#I’m back in the fucking building again/ref

[nomsthecat]

Welcome!!

Hey there!!(im back, back again) I don’t have a fancy ‘meet-the-artist’ introduction page, but I make do with what I have<3

For short, call me Noms. I use mostly They/it pronouns but also go with she/her! (so use she/they/it please!)

Requests for any writing prompts are always welcome in my askbox! (Please note that these are only requests and I’m not obligated to write them<3) Feel free to ask Harli questions over on her specific blog!! @quinnscastle

I will not tolerate anything sexual in my askbox. You will be obliterated by divine skeleton death blast.

that is all thank you [fics/things I’m working on below cut]

Fics !

Dca / Dca fandom:

RaRVaB [Roses are Red, Violets are Blue - Short bloodmoon x y/n] - Completed

SP [Spore Parts - Dca/SB and TLOU crossover au. Dca x y/n] - WIP

SfS [Scarlet for Sacrifice - Short(?) vampire bloodmoon x y/n] - WIP

NeB [Not Enough Bloodlust - Co-Creator to @/LabLabrava ‘s AU/Fic. - Mafia bloodmoon x y/n] - WIP / Hiatus

LC [Lethal Company]:

QtQ [“Quote” the Quota - Co-Creator to @/Keval ‘s AU, Lethal Company and DCA crossover au. - Dca/Eclipse x y/n] - WIP

[awo0o]

Oh cool it’s still Gotham…oh no it’s still Gotham

[rain-is-cool]

Can someone please tell me why I’m getting dragged back to my Ricky Montgomery phase????

What is this tomfoolery????

[val-cansalute]

𝙱𝙴𝚈𝙾𝙽𝙳 𝙻𝙾𝚅𝙴 𝟶𝟸

summary: two years later, ellie’s back in jackson. from what you’ve heard, she’s not exactly been doing great either.

warnings: angst with no comfort yet (ITS COMING I PROMISE), you’re in another relationship (ellie gets kind of jealous…), vague ref. to drug abuse and addiction

an: sorry this took like five years, as always, love you guys, stay safe, never stop talking about palestine. do your clicks. :-)

chapter 1

TWO YEARS LATER

There should probably, definitely be a lot of things on Ellie’s mind right now but, truthfully, the exhaustion flooded them all out.

She’s been sitting next to Tommy in his shitty, busted, old truck in the densest silence she’s ever been in, hurtling her way back to the place she was damn sure she was never going to see again just a few months back, and all she can think about is how badly she wants to close her eyes and finally fucking sleep, but he keeps throwing out questions randomly, and Ellie feels obligated to answer them all given the fact that he just picked her scrawny ass up from rehab following almost a year of no contact.

She takes in a sharp breath of air. It doesn’t rattle her lungs as much as it used to. Then, she swallows, forcing a gulp down the dry enclosure of her throat, and turns to look at Tommy.

“Hm?”

“Am I taking you to ours or yours?”

“What?”

“Jesus- Am I driving you down to Maria and I’s, or are you gonna go back to your old house?”

Ellie’s brain stutters.

The impending situation is suddenly becoming too real.

You were starring in the film in her mind ever since the one-way flight to LA, and every time you came up on screen, she felt her stomach wrench with longing, with guilt.

She was far from home, in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by people who’s faces were unfamiliar and, quite frankly, scary. She had no idea how the fuck she ended up where she did, but she knew that the thoughts she needed a distraction from required remedies more concentrated than whiskey.

The last few months were especially shit: stuck in that building with junkies who would be back in just as long as they stayed, with nothing to do but sit with every last one of those thoughts.

Joel’s death had beaten her to a pulp; she was only just beginning to be able to talk about him, to draw him, to remember him, without all the anger and all the all-consuming guilt. Only just beginning to do that after the absolute shit-show her life became for a long moment. Yes, Joel’s death beat the hell out of her, but she herself delivered the finishing blow.

There is a lot of guilt in Ellie’s life, towards Joel, towards Tommy, towards her friends, towards you – more than she can bear for this lifetime and maybe the next few too. So, like she promised herself, there’s no use in any of it. All she can do is just focus on each day and try to make things right where she can.

The question plagues her mind, the one she has absolutely no right to ask, of whether or not you’ll be there, whether or not you waited for her. She doesn’t know which would be worse.

“Mine.”

Tommy nods, glancing at her before shifting his line of view back to the road and Ellie lets out a small puff of air. She hopes things can go back to how they used to be between the two of them one day. Joel’s death also beat the hell out of Tommy. In fact, Ellie was slightly surprised to hear that Tommy’s place was “Maria and I’s” again, since they weren’t exactly on good terms when she left, divorced and all.

“Do… Do you know if… she’s still staying there?”

He goes quiet, dropping the coy exchange of practised words and turns to look at Ellie for longer than what’s considered road safe.

“… Honestly, I’m not sure. Haven’t seen her in a while. But, come to think of it, I must’ve heard someone mentionin’ some’ about her stayin’ with someone for a while... You, uh, you sure you’re gonna be okay goin’ back to yours?”

“Yeah… I mean… It’s gotta happen eventually.”

Tommy nods, breathing out,

“That it does,"

And Ellie reclines into the hardened cushion of the seat, pressing her cheek to it to rest, gazing out at the familiar sequence of buildings blurring by. She thinks she should probably drop by Dina’s tomorrow.

Ellie’s become mythical. 

“I just got a text from Jesse…”

You look up from your screen at Dina, who is sprawled out across from you on the couch. She sits up, all serious, and the look in her eyes tells you she knows you’re not going to like what you’re about to hear.

“He said Ellie’s coming back to Jackson.”

Sometimes you have these… dreams, if you can even call them that; nothing about them is hazy or dream-like, just… like your mind opens up a part of itself that you keep closed when you’re in control and forces you to look at it.

You’re lucid every time, of course, even your subconscious knows that it’s impossible for Ellie to be near you, to be smiling at you the way she used to.

No. She walked out and didn’t look back. And, in all honesty, you can't even blame her for that. Not when she was falling apart back here just the same. Not when she wasn't even herself anymore, when the thoughts got a hold of her.

When you open your eyes, you can’t bring yourself to look at your girlfriend laying next to you. She feels like a stranger who sleeps in your apartment sometimes.

Your mind strays, and you wonder if that’s how Ellie felt about you. Then, you close your eyes again and try to soothe the nausea that inevitably builds in your stomach - flex your fingers to remind yourself that you're a living, breathing person, who can’t just rot in sheets, clinging to morsels of sleep.

When Ellie left, there was a massive gaping hole in, not just your heart, but your entire life. You tried to stay put in the house but, God, it was painful. The dusty trinkets she left behind lining the desk alone were like totems of your one-man cult devoted to her.

You packed all your shit soon after, leaving Ellie’s exactly as it was.

At first, crashing at Dina’s place was a temporary fix, but it turned out you desperately needed the company and Dina loved having someone around to bother too. Things got better slowly, or at least they stopped hurting as much.

So, every day, you stumble out of bed and get ready for the shitty little job you got to make yourself feel human again, kissing the girl you’ve been fucking around with for way too long, and then waving goodbye to Dina as you go.

You’re rebuilt, no longer in pieces like you were when she left. In fact, your mind doesn’t look back on her much anymore, but there are traces of what she did to you in everything you do.

The way you put yourself back together, it’s a bit twisted up, not quite the same. 

Dina’s eyes never leave yours, gaze firm in its preemptive empathy, though there’s not much use. Your mind must have malfunctioned; there’s not a single emotion playing out in it right now but there absolutely, definitely should be. You’re just not sure which.

After a tense moment passes, you hum in feigned pensiveness.

She was playing bigger venues is what you heard – sold out shows, collaborating with artists she used to dream of meeting, getting into scandals and posting snapshots of her new, flashier life, or at least her manager was.

You knew Ellie, and you were well aware that she felt like a phony doing shit like that.

But, then again, you thought you knew she wouldn’t leave you for LA too.

A while back, it was radio silence. Her posts stopped, the new releases ceased abruptly, and it was as if she had vanished, dropped off the face of the planet.

Rehab is what the shitty gossip threads were saying. The things you began being told every now and then were hard to hear: she was foaming at the mouth, being seen in a random state thousands of miles away with little recollection of how she got there, drunk off her ass again at an awards show. Shards of glass, cutting through the fragile peace you'd built.

At the time, it still impacted you, of course. She was once your girl. But you were forced to look it in the eye: the fact that she was in the worst shape you’d seen her in when you came across images of her online, with sunken cheeks; yellowed, bloodshot eyes looking emptier than ever, and dry, chapped lips. Fuck, it made your stomach writhe with pain. She was still suffering, only scraps left of who she used to be.

Not that you expected anything other than deterioration.

Dina inhales sharply, nodding as she struggles through the wording of the question she’s about to pose,

“…How are you feeling?”

It doesn’t matter though. None of that matters, because you’ve moved forward. You live in a different neighborhood, with different hopes, a different job, and a different girlfriend.

“…I’m not exactly gonna welcome her with open arms, if that’s what you’re expecting. But, you know what? I’m okay.”

Different.

She nods again.

“I mean, it’s been a long time, D. I’ve moved on.”

Dina smiles at you reassuringly, and it pisses you off because why is she reassuring you? You said you’re fine, didn’t you?  What reason is there to be all empathetic?

“Yeah, of course, I just wanted to make sure you’re okay. I mean, it’s completely normal to feel… upset, I guess, even if you’ve moved on. She was still super important to you for some time in your life, even if things didn’t exactly end well.”

“Yeah… Well, I don’t really wanna see her, but I hope she’s doing better.”

She doesn’t know what she expected, but she couldn’t stay in that house.

The first step in was cautious, casting hesitant glances into the darkness in the hope that she’d catch a glimpse of something that would tell her you’re home, before she took notice of the hollowness.

Everything was spotless and your things were gone.

The display case with your tea set was empty, the little trinkets on your bedside table were nowhere to be found, your side of the closet was barren, and every trace of the life you shared had disappeared. The house seemed to be cocooned in a layer of dust, preserving only the imprint of Ellie.

You’d left the duvet and a pillow tapped up for her on the bed you shared if she ever did come home, but that bed is too big for her alone now.

Ellie turned around and walked out, leaving it all behind again. She wasn’t sure where to go, though she was positive she needed to be alone, away from all the people she’d hurt. Away from all the damage she’d done.

