#Midwest values

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Mom Guilt, Real Estate, and Building a Legacy of Love with Cheyenne McGriff

Key Takeaways You can be a successful businesswoman and a devoted mother, but it requires setting boundaries and embracing support. Delegation is not a weakness—it's a strategic move that unlocks growth and presence at home. Legacy isn't just what you leave behind; it's what you build every day with intention, balance, and love. United States Real Estate Investor The REI Agent with Cheyenne McGriff https://youtu.be/W9MQvDhYLWY Follow and subscribe to The REI Agent on social Facebook Instagram Youtube .cls-1fill:#fff; Linkedin X-twitter United States Real Estate Investor It's time to have an investor-friendly agent on your team! It's time to have an investor-friendly agent on your team! United States Real Estate Investor Navigating the Intersection of Business and Motherhood On this episode of The REI Agent, Mattias and Erica Clymer welcome South Dakota real estate powerhouse and podcaster Cheyenne McGriff for a deeply honest conversation about balancing motherhood, business ambition, and building generational wealth. Cheyenne’s journey is not only inspiring, it’s a powerful reminder that you can create a fulfilling life on your own terms, even when the odds feel stacked. Cheyenne, who co-runs her real estate team with her grandparents and raises a four-year-old daughter, brought raw vulnerability and wisdom to the mic. Through stories of her journey from rural beginnings to a growing real estate career, she shares what it really takes to make it all work, without losing yourself in the process. Breaking Free from the Rat Race with the Cashflow Quadrant Mattias and Erica set the tone with a quick dive into Robert Kiyosaki’s Cashflow Quadrant, highlighting how real estate agents often mistake self-employment for true freedom. Cheyenne echoed this lesson throughout her episode by describing how delegation and building support systems has shifted her from overwhelm into ownership. “You become more than your hours put in. It’s not like you work eight hours and get paid for eight hours—you start building something bigger than you.” The discussion reminded listeners that escaping the rat race isn’t just about grinding harder; it’s about thinking differently. Cheyenne’s path illustrates this shift with her strategic moves into investing, flipping, and planning for long-term passive income. From Prairie Roots to Powerful Presence Hailing from a town of just 800 in South Dakota, Cheyenne was mentored by her grandmother, a real estate agent since the 1970s. That foundation, combined with her own modern-day marketing skills, has created a deeply rooted, service-oriented business model. She’s not just selling homes, she’s creating experiences that leave clients feeling like family. “The people part is really what I like about this job… I want them to feel like they’re part of something bigger than just one transaction.” From personalized welcome gifts to seasonal community events and even a private online client community, Cheyenne has elevated relationship-based marketing into an art form. Letting Go to Grow: Delegation and the Power of Support One of the most transformative parts of Cheyenne’s story is her shift toward delegation. After resisting the idea of hiring a transaction coordinator, a stressful moment on the job pushed her to take the leap—and it changed everything. “I wasn’t good at asking for help, but once I hired my first TC, I knew I could finally start working on the business, not just in it.” That shift allowed her to stay present at home, plan ahead for another child, and avoid burning out. She reminded listeners that you don’t need to do everything alone to be a great agent—or a great parent. The Shadow Side: Mom Guilt, Identity, and Real-Life Balance This episode didn’t shy away from the hard truths. Cheyenne and Erica tackled “mom guilt” head-on, especially the emotional whiplash of switching between demanding clients and emotionally needy toddlers. “Sometimes client conversations

aren’t that different from talking to a toddler—both are needy and expect you to drop everything.” Cheyenne shared how she’s had to draw boundaries, set Sundays aside for family, and challenge the inner dialogue that whispers she’s not doing enough at home or at work. Her story resonated deeply with Mattias, who acknowledged his own growth in fatherhood and the importance of intentional presence over perfection. Legacy, Leadership, and Living Life on Your Terms Cheyenne’s episode is a masterclass in long-term thinking. From modeling leadership to her daughter, to inheriting and evolving a decades-old family business, she embodies a vision that’s bigger than today’s to-do list. “I want my daughter to see that you can love working and love being a mom at the same time.” Whether talking about avoiding real estate "jail" or describing the safety and values of her South Dakota community, Cheyenne inspires agents to redefine success, not as a sprint, but as a legacy. You Can Have It All, But Not All at Once Cheyenne left listeners with a profound reminder: seasons matter. Some seasons are for the grind, and others for the people we grind for. “You can have it all, but you can’t have it all the time.” In a culture obsessed with hustle, this episode was a breath of fresh air, showing that slowing down, delegating, and showing up for what really matters might just be the greatest investments we’ll ever make. Ready to build your legacy while living a life that feels full and aligned? This episode is your blueprint. Stay tuned for more inspiring stories on The REI Agent podcast, your go-to source for insights, inspiration, and strategies from top agents and investors who are living their best lives through real estate. For more content and episodes, visit reiagent.com. Related Articles Therapy You Didn’t Know You Needed (Holistic Wisdom for Real Estate Professionals) From For Sale Signs to Life Design (How The REI Agent Transforms Real Estate Into Holistic Wealth) Achieving Holistic Wealth and Success Through Real Estate (Insights from The REI Agent) Partnering with Investors (How Real Estate Agents Can Exponentially Maximize Profits) United States Real Estate Investor Create healing and connection within yourself, your family, and your community. Create healing and connection within yourself, your family, and your community. United States Real Estate Investor Contact Cheyenne McGriff Cheyenne Summer 605 Real Estate Mama Collective @cheyennesummer605 United States Real Estate Investor Mentioned References Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki The Let Them Theory: A Life-Changing Tool That Millions of People Can’t Stop Talking About United States Real Estate Investor Transcript Welcome to the REI Agent, a holistic approach to life through real estate. I'm Mattias, an agent and investor. And I'm Erica, a licensed therapist. Join us as we interview guests that also strive to live bold and fulfilled lives through business and real estate investing. Tune in every week for interviews with real estate agents and investors. Ready to level up? Let's do it. Welcome back to the REI Agent. Erica, let's talk about the cashflow quadrant. Great. Let's do it. I'm so excited. This is the stuff that keeps you up at night with excitement, exhilaration, mental stimulation. Yeah, so the cashflow quadrant is just simply like, you know, there's being an employee, then being self-employed, then moving over to being a business owner, and then going down into being an investor. And the goal is to kind of work your way through it and try to be more on the business owner and investing side. I think that a lot of people, when they first get into being a real estate agent, feel like they've kind of like broken out of the system and have made it. And I think that is a huge step and a very intimidating one, a very scary one. I mean, you did the same thing. Coming out of like being in a company that you did your therapy services for.

It's being having a private practice. You became a self-employed person as well. And that is a big step. However, it is very much dependent on you as a person, right? So moving into, you know, trying to get our businesses or trying to, I don't know if you have any interest in this at all, but you know, trying to move things over into that business quadrant more and investing quadrant. So obviously we're doing the real estate investing. An idea for, you know, private practice is that you could, of course, you know, buy a building and then have people kind of lease it, but maybe also somehow work under an umbrella of yours. Is that something you could do as a private practice counselor? Yeah, yeah, I could. I could be where I would just be in a consulting role and have therapists under me seeing the clients. And how would that work? Would they get like you had a cut for every client they see? Yeah, I would take a percentage. Um, and I think it's, it is attractive in some ways. I think it's also being a therapist is not the best paid job for the amount of work that you do and the amount of emotional investment you put into the job. And so, but, and so I guess in saying that, it's really nice to be able to be just in private practice on your own. And so I would almost want to maybe create something where I'm encouraging and helping other people being able to do that. And like more of a coaching or creating some sort of a class supportive role there, as opposed to being, having therapists underneath me. Because when I do that, everything rides on my license also. And that the liability there skyrockets. Sure. Yeah, I mean, the same would be for real estate teams or brokerages, certainly brokerages more as far as the liability rides on them. So that's definitely a big factor, big consideration. I mean, and there's always the fact that you don't necessarily even have to own a business that would be related to what you do. I mean, you can buy businesses. You can buy, I mean, each, you know, they say that, you know, every multifamily unit or apartment building you buy is a business. And I mean, really each investment in general, each single family even could be seen that way. Airbnb, blah, blah, blah. They can all be seen as businesses. Of course, there are investments as well. But basically, that you become more than your hours put in. You are becoming greater than the hours you put in. So it's not like you work eight hours, you get, you know, X amount of money. You instead have your money work for you and have others work for you as well to kind of free yourself up. And I guess the reason for the conversation is we just had a great conversation with Cheyenne McGriff and she has a podcast and she talks a lot about mom guilt and how to kind of balance the life of a real estate professional and a mother, in my case, a father. And it's a tough balance. And I think, you know, trying to aim or trying to steer the ship in a way that is intentional, that you can not, you know, always sacrifice to, you know, you still have the moments with your kids, with your family as you go, but maybe also try to set yourself up to be less dependent upon the hours you put in so that you can have more time with the family. It's kind of where that was all going. Did you like the Cashflow Quadrant? Are you going to think about that tonight? As always, when we talk about financials like this, I try really, really hard to stay present. And so thank you for bringing that conversation back into the forefront where I can't walk away or do something while you talk. I just, it's probably the best place maybe for me to sit here and be present and listen to you. Can I lay out our next five years for you real quick? You guys have the time? No, but it's definitely, I think, demanding. I mean, it's the gift and the curse of branching out on your own and not being an employee is that it's harder to shut it off when you're not on. So it's definitely something that I think everybody has to work through.

They have to find their own way through this crazy world of real estate sales. And yeah, having that goal, having that North Star of trying to become 100% passive income is one of the goals. Owning a business could be another one for sure that maybe you can have enough delegation, management, et cetera, in place that you don't have to be 100% active. But yeah, trying to work towards that bigger picture is something that motivates me, especially when things are insane and I have very little time with the family. Anyway, without further ado, let's get right into Cheyenne McGriff. Welcome back to the REI Agent. We are here with Cheyenne McGriff. Cheyenne, thanks so much for joining us. Hey, thank you so much for having me. I'm excited to be here. Yeah, we were talking a little bit before that you have your own podcast as well. I do. Yeah, it's fun. I love connecting with others through podcasting and just hearing about everyone's journey in real estate and life and this kind of crazy world we're living. When did you start your podcast? I just started it late last fall. So it's a baby podcast but it was born out of a desire to connect with other, primarily moms in real estate that were dealing with the same things we are. Comparison with dealing with imposter syndrome, dealing with mom guilt, all the things. It's just been a fun way to connect across really the world with other agents. Have you found that those themes have been pretty common? Absolutely, yeah. It seems like something we all deal with but we don't share online because it's not the fun, pretty houses. It's the deep background, everyday hard work and sacrifice that comes with this career. Oh, yeah. I almost want to connect you with somebody we had on the show a couple weeks ago. I might send her your information because, oh my gosh, I feel like she would love your podcast. Well, tell us what you're coming out of and tell us kind of how you got into real estate and then we can get more into that theme as well. Absolutely. My office is in Rapid City, South Dakota. So if you're familiar with South Dakota at all or Western South Dakota, so think Mount Rushmore is where I am. But I live in a small town of about 800 people. So if you've heard of the Waldrug store in the Badlands National Park, that's where I am. So I work a lot of rural areas and also a ton in Rapid City, which we only have two cities in South Dakota and Rapid City is the second largest. And I think surrounding areas is maybe around 80 to 100,000 people. So that's a big city for me. I have, of course, my husband and I have a four-year-old daughter and a little puppy and been in real estate since 2018. I got into the business encouraged by my grandma. So I work on a team with my grandparents. My grandma's been in the business since the mid 70s. So I had a built in mentor basically my whole life. She had always encouraged me to join her. But after college, I mean, I just wanted to try to do my own thing. And then, of course, eventually ended up jumping into real estate. Wow. And since the 70s, she's really seen a good bit of change, huh? In the way advertising works and marketing. And just even how the relationships work between agents, buyers and sellers. So many things have changed. So much more paperwork now. Wow, that's amazing. Yeah, our company just had a 50-year celebration. And they're talking about how the contract was, I don't think I even filled up a whole page at the beginning. So I'm sure she saw that as well. You gotta love lawsuits to make things more paperwork heavy. Yeah, absolutely. It's just fun. When I was, I remember I was taking my classes, I would call her and ask her questions. She's like, yeah, that was because of this that happened. And now we have this paper. Like, oh my gosh. And now we've been seeing it with the change in the last year in our industry. So it's just, yeah, it's a wild world. It's always shifting. It kind of keeps things exciting though. And if you want to look at it as a positive.

