#I have my laptop back. I just didn’t feel like doing art today. I’m not doing a good job at posting these to tw¡tter or ¡nsta either

[suave-hogan]

Day 11

Just a TBH Havve

TBHavve? TBHogan maybe?

[papayatori]

Don’t Blink! (P3)

LN4 x fém!reader

No warnings

I’m not sure how long I’m going to carry on this series, I guess it depends on how well it does. I’ve got nothing but positives so far, so I hope it stays that way. I also take requests! Feel free to leave me some! (This one is kind of shorter, I’m sorry. Longer one next time!)

My alarm interrupted my peaceful sleeping. I was beyond pissed and could have thrown it across the room had it not simply been doing its God-forsaken job. I decided that, at the ungodly hour of 7am on a Saturday, that I would get up and make breakfast like normal human beings usually do.

How incredibly jealous I was of said human beings.

In about thirty minutes, I had started things in the kitchen. I had my morning cup of Chai and was ready to take on the world; and by the world, I meant the frying pan.

Pancakes were a delicacy that could not be coveted, an art that took decades to master. Pancakes with bacon were even better. Not to mention, keeping my apartment from burning down as an added plus. With that said, I gave all of my attention to the stovetop.

After a long battle with the floury pancake mix and attempting to turn it into a batter(there was now a huge mess to clean up later, yet another reason I have yet to master the art of pancake making), I had finally managed to have a breakfast fit for a king.

Or better yet, a breakfast fit for me.

I had decided to leave the mess to clean up later, I was hungry and it could wait. Though, I was proud of myself and couldn’t help but snap a picture of my breakfast and post it on Twitter.

I ate in a comfortable and relaxing silence. I had earned this after yesterday. Though, I hadn’t really stumbled upon last nights memories until now. Lando and I had texted for a while after I had gone to bed, him insisting that I never answered his ‘question’. At first I was really sure what he meant, but then I had come to the realization that he was asking when our next date was.

Silly me.

I would be lying if the thought of our time yesterday hadn’t sent me into a mess of smiles and butterflies every time I thought of it. Sure, I had always found Lando attractive, but never had I thought anything more than that. Why would I? I hadn’t met him until yesterday.

I’m starting to believe I might be going insane, and I will be blaming Lando for legal purposes.

Ding!

Startled, I looked down at my phone. I usually didn’t get many replies on Twitter, this was new.

And you didn’t invite me? I thought we were friends 💔

At first I was confused as hell, and then I read the name of the person who had replied.

Lando Norris

I shook my head with a small smile spreading across my lips. I wasn’t sure how he managed to find my social media, or why for that matter, but I suppose it wouldn’t have been too hard. I decided to reply anyway.

Maybe next time Mr. Norris

…

…

…

My laptop open, camera plugged in, I knew for a fact that these were going to be the easiest photos I’d ever edited. I plopped myself back down on my couch, satisfied with my breakfast and cleanup afterwards, one hindered percent determined to be productive today.

Woo hoo!

Okay, maybe that was a bit of sarcasm. Though, i wasn’t lying about these photos being easy to edit. The hard part, however, would be keeping my eyes off of Lando’s face for long enough to edit his photos.

Who knew such a thing could be so insanely difficult.

It was honestly frustrating trying to keep my mind away from him. I’ve dated my fair share of men, and I don’t think I’ve ever had this much trouble keeping my thoughts in check. This also begs the question, what exactly were we now? I’m not sure if our date had any romantic implications in the first place. He could have just been being friendly. I would be a fool to mention it.

A knock on the door pulled me completely out of my rambling thoughts, and a part of me was thankful. I got up to open it, curious as who the hell could be knock in on my door at 9am.

The door revealed the most beautiful pair of blue-green eyes I had ever seen.

“I brought you things!” Lando said excitedly, not waiting on me to let him in a pushing past me to the table in my kitchen.

“Good morning to you too, Lando.” I chuckled, following closely after him.

“So, first things first. I’m mad at you.” Lando pushed his bottom lip out, giving me a pout I couldn’t help but giggle at.

“And why would that be, Mr. Norris?” He glared at me.

“You know exactly why I’m mad at you.” He clicked his tongue. “Fortunately for you, that isn’t why I am here.” I tilted my head, urging him to continue.

Lando pulled some bits of paper out of the sack I hadn’t realized he was holding. His eyes were too much of a distraction for me to even notice. He smiled then, holding my gaze for a little longer than I had anticipated before finally breaking the silence once more.

“Sign these.” He slid the papers towards me.

“What am I signing exactly?” I asked. As he handed me the pen, our fingertips touched for a moment, sending electricity through my body. My face heated up and I reverted my eyes back down to the paper to keep from falling into his.

“It’s a contract. I worked my magic with Zak, you’re welcome, and he’s written up an official agreement for you to work for McLaren.”

“You’re lying.” I gasped, reading through the paper that said just about the exact same thing Lando had just described to me. “I thought you were joking.”

“I wouldn’t get your hopes up like that, not even after you had pancakes without me.” I rolled my eyes at his smirking figure. I ignored his comment.

“I just can’t believe it’s actually happening. You have no idea how long I’ve wanted something like this.” This time I looked up at Lando with the biggest, genuine smile he’s ever seen me wear, and instead of smirking, he actually gave me a genuine smile back.

“I’m sure you can believe this then.” He reached further down into the back, balling it up afterwards. “Paddock pass for Bahrain. You won’t need to worry about the flight or the hotel situation, you’re going to be staying in the same one as Oscar and myself. I think Zak will probably also be there this time around seeing as it’s the first race of the season.”

Before I could really think about what I was doing, my arms were wrapped around him in a tight embrace. He was quite taller than me, leaving my face buried into his chest. His muscles were tense, slowly easing as he wrapped his arms around my waist.

“Thank you, Lando.” I mumbled, my voice muffled from his chest.

“Anything for you, darling.”

Coming to my senses, I pulled away a bit quicker than I would have liked.

“Fuck, I’m sorry-“

Lando was laughing at me now, probably seeing how red my face was.

“I got a bit excited.” I continued to try and explain myself without sounding like a fan.

Well, I was a fan, but that was beside the point.

“Just don’t get so excited that you forget to sign those papers, Miss y/ln.” I looked down at them to find that he was right, I really had forgotten to sign the papers.

His hand squeezed my shoulder as I was writing, causing me to hesitate slightly before continuing. His touch sent waves of heat through me, heat that I could explain but most definitely couldn’t deny either.

I looked up at him when I finished, praying my face wouldn’t give away the things his touch did to me. He smiled sweetly.

“I can’t wait for next week.” He said, as if he were the one who had just signed contract papers with McLaren as their primary photographer.

“Neither can I.”

…

…

…

“This picture? Really?” Lando gave me a look as we pulled my laptop away from me on the couch. I should’ve learned my lesson last time he took something from me, but apparently I had not.

“I like that one! It brings out your eyes.” I stated proudly. He smirked.

“You like my eyes, do you?” I paused, not expecting for that sort of question after the moments we had spent in the kitchen.

“Maybe, maybe not; but one thing is for certain, and that is that the LN4 Twitter fan girls are infatuated with them, and that’s all I need for my entire career to blow up.”

Who was I trying to fool, myself? Lando sent me a knowing look.

“Staring contest, go!” I was completely caught off guard by this, not prepared in the slightest.

His eyes bore into my own, blinding me without any light whatsoever. They were full of so many emotions that I couldn’t place, though the joy behind his iris’s couldn’t be contained. I almost smiled at the thought that maybe I was the reason behind the joy he was feeling.

Don’t blink

I lost myself in his eyes, in my thoughts, perfectly content to stare into him for the rest of our time together. I hadn’t realized that that we had slowly drifted towards each other, my mouth parted slightly in instinctive anticipation. Was this really happening?

Then he stuck is tongue out at me.

I blinked in confusion at first, laughing at his action before realizing I had lost the staring contest.

“Oh fuck off!” I laughed, throwing on of the couch pillows at him.

“You’re just mad because I’m right!” He laughed along with me, seeing the dawning look of realization grow on my face.

The only reason we had a staring contest was just for him to prove the fact that I liked his eyes. This bastard knew what he was doing. Honestly, I was starting to like that.

Or maybe I was just starting to like him.

…

…

…

The late afternoon had rolled around after spending the entire day joking around with Lando.

So much for being productive.

I led him to the door on his way out. I’m not really sure why I didn’t want him to leave; but, his presence sure beat the hell out of being lonely and editing his photos all day.

“Thanks for today, I had a lot of fun.” I said, giving him a small smile as a thanks. He chuckled.

“So did I, other than the part where I didn’t get pancakes.” I rolled my eyes before an idea popped into my head.

“If you won’t hold this over my head anymore, maybe you could come over for breakfast tomorrow morning?” Proud of myself, I gave him a wink. He blanked, surprised I even offered.

“Sure! As long as I can consider it our second date.”

“A deals a deal.” I offered him my hand. He shook it with a triumphant smile, bringing my hand to his lips before gently kissing the back of it.

“I suppose I’ll see you in the morning then, darling.”

And with that, he was gone and the door had shut behind him. The only thing he left behind was the faint scent of his cologne.

[bepisbee]

ayy college au meet cute

read on ao3

Shadow was dreading today. He was already the odd one out transfer student. Now he had to use the damn library too? He took a big breath in and out, looking at the looming building. It was only for a semester, by then he would have enough saved for a decent working laptop. Most of his meager funding went to his rent and food. He refused to skimp on good homemade meals. Even if he only ate them once a day. They were made with real food damnit! Shadow shakes his head. The longer he stood there the more likely these overcast dark clouds would open up and pour ice cold rain on him.

He stepped in, a warm blast of air whooshing over him. The doors auto shut behind with a heavy thunk from the thick wood. Shadow made his way inside, all lights a dim yellow. Surprisingly not the kind that buzzed. He appreciated that. He walked to the counter, behind it someone in blacks and purples bent over to the bottom of a book cart mumbling. He seemed annoyed. Shadow stood there awkwardly for far too long before speaking.

“Um- h-ey?”

“Fuck!” The man shot up in surprise, skirt billowing as he did so. His cheeks flushed at the outburst. Shadow’s cheeks flushed for another reason entirely. He was beautiful. Near perfect dark complexion, stunning purple eyes behind glasses. His lips curved slightly thin on top and thicker on bottom, scarred from obvious chewing and biting them. A small scar across his eye and brow, making one eye a shade lighter than the other and missing part of the eyebrow. His hair, a warm honey, pulled behind in a messy butterfly clip. Shadow’s heart was thudding. Vio was also short as hell. The desk came up to just below his pecs where it was at Shadow’s hip.

“Uhh- ahem. M-my apologies, you startled me.” his voice was smooth, and Shadow faltered.

“I- I uh.” He is unable to look away. “S-sorry, Didn’t mean to scare ya.”

“It’s alright.” The warm smile does things to his insides. “What can I do for you?” Was it just him, or did maybe this guy also like him? Shadow sure hoped so.

“I need a library card to use for uh books and the computer, for school.” Shadow rocked on his heels, “Uh- please.” he tacked on. He felt the politeness necessary for some reason. He usually never bothered.

“Well I can certainly do that. Do you have your student ID? Or regular, either is fine but the student ID gets you longer book check out time regulations and reservation priority.” He dug into his side bag and grabbed the loose ID card, handing it over. Vio started typing on the computer.

“I’m Shadow… Uh- you knew that I just gave you my ID…” He flusters and Vio laughs.

“Vio.” he glances up from the screen, amused. “New here or just new to the library?” He takes mercy on him, continuing the conversation.

“Both. I Transferred. The arts focus here is a lot better than any schools in Lorule. The magic arts classes are really cool, they go into more schools than I could count.” Shadow falls into comfortable nerding.

“Ahhh, I see.” he hands the card back, brushing their hands. “Well, I hope I get to see you in my class then.” The librarian smirks at him.

“You’re a teacher??” He feels so embarrassed to already have a teacher crush.

“Haha, yes. Don’t look so scandalized! I graduated last year.” he raised the glasses to the top of his head, now that he wasn’t reading things. “Youngest professor here!” he beamed, “I bet you’re pretty close to my age, honestly. I skipped a few grades. I’m twenty-two”

“No shit?” He blinks. “I”m twenty-four. I’m older than you?” Shadow huffs a laugh.

“Wow, an older man? Now that's scandalous.” Vio teases, leaning forward on the desk. “Especially since we have a date this Friday, at the diner on eastside. At 2?” Wow that was smooth, Shadow turns pink again.

“Y-yeah?” his eyebrows shot up.

“Yeah,” Vio slides him his paperwork, the library card and a post it note with his phone number. “Just don’t be late~” Vio winks and turns back to his book cart, dismissed.

Shadow takes it with shaky hands and fluttering insides. Holy shit. He has a date with the pretty librarian he has talked to for five minutes.

Yes!

Shadow looks around the empty library and goes for the computer, unsure how much work he can actually focus on now.

[anniesannex]

You’re so art deco

Chapter two

Description: you are a struggling college student who needs some cash. Your friend suggests a sugar daddy but you wouldn’t do that. Right?

I’m so sorry it took a bit to get up but here’s chapter two! Also sorry abt the 1975 reference I was listening to that song. -A

“WHAT?!” Grace’s jaw dropped as she heard the news. “But I thought you didn’t want a sugar daddy.”

“I was wrong. And I’m sorry.” You heard yet another ping from your laptop.

“Is that him?” Grace looked baffled as you nodded. “What did he say?” As you looked you had seemed to find a mirror selfie. Of Johnny wearing a nice button up shirt and some slacks.

“Goddamn.” You spoke.

“Goddamn is right!” Grace exclaimed. “What do I even do with this information.”

“Please don’t tell anyone I wanna keep this lowkey.” You pleaded with Grace.

“Okay but only because I love you.” Grace started to get ready for bed herself.

“I love you too I’m gonna send him a pic back do I look cute?” You asked as she laughed.

“Yeah, totally.” She smiled as you took the picture. This was probably the happiest she had seen you since you moved in.

“Thank you so much, you’re literally the best!” You were grinning as it sent. “But we should get ready for bed.”

“I know you might be a little wired with this new sugar daddy but I’m ready to go to bed.” Grace laughed.

“Goodnight Gracie.” You pulled the covers up onto your body. “I love you.”

“Night (y/n/n). I love you too.” Grace smiled as you began to shut your eyes and drift off into sleep.

Waking up you checked your computer.

@johnC95: good morning Doll. Hope you have a good day.

@Y/n: good morning Johnny. You too. Luckily I’m off today.

@johnC95: so where do you go to school?

@y/n: UCLA.

@johnC95: oh cool, I’m not that far from there. Would you wanna do like coffee?

@y/n: sure, when would you wanna meet up?

Your heart pounded in your chest. What were you going to wear? How were you going to do your hair? What if he didn’t like you when you guys met up?

@johnC95: I’m kind of booked for the next couple days. Is Saturday okay?

You look at the calendar. Saturday was three days away. You looked to see if you were working as you typed.

@y/n: lemme check my schedule. I should be good though.

As you doubled checked you sighed in relief

“Thank god.” you said to yourself. “I’m off on a Saturday, for once.”

@johnC95: sounds good! I wanna hear your voice again so bad.

@y/n: maybe we can talk later tonight. Btw what’s your number?

@johnC95: oh I’m sorry it’s (xxx)xxx-xxxx.

You type it into your phone putting it under the contact ‘Johnny <3’. As you text the number you feel a strange sensation in you stomach, like it was being tied into knots. Why was it that you were so nervous to text him?

You decide on a quick ‘Hi it’s y/n :).’

‘Hello doll :).’

You sighed as you start to get out of bed.

‘What are you doing today?’

‘I’m not sure I might lounge around my dorm, do some coursework, just try to relax’

‘Fair enough. I really do wanna hear your lovely voice. Or even see that beautiful face (y/n).’

‘Why don’t we talk right now? Even if it isn’t for long.’

‘I’m going to be with my daughter soon and I want to make sure she’s my first priority.’

‘You have a daughter? What’s her name? How old is she?’

‘Her name is Cassie and shes 16.’

‘Okay awesome!’

‘Sorry gtg she’s here!’

You wonder what she was like. You went to your closet pulling out a baby tee that said ‘reading is sexy’ and a pair of low rise jeans. Putting on socks you lace up your black converse. Then putting on music you decided to do your hair and makeup.

“This has to be a little over kill to just go study.” You laughed to yourself as you put on mascara.

“Bitchhhhhh.” Grace yelled as she entered your dorm. “Hot psych guy wasn’t in class today. I wanna cry.”

“I’m sorry dude.” You turned to her with a frown. “Wanna grab coffee with me before I have to go to the library?”

“Sure. The local one though. On campus. It has such better coffee.”

“Obviously, it’s a local coffee shop. They’re always better.” You laughed. “But let’s go.”

You grab your stuff not forgetting your phone and headphones. Grace opened the door back up.

“Nice shirt.” Grace winked as she held the door open.

“Thanks, my friend got it for me.” You winked back. Remembering when you and her got baby tees on the boardwalk. Laughing she led the way to the shop. You held the door open for her as you guys chatted.

“Dude would you love me if I was a worm?” Grace asked, cackling.

“Are you like a talking worm or a regular one?”

“What the fuck?!” She giggled. “A talking worm! It’s so funny, like ‘help (y/n) I got turned into a talking worm!’ That’s so crazy.”

“It’s a hypothetical in a hypothetical!” You chuckled as you guys got up to the counter.

“Iced coffee oatmilk?” grace asked.

“Dude I asked I can’t let you buy it. It’s on me this time.” You tried, knowing she wouldn’t let you.

“No seriously. Dude, I love you and you deserve this.” She smiled. “Two medium iced coffees with oat milk please.”

“Fine you win, but I’m paying next time.”

“Never going to happennnn!” Graced took out her card. “Thank you so much, have a great day.”

You guys sat down and waited for your coffee as you talked about the whole sugar daddy thing.

“I’m nervous to meet him.” You admitted. “Like what if he doesn’t like me?”

“He’s gonna fucking love you!” Grace exclaimed. “Are you kidding me! You’re literally the best!”

“You’re right. I’m being silly.”

“Oh our coffee is ready!” She ran to grab them “I’ll walk you to the library. It’s a sucky walk without a friend.”

“You’re right.” You agreed as you felt your phone buzz.

‘I think can’t wait to hear your voice again.’ You smiled as you type back.

‘That is really sweet. Thank you Johnny.’

‘Cassie is gonna go out with a friend tonight. Should I come up tonight?’

‘Sure.’

“SHIT!” You yelled. “Grace. We need to go back to the dorm.”

“What’s wrong (Y/n)?” she followed you as you took a break neck pace towards your dorm building. “Stop running!”

You only stopped briefly as you texted Johnny.

‘So what were you thinking?’

‘Maybe we do dinner. How’s Italian sound?’

‘Great what time were you thinking?’

‘How abt I pick you up @ 8?’

‘Perfect!’

“WHATS GOING ON?!” Grace yelled out of breath.

