to compliment you properly the next time he sees you.

[oopwoop]

Playing Minecraft W/ The SpiderVerse Kids

pairing(s): Miles Morales (e!1610!), Hobie Brown, Pavitr Prabhakar, Gwen Stacy

warning(s): swearing! unedited.

i used this site to figure out/decide what type of player they’d be

i’ve been playing a lot of Minecraft recently and thought of what it’d be like to play with them so.. here you go!

Miles Morales (e!1610!)

He prefers Creative over Survival for sure, reasoning: he’s scared of the mobs and refuses to fight them

Plus in Creative it’s a lot easier for him to build stuff because he is definitely The Big Builder or The Decorator. He makes the most outrageous buildings but they look good

Has a whole world full of buildings and stuff. Like, complete towns filled with mansions

Playing with him is a lot of fun though! He’ll come up with build designs with you and you’d work together. If not, the two of you would totally mess around, building things just to blow them up with TNT or set it on fire

Miles is the one to put your beds next to each other. He thinks it’s cute, though he’ll do it without saying anything and if you mention it he becomes a stuttering mess and says he knows nothing and didn’t do it.

If you do end up playing Survival with him he will make you kill all the mobs, no doubt about it. He’ll make the base, probably trade with villagers, farm and kill the animals for food but not much else. He’s too afraid of dying

“Miles, did you put the beds next to each other? Because I know I didn’t.” You snicker teasingly, your character staring at the beds then at his character. You turn yourself to glance at him and notice his eyes are wide and he’s blushing.

“What..? What, me? Nooo.. That’s stupid why would I do that? Maybe you forgot that you did it because I didn’t.” He stumbled over his words, refusing eye contact. It was cute.

“Mhm, okay. Y’know, maybe I did forget. I think it’s a cute idea, though.” You smirked, kissing his cheek before turning back to the screen and continued playing.

Gwen Stacy

I think she’d play Survival and only Survival, claims Creative is for the weak

She goes all out in Minecraft, fighting mobs, getting achievements, going to the Nether, all of that. She’s not afraid

Definitely The Pro or The Achiever. Like I said, Gwen goes all out

She’d forcefully make you go with her, but she’d give you the right equipment needed and pointers on how to fight. If you genuinely don’t want to fight with her she’d have you farm and trade, pretty much do the smaller necessities for survival.

Has finished Minecraft several times, got all the achievements and everything on different worlds, never gets old for her

If you got her to play Creative she’d go on a rampage, killing everything for fun. Or she’d fly around trying to find different biomes

“C’monnn.. it’s not that bad!” Gwen would groan, trying to convince you to go to the Nether with her. “I’ve given all the armor and tools you need! Just try not to die.”

“Try not to die?? It’s the Nether, I’ll die no matter what! I’m not a pro like you. I’m not the one who’s finished this game multiple times.” You gave her an incredulous look, gaping at her words. It’s one thing to not die on the main world, that was usually easy, but the Nether? Yeah right, she’s insane.

“You’re overreacting.. Plus, if I’m a pro, wouldn’t that make you feel better that you’d be with me? Not by yourself.” She chuckled, arguing her point. You just scoffed and told her to go, following in after her.

Pavitr Prabhakar

I see him playing both Creative and Survival. Just really depends on his mood. Either way he’s having fun

He’d be The Zookeeper, collecting animals like Pokémon cards for real. Within the first 30 minutes of playing he already has a house full of cats and dogs, probably three parrots flying around him and is starting an animal farm. How? No idea, he just does

In Creative mode he’d spawn them all, naming all the animals with name tags one by one, even coloring the dog collars too

In Survival he’s taming every animal he sees, using a lead to bring the animal to a fenced in area. There’s one full of cows, pigs, horses, all the usual ones. But he even has them for pandas, camels, and turtles.

He’s also one to place his bed next to you, though unlike Miles, he’s not embarrassed by it, actually stating out loud he’s doing it. No shame at all.

When he’s not collecting animals, he’s following you around. He has no idea where you’re going or what you’re doing but he doesn’t care. He’s following and collecting every flower he sees, claiming he’s gonna make a bouquet for you.

“Hey, Pav? Where’s the- woah what the hell? How do you already have a whole army of pandas? Where’d you even get those from? We’re no where near a jungle..” You questioned, beyond surprise by the sight of around a dozen pandas in a fenced up area. It was even decorated to what a panda would need, looking like a small jungle.

“Hm? You say that likes it’s hard to find them! What’s so bad about it? I think they’re cute!” He smiled brightly, his character jumping around in the area full of pandas. “I have more than just pandas!”

“How?? We haven’t even played for more than an hour! When did you do all this?” While it was probably better not to question him, you needed to know how he did it, and seeing him more than happy to explain made it all the more better.

Hobie Brown (sorry it’s shorter than the rest)

He genuinely does not care if y’all play Creative or Survival, doesn’t matter to him, he’s gonna be a complete menace either way

He’s not any of the type of players listed in the site I used, he doesn’t believe in consistency. He can go from killing mobs to farming. His main goal is to fuck with you though

He never gets you killed in Survival but he will mess around. He’ll hit your character (without a sword or anything) when you’re fighting a mob and run away. It’s like playing with a child

I can see him setting a village on fire and saying something along the lines of “they’re capitalist pigs and deserve to die” or something

All in all, he’s not much of a fan of Minecraft but he’ll play it with you if you ask.

“Hobie, why is there a village on fire? What did you do?” You raised a brow at him, staring at the slight smirk on his face. It was a telltale sign he did it, but you knew it was him either way. There’s no way a village randomly caught on fire.

“What ya mean, luv? Oh, tha’. Yeah I did tha’. Bunch a capitalist pigs, I tell ya. Jus’ doin’ my job gettin rid of ‘em.” He chuckled while setting another village on fire. You didn’t wanna know how many he’d set on fire at this point.

“It’s a game, B. And I need to trade with them, they have good stuff sometimes.” You whined, huffing at him. You know he doesn’t care and will do it anyways.

“Find another one then, luv.”

All of them!

My god is it a nightmare.. first it starts out as an argument, trying to decide whether or not y’all are playing Survival or Creative. Mainly Gwen and Miles though, Pavitr and Hobie don’t care.

After about ten minutes of arguing they decided to ask you, so whatever one you prefer is what y’all played on. Either way one of them is whining.

If you picked Survival it leads to a pouty Miles, complaining how he’s gonna die a lot, and a smiley Gwen.

Within the first day Miles has already made a small base for you guys, Pav has gathered a few animals (he pouted when it was stated the cows and such would be used for food eventually, Gwen was mining for ores, and Hobie was.. being Hobie.

It was surprising to see how smooth everyone seemed to work together for a while, considering before y’all even started playing an argument broke out. Though if y’all could work well together while on mission, why couldn’t you in a game, yeah?

Give it an hour or so.. bickering over stupid stuff is bound to happen.

If you picked Creative, Gwen is whining how it’s for losers, which causes Miles to flip her off and thank you for picking it.

With Creative there’s a lot less arguing and bickering. Though there is much more chaos. Y’all are blowing up everything or settlor on fire for fun.

It started with you all just doing your own thing until randomly Hobie brings up the idea.

“I ‘ave an idea..” Hobie says out of the blue, causing everyone to pause. You all look at him with a face of confusion or hesitation. Whenever he had an idea, it was wild or something went wrong in some way.

“Great.. you have an idea.. does it have to do with the game or real life? Because I don’t feel like blowing up a building in your universe again..” Gwen scoffed, the others nodding in agreement.

“Yeah.. I agree with Gwen.. last time you had an idea we almost got killed..” You chuckled dryly, still traumatized from that.

“Damn, no faith in me at all, huh?” He rolled his eyes. “Yea, in the game.. Don’t worry, don’t plan on killin’ y’all. Woulda done so already if I wanted to.”

That caused another pause in the room, silence too loud. Thank god for Miles for breaking it. “Okayyy… what’s your plan?”

“Well, Gwendy got blowin’ up a buildin’ correc’. Though, I meant in the game. Why not have some fun an’ blow up some shit, or set it on fire, yea?” It was a smart idea, surprisingly. Everyone agreed, just with some terms, mainly Pav and Miles.

“Sounds fun! As long as my animals are safe and out of it, I’m in!” Pavitr stated, Miles nodding in agreement, but for his builds.

“Woah, a surprisingly good idea.. Let’s do it! Let’s blow some shit up!” You poked fun at Hobie, before smiling widely. It concerned the others at how widely you smiled but brushed it off. They agreed with the idea so they must be just as crazy then. With that, buildings were blown up, forests were burnt down. It was so chaotic to the point that the game started to lag and eventually crashed, causing you all to burst out in laughter. Well, it was fun while it lasted.

I apologize for not posting yesterday, but hopefully this makes up for it! It’s longer than my normal posts. I hope you enjoy!

Send requests! Love you!

[justfandomwritings]

Fearless, Guiltless (Eddie Munson)

Pairing: Eddie Munson x Harrington!Reader

Word Count: 8.1k

Warnings: 18+, Smut, p in v, oral, fingering

Summary: No one knew or saw what changed (Y/n) Harrington her freshmen year, but when she showed up to school with a leather jacket, an I-don't-give-a-fuck expression, and a take-no-prisoners attitude everyone was way too scared to question it. She was the Undisputed Queen of Hawkins High, and she ruled everyone with an iron fist... with one exception.

Author's Note: Reposted because I fucked up, totally my fault with the tags y'all my bad. There will be a part two to this, but you can treat this as a standalone if you like, or you can treat part two as a standalone. Or read together.

“Please (Y/n), we’ve asked everyone. Even Steve said no.”

“You do realize tonight is the championship, right? Why would I ditch?”

(Y/n) lounged back, her elbows propping her up on the bleacher behind her. Her eyes were a mixture of doubtful and exasperated. The two freshmen standing in front of her could not have looked more scared and desperate if they tried, which was saying something. She had literally faced down monsters from another dimension with these two nerds, and now they were standing in front of her, on the verge of panic, looking for someone to play a boardgame with them.

Mike seemed to stop and think for a second. He really didn’t have a good excuse. She was literally the last person he and Dustin had thought to ask, and for good reason.

“B-Because you owe me one for saving your life in Starcourt,” Dustin blurted out from behind Mike.

“Y-Yeah!” Mike pointed at his friend. “You owe Dustin.”

(Y/n) raised an eyebrow in what had to be the most condescending expression Mike or Dustin had ever been on the receiving end of. For a moment, they both considered cowering. She could be so much scarier than the Mindflayer when she wanted to be.

(Y/n) Harrington was the undisputed Queen of Hawkins High all four years of high school. She had the intimidating, awe-inspiring air of someone who was better than everyone else at everything all of the time, and she knew it too.

On the first day of high school, Mike and Dustin had seen her tell the meanest bullies in school to fuck off and that the two of them and Max were off limits. Crawling through air vents in Starcourt, Dustin watched her spit in the face of a Russian spy literally planning to torture her to death. The whole party had witnessed her one-handed pump a shotgun and point it into a hoard full of interdimensional demodogs. All without batting an eye.

Being badass, Dustin hypothesized to Mike one day after watching (Y/n) chill the entire basketball team with a single glare, must be a Harrington thing. She was fearless.

“I owe you?” She questioned.

The boys looked back and forth, nerves kicking in as they began to seriously doubt their answer.

 “So let me get this straight,” She pushed herself to her feet, hands going straight to her hips. Mike and Dustin both took two steps back. “You want to cash in literally saving my life for me playing D&D with you tonight?” She waited expectantly for the answer and was met with a nod from both boys. “That seems like a fair trade to you?”

Before either of the two could answer the very obvious question that no, in fact, this was the dumbest thing they could cash in saving her life on and that they could easily get so much more for that, there was a long whistle.

Coach Sandhurst was calling the girls in for practice. “Fine,” (Y/n) turned around and started stuffing Steve’s jacket and her snacks back in her gym bag. “If your stupid game’s that important to you, I’ll be there, but get off the field. I have to get back to practice.”

(Y/n) grabbed her pompoms and shoved past the two boys.

Mike and Dustin didn’t immediately process what (Y/n) had just agreed to. They stood there for several seconds watching her back as she jogged off to join the rest of the squad on the practice field.

“Did she just… Did we just…” Dustin spluttered.

The Captain of the Cheer Squad, Undisputed Queen of Hawkins High, Hawkins Royal Legacy, (Y/n) Harrington was ditching the district championship basketball game to join their D&D campaign. This was, without a doubt, the coolest thing that could ever happen to them at this school. Only they couldn’t brag about it to anyone because no one would ever believe it.

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

“You’re ditching the game to play Dungeons and Dragons with the Hellfire Club?” Chrissy repeated in a whisper under her breath, like it was a conspiracy.

“Yeah, yeah,” (Y/n) leaned over to check and make sure she couldn’t see any feet poking out under any of the stall doors. Assured they were alone, she locked the bathroom door. “Look, I owe that freshman, Dustin, a favor, and it’s a pretty big one. And he’s chosen to cash it in today.”

Chrissy hopped up on the sink counter, swinging her legs back and forth off the floor. “What kind of favor could you possibly owe him that would be big enough to miss the championship game?”

(Y/n) was almost tempted to tell her. Chrissy and (Y/n) were almost friends.

In truth, (Y/n) wasn’t really friends with anyone at Hawkins High. She used to be, back in freshmen year, but that was a long time ago. She still hung around the popular kids out of habit, and because none of them asked questions, but she wouldn’t call any of them friends. They put up with her because she was quite simply too popular and powerful not to be in good with. They would all call her their friend, but none of them were dumb enough to believe it.

Chrissy was the exception. She played the popular, pretentious, preppy cheerleader well, but underneath it all she was surprisingly caring. Almost caring enough that (Y/n) wanted to be her friend, almost caring enough that she wanted to be honest with her.

Almost.

“Some shit he did for my brother that I got roped into,” (Y/n) dismissed, “Look, will you cover for me?”

Chrissy smiled, “Of course, but Patrick won’t be happy.” Chrissy winked, “He was looking forward to seeing you on the sidelines.”

(Y/n) rolled her eyes, and Chrissy laughed. Patrick was a nice enough guy by basketball team standards, but really? She didn’t want anything to do with Hawkins High’s basketball team, or any of the guys at Hawkins High for that matter.

“Come on, you have to give someone a chance. You at least need to get laid.”

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

“Steve, I wish you would keep your damn kids in line.” (Y/n) huffed as she jumped up on the counter of the video store.

She had walked straight to the store after school, huffing most of the way. A couple of the girls had offered her a ride there, but she refused claiming the air would help her feel better. Chrissy had helped her set up faking sick for the game that night. Chrissy vouched for her with the coach that her head was hurting again and that she looked like she was about to pass out, which wasn’t entirely untrue.

“What did the brats do now?” Steve asked without looking up as he continued opening returned VHS boxes to ensure their contents matched the covers.

(Y/n) laid herself back across the counter and closed her eyes with a huff. “They’re making me play D&D tonight.” 

That made Steve pause. “Y-you’re playing… D&D?” He was fighting the urge to start laughing. (Y/n) didn’t need to open her eyes to know it. The amusement was oozing out of his voice.

“Don’t laugh at me. That twerp you adopted cashed in saving my life for his stupid game.”

Steve did stop laughing. Immediately.

Steve felt a lot of responsibility for what happened that night; (Y/n) knew it. She’d told him a thousand times, a thousand different ways, that there was nothing else he could’ve done differently. But it never seemed to ease his big brother instinct. He always felt like he was the one that owed Dustin not her, for doing what he couldn’t.

“Ok,” Steve slammed the top VHS box closed. “I’ll do it. Where is this game of theirs?”

(Y/n) rolled her eyes and sat up, “Don’t be ridiculous I already told them I would.”