And that's why I feel real estate's been a good fit for me. Because I had good jobs before I started in real estate. But I just like physically cannot handle being in one place for eight hours a day. So I just love the dynamics of real estate. I love how you can get into not just sales and investing and connecting with others. It's just an ever-changing industry that keeps me on my toes. So true. So what kind of a rhythm are you in right now in your day and your week at this current season? I know we over here, it definitely changes for us, depending on whether it's spring, summer, winter, fall. What's it like for you right now? Right now has been very busy. And I've been in a season of change and growth in my business for 2025. I had just one transaction coordinator for about two years. And now I'm up to, I have an in-person part-time admin, a marketing admin, a TC and an event planner for my client events. So I've just kind of grown my support team around me. And then of course, my team members with my grandparents. So I've been in a season of growth and working to delegate more. I started to feel like I was starting to kind of get, I don't know, drown in the work that I had and trying to do the things to make client experience better for everyone. And I just felt I needed some more support. So that's been a big shift for me this year. As far as day-to-day, I try to keep the same morning routine every day. But as you know, in this world, you can try to plan your day as much as possible. And something's going to change or shift, someone's going to need to see a house in five minutes, that kind of thing. So I would say I don't have a great rhythm, but I'm working on setting good boundaries with at least having one day that's off work for family focus a week. Mm-hmm. Okay. And your daughter, you said she's four. So she's in pre-K right now? She just finished her first year of preschool. So she'll have one more than kindergarten. Okay. Wow. Our middle daughter is heading into kindergarten in the fall and is very ready to get on that school bus that she sees her older sister get on every morning. That's exciting and hard. Yeah, I know. I'm curious what kind of client experience stuff you do or wanting to incorporate with your admin staff that you have. Yeah. So this year, I had always done at least one client event starting maybe two years ago. I do one client appreciation event. And this year, we're on track to do five for the year, all very different, all trying to hit each dynamic of my clients. One was kind of female focus that I did. Another was Valentine focus. And then we've got a family focus one coming up in August, and then a fall festival, and then a Christmas. But I could not do that on my own. So I contracted an event planner and a friend to help me out. And it's been amazing. I just like to do that little extra. I do client baskets for every client. I try to be very present in the transactions. Because one thing I don't want to do is get so busy that I just write up a contract and then hand somebody off to my team, which there's nothing wrong with that. There are all so many very different ways to run your business. But the people part is really what I like about this job. I do feel like my clients become my family. So I just very much try to stay as involved as I can while delegating the things that I do not have to physically do. Yeah, I love that. I've heard of, there's different, what's the word? Archetypes, business archetypes. And people have, companies have different brands. People have different brands. And one of them is kind of like the Disney. I don't think it's called the Disney. But it's like trying to keep that magical experience throughout the whole process. I toyed with the idea of, one idea I had heard that you have champagne or something delivered to them when they get pre-approved, like a buyer at their work. I haven't done that. That's a little extra, a little maybe too far.

Because you also get into the thing, what if they don't drink? So anyway, but just trying to make that experience be memorable and fun for them and feel like everything's well thought through. And you're right, when you have so many things that you're doing and you're just in your car nonstop going from appointment to appointment, it's hard to try to figure out those details. Let alone have quality time with your family. Right. And I never want anyone to feel like I'm too busy for them. So I try to just have my support staff help me with the things, like I said, that I don't physically have to do. But I never want to be too busy to actually take care of my clients throughout the process. And after closing, of course, there's a gift and all that. But I have a community, an online community where I put my clients into. So every time after closing, I just say, hey welcome so and so to our family. Give them a shout out. If you're their neighbor, tag them. So that everyone feels like they're part of something bigger than just one transaction. That's cool. That's an excellent idea. Is that on Facebook? It's a private client community, yeah. That's awesome. That's a good idea. Yeah, so how long ago did you... When you first got a transaction coordinator, at what point was that that you decided to bring that on? Well, very much. It was after I went on a podcast and said I would never get a transaction coordinator. And about two months later, I had a transaction. Well, actually, the story is I was very busy and I was doing a deal with another agent in my market. And I just could not get back to her on time for our response time. And I said, I'm so sorry. I'm out showing houses. I can't get this back to you. Can you please give me more time? And she's like, you need help. And she actually referred her transaction coordinator to me. And she said, you got to call this girl. She's going to help you out. And I had been toying with the idea for about a month or two before this. But I couldn't find anything that really fit. Like I didn't want somebody that wasn't... I wanted somebody not... They didn't have to be local. But I don't know. I just wanted to make sure that there was a little bit more in-house feel to it. And she doesn't have a huge list of agents she does TC work for. So she can really pay attention to my clients and what we need. And I had one interview with her and signed her on the next day. My biggest fear was before my shifting I've done this year, I wasn't... I have kind of a scattery brain. So my things made sense to me. And I was embarrassed to say, oh, here, can you fix my scattery brain documents? And she just knew exactly what to do and got it started. And I didn't even have to do... She just knew what to do. So that really helped me kind of level up as a business owner, I feel. And gave me more confidence down the line to continue hiring. One of the hesitations I had with that was... Or one of the things that I kind of did for a long time was I had a transaction coordinator kind of keep track of things in the back end. And then CC me that I would then... Or like make a list for me basically that I would then follow up with my clients with. And they would come from me. And I kind of wanted them to feel like it was coming from me. But ultimately, that became a bottleneck that I would... It still required me. And so it was something that would slow me down. And ultimately, sometimes it just wouldn't get done then because more of the communication piece wasn't getting done. I'm curious, did that ever... Was that a concern for you at all? Is that one of the reasons you were against it? And did you have them communicate with the clients directly? That was one of the reasons I was against it. So I had done deals in the past where I felt like myself as the agent on the other side. And the clients were just handed off. And I never wanted that feeling to come through. Like you never spoke to the listing agent again after you went under contract. And I didn't want that vibe.

So that was my biggest hesitation. But I exactly like you. I was like, well, I don't want my clients to think that I'm not working for them or that they can't call me or that they need to call her. But once I did that first deal and I just said, hi, myself and my TC will be reaching out to you. She can help you out. But you don't call her. You call me. If you have questions, you respond to both of us. We'll both help you out. And they seem to not care at all. As long as things were getting done and balls weren't being dropped, they didn't care. They always knew they could call me and get ahold of me for anything. And she's just made me much more efficient. As well as if I'm out showing houses all day, I don't have to be stuck in my office until 10 o'clock at night responding to everything I need to for other transactions. Yeah, totally. So it sounds like that too has made a difference just in you feeling like you can let go and be present then when you're home. Yeah, that's huge. Yeah. Let's get into the bomb stuff. Yes, I've been waiting. I've been letting Mattias ask his questions. Yes, I want to hear about that and more of the shadow side of what comes along with the real estate career. Yeah, absolutely. So mom guilt's very, very big. And it's gotten better now that my kid is a little older. She goes to preschool. She has daycare. She loves socializing. So during the day, I never feel like she's getting left out of anything. But what's still a challenge is getting home at night and still having work to do. Because sometimes work doesn't really start until like four or five o'clock when people are off work. And then they can call you and ask you questions and set up showings. So it's challenging really for me to stay present at home a lot of times. I have to set pretty clear boundaries that I'm still not very good at because I'll get on the phone and I'll be like, oh, this is just going to take a minute or I just need to respond to this real quick. And that real quick turns into an hour of following up and catching up on work, especially when my kiddo will sometimes say, mom, I really want to spend more time with you. Mom, can you stay home from work today so we can be together? That just breaks my heart. And so I've been working on this year implementing Sundays off or at least one day a weekend when she's home. Like this week, it was Saturday. And so I try to at least have a day where we can have a family day. And she understands I have to take a call here and there. But the goal is to not have showings, to not have things I have to physically be gone for. And it's not a perfect system. But it's been improving for a long time. My husband was mostly stay at home dad. But he recently started working again. So we're just kind of rebalancing, which has been a challenge. But I feel like we're doing the best that we can. It's so true. I mean, can you really go through raising kids without feeling like you're just doing the best you can? Yep. Exactly. It's chaotic. Amen to that. Yes. And we're hoping we're going to have another kid within the next year or so. So that's really been my biggest push for getting more support and more organized. So that because when I had my daughter, my husband was home. So now that he's working, it's just going to be a whole nother set of systems and time management and relying on others. So that was my big push for getting more organized and having more help. Yeah. So with some of the other women that you're talking to on your podcast, what are they saying that's similar to what you're mentioning? It's the balance between having the, I don't know if this is the best term, but like the boss babe energy, like the energy at work where you're trying to be in charge, trying to be in control, and then letting that go to have that softer energy at home. When you get home to really be present and let the work go and having that mom guilt is just so real. And I know what

happens for dads to just hearing my husband talk about it since he went back to work because in our, in our household, because he was home most of the time, he's really the primary go-to parent because my daughter's more used to me being gone because it has been that way basically since she was a month old. So the moms I talked to all have different experiences. Most of them don't have a husband that would stay at home like I did. I know it's more of a rare case. So just dealing with them, be having to be the primary parent when daycare's closed, they have to be home. When school lets out early, they have to be home. When summer care is over, they have to be home and take their kids to things. And most of the time we find that our clients are pretty okay with it as long as you let them know upfront if like, Hey, something, you know, I've got to bring my kid. But then it's finally like, okay, in this moment, am I mom or am I your agent? How do I balance these things? So it's just kind of a growing, I don't know about growing, but continually changing way to live your life. Yeah. Well, and I was also thinking, you know, in the evening, and I don't necessarily have this experience. So you guys would have to tell me if this is true, but I would imagine that it would be just a lot of extra work to transition from an adult conversation where you're maybe managing something that's super stressful and then having to be calm enough on the inside to then transition into maybe like a child who's really needing something and frustrated that you're not there as quickly as they want you to be and having just be calm on both sides. Yeah. It just takes a lot of work. Client conversations aren't all that different. People are very needy and they need you to do something right now and you're not paying enough attention to them. Sometimes they're similar conversations. I honestly, with my kid, one thing that I have tried to really work on when I get home is to get out of like problem solving. How do we handle this? How do we damage control and get through this? Instead of being like, okay, let me hear you. Let me listen to you. Let me hear how you're feeling and help you through this. Instead of in my job, I'm very like, okay, this is what we're going to do. This is the way through the problem. I'm not super woo-woo, but I feel like it's very masculine, feminine energies that you have to shift back and forth. Yeah, that's a good way to put it. I am reading the Let Them Theory right now. Have you read that book? I haven't read it, but everyone says I need to. It is. It's so good and I told Mattias he should read it too. In one of the chapters, she talks about how adults really, most adults, unless you had amazing parents that taught you actually what to do with your emotions, are mostly at the emotional maturity of an eight-year-old child. Adults tend to respond very similarly to children if they're not getting something they want or it's not happening fast enough, like throwing a tantrum or shutting down, those kinds of things. It's true. We're not that far off from our kids. Right. One thing I feel good about, though, with working is one reason I really wanted to get into real estate is because my grandma, she was at all of my sporting events, all of my plays when I was in high school, all my graduations, everything. She may have been on the phone, but she was there. Always showed up. She would take two days off to travel across the state to watch me in some athletic event. She was always there. I knew that that was a life that I wanted to be able to build, was that I didn't have to ask for time off to go watch my little kid's program. I didn't have to ask for time off to go to a volleyball game in the future, that kind of thing. I also want to show her that if you want to do something like real estate or entrepreneurship, you can do it. You just have to put your mind to it. I want her to see that mom loves working and mom loves being a mom. You can love both things at the same time.

I got to say, Cheyenne, I've been sitting here, because one of the stories I've told myself is that her being the preferred parent has a lot to do with her being a mom. There's the connection that mothers have. She's also a therapist, so soft, easy, all the time. Not all the time. That's not true. But I really appreciate you saying what you did. I think it really strikes me as that's been some BS that I've been telling myself, and that I can do better. I can try to help figure out more how to be more for my kids or to shift. That's definitely something that I've wanted to let the gender kind of thing and the parental role kind of explain a way where there is just something that I can maybe work on a little bit more. Not that I knew that to some degree, but whoever puts the most time in with the kids is going to have that extra connection with them. That's definitely something that you have, for the most part. Here recently, maybe case in point here, but here recently, Erica had a meniscus tear, and she couldn't really put our son down. He's almost three because he would fall asleep, and then she couldn't hold him and move him from the rocker. I was doing it every night, and I was forced to do it every night, but now we're tight. It's just a good reminder that you really get out of life what you invest in. I appreciate that perspective coming from you. That really means something to me. I was curious, did you feel that yesterday? I was watching this when we were all in the kitchen, and I was thinking our entire family was in the kitchen. Everybody's cooking something different. I was making sourdough bread, and you were with Ayla making dinner, and Azra was making cookies on her own. You guys were there and present with each other, and you were really involved with it. It seemed like everybody was really enjoying it, too. Yeah, yeah. I think it's just one of those, in our season, I was also just coming off of a really, really, really busy spring, a busier spring than normal. I think there's just seasonality with our business as well, and trying to be, I guess, more intentional when you can is another. Having the boundaries, but also understanding that sometimes it's just going to be, you got to make hay when the sun shines, right? Right, yeah. One of my friends that I spoke with, she had a good point. She said, as a mom or a parent in real estate, you can have it all, but you can't have it all all the time. So you have to find, like you said, in your seasons, am I in a season right now where it's a work push? And then you talk to your family, like, okay, this is a short term. This is a busy season. It's a work push season. I'm going to be less available at home. But then taking advantage of those seasons where it's not. For us, it's winter. So I try to take way more time off in the winter, take my family on vacation, things like that, so we're more intentional with our time, and just go in with the understanding that, okay, this moment. Right now, mom's in a push season. So it's just really, like you said, finding the balance in those seasons and making the most of the time where you can be more available. That's so true. It's interesting, too, because the push season for me as a therapist happens between Thanksgiving and New Year's. Oh, sure. Everyone's with their families. Everybody's having a hard time. But it is when you guys are much more free and available. That being intentional is another huge thing. So I'm in this kind of accountability, mastermind group. One of the ideas that another guy did was, A, that he tries to track having 10 minutes of undistracted time with his kids a day with the hope that it would be more. You sit your phone down for 10 minutes, and you're going to engage with them, and that's going to help. So that's been a cool practice. But another one that he did that I've been trying to implement as well is having a special mom-free outing overnight, ideally once a quarter.