So, she walks till her muscles ache out to a motel on the other side of town, praying the dark keeps her face hidden enough from anyone who might recognize her and makes a nest in the stained sheets and matted carpet floor, because she much prefers this discomfort to the one in that house. Alone with her thoughts and the mechanical whir of the AC, she doesn’t want to cry; she doesn’t have the right to, but when a tear escapes, the dam breaks. At least it helps her sleep better.

The night passes like a flash and daylight filters through the grimy motel windows, past Ellie’s tired eyelids. She stirs awake, rubbing a hand down her face groggily, and lays in the haze for a while.

She’s supposed to see Dina today. The only friend she really ever kept in contact with while on her long ass bender and throughout her stay at the facility was Jesse, because she couldn’t bring herself to face Dina, not when she was in that state.

She has absolutely no idea what will happen, and it’s terrifying. But she can’t deny that she feels a deep-seated anxiety that can only be satiated by asking Dina about you, though the questions themselves haven’t exactly been decided on yet. She thinks she’ll quickly tire of having no idea what will happen but she doesn’t have much of a choice, so she slinks out of bed and trudges over to the sink to freshen up before setting off.

After confusing the fuck out of a half-deaf old man at Dina’s old apartment and a text exchange with one of their mutual acquaintances, Ellie finally shows up at what she really hopes is the right door and delivers a series of three shy knocks.

When the door is opened, she is immediately overtaken by a wave of warmth and the scent of freshly made pancakes. She still has a hard time getting food down but, honestly, she’d start drifting through the air towards it if she were in a cartoon.

Then, she looks up and, for a moment, her face falls at the sight of another unfamiliar face, but her eyes catch a glimpse of someone else across the apartment and Ellie’s heart stills.

You stare down at the text Nathan just sent you with guilt-ridden relief. A family emergency means the café isn’t going to open today, so you don’t have to go to work.

Feeling happy that Nathan has a family emergency makes you feel a little ashamed too, because Nathan’s a standup guy, but you didn’t get nearly enough sleep last night, and getting up to go to work with the tiresome deadweight of your eyebags is the last thing you need right now.

In truth, all that has been on your mind since that godforsaken exchange with Dina on the couch yesterday is Ellie, and the night following was a restless one. You laid in bed, staring at the ceiling with a permanent furrow in your brow that was making your face ache, unable to quiet the torrent of memories and emotions in your mind, feeling like you were back in that house again, trying to sleep the night after she walked out.

You tossed and turned, grasping pathetically for comfort, but every position felt like suffocation. In your dark and still room, you felt like you were going to rupture with the pressure of the whirlwind inside you against the confines of your skull.

Each second dragged out longer than the last. Each second, you remembered what it felt like to be with her and then to watch her fade, and it was all so vivid, so inescapable. You’re not even sure if you can call it longing, because what settles in your stomach feels a lot more like anguish, distress, a desperate hope for her to be in a better place. You so badly want to believe you’ve moved on from her, but the truth is so glaringly obvious that you can’t even turn away from it, so you just close your eyes.

You don’t want to think about her today. You’ll do anything to not think about her today.

You guess it’s a good thing Dina set off early because even the sight of her would’ve reminded you of Ellie.

Instead, when you glance to your left at the rustle of bed sheets beside you and see Alexis rubbing the sleep from her puffy eyes, you smile softly and try to feel some semblance of warmth at the fact that you can just laze around with her for now.

Alexis smiles back, groggily stretching the arm tossed over your waist and running it gently along your side.

There is a sinking in the pit of your stomach, though, at the realization that things are getting very domestic for something that was supposed to be ‘casual.’ You know now more than ever that you cannot handle that.

When she leans in and works her lips on the crook of your neck, mumbling,

“Mornin’, sweetheart,” you take it as your queue to sit up, shifting away from her.

“Good morning, babe. I got the day off, so I think I’m gonna start on breakfast. You want anything?”

Normally, she’s the one who makes breakfast, but you try not to acknowledge that the guilt of your impending split pushes you to take the reins this time.

Alexis crosses her arms behind her head, watching intently as you tug on some pants and states,

“You know, I’m kinda in the mood for pancakes.”

While she clears up the scattering of wrappers discarded along the couch from the evening before, you set up at the stove, and for the first time in a long moment, the feeling is golden, laced with the gentle timbre of Sade’s voice spilling from your phone as you put on your playlist and keep an ear out for the hiss of the coffee machine.

Your love is king, crown you in my heart.

The wall buzzes from the beat of a knock at the front door, but Alexis is already up on her feet, clarifying that she’ll ‘get it.'

Your love is king, never need to part,

You lift your head to offer a greeting from behind the kitchen island to the visitor and the air is choked out of your windpipes instantly. Around you, the noise and color fades to grey so all you can hear is the echo of your own heartbeat and a shrill ringing pounding in your ears, the blood rush making it feel like your whole body is palpitating.

Your kisses ring round and round and round my head,

Across the room, the air between you becomes charged and strained with the weight of the years that part you, the memories that became dust, crumbling beneath the pressure of careful fingertips.

Touching the very part of me, it’s making my soul sing,

You’re suspended in the memorial waves like cicadas in amber, before Alexis breaks the spell, glancing between the two of you perplexedly,

“Uh... Hey?”

Tearing the very heart of me, I’m crying out for more.

You reach out and pause the song, your eyes meeting the text Dina sent just a few minutes prior.

𝚒 𝚊𝚖 𝚜𝚘 𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚢

𝚓𝚞𝚕𝚒𝚊 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚎𝚡𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚒𝚖 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚝

𝚒 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚘𝚘𝚗

You take in a sharp breath of air, inflating your figure before you look back up at the wide-eyed girl standing in the doorway, whispering a weary,

“Ellie…”

Ellie doesn’t quite catch it, pushing out a softer than intended explanation in the face of people looking at her like she is an alien.

"I... I came to see Dina."

You nod, slowly, unsurely, fingers curling around the edge of the countertop. When you’ve finally mustered up the strength to speak, you respond,

"She’s gonna be out for a while. You can wait inside."

You’re surprised by the harshness in your tone.

Ellie presumably is too, lingering in the doorway for a moment, and the tension in the room is palpable, so Alexis, makes up an out.

"I gotta go… grab… something,”

The auburn-haired girl’s gaze follows her as she leaves, before she quietly moves into the room, clicking the door shut behind her with a tightened jaw. She thinks that maybe if she stands still enough, it’ll be like she’s not even there, like she doesn’t even exist, but when you bring Alexis’ mug of coffee to the table by the couch for her to drink, you pull the chair out wordlessly, eyes held fast to anything but Ellie’s, before going back the stove to turn it off.

"Who's she?" Ellie wants to ask. She’s not an idiot, so she doesn’t.

Instead, she sits down quietly, watching you with weary eyes.

Ellie doesn’t look so gaunt anymore. At a certain point, she couldn’t even recognise herself when she looked in the mirror. She’s still too skinny, hair dishevelled, eyes red, and her face is littered with small scars and the remnants of a black eye, but you can look at her without wanting to break down now, or at least not for the same reasons.

You say a silent thank you to whoever’s out there looking out for her and then turn around to face her.

“I… I’m sorry, I should’ve… I didn’t mean to… I didn’t kno-”

“It’s fine, Ellie.”

A beat passes before she looks up at you, eyes wide,

“How… How have you been?”

You try to take in air without it catching as you respond, keeping your eyes on the counter.

“I’m okay.”

“Good… That’s good.” Ellie picks at a loose thread on the hem of her sleeve, chewing at her bottom lip, “I’m sorry.”

It comes out a whisper, breathless, and you close your eyes before saying,

“You know what, Ellie? It was hard at first. Really hard. I got really lonely, and I missed you a lot. I tried to make it work in that place and it just didn’t. But its been 2 whole years. I’m… I’m not the same...”

“I really am sorry. I fucked up- I should never have gone to LA. I never should’ve-”

She takes a moment to breathe, squeezing her eyes shut as she tries to work through the explosion of thoughts, wishing she’d just kept her mouth shut, wishing she’d had more time to think of what to say, wishing she’d just stayed in that fucking motel room.

“I should’ve tried harder to get better…  I-I know that… it might not be possible, but I checked myself into rehab, and… and I want to try to make things right… I just- I don’t want to live like that anymore, I don’t wanna be alone anymore-”

You let her speak, the lump in your throat growing painfully as you watch her fumble sadly through her words.

“I know we can’t go back to how things used to be- I just… want to make things right and I don’t know how or what that means but-”

Alexis walks back into the room, making her way over to Ellie with a tight-lipped smile before she can finish what she wants to say.

“Sorry, had to go do that thing. It’s nice to meet you, I’m Alexis, she must’ve told you already but I’m her girlfriend.”

Ellie looks up at her with wide eyes,

“Oh.”

She holds her hand out to shake and Ellie takes it before reclining into her seat silently, staring at the wooden table in front of her.

Suddenly, it has become very apparent to Ellie that she lost her place in your life a long time ago, as a friend and as a partner, and she feels like an alien again.

She clenches her jaw.

“It’s… Uhhh, it’s nice to meet you too but I should get going. Dina won’t be back for a while so there’s… no point in sticking around.”

You think of stopping her, of telling her to sit back down, but you know this is for the best as you watch her scramble to her feet, looking like a kicked puppy, and walking back out the door.

Things will never be the same. You can’t go back to how things were, and your head knows you shouldn’t trust Ellie’s words.

But, when she sat in front of you at that table, telling you she didn’t want to be alone anymore, you thought you saw something you haven’t seen in a long time, a sliver of your Ellie. Of her old self, of her resilience, of her will, of her love and hopes.

And you so badly want to believe you’re over her, but the truth is looking you right in the eye, and some supermassive weight has lifted off your shoulders.

“Dude, was that literally Ellie fucking Williams?!”

[amourjins]

POINT OF VIEW — extra. lego building + uchinaga aeri

prev - next - masterlist

[1/21/24 - 4:01pm]

“what?” minjeong giggled, staring at aeri through facetime.

aeri was placed in her room, building legos on her desk. she had her phone leaned up on something to give minjeong, jimin, and ning a view of her lego building.

“has aeri always had this obsession with legos?” yizhuo asked, as aeri took out the packets of legos and the instructions out of the box. “yes.” aeri answered before grabbing the first packet and flipping through the instructions. “what are you building, anyway?” jimin questioned, “lotus flowers, i didnt know what to build so i just got this,” aeri showed the packaging to her phone camera.