“Yeah, but you are actually cheering in the game, and I owe them just as much as you for what happened. So,” he stubbornly crossed his arms, “Where are they playing?”

(Y/n)’s lip turned up in a slight smile, and she patted Steve on the arm. Always the big brother. “Thanks Steve, but it’s too late. I’ve already played hookie with Chrissy for the game. You can’t get out of your date.”

“Hey! I don’t need to get out of my date; she’s great. It’s gonna be…” He trailed off at the doubtful expression on his sister’s face. She was the reigning Queen of Hawkins High. The rumor mill for all of Hawkins ran straight through her ears. “What’s wrong with her?”

“Nothing, Nothing,” (Y/n) sat up and raised her hands with an innocent expression that didn’t match the wicked gleam in her eye. “Just a funny rumor I heard about her and an ex she wants to make jealous.”

Steve huffed and turned back around to start sorting tapes again.

If she thought Steve actually liked his date, (Y/n) would’ve broken the news more gently, but she knew he didn’t and watching her brother whine about a girl using him the same way he always used them was going to be deeply amusing, at least for the next hour before he got over it and moved onto the next beautiful woman that walked through the door.

“So,” Steve cleared his throat. “Do you need a ride then? You can’t carpool with the squad if they think you’re sick.”

“No, it’s ok. I’ll walk there. You have that date to worry about. Besides, I think they’re starting a bit before the game.”

“You can’t walk back. It’ll be way too late.” Steve dismissed.

“I’ll hitch a ride with someone. Don’t worry about it.”

“Do you even know anything about D&D?” Steve asked, turning back to her and crossing her arms. He looked as doubtful of her now as she had of him seconds ago talking about dates. “They play with Eddie the Freak; he’s pretty unforgiving from what Dustin says.”

Now that was a problem (Y/n) could not easily dismiss, and she really didn’t like the idea of losing.

(Y/n) huffed. “Not really, I’m probably gonna make a fool of myself, which is gonna suck. Those nerds will be…” (Y/n) was about to respond when a chime went off at the front of the store, and she turned. A chime that sounded a lot like salvation to her.

“Erica!” (Y/n) jumped off the counter. Erica Sinclair was walking into the video store with her mother in tow. “Hi Mrs. Sinclair,” (Y/n) beamed at the adult, “Do you mind if I talk to Erica for a moment?”

��Oh sure, sweetie, good to see you again, (Y/n),” Mrs. Sinclair smiled, “I’ll be over in the family section Erica.”

Erica waved goodbye to her mother with a smile and a perfectly innocent expression before she turned on (Y/n), “What do you want?”

“I need you to tell me everything you know about D&D, and I’ll get Steve to swap out whatever movie you pick for one of the new Rated R releases.”

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

“You brought me… the Princess?”

(Y/n) crossed her arms over her chest. She felt like she was on trial here. Eddie Munson and his goonies were watching her with an almost predatory expression. They, the freaks and geeks of the school, were acting like she was the unworthy one in the room.

“This is a room for heroes and warriors not… girls playing dress up,” Eddie made a motion to the cheer outfit she was still wearing from practice earlier that day. His goonies laughed in agreement.

Heroes? Warriors? These guys thought they were the heroes. (Y/n) wanted to laugh. Her eyes caught Mike’s standing on her right, and he seemed to know exactly what she was thinking. His expression was clearly begging her not to say anything.

Eddie was fully squatting on his heels in the chair at the head of the table behind a screen Erica had told her marked him as the ‘Dungeon Master’ of the game. Erica told her this meant that Eddie controlled everything: the story, the world, the bad guys, the fights. For the most part, he decided what the players could and couldn’t do. He was basically God, and she was currently asking for permission to enter his kingdom.

Maybe this really was a worthy trade for saving her life.

“If you understand how to play then I’m sure it can’t be too complicated for me.” (Y/n) pursed her lips in a smile, squaring her shoulders up across from him.

Eddie raised an eyebrow and literally hopped off of his perch, swaggering over to stand an inch in front of her. His breath blew out across her face as he took up the challenge, “You think you, Hawkin’s prettiest little princess, can take on the Cult of Vecna?”

She may not really understand D&D, but this she understood. He was challenging her, trying to sniff her out for any signs of weakness. (Y/n) smirked. It had been a while since someone tried that. But she didn’t become Queen of Hawkins by riding Steve’s coattails. She became Queen of Hawkins by taking no shit, and never backing down.

(Y/n) dropped her arms and closed the last inch between herself and Eddie, going literally toe to toe, chest to chest, with the DM. Eddie didn’t seem to let it phase him any more than it phased her as her body pressed up against his, but there was a murmur from the other guys in the room; shocked that someone would challenge Eddie or intrigued by the current developments, she couldn’t tell. “I don’t think I can take it on; I know I can.” She made sure to breath the words out over his lips.

One of the goonies off to the side let out a quiet ‘oo’, that Eddie immediately shot him a glare over.

“And for the record,” Eddie’s eyes whipped back to her, as she touched a hand to his chest, “I’m not the Princess.” She gave him a hard shove, and Eddie stumbled back a step, catching himself on the edge of the game table. “I’m the fucking Queen.”

The other boys in the room didn’t hold back their sounds of surprise now. Behind her back, Dustin and Mike shared a look that said they knew they’d made the right call.

Eddie’s eyes trailed over her one last time. Pristine cheer uniform, expensive sneakers and a diamond bracelet, her brother’s old varsity jacket slung over her shoulder. She was a Harrington through and through. Everything she stood for was everything he hated.

And yet, for the first time, when Eddie looked at her, he didn’t see it. Maybe it was the fact that she was without her posse or her annoying older brother for once. Maybe it was that she had stepped up to his challenge without hesitation. Or maybe it was the fact that she was here at all, at Hellfire Club, that she had willingly stepped into his realm.

Something about (Y/n) Harrington just seemed different, better, more interesting, today than it had yesterday, and Eddie found himself seeing nothing more or less than the hottest girl in school confidently asking him if she could play D&D at his table.

Eddie pushed himself to his feet and smiled, “Well then, my Queen,” he gave a mocking bow, “let’s play.”

(Y/n) didn’t miss the little fire that seemed to light in his eyes.

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

Everything she had with her she’d borrowed from Erica.

Steve had dropped her off at the Sinclair’s house when he got off work, and Erica had spent the better part of an hour helping her. The Rated R movie had sweetened the pot, but it was clear that Erica shared (Y/n)’s love of putting men in their place especially when it came to Lucas and his friends.

“When they ask, you’re going to be a bard,” Erica had shoved a character sheet in her hand the second she walked in the younger girl’s room.

“Okay, Am I supposed to know what that means?” (Y/n) asked, staring down at the piece of paper with a blank expression.

“It’s a kind of musician. Sit down. I’ll explain.” Erica climbed onto her bed and motioned for (Y/n) to do the same.

“First you need to know how to play. D&D has two main phases. Roleplaying and fighting.” Erica began a long, detailed explanation of the game. It was quite apparent in the first few minutes (Y/n) was there that Erica knew more about this than what she’d gleaned from her brother, like she always claimed. Erica liked D&D, played D&D.

Unfortunately, even with Erica’s help, fighting mechanics seemed to go straight over her head.

“Don’t worry. You won’t be doing as much fighting as a bard. You’ll mostly be backing up the party on whatever they need extra help with.” Erica explained when she saw (Y/n)’s confused expression as she got into different dice rolls. “Your play will be more roleplay based.”

“Okay,” (Y/n) hesitated for a second, “And how do I roleplay a bard?”

That brought a huge, shit-eating grin to Erica’s face that (Y/n) couldn’t decide if she found disconcerting or exciting. “How do you feel about flirting with a bunch of nerds till they’re eating out of the palm of your hand?”

Definitely exciting. (Y/n) grinned back. That she could do.

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

“The rest of the party is unaware of where you’re being taken, and you can’t talk your way out of this one, I’m afraid,” Eddie remarked offhandedly as he moved pieces around on the board.

Eddie had led Mike, followed by (Y/n), right into a trap, an NPC guard the party had been trusting for weeks had betrayed them and was now carting them off to their certain death with the rest of the party none-the-wiser in a nearby tavern.

Eddie was clearly not pulling any punches. Erica had told her he probably wouldn’t, that he would probably be the type of DM who went balls to the walls to beat his players, that she would have to go all out to prove herself too.

(Y/n) raised her eyebrow, “Can’t I?” The boys’ eyes all flitted directly to her, Eddie’s head raising up from the board far more slowly. (Y/n) leaned her elbows on the table, resting her chin in her hands. “I proposition the guard.”

Eddie paused, contemplating the situation for a moment before he seemingly consents to see where this goes, “How?”

“Come on Eddie;” she batted her eyelashes, “surely, you’ve had a girl flirt with you before. You know how it works.” Jeff and Gareth snickered at her retort, but it did nothing to shake Eddie. He stared her down, unblinkingly, waiting to see what she would do.

Really, something about being behind that screen must’ve filled him with an unbridled sense of confidence. ‘God-complex’, (Y/n) could practically hear Erica whispering to her. (Y/n) would’ve thought it was kind of hot, if only it didn’t come from playing D&D.

(Y/n) quickly gave in to roleplaying this scenario out with Eddie, “I pull my legs through my chains so the chains are in front of me, and I unlace my corset and the top of my tunic. I make sure to make a raucous with the chains; lots of noise like something’s going horribly wrong back here.”

Eddie, again, ponders for a moment before acceding to this storyline. “The guard stops the cart and circles around to the doors to check on the noise.”

“I feign a heat stroke and lay down in the back of the cart, pulling my shirt open and fanning myself as much as I can with the chains on.” (Y/n) reaches forward and knocks her character piece over in the square designated for the cart so that it’s laying down. “And I say, ‘Please sir, some water, I think I’m in heat.’” (Y/n) mimes the fanning herself and pulls down on the collar of her cheerleading uniform, “‘I beg you.’” 

The mechanics of the game were still far beyond her remit, but (Y/n) took to the roleplaying like a fish to water. She had spent her entire life living behind a mask of popularity and flirting with wholly uninteresting men just for brownie points. This was as easy as breathing.

Besides, flirting with Eddie in a game was at least a bit more interesting than flirting with the copy-and-paste guys on the basketball team. He was at least giving her a challenge, and he was certainly easy on the eyes.

“‘Please sir, I’ll do anything.’” Her voice got thick, sultry even, as she continued to beg the guard, beg Eddie, for assistance. She made pointed eye contact with Eddie as she exposed more of her chest beneath her uniform and pushed her hair back away from her neck feigning heat.

All of the boys’ eyes were darting back and forth between the DM and (Y/n). They were about an hour into this week’s session, and this was a new development indeed. They hadn’t expected this when they added a girl to the party.

None of them had ever flirted their way into or out of anything in D&D before. Sure, they’d talked their way out of things; they’d rolled plenty of persuasion checks. Sure, Eddie had presented them with hot girls they could take back to their bedchambers after a brawl and even the occasional fan of the adventuring party’s tales who was enraptured by them. But these were mostly things that made for amusing flavor text. They’d never actually flirted in game before. They were a group of awkward teenage boys, and even when Eddie proclaimed an NPC was a hot girl, it was still Eddie they would’ve had to flirt with and that just felt too odd to them.

Eddie’s head tilted down and he looked up at her through curtains of hair. “Roll persuasion,” Eddie watched her darkly, “with advantage.”

“Yes!” Mike fist pumped. “Way to go (Y/n)!”

(Y/n) dropped her hand from her chest, and her mouth slowly pulled back in a smile, still watching Eddie at the other end of the table.

Neither of them watched the dice as they left her hand, maintaining eye contact as they flew the length of the table. A cheer from the boys told them one of the numbers was high, and only that managed to break their stare down.

Sure, this was Eddie’s game, but she was going to win.

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

The eruption of cheers outside wasn’t for the D&D game, but as she walked down the hall surrounded by Mike and Dustin and their friends gushing over how awesome she did for her first time playing, she couldn’t help feeling like it was.

“Do you need a ride, (Y/n)?” Mike asked, “Nancy is dropping Dustin off too since the game is over.”

The basketball game.

(Y/n)’s steps faltered for a second, and Mike and Dustin both paused and turned back to look at her. “Fuck, I can’t.” (Y/n) sighed and waved them on. “You guys go on. I ditched Chrissy and the squad; they can’t see that I wasn’t actually sick.”

“You sure?” Dustin asked, “Do you have a ride? Is Steve still here?”

“Yeah, course he is! I’m gonna head out the back and find him.” (Y/n) thumbed over her shoulder to the backdoors of the school. “No offense, but being seen…”

 “We get it…” Dustin smiled and waved her off. “Thanks for coming, (Y/n); you were awesome.”

“Yeah! Thanks (Y/n)!” Mike shouted back.

(Y/n) waved and stuffed her hands in the pockets of her jacket. She stood there watching the boys exit out the front door for a second longer than was strictly necessary before turning back.

“Nerds,” she mumbled under her breath as she made her way through the hall to the back door.

“Yeah, they kinda are.”

(Y/n) didn’t jump, even though it surprised her. She whirled to face the voice, wrenching her hands out of their pockets and bracing her feet.

“Woah!” Eddie held up his hands with a laugh. “Just me. Don’t shoot.”

“Sorry,” (Y/n) relaxed. “Bit on edge I guess.”

Eddie snorted, “Who isn’t in this town?”

“True.”

“You, uh,” Eddie glanced towards the door, “heading back to the preps now? I’m assuming they won the game from all the screaming outside.”

(Y/n) shook her head, “Nah, just headed home.”

“Your, uh,” He kept darting back and forth between her and the door, “Your brother coming?”

(Y/n) shook her head, “He’s got a hot date, and I doubt he’s going straight home after the game, if you know what I mean?”

“Oh, need a ride?”

(Y/n) mulled it over. She’d been planning to walk; it would take about an hour but she could. Of course, if Steve’s date didn’t pan out, he would beat her home and be pissed she didn’t ask him for a ride. And she couldn’t ask anyone who went to the game because they were parked in the lot by the gym, and the squad would see her.

“I parked out by the baseball field,” Eddie rolled his eyes, “No one will see you getting in a car with the Freak.”

He hadn’t exactly hit the nail on the head about what was bothering her, but it didn’t hurt. “Sure, if you don’t mind.”

Eddie bowed theatrically and motioned for her to lead the way. “M’lady.”

(Y/n) rolled her eyes and stuffed her hands back in her pockets, walking ahead of him down the hall.

Eddie jogged to catch up and fall in step beside her. “So how did Henderson talk you into this? I wouldn’t have bet on a Harrington gracing us with their presence, but if I had it would’ve been Steve.” His tone was surprisingly teasing, not mocking for once.

“Steve had a date, and I owed Henderson one.”

“For what?” Eddie asked.

(Y/n) stayed silent for a moment. There was a story in place here, for this exact moment. Organized by the former directors of Hawkins Lab. But it was a little too close to the truth. Saying it felt like confiding in someone, in Eddie Munson of all people.

“Come on,” Eddie snorted, “It’s Henderson. It’s not like he helped you bury a body.”

(Y/n) sighed. “He was with me and Steve when the fire started at Starcourt.”

“Yeah, I saw the news the next day.” Eddie cut in, “That picture of Steve carrying you out of the mall was everywhere.”

The words on the police report fell out of her mouth in a well-rehearsed fashion. “Yeah, well, what you didn’t see was us getting separated in the chaos inside. I got trapped. Henderson’s the one who found me. He dragged me out of the wreckage. Steve only carried me to a medic.”

Eddie whistled, low and long. “So Henderson saved your life, so now you play D&D,” he gestured vaguely back down the hall in the direction the other players had gone.

The pair took a right, headed towards the back entrance near the fields.