So we've kind of had our life kind of get thrown off balance here. But I need to do one with the girls yet, at least. I don't know if that's going to be camping or what. But even in the hecticness of the busyness of the spring, summer season, I think you could still probably get a weekend away or a night away with your kids. So the thing that I want to keep going as well to kind of keep that special relationship time with them. I love that. I love putting it as a mark on your daily tracker. That's a really good idea. And you don't want to think of your family as that. But sometimes if you don't put it on the list, it gets pushed as, well, I need to get this other thing done. But does it really need to get done right now? Probably not. So it's good to have that. I love that idea. But it's hard, I think, in this world to step back and take that time away because it is competitive. There are so many other realtors out there trying to do the same thing that you are. And if you go on social media for five minutes, everybody's selling a house every minute. And then you think, oh man, well, I need to be doing what this person's doing or advertising like this person's doing or sending mailers like this person's doing. And then it's like, yeah, try to do everything. And then you forget about, why do you even do the work? Right. If it's not for making a way to spend more time and be more present with your family, why was everything worth it? Yeah, I did want to ask you, working with your grandparents, has that opened up any new opportunities for just a different kind of relationship with them? What has that been like? Yeah, it's been really cool. So like I said, I started with them, it's been seven years. And at first, it was very much I was just learning as I went, followed them around, went to appointments and got to see what I had always seen from the outside, my grandma doing, got to see it from the inside. And I learned a ton. And it's just fun to have that. It's just a special relationship to have. I feel very honored to take on and continue the business she has built for decades, because it's quite an opportunity that I don't think very many people get. And it's fun that we can go to lunch and we can talk about some things like silly that my brother did at dinner the other night. And then we can talk about how I'm handling a home inspection request. So it's just a fun relationship. That's really cool. Yeah. Do you have something? Go ahead. No, I was so I'm trying to get a picture for how big your family is. Are there a lot of other grandchildren in this picture? And you mentioned your brother. How many are close by in the area? So for my parents, I have four full siblings, and then my mom has three and my dad has two. So there's a lot of us. Yeah, out in the world. But for my grandma, it would be the four or six of us. And we all have very different. And it's just fun to I think at first I was nervous about working with family that it would affect our dynamics, but it hasn't at all. Yeah, I love it. It's a really unique way to get to know your grandma in a different way. I think sometimes, particularly with grandparents, we only know them in their older phase of life and maybe not even in their working phase of life. We just hear about it through stories. It's cool that you get to live some of that with her. It is. And one story I tell pretty often is when I first started in real estate, I was going to show some houses and I told her where I was going and she said, you're not going to show a house there. I was like, why am I not going to show a house there? It's everything my buyers want. She said, Cheyenne, that subdivision was built over a mine and it's probably going to fall in someday. And I said, okay, I guess I won't show any houses there. And literally, I think it was like two, maybe three years ago now, the subdivision started sinking. No way. Yep. So just that knowledge and history of the area is huge.

So especially if I'm going into a new subdivision that I'm not very familiar with, I'll ask, hey, what do you know about this? What do I need to know about this? And it's just, it's such a big benefit for our clients. Wow, that's incredible. Yeah, that's crazy. I thought you were going to say like an Indian burial ground at first. An actual mine. Wow. It's very bad. So I guess this is kind of for my own curiosity, but so my parents lived in South Dakota, I believe, for a little bit. I have never been up to that area. My parents live in Kansas now. And of course, we live in Virginia, but I'm just curious how you would describe the culture where you live, any major themes that run through just the people that you work with and what's kind of expected there? Absolutely. So I love living here. I've been here my whole life, except for a short stint in Nebraska for college. And what I love about South Dakota, especially Western South Dakota, we like to pick on Eastern South Dakota, of course, but we are kind of like a big, small town. Really all put together, we have fewer people than a city. Our whole entire region. So it's kind of everybody knows everybody. Everybody really treats people, people treat people well here and really care about one another. It's just a friendly environment. I feel like I can go downtown in our city and I know like all the business owners and everyone's pretty supportive of one another. It's just a big, small town and we're all just proud to be members of the Black Hills community. Oh, cool. That does sound a little bit like what my experience and my parents, probably their experience in Kansas. They also live in a very small town and it's just it's very friendly. It's very open and generally pretty safe too. Yeah, it is here. And that's one thing I so I live, like I said, in a real small town. And one thing I said I sometimes take for granted is that I can go out on a walk at like five in the morning or nine o'clock at night and I'm never nervous. I'm never afraid. I'm, I mean, more afraid of like a mountain lion or something. But it's just a nice feeling. And that's why we chose to raise our kid in a small town like that. Just because everything I hated about it as a teenager are the things I like about it as a parent. Oh, how interesting. I have a, I have a attorney in town that for settlements that he's from, I think, Michigan and or I think Michigan or around there. He's a big Michigan fan at least. But anyway, so we had, I have another really good friend from Illinois that, that came in and he just talked a little bit, like they just had a little bit of a conversation and he just looks at me. He's like, you're from the Midwest, aren't you? And he's like, yep. He's like, I can tell you're a good person. Oh, that's perfect. It's so funny. But yeah, people are really nice. And we have, we're in a tertiary market ourselves. And there's a lot of benefits to that, like to having, you know, we're not seeing the first movers and we're not seeing the huge spikes or, you know, huge falls either in the markets. So it's definitely, there's some advantages to that for sure. Absolutely. We had a big spike during COVID. Of course, everyone was moving here from especially like Colorado, California. We had just had a big influx during that time and it did affect our population and our housing prices pretty significantly. So our housing market has been tough for first time buyers, but I know that's basically across the board from what I hear market-wise. One cool thing about working and investing here is a lot of times like for my rentals, like, oh, I know your mom. I'll just call your mom if you don't pay your rent, you know, that kind of thing. Yeah. So have you all gotten into a lot of investing as well? I would say I'm a very mini investor. So our first house that we bought, we were living in a, we were living in my family's place and I joke, we lived in a single-wide down by the river because we quite literally did live in a single-wide down by the river.

And it was great. We were 21. We didn't have anywhere to go and it was perfect. But a couple of years later when I was pregnant, we needed something different. So we bought a fixer upper house and we fixed that up, refinanced, used that to pay off debts. And then a year later we needed a bigger house. So then we bought that house and we just rent out that first fixer upper house. And then we did a flip and we used our flip money to buy a fourplex. And from there, we've just kind of been waiting. We're not super risky investors, I would say, like we haven't ever taken on like hard money or investor money. We've just done it all ourselves, which I know we could really grow if we wanted to go in that direction. But just for this season, it was like, well, we're just going to wait to take that on. No, it's such a great way of having a retirement plan and trying to build up that escaping the rat race. Because even if we are self-employed, it is still a bit of a rat race. And being work optional is always a great place. I'm too busy. I don't think I could just drop everything. I need something to do to climb, if you will. But yeah, kind of building up that portfolio as you go just really is amazing. Yeah. My husband always jokes when I get overwhelmed, I'm like, I'm just going to quit. I'm going to sell everything. We're going to run away to a beach. He's like, yeah. But then, Cheyenne, you try to be the mayor of the beach town, start a job. And then you do all these things. You just would never relax. I'm like, oh, that's probably true. I do have to ask if you have any golden nuggets you want to share with our listeners. It could be for first time agents or new agents, I mean, or seasoned ones or anything that comes to mind. Absolutely. So the first thing I would say to a new agent is make sure you have a mentor. Don't just hop in to the business without being around people that have been in it for a long time that are willing to offer you support. I tell everyone that I feel like I was put at least five years ahead being with my grandma and being I'm in a very established office. So being here with so many seasoned agents, I feel I was really able to learn quickly and learn what not to do even faster. And for seasoned agents, so I'm in year seven now. I wish I would have started delegating two years ago, at least. So I would say don't be afraid to start delegating and make that first hire and even hire a coach to help you if you need to, because it's really going to be a game changer. Yeah, there's been a lot of people that have done this before us, and it's huge to take advantage of that. Why slam your head into the ground to try to learn it yourself if you can learn from others and what worked well for them? I love it. Absolutely. And have a lot of fun, get yourself in real estate jail. Yes, that too. Speaking of learning from others, are there books that you recommend that you think our agents should read as a fundamental thing or ones that you're enjoying now? Yeah, the best book I would say I read as for real estate and investing was Rich Dad, Poor Dad. I'm sure that's been echoed on here often, but it really was the biggest one for me to change my mindset. Yeah, 100%. If you're not from an entrepreneurial family, which I was not, and my dad was a professor, so it's kind of perfect for that story, right? But yeah, it's just a whole different mindset. I hear it's a completely fake story that he made up to sell board games, but it's really effective. But it makes sense. Oh, yeah, no, but it's a really good... Yeah, because it's a story, the message lands more, and it's really good. Cheyenne, if people wanted to follow you on social media or find you, want to invest or buy in your area, where can they find you? Yeah, so my brand is all based around South Dakota, so our 605 area code. So if you find me on Instagram, it's my name, @CheyenneSummer605, so at @CheyenneSummer605. Very simple. And you can find me that way on my website, too, at CheyenneSummer605.

com. For Facebook, it's Cheyenne McGrath, but it's with our team. So the Soderquist team is where I am on Facebook. I'm most active on Instagram. And my podcast, you can find it on Instagram as well, but it's called The Real Estate Mama Collective. Okay, cool. Love it. Awesome. Thanks, Cheyenne. I really appreciate you joining us today. It's been so good to talk to you. Well, thank you, guys. This is so fun. You guys are so awesome and easy to talk to, so thank you. Maybe I can be a mom on your podcast sometime. You know, we need all perspectives. Yeah, thanks so much. Thank you. Thanks for listening to the REI Agent. If you enjoyed this episode, hit subscribe to catch new shows every week. Visit REIAgent.com for more content. Until next time, keep building the life you want. All content in this show is not investment advice or mental health therapy. It is intended for entertainment purposes only.

[spaceycowb0y]

New hat I think it looks pretty sick

[captain-danwilds]

My personal life is in chaos right now and for the most part I’m only considering happy or hopeful media. I assumed TGR would easily fall into the hopeful camp because Jean’s healing is the most important thing (or that my own excitement might cancel out any other requirements I had) but I’m not even a chapter in and I may need to reevaluate. Can someone who’s read the book give me some non-spoiler/limited spoiler insight into the hopefulness vibe? Does it end on a good note for Jean and Jeremy? Is the angst mostly working through old shit or is new trauma being accumulated? (I am not opposed to learning about new traumatic events that happened in the past, but want a handle on whether focus is healing/growth or in the thick of it emotional turmoil)

[prkbun]

i made this vision board in January as an excuse to do something offline for a few hours. hoping it actually manifests some positivity for me, because so far, 2025 is off to a pretty rocky start. i put "be at your best when times are tough" on there and the Monkey's Paw curled, like, "okay, bet, times are about to get real fuckin tough, babygirl." (my skin is improving, though, so i'm holding out hope.)

[maxmayfieldswalkman]

the rise and fall of a midwest princess has a godly level of replay value i literally listen to it every day and never get bored

[wordgoods]

"The heartland"

The heartland is a cultural region of the United States that includes the 20 states in the middle of the country. It's associated with mainstream or traditional values, such as economic self-sufficiency.

There is no consensus regarding the geographical boundaries of America's heartland. However, the American Midwest is the most commonly cited area as being the nation's heartland. The term may also refer to the Rust Belt, Flyover Country, and/or parts of the South.

[entinullbutno]

God its such a pain in the ass being queer in a small fucking midwestern town with a church on every corner.

Like, i would *die* to become a big-time academic and spend my days researching topics like history and mythology and art, but i can’t, because the only one whose in charge of my money is me

[greysanguinity]

the sleazy to cool pipeline in which jonesy simultaneously uses better grades to sleep with his students vs. willingly allowing them to redo course work or tests to give them a better chance at better grades/avoiding punishment for cheating or plagiarism

[deadsetobsessions]

Danny always knew tax evasion ran in his veins. His parents hadn’t been the most… morally sound of people, and less so as ecto-scientists.

He just didn’t think their lessons would ever result in a criminal empire that spanned the entire city and then some. Danny hadn’t seen it coming. His parents definitely wouldn’t have.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Wayne. Mr. Fox.”

Danny ‘the Phantom’ Fenton sat down across from a rather tense looking (to Danny’s enhanced senses, anyways) Brucie Wayne and his right hand, Lucius Fox. He smiled pleasantly, matching Brucie’s vacant smile with that touch of Midwest suburban mother smile.

With his acquisition of multiple Gotham companies, his rather newly established Fentom Co. became one of the largest holding companies in Gotham, the first being Wayne Enterprises and the second being Drake Industries. After months of constantly working his butt off while fending off assassins, reforming Gotham’s slums and cleaning up some of the streets, and taking care of his nest of street kids, Danny garnered enough power to even stand close to Wayne Enterprises in terms of financial powers.

The topic of this meeting was, of course, the proposed merger of Wayne Enterprises’ Medical R&D division with Fentom Co.’s pharmaceutical department. Usually, Wayne Enterprises wouldn’t even consider such an offer, as their Medical R&D division was the most well funded and least likely to be part of a Rogue’s scheme- and therefore most beloved- department of the same nature in Gotham. However, Danny had something the other offers didn’t.

Blackmail.

His overly polite smile widened as Bruce’s mask twitched. His eyes slid over to Lucius Fox.

“It’s an honor to meet you, sir. I’ve heard much about your genius in… research and development.”

By that, Danny meant that he knew Lucius Fox helped develop Batman’s tech.

He did a lot of stalking that week. It felt rather… invasive, even if he did get a bunch of juicy secrets.

You know what they say: dead men tell no tales… but halfas are generally blabbermouths.

“Is that so? It is a pleasure to meet you as well, Mr. Fenton.” The man quickly glanced between the youngsters, accurately predicting that this might have something to do with Bruce’s active nightlife.

“Yes, it is such a pleasure to meet you.”

Wow, Danny didn’t think he’d ever heard anyone sound both so perky and dead inside at the same time, except for Susan at Gotham High’s bake sale.

Bruce wishes he could be a Susan. He’s at best a Becky.

“Will you be staying, Mr. Fox? You’re the head of the R&D department, correct?”

“Ah, yes-”

“Oh, Lucius! I think you had an appointment with the finance department right now! I heard Sally talk about it, you know!”

Lucius Fox sent an unreadable look at Bruce before rallying.

“Oh, it must have slipped my mind. My apologies, Mr. Fenton, it seems as though I can not skip this appointment.”

“That’s alright. I suppose it gives you… plausible deniability… should things go wrong, haha!” Danny allowed his smile to widen a little further than natural. Bruce tensed but Lucius Fox simply politely smiled and left the room.

Ignorance is bliss and all that, Danny amusedly thought.

As the door shut with a click, Bruce dropped the vacant Brucie smile and sighed.