“ooh.. lotus flowers? theyre pretty,” yizhuo smiled, aeri just nodding and opening the first packet, dumping it onto her desk. the pieces scattered, few dropping as she went down to pick them up. “ah, you guys, ive heard jake is trying to get with yn.” jimin stated, almost sounding disappointed. aeri stayed silent, all though, the look on her face changed distinctively. “im not surprised,” minjeong clicked her tongue. “jake.. any eye contact he makes with a girl, he thinks the girl wants him.”

aeri started to build the flowers, looking around her desk for the pieces that she needed. “you think yn will fall for jake?” jimin asked. “whaat? yn? no, ive known her for long enough to know that she wouldnt.” ning assured. aeri didnt say a word, focusing on her legos as she snapped the pieces together. the thought of ‘ln yn’ made her wanna jump off a cliff, and it was obvious.

she flipped to the next page of the instructions as the other three talked. they went on about unnecessary things, such as.. aliens, the new world, virtual stuff, etc. aeri only let out a few mumbles as responses, not looking up at her phone until that is,

yn gets mentioned again.

her head perks up at the name ‘yn’. the others continued to talk, but they clearly noticed aeri directing her attention to them when yn was mentioned. they shrug it off, and soon, aeri hops back into the conversation, but still, of course, building her legos.

a few minutes pass, and aeri finishes the first flower. “i’m done!” she announces happily before holding up a pink, lotus flower. yizhuos face lit up in awe, admiring it until aeri set it down gently on her desk, setting it aside. “theyre pretty.” jimin praises, “for real! are you building the white one next?” yizhuo asked, curious. aeri got the second packet out, and she nodded her head to confirm.

as time goes on, the other three still talking, the topics getting even dumber, “zorp vorp binted zinky zoogle forp meep?” minjeong blabbered. aeri raised her eyebrow, looking up from her legos. “youre going insane jeong..” jimin sighed, minjeong shaking her head. “anyway.. you done yet, aeri? its been around 20 to 30 minutes or so..” ning stated, as right in that moment, aeri put the last piece on to the last flower. “yup, just finished.” aeri says, holding up all three—there was two pink ones, and one white. (PINK + WHITE REF WBK) she slumped in her chair for about thirty seconds before getting up and stretching.

“dont forget, you guys! café tomorrow,” jimin reminded. “and dont worry, aeri, you wont be seeing yn,” minjeong added, giggling. aeri gave minjeong a look before ning spoke up, “okay but, where are we meeting? like we’ll all head to the cafe and meet there or..” ning trailed off, waiting for a response. “im fine with either, you guys make the decision and text me when you have.” aeri responded.

“oka!—”

ning got cut off when aeri left the facetime, as she sighed, grabbing the trash on her desk and heading to throw it away.

“you wont see yn,”

the words pounded in her head.

she hoped she didnt. yn fucking made her blood boil.

TAGLIST (open!) — @modanisgf @aeriniee @jongocat @sunshinez4 @aeriigfs @yeetaberry127 @mxl633 @multiliker @lisaswifey @bing-uzzz @yukianism @lettertolovers @gtfoiydlyj @aerisgirlfriend @vernonburger @yjiminswallet @sixflame438 @bzeus28 @gornoi @linnnsworld @masuowo @mr11inches

a/n : WOOOOOO pov updayes .. but its not an actial chapter!’ wtv! STREAM ARMAGEDDON!!!!! (+ jake ily all of this is fiction!!!!)

[starsandhughes]

Penalty Box— Imagines Edition: Misconduct

SERIES MASTERLIST

summary: trevor gets ejected from the last game of the season, so y/n goes to deal with the damage

warnings: cursing, not so fluffy but there is some ish

word count: ~1k

you were out of your seat the second the scrum in front of the bench ensued. you loved a good fight, and frankly, trevor had every right to retaliate. it was no longer exciting when you saw trevor still arguing with the linesman in the box. last time he did that he ended up with a two minute unsportsmanlike misconduct, so you could only imagine what price was being set for him to pay.

the second trevor was escorted out of the box you knew you had to go see him to try and settle some of the dust. you got up and barely said a word to jamie, but you knew he was following you to ensure no one stopped you from getting back there.

“are you gonna-“

“you don’t wanna know, drysdale,” you cut him off.

“i’m staying outside?”

“you’re staying outside,” you confirmed.

trevor was going to be mad. you were going to be there for him, and you were going to be sweet, but first you had to dial him down. you couldn’t gauge the situation yet, but you were prepared for the worst.

you didn’t bother knocking, because if he was 0.2 seconds away from exploding, a knock wasn’t going to be heard.

“trevor zegras, what in the name of hell happened out there?!” you shouted as you flew open the door. trevor whipped his head around over to you. he was still in his jersey and pads, but his bucket and gloves had been thrown into his stall.

“what happened out there?! you saw what happened out there! i was checked and ended up with a penalty! the linesman—“

“i saw the shove, z! i get it, i really do. but you still fought, and that’s what gave you the roughing minor! which isn’t a big deal! danault got two for roughing with you! i don’t know what the fuck grant did, but at least he accepted his!”

“i didn’t—“

“uh huh, no sir, i am not finished!” you growled. trevor was still fuming, but he stood down. “what happened to the heart to heart with dallas, huh? you came home and had one with me about cutting down on your penalty minutes, too! tripping, hooking, interference, i don’t care about those! i know i post about your penalties and cheer for the fights; and fights are okay, they happen. it’s the arguing with the linesman and refs that is getting you in trouble and puts a damper on your name.”

“i know that,” trevor sighed, finally sitting down.

“do you? do you know how much it hurts seeing people talk shit about you online? calling you immature? when older players act the way you do, it’s encouraged. but you know what they don’t frequently do? argue with linesman. get multiple unsportsmanlike misconducts. you deserve to be angry right now, but you need to realize that the second half of what you did tonight was not okay. you are one of the best people i know, and have been since the day i met you. you can be sweet and nice! i’ve seen you have casual conversations with linesman! but they pick on you and give you extra penalties that might not be deserved because of this reputation you’re building.”

trevor didn’t answer. he saw in his stall with his head down, hands clasped, and right knee shaking like a storm. you sighed and knelt down in front of him.

“can i touch you?” you asked gently. you took his hands and pulled them apart to hold them in your own when he nodded. “i’m upset with you. i’m not mad, but i’m not all that happy. and i hate that you’re angry right now because this isn’t how your last game of the season should be and i’m so sorry that it is. you deserve better than this, my love, but to get better, you have to be better.”

trevor squeezed your hands and nodded.

“i know,” he said low.

“can i sit next to you? or are you still cooling off and need me in front of you?”

“i want you to sit next to me.”

you squeezed his hands again as you stood up. trevor scooted over in his stall and put his head on your shoulder the second you sat down. it was a bit uncomfortable with his shoulder pads, but it was worth it. you traced up and down the veins on his arms and breathed with him in silence to help him calm down.

hearing the silence, jamie took the risk of cracking open the door, “hey, is everything okay? jonesy and carrick have been out here for a while now.”

“what the hell did they do?” you laughed.

“we fought a little too much!” you heard jonesy yell, getting a laugh out of you.

you allowed the three of them to enter, giving a kiss to your boyfriend’s cheek as you got up to allow the boys to do whatever they needed in the locker room in peace.

“do we get kisses, too?” jonesy joked. you rolled your eyes and stood on your toes to kiss both of the newly ejected ducks, and gave one to jamie, too, before slipping out.

“will we make the post?!” carrick called out.

“you’ll make the caption!” you yelled back.

all you heard were the cheers and high fives as you walked out the door. it was a mess of a season, and this was a mess of a night, but at least your boys had their team.

[crazylittlejester]

oh fuck everything, i’m back in the fucking building again /ref

[linnamonrolls0]

Hi I’m not sure if you write headcanon requests but I’ve one if you do, please? - Wearing Lin’s hoodies and solid white t-shirts (or any of his t-shirts (and clothes) for that matter of fact).

If you don’t write headcanons then that’s okay! Maybe this could be an imagine errr… one-shot??

*me realising how many of my Lin fics involve my main character somehow ending up in his clothes bc I definitely have a thing about this 💀🫠🥵* oops you just fuelled something here…

so, fuck yeah, let’s do this

the first time, it’s innocent. just Lin being his ever so sweet self on a sunset walk around his park, and lending you his hoodie when you feel a sudden shiver in the early evening cold.

smooth as anything, he pulls it over his head (and you try not to look as his t-shirt rides up a little, but hell, that teasing glimpse of smooth tan skin at his hip will feed into your fantasies for a while yet) and he offers you the hoodie, no questions asked.

when you slip into it, it’s far from a perfect fit - but it feels perfect only because it’s his.

the soft fleece envelopes you in his warmth and his clean, delicate scent still clings to the fabric - and suddenly the temperature outside no longer matters.

“better?” he teases, admiring how cute it is on you.

“better,” you affirm, glancing coyly up at him.

he catches you blushing and all he can do is smile, as he wraps his arm around your shoulders and drops a tender kiss to your forehead.

you never did return that hoodie to him. but Lin gets this cute, smug little smirk on his face when he sees you wearing it again, and he never asks for it back.

but later in your relationship, you end up crashing at his apartment more often than not, the two of you build a routine of falling asleep in a tangle of bare limbs and bedsheets - and you wouldn’t have it any other way.

at some point you’d best save yourself the walk of shame and leave some spare clothes in his wardrobe instead of stealing all of his, but for now…

you locate your jeans on the floor of his bedroom and pair them with one of his white t-shirts, a supple cotton v-neck that he’d looked downright delicious in last night… before you’d gotten him out of it.

now there’s a memory…

his familiar scent and that enticing new cologne still linger on it and you never really knew it was possible to be so turned on just from wearing his clothes, but there’s something inherently sexy about it and perhaps that’s moreso his fault.

and apparently, it works both ways.

Lin glances up from his coffee as you emerge from his bedroom, and his pretty brown eyes darken when he notices.

they’re intense. lusting. hungry.

“is that mine?”

“sure is. you like?”

he doesn’t answer.

slowly sets his cup down on the table, bites his lip and rises to his feet.

he strides across the room to you, your gaze fixed on him all the way.

once he’s close enough, he slowly places a hand on your hip

he’s delicate, careful, and you feel the heat of his palm through the thin cotton…

until he roughly grabs the fabric in a fist, hooks a finger into the belt loop on your jeans to pull you another step towards him, and you place your palms flat against his bare chest as he gazes down at you, lips parted, pure heat and desire.

“keep it on,” he whispers, dipping his head to meet your waiting lips.

and so you do.

(this might’ve turned into a mini fic tho I’m so sorry 😅)

visual refs for his super soft hoodie & the white v-neck tee:

[whatthefishh]

Satisfactory Pt 2

Jake Lockley x Fem Reader

Words: 3k

Summary: Jake comes back to your apartment. Seggs. Peep the B99 ref.