Eddie didn’t immediately respond, and the silence felt rather deafening. She could practically feel him judging her. (Y/n) kicked her feet out a bit, scuffing at the linoleum floor. “Believe me I also know it’s not a fair trade. But D&D means a lot to him; he asked for my help. I delivered. That’s that.”

“You certainly did deliver.” Eddie chuckled, seemingly trying to lighten the mood, “Can’t say I’ve ever had a player pull their top down during a game, but I’m certainly not complaining that you’re the first.”

“You’re exaggerating,” (Y/n) quipped back with a smirk, “but next time I’ll be sure to tell Gareth to wear something with buttons. We’ll see who can do the better job seducing the DM with a strip tease.”

Eddie barked out a laugh. The back door was a few feet in front of them, and Eddie jogged ahead to grab it for her. Standing in the narrow doorway holding it open as (Y/n) turned sideways to pass through, Eddie leaned down, smirking again, and said, “You don’t need the game as an excuse to seduce me.”

(Y/n) paused in the doorway, looking up at Eddie. That cocky attitude again; it wasn’t just ruling the roost around his friends. “UGH,” it was getting to her.

“What?” Eddie’s brow furrowed at the sound, “I was just- ”

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

(Y/n) grabbed a fist full of Eddie’s shirt and dragged him after her through the doorway, shoving him up against the brick wall outside the school.

“What are you…” Eddie’s question died in the air as (Y/n) smashed her lips into his.

This was, without a doubt, one of the dumbest decisions she’d ever made, but it had been so long, too long. And really, he didn’t seem like a freak, not that she would’ve mind a freak for her particular purposes.

Eddie seemed stunned for a moment, but the second his mind caught up, his hands went around her waist and dragged her against his chest. Flipping them around, he pinned her to the wall and returned her kiss.

There was nothing gentle or caring about the kiss. It was a kiss of pure, unadulterated desperation on both sides. (Y/n) wasn’t sure where his tongue ended and hers began. It was sloppy, messy, the kind of kiss you’d expect from two desperately horny high schoolers who had spent the entire night eyeballing each other across a six-foot-long table.

One of her hands stayed fisted in Eddie’s shirt, and (Y/n) ran the other hand up his chest and knotted it into his hair, tugging at the roots.

Eddie groaned as she pulled his hair, and he let her fingers pull his mouth from hers. “Are you sure you want to do this?” Eddie stared down at her with open, honest eyes, ready to stop the moment she gave the word.

“I’m the one that dragged you out here. Are you?” (Y/n) retorted hotly.

Eddie’s lips pulled back in a grin, “Fuck yes.” He dove back in, attacking her mouth with renewed fervor. Their tongues lashed at each other, a battle for dominance that (Y/n) was bound to lose at this angle. She felt like he was trying to devour her.

A knee pushed itself between her own, and she spread her legs to make room for Eddie’s thigh pressing up against her. One of Eddie’s hands left her waist, trailing slowly over her ass and down her thigh before hitching it up against his hip.

(Y/n) groaned into the kiss, and Eddie sunk his teeth into her lip in response, tugging at it playfully.

“Eddie, if I wanted to play games, I would’ve stayed in the D&D room.” (Y/n) ground herself down against the thigh between her legs.

Eddie chuckled and nuzzled his nose into her cheek, pressing his knee higher up to meet the movement of her hips. “Well, if I was going to fuck you against a wall I would’ve done it already.”

“Then where…”

“My van, now.” Eddie smacked her ass and pulled sharply away from her. Stuffing his hands in his pockets and meandering a couple steps back from the girl he’d left hot and bothered against the brick wall. “Can’t risk one of those pretty boy basketball players seeing you out here with me, now can we?”

(Y/n) wanted to growl, or maybe pounce on him; she wasn’t sure. But she collected herself as best she could and stood tall, marching past him towards his van at the back of the lot. “Why not? Maybe we could teach ‘em a thing or two.” (Y/n) snipped as she passed him.

Looping a finger in the chain attached to his belt, (Y/n) tugged Eddie along behind her.

There wasn’t enough force behind it to make him go, but Eddie chuckled and followed the pull at his waist until they reached his van.

Waiting expectantly at the back door for Eddie to open it, (Y/n) felt two arms over her shoulders, caging her in against the van as Eddie pressed his whole body against her from behind, “Maybe next time gorgeous,” he leaned in, whispering against her ear, “but for now you’re all mine.”

The van door on her right swung open and Eddie gave her another smack on the ass to climb up in, which she obediently followed.

(Y/n) was hit immediately with the thick stench of weed, but before she had time to process anything else, she was being pinned down on a pile of blankets in the back.

Eddie crawled up the floor of the van, pinning her down by straddling her hips. “The Queen and The Freak,” Eddie lazily trailed his fingers along the hem of her cheerleading top, toying with flicking it to reveal an inch of skin and then back down to cover her again. “Who would’ve thought?”

Before she could respond, Eddie chuckled to himself and leaned in, pressing his lips to hers. Eddie’s kiss was slower, far less urgent than hers had been against the school wall. It was still biting, still a battle of wills, fueled by their mutual lust and frustration, but the edge had been taken out of the whole situation. There was no question of where this was going, no point to get across, no doubts. They both wanted this.

God did she want this.

(Y/n) turned her head, craning her neck away from Eddie’s greedy lips to catch a breath of air. He traveled down to her neck, sucking and nipping as he went.

“Not much of a queen if you’re going to leave me hanging so long.”

Eddie bit particularly harshly at a spot where her throat met her collar bone, and (Y/n) fought to hold in a moan. “Oh don’t worry,” Eddie sat up and pushed himself down her legs. Flipping up the front of her cheer skirt, he slipped a finger under the band of her underwear, tugging them off her as he went, “I’ll treat you like a queen.”

Hooking his arms under her thighs, he draped her legs over his shoulder as he laid down between them.

The back of the van was pitch black, and even when she looked down, (Y/n) could only just make out the mane of long bushy hair. The van was off, and none of the lights by the basketball gym could reach the back corner lot where Eddie parked. In a way she knew what was coming, but she couldn’t see to know when or how.

Tilting her head back, (Y/n) closed her eyes and just felt. Eddie’s fingers brushed up the sides of her thighs, stroking back and forth over the soft skin slowly as he blew out a breath over her folds.

“Eddie,” (Y/n) was about to complain again, but his tongue cut her off, flattening and licking the length of her folds.

After so long, it felt so good to have someone taking care of her like this, to have Eddie licking her, touching her where she needed him most. She didn’t know him, never had a crush on him, hadn’t even really noticed him before that night, but goddamn she would’ve begged for his tongue to be on her if he’d wanted. She was absolutely desperate for him, not even in the fun teasing way, but in the manic unenjoyable way where she just needed someone absolutely immediately.

Eddie did not disappoint. His tongue stopped at the top of her folds and slowly circled her clit, sending her hips jolting up towards his mouth. One of Eddie’s hands stretched across her hips, holding them down against the floor of the van as he lapped rhythmically at her clit.

(Y/n) moaned loudly into the air and threw one arm over her face. The other hand went straight into Eddie’s hair, trying and failing to tug his mouth closer. He was touching her, touching her exactly where she wanted to be touched and it still wasn’t enough.

“Please Eddie, don’t tease me.”

“Hmmm,” Eddie hummed, continuing stroking her clit with his tongue in the process.

“Eddie, please,” she begged.

Eddie pulled his mouth off of her, which made her whine in protest. She wanted more, but that didn’t mean she wanted him to stop. “The queen, begging me, what have I done to deserve such a show of favor.” He was taunting her now. The fingers on his free hand were fluttering up the inside of her thigh, getting dangerously close to the place his mouth had just abandoned but not actually taking its place.

“Eddie,” she bucked her hips, but his arm held her back, “you can tease me next time. Please, just make me cum.”  

“Next time?” She couldn’t see his face, but she could hear it in his voice, surprise.

“Next time,” She repeated.

She wasn’t sure if there would be a next time, but if he was as good as he seemed to be so far she certainly wouldn’t mind. The promise seemed to change something in his demeaner.

One of Eddie’s fingers brushed lightly over her clit making her jolt, but it kept moving down to her hole. She was wet, very wet, a mixture of Eddie’s mouth and her own arousal, and just thinking about how wet she was made her moan thinking about how it must be all over Eddie’s chin if only it wasn’t too damn dark in this van to see.

His finger probed at her entrance, slicking itself in her arousal and circling a few times before it slid in.

Even for only having one finger in, she was tight. It had been so long since she’d gotten laid, and she clenched around Eddie like vice. He left the first finger there as a second probed and then slowly joined the first.

Even before they began to move, she couldn’t help but moan quietly. “You really are desperate for me, my queen.” He whispered between her moans. “Don’t worry; I promised I’d take care of you.”

He started off slowly, dragging his fingers out and pushing them back in at an agonizing pace, but as (Y/n) began to whimper and squirm he picked up the pace.

She couldn’t form words for how good it felt, for how relieved she felt. Eddie’s fingers curled inside her, and she tugged hard on his hair as she let out another moan. Eddie was trying, trying very hard, to make her come undone.

His arm, holding her down, disappeared from across her hips, and Eddie wet his free fingers in the juice flowing out of her, dragging them up to circle her clit.

“Fuck,” (Y/n)’s hips bucked freely up into Eddie’s hand and his fingers slowed to a stop. He kept stroking her clit, but his other hand stayed firmly in place, angled into her, as he let her fuck herself on his fingers.

“Gorgeous,” He murmured, pressing a kiss into her thigh as she used him to pleasure herself, “Cum for me, my queen; I want to taste you.”

(Y/n) rolled her hips up with a loud moan, her rhythm stuttering as she felt the first wave crash over her.

Eddie picked up the slack, his fingers resuming their unforgiving pace fucking into her and his other thumb rapidly flicking her clit to extend the high. She was gushing out over his fingers, her entrance clenching and unclenching around his fingers without control.

She couldn’t describe the feeling. Like cold rain on a hot afternoon maybe, or a hot shower on a cold night. She wasn’t sure which. She had the sensation of momentary, utter ecstasy running down her body followed by a joyful peace.

Eddie’s fingers slowed as she came down, and he pulled them out of her with a wet noise. “Good work, gorgeous,” the hand that had been on her clit stroked her thighs as they trembled slightly from the aftershock of her first orgasm in a long time. His other hand, covered in her slick, went to his mouth, and he sucked at the fingers that had been inside her. “Mmm,” he groaned.

His hands went to either side of her as he lowered himself over her, “You taste amazing gorgeous. Next time we’ll draw this out a little longer, and I’ll get it from the source.” 

Her hand was still in his hair as he’d moved above her, and she used it to drag him down into a kiss. She could taste herself on his lips, but she could taste herself even more on his tongue as it slipped into her mouth. She let him win this one. She was still coming down from the high, and she didn’t have the energy to fight him through this kiss. But she also felt like he’d earned it.

His tongue languidly stroked hers, and she felt, for a moment, like he was being almost caring. He was gentler, softer, and not just because he didn’t have to fight her. The teasing nips and bites were gone. He seemed to just enjoy the feeling of kissing her.

The thought occurred to her that she should return the favor.

(Y/n) reached down, fumbling at his belt and flinging it towards the back of the van when it finally came off. Her thumbs fumbled over the button at the top of his jeans a couple times before it came undone and she could finally yank his zipper down.

Her hand quickly dipped below waistband, reaching to take him in her hand, but Eddie caught her wrist before she could. “Next time, gorgeous,” he whispered against her lips, “Next time, when we can actually make it to a bed, I’ll show you how good my mouth can be when you aren’t so impatient, and you’ll show me what it feels like to have those pretty lips around my cock. But right now I want you as much as you wanted me.”

Eddie pulled away from her long enough to shove his jeans and his boxers down around his knees. His lips were back on hers as quickly as they’d left, and he kissed her while guiding his cock to her entrance.

Her thighs, a bit weak from her previous orgasm, clumsily wrapped themselves around his waist, angling herself up towards the head of his cock that was bumping against her folds, and with a single, strong stroke of his hips he plunged into her.

He was so much bigger than she’d imagined he’d be, and she felt like she was being filled with, consumed by Eddie. Her eyes took on a far away look as her head lulled back in the pleasure of finally getting exactly what she needed.

“Stick with me there, gorgeous,” Eddie whispered as he pulled out and made his first thrust into her.

Her eyes focused in on his, piercing into hers with such intensity, such want and need. She couldn’t keep staring at them. This was already going to be over far too soon, and it would only be so much faster if he kept looking at her like that. Eddie set a strong, steady rhythm of his hips into hers, and (Y/n) buried her face in his neck behind his hair, kissing at his skin in between her moans.

His cock filled her to the brim, but she was so wet from her first orgasm that it was sliding in and out of her with ease. The sounds their bodies made as he slammed into her were sinful. His grunts, her moans, the smack of skin on skin as his cock bottomed out inside of her. She wanted to record it for posterity, for her own pleasure later when she was alone in her room without Eddie there to make her feel this way again.

She was sure she would imagine this feeling, his cock pounding into her, filling her, the groan of satisfaction that slipped out of him every time her walls clenched around him.

Their clothes were mostly still on, and (Y/n) could feel the denim of Eddie’s vest rubbing at the inside of her thighs wrapped around him. There would be patches of raw skin there tomorrow. Redness and chafing that her uniform wouldn’t cover up, hickeys on her neck and chest from his bites that would tell everyone exactly how ‘sick’ she had been tonight. Thinking about it, about everyone know how good Eddie fucked her, made it hotter.

“Harder, Eddie,” (Y/n) whimpered, using her back to leverage her hips up to meet his.

Eddie grunted in response and let himself press more of his weight into her, freeing up his legs to power his hips faster. He was pounding into her now, chasing the relief they both desperately sought in each other.

There would be a next time. Next time, she’d have him in her bed, naked under her as she bent him to her will, but this was exactly what she needed right now. Reckless, mindless, spontaneous, unrestrained. He could’ve fucked her against the wall of the school where anyone could’ve stumbled upon them, and she still would’ve felt exactly like this, like she was chasing her high and he was the only one who could deliver it.

The van was filled with hot, humid air from their breathy moans and the heat of their bodies moving against each other; it felt like a sauna. The frame had begun to shake around them with Eddie’s more forceful thrusts. Anyone outside would know exactly what was going on in there.

They would know exactly who was doing it to, as Eddie hit a particularly sensitive angle, and (Y/n) threw her head back and moaned his name at the top of her lungs.

“That’s it, gorgeous,” Eddie grunted, snapping his hips into her, “Are you gonna cum with me?”

She was so close, “Yes, Eddie, God, right there.”

Eddie listened to her, readjusting his knees further under her to keep hitting the same angle that left her absolutely panting, whimpering, chasing her high.

“Cum for me. Cum for me,” He pulled his head back from her and stared down at her, greedy to watch as she fell apart. (Y/n) made eye contact with him, and the intense look in his eye that had scared her gaze away before, the wanton, lust ravaged look that spoke to just how close he was to finishing, powered her forward. It was almost too much; she tried to turn her head to the side, but one of Eddie’s hands grabbed her chin and kept her eyes on his as she fell apart around him.

The muscles in her thighs began to quake, and her legs fell from where they had been wrapped around him; her hand in his hair mindlessly jerked at his curls as she cried out. Her walls latched onto his cock like a lifeline, and her release gushed forth uncontrollably around him.

He followed seconds behind, his hips stuttering their blistering pace before completely faltering as he shot his full load into her with a groan of relief. His arm, holding him up beside her head, gave out, and Eddie laid his entire weight on top of her.

(Y/n) was gasping for breath. Her whole body seemed to be quaking from the aftershock, and she realized just how hot and sweaty she felt under her clothes.