“It’s happening tonight.” You stared in awe.

“What?”

“ITS HAPPENING TONIGHT!”

“Oh-then lets go!” You both started running again. As you reached your dorm you both hastily got inside. “What are you thinking about wearing? Where is it? How long until he picks you up? “

“We’re doing Italian, he’s picking me up at eight and I have no fucking clue!”

“I have an idea how about that black and pink floral dress with kitten heels, my viviennes, that heart pendant and pink floral clutch?”

“You are literally a life saver! And how about a y2k claw clip half up-half down look for my hair?!”

“Let’s do this.” You laughed as Grace pulled out the outfit while you hopped into the shower. As you showered you thought about Johnny and that feeling came back. You cursed those damned butterflies as you calmed yourself down.

Making sure that you were properly cleaned you popped on some of the 1975.

“I like my men like I like my coffee, full of soy milk and so sweet, it won’t offend anybody.” You sang as you put your makeup on and danced around your bathroom.

“Dude I love that song!” Grace yelled out as she pulled you out of the bathroom.

“You’re lucky I was done.” You feigned a serious look. Before cracking up.

“I’m gonna help you get ready.” You stepped into the dress as she checked your messages with Johnny.

“He said ‘I can’t wait to see how gorgeous you look when I come pick you up, doll. And you sent me the right building?’’

“Text him back ‘awww Johnny, you’re too sweet. And yes I did.’”

“Okay and sent!” Grace watched as you put in the earrings. “Don’t forget the pink claw clip! It’ll match better!”

“Thank you grace!” You fixed up your hair and did final touches to your makeup.

“Wow, (y/n/n). If Johnny doesn’t like you, I’ll be your sugar daddy.”

“Gracie!”

You heard the buzzer to be buzzed into your dorm. Looking at your phone you saw his text.

‘I’m here.’

‘Okay buzzing you up!’ As you did so. Soon enough you heard a knock at your door. Letting him in you saw that he was even more gorgeous than on the screen. His perfectly quaffed hair was about to be in silver fox territory as he had evidence of smile lines beginning to form at his eyes. He was tall and muscular. As you could see from the curves of his suit.

“You look- wow.” He stared, face full of awe.

“Thank you Johnny. You look good too.” You smiled, catching a glance at what was in his hand. “What are those?”

“Oh-” his trance had been broken, as he held them out for you. “These are for you.”

“Thank you so much! They’re beautiful!” You took the bouquet.

[something-tofightfor]

The Truth Is Out There: One Breath

Pairing: Marcus Pike x Female Art Conservator/Restoration Specialist FBI Agent

Word Count: 4,065

Chapter Rating: M (language, unintentional drug use, Teresa)

Series Warnings: Sex Pollen (with a twist), no use of Y/N, female reader insert, Reader works for the FBI in art restoration/conservation and has a nickname that is used often by Marcus. In this house we cannot stand Teresa and Jane and that is reflected in this story.

Summary:  Marcus might be getting his day off, but that doesn’t mean you also get to take a break. Instead, a new assignment comes in ... and changes everything. 

Author’s Note: Here’s where things really start to pick up. Thank you all so damn much for the response to part 1 yesterday, I’m floored. I hope you like this one, too. 

i’m playing fast and loose with a lot of things: mainly the way the FBI operates and what other agencies they closely interact with. Forgive me if the details aren’t 100% accurate.

Inbox is open, as always. Thank you for reading!

Masterlist / Unrequited

On Monday morning, you got to work a few minutes early. Heading to your office, you made it a point not to look at Marcus’ closed door when you passed it. Not today.

He hadn’t reached out on Sunday, though the message you’d sent him had been read at 7:42 am - which meant that he’d gotten less than four hours of sleep before opening it. 

Part of you wanted to know  that he was upset about the way you’d left things, too. 

Confirmation that your words had actually gotten to him and that he’d rethought his meeting with Teresa would have been welcome. You wanted to know that somewhere, deep down, Marcus’ feelings were similar to yours when it came to the relationship that the two of you had - and what else might have been possible. 

But that won’t happen. You sighed as you dropped your bag onto your desk and then removed your jacket, settling in and turning on your laptop. 

Starting a playlist, you returned your attention to the unfinished stack of paperwork from Saturday night and tried to keep the memory of Marcus standing on the sidewalk out of your thoughts. Otherwise I won’t get anything done.

That worked until a little after noon, when you took a break to eat lunch.

Carrying a stack of paperwork to drop off with your SSA, you finally glanced at the man’s office door. There was a sign taped to it, his neat handwriting letting everyone know he’d be available again the following day. He’s so considerate that he handwrote a note instead of printing one. The corners of your mouth lifted in a small smile, and despite the residual anger you felt toward Marcus, you couldn’t deny that it was true. 

You fielded questions about Marcus while you ate lunch with some of your coworkers - “Do you know where he is?” Is he out of town with someone? How do you know he’s not dating anyone?” - by giving vague answers. But their questions made you wonder - not for the first time - if part of Marcus’ hesitation about taking things further had anything to do with the fact that you worked together, and he didn’t want to repeat his past mistakes. That’d be my luck.

The vibration of your phone interrupted your meal just as a colleague attempted to change the subject. When you pulled it out to see who was trying to get ahold of you, you groaned, the other people at your table halting their conversations immediately. “What’s up? That your work phone?” 

“Yeah.” You tucked it back into your bag and stood, reaching for your trash. “They brought in some paintings I need to take a look at, so I guess I’ve gotta get back.” And that means you can’t grill me about  him anymore. 

You said goodbye and then made your way back into the building and up to your floor, bypassing the main office and heading for the wing of clean rooms you spent the majority of your time in. 

Everything you’d need was in there, and you grinned at the sight of Ethan, the department’s newest Agent leaning against one of the hallway walls with his arms crossed. “There you are.” He straightened up, gesturing to the room closest to the far end of the wing. “Couple crates of paintings got delivered this morning. We found ‘em when some sort of gambling ring got busted yesterday.”

“Why didn’t they have us come to the scene?” You followed the man into the room, reaching for a pair of gloves and pulling them on after you’d deposited your bag onto the counter. “Aren’t these evidence?”

“Something about the house they found them in being structurally unsound. Wasn’t safe to have people going in and out just to look around, so they shipped ‘em here. They want you to do your thing, and if they end up being stolen or forged … you get to let the people in charge know so they can tack on more in their investigation” 

“Well thank whoever made that decision for us.” You reached for the lid of the first crate, lifting it off and then leaning it against the table leg. “I love my job, but if I can look at things here where I have all my shit and a comfortable place to sit…” He laughed then, pulling on a pair of gloves of his own. “There’s just these two crates?”

“Yeah, there was some other art in the house but the local police just said that it looked like standard stuff - already on the wall, cheap… you know what I mean.” Humming in agreement, you pulled the first painting out and held it up in both hands, scanning the image.  It’s definitely not old. 

“Not a very good artist on this one.” Wrinkling your nose, you lowered it back into the crate and reached for the second painting, fingers closing around the frame to lift it. “Or this one. I’ll still need to take pictures of them all and upload them to the missing and stolen artwork database, but I don’t think there’s going to be any hits.” 

“Are they all boats?” Ethan pulled the lid off the second crate and reached in, pulling a painting up and then laughing. “Nevermind. This one’s a plane. And there’s a train, too.” 

“So we’ve got a collection of modes of transportation and …” You hummed in amusement, lifting another painting and turning it toward the man, wincing. “And trees.” 

“Got some water in here, too. I think this one’s the ocean.” Ethan slid the painting he was holding back in, and then turned to look at you, nose wrinkled. “So they’re just… generic paintings, then? 

“Looks like it.” You used the back of one gloved hand to rub at your forehead. “I can handle this on my own, Ethan. It’ll probably take about two hours to get everything photographed and sent through to the database, and I can finish taking samples by the end of the day so we can get these back to … whoever wants them. Maybe Goodwill. Maybe a dumpster. Who knows.” He snorted. “I appreciate you letting me know they came in, though. If you get anymore information while I’m in here, feel free to come back and update me.”

“Will do.” He snapped his gloves off and then moved to the sink, washing his hands. “Want me to get in touch with Pike? I know he’s off today, but he might want to know about this.” He would. He would love to know about these even though they’re nothing special. 

“No. He’ll catch up when he comes back.” You returned your attention to the crate, frowning. “I’ve got this.” The younger man agreed, and moments later you were alone in the room, the quiet hiss of the filtration system above you the only noise you heard. Should I call Marcus? 

Stepping back, you took your gloves off, too, and headed for the cabinets where your equipment was stored. Busying yourself with getting what you needed, you let your mind wander again. It was no surprise when it went back to Marcus - and the fight you’d had. If he wanted to think about work today, he’d be here. 

Pulling your phone out, you restarted your playlist and then put on new gloves, returning your attention to the first crate. It didn’t take you long to photograph all fifteen paintings, carefully making a list to identity what was what. 

The longer you worked, the more certain you were that they wouldn’t come up as stolen or forged when you cross-referenced them, but you knew that you had to go through the whole routine with every canvas anyway. Who would waste their time forging these?

Measurements, photos, a short description of each one, and a tiny scraping of the paint were standard procedure when you investigated art - and the set you were working with was no different. It didn’t take you long to settle into a routine with each painting, your focus entirely on what was in front of you.

But when you laid one of the canvases on the table to scrape the sample, you noticed a pale, shimmering blue powder sprinkled on the metal surface around it. Weird. Collecting a sample of that, too, you made a note of which painting you’d found it with and then moved onto the next one. 

When the powder appeared three paintings in a row, though, you stood and stepped back from the table, lips pressed together. It doesn’t have the consistency of paint, it looks more like … Eyes moving to your phone, you debated over calling Marcus - or just alerting the SSA, since he was already likely in the building. But Marcus needs to know, too. 

You pulled both gloves off, tossing them into the trash and picking up the device. There was only a slight hesitation before you dialed Marcus’ number and held it to your ear, waiting. He didn’t answer, which you expected. As you heard his cheerful voice inviting you to leave a message, you almost hung up - though you stopped yourself at the last second. 

And then it beeped. 

“Hey, Marcus. It’s me. Um, I know you’re off today and I’m sorry to call your personal number, but … we got a new case, and I thought it was going to be some easy cataloging of a bunch of crappy paintings. But, I’m going through them now, and I think … I think they’re being used to smuggle drugs somehow. I know I need to let Cavanaugh know. He’s my next call, but I wanted to tell you first.” You took a breath, stepping further away from the table, though you didn’t look away. “I’m in CR3, and since I’ve already been in here with no mask on, if it is drugs, or even something else they can’t identify right away, I’ll probably need to isolate for a day or two until they figure out what it is and how they can help me.” Wrap it up. “You don’t have to call back. I just wanted you to know before I do a test because who knows what they’ll tell you when you get back in tomorrow.” 

You hung up then, not even bothering to say goodbye, and eyed the table warily. It should have been easy. These were just supposed to be terrible paintings. Grabbing another pair of gloves - and a mask, you headed back for the table with one of the field test kits and two more small specimen bags. 

It only took you a few seconds to complete the test, scraping some of the powder into the baggies and breaking the liquid vials open before shaking them back and forth. No reason to tell anyone else if it doesn’t come back positive. It could just be dust from the paint or from the way they were stored. 

You felt relief when the recommended amount of time had passed and there was no color change with the kit. Maybe it’s just chalk. Sighing, you sat back down at the table and continued to work, focused on the task at hand. I shouldn’t have called Marcus. That was a knee jerk reaction. Three paintings - and no additional blue dust - later, you took the mask off, setting it aside. 

Flipping the painting of the ocean over, you scanned the back looking for any sort of identifying marks and frowned when you saw that one of the canvas staples was loose, immediately reaching for it. It’s just a coincidence. That’s all. With your fingertip poised to push the staple back in, you paused, chewing on your lower lip. Or… 

Using a small set of pliers, you removed that staple - as well as all of the others on that painting, and then carefully lifted the frame from atop the canvas, eyes glued to the sight in front of you. “Oh, no.” Standing, you backed away from the table - your eyes wide. Shit. 

Scrambling for the phone that was hanging on the  wall, you dialed Cavanaugh’s office, the man picking up on the second ring. “Hey, it’s me.” You sighed, keeping your eyes on your workspace. “I’m in CR3, and I think … I think we have a problem. You might want to call our drug guys or the DEA.” 

“What?” He sounded incredulous. “Ethan told me -” 

“Yeah, well I was wrong. I started cataloging stuff and there was some sort of weird powder on some of the paintings, and I tested it. It didn’t change color or anything, so I kept working and ended up finding a loose staple on the back of another one.” You paused, swallowing hard. “There’s um… there’s bags of whatever it is hidden in hollow portions of the frames, and some of them broke because they got caught on splinters or nails or something sticking out of the wood, Cavanaugh. Whatever was in them, I’ve been breathing it in for the last hour and a half in some capacity.” 

“You didn’t have a mask on?” 

“Not the whole time. I put one on after I saw the powder, but when it tested negative, I took it off.” Stupid. It was stupid of me. “That’s my fault, and I’ll rake full responsibility for that, but it is what it is at this point.” He swore on the other end of the line, and for a few seconds, was silent. 

“Are you alright? I’m going to call the DEA right now. I wish I could tell you to get out of that room, but -” 

“I feel OK so far. I know I can’t leave. And if it was possible to completely seal this room, I would have done it already, but until you get here, the only other person that knows where I am is Ethan, so I think we’re alright as long as you keep anyone else from coming down here.” 

He sighed, the sound loud through the speaker. “See you in a few minutes, Agent.” 

You hung up, replacing the phone on the wall and then turned back toward the table. I need to grab my phone. I need to get my stuff and get it ready to leave. Pulling another mask from the box even though you didn’t know what good it would do, you stepped toward the table, eyes on the bags and loose powder. I should have been more careful. I shouldn’t have just -  

Your thoughts were interrupted when the door hissed open behind you, a voice calling out your name. “I came as soon as I got your message.” Oh no. You shouldn’t be here. 

“Marcus, wait. You need to turn around and leave.” The mask fell from your hand, your head whipping toward him as you spun on one heel. “Don’t get too close, it’s some kind of drug, and -” 

He tripped as he crossed the sparkling clean floor, and then everything seemed to happen in slow motion. 

The man’s eyes widened, the toe of one sneakered foot sliding along the surface as he tried to find his balance, both arms extended. You reached for him out of instinct, wanting to keep him from toppling to the ground, but Marcus’ weight was too much for you to counter against, and you were caught off-balance, too.

Before you could do anything about it, you were on the floor, a yelp of pain leaving your lips as your tailbone hit the tile. Marcus wasn’t far behind you, but instead of using his hands to brace for impact, he reached for the table and caught the edge of the frame, which was overhanging by a few inches. “Ah, shit!” 

Marcus swore loudly, jerking his hand back as he, too, made contact with the floor. Only seconds later, a cloud of blue dust was floating through the air and the wooden frame clattered to the ground beside you, accompanied by the canvas and a few unbroken baggies of powder. Oh, shit. Before you could stop yourself, you sucked in a breath, eyes widening.

You did the only thing you could do and reached for Marcus, covering his mouth and nose with one of your gloved hands while you did the same to yourself with the other. But there’s no way we didn’t inhale any of it. You finally met his gaze, and you could see the anger in his eyes - along with feeling the clench of his jaw beneath your palm. Oh, Marcus. I’m so sorry.

He raised one hand and when it was in place over yours, you quickly removed your fingers before scrambling backwards until your back hit the wall of cabinets. Marcus followed you, and when you were both as far from the table as you could get, you lowered your hand, breathing hard. Shit. Shit shit shit. I can feel it in my throat.

“I’m so sorry, Scully.” He hung his head. “I got your message and came right here, and when I saw you in the room, I just …” Tilting his head back, he stared up at the ceiling. There’s blue on his face and in his hair. Wonder what mine looks like. “I can’t believe I slipped on the fucking floor, and I should have known better, but -”

“Marcus.” Turning your head toward him, you tried to smile. “I was already in here with it. I’m just sorry that now you’re stuck, too.” Cavanaugh and the DEA will be here soon. It’ll be fine. “It didn’t turn positive for any of the normal stuff, but the way it’s packaged makes me feel like it’s for recreational use, and -” 

“Pike? What are you doing in there? Thought you were off today.” Cavanaugh’s voice came through the speaker and both of you turned your attention to where he stood, arms crossed on the other side of the glass. He looks pissed. “You didn’t say anything about Marcus being with you.” 

“He wasn’t.” Gesturing with one hand, you pointed at the overhead camera. “Watch the footage. You’ll see what happened.” Marcus snorted next to you, reaching up to scrub at his face. On instinct, you stopped him, your gloved fingers closing around his bare ones. “Don’t.” You looked away from the glass and at the man sitting beside you. “We don’t know what it is, and if you rub it in, it might get into your eyes or up your nose or -” You saw the fear in his expression then, Marcus’ lips parted enough so that you could see a peek of his teeth behind them. I’m scared too.

Moments later, he nodded in agreement, letting out a long breath and lowering his chin. When you went to release his hand, though, he didn’t let you, instead spreading his fingers wide and linking them with yours before he squeezed. 

It was the first time you’d held his hand since the two of you had briefly dated, and you knew that you weren’t able to hide the look in your eyes or school the expression on your face into something impassive as he tightened his hold, the man’s touch almost protective as his thumb swiped over your knuckle. I’m still so mad at him but this … fuck. 

“DEA is only a couple minutes away.” Cavanaugh sighed. “I’ve been told to keep an eye on you until they get here. And I hate to be the one to tell you this, but the filtration system got turned off to preserve evidence, so…” You hadn’t even noticed that the room was totally silent, the constant whir of the fan gone. “Are you two alright? How do you feel?” 

“Annoyed.” You shrugged. “I still feel fine, though. I don’t notice any sort of … effect from this, and I’ve been in here a long time.” I’m glad Marcus is here, though. Really glad, even though that’s selfish.

“I feel alright, too.” Marcus shifted next to you, bringing one knee up and reaching out to rest his forearm atop it. “They gonna be able to help us, boss?” There was only a brief flicker of uncertainty from the man outside the room before he nodded, looking between you and Marcus. 

“Of course they are. Hang tight. You’ll be out of there soon.”  You hoped he was right. You wanted to get out of the clothes you had on, into the shower and then into bed. But it won’t be that simple. 

“You really feel alright?” Marcus was eyeing you, the man’s frown deep. “You’re not lying to me?” 

“No. But I am scared. Who knows how long whatever this is might take to kick in, or what it’ll do when that happens.” You chewed on your lower lip for a few seconds. “I shouldn’t have called you, Marcus. I guess I just panicked, even though I knew you were busy today. I didn’t mean to ruin your dat… your afternoon.” 

“It wasn’t a date. And you didn’t ruin anything.” He squeezed your hand again, shaking his head slowly. “You really called me first? Thought I wouldn’t hear from you anytime soon after the other night. ” 

“Yeah, I didn’t plan on reaching out to you, but then …I did.” Mindful of the fact that your boss was likely listening in, you decided to keep things vague. “We can talk about it later though, if you want.” He smiled at you then, a genuine one - the expression lighting his face up beneath the dusty blue tint. 