“What do you want,” he gritted out. Danny wasn’t about to let that slide, not after he spent the better part of this month wrangling Bruce’s problem children.

“Ah, it must be because I’m from the Midwest, Brucie, but where I come from, we value these things called manners.”

You uneducated jerk, he doesn’t say.

Danny leaned back in his chair, loosening his smile into something relaxed and sharp.

“…” Oh, boy, Danny could just hear the other man’s blood pressure rising. “What is the purpose of your visit, Mr. Fenton?”

“Relax, Brucie,” Danny sing-songed in a non-relaxing way. “I’m just here to discuss a possible merger that I’m sure you’ll agree to, and give you a couple of updates on your… wayward bird.”

He heard Bruce take a slow, controlled breath. “Very well. Where. Would. You. Like. To. Start.”

Danny ignored the gritted out sentence. He passed a contract to Bruce, who took it like he was handling a live bomb.

“Here’s the proposal, Mr. Wayne. Please, look it over.”

He watched as Bruce looked over the contract with an eagle eye before lowering it, scrutinizing Danny.

“This is… very fair.”

Danny raised an eyebrow. Of course it was fair. Danny wasn’t interested in exploiting the Waynes, despite them being very able to afford it.

He’d brought fifty manufacturing sites for pharmaceuticals, and offered up a building where both companies could send their workers. He provided top notch security- that definitely didn’t have any talons on staff, what were they talking about?- that came from his own security division. Granted, most of them were reformed and trained goons, but hey, creating jobs can only help Gotham’s economy and help break the cycle of poverty, right? Guaranteed by the Wayne name and, most importantly, uncompromised medicine that was accessible to everyone would be a damn good start. He’d also have Penguin’s empire to distribute it to those who couldn’t make it to a clinic or a store, and there were plans in there to work with and establish contracts with Gotham’s welfare department. Well… once Danny finished replacing them with people who wouldn’t try to take a cut of the funds and actually cared about the people. He was thinking… the multitudes of poor grad students and parents that need income. He’s in the process of building childcare centers and…

It’s a good thing he managed to save money from the taxes (thank you, Gotham’s morally ambiguous tax experts that were in desperate need for clients! He could do it himself but having a team of accountants at the ready was seriously so helpful.) because ancients knows the government weren’t about to step into Gotham and help the people here. He needs so much money to pull all of this shit off and a lot of it has to be clean.

Danny inwardly sighed and marked another thing onto his to do list.

Make money laundering fronts.



“Of course, Mr. Wayne. You didn’t think I’d come in here demanding money, did you?”

“I considered it.”

“I am, in fact, trying to help Gotham. You might not agree with my methods, but I’d rather not damage Wayne Enterprises when it’s doing so much to help the people.”

Ugh, he was doing too much work. Danny just wanted to- hah- chill at home and read bed time stories to his kids.

Bruce Wayne, the specific blend between Brucie and Batman, regarded him silently. Danny felt like he went up a few notches in the respect ladder.

Nice.

“You’re a criminal.”

“Says the man in the bat-suit breaking into places and assaulting people.”

Bruce’s hands spasmed around the contract. Danny smiled at him, taking a sip of the coffee they’d prepared. Oo, nice!

“Ah, I heard you’re adopting- pardon, fostering- Tim Drake. Getting empty nest syndrome, Brucie?” He slipped back into using Bruce’s first name. The proposal was formal. This… was very much not.

“What about it?”

“That’s very kind of you. Speaking of which, well, of your birds, I was wondering if you remembered what I asked you to do.” Danny continued, not giving Bruce a chance to reply. “Didn’t I ask for you to keep your birds in line, Brucie?”

The CEO straightened even further, form filling out to be Batman’s imposing figure. “I did.”

“No, you didn’t. Do you know where your charge is, right now? No, not the formerly dead one,” Danny tilted his head, smile shrinking.

“Don’t you dare do anything to Tim. I swear, if you even lay a hand on a strand of his hair, I’ll-”

“Sit your Armani clad ass down, Bruce.” Danny snapped. “Your son’s in your office. I don’t harm children, and your assumptions are deeply insulting. Threaten me again, Bruce, and I’ll make sure you know exactly how much I know about your birds, your cousin, and the commissioner’s daughter.”

Bruce snarled but leashed his anger just enough to sit back down. He itched to go check on Tim, but leaving a threat like Phantom unwatched felt inherently wrong.

“Your other son,” Danny continued. “Is doing quite well. He’s learning that he has hobbies again. He’s actually working under me, you know.”

“He’s what.”

Oh, yeah, that tracks. It figured that Jason wouldn’t tell Bruce about anything. He’s still conflicted about his death. Danny got it.

“Ah, that’s precious information. You’ll have to offer something of equal value if you want to know. There is, on the other hand, a piece of information I’ll give you for free.”

Danny paused for the dramatic effect. It was lost on Bruce, the ultimate drama queen of this world.

“The League of Assassins are hanging around Hotham lately. It’s getting tedious, getting rid of them. I suggest talking to your old flame, you know, with words and what little communication skill you’ve got rattling around in your noggin to get them to pull back. Her interest is… unnaturally focused on Jason.”

Danny read the dark agreement swimming about Bruce’s face and inclined his head. “Should negotiations fail, rest assured that Jason will be protected.”

“…Thank you.”

“You are most welcome. Go ahead and discuss the contract with Mr. Fox, I am sure you’ll find little problems with it. Ah,” Danny stood up, fixing his suit jacket. “And you should probably check up on Timothy. He’s probably having a great time in your office, Mr. Wayne.”

“I’ll see you out.”

“Of course.”

Having Batman escorting him out should probably be more intimidating.

Danny stood in the elevator, waiting for Bruce’s contemplative silence to put itself into words.

Sure enough, “What… what kind of hobbies does Jason have now?”

“I’d tell you to ask him, but you two aren’t on speaking terms, are you? He likes books, of course, but recently, he’s found an interest in glass blowing. He made quite a bit of progress on his attempts at sun catchers.”

“I see.”

Well, Danny’s not about to step on that landmine any more than he has to.

——

“Danny.”

“Oh, hey, Jason. Sit down, we were about to have dinner.”

Jason clambered into the window. Danny sighed. He had a door, but by the way Jason never used it, it was like the door didn’t exist.

“Mind telling me why the old bastard showed up on my rooftops with a bunch of glass and glassblowing tools?”

Danny smiled. “No idea.”

“Uh huh.”

Danny placed a hand on his chest and put on his best woe-is-me expression. The teen’s face twitched in annoyance. “Doubt? At me? Why, I never!”

A bread roll thwacked him in the face.

[kleyamarki]

ST. LOUIS TORNADO RELIEF -- HOW TO HELP

hey y’all —

If you’ve been following the news in the US, you know that tornadoes ripped through the midwest and southeast, including my hometown of St. Louis, Missouri. The tornado in St. Louis left tens of thousands without power, ripped roofs off of buildings, uprooted trees, and killed at least five. Many people had little to no warning, as the storm intensified and moved quickly, and many have reported that sirens did not go off (alerts were sent to phones, however). The value in property damage is in the billions. St. Louis will need help. 

The tornado in St. Louis mainly ripped through north city, which is historically Black, low income, and largely neglected by the city itself. Here’s some information and links to help and donate to the people of north city!

This is a super comprehensive list of ways to help from St. Louis Public Radio – best for those in the STL area.

Places to donate:

City of St. Louis Tornado Response Fund (organized by the city)

Urban League of St. Louis

United Way of Greater St. Louis

Tornado relief GoFundMes

Missouri Disaster Relief

211 Resources & Donation Links

PSL Central IL & STL

Buy a shirt

STOMP STL

Stray Rescue of St. Louis wishlists

General ways to help

Volunteer sign ups through Food City STL

Items requested from the Mayor’s office

Donate to the St. Louis County or St. Louis Public Library

St. Louis Magazine tornado relief

More aid organizations

Action STL

STL Mutual Aid

[jo-harrington]

Antiquing v. Thrifting (Eddie Munson x Reader)

Summary: You have a little booth at the local antique market and the owner of the neighboring booth tends to get on your nerves.

Word Count: 2.5k

Pairing: Older!Eddie Munson/Reader

Warnings/Themes: Slight enemies to lovers, meet cute, misunderstandings, fluff, banter

Note: This is a late birthday gift to one of my fandom loves who has become an amazing friend IRL too. @bettyfrommars. Betty thank you for being one of my weirdo soulmates, loving old gameshows, wishing we could live in a mid century modern house with all of the original fun appliances. You are one of my favorite people and since I can't send you my bowling ball (one day) I've written this for you. Love you.

You can find my masterlist here.

Please do not interact if you are not 18+.

Enjoy!

--

There was not much to drive you to want to murder someone. In fact, you would say that you were probably one of the most easygoing people you knew. And you knew plenty of people.

But the person at the receiving end of your ire, and the target of your bloodlust, was one of the most inconsiderate assholes you knew.

Actually, you didn’t even know who it was.

You’d been one of the vendors at The Little Traveler's Antique Market for years. You had a booth along the back wall, acquired when you realized your love of vintage Pyrex was getting a little too overzealous for your shoebox-cum-condo. Besides, the thrill of the hunt was the real thing that you enjoyed: estate sales and rummage sales and thrift stores were filled with treasures just waiting for you to find.

So a few shelves of Gooseberry and Butterprint went up, and eventually it turned into a haven for all sorts of vintage pieces. It was a shrine to your whims, rather than any real desire to find monetary value. Of course, people seemed to flock to it, so the cash you made from it was nice..but that was neither here nor there.

It was something you were good at, and something you loved. You'd met some very interesting people--and some of your closest friends--because of it. Heard the best stories.

Unfortunately, you'd also met some of the most insufferable people because of it too. Or rather, in this case, one insufferable person you pointedly had not met.

It had started when a bunch of Royal Doulton character mugs showed up in your space. And they weren't terrible, but they just weren't yours. Your hand-picked selection of Hazel Atlas glasses had been carelessly shoved to the side on a vintage mahogany sideboard you'd painstakingly hauled in, and in their place were Paddy and Toby and George Fucking Washington, all staring goofily up at you.

Ok, so maybe the Anne Boleyn one wasn't bad.

It was the principle of it. There were unspoken rules in an Antique Market. You just didn't encroach on someone else's space.

You painted the kindest smile you could manage--which, in all honesty, probably looked more like you were baring your teeth--and headed up to the front to confront the manager of the market.

"Margie," you began with a saccharine tone. You set the Anne Boelyn mug down on the counter. "May I kindly ask who Seller 86 is?"

"Oh, that's our new guy," she laughed, oblivious. "Ed. Great guy. He's got some fun stuff."

"Yeah, real fun."

"We did a little shuffle over the weekend," she continued, diving into one of her rambling midwest-isms. "Jim wanted to downsize, which opened a bigger space for Michelle to move into. One thing led to another, and I put Ed in Chelle's old space, next to yours. Hope you don't mind."

What could you say except a cordial of course not? Even as you were left to grumble and mope back to your booth to move all of the Royal Doulton back to Ed's new space. You set them out on a folding table he had in the corner, very nice and neat, which was your standard.

You might have also left a little, tiny, friendly, scathing note.

No big deal.

And you wouldn't lie, you snooped a little.

Come on, everyone else would, too. It was just...shopping. Not snooping.

You couldn't judge the wild array of things he had for sale; much like you, it seemed that everything in Ed's booth was suited to his tastes, because there was just a vibe of "who in their right mind would put some of this shit together." Little taxidermy animals playing poker, postcards from the most random places, vintage beer and coffee cans that, though empty, looked as new as the day they were bought. Garfield and Snoopy memorabilia. And mugs...so many mugs, as far as the eye could see.

It was charming, you could admit that, as long as it all stayed on his side of the vaguely-defined boundary between your booths.

Unfortunately, it did not.

It was never anything major but it was enough to annoy you. Books left out on a table, vinyl records in a crate in a corner, gaudy biker costume jewelry thrown in one of your mixing bowls. Each time you went to restock your booth, you'd have to find whatever treasures he left behind and return them, along with another note.

It was like finding the secret little corner where your cat pissed because they were mad at you. Admittedly, this might've been worse because you were proud. So very proud of your booth. It was a snapshot of you, after all. But that was sullied by little pieces of Ed, a guy you didn't even know, who seemed to enjoy pissing strangers off.

Every week, he metaphorically photobombed your snapshot at the last second and your perfect polaroid had bunny ears.

Or a crude gesture.

Or sometimes even his whole, bare ass.

And you were simply not vindictive enough to do anything about it.

It just wasn't worth the trouble to actually return the favor to him, or better yet, get him kicked from the market altogether. What if his little booth was his livelihood? What if this was how he made ends meet? Your pride wasn't worth ruining something for someone else.

Yes. You were a pushover.

You, surprisingly, got a reprieve for a few weeks.

Each time you'd gone to restock your booth with fun new treasures, there were no hidden trinkets waiting for you. Actually, Ed's booth didn't even look like it had been restocked or touched at all. There were holes in his displays where his wares had been purchased but not replenished. Was he on vacation? Maybe he was under the weather.

You took it upon yourself to spend a few minutes shuffling his mugs like a good neighbor would.

It was a disappointment relief.

Why wouldn't it be a relief? It wasn't like you'd started looking forward to what and where you'd find Ed's little surprises. It wasn't the thrill you'd get when the adrenaline spiked with your anger.

No, not at all.

"What's got you so pouty?" Margie asked as you trudged through the doors about three weeks after Ed's initial disappearance. "Did Dunkin get your coffee wrong again? That's how I know my morning is gonna be shitty."

"Must've woken up on the wrong side of the bed," you gave a weak excuse and headed towards your booth.

You were juggling an armful of tote bags and your coat, so you didn't notice the stranger standing in your space as you approached, until they turned around and spotted you.

"Oh, hey, lemme help you with that," came the rasp of a friendly voice as you rounded the corner. You looked up, surprised, as a set of hands hoisted the heaviest of your tote bags from your grasp.