Eddie wasn’t much better. Instinctively, her hand in his hair began stroking through it, calming him down from his high, “Not bad, Eddie,” she teased breathlessly.

Eddie grumbled, and in response his hips jerked up into hers, cock still nested inside her. She couldn’t help the whimper as the friction made her quiver from how oversensitive she was.

“I’ll be good in a minute,” Eddie chuckled blissfully, “Then I’ll take you home… We can figure out when next time will be on the way.”

[ahgasegotarmy116]

Falling Part Five | Jeon Jungkook

Summary: Jae tells Lana about the party but you get nervous, not knowing what his intentions with her might be... Pairing: Guardian Angel f!reader x Fallen Angel Jungkook Word Count: 1.5k (sorry I know it's short and horribly edited) a/n: Hey guys so I know I haven't updated this story in months and a few of you have been asking for it so I'm sorry about that. I know this is short but I wanted to put something out for you guys. I'm still stuck on figuring out what's going to happen at the party so that's why this is still a little short but hopefully I'll figure it out and post it soon! Thanks for waiting 💜 Start from the beginning

"Jimin I don't know what to do" I whine, dragging out the last word, "I've been able to avoid the headache of her going to any high school parties but of course when this tall, mysterious, intelligent guy and his friends come around she suddenly decides to go" I complain to him. 

"I mean to be honest I don't blame her. They seem like they're fun and Jae is charming and to be honest out of the lot he's definitely a lot more her speed. I feel like that's why they work so well together" he responds, trying to get me to calm down a bit which helps but I still don't know how I'm going to help her. 

"Maybe you're right. He does seem like a really nice guy and he hasn't done anything wrong. I think just the fact that this is the first guy she's actually shown interest in is making me a bit more nervous" I admit, plopping down on Lana's bed while she continues to study. 

They've known each other for a few weeks and he hasn't shown any signs of really wanting to lead her astray so that's promising. At this point though I don't really know what he does when he's around Jungkook which stresses me out at the very least knowing that Jae has messed up enough to trade his guardian angel for a fallen one. 

"Just keep a close watch and maybe then he'll show his true colors. Lana sounds like a smart girl and you'll be materializing in a few weeks right?" Jimin reminds me. "That's only if she doesn't start to stray and I'm afraid that if she goes to this party that it'll be the beginning of the end for us" I voice, letting all of my worries and doubts out. 

"Just keep praying that she'll stay strong and that she'll focus on staying on the straight and narrow" he say, making it sound easy. "I wish it was that simple" I mumble, turning my head to look at her while she picks up her phone to no doubt, text Jae back from the looks of it. 

"You've been with her since she was conceived and you know her better than anyone. Just put your faith in her and I'm sure you'll make it to materialization. You've done a great job watching over her so, don't doubt yourself" he encourages. 

"I'm sorry but I have to get going now. Let me know how everything turns out alright?" he say before ending the call. "Yes don't worry I will" I reassure him and say our goodbye right as Lana's phone starts to ring.

"Hey!" she greets excitedly, instantly letting me know who it is without even trying, accompanied by the feeling of butterflies in her stomach. 

"I miss you" he says and I instantly gag while she has the polar opposite reaction watching as her cheeks start to warm up. "I miss you too" she says softly. "I wanted to tell you the details of the party tomorrow and also I just wanted to hear your voice" he admits.  

'Could he be any cheesier?' of course Lana is eating it up though. Chances are he's gonna be her first love so I guess I'll just have to get used to this lovey dovey behavior from them. I drown their conversation out, still listening in but only enough to sense if something bad will happen but it's pretty innocent at this point thank God. 

Thinking about all this love stuff is taking me back to when I was young and falling in love with Jungkook...

Eons ago...  

"Go talk to her" Jimin says, elbowing Jungkook in the side and he groans at the contact still with his eyes fully trained on me. 

"She's probably already with someone else" he says, making excuses and tries to walk away but his friend grabs him by his shoulders and turns him around, making him face me again

"She doesn't have a bracelet yet" he points out, looking at my wrists, neither of them adorned with and sort of jewelry. "Just go talk to her" Jimin repeats, pushing on his shoulder and making him stumble, grabbing my attention. 

Jungkook and I make eye contact for a second and he smiles bashfully and I return it before going back to my conversation with a few other female angels. 

"Look he's coming over here!" one of them says once I've turned back towards the group giving the handsome angle my back making me straighten out my wings from their slouched position into a more graceful one. 

"He's probably looking at one of you guys" I say in a hushed tone, all of them having clocked the way he was looking at me, leaving me feeling insecure and pushing away the thoughts that someone as handsome as him would be interested in a lowly angel like myself. 

I hear a man clear his throat behind me and my body goes rigid praying it's not who I think it is having truly thought my friends had been teasing me. 

They all make eyes at me, wordlessly telling me to turn around but when I don't he chances speaking to me to get my attention. 

"Hello" is all he says and the smooth baritone of his voice is more heavenly than any other melody I'd ever heard. "Hi, um we've actually gotta go" one of older angels says and pushes the other girls to the side, herding them over somewhere else and my protests die in my throat once he tries his luck again. 

"I haven't seen you around here before" he says and at that I turn around to face him. My breath is taken away from seeing him up close, his features working in perfect harmony. 

"Um yeah I'm one of the new borns, I guess" I say, still unsure of how everything works around here, referring to my recently aged up status. "Oh, well it's very nice to meet you..." he trails off waiting for me to fill in the blank. "Y/n!" I say quickly, embarrassed to have left a longer gap between his question and my answer. 

"That's a beautiful name" he says, testing how my name sounds on his lips. I swear I never want anyone to address me by my name ever again unless it's by him or God. "Oh and you are?" I question, forgetting to return his interest. 

"Jungkook" he says, a name that I had never heard before but pray would be one I would utter again and again. "It's nice to meet you Jungkook" and I can see how his eyes light up and his wings slightly raise behind him, obviously happy to have heard his name from my lips as well. 

And from that moment onwards we started falling. Madly, deeply and hopelessly in love. That is, until he fell...

"JK said the party starts around 8 so I can pick you up around that time if you'd like" I hear Jae's voice say through the speaker. "Oh okay, yeah that works!" Lana says but she sounds a bit wary. 

"What's wrong?" Jae asks, clocking her change in demeanor. "It's just that my curfew is 10 so I wont be able to stay for very long and because you're the one JK's throwing the party for I wouldn't want you to have to deal with leaving early to take me home or anything" she says and he nods his head, thinking for a second. 

"What about this. Why don't we just go and hang out there for like an hour and then we'll leave and spend the rest of that time together on our own before your curfew" he suggests and she lights up at the idea. "I'd like that" she smiles shyly, a fluttery feeling in her stomach again, no doubt from the thought of spending true alone time with him for the first time.

"You sure you want to miss out on the party?" Lana questions, starting to feel guilty about it all. "The party is gonna go on all night so if I feel up to it I can always go back later on. You're the only one I really want to spend time with" he admits and again I can't help but roll my eyes. 

At least he's honest though but I really hope this night ends with a simple goodnight kiss. 'Please Jae for the love of God don't pressure Lana into losing her innocence' I offer as a silent plea. 

Lana is someone I've been entrusted to and I will do everything in my power to make sure that she stays safe. One boy is not gonna ruin this for her, she's stronger than this and I know that. I just need to keep reminding myself and stop doubting her. 

I've gotta put my faith in her just like Jimin said, and pray to God Jae's intentions are pure. Please Jungkook, don't encourage him to do this, I know it's your sole purpose to lead him astray, but please, not Lana...

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[screamingatanemptyroom]

Please Fix the Story- Side Part - Adonis

My first side part of two. Will plan for a second one for Liam. Hope you guys enjoy seeing it from a "hero's" perspective!

Enjoy!

Masterpost linked here!

____________________________

 I am the hero.

I believed this with every part of my being. Every cell and every atom within me screamed for me to step into the spotlight that was rightfully mine. The center stage that everyone longed for but so few could touch.

I grew up in obscurity. A father in a dead-end job whose lack of drive and ambition led our family to live paycheck to paycheck. Coming home just to drink and complain about work. I also had two older brothers who finished high school and went straight to work in the shop like our old man, with little regard for the world beyond our small town. But my mother… my mother was like me. She was a dreamer.

During my childhood she would read to me every night before bed. Classics, sci-fi, adventure stories… any book my mother could get her hands on. We explored world after world from the safety of my room as she read to me, equal parts excitement and longing shining in her eyes as she described faraway places and people that she would never get to see.

But her favorite story, the one we read most often, was a classic. A story of a brave knight, a hero. A story of a beautiful princess. A story of an evil dragon. I would listen with childish wonder as she described the princess being kidnapped and guarded in a tower, the knight and the dragon’s harrowing battle, and the happily ever after that awaited the hero and the princess.

“All stories should be like this one.” She told me confidently. “It is the best story in the world.”

She would point to pictures of the knight in the story book, a man in metal armor with a brightly shining sword. “When you grow up, you are going to be a great hero, a great man like him!”

I looked up at her, confused. “What about dad? Isn’t he great? Shouldn’t I grow up to be like him?”

At my question, her eyes were filled with sorrow and rage. “Don’t you EVER end up being like your dad. He’s a nobody.” She pointed at the book. “There’s no pictures of men like your dad in here, because they’re not important enough to get pictures. They don’t defeat the dragon, they don’t marry the princess, and they don’t have happy endings.”

“But Dad married you, and you are better than any princess!”

“…” She just stared silently at me for a moment. “Promise me you won’t become like your father. PROMISE.”

“… I promise.” I looked down at the knight in shining armor again, feeling determined.

I am the hero.

____________________________

My mother left us shortly after. Quietly walked out with her bags while we were all sleeping. My father didn’t say much to us about it. Just worked harder at his dead-end job and drank more when he was home. I watched it all, and knew without a doubt: My father was unhappy because he wasn’t the hero my mother wanted him to be. But I was different than him.

I worked hard, studied harder. Got into college on a scholarship. I was studying finance, determined to get into a career that would make a lot of money. To be different from my father. Packed away with all of my textbooks and papers, however, I still carried around my mother’s favorite book, the only memento I had of her, the only thing she had left behind for me to keep.

And that’s how I met Arabella.

My fairy tale book slipped out of my bag one day as I sat on bench trying to find a specific paper. I bent over and reached out to pick it up, but she got there before me.

“I love this book! Such a classic!” She smiled at me as she handed it over.

I fell in love with her smile.

We talked at length about books and stories. She was an English major, a lover of writing in all its forms. After that fateful day we spent many hours together. Talking, laughing, trading ideas. I fell deeper and deeper in love with her, fantasizing about confessing my feelings, and having her reciprocate. We would get married, have children, become successful, important people. Different from my father and mother.

She was my princess, my happy ending.

… Until she wasn’t.

“This is my boyfriend, Ben.” She introduced him with a different smile. I had thought I had seen all of her smiles, but it turns out that her most beautiful one, the one filled with love, was saved for someone else.

I hated him.

Hated how he seemed to shine in every space he was in. Hated that he was always the center of attention. He was a natural born leader, a great conversationalist, an all-around good guy that everyone liked. I hated everything about him, but most of all I hated the fact that he stole the love of my life from me. My darling Arabella.

She was mine.

But when I finally worked up my courage to tell her my feelings, instead of a smile filled with love, I got a look of pity and concern. She didn’t feel the same. She hoped we could still be friends.

I was humiliated. I thought I was the hero of her story, but I was just a nobody, a friend, an extra on the sidelines.

I was just like my father.

I hated my father, hated myself for being like him. But slowly, inevitably, my hatred took a new turn.

Arabella. Why did she not love me? Why was she ignoring our obvious connection? Why did she look at me with pity when I was so much better than that loser she was dating?

I hated her too. If she had never been there, I would have never felt so weak and helpless. I felt trapped in the sidelines, and couldn’t see a way to escape this fate of being nothing, of fading into obscurity. I had to do something. I refused to disappear into nothingness.

I am the hero.

So I fixed the problem.

And as I stood over the bodies of Arabella and Ben, my hand still holding the blood-stained knife, watching the blood pooling under them, rolling slowly towards my shoes. I realized the truth behind my world:

I was special.

The world froze. An inhuman being, the System, offered me a chance to work with it, to save the universe.

It was everything I wanted and more. Power. Prestige. A mission. I would be the main character, the knight I read about. I would be the hero.

It warned me that if I left with it, this world would be destroyed. I looked around. Now that I knew that this world was a lower realm, a romance story that I was a side character in, it all seemed so… small. Worthless. This world had done nothing but contain me, and I deserved to escape it.

I felt a brief flash of conscience. If I said yes, everyone I knew would be destroyed. My father. My brothers. My friends in college.

My mother.

Arabella.

But what have they ever done for me? I looked at the two options in front of me, and selected “Yes” with a firm hand.

And in that instant, they were gone.

And I was free.

____________________________

The System and I came up with a plan to save the universe. We tied all the heroes to me, to help me improve their character, in bonds called Fate.

But it wasn’t enough.

So we got a dragon, an evil creature who could be a good prototype for the villains in the lower realms. My nemesis to fight. But this failed too. The dragon was weak. For all its anger and desperation in the beginning, it soon became like a soulless, lifeless puppet. Silently completing its mission in each lower realm, often dying so quickly that I barely had time to influence the hero’s story. Punishments, threats… nothing worked. The nameless villain just looked at me with eyes that seemed like they belonged to something dead.

“You cannot threaten me.” It whispered. “You have already destroyed everything I love. My family is gone. I am alone.”

I felt a brief moment of panic at his words, but pushed it down and walked away. Refusing to dwell on the thought that rose up at his words:

We were similar. We both lost everyone. We were both alone. But we were so different… I lost mine by choice.

It didn’t matter. I did what I had to do.

I am the hero.

____________________________

We were getting nowhere. We needed something more, before the universe became too unstable, and all of the lower realms collapsed.

We needed a heroine. My princess.

There was only one option. One woman that I would accept. The love of my life, the heroine of my story,

Arabella.

I knew the System could do it. It was the god of this universe, filled with strange, unnatural abilities. It could bring her back, erase what I had done.

It had to.

After much arguing, the System agreed to “create” an Arabella.

I met her in the higher realm, the System had dressed her in gorgeous clothes, just like the princess she was meant to be.

I looked at her, and she was just as beautiful as I remembered. And she was mine.

But then everything went wrong.

She looked like Arabella. And sometimes had similarities to Arabella, such as a love for stories. But she was also so very different.

“Call me Bel.” She asked me one day, her eyes filled with frustration.

“But you ARE Arabella.” I felt desperate to explain.

She shook her head. “It doesn’t feel right. I don’t want to be called that. You mean something different than me when you use that name, and it makes me uncomfortable.”

What could I say. How could I explain? I bit my tongue and agreed.

It was so frustrating. Having my Arabella so close, yet so far away of me. She learned about our world quickly, and displayed an astonishing talent for fixing the lower realms in a variety of ways, but never once in the way that I wanted, the true and better way.

I tried to tell her about the higher story. About fate. The princess and the hero needed to fall in love. Our happiness, our love would stabilize all of the lower realms. Save the universe.

But Bel after listening to me, gave me a look. A look I knew all too well. It was the same look Arabella gave me in my original world.

A look of rejection.

I had become a higher being. Becoming the hero that would define all heroes. Much more than the silly hero my mother showed me in a worn-out story book. But still my princess refused me. She would leave me, just like my mother left my father for being a nobody. An extra. A background character.

I refused to let that happen.

I am the hero.

____________________________

I continued the story. She would be “kidnapped” by the dragon. I would rescue her, we would fall in love, and the dragon would be defeated. All would be right.

But she refused. She decided to die rather than be rescued. And then the System made her a deal.