“I want.” You stared at each other for a few seconds, and unless you were imagining things, you caught Marcus’ gaze drop to your mouth before it raised back up, his eyes locked with yours. “What do you think this shit is?” 

“I have no idea. But it’s been almost two hours since I started working with these paintings and I still feel fine, so whatever it is must not be anything that kicks in immediately.” 

“But when did you actually breathe it in?” He blinked slowly, still staring at you. “Because that might make a difference if there was only a little in the air and you weren’t close, compared to what happened when I stumbled in here.” 

“I…” You closed your eyes, thinking. “Right when I called you was when I first saw it on the table. I put a mask on when I went back to test it, though… and then I took it off when everything came back clear. So … I don’t know, maybe twenty minutes before you got here? But it was definitely way more potent when you knocked it off the edge, so…” 

“So whatever it is, we both got the big dose at the same time.” He arched a brow. “About five minutes ago.” He frowned again. “You know, I don’t think blue’s your color.” Gesturing with one finger at your face, Marcus finally cracked a smile. “No, actually… blue is your color, just maybe not this shade. Can’t say the same about that one shirt you have, though, because -”

“Marcus?” Both of your heads snapped up at the sound of a new voice, and you weren’t able to keep from wrinkling your nose and gritting your teeth at the sight of the dark haired woman, pale skin highlighting the green of her eyes. What the fuck is she doing here? “You said you’d be right back, but the DEA guys showed up and I heard them say your name, so I -” 

She stepped back at a flurry of activity, the woman’s attention going to her right - and toward the door to the room. It was delayed, but your hand jerked, and you attempted to pull it free from his hold. Of course. Of course she’s here. Why wouldn’t she be?

He didn’t let go right away - until you whipped your head in his direction, eyes wide. Then, he had no choice, releasing you from his grip and curling his fingers into a loose fist as he brought it back to his lap. 

Before either of you could speak, you heard another voice and saw a trio of people dressed in HAZMAT suits in the hallway, the three of them joined by another pair of men in regular suits and your boss. “DEA’s here, Marcus.” You mumbled the words, closing your eyes. “Time to find out exactly how fucked we are.” 

—

 Tag list reblog coming soon! 

[faccal]

WIP Wednesday (It's Saturday)

I was tagged by the wonderful @simonxriley thanks so much dude!

I always suck at tagging people, but I know this can be for writing and art, so I'll try to tag a few others. @samithemunchkin @tokillamockingbird427 @alidravana and anyone else who wants to join in on the fun!

I've been going back and forth with different WIPs, so I'll do the one that I actually worked on today.

Merrick’s in his office filing paperwork when he gets back, fingers clicking away on a laptop he’d been given. His graying brows are furrowed and surrounded by deep wrinkles, the man having seemed to age much quicker in the last year or so. 

“Hey Merrick.” Hesh knocks lightly against the open door, a flat smile on his face while he waits for his captain to look up. 

“What’s going on, kid?” His eyes flick up for a brief moment, a faint spark barely crossing his eyes for a second before it's gone and he’s looking back at his paperwork. 

“I uh, there’s not much to do. I wanted to see if you needed my help.” He takes a seat in the chair across from him. He quite likes the place they’ve been staying in, it’s got a lot of older furniture, but much of it is quite comfortable and cozy. It often reminds him of their old places they’d stay at. Safehouses full of outdated furniture among other things. He lets out a sigh, rubbing his hands back and forth on the fabric of the armrests. His grandparents had chairs like these in their lounge. 

“I’m all set, Hesh.” He answers, short and curt. Always cold. Hesh knows Merrick doesn’t mean to be cold, he’s usually warmer with his men when he can be. “I’m just finishing up my half of this, Price will finish his when he gets back.” Another brief glance. “Are you alright?” 

“I’m good.” He answers, which is a half-truth. Logan had been doing much better; less nightmares, fewer violent outbursts. He’s finally willingly letting nurses take blood samples, among all the other things they need from him. Constant checks, constant evals. It never ends. Hesh would give anything to snatch his little brother and take him far, far away from here. It wouldn’t have to be back home, there’s nothing left and that’s the first place anyone would look. Soap’s warm smile crosses his mind, a soft skip in his heartbeat catches his breath. Maybe they could all run away together. 

It wouldn’t solve their problems, and none of them were runners. Soap still wanted to lead his team, and Hesh was more than ready for another promotion. Certainly, he’d earned the privilege of being a Captain. Granted, the idea of leading the Ghosts not only excited him but left him with doubts. Rorke had led them, his father, and now Merrick. The Ghosts seemed to have a hard time keeping captains and soldiers alike. They’d all been through so much, both before and after ODIN. Both before and after Torch, Grim, Ajax and his father were killed. It was a heavy burden to lead the Ghosts, and Hesh was beginning to wonder if he still wanted that. 

Pulling himself from his thoughts, he jumps a bit when his eyes land on Merrick’s stern ones, boring into his face. 

“Thought I lost you for a second there.” He states, eyes flicking around Hesh’s face. “Go get some rest kid, you need it.” 

“I don’t-” He tries to argue, shutting up when Merrick gives him that look., the same look his father used to give him when he’d try to argue. “Yes sir.” He answers with a sigh, pulling himself from the chair and leaving without looking back. He probably had that look on his face still, and he didn’t want to see his father in Merrick’s eyes. 

Sorry for any weird spacing, I didn't feel like fixing it, I'm terrible at website Tumblr.

[fablesrose]

Ch 3 - The Second David Job

Masterlist 

Pairing: Eliot Spencer x Ford!Reader

Description: Part two, the season finale. Y/n finally learns what Nate does for work and aids in the payback this time.

Words: 3049

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

It was odd, I hadn’t heard from Nate almost the whole time I was staying in LA. I had tried to call him a couple of times, but when he did pick up, the phone calls were brief, he wouldn’t tell me where he was, and just seemed secretive and dodgy. More than usual at least. 

Maggie was busy helping at the museum, and with the Blackpoole exhibit being set up, she was working overtime. I mostly stayed at her apartment, working on my laptop that I brought with me. Luckily this project that I was working on was coming to a close which should leave me free for the opening of the exhibit and then flying back to Boston. As nice as it was here in LA, I missed home. Realistically there was nothing keeping me here, I did love art, growing up with both Nate and Maggie as guardians, but I didn’t need to stay for the exhibit. I guess I kept expecting Nate to call me. I wanted to help him. I guess this client is here too though.

I got a call one afternoon from Maggie. 

“Hey, what’s up?”

“Hey y/n, can you take a break from your work today?”

I looked at the clock, I had been working for a while, “Yeah, I can do that. What’s going on?”

“I just got a call from Professor Sinclair asking to catch up, and I don’t really want to go alone, I feel like there might be something going on.”

“You want me to either crash or stalk you two on your date?” I couldn’t hide the displeasure from my voice.

“It’s not a date. Besides, he was much more into you when we met him last.” She had a slight tease in her voice that I scoffed at.

“I call bull. He didn’t call me to ask to catch up.” I felt my stomach twist a bit. Figures he would ask my hot divorced aunt out.

“I don’t think he has your number, y/n.”

“Touche.”

“Please? Just sit a few tables away and if you get uncomfortable there’s a couple of shops right around the corner that I know you’ll love. You can bail at any time.”

I sighed, “Fine, but you owe me. You treat me more like a cousin, or a sister than a niece, you know that?”

“You love me, see you there.”

“No comment.”

I walked in a little after Maggie, choosing a spot a couple tables away, behind Adam so I could see Maggie’s face. I was close enough that I could hear them if I wanted to, but far enough that I could tune out as well. I ordered water since I didn’t think I would be there long. Maggie was right though, the surrounding stores did look appealing. 

I watched Maggie look Adam over, then make eye contact and wink at me when he wasn’t looking. Weird. I had no idea what that meant. I tuned into their conversation to see what was going on. 

“We’re not going to talk about art all afternoon are we?” Maggie asked Adam.

All afternoon? I was definitely not staying that long. 

Adam answered no.

“Good, that’s all my ex husband wanted to talk about. That was so tedious.” She said it with a smile.

I frowned. I knew they had their problems, that’s why they got divorced, but she never spoke about Nate like that. Especially to a virtual stranger. What is going on?

“Listen,” Maggie placed her hand over Adam’s on the table and I could see him stiffen, “I want to thank you. I haven’t dated much since my marriage broke up.”

I groaned. Of course she conned me, it was obviously a date. I couldn’t stand this much longer and started to gather my things. When I looked up she had forceful eye contact with me that told me to stay put.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Adam replied.

“No, don’t be. He was obsessive, perfectionist, controlling.”

“He must have had some good qualities.”

Maggie scoffed, “No, not even in bed.”

I sputtered in my water. Gross, I did not want to hear this. I begged Maggie for mercy across the room. 

“But worst of all, he completely forgot that I gave him that same button camera for Christmas three years ago.” She smiled and waved me over.

I was so confused, but got up and joined them. Adam turned around and saw me, his face defeated.

“Hey y/n.”

I nodded, “Adam.” 

Maggie marched over to a van in the parking lot and I followed quickly after. She opened it to reveal the airport receptionist, the Italian woman, the second David seller, and Nate, all sitting together.

“I can explain.”

The drive to the random mansion was dead silent, but once we arrived, Maggie and Nate started arguing. I figured I would get my chance to rip him apart afterwards, so I didn’t join in yet. I stood in the doorway glancing between them arguing and the others grouped at the stairs. 

“I feel used.” The guy who I thought was named Adam said.

I turned a bit towards them, “Same.”

Maggie stormed outside with Nate close behind, “It’s going great,” he said as he walked out the door. 

The former Italian woman, now British, replied, “we can tell!”

The house was eerily quiet once the yelling was gone.

“So,” I looked at the four people in front of me, “are you this team Nate mentioned for his consulting thing he was doing? If that is what was going on? Or whatever?”

The young man who posed as the second David seller spoke up first, “yeah, that’s us. He didn’t lie to you about that, just the means of which we do it. I’m Hardison, resident computer guy. Thanks for the help with the supplement lawsuit thing I had to do.”

That made me smile, “Glad to hear I was of any help at all.”

The British woman approached me next, her hand outstretched, “Sophie, actor, art thief, grifter, take your pick.” She smiled with a confidence I could never hope to achieve when I shook her hand. 

Hardison introduced Parker as a thief before the last member stood from the stairs and stepped up to me. 

“And I’m Eliot, official title is retrieval specialist, these guys call me a hitter.” When he wasn’t acting as Adam, his voice was a bit gruffer, a little deeper. His hands were stuffed in his pockets, his long hair down. I noticed without his glasses just how blue his eyes were.

“Well, it seems you might have some other talents too. Those soup recipes were a lifesaver.”

His lips quirked up toward a smile and I thought I saw some color in his cheeks before he ducked his head in a nod and went to sit down again. 

Nate and Maggie came back and she came up to me, tears still in her eyes, “did… did you know about Sam’s treatment?”

I looked between her, Nate, and the rest of the team, “I had an inkling. They wouldn’t pay for it right?” I looked at Nate to see the slight nod, “Who do you think helped Nate do the research on it?” My lip quivered thinking back. How happy we were that we might have found something that would help, but it didn’t make a difference. I was in the middle of a project, across the country when they called. Sam died.

Nate came and placed a hand on my shoulder before pulling me into a hug, Maggie joining shortly after. 

It was decided to regroup the next day to go over the plan. 

“And that, that’s the plan.” Nate placed a final push pin with string attached to the board with all the designs.

“You actually expect this to work?” Maggie was clearly skeptical.

“No no, you’re supposed to say ‘wow, that’s just crazy enough to work.’” Hardison replied. 

“Incredibly, chance does seem to bend itself to his bizarre machinations” Sophie commented with a relaxed air. 

Parker leaned next to Maggie’s ear, “that’s his super power.” She sniffed her shoulder as she pulled away.

Maggie looked over to me and I just shrugged. 

“Okay, now, do you have what we need?” Nate asked Maggie. 

“I have to check museum inventory.”

“Oh, easy.” 

Hardison typed his way on his laptop before turning it toward Maggie. 

“This is confidential, you’re not reading my emails are you?”

Hardison quickly responded, “no, no,” before nodding at Nate that he did. 

I piped up, “I was right, you do a lot more exciting things on your computer than I do.”

Hardison smiled at me before Maggie confirmed.

“This is the only thing big enough for what you need.” She turned the laptop toward Nate. 

“Great. Okay, now how soon can you get that in the restoration room?”

“Now that’s not my department. You have to convince the museum director Darien Lloyd to pull it from the display.”

“Okay.”

“Nate?”

“Hmm?”

“You can’t just make somebody do what you want them to do.”

There was a pause before Eliot said, “Whoa!”

“That’s what we do, I mean…” Hardison laughed.

“You’re adorable,” Parker said while stroking Maggie’s hair.

I had to admit, “That’s a bit naive, even for you Maggie. Our society is built on persuasive techniques and making people do things, for various reasons.”

Everyone just looked at me and nodded as I shrugged. 

We quickly got going to set up the con. Maggie, Sophie, and Parker were at the museum while Nate, Harison, Eliot, and I were at the mansion watching and listening through cameras and comms. We watched and listened as there was a handoff between Parker and Maggie which led to Maggie subtly pushing the director towards the Egyptian room, all while laying clues for the con on him. 

Sophie then dropped hints about the curse surrounding the sarcophagus while posing as a museum director from Cairo.

Eliot leaned over to me, “Good call about the curse by the way.”

Hardison concurred, “yeah, look, he’s already scared, he’s looking up all the places the sarcophagus was before there, lots of dead people. D-E-D dead people.”

Nate and Eliot both spelled dead correctly.

“I was throwing a little style up, just a little bit. A little style. I know how to spell dead, damn it. I can steal a bank, I can spell dead.”

I laughed, “Thanks, but I think it really comes down to Sophie and Maggie’s setup here, along with your expert hacking skills with those articles, Hardison.”

“You are a flatterer, woman. Are you sure this guy raised you?”

I shouldered Nate next to me, “unfortunately.”

I could feel his glare, but I just watched as Maggie hit the point home talking about the supposed fungus that surrounded Egyptian artifacts that were claimed to be cursed. 

The boys left shortly after to move the sarcophagus, leaving me at the mansion. I looked over the plans a couple of more times while they were gone. Maggie stayed at the museum while everyone else came back. They got to working on something when Nate came into the planning area where I was. 

“So what do you think?”

“I don’t know yet, I guess we’ll just have to see how this plays out.”

“No,” Nate stepped up next to me, “I mean, about all of this, the whole thing.”

I looked up at him, “I wish you would have told me. Why didn’t you? Did you think I wasn’t going to approve or something?”

“I just didn’t want you wrapped up in it.”

I hummed at him. “Well I think you are doing some pretty cool things, I’d be happy to be a part of it. Not that I could help much.”

“Maybe.”

There was some commotion behind us with the rest of the group arguing a bit before it fell quiet. I started walking towards the entry where they were, “It seems like you have a good team here though. I’m glad you have them, that you have each other.”

“They are the best.”

“That’s good…” I stared at the portrait they had hung on the mantle, “what is that?”

Nate looked at the picture of himself, just much older, “Don’t ask.”

“Okay.”

The next day was when the exhibit opened. Everyone had their roles and places for the day. Now, just to put it in motion. 

Nate and I entered the museum arm in arm when Blackpoole and Sterling approached. 

“Well well well, what the hell are you doing here?” 

Nate held up two tickets, “Well I bought some tickets for me and my niece. It’s open to the public.”

“I don’t think…” Sterling started to say, glancing between the two of us.

“Of course, enjoy yourselves.” Blackpoole let us pass.

After looking at the art for a while, there was loads of commotion and chaos, just as planned. I let Nate go to the roof while I rendezvoused  with the others. We watched as he dropped down from the skylight. The security system activated, locking us in. 

“Let’s go to work.”

I helped them complete the task before they slipped me back outside in the crowd where I found Maggie.

“Maggie, what’s going on? I got separated from Nate in the confusion, have you seen him?”

Sterling was right next to us along with Blackpoole and the museum director. Sterling stared at me accusingly, but didn’t say anything. 

I followed them inside the building, once we reached the closed exhibit doors Sterling said, “This is your last chance Maggie. Come clean.” He looked over to me, “you too y/n.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

The doors finally opened to reveal Nate standing in a spotlight in front of the two Davids, in their case.

“The two Davids,” Blackpoole giggled, “Thank God.”

“Got you Nate,” Sterling said. 

“Yes, that was the whole point,” Nate replied. 

“What do you mean?”

“You know all that chasing me around? ‘Don’t let Nate Ford near the two Davids, how’s Nate Ford going to get the two Davids?’ I wasn’t the mastermind on this one, Sterling… I’m the bait.”

He counted down from three for the lights to come on and reveal the walls, empty from all the art that previously decorated it. 

Blackpoole broke down in disbelief and horror. There was over $150 million worth of art that was missing. And he was responsible for all of it. It was insured by IYS which would cause a major hit to his career and company. 

“Well done,” Sterling had to admit. 

Blackpoole grabbed a gun off of a guard’s belt and pointed it at Nate’s head, “where are they?! Where are they?!”

“Nate!” I yelled, I took a step forward, but Maggie grabbed my hand. 

“Clear the room!” Sterling demanded. A guard pulled the two of us away, both of us scared for him. 

We both had comms, which helped us hear the conversation better. Nate told Sterling the terms of getting the art back for destroying Blackpoole. Sterling agreed, almost too eagerly. 

Blackpoole pointed the gun at him “No. Sterling, you work for me,” He swung back towards Nate, “IYS is my company!”

Nate responded immediately, “Can’t let personal feelings affect policy. You have a responsibility to shareholders. No exceptions.” He threw Blackpoole’s own words back at him. Nate took the gun out of his hands, “I have lost my only son. Do you really think you scare me? Huh?”

Maggie squeezed my hand and I squeezed back. 

Blackpoole came rushing towards us, “Maggie, well, you understand.”

She let go of my hand, stepped up to him, and gave him a wicked right hook to the face. I stepped up and kicked him once while he was down.

Maggie smiled at me with a thoughtful look, “screw therapy, that felt really good.”

She walked off, and after exchanging a few words with Sterling, Nate came up, hooked arms with me and we both walked out the front door.

Later, that day the three of us were sitting in the empty exhibit room, waiting for the call. 

“Are you going to stop now?” Maggie asked Nate. 

“I don’t know.”

“Interesting.”

Nate hummed in a question.

“You admitting you don’t know something.”

Nate’s phone rang, and he answered it, listened then hung up. “It’s done. Blackpoole’s out.”

“Time to return the artwork?” I asked.

“I think so,” he replied. 

He lifted the seat cover we were sitting on to reveal an opening down to the restoration room. We all climbed down. 

When I got close to the bottom, Eliot grabbed my hand with one hand on my waist to guide me, “Careful sweetheart.” 