Warnings: in this chapter, there is HELLA SMUT, minors DNI:

Use of sex toys, oral (f receiving), p in v, cream pie, spitting, idk wtf else it's filthy alright it's fucking Jake MF Lockley what do you expect

Special thanks to @kittyofalltrades and @symbioticskywalker for being my very kind soundboards for this chapter xo

Thanks to everyone who liked part 1 (this is probably going to be a 5 part series) ❤️

Music I liked with the story:

Ravyn Lenae - Spice Miguel - Come through and chill Brent Faiyaz- Poison The Weeknd - I feel it coming DJ Khaled - Wild thoughts Rosalia - Yo x ti, tu x mi

Alright. Let's get to the good stuff.

☽🌑☾

You’re stumbling through your front door, Jake unable to keep his hands off of your ass, kissing your neck as he trailed behind you. The two of you had made it to your elevator before succumbing to the gravitational pull that was dancing between you, mouths colliding as soon as the doors shut. It was all tongue and teeth right away; no space for the sweet, shy kisses usually found between two new lovers. 

Somehow you found your apartment, fumbling with your keys to get the both of you inside lest your nosy neighbors come out and see you being defiled in your building hallway. Breaking apart for air and to gain your footing, you take the chance to strip yourselves of your jackets and shoes, the haste in your actions mirrored in Jake’s. 

He rushed forward, hands cradling your face to seal your lips together in another heated kiss. Moaning into his mouth, you walked him backwards towards your bedroom, silently thanking the gods that you took the time to clean up a bit before you left the house. He’s kissing you, and kissing you and kissing you and he’s so damn good at it, it leaves you a little intimidated. 

The back of your knees hit the end of your mattress and he finally pulls back to let you breathe, grinning down at you, chests heaving. You’re taken aback by the sheer desire clear in his eyes. 

Your hand comes up of its own volition to rest on his chest when he leaned back in, causing him to stop. 

“Sorry, wait a second.” You’re trying to get out of your head. There’s a man in your bedroom who clearly wants you. Not just any man, too, Jake motherfucking Lockley. How many times were you going to say his name in your head to come to terms with the fact that yes, it’s him, and yes, he’s not only talking to you but trying to help you just like you asked. 

“What is it? What’s wrong?” Jake immediately stepped back to give you space.

“I just--… it’s just been a while,” you admit quietly, looking away from his intense gaze. 

“Cariño, it’s okay. Whatever you’re willing to give me is okay. I said I’m yours for the night, remember? We can even just hang out.” 

His kindness swept you off your feet, any concerns you had about him possibly being an opportunistic rake fled your thoughts. Pulling him down by his neck, your kiss took him by surprise but he quickly wrapped his arms around you to pull you close again.  

“Some music might help?” he suggests between some more toe-curling kisses, and you almost don’t want to pull away to think about what he just said because you’re afraid of looking so dazed when you’re both still fully clothed. 

Why does he have to be so damn considerate? He’s right though, music would definitely help you get out of your thoughts, so you reluctantly push him away to put your playlist on. When you turn back to him, he’s already unbuttoned his shirt and the smooth planes of his chest and abdomen are on display for you, the small trail of hair leading into his pants catching your eye for longer than appropriate. Darting your eyes back up to his as you near him, you can see that he’s so fucking smug because he absolutely caught you staring. 

Once close enough, he’s grabbing your waist with his hands, long fingers creeping up the hem of your sweater, goosebumps rising from his touch. Raising his brow at you in question, your small nod of approval has him stripping you of your sweater. You blush under his intense gaze, his eyes drinking in your lace-covered breasts. 

“I just–um,” you start off shyly again, desperate to explain your thoughts, to get it out of your head before it repeats itself until you want to scream. “Never in my wildest dreams did I expect this. I’m a little worried I won’t measure up to the girls you’re used to.” 

He tucks a strand of hair behind your ear and holds your jaw, tilting your head so you look into his eyes before he responds, making sure to douse conviction into his voice so you believe him.

“I’m not thinking about anyone else right now, are you?” You shake your head. “You’re fine, you’re perfect.” 

The scary part is he kinda already likes you. Your big, curious eyes, how easy it is to fluster you, and as much as he wants to completely ravage you at this moment, he has a nagging feeling it’ll be a bit different, a bit more intense with you. 

You gaze up at him with so much trust in your eyes it blows him away. He almost feels guilty for what he has planned. Almost. 

“I wanna see you, querida. Can you show me how you like it? Show me how you touch yourself?” he asked, honey dripping from his voice. You’d probably agree to anything he’d ask of you if he used that voice. 

Nodding together, he reaches down to help you take off your bottoms and seats you on the edge of your bed, pulling your pants and panties off gently, kneeling in front of you to get a good view. Jake could already see your slick catching in the light and he couldn’t help himself, deviant that he is. He leaned in before you could react and inhaled deeply, taking in your scent, chest rumbling as he sat back on his haunches to stare up at you with blatant lust written all over his face. 

Your jaw was on the floor, it had to be, the guy basically devoured you with his nose. You’ve never been this wet before foreplay and you were embarrassed, to be honest, until he wrenched your legs apart roughly and groaned at the sight. Nevermind. Not embarrassed, just incredibly turned on. 

“Such a pretty pussy, doll. Is this all for me?” His index finger hovering above your entrance before forcing himself to pull back. “Show me.” 

You scramble to comply, mesmerized by his commanding tone, your fingers spreading your soaked folds, sinking two inside easily. You both moan in unison at the first thrust of your fingers, your eyes closing involuntarily at the lewd image of Jake on his knees watching you touch yourself. You’re so lost in the sensation that you don’t notice his movements until you feel the cool, vibrating touch of your newly purchased toy on your clit, jolting your eyes open. 

Jake is staring down at your pussy with intent, licking his lower lip and you’re permanently etching the image into your brain. He experimentally pushes the button, changing the intensity of the vibrations, smiling triumphantly as he earns a loud cry from you. His coffee irises watch as your breathing changes, chest rising quickly as your orgasm approaches even quicker now, fingers unevenly thrusting. Yanking your hand back, he’s quick to replace it with the 7-inch still vibrating pink monstrosity, pumping it into you, hell-bent on making you absolutely lose your shit. Which–you are, for the record. 

You lean back resting on your elbows and briefly think back to the videos you’ve seen of Jake. The girls were always extremely responsive and you remember wondering if they were being genuine or not. Clearly, the man knew what he was doing. 

He’s leaning in even closer now, flattening his forearm over your pelvis to hold you down, hitching one thigh over his shoulder and fitting his mouth over your drooling cunt, latching onto your clit and slurping obscenely, toy being held inside, still vibrating, waiting for you to drop, waiting for the muscles in your thigh to tense around his head– 

“Oh God–” you shatter. The euphoria spreads like wildfire, lightning fast in your veins, stretching your broken cry into desperate gasps.

You manage to open your eyes after God knows how long, just in time to catch Jake pull the now-off vibrator from your quivering core and promptly wrap his lips around the glittery toy, moaning as your flavour hits his tongue, glancing up at you while sliding it further and then out of his mouth with a pop, only to smile brightly at you when you let loose a whimper. 

“Exquisito.”

You flop backwards on the bed.

☽🌑☾

You’re straddling his thick, dreamy thighs, his back against your headboard, hands bruising your hips, his face buried in your bosom, desperately mouthing at the tops of your breasts like if he tries hard enough he’ll be able to physically consume you, and you’re struggling to line yourself up with his cock with how determined he is to leave his marks on you. 

“You gon’ ride me or what, hermosa?” He growls into your skin, finally pulling away to hold himself at your dripping entrance. You’re tempted to slam down on it hard and fast to shut him up, but you hold back, knowing your year of celibacy would cause that exact situation to fucking hurt. It’s going to hurt regardless, you tell yourself, looking at his size. Suddenly, apprehension fills you, worried about the stretch and tomorrow and-and he can tell.

“You can do it, baby,” he says softly. 

You look at his incredibly handsome face and slowly sink down on him, pausing every few inches, and you really can’t help the pained cry that leaves you. Jake swallows your noises, tenderly kissing you, peppering them all over your face, whispering “You can take all of me”, “Doing so good for me, baby” and something else in Spanish your mind was too muddled to try and comprehend.

You… you’re fully seated. Full. You’re sitting on Jake’s long, thick cock and you haven’t been with anyone in so long and your nails are digging into his broad shoulder and it hurts it hurts ithurtsit–

Jake leans his forehead on yours and shoves his thumb into your mouth, dragging your bottom lip down leaving a spit trail hanging, only to move his thumb to your clit to help with the stretch of him. Some of the pain melts into pleasure, and before you know it you’re grinding down on him. His hands grip your backside, helping lift you and drop you back on his cock, squeezing the flesh there hard enough to bruise and when he tilts his hips up, hitting something spectacular in you, pushing impossibly closer, you gasp. 

“Oh! Ohhhhhh, Jake,”

He pulls your bra cups down, freeing your breasts to the cool apartment air before lunging forward to capture one in the hot cavern of his mouth, tongue flicking over your sensitive nipple causing you to throw your head back on another gasp. 

You feel the heat tightening in your belly again, creeping up on you faster and faster, especially with the way Jake’s hips are expertly snapping up into you, cock dragging on your inner walls. The man is a professional, you remind yourself. If he didn’t make you come this quickly it would be a testament to his reputation. 

The slippery friction from his hips crushing yours was hitting your clit just right and you couldn’t think straight, using his shoulders for leverage in chasing your high.  

And yeah, you’re coming. It’s not as much of a tidal wave as the first o, but you’re still tightening around his member enough for him to still his hips inside, mouth releasing your breast to watch you scrunch your eyes up in bliss. 

Clearly, you need to stop closing your eyes when you come or you’ll miss all the details. He looks drunk on your pleasure, eyes fixated on your mouth as his own stays open, raggedly breathing. Reaching up with one hand to hold your neck, he swiftly flips you so he ends up kneeling with your legs wrapped around his hips, your back on the bed, and immediately begins pounding into your sopping core. 

You tried to breathe normally, you really, really did, tried to control your cries, it was still early evening for fuck’s sake, all your neighbors could hear you getting pounded into the fucking mattress but you didn’t stand a chance against Jake’s assault on your pussy. 

His hand was still lightly wrapped around your neck, not putting any pressure, but physically grounding you to the moment, which was probably a good thing because you felt like you would drift away if he wasn’t anchoring you. You gripped the wrist of that hand, your other hand bunching the sheets, moaning wantonly. 