I watched her disappear. I watched the foolish dragon make a bad deal to follow her. And as they faded from the realm, I panicked.

They had left me behind, the hero, the main character. I had to stop Bel from succeeding, from changing her fate to join the villains. She would accept her fate. She would be my heroine again.

The System, for the first time, fought me. I wanted my memories, control over some of the story, power. It argued that I would only push her further away. I refused to compromise.

Finally, the System agreed, but would only send me to a few worlds.

“She’s already visited twelve worlds.” It stated in a dispassionate voice.

I was in shock. “It’s only been a few minutes!”

“Time moves differently in the Void.”

“SEND ME!”

____________________________

A zombie world. I was the hero, Eric, already in a relationship with a cheerful girl named Hannah. She was a lovely heroine, but utterly helpless. As she stared up at me with love and respect in her gaze, I should have felt happy, content. She treated me as the hero I was, as the center of her universe.

I didn’t care.

She wasn’t Arabella… Bel. She was just a small little character of a broken lower realm. I didn’t need such a worthless being’s love.

I needed HER.

I turned my attention to Jason, Eric’s friend.  A pathetic secondary lead. I despised him, watching his struggles with disdain. Jason was a disgusting worm, following the heroine around like a lost puppy. Oblivious to the fact that she only loved the hero. He was a nobody, an extra.

He reminded me of my father.

I hid his role in Bel’s character’s death. Filled his head with thoughts of violence, planning on using him at just the right moment.

And when Bel showed up, I put myself forward as the perfect hero. Reasonable, friendly, respectful of boundaries. After all the time I spent fixing lower realms with her, I knew what she would like best. The only downside is that I had to play my role, to pretend to love Hannah. I felt the bonds of fate. Anytime I tried to break away from them, the System’s power would correct me. But I still tried my best, hoping that Bel would see beyond the characters we played, see the true me.

But instead, she paid me little to no attention. Only focusing on Hannah, or on the pathetic bastard of a villain who trailed behind her. He was as weak and useless as always, his character supposed to be the leader of a violent gang. Instead, he cooked meals and brewed tea, calling himself a support spouse.

I wanted to kill him.

But I couldn’t. I needed to be a perfect hero. Otherwise, my princess would never love me.

In the end, I failed. The dragon died, but Bel still didn’t look my way. She completed her mission and left the world without a goodbye.

Heartless as always.

____________________________

The System agreed to send me to a second world. A vampire realm. I played her brother Alexander. 

The realm was a disaster. I tried to be perfect, tried to be reasonable and helpful. But I had pushed too far from the character’s role. The System forcefully corrected me, treating me like a puppet over and over, acting like a foolish teenager in love rather than a confident immortal being. I watched in silent rage as the dragon married my princess with a smirk, calling me brother-in-law. I could do nothing but seethe, trapped in this cage of a character, unable to do anything but watched as she saved the realm again.

In the end, it felt so good to kill him. I watched the dragon die under my hands with a smile. And if Bel reacted poorly… well she just didn’t understand my point of view. She didn’t remember our destiny together. She didn’t remember that the dragon was a monster, a villain.

I just had to convince her.

____________________________

“YOU FAILED.” The system told me in the void. It had no emotions, no humanity, but even so I felt that there was a note of panic within its voice.

“You wouldn’t let me do anything!” I argued back. “Give me more freedom, and I promise I will convince her of our point of view.”

“WHAT IF SHE REFUSES?”

“Then I will make sure she fails her mission. Either way, we win, correct?”

“…” The System was silent for a few moments. “YOU HAVE ONE LAST CHANCE. SHE HAS NO MEMORY IN THIS REALM. SHE MUST FAIL. ”

I laughed. “She will.”

I did everything I could. Desperate, this time I resorted to all means: kidnapping, drugging her, lying to her. I betrayed the whole world to the alien race, trying to force her mission to fail.

But she still won. She still refused me, even when her mind and body were falling apart.

And with her power, she restarted our story in the higher realm. She chose the dragon again. She chose to reject fate. And at the end of it I realized her plan was never just to simply join the villain. She became the new System. She became a god.

____________________________

She looked at me, filled with a power I would never know. Standing next to the love of her life that wasn’t me. And I couldn’t help but wonder:

Had I really been so wrong?

“I have a much better ‘fate’ in store for you:” She told me. Smiling a smile I had never seen before. Different from any I had ever seen before A cruel smile. And I truly believed in the depths of my soul, that she was not, she never had been Arabella. The girl I thought I loved, died on the ground after I stabbed her in the heart. Not even her body was left behind as I destroyed the world behind me.

I am the hero.

“You will be banished to a lower realm. To live out your days as an insignificant side character.”

Her power lifted me off the ground, healing the wound in my side. I was helpless against it. This wasn’t how it was supposed to be! I was the knight! The hero! I would defeat the dragon, save the princess. I would live happily ever after!

“NO! YOU CAN’T!!!”

I am the hero.

“By day, you will remember nothing… but every night, your memories of the higher realms will be returned to you, just enough so you can always live in regret for what you have done.”

“NO!” I struggled against her powers, but there was nothing I could do. I stared into her eyes. So familiar, but foreign. And filled with nothing but weary disdain. I knew that look, knew it all too well. It was the look sealed into my heart, in the depths of my worst nightmares.

It was the look my mother gave my father the night she left. That look couldn’t be for me. It was for nobodies. For extras. For people of no importance. Not for me. Never for me.

I am the hero.

“You must accept your fate, Adonis. Goodbye.”

____________________________

“Heading home, Adler?”

Craig, the middle-aged man in the cubicle next to mine, spoke up as I stood up at my desk.  His space was decorated with miscellaneous motivational signs and pictures of his smiling family. He hid a space heater under his desk, but everyone liked him too much to report it to the manager.

“Yeah, shouldn’t you be done for the day too?” I responded blandly, putting on my coat and walking away. I didn’t really want to get drawn in to a long conversation, which Craig was well known for. From a distance I saw a man and a woman talking, and felt a tightening in my chest. I didn’t want to talk to them, but I couldn’t resist saying hi to her.

“Hi Anne.” I joined the conversation between the two, ignoring the flicker of frustration that crossed her expression. Hopefully she’s just tired. “… Hi Brad.” I added after a long hesitation.

They both greeted me, and fell into an awkward silence. I knew they wanted me to leave, but a strange stubbornness kept my feet rooted in place. “Have you heard about that new movie about knights and dragons that’s coming out soon?”

Anne still seemed annoyed, but showed a brief look of interest at my question. “Oh yeah! I’ve been wanting to go see that one!”

Then would you like to go with me? I bit the words back before they could slip out. It would not go over well, especially with Brad, Anne’s boyfriend standing next to me. Instead, I said something I didn’t mean. “Maybe we could all go see it as a group?”

“Maybe.” Her response was noncommittal.

“…”

“…”

After the silence stretched on too long, I finally couldn’t take it anymore. “Well, have a good night.”

They both waved silently at me, and returned to their conversation with one another, never sparing another glance my way.

I walked away, feeling uncomfortable.

My apartment was empty. I had considered pets, but it would be too much extra cost to the monthly lease. I turned on the light, set down my coat, and looked around with a sigh. The room was pretty bare. I had a few sparse decorations, but couldn’t be bothered to do more. All I needed was a few pieces of furniture, and multiple shelves of books.  I made myself a quick microwave dinner, and since I had finished my latest book last night, went searching through the bookshelves for what I wanted to read next.

My hand paused over a well-worn book. It was a classic story, about knights and princesses and dragons. Basic, childish almost, but I always felt drawn to it. I picked it up once more, and settled down to read.

Passing a quiet evening, I got ready to sleep. I stared up at the ceiling above my bed, a strange emptiness within me.

I wonder what Anne is doing now?

A sigh escaped me. I knew she didn’t return my feelings. She didn’t even like me as a friend.

I’m just not the guy for her. And I need to be content with that.

After all, it's not like I'm the hero of a fairy tale.

With that last melancholy thought, I fell asleep, my hands still clutching the book of fairy tales.

…

…

…

And I remembered.

I remembered everything.

I was the higher-level being Adonis. Hero of the universe. Cast aside by Bel. Banished to a lower realm.

And now I was powerless.

Helpless.

Nothing.

THIS ISN’T RIGHT!!! THIS ISN’T ME!!! I AM SPECIAL. I AM MEANT FOR GREATNESS!

I AM THE HERO!

I woke up, shaking in terror and agony. My trembling hands clutched my sweat soaked face. And in the dull light of the sunrise streaming through the window into my bare and empty apartment…. I screamed.

I tried to hold onto my memories, but I could already feel them fading away. I would once again become Adler, the pencil pushing nobody who read fantasy books and nursed a silent crush on a woman at work who already had a boyfriend.

Until night came again. And I remembered once more.

This was my punishment.

This was my hell.

My only solace was that in this lower realm I was mortal. I would grow old. I would eventually die. And I would be free from this wretched existence.

My memories grew foggy, confused.

I thought of my mother, of my promise to her to be the hero of her story book. I thought of Arabella, of her bright smile that I fell in love with. I thought of Bel, our adventures, and her triumph over fate.

And I hated them all.

“NOOOOOO!” My anguished cry tore through the apartment, but there was no one around to hear it.

“I AM THE HERO!!! THEY ARE NOTHING!” I tried to scramble out of the bed, desperate to run away, to escape.

“I AM THE HERO!!!” I fell to my knees, my thoughts becoming vague.

“I AM… THE… HERO!” I desperately held onto the word. I knew it was important.

“I…. AM….”

I blinked, feeling confused.

“What was I saying?”  Wiping my forehead, I grimaced as it came away with a cold sweat. “Must have had a nightmare.”

I stood up, heading to the bathroom to shower. I had a long day of work ahead of me. I had several reports due soon, and maybe… just maybe… I could catch a glimpse of Anne when I passed by on my lunch break.

As I walked towards the shower, I caught sight of my face in the mirror, and came to a stop. As I stood there, staring into my own eyes, I felt the strangest urge to scream.

But it quickly passed and I went back to getting ready for my day.

“Hopefully tonight I sleep better.” I muttered to myself, looking away and closing the door behind me.

I didn’t want to be late to work.

[little-emerald-snake]

Smutmas Day 12

“You can go deeper than that.” - Garreth Weasley X F!MC

🔥NSFW 🔞 MDNI

902 words

Warnings: semi public / sexual favors as payment

Garreth knew she’d be in the library studying at this hour. After all, she promised after this time that she’d start brewing her own potions which meant she really had to step up her study time.

He found her in a tucked away corner of the library just as he’d imagined. Her nose in a book although it wasn’t a potions book. He frowned, clearing his throat loud enough to grab her attention.

She looked up from the romance novel, spotting Garreth and smiling impishly. “Oh, h-hi Garreth! I-I promise I’ve been reading up for potions. Look…see?”

She pulled out her copy of the potions guide book from Sharps class and holds it up as if she deserves a medal for carrying it around on her person.

He only tsks her and shakes his head, disapproval in every fiber of his disposition. He came to stand right beside her, pulling out the potion she was supposed to brew for Sharps class. The very same she’s paid Garreth to brew for her.

Garreth rolls the vial between his fingers and dangles it out teasingly, pulling it back before she can make a grab for it. “You know, I think my prices just went up for brewing, since I’ve gotten so busy lately while brewing for both of us.”

Her smile drops, not expecting him to raise the price but she grabs for her pouch of galleons. He holds his hand out stopping her. “No, I don't want your money. That’s too easy for you. I want something that you actually put effort towards since that’s what I have to go through.”

She thinks for a moment, maybe he wants ingredients? She could get him some stuff he probably doesn’t have easy access to. “Do you want specialty ingredients or something? I could get you whatever you need.”

He shakes his head. “You doubt a prodigy of potions will acquire specialty ingredients on his own? No, I have plenty at my disposal. I’m thinking of something else.”

She nods, looking at how serious but relaxed his facial expression is. He knows exactly what he wants and she can tell he isn’t leaving without having his way. “What can I do to pay you back Garreth?”

He raises his brows with a smirk, pointing down at the floor in front of him and suddenly she gets it. He wants a sexual favor in trade. Her mind reels for a moment, she can’t say she hasn’t imagined doing this for him before so it surprises her that it’s what he wants too.

She doesn’t hesitate as she slides out of her chair and onto her knees in front of him. His body and robes block the view of anyone passing by the shelves they are crammed between, which makes her feel a bit better as she undoes his belt.

He simply slides the vial into the breast pocket of his robe, watching as she undoes his trousers. A wave of arousal from the sight makes his cock twitch to life and begin to swell.

Her on her knees in front of him, even in a public place like this, he’s imagined it so many times before but actually having it happen makes him bite the inside of his cheek.

She finally pulls his cock free, watching as it swells in her hand. She looks up at his hooded eyes before giving a tentative lick starting from the base and ending just below his tip. He groans softly and a small shine of precum beads at his tip.

She licks her lips before dipping her head to taste it. He sighs, watching her contemplate his taste before closing her lips around his tip and sucking in a way that has him seeing stars. He watches her bob her head, slowly working more of him inside while she sucks torturously.

He can tell he’s too much for her mouth but that doesn’t stop her from trying. Her lips feel so good wrapped around him, especially when she slides them up and down his length and doing whatever the hell that suction thing is.

In all his times imagining this, he’d never imagined it feeling this good. He can’t help but want more, desiring to hear her to choke on his cock for all the extra work he’s done for her. “Come on. You can go deeper than that.”

Her eyes flick up to meet his. He can tell she sees this as a challenge when she suddenly takes him all the way, opening up her throat till her lips meet the base of his ginger curls.

He bites back a groan, hand coming up to fist into her hair as he whispers just loud enough for her to hear. “Oh Merlin, yes. Just like that. Wanna see you gag on it.”

He holds her there till she does gag, doing her best to cough silently when it becomes too much. He pulls her back, unable to hold back a groan as her stringy spit clings to his cock and her watery eyes flick up to his.

He can’t help but love the way she looks, eyes glassy from choking on him, cheeks red from embarrassment, and chest heaving as she struggles to breathe. “I should have made you suck my cock so much sooner. You look like you were made for it.”

[tiffany-loves-broadway]

Someone on Reddit asked me what my major problems with Ward were. I figured I might as well port the comment over here; it's been a while since I've written a substantial Ward Bad post. Recommendation: don't read Ward.

---

It would probably be quicker to list things I didn't have problems with. I spent most of the story giving it the benefit of the doubt because I liked Worm enough that I assumed it was leading up to something good that would justify the buildup. As the story continued that became less and less likely, and as it wound down to a close I realized after nearly two million words that it wasn't going to happen. I would probably have wound up sour about it even if the final arc had been individually decent instead of the worst thing I've ever read from Wildbow.

The characters are good. Not better than Worm's like many say, but good. Wildbow's still pretty good at creating character backstories, whether they're major or minor.

The plot is bad. This includes the character arcs, which are bad. I think about this when people say that it's a better character piece than Worm.

The setting is bad. Worm's world feels like a living place; Wildbow spent many years conceiving of it. Ward's world feels improvised by someone who really doesn't want to be doing a Worm sequel.

The themes are bad. Worm handles its themes with great artistry and nuance; Ward handles them dumbly with a sledgehammer. Its message is bad; Worm had an unreliable narrator who was frequently corrupt and made dubious ethical decisions, while Ward has a hyperreliable narrator who Wildbow is terrified to allow to be wrong, which is especially a problem because she is often meaningfully in the wrong.

The callbacks to Worm are bad. Unfortunately, one of them is the protagonist (bad). The return of the Undersiders to central character status is particularly terrible. It's commonly said that Ward isn't a sequel to Worm, because it's a new story with new characters. In that sense, I didn't want a sequel to Worm, I wanted exactly the thing people say Ward is, a new story with new characters. I just wish that the ties it did have to Worm felt less like contrived trade-ins on fan nostalgia. I really could have done with less of them period.