I grabbed his hand a little tighter and felt myself blush at the nickname. 

We admired the art surrounding us before leaving the room from behind the sarcophagus.

Nate and Sophie explained how they would seal and replace the floor tiles and then move the art to the loading dock to make it look like they came from the outside. 

Maggie approached Nate, “You are not the man I married.”

I quickly decided I didn’t want to be in the middle of that conversation and dashed off behind the others. 

After we had finished the work of moving the artwork, Parker and I helped oversee the sealing of the floor. We gathered at the back of the museum, clearly about to part ways.

I looked at each of them, “Are you guys gonna keep doing this? Am I ever gonna see you all again?”

They looked at each other for a moment before Eliot stepped up to me, “uh, we don’t know. Hope so.” He touched my elbow gently before pulling away.

I smiled at him before looking at the others, “Good enough for me… I guess this is bye.”

Hardison and Eliot nodded.

“I guess so,” Parker said. 

I nodded once more before stepping into Maggie’s car and driving back to her apartment. 

The next two weeks were mundane after that. I finished the LA project and flew back home to Boston. It was reaching into that third week afterwards that I got a phone call from Nate.

“Hey, I’m lookin’ for a place… Got anything in mind?”

Tags: @isoldeahlstrom

[hsangel64]

･ ｡ﾟ☆:study sesh : *.☽ .

⤷ pairings: ellie williams x fem!reader college au

⤷ summary: you invite your gf ellie over to study but she likes just messing with you and seeing you get frustrated…she thinks it’s cute

⤷ warnings: suggestive words but nothing really!

⤷ a/n: this is my first fic!! pls be nice ! i’ll have more soon and will take requests if you send them !! i hope you enjoy! <3

you <3

‘hey come over and study with me i miss u :(‘

els <3

‘okay baby just give me a few mins to grab my stuff i’ll be right over :]’

you smiled real big knowing your lovely gf will be here soon to study with you. you had already sorta predicted there wouldn’t be much studying going on but it’s worth a try!

you grab you textbook out and you grab your notes from earlier and laptop to try and start on this horrid math assignment. yuck! math has never been a strong suit but you had to retake it since you flunked last semester… you got really focused on trying to figure out this problem that you didn’t even hear that ellie had been knocking at the door until you get a call. you jump startled at the fact your phones ringer was on.

“hey pretty can you let me in i’ve been knocking for a little?”

“oh shit sorry els i was working on something!” you jump up and run to the door.

“hi baby!” you jump a little happy to see your gf even if you did just see her this morning for breakfast. you give her a kiss on the lips and follow her back into your room.

“hi pretty, what we’re you doing that you didn’t hear my continuous knocking-“ she let out a cute giggle.

“oh sorry i was starting on my math and had just completely tuned out everything!” she kissed you on the cheek and sat down with her bag right next to you on your desk. you had an extra chair just for her to be able to sit next to you and do your homework together!

“what are you going to work on today els?”

“oh! i have this art project due so i was just going to finish it up.” you nod and turn on some light lofi study music. this usually helps you stay focused. you get to working again and get through these problems fairly easily. you’re about halfway when ellie grabs your waist and puts her head on your shoulder. you lean into her a little more but you don’t let yourself get too comfortable and distracted.

not even two minutes later you feel ellie start to kiss your cheek a little. you knew she would start distracting you at some point so you just try and keep working.

“baby.” you move your head to look at ellie.

“i’m bored can we cuddle…” you giggle at her puppy dog eyes. it’s so hard to resist.

“once i’m done with this assignment i’m almost done i promise.” you go back to your work and ignore the long sighs coming from your gf.

another two minutes go by and she’s at it again kissing at your cheek but now starting to move her hands to tickle you. you jolt a little and push her hands away, with you being very ticklish the slightest touch in certain areas makes you move away quicker. of course she knew your weak spots.

“els please no tickling you know i hate it-“ she ignores you and moves her hands back to tickle you even more. you don’t want her to get what she wants so you try not to laugh and just try and move her hands away. you turn away and try to start on your homework again but can’t help and see her smirk from beside you.

she moves her arms back to tickle you even harder which results in you pushing her hands away and yelling “no no no !!!”

you sigh, frustrated, that she won’t quit tickling you even though she knows you hate it. you know exactly what she’s trying to do but you need to finish this before anything.

“ellieee seriously please stop.” you huff a little and go back to your work. it’s silent for a couple seconds before she comes back to you and puts her head on your shoulder.

“you’re cute when you’re frustrated” her looking at you with a goofy smile.

“you love when i mess with you because you love me.” she puts her two fingers under your chin to face her. and you’re completely hooked.

“i do love you a lot.”

“okay if you love me so much you’d take a break and cuddle with me.” you roll your eyes playfully and crack a small smile.

“who says you’ll keep your hands to yourself and we won’t do anything else…” you cock and eyebrow.

“you know it’s hard for me when my girlfriend is so goddamn sexy.” she grabs at your sides and you let out a giggle. at this point you guys are basically forehead to forehead, breathing on each others lips.

“you know you wouldn’t mind if my hands wandered anyways.”

“maybe…maybe not.” you leaned in and kissed her. she grabbed the sides of your face to deepen the kiss. when you pulled you sighed.

“fine we can cuddle-“ you giggled as she pulled you up and carried you over to the bed. you squealed when she basically dropped you onto the bed and laughed loudly. she really loved hearing you laugh because most of the time it was because of her.

“i love you so much baby.” she said and kissed your forehead.

“i love you so much els.”

[invitationtoher]

You're in my Way, Cage. | Chapter 2: Kitana

Chapter 1

Summery: Kitana Edenia, smart, beautiful, and stressed. With dreams of becoming a doctor due to her sister, Mileena, having a major case of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). Throughout her entire school life she's been focused on her goal of getting into the very same college that her mother and father went to and fell in love at, Mortal Kampus University (MKU), an ivy league school where the only people are intelligent as they are talented. Kitana vows to make her mother proud with no distractions, at least that was the plan until she met an obnoxious dirty blonde in her English Class.

Jonathan Carlton? No, he's Johnny Cage! Hollywood's next big star! He may not act as smart as he actually is, but he shines when it comes to entertainment, if it's on the screen or behind the scenes Johnny can do it all, thanks to the Carlton family being in the film industry for generations. Thanks to his parents money and his acting and martial arts talents (as well as writing), he got a scholarship to MKU's theater department! He knows MKU will be a good time, it's his chance to make his own name. When he sees a pretty girl in his English class whose walls seem unbreakable, he vows to break down those walls and see the real her by showing her a film.

                Keeping your head down in college is much easier than keeping it down in high school, it seemed like most of my classmates had the same idea. Yet, it was only the first day, anything could happen, just like how those planners to help students stay on top of their work will disappear next week.

            I was grateful that our professors seemed to be rather chill today, yet again, it was only the first day. We learned a little bit about the history of computers, mainly that ENIAC was the first electronic computer, and that the Colossus was the first programmable computer, I’m no tech nerd but so far it makes sense to me. Chemistry was about the first chemists, since it was a lecture instead of the LAB, Microbiology about LAB safety by watching a cheesy 80’s video (I have a gut feeling I’d have to rewatch it in my chem LAB tomorrow), the day was long but still not over.

            I was lucky that the academic resources building was right next to the technology building, my whole schedule today was pretty much walking a huge square, and I’d most likely do the same thing tomorrow as well. I was the first person to arrive in the lecture room, my professor greeted me and made a playful quip about how early I was that I must be excited to learn English. I gave him a pitiful laugh to entertain him, his friendly expression turning into a prideful one that I laughed at his lame joke.

            I sat down in the second row before the last on one of the edge seats, I always preferred to sit closer to the back during my dual enrollment classes I took, it kept me out of the sight of people and usually by the end of the second week the people that sit in the back eventually move to were ever their friends were sitting. No one ever sat next to anyone either, which means I have enough space to scatter my planner, my laptop, and notes that I took on my iPad. It also meant that I was free from unwanted socialization.

            I pulled out my phone from my bag to check in on Mileena when I noticed the time, 12:15. I felt heat rising to my cheeks in embarrassment after realizing that I was 30 minutes early to my class, I bit my bottom lip, tasting that same strawberry lip gloss I just reapplied after Micro-bio ended.

How’s your day been? ┃

            I sat there and waited for the three dots in the bubble to appear, it didn’t take long for Mileena to text back, it never does. She was a fast texter, always replying as fast as she could with her thumbs going fast enough to leave a trail of fire behind them.

┃Good, boring, how’s urs been?

  Just great. ┃

I arrived at my English class half an hour early. ┃

And my teacher thinks he’s a comedian. ┃

┃Oh u poor thing 😢

┃I’ll make you some cookies for ur troubles

            I rolled my eyes at her words; I could practically hear the sarcasm spewing through the screen.

            Mileena’s day seemed… uneventful. We talk about our classes and what we’ve done so far to kill time, she already decided that her world history class would be her “fucking around” class since she so happens to be an expert on it all (doubtful, since they’re starting with a government unit.), as she so gracefully puts it.

            She’s always been good at history, she’s definitely one the biggest history buff I know; she says that the class is like reading a whole book on the world and the mysteries of what happened before us, that the history textbooks we were forced to carry around were just a book filled with short stories that happened so we could learn from our mistakes and triumphs.

┃Have u talked to anyone?

┃U know dad’s gonna ask when he calls tonight

┃He wants u to get out there and meet people this year

┃And so do I…

┃I’m tired of them asking when I’m gonna meet a guy 😭

┃And have brats 🤢

┃As if I go outside at all even on a good day

            I pressed my lips in a thin line, the once fun mood turned into a serious one as those three dots bounced on my screen message after message with her horrendous texting grammar.

┃Look

┃I’m gonna bffr Sis

┃Ur pretty and smart

┃Just like me 🤭

┃U listen too much to mom

┃U work too hard

┃Have fun this year

┃Meet a guy (or girl if ur into that😉)

┃It’s time for some romance in ur boring dull life

            I looked up as I heard the door open and a stampede of shoes walk into the classroom to try and get a seat away from people, the professor smiling and welcoming them all to the class and to sit anywhere they pleased, but the class just studied the seats, trying to figure out where to sit and who to sit by. The grilled chicken wrap churned in my stomach at the feeling of all the eyes of my peers on me.

            I looked back down at my phone, reading the text choppy strings of text again. She was right, I know she was right. But I’m not going to just push all my hard work aside just for someone who I’m not even sure I’ll end up with. My thumbs dance across the screen in a rush to respond- something to show her that I’ll take it into consideration but it’s not definite- as the class is about to start.

I’ll try.┃

            As I put my phone away, I heard a chair scrap against the floor of the classroom, a chair that sounded way too close to me for my comfort. I glance beside me to see a bulky man leaning back against the chair, he had Ray-Ban sunglasses that prevented me from seeing his eye color, his head was tilted back and supported by his large hands that were interlaced behind his head and into his dirty blonde locks that were styled, his elbows pointed up and his large muscles on his biceps slightly covering his face. His blue button up shirt sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, the fabric of the shirt that was held closed by the buttons stretching across his broad chest. His legs spread out in a man spread, his knee barely grazes my thigh.

            My face turned pale at the slight contact, I quickly pulled my leg away and turned my head. I hear a small chuckle from beside me, from him. I bit my bottom lip and hesitantly turned my head to face him again, his hand pulled down his sunglasses to the bridge of his nose, his sparkling brown eyes staring at me. His lips formed a smirk as he gave me a flirty wink just like the kind a jock would give a cheerleader in a Hallmark movie my mother plays for the cats when she leaves the house.

            I scoffed and rolled my eyes before looking in front of me, great, looks like I got stuck next to a guy that can only think with his dick. I’ve encountered a few people like that today, but I was watching from a distance. Looks like it’s my turn to have an interaction with one of the most insufferable types of people that could be on a college campus.

            I know it’s not exactly nice to assume that about my seat neighbor, but what happened to “Hi, how are you?”, “My name is blank, what’s yours?“, or any sort of chivalry. I could hear him grumble quietly, disappointed that I didn’t give him the reaction he wanted.

            As I looked around the room, I noticed that everyone was sitting side-by-side, but there was enough room for another chair in the middle between each group of two.

            “I like the buddy group system.” He says, answering all our silent questions, “I was always a shy kid in school, never wanting to get up and ask for anyone to be my partner for a project. Think of it as useful for when you guys do your peer reviews and projects. If you have an issue with your buddy after the first essay, then you can talk to me about switching, fair?”

            The class all mindlessly nodded. Great, now I’m stuck with him until our first essay. I sigh and rest my face in the palm of my hand, my neighbor letting out a small hum in amusement. ‘The buddy peer review system’ was always a pain in my ass in high school. I usually just asked if I could have my sister at home review it, most of my teachers said sure, but others said no. Which is understandable, they wanted me to get out of my comfort zone

            “Now, we’re going to do an activity to get to know your partner, that way you guys get to know each other. Maybe you’ll find things you guys have in common, maybe you’ll end up as friends. Don’t be shy.”

            He explained, as he placed a paper in front of each student. My shoulders slump, I glanced slightly at my “peer review buddy” to see him smiling playfully, his sunglasses off and his eyes glancing at me as well. As soon as our eyes met, I looked away quickly, he let out another small chuckle.

            “Keep staring, princess, looks like you’re not going to get rid of me that easily.”

            I try not to roll my eyes and look up at the clock, silently praying that whatever is out there will have mercy on me and speed up the clock, I don’t think I can last the semester without strangling this guy.

© invitationtoher 2024

[wawa-boonliang]

Flufftober Day 2: Family, Friends, Loved Ones

Summary: brotherly bonding between Hitoshi, Dabi, and Shouto. Based on my BNHA fanfiction Never and Always, Eventually

Aizawa-Yamada Shouto isn’t entirely sure why he’s doing this.

It’s been six months since the adoption was finalized. Life had simultaneously calmed down and become more hectic than ever. Shouto didn’t think he’d ever be able to go back to his quiet, shut-in life-style. He didn’t know what he’d do if he ever had to go back to where he was. What he’d do if he lost all of this, all of the hugs in the morning, all of the hair ruffles in the classroom, all of the forehead kisses and sweet wishes goodnight. What he’d do if he didn’t have the warmth of Bakugou… Kacchan… leaning against his side as he sat on the couch with Explodocat spread across his lap, watching TV as Yamada Sensei… as Papa Mic and Shins– Hitoshi argued over the channel.

What he’d do without the warm flutter in his stomach every time he saw Izuku.

But sometimes… he can’t help but fall into old patterns.

Hitoshi froze and peered over Shouto’s shoulder. Shouto held very still, hoping that if he didn’t move, somehow his… brother… wouldn’t be able to see what was on his screen. Unfortunately, Hitoshi didn’t seem to have turned into a T-Rex, so after a few seconds, Hitoshi cleared his throat and read outloud “New theory, Endeavor is secretly in love with All Might.”

Shouto knew it was hopeless at this point, but he still didn’t move, or speak, or breathe.

“Halfy… what the fuck?”

“...it’s not my theory. I’m just reading it.”

“Why are you reading it? What even is this?” Hitoshi gestured to the screen, before heaving himself over the back of the couch and sliding in next to him, pulling the laptop onto his own lap and exploring the page. “ProShippersUnite.com?” Hitoshi read out in glee. “Is this what you fucking do all day in your room?”

“...not always.”

Hitoshi scrolled back up to the post that had initially got his attention due to the giant fan-created splash art of Endeavor and All Might in a passionate embrace. “Don’t show this to Deku, I think he’d actually combust.”

“I wasn’t planning on it? I wasn’t planning on you seeing either.”

“Well, then you shouldn’t have been on it in the living room.”

Shouto flushed. “I didn’t know anyone else was home.”

Shouto, truth be told, had been feeling a little lonely today. Izuku and Kacchan were with Mrs. Midoriya… Aunty Inko… and Papa Mic was at work doing a Charity Marathon stream for the local children’s hospital for cancer awareness month. He wouldn’t be home for another three hours if all went well. Dad was covering patrol today for Mrs. Joke who was out of town visiting family. And up until a few minutes ago, he’d been under the impression that Hitoshi was with Tokoyami at the other boy’s house. Somehow, being in a public space, even in an empty house, was a bit less isolating than being alone in his room in an empty house.

Hitoshi didn’t seem to notice his embarrassment, or if he did he didn’t comment on it. He was too busy reading through the post. “Oh my god, this person made a timeline. All Might says in an interview that he enjoys a specific spicy noodle dish at a certain restaurant, four days later Endeavor is seen at that restaurant ordering that same dish. God, look at that picture. You’d think with being on fire and all he’d be able to handle spice. All Might changes his costume, a few months later Endeavor also changes up his look with the same shade of blue being the predominant color. That’s hilarious, I never noticed that.”

“It’s oddly compelling,” Shouto breaks his silence hesitantly. These days, even though he… he does love Hitoshi… he isn’t always sure when the other boy is making fun of him or not. He never feels like Hitoshi means to hurt his feelings, even though he occasionally does, but he’d rather not be teased about this.

“I…” Shouto wants to explain how, before he had friends, before he had this… theories were all he had. Stupid things to waste time thinking about, because keeping his thoughts occupied was the only way he was able to… just get through the day. Every day. He’d run ridiculous stories through his head, each one more preposterous than the last, and do his best mental gymnastics to justify them. It was fun.

Some of the only fun he’d been able to take for himself for years.

Hitoshi must hear something in his voice, because he stops scrolling and gives Shouto his full attention. “Yeah, Halfy?”

“Sites like these were how I learned about Dad and Papa,” Shouto said slowly. “And Kacchan and Izuku. Them being a family. Theories about Aunty Inko and Mrs. Bakugou being surrogates. Theories about what quirk Izuku had or which father was biologically connected to which son. And before that… I didn’t really have any friends. Theories like this were… the only way I knew how to talk to people. Pros were always happy to share their own, and they always seemed to like mine too.” Shouto huffed. “But now I know they were probably laughing at me half the time. I hadn’t realized it at the time.”

Hitoshi hummed, but his gaze was focused on Shouto. Shouto knew he was listening.

“I just,” Shouto had no idea how to elaborate on how important things like this had been to him, and the more he said out loud, the sillier it seemed. “I just liked them,” he finished lamely.

Hitoshi kept looking at him silently for a few more moments before clearing his throat and closing the laptop. “Let me ask you something, little brother.”

“I’m older than you.”

“Have you ever tried to prove a theory?”

Shouto blinked. “Only…the EraserMic one.”

Hitoshi grinned. “Ferb, I know what we’re gonna do today.”

♡ღ‿ღ♡ ʕ•̫͡•ʕ*̫͡*ʕ•͓͡•ʔ-̫͡-ʕ•̫͡•ʔ*̫͡*ʔ-̫͡-ʔ ♡ღ‿ღ♡

“How does this prove that Endeavor is in love with All Might?” Shouto asks Hitoshi an hour later as they hide behind some bushes with a video camera liberated from their parents’ room.