He was like a relic, frozen in time. In a good way, though, like a well-kept polaroid from the 80s. Faded band tee, bootcut blue jeans, leather jacket that looked butter-soft from eons of wear. His hair was on the longer side and tied back; salt-and-pepper streaks proudly confirmed his personal antique status, along with the crows feet surrounding his deep, warm brown eyes.

He was a gentleman...and he was cute.

You felt like an idiot as your eyes slid down to his left hand on instinct. But there was no ring, so that self-loathing feeling disappeared. Well, no wedding ring, actually. He had a gunmetal band on his pointer finger, and a silver signet ring on his pinky.

Time returned to its appropriate speed as he hauled the tote onto your folding table just a few feet away.

"Jesus, what've you got in here? Bricks?" he laughed. "Are you trying to put Home Depot out of business?"

"Uh..." You floundered for words. "P-pewter tea pots. One of my regulars is getting married. Asked me to keep an eye out for them for her centerpieces."

"Never seen that at a wedding before."

"How many weddings have you been to?" You questioned.

"Well, my buddy Gareth alone has gotten married 3 times." He folded his arms across his chest and leaned his hip against your sideboard. "So I think I've got a pretty good chance that I've seen it all.

"Is there anything I can help you find today?" you asked, laying your best customer service voice on thickly. You busied yourself with unpacking your bags so you wouldn't have to look at the charming, crooked smile that settled on his mouth. "Was there anything that caught your eye before my hopeless self stumbled over here?"

"Ah," he pushed off the sideboard and tilted his head up so he could scratch along the length of his neck. "I, uh, was looking at your cookie jars, actually."

"Oh yeah?" You looked up at that and glanced over to the hutch in the corner that held an array of Pillsbury doughboys in various, charming poses. "Can I tell you a secret? I used to hate watching commercials with Poppin' Fresh. That claymation was frightening. I think he's pretty cute now, though."

You abandoned your unpacking and approached the hutch to try and figure which cookie jar he'd been intrigued by. You picked up a jar that had its lid askew and were about to ask if he wanted you to bring it up to the counter for him, when you lifted the lid and looked inside.

And found a rubber-banded stack of Metallica cassettes carefully nestled inside.

You felt your face get hot as you stared at the track listing and colorful cover art of Ride the Lightning. Coincidentally the same album that was on this newcomer's t-shirt.

"So," you huffed and slammed the lid on the cookie jar, careless of any damage it might cause. "You're Ed, huh?"

He chuckled behind you, "Eddie, actually. I prefer to go by Eddie. But yeah, that's me." You pivoted on your heel and glared at him; he faltered under your burning gaze. "Nice to, uh, meet you. Neighbor."

And with that, you let him have it.

You might've blacked out at some point during the absolute barrage of a verbal dressing down you gave him. How dare he not respect the etiquette of the market and stay within the confines of his allotted space, how dare he waste your time week after week as simply minded your own business and sold your trinkets, and how dare he ignore every single note that you left behind.

The fucker had the audacity to look amused with every word that fell from your lips.

In the end, you stood there, huffing and puffing as you caught your breath and felt several months of anger finally extinguish.

"You done there, killer?" Eddie asked with a smirk. "You feel better?"

"Yeah," you shouted one last time, then lowered your voice. "Yes I do."

"Alright, good." He nodded. "Gotta get it out sometimes, otherwise you might get an ulcer. Or develop alcoholism."

"Might be close to both, to be honest," you muttered.

"Shit, then I'm extra, extra sorry that I put you through all of that, sweetheart." He laid a hand over his heart. "This is my first rodeo selling in a place like this, I didn't realize that everyone was so...territorial."

"Yeah, well. Most of the time I'm not." Lies. You were a liar. "I think the thing that pissed me off more is that I kept leaving notes for you and you kept ignoring them and messing with my shit."

Eddie looked bashful all of a sudden. "Oh shit. See I thought you were just flirting with me."

Talk about a record-scratch moment; what...what had he just said?

"Flirting?" you asked.

"I mean, yeah, not to sound cocky either because I was definitely flirting right back at you. What do they call it in the movies? A...meet cute moment? I thought it was fun. You leave me a sarcastic, threatening note, and I leave you a little treasure hunt to solve. Like a...fucked up version of You've Got Mail."

"That's nothing like You've Got Mail," you pointed out.

There was a beat.

"I think this is a really good time to mention that I fell asleep halfway through You've Got Mail," he explained with a laugh. "Regardless, I read things wrong. That's on me. But I'm sorry. I'll never do it again."

He held his hand out to you and his brows shifted upwards and behind his dated bangs.

You worried at your bottom lip for a moment and tried to claw at the vestiges of your anger for a second, but this guy...he looked like such a kicked puppy...and you suppose that it was a cute way to flirt with someone you'd never met.

God, you really needed to work on that pushover thing.

"It's alright," you told him as you slid your hand into his and accepted his apology. "As long as you don't do it again."

"Cross my heart," he nodded enthusiastically.

You introduced yourself, formally, and offered your help in the future if he needed it. He introduced himself and told you that he would appreciate any pointers that you had to give.

"I'm pretty new to this whole...thrift thing," he shrugged. "I've had a bunch of this stuff in storage for a while. I used to move around a lot, you accumulate a lot of junk. And then my uncle...some of this stuff is his. Was his. He passed away last year. Finally decided I couldn't keep hoarding it all anymore. Turns out, I had a lot more shit than I thought I did."

"Story of my life," you laughed and offered your condolences. "It's hard, deciding what to keep and what to get rid of."

"Tell me about it."

"But, I do have one main lesson for you," you offered.

"Oh yeah?" he smirked. "Already? Just when I thought I couldn't fuck it up any more."

"It's an Antique Market," you told him. "Not a Thrift Store."

"There's a difference?" Eddie asked sarcastically, although a blush bloomed on his cheeks. "Guess the learning curve is much steeper than I thought."

"It's alright. You'll get it sooner or later." You smiled at him, trying to be as friendly and supportive as you could.

He stared at you for maybe a few seconds too long, then shoved his hands into his pockets and rocked forwards on his heels.

"Maybe you could explain it to me, in-depth?" he questioned. "Antiquing, thrifting, whatever."

"Of course," you agreed, but he cut you off before you could say anything else.

"Over lunch?" He asked with a nervous smile. "There's a great diner up the road. And I figure I owe you one for all the anguish I put you through anyway."

You stared at him in shock for a second, wondering how to respond. First there was the comment about the flirting...and now this. What if he was a creep? But he didn't seem like as much of a jackass as you thought he was...and he was cute.

Oh, what the hell.

"You know what? Why not? I'm a girl who loves a free patty melt," you winked at him bravely. "It's a date!"

[fatbirdpics]

Hermit thrush (I think!)...eating an invasive and relatively low nutritional value buckthorn berry 😭

October 2023, fall migration in the Midwest!

[just-aake]

Dyeing to See You Again

Pairing: Natasha Romanoff x fem!reader

Summary:  The need for a change of style brings about a reunion between Natasha and her old friend.

Warnings: light fluff, light angst

Words: 6659

Ohio - 1995

Three years ago, in the heart of the Midwest, a typical family of four moved into the ordinary suburban home next to yours.

Naturally, as their neighbor, you became interested in learning about the new family, especially since you found out that one of their daughters was similar to you in age. 

Initially closed off in the beginning, you slowly chipped away at the girl’s cold exterior until eventually the two of you became inseparable friends, forming a close bond with her over the three years they’ve lived here so far.

Currently, you find yourselves in the bathroom of her home amidst a chaotic mess of scattered bottles of hair products and dyes, the result of two young teens messing around without supervision.

You watch as Natasha removes the towel from her head, revealing the experiment that the two of you have been working on, and your eyes widen in shock at the sight.

“Uh oh, Nat, I think we might’ve mixed up the wrong bottles,” you exclaim in a slight panic as you rush around to pick up the different dyes, trying to find the one that was applied to her hair.

“I’m so sorry, Natasha,” you apologize as you try to figure out where you two went wrong.

“No, no, it’s okay,” Natasha reassures, her voice distracted in awe as she examines the strands of her newly colored hair in the mirror.

“It’s blue,” you state plainly in disbelief at her untroubled state. 

“Yeah, but…it was my choice,” Natasha says with a widening happy grin.

You drop the bottles in your hand and tilt your head at her in confusion.

“I thought you said that your mom was okay with this.” 

Natasha makes an unsure sound before shrugging, “I’m sure she will be..I think.”

You twist your lips skeptically at her words as you stand and return to her side. Your hand raises to her hair, but before you touch it, you pause and look at her with a questioning look, silently asking for permission. 

Over the time you’ve known her, you’ve learned how much Natasha values her personal space. The first time you patted her back in a friendly gesture, she pushed you away so hard that you scraped your hands while catching yourself on the ground.

Natasha apologized profusely immediately afterward and supported you home where she helped to tend to your wounds.

That was the first time you saw the true warmth that Natasha was hiding underneath her cold exterior as she cared for you.

At that time, she explained to you how she was not used to such friendly gestures like that from her peers and had reacted instinctively. 

Hearing this, you decide to always ask if she’s comfortable before you touch her.

With her nod of permission, your finger gently threads through her now light blue hair, brushing it in contemplation.

“Well, I guess it’s fine since it’s summer, but you’re going to have to change it back before school starts,” you remark.

Natasha shrugs, unconcerned, before flashing you one of her rare teasing grins.

“I’ll just have you dye it for me again. Maybe next time it might actually be the right color.”

You huff in disbelief at her, but before you can point out she also contributed to the mistake, the sound of the front door opening and the call from Natasha’s mom, Melina, causes both of your eyes to widen. 

Within the next second, the two of you scramble to clean up the mess in the bathroom, laughing with each other the entire time.

You never did get a chance to change her hair color back to normal. 

Natasha and her family vanished without a trace before the end of that summer. 

There was no note. No warning. 

She was just suddenly gone from your life.