“You like that, puta? You like my hands around your throat?” 

You nod wildly.

The hand around your throat grips your cheeks, squeezing them so your lips form an ‘o’, and he leans forward to spit in your mouth, spit slick lips hovering right above yours, all the while still slamming his hips into yours and you let out another broken moan turned whimper when he releases your face. 

“You look so good taking my cock, baby, wish I could show you,” he pants above you, both hands planted next to your head. 

“Sh-show me,” you manage, hoping he catches your drift. Shit, would he be offended at your suggestion? Considering it’s what he does for work, maybe you shouldn’t have said that. Oh nonono, you can’t have him stop now–

“Wanna make a homemade video, hermosa?” he pulls out of you with a groan to search for your phone, tutting at the whine you let out at the loss. 

Climbing back on the bed, he positions himself at your core again but waits until he’s got the perfect shot of you spread out for him before slowly pushing back in. You choke out an unexpected sound and your face is burning, thankful he’s cropped it out. He laughs slightly at the noise, and shit the camera definitely caught that. Pretty soon he’s back up to speed and thrusting in frantically, punching the air out of your lungs, reaching up with his free hand to slap at your tit, then to tweak at your nipple. 

“You feel so fucking gooood, little puta, feels perfect,” he groans loudly, and you helplessly let out a chorus of moans, uh uh uh; the recording was bringing you closer to the edge than you were ready for. Your walls flutter around his cock, the oncoming electricity in your veins racing towards you, closer and closer. 

“Shit, are you gonna come for me? You look so fuckin’ pretty, so pretty when you come.”

You know you sounded absolutely wrecked right now, head shaking back and forth from restlessness, and he wouldn’t stop talking and you almost push him out of you with how hard you come–

“Ven por mí, bebe, wanna see it again, yeah, al igual que esa bebe,” he keeps mouthing off while your body is writhing on the bed, vision gone white. In your periphery, you see him toss the phone to the side and hinge at the hips to lick into your mouth in a filthy kiss, twining your tongues and biting your lip as he retreats. 

Jake wasn’t done; he hadn’t stopped ramming into you, harder and faster and irregularly, until you registered he was saying something, again and again, “Where, cariño?” 

Inside, you want to say. Since you were too fucked out to answer him, you pull him down to your chest and hold tight, hoping it translated. With a sudden shout in your neck, he comes inside you, hot and heavy, with a few final and stuttering thrusts. Dropping his weight to rest on you, you can feel his seed spilling out of you around his spent cock. 

Eventually, Jake lifts himself up on his forearms and brushes the hair back from your face to smile down at you warmly. Your body starts to ache, muscles protesting in your current position and he must see the discomfort on your face because even though everything he does looks effortless, you’re sure it took his last ounce of energy to draw himself out of you. 

He gets up, walking away from you and you watch from where he left you, exhausted, with a tinge of disappointment. This is the part where he gets dressed and leaves and you watch a movie on your couch with a tub of ice cream for company. Do you regret it though? No. Plus you now have your own personal porno-

He comes back with a warm, wet towel to gently clean your face and leaking core with, smiling so warmly. God, you’re well and truly fucked out. Exhausted to your bones. 

“You alive, cariño?” he laughs softly, bringing an airy smile to your face, too. 

“Yeah, I think…think you fucked my brains out,” you finish with a hearty laugh and he joins you. 

“So would you say that you’re satisfied?” 

“Title of our sex tape.”

And you’re both full-belly laughing at that now, and he looks so good, he looks so weightless and radiant, you want to make him laugh like that again, and shit you don’t want him to leave. The realization sobers you and suddenly, you’re acutely aware of his stomach rumbling so you nearly fall over when you stand to haphazardly throw a shirt on - his shirt is the first thing your hands find - and rush to the fridge to see what you can offer him instead of acknowledging that you sort of, kinda, might have a crush on the man staring at you in bewilderment in your bed. 

☽🌑☾

The pizza arrives rather quickly, and before you know it you’re both eating and sitting on the couch, half-dressed, with your feet in his lap, while You’ve Got Mail is playing on your TV. You didn’t think Jake would be the type to enjoy cheesy rom-coms but he’s so invested, claiming he’s been a fan of Meg Ryan since When Harry Met Sally and that confession makes you almost miss your mouth with the slice you were biting into. 

The rest of the evening is spent bickering about when Tom Hanks should have revealed himself to Meg Ryan in the film and laughing at each other’s commentary. You were having too good of a time, ironic when you think about how you blushed like a school girl when you first bumped into Jake at the shop earlier today but you’d take what you could get from the kind, sexy man on your couch.

“So… Can I get your number?” 

This time the pizza hits your cheek. 

[thatwasntverycashmoneyofme]

Dad! Eren who very much loves his children and loves to spoil and help them for even the simplest of things.

Imagine your daughter being a girls scout. Eren’s buying her uniform, buying all the cookies from her roster, and even supervising the little trips that the girls go on to cheer for her.

“That’s my baby! You better build that birdhouse!” You could see the other parents mugging him for yelling but with the smile on your daughters face he couldn’t give less than a fuck (they just mad they kids suck). “My baby flower crown look better than all y’all’s!”

Also imagine your son playing basketball Eren’s buying the uniform,going to practice and helping the coach, critiquing his form, and telling him different plays to help him shoot. And best believe when he goes to every home and away game and sits near the coach’s bench, he’s yelling at the top of his lungs when your son gets a foul. And bet not let him catch one of the away players tryna hit your son on the sly.

“Ayee foul him ref!” The ref blows his whistle giving the other boy a warning but he does it again and it pisses Eren and your son tf off. Your son goes to push the boy back but gets a red flag, the ref benching him, causing Eren to get hot stand up and shout. “Yo I’ll blow all this shit up right now if my son don’t get off the bench. You know that shit was a foul ref! He defended himself!”

Your son would’ve been embarrassed too, if he wasn’t just as mad. That boy definitely got his daddy temper but just know they fixed that, they didn’t want no problems.

Or your kid being a cheerleader and having Eren practice the routine with them. Eren lets them get in his face as if he was the rival team and smiles when your baby gives him attitude stomping their feet and clapping their hands reciting the chant.

“You got it! You got it!” He’ll give them pointers pausing them in their steps. “Right right right… but roll your neck and mug the other team. Like y’all getting ready to duke it out. You know? Gimme some attitude.”

At the games he’ll cheer and shout for and your kid and if y’all seen that vid one twitter with the dad/brother doing the same cheer in the stands as the cheerleaders yeaaa that’s Eren.

And maybe your child not with all that school spirit rah rah shit but, it’s a prize that they want and even though they know Dad! Eren can get that prize with the snap of his fingers they just want to do something on their own. So they sign up to sell those school chocolates.

They get home with the box of chocolates and like four people brought one, and it’s kinda to be expected cuz there are so many people in the school selling. Eren sees the box in his kids hand.

“How much you need bubs?” Your kid scoffed lightly. “Dad you can’t just give me money. It’s for school stuff.” He laughed and snatched the box from their hands. “Who said I was just giving you money kid? I’m buying your chocolates.” He takes the couple of dollars from out the box and gives it to your kid along with $300.

“Boom! You just learned the business of supply and demand. So you can give that to your school and just bring chocolates home to eat.” He scurries off but not before opening a wrapper and popping a square of chocolate in his mouth sliding the box under his arm. Your kid well mostly Eren continues to buy the chocolates until he gets the email that your kid won the competition.

So your kid won first place, got the prize, and an extra $500 in their pocket. We love Dad! Eren.

𝗌𝗉𝖺𝗆 𝗅𝗂𝗄𝖾𝗌, 𝗋𝖾𝖻𝗅𝗈𝗀𝗌 𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝖼𝗈𝗆𝗆𝖾𝗇𝗍𝗌. 𝖣𝖮𝖭𝖳 𝗌𝗍𝖾𝖺𝗅, 𝖼𝗈𝗉𝗒 𝗈𝗋 𝗉𝗈𝗌𝗍 𝖺𝗇𝗒𝗐𝗁𝖾𝗋𝖾 𝖾𝗅𝗌𝖾. ©𝖼𝗂𝗍𝗒𝗉𝗋𝖾𝗌𝗂𝖽𝖾𝗇𝗍𝗂𝖺𝗅

[randyortonofficial]

title: build our kingdom pairing: randy orton/cody rhodes word count: 2759 important tags: fluff, humor description: It’s the biggest night of Cody Rhodes’ life, therefore, it’s the biggest night of Randy Orton’s life. Cody has always wanted to do this on his own, but when they both learned Cody was going to beat Roman Reigns at Wrestlemania for the title, Cody didn’t even think twice before telling Randy he had to be out there with him at the end to begin the celebration.

April 7th, 2024

It’s the biggest night of Cody Rhodes’ life, therefore, it’s the biggest night of Randy Orton’s life.

Cody has always wanted to be his own man. He didn’t want to live in anyone’s shadow, or be anyone’s understudy, and because of that, he and Randy don’t really share any screentime together. He doesn’t want people to think he got here solely because of his friendship, or now, relationship with him. It’s something Randy has always respected, and one of the reasons why Randy likes him so much to begin with - that burning desire to make a name for himself without anyone’s help.

But when they both learned Cody was going to beat Roman Reigns at Wrestlemania for the title, Cody didn’t even think twice before telling Randy he had to be out there with him at the end to begin the celebration.

Everyone in that arena is overcome with emotion for Cody, no matter who it is. Fans, commentary, even Samantha Irwin, the ring announcer, can not contain herself as she stammers through announcing the new undisputed champion.

And Randy Orton, a man infamous for displaying little emotion, is having a hard time containing himself also as he heads down the ramp and up the stairs to the ring to kneel down right beside his husband with a reassuring hand right on the back of his neck.

“You did it,” Randy manages to get out softly. “You made it, Cody.”

Cody looks up to Randy with the biggest, boyish smile as he clings tighter onto his hard earned world title. “I couldn’t have done this without you.”

In front of everyone, they lean in to capture each other’s lips at the same time in a chaste display of affection before Cody drops his head against Randy’s chest. Randy wraps his arms around Cody tight and closes his eyes.

“Gonna make me cry, man,” he huffs a chuckle.

“Come on, I’m the crier between us,” Cody teases. “And the people aren’t prepared for Randy Orton’s tears of joy-”

“I give a fuck about you. Who cares about everyone else?”