Hitoshi, when he answers, addresses his response towards the camera. “I’m glad you asked lil’ listener,” Hitoshi grins, throwing the camera a couple of finger guns. It’s disconcerting, because the grin is all Dad, but the voice is all Papa Mic. It makes Shouto smile despite himself. “We’ll be able to tell by his reaction. Surely, if he isn’t madly in love with everyone’s favorite hero, then he won’t bat an eye. But if he is get ready for an explosive time!”

“Please stop talking like Papa.”

“No. We ready to go live?”

“Oh. We’ve been live.”

Hitoshi freezes, and by his face, Shouto can tell he regrets talking like a mini Present Mic. Shouto feels a strange, unfamiliar sense of glee. A type of glee he’s only recently discovered and is usually reserved for when one of his brothers gets caught doing something harmlessly stupid.

Hitoshi slowly pulls out his phone and clicks onto their website where Momo had hired somebody to set up a page for live streaming. Sure enough, Shouto had been streaming for ten minutes already. Two thousand people were watching, and the chat was very active.

Lmao dude wat

Endeavor? He hates All Might

no no let them talk

lil listener hahaha

omg my babies

Hitoshi kinda hot tho

dat smile damn

Who let them out of hte house unsuerpvised

Present Mic come get ur kid

im worried

plz dont do anything stupid

why

Wait wut imlate to stream

lmaoooo

let him cook

why r u in a bush

put todoroki on camera!

hes not todoroki anymore he got adopted and changed his name

he’s not todoroki

I think his last name is Yamada like Mic

yeah put him on camera!

Where are the adults? Am concerned?

are we sure they aren’t blood related?

Hitoshi punched Shouto in the arm. “Dude, why didn’t you warn me?”

Shouto frowned at him. “I’ve been pointing it at you for the last ten minutes with the light on.” Shouto gestures to the little green light that indicates that the camera is in use.

“How was I supposed to know! I wasn’t looking at you! I was busy.”

Shouto ignores him and points the camera towards the villain fight that they definitely weren’t supposed to be anywhere near. Endeavor had a villain cornered. Shouto hadn’t been paying attention to what the villain in question had done to get the new number one hero on his tail, but that wasn’t what was important. What was important was the several life-sized All Might cardboard cutouts that Hitoshi had sourced from somewhere, and then used his Aizawa-honed skill set to sneakily place just so, peeking out of alleyways, on rooftops gazing down benevolent, inside someone’s car, and even in the window of a shop – the owner lady had been nice when Hitoshi had told her it was a prank on Endeavor.

Since the court transcripts had been made public, the public opinion on the new number one hero had tanked to all time lows. Shouto felt suitably vindicated by this.

They knew the exact moment when Endeavor clocked the first one, the one in the alley, because he froze, letting the villain with the telekinesis quirk get a good hit in with a piece of rubble from the torn up street. A group of civilians cheered. As did their live chat.

yoooooo ten points

Oooooh face shot

lmaoooooooo pog

ouch. i mean lmao. But ouch.

Rofl nice shot

go for the crotch next time!

GIVE HIM THE CHAIR

ahhhh come on, there was a perfectly good car right there. throw that!!!

Shouto the fuck are you doing and why didn’t you invite me

♡ღ‿ღ♡ ʕ•̫͡•ʕ*̫͡*ʕ•͓͡•ʔ-̫͡-ʕ•̫͡•ʔ*̫͡*ʔ-̫͡-ʔ ♡ღ‿ღ♡

Dabi stared in disbelief at his little brother’s livestream.

(He wasn’t entirely sure if he was still able to claim that connection. Not that he’d wanted to for the better part of ten years. But now he wasn’t sure that he could if he did want to. Not since Shouto had been adopted by that sickeningly sweet hero couple. Not since Shouto had been given two new brothers. Or maybe even before. Not since he’d left. But his little maybe-brother had grown into someone that Dabi could see himself being friends with. His little maybe-brother had grown into someone that made Dabi feel a strange feeling of loss in his chest whenever he thought about lost years and lost chances.)

He was all for tormenting Endeavor. But this was lame as hell.

Dabi could do so much better.

“Hey,” Himiko whined. “Are you going? I want to come!”

“No,” Dabi told her sharply, but not unkindly. “One, your obsession with my… brother is weird.”

“Not him! I have a crush on Katsuki!”

“Two,” Dabi steamrolled past, ignoring that. “This is Todoroki business.”

♡ღ‿ღ♡ ʕ•̫͡•ʕ*̫͡*ʕ•͓͡•ʔ-̫͡-ʕ•̫͡•ʔ*̫͡*ʔ-̫͡-ʔ ♡ღ‿ღ♡

The fight went well.

For the villain.

Once Endeavor noticed the second cut-out, he seemed to be on the lookout for more. The villain had used his distraction to first rough him up, and then get away. Endeavor roared as he gave chase, blasting down the street, almost burning a few civilians in his wake.

Hitoshi and Shouto ran to keep up, making sure to stay out of sight.

“Okay,” Hitoshi panted. “Step two.”

“And what would step two be?”

The two of them stumbled into each other, surprised. Out of an alley came the burned, but amused figure of none other than Touya. Shouto blinked twice, then gave an awkward smile. “Hello, To— Aniki. Would you like to play with us?”

A look of irritation came over Touya’s face, but it disappeared just as fast. “Don’t call me that.” Shouto nodded, knowing that Touya wasn’t talking about aniki. Shouto wasn’t sure why Touya didn’t want to be called Touya, but Shouto also didn’t want to call him Dabi. Dabi was a villain name. Touya wasn’t a villain. Touya was just his brother. But then Touya smiled a smile that wouldn’t look out of place on Dad. “But, yes. I would.”

“Great,” Hitoshi said, accepting this immediately and rolling with it, which Shouto thought was just one of the many things that made his new brother amazing. He couldn’t help but feel a burst of warmth at the thought of spending time with both his little brother and his older brother. “So the plan is–”

“No, no, no” Touya interrupted. “I saw what the plan was. It was dumb. No, you need to listen to me. I know how to fuck with Endeavor.”

Hitoshi and Shouto passed a look between them.

“What do you have in mind, Aniki?” Shouto asked. Touya’s eyes glinted in a way that reminded Shouto that while Touya wasn’t a villain, Dabi was.

“I have a plan.”

♡ღ‿ღ♡ ʕ•̫͡•ʕ*̫͡*ʕ•͓͡•ʔ-̫͡-ʕ•̫͡•ʔ*̫͡*ʔ-̫͡-ʔ ♡ღ‿ღ♡

Shouto had never thought that he’d be back here.

Even more than that, he never thought he’d be back here laughing.

Fuyumi and Natsuo had moved out ages ago, so the empty manor seemed even emptier than it ever did. Endeavor was still out, and hopefully would be for a while. Technically, they didn’t break and enter, and therefore committed no crime. Originally, Touya had planned on busting through a window, but Endeavor had never asked for Shouto’s house key back. He’d also never officially banned Shouto from the property.

“So,” Hitoshi said to the camera. “My little brother–”

“I’m older than you.”

“-forgot some things when he left, and so we’re here to help him get his stuff. That’s the official story and we’re sticking with it.”

Touya snorted and hefted his bag of supplies. “Now, for the record, I definitely wasn’t in favor of burning down the entire house and dusting off my shoes,” Touya said over his shoulder. “But trust me when I say, this will be better.”

“Also,” Hitoshi continued. “I, as a hero in training, am absolutely not bugging the house in order to get Endeavor's reaction. No siree.”

“Neither am I,” Touya says, gleefully as he hides a small camera in a painting’s frame. “As a dutiful friend of the family, I’m helping with security.”

From behind the camera, Shouto added. “I don’t know what’s happening.”

oh yes we absolutely agree with you

I believe you entirely

Nope nothing sus here

perfectly innocent yup

I mean i actually do believe Shouto

so we not burning down his house?

omg thats a fucking huge ass mansion

steal a tv

With that, Touya started pasting a giant wall art of All Might’s face to the wall.

“It’s beautiful,” Hitoshi wiped an invisible tear from the corner of his eyes. Then, he got to work moving every piece of furniture ever so slightly to the left, dropping tiny but very sharp plastic All Might figures between cushions and behind pillows. And then he scattered the extras around the floor to hopefully be stepped on by bare feet.

“Which is his bedroom?” Hitoshi asked.

“Furthest door down that hallway,” Touya answered before Shouto could.

“Got it,” Hitoshi disappeared. Shouto debated for a moment for as to which brother he should be filming, but then he decided to follow Hitoshi. Touya seemed to be struggling a bit with getting the wall art to stick. Hitoshi was in Endeavor’s room, putting little stickers of All Might’s face on everything, but in unobtrusive areas where they wouldn’t be discovered right away.

“And the best thing is,” Hitoshi said without looking up from what he was doing. “These are all cheap ass dollar store shit, so if he tries to peel ‘em off they’ll leave that shitty resedue that you need glue remover to get off.”

Shouto nodded, accidentally moving the camera as he did so. When Hitoshi was done, he stepped back and took in the room as a whole. It was spartan, with the only decorations being various awards and trophies that Endeavor had been awarded over the years. The overall color scheme was mostly gray with a few splotches here and there of brown. For as long as Shouto can remember, being called into this room meant pain. It meant kowtowing on the ground until his knees went numb as his father ranted. It meant whipping. It meant a heavy boot on his back. It meant fire. It meant whatever he’d done or hadn’t done had been serious. Going into his father’s room to “talk” meant–

“This is boring,” Hitoshi declared after a moment. “Honestly, we’re doing the man a favor.”

That startled a laugh out of Shouto. Hitoshi darted out of the room and was back moments later with spray cans in All Might red, blue, and gold. Hitoshi tossed Shouto the gold. “Here, baby bro–”

“I’m older than you.”

“-that’s for you. Just put that down on the window sill so it can still see us.” Shouto obliged, and then looked for a long moment at the can in his hands. He tried to think of the perfect thing to say. The perfect comeback to years of abuse. (It was easier to think that word now, now that he’d talked about with the Hound Dog and Dad and Papa and Kacchan and Izuku and Hitoshi. It didn’t hurt as much anymore. Nothing hurt as much anymore.) He tried to think of something profound. Something eloquent. Something suitable to match the crime.

He couldn’t think of anything.

Hitoshi noticed his hesitation. “What’s wrong, Halfy?”

“I don’t know what I want to say to him.”

“I mean…” Hitoshi trailed off and Shouto looked up at him, and then noticed that Hitoshi hadn’t been writing anything at all. Rather, there was a rather impressive mural of a dick on fire. Hitoshi shrugged at Shouto’s bemused look. “It’s not like you have to write a poem.”

Shouto looked at his can. He climbed on the bed, standing up, taking joy in not removing his shoes and idly hoping he’d stepped in dog poop at some point that day. Then he reached up as far as he could go, and started spraying the ceiling above the bed.

“WORLDS WORST NUMBER TWO

I HAVE A BETTER DAD THAN YOU

YOURE A FUCKING DOUCHE CANOE”

Hitoshi watched him, his face twisting with laughter. Then he stood next to Shouto and added a final line.

“PEEPEEPOOPOO.”

Together, they admired their work.

“I am a mature hero in training.” Hitoshi announced.

Touya peeked his head in. “Hows it going in here.” Then he spies the poem. He barks out a short laugh. “Beautiful. Art. Poetry.” He has a drill in his hand, and he makes a hole in the corner of the wall where there’s a good angle to see the rest of the room. He presses one final camera bug into the hole, smoothing it in so that it’s flush against the plaster and nearly invisible unless you know what to look for. Then, he grabs the camera from the sill and points it at the ceiling. “Behold.”

All was still for a moment. And then they heard the unmistakable sound of the front gate opening. “Scramble” Touya hissed. They dart down the hall and towards the back of the house, exiting through the garden and leaping over the back fence. They don’t stop running, keeping up the pace as they leave the manor behind them, but after a moment, Touya starts laughing.

It’s a more free laughter than anything Shouto has heard from his older brother in… ever. He sounds young. He sounds free.

He sounds a bit evil.

Hitoshi starts laughing, too. “Please tell me you got all the cameras set up.”

“They’re recording as we speak.” Touya assures him, still smiling widely as they run.

Gradually, they slow their pace until they’re jogging side by side. Shouto is a little surprised that Touya hasn’t gone his own way yet, but he still has their camera, which is presumably still live streaming, so he doesn’t say anything. Afterall, he’s not exactly complaining that his older brother hasn’t disappeared for parts unknown. Again.

And yet, Touya seems a bit surprised when he sees where the two younger boys have led him. “This… is your new home?”

“Yup.” Hitoshi pops the p. “Papa’s probably home by now.”

Touya stops walking. Shouto and Hitoshi look at him in question. “I’ll, uh,” he pushes the camera into Hitoshi’s hands. Hitoshi looks at the screen for a moment, before saluting and turning it off. Touya watches him do this and swallows. “I’ll see you guys–”

The front door opens.

“LIL LISTENERS YOU WOULD NOT BELIEVE HOW MANY CALLERS TOLD ME ABOUT oh, hi Touya.”

Touya ruffled up in affront. “That’s not my name.”

“Sorry, sorry, Dabi.” Papa Mic smiles at him. “Thanks for watching the boys today. Come on in! Shouta set some soup to cook this morning and I think it’s ready!”

“I’m not sure-”

“There’s a place at my table with your name on it,” Mic continues, his face carefully open and welcoming. “Even if you don’t claim it today.”

Touya swallows. “Um.”

“All of our family is welcome whenever.”

“I’m not part of your family.”

“Friends?”

“I’m not your friend.”

“Loved ones, then.”

“I’m not–” Touya blinks rapidly. Mic wags a finger at him.

“Rule number seven in this house,” Mic tells him very seriously. “No one gets to decide who someone else loves.”

“You don’t even know me.”

Mic lets his hand fall back to his side, then he steps back, leaving the door open. “No, I don’t.” He admits. “But I’d like to.”

Touya looks lost. Shouto grabs his hand. “Aniki,” he says. “We have to watch the reaction together.”

Touya swallows. “Are you sure? This is your family. Not mine.”

“You’re my family.”

Touya stares at him for a long moment.

Of course, it’s Hitoshi that breaks the silence, tossing his comment over his shoulder as he embraces Mic and goes inside. “Yeah, Aniki, get your butt in here. You haven’t lived until you’ve tried Dad’s pho. Its fucking to die for.”

Touya turns wide eyes at Hitoshi’s back disappearing into the house. Slowly, he nods. Mic’s smile grows as Touya slowly walks up the front steps, hesitating just before crossing the threshold into the house. Mic, moving slowly so there’s time for him to move, places a hand on Touya’s shoulder. Touya flinches anyway.

“Are you sure?” Touya asks again, his voice a hoarse whisper.

“I’m sure.”

Touya meets his eyes, then nods. He takes a deep breath, as if steeling himself.

He goes inside.

Shouto follows, pressing briefly into Mic as he passes.

Mic closes the door behind them.

[cheer-soli-art]

It was a good year for art

Commentary for each artwork under the cut :D

February - biblically accurate bam - This was back when the jokes of ‘biblically accurate (insert noun here)’ had really hit mainstream, or maybe I just finally got inspiration to do something about this topic. Since Bam is the night, I added the usual night symbols of moons and stars. The waves at the bottom represent how the tides change with the cycle of the moon, and it ties in well with the idea of Bam being a ‘new wave’ in the Tower.

February - biblically accurate bam - This was back when the jokes of ‘biblically accurate (insert noun here)’ had really hit mainstream, or maybe I just finally got inspiration to do something about this topic. Since Bam is the night, I added the usual night symbols of moons and stars. The waves at the bottom represent how the tides change with the cycle of the moon, and it ties in well with the idea of Bam being a ‘new wave’ in the Tower.

March - double city - An artwork that I haven’t released anywhere on the internet until today, as it was part of a school exhibition. The idea behind it was taking the place I grew up in and the city I lived in at the time and merging them into one location, representing how I am influenced by both cultures.

April - Marpril Colors Series - 17 Azure - This was a series of sketches I did over March and April, as a countdown for my return from Tower’s Tale (TT) hiatus. During these months, I was busy with school stuff and working on TT, so I didn’t have much time or desire to make other artworks.

May - Part 1_Page 201 - I started working on this TT page in December of the previous year, as the scene this page is a part of was important for me (oh, and the plot too). I was still practicing a new style, and though I don’t like it as much now, I still think it was worth the experimentation.

June - yanfei.jpg - This one was part of a Six Fanart Challenge that I never finished. Whoops. Anyways, I drew her because she’s the character that I’ve played with the most. I’m really proud of how I was able to capture most of the details, especially that staff, haha.

July - KBWday5.PNG - Ah, yes. The KhunBam month, where I spend 3 weeks thinking about what to post only for me to procrastinate on it until KhunBam Week arrives. I like this artwork because it’s where I finally started using references (lol), as well as understanding more organic backgrounds.

August - glitterandgold_01 - One of the two artworks I made for a WIP Big Bang. This is also the first artwork of the entire year that I finished on my laptop instead of my phone, as I had lost my stylus and only bought a new one around this time. I like that I was able to carry the dramatic mood from the sketch to the final version.

September - Part 1_Page 237 - There wasn’t a lot of artwork activity this month, apart from TT, so here is another page I’m really proud of. I wanted to communicate the overwhelming difference in power between the characters, so the pages before have a lot of open paneling and negative space that progressively build up to this one, which covers nearly the entire background in green. The frame around Goseng and Bam is actually the same proportions as the usual page border, but shrunken, to make it look like the fire was spreading beyond the edges of the page, to really emphasize the probable helplessness Bam is feeling in the situation… Sometimes, a lot of thought goes into these pages.

October - kitsune khun - This is a drawing I made for a raffle winner on Twitter. I included it here because this and the other artworks I made that week felt like they ‘clicked’. They were the ones that all the process from previous artworks were leading up to - finally I had an artwork that I was very satisfied with, where the process was fun and the final result was pretty to look at too. I’m a huge fan of using complementary colors, especially orange lighting and blue shadows..

November - Snow Study (gasp) - I don’t do studies as often as I should, so this one came as a surprise. I save a lot of images from Bing’s daily wallpaper, and since the cold weather was coming, I painted this chilly town with one as a reference. I also wanted to update my blog so it matched my current style, so this was drawn for that reason too.

December - ‘Polaroid’ mini series - “with hyung.png” - This is one of four artworks I made in a ‘polaroid photo’ style. I really like that aesthetic. There is something very nostalgic and deep about it - capturing a moment you deem important. Taking the context of polaroids and film into account, you don’t have the luxury to take various copies of a moment and pick the right one afterwards like we do nowadays, so ideally you’d want everything to be perfectly in place and extremely important before you press the shutter. And yet, in these ‘photos’, the moments captured are not of grandiose events or life-changing moments, but of casual, daily life. I wanted to appreciate the ordinary in this small series. Maybe I’ll revisit it next year.

Bonus round

There were a few artworks that didn’t make the cut, but I still wanted to talk about them. So here they are.