And though many years pass, you’ve always held onto the hope that someday you can see her again.

~~~~~~~ ⧗ ~~~~~~~

Ohio - 2016 (21 Years Later)

The peaceful ambiance of the late evening is pierced by the gentle chime of the bell hanging above the entrance to the hair salon, announcing the arrival of an unexpected visitor.

“Sorry, we’re closed,” you call out, your eyes still fixed on the task of sweeping the floor.

A familiar voice responds, breaking through your concentration. 

“What about for an old friend?”

Instantly, you freeze in your movements and look up at the visitor, disbelief flooding your senses as you recognize the voice and then the face of the woman. 

"Nat?" you utter in disbelief.

Natasha stands before you, a soft smile gracing her features as she greets you. 

“Hey, Y/n.”

Abandoning everything in your hands, you rush towards her, only to stop short of barreling into her when you remember how she felt about her personal space. 

To your surprise, Natasha pulls you into her arms for a tight hug, breaking the barrier herself.

Momentarily stunned, you quickly recover and return her warm embrace, tucking your head against her shoulder and letting out a breath of disbelief that she’s actually here in front of you.

The two of you stay in that position, reveling in your reunion with each other, before Natasha breaks the silence with a soft murmur against your shoulder.

“So, about that haircut?”

You chuckle, nodding in response to her request.

As Natasha settles into a chair, you move to secure the salon, locking the door and closing the blinds, shielding the two of you from prying eyes. 

Despite the late hour and remote location, you’re not taking any chances. 

Even though it has been years since you last saw Natasha in person, that doesn’t mean you didn’t eventually discover who she really was, recognizing her immediately through the news during the attack in New York and now with her current predicament.

But that’s her business. 

You’re not going to bring it up unless she wants to talk about it. 

Here in this moment, she's not a spy or the Black Widow. She’s simply Natasha, your friend. 

And right now, she wants to change her hair.

Taking your position behind her, you place your hands on the back of the chair and meet her eyes in the mirror. 

“So, what are we thinking?”

Natasha ponders for a moment before a teasing grin lights up her face, and she turns her head to look at you. 

"We could attempt the platinum blonde again, maybe without the blue this time?"

You roll your eyes and shake your head with a laugh of disbelief at the memory of your past failed attempt at dyeing her hair.

Before you begin, you give her the same questioning look as when you were younger, silently asking for permission to touch her.

A small smile forms on her face at the familiar request, and Natasha nods to you before facing forward once again to give you access to her hair. 

With her consent, your fingers gently thread through her hair, delicately brushing out the tangled areas as you go. 

As you continue your actions, Natasha’s eyes flutter closed, and a relaxed expression crosses her face as the tension in her shoulder eases with every movement.

A happy smile tugs at your lips when you see this, so you continue your soothing actions as you inspect the condition of her hair.

“What did you do?” you ask in concern when you realize the state of her hair. “The ends are all burnt up. Did you light your hair on fire or something?”

Natasha chuckles lightly, her eyes still closed as she responds.

“Not exactly. I jumped off an exploding secret evil base that was floating in the sky.”

A brief pause follows as you process her words before you release a huff of disbelief at her casual explanation. 

“Well, obviously one of us has chosen the more exciting career.”

You finish your assessment of the extent of damage to her hair before shaking your head with a resigned sigh.

“I don’t think these are salvageable. We might need to cut most of it off.”

“That’s fine,” Natasha answers calmly, unconcerned by the news.

“Seriously?” you ask, making sure she sees the length of how short her hair will be.

She meets your eyes in the mirror and gives you a reassuring nod.

“It’s not like I haven’t had that style before,” Natasha reasons before letting out a tired sigh. “Besides, a different look for me is probably better at the moment anyway.”

Understanding what she’s referring to, you don’t press further, replying with a soft, “Okay.”

You proceed with the transformation, draping a cape around Natasha’s shoulders before delicately combing through her hair.

With each snip of the scissors, you work meticulously with care, shaping Natasha’s hair into a style that would best complement her features. 

Lost in your task, you can’t help but be captivated by her beauty, understanding how she came to be described as the spy who captures the hearts of all those who encounter her.

As you finish up with the haircut, the peaceful atmosphere of the moment is shattered by an alert from the tv, interrupting the currently airing program. 

The late-night news anchor appears on the screen, delivering the all-too-familiar message that has become a nightly ritual.

“The search efforts are still ongoing for the fugitives Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff, also known as Captain America and the Black Widow. The two are currently on the run for violation of the Sokovia Accords. Any information regarding their possible whereabouts should be reported to—” 

With a frown, you swiftly reach for the remote and shut off the tv. 

Turning back, your frown deepens when you find Natasha rising from the chair.

“What are you doing?” you question, puzzled by her sudden action.

Natasha shakes her head with a grave expression as she removes the cape from her shoulders.

“This was reckless. I shouldn’t be here,” she answers, her voice filled with regret. “I’m just putting you at risk.” 

Realizing her intention to leave because of the possible dangers of her presence, you interject firmly when she strides past you toward the exit. 

"I'm glad that you did."

Your unexpected words cause her to pause in her tracks, confusion flickering across her face as she turns to meet your gaze.

"I don't care about the risks, Nat," you say, your tone unwavering and softening with a small smile at her. 

“I’m glad that I got a chance to see you again.”

Natasha’s eyes widen slightly at your words, but a hesitant look still remains on her face, so you offer another reassurance.

“If I didn’t want you here, I would’ve told you to go already.”

Her gaze focuses on you in contemplation, and you know she’s almost convinced, prompting you to continue, your hand turning the chair around to her in invitation.

“Besides, I’m not finished yet. I still have to dye your hair and show you that I can get the color right this time,” you tease lightly.

A small smile tugs at Natasha’s lips, and a hint of amusement appears in her eyes as they soften into a fond look at you. 

With one final contemplative glance to the exit, Natasha comes to a decision and gives in, settling back into the seat again.

“Alright, show me what you got.”

With her permission granted, you proceed with the dyeing process, your fingers moving with practiced ease as you bleach and tone her hair, removing the remnants of her signature vibrant red locks, before applying the blonde dye. 

Your brows furrowed in concentration as you carefully coat each strand of her hair to ensure an even color in the end. 

Meanwhile, throughout the process, Natasha watches you intently through the mirror, a tiny admiring smile pulls at the corner of her lips when she sees how focused you are on your work.

Once all that’s left is to wait for the dye to set, you disappear into the back of the salon in search of some snacks and return triumphantly with a tub of ice cream. 

Offering Natasha a spoon with a playful grin, you both indulge in the sweet treat, the casual banter flowing effortlessly between you as if the years apart had never existed.

“So do you still live in the same neighborhood?” Natasha asks between spoonfuls.

You shake your head, explaining, “My parents are still there, but I moved out here years ago after fixing up this building for myself. My place is actually next door, though sometimes it’s hard to tell these are two separate buildings. You have no idea how many packages I end up never receiving because the mailman can’t find my home.”

The two of you share a laugh and continue reminiscing about past adventures and mishaps and then about your current lives.

Throughout the entire time, your questions to her remain light-hearted, carefully avoiding any mention of her current situation or her mysterious past.

Despite the happy atmosphere, your consideration for her only makes the sense of guilt within Natasha grow with each passing moment, reminding her of what she put you through.

Eventually, the room falls into a comfortable quiet as you clean up the empty containers and move to throw them away. 

When you return, Natasha decides to address her mistakes and the role she played in the fracture of your friendship.

“I’m sorry,” she says softly.

You look at her with a perplexed look, tilting your head in confusion.

“For what?” you ask.

“For not telling you who I was…for leaving without any warning,” she confesses, her eyes closing briefly with remorse. “You didn’t deserve that.”

You lean back against the counter, arms crossed, your gaze dropping to the floor as you contemplate her words. Your thoughts and feelings about her apology remain inscrutable on your face. 

After a brief pause, you finally meet her gaze again with a serious expression.

“Was it real?” you ask.

At your question, Natasha furrows her brows in confusion, causing you to elaborate.

“Our friendship,” you clarify, gesturing between the two of you. “All the times we spent together…was it real?”

Natasha pauses as she thinks back to her time undercover. The mission was to pose as a normal family to infiltrate and gather intel from a research lab nearby. 

That didn’t necessarily mean she needed to form such a close relationship with you at the time. 

So was her friendship with you genuinely her choice?

As Natasha contemplates her answer, you take a step closer to her, causing her focus to return back to you.

“The way I remember it, I wanted to be your friend,” you admit before giving her a knowing look. “And I’m guessing you didn’t have to be mine, at least based on all your brooding and glares that you gave me in the beginning.”

Natasha grimaces sadly at the memory of how distant and cold she was initially before giving you a curious look.

“So why did you try to become friends with me?”

You shrug, a nostalgic expression appearing on your face. You recall the first time you spotted the lone girl curled up into herself underneath the shelter of the branches of the trees.  

“When I first saw you, you just…looked like you needed somebody on your side for once,” you admit softly before tilting your head at her. “And I thought… maybe I could be that person for you.”

Natasha’s mouth parts slightly in surprise at your answer. Before she can respond, her stunned silence is abruptly broken by the sound of the timer. 

With a gentle shake of your head, you return your focus to her hair, positioning yourself behind her.

“You don't have to apologize, Natasha,” you assure her, your voice steady and comforting, as you delicately begin to unwrap her hair. 

“Odds are I would’ve still chosen to be your friend whether I knew if you were a spy or not. And as for leaving…”

You recline her chair, her head now hovering above the washing station, as you let out a soft sad sigh and begin washing her hair.  

“People come and go throughout our lives all of the time. And most of the time, we can’t stop it from happening.”

Your voice wavers slightly, the memories of the devastation you felt when you found out Natasha had left come flooding back. 

Even though she wants to, Natasha can’t see what kind of expression you have on your face, your hand covering her eyes to shield the water from her face.

Shaking off the sad memory, you dry her hair and reposition Natasha upright. Your fingers glide through her newly shortened locks, combing them as you continue with a lighter and more upbeat tone.

“But the one thing we can do is hope that the people who truly mean something to us are the ones we’ll get to see again.”

Satisfied with the results of Natasha’s new hairstyle, your hands settle on the back of the chair, turning it so she faces the mirror.

Bending down, your head hovers beside hers as you meet her eyes in the reflection.

“And look, I got to see you again, didn’t I?” you say with a happy grin.

Natasha is stunned, her heart warmed by your words. She gazes at her reflection, admiring her new look, but her eyes keep returning to you, your words still echoing in her mind.

Oblivious to her awed stares at you, you return your focus to brushing her hair and examining it proudly.

“Do you like it?” you ask eagerly with anticipation when you finally look up back at her. 

“Yeah,” Natasha responds honestly, her gaze fixed on you. “I do.”

You give her a beaming smile at her answer, causing the corners of Natasha’s lip to quirk up fondly at the sight. 

After you do your finishing touches and declare that she’s done, Natasha stands from the chair and reaches into her pockets for the remaining money she still has on hand.

“How much do I owe?”

You wave your hand in refusal, shaking your head.

“Nothing, consider it a gift from a friend,” you insist, giving her a resolute expression, daring her to argue.

Huffing lightly under her breath at your determination, Natasha gives you a small smile as she relents with a soft, “Thank you.”

Her eyes glance at the darkness outside, seeing how late into the night it is, and she turns back to you, tilting her head in question.

“Can I at least walk you home then?” she offers.

You raise an amused brow at her, probably because your home most likely only takes less than a couple minutes walk from here. 

Still, you agree to her request with a nod, unable to resist the opportunity to prolong this time together with her.

“Alright. Let me just close up.”

After you lock the shop, the two of you walk side by side along the sidewalk to your home before you suddenly stop and point to the lone motorcycle parked across the street.

“Is that yours?” you ask curiously.

“Yes, it is,” Natasha says proudly.

“It’s nice,” you compliment before you shoot her a teasing smirk. “It’s definitely cooler than that bicycle you used to ride.”

Natasha lets out a playful offended scoff in disbelief.

“Hey, you’ve always loved it when I let you ride on the back of that bike with me,” she points out.

You chuckle at her exclamation in defense of her precious bicycle, but you don’t deny her accusation.

Your heart warms at the memory of wrapping your arms around her waist, clinging to her from behind as Natasha rides her bicycle down the neighborhood streets.

Your eyes linger on her hand at her side, wanting to feel that warmth again, but you resist the urge to reach for her. Instead, you tuck your hands behind your back as the two of you continue your path.

Once you reach your front door, you turn back around to face Natasha, a somber expression settling over you.

“Will you ever come to visit again?” you ask with a tinge of hope in your tone.

Natasha hesitates, wanting to tell you ‘yes,’ but she knows better than to make promises that she can’t keep, especially with her current situation. 

“I don’t know,” Natasha answers honestly in a soft whisper. 

You dip your head slightly, a sad smile on your lip.

Natasha swallows her own desires in her heart and gestures awkwardly behind her.

“I should…probably get going before someone sees me,” she says with a small grimace.

You nod at her in understanding, moving to unlock and open your door.

“Stay safe, Natasha,” you tell her, your voice thick with longing. “If anything, I do hope I’ll get the chance to see you again one day.” 

When you enter your home and close the door with a dull thud of finality, Natasha's hand rests gently against the solid barrier separating you. 

Leaning her forehead against the cool wood, she whispers sadly, "Me too,” before finally turning away.

~~~~~~~ ⧗ ~~~~~~~

Ohio - 2016 (2 Months Later)

It was late one evening again when the bell above the door chimed just as you were cleaning up for the day. Looking up, a surprised and excited expression forms on your face when you see who it is.

“Can you take one more?” Natasha asks, a small smile also appearing on her face when she sees you.

With a light chuckle, you approach her, your hands clasped behind your back.

“For you, always,” you reply warmly, stopping in front of her with a fond tilt of your head.

Natasha bites her lips lightly to keep her grin from widening at your words. Just as she’s about to step closer, a gentle knock on the door behind her reminds her of her original reason for coming to see you.

“Actually, it’s not for me though,” Natasha explains before opening the door again and waving someone in.

A brown-haired girl cautiously steps into the salon at Natasha’s invitation. Her eyes look around, examining the room before falling on you with a wary gaze.

“This is Wanda,” Natasha introduces. 

The girl gives you a timid wave in greeting from her crossed arm, but she subtly retreats to a position slightly behind Natasha. 

Her expression is pinched with apprehension as if she’s anticipating some sort of reaction from you.

You recognize Wanda quickly from the nightly tv alerts, her picture now featured alongside Natasha’s after the news broke about a high-security prison break a month ago.

Before you can offer her some reassurance, another familiar face walks in.

“The perimeter is secure,” the man announces before focusing on you and extending his hand in a greeting. “Hello, I’m Steve.”

Reacting instinctively to his polite greeting, you shake his hand and introduce yourself. 

“Hi, my name’s Y/n. I’m Natasha’s friend.”

Steve raises a brow at that and gives you a skeptical look.

“Just a friend? With the way Nat talks about you, I thought she was going to pull the same move as Barton and introduce us to her secret family.”

That draws a curious look from you as you ask him.

“What did she say?”

“Well—”

A loud cough from Natasha interrupts your conversation, drawing your attention before he can continue further.

Natasha’s subtle glare silences Steve, her arms crossed in disapproval, as she grits out to him, “Didn’t you say you wanted to see if you could find a place to resupply?”

Hearing this and wanting to offer some help, you raise your hand to get their attention and interject, “Most places around here are closed at this time, but…” 

You pause as you go to the back and retrieve your keys and offer them to Steve, explaining, “...there is a convenience store around the corner that belongs to my ex’s grandparents. They gave me a spare key for if I ever need something. Just write down what you take and leave the money behind the counter. Oh, and the security cameras don’t actually work, so you don’t have to worry about that.”

Steve takes the keys from you with a grateful nod. 

“Thank you, this’ll help us out a lot.”

He then turns to Natasha and Wanda.

“I'll meet up with you two when you finish up here then,” he says, heading towards the door.

“I can come help you,” Wanda offers, moving to follow Steve, but Natasha blocks her path with a knowing expression.

“You said you wanted to change your look since we’ll be going into hiding,” she reminds Wanda who twists her lips in disappointment when she realizes she failed to escape.

“I didn’t think that meant we would be forcing someone to do it for me,” Wanda says, still glancing at you with apprehension.

You wave your hand in reassurance, interjecting quickly, “Oh, I don’t mind. Natasha’s not forcing me to do this. I’m happy to help.”

“Well, that’s settled then,” Steve declares with an acknowledging nod to you. “Thanks again, Y/n.”

After a pointed gesture from Natasha, Wanda settles into one of the chairs with a small sigh.

Natasha leans against the counter facing you and Wanda as you move to your position behind the chair.

“So, what color did you want to dye your hair?” you ask her.

“It doesn’t matter,” Wanda replies with a resigned tone, her eyes downcasted and focused on her hands in her lap.

You frown slightly in concern at her defeated attitude, and you look at Natasha, giving her a meaningful look.

“What do you think, Natasha? I believe I got some new colors recently. Maybe purple or green would fit her,” you ponder out loud as if actually considering those options.

Wanda’s head shoots up in shock as she sputters incredulously, “Green?”

Natasha grins, catching on to your intentions, as she shrugs casually at your suggestions, adding, “You could never go wrong with blue.” 

You laugh at her comment, nodding in agreement.

“Okay, okay, I get it,” Wanda says quickly, a hint of exasperation in her voice. She points seriously at the two of you. “No to all those. I don’t want it to be that big of a change.”

Her voice lowers to a sad but determined tone.

“I don’t want it to be as if they succeeded in forcing me to change who I am,” Wanda admits as she stares down at her hands where a red ball of mist flows between her fingers in a gentle pattern.

“Well, the great thing about changing your hair is that ultimately whatever you decide, it’s your choice to make,” you say, your gaze meeting Natasha’s slightly widened eyes, before continuing firmly, “No one can take that decision from you.”