Cody snorts as he pulls away to look into Randy’s glassy eyes. Despite his teasing, Cody finds himself tearing up more seeing the first tear drop down Randy’s cheek. He pouts a little as they both bring a hand up to wipe the tears away from each other, little chuckles shared at the fact that they’re crying together in front of millions and millions of people, before they take each other’s hands to stand up on their feet.

Randy sniffs and pats Cody’s chest, right above his Dream tattoo. “Go show off.”

With a prompt nod, Cody turns to head to the ref so he can be paraded around the ring with his new title. Randy stands at the ringposts and takes it all in, the electricity of the crowd and the infectious glee his husband displays as he holds up his title for all to see, as he looks around at all his adoring fans, as he looks up to the Wrestlemania sign before saying, “I did it, dad. I won.”

Randy has to shut his eyes tightly to try and hold back the tears that are trying to come through again.

Cody has been through so much to get to this point. He’s literally bled and sweat for this. This is all Cody has wanted, ever since he was a little boy, and no matter what, even when he left WWE to travel around the world in the indy scene and eventually create AEW, that was always his end goal - to main event Wrestlemania, become the world champion, and make his dad and their legacy proud.

Even if Dusty isn’t physically here, Randy can feel his spirit permeating over the ring. It’s kind of overwhelming how much he can feel him, moreso, how proud he is of his son.

When Cody looks back to Randy with tears rolling down his cheeks, Randy knows that Cody can feel it too.

  The ring soon fills up with all of their friends and family, from the likes of John Cena all the way to Alanna, all dressed in true American Nightmare branding for her stepfather. Randy has his whole life to spend with Cody, so he stays out to the side to let everyone give their congratulations and support, hugs and handshakes and what not, and he’s laughing with joy as Sami and Jey hoist Cody high up into the air.

Randy’s won a million world titles, but he’s never had a celebration quite like this. He’s never been on the cover of a WWE game, he’s not the face of WWE, he hasn’t won back-to-back Royal Rumbles, nor does he want any of that. Cody’s accomplishments are his own, and they are what set him apart from everyone else.

Cody said he always wanted to be like Randy, but he doesn’t anymore. Now, he can be like Cody.

John comes on over to pat Randy’s ass. “You did good, man.”

Randy huffs a fond breath through his nose and quirks a small grin. “He’s worked so hard,” he tells him. “We’ve been through so much, I…” He bites his lip and shakes his head. “This still doesn’t feel real.”

John shrugs. “Agree to disagree. Listen, if Cody could tame your wild ass and get you to like guys,” he raises a knowing eyebrow and smirks, “then winning the world title in the main event at Wrestlemania is a cake walk.”

Randy scoffs and pushes John away by the shoulder. As he gives Cody his attention again, he sees Sami smiling over at him and waving him over.

“Come on, dude!” Sami says. “Show him off to the world!”

Cody’s eyes widen as he looks back and forth between the two men. “Guys, no, no, no-”

Randy is laughing maniacally as he comes on over to hoist Cody up into the air with Sami. Cody, despite his protests, rolls his eyes and shakes his head with a fond grin as he rests a hand on Randy’s upper back. After some seconds, he looks down to Randy and Randy looks up to him in return.

In that moment, the entire world turns into a monochromatic blur.

They’re staring into each other’s blue eyes so thoughtfully. Their lives together flash by in seconds; from the first time they met, to their first kiss, to getting together, moving in, getting married, and everything in between.

Seventeen years, they’ve known each other.

Fourteen years, they’ve been together.

Ten years, they’ve been married.

This year, they’ve achieved everything they’ve set out to do, and best of all, they did it together.

Randy blinks slowly at Cody before his lips upturn into a proud, but loving smile, the most loving one he thinks he’s ever given Cody, and Cody thinks so too since Randy can see him trying hard to hold back his tears again.

  Cody’s hand comes up to hold the back of Randy’s head, fingers gently scratching against him. As his eyes travel over his husband’s face, he asks, “until the end of time?”

  “I know you’re the one for me,” Cody tells him. “I’ve always known that but - I swear, everyday, I get reminders of it. How… how perfect you are for me, how perfect we are for each other and…” He closes his eyes tightly. “I just can’t believe we’re here,” he whispers.

“It’s okay, Codes,” Randy whispers back. “I can’t either, but we are here. This is real, all of this is.” He threads his fingers through Cody’s hair to give a slight tug and Cody looks up into Randy’s eyes, only for a second, because Randy is pressing their lips together. It’s a few moments and then they’re properly looking into each other’s eyes again.

Randy’s smile sets Cody at ease once more.

“I’m not going anywhere,” Randy tells him. “Neither is any of this. You’re with me forever, Cody, and I’m going to take care of you and do everything for you until the end of time.”

Cody smiles, in the way Randy loves so dearly, with his eyes crinkling and Randy’s heart flipping upon the sight. Quietly to his new husband, Cody tells him, “until the end of time, Randy.”

  Randy nods solemnly. “Until the end of time, baby.”

Then, Cody is let down so they can celebrate in the ring all over again.

Randy runs his hands down his face before clasping his hands in front to help hide his expression. He averts his gaze from Cody to gather himself, and he swears if he leans in and squints, he can see Seth tightly hugging Roman at the end of the ramp and very tenderly carding his fingers through his hair.

Looks like they’re not the only ones to have an intimate moment together tonight.

Everyone begins to filter from the ring, one by one, until Cody is left standing in the middle with Randy on the outside.

With one final look to each other, they smile once more, and then suddenly, Cody is cheering loudly and spreading his arms wide out, gold title on display around his waist as the many, many fireworks shoot up into the sky. Interplays of color cast over the stadium, from red to yellow to blue, but the shade that stands out most of all is the elusive shade of Cody Rhodes.

They walk each other up the ramp, hand in loving hand. Cody continues to wave and play to the crowd, acknowledging every single person that even looks his way, but all Randy can do is look at Cody, look at his husband, and think of how far he’s come and how much he’s earned his spot.

It’ll always be him and Cody.

Then, now, and until the end of time.

  Once they make it backstage, away from any and all prying eyes, Randy feels completely comfortable again, and because of that, it leads way for him to let the tears freely roll down his cheeks. He has to hold a hand up over his face and press down hard, even squeezes hard at Cody’s hand, and Cody stops in his tracks to turn to Randy.

“What did we say, Randy?” Cody chuckles, but it doesn’t have much humor to it - rather, a tinge of concern. “I’m the crier-”

“Man, I’m just so fucking proud of you.” Randy drops his hand to look down into Cody’s eyes. “Nobody else deserves this more than you, and I - I’ve been fucking waiting for this moment forever, ever since Legacy, and now it’s here and…” He presses his lips tightly together and shrugs. “I dunno. I dunno how to deal with it-”

“You don’t know?” Cody scoffs and lets go of Randy’s hand to settle his own two hands over his title. “How do you think I feel? I…” He looks down to his title and lets out a shaky gasp. “I… I-I’m the world champion, Randy. I-I won. I won in the main event-”

“Of Wrestlemania,” they both finish together. They both can’t help but chuckle earnestly as they look back into each other’s eyes again.

Cody looks over Randy’s face again. His hands curl tightly into fists, as if to restrain himself, before shaking his head and bringing them up to hold Randy’s face in his hands.

“I wouldn’t be here today without you,” he reminds him. “I wouldn’t be who I am today without you, Randy. I talk a whole lot about how I wanted to get here by myself, with no help from anyone, how I wanted to be independent and get out from people’s shadows, and I did but I’d be beyond stupid to think I wouldn’t be here without you. You were so instrumental in my journey, from my growth not just in my career, but as a person. You taught me what matters, you showed me how to ground myself, how to prepare myself for the worst, you showed me the world, Randy…” Cody lets out a long sigh and closes his eyes as he presses his forehead to Randy’s.

“You showed me the world, and you gave me the world.”

Randy brings his hands up to hold onto Cody’s shoulders and takes a deep breath. “I love you, Cody,” he whispers into the sliver of space between them. “More than anything. You’ve come so far. You’ve dealt with so much fucking shit and you proved everyone wrong, proved them all wrong and I knew you were going to, I knew it-”

“You believed in me since day one,” Cody gasps. “You believed in me when no one else did, Randy. You always believed in me, even the times when I didn’t believe in myself. In my darkest hours, you were there. You were always there and that’s why I’m here.”

Randy’s not too good at words. Never has, never will, though being with Cody has strengthened his vocabulary considerably. He’s always expressed himself best through actions, so it makes sense to Cody when Randy surges forward then and there to claim his lips so passionately and tenderly.

All the things Randy wants to say to Cody is done with one powerful kiss, and it’s worth a thousand words, each single one waxing poetic of how strongly he feels for his husband and all he’s been through in his 38 years of living.

Their lips drag away from each other so slowly, and they steal one more kiss before pulling away enough to gaze into each other’s eyes-

  “Don’t think about it.”

Cody and Randy furrow their eyebrows and look over to see Hunter with his arms crossed over his chest.

“Think about what?” Cody asks.

“I don’t care how long you guys have been waiting for this moment,” Hunter tells them. “It does not give you an excuse to have incredibly loud, rough sex all over the locker room.”

“Come on, man, it’s a special day!” Randy groans as he drops his hands from Cody’s shoulders. “And you know how special it is too!”

“Please, Hunter?” Cody widens his baby blue eyes ever so slightly at his boss. “You know how much I’ve been through to get here-”

Hunter sighs. “Look, nobody knows better than me-”

“And do you remember? When you were the one that wanted to have that kind of sex with me?”

Hunter huffs and shakes his head before quirking a grin. “Sure, I did until I realized how disgustingly in love you two were with each other…” Then, with squinted eyes, he presses his lips together. He looks back and forth between Cody and Randy, and Cody and Randy just look to each other wondering what the hell Hunter is thinking about before suddenly, Hunter is groaning out loud and flinging his hands in the air.

“Okay!” Hunter sighs and holds up a finger. “Just this once, I will not say a thing.”

Cody and Randy smile big and high five each other.

“Fuck yeah!” Randy gets down on one knee to prepare to lift up Cody. “Let’s-”

“Not now.” Hunter raises a pointed eyebrow before grabbing Cody’s wrist. He looks over to the new undisputed champion and pats his title. “You got media, kid, and a big press conference to do. You guys can defile the locker room later.”

Cody rolls his eyes and looks back to Randy. “Catch you after the press conference?”

“More like I’ll be catching you.” Randy winks and clicks his tongue. “Better be coming to me with spread arms and spread-”

“Keep that thought to yourself, Randy.” Hunter quickly ushers Cody away. “Alright, so…”

Randy chuckles before turning around to head into Cody’s locker room to do just that.