“A summoning ritual (that worked a little too well)” - This is where I started the habit of drawing genshin characters when I wanted them on my team. Though this one is a little rough around the edges, I still like the colors and texture of the artwork.

“met gala hwar” - I was watching a video talking about how the Gilded Gala was a disaster (unsurprisingly), and one of the looks that went by (as examples of what worked) caught my eye. So I drew Hwaryun in it.

“Part 1_Page 216.PNG” - I have a very consistent system for numbering pages - just thought you might wanna know. I didn’t count this one in the final cut because some of the panels here were from pages drawn last year, so I felt that I was cheating a bit. There is a lot of thought behind this particular panel, but I will discuss that one when I release the full cleaned-up version sometime in the next few months.

“a precious jewel” - This artwork means a lot to me. Though it was rather quick (done under an hour, curse my comic panel habits), a lot of ‘feeling’ went into it. I think that out of all of the artworks, this is the one where I’m pouring what I’m actually feeling at the moment - I can’t quite put it into words here (as it is a little awkward, and I’m afraid of things getting lost in translation too), but I’ll try. I think that for that hour, I understood where Khun was getting at with the jewel metaphor, but rather than wanting to hide someone away, it was more of wanting to keep those feelings close to my heart… that kind of thing.

“Bleak December_07” - My entry for Secret Santa this year. Just thought I’d include it. I signed up to an email address sending Edgar Allen Poe’s works, and was floored by The Raven, so the title and tone of this short comic reflect that too.

“fall for you, fall for me” - i like khunbam. and i like autumn, now. i like coloring khun’s hair, ‘cuz its color can look so different under different lightings. it’s a simple and easygoing artwork. i like simple and easygoing things sometimes too.

[sarasa-cat]

Today: one win, one lose. A lot of hours wasted. Oh well.

(What was I expecting ordering a bargain basement posh product from Amazon Basics?)

The win was actually a trip win: My body feels almost back to normal. I woke up before my alarm at a pleasant hour — not too early, not whoooa oh too late. Banged out 4400 words of text at record speed (loving this clickity clackity mechanical keyboard lololol) that helps orient/reorient a major writing project. Well, technically, TWO (2) writing projects.

The lose that wasted so many hours of time? So, I have this Cintiq pro that is small — only a 16” one — which is extremely light weight. Like, 4 lbs 4 oz, maybe? Something like that, it’s been a week since I looked at its specs.

It is really really really REALLY REALLY difficult to find a vesa-plate monitor arm thinger with the specs and positional flexibility I need that is capable of holding something lighter than 7 or 8 lbs. THE PROBLEM.

Eventually someone on reddit claimed that they had luck with an amazon basics product that is essentially a reworked Ergotron arm. And it is only US$100. So, fine. Ordered. Waited for it to arrive. Set it up. AND despite the thousands of reviews with a 4.5 star rating, THE FUCKING THING DID NOT WORK.

Well, so I searched 1 star reviews and it seems there is a quality control issue with this product and lots of people end up with an arm that is all locked up (stuck and not fixable) for all of the joints that move in various directions near the vesa plate. after hours of fucking with it — bc the screws it came with didn’t fit so I needed to get different (shorter) screws for my cintiq — I confirmed that I indeed had one of these zero quality control fuckers. You cannot tilt the monitor (cintiq in this case) left or right or up or down. The mechanism the vesa plate is attached to points up to the ceiling 5evah. Which makes it useless for a normal monitor. For a cintiq I can get the lever arm to drop the whole thing into my lap but that is NOT ergonomic. BAD FOR THE NECK! And hard to draw from the shoulder.

Back in the box, processed a return. Risking a replacement but if that one is also a bust I’m giving up on this and back to the drawing board.

Honestly, I am this close to saying ARRRRGGG and purchasing a big fucker cintiq with cintiq’s mounting system and either selling my 16 or using it for travel because it is really very laptop sized and portable and can be used in one’s lap (which is what most people used it for, at least prior to the pandemic). But for ergonomic reasons I need something on a mount that I can swivel around and tilt and move based on how my body feels.

I just don’t spend enough hours per week in digital land to make me feel justified purchasing the big fucker from cintiq but I cannot afford to be taking off 2, 3, or even 6 to 12 months at a time to let shoulder RSI (yes, my fucking shoulder. The final year at daygig destroyed it. When it was at its worst I really did need 9 months of time off to get it workable.)

But also, I don’t spend much time in digital land for my art process BECAUSE I cannot do it comfortably and ergonomically given my set up and/or equipment.

So fuck.

All that said, once I get a highly ergonomic situation going for digital art, I suspect I will switch a lot more of my process to digital. Tbd. I just don’t know.

I need a new shoulder. Honestly, it hurts right now from all of the fucking around with nonsense that did not solve my problem and it did not hurt this morning or all of the past month.

Who needs a bank account with savings in it. (Yes, I am self employed so I cannot ask boss for ok and expense this to some corporation but instead must fuck around every spring with annual taxes to sort the nonsense out)

[waitimcomingtoo]

You Wear Those Shoes and I Will Wear That Dress

Pairing: Peter Parker x Reader

Synopsis: you and Peter are just friends but he accidentally kisses you goodbye

Masterlist

“There you are.” Peter smiled to greet you. “How was your first class at college?”

“I wouldn’t know. I did todays Wordle and then I was just texting and clicking between four different tabs on my laptop the rest of the time. I did not hear a single word.”

“What class was it again?”

“I don’t know. Like math or something?” You shrugged. Peter took your schedule from you and skimmed through it.

“Art history.” He told you when he read it on your schedule.

“Are you serious? How did I end up in that?” You asked as you took your schedule back from him. Peter laughed as you read through your list of classes as if you had never seen them before.

“You never fail to amaze me. Are we still on for tonight?” Peter asked once his laughter died down.

“Duh. Like I’d miss our first day of school tradition.”

“Cool. I’ll see you after class then.“ Peter smiled and leaned in to kiss you goodbye. He walked away from you and went to his next class with a smile still on his face. Once he sat down in his seat, his smile instantly fell.

“Oh no.” He whispered.

He quickly touched his hands to his lips and sure enough, felt your sticky lipgloss still on his lips.

“Oh no. Oh no oh no.” Peter gulped and got out of his seat.

“Class has started. Stay in your seat.” The professor ordered. Peter sat back down in his chair and slid all the way down.

“Dude, what’s wrong?” Ned whispered to him.

“I just kissed Y/n.” Peter whispered back.

“Really? Where?“

“In the hallway.”

“But where on her?”

“What? Her lips. Where else?”

“Which lips?” Ned asked with a pointed look.

“What?”

“What?” Ned looked to the side.

“Oh my God.” Peter realized what he meant. “What?”

“Focus Peter.” Ned whispered harshly. “Did you guys start dating without telling me?”

“We’re not dating. It was just an accident. What am I gonna do?” Pete whined and slid even further down in his chair.

“I don’t know, dude. How do you just accidentally kiss someone?”

“It was just a reflex.” Peter shrugged helplessly. “I was leaving her so I kissed her goodbye.”

“Why would that be your reflex if you’ve never done it before?”

“I don’t know. I had a dream about her last night. That might have something to do with it.”

“What kind of dream are we talking here?” Ned questioned. “The kind that makes you wake up with a smile on your face or the kind that makes you have to wash your sheets?”

“The smile kind. We were dating in my dream. I guess I forgot I wasn’t dreaming anymore.” Peter sighed and looked up at the ceiling.

“Well do you like her?” Ned asked.

“I don’t know. I feel like I’m not allowed to like her. We’ve been friends since we were in utero.”

“I didn’t know you guys traveled together.” Ned frowned.

“Do you think it would be weird if I did like her?” Peter wondered, mostly to himself.

“Not any weirder than you starting a surprise make our session with her in the hallway.” Ned shrugged.

“It wasn’t like that.” Peter blushed. “It was just a peck.”

“Then why are your lips shimmery and pink?” Ned narrowed his eyes at Peter’s lips.

“It’s her lipgloss. Damn it. This stuff is like glue.” Peter groaned as he wiped his mouth off on the back of his hand. He couldn’t help but blush at the thought that your lipgloss made its way to his lips.

“It’s worse. It’s like crazy glue. It’s like Kragle.” Ned whispered.

“Do I need to separate you, boys?” The professor asked. Peter and Ned exchanged a look before remaining silent for the rest of the class.

Once you were done with classes for the day, you went to the rooftop of the student center building. Peter was already sitting on the ledge, like you planned. You went and sat beside him, noticing the way he tensed up.

“Hey.” You said, making his eyes shut in embarrassment.

“Hey.” He said quietly.

“Here’s your first day of school soda.” You replied and handed him a can of Coca Cola.

“Thanks.” He took it from you and avoided eye contact.

Peter was never allowed to have soda as a kid. May said it made him too rambunctious. You stopped drinking soda out of solidarity because it killed you to see him being the only one not drinking soda at birthday parties. When Peter asked when May would finally let him have soda, she said he could have it on his first day of high school. After a particularly nerve-wracking and embarrassing first day, you found him up on his roof and gave him a can of Coca Cola. You carried on the tradition every year since then.

You opened your can of soda and held it up. Peter unethically clicked his can against yours and you both took a sip.

“So.” You said after a beat of silence. “You kissed me today.”

“Oh God.” Peter groaned and buried his face in his hands.

“Wasn’t expecting that.” You shrugged and took a sip from your can.

“I’m so embarrassed.” Peter said quietly from behind his hands.

“Don’t be. Who cares?”

“I cares.” He whined. “I just messed this all up.”

“Who says you messed it up?” You shrugged.

“Of course I messed it up. We’ve been best friends for 20 years and I just smooched you on the mouth out of nowhere. I’m never gonna live this down.” Peter sighed and swung his legs like a little kid.

“Listen, I can forgive the kiss, but I cannot forgive you saying “smooched”. That’s where I draw the line.”

“This is serious.” Peter said as he fought back his laughter.

“I’m being serious.” You insisted. “I don’t care that you kissed me, Pete. It doesn’t have to change anything between us.“

“I can’t just be normal around you now that I know what it feels like to kiss you.” Peter said quietly. You let out a sympathetic sigh and rubbed circles on Peter’s back.

“I’m such an idiot. I’m so embarrassed.” He said again, sounding close to tears this time.

“Pete, you have no reason to be embarrassed. We’ve embarrassed ourselves in front of each other way worse than this. This is like level 1 embarrassment. We’ve gotten to at least level 6.”

“Yeah?” Peter cheered up a little. “Like what?”

“Like when I graduated from training bras to regular bras and I slept over at your house and realized I didn’t know how to take a regular bra off because they’re not like training bras that can be taken off like a shirt. So I had to get May to unbuckle my bra for me. Can you imagine how embarrassed I felt when I asked her to do that? Especially since she clearly found the situation very funny but was trying really hard not to laugh.” You said, making Peter’s body shake with laughter.

“I remember that.” He smiled. “No one would tell me what was going on. I was so mad.”

“I remember you being mad. And that was super embarrassing for me. Way more embarrassing than an accidental kiss.”

“Agree to disagree.” Peter shrugged, knowing it would set you off.

“Oh really?” You raised an eyebrow. “That’s fine. Then how about the time you farted in class and everyone gasped and turned to look at you and you gasped even louder and turned around to blame it on the person behind you but there was no one there? That was way more embarrassing than today.”

“That was really embarrassing.” Peter admitted as his mood lifted the slightest bit.

“It was. Or the time in fifth grade I got distracted by the soccer team playing and walking right into that tree.”

“I remember that.” Peter laughed. “You were just lying there while everyone was trying to get the teacher's attention. And wasn’t your nose bleeding?”

“Uh, yeah. Tremendously.” You playfully scoffed. “Because I fractured it, remember? My face was bruised for a whole week. And I still have a bump on my nose.“

“Consider it a gift from the tree.” Peter teased.

“I do. You know what else was super embarrassing? That time we were walking to school in like sixth grade after that snowstorm and the sidewalks were covered in ice. And then you slipped and landed on your knees and I tried to catch you but I fell too. Then we kept trying to stand up but kept slipping so we had to crawl on our hands and knees until we didn’t see any more ice.”

“Oh my God.” Peter groaned. “I forgot about that. And the second we stood up, you slipped and fell on your back.”

“Yep. Then I just laid in the street like a defeated turtle.” You shook your head at the memory.

“That was pretty bad.” Peter chuckled. “A lot of people saw.”

“They sure did. But I survived it. Just like I survived that time I walked out of the locker room to go to my swim meet and everyone was laughing at me and I couldn’t figure out why until one of my teammates pulled me aside and told me my bra was on over my swimsuit. And I still do not know to this day how that happened.”

“That’s so bad.” Peter covered his mouth as he laughed at your expense.

“I know it was bad. I lived it.” You reminded him. “And believe me, it’s a lot more embarrassing than kissing your best friend.“

“Says you.” Peter blushed as looked down at his lap when you brought it up again.

“You still don’t believe me?” You raised an eyebrow. “Here’s another one. That time you tried to sit down but forgot the quintessential step of pulling your chair out so you fell right on your back and knocked the wind out of yourself.”

“That was so embarrassing.” Peter whined. “What was that, freshman year?”

“Yep. Third period English.”

“No one even laughed at me and that made it so much more embarrassing.”

“See? You’ve embarrassed yourself way more than today.” You laughed and shoved him slightly.

“I guess so.” Peter reluctantly admitted.

“You still don’t look convinced. Lucky for you, I have more.” You smirked. “Remember that time we had a sleepover in second grade and you peed the bed? And I didn’t want you to feel bad so out of solidarity, I peed the bed. And then we were too scared to tell your parents so we slept in our own urine.”

“Kids pee the bed all the time.” Peter shrugged. “That wasn’t that bad.”

“Maybe for you.” You scoffed. “You peed the bed on accident. I had to look your mother in the eyes and tell her I purposely peed on her son. Because instead of saying ‘hey don’t feel bad. Everyone pees the bed’, I peed on you so you wouldn’t feel bad. Imagine how that feels.”

“I can’t imagine it feels great.” Peter laughed.

“Or, how about this? When uncle Ben was gonna pick us up from school but you had to stay after so robotics or something so I went alone. And I was sitting in the backseat of his car when my body decided it was prime time to enter womanhood and I literally got my first ever period in your uncle's car.”

“Oh God.” Peter covered his face with his hands.

“That was so embarrassing for me. He took me to the store but neither of us knew what supplies to get so he got me diapers. Diapers! That’s so embarrassing!” You laughed as you shook Peter’s arm.

“You’ve made your point. That was very embarrassing for you.” He said as he playfully pushed you off.

“I haven’t even said the worst one yet. Remember in eighth grade when you and I smacked into each other during gym class?”

“Oh no.” Peter groaned. “Not this story.”

“Yes this story.” You insisted. “You and I were running in opposite directions and I crashed right into you. And apparently, it was a sensitive time for you because you got a whole ass boner in your little eighth-grade gym shorts. Which would’ve been fine, since I didn’t know what a boner was yet, but then my friends told me I was pregnant with your child.”

“I still remember you telling me that you were pregnant.” Peter chuckled. “And then the incredibly awkward and tear-filled conversation with Aunt May we had afterward.”

“She laughed so hard at us. It was so embarrassing.”

“Yeah. She still hasn’t let me live that one down.” Peter told you.

“I know. She still texts me asking for “motherly advice” from time to time.”

You both leaned into each other as you laughed. Once your laughter died down, you shared a look and smiled shyly at each other. You rested your hand on Peter’s knee and looked out at the setting sun.

“I remember at your parent's funeral when you had to help carry your dad's casket out of the room.” You said quietly. “But it was too heavy for you since you were only 9. The flowers slipped off the top because you weren’t tall enough to hold it up. You came to me crying afterward about how embarrassed you were.”

“Yeah. I remember that.” Peter kept his eyes down as the memory replayed in his head. You looked at him and saw that a few tears had slipped down his face. Peter felt you looking and turned his face a little so you couldn’t see him cry. You titled his face back towards yours and wiped his tears with the sleeve on your shirt. You kept his face in your hands and looked into his watery eyes.

“Remember when I got diarrhea at Uncle Bens's funeral?” You asked him, making him burst out laughing.

“I told you not to eat the macaroni and cheese before we left. “Peter clicked his tongue. “I knew it would upset your stomach.”

“I know.” You sighed. “But I’m not God, Peter. I can’t just say no when someone offers me macaroni and cheese. And May made it special so that you would feel better. I had to eat it.”

“You did not have to eat it.”

“It’s what uncle Ben would’ve wanted.” You deadpanned, making Peter laugh again.

“Wow. I can’t believe how many things we’ve been through together.” Peter realized as he looked over at you. The sinking sun was lighting up your face in a warm yellow, the same face Peter had been looking at since he was five years old.

“And how humiliating 90% of them were.” You added, making him laugh again.

“Yeah. Even if they were humiliating, I’m glad they happened. They make for pretty good memories.” Peter said as he put his hand on top of yours. You flipped your hand around so you could properly hold his and gave it a squeeze.

“They do. And someday, we’ll be laughing at the memory of today.”

“Yeah. I guess the kiss will become just another embarrassing moment between us.” Peter sighed and looked out at the skyline.

“Maybe. Or maybe it doesn’t have to be.”

“What do you mean?” He wondered as he looked back at you.

“Maybe instead of remembering it as embarrassing, we could just remember it as the first time we kissed.” You shrugged as you avoided eye contact. Peter blushed a rosy pink shade as he thought of the kiss in a new light.

“I like that description better.” He smiled shyly and squeezed your hand again. You looked up at the sky and let out a short sigh. Peter watched curiously as you nodded your head as if you had come to a decision.

“Can I tell you a secret?“ You asked him.

“Yeah. Of course.” Peter shrugged and leaned his ear towards you.

“Come closer. It’s really embarrassing.” You waved your hand towards yourself so he would move closer. Peter looked at you curiously and moved closer. You cupped his chin between your thumb and pointer finger and moved his face towards you before kissing him. Peter’s eyes flew open before fluttering shut, his eyelashes ticking your face on the way down. He brought his free hand to your cheek and kissed you back, feeling the embarrassment from the day melt away. When you pulled away, Peter’s face from elated to confused.

“Wait, did you steal that from that one episode of Victorious? When Robbie kissed Cat?” He asked you. You put your hand over your mouth as your eyes went wide.

“I did. I didn’t think you would remember that.” You said behind your hand. Peter burst out laughing as you covered your face in embarrassment.

“I did. And you just tried to act like you made it up. You thief!” He pointed at you as he laughed at your expense.

“No.” You whined. “I really didn’t think you’d remember that. That makes this so embarrassing for me.”

“It really does. I’m getting a lot of second-hand embarrassment right now.” Peter said as he pressed a cold hand to his burning face.

“Well this is just great.” You sighed sarcastically. “Our second kiss is just as embarrassing as the first one.”

“You know what they say. Third times a charm.” Peter reminded you. You both laughed and felt the awkward tension dissolve from the air between you. You stared at each other for a moment as your laughter died down before leaning in. Peter put his hand back on your face and wrapped your hand around his neck as you kissed. This time, you were both prepared for it. When you pulled away, you exchanged shy smiles and laughed in embarrassment.