Wanda contemplates your words for a moment and then nods at you decisively.

“Can you lighten my hair into an auburn color?” she asks.

You give her a gentle smile and nod, replying, “Alright then. Auburn it is.”

Before you touch her hair, you give her a questioning look and ask, “Are you comfortable for me to touch your hair and start?”

Wanda blinks at you in surprise, and her tense posture relaxes slightly when she realizes you’re asking for her permission.

With a nod, she responds softly, “Go ahead.”

As you work on Wanda’s hair, Natasha watches you intently with a fond look in her eyes, lost in her thoughts at the sight of you and glad that she had this opportunity to see you again.

Before she knows it, you’re already finishing up applying the last coatings of the dye on Wanda’s hair when you suddenly speak up.

“You know, I’ve always had a soft spot for redheads,” you state casually before meeting Natasha’s eyes with a teasing smile.

“Are you trying to say that you don’t have a soft spot for me now that I’m blonde?” Natasha asks with an amused raise of a brow.

You shrug nonchalantly and hum in thought as if having to contemplate the answer.

Natasha huffs in disbelief and rolls her eyes slightly at you.

However, your words remind her of what you mentioned earlier to Steve, and Natasha can’t help but ask curiously.

“Was your ex also a redhead?” she asks, her tone seemingly casual.

“Impressive, your deduction skills as a spy must be really good,” you tease, chuckling lightly, as you return your focus to Wanda’s hair.

“The two of you must’ve been pretty serious for their grandparents to still trust you like that,” Natasha says, unable to hide the slight bitterness of the thought slipping into her tone.

You laugh and shake your head quickly in denial.

“No, definitely not. She moved away years ago, and our relationship didn’t really end on good terms. My close relationship with her grandparents is kind of like my revenge on her. Plus, they’re actually a sweet old couple.”

“Oh,” Natasha says, a small breath of relief releasing from her.

“I’m not really seeing anyone at the moment,” you admit softly.

“Natasha’s single too,” Wanda chimes in, her focus originally on the sitcom playing on the tv but now looking between the two of you with interest.

“That’s a surprise,” you say with a laugh as you go into the back to retrieve some things.

Natasha chuckles lightly as you leave before giving Wanda the same warning glare that she gave Steve. Unfazed, Wanda just gestures with her head encouragingly in your direction.

However, Natasha shakes her head resolutely in a silent reply to her, and before Wanda can attempt to convince her further, you come back and begin doing the last steps on Wanda’s hair.

With one final brush of Wanda’s newly red hair, you declare happily, “All finished.”

“Thanks, Y/n,” Wanda says as she stands from the chair and goes to examine her hair in the mirror.

You watch as a small smile appears on her face, and you let out a breath of relief, glad to finally see Wanda in a moment of happiness. 

Natasha comes up next to you and holds out some money in an offer. 

“Thank you for doing this,” Natasha says.

You shake your head in refusal, your hands folded behind you as you face her.

“I’m sure you all need this more than I do,” you say resolutely.

Natasha chuckles lightly and huffs in disbelief.

“You know, you can’t always give me free passes like this every time. You should be paid for your work,” Natasha points out.

You hum in thought before tilting your head at her with a questioning look.

“How about dinner?” you suggest.

A surprised expression appears on Natasha’s face, but she hesitates to answer, facing the same situation again of wanting to accept your offer, but a beep at her side along with the message that comes with it reminds her why she can’t.

“Steve’s on his way back. I have to take Wanda back to the safe house and then we’re moving right after,” she explains sadly with regret. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay, Nat. I know,” you say gently in understanding, taking a small step back from her and changing your tone into one lighter. 

“But if you’re ever in the area again, you’re always welcome here.” 

You turn to look at Wanda, adding, “All of you.”

“Can I walk you back home at least?” Natasha asks.

Before you can respond, the sound of a car pulling up outside catches your attention, and based on Natasha’s disappointed expression, you know that’s probably Steve.

“It’s okay, Natasha. You can go,” you reassure her, offering a comforting smile.

Wanda gives you a small wave goodbye as she exits, but Natasha lingers at the door, her gaze fixed on you.

“About before…” she starts before hesitating and trailing off into silence as she presses her lips together in contemplation.

When her shoulder drops slightly in defeat and disappointment, you know she’s decided against whatever she’s about to say.

“You can just tell me later,” you suggest. “You know, whenever I get to see you again.”

Though you both know that you don’t know when that’ll be.

“Right,” Natasha agrees, her smile tinged with sadness as she gives you one last glance and moving to leave. “I’ll see you next time, Y/n.”

After closing up, you head home, the events of the evening replaying in your mind.

Though the goodbye was bittersweet, you’re still happy you got a chance to see Natasha again so soon and even meet the other important people in her life.

As you step out of your bathroom, just finished with a shower, a knock on your door interrupts your thoughts. 

You check who it is before quickly unlocking and opening the door for them.

“Hey…” Natasha’s voice trails off, her gaze taking in your appearance. 

Remnants of water from the shower still remain on your exposed skin since you decided to wear some light clothing to counter the warm temperature outside.

Leaning against the doorway, you greet her with a curious tilt of your head at her sudden silence.

“Hey,” you reply in greeting.

Natasha shakes her head lightly as if coming out of a daze and gestures in a direction behind her.

“So, uh, Steve said that he can take Wanda back to the safe house. She really loves her hair by the way. Um, she also told me that I should..uh..I should see you again before we leave…”

Your lips twitch in amusement at Natasha’s endearing ramble, your gaze softening as you continue to listen.

“…but it looks like you’re probably about to go to sleep, so I should just go,” Natasha concludes, turning to leave.

“Wait,” you call out, your hand instinctively reaching towards her, but you stop yourself before you touch her, your hand retracting back to your side, a mixture of hesitation and longing in your movements.

Natasha pauses at your request, and when she sees your hesitating action, her features soften in understanding.

Stepping back closer to you, she extends her hand in invitation.

“You can touch me, Y/n,” Natasha reassures you. “I never have a problem if it’s you.”

Your eyes widen in surprise, touched by her trust. 

Tentatively, you reach out, your hand finding hers, before checking for any signs of discomfort but end up seeing none from her. 

Your hand then trails up lightly to her shoulder and then to the back of her neck, your fingers play with the strands of her short hair as you watch her carefully.

Natasha closes her eyes at your touch, the same serene expression appearing on her face as before.

Seeing this, you bring your other hand to cup her cheek as you urge gently.

“What was it that you wanted to tell me earlier?” 

Natasha opens her eyes and meets your gaze with an affectionate look, her hand moving up to hold the back of yours as she responds.

“That it was real,” she confesses softly.

You furrow your brows lightly in confusion, prompting Natasha to clarify.

“Your question from before,” she explains. “It was real for me too.”

Natasha lets out a shaky breath as she continues, “I loved that I had you on my side back then, and the truth is…I’d love to have you by my side now.”

Surprised by her admission, you search her eyes but only find genuine warmth and sincerity in her gaze. 

Natasha’s smile softens, and you find yourself drawn to her at the action, unconsciously leaning in closer.

Even though Natasha gave you permission earlier to touch her, this desire that you have is different, so you give her the same questioning look that you always have before and ask hesitantly in a breathless whisper.

“Can I kiss you?”

Natasha chuckles lightly under her breath at your question, resting her forehead against yours.

“I was just about to ask you the same thing.”

With a gentle pull, you close the small distance between the two of you, sharing a tender kiss with her. Her lips are soft against yours, fitting perfectly and enveloping you with the same warmth that you've always felt from her.

When you finally pull away, your breath still mingling with hers, Natasha gives you a teasing grin.

“So, about that dinner?” 

Laughing, you roll your eyes fondly and wrap your arms around her to pull her into your home.

~~~~~~~ ⧗ ~~~~~~~

Ohio - 2018 (2 Years Later)

The soft rustling of movement reaches your ears, pulling you from your sleep. You glance at the clock on the nightstand, its dim glow showing the late hour, before turning your gaze to the familiar figure standing beside the bed, quietly slipping her shirt over her frame with practiced ease. 

“Nat?”

At the sound of your voice, Natasha turns back to you, her expression reassuring as she moves to sit beside you. Her hand rests gently on your shoulder, stopping you when she sees that you’re about to sit up.

“Go back to sleep, moya lyubov,” Natasha whispers, pressing a soft kiss to your head. “Wanda and Vision missed their check-in, so Steve and I are just going to check up on them real quick.”

A flicker of unease flares within you at the news, coupled with the realization that Natasha intends to go straight toward potential unknown dangers.

Your hand reaches out and grips her arms, a surge of unsettling fear tightening in your chest. 

“Natasha, don’t…” 

Don’t go 

The words are trapped in your throat as you stare at her. 

Holding your gaze, Natasha’s eyes reflect both love and determination. 

Love for you…and for her makeshift family.

And as much as you wish for her safety, you know you can’t keep her from her loyalty and duty to them.

With a bittersweet smile, you cradle her face in your hands, suppressing the selfish urge to ask her to stay.

“Don’t take too long to come back,” you manage, a hint of teasing in your voice as you catch a strand of her blonde hair in your hand. “We wouldn’t want your hair to be two different colors by the time you return.”

Natasha chuckles lightly, leaning in to press a gentle kiss on your lips.

“It’s going to be a quick trip. I’ll be back soon,” she promises.

You pull her close, giving her another lingering kiss, before wrapping your arms around her in a tight hug and tucking your head against her shoulder. 

“And I’ll be here when you do,” you whisper against her in a promise in return.

~~~~~~~ ⧗ ~~~~~~~

Ohio - 2023 (5 Years Later)

In the quiet solitude of the salon, Natasha stands alone, the weight of the five years after the snap hangs heavy in the air. 

A mixture of exhaustion and sorrow is etched on her face as she examines the space.

With a weary sigh, she rubs at her eyes, wiping away the stray tears at the memories of you. She remembers vividly her last moments with you, your unspoken words to her. 

The truth is she knew, deep down, what you were about to say to her at that time. And she understood why you stopped yourself. 

Because if you had asked her not to go, she would’ve chosen to stay with you without any hesitation.

Seating herself in one of the chairs, Natasha meets her reflection in the mirror with unwavering determination.

Her hair has grown out to its former length over the past five years. Yet, traces of the dyed parts you did for her still linger at the tips. 

Those strands of blonde color are her lifeline — a connection to the part of her life that she holds dear. 

They serve as a constant reminder to keep going.

To keep fighting for a way to bring everyone back. 

To bring you back. 