Cody’s moans carry through the concrete walls of the backstage area and into Hunter’s ears. At this point, Hunter is used to it, so he continues to casually stroll down the hallway until he sees an intern staring rather curiously at the wall.

“Hey, kid.” Hunter shoves his hands into his pockets. “Something wrong?”

“Do you hear that?” the intern asks. “What’s that noise?”

Hunter allows an almost fond smile to grace his lips. “Just a ghost, son,” he tells him after patting him on the shoulder. “Just a ghost.”

As the intern walks away, still with an aura of uncertainty, Hunter looks back to the source of the noise. With a shake of the head, he chuckles before continuing down the hall, and thusly, into the new era of WWE; helmed by Cody Rhodes.

[artsartblog]

I’m back in the fucking building again/ref

But yeah, I’m here to present more of my art to tumblr. Enjoy!

These first couple of pieces are of my Hazbin Hotel oc Esme. She is, as stated in the art, a fallen angel. She has a massive crush on Lucifer; one so large that she literally fell from heaven for him lol. I’m joking, but she did get kicked out of heaven because of Lucifer. Not that it’s really his fault. Heaven just wasn’t the same without him. Plus, she was all for his ideas, so it wasn’t long after Hell was made that she ended up there. Throughout all of season 1 she wears a demon disguise because she’s not keen on being known as an angel in Hell. Especially since she’s been living like an Overlord ever since she got back on her feet. She spent some time under Lucifer and Lilith’s protection after her fall, healing from the loss of her wings (which eventually grew back). The first drawing is my initial drawings of Esme to get her design down. The one after it is just some random doodles I made of her. Including her fallen angel form (the one of her punching Adam). (Small side note: In creating Esme, I had the idea of her being sort of like Cupid and the Fates. She is the one who started connecting people with strings. Who is meant to be she knows, not just romantically, and she can see the strings that bind them, especially when those binds are going to change. Each bond having their own specific colors.)

These next pieces are some refs I’ve made for Esme. The first one is her demon form during season 1 and the second one is her embracing her (human) angel form going into season 2. (Note: I say human angel form because it’s still technically her angel form, just not her full angel form that includes all the eyes). The third ref is just Esme in a new outfit that she gets in season 2 to further embrace her true self.

This next one is just a "What if?" scenario that I wanted to draw out. It's basically just "What if Esme owned Vox's soul?". It's not canon to Esme's lore, but I do keep thinking about how fun it'd be to make it canon lol.

Moving on from the Hazbin Hotel fandom onto the Sonic fandom, I present to you a collage of Cherry drawings. They're just various prompts that my friends and I were coming up with since we have our own little AU in our server. A little context for Swap Cherry, it’s just Cherry having swapped outfits with Amy nothing else.

This next one is just a fun idea I wanted to do since tumblr has been showing so many Sonic fankids, so I caved in and made some fankids myself.

Dawn is the oldest and she looks the most like Cherry and Shadow. (She is the only one to truly be canon in the AU I’m doing with some friends, but this is an offshoot AU of that sorta.) Fern is the middle child and he looks more like Sonic and Cherry. Aurora is the youngest, but takes after all three of her parents. However, the three are actually triplets so they’re all actually the same age lol. Dawn and Fern are the “speedsters” out of the three, but really only Fern is fast on his feet. Dawn’s super speed kicks in when she flies instead of running. Aurora is fast when she runs and flies, but not like her siblings. Her strength lies in her plant powers and chaos powers. She is a lot more connected to the chaos energy that runs through her (as well as the alien dna) than her siblings. Though Fern has less of a connection to those than his siblings, taking after Sonic’s genes more than Shadow’s genes or Cherry’s genes.

More info on them to come (aka gotta think more about them) Also, a side note, in my Triplet Kids AU Sonia and Manic do exist ^w^

That’s all for this post folks. I was going to include my pride art piece, but I’ll make a separate post for that. If you enjoyed be sure to show the love and don’t be afraid to reblog this! If you have any questions or just want to hear me ramble about my ocs feel free to drop a little ask in the ask box!

As always, have a wonderful day and remember to always stay creative!!!!!

[the-kg-series]

THE RON SERIES???? YOU'RE BACK???!?

“I’M BACK IN THE FUCKING BUILDING AGAIN OHHHH MYYY GODDDDD”/ref

But ye!! We are SO BACK!! Missed you all very much! I’m looking forward to KG3 and dropping more quotes!! Feel free to request, send asks, draw them, or submit posts!!

[sheinthatfandom]

Tonight is the night!!! God the card for dynasty is so fucking stacked literally the only one I’m like eww no is Jericho and even then I’d be fine if he was on zero hour but whatever. Anyway time for me to make my winner predictions of who I want vs what I think is booked to win

Zero hour

Let’s start with Trent vs Matt sydal: I’d love to see Trent lose because I’m a Yuta girl and Trent should always lose lol. But more than likely especially cause of the best friend breakup storyline Trent would need the win far more and it would make sense for him to win over Matt who involved himself in the feud and helped orange.

Orange and shibata Vs Shane taylor promotions: it’s orange and shibata even if Anthony cheats and gets involved I can’t see orange and shibata losing ohhh unless Trent’s match actually does go first and he causes orange to lose… seems like a lot for a buy in though

The acclaimed vs bullet club gold: THIS SHOULD BE ON THE MAIN CARD!!! How tf is the unification of the two actual company belts not be put on the main card the actual FUCK!!! Tk I hope your pillow is never cool. I want BCG to win they’re fun, they’re entertaining, they’ll be insufferable as double champs, they will have a feud with anyone. Thanks to the win on dynamite though I think it’s gonna be the acclaimed who will be booked to win and make all the belts useless because they’re never on tv they have zero feuds going on and caster will continue to be a cunt online.

Main card time

Jericho vs hook: this should be on the pre show the ftw belt is not legitimate and there’s been no real build for this they didn’t even have beef until Wednesday. Anyway I wanna see Hook win cause Jericho needs to go far away but I feel like Jericho booked himself to win to hold the ftw belt and will probably have a run in from Sammy.

Rated R chicken Kings vs house of black: I have no idea if that’s their name they have no name and I love them for it lol Eddie and mark should never suffer losses ever actually. Plus it’s a team of champions sorry HOB

Julia vs willow: I think with the storyline and Mercedes and Julia’s injuries we’re getting a title change. Julia wasn’t a bad champ at all and honestly made the tbs title a big deal it just sucks she got injured and couldn’t be on tv every week fighting. Willow will be a great champion and Julia can still be spooky and get involved.

Okada va pac: okada stole Eddie’s belt no one should beat him but Eddie in my humble simp opinion.

The young bucks vs ftr: if the fucking bucks lose again I will be cursing tk to lose all the hair on his head and grow it out of his nose and asshole. The bucks shoulda NEVER loss at Wembley and they need their win back. Especially after seeing the video nope evps win hire me as the ref I’ll make sure to count correctly

Kyle vs rodrick: I know with the whole never able to pivot and the Adam and mjf injury thing we haven’t been able to do the Undisputed Kingdom storyline like everyone wanted but let it GO! Give Kyle his win give Kyle the belt give Kyle the fucking WORLD okay my beautiful sad eyed air guitar boo boo kitty man gets it all.

Toni storm vs thunder Rosa: the way I need Toni to go berserk on Rosa but also for deonna to get involved in a if I can’t beat her I’ll be damned you will story beat. Personally the only person who should dethrone Toni is Mariah and she’s not ready yet.

Will Vs Bryan: is it too early to call this match of the night i mean we all know that it’s gonna be right? Personally I’d love to see Bryan take the win prove he’s still the best (make zacks win that much more legitimate) and piss off don that his golden goose lost (3 days before his other teams loss when mox spanks Hobbs) and drive more a wedge between don and will forcing Kyle to make a choice (not my brain jumping right back to cakeys will Claudio Kyle fic high key rec)But this is tk and wills first PPV as a full time aew worker it’s probably gonna be him

Samoa Joe Vs Swerve Strickland: OUR FIRST EVER BLACK AEW MENS WORLD CHAMPION!!!!!!

[fictionkinfessions]

both insanely excited & nervous for the 22nd.

on one hand, hey! that’s me!! i get to do something again! i get to see pearl & marina & probably 4 again! i don’t have to go to work!

on the other hand, i’m back in the fucking building again!!!(/ref) my best friends are going to set our apartment on fire while i’m gone! my weird cat/small son, buddy! i miss my besties!!!

-ghost (they/them), Splatoon/Splatsona, #👻🔏

x

[nervouslaughter05]

Of Monsters and Men-Chapter 1

A/N: As promised, here is my second (and much happier might I say) addition to the CoD fandom! When the CoD edits started pouring into my TikTok feed, you would not believe how happy I was. Instantly, the healthy love I had felt for Ghost when I was younger and playing the game with my friends blossomed into a thirst quenchable only with the finest literature (Tumblr and Ao3 have been my saving grace) could satisfy.

I will be posting a ref sheet and a fact file for my OC on my art insta and here within hopefully the next week or so. Just know she is 5'6", has auburn hair she wears in a single french braid, and greyish-blue eyes.

Anyways, please heed the tags! I will be putting a note at the top of each chapter with some tags for that chapter specifically just for added protection for you readers :). Thank you and enjoy!

Art Insta: @timtoart05

C/W: blood and injury mention, OC patches up a bullet wound of a soldier and a knife wound (neither are described in graphic detail but blood is mentioned), minor language, mentions of killing and shooting

Masterlist

“Soap, I’m running a little low over here!”

“Here, catch!”

Grizzly snatches the magazine from the air, deftly reloading her rifle and taking aim at the incoming hostiles. She pulls the trigger and sends a ball of lead right between the eyes of one of the men. As he crumbles to the ground, she takes aim again, staring into her scope and sending another man into the dirt. 

“We cannae keep this up!” Soap yells to be heard above the sound of gunfire, taking down targets of his own. “The fuckers jus’ keep comin’. ”

She sends another man to the grave, shouting back, “You think I don’t realize that?”

“Alpha, where the hell are you?” Grizzly questions, pressing the com resting in her ear that was tethered to a radio on her vest. “We’re gettin’ hammered out here!”

“About four minutes out,” her captain replies, the sound of helicopter blades slicing through the air traceable in the background. “Hold on.”

“Copy that.”