“Yeah.” You smiled to yourself. “Third times a charm.”

Most embarrassing moments were brought to you by my lovely readers ☺️ thank you for the submissions

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[boldlyvoid]

Million Dollar Man | chapter two

18+

summary: Spencer's therapist recommended he branch out and meet new people who don't want to talk about his work... she didn't expect him to sign up for a Sugar Daddy website.

Content warnings: sugar daddy!spencer, age gaps (14 years), daddy kink, blow jobs, kissing, drinking mention, lowkey perv!Spencer, cum play, praise, oral (female receiving), grinding, love confessions, arrangements, Spencers anxiety, (more to add)

word count: 3.4K

a/n: updates on Wednesdays and saturdays at 2 pm est

Chapter Two | Masterlist

She sat on the subway with an anxious pit in her stomach and her purse held close to her chest. Her laptop in her bag, she didn’t want to lose it on her way to the most important meeting of her whole life.

Her story was becoming a book, she was almost done the final draft, they were making touch-ups to the cover and picking the type of paper today.

Her dreams were coming true within the next month, soon she’d have a physical copy of her book, her pre-sales were showing that she’d be on the bestseller list, and her name was finally going to be on the cover of this one.

She sighed and reached for her necklace, holding it between her fingers as she took a few deep breaths. She was doing so much better today than she was last year and it was all because of Spencer, he was the best thing to happen to her. To think she complimented his sweater vest and now he’s the only person in her life she can count on.

All she can think about is him for the rest of her journey, through 4 more stops she keeps her eyes closed as she thinks of all his little facts and his cute laugh. She smiles to herself and the anxiety slips away, she loves him and she knows that for sure, but she just doesn’t know how she loves him.

She’s never had a sibling, her best friends are all women, her previous boyfriends were all shit and her other sugar daddies were never this wonderful, and her parents are lesbians… she doesn’t know what her feelings really are for Spencer, mainly because she’s never known any other men to compare him to.

But she does know the exact moment she realized she fell for him.

He booked a hotel room in DC after a local case, asking her to meet him in there at 10 pm. She was waiting in the bathtub when he arrived, bubbles galore, her hair up and arms open, “welcome home, honey.”

He laughs, “you want me to get in there with you?”

She just nods, “let me take care of you, daddy?”

He takes off his blazer, pulls his tie off and starts to unbutton his shirt. She watches patiently as he gets undressed, and it’s not sexual to her. He’s her person, her best friend, the only human being she would ever share a moment like this with and that’s when it hits her.

She doesn’t accept it just yet.

It’s not until he’s lying on her chest, between her legs, cheek resting on her boobs as she runs a sponge over his back while he gives her a little run down on his terrible week. His co-worker almost died, his mom is stressing him out, the only good thing he has left is her and she knows that.

“And then I get to my moms facility and she’s had a really good day, she knows me and she knows all of my childhood again and she’s all right there in front of me and yet she’s so far away. I’m never going to get all the time I want with her and it’s really hard to accept.”

He shares things with her that he doesn’t even tell his therapist. Because his therapist doesn’t hold him like a child against her chest and tell him he’s okay when he get’s upset.

Y/N loves him, so she kisses his forehead, “I’m so sorry, I have 2 moms if you’d like to have one?”

“It’s okay, I would love to meet them sometime though,” he wraps his arms around her waist a little tighter under the water. “Thank you for tonight.”

“Did I mention my leg is 44 inches from hip to toe?” She asks in the middle of the silence, quoting pretty woman, knowing he hasn’t seen that far into the movie yet. “So basically we’re talking about 88 inches of therapy for the bargain price of $800 dollars a week.”

Her legs wrap around him and their naked bodies are closer than they’ve ever been and yet it’s completely platonic, “I’d spend a million dollars on you if it always meant feeling this good after.”

She runs her cheek along his wet hair as he snuggles into her neck, “mmm, I like the sound of that,” she teased. “My million dollar man.”

Her stop rolls around and she pulls herself out of her day dreams to get off the train and head to her meeting. She smiles as she walks through the station, up the stairs and onto the busy downtown streets when she gets a text with Spencers special chime. She opens it when she gets to where she’s going, safely inside and in the waiting room.

It makes her laugh in the waiting room. People look at her but she doesn’t care, he’s so special to her she feels butterflies in her stomach even when he’s not around.

“Y/N!” She hears her name being called by her editor, he’s over ecstatic as he comes running out to get her. “Come, come we have so many choices to make!” He jumps up and down as he holds her arm, like a child in a candy store.

“Andy, chill man,” she laughs at him and plays it cool, “It’s just the cover being finalized.”

“It’s our baby!” He teases back, pushing his glasses up and tugging her behind the glass doors of the office.

She’s surrounded by people and paper and huge versions of her book cover. She has a sharpie as she fixed mistakes and jots down final ideas. “And I wan’t Phil to look more human and less like data from Star Trek?”

“But Dorothy looks okay?” The artist asks, nervously and Y/N can tell.

“She looks beautiful! You really brought her justice,” she smiles, “really she looks the same in my head! It’s just Phil and I’m sure it’s tough getting a drawing to look like a robotic human, let alone human.”

“I have some ideas?” She opens up more, taking her iPad out and sliding it across the table, “I wanted to give him more of a Sophia feel? His face is silicone but his joints and everything are more like an Elon Musk crash dummy.”

“That’s perfect!” She’s shocked, “why didn’t that go in the first draft?”

“I was worried it was too much,” she’s a little older than Y/N, and yet her anxiety is that of a teenage girl. “I’m going to get working on the final, do you want some emailed versions tonight?”

“Yes please,” she smiles.

“So we’re done?” Andy asks, “we’ve made all our final calls?”

“I believe we have,” Y/N closes her laptop and takes her phone out, taking a photo of the final rough sketch of her book cover on the table to send to Spencer before he comes to pick her up. She can’t wait to see him now.

—

They’re sitting side by side in matching spa robes, he’s getting a pedicure while she gets her nails done. Leaning back in her chair with a face mask and cucumbers on her eyes, she’s never felt more relaxed in her life. And just in time too, her back was killing her from writing, her knuckles hurt and she just needed a break.

Spencer did too, he was genuinely not having a good time at work anymore, every case made him spiral and he always looked to Y/N on days like that. They met more than once a week now, she got $800 every Friday and she didn’t even really need it anymore. He was coving for so much of her bills and lively hood that her savings account was growing and growing because of him.

For the first time in her life she thought she would be okay if a man left her. As terrible as it was, as much as her moms tried to raise her differently, she fell down the daddy issues rabbit hole and she’s never going to find her way out— however, luckily for her, Spencer is down here too, and he brought a flashlight.

He understands her, more than anyone else on earth. He knows all her secrets, every crush and bad grade and snide remark she’s ever kept to herself. He didn’t judge her, he could actually listen to her issues and tell her why she had them. He gave better advice than a therapist and he was able to get information for her if he didn’t know the answer to what she was going through.

He’s absolutely everything to her and yet he’s 14 years older than her, he’s still traumatized beyond belief, he’s sad and ashamed and recovering… but he’s the best man in the whole world and she wishes he could see that. If he just looked at himself from her eyes, if he felt how she did in her soul when they were together, he’d love himself.

They’re too relaxed to drive home, and Spencer knew that would happen beforehand, bringing her a change of clothes (lingerie) and that robe me mentioned. He books a hotel above the spa and takes her to it. Arms linked as they enter the suite, she’s amazed to find more than one gift bag on the bed.

“How many gifts is this now?”

“We’re at 5 out of 24.”

She laughs as she wraps her arms around him in a thank you hug, “this is what you consider 4 gifts? Spencer there are like 8 things on the bed, let alone the massage and manicure?”

“If you think this is too much I guess you’re going to get really mad next week,” he teases as she looks up at him with a surprised look on her face.

“Spencer, I am so busy next week, I cannot be galavanting around with my sugar daddy,” she tries to act like she doesn’t want to go on an adventure with him again.

The last trip they took was the best week of her life. They went to all the historical sites in the UK that she and Spencer had talked about. Mainly old churches and castles, strange poets graves, random art and most importantly; stone henge. It was a trip of a lifetime and he took it with her.

“I watched the rest of Pretty Woman the other day,” he smiles, “and I thought I’d pull an Edward Lewis and really surprise you because you deserve it.”

“You know how the movie ends, right?” Her heart beats really fast in her chest and she wants him to love her so bad but it’s also terrifying now that she’s this close.

“He lets her choose,” he whispers.

“He rescues her,” she corrects him.

“And she rescues him right back,” he really did watch the end of the movie.

It makes her heart skip a beat as she swallows sharply, “what does this mean for us?”

“I have a whole plan, a whole sequence of events I want to stick to. I wanted to make you fall in love with me this week and ask you on your birthday, can we still do that?” He pleads with her, he’s so serious. He’s clearly put a lot of effort into this.

“Absolutely,” she smiles, “but if you’re going to make me wait that long for you to ask, you still can’t kiss me till then. No matter how much I already love you.”

“Really?” He’s so soft with her, she knows he’s not reacting to the teasing. He’s never had someone tell him they love him and then stay after.

“I would never lie to you about that, spence. I know what love means to you, I know how scared you are and I’m scared too. But I know there is no one else in the whole world I’d rather be scared with than you,” she holds him tighter and rubs her nose against his, “so what’s in the bags, daddy? Finish your surprise.”

She plays along perfectly, stepping back and hauling him towards the bed. “I got you some outfits and things for the next 2 weeks, we have a few things planned. We’re going on a flight soon, I have new luggage being delivered to your apartment this week and we’re going to see your moms for 3 days.”

“No,” she shakes her head, “there’s no way, Spencer, I haven’t seen them in 5 years, I’m going to cry.”

“I know,” he cups her jaw with his hand. “They’re really excited to see you.”

She hugs him tight, kissing his neck as she holds him. “Thank you, daddy, do you want me to put something on for you now?”

“I’m just going to take it off you, plus, what your wearing is sexy enough, he whispers back. “You’re always so beautiful, baby.”

“I thought you were saving the best for last?” She asks as she pulls back, overly eager and he can tell.

“I want to repay the favour from the other night.”

She doesn’t mean to gasp and yet she does, “please?”

He pulls on the tie of her robe, opening it enough to snake a hand behind her back and draw her in with a hand on her bare back. “Please what?”

“Please, daddy?” She looks up with her best begging eyes, perfect pout and all. “I want you to touch me, I promise I’ll be a good girl.”

He steps away from her to swipe all the bags off the bed before picking her up and laying her back against the pillows. He kisses down her body, hand on her lover back as she arches, he drags his bottom lip from her belly button to her cleavage. Nipping and sucking at the exposed skin on her chest, pulling her breasts out of the bra to suck on her nipples, she moans and it’s louder than she expected.

As she plays with his hair, he marks her, bruising small little love bites all the way down as he makes his way between her legs, “take me, please?”

He’s been dreaming of this for so long, he can’t even give you an accurate number of times his mind has drifted to the thought of how wonderful she would taste, how beautiful she’d sound…

“Tell me how badly you want me?” He asks as he spreads her legs and kisses her left thigh.

“I haven’t had sex in 10 months while waiting for you. Daddy, please you’ve owned me for so long, just take what’s yours already for gods sa- OH!”

With a broad lick, his tongue flattens against her core and it shuts her up. She gets what she wants, holding into his hair as she tosses her head back, taking it all in and enjoying it. He’s been on her mind for months, every time her vibrator was where he is now, she thought of him. he’s been the man of her dreams longer than she’s known him, and he was proving it.

“Right there, daddy,” she speaks through shallow breaths, “do you know how much I’ve thought of this?”

“You know I don’t,” the vibrations of his voice against her skin are glorious, he looks up at her through his lashes as his tongue flicks over her clit and she shakes a bit.

“Fuck,” she gasps, gripping his hair tighter, “better than I thought you’d be, fuck, too bad you— Jesus, don’t have the stash anymore…”

He stops and looks up at her, the smirk on his face glistening with her juices, “the stash?”

She nods, “I’ve thought about calling it the pussy tickler,” she teases, running her hand down his cheek and swiping her thumb across his bottom lip before bringing it up to her mouth to taste, “I want more of you.”

He kisses back up her body and she reaches for his robe the second he’s close enough. “Just grind against me? I know you’re waiting but we can still feel good together?”

He kisses the side of her mouth and she takes that as a yes, wrapping her legs around him so his hard cock is pressed right against her core as they move their hips in synchronicity with each other. His breathing is heavy as he kisses her cheek and jaw, her nails scratch down his back, he feels absolutely amazing against her.

She feels so empty, she wants him so bad she’s clenching around nothing as she squirms against his cock and wishes she was full.

“I wish I could move time,” she whispers. “Fuck, why can’t it be my birthday?”

He laughs against her, grazing his teeth over her neck and drawing another moan from her but then he stops moving his hips, “why are you so impatient?”

“Remember I said I stopped enjoying everything? Well, taking a 10 month break from sex and thinking about you every time I got off has made me desperate,” her hand cups his cheek, “I’d wait forever for you, but a girl needs to be fucked hard every once in a while.”

Only she could find a way to make something both profoundly beautiful and whorish at the same time, he loved her for it and she knew that now. He smiles and leaned in to rub his nose against hers and it takes everything in her not to kiss him. The same way it was taking everything in him not to slip into her as he began to grind against her once more.

She’s so close, the accidental edging has added a whole new level of desperation she’s never felt before. She wants to cum for him so bad, but more importantly she wants him to cum for her.

“Take my bra off,” she whispers, Spencer’s hands travel behind her back to unclasp it and he helps her out of it before tossing it to the floor.

“Cum for me daddy,” she whispers in his head with a hand in his hair, gripping him tightly as he bites at her neck, “cover me with your cum like you’re marking your territory.”

“Shit,” his hips sputter against hers.

“Say it, I know you want to,” she teases, so close to the edge but it’s too good of an opportunity. She loves seeing him fall apart like this and she can’t wait to see it again. “Who’s am I?”

“Daddy’s girl.”

He grinds down on her harder and faster and she’s so close, the bubble in her gut is reaching a fever pitch and with a gasp, she’s cumming and then she feels it. His load covers her stomach as he pants against her neck and grips her hips tighter as he comes down.

She wraps her arms around him and holds him as close as humanly possible, her breathing still heavy as he rises and falls on her chest. He’s heavy but she doesn’t care, she just kisses the top of his head and thanks him.

He brushes his nose against her neck, nuzzling her like a cat, “do you really mean it?”

“What, honey?” He remembers so much, this could be a question about something she said 2 months or 2 minutes ago and she has no clue.

“You’re not just playing along with my kinks right, you genuinely want to be mine?”

For being her million dollar man, his heart sure was broke. This is why he wasn’t ready, he still didn’t understand why she would want to stay without anything in return, he’s gotten so used to paying her for her time now that his anxiety has managed to convince him that she’ll leave when he stops being worth it to her.

“What does my necklace say?” She asks, knowing how close he was to it. “Read it to me, I forget.”

“Daddy’s girl,” he smiles again.

She soothes her hands over his back, “I would do anything with you because I love and trust you, but also because everything you do is sexy… you could read me the dictionary and I’d still want you to pump me full of cum after.”

“It sounds so crude after,” he laughs, “speaking of, we really need to have a shower.”

“I’ll wash your back if you wash mine?” She teases as he gets up.

“Only if you let me wash the front too?”

She smacks his bare ass and races him into the bathroom, turning on the water and getting in with him while still laughing and carrying on. He’s her best friend in the whole world, there’s no one else she would rather do this with… there was no one she has done this with. No one has made her feel this good, before during and after sex.

Spencer Reid was an anomaly, but he was hers.

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Sugar daddy fic (Some tags didn't work)

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[violettelueur]

— RYOMEN SUKUNA || LET ME MARK YOU THEN

↳ featuring : ryomen sukuna from jujutsu kaisen

↳ warnings : mention of sex, mention of hickeys and grammar issues

↳ form : imagine

↳ published : 22 january

↳ pronouns : she/her

↳ word count : 3.7k

↳ synopsis : (modern!AU) after your lectures, you decided to pay your tattoo artist boyfriend a little visit only to then be persuaded to let him draw a tattoo design on you even though you never actually wanted a real one to be marked with.

↳ barista’s notes : just a little gift to you all before today’s episode and the reset the ‘coffees in progress’ list (wip) when i get enough sleep and after my disgusting online classes, i hope you enjoy the free cup of coffee everyone ʕ•ᴥ•ʔﾉ♡ - also i feel like this is the longest imagine i have ever posted ʕ ㅇ ᴥ ㅇʔ

Having a morning full of tedious lectures was not someone’s ideal day and it was definitely not yours. Although, there was nothing you could do but pursue them through with as much enthusiasm and determination that you could possibly muster while being impatient about the hands on the clock taking forever to move a single inch.

However, at this moment in time, you were able to escape the suffocating lecture hall after many hours for today and was now walking down the busy streets of Tokyo with a white plastic takeaway bag in one hand while the other was occupied with your tote bag that was resting on your shoulder, which surprisingly kept hold of some of your textbooks as well as your laptop giving you some reassurance that the bag that your boyfriend gave you was going to last for quite some time.

Looking around the busy quarter of the capital, you began to notice a few high school students roaming about here and there with some hanging out with their friends - mostly likely going to a cafe or to the nearest karaoke lounge that they could find - while other were either rushing home as they entered the station or to their part-time jobs that they had managed to obtain for a few extra bucks to save up for their next step in life. Noticeably, there were also a few adults out and about with some working as street-food vendors selling delicious treats that you would be craving if you weren’t so full while others were dressed extremely professional with their laptops out on their cafe/restaurant table to what seemed like they were on their lunch break.

‘He should be on his lunch break right now, but if not, I’ll just put his food in the shop’s fridge’

Continue walking to your destination, you finally reached to a quieter area with the city leading you to then stand in front of a glass order with a ‘closed’ sign in front along with another extremely noticeable sign proudly stating ‘Malevolent Shine’ to which if you had said that to any tattoo fanatic within Japan, they would instantly know what you were talking about.

Opening the door, there was a sudden noise of a ring being heard leading you to immediately look up to see the silver bell that you told him to arrange since he always got annoyed about the number of potential clients popping up without his acknowledgement only to tell him that they didn’t book an appointment at all causing him to become more irritated - and as a matter of fact, you couldn’t blame him at all.

Looking around the tattoo shop that you had entered, there wasn’t a single person in sight leading you to come to the conclusion that you were right about his lunch break since his assistant would be at the front desk if they weren’t. Although there was no one to greet you, the dark atmosphere did. It gave an odd sense of comfort with its hints of red that could calm a customer down if they were worried about the tattoo they were committing to having on their body or if it was their first - especially when it came to him.

“Oya~ ain’t you a sexy customer? But I’m afraid we’re closed, but I don’t mind giving you a private session if you want, kitten” someone smoothly stated, leading your eyes to slowly shift to the person who was leaning against the desk with a confident smirk on his face. There he was, the mastermind behind the whole shop itself.