The writing process was bad, and Wildbow has acknowledged this. The story constantly insecurely shifted to the whims of the crowd, contorting itself in a clumsy attempt to respond to misguided feedback or settle dumb fandom arguments. If you could go back in time and convince Wildbow to sever contact with his entire fandom while writing Ward, it would almost certainly have turned out better one way or another.

The individual plot arcs' endings were bad. Wildbow basically never really knew how to transition from one arc to the next; he frequently cut an arc short because the loudest fans were getting bored of it, and it fucking showed.

The final arc of the story was terrible. Artistically terrible and even ethically terrible. A culmination of every single other problem listed here. It is hard to convey how terrible it is without spoiling it. It felt like something you'd see in a documentary about a Heaven's Gate style cult as one of their pieces of rambling religious material distributed to members. And Wildbow apparently had no fucking idea what he was doing; asleep at the wheel on the freeway, suddenly swerving at the last moment away from death and into standard Ward-style triteness. It isn't surprising that he considers the end of Ward the low point of his career, or that it made him consider quitting writing. It showed.

All around, it was bad.

[dballzposting]

If Gohan never met Videl then he never would have secured that sort of intimate relationship. He likely would have remained a bachelor for life, or the alternative is that he would have married some girl just to make her happy. It would not have been the partnership of equals and mutual-understanding-of-madness that he has with Videl.

If Videl never met Gohan then she still would have eventually entered the dating scene and she would have gotten married, but it would have undoubtedly been a dynamic that places her as more Formidable than her husband. She is of a prestigious name and she would still be one of the strongest humans on the planet; and she is still damn quick, clever, observant, insightful, and deep. Hence, she is destined to be the "bigger" one in any relationship. Cooler, smarter, richer, stronger, more beautiful, more worth it, more fair, etc.

If she were in a relationship and her partner duly accused her of acting like she is better than he is, then all her convictions regarding equality and justice go on the back burner for a moment - because YES, she IS better than you, WHY are you getting sore about it when you knew that going in? She is not wanting to FLAUNT it or HOLD it over you, but - don't ACCUSE her, like it's a character flaw, when she is simply behaving in line with the truth! More pertinently - it is much more how others treat HER than it is how she treats HERSELF. If you don't want her being the one who wears the pants in the relationship, then maybe don't subtly subvert to her or fear her?

So, in all her relationships - and in her ultimate theoretical marriage with someone who isn't Gohan - she is the one in the big dog seat. And she's content with that, the way that one is content smoking a cigar on a third-story balcony overseeing a lovely estate. But it's not everything. And it's not perfectly satisfying. Maybe she would come to grow complacent in her father's riches and in the world's admiration. But there are still "truths" in the world that have yet to make sense to her. She can socialize with city scholars all she wants, but all their research and philosophizing doesn't cover the mysteries of the world - such as the strangers who appeared to fight Cell, such as the bizarre entrants in the 21st through 23rd world tournaments. Real life and mysterious things originate in rural corners, it seems - and she won't get answers living in one city.

This is why Gohan and Videl are so perfect for each other .... Without Videl, Gohan never would have found anyone who would really connect with his inner world and could support him, whom he could trust to tell it all to, who would be strong enough to digest it. Without Gohan, Videl would have been doomed to a life of elevated status, and her fiercely inquisitive spirit perhaps never would have found relief.

That last detail is proof enough that Videl and Gohan would have eventually found each other in any timeline, honestly - I don't want to believe that Videl could stay complacent her whole life. At some point she would honor her doubts and embark on a journey for answers. She would have a satchel full of conspiracy theories and a burning drive to figure out which ones are bullshit and which ones are trustworthy accounts.

Gohan & Videl are able to have a partnership of equals and I really don't know if they could have settled to try to forge that with anyone else.

With Gohan, Videl gets to experience what it's like to have a partner who excels (or serves to rival her) in her native trades - fighting and intellect.

Otherwise, Videl would of course TRY to build people up and pursue a relationship of equals, but in the end - she is just the most competent, so why doesn't she just go on ahead and do everything, huh? Do all the conflict-navigation, all the thinking, all the paying.

But since Gohan is COMPETENT, she is free to relax a little and not be such a hard ass. After Videl begins her friendship with Gohan, we see her change - she acts more goofy, she smiles and laughs more, she does the silly Saiyaman thing with him, she wears cute outfits. This is a joy that she may not gotten to experience otherwise! At Videl's debut, she wears straight-forward clothes and a serious demeanor. She is young enough to believe in justice but not old enough to know what real reform would look like; she's young enough to not know herself but old enough to pretend that she does. She is authoritative and opinionated enough to assume responsibility of the world and of others, and that assertiveness treats her well, but there's a lot she doesn't know yet - one of which being how to chill out! But how could she, when at the back of her mind, the world doesn't make sense and her father feels like a liar.

Gohan has a lot of book smarts, but like, NO working experience with anythign other than saving the world. Videl is still and will always be a better judge of people and a better navigator of any social institution. For an example I don't know if Gohan has ever been to a bank before

Gohan is genuinely kind of goofy in his soul, and he can be a genius at battle strategy, but he also misses some pretty big patterns sometimes. He and Videl are able to be equals becasue while they ae both excellent students of the world and are always thinking, not one is smartER than the other. Videl has a searing intellect and I think as she ages is able to connect observations across psychical-emotional-spiritual lines and make meaning of them. Gohan is good at quoting sources at you, and Videl is good at telling you the perspective that is the most helpful at this current time and that will get you home fastest. Not that she doesn't love being the devil's advocate. I mean it's in the name

My take on Videl is that the side of her that functions in the world is sharp and decisive and observant; and the side of her that deals with people is kind and feminine and considerate and forgiving (naive in youth, brave with age); and the side of her that is romantic and intimate is like ... a dark bloody ocean. She likes Gohan becasue he is so goofy but underneath there is Madness NOT OF THIS EARTH yet necessarily, LOYALLY, tethered to this planet's surface. He is experienced and emotionally intelligent enough to have sharp eyes and wise conversations with her, and the nuances of his soul are so DREADFUL and DISTURBING like the sporadic pattern of poisonous berries on the stem - something is just Off. He is beautiful and kind and insightful, but at times necessarily daft to remove himself from obligation of feeling - and I think that Videl deeply needs something wicked and raw like that to connect to. She needs to be FASCINATED in order to satiate her inquisitive spirit. She needs to not just love, but to fixate on. She needs to dig her hands into some guts and find something of worth and only for her eyes.

I think that this is just the nature and expression of her libidinal energies, and Gohan & Videl are able to have a platonic soul bond on top of that which is just so awesome for them ... they really Get Each Other and it was the best outcome that they found each other when they did. It was a crux for both of them; Videl coming up on a disillusionment for the lies she's been told, and Gohan coming up on the prospect of becoming visible to peers. Gohan came to Videl with answers, and Videl came to Gohan with an unremitting stare.

SUCH BEAUTOFUL STUFF. Very grateful

[open-at-the-close]

Initial thoughts after reading HOFAS

There is a shit ton of information in this book and I had a lot of feelings and I'm sure I forgot plenty of things throughout the 800+ pages, but here's a start.

SPOILERS AHEAD.

First things first: all hail motherfucking Ruhn. Ruhn is hands down, without a doubt, my favorite character ever written by sjm. Honestly, he's my favorite character ever written by anyone at this point. He is the absolute best, kindest, best brother and friend anyone could ever ask for. There were moments that I feared for his life. I thought I was going to throw up when Baxian bit off his fucking hand, and when the prince of hel said he was selected as the one to die I vowed to never read another sjm book if he didn't make it. Phew, glad we dodged that one guys because I don't know if I could have upheld that claim. But seriously, this book only made me love him more and I'm thrilled at his happy ending.

On that note, basically everyone made it through this book. I mean yeah, Cormac sacrificed himself and that was sad, and jessiba traded her life, but I mean she had 15 thousand years. Everyone I care about and their friends and family made it. I am shocked. I fully expected Tharion, Baxian, maybe Ithan, or either Flynn or Declan to die. And I was bracing myself for the heartache, but they literally all survived.

Speaking of Ithan...what the hell even was that? His storyline is so strange and roundabout to me. I already thought it was weird and unnecessary that they through him loving Bryce into CC2, then he gets offered a spot as alpha, doesn't want it.. saves the mystic wolf, fucking kills her.. tried to bring her back, turns her into a reaper.. still tries to get people to follow her, even though he doesn't want the Fendrys to lead anymore and basically everyone is hinting for him to just do it himself, but no, he doesn't want to lead...and then poof he's not just an alpha he's the fucking prime. Okay pup. I like his character, sort of, but that storyline is weird.

Where the hell was the dragon the whole book? I assume Tharion's book will be the next one and we'll get some answers on that.

Speaking of my poor little Mer. His life is depressing as hell in this book. I fully didn't expect him to make it because, man he just kept taking losses. Here's to hoping he gets a better story in the next one.

I wanted more from the world merging. I loved Az and Nesta being Az and Nesta, and I loved this book, but I was annoyed with Bryce for her entire trip there and she kept making stupid decisions that led to her being on terrible terms with them and I didn't like that. I do appreciate that her and nesta ended on better terms though.

I feel like they just casually glossed over the fact that Rhysand and Bryce are basically distant cousins. He is a descendant of one sister and Bryce is a descendant of another, and that wasn't addressed at all. Neither was the fact that Ruhn looks just like Rhysand. Maybe I'm being greedy about the world collision, but I just wanted moreee.

Speaking of world colliding if we don't get a TOG spin off out of this she is just being cruel. The shifter world. Urd = wyrd. The drawings in the caves. Lidia's son is literally named after Brannon! I mean come on. Give me the unfinished stories of TOG.

I'm sure there is more I want to say, but that's all that is coming to me at the moment. Also, in case it wasn't clear, I really really loved this book.

[bluemoose86]

Thoughts on The Woman King

Spolier-free:

First of all, I loved this movie! And so did the other two people I went with; the three of us literally talked about how we all wanted to see it again after it was over

Great fight choreography, loved getting to see a bunch of women go absolutely feral in battle without them being sexualized or still having to “look pretty.” There’s a lot of close-ups during fights of the Agojie killing people and it’s not pretty, it’s brutal and it’s fucking awesome (the movie is PG-13 though so it’s not overtly gory, which I personally appreciated)

THE ACTING???? On point the ENTIRE movie. Give Viola Davis, Thuso Mbedu, and Lashana Lynch ALL the awards RIGHT NOW. Viola Davis embodied Nanisca perfectly and was equally impressive in the epic battle scenes and in the emotionally vulnerable scenes. I’ve seen several articles talk about how this was a career performance from her, and she herself called the film her magnum opus. Lashana Lynch stole every single scene she was in. Izogie my beloved. I also enjoyed John Boyega’s portrayal of King Ghezo and Sheila Atim as Amenza

Also I literally had to do a triple take when I found out Thuso Mbedu, who plays 19 year old Nawi, is THIRTY ONE?????? SHE’S ONLY THREE YEARS YOUNGER THAN LASHANA LYNCH???? SHE’S THE SAME AGE AS SHEILA ATIM???? In other pictures she looks older but I am actually 19 and I stg when I found that out, I felt old

And still speaking of the actors, really cool how the majority of, if not all the Black actors in this movie were dark skinned, particularly the women. I read that when the movie was first being pitched, some studios wanted to cast light-skinned and well-known actresses, but the producers refused

The beginning felt a little rough to me in terms of pacing, but the movie hits its stride around the mid-point or so. And trust me, when it starts working, it works.

The script was also a bit weak sometimes, but I thought the performances made up for it

I’ve seen some people online saying the movie glorifies the slave trade or glorifies Dahomey while brushing the kingdom’s involvement in the slave trade to the side, which really confuses me because...it doesn’t? The movie opens with a text-scrolling intro à la Star Wars that literally mentions the slave trade, and several characters in the movie talk about it as well. Nanisca and King Ghezo have a conversation about how Dahomey profits from the slave trade, and how Ghezo’s brother sold their people—including his and Ghezo’s own mother—as slaves for profit. And then it gets more overt when some Portuguese men land at the port city, one of them specifically to buy slaves, and when we go into the city and LITERALLY SEE slaves being chained up, kept in cages, and brought onto the block to be sold. The movie both shows and tells you how awful the slave trade is, and how the people in the movie are impacted by it. At one point, some of the women are captured and prepped to be judged and sold and the entire process is presented as brutal and degrading. I’m seriously convinced that the people who say the movie is “glorifying slavery” have never seen it

Wanted to end this section on a good note lol so I’ll once again say IZOGIE MY BELOVED!!!!! Favorite character without a doubt, also gave off fruity vibes but y’all let me know if you picked up on that too lol

Overall, I definitely recommend this movie and I will 100% rewatch it in the future. Also this movie BETTER win some fucking Oscars or else 😤😤

Spoiler thoughts below!!

Izogie’s death scene was very well done. I kind of guessed they would end up killing her off since they really built her up as a character, but that didn’t lessen its impact at all. Lashana Lynch and Thuso Mbedu acted their asses off (as they did the whole movie, but particularly here). The actual set-up was good too: having Nawi convince her to stay alive so they could all escape together, setting her broken arm and then having to pretend like it was never broken, having her be the only one who actually escaped but deciding that Nawi was right that the Agojie should help each other and trying to go back for her, only to get killed while Nawi is begging her to keep running. Heartbreaking, but that’s what made it so good

By contrast, Nawi’s friend’s death (the Mahi prisoner, I forgot her name I’m so sorry) was not really impactful at all, beyond her dying right after being accepted by the other Agojie who had a problem with her before. I wish they had spent a little more time on both Nawi’s friends as individual characters and their relationship with each other. We barely saw Nawi interact with either of them before they became best friends, and after the Mahi girl died, neither Nawi or her other friend mourned her on screen (I know Nawi had been kidnapped at this point, but the other girl survived and wasn’t kidnapped)

I loved how Nanisca and the other Agojie went to the city intending to just rescue their own but she found out that the slave traders killed Izogie and Nawi was missing and she said “burn it to the fucking ground.” Iconic as HELL and I wish more stories would let their MC react like that

Also loved that the prisoners that Malik freed drowned the slave trader he came with. Fuck you dude

A woman literally getting to kill her abuser? We love to see it

I wish they’d brought up Nawi being an orphan a bit earlier in the movie, since it seemed like it was introduced rather suddenly after she became an Agojie. They could have pretty easily tossed in a line from her parents admonishing her for acting so terribly after they “rescued” her from the orphanage. 

I also really enjoyed Nanisca and Amenza’s relationship! I got kind of gay vibes but the only thing that was explicitly confirmed was how close they are and how much they mean to each other, which I was also happy with. I’m so glad Amenza survived the movie lol

[imogenkol]

— WIP WEDNESDAY

tagged by the lovely @inafieldofdaisies thank you! 💕

tag list (ask to be added or removed!): @adelaidedrubman @florbelles @marivenah @simonxriley @shegetsburned @voidika @v0idbuggy @kyber-infinitygems @eloquentmoon @statichvm @socially-awkward-skeleton @aceghosts @jillvalentinesday @risingsh0t @unholymilf @thedeadthree

currently jumping all over the place in my wips so here have a sneak peak of this flashback I’m working on that takes place at the end of Fallen Order

Imogen held her crimson blade to the Second Sister’s throat, halting her path of escape. She may be weaponless, but Imogen knew from their many sparring sessions that Trilla was the furthest thing from harmless without her lightsaber. If the Inquisitor made a single move Imogen did not like, her head would come off. 

“It is over,” Imogen warned.