The marine to her right falls onto his back, clutching at his shoulder with a cry of pain. Her attention snaps from the rifle in her hands to the injured man, dropping it and hurrying to his side with her kit already open and ready to go. She keeps one of her hands pressing down on the one he already had on his shoulder to stanch the bleeding while the other pulls out gauze and cotton to pack the wound. Grizzly gently moves his shoulder up from the ground to check for an exit wound, instantly plugging her finger into the hole while she grasps a bottle of antiseptic. 

“Count to three for me, corporal,” she orders, flicking open the cap while the injured soldier does as told. 

Except she pours it on when he’s at one. He curses in pain, stiff beneath her steady hands. She expertly packs and bandages the wound. Once the gauze is firmly secured, the latex gloves get tossed away in favor of being swapped out for the combat ones. 

“Can you still shoot?” she questions, hands already back on her rifle as she gets a nod from the corporal. “Good. Back to your post.”

Grizzly transitions from corpsman to sniper instantly, resuming her position and taking aim at the men below. Right as she gets ready to take down one of the men hunting them from the outside of the compound they’d holed themselves in, the remaining men begin dropping like flies. She catches sight of a sniper taking aim at them from their spot on top of a nearby building right before there’s a hulking form shooting them in the back of the head. 

Ghost. 

“Fuck yeah!” she yells, watching the last man drop dead as Alpha team sweeps through. 

“Take that ya sonuva bitches!” Soap cheers, rising to his feet and a hand going to the com in his ear. “Just in time fellas.”

“You’re welcome,” Gaz replies, his voice filtering smoothly through the coms. “You comin’ down or do we need to move in?”

“Meet us halfway,” Soap tells him as Grizzly rises to her feet with the rifle grasped firmly in her hands. 

He leads the way, their squad moving behind him in a line. She’s second to last, the marine with the injured shoulder in front of her while a massive brute is behind her. They move with ease, boots thumping on the stairs as all eight of them make their way from the third floor to the first. 

Fresh air brushes fondly over her face once the squad is outside, soothing her heated skin.

“Good to see ya in one piece,” Gaz says, bumping Soap’s fist with his own in their handshake.

Grizzly ushers the marines onto the helicopter, turning to Gaz once the last soldier gets on. “Of course y'all make an appearance right as the numbers die down.” 

He laughs, turning and leading them to the helicopter just as Ghost was coming back. 

“Lieutenant,” she greets him, nodding at the helicopter. “Nice move out there. Bet that poor bastard didn’t even see you comin’. ”

He nods to her, voice gruff as he speaks. “Sergeants.”

She grins, climbing into the helicopter after Soap and settling into the first open spot she sees. Ghost follows closely after, dropping heavily into the seat at her left since the others had all filled up. Price enters last, nodding to her and Soap before taking a seat and ordering the pilots to take them back to base. 

And just like that, the mission was a success. 

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

“Soap if you don’t stop moving I have the authority to knock you out.”

The man chuckles at the threat. “Doesn’t that go against your oath, Griz?”

She snorts, shoving him. “We’re surrounded by marines. You really think they’d care?”

Gaz laughs at the pout the Scot puts on at the reply. “Aw c’mon, man. Ya know she loves you too much to do somethin’ like tha’. ”

“Debatable,” she quips, winding the bandage around Soap’s thigh where he’d been knifed during the fight.

“A’m hurt, Griz,” Soap tells her, placing a hand over where his heart is and putting on a mock frown. 

She chuckles. “Oh come on ya big baby. Even if I did knock you out, I’d make sure you were properly taken care of. I can’t be the only raging Scot around here to celebrate the death of the queen.”

Soap laughs at that, unable to stay mad while Gaz deadpans. “Guess yer right, lass. Even if yer only half.”

“Only one who ken wat yer talking ‘bout, Soap,” Grizzly says, laughing at the other man in the room with them shaking his head. 

“Even after all these years I still can’t understand the two of ya.”

“Don’t need to,” she hums, standing and encouraging Soap to do the same to check his bandages. “How’s that feel?”

“Better,” he replies, heading for the door of the med ward. “Wanna get some eats? The mess should still be open.”

Grizzly follows closely behind the other sergeant with Gaz at her side, making their way through the base. It wasn’t the one they called home, but considering she had spent five years in the marine corps before being called by Price to join his budding 141, she was able to steer them in the right direction. Marines walked past, nodding in respect to her and the team. More than once she heard a teasing “Evenin’, Mama Bear” passing by. This just made her grin and keep walking, knowing it was the soldiers own way of showing their respect to her as a doctor. 

“What’s up with their whole thing of calling you ‘Mama Bear’, Griz?” Soap asks as they enter the mess hall and get into line. “I don’t think I’ve heard any of them refer to you by Grizzly once.”

She shrugs. “That’s just the marine way, Soap. Gotta show their respect somehow. Many of them knew me back when I was still a corpsman meaning that I saved a lot of their asses out in combat.”

The room was still full of marines of various rankings shuffling about and sitting at tables eating. When she steps out of line to wait for Gaz and Soap to finish being served up, a squad marches in. They’re all very loud, shoving one another with playful roughness in line. She rolls her eyes at the display, all too familiar with it even after being officially away from the scene for nearly three years at this point. 

Her other two team members finally step away with their food, at her sides as they find a place to sit down and eat. She spies an empty table against the back wall, turning to face Gaz and Soap. Grizzly nods in the direction of the table, weaving through the mass of tables and bodies crowding them. They get to the back of the room, settling down and digging in. 

“How was the mission, Mama Bear?” a marine sitting at the table about two feet from theirs inquires, catching her attention right as she was taking a bite of her food.

Another marine cuts in before she can answer. “Oh come on Daniels. Ya know it went well. Any team with Mama Bear as the corpsman is gonna make it out in one piece. Ain't that right, Mama Bear?”

“Damn straight,” she replies, a grin on her face. “There’s a reason why you’re cautioned against riling up a grizzly with cubs, fellas.”

The marines chuckle at her response, leaving her to eat the rest of the meal in peace. 

“That was so corny,” Gaz teases, sipping his juice. 

She shrugs. “True though ain’t it?”

He just huffs out a laugh and keeps eating. Soap swaps banter with the marines and Grizzly joins in every now and then, amused highly at the confused expressions on the faces of the marines when she used her thick Scottish accent. Eventually the marines finish up, leaving with a chorus of “bye Mama Bear!”s and nods to the men she was with. 

She pulls her phone out, shooting a quick text to her older brother as she remembered something random he’d asked her on a call they’d had a few days ago. Before she could put it away, her ringtone goes off and the caller ID of “Mom” pops up. Without skipping a beat, her ringtone is silenced and the phone is put back into one of the side pockets of her cargos. 

“Scammer?” Gaz asks, gaze curious. 

Grizzly shakes her head, going back to eating. “Nah. My mom.”

Soap’s head snaps up, eyes meeting hers. “Why’re you hanging up on yer mum, Griz? Wat’s the woman done now, aye?”

“The usual,” is all she replies with, finishing off the last of her food and drinking the rest of her juice. “Her latest fixation is kinda funny though.”

Gaz seems slightly nervous as he asks, “And what would that be?”

She looks up from her tray of food, meeting his gaze. “When she’s gonna be getting grandkids from me.”

Soap nearly chokes on his drink from the snort of laughter that spills from his lips while Gaz takes a moment to process her words. 

“Wat aboot findin’ a partner first?” the Scot manages to say between his wheezing laughs, trying to rein it in. “Ye cannae jus’ pop out a pup at her request.”

“That’s what I tried to tell her,” Grizzly says, pinching the bridge of her nose between her pointer finger and thumb with furrowed brows. “So then she just goes ‘When’s the wedding then?’ and I almost lost it.”

Soap’s laughter rings out as Gaz shakes his head, shoulders shaking with his own laughs. 

“Sounds awful,” Gaz concedes. “She want you out of the military or somethin’?”

She nods, rising from the table as the men do the same. “Exactly. She hates how long I’ve been in for. Thinks I need to get out and do normal ‘woman things’-whatever the hell that means.”

“She’s very old fashioned isn’t she?” Gaz remarks, walking beside her. 

“Old-fashioned is an understatement, Gaz.”

The three of them walk out of the mess hall together, passing by the packed tables of marines. Murmurs follow in their wake, speaking of the prestige of the team. She’s amused by the murmurs, having grown used to them after spending a few years in 141. Soap and Gaz converse while they walk, the former very animated in his speaking and hand movements. 

Her phone vibrates in her pocket against her leg, but she pointedly ignores it. 

“Ey Ghost!”

She had zoned out, not seeing the approach of their team’s lieutenant. He nods to them in greeting, trying to go on his way around Soap. The insistent sergeant however blocks him, striking up–or at least tries to–a conversation with the other man. 

“Where ya off to, L.t?” Soap asks, sunshine attitude leaking from him in waves. 

Ghost looks down, voice neutral. “None of your business, Johnny.”

Grizzly rolls her eyes with an affectionate huff, stepping forward and placing a hand on Soap’s shoulder. “Leave ‘em alone, Soap. Maybe he just wants some peace and quiet away from you.”

The Scot guffaws, pouting at her. He looks back at Ghost. “Tell me it’s not true, Ghost!”

Ghost huffs, and she can tell from his expression alone he was raising an eyebrow beneath the mask. “Why? No point in lying to ya.”

She laughs at the mock anguish Soap plasters on his face, getting to relieve the sergeant’s drama from earlier when she’d been treating his wound. Gaz chuckles, heading down the hallway in the direction of the barracks and showers with a soft “M gonna clean up” to Grizzly. She watches him go for a moment before turning her attention back to the lieutenant and the other sergeant. 

“Ya wound me, Ghost,” Soap sighs dramatically, sagging down into Grizzly’s hold. “At least I still have ya Griz.”

“Wouldn’t change a thing, Soap,” she tells him, patting his back. 

“Since ya want to know so badly,” Ghost says, getting the Scot to perk up. “I was heading to the gym.”

She looks up at the lieutenant, slightly surprised before realizing this was Ghost they were talking to. 

“Lookin’ for some sparrin’ partners?” Soap asks, slinging an arm around Grizzly so she couldn’t slink away. “Am sure Griz would love to spar wi’ ya. Right?”

“I’ll break your arm, Soap.”

He laughs. “Calm down, shorty.”

“Show some respect to your superior,” she orders playfully, squirming from his grip. “I didn’t get into the military two years before you did just to not be shown the respect I’m due.”

Soap grins. “Sounds like we ‘ave an issue to deal wi’. Care to fight it out?”

She glances up at Ghost–Christ why did she have to be so short compared to him–who had an expression of a man resigned to an interrupted workout and then back at the Scot. “You’re on.”