“Well, I’m not coming in for a tattoo but I am here to give a little gift, Sukuna,” you mischievously stated, as you lifted the white bag with the takeaway you had ordered for the man himself, leading him to look at you in surprised before tilting his head indicating you to come to the back with him.

Following his lead, you placed the bag on his table once you reached the backroom before placing your tote on the floor beside the table’s leg so it didn’t fall, letting any of your precious studious contents to be lost as well as avoiding any damage to your laptop.

“I’m surprised you’re using the bag, kitten,” Sukuna suddenly commented, as he sat on his chair while pulling out the white styrofoam box of Thai food that he always ordered along with a bento box that was wrapped in a black cloth.

“Well, how could I not? You did buy it for me,” you quietly mentioned as you took off your black longline coat before placing it behind your chair since there was nowhere else to put it.

“Did you make this?” Sukuna quickly questioned as he lifted the bento box causing you to nod at his question once you saw what he meant leading you to state, “I didn’t know if you were going to stay back tonight, so I prepared some food for you in case,” causing Sukuna to smirk since you were right about your assumption and it did catch him by surprise since he didn’t mention it to you today when he left your shared apartment.

“Thanks,” he quietly muttered before pulling his chair closer towards you so he could place a lingering kiss on your cheek to show his appreciation towards you. “How was class?” he then asked, as he began to unwrap the cloth of the box to your surprise since you bought his favourite item from the Thai restaurant but made no mention of it.

“Annoying, it was suffocating in there but the lecture was interesting so that’s a plus,” you answered, as you began to scan his messy desk that displayed the many drawings that he was working on. Some of the designs that Sukuna was drawing were almost complete, while others were in the same situation but for some odd reason, it was crossed out as if he was unsatisfied with the outcome that it was going to have which lead you to be perplexed since some of the drawings were incredibly detailed and beautiful. However, you didn’t have the eyes of an artist like your boyfriend did, instead, you had the eyes of someone that was able to analyse things exceedingly well hence why you decided to pursue a career as a criminal lawyer.

“How has the shop been while I was away?” you asked, as you carefully picked up one of the designs that the tattoo artist seemed to have scraped leading him to answer with an annoyed huff. “A pain, there’s been so many dumbass people coming in thinking they could just walk in and get a tattoo done immediately without even booking a meeting,” Sukuna answered before taking a bite of the soy-glazed fried chicken you made as he then continued with, “it was a good idea to get the bell since I could see if it was a customer I knew or not,”.

Looking at your boyfriend, you couldn’t help but smile at the man as he continuously munched the context in the box as if he hadn’t eaten in the past week when in reality he had been raiding the fridge back home only just this morning. Slowly, you turn your head back to the paper that you were holding as you continued to admire the work of art right in front of you. 

To be honest, it was quite simple compared to all the other ones that were lying about on his work desk but that didn’t mean it wasn’t beautiful. The light sketch depicted a short section of a branch or stem decorated with different types of beautiful flowers and next to it was the same design with the only difference of it being coloured lightly in case the client wanted to have options.

“What happened here?” you asked before tilting the paper to the side, letting Sukuna have a glance at the design he decided to discard.

“Oh, the client cancelled since I wouldn’t have sex with her,” Sukuna casually stated leading you to nod before taking another look at the design with a small smile on your face. Sadly, it was such a waste since the design was beautiful and it was disappointing to not see Sukuna put this beautiful art into life.

Some people might wonder why you were so calm about the statement he had just given you, heck even his younger twin brother Itadori Yuji thought it was weird that it didn’t bother you as much as other girls would have been. The reason was that you were so used to him having female attention as well as male attention and it wasn’t a surprise when people would book an appointment with him just for a fling or hoping for something more than just that - and even though you were calm, there was also a hint of jealousy and fear within your heart that you couldn’t help.

It was like the first time you saw him in your second year of high school.

                                               ꕥ 

Stretching your arms, you had finally finished the last sheet of the budgets for the school clubs leading you to carefully clip the pile of sheets into the folder as you then stood up from your desk before quickly heading out of your homeroom, so you could give the documents to the student council president, who was a third-year within your school.

However, as you were walking past a few classrooms with some people greeting you with a smile, you came to a sudden halt when you saw a whole crowd of female and males students in front of you leading to a blockage of the halls and a blockage of the classroom you need to go through to hand the documents to your senior.

“Did you hear, I heard he was back?!”

“I can’t believe he’s back, I missed him so much!”

“I like Yuji’s kind and goofy personality, but how could you not love a bad boy like him?”

‘Bad boy?’

Carefully, you managed to find a gap between the sea of students and forcibly made yourself fit within the gap before badly struggling to make it through the arc of the classroom door leading you to nearly trip the second you got the chance to push through the gap to ender the class. Quickly looking around, you found your senior sitting next to someone who looked like your friend and basketball club member Itadori Yuji - well more like a mature replicant of the boy you were used to. However, unbothered by the sudden appearance of the new third-year, you speedily made your way to the council president and handed him the booklet that he needed today leading you to receive his gratitude.

Yet, before you could even take a single step away from your senior, you unexpectedly felt someone grab your wrist causing you to quickly turn around to find Itadori’s replica behind you leading to a few gasps coming from the students from the outside as well as in the homeroom.

“Is there an issue?” you firmly asked, as you looked down at his hand that had a tight grip on your wrist causing you to have a small glance at the two black bands that were tattooed around his wrist - even though it was prohibited to have any in your school, you weren’t the type to scold someone for having them since you weren’t sure on how the teacher’s thought it affected someone’s education.

“Have you ever thought about getting a tattoo?” the salmon-haired third-year curiously asked, as he began to admire your wrist by gently turning it for your veins to come into view before beginning to trace your skin with the tip of his thumb causing a light shiver to go down your spine due to the ticklish feeling as well as his deep voice which was the complete opposite to what you thought it was going to be.

‘So this is the infamous Sukuna everyone was talking about’

“Not really,” you answered as you looked at him causing his eyes to look back at you before you continued with “I don’t think it would suit me at all,”.

“I disagree,” Sukuna counteracted, as he went back to admire the blank canvas of your wrist that he wanted to draw on so badly. No not draw. Mark. “I think you’ll suit something, maybe something on your neck or collarbone at best actually,” Sukuna mentioned leading you to give him a confused expression before he then proceeded with his speech by saying, “I’ll convince you one day and mark you brat”,

‘What...did….he….just….call….me..?’

“Ah...good luck with that idiot,” you stated in an annoyed tone leading to a few of the admiring student to gasp at your wording as well as sudden confident as they were scared on what was going to happen to you now since Sukuna wasn’t the type to tolerate insults in a nice way no matter what gender you were. However, exceeding the audience’s assumptions, Sukuna began to smirk excitedly at your attitude as he suddenly found you more interesting than any other girl he has met at the back of the school.

“Be prepared, little kitten”

                                               ꕥ

‘That nickname….’

Back then Sukuna was known to be a playboy from what you could recall, every week there was news on the new girl he had managed to convince to meet at the back alley of the school while you were just being a model student with the dream of going to law school. However, during the middle of the school year, you began to realise that the common scandalous news that seemed to be popular enough for it to be on the front cover of the newspaper began to gradually fade as Sukuna slowly pushed himself into your life since you were close with his twin brother due to your friend being part of the basketball team as the assistant coach - she even mentioned that ever since Sukuna came into your life he had stopped his acts and change slightly because of you to which, of course, you denied at the time.

It was during the first term of your third-year that you agreed to give Sukuna a chance since he was constantly annoying you by popping up at the school gate after school to ‘walk you home’ ever since his graduation - when in reality it was to take you out somewhere - without fail even when you had to stay in a few hours. However, you had given him three conditions since you were still conscious of the consequences of dating someone with such a disgraceful built reputation - much to his dismay, he shockingly agreed.

If you are going to have a fling with someone behind my back, don’t think about seeing or talking to me again.

I know you are sexually active, but you have to wait until I’m ready.

Don’t tattoo me.

Let’s just say that Sukuna had managed to keep condition number one in check and you didn’t have to worry about it at all, while with condition number two he didn’t have to wait that long for you to give in to your desires which you could tell he certainly enjoyed when you finally gave him the ‘okay’.

Number three though...

“Do you want to try that design out?”

Breaking from your daze, you quickly turned your head to find your boyfriend staring at you - with the bento box practically empty at this point - while tilting his head to the paper that was still within your grasp.

“I think you giving me hickeys are enough in my opinion, babe” you jokingly mentioned leading to both you and Sukuna laughing at each other slightly.

“I mean, do you want me to draw it on you to see how it looks?” he then asked, causing you to look at the floral design one last time before giving him a hesitant nod.

‘Trying it out won’t hurt right?’

“I need a confident answer little kitten, where did that feisty attitude of yours back in high school go?” Sukuna teased, causing you to give him the side glance before giving him the verbal permission that he wanted, leading him to smirk at you since knew his mockery would get you to give him what he wanted since you were also the stubborn type - a side that he always loved to play with.

Grabbing his pen and a black pot full of his thin-tipped coloured skin markers, he wheels his chair even closer to your before pausing, leading you to look at him in confusion since you had already pulled your wrist in front of him, the same area he had grabbed back in high school.

“You’re wearing a lot of clothing today,” Sukuna muttered as he began to fiddle with the collar of your white silk dress shirt causing you to look at him with extreme confusion before mentioning, “well it is getting colder since the Autumn season is coming around,” leading him to hum in an understanding tone as he continued to play with the smooth fabric.

“I want to draw on your collarbone area, I don’t want to draw on the area where the client wanted it to be,” Sukuna stated as he lightly pushed away your wrist leading you to realise why he paused. “You can,” you quickly mentioned leading the tattoo artist to look at you to see if you were lying, only to see nothing but the light of the trust within your eyes.

Slowly, Sukuna began to reach over to the top button to then unhook it from its loop before continuously doing the same with the others until enough skin of your shoulders were exposed with the top half of your shirt resting on the side of your arms to which then he slowly moved away the right-hand side of your bra strap to fully expose the canvas that he wanted to mark so eagerly.

Admiring the skin that was in front of him, Sukuna began to trace the area with his thumb before leaning in to place a chaste kiss on the same side of your neck before cradling your face on the other side with his other hand - as if it was a way for him to say ‘thank you’ for letting him do this.

Regrettably pulling away, Sukuna quickly grabbed his black pen as he then leaned in towards your collarbone to start drawing the outline of his design on his now favourite canvas causing you to shiver somehow due to how ticklish and weird the sensation felt when the ballpoint pen continuously gently gilded upon your skin. However, what got you shaking the most was the constant feeling of your boyfriend’s breath being felt on your upper body now that your shirt was basically off - it wasn’t completely off to the same feeling when you were underneath him the first time you allowed him to make his claim on you.

“Baby, it feels ticklish,” you commented, the second you felt a different sensation upon your skin leading Sukuna to glance up to check if you were alright like you were an actual client before placing another kiss on your jawline in a way to comfort you since he had switched to his skin markers to colour in the design he had drawn on you.

“You’re being a good kitten though, you’re not moving a lot then I thought you would,” the tattoo artist whispered leading you to quiver as his deep voice was not helping so much with your beating heart - erratic to the point where you thought he could hear or even feel.

Due to Sukuna concentrating, you couldn’t help but keep silent to help him continue with his work causing you to glance around your room with your eyes before landing upon a wall where there was a multitude of messages written leading you to carefully scan the writings that were visibly presenting themselves.

As expected, there were messages of encouragement - not that the arrogant Sukuna needed it to be honest, but it was nice of the client to do so - and a few drawings from other tattoo artists that Sukuna had famously done. However, not to your surprise, there were a few numbers here and there causing you to sigh since you couldn’t help it - you couldn’t blame your boyfriend for being an extremely handsome man.

Unexpectedly, you felt another kiss being placed upon your cheek causing you to look towards your boyfriend with a smile on your face - it was as if he knew what you were looking at. “I’m finished by the way,” Sukuna announced, causing you to look at him with widened eyes since the drawing session was a little faster than you had anticipated.

Reaching over to a drawer in his desk, Sukuna suddenly pulled out a mirror before passing it to you, leading you to lift up the little instrument to see the result that was drawn on your skin.

“You changed the design,” you quietly stated, as you began to tenderly trace the design with your index finger as you began to admire the piece of art that was masterfully drawn on your collar bone. The tattoo beautifully depicted a single strand of a blooming lavender across your collarbone with each petal in different shades of purple while the buds that weren’t in bloom were in a slight pale pink shade making you smile more since Sukuna drew this straight from his head causing you to have a hint of proudness for him.

“I wasn’t going to give you that previous design, it doesn’t suit you one bit,” the salmon-haired artist mentioned as he continued with, “I’m not going to let that disgusting design touch your skin, especially since this is the first time you let me mark you somewhat,” as he then moved behind you before placing his chin on your shoulder to look at you through the mirror you were holding.

“I might let you mark me permanently then,” you suddenly announced causing your boyfriend to look at you with a surprised look on his face leading you to giggle at his reaction.

“Yeah, let’s break condition three then, you can mark me this one time,” you informed him as you turned to look at him, causing Sukuna to give you his classic smirk before possessively grabbing your chin leading him to lean closer to you.

“Let me mark you then”

© violettelueur 2021 : written and published by violettelueur - do not steal or repost

[jellybeandrawsthings]

☹️hi i dont usually do this thing where i ask for art/thoughts on things but ive had a super bad day and i was just curious as to what your take on your wounded-on-krypton Kara would be doing with Lena if she hadn't of come out as Supergirl but they still met and fell in love- would Kara just be floating around Lena's apartment during quarantine listening to Lena read books and making her gf tea's and flying out to get her her supplies so Lena would stay safe from getting sick? I really love your art.

aww, I'm sorry u had a bad day, I made a little doodle and tried writing a little story for it as well that should answear your queastion about my scarred!Kara and her relationship with Lena if she didn’t became Supergirl (tho I'm not a writer, so its quality might not be the best)  hopefully it will make u feel even just a little bit better

The first time she met Lena, Kara was going to L-Corp to get a prosthetic replacement from their new Cybernetic Futures program since she kind of destroyed her old one.

Okay, she definitely destroyed her old one, but to be fair, who knew kicking a cement boulder with a prosthetic leg made from human metals but with the force of an angry and very frustrated superpowered being would destroy said metal leg. Really, who could've predicted that?

Walking into the building with warm coffee in hand proved to be more difficult than Kara hoped, her busted prosthetic making her wobble every two steps since she didn't have a spare she could wear - this was the spare - and the slippery tiled floor didn't help. Making her way to the elevator she kept glancing down focusing on her steps, this meant she didn't notice when a woman absorbed in her phone walked straight into her path. On instinct, she relaxed her body as to not harm the human she collided with, unfortunately, that meant she lost her barely-there, to begin with, balance and was sent sprawling onto the floor and her coffee splashing straight at the woman's shirt. Perfect. Just what she needed today.

She had an apology already forming on her lips when she looked up and for the first time noticed the woman, no, the goddess she bumped into. Her hair was black, but when it caught the light it shone deep chestnut brown and cascading down her back, her skin was pale and looked so soft Kara found herself wanting to touch it, her fingers twitching at her sides. The woman's eyes were green, though her right eye seemed to be two shades lighter, more gray than green. She wasn't looking at her currently occupied with taking in the state of her clothes. And Rao, her clothes. The outfit was that of a businesswoman, high heels ready to kill, dark burgundy slacks with a matching suit jacket, loose black tie, and a white shirt. A white shirt that was now covered in Kara's coffee. Oh no. She needed to fix this, like, immediately. The best place to start is with an apology, right?

———————

Lena was having a pretty normal day, all things considered. She should have known her days are never normal. She woke up early, ate a small breakfast, and went to work. There she had meetings with investors from 8 to 11, some paperwork to sign, a small meeting with the head of R&D at 12, and now she finally had enough time to take a break and maybe grab some lunch. With a certain sandwich place in mind, she made her way down to the ground floor and, while answering some last-minute e-mail made her way to the exit of the building.

Before she could even make it halfway to the wide double door, she felt something surprisingly solid and at the same time very wobbly bump into her, and then a sudden warmth and wetness on her chest. Looking down at herself confirmed what she already suspected, someone, spilled coffee on her. Thankfully it was only warm and not scalding hot the last thing she needed right now was dealing with coffee-induced burns. Making sure her shirt was the only thing damaged in the incident, Lena paid no mind to the person who bumped into her, that is until a very apologetic voice started talking to her. From the floor. Looking away from her ruined shirt, she took in the person frantically trying to apologize for spilling coffee on her, at least that's what she thinks the woman was trying to do, seeing as at his point she was rambling a mile a minute.

The woman on the floor looked young, probably around the same age as Lena herself, she had blond wavy hair gathered in a messy ponytail and hidden behind cute square-framed glasses, the bluest eyes she has ever seen. There was a burn scar covering most of the left side of her face and neck and more peeking out from under her shirt. Her left leg ended right below the knee, and the prosthetic she was wearing looked like someone put it under an industrial press and then tried to put it back into shape with a hammer. She was wearing blue sneakers, jean shorts, and a yellow tank top with tiny rainbow dinosaurs on it that gave her an unobscured view of the rippling muscles in her arms as she gesticulated wildly still rambling out something resembling an apology.

Taking it all in Lena came to one conclusion. She's cute. And so with warm coffee drying on her chest and a beautiful woman at her feet, really what else was there for Lena to do other than ask the blonde out on a date.

———————

They moved in together after a year of dating. Alex asked if they were sure, but there wasn't a doubt in their minds that this was what they wanted. It felt right. And they were glad for this decision since a few months later, they and most of the world's population were confined to their homes.

Days in quarantine were spent working from home on their laptops with their legs entwined together and sharing a blanket out of the view of the cameras. When they weren't working they were finding new ways to entertain themselves. Slowly making their way through the classics of fantasy and sci-fi literature, with Kara floating them above the couch and Lena laying on top of her chest reading aloud from her Kindle was how they were spending most of the evenings. During the weekends when there was less work, Lena tried to teach Kara how to bake - with mixed results - and Kara made it her mission to recreate as many childhood experiences Lena missed out on living with the Luthors as possible. Her blanket fort wasn't the most structurally sound, but it sure was cozy. Movie nights were a nightly routine, and cooking dinner together became the most sacred daily ritual neither of them dared or wanted to skip. Weekly game nights through zoom were initiated almost immediately after lockdown and to no one's surprise, Lena and Alex's competitiveness did not lessen with the development of not being in the same room. If anything it became worse. Bets about how long will it take for the two of them to start fighting and accusing each other of cheating were as much a tradition as game nights itself. Most days though were spent working and lounging together with Kara occasionally flying out to pick up supplies they needed. And when one day Kara flew through the balcony with two cats and a dog saying there wasn't enough space in shelters, who was Lena to refuse those cute puppy eyes (it didn't hurt that the dog and cats were adorable as well).