Because amidst all the uncertainties of the world and the future, one thing remains steadfast in Natasha’s heart — she would do anything to see you again.

~~~~~~~ ⧗ ~~~~~~~

a/n : Thank you for reading!

Part 2

[cowboyjen68]

Hi young butch here. I’m 22 and live in a pretty bigoted area. I’m non-binary on top of my butch identity. Do you have any advice on staying safe while also standing firm and proud in your identity as a butch lesbian?

I live in the Midwest and I have been out in my community a long time. Being a working part of the community goes a long way. There is value in making yourself known and valuable.

I have always been involved in helping with local events like parades or celebrations. I support local businesses and I smile and say hello A LOT. Remembering other people makes them feel seen and it then makes it harder for others to "hate" and if they are uncomfortable in my presence, a smile and a nod can go a long way to diffusing that tension.

I do have the privilege of being an extrovert but also being perceived as a man of first glance so in passing most people just don't even notice they are seeing a butch lesbian. Also, the women of my area and I kind of share the same fashion sense because many are farmers or union factory workers, or at least work outside at some point of their day.

When I am out and about I now hold an air of confidence that I belong in my community as a butch woman. I feel no need to get upset when called "sir" or to be overtly pushy about my sexuality. Making sure people I interact know I am friendly and really just getting on with my day at the feed store or Dollar General helps them to, at the very least, not put much thought into my looks or sexuality.

Anyone looking at me long enough to realize I am not a man probably know they are looking at a butch lesbian and a little smile and "hello" allows us all to just keep moving in our day.

It is not easy for everyone and I am aware that I hold extravert privilege. My best advice is to love who you are and dress as you are comfortable and let that confidence be known with eye contact, cheerful acknowledgement and kindness when you feel tension rise.

True bigots are going to hate even if you make their day better while the majority of people are not bigots but just not used to things outside the status quo of their straight life.

Be aware of your surroundings. Say an authentic hi to those you interact with and be confident enough to know not every side eye and smirk is out of hate. And even if they are, you know you are a valuable and belong in the community in which you live. Don't let haters take that knowledge from you.

[walkingnearfoxes]

It's a Silly Name (Homelander x Reader Oneshot)

1.8k words. NSFW. Questionable established relationship dynamics with mildly dubious consent and dirty smut.

Who the hell came up with the name Gillman?

You are sitting on the couch in the Homelander's den, a blanket tossed over your legs to compensate for the freezing thermostat temperature your lover prefers. It’s unclear to you if he genuinely finds the coldness preferable to the heat, or if he’s using it as an excuse so you cuddle him for warmth. Presently, you don’t have to worry about that; the Homelander finally agreed to buy you blankets and he has his head nestled in your lap. 

The Homelander is furiously watching the news as you look through the paperwork for his next publicity stunt. Ashley attempted to hand the packet of paper to him a few hours ago, but his venomous glare had her turn to you instead. Unfortunately for all people involved, Stan Edgar had made it clear that this plan was not a negotiation. There's been some social media backfire recently for the Homelander being...well, himself, but more blatantly to the public eye. His numbers have “suffered,” dropping him far too close to not being America's favorite supe. The plan is to make a documentary about his childhood life to remind the public about his all-American values. The whole fiasco has turned the Homelander into a massive grump and lucky you, you get to deal with him the most often. 

The television is playing Victoria Neuman’s most recent takedown of him at a rally in DC. You don’t know why he insists on watching every bit of media that talks about him for good or bad, but he’s obsessed. Even when Neuman is doing everything in her power to turn the people against him, he can’t look away; you are the only one capable of turning his attention away from it. 

"I don't get how that's supposed to fix anything," Homelander mutters, referring to the planned movie scope in your hands. "Just rip it up."

"It's not...terrible," You say, ignoring his sneer. It is nowhere near in your job description to review PR for him, but anyone at Vought with a brain cell knows you’re the only way to negotiate him into things. You try, anyhow. "I mean, I get it. They're trying to remind the public of your humble origins."

"By humble, you mean a no-name asshole from Bumfuck, Midwest," He mutters. Only you can hear the hurt behind his snark. He loathes his fake story. Vought took the torture that was his real childhood and twisted it until the white lab walls were white picket fences. He still didn't tell you everything about that lab, about the “bad room” he mumbles about in his sleep, but every tiny glimpse he gives provides more of a window as to why he is the Homelander.

You reach down and slowly card your fingers through his hair. A few months ago, he would have flinched. Now, even while feeling grouchy, he hums under his breath and leans into your touch. You told him once he was like an overgrown house cat. The glare he had shot you only proved your point.

"I'm sorry," You speak softly as you pet his head. "They really should get your opinion on more of these things." 

"I know!" He whines, and you bite back a chuckle. "God, the baseball bullshit? Like I'd give a fuck about that game.”

You nod as you look back at the papers. The first page dictates the basics of the Homelander’s fake upbringing, assumedly for whatever poor soul will direct this mistake of a documentary. "The name they gave you is pretty ridiculous, too."

He laughs, bumping his head into your hand to get more of your scratches. "As generic as they could make it."

"John is fine, but Gillman?" You say, scoffing at the surname. "That should've gone to the Deep."

The Homelander pauses. You momentarily think he's silently returned to his hatewatch of the news. But then he speaks, his voice a bit lower. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, it doesn't fit you," You explain, not yet noticing how he has stilled under your touch. "Gillman sounds like the Deep with him and...his...gills..."

You trail off as the Homelander slowly sits off of your lap. His body turns so he sits beside you, arms on his knees, his red boots flat on the floor. Like a bird of prey locking onto its victim, his head slowly turns to look at you. His smile is long and thin. "Are you comparing me to the Deep, sweetheart?"

Danger. Your heart rate spikes, and it makes his smile twitch up. It doesn’t matter that you know he can smell, see, and hear every part of you; your reactions are instinctive and will never go away. Truthfully, he barely needs his super senses. He knows you, and you made the mistake of forgetting him. 

You should have known better than to bring up any other supes in his sensitive state - especially supes that have tried to flirt with you in front of him. 

"No, of course not," You say quickly with a nervous laugh. "I was just saying the name was-"

"Stupid. Yeah, I heard you." He still isn't moving, far too rigid and dangerous in his spot beside you. 

"I didn't say it was-"

He shushes you and slowly brings a hand up to cup your cheek. "Relax, honey," He purrs. His gloved hand slowly moves down the length of your neck and settles comfortably around the hollow of your throat. "I'm not mad. I just think I gotta remind you who I am."

~-~

One of the Homelander’s favorite parts of sex with you is the vulnerability. He loves to have you fully naked while he is still fully clothed. It's a blatant power play, but it goes deeper than that. He sees every inch of your skin as a work of art and can spend hours mapping you until you're trembling with need. With the news still quietly playing in the background, he has done just that.

He hasn't moved from his spot on the couch, but you are in a very different pose. He has you naked in his lap with your back to him. His hands are under your thighs to keep them up against your chest, your feet flat on the tops of his legs. He uses his hold on your hips to keep you situated with his cock buried deep in your ass. You can squirm and fidget as much as you want; nothing is breaking his grip.

"Now, remind me, sweetie," He murmurs into your ear as he lifts your hips up and entirely off of him, only to slam them back down on his cock. He ignores your loud gasp. "Who's fucking your ass right now, hm? Me? Or the Deep?"

"Y-you!" You cry out breathlessly. Your entire body is shaking and while he certainly notices, he says nothing about it. He had been very thorough in preparing you for this. After leaving your clothes in tatters on the floor, he ate your pussy and fingered your hole to the exact stretch he wanted. He didn't mind that you had already come twice; that wasn't the point of this.

"Such a little slut," He growls tugging your earlobe between his teeth. "You just wanna be filled up, don't you? Will you take any dick?"

"N-No!" You gasp as he once again bounces you down on his cock. "J-just you. Only you."

"Hm..." He easily holds you steady with one hand while the other slowly traces between your legs. The tips of his fingers swirl tight circles around your clit, and he chuckles darkly at the way your body spasms. "Aww, feeling sensitive? That's ‘cause this little pussy is mine."

He bucks up again, and then starts a steady rhythm while he keeps on talking. The Homelander thrusts into you so you're never wholly without his dick, and even as you feel him begin to swell inside of you, he doesn't pause for breathe. He doesn't break a sweat. His sinful voice breathes into your ear. "This tight little ass is mine. Understand me?"

It's hard for you to reply with how he's rutting up into you, and he rewards the delay with a pinch to your clit. You squeal. "Yes! I'm yours, Homelander. I'm yours."

He flips you with practiced ease so your stomach lands on the couch. You're not given time to reorient yourself before his cock is inside of you again, this time in your pussy. His hands, somehow removed from their gloves during the flip, both fall to your hips as he fucks you. The sound of him pounding into you is obscene - repeated, needy, and wet. He's done talking; he has a goal now, and that's making it so the only damned thing you can think of is him.

"H-Homelander..." Your voice is wheezy and desperate to your ears. "I'm gonna..."

"Oh, I know." He at least sounds breathless now, eager for a release only you can give to him. He moves a hand to your head. He curls his fingers into your hair and pushes the side of your face down onto the cushion. The strength flattens your body so he slides impossibly deeper into you. "Come. Now."

And you do. You come soundlessly, your eyes rolling back. You may even black out for a second, only vaguely aware of him pulling out to finish on your exposed back with a moan of your name that is near reverent. You are a mess of sweat and his seed, and he knows he’s done his job. Once again, you are thoroughly and exhaustedly and completely his.

He just looks at you for a long moment, and you’re too exhausted to comment. You eventually feel him shift off of the couch. His gloveless fingers stroke delicately through your hair, and you turn your head to see him kneeling beside you. His smile is now gentle. "And? How are we doing?"

You grumble and nuzzle the side of your face against the couch. "My legs are numb."

The Homelander chuckles and leans in to kiss your forehead, his lips lingering on your skin. "I didn't hear a safeword..."

"Didn't need one, Mr. Gillman."

The sharp slap to your ass isn't a surprise. "You're lucky you're cute." He murmurs as he stands back up. "Alright, c’mon.”

He lifts you into a bridal carry like you weigh nothing. There’s an undeniable fondness in those blue eyes that reminds you as much as you belong to him, he’s yours right back. He smiles down at you.  "Let's get you all cleaned up, huh?"

You lazily lean your head against his chest. "Can you get milkshakes after?"

The Homelander chuckles and gives your naked thighs an affectionate squeeze. "Yes. I can get milkshakes after.”

[portraitofalinkonfyre]

Why Sky Wears Baggy Clothes: A Dissertation into Skyloftian Boner Culture and Outfitting Practices

So. Remember the infamous dick post? I have more thoughts, specifically concerning Sky's FAT COCK and how Skyloftian's specifically evolved greater vascular and hemoglobin systems in response to life in high altitudes. Prepare yourselves.

In my last piece, I calculated Skyloft's altitude of roughly 7,544.4 feet and covered how certain systems were affected to adapt to the climate, which eventually turned into a rant about Sky's dick, but now, I present to you: the reason Sky wears baggy clothes is to hide his altitude-induced, iron-man erections.

But first, let's explore the clothes themselves. Due to its high altitude, Skyloft is cold. Google AI has informed me that wind speed typically fluctuates, assuming the altitude is within the range of 6,000 to 8,000 feet, between 12 to 23 mph. On the Beaufort Scale, a chart used to estimate wind speed based on visual appearances, 23 mph is considered a "Fresh Breeze", and hardly a whisper to anyone from the Midwest. With this in mind, the standard temperature (excluding wind chill) of an area with a similar altitude to Skyloft is roughly 34°F or 1°C, which explains the multiple layers typically worn by many in-game Skyward Sword characters. Using both of these values and an internet wind chill calculator, we can conclude that the average temperature of Skyloft (assuming the wind speed is a comfortable 16 mph) is 24°F or -4°C, with a calculated range of 22°F or -5.6°C (23 mph, 34°F) to 25°F or -3.9°C (12 mph, 34°F).

With a wind-chilled air temperature of 24°F, Skyloft's layered, loose-fitting clothing standards make perfect sense, seeing as loose clothes are considered advantageous during cold weather because the small gaps between skin and fabric create pockets of space for body heat to gather, creating a pseudo-barrier against the elements.

Now, onto Sky's particular outfit. Based on this post by Jojo herself, Sky wears approximately four full upper-body layers (white, olive-khaki, chainmail, and mint tunic), one midsection layer (red sash), one lower-body layer (brown-green?? pants), and his embroidered sailcloth; he is prepared-prepared for chilly temperatures. As well as being a wonderfully adjacent nod to modern-day Tibetan culture, these clothes are perfect for conserving heat, and, concurrently, his life. 'But Fyre, we want the iron man dick-canons!' you may wail, but I'm not finished. There's quite a bit of debate in the skydiving community about whether tight or loose-fitting clothes are better, but many users state that loose-fitting clothes have the advantage of drag. But why is this good? In skydiving, and many of the Zelda games as a whole, control is essential; it's what allows us to feel safe, and thus allows for more logical, calm thinking due to adrenaline and cortisol (stress hormones) reduction. By increasing the user's surface area, loose-fitting clothes create drag, which, in physics, leads to better midair control during free-fall. Compared to Skyward Sword, where free-falling is as common a game mechanic as swinging a sword around, specialized aerodynamic control via clothing is a crucial mechanism that the Skylofians would absolutely take advantage of, considering that many of them regular jump from the sky and ride giant pelican-bird-creatures. In addition, due to his evolutionarily enhanced circulatory and vascular system, Sky himself is more than prepared to handle any and all endocrine stressors due to falling, and his specific outfit design only backs the theory that the residents of Skyloft are not only equipped to handle life in the sky on an evolutionary level, but from a cultural and biological level as well.

Okay. That was a lot, so I'm going to reintroduce some scholarly degeneracy at its finest: the concept of Sky's iron-man erections. Keeping with the vein of Skyloftian's specifically designing their clothes to be advantageous in every sense of the word, it isn't too far-fetched that they would make a point to account for any and all bodily changes that may occur during free-fall, or simply life on a floating rock, which absolutely includes altitude-induced erections. Confused? Let me explain.

In the dick-canon post, I largely referenced the concept of "airplane boners" as a defining factor for why Sky is HUNG, because it has been scientifically proven that abrupt changes in pressure affect vascular expansion and contraction, which absolutely extends to the pelvic region, and, thus, shifting erective status of the penis. With this in mind, it can be inferred that a race of people with the same evolutionary traits would have also evolved culturally to deal with this conundrum, which perfectly explains the bagginess of Sky's, and every other resident of Skyloft's, outfit choices. For example, the looseness of his pants is likely to be a cleverly-disguised ploy to hide what is by all definitions a biological predicament shared by all members of the Hylian species. It's in the same vein as modern-day menstrual cycles. Oh no, you got your period? Just slap a pad on it! Except the pad is baggy pants to hide an erection you can't control because flying is your way of life. Apply this to Sky and you've got a good idea of why his outfit is the way it is.

But that's not all! In addition to concealing any potential erections, Skyloftian clothing is also specifically designed to protect against the elements, which, you guessed it, extends to male and female reproduction organs. Whether through the use of thick, temperature-impenetrable cloth, specific (down-low) enchantments, or specialized padding, it is almost undeniable that a society as developed as the Skyloftians would have a fail-safe method to preserve both their lives and modesty through practical outfit stylizations.

And now, the moment you've all been waiting for: iron-man erections and what the fuck that refers to. I'm sure some of you are getting sick of the words 'vascular capacity' and 'erection of the penile region', but I promise you, this is where the magic happens. So. Sky is basically evolutionarily-predetermined to be hung. He has excellent hemoglobin and vascular system capacity, which would absolutely affect not only his body as a whole, but sexual functions as well, specifically in the fact that his erections are indestructible. Due to a combination of evolution, age, and gender, it's incredibly easy for him to become aroused, and, concurrently, incredibly difficult to 'take care' of his arousal in the same manner as the typical, non-evolutionized male would. That flagpole is raised and it is NOT coming down. This begs the question: how does he deal with this conundrum, specifically after some type of altitude-based activity, and what cultural practices are permitted in this context? Are all Skyloftian's serial masturbators or are they simply incredible at restraining themselves, which could act as a nod to Sky's typically unbothered attitude? In concurrence, if masturbation is socially acceptable, how does Sky find all that time to jack off? Does the rest of the chain know, or are they oblivious to his predicaments?!

In short, Skyloftian fashion and societal modesty culture is heavily influenced by the hilariously, yet closely related Skyloftian boner culture, in both outfit practicality and social norms, which is very likely to explain Sky's choice of clothes and, once again, why he is hung as FUCK. Thank you for witnessing my madness and Hylia bless.

Additional queries:

Does Priapism exist in Skyloftian society? Yes and no. The term 'priapism' refers the prolonged erection of the penis (4+ hours), often without any sexual stimulation, which cements it as a fairly common medical condition for humans. However, due to their unique vascular biology, it is unlikely that this condition would be viewed at the severity it is in modern-day humans, which begs the question: is it even an issue at all? Increased circulatory and vascular capabilities indicate a greater blood flow, whereas priapism is the persistent lack of appropriate blood flow, meaning that, due to their biology, priapism may very well be an indicator of old age in the same manner loss of vision or a general slowing down is for humans. On the other hand, if it were to possess the same significance as it does with modern-day humans, what

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