“Pity,” Trilla mused. Despite being at a disadvantage, she didn’t appear worried in the slightest. Her eyes glittered like a hunter who just captured its dinner. “We had fun together, did we not?”

It was foolish to believe Imogen would fall for sentimentality. Even with their intimate history, she possessed no fondness for her adversary. Such emotions had no place in her heart. “You will let me destroy the Holocron, Trilla. Or I will destroy you.”

Trilla laughed darkly as if she understood a joke that Imogen did not. “No matter what you do now, you are condemned. Whether your end be today or years from now — swift or slow — it is up to you, but your fate is sealed, Fourth Sister.”

Imogen nodded. “Perhaps it is better that way.”

“How so?” she asked with a subtle tilt of her head.

“When Vader took my leg, I realized I had only traded one set of chains for another.” Imogen leaned in, the blade of her saber inching a little closer to the other woman’s skin. It hummed deeply in anticipation as its harsh light reflected in both of their eyes. “If I am condemned, then so be it. Better to live truly free until I draw my last breath than to die for another cause that has nothing to do with me.”

and because I'm in a silly goofy mood.... how about some Adhira and Shin

Adhira watched Shin skulk off and noticed a small streak of dried blood stained the platinum strands at the back of her head. After a moment of deliberation, she excused herself from Morgan’s side and decided to follow.

Though she had only known the mercenary for a short period of time, she never thought that an enemy would be lucky enough to deal any damage. Adhira felt the first twinge of doubt in the capabilities of her unusual allies. They achieved a great victory together, but the forces that worked against them were not to be underestimated. Not even ones currently bound in cuffs under the watch of Lord Baylan. 

Hot on the trail of her scorned companion, Adhira quickly diverged to retrieve a medical kit. It would serve them well to establish a small gesture of care now more than ever — in the face of the unknown. After all, there would be no turning back at this point.

Shin secluded herself in a small washroom, her gloves discarded on the counter as she struggled to assess her wound. Her fingers lightly poked at the back of her head and Adhira saw the faintest grimace cross her sharp features. 

“Allow me to get a look,” Adhira said as she approached behind her. 

Shin’s piercing eyes tracked the Nightsister’s every movement in the reflection of the mirror like a cornered predator. “Keep your witchcraft away from me.”

“It’s a medpac,” Adhira pointed out smugly as she held the kit up. “We don’t need to trust each other, but I need you at your best and you need me at mine. Or this will all be for nothing.” 

A long beat of silence passed between them before Shin dropped her intense gaze. “Be quick.”

Adhira stepped in close and set the kit down beside Shin’s gloves. After she retrieved the hand scanner, she held it close to the source of the wound and waited. A small beep notified her of the diagnosis. “The gash isn’t too deep,” she said as she read the results. “But you have a mild concussion. I can spray the wound and give you a stimulant.”

Shin nodded.

“What is to happen with our new guest?” she asked, making conversation while she treated the mercenary’s head. Adhira’s fingers gently parted Shin’s hair to get a clear view of the cut. It did not bleed too much and what little that trickled out got lost in the light waves of blonde. She dabbed it clean with antiseptic, causing Shin to tense.

“That is up to my Master,” Shin answered dutifully, though Adhira caught a hint of frustration in her curt tone.

“Will she cause problems?”

“Surely.” 

Adhira hummed thoughtfully as she used bacta spray to close the cut. “I suppose we’ll see. But if the Mandalorian stands in the way of our goal, I won’t be as foolishly merciful as your Master.”

It happened in the blink of an eye. Shin turned, snatched Adhira by the throat and pinned her to the far wall with enough force that she wondered if she might need the bacta spray next. A grunt pushed out of her lungs as the canister flew out of her hand and clattered onto the floor. Apart from that, the washroom fell completely silent. Shin glared menacingly into the Nightsister’s eyes, but fear was not the first reaction Adhira felt.

“She is mine to deal with.”

[roleplayhonestybox]

https://www.tumblr.com/roleplayhonestybox/750936243503808512/am-i-the-only-one-who-enjoys-coddling-my-partners?source=share

I'm the one that probably prompted your ask, since I sent my own asking for advice on how to deal with my partner over this issue.

I know what you mean. I love hurt/comfort. I love those situations you described, the issue is more that it's draining when nothing else happens, at least to me. Like, if you adopted a street urchin in a Victorian setting, can we have 1 scene about going out to buy nice clothes for the kid! Or, sticking with angst, a scene where your former manager from the workhouse comes to take you back and I defend my kid? Why does it have to be *only* the kid crawling into bed with me because of a nightmare, or shaking for a panic attack etc. I don't know if I put it into words? Why can't we also reverse the roles for ones, and have the adoptive parent getting sick while looking for the runaway kid on the snow, and the kid showing some support (idk stupid idea but you get my point), why does it have to be one-sided.

And I say I have an issue with it being one side because my partner always just...cry, shake, whimper. 3 actions. The burden of the scene is on me. No NPC moved by them, no ooc suggestion on how to console their character for the 5th time this week without always doing the same scene, always just the same scene that (in my case) ends with a "well deserved" smut scene where they bottom passively and get fussed over. If your partner handles it better, I have no doubt that you enjoy taking care of other characters, because I find it enjoyable too under the right circumstances!

In my case it was about a guy who was coming out a slave trade situation, and my character is a fantasy vigilante of sorts. We agreed on rolling out an investigation in the plot to kick the slaver's butt, having my character hurt during it etc, but it never seems like the moment to my partner, and she started to add a lot of awful things that happened to her character to add trauma and more scenes of me consoling her character because everything triggers him now. So yeah we agreed on a plot, touchè, but I'm just really bad at saying I don't want to add another scene about another trauma.

What really bothers me too is that her character was heavily traumatised in canon and didn't act like this, shaking and crying all the time, he was one of those "hide pain with sarcasm" types. So idk, this bothers me too.

.

[keepcalmandshrugorsomething]

Unfinished Fanfic Idea

So I got this idea in the middle of the day and I just sort of wrote it but not really? It took me like 2 hours. There's over 3000 words. And it kind of phases in and out between my rambling self-dialogue and the actual story. So. If anyone out there is interested, feel free to write it. Properly, I mean. Just. Yeah. And send me a link to the fic. I'd like to read it. (To be honest anything would be better than I stuff I managed to write.)

--

In all the MCU time travel fanfics where someone went back in time to stop Thanos, Tony's always the one chosen to do it. Either it's just Tony, or it's Tony and Stephen and then they make it Ironstrange. 

Personally, I think it unlikely Stephen would bring Tony back with him. Given how hard Tony would be to handle and control and how tempted he'd be to change things. Stephen on the other hand, was willing to die countless painful deaths to stop Dormammu and without recognition. Tony is selfless, much more than Stephen, but at the same time he has too much compassion. Stephen is bother line sociopathic without how great he is at distancing himself and blocking out emotional shit. I mean, the man just watched these people die some number under fourteen million times. And he's willing to trade their lives on a bet that Tony Stark would bring the back? Yeah, I don't think Tony would've handled that after knowing Peter was going to die.

I think Stephen might have been able to do the forbidden and go back in time, but I doubt he'd bring Tony. For another thing, if Tony acts any different, his company would be affected and his company affects the world. Tony's changes in behavior are not as insignificant as a celebrity surgeon who was known for being an asshole either way. So. Yeah.

Now, Stephen goes back in time. Where does he go? How far does he go? Given that he only saw the future, he might think that by not being on Titan, a possible victorious timeline might emerge. So he does that. He goes back in time to try, again and again. He's almost sick of saying: "Tony Stark, my name is Stephen Strange. I need you to come with me." Again and again and again. The Battle of Wakanda has been fought thousands of times, in his mind, at least, as the Time Stone plays in out before his eyes in the privacy of his room where Wong could not discover his breaking the natural order. 

He gives up at 10 million, when the differences started to become more and more insignificant. When the wind blowing somebody's hair at the right time. Or Stephen choosing to run to Kamar Taj as  opposed to fighting Ebony Maw and the hammer guy.

Regardlessly, after watching Tony Stark grow old and die with his wife, best friend, daughter and son-in-law and in his bed was getting kind of sick for Stephen. He started to wonder if he wasn't looking far enough. He decided that the end point would be when even Tony Stark of all people had given up on finding a way. At least, given up for real. 

So Stephen goes further back. He starts wondering just what he could change. Stark said he couldn't contact Vision because he ran off, yeah? Well, Maybe Stephen can prevent that. If they got in contact with Vision earlier... When who knows what might have happened with another infinity stone in play?

...Except he didn't expect why exactly did Stark's synthetic-bot-human-thingy-guy decided to run off. With Maximoff, seriously??

The bot really could have done better than that.  Well, then again, he's only several years old. 

So now Stephen tries to stop the Avengers from splitting up at all. He's finally gone back far enough that he sees the Ancient One again. And she warns him: 

"This is a slippery slope you're going down, Stephen. The consequences of your actions increase the further you go into the past."

But what choice does Stephen have? He uses the mirror dimension to spy on the Avengers in the Avengers' Compound. He finds out about the Sokovia Accords. He watches as Steve Rogers break Tony's armor. Watches as Bucky Barnes, confused and still amnesiac, follows his best friend to Wakanda and request to be put on ice, the image of what he and Steve had done to the last Stark haunting him. 

There is nothing he can do. The Avengers were always slated to break, always fractured. They were never a truly cohesive team. They trusted each other' with their lives on the field, but not their secrets or their true selves. Toney wore the facade of the genius playboy, Steve forced himself to act like the Captain America of the legends, unsure if that was who he truly was and what he was supposed to be. Not understanding that he was Steve Rogers not Captain America. (Tony was right, later Stephen would think, everything special about Rogers came from a bottle. Bravery means nothing if one was an idiot. It would only be stupidity.) 

So Stephen goes further into the past and tries to prevent Ultron, prevent the Sokovia Accords, prevent the breaking of the Avengers. He contains and Scepter with the subtlest magics he could, hoping against hope that the Asgardians would not notice and if they did, decide that it as only a Midgardian sorcerer who allied with the Avengers and not that they there was no foul play. Disaster averted, Stephen withdrew from the timeline and returned to his set point- on Titan. When Thanos comes, he has Mind. Time was the last stone. Loki had given it to Thanos. And Tony was not able to steer the ship from its course and their crash land meant that it was destroyed. The Guardians of the Galaxy were utterly useless, as Thanos was waiting, not coming. He took advantage of Tony's distraction and sent himself back once more. 

He had to keep the stone on Earth. If it went to Asgard, that meant Loki would steal it and later be forced to give it to Thanos when he threatens Thor's life. 

So now what was Stephen to do? At this point, almost half a decade before Thanos' arrival, there are so many possibilities that even with an eidetic memory, he wouldn't be able to remember them all. On Titan, there were fourteen million possibilities. With so much time in between now, the number would have to be in the trillions, at least. If he attempted to see more, he might just lose his mind. 

Stephen broods and for the first time since his frantic tampering of time, he rests. He broke into his old penthouse while his current self was in a particularly challenging surgery and breaks out one of his old wines. For the first time, he indulges and lets himself just... fall. The Ancient One appears, after his second glass. Stephen's not particularly inebriated, having an admirable tolerance to alcohol. The Ancient One watches him as he sips the fine wine, overlooking the New York skyline, illuminated by lights.

"Go back, Stephen." She tells him.

He laughs, "And what? Surrender to fate or something?"

His mentor miles indulgently, "Yes. Surrender to the flow of time and trust that everything would end peacefully. We swore to uphold the natural laws, did we not?"

"Ha!" Stephen laughs again, "You're one to talk! You've only lived for so long because you've been siphoning energy off the Dark Dimension! What part of that is natural? I have to do this. I've got to. If half of all living beings die-" Stephen cut himself off. "I may have been called a fucking sociopath but I've not as- as cold- not crazy enough to just let trillions and Vishanti knows how much people die!"

"The choice is not yours to make," she says.

Stephen didn't even let her finish before sending her through a portal with a twitch of his fingers and a sweep of his arm and a "FUCK OFF!"

He breaks down, the strain of living so many years without any mental support or confidant or anything weighed heavily on his mind. His soul. 

When Stephen Strange with the steady hands returns to his apartment, everything was in its original place and only a single bottle of wine gone. No matter, Stephen Strange with the unmarred hands believes that he must have drunk it one day and disposed of it. His eidetic memory did not extend to when inebriated. 

Stephen wonders since when did using the Time Stone feel so much like using his magic normally. It's like the Stone's become an extension of himself... Like it's accepted him. The Time Stone's become familiar over the years in his time loop in the Dark Dimension, but time loop is different from traveling in time. He wonders if he can now use the time Stone's abilities without even being in contact with it . He wondered if he could touch the Stone with his bare hands and not die from the power of it. According to the legends, the Stones had to be handled with care, or it would turn on you, it overwhelming power running through yours veins. 

The Power Stone was rumored to be able to explode anyone who held it. The Reality Stone to slowly kill whomever it merged with. The Mind Stone to take control of one's mind and destroy your sanity. The Time Stone to revert your age to before you were born. The Space Stone to teleport one to an unknown place in the universe. As for the Soul Stone... well, no one even knows where it was. 

Stephen wondered... Well, what's he got to lose? He opened the Eye of Agammotto n and the Stone floated out of the Eye. He reaches and as his fingers curled around the green gem-

Stephen finds himself back on Titan. In his original timeline. He wonders if there was anything he could possibly do to stop Thanos. Or if the Ancient One was right...

But then he looks around. "Where's Stark?" He asks Peter Quill. "Or the other Peter- Peter Parker?"

"Hey, man, you just... did whatever you were doing... you looked like you were having a seizure..." 

"I'm fine." Stephen tell him, "Now where is Iron Man and Spider-Man?"

"What are you talking about?" Quill asks him. "Iron Man, what kind of name is that?"

"No... Stephen whispered under his breath. Memories from this timeline- the result of a single bottle of wine drunk... The Butterfly Effect... Tony Stark was dead.

"How-? No..." Without warning, he grasped the Eye and sent himself once more, back in time. He now realizes that he must make changes, but at the same time, Tony Stark's habit of putting himself in dangerous situation and coming out by the skin of his teeth and some serious luck meant that only a little change was needed to kill the man. So Stephen sends himself back in time once more, this time, he would keep the man safe and unharmed.

He had to go further back, much further than before. There was only one way. He had to use the Time Stone directly. The Eye restricted the power of the Time Stone to prevent the death of the user, but now that his drunk ass has already proven that the Time Stone would not kill him...

Stephen finds himself in his younger body. He knows so because his hands are steady and unmarred. His chest bore no signs of being stabbed through the heart. His head held no pain from the needles the Maw had put through. He felt... good. 

He also had no sling ring or anything. The only thing in his possession from the future was a glowing green stone in his hand. The green light shone from between his fingers and he feels a little power-drunk. Or just normal drunk. Because he's at a party. In his tux. And there's a champagne glass between the fingers of his left hand and his stead hands did not let the glass fall even when Stephen finds himself jumped back in time. A single blink and Stephen easily slipped back into his old behavior. The smooth, arrogant surgeon. The one everyone sought after because of his perfect record. And the one who turned away surgeries of no prestige or challenge. For a second, his future humility peeked through and he grimaced, before dropping the Stone into his pockets. Then he blinked and the half-smile was back on his face. He takes a sip of the champagne and watches the room. Wait- Was that Tony Stark? 

Jackpot. 

Stephen takes a deep breath before dropping of his glass to stroll over to the other genius' side at the bar. 

"What's a handsome guy like you doing at a party like this?" Stark asks.

The response was almost automatic as Stephen beings to panic in the deep recesses of his mind. The flirting was almost autopilot as Stephen beings to weigh the pros and cons of sleeping with Tony Stark. For one thing, Stark was notorious for never seeing a former lover again. For another, if he dated Stark, he could keep him alive and ensure that the Avengers would not split much more easily. 

He's not completely present as he tells Stark about the surgery that landed him in this party of old, rich men. 

"Then shouldn't you be out smoozing and landing yourself your next gig?"

Stephen smiled, "Too easy. I don't have to go to them, they'll come to me if they need me. After all, I am the best."

At his display of arrogance, Stark's own arrogance shone through. They trade barbs and snarky comments before Stark offers to show him his lab. Stephen agrees. He's still not sure if Stark wanted to fuck him or just genuinely wanted to see what he could do with his tech but Stephen will take what he can get. Becoming an acquaintance of the man was the first step to a friendship. He only needs to be friends with the man to affect his actions. And his actions could result in saving the universe. 

So Stephen agrees. 

So yeah, Stephen agrees to years of friendship and eventually falling in love with Tony, except after he meets Pepper he realizes what kind of future he was taking away from the man if he did so and he couldn't pursue a relationship with him. Until Tony started initiating a relationship. Honestly, never mind. It's just they get together and they fight Thanos. They've built a little family of three, the two of them and Peter Parker, their adopted son. Stephen fails to keep the Avengers together, either way. To be honest, he wasn't sure if he wanted to have Steve Rogers around Tony after he remembers the Siberian bunker where Stephen witness the end of the Avengers silently. On Titan, Stephen looks forward to see the futures and he finds. 

There was no victory. He watches fifteen million futures. Then sixteen. Then seventeen. He doesn't notice as his nose begins to bleed and Tony's coaxing him out of the trance. 

"Stephen, baby, you're okay. I'm here. You're here. You're okay."

Stephen's gasping, holding back the tears the's desperate to escape. Every future he sees, they lose and their family is torn apart. 

"Tony... I've seen seventeen million futures." He swallows, "We don't win. We just... don't."

An orange portal, sparkling, appears before him. He remembers suddenly, of his mentor appearing in a ring of orange sparks to tell him that it was time for him to fight Dormammu and become the Sorcerer supreme. And like before, the Ancient One steps through. "Stephen."

"...Master."

"I've told you, in a future you erased, that you must let go. That you must trust in fate. Do you see now?"

Stephen swallows and tears fall from his eyes. "Yes, I- Master-" He says brokenly before she envelopes him in a hug. Tony's hovering over the Ancient one's shoulder. 

"Go back, Stephen. And let go. Surrender to the universe."

"It's not about you."

With tears rolling down his cheeks, Stephen takes the Time Stone and then he falling. Falling into Tony Sark's arms. 

"Hey, doc, you're okay."

He tells Tony Stark- This Tony Stark who's engaged to Pepper Potts, whose Peter lived with May Parker, who never met him, Stephen Strange, up until several hours ago. 

With a heavy heart, Stephen outlines a plan, a plan that he has no idea would succeed or not. Above all else, he keeps Tony Stark alive, because Tony Stark was the only one to ever come close to saving the universe. 

"Tony, it was the only way."

He wasn't sure who he was talking to, this Tony or his Tony from another lifetime. But he knows that it didn't matter. Because it wasn't about him. He feels himself turn to dust but all he felt was peace. 

When Peter Parker blames him for Tony's death at his funeral, he says, "I know. I have tried everything to save him. I even traveled back in time to the past to change everything. But we either lose and half the universe is dusted or Tony is dusted or... or this. You know, in another timeline, I met Tony, more than ten years ago. We fell in love. I loved him. We adopted a child. A boy named Peter who loved to watch my operations and Tony's tinkering. But in that universe I watched seventeen million futures until I almost blacked out. There was no victorious ending in any of those timelines. We just don't win. So I came back. I put my faith in the universe that it would guide us to a way to win. And it did. But Tony dies. Every time. But that's alright, Peter. Because it's not about us. It's about the universe. About he greater good." Stephen turns around to find that Peter was crying as much as he was. Except that Stephen's eyes were resigned and sad, but accepting. Peter's were horrified and grieving. "I've lost more than you know, Peter. But it's fine. Because the universe comes first. Our suffering does not compare to the suffering of the entire universe. We chose this, to sacrifice ourselves and hurt those around us to protect others, This is what it means to be a hero, Peter. I'm sorry, for all it's worth."

Peter let out a cry and a chocked, "Doctor Strange-" before launching himself at the man and buried his face in Stephen's chest and cried. Sobbed. Stephen embraced the boy. His arms arranged easily around the boy, his movements practiced, even though not in this world. They stood there, the father and son duo that could have been, mourning a great man that they both lost. 

[the-restricted-section]

I've decided that whenever this blog gets hate I'm going to write a drabble with Sirona in it!

Gen, 1,138, Sirona + MC (Dylan Fairchild) - Dylan tries to thank Sirona for her help against Rookwood

Dylan stood outside of Floriblunders' Florist, dithering and trying desperately not to appear like they were. After all, it wouldn't due to have the "Hero of Hogsmeade" - as one inebriated gentlemen had hailed them - looking like a fool outside a flower shop. Maybe it was better to just order something by owl? Or better yet, forget this whole, impulsive idea. 

Problem was, Dylan may not have remembered much about their mother, but they did recall the early lesson dolled out during mealtimes, or out on the street, or whenever another child had been cruel to them: be kind, even when it's hard. It simply didn't feel right, approaching another for a favor without something to offer in turn, especially when they'd already done Dylan a kindness. Merlin, Sirona might have saved their life. Picking up flowers for her seemed like the very least they could do. 

But how did you even ask for that? "Good afternoon! I'd like a bouquet that says, 'Thank you for running off the goblin-aligned Dark Wizard last month and do you mind if I interrogate you for contacts?'" 

Dylan snorted, the imagined look on the florist's face nearly worth it. But they shook their head. A quick Tempus showed that it would be dark soon and though the Three Broomsticks would be open late into the night, the last thing they wanted was to bring Ranrok up in a crowd. No, better to do this before the regulars came shambling in. With a shake of their head Dylan pasted on a smile, hefted a rather absurd number of galleons, and pointed to the first, impressive-looking flowers as they came through the door. 

Well, it was the thought that counts, right? Besides, if Sirona hated it, they could always repurpose... whatever these were for potion ingredients. No doubt Professor Sharp would have something useful up his sleeve.

Only vaguely satisfied with Plan B, Dylan made their way down the cobblestone streets, trying to navigate around the massive arrangement. The florist had been thrilled at the purchase - something about bandits interrupting trade supplies and harming business. Dylan made a mental note to look into it - and had included some rather beautiful paper for free, complete with an intricately tied bow. The end result was bigger than Dylan's head though and it was a relief to shoulder into the Three Broomsticks, setting the bouquet on the counter with a huff. 

Sirona was there, one eyebrow creeping into her hair as she surveyed the small garden on her bar. 

"Well, hello there. Who's the lucky person?" 

"You." 

Dylan laughed. Okay, they may not have been able to rattle the florist, but Sirona was even better. They hadn't known her long, but already Dylan liked her no-nonsense attitude wrapped around this warm, comforting center. They knew from experience that Sirona would gut anyone who threatened her patrons - let alone her friends - and that was more reassuring than all the Hogwarts residents who had shot Dylan well-meaning, but ultimately hesitant smiles. That probably would have been just fine for an average student, but they'd learned hard and fast that they needed to cultivate a stronger support network. 

Unfortunately, Sirona looked as if she regretted ever letting Dylan through the door. "Look, kid, I can't in good conscious say I'm flattered, but--" 

Dylan laughed again, gesturing like they were swatting away a particularly bothersome fly. "It's just a gift, Sirona. A 'thank you' for helping me out last time I was here. Nothing more, but nothing less either." 

"Oh." Her whole body relaxed at those words, a small, self-deprecating smile gracing her lips. "In that case, they're beautiful." With a wave of her wand Sirona summoned a vase filled with water, the bouquet unwrapping in midair to settle in its new home. Dylan hummed in appreciation. Not just at the magic, but the vase itself. They wouldn't say that the Three Broomsticks was ugly by any means, but it was... homey; well-worn like your favorite pair of boots after years of travel. Dylan was no connoisseur, but the detailed crystal now catching the light appeared to be of an excellent quality.

Sirona noticed the look. "My mother's," she said dryly. "I've got a whole closet of her disgustingly extravagant stuff. Everything that doesn't fit in the house anymore, even with the extension charms."

"That's funny, I was thinking about my own mother when I bought this."

"Did she teach you about flowers? These are very well chosen."

"Uh..."

Sirona paused in rearranging the bouquet, her eyes narrowing at Dylan's sheepish expression. "Don't tell me you chose this at random?"

"Well..." Odd, had it gotten hotter in the Three Broomsticks? Dylan rubbed at the back of their neck, looking around, sure that the crowd must have grown... but no. There were actually fewer people than when they'd first walked in. They gave an awkward cough. "Sorry?"

Sirona just huffed; not quite a laugh, but close enough. "What are your divination grades like? I'd wager you have at least a mild touch of The Sight if you were really drawn to these without realizing. Let's see... transformation," she said, pointing to collection of calla lilies. "Rather fitting for me, hmm? Pink roses to express gratitude, and yellow for friendship..." Sirona dipped down to breathe deeply, seeming to savor their scent, and Dylan found themselves sinking into a feeling of contentment. Yes, that was all quite appropriate.

"And these?" they asked, fingering the petals of a deep purple flower; so deep as to almost be--

"The black dahlia," Sirona said, her eyes snapping open. They zeroed in on Dylan. "They herald coming danger."

...oh.

Dylan swallowed. "Right. Okay. I... well. I think it's already here."

From the dragon that had emerged from the clouds, to the shifty wizards populating Hogsmeade's streets, it seemed that everywhere Dylan went danger was dogging their steps, to the point where they couldn't even settle in to study without their wand in one hand and a Wiggenweld in easy reach. It's not as if they'd thought that danger would suddenly disappear, but hearing that their premonition to Professor Onai might be true after all...

"You know," Dylan said, swallowing, "my Divination grades are very good."

The look Sirona shot them said the joke had fallen flat, but she nevertheless turned and pulled them two mugs of butterbeer. After sliding one over - giving Dylan something to do with their hands, thank Merlin - she plucked one of the dahlias from the vase, snapped the stem, and tucked the flower into the buttonhole of Dylan's jacket, her movements determinedly furious.

"Own it," she said, clinking their mugs so that the foam went flying. "Let the danger come. You've got friends to face it with."

That's all they'd ever wanted.

Mustering up a shaky smile, Dylan toasted to the future.

[electricbluebutterflies]

Jess/Leto + “i can’t be around you.”

Late-era, PG-ish, also on ao3.

Every time he breaks her heart is the strongest proof that she has one.

They’re not good at this, Jessica thinks sometimes, neither one of them made for long-term emotional attachment but trying anyways, trying and giving themselves just enough structure to account for their respective personalities, trying and-

She knows no harm was meant. She still heard what he said. This is not going to be an easy hole for that man to climb out of.

The worst part is she knows how it must’ve sounded in his head, how a comment about how icy she still is after all these years even in their most private spaces was probably supposed to just be about how her skin runs cold, not about anything she may or may not do in bed, and then it just… got out of hand, got interpreted wrong, and he didn’t bother to correct. Didn’t make it worse, she’ll give him that, but other people did and-

Intent is not enough. Not on this level.

She paces the room she barely uses, paces and waits for an apology she knows is coming and doubts she’ll accept just yet. It’s rare for her to sleep separately but she’s going to tonight, she’s going to make her displeasure as clear as she can in every way she can, she’s going to-

A knock on the door, a familiar heartbeat on the other side. Let the fun begin.

Jessica is not normally petty for the pleasure of it, she would like to point out, and she’s ignored worse over the years if something else had otherwise occupied her mind, but right now she has time to be irritated, right now she has time to-

“What do you want?” Not the most affectionate thing she could say to her partner of fourteen years, but in her mood…

“So you heard that.”

Perceptive as a sea slug, that man. She wonders sometimes what he’d do without her – nightmare fuel, sometimes, and even now her loyalty is not in question, even now-

“I hear everything,” she replies, trying to keep her tone even. “And you don’t speak of me often. Perhaps it’s better that way.”

She knows expressions of adoration are just as common – more likely to be said to other people than directly to her, she reminds herself, and that’ll be another dart she can throw if she needs it – but this is not the first time something came out wrong and it won’t be the last and-

“You know I-“

“Do you realize how that makes it worse?” Jessica steadies herself against the half-open door, all these emotions she should be able to control better, all these wounds in her heart that she can’t-

“You’re going to scream it at me anyways, so-“

A deep breath and what she hopes is an effectively dark look. “We are well past screaming. And you know I don’t do anything that might be noticed.”

“Have you considered that may be part of the problem? You’re always so cold and-“

“Do not use that word. Not right now.”

Does he even know how easy she is to hurt? She knows she hides it too well, internalizes everything and makes it into an acceptable trade for the warmth and freedom she has been given, but she still-

“I wasn’t thinking. Is that what you want to hear?”

It should be, she knows. It’s as much as she’s likely to get right now. But she’s tired of their habits, tired of settling for good-enough and good intentions, tired and-

Jessica shuts the door, needing the physical barrier before she caves in too easily, aware they can still have a conversation she’s not sure she wants through it. “I can’t be around you right now,” she murmurs. “I can’t let myself get distracted and-“

“I distract you that much?”

“I know you. You’ll reach for my hands and I’ll let you, and I’ll end up forgetting-“

“Is that such a bad way to resolve our difficulties?”

“It does remind me why I love you, but-“

“Then what do you want? You’ve never needed promises or-”

Never thought anything she asked for would stick, more like, and never felt desperate enough to use her powers to change that as she probably should’ve, and-

“You’re better than this. I wouldn’t be wounded if I didn’t have faith in you.”

This is why she’s still here on the other side of the door, this is why she tries, this is why she knowingly and deliberately ruined her life for him, this is why she-

“You don’t know what you want,” her partner interprets.

“I want you to be everything you are capable of being. That’s all I’ve ever wanted. And that includes being more-“

“You know I only meant-“

“If you could never discuss how my skin feels again, that would be appropriate for our positions.”

“There. An actual request. How hard was that?”

“I don’t know how much I trust you to stand by it, but-“

“You never ask for things, how would you know-“

“I have my reasons.”

He’s unusually quiet for a few moments, but she can still hear his heartbeat, still the calming presence she’s let him become. There are limits, today more than usual, but-

“You know I adore you.”

“Still not going to make me unlock the door.”

“I do deserve that. Good reminder not to…”

This will all happen again, both of them know that, at some point a few months from now. It always does. She makes herself too good, too cold and proud and poised, and he forgets she even has weaknesses, and-

“We’ll be back to normal tomorrow,” she says, and it will, and she will forgive as she always does by that nightfall if sleep doesn’t take her frustration. “You know I don’t… I don’t keep the petty cruelties close. I can’t. It would destroy me.”

She knows none of this is intentional. She knows a deep commitment was made, at some point earlier than she will ever know, to try to do right by her. If the follow-through isn’t always there…

“Try to rest, love. Don’t spend half the night thinking of all the ways you aren’t brave enough to threaten me.”

Jessica laughs, for a moment just a little calmer. “Bravery isn’t the issue, and I haven’t even tried to threaten you in… longer than I can remember, if I ever-“

“There was that one time…”

“That knife probably wasn’t meant for you.”

“Still not sure what comfort that ought to be, but-“

“You need to rest too. If you can, without me.”

He doesn’t reply, and she hears footsteps depart, and… this is how she knows she has a heart, she thinks, because it breaks every damn time something happens and mends itself together the same way. Because tonight she is alone by her own choice, but tomorrow…

(She won’t sleep well either. Sometimes personal sacrifice gets a point